Flash Back –A Maxi series

Author's Note and Copyright: None of the Characters in the DC Universe belong to me and I'm only using them for entertainment purposes.

It started out as a misguided attempt to save one single, person's life, and ended up changing the fate of the universe. This was how they saw the actions of Barry Allen, the man called the Flash. A single act that caused a ripple from which the center of change occurred, a change they didn't want. He had saved his mother from death and then undid this by stopping himself from defeating his rival Thawne, the Reverse –Flash. In doing so he'd woken up to a new world, one that wasn't completely created by him.

They had been watching the event unfold, the slow deliberate change of their universe, though the actions of one mortal man. They were intrigued by it and let it happen. They wanted to see if he could fix his mistake. He did, but with consequences. The world wasn't the same, no one remembered the past, and things that should have been, were not.

They watched as the heroes changed, morphed into beings that they had not been before, while others faded, unknown to the man that had started it. They saw this coming and opened the land where others who faded dwelled. It seemed right to do so at the time, and they watched and waited. They saw the man called Superman lose his parents, quit his job and become more reckless. They saw the Amazons, women of peace, become snakes due to actions that seemed more the will of the Gods that they worshiped, then of their own doing. They saw the creation of a group of young Teens, not by the ones that started it, but by their juniors, and then saw as the one that was their leader become corrupted into a twisted version of his past noble self.

They contemplated the rebirth of a society of justice that had once helped fight during a world at war, who had been decimated by a being that had no equal. Mentors that should have been were no longer that, and the children that would have taken over their legacy were no more. The famed league of justice was established, but in only five years, and then they watched as infighting erupted between the members. They saw gods kiss and fall in love, and questioned what end game there was to this union?

They turned their eyes to the heavens and saw the guardians lose the growth that they had gained. They grumbled at the alterations in the corps that patrolled the galaxy, and then they noticed the rips in the universe. Tiny at first, thin small tears in the fabric of space that no one could have noticed unless they looked. It was during the time that they looked away that a child died by the hands of his mother's creation, leaving a hole in his father's heart. Death came and went, heroes constantly shifted and changed from their missions and it seemed like any unity that had once been built between fellows was all but tossed aside.

The Risen were not pleased. This had not been their will, but the will of another to help fix things, and they realized that such a thing could not stay. For the will of one over the will of many was not how the universe should be. They came from a land with no name, created eons before the worlds that now existed. Their past was hidden in the souls of every man, woman, child, creature, and being that resided within the universe. Agents of the Presence who only hoped for peace and harmony among men; they sought no worship nor did they feel themselves worthy of it. They simply wished to guide men to their choices and hoped that they would find it in them to found a future where all, once more, lived in an age where magic, energy, and matter knew no boarders.

For millenniums they had been watching the multiverse, from its infancy to its rebirth. They had taken actions to sustain themselves and others that were rejected by this new world. They placed the others in a pocket, a ghost zone of sorts, called Limbo, and here those of the past world remained. Some vanished from that Limbo in time, others were stuck, unable to move forward or back and the Risen waited. They waited to see what would happen, waited to know how this change had occurred so rapidly. They were never satisfied with answers, and eventually saw the riffs that had begun in the distant edge of the universe.

In their land, far from the strange world of Limbo and the new universe, they sat and debated what should be done. Their rulers, those that came from the deepest emotions of man and the Presence, found themselves at a loss. The Word, a being made from the very Presence and imbued with the gift of promises, honor, and self-sacrifice from man's will, sat with his head held high, his lion eyes upon the feline face showed no emotions to discern what he thought. Beside him, sitting quietly was his lady, the most powerful yet the humblest of all the Risen, his wife, Sacrosanct. A being that was born from the most holy and honored of man's mind, reflected in the form of a woman of the purist white light, motherly with a crown of lace upon her head, and in a constant state of being with child, calmly closed her eyes and listened to all the words that were spoken. The Kali like Augera, a being of blue with many arms and eyes, that was born of the will of man to focus upon the world, one who wishes to see things as they are or could be, rested on her stone in a crossed leg position. She, who was the gatekeeper to all other realities past, present and future, scowled some as the debate raged on.

"We must do something soon," insisted Mistos, a Risen that had only recently returned. She had once left them to seek out answers because her heart had rejected her reflection. "If it is true that one has taken it upon themselves to alter this world, then it must be rectified."

