Post by Merai on Jun 3, 2009 19:13:27 GMT -5
Clark Kent felt his skin tingle as the Black Sun began to rise up from beneath reality. It was a weirdly beautiful sight to behold, as Jason Todd , Hal Jordan and Zauriel watched. It wasn’t like a normal sun rise. The Black Sun was taking shape from the sky next to it, blurring into existence as if a paint brush was shaping it into life. Yellow Sun. Red Sun. Blue Sun. All had different effects on his Kryptonian physiology. Black Sun. Black Sun radiation apparently made his Kryptonian solar cells self destruct. And he was being exposed right now. He could feel his skin tingle.
Green Lantern thought hard. He thought about the sound of rocket engines that never failed to make him smile, and the fastest jets he had ever flown and then his thoughts became solid and real as an amalgamation of those thoughts shone emerald bright. He knew that Superman had to get to safety, he knew that the Fortress of Solitude was a safe haven, prepared beforehand to protect him from the dark sunlight. His willpower reached out to wrap up the Man of Steel and send him to safety - - but as soon as the construct touched Superman’s flesh, sparks erupted from his skin and the feedback sent Hal Jordan flying back--
“I… I can’t… I can’t touch him!” Green Lantern looked up at Superman, whose shoulder was smoldering, “Superman! Fly! Fly!!”
The Last Son of Krypton managed to reach the centre of Metropolis before he lost his ability to fly. He hurtled toward the floor and collided with the concrete, his invulnerability holding, but for how long? He pulled himself up and began to trudge forward. He needed to get out of the city, he needed to escape the death trap that his body had become, and he had less than eight minutes to do it!
Fight, Superman! Fight!
Superspeed was with him until Centennial Park. He fell within seconds, tumbling to the ground and landing so hard the concrete shattered. Superman pulled himself back up, staggered forward, his legs suddenly nothing but dead weight, and fell face first into the grass. Then he saw it. His super-vision flashed on and off uncontrollably, but he concentrated, regained control, his powers haywire. Shadows didn’t make sense. Darkness twisted and bit and chewed at the light in the city of Metropolis. Reality didn’t make sense. At that moment, he realized that it was the Black Sun. It was affecting the world. It was biting at existence like a rabid dog. Shadows came to life. They reached up to their owners and clawed at ankles, at legs. What could he do? What could he do?
He could fight.
And so he did.
Fight, Superman! Fight!
Raven span around as Tara Markov began to choke. “Tara? No… this cannot be right…” She rushed over to her young team-mate, who was convulsing violently. “Victor! Something is wrong with Tara!”
Cyborg hurried over to the two young heroes, and scanned the elemental with his sensors. “Her body is going into overdrive! Her heart rate is off the charts and…”
Tara grabbed Vic’s arm, and clutched it tightly, her fingers damp from sweat, nearly slipping off the smooth chrome surface of his limb. “I… I can’t feel… anything… Tin… Man…”
Victor forced a smile, even as he was carrying the blonde toward an elevator. “We’ll get you to the medi-beds, don’t worry Tara, we’ll fix this…”
“The world… something is wrong… the world… is numb and I… I…” She blacked out, and Raven followed Cyborg into the elevator that would lead them below the island, and into the medical centre.
“I felt a great darkness overcome her, Victor, and the world…” She clutched her head, “Oh, my lord, it isn’t just her… the entire planet… I can feel their pain… it… it hurts!” She toppled forward, and Cyborg caught her, cradling her in his spare arm.
Victor Stone connected with Titans Tower’s communication system remotely, the connection between him and the mainframe holding true, and put out the call: <Titans Emergency!>
Wonder Woman watched as the Black Sun materialized outside. She felt the urge to run and find Donna Troy, to hug her as the world ended. But why did she think that? The world wasn’t ending, was it? “No.”
Martian Manhunter was the first person to bring it to her attention. He was weak from his exposure to the immensity behind the Black Sun, the… entity that had touched Swamp Thing’s consciousness and drove him to insanity. “Psychic chaff! It’s sending out psychic chaff, attacking our insecurities! I’m installing mental firewalls, brace your thoughts--” It was like something shunted inside the Justice League’s heads.
“Godddd,” whispered Blue Beetle as he held his skull. “I can think clearly! I thought I was just tired, but that thing was in our heads! In our thoughts!”
“This is it. We have to face the wolf at our door. Something is behind the Black Sun, and we will stop them--”
“Wonder Woman!” She turned to see Kid Eternity racing around the monitor screens, followed by The Question and other members of the Justice League. “We’ve got meta-villain groups attacking major capitals across the world!”
“A distraction. But one we have to confront. Justice League reservists, you know your assignments, this is the battle we have united for! The thing we all knew was coming! You have your mission! Transport booths are online. Defend the world. We are the Justice League. And we will stop this thing.”
She wasn’t expecting the cheers. It didn’t last long. A lingering moment of audible defiance. Fists in the air, shouts that made Diana smile for the first time in a long while. They were the Justice League. But within moments, the Hall was empty, barring a few men and women she called her teammates. Her friends. Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Kid Eternity, Manitou Dawn, Elongated Man, The Flash, the Atom, the Question, the Martian Manhunter. They were her Justice League.
“I hope I’m not late…?” Wonder Woman turned to see Aquaman. She didn’t wait for him to say another word - - instead she embraced him tightly, and he hugged her back. “I wouldn’t want to miss the end of the world.”
“Oh, you haven’t, Arthur. We wouldn’t let you.”
Green Lantern, Zauriel and the Dark Knight were next to join the heroes. Hawkman sniffed the air as Jason Todd walked in, and looked at him in disgust, and Zauriel turned to look at the Thanagarian Hawk-Knight, the two winged heroes squaring off against each other.
“Something isn’t right about you,” said Zauriel slowly.
“Get out of my face,” snapped Katar as he brought his Nth metal mace up to the angel’s mouth.
“Enough, you guys!” Green Lantern separated the two of them with an emerald shield, and turned to Wonder Woman. “Superman was exposed to Black Sun radiation. I tried to get him to the Fortress of Solitude, but his biology… it caused feedback in my ring, I can’t form a construct around him! He’s headed to the Fortress, but--”
“Well, you’re wrong there, Lantern,” The Question pointed to the computer screens on the far side of the wall. Images of heroes from all across the world, assembled into teams by the Chairperson of the Justice League, were being funneled directly to them. And in Metropolis, Superman, in visible pain, was fighting against a group of villains, their attacks bouncing off a visibly weakening Man of Steel, battling in the dim glare the Black Sun cast.
“Then we know what we must do. We save Metropolis. We save Superman… from himself.” Wonder Woman pointed to the door. “I see we have visitors with us. If you want to pitch in, you’re welcome. If not, by the Gods, get out of our way.”
Jason Todd nudged Zauriel as they rushed out of the Hall of Justice and toward Metropolis proper. “I’d follow her to Hell and back.”
“I’ll hold you to that,” said the angel.
“Worship him! Worship him!” Mammoth had never been this strong before. Giant fists rained down blows, from one side by the member of the Fatal Five, and from another at the hands of the Gotham based Blockbuster. The mantra was rattled into Superman’s skull, punch after punch, “worship him! He’s coming!”
“I’m… sorry…” he whispered, before exhaling as hard as he could, knocking back the villains. He still had his strength, his invulnerability, and his lungs still held enough air to freeze with a whistle, and his eyes, blazing red as he battled the tide of villains, still could burn when directed. He’d seen this fanaticism before, before this day started, with Black Rock, the sentry of the Black Sun. “…so sorry.” He glanced up to the sky, and saw the Sun he called friend being near consumed by this dark abomination. He’d faced Sun-Eaters. He’d befriended one, in fact, instead of battling it, and he sent it on its way, to prevent it from destroying the Solar System in its hunger pangs. Memories flicked into the forefront of his mind, like tear drops reflecting sun light.
“…Ccconcentrate…”
He unleashed heat vision upon another onslaught of villains, melting the barrels of the Gatling-gun Bloodsport levelled, and rendering him weaponless. He fought and he fought, but more villains attacked. And then something strange happened… out of the obsidian glare of the Black Sun, things began to rise up from the ground… tangible shadows reached at his limbs, groping and growling for blood. He thought to fly, but remembered his predicament… he was fighting on three fronts, the villains, now the shadows, and his Kryptonian physiology itself!
