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Superman is dead.
The Kryptonian who gave his everything to Earth left behind his most beloved ones, never to return.
Lois, the Metropolis reporter who once helped a small-town boy defeat his ultimate rival in love—Gotham’s wealthiest and most notorious playboy, Bruce Wayne—and successfully win Batman over, now stares anxiously at the Gotham Gazette. Batman has been missing for a whole week. She reflects that her most trusted subordinate, the man everyone thought possessed an unbreakable steel physique, would never want to see things this way.
That simple, goofy farm boy from the Kansas wheat fields would only wish for the ones he loves to be happy and well.
Wonder Woman looks at Batman, who has locked himself away in the Fortress of Solitude in the Arctic, refusing to see anyone. She regrets bitterly: If only I hadn't just stood by watching the drama unfold; if only I had played matchmaker earlier to get them together. Maybe then they would have had more precious memories, and it wouldn't end in such tragic regret. To finally find love, only to be separated by death...
Or perhaps, should I have never let them be together at all? If everything had just stopped at a mutual crush, Bruce wouldn't be this devastated now—so broken that it feels like he will never walk out of the dark.
Meanwhile, the Arkham simp squad, led by the Joker, has been surprisingly well-behaved lately. Without their little Batsy around, they just can't find the motivation for chaos! Shrugging and resting his cheeks in his hands, Joker squats on the ground, asking Nightwing (who is currently disguised as Batman): "When is my sweet Brucie baby coming out to play? I miss him sooooo much!”
Bruce finally left the Fortress of Solitude and returned to Wayne Manor, but his condition remained deeply worrying.
Although Gotham’s villains had become even more subdued, Nightwing, Red Hood (the former Robin), and the current Robin all mutually agreed on one thing: they would much rather go back to the chaotic past—where those scumbags knew no restraint and caused endless trouble—than face this suffocating, oppressive present. The air in the manor was so heavy it felt like breathing lead.
Out of sheer desperation, Jason ended up texting Talia, practically begging the League of Assassins to come stir up some trouble just to get the old Bat back on his feet.
Talia rushed to Gotham immediately. As if pulling a rabbit out of a hat, she suddenly whipped out a completely expressionless Damian, holding him up high with both hands right in front of Bruce's face. Like showing off a rare treasure, she chirped, "Beloved, don't be sad! Look, it’s our son! He just turned ten!"
Dick, who was eating French fries, had to suppress a violent urge to smear ketchup right onto the young boy's forehead.
Tim, who was checking his texts, barely managed to control his finger from opening a music app to blast The Lion King theme song.
Meanwhile, Metropolis billionaire Lex Luthor poured massive fortunes into a legal battle but still utterly lost the "Lawsuit of the Century" for custody against Gotham's billionaire, Bruce Wayne. Under the wild, non-stop coverage of national news media, Conner officially became Bruce Wayne's adopted son.
Conner honestly couldn't find it in himself to complain or criticize his new adoptive father—even if it meant he was now the fifth child in the family hierarchy, making him the legally younger brother to a ten-year-old brat.
The Justice League was at a complete loss as to how to face this newly appeared Superman, who hailed from a parallel universe.
This was especially true after everyone found out that Batman had discovered "Superman 2.0" had already arrived on this Earth long before "Superman 1.0" died.
There was once a scientific theory stating that Earth could only harbor one energy anomaly as immensely powerful as Superman; otherwise, according to the Law of Conservation of Mass and Energy, one of them would naturally fade out of existence.
Therefore, when Superman 2.0 escaped his doomed home planet and brought his son to this Earth, he chose to do absolutely nothing. He stayed in Kansas, hiding his true identity to live as an ordinary human, desperately trying to ensure this world had only one Superman. Having already lost his wife in the destruction of his own parallel Earth, he was terrified that if he vanished, his seven-year-old son would be left completely alone in the world with no one to turn to. Yet, he never in his wildest dreams imagined that the one who would ultimately fade and die... would be the original Superman of this world.
Everyone knew Batman was unfairly misdirecting his rage. Everyone knew Superman 2.0 was just a helpless victim of circumstance. But absolutely everyone was too terrified and clueless to say a word.
Meanwhile, Gotham's villains harboring a deep, burning hatred for this 2.0 guy who had re-shattered their little Batsy's heart.
It's all because of him that Batsy is ignoring us again!
Consequently, the "Welcome to Gotham City" sign was vandalized with a massive "No Supermen Allowed" ban symbol. The highway signs leading into Gotham were spray-painted with the bold words: "SUPERMAN BEGONE." Conversely, the highway signs directing traffic from Gotham toward Metropolis were tagged with: "SUPERMAN KEEP MOVING, DO NOT STOP."
Wonder Woman, thoroughly exhausted from being trapped like a piece of meat in a social sandwich, along with the rest of the League who were tired of living like terrified quails, came up with a plan. They decided to team up the two heroes' sons, hoping that the children's bonding might melt the icy, awkward relationship between the grieving parents.
Unfortunately, Damian—who firmly believed, "This kid's dad broke my father's heart"—and Jonathan—who countered with, "His dad is bullying my dad"—despised each other from the very start.
They bickered and brawled every single day.
Things got so bad that Diana personally had to step in and give Damian a harsh ultimatum: the mission must be completed together, or it would be deemed a total failure, and she would report his incompetence directly to Batman. Only then did Damian begrudgingly stop trying to solo the mission.
Conner was deeply moved by Batman’s unyielding devotion to Superman 1.0, and how that profound love had naturally extended to encompass him as well. Yet, he still desperately wished that Batman would stop locking himself away in the Fortress of Solitude for an entire week every single year whenever this day came around.
Always keeping everything to himself, never uttering a word. Conner wanted so badly to tell this version of Batman: "This isn't the person he would want to see you become." But in reality, Conner simply didn't have the guts to say it out loud.
Bruce knew that his current state,Was not the self Clark would ever want to see.
He, too, wanted to take a step forward.
He, too, wasn't demanding for Clark to come back.
It was just that... when he looked out at the vast world they once walked together,
It was just that... when he faced everything they once shared, entirely alone,
It was just that... when memories came rushing back like a swelling tide,
It was just that... when he turned around out of habit, only to realize that person was long gone,
Bruce simply did not know—
Apart from the one person he could never forget,
Who else could grant him enough courage to move forward?
Who else could teach him how to learn to love again?
Having witnessed so many ups and downs,
And wandered the lonely paths of life by himself,
As he finally approached the very end,
Bruce, unsurprisingly, found that—
He still could never forget that clear, boundless blue looking back at him.
End