"Our job is to watch and guide Mistos, not to alter or change, it is the will of man," another Risen said, his hands rubbing his bulging stomach gently. Mistos frowned from behind her veil and looked up at Augera.

"And what gate shall open if this continues? Tell us Augera what you have seen."

"I have seen many possibilities, Lady Mistos," the blue gatekeeper said, as four of her eight eyes opened. "Some good, some bad, but the fact remains, the tears in the universe are happening, and, in time, if not corrected, all will be destroyed."

Mistos nodded and turned to the rotund man, "B'lai, you know as well as I do that such a thing can only happen if something other than the will of man has changed the shape of the universe. If the tears spread they could come to us, and my fears, my foolish dreams in the past of the land coming to doom, will be a reality. We must act in some way."

"But we cannot simply wave our hand and change thing," B'lai told her and shook his head, then glanced around at the nine people that joined them. He stared at a woman who looked much like a tree, her hair the leaves and her feet, roots. "Életfa, tell us how this came to pass. What is the condition of the world as of now?"

Életfa bowed her head and her leaves rustled, her feet dipped down into a floating bowl of water that reflected the new Earth 1 and Earth 2, thus she spoke though the whisper of wind though her leaves.

"The worlds split, its heart beating and screaming as changes came to pass. The actions of a man, a blur of red called the Flash, altered the past to save his mother. Here time diverged and shifted, the world becoming a wreck of it, and only when he corrected his mistake did things change. However in the correction he did not keep things as they should have been and his speed altered the stream again, resetting things to a point and causing a new line to diverge."

"It seems that this change was the will of one then?" an old man with many floating mirrors around his head said as he peered through one.

"No," whispered Életfa, as her leaves rustled once more. "It was not. While he stared it, many voices called out but were twisted by another. One that once was a friend and now has found herself steeped in sin."

Mistos father, a man called Awl, stood beside her, crouching slightly as he stared up at the tree woman. "I do not like where this is going."

"Nor do I father," Mistos whispered to him as Életfa continued, her roots swaying gently in the water.

"The heroes of that world do not recall their pasts, and now only seek one route. Those that only have one of themselves know of this change and have used it for their advantage altering the second world with their armies. Darkness creeps ever closer, and that one hides in the shadows to pull them apart." The winds quickened suddenly as the tree woman raised her hands and turned her head skyward. "If the riffs remain and are unaltered, then as Augera says the worlds will die. Many will perish, and all will suffer."

The Word growled and Sacrosanct nodded to her husband as she opened her eyes and smiled.

"Yes, I too wish the Spectre were here. His heart was true to the will of the Presence, but we should not be hasty my love. We must guide the actions of others, not bend them to our will." She glanced at the man with the many mirrors and inquired. "What of the other children in Limbo, how do they fair, Wolmen?"

"As well as they can my lady," said the strange man as he waved his hand in a circle around one and made it grow even larger, so large that it soon covered half his upper body. He peered out into the nothing, focusing in on the many men and women that roamed around the whiteness looking for some way to leave. Some had tired of tears, others were still crying, not sure where they were or where their loved ones had gone to.

The man scanned the area until he found a place where a tiny group of people sat in a circle around a small child, a girl, no more than eleven, dressed in a pink night gown with glowing stars, sleeping peacefully. Her head lay upon the lap of a black haired woman dressed in a black uniform with stars covering it, who had watched over her diligently since she had arrived. A man in red with yellow wings upon his head had taken off his mask to reveal sharp blue eyes that locked with the woman's, as if asking a silent question only the two of them could understand. The woman shook her head and the man sighed sitting down across from her.

Beside him sat a dark haired man with two tattoos scared over his right eye, in a costume with brush stokes swirled in black over red, patted his shoulder and smiled, a means of comfort for an old friend. The red head smiled slightly then went back to his pensive look. All the while a blonde girl in black and purple and an Asian beauty in black, both bearing the mark of a bat upon their chest watched the motions between them. A boy of nine with brown hair wearing a superman t-shirt glanced over to the two girls, the blonde waved and smiled while the black haired one nodded. Though she didn't smile there was an understanding in her black eyes that made the boy grin at her.

