Chapter 12
Earth-21
Ultraman cried out in pain as Alexander Luthor stabbed him in the chest with a green kryptonite blade and twisted the weapon as the former bled out. Alexander retracted the kryptonite blade and threw the weakened Ultraman on the ground, which shattered from the impact. While Lois-64 and Clara Kent had gone off to help the others against Darkseid's forces, Alexander decided to continue battling his adoptive brother, whom he had every intention of finishing off today.
Before Ultraman could recover, Alexander flew down and hit him with another burst of kryptonite gas that weakened the Kryptonian murderer further. As Ultraman coughed, Alexander stabbed him again, that time in the abdomen, and grabbed him by the throat with one hand, retracted his armor's helmet, and looked Ultraman, who was barely conscious, hard in the eyes.
"At last, the moment I waited for ever since you murdered my wife Lana and our unborn child in cold blood is here," Alexander snarled. "A part of me is disappointed that things between us have to end this way. In another life, with everything you had, with everything you could do, we could've accomplished greatness together. I could've helped you become a hero and our world could've been a much better place."
"Become a hero is for the weak!" Ultraman spat out in disgust. "And our world was fine while it was under my rule!"
Alexander retracted the bloody kryptonite blade from Ultraman's wounded abdomen and put it to the latter's throat.
"If, by any chance, you run into dear old Dad while you two are basking in the fires of Hell, tell him I said 'hello' and 'sorry I couldn't make it to his funeral'," Alexander remarked, before slitting Ultraman's throat with the blade and finally ending the murderous Kryptonian's life.
Alexander let go of Ultraman's body, which fell to the ground with blood gushing out of the latter's neck, chest, and abdomen. Wanting to make sure that his adoptive Kryptonian brother would stay dead, Alexander swung the kryptonite blade once more with all his might, cutting Ultraman's head off as some blood splattered on his face.
Clark Luthor aka Ultraman, the greatest threat of Earth-64, was no more!
"Congratulations for getting rid of one of them," Alexander heard a voice, accompanied by hand-clapping, that sounded exactly like his own announce. He turned around, finding himself face to face with a man, dressed in an expensive white suit, who looked exactly like himself – minus the full head of red hair, matching goatee, and the faint burn marks on the right side of his face.
"That's one less Kryptonian we have to worry about now," Lex Luthor of Earth-21 stated.
"Well, aren't you a charmingly handsome devil," Alexander remarked. "I figured I'd retain my good looks even if I didn't have hair. Not that your permanently bald state is something I envy about you in the slightest."
"At least half of my face isn't forever scarred with burns," Lex countered. "Your adoptive brother from Krypton, Clark Luthor, certainly did a number on you, didn't he?"
"He only failed to kill me, which proved to be his undoing since now he's the one who's dead while I'm the one still alive," Alexander pointed out.
"From what your Clark told me, you managed to stay hidden from him for an entire decade after his failed attempt to get rid of you, which I genuinely applaud you for," Lex said.
"Aren't you disappointed that I eliminated one of your own?" Alexander wondered. "Clark and I may have never gotten along, mainly because of his accidental murder of our beloved mother during a temper tantrum of his when we were kids, but I figured you two, on the other hand, would click just fine, like a house on fire."
"For someone who is a version of me, I wouldn't have expected you to be so shallow," Lex remarked. "Just because your Clark Luthor and I were both recruited by the Anti-Monitor doesn't mean I like him anymore than I do my Clark Kent. In fact, his whole obsession with 'getting blood on his hands before lunch' made him a very dangerous loose cannon who needed to die eventually, something you already took care of. Anyway, enough about your domineering alien brother. From one Lex Luthor to another, I'm offering you a chance to..."
"Don't bother," Alexander interrupted firmly, already knowing what his doppelganger was going to propose. The helmet of his gold and black armor once more covered his head. "I'd rather die than join any villainous version of myself!"
"Well, then, that's your choice," Lex said, before sucker-punching Alexander in the chest as the latter, due to the former's super-strength, was sent flying off.
After landing on the ground, Alexander got back up, adjusted a few controls on his armor, and flew at Lex, who clenched his fists in preparation.
Suddenly, the skies turned red again and Alexander stopped dead in his tracks as he and Lex looked up.
"Dammit," Alexander groaned with worry.
"So much for you and all the other heroes protecting your precious Quantum Tower," Lex smirked in an unfazed tone. "Lucky for all of you, this Earth will be the last one struck by the wave. Enjoy it while it's still standing."
He sped off in a blur, while an alarmed Alexander glanced down at Clark Luthor's decapitated corpse, which, at this point, was lying in a large puddle of blood.
In the Watchtower, Chloe, Roy Sullivan-Queen, Lois-93, and Dr. Emil Hamilton were at the computers, all three of the adults thoroughly perturbed by the sudden reappearance of the red skies, while little Roy, though not aware of what exactly was happening, felt very nervous.
Suddenly, a blinding flash of light momentarily illuminated the room as Chloe, little Roy, Lois-93, and Emil turned to see a woman clad in an elaborate navy blue suit appear out of thin air.
