"Timothy Drake!"
Tim's jaw was clenched tightly, his breathing rapid. His blue eyes reflected a terrifying future. Until he heard someone calling his name, sometimes sounding like Baia, sometimes like Bruce, but finally merging into the concerned voice of Charles Xavier.
He turned and saw a professor standing in front of him, looking younger than in the photos. The scene shifted suddenly, and he recognized the wooden floor and the dessert counter. He realized where he was.
"You can't stay here," Charles extended his hand towards him. "Come with me!"
Tim looked around. "Is this an illusion?"
"It's not," Charles said firmly, grabbing his wrist. Tim felt a strong pull from his hand, and a wave of dizziness hit him, like being spun in a washing machine in a vacuum.
The dizziness didn't last long. Tim found himself leaning on the armrest of a chair, sitting on an old cushion, and realized he was in front of Charles Xavier, who still held his wrist tightly.
He panted heavily, feeling the cold sweat soaking his back. Charles looked at him with a smile, and Tim relaxed, sinking into the chair.
"No," Tim said, "this can't be real. One moment I was in Gotham, and now—"
He stopped, jumped up, and rushed to the window, pulling the curtain open. Across the river Cam, ancient English buildings stood, with wide lawns, flying pigeons, and students chatting as they walked by.
"Cambridge University?"
"Could it be because you applied to Cambridge University?" Professor Xavier smiled.
Tim observed that he didn't look as young as he did in the illusion. He sat calmly in his wheelchair. The room had a whole wall of books, giving it a literary feel. A narrow sofa next to the bookshelf had slightly frayed but clean cushions, not making anyone uncomfortable.
An old man with white hair lay on the sofa, eyes closed, covered with a blanket. A wet towel on his head indicated that this was Professor Chronotis, the mysterious sender of the letter.
Tim felt a surge of anger, not at Charles but at the situation. He had only wanted to gradually understand the symbols on the Amazo core, but now, things he couldn't yet comprehend were happening. He knew too little and hated feeling out of control.
He took deep breaths to calm himself and used his learned techniques to determine that this wasn't an illusion.
"After all this, I'm not that interested in Cambridge University," Tim said insincerely, not hesitating to look directly at Professor Xavier, hoping to get some information.
"I don't know much. You were indeed in a state of mental confusion," Charles nodded slightly. "I tried to calm you and pull you out of the chaotic images, and the next moment you appeared in front of me."
"It must be the book," Tim said, looking around. He had a feeling the book had followed him to Cambridge. Sure enough, he found the suspicious book in his pocket.
The only person who could provide answers seemed to be unconscious.
"He'll be fine soon," Professor Xavier reassured him. "Sorting through Professor Chronotis's thoughts and memories took me quite some time."
As he spoke, Professor Chronotis's eyelids twitched. After a moment, he muttered softly, pushed off the blanket, and slowly sat up, holding onto the sofa.
"Are you alright, Professor?" Tim asked.
Professor Chronotis rubbed his forehead and groaned, "I'm alright, just barely. You know, as you get older, your mind isn't as sharp."
"What exactly is this?" Tim raised the book "The Ancient and Noble Laws of Gallifrey."
"An heirloom," the professor replied. "This is one of the Time Lords' heirlooms. To this day, even on Gallifrey, not many know its true purpose, except perhaps me."
Tim pulled up a chair and sat in front of the professor. He glanced at Charles, who showed no surprise at Chronotis's seemingly insane words, and Chronotis didn't seem to avoid the topic, so Tim settled down to gather more information.
In fact, the name "Time Lord" wasn't entirely unfamiliar to Tim. In New York, when he rescued Baia from the angels, he had cooperated with a Time Lord who called himself "The Doctor." Time Lords were from Gallifrey, just as Superman was from Krypton, which wasn't too hard to grasp.
"I want to know more about Gallifrey," Tim said.
