In the end, Owen fixed Shiller's bus.
Since the strange castle from earlier hasn't gone far, if Shiller was to draw three more circles on the spot, Owen might be sucked in himself.
Constantine tried drawing the same three circles on the foundation of the projection hall, but it didn't work, guessing that it was probably because he didn't know the real meaning of the Circular Array.
Actually, many Arrays are like this. If you don't know what they really represent, they won't work. Despite his regret, Constantine was also filled with curiosity.
What kind of demon was the castle? Why is it so powerful? What's the relationship between Shiller and it? Is Shiller the only one who knows how to summon it?
Shiller was aware that he couldn't use this method too often. Otherwise, let alone the big boss, even the OAA would kick him out of Marvel World, and he won't be able to return.
It wasn't that Shiller couldn't bear giving up the resources left unexploited in other Marvel universes, but rather his deep connection with the superheroes.
Now that everything in this game was gone, even Owen's projection hall was missing. What else could they do besides disbanding? Owen waved his hand and asked everyone to leave and return home to their respective mothers.
However, they encountered a problem at this point: no one wanted to leave.
The contestants, led by Shiller, demanded compensation for the server crash. Not even God could persuade them otherwise.
The bystanders, led by Bruce, demanded compensation for the interruption halfway through the movie. Even if they didn't pay for a ticket, were they not owed something for their wasted time?
Owen was caught in a pinch when both sides demanded compensation. Eventually, he decided to placate everyone by declaring everyone winners of the game, granting them some points for compensation, and fixing Shiller's bus for him to take away.
For the bystanders, he returned previous betting losses and added some bonus points to compensate for their wasted time.
Everyone was satisfied with the compensation. Owen opened a doorway in the Game World and the projection hall, allowing everyone to return to their respective team's safety zones.
Just when they were about to leave, Lord Superman turned to Bruce and asked, "Do you want to join my team?"
Bruce paused as he was about to step through the portal. He looked back at Lord Superman, who was watching him with his arms folded.
"How many people are in your team?" Bruce asked.
"Three, though one of them is acting separately."
"Is it Batman?"
Lord Superman nodded.
"Did you guys have a fight?"
"Not really a fight, we didn't even argue." Lord Superman shrugged and said, "As usual, he convinced us with an irrefutable logic, then left us behind."
"Are you hoping that I will take his place?"
Lord Superman frowned and shook his head, "No, you can't take his place. Although you are Batman too, you both are vastly different."
Lord Superman took a step forward and said, "The greatest difference between you and Batman is that you can speak out what you're thinking openly, and that's precisely what I need."
"You wish to decipher what your universe's Batman is thinking, and you hope I can help you understand him."
"And also help him understand me."
"Would your other teammate agree to this?" Bruce looked slightly uncertain as he spoke, "If I'm not mistaken, her name is Diana, the Amazon princess."
"You've met her already. Well, it seems the Justice League in your universe is rather young. Yes, it's her. But I'm the current team leader, and I believe she, like me, needs to understand Batman as well."
"I have teammates too. I think it's necessary to get their consent. After all, I don't want to be nagged at afterward."
Lord Superman turned to Owen and asked, "Why does the doctor named Shiller get a special compensation, but we don't?"
"Because it's entirely his... alright, alright, I'm not picking on the weak. Say what you want to do."
"Let me have a video call with my teammates." Bruce stepped forward and said, "I need to spend some time in another team temporarily. To prevent them from thinking I've gone missing, it's better to inform them first."
Owen sighed. In the blink of an eye, a square screen appeared in front of Bruce. Clark and Diana squeezed into the screen.
"Oh, my God, Bruce, is that really you? When they said you were on a video call, I thought I was hallucinating."
"Yes, it's me, Clark." Bruce shrugged, took a step aside, and the camera followed suit, capturing Lord Superman in the frame as well.
Seeing another version of himself, Clark's eyes widened. He had just exited a game round, and in both rounds, he hadn't encountered another version of himself, so he was surely surprised.
Lord Superman was only slightly surprised to see Clark. The main astonishment came from the fact that Clark looked very young, as if he had just graduated from college and was perhaps doing an internship as a reporter.
"Did you make some new friends, Bruce?" Clark asked with a big smile, "Did you call us especially to show us? I must say, it's really amazing. With so many universes, there are so many different versions of me."
"I indeed want you to see this, but there's a more important matter I want to discuss with you. I'm thinking of spending a few days with this Superman's crew. He's having some trouble and I might be able to help."
