With the Watchtower compromised and Titans Tower still in repair, the JLA had been bussed over to the JSA headquarters in Civic City to use their systems instead. Almost immediately, an alert was sent out to every active hero on the planet via a contact to Oracle about the situation. All of them were scrambling to search for the missing heroes, to find some sign of what happened to them.
Batman in particular was using the JSA's systems to re-route the Bat-Computer's tracking program through them, hoping to find his son through that method. Unfortunately, it proved to be fruitless — the tracker wasn't picking up. Either Jason and the others weren't on earth, or someone had discovered the tracker and had managed to either destroy it or block its signal.
After two hours of futilely searching, Batman slammed his fists into a nearby table before collapsing into his seat. "Dammit. Dammit!"
"Batman, enough!" Diana said, trying to calm her friend. "Throwing a tantrum is not going to find them any faster!"
"We should've kept a closer eye on them, we should've pushed for more information. If we had, we might have been able to prevent this!" Bruce ranted, shrugging away her comforting hands. "Now, they're God knows where with a possessed Hal Jordan and a number of supervillains, probably being tortured right now information!"
"Are we really sure about that, though?" Clark asked, worried in his own right but still keeping his head on straight — or at least, straighter than his best friend. "Somehow, Parallax knew about who he needed to pick up. He knew about how Alex DeWitt had been killed in the previous timeline, enough to use her to manipulate Kyle into going with him. Meaning that whoever is pulling his strings already knows about all the changes to the timeline."
Diana frowned. "Not to mention the fact that they picked up Wallace and Kaldur'ahm, even though those two had yet to show any signs of traveling back like the others. That suggests they knew, or at least suspected, that they would be coming back as well. Either we have a mole, which I highly doubt, or—"
"Whoever kidnapped them already knows about the other timeline. More than likely, is from that timeline," Bruce concluded grimly, collecting himself as the pieces fell into place. "They might very well be the person that has been sending them back to this time in the first place."
"But if that's the case, why?" Clark wondered. "Even considering the butterfly effect, in the end sending back a bunch of experienced superheroes is only going to benefit us, not them. If Kon and the others are anything like us, they would rather die then give up the kind of information they probably have to our enemies. It would be too risky otherwise. So what's the motive for sending them back and then kidnapping them?"
"A personal one."
The Amazon and the Kryptonian glanced at their mortal friend. "You mean…revenge?"
"Jason suggested the possibility to me, during one of our discussions over the situation after Kon-El traveled back," Bruce stated grimly. "Initially, we dismissed it. It seemed too…petty at the time. We were looking for some grand plot or narrative to all this. Jason even seemed intent on it after Rayner came back. I watched a conversation between the four of them that suggested there was something about Rayner that villains might try to take advantage of."
"Did they say what that was?"
"No. All four knew I was watching and talked around it. They probably didn't want me to draw on wrong conclusions with incomplete information." Bruce laced his fingers together, adopting a thinking pose. "Again, they seemed to believe that Rayner's appearance meant there was some nefarious plot to all this. But then the kidnappings happened, and with the conclusions we've drawn from that, it's becoming more unlikely there is some great goal in mind. Or if there is, it's one that we can't divine for ourselves."
"Meaning that if we can't figure out the motive, we can't find them," Clark finished. "If only they had told us more information about their pasts, futures, whatever, we might have been able to do something. But they've been so cagey about everything, and we let them be because we felt sorry for them." He threw a hand into the air. "And now, here we are."
"I know how you feel, Clark, but what good would it do?" Diana crossed her arms. "It's not like they traveled back a couple of months — they traveled back decades. Many of the things they know, the freshest events in their minds, won't be relevant for several years. It's very possible that the enemy responsible for this is someone they didn't think would be a problem for a long time."
Clark pinched his nose. "Like Zod. And then he showed up anyway."
"We can ruminate and correct our mistakes later," Bruce said with finality. "What matters is that we find them now."
"But how? We don't have any alternative sources of information!"
Bruce opened his mouth, but then stopped, a thoughtful look crossing his face. He abruptly stood up and returned to the computer, going through a number of channels before he managed to contact the Bat-Computer again. Tim Drake, in full Robin uniform, appeared on the screen. In the background behind him, he could see Cass and Stephanie bustling about, no doubt running their own investigation into the kidnapping.
