"Do you feel there is something off about those two?" Damian turned his head to glance at Little Bruce and Helen, far away in the distance, then turned back to Spiderman.
Spiderman stopped braiding Aisha's hair for a moment. He turned his head to look at Little Bruce, Helen and Harley as well, tilting his head towards Damian, "They're right, mind your own business if you haven't been in love."
Damian's eyes widened, pointing back with his thumb, "You don't mean to say they all three are in love, are you?"
"I think it may be that two of them are in love, and the third one disagrees." Spiderman shrugged, "Come on, this is a love triangle among two girls and a boy. What other development could there be?"
"Look at this- at first Helen took Harley out and they came back with both looking downhearted. I guess Harley felt Helen was getting too close to Little Bruce, who she knew first. So, she warned Helen to stay away from Little Bruce."
"After they came back, Bruce noticed that Helen wasn't looking too well, so he took Harley aside, asked if she was mean to Helen. Then Bruce called Helen over to confirm if Harley was mean to her."
"Overall, it could be that Harley likes Little Bruce, who likes Helen in turn. But it also could be that Harley was indeed warning Helen to stay away from Bruce because she was jealous of him. That explains why Harley took Bruce away afterward. She wanted to warn her rival to stay away from Helen, and Bruce called Helen over to clear up the misunderstanding..."
Damian's eyes spun like spirals as he supported his head with one hand, covering his eyes with his fingers, "Is falling in love this complicated? Isn't it enough just to sleep together?"
"Dear God, you can't say that to girls; they will slap you for being a playboy."
"But that's how it was with mom and dad," Damian shrugged, "Mom told me to seize any chance with a girl who has good genes."
"Good genes?!" Spiderman's spider eyes widened in surprise.
"Oh, she also reminded me, before picking up a girl, to let her know my dad is Bruce Wayne; she said that works well."
"Enough of this, we are approaching the Star Port." Constantine's voice echoed from the front of the window, and everyone gathered.
"So, as per the original plan, let's knock out the arriving repair workers and take this opportunity to sneak into the Star Port."
Constantine formed a worried expression, apparently thinking the plan was too hasty. However, Little Bruce seemed confident. As the spaceship gradually approached the port, he waved his hand and said, "Follow me, we'll head to the maintenance port down below."
The escort ship on the Apocalypse Star was a flattened shuttle-shape. The usual entry and exit method is via an elevator specifically designed at the bow of the ship, which leads through the control room. But there is also a maintenance gate at the base of the ship intended for the maintenance workers.
The reason for having two gates is because the system on Apocalypse Star is somewhat unique. The planet has almost no indigenous population, but a large number of inhabitants, a majority of whom are slaves captured by Darkseid from various planets. They are referred to as "lowly ones".
Lowly ones are only allowed to wear thin garments that barely cover their bodies. They are not permitted to wear armor or carry weapons. They live in the two layers of the surface in front of them, devoid of any individual freedom, and are merely consumables for labor.
Of course, in an advanced technological world such as this, being a spaceship mechanic is not a prestigious occupation. Most are technically skilled lowly ones.
After all, Darkseid commands tens of thousands of main fleets. Logistical maintenance involves a large system and it's impossible to let his direct subordinates do all the work. It requires the labor of many workers.
But Darkseid isn't worried about the lowly ones rebelling, because they've been brainwashed by machines a long time ago. Most of the technical staff also wear exoskeletons controlled by the guards. It's like a Type Demon's mechanical transformation, deeply embedded in their bodies, making it difficult to get rid of. They can do nothing more than work obediently.
Even so, to prevent them from interfering with the fleet, the spaceship is designed with two exits, to ensure they don't come into contact with important individuals boarding the spaceship.
According to the ship's log, every escort ship docking at the port will be maintained right away. Since the exits are separate, there's no entry or exit order, and most maintenance workers would immediately enter the maintenance room through the bottom hatch for repairs.
There are guards supervising the maintenance of the flagship, considering its importance. If tinkered with, nobody can bear the responsibility. But the small escort ship that Little Bruce and others are on doesn't even count in Darkseid's fleet.
There are countless similar spaceships docked at the entire star port, and there aren't enough guards to watch over the repair of these small ships every day. These things are disposable, you just replace them when they break. There won't be any important figures aboard such ships. There are usually two repair workers during periods of sufficient manpower; otherwise, a single repair worker will do.
Luckily, Little Bruce and the others had come at the right time. Darkseid had been dispatching troops for quite some time, and most of the repair workers were busy maintaining more important battleships and war equipment. Hence, only an aged repair worker in a blue robe was left.
The moment they entered the maintenance room, Helen knocked him out with a headbutt. Little Bruce and Harley exchanged a glance, each understanding the implication in the other's gaze—was she too excited?
