Post by David on Nov 24, 2009 18:55:21 GMT -5
He was a Titan of Dread, with a gaping maw that hid a furnace to burn a star, his cracked armor steaming with anti-matter. Figures in capes and masks swarmed him, attacking with nuclear blasts, heat-vision, bolts of lightning and fists with the power to pulverize a planet.
It was the Multiverse’s last stand. It was Ragnarok. Gotterdammerung. Armageddon.
She saw it all clearly, perched on a rocky crag on Terminus, outside the Anti-Monitor’s cyclopean fortress. Like so many others, she had fallen; but unlike so many others, she was getting up. The battlefield was strewn with the dead bodies of heroes from every universe, all of whom had gladly given their life to defeat this ultimate enemy of all…
“IT IS OVER, SUPERMAN. AS I HAVE CRUSHED SO MANY OTHERS, I CRUSH YOU. THE LAST SON OF KRYPTON DIES AGAIN!”
Kal.
Squirming in the clutch of one colossal fist was Superman. He strained and pulled, the agony clear on his face, but he could not escape Omegaddon’s grip. In seconds he would be dead. The greatest hero the Multiverse had ever known--- the only family she ever had. Her mentor. Her cousin...
Without a second thought, she exploded into space back into the fray. Faster than any rocket, she aimed herself at the Anti-Monitor.
“Kara, no!”
Her cousin’s warning fell on deaf ears. Kara Zor-El, Supergirl of Earth-Two, slammed into Omegaddon with enough force to send the celestial giant reeling. She never saw if he had released Superman because there was a roar of adrenalin in her ears that filled the universe. A berserker’s rage was upon her, and all she could see was the incalculable horror and suffering caused by her foe. Every muscle and fiber of her being screamed out to be unleashed. She pressed her attack with a relentlessness that shocked even the Anti-Monitor. She would smash him into microns, she would hurl the husk back down onto Terminus and destroy the Machine…
For a moment, those watching in stunned horror thought she might do it, so furious and unexpected her assault.
For a moment…
“NOW YOU DIE, SUPERGIRL!”
Then all she felt--- all she knew!--- was a white-hot searing wave of venom and power. It flayed off her blue and red costume, her skin, her bones, her consciousness… The blast was so filled with hate and anger that it warped both realities and infinities, echoing across universes and resonating back on itself.
She heard cries, wails of anguish or loss…
Was she dead or dreaming?
Now the screams were hers. She was falling through the atmosphere, enveloped in flames and straining with supreme effort. She was half-carrying, half-guiding an enormous metallic structure, bits of it falling apart around her, but most of it held together with green, glowing willpower.
The JLA Satellite. It had been blown out of orbit and only she could prevent its impact from wiping out millions.
But her powers…? She was weak… In growing agony with every second. The heat of atmospheric entry scorched her. It was killing her but she would not fail…!
She couldn’t. She was Kara Zor-El, Supergirl. Superman’s cousin…
Karen Starr, Power Girl, woke with a gasping start.
She was drenched in sweat, her breast heaving. The dream had been so vivid… Sitting up in the bed, she examined her arms, touching the unblemished pink skin of her face; she was sure she was going to discover charred flesh, but it was smooth, whole.
Where was she? It seemed to be the bedchamber of an exotic potentate, filled as it was with elaborate hangings of weird and unfathomable designs, devices of inscrutable purpose and objects d’art of incalculable value and origin. Through a tall window, all that could be seen was a drifting star field she didn’t recognize; gravity was wrong, too.
Clothes had been laid out for her. Not her Power Girl uniform, but familiar clothes nonetheless, of red and blue and yellow. She held up the fabric, staring at the ‘S’ symbol, puzzled. Well, it was either that or remain naked. But she would be damned if she wore the headband.
She had dreamed she was Supergirl. That was weird. She had heard about that other survivor of Krypton, Superman’s cousin apparently, but she had never met her… In her dream, Supergirl was older, older than Karen was now, perhaps… And that awful, desperate battle… Who or what was the Anti-Monitor? She thought she could still feel the pain of that nightmare-blast.
Either way, the navel-gazing would have to wait. She had to find out where she was, and what had happened to her teammates. She was a member of the Justice Society of America now, and she needed to get back to them. The last thing she remembered was the JLA Satellite going down, and her powers fading as she and Alan Scott struggled to avoid a ground impact.
The door to the bedchamber was not locked. She emerged onto an open walkway on ancient, pitted stone, leading to another oddly organic-looking tower. She had to catch her breath. The view was expansive, overlooking a lunar surface that was pocked and scarred with ages and cataclysms. The panoramic view of the stars gave her a better idea of where she was: some sort of island, unteethered in the vastness of space. Strange stars scintillated above, and undulating miasmas of energy floated like chromatic ribbons between them. The structure on which she stood seemed to be a ruined keep, and looked almost grown from the yellowed and gray rock of the shattered moon.
This wasn’t Earth-Two.
Power Girl took a minute to take it all in. In the distance was an ominous-looking tower shaped like a tuning fork, and around it was a hive of activity. In fact, she could just hear a steady hum of industry coming from all around her: this place was not deserted. In fact the clang and beats reminded her of preparations for war.
She felt a profound sense of unease. There was something about this place that frightened her, and Karen Starr was very rarely frightened. She strained, but try as she might, she could not engage her super-senses, or take flight off the walkway; her abilities had indeed faded, though she thought she could detect a kernel of power lurking within her. They had ebbed, but perhaps they could return…?
“Beautiful, isn’t it?”
He came floating down towards her, limned in green and sporting a power ring. With a start, she recognized him: this was Hal Jordan, albeit some years older and in a more sinister-looking costume.
“Jordan, you’re here too…? What’s going on? What is this place, and why does it freak me out so much?”
“It’s called the Nexus of All Time and Space. It’s the one place in the Multiverse touched by everywhere and everywhen. This remnant of a moon is called Terminus, and the reason why it freaks you out so much is because a long time ago you died here.”
He landed in front of her and she recoiled. Died? The words stirred a truth in her. She staggered, falling against the low wall of the walkway and sliding down, her hands in her hair, her eyes squeezed shut. The events of her dream came rushing back into her head.
The final battle against Omegaddon. She had just seen the heroic sacrifice of Power Girl, final surviving member of the JSA--- the Last Daughter of Krypton. Her universe obliterated, she had given her life to give the Flash a chance at destroying the Machine. Kara had been stunned and humbled by that kind of valor. So when the Anti-Monitor had seized Superman, her cousin--- the greatest hero the Multiverse would ever know!--- she did not hesitate. She had done what Power Girl would have done: she had rushed in where angels would have feared to tread. She had saved Superman, giving them all a final chance, but she had paid the ultimate price. The Anti-Monitor had killed her with his blast.
“I was… Supergirl?” Karen Star looked up at Parallax, tears streaking her face.
There was no pity on his face when he nodded. “Your cousin is Superman of the world you know as Earth-Two. He lives today because of your sacrifice.”
“But I don’t understand,” Power Girl dashed away tears and got back to her feet. “I’m still alive. I’ve never been to Earth-Two---.”
