Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Rhea stood there as the trucks burned in the inferno. The roar of the flames was deafening. Rhea brought up a hand to cover her mouth in horror. Max had been standing mere feet from the closest truck.
"Dear Gods," Wonder Woman exclaimed. "Max was-"
Before she could finish, Superman held up his hand to quiet her.
"Do you hear what I am hearing," Superman asked her. Wonder Woman listened.
"Is that…"
"Laughter," Batman and Rhea both said in unison. "But Joker is nowhere near here," Batman said. He recognized the laugh as belonging to The Clown Prince of Crime.
"Dear God," Superman gasped.
Inside the blazing inferno, a loan figure stood with their head tilted off to the side. The laughter was getting louder and louder. Soon, it even challenged the roar of the inferno.
"That can't be," The Flash said as he ran up to meet his teammates. He heard the explosion across town and immediately headed towards the flames. Flash and everyone looked on as the flames hid and revealed parted of the shadowed man. A glimpse of a hand appeared its fingers long and claw-like. The right hand was raised as if the man tried to wave it through the flames as if they were steam. Each finger was longer, more reptilian almost. Through the flames something seemed to whip around. "Is that a tail," The Flash asked as he watched the figure.
"I can't begin to understand what I am seeing," Superman said as he looked upon his friend in the fire.
"I don't know if anyone noticed," Rhea said as she too watched the man in the flames, "but where's the heat?" Everyone turned to Rhea, their eyes wide in realization at what she just said. "Those are not regular flames."
Max lowered his hand and turned to his left. He looked to the left and stared at the group of heroes. All the heroes, except Batman who kept a straight face and stood tall, took a step back at the crazed expression covering Max's face. His eyes shone a deep fire red as the edges of his mouth seemed to stretch to the point of tearing his facial muscles. Max turned his head back and looked down. He raised his hands and stared at his draconic hands and forearms. Again, Max began to laugh like The Joker. He laughed so hard, he threw his head back as his laughter carried out into the night. Max arched backwards with his maniacal laugh.
"Great Hera," Wonder Woman exclaimed.
Without notice, Max shot up into the air with speed that only Superman, Wonder Woman, and a very select few other heroes could match. The flames that engulfed the street followed Max up into the heavens in a fiery comet trail. All that was left were the burnt and charred remains of the two tanker trucks, burnt bodies of a dozen of the hire thugs, and a wide area of melted black top, but nothing else was damaged. The glass from the shattered windows was gone from the streets and the windows were as when they were before the explosions.
Quick acting, Superman and Wonder Woman shot up into the sky after Max. They stayed clear of the column of flame as they flew to meet Max. Neither wanted to find out what the first would do to them. Superman did not know if it was magic for magic could hurt him. Wonder Woman would be burned as well.
"Max," Superman called out in the night towards Max. "What the heck is going on?"
At this point, Superman and Wonder Woman were level with Max three hundred feet above the street. Below them, the flames that followed Max into the air created a blanket of fire under the three.
Max floated in the air. Superman and Wonder Woman could now see the drastic changed in Max's form. His arms had grown longer and resembled reptile, even draconic, limbs. The same with his legs; they had grown and Max no longer had any shoes. His legs grew out into hind legs of an animal with reptile skin. And they had not thought wrong; Max now had a long draconic tail.
"Do you feel frightened or angry," Max growled his back to the two heroes.
Both Superman and Wonder Woman looked at each other with wide eyes. It had been the first time Max had spoken after the explosion. His voice was deeper and more animalistic.
"Max, we can help you if you'd-" Wonder Woman began as she began to float towards her friend, reaching out with her right arm.
"Answer me," Max yelled out in a roared.
Wonder Woman stopped and lowered her arm. With a sudden whip of his tail, a long cut appeared down the outside of her right arm all the way to the enchanted gauntlet on her forearm. Blood began to seep from the sudden wound. Wonder Woman backed off quickly and let her arm lay limp at her side. Superman moved next to her as he took off his cape. Wrapping her arm with the cape, Superman looked into Wonder Woman's eyes.
"We are concerned for you," Superman said as he looked out towards Max.