Heat vision. Scouring the ground, the shadows receded, but how could battle the intangible? He thought to fly and consult Obsidian, son of the Golden Age Green Lantern but he couldn’t fly, he knew that; and he knew he was battling them right now, at this moment… why couldn’t he focus? His skin tingled. His skin tingled and… where was his father? Jor-El was dead.
“…Oh…”
He remembered that. How could he forget, he had never met him, after all, it was an intrinsic part of… Jonathan Kent. Buried. Dead. Not in that or…
“…Stop THINKING!”
He continued his efforts. Batting Killer Frost off his back at she dug her fingers into his weakening hide, what little solar charge left withering out of him and strengthening her… she laughed, hard and cold. “Give me some of your love, Superman! And he’ll love yoooou!”
His skin tingled. He exhaled again, a block of ice containing the ice maiden, sapping the heat from inside her. “Nnno.”
Parasite charged toward him, his purple skin tinged black as veins bulged out from his body, the scar tissue that was his flesh pulsing and throbbing. His hands were raised, black globules of energy being sucked toward his palms. He was about to clasp those deadly hands around Superman’s throat when an emerald straightjacket whipped around him, and sent him flying up into the air. Green Lantern disengaged the construct so the Parasite wouldn’t absorb any ambient energy, and then batted him into the bay.
“Superman! You need to get out of here!” Hal landed in front of Clark, and thought up a shield that could protect the Man of Steel from the rays of this new sun. “We’ll handle this!”
“Metropolis is in danger!” Green Lantern. Two of them, wasn’t there? Three. Hal and… and… the new one. The new one. He had a name. And Alan! Alan Scott. “Alan, you have to go, I’ll handle this.”
“Alan? Clark,” hissed Green Lantern, “it’s me, Hal. You need to snap out of this.”
Wonder Woman and the Martian Manhunter landed next, whilst the rest of the League battled the shifting from tangible to intangible shadows and the frenzied villains that were emerging from all around. It was strange, as the sky darkened, and the people of the world cried out in anguish, their thoughts picked at by the psychic static the Black Sun created, to watch Superman, sweat seeping through his pours. “J’onn, install the mental firewalls inside his mind, he’s--”
“It’s the Black Sun radiation, I already have done so, but the radiation has already affected his brain! There are psychological effects we didn’t expect!”
Diana grabbed Clark by the face. “Kal! KAL! You need to listen to us! You need to get out of here before--” Her hands jerked off from his flesh, a spark of energy igniting beneath her touch. He looked at her, to his shoulder, and then back at her. “Oh, Hera, it’s begun.”
“I’m going to explode,” whispered Superman, that crystal thought perfect in his mind.
Manhunter was in Gotham City. He was doing what he was supposed to be doing, and he was doing it well. He was hunting. He climbed down the sheer rock face, clambered down the ravine, and landed quietly in the underground stream that lead deeper into the cavern below. He was searching for Batman. He had found him.
“Batman. Nightwing. Whatever you’re calling yourself…” He stepped out of the darkness and onto a metal platform, to see Dick Grayson being stitched together by Alfred Pennyworth, the Caped Crusader’s shoulder a purple mess of a stab wound. “…You need better security.”
Dick didn’t look at him. “We knew you were here as soon as your hand found the hole in the ground. Kord non-patent motion sensors. I deactivated the defenses, Kirk. I’m not an idiot.” He grunted as Alfred continued to stitch the wound up. “Why are you here?”
“Have you been paying attention to the world outside? There’s a Black Sun in the sky, the city is going crazy. And the Ray is missing.”
Dick’s neck snapped round at that name. “What do you know about the Ray?”
“Justice Society of America. Young All-Stars. And now he’s missing. Checkmate sees all. I have a hunch, a gut-hunch, not founded on nothin’ but a feeling, that he has something to do with this. Villains are talking about a Great Darkness, a kind of evil that comes at you sideways through the fringes of your consciousness.” Paul tapped his head. “Psych-Ops installed some buffers in my head, but I’m still feeling the weight. How are you holding up?”
“A psychic assault? That’s what it was?” Dick shook his head. “I thought… I was just remembering too much. Bruce… my parents… every single mistake I made as Robin, as Nightwing, as Batman.” Alfred tied off the stitch and inspected his handiwork. “I locked it away in a box. I know how to handle darkness, Paul. I’m not Bruce, but I know how to handle darkness.”
“Right on, kid. You’re strong. How about you, Mr Pennyworth, how are you holding up?”
Alfred arched an eyebrow. “I am a former member of Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Mister Kirk. I do not like to complain.”
“We can resist this,” stated the Manhunter. “If we’re strong enough. If we have the willpower. Hell, I’m sure all you Justice Titans of Las Vegas can muster up the willpower and wanting to not succumb to the darkness festering on the edges of your heads. But those people out there? In the cities? Hell, they’re going to be feeling pretty damn dark right now. And it’s only going to get worse. The Ray was taken down for a reason. We need to know why.”
“I tracked down some leads in Opal City.” Dick motioned to the computer screen in front of them. “The Circle was a religious group that worshipped something that would rise from beneath the world and grant them the freedom and pureness of a ‘true identity’. Did you see the Clark Kent interview on WE? Taking the head of the group to task over allegations of abuse?”
“Yeah, Checkmate has been keeping their eye on that game for a long time. Big ties to the super villain community but nothing tangible, only the word of the Rogues themselves, which doesn’t stand for anything nowadays. I remember way back when there was respect between the two sides. Not anymore.”
“Well they killed themselves. All of them dead but one. And he… was possessed by something. Wonder Woman and Superman thought it was whatever is inside the Black Sun talking through him.”
“Inside?”
“I think the Black Sun is a cage, Manhunter.” Dick pulled on his shirt, cringing as he moved his arm. “Something wants to get out.” He pulled on the cowl. “And I think the Ray is the key.”
“Then let’s get to work.” Manhunter looked around. “Checkmate satellites have retroactively traced the Ray’s footsteps. His last known location was in Opal. So I suggest we hop on a plane and get there ASAP, before this situation gets worse than it already has done.”
“I have just the plane for the task at hand, but if you give me a moment--” Dick Grayson hurried into the recesses of the Cave, leaving Alfred Pennyworth and Paul Kirk alone.
“Long time, no see, Pennyworth,” said Paul Kirk slowly.
Alfred nodded slowly. “That it is, Paul. Shame it couldn’t be under--”
“Alright, ready,” said Dick, as he took a small, box-like device and strapped it to his utility belt.
“What’s that?” inquired Kirk.
“Something Bruce acquired a few years back. I’ve had it plugged into the main computers for months, any information that Checkmate, the DEO, the DMA, FBI, whoever, any information that they have is downloaded into this. Including the satellite footage that I assume tracked the Ray to Opal City.”
“Pretty small hard drive, you sure it’s doing what you say it’s doing?”
Dick Grayson smiled. “Trust me, the guys who made this? They thought big. Let’s fly.”
Hank Henshaw was running on adrenaline. Constructs flash-formed and then vanished, discarded when unnecessary. Flashes of emerald light burst into sheer brilliance, and moments later faded, the shadows fighting back against whatever action the team he was fighting side by side took against them. He was Green Lantern 2814.2. He was fighting.
< Warning, psychological invasion detected>
He could feel it, too. The ‘psychological invasion’. He wondered how Hal was coping. Probably fine. He resisted. His willpower ready and poised like a weapon. His ring isolated the emotions the Black Sun was throwing his way. Doubt. Anger. Fear. He laughed as his constructs continued to form. Fear? Thrown at a Green Lantern. “Do your freaking research, you sonofabitch! I’m a Green Lantern! Member of the Honour Guard! You’re nothing but a solar event! I can still kick your ass!”
“Freeeeee!” A claw tore through reality from nowhere, and reached toward Hank Henshaw, razor sharp talons scraping emerald sparks across his aura. “My master frees me in his presence!” It was pulling itself into existence, and Hank thought of all kinds of things to send it packing. A green battering ram slammed into it’s scaly chest as it pulled itself forward even more, and with that action it vanished for a moment, the rift in reality vanishing.
