American comics: Starting with Luke the Maker

“Hehehe! How interesting!” Another personality showed a clownish, crazed smile, full of surprise and fervor.

“I must say, you truly amaze me. I've been to countless universes and worlds, and seen countless versions of myself. But only you and your world have stirred something within me. Do you know what that means?”

“What does it mean?” Bruce felt a heavy shadow instinctively grow in his heart upon hearing the other self's somewhat deranged emotions and words. He felt that in the next second, he might hear something from the other that he didn't want to hear.

“It means this is the world I've been looking for! A world that can exist for a long time, and also bring destruction to other universes!” The other personality couldn't suppress his wild laughter.

“I can feel a mysterious power in this world! Its dark side is so deep, so maddeningly fascinating! I must obtain that power!”

“What are you referring to?” Bruce asked calmly.

“Ah ha, you're trying to trick me? I may look crazy, but believe me, my mind works pretty fast. I understand you, because I am another you. But it doesn't matter. As a reward for you letting me discover this world, I'm happy to satisfy your desire to gather information.

It exists in your Batcave, it exists in the wonderful and great Gotham. I can feel it resonating with me, my darkness and evil are very fond of it.

We will eventually be opposed, conflict is inevitable. I know you like to prepare for threats in advance. To make this game more interesting and intense, I am happy to reveal some information about us to you in some way.

All you have to do is discard that little thing you use to maintain your calm and composure, and accept the gift of information without any protection. Of course, this may also be a trap, it all depends on your choice.”

The other personality saw through Bruce's plan, but he didn't try to hide anything. He regarded it as a game of opposition, and he was willing to give the Bruce in front of him, who had not yet fallen, a little information in the early stage.

He was just a little regretful. Clearly, the Bruce in front of him had also experienced the darkest despair, and his inner darkness even resonated with him, but he was able to control it so well and not completely fall into their ranks.

That's too bad!

But also so good!

...

“Bruce?” Diana's voice awakened Bruce Wayne from his mental sea of consciousness.

He turned around, looked at Diana who was looking at him with a serious face, and forced a smile, “What's the matter? Diana?”

“What are you thinking about? I didn't even notice me approaching you. Your vigilance has never been so low before.” Diana frowned as she looked at Bruce, she keenly noticed Bruce's abnormality and asked with concern.

“No, I'm fine.” Bruce shook his head without thinking, he didn't think it would help to say something uncertain.

“You can deceive anyone, but your lies are clumsy in front of me.” Diana said sarcastically.

“There are just some uncertain things that cannot be said. What I can guarantee is that if I need help, I will speak up immediately.” Bruce smiled. He didn't care about Diana's straightforward and somewhat sharp words.

“That's for the best. You know, every time you try to do something behind our backs, it will become a big trouble for us at some point in the future. I hate that! Why can't we be open and honest? Effective communication is the best way to solve problems. We are a team, aren't we?” Diana obviously didn't completely believe Bruce's words, but she didn't press him, but instead gave him a way out.

Bruce's heart moved, but he quickly extinguished that slight impulse. If he could be easily persuaded to change his style, then humans would not repeatedly cycle on the same path. No one is more stubborn and self-centered than himself. He knew what his problem was, and he also knew how to change when needed, but that didn't mean he would really change.

Their group is usually very busy. Except when encountering world-destroying disasters such as Thanos, Darkseid, and Steppenwolf, they generally have their own areas of activity and lives. Usual contact is also through things like Lantern Rings, or communication devices made by human technology.

The likes of Diana and Jones were just there to wait for Stephen and the others' first-hand news. But it's not like they would stay in the Batcave all the time.

So when it was late at night, Bruce came out of the Batcave in an elevator, ate dinner in his manor above, and rested. The moment he lay down on the bed, his hand touched the deep blue crystal he wore on his chest.

Although Gotham still has criminals, it is much better than the city of sin it once was. After all, it has been rebuilt and has a large number of foreign populations to supplement it. Although the people who have been supplemented are not good people, it is still much better than the situation of being all villains.

In addition, Bruce is committed to creating a stable order system for Gotham, and this system is running effectively with the help of people like Gordon, and the atmosphere in Gotham has been greatly improved. He doesn't need to go out every night to fight crime anymore.

He also established his own Bat-Squad, all of whom are enthusiastic and righteous young people. They wear the uniforms of the Bat-Family in his place to maintain the peace of the city at night. This frees up more time for him to do his own things and plan.

His fingers caressed the surface of the blue crystal, and the calming and tranquil power maintained the calm and normal operation of his spirit. The power inside this crystal seems to have its own consciousness, and it can always provide him with corresponding protection according to his needs while ensuring the characteristics of the power.

He knew that what the other self deliberately mentioned was the smooth oval crystal in his hand, and he also knew that the other party must be sure that he would do so to some extent in order to obtain information, but Bruce did not intend to follow the other party's setting.

He put the blue crystal back into his pajamas, then closed his eyes and lay down in the soft and warm bed. The power emitted by the crystal allowed him to quickly fall asleep.

...

“Bruce, I can't lend you my abilities. I know what you want, but believe me, it won't end well! I've tried it! I don't want to think about those things.”

In a daze, Bruce seemed to hear a familiar voice saying something to him. After he cheered up and woke up, he found that he had left his manor and his bedroom. He was now in a Batsuit, standing on a street full of war and fire. The person speaking to him was a middle-aged Barry Allen who looked somewhat familiar, but with a somewhat weathered face.