"Hehehe. Good, then you will not have to worry," Max growled. "You will not be touched." Superman and Wonder Woman looked at Max with quizzical looks. Then, Max's maniacal laugh started up again. "Looks like I am flaming," he said as he pointed to the blanket of fire below them. The two heroes looked down at the flames. With a final laugh, Max was gone. Superman and Wonder Woman both looked around frantically. Superman used his telescopic vision and tried to see if Max had flown off. They had not seen the white glow that was released when Max opened his door.
"He's," Superman began.
"Gone," Wonder Woman finished.
With the disappearance of Max, the blanket of flames soon dissipated into the night leaving Gotham to its dark gloomy night.
Down street side, Batman and the others watched as the flames dissipated.
"What did you mean back there, Rhea," Batman asked out. Rhea looked at the Cape Crusader with a raised eyebrow. Batman looked at her with narrowed eyes. "What did you mean by calling Max 'Beloved' earlier?" Batman began to walk towards her. "What did you mean?"
Rhea looked at him. She would not shrink back at the gloomy figure of Batman.
"Because he is," Rhea said plainly. Batman stopped two feet from her and looked down into her eyes.
"Say what," The Flash called out in shock.
"What's going on," Superman asked as he and Wonder Woman landed near their friends.
"Max is Rhea's beloved," he blurted out before anyone else could speak.
"Great Hera, now I remember why I recognized you," Wonder Woman exclaimed. Rhea took her eyes off The Dark Knight and stared at Wonder Woman. "You look exactly like Rebecca."
Before anyone could register her movement, Rhea was standing in front of Wonder Woman with a long narrow blade held up to her throat and a tight grip on the upper part of Wonder Woman's injured arm. Batman took a fighting stance with a bat-r-rang raised.
"How dare you say that name," Rhea sneered in anger. "You have no right to live for saying that name!" Suddenly, the anger covering Rhea's face had melted away. The blade at Wonder Woman's throat slowly lowered, leaving only a very small and bleeding scratch. Rhea swayed for a moment and then fell down as her knees gave way. "What have you done to me," Rhea asked as she sat with her legs bent off to the right.
"Ok, what the hell is going on," Wally asked as Batman and Superman relaxed. "We haven't done anything. And what in the world happened to Max?" Wally pointed up into the night air where Max once was.
"I think Max was the cause for you releasing Wonder Woman, Rhea," Superman said as he knelt down next to her. He held out a welcoming hand to help her up. With a dazed look, Rhea reached out and allowed Superman to help her up. She raised her free hand and placed it on her head as if to steady it from moving.
"I don't understand," Rhea said with a softer tone than before.
"It was one of the things Max said just before he disappeared," Wonder Woman said with a soothing voice. The scratch on her neck had stopped bleeding and had healed quickly, but the wound to her arm needed medical attention soon. She looked at Rhea and the others, "Max asked if we felt anger or frightened. We said no."
"And he said that we did not have to worry and that the others would not be touched," Superman said as he gave Rhea a concerned smile.
"And what do you mean by 'not be touched'," Flash asked.
"I think we just witnessed what he meant," Batman said as he looked at Rhea. "Tell us, do you feel anger right now?"
Rhea looked at him and began to think. "I did," Rhea said as she looked down and then over to Wonder Woman. "But as soon as I felt it when you said that name, it began to leave me."
"What," Wally asked, lost at what everyone was talking about.
"Wally, for being the fastest man alive, you sure are slow," Batman quipped. Flash shot Batman an angry glare.
"Hey," Flash said as the anger from Batman's comment seemed to just go away. "So that was what he meant." Superman and Wonder Woman looked at him confused. "My anger seemed to just seep away."
"Max drained it from you," Batman said as if it was common knowledge. Everyone turned to him in complete confusion. "In Max's current condition, he is suffering from Scarecrow's fear toxin and Joker's laughing gas. Combined with what the Joker had done and the unstable reaction between the chemicals and the crystalline in Max's system, he is siphoning the anger and fear from those he is near."
Up in one of the Watchtower's med bays, J'onn finished wrapping Wonder Woman's arm in clean bandages.
"I am sorry for my actions Wonder Woman," Rhea said as she sat on the bed next to Wonder Woman.
"Why did you get angry at the mention of the name," Wonder Woman asked politely.
