Hello everyone. And thank you again for your reviews, it motivates me to finish this story.
Chapter 27
In National City, Supergirl gazed at her city from the rooftop of the CatCo Worldwide Media building. All these changes… She was confused. She had been researching the history of this new world. Lots of stories about the Avengers, from their first battle in New York with the Chitauri. She had learned that she had become Supergirl under the same circumstances as on her old timeline: by wanting to save her sister from a plane crash, except that in that plane, was also Lena Luthor. And to thank her for saving his sister, Lex Luthor then defended Kara and encouraged her to remain a hero for National City. In this new reality, Supergirl was very good friends with the Luthors. She couldn't accept being Lex's friend. It was inconceivable!
And while learning about the X-Men, Kara had discovered that she had been here to save all the mutants, when a mad scientist Lawrence Trask wanted to create an army of killer robots the Sentinels to control all the mutants on the planet. But these robots would have taken power over the whole world. Supergirl, Green Arrow, Flash and a few Legends had foiled Trask's machiavellian plans and prevented the Sentinels from being built. Since then, Lawrence Trask had been tried for crimes against humanity, and mutants accepted into world thanks to Supergirl who defended them, and Kara Danvers had published a favorable article to all mutants in the world. She understood better the ecstasy of Charles Xavier's students at the sight of Supergirl, their hero who had saved them.
As she pondered in her thoughts, she saw Thor join her in the air. With a worried look, he approached her with compassion.
"I came to see how you were," he said gently. "You left Star City fast. I wanted to hear from you. I know you're not fragile, Kara. But, I think you need to talk to someone about what just happened."
Supergirl snorted with a sarcastic look.
"There's not much to say. We are in a new world. A world that I don't know. I exist here. My life is almost the same, with a few differences. In this new Earth, I became a Supergirl after the Sokovia Accords. And it was Lex and Lena who defended me against the government that wanted to control me. It was thanks to Lex that I became a Supergirl. He and I are very good friends. But now that the only ones who know that everything is different are the Paragons and that this poisonous snake is one, we'll become never friends in the near future."
Thor smiles, despite himself with amusement.
"I know how you feel," he replied. "In this world, I too am friends with Luthor. Apparently he would have helped the Avengers in their battles, whether in New York or Sokovia… Lex has never been far, and he's a close friend of mine. The funny thing is that history as I know it's very different from this version. Luthor and I will never be friends. Not after what he did during the Crisis and even before."
Supergirl smiles at this response.
"Two of us will hate him," she replied warmly.
Thor burst out laughing.
"Believe me, the day Lex Luthor and I become friends will be when my Asgard kingdom comes back to life. And when my parents and my brother rise again."
"Haven't you had any changes in your life, Thor?" Kara asked him worriedly.
The asgardian shook his head, answering:
"Not a lot of changes. In this timeline, my life has unfolded almost as it did before the Crisis. My mother, killed by a Dark Elf. My father. My sister Hela. My Asgardian friends. Loki. Heimdall. They are still dead."
"So there was Thanos in our new universe," concluded Supergirl thoughtfully. "But I can't figure out how Natasha Romanoff can still be alive?"
Thor replied with a smile:
"I spoke to Banner, before joining you. He enlightened me on some events that changed in this timeline. In this side of the story, Thanos did come to Earth to take the Infinity Stones, but in this timeline, he never exterminated half of the universe. He appeared in Wakanda, he killed Vision and took his Stone. He had managed to collect all the Stones, and just as he was about to snap his fingers, we all pounced on him. You, me, Cap, Stark, Maximoff, Green Arrow and even Flash. We weren't divided this time. We were all together on Thanos. We all fought against him, and we managed to take his Gauntlet away from him, preventing him from wiping out half the universe. With his army defeated, and all of us reunited, the Avengers, you, Barry and his team, along with Green Arrow and the Legends, Thanos fled, and had gathered a new army to invade Earth until he recovered his Gauntlet. We hid the Infinity Stones, but Thanos stalked us all until he got them, threatening to kill everyone on Earth. Ant-Man and the Wasp even took part in revealing the Quantum Realm to us. We wanted to use this dimension to camouflage the Stones. But Thanos also used it to gather more volunteers for his army to bring down all of us. With all the devotees he had gathered, he set out to besiege entire cities, such as New York, National City, Star City, and Central City. Even I with my two weapons, we were insufficient to counter him. The only way to destroy him permanently was to use the Infinity Stones. After a year, Stark, having had a family he wanted to protect from this monster, chose to sacrifice himself to save us all. He ended up using the Gauntlet with the Infinity Stones and snapped his fingers. And that's how we defeated Thanos and his whole army who wanted to destroy Earth. Then, since we knew keeping the Stones together in one place was reckless, Captain America volunteered to use the Quantum Realm to separate the Infinity Stones in different places in the past. Until arriving in 1945, where he stayed there."
