Reading settings
Chapter 554: The Selfless Harrison
Many people died. Many comrades died at the hands of Steppenwolf. No one had expected this outcome.
When they assembled, they looked at the lineup of more than fifty superheroes by their sides, further supported by the full force of the Amazon warriors, K'un-Lun, and Kamar-Taj. They were once full of confidence, believing this to be an unprecedented gathering of Earth's combat power, a force no enemy could resist.
After all, Steppenwolf had come to Earth thousands of years ago and was defeated by the factions of Earth at that time, wasn't he?
But Steppenwolf had brutally slammed them to the ground. One swing of his axe killed a swath of them, another swing cleared out a large area. Of the more than fifty superheroes scattered among the thousands of troops, over half died on the spot.
Many still remembered the powerful Eastern dragon named "Shou-Lao," which had flown from K'un-Lun. It had successfully traded several blows with Steppenwolf head-on, only to be struck down by the axe, its draconic body nearly cleaved in half.
An enemy of this unimaginable caliber was already beyond the comprehension of Earthlings.
At this moment, a middle-aged man wearing glasses and sitting in a wheelchair spoke up, "Don't blame yourself, Tony. At least you're still alive. Rhodey's spirit is watching you from above, waiting for you to avenge him."
The Flash respectfully pushed the wheelchair, revealing Dr. Harrison from behind the crowd.
"Blame myself? No, I'm just... furious. I'm thinking of a way to defeat the enemy," Tony said, scratching his head, his eyes red.
Harrison's lips twitched. He didn't say much more; there was no need to waste words on a dead man from centuries ago.
"How are Superman's injuries?" Harrison asked seriously, looking around at everyone.
Diana hesitated for a moment, glanced at the concerned people around them, and said, "He's out of the critical period. He's currently soaking up some sun, which will help his injuries."
"That's good... Superman is a powerful ally we can rely on. It's good that he's okay." Harrison suppressed his disgust and began to fall back on his old routine—playing the role of a life mentor.
"We need more warriors to fend off the Parademons' attacks. I'm sure I don't need to elaborate on the strength of the Parademon army. We from Themyscira already provided you all with the relevant information long ago," Diana said.
"The Parademons are a minor issue. While they're troublesome, they can eventually be defeated given enough time."
In a corner of the base, Batman leaned against a wall, his entire figure shrouded in darkness. His voice was raspy, yet as calm as ever, "We need to find a way to contain Steppenwolf. If we don't defeat him, there's no hope for Earth."
Tony said, "We could work together to build a suit of armor. Hmm, I could also call that guy Richard, if he's still alive."
Batman glanced at him. "Time. We don't have enough time. To build armor of that level, let's not even talk about where to get the raw materials—the development time alone would take weeks. What will we use to fight Steppenwolf in that gap? He's quiet for now, but there's no telling how long that will last."
Robin scratched his head in frustration and growled, "Where's Tony? Hasn't A.R.G.U.S. been trying to contact him? Why isn't he here yet?!"
Everyone turned to look at the young man, their expressions complicated.
"Tony isn't on Cybertron. A.R.G.U.S. has been trying, but no one knows his exact whereabouts," the current Sorcerer Supreme, Stephen, said in a low voice. "I tried to locate Cybertron directly to create a portal, but I failed... I'm not that powerful yet..."
"Tony has no obligation to save Earth. Don't forget that," Batman said calmly.
"One day! In just over a day, we've lost more than half of our superheroes, and another group is severely injured!" Robin said, dejected.
The more he thought about it, the more hopeless it seemed.
A single Steppenwolf had pushed them to this state...
If only Tony were here...
"If that guy Tony were here, I'd bet a dollar Steppenwolf would have been choked to death the instant he arrived on Earth!" Tony suddenly chuckled.
No one said anything.
Tony's words might have been a bit of an exaggeration—after all, killing and banishing are two different concepts—but no one thought Tony would lose.
"Dormammu, Mephisto, Doomsday, Trigon... and that's just the ones I know of. Tony has helped Earth deal with too many powerful enemies. Any one of them, in my personal opinion, is no weaker than Steppenwolf. Oh, you guys probably have no idea who Doomsday and Trigon are, do you? To be honest, I don't either, I just know they're very, very terrifying."
Tony's remark was mocking, yet it also seemed self-deprecating. He subconsciously spread his hands, and the sharp pain from his wounds made his face scrunch up in discomfort.