“Fool, you were born on Earth-Two! You weren’t just destroyed by the Anti-Monitor’s blast,” Parallax cut her off, taking some satisfaction in her distress and confusion. “You hurt him so bad, Omegaddon hit you with everything he had, with all the power of a cosmic tsunami. You were utterly, intrinsically devolved! He sent your very essence hurtling across space and time with such vehemence and rancor that it had nowhere else to go but back onto itself in a cycle that lasted aeons and milliseconds at the same time. After the Anti-Monitor’s defeat, and the reconstitution of the Multiverse, you were reborn on the world you know as Earth-One. It had been the home of the original Power Girl, before reality rebooted itself, and history took a slightly different course. Funny how things evolved from there, with you taking her name without even realizing it…”
His laugh held no mirth.
Power Girl was appalled. She sensed the truth of his words in her very cells, but it was too much to take in… Everything she knew about herself was--- if not wrong, then certainly seen from a vastly transformed perspective. In wonder and disbelief she touched her clothes, the garments of Supergirl.
“But then what happened to my powers? And what am I doing back here, at the Nexus?”
“I can’t be sure, but I think your powers fading is a residual effect of your devolution--- you see, you are the only person in the Multiverse this has happened to. Returning to the universe of your origin must have nullified them, as you were never meant to return there. I imagine if you had stayed long enough, there would have been more disastrous side-effects. As for why you are back on Terminus, that is a far more simple answer,” Parallax approached her with a toothsome smile, and she craned her neck up at him, standing her ground. “I intend to succeed where the Anti-Monitor failed. I have his Machine and an unlimited source of power. I am going to make myself the Master of the Multiverse, and shape it into my own image. And the new god of all reality needs a goddess worthy of his puissance,” his grin broadened as Power Girl blanched. “You, my dear…”
Earth-Two…
They fell out of holes in the sky, moving between realities with a singular deadly purpose: havoc and conquest. They were cybermechs, adamantine engines of destruction, all armor and armament powered by the sentient brains of the Multiverses’ deadliest warriors. They took organic forms, gliding on razor-sharp wings or racing on reticulated legs, blasting indiscriminately with energy weapons across the cities of America. And not even the National Guard was a match for their firepower.
In their long abandoned mountain headquarters, former members of the Justice League with their Earth-One allies the Justice Society, watched in horror as the scenes of carnage came in on their monitor board.
“Those are the same bruisers that hit us in Gotham,” Commander Steel slammed his fist down on the console, shaking the obsolete control station. “Whoever is after us, is making his move now, big time.”
As if to underscore his words, the mountain shook and there came the rumble of distant explosions from outside.
“What’re we standin’ around jawin’for?” Wildcat spoke for all of them, snarling out of the side of his mouth. “Let’s go clobber those tin cans!”
“Think for a minute!” Batman hissed, his cold grey eyes sweeping them. “This attack is timed and coordinated--- we don’t have enough manpower to defend every major city in America! If we have any chance of defeating Parallax, we have to take the battle to him.”
“Bruce, I won’t leave all these people at the mercy of those killing machines,” Superman faced his old friend squarely. “Hal may have outmaneuvered us, but there’s nothing we can---.”
The huge monitor board crackled and the scenes of devastation were replaced by the image of familiar figures: younger versions of Superman, Wonder Woman and the Flash.
“Good to see you all back in uniform,” said Jon-El, and there was no mistaking the pride and awe in his voice. The gathered assemblage were his godfathers and godmothers, but they were also his heroes, the men and women whose legacies he and his own teammates strove everyday to honor. “We are preparing a counter offensive to the cybermech attack as we speak. I’ve called in the League Reserves, the Titans and the Outsiders; we’ll throw these monsters back into space. You and the others go do what you need to do.”
If it was even possible, Kal-El’s chest swelled as he gazed up into the eyes of his son. It was Diana who had taken an involuntary step forward, raising a tentative hand to the image of her daughter on the screen. Lyta, the golden-haired daughter of Diana and Steve Trevor, the Amazon Warrior-Princess the world now knew as Wonder Woman, barely reacted to the naked emotion on her mother’s face, except to nod sharply, conveying with her eyes what she could not say aloud.
Carrie Allen had no such compunction.
“Dad!”
The image of the Justice League’s Flash blurred and vanished--- and the female speedster reappeared in the flesh in the old HQ, skidding to a halt in front of her father. Barry Allen seized his daughter in a fierce embrace, unable to hold back his own tears.
The joy of their reunion was short-lived. Batman faced the monitor screen, snapping them all back to the urgency of the moment.
“Jon, defending the Earth is up to you and your League; the rest of us have unfinished business to attend to.” Bruce Wayne said with grim resolve.
For the last time, for better or worse, they were going after one of their own…
Earth-One…
The strike of the magical lightning had erupted like a bomb in the ruins of the U.N.’s General Assembly Chamber. Hawkman lay where he’d been blasted, battered and bruised by his beating from the corrupted Captain Marvel. He was slowly coming-to, his vision swimming before him, sharp enough to show the outline of someone looming over him…
“Hawk--- Mr. Hawkman, sir,”
Carter Hall tore off the shattered remains of his mask and pulled himself up on one elbow, shaking his head to clear it. He had not expected to wake up at all, and he certainly had not expected to hear the timid tone of a child…
Focus sharpened and a dark-haired boy of about 13 came into view standing over him, looking terrified and relieved at the same time.
“Billy…?” Hawkman breathed in profound relief and some confusion.
Around them, the members of the Young All-Stars were rising unsteadily to their feet, all of them looking on with perplexed wonder at the little boy horribly out of place where only moments before they had waged a terrible battle against the World’s Mightiest Mortal.
“Who the hell is this kid?” Icicle groaned, rubbing the back of his bruised head.
Billy Batson stared at them with haunted eyes, tears welling in them.
Hawkman ignored Icicle, pulling himself to his feet and reaching a tentative hand towards Billy Batson. “Billy, it’s alright. Calling the magic lightning must have freed you from whatever corrupting influence---.”
But the boy shied away from the JSA’s former chairman, shaking his head and covering his ears. “No, it’s not that easy,” he moaned. “I can hear his voice in my head, commanding me--- demanding that I speak his name,”
“Whose voice…?”
“The wizard’s,” Billy whined, looking around as if afraid to be overheard.
“I don’t understand,” Hawkman frowned gently. “I thought the wizard was your benefactor. Why should his power corrupt you…?”
“Power always corrupts!” Billy hissed. “Not even the immortals are immune to human nature! And now the darkest aspect of the wizard has taken over, and I’m afraid something awful is going to happen soon if we don’t help him.” The boy sank to his knees, covering his mouth, unintelligible sounds coming muffled from behind his hands.
The others came hesitantly closer, but Billy could fight it no longer. Raging against his own will, he tore his hands away from his mouth and yelled: “He needs my help! SHAZAM!”
Thunder split the air and the flash of magical lightning exploded again into the assembly chamber, forcing Hawkman and the Young All-Stars to duck and cover. Captain Marvel, his suit so dark a crimson it was almost black, surveyed the scene with a sneer, then shot up into the air, arcing across the sky and out of sight.
“Wait a minute,” the Ray, who had been listening intently, climbed to his feet again and looked from the fleeing figure to Hawkman, understanding dawning on his face. “Let me get this straight: that boy was Captain Marvel, and he transforms by saying the name of the wizard of that mountain hanging over the city…?”
Hawkman nodded, helping Atomika and Starman back to their feet. “Something is horribly wrong. The wizard is a benevolent immortal, but if he’s been corrupted somehow we’re in a lot of trouble.”
“What’s our next move?” The question came from Northwind, but all of the Young All-Stars hung on the reply.