"So we stopped Thanos from destroying half of the universe," Supergirl concludes. "But despite that, Iron-Man still sacrificed himself, and Steve left to join Peggy Carter. And since Thanos never wiped out half of everyone, we never took a trip to the Quantum Realm to find the Infinity Stones, which is why Nat is still alive. Finally… This Nat… The one I knew, I had spent five years by her side to overcome our defeat and mourn those we had lost. We had become very close. And she sacrificed herself for the Soul Stone because she had nothing to lose. This new Nat isn't the one I knew. Just like this timeline, we haven't experienced any of it. For me, these are just stories. My version of what really happened is when Thanos… (She didn't dare finish the sentence, not wanting to bring back bad memories to her friend.) You know what I mean?"
Thor nodded.
"And you're right," he agreed. "When I see what I am in this universe, I feel like I have taken someone else's place. I don't remember having lived through all of this either. We're the only ones who know what's different. But anyway, this world might not be the one we used to know, but at least we have an Earth, as well as those we love who are still with us. All our loved ones are safe. And even if this Romanoff isn't the one you knew, at least she's alive, and that's most important. Oliver Queen sacrificed himself for this world to come into being. He would have liked us to be happy about it. I think he wanted to rectify our loss to Thanos. And even if we haven't really experienced it, it's better this way!"
Supergirl thought for a moment, pondering what Thor had just told her, and she knew he was right. Even though this world was almost foreign to him, at least her entourage was still there. She still had her sister and J'onn, Nia, Brainy, Lena, Kelly… She should be happy.
"Yes, it's better this way, you're right," she said, nodding her head. "And the fact that Nat's alive in this world, we should be happy."
"And we also have our families with us," Thor said kindly. "Family isn't just people you grew up with, it's people you meet, good people who make you better. You, Kara, you're part of my family. No matter who we are in this world, what will never change is the bond between us. I know I got better because of you, Kara. And that, I'll never forget. Whatever reality we live in."
Supergirl looked at her friend, smiling. She will need some time to come to terms with their new reality, nevertheless, she will continue to do good, as a superhero.
"You too, Thor, you are part of my family. Meeting you was one of the great moments of my life. And I won't forget that either."
Thor gave her a slight smile, and wanted to add something, when a strange hiss sounded. On their guard, Supergirl and Thor gazed into the dark skies of National City and discovered in amazement, a whole fleet of Shadow Demons rushing towards them, like a swarm of bees.
The Girl of Steel leapt into the air and threw it down with her heat vision. Thor sent lightning bolts from his body and hurled his hammer and ax at his enemies, destroying them completely.
Once the whole army had disintegrated, Supergirl looked at Thor in distress.
"They were Shadow Demons!"
"It can't be!" cried Thor in awe. "The Anti-Monitor is gone!"
Then J'onn's voice came in their thoughts.
"Supergirl? Thor? The Shadow Demons are back, and they seem to be targeting the Paragons!"
Horrified, the Girl of Steel gazed at Thor with fear.
"If they target the Paragons, then the others are in danger!"
Thor nodded, taken aback.
"Barry! Sara! Ryan Choi! Kate!"
"And Peter! We have to warn them!" Supergirl declared as she flew out of National City.
Ever since Strange learned that anti-matter still continued to threaten the planet, he had returned to Star City in Arrow's bunker. There he found Nash Wells who detailed to all the heroes gathered around him what he had learned:
"Something's not right."