"Batman," his sidekick greeted him stoically.
"Robin. Is Knight's laptop still in the Manor?"
Tim stiffened. "It should be. Why?"
"I need you to hack into it. To collect all the information inside and analyze it for any clue to his location."
"He's not going to like that."
"He can yell at me for it when he gets back," Bruce replied stubbornly.
His son sighed. "Fine. But I don't know how long it'll take to get in and download the data. Depending on how much he beefed up the security, I may need Oracle's help for this." Jason might not be as good at computers as his siblings, but he was skilled nonetheless and he came from a time where coding had advanced significantly. It wouldn't be remiss to suppose he had picked up some tricks that would stump even two of the greatest hackers in the world today.
"Do whatever it takes, Robin. Your brother's life may depend on it."
It had only been a couple of hours, and already Kyle hated this place.
The moment he had arrived, he had been separated from his ring and was bound head-to-toe by what one his captors had called depleted promethium. Kyle, very familiar with that material, didn't bother trying to struggle out of it and instead had tried to will his ring to him. Apparently, they had been prepared for that as well, as he had gotten a shock as soon as he had tried. How they had managed to sense his attempt to will his ring over was beyond Kyle, but he was smart enough not to rock the boat and try again.
He wasn't the only one there. The others were there too. Donna was similarly bound in promethium-based power dampeners, deprived of her lasso. Kon was in a similar state, though he was being bathed in red solar energy. They didn't bother with anything special for Jason beyond taking his utility belt and weapons — other than gagging him, which Kyle had to admit was a smart precaution. Jason could be just as dangerous with his words as he was with his fists or any other weapon or gadget. Kyle had seen him destroy enough organizations with a speech or two to guarantee it.
And then there were the children. It had been four years since he had seen Wallace, four years since his friend's death, but he would recognize the boy's younger self anywhere. Even more so for Kaldur, who had been alive when Kyle had died. The other boy had to be him — the tattoos and the shock of golden hair against his dark skin all but confirmed it.
The worst part is that they looked young. Wallace was eleven, according to Wally, and Kaldur couldn't be much older than him. And to see them bound like that, frightened and scared and clearly confused about what was going on, enraged Kyle. If he had access to his ring, he was sure his eyes would be flashing red.
They stayed in that room, that prison, for God knows how long, before they found it shifting away to reveal a throne room, where there was an entire lineup of some very familiar supervillains watching them warily. He could just feel Jason groan from his imprisonment, and could only empathize. They had been through this bullshit way too many times for it not to feel exhaustingly routine, regardless of the time period. Kyle was not impressed in the least, and he could tell that neither were any of his friends.
At least until another shift happened. Some kind of hidden trapdoor in the center of their little open-air prison opened up and ascended something on a pedestal. It was some kind of white pastiche of a xenomorph, similarly bound like them, but with a ring of fire around it. It took a second for Kyle to realize who it was, though Jason struggling and yelling through his gag helped.
M'gann. Kyle thought, both horrified and relieved. So they were all here now.
How do you know my name? A familiar voice, younger but unmistakably M'gann, asked.
It's a long story, Kyle replied over the telepathic bond. Can you bring in the others as well?
M'gann felt nervous over the bond, but she did as he asked. Almost immediately, Kyle could feel that familiar meld of their minds, reminding him of times long gone by. It wasn't quite the same, he could tell that Wallace and Kaldur were freaking out over being telepathically bonded to what were essentially a bunch of strangers, all of whom older than them, but — still.
Oh thank God, Jason, of course, is the first one to say anything, I was going out of mind out there! I want to cuss out everyone over there so badly—
No, Jason, And there's Donna, ever the voice of reason, especially with the man she loved. As tempting as that would be, it's just asking for trouble. And you're gagged anyway, so all you would be doing is wasting air.
Okay, who's here? Kon was scanning the throne room for all the villains. Can't see Parallax. Zod, ugh. Thawne, Manta, is that Cheetah and Circe? Oh great. And yup, Doctor Psycho, sorry about that Don. Who else, who else — wow, even the Flash Rogues are here. Must be a lot of cash involved there. And I think that's Orm, wonder how they managed to convince him to show up, he hates humans. Despero, wonderful. And…ah hell.
