Within the halls of the Tower of Fate, its guardian floated in deep meditation. Legs crossed, cape hanging to the floor while never touching, hands brought to his center as thumbs touched and fingertips touched its opposite, forming a triangle with them. His eyes were glazed over, seeing into an abyss from which no light could escape.

Then, the room shuddered. It was soft at first before a terrible tremor took hold. It was in no way physical, so the surrounding didn't vibrate or rattle. No, this was on an entirely different plane of being.

Dr. Fate's eyes sharpened. He had been in deep meditation and even then had felt that. Something had happened. Something had happened that had affected all planes of existence.

And reality shuddered.

For as long as he had dwelled in this tower, he had never felt such a shift. In fact, such a moment should have never occurred. Yet, it had. Its meaning was lost in mystery.

There was a sense of…of wrongness that permeated everything now. Drifting downwards to the floor, Dr. Fate uncrossed his legs so that he could land gently on his feet. He immediately left the room, entering a room of impossibilities, the fabled M.C Escher design. It was forever changing, so not once had the sorcerer entered this place and it had been the same twice. Stair rose and fell through the chamber, some even upside down. There were pathways that the only way for one to stand on them was to be on its side rather on top of it. Feeling little need for finding his way through its complexities, Dr. Fate levitated into the air and flew towards a doorway that was upside down. Turning so that he too was upside down, he set his feet down on the path just outside of the door and strode through its threshold.

Any sense of disorientation vanished as he entered a corridor. He continued this way until he reached a chamber, one with a lone altar at its center. Floating above the stand was a crystal orb, bathed in a heavenly glow from a source unnamed.

Fate came to stand before the orb, holding his hands on either side of it. From here, he could see out into the vastness of reality, a scrying stone that could not be denied by any force, physical or mystical.

Almost immediately, he felt a repeat of the shudder that had broken his meditation only minutes ago. This…this feeling. Its cause…the destruction of an entire world, albeit one that had died generations ago.

This wasn't supposed to happen.

That sentiment wasn't of regret that it had occurred; no, this was not supposed to happen. This dimension, this act of vengeance was never meant to happen. It had not been foreordained.

There were many things that were meant to happen. The rise of a generation of heroes followed by the creation of their antagonists happened, fate determining who those people were at the beginning of time. Of course, this could change with the flap of the wings of a butterfly, so an infinite number of futures were possible. Men and women that were meant to exist came to be, but behaved in ways that were opposite to what had been expected. That was unfortunate, but it was well within the realm of possibility.

A sickening feeling began to well up within the sorcerer's stomach. This violent act that should have never happened did only a short time after he had directly intervened in the matters that affected the world. The wearer of the Helm of Nabu was forbiddened from direct intervention lest they incur dire consequences.

He had played a hand in the struggle between Earth's heroes—between Batman and Superman. It was one thing to offer sanctuary, but he had used his powers in the mortal plane. He had saved the Martian from his fate against his former comrades; he had held off the world-changing power of the World Engine. Had those acts created a shift that allowed for this seismic change?

Was this the price for those who meddled?

The wise course of action would be to remove himself from the conflict on Earth and allow it to follow its new path, its natural path, whatever it may be now. That was what he should do to correct his previous actions. Any further action would only exacerbate the situation, throwing fate into chaos, and there would be no foresight that could predict its outcome.

However, he did share in the responsibility. Though he was quite possibly the most powerful being in existence, save for the deities that gifted their powers to all, he was still a man. In a previous life, he had been taught to take responsibility for his actions and to try and correct any wrongs he had made.

He knew what Nabu and the Gods of Order would command of him.

But what would Kent Nelson do? Should do?

And what price would he have to pay for further meddling?


A sensation close to numb had overcome J'onn. It was a feeling he had never quite experienced before and he wished he never would again.

His home—it was gone. With one act, it had been destroyed in a matter of minutes, ending its existence dramatically. For the people of Earth, he could feel their fear, their astonishment, and their concern.

