Titans: Children and Monsters

One should never lose hope for the future.

Yet isn't it amazing how easily we do?

Maybe I'm too much a product of my time. My parents raised me well, and when I reached manhood the greatest disaster in human history occurred: World War II. Even I, with all my power, couldn't prevent the millions of men and women from losing their lives defending their liberty and independence from a madman. It was the greatest sacrifice that humanity had ever seen. In it, we earned freedom.

Yet it seemed as the generations rolled on that each one understood what we had given up less, and worse, did not care. Maybe I was wrong, but it seemed that way to me, watching the youth make so many self-indulgent and misunderstood decisions all in the decree that they somehow knew better then us. Us. The generation that had lost so much so that they could have the freedom to act in the way they chose. The way I abhorred.

It was not all bad. It was rarely malicious. In most ways, it was just the latest redefinition of surviving and thriving.

But it hurt, none the less. And eventually it began to work on me. I never showed it, but I thought it. I lost hope for the future.

It would be easy to blame Alex for my mistakes, but I cannot do it fully. I let this happen. I let my own prejudices and inward beliefs control me. I should have known better, and by the time I realized it it was too late.

Perhaps one could say it just shows I am human.

But it doesn't make it any less easier, as I look on the body of this young man, who died for the things I believed his generation no longer understood.

I shouldn't have let this happen.

It's my fault.

"It's our fault."

Kal-L turned to his modern self, standing by his side as they looked over Conner's body. He was trying, and failing, to keep a strong front.

"That should have been us." Superman said.

"I'm sorry Clark." Wonder Woman replied.

"Sorry isn't going to help Superboy. We SHOULD HAVE BEEN HERE." Superman said through clenched teeth.

Batman was silent, as his eyes looked around, looking at the younger heroes surrounding him, those he knew and those he didn't, united in youth…surrounded by the humans that had served as the OMAC hosts. When he, Superman, and Wonder Woman had been unable to agree with each other, had been torn apart by bickering and the inability to see eye to eye, the Titans, and their friends, had pulled together to fight in their stead. A fight that had clearly hurt them all, and ended in Conner's death, even as Wonder Girl continued to weep over the body. Wounds and an end that had been partly brought about by his own failings.

He saw himself looking at Nightwing and Robin, and wondering if he could ever look them in the face again.

"…Never again." Batman said. "It never happens again. We learn from it…we learn from them."

Wonder Woman slowly approached the pair, as Cassie finally stood up and went to her, sobbing into her chest, as Superman knelt by Conner and lowered his head, a gentle hand on his chest as if willing his heart to beat with life again. Robin broke away from the Titans and knelt down himself: in another, more canon world, he and Superboy had been much much closer, but even in this world they had been friends, and Robin in turn mourned the death, as did everyone, even the superheroes that had returned once the Earths had been re-merged, standing around in silence.

"Kal…" Came a female voice, and Kal-L turned to look at his cousin, Power Girl, her face badly bruised (she had fought too. Fought while he had been lead around by the nose). "Where's Lois Kal? Where is she?"

So Kal-L told her.

"…No…" Power Girl said, fresh grief on her face. "…Why did we survive?"

I thought I knew.

It was to make this Earth a better place.

…Because I thought they couldn't.

I thought they were weak, poisoned, corrupt.

That their Superboy was unworthy of the symbol I built.

When in truth the truly weak one was myself.

And the corruption was in the last place I thought to look.

Unworthy of my symbol…

I picked the wrong one to condone.

And the wrong one to condemn.

As terrible as it was, other factors had to be considered, as the Titans regrouped, the normal group coming together as the future group stayed off to the side. The other Titans didn't notice: Superboy may have been dead, but Cyborg wasn't.

Though that may yet prove to be wrong, as the Titans gathered around him, Beast Boy by his side.

"Raven, can you do anything?"

"…" Raven said. "…I can sense his life, but it is faint. The renewing of the Earth seems to have refreshed me somewhat…but magic has entered a new age. It is still highly unstable. Even if it wasn't, his body is too intertangled with his machinery. It's something beyond my expertise."

"You need to bring him back to the Tower." Came Viridian's voice from the communicator. "He needs to be stabilized first. Then maybe we can repair him. But I will say, don't worry about a new body for me."

"Ok…what?" Robin said, having rejoined the group.

"The recombining of the Earths has changed many things. I am only speaking through your communicators Titans. I have a new body, back in Detroit. So Robin, you are off the hook. For now."

"…Great."

"Where are all the bad guys?" Terra asked, as she looked around. "I knew I saw a few while we were heading for the Tower. Where did they all go?"

"I'm not sensing any life signs." Raven said. "Maybe they fled, or were warped away. For whatever reason, they're all gone."

"Though this leaves another problem." Savior said, as he quickly went over to the future Titans. "Are you all right?"

"Oh, mostly we're half-dead." Kyra said, her voice laced with a weary grimness. "But…better then being all dead, I suppose." She added, looking sadly at Conner's body.

"Where's Prime? And Alexander?" Potent asked.

"Gone. We've scanned the area. No sign of them. Maybe we'll be lucky and they'll have been disintegrated at an atomic level or something." Savior said.

"Um…hate to interrupt…but can we go home now?" Metatron asked.

"…Oh glomp." Ragnarok said, looking down on his shattered armor. "The Dark Catalyst! Without it, we can't universe jump!"

"We may not even have a place to go back to." Hex said. "All the worlds have been recombined back into one. Our homes may have ceased to exist."

"Not necessarily." Ragnarok said. "Alternate worlds…well that's just one direction, so to speak, when it comes to alternates. Of course, I don't know how we're going to get there."

"Is there anything I can do?" Raven asked, as she floated over. "The others are prepping Victor for transport. I've done what I can for him…all we can do is try and make sure no one else dies…or gets left behind."

"Especially considering meeting our parents probably isn't what's best for their states of mind at the moment." Scorched Earth said.

"Agreed." Savior said.

"I don't know guys…when we traveled here reality was going bonkers, and we had machinery and fresh powers and all kinds of things…I figured out a way here but it was rather like…oh." Kyra said, as she looked at her ring hand.

And Savior's eyes were suddenly drawn to it as he saw it as well: she was fading, like an old photograph.

"Kyra…?" Savior said, as his eyes suddenly dilated with fear: what now, what NOW…

"No Dad…it's ok. It's…our solution." Kyra said, as everyone realized they were starting to disappear as well. "Reality has been fixed…time is being corrected…with no reality ripples in the future we have no reason to go back or end up in each other's worlds…so we're being returned to them. Our puzzle is being reassembled…we don't need to find a solution, it's being handed to us…perhaps it's the way of thanking us." Kyra said, as her body started going see through. "Of course, one might wonder that if we never came back how we affected anything…but I'd rather not look this gift horse in the mouth."

"…Look…tell the Titans…our parents…what you will. I'm sure you'll find the right words…" Mary said.

"But before we go…Dad, just remember this." Kyra said. "No matter what darkness the day brings, what pain, what suffering…no matter how hopeless it seems…just remember…there's always tomorrow." Kyra said.

"…Yeah." Savior replied. "Yeah."

"…Oh." Kyra said, as she looked at her ring. "Oh my. Is this the rebirth? I can sense them…"

"Sense what?" Raven asked, suddenly a mite worried, even as all the future Titans finished up fading away, some waving or making other farewell gestures.

"The Corps…they…so strong…and what…oh." Kyra said, even as her ring shone briefly. "I can't…do much more then that…"

"What?" Savior asked.

"Just…in case you need more help…" Kyra said, as she completely faded away. "Bye bye…Dad…see you la…"

And then they were all gone. Savior and Raven looked where they had all been moments before.

"You think they really went home?"

"One can only hope." Raven said, and the two returned to their group of Titans, where Robin was talking to Hal Jordan.

"Hey Savior." Robin said. "Hal's going to handle getting the people from the OMAC's out of this area and back into safety…so we're…"

"We have a problem." Viridian said from the communicators.

"What?" Robin asked.

"Um…Jump City is gone."

"GONE?" Robin almost yelled. "IT WAS DESTROYED?"

"No no. It's…gone." Viridian said. "It's…just not here any more Robin. There's nothing left."

"What…?" Robin said, as all the Titans looked confused as hell.

"I am afraid I have no reason for this, but I do have a suggestion. There is a STAR Labs facility in Detroit: they most likely have the facilities to stabilize Cyborg."

"I guess it will have to do." Robin said.

"We'd best hurry." Raven said, as she knelt by Cyborg's destroyed form. "His signal is starting to weaken. I can keep him here, but not forever."

"Right. Just a moment." Savior said, as he quickly dashed over to Nightwing. "Dick, Robin and the rest of us are getting Cyborg to safety. You all right?"

"…Yeah." Nightwing said. "Go."

Savior took one last look at Conner, still prone on the ground, surrounded by mourners. His eyes happened to catch Kal-L looking at him, and Savior returned the gaze, keeping the accusation to a bare minimum. But it was still clearly evident in his cool gaze.

"…I'm sorry son." Kal-L said.

"…I suppose you are sir." Savior replied. "But talk is cheap."