"That thing still working?" Diggle said, gesturing to the armband in Wells' arm.
"Yeah," Nash replied smirk. "I built it myself. It's infallible."
"Too bad we can't say the same about you." Clint muttered with a dark look.
"So, if you pick up traces of anti-matter…?" Strange asked.
"Then our fight isn't done, is it?" said Diggle.
"No. Or worse, it's starting up all over again." Nash said.
"Oh damn…" exclaimed Clint Barton, shocked.
Elsewhere in Star City, Sara was sitting on a few steps, pondering the latest events and realizing that her whole world had just changed forever. Then Barry slowly walked over to her.
He came and sat down next to her.
"Hey." he asked her softly.
"How'd you find me?" Sara asked, frowning.
"You feel that gust of wind a few seconds ago? That was me. I did a quick search of the whole city for you. When you didn't come back for the post-Beebo celebration, I got a little worried."
Sara nodded, smiling, but lowering her head sadly. She pointed to a tree near them.
"Yeah. See that tree over there? My sister and I, we used to race to the top when we were little. I'd win every time."
She smiled wistfully, which Barry replied with the same smile.
"I used to think it was because I was a better climber, but now I think Laurel let me win 'cause she knew I was a sore loser. A lot has changed since then. I was an assassin. I was dead, now I'm the captain of a friggin' time ship. One thing remains the same. I'm still a sore loser."
"I know it's... it's hard," Barry replied in a friendly manner. "Not having Oliver here with us. But look at what his sacrifice made possible. Our world is... it's different... But at least it's safe."
"He was just the last tether to my old life, you know?" admitted young Lance. "And he was the only person left who knew me when I was just... me. With him gone, my connection to this world, this place, to that tree... It's gone."
"I know what it's like to lose family," Barry said gently. "My mom, my dad, each death felt like there was no moving forward, like life would never be the same."
"Yeah," said the young Lance, understanding what her friend was feeling.
"And I was right it's not the same," he said, nodding. "But... somehow it's okay. Family isn't just the people that you grew up with. It's the people you find, the ones you love, ones that make you crazy... Make you smile."
"When did you get so wise?" Sara asked playfully.
Then they both laughed, while Sara spoke again with a smile.
"The Legends, they are my family. They have been for a while. I guess I just... I always thought there would be at least someone who remembered what I was like before I got on that boat."
Then while Barry was lost in thought… A Shadow Demon appeared out of nowhere and attacked the speedster from behind. Acting quickly, Barry blasted into super-speed to dodge him, and Sara kicked him off, causing him to disappear in smoke.
"I thought we got rid of all those things." she exclaimed, stunned.
The Anti-Monitor was defeated. Why were the Shadow Demons still attacking?
As the two of them were thinking, they heard J'onn's voice speak in their heads.
"Barry, Sara, the Shadow Demons are back. I believe we are being hunted."
The Central City's speedster performed:
"If they're hunting the Paragons, that means..."
"… Ryan," Sara replied still stunned by the appearance of the dark creature.
Ryan Choi was having a pleasant evening. He had found his wife and daughter, both alive. He had just cuddled his baby, when a Shadow Demon appeared out of nowhere and stalked him inside his house. With his little girl in his arms, Ryan ran to take refuge in his baby's room. He tried to barricade the room with his baby's bed. But the Shadow Demon managed to demolish the door, pushing the bed aside. He was going to attack him, but he was floored by Sara who arrived at that moment. Just in time.
"Sara!" Ryan exclaimed, shocked. "What the hell's going on?"
"You have to come with me now!" she said hurriedly.
In New York, Spider-Man attempted to reach his temporary secret hiding place while waiting to find a way to prove his innocence in the Quentin Beck's death. Then, to his surprise, Shadow Demons started chasing him across the sky. The young Avenger fluttered from web to web, trying to throw them away. But the Demons caught up to him with no problem. Spider-Man whirled around and used his webs to strike them down. But eventually he ran out of cobwebs and fell into the void. He tried to catch up with something, but he could only fall into the void, to crash into Manhattan.