Indeed, Helen seemed a bit odd. Spacing out suddenly, then abruptly turning her head and shrugging her shoulders. She also seemed quite aggressive and excited. Little Bruce was becoming surer and surer of his previous judgment.
Having knocked out the repair worker, they stealthily went out along the maintenance passage. The smaller ones led the way, Constantine and Spiderman followed behind. Spiderman held Aisha, asking her to keep silent, concentrate and make her spider-sense more sensitive.
"Hold on." Spiderman yelled, "There is someone ahead. Don't go out yet."
Everyone crouched silently at the entrance to the circular maintenance hatch until the faint sound of footsteps grew more distant. Little Bruce was the first to open the hatch slightly.
The outside was brightly lit. Once everyone squeezed out, they realized they were in what seemed to be a dispersal center for the maintenance workers, consisting of a hall and a few activity rooms. They quickly entered one of the rooms and took down a blue-skinned maintenance worker who was changing equipment.
Just then, they heard a commotion from outside the door. Little Bruce took out a translation device from a spacecraft from his pocket and wore it on his ear. He then froze for a moment because what the crowd outside was shouting.
"Lifesign from life form number 832052 is abnormal! The device indicates that he's been attacked and there may be invaders!! Search quickly! Search quickly!"
Little Bruce suddenly turned around and looked at Helen with suspicion, who was still covering her mouth with both hands and remained silent. Little Bruce's doubt hit its peak.
They had a thousand gentler ways to deal with the first repairman. But Helen had to crash into him, having seen the external skeleton on his chest and abdomen. Perhaps, she intentionally smashed the device.
At this thought, Little Bruce paused again as he seemed to hear another soft laugh, very faint but very close. He looked around and everyone seemed normal.
He clenched his fists tightly, for he had never heard such a disturbing laugh before.
Little Bruce took a deep breath, focused, and started speaking rapidly, "They will soon find us here, we have to resort to some violent measures. When I say 'three two one', rush out of the door, knocking away whatever comes in the way. Their information doesn't spread that fast, we could buy some time by running to another area."
"Three, two, one, run!"
"Bang!!!"
The door was smashed open, and the group rushed through the corridor the searcher came in from. Leading them was Harley who warded off anything in the way with her blade while destroying all the lowly ones caught in the giant dark arc of the blade.
"Kill, kill, kill! I'll kill all of you!!!! Har, har, har, har, har, har, har, har!!!!"
While crazily running and brandishing her blade, Harley let out a wild laugh. But the more Little Bruce ran, the more he felt something was off.
No, Harley's laughter had no effect on him. It wasn't her! It wasn't her! But who was it?
When they rushed out of the corridor, what stood before them was not another strange area, but a blinding light curtain.
A blue light curtain descended, a slowly opening laser cage, and some shadows walked out from the darkness. Leading them was a tall woman wrapped in black bandages, with a look of disdain and an electrified whip in her hand.
Little Bruce froze in shock. He immediately looked at Helen, but just then, the woman leading the group spoke up.
"We received the intelligence a long time ago. Some reckless humans are trying to invade the Apocalypse Star with a hijacked spaceship. I don't know how to comment on your reckless actions."
The woman with the whip walked up to the cage, lightly flicked the laser cage with her finger, and said, "Bunch of human cubs. Just as the Kindly Granny anticipated, that idiot Weiman failed on Earth, and Savage Wolf hasn't returned."
"But that's fine. I'll correct this mistake for His Majesty Darkseid. Turn off the cage, I'll tear these bugs who dare to violate His Majesty Darkseid's great territory into shreds myself!"
"Watch out!!!" Spider Man roared.
The moment the laser cage disappeared, the electrified whip whipped through the air, colliding with a spinning black blade and creating a series of sparks.
Harley's laughter vanished instantly. She said in a very grave tone, "Be careful! She's strong!!!"
"Damn it, who leaked the information?" Constantine dodged the hidden weapons thrown by the woman while gritting his teeth.
Little Bruce braced his arms to conjure an energy shield from the dark power, but was still pushed back a few steps by the whip. He stood up straight, slowly closed his eyes, but not in defeat. He was listening carefully to something.
As he sensed approaching danger, the future Batman opened his eyes and stared in one direction.
The woman stopped attacking, she looked confused at the people before her, especially a little girl.
Unlike the others, the girl didn't brace herself. Instead, she held a sharp piece of glass and slowly slit her mouth from one end to another. As she did so, blood kept flowing out from between her fingers.
Little Bruce stared intently at Helen, seemingly forgetting that he was in a life-or-death battle. A deep-seated darkness within him instinctively blurted out her name.
"Joker..."
Unmatched dark power descended in an instant. As thunder rumbling noises were heard, lightning streaked across the horizon of Apocalypse Star.
It started raining on this planet where the weather never changed.