This voice sent a chill down everyone's spine.
This is the Apocalypse Domain, completely controlled by Darkseid. By rights, only the voices of their allies should be heard here. But this voice was utterly unfamiliar, and it appeared directly in their heads. It was downright creepy.
More importantly, it was a child's voice, so childish that you couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl, instantly reminding people of various horror movies. At least the Martian Manhunter was startled into a shiver.
"Something has invaded the Apocalypse Domain," Darkseid's voice was deep. He said, "The other side brought their own domain, and the power of the Apocalypse Domain cannot breach it."
"Oh, my back!" the voice said again, "Thomas, you're done for! Next time I'll definitely toss you into the Primordial Black Hole! You can just stay there!"
"Waaaah! Waaaah!"
"What are you two doing?! We snuck out, and you'll get us caught making such a fuss!!" said another slightly more mature boy's voice, "Bro, let's run, or Mom will spank us later!"
"They're the ones causing trouble, what's it got to do with us?"
"Yeah, but we didn't stop them!"
"No worries, Grandfather and Dad aren't here. As long as we cry, Mom won't be able to do anything."
"Are you sure we're not running? I don't want to be spanked!"
"Relax, and besides, if we run and leave our two brothers here, that's when we'll really get spanked. As long as they're not lost, there shouldn't be a problem."
"Hey, you two, you saw it, he threw the ball at me. It hit me so hard my back is almost broken. You need to testify for me!"
"Come on, if you hadn't secretly thrown him into the Black Hole in Sagittarius A, why would he throw the ball at you?"
"Yes, my brother's right, it's obvious you teased him first."
"But he can't throw such a big ball at me! This thing's bigger than that Black Hole. It's not fair!"
"He's also older than you, you bully him because he can't talk. Franklin, I'm going to tell your mom you bullied your brother when we get back."
"Oh, heavens, no! I didn't bully him! And if you tell my mom, she'll definitely tell my dad, and he won't let me out to play again. He might even invent a machine to lock me in. You can't do this to me!"
"You're not just bullying him; you encouraged us to sneak out. My mom said there's a war going on outside, it's dangerous. If something happens to us, my mom will spank your butt until it blossoms!"
"Wait, how did you get into that thing? Come out, quick! Can you come out? Do you need me to come in and save you?"
"No need, it's not a Black Hole. Besides, even if it were a Black Hole, I could get out... wait, what's this?"
"What's up? Franklin? Franklin? Are you okay?! Do you need me to come in and save you?!!
"We're doomed, we're doomed." Outside the Apocalypse Star Domain, a small figure said to another boy, "Could this guy have run into something dangerous? Should we go in and save him?!"
"Come on, he's the most dangerous in the whole cosmos," said another slightly smaller boy, "but we should still go in and take a look since we snuck out anyway. If he gets hurt, Mom will definitely be furious."
"Let's go, Thomas." This boy said to an even smaller boy floating beside him—almost a baby, "Let's go see what Franklin's up to."
After saying this, they flew inside. And because the shield of the Apocalypse Domain had been breached earlier, they got in with little effort, then followed Franklin's trail of strength to the primary star.
"It's actually not a Black Hole. Hey! Tommy! Don't go over there; it looks like someone is up there!" Billy quickly called to his brother.
But they had already flown over and indeed saw Franklin near the planet.
"What's going on?" Billy asked.
"I think we might have caused trouble." Franklin said in a very heavy tone, "This is an inhabited star system, and Thomas threw it at me! We..."
"He's young and doesn't understand anything," Billy quickly said, "There shouldn't be any casualties, but if necessary, you could find Death to revive them. It's not a big deal, just don't let Mom find out."
"But this is obviously not a normal star system," Franklin said, "I can feel an energy field. Can't you guys feel it?"
"We can traverse emotions. Anywhere there are emotions, we are everywhere. No practical force can affect us. Haven't sensed anything unusual."
Franklin looked at the baby again. But little Rogers was too small, only capable of "waa waa waaing."
Although Franklin was also a baby now, he possessed wisdom even in the womb, and he could change his appearance with his abilities, so he looked about the same age as Billy and the others.
"We've definitely caused trouble." Tommy flew back and said, "The people down there are strange, they don't seem to be organisms from our cosmos. Do you remember Mom said we're at war with the neighboring world?"
"Oh no, did we stumble into their base?" Billy exclaimed and then said, "We snuck out with much difficulty, how could this happen?!"
"If Mom finds out, she'll definitely spank our butts hard," Tommy said dejectedly. "She must have already noticed we've run away and is probably searching the whole cosmos for us now."