And Savior ran back to the Titans, not bothering to listen for any replies. Terra had pulled out more of the gone-home Ragnarok's rock platform to form a ride for the non-fliers, and Savior joined them on it.

"Let's get to Detroit guys. We can figure out what to do next when we get there." Robin said. Terra, glad to be useful again, lifted the rock off and the Titans flew off, leaving the war grounds behind.

"Is anyone hurt? I feel fine at the moment, so you'd best take advantage." Raven said.

"Savior has helped fix my eyes. I am ok, Raven. No need to exert any effort here." Starfire said.

"All things considered, I feel fine." Beast Boy said. "It's like that Earth recombination helped fix some of us up. A rebirth of ourselves as well as our world."

"Too bad it couldn't help everyone." Scalpel said darkly.

"How is the Gauntlet Friend Rob?" Starfire asked as she flew in close.

"Battered as hell, but still working. It's even fixing itself. Those Old Ones sure knew how to build their stuff." Gauntlet said. "So, who wants to play Yahtzee?"

"Not now Rob. Not now." Robin said. "Everyone's sure they're all right?"

"We're fine Tim. I know." Beast Boy said. "We're alive."

"And it's finally over." Terra said.

Gauntlet noticeably paled.

"…Eek."

"What?" Scalpel said.

"…Why did she have to say that?"

Always, always have a back-up plan.

The most brilliant minds were always distinguished by this factor: those who had plans waiting in the wings when their grand design fell apart were those who won.

But half the time these minds loathed their back-up plans. Not because it meant they required more work, but because it spoke of a chance of failure. And no great mind ever wanted to consider failure.

And no great mind took it well when it came.

Not even Alexander Luthor Jr.

But he only let that storm through his mind for about fifteen seconds before he was already putting it aside. So his grand design had not worked.

It didn't matter. Even as he'd been putting it into play, he'd been setting up alternate options to fall back on if somehow the first and best of his plans didn't work. And now that it hadn't, he quickly turned to it, as he warped himself and the villains that remained on the field away from it (which taxed his powers more then he cared to admit), even as he turned and began putting his alternate pieces into play.

He'd been setting it up for months in advance, both the primary and the secondary plan, and even in the final stages of the primary plan he'd still been setting up the secondary one, gathering a selected core of villains around Metropolis. Most of those selected villains had been warped to the field to serve as defense…a task at which they had completely failed at, as Alexander found the anger and bitterness washing over him again.

How had this happened? He'd planned the whole thing perfectly. Whatever he hadn't set up himself, he'd utilized to his maximum advantage. Like the breakdown in relations between all the major adult superheroes when Jean Loring's madness had brought their dirty little mindwiping secret to the surface. The events and the fallout of that had allowed Alexander to put three of his primary plans into motion that had culminated with the temporary resurrection of the Multiverse. He'd had dozens of balls in the air and he'd juggled them all without effort.

Superboy-Prime's mental breakdown had been part of the reason things had fallen apart, but only a small part. Alexander knew the primary reason.

The Titans. Especially that group from the future, that anomaly. They should have ended up on alternate Earths like everything else, but instead they'd somehow grouped together and ended up opposing him, falling through the cracks of his reordering of reality just like Kara had during the original Crisis. It was them, along with this world's Titans, that were to blame.

How ironic. He'd spent a great deal of time making sure the Justice League, the adults, would be neutralized and rendered moot during his plan, and his other plans revolved around the fact that no heroes would be able to pose any kind of a threat to him like a united Justice League could have. And then the children had showed up and ruined everything.

Why hadn't Superboy killed ALL of them, instead of just a few?

They'd even screwed up his back-up plan, as they had disabled or killed several of the most powerful members of his Society. Hell, Deathstroke had died fighting them, how the hell had THAT happened? They'd also taken apart the symbolic figure of the Society, Dr. Light, the man who stood out for the 'sins' of the heroes in their mindwiping. He'd been pounded into a gibbering wreck, useless as an icon or a fighter now. They'd also removed Bizzaro, the White Hole, the General, Solomon Grundy, The Psycho-Pirate, and Zoom from play, all of whom could have been very useful in the back-up plan. A lesser mind would have been unable to recover from all the damage those accursed Titans had wrecked.

But Alexander Luthor was not a lesser mind.

He hadn't lost all of the members of the Society he'd warped to the Arctic (Sinestro was itching for revenge after what that young female Green Lantern had done to him for one), and none of them yet suspected that he wasn't Lex Luthor, having carefully kept them in the dark, even now, as he communicated with the three remaining members of the head of the Society minus himself via a hologram of Lex Luthor, those three remaining members being Dr. Psycho, Talia, and the Calculator, none of whom realized who he really was even after all this. The members he'd lost had been swiftly replaced on the board, and with the masterful way he had set everything up in advance, the damage was completely negatable, as he put it into motion.

He'd spent months beforehand having the right people bribed and threatened, all over the world. He'd assembled villains in Metropolis (hence knowing where they were for swift warping beforehand) and in other locations in case he needed to activate them. And now that everything was fixed, he did just that.

He also gave the order for Dr. Psycho to fetch their special guest. He would prove VERY useful after the damage the Titans had done to him.

The Titans…surely they'd get involved. They were that type.

He'd make sure they all paid for destroying his Tower, ruining his vision.

He wasn't going to lose.

Robin's communicator went off, and Robin stood up from the small rock seat Terra had made as he took it off his belt.

"Who is it?" Beast Boy asked, resting on the rock.

"Not sure…outside signal…" Robin said. "This is Robin."

"…gel?" Crackled the communicator.

"I'm sorry your signal isn't coming through very clear-" Was all Robin got out before Scalpel pulled the communicator out of his hands.

"SOPHIE!" He yelled, nearly knocking Robin over.

"Nig…! …thank go-…e ok!"

"How could you…oh, right." Robin said, looking at Scalpel's long ears.

"Sophie, are you all right?"

"…fine!" Sophie's voice said, coming in a little clearer. "Nigel, we're still in Keyst-…you going?"

"Wait Sophie, don't go back to Florida…we're going to Detroit! Can you meet us there?"

"…can try!"

"Great! We're…where are we going Tim?" Scalpel asked. Robin, despite his generally dour mood, found himself snickering a bit and then giving Scalpel the exact address. Scalpel repeated it four times to be sure, and then Sophie signed off.

"SHE'S ALIVE!" Scalpel trumpeted, nearly crushing Robin with a hug. "She's ok! After all that…it was worth it! All of it!"

"Good going man." Gauntlet said, patting Nigel on the back.

"And all is right with the world." Noel said from across the rock, and then noticed Starfire had flown in close to him. "Yes Kory?"

"Noel I never asked, in all the fighting…who were all those other people? I could not see well and by the time you repaired my eyes they were gone…but they seemed familiar. Did we know them?"

"…They were Titans Kory. Timelost Titans from another place. They were popped into our Tower…they helped us save the day."

"Oh." Starfire said. "They could not leave without saying goodbye?"

"They weren't planning on leaving so swiftly. They just did, because of the destruction of the Tower."

"Oh. A pity. I would have liked to have thanked them." Starfire said, and flew away from the rock again.

"Oh don't worry Star. They know. They know." Savior said.

And then Robin's communicator rang. Another outside signal.

"This is Robin." He answered.

"Tim?" Came an electronic voice from the communicator, but one Tim Drake knew very well.

"Ba…I mean, Oracle? Is that you?"

"Oh Tim, I finally got ahold of you. Are you all right?"

"Relatively."

"Tim, where are you? I thought you were helping out in Bludhaven!"

"I was…we kind of got sidetracked…and we ended up in the Arctic."

"Oh son of a…Tim…Batman…Gotham now…" Oracle's voice crackled as there was brief interference.

"Hold on Oracle, slow down." Robin said, as he made minute adjustments to his communicator. "Oracle, you still there? Over."

"Robin, where are you now?"

"Somewhere over Canada, why?" Robin said. Oracle said a word Tim was surprised she knew, let along used.

"Do you know where Batman is?"

"…Yes. We just left him behind at the Arctic about forty minutes ago…"

"Damn. DAMN."

"Don't curse yet Oracle. Guys, one of you, can you contact Bat…"

"I'm on it." Savior said, as he pulled out his own battered communicator: not everyone knew the proper codes, but Noel being Noel had them memorized and kept them up to date.

"What's the problem Oracle?"

"Something's up at Arkham…I'd hoped you were in the area, or knew where Br-Batman was…"

"I know where he is Oracle, but we have our own problem. One of my teammates has been gravely injured, we need to get him stabilized or he'll die, that really doesn't allow me to make detours because they may need me to get into the…"

"All right Tim, it's ok. We'll make do." Barbara Gordon said from her wheelchair, as she looked upon the many holographic displays of the highest-tech computer systems on the planet, her nerve center for the brain she was to the metahuman community. And she'd actually thought the chaos was over. Showed how much she knew. "But I need to get in touch with Batman."

"I'll do what I can."

