Foreshadowed
August 6, 1941
Of the many things that Superman loved about Metropolis, the way that the sun beckoned in each day with an unfolding wave of golden light that glinted off the water's surface was near the top. He held onto that love as he flew over the dawn's encroach, a villain in each hand.
"You bully. You brute. Let us go you overgrown twit," shouted the Prankster, his voice hoarse from the incessant abuse he hurled at Superman.
His other passenger, Insect Master, merely sulked. Theirs had been an elaborate scheme to deploy traps around the city which contained mutated batches of termites that could chew through concrete and steel as easily as wood. One that did not survive contact with Superman. This was his third encounter with the Prankster and his second with the Insect Master. The former reminded him of Winslow Schott, the Toyman, though he lacked the sympathetic nature of his grievances with society at large. Prankster was a man who only took joy in watching others failure. Both men were part of the growing ranks of inventors and scientists that took their innovations and used them for crime rather than society's benefit. Metropolis appeared to attract them.
He deposited them off with the police and flew back to the Daily Planet. With any luck he could get the story written before anyone else. Clark was barely back at his desk when his hypersensitive ears caught hold of an argument, taking place in one of the hallways away from the main bullpen. He would ordinarily have filtered it out, but this particular one involved Lois Lane.
"...a call would have been enough," she said. There was a curtness to her affect that Clark found unfamiliar.
An older, gruffer voice responded. "I thought it would be better if you knew I was in town."
Clark sat up at his desk, pretending to go through paperwork while he continued to listen in, feeling a bit of guilt over the voyeurism inherent in such an activity.
"Well now I know."
"That's all you've got to say?"
"Why are you here?"
"You know I can't tell you that."
Lois scoffed. "Afraid I'll spill your military secrets?"
Clark directed his x-ray vision to where the conversation was coming from, his sight penetrating through the office walls. Lois was talking to an older man in an officer's uniform. Clark wasn't an expert on the ranks, but he appeared to be well decorated. He had thin, neat hair and a sharp jawline.
The man appeared exasperated by Lois, though he was clearly straining to conceal that fact. "Quite frankly, yes. Your profession makes that a risk."
A beat passed. The man gazed at Lois, while she avoided meeting his eyes. Though he was far away from them, Clark could feel the tension that coiled around them.
"I've got to go," the man said. Lois didn't watch him leave. Before he entered the elevators, the man hesitated, as if he wanted to get one more word in, but the opening doors beckoned him in. Lois remained in the hallway for a few more minutes. Underneath the mechanical rhythm of typewriters and the conversations of the bullpen, Clark could hear her breathing slowly steady back to a predictable pattern, as if she were fighting off tears.
When she did return to her desk, Clark continued to feign working on his story. She disappeared behind her stack of papers, but he could hear her heavy sigh.
"Morning Lois," said Clark.
She returned the greeting. Clark wasn't sure it was the right move, but he couldn't help himself.
"Is everything alright? You seem a bit...off."
Lois emerged from the mess. "Everything's keen. Why? Have I set off one of your hunches?"
"No, no. I simply thought you might be tired. A long night maybe."
He had come in too strong, tripped her suspicions. Lois studied him, while he did his best to ignore her glare and type out the rough draft of his story.
"Were you snooping in the hallway?"
"What?"
"You listened in on me didn't you?"
"Lois, I've been at my desk all morning. Ask anyone," he said, gesturing to the others. Lois looked around. Jimmy waved at her from his cramped desk in the corner, oblivious to their current conversation.
She wasn't totally convinced, but her face lost a measure of its suspicion. She let her shoulders slumped. "It's been a morning for surprises. And not the kind I'm a fan of."
"I'm sorry to hear that Lois…"
"Stop. I don't need you worrying about me Clark. I'm a grown woman."
"I just want to know that when I beat you to the next big story it's because I was faster. Not because you were off your game," said Clark with a grin.
That seemed to shake Lois out of her malaise. "You're getting to be mighty confident there Smallville. What happened to that meek boy that stumbled into Perry's office?"
"He had to learn to keep up with you."
They both chuckled. That trace of sadness that Lois carried with her from the conversation in the hallway slid off. Clark allowed himself to get lost in the music of her laughter. As they settled down, there was a moment of clarity, a shared look into one another's eyes. A moment that called for action.
The moment escaped him, stolen away by the same hearing that invited him into her private drama to begin with. The word that preceded the overwhelming majority of Superman's activities was being shouted like a chorus somewhere in downtown.
"Help!"
Superman grabbed the pair of teenagers, then the old man and his dog, plus the gaggle of school children, in addition to the traffic cop, the news vendor, the priest, the taxi driver and everyone else in the way of the collapsing building. He was fortunate it was early enough in the morning that not everyone had arrived yet.
It was a the teenagers that pointed out the source of the collapse. A man walked unsteadily on the street, bracing himself on whatever objects were nearby. He was currently clinging to a light pole.
"Can I help you friend?" said Superman, on his approach.
He wore a black coat and pants, his red hair parted straight down the middle. The air around him appeared to contort and writhe, visible through a rapid diffusion of color akin to a rainbow. Muffled noises of a bewildering variety rebounded near Superman. The man coughed violently.
"Are you hurt?" Superman got closer.
"Don't touch me," shouted the man.
Superman raised his hands and stayed back. If this fellow was able to destroy a building so casually, there was no point in risking an open conflict. It would take time to evacuate the nearby area and he didn't want a fight spilling over.
"Where am I?" said the man between coughs. The pole he touched was sagging to the ground. Rusted.
"Metropolis."
The man's eyes shot wide open. He stood up straight, though his body continued to waver.
"What year is it?"
"Excuse me?"
"The year! Tell me the year."
"1941."
Through the current of color, the man's face grew pale, then the unexpected happened. He began to laugh. A rich, deep laugh, one that could not be contained. A laugh that doubled him over.
"1941? 1941, 1941, 1941" the man repeated. Superman remained on edge.
The man got closer to him, still wracked by laughter. "Don't you understand? It worked! It was worth it."
The laughter mixed with those sounds of indeterminate origin. They lasted less than a second each, but for Superman's perception of time, that was enough. The roar of waves crashed into the shriek of a steam train that grew to an unfamiliar hum. The colors clung closer to the man, creating a pocket of dancing light around him.
"Sir, I think it would be best if we got you somewhere a doctor could take a look at you."
The man ignored Superman in his laughter. He spoke again, this time firmer.
"On purpose or not, you knocked down that building. Clearly, there's something strange going on and I want to make sure you and everyone around you stays safe."
"I think not," said the man. He began to walk away, muttering to himself a dense sequence of calculations and terminology.
Superman used his speed to block the man's path, his arms crossed. "I'm not here to fight you. But, I do need explanations."
"Oh you poor simple man. You bear witness to the greatest scientific breakthrough in human history and this is all you can think to do?"
The man continued to approach Superman. The colors swirled around him more rapidly.
"Final warning," said Superman.
The man cast out his arm, pointed square at Superman's chest. He braced for an attack that never came.
"What?" said the man, doubt filling his voice. "No, no, no. It has to work. It already worked."
