Chapter 13
Outside the Multiverse
Transported from Earth-50 were Kal, Wayne, Prince, Arthur, Hal, Vic, J'onn, Conner, Courtney, Barry-Blue, Wally, Jesse, Shazam, Freddy, Darla, Eugene, Mary, Pedro, Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, Beast Boy, Raven, Bloodsport, Cleo, Ravager, Harley, Harleen, Dinah-222, Firestorm, Blue Beetle, Hawkman, Al Rothstein, and Maxine Hunkel.
From Earth-21 were Clark, Superman, Linda, Clara, Kara K, Clark-93, John Jones, Barry-Red, Allen, Bart, Flash (Wally-192), Kara D, Astra, Lena, Cisco, Frost (who turned back into Caitlin), Ralph, Jefferson, Anissa, Jennifer, Cyborg Superman, Alexander, Lois-64, Lois, Tess, Diana, A.C., Mera, Victor, Andrea, Zatanna, Barbara, John Stewart, John-90, Aya, Kilowog, C'hp, Ollie, Dinah, Mia, Bruce, Dick, Oliver, Roy Harper, Thea, Sara, Laurel-One, Laurel-Two, Adrian, Lyla, Nyssa, Slade, Deathstroke, Chloe, Roy Sullivan-Queen, Lois-93, Harry, and Emil.
From Earth-192 were Batman, Knight (Earth-222 Batman), Batgirl, Robin-192, Wonder Woman, Diana-76, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Shayera, Kal-El, Jason, Supergirl-192, Supergirl-222, Captain Marvel, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Aquaman, Red Tornado, Captain Atom, Dr. Fate, Metamorpho, Static, Elongated Man, Booster Gold, Stargirl, Atom Smasher, Fire, Ice, Hawk, Dove, and Mick Rory.
Everyone took in their new surroundings, finding themselves on a large asteroid in the midst of what looked like outer space as the expressions of the assembled heroes varied from bewilderment, awe, disbelief, alarm, and wariness.
Clark was immensely relieved that the extremely unbearable pain he'd felt from the Agony Matrix had suddenly stopped and he took several moments to regain his bearings.
Upon seeing his daughter, Harry wasted no time rushing over to Jesse and pulling her into an embrace, which she immediately returned.
J'onn approached Kara D and the two also pulled each other into an embrace, glad that the other was okay.
"Where's Kal?" Kara D asked, noticing her cousin was nowhere to be seen.
"I'm afraid he didn't make it," J'onn told her.
"What do you mean he didn't make it?" Kara D demanded, a dreadful feeling forming in the pit of her stomach.
"I saw it happen right in front of me," Conner told her.
"Saw what happen?" Kara D asked, her dread increasing.
Before Conner could answer, Amazo appeared in a flash of light, immediately getting everyone's attention. The android informed all the heroes that he'd brought them to a dimension outside the Multiverse, where they could recuperate from their recent battles, mourn those who had perished in the Crisis, and prepare for the ultimate battle against the Anti-Monitor and his gathered allies, which would take place at the dawn of time in the anti-matter universe itself. Amazo then revealed that the Multiverse could be recreated, either exactly as it was or with unpredictable changes to certain events, once the Anti-Monitor was destroyed and it would be as though the Crisis had never occurred in the first place.
Suddenly filled with a new wave of hope and determination, the heroes were ready to confront their enemy right away, but, to their disbelief, Amazo warned that, if they prevented the Anti-Monitor from wiping out the three remaining universes, those from Earths 21, 50, and 192 who had died would remain dead because everything that happened during the Crisis on those worlds wouldn't be undone even if the rest of the Multiverse got restored. Therefore, all the worlds had to be wiped out and then recreated for all traces of the Crisis to be erased.
With that in mind, while none of the heroes felt good about letting the Anti-Monitor finish off the aforementioned Earths, especially since it meant their loved ones and billions upon billions of other innocent people had to perish in the anti-matter wave, they ultimately agreed it was the best course of action. Granted, they were still wary of Amazo, considering his role in causing the Crisis in the first place and the fact that the Anti-Monitor had temporarily controlled him, but they knew Amazo genuinely wanted to help them and, for that reason, they were willing to accept what was more than likely the only opportunity to bring their dead teammates back to life. So, for the time being, everyone would stay put in the dimension they were currently in until the Anti-Monitor completed his universe-destroying task.