"Understood." Oracle said, and switched frequencies. "All Agents on alert. I repeat, all agents in the Gotham area, even NEAR the Gotham area…drop whatever the hell you're doing and bring whatever good luck you're believed you're owed to Arkham, NOW."

'Lex Luthor', when he had ordered the attack, had worded it quite well.

"Let's give Hell a C-Section and see what spills out."

The point man had been Waylon Jones, aka Killer Croc, and despite Arkham's heavy security it had been piecemeal since the last great breakout. That, and the hand guiding him, had resulted in this: the walls smashed open and all of Gotham's madness spilling out in a drove.

Unfortunately for them, they were just seconds too late to escape, as they ran into a wall of ragtag defenders. And though the heroes were exhausted from the crisis, they found the strength still to go on.

"Straight from taking Brother Eye down to this. Nice day huh Black Lightning?" Black Canary said as she punched her way through the murderers and lunatics.

"If it saves lives, then yes Canary, it is." Black Lightning replied, and shocked his own targets into submission. Other minor heroes proved they were just that…even the Gotham police that had arrived.

"Flank 'em! They've got no plan! Just flank them on both si-AHHHH!" Yelled a man named Detective Marcus…as he was grabbed from behind by scaly, clawed hands, one seizing him by the shoulder while the other yanked his shotgun away and away from him.

"Well well. Howdy Detective Marcus." Hissed the hideous face of Killer Croc, a mutant that had ripped more men apart then the world's history of serial killers. "Name's Waylon, but you can call me KILLER."

"Dammit!" Marcus cursed: all the heroes were occupied, even his men were, no backup, no one to aid him…

"Don't worry." Croc hissed once more in the detective's ear, even as the officer struggled with his free left arm, Croc only holding it by the shoulder. "I eat cop meat just as much as cape meat. I got no impulse control, that's my problem."

"Yeah well…maybe…maybe…!" Marcus gasped. "Maybe I have something the capes don't!"

Killer Croc chuckled. He loved last second defiance. Made the look in their eyes as he ripped their guts out and swallowed them down all the sweeter.

"Yeah, pray, what would that be?"

Marcus answered not with words, but with action, as Killer Croc learned the hard way he should had held BOTH arms instead of just one and a shoulder.

As Marcus yanked his automatic free and jerked it up, firing at point-blank range into Croc's head and mouth. His skin and bones were much much tougher then the average human, but even he couldn't shrug off those kinds of impacts, as he screamed in agony and collapsed, holding his badly hurt head and face.

"A backup piece." Marcus said to the fallen mutant. "And when you're done pissing yourself, I need you to assume the position."

"…Well, some good news Robin. I managed to muster a decent on the spot task force, and they seem to be winning." Oracle reported to Robin.

"That's good Oracle. But I'm afraid I have bad news of my own." Robin said. "We can't contact Batman. The area where we were, there's still all kinds of weird energy, it hasn't faded yet…and it's completely scrambling long-range communication. And we think he's still in there, because we can't get through."

"Damn…" Oracle whispered. "Once you get your friend help, you think you can head back that way?"

"Possibly. We'll let you know, ok?"

"All right. I'll keep hunting for potential alternate channels while you do so. Godspeed Tim." Oracle said, and signed off.

"See now, this is why I was upset over what Terra said." Gauntlet chimed in.

"Well, if that's the worst that happens…" Beast Boy began.

And then Robin's communicator rang again.

"This is Robin. Is that you Sophie?" Robin asked.

"Tim!" Oracle's voice came over the communicator again.

"Babs? You just signed off…"

"It came up two seconds after I did! It's not just Arkham!"

"What?"

"It's…" Oracle said, and then as she changed her mind her fingers raced over her holographic keypad, as she switched from Robin's select channel to every open channel she had.

"ALL AGENTS, LISTEN TO ME. IT'S NOT JUST ARKHAM." Oracle said in a calm but still frantic tone, as she looked at the data on her screens, even as she brought one hand to her hair, tangling her fingers in it in great distress. "There's MORE. I'm tracking five, repeat, FIVE, ORGANIZED ATTACKS ON METAHUMAN HOLDING FACILITIES!"

The Society Tower. Gotham City.

Oracle wasn't the only one watching the pieces fall into place. When her evil opposite, the Calculator, was one of the six leading members of the greatest organization of super villains in history, computer organization on the other end was second to none.

And so the three heads of the Society stood and looked upon their own screen: Doctor Psycho was gone, off with the villain Warp to fetch something dearly required. All that remained was the Calculator, Talia Al Ghul, and 'Lex Luthor', in hologram form, giving his instructions from elsewhere for his own reasons…reasons his fellow Society members still didn't know.

"Phase one continues apace, and on schedule. The Slab is completely ours at this time." The Calculator said, speaking of the largest metahuman prison on the planet. "Breakout efforts in Blackgate, Alcatraz, and Enclave M also proceeding as planned. The only hiccup is Arkham: I think Oracle had something to do with their response team being fast enough. I think we're losing that one."

"Nonsense." 'Lex Luthor' said. "Arkham was always intended to be a distraction. Most of those 'people' would be unmanageable in our organization. Or have you forgotten why I refused membership to the Joker?"

"You need to inform us of such judgment calls, Luthor." Talia said tersely. "We're not the rank and file rabble."

"…Quite right Talia Al Ghul. My error." 'Lex Luthor' said, even as the force behind the hologram began wishing for this plan to proceed faster so he could finally abandon this pretense. "Black Adam has, as predicted, returned to Khandaq?"

"Yes Luthor. I've already dispatched Captain Nazi to deal with him." The Calculator said: Black Adam had been the most powerful, physically anyway, of the Society's six leaders, and of course Luthor had betrayed HIM. They didn't need Black Adam seeking revenge. Hopefully Captain Nazi would serve as a proper deterrent for Black Adam to never leave his small Middle Eastern kingdom again.

"Good. Well then, let us continue. I want Phase 2 initiated in no less then 30 minutes."

"We'll see about that Luthor." The Calculator replied.

"Perhaps you do, gentlemen, and lady. I know."

"Damn it all." Oracle said, now back to one lone channel, the Titans' communicators.

"Listen Oracle. We're almost at Detroit. We'll be as quick as possible…but none of those locations you listed are that close to us. It's going to take us some time…" Robin said.

"I know. Do what you can. But do it as quickly as possible!"

"Understood. Robin out." Robin said. "Well, you heard the woman. Terra, STEP ON IT!"

Terra's eyes glowed gold, and her rock exploded forward, nearly knock all the standing Titans down.

Barbara Gordan had been gifted with a great brain, and she rarely had stress headaches, even in times of crisis…but this was getting to be too much. Just when the world seemed saved, along came the second round…well, nothing she could do about it. So to speak, as she began opening back up the other channels with one hand even as she hunted for another, hoping and praying she could find it.

"No Canary, I need you and the others to wrap the scene and assist Gotham P.D as soon as possible. Yes, ALL the major supervillain holding facilities have been hit. I'm sending Zinda…grab everyone you can and re-deploy to Blackgate." Oracle said, and signed off, even as she continued to hunt furiously. She hadn't been prepared for this. She had no contingency plan for a simultaneous attack on five super-prisons at once. She was out of her…

And then, her minor miracle, as she found it.

She was out of her league, maybe, but she could address that problem.

"J'onn?" Oracle asked.

"Yes Oracle. I can hear you." J'onn said, as he flew along over the land below. "I assume that by this abrupt communication there is a problem."

"More then that J'onn. This situation is MILES past critical." Oracle said. "We need the big guns."

"…I'm afraid that may not be as simple as you'd hope, Oracle." J'onn replied. "There's been a catastrophe…and a death."

"Dick…?" Oracle said in horror.

"No…the problem is, Oracle, that the main members of the League are still up in the Arctic…and there are strange…"

"Energy patterns, I know. Can't you use your telepathy?"

"That is the problem Oracle…it scrambles even mind transmissions. I myself tried a moment ago to contact them on another matter, and I could not get through despite my best efforts. That area is a dead zone for all forms of communication…and unfortunately I left to check on the state of the world a while ago: the area is quite distant to me now."

"Why are they all up there in the first place?"

"The rest of my comrades there who stayed behind are running an extremely thorough check to see if the villains who were behind this are dead or have gotten away…"

"Argh! NO. WHY NOW?" Oracle cursed. "We…we need…" Oracle said, and then her voice grew hard. "Ok then J'onn. If we can't call them as the cavalry, then we'll have to invent a new one. I already have the Titans on board, but they're occupied for the moment. We need as many bodies as we can get in touch with NOW."

"Could I not just fly back to the Arctic…?"

"Believe me J'onn, I wish, but at the moment we need your brain. Completely and utterly, nothing else to distract you, even moving. I'm giving you complete access to my files…I've never done this before for ANYONE, J'onn. Maybe in a bit we can spare someone to go back to the Arctic…but for now, we have to concentrate on those breakouts."

"Understood Oracle. I will begin immediately." J'onn said, as he lowered himself down onto a rock face and crossed his legs as he prepared to expand his telepathy out.

"Thank you J'onn…but…this is bad…even with this…God save us all."