What is it, Kon?
Now, Kyle, don't get mad, but I think that's Sinestro over there in the corner.
WHAT! Kyle diverted his eyes to the left corner of the room, and yup, there was Sinestro with his Qwardian yellow ring. The Green Lantern snarled. He might have married Sinestro's daughter and fathered his grandson, but that didn't mean he had grown to like the bastard. Tolerated, more like it, and vice versa. Sinestro, after all, had done a great number of terrible things to him that he could never forgive, and Kyle had very much done the same to him. I'm gonna kill him.
Kyle… And now all three of them were admonishing him. Kyle resisted the urge to snort. Like they were ones to talk.
Fine. I won't kill him. But I'm definitely going to maim him.
A mental shrug. That's fair. Hey, Kon. Any Gotham Rogues?
Let me see, let me see…Two-Face, Penguin — so yeah, lot of cash involved — Poison Ivy, Killer Croc, Bane, Riddler—
What the hell? I just put that one back in Arkham like a month ago!
Jay, remember what time period we're in? Arkham is a revolving door right now.
Don't remind me. He sounded so put out, and who could blame him?
On the bright side, no Luthor. And no Joker. At least not at first glance. It seems whoever is responsible was smart enough to keep him out of this.
I wouldn't be too sure about that. Donna sounded worried. Remember when Luthor Jr. decided to exclude Joker from the Secret Society?
There was a collective wince. Yeah. According to Clark, finding his body like that was not fun.
Or the Arkham Massacre. Jason mentally grunted. I may hate most of these assholes, but I sure as hell don't want to see them all die horribly like that again. Croc and Dent especially.
Well, at least some of these people outstrip the Joker in power enough for that to be a non-issue. Donna pointed out optimistically.
He'll find a way. He always does.
Okay, we've been staying quiet for a while now, but what are you guys all talking about? And there was Wallace.
Agreed. You surface-dwellers are…strange. Kaldur. Still hasn't been to the surface yet. Great.
This is not what I expected when I melded our minds. This planet is strange. Could you please tell me who you people are? Poor, innocent, M'gann.
Well, you see—
BZZT!
The feeling of being shocked echoed throughout the bond and broke the mind meld almost immediately. There was another collective wince and even a whimper from the children. They were not used to such pain.
"It's quite rude to have a mental conversation in front of others, you know. That is telepathic etiquette, and I know for a fact that hasn't changed much over the years."
The voice was deep but sophisticated. A British accent. And very, very familiar.
Fuck, was the collective thought of the four time travelers. And now, suddenly a lot of things made a hell of a lot more sense.
Vandal Savage stepped into view, looking smug and satisfied and even more full of himself than usual. He walked past the wall of supervillains before turning around to face all seven his prisoners. The smug look morphed into a crazed, triumphant smirk, that just screamed of how long he had been waiting for this moment.
"The Era 2 Justice League, at long last," he intoned, brimming with relish. "Do you realize how many years it's been for me?"
M'gann, Wallace, and Kaldur all stared at him in confusion. The other four glared. Jason even started yelling through his gag. Savage eyes flickered to him, and if anything, his smirk widened. "Ah, Batman. Always so chatty and irreverent when out of the suit."
That seemed to enrage Jason even more, and he started to pointlessly struggle in his bonds in hopes of breaking the promethium so he could strangle Savage. Savage then dismissed him with another glance, settling on the confused and scared children. "Now this, however, won't do. I was planning to wait until you were all sent back, but I was starting to get impatient."
"You, impatient?" Donna sounded understandably incredulous. "You're a fifty thousand-year old cave man. Patience is one of your greatest virtues."
"You try being patient after being stranded in an isolated pocket dimension in that hell called the Phantom Zone for thirty thousand years!" Savage snapped back.
"So you are still holding a grudge against us for that," Kon voiced victoriously.
Savage gave him a look. "Wouldn't you?"
The time travelers thought that over for a moment.
"Yeah."
"True."