Upon noticing Clark-93, Kara D was once again struck by the shock of meeting a doppelganger of someone she knew and, in this case, found it quite creepy that her adoptive father's lookalike was married to the lookalike of one of her most despicable enemies, the thought of which made her feel like throwing up. J'onn was also stunned by Earth-93 Superman's appearance, due to his own history with Jeremiah Danvers.
A thoroughly stunned Chloe dropped her jaw at the sight of Diana-76, who heavily resembled her late mother, and uttered an "Oh, my God", getting her husband's attention as Ollie asked her "what's the matter". As Chloe directed him to look over at Earth-76 Wonder Woman, Ollie turned to the heroine and his eyes widened as he instantly understood his wife's reaction. Ollie put a comforting arm around Chloe, who was filled with a pang of emotion as she wiped away tears that spilled down her face. Clark and Lois noticed the aforementioned Wonder Woman as well and immediately knew why Chloe was upset.
As Shazam introduced Freddy, Darla, Eugene, Mary, and Pedro to Captain Marvel, the five young heroes were intrigued to meet an alternate version of their foster brother and wondered if any of them existed on Earth-192. Captain Marvel told them he had an older sister named Mary and a best friend named Freddy, but he'd never heard of the other three.
"What about Darkseid and his allies?" Clark asked Amazo.
"Darkseid will no longer be a problem," the android answered.
"Now that our next move is established, it's your turn to tell your story," Oliver said to Lyla.
"How did you become… Harbinger?" Barry-Red added.
Lyla explained that she had once been the only survivor of a routine mission, during which the rest of the soldiers on duty had been killed by an IED in the road. Ever since that incident, she had suffered from survivor's guilt, wondering why she had lived while the others hadn't been so lucky. On top of that, she had never really understood how she survived that predicament and chalked it up to a miracle. However, now that she was Harbinger, Lyla fully recalled what exactly had happened that day. She had been saved by The Monitor, who told her that he had been watching her from for quite some time and that she had an important destiny to fulfill when the time came. When Lyla had asked why The Monitor chose her in particular, he answered that she reminded him so much of his wife, Xneen, whom Lyla was the spitting image of and had several things in common with. As Novu had put it, both women were "ambitious, intelligent, and full of life" and he admired the courageous fighter in Lyla, which was why he felt she was worthy of eventually taking on the Harbinger role once the Crisis on Infinite Earths happened.
"Obviously, The Monitor erased your memories of your encounter with him," Batman of Earth-192 concluded.
"He didn't want you going around telling others about the Crisis he knew was coming until he wanted them to know about it," Bruce (Earth-21 Batman) added.
"That's the only explanation," Lyla agreed. "He also kept my powers as Harbinger dormant all these years and they weren't to be activated until the absolute crucial moment, which was his death."
Earth-21
Nearly every building in Metropolis, including the highly famous Daily Planet and the Justice League's Watchtower headquarters, had been destroyed, while many people had ended up killed in all the destruction happening around them. Any civilians who were still alive fled wherever they could in utter terror and panic. There were fires everywhere from various explosions and water spraying around in some areas from the damaged fire hydrants. In a nutshell, the once-proud city that was the home of the planet's greatest superhero was in ruins.
The source of all the chaos was the all-out battle between the Anti-Monitor and Darkseid, who both stood over two hundred feet tall in the heart of Metropolis, pummeling each other with blows so powerful that the resulting shockwaves generated devastating tremors that could be felt throughout the entire state of Kansas. The two gargantuan beings of pure evil kept staggering each other back with exchanged punches until Darkseid blasted the Anti-Monitor with his Omega-beams. The Anti-Monitor grunted, but stood his ground against the fiery attack before retaliating with a beam of anti-matter that struck Darkseid's chest, causing the ruler of Apokolips to snarl in pain and stumble backwards before regaining his balance.