"H'ronmeer watches and waits for us every one, Oracle." J'onn replied, speaking of one of his Martian deities. "I'm starting now."

And even as Oracle and J'onn struggled to contact each and every hero they could by any means necessary, due to the cruel twist of fate that denied them contact with the strongest ones…at least some things were happy.

How they'd beaten them there, Savior had no idea, but when the Titans had arrived at the Detroit STARS facility they had found the Elementals waiting…and Sophie.

Perhaps Savior wished he could be touched more by Nigel and Sophie's joyful reunion, even as Robin, Beast Boy, and Raven accompanied the STAR labs personal into their facility to properly treat Cyborg, but he was far too ansty. The world was under siege, again, and in a way Savior was not surprised. With all the chaos surrounding these events, it was almost a written invitation for someone else to take advantage of it: indeed, he'd voiced those thoughts to the other Titans during their flight and been promptly hushed by Robin, probably for morale reasons. The thought still lingered in his head though, a thought he'd put into words: there were two kinds of winners of crises like these. The good guys, or the bad guy who knew just when to make his entrance and seize the reins.

Savior hoped Darkseid was otherwise occupied…he and any other forces, living or thought dead, that could try and step into this mess and turn it to their advantage…he didn't need any more surprises.

Speaking of surprises, Savior finally noticed something off about the Elementals…there were too many of them.

Savior knew the group: Scorcher, Floral, Rocko, Zippy, Platinum Blonde. All females…so what was a male doing in there?

A male with…a ponytail made of water…who Scorcher was standing right next to as if she was afraid he'd disappear…

"…Elementals." He found himself saying, as they looked over. "The world's still in trouble. We could use your help…and do I know you?" Savior asked the water-man, who smiled slightly.

"Henry Dubowski. H-Duo." H-Duo said, and offered a hand.

"Oh really! Great!…Aren't you dead?" Savior said.

"I think I was." H-Duo said, as Scorcher leaned on him. "But there was some weird event during the time where all the worlds were there…something happened between the Earth we were on and another…my fellow Elementals said it was like they were being combined with something, like the worlds were being merged…and when the merger was broke they 'snapped' back to normal…Antoinette had a bad facial injury, it just disappeared after the snapback…and it appears my other was forcibly merged with my corpse…pity for him, but when it 'snapped back'…well, guess I got a second chance." H-Duo said.

Savior stared. That was as bizarre as Superboy-Prime's magic crystal wall punches.

"…Ok…well, THIS world's in trouble. You care to help?"

"We have a lot to make up for." Scorcher said in her usual Southern twang. "I dunno about Lorant…"

"I'll be fine. I'll do what I can." Rocko said: magic's continually uncertain state meant he/she was still having trouble holding his his/her body together.

"Then you have our help." Scorcher said.

"Great." Savior said, and walked off. He didn't want to add his last thought: I just hope I don't kill you all over again.

Having another idea, Savior made his way over to Terra, who was sitting down to rest.

"How are you doing Terra?"

"Drained…but ok I guess…" Terra said.

"I have an idea. Can you fetch your rock platform, shore it up with some local material?"

"Uh yeah…probably, why?"

"Explain in a bit." Savior said, as he went around to see if everyone else was still in the fight. They were, even though Sophie looked very unhappy at the idea of Scalpel running off again after they'd just found each other.

Terra was bringing her rock platform into the base area they'd entered through when Robin returned with Beast Boy and Raven.

"They've managed to get Cyborg stabilized. He'll live…but they have no idea if they'll be able to repair him or bring him back." Robin reported to the Titans. Beast Boy looked grim, while Raven looked calm, though that was probably her saving her strength. "I was thinking…what are you doing Terra?"

"I dunno. Savior's request." Terra said, as she waved her rock platform in.

"Simple in a sense Robin. This is a STAR Labs facility. They build all kinds of stuff here. Including rocket engines." Savior said. "I guesstimated that if we can attach a couple of Terra's platform…maybe we can get to where we're needed faster."

"…That's stupid."

"Like a fox."

"Did you calculate the time spent doing this against the time saved?"

"Looks pretty good." Savior said as he held up his communicator.

"All right then. Let's give it a try." Robin said. "Titans, go! We all chip in here!"

True, the Titans could have hopped on the rock with the Elementals and taken off…but the battles were already in full swing at the prisons: by the time they got there it would probably be too late to do anything. Oracle was really missing the Speed Force right about now, not to mention the seemingly uncallable big guns (and she had to wonder if that hadn't been arranged).

But that was at the back of her mind, even as she and J'onn tried to find and direct heroes to the battle sites. All in all, they could have done better…but they could have done worse, as she contacted the heroes trying to contain the recently re-opened Alcatraz.

"I'm sending you a code, Arsenal! It's urgent!" Oracle said to Roy Harper, the first Speedy, who was on the ground at Alcatraz as he and several other heroes battled furiously against scores of escaped prisoners, human and inhuman alike.

"Kinda busy right now, Oracle! We're LOSING, by the way, if you're keeping score! Some of these freaks are already gone!"

"It's bad here too Oracle!" Black Lightning's voice cut into another band, as the superhero fought his own battle with his makeshift allies at Blackgate Prison in Gotham. "Someone smuggled in their gear and to make matters worse someone dumped a mixture of Venom and Velocity 9 into the evening chow! Even some of the GUARDS who ate it are shooting at us!"

"…Do what you can! Ollie, are you holding the line at Enclave M?" Oracle said as she switched to a third line and contacted Green Arrow, who was trying to deal with the breakout at the Southern metahuman holding site.

"I don't think you heard me the first time Oracle! The bad guys have Prometheus here! And we…have a bunch of people I've never heard of!" Green Arrow said, as he furiously fought with someone or other (in the chaos it all blurred together).

"I'm doing everything I can! Just try and hold out until I figure something out, ok?" Oracle said.

"Oracle?" Came a new voice: Robin's. "This is Robin! We just need a few more minutes, then you can point us at wherever you think is best!"

"Got it Robin! And Green Arrow, hold the line! That's an order!" Oracle said. "We'll beat this yet!"

Poor Barbara Gordon.

Even she didn't realize just what 'this' was yet.

"They've sent nearly all their early resources to the initial sites, Lex, as expected." The Calculator said, addressing the hologram of Lex Luthor before him as he sat in the midst of his own nerve center of computers. "Everything is ready, with time to spare. Time for phase 2?"

"Paint me a masterwork, Calculator." 'Lex Luthor' replied.

Months of planning, months of setup, even for a backup plan…but it would do. And it would work…

"…Ever get the feeling that your entire life led up to one single moment?" The Calculator was saying. 'Lex Luthor' glanced back at him, at the small man sitting in the chair, the man who had once dressed as his namesake, who wanted so badly to be respected…so badly even his great mind was blinded to the truth.

But then again, that such a great mind was still in the dark only showed that his mind was greater still.

"Daily." 'Lex Luthor' said. "Proceed."

And Calculator did.

Even as Arsenal looked down on the prisoner he had captured. The area of Alcatraz he was in was currently quiet, the bulk of the villains engaged with the other heroes, so Roy had taken a moment to set up an interrogation. His prisoner: The Tattooed Man, who was on the ground, arrows through both hands, as Arsenal nocked another one.

"You know, I always thought you had the dumbest gimmick, Tattooed Man." Arsenal said, addressing his prisoner, whose power revolved around physically manifesting the tattoos on his body…a power Roy had disabled via his arrows: Tattooed Man needed to concentrate to manifest his weapons. Hard to do that with arrows through your hands. "As you can probably tell, I'm not kidding around. And I have a lot of arrows. Why are you doing this?"

"I can't…can't tell…can't teeeeeelllll…!" The Tattooed Man whined. Arsenal felt a slight bit of inward satisfaction: he had gambled that the villains might be sharing info even as they broke out on a possible greater plan, and that if that was the case Arsenal could get it…if they were sharing said possible info. Which they had been.

Now he just needed to get it, as he pulled back on the string.

"Yep. Lots of arrows."

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!"

And so Tattooed Man talked.

And when he was done, Arsenal felt like all the blood in his veins had been replaced with ice.

Oracle stared at the sight. She was rarely stunned. She couldn't be stunned. She's trained herself not to be.

But even as she saw it happening…she was.

"…Oh…my…god…" She whispered.

"ORACLE!" Came a voice suddenly yelling at her. Arsenal. "It's worse! It's not a five-pronged attack! It's a GLOBAL PRISON BREAK!"

Something Oracle had realized not two seconds ago, as she saw the red marks all springing up on her map, dozens upon dozens, hundreds, all seemingly at the same time.

And she realized that this wasn't the final skirmish in a giant crisis. This was a whole new one, and it could yet destroy them all.

"WHAT?" Robin said, even as everyone jerked their heads up from their efforts to attach what jet engines they could to Terra's rock (the problem wasn't so much attaching them, Terra and Rocko's ability to manipulate rock made that easy, it was getting them set up so the Titans would have some degree of control over the machines). "Did you say global prison break?"

"Yes!"

"…You mean every major prison in the world?"

"No Robin, EVERY PRISON. EVERY SINGLE ONE." Oracle said.