"Get behind me, sweetie," Chloe said gently to her son, who complied. Turning to the mysterious woman warily, Chloe demanded, "Who the hell are you? Your timing of showing up right after the skies turned red again is extremely suspicious, to say the least."
Behind the woman appeared, each in a flash of light, Barry, Cisco, Frost, Allen, Harry, Oliver, Adrian, Roy, Thea, Sara, Laurel-One, Laurel-Two, Nyssa, Slade, Deathstroke, Kara K, Kara D (who was still holding the unconscious Astra), Lena, Ralph, Jefferson, Anissa, Jennifer, and John-90.
"What's going on, Mommy?" little Roy asked.
"Everything's gonna be fine, sweetie," Chloe told him with a reassuring smile.
"Oh, I'm still not quite used to this," Adrian muttered as he and the others took in their new surroundings.
"Where are we now?" Jennifer wondered.
"We're on my Earth," Kara K stated, instantly recognizing Watchtower's interior.
As Astra opened her eyes with a moan, Kara D looked at the former with concern. "How are you feeling, Aunt Astra?"
"Much better, little one," Astra answered, as Kara D released the older woman from her arms, allowing Astra to stand. "Although a bit disoriented." Fully taking in her surroundings, the Kryptonian general asked, "Where are we?"
"We're on Earth-21 now," Kara D answered.
"Lyla?" Oliver said to the woman in question. "What was that? How did you..."
"I'm Harbinger now," Lyla Michaels stated. "I'll explain that later. Right now, what you all need to know now is that Earth-1 has just been destroyed by the anti-matter wave."
"Wait, what?!" Cisco asked in utter disbelief.
"That's impossible!" Barry exclaimed, refusing to believe what he'd just heard. "That other Flash sacrificed himself to destroy the anti-matter cannon!"
"Correct, but, after The Monitor's death, the Anti-Monitor absorbed the rest of his essence and grew so powerful that he no longer needs the cannon to the destroy the remaining Earths with an anti-matter wave," Lyla explained.
"The Monitor is dead?" Laurel-One asked, incredulously.
"He was killed by Amazo, who was under the Anti-Monitor's influence," Lyla stated.
"How do you know that?" Frost asked.
"That's part of the story that I'm gonna tell you all later," Lyla said.
"So the other Flash died for nothing," Barry said in a grief-stricken tone as he was on the verge of breaking down.
"Oh, my God!" Kara D suddenly gasped, her blood running cold upon noticing Lois-93, who heavily resembled Mon-El's mother, Queen Rhea of Daxam.
Astra frowned at her niece. "What's the matter, little one?"
"Aunt Astra, doesn't she look like..."
"The Queen of Daxam," Astra noted with disgust.
Lena noticed Lois-93 too and her eyes widened in shock due to the latter's appearance.
Kara D walked up to Lois-93. "Who are you, if you don't mind me asking?"
"I'm Lois Lane," Lois-93 answered.
"Huh..." Kara D was astonished, her mouth agape.
"Lois Lane of Earth-93, to be exact," Chloe clarified. "Why, does she look like anyone you..."
"You could definitely say that," Kara D said, before turning to Lois-93. "You're obviously not her though. Wow, I cannot believe this! One Lois Lane looks like a younger version of my mom, and another Lois looks like one of my worst enemies. This is..."
"Very unusual," Astra commented, remembering Earth-21 Lois' uncanny resemblance to her sister Alura.
"I understand how strange this must be for both of you, but we do need to focus on the matter at hand," Lyla told the two Earth-38 Kryptonian women.
Kara D turned back to Lois-93 with a smile and held out a hand. "For the record, it's nice to meet yet another version of my cousin's fiancée."
"I'm his wife actually," Lois-93 corrected, returning a smile as she shook Kara D's hand. "On my Earth anyway."
"We're from Earth-1 as well," Jefferson pointed out to Lyla. "So, if was destroyed, then that means Lynn, Gambi, everyone else in Freeland..."
"They're gone," Lyla said, regretfully. With a tear rolling down his cheek, she added, "So is my son J.J."
"I'm sorry," John-90 said, walking up to Lyla and pulling his late doppelganger's wife into a comforting hug as more tears spilled down her face.
"William, Zoe..." Oliver muttered, tears welling up in his eyes at the thought of his son and foster daughter being gone, while Slade patted him on the shoulder for comfort.
"Dad," Laurel-One choked with tears rolling down her cheeks as well.
"Joe, Cecile, Iris..." Barry trailed off brokenly.
"This really sucks big time," Ralph muttered, grimly.
"That's an understatement," Roy pointed out.
"We're the only ones from our world left," Thea noted.
"Us and the Legends, who are on Earth-192," Sara pointed out, hoping her former teammates were all okay.
"Ditto for me, Adrian, Wells, and his daughter," Laurel-Two said.
"I really hope Jesse's okay," Harry said worriedly, not feeling too good that his daughter had gone to another Earth without him.
As Jennifer broke down and started sobbing, Jefferson and Anissa each placed an arm around her for comfort as the two of them also had tears streaming down their faces.
"We have to go back," Barry said, urgently. "We have to go back right now!"
"There is no going back," Lyla stated.
"The hell there is!" Barry snapped.