From outer space, Amazo was observing the clash between the two immensely powerful and most malevolent entities in existence, knowing full well how it was going to end. Only a few minutes after he had transported the heroes to the dimension with the floating asteroid, the entirety of Earth-50 had been wiped out by the anti-matter wave, with Earth-192 meeting the exact same fate almost ten minutes later. Now, the deadly white wave was already sweeping through this universe at ever-increasing speed and was less than two minutes away from consuming the twenty-first variation of the planet Earth.
Back on the aforementioned planet, Darkseid's fists glowed with Omega-energy and he smashed them into the Anti-Monitor, who conjured a force field just in time, though it was almost immediately shattered by the impact of the blow as both beings were knocked several feet backwards, while the entire area around them was completely obliterated. As Darkseid unleashed his Omega-beams once more, the Anti-Monitor fired anti-matter from both hands at the same time and the two powerful beams clashed halfway. Almost immediately, the Anti-Monitor's beam effortlessly pushed back Darkseid's Omega-beams and Darkseid roared in pain as the anti-matter struck his face, temporarily blinding him. Before Darkseid could recover, the Anti-Monitor smashed an uppercut punch into the former's chin and followed up with three punches to Darkseid's chest. Darkseid fell backwards, crash-landing on the ground with a very powerful thud as the impact shook the entire state.
Your pitiful existence must end for mine to be rewarded! The Anti-Monitor declared as he unleashed another double blast of anti-matter upon Darkseid, who screamed in great pain as the reddish-white substance slowly consumed and weakened him.
Up in space, Amazo saw the anti-matter wave approaching Earth and vanished in a flash of light right before it could make contact with him.
From their respective parts of the world – Martha Kent in Washington, D.C., General Sam Lane and his younger daughter, Lucy, in an apartment, Director Steve Trevor and all the agents in the D.E.O. headquarters, Lana Lang in Africa, Pete Ross and his mother in Wichita, Alfred Pennyworth in the Wayne manor in Gotham City, Queen Hippolyta and all the other Amazons on Themyscira island, and Detectives Maggie Sawyer and Dan Turpin, as well as the now-adult Alec Abrams, in the demolished Metropolis were all horror-struck by the massive wall of white that appeared seemingly out of nowhere in the red sky and wasted no time consuming everything and everyone in its path.
Even Darkseid looked thoroughly terrified at the anti-matter wave rapidly descending upon the planet as the Anti-Monitor stood over him menacingly. In a last-ditch effort to overcome his opponent, Darkseid attacked the Anti-Monitor with a powerful burst of telekinesis, which seemed to stun and slowly push the latter back for a few moments. As Darkseid tried to get back up, the Anti-Monitor suddenly powered through the former's telekinetic attack like nothing and struck the Apokoliptian ruler with a shockwave blast that knocked him back down.
As the approaching anti-matter wave was merely a few hundred feet behind the Anti-Monitor, he raised his hands, telekinetically manipulating the all-consuming white substance and launching it directly at the fallen Darkseid, who screamed in pure agony as the wave disintegrated his enormous body into nothingness.
Then, the anti-matter took out the rest of the planet and, just like that, there were no Earths left in the Multiverse.
Outside the Multiverse
"I've never felt more helpless than I am right now," Clark said glumly as he and Lois stood beside each other. "Not being able to do anything about Mom and everyone else left behind in our world getting wiped out in that horrible wave, even if we are gonna undo this entire mess."
"Despite my rocky relationship with both of them, I feel exactly the same way about Dad and Lucy," Lois said. "But we're gonna see them and your mother again, Smallville."
"As long as we win," Clark stated. While he was fairly confident that they would defeat the Anti-Monitor, a part of him was worried about the possibility of failing to restore their universes.
Supergirl-192 approached Kal-El and Jason. "I'm sorry about Galatea," she told them. "She died a good person. A hero."
"She certainly did," Kal-El agreed. "So did your cousin."
"Yeah," Supergirl-192 said, glumly. "But neither of them are gone forever. If Amazo is right, all we have to do is take out the Anti-Monitor and Tea, Clark, and all the others come back."
Jason turned to his father. "Hey, Dad."