“Ring!” shouted Hank. “Send all information just picked up directly to Lantern 2814.1! Sound the alarm! Reality incursion!”
< Transmitted.>
And then the sky went black. And more claws tore through reality and Hank Henshaw readied himself and his ring. He wasn’t going to die today.
Mera was safe, thought Aquaman, she must be. He had sent his people deep beneath the ocean, to the hidden world below the seabed, and knew they’d be safe there. He hoped… he prayed… he grunted as he stabbed at the shadows with his trident, dispersing their bodies with a howl of defiance. He knew he couldn’t be sure. But Garth was protector of the Atlantean people in his absence, and Orm wouldn’t allow any harm to befall his people, he knew that. So he continued to fight on the streets of Metropolis, well aware that this was a world that no longer fully trusted him, but not caring. He’d do what was right. That’s all that could be asked of any member of the team he’d helped form…
Hal Jordan’s ring spat information into his mind, the voice of Abin Sur telling him all kinds of things he didn’t really want to know. “Aww, crap, Diana, we’ve got a problem!” The streets of Metropolis were a mess as the sky went black and the darkness seemed to scream in rage. Green Lantern thought the information directly as the Martian Manhunter, and the Martian Manhunter transmitted it to Wonder Woman, who blinked once, and looked to Green Lantern. “Same as what happened to Hawkman underneath Miskatonic University! We’ve got things from beyond the universe popping out in all major cities! Avatars of the Black Sun!”
“We need mystics, we need--”
The Martian Manhunter let loose a low cry, and clutched his head. “They… they are coming through where reality is a scab, Wonder Woman… where the walls between reality and unreality are weak… I’m getting thoughts from across the world… so much… fear…”
Hawkman looked at the others, and could see nothing but death. His vision was blurred, his flying erratic. Zauriel looked to him, and could tell something was wrong. He sniffed the air. Even in the dark (an Angel’s eyes adapted for any climate or environment) he could smell and see something was wrong. Katar growled, swung his mace wildly, but none of the shadows touched him. He cried and he screamed and Hawkgirl took notice, and reached out to help him, but Zauriel moved faster than she could. He slammed into Hawkman, and brought his flaming sword to the Thanagarian’s throat. “Infected by the darkness! Touched by one of the Old Ones, from before Creation itself! He’s tainted!”
“GET OFF ME!” growled Hawkman, spittle leaving his lips. “NOW!!” he punched Zauriel in the face, and sent the angel flying backwards, hitting a building and flying through the concrete like it was balsa wood. The Thanagarian looked at his hands, white flesh and black veins pumping unnatural blood through him, and clenched his fist. “No. No. Gggghhh.”
He remembered. He remembered fighting beneath Miskatonic University. He remembered everything. The thing that should not be, reaching through reality, a thick, black tentacle reaching toward his face, touching him, and whispering… ‘You’re mine…’ and the thoughts haunting him ever since, images of death, of murder and pain and the future… what will come if the League fail. And as the darkness consumed him, he didn’t give a damn about it.
“Katar? What’s wrong? Why did you--” Kendra saw Katar’s flesh. And his smile. And his hands tensing around his weapons. “Zauriel was right.” And she pulled her scimitar from her back and lunged at him, striking his Nth metal mace and causing sparks to fly in her face. “Fight it, Katar.”
“Katar isn’t here anymore. I am though.” He laughed, and headbutted her, his helmet coming off on impact, dazing her and revealing his face to the League. He was grinning, just as the man in Opal City had been after his possession. His veins pulsed beneath his pale, almost transparent flesh, and his eyes were now pitch black. “Who wants to SUFFER?”
Zauriel pulled himself forward from where he had been thrown, and ignited his sword. “I do.” And he launched himself at his opponent. The two men clashed, and then Hawkman grabbed Zauriel by the face, squeezing tight. "hhggh"
"Zauriel, my old friend, do you remember my voice? Do you remember your role in this?" Hawkman grinned. "Do you remember??"
Zauriel gagged, and then thrust his arms up, dislodging Hawkman's grip, "By The Source... it's not possible--! It's not possible--!!"
"Oh, it is," hissed Hawkman, the demonic voice shrieking out from his mouth smashing against Zauriel's consciousness, "so wholly, beautifully, poignantly possible!"
“Oh, this isn’t good, this isn’t good at all,” whispered Ira Quimby as, one-by-one, the screens in his hub of Injustice, Unlimited communications went blank. I.Q. was surrounded by the most high-tech computer software on the market and off, cargo cult Thanagarian hard-drives and Kryptonian crystal technology, and if his equipment started going offline? “Clock King! Get in here!” Clock King stumbled into the room in an instant, also aware of the failing technology all around them. “What’s happening, Ira?”
“I have no idea! Communication systems are going down across the world, and my systems are following suit! I was half way through updating my protection software and the whole world is going to crap!”
“Isn’t there some way you can stay connected?”
“Temple, come on man, if I had a way wouldn’t I use it? Connections are going down and being replaced with pure static! I’m not going to be insane and say the Internet is down, but… but… wait a minute, pick up the phone!”
Clock King looked at the landline and picked up the receiver. “Nothing. Static. That doesn’t make any sense at all…”
“Don’t you see?” Ira picked up his cell phone and dialled the first number he thought of. Static. “Not even dead air, not even ‘the number you have dialled has not been recognised’, none of that, just static! This isn’t the technology going wrong, this is something else entirely! This doesn’t make any sense to me! And that… that…”
“We’ll figure it out,” said Clock King, “We’ve got that Mind-Eater guy in the building… we can get every single genius on our side working on the problem on a telepathic level, nothing can stop us when we put our heads together. World-wide communications are going haywire? So let’s make a new communications network. This is what Injustice, Unlimited is here for, Ira. Let’s get to work…”
Fawcett City’s heroes battled just as hard as those of Metropolis, of Gotham, of Las Vegas and New York. The world was in turmoil, the heroes bandied together, and the villains not infected by the darkness? Theirs was a story for another time.
“They keep coming!” said Mary Marvel, dismantling Shrapnel with an abandoned car, sending the explosive metal villain flying in every direction possible.
Ibis weaved a spell that caused all the air around the shadows to illuminate, dispersing them, and froze Komodo in place with another spell, smiling all the while. “You’re not wrong, Mary, but we do what we must… we keep fighting!”
“Who said I was going to stop,” replied the young heroine, with a smile of her own.
Mary Marvel was beside Ibis in battling the hordes, whilst Captain Marvel and Black Adam battled back to back, surprising all those that looked upon them. But theirs was a mission of more import than good versus evil, theirs was to stem the tide of the malevolent evil that was sweeping over the world, and right now… they were failing.
“I’m not here for you, Billy!” Black Adam looked around as the sky continued to darken, “I’m here for my beloved, and if you don’t--”
“No.” Captain Marvel grabbed his companion by the shoulders. “Listen to your gods, Teth. Listen hard. Listen past the whispers from the Black Sun and focus on why you’re here. You and I both know that sometimes you let your anger cloud those whom empower you.”
“I…” Black Adam hesitated. “Hh. You’re right, Batson. I fear I am more susceptible to this darkness than thought previous… the wisdom of Zehuti tells me that we need to face not the Sun, but what lies inside it. And the courage of Mehen… it steels me against the psychological attack. I am ready.”
“That won’t be as simple as it sounds, Teth,” replied Captain Marvel, “my wisdom tells me the same, but the Sun is not just a physical event but a mystical one. We could fly into the heart of the inferno and be burned, and be no closer to whatever is inside. The only way we can face the caged thing inside is if it is released, and we don’t want that either.”
Black Adam clenched his fists. “We must find a way, Marvel! We will find a way!”
Batman pushed the plane as hard as he could, Manhunter eagerly anticipating the next move they’d make in the back of the cockpit. They needed to make it Opal City as soon as they could. He was cursing himself, he’d followed clues in completely the wrong direction, taking him to Opal City, had become distracted by trivial fight scenes with the living dead, and now needed to get back there to uncover the truth behind The Ray’s disappearance.
