Yet, at the moment of Totality's landing, Ron felt a strange mind reaching out to him from the spiritual world.
Soon, he saw a terrifying future where a monster named 'Future' was released from the Totality. In just a few months, the Endless Cosmos would be utterly destroyed, and a grinning monster would kill all of them.
But then, the nightmare-like scene vanished, and he stood alone in space, all illusions gone.
In front of him was a shattered Moon... and a person who was familiar, yet unfamiliar.
The figure wore black and yellow armor, draped in a black cape, silently floating before him. Even as a Mars Hunter, Ron almost uttered the name of God.
He never expected to see Deathstroke in outer space. Great, one of Earth's greatest assassins was now set to venture into the Cosmos.
Especially at such a time.
However, when he tried to initiate his psychic ability, he found it blocked. That's when he realized the person before him was not their Slade, but another Deathstroke who had once helped him off the Cosmic Tuning Fork.
The other was immune to psychic ability, and with no air in outer space, they had no effective means of communication other than gestures.
Everything that happened today surprised Ron too much. He never thought he'd find a day where he'd need to rely on gestures and eye contact to communicate with someone.
Though primitive, this method was interstellar; any species with arms or a sense of direction could understand what he meant.
Ron extended a green, withered-finger-like branch, pointing toward Earth below. Su Ming understood; it meant "let's go down and talk."
They descended directly, perhaps due to the goodwill from defeating Barbatos together last time, as Ron landed him right at the door of the Hall of Justice.
Many people were coming and going in the hall, wearing their favorite hero-logo T-shirts, holding colas or other drinks, just like middle school students visiting a museum.
Not far from the door, beside the golden crystal-like sculptures of the fountain, clear water droplets splashed through the laughter of the people.
"It's Mars Hunter... oh no! And Deathstroke!"
"God! Help!"
"Don't kill me! Don't kill me!"
But here wasn't Marvel; in a world familiar with Deathstroke, just the sight of that black and yellow armor was enough to instantly scare off all the visitors.
Su Ming removed his helmet, squinting at the glowing building and the screaming, evading crowds, feeling a bit amused.
It seemed the Justice League still did what they did; no one knew that a Deathstroke made significant contributions in the Metal events, no one knew he saved the Multiverse.
But that's a good thing, as it means Batman was ready to pay up.
"Thank you for the warm welcome. Knowing I was coming back, you specially blew up the Moon to celebrate; that was the biggest firework I've ever seen," Su Ming quipped, holding his helmet alongside Mars Hunter as they walked into the Hall of Justice.
"That wasn't any firework; we didn't know you were coming back today." Mars Hunter was somewhat absent-minded, still pondering over the various illusions he had seen, feeling uneasy and having to use psychic ability to make the tourists forget they saw Deathstroke.
"Looks like returning to the Justice League didn't restore much of your sense of humor, Ron. Of course, I knew it wasn't fireworks."
The shiny glass doors slid open to the sides; the central air conditioning was very good here, Su Ming saw dozens of uniform-wearing dummies in front of him and couldn't help but chuckle.
Apart from these amusingly rigid dummies, it was also because of Ron's current reaction.
The front row of dummies wore the uniforms of the Justice League's 'Seven Giants,' but for some reason, the dummy of Green Arrow Hero was placed right next to Batman.
What was this? The power of capital?
And who were the people in the uniforms at the back? What contributions did they make other than sleeping on the Cosmic Tuning Fork last time?
Yet another monument to formalism, very much in Mars Hunter's style. Having worked in the government before, he liked to make things agreeable to all sides.
But does this world really have a win-win situation? Su Ming didn't see it that way.
Ron now composed himself and noticed Su Ming scrutinizing these plastic models, with a mocking smile on his face. He quickly added, "Actually, we considered including you, but because our world has another Deathstroke, and his reputation is... not good, so we..."
Su Ming waved his hand, indicating for Mars Hunter to continue leading the way: "I don't care about that. I just want the reward from last time, and you should use your mouth more than your mind; your tongue is atrophying."
Mars Hunter didn't get angry but continued to lead him towards the off-limits internal areas. After passing through several doors, Su Ming finally saw what the Justice League's headquarters looked like.
"Now everyone isn't here, but I've sent them a message; they should be coming back soon." Ron smiled, indicating Su Ming could sit and wait. He could prepare drinks, like hot chocolate.
Before he finished speaking, a red figure appeared before Su Ming, but for some reason, Barry didn't have time to speak before his legs went soft, and he rolled forward.
"Uh..." Su Ming slightly tilted his head: "Nice to see you too, Barry, but you really didn't need to emulate an English football player, sliding with your knees across the ground. At your speed, you'll wear down your meniscus."
"Ouch... Ouch... I'm not too excited; it's just that there's some issue with Divine Speed, some obstruction. It's like when you drive over a speed bump and suddenly 'thud' hard."
Barry got up, clutching his knees, grimacing as he gestured to express the up-and-down motion.
"Before resolving the Divine Speed issue, you shouldn't run again. If you fall into the Divine Speed Plane, we'll have to get Wally to fish you out."
Su Ming placed his helmet on the table beside him, carefully observing his surroundings. It seemed like a small lounge; aside from sofas and a table, there wasn't much else.
Some posters on the wall were about football, probably put up by Steel Bone. He still idolized football stars like he did when he was an ordinary person.
"No worries, I feel like it's the Turtle People's ability. That lunatic has always been researching some 'Static Force', claiming it's the opposite of Divine Speed, but I feel his ability has nothing to do with time, more like some kind of special ability."
Barry wobbled and sat beside Su Ming, throwing himself onto the sofa with a sigh of comfort.
"Also, welcome back."