Chapter 5
Earth-8
On the planet Krypton, Seg-El and Lyta-Zod were looking down at General Dru-Zod, who was lying down on a seat with a black plant-like object known as the Black Mercy attached to his chest, one of its tentacles inside his mouth. Although Zod's eyes were open, he was unconscious to the world around him.
"How long can we keep him like this?" Seg-El wondered.
"As long as we need to," Lyta answered. "As long as it keeps Krypton safe."
Seg-El nodded as he and Lyta continued to observe the bald, dark-skinned man who was their future son.
Outside, the night sky suddenly turned red as Seg-El and Lyta looked up at it with alarmed expressions.
"What's happening?" Lyta wondered.
"Let's find out," Seg-El said.
That was when the massive anti-matter wave appeared, consuming everything and everyone in its path until the entire universe was gone.
Earth-41
Superman and Lois Lane were on the Daily Planet's rooftop, observing the wave of anti-matter that was rapidly approaching and disintegrating everything in its path.
"Stand back, Ms. Lane," Superman instructed, preparing to deal with the mysterious wave.
"And miss reporting the story of the century?" Lois retorted, holding up her camera. "You don't know me very well, do you?"
"Forget the scoop," Superman told her. "On second thought, you're coming with me."
He grabbed Lois in one hand and started flying off, only for them to soon get disintegrated by the anti-matter wave as it reached them.
Not long afterwards, the entire universe was gone.
Earth-77
Billy Batson aka Captain Marvel was soaring towards the red skies, determined to stop the massive wave of white energy that was disintegrating everything in its path.
Seconds later, Captain Marvel himself was consumed by the anti-matter and the entire universe was soon wiped from existence.
Earth-12
Hal Jordan aka Green Lantern flew into space above Earth and formed a massive green barrier with his power ring in an effort to fend off the anti-matter wave that was approaching. He gritted his teeth, putting forth all his concentration as he increased the size of the barrier and expanded it as far as he could to protect his home planet from the deadly and incessant wave of white energy.
The barrier shattered as the anti-matter broke through it like a huge tsunami hitting a glass wall and Hal was violently thrown many meters back through space. He steadied himself and raised his fist to form another barrier, but didn't get a chance to activate his power ring as the anti-matter wave disintegrated him into nothingness before doing the same to the planet Earth below.
Earth-19
Gypsy and her father, Breacher, stared grimly at the massive wave of white energy that was traveling across the red skies and consuming everything in its path.
"I don't think we can fight this, Dad," Gypsy said, regretfully.
"Neither do I, Cynthia," Breacher replied in a similar tone as they held each other closely seconds before the anti-matter disintegrated them.
Accelerated Man was running in a trail of purple lightning, determined to save what was left of the world, before the anti-matter wave disintegrated him as well.
Earth-203
In New Gotham City, as thunder roared and lightning flashed in the pouring rain, Helena Kyle aka the Huntress, the daughter of Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle, was running and leaping across rooftops before she stopped, staring in horror at the ominous red skies and huge anti-matter wave that was approaching in the distance.
"Oracle, it's Huntress, come in," she called out on her comms.
"Huntress, the comms are barely functional," the voice of Barbara Gordon responded.
"Barbara, can you hear me?" Huntress asked in a panicked tone.
"I need more time."
"The wave's coming too quickly, you're gonna have to evac right now!" Huntress urged at the sight of the anti-matter wave that was getting closer and closer with each passing moment.
"I'm sending out the relevant data before the wave hits."
Interference in the comms caused the devices to cut out as Huntress desperately said, "Oracle? Oracle, please answer me."
"Sending all relevant data, Helena..." Barbara announced as the comms briefly cracked to life.
But it was too late as the anti-matter wave swept over the entire world, disintegrating everything and everyone, including the horrified Huntress, into nothingness.
Earth-204
Patience Phillips, otherwise known as the black-garbed vigilante Catwoman, stood on a rooftop observing the red skies and approaching anti-matter wave in utter horror before the entire universe, along with everyone and everything in it, was soon destroyed.
Earth-205
In a rather upscale apartment in Florence, Italy, Bruce Wayne was sitting on a couch reading an article on the happenings in Gotham City on his laptop. He was shirtless, wearing only a pair of black pants and matching socks.
