XCI
Past Transgressions
Author's Note:
In an alternate universe where Bruce Wayne is not Batman, where a non-existent Justice League does not explore the mysteries of the Universe, it makes sense that Bruce would have faith in God. I realize that in the comics, he is generally portrayed as an agnostic, a lapsed Catholic or an Episcopalian. It is not my intent to portray Bruce as an overly religious character. However, when humanity is threatened by the terrible power of Trigon, it seems logical that many people are going to look for divine assistance, including Bruce.
Bruce Wayne now stood in front of the cameras, preparing to address the world. Thoughts of a Tachyon Cannon occupied a certain part of his mind… would it work?! Would it tear apart the fabric of reality? Create alternate realities? Had they entered the dominion of God?... He wondered if J. Robert Oppenheimer had these exact same thoughts in 1945. As the director spoke, Bruce came back to the present.
"We're ready, Mr. President. In 5, 4, 3, …, …."
"Ladies and Gentlemen of the world, the greatest threat to our continued existence has now landed upon the Earth. The gates of Hell have opened over the former country of Kahndaq and the life of every man, woman and child now hangs in the balance from an extra-dimensional force of extraordinary power.
Also, I must inform you that Lex Luthor, the acting President of the United States, is dead…
As the newly appointed Secretary of Defense, the job of leading this country into war has now fallen to me. My name is Bruce Wayne. I am the acting President. I will take responsibility for the tragedy that has befallen us and lead our resistance against it.
We are at war with an adversary unlike any other.
We face a creature with power of Biblical proportions... The supreme enemy of life itself. We have footage of this event which happened only moments ago. This is not a hoax, this is not a stunt, this is real."
The chilling footage of a giant Trigon descending into Kahndaq played on a large screen behind Bruce as the world watched in horror.
"There is only one simple fact…
The sun will set upon the human race today… or we will prevail to share a brand new sunrise tomorrow. The End Times are upon us, but we must prevail. The sun sets on our blackest night, and yet the Dawn of Hope for all of humanity awaits.
We will resist this adversary. We will fight against the darkness. Terror will vanish in the rays of dawn.
But we will resist together... E Pluribus Unum… Out of many, one. The fingers of humanity will close to hold fast to courage, to our gift of life. And to those who fear, we will comfort. To those who despair, we will be their beacon. We will see the sun rise upon our world, darkness destroyed.
To the leaders of the world… there are no countries today. There is only us and that which will destroy us. We may have only one chance to survive, one chance to strike. All action must be coordinated, one single plan of attack. We are the hope of the world and we have precious little time. We must stand united.
To the people of the world… Hope and Faith. I ask you to face the greatest challenge… to believe that tomorrow will come. A tomorrow for our children and their children. There are heroes among us, there are heroes beyond the stars. If Evil exists, then so to does Good. If the Devil has come to destroy us, then God may yet save us all.
Hope, Faith and Love. Fill your heart with these. We face an enemy who is the King of Fear, the King of Dread and the King of Hate. These things are his weapons, his strength. Do not give him dominion of your soul. Pray for us and pray for tomorrow. Be with the ones you love as we face the living embodiment of hate.
Our country's motto has never seemed more appropriate than today… In God we trust. And never have we needed His help and guidance more. Perhaps… as we unite our voices as one, He will."
The broadcast ended as Bruce drew a deep breath. He could almost feel the world coming to a halt. He had known about the LexCorp Tachyon Cannon for months now and wanted it in the contingency plan for Trigon. But still, he knew far too little about its capability. On his way back to the war room, he placed another call to Tim who answered immediately.
"Hey Bruce, nice speech. I never took you for the religious type."
"We need all the help we can get, Tim. Have you had a chance to look at the Tachyon Cannon?"
"Yes. It must be unseasonably cold in Hell today, because I've been working with Fritz Hollmann for the last twenty minutes. We can't use the Cannon right away, it's facing the wrong way. I'd better let Fritz explain this one… It's really going to blow your mind. He's on the other line, hold on…"
Bruce watched as another screen opened beside Tim. Fritz Hollmann appeared.
"Mr. Wayne. A most inspiring speech."
"Thank you. Herr Hollmann. Tim tells me the Cannon is pointed into space?"
"Yes, I'm afraid Mr. Luthor had a very elaborate plan for its use. It is aimed to bend around the seven sister stars of the Pleiades and continue back to Earth at a very specific time and place."
"The Pleiades are over 400 light years away..."