They paled in comparison to the sheer devastation he felt.

Mars had been his home. It was where he had become a man, had done his part in the continuation of its society, found love, and fathered a family. That was all gone. His former house—gone. The graves of his race—gone. M'yri'ah…gone. The children…gone.

He could never see the familiar red sands again. He could never find rest there as he planned, when the day he finally felt the last of his life leave his body and he was laid to rest. He could no longer be reunited with…with…

He felt an arm wrap around him. He did not know who did this, but he was familiar with the action of consolation on Earth. He just could not find it in him to identify who was trying to console him. He found that he could not care. Over and over, he could see that monstrous beam strike his home world, burning it, searing it, detonating it. All Martians had a phobia of fire and the purple fire that had been used was a final insult that extinguished the planet's life.

Had J'onn been in a collected mindset, he would have realized how fitting that fate was, no matter how terrible it was.

Yet, all he could think of was the ground blackening before it was consumed by the fire. He had no trouble imagining the graves of his wife and his children becoming charred in an instant before they were consumed, their bodies no doubt cremated in a matter of seconds. Their cries of fear and pain, albeit imagined, were quite real to him.

His hearts tore at him in anguish. His stomach clenched with dread and bile. His ever-present loneliness seemed suffocating. He…he couldn't breathe. He couldn't feel. He couldn't…he couldn't…

Wetness.

It was an odd sensation. Out of everything, he could feel wetness on his face. It began at his eyes and trailed down his cheek. It was a foreign sensation. He could not remember a time he had ever felt such a thing.

It wouldn't stop either.

There was a calming voice in his ear, trying to soothe him. He didn't understand the words, if any had actually been used. For all he knew, it was a shushing sound, one he had made to his own children when they were frightened and needed comforting. It was so faint, as if it were made lightyears away.

He was trapped. Trapped in a world where nothing mattered and would ever matter. J'onn wasn't certain if there was a way to escape or if he even wanted to. Or perhaps could was a better phrase. There was nothing that could make him feel at peace. Peace was lost to him now.

And that…that was the worst feeling of all.


So now their solar system had one less planet in it. This situation was only getting worse by the minute.

An emergency meeting had been called, and every high ranking agent and bureaucrat in A.R.G.U.S. were to be present. Those who couldn't physically be there were doing so virtually. No one was exempt.

"We have reports from every observatory and planetarium on the planet confirming Despero's claim. Mars has been destroyed, and we're starting to pick out fluctuations in gravity, though what that means no one has a clue, but everyone is guessing it's bad," Trevor summed up. "Even worse, Despero is still at large, we don't know where he is or how to find him. People are panicking, the usual people are breathing down our necks, and so far there's no word from the Justice League."

"What about the Green Lanterns? The Thanagarians?" an agent asked.

"Radio silence. Neither are talking to us," Trevor answered.

"So nothing has changed," Bordeaux concluded.

"Unless you count that alien fleet heading our way," Trevor pointed out.

A fist slammed down on the conference table. "Is that defense system those bird people building ready yet?" Gunn's patience had come to an end, and the director fully understood the frustration.

The Thanagarians had promised a defense system, but so far had not given any updates on it. Satellite imagery showed that there was still a Thanagarian presence near it, and a few miles away was the Chinese army waiting to take possession of it once the Thanagarians had left. The silence was unnerving.

"I wouldn't get my hopes up for that defense system." That response came from Waller, currently not present, though her stern visage was on one of the monitors. "I've been keeping an eye on that building. The intelligence I have been receiving is very concerning."

Waller and concern were two things that did not go together unless there was something bad happening. "What have you found out?" Bordeaux inquired.

"For a system that we all assume we'd be keeping in the event of future alien invasions, there's a startling lack of infrastructure inside that building. Something that big requires maintenance, and there's not enough space available for any personnel to keep up that kind of maintenance. Whatever they're building, it's not being built to last long."

"Are you saying these aliens are pulling one over us?" Gunn demanded.