Cisco held out a hand and tried to open a breach to Earth-1 several times, but each attempt failed. "She's right, Barry," he said, glumly. "Earth-1 really is gone."
"Where's Jay? I notice my doppelganger isn't with us right now," Allen pointed out.
"He's dead," Lyla informed.
"No," Barry choked as his tears streamed down his face. For obvious reasons, the scarlet speedster felt like he'd just lost his father all over again.
"I'm so sorry, kid," Allen said with sympathy as he pulled the weeping Barry into a comforting hug. "I can't imagine how difficult the loss of my Earth-3 doppelganger is for you. It's okay to let it all out, son."
Barry wiped away the tears that continued to fall down his face.
"I brought you all here because this is the last Earth that the anti-matter wave will hit," Lyla stated. "Right now, the Anti-Monitor is on Earth-192, where the heroes there are battling him."
"Well, take us there instead!" Jefferson ordered, angrily.
"I'm with Dad," Jennifer added, anger in her voice as well. "I wanna fry this Anti-Monitor with everything I've got for what he did to our world! For what happened to Mom and everybody else!"
"You will have your chance to face the Anti-Monitor," Lyla promised. "But, for now, the heroes here need our help."
The now-Blue Lantern Barbara Gordon had joined the fray against the army of Paradooms as she blasted them away with a series of bright blue energy beams from her power ring.
"Welcome to the Corps, 'Lantern Gordon'," John Stewart announced, appearing next to her as he sent out multiple buzzsaw blade constructs that cut several Paradooms in two and decapitated one, while Aya, who was also nearby, killed three Paradooms by sending out multiple shard constructs that impaled them in the chest.
"I'm still getting the hang of this," Barbara stated, blasting another Paradoom to the ground before she shot it several more times before it died.
"You will," Stewart assured her before conjuring a massive fist construct that smashed into more Paradooms.
"Hera, give me strength!" Diana urged as she impaled and sliced apart five Paradooms with her sword while using her bracelets to block the flames one of them spewed at her. She leapt up at another Paradoom, tackled it on the ground, and stabbed it in the chest. As several more Paradooms approached her, Diana slammed her bracelets together, producing a powerful shockwave blast that threw them all away.
Cyborg Superman, Tess, Alexander, Lois-64, Lois, A.C., Mera, Victor Stone, Andrea Rojas, and Zatanna were also doing their best to take out the Paradooms, while Bart and Wally-192 sped around, protecting heroes and civilians alike from getting killed by the creatures. They were soon joined by those who had arrived from the recently destroyed Earth-1 as Barry and Allen appeared, hurling lightning at the Paradooms, who were hardly affected by the attacks, while Kara D and Astra rammed into multiple Paradooms, sending them to the ground, before they blasted the creatures with heat vision as the Paradooms jumped right back up. John-90 appeared as well, sending out energy beams that struck some Paradooms. Frost and Cisco launched a series of ice and vibrational blasts respectively at the Paradooms, but, to their horror, the creatures were unaffected by these attacks.
Jefferson and Jennifer each blasted a couple of Paradooms with their lightning, while Anissa and Lena both winced as they each punched a Paradoom with their super-strength. Ralph smashed an enlarged fist into a Paradoom, but it was completely unaffected by his blow.
"Oh, crap," Ralph groaned in horror, before it tackled him to the ground as two more appeared to attack him.
In a flash of light, Lyla appeared in the middle of the fray and threw out her hands, firing concentrated beams of bluish-white energy that struck and disintegrated over a dozen Paradooms, the other heroes awed by her demonstration of power.
Oliver, Roy, Thea, Sara, Laurel-One, Laurel-Two, Adrian, Nyssa, Slade, and Deathstroke joined Ollie, Mia, Dinah, Bruce, and Dick in keeping civilians safe.
Clara Kent and Linda Lee smashed one powerful punch after another into Brimstone, while Kilowog restrained Brimstone's arms in constructs and C'hp covered the giant robot's head with a large green bubble. The constructs of the two Green Lanterns shattered as Brimstone unleashed blasts of nuclear fire from its arms and face, while C'hp was thrown backwards by the force of the attack before he steadied himself.
As Clara and Linda hovered next to each other, Kara K appeared and smiled at the other two female Kryptonians. "Hey, ladies. Need a hand?"
"That would certainly be nice," Linda replied, before she and Kara K were hit by a blast of nuclear fire from Brimstone's face.
Linda and Kara K stood their ground against the blast, while Clara slammed into Brimstone with significantly more strength than she ever exerted before, sending the gigantic robot stumbling backwards before it regained its balance.
John Jones turned intangible to avoid the blows that Doomsday furiously hurled at him, while Clark-93 smashed three powerful punches into Doomsday's face and five into his chest. Clark-93 threw another punch, but Doomsday caught his fist and clenched it, making Clark-93 groan in pain. Returning to solid form, Jones smashed a powerful uppercut into Doomsday's jaw and two punches into his chest, making Doomsday release Clark-93, who shook his hand in pain. Jones then phased through Doomsday's torso, getting behind the monster, and grabbed Doomsday in a firm chokehold.
"Are you sure your idea will work?" Clark-93 asked.
"We won't know until we try it!" Jones stated, grunting under the effort of keeping the ferociously roaring Doomsday in place. "Now grab his waist!"