Bruce wanted to say something, but the voice he made was painful and suppressed: “Things shouldn't have come to this, and everything shouldn't have evolved to this! It was your stubbornness that led to everything, Barry Allen!”

“You are already on the verge of madness, fate is difficult to change. Listen to me, Bruce, you should stop, don't try to use time to do anything, that will only get you a result you don't want to accept the most.” Barry was giving Bruce his last piece of advice.

But, negotiation failed!

A fierce battle broke out. Batman was obviously prepared this time, and as long as he wanted, he could always use his brain and tools to find and create weaknesses and methods to restrain the corresponding opponent. This time, facing Barry Allen, who possessed the Speed Force, Batman was no exception.

An fleeting opportunity was seized by Bruce, and he injected Mr. Freeze's potion into Barry's body, limiting his speed and putting him into a coma. Then Bruce tied Barry in front of his modified chariot, activated the Speed Force in his body with an instrument, and sped towards the void.

Tragedy happened.

Bruce and their bodies were torn apart and swallowed by the powerful force, and the Gotham he wanted to protect also experienced an unprecedented chaos.

Finally, a red monster walked out of the void. He carried out his justice in the form of revenge, and suppressed the riots in Gotham with bloodshed.

Batman successfully mastered the Speed Force and called himself the Red Death.

...

The picture changed.

Bruce's vision immediately switched to another scene. This time he tried to control his body, but unsurprisingly, he did not succeed. He had the vision, taste, feeling, and other senses of this body, and could even share emotions empathetically, but he was not the owner of this body, he was just an observer using this body. The real owner of this body was someone else.

Bruce's emotions and spirit were immersed in the Red Death of the previous world, and he immediately seamlessly switched to another self. At the same time, he also guessed what the other self meant by giving him some information through some means.

Obviously, although he didn't know how the other party did it, he made good use of the power of dreams to construct a real and non-illusory world for him. Let him see with his own eyes, and personally experience the events, encounters, and desperate events experienced by other versions of himself in other universes.

This time it was Alfred. The man who was like a father to him! He was Bruce's indispensable, most trusted, and most relied-upon person. However, he died, died at the hands of the assassin Bane who wanted to pry his whereabouts from his mouth.

Bruce's longing for Alfred became an obsession. He went to his partner Cyborg, wanting to create a powerful artificial intelligence Alfred based on Alfred, so that he would feel that Alfred was still with him and had not left.

With the full cooperation of Cyborg, artificial intelligence based on Alfred appeared, and he did indeed make Bruce feel Alfred's existence again, as well as his constant companionship and help.

But accidents and disasters always accompanied him. The Alfred system systematically killed every criminal in Arkham Asylum and monitored everyone in Gotham, stopping the occurrence of crimes with his ruthless violence. Cyborg realized something was wrong, but it was too late to save everything.

Bruce thought he could change Alfred's underlying code, but in fact he couldn't. Instead, he was eroded and transformed by Alfred, removing Bruce's sadness and fear and transforming him into a ruthless and cruel machine. The mechanical army ravaged Gotham, life completely withered, and Gotham eventually became a dead place. Bruce gave up on taking down Alfred and eventually became the modified Batman codenamed: Murder Machine.

...

Next, one after another, his blackened and fallen selves were staged in front of him. Those tragic scenes impacted his mental barrier again and again.

Seeing his parents die, his will erupted and he gained the approval of the Green Lantern ring, but because of hatred and obsession, he broke the ring, and darkness polluted the Green Lantern ring, the Dawnbreaker.

Wanting to protect the world, wanting to bear everything, but always doubting everything, eventually opposing everyone, and conflicting with the Sea Clan, eventually killing the Sea Clan Queen, and transforming himself to adapt to the seawater, eventually defeating the Sea Clan, but also gaining a female Bruce from a world submerged by the sea.

The Drowned.

Believing in everything about Superman, but eventually discovering that Superman was a hypocrite, he deceived everyone and killed everyone. In order to stop the imposter Superman, he had to inject the Doomsday virus and become Doomsday, killing the imposter Superman, the Devastator.

Falling in love with Wonder Woman Diana, joining forces to fight the God of War Ares, who possessed a terrifying helmet that could amplify power. After his lover Diana created an opportunity for Bruce to take down the helmet at the cost of falling into a coma, he was eager to avenge himself. Believing that he could control the helmet and not be affected by his will, Bruce put on the helmet.

But he still underestimated the power of this helmet. His mental will was almost instantly completely destroyed by the power of the helmet, and he was controlled and brainwashed. He became ruthless and indifferent, just pursuing victory, regardless of justice and evil. His concepts were distorted under the brainwashing of the helmet.

At the same time, he also gained unparalleled power! This power allowed him to massacre the Greek gods and behead the God of War Ares.

His lover Diana, who woke up at the same time, also died in his hands.

This is another world's version of himself called the Merciless.

Finally, there was the scene that he remembered deeply, the moment his parents died!

The Joker led one after another parents with children to his front, and then killed the other party in front of him again and again, and then infected the children with his own Joker virus. Under the repeated torture, Batman's spirit finally completely collapsed. Unable to bear it any longer, he killed the Joker, but was also infected with the Joker virus that the Joker sprayed out when he died. (End of this chapter)