"Yes, son?" Kal-El replied.
"Do you think, um, there's a chance, if our world gets restored, that Mom could be back too?" Jason wondered. "Amazo did say there could be changes and I couldn't help but wonder… what if Mom not getting killed is one of them. Do you think it's possible?"
Kal-El was silent for a few moments, taken aback by his son's question. With a sigh, he finally said, "I can't give you a definite answer for that, son. I certainly don't wanna get our hopes up for what could very well be for nothing. As much as I miss your mother every single day, there are some things that cannot be undone."
"Maybe you have a point," Jason nodded in understanding, though he continued to hope for even the slightest chance he'd see his mother alive and well again.
Superman and Linda stood together, matching gloomy expressions on their faces due to having lost their entire universe. The former observed his Earth-21 counterpart with Earth-21 Lois, the sight bringing tears to his eyes as he wished he had saved his own Lois.
A teary-eyed Clark-93 had his arm around a crying Lois-93. Not only was their whole universe gone like all the others, but their adoptive son Conner had perished not knowing what exactly was going on and must've been scared out of his mind upon seeing the anti-matter wave appear out of nowhere.
Conner talked a bit with Kal (Earth-50 Superman), while Clara and Kara K were doing the same as the former wanted to get to know her male counterpart's cousin.
Kara D was conversing with Supergirl-222, who told the former about everything that had happened in her universe as the Earth-38 Girl of Steel was thoroughly taken aback upon learning what became of her cousin's Earth-222 counterpart.
"Even after already meeting two evil versions of Kal, one who was a Nazi and another who was raised as a Luthor, along with a Nazi doppelganger of myself... hearing about your Superman becoming a murderous tyrant isn't any less unsettling or heartbreaking," Kara D stated.
"And now he and Wonder Woman are working with the Anti-Monitor," Supergirl-222 said, sadly. "You and those other three versions of us are very lucky to have cousins who never went down that path."
Kara D sighed, holding back tears as she thought about the death of her Superman. "I just hope we get my Kal and everyone else who died back. Not to mention my sister and everyone else from my universe."
"You have a sister?" Supergirl-222 asked in surprise.
"Adoptive sister," Kara D clarified. "Her name was Alex. She was the best." She sighed again. "And now she's gone like everybody else."
"We're gonna defeat the Anti-Monitor and, according to Amazo, it'll be like none of this happened," Supergirl-222 said.
"El Mayarah," Kara D said with a faint smile.
"Stronger together," Supergirl-222 replied, returning a smile as she and Kara D fist-bumped each other.
Alexander and Tess were talking to Lena, who told the former two what her brother had done to her body, causing them to feel a great deal of sympathy for Lena and disgust, along with intense anger, towards Earth-38 Lex Luthor as Tess noted that the Lexes had a knack for causing their sisters to become robotic beings.
"I give you my word, Lena," Alexander said, firmly. "I'm going to personally see to it that your brother doesn't survive through this Crisis."
"That's exactly what he deserves," Lena nodded. "Maybe things could've been different if my Lex had been like you. But he never was and never will be."
"Believe me, I know that feeling all too well," Alexander stated as he thought about Clark Luthor, who had been too far gone to be redeemed.
Lois-64 spoke with Andrea, who was saddened upon learning about the fate of her Earth-64 doppelganger, though the Earth-21 Angel of Vengeance couldn't imagine herself being allies, let alone friends, with Lex Luthor of all people.
Batman was silently processing the fact that his universe's Superman was really gone, unlike when the Man of Steel had merely been sent to the distant future by Toyman's giant robot years ago. He was also grieving the loss of Nightwing, his first crime-fighting sidekick.
"Your Superman was clearly a good man," Knight said as he approached his Earth-192 counterpart.
"He was more than that," Batman stated. "Clark was the best of us."
"I used to think the same about the one in my world, but you already know how that turned out," Knight said, wistfully. "I'm sorry you've lost your Dick Grayson as well."
"I'm sorry about what happened to your Batgirl, Catwoman, and Green Arrow," Batman returned.
"We know what to do if we want to get them back," Knight pointed out.
"We just need to win," Batman stated.