It was then that Supergirl rushed into the air, and managed to catch up with the young man.
"Gotcha!" she said, holding Spider-Man in her arms.
Then Thor flew through the air, using both of his weapons to wipe out the dark Demon army. Supergirl flew, taking Peter to the skies.
"Supergirl, what the fuck's going on?" Spider-Man exclaimed in a frightened voice. "I thought we were done with the Crisis!"
"That's what we thought too," she replied, carrying him away from New York. "The Shadow Demons are back and they're hunting the Paragons. That means us."
"Where are you taking me?"
"In a safe place."
Then a spaceship appeared above them. Supergirl looked up, but didn't attack when she recognized it.
"What the hell's that? An alien attack?" Spider-Man wondered.
"No, it's the Guardians of the Galaxy' ship," she replied, seeing her allies in the cockpit.
So they had come back to Earth.
"We came back at the right time!" Rocket declared.
Despite the raccoon's explanations, his Guardian friends were still skeptical of the latest events.
"So there is a guy called the Anti-Monitor who wanted to destroy multiple planets?" stammered Star-Lord dazed and confused.
"What's the Multiverse?" Mantis asked.
"When do we fight?" Drax added.
"I didn't understand what the rodent told us," Nebula replied in her corner, as if she weren't concerned.
In Arrow's bunker, Sara had led Ryan there to safety. The Guardians of the Galaxy had also joined the Team Arrow. At Rocket's request, J'onn J'onzz returned their memories to his friends about the Crisis, so they could better understand the situation.
But Quill was even more confused than before.
"There were so many Earths… One guy called the Monitor and another the Anti-Monitor? And now these things have returned?"
"Yeah," Rocket replied, nodding his head.
Then Sara spoke to all the heroes gathered.
"All right, Barry, J'onn, Thor, Supergirl, and Bat-Lady are gathering the troops. Black Panther has been warned. He'll join us in Star City. With Ant-Man and the Wasp. Those attacks were probably just the first wave. Assassins sent to pick us off in pairs."
"How are the Shadow Demons even still here? Didn't Oliver destroy the guy who controls them?" Dinah asked, puzzled.
"Thor told me Oliver killed him at the Dawn of Time," Clint added. "He should be dead!"
"Well, not according to the surge in anti-matter energy I'm reading." Nash said, brandishing his armband.
"The Anti-Monitor is alive?" Sara wondered.
"With these creatures that hunt Paragons, there's no question about it," Strange confirmed with a serious look.
"But you said Oliver sacrificed himself to create this new world." added Rene stunned.
"Apparently, his sacrifice didn't kill the Anti-Monitor." Ray explained.
"Well, then how do we do that?" Dinah said, raising her arms.
"Come on, guys, there are several of us on the same Earth," Clint pointed out. "There are enough of us to send this freak to hell!"
"Well, let's just throw him into the sun and let the bastard burn!" suggested Mick Rory.
At the sight of the former criminal, Rocket gave him a look of contempt. While Clint gave him a curious look.
"Who are you again?"
Then Nash spoke again with false joy:
"Oh yeah, let's throw him in the sun and cause an anti-matter explosion that obliterates the solar system. You know what, let's not do that."
"Hey, this mess is your fault!" Clint reminded him angrily. "Then I wouldn't be sarcastic if I were you! If you're brilliant, then make your neurons work and find a way to fix your mess!"
Sara nodded, replying:
"At least he's trying to offer up a solution instead of being the cause of the problem."
"That's the solution?" Nash retorted, not being taken down. "Blow up the solar system?"
Then Rocket intervened.
"Guys, guys, guys, guys! Come on, man! We've the biggest bastard in the whole universe who wants to destroy what you just recreated! Fighting like kids isn't the way to find a solution!"
"Yes, he's right, we're all on the same team, okay?" Ray interjected, trying to calm everyone down.
"No, Scrappy and Archer are right." Nash admitted, lowering his head. "It's my fault we're in this mess. We gotta fix it. Gotta fix it."
"It's just a little tricky." Ray admitted ironically.
"Oh really?" Clint muttered, still annoyed.
