Everything in front of them suddenly returned to its original state. The captured demon summoners they'd been standing near gradually turned to ash and completely dissipated before their eyes, as if they'd never existed at all.
Because time itself had been fundamentally changed, massive alterations had rippled outward from that changed point in the timeline, rewriting reality itself.
Those demon summoners had never actually summoned demons across multiple cities in this new timeline. Therefore, they'd never been caught by Bruce and his team. The entire sequence of events had simply ceased to exist.
"This is..." Bruce said, genuine surprise evident in his voice as he watched reality reshape itself around them.
"This is temporal correction," Marcus explained calmly. "Since I changed events from over twenty years ago, everything in Gotham has been altered from that point forward."
After receiving Marcus's explanation, Bruce nodded slowly in understanding, processing the full implications of what his teacher had done.
The two of them walked out of the room together. Bruce had expected to find Wayne Manor dramatically changed somehow, but surprisingly, nothing around them looked different at all. Even the people connected through the video communicator were still there, exactly as they'd been before.
"Teacher, I remember you said before that we would be the only ones who remember the real history," Bruce said, clearly curious about the mechanics. "But our memories didn't change at all?"
Seeing Bruce so intensely curious about how the temporal manipulation worked, Marcus explained with an amused smile.
"That's correct—yours were completely unaffected by the timeline shift," Marcus confirmed. "I left a special mark on all of you before I changed time. That mark prevents your memories from being distorted or rewritten when the timeline changes around you."
The two of them continued talking as they walked outside the manor. Bruce genuinely wanted to see firsthand what kinds of changes had occurred throughout Gotham City as a result of the altered timeline.
After leaving the manor grounds and driving into the city proper, Bruce found that Gotham looked completely normal at first glance. He couldn't immediately identify anything obviously different from how things had been before.
The two of them eventually made their way to the Central Church—the massive cathedral where Marcus's statue still stood prominently. But there was something noticeably different here: there were far more people present than there used to be.
In the past, although the Central Church had been considered sacred ground in the hearts of Gotham's citizens—a spiritual pure land in the middle of their dark city—most people actually didn't come to this specific church very often.
The people who'd really come to the Central Church had been those sincerely seeking redemption and repentance. The majority of Gotham's citizens had regarded this church as genuinely holy—the purest place in their hearts.
They hadn't wanted the filth and darkness they carried in their own souls to pollute that sacred space. So instead, they would gather at the edges of Central Church's grounds, or go to other, lesser churches throughout Gotham to worship.
But now, everything had changed dramatically. There were significantly more people inside the Central Church itself. They seemed to have set aside their previous reverence and awe, treating this church like any other ordinary place of worship.
"This is..." Bruce began, noticing the shift in atmosphere.
"These are changes brought about by altering time," Marcus explained. "Although the church building itself still exists, it's clear that the people of Gotham no longer regard this place as sacred and untouchable the way they once did."
Faced with such fundamental changes to something so important to Gotham's spiritual landscape, Marcus wasn't particularly surprised. Changing time always came with consequences—unavoidable ripple effects that had to be accepted. No one could avoid that fundamental rule.
Passing through the crowd of worshippers, they walked into the church together and sat down quietly in the last row of pews.
From their position, they could see that a large cross now stood prominently on the raised platform at the center of the church. A priest stood beneath that cross, reading passages from the Bible aloud for everyone gathered.
"It's changed," Bruce noted quietly. "There was no cross on that platform before. Just your statue."
The changes within the church helped Bruce understand more concretely what Marcus had meant. This was the true nature of change after altering time—subtle shifts in how people thought, what they believed, what they held sacred.
"Well, since you already know exactly who your real opponents are, you should prepare yourself to fight against them," Marcus said, standing up from the pew. "As for all these other changes, you'll gradually discover them over time."
Marcus smiled and walked out of the church calmly. This wasn't the first time he'd personally faced the consequences of changing time. Back in the mutant world, Charles and the other X-Men had sent Logan back into the past to accomplish the incredible feat of reversing a catastrophic future—all in order to save themselves and their entire species.
But the cost of changing time was never small or simple. Maybe things seemed profitable in the short term, but what would happen in the future became even more uncontrollable and unpredictable.