His girlfriend, Selina Kyle, entered the room. She was wearing nothing but a white towel that was wrapped around her body. Her dark brown hair was wet, indicating she'd just gotten out of the shower.
With a seductive smirk, she walked behind Bruce and wrapped her arms around his head, running her fingers along his bare chest and down to his abs.
"For a man who insisted that Gotham was completely behind him, you sure do love reading about what goes on in your old city quite often," Selena noted.
"Living in Gotham and being Batman may be in my past, but I still care enough about my former home to check in on it every now and then," Bruce pointed out.
"And how is it?" Selina asked, curiously.
"Still continuing to thrive," Bruce answered. "Whatever lingering problems that Gotham has, John Blake's been doing a good job keeping it all under control as Nightwing. He even has a partner working alongside him now. I meant what I said, Selina. I have no regrets nor any intention of returning to my old life at any point in the future."
"Our future?" Selena corrected.
"That's right," Bruce said, smiling. "Maybe, just maybe, in another life, I'd still be Batman. The Dark Knight who continues to prowl the streets of Gotham until either some thug gets lucky or that version of me is forced by old age to take off the mask and hang up the cape."
"Sounds almost like you miss it," Selina remarked.
"But that's not what happened here," Bruce continued, ignoring his girlfriend's comment. "My time as Batman has passed and I'm just Bruce Wayne now. And it will remain that way for the rest of my days."
Selina grabbed Bruce's face, turning his head to face her before crashing her lips onto his. Bruce immediately gave in to the gesture as he and Selina engaged in a passionate kiss.
After a few seconds, Selina climbed to the other side of the couch and sat on top of Bruce's laps, facing him as they put their arms around each other and continued their passionate kiss.
Suddenly, the building of their apartment shook and the sound of loud rumbling coming from outside snapped Bruce and Selina out of their intimate moment as they exchanged alarmed looks.
"Was that an earthquake?" Selina wondered.
"Accompanied by what sounded like thunder," Bruce noted, as the shaking continued.
They stood up, looking outside through the glass of their apartment, and saw that the afternoon sky had suddenly taken on a reddish tint.
"Why the hell is the sky red?" Selina wondered, an unsettling feeling washing over her.
"That clearly wasn't an ordinary earthquake," Bruce stated in concern. "Judging by the skies, whatever's going on is likely occurring globally."
That was when they saw the massive wave of white energy appeared across the red skies, disintegrating all the buildings, streets, vehicles, civilians, and everything else it came in contact with.
"Bruce, I'm... I'm scared," Selina muttered in a rare dose of fear, which was something she'd always seen as a weakness. However, there was just something extremely terrifying about this situation.
In an effort to provide the love of his life as much comfort as possible, Bruce put her arm around Selina and neither of them could do nothing but watch as the anti-matter wave completely consumed them, along with the entire penthouse building, seconds later.
Soon after that, the whole universe was gone.
Earth-193
"Starfire!" Robin called out in concern, rushing over to where the dazed Tamaranean girl in question was lying in a pile of black, gooey ink that made up the remains of the giant monster they had just defeated. He picked Starfire up and held her in his arms. "Starfire."
At the sound of Robin's voice, Starfire opened her eyes with a moan and looked up at him with a loving expression.
"Are you okay?" Robin asked.
"I am now," Starfire answered.
Suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck in the night sky and it started pouring rain as the water rapidly washed away the ink monster's remains that was all over the ground in the area.
"I think I was wrong before," Robin told Starfire.
"You do?" she asked.
"Maybe... a hero isn't all that I am," Robin stated. "Maybe I can be... maybe we can be..."
"Robin?" Starfire said.
"Starfire?" he said back.
"Stop talking," Starfire said with a smile.
She and Robin leaned towards each other and kissed passionately, while Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Raven watched with proud smiles on their faces.
"Well, it's about time," Cyborg commented.
At that moment, all five members of the Teen Titans were blinded by a golden flash of light. When it cleared a few moments later, the young heroes were instantly on guard at the sight of a ten-foot-tall golden android that suddenly appeared near them
"Who are you and what do you want with us?" Robin demanded.
In response, Amazo simply raised his hand, making the Teen Titans vanish in another flash of light.
And just like that, the android traveled to several more worlds and collected more heroes who would aid in the Crisis.
