Chapter 8
Earth-1
The scene throughout downtown Central City was one of major chaos as Kara Kent and Kara Danvers flew around together, punching or blitzing through a number of Manhunter robots and taking out some more with their heat vision, while John Stewart of Earth-90 destroyed some of the Manhunters with various weapon constructs or simple energy blasts from his power ring and Jennifer Pierce fried them with her powerful yellow lightning.
On the ground, Ralph Dibny struck the Manhunters with a metal pipe he had found, using his elasticity powers to reach the robots, while Anissa Pierce was put her superhuman strength to use as she took down the robotic opponents with a mix of punches and kicks.
"Is fighting killer robots a regular occurrence for the rest of you guys?!" Adrian Chase of Earth-2 asked as he, Oliver, Roy, and Thea fired explosive arrows at their enemies.
"Not just robots!" Thea replied. "We also fought aliens, parallel Earth Nazis, and a literal monster!"
"Yeah, it gets pretty crazy from time to time," Roy added.
"I guess real life and science fiction are much more alike than it seemed," Adrian pointed out.
"Less talking, more focusing, guys!" Oliver instructed firmly as the others didn't say another word to each other and simply continued shooting down the Manhunters.
Sara twirled her bo-staff, smashing it into a couple of Manhunters, while Laurel-One and Laurel-Two shattered some of the robots with their Canary cries.
Kara D took out a larger Manhunter with a few punches and did the same to another one before taking out a group of smaller Manhunters with heat vision. She flew at another larger Manhunter, grabbing it and punching its arm off. She then used its body to smash a few smaller Manhunters into pieces while knocking away another larger Manhunter that approached her. Suddenly, the Girl of Steel was struck by a bright green blast of energy that sent her flying off. She crash-landed on the ground, groaning as an all-too-familiar feeling of weakness and intense pain shot through her. Kara D widened her eyes at the sight of her attacker, who leapt down in front of her.
"Lena?!" Kara D called out in surprise and horror.
Indeed, her new opponent of none other than Lena Luthor, but she was different! First of all, Lena was glaring hatefully at Kara D, who was thoroughly disturbed by her best friend's expression. Secondly, in the former's chest, where her heart was supposed to be, was an all-too-familiar glowing green stone.
"Hello, Kara," the Luthor woman greeted, derisively. She kicked the Girl of Steel in the chest, sending her crashing into a building.
Up in the air, Kara K noticed her Earth-38 counterpart's situation and wanted to help the other blonde but couldn't abandon her fight with the Manhunters, who would probably kill the other, less powerful heroes if she left.
At the same time, Barry Allen of Earth-90 and Jay Garrick were engaging Thawne and Zoom respectively in high-speed battles throughout the city, while Astra was fighting Lex Luthor of Earth-38 in the air. Slade, Deathstroke, and Lyla Michaels were battling Slade Wilson of Earth-193 (or 'Evil Slade', as his three opponents thought of him), and Nyssa and Talia were fighting the Joker-like Bruce Wayne of Earth-113.
Astra flew behind Lex-38 in a blur and punched him in the back, sending him sailing through the air. Lex steadied himself as Astra flew at him, unleashing her heat vision, which Lex blocked with his gauntlet.
"You know, General, considering that I was the one who literally gave you your life back, don't you think I deserve at least a modicum of gratitude from you?" Lex remarked. "We should be fighting on the same side."
"You only brought me back to use me as a tool!" Astra snarled as she tried to punch him in the chest, only for Lex to narrowly avoid the blow. "Just like you used my niece, her cousin, and all the others in a petty scheme to 'prove' to the world that you're its savior while we're the enemies!"
"But you, Supergirl, and Superman are the enemies," Lex shot back as he fired green kryptonite energy blasts from his gauntlets that Astra flew around to avoid. "Correct me if I'm wrong, General. You and your husband Non tried to take over the planet with Myriad a few years ago, and you had no problems fighting your own niece because she stood in your way. So tell me, are you really any better than I am? You and I clearly have a lot in common."
"Unlike you, I realized the error of my ways and abandoned my extreme methods," Astra retorted with a growl. "Even back when I had every intention of using Myriad, I truly believed I was doing it to save my people. You, on the other hand, care about no one but yourself and only want to attain power. And now you've stooped to the lowest point possible by working with a megalomaniac who is hell-bent on destroying all of existence!"