“This is weird,” he said quietly to himself, tapping the dash in front of him.
Dick Grayson didn’t like the idea of leaving Alfred Pennyworth alone in Gotham City. Yes, he was beneath the Manor, in the safe room, jury rigged to prevent any foreign shadow being cast, leaking in from the outside. It was a paranoid room for a paranoid person.
Thanks Bruce. Tim Drake was in Titan’s Tower. He had faith in his old team to keep his ‘little brother’ safe. Raven would know what to do, he hoped. This was her realm, wasn’t it? Emotion? Darkness? He worried, for a moment, that she may be overrun by the effects of the Black Sun, but again, he had faith in his team. And if a super-villain attacked? They were the Titans. Please, thought Dick, a smile lingering on his lips.
“This is the end of the world. Weird is an understatement, kid.” Manhunter was the passenger in the jet. The Black Sun wasn’t getting inside the plane, and sharp red light illuminated their faces.
“You’re not wrong. I’m trying to get in contact with the League, or the Titans, or anyone, but all the channels I’m trying are down. Just static. And that’s not all. I’m feeling like I can’t do this. I’m doubting myself. The psychic effect the Sun’s transmitting is getting stronger. Whatever is going to happen, it’s reaching a climax…”
“I get that too. I feel the blocks Checkmate installed crumbling. But if we’re aware that this isn’t us, that it’s something distant from ourselves… well, we hold onto that thought. We’re an half-an-hour away from Opal, and you’re pushing the plane damn hard.”
The engine, specially acquired from Wayne R&D, fell silent. “Oh.”
“Oh what?” Manhunter said.
Dick laughed awkwardly. “Oh, the engines just cut out. Oh, we’re gliding. Oh, soon we’ll be dead weight. Oh, hold on, I’m going to eject the pod and get us to safety.” Dick grit his teeth. “I can feel the adrenaline pumping. Hold on tight, Manhunter, this ride is about to get interesting.”
“Define int--”
“You need… Diana… beautiful… beautiful Diana… you need to leave. You need to get everyone out… and you need… to run. Hide. Protect and serve and…” Superman coughed, and little snippets of light seemed to float up off his body. “I can’t think, Diana. I can’t focus. My skin ignites on--” He staggered back, each footstep causing a miniature burst of energy to be released on impact. “And I can’t get to the Fortress fast enough. Go.”
<Telepathic link active. You heard Kal, get Metropolis evacuated. Barry?>
Barry Allen closed his eyes. He cleared his mind. He breathed in slowly. And after all that was done, he went to work. The Justice League were statues around him. Only Wonder Woman’s head seemed to shift as he bolted backwards and forwards through Metropolis, through Suicide Slum, through Krypton Square, through the buildings and the skyscrapers and the underground tunnels. He discovered nooks and crannies he’d never thought to discover before, and he kept moving. Villains landed in corn fields miles away, as soon as Barry had got the rest of the civilians out. Families stayed together, they found themselves on the other side of the bay, far away from the potential blast area, protected by Green Lantern, who was thinking hard, violent thoughts, evident by the constructs forming rapidly and dispersing the shadows. And then, when he was done, Metropolis was a ghost town, and Superman was gasping for breath. Wonder Woman looked at the team as they battled the tangible ghosts, Kid Eternity back to back with Manitou Dawn, her using the True Ax to disperse the monsters that emerged from beyond time, him summoning heroes with a whisper of ‘Eternity’. Up above, Hawkman collided once more with Zauriel (J’onn could hear nothing but static from Hawkman’s mind). Hawkgirl was being tended to by the Question, who, when not checking on Kendra’s condition, was busy improvising attacks on the swarming villains, just as Jason Todd did, whilst glancing up to the dark sky where the two winged combatants battled and The Flash was catching his breath, dodging the shadows as they leapt up from his feet. <League… abandon Metropolis. Keep telepathic link up, regroup in an hour. You know what to do.>
No words needed to be said. The team vanished. The Flash took the non-fliers out, and Hal looked up to Hawkman and Zauriel, who were soaring higher and higher, until they were out of sight. The Martian Manhunter looked to Wonder Woman, who nodded, and then the team dispersed, leaving Diana and Clark alone in Metropolis, a veritable ghost town. “Kal-- Clark--”
“Fly, Diana,” whispered Superman, “Save the world.”
Wonder Woman swallowed hard, and watched as Superman smiled, and gave her that look that told her everything was going to be ok. With that look, she nodded, and vanished, leaving, now, Superman alone. He looked at his hands, and rubbed thumb and fore finger together, and watched the sparks. He wished he had time to write a eulogy. His will. But there was no time. He cried out as something occurred inside his body. A chain reaction began. The pain vibrated up his body, but he didn’t care. He began to laugh. He always expected to die fighting Lex. Or saving the world. Heroic thoughts? Probably not. But that’s the direction his life was headed in. So he laughed, and as his skin began to glow, and the pain grew to such a degree that it hurt to laugh he continued laughing.
And then Superman exploded.
From their vantage point miles out from the blast, Wonder Woman and the rest of the Justice League stood staring at Metropolis as the white, explosive flash of Superman’s death shot out, sending the buildings of the City of Tomorrow tumbling down. There was no sound, only the destructive sight of every building in Metropolis toppling, heading toward the floor as the energy released by Superman’s death continued to be released. The Justice League were within their own bubble whilst the millions of now-homeless residents of Metropolis were inside another. In the emerald shields thought up by Green Lantern the citizens of the city watched as their homes were scrubbed out from existence, Perry White said nothing as the Daily Planet toppled, Jimmy Olsen’s wrist itched where his signal watch was strapped, and Lois Lane felt tears stream down her face as Superman died, the love of her life gone without her having the chance to say ‘I love you’.
“We lost,” whispered Wonder Woman.
The Flash said nothing. Instead he turned around, a sound like rolling thunder growing louder and louder. “What is…” a thunderous stampeded was fast approaching, not from Metropolis, but from behind him, and he was the only one who could hear it-- “Can anybody else here that?!”
The sound of Metropolis falling finally hit, and Hal thought about a shield that would turn that maelstrom of sound into silence, and did so. He turned to Barry Allen, “What… what did you say?”
The Flash was vibrating. His body was sparking with electricity. “H-Hal!” Barry Allen was fading from existence as his body shimmered faster and faster like an overexposed photograph. “H-Help me!”
Green Lantern reached out to his friend but was too slow, suddenly The Flash vanished in another explosion of light, staggering the Justice League as they turned to the trouble forming among their ranks. Wonder Woman’s head snapped around to Green Lantern, who was on his knees, clutching his ring. “He’s gone! He’s gone and my ring can’t-- It doesn’t know where he’s gone! We’ve lost Barry and we’ve lost Clark! Katar… what the Hell is happening?!”
Wonder Woman went to put her hand on Green Lantern’s shoulder when something in the sky caught her eye. The thing she’d fought so hard against. “Oh, no. Not now…”
The Black Sun split in the middle, and the sky bled. Obsidian skies were stained red, the color bleeding out from the split in the sun. After the split, and the heartbreaking sound of a star cracking open echoed out unimaginably across the world, the strangest thing happened. Fingers pressed at the edges of the sun, long, thin fingers with black, cracked talons attached to the end of each tip, and these fingers pushed and they pushed and they pushed and the Black Sun exploded in screaming darkness, the stars blotted out by the explosion that echoed backwards through time, twisting each dying star that’s light reached us so far after death into a twisted copy of the original Black Sun. The fingers flexed, and then from inside the void that was the Black Sun, something began to climb out. Something horrible, ugly, something that could smell the decay upon the world and was feasting upon it even now. Something that had been drawn to the world by the death of it’s spirit, and something that would now consume it’s soul, and bleed this reality try until that something would have to reach up through another layer of creation and start this cycle anew.
From before creation, from before time itself, I have existed. Battling Star-Gods across the tapestry of the universe itself, I existed. It spoke into the minds of every single man, woman and child on the planet. The world fell silent. The minions of the beast paused, grinning, their mouths lapping with salivation at the thought of what was going to come next. I existed. I never lived. I was. And now I am. I rose up from the under-reality, piercing creation after creation as it they were layered down with the sole purpose to stop me from arriving. But now I am here. And I will consume all your souls. I will use you to power my return home. Earth… I am Nekron. Do not pray for your Gods. I have killed them. Just as I will kill you.