Earth-21
While all the heroes had gone on their respective missions, Chloe had returned to the Star City Watchtower to keep an eye on things from there, since she couldn't get too involved in all the action due to her pregnancy. Plus, she wanted to check on little Roy, who had been left behind when she and Ollie were transported to Earth-192.
Present in the base with Chloe and little Roy were Ollie, Conner, Sara, Kal-El, and Galatea, who all had arrived from Earth-96 not too long ago and were waiting for some of the other heroes to arrive before deciding their next move.
A breach soon opened as Cisco, Barry-Red, Clark, Lois, Clark-93, Lois-93, Superman, and Linda stepped out of it.
"Wow, this is a nice place," Lois-93 commented, impressed by all the tech in the base.
"It belongs to my cousin and her billionaire husband," Lois said to her older counterpart.
"Whoa," Chloe started at the sight of Earth-93 Superman due to who he looked like. "You're..." She trailed off, reminded of Dr. Curtis Knox, the immortal madman who once attempted to cut out her heart to give it to his wife and would've succeeded if not for Clark stopping him in time. Regaining her composure, Chloe said, "Well, you're a Superman."
"That's right," Clark-93 nodded with a polite grin. "And you would be?"
"Chloe Sullivan-Queen," the blonde introduced herself with a smile of her own. "Sorry if my reaction to you is a bit weird. It's just that you look a lot like an immortal enemy we encountered on this Earth in the past."
"Really?" Clark-93 asked in surprise.
"You do," Clark said. "But you're obviously not him."
Chloe then noticed Earth-93 Lois. "And you look just like Aunt Ella."
"Surprise, surprise, cuz," Lois announced to her cousin. "Meet me of Earth-93."
"Oh," Chloe said with a stunned expression. "Well, that makes perfect sense."
"So you two are cousins," Lois-93 said.
"Yep, although Chloe and I are actually more like sisters," Lois answered.
"I have a cousin too, but her name is Cindy," Lois-93 stated.
"For all we know, she could be your Earth's equivalent of me with a different name," Chloe pointed out.
"This parallel Earths concept is always so intriguing," Lois-93 commented.
"I agree with you, honey," Clark-93 said, before he noticed Kal-El. "I presume you're a fellow Superman as well."
"That's correct," Kal-El nodded. "I'm from Earth-96."
Clark-93 then turned to Conner. "And what about you? If you're wearing our crest, does that mean you're also Kryptonian?"
"I'm half-Kryptonian," Conner corrected. "The other half is human, which is a long story."
"Interesting," Clark-93 said.
"I'm Superboy, but you can call me Conner," the young hero introduced himself.
"You guys can call me Tea," the Argonian clone of Earth-192 Supergirl introduced herself as well. "It's short for Galatea. Either one is fine."
"I'm Oliver Queen, Chloe's husband, also known as Green Arrow," Ollie said to Earth-93 Clark and Lois. "Not sure if you two have me on your Earth."
"If you do exist, your name doesn't ring a bell to me," Lois-93 said.
"Sara Lance," the white-garbed blonde was the last to introduce herself.
"It's a pleasure to meet you all, despite the grim circumstances," Clark-93 said.
"So some of you will stay here and prepare to protect this Earth's Quantum Tower while the rest of us head back to Earth-192 and get ready to execute our next moves," Barry-Red said.
"Oliver, Chloe, and I are obviously staying since this is our Earth," Clark stated. "For now, one or two more of us staying while the rest of you return to Earth-192 will be helpful."
"I'll stay and help here," Clark-93 volunteered.
"Which means I'll be staying too," Lois-93 added.
"Okay," Clark nodded.
"If you need me and Kara to stay, we'll do so as well," Superman offered.
"Since there are other Earths that will need protecting, only one of you will be good enough," Clark stated.
"I can stay," Linda offered, before turning to her cousin. "You go with the others, Kal. I'll be fine here."
"All right," Superman nodded.
"With that settled," Cisco said, before opening a breach with his powers.
He, Barry-Red, Conner, Sara, Superman, Kal-El, and Galatea walked into the breach before it closed, leaving Clark, Lois, Clark-93, Lois-93, Chloe, and Ollie behind.
Earth-192
After returning to the Metro Tower, Batman, Oliver, and Slade confronted The Monitor as soon as they saw him.
