Post by David on Oct 6, 2009 18:44:44 GMT -5
In the skies above the United Nations Plaza, Hawkman battled an increasingly maddened Captain Marvel.
“You never should have come back, old man,” snarled the World’s Mightiest Mortal, whirling in midair as Hawkman wheeled away from a crushing blow. The former chairman of the JSA swung his mace backhanded, connecting with current chairman’s face--- but it was the pitted iron ball of the ancient weapon that shattered. Captain Marvel laughed, brushing flecks of metal from his cape. “Your day is done. The JSA is mine. And this world belongs to my master! If you get down on your knees right now and swear fealty to the Rock of Eternity, you can sit on my right hand. If you continue to oppose me, then I will put you down.”
Dropping the haft of his broken mace, Hawkman took from his weapon-studded harness a spiked ball on a long chain: a morning star.
“I don’t know what’s gotten into you, Cap, but there’s no way any of that is going to happen. I’ll die before I let you hurt an innocent.”
“I was hoping you’d say that.”
With the speed of Mercury, Captain Marvel flew at Hawkman, leading with both fists. It was too fast for any mortal to dodge, but Hawkman wasn’t just any mortal: with reflexes honed by decades of exposure to Thanagarian Nth Metal, he twisted upward, corkscrewing around Cap like a matador goading a bull and lashed out with his morning star, the chain whipping around Cap’s neck! Far from bringing him up short, the force of Cap’s velocity yanked Hawkman after him, dragging the Winged Avenger behind him as he cut through the air.
Hawkman looped the chain around both fists and flung wide his wings, attempting to slow them down. But Cap was wild, both hands on the chain around his neck that was strangling him, veering erratically across the sky.
“Yeild!” Hawkman yelled into the rushing wind, trying to rein-in his former friend like a stallion. “I know this isn’t you, Cap! I can help! Just end this insane---.”
The Secretariat Building of the U.N. reared up before them. Hawkman pulled up on the chains with all of his might, his every muscle straining, trying desperately to maneuver the out-of-control Captain Marvel. But it was too little, too late: they smashed into the side of the building in an explosion of steel and glass…
Inside the Rock of Eternity, Black Shazam swept away from the Historama where he’d been reviewing the history of Earth-One and stalked towards the grotesque statues of the Seven Deadly Enemies of Man.
“I see you have been well at work on this world,” the wizard hissed, raking them with sharp, beady eyes. “Well, you can’t have it! It will be mine!”
It seemed as if the carved stone representations were jeering him. He could hear their gibbering laughter in his head, whispering of evil deeds. Light from the glowing braziers caused shadows to dance across the surface of the stone, making the Enemies look as if they were moving. They leered down at the wizard in perpetual smugness, infuriating him.
<They’ve won,> a hollow, wracked voice intruded on the wizard’s contemplation. Black Shazam whirled to face his almost-forgotten prisoner, Doctor Fate, chained by his wrists behind the throne and slumped to his knees. Red-skinned imps cavorted around the sorcerer, poking and prodding him with hot and sharp irons. But intense eyes burned through the Helm of Nabu, fixed on Black Shazam. <You spent millennia hunting them, opposing them. You have been their jailer--- for they cannot be destroyed!--- and they have been your constant companions for so long now. In conquering them, they have at last overcome you. How long have they poisoned your dreams, warped your thoughts…?>
The wizard scattered the imps with a snarl and menacing wave of his gnarled hand, rushing up to Dr. Fate as if to throttle him. But he stopped short, his hands like claws before him.
“What do you know of it, mageling? Have you met the spawn of Tiamat in combat, felt them gnawing on your flesh? Have you thwarted the Cabal of Ys every time they’ve risen up to subjugate the world of man? Do you know the Sacred Sigils that keep locked Doom’s Doorway or the Nine Dread Words that Garn Daanuth spoke when Atlantis sank?”
<I know corruption when it is before my eyes.>
“Then damn your eyes!”
His fury at its peak, the wizard threw up his arms, pointing his splayed, gnarled fingers at Dr. Fate. Crackling, raw power sizzled from him, enveloping the Helm of Nabu. Steam rose from the eye-slits of the golden helmet and Dr. Fate screamed, jerking against his chains. The mad wizard laughed, enjoying the torment. Behind him, the imps cavorted and chortled in glee.
“Shazam!”
The wizard missed the sound of his name, keeping the magic lightning trained on Dr. Fate. He savored every nuance of agony, every delicious scintilla of anguish… Red smoke rose like vapor trails from the eye slits of the Helm, and the voice of Jim Corrigan wailed into diminishing infinity.
“Damn it, wizard, what are you doing?”
A part of Black Shazam--- the part that was just Shazam, the guardian of the Rock, the wielder of Gods-given might--- railed inside him against this act of murder. But other voices crowded him out. Seven other voices.
Yes, slay this fool!
How dare he…?
He has no idea what you have sacrificed!
Mastery is your right!
His power should be yours…
Ours...
Take it now!
“Shazam!”
The harsh, grating voice brought him up suddenly. The magical lightning abruptly ceased, but it was too late. The figure in chains before him dissolved into so much smoke; all that remained was the Helm and an amulet resting atop a steaming gold cloak.
The wizard whirled and faced the image of his ally on the screen of the Historama. A handsome brown-haired man with graying temples wearing a green domino mask glared at him from across the Multiverse.
“You’ve obliterated him…?”
“And what of it?” Black Shazam snarled, panting from his efforts; destroying the agent of the Lords of Order had been no easy task. “He brought my Captain to me, his usefulness was at an end.”
Parallax’s scowl deepened. “That was not the arrangement. I have shown you how to bridge the realities of the Multiverse, I have even given you free rein on Earth-One to do as you please,” a distasteful expression passed over his face. “But the Justice Society was to be left to me!”
“Bah!” the wizard spat and waved his arm in a dismissive manner. “Take your revenge on the fools now in my home universe… There are enough JSAers there to feed your vengeance.”
As if seeing the futility of arguing with the mad wizard, Parallax changed the subject. “I have had a breakthrough. The Machine has returned to life! I have finally expelled the speedster who was keeping it inert. It is only a matter of hours before it is fully operational again. When that happens, you must bring the Rock of Eternity to me at the Nexus--- as a Multiversal constant, only it has the power to fuel our attack on the walls of reality.”
Black Shazam cackled and bobbed his head at the news. The Machine. An artifact of an ultimate malevolence not even he could overcome. Now it would be the instrument of his ascendance. “But say the word; the Rock is ready! The Day of Thunder is at hand…!”
“Is it true…?”
The full assemblage of the Young All-Stars burst into the Command Center of JSA HQ, and Wesley Dodds turned from the bank of monitors towards them.
“Yes,” he eyed them steadily, taking off his glasses and donning his gasmask and fedora. {We are under attack from the Rock of Eternity and Captain Marvel.}
The young heroes crowded around the wall of plasma screens where Robotman worked the controls; scenes of destruction came in from all over New York.
“But that doesn’t make any sense,” Atomika said what they were all thinking. “Why would Cap turn against us…?”
“Jeez, don’t take it so personally, Power-Puff,” Tigress rolled her eyes. “This goody-two-shows bit has got to wear on a guy eventually.”
Icicle snickered but the others glared at them.
“He’s being controlled by someone--- or something!” Hourman blurted, striking one gloved fist into an open palm; he bounced on the balls of his feet, eager to feel the rush of Miraclo and spring into action. “Either way, we have to stop him.”
{Agreed.} Sandman turned back to the monitors, pointing at one which showed them a view of United Nations Plaza--- it trembled as if a self-contained earthquake was rumbling through it. {Hawkman is there already, but he’s going to need some back-up and quick! Ray, Jade, Cyclone: go on ahead, we’ll catch up! The rest of us---}
“I’m going, too.” Northwind interjected, his chin jutting forward. “If Hawkman is in trouble---.”
He was interrupted by a distant, agonized screaming which got louder and louder by the second. Before their startled eyes, a figure materialized in their midst, a man in plain, old fashioned clothes on his knees and doubled over, the heels of his hands pressed over his eyes.