"Wait a minute," Franklin said, "this isn't just their base, it looks like this is their headquarters!"
The two brothers immediately showed expressions of terror, looking down at the planet beneath their feet. Franklin said with a bit of helplessness, "What are you scared of? They should be the ones scared. We've broken through their shield. If our side launched a large-scale attack now, they'd be doomed!"
"The problem is, my mom will definitely get here faster than an army!" Billy shouted at him, "If she finds out that we've run into the enemy headquarters, she'll be furious!"
"Who said you came here by yourself?" Franklin's eyes darted, showing a face that was almost identical to Reed Richards'. He said, "Since they're the enemy, they must have captured us, right? Otherwise, how did we end up in their headquarters?"
The two brothers suddenly realized, nodding vigorously, "Right, right, they captured us. They want to catch us to blackmail our parents. That's it. We definitely didn't sneak out!"
"Let's hurry down," Tommy suggested, "They might have a cell here. We can secretly sneak into a cell and not let them find us. When Mom comes looking for us, I'll start crying, and she'll definitely hear it. She'll rescue us from the cell, and then she won't think we snuck out."
Four small figures flew downward together.
Little did they know, their conversation was on a public channel and was clearly heard by Batman and Darkseid below.
"You go stop them," Primary Universe Batman said to Darkseid.
"How am I supposed to stop them?"
"Aren't you invincible within the Apocalypse Domain?"
"I was before they got here."
"Anyway, don't let them come down."
"Then you go."
"I can't stop them."
"Aren't you Batman?"
Primary Universe Batman was at a loss for words. He thought for a moment; there should be no being on this planet that could stop these four kids, except for their grandfather—Erik.
The most urgent thing now was absolutely not to let these four humanoid cosmic destroyers approach the Apocalypse Main Star, or even gods couldn't save them.
Primary Universe Batman finally felt some reality to Erik's bizarre ability setups. The "marbles" used by a year-and-a-half-old child to hit people turned out to be the Apocalypse Domain—you tell me, who studies Mutants like this?
Primary Universe Batman immediately released Erik and said to him, "Your four grandchildren have accidentally entered the Apocalypse Domain. I believe that war shouldn't involve such young children. You should quickly take them away."
"What?!" Erik jumped up instantly, "These little brats, they indeed snuck out!!!"
Erik stormed out angrily, just in time to meet Franklin and the guys flying toward the cell. Billy and his brother immediately recognized their grandfather.
Both of them came to an abrupt stop, did a 180-degree turn, and quickly attempted to fly away, but it was too late. Erik grabbed one in each hand, giving each a smack on the butt.
"Didn't I tell you a war is happening outside?! Yet you still dared to run out!! Tell me, whose idea was it this time?!"
"Franklin, it was his idea!!" Billy screamed frantically.
Seeing Erik, Franklin's eyes darted again. He said, "We didn't sneak out, we heard you got caught and came to rescue you! I specifically went to the future to ask for your Apocalypse Star coordinates, and you even told me."
Erik was half-believing. Franklin quickly flew over and said, "Otherwise, how could we have just arrived at Apocalypse Star? Now that you're out, we should leave quickly and not let Aunt Wanda worry."
Erik also knew that now was not the time to talk. These four little rascals definitely didn't tell Wanda when they snuck out; Wanda must be worried sick right now, so they had to head back quickly.
At this moment, Darkseid was busy patching the hole in the Apocalypse Domain shield. It's not about letting them out, but about preventing outsiders from getting in.
Who knows how those kids' heads were so hard; they actually smashed a big hole in the shield. Though not difficult to repair, it still took some time. Darkseid was busy fixing the hole, hearing knocking on the backside of the shield, but only thought it was a patrol ship affected by the area and ignored it.
However, standing on the Apocalypse Main Star, Primary Universe Batman gradually sensed something wrong. Because the sky of Apocalypse Star seemed to have changed.
Before, due to the presence of the Apocalypse Star shield, the light projected indoors was mostly a faint blue. But now, a strange red tint suddenly mixed in.
Everyone rushed out of the building, looking up to see: the entire planet was enveloped by a kind of red energy. Darkseid hovered mid-air, seemingly trying hard to fend off something, yet failed to make the red energy waver a bit.
"The power of Scarlet..." Primary Universe Batman's ominous premonition reached its peak.
Then, that energy suddenly broke through the shield and invaded the surface, casting the whole world in blood-red. A roar of utter fury echoed above Apocalypse Star:
"Apocalypse Star no more!!!"