Clark-93 wasted no time grabbing Doomsday around the waist with all his might. Then, with Doomsday in their grasp, the Earth-93 Superman and Earth-21 Martian Manhunter shot very high into the air diagonally, only for Doomsday to suddenly unleash a very deafening sonic scream that made both heroes cry out in pain and lose their hold on the gray-skinned behemoth, who then grabbed Clark-93 by the cape and flung him more than a thousand feet away before smashing a brutal punch into Jones' chest and sending him hurtling off too. While Jones and Clark-93 steadied themselves and covered their bleeding ears in pain, Doomsday plummeted all the way to the ground, forming a huge crater in the middle of a grassy field upon crash-landing.
Darkseid stood his ground with gritted teeth as Clark, Superman, and Zod simultaneously blasted him square in the chest with their heat vision. Darkseid clenched his fists as they glowed a burning red and he slammed them together very hard, producing a devastating blast of Omega-energy that not only threw the three Kryptonians many feet back, but destroyed all the buildings within the vicinity.
Zod was the first to recover from the attack as he flew at Darkseid, tackling the ruler of Apokolips into a partially intact building, the remains of which collapsed upon them. Within all the rubble, Zod pummeled Darkseid's face with six shockwave-inducing blows and kneed him in the abdomen, staggering the larger being back. Zod tried to punch again, but Darkseid caught his fist and delivered a powerful head-butt to Zod's face, breaking the Kryptonian general's nose and sending him to the ground.
Kryptonian or otherwise, you're merely a man. Darkseid declared, before stamping Zod's chest twice, dazing the Kryptonian general. Perhaps I should've killed you in the Phantom Zone instead. But now would be the perfect time to grant you death's sweet release.
"I'm not just any man!" Zod roared angrily as he jumped back up and hurled a punch that Darkseid blocked. "I am General Zod, the rightful ruler of Krypton!"
Darkseid smacked Zod across the face three and seized him by the neck with one hand. You are the ruler of nothing!
Darkseid then punched Zod's face twice, making the latter spit out blood, and tossed him into another heavily destroyed building, which almost immediately collapsed right on top of Zod.
That was when Clark and Superman suddenly appeared, flying directly at Darkseid and smashing double fists right into his face. As Darkseid went sailing several meters backwards and landed on some of the rubble, Clark and Superman flew at him again and brutally bombarded Darkseid with dozens of rapid punches, not giving the Apokoliptian ruler a chance to recover between blows. Darkseid fired his Omega-beams, blasting Clark in the back. As Clark cried out in pain, Darkseid knocked him away with a punch to the face and turned just in time to block a punch from Superman, who then fired freeze breath into Darkseid's face and landed several blows into his torso. Superman grabbed Darkseid around the waist and shot straight into the air at full speed, intending to take the fight into space to avoid further collateral damage.
Just as they reached beyond the clouds, Darkseid smashed his fists into Superman's back, causing the Earth-78 Man of Steel to lose his grip around him. Darkseid then wrapped his arms around Superman's body and started crushing him. Superman grunted, struggling to break out of Darkseid's powerful hold, but the latter's strength was superior even to his own. Superman blasted Darkseid's face with heat vision, making the Apokoliptian ruler roar in pain, and followed up with very hard head-butt that momentarily dazed both of them. After breaking out of Darkseid's hold, Superman smashed three punches into his opponent's face and one into his chest.
Clark suddenly appeared behind Darkseid in a blur, ramming into the latter's back, while Superman joined his fists and smashed them into Darkseid's abdomen. Superman threw another punch, but Darkseid blocked it and backhanded Superman in the neck, sending him falling diagonally and crashing into the golden globe atop the Daily Planet building, causing it to fall down before Superman steadied himself, flew down, and caught the plummeting globe.
Clark grabbed Darkseid from behind in firm a chokehold, only to get blasted yet again with the latter's Omega-beams. Turning around, Darkseid grabbed Clark around the throat with one hand, punched him in the face four times with his other hand, flew down, and flung Clark on the ground hard, forming a crater where the Earth-21 Superman landed. Darkseid descended near the fallen Clark, who stumbled back to his feet and clenched his fists while glaring at the Apokoliptian ruler. As Clark charged at him with a punch, Darkseid sent out some kind of electric energy field that struck him dead on, throwing Clark back on the ground. Clark screamed in pure agony as an extremely unbearable pain – much, much worse than the effects of green kryptonite – suddenly shot through his entire body.
It's called the Agony Matrix. Darkseid explained as he slowly walked towards the screaming Clark with his hands behind his back. Direct neural stimulation of pain receptors. All of them. Imagine the worst pain you've ever felt in your life, times a thousand. A human would be dead in an instant. But, in your case, the pain shall last an eternity.
"Pardon me!" Superman announced firmly as he flew at Darkseid from behind and tapped him on the shoulder.
As Darkseid turned around to face him, Superman smashed a powerful punch into his face, knocking the ruler of Apokolips a good thirty feet away. As Darkseid got back up after crash-landing on the ground, Superman flew at him in a red and blue blur, smashing another punch into the Apokoliptian ruler.
