What bad thoughts can Batman have?

Chapter 538: Dr. Manhattan slowly raises a question mark

"But yes, I understand, Pharaoh, I will not forgive you, nor will I condemn you, human affairs are not my concern, I am leaving this galaxy to go somewhere less complicated."

My name is Dr. Manhattan, and on November 1985, 11, I entered the multiverse.

I was drawn into Superman's world for reasons I didn't yet understand.

A theoretical physicist named Blackdeweed hypothesized that the universe is constantly splitting into identical timelines.

A classic example of the Many Worlds Theory, according to which the birth of parallel worlds is endless, like the branches of a tree. The heroes of this Earth call it the multiverse, and this world is at the center.

On April 1938, 4, Superman made his first appearance. He was the first costumed hero and the first person in this world's heroic group.

On April 1938, 4, the news about Superman spread quickly across the United States. On April 18, 1938, people, cars, and Superman did not exist. The world had changed.

What happened? Where did he go?

(Note: Readers who have not read the comics can understand Dr. Manhattan as a powerful alien god from the Watchers universe. The most typical feature of the DC multiverse is that it is a constantly restarting universe, which restarts every once in a while, changing the entire world by delaying the time when Superman arrives on Earth and shaping a brand new timeline.

Simply put, the DC universe is a road that is constantly dug up and repaved. The road is the timeline, and the "past" when the old road once existed is the upstream of the super time flow.

Dr. Manhattan is a country boy from the Watchers universe. Although he is extremely powerful, he has never seen such a weird universe state. This universe state was designed by Papetua, the mother of the multiverse, when she created the DC universe, to continuously generate crisis forces for her to grow her power.
I am Dr. Manhattan.

My heart is full of doubts.

I really don't understand this universe. I try to clear the fog and understand the time between the worlds.

In November 1940, Alan Scott, the first Green Lantern, had never heard of Superman. No one had.

Superman first appeared in Metropolis in 1956. 1 years ago, the wind direction changed over a farm in Kansas, and Jonathan and Martha found an orphan boy.

Alan Scott, the first Green Lantern in 1940, had never heard of Superman because an external force had moved the time of his arrival forward.

The aftermath of this change affects not only this world, but every world in the multiverse. Superman's first appearance is no longer in 1, but in 1938.

No, it was in October 1968, the time of his arrival on Earth was once again moved forward.

Then it changed again... I couldn't understand this universe.

In May 1949, a young Clark Kent sat by his parents' bedside, accompanying them before they passed away.

In 1956, I watched Clark visit his parents' graves.

In October 1986, his parents were still alive, and a few years later, Jonathan Kent died again in his son's arms.

(Note: Dr. Manhattan can see both the past and the future, but for the DC Universe, the "past" is when the old road was still there, the "future" does not exist at all, and the "present" is the current road. However, in this current timeline that is like a road, there is still a "future" at the "end of the road".

But the thing at the end of the road that can be called "the future" is not the future of the super-time stream, because the "future" of the super-time stream is when the next new road will be paved. Dr. Manhattan did not understand the difference between the "future" of the super-time stream and the "future" at the end of the road, so he was confused.)
I began to think that I had misunderstood the nature of this universe, and I looked into the future, and I followed the trajectory of Superman's influence, how one man could have such an impact. Even 1000 years from now... there was still hope for him.

For many years, Clark Kent felt lonely until one day, he was found by three boys and girls from the future, who led him to the 31st century.

(Note: Manhattan thought he saw the future beyond the time stream, but he only saw the "end of the road" on the current timeline, which made him even more confused.)
Why is he the center of the universe?
The powers of the Anti-Monitor and Merzon are the main reason for the deflection of Superman's timeline. These dark forces always seem to try to redefine Superman by targeting the hope it symbolizes... I'm curious.

As others have done, I set out to reshape the universe to see how the world around Superman would change. I altered the past in an attempt to challenge the future.

