#35: The Beginning of the End (Part 1 of 3)

Red Robin considered the skyline of New Gotham as the red skies burned overhead. His photographic memory held in it images of Old Gotham-- as they’d taken to calling it-- and this place, the city he protected? Nothing was the same. The skies had been like this for two decades now. Ever since the Omega Event stole the Justice League away from the world, and after that, when the multiversal invasion blew a hole in the side of the planet...

As ever, the world pushed forward, super response teams assisted in every way possible, but their efforts came at a great loss.

Tim Wayne exhaled with the pulse of the city, and descended into the teeming streets below, the skyscrapers that scratched up into the sky illuminating all the prestigious sights of the place. But those were not the places he had to be. Not the places he had to take the fight to.

Len Moxon was working his way up in the infrastructure of the New Gotham Underground. The son of the late Lew Moxon, he had fire in his veins to rule this place. He was standing, with his gang, shivering in one of the lower points of the city, where the GCPD rarely patrolled. They knew they’d have privacy in the shadows. He shifted up his coat lapels, and talked low-- watching his breath vanish into the air in front of him, “You got the weapons?”

Joseph Chill, Jr. smiled and nodded. ”Said I would, Moxon. Classic Gotham Rogue tech. These antiques stand up to the test of time in a big way. Guys like the Joker-- Hell hold him still-- they built this $%^& to last.”

“Way to strike fear into the hearts of men, Chill. Give ‘em something to be scared of.”

“Fear?” The voice was like gravel, and the men went for their weapons immediately. Moxon gripped his pulse-pistol tight, even as his fists began to clam up with sweat. “You don’t know the meaning of the word.”

“It’s him,” whispered one of the stooges of Moxon. “It’s him!”

“Shut the $%^& up! Keep your eyes on the shadows, you know how he--” Moxon was about to continue when a scarlet projectile embedded into the car next to him. He blinked, and then howled in terror as he dove for cover-- The blade beeped once, the small LED going from red to green within seconds, and then an explosion tore upwards into the sky, incinerating the money that Moxon had brought with him for the sale.

“Where’d he-- $%^&--! Where’d he throw that--?” Moxon was spinning around, pinpricks of white light blurring his vision. His men kept tight around him, even as the flames to their side flickered and flared.

“You’re scum. Punks. And worse of all-- you’re criminals. In my town.” There was a sound, like a gunshot, and three men were suddenly yanked into the shadows. Pulse beams were fired, strobing into the depths of the darkness, but they knew that it wouldn’t be that easy.

“Len, Lenny, Lenny my man,” hissed Chill, “I got what you need, son. I got what you need.”

“What you talking about, Chill? I need this guy off our backs! You know what he does!”

“Red Robin?” sneered Chill. “He’s just a costume. My daddy, he always taught me that no one lasts long with a bullet between the eyes. Here--” He tossed a small vial of glowing, viscous green liquid at Moxon, and the gang boss grabbed it, his sweat slicking the sides. “Press the top!” There was more gunfire, more men vanished into the shadows, and Moxon pressed the diminutive red button on top of the cylinder. A trio of needles pierced out of the bottom, surprising the gangster. “It’s Venom+, baby!” He made a stabbing motion to his jugular. “Right in the neck, you can go toe-to-toe with Superwoman on that juice!”

Moxon never trusted rogues. He liked their minds, sure - they had a tendency to mad-wicked-science - but to amp himself up like this?

Two more men vanished. Chill was looking through his suitcase, looking for something else to use, whilst two men flanked Moxon, sweat bleeding off their skin. “Boss, he’s taken down the guys! He’s got us pinned down!”

“Yeah, yeah,” spat Moxon as he drove the needles into his neck. He blinked. The world bent around him. His perceptions blurred. Things dyed red at the sides, until all he could see was the colour, and then his pulse became a drumbeat that he couldn’t ignore-- A voice in his head screamed HURT and KILL and BREAK and he wanted so hard to act upon the impulses. He felt power. He heard a tear-- he thought it was his clothes, but that wasn’t just it. His body stretched and creaked as muscle mass built up. Veins throbbed as his now-contaminated blood began to pulse through him. SNAP and WREND and TEAR, he heard, BRUISE and CRUSH and BREAK. He roared an unholy sound, and turned to see the last of his men gone, vanished into the dark. His head swivelled at the burning wreck of his car, and a shape began to become clear.

Inside the flames was a dark mass. The flames didn’t bother the now illuminated vigilante. His flame-resistant cowl took care of that.

“RED. ROBIN.” The words slathered out of Moxon’s mouth. Saliva dribbled profusely from the corners of his lips, but he didn’t care. “RED. ROBIN!”