"You didn't have us travel to Earth-99 to recruit that world's Batman," Oliver said, firmly. "It was so that we could get rid of him."
"Yes," Novu confirmed.
"If that was the case, why did you tell us he had an important role to play?" Batman demanded. "It's safe to say you knew exactly what kind of man my Earth-99 counterpart was, yet you led us to believe that he would be willing to help us during this Crisis. What was the point of that?"
"Bruce Wayne of Earth-99 did have an important role and he played it," Novu stated.
"How?" Batman inquired.
"By eliminating any lingering doubts you had of being the Paragon of Courage," Novu explained. "Your Earth-99 counterpart had become the exact personification of the great fear that plagued your mind for a long time. At last, you've confronted that fear directly and overcame it through the realization that just because one version of you become a terror to his world doesn't mean you're destined to follow in the same path."
"So this was some kind of test," Batman realized.
"Yes, and you passed," Novu answered. "Well done, Batman. Now, the three of you and the rest of the heroes shall prepare to protect the remaining Quantum Towers. I deduce that my adversary will launch simultaneous attacks on Earth-1, Earth-21, Earth-50, and this Earth."
"We'll be ready," Oliver said with determination, before he, Slade, and Batman headed over to where Prince (Earth-50 Wonder Woman), Wonder Woman (Earth-192), Diana-76, Kara D, Barry-Red, Cisco, Sara, Conner, Superman, Kal-El, and Galatea were gathered.
Suddenly, Amazo and more heroes he'd collected from various Earths appeared in the Metro Tower. The new group of heroes consisted of:
Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Raven from Earth-193.
Aquaman, Captain Marvel, and Virgil Hawkins aka Static of this Earth.
Batman, Catwoman, Supergirl, Batgirl, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Harley Quinn, Hal Jordan, Firestorm, and Blue Beetle from Earth-222.
Clara Kent aka Superwoman from Earth-111.
Alexander 'Lex' Luthor and Lois Lane from Earth-64.
Barry Allen aka The Flash and John Stewart aka Green Lantern from Earth-90.
Jay Garrick aka The Flash from Earth-3.
Jesse Quick, Harry Wells, Adrian Chase, and Laurel Lance from Earth-2.
Ray Palmer, Nora Darhk, Nate Heywood, Mick Rory, Jefferson 'Jax' Jackson, and Zari Tomaz, as well as Mari McCabe aka Vixen, Kendra Saunders aka Hawkgirl, and Carter Hall (formerly Scythian Torvil) aka Hawkman, from Earth-1.
Jefferson Pierce aka Black Lightning and his daughters, Anissa and Jennifer, from Freeland, who were also from Earth-1.
All of them looked around with varying expressions of bewilderment, shock, disbelief, and wariness as they wondered three questions: "What just happened?", "Where were they?", and "What the hell was going on?" Some of them, especially the Earth-222 crew and Teen Titans of Earth-193, were even ready to fight, if necessary. Adrian readied his bow as well, but Laurel-Two calmed him down upon spotting some heroes that she recognized and realized they had most likely been sent to another Earth.
Aquaman, Captain Marvel, and Static realized right away that they were in the Metro Tower, while Alexander and Lois-64 recognized the headquarters as well, since the two had been present during the mind-control mess caused by the Lex Luthors.
Kendra and Carter were surprised to see the Legends, and the equally surprised Ray, Mick, and Jax greeted the Hawk couple before introducing them to Nora, Nate, and Zari. Nate then acknowledged Mari, pointing out she was the granddaughter of Amaya Jiwe, which Mari fondly confirmed, unaware of her grandmother's time with the Legends.
Robin of Earth-193 reacted with surprise on seeing Batman of Earth-222 and commented on what appeared to be his former mentor's "new suit", while the latter realized the former wasn't any version of Robin that he knew.
Allen (Earth-90 Flash) and Jay Garrick regarded each other due to being doppelgangers and shook hands upon introducing themselves to each other, with Allen recalling Earth-1 Barry mentioning Jay during their conversation.
Ray widened his eyes in shock upon noticing Kal-El, completely awed by the fact that a version of Superman was the spitting image of him, which the rest of the Legends were just as astonished by.
"I assume you're Ray Palmer?" Kal-El asked, remembering Sara and Conner's mentions of him looking like the man in question.
"Yeah, that's right," Ray nodded with a smile. "And you're Super… super-me!"