"We've no need to fight," said Superman. He reached out for the man's shoulder. When his fingers reached him, the current of color enveloped him as well. The rush of noises sped around Superman as a ray of energy split off from both of them, into a nearby cafe. Superman recoiled on instinct.
"What was that?" said Superman.
"Not in my control. Why isn't it?," said the man. His form began to blur, as though Clark were seeing double. Every movement stuttered and jittered, his actions smeared across space. There was no time to investigate as the windows of the cafe cracked and exploded.
"Such an odd development," came a woman's voice from the cafe. Something large moved within and the entire building shuddered, chunks of the exterior breaking off.
"Where are we Tharok?" said another.
"Give me a moment." The third speaker's voice was a peculiar blend, a gruff man's mixed with something far more hollow. "There's no net to connect to."
"Does it really matter?" said a fourth.
"Come out here," said Superman. The man who started all of this was getting further away, as his body shifted and split.
A group of four exited the husk of the cafe. A woman in a green costume and black costume stood at the front. A long cloak followed her, a green gem on her forehead. An enlarged eye hovered next to her, a trail of green energy surrounding it.
"This day continues to surprise," she said. Superman didn't like the look of recognition he got from her.
"Big blue," said the next, a hulking man in a silver metal mask. He held a grim metallic axe over one shoulder.
"Have we met?" said Superman.
"Even better," said the third. This was the man of mixed voices, a sight that startled Superman. The man was split in half, one side a bald man with a dour expression, the other robotic, far beyond anything he had seen, even Toyman's designs.
"He doesn't know us," said the final member of their ensemble, a figure in a black, red and yellow costume with a domed head. What passed for a face was a pitch black shadow with clear white eyes. All four of them were dimly outlined with the same hint of color that characterized the red haired man. They had accents that Superman couldn't place. Nor could he understand the heavy dose of deja vu their arrival set off.
"It's early then. You can tell by his costume" said the robotic man.
Superman didn't like where this was going. "Explain yourselves."
"This is a prime opportunity," said the woman. "Will intervention destroy us?"
"Unclear. I don't know how we got here. Conservatively, I'd say there's a fifty-fifty chance," said the robotic man.
"I'll take those odds," said the man with the axe.
"No time to waste then," said the woman in green. She whistled. "Validus!"
There was a crackle from within the remains of the cafe, as the air became supercharged. Superman avoided the opening salvo on instinct, but he was caught by an arc of lightning that brought bright spots to his vision and seared his brain as though someone took a railway spike to him. The front wall collapsed as what he could only describe as a monster joined his companions, a massive brute, around twenty feet in height with white and purple skin, no discernible eyes and an exposed brain only shielded by a clear case from which cascades of purple and blue electricity burst.
The woman left the ground, they eye at her side, as the others advanced on their weakened prey.
"Kill the Kryptonian."
"Fancy a cup of coffee Mr. Garrick," said Joan, from the door to their bedroom, as Jay struggled to untangle himself from the sheets.
"That would be delightful Mrs. Garrick," he replied, finally mustering the willpower to get up.
There remained novelty in the expression, one that each of them said giddily any chance they got. Their honeymoon had been a welcome change of pace, a quiet stay in Vegas, Coast City and Honolulu. The explanations of how a man and woman on professorial salaries afforded such a trip might be creative, but it was much easier when travel expenses weren't a consideration.
Joan handed him his cup as he stretched his aching muscles. She sat down with her reading glasses on, perusing the latest work turned into her by the students at Midwestern.
"For a man known for his speed, you take your sweet time waking up in the morning."
Jay groaned as he massaged a knot in his upper back. "Rest is vital for any serious superhero."
He gulped down half his cup and turned on the radio.
"...turn to Metropolis, where reports continue to come in that a band of superpowered criminals have engaged Superman in a contest of might. Authorities are urging all present to evacuate…."
Joan put down her papers as Jay finished his coffee.
"Time for you to go?" she said.
"I never know if he needs the help."
There was one way to find out. It wasn't in the nightstand. Or on their dining room table. Jay zipped around the house, while Joan sighed. "You misplaced it again?"
"Got it," said Jay. He held up the signal ring. It was vibrating, with Carter's voice coming through.
All available JSA members report to Metropolis to support Superman. Doctor Fate will provide transport to those in need.
"Don't be late for work, Mr. Garrick. And be safe," said Joan.
Within an instant, Jay was in costume, having given his wife a goodbye kiss on the cheek and on the road, making the run to Metropolis. It wasn't hard to find the source of the disturbance, from the smoke plumes and the rattle of deep impacts. The Flash zigzagged through the streets, moving bystanders away from the epicenter as he closed in.
The scene ultimately laid before him removed any doubt of the necessity of his intervention. A gargantuan purple monster held Superman in its clutch as streams of lightning poured into his teammate. The effect was multiplied by the green beam projected from a floating eye apparently directed by a woman in an emerald costume. There were others present, but the Flash ignored them to focus on helping Superman. He used his speed to race up a nearby wall and leap off of it, his trajectory colliding with the floating eye in such a manner that the beam changed targets to hit the creature. A sharp pain bit in his foot and ankle where he kicked the eye. The creature, for its part, led out a bestial roar and let loose its hold enough that Superman broke free, delivering a potent blow to its face, enough to send it staggering back.
"The Kryptonian has a friend," said a man with a giant axe, who charged at the Flash as he recovered.
Superman blocked the man's advance with a burst of heat vision, which forced the villain to fall back.
"Careful Flash. They're no joke." There was a strain in Superman's voice that Jay hadn't heard before. It troubled him.
The woman with the green eye blasted once again at the Flash, who avoided it and the follow-up attempts. She was high enough above the street that it would be difficult for him to reach her again. Superman brawled with the other members of the villains. A man with a domed head grasped out at Superman with hands that glowed radiant purple. Wherever they touched objects disintegrated.
As he weaved through the blasts of emerald light, another stream of luminous energy caught Jay's eye. All of their opponents had a thin layer of blue light around them and the entire area they were fighting in was bathed in warping colors. He traced it back to a man that was walking awkwardly on the outskirts of the encounter, his form wavering like a reflection in a pond. His observations were disrupted by the entrance of Doctor Fate through one of his ankh portals, which brought with him the majority of the team sans Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Starman and the Spectre.
"We're outnumbered Empress," shouted the man with the axe.
"I can see that," she said, the width of the beam growing to compensate for the new entrants into the fight.
The Flash moved Sandman, Atom and Black Canary out of the way of a blast, around the corner, hoping that the others made it to cover as well.
"Who the hell are these people?" shouted the Atom.
"No clue, but they mean business. Not many that can make Superman work for his win," said the Flash.
Around the corner, Hourman threw a car at the axe-wielder who split it cleanly in two with a casual stroke. Hawkman and Hawkwoman pursued the Empress, harried by her energy blasts, while in the background Superman struck the creature again and again to little result as it unleashed a torrent of lightning from its exposed brain.
"Any we can tangle with without getting minced?" said Black Canary.
"There's a fella wandering around that I would bet is the cause of all this nonsense," said the Flash, giving a description of the glowing man.