Without hesitation, Hawkman kicked off the ground, spreading his wings and beckoning for them to follow. “We’ve got to take the Rock of Eternity.”
Jim Corrigan had lost the Artifacts of Fate, was little more than an insubstantial ghost again, and had never felt so helpless. He had been outplayed and all-but destroyed by Black Shazam, and now had brought his friends and teammates back to the Rock of Eternity in a desperate attempt to wrest it from the mad wizard, but the apparition before them now seemed more like the kindly old version of Shazam…
{What is going on? Why have you turned against mankind?} Sandman demanded of the spectral old man.
A shadow passed across the face of the wizard and he hung his head. “I am not as I have once been. I am inextricably bound to the Rock of Eternity, and the Rock is a Multiversal constant--- it cannot exist in two places at once. What we are experiencing right now is an incursion from another dimension. Another facet of me from the world you know as Earth-Two has supplanted my Rock with his own, and the two incarnations vie for supremacy, but the inter-dimensional harmonic stress is too great! It is tearing the Rock apart!”
“Great,” Tigress nodded, pleased. “Then we win.”
The wizard looked at them sadly. “You don’t understand. The Rock of Eternity is a Multiversal constant! If it is destroyed, not only will the conflagration destroy this planet--- indeed, most of this Solar System!--- but the entire vibratory frequency of the Multiverse will be irrevocably damaged. The Multiverse itself will begin to unravel then, causing untold chaos and death on an infinite scale.”
“Oh.” Tigress blinked, correcting herself. “Then we lose.”
“Big time.” Hourman agreed.
“What do we have to do to stop this?” Cyclone asked, even her normally cool composure faltering under the ghostly wizard’s dire pronouncements.
The form of the kindly old man flickered and faded, coming back into focus after a moment.
“You must take control of the Rock. Black Shazam commands it now, but if you seize the Core of Eternity, you can wrest it from him! Hurry now, before it’s too late--- Arghhh!” The ghost spasmed and suddenly his form was dispersed into smoky wisps, leaving in his place a familiar wizened figure of flesh and blood, glaring at them balefully. “Fools! This is my domain! I am master here! Die!”
Lethal arcane lightning sizzled from his hands toward them, crackling with enough power to roast a city. Emerald flashed in the stone-caverns of the Ouroborea, illuminating the teeth-gritted visage of Jade, her Power Pulse flaring out to meet the fury of the wizard.
“I got this! Find the Core!” she yelled over the cacophony of the magical assault.
The wizard snarled, and redoubled his efforts. But Alan Scott’s daughter held her ground, throwing it back at him in a blinding fury of light.
“Come on,” spectral Jim Corrigan called to her stunned teammates. “I can take us to the Core!”
Without further hesitation, Sandman called the retreat.
Earth-Two…
“Are you sure this is going to work?” Barry Allen looked from his daughter to his former protégé, desperate intensity in his earnest blue eyes.
With the attack of the cybermechs raging outside the mountain complex that had once been the original HQ of the Justice League of America, the retired founding members and their allies from Earth-One, the Justice Society, had retreated to an underground bunker filled with the trophies, memorabilia and relics of a bygone age. The cavernous storehouse also held one other item, the one the speedsters worked on at that moment, the others waiting nearby in anticipation: a cosmic treadmill.
“Frankly, no,” Carrie Allen explained, calibrating the machine according to specifications fed to her over comms by JLA teammate Ryan Choi, AKA the Atom. “This whole contraption was reverse-engineered by Dr. Palmer and Ryan after they had studied the one belonging to the Barry Allen of that other Earth (Editor’s Note: see Flash #23!); but after his wife died, and Dr. Palmer went to live in Morlaidh, the Treadmill was brought here, untested and forgotten. Until now.”
Wally West, his hair graying beneath the silver helm so similar to Jay Garrick’s, placed a hand on his still-youthful-appearing mentor’s shoulder. “Because you were there only a few hours ago, Dr. Choi says we should still be able to see your trail in the Speed Force; we’ll be able to follow that back across the Multiverse to the Nexus and Terminus. This will work, Barry.”
Barry nodded tightly, as Carrie pronounced they were ready. Ready for action, the assembled heroes stepped forward: Jay Garrick, Alan Scott, Wildcat and Commander Steel of the Justice Society, and the retired Justice Leaguers Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Hawkman and Hawkwoman.
“Mind if this old man lends a hand?” Jay Garrick stepped onto the treads of the machine, joining Barry, Wally and Carrie.
“We’d be honored,” Barry allowed himself a smile.
Wally West felt a lump in his throat. Barry Allen had always been his idol, and Jay Garrick had been Barry’s. It was Jay’s exploits--- albeit in comic book form in this reality--- that had inspired Barry Allen to take the mantle of the Flash. And so, Wally considered, he and Carrie owed a debt to the elder speedster as well. Something about the four of them standing on that platform felt fraught with destiny, and while the others were gathering closer so Alan Scott could encase them with the green beam of his ring, Wally, pulled Barry aside and said: “Be careful out there, okay? Carrie just got you back, and Aunt Iris hasn’t even see you yet--- I don’t she can take losing you again.”
Barry Allen clutched his former sidekick’s arm, his expression softening. “Hal has to be stopped, Wally. I love you all, but I’ll do whatever I have to do--- for the sake of Iris and Carrie and everyone.”
Wally swallowed hard. Then the ground shook, and something big hit the mountain HQ!
Before anyone could react, the roof caved in and two enormous metallic legs poked through the shower of raining rubble. The gleaming head of a cybermech leered over them, and there were more behind! Laser blasts erupted from their bristling, armored hides, impacting dangerously close to the cosmic treadmill, forcing Alan Scott to re-direct his power ring to shield them.
“They’re going for the treadmill!” Hawkman yelled and sprang into the air, swinging his spiked morning star. Hawkwoman winged after him with a fearsome yell as dozens of cybermechs dropped into the bunker.
Superman and Wonder Woman rose into the air, but were forestalled by J’onn J’onzz. *There are too many for Katar and Shayera to handle, but you must go and confront Hal. I will stay behind to cover your escape. Go!*
Without a backwards glance, the Martian Manhunter flew after the Hawks straight at the mass of enemies.
Batman wasted no time. “Lantern, the shield! You heard the man, speedsters! GO!”
Alan Scott enveloped them all and moved them within the force-field of the treadmill just as the speedsters started running. In less than a second, they blinked out of existence.
Earth-One...
Jennie-Lynn was giving it all she had, but the wizard was flush with might! After the magical lightning, he threw at her blasting spells, summoned shoggoths and even commanded the stone of the Rock to reach for her. Thus far, Jade had eluded him, repulsing every attack, but was quickly feeling drained, her light growing dimmer.
“You’re power is almost spent,” the wizard taunted as she landed in front of him, her chest heaving with exertion but her face pinched with determination. “In a moment you will be dead, and I will have your friends!”
Jennie-Lynn clenched her fist in front of her defiantly, but its light was swiftly fading. Seeing that, Black Shazam laughed and lurched forward, surprising her with a physical attack! His gnarled and yellowed hands were around her throat before she could throw up a defense. He bore her down, throttling her mercilessly, his laughter echoing through the halls of the Rock…
The ghost of Jim Corrigan led Sandman and the Young All-Stars deep within the gutrock of the Rock of Eternity, as they tore headlong through twisting tunnels and down unlit passages not trod in millennia. The entire Rock had begun to shudder at frequent intervals, as if it were trying to tear itself apart.
