Joey snapped out of the memory crystal, and just as Kara had said, it was already the next morning. The information within the crystals was like a vivid dream, irresistibly drawing the viewer in.
Waiting for him was Kara's pair of big eyes, almost pressed right up against his face. Joey jumped in shock, nearly swearing on instinct:
"You... don't you have anything better to do, Kara? I remember you said last night you were going to stabilize those anarchist militias in South America."
"Don't worry. All conventional weapons in South America have already been destroyed by me, and the war has been forcibly stopped."
Kara blinked her bright blue eyes and made a tossing gesture, a silly smile appearing on her face:
"If they want to fight again, they'll have to use rocks and spears."
"Okay." Joey wasn't surprised. He had taken a glance at South America before—there was nothing there capable of threatening a Kryptonian.
While Kara's simple and crude method was only a temporary solution, it at least bought time—and time was exactly what Joey needed right now.
This planet was just like always. War was happening everywhere. It was just that some wars mattered more than others.
Joey had spent the entire night reviewing Kryptonian technological data. In the end, after analyzing everything, he came to one conclusion: there was nothing wrong with his watch.
Which made things even stranger.
Joey prepared to leave the Fortress of Solitude and head to the British Isles to push the Amazons to evacuate as soon as possible. If they stayed any longer, the Gauls across the English Channel might just give in and surrender to them.
Kara watched Joey turn away, clearly preoccupied. The smile on her face faded instantly, replaced by a conflicted expression. She couldn't help but call out:
"Kal-El?"
"Hm?" Joey almost didn't react in time—she hadn't used his Kryptonian name much lately. "Something the matter?"
The silly smile was completely gone from Kara's face now. Only worry remained.
"What should I do?"
"Do what you want to do. Help people." Joey thought she was still troubled by hearing countless cries for help across the planet.
"Focus your mind. Filter out the noise in all those prayers and pleas, and help the ones who need it most—like the food crisis in Africa right now."
Kara simply nodded silently, then shot upward and flew out of the Fortress.
Joey couldn't quite put his finger on it, but ever since the Fortress was built, Kara had been acting a little strange.
Maybe the Fortress and those memory crystals had stirred up memories of Krypton—her lost home.
Feeling lonely and out of place was normal—especially for someone like Kara.
Her entire life consisted of the decade or so she had spent on Krypton. As for her time on Earth so far, the most defining part was probably being imprisoned in a lab—and that could hardly be called a life.
Joey, on the other hand, had settled down and was doing everything he could to stabilize this world and bring about the best possible outcome for everyone. That was because, aside from his body, he was human—both in his past life and this one.
Kara, however, was driven purely by compassion—'unable to bear seeing life perish after witnessing it exist'—and simply chose to do good. Joey could only admire that her drive far surpassed his own back then. She was a natural-born hero.
Before going to find Diana, Joey, still unconvinced, took out his time watch and activated it again.
If nothing was wrong with it, then nothing should go wrong.
A flash of yellow light—
Joey disappeared from inside the Fortress of Solitude and reappeared in Tony Stark's home.
Not the world he had just left.
And this time, he appeared directly in Stark's bedroom.
"Shit!" Joey and Tony both shouted at the same time.
At that moment, Joey suddenly understood why Clark Kent often suppressed his super senses—otherwise, you might end up seeing things you really shouldn't.
"Goddammit, Tony! Learning Russian is one thing, but hiring three teachers at once?!"
Joey instantly vanished from the bedroom. The situation wasn't too awkward yet—but knowing Tony, things could get worse very quickly.
What the hell was this...
Here he was, exhausting himself in the Flashpoint world, trying to prevent the planet from literally tearing itself apart—
Meanwhile, in this world, some privileged jerk could spend years indulging in excess, while that purple alien menace in deep space wouldn't show up for quite a while.
"Fuck, Joey! Didn't anyone teach you about privacy? That was my ninth 'rebirth celebration' and you just ruined it!"
A few minutes later, Tony emerged from the bedroom in a robe, stepping out from a pile of beauties. He had already equipped a Mark VI repulsor, aiming it at Joey with ill intent:
"You know, under the 'castle doctrine,' I could legally use lethal force on you right now, right?"
"I don't control where I teleport."
Joey fiddled with his time watch, completely ignoring Tony's threat.
"Go back to your language lessons, Tony. There's a whole world waiting for me to save."
Another flash of yellow light—and Joey was gone again, leaving behind a furious and thoroughly unamused Tony:
"JARVIS, record that energy signature! I'm going to figure out a way to block it! And buy me that forest villa on Long Island—I'm moving tonight!"
"Command executed. Also, the subject just removed your latest arc reactor from the lab."
"Fuck! I should've taken my shot earlier!"
Taking the arc reactor had been purely opportunistic. With the Fortress of Solitude, Joey could easily build one himself given some time—but why bother when there was one ready to take?
Tony Stark certainly wouldn't miss something so trivial.
Now that Joey had found a technological solution to fix Themyscira's climate in the Arctic, it made sense to grab a stable energy source while he was here.
Once he restored the island to its former warm, lush state, Diana would face far less resistance when asking her people to withdraw from the human world.
All that remained was dealing with Atlantis. At the very least, Earth could return to its previous state.
Things were clearly moving in a better direction.
---
The sudden interruption of communication with Abin Sur cast another shadow over Cyborg's mind.
Thinking back to Abin Sur's tone when he mentioned that alien, Cyborg couldn't help but feel his heartbeat quicken.
Even the war between Wonder Woman and Aquaman hadn't shaken Abin Sur this much.
According to lab data, the 'Subject One,' Kara Zor-El, had claimed that her home planet was already collapsing when she left—meaning she was likely the last survivor.
But now, at least two such beings had appeared on Earth.
One of them—the female subject previously imprisoned in the lab—had just demonstrated the terrifying ability to neutralize all armed forces in South America within fifteen minutes.
The other—the male—had nearly killed Wonder Woman in a one-on-one fight, forcing the Amazons to halt their expansion.
What if there were more than just these two?
What if the first and second were merely the vanguard of an invasion?
The situation was clearly moving toward the worst-case scenario once again.