"That's fair."
Even Jason gave a conceding nod.
"See? Now then," his eyes flickered over the remaining three captives, "to deal with this."
He waved his hand, and an all-too familiar glow began to blossom from three different sources. It was brighter, much brighter than the other three times, probably because this was happening all at once. An eternity, and then—it was gone.
Leaving three no longer-terrified children, but rather three very confused pre-adolescents. Almost absentmindedly, M'gann re-established the telepathic bond between the seven of them. A force of habit. What—
Time travel. Four mental voices, all familiar, all thought lost. M'gann would have time to dwell on it later. This was more important.
Well that bones. Wallace grumbled.
I retire for two years, have a nice peaceful death via heart attack, and wake up as a teenager imprisoned by a cannibalistic immortal cave man surrounded by my living dead teammates. Kaldur sighed. Why did I listen to Queen Atlanna and become Aquaman again?
Cause you're her bitch.
Wallace!
It's true!
Scratch that. The real question I should be asking is why I am friends with all of you.
BZZT!
"Again, it is rude to have a mental conversation in front of other people when they are trying to talk to you."
"Blah, blah, we don't care man!" Wallace shouted back, still wincing from the impromptu shock. "You made me a midget again! A midget! Why!"
Savage grinned, well, savagely. "For revenge, of course. Haven't you been listening?"
"So we dumped you in the Phantom Zone — what about it? What else did you expect us do with you after the stunt you pulled!"
"Kill me!" Savage pointed to Jason. "It's not like that one didn't have the means at the time!"
Jason started gagging. He had tried to stick out his tongue at Savage and failed because he was gagged. It was a childish gesture, but he was all out of fucks to give. He was in a teenager's body, he could act like a teenager if he wanted to.
"He didn't want to. Get over it." Kaldur was entirely unsympathetic. He always had been the biggest hardass of them all, even more so than Jason. "You're immortal, so we gave you a punishment fitting for an immortal who has committed as many atrocities as you have. Especially that last stunt you tried to pull."
Kon shuddered. "I didn't even know the human body could twist so many ways."
"It was a very creative and very disturbing plot, Vandal," Donna noted. "Definitely a new one for all of us."
Jason was still gagging. Savage got sick of it and used his magic to pull the gag out, allowing the vigilante to breathe. "Holy mother of—why the hell did you put that in my mouth!"
"I would think the answer was obvious, Batman."
"I'm not that bad!"
Everyone gave him a look.
"Okay, I am that bad," Jason admitted. "But still!"
"I think we're getting off-topic!" M'gann interjected before any more can be said. "Back to the matter at hand — why did you send us back in time, Savage? What manner of revenge could you get from all this?"
Savage returned to grinning. "What makes you think you were sent back in time?"
There was a pause.
"Okay, so dimensional travel. Alternate universe." It took only a second for Jason to figure it out, because this was hardly the first time. Nor the last, most likely. "Why here? Why this universe?"
"It's a universe I made," Savage revealed. "A clone of the original, wound back in time — with a couple of modifications to the timeline, as you can probably figure out yourself. And then, I used my powers to send your souls here, merging them with your counterparts', all for the sake of my revenge."
Another period of silence.
"Are you trying to tell me," Jason inhaled deeply, his voice deathly calm and subdued, "that you somehow managed to harness enough magical energy to clone the universe, and send our souls to this universe, and merge us with our counterparts here… and you used it for petty revenge?"
"Yes." Savage sounded completely unashamed.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU!" The Bat sounded downright apoplectic. "Do you have any idea what you could do with that kind of power? You could cure cancer! End world hunger! Remake the universe to be a place with no tragedy like Parallax wanted!"
"Actually," Kyle said, with a thoughtful look on his face. "Now that you mention it, Batman, that kind of explains a lot. Is that how you got Parallax to work for you Savage?"
Jason ignored the question, continuing to rant, until he was gagged again. He grew red in the face as he continued to scream.
"Yes, Lantern," Savage confirmed to Kyle. "And for the record, Batman, I am allowed to be that petty because I am eighty thousand years old. Your infantile ideas of morality do not apply to me." He ignored the glare Jason shot him, as he removed the gag once more.