Red Robin didn’t think about the steroid raging through Len Moxon’s body. That could wait. Before he even thought about taking the super-steroid-infected gangster down, he took a small blade from his belt—and, before anyone could blink, a shuriken pinned Joseph Chill, Jr. to a wall, away from his suitcase. Grenades with the face of a laughing freak rolled out of a hidden compartment, and erupted, but Red Robin was clear from the blast. Chill’s tuxedo was bombproof-- probably cargo-cult Firefly material-- and the arms dealer wasn’t even singed. Moxon, on the other hand, had lost what was left of his clothes, and he wasn’t happy. Not one bit. Now Red Robin began to think. Now he turned his attention to the massively-mutated behemoth in front of him. Venom+. Derivative of the original Bane strain of the super-steroid. Bombarded with Kryptonite radiation. Users who took the drug literally saw red, and were overcome with an uncontrollable rage. Massive doses warped the DNA, enabling the users to--

Len Moxon’s eyes began to glow green.

Hell, thought Red Robin. Venom+. Kryptonite Vision!

The lithe vigilante dove up, and grabbed an old fire-escape, but didn’t stop there. The emerald light seared up across the building, taking away the bolts keeping the metal frame upright-- It began to hurtle down straight toward Moxon, and Red Robin was already across from it to avoid the damage. A little bit of scrap wouldn’t hurt a Venom+ user. The vigilante kept moving, using his right hand to support himself whilst the left rummaged through his utility belts, searching for... he found the Venom+ anti-venom, and then landed hard in front of Moxon.

“You’re not looking too well,” said the vigilante as he encircled the gangster. “Almost look as bad as your old daddy. Six feet under and everything.”

Moxon howled in sheer rage, dove straight for Red Robin, and was surprised when the vigilante sidestepped and stabbed him in the leg with a drug cocktail. Moxon punched wildly for his opponent but missed, and suddenly he didn’t want to fight anymore. He wanted to sleep. Try as he might he couldn’t resist the urge. His body began to shrivel, his sight returned to normal, and suddenly he was just a scrawny mass covered in skin and stretch marks.

Red Robin exhaled, and turned to Joseph Chill, Jr. “What have I told you before, Chill?”

“N-not to operate here; to leave town as soon as I got out of Blackgate Super-Max; to never consider one of these, these, these deals again,” spluttered Chill, Jr., all the while trying to get away from his captor, but unable to, thanks to shuriken keeping his thick suit pinned to the wall. “I’m sorry, man, I needed the money, you know how it is! It’s too damn hard to get ahead in this world! Hell, I thought you would understand!”

“Understand?” growled Red Robin. “Understand what? That you and your kind can’t help yourselves? That every pass you’re given you’ll take advantage of? You’re no good, Chill. This time... you won’t get off so lightly.”

“What? What do you-?” As the shadow descended upon him, Chill began to scream. But it didn’t last.



Red Robin removed his heavy leather cowl and reclined in the chair in front of the large computers that fed him constant up-to-date information from the world. He rubbed his temples, and shook his head, his limbs aching with the strain of the evening’s activities.

It had been easier, he felt, when he was younger. But then again, back then he had Bruce and Dick, Babs on occasion; and he didn’t have to make himself a relaxing cup of tea when he got back from patrol. Alfred. God rest his soul.

“Dammit,” mumbled Tim Wayne, his balled fists against the sides of his head.

The world was not right. The Justice League... the real Justice League... died twenty years ago. Twenty years had gone by, and nothing had been the same since. He was fourteen. And he remembered everything. How the League-- how Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Green Lantern, The Flash and the Martian Manhunter-- charged through a rift in time and space and never came back... defeating the greatest threat that Earth had ever known. But the rift had sealed. They never came back.

They’d run into the future, and prevented it from coming to pass. They’d sacrificed everything. And what did the world have to show for it? Nothing.

“You know what,” he whispered, as he pulled his cowl back around his face, “that’s not fair. That’s not fair. We need them. Always. It’s not fair.” His fingers tightened around the back of his chair, unable to stop the shaking. He picked it up and flung it at his computer, and breathed in and out sharply, his whole body a quivering mess of agitation and anger. “It’s not fair. And I can do something about it.”



Mary Marvel floated above the giant grey crater that used to be Russia. She was the only one who could get close, the Bleed radiation remaining causing all other machines to fizzle and splutter out when they got near. Sometimes things fell from the sky - weird, misshapen things, broken and battered through their journey through the multiverse. The membrane was weak here. She shook her head, and surveyed the area. She was, as ever, searching for survivors. Not that she ever found anybody, but if something could survive the journey between Earths... then perhaps... perhaps...