But then reality took a nosedive and I realized that this universe wasn't part of the multiverse as people thought.

It is the multiverse that is responding to this world. Countless parallel worlds, no, 52, and the dark multiverse, all were born because of the changes in this world.

(Note: The Yuanchu Universe is what we often call the main universe)
This universe is different from the entire multiverse. It is the original universe, which is always in a state of change. Because I eliminated the backbone of the American Justice League, I took away the green lantern of the first Green Lantern, Alan Scott, causing him to die in the accident that made him a Green Lantern. I changed Superman again.
I watched my vision of the world come into being.

(Note: This refers to Dr. Manhattan manipulating the Flash Barry Allen to restart the timeline, causing the New 52 restart event. Then when the Flash restored the timeline, he secretly took action and stole ten years of the DC universe.)
Superman was sent to Earth as a child.

Then, on the eve of Clark Kent's high school prom, Jonathan and Martha died in a car accident.

(Note: This is also why the New 52 Superman has neither a father nor a mother.)
After losing his parents and the Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st century, Clark became more alienated from humanity, and I understood him more and related to him more.

(Note: This is also why the New 52 Superman does not have the "future friends" of the original Superman)
Four years ago, I felt the power of changing Superman.

It's intoxicating.

I changed the original universe, and thus changed the multiverse.

A few hours ago, the Primordial Universe noticed my arrogance.

He was trying to fight back himself. He sent the third generation Flash Wally West, who should have been erased from the timeline, to roar in front of me. I began to realize that the Primordial Universe would not sit idly by.

Like an organ struggling to survive, I had underestimated certain aspects of the world, and this innate hope kept fighting back, wanting to see the light of day again.

Socrates once told me that all actions have a joy and a cost.

I have figured out the true meaning of this multiverse, and I will inevitably suffer its backlash.

I thought that the mysteries of the universe ended here, and I had even begun to prepare for the counterattack of the Yuanchu Universe and the situation when I would face each other.

But just now, I discovered something even more puzzling.

"Where have I been?"

Superboy-Prime looked at everything in front of him in amazement.

He appeared in an unknown bright multiverse, perhaps a parallel universe, but he was not quite sure where he was at the moment. He was just a little surprised to find that he appeared in the universe, instead of being thrown into the crack outside the universe when the Anti-Monitor teleported him before.

But Superboy-Prime quickly put this question behind him.

He looked down at himself. All the cells in his body were activated by the abundant yellow sun energy, making him almost turn golden.

But at this time, due to crossing the boundary between the light multiverse and the dark multiverse, the gold color dimmed a lot.

He looked up and saw that in the universe not far away, a large number of blue rays of light were weaving into a blue transparent light man that he did not recognize and appeared in front of him.

This strange guy was naked, shiny blue, with a circle like a bullseye on his forehead, and no hair on his head.

Oh, he doesn't have a male penis yet, so his gender is probably a helicopter gunship. And Dr. Manhattan also stared at the little Superman in front of him.

In an instant, the world exploded in front of him like a kaleidoscope, with infinite parallel universes and searching through the entire super-time stream, but he still... couldn't figure out where Superboy-Prime came from.

A question mark slowly emerged in his blue head.

?

Superboy-Prime looks at Doctor Manhattan.

He tilted his head slightly, and a question mark slowly emerged in his mind.

?

Well, Superboy-Prime quickly diverted his attention and didn't intend to care who this blue bald naked man was. He just wanted to go back and kill the Anti-Monitor and Batman.

He raised his hand, intending to use the purple light ring in his hand to return to the Anti-Monitor using the same method.

After being repeatedly teleported away from the battlefield by his opponent, Superboy-Prime has gradually become familiar with the opponent's series of operations.

He should have been able to...

As Superboy-Prime worked hard, the purple ring on his hand suddenly lit up. Just when Superboy-Prime thought he would help guide him again like before...

The ring was out.

It dimmed again.

