"Alice!"

It was a woman's soft, slightly complaining cry.

"Next time, remember not to run to high places. The balcony railing is not stable. What if you fall down?"

Alice was probably only three or four years old at the time, I don’t remember clearly. Images in children’s minds always fade quickly. Yesterday she was still a little girl with pigtails, laughing all day long, and the next day she seemed to have understood a lot of truths.

"Our home?" She leaned against the second-floor window and looked out, holding a teddy bear in her hand. Later, she changed it to Superman's, but Superman didn't exist at that time. "How can this be my home? Aunt Martha, when did my mother move? Where did she go?"

The woman didn't answer, her eyes were sad and compassionate.

Later, she asked this question to a teacher at school, who responded, “Your parents are on a great adventure. They are exploring the unknown.”

“Will they come back?”

"…probably not, dear. Only if you take the initiative to look for them in the future."

Alice gradually understood that death is a journey to another world from which there would be no return.

Her adoptive mother believed in God. She held up a cross and touched her head. She said, "One day, your parents will come back to see you, and the angels will take you to the kingdom of God. God bless you, my poor child, and may you be happy forever."

"I won't be happy." She squeezed the doll in her hand and said stubbornly, "My parents don't want me anymore. I'm all alone in this world. If I shout to the sky, who will answer me?"

"I will." Superman descended beside her, his cape soft and warm, "Even if I'm far away, as long as you call my name, I will appear."

——Alice doesn’t believe in God.

But that day, an angel did come to him.

"You don't have to fly too fast. My parents were always too fast before. They were worried about me, but I'm fine. I'm not scared at all." She leaned on the angel's arms and said softly, "If I call your name, I will wait forever, so it doesn't matter if I'm a little late."

"I still have your doll with me."

The fluffy red and blue thing was held up to Superman, and the black eyes swayed in front of the blue eyes. "He can play with me."

"You are so sensible, little lady. So don't run to high places anymore. You are brave, but Martha will be scared." Superman said, "Also, next time I go on a date with you, I will remember to be as early as possible."

Alice always had a habit of climbing up to the second-floor windows.

Adults’ memories may not be as good as children’s, as their statements often change from day to day.

"Your parents have become stars, watching you from the sky."

"Your parents have been taken away by God and turned into invisible angels hiding in a place you can't see."

Is that so?

Alice climbed and climbed, and as the sun was setting, she longed to get closer to the starry sky.

Her teacher also said that death is a great adventure.

"Superman? If you ever pass by there, could you please say hello to my parents and tell them that Alice misses Lawrence and Anna?"

I will remember this.'

Superman never lies. If he says he will come, he will definitely come.

He said he would remember to say hello to Lawrence and Anna and would definitely go.

Superman is different from everyone else, and this is the truth that Alice believes.

From that day on she went no higher.

**

She was taken out into the universe, alone.

The stars are so close to her and yet so far away. Could it be that two of them were transformed from her parents?

Is this death? Is this an adventure? Will she ever be able to go home?

No one could answer her.

Except Superman.

Except for Superman, ever.

The long-lost silver light shone into the dark cave. Alice raised her head holding the Superman doll. A pair of rough hands pressed her eyes and wiped away her hot tears. She heard the angel say to her, "I heard you calling me, so I came to take you home, Alice."

"Mr. Angel." She couldn't wait to climb onto Superman's arm, feeling the rise and fall of his chest, and said happily, "Please tell me what you encountered on the way here!"

If this is adventure.

If this is death.

She is not alone.

**

Half an hour later.

"...the angel couldn't bear to take the poor old man away. Then what?" Alice asked, "did the devil agree?"

Superman was helpless about the problem of this girl who suddenly started using religious nicknames for some unknown reason, but this did help him to reduce the bloodiness and cruelty in the description, making this journey sound even legendary and magnificent.

"The devil didn't agree. He... He locked up the angel and said to the angel, 'I will promise you a perfect world. You will have loving parents, a perfect lover, brothers and sisters who can stand back to back on the battlefield and drink in the tavern. No one will hate you anymore, no one will misunderstand you anymore, you can do whatever you want, just bow your head and surrender to me.'"

"Ah." The little girl frowned like an adult, "I know that promises like this in stories are usually traps."

"That's right." Superman smiled. "The angel remembered that he had unfinished business and shouldn't stay in hell. So he struggled to break free from the chains, defeated the phantom left by the devil, found the rose he wanted to take away in the depths of the dungeon, and tried to find a way out."

“Is this the end of the story?”

"Not yet. The end result is that the little bud successfully returned to its own flowerbed, enjoying the sunshine and rain every day and growing happily."

