"Absolutely not."
Viktor completely skipped over Shazam and looked straight at Batman, raising both hands and making a crossed "X" gesture.
The excitent on Shazam’s face froze instantly and was replaced by annoyance.
Lately, he’d been ignored by all sorts of people far too many tis, and it had seriously gotten on his nerves.
"Hey!"
"Hey—look over here!"
Shazam flashed right in front of Viktor, snapped his fingers twice quickly, then waved his hand back and forth.
"Dude, I know you’re strong, but why do you keep ignoring just like everyone else? You’re not doing so kind of ’big guy discrimination’ thing, are you?"
Shazam’s huge hand kept waving right in front of Viktor’s face, and he had no choice but to look at him.
A hint of helplessness appeared in Viktor’s expression.
Reverse-Flash clearly knew Shazam’s full story, and he just stood off to the side with his hands on his hips, watching the show.
"We’re going to a world that is about to be completely destroyed, to face a bunch of absolutely, utterly desperate and lunatics who will do anything just to survive."
Viktor tried to describe just how serious the situation was, hoping Shazam would realize it was too dangerous and back off.
"You’re a superhero. You’ve only ever dealt with criminals and supervillains. But you’ve never seen how much power a whole civilization can squeeze out right before it dies. You have no idea what kinds of thods they’re willing to use to survive—things you couldn’t even imagine in your entire lifeti."
"When you stop a criminal, they only lose their freedom for a while. When you take down supervillains, you only force them to pause in carrying out their insane plans."
"But where we’re going next... We’ll be facing the last survivors of a civilization who have absolutely nothing left to lose unless they fight everything they have, or die forever."
He stepped forward and poked his finger right into the lightning symbol on Shazam’s chest.
The crackling magical lightning reacted violently and fiercely in response, but Viktor acted like he didn’t feel a thing.
However, Viktor didn’t feel a thing at all.
Shazam’s expression went a little blank.
Even though he was taller than Viktor and about three tis as wide, the pressure coming off Viktor forced him to stumble back several steps.
"That place is a parallel universe. What if you see the person you love most in this world... or even another version of yourself? They might be on the opposite side from us. And to stop you from saving the Flash and to stop you from taking what little hope they have left, they raise their weapons and charge at you. Can you strike them? Can you summon your magic lightning against them—or your own face?"
Shazam’s mouth opened and closed dryly. He stared blankly at him, then glanced toward Reverse-Flash.
Viktor could tell at a glance that Shazam was still trying to argue and wanted to throw the sa question at him and Reverse-Flash.
"What are you trying to say?"
Viktor asked with a cold laugh, spreading both hands and pointing first at himself, then at Reverse-Flash.
"An outsider and a man from the future. We can attack them without any hesitation whatsoever."
Just as Viktor thought he’d completely persuaded Shazam, a strange clarity flickered in the big guy’s eyes.
"Then maybe that’s exactly why Batman called over: to stop you two from just destroying that entire world because it’s the easiest way to get what you want."
Viktor was stunned and looked over at Batman with genuine confusion.
Batman’s deep voice echoed through the cave.
"I said it from the beginning... I’m here to make sure to prevent you from wiping out that world just to reach your goal."
Initially, Viktor almost couldn’t stop himself from swearing.
What Batman said was completely absurd.
In the face of a survival crisis between two worlds, how could this man be so soft-hearted?
Then Viktor thought of a terrifying possibility.
After a brief hesitation, Viktor reached into his jacket and pulled out the letter he had been planning to delay for a few more days before handing it over.
"How many surveillance devices did you install in tropolis?"
Batman remained silent, but his gaze finally locked firmly onto the envelope.
Viktor swore this was the first ti he had ever seen this man lose composure like this.
He held the envelope in his fingers.
A thousand complicated feelings and questions swirled through his mind, and in the end, they all ca out as one quiet, silent sigh.
He handed the envelope to Bruce.
"You knew that world had your father and mother... and you still agreed to let and Reverse-Flash go there to take the Flash?"
Batman silently took the letter.
Then, Batman reached into his suit and pulled out a brand new envelope, handing it to him along with four devices shaped like wristwatches.
"Initially, I only considered it as a possibility until I saw you receive this letter. And yes. These are locator devices that carry signals linked to this world. If any of you end up in a truly hopeless situation, you can activate your own locator device first, and I will pull you back directly."
"So you’re not being soft-hearted... you’re a lunatic who’s like a million tis more ssed up than !"
Viktor tucked the envelope from Bruce safely inside his jacket, held the four watch devices in his hand, and then took two steps back.
’Seriously... Bruce was personally sending two "killers" into a world where his parents, whom he had wanted back his whole life, were still alive.’
’Even if they were just alternate versions.’
He couldn’t imagine himself ever being able to do sothing like that. He turned around and looked at Reverse-Flash.
Reverse-Flash’s expression was unreadable. He just silently mouthed a single word at him.
"Monster."
Surprisingly, Batman’s voice ca from behind Viktor and was quiet enough that only super hearing could barely catch it.
"Bring the Flash back... but don’t destroy that world ahead of ti. Can you do that?"
This ti, Viktor stayed silent for a very long while.
’Saving the Flash and completely destroying that world... didn’t really seem all that different to .’
"Fine, but let make this clear first. If Shazam insists on coming along and ends up holding us back in any way, I won’t hesitate to abandon him."
Shazam’s voice ca back quickly.
"I’m already ready."
He clicked his tongue and tossed one of the wristwatch-like devices to Shazam.
Reverse-Flash finally stepped onto the Cosmic Treadmill.
As the Reverse-Flash sprinted, red lightning began to flash again and again, illuminating the Batcave so thoroughly that every detail stood out.
Viktor’s eyes drifted, looking around the space without really focusing on anything.
After his gaze briefly passed over Batman and saw him still gripping the envelope covered in blood tightly, Viktor suddenly felt sothing he’d never felt toward this ordinary man before.
Then a portal appeared in the center where all the energy was gathering, torn open by the Speed Force, like a doorway to another world.
They waited until the portal fully stabilized.
Once the portal fully stabilized, the Batcave’s energy systems took over to keep it open, and Reverse-Flash instantly jumped off the Cosmic Treadmill.
Viktor tossed out the second watch device.
Shazam’s tone shifted back to his usual big, optimistic self as he patted Viktor on the shoulder.
"Let’s go."
Before he silently stepped through the portal, Viktor couldn’t help but ask one final question to Batman, who stood there like a statue.
"You know that if you replaced with basically anyone else, they’d only focus on completing the mission to bring the Flash back. Sending Shazam to keep an eye on is completely pointless."
"But only you could bring the Flash back from that world without a single mont of hesitation. Even if an entire planet knelt and begged you, you still wouldn’t soften up even the tiniest bit."
Batman’s voice was cold.
"The other mbers let their emotions get in the way, and that could end up causing unnecessary risk and damage to our world."
...
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