"Move it! Move it! Keep up! Establish defensive positions!"
"Can someone tell me what's going on inside right now?"
Outside the White House, tank after tank had surrounded the building.
Two fighter jets roared back and forth overhead.
Just as this force was waiting for orders to engage, a sudden explosion erupted from inside the White House.
A stream of golden light shot diagonally into the sky from within the building, launching a figure out of the White House and sending them flying high into the air.
Right after that, the stream of light swelled and exploded. Fierce flames surged out like ocean waves from inside the White House, sweeping across the surroundings.
The entire building was flattened in the blast. Large and small chunks of stone whistled through the air above the soldiers and armored vehicles like cannon shells.
The explosion and smoke made the soldiers feel as if they had been thrown onto a battlefield. Most of them dropped flat onto the ground.
Only after the blast subsided did they lift their heads, clutching their helmets, and look ahead.
The White House complex was almost completely destroyed. The once beautiful and solemn buildings were now nothing but broken, charred walls.
Flames raged within the ruins. In this scene that looked like the end of the world, amid the rising black smoke, a figure rose into midair.
A red cape looked even more vivid under the glow of the fire, and the black suit reflected a metallic sheen.
The blond, blue-eyed man slowly flew out of the wreckage, his gaze indifferent as he looked around. Then beams shot out from his eyes, aimed straight at the army below.
At that moment, a figure suddenly flashed in front of the troops.
It was Wonder Woman Diana, who had just been blasted away by Alex's "heat vision".
Diana raised her round shield and blocked the golden beams, but she was still pushed back step by step by their force.
She planted the Godkiller sword into the ground at her feet, then removed the "Lasso of Truth" from her waist.
With a flick, she swung the glowing golden rope. With a whoosh, it wrapped around Alex's foot, and she flung him away.
Pulling back the lasso and grabbing her sword again, Diana shouted to the army behind her, "Get out of here! He's not an enemy you can handle!"
A military officer said stiffly, "Why should we follow your orders?"
Diana had no time to deal with them. With a shout, she leapt with all her strength, crossing hundreds of meters in an instant.
She thrust her sword toward Alex in midair.
Alex smiled. His body suddenly turned intangible, and Wonder Woman passed right through him.
He immediately shifted back to solid form and pointed at Diana. Several crimson bands of light, flickering with magical runes, coiled toward her.
In an instant, they wrapped around Wonder Woman.
Grabbing the "Crimson Bands of Cyttorak," Alex spun in place, whirling Diana around several times before hurling her away with force.
Wonder Woman shot off into the distance, turning into a tiny black dot.
Moments later, in the direction she had been thrown, all the windows on the upper floors of a skyscraper suddenly shattered.
Fragments of glass reflected the sunlight as they fell, glittering like a rain of light.
Seeing this, the officer from before immediately turned and shouted, "Retreat!"
"Retreat!"
At that moment, Batman Bruce's voice sounded from below Alex, "I don't understand. Why are you so set on disturbing Superman?"
"In his current state, if he chooses to withdraw, it benefits everyone."
Alex glanced down at Batman, "No, man."
"If he hides away and refuses to be seen, it'll send the wrong signal to certain… things."
Batman was about to ask what "things" he meant when, he felt the ground trembling slightly, as if a herd of mammoths were charging at full speed.
Bruce turned to look. In the distance, dust was rising. Within that cloud, Diana shot back like a cannonball, her Godkiller sword slashing toward the mysterious man in midair.
Alex didn't move. His figure became intangible again, like a ghost, letting Diana pass through him once more.
Diana landed, spun around sharply, "Move!"
Bruce had already reacted, using his grappling gun to pull himself away from the scene.
Behind him, Wonder Woman shouted and slammed her Bracelets of Submission together, producing a deep, resonant sound.
Buzz!
The space in front of Diana seemed to fold like an oil painting. It blurred, objects losing their boundaries.
It vibrated at extreme speed, tearing and destroying everything.
Yet just as Wonder Woman unleashed this shockwave, powerful enough to repel Doomsday, Alex had already vanished like a wisp of smoke, reappearing behind her.
He even had the leisure to lean in and take a sniff of Diana's hair before drifting backward, dodging the sweeping slash of her sword as she turned.
Diana was about to charge again when she heard Bruce call out, "Miss Prince, wait."
"I have something I want to ask him."
Diana glanced at Batman, then stopped, though she still held a combat stance.
Like a tigress.
Alex's gaze roamed freely over Diana's body, especially her long legs, a perfect display of athletic beauty.
"Sir, those 'certain things' you mentioned just now, what exactly are they?", Bruce asked.
Only then did Alex look away from Diana's pleasing legs. He smiled faintly and pointed to the sky.