Cyclone and Hourman raced hand-in-hand; she had to contain her natural inclination to speed, though with the Miraclo coursing through him, Hourman was no slouch.
“We’re not going to make it in time,” Jesse fretted under her breath to him.
Rick squeezed her hand reassuringly and gave her a fortifying look. “We’ll make it in time, baby. Just in the nick of time. Or I’m not the Man of the Hour.”
A deep, cackling laugh reverberated through the halls and galleries of the Rock, setting all their hairs on end.
“Jennie!” Obsidian moaned, turning to look back and melting into his shadow form.
“Wait…!” Tigress called after him, but Sandman called back to her.
{Let him go! We’re here!}
They emerged into a vast chamber, hewn from the very heart of the Rock. At the center of the chamber was a pedestal and upon it sat a warmly throbbing crystal of purest light. But the chamber wasn’t empty. In fact, it was the scene of devastation. A gaping hole had been blown in the side of the chamber wall, from which came wind and rain, and in the midst of it all was Captain Marvel. He had a maniacal expression on his face, and in one hand he held aloft the Ray, and at his feet was a jumble of wingfeathers that could only have been Hawkman and Northwind. Icicle and Starman were blasting away at him from a distance, and Atomika was crumpled against a wall looking dazed.
Cap hurled the Ray at Starman, knocking both out of commission, and with a glare caused Icicle to cease his assault. Then, noticing the new arrivals, he reached over to the pedestal and grasped the glowing Core of Eternity, and tossed it jauntily in his hand.
“Looking for this?”
The Nexus of All Time and Space...
Barry, Wally, Carrie and Jay ran atop the Cosmic Treadmill, the others floating behind them, as it traveled the iridescent aether between universes. Coached in what to look for, Carrie was piloting them, tracking her father’s trail backward towards the Nexus of All Time and Space--- which was why she hadn’t seen him at first.
But the others did. He ran alongside them, a dark smudge against the miasma of undulating chromatic waves. The Black Flash.
Jay and Barry exchanged grim looks--- they’d both seen him before, and knew what he portended.
“What does he want?” Wally cried, hysteria creeping into his voice, noticing the ebony phantasm keeping up with them. It turned its death’s head towards them, empty eye sockets aimed at Barry.
“It wants me,” Barry called over the roar of interdimensional transit.
As if on cue, the Black Flash extended one skeletal arm towards them, a bony figure stabbing towards Barry. “I will have you at last,” it pronounced in a voice that was like rusted metal scraping together. “This day, dies the Flash!”
“Whoa!” Carrie finally saw the apparition, and almost stumbled. She was caught by her father and steadied. She continued to run, but could not keep her eyes from the horrible sight.
“Get lost!” Jay Garrick whipped off his helm and hurled it at the ghoulish figure. The shining metal cut through it and it vanished as suddenly as it appeared, the helm spinning forever through time and space. Jay handled its loss with a shrug and a wink at his fellow speedsters. “Every one of us is in a race with the Black Flash,” he called out to them, his jaw set squarely. “He hasn’t caught a single one of us yet!”
A light flared on the Treadmill’s dashboard.
“We’re approaching the Nexus!” Carrie told them. “Disengaging the tachyonic field--- Mark!”
The Flashes rapidly decreased their speed and the space around the Cosmic Treadmill changed abruptly: a world materialized around them, a bleak lunarscape of pitted, ancient stone, bleached white as bone. In the distance was a tower of immense construction, forked as if attenuated to some cosmic frequency… They were in the vast, open courtyard of a cyclopean fortress, one that was familiar to them all on an implicit level and filled them with a dread they did not dare to name…
As the Treadmill powered down, Alan Scott dissolved his protective emerald sphere, and the heroes took a few tentative steps on the alien stone.
“Terminus,” Superman was the first to speak, his voice oddly hollow in the deadening void of the Nexus. “This was the fortress of the Anti-Monitor. Where my cousin Kara died.” His face could not hide the sorrow mirrored in his voice. He swept it all with his x-ray vision--- then suddenly held up one hand to keep the others back.
They descended from on high, he ablaze with jagged green fire, and she trailing behind him, the chain in his hand linked to the collar around her neck.
“Wrong, Superman,” said Parallax, his costume transformed into formidable battle armor, his other hand gripping a ring-generated executioner’s sword. His voice dripped with scorn and hatred. “Your cousin was transmogrified, hurled across the Multiverse and reborn on Earth-One to become the hero known as Power Girl.” He yanked the chain in his grip, and Power Girl, clad in the blue and red raiment of the Supergirl she had once been, looked out at them, bound and helpless, but defiance burning in her eyes.
“Karen!” Commander Steel made a move forward, but he was restrained by Wildcat.
Parallax laughed, looping the chain around his gloved fist a few times and surveying the heroes arrayed against him with a derisive sneer. “So kind of all my enemies to deliver themselves to me at once. You see, your fates were sealed the moment you stepped on Terminus.” He pointed over the horizon at the throbbing, distant tower. “The Anti-Monitor imbued his Omega Machine with many powers, and even now it begins the build-up to its ultimate purpose of re-making the Multiverse. Of course, I shall be its architect. I await only the arrival of my ally, Black Shazam. But the Machine has another purpose as well: it is a negatronic actualizer, and it has created anti-matter simulacrums of each and every one of you.”
The shadowy wraith-like forms flew into the courtyard, whirling above them like moths caught in a tornado; they emitted a high-pitched keening wail, as if hungry to devour their positive matter doppelgangers. Only Parallax’s command kept them leashed for the moment.
“Hal, this is madness!” Diana lifted the visor of her golden eagle helm, imploring her former friend and comrade, her eyes pleading with him. “For the sake of all we stood for, for all we meant to one another… By all the gods, I would have given my life for you!”
Her plea had no impact on his stony expression. “So you said the last time you all gathered to destroy me. But here, at the moment of my ultimate victory, I can at last end this charade. I am not Hal Jordan.”
His pronouncement had the desired effect, the words striking the former JLAers like blows. Parallax’s sneer twisted his lip, making the once-handsome face ugly.
But for Alan Scott, it was all coming together. “You came after us. You brought us to Earth-Two, for some insane revenge against the JSA, as well! Just who the hell are you, and what have you done with the real Hal Jordan?”
“Oh, this is Jordan’s body,” Parallax protested in mock offense. “I took it from him shortly after the Crisis, after the Flash’s noble sacrifice, when Jordan was alone and in mourning.”
Horror washed over all of them at these words, and shame that they could ever doubt the nobility and heroism of the friend they had lost to this monster.
“I took his body and put my brain in it!” Parallax hissed, eyes wide in an almost feverish passion. “And I took his ring, this wonderful ring, though it took me years to bend it to my not inconsiderable will. Oh the havoc I caused with it! But it wasn’t enough. I needed the Central Power Battery… and when that wasn’t enough, I realized I needed the ultimate weapon. The Omega Machine of the Anti-Monitor. And when I am done remaking reality in my own image, I will discard this body and put my brain in this... superior specimen.” He jerked roughly on Power Girl’s chain.
Realization dawned in Alan Scott. “Hughes…” He breathed, stunned but certain now.
“That’s right, Green Lantern,” Parallax snarled, his voice rising over the howl of the shadow-demons above them as he raised his blazing sword-construct. “I was Ulysses Hughes, but you and the rest of your damned Justice Society will remember me better as the Ultra-Humanite…!”
