Superman from the comics: Starting with the Black Robe

Chapter 79 Funeral

"So that's the situation. The specifics will depend on the circumstances."

'

As Joey used his heat vision to clear a path to the underground, he didn't forget to give everyone a brief introduction to the situation, explaining what was going on with this suddenly appearing Superman and some questions about parallel universes.

Batman, Superman, and this watchtower are practically the only remaining parts of their universe; at least, that's all that's left of the debris Barbatos spat out.

However, Joey omitted the parts about Barbatos and the Dark Multiverse.

The universe I live in is a nightmare projection of other higher universes. From the moment it is born, the universe will uncontrollably move towards collapse, and everything I know will be crushed into dust under this trend.

Joey felt that not everyone could accept this cruel reality.

Having finished explaining, Joey suddenly remembered something very important:

"There's one more thing, Cyborg—I've been watching you for a while now. You've been staring at Batman ever since this started. Here's a piece of advice: no matter how curious you are, be polite and don't ask him any questions!"

Joey didn't need to think to know that Cyborg was very curious about the younger version of Batman in this parallel universe. After all, Cyborg had dealt with the old Batman quite a bit in this universe, and they had developed a unique relationship.

To avoid the other party asking an extremely rude question like, "Why are you so much younger than our Batman?", Joey had to nip the spark of curiosity in the other party's heart in the bud.

In reality, apart from Cyborg, no one present cared about Batman. Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Starfire had no idea where Gotham City was before, let alone Batman.

Meanwhile, Cyborg was genuinely curious about this Batman who was so different from the old Batman.

It seems the search and rescue efforts on the other side, along with dealing with Billy, were too fragmented, causing the drone on this side to lapse in time and blurt out, "Oh, why?"

Batman frowned almost imperceptibly, not because the conversation had suddenly touched on his own, who had remained silent, but because the "Superman" of this universe was strange.

For example, the other party is still carrying the burden of their former friend, and there is a kryptonite bullet stuck in the skull of that body that is about to release radiation, yet the other party is still as lively and energetic as if nothing happened.

For example, the other party clearly knows a lot about things beyond this world, and their eyes look very strange.

If the eyes are the windows to the soul, then Superman's eyes are like a mirror from the past, in which Bruce can see his former self.

Although the other person's behavior when calm down did not have any dangerous aura, what lay beneath this calm surface was a very obvious desire for revenge and violent impulse, which was clearly very similar to his past self with PTSD.

This is a Superman completely different from the Boy Scout Clark I knew before, or perhaps my Clark was like this when he was fifteen or sixteen?

Bruce internally prioritized investigating the other person's background as his second priority.

If I had encountered this kind of superman from the beginning, I would never have easily developed trust in him over the years of fighting side by side, and the situation would not have deteriorated to this extent.

When this happened, he should have realized sooner that the Clark he loved was gone, and thus acted more decisively and ruthlessly to deprive his Clark of the ability to harm others.

If I had done that, at least Barry and Diana would have survived, and Gotham City wouldn't have been implicated and ended up in this terrible state...

"We're almost there."

Joey, seeing the buried watchtower so close, interrupted Batman's introspection, turning to the two most important people present:

"Batman, you don't have to come. I promise we'll give them a dignified burial."

And Diana, are you sure you really want to go?

Joey's solution for dealing with the body was actually nothing new; he just threw it into the abandoned watchtower of the Zhenglian.

Although the Justice League's Watchtower has long been seen by readers and various supervillains as a public toilet...

You can come and go as you please, but this thing is indeed a high-tech fortress that incorporates all kinds of cutting-edge technologies.

In that universe, the Justice League had already defeated many powerful enemies such as General Zod, Darkseid, Doomsday, and Brainiac. The Watchtower's technological accumulation should have long surpassed that of the native heroes of this universe.

This may sound a bit shameless, but it is indeed a rich "legacy".

2

Joey didn't want to appear like a morally corrupt, shameless leech who was profiting from the dead, but he couldn't afford to wait any longer. The Kryptonians were coming, and he needed the Watchtower, and as soon as possible.

Anyway, it shouldn't be too difficult for me to keep an eye on the old bat here and also keep an eye on the watchtower. For now, I should be able to safely keep an eye on the Kryptonian body as a safekeeping place, right?

Well, this is definitely not a good option, but Joey doesn't have many other choices right now. Storing him in the watchtower is at least safer than leaving him in the lonely fortress in the Arctic.

If this combination of Krypton's lonely fortress and a dead, evil version of Superman goes smoothly, Joey will start writing Clark's name backwards from now on!

Of course, this was done with the consent of the original owner of the watchtower.

Batman naturally agrees, and the other unfortunate people besides Superman can't offer any opinions.

Their top priority was naturally to ensure that these heroic predecessors could leave with dignity.

"No, I've already granted you most of the watchtower access. You can store Clark's body in Zone E on the third floor; the cells there can be set to red sunlight mode. As for them..."

When Batman spoke of his companions who had died tragically at the hands of "Superman," a heavy weight of self-reproach weighed on his heart, yet the expression hidden beneath his Batmask was frighteningly rational:

"Let me do it; I will bury them with my own hands."

At this moment, Batman felt that it was because he had developed excessive feelings for Clark that he had brought about such a terrible consequence and crossed the line he had always crossed.

Joey reached out and patted Batman on the shoulder: "This isn't your fault."

Wonder Woman now realized that what the "Superman" had said earlier, "I killed you once," wasn't just empty talk.

That "Superman" did indeed kill the other her before she arrived.

But she still decided to come along.

She showed Batman the two "Dracomas" in her bag, feeling she should give this Amazonian sister from another world a chance to return home:

"She died a heroic death in the Amazonian way, and if you agree, I can take her back to Paradise Island in our world for burial."

In ancient Greek tradition, two drachmas (ancient Greek silver coins) would be placed over the eyes of the deceased at the time of burial.

This is the "toll money" prepared for the dead. When crossing the River Styx to the underworld, they need to bribe Charon, the irritable and easily angered ferryman of the Styx, with silver coins so that they can safely reach the other side.

Wonder Woman had prepared these two drachmas for herself at the beginning of the war, and after Joey forcibly ended the war, she thought they would be useless.

Unexpectedly, she still used the two silver coins she had prepared for a long time for "herself" today, which made her feel a mix of emotions.

If Joey hadn't stepped in to stop her and allowed her war with Aquaman to continue, she probably would have ended up using those two coins in the near future.

Batman stared at the coin for a long time, struggling with the decision. Finally, as if he had made up his mind, he nodded. He had to admit that for his Diana, Paradise Island was clearly a more suitable final resting place than Gotham City.

As he wandered in the shadows of Gotham last night, he found the city as chaotic and disorderly as his own Gotham, or even worse.

Diana should not be buried in such a place.

"etc!"

With his Tamaran sensitivity to emotions, Xinghuo, who was standing nearby, sensed something unusual.

She reached out and tugged hard at the bright red cloak, the force of which lifted Joey, who was discussing with the others how to bury the heroes, into the air.

"That Senagan alien, she's still alive!"