"I'll give you a hint."
"Mother Boxes. Apokolips. Darkseid."
Batman looked completely confused.
Diana, however, froze for a moment, then gasped, "How do you know about that?"
Of course, Alex wasn't going to answer. He just gave her a look that said, figure it out yourself.
Seeing he wouldn't respond, Batman turned to Wonder Woman.
Diana explained briefly, "Darkseid is the ruler of Apokolips. A dark lord. A tyrant."
"He leads his army to conquer planet after planet. In ancient times, he once came to Earth."
"And he brought with him something called 'Mother Boxes.'"
"When the three Mother Boxes are united, they can form the Unity. They possess all kinds of abilities."
"Knowledge projection, energy transfer, gravity control, matter manipulation, and more."
"In that distant age, when Darkseid came to Earth, my people, along with the other life forms on this planet—"
"Humans, the Atlanteans, even gods and warriors from deep space—"
"All life united to fight him. Only after making great sacrifices did we succeed in driving him away."
"After that, the three Mother Boxes remained on Earth. One was kept by my people, one guarded by Atlantis, and the last entrusted to humans."
At this point, Diana paused and looked at Alex, "Are you saying that if Superman hides himself away, Darkseid might think there's no one left on Earth who can stop him?"
"That he'll come back?"
Alex tapped his temple, "I've been to the Kryptonian ship. I learned quite a bit in there."
"Some of that knowledge told me some interesting things."
"The Mother Boxes monitor Earth. Once there's no longer anything here that can threaten Darkseid, they'll send a signal to Apokolips."
"And then… someone will descend."
"So I think maybe Superman needs to act."
Batman finally pieced it together, "I see."
"But right now, Superman has no will to fight."
"Then give him one."
Alex crossed his arms and smiled, "For example… bring his lover back to life?"
Bruce looked dazed, as if hearing a fairy tale, "Maybe our technology can't achieve that."
Diana closed her eyes, "But a Mother Box can."
"It can alter all parameters of a living being. You can think of it as a god-level supercomputer."
"It can reshape reality. Naturally, it can bring the dead back to life."
'Exactly. So if you want Superman to pull himself together, you'll have to find the Mother Boxes.'
'That way, I'll have a chance to get my hands on the biggest cheat in the DC universe.'
'The Mother Box!'
A faint smile curved Alex's lips. This was his real goal.
As for whether Superman getting back on his feet would affect future events, like preventing the Justice League storyline from happening, Alex didn't really care.
As long as he got access to a Mother Box, his objective would already be achieved.
But at that moment, Diana said in a low voice, "No."
"If we use a Mother Box, how can we be sure it won't trigger something and summon Darkseid?"
"And besides, I don't think my people would be willing to hand it over."
Alex smiled, "First, there are three Mother Boxes, and humans have already used one."
"Mr. Bruce Wayne here should have seen the relevant data."
"Someone already used a Mother Box to give their son, who had only half a body left, a mechanical one."
Batman froze for a moment, then exclaimed softly, "In the metahuman files I gathered from Lex, I did see that report."
Alex nodded, then looked at Diana again, "Second, even if you don't use a Mother Box, Darkseid will come sooner or later."
"His claws will reach this planet. Do you think he'll forget that he left something important here?"
"So when he arrives, and we have no one capable of fighting him—"
"What could be worse than that?"
"I can't think of anything."
Batman looked at Diana, "I think he has a point. We can't be unprepared, Miss Prince."
"Call me Diana."
Wonder Woman turned to Alex, "And you? What should we call you?"
"John."
"Then finding the Mother Boxes, and helping Superman… we'll leave that to the two of you."
With that, Alex didn't linger. He rose into the air and flew off into the distance.
In the blink of an eye, he disappeared from Batman and Diana's sight.
The two exchanged a glance.
"I'll go find Superman. You track down the Mother Box that's already been used," Diana said.
Bruce nodded, agreeing to the division of labor. The two of them then left the White House by their own means.
Only after all three had gone did the army return. Looking at the White House reduced to ruins, they couldn't help but sigh.
In the past, they were the ones turning others into ruins.
This was the first time their own home had become one.
———
[Belle Reve Penitentiary]
Rain was falling. Amanda walked toward the entrance with an umbrella.
At the gate, the facility director greeted her with a smile, "Welcome to Belle Reve. Welcome, ma'am. How are you?"
Amanda glanced at the colonel beside her, "Skip the pleasantries. Where are the people I asked for?"
"They're all here."
A moment later, the black woman in a magenta suit walked into a room and looked down at an iron cage below.
Inside it was Harley Quinn.
Harley looked up, standing by the cage, "So you're the boss?"
Amanda glanced at her, "No incidents?"