Doctor Fate landed near them, deflecting a ray of energy. "He's right. There is a profound disturbance in the natural order here and it has a singular cause."
"I can see the disturbance alright, doc," said the Atom.
"Any thoughts Black Canary?" said Sandman.
"May as well hit him hard and fast. Either it ends it early or it doesn't but if both of you think he's the root cause it's worth a shot."
The Flash and Doctor Fate nodded.
"Superman, Hawkman and the rest of us can keep the way clear. You two, Hawkwoman and Hourman can collapse in on our mystery man."
On Black Canary's signal, the Flash sped out from their cover, through the chaos, dead set on the glowing man. He vibrated his body, a new trick he had been working on, moving his molecules in such a fashion as to largely pass through any solid matter he encountered. It was an exhausting technique, bur he couldn't afford to be hit by an errant bit of debris. The Flash closed in on his target, arms outstretched, ready to seize him. As he reached his destination, his hands passed through the glow and he was forced to slow down so as to not collide with an oncoming wall.
"What?"
His companions efforts were no less successful. Even Doctor Fate failed to enclose the man in a bubble of magic. The glowing man's form appeared to slide and stutter out of every attempt. The Flash followed up a dozen more times in the span of a second, to no avail.
"It should work. It should be under my control," said the man, repeating a variation to himself over and over. He was unbothered by the fight unfolding around him.
"I don't know if this guy's all here Flash," said Hourman.
Another stream of light cascaded off of the man, pooling on a street corner. Jay watched in disbelief as an ensemble of men dressed in knightly armor ran from the pool, waving weaponry he could only deem as medieval. Another pool spat forth a group of men with flintlocks, while the next jettisoned a caravan of mounted archers. More and more anachronistic people flowed out of these pools of light, each tinged with the blue glow that characterized the villains battling the JSA.
"If we don't stem the tide, we're going to get overrun," said Hawkwoman.
The waves of new entrants into the fight didn't seem to have much in the way of strategy beyond wanton destruction, directing their fury at the surrounding buildings and the JSA members in their way. Despite the variance in their apparent origins, they did not turn on one another. Jay bolted through the growing crowds, disarming and disabling where he could, while the others continued to harry the glowing man. The object of their attention finally seemed to notice their interference, turning to the group with a frenzied expression. The swirl of colors brightened.
"You," the man said with a seething hatred. "You're the ones who caused this."
Hourman and Hawkwoman pressed their attack now that they had his attention. With a wave of his hand, the spectrum of light flashed out around them, swallowing their forms in its glow. When Jay could see clearly again his comrades were gone.
"Hawkwoman!" shouted Hawkman.
The hero careened through the mob of assailants, knocking them aside with brutal swings of his mace. The man was prepared for Hawkman, unleashing another burst of light that left no trace Jay's teammate had been there at all.
"Good lord," said Jay.
Doctor Fate floated nearby, a shield of light up around the two of them.
"Are they…", the Flash couldn't finish the thought.
"Unknown. If there is a way to resolve this crisis, it lies in stopping him."
"Give him something to worry about. I'll hit him from every other angle."
Doctor Fate surged towards the man, firing off spells to pin him down. The glowing man was unconcerned by the barrage of magic, continuing to slip through gaps that should not have existed. The Flash ignored his doubts over the viability of their plan, speeding up to a sprint that circled the man, looking for any opening. It was absurd. Even in his accelerated state, the Flash perceived the man as a blurry, jittering mess, the same as what his companions could see. Whatever was causing this effect was beyond his super speed to counteract.
Without warning, the man was next to Jay, leering near him as he dashed around the fight.
"You and the golden one think you're so clever. How easily you are undone."
As the light surrounded the Flash, all he could think of was Joan, sitting by the radio, awaiting his return.
Crouched behind an overturned phone booth, gunshots ringing out in sporadic patterns, Libby Lawrence wondered how she had ended up in yet another war zone. An arrow landed uncomfortably close to her, as horsemen galloped through the streets calling out battle cries in unknown tongues. There was no rhyme or reason to the themes of the people that exited the pools of fluctuating light, save for their overwhelming hostility. Men in uniforms from the Great War fired rifles next to vikings, while Chinese warriors set off black powder bombs.
Libby kept low, feeling the very real possibility that fear was going to overpower her. Her legs felt as though iron chains had been affixed to them, rooting her in place. It didn't help that every few seconds there was an impact a few blocks over, one at least as powerful as any bomb that dropped on Warsaw. A reminder that Superman and the others were fighting something truly inhuman. This was outside of her purview. Even the heavy hitters weren't faring well. Green Lantern had arrived and begun to battle the villains along with Superman, but Libby had personally witnessed the Flash, the Hawks, Hourman and Doctor Fate vanish in a flash of light. The pit in her stomach did its best to convince her the worst had occurred.
As errant bullets pinged off of the edge of the phone booth, Libby heard someone hissing out her heroic name.
"Liberty Belle! Liberty Belle, get over here," said the Atom. Her teammate was a short distance away, pressed against a wall.
She urged her body to move, but it refused the command.
"Over here. Lady, you're going to get killed out there," said the Atom more forcefully.
One of the glass panes on the booth exploded from a round going through it. The facade of an adjacent storefront caved in from what had to be a cannon shot. Somewhere over the skyline an emerald beam cut through the air.
Libby flailed to her feet, as she transitioned to a mad dash. Angry voices rang out, with the incoming wave of bullets, arrows and javelins confirming that her run had not gone unnoticed. Her foot caught on a rough patch of asphalt, and she slid into safety with a painful fall. The Atom dragged her fully out of view.
"What a start to your time on the team," he said. His mask ripped at the jaw, a thin smear of blood on his exposed skin.
Libby mumbled out a response. He wasn't alone. Black Canary was kneeling next to him, her leather jacket torn at the side, her face marked black from smoke.
"This is spiraling," said Canary. "We're severely outnumbered."
"Its only getting worse," said the Atom.
A noise from the other side of the street startled Libby, but it was only Mr. Terrific hopping a back alley fence to reach them.
"What did you find?" said Black Canary.
"The police are trying to set up a cordon, but its being tested already. Superman and the others are keeping those folks as busy as they can. There's still a big chance it spills outside of this neighborhood."
"Any luck finding Doctor Midnight or Sandman?"
Mr. Terrific shook his head. "It gets worse."
"How could it possibly get worse?" said the Atom.
"Spectre disappeared as well. Same thing that happened to the others."
Libby hadn't been with the team long, but from the way the others deferred to the Spectre with a mixture of fear and respect she knew they were one of their most powerful members. Perhaps even more so than Doctor Fate and Superman.
Black Canary spoke up first, before despair could seize them. "There's no time to mope. We've got to contain the danger, as best we can. Mr. Terrific, Atom, create as big a distraction as you can manage. Keep them busy."
"Got it," said the Atom.
Black Canary grabbed Liberty Belle by the shoulders. "I can tell you're on the verge of losing it. I get it, I'm right there too."
Libby nodded, unsure of if this was meant to help her. The concussive impacts roared out again.
"No way around it. This is what you signed up for. There's a lot of people in harm's way if we don't act. Can I count on you?"