"Oracle, this is Savior." Came Noel's voice as he turned on his own communicator. "Do you have a plan for this?"

"I…" Oracle replied…as she realized Savior's words echoed the last ones Roy had spoken to her: "Give me the plan sweetie. PLEASE tell me there's a plan."

They were all looking to her for answers.

And she didn't have any.

Even as screen after screen popped up in front of her, as data flooded her computer, all her connections and attachments firing at once.

"Guards and staffers held hostage…"

"May already be dead…"

"Entire prison emptied within minutes…"

"God they just let them out…"

"Didn't do anything…"

"Just opened the doors…"

The reports could faintly be heard over the Titans communicators, as all of them had stopped to listen in…and they realized that for once, they were facing something that was just far too big for them.

Far too big for anyone.

"…What do we do Robin?" Starfire asked. Robin was silent.

"Savior?" Scalpel asked, as Savior put a hand on his forehead and tried to wrap his mind around the concept…

"…in Detroit, should go stop that…then…then…" Savior said, as he realized he had no idea which way to turn.

Savior's own 'paralysis by analysis' was mirrored in Oracle's mind and heart, but she refused to become a victim of inertia, as she turned to perhaps her most important channel.

"J'onn, it's an escapee PLAGUE. We're outgunned by BATTALIONS of convicts and escaped metas! How close are you to establishing that global telepathic link?"

"This is something I've never done before in turn, Oracle." J'onn replied: reaching out and contacting metahumans, even across the world, was a far far cry to linking his mind with every single one of them, which is what he was trying to do now. Even with as strong as his mind was, as well honed and practiced…J'onn wasn't sure if he could do it.

"Robin! Should we go with the jet engines or just GO?" Terra yelled down. There was no answer for her.

"What do we do Mom?" Floral asked Scorcher. Scorcher, like the Titans, found she had no answer.

And Oracle looked at all the screens, hundreds of them…and wondered for the first time ever if she should just curl in a ball and wish for it to all go away.

"J'onn I don't…" She whispered. "I don't think we can do this without the Justice League."

J'onn didn't need to be a telepath to feel the despair in Oracle's voice, in the minds he was connected to even as he tried to find more and link them together stably, a massive task…one that might take a miracle…a miracle in the face of so little hope…

And then…he realized it. That the number of links was dropping off. That his structure was holding. That his brain was under immense pressure…but it was a weight he could bear.

"Perhaps not Barbara…" J'onn said. "But as of this frozen moment…"

And then it was done.

And everyone, every hero in the world, all found and contacted and connected, heard the words in their brain, even the Titans.

"We are every one of us the Justice League."

And just like that…a calm washed over them, all the many beleaguered superheroes, and some of the fear went away.

And sitting in her chair, Oracle didn't know if it was some power of J'onn's, or the feeling of shared experience with others…the sense of all beings being connected with a greater purpose.

And despite it all, she smiled.

The Society may have set this in motion. They may have planned every detail. They may have planned for every eventuality on Earth…

But J'onn was from somewhere else entirely.

The calming effect did not spare the Titans, and it was just what they needed.

"…Ok…all right, Titans! Elementals!" Robin said. "Savior, Scorcher, I want you to take whoever is best into Detroit, stop the local prison break! Everyone else, double time! If we have to we'll go from place to place until we drop!"

"Aye aye Captain. Beast Boy, Starfire, come with me! The rest of you help here!"

"Sally, Antoinette. Come on. We'll back them up." Scorcher said, as the makeshift group ran for the door, even as the other makeshift group did what they could to finish the would-be rock T-Ship.

And Oracle went back to work.

"J'onn, we're already getting reports of escapees showing up to help at the NEW prison breakout sites. The idea must have been to break out as much firepower as possible while we were tired and unprepared, then use those people to crack new prisons…and so far it's working."

"This cannot be a makeshift idea. On this scale, it would have to have been put in place a long time ago…how could we not have seen it Oracle?" J'onn asked. Perhaps he would never know the truth: that Alexander had had the Society bribing and threatening people all over the world for months in advance, so that if it came time to do so, most would just open the doors and let their prisoners out. And that is what most had done, mostly for the sake of themselves and their families.

"It seems the good guys haven't been up to snuff on a lot of things lately…but we can make up for it…" Oracle said. "I heard the Rocket Red Brigade just stole back their equipment from the Russian government. People are breaking laws to help us J'onn. We can't fail them."

"I do not plan to, Oracle." J'onn replied, and both went to work again.

But…even after all that…it was too big. Even with J'onn telepathically coordinating it all, it was too big. And to make it worse it was rift with moral issues. Breaking open metahuman prisons was one thing, but did they really want to do something like put Tibetan dissenters back in jail, or prisoners of conscience in the Middle East?

…Just too big…

And if there wasn't a break in it soon, it would soon break them.

The Titans and Elementals tore into a mass of escaping prisoners…but that was just one of the many many screens that the Calculator watched, as Phase 2 continued on. Forget hell, every single evil dimension there was was spilling out of this C-Section.

"Report."

"Arkham is fully contained. We've also lost San Quentin and Leavenworth, but overall we're leaps ahead. Total prison evacuation is at 34 percent and growing…oh, and Dr. Psycho has succeeded in his mission with Warp. Though I regret Black Adam is giving Captain Nazi more trouble then anticipated."

"No matter. Every major detail has been seen to. Once everything has reached the required parameters, put Phase 3 into motion. The people, including replacements, are in place around Metropolis. Feel good people. It's almost all done." 'Lex Luthor' said. "I must go for now. I will contact you later."

And with that, the hologram was gone.

And none of them had a clue it would never return. None of them realized that they had all played their parts, and that now the grand puppetmaster would take over for them.

And this time, he couldn't see any flaws or holes that would lead to a last minute turnaround. There was no possible way this could fail.

He was sure of it.

Strangely, the break that came didn't come from anyone getting in touch with the big guns, still seemingly off in the Arctic, trying to soothe their own consciences, no meta unable to fly up and say hello because of the sheer agony the Earth was in. It didn't come from J'onn or Oracle, or the Titans or Outsiders or any of the many metas and vigilantes that had come out of retirement or obscurity to lend their hand to this final part of the crisis.

Rather, it came from a group known as the Secret Six, six people dancing on the edge of heroism and villainy, who had their own plans and intentions…but in the end, they did one good thing.

They got information from a villain on Phase 3.

And, due to a favor owed, they gave it to Green Arrow.

"What?" J'onn said, his great concentration making him unsure if he'd heard it right.

"Metropolis, J'onn." Green Arrow replied. "They're going to march straight into $#4& Metropolis."

"Prison is contained!" Savior announced as the somewhat scuffed but otherwise ok group returned to the construction, which looked to be a few bolt-tightens away from completion. "Where are we going first?"

"Metropolis." Robin replied grimly.

"What? There surely is…"

"We got new information." Gauntlet said. "It's good, as in we know it's true. The information itself…The final stage of the plan is for every single villain to head to Metropolis. EVERYONE. Metahuman or not."

"…But why Metropolis?" Beast Boy asked.

"Symbolic value." Robin replied. "Superman's city falls…"

"The others fall in turn." Savior finished. "Man, whoever set this up WAS a genius."

"And I guess that leaves no other option for who it could be." Robin said.

"He didn't die." Savior said, as he realized the destruction of the Tower had just been a setback instead of a full stop. "And he's ready to start a whole new war."

"Hey!" Came a yell from a random STAR worker. "We're done! Ready when you are!"

Robin looked at the completed rock platform slash jet platform, and then back at the Titans.

"To paraphrase a certain song, onward Titan soldiers." Robin said.

And everyone headed for the rock, Robin included.

Until a hand stopped him.

"Robin." Savior said. "Quick. You're sure that EVERY villain will head to Metropolis?"

"Yes!"

"…Robin, I just had an idea…the bad news is its immensely risky…the worse news is we may have to do it anyway for the sake of our survival."

Metropolis.

All this for Metropolis.

With its champion and shining beacon for heroism nowhere to be found.

Oracle wished she could spare anyone, any body at all, to go and try and make contact. The interference had lessened a bit, but it was still too much, the area was still a dead zone. The only way to tell them would be the old fashioned way: face to face.

And no one could be spared to do it. Not from the sheer mass that was about to descend on Metropolis.

Everyone was doing what they could, trying to wrap up their respective battles (Oracle had finally gotten the belated code to Arsenal, who had used it to turn the power-blocking collars of the villains still in Alcatraz back on, ending that fight pretty much), even as Oracle put out a renewed call to everyone she could. Even the Blackhawks, lead by her friend Zinda, had gotten into it, commandeering every single flying thing that could move to get superpeople and National Guardsmen to Metropolis. J'onn was heading there himself.

Even as well planned as this mass breakout had been, it would take time to assemble such a march. And that just might be enough time to get at least some semblance of a defense in place at Metropolis.

Oracle hoped to god it wouldn't be there just to be slaughtered…

"Oracle." Robin's voice suddenly came on the Titan line.

"Yeah Tim?"