Dick (Earth-21 Robin), Robin of Earth-193, and Earth-192 Robin (Tim Drake) found themselves bonding pretty well as they told each other about their respective lives.
Earth-21 Barbara and Earth-192 Batgirl were conversing too as the latter was fascinated by the former's status as a Blue Lantern.
"So the ring just chose you," Batgirl said.
"Pretty much," Barbara answered with a grin. "Still can't believe it did, but hey, I'm not complaining. So, of all the names you could've picked for yourself, why did you settle for 'Batgirl'? My Bruce did suggest it when I first joined him in his crime-fighting crusade, but it just wasn't original and I didn't want it to be like I was merely taking after him when I could have my own angle, which was why 'Nightwing' was a much better fit."
"Huh," Batgirl said in surprise. "In my world, it was Dick who used 'Nightwing', while Tim took his place as 'Robin'. I've always been Batgirl."
"Maybe that name works for you, but for me, not my style," Barbara said.
"Fair enough," Batgirl said.
"Honestly, I'm not even sure if Nightwing is either anymore," Barbara said, looking down at her Blue Lantern ring.
As Barry-Blue told Barry-Red about his encounters with Earth-50 Reverse-Flash, the older scarlet speedster promised his younger counterpart that they were going to make sure that neither of their Thawnes would continue being a problem after the Crisis was over and once again offered to help free Barry-Blue's father from prison, which prompted a thought to appear in the Earth-50 Flash's mind.
"Speaking of Dad, do you think there's a possibility, maybe even a very, very small one, that he'll have never gone to prison in the first place once the universes are restored?" Barry-Blue wondered. "Maybe Thawne wouldn't have killed Mom in whatever new version of reality that could be created. I know it's a long short or probably even wishful thinking on my part, but maybe, just maybe... things won't be one hundred percent like they were before and some things could change for the better..."
"Look, Barry, I perfectly understand why you would hope for that, I do," Barry-Red said. "But, if there's one thing I learned and had to accept, it's that certain events in our lives are inevitable and have to happen in order for us to become who we are today."
"But Mom was never supposed to die and Dad was never supposed to go to prison," Barry-Blue pointed out. "Thawne came from the future and caused those to happen."
"True," Barry-Red nodded in agreement. "But even trying to undo what Thawne did could lead to unforeseen consequences."
"Wait, did you actually do that?" Barry-Blue asked, getting the impression that his namesake was speaking from experience. "Try to stop Thawne from killing your mom so she'd be alive and your dad wouldn't go to prison?"
"I did," Barry-Red admitted. "Trust me, it didn't end well."
"What happened?" Barry-Blue inquired, before Barry-Red told the former all about Flashpoint.
"I can't believe we lost so many heroes in a single day," Flash said gloomily as he and Bart stood together. "Even Supes of all people. We've gotten so used to the routine of taking on the all-powerful villain and coming out on top with zero casualties that none of us were prepared for this."
"We're gonna get 'em all back, amigo," Bart assured the Earth-192 speedster. "We just gotta take that bastard down, whatever it takes."
"For Supes and all the others," Flash said, doing his best to be optimistic.
"Right on," Bart agreed with a smirk.
Mick stood alone with a downcast look on his face when Cisco approached him.
"What do you want?" Mick demanded with a growl.
"Whoa, whoa, easy, Mick," Cisco protested, raising his hands in surrender. "I just want came to say that I'm sorry for what happened to your teammates. I know we've had our differences in the past, but I do have sympathy even for you believe it or not."
"I really appreciate that," Mick said, gratefully. "I'd appreciate it even more if you could get me some beers."
"Not possible since my powers don't work in this strange dimension," Cisco said.
"Hey," Mick said. "I'm sorry for beating you and your brother up."
"That was a long time ago," Cisco pointed out, stunned by Mick's apology. "You know what they say, 'let bygones be bygones'."
Adrian was amused by how different Earth-21 Ollie and Earth-192 Green Arrow were from the more serious Earth-1 Oliver, who told the Earth-2 archer "We get that a lot".