It was the Multiverse’s last stand. It was Ragnarok. Gotterdammerung. Armageddon.
She saw it all clearly, perched on a rocky crag on Terminus, outside the Anti-Monitor’s cyclopean fortress. Like so many others, she had fallen; but unlike so many others, she was getting up. The battlefield was strewn with the dead bodies of heroes from every universe, all of whom had gladly given their life to defeat this ultimate enemy of all…
“IT IS OVER, SUPERMAN. AS I HAVE CRUSHED SO MANY OTHERS, I CRUSH YOU. THE LAST SON OF KRYPTON DIES AGAIN!”
Kal.
Squirming in the clutch of one colossal fist was Superman. He strained and pulled, the agony clear on his face, but he could not escape Omegaddon’s grip. In seconds he would be dead. The greatest hero the Multiverse had ever known--- the only family she ever had. Her mentor. Her cousin...
Without a second thought, she exploded into space back into the fray. Faster than any rocket, she aimed herself at the Anti-Monitor.
“Kara, no!”
Her cousin’s warning fell on deaf ears. Kara Zor-El, Supergirl of Earth-Two, slammed into Omegaddon with enough force to send the celestial giant reeling. She never saw if he had released Superman because there was a roar of adrenalin in her ears that filled the universe. A berserker’s rage was upon her, and all she could see was the incalculable horror and suffering caused by her foe. Every muscle and fiber of her being screamed out to be unleashed. She pressed her attack with a relentlessness that shocked even the Anti-Monitor. She would smash him into microns, she would hurl the husk back down onto Terminus and destroy the Machine…
For a moment, those watching in stunned horror thought she might do it, so furious and unexpected her assault.
For a moment…
“NOW YOU DIE, SUPERGIRL!”
Then all she felt--- all she knew!--- was a white-hot searing wave of venom and power. It flayed off her blue and red costume, her skin, her bones, her consciousness… The blast was so filled with hate and anger that it warped both realities and infinities, echoing across universes and resonating back on itself.
She heard cries, wails of anguish or loss…
Was she dead or dreaming?
Now the screams were hers. She was falling through the atmosphere, enveloped in flames and straining with supreme effort. She was half-carrying, half-guiding an enormous metallic structure, bits of it falling apart around her, but most of it held together with green, glowing willpower.
The JLA Satellite. It had been blown out of orbit and only she could prevent its impact from wiping out millions.
But her powers…? She was weak… In growing agony with every second. The heat of atmospheric entry scorched her. It was killing her but she would not fail…!
She couldn’t. She was Kara Zor-El, Supergirl. Superman’s cousin…
*******
Karen Starr, Power Girl, woke with a gasping start.
She was drenched in sweat, her breast heaving. The dream had been so vivid… Sitting up in the bed, she examined her arms, touching the unblemished pink skin of her face; she was sure she was going to discover charred flesh, but it was smooth, whole.
Where was she? It seemed to be the bedchamber of an exotic potentate, filled as it was with elaborate hangings of weird and unfathomable designs, devices of inscrutable purpose and objects d’art of incalculable value and origin. Through a tall window, all that could be seen was a drifting star field she didn’t recognize; gravity was wrong, too.
Clothes had been laid out for her. Not her Power Girl uniform, but familiar clothes nonetheless, of red and blue and yellow. She held up the fabric, staring at the ‘S’ symbol, puzzled. Well, it was either that or remain naked. But she would be damned if she wore the headband.
She had dreamed she was Supergirl. That was weird. She had heard about that other survivor of Krypton, Superman’s cousin apparently, but she had never met her… In her dream, Supergirl was older, older than Karen was now, perhaps… And that awful, desperate battle… Who or what was the Anti-Monitor? She thought she could still feel the pain of that nightmare-blast.
Either way, the navel-gazing would have to wait. She had to find out where she was, and what had happened to her teammates. She was a member of the Justice Society of America now, and she needed to get back to them. The last thing she remembered was the JLA Satellite going down, and her powers fading as she and Alan Scott struggled to avoid a ground impact.
The door to the bedchamber was not locked. She emerged onto an open walkway on ancient, pitted stone, leading to another oddly organic-looking tower. She had to catch her breath. The view was expansive, overlooking a lunar surface that was pocked and scarred with ages and cataclysms. The panoramic view of the stars gave her a better idea of where she was: some sort of island, unteethered in the vastness of space. Strange stars scintillated above, and undulating miasmas of energy floated like chromatic ribbons between them. The structure on which she stood seemed to be a ruined keep, and looked almost grown from the yellowed and gray rock of the shattered moon.
This wasn’t Earth-Two.
Power Girl took a minute to take it all in. In the distance was an ominous-looking tower shaped like a tuning fork, and around it was a hive of activity. In fact, she could just hear a steady hum of industry coming from all around her: this place was not deserted. In fact the clang and beats reminded her of preparations for war.
She felt a profound sense of unease. There was something about this place that frightened her, and Karen Starr was very rarely frightened. She strained, but try as she might, she could not engage her super-senses, or take flight off the walkway; her abilities had indeed faded, though she thought she could detect a kernel of power lurking within her. They had ebbed, but perhaps they could return…?
“Beautiful, isn’t it?”
He came floating down towards her, limned in green and sporting a power ring. With a start, she recognized him: this was Hal Jordan, albeit some years older and in a more sinister-looking costume.
“Jordan, you’re here too…? What’s going on? What is this place, and why does it freak me out so much?”
“It’s called the Nexus of All Time and Space. It’s the one place in the Multiverse touched by everywhere and everywhen. This remnant of a moon is called Terminus, and the reason why it freaks you out so much is because a long time ago you died here.”
He landed in front of her and she recoiled. Died? The words stirred a truth in her. She staggered, falling against the low wall of the walkway and sliding down, her hands in her hair, her eyes squeezed shut. The events of her dream came rushing back into her head.
The final battle against Omegaddon. She had just seen the heroic sacrifice of Power Girl, final surviving member of the JSA--- the Last Daughter of Krypton. Her universe obliterated, she had given her life to give the Flash a chance at destroying the Machine. Kara had been stunned and humbled by that kind of valor. So when the Anti-Monitor had seized Superman, her cousin--- the greatest hero the Multiverse would ever know!--- she did not hesitate. She had done what Power Girl would have done: she had rushed in where angels would have feared to tread. She had saved Superman, giving them all a final chance, but she had paid the ultimate price. The Anti-Monitor had killed her with his blast.
“I was… Supergirl?” Karen Star looked up at Parallax, tears streaking her face.
There was no pity on his face when he nodded. “Your cousin is Superman of the world you know as Earth-Two. He lives today because of your sacrifice.”
“But I don’t understand,” Power Girl dashed away tears and got back to her feet. “I’m still alive. I’ve never been to Earth-Two---.”
“Fool, you were born on Earth-Two! You weren’t just destroyed by the Anti-Monitor’s blast,” Parallax cut her off, taking some satisfaction in her distress and confusion. “You hurt him so bad, Omegaddon hit you with everything he had, with all the power of a cosmic tsunami. You were utterly, intrinsically devolved! He sent your very essence hurtling across space and time with such vehemence and rancor that it had nowhere else to go but back onto itself in a cycle that lasted aeons and milliseconds at the same time. After the Anti-Monitor’s defeat, and the reconstitution of the Multiverse, you were reborn on the world you know as Earth-One. It had been the home of the original Power Girl, before reality rebooted itself, and history took a slightly different course. Funny how things evolved from there, with you taking her name without even realizing it…”
His laugh held no mirth.
