"Without using my ears, closing my eyes, or stirring a single brain cell, I can think of it—it's 100% Shiller's doing!"
In the silvery-white space, a young man's voice came through. Through the thick white fog at the edges, only an indistinct black figure and two pointed ears could be seen.
In an instant, five heads appeared above the round table. Bruce, Diana, Clark, Pamela, and Luther neatly stood in the direction of the five sides of the pentagon.
Clark was the first to turn his head, looking at Bruce in the bat suit and asked, "Why are you wearing this outfit again?"
"I was standing guard upstairs. I just closed my eyes to rest for a moment, and then I found myself here." Bruce responded.
"Same with me. I was doing my essay, just felt a bit drowsy, and when I opened my eyes, I was here," Lex sighed and said, "I hope what he said about time not moving in the real world is true, otherwise, I won't be able to hand in my essay again."
"It seems like we're all in a similar situation." Diana spread her hands on the edge of the table and said, "I was an interpreter at The Metropolitan Art Exposition. I leaned back in my chair to take a nap during my break, when I awoke to see Earth beneath my feet, I thought I was sleepwalking."
The crowd turned their attention to Pamela. Pamela, hugging her arms, said, "Is it so strange that I take naps at noon? Let's talk about your earlier assumption, Bruce."
The crowd turned their attention back to Bruce. Bruce shook his head and said, "I think I don't need to repeat what I said, because it's an obvious fact— there's no possibility that this isn't Shiller messing around."
"But what about his talk of the destruction of the cosmos…" Clark frowned, showing a somewhat difficult expression.
"Either it's a scare tactic or a play on words." Bruce adjusted his bat cloak behind him and said, "He said the cosmos is about to be destroyed, he didn't specify when this destruction will happen, what if it's a trillion years from now?"
"And he didn't say how the cosmos would be destroyed. The cosmos is always destined for destruction, what if it's a natural destruction?"
The others all felt that it made sense after hearing this and nodded in agreement. Lex looked down at the pattern on the table, and he just found out that the pattern would light up when he put his hand on the table, so he put his hand back on it and said, "Regarding the team leader, I tend to support Clark, what about you all?"
Clark immediately raised his hand and said, "I support Bruce. The main reason is that I heard he can increase or decrease our abilities. Even if my superpowers are diminished, at least Bruce is very smart."
After pondering and tapping her cheek with a finger for a few seconds, Diana said, "I too support Bruce. I suspect this is not our original universe, and our superpowers may not work here. Choosing an intelligent leader would indeed be a better choice."
"It's not a matter of 'may,' it's that absolutely cannot be used." Pamela sighed and said, "I can't sense the presence of All Things Green anymore. At least I won't be able to use my ability to manipulate plants."
"Alright, it seems you've won the majority vote." Lex looked at Bruce and said, "But we need to set some rules. What worries me the most is your mental state. If you were to..."
"Now that Professor Shiller isn't here, his mental state is the best among us." A shadow jumped onto the table and Clark exclaimed, "Little Bruce, how come you're here too?"
"Call me Bat Cat." Bat Cat flicked his tail, turned around, and jumped onto Clark's shoulder with agility, saying, "Apparently, the role of a team leader may come in handy in the future, and you can always trust Batman."
"I choose Batman."
The thick fog gathered and dispersed, the same tabletop, but now there were six heads around the table. Green Arrow was the first to look at the solemn and serious Batman and said, "I believe he would be the best leader for the Super Six."
"I agree too." Green Lantern Hal nodded and said, "When Apocalypse Star invaded, only Batman was able to come up with a reasonable plan. I trust his wisdom."
Superman turned to look at Batman; Batman still wore a serious and mysterious look. He wanted to ask what was going on in this world, but he also knew that Batman would not tell him, so he could only nod and said, "I have no objections. I think Batman can lead us."
"Don't you guys think this is a bit strange?" Wonder Woman frowned and said, "We just recently formed the Super Six, and we've all been brought to this mysterious world. Could this be Darkseid being desperate due to the Green Lantern Corps and resorting to some conspiracy?"
"It's not Darkseid." Batman said in his usual deep voice, "He's not capable of this."
"It doesn't matter who the culprit is." Batman lowered his eyelids to look at the pattern on the table and said, "I propose Superman to be the leader."
Superman was surprised, but Wonder Woman seemed to understand Batman's intention. She nodded and said, "That's what I think too. You all saw earlier, the so-called duelists who have come here are not just one team. We will probably have to face them in the future, so the team leader should certainly serve as a representative for communication."
"The best solution would be to have one public and one undercover figure. Superman can act as the team leader and deal with the other competitors, and Batman can strategize from behind the scenes and control everything, just like how we dealt with Darkseid. It's proven very effective, hasn't it?"