"God, this is so weird," Nate commented.
"Super-weird," Mick remarked.
"Speaking of 'weird'," Jax said upon noticing Firestorm of Earth-222. Wondering if the latter was his counterpart, Jax asked Firestorm if his name was Jefferson Jackson and Firestorm replied that he was actually Jason Rusch, a name which Barry-Red and Cisco recognized as a scientist on their Earth who used to work at Mercury Labs and, along with Professor Stein, had been involved in the F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M. project.
Clara Kent noticed Alexander and Lois-64 and greeted them, having met the two when they had ended up on her Earth a while back. Alexander and Lois-64 were just as surprise to see her again.
Clara was then noticed by Supergirl of Earth-222 and the two female Kryptonians were surprised to see the other wearing the House of El emblem. Wondering who each other were, the dark-haired heroine introduced herself as Kala Jor-El, not wanting to reveal her civilian name around a bunch of strangers, and the blonde introduced herself as Kara Zor-El, a name which didn't ring a bell to Clara at all.
Oliver was taken aback on seeing Adrian Chase, but Laurel-Two quickly assured him that this Adrian was a good person and nothing like his evil Earth-1 doppelganger. Oliver immediately relaxed – given that he'd encountered two villainous versions of himself (one who had been a Nazi from Earth-X and another who had, ironically, been Prometheus of Earth-16), the possibility of a good Adrian Chase somewhere in the Multiverse wasn't really farfetched. Oliver then noticed Earth-90 John Stewart among the new group, causing some emotions to well up in the emerald archer due to the loss of Diggle.
Being the only prominent superhero in her world, Diana-76 was astonished by the amount of costumed individuals she was surrounded by. Then again, if the Multiverse really was in danger of ending, she supposed that heroes of various worlds banding together to save everything they held dear was something completely expected.
"Excuse me!" Black Lightning announced, loud and abruptly as everyone turned to him. "Can someone tell me what the hell is going on here and where the hell are we?!"
"My thoughts exactly," Anissa said, warily looking around at all the costumed people.
"I'm wondering the same thing," Mari said.
"So am I," Clara added. "One moment I was flying over Smallville, and the next moment..."
"You're suddenly here," Captain Marvel finished.
"Yeah," Clara nodded.
"It happened to me too," Captain Marvel said.
"Same here," Static added.
"It's safe to say that what happened to you happened to all of us who just appeared here," Jay Garrick pointed out.
Amazo spoke next, revealing that he was the one who had transported them all in the Metro Tower. After introducing himself to the newcomers, the android explained everything to them: the Crisis, the anti-matter wave that was continuously destroying Earths, and the Anti-Monitor.
Of all the heroes present, Black Lightning and his daughters were the most baffled and mind-blown by what Amazo had just told them. Discovering that the Multiverse was real – from an android, no less – was a lot to process on its own, but an evil cosmic being who was hell-bent on wiping out every universe in existence… to say that was far, far, far beyond their wheelhouse would be a huge, huge understatement.
Other heroes who had very little or no experience with the Multiverse, such as Clara, Mari, Kendra, Carter, Adrian, and Static, were thoroughly taken aback by all of it as well, while Alexander, Lois-64, Allen, John-90, Harry, Jesse, and Laurel-Two realized in horror that the Crisis event they had known was coming ever since the mess with the villains from Earth-X and Earth-64 over a year and a half ago was now here.
All in all, none of the newcomers objected to joining the major battle against the Anti-Monitor, as they were very eager and determined to defeat that monster and save what remained of the Multiverse.
With everyone brought up to speed, the newcomers introduced themselves to the heroes who had already been present in the Metro Tower.
As the Teen Titans of Earth-193 introduced themselves first, Batman-222 asked Robin which one he was and, when the latter answered he was Dick Grayson, the former felt a pang of emotion while the other Insurgency members looked grim by the revelation. Beast Boy received the same grim looks as Robin from the Earth-222 crew, while Cyborg and Raven were given uneasy looks from the same group.
As the Insurgency introduced themselves next, Batman-192 warily wondered what Catwoman and Harley Quinn were doing with them. Batman-222 assured his local counterpart that the two women were "different people than they used to be", to which Batman-192 nodded in understanding.