{Jim…?}
He was insubstantial, little more than shade and sentience. And when the ghost of Jim Corrigan raised his face to them, they gasped in horror: where his eyes had been were now burned out sockets which still trailed wisps of smoke.
Sandman went to his old friend, but could not help him; Jim Corrigan was once again intangible. But the action alone seemed to give the long-dead police detective some comfort. Corrigan rose to his feet.
{Jim, where are the others? What’s going on?}
“No time for a full explanation; besides, I’m not sure what happened to the others after I transported us to Earth-Two. All I know is, in that universe the manifestation of the old wizard who gave Captain Marvel his powers has gone mad, corrupted by near-omnipotent might and the Seven Deadly Enemies of Man. He’s corrupted Cap now, too, and they’ve invaded our universe, his Rock of Eternity now the dominant reality here.”
“Yeahbuhwha---?” said the Ray.
Jesse Chambers <shushed> Ray Terrill and motioned for Corrigan to continue.
“I was only able to escape by a risky gambit: I goaded Black Shazam into destroying my physical form, held together by the Artifacts of Fate. I gambled that my decades of bondage to the Spectre had made my spirit-self resilient enough to avoid ectoplasmic annihilation, and I was right.”
“Bold move,” Obsidian muttered, impressed.
“I regret only that the Artifacts are in the mad wizard’s hands. But it is no matter: I have to go back anyway,” he gave the assembled heroes around him a steadying glance from his eyeless, steaming sockets. “We not only have to stop Captain Marvel, but we have to take the Rock of Eternity!”
The Nexus of All Time and Space. In any universe, it was the farthest distance from any point, yet at the same time it was always at hand. It existed between dimensions and expanded to infinite size, linked to all realities; indeed, the cosmic Monitor Adamanthes had considered it the hub around which the Multiverse turned… the bright spots of scintillation which could be seen within the Nexus were not stars, but universes…
In that netherspace floated the shard of a long-destroyed moon; a pitted and jagged ruin upon which sat a crumbling ancient fastness. Its walls had been thrown down long ago, but there still clung to the cruel stone a stench of evil which could not be fathomed by a mind that hoped to remain sane. Rising from the midst of the island in the void was an immense tower of impossibly complex design, shaped like a tuning fork as if to collect or determine the resonance of the Multiverse. It had lain dormant and silent since the downfall of its creator, its apocalyptic purpose denied… But now it hummed.
From atop a battlement of the primeval fortress, the man who now called himself Parallax watched the Machine as it returned to life. It was tended to by cyberdrones, working from scaffoldings and arching causeways, steam and electric discharge sizzling from it. Decades of toil had led to this moment and there was still a little more to go… He was not the Anti-Monitor, he needed a power source. The power ring was not enough, nor was the Central Power Battery of Oa in the fortress below, but the Core of Eternity, hidden deep inside the Rock, would be more than sufficient; he did not exactly trust his alliance with the mad wizard, but he had little choice.
Beyond the Machine and across the lifeless plain, spreading out across the cosmic flotsam that was Terminus, were rows upon rows of his cybermechs. They poured from the factories across the devastated moonscape, all of them housing the sentient brains of warriors and killers. The clang of their metallic boot-heels and the whir of their servos echoed up to him; it was a sound that the entire Multiverse would soon come to dread, Earth-Two first of all.
He turned from the battlements and descended into the bowels of his keep. The stone was rotted and pocked with holes, but he didn’t care; the Battery kept this ancient and hallowed place secure. It sat in what had been the Anti-Monitor’s throne room, a cyclopean chamber, open to the stars-that-were-universes, casting a green light over the yellowed gut-rock. Beneath the throne room, was Omegaddon’s laboratory--- now his!--- and he went there now.
Something was bothering him. Something he had seen on Paradise Island…
The lab was to-scale of the Anti-Monitor, which meant that it was enormous. Parallax had converted it to his liking over the years, and now it was many levels deep, filled with much tech and science that--- despite his undeniable genius--- was still outside his understanding. But one day, he felt sure, he would unlock it all.
Passing power coils of glowing green energy, he entered the bio-genetics lab. Bodies of various species and races lined the walls, their brains collected from the fiercest warriors across the Multiverse, used to outfit his cyber-minions. At last he came to a canister in which floated a human brain. Electrodes and wires were attached to it, and Parallax studied it for a moment, never ceasing to be fascinated with this monarch of organs.
“I’ve done it at last,” he whispered to the brain as if it was a confidante, which in a sense, it was. “I’ve found out why the Machine was inert; it was the Speed Force. It had been acting like a carefully placed spike jammed into the wheels of operation. It was Barry all along, though I’m sure the simpleton never knew it. Existing in the Speed Force, he probably thought he was simply dead all these years… It was an easy matter extracting him, though it took some time--- time the Anti-Monitor never had. But I’ve been biding my time for so long! I am on the verge of achieving my ultimate dream, but first I will have my revenge, as well!” He could not resist the opportunity to gloat.
“And that is your fatal mistake,” the voice which came from the speaker-patch at the base of the brain canister was electronic and without modulation, but it still managed to sound defiant. “You brought the Justice Society together with the Justice League… They will stop you.”
Parallax raised his fist, his power ring glowing fiercely. “They don’t stand a chance.” He said with a curl of his lip and swept away.
Paradise Island…
In an adjacent chamber he walked out on a gangplank over a seemingly bottomless chasm, the pitch blackness that echoed all around him was broken by billions of tiny pinpricks of light, peepholes into infinite reality.
“Earth-Two, Paradise Island,” he said into the emptiness. One of the pinpricks of light zipped towards him, and the peephole expanded, opening a window onto his desired destination. He scanned the broken city of Themyscira, wasting not a moment of pity on the Amazons. Moving his finger across the surface of the peephole, he directed his view, ignoring all else until he found her, searching, searching… There!
She lay asleep in a bed in the Asclepeion, covered only by a thin sheet and unguarded. No sign of injury remained on her unblemished body so she was easy to recognize… It was her after all!
Fascinating. This changed nothing at all, of course, except that it gave him an unlooked-for opportunity…
For a long time he stared at her across the gulf of time and space and considered his plans.
The fist of Captain Marvel smashed into rubble the wall of what had once been the UN General Assembly Chamber. Hawkman had thrown himself to the side, the blow missing him, but shattering cement and plaster where his head had been a fraction of a second before. The Winged Avenger was dazed and battered: he had not managed to avoid every blow Captain Marvel had directed at him, and he would not survive many more. He swung out two-fisted with everything he had left, connecting and delivering enough Nth-force to send the World’s Mightiest Mortal staggering back--- but Captain Marvel did not fall.
Carter fell back against the crumbling wall for support, one arm cradling the broken ribs he could feel in his chest. Half of his mask had been cracked, and he glared at Captain Marvel with one swollen eye.
Wiping a smear of blood from his mouth, a feral grin stretched Cap’s lips. “Well, at least you got a good one in at the end. So hello to Shiera for me,” He drew back his arm, his lips curling.
But Hawkman’s attention had been diverted to a point over Cap’s shoulder. “No!” he yelled, “Get out of here! Find the Justice League---.”
Cap turned in time to bear the brunt of Starman’s attack head-on! The beam from the Cosmic Rod hit him with all the gravity and mass of a punch from Superman. It sent Cap hurling through the air, crashing into the debris of the Security Council’s table. The demolished room was suddenly filled with familiar figures: Norda ghosted in on outstretched wings, firing his globlass gun at Cap, while Icicle poured sheets of frozen layers down upon the crazed hero and Atomika and Ray dashed towards their fallen foe.
“Damnit, wait!” Hawkman cried, nearly doubled over in pain. Starman rushed over to help him. “He’s not himself, and he’s too powerful; he’ll kill---.”
The hastily-constructed icy prison exploded, sending tinkling shards in all directions, as Captain Marvel rose into the air, ready for a fight.
He got one. The Ray swooped up in front of him and hit him with a blast of concentrated and amplified light just as Northwind strafed him from behind with globlass blasts. Dazed and disoriented, the World’s Mightiest Mortal tumbled back to the floor, landing on his hands and knees… in front of Atomika. He looked up as she loomed over him, her expression apologetic.