Wolman looked up at Sacrosanct and waved his hand to reduce the mirror. "They are as they were. The Redeemer rests upon the lap of the woman called Troia, while the others watch and wait. Some have given up hope; others seem less jaded, though, there are those that still wish to fight for their freedom."

"It seems time may be upon our side, or not," she mused gently and looked at Mistos. "You recall when he first came to us and we learned of her, do you not Mistos?"

"Yes, I was the one that lead him to his path, as he in turn led me to mine. But he is no longer that being, my lady. The man that was the Spirit of Redemption is now a man again, Hal Jordan, and is living a life that he feels has fulfillment."

"Indeed, I wonder who's though it is," the queenly woman tilted her head. "His own, or the will of another hoping to give him a life they feel he wants."

Wolman sighed as he shifted his mirrors to look down at Hal and shook his head, "So many mysteries to answer my Lady, and we do not even know where to begin. Is there a way to use our avatar? Can we awaken her?"

"If we do," Awl reminded him in a soft but firm tone, "we could collapse the world that is there keeping the others safe."

"And that is not what we want," Augera chimed in as she shifted her arms and grew still again. "My lady there is also the issue of the girl's desires. She is still but a child, how can we expect her to have the ability to know what to do?"

"Indeed," Mistos added in with a nod, "we cannot expect much from a sleeping being. Her training stopped the moment he was taken from his side."

"Yes, but that was our choice. Her powers were disrupted when he left, and then she too was taken away. Cast into that new world for a brief time, and then returned to us in the state she is in now." Sacrosanct posed as she furrowed her brow. "We cannot take actions of our own, doing so is not our way. It must be the will of the sum, not the will of the one." –She glanced at her husband –"What say you my love?"

Again The Word growled and snarled, she smiled, "You are right. We should not be thinking of how to do something, but rather in what way can we help guide her to the path that she will know what to do."

Once more The Word growled only this time the two locked eyes and Sacrosanct knew that he was serious. Her voice fell low and she gave a slow nod to him.

"Yes, I think it is time to talk to her, but I don't know if she is yet ready to discuss the girl. They had bonded, and I fear that seeing her again will hurt her."

Snarl and growl, came the reply from The Word and Sacrosanct's face became determined as she held her chin up.

"You are right. Materna is a woman of strength. She will help, regardless of her feelings." To Augera she added, "Please bring Materna Minxx here to us. Tell her it is of the utmost urgency."

Within an instant a woman with brown hair piled up atop her head, cat eye glasses, in a mauve and black Victorian dress appeared before the group. Her blue eyes took in everything, and she pushed up her glasses before promptly inquiring, "What reason does my lady Sacrosanct have for calling me here?"

"We seek your advice Materna, about the Redeemer."

Materna blinked, the only proof that the comment had startled the normally sure nanny. Not so long ago she was watching the child that now slept in limbo, the one called the Redeemer, though she knew her simply as Helen Jordan, a girl that had two futures sewn into her soul, one of destruction and one of salvation, and the child that the Presence had chosen as the avatar. She cleared her throat as she readjusted her glasses.

"And what reason do we have to speak of the Redeemer? I thought it was agreed that until the right time she would remain in hiber…" a growl from The Word cut her off and she looked at Sacrosanct who waved her hand.

"As my husband stated, there is not much time as of now. Riffs are forming in the fabric of the universe and are threatening to break down everything."

"Riffs?" she inquired and crossed her arms, "How perfectly vulgar."

"Indeed," Sacrosanct smiled at her.

"And how did such a thing occur? I can tell you that it was not the fault of any of the children I have helped raise my lady, for if it is, they will be quickly reminded why it is not wise to make Miss Minixx angry."

Életfa waved her leaves, "I assure you Miss Minixx it is not the actions of your charges, but the actions of another that is causing this problem."

"We need to know if the Redeemer is well enough for a task she must undertake." Mistos explained to her and Materna turned to finally regard the veiled woman.

"That task being?"

"The reconstruction of this universe," Sacrosanct told her softly and Materna sucked in a breath. She wasn't ready for this, not at all. Helen was a child, barely eleven. In the time she'd been teaching her she'd been a fast learner, curious even, but when the Spectre had changed hosts and that was where the real trouble started. Helen had returned to her living parents, things had shifted, partly by her own doing.