Green Lantern thought hard. He thought about the sound of rocket engines that never failed to make him smile, and the fastest jets he had ever flown and then his thoughts became solid and real as an amalgamation of those thoughts shone emerald bright. He knew that Superman had to get to safety, he knew that the Fortress of Solitude was a safe haven, prepared beforehand to protect him from the dark sunlight. His willpower reached out to wrap up the Man of Steel and send him to safety - - but as soon as the construct touched Superman’s flesh, sparks erupted from his skin and the feedback sent Hal Jordan flying back--
“I… I can’t… I can’t touch him!” Green Lantern looked up at Superman, whose shoulder was smoldering, “Superman! Fly! Fly!!”
The Last Son of Krypton managed to reach the centre of Metropolis before he lost his ability to fly. He hurtled toward the floor and collided with the concrete, his invulnerability holding, but for how long? He pulled himself up and began to trudge forward. He needed to get out of the city, he needed to escape the death trap that his body had become, and he had less than eight minutes to do it!
Fight, Superman! Fight!
Superspeed was with him until Centennial Park. He fell within seconds, tumbling to the ground and landing so hard the concrete shattered. Superman pulled himself back up, staggered forward, his legs suddenly nothing but dead weight, and fell face first into the grass. Then he saw it. His super-vision flashed on and off uncontrollably, but he concentrated, regained control, his powers haywire. Shadows didn’t make sense. Darkness twisted and bit and chewed at the light in the city of Metropolis. Reality didn’t make sense. At that moment, he realized that it was the Black Sun. It was affecting the world. It was biting at existence like a rabid dog. Shadows came to life. They reached up to their owners and clawed at ankles, at legs. What could he do? What could he do?
He could fight.
And so he did.
Fight, Superman! Fight!
* * *
[/b]Raven span around as Tara Markov began to choke. “Tara? No… this cannot be right…” She rushed over to her young team-mate, who was convulsing violently. “Victor! Something is wrong with Tara!”
Cyborg hurried over to the two young heroes, and scanned the elemental with his sensors. “Her body is going into overdrive! Her heart rate is off the charts and…”
Tara grabbed Vic’s arm, and clutched it tightly, her fingers damp from sweat, nearly slipping off the smooth chrome surface of his limb. “I… I can’t feel… anything… Tin… Man…”
Victor forced a smile, even as he was carrying the blonde toward an elevator. “We’ll get you to the medi-beds, don’t worry Tara, we’ll fix this…”
“The world… something is wrong… the world… is numb and I… I…” She blacked out, and Raven followed Cyborg into the elevator that would lead them below the island, and into the medical centre.
“I felt a great darkness overcome her, Victor, and the world…” She clutched her head, “Oh, my lord, it isn’t just her… the entire planet… I can feel their pain… it… it hurts!” She toppled forward, and Cyborg caught her, cradling her in his spare arm.
Victor Stone connected with Titans Tower’s communication system remotely, the connection between him and the mainframe holding true, and put out the call: <Titans Emergency!>
* * *
[/b]Wonder Woman watched as the Black Sun materialized outside. She felt the urge to run and find Donna Troy, to hug her as the world ended. But why did she think that? The world wasn’t ending, was it? “No.”
Martian Manhunter was the first person to bring it to her attention. He was weak from his exposure to the immensity behind the Black Sun, the… entity that had touched Swamp Thing’s consciousness and drove him to insanity. “Psychic chaff! It’s sending out psychic chaff, attacking our insecurities! I’m installing mental firewalls, brace your thoughts--” It was like something shunted inside the Justice League’s heads.
“Godddd,” whispered Blue Beetle as he held his skull. “I can think clearly! I thought I was just tired, but that thing was in our heads! In our thoughts!”
“This is it. We have to face the wolf at our door. Something is behind the Black Sun, and we will stop them--”
“Wonder Woman!” She turned to see Kid Eternity racing around the monitor screens, followed by The Question and other members of the Justice League. “We’ve got meta-villain groups attacking major capitals across the world!”
“A distraction. But one we have to confront. Justice League reservists, you know your assignments, this is the battle we have united for! The thing we all knew was coming! You have your mission! Transport booths are online. Defend the world. We are the Justice League. And we will stop this thing.”
She wasn’t expecting the cheers. It didn’t last long. A lingering moment of audible defiance. Fists in the air, shouts that made Diana smile for the first time in a long while. They were the Justice League. But within moments, the Hall was empty, barring a few men and women she called her teammates. Her friends. Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Kid Eternity, Manitou Dawn, Elongated Man, The Flash, the Atom, the Question, the Martian Manhunter. They were her Justice League.
“I hope I’m not late…?” Wonder Woman turned to see Aquaman. She didn’t wait for him to say another word - - instead she embraced him tightly, and he hugged her back. “I wouldn’t want to miss the end of the world.”
“Oh, you haven’t, Arthur. We wouldn’t let you.”
Green Lantern, Zauriel and the Dark Knight were next to join the heroes. Hawkman sniffed the air as Jason Todd walked in, and looked at him in disgust, and Zauriel turned to look at the Thanagarian Hawk-Knight, the two winged heroes squaring off against each other.
“Something isn’t right about you,” said Zauriel slowly.
“Get out of my face,” snapped Katar as he brought his Nth metal mace up to the angel’s mouth.
“Enough, you guys!” Green Lantern separated the two of them with an emerald shield, and turned to Wonder Woman. “Superman was exposed to Black Sun radiation. I tried to get him to the Fortress of Solitude, but his biology… it caused feedback in my ring, I can’t form a construct around him! He’s headed to the Fortress, but--”
“Well, you’re wrong there, Lantern,” The Question pointed to the computer screens on the far side of the wall. Images of heroes from all across the world, assembled into teams by the Chairperson of the Justice League, were being funneled directly to them. And in Metropolis, Superman, in visible pain, was fighting against a group of villains, their attacks bouncing off a visibly weakening Man of Steel, battling in the dim glare the Black Sun cast.
“Then we know what we must do. We save Metropolis. We save Superman… from himself.” Wonder Woman pointed to the door. “I see we have visitors with us. If you want to pitch in, you’re welcome. If not, by the Gods, get out of our way.”
Jason Todd nudged Zauriel as they rushed out of the Hall of Justice and toward Metropolis proper. “I’d follow her to Hell and back.”
“I’ll hold you to that,” said the angel.
* * *
[/b]“Worship him! Worship him!” Mammoth had never been this strong before. Giant fists rained down blows, from one side by the member of the Fatal Five, and from another at the hands of the Gotham based Blockbuster. The mantra was rattled into Superman’s skull, punch after punch, “worship him! He’s coming!”
“I’m… sorry…” he whispered, before exhaling as hard as he could, knocking back the villains. He still had his strength, his invulnerability, and his lungs still held enough air to freeze with a whistle, and his eyes, blazing red as he battled the tide of villains, still could burn when directed. He’d seen this fanaticism before, before this day started, with Black Rock, the sentry of the Black Sun. “…so sorry.” He glanced up to the sky, and saw the Sun he called friend being near consumed by this dark abomination. He’d faced Sun-Eaters. He’d befriended one, in fact, instead of battling it, and he sent it on its way, to prevent it from destroying the Solar System in its hunger pangs. Memories flicked into the forefront of his mind, like tear drops reflecting sun light.
“…Ccconcentrate…”
He unleashed heat vision upon another onslaught of villains, melting the barrels of the Gatling-gun Bloodsport levelled, and rendering him weaponless. He fought and he fought, but more villains attacked. And then something strange happened… out of the obsidian glare of the Black Sun, things began to rise up from the ground… tangible shadows reached at his limbs, groping and growling for blood. He thought to fly, but remembered his predicament… he was fighting on three fronts, the villains, now the shadows, and his Kryptonian physiology itself!
Heat vision. Scouring the ground, the shadows receded, but how could battle the intangible? He thought to fly and consult Obsidian, son of the Golden Age Green Lantern but he couldn’t fly, he knew that; and he knew he was battling them right now, at this moment… why couldn’t he focus? His skin tingled. His skin tingled and… where was his father? Jor-El was dead.