"I'll keep this quick. We have a plan, but it involves us not getting there in time to defend Metropolis from the first attack."

"WHAT?"

"Oracle, listen to me." Savior's voice came in. "Robin and I are in motion, but we want to gather as MANY SINGLE TEENAGE AND CHILD heroes as we can. I know you and J'onn have heavily focused on adults. Leave it to us. We're going to try and assemble every single Titan, official, unofficial, acquaintances, wannabes, friends of friends of friends, all together, and we're going to attack THE REAR of this villain army. I think this would work better overall! It's a pincher movement! And we'll arrive only ten, fifteen, maybe twenty minutes behind the villains if I've calculated everything correctly. But we'll only do it if you agree to it. Otherwise, we'll fly there with what we have."

"…Robin, were you stupid enough to agree with this?" Oracle said.

"He made a good point Babs. By ourselves we'd be breaking against the villain mass like a wave on a cliff. If we get help…we might actually be able to do something."

Oracle was tight-lipped.

J'onn was not.

"Do it Robin. I have faith in you."

"What? J'onn…?" Oracle said.

"I believe that the plan is sound Oracle. They should do it. They shouldn't worry about us. After all, we're doing this for them. For the future."

"…You'd better be fast Tim." Oracle said.

"Oh believe me, I have wings on my feet." Robin said, and signed off. "Ok everyone, start calling! Viridian, are you there?" Robin said back into his communicator.

"Yes…" Came a bored metallic voice.

"You do it too! Hell, call everyone twice, three times, ANYTHING!" Robin said, as he switched channels and began calling someone else.

"Rob." Savior said, as he came up to Gauntlet's side. "Calling Amy?"

"And everyone else." Gauntlet said.

"Good." Savior said, slapping him on the shoulder. "When you're done, call your dad. Tell him to get every single superhero from your crazy town in his giant ass superspy airship thing and fly them to Metropolis! Adult, child, senior citizen, baby, I don't care!"

"Every? That's a lot Noel."

"Tell him that anyone who can't make it up there in twenty minutes gets left behind! They can guard their own city just in case! And if you think you can find a way to convince them, call anyone straddling the fences! Hell, call Pangloss!" Savior said.

"Hey Savior, show me how to work that thing and I can call someone or three." Scorcher said. Savior tossed the communicator at the pyrokinetic and turned to Terra and Rocko. "How's that holding out!" He yelled, in regards to their piloting the crazy-ass combination of rock platform and supercharged jet engines.

"Fine!" Terra yelled back.

"Savior!" Robin yelled. "If you run out of people to contact, come help me set up a pickup list! Without Cyborg…" Robin said.

"Yeah. I know. Don't worry Robin." Savior said. "Even I feel confident in saying this: there is NO way this could get any worse."

And so the heroes frantically scrambled, as the villains gathered and marched.

It took a little under three hours.

In the end, they made Oracle proud, all of them, as they stood in a line under the banner that welcomed newcomers to Metropolis, the sign that might welcome the last visitors the city would ever see.

The heroes had arrived scant moments before the villains. But that just pushed them harder to finish the evacuation of the city. Now it stood totally empty, a ghost town. At least whatever happened today, the heroes could fight without worrying about the deaths of innocents.

They tried to send the magic users home: with magic as unpredictable as it was, they could find themselves all defenseless. They wouldn't leave. Neither would the cops, and that showed that you didn't need a cape or powers to be a superhero.

They didn't have the marquee names: hell the biggest and most powerful among them was J'onn, standing in their center like the general he was. Some of them hadn't worn a costume in years.

But they were ready to fight.

Even knowing what was coming.

As they saw the black mass off in the distance, approaching the city. The bad guys literally had an army: despite the damage done in the arctic battles and what heroes had managed to do in the breakouts they still teemed with uncountable metas, not to mention thousands of grateful and eager footsoldiers from the rank and file of the prisons. The villains around Metropolis had carefully slipped away and joined their ranks when the heroes had commenced their frantic mass evacuation.

Who knew how badly the heroes were outnumbered and outgunned?

But despite all that, they stood side by side. From J'onn J'onzz the Martian Manhunter to The Question, from Sparx to Mr. Terrific, from the Ragman to the Odd Man, from Green Arrow to Faith, heroes of all stripes, accomplishments, and beliefs, united in their common creed: the greater good.

They had expected someone like Sinestro to make the first move, or maybe Amazo, but in the end it was the diminutive and hideous Dr. Psycho who was in the lead, dressed in his finest, and looking like the cat that ate the canary…and then every other bird in the pet shop. His troops clustered behind him, a mass of black shapes that were barely illuminated in the setting sun.

"Hello J'onn!" He declared cheerily. "I just wanted to say…anything you can do, I can do better." Dr. Psycho said, actually singing the last line. "I'm just here to make sure you don't use your adorable little mind powers on my new best friend. Say hello to him, won't you? He's a little shy."

The heroes had been standing firm despite all this…until the creature Dr. Psycho was calling stepped from the shadows.

And then, just for a moment, they all faltered. As for a moment, they all knew terror of the purest sort.

He utterly towered over the midget mentalist, a mountain of gray muscle and dull white bone, all of it jagged and bladed over his body: claws on his knuckles, spikes on his shoulders, jagged peaks all round his face and a mouth full of sharp daggers. The creature that Dr. Psycho, with Warp, had been specially sent to fetch as the champion of the Society, which he had done, as he pointed behind himself, grinning.

"Let me reveal to you all my new friend." He said. "Doomsday."

Maybe there were worse threats in the Society. But one look at Doomsday and every hero saw what he'd done in the past.

A shattered Justice League.

And a coffin with a red cape on it.

"Call us Phase Three: Goodnight Little Darlings." Dr. Psycho said, drinking in their looks…as far away, on his own screens, another figure looked at the sheer fear that had flashed across every hero's face, and was so moved it brought a tear to his eye.

"Beautiful, their faces." Alexander Luthor Jr said. "It's beautiful…they thought they had won. No. If I can't replace this Earth, I'll use the Society to take it."

And then he sent his final order.

"KILL THEM ALL."

The heroes were terrified, but none broke ranks.

They were horrified, but they stood firm.

And the shining truth in that moment…

"KILL!" Dr. Psycho shrieked delightedly, and the villain army charged.

…was that never was the line between hero and villain so inescapably clear.

As the villains slammed into the heroes, and the Battle of Metropolis was on.

And grinning, Alexander Luthor turned from his screens, even as his fingers pressed commands on hard-light terminals, his personal ultra high tech computer system, the Worldview, turning him around. It was time to go join the battle himself, to supervise his victory over the heroes that had failed so badly and then robbed him of his dreams. What he deserved.

And the fact was, even if he hadn't been able to so masterfully fall back on this, so wonderfully play all these pieces that he had moved into place, even if he only had the one resource left to him…he would still have won.

This would just be much quicker, as he looked upon the being that could have won the day single-handedly for him.

"Come Superboy." He said. "We've stagnated here long enough."

"Robin, the battle's started…it's not going very well…" Oracle reported, as the Titans flew on. They had spent their time well, and now nearly twenty teen superheroes either joined them on the platform or flew beside them. The Titans knew maybe eight of them: the rest were new faces. It didn't matter. At this moment, if all heroes were the Justice League, then all those who stood with them were Titans.

"Almost done Oracle. Everyone's in place: we're just picking them up…" Robin said, as he glanced to the side as Argent joined them, waving with her own little group. It hadn't been easy doing the roundup, but it was worth it, as the Titans picked up the small hero group the Aegis next and flew on. Paragon aka Gauntlet's longtime friend Amy joined them two minutes later, bringing nearly a dozen classmates.

"The villains hit the south end of Metropolis…"

"Then we'll hit it too. HARD." Robin replied, as he turned to look at his group. Another five metas he didn't know had joined the pack: at least Robin could take comfort that no villains were going to be sneak attacking them. Raven was checking each other as they arrived, something still within her power to do. In theory she still had the great power given to her by her briefly alive mother: the crazy state of magic meant she just couldn't utilize it very well.

Not that that held everyone back, as a streak of black zipped past the group at an extreme angle, startling most of the Titans.

"What the hell was that?" Scalpel said.

"Was that…Black Adam?" Beast Boy said. Indeed it had been. Captain Nazi had failed in his attempt to neutralize the conflicted warrior of the deceased wizard Shazam, and the attempt had awoken in him a fresh rage that needed a new target. And it didn't take him long to find out where. He'd be getting to Metropolis quicker then the Titans, that was for sure.

"…Ok…that was weird." Robin said, and then Gauntlet was trying to get his attention.

"Dad's on his way…he's got lots of backup, but he'll be about twenty minutes behind us." Gauntlet said.

"I think we have acquired virtually all our old, new, and unknown friends. They're all willing to listen to us…must be Friend J'onn. Robin, your orders."

"…Ok everyone, listen up!" Robin yelled, hoping the wind wouldn't snatch his voice away. "The only order I can give is…watch out for each other…and only kill if you have to…otherwise…there are no rules, no limits, and no laws. This is war." Robin said, and then turned to Savior, who was standing near him. "Hey Savior, got any speeches you can yank out of your ass for added motivation?"