Rhea took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Where I am from, we have two names. When we are born, our parents give us a name. But when we reach the age of twelve, we are inducted in a sacred family ritual. Each family line has a special sacred sight they must travel to." Wonder Woman stood up after thanking J'onn. Rhea stood up as well and walked along side Wonder Woman as she left the med bay. "No matter where our family lives in the world, we must travel to this sight and spend our twelfth year searching in meditation and solitude for our given name that is given to every man and woman by the Gods themselves."
"That sounds very interesting indeed," Wonder Woman replied. "Please go on."
"When I said that my nickname was Rhea Pyre, it was not entirely true," Rhea continued as they walked down the corridor. "I was given that name at birth by my parents. I do have a last name, but it is one that is not shared openly."
"And the name I mentioned," Wonder Woman asked as they reached an elevator. When both women were inside, Wonder Woman pressed the fifth floor for the cafeteria.
"I do thank you for not speaking the name, Wonder Woman," Rhea said with a slight bow of her head towards her.
"I saw how the name troubled you in Gotham so I did not want to repeat it to cause you more distress. Besides," Wonder Woman began to smile and laughed a little, "I do not want to be on receiving end of your blade."
Rhea smiled a little at Wonder Woman's joke. She was glad that she was not holding it against her.
"The name you mentioned is what we find for ourselves," Rhea continued. The elevator stopped and the doors opened for the fifth floor. Both ladies walked out as they were greeted with a cafeteria with few league members. "The name is one we hold sacred in our hearts. If we do not find the name within that year, we stay until the name comes to us. The sights that we travel to are all covered in a deep old magic that no being can break. It is said that they were placed on the sights by the Gods themselves on one of their earliest visits to the Earthly plane. And once we are married, we share our name the night of the wedding while in each other's arms."
"That sounds very intriguing, Rhea," Wonder Woman replied. "I myself am from an island where we hold our Gods in utmost honor. I was born from clay that my mother had formed and was given life by the Gods themselves."
"Wow," Rhea said in astonishment. "So we both have backgrounds in deep magic that encircle our lives. My world has many wondrous things, but since coming here, I have begun to witness even more spectacles than I would believe. I never knew any others who could travel the stream that did not have the blessings of the Gods."
Wonder Woman looked at her with confusion.
"Sorry," Rhea said with a smile. "The one called Flash. When I first arrived, I had noticed The Stream was present in this world. I sent a sensor-bot to pick up readings when it encountered The Flash running inside it."
"You are speaking of the Speed Force," Wonder Woman said in realization. "That is what we call it here."
"The Speed Force," Rhea said as she thought for a moment. "It is a very interesting name. It does simplify what it is, but is too plain of a name."
"Just don't say that around The Flash," Wonder Woman said with a smile. "He might get offended." Both women laughed as they sat down at a table. Wonder Woman sat quiet for a moment. "Rhea," she said with a serious tone, "What you said down there about Max…"
"You mean why I called him 'Beloved'," Rhea asked as the smile began to fade from her face. Her eyes shadowed and she lowered her head. "On my world, I am married to a wonderful man who I think the world of. He is so very kind and strong, but would rather talk a person down than begin a fight." Rhea lifted her head up for a moment with a smile. "Sometimes I even think that he was touched by the Gods as I am." Wonder Woman smiled as she heard the description. It almost sounded like her friend Clark. Though he was very strong, he would rather talk about things before getting physical. She looked at Rhea. Tears were freely flowing from her eyes as she thought of her love. "But he was taken, by who I do not know. I was finally getting somewhere with my investigations when I was suddenly shifted here to this world." The look of pure hate covered her face. "The Gods seemed to no longer favor me, though I still carry the 'Mendara" as you call it." Rhea sat silent for a moment. Both women sat there, each one taking a drink from their water glasses. Wonder Woman looked at Rhea for a moment. She could have sworn she saw a sparkle in her right eye.
"Did I just," Wonder Woman began as she pointed to Rhea's eye.
"Sorry, I have been going over my files on the rifts that were occurring on my world," Rhea said. "What you just saw was part of the program running." Wonder Woman was confused once more. "That is one of the things I am gifted with. I have an organic computer inside me. I am able to access many banks of information with simple ease. I was thinking over about the rift that brought me here. I was performing an experiment and found something interesting. I was able to send those beasts you all were fighting when I first arrived back their own worlds. Though I am still at a loss on why I can not send myself back. I am still going over many simulations since we have met. But I feel as if I am missing a good amount of information."