"I..I think so…"
"You've got your sonic powers right?"
"Yes."
"How potent are they? Can they bring down walls?"
"I think so. If I focus them enough."
"Good enough for now. You've got to create choke points. Cut off the routes these warriors can take. With any luck Wonder Woman and Starman will be here soon to help us."
She released Libby.
"All you need to do is act before you can think too much," said Black Canary, before she ran off for her own part of the plan.
Not the best sentiment, but it would have to do.
Wonder Woman sent the man with the bowl shaped head flying back through a sequence of walls with a kick to his midsection. It would be too much to hope for that such a blow would remove him from the fight. She had only just arrived, but it was readily apparent that their opponents were remarkably tough. And vicious.
Across the intersection, Green Lantern swerved past the swings of a fearsome axe, one wielded with the utmost skill by a man in a silver helmet. The blade was capable of passing through his constructs with ease, necessitating the evasive maneuvers that Green Lantern was currently engaged in. Diana rushed over to join his fight. Alan was a skilled brawler, but she could see that he was out of his depth against this brutal combatant.
"Allow me," she said, her lasso thrown out to bind the man's off arm.
His response was instantaneous, the blade coming down to try and sever the cord. Golden sparks erupted from the impact, with Diana feeling a stinging feedback from the attempt, though the lasso remained intact.
"Huh," said the brutish man. "Ain't seen that before."
Wonder Woman tugged the lasso towards herself, bringing him along with it. Before she could strike, he hit her with the hilt of the axe, knocking her off balance. An overhead slash was interrupted by Green Lantern casting out a wall of green flame that bowled the warrior over. There was little time to regroup, as a spray of gunfire peppered the area they were in, a gift from the robotic villain, his mechanical side boasting a prodigious machine gun. Wonder Woman deflected the projectiles with her bracelets, till Green Lantern threw up a shield for both of them.
"Do we know who these foes are?" said Wonder Woman.
Green Lantern shook his head, his attention locked on the shield. Their companion was a few streets over, easily tracked by the collapsed buildings that his opponent had created in his rampage. The behemoth reminded Diana of Grundy, only larger and stranger. That Superman was having a difficult time putting it down did not bode well. Above them, an aerial battle took place as Starman pursued and was pursued in turn by the woman in green, the green eye she commanded shooting out rays of green energy.
The man firing at them walked over to a tree that had been knocked over in the battle. Ceasing his fire, he split off chunks of wood, which he rapidly fashioned into sharp javelins, using an implement that protruded from his mechanical half.
"Oh no," said Green Lantern.
The first shard of wood clipped Alan's shoulder. Wonder Woman returned the favor, blocking her ally and shattering the incoming volley.
"How the hell does he know that weakness?" said Green Lantern.
Diana had no time to respond. A man she had glimpsed only in the background of the fight, a red haired individual that had a cascade of colors surrounding him stumbled into view. With a wave of his hand, Diana was overwhelmed by a wave of light, as she heard Green Lantern call for her, till his cries faded .
When the light enveloped the Flash he was at a dead sprint, so he had no time to adjust when his ankle hit something solid enough to send Jay into a head over heels tumble through a thicket of vegetation that had no place in the center of Metropolis. He let out a string of curses as his body continued to bounce and skid, till something solid stopped his painful fall.
Jay permitted himself a few seconds of pain on the ground, before he got up. His hands pressing against mud gave him pause, as did the humidity. Metropolis could be as muggy as any city in the East, but this was tropical. In fact, as his vision adjusted after the blinding light, Jay no longer had any idea where he was. His immediate surroundings were a dense patch of foliage, that of a jungle. Sunlight came through in thin pockets, obstructed by a thick canopy of trees. Sweat already clung to his skin. Noises beyond his reckoning chattered in every direction, a constant thrum of life all around.
His body ached from the crash, making Jay hesitant to run. There was no way to orient himself relative to the land around him so he simply picked a direction and began to walk, calling out the names of his companions as he did so. Creatures moved through the upper reaches of the canopy, but Jay couldn't make out specifics. He thought that a shadow passed over him from birds flying above at one point.
After a few minutes, he found stream, which he used to clean his face, caked as it was with mud. He followed the stream as it wound through the foliage, till it spilled out into a clearing. There was a ridge which overlooked a thinner patch of forest that faded into a sprawl of grasslands. In the distance, Jay could tall trees that jutted out from the rest of the vegetation. With surprise, he realized that the trees were not swaying from the wind, but actually moving through the forest, as they shifted to and fro, occasionally bending towards a tree. He was looking at the necks of enormous creatures, which lazily marched through worn down paths in the jungle. Smaller creatures grazed near them. A flock of what he had thought were birds soared overhead, with wings that were membranous and crested heads. They were too far above to discern details, but he heard their shrill cries as they passed.
Panic was perhaps the wrong feeling to ascribe to what was developing within him. There was fear, yes, but also wonder, the realization that he was on the precipice of a truly unprecedented experience. The events of the past few years were ludicrous to his prior conception of life. This superseded any and all of that. It wasn't his field of study by any means, but he had been to a handful of exhibits, seen them in the pulps, heard about them in far-fetched radio dramas.
Jay was looking at dinosaurs.
The proper fear arrived when he heard the hefty crackle of a log in the direction he came from, saw the foliage part from the encroachment of a great frame and caught a sliver of reptilian eyes through the gaps in the jungle. By the time the beast was close enough to be felt by its footfalls alone, fear was the only appropriate response.
Diana coughed up a mouthful of salt water, grasping at the surface. One moment she was in the midst of Metropolis, the next she was taking a breath fully submerged. She fought through the disorientation of her new surroundings, finding that there was a shoreline within sight. It took scarcely a minute to swim to shore, where Diana finished hacking up the last of the water. She could hold her breath for a considerable amount of time, but it was ill-advised to go about inhaling water.
The beach was pale, white and narrow, quickly giving way to the dominion of a forest. It was ringed in on both sides by steep cliffs of rock. She considered flying to survey her location, but decided to take a less noticeable approach. To her surprise, there was a clear trail wound through the woods, etched out by frequent traffic. Whether those who made the trail would prove friendly was another matter. Above the sloshing of the waves, Diana heard voices faintly in the distance. She made her way in their direction, careful to remain obscured. A branch of the trail gave way to another beach, this one far wider. There was a gathering on it, or rather two parties given the clear divide between them. They were all women. Women dressed in the garb of Themyscirans, unmistakably. The larger of the two groups stood on the edge of the beach, while the other had their feet in the path of the tide, a handful of small boats sitting on the shore. There was an uncanny quality to the appearance of these women. There was also a clear tension on display, one palpable even from such a distance. The conversation at last reached her ears with sufficient clarity as to be understood.
"We are a merciful people. Our island was founded on the promise of submission to the power of love. We are sisters, Amazons. Born anew, free from the hatred that poisons Man's World. You were welcomed into that family. Yet, you have breached the bounds of our forgiveness," said the speaker for the larger group. She was a tall woman, in a purple robe with rich dark hair.
There was a brief murmur from the smaller group before one stepped from their ranks, a blond woman with braided hair and a piercing voice.