“Sorry, Cap; this is going to hurt me a lot more than it hurts you!”
The nuclear-powered hammerblow nailed the World’s Mightiest Mortal to the floor, cracking the very foundation of the building. Cap raised his head and snarled, one arm outstretched in a trembling threat. Jo hit him again, the concussive force of the blow knocking everyone else nearby off their feet.
“Kill… you… ingrateful… little…” Fueled by gods-given power, Captain Marvel was dragging himself upright, his face so twisted with rage he was almost unrecognizable.
Appalled, Jo Pratt glanced over to where a stunned Starman was supporting the wounded Hawkman. “Don’t let him get up!” yelled the former chairman.
Her knuckles bleeding now, Jo nonetheless hit him again. And again. The Ray and Northwind blasted from above, and Starman brought the Cosmic Rod to bear once more as Icicle watched in horror the punishment his teammates doled out…
“SHAZAM!”
The magic lightning crackled from the heavens, striking the ruins of the UN General Assembly and blasting Hawkman and the Young All-Stars in all directions. The echo of the impact rolled like thunder across the battlefield--- but none of them heard it: they lay unmoving and helpless as a single figure rose from the scorched earth at the center of ground zero…
As their teammates battled to contain Captain Marvel, Sandman, Corrigan and the rest of the Young All-Stars made their assault on the Rock of Eternity. They alighted on a slope of the Rock, transported in an emerald bubble courtesy of Jade’s Power Pulse. Within the gravity of the diamond-shaped mountain hovering over Manhattan, there was no up or down; as they stood upon the Rock, they looked forward onto the tops of skyscrapers. It was a disorienting feeling.
“The Rock of Eternity, wherever it is, or in whatever manifestation, exists in ten dimensions,” Corrigan explained as Hourman swayed on his feet, Cyclone reaching out a hand to steady him. “Limited human senses experience it as best they can, but don’t be alarmed if you can’t understand it all.”
“I understand that I’m about to lose my cookies,” Hourman gulped, looking green and clinging to Jesse.
“Keep it together, jockstrap,” Obsidian, in his shadowform, flowed over the surface of the Rock as the others secured their footing.
{Just relax, Rick, you’re not going to fall.} Sandman, who had gone down on one knee stood slowly, testing his balance. {Jesse, a quick reconnoiter, if you please…?}
“Quick is practically my middle name!” Cyclone, who was perhaps more used to the odd sensations due to her experiences with the Speed Force, gave her boyfriend a lopsided grin, then was away in a blink, circumnavigating and criss-crossing the Rock in seconds.
“Alright, so how do we get in?” Tigress asked sourly, unwilling to let on that she was just as queasy as Hourman. “This thing looks solid as a… well, you know.”
“She’s right,” Cyclone slid to a halt in front of them. “Everything seems to be locked-up solid; no windows or doors.”
“We could try blasting our way through?” Jade suggested, hovering in midair and sizing up the surface of the Rock.
“Very subtle,” came her brother’s familiar sneer, and if green-skinned Jennie-Lynn could have turned red she would have. “Why don’t we just announce to the wizard that we’re here?”
“He knows.” Corrigan pronounced. “He knew the minute we stepped foot on his domain. This was never going to be a sneak attack.”
As if on cue, part of the ground sloping forward in front of them began to shimmer, as if its very particles were rearranging. A gap formed, wide enough to disgorge a shambling, many-tentacled monstrosity. All around them, the same thing was happening as more and more of the hideous creatures oozed from yawning gaps in the Rock.
“Shoggoths!” Jim Corrigan cried a warning as the air was filled with their wet and rasping movements. “Spawn of Chaos!”
But the heroes were already in action. Jade blasted one instantly, filling the air with its dreadful many-tongued deathsong, and Cyclone encircled one until it launched into the air from the vacuum funnel she created. Tigress just barely leaped away from grasping tentacles, but Hourman could not avoid their slimy clutches. Rick Tyler, in panicked urgency, broke the thing’s hold, snapping the horrible flesh into pieces. He hurled the squealing thing into another, fortified by the waves of Miraclo coursing through him.
{There’s our way in!} Sandman leaped over one of the creatures as it slid towards him, calling his teammate’s attention towards one of the larger openings. Another shoggoth slithered from it, but Wes kicked it aside and ducked in. He was soon followed by the others, Jade’s ambient glow lighting the way.
When they were far enough away, turning corner after corner in a stone catacomb, and they could not hear the slithering of shoggoths anymore, they paused to take stock.
“Where are we…?” Artemis Crock was examining the walls, which were carved with strange hieroglyphs and unintelligible pictograms; she kept her voice low, either out of uncharacteristic reverence or to not attract the shoggoths.
“It is called the Ouroborea,” the ghost of Jim Corrigan floated forward. He could do little to aid them but guide them, and now a look of profound concern was on his face. “The Labyrinth That Turns Upon Itself. It makes up most of the interior of the Rock, and holds many Mysteries. We could wander in here for millennia and never find the wizard’s throne room.”
“So how do we find it?” Hourman asked, checking his chronometer. Fifty-six minutes, thirteen seconds of Miraclo left.
The ghost did not reply.
“Oh, this was a wonderful plan,” Artemis threw her hands up, her disgust now echoing down the stone passageways. “I swear to god when this is all over I am going to tell Daddy Dearest exactly where he can shove---.”
Sandman’s head twisted, reacting to a sound no one else had heard. He whirled around, gas gun in one hand, wirepoon gun in the other, as a figure emerged from the shadows.
The wizard strode toward them, but not the twisted and gnarled version that had hijacked dimensional integrity--- this one was clear-eyed and kindly and as insubstantial as Jim Corrigan.
“Allies of my Captain,” he called to them, imploringly. “Make haste! The Rock of Eternity cannot remain thus compromised--- it is mere moments from a final and cataclysmic implosion, one that will swallow this universe and shred the walls of reality itself…!”
Earth-Two…
It was a reunion like no other.
Jay Garrick, Wildcat and Commander Steel crowded around Alan Scott with joy and relief, Jay grasping his hand and Ted thumping him on the back. Only Hank Heywood held back, uncertainly.
“Where’s Karen?” he asked, peering back down the cavernous hall of the Justice League’s original mountain-headquarters. Returning heroes from that now-defunct team were still coming in--- but there was no sign of Power Girl.
Alan’s face took on a serious mask, though there was relief in his eyes. “She’s going to be alright,” he said. “Something about this place has made her powers go haywire, and she was hurt badly in the crash of the JLA Satellite. She almost didn’t make it. If it hadn’t been for Diana and the Purple Healing Ray of the Amazons…” he trailed off with a quick shake of his head. “She’s still on Paradise Island, and should be up and about in a day or two.”
The JSAers looked gratefully towards the Queen of the Amazons. Belying her regal status, she had rushed into the arms of Barry Allen, hugging him tightly. A huge grin split the bearded face of Aquaman as he clasped the arm of a grinning, graying Superman. There was a rush of wind, causing Alan Scott’s cape to snap and Jay Garrick to hold onto his helm, as another speedster skidded to a halt in the cob-webbed meeting hall. Clad in a costume much like Jay’s, but with Barry’s colors reversed, Wally West gaped in tearful surprise at his mentor, who due to Barry’s time in the Speed Force, appeared younger than Wally. The two embraced.
“My god, I didn’t believe it…”
“It is me, Wally. I can hardly believe it myself. Is Carrie…?”
“She’s with the JLA on a mission… I’ve sent word… You’d be so proud of her, Barry…!”
Watching them, Jay Garrick couldn’t help but think about Barry, Wally and Carrie of his own world, and he felt emotion sting his eyes.
Like two joyous angels, Hawkman and Hawkwoman swooped into the cavern to join the reunion, landing in the press of old friends.
“Carter and Shiera?” Alan looked a question at Jay and Wildcat.
It was Ted who answered. “Nah, it’s the Thanagarian. Katar Hol. His wife’s name is Shayera, though. Near as we can tell, our Carter and Shiera never existed here. None of us did. There was no Justice Society on Earth-Two. Superman was the first superhero to appear on the scene, over 40 years ago.”