“…Oh…”
He remembered that. How could he forget, he had never met him, after all, it was an intrinsic part of… Jonathan Kent. Buried. Dead. Not in that or…
“…Stop THINKING!”
He continued his efforts. Batting Killer Frost off his back at she dug her fingers into his weakening hide, what little solar charge left withering out of him and strengthening her… she laughed, hard and cold. “Give me some of your love, Superman! And he’ll love yoooou!”
His skin tingled. He exhaled again, a block of ice containing the ice maiden, sapping the heat from inside her. “Nnno.”
Parasite charged toward him, his purple skin tinged black as veins bulged out from his body, the scar tissue that was his flesh pulsing and throbbing. His hands were raised, black globules of energy being sucked toward his palms. He was about to clasp those deadly hands around Superman’s throat when an emerald straightjacket whipped around him, and sent him flying up into the air. Green Lantern disengaged the construct so the Parasite wouldn’t absorb any ambient energy, and then batted him into the bay.
“Superman! You need to get out of here!” Hal landed in front of Clark, and thought up a shield that could protect the Man of Steel from the rays of this new sun. “We’ll handle this!”
“Metropolis is in danger!” Green Lantern. Two of them, wasn’t there? Three. Hal and… and… the new one. The new one. He had a name. And Alan! Alan Scott. “Alan, you have to go, I’ll handle this.”
“Alan? Clark,” hissed Green Lantern, “it’s me, Hal. You need to snap out of this.”
Wonder Woman and the Martian Manhunter landed next, whilst the rest of the League battled the shifting from tangible to intangible shadows and the frenzied villains that were emerging from all around. It was strange, as the sky darkened, and the people of the world cried out in anguish, their thoughts picked at by the psychic static the Black Sun created, to watch Superman, sweat seeping through his pours. “J’onn, install the mental firewalls inside his mind, he’s--”
“It’s the Black Sun radiation, I already have done so, but the radiation has already affected his brain! There are psychological effects we didn’t expect!”
Diana grabbed Clark by the face. “Kal! KAL! You need to listen to us! You need to get out of here before--” Her hands jerked off from his flesh, a spark of energy igniting beneath her touch. He looked at her, to his shoulder, and then back at her. “Oh, Hera, it’s begun.”
“I’m going to explode,” whispered Superman, that crystal thought perfect in his mind.
* * *
[/b]Manhunter was in Gotham City. He was doing what he was supposed to be doing, and he was doing it well. He was hunting. He climbed down the sheer rock face, clambered down the ravine, and landed quietly in the underground stream that lead deeper into the cavern below. He was searching for Batman. He had found him.
“Batman. Nightwing. Whatever you’re calling yourself…” He stepped out of the darkness and onto a metal platform, to see Dick Grayson being stitched together by Alfred Pennyworth, the Caped Crusader’s shoulder a purple mess of a stab wound. “…You need better security.”
Dick didn’t look at him. “We knew you were here as soon as your hand found the hole in the ground. Kord non-patent motion sensors. I deactivated the defenses, Kirk. I’m not an idiot.” He grunted as Alfred continued to stitch the wound up. “Why are you here?”
“Have you been paying attention to the world outside? There’s a Black Sun in the sky, the city is going crazy. And the Ray is missing.”
Dick’s neck snapped round at that name. “What do you know about the Ray?”
“Justice Society of America. Young All-Stars. And now he’s missing. Checkmate sees all. I have a hunch, a gut-hunch, not founded on nothin’ but a feeling, that he has something to do with this. Villains are talking about a Great Darkness, a kind of evil that comes at you sideways through the fringes of your consciousness.” Paul tapped his head. “Psych-Ops installed some buffers in my head, but I’m still feeling the weight. How are you holding up?”
“A psychic assault? That’s what it was?” Dick shook his head. “I thought… I was just remembering too much. Bruce… my parents… every single mistake I made as Robin, as Nightwing, as Batman.” Alfred tied off the stitch and inspected his handiwork. “I locked it away in a box. I know how to handle darkness, Paul. I’m not Bruce, but I know how to handle darkness.”
“Right on, kid. You’re strong. How about you, Mr Pennyworth, how are you holding up?”
Alfred arched an eyebrow. “I am a former member of Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Mister Kirk. I do not like to complain.”
“We can resist this,” stated the Manhunter. “If we’re strong enough. If we have the willpower. Hell, I’m sure all you Justice Titans of Las Vegas can muster up the willpower and wanting to not succumb to the darkness festering on the edges of your heads. But those people out there? In the cities? Hell, they’re going to be feeling pretty damn dark right now. And it’s only going to get worse. The Ray was taken down for a reason. We need to know why.”
“I tracked down some leads in Opal City.” Dick motioned to the computer screen in front of them. “The Circle was a religious group that worshipped something that would rise from beneath the world and grant them the freedom and pureness of a ‘true identity’. Did you see the Clark Kent interview on WE? Taking the head of the group to task over allegations of abuse?”
“Yeah, Checkmate has been keeping their eye on that game for a long time. Big ties to the super villain community but nothing tangible, only the word of the Rogues themselves, which doesn’t stand for anything nowadays. I remember way back when there was respect between the two sides. Not anymore.”
“Well they killed themselves. All of them dead but one. And he… was possessed by something. Wonder Woman and Superman thought it was whatever is inside the Black Sun talking through him.”
“Inside?”
“I think the Black Sun is a cage, Manhunter.” Dick pulled on his shirt, cringing as he moved his arm. “Something wants to get out.” He pulled on the cowl. “And I think the Ray is the key.”
“Then let’s get to work.” Manhunter looked around. “Checkmate satellites have retroactively traced the Ray’s footsteps. His last known location was in Opal. So I suggest we hop on a plane and get there ASAP, before this situation gets worse than it already has done.”
“I have just the plane for the task at hand, but if you give me a moment--” Dick Grayson hurried into the recesses of the Cave, leaving Alfred Pennyworth and Paul Kirk alone.
“Long time, no see, Pennyworth,” said Paul Kirk slowly.
Alfred nodded slowly. “That it is, Paul. Shame it couldn’t be under--”
“Alright, ready,” said Dick, as he took a small, box-like device and strapped it to his utility belt.
“What’s that?” inquired Kirk.
“Something Bruce acquired a few years back. I’ve had it plugged into the main computers for months, any information that Checkmate, the DEO, the DMA, FBI, whoever, any information that they have is downloaded into this. Including the satellite footage that I assume tracked the Ray to Opal City.”
“Pretty small hard drive, you sure it’s doing what you say it’s doing?”
Dick Grayson smiled. “Trust me, the guys who made this? They thought big. Let’s fly.”
* * *
[/b]Hank Henshaw was running on adrenaline. Constructs flash-formed and then vanished, discarded when unnecessary. Flashes of emerald light burst into sheer brilliance, and moments later faded, the shadows fighting back against whatever action the team he was fighting side by side took against them. He was Green Lantern 2814.2. He was fighting.
< Warning, psychological invasion detected>
He could feel it, too. The ‘psychological invasion’. He wondered how Hal was coping. Probably fine. He resisted. His willpower ready and poised like a weapon. His ring isolated the emotions the Black Sun was throwing his way. Doubt. Anger. Fear. He laughed as his constructs continued to form. Fear? Thrown at a Green Lantern. “Do your freaking research, you sonofabitch! I’m a Green Lantern! Member of the Honour Guard! You’re nothing but a solar event! I can still kick your ass!”
SSsssssSSssrrrrRRRrrttttTT!
“Freeeeee!” A claw tore through reality from nowhere, and reached toward Hank Henshaw, razor sharp talons scraping emerald sparks across his aura. “My master frees me in his presence!” It was pulling itself into existence, and Hank thought of all kinds of things to send it packing. A green battering ram slammed into it’s scaly chest as it pulled itself forward even more, and with that action it vanished for a moment, the rift in reality vanishing.
“Ring!” shouted Hank. “Send all information just picked up directly to Lantern 2814.1! Sound the alarm! Reality incursion!”