Behind her, the facility supervisor hesitated, then said, "Before you arrived, a man appeared inside that crazy woman's cage."
"We don't know how he got there. It was like a magic trick, just appearing out of thin air."
"Oh, right."
"He was on TV later. He went to the White House."
Amanda fell silent for a moment, "That's exactly why I'm here."
Next, she met with the team members she had selected.
Deadshot, Captain Boomerang, El Diablo, Killer Croc.
She gathered all these criminals into one room and said, "You're in luck."
"As long as you work for the government, your sentences will be reduced."
"You'll get out of here sooner."
Killer Croc raised his hand, "But I like it here. It's more comfortable than the sewers in Metropolis."
El Diablo, his body covered in tattoos, slowly waved his hands through the air, creating flames that formed words, [I just want to die peacefully here.]
Harley Quinn laughed crazily, "You're the boss, your call."
"As long as I can get out, I'll do whatever you want."
Deadshot, counting on his fingers, said, "A reduced sentence isn't enough."
"If you want me to risk my life, fine."
"First, I walk out of here. For good."
"Second, I get full custody of my daughter. Her mom can visit under supervision."
"But her jerk boyfriend doesn't come near her."
"Third, you fund my daughter's education in full. She's going to an Ivy League school."
"If you understand, you'd better write that down."
After they finished, Amanda said expressionlessly, "Maybe you don't understand, but you don't have the right to negotiate."
"You get what I say you get."
She gestured, and a team walked in, each carrying a briefcase. There were five in total.
They opened them, took out syringes, and injected each of the criminals in the neck.
Then Amanda took out her phone, opened an app, and turned the screen toward them.
On the screen were the profiles of Deadshot and the others.
"What you were just injected with are nanobombs, right in your necks."
"All I have to do is press a button, and boom, your heads go flying."
"So now, do you understand?"
"You don't get to bargain. I decide."
Killer Croc shook his head, "You're a demon."
"Thank you," Amanda said without changing expression, "Now, the target you're dealing with is the man who blew the roof off the White House."
On a large screen, a figure appeared.
Alex, wearing a red cape and a black vibranium suit.
"Wow, it's him."
"I've seen him. He's a magician."
Harley Quinn laughed at Deadshot beside her, "I like him. Too bad my heart belongs to Puddin'."
Deadshot said impatiently, "You don't need to tell me that. I don't care."
Amanda clapped her hands, "Quiet."
She continued, "He has already become a threat to national security. I want you to take him out."
"So where is this magician who's threatening national security?", Deadshot asked.
"Good question."
Amanda looked at the white woman beside her, "Dr. Moone, you're up."
The neatly groomed doctor stepped forward, "Do I really have to do this?"
"Yes. You do," Amanda said coldly.
Dr. Moone had no choice but to remove her glasses and whisper, "Enchantress."
The lights in the room flickered. The atmosphere turned eerie. At that moment, another hand appeared beneath Dr. Moone's hand.
That hand grabbed her and flipped her over. In an instant, she transformed into a disheveled, black-haired woman in tribal attire, with sparks floating around her.
The Enchantress!
"Wow, you can do magic too," Harley clapped, "Do another one."
Deadshot spread his hands, "So what are we, a freak show?"
Killer Croc looked at Deadshot and protested, "Watch it. I'm not a freak."
Captain Boomerang laughed, "Mate, you're the biggest freak here."
Amanda looked at the Enchantress, "Go. Find this man for me."
"When you find him, don't act. Come back and report immediately."
The Enchantress reached out, trying to touch Amanda.
Amanda tapped the briefcase beside her. Inside was the Enchantress's heart.
The Enchantress glanced at her own heart, stepped back, and retreated into the shadows, disappearing.
———
[Metropolis]
Inside a men's clothing store, the sales clerk had collapsed onto the floor, staring in terror at the man picking out clothes.
Just moments ago, he had dropped from the sky, smashing a huge hole in the ceiling and scaring all the customers away.
Now, the man in the red cape and black suit picked up a set of casual clothes.
Turning around, he smiled and asked, "Where's the fitting room?"
The clerk quickly raised her hand and pointed in its direction.
"Thanks."
Alex walked toward the fitting room with the clothes and added, "Oh, right. For the repair costs and the clothes, go ask Bruce Wayne."
After sticking Batman with the bill, Alex entered the fitting room and put away his cape and suit.
In an instant, he was left wearing only his underwear.
Just as he was about to change, he smiled, "Miss, this fitting room's a bit small. Don't you think it's kind of cramped for two people?"
Alex turned around, looking at a black-haired woman in the shadows, sparks drifting around her, staring straight at him.
"Hmm, pretty. Just a little dirty."
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