...Maybe the Justice League would come back. She knew it wasn’t possible. But she had faith.

“Mary,” said the voice in her ear, and she pressed her hand to the small micro-transmitter residing there, “it’s Starman. I’ve just received word. He has a plan. Red Robin has a plan.”

Mary Marvel blinked, and turned her body in mid air, changing direction till she faced America. “You mean...?”

“He’s going to go back. And he’s going to save the world.”

“He’ll need help. How’d you hear?” She was excited. Tim always had the brains, but he had never focused on this problem. And there were many tied to the idea of ‘saving the Justice League’. Rules to be broken. Laws. And as much as they wanted to, the threats to the existence of the world overruled the idea of saving their heroes. She began to fly.

“He wants my help. And he wants yours.”

“Why didn’t he ask me himself?”

“Because you’re brooding, and he’s busy recruiting others? Last thing I heard he was headed to Santa Prisca, to recruit Arsenal and Catman.”

Mary was surprised at this. “What does he want with those two?”

“He needs a team. He says... he’s recruiting a new Justice League.”

“I guess... I guess we’re all that’s left.”

There was a moment’s silence before Starman replied. “Yeah. We really are.” He exhaled, and looked up at the sky, as ever burning red, obscuring the stars that had meant so much to his family before him. “We really are.”

Mary Marvel touched down beside her red-and-green-clad comrade who was stood atop the Knight Observatory in Opal City. She placed her hand on his shoulder, and squeezed softly. “I pray we’re enough.”



The smugglers didn’t stand a chance. They were strung up by their feet by various traps; some had fallen into holes that were hidden by the extensive foliage spreading out across the once-prospering streets.

“You can’t keep doing this, every time you come back here,” said Arsenal, as she watched Catman trudge around, setting more traps. The two of them were on one of the ruined streets, Arsenal sat atop a ruined one-floor building. “It’s not your place to.”

Thomas Blake, Jr. spun around and pointed a strict finger at his sister. “Lian, this is where my dad lived for a good long time. It’s a place of pilgrimage for me, a place to hone my skills. If these creeps insist on coming back here, causing trouble, then I have to do what I do. No two ways about it.” He relented, and shrugged. “Besides, it’s not liking I’m killing them. Hell, my mom and dad were two of the best predators in the world, back in their day. I could be like them. Killer-for-hire. But no,” he put up his hands defensively, “I follow your rules. The rules of your dad. The freaking rules of ‘Speedy’.”

“Arsenal,” snapped Lian Harper. “When he died, he was Arsenal, and that’s why I go by the name. I know all about respecting the past, Tom. Don’t forget that.”

“If you respected the past you wouldn’t be caught dead here wearing that costume,” Tom pointed to her scarlet uniform, the thick kevlar jacket that hid her non-lethal arsenal of weapons, “you’d be wearing green, like Mom.”

“Mom dressed a bit like a prostitute, Tom. You know that.” Lian managed a small smile. “These guys would love it if I pulled some Cheshire out of my bag of tricks.”

Tom shook his head viciously, hands over his ears. “Hey! No need. No need.”

“You started it,” said Lian. She leaped down from where she was perched, and examined her half-brother’s handiwork. “You’ve got that set too tight.”

“I know what I’m doing,” retorted Tom.

“I’d listen to her, kid,” said Red Robin, stepping out from the shadows. “She knows what she’s--” Catman reacted on instinct, and threw a glowing blue blade at the newcomer, “--talking about.” Arsenal reached out in a panic, but Red Robin dodged, grabbed it as it went past his chest, and considered it for a split second. “Hard light. This is a Malthus design. Impressive.” He chucked it straight back at Catman, but the blade dissolved on impact, instead of plunging into his costume. Tom grabbed the hilt before it hit the floor. “And you’re wearing the vest that comes with it. Smart.”

“That could have-- Hey, Red Robin!” Lian stepped in front of her half-brother, even as he grimaced in agitation. Red Robin, meanwhile, was examining the area around him. “You could have killed him acting like that! How were you to know he was wearing the safety vest? If he wasn’t it would have impacted!”

Red Robin motioned for the blade itself, which Catman was checking for damage. “He changed the setting. Non-lethal. Sonofabitch.”

“Shouldn’t be on lethal in the first place, kid,” said Red Robin. “Still playing trapper?”

“They get out eventually,” said Catman. “You know that.”

“Oh, I’m aware.” Red Robin was walking toward them now. He stabbed his bo staff into the ground and set off one of the traps, ignoring it as he withdrew his weapon sharply and continued down the way. “I’ve got a proposition for you. Both.”