"Which you should be thanking me for since my allegiance to the Anti-Monitor is the key to bringing back our lost universe and making it a much better world than before," Lex pointed out before pulling out a sonic device and clicking it.
As Astra clutched her ears and groaned in pain from the deafening sound attack, Lex blasted her in the chest with green electricity and Astra was knocked many meters back before she crashed on the ground, heavily dazed as Lex flew down to her.
In the building that Kara D had crashed into, Lena grabbed the Girl of Steel by her throat and threw her back outside, where Kara D landed on top of a car, which was totaled on impact. Groaning in pain and clutching her torso where she was sure some bones had been fractured, Kara D rolled off the car and fell on the ground, panting from aching pain and weakness. As Kara D saw Lena marching towards her, she pushed herself back to her feet, swaying in an effort to maintain her balance.
"Lena, what are you doing?" Kara D cried out.
"I'm killing you, that's what," Lena sneered.
"Why?" Kara D wondered. "We're best friends!"
"No, we're not," Lena snarled, grabbing Kara D by the hair and lifting her up with one hand. "We're nothing to each other and it's all your fault." Lena backhanded Kara D across the face with her other hand twice, making Kara D's face, nose, and mouth bleed. "If you were really my friend, you would've told me your secret identity on the day we met instead of waiting almost two years to do so!" With both hands, Lena slammed the weakened Kara D on the ground, severely dazing her as Kara D fought hard to stay conscious. "Befriending you is the biggest mistake I ever made!"
As Lena placed her high-heel boot on top of Kara D's chest, the latter said, "You're not yourself, Lena. You were gone for weeks without telling anyone and now I know why. Lex and his allies obviously did this to you! Lena, please, you have to fight it. This isn't you."
"Oh, I'm more me than I've ever been," Lena insisted with a wicked grin. "Ever since I found out your secret, I loathe you with every fiber of my being because you made me look like a complete fool!"
"That's not true!" Kara D exclaimed, hoping to get through to her friend. "Sure, you were a little angry and disappointed in me for not telling you sooner, but we moved past that and became better friends for it!"
"That's what you thought," Lena sneered. "The truth is, you were living in a fairy tale. But now, you will know how I truly feel."
Kara D cried out in pain as Lena pressed her foot down against her chest and there was a cracking sound as more bones in the weakened Girl of Steel's body were fractured.
Earth-21
The central portion of Metropolis was once more the battleground of the world's heroes fighting valiantly to defend the planet from enemies who seek to cause it harm – or, more accurately, literally bring it and the rest of the universe to an end.
Clark-93, Linda Lee, John Jones, and Cyborg Superman flew around, taking out Manhunters, as well as some Parademons and Shadow Demons, with super-strength, speed-blitzes, or heat vision and freeze breath from the former two, while Booster Gold and Jaime Reyes, who was clad in his Blue Beetle armor, blasted the enemy forces down with their respective energy beams. Zatanna took out groups of Manhunters, Parademons, and Shadow Demons with a combination of telekinesis and magical blasts. Zan transformed into a wave of water, sweeping through a group of Parademons and Shadow Demons, while his twin sister, Jayna, was in the form of a tiger, leaping and taking down some of the creatures with her paws and teeth.
Victor Stone rammed into a group of smaller Manhunter, shattering them into pieces with a shockwave blast, while Andrea Rojas flipped and leapt out of the way to avoid a blast of red Bleed energy from a larger Manhunter's rod. She leapt at the larger Manhunter, tackling it to the ground and plunging her fists through the robot's chest, destroying it. A.C. struck down the enemies with his trident and strength, while his wife, Mera, launched a jet of water from a fire hydrant that tore through groups of Manhunters, Shadow Demons, and Parademons, killing them almost instantly.
Lois spin-kicked a smaller Manhunter, shattering it on impact, and whirled around to kick another one before sending a Parademon flying off with a powerful punch.
"Now that's more like it," the superhuman ace reporter grinned, clearly enjoying her newfound strength. She took out some Shadow Demons with punches before elbowing a nearby Parademon in a spinning motion and kicking away another Parademon that flew at her.
Ollie fired three arrows that unleashed shockwave blasts that instantly took out many Shadow Demons and Parademons, while his former protégé, Mia Dearden aka Speedy, fired explosive and electrical arrows that killed more of them. Dinah Lance unleashed her sonic scream, which took out another group of Shadow Demons and Parademons, along with two smaller Manhunters.
