"Do you want to hear my take on this?"
Joey tried several more times, only to discover that no matter how he adjusted the parameters, he couldn't escape these two worlds. The only changes were spatial—he was simply being relocated within them.
A moment ago, he had even been teleported to the peak of the Himalayas, where he spent two minutes stopping a massive avalanche he had accidentally triggered before returning to Stark again.
The time machine had turned into a useless device that could only shuttle back and forth between two universes.
Out of options, he had no choice but to place his hopes in Tony. He explained everything and asked whether Tony had any ideas.
Tony's entire theory of spacetime could be summed up in one sentence:
"If you're not obsessed with resurrecting your parents, this time machine will take you to the correct point in time."
Joey was so furious he laughed.
"So what you're saying is that if I want to travel normally, I can't try to revive my parents. But if I'm not trying to revive my parents, then why the hell would I time-travel in the first place?"
He reversed the parameters, preparing to leave. There was no need to keep arguing with Tony.
"Forget it. Your brain clearly isn't that impressive. I'll go to another universe and find someone whose mind actually works."
That crossed the line into a personal attack, and Tony instantly bristled.
"I can responsibly tell you that in any universe, Tony Stark is one of the smartest people alive. Anyone smart enough will arrive at a similar conclusion!"
"Goodbye, Tony. Hopefully next time I jump, I won't land in your unlucky universe again."
Joey activated his watch.
"Oh, and I hope you don't mind—I secretly copied the schematics for your arc reactor, including the improved version your father left you."
"My father left me what?"
Tony's father had left behind a new elemental structure that could be applied to the arc reactor. Combined together, the upgraded reactor was truly epoch-making—
A miniaturized, radiation-free, heavy-metal-free, stable, ultra-efficient cold fusion reactor.
If properly applied, this technology could propel human civilization into a new era—one without energy crises, no longer constrained by resources or climate.
But most of the time, Iron Man Tony Stark simply used it as a power source for his armor.
Joey didn't care about that. If he wanted, he felt he could prop up human civilization himself—like some desiccated corpse seated on a golden throne—but what would be the point?
Physiologically speaking, he wasn't even truly human anymore.
He had taken the arc reactor schematics purely for energy supply. The difference was that Tony Stark used the reactor to power his armor, while Joey intended to use it to power his own body.
Cold fusion was, at its core, simply a gentler form of nuclear fusion—the same fundamental principle as the Sun's thermonuclear fusion.
With slight adjustments to the arc reactor's radiation output, it could emit electromagnetic radiation identical to yellow sunlight. With further research, he might even make it project the brilliant blue light of an O-type star.
Once Joey organized his thoughts, he understood what the first universe he had accidentally arrived in really was—the one where the Kent family had no adopted son.
It was Flashpoint. A mad universe.
In this universe, many familiar superheroes and supervillains existed in drastically different forms from the normal timeline.
For example, this universe's Superman's ship had not landed in Smallville, Kansas. Instead, it had crashed directly into densely populated Metropolis, causing nearly ten thousand casualties.
And now Joey was crouched beside a haystack on the Kent farm, quietly listening to the sounds inside the house—hearing the news report that negotiations between the Amazons and Aquaman had collapsed.
Themyscira had been destroyed in an Atlantean assault and ultimately swallowed by the sea. In retaliation, Wonder Woman had severed Queen Mera's head during battle.
Wonder Woman Diana Prince and Aquaman Arthur Curry had officially declared war on each other. They were preparing to lead their people into a fight to the death.
Martha Kent sighed constantly. Jonathan Kent looked even more troubled.
The remnants of old gods clashed in the mortal world, and humanity naturally suffered alongside them. The world was already sliding toward the brink of destruction.
All of this had happened because some idiot tried to travel back in time to change the predetermined death of a loved one.
Joey was talking about the Flash—not himself.
"What the hell is all this..."
His memories of Flashpoint were hazy now. He only remembered that this universe's Superman had been seized and contained by the military, raised in a secret underground research facility beneath Metropolis. His job had been research—more precisely, being researched.
This world still had a few relatively reliable heroes left, like Cyborg and Shazam. The rest he would have to investigate himself.
Joey was puzzled. This universe had been created because Barry Allen, the Flash, used the Speed Force to prevent his mother's murder. It had nothing to do with Joey. So why had his first accidental time jump brought him here?
None of it made sense.
If some supreme will truly existed, was this accident meant as a warning?
A warning my ass.
Joey cut off his wandering thoughts. He had better things to do—like figuring out how to return to his own universe.
As for stopping the war between Wonder Woman and Aquaman?
He could. But there was no need. This world was doomed anyway.
Once Barry accepted his mother's death and set things right, the Speed Force would correct everything. The entire universe would vanish as if it had never existed.
But before that, Joey needed to find some people.
---
Metropolis.
After being reborn, Joey had imagined more than once what it would be like to arrive in Metropolis.
Before his death, he had visited New York. He knew that Metropolis and Gotham were like the bright and dark halves of the same city. He had once imagined that after graduation, he would move to Metropolis under Superman's secret identity.
By day, a newspaper reporter. By night, donning the cape to fight crime. Calling his adoptive parents to complain late at night. Maybe even meeting a true love like Lois Lane—just like most versions of Superman.
But that would remain nothing more than fantasy.
Joey hovered over the entire city. Comparing multiple angles of observation, he precisely located a massive blind spot beneath Metropolis.
Kryptonian super-vision could not see through lead—but that didn't mean hiding something behind a layer of lead would truly escape detection.
Clark Kent respected privacy. If something was deliberately shielded with lead, he wouldn't pry.
It was like a curtain outside a bathhouse. If someone had intentionally drawn the curtain with lead lining, Clark Kent would refrain from looking.
But Joey was different.
Most of the time, he chose to pull the curtain aside and take a good look.