"Now then, I guess you're wondering how this world is intended to punish all of you."
"Well, that and why you have a peanut gallery of all our greatest hits over there." Kyle used his head to gesture to the supervillains.
Donna frowned. "They're being oddly quiet."
"Yes, well, they didn't know what to think of all of you. They didn't really believe me at first when I told them of you."
"So they're trying to figure us out."
"Yes. Do you wish to speak to them?"
"No."
"Fuck no."
"Yeah, screw that."
"I believe that would not be the best course of action."
"I'm pretty sure if I tried to speak to Sinestro I'd try to murder him within a couple of minutes."
"If I spoke to Thawne I'd definitely try to murder him, starting with breaking both his legs, and that would be the least of what I'd do."
"No thank you, Vandal. Can you continue on with the explanation?"
"Always so polite, Wonder Woman. You always were the easiest to deal with of this lot. Much unlike your younger years."
Donna smiled sharply. "Well, we all mature and grow, don't we?"
Savage chuckled. "Indeed. Very well, if you must know, your 'greatest hits' are here to both hold off the inevitable army of superheroes that will be coming to your aid and to watch the fireworks. And as for why you're here…well, tell me, what's so different about this world from this one?"
"The timeline is fucked up," Wallace bluntly responded. "I know because I'm a speedster and this is hardly the first time." Because Flashpoint. Nobody was ever going to let go of Flashpoint. Wallace was never going to let go of Flashpoint, and when he saw Uncle Barry again he was gonna kick his ass so badly—!
Oh, wait. Uncle Barry was still 'dead' in this timeline.
I hate time travel.
"Yes, but how is it fucked up?" And it was weird to hear Vandal Savage of all people like that. He was usually more…eloquent, with his words.
"Hal is still Parallax."
"Other than that."
"My youngest brother is now ten years younger than me instead of six."
"That too."
"Arrowette is still part of Young Justice?"
"And that as well." Savage paused. "Well, of a sorts."
Jason narrowed his eyes at him. "Our loved ones are alive. Not just those who died in the future, but those who died now."
Savage grinned again. "Yes."
Everyone else blinked at him. "Okay, and how the hell is that supposed to torture us?" Wallace demanded.
"Isn't it obvious, Flash? I wanted you to feel happy. I wanted you to feel the triumph of helping them, of saving them. I wanted you all to believe that you could make a better future for them than the one you came from, one where they could all survive and have the happy endings you so desperately want for them. I wanted you to feel all that…" And here, Savage's teeth glinted viciously. "So I could rip it away from you. So I can make you watch them die again, and again, and again, and again."
And just like that, the atmosphere died away.
The surrounding supervillains were immediately slammed with some of the worst killing intent they had ever felt in their entire lives. Even for the kind of people they were, it was a bit…much. Especially considering it was coming from what were allegedly a bunch of superheroes. A few glanced at said heroes, and cringed, shying away from the sight.
Each and every single one of them were glaring murderously at Savage. Even Green Lantern, who eyes were hidden beneath a visor, looked completely menacing. A few looked ready to break out of their bonds just to kill the bastard, right then and there, regardless of the inevitable fallout of having to deal with the retaliation of the present supervillains.
"I'll kill you," Jason stated, completely serious and devoid of any humorous anger, just sheer rage. It was telling that not a single one of his teammates rebuked him for it.
Savage tilted his head. "If you had done that the first time around, we wouldn't be here, now would we? But no, Batman, you aren't going to kill me. None of you are going to kill me." His grin was absolutely gleeful. "But you are going to kill someone. A lot of someones, in fact."
"What do you mean by that—"
A hand stopped them. And then another glow.
Unlike the first one, this one was dark, almost black in color. And painful, judging by all the screams that came from the prisoners. The supervillains watched the aura grew larger and larger, swallowing up everyone, until…
It faded away. Everyone stared. Savage stepped away, waving his hand once more. Almost immediately, the restraints dropped, and the smoke cleared. People gasped at the new appearances of the prisoners. The immortal turned around, smirking, as his new forces moved to surround him protectively.
"My friends," he addressed the villains present, "I'd like you to meet our new comrades, and one of the greatest superhero teams of all time: the Era 2 Justice League!"