Just like with Apocalypse in the mutant world—in the original timeline trajectory, he hadn't resurrected at all. He'd never built that special pyramid in Cairo that used sunlight as an energy source. But once the timeline changed, suddenly he was there, creating entirely new threats.
Although Bruce hadn't changed the future of the entire world the way Charles and his team had, many things within Gotham had still been fundamentally altered. As the Dark Knight of Gotham, Bruce would have to face and deal with the consequences of these changes going forward.
When Bruce returned to Wayne Manor later, he found Marcus already lounging comfortably on a recliner in the garden, casually basking in the afternoon sun.
"Here's some advice for you, kid," Marcus said without opening his eyes. "From now on, be careful of everything around you. Now that the threat of demons has been eliminated, new threats will be waiting for you to deal with."
At the same time Bruce was receiving that warning, somewhere deep beneath Gotham's streets, a group of people worked busily in a secret underground hall. Above them on a raised observation platform, a group of figures wearing elaborate masks watched the workers below with intense interest.
"We only have Amber Gold and the Dionysus Factor in our possession right now," one masked figure said. "We need more materials if we want to make that return to us."
"We'll find what we need," another assured them confidently. "Once we've collected enough of the special metals, our plan can finally begin in earnest."
The group of masked conspirators smiled at each other knowingly, their eyes gleaming with fanatical enthusiasm behind their masks.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, Barry was out chasing down some rebellious metahumans when he noticed something odd. Everyone he encountered seemed unusually curious about his ring—staring at it, asking questions about it. The reaction confused him significantly.
"That's strange," Barry muttered to himself, glancing down at the Incinerator ring on his finger. "They obviously know what Incinerator rings are... so why are they so surprised that I'm wearing one?"
Barry looked at the ring in puzzlement for another moment, then shook his head and refocused on his mission. His body became a blur of white lightning as his speed increased dramatically, rushing toward his target location.
After the demon problem had been completely solved, Marcus stayed on the Kent farm for several more peaceful days, enjoying the simple rural lifestyle. Then he said his farewells to everyone and prepared to continue his journey through the multiverse.
"Ahh~ I've rested for quite a long time now," Marcus said, stretching luxuriously aboard his Railjack. "It's definitely time to take action again."
After finishing his stretch, Marcus looked toward the detention area where the imprisoned Kryptonians were being held.
Hmph.
Marcus's expression shifted to something more serious as he regarded Zod and the other captured Kryptonians.
"Ha! We meet again," he said, his tone deliberately light and somewhat mocking.
His casual attitude was clearly intended to provoke a reaction, but Zod and the others completely ignored him. They'd been imprisoned on this ship for weeks now, subjected to various forms of psychological torture. Their spirits were nearly broken.
After all, Will—the ship's AI who'd been transformed by the Supreme Intelligence—was exceptionally skilled at this kind of mental and emotional manipulation.
"Well, not going to talk to me?" Marcus said with an amused smile, not remotely bothered by their silence. "You know, speaking of which, we actually have a bit of a connection, you and I."
As soon as those words left his mouth, Marcus's eyes suddenly lit up brilliant red. Twin beams of heat vision released instantly, exactly like a Kryptonian's power.
Seeing this display, all the previously silent Kryptonians reacted immediately. They looked up at Marcus with sudden intense interest, something indefinable flashing in their eyes.
Obviously, they now regarded Marcus as one of their own people—or at least related to Kryptonians somehow. After all, aside from Kryptonians themselves, they'd never encountered any other species that possessed these same abilities.
"It seems you understand now," Marcus said, seeing their reaction and smiling with satisfaction.
Setting aside the fact that they'd wanted to terraform Earth and create a new Krypton at humanity's expense, these Kryptonians were actually decent people at their core. They were just desperately trying to save their species.
"How about we make a deal?" Marcus proposed. "I'll trade with you for the Kryptonian Codex."
He had no intention of killing General Zod and his soldiers. They were only after the Kryptonian Codex because it represented their species' survival—as long as the Codex existed, Kryptonians wouldn't truly go extinct.
Marcus had already copied all of Clark's genetic information through advanced gene templates. Those templates effectively contained all the information from the Kryptonian Codex—he just needed to decode and organize it properly.
Sure enough, after hearing Marcus's words, Zod's head suddenly snapped up. He clearly hadn't expected that he might still have a chance to obtain the Codex.