"Then we need to talk with Batman," Wonder Woman said as she stood. "The information you have combined with the information we have in our database could help in getting you home. It might even help Max get home."
"Batman to Wonder Woman," Batman called over the ear comm.
"Speak of the devil," Wonder Woman said as Rhea stood. "Go ahead Batman. We were just leaving to come find you."
"I am in the science lab near the bridge," Batman said plainly. "Bring Rhea with you. I think we might have found Max."
Both women looked at each other and took off running from the cafeteria. "We're on our way Batman. Be there in a few minutes."
Inside the science lab, Batman was busy speaking with The Atom and Ted Kord, the retired Blue Beetle. All three men were going over information about Max.
"There seems to be some strange energies coming from Max," Ted said as he was looking over the data from the league members on the ground. "I have seen readings of magic from Zatanna and even Etegrin. These readings seem to be as different to magic as magic is to science."
"It's because it is," Rhea said as she and Wonder Woman entered the lab.
Ted Kord and The Atom both looked up at the crimson haired beauty. Both men dropped their jaws as the two women walked in.
"Are you some how related to the Amazons," The Atom asked Rhea. Rhea looked at him and turned to Wonder Woman.
"No, she is not," Wonder Woman replied. "She is from another reality outside of our multiverse."
"Is this true," Ted asked out into the room.
"Yes it is," Rhea said with her soft lyrical voice. "I was one of the unfortunate that were forced here through one of the rifts that are occurring all over Earth."
"They are not just on Earth," Batman corrected her. The Green Lantern Corps has readings of the same type rifts from almost every sector they monitor."
"There's more," both women said in unison. Shock covered both their faces.
"How is that possible," Rhea asked.
"We don't know yet," Batman said. "With the information The Corps gave us, they have seen these rifts over the past few hundred years, something they were monitoring on the side without telling us. When The Guardian arrived, he brought along all their data about the rifts since the beginning of their investigation." Batman stood up and walked up to the two women. "They say that the rifts were only windows looking into different realities, nothing could pass through from either side. We have been going over the combined data and have found something that could deal with Max and possibly you as well Rhea."
"What is this information," Rhea asked him.
"The rifts began letting through objects since just before the time Max had appeared," Batman told her.
"And it is showing us that there is something even more immense than our own multiverse," The Atom joined in. "From what I can tell, somehow our multiverse is interacting with another."
"What," Wonder Woman said, breaking her silence. "How is that possible?"
"It should not be at all," Ted said as he joined in with the others. "There seems to be something that The Atom and I have named."
"And what is this new name," Rhea asked, wondering what these men were thinking. She had an idea; her information was compared to what the League had now.
"We have named it the gigaverse," The Atom said with a smile. "The information we are gathering from each rift is adding more and more information that is proving to refine our readings and calculations."
Hearing what they had uncovered sent a chill down Rhea's spine. Batman noticed the sudden change before anyone else. Rhea did not show it, but her eyes betrayed her reaction to what they had uncovered.
"Tell us," Batman said to her as he took a step closer to Rhea.
Rhea stood there silent for a moment as she looked into Batman's eyes. But before she could say anything, a massive explosion occurred at the other end of the lab.
A Boom Tube was opening.
Everyone in the room jumped and turned to the opening of the Boom Tube. Two figures appeared in the Boom Tube.
"Welcome back Barda, Mr. Miracle," Batman said as he just stood there.
"I wish it was on kinder meeting, Batman," Mr. Miracle said as the Boom Tube closed. Mr. Miracle and Barda greeted everyone in the room. "So who's the new member?"
"She is not a member," Batman said plainly. "She's from another reality."
Hearing this, Barda raised her weapon and charged Rhea. With a warrior yell, Barda, a New God, charged down Rhea. With a thunderous collision, Barda's New God club landed a powerful hit on Rhea's gauntlets as Rhea raised them to block the blow.