Clara, Alexander, and Lois-64 introduced themselves next, prompting more reactions from some of the other heroes. Superman, Kal-El, Conner, Barry-Red, Cisco, Kara D, Prince, and Wonder Woman were dumbfounded upon realizing that Clara was a female version of Kal-El, noticing she specifically resembled the Clark from Earth-21. Likewise, Clara was thoroughly stunned to meet not one, but two male counterparts of herself.
The Insurgency members regarded Lois-64 in stunned disbelief – sure, she looked different from the deceased Lois Lane of their world, but it was still quite odd to meet a version of her who was not only alive, but possessed the powers of a Kryptonian.
As for Alexander, the idea of a good Lex Luthor wasn't foreign to the Insurgency, since their Earth's Lex had been a hero through and through before his unfortunate death. On the other hand, despite having already met Alexander, the fact that a Lex Luthor was genuinely on their side was something Superman, Kal-El, and Kara D were still getting used to, though they didn't hold the crimes of the other Lexes against the Earth-64 version.
As the introductions continued, more reactions were given. Captain Marvel was receiving the same grim stares from the Insurgency that they had given Robin and Beast Boy. Supergirl-222 was awed by meeting Kara D, while the Earth-38 Girl of Steel, at this point, was no longer fazed by meeting counterparts of herself since she was already used to it. Like Kara D, Oliver and Laurel-Two weren't surprised by meeting their Earth-222 counterparts either.
As Static introduced himself, Jennifer did the same with a flirty smile and the two shook hands. Static returned a smile, telling her his name was Virgil, and the moment between the two didn't go unnoticed by Jennifer's father and sister.
As Black Lightning and Anissa introduced themselves next, Oliver said, "I've heard of Black Lightning. On my Earth, he was operating out of Freeland over a decade ago and suddenly reappeared almost two years ago. That wouldn't happen to be you, would it?"
"That's right," Black Lightning confirmed as he regarded the emerald archer in a mix of surprise, curiosity, and recognition. "You're Oliver Queen. And you're the Green Arrow from Star City, huh?" As Oliver mentally kicked himself, wondering if it was a good idea to leave his mask and hood off, Black Lightning held out his hand. "Jefferson Pierce. Never thought we'd meet under these circumstances."
"Neither did I," Oliver said.
Anissa gave her father a pointed look. "Did you really have to tell him your real name?"
"We're about to deal with a world-ending threat," Black Lightning told his older daughter. "Secret identities are the very least of our worries right now."
"Your secret is safe with me," Oliver promised.
"So is yours with me," Black Lightning returned.
After the rest of the newcomers introduced themselves, it was the other heroes' turn. Superman, Kal-El, Wonder Woman, Prince, and Diana-76 couldn't help but notice the stares some of the Insurgency members were giving them, but didn't question it at the moment.
When Slade introduced himself, the Teen Titans immediately grew alarmed, only for Oliver and Sara to assure the young heroes that this version of him was not like the Slade they knew. Although understanding, Robin in particular remained wary of the man bearing his nemesis' name.
Just as the introductions were finished, various portals appeared as the group of heroes who had gone to Earth-38 to defend that world's Quantum Tower from the Anti-Monitor's forces returned with grim and defeated looks on their faces. Kent, in particular, looked devastated.
"Dude!" Beast Boy said, excitedly. "So many superheroes in one room. I must be dreaming."
"If only that were the case," Robin said, grimly.
"We aren't here for pleasure, Beast Boy," Raven stated, finding his eagerness over seeing so many superheroes to be very inappropriate at the moment, especially as she sensed the intense grief, despair, shock, and mental pain plaguing the returning heroes' minds. "The whole Multiverse is in great danger."
"Kal," Kara D called out to her cousin as she, Barry-Red, Cisco, Conner, Oliver, Sara, Superman, Kal-El, Wonder Woman, Prince, and Diana-76 approached the returnees. "What happened? Is everything... okay?"
"No," Kent answered, grimly. "Nothing's okay, Kara. Our Earth, it's..."
"It's what?" Kara D asked, a dreadful feeling coming over her.
"It's gone," J'onn finished in a grim and regretful tone.
"Gone?" Kara D repeated in complete disbelief. "What do you mean 'gone'?"
"The whole world was just wiped out by the wave of anti-matter," Kara K told her counterpart.