Alan Scott frowned and rubbed his chin. Well, that blew one theory. On Paradise Island, Parallax had known him, had gone after him first--- he had assumed the rogue Green Lantern had mistaken him for this world’s Alan Scott, but that didn’t seem to be the case.
Emerging from the solid stone of the cavern ceiling, the Martian Manhunter descended into the meeting room, to glad cries and warm welcomes. The normally reserved J’onn J’onzz had a tear in his eye as he returned to the first place he had called home on his adoptive planet.
After a few more minutes of this, Wildcat stepped forward, clearing his throat loudly. “Look, I hate t’ interrupt the lovefest but can we get down to business here? We still have missing teammates, and we still have no idea why we’re even here...”
Some of the JLAers looked abashed, but Diana--- clad once more in the regalia of Wonder Woman--- asked, “But what about Bruce? Shouldn’t we---?”
“Bruce Wayne has hung up the cape and cowl forever,” J’onn J’onzz interjected softly. “Gotham is his main concern now, and he insists that there is no place for Batman in his world. He is confident we can handle the current crisis without him.”
“Hmph.” Superman crossed his arms over his broad chest, imbuing more eloquence in that one syllable than previously thought possible.
“Wildcat is right, though.” Barry Allen glanced around at them with concern. “We can save the explanations and catching up for later. We’ve got a major problem on our hands. Parallax is back, and he has a powerful new ally called Shazam.”
The JSAers exchanged a confused look with each other as they all went to the large circular table and took their seats.
“Barry, do you mean the old wizard of the Rock of Eternity?” Jay asked.
“You know of him?”
“Yes, but the Shazam of our world is no ally of evil… He’s a force for good; in fact, he powers our missing teammate--- his champion--- Captain Marvel.”
“Shayera and I have encountered him before,” Hawkman said in a thoughtful tone. “During the Shadow War with Thanagar all those years ago. Remember, darling?”
The flame-haired and still-youthful Hawkwoman nodded. “Yes. He helped us against the Cult of Thasaro. He was a bit tortured and mysterious, but we never doubted his intentions… And he never had a champion called Captain Marvel.”
“There is nothing good about this wicked old man,” Barry went on. “Perhaps there was once, but now his insanity is plain to see.”
“Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Aquaman shook his head, his face dark. “I wonder if that’s what happened to Hal.”
“No Arthur, it wasn’t power that corrupted our friend,” Diana placed a hand on Aquaman’s arm. “It was heartbreak.”
“Exactly what are we dealing with in this Parallax?” Alan Scott wanted to know. “I don’t understand how this could have happened to a man like Hal Jordan.”
Barry Allen lowered his head and Diana shared a look with Superman. It was he who answered.
“Many years ago, there was a Great Crisis. None of us remember the exact details of it, and we’re not sure why---.”
“I remember it all,” Barry muttered under his breath, though he would not elaborate.
“But in the final battle, Barry gave his life to save all of existence--- which I now suspect included your universe, as well as ours,” Superman continued. “Barry and Hal were close friends, and the fact that Hal could not save him--- that none of us could!--- took a heavy toll on him. Hal had lost more than most in the Crisis. His home, Coast City had been destroyed, his girlfriend Carol Ferris killed along with his mother and brothers… The Green Lantern Corps had been decimated by the Crisis… He was a man adrift. He disappeared for a while, and when he resurfaced, he had taken on the persona of Parallax. Something had happened on Oa, some kind of schism. It ended with Hal destroying the Corps and taking the Central Power Battery for himself. Before he died, the last surviving Guardian of the Universe appeared to the League and beseeched us for help against our former teammate. Naturally, none of us could believe what was happening--- but Hal went on a rampage on Earth, as well. He felt that the governments of the world were making a mess of things, and that the planet would be better off under his control. He had raised an emerald citadel over the ruins of Coast City, and it took the combined might of the entire JLA to take him down. Green Arrow shot a Qwardian arrow into the Central Power Battery, causing it to overload and explode. We thought Hal had died in the blast…”
“No, he had escaped,” Barry picked up the sad tale. “Though in a much reduced state, saved by his ring. By that time, he had internalized the energy of the Central Power Battery, which he was later able to re-form. On Terminus.”
An involuntary gasp escaped from Wonder Woman.
“Terminus?” Commander Steel frowned.
“The ruins of a small moon, adrift in the Nexus of All Time and Space… It’s where the final battle of the Crisis occurred…” Superman explained, by the looks of it not liking that one bit.
“Do you know of any reason why Parallax would know me?” Alan Scott leaned forward, as did Jay Garrick.
“The cybermechs in Gotham called me by name, too.”
The Justice Leaguers looked genuinely at a loss, and the JSAers were met only with shrugs and silence.
“Barry, what is he doing in the Nexus?” All the blood was drained from Wally West’s face; he could only recall stark horror and tragedy on Terminus.
Barry faced his former protégé--- now his elder!--- squarely. “He’s building a legion of cybermechs. And that’s not all. The Anti-Monitor’s Machine has been reactivated. I think he plans on assailing the Multiverse, to re-make reality in his own image, to---.”
The roar of a jet-powered engine cut him off. The assembled heroes leaped to their feet as a huge black utility vehicle bristling with armament and shielding surged into the cavern, skidding sideways to a screeching halt.
They were speechless. On the front of the vehicle was the yellow symbol of a Bat…
A figure in blue armor, also with the Bat-symbol emblazoned boldly in yellow on the chest, bounded from the car. He wore a pointy-eared helm, which with a quick movement he doffed.
“Muscles and bones aren’t quite what they used to be,” The newly-shaven face of Gotham Police Commissioner Bruce Wayne glared at their stunned faces. “This damn armor will have to do.”
“I knew you couldn’t stay away, old friend.” Superman could not contain a grin.
“Save it, Clark. We’ve got big trouble.” Batman walked over to the wall-sized monitor screen and turned it on. The picture was divided into a dozen separate images, and all of them were the same: major cities across America, in various degrees of devastation, all fire and twisted metal. “Reports of cybermech invasion are coming in from all across the country. Looks like Parallax is beginning his attack.”
“Then there’s no time to waste,” Barry Allen declared, glancing at Wally, who nodded back. “Let’s split up---.”
“That’s not all,” Batman’s growl interrupted him. He turned to face them again, staring directly at Wonder Woman. “Paradise Island was hit first.”
Diana’s eyes became as hard as stone. “If he’s harmed my sisters…”
“There was a battle,” Batman nodded. “But destruction didn’t seem to be Hal’s intention. It was more of a surgical strike, on the Isle of Healing.”
Realization dawned on Alan Scott. “Power Girl!”
Superman’s eyebrow arched in alarm.
“Yes,” said Batman. “She’s alive, but she’s in the hands of our greatest enemy…!”
“You never should have come back, old man,” snarled the World’s Mightiest Mortal, whirling in midair as Hawkman wheeled away from a crushing blow. The former chairman of the JSA swung his mace backhanded, connecting with current chairman’s face--- but it was the pitted iron ball of the ancient weapon that shattered. Captain Marvel laughed, brushing flecks of metal from his cape. “Your day is done. The JSA is mine. And this world belongs to my master! If you get down on your knees right now and swear fealty to the Rock of Eternity, you can sit on my right hand. If you continue to oppose me, then I will put you down.”
Dropping the haft of his broken mace, Hawkman took from his weapon-studded harness a spiked ball on a long chain: a morning star.
“I don’t know what’s gotten into you, Cap, but there’s no way any of that is going to happen. I’ll die before I let you hurt an innocent.”
“I was hoping you’d say that.”
With the speed of Mercury, Captain Marvel flew at Hawkman, leading with both fists. It was too fast for any mortal to dodge, but Hawkman wasn’t just any mortal: with reflexes honed by decades of exposure to Thanagarian Nth Metal, he twisted upward, corkscrewing around Cap like a matador goading a bull and lashed out with his morning star, the chain whipping around Cap’s neck! Far from bringing him up short, the force of Cap’s velocity yanked Hawkman after him, dragging the Winged Avenger behind him as he cut through the air.