On the bridge, J'onn was busy relaying information to Superman, The Flash, and Plastic Man as they watched over Max. Superman had tried to get close to Max, but when he reached up with his right hand to grab Max's right shoulder, something had seared Superman's skin. 2nd degree burns were immediately forming over his palm. There was something definitely wrong with Max. J'onn had told them to keep back and monitor Max's reactions. People that noticed Max as he walked down the middle of the highway were quickly leaving their vehicles as they watched as people were dropping unconscious as Max passed. It was the same as what Max had done in Gotham. Now he was on the outskirts of Los Angeles. More and more people were dropping. The Flash and Superman cleared the unconscious from their cars and the highway. Max was still suffering from the maniacal laughter, but it had calmed to a giggle, for now.
"Superman, from what I am reading, Max is-"
Before J'onn could communicate the important information, the bridge shook with multiple explosions. Then, from a wall below J'onn's post, a wall exploded out into the bridge main area. Two figures were fighting. He recognized Barda as she ran out of the newly created doorway. The figure she was chasing down was covered in metallic body armor. All he could really see what the curly crimson hair. It was Rhea. Realizing this, J'onn excused himself from the comm. and floated down to the main area. Barda was pummeling Rhea with her club. Each impact sent out tremors throughout the station, equivalent to a 6.0 earthquake. J'onn had to break this up and soon. The station could not handle much more. He could already pick up thoughts of emergency as people and League members rushed to damaged areas.
"STOP THIS AT ONCE," J'onn yelled with both his voice and his mind.
Barda stopped in mid swing. Rhea was on one knee prepared for the coming blow. Her body suit had protected her as much as it could. She knew she would have a few bruised ribs, maybe even a cracked one, and her forearms were bruised from the attacks. Her left arm dangled at her side, her shoulder dislocated from a direct hit from Barda's club.
"She needs to be killed," Barda growled at J'onn. "She is not supposed to exist here."
"We know that Barda," J'onn said as he sent calming thoughts to her in order to calm her warrior blood lust. "She is helping us with getting her back home."
"Barda," Mr. Miracle called out from the large hole caused by the fighting. "We did not come here to fight! We came here to help."
"But-" Barda began but was interrupted by an alarm.
"J'onn, Max has disappeared again," Flash said as he appeared on a large monitor across from the console J'onn was using to coordinate the readings and the team on the ground.
"What is this," Barda asked as she slowly began to cool.
"Wonder Woman, can you please update Barda and Mr. Miracle on the situation we are trying to calm." Wonder Woman nodded and began updating the two Gods. J'onn lifted up and landed back at the console station. He studied the readouts. "Flash, you and Superman need to head into Los Angeles immediately. Max has appeared just outside a large protest in the Upper East Side. The situation had just turned violent as three rival gangs began firing. So far I do not see any casualties, but I am picking up on almost a dozen injured."
"On it, Big Guy," Flashed said as his image cut off.
"This is not good," J'onn said as he turned to the two New Gods.
"What is the matter, J'onn," Mr. Miracle asked.
"From my readings, Max has somehow gained the ability to drain someone of their fear."
"So he's turning people into fearless dangers," Mr. Miracle asked, worried at what that might do.
"No," J'onn said shaking his head. "The strain on the mind causes the person to black out. That is why there were so many people in Gotham that were affected. After Max was dosed with the mixture of fear toxin and laughing gas in its unstable form, his body began to change in order to adapt. He is struggling to counteract the combined poisons in his system. But while he is fighting inside, his body his absorbing people's fears. Every person that was exposed to the gases in Gotham was knocked out. He has been counteracting the poisons in others in order to figure out how to rid his body of the toxins."
"Then I'll just have to knock some sense into his small mind," Barda said. "He should not be here either." She reached down and tapped a button on her Mother Box, activating a Boom Tube.
"Wait," J'onn said, but it was too late. Barda had made up her mind.
Down on Earth, The Flash, Superman, and Plastic Man were making there way towards the protest, now a gang battleground.
Up on top of one of the surrounding buildings, Max stood there as he began to feel the fear emanating from the protest crowd. When the first fists began flying, Max was beginning to giggle as he felt the delicious taste of the fear in the crowd. As the fighting continued, shots began flying. The level of fear in the crowd soon became an all you can eat buffet. People ran and screamed in all directions as they tried to get away form the fighting rival gangs. Max rose up off the roof and began to float over the crowd. People that were running under him began to drop. Frightened people saw this and the level of fear began to increase even more. Max began to laugh harder. Soon his laughter was back to its maniacal level.