Bruce fired a grapple hook that wrapped itself around a Parademon, restraining the creature as he swung the cable around, using it to take out more Parademons, as well as some Shadow Demons. He then tossed out some explosive pellets and batarangs that destroyed some smaller Manhunters, while a larger Manhunter was slightly knocked back by one of the blasts. Nearby, Barbara and Dick were doing their best to fend off the Parademons and Shadow Demons with their respective weapons and combat skills.
"Lex," Clark said in a hard tone as he confronted his nemesis near the top of the Quantum Tower.
"Clark," Lex Luthor of Earth-21, garbed in his armor, greeted back with a smirk. "Been a while, hasn't it?"
Clark frowned, taken aback. "You know who I really am?"
"More than that, Clark," Lex stated. "I remember everything. The day we met all those years ago when I drove my Porsche into the river and you fished me out, our four years of friendship, how you constantly lied to me and kept denying your secret when I would've helped you become a hero if you'd told me who you really were, and how you turned Lana against me even though I didn't constantly hurt her like you did! I remember it all, down to every last detail!"
"Let me guess, you used the Book of Destiny to restore your lost memories," Clark deduced, before intense anger suddenly filled his voice. "The same book you and those other Lexes used to mind-control me, my cousin, our counterparts, and some of our friends into fighting each other in the name of ruining our reputations so that you could paint yourself as 'heroes' saving the world from us."
"Honestly, even I couldn't tell you how it happened," Lex said. It was true. He still had no idea how he had inexplicably wound up eight years in the past, from 2025 to 2017, with all his missing memories returned to him. "I simply woke up one morning and everything my dear sister erased from my mind was miraculously there."
"If you remember everything, Lex, there has to be even a small part of the man I once called my best friend in there," Clark said. "For everything you've done, you always believed you were protecting the world in your own twisted way. And now you're working with the Anti-Monitor, whose sole mission is to wipe this world and all the others out of existence? Even you can't agree with what that monster is doing, regardless of what might have offered you!"
"He offered me a chance of a better world!" Lex shot back. "One where I'll get to be the hero of the story instead of you and take back everything you took from me!"
Clark rolled his eyes in exasperation. "You're delusional as always. All I wanted was to save you, Lex, despite everything. I still wish that I could save you, but the truth is, it's never what you wanted at all. Otherwise, you would've at least tried."
"I've embraced who I am a long time ago," Lex stated, firmly. "Your 'saving' me would've only held me back from reaching my true potential." His gauntlets lit up with bright red sunlight energy. "In order for our world to become a better place, it must be destroyed and rebuilt. I can't let you get in the way of that, Kal-El."
"Well, that's too bad because I'll always stand in the way of people like you," Clark declared, clenching his fists as he prepared for a fight. "So will all the other heroes who are fighting this Crisis."
As Lex tried to punch him in the face, Clark dodged the blow and decked Lex in the chest with an uppercut, knocking the bald billionaire high into the sky. Clark flew up after Lex, who steadied himself right before Clark punched him again.
Superman reached out to grab Lex Luthor of Earth-78, but the latter instantly vanished and reappeared several feet behind the former.
"You see, Superman, I didn't just use the Book of Destiny's magic to reverse my natural aging process by four decades," Lex-78 gloated with a smirk as the Man of Steel turned to him with a stunned expression. "I also gave myself a few useful upgrades before the Anti-Monitor, unfortunately, got rid of it. In addition to achieving the power of instant teleportation..." He suddenly vanished again, reappearing behind Superman before grabbing the Kryptonian hero's cape and slamming him on the ground hard. "I am a physical match for the Kryptonian of Steel. Better get used to it, Superman, because from this moment forward, I won't be as easy to manhandle or carry into a prison like you've done many times. You and I, we're equals now."
As Superman got back to his feet, Lex-78 tried to punch him again, but Superman caught Lex-78's fist and clenched it, causing a cracking sound.
"Oww!" Lex-78 cried out.
"If you were really equal to me, Luthor, I wouldn't be able to crush your hand this much," Superman pointed out in a stern tone before Lex-78 instantly teleported once more.
Superman looked around for his arch-nemesis, not seeing him anywhere. After a few seconds, Superman suddenly felt a stinging pain in his head and clutched it with a groan. He turned around to see Lex-78 standing there with a victorious smirk, a hand-held device clutched in one hand.