"Oracle and I finally managed to hack into Knight's laptop," Robin announced to his father.
"Did you find any clues to his whereabouts?" Batman asked his son.
"None so far. It seems Knight was more focused on the more immediate events of the next couple of years," Robin hesitated for a moment, "I read some of them. They were quite…disturbing."
Batman frowned. "I see. I'll discuss it with him when he gets back. Anything else?"
"He did make a file containing possible non-lethal containment measures for various high-class criminals he felt he had no chance of reformation. Many of them I don't recognize, but there are a few I do." He typed something onscreen. "Here."
A number of files appeared on the screen, and were also piped through to Batman's personal tablet, so he could take a closer look at them. He fingered through every file, his frown deepening. Tim was right — there were a number of people he didn't recognize, and it would take far too long to track them all down and see what they were up to, see any differences in their behavior. Even so, it would still be important to look into them.
So any he didn't recognize, he separated into another folder, and prioritized those he did. He immediately marked down Thawne, Manta, Zod, and Despero — while they weren't completely out of the woods yet, there was no indication they were anything more than lackeys for the real mastermind. That left Luthor (still President, too risky an endeavor for him, not to mention dead before Era 2 even began), the Joker (who was, quite frankly, too insane and impulsive for this kind of thing, and the current one had also been dead before Era 2 began), Johnny Sorrow (doubtful — that one tended to focus on the JSA), and… Vandal Savage.
Bruce paused at that one. There was a feeling in his gut, one that appeared whenever he was onto something for a case. A hunch. He quickly scanned the file on Savage, flinching when he read the last major plot Savage devised before he was imprisoned by the Era 2 Justice League (even Bruce didn't know the human body could twist that many ways). Apparently, because Jason wasn't willing to kill Savage with the Balance at the time — something Bruce approved of heartily — but also didn't want to risk an immortal and completely morally-depraved caveman running around trying to pull that kind of scheme again, the League imprisoned Savage in a separate pocket dimension in the Phantom Zone. Where he had stayed, until Jason had died, and according to further amendments, he was still there when Donna had died as well.
Meaning, that he could've stayed there for a long time after all of the initial council of Era 2 were dead. After all, he was already immortal, and the Phantom Zone rendered sleep, sustenance, and air completely unnecessary, so he wouldn't suffer needlessly. In fact, the only real punishment to this was stuffing him into a separate pocket dimension, effectively isolating him from the other prisoners and preventing them from plotting a potential escape. The forced solitude of so many years would drive even a man as long-lived as Vandal Savage insane. Bruce would even call it cruel, if he wasn't aware of the countless atrocities the man had committed over the course of his long life.
Say Savage did stay there for a long time. But then was released, either by finally figuring out a way to escape or by accident. By the time he did so, anyone who had even the slightest of bonds with him would be long dead. He would be even more insane than he originally was. And, as an immortal, he would have a different kind of morality, especially regarding the value of life. The normal human lifespan was practically a short breeze to Savage, ephemeral and meaningless. Pointless.
And with that kind of perception, it would be remarkably easy to adopt a petty mindset. A mindset that would allow him to, say, somehow find a way to send the souls of his worst enemies, his original jailers, back in time. Allow them the chance to reunite with lost loved ones, bring them hope of creating a better future. Give them that hope…and then crush it, breaking them.
It was a theory. Conjecture, really. Still…
"Robin. Could you track down the last known sightings of Vandal Savage since his defeat at the hands of the Titans months ago?"
"I believe I know who took them."
After analyzing Savage's movements and coordinating them with the movements of the various villains involved with the kidnappings, Bruce immediately called a meeting with the JSA and JLA. They had all been lounging around, tracking down potential sightings and movements of those missing, but had no luck. Now, hope blossomed within them — there was a lead!
"Who?" Clark asked, crossing his arms.
"Vandal Savage."
There was a deep inhale. Both teams had fought Savage a countless number of times. An immortal caveman with immorality to match his, quite frankly, insanely long life-span, he was a danger to the world that few could match. He had been content to stay in the background of more prominent villains such as Lex Luthor or the now-deceased Ra's al Ghul, as his interest in world domination had largely been driven by his boredom, but there was no question of the true threat level he posed.
