Multiverse: Deathstroke

Chapter 135: Ch.134 Source Wall

Chapter 135: Ch.134 Source Wall

The Source Wall exists both as a physical location and as a conceptual boundary of the universe. It lies beyond the Milky Way galaxy, far out in space, billions of light-years away, enveloping the entire universe like a spherical shell.

It is both the beginning and the end, existing in every universe simultaneously, yet untouchable.

Anyone, regardless of their power, who touches the Source Wall is transformed into a living statue, fused into the wall itself.

The Source Wall is covered with countless reliefs of powerful beings—those who managed to cross the cosmos and reach it.

These beings are neither dead nor alive; they are frozen in a single pose, turned into gray statues, forever part of the wall.

In short, from any perspective, the Source Wall is the boundary of the DC Universe, and those who dare to touch it are "put on ice."

Few in the DC Universe are aware of the Source Wall's existence, and those who do know of it generally avoid approaching it. Even the Justice League and many cosmic entities regard it as something unknowable and beyond understanding.

The Watcher, tied up in the Batcave by the Batman Who Laughs, though stripped of his powers, still retained his knowledge and experience. The sound of the Source Wall cracking struck him like a lightning bolt, but there was nothing he could do but sigh repeatedly.

Besides him, many in the Prime Earth and beyond sensed something was wrong with the Source Wall.

For instance, the Council of Immortals hiding beneath a volcano in Antarctica suddenly fell silent, then erupted into frantic discussion.

"Barbatos has failed, and the future we tried to avoid has arrived..."

"We only needed to prevent all the universes from colliding, but now..."

"What do we do now?"

"At least our surrender to Barbatos hasn't been exposed."

"That's no longer important. The Source Wall has cracked. We are all..."

As they spoke, in an instant, half the people in the meeting room disappeared. The key was that the others didn't notice, as if those people had never existed.

Vandal Savage, standing on the central platform, let out a deep sigh. His dreams of dominating Earth had come to nothing.

In outer space, a spaceship was drifting along when a young woman was jolted awake by a piercing alarm.

She looked at the other woman sleeping beside her, who was unclothed, and got up to put on her white leather jumpsuit, pulling her golden hair out from the collar to drape it over her shoulders.

"Sarah?"

"Nothing, I'm just going to check the bridge. You get some more rest."

She kissed the woman lying beside her, who smiled and kissed back. "Alright, business comes first."

The woman in white quickly left the rest area and made her way to the bridge. This wasn't a large warship, and the bridge lacked extensive instrumentation. Instead, it was filled with antiques, like a small museum.

She entered a room that looked like a study, with a large display screen on the wall, where a few people were gathered, discussing something.

"Captain."

"Sarah."

"Ms. Lance."

They greeted the woman in white, who nodded back while focusing on the screen, which displayed Earth, now surrounded by flashing red exclamation marks.

"Gideon, what's going on?"

She asked loudly, her annoyance clear—being woken by a loud alarm would put anyone in a bad mood.

"Temporal distortion detected on Earth-0."

A female voice responded. It was the ship's AI, whose daily tasks included maintaining the ship and assisting the captain with missions.

But now that the captain was on the bridge, the alarm could stop.

The piercing sound vanished instantly.

"Thank God, finally."

A young black man wiped the sweat from his forehead, having rushed from his cabin with his pants not even fully on.

"Yeah, that alarm was like Michelangelo chiseling in my brain."

Another young woman with glasses joined in, her face full of exasperation.

Sarah ignored their chatter, staring at the rotating Earth on the screen.

Earth-0 wasn't her homeworld; they were all visitors from another universe. Honestly, she didn't even know how the ship had brought her to this cosmic system.

No one could tell her that their universe was the DCCW, the TV universe, one of the surviving universes from the Infinite Earths era, existing independently from the 104 light and dark multiverses.

Just like Su Ming, who had crossed over from the Arkham Universe, which evolved from a video game. There was also the DCEU movie universe, which was independent as well.

However, being part of the DC Universe, they shared some commonalities with the many universes of New 52, such as the Speed Force used by all speedsters being the same. This meant that if the Prime Earth's Barry Allen wished, he could travel to these universes for a vacation.

To Sarah, Earth was the home of all humanity. Every Earth was the same, and if she could help, she would.

But Earth-0 was unique. Even though they had the same superheroes, those on Earth-0 were stronger. Her own abilities were insignificant on Earth-0; she was practically powerless.

"Earth-0, I remember the Justice League exists at this point, right? What could possibly go wrong?"

She was already losing interest. She was just a small fry; what impact could she possibly have in the vast ocean?

"The original timeline has been drastically altered, leading to severe consequences, but the long-term effects remain unknown and cannot be determined."

This ship had once belonged to the Time Lords, and Gideon had access to all past and future data. Earth-0's future, once as clear as a tree, was now shrouded in mist, completely obscured.

If AI had emotions, it would be exhausted and mentally drained. Not only was the mission incredibly difficult, but also because her captain, Sarah, was a highly capricious woman—a results-oriented, impulsive, and aggressive individual who also happened to be a lesbian.

As an unofficial Time Lord tasked with maintaining the timeline, she sometimes even took it upon herself to alter the timeline, essentially breaking her own rules.

The linear progression of time isn't easily altered. What might seem like a good outcome at the time can cause major issues later.

Once, they traveled through time to the era of the First French Empire. Their mission was to correct a minor issue. During the mission, Sarah, as she did in the modern day, stuck out her thumb to hitch a ride on the side of a road in Paris and actually got picked up by an aristocrat's luxurious carriage.

The noble inside was curious about her actions, and since Sarah found the ride boring, they chatted casually during the journey.

But after completing their mission, when they returned to their timeline, they discovered that France had conquered the world.

The noble in the carriage was Napoleon, and during their conversation, Sarah had casually mentioned the name Waterloo. Napoleon remembered it, and in the future, during the Battle of Waterloo, he made a different decision from what history recorded.

They had no choice but to go back and fix the issue, luckily having the means to erase memories.

Sarah had done many other outrageous things too, like eloping with Charles II's queen, bringing Caesar to the present, and causing a demon outbreak in a Western town.

But Sarah was carefree, never learning from her mistakes, always brushing off timeline problems with "I'll deal with it later."

Sarah was already feeling sleepy again. After "playing" with her partner for hours, even a superhero who had once bathed in the Lazarus Pit would get tired.

And with the Justice League around, what could possibly go wrong?

"What's the threat level?"

But as the captain, she still had to follow protocol and ask, crossing her arms and propping her chin with one hand.

"Level 12."

The hand propping her chin slipped, and her pretty face filled with disbelief. She even choked on her own saliva.

"Cough... Did you say Level 12?"

"Confirmed."

The AI responded confidently.

"This is a typhoon warning, right? I thought the highest crisis level was 10?" A muscular man who clearly had more brawn than brains immediately questioned the AI, his face shaking with impatience. "Are you malfunctioning?"

"System functioning normally, no repairs needed. Earth-0 has produced a temporal singularity, completely altering the timeline's flow and structure."

Gideon answered meticulously, making everyone feel a chill down their spines.

A Level 12 threat was unimaginable. In their own universe, when Vandal Savage had messed with countless timelines, even twisting the outcome of the Civil War, the threat level had only reached 4.

"What does that mean?"

The muscle-bound man still didn't get it. He looked around at the others, who were all silent, and scratched his head in frustration.

"It means it's off the charts..."

Sarah took a few steps back and threw herself onto a soft couch like a sack of potatoes, covering her face as she gave him a weak answer.