“And what’s that then?”

Red Robin stood in front of the two siblings now, and looked them up and down. “I’m recruiting for the Justice League.”

“What?!” Catman guffawed. “Are you serious?! There hasn’t been a Justice League for years! And you want us? Not even that, you want me?! That’s... Ha!”

“If your sister vouches for you, Thomas, that’s good enough for me. That gives you credit in my book.” Robin took a step forward, and looked down at the teenage Catman. “But if you want to get far in this world, you’ll need more than just credit.”

Catman’s expression shifted. “Are you threatening me?”

“Am I? I don’t know you, ‘Catman’, but I know the name, and I know that for the most part, we’re all the sum of our parts. The sum of our parents. What does that make you?”

“Robin--” Tim turned and looked at Arsenal. “Red Robin, don’t talk to him like--”

Catman swung hard with his left, and Red Robin blocked. Another punch followed, and Tim brought his wrists together, and deflected that too. Arsenal took a step back in shock, not knowing what to do-- She’d known Tim Wayne since she was a little kid, but Tom Blake was her blood, her mother’s son, she couldn’t just-- Tom kicked, Tim locked his opponent’s leg with his hip and shoulder, and swung Catman into the side of a building. Arsenal drew a taser-gun from its holster and squared it at the vigilante.

“Tim!”

Red Robin turned, and his cowled face betrayed nothing.

“Stop this!”

Red Robin trudged after Catman, who was pulling himself up amongst the debris. The young man wiped blood from his mouth and nose, and began to growl under his breath. “Kid has something to prove, Arsenal. Let him try and prove it.”

“I can’t--” Arsenal pulled the trigger, and the taser shot into Red Robin’s cape. Tim turned and spun his gloved hand around the line, yanking the cord out of Harper’s weapon. “Ah, crap!”

Catman came from nowhere and kicked Red Robin in the face, staggering the vigilante. Tim spat bloody spittle from his mouth and smiled as he caught Tom’s next blow. “You fight like your dad.”

“What?” Catman hesitated in his rage, and Red Robin punched him in the gut, following through with an uppercut to his jaw that sent him sprawling into one of the mantraps that trussed him up by the foot. He was suddenly upside down, his cape hanging limply below him. “Hhhr!”

“Stay,” said Red Robin, his palm up in front of him. “That’s one.”

“What?” spat Catman, as he pulled his dagger from its holder and cut himself free. “What do you mean?”

“You’re in the plus, Blake. You’re a tough bastard and you’ve proven that to me.” Tim paused. “Though next time I won’t play nice.”

Catman went red in the face. “What?!”

Red Robin walked toward Arsenal, and beckoned her to follow, and she did, willingly. “You back your blood, and I respect that too. Lian,” he hesitated, and placed a hand on hers, “this is going to be rough. This is going to be the hardest thing we’ve ever done, and I want you to be there. I need someone I trust. That’s you.”

“Tim... I owe you so much... I could never say no to you.”

Red Robin interjected fast. “You could. And if I was in your position, I might. We’re going to travel back in time. We’re going to stop the Justice League from sacrificing themselves. Then all that followed... the multiversal war... the Russia incident... all the flotsam and jetsam that washes up and drags this Earth down... it won’t happen. Because what is there that Superman, Batman, all those heroes we used to look up to... What is there that they can’t stop?”

“Time travel? But that’s... that’s illegal. If we’re caught... you know what they do.”

“Leave the Global Peace Agency to me. We’re meeting in Opal City.” Red Robin turned, and saw that Catman was trailing behind them, keeping his distance. The Gotham-based vigilante faltered for a moment, until they were all walking together. “Did you know that back in the day, twenty years or so ago, the Society-- that cabal of rogues-- used to operate out of this place? You flew here, right? Used one of your dad’s old pequods?”

“Yeah, it’s cloaked in the bay,” said Arsenal.

Red Robin crouched down and brushed a layer of dust and dead leaves away from the floor, and found a small plate in the ground. He lifted it up, and revealed a small square hole. He took something from his belt and pushed it inside-- filling the square perfectly. A metre in front of them a massive blue shimmer appeared, and a city a world away became visible. “Lex Luthor and the Harlequin worked together to create a transport matrix that can take anyone with the right DNA to any location in the world. You’re on the list, guys. Opal City. Meet the other members of the team.”

“Does this really work?” asked Catman, eyeing up the portal.

“Are you really the son of Thomas Blake and Jade Nguyen?”

Thomas Blake, Jr. smiled and stepped through, appearing on the other side of the world.

Arsenal looked at Red Robin, and bit her bottom lip. “What you said about being the sum of your parts... Do you believe that?”