Hawkman looped the chain around both fists and flung wide his wings, attempting to slow them down. But Cap was wild, both hands on the chain around his neck that was strangling him, veering erratically across the sky.
“Yeild!” Hawkman yelled into the rushing wind, trying to rein-in his former friend like a stallion. “I know this isn’t you, Cap! I can help! Just end this insane---.”
The Secretariat Building of the U.N. reared up before them. Hawkman pulled up on the chains with all of his might, his every muscle straining, trying desperately to maneuver the out-of-control Captain Marvel. But it was too little, too late: they smashed into the side of the building in an explosion of steel and glass…
Justice Society of America
Issue #11: “Crisis on Two Earths, Part Five!”
Written by David Charlton
Cover by Alex Vasquez
Interior Art by Brandon Herren
Edited by David Charlton
JSA Roll Call!
Captain Marvel (Billy Batson):With one magic word, the World’s Mightiest Mortal battles the enemies of man with the power of Shazam! New Chairman of the JSA!
Green Lantern (Alan Scott): Dark things cannot stand the light of the original Emerald Gladiator!
Flash (Jay Garrick): The emotional core of the team, this original super-speedster is proud to mentor the next generation of heroes!
Wildcat (Ted Grant): The champ with nine lives, always ready to deliver the knockout punch to crime!
Sandman (Wesley Dodds): Donning a gas mask and a fedora, this haunted dreamer delivers the sleep of the just to wrongdoers!
Doctor Fate (James Brendan Corrigan): Separated from the Spectre, the ghost of Jim Corrigan dons the magical artifacts of his missing friend Kent Nelson as an agent of the balance between Order and Chaos!
Power Girl (Karen Starr): All the powers of Superman--- and twice the attitude! Her past is a mystery, but her future seems to be with the JSA!
Commander Steel (Henry “Hank” Heywood III): Grandson of the Golden Age Indestructible Man, this super-soldier with a cybernetic titanium-alloy body is unstoppable on his crusade for justice!
Young All-Stars Roll Call!
Atomika (Jo Morgan Pratt): Daughter of the original Atom, this Mighty Maid packs a nuclear wallop!
Jade (Jennie-Lynn Scott): Daughter of Alan Scott, she has internalized the power of the Green Flame, and just may be one of the most powerful beings in the universe!
Obsidian (Todd Scott): Son of Alan Scott, he controls the dark flipside of the Starheart, the Shadowlands, the quintessence of terror!
Cyclone (Jesse Chambers): Daughter of Golden Age heroes Liberty Belle and Johnny Quick, when she speaks the formula 3X2(9YZ)4A, she becomes the fastest woman alive!
Ray (Ray Terrill): Son of the Golden Age Ray, this brash young hero dazzles with the power of pure light and his razor-sharp wit!
Starman (David Knight): Son of the Golden Age Starman, the newest wielder of the Cosmic Rod inherits a proud legacy of heroism and sacrifice!
Icicle (Cameron Mahkent): Son of the original Golden Age villain, he needs no ice-gun to shoot freezing blasts or send the temperature plummeting!
Tigress (Artemis Crock): Daughter of an illicit affair between Wildcat and the Golden Age villainess the Huntress, she is a master of exotic weaponry and a dozen fighting styles!
Hourman (Rick Tyler):The brand-new Man of the Hour, a Miraclo-powered dynamo!
Northwind (Norda Cantrell):Godson of Hawkman and warrior-prince exile of Feithera, searching for his place in the world!
Inside the Rock of Eternity, Black Shazam swept away from the Historama where he’d been reviewing the history of Earth-One and stalked towards the grotesque statues of the Seven Deadly Enemies of Man.
“I see you have been well at work on this world,” the wizard hissed, raking them with sharp, beady eyes. “Well, you can’t have it! It will be mine!”
It seemed as if the carved stone representations were jeering him. He could hear their gibbering laughter in his head, whispering of evil deeds. Light from the glowing braziers caused shadows to dance across the surface of the stone, making the Enemies look as if they were moving. They leered down at the wizard in perpetual smugness, infuriating him.
<They’ve won,> a hollow, wracked voice intruded on the wizard’s contemplation. Black Shazam whirled to face his almost-forgotten prisoner, Doctor Fate, chained by his wrists behind the throne and slumped to his knees. Red-skinned imps cavorted around the sorcerer, poking and prodding him with hot and sharp irons. But intense eyes burned through the Helm of Nabu, fixed on Black Shazam. <You spent millennia hunting them, opposing them. You have been their jailer--- for they cannot be destroyed!--- and they have been your constant companions for so long now. In conquering them, they have at last overcome you. How long have they poisoned your dreams, warped your thoughts…?>
The wizard scattered the imps with a snarl and menacing wave of his gnarled hand, rushing up to Dr. Fate as if to throttle him. But he stopped short, his hands like claws before him.
“What do you know of it, mageling? Have you met the spawn of Tiamat in combat, felt them gnawing on your flesh? Have you thwarted the Cabal of Ys every time they’ve risen up to subjugate the world of man? Do you know the Sacred Sigils that keep locked Doom’s Doorway or the Nine Dread Words that Garn Daanuth spoke when Atlantis sank?”
<I know corruption when it is before my eyes.>
“Then damn your eyes!”
His fury at its peak, the wizard threw up his arms, pointing his splayed, gnarled fingers at Dr. Fate. Crackling, raw power sizzled from him, enveloping the Helm of Nabu. Steam rose from the eye-slits of the golden helmet and Dr. Fate screamed, jerking against his chains. The mad wizard laughed, enjoying the torment. Behind him, the imps cavorted and chortled in glee.
“Shazam!”
The wizard missed the sound of his name, keeping the magic lightning trained on Dr. Fate. He savored every nuance of agony, every delicious scintilla of anguish… Red smoke rose like vapor trails from the eye slits of the Helm, and the voice of Jim Corrigan wailed into diminishing infinity.
“Damn it, wizard, what are you doing?”
A part of Black Shazam--- the part that was just Shazam, the guardian of the Rock, the wielder of Gods-given might--- railed inside him against this act of murder. But other voices crowded him out. Seven other voices.
Yes, slay this fool!
How dare he…?
He has no idea what you have sacrificed!
Mastery is your right!
His power should be yours…
Ours...
Take it now!
“Shazam!”
The harsh, grating voice brought him up suddenly. The magical lightning abruptly ceased, but it was too late. The figure in chains before him dissolved into so much smoke; all that remained was the Helm and an amulet resting atop a steaming gold cloak.
The wizard whirled and faced the image of his ally on the screen of the Historama. A handsome brown-haired man with graying temples wearing a green domino mask glared at him from across the Multiverse.
“You’ve obliterated him…?”
“And what of it?” Black Shazam snarled, panting from his efforts; destroying the agent of the Lords of Order had been no easy task. “He brought my Captain to me, his usefulness was at an end.”
Parallax’s scowl deepened. “That was not the arrangement. I have shown you how to bridge the realities of the Multiverse, I have even given you free rein on Earth-One to do as you please,” a distasteful expression passed over his face. “But the Justice Society was to be left to me!”
“Bah!” the wizard spat and waved his arm in a dismissive manner. “Take your revenge on the fools now in my home universe… There are enough JSAers there to feed your vengeance.”
As if seeing the futility of arguing with the mad wizard, Parallax changed the subject. “I have had a breakthrough. The Machine has returned to life! I have finally expelled the speedster who was keeping it inert. It is only a matter of hours before it is fully operational again. When that happens, you must bring the Rock of Eternity to me at the Nexus--- as a Multiversal constant, only it has the power to fuel our attack on the walls of reality.”
Black Shazam cackled and bobbed his head at the news. The Machine. An artifact of an ultimate malevolence not even he could overcome. Now it would be the instrument of his ascendance. “But say the word; the Rock is ready! The Day of Thunder is at hand…!”
*******
“Is it true…?”
The full assemblage of the Young All-Stars burst into the Command Center of JSA HQ, and Wesley Dodds turned from the bank of monitors towards them.