"Good heavens, what happened? What kind of trouble is he in?"
"He's having some communication problems with the Batman of his universe. I think I can solve it, but it'll take some time."
"Absolutely no problem, Bruce. You don't need to worry about us. Everything is fine here; Diana and my part in the games are going well."
"But you have to make sure you're safe." Diana squeezed herself back onto the screen. She's been alive for so many years and at a glance, she realized that Lord Superman was no pushover.
Her gaze was like a knife, scanning up and down Lord Superman. After a while, she looked at Bruce and said, "Clark and I hope that you take more care for yourself. This isn't just a platitude—you promised us this."
"Don't worry, no one can hurt me if I don't wish for it." Bruce grinned and added, "Of course, you two should also be careful; not every game is completely safe."
"Wouldn't want to take more of your time, we're signing off now." Clark waved at the camera. Bruce waved back at them, bringing their pleasant conversation to an end.
Lord Superman felt a mix of emotions because the atmosphere of the Justice League's conversation usually wasn't like this.
There was nothing wrong with what Diana and Clark said. Lord Superman knew that he himself was like this during his younger years: naive, slightly foolish, and adorable.
Except Batman would have shaken his head in silence at the first question and then explicitly stated his intention, likely with the statement, "I need to take some time off."
Yes, just that. If Superman and Diana were to inquire further and Batman's plans weren't urgent, he would probably respond with, "This is part of my plan."
And if the situation was really urgent or involved some secret, then Batman would only turn around and leave in silence.
The young Superman would then complain, "He's always like this. He never tells us anything and we're never able to help," before Diana would comfort him. She'd probably say something like, "Batman always has a plan," or "He's never let us down."
Truthfully, anyone with feelings would get tired of such repetitive conversations. So later on, Superman simply stopped asking—Batman could do whatever he wanted.
However, this led to another issue: they started to understand each other less and less, and their relationship weakened. The moment their plans faltered, both of their emotions would fluctuate.
Batman didn't understand why Superman couldn't comprehend his intentions, and Superman didn't understand why Batman never clarified his plans—Diana being stuck in the middle trying to mediate left her mentally and physically exhausted. It felt like the Alliance was better off nonexistent.
This kind of negativity was terrifying; it dragged everyone's morale down into an abyss. Back when the Flash was still around, his carefree character and honest words were able to slightly soothe everyone's tension and sadness.
However, since the Flash's death, the relationship between the three Alliance members began to deteriorate irreversibly.
Now, Diana no longer comforted Superman. Occasionally, she would even join Superman in complaining about Batman, wondering how many opportunities the Alliance had missed due to Batman's silence.
Of course, they would stop their discussion once it reached dangerous topics—for example, the deceased Flash. While no one dared to admit that they wondered why Batman didn't prevent all of this, and why he wasn't able to predict these events.
If it wasn't for the critical situation, Lord Superman wouldn't have considered bringing Bruce into his crew. He knew very well that this was an extreme provocation towards the Batman of his universe, which could possibly even lead to their relationship completely breaking down.
As Lord Superman was about to enter the teleportation portal with Bruce, he hesitated.
"Do you think he'll reject me?"
"He'll reject me more."
"I think you can rest assured." Bruce smiled and said, "Since I've already promised you, I naturally have a way to handle him. You just need to think about what kind of reward would be commensurate with my effort."
"You really are a chip off the old block."
"My pleasure."
Both of them went ahead and entered the teleportation portal. The moment they stepped in, Wonder Woman turned around and was left in shock.
"By Hera! How did you... How did you bring back a younger Batman?!"
Wonder Woman looked at Lord Superman as if he were an unfaithful lover, and a cradle robber at that.
"Certain matters have to be resolved." Lord Superman's expression was stern. "We all know that if we continue like this, it will do no good to anyone."
Wonder Woman paused and then asked, "What's up with you? You were reluctant to bring up this matter before, weren't you?"
"That's because I didn't see any hope for resolution."
"But now you see it, because of him?"
Wonder Woman came over and circled around to Bruce's back. After taking a glance at him, she turned back to say, "Then your timing is perfect. Batman mentioned that he will be coming back to get something... He should be arriving in a few minutes."
"Creak," the warehouse door was pushed open, and a figure with pointy ears appeared at the door.
However, when Batman saw Bruce standing behind Lord Superman, he turned around and left immediately.