"What do you want us to do?" Zod asked carefully, his voice hoarse from disuse.
"It's simple," Marcus explained. "Clark is my godson. I'll never let you go back to Earth to cause trouble for him. So instead, I'm going to take you to several different worlds. If you're willing to establish yourselves and survive in one of those places, then you can go free with the Codex.
Of course, that's not the entirety of our deal. I also want complete access to all Kryptonian technology, and I need the precise coordinates of Krypton's remains."
Marcus was genuinely curious about just how powerful Kryptonian technology really was. After all, Krypton had been a planet that used pure technology to compete directly with Darkseid's Apokolips—one of the most feared forces in multiple universes.
Yes, as the tyrannical ruler across numerous realities, Darkseid and his planet Apokolips wielded truly massive power. But even such an overwhelmingly strong conqueror hadn't been able to do anything to Krypton when it existed. That said something profound about Kryptonian capabilities.
As for why Marcus wanted the coordinates of Krypton's remains, that was more straightforward.
The World Engine had been absolutely full of Green Kryptonite, and Marcus had already completed extracting all of it. But the actual wreckage of Krypton's exploded planet wouldn't only contain Green Kryptonite—there would be other variants of the mineral scattered throughout the debris field.
Marcus planned to collect all those different types of Kryptonite. He could use them to create more Aya Essence, which would let him upgrade more of his Warframes to Prime status.
Marcus's demands weren't excessive at all, at least from General Zod's perspective.
Nothing was more worthwhile than exchanging Kryptonian technology—which could theoretically be rebuilt or redeveloped—for the irreplaceable Kryptonian Codex.
As long as the Kryptonian people could multiply and grow their population again, they would sooner or later surpass their current technological level anyway. The Kryptonian people were the real foundation—the actual roots of their civilization. Everything else was secondary.
Zod agreed to Marcus's proposal without much hesitation. He actually felt like Marcus's requests were surprisingly modest given what was being offered in return, but he didn't raise any objections or try to negotiate. After all, this deal was incredibly beneficial for the Kryptonians.
And Marcus didn't particularly care about seeming too generous. He could make numerous copies of the Kryptonian Codex to trade with Zod and other Kryptonian survivors if he ever encountered them, and he'd still gain far more than he gave away.
Once he obtained full Kryptonian technology, he wouldn't just be able to create specialized Kryptonians with different engineered functions—he'd also gain entirely new inspiration from studying their tech, making everything he already mastered significantly stronger.
It was difficult to define who would actually profit more from this transaction in the long run. But Marcus could be absolutely certain of one thing: he would definitely never lose on this deal.
Soon after their agreement was finalized, General Zod and the other Kryptonian prisoners were released from their detention cells. They all changed into proper clothing that Will had prepared for them. From this point forward, they would travel to different worlds with Marcus, serving as crew members aboard his ship.
Of course, when they first regained their freedom, a few of them briefly considered attacking Marcus—trying to seize control of the spacecraft and steal the Kryptonian Codex by force.
But when they attempted to activate their superhuman Kryptonian abilities, they discovered something shocking: their incredible physiques had completely disappeared. Now they might be slightly stronger than ordinary humans, but not by much—certainly not enough to fight effectively.
Discovering this sobering reality, they could only accept their circumstances and choose to obey Marcus's orders, at least until they completed their end of the deal.
"Will, set course for Krypton's coordinates!" Marcus commanded.
As soon as his voice sounded, the Railjack's engines began powering up to full capacity. The ship accelerated rapidly, then punched through the fabric of spacetime and disappeared completely from that region of space.
Reality seemed to blur and shift around them. When everyone's vision finally cleared and stabilized, they found themselves surrounded by a vast field of asteroids.
"We're back..." General Zod murmured quietly, staring at the dense asteroid belt surrounding them with profound emotion.
This asteroid belt was Krypton—or rather, what remained of their home planet after its catastrophic explosion decades ago.
"So this is Krypton? It actually looks pretty impressive," Marcus said, his eyes beginning to glow as he channeled void power through them.
With his enhanced vision, he could see the entire asteroid field in perfect detail. And what he saw made him extremely satisfied.
In his perception, this asteroid belt was brilliantly colorful—not just the expected red and green Kryptonite, but also smaller amounts of gold and silver variants, and even other colors scattered throughout the debris field. There was an incredible variety of different Kryptonite types here.
