"What?"
"Are you insane?"
When they heard Batman's words, everyone, heroes and villains alike, suddenly stood up.
Even members of the Justice League, who usually stood by him, looked shocked and doubtful.
"I'm sorry, Bat, but this time I can't agree with you."
"We just fought them, nearly killed six of their people!"
"And they, in turn, captured Aquaman and Flash!"
"Even Superman…"
At the mention of that name, everyone fell silent. Even the villains couldn't believe what had happened. No one wanted to admit that Superman was dead.
He was a god on Earth.
Hope in the darkest of times.
Even Lex Luthor, Superman's sworn enemy, was now silently praying he was still alive.
"I know you all have doubts," said Batman calmly.
"But we have no other choice."
"Our only trump card, the Power Gem has been stolen."
His voice echoed quietly, but clearly.
Everyone felt the gravity of the situation.
"If we no longer have the power to threaten Marvel, if we're no longer equals…"
"That means they no longer see us as a threat."
"In that case," he continued, "maybe we'll finally have a chance to talk. To negotiate."
Silence.
Everyone understood, his logic was brutal but true.
The long-standing mistrust between the two universes was based on one simple principle: both sides had the power to destroy each other.
When two forces possess absolute weapons, neither honesty nor cooperation means anything.
Every word becomes a weapon.
Every sentence becomes suspicion.
Whether you speak the truth or lie, the other side will think it's manipulation.
But if the balance of power collapses, if one side becomes absolutely stronger, then the possibility of negotiation arises.
Of course…
that possibility exists only if the victor wants to listen.
"What if Marvel doesn't want to negotiate at all?"
"What if they destroy us immediately?" asked Lex Luthor, arms crossed.
His expression was icy, but the question was real.
Because he knew, when you hold absolute power, why would you listen to the weak?
The strong crush the weak.
The powerful rule the powerless.
Capital oppresses labor.
The world always follows the same path, that was Luthor's belief.
But Batman interrupted him with a single question:
"Do we even have another option?"
Lex fell silent.
Batman then placed an old comic book on the table, Avengers Vol. 1, faded with age and use.
He opened it, looked at the cover, and said quietly:
"Besides… they're superheroes. Just like us."
When he said that, silence filled the Fortress of Solitude.
Everyone stared at him.
His cold, sharp gaze lingered on Luthor.
He said nothing more, but his eyes spoke instead:
You will never understand. That's why you'll never be a hero.
Lex Luthor lowered his head.
He had no answer.
And deep down, he knew Batman wasn't wrong.
When the end of the world comes, everyone would rather have a protector guarding the shelter, not a tyrant deciding who lives.
Someone who would choose hope over power.
And now, as he stood among the ruins of civilization, Lex Luthor was the one left outside, and in his mind, honestly, perhaps for the first time in his life, a wish was born that heroes still existed.
"So… who will negotiate?" he asked quietly.
The doubts vanished.
The plan was set.
But now a new question arose.
Who would take that risk?
"Not me," said Black Adam, shaking his head.
"I almost killed Captain America and Hulk in the last battle. If I go to Marvel, they'll kill me before I even speak."
The others remained silent.
No one wanted to volunteer.
Because they all knew, this was a mission without guarantees.
No promise of return.
No promise anyone would listen.
Batman broke the silence.
"The plan I proposedm I'll carry it out. I'm going."
"I'm coming too!"
Diana stood up firmly.
Her eyes burned.
As long as there was a chance to save what she had lost, her mother, Themyscira,
she was ready to pay any price.
"I… I won't go."
Dr. Fate spoke softly.
"Someone must stay here. The Fortress and the Third Mother Box must not fall."
Everyone nodded.
Because if that last box fell, Earth would have no future left.
"Then it's decided."
"Diana and I will go to the Marvel Universe, and this side will be in your hands!"
Before leaving, Batman's eyes swept over every face present.
Facing the threat of world annihilation, he knew that everyone still fighting, hero or villain, was worthy of respect.
But there was one exception.
"Joker."
The moment he stepped toward the portal, for the first time in his heart, Batman felt the desire to kill.
He had given that clown countless chances.
Countless opportunities for redemption.
But every time, the same result.
A clown remains a clown.
His madness and evil are not things that can be understood, much less corrected.
It's his nature, something carved into his bones.
No matter how the world changes, even if everything disappears, Joker will always be Joker.
He will never stand on the side of justice.
Because chaos is his only truth.
…
Batman stepped into the portal, carrying both hatred and calm within him.
But his vow never to kill, still survived.
Because the Avengers, on the other side of the portal, have no such "no-kill" code.
When Joker arrives in the Marvel Universe and kills his first victim, his fate is already sealed.
---
Not long after.
On the battlefield of New York, Tony Stark reappeared.
Ares, Hercules, and Hulk, the three strongest fighters among the Avengers — took their positions.
Joker, with only one Infinity Gem, had no chance of defeating them.
His power was immense, but unstable, wild and erratic.
Hawkeye, Daredevil, Tekken, and the others kept constant pressure on him.
Hawkeye continuously fired arrows from cover, each at a perfect angle, each aimed at Joker's head.
"Oh, why is everyone so hostile?"
"Can't we just talk nicely? Hahahaha!"
Joker laughed and turned toward Hulk.
He swung an improvised weapon and unleashed a wave of purple energy.
But at that moment, one of Hawkeye's explosive arrows hit him square in the left shoulder.
Boom——!
With a deafening explosion, Joker fell to the ground.
His left shoulder was blown apart bl,ood and smoke spreading in all directions.
"Pay for your murders!"
Ares seized the opportunity, leapt high, and swung his massive tomahawk, cutting the clown from shoulder to waist.
"I kill for pleasure!" he roared.
Joker raised his hand, and a purple explosion erupted from it.
The Power Gem's force hurled Ares into the air like a rag doll.
But he had no time to laugh.
Tony Stark had already returned to the battlefield.
His repulsor cannons on both palms glowed red and blue.
"Let's see how much you can take, clown!"
A flash of light.
A powerful blast struck Joker in the chest and sent him flying backward.
The clown crashed into the ruins.
"Looks like someone knows how to talk big but not how to fight," Tony said sarcastically, lowering his armored arms.
He was right.
With the Power Gem, Joker had become powerful, but not skilled.
His madness gave him no technique.
Only uncontrollable destruction.
"Ha… hahaha…"
Joker lifted his head, blood dripping from his chin, but the laughter didn't stop.
As if he didn't feel pain.
As if the chaos delighted him.
"Come on… let's play some more!"
He raised his hand.
Tony instinctively thought Joker would attack again.
But he didn't.
The clown turned his hand toward the crowd of civilians in the distance.
Boom——!
The Power Gem's energy obliterated a nearby skyscraper.
The building collapsed, thousands of tons of concrete crashing down toward the people below.
"The name of the game is… 'How many can you save?'" Joker laughed as he watched the chaos.
"Fun, isn't it?"
"Hahahaha…"