"…As you wish." Savior said. "Hear my words, my fellow Titans. The odds are gravely stacked against us. Chances are, not all of us will make it home alive. That is harsh reality. But even harsh reality is not without hope. Far from it." Savior said, as he began working himself up. "480 BC! King Leonidas of Sparta and his personal guard of three hundred, three HUNDRED, men ready themselves for battle. Like now, the fate of humanity is at stake! Out of Persia thunders the mightiest military force ever assembled, The earth shudders with the impact of its march. It drinks the rivers dry. It devours livestock like some hungry, angry god. It pauses, poised to vanquish tiny Greece, to crush her impertinent invention of democracy and extinguish the only light of reason in the world! The Spartans are outnumbered A HUNDRED THOUSAND TO ONE…but Leonidas has chosen his battle site with care: the mountain pass called Hot Gates. Funneled into this narrow corridor, the Persians find their numbers USELESS. The Spartans hold their ground, just long ENOUGH, for slumbering Greece to wake and rally its sons to war. The hope of civilization is kept alive by a careful choice of where to fight…and what is now called Spartan courage."

Savior was silent.

"Maybe we can't pick where this battle will be fought…much like many of us couldn't pick how we would get our powers, or just how they would affect us, our lives, our futures…I don't know the future. But I know this…they call it Spartan courage? I say we rename it! TITAN COURAGE! WE ARE THE TITANS! TOGETHER!"

And as Savior had hoped, it was answered not with a whimper but a bang, a roar. If heroism had a noise, this might be it.

"Very nice." Robin said.

"Don't thank me, thank Frank Millar. I mostly stole it from him."

Robin facevaulted.

"You really do have a bad habit of taking other men's words, don't you?"

"They can sue me later." Savior said. "Our own personal hot gates approach…except ours may prove to burn with the fires of hell."

The Titans had assembled, as planned, and now they approached Metropolis. They had hoped they were not too late in their choice to gather as they had, to attack as they had.

And yet when they saw it…dread filled them.

Metropolis was burning.

Unlike King Leonidas, the heroes had been unable to hold the villains on their narrow bridge, and they had been swiftly pushed backwards and scattered as the battle tore through the city. Already nearly a third of it was damaged, wrecked, or afire.

Robin's eyes narrowed, as he looked around, at his fellow Titans, all sharing his expression, as they drew weapons and charged powers, as the mass of teenage heroes came up upon the rear of the enemy…and Robin extended his staff even as he drew a Birdarang with his other hand.

"TITANS, GO!"

And the rock swooped down as the geokinetics swung it low.

It hit the ground and slammed into the masses of prisoners: murderers, rapists, arsonists, thieves, gang members, psychopaths, sociopaths, and every other shade of black there was. The normals had mostly held up the rear, eager to pick up the scraps…and found themselves helpless as the Titans tore right through them, crushing their ranks like they were nothing.

Within 90 seconds, they had reached the main battle, and they joined it.

And like gasoline on the fire, the carnage erupted to an even higher level. Hell had truly come to the surface of the Earth.

…And he reveled in it.

Operation Market Garden.

It has been discussed many times, and those who know of it know what it means: sometimes there are factors you simply cannot predict that will ruin everything. Even the best can fall prey to this factor, the outside force that had never been thought of, for various reasons.

It had undone the plans of villains and heroes alike. And the uniting factor was that none of them saw it coming.

They never did…

Building buckled and collapsed. Streets were torn to shreds. Every single object that could be destroyed or used as a weapon was used. It was chaos at its highest, purest form.

The Titans confronted the strange villain group calling themselves the Superior Five, while Scorcher locked horns and crossed flames with the demonic apathy lord Goth, his maleficent fire blasting against her supreme mastery of it, even while nearby Platinum Blonde traded blows with the equally metallic Girder. J'onn and Dr. Psycho warred on a mental level, even as the Outsider members present briefly teamed up to wail on and hammer into the ground the Fadeaway Man.

And like war, fatalities were coming, swift and terribly, as the mighty villain Bane, the hero Judomaster in his grip, brought the man down on his knee with a horrific cracking noise, shattering his spine, even as Prometheus, his helmet fixed and eager for revenge, fatally shot the hero Peacekeeper in the back. Nearby, the vigilantes Crimson Avenger II, Wild Dog, the teen hero Deadlock, and another one whose name they hadn't caught mowed down whoever they could find in their sights. And they weren't shooting rubber bullets.

"Hey, I thought Phantom Stranger and the other spellcasters fixed the Spectre and were bringin' him in to help!" The Crimson Avenger (II) said as she helped riddle the Trigger Twins with bullets.

"Fixed? Help? I heard when they tried to summon him, he killed three of them and then left!" Wild Dog replied.

"Guess we have to keep shooting then!"

"Guess so!"

And where some used guns others used more traditional weapons, as the new Shining Knight leapt off her winged horse and introduced her mace to the Riddler. Nearby, H-Duo showed he didn't have a speck of rust as he confronted Killer Frost, ice to water, while Zippy furiously battled the cloning villain Multiplex.

And nearby, Floral struggled, her mother cut off from her as she tried to match plant mastery with Poison Ivy and The Floronic Man, but two against one was working against her as she whined, her plants being overwhelmed by theirs.

"Sorry kid, but this is a one-woman show!" Poison Ivy declared, and then wondered why she felt dirty, as Floral screamed…

And then her plants suddenly surged, growing more then she could have ever believed, utterly overwhelming the two villains as they were seized to their shock and horror and dragged away, leaving Floral staring at the sudden change around.

And then she turned, looking at the figure in the shadows, the one that had come to her aid.

"Thank you!" She called. Swamp Thing just nodded.

As Black Adam, fighting for no side but his own, struck a great blow for the heroes as he tore Amazo's head off, the android's adapting powers not working in time to save it, even as the Teen Titans overwhelmed the not really Superior Five with help from an unexpected ally.

"Kurai?" Gauntlet said in confusion, as the Titans behind him struck combat poses.

"Stand down. This is not the time." The Japanese teen replied, his hands still coursing with his immense energy powers. "Slade-sama is dead. Our bond is hence broken. And though our own disagreements are great, Titans, the world in crisis is not a good place to settle them. I shall take my pound of flesh later, Robert, but for now, I will be content to simply revel in this great battle!"

"…Ok." Gauntlet said, and then started as someone grabbed his shoulder.

"Gauntlet, listen up!" Savior yelled, though it was to make sure he was heard over the bedlam around him. "Robin and I have a plan! Listen…!"

Nearby, an old superhero team, The Blood Pack, out of retirement to save the world, all ganged up on the monstrous villain Charybdis, as Geist, Ballistic, Nightblade, Mongrel, and Razorsharp, perhaps no longer the Blood Pack but still heroes, fought the good fight once more…

And in a sudden blast of horrendous heat, died fighting it, as a terrible ray of red power washed over the brawling group and vaporized them all where they stood, leaving nothing but charred bones and wet ash.

As the beam of unspeakable power cut off, revealing the armor-clad form of Superboy-Prime.

"I STILL can't tell the heroes from the villains." Superboy-Prime said, and continued walking on.

Alexander Luthor kept surprising himself on things he couldn't believe about Superboy-Prime, as he floated beside him, the two almost casually walking along amidst the war, Alexander Luthor carefully manipulating the Society via his Worldview. He'd known Superboy-Prime had changed…but the depth of the darkness that he'd sank to amazed even Alexander, as he watched Superboy-Prime almost casually kill anyone who crossed his path, like he was stepping on insects. His madness was becoming dangerously unpredictable, and Alexander was beginning to wonder if he was going to have to find a way to deal with Prime himself. After all, the boy was so powerful gods had fled from his coming, the Greek deities fleeing while leaving the mortals helpless before his beyond-messianic might…

"I don't even recognize most of them Alex." Superboy-Prime was saying. "We're using the Society to carry out your new 'plan.' To take THIS Earth instead of REPLACING it."

"Yes Superboy." Alexander replied, as he became away of a greater noise approaching over the other ones, even as the two walked on, strolling through the battles like they were a peaceful park.

As Superboy-Prime slaughtered anyone who came into his viewpoint or grip, as he seized Boss Moxie and nearly twisted his head right off even as his heat vision blasted out and blew apart Baron Blitzkrieg. One hero, one villain, it didn't matter either way to Superboy-Prime: he killed them anyway.

"But I don't like Earth-1!" Superboy-Prime complained. A slight tinge of disgust passed over Alexander: so much power and he was still whining like a child.

"This isn't Earth-1 Superboy." Alexander said. "It never really was, and now this 'unified' world, this NEW EARTH, has been altered again. There are changes within its geography, its people, its history. Wonder Woman helped found the Justice Society of America once again. Batman still fights for Gotham, even though his parents' killer was caught. There are recorded rumors of Superman's activities before his appearance in Metropolis. And that's just the beginning." Alexander said. Indeed, the resetting of the world was evident around them: villains who had been reforming or straddling the fence had gone back to the dark side (Bane was a good example: he had seemingly almost redeemed himself before the Crisis, and here he was now, back to breaking backs), which helped Alexander, he supposed.