< Transmitted.>
And then the sky went black. And more claws tore through reality and Hank Henshaw readied himself and his ring. He wasn’t going to die today.
* * *
[/b]Mera was safe, thought Aquaman, she must be. He had sent his people deep beneath the ocean, to the hidden world below the seabed, and knew they’d be safe there. He hoped… he prayed… he grunted as he stabbed at the shadows with his trident, dispersing their bodies with a howl of defiance. He knew he couldn’t be sure. But Garth was protector of the Atlantean people in his absence, and Orm wouldn’t allow any harm to befall his people, he knew that. So he continued to fight on the streets of Metropolis, well aware that this was a world that no longer fully trusted him, but not caring. He’d do what was right. That’s all that could be asked of any member of the team he’d helped form…
* * *
[/b]Hal Jordan’s ring spat information into his mind, the voice of Abin Sur telling him all kinds of things he didn’t really want to know. “Aww, crap, Diana, we’ve got a problem!” The streets of Metropolis were a mess as the sky went black and the darkness seemed to scream in rage. Green Lantern thought the information directly as the Martian Manhunter, and the Martian Manhunter transmitted it to Wonder Woman, who blinked once, and looked to Green Lantern. “Same as what happened to Hawkman underneath Miskatonic University! We’ve got things from beyond the universe popping out in all major cities! Avatars of the Black Sun!”
“We need mystics, we need--”
The Martian Manhunter let loose a low cry, and clutched his head. “They… they are coming through where reality is a scab, Wonder Woman… where the walls between reality and unreality are weak… I’m getting thoughts from across the world… so much… fear…”
Hawkman looked at the others, and could see nothing but death. His vision was blurred, his flying erratic. Zauriel looked to him, and could tell something was wrong. He sniffed the air. Even in the dark (an Angel’s eyes adapted for any climate or environment) he could smell and see something was wrong. Katar growled, swung his mace wildly, but none of the shadows touched him. He cried and he screamed and Hawkgirl took notice, and reached out to help him, but Zauriel moved faster than she could. He slammed into Hawkman, and brought his flaming sword to the Thanagarian’s throat. “Infected by the darkness! Touched by one of the Old Ones, from before Creation itself! He’s tainted!”
“GET OFF ME!” growled Hawkman, spittle leaving his lips. “NOW!!” he punched Zauriel in the face, and sent the angel flying backwards, hitting a building and flying through the concrete like it was balsa wood. The Thanagarian looked at his hands, white flesh and black veins pumping unnatural blood through him, and clenched his fist. “No. No. Gggghhh.”
He remembered. He remembered fighting beneath Miskatonic University. He remembered everything. The thing that should not be, reaching through reality, a thick, black tentacle reaching toward his face, touching him, and whispering… ‘You’re mine…’ and the thoughts haunting him ever since, images of death, of murder and pain and the future… what will come if the League fail. And as the darkness consumed him, he didn’t give a damn about it.
“Katar? What’s wrong? Why did you--” Kendra saw Katar’s flesh. And his smile. And his hands tensing around his weapons. “Zauriel was right.” And she pulled her scimitar from her back and lunged at him, striking his Nth metal mace and causing sparks to fly in her face. “Fight it, Katar.”
“Katar isn’t here anymore. I am though.” He laughed, and headbutted her, his helmet coming off on impact, dazing her and revealing his face to the League. He was grinning, just as the man in Opal City had been after his possession. His veins pulsed beneath his pale, almost transparent flesh, and his eyes were now pitch black. “Who wants to SUFFER?”
Zauriel pulled himself forward from where he had been thrown, and ignited his sword. “I do.” And he launched himself at his opponent. The two men clashed, and then Hawkman grabbed Zauriel by the face, squeezing tight. "hhggh"
"Zauriel, my old friend, do you remember my voice? Do you remember your role in this?" Hawkman grinned. "Do you remember??"
Zauriel gagged, and then thrust his arms up, dislodging Hawkman's grip, "By The Source... it's not possible--! It's not possible--!!"
"Oh, it is," hissed Hawkman, the demonic voice shrieking out from his mouth smashing against Zauriel's consciousness, "so wholly, beautifully, poignantly possible!"
* * *
[/b]“Oh, this isn’t good, this isn’t good at all,” whispered Ira Quimby as, one-by-one, the screens in his hub of Injustice, Unlimited communications went blank. I.Q. was surrounded by the most high-tech computer software on the market and off, cargo cult Thanagarian hard-drives and Kryptonian crystal technology, and if his equipment started going offline? “Clock King! Get in here!” Clock King stumbled into the room in an instant, also aware of the failing technology all around them. “What’s happening, Ira?”
“I have no idea! Communication systems are going down across the world, and my systems are following suit! I was half way through updating my protection software and the whole world is going to crap!”
“Isn’t there some way you can stay connected?”
“Temple, come on man, if I had a way wouldn’t I use it? Connections are going down and being replaced with pure static! I’m not going to be insane and say the Internet is down, but… but… wait a minute, pick up the phone!”
Clock King looked at the landline and picked up the receiver. “Nothing. Static. That doesn’t make any sense at all…”
“Don’t you see?” Ira picked up his cell phone and dialled the first number he thought of. Static. “Not even dead air, not even ‘the number you have dialled has not been recognised’, none of that, just static! This isn’t the technology going wrong, this is something else entirely! This doesn’t make any sense to me! And that… that…”
“We’ll figure it out,” said Clock King, “We’ve got that Mind-Eater guy in the building… we can get every single genius on our side working on the problem on a telepathic level, nothing can stop us when we put our heads together. World-wide communications are going haywire? So let’s make a new communications network. This is what Injustice, Unlimited is here for, Ira. Let’s get to work…”
* * *
[/b]Fawcett City’s heroes battled just as hard as those of Metropolis, of Gotham, of Las Vegas and New York. The world was in turmoil, the heroes bandied together, and the villains not infected by the darkness? Theirs was a story for another time.
“They keep coming!” said Mary Marvel, dismantling Shrapnel with an abandoned car, sending the explosive metal villain flying in every direction possible.
Ibis weaved a spell that caused all the air around the shadows to illuminate, dispersing them, and froze Komodo in place with another spell, smiling all the while. “You’re not wrong, Mary, but we do what we must… we keep fighting!”
“Who said I was going to stop,” replied the young heroine, with a smile of her own.
Mary Marvel was beside Ibis in battling the hordes, whilst Captain Marvel and Black Adam battled back to back, surprising all those that looked upon them. But theirs was a mission of more import than good versus evil, theirs was to stem the tide of the malevolent evil that was sweeping over the world, and right now… they were failing.
“I’m not here for you, Billy!” Black Adam looked around as the sky continued to darken, “I’m here for my beloved, and if you don’t--”
“No.” Captain Marvel grabbed his companion by the shoulders. “Listen to your gods, Teth. Listen hard. Listen past the whispers from the Black Sun and focus on why you’re here. You and I both know that sometimes you let your anger cloud those whom empower you.”
“I…” Black Adam hesitated. “Hh. You’re right, Batson. I fear I am more susceptible to this darkness than thought previous… the wisdom of Zehuti tells me that we need to face not the Sun, but what lies inside it. And the courage of Mehen… it steels me against the psychological attack. I am ready.”
“That won’t be as simple as it sounds, Teth,” replied Captain Marvel, “my wisdom tells me the same, but the Sun is not just a physical event but a mystical one. We could fly into the heart of the inferno and be burned, and be no closer to whatever is inside. The only way we can face the caged thing inside is if it is released, and we don’t want that either.”
Black Adam clenched his fists. “We must find a way, Marvel! We will find a way!”
* * *
[/b]Batman pushed the plane as hard as he could, Manhunter eagerly anticipating the next move they’d make in the back of the cockpit. They needed to make it Opal City as soon as they could. He was cursing himself, he’d followed clues in completely the wrong direction, taking him to Opal City, had become distracted by trivial fight scenes with the living dead, and now needed to get back there to uncover the truth behind The Ray’s disappearance.
“This is weird,” he said quietly to himself, tapping the dash in front of him.
Dick Grayson didn’t like the idea of leaving Alfred Pennyworth alone in Gotham City. Yes, he was beneath the Manor, in the safe room, jury rigged to prevent any foreign shadow being cast, leaking in from the outside. It was a paranoid room for a paranoid person.