Just what they needed. What was next? Did the Green Lanterns have an ace up their sleeve and were biding their time?

"First and foremost," Bordeaux cut in before any more outrage derailed this meeting, "I want all of the Rooms secured. Red, Black, and the Circus are top priorities. Follow up with Wonder the Clinic, and Belle Reve. Someone get the Green Room prepped in case we need to secure the President. According to our source in the Justice League, this Despero is a telepath, so we do not want him getting access to anything in those Rooms. Who knows what intelligence he left with after his first invasion. Take no chances and put into place all protocols for compromised agents who are being mind controlled.

"One other thing, Waller, make sure to update me on new developments concerning the World Engine. Encrypted email, take no chances. Everyone, we are officially preparing for a war, and we're assuming everyone is a potential enemy. We're planning for the worst-case scenario, and I would rather we be planning for that instead of sitting on our asses and hoping for the best. We just lost a planet and Earth is next. Act like the end of the world is today and get to it."

They might as well operate on that basis. Any enemy that had the power to destroy a planet should not be underestimated. Right now, everyone was scrambling, and Bordeaux had no doubts that their counterparts in the League were in the same boat.


Luthor was beginning to wonder just how easy it was to hijack broadcast communications. Then he narrowed his focus at the matter at hand.

This Despero has a surprising knack for the theatrics; it was a wonder why he hadn't used any during the first Kalanorian invasion. The annihilation of a whole planet, and not just any planet but Mars, the same planet that humanity used as a measuring stick for space exploration, was dominating every news outlet on Earth. All plans for a manned mission to the former red planet would have to be scrapped now, along with all unmanned probes and satellites. The possibility of somehow accessing what resources could be found was moot.

Naturally, the threat Despero implied with this demonstration was aimed at Earth for an encore performance. There was panic, and already the business mogul could look through the floor-to-ceiling windows of his office and see smoke rising from the streets of his city. Hysteria was leading to rioting and looting, and no government official was convincing enough to calm down the chaos.

LexCorp was under lockdown for the time being, so no mindless sheep were going to be raiding his building anytime soon. However, work on the new cyberinfrastructure was still underway. After that virus had its way with the old one, a major undertaking to build a new one was the order of the day, and it would take weeks to accomplish. It couldn't have come at a worse time since there were some shortages concerning some very important parts when it came to building new servers.

So armed guards with some heavy artillery aimed at the doors were what would ward away one who got any bright ideas.

With homebase as secure as it could be, Luthor considered what to do next.

Obviously, the Kalanorian fleet was heading towards Earth now, which meant it wasn't here yet. Then there was Despero's declaration. The background was completely different to an alien who should be aboard one of those spaceships. Luthor had a sharp eye, and he noted how there were trees behind the alien invader. Not just any trees, but ones that were native to Earth.

Despero was on the planet itself, and not with his fleet. How very curious. It might just be an opportunity, though.

There was more than just panic that was flooding the streets; it also flooded the various message boards and chats on the internet. Intertwined with it all was some condemnation of the Justice League and what they were doing to stop this. If only these fools realized the League had failed already. Oh, excuse him, there was someone on one chat that was pointing out the trees behind Despero and even naming the species of those trees. Well, that news was going to be spreading quickly soon enough.

Now, there was an opportunity, and it involved him taking action. Were he to be the one to subdue Despero and bring him in, dead or alive, that could afford him so many other opportunities. From heightened prestige, glory, and PR the likes of which you could not purchase, it could be a new launchpad to a new era of LexCorp domination.

He couldn't sit on his ass and let it get past him. Especially not after that damn virus and yet another setback with the Amazo project. It was time for some retaliation on his part, specifically the kind that could not be undermined.

"Mercy, bring Magnus up here," Luthor ordered his right hand. "We're going to prepare the Metal Men for a new mission. The sooner, the better."

Mercy gave a nod and quickly left to accomplish her new task.