Dr. Harrison looked at the heroes who had suddenly fallen silent, feeling a mix of annoyance and a headache.
He, a man from the 25th century, was well-read and knowledgeable about the past and present, and he knew the personalities of every hero in the room like the back of his hand.
Likewise, as a pseudo-Speedster, he knew a thing or two about Steppenwolf, this terrifying being whose might shook the Multiverse—a monster so powerful that countless universes within the Multiverse feared and spoke of him.
Honestly, when Steppenwolf appeared on Earth, he was almost scared to death. His first instinct was to abandon everything and immediately travel through time to escape.
He would rather run to another, unfamiliar timeline and start over than face Steppenwolf!
But... he hadn't collected enough damn Speed Force! Even if he could barely open a space-time tunnel, who the hell knew what era he would end up in when the Speed Force suddenly ran out. If he was even unluckier and got targeted by a Time Wraith in the tunnel, the little bit of Speed Force he had wouldn't be nearly enough. He'd be dead for sure.
"If only I had been a bit bolder and followed Barry to Australia... Mach 3000. If I had stolen just a little, it would have been enough to return to the future."
Harrison thought silently, subconsciously glancing at the lightning bolt symbol on The Flash's chest. He had secretly installed a device inside it to steal the Speed Force.
But Cisco had built a new suit for Barry, and he hadn't had a chance to tamper with it yet.
Besides, with a being like Steppenwolf suppressing the timeline, would he even have a chance to travel through time?
A deep gloom flashed in Harrison's eyes. He pushed his wheelchair to the table, knocked on it to get everyone's attention, and said grimly, "Everyone, before we find a way to fight our enemy, I believe it's necessary to explain their origins to you."
"I know many of you think of Apokolips as an enemy similar to the Chitauri, simply assuming that this planet called Apokolips is just much stronger than the Chitauri."
"But in fact, Apokolips is a super-planet from beyond the Multiverse, a planet comparable to mythological worlds like Hell and Heaven... We have the great honor of fighting an ancient god. The history of this god, Steppenwolf, can be traced back to before the formation of the Multiverse."
Dr. Harrison took off his glasses. Suppressing his disgust, he adopted the wise and rational demeanor of a doctor and began to educate this group of zombies who had been dead for centuries.
(end of chapter)
Many people died. Many comrades died at the hands of Steppenwolf. No one had expected this outcome.
When they assembled, they looked at the lineup of more than fifty superheroes by their sides, further supported by the full force of the Amazon warriors, K'un-Lun, and Kamar-Taj. They were once full of confidence, believing this to be an unprecedented gathering of Earth's combat power, a force no enemy could resist.
After all, Steppenwolf had come to Earth thousands of years ago and was defeated by the factions of Earth at that time, wasn't he?
But Steppenwolf had brutally slammed them to the ground. One swing of his axe killed a swath of them, another swing cleared out a large area. Of the more than fifty superheroes scattered among the thousands of troops, over half died on the spot.
Many still remembered the powerful Eastern dragon named "Shou-Lao," which had flown from K'un-Lun. It had successfully traded several blows with Steppenwolf head-on, only to be struck down by the axe, its draconic body nearly cleaved in half.
An enemy of this unimaginable caliber was already beyond the comprehension of Earthlings.
At this moment, a middle-aged man wearing glasses and sitting in a wheelchair spoke up, "Don't blame yourself, Tony. At least you're still alive. Rhodey's spirit is watching you from above, waiting for you to avenge him."
The Flash respectfully pushed the wheelchair, revealing Dr. Harrison from behind the crowd.
"Blame myself? No, I'm just... furious. I'm thinking of a way to defeat the enemy," Tony said, scratching his head, his eyes red.
Harrison's lips twitched. He didn't say much more; there was no need to waste words on a dead man from centuries ago.
"How are Superman's injuries?" Harrison asked seriously, looking around at everyone.
Diana hesitated for a moment, glanced at the concerned people around them, and said, "He's out of the critical period. He's currently soaking up some sun, which will help his injuries."
"That's good... Superman is a powerful ally we can rely on. It's good that he's okay." Harrison suppressed his disgust and began to fall back on his old routine—playing the role of a life mentor.
"We need more warriors to fend off the Parademons' attacks. I'm sure I don't need to elaborate on the strength of the Parademon army. We from Themyscira already provided you all with the relevant information long ago," Diana said.
"The Parademons are a minor issue. While they're troublesome, they can eventually be defeated given enough time."