“No,” said Red Robin. “You are what you’re raised to be. I was just trying to get a raise out of the kid. And you... you looked after that boy, gave him the benefit of your experience, your upbringing. Kept him from having to be taken down by me. You’re a good sister to him, Lian. Keeping him true.”

Lian nodded, and stepped through the portal. Red Robin removed the key from the floor, and then pressed a button on his gauntlet. A jet roared overhead, shifting from running on silent to running on hard. He shot a line up, and then headed North-- headed to an old friend.



Doctor Strange peered through the Kryptonian telescope, the powerful lens reflecting light from beyond the solar system back to her eyes. She would journey here every now and then, with permission from the current resident, and use the equipment that was centuries ahead of what they had access to across the Earth. There had been attempts by scientists to meld Kryptonian and human technology, but the final creations were never as exact, never as precise. The skies were still red. Had been since that day, twenty years ago.

“Another one gone-- Alter-Centauri. Alpha-Centauri soon enough,” she said to herself. “And then what’s left of Rann... My parents...”

“I can stop it,” said Red Robin, “with your help.”

Aleea Strange looked to the newcomer, and her eyes widened. “You’re not the first one to say that, Tim.”

“Do you think I would if I didn’t know I could? It’s all cause and effect. The past is happening right now and it’s heading straight to the end point that drives us into this pit of an existence. But if we... interject.. push the world in another direction... we stop all this from happening. Rann doesn’t burn. The stars... they don’t go out. The Justice League rally and stop... him... and then they unite to prevent the massacre over Russia, the thing that boils the skin of the world. The Bleed doesn’t spit out flotsam and jetsam every other hour that we have to put down. Do you know why the events have been dwindling down?”

“What do you mean?”

“The incursions. When was the last time you saw the Global Peace Agency launch against an alternate Justice League, hell-belt on killing us all? Because the multiverse is empty. We’re the last ones alive. And it’s because the Justice League died--”

Tim turned at a noise, and he felt his jaw grind. And he hated the fact he let it happen, because she would hear, yes she would-- Superwoman floated toward them, her ceremonial Kryptonian robes dragging along the floor beneath her. She hadn’t been the same after Kal had gone. Then, so soon after, Connor-- God rest his soul, thought Tim-- had been snatched away, and then even her half-cousin, Kru. Tim knew that for some time she travelled the pitch skies at night with the Doctor known as Xadu, the ‘mad’ Kryptonian scientist who found sanity in the coming end times. She’d returned home a few months ago, ethereal, quiet, though more in touch with her Kryptonian heritage. He missed the fire he used to see in her.

“Kara--”

“What I want to know is this,” said the pale Kryptonian, “whatever happened to the Legion of Super-Heroes? Why haven’t they come down from their perch in the future and saved us?”

“I think we can guess,” said Red Robin.

“Because the Justice League died. That wasn’t supposed to happen. A... It was a...” She searched for the word in the O₂ molecules all around her, and her eyes glistened as she became distracted, dragged into the world of atoms and beyond. But then her eyes focused, and her gaze rested solely on Tim. “An aberration. The Justice League weren’t supposed to die. Now, what are you going to do, go around talking about it or go back and save them?”

“You really think you can?” asked Doctor Strange, tentatively.

Red Robin nodded. “The GPA outlawed time or dimensional travel ever since Rip Hunter crash landed in Australia from the future, since his dying words about the great darkness... and we know why.”

“Imprecise time travel has scarred the world, the skies darken, the Sun spasms, reality rails against it,” said Aleea. “We know the science. Matt Ryder vanished one day and was found in the ruins of Moscow, a charred skeleton. The world has gone wrong. The laws of science no longer apply.”

“But what if there was a tunnel?” asked Tim. “A tunnel from here to there?”

“What? Like a Boom Tube?” suggested Strange.

Tim’s hands balanced out in front of him. “We know that doesn’t work. No New God technology works now. But akin to... yes.”

“What are we waiting for?” asked Aleea.

“This moment,” said Red Robin; blue sheets of light shimmered in mid-air, and out walked Starman, Mary Marvel, Catman and Arsenal, “for us to come together.”

“Does this make us what I think?” asked Theo Knight, even though he knew the answer already. Tim saw an eagerness that he used to feel in himself. It made him feel young. Starman was the brightest of them, the most hopeful. Apt.

“Not a Society. A Society suggests campfires and fun. And not Titans, nor Outsiders. We’re united, and we’re not going to shy away from it. No,” said Red Robin, “a League. The Justice League.”

Lian Harper managed to smile, even under the pressure of the moment. “Who would have guessed?”