Despite the recent woes, the Metal Men were still a resource available to him. So long as Magnus hadn't tried to connect any of them to the contaminated cyber network, the team of robots should be ready to go out for their second field assignment.

This time there would be no mistakes.


You could hear a pin drop. Even the chatterboxes had no words to say. Wonder Girl herself had nothing to say either.

What could you say? A whole planet, gone, just like that. Sure, there was no one on it, but still. And now the asshole responsible claimed that Earth was next.

Yeah. Earth was next. How the hell were they going to stop something like that? It hadn't escaped her notice that the evil alien spaceship hadn't even entered Mars' atmosphere. It was still out there in space, and from there it had fired that wicked purple fire blast and the rest was history. No one had to bring it onto Earth; they could fire another purple fire blast and what happened to Mars would happen to Earth.

How could anyone fight something like that?

"I had no idea those Kalanorian guys had something like that. Where do you think they were hiding it?" And there was Kid Flash to break up the silence. This time around, Wonder Girl was going to let him have this one.

"I think what we need to focus on is how the hell are we going to stop it," Cyborg responded. "We can't let those assholes make a sequel here."

"Well, you have some thoughts?" Wonder Girl asked, arms crossed over her chest, just hoping none of her dread was given away. "Any ideas? I think everyone would like to hear what they are, you know, before that freaking cannon shows up and does what it did to Mars."

Cyborg held her gaze for only a few seconds before he looked away, silent. Damn, and she was hoping he did have an idea or two. This sucked.

Faintly, she heard a shuffled and a soft intake of breath. "My apologies, my friends." Huh, what? What was Starfire saying sorry for? "If it weren't for my sister and my people, then the Destroyer would not be making this threat to your home world."

"This isn't your fault," Red Robin spoke up, speaking for several of them, including the armor-wearing blonde. "I don't think it's anyone's fault. I wouldn't be surprised if this was Despero's plan the whole time. I think he wants us all afraid. He wants us panicking. Desperate. Your sister might have just given him different options."

"What makes you think this is part of his plan?" Count on Raven to cut through anything that sounded like bullshit. For a second, Wonder Girl wanted to believe Red but now, no, they couldn't afford anyone sounding like they knew what was going on when nobody did.

"Remember what he said?" Red asked. "The first time he came here was to conquer. Now he's here to destroy? Do you know what this sounds like? This is all about revenge. This is about getting even. We're the planet that beat him, and like any guy with an ego, it's not enough to simply blow us up. He wants us to know he's going to do that. He's 'giving' us days to get our affairs in order. Who does that unless he wants us to suffer first? To make up for his bruised ego? And he's a telepath, right? So he's probably listening in on everyone's thoughts too."

Like a Goddamn sadist. Red was making some very good points.

"I don't know about everyone else," Red continued, looking over them all. "But I think the last thing we should do is give that bastard the satisfaction."

"That's easy to say," Raven interrupted, practically gliding over the floor as she drew closer to Red. "The facts remain, he doesn't need to bring that cannon onto Earth to use it. He fires it from space, then all the speeches and heroics are moot."

Red was returning her look for look, no backing down, but not saying anything either. Hmm, was it just her, or was there something happening between those two? Call it a hunch, but now that she thought about it, there had been some tension building between Red and Raven lately.

"Uh, what about making it leave space and get on Earth?" Beast Boy suggested, and you could hear how uncertain he was. If she didn't know any better, she'd say his voice was cracking.

Kid Flash, though, was quick to jump on to the idea. "That's a great idea!" the speedster exclaimed, an arm slung around Beast Boy's shoulders. "We get that thing on Earth, then we can get inside and mess it up so that it can't fire that cannon! Genius!"

Raven broke off from whatever staring contest she was in to retort, "And like I said, that's easy to say. What's your big idea to get it to leave space and enter our atmosphere, getting close enough to the ground so that anyone could board and 'mess it up'?"

"Maybe there's something the Justice League can do?" Cyborg suggested.