"Say, after this Crisis mess is dealt with and the whole Multiverse is back to normal, how 'bout a shootout to settle once and for all which of us emerald-clad archers is the best shot?" Green Arrow suggested.
"Been there, done that," Ollie recalled, before gesturing to Oliver. "With him. The short story? I kicked his ass."
"Only in the shootout," Oliver reminded the Earth-21 Green Arrow. "Don't forget that I kicked your ass literally."
"He did," Ollie admitted with a defeated sigh. "Turned out I'm the better shot, while he's the better fighter."
"But what about against me?" Green Arrow challenged.
"If you really wanna find out, we have a deal," Ollie accepted.
"Count me in too," Adrian said with a smirk that somewhat reminded Oliver of the former's late Earth-1 doppelganger.
Ollie turned to his Earth-1 counterpart. "Between you and me, I guess this would technically be a rematch."
"Guess so," Oliver nodded in agreement.
Dinah (Earth-21 Black Canary) was conversing with Laurel-Two, while Chloe, who kept little Roy beside her, was talking to Laurel-One and Caitlin. As Chloe was worried about getting killed before she could give birth to her and Ollie's daughter, Laurel-One and Caitlin assured her that there were tons of superheroes who would everything in their power to make no harm would come to her or the baby.
Roy and Thea conversed with Mia, telling her how they'd met as she was taken aback by the purse-snatching incident, with Roy joking that his and Thea's kids would find the story of their parents' meeting very amusing.
Sara and Nyssa were sparring, clashing their bo-staff and sword respectively before the White Canary spun around to dodge a kick from the daughter of Ra's al Ghul. Sara returned a kick, which Nyssa easily blocked before the two highly skilled female combatants continued their clash.
Earth-192 Black Canary comforted and conversed with Dinah-222 as the latter was still distraught over her husband's death, though she felt a bit better knowing that she would get to see him alive again once they defeat the enemy behind the Crisis and restore the entire Multiverse.
Wonder Woman, Prince, Diana-21, and Diana-76 discussed their plan to team up against their Regime counterpart, who would stand absolutely no chance fighting all four of them at once.
Astra approached Wonder Woman and said, "I never apologized to you for our battle last year."
"Not necessary," the Earth-192 heroine told the Earth-38 Kryptonian general in a kind tone. "Neither of us were at fault for what the Lex Luthors did to our minds."
Astra nodded with relief. "Thank you for understanding."
J'onn, John Jones, and Martian Manhunter mourned their Earth-50 counterpart and told each other about their respective lives, with J'onn and Jones greatly surprised that their Earth-192 counterpart had married a human woman, something neither of the former two Martian Manhunters had even considered doing, though J'onn admitted that he cared a great deal about M'gann and there had been times when he felt some attraction to her. Jones advised his Earth-38 counterpart to have a discussion with M'gann about that matter once the universes were restored.
A.C. and Mera conversed with Earth-50 Arthur Curry and Earth-192 Aquaman. Mera was holding her and A.C.'s one-year-old son Arthur Curry Jr., who had been brought to the dimension by Amazo, since his parents vehemently refused to let their little boy perish in the anti-matter wave.
Victor Stone of Earth-21 conversed with Earth-50 Vic Stone and Earth-193 Cyborg as the three told each other how they'd ended up in their respective half-man, half-robot states. Vic commented that Victor was lucky all his cybernetic parts were internal, since there were times that the Earth-50 Cyborg missed looking fully human, while Earth-193 Cyborg was intrigued by the similarities and differences between the three of them, not just physically, but also the events of their lives.
Green Lantern and Shayera were consoling each other over the deaths of Vixen and Earth-192 Hawkman respectively when Earth-21 John Stewart approached them, apologizing for their losses. Metamorpho joined them as well, offering his own condolences to his teammates, while telling Stewart that he and Green Lantern went way back as they knew each other since their days in the Marine Corps. Stewart replied that he never knew a Rex Mason in his world.
Dr. Fate of Earth-192 approached Earth-50 Hawkman. "You have my condolences for what happened to my Earth-50 counterpart," the magician told the latter. "I know he was your friend."
"We take out the Anti-Monitor, we get him back, right?" Hawkman said with determination.