"Gotcha, Superman!" Lex-78 boasted with a chuckle as the Kryptonian hero in question turned to him with an emotionless look. "You're my plaything who is, once again, under my control. Now go on! Have some real fun and attack anybody you see! But leave me, your master, out of it!"
As Superman flew off with a growl, Lex-78 laughed menacingly.
Clara Kent, Alexander Luthor, and Lois Lane of Earth-64 were battling Clark Luthor, who was quite surprised that Clara matched his immense strength (but, at the same time, amused that the Earth-111 Superwoman was a literal female version of him – it was too bad she had Kent's personality instead of his own), making the fight quite challenging for the sadistic Kryptonian.
"You've come a long way since the last time we saw each other," Zod said to Tess as he was battling her and Diana. "You survived the brink of death twice, by my hand and by that of your brother, and you've grown much stronger for it."
"You better believe it," Tess retorted, unleashing a powerful vortex of wind that knocked Zod several feet back as it struck his chest. "And to think that I ever worked with you."
"As I recall, that was your choice," Zod reminded her. "You can't take back the mistakes of your past, Tess."
"You're right," Tess agreed. "I can't take back my sins, but I can make sure you're stopped and sent right back to the hellhole you belong in."
"I am never going back in that Phantom Zone!" Zod snarled, before blasting Tess with heat vision as the beam sent her sailing backwards.
Zod clenched his fists, preparing to blitz into Tess, only for Diana to knock him away with her shield. As Zod recovered, he fired heat vision at Diana, who blocked it with her shield. Tess attempted to ram into Zod, but he saw her coming and backhanded Tess away. Zod then flew at Diana in an attempt to punch her, but his fist collided with her shield as the blow knocked Diana several feet back, though she maintained her footing.
Bart Allen and The Flash of Earth-192 were in a high-speed battle against Savitar, who was struggling to catch the two speedsters, especially Bart, who took advantage of his superior speed by tripping Savitar to the ground.
"What's the matter, tin man, are we too fast for ya?" Bart teased with a smirk.
"I am Savitar, the God of Speed!" the metallic speedster roared as he got back up with his arm blades at the ready. "I will show you..."
"Let me guess, what you're really made of? So far, we're unimpressed!" Flash said, before dodging another swing of Savitar's blade.
As Savitar continued to engage them, he managed to knock Flash down with an elbow strike to the chest, while Bart easily avoided everything the metallic speedster threw at him.
Earth-50
"You were dead!" Kal snarled at Zod-50 in a mix of surprise and anger as the two hovered before each other in the air.
"I was, but I'm back," the resurrected Kryptonian general sneered. "If you want to stop me, Kal, you're gonna have to kill me all over again. As I said last time, either you die or I do. That's the only way this ends."
Kal felt conflicted. On the one hand, if there was one moment in his life he absolutely didn't want to relive, it was snapping Zod's neck. On the other hand, having aligned with the Anti-Monitor, Zod was undoubtedly an even more dangerous foe than the last time they had fought.
Seeing that his opponent was distracted, Zod-50 charged at Kal, tackling him miles away through the air. Kal head-butted and elbowed Zod-50 in the face, forcing the latter to let him go. Kal then punched Zod-50, knocking him many meters away. Zod-50 steadied himself before he and Kal flew at each other, clashing as a powerful shockwave erupted around them. Zod-50 threw a punch at Kal's face, but Kal dodged it and knocked Zod-50 higher into the air with an uppercut. Kal flew up after Zod-50, grabbed the latter, and flew even higher into the sky above the clouds to take their fight away from the city. As Zod-50 broke out of Kal's hold, the two began trading powerful blows.
At the same time, Kent was exchanging brutal blows with the General Zod of his own Earth.
"This time, Kal-El, your carcass will lie dead at my feet," Zod-38 declared.
"I stopped you before, Zod!" Kent snarled. "I'll stop you again!"
As the two Kryptonians continued to trade blows, J'onn flew over and rammed into Zod-38, who was sent sailing many meters through the air. As Zod-38 recovered, Kent and J'onn flew at him simultaneously, smashing double fists in their enemy's face.
Barry-Blue was once again battling his new arch-nemesis, the Reverse-Flash of Earth-50, as they raced around exchanging high-speed lightning blows, while Wally and Jesse were fighting Godspeed, who very easily held his own against the two young speedsters.
