It was far easier to traverse within the same omni-universe. Energy consumption was minimal, and the transition between worlds felt no longer than the reach of an arm. Even when crossing the void between different realities, Malrick could keep his eyes open and admire the shifting patterns of light and energy that danced through the void.
This time, the timeline jump was incredibly precise. Upon landing in the DCEU Universe, Malrick and Tony Stark materialized inside a quiet coffee shop. None of the customers noticed a man and a suit of armor suddenly appear among them. Their attention was fixed on the television mounted above the counter.
The screen flickered with static before revealing a shadowy figure.
"Earthlings, you may call me General Zod,"
"I come from a planet far beyond your stars."
"One of my kind hides among you, and I demand that you surrender them to me."
The message echoed across every screen on Earth. General Zod, a Kryptonian, had hijacked all communication networks to issue a global ultimatum—demanding the surrender of Superman.
Malrick glanced at the television, a faint smirk crossing his face. "Well, looks like I arrived right on cue." He remembered how this part of history was supposed to unfold—Zod forcing Clark Kent to reveal himself, attempting to extract the life codex from him, and then starting to terraform Earth.
Malrick rotated his wrist, already planning to intervene. Helping Superman would certainly earn him a valuable favor.
But then, Zod's next words caught him off guard.
"Kara Zor-El, you have twenty-four hours to surrender. If you refuse, this planet will suffer because of you."
The message cut out, leaving every screen in the coffee shop black. For a few seconds, there was only silence. Then chaos erupted—people shouting, panicking, and scrambling to make sense of what they had just seen.
Malrick's thoughts churned. "Wait a minute... Kara Zor-El? Why is he calling for Superman's cousin instead of Clark?"
Realization struck him like lightning. He hadn't landed in the original DCEU timeline. This was the rebooted universe created by The Flash.
Letting his enhanced senses flow freely, Malrick expanded his awareness. His vision and hearing stretched across continents, gathering information like a supercomputer. Across the world, countless details flooded his mind:
On Themyscira, Diana lay in the grass, lazily pulling at blades of grass while muttering about where Malrick was. In Central City, Barry Allen—the Flash—was holding his head in despair, shouting, "It's over!"
There was no sign of Cyborg, Superman, or Aquaman anywhere. No doubt about it—this was the rebooted world from The Flash.
"So, I messed up from the very beginning," Malrick muttered, rubbing his chin. "But no matter. I can still get the life codex here."
He recalled the events of The Flash's altered timeline. Barry Allen's mother had been murdered when he was a child. His father, the only other person present, was convicted of the crime after failing to provide an alibi.
Years later, Barry tried to restore an old surveillance tape to clear his father's name, but the footage failed to show his father's face. Desperate, Barry turned to the Speed Force, traveling back in time to prevent his mother's death by simply adding ketchup to her shopping cart—stopping his father from ever leaving home.
But in doing so, he fractured reality. He returned to a world where another version of himself existed, one that lived happily with both parents—but a world missing its heroes. No Wonder Woman, no Superman… only Kara Zor-El, trapped and weakened in a Siberian prison for over a decade. The only Batman left was an older, retired version of Bruce Wayne.
Together, Barry and Batman eventually freed Kara and fought Zod—but no matter how many times they tried, they couldn't win. So Barry restarted the world again, undoing his meddling… almost. He made one small adjustment—he moved the ketchup from the fourth shelf to the top shelf. This time, when his father reached up to grab it, his face appeared clearly on camera. The footage became his alibi, setting him free.
But the world still rebooted. Batman changed. Superman changed. Everything was subtly… different.
Malrick frowned, remembering his actions in the 1920s. His fingers froze mid-thought. Could this world's divergence be… because of him?
Then, through his super-hearing, he caught the voice of Barry Allen, yelling in frustration from Central City. "Wha—what the hell happened to this world!?"
Barry was furious, and Malrick couldn't blame him. The timeline was completely warped.
During World War I, a massive natural disaster had reshaped the first island chain in the Western Pacific, wiping out every settlement there. Five years later, global powers fought over the newly formed land—until a powerful Eastern nation suddenly rose to dominance. Armed with exoskeleton battle suits, their soldiers conquered the continent and established the Eurasian Alliance.
Decades later, only the United States stood apart. Ten years ago, Lex Luthor led America back to independence, becoming President and turning the nation into a military superpower. His reckless detonations of nuclear bombs along the coastlines had forced the Alliance to limit its aggression.
But another power—Atlantis—had grown restless. Tired of humanity's pollution and destruction, King Orm raised the trident of war. A monstrous tsunami rose from the Eastern Pacific, crashing into the U.S. coastline and wiping out hundreds of thousands of lives.
The world was once again on the brink of chaos. And Malrick stood at its center—realizing that the universe he'd landed in was far more unstable than he ever anticipated.
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