“Yes,” he eyed them steadily, taking off his glasses and donning his gasmask and fedora. {We are under attack from the Rock of Eternity and Captain Marvel.}
The young heroes crowded around the wall of plasma screens where Robotman worked the controls; scenes of destruction came in from all over New York.
“But that doesn’t make any sense,” Atomika said what they were all thinking. “Why would Cap turn against us…?”
“Jeez, don’t take it so personally, Power-Puff,” Tigress rolled her eyes. “This goody-two-shows bit has got to wear on a guy eventually.”
Icicle snickered but the others glared at them.
“He’s being controlled by someone--- or something!” Hourman blurted, striking one gloved fist into an open palm; he bounced on the balls of his feet, eager to feel the rush of Miraclo and spring into action. “Either way, we have to stop him.”
{Agreed.} Sandman turned back to the monitors, pointing at one which showed them a view of United Nations Plaza--- it trembled as if a self-contained earthquake was rumbling through it. {Hawkman is there already, but he’s going to need some back-up and quick! Ray, Jade, Cyclone: go on ahead, we’ll catch up! The rest of us---}
“I’m going, too.” Northwind interjected, his chin jutting forward. “If Hawkman is in trouble---.”
He was interrupted by a distant, agonized screaming which got louder and louder by the second. Before their startled eyes, a figure materialized in their midst, a man in plain, old fashioned clothes on his knees and doubled over, the heels of his hands pressed over his eyes.
{Jim…?}
He was insubstantial, little more than shade and sentience. And when the ghost of Jim Corrigan raised his face to them, they gasped in horror: where his eyes had been were now burned out sockets which still trailed wisps of smoke.
Sandman went to his old friend, but could not help him; Jim Corrigan was once again intangible. But the action alone seemed to give the long-dead police detective some comfort. Corrigan rose to his feet.
{Jim, where are the others? What’s going on?}
“No time for a full explanation; besides, I’m not sure what happened to the others after I transported us to Earth-Two. All I know is, in that universe the manifestation of the old wizard who gave Captain Marvel his powers has gone mad, corrupted by near-omnipotent might and the Seven Deadly Enemies of Man. He’s corrupted Cap now, too, and they’ve invaded our universe, his Rock of Eternity now the dominant reality here.”
“Yeahbuhwha---?” said the Ray.
Jesse Chambers <shushed> Ray Terrill and motioned for Corrigan to continue.
“I was only able to escape by a risky gambit: I goaded Black Shazam into destroying my physical form, held together by the Artifacts of Fate. I gambled that my decades of bondage to the Spectre had made my spirit-self resilient enough to avoid ectoplasmic annihilation, and I was right.”
“Bold move,” Obsidian muttered, impressed.
“I regret only that the Artifacts are in the mad wizard’s hands. But it is no matter: I have to go back anyway,” he gave the assembled heroes around him a steadying glance from his eyeless, steaming sockets. “We not only have to stop Captain Marvel, but we have to take the Rock of Eternity!”
*******
The Nexus of All Time and Space. In any universe, it was the farthest distance from any point, yet at the same time it was always at hand. It existed between dimensions and expanded to infinite size, linked to all realities; indeed, the cosmic Monitor Adamanthes had considered it the hub around which the Multiverse turned… the bright spots of scintillation which could be seen within the Nexus were not stars, but universes…
In that netherspace floated the shard of a long-destroyed moon; a pitted and jagged ruin upon which sat a crumbling ancient fastness. Its walls had been thrown down long ago, but there still clung to the cruel stone a stench of evil which could not be fathomed by a mind that hoped to remain sane. Rising from the midst of the island in the void was an immense tower of impossibly complex design, shaped like a tuning fork as if to collect or determine the resonance of the Multiverse. It had lain dormant and silent since the downfall of its creator, its apocalyptic purpose denied… But now it hummed.
From atop a battlement of the primeval fortress, the man who now called himself Parallax watched the Machine as it returned to life. It was tended to by cyberdrones, working from scaffoldings and arching causeways, steam and electric discharge sizzling from it. Decades of toil had led to this moment and there was still a little more to go… He was not the Anti-Monitor, he needed a power source. The power ring was not enough, nor was the Central Power Battery of Oa in the fortress below, but the Core of Eternity, hidden deep inside the Rock, would be more than sufficient; he did not exactly trust his alliance with the mad wizard, but he had little choice.
Beyond the Machine and across the lifeless plain, spreading out across the cosmic flotsam that was Terminus, were rows upon rows of his cybermechs. They poured from the factories across the devastated moonscape, all of them housing the sentient brains of warriors and killers. The clang of their metallic boot-heels and the whir of their servos echoed up to him; it was a sound that the entire Multiverse would soon come to dread, Earth-Two first of all.
He turned from the battlements and descended into the bowels of his keep. The stone was rotted and pocked with holes, but he didn’t care; the Battery kept this ancient and hallowed place secure. It sat in what had been the Anti-Monitor’s throne room, a cyclopean chamber, open to the stars-that-were-universes, casting a green light over the yellowed gut-rock. Beneath the throne room, was Omegaddon’s laboratory--- now his!--- and he went there now.
Something was bothering him. Something he had seen on Paradise Island…
The lab was to-scale of the Anti-Monitor, which meant that it was enormous. Parallax had converted it to his liking over the years, and now it was many levels deep, filled with much tech and science that--- despite his undeniable genius--- was still outside his understanding. But one day, he felt sure, he would unlock it all.
Passing power coils of glowing green energy, he entered the bio-genetics lab. Bodies of various species and races lined the walls, their brains collected from the fiercest warriors across the Multiverse, used to outfit his cyber-minions. At last he came to a canister in which floated a human brain. Electrodes and wires were attached to it, and Parallax studied it for a moment, never ceasing to be fascinated with this monarch of organs.
“I’ve done it at last,” he whispered to the brain as if it was a confidante, which in a sense, it was. “I’ve found out why the Machine was inert; it was the Speed Force. It had been acting like a carefully placed spike jammed into the wheels of operation. It was Barry all along, though I’m sure the simpleton never knew it. Existing in the Speed Force, he probably thought he was simply dead all these years… It was an easy matter extracting him, though it took some time--- time the Anti-Monitor never had. But I’ve been biding my time for so long! I am on the verge of achieving my ultimate dream, but first I will have my revenge, as well!” He could not resist the opportunity to gloat.
“And that is your fatal mistake,” the voice which came from the speaker-patch at the base of the brain canister was electronic and without modulation, but it still managed to sound defiant. “You brought the Justice Society together with the Justice League… They will stop you.”
Parallax raised his fist, his power ring glowing fiercely. “They don’t stand a chance.” He said with a curl of his lip and swept away.
Paradise Island…
In an adjacent chamber he walked out on a gangplank over a seemingly bottomless chasm, the pitch blackness that echoed all around him was broken by billions of tiny pinpricks of light, peepholes into infinite reality.
“Earth-Two, Paradise Island,” he said into the emptiness. One of the pinpricks of light zipped towards him, and the peephole expanded, opening a window onto his desired destination. He scanned the broken city of Themyscira, wasting not a moment of pity on the Amazons. Moving his finger across the surface of the peephole, he directed his view, ignoring all else until he found her, searching, searching… There!
She lay asleep in a bed in the Asclepeion, covered only by a thin sheet and unguarded. No sign of injury remained on her unblemished body so she was easy to recognize… It was her after all!
Fascinating. This changed nothing at all, of course, except that it gave him an unlooked-for opportunity…
For a long time he stared at her across the gulf of time and space and considered his plans.
*******
The fist of Captain Marvel smashed into rubble the wall of what had once been the UN General Assembly Chamber. Hawkman had thrown himself to the side, the blow missing him, but shattering cement and plaster where his head had been a fraction of a second before. The Winged Avenger was dazed and battered: he had not managed to avoid every blow Captain Marvel had directed at him, and he would not survive many more. He swung out two-fisted with everything he had left, connecting and delivering enough Nth-force to send the World’s Mightiest Mortal staggering back--- but Captain Marvel did not fall.
Carter fell back against the crumbling wall for support, one arm cradling the broken ribs he could feel in his chest. Half of his mask had been cracked, and he glared at Captain Marvel with one swollen eye.