Materna could never forget the night that Helen told her she'd heard the feelings of Hal's friends, of the need of the Green Lanterns, and, as a child would want to make her Uncle happy, she gave him his desire, she helped allow his body to be brought back. Unfortunately in her haste she'd forgotten to make sure he remembered things, and, fearing for her ward Materna had asked The Word to remove their memories. But Helen's powers proved too strong and it was decided that Materna needed to teach her while she slept. This had worked, until the fool, Barry Allen had altered things once more on his own selfish whims, and because of this Helen's powers had gone haywire affecting things in the universe while the world was dealing with the sudden change in the past.

She recalled the moment when the girl had twisted a planet, made it become uninhabitable due to her powers catching with the Source Wall and accelerating her abilities to the point where her young mind could not fathom how to limit it. It was then that Materna had broken her own rules about where her feelings concerning the girl were drawn, and had gone to her in her time of need. Her own Uncle, the man she promised to never leave, didn't even hear her pleas for help.

"What do I do?" she pleaded to Materna. This innocent cocky child who was more willing to jump off the carpet to meet the beings of a distant world then learn of it from a book, was begging, something Materna never thought Helen would ever do. "Please…I'm scared. Uncle Hal, where is he? My mom and Dad, my brother and sister? What's happening Materna…Please tell me? Why can't I control myself?"

"Changes," was all she could tell Helen. She worried that trying to explain in detail how everything was in disarray would only make it worse for her. The child could already see it, sense it, and it was driving her to the breaking point and over into madness. So with that in mind, and the tears that the girl shed, Materna did what Materna did best, and took control of things. She connected with Helen, became one with her mind, and set things on the planet right. Then she took Helen with her back to the place in time where the temple was, and sat with her on a chair stroking her hair to calm the child down.

Everything was silent, until Helen asked, "Miss Minixx where do I go from here?"

"To sleep child, and dream…dream of a place where nothing exists, a world of pure white and peace," and Helen did. When she did Materna did the only thing she could, she cast a chant to keep her in that state, so that others could be brought there. Then the Risen placed Helen in Limbo to rest.

Materna hesitated and then clucked her tongue. "Is there no other way to fix this problem?"

"None, the ones that would have the powers are now in limbo or have lost their skills," she was told by Wolman. Again Materna clucked her tongue and sniffed.

"I see," she pondered and considered her options. Helen wasn't going to just wake up, the sleep she had been in was there to keep her mind from falling apart. The thing was, she knew that there had to be a way to keep the girl calm, something to make her stay focused. She looked at her rulers and inquired, "Is there a way for her to have assistance in this task? Someone who could, mold her, or rather guide her though it, one that already had been part of this new world and the last?"

Mistos raised her brow and Materna smirked. "There is one isn't there?"

"Yes, a boy, recently who was affected by a relic that was created by those that believed us to be their ancestors."

"And how was this child affected?"

"His soul was captured by it when he died."

"Died?" she inquired, this was turning out to be rather interesting. Mistos waved her hands, her voice calling to the songs of the ancients that they had come from. Images flooded Materna's mind of a boy, no more than ten, racing off to help his mentor, a young man that had trained him in his time of need, and his father, defeat the woman he called mother. But this had all come to a tragic end, the boy trying to do the right thing, fight against his past actions and training, was killed by a twin clone of him who had been created by his mother for just the purpose of making the lover who had scorned her fall into utter agony and despair. The boy now resided inside a cube that contained what was left of him, his body buried deep under the ground. She could sense that this child was someone that Helen could learn from, and in turn him from her. It was perfect.

"This boy," she looked at The Word and Sacrosanct, "This child, he may…no he IS the key to waking the Redeemer. I believe that he would be the best hope in having her find a way to right what is wrong in the universe."

"Will she be up to the challenge?" Mistos asked and Materna sniffed at her.

"Who do you think I am, I am Materna Minixx, and I have raised Thousands of Risen; I have no doubt that the Redeemer will be able to fix the world and that this boy, this…Damian Wayne, will be the key to unlocking her abilities and will to do so."

"Then we only need the Word, to show her the way to him…" said Sacrosanct. In an instant the lion headed man opened his mouth and let forth a roar that shuddered the universe, made the heroes in Limbo shiver, and woke Damian from his slumber inside the Ouroboros cube.