Earth-50
Conner helped his wife Courtney to her feet after she had regained consciousness, while Al Rothstein aka Atom Smasher was doing the same for Maxine Hunkel aka Cyclone and Wayne (Earth-50 Batman) was helping Hal Jordan up. Harley Queen of Earth-50, Harleen Quinzel of Earth-222, and Rose Wilson aka Ravager had come to as well and were already back on their feet.
Black Canary of Earth-222 was sobbing over the dead body of her husband Green Arrow, whose neck had been broken on a chunk of concrete. Once again, she had lost a husband to a horrible, untimely death. Her first husband, the Oliver Queen of her Earth, had been brutally murdered by Regime Superman. Now, the alternate version of the man she loved who had permanently moved to Earth-222 a couple of years ago and became her second husband was dead too. Had she done something wrong to deserve such grief?
"Hey," Bloodsport said gently as he tried to shake Cleo Cazo awake. "Hey. Wake up, kiddo." To his relief, the young woman opened her eyes with a groan and saw Bloodsport looking down at her, his dark brown eyes filled with great concern and worry. "Will you be all right?"
Cleo tried to get up, only to grimace in pain. "My leg. It hurts."
"Which one?" Bloodsport asked, worriedly.
"My right leg," Cleo answered.
Bloodsport inspected the leg in question. "It's broken," he noted, before scooping Cleo into his arms. "I got you, Ratcatcher 2." He carried her away from the area, getting her to a relatively safe spot.
King Shark leapt onto the Omega-Monitor and viciously bit into the giant being's shoulder, but the Omega-Monitor was completely unaffected by the attack. The Omega-Monitor grabbed King Shark and slammed him on the ground hard, splattering him into a bloody mess.
Arthur Curry launched a huge wave of water at the Omega-Monitor and, with a leap, smashed the tip of his golden trident against the Omega-Monitor's chest, managing to stun and stagger him. Starfire blasted Omega-Monitor with her bright green energy beams from her eyes and hands, while Raven telekinetically launched multiple damaged vehicles, chunks of concrete, and various other pieces of debris at the giant enemy, Cyborg fired an enormous energy blast from his sonic cannon, Vic Stone launched a series of missiles, Firestorm of Earth-222 sent out concentrated blasts of flames from his hands, and Blue Beetle of Earth-222 hurled his own energy blasts from his armor. For a few seconds, these simultaneous attacks slowed the Omega-Monitor down, but he ultimately overpowered everyone by slamming his hands together, sending out an immensely powerful shockwave that effortlessly knocked all of his opponents away.
Conner slammed his outward fists into the Omega-Monitor with all his might, staggering the giant being back. He then joined his fists, smashing them hard into the Omega-Monitor's chest, and immediately followed up with an intense blast of heat vision, which the Omega-Monitor easily charged through as he knocked Conner dozens of feet in the air with an uppercut punch.
J'onn J'onzz of Earth-38 appeared, hovering before the Omega-Monitor. "I've already watched one civilization fall to war," the Martian hero stated. "Perhaps enlightenment would alter your motivations."
J'onn phased his hands into the Omega-Monitor's head, only to get thrown back as the Omega-Monitor resisted his telepathic abilities.
"Like my master, I am from beyond all universes!" the Omega-Monitor declared with a menacing growl. "Your Martian mind cannot handle all I have seen!"
Shazam hovered in the air with Freddy, Pedro, Eugene, Darla, and Mary. "Listen up, fam. On my mark, we're gonna hit 'em together with everything we've got. That means no holding back. I repeat – do not hold back."
"We understood you the first time, Billy," Mary pointed out.
"All right, here we go," Shazam said. "Now!"
On cue, the six Philadelphia-based superheroes charged at the Omega-Monitor, ramming into him simultaneously as a huge shockwave erupted around the vicinity. The Omega-Monitor fell back and landed on the ground with a thud, shaking the entire area. His glass helmet was cracked in multiple places, while his armor was damaged in several areas.
"Awesome job, guys," Shazam said, as he fist-bumped each of his foster siblings. "Now we need to keep him from getting back up."
Immediately after he'd said those words, the Omega-Monitor reached out, grabbed Shazam by one leg, and slammed him on the ground hard. As the Omega-Monitor tried to get up, Freddy and Pedro each grabbed onto one of the giant being's arms, while Mary, Darla, and Pedro pushed down on his torso in an effort to keep him at bay. The Omega-Monitor flung his arms out, sending Freddy and Pedro flying off, and lurched to his feet as Mary, Darla, and Pedro were thrown to the ground.
J'onn and Conner attacked the Omega-Monitor once more, the former smashing multiple blows into the giant enemy's torso while the latter punched the Omega-Monitor's glass helmet, putting more cracks in it. The Omega-Monitor tried to grab J'onn, but the Martian turned intangible to avoid the former's massive hand. As Shazam sent a blast of lightning at the Omega-Monitor, Freddy, Eugene, Mary, Darla, and Pedro followed suit, with Conner adding his heat vision to the concentrated lightning attacks. The Omega-Monitor roared in a mix of pain and anger while the multiple blasts staggered him several feet back.
Freddy turned to Conner. "Any relation to Superman? Not only are you wearing the same chest emblem as him, but you clearly have the same powers as well."