Thanks Bruce. Tim Drake was in Titan’s Tower. He had faith in his old team to keep his ‘little brother’ safe. Raven would know what to do, he hoped. This was her realm, wasn’t it? Emotion? Darkness? He worried, for a moment, that she may be overrun by the effects of the Black Sun, but again, he had faith in his team. And if a super-villain attacked? They were the Titans. Please, thought Dick, a smile lingering on his lips.
“This is the end of the world. Weird is an understatement, kid.” Manhunter was the passenger in the jet. The Black Sun wasn’t getting inside the plane, and sharp red light illuminated their faces.
“You’re not wrong. I’m trying to get in contact with the League, or the Titans, or anyone, but all the channels I’m trying are down. Just static. And that’s not all. I’m feeling like I can’t do this. I’m doubting myself. The psychic effect the Sun’s transmitting is getting stronger. Whatever is going to happen, it’s reaching a climax…”
“I get that too. I feel the blocks Checkmate installed crumbling. But if we’re aware that this isn’t us, that it’s something distant from ourselves… well, we hold onto that thought. We’re an half-an-hour away from Opal, and you’re pushing the plane damn hard.”
The engine, specially acquired from Wayne R&D, fell silent. “Oh.”
“Oh what?” Manhunter said.
Dick laughed awkwardly. “Oh, the engines just cut out. Oh, we’re gliding. Oh, soon we’ll be dead weight. Oh, hold on, I’m going to eject the pod and get us to safety.” Dick grit his teeth. “I can feel the adrenaline pumping. Hold on tight, Manhunter, this ride is about to get interesting.”
“Define int--”
* * *
[/b]“You need… Diana… beautiful… beautiful Diana… you need to leave. You need to get everyone out… and you need… to run. Hide. Protect and serve and…” Superman coughed, and little snippets of light seemed to float up off his body. “I can’t think, Diana. I can’t focus. My skin ignites on--” He staggered back, each footstep causing a miniature burst of energy to be released on impact. “And I can’t get to the Fortress fast enough. Go.”
<Telepathic link active. You heard Kal, get Metropolis evacuated. Barry?>
Barry Allen closed his eyes. He cleared his mind. He breathed in slowly. And after all that was done, he went to work. The Justice League were statues around him. Only Wonder Woman’s head seemed to shift as he bolted backwards and forwards through Metropolis, through Suicide Slum, through Krypton Square, through the buildings and the skyscrapers and the underground tunnels. He discovered nooks and crannies he’d never thought to discover before, and he kept moving. Villains landed in corn fields miles away, as soon as Barry had got the rest of the civilians out. Families stayed together, they found themselves on the other side of the bay, far away from the potential blast area, protected by Green Lantern, who was thinking hard, violent thoughts, evident by the constructs forming rapidly and dispersing the shadows. And then, when he was done, Metropolis was a ghost town, and Superman was gasping for breath. Wonder Woman looked at the team as they battled the tangible ghosts, Kid Eternity back to back with Manitou Dawn, her using the True Ax to disperse the monsters that emerged from beyond time, him summoning heroes with a whisper of ‘Eternity’. Up above, Hawkman collided once more with Zauriel (J’onn could hear nothing but static from Hawkman’s mind). Hawkgirl was being tended to by the Question, who, when not checking on Kendra’s condition, was busy improvising attacks on the swarming villains, just as Jason Todd did, whilst glancing up to the dark sky where the two winged combatants battled and The Flash was catching his breath, dodging the shadows as they leapt up from his feet. <League… abandon Metropolis. Keep telepathic link up, regroup in an hour. You know what to do.>
No words needed to be said. The team vanished. The Flash took the non-fliers out, and Hal looked up to Hawkman and Zauriel, who were soaring higher and higher, until they were out of sight. The Martian Manhunter looked to Wonder Woman, who nodded, and then the team dispersed, leaving Diana and Clark alone in Metropolis, a veritable ghost town. “Kal-- Clark--”
“Fly, Diana,” whispered Superman, “Save the world.”
Wonder Woman swallowed hard, and watched as Superman smiled, and gave her that look that told her everything was going to be ok. With that look, she nodded, and vanished, leaving, now, Superman alone. He looked at his hands, and rubbed thumb and fore finger together, and watched the sparks. He wished he had time to write a eulogy. His will. But there was no time. He cried out as something occurred inside his body. A chain reaction began. The pain vibrated up his body, but he didn’t care. He began to laugh. He always expected to die fighting Lex. Or saving the world. Heroic thoughts? Probably not. But that’s the direction his life was headed in. So he laughed, and as his skin began to glow, and the pain grew to such a degree that it hurt to laugh he continued laughing.
And then Superman exploded.
From their vantage point miles out from the blast, Wonder Woman and the rest of the Justice League stood staring at Metropolis as the white, explosive flash of Superman’s death shot out, sending the buildings of the City of Tomorrow tumbling down. There was no sound, only the destructive sight of every building in Metropolis toppling, heading toward the floor as the energy released by Superman’s death continued to be released. The Justice League were within their own bubble whilst the millions of now-homeless residents of Metropolis were inside another. In the emerald shields thought up by Green Lantern the citizens of the city watched as their homes were scrubbed out from existence, Perry White said nothing as the Daily Planet toppled, Jimmy Olsen’s wrist itched where his signal watch was strapped, and Lois Lane felt tears stream down her face as Superman died, the love of her life gone without her having the chance to say ‘I love you’.
“We lost,” whispered Wonder Woman.
The Flash said nothing. Instead he turned around, a sound like rolling thunder growing louder and louder. “What is…” a thunderous stampeded was fast approaching, not from Metropolis, but from behind him, and he was the only one who could hear it-- “Can anybody else here that?!”
The sound of Metropolis falling finally hit, and Hal thought about a shield that would turn that maelstrom of sound into silence, and did so. He turned to Barry Allen, “What… what did you say?”
The Flash was vibrating. His body was sparking with electricity. “H-Hal!” Barry Allen was fading from existence as his body shimmered faster and faster like an overexposed photograph. “H-Help me!”
Green Lantern reached out to his friend but was too slow, suddenly The Flash vanished in another explosion of light, staggering the Justice League as they turned to the trouble forming among their ranks. Wonder Woman’s head snapped around to Green Lantern, who was on his knees, clutching his ring. “He’s gone! He’s gone and my ring can’t-- It doesn’t know where he’s gone! We’ve lost Barry and we’ve lost Clark! Katar… what the Hell is happening?!”
Wonder Woman went to put her hand on Green Lantern’s shoulder when something in the sky caught her eye. The thing she’d fought so hard against. “Oh, no. Not now…”
The Black Sun split in the middle, and the sky bled. Obsidian skies were stained red, the color bleeding out from the split in the sun. After the split, and the heartbreaking sound of a star cracking open echoed out unimaginably across the world, the strangest thing happened. Fingers pressed at the edges of the sun, long, thin fingers with black, cracked talons attached to the end of each tip, and these fingers pushed and they pushed and they pushed and the Black Sun exploded in screaming darkness, the stars blotted out by the explosion that echoed backwards through time, twisting each dying star that’s light reached us so far after death into a twisted copy of the original Black Sun. The fingers flexed, and then from inside the void that was the Black Sun, something began to climb out. Something horrible, ugly, something that could smell the decay upon the world and was feasting upon it even now. Something that had been drawn to the world by the death of it’s spirit, and something that would now consume it’s soul, and bleed this reality try until that something would have to reach up through another layer of creation and start this cycle anew.
From before creation, from before time itself, I have existed. Battling Star-Gods across the tapestry of the universe itself, I existed. It spoke into the minds of every single man, woman and child on the planet. The world fell silent. The minions of the beast paused, grinning, their mouths lapping with salivation at the thought of what was going to come next. I existed. I never lived. I was. And now I am. I rose up from the under-reality, piercing creation after creation as it they were layered down with the sole purpose to stop me from arriving. But now I am here. And I will consume all your souls. I will use you to power my return home. Earth… I am Nekron. Do not pray for your Gods. I have killed them. Just as I will kill you.