Everything relied on him. Sneaking inside was easy. No one cared about these relics anymore. An Astro-Harness was half-dissected on a table, just abandoned at the end of the day. It wasn’t that they weren’t important, it was just that no one knew about this place. No one was supposed to, anyway. It took high clearance for the location of the floating containment base, and Red Robin, well… he just happened to be on a need-to-know list all of a sudden.

His tunic projected a null-field-- he was completely invisible to the cameras thanks to Michael Holt’s designs-- and he simply strolled toward the containment shell he was looking for. His costume was state of the art, he’d had a hand in all its design aspects, and simply put, there was nothing he couldn’t beat when wearing it. Cameras forgot to record that he was there. He had no body temperature. And the cape, when wrapped around him, made him invisible in shadow. This was his identity. And he was proud of it.

The containment shell held the remains of one of the greatest villains of the past century. He - it - wasn’t a villain per se, but it had come to Earth and attempted to commit unspeakable acts. As the years went on the thing became warped in the head, until it had to be locked down, inert, by the Outsiders in an undisclosed location, where it remained until its escape (thanks to the Brotherhood of Evil). In the aftermath of its rampage, dozens were left dead, and it took the sacrifice of Billy Batson to destroy it.

The Starbreaker was a desiccated mess, chunks of its ‘flesh’ missing, no energy allowed to go near it. The containment shell was keeping everything out as well as in, but if something got in, a strand of energy, a ray of light, then it could reconstitute…

“And if you’re here, you freaky cosmic vampire, then you’re there as well. Two timelines running parallel and you’re a constant.” Tim was about to place a transmat device on the shell when--

“Red Robin!” barked a voice, and Tim was suddenly aware that he was surrounded by gun-toting Global Peace Agency operatives. They had appeared from nowhere, and their faceless masks identified them as the one obstacle to his plans. “Remove your cowl! Do not attempt to--” The speaker was thrown back by a concussive charge, and then all hell broke loose.

Tim was careful. He didn’t want to trigger any of the weapons that were held here. He knew that they had made attempts to disarm them, make them useless, but who knew what weapons capability the GPA possessed? He kicked and he punched, twisted and fought as hard as he possibly could, but he was outnumbered. He took his licks. He felt them all go for him. He was a troublemaker, he didn’t work for them, he worked for himself, and his presence was an insult to their hard work. He felt them overwhelm him. One of them got a lucky hit in with a taser-baton and he fell to his knees, and from there it was easy enough to sedate him. He looked up at the containment shell holding Starbreaker, and felt the world go black.



Red Robin was dragged before the Director of the GPA by the faceless security force, stripped of his cape and cowl, his utility belts and gloves, anything they thought would pose a threat to the safety of their leader. Tim Wayne looked a ruin under his mask. He was running on fumes, had been for years now, and the black rings around his eyes didn’t clear away as he blinked his way into the artificial light of the office. He wasn’t handcuffed, but they erected a containment cone around him, and he simply sat, and stared beyond the desk in front of him. “It’s been a while, Director Sullivan.”

Chloe Sullivan shook her head. She too looked worn. Her hair was flecked with long streaks of grey, and the sadness in her eyes was plain to see. She leaned forward, and pointed an accusing finger at the vigilante. “What did you think you would gain, Tim?”

“I want to save the world, Chloe. You know that.”

“I know? This is what I know: I know that the Earth is barely holding together. That we’ve lost countless men and women who have done great things for this planet, and you want to punch a hole in the membrane of the universe on some last ditch attempt to save the world?” She shook her head again. “Time travel will ruin this world. The multiversal bleed-through gets worse every day.”

“Have you seen Doctor Strange’s findings? Whole galaxies are dying. Stars peter out every hour of every day. Where are the Green Lantern Corps?”

“Don’t--” Chloe snapped. She didn’t mean to, but she couldn’t help it.

“I know the exact day to go back. Before any of this happened. Before everything changed. And I can save them all. I know I can.”

“You don’t know that, you don’t,” said Chloe.

“I can save Hal Jordan. And you know what he would do, Chloe.”

“Tim--”

“He would save Jessica. He would bring her back to you.”

“Tim--!”

“And we wouldn’t have lost Guy and John, because Hal was fearless, and he would have rode into Hell itself if it meant getting your daughter back. He was Hal Jordan, for crying out loud. He would have done it.”

“The scientists of the GPA have seen everything,” said Chloe, turning away from Tim as she wiped away her tears. “The alternate Earths that punch through into our reality have irrevocably torn the membrane walls asunder. If you go back, Tim... you end the world. I can’t let that happen.”

“I don’t end the world,” said Tim. “I make it right.”