"No," Kara D choked, on the verge of tears. "No, it can't be. Alex, Lena, Eliza, Winn..."
"They've perished, along with everyone else in your universe," Novu stated with a slight note of regret.
"Lois, Mom, Perry..." Kent trailed off as tears rolled down his cheek.
"Everyone on our Earth is just gone," J'onn said as his eyes well up with tears as well.
"No," Kara D sobbed, tears streaming down her face as she and Kent pulled each other into a comforting hug.
After the pair of Supers released each other from their embrace, Kara K gave them each a hug as she said, "I'm so sorry we couldn't your world."
J'onn and Astra embraced Kent and Kara D too. As Kara D wept, Astra held her grief-stricken niece very closely. "Oh, poor little one," the older woman said soothingly with tears in her own eyes as Kara D cried into her aunt's chest.
Barry-Red, who was also teary-eyed and distraught by the destruction of Earth-38, which he had lived on for the last two years, joined Astra in comforting his sobbing girlfriend, while J'onn and Kara K embraced Kent, who was also sobbing. Oliver approached Kara D as well, placing a comforting hand on her back, while Kal did the same on Kent's back.
All the other heroes, including the newcomers, felt great sympathy for the two Kryptonians, as well as J'onn, who had just lost their entire world, which made them all the more determined to end the Anti-Monitor and his Crisis once and for all.
"I should've been there," Kara D muttered, brokenly. "I should've been on my Earth when it needed me the most. I could've made a difference."
"Whether you were present or not, your universe would've met the same fate," Novu pointed out.
"You don't know that for sure!" Kara D snapped, looking at The Monitor angrily. "By being there, I could've saved at least some people, including Alex, Lena, Winn, James, Eliza, Nia, and others!" Sighing heavily, she added in a calmer tone, "They can't be gone forever. Maybe there's a way to get them and everybody else, maybe even our whole world, back. I'm not sure how, but if there's a chance that..."
"Unfortunately, bringing back the universes and their people that already perished is not possible," Novu stated. Kara D was about to argue against that, but Novu spoke first. "You have suffered horrible losses, but you have every reason not to lose hope. Twenty, in fact."
"Us Paragons," Barry-Red said in understanding.
"Yes," Novu answered. "While you can't bring back what is already loss, you can still save the universes and people that remain."
Kara D was deep in thought for several moments before an idea suddenly occurred to her. "Wait," she said, producing the faintest of a smile. "What about the Book of Destiny? The magical book that the Lex Luthors used to mind-control some of us into fighting each other? Maybe it's a long shot, but can it be used to rewrite destiny? If so, we can find it and use it to bring back Earth-38 or any of the other Earths."
"I seriously doubt it will be that simple, Kara," Oliver told her. "I understand that you just lost your entire world, but we have no idea what will happen if you were to try that."
"He's right," Novu added. "Even if the Book of Destiny was still intact, trying to recreate an entire world would surely drive one to madness."
Kent frowned. "What do you mean 'if it was still intact'? What happened to the book?"
"It was destroyed by the Anti-Monitor when he recruited the Lex Luthors," Novu explained.
Kara D frowned in disbelief. "Wait, the Lexes are working with the Anti-Monitor?"
"Not just the Lexes," Kara K said. "Some of our other enemies too, including the Zod of my Earth, Ultraman, and another evil Kal-El."
Over the next several minutes, the heroes, The Monitor, and Amazo discussed their next course of action: splitting into multiple groups to protect the three remaining Quantum Towers on Earth-21, Earth-50, and this Earth, while one group would go to Earth-1 to battle whatever enemy forces would show up there. They weren't going to let what happened to Earth-38 and all the other universes that had fallen happen to the whole Multiverse.
After the discussion, the heroes went their separate ways, while Amazo suddenly fell to his knees and clutched his head, groaning and shouting "Leave me alone!" as he heard a loud, malevolent voice he knew all-too-well calling to him. He then vanished in a bright flash of light.
Unspecified Universe
Amazo appeared on the barren ground of a random uninhabited planet. Standing up, the android turned around as he heard loud, booming footsteps that shook the entire vicinity. Marching towards him menacingly was a gigantic blue and silver mechanical being with glowing yellow eyes and golden linings on parts of his armored body whose height of fifty feet greatly dwarfed the ten-foot-tall Amazo.
