Superman from the comics: Starting with the Black Robe

Chapter 259 42 seconds

Chapter 259 42 seconds

Sixteen aliens with distinct expressions are scattered across the globe, wreaking havoc.

What they have in common is that their clothing style and appearance are quite similar to Mark's in this universe, and they even insist on calling themselves "Invincible Young Hero".

"You mean, they are all 'me'?!"

This is undoubtedly the work of Angerström, who can travel through dimensions.

From the moment he fled, Mark knew he would come back for revenge, but he never expected that Angustron would not even let his revenge last overnight!

Sixteen in total!

Hearing that number of marks felt like the sky had fallen.

Mark knew that there were naturally countless versions of himself in the infinite number of parallel universes, and judging from Angustron's attitude towards him, these "invincible young heroes" from other universes were not exactly benevolent men and women.

The little grudge with Cisel was instantly forgotten, and he quickly grabbed the headphones:

"Cesel, where are your sonic weapons? Bring them all out now!"

Without that sonic wave that could make him eat so much, Mark doesn't know how Earth would survive this crisis.

The reason is that, apart from Mark himself, probably no one on this planet knows just how strong he really is.

He always held back when fighting others, and even when he was involved in a life-or-death duel with the Vixing people, he was unable to truly kill them.

Even when Cecil used a sonic weapon to ambush Mark, the Invincible Young Hero had ample time to launch a sudden attack and smash the former into a bloody mess.

Meanwhile, Cecilia was frantically busy in the control room, desperately trying to send all the superheroes she could contact to the location of these sixteen invincible young heroes via the teleportation facility.

"Tech Jacket, go stop that one in space; Werewolf, go to New York; Captain Britain? Buckingham Palace is about to collapse, where is he?! And can anyone contact Spawn and tell him to go to Chicago!"

Faced with this stark contrast, Cissell felt less inclined to lecture or distrust Mark, the only remaining person who could communicate normally with her, and her tone softened considerably:

"I'm afraid that won't work, son. We simply haven't prepared that much. Could you perhaps have Superman—"

"Superman is about to leave this universe, isn't that what you've always wanted to see?"

Mark had always noticed Cecil's wariness of Superman, and even though he understood it after the All-Powerful incident, this wariness still bothered him, especially after he realized that Cecil had also included him on the threat list.

"So you only remember him now!"

Superman also said that he was being pursued by an unknown number of Kryptonian soldiers.

During their casual conversation, Mark even overheard Superman mentioning that in order to get home as soon as possible, he had manually detonated a supernova in an attempt to obtain some precious material—something Mark simply couldn't imagine.

If one Superman can reach for the stars and the moon, Mark can't even imagine what it would be like if there were several more.

"Ugh, I really hate young people—"

Mark's sudden outburst of temper prompted Cissell, whose edges had long been smoothed by time, to sigh deeply: "But now is definitely not a good time to argue, son!"

The destructive power of the aliens is undeniable, as evidenced by the destruction of Chicago during the battle between Omniman and Young Man Invincible.

If sixteen Vitrumians were to deliberately cause destruction in any densely populated major city, tens of thousands of people would likely be injured or killed every second that passed.

"This is already the biggest crisis Earth has ever faced; let's stop acting rashly!"

It's not shameful to ask for help. The only reason Cecilia didn't believe Superman at first was because the man claimed that he never needed anything in return for helping others.

Superman means that whenever humanity faces a crisis, a giant man in a red cape, like a human wishing well, will descend from the sky, save the world according to humanity's wishes, and then simply leave without seeking fame or reward.

How could there be such a good thing in the world?!

But the situation had deteriorated to such an extent that even if Cecilia distrusted Superman, she had no choice but to swallow her pride and ask for help.

"This is a life-or-death moment, Mark. Tell the guy next to you—we need Superman!"

Boom!

Before Mark could speak, Joey, who was standing next to him, had already drawn a red and blue trail in the sky, leaving only an afterimage in place.

The timing of this accident was really unfortunate.

"On Friday, could you please tell me if Batman's teleportation can be paused or canceled?"

"Do you think that medium-free interdimensional transmission is as simple as pausing and replaying a video?"

The ominous tone of Friday's rebuttal made Joey instinctively want to retort that Angustram's circumnavigation of dimensions was just a snap of his fingers, but the words stuck in his throat.