Power Girl was appalled. She sensed the truth of his words in her very cells, but it was too much to take in… Everything she knew about herself was--- if not wrong, then certainly seen from a vastly transformed perspective. In wonder and disbelief she touched her clothes, the garments of Supergirl.
“But then what happened to my powers? And what am I doing back here, at the Nexus?”
“I can’t be sure, but I think your powers fading is a residual effect of your devolution--- you see, you are the only person in the Multiverse this has happened to. Returning to the universe of your origin must have nullified them, as you were never meant to return there. I imagine if you had stayed long enough, there would have been more disastrous side-effects. As for why you are back on Terminus, that is a far more simple answer,” Parallax approached her with a toothsome smile, and she craned her neck up at him, standing her ground. “I intend to succeed where the Anti-Monitor failed. I have his Machine and an unlimited source of power. I am going to make myself the Master of the Multiverse, and shape it into my own image. And the new god of all reality needs a goddess worthy of his puissance,” his grin broadened as Power Girl blanched. “You, my dear…”
Justice Society of America
Issue #12: “Crisis on Two Earths, Part Six!”
Written by David Charlton
Cover by Alex Vasquez
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!
Earth-Two…
They fell out of holes in the sky, moving between realities with a singular deadly purpose: havoc and conquest. They were cybermechs, adamantine engines of destruction, all armor and armament powered by the sentient brains of the Multiverses’ deadliest warriors. They took organic forms, gliding on razor-sharp wings or racing on reticulated legs, blasting indiscriminately with energy weapons across the cities of America. And not even the National Guard was a match for their firepower.
In their long abandoned mountain headquarters, former members of the Justice League with their Earth-One allies the Justice Society, watched in horror as the scenes of carnage came in on their monitor board.
“Those are the same bruisers that hit us in Gotham,” Commander Steel slammed his fist down on the console, shaking the obsolete control station. “Whoever is after us, is making his move now, big time.”
As if to underscore his words, the mountain shook and there came the rumble of distant explosions from outside.
“What’re we standin’ around jawin’for?” Wildcat spoke for all of them, snarling out of the side of his mouth. “Let’s go clobber those tin cans!”
“Think for a minute!” Batman hissed, his cold grey eyes sweeping them. “This attack is timed and coordinated--- we don’t have enough manpower to defend every major city in America! If we have any chance of defeating Parallax, we have to take the battle to him.”
“Bruce, I won’t leave all these people at the mercy of those killing machines,” Superman faced his old friend squarely. “Hal may have outmaneuvered us, but there’s nothing we can---.”
The huge monitor board crackled and the scenes of devastation were replaced by the image of familiar figures: younger versions of Superman, Wonder Woman and the Flash.
“Good to see you all back in uniform,” said Jon-El, and there was no mistaking the pride and awe in his voice. The gathered assemblage were his godfathers and godmothers, but they were also his heroes, the men and women whose legacies he and his own teammates strove everyday to honor. “We are preparing a counter offensive to the cybermech attack as we speak. I’ve called in the League Reserves, the Titans and the Outsiders; we’ll throw these monsters back into space. You and the others go do what you need to do.”
If it was even possible, Kal-El’s chest swelled as he gazed up into the eyes of his son. It was Diana who had taken an involuntary step forward, raising a tentative hand to the image of her daughter on the screen. Lyta, the golden-haired daughter of Diana and Steve Trevor, the Amazon Warrior-Princess the world now knew as Wonder Woman, barely reacted to the naked emotion on her mother’s face, except to nod sharply, conveying with her eyes what she could not say aloud.
Carrie Allen had no such compunction.
“Dad!”
The image of the Justice League’s Flash blurred and vanished--- and the female speedster reappeared in the flesh in the old HQ, skidding to a halt in front of her father. Barry Allen seized his daughter in a fierce embrace, unable to hold back his own tears.
The joy of their reunion was short-lived. Batman faced the monitor screen, snapping them all back to the urgency of the moment.
“Jon, defending the Earth is up to you and your League; the rest of us have unfinished business to attend to.” Bruce Wayne said with grim resolve.
For the last time, for better or worse, they were going after one of their own…
*******
Earth-One…
The strike of the magical lightning had erupted like a bomb in the ruins of the U.N.’s General Assembly Chamber. Hawkman lay where he’d been blasted, battered and bruised by his beating from the corrupted Captain Marvel. He was slowly coming-to, his vision swimming before him, sharp enough to show the outline of someone looming over him…
“Hawk--- Mr. Hawkman, sir,”
Carter Hall tore off the shattered remains of his mask and pulled himself up on one elbow, shaking his head to clear it. He had not expected to wake up at all, and he certainly had not expected to hear the timid tone of a child…
Focus sharpened and a dark-haired boy of about 13 came into view standing over him, looking terrified and relieved at the same time.
“Billy…?” Hawkman breathed in profound relief and some confusion.
Around them, the members of the Young All-Stars were rising unsteadily to their feet, all of them looking on with perplexed wonder at the little boy horribly out of place where only moments before they had waged a terrible battle against the World’s Mightiest Mortal.
“Who the hell is this kid?” Icicle groaned, rubbing the back of his bruised head.
Billy Batson stared at them with haunted eyes, tears welling in them.
Hawkman ignored Icicle, pulling himself to his feet and reaching a tentative hand towards Billy Batson. “Billy, it’s alright. Calling the magic lightning must have freed you from whatever corrupting influence---.”
But the boy shied away from the JSA’s former chairman, shaking his head and covering his ears. “No, it’s not that easy,” he moaned. “I can hear his voice in my head, commanding me--- demanding that I speak his name,”
“Whose voice…?”
“The wizard’s,” Billy whined, looking around as if afraid to be overheard.
“I don’t understand,” Hawkman frowned gently. “I thought the wizard was your benefactor. Why should his power corrupt you…?”
“Power always corrupts!” Billy hissed. “Not even the immortals are immune to human nature! And now the darkest aspect of the wizard has taken over, and I’m afraid something awful is going to happen soon if we don’t help him.” The boy sank to his knees, covering his mouth, unintelligible sounds coming muffled from behind his hands.
The others came hesitantly closer, but Billy could fight it no longer. Raging against his own will, he tore his hands away from his mouth and yelled: “He needs my help! SHAZAM!”
Thunder split the air and the flash of magical lightning exploded again into the assembly chamber, forcing Hawkman and the Young All-Stars to duck and cover. Captain Marvel, his suit so dark a crimson it was almost black, surveyed the scene with a sneer, then shot up into the air, arcing across the sky and out of sight.
“Wait a minute,” the Ray, who had been listening intently, climbed to his feet again and looked from the fleeing figure to Hawkman, understanding dawning on his face. “Let me get this straight: that boy was Captain Marvel, and he transforms by saying the name of the wizard of that mountain hanging over the city…?”
Hawkman nodded, helping Atomika and Starman back to their feet. “Something is horribly wrong. The wizard is a benevolent immortal, but if he’s been corrupted somehow we’re in a lot of trouble.”
“What’s our next move?” The question came from Northwind, but all of the Young All-Stars hung on the reply.
Without hesitation, Hawkman kicked off the ground, spreading his wings and beckoning for them to follow. “We’ve got to take the Rock of Eternity.”
