The Moon.
Although Attilan's prison was heavily damaged in the previous battle, the cells made of vibranium remained intact.
Supergiant, Red Skull, Aquaman, and Flash, all had been relocated to another detention zone.
Arthur Curry, better known as Aquaman, sat lifelessly on the cold floor.
Prolonged psychological torture had pushed him to the brink of collapse.
"Imperial Jade Liquor…"
The silence was broken by Supergiant's voice from the neighboring cell.
Aquaman instinctively knew what was coming next.
"180 cups."
As soon as those words were spoken, Red Skull from the opposite cell sank into even deeper despair.
"It's over. Another lunatic…"
"And what do you think about this wine…"
"Let me show you what I think."
Aquaman and Supergiant began a dialogue without restraint.
They exchanged words as if exhausting a thousand-year-old culture from a forgotten world.
Only the cell next door, where Flash was held, remained silent.
"Barry?" Aquaman called out to him once, then again.
There was no answer.
Concerned, Arthur quickly stood and peered through the slit in his cell door.
"Barry, can you hear me? Are you all right?"
His voice reached Flash, Barry Allen who stood frozen, bewildered.
He looked at his hands, eyes filled with shock… and excitement.
"Finally… power!"
Barry's fingers trembled slightly.
A faint red spark flickered between them.
A sign of hope.
As the two universes began merging, the laws of the DC world penetrated into the Marvel one.
Speed, a concept that had existed only within the Speed Force of the DC Universe, could now be felt here.
Still weak, but present.
Enough for Barry to sense… possibility.
"Maybe I can get out of here on my own."
Flash raised his head. Faith burned in his eyes.
Red energy flared in his pupils.
The next instant, Barry began to run, within a cell smaller than three square meters.
At first slowly. Cautiously.
But soon his body was enveloped in the familiar glow of lightning.
"Hahaha…"
Barry laughed.
He stopped.
Stared at the cell door, the vibranium barrier that not even Superman could break.
"I have to be faster!"
"So fast that I can adjust the vibration frequency of my body to phase through the molecular structure of this wall."
He took a deep breath.
He knew this was almost impossible. He wasn't at the peak of his powers. Not yet.
But he had to try.
Not for himself.
For Superman.
For the entire DC Universe.
"Run, Barry! Run!"
He spoke the words out loud.
Memories, motivation, fear, and hope, all converged in that moment.
His eyes were steel.
Among DC fans, there's a saying: "When things are fine – Superman. When it's dangerous – Batman. When all is lost – Flash."
And now…
Barry decided to prove it wasn't just a phrase.
"Go!!"
He started running, faster and faster.
The cell grew tighter, but he didn't stop.
His body began to vibrate.
He became blurrier, like a reflection on water.
His outline blended with the space around him.
His fingers touched the barrier.
Red lightning flashed.
It could not be contained.
…
New York.
The clown, Joker, holding the Power Gem was at his peak.
With this cosmic power in his grasp, Joker finally had the strength to carry out every madness he had ever imagined.
"Hahahahaha…"
The laughing clown raised his hand and unleashed a wave of energy directly at Tony and the others.
Faced with the raw power of the Power Gem, no one dared to be careless.
Tony immediately activated his defense system, his left armor deployed a transparent energy shield.
It wasn't an ordinary shield.
Created through the advanced fusion of Stark's genius and the latest Wakandan technology.
Stronger than standard Wakandan personal shields. Faster. More durable.
But…
Before the Power Gem…
Boom——!
The energy shield shattered as if made of glass!
The energy blast struck Tony with full force.
It hurled him hundreds of meters away, crashing through a building before he finally stopped.
"Ugh… thankfully… I always use the best there is."
Though knocked down, Tony quickly got back on his feet.
He had long since learned his lesson and reinforced his combat armor with vibranium.
Not pure, but the alloy was effective.
"Incredible… The Justice League on the other side really let someone like him get their hands on a Gem."
He brushed the dust off his shoulder, commenting, thinking of Joker, a villain without superpowers now wielding one of the most dangerous weapons in the multiverse.
"I suppose Bruce Wayne's too ashamed to show his face right now, huh?"
Tony merely shrugged and returned to the fight.
… …
Meanwhile, in the DC Universe.
While Tony tossed sarcastic remarks, his favorite rival, Batman had no time to eat or feel shame.
Because, compared to the lost Gem, he had a much bigger problem.
Earth was on the brink of extinction.
Atlantis, without Aquaman to defend it, had fallen before Steppenwolf's hordes.
The first Mother Box, captured.
Then Themyscira, the Amazon warriors, led by Queen Hippolyta, tried to resist.
But the elite Nemesis unit, led by Granny Goodness, overpowered them.
The second Mother Box, also lost.
Only one remained.
Hidden in the Fortress of Solitude, once Superman's final sanctuary.
There, everyone who could still stand had gathered, heroes and villains alike.
Many wounded. Many fallen.
The darkness of defeat cloaked the cold walls of the fortress.
Wonder Woman, Diana sat on the floor, silent. Her eyes cold.
Her mother, Hippolyta, had died trying to defend Themyscira.
She had fought six members of the Nemesis team.
One against six.
And fell.
Many others were dead or gravely injured.
Even villains, once sworn enemies, now stood among them.
King Shark was gravely wounded, his left arm barely reattached.
Green Arrow was stitching the wound.
That image, once unimaginable, now seemed, natural.
Together.
Without distinction.
Heroes and villains on the same side.
Because this was no longer a fight for ideology.
This was a fight for survival.
"I have a plan!"
Lex Luthor stood up.
Still with hair.
His proposal was shocking: Use Kryptonian technology from the Fortress to resurrect and modify the body of General Zod, which Superman had left behind.
"If we don't have Superman… let's create one!"
"I call it: Project Doomsday!"
The villains immediately supported the plan.
And even some heroes, desperate, had no better option.
"No…"
Then Batman spoke.
Quietly. Firmly.
He looked at them. Everyone was hurt. Everyone exhausted.
He himself still unscathed.
Why?
Because Batman never enters a fight without knowing the exit.
"Got a better plan, little bat?" asked Bane, his old enemy.
Without Superman, their chances were zero.
Because this wasn't an ordinary Steppenwolf invasion.
It was a coordinated operation.
Multiple generals of Apokolips.
Multiple armies.
One goal.
Erase Earth.
"I have a plan."
Batman stood up.
He looked at them all.
Took a deep breath.
And said:
"I'm going to ask for help… from the Marvel Universe."