"Or mayhap the Green Lanterns can be of aid? The Thanagarians could be recruited to repurpose their warships," Starfire added.

"We have options, but let's focus on what we can do," Red said. "Are the odds against us? Yeah, but somehow we've found ways around them. We've come out on top. Let's do it again, one more time. The stakes have never been as high as they are now, but we can do this. The one thing we can't do is play by Despero's rules. The second we do, he wins, so let's find something out there, something that he can't predict. Raven, you can shield our minds, can't you? Make it so Despero can't get a stray thought from us."

Raven was silent, her eyes darting from each Titan to another. The seconds seemed to tick on, but then she shrugged her shoulders and said, "Keeping six minds under wraps shouldn't be too hard."

Wonder Girl was this close to nodding, but then the math caught up to her. "You mean eight, right?"

Raven favored her with a look. "Two minds are filled with thoughts that would probably do more to hurt Despero if he tried to look through them."

Both Beast Boy and Kid Flash looked at each other. "Dude, I wonder who's she's talking about," the green shapeshifter failed to whisper to the speedster.

"I don't know, but I think she might be talking about anyone she doesn't like," Kid Flash also failed at whispering his answer.

Raven's eyes pointedly looked at the two males then returned to Wonder Girl, a single eyebrow raising up.

Okay, she couldn't argue with that logic.

Two hands clapped together and all attention was drawn back to Red. "This is a start, but we've got work to do. Let's work something out and show this asshole why he should have never come back here."


Things had gone from calm to def con one in a split second. The cool, controlled monitoring of the Raptor's bridge was now chaotic in comparison as men and women were darting around the room, using computer terminals as they worked hard.

Despero's demonstration of power had been unlike anything Shayera had seen—ever. She had heard of planet-destroying weapons. Hell, she had just fought one that terraformed an entire planet. But to see one destroyed in a matter of moments was horrifying.

"This was unexpected," Kragger remarked as he stood on the opposite side of Hro, his eyes on the large computer monitors. "None of our intelligence had indicated the Kalanorinas had such a weapon."

"That is quite an oversight," Hro responded.

"A pretty damn big oversight," Shayera interjected. "How the hell did we not know about that? It's not like Despero has been sneaking around."

Hro had looked over his shoulder at her when she spoke, so she saw him nod his agreement. "Perhaps we did know, we just did not connect the dots until now."

"What do you mean, Commander Talak?" Kragger inquired.

"We know the Kalanorians have been destroying every piece of resistance on their way to Earth. They even destroyed a large piece of the Citadel. This may very well be the weapon they used to accomplish such feats."

That made sense—too much sense. And now that same weapon was on its way to Earth. They had to start making their preparations because they were about to be in the fight for their lives.

"Kragger: status on the generator," Hro suddenly demanded.

"We are almost complete," the Lieutenant reported.

"Will it be finished by the time the Kalanorinas arrive?"

"It should, give or take a day or so."

Hro turned his whole body around to face the two lieutenants. This allowed him to glare at Kragger. "I want that generator finished and operational before the Kalanorians arrive. We only have one shot at this and if they destroy this world, we will be looking at generations worth of fighting. Take every man, every machine you need to get it done."

"Yes, Commander Talak."

Getting the Defense Shield Generator ready was a good idea. Hopefully it could hold up against the fire power of that big ass cannon of Despero's. However, that couldn't be the entire plan. "And the fleet?" she asked, ready for orders.

"I want the fleet ready for hyperspace travel when the generator is ready. We will need to be far from here when it is activated."

What? Shayera had to blink her eyes upon hearing those words. That…that was basically calling for a full scale retreat. Like hell did Thanagarians retreat! "You…want…" she trailed off with uncertainty.

"You heard me, Lieutenant," Hro said. "You have your orders; I trust you will have them fulfilled."

"Hro, that's…that's crazy! We're abandoning them!" she protested.

"Careful, Lieutenant Hol," Kragger cautioned, though there was a small smirk growing on his stpuid, smug face. "That's insubordination."