"There's not much to tell... because in this world, Gallifrey doesn't exist. You know, your little group of heroes, the one called the Justice League, has dealt with invaders from parallel worlds, right?"
"Yes. I get it, Time Lords come from even further away, another universe, like Iron Man?" Tim ventured.
Unexpectedly, Charles looked a bit surprised. "You mean Iron Man is in this world too?"
It seemed everyone present was involved. Tim thought and nodded.
"Exactly," Chronotis said. "Universes are colliding, like two continents crashing into each other. Reality will shatter, countless species will go extinct, and many concepts will vanish forever. But what remains will form a new universe, flourishing anew. It's not any physical entity clashing, but reality itself. So when it happens, you might not even notice."
Tim's face grew serious. "Is that how the X-Mansion came to be? That sounds terrible."
"Don't worry, the most mysterious and powerful beings are working to prevent it."
"What does this have to do with this book?"
"For the Time Lords, this book is useless... or rather, they never properly used it. On my original Earth, there weren't as many dangers, so I kept it. But now, in this world with so many crises, any one of them could destroy fragile human civilization."
Professor Chronotis spoke slowly, then adjusted his glasses and paused for a moment. "Do you know why the Time Lords call themselves that?"
"Why?"
"Because they control time. In the universe, they maintain the existence of the time stream and use time technology, making them the most dangerous and powerful race. And this book is a key. This key leads to a prison outside of time, far safer than Krypton's so-called Phantom Zone. I think you might need it."
Doomsday.
Tim thought. Yes, if the professor was telling the truth, then he did need this.
"Why give it to me?"
"Have you met the Doctor?" "Yes."
"Good, opening 'Shada' will require his help... Have you met 'Swallow'?"
"You know about 'Swallow'?"
Chronotis shook his head. "Young man, you may have heard this many times, but I must repeat it. Dealing with Time Lords, you must remember that time is nonlinear. Sometimes events are mutually causal. Just because I don't know Swallow now doesn't mean I haven't met her in the future."
Having studied Gallifreyan, Tim miraculously understood the meaning hidden in this confusing tense.
"Then, why now?" Tim asked. "What does the vision I saw in the book mean?"
"That was a possible reality—also the reason I chose to give it to you now."
Tim recalled the chill that ran down his spine as he witnessed it all. He saw skyscrapers crumbling, thousands of lives vanishing, the things the Justice League protected day and night destroyed. He saw...
The death of Superman.
He immediately stood up. "I have to go back to Gotham right away."
"Young man, safe travels!" the professor waved.
Tim turned back. "Aren't you a Time Lord?"
The professor muttered, somewhat surprised by his question. "I am indeed."
"Can't you just use the TARDIS to take me there?" Tim asked.
The professor shook his head. "It's too old. I don't want to move it."
Tim quickly relayed the message to the Justice League. Alfred, on his way to the Batcave with coffee, was surprised to find that the young master, who had been working in the Batcave just a quarter of an hour ago, had booked a flight back to Gotham from the UK.
The Dense Forest Outside Metropolis
An ominous tremor emanated from beneath the earth. A doe, drinking from a stream, lifted its head uneasily, scanning its surroundings, its legs ready to bolt at any moment. But in the next second, a massive shadow engulfed it. Reflected in its black eyes was a towering humanoid monster. Humanoid, perhaps, was a generous term. The creature was covered in sharp bone spurs, and in its eyes, there was no trace of the emotions seen in sentient beings—only coldness and madness.
The doe let out a distressed cry but couldn't escape.
Blood splattered.
The creature was far from satisfied with this small kill. No living thing could escape its grasp. In the distance, the towering skyscrapers of Metropolis peeked through the tree canopy. The heat and signals from the gathered beings excited it. This was the territory of its old adversary, and it could hardly wait.
On the ground, it left a trail of massive, deep footprints. As birds took flight in alarm, the slaughter continued.
Any creature brave enough to stand in the way of Doomsday—a universal killing machine—be it human or Kryptonian, would have no chance of survival.