Then Ray continued, as if he hadn't been interrupted:
"The Anti-Monitor is made of anti-matter, and, like its opposite, it can neither be created nor destroyed. It can only…"
"Change form and move from place to place." Ryan suggested enthusiastically. "So what if we do just that? What if we could set off a chain reaction that will destabilize his form? Compressing his molecules so he's essentially shrinking for eternity."
"Is that kind of reaction even possible?" Nash asked, frowning.
"We have Ant-Man and the Wasp that can shrink and reach a microscopic universe that is invisible to the naked eye," Clint explained. "If they can do it, we can make this son of the bitch smaller!"
"And I can shrink too," Ray added proudly. "A bunch of times."
"So you think you can keep him shrinking indefinitely?" Nash said, still skeptical.
"Essentially, we'd be sending him to the Quantum Realm or to the Atomverse!" Ray Palmer concludes ecstatically.
"I like to call it the Microverse." Ryan replied excitedly.
"Ah, that's better."
"He could get stuck there for, like, ever."
"In theory it could totally work." concluded Ray to the other heroes. "But developing a device in time…"
"I can always ask Lang to bring Hope and Hank Pym," Clint suggested. "He's an expert in that."
"I can do that too," Nash replied. " I just gotta get to Star Labs."
After Wells left, Sara spoke again.
"Look, if this goes down anything like it did on Earth – 38, then things are gonna get messy."
"I am Groot," Groot exclaimed in a fearful whisper at the mention of Supergirl's ancient Earth.
"I suggest that the geniuses go make this weapon that can shrink our enemy while we occupy him here," Strange suggested.
"Good idea," Sara agreed. "Geek team, get on it. Mick, go with 'em, keep 'em safe."
Mick moaned plaintively at the thought of having to play bodyguard, but didn't say anything.
Then Sara said to the others:
"The rest of us, we'll need to hold back this incoming army."
"I love it when it's a fight," Drax growled jovially.
The others left the bunker, each knowing what to do. Sara took a deep breath, then Ryan enthusiastically joined him.
"Hey, this can work, Sara. I know it can."
"That's what we thought back at the Dawn of Time." she said with disappointment. "Here we are back at square one."
"This new Earth isn't square one." Ryan replied, still enthusiastic. "It's what Oliver gave up his life to create. We have to protect it."
Rocket, who had heard them, joined the Paragon of Destiny with a look of determination.
"Hey, Miss Cap Legend, for a so-called Paragon, I find you very defeatist! You didn't create this universe for that the Anti-Monitor could disintegrate it, as soon as it appeared! You know, Lance, you may be a super badass woman, you're still a coward! You sleep with other women without the slightest emotion for them. You don't attach yourself to anyone, because the slightest sign of love only reminds you that you are alone. And your League of killers and Rip Hunter consider you a sacrificial pawn. Actually, you're not even a hero. And apparently you're not trying to become one."
"And what makes you believe that, furball?" Sara scolded in a loud voice.
"If you and your Legends morons were really heroes, where were you when Thanos snapped his fingers in Wakanda and wiped out half the universe? Where were you when, five years later, the Avengers, your friend Queen and the Kryptonian and I had to go to the Quantum Realm to undo what he had done? Last year, where were you when Thor, Queen, The Flash and the Kryptonian battled a mad doctor who wanted to destroy reality? Why didn't you come when your presence could have made a difference? Because you, guys, you're not the Avengers, nor Green Arrow, nor The Flash, nor even the Supers and even less the Batwoman. Just because you and your team are the ones we shouldn't bet like horses! Right now, your new Earth is threatened by the Anti-Monitor. Oliver Queen is no more! Do you really want to make his sacrifice unnecessary? No? So move and fight like the Paragon you are meant to be!"
Sara seemed taken aback, following the raccoon's speech, then finally retorted with pride:
"If we're gonna go down... We go down fighting."
Thanks for reading and reviewing!
And that's it for this chapter! I hope you enjoyed it! Hope I provided enough clarification on New Earth (Arrowverse / MCU).
Thanks to jetblack1979 for giving me the idea for Rocket's talk to Sara.