“So you would sacrifice the four billion men, women and children of this planet, you would have them die, just on some unfounded belief you could do something to make things better? I don’t believe you can do it, Tim.”

“I’ve spent twenty years scouring over every Justice League file in existence. Every upload to the computer. Every security recording. I know where to go, Chloe. All I need is a machine.”

“And that’s why you tried to steal the remains of the Starbreaker? What was that to gain?”

“You moved him, I assume?”

“You assume right, kid. Standard operating procedure. We took him somewhere you will never find him again.”

Tim shrugged. “Must he hard knowing who to trust when everyone wears those masks, right?”

“What?”

“How are you supposed to know who everyone is? Name-badges, I guess?”

“What are you talking about?” asked Chloe again.

“You need to know this,” said Tim, leaning forward even though the exertion drained him, “I’m doing this for you, too. I’m being so selfish. I’m doing this for Bruce, for Dick and for Babs. For Alfred. Of course I am,” he arched back, “but it’s for you, too. Because Hal will save your daughter when I make sure he lives. And we’ll have three Green Lanterns to stop the multiverse war. We’ll have a fighting chance. But right now, with Earth skimming around the bottom of the toilet? Nah.” He stood up. The containment cone just drifted apart, and he was stood in front of Chloe Sullivan, with five GPA operatives around him. “This is for the world.”

The GPA operatives went for him, but he disarmed them within a second, knocking one out before another half second had passed, and concussing another on the follow through. The others reached for their taser-batons, and whilst Tim dodged the first stab, the second caught him in the ribs, and he hissed in pain. They weren’t able to act on their momentary advantage, as Tim kicked up at his attacker and smashed his knees into his blank face, blood spurting beneath the pale, featureless mask. Three down, two to go, and before he unleashed a volley of blows on them they fell, their backs smoking where they’d been hit by electricity from a gun held by Chloe Sullivan herself.

“Do it,” she ordered.

The GPA operatives were down, and Red Robin grabbed a pellet from his utility belt-- laid out on the desk neatly-- and hurled it at the door. The pellet burst on impact and released a thick smog that hardened over the seams of the entrance, trapping Director Sullivan and himself inside.

“Is that enough?” asked Chloe. “You’ve made a scene, after all.”

“I think so,” said Tim, as he pulled on the rest of his uniform. “The League?”

“They collected the package with ease.” Chloe dropped her taser-gun, pulled herself out of her chair, and pointed at a spot on a map that buzzed up in mid-air. Her finger was in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, and her eyes darted about the room, making sure they were secure. “They’re at the rendezvous points-- the Hall of Justice memorial site. I can’t stop the GPA from coming down on you,” she was talking fast, caught up in the rush of the moment, “they’’ll be running autonomously, even a direct order from the director can’t stop a taskforce assigned to multiverse invasion prevention and those Starbreaker remains are sending out signals like nothing else.”

“They won’t be a problem,” said Tim. “You risked a lot to get me access, Chloe.”

“You’re going to save the world, Tim. My world. Jess and Hal and...” Her chin furrowed up, and she held back a sob. “Just do it. And make sure the world runs right.”

“I will.” Red Robin shimmered away from sight, leaving Director Sullivan with two unconscious agents, and a horde more breaking in through the sealed door.

“What took you so long?!” she shrieked. “Where the hell is Red Robin?!”



“We act fast,” said Mary Marvel. “Doctor Strange--”

The half-Rannian woman smiled, but interrupted, “Sorry, call me Aleea, my dad, he never felt the need to go by his doctorate, I probably shouldn’t either--”

“Fair enough,” said Mary. “Aleea, you’ve built the device from elements of the Black Colossus construct that the Justice League confiscated from the Extremists, right?”

“I have, but not just that,” Aleea said. “I stripped Boom Tube tech of the X-Element, and just… tried to keep the principles the same. Boom Tubes, Mother Boxes, they don’t work now, but if we give them a power boost, something with a bit of girth, like the Black Colossus engine, then we can punch a hole right where we need to.”

“And we need to punch a hole through Starbreaker?” said Arsenal. “Are we really sure that’s a good idea?”

“No,” said Superwoman, “but it’s the idea we’ve got. There’s no other way. There are no time-spheres, no time-pools, nothing that can take us back to where we need to be.”

“I’m not bothered either way,” said Catman. “But where’s Red Robin? I don’t like having to dress up as a GPA operative to get something done. Rather do it by tooth and claw, you hear me?”

“You’d rather dress like a cat than as a faceless man?” asked Starman. “How strange.”

Catman scowled. “Yeah, well, stick your cosmic r--”

“Boys,” said Red Robin, shimmering into view. “Director Sullivan gave you time, now what did you do with it?”