Green Lantern and Green Arrow looked at each other, then looked at the last member of the team who had not expressed his stance, Aquaman. After some pondering, Aquaman said, "I abstain, you can vote according to your own wishes."
Everyone could understand his reasoning. After all, there were six of them now. If Superman and Batman didn't vote, then there would still be four remaining. If two voted for each, it would end in a tie. It would be better for one to abstain, leaving three to make the decision. Then, the minority would follow the majority decision."So who chooses Superman?" Wonder Woman said as she raised her hand. Green Lantern hesitated before raising his hand, but Green Arrow shook his head.
"Very well, that's how it will be." Wonder Woman turned to Green Arrow. "We can divide up the responsibilities within the team. Green Lantern and I, along with Superman, will handle external affairs, while you Batman and Arthur, will handle internal affairs."
Batman was the first to place his hand on the table. The others followed, not withdrawing until they heard that the safe zone would open in 30 minutes. Batman then slightly furrowed his eyebrows.
"If there's a safe zone, there must be a dangerous zone." Batman's words sent chills down the spines of the others. He withdrew his hand into his cloak and said in a deep voice, "....Prepare for the strategy session!"
In another location, a gigantic hammer slammed on a silver table. Harley Quinn, hefting the hammer, asked, "So what is happening here exactly? Scarecrow, did your poison gas leak again, pulling us all into some hallucination?"
"What does this have to do with me?!" The Scarecrow, who stood opposite in his protective suit, rolled his eyes. "I was testing a new batch of fear gas in the lab. Next thing I knew, I was falling."
"Quiet! Quiet! Everybody, be quiet!!!" Joker slammed his hand on the table, then flashed a brutal, cold smile. "Looks like someone wants to play an interesting game with us. How amusing."
"Heh heh heh, heh heh," The Riddler chuckled, shrugging. He pulled out a deck of cards, waving it in his hand saying, "guess what time it is? Or is this really a 'language'?"
"There must be others who were brought here." Two-Face flipped a coin, staring intensely at the table. "Quite a few people fell just now. Do you guys think Batman is here?"
Joker instantly lit up, his excitement seeming to shake his entire body. His teeth chattering, he finally managed to spit out, "Good, good! This must be an interesting game; it's been a while since the little birds flew off from Gotham."
"The problem arises if those troublesome stages have also arrived." Harley Quinn said, blowing hair from her forehead and grimacing, "Don't tell me you didn't consider it. The fat, copper-smelling Penguin, and Hugo, who has dog crap for brains, might have also come. They won't want to play the game."
"I won't let them spoil this once-in-a-lifetime chance," Joker said, stirring from his madness. Standing straight and rolling his shoulders, he adjusted his bow tie and cleared his throat. Speaking like a politician, he said, "let's begin the election then. Who will be the leader?"
"I'm not interested," Scarecrow shook his head. "I just hope the chemical vials I left in my lab won't evaporate too swiftly."
"You're an idiot. Didn't you hear that time doesn't work the same way here?"
"What if he was lying?"
"Do you think praying will do any good?"
The Scarecrow and Harley began bickering, but Joker intervened, "Be quiet, the election is serious. We must make a wise choice given that our opponents may not only consist of Batman."
Meanwhile, at another pentagon-shaped table, a woman in a red dress said, "What's going on? I just had a nap, how did I become a duelist?"
"Stop complaining, I was just dozing off in the office, and the next thing I knew, I was here." A burly man examined his hands, as if adapting to something.
"Don't you think all of this was cooked up by those Demon Gods? Wanda, did you hear anything in the cosmos lately?" a woman with green hair asked.
"Weren't you interning at the Andromeda Galaxy? Asking me?" Wanda complained, "Of late, I've been so exhausted being an X-Men on Earth. I haven't had any rest in fifteen days!"
"Alright, alright, ladies, let's calm down. Let's first choose a team leader. I have a feeling something will go wrong if we delay." Cyclops suggested, adjusting his glasses.
The group looked at the quadrilateral on their table, Wanda hesitated before saying, "If Jean were here, I'd definitely choose her as the leader. But she seems to be missing, so I choose Logan.
"Don't look to me." Polaris Lorna sighed, crossing her arms, "Magneto said I had no leadership skills, and although Professor X said not to believe him, I know he thinks the same. Usually, I have no patience."
Wolverine Logan turned to Cyclops, who hesitated before nodding. However, Wolverine turned away, "I will likely be leading the charge, you should do it."
Cyclops did not respond. His relationship with Wolverine was a bit awkward, especially if Jean would have been there.
After a discussion, they decided Cyclops would lead the team. They then all placed their hands on the table.
However, their discussion was the longest. Just as they finished discussing, with precisely thirty minutes left until the safe zone opens, an announcement echoed through space.
"New Earth broadcast. Duel World New Earth game rules will be read next. All Duelist groups, please listen carefully and strictly follow the game rules. Rule violators will face execution or elimination."