"This is really hitting the jackpot!" Marcus said with genuine excitement.
So many different types of Kryptonite could provide him with massive amounts of Aya Essence. His collection of Warframes was about to receive a major upgrade.
Under Will's precise control, the Railjack deployed numerous tractor beams that began systematically collecting various types of Kryptonite from the asteroid field. Meanwhile, Zod and his team took shuttles to explore the larger pieces of wreckage—the remains of Kryptonian installations where they'd worked for thirty years before Krypton's destruction.
They carefully loaded all the Kryptonian equipment they could salvage onto transport shuttles, which then ferried everything back to the Railjack's cargo holds.
Time passed surprisingly quickly. After the Railjack collected the last identified type of Kryptonite from the field, Zod and his team also finished transporting all the recovered equipment aboard.
"Since everything's finished, let's get moving!" Marcus said, looking at the assembled Kryptonians with a satisfied smile.
Then, in the shocked and amazed eyes of Zod and the others, the entire Railjack became wrapped in swirling void energy. The ship suddenly accelerated and plunged directly into the void between dimensions.
This time, Marcus deliberately didn't choose a specific world to target. He planned to find a suitable reality more or less at random, then spend time properly digesting and studying everything now stored aboard his ship.
Without any specific instructions from Marcus, the Railjack flew through the howling void for a while, simply cruising between dimensions. Then it suddenly locked onto a world emitting interesting fluctuations and rushed directly toward it.
When the protective void energy surrounding the Railjack finally dissipated, they emerged into what appeared to be a completely dead universe.
"This is..." Marcus frowned slightly, confused.
He'd expected to appear near some planet or solar system, but instead they were in the middle of absolutely empty space. It was the first time he'd encountered a situation quite like this.
"Crew, we're going to need to search for planets suitable for you," Marcus announced, then turned toward the central hub where Will's interface was displayed. "Go to full speed and locate the nearest planet showing signs of life."
Under his command, the Railjack began traveling rapidly through this universe, jumping from region to region. But compared to the truly vast scale of the universe itself, even the ship's impressive speed seemed insignificant. They jumped countless times, covering enormous distances, but there was still only dead silence surrounding them—no planets, no stars, nothing but empty void.
Fortunately, none of the crew particularly cared about the delay. The Kryptonians were busy completing their end of the deal with Marcus, carefully repairing and cataloging all the Kryptonian mechanical equipment they'd brought aboard from the wreckage.
Seeing how seriously everyone was working on restoring the Kryptonian equipment, Marcus nodded approvingly. He picked up a piece of red Kryptonite about half a meter long and settled in to work on his own project.
Void power surged out from his palm, completely wrapping around the huge chunk of red Kryptonite. The unique energy contained within it began being extracted at an incredible rate. A light blue droplet of pure Aya Essence slowly formed and grew in the air before him.
As time passed, Marcus's personal aura became noticeably stronger and more potent, while the Kryptonite in his hand gradually transformed into nothing but ordinary stone—all its special properties completely drained away.
"Done! This single piece was enough to create one complete Aya," Marcus said with satisfaction, examining the glowing droplet. "That's excellent news for my plans."
Just as he finished speaking, Will's synthesized voice suddenly announced: "Commander, I've detected a star system ahead. Do you want to proceed and enter?"
"Enter! Of course we're entering," Marcus said immediately. "This is a perfect opportunity to figure out what kind of universe this actually is."
After receiving Marcus's order, Will adjusted course and the Railjack rushed directly toward the target star system at maximum speed.
No matter what condition this star system was in, it wouldn't be a real problem for Marcus and General Zod. Between them, they had the knowledge and power to transform even a completely barren planet into one suitable for sustaining life.
The Railjack—officially designated the Dark Aster—suddenly accelerated even further and entered the star system in the blink of an eye.
"Planet with active life signs detected," Will reported. "Preparing to enter approach vector."
Along with Will's announcement, the Railjack began moving toward the planet showing biological activity. After engaging full stealth mode to avoid detection, the ship began descending rapidly through the atmosphere.
Marcus and all his companions moved to the observation windows to see what lay below. Through the Railjack's viewports, they could clearly observe the planet's surface.
And what they saw was intense warfare. A fierce battle was currently raging across the landscape below them.