*******
Jim Corrigan had lost the Artifacts of Fate, was little more than an insubstantial ghost again, and had never felt so helpless. He had been outplayed and all-but destroyed by Black Shazam, and now had brought his friends and teammates back to the Rock of Eternity in a desperate attempt to wrest it from the mad wizard, but the apparition before them now seemed more like the kindly old version of Shazam…
{What is going on? Why have you turned against mankind?} Sandman demanded of the spectral old man.
A shadow passed across the face of the wizard and he hung his head. “I am not as I have once been. I am inextricably bound to the Rock of Eternity, and the Rock is a Multiversal constant--- it cannot exist in two places at once. What we are experiencing right now is an incursion from another dimension. Another facet of me from the world you know as Earth-Two has supplanted my Rock with his own, and the two incarnations vie for supremacy, but the inter-dimensional harmonic stress is too great! It is tearing the Rock apart!”
“Great,” Tigress nodded, pleased. “Then we win.”
The wizard looked at them sadly. “You don’t understand. The Rock of Eternity is a Multiversal constant! If it is destroyed, not only will the conflagration destroy this planet--- indeed, most of this Solar System!--- but the entire vibratory frequency of the Multiverse will be irrevocably damaged. The Multiverse itself will begin to unravel then, causing untold chaos and death on an infinite scale.”
“Oh.” Tigress blinked, correcting herself. “Then we lose.”
“Big time.” Hourman agreed.
“What do we have to do to stop this?” Cyclone asked, even her normally cool composure faltering under the ghostly wizard’s dire pronouncements.
The form of the kindly old man flickered and faded, coming back into focus after a moment.
“You must take control of the Rock. Black Shazam commands it now, but if you seize the Core of Eternity, you can wrest it from him! Hurry now, before it’s too late--- Arghhh!” The ghost spasmed and suddenly his form was dispersed into smoky wisps, leaving in his place a familiar wizened figure of flesh and blood, glaring at them balefully. “Fools! This is my domain! I am master here! Die!”
Lethal arcane lightning sizzled from his hands toward them, crackling with enough power to roast a city. Emerald flashed in the stone-caverns of the Ouroborea, illuminating the teeth-gritted visage of Jade, her Power Pulse flaring out to meet the fury of the wizard.
“I got this! Find the Core!” she yelled over the cacophony of the magical assault.
The wizard snarled, and redoubled his efforts. But Alan Scott’s daughter held her ground, throwing it back at him in a blinding fury of light.
“Come on,” spectral Jim Corrigan called to her stunned teammates. “I can take us to the Core!”
Without further hesitation, Sandman called the retreat.
*******
Earth-Two…
“Are you sure this is going to work?” Barry Allen looked from his daughter to his former protégé, desperate intensity in his earnest blue eyes.
With the attack of the cybermechs raging outside the mountain complex that had once been the original HQ of the Justice League of America, the retired founding members and their allies from Earth-One, the Justice Society, had retreated to an underground bunker filled with the trophies, memorabilia and relics of a bygone age. The cavernous storehouse also held one other item, the one the speedsters worked on at that moment, the others waiting nearby in anticipation: a cosmic treadmill.
“Frankly, no,” Carrie Allen explained, calibrating the machine according to specifications fed to her over comms by JLA teammate Ryan Choi, AKA the Atom. “This whole contraption was reverse-engineered by Dr. Palmer and Ryan after they had studied the one belonging to the Barry Allen of that other Earth (Editor’s Note: see Flash #23!); but after his wife died, and Dr. Palmer went to live in Morlaidh, the Treadmill was brought here, untested and forgotten. Until now.”
Wally West, his hair graying beneath the silver helm so similar to Jay Garrick’s, placed a hand on his still-youthful-appearing mentor’s shoulder. “Because you were there only a few hours ago, Dr. Choi says we should still be able to see your trail in the Speed Force; we’ll be able to follow that back across the Multiverse to the Nexus and Terminus. This will work, Barry.”
Barry nodded tightly, as Carrie pronounced they were ready. Ready for action, the assembled heroes stepped forward: Jay Garrick, Alan Scott, Wildcat and Commander Steel of the Justice Society, and the retired Justice Leaguers Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Hawkman and Hawkwoman.
“Mind if this old man lends a hand?” Jay Garrick stepped onto the treads of the machine, joining Barry, Wally and Carrie.
“We’d be honored,” Barry allowed himself a smile.
Wally West felt a lump in his throat. Barry Allen had always been his idol, and Jay Garrick had been Barry’s. It was Jay’s exploits--- albeit in comic book form in this reality--- that had inspired Barry Allen to take the mantle of the Flash. And so, Wally considered, he and Carrie owed a debt to the elder speedster as well. Something about the four of them standing on that platform felt fraught with destiny, and while the others were gathering closer so Alan Scott could encase them with the green beam of his ring, Wally, pulled Barry aside and said: “Be careful out there, okay? Carrie just got you back, and Aunt Iris hasn’t even see you yet--- I don’t she can take losing you again.”
Barry Allen clutched his former sidekick’s arm, his expression softening. “Hal has to be stopped, Wally. I love you all, but I’ll do whatever I have to do--- for the sake of Iris and Carrie and everyone.”
Wally swallowed hard. Then the ground shook, and something big hit the mountain HQ!
Before anyone could react, the roof caved in and two enormous metallic legs poked through the shower of raining rubble. The gleaming head of a cybermech leered over them, and there were more behind! Laser blasts erupted from their bristling, armored hides, impacting dangerously close to the cosmic treadmill, forcing Alan Scott to re-direct his power ring to shield them.
“They’re going for the treadmill!” Hawkman yelled and sprang into the air, swinging his spiked morning star. Hawkwoman winged after him with a fearsome yell as dozens of cybermechs dropped into the bunker.
Superman and Wonder Woman rose into the air, but were forestalled by J’onn J’onzz. *There are too many for Katar and Shayera to handle, but you must go and confront Hal. I will stay behind to cover your escape. Go!*
Without a backwards glance, the Martian Manhunter flew after the Hawks straight at the mass of enemies.
Batman wasted no time. “Lantern, the shield! You heard the man, speedsters! GO!”
Alan Scott enveloped them all and moved them within the force-field of the treadmill just as the speedsters started running. In less than a second, they blinked out of existence.
*******
Earth-One...
Jennie-Lynn was giving it all she had, but the wizard was flush with might! After the magical lightning, he threw at her blasting spells, summoned shoggoths and even commanded the stone of the Rock to reach for her. Thus far, Jade had eluded him, repulsing every attack, but was quickly feeling drained, her light growing dimmer.
“You’re power is almost spent,” the wizard taunted as she landed in front of him, her chest heaving with exertion but her face pinched with determination. “In a moment you will be dead, and I will have your friends!”
Jennie-Lynn clenched her fist in front of her defiantly, but its light was swiftly fading. Seeing that, Black Shazam laughed and lurched forward, surprising her with a physical attack! His gnarled and yellowed hands were around her throat before she could throw up a defense. He bore her down, throttling her mercilessly, his laughter echoing through the halls of the Rock…
*******
The ghost of Jim Corrigan led Sandman and the Young All-Stars deep within the gutrock of the Rock of Eternity, as they tore headlong through twisting tunnels and down unlit passages not trod in millennia. The entire Rock had begun to shudder at frequent intervals, as if it were trying to tear itself apart.