The Justice League looked at each other, and it was Aleea Strange that broke the silence. “We did everything. We were just waiting on you.”

“That’s what I like to hear,” said Red Robin. “Mary, Kara, if Starbreaker comes to, you’re to contain him. Hopefully this will be painless, but we know our luck.”

“We understand,” said Superwoman.

“Aleea, the floor is yours,” said Red Robin, as he surveyed the skies. The GPA would be here soon…

Aleea worked frantically over the machine. She was twice the genius her father was, and it showed through her deft handiwork. This was a project that had been thrust upon her 48 hours ago, and she had completed the concept in record time. But was it going to work? She bit her bottom lip, and then activated the central processor. The machine hummed. Then there was a sound like a train beginning to rev forward. A loud dropping noise, metal on metal-- chunk-duh-chunk-duh-chunk-- and a thin beam of blue light suddenly shot through the thick housing of Starbreaker’s containment shell. It hit him squarely in the chest, and began to pulse out. Energy began to feed into him, and the Justice League watched as the villain began to grow. His eyes remained close, but his body throbbed, and the beam of blue light thickened, and a vortex began to form where Starbreaker’s torso had once resided.

“Steady, if this makes sense, the beam has punched a hole through the multiverse, and it’s going back day after day, year after year… connecting the personal timeline of Starbreaker with its self. We need to--”

“HHHHHHH,” Starbreaker exhaled, if it could be called that. He was an alien vampire, capable of soaring through space unaided, capable of sapping the life out of a planet by flexing his demonic muscles. “HHHHHHHHH.” His eyes opened blearily. “WHAT. WHAT IS. THIS?”

“How much longer?” shouted Red Robin over the roar of the throbbing light. The air was rushing toward Starbreaker, his chest sucking everything in. Was it working?

“Seconds!” replied Aleea. “Hold on!”

“HUMANS! YOU DARE--!” Starbreaker was interrupted by a dual punch delivered by Mary Marvel and Superwoman that staggered him. They grabbed his arms, and thanked their gods that he was still weak. “YOU… WHAT IS THIS?”

“Now!” said Aleea. Red Robin looked to the others, scared, unknowing, and then nodded to himself. If he was going to end one world for the sake of another, he had to be willing to make the choices, do the mad thing for the sake of his team. He sprinted toward Starbreaker, and threw himself into the portal. Then there was a silence. Marvel and Superwoman held Starbreaker fast, and Starman aimed his cosmic rod at the creature, not knowing whether to fire or not-- not knowing if his cosmic rod would make matters worse. The yawning moment of uncertainty ended when a hand jerked out of Starbreaker’s chest, and beckoned them forward. Starbreaker looked down, confused, and then shrieked in defiance as the Justice League leaped through his chest. When all was said and done, Mary Marvel and Sueprwoman followed suit, and then the void began to dissipate - but not before Starbreaker himself began to spin and twist, falling into the void of his self. Moments later there was a silence, and the GPA arrived to see the device used to activate the wormhole splutter and then disintegrate, leaving them all wondering what--
Then the world shunted to a stop. Faded to white. And never ever came to be in the first place.



“Do you feel that?” asked Blue Beetle, as he looked around the Hall of Justice. He’d finally been allowed back inside the base after the Starro incident, and was examining the Black Colossus device along with the Atom, Firestorm and Doctor Light.

“Yeah, what is that?” said Firestorm, looking around.

The Atom pointed to the tip of the Black Colossus. “Holy-- look at that!”

The tip of the Colossus was glowing. It throbbed a bright, blinding light, and even Doctor Light couldn’t look directly at it. “What does that mean?”

“It means,” said a voice, as a mass of shapes began to become clear in front of the device, fading in from some unknown location, “that something terrible is about to happen--” A man, clad in red and black and wearing a cowl that covered all but his lower jaw, extended a hand to Blue Beetle. “My friends... my old friends... trust me, you’re going to want to hear this--”

“Who the hell are you?” asked Blue Beetle, levelling his BB Gun.

“We’re the Justice League,” said Red Robin, “and we’re here to save the world.” He stopped his voice from quavering. From letting his emotions show. They’d made it. They had travelled back in time to the moment when everything was going to change. And they had a chance. A real, tangible chance, to stop the end of their world. All they had to do was change the events of the following hours, days, and then…

And then…

…they’d have to learn that Starbreaker had come back with them.

…To Be Continued…

NEXT ISSUE: Justice League/Justice League! Cell Zero opens! Starbreaker ruins riot! Will two Justice Leagues be enough when the walls begin to crumble? Probably not!



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