"Dear God," Superman exclaimed when he arrived just north of Max on the other side of the large protest. Flash stopped next to him. His jaw dropped as he saw the gangs firing at each other. When they began to see people dropping for no reason, someone had the idea to look up. There in the sky above the fallen protesters was a single man.
"What the hell is this jackass laughing at," a member of the gang that was furthest away from Max. "Kill that Mother!" When the members of his gang heard this, half of them began to fire up at Max. "No one laughs at us and lives!"
"Plas, create a shield and protect the bystanders who are trying to run away.
"No prob, Big Blue," Plastic Max said as he turned himself into a large flat penny and began to roll into the crowd. He reached his intended position and spread his form out to protect as many people as he could. Plastic Man formed multiple arms and picked up people that were on the other side of his barrier.
"Flash, I want you to try and get as many weapons away from those gang members as possible," Superman told Flash. "And try and stay away from under Max. He has not made his way over any of the gang members, but I have a bad feeling that he's going to start heading towards them. I'll try and talk to Max."
"Good luck," Flash said to Superman before heading into the battle field.
Max floated there high above the fleeing people and warring gangs.
"Why can't I stop this," Max thought as he laughed as bullets collided into the field he was somehow creating around his body. Each bullet burned to a sender when it hit the barrier, the same one that burned Superman's hand. "Why can't I control my body? Why?" Max was panicking as he had no control over his body.
"Max," Superman called out as he flew in close to Max. Superman stopped about twenty feet away from Max. He did not want to get burned by whatever surrounded Max. "You need to fight and stop this."
Max turned to Superman. Max spread his arms out to his sides. He looked like a man being crucified in mid-air.
"Good eats," Max said amongst his laughter. Max brought his arms together straight in front of him, pointing towards Superman. With a wave of searing heat from nowhere, Superman was thrown back in the air. Down below, Plastic Man was busy herding the crowd away from the flying bullets. Flash had just taken the last gun away from the last gangbanger as the wave was released. But this wave was different. Though Superman had felt the scorching fires, the people on the ground were hit with and invisible wave. Flash watched on as people began to fall when the wave touched them. Each person fell unconscious, feeding Max their fear. Fortunately for Flash, he was faster than the wave. He kept in front of it. But sudden fear shot into him when he watched as the wave collided with Plastic Man. With a howling scream, Plastic Man's form began to constrict as if watching a balloon lost its air. Plastic Man was unconscious. The remaining crowd tried to run, but were swallowed by the wave released by Max.
"I need to get behind Max," Flash thought as he kept ahead of the wave. With a quick thought, he changed course and began running northwest. He figured that Max only had a small range. Once he saw someone who was not affected, he would turn and circle around behind Max. "Superman, I am going try and circle around the edge of the wave and get behind Max. I'll make sure I stay a good distance so I don't get affected by him."
"You better hurry," Superman said as he stood up amongst building rubble. The wave had forced him back and he collided with an empty factory. The force had caused the old building to collapse on top on him. "I'll try and talk to him again. And try and see if you can get some of the unconscious people to a safe distance."
"Got it," Flash replied. He continued to run.
"Max, you have got to stop this," Superman pleaded with Max. "You were lucky that no one was in that warehouse you force me into."
Max floated there in the air. Both of his arms were now dangling at his sides. Max tilted his head as he still laughed. Superman was beginning to get annoyed by the continuous laughter.
"This is what Batman must feel like when going up against the Joker," Superman though to himself about the laughter.
"Help… me," Max whispered amongst his laughter. Superman's eyes widened. Did Max just ask for help? "Help… me."
Superman was not imagining it. Max was pleading for help. Whatever was going on, Max had lost control.
"J'onn, Max is speaking to me," Superman said over his ear comm.
Just then, a familiar explosion erupted to Superman's left. With a bright light, a Boom Tube began to open up in line with Max. And before Superman could react, Barda came charging out of the Boom Tube with her club raised high. With such close proximity, Superman could not get between Barda and Max.
With a warrior's roar, Barda slammed into Max with such force every window within a mile shattered. Superman yelled out for Barda to stop, but he was too late.