Conner, Courtney, J'onzz (Earth-50 Martian Manhunter), Hal Jordan of Earth-50, Vic Stone, Arthur Curry, Prince (Earth-50 Wonder Woman), Wayne (Earth-50 Batman), the Teen Titans of Earth-193, Green Arrow of Earth-222, Black Canary of Earth-222, Firestorm, Blue Beetle, and Harley Quinn were battling the hordes of Manhunters, Parademons, and Shadow Demons with their respective powers, weapons, and advanced combat skills.
Conner took out many of the enemies with his strength, speed, and heat vision, while Courtney blasted down or smacked away the enemies with her cosmic staff. J'onzz tore through the Manhunters, Parademons, and Shadow Demons effortlessly with his strength, intangibility, and heat beams from his eyes. Hal sent a giant green fist smashing into two larger Manhunters, destroying them on impact. Vic fired plasma blasts and missiles at the opponents. Arthur took out the Manhunters, Parademons, and Shadow Demons with his trident, blasts of water, and his strength. Prince leapt through several groups of enemies, taking them out in quick succession with her sword, lasso, immense strength, combat skills, and the occasional blasts of powerful energy generated from slamming her bracelets together.
Starfire took out the enemies with her bright green energy blasts fired from her hands and eyes, while Raven used her dark telekinesis to launch chunks of debris at the Manhunters, Parademons, and Shadow Demons, Cyborg blasted them down with his sonic cannon and punched away some enemies that got close to him, Firestorm roasted the enemies with his own powers, and Blue Beetle took them out with his energy blasts. In the form of a huge gorilla, Beast Boy smashed the enemies with said animal's strength.
Wayne took out many Parademons and Shadow Demons, along with some smaller Manhunters, with various explosive gadgets and grapple hooks, while Robin deftly struck the creatures down with his long silver rod and occasionally took some out with his own explosive gadgets. Green Arrow-222 shot down Parademons and Shadow Demons with various trick arrows, while Black Canary-222 took out groups of them with her sonic scream while punching and kicking away those that got near her. Harley Quinn was clearly having the time of her life as she blasted down Parademons and Shadow Demons with her guns and took out more with explosive weapons.
Earth-192
The Metropolis of this world was, too, the battleground of many heroes valiantly protecting the planet from enemies who were complicit in a cosmic megalomaniac's purely evil goal to wipe out existence itself.
Kal-El and Regime Superman had taken their battle into the skies as the former delivered a powerful punch that sent the latter hurtling miles away. Kal-El flew after his opponent in an attempt to punch him again, but Regime Superman recovered and knocked Kal-El hundreds of feet into the air with a powerful uppercut to the face. Regime Superman flew up towards Kal-El, who steadied himself.
As the two Supermen exchanged powerful blows that generated a shockwave each time, Kal-El snarled, "Lois would be absolutely disgusted by what you've become!"
"DON'T YOU DARE MENTION MY WIFE!" Regime Superman roared furiously, punching Kal-El in the face three times before throwing him down.
Kal-El steadied himself as he was about to crash into a building and turned to see Regime Superman flying down towards him, the latter's eyes glowing reddish-orange before an intense beam of heat vision shot out of them. Kal-El grunted, but stood his ground as the other Superman's beam struck his chest.
"I lost my Lois too!" Kal-El told his villainous counterpart. "She was my world and she was taken from me by the same psychopath who took your Lois. That's where you and I are similar." He flew at Regime Superman, punching him twice in the face before Regime Superman blocked Kal-El's third punch. "As for our differences, while I continued to be a protector and a beacon of hope in my world despite the people that I lost, you allowed your grief and anger to consume you. You abused your powers by murdering anyone who disagreed with you, including some of your own teammates, and subjugating the world under your rule."
"The world was safe and crime-free under my protection!" Regime Superman fired back. "I was my Earth's savior until Batman and his accomplices locked me away in the Phantom Zone! Even my own cousin Kara sided against me! Her own flesh and blood because she's too naïve to understand the truth!"
"It's unbelievable how much you've fallen," Kal-El said in disappointment, feeling nothing but pity for his corrupted counterpart. "It's truly sad that you're so delusional, you've completely lost sight of what's right and what's wrong. What's even worse is that you've deliberately aligned yourself with…
"SHUT UP!" Regime Superman shouted at the top of his lungs as he suddenly grabbed Kal-El, flew straight down at full speed, and slammed the Earth-96 Superman in the center of a major street.