"It's a happy ending, like a fairy tale."

"I like happy endings," said Superman.

"You're like a little boy." The little girl whose eyes he had blindfolded said, "Mature adults don't like to read fairy tales."

"It's not that they don't like it." Superman's voice became deeper and deeper, his chest rising and falling more and more violently, but his tone was still calm, "They just don't dare to believe it. Believe me, most adults are not as brave as you, Alice."

"You are very tired. I can feel your eyelids fighting each other."

"Take a nap, Alice, and we'll go home when you wake up."

The girl always listens to him.

Alice closed her eyes.

She said, "Good night, angel."

After she closed her eyes, Superman moved her to his back. The portal leading to the earth in the distance was clearly visible, but the problem was that countless monster armies were pouring towards that door, and their commanders stood by with a malicious and happy sneer on their faces that Apocalypse was not allowed to show on weekdays.

**

at the same time on Earth.

Louise was holding a palm-sized radio in her hand, which was given to her by Batman. It had a bat-shaped signal receiver installed on it. No one knew how he managed to transmit signals in the universe?

Batman always has a solution.

Superman's voice could be heard intermittently from there, a conversation between him and Alice.

The war was still going on in the distance, and the number of the demon-like legions seemed to be unlimited. Green Lantern wanted to attack Darkseid directly, but the shield that was supposed to be indestructible and block any attack was shattered by the alien. He flew backwards and was caught by Iron Man, and his right arm was almost broken.

"I don't see what's so special about you." Darkseid was rarely interested in talking. Perhaps Superman really impressed him. "Is this Earth's unique culture, the weak sticking together? He doesn't even acknowledge his own abilities, but instead says that you inspire him."

"Superman is sometimes arrogant." Wonder Woman raised her weapon and jumped high, fighting him like an ancient Greek warrior. Thor assisted her. The golden light of the weapon and the angry thunder illuminated the city like daylight. "But that is also his advantage. And you are as arrogant as Ares."

"I may be proud, but that's because I have strength." Darkseid's heels didn't leave the ground, holding the Lasso of Truth in one hand and the other hand against Thor's Hammer, and said lightly, "It's better than meaningless persistence."

Wonder Woman moved her mouth, but before she could say anything, the sound from the radio in Louise's hand in the distance floated over like a song.

"——Angels are not allowed to fly in the arena?"

"Yes."

"So what should he do? Can he win?"

"It wasn't easy. Although his opponent reminded him, the two sides were on different sides and neither of them could give in. In the end, I, ahem, was grabbed by the wings (actually the cape) and thrown into the universe."

"Oh my god!"

"But don't worry, he's fine. He probably slept for a while. You know, even angels need to rest when they're tired. He slept for a long time, floating among the stars, until a kind doctor rescued him."

"What the hell is this?" Green Lantern wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and asked viciously.

"Are you asking about Darkseid or Superman?"

"So the guy who tells the kids bedtime stories is Superman! He's still alive?"

"I think so." Batman said, "This is real-time one-way communication. It may be limited by the delay of a few seconds, but the signal has been much better after the channel is formed. The small box brought by Loki before that formed the transmission channel is the 'Mother Box'. The principle is very complicated. In layman's terms, it is a computer connected to God, which can do almost anything."

He glanced far behind him and said, "Iron Man is already trying to crack it. If he is able to close the passage, we can put an end to this chaos."

"You seem to know a lot, and you're just an ordinary person without super powers." Aquaman directed the school of fish to swim over, "Wouldn't it be more appropriate for you to study the Mother Box?"

"I have other things to do," Batman said.

Green Lantern watched the two of them with interest, one of them sounding more like a commander than the other.

He also interrupted, "What is it? Forgive me for not being able to think of it."

"I'm going to save Superman."

Everyone looked at Batman who was about to rush to the portal.

Green Light was shocked: "...Are you serious? I don't think he needs your help."

"If you had listened more carefully, you would have heard Superman cryptically say that he was seriously injured - otherwise what could cause a body of steel to float unconscious in the universe?"

Batman is already standing on the container, ready to sprint.

“He almost died.”

Just at this moment, Superman's voice came again.

“What do yaks in space look like?”

"Bigger than Earth, and more dangerous."

"Can an angel defeat it? I think so, because angels can fly."

"Indeed. The angel flew up and broke the yak's horn. But because he had slept too long before, his mind was a little fuzzy, and he accidentally flew too high and collided with a planet with strange radiation."

"magic."