People's physical constitutions cannot be generalized. As a Kryptonian, I can travel around the world a hundred times in a single thought.

Saying this will only serve to give Friday a hard time for exploiting a logical flaw.

Joey silently resolved in her heart that once she got back, she would definitely return this AI with no sense of service to Tony as soon as possible!

"You still have..."

Friday isn't even worthy of being a timer for Joey; the Kryptonian brain, capable of precisely counting the frequency of atomic energy level transitions, is far more stable than this utterly unintelligent AI.

"I know, I still have—"

42 seconds.

To deal with sixteen parallel universe versions of Mark.

For Debbie, Mark's wife and mother, every day has been filled with anxiety ever since Mark awakened his superpowers.

On another sleepless night, as usual, Debbie overheard Mark receiving a call from Cecilia in the middle of the night, quietly changing into his uniform and leaving the house.

This is one of the sources of her nightmares every night as a mother.

And now, the things from my nightmare seem to have come true.

"Mom, are you there?! I'm hurt, help me! Mom!"

Hearing her son's call, Debbie, still in her pajamas, didn't even bother to put on her shoes and went down the stairs barefoot:

"mark!"

When he opened the door, he saw his son Mark covered in blood, lying in front of the house.

Debbie's love for her son made her overlook the difference between this "Mark" and the usual one. She rushed forward, wanting to pull Mark into her arms.

So much so that she didn't see the cruel, cunning smile that appeared on her 'son's' face, hidden beneath the bloodstains.

"Be careful!"

Oliver leaped from the second-floor window, crouched low, and delivered a powerful blow, sending "Mark" sprawling as he tried to get up. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Oliver quickly shielded Debbie behind him.

"Don't be fooled, Mom, he's not my brother!"

As a mixed-race alien, Oliver could perceive details that his ordinary mother couldn't see. His brother, whose appearance was different from usual, was completely unharmed, and the blood covering him was not his own!

"What a disappointment."

Mark, feigning injury, straightened up, revealing a mohawk hairstyle completely different from the usual Mark. Half his face was covered in blood, and he was initially annoyed that his entertainment had been interrupted, until he noticed Oliver, a half-human, half-Venetian:

"But where did you come from, you bastard?"

Staring at the purple-skinned mongrel child floating in the air, whom he had never seen before, Mark with the mohawk suddenly let out a chilling laugh:

"It's alright~ Heh heh, I'll kill them both the same way!"

In his universe, he killed his mother, Debbie, so quickly that he didn't even have time to enjoy it.

"This time, I'll take it slow—"

Mark, sporting a mohawk, had already conceived over a dozen ways to torture people, and he believed that reliving the process of killing his mother would be an unforgettable experience.

"As for you, you little bastard who came from who-knows-where?"

And for Oliver, who was standing between him and his mother, Mohican Mark thoughtfully made arrangements:

"Oh, I'm going to tear off your legs and use them to smash your own head!"

Oliver, who was shielding Debbie in front of him and protecting his family at all costs, began to tremble uncontrollably.

"Haha! Are you scared?"

Seeing this, Mohican Mark burst into laughter. The toy was finally showing the reaction he had expected, and this fear only excited him more.

"Even with Witrum blood, a bastard is still a bastard. A true Witrumman is never afraid, not even in the face of death."

Oliver's trembling became more and more pronounced, and he could barely stand. This made Mark, the man with the mohawk, even more eager for the show to come:

"I've changed my mind, child. I'm going to take out your heart and let our mother eat it!"

"I'm not afraid of you."

At this moment, every nerve in Oliver's body was sending him the command to "escape this planet quickly." His whole body was tense until he could hardly move, but he still firmly protected his mother in front of him.

He knew that his fear did not come from the strange "brother" with the mohawk in front of him, but from the suppression of his survival instinct that he had experienced once before.

Having lost his ability to fight, he could only choose to believe in the source of his fear, in the Superman who gave him the skateboard as a gift.

"I'm afraid the person who will face death next will not be me, or our mother, but—"

Whoosh!

Before Oliver could finish uttering the word "you," a red gust of wind swept up in front of Mark's house.

After the strong wind, the Mohican Mark, who had just tried to tease his prey with a few more harsh words, had vanished without a trace, as if he had never existed.

Joey started the countdown the moment the storm began.

42 seconds.