"They usually do answer," said Felix with certainty. "Human faith and soul have a particular meaning to gods. Those are attractive to them, and there is hardly a situation where a god hears the call but refuses to answer."
"So, he can't hear it? If that's the case, why don't you make the ringtone louder?" Harley Quinn asked again.
"I have created the loudest ring I could," sighed Felix deeply. "In theory, it should awake even God, but there's no response from the other end. I wonder how such stupid gods have survived till now."
"So, do we have to agree with those idiots?" Hugo crossed his arms in discontent. "Those owls obviously harboured ill-intents. They might take this opportunity to control Gotham and fly back to Earth."
"Or use it to do something utterly boring." Riddler sniffled and smirked, "like threatening the Federal Bureau of Investigation to stay away."
"Regardless, we need to contact them…"
"Turn on the TV!!!" A scream rose from downstairs. It was the Mad Hatter's, sending everyone rushing to gather in front of the television hanging in the middle of the hall.
On the screen was the familiar face well-known by Gotham citizens, as pale as bleach and smeared with bright red lipstick.
"Hi, friends. Good day, isn't it? What a warm Sunday afternoon it is. I got lost in a big maze and bumped into a group of birds having afternoon tea."
"Despite my gentle intentions to join them, their rudeness and impoliteness made them refuse me. Hence, I have no choice but to let more people look under their featherless appearances to witness their idiotic hearts…"
"Batman, if you are watching this, you must understand that no one shaped your darkness - you shaped it yourself. You are nobler than any bird in this world!"
"If anyone dares to stretch his neck before you and cries out something like 'Oh, look at my wicked plan!' I will let them know that only my darkness and evil are of the same origin as yours! Only mine!! Hahahahahahahahaha!!"
In the temporary base of the superheroes, watching the signal on the screen, Batman's fingertips suddenly trembled. Superman caught this small detail and looked at Batman worriedly, "What's wrong? Are you tired?"
Wonder Woman was about to say, "he doesn't get tired," but from the small part of Batman's face visible under his mask, she saw a chilling surprise. Clearly, it was not because of the unchanged data on the screen.
"What's wrong?" Wonder Woman stepped forward with a serious look, "Did you think of any information about Darkseid?"
"No." Batman didn't utter a word for a minute, then inhaled deeply, "Darkseid wouldn't give me such a feeling."
"God, we've been trapped in this room for almost a week." Superman sighed lightly, "It's not that I'm complaining - alien invasion is serious indeed - it just saddens me to think about all those people waiting for my help."
Before Batman could open his mouth and explain the priorities, he was hit with a chill, a sign that Joker was up to no good in Gotham City once again.
Whether to go back or stay didn't take Batman too long to decide. Even after almost a week of non-stop cosmic detection work, Batman couldn't allow the Joker to cause trouble. Dealing with the Joker had become instinctive to him; no matter how many times it happened, he would always choose the Joker.
So, Batman stood up from the table and turned to Superman, saying, "Joker is wreaking havoc in Gotham City again. I have to stop him. But someone has to watch over here."
"You want me to stay?" Superman hesitated. Although he really wanted to go back to Metropolis, considering the possibility of an alien invasion, he nodded under the sense of responsibility, "Alright, you go. We will watch over here and contact you immediately if we find anything."
"I'll monitor the abnormal data signals remotely and won't be delayed too long." Batman left this sentence and headed out.
"Wait." Superman called to him and grabbed his arm, "Let me take you part of the way."
"If I'm not wrong, the hero known as Batman who manages this city should not be here right now." Reed, on screen, speculated about the city flying by the Sky fort, "Otherwise, this control freak with his logo everywhere would have intervened."
"I also wonder where he might be." Stark frowned, but soon relaxed himself and put on a comical face, stating sarcastically, "I'm more curious about how mad he would be when he comes back and finds his house has flown up."
"Sounds like you know about him, more than us."
"A little more than you," laughed Stark, "I can feel that he is indeed a control freak, so when he gets back and finds his city like this, he will definitely flip."
When Superman landed, with Batman, at the empty entrance to Gotham, Batman really was stunned.
In recent days, the three future pillars of the Justice League have been secluded, monitoring cosmic signals and collecting information on Darkseid. They didn't even have time to watch the news. Therefore, all three were unaware of Gotham's ascension. Given the situation, the vacant city plot was shocking.
After the initial shock, rage washed over Batman. Even the intrusions of unfamiliar superheroes into Gotham would upset Batman, let alone his home disappearing entirely.
Is this the big noise that Joker caused? Batman thought his teeth gritted, this time, he must lock him into the deepest and most hidden cave in the Batcave!
However, the pressing issue was, where had Gotham gone? Batman looked at the clues on the ground and quickly speculated Gotham's location.
He gently pressed his mask and looked into the sky through the bat telescope on top of his mask's eyeholes.
The next second, his taut lips from anger loosened a little - he saw Gotham. More importantly, he saw the large bat logo on the Gotham flag waving atop the city's tallest building.