In a corner of the base, Batman leaned against a wall, his entire figure shrouded in darkness. His voice was raspy, yet as calm as ever, "We need to find a way to contain Steppenwolf. If we don't defeat him, there's no hope for Earth."
Tony said, "We could work together to build a suit of armor. Hmm, I could also call that guy Richard, if he's still alive."
Batman glanced at him. "Time. We don't have enough time. To build armor of that level, let's not even talk about where to get the raw materials—the development time alone would take weeks. What will we use to fight Steppenwolf in that gap? He's quiet for now, but there's no telling how long that will last."
Robin scratched his head in frustration and growled, "Where's Tony? Hasn't A.R.G.U.S. been trying to contact him? Why isn't he here yet?!"
Everyone turned to look at the young man, their expressions complicated.
"Tony isn't on Cybertron. A.R.G.U.S. has been trying, but no one knows his exact whereabouts," the current Sorcerer Supreme, Stephen, said in a low voice. "I tried to locate Cybertron directly to create a portal, but I failed... I'm not that powerful yet..."
"Tony has no obligation to save Earth. Don't forget that," Batman said calmly.
"One day! In just over a day, we've lost more than half of our superheroes, and another group is severely injured!" Robin said, dejected.
The more he thought about it, the more hopeless it seemed.
A single Steppenwolf had pushed them to this state...
If only Tony were here...
"If that guy Tony were here, I'd bet a dollar Steppenwolf would have been choked to death the instant he arrived on Earth!" Tony suddenly chuckled.
No one said anything.
Tony's words might have been a bit of an exaggeration—after all, killing and banishing are two different concepts—but no one thought Tony would lose.
"Dormammu, Mephisto, Doomsday, Trigon... and that's just the ones I know of. Tony has helped Earth deal with too many powerful enemies. Any one of them, in my personal opinion, is no weaker than Steppenwolf. Oh, you guys probably have no idea who Doomsday and Trigon are, do you? To be honest, I don't either, I just know they're very, very terrifying."
Tony's remark was mocking, yet it also seemed self-deprecating. He subconsciously spread his hands, and the sharp pain from his wounds made his face scrunch up in discomfort.
Dr. Harrison looked at the heroes who had suddenly fallen silent, feeling a mix of annoyance and a headache.
He, a man from the 25th century, was well-read and knowledgeable about the past and present, and he knew the personalities of every hero in the room like the back of his hand.
Likewise, as a pseudo-Speedster, he knew a thing or two about Steppenwolf, this terrifying being whose might shook the Multiverse—a monster so powerful that countless universes within the Multiverse feared and spoke of him.
Honestly, when Steppenwolf appeared on Earth, he was almost scared to death. His first instinct was to abandon everything and immediately travel through time to escape.
He would rather run to another, unfamiliar timeline and start over than face Steppenwolf!
But... he hadn't collected enough damn Speed Force! Even if he could barely open a space-time tunnel, who the hell knew what era he would end up in when the Speed Force suddenly ran out. If he was even unluckier and got targeted by a Time Wraith in the tunnel, the little bit of Speed Force he had wouldn't be nearly enough. He'd be dead for sure.
"If only I had been a bit bolder and followed Barry to Australia... Mach 3000. If I had stolen just a little, it would have been enough to return to the future."
Harrison thought silently, subconsciously glancing at the lightning bolt symbol on The Flash's chest. He had secretly installed a device inside it to steal the Speed Force.
But Cisco had built a new suit for Barry, and he hadn't had a chance to tamper with it yet.
Besides, with a being like Steppenwolf suppressing the timeline, would he even have a chance to travel through time?
A deep gloom flashed in Harrison's eyes. He pushed his wheelchair to the table, knocked on it to get everyone's attention, and said grimly, "Everyone, before we find a way to fight our enemy, I believe it's necessary to explain their origins to you."
"I know many of you think of Apokolips as an enemy similar to the Chitauri, simply assuming that this planet called Apokolips is just much stronger than the Chitauri."
"But in fact, Apokolips is a super-planet from beyond the Multiverse, a planet comparable to mythological worlds like Hell and Heaven... We have the great honor of fighting an ancient god. The history of this god, Steppenwolf, can be traced back to before the formation of the Multiverse."
Dr. Harrison took off his glasses. Suppressing his disgust, he adopted the wise and rational demeanor of a doctor and began to educate this group of zombies who had been dead for centuries.
(end of chapter)