"I don't care about this world's history. I want EARTH-PRIME BACK." Superboy-Prime glowered.

"We can't bring it back. Superboy destroyed the Tower…"

"HE WAS NOT SUPERBOY!" Superboy-Prime screamed, as he seized the monstrous insect mutant Charaxes and tore him in half as easily as a normal human could a fly. Alexander Luthor watched the green ichors from the creature's body spray all over the ground, and wondered that if that was how Drury Walker had ever expected it would end: exterminated at the hands of a child with power beyond limit, wiped out like nothing…

And then anarchy exploded in front of the duo, as the Society's champion stormed through: Doomsday, the alien monster that had once killed Superman. Like Superboy-Prime, Doomsday was destroying anything that got in his way: Dr. Psycho had kept him under some mental control at first but that had all gone to battle J'onn, leaving the savage creature to run rampart. Hero, villain, anyone who got in its way felt its terrible power. He was the source of the greater noise Alexander had heard moments ago

As Doomsday tore through a group in front of Alexander and beyond, collapsing a building in front of Alexander and Superboy-Prime. In a way, he had saved the group from dying at Superboy-Prime's hands: maybe some of them still lived after that, whereas none would have survived had Superboy-Prime come after them. The red-haired mastermind couldn't help but wonder what was worse: Superboy-Prime's cold annihilation or Doomsday's near-rabid massacring.

It showed just how sick this world was, how dark. He had to cleanse it soon, lest the poison overwhelm him in turn…

And then Alexander became aware of a figure standing among the dust of the ruins before him. Superboy-Prime saw it too.

"Prime." Savior said, as he stepped from the smoke and ash.

"YOU!" Superboy-Prime yelled.

"You have a lot to answer for. Both of you." Savior said. His calm tone practically screamed to Alexander that he had some kind of plan, but of course it went right over the head of Superboy-Prime, who just saw another grudge to settle.

"You are…" Superboy-Prime said.

"SHUT UP! BOTH OF YOU!" Savior yelled, going from calm to furious in a second, an outpouring of outrage and vengeful poison. "This is all YOUR FAULT. And you're both going to pay for it…A PLAGUE ON BOTH YOUR HOUSES!"

"What the hell is he talking about?" Superboy-Prime asked Alexander.

"I said SHUT UP YOU SICK DELUSIONAL CHILD! You murdered Superboy!"

"HE WAS NOT…!"

"SHUT UP! HE WAS MORE A SUPERBOY THEN YOU COULD EVER BE! And he's dead! Alive in triumph, and Conner slain! Away to heaven, respective lenity! And fire-eyed fury be my conduct now!"

Alexander could see the own fire he possessed ignite in Superboy-Prime's eyes, and he realized just what Savior's suicidal behavior indicated…

"Now, Prime, take the villain back again, that late thou gavest me. For brave Conner's soul is just a little bit above our heads, staying for thine to keep him company, and either though, or we, or both, SHALL GO WITH HIM!"

And with that Superboy-Prime decided he didn't care just what Savior was talking about, he was overdue for death, as his heat vision blasted outward.

Savior leapt up to avoid it, the move choreographed far too much, but Superboy-Prime reacted far too quickly for Savior's dodge to save him, as the armor-clad maniac flew up, his deadly fist snapping out to smash Noel's body like fine glass…

Even as the shadows consumed him, Superboy-Prime only punching the faintest wisps of blackness, Savior pulled away at the last second, as Alexander tried to yell at him, tell him he was being sucked into a…

Trap, as three beams: one green and energy, another red but also energy, and the third a concentrated blast of wind, all slammed into Superboy-Prime, driving him forward…as at least five separate forms came down on top of him, their weight driving him into the ground. Alexander's eyes narrowed: so much power, and yet all it took to lure Superboy-Prime into an attack was some mangled Shakespeare, as the mightiest of the group the Titans had assembled, Scalpel and Beast Boy among them, slammed Superboy-Prime into the ground, the trick they'd tried before but with nearly ten times the impact behind it, as everyone took an extra second to land some blows and then retreated before Superboy-Prime could get his deadly fists or heat vision into the play. Screaming, the teenager reared up…as Raven appeared from the shadows and once again slammed a mental fist into his brain. Superboy-Prime shrieked, and then Starfire flew in, her hands glowing with her emerald power…and slammed them against Superboy-Prime's face as she cut loose with every bit of juice she could muster, an explosion of force blasting into Superboy-Prime's features.

"ARGHHHHHHH MY EYES!" Superboy-Prime shrieked, as Starfire flew back, the evil doppelganger staggering about, temporary blinded, his heat vision disabled…as every teenage hero laid into him with everything they could, the blasters exploding their best against the teenager before the tankers and strength attackers waded in and gave Superboy-Prime everything they had.

And all around them, their actions were mirrored by heroes and villains as they fought for their world, one to keep it free and the other to own it. Brave men and women fell. Blood spilled. Unholy noise rent the air, the sound of war and destruction and pain.

And he drank it all in, as he walked along, feeling it all…and marveling at it. Such a grand plan…such a marvelous place…

Alexander didn't see this, or the Superboy-Prime fight, but he had a rough idea of it all, and it annoyed him…but it didn't matter. Let them all break themselves against Superboy-Prime once more. Maybe this time they would learn there was no power on this Earth or any that could stop him…

And then he noticed it.

There had been minimal clouds in the sky above him, but now…there were many, swirling around and concentrating above the city, blocking out the sun. What the hell was that? Was Weather Wizard or someone in that vein trying something? Were clouds supposed to be that black…?

"You know, you didn't fix anything." Came a voice, and Alexander looked up to see, of all people, Gauntlet nearby, his artifact fully out and ready. "You barely streamlined continuity, and you didn't do anything other people can't mess with later. Me, I blame too few issues. Made the whole thing seemed rushed."

Alexander didn't know what Gauntlet was talking about, but if those accursed Titans thought they could deal with him with just this idiot while the rest tried to stop Prime, they were sadly mistaken, as golden power erupted on Alexander's hands and he blasted at Gauntlet, who dodged.

"Don't tell me what I failed to do! You heroes can't do anything! You're all worthless! Ruined by the darkness of this world, this damned omnipresent DARKNESS!" Luthor snarled, as he blasted at Gauntlet again, who once again dodged.

"Please. Heard it before Luthor, and seen it before." Gauntlet said…and then he became aware of a greater racket behind him. Damn, Superboy-Prime had recovered faster then expected. For a moment Gauntlet was torn. If he took care of Alexander…but he'd seen how terrible Superboy-Prime could be, and his friends were back there, Amy was back there, what to do…

…There really was no choice.

As he dodged another blast of power, leaping close to Alexander in the process.

"Next time, do something original and unexpected…like stealing forty cakes. That's the same as four tens." Gauntlet said.

And then he was gone before Alexander could blast him, as Alexander stood there, lowering his hands. What the hell had he been talking about, cakes…?

And then suddenly Gauntlet was right in front of him again, pointing at him.

"AND THAT'S TERRIBLE!" Gauntlet quipped.

The blast missed again, as Gauntlet bounded away, leaping over to where the battle against Superboy-Prime was going…badly, as Prime hurled Platinum Blonde into the other Elementals and then blasted his heat vision at Kurai, who managed to dodge and counter with a blast that exploded on Superboy-Prime, not harming him in the slightest. Grimacing, Gauntlet gathered all the power he had and leapt in, joining Paragon and Legend in a trio attack, in vengeance of their fallen friends.

And they were all blown away as Superboy-Prime blasted them with Super-breath, even as more Titans leapt in, firing at him, trying to do some kind of damage…

As Raven emerged from the shadows, stopping and taking a quick breather. Well for the moment, magic was holding out: she was a bit worn but still quite capable…

And then it washed over her. She'd been too distracted to notice it when it was subtle, but it was done being subtle: this was POWER. A terrible force. A FAMILIAR force.

And two seconds after feeling it, she remembered Noel's tossed off words…

"There are two kinds of winners in crises like these: the good guys…or the bad guy who knows just when to step in and take the reins…"

"No…not now NO NO NO." Raven said in pure fear.

Well, it looked like the teenager had indeed left with those last strange words…words that angered Alexander Luthor nonetheless. He'd planned this down to the smallest detail, to suggest that he do something so asinine like steal pastry…he was going to rule the world…

But even that bothered him, as he dispelled his energy powers, turning back to his Worldview, his annoyance increasing with how long this was taking, how well the heroes were holding out…

Never seeing it slide forth from the shadows, flowing up behind him…

Alexander's fingers blurred over the keypads, trying to get it back together, he would not lose…

"…Damn it all." He hissed. "Damn these heroes and their world. Their damned world. But I will make it right. Perfect. Not this ruin. Not all this…dark."

"Dark?"

The voice was new.

"Of course this world is dark."

It was behind him, as Alexander Luthor turned around…at the form floating there, clad in long cloaks and capes of black, eyes of pure ebony looking bemusedly at Alexander Luthor.

"It's mine." Said the Lord of the Night.