Not only did the impact form a huge crater and damage a substantial portion of the street and sidewalks, but the resulting shockwave shook the entire city, flipped over many cars, knocked out many civilians who fell down or were hit by debris, and caused heavy damage to more than several buildings in the area.
Regime Wonder Woman used her shield to block Supergirl-222's heat vision beam, only to get punched in the face by her Earth-192 counterpart. Diana-76 rushed to attack Regime Wonder Woman as well, but the villainous Amazon knocked the former away with an elbow strike to the face.
Diana-76 groaned, rubbing her chin. That corrupt version of her was quite strong, even for her.
Regime Wonder Woman bashed Supergirl-222 in the chest with her shield and attempted to slash the Girl of Steel with her sword, but Supergirl-222 avoided the blade with her speed and punched Regime Wonder Woman in the face, knocking the Amazon many feet back. Supergirl-222 flew towards her opponent with another punch, but Regime Wonder Woman recovered and blocked it with her shield, resulting in a shockwave that pushed the two women a few feet back.
"You still rely more on your powers than actual combat training," Regime Wonder Woman noted in a smug tone. "That will be your undoing, Kara."
"How is this for combat training?" Wonder Woman of Earth-192 snarled, flying over and smashing a fist into her Regime counterpart's face before following up with a kick to the latter's abdomen that knocked her back. "You're the second evil version of us that I had to fight and you're even worse than the first one!"
"Considering your definition of 'worse' is undoubtedly askew, perhaps I'll take that as a compliment!" Regime Wonder Woman sneered, slashing her Earth-192 counterpart in the shoulder as the latter let out a small cry of pain. "Every alternate iteration of myself that I've met so far has proven to be extremely weak-willed and inferior to me in every way. It stands to reason that I am the true Diana of Themyscira while the rest of you are mere imposters!"
Regime Wonder Woman swung her sword again, but Earth-192 Wonder Woman blocked the blade with her bracelets, while Supergirl-222 punched Regime Wonder Woman in the ribs and then in the chest.
"Imposters?!" Wonder Woman snarled, delivering a kick to her Regime counterpart's chin. "You're the one who defiled your role as Princess of the Amazons!"
As Wonder Woman and Supergirl-222 continued to exchange powerful blows with Regime Wonder Woman, Diana-76 rejoined the former two women in taking on the latter.
Supes and Captain Marvel were fighting Lex Luthor of Earth-192, whose shiny golden armor allowed him to hold his own against the two powerful superheroes, while Supergirl-192, Galatea, and Steel were fighting a thirty-foot-tall black robot with gray stripes that was controlled from inside of it by Vandal Savage. The strength and durability of Savage's robot were impressive as Supergirl's and Galatea's punches barely dented its metallic body and Steel's kinetic hammer did nothing at all to harm it, while the robot's own blows were powerful enough to send the two Argonian women flying off.
The rest of the assembled heroes involved in the massive battle were dealing with the hordes of Manhunters, Parademons, and Shadow Demons. Batman and Knight punched away Parademons and took out Shadow Demons with their electric brass knuckles, while Batgirl took some of the creatures out with explosive gadgets and her own combat skills, Catwoman struck them down with her claws and whip, Green Arrow of Earth-192 shot them down in quick succession with various trick arrows, and Black Canary of the same Earth, standing back-to-back with her boyfriend, took out a group of enemies with both her sonic scream and combat skills.
Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern (Earth-192 John Stewart), Hal Jordan of Earth-222, Captain Atom, Red Tornado, Booster Gold, Dr. Light, The Ray, Stargirl, S.T.R.I.P.E., Fire, and Ice flew around, taking out many Manhunters, Parademons, and Shadow Demons with their respective powers or equipment rather easily. Zatanna and Dr. Fate effortlessly destroyed many of the robots and creatures with their magic powers. Atom Smasher shattered Manhunters with strong punches from his massive fist and clapped his hands between a group of Parademons, killing them on impact while the resulting shockwave knocked away some creatures that were within its reach.
Big Barda smashed her mega-rod into a number of Manhunters, destroying them with her immense strength, while Mister Miracle flew around on his aero-discs, taking out the enemy forces with his strength, Orion rode around on his astro-harness that he used to blast the villainous opponents down, Aquaman tore through the enemies with his metallic arm hook and own super-strength, Etrigan the Demon disintegrated groups of Manhunters, Parademons, and Shadow Demons with powerful blasts of fire from his hands, Metamorpho took out many enemies with a combination of fire, ice, and acid, as well as transforming one of his arms into a long blade to slice through more Manhunters and creatures, and Static traveled around on his metallic saucer, electrocuting the enemies with his powers. There was also Elongated Man and Plastic Man, who were playfully competing to see which hero of elasticity could take out the most enemies. The brother duo, Hawk and Dove, were among the heroes as well as the former punched down Parademons and Shadow Demons with his enhanced strength, while the latter fended off the enemies with his enhanced speed.
Ray Palmer of Earth-1, fully garbed in his Atom exo-suit, blasted the Parademons, Shadow Demons, and Manhunters with his energy beams. His girlfriend, Nora Darhk, telekinetically destroyed a group of Manhunters with her own magic.
"This is by far the biggest army of bad guys that I ever fought!" Ray exclaimed, blasting a smaller Manhunter into pieces before knocking away a Parademon with a punch.
"I like it!" Nora told him with a smirk as she took out another group of enemies with her magic.
Jax Jefferson hurled fireballs at the various enemies, while Nate Heywood destroyed several Manhunters with punches in his Steel form, and Zari Tomaz blasted the enemies with her air blasts.
"Squeal, you insect!" Mick Rory exclaimed gleefully as two Parademons screamed in agony while being burned alive by the flames from his heat gun.
Shayera roared, smashing her electrified mace into two larger Manhunters that were damaged on impact before shattering a smaller Manhunters into pieces. Not too far away, Kendra and Carter struck a group of Manhunters with their own maces before the two of them noticed Shayera deftly smashing three smaller Manhunters into pieces before plunging her mace into the chest of a larger Manhunter, destroying it on impact.
"Wow," Kendra muttered, awed by her Earth-192 counterpart.
"She's a real badass," Carter noted, also impressed.
"Yeah, you aren't kidding," Kendra couldn't help but agree.
"Kendra, look out!" Carter warned, as his wife was tackled and thrown to the ground by several Parademons and some Shadow Demons.
Carter was about to help her when he was suddenly shot down by several blasts of Bleed energy from a larger Manhunter's rod, killing him almost instantly.
On the ground, Kendra struggled against the Parademons and Shadow Demons that were on her when a blur appeared, effortlessly fending the creatures off of her. Kendra stared up at her rescuer, who was Earth-96 Superman's son Jason.
"Are you okay?" the teenager asked, helping Kendra back to her feet.
"Yeah, thanks," she nodded.
That was when Kendra suddenly noticed her husband's body. "Carter!" she cried out in horror before dashing over to him. She knelt beside Carter's body, looked it over, and saw that one of the Bleed beams had ripped right through his heart. "No," Kendra sobbed with tears rapidly streaming down her face.
Jason walked up behind Kendra and patted her on the shoulder. "I'm sorry," he told her sympathetically.
Gripping the handle of her mace, Kendra's grief instantly turned into rage and, with a ferocious snarl that nearly matched that of her Earth-192 counterpart, abruptly flew back into the fight, angrily smashing her weapon into Manhunters, Parademons, and Shadow Demons.
Mari McCabe took down Parademons and Shadow Demons with aminal strength, while using speed and agility to avoid attacks from the opponents. A Parademon leapt at Mari from behind, but it was suddenly tackled away by Vixen, who knocked the Parademon out with a couple of punches.
Mari turned to her Earth-192 counterpart. "I still can't believe you're me."
"I'm still getting used to it myself," Vixen grinned. "Care for a little team-up? You have my back and I have yours?"
"Sure," Mari nodded. "Let's do it."
Standing back-to-back, the Vixens took down more Shadow Demons and Parademons.
Earth-50
In Valle Del Mar, Corto Maltese, Rose Wilson of Earth-21, otherwise known as Ravager, stood near the remains of a destroyed building with her fellow Task Force X teammates Robert DuBois, also known as Bloodsport, and Harley Quinn, while Cleo Cazo, also known as Ratcatcher II, was on her knees, grieving the death of their fallen comrade, Abner Krill, also known as Polka-Dot Man, who had been killed during the battle against the gigantic, starfish-like alien called Starro. Thankfully, the team had managed to defeat the creature, who had been eaten to death by millions of rats summoned by Cleo and stabbed through its eye with a javelin by Harley, ending its destructive rampage, but not without the loss of many civilians who had died when Starro's spores latched onto their faces.
"Oh, that's just a taste of what's on that drive," Bloodsport said to Amanda Waller on the comms. "I've uploaded it all to a secure server. Now, if you kill any one of us or my daughter ever sees the inside of a prison, it goes public. If we all go free, it never has to see the light of day."
"I told you I'd make you a leader, DuBois," Waller responded with begrudging respect for the mercenary. "You got a deal."
Bloodsport took the comm device out of his ear and threw it away.
"Nanaue," Cleo called out eagerly, her mood brightening as she saw an exhausted King Shark approaching.
She got up, ran to King Shark, and threw her arms around him in a hug.
"Look, I know Flag wanted to give the drive to the press, but we just saved a whole bloody city," Bloodsport said to Harley. "We can't have it all."
"Flag was my friend," Harley replied with some sadness in her voice.
"Mine too, and I haven't got many of those," Bloodsport said.
"Neither do I," Ravager said. "I always thought it was better that way to be honest."
"I could be your friend, Ravage and Milton," Harley offered.
"It's Ravager," the white-haired assassin corrected with some annoyance.
"And that's not my name," Bloodsport added.
"What are you talking about? We just had a conversation for, like, three hours about how your name was Milton," Harley pointed out as she, Bloodsport, and Ravager started walking off.
"Didn't," Bloodsport said.
"Yes, we did," Harley insisted with a scoff, while Ravager chuckled in amusement at the banter between the other two people with her.
"No," Bloodsport said. "Our ride's here."
A helicopter was flying in the sky when it suddenly vanished in a dark blue portal that briefly appeared in its place.
"What the..." Bloodsport trailed off in disbelief.
"What just happened?" Harley wondered, right before The Monitor suddenly appeared out of another portal in front of the Task Force X members.
"Who the bloody hell are you?" Bloodsport growled, taking a fighting stance as he prepared to go for one of his weapons, while Ravager unsheathed one of her swords and pulled out a pistol.
"Call me The Monitor," Novu answered. "The five of you are needed in Gotham City to help protect this world from a threat far greater what you've just faced here."
"What are you talking about?" Cleo wondered.
"You'll know when you arrive," Novu stated, cryptic as always.
The Monitor waved his hand five consecutive times and a cloud of bright blue energy momentarily surrounded Bloodsport, Ravager, Harley, Cleo, and King Shark one by one. The Task Force X members suddenly felt replenished, their full strength and stamina returned to them. The wounds on King Shark's body were instantly gone as if they had never been there in the first place. Bloodsport looked down at his suit and saw that the full arsenal of his weapons had been miraculously restored. On top of that, he was suddenly wearing his helmet, which was perfectly intact, even though it had been destroyed earlier after it was slammed into the Jotunheim building. Ravager noticed that all her weapons had been restored too, while the cuts and bruises on her face were fully healed and her white hair was no longer dirty. Harley stared in awe on seeing that the red dress she had been wearing a moment ago was suddenly replaced by her usual red and black leather uniform, complete with all the weapons she carried with it. Also, in her right hand was the javelin she had used throughout the mission. Cleo was healed of her cuts and bruises as well, while all the dirt in her hair and on her clothes was gone.
"My helmet," Bloodsport noted in surprise before addressing The Monitor. "How did you…"
"Now go," Novu commanded. "Serve your higher purpose."
The Task Force X members disappeared into portals, having no idea that what they were getting thrown into was something far, far worse that made taking on a giant, pissed off starfish seem completely like child's play by comparison.
To explain what's going on with Lena, when she was transformed into a Metallo-like being, in addition to removing her inhibitions, Lex-38 made sure that any negative feelings towards Kara were brought to the forefront of Lena's brain and amplified tenfold.
At last, Smallville Clark knows that Lex-21 has all his memories back.
The final scene of this chapter is from The Suicide Squad, after the team defeated Starro. For those wondering about Rose Wilson/Ravager (who is the Smallville Season 11 version), she ended up staying on the DCEU Earth after the events of "Alternate Events 4: Multiversal Clashes" and was eventually recruited into the Squad by Waller in the last chapter of that story. As a result, Ravager was involved in the events of the movie.