"What makes you believe it's Savage, Batman?" Wonder Woman asked.
"I hacked into Gotham Knight's personal computer—"
He ignored the looks he got for that. Jason was his son and a former Batman; he'd understand.
"—and found a file containing a number of villain profiles, along with nonlethal methods of containing them. While we're currently tracking down those we weren't able to recognize based on the information inside them, I took a look on those we did recognize and sifted through them. Out of all of them, Savage was the most likely to be the culprit. According to Knight's file on him, he was still alive when Era 2 began and had in fact been imprisoned by the council themselves after a particularly heinous plot."
Arthur looked skeptical. "What kind of plot?"
Bruce winced, which wasn't lost on anyone present. Silently, he pulled up the document, highlighting the passage in Savage's profile. Everyone quickly read it, and collectively blanched.
"How in the hell can the human body twist in so many ways?" Wally sounded distressed.
"I have to admit — and this is coming from me — that's kind of sick," Plastic Man commented, looking a bit green around the gills.
Martian Manhunter frowned. "I do hope he was punished for that."
"He was. The council sealed him within a pocket dimension inside the Phantom Zone, effectively isolating him from the other prisoners and leaving him alone in there for who knows how many years. According to the file, he was sealed at the beginning of Era 2 and was still inside there by the time Troy died. That would be at least twenty-four years."
A mutual cringe. "Savage is an absolutely deplorable person, but that's probably too cruel a punishment, even for him," Jay Garrick said, taking off his helmet to scratch the back of his head.
"Perhaps so. Depending on how long he was in there, he would have reason to hold a massive grudge against them upon his release. And the time and knowledge to plot his revenge."
Steel narrowed his eyes. "You're talking as if you already know, for sure, it was him."
Bruce sighed, and pulled up some more data. "I had Robin and Oracle track down Savage's last known movements ever since his last defeat at the hands of the Titans. Coincidentally, he's been busing around the known haunts of several prominent supervillains, including Black Manta. And, if we postulate that he is also from the future like our missing heroes, then—"
"—he would know how to release Zod from the Phantom Zone. He could find a way to contact Despero," Clark finished.
"And Thawne," Wally added. "He would know a way to revive him too."
"It's all circumstantial and conjecture. There is no guarantee, but…"
Alan Scott frowned. "But it's the best lead we've got thus far. Do we know Savage's last known location?"
The screen changed again, revealing a map of Infinity Island. "Here. The island was destroyed years ago during one of my first encounters with Ra's, but he later returned to it and rebuilt what was left as another base for the League of Assassins. It was abandoned almost immediately after his death, but recently there's been activity on the island that does not trace back to what remains of Ra's al Ghul's organization. And…" A picture blew up on the screen, showing what was clearly Savage boarding a plane. "…Savage was last seen boarding a plane, heading towards the direction of the Indian Ocean. The plane never landed at its supposed destination, but it disappeared near the coordinates of Infinity Island."
"Well then, let's go get them!" A cheer rang out.
And stopped, when Batman held out his hand. "Wait. Considering the last movements of Savage, we have reason to believe that there are several more supervillains that will be present there, instead of just those involved in the initial kidnappings. Not to mention Parallax."
"We need to make a plan first. We can't just go barging in like that — who knows what we'll be facing?"
"But Rayner, Troy, and the kids—"
"—are alive, for the time being. Savage wouldn't gone through so much effort to send them back and then kidnap them just to kill them immediately." Bruce inhaled deeply. "We have time."
"Yes, we do," Diana agreed. "But how much?"
Nobody had an answer for that.
And now, the truth has been revealed. This isn't an alternate timeline but an alternate universe, meaning that Terry and the others do in fact still exist and are still living their lives elsewhere. All the people we've seen thus far are actually just doppelgangers of the originals.
This is going to be the last chapter for a while. I burned through my lead, so that means another pause while I build it up again. In the mean time, you can read my other stories, re-read this series, or even just update the TV Tropes page (both character and main page — which has a link at the start of the story). Whatever you want.
Next chapter: Things heat up.