It was the Anti-Monitor!
Amazo's red eyes turned bright yellow as he attempted to copy the giant figure's powers, but, to the android's surprise, it didn't work.
Amazo, you are a being of incredible power. The Anti-Monitor announced in a deep, malevolent voice. It is your destiny to be reshaped as my tool to serve me.
"I will never allow that to happen!" Amazo declared, levitating into the air. He held out his hands and unleashed an enormous blast of cosmic energy at the Anti-Monitor, who grunted in pain as he was staggered a few feet back.
Amazo turned intangible and attempted to fly into the Anti-Monitor's chest, only to get thrown back upon colliding with the force field that the Anti-Monitor conjured around himself. After crash-landing on the ground with a powerful thud that caused the ground to shake, Amazo flew back up and unleashed the full force of his telekinesis power. The Anti-Monitor grunted again, though he stood his ground against the attack, and unleashed his own telekinesis. For almost a full minute, the immense powers of the two cosmic beings clashed in a very desperate effort to overcome the other, causing the entire planet to constantly shake as many parts of its surface cracked, broke apart, and shattered into pieces. At the end of it, the Anti-Monitor managed to send Amazo violently flying off, though the android steadied himself. Amazo prepared to unleash another attack, but the Anti-Monitor reacted faster, knocking Amazo on the severely damaged ground with an enormous shockwave blast that resulted in another shaking of the whole planet.
Universe after universe has fallen before my power. The Anti-Monitor declared as he telekinetically lifted Amazo in the air and slammed him on the ground extremely hard, causing the planet to shake yet again. World after world consumed. The Anti-Monitor repeated the aforementioned attack on Amazo several more times before telekinetically launching the android towards himself. With every death, I steal The Monitor's strength. And mine grows ever stronger. With that, the Anti-Monitor smashed his massive metallic fist into Amazo's head, striking the android so hard that the red lights in Amazo's eyes flickered and went out.
There is work to be done. After the conversion into what you are meant to be, you shall do as I command. The Anti-Monitor stated, looking down at his deactivated opponent, whom he would reconfigure into a loyal servant doing his bidding.
Deep Space
The assortment of individuals gathered in the command center of a high-tech space station dominated by a huge round table in the middle and dozens of monitors showing various locations across the Multiverse all around consisted of: Lex-192, Lex-21, Lex-38, Lex-78 (who now looked like he was in his late forties), Vandal Savage of Earth-192, Slade Wilson of Earth-193, Bruce Wayne of Earth-113, Thawne, Reverse-Flash, Zoom, Savitar, Godspeed, Ultraman, Regime Superman, Regime Wonder Woman, Zod of Earth-21, Zod of Earth-38, and Zod of Earth-50.
The Anti-Monitor appeared in a bright flash of light and ordered the assembled villains to prepare for their next attacks.
The Earths that got destroyed in the first part of this chapters are Earth-8 (Krypton TV series), Earth-41 (Superman 1941 cartoons), Earth-77 (Shazam! TV series), Earth-12 (Green Lantern 2011 film), Earth-19, Earth-203 (Birds of Prey), Earth-204 (Catwoman 2004 film), and Earth-205 (Nolanverse).
The 2003 Teen Titans, who are from Earth-193 (figured it was fitting to put this world right next to the DCAU), and the Insurgency from Injustice, which takes place on Earth-222, are among the latest group of heroes who have joined the Crisis.
Clara Kent/Superwoman of Earth-111 is a gender-flipped version of Smallville Superman who previously appeared in "A Summary of Pre-Finale Events", during which she met Earth-64 Lex and Lois. Imagine Alexandra Daddario portraying her.
Barry Allen and John Stewart of Earth-90 previously appeared in "Alternate Events 3: Doppelganger Troubles and Other Threats".
Black Lightning has entered the "Alternate Events" series as well and takes place on Earth-1.
In addition to the Lexes, the Reverse-Flashes, Ultraman, Smallville Zod, Regime Superman, and Regime Wonder Woman, the other villains also working for the Anti-Monitor are DCAU Vandal Savage, Slade from Teen Titans, the evil Jokerized Batman from Smallville Season 11 (who, in this series, previously appeared in "A Summary of Pre-Finale Events"), Zoom, Savitar, Godspeed, and the Zods from Supergirl and Man of Steel.