Wiping a smear of blood from his mouth, a feral grin stretched Cap’s lips. “Well, at least you got a good one in at the end. So hello to Shiera for me,” He drew back his arm, his lips curling.
But Hawkman’s attention had been diverted to a point over Cap’s shoulder. “No!” he yelled, “Get out of here! Find the Justice League---.”
Cap turned in time to bear the brunt of Starman’s attack head-on! The beam from the Cosmic Rod hit him with all the gravity and mass of a punch from Superman. It sent Cap hurling through the air, crashing into the debris of the Security Council’s table. The demolished room was suddenly filled with familiar figures: Norda ghosted in on outstretched wings, firing his globlass gun at Cap, while Icicle poured sheets of frozen layers down upon the crazed hero and Atomika and Ray dashed towards their fallen foe.
“Damnit, wait!” Hawkman cried, nearly doubled over in pain. Starman rushed over to help him. “He’s not himself, and he’s too powerful; he’ll kill---.”
The hastily-constructed icy prison exploded, sending tinkling shards in all directions, as Captain Marvel rose into the air, ready for a fight.
He got one. The Ray swooped up in front of him and hit him with a blast of concentrated and amplified light just as Northwind strafed him from behind with globlass blasts. Dazed and disoriented, the World’s Mightiest Mortal tumbled back to the floor, landing on his hands and knees… in front of Atomika. He looked up as she loomed over him, her expression apologetic.
“Sorry, Cap; this is going to hurt me a lot more than it hurts you!”
The nuclear-powered hammerblow nailed the World’s Mightiest Mortal to the floor, cracking the very foundation of the building. Cap raised his head and snarled, one arm outstretched in a trembling threat. Jo hit him again, the concussive force of the blow knocking everyone else nearby off their feet.
“Kill… you… ingrateful… little…” Fueled by gods-given power, Captain Marvel was dragging himself upright, his face so twisted with rage he was almost unrecognizable.
Appalled, Jo Pratt glanced over to where a stunned Starman was supporting the wounded Hawkman. “Don’t let him get up!” yelled the former chairman.
Her knuckles bleeding now, Jo nonetheless hit him again. And again. The Ray and Northwind blasted from above, and Starman brought the Cosmic Rod to bear once more as Icicle watched in horror the punishment his teammates doled out…
“SHAZAM!”
The magic lightning crackled from the heavens, striking the ruins of the UN General Assembly and blasting Hawkman and the Young All-Stars in all directions. The echo of the impact rolled like thunder across the battlefield--- but none of them heard it: they lay unmoving and helpless as a single figure rose from the scorched earth at the center of ground zero…
*******
As their teammates battled to contain Captain Marvel, Sandman, Corrigan and the rest of the Young All-Stars made their assault on the Rock of Eternity. They alighted on a slope of the Rock, transported in an emerald bubble courtesy of Jade’s Power Pulse. Within the gravity of the diamond-shaped mountain hovering over Manhattan, there was no up or down; as they stood upon the Rock, they looked forward onto the tops of skyscrapers. It was a disorienting feeling.
“The Rock of Eternity, wherever it is, or in whatever manifestation, exists in ten dimensions,” Corrigan explained as Hourman swayed on his feet, Cyclone reaching out a hand to steady him. “Limited human senses experience it as best they can, but don’t be alarmed if you can’t understand it all.”
“I understand that I’m about to lose my cookies,” Hourman gulped, looking green and clinging to Jesse.
“Keep it together, jockstrap,” Obsidian, in his shadowform, flowed over the surface of the Rock as the others secured their footing.
{Just relax, Rick, you’re not going to fall.} Sandman, who had gone down on one knee stood slowly, testing his balance. {Jesse, a quick reconnoiter, if you please…?}
“Quick is practically my middle name!” Cyclone, who was perhaps more used to the odd sensations due to her experiences with the Speed Force, gave her boyfriend a lopsided grin, then was away in a blink, circumnavigating and criss-crossing the Rock in seconds.
“Alright, so how do we get in?” Tigress asked sourly, unwilling to let on that she was just as queasy as Hourman. “This thing looks solid as a… well, you know.”
“She’s right,” Cyclone slid to a halt in front of them. “Everything seems to be locked-up solid; no windows or doors.”
“We could try blasting our way through?” Jade suggested, hovering in midair and sizing up the surface of the Rock.
“Very subtle,” came her brother’s familiar sneer, and if green-skinned Jennie-Lynn could have turned red she would have. “Why don’t we just announce to the wizard that we’re here?”
“He knows.” Corrigan pronounced. “He knew the minute we stepped foot on his domain. This was never going to be a sneak attack.”
As if on cue, part of the ground sloping forward in front of them began to shimmer, as if its very particles were rearranging. A gap formed, wide enough to disgorge a shambling, many-tentacled monstrosity. All around them, the same thing was happening as more and more of the hideous creatures oozed from yawning gaps in the Rock.
“Shoggoths!” Jim Corrigan cried a warning as the air was filled with their wet and rasping movements. “Spawn of Chaos!”
But the heroes were already in action. Jade blasted one instantly, filling the air with its dreadful many-tongued deathsong, and Cyclone encircled one until it launched into the air from the vacuum funnel she created. Tigress just barely leaped away from grasping tentacles, but Hourman could not avoid their slimy clutches. Rick Tyler, in panicked urgency, broke the thing’s hold, snapping the horrible flesh into pieces. He hurled the squealing thing into another, fortified by the waves of Miraclo coursing through him.
{There’s our way in!} Sandman leaped over one of the creatures as it slid towards him, calling his teammate’s attention towards one of the larger openings. Another shoggoth slithered from it, but Wes kicked it aside and ducked in. He was soon followed by the others, Jade’s ambient glow lighting the way.
When they were far enough away, turning corner after corner in a stone catacomb, and they could not hear the slithering of shoggoths anymore, they paused to take stock.
“Where are we…?” Artemis Crock was examining the walls, which were carved with strange hieroglyphs and unintelligible pictograms; she kept her voice low, either out of uncharacteristic reverence or to not attract the shoggoths.
“It is called the Ouroborea,” the ghost of Jim Corrigan floated forward. He could do little to aid them but guide them, and now a look of profound concern was on his face. “The Labyrinth That Turns Upon Itself. It makes up most of the interior of the Rock, and holds many Mysteries. We could wander in here for millennia and never find the wizard’s throne room.”
“So how do we find it?” Hourman asked, checking his chronometer. Fifty-six minutes, thirteen seconds of Miraclo left.
The ghost did not reply.
“Oh, this was a wonderful plan,” Artemis threw her hands up, her disgust now echoing down the stone passageways. “I swear to god when this is all over I am going to tell Daddy Dearest exactly where he can shove---.”
Sandman’s head twisted, reacting to a sound no one else had heard. He whirled around, gas gun in one hand, wirepoon gun in the other, as a figure emerged from the shadows.
The wizard strode toward them, but not the twisted and gnarled version that had hijacked dimensional integrity--- this one was clear-eyed and kindly and as insubstantial as Jim Corrigan.
“Allies of my Captain,” he called to them, imploringly. “Make haste! The Rock of Eternity cannot remain thus compromised--- it is mere moments from a final and cataclysmic implosion, one that will swallow this universe and shred the walls of reality itself…!”
*******
Earth-Two…
It was a reunion like no other.
Jay Garrick, Wildcat and Commander Steel crowded around Alan Scott with joy and relief, Jay grasping his hand and Ted thumping him on the back. Only Hank Heywood held back, uncertainly.
“Where’s Karen?” he asked, peering back down the cavernous hall of the Justice League’s original mountain-headquarters. Returning heroes from that now-defunct team were still coming in--- but there was no sign of Power Girl.
Alan’s face took on a serious mask, though there was relief in his eyes. “She’s going to be alright,” he said. “Something about this place has made her powers go haywire, and she was hurt badly in the crash of the JLA Satellite. She almost didn’t make it. If it hadn’t been for Diana and the Purple Healing Ray of the Amazons…” he trailed off with a quick shake of his head. “She’s still on Paradise Island, and should be up and about in a day or two.”