Cyclone and Hourman raced hand-in-hand; she had to contain her natural inclination to speed, though with the Miraclo coursing through him, Hourman was no slouch.
“We’re not going to make it in time,” Jesse fretted under her breath to him.
Rick squeezed her hand reassuringly and gave her a fortifying look. “We’ll make it in time, baby. Just in the nick of time. Or I’m not the Man of the Hour.”
A deep, cackling laugh reverberated through the halls and galleries of the Rock, setting all their hairs on end.
“Jennie!” Obsidian moaned, turning to look back and melting into his shadow form.
“Wait…!” Tigress called after him, but Sandman called back to her.
{Let him go! We’re here!}
They emerged into a vast chamber, hewn from the very heart of the Rock. At the center of the chamber was a pedestal and upon it sat a warmly throbbing crystal of purest light. But the chamber wasn’t empty. In fact, it was the scene of devastation. A gaping hole had been blown in the side of the chamber wall, from which came wind and rain, and in the midst of it all was Captain Marvel. He had a maniacal expression on his face, and in one hand he held aloft the Ray, and at his feet was a jumble of wingfeathers that could only have been Hawkman and Northwind. Icicle and Starman were blasting away at him from a distance, and Atomika was crumpled against a wall looking dazed.
Cap hurled the Ray at Starman, knocking both out of commission, and with a glare caused Icicle to cease his assault. Then, noticing the new arrivals, he reached over to the pedestal and grasped the glowing Core of Eternity, and tossed it jauntily in his hand.
“Looking for this?”
*******
The Nexus of All Time and Space...
Barry, Wally, Carrie and Jay ran atop the Cosmic Treadmill, the others floating behind them, as it traveled the iridescent aether between universes. Coached in what to look for, Carrie was piloting them, tracking her father’s trail backward towards the Nexus of All Time and Space--- which was why she hadn’t seen him at first.
But the others did. He ran alongside them, a dark smudge against the miasma of undulating chromatic waves. The Black Flash.
Jay and Barry exchanged grim looks--- they’d both seen him before, and knew what he portended.
“What does he want?” Wally cried, hysteria creeping into his voice, noticing the ebony phantasm keeping up with them. It turned its death’s head towards them, empty eye sockets aimed at Barry.
“It wants me,” Barry called over the roar of interdimensional transit.
As if on cue, the Black Flash extended one skeletal arm towards them, a bony figure stabbing towards Barry. “I will have you at last,” it pronounced in a voice that was like rusted metal scraping together. “This day, dies the Flash!”
“Whoa!” Carrie finally saw the apparition, and almost stumbled. She was caught by her father and steadied. She continued to run, but could not keep her eyes from the horrible sight.
“Get lost!” Jay Garrick whipped off his helm and hurled it at the ghoulish figure. The shining metal cut through it and it vanished as suddenly as it appeared, the helm spinning forever through time and space. Jay handled its loss with a shrug and a wink at his fellow speedsters. “Every one of us is in a race with the Black Flash,” he called out to them, his jaw set squarely. “He hasn’t caught a single one of us yet!”
A light flared on the Treadmill’s dashboard.
“We’re approaching the Nexus!” Carrie told them. “Disengaging the tachyonic field--- Mark!”
The Flashes rapidly decreased their speed and the space around the Cosmic Treadmill changed abruptly: a world materialized around them, a bleak lunarscape of pitted, ancient stone, bleached white as bone. In the distance was a tower of immense construction, forked as if attenuated to some cosmic frequency… They were in the vast, open courtyard of a cyclopean fortress, one that was familiar to them all on an implicit level and filled them with a dread they did not dare to name…
As the Treadmill powered down, Alan Scott dissolved his protective emerald sphere, and the heroes took a few tentative steps on the alien stone.
“Terminus,” Superman was the first to speak, his voice oddly hollow in the deadening void of the Nexus. “This was the fortress of the Anti-Monitor. Where my cousin Kara died.” His face could not hide the sorrow mirrored in his voice. He swept it all with his x-ray vision--- then suddenly held up one hand to keep the others back.
They descended from on high, he ablaze with jagged green fire, and she trailing behind him, the chain in his hand linked to the collar around her neck.
“Wrong, Superman,” said Parallax, his costume transformed into formidable battle armor, his other hand gripping a ring-generated executioner’s sword. His voice dripped with scorn and hatred. “Your cousin was transmogrified, hurled across the Multiverse and reborn on Earth-One to become the hero known as Power Girl.” He yanked the chain in his grip, and Power Girl, clad in the blue and red raiment of the Supergirl she had once been, looked out at them, bound and helpless, but defiance burning in her eyes.
“Karen!” Commander Steel made a move forward, but he was restrained by Wildcat.
Parallax laughed, looping the chain around his gloved fist a few times and surveying the heroes arrayed against him with a derisive sneer. “So kind of all my enemies to deliver themselves to me at once. You see, your fates were sealed the moment you stepped on Terminus.” He pointed over the horizon at the throbbing, distant tower. “The Anti-Monitor imbued his Omega Machine with many powers, and even now it begins the build-up to its ultimate purpose of re-making the Multiverse. Of course, I shall be its architect. I await only the arrival of my ally, Black Shazam. But the Machine has another purpose as well: it is a negatronic actualizer, and it has created anti-matter simulacrums of each and every one of you.”
The shadowy wraith-like forms flew into the courtyard, whirling above them like moths caught in a tornado; they emitted a high-pitched keening wail, as if hungry to devour their positive matter doppelgangers. Only Parallax’s command kept them leashed for the moment.
“Hal, this is madness!” Diana lifted the visor of her golden eagle helm, imploring her former friend and comrade, her eyes pleading with him. “For the sake of all we stood for, for all we meant to one another… By all the gods, I would have given my life for you!”
Her plea had no impact on his stony expression. “So you said the last time you all gathered to destroy me. But here, at the moment of my ultimate victory, I can at last end this charade. I am not Hal Jordan.”
His pronouncement had the desired effect, the words striking the former JLAers like blows. Parallax’s sneer twisted his lip, making the once-handsome face ugly.
But for Alan Scott, it was all coming together. “You came after us. You brought us to Earth-Two, for some insane revenge against the JSA, as well! Just who the hell are you, and what have you done with the real Hal Jordan?”
“Oh, this is Jordan’s body,” Parallax protested in mock offense. “I took it from him shortly after the Crisis, after the Flash’s noble sacrifice, when Jordan was alone and in mourning.”
Horror washed over all of them at these words, and shame that they could ever doubt the nobility and heroism of the friend they had lost to this monster.
“I took his body and put my brain in it!” Parallax hissed, eyes wide in an almost feverish passion. “And I took his ring, this wonderful ring, though it took me years to bend it to my not inconsiderable will. Oh the havoc I caused with it! But it wasn’t enough. I needed the Central Power Battery… and when that wasn’t enough, I realized I needed the ultimate weapon. The Omega Machine of the Anti-Monitor. And when I am done remaking reality in my own image, I will discard this body and put my brain in this... superior specimen.” He jerked roughly on Power Girl’s chain.
Realization dawned in Alan Scott. “Hughes…” He breathed, stunned but certain now.
“That’s right, Green Lantern,” Parallax snarled, his voice rising over the howl of the shadow-demons above them as he raised his blazing sword-construct. “I was Ulysses Hughes, but you and the rest of your damned Justice Society will remember me better as the Ultra-Humanite…!”