"That is the current plan," Dr. Fate stated.
Jesse was taken aback as Wally pulled her into a kiss, which he immediately regretted. "Jesse, I'm… I'm sorry."
In response, Jesse grabbed Wally's head and returned a kiss, taking him aback. They pulled away a few seconds later and Jesse apologized to Wally for breaking up with him, admitting she still loved him. Wally offered to give their relationship another shot once their worlds were restored and Jesse eagerly agreed with a "Yeah, I'd like that".
Jefferson stood with his older daughter Anissa, while, not too far away, Static had an arm around Jennifer, who couldn't wait to confront the Anti-Monitor as she wanted to get her mother and everyone else in her world back as soon as possible.
Allen walked up to Jefferson and asked, "How are you holding up, Jefferson?"
"I'll feel a lot better when I get Lynn and our world back," Black Lightning replied.
"Same here," Allen said. "The thought of seeing Tina again, holding her in my arms and smelling her scent once more... both my Tina and your Lynn are counting on us."
"Damn right," Jefferson agreed. "I don't think our wives married any quitters. So, we should unleash all our power and rage against the dying of the light."
"Dylan Thomas would certainly agree with you on that," Allen stated with a smile.
"Most definitely," Jefferson nodded with a grin before he and Allen patted each other on the shoulder.
Ralph conversed with Elongated Man as they exchanged stories about their lives. While the two found themselves to be quite similar in some ways, Ralph couldn't help but admit that his Earth-192 counterpart was a better man than he was, since the latter had never lost his job as a detective due to dishonesty and was generally a more serious and mature individual. However, Elongated Man assured Ralph that he wasn't a bad person and that everyone made mistakes at some points in their lives.
Courtney comforted and talked a bit with Stargirl, who was mourning the loss of her stepfather S.T.R.I.P.E.
John-90 conversed with Lyla, who told the Earth-90 Green Lantern some stories about her and Diggle, from how they'd met in Afghanistan to them getting married.
Harry and Emil exchanged stories about how they became scientists and the two men found that they had quite a few things in common, since both ran a version of S.T.A.R. Labs, used their genius minds to help superheroes, and lost their wives to untimely deaths.
"Do you have sons named Grant and Joe?" Slade asked his Earth-50 counterpart.
"I had a son named Grant," Deathstroke replied as his Earth-1 namesake understood the implication of the answer. "I haven't seen Joe in many years, nor do I know what happened to him. He could be dead too for all I know."
"So you currently have no one in your life," Slade realized with understanding. "That's why you do what you do. Kill others simply for a payoff."
"It's much more useful than what you did," Deathstroke retorted. "You wasted your power and resources on a pointless vendetta, causing full-on riots throughout a city in the name of destroying one man. At least I use my gift wisely for something that's actually valuable."
"I told you the Mirakuru warped my mind, amplified my anger and thirst for revenge tenfold," Slade reminded his Earth-50 counterpart. "Even if I had been sane, I wouldn't have gone around claiming the lives of those who didn't deserve it, which is what you do, since it doesn't matter to you whether the target is innocent or not. As long as you get your cut and your vacations."
"No one is truly innocent," Deathstroke declared. "Everybody is in this life for themselves."
"I used to believe that as strongly as you do," Slade said. "But one thing I've learned, especially after meeting Oliver, is that there are genuinely good people who often put others before themselves."
Bloodsport was with Cleo, whose broken leg had been fully healed by Amazo. The latter was saddened over both Nanaue's death and the destruction of her rat communicator device. Ravager, Harley, and Harleen stood with them.
Amazo soon returned and raised his hands, unleashing a massive burst of blinding yellow cosmic light that engulfed every single person present on the floating asteroid.
When the light faded a few moments later, everyone was gone.
In this series, Mar Novu's wife Xneen is portrayed by Audrey Marie Anderson, making her Lyla's doppelganger and giving The Monitor a more compelling reason to take a special interest in her.
Also, I decided to adapt the Anti-Monitor vs Darkseid fight from The Darkseid War storyline. The latter never stood against the former.
The next chapter will obviously cover the final battle against the Anti-Monitor and all the other villains.