"You make a mockery of the goddesses that granted us this paradise."
An uproar sounded from both parties, only silenced by the woman in purple's raised hand.
"You have the hubris to speak of the goddesses? You ignore their teachings and abandon their gifts. You defile the sacredness of Aphrodite's love. You scorn the wisdom of Athena. You twist the teachings of Hecate and defy the will of Artemis. You waste the bounty of Demeter. You bring ruin to the hearth of Hestia."
The blond woman spat on the sand, a gesture that nearly brought the two groups to blows.
"Cling to your lies. See if they shall keep you safe when the world comes for you."
The woman in purple split from her ranks, clearer in Diana's vision than before. There was no mistaking it, in spite of her shock. It was Hippolyta, the Queen of the Amazons. Her mother. What schism had occurred in Diana's absence?
Hippolyta spoke, "You have defied us, tainted us. Still, we offer you one final mercy. Exile."
Diana had to uncover the source of this bitter division. When she moved to approach, her body refused to obey. She remained crouched in the foliage. There was the flutter of wings, as a peacock landed beside her, its rich plumage on display. Then another. And another. Till a flock of the birds surrounded her. The first to arrive, titled its long, thin neck, its marble black eyes locked to Diana's.
From nowhere, everywhere and certainly, inexplicably the peacock, a voice as smooth as untouched snow. "Well now little girl, you don't belong here."
Diana urged her tongue to speak, but no sound could be made.
"An audience to a drama not meant to be observed by such eyes. Certainly not meant to be interrupted."
The peacocks closed ranks around her, blocking out the sight of the unfolding exile behind them with their colorful feathers. The voice seemed to come from all and none of them, slinking from bird to bird.
"No, no, no, you won't do at all. Till whatever wrong that brought you here is righted, I shall keep you. So says Hera, Queen of the gods."
From within the confines of the helm, Kent Nelson watched as a kingdom died. Though a battle yet raged around and on top of the castle's walls, there was little question as to the ultimate outcome. The invaders outnumbered the defenders, most of whom fought on, willing to die for their home. As caretaker of the Tower of Fate and the preeminent master of magic, Kent was familiar with Camelot and its storied history, far beyond the literary trappings that obscured the truth. Indeed, many relics of the proud kingdom lay within his home, from the sword that Gawain used to strike the Green Man to the bones of Sir Lancelot.
Still, it was one thing to have an abstract understanding of its importance and another to watch its violent downfall. Kent's body and by extension his consciousness, had a clear view of the affair, sitting cross-legged in the sky above, a spell of illusion blending him into the background. The moment his surroundings shifted from Metropolis to this new scene Nabu had seized control from him. That he had any senses at all was an act of contrition, though Kent did not know that he appreciated it in light of the barbarity before him.
We have arrived late in this chapter. Arthur is already dead, his killer Mordred felled in the act. The dark armies of Mordred fight on, urged by their mistress Morgaine Le Fey, to tear down the kingdom until its very name is scoured from the thoughts of humanity.
"Cleary they failed."
Correct. Which is why it is vital we do not interfere.
The concept of time travel was not alien to Kent, though it was an exceedingly rare form of magic. He knew of no such technology that could facilitate it, his present predicament notwithstanding. The Helm of Fate permitted him to mentally project through time, with actual physical travel a nigh impossibility, even for a Lord of Order.
An explosion rippled along the exterior of the castle, as gaps were blown into the defenses, wide enough to march scores of invaders through. Gates rose at other points, ladders were thrown down, beckoning the interlopers. What had already been a losing battle, entered a new phase of hopelessness as the defenders were swarmed and butchered.
The betrayal unfolds.
"Who?"
Sir Jason Blood. One of the kingdom's most faithful defender's, ensnared in Le Fey's whispers. Promised false mercy if he hands over the city to her. He will suffer a penance most damning for this transgression.
Nabu continued to work the spell that kept Doctor Fate concealed from sight and all other senses, performing the chants, making the motions, invoking the necessary powers.
"Is the original spell not enough?" said Kent.
A number of the most powerful sorcerers who ever lived are present here. To remain obscured to Merlin, Morgaine Le Fey and the others requires a deft touch.
Hours passed as the fall of Camelot played out. Kent watched as columns of fleeing survivors scattered into the countryside, only the lucky few avoiding being preyed upon by the blood-drunk bands of the invading army. Fires raged throughout the city, as looters cracked open every available building, looking to spill its wealth. The glow that permeated the castle's towers dulled.
His attention was drawn to a procession of knights, adorned in obsidian black armor. A dozen servants carried a glittering palanquin, topped by ornate statues of dragons, each metal beast inlaid with countless gems, too numerous to count. Kent nearly laughed at the absurdity of such a display taking place amidst the ruination of the city. The palanquin was set down within the inner courtyard of the conquered castle. A woman dressed in a gold and green dress emerged, her black hair draped over her shoulders, a crimson crown atop her temple. The sorceress regarded her surroundings with scant enthusiasm.
Morgaine Le Fey.
"She doesn't appear particularly joyous about her victory."
Every victory has its price, even for one such as her. Her child lies dead.
A man with rich red hair was brought before the sorceress. Kent could not hear the exchange, but he could see that the man was desperate, his mannerisms strained and pleading. He fell to his knees, his head bowed to Le Fey. The display did nothing to move her, not in anyway that mattered. Morgaine Le Fey took to the castle steps, where she began to chant, gesturing with motions that Kent recognized as magic most profane.
"She wouldn't dare…"
As I said, her child is dead. Morgaine Le Fey has not let the laws of Life and Order bar the way thus far. Why would she cease now?
Across the city, groups of captured defenders and inhabitants were brought to circles painted on the ground in the blood of the slain. He understood their import, the infernal power that they invoked. And like all deals made with those below, it required a worthy sacrifice. Hence the prisoners. Kent writhed within his own mind as the grisly act occurred. Even Nabu seemed to bristle, an electric charge coiling through the Helm, though he did not move to stop it.
Morgaine Le Fey's invocations took on a greater power, the air around her gaining an orange glow. The circles of blood, marked with a fresh supply of it, mirrored that energy. Fissures cut into the earth as a roar of flame blew from them. Even before the first clawed hand grasped at the edge of the pit, Kent knew what Le Fey had done.
Morgaine Le Fey had beckoned the forces of Hell.
Superman was striking the creature called Validus as hard as he had ever hit any living being, for all the good that it was doing. His blows could stagger him, but he could absorb a remarkable amount of punishment. The lightning that projected off of Validus's brain bypassed Superman's own durability, as though they had a direct channel to his mind. Each bolt that struck him sent pain spiking through his whole body.
The overall crisis was on a path of runaway escalation. With his senses, Superman could hear the strange bands of fighters that rampaged throughout this area, spit out by the glowing man that summoned the group of villains that he currently fought. The Justice Society had arrived in force, though to his dismay, he could hear that there were complications. Black Canary's worried voice spoke of the losses of several of his comrades, which Clark hoped was not true.