"what happened?"

Superboy-Prime stared at the ring blankly.

He has been tortured by Batman for a long time, trapped in the Origin Wall, teleported repeatedly by the Anti-Monitor like a fool, fooled by the monkey personality, injured by Darkseid using the Black Runner, manipulated and toyed by the Blood Bull, and had Batman use illusions to play his most painful past: personally murdering his most respected mentor, the elderly Superman of Earth-2.

Superboy-Prime had been through so many things, and these things had completely, bit by bit, wiped out the last bit of kindness, humanity, and goodness in his heart, and even...

Even when Batman used his monkey personality as a spinal sword and repeatedly pulled it out and inserted it, Superboy-Prime actually knelt down to negotiate with Batman, and his pride was also wiped out at that time.

He lost everything, including his heroic qualities, and after regaining his powerful strength in its entirety, the once kind-hearted Superboy-Prime has completely transformed into an inhuman monster.

"what happened???"

Superboy-Prime attacked Dr. Manhattan without warning, even though he knew full well that the damage to the ring was not the fault of the blue monster that appeared in front of him.

But he just took his anger out on the other party. At this moment, whether Superboy-Prime admits it or not, he has completely and thoroughly become a pure-bred super villain, and there is no room for him to argue that he is an "anti-hero".

But Superboy-Prime never intended to argue like that. He always thought he was the hero of the Golden Age...

He was.

In an instant, a huge force burst out in the universe, and Dr. Manhattan was instantly engulfed in the huge explosion and then turned into ashes.

Superboy-Prime punched the blue-skinned monster who was blocking his way to death, then tore the space apart and continued to try to find Anti-Monitor and Batman.

The battle between them was near the Earth... Huh? Why didn't he see the Earth when he was fighting the Anti-Monitor before? Would the aftermath he caused destroy the Earth? Never mind, it doesn't matter, anyway, let's go back to the solar system first.

He needs to spend some time to find the right path... Why is this broken path in the universe completely different from the ones he has walked before?
???

Superboy-Prime left, and five minutes later, the blue Dr. Manhattan quickly reshaped his body on the spot, first the skeleton and blood vessels, then the muscles.

He thought silently.

He seemed to be here, but he also existed in the past 5 minutes ago.

Therefore, he could still stand here and look at the hideous and distorted face of Superboy-Prime when he punched him five minutes ago.

As Dr. Manhattan continued to search, this hideous and distorted face gradually overlapped with a face covered with a beard and wrapped in a tattered robe.

"Time Trapped..."

(Note: For details about the Time Trapper, the corrupted version of the future Superboy-Prime, please refer to Chapter 401.)
"interesting."

Dr. Manhattan's sight followed Superboy-Prime's projection towards the dark multiverse. He intended to scan there directly and find out what was happening there, but he then felt that Barbatos and the Anti-Monitor upstream of the time stream were working together to block his sight.

Dr. Manhattan could break through this shield, he knew he could, but he gave up trying.

He was not eager to know the past that Superboy-Prime had experienced, he planned to see what would happen in the future first. The uncertain future of the current timeline.

He finished reading the future of the current universe.

It's hard to say what he saw...

He...he saw a laughing Batman.

The other party had bat wings and a body like a dragon. A large number of Metal Spirit nanorobots surrounded his body. All kinds of strange Batman physical features appeared on him, the Ravager, the Red Death, the Drowned Ghost, the Bat-Lenyaq... He wielded endless light and heat, like swinging a heavy hammer, and then -

Boom! ! !
A loud bang rang in Dr. Manhattan's ears, and the sound lingered, deafening and shaking the entire dark multiverse.

As the heavy hammer struck, history and the past were changed, as if there was an invisible force pushing things forward.

And this one in front of me... is just one of the most sophisticated gears.

This is...what is going on?
Dr. Manhattan didn't understand.

He couldn't understand the future.

He decided to take another look.

(End of this chapter)