Hro held up a hand to silence the kiss ass. "This is not a fight the Earthlings can win," he told the redhead. "It never has been."

"Which is why we're here," Shayera pressed. "That's why we're building that damn Defense Shield Generator for. So Earth can protect itself while we battle Despero's forces!"

For a moment, Hro's eyes looked away from her. That was all Shayera needed to see to know that something was up. "That was the plan, right?" She took a step closer to her betrothed. "That is the plan, right?"

"No, it isn't."

Shayera found herself snapping her head towards Kragger. Gone was his smirk and a look of professionalism had settled on his features. In contrast, there was an annoyed look on Hro's, one he sent towards the lieutenant.

"What the hell does that mean?" Shayera growled.

"We have known for some time that Despero's main force has been heading to Earth," Hro relented as he began to explain. "Our own forces had fought the Kalanorians, but we suffered significant defeats. With the knowledge of where he was going, the High Council came up with the idea of building a trap."

With one hand, Hro raised it towards the computer monitor that displayed a visual of the Defense Shield Generator. "In one fail swoop, we can defeat the main body of Despero's forces, which will leave Kalanor vulnerable. Even now, the rest of the fleet is getting into position to stage an invasion of the planet, provided we defeat Despero."

A sneaking suspicion was entering Sahyera's mind. Just what the hell had they been building in the Gobi Desert? "That isn't a defense shield generator, is it?"

"It is not," Hro confirmed. "It is a Black Hole Generator."

Never in her life had Shayera felt stunned. Hell, with all the battles, all the hits, all of the injuries, and the bloodshed, never had she taken such a hit before. "A…a black hole…" she repeated. "But that will destroy Earth! It'll kill everyone!"

"Which is the point," Kragger said.

"Despero has proven himself too powerful for conventional means," Hro continued. "If he were so easily defeated, we would not resort to such methods. But with his forces coming here—not to mention the presence of Despero on the planet itself—we can end his threat in one fail swoop. No matter how powerful he is, not even Despero can survive a black hole."

"And what of the Earthlings?" Shayera pressed. "It'll be genocide! And it's not just them! There's the Tamaraneans too! And the last of the Kryptonian and Martian races! And if your calculations are even off, it'll be our deaths too!"

Next came words she never thought she would hear from her fiance. "It would be a sacrifice worthy of us all."

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. This entire time, her own people had been planning the death of an entire race. He hadn't even told her. Her! The woman he claimed to love! How could he keep something like this from her?!

"You can't do this," she protested. "This isn't right! You know it, Hro!"

"It is for the betterment of all worlds," the Thanagarian Commander intoned. "You have your orders, Lieutenant." He then glanced at Kragger. "Both of you. I suggest you see to them."

"I will not!" she roared. "Not until you stop this madness and get your head straight! You can't kill all of these people! I won't let you!"

For a moment, Hro looked shocked, then concerned. "Shayera, please," he pleaded, keeping his tone low. "Just do as I ask. We can talk about this later, but what you're saying could be considered treason. You and I both know what that means and I don't want to go to that extent."

"Then don't! Get in contact with High Command! Find another way!"

"If there was one, we would have already thought of it. There is no other way!"

"Then find one anyways!"

That was when Kragger moved next to her, one his hands grabbing onto her upper arm. "Lieutenant Hol, you are out of line. Your Commander has given you orders and you must do as he commands."

Shayera whipped her head around, her red hair flying around her head as she gave the asshole an enraged look. "Let go—"

Suddenly, pain exploded on the back of her head, cutting her off. It was as sudden as it was unexpected. Crying out, she collided with Kragger, who had the presence of mind to catch her, pinning her against him as his arms wrapped around her. Eyes squeezed shut, teeth gritted, her face slowly morphed into a snarl, right before something sharp plunged into her neck.

She knew what that meant. Something had been injected into her and it didn't take a genius to know what that injection was. The world began to fade though, and Shayera fell into unconsciousness.