novelhk Chapter 480 Ticket to the New World
Chapter 480 Ticket to the New World
Chapter 480 Ticket to the New World
Barry was shocked by Rune's attempt and immediately injected a portion of the Speed Force into Rune's body. This would allow Rune to use the Speed Force and give him powerful sensory abilities.
However, the primary purpose of this action is for holding meetings. With the Speed Force, Rune can truly experience time in an instant, and Barry can take this opportunity to ask Rune questions.
"If I remember correctly—he's supposed to be the Joker of this universe?"
"No." Rune shook his head, and only after seeing Barry breathe a sigh of relief did the ill-tempered mage raise the corners of his mouth. "His name is Jester, he's the clown counterpart of this universe."
"What's the difference between this and the clown?" Barry yelled.
"But how do you know about him?" Rune narrowed his eyes, placing his right hand on Barry's neck. "Was it that psychic leader in the black bodysuit and cat-eared helmet who sent you to investigate this universe?"
"Those are bat ears—" Barry's eyes gleamed. He wasn't good at lying, and Rune didn't even need to use his mental abilities to see through his lie.
This could also explain his involvement in the incident. Perhaps during this time, Barry had been investigating the universe for Batman, so when Jason returned for revenge, Barry was also in Gotham City.
With Batman around, Reverse-Flash probably wouldn't dare mess with Barry, and the thugs in Central City would at most rob banks, while Bruce has plenty of money.
That makes sense now. But Rune was curious why Barry didn't go to a midnight doctor or someone like that to examine Bruce's condition, but instead chose to come to him.
The special abilities of the Midnight Doctor are night vision and super medical skills. There have been several Midnight Doctors, among whom the third generation had a good relationship with Bruce.
This Midnight Healer gives Wonder Woman a checkup every year, and once revived the second Timewalker at the Still Time Point, and cured Barbara Gordon of Brainiac's virus.
In addition, he had a romance with Black Canary, which Green Arrow still resents.
Logically, if treatment were truly needed, Midnight Doctor should be Batman's or Flash's first choice. Even for emergency treatment of Bruce's wounds, they should go to Dr. Leslie Tompkins' clinic.
This woman was a classmate of Batman's father, Thomas Wayne. After Batman's parents were killed, she took care of Bruce alongside Alfred. She was one of the few people who knew Batman's true identity. Moreover, she also ran a clinic in Gotham and got involved with Gordon in the TV series.
Rune naturally voiced his doubts, and The Flash sighed.
"It's Sannomiya."
Ok?
Upon hearing the name, Rune's eyes narrowed. He remembered making a deal with this damned demon, and he should be waiting for the souls of the Forgotten Ones. Why was he suddenly attacking Batman?
Barry added, "I don't know how Sannomiya did it, but anyway, he gave the culprit some poison that only you can cure—at least that's what Raven said."
Rune sighed.
It would be incredibly easy for Sannomiya to get involved. Don't forget, the organization supporting Jason's revenge against Batman is the League of Assassins, and one of their treasures is the Pool of Lazarus, whose main ingredient is Sannomiya's blood.
So here's the question: what does Sannomiya want to do?
Before Rune could continue thinking, Barry pressed on, "Why did you bring the Joker's counterpart into our universe? I think one Joker is enough to keep Batman busy!"
It seems that if Rune can't provide a reasonable explanation, Barry—well, thinking about it carefully, it seems he can't do anything to Rune at all.
"Come on, there's more than one clown in the main universe," Rune revealed a secret without any hesitation. Seeing Barry's wide eyes, the mage smiled with satisfaction.
This scene shocked many people at the time. Rune even speculated that the three clowns might represent the past, present, and future, but unfortunately, the DC editors gave the clowns the identities of the Golden Age, Silver Age, and modern versions, respectively.
Among them, the Joker of the Golden Age focused on exaggerated criminal art, the Joker of the Silver Age emphasized psychological manipulation, while the modern version of the Joker has extreme violent tendencies.
This disappointed Rune somewhat. Furthermore, the subsequent plot was rather complicated.
He had assumed that the Joker, who symbolized the future, would use various means, even including Batman, to absorb the traits of both the past and present Jokers, creating an even more twisted Chaos Child and intensifying the sense of destiny between the Joker and Batman.
But as it turns out, all of this was just wishful thinking on Rune's part.
"I don't believe it." Barry shook his head. That crazy guy wasn't just one, but three? That's insane!
"Whether you believe it or not, the clown in this universe is a good person." Rune was still pondering Sannomiya's purpose, so his tone was somewhat casual. "This Harley Quinn—well, she's probably a good person too. You should know this information."
Barry pursed his lips. If only he hadn't been the one sent here to gather intelligence, he could have been more honest with Rune. But Batman didn't trust anyone else, and what Deathstroke was doing in this universe was indeed dangerous—
Wrong, perhaps this is just the fate of superheroes.
Rune continued, "They're incredibly bored right now, and your universe doesn't need the Joker's destabilizing influence, so—why not bring the clown over and let the clown and the clown see who's crazier?"
Barry was about to refuse when Rune gave him a reason he couldn't refuse.
"Besides, Batman is too weak right now. Even in his prime, he couldn't escape unscathed from the Joker. Do you think he can do it now? Or rather—you want to deal with the Joker?"
Hmm—Barry thinks Rune is right; the current Batman really needs a clown in Gotham.
As the Speed Force was withdrawn from Rune's body, a strange sense of loss and powerlessness spread throughout the mage's body, even interrupting his thoughts.
This power is so captivating, if given the chance—
Do not!
Rune suppressed this desire. The Speed Force was a power he absolutely did not want to touch. Not to mention that the Speed Force's own setting was often retconned, the existence of Black Lightning also made him keep his distance from this power.
"Alright," Rune clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention, "Guess who will travel to the new universe to play games with Night Owl's counterpart?"
Harley raised her hands high, like a schoolchild eagerly called upon to answer a question, while the clown laughed and said, "Rune, I love you to death!"