The JSAers looked gratefully towards the Queen of the Amazons. Belying her regal status, she had rushed into the arms of Barry Allen, hugging him tightly. A huge grin split the bearded face of Aquaman as he clasped the arm of a grinning, graying Superman. There was a rush of wind, causing Alan Scott’s cape to snap and Jay Garrick to hold onto his helm, as another speedster skidded to a halt in the cob-webbed meeting hall. Clad in a costume much like Jay’s, but with Barry’s colors reversed, Wally West gaped in tearful surprise at his mentor, who due to Barry’s time in the Speed Force, appeared younger than Wally. The two embraced.
“My god, I didn’t believe it…”
“It is me, Wally. I can hardly believe it myself. Is Carrie…?”
“She’s with the JLA on a mission… I’ve sent word… You’d be so proud of her, Barry…!”
Watching them, Jay Garrick couldn’t help but think about Barry, Wally and Carrie of his own world, and he felt emotion sting his eyes.
Like two joyous angels, Hawkman and Hawkwoman swooped into the cavern to join the reunion, landing in the press of old friends.
“Carter and Shiera?” Alan looked a question at Jay and Wildcat.
It was Ted who answered. “Nah, it’s the Thanagarian. Katar Hol. His wife’s name is Shayera, though. Near as we can tell, our Carter and Shiera never existed here. None of us did. There was no Justice Society on Earth-Two. Superman was the first superhero to appear on the scene, over 40 years ago.”
Alan Scott frowned and rubbed his chin. Well, that blew one theory. On Paradise Island, Parallax had known him, had gone after him first--- he had assumed the rogue Green Lantern had mistaken him for this world’s Alan Scott, but that didn’t seem to be the case.
Emerging from the solid stone of the cavern ceiling, the Martian Manhunter descended into the meeting room, to glad cries and warm welcomes. The normally reserved J’onn J’onzz had a tear in his eye as he returned to the first place he had called home on his adoptive planet.
After a few more minutes of this, Wildcat stepped forward, clearing his throat loudly. “Look, I hate t’ interrupt the lovefest but can we get down to business here? We still have missing teammates, and we still have no idea why we’re even here...”
Some of the JLAers looked abashed, but Diana--- clad once more in the regalia of Wonder Woman--- asked, “But what about Bruce? Shouldn’t we---?”
“Bruce Wayne has hung up the cape and cowl forever,” J’onn J’onzz interjected softly. “Gotham is his main concern now, and he insists that there is no place for Batman in his world. He is confident we can handle the current crisis without him.”
“Hmph.” Superman crossed his arms over his broad chest, imbuing more eloquence in that one syllable than previously thought possible.
“Wildcat is right, though.” Barry Allen glanced around at them with concern. “We can save the explanations and catching up for later. We’ve got a major problem on our hands. Parallax is back, and he has a powerful new ally called Shazam.”
The JSAers exchanged a confused look with each other as they all went to the large circular table and took their seats.
“Barry, do you mean the old wizard of the Rock of Eternity?” Jay asked.
“You know of him?”
“Yes, but the Shazam of our world is no ally of evil… He’s a force for good; in fact, he powers our missing teammate--- his champion--- Captain Marvel.”
“Shayera and I have encountered him before,” Hawkman said in a thoughtful tone. “During the Shadow War with Thanagar all those years ago. Remember, darling?”
The flame-haired and still-youthful Hawkwoman nodded. “Yes. He helped us against the Cult of Thasaro. He was a bit tortured and mysterious, but we never doubted his intentions… And he never had a champion called Captain Marvel.”
“There is nothing good about this wicked old man,” Barry went on. “Perhaps there was once, but now his insanity is plain to see.”
“Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Aquaman shook his head, his face dark. “I wonder if that’s what happened to Hal.”
“No Arthur, it wasn’t power that corrupted our friend,” Diana placed a hand on Aquaman’s arm. “It was heartbreak.”
“Exactly what are we dealing with in this Parallax?” Alan Scott wanted to know. “I don’t understand how this could have happened to a man like Hal Jordan.”
Barry Allen lowered his head and Diana shared a look with Superman. It was he who answered.
“Many years ago, there was a Great Crisis. None of us remember the exact details of it, and we’re not sure why---.”
“I remember it all,” Barry muttered under his breath, though he would not elaborate.
“But in the final battle, Barry gave his life to save all of existence--- which I now suspect included your universe, as well as ours,” Superman continued. “Barry and Hal were close friends, and the fact that Hal could not save him--- that none of us could!--- took a heavy toll on him. Hal had lost more than most in the Crisis. His home, Coast City had been destroyed, his girlfriend Carol Ferris killed along with his mother and brothers… The Green Lantern Corps had been decimated by the Crisis… He was a man adrift. He disappeared for a while, and when he resurfaced, he had taken on the persona of Parallax. Something had happened on Oa, some kind of schism. It ended with Hal destroying the Corps and taking the Central Power Battery for himself. Before he died, the last surviving Guardian of the Universe appeared to the League and beseeched us for help against our former teammate. Naturally, none of us could believe what was happening--- but Hal went on a rampage on Earth, as well. He felt that the governments of the world were making a mess of things, and that the planet would be better off under his control. He had raised an emerald citadel over the ruins of Coast City, and it took the combined might of the entire JLA to take him down. Green Arrow shot a Qwardian arrow into the Central Power Battery, causing it to overload and explode. We thought Hal had died in the blast…”
“No, he had escaped,” Barry picked up the sad tale. “Though in a much reduced state, saved by his ring. By that time, he had internalized the energy of the Central Power Battery, which he was later able to re-form. On Terminus.”
An involuntary gasp escaped from Wonder Woman.
“Terminus?” Commander Steel frowned.
“The ruins of a small moon, adrift in the Nexus of All Time and Space… It’s where the final battle of the Crisis occurred…” Superman explained, by the looks of it not liking that one bit.
“Do you know of any reason why Parallax would know me?” Alan Scott leaned forward, as did Jay Garrick.
“The cybermechs in Gotham called me by name, too.”
The Justice Leaguers looked genuinely at a loss, and the JSAers were met only with shrugs and silence.
“Barry, what is he doing in the Nexus?” All the blood was drained from Wally West’s face; he could only recall stark horror and tragedy on Terminus.
Barry faced his former protégé--- now his elder!--- squarely. “He’s building a legion of cybermechs. And that’s not all. The Anti-Monitor’s Machine has been reactivated. I think he plans on assailing the Multiverse, to re-make reality in his own image, to---.”
The roar of a jet-powered engine cut him off. The assembled heroes leaped to their feet as a huge black utility vehicle bristling with armament and shielding surged into the cavern, skidding sideways to a screeching halt.
They were speechless. On the front of the vehicle was the yellow symbol of a Bat…
A figure in blue armor, also with the Bat-symbol emblazoned boldly in yellow on the chest, bounded from the car. He wore a pointy-eared helm, which with a quick movement he doffed.
“Muscles and bones aren’t quite what they used to be,” The newly-shaven face of Gotham Police Commissioner Bruce Wayne glared at their stunned faces. “This damn armor will have to do.”
“I knew you couldn’t stay away, old friend.” Superman could not contain a grin.
“Save it, Clark. We’ve got big trouble.” Batman walked over to the wall-sized monitor screen and turned it on. The picture was divided into a dozen separate images, and all of them were the same: major cities across America, in various degrees of devastation, all fire and twisted metal. “Reports of cybermech invasion are coming in from all across the country. Looks like Parallax is beginning his attack.”
“Then there’s no time to waste,” Barry Allen declared, glancing at Wally, who nodded back. “Let’s split up---.”
“That’s not all,” Batman’s growl interrupted him. He turned to face them again, staring directly at Wonder Woman. “Paradise Island was hit first.”
Diana’s eyes became as hard as stone. “If he’s harmed my sisters…”
“There was a battle,” Batman nodded. “But destruction didn’t seem to be Hal’s intention. It was more of a surgical strike, on the Isle of Healing.”
Realization dawned on Alan Scott. “Power Girl!”
Superman’s eyebrow arched in alarm.
“Yes,” said Batman. “She’s alive, but she’s in the hands of our greatest enemy…!”