"Yes, Mr. Wayne. But this is faster than light. The beam would travel almost one thousand light years, backwards through time to strike a point in history. In six days, the heavens will align and the program would have allowed the Cannon to fire. I have now managed to take it offline…
I will admit to being relieved that Luthor is dead… The possibilities of a shot of that nature are truly terrifying. It is too far…"
"When and where would it strike, Fritz?"
"It would strike on July 21st, 1988 at twenty-one seconds after 11:04 PM. The point of contact would be a field near the small town of Smallville, Kansas. I believe this was the boyhood home of Lex Luthor…"
In Bruce's mind, the words from Lex Luthor burst forth like an epiphany as all was revealed… The totality of Lex's madness summed up in the madman's answer to his question…
'And that is where humanity fails, Mr. Wayne... Death does not care about our point of view or beliefs or if we are good... It only cares if we shoot first...'
Luthor was going to shoot first... The Tachyon Cannon had been built to kill the aliens and save his father at any cost. The madness that had warped his life from a summer night thirty-three years ago – which made him immune from the consequences of any future actions because they didn't matter… The intellect sociopath who saw this reality only as an obstacle in setting right the events of that terrible night... To Luthor, this world had only been a work of fiction… He would dictate his own history.
But would Bruce have done such a thing to save the lives of his parents? Could he do the same thing? He now had the means… But would he place a shot twenty years into the past if it meant that Thomas and Martha Wayne - along with six thousand other Gothamites - would be spared from two Boeing 767's crashing into Gotham towers?...
No.
With Raven now in his life, he knew that was the ultimate answer. He could never do it. He shut out the tragic events of only days ago… Richard would not have wanted the fabric of reality risked for his life. He found the ability to speak again.
"Oh Dear God… But the variables, Hollmann! A shot of that immense distance, one tiny miscalculation, the causality…"
"Oh, space is very predictable, Mr. Wayne. Even the ancient Greeks had an advanced understanding of the movement of the planets and stars. With today's astronomy, quantum physics and software, we were easily able to plot the beam's flight path through space and the past. An unobstructed shot through time, wrapping around the constellation of Taurus to strike thirty-three years into the past. Unbelievable, isn't it?
But you're correct regarding the causality, Mr. Wayne. Whatever Luthor sought to achieve, how would if affect events thirty-three years in the future? How many alternate universes would be created in such an ambitious gamble? How many streams would siphon the stream of time?
Would I have married my wife Elsie? Would you have met your wife, Mr. Wayne? How many worlds does God allow under His sky? At what point does He simply turn off the lights on existence to begin anew?"
"I didn't know you were religious, Herr Hollmann."
"A by-product of growing up in Argentina. Unavoidable, I'm afraid… But this is technology that is untested, Wayne. Its effects unmeasured and vaguely hypothetical. Who's to say what could happen when man rewrites the past… Scientifically fascinating, but is the answer worth the price of the knowing?"
"Indeed… But it may be our only chance for survival. If we were to aim it directly at Trigon, how far back would it strike in time?"
"At current speed, a direct strike from space to the surface of the Earth would occur less than one hundredth of second in the past, Mr. Wayne. It would be similar to any other laser cannon, practically instantaneous to human observation."
"We need more time. He'll see it coming."
"It's tricky, but we could possibly bend it around our sun to perhaps give you four seconds, Mr. Wayne."
"The future of the world may count on those four seconds, Herr Hollmann."
"I will begin the calculations immediately with your protégé. May God forgive us for usurping His power..."
"Fritz… I want you to know… If we survive, I will do all in my power to clear your name from the deeds of your grandfather."
"Thank you, Mr. Wayne. I'm afraid my family has a trait where we are too easily blinded in the glories of science at the behest of evil men. Merchants of death such as ourselves must seek divine redemption through humility."
With that, Hollmann's screen disappeared as the German winked, but Tim stayed on.
"Bruce, do you know where Barbara is?... Everyone keeps asking."
"She's with my wife, Raven. They're getting… more help."
"That hot, little European number with the purple eyes at the funeral? That's your wife?!"
With the unplanned events at the funeral this morning, Bruce never had a chance to introduce his wife to his senior staff. He had certainly meant to.
"Yes, I wanted to introduce you to her this morning. She's not European though. She's from another dimension and she's also the best chance we have against the demon Trigon."
"Whoa, seriously from another dimension?! And hot! I am totally getting nerd wood. Does she have a sister?..."
"…Good-bye, Tim. Keep me updated."
Bruce prayed to all that was holy that his wife was successful in her mission and would make it back in time. The entire world was counting on her. And he was positive her self-image would be very much improved after meeting Tim Drake and the emotions he would project...