A cry for help caught Superman's attention in the midst of his battle. Past his hulking opponent, two blocks over was a young mother, a child grasping each hand, caught between the approaching horde of warriors and the villain with the dome head, who was currently harrying Black Canary and Mr. Terrific. The building she had sheltered in was dangerously close to collapse. Superman dove past Validus, gritting his teeth through a glancing lightning strike. He flew towards the woman and her children. The sound of the walls crumbling hit his ears, as did the start of a scream. He swept them up in his arms, bolting out of the danger, leaving them at a safe spot. There was a perimeter of Metropolis police officers, with the usual contingent of reporters and concerned citizens, even as the police urged them to retreat further in case the danger spread. Clark spied Lois and Jimmy as they moved through the ranks, liable to find their way to trouble regardless of what the authorities demanded. All the more reason to end this soon.
As he returned to the fight, with the frame of Validus visible through the wreckage of several structures, the creature confused as to where its opponent had gone, Superman was hit from the side by a blast that seared him through his costume. He cried out in pain, as he fell from the air. The impact on the ground was a shock, made worse by another beam of emerald light that collided with his back. Somehow it was able to bypass his durability.
"I never tire of hearing your pain," said the Emerald Empress as she floated toward him, the eye maintaining its beam. Superman tried to get up, but the pressure on him was too much. The best he could do was rise to his hands and knees.
Liberty Belle made her way from street to street, finding the choke points where a targeted blast of her sonics could create enough debris to slow the haphazard advance. There was no order to the battle at hand, just a maddened mob of warriors doing their best to wreak destruction on all around them. Libby had avoided their attention, but their eyes showed scant evidence of intellect or curiosity. At one point, Starman fell from the sky, felled by his foe. She wanted to find him, but it was impossible to locate where he landed in the cacophony of the fight. Black Canary and Mr. Terrific kept up their end of the plan, creating diversion after diversion. They distracted the masses of enemies without getting pinned down. There was still no sign of their teammates that had disappeared.
At a street corner devoid of action, Liberty Belle gave herself a moment to catch her breath. Her muscles ached from the constant effort, from the repeat use of her powers. The scientists who administered the serums warned her that it would take months to fully adjust to the strain that it put on her body. Today was a real test of that fact. It wracked her with the same discomfort as a coughing fit, the feedback rattling her rib cage.
A noise from a nearby alley startled her. "Liberty Belle, over here," said Doctor Midnight.
She followed him to a back alley stoop, where Sandman was propped against the steps, a crimson stain soaked through his jacket.
"An arrow, from one of those mounted archers," said Doctor Midnight.
Sandman rolled his head from one shoulder to the other. "Looks…it looks worse than it is," he said with a slurred voice.
"I bandaged him and gave him medicine for the pain, but he is in need of more extensive medical attention. Soon." Libby understood the implication.
Gunshots and breaking windows echoed out closer than Libby liked. They were still within the domain of the danger. It would be no easy task to carry Sandman to safety, particularly without risking opening his wounds once more.
"We need someone like Green Lantern or Starman to fly him out," said Liberty Belle.
"My thoughts exactly. I can't leave him here."
Libby understood. "I'll be back. Soon."
Starman had crashed through the upper window of a printer's shop. He laid in a leaking pool ink and broken bottles. Ted thanked the cosmic rod for its protection. Had he suffered such an impact without its protective field, he may have been killed outright.
It wasn't a proper thought, not the kind he would share with any of his teammates, but there was an exhilaration to this that he found alluring. The stakes of such a combat demanded a focus, a presence in the moment, that Ted could scarcely get enough of. It wasn't to say he enjoyed the destruction wrought by their foes. Rather, he was moved by the thrill of the fight, the contest of skill.
Flying out the broken window, Starman laid low a contingent of warriors armed with spears and shields, reminiscent of Greek warriors he had seen painted on urns at a Greek exhibit with Doris. It didn't really matter their origin at the moment, so much as their hostility. The cosmic rod made short work of them, blasting their numbers with a concussive wave of energy. He moved from street to street, clearing them as he did so. Only those with projectile weapons warranted a degree of caution, though the rod could deflect bullets, arrows and javelins with sufficient warning.
By the ruined remains of an abandoned bus, Starman saw a flickering, warping figure. It was the one described by Green Lantern, the one that had caused all this mayhem to begin. The person spoke aloud, a rambling stream of questions, expletives and nonsense.
"Hold it there. This all has gone on long enough," said Starman in an authoritative voice, the one he honed by the mirror when Doris was out.
The figure stopped in its tracks, though their form continued to dance about incessantly. Ted watched the man turn his head to him, the motion a blur across the air.
"You," said the flickering man, their voice dripping with venom.
"The one and only." Ted had no idea who this was. Perhaps his reputation had preceded him.
The flickering man approached. "You started this. You set me down the path."
Starman used the magnetic qualities of the rod to disassemble the husk of the bus, splitting it into sheets of metal, which he positioned around the man, creating a makeshift cell.
"Easy there."
The man slid through the metal without a second thought, his body not even registering its presence.
"You ruin my life and then play at being the hero? I think not." The man projected a beam of light and color.
Starman dodged the beam, the same one that had caused Wonder Woman to vanish. He returned the favor with a blast of his own. The cosmic ray cut through the man, without an effect. They continued their duel, each contender failing to secure victory.
Jay ran down the uneven slope, at what would be an impressive pace for a normal person, but was a fraction of his typical speed. His body was unresponsive to his desire to go fast, still reeling from the violence of his entry to this place. That and the danger of a trip down the hill was enough to cause some caution.
The beast that pursued him didn't appear to be having any such trouble, with each step bringing it closer to its chosen prey. Were Jay to guess what it was, he would have to say Tyrannosaurus Rex, though their initial meeting hadn't granted him much of an opportunity to inquire about such things. The creature had stalked out of the jungle, its nostrils flaring at Jay's scent, before it let out a roar that drilled deep into his brain, right to those ancient roots that remembered what it was to be hunted and alone.
He took a diagonal route down the slope, hoping that it would slow his pursuer. Rocks tumbled with his footfalls, as he resisted the loose soil that gave way under his weight. The dinosaur appeared to have a wide enough foot that it was able to support its bulk, as it made its way after him. The herds of smaller dinosaurs below, the ones he had seen from the ridge, took note of the ongoing chase, as they began to scatter from the vicinity, aware of the danger. Hot, rancid breath puffed on Jay's neck as he heard jaws snap closed inches from his head. The slope leveled out to the grasslands. If the chase continued here without his speed, there would be no contest.
The Flash put all his effort into pumping his arms and legs, into that mental image of his speed. He repeated the feeling of jolting forward, being swept into the flow of his powers. Another puff. From the corners of his eye, Jay could see massive teeth. A flash of lightning ran up his spine, out to his limbs. The landscape blurred past him, as Jay escaped the Tyrannosaurus. Though he enjoyed the return of his speed, Jay understood that it meant no difference if he was stranded here.
The Spectre sat alone in the void of space. It was the most peace they had felt in ages. No one to judge. No calling to obey. Silence. They rested on a speck of dust in an immense swirl of particles, that flowed ever inward, building in pressure, heralding the birth of a star. Or at least it would, in a million years or so.