"I am related to him, but not the Superman of this Earth," Conner answered, still firing heat vision upon the Omega-Monitor, who charged forward as Conner and the Shazam family scattered about to avoid the giant being.
In a blur of red and blue, Kal descended from the sky at tremendous speed, swooping back into the fray before most of the other heroes could react to his sudden presence. The Earth-50 Superman slammed his outward fists into the Omega-Monitor with such force that more than half of the latter's glass helmet shattered while the Omega-Monitor's armor was damaged much more.
"All right!" Freddy cheered as he and his foster siblings, save for Shazam, were amazed by Kal's immense strength.
As the Omega-Monitor fell back on the ground, the skies suddenly turned red, prompting all the heroes to look up with great worry and dread before exchanging horrified looks.
Earth-192
Dr. Fate conjured a large ankh and many various symbols around the Anti-Monitor, who was restrained in huge magical chains, in an effort to hold the hundred-foot-tall enemy at bay, while Zatanna aided the golden and blue-clad magician with her telekinesis. The Anti-Monitor shattered Dr. Fate's chains and constructs and effortlessly overpowered Zatanna's telekinesis with his own before raising his hands to unleash another massive blast of anti-matter. While Dr. Fate managed to teleport away from the blast, Zatanna didn't make it as the anti-matter engulfed and disintegrated her into nothingness. Unable to move away in time as the Anti-Monitor sent out more anti-matter blasts, Etrigan the Demon, Orion, Big Barda, Mr. Miracle, The Ray, Dr. Light, Prince Gavyn aka Starman, S.T.R.I.P.E., Ray Palmer aka The Atom of Earth-1, and Nora Darhk were also disintegrated upon getting struck by the deadly reddish-white substance.
Due to the sheer number of enemies and most of the heavy-hitters being occupied with the Anti-Monitor, the rest of the assembled heroes were greatly overwhelmed by the massive wave of Manhunters, Parademons, and Shadow Demons as Kendra Saunders, Zari Tomaz, Jax Jefferson, Mari McCabe, Earth-222 Batgirl, Earth-222 Catwoman, Earth-192 Nightwing, Speedy, Vibe, Gypsy, B'wana Beast, Commander Steel, Crimson Avenger, Huntress, the Question, and the Creeper had been fatally struck and shot down by the Manhunters, while the remaining heroes were horrified and grief-stricken over their fallen teammates.
Green Arrow rushed over to Speedy's wounded body and, after taking a few seconds to grieve his friend and former protégé, closed the younger man's eyes. At the same time, Batman, with Batgirl-192, whose eyes were filled with tears, and Robin (Tim Drake) on either side of him, closed the eyes of Nightwing, while Knight (Earth-222 Batman) did the same for Batgirl-222 and Catwoman.
Vixen, Carter Hall (real name Joseph Gardner) aka Hawkman, John Henry Irons aka Steel, Plastic Man, Shining Knight, Greg Saunders aka Vigilante, Mr. Terrific, The Atom, and some other heroes of this Earth, as well as Nate Heywood of Earth-1, were next to be struck and disintegrated as the Anti-Monitor continued firing anti-matter blasts, while many of the surviving heroes had been saved by Supergirl-192, Supergirl-222, Captain Marvel, and Wonder Woman flying them out of the way.
"NOOOOOOOOO!" Green Lantern yelled in utter horror after watching Vixen get completely wiped out before his eyes. He fell to his knees, devastated as tears streamed down his face.
From the rooftop they were standing on, Lex Luthor of Earth-192, Regime Superman, Regime Wonder Woman, and Vandal Savage were watching the all-out battle between the heroes and the Anti-Monitor and his forces.
"I have to admit, after everything they've been through – from countless alien invasions, to Amazo, to me and Brainiac, to Darkseid – I thought I'd never see the day so many Justice League members, including Superman, drop like a bunch of flies," Lex stated.
"The Anti-Monitor has certainly accomplished in a matter of minutes what you, me, and many others have tried multiple times only to fail," Vandal Savage pointed out.
"Something's approaching in the sky," Regime Wonder Woman announced upon noticing a flying figure descending into the planet's atmosphere at astronomical speed.
With narrowed eyes, Regime Superman almost immediately recognized the figure as his Earth-96 counterpart, whose body was glowing with solar energy. "Not something. Someone. It's the Superman that I was just fighting. It appears he took a dip in the sun to augment his powers."
"Aren't you going to confront him?" Regime Wonder Woman asked.
"There's no doubt he's heading straight for the Anti-Monitor," Regime Superman pointed out. "For now, let's see how this plays out."
Moving roughly twice as fast as his normal full speed, Kal-El swooped into the fray, blitzing through all the Manhunters, Parademons, and Shadow Demons in a series of reddish-golden blurs as the entire wave of enemies was wiped out in seconds, leaving the rest of the heroes in shock and disbelief of what had just occurred.
Kal-El then flew at the Anti-Monitor himself, unleashing a very powerful beam of heat vision that was thicker than usual upon the gigantic enemy. The Anti-Monitor grunted, actually pushed back a bit by the beam, before Kal-El suddenly slammed into his chest very hard, making the Anti-Monitor stumble backwards and almost lose his balance, while all the other heroes winced and covered their ears from the huge, deafening shockwave that erupted throughout the area. Wasting no time, Kal-El flew up and smashed five extremely powerful punches into the Anti-Monitor's face, managing to stun him for several moments.
"Dad!" Jason exclaimed happily as he and all the other heroes watched the battle between Earth-96 Superman and the Anti-Monitor. Considering that the Anti-Monitor hadn't even flinched from the barrage of simultaneous attacks the heroes had launched at him before, everyone was awed by Kal-El managing to stagger the cosmically powerful villain by his lonesome.
The Anti-Monitor threw out a backhanded strike, which Kal-El dodged before smashing eight consecutive blows into the Anti-Monitor, who then retaliated with a shockwave blast that knocked Kal-El many feet back. Kal-El steadied himself and flew towards the Anti-Monitor, who sent out an anti-matter blast that the super-charged Earth-96 Superman swerved to avoid. In a series of full-speed blitzes, Kal-El struck the Anti-Monitor dozens of times, getting the giant blue and silver mechanical being in the chest, abdomen, legs, knees, shoulders, arms, face, head, and back as, to everyone's astonishment, the Anti-Monitor was actually getting overwhelmed. In a bout of frustration, the Anti-Monitor lashed out with a force field that threw Kal-El away.
Earth-50
"Stay down!" Kal warned the fallen Omega-Monitor. "This fight is over. No more blood needs to be shed."
"You're wrong! This fight is only the beginning!" the Omega-Monitor declared. "In your vain attempt to save your universes, your only reward shall be death!"
Suddenly, a yellow flash of light erupted and all the heroes tensed with dread at the sight of the reactivated Amazo levitating twenty feet above the ground, with Hawkman gripping the handle of his mace tightly as he glared furiously at the android who was responsible for his magician friend's death.
Everyone watched warily as Amazo held out a hand, telekinetically lifting the Omega-Monitor off the ground and launching the giant being high into the sky without any effort. The Omega-Monitor was sent hurtling out of the planet's atmosphere and into the darkness of deep space.
On Earth, Amazo then transported all the heroes away before he, too, disappeared.
Earth-21
Superman of Earth-78 pummeled Darkseid's chest with five powerful punches before grabbing him around the waist, levitating twenty feet in the air, and slamming the Apokoliptian ruler on the ground very hard, the impact causing all the buildings around them to shake as all the windows shattered. Superman sped off, returning a split-second later with a damaged bus that he slammed on top of Darkseid, resulting in an explosion. After a few seconds, Darkseid stood up within the explosion, tossing the burnt remains of the bus aside.
Is that the best you can do against me? The ruler of Apokolips asked.
"Not even close," Superman stated firmly as he charged at Darkseid in a blur and smashed a total of six very powerful, shockwave-inducing punches into the Apokoliptian ruler. "All my life, there's been one never-ending problem that I always had to contend with." He smashed two more shockwave-inducing punches into Darkseid, knocking him back on the ground. "A problem that will, in fact, persist for as long as I continue to draw breath." He kicked Darkseid, sending him flying twenty feet away, and stalked towards the fallen villain. "I feel like I live in a world made of cardboard. Always taking constant care not to break something. Or someone. Never allowing myself to lose control, even for a moment, or people can die."
As Darkseid got back up and tried to punch him, Superman blocked the blow and knocked Darkseid back on the ground once again with a powerful punch to the face.
"But I'm sure a powerful giant like you can take it," Superman continued in a stern tone. "What we have here is a rare opportunity for me to cut loose and show you just how powerful I really am."
As Darkseid got back up once more, Superman charged at him with a yell and, gathering much more strength than he usually utilized, smashed a tremendously powerful blow into the former's face. Darkseid was sent hurtling hundreds of meters through the air, crashing clean through the LexCorp building.
In a blur, a hovering Superman instantaneously appeared on the opposite side of the hurtling Darkseid. Superman joined his fists, bringing them down very hard on Darkseid's head. The Apocalyptian ruler crash-landed in the middle of a street, forming a rather large crater on impact.
Superman flew down to his heavily dazed opponent. "Had enough?"
Darkseid got back up. Not quite yet.
As Superman flew at him yet again, Darkseid's fists glowed with Omega-energy and he smashed a devastating blow into Superman's chest, sending the Man of Steel hurtling across the city.
Despite the Agony Matrix still affecting him, Clark had slowly pushed himself to his feet through the immeasurably excruciating pain, though he struggled heavily to maintain his balance. Amazo suddenly appeared near him and transported the Earth-21 Superman away.
The golden android then flew over to where Clara, Kara K, Linda, Kilowog, and C'hp were still battling Brimstone, right after Kara K had destroyed its right arm by speed-blitzing through it. After transporting the three female Kryptonians and two Green Lanterns away, Amazo flew in front of Brimstone and phased his hand into the small hole located in the giant robot's upper chest. Brimstone immediately shut down as the flames on its head, remaining arm, and legs went out.
All the heroes who were battling the remaining Paradooms or keeping civilians safe, along with Chloe, little Roy, Lois-93, Emil, and Harry in the Watchtower, were transported away by Amazo next.
In the grassy field where he had crash-landed, Doomsday was slightly staggered back as Clark-93 blasted him in the chest with heat vision, while John Jones was firing intense heat beams from his palms at the Kryptonian behemoth. After a few seconds, Doomsday unleashed a much thicker heat vision beam that struck Clark-93 in the chest, knocking him roughly two dozen feet back. Doomsday charged at Jones, who dodged the monster's blow and knocked Doomsday a few meters back with four powerful punches to the chest. Doomsday then unleashed his sonic scream, only for Jones to turn intangible, which rendered the Earth-21 Martian Manhunter immune to the sound attack.
Clark-93 flew back over, unleashing his freeze breath upon Doomsday. He blew harder and harder, not stopping until Doomsday was completely encased within a solid block of ice.
"That's not gonna hold him at all," Jones said, knowingly.
"Not for a lack of trying," Clark-93 remarked.
Sure enough, the block of ice cracked and shattered as Doomsday broke free with an angry roar. As Doomsday threw out a punch, Clark-93 immediately caught the monster's large fist with both hands, while Jones delivered several punches to Doomsday's torso. Doomsday smacked Jones dozens of feet away with a backhanded blow and grabbed Clark-93 with both hands, slamming him on the ground. Picking Clark-93 up by the shoulder with one hand, Doomsday used his other hand to deliver three brutal blows to his abdomen, causing blood to spill out of Clark-93's mouth. Doomsday pulled back his fist and smashed an even stronger blow into Clark-93's face, sending him hurtling more than a hundred feet away.
Amazo suddenly appeared in a yellow streak of light and rammed through Doomsday with such force that the gray-skinned, nigh-invulnerable behemoth was instantly reduced to many pieces of gray rocks and white bones that scattered all over the area. Amazo then transported John Jones and Clark-93 away before disappearing once more.
Earth-192
All the heroes on this world were also transported away by Amazo, leaving only the Anti-Monitor and the bodies of those who had been killed behind, while Lex-192, Regime Superman, Regime Wonder Woman, and Vandal Savage were taken aback by what they had just witnessed, with Lex, in particular, getting struck with a dose of fear at the sight of the very powerful android whom he once took advantage of.
At last, the battles on the remaining Earths are over and the surviving heroes will have some time to rest (and grieve those they've lost so far) before the final battle.
Also, Alexander (Earth-64 Lex) finally succeeded in his longtime mission to kill Clark Luthor/Ultraman, so all those years of planning and staying in hiding finally paid off for him.
In case anyone is having a hard time keeping track of the many involved characters, here is a list of all the survivors, along with reminders of who the Paragons are:
Earth-1 – Barry (Paragon of Hope), Oliver (Paragon of Steadfastness), Cisco, Caitlin, Wally, Ralph, Sara (Paragon of Resilience), Laurel-One (Paragon of Resurrection), Thea, Roy, Slade, Nyssa, Lyla/Harbinger, Jefferson, Anissa, Jennifer, Mick (the only survivor of the Legends)
Earth-2 – Laurel-Two, Adrian, Harry, Jesse
Earth-21 – Clark (Paragon of Justice), Ollie (Paragon of Humanity), Lois, Chloe, Bart, Tess (Paragon of Redemption), Kara K, Conner (Paragon of Progress), Courtney (Paragon of Resurrection), Bruce, Barbara, Dick, Diana, John Jones, John Stewart, A.C., Mera, Victor, Andrea, Dinah, Zatanna, Cyborg Superman, Mia, Aya, Kilowog, C'hp, Rose Wilson/Ravager, Emil
Earth-38 – Kara D (Paragon of Optimism), J'onn (Paragon of Honor), Astra, Lena
Earth-50 – Kal, Wayne, Prince (Paragon of Compassion), Barry-Blue, Hal, Arthur, Vic, Shazam, Freddy Freeman, Darla Dudley, Eugene Choi, Mary Bromfield, Pedro Pena, Deathstroke, Bloodsport, Harley, Cleo Cazo, Hawkman, Al Rothstein/Atom Smasher, Maxine Hunkel/Cyclone
Earth-64 – Alexander, Lois-64
Earth-76 – Diana-76 (Paragon of Love)
Earth-78 – Superman (Paragon of Heroism), Linda
Earth-90 – Allen, John-90
Earth-93 – Clark-93, Lois-93
Earth-96 – Kal-El (Paragon of Truth), Jason
Earth-111 – Clara
Earth-192 – Batman (Paragon of Courage), Wonder Woman, Wally-192/Flash (Paragon of Loyalty), Green Lantern (Paragon of Willpower), Martian Manhunter (Paragon of Peace), Shayera (Paragon of Destiny), Supergirl-192, Captain Marvel, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Aquaman, Red Tornado, Captain Atom, Dr. Fate, Metamorpho, Elongated Man, Booster Gold, Stargirl, Fire, Ice, Static, Hawk, Dove, Atom Smasher, Batgirl, Tim Drake/Robin-192
Earth-193 – Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, Beast Boy, Raven
Earth-222 – Knight, Supergirl-222, Harleen, Black Canary-222, Firestorm, Blue Beetle