"Indeed. He briefly became two people, one powerful and the other ordinary, and he could even talk to himself. Another moment he became a child, who could only keep warm in the fur left by yaks. He also became a white-haired old man, and time had slipped away from him...but the angel didn't want to become Santa Claus. In the end, he still managed to return to the planet and successfully changed himself back."

The girl giggled.

"Let me interrupt you, Superman," she asked, "don't you have super powers when you're a child or an old man?"

"I do, but not that strong."

"How awesome is that? Who would win in a fight between you and Batman?"

Even at this moment, Green Light still burst out laughing.

He shrugged and said to the people around him: "It seems that others don't know that you are an ordinary person."

However, Superman replied: "Ugly."

"Don't tease me. Don't answer a third party."

"Batman then."

“…”

"Why?"

"I'll let him beat me." Superman said in a joking tone, "It will mean a lot to him." After all, they are both people who have experienced that anxious period, "and he has experienced a lot."

"What about you? You didn't go through that? I thought you were friends. People said you knew each other from the beginning."

"I've just seen it. A lot." Before he became Superman, "Winning or losing doesn't matter to me. Winning a fight doesn't make me happy."

“But you always win.”

“I have to win.”

Batman thought, now everyone will think you can really see parallel worlds.

But he couldn't blame Superman for being unclear.

"I have to save him." He once again said to his companions who tried to stop him, "Superman's physical condition is still unclear. We can't let him stay there alone."

"Because he's a good man?"

"Because he's Superman."

The dark figure disappeared at the end of the dark blue passage.

"You know he wanted to kill Superman at first, right?" Iron Man flew over at some point and accidentally stood with Green Lantern. The Flash was at the side, hesitating to say something, and finally ran away to evacuate the crowd.

"One fools time, one disturbs space, and despite information asymmetry, we can still become friends in the end."

"Oh." Green Light looked back at the Flash, "He and I, one is red and the other is green. I can never catch up with his speed, and he can never break my shield, but our relationship is still good."

“Sometimes communication doesn’t need to be so synchronized.”

Tony had originally imagined Captain America.

But when Green Lantern said this, he couldn't help but think of the Flash's real name being exposed.

"...Forget it." He said speechlessly, "You are being unilaterally out of sync, or in short, outrageous."

Half an hour later, Aquaman and Wonder Woman each poked out one of Darkseid's eyes.

Thor's hammer broke his spine.

Iron Man and the cyborg Cyborg who arrived later cracked 80% of the Mother Box's transmission channel.

This chaotic night was pushed to a climax by the layers of fighting.

Suddenly at a certain moment——

The whole world came to a standstill.

The Flash stumbled half a step because of the extreme contrast between movement and stillness, and almost fell flat on his face. He raised his head and looked at the demons that suddenly stopped moving, and asked blankly: "What's wrong?"

"It's Superman," said Louise.

"I knew it. We were in danger, and he was Superman."

"He is Superman," the female reporter repeated. Her voice was very low. She had never been so tired even on the battlefield in the Middle East. "He just... just defeated an opponent, the commander-in-chief of the demons... But, I, I don't know, he sounds too tired. Not just tonight, but the entire journey in the universe - it was a great adventure."

The heroes looked at each other.

The Flash quickly ran to her side and helped up this respectable lady who had protected herself from causing trouble but was also reluctant to leave Metropolis. He awkwardly comforted her, "Don't worry, Batman is going to find him."

"I don't. I don't want to worry about Superman." Lois raised her hand to her lips and said, "This word gives me a kind of ominous feeling. But I can't help myself."

**

On the Tianqi Star.

Batman walked over.

There was no need for him to hurry, for the matter was almost over, but he began to run anyway, his cape waving behind him like a death flag.

"Superman," he asked, kneeling down beside the Kryptonian. "How are you?"

"It's OK." Superman answered with his eyes closed, "Does the system say I will die?"

“—it says you won’t.”

"Then I won't. Thank you for coming over and taking Alice away."

"I'll take you away."

He hefted the soft, hanging red cape over his shoulders.

"What do you mean you'll let me win if we fight?"

"...did you hear that?" Superman's voice was close to a whisper. "Haha. I'm kidding. We're not going to fight."

"Who said that? I'm going to beat you up when you wake up."

“…”

After a long time, Knight Gotan still didn't get a reply.

He couldn't help but look back and found that the hero of Metropolis had fallen asleep on his shoulder, his usually relaxed brows now filled with pain and fatigue.

But even at this time, Superman did not let go of the human girl's arms.

The two of them crowded side by side behind Batman, like two tired birds far away from home, finally on the way back to their nest.