Liberty Belle found Green Lantern engaged in a back and forth with a man split between flesh and metal. Her teammate was uncharacteristically using the buildings and wreckage as cover, as opposed to his green flame. As she crept nearer, the villain launched shards of wood that exploded on impact, or embedded in lesser materials, so powerful was the force. What about this was enough to send Green Lantern to cover?
"Liberty Belle?"
She hid below the husk of a car, its tires gone, its windows blown out. "I can see you're in the middle of something, but we need you." She explained Sandman's condition.
Green Lantern grimaced, flinching from a nearby impact. "Superman's down over there," as he pointed beyond his foe. "The woman in green managed to shoot him down."
Libby couldn't hazard a proper look, unless she wanted a wood stake through her skull. "Is he still there?"
"I never saw him get out. This bastard's had me pinned here."
"Why can't you get closer?"
"The ring...it doesn't stop wood."
"Wood?" The idea was absurd.
Green Lantern shifted his cloak aside, to show a nasty cut on his thigh. "Wood can pass through. Somehow he knows."
Libby could see the concern on her teammates face. "Its Superman. He may be in trouble, but Sandman doesn't have long."
She knew what she was asking him to do. Trade one for another. Libby hoped she was right about Superman's chances.
Green Lantern's head rose to look at her. His brow remained furrowed, but it was commitment rather than disgrace. The ring sparked as a wall of green flame blocked off the street, obscuring them from view if not protecting them. "Take me to him."
The restraints around Rex Tyler's wrists were finally starting to give. It was about time, he scarcely had fifteen minutes left on his current dose of Miraculo by his calculations. The twitch on the right side of his jaw had started, a sure sign that the end of his powers was fast approaching. Though the rules were not working as per usual.
The fight in Metropolis had given way to a flash of light, after which darkness fell around him. He awoke with his limbs strapped to a not entirely uncomfortable chair, in an airy, open space, though his eyes remained covered. The Miraculo should have worn off for the day, but on an impulse Rex tried another, managing to slip a dose from the hourglass compartment he wore on his neck. Sure enough, as soon as the pill was swallowed he felt the cold spike sink into his muscles, the one that told him his hour of power had begun. The restraints were strong enough to not be outright broken out of, though that hadn't stopped him from gradually loosening them with contractions of his muscles.
A handful of people had entered the room he was held in over his captivity.. A whooshing noise that he assumed was the door followed by light footsteps. They had spoken in a language he did not understand, one that had hints of English and what he thought was Chinese. There was no overt hostility and they did not touch him, but that did little to assuage Rex's concerns based on his current circumstances.
With one last curl of his biceps, Hourman tore the restraints loose from his chair. He grasped at his face, finding a helmet of sorts that he yanked off. The bindings on his legs were easier to dismantle with proper leverage. The room he was in was a light teal chamber with a subtle door, with no apparent handle. Rex tested the door for any way to manipulate it, and finding none, barreled through it, an act that set off an alarm of sorts. Oh well. He was seldom one to worry about the consequences beforehand. Better to figure it out as he went along.
Hourman dashed through the smooth halls of a featureless interior, with windows that somehow let in light without allowing him to see what was outside. That same strange language sounded out through an intercom overhead. Careening around a corner, Rex came face to face with a wall of men and women in what appeared to be uniforms wielding compact firearms. They called out to him.
The guards never got a chance to use their weapons, as Hourman bowled into their numbers, knocking through them like a bull. He didn't take the time to subdue all of them, aware that any delay would only lead to more opponents. The halls were marked with glowing signage that hovered off the surfaces, a peculiar sight, but not one that Rex had time to ponder. He raced through the facility, turning from identical corridor, to identical corridor, until at last, he spied what looked to be an exit. With a crash, Hourman knocked through the doorway.
So far, Rex had been able to do what he always did and put aside the weirdness he was confronted with and attend to the task at hand. It was a skill he developed long before he ever developed Miraculo or took up costumed heroics, though it was certainly one that benefitted his chosen activities. What he saw outside the building was enough to tear through that and force him to stop and take it all in.
It was a city, but it was like no city Rex had ever seen. The golden towers of Metropolis paled in comparison to the scale and complexity of the urban sprawl that dominated every direction he could look at. The spires shot up into the sky, so high that they grazed the clouds. Many of the buildings were domed with lush gardens, while others had plants growing out of the sides. What appeared to be cars soared through the skies, in a dense pattern, while massive projections of light and sound bounded off of buildings giving form to a myriad of displays. From the platform he was on, Rex could see crowds of people move about on the streets and walkways below, their initial appearance familiar, till he noticed that many of them had skin colors outside of the human palate, while others defied any measure of understandable anatomy. It was enough of a barrage on the senses that Rex became markedly dizzy. He clutched the railing, as his knees sagged, the Miraculo virtually gone.
"It's a lot to take in, isn't it?" It was English, marked by a queer accent, but English nonetheless. It came from a teenager in a pink and black costume, who floated down towards Rex. Rex raised his fists defensively, which prompted the boy to back off, a gesture of contrition.
"I'm not here to fight. Neither are my friends."
A girl in a red and white costume, a boy in a purple outfit with green skin and blond hair and a humanoid orange creature with antennae also landed nearby. Each of them wore a golden ring.
"Someone needs to explain what the hell is going on," said Rex.
The group of teenagers shared glances among themselves, as if privy to an unspoken conversation. The girl shrugged her shoulders, while the green boy creased the bridge of his nose.
"Don't try anything funny. Name's Hourman and I've handled tougher customers than the lot of you."
He hoped his bluster would be enough.
The boy who first arrived gave Rex a smile tinged with embarrassment. "Sorry about this. Standard protocol I'm afraid."
As Hourman charged, set off by that statement, the girl touched her hand to her temple and Rex was out like a light.
Superman continued to try and stand, but the forces arrayed against him had only grown. In addition to the beam of energy that struck his back, the metal man had arrived and contributed his own laser to the assault. It worried Superman that the villains were able to regroup like this. Were his friends okay?
"Still, he struggles," said the Emerald Empress.
"Younger or not, he is nearly invulnerable," said the metal man, she called Tharok.
The eye had created a casing of green around him, a dome to restrict his movement should he try to get free. From the corner of his vision, Superman saw the domed man approach.
"Mano," said the Empress. "Where is Persuader?"
"Hunting down a few of those do-gooders. The one in the leather jacket."
"Pity. I wanted to see if his axe could split the Kryptonian's skin."
Mano raised his hands, the purple charge covering them. The ones that could vaporize anything they touched. Clark had no idea what they would do to him. "Let me take a crack at him."
Emerald Empress raised an eyebrow. "All yours."
Mano got closer, still separated by the green dome. He crouched down, his pitch black, featureless face nearly level with Superman, only the white slivers of his eyes visible.
"Why are you doing this?" said Superman through a clenched jaw.
"All this must appear random to you, huh?" said Mano.
"Don't toy with him, just finish it," said Tharok.
"It's no fun if he thinks this is random," said Mano.
"Keep it brief," said the Empress.
"You've wrecked our plans too many times. Wrecked our lives. You and your friends," said Mano, as a narrow hole opened in the dome.
"I've never met you before," said Superman. He had developed a nose bleed, drops staining the asphalt below him as his fists buckled it.
"But you will. That's the problem, you will."
The purple hands reached towards Superman's face, their glow beckoning oblivion. He tensed ready for one last act to avoid it.
Mano recoiled too late, as the car crashed into him at full speed, sending him sprawling, as his body bounced off the concrete and flew through a window across the street. The shock of it must have reached even Emerald Empress as the beam wavered for a moment, enough for Superman to spring up and hit the eye hard enough to knock it through at least the next three blocks. The villainess didn't get a moment to recover as he used his ice breath to encase her in it. Tharok got off another laser, but Superman side-stepped it and crushed the weapon in his right hand before he knocked the man out with a light tap of his hand.
The burst of action spent, Superman nearly collapsed. It had taken all his strength and his body screamed at the effort. He stumbled over to the dented hood of the car to find his savior. The passenger door swung open, with Lois Lane climbing out, her hair messy.
"Superman," she shouted, running to him.
Superman was stunned by her appearance, and tried to come to her, but he fell to his knees again. Lois held him up, struggling with his weight.
"What are you doing here Lois?"
"Oh, you know...looking for a story. The usual. Are you okay?" Her voice was fraught with worry.
"Only winded. I'll be back to myself in a moment." He hoped that was true. He could hear the chaos continue, and felt Validus's march towards them.
Lois got under his arm and grunted as she helped him to his feet. Clark was surprised by her strength, but he really shouldn't have been. When had Lois ever let something stop her?
"I'd tell you that it's too dangerous to be here, but I'm in no state. Thank you for the save," he said.
"You owe me the full scoop. Once you clean up this mess."
They slowly walked away from the wreck of the car. Validus came closer, drawn to the disturbance somehow. Superman was in no condition to fight him.
"Lois, you need to get out of here. There's something coming."
"Yeah, I have ears too, even if they're not as sensitive as yours."
"Set me down over there and I'll handle it."
Lois gave him a look. "Not a chance. You can barely stand."
Superman tried to protest, but Lois would have none of it. Instead, they concentrated on each step as the behemoth closed in.
The sights Jay observed on his run through the grasslands and jungles of wherever he ended up were astonishing. Dinosaurs with horned heads chomped on plants, while smaller two legged creatures ran through the underbrush. Flying reptiles glided through the skies. He saw another Tyrannosaurus savor a hard fought meal, its muzzle slick with blood and gore. Jay ran and ran, till he reached a quiet coastline. He couldn't wait to tell Joan about this adventure. Assuming he found a way back to her. No, there was no time for that thought.
His arrival at the coastline wasn't pure coincidence. Threaded along with the natural wonders, was that same shifting streams of light, that danced across the landscapes like cracks in a glass pane, whether it was marked into the ground or hung suspended in the air. It took a while till Jay found a point of convergence, which was here on the beach, as the light merged into a wider channel, one that stretched out along the ocean till it fell over the horizon, with the column of color climbing into the sky, as through it had struck an invisible wall. The same light that danced over the man who sent him here.
Led on more by intuition and desperation than anything else, the Flash walked up to the nearest thread of light and touched his index finger to it. The digit began to vibrate, something that extended to his hand then the arm, before his entire body was vibrating. He tried the light again. This time, the finger appeared to vanish within it.
Pulling it back, Jay had an idea. He took up a track start on the edge of the beach, his sights trained on the convergence of color on the horizon. With a whisper of Joan's name, the Flash began his dash, his feet barely skimming the surface of the water as he raced toward the light, his body still tuned to that vibration. It took almost all his concentration to stay on that frequency of movement, to avoid any waver.
The Flash reached the light, pierced through it, as it surrounded him. The place he entered bore no resemblance to the prehistoric world behind him or Metropolis, instead consisting of a rough corridor of light and color that folded and wobbled at the edges. His footfalls continued to find purchase, though there was no discernible ground. Indeed, beyond the confines of the light, there was nothing at all. His gaze could not penetrate the edges of the space, would not interpret what lay outside of it. He thought he heard voices, stretched out past the point of recognition. Jay understood that were he to stop running, stop vibrating at that exact frequency, he would simply cease to be. So, he ran on, carried by the current of light and color to any place but where he came from.
Libby watched as Green Lantern carried off Sandman and Doctor Midnight, away from the battle. One of their last big guns, taken away from a conflict that was already not going well. It was a lie to say that the thought of leaving too, when none of her comrades were around, did not pass Libby's mind. Out of loyalty, duty or outright foolishness, she suppressed the panic and ventured back into the fight.
It didn't take long to close in on one of the more active areas. At a corner that turned onto a wider boulevard, Liberty Belle found Black Canary and Mr. Terrific fighting a man with a giant axe, while men with flintlocks and bayonets harassed them. A few streets over, seen through a hole in one of the buildings, Starman fought his own battle, exchanging blasts with an unknown foe. The breath in Libby's throat caught as Black Canary narrowly ducked under a slash from the axe that cleaved through an entire column of concrete. Mr. Terrific pelted their foe with a series of strikes to his side, but if the man was affected by the blows, he didn't give any indication.
Liberty Belle took the opportunity to surprise a trio of flintlock soldiers. She swept the legs from the first, following it up with a pair of strikes that knocked out the other two. Mr. Terrific, for his part, was forced to retreat, with the axe-wielder chasing him with a series of reckless slashes. Black Canary ran up the frame of a nearby car, jumping into a kick that caught the man in the head. He grunted, but otherwise took the hit, as she rolled on the landing.
"You're only dragging this on. Two, three, I'll fight all of you and it won't matter," said the man with a voice like broken bottles.
Mr. Terrific took up a position next to Liberty Belle. "Unfortunately, he's not wrong. I'll be damned if we've done anything more than inconvenience him," Terrific said in a whisper.
The axe-wielder hooked his blade on the car that Black Canary used as a ramp. Instead of cutting it, he leveraged the shaft of the axe to chuck it at Libby and Mr. Terrific. It was all she could do to flatten to the ground as the car flew past, glass landing on her back and in her hair as it pinged off of an adjacent building. She caught a flash of metal as the axe head swung toward her. Libby rolled out of the way, letting out a small squeak as the blade split the concrete where her head had been with ease.
Black Canary and Mr. Terrific kicked the man from behind, earning a back hand that caught the latter in his chest. Terrific slammed through a door, which was knocked off the hinges by the impact. The man whirled around to finish the job.
Something about the state of the building caught Libby's eye, a sprawl of cracks in the walls that pointed to existing damage. Without giving herself time to doubt, she shot up and ran perpendicular to the structure and the man. Her ribs rattled, her entire body protested, but Libby let out the most powerful wave of sound she had conjured thus far. The recoil of the act dropped her to the ground. It had been enough. The cracks widened and spread and the building fell, toppling toward the man with the axe. He only had time to raise a hand to block the rush of debris, which obscured him in the collapse.
Hands grabbed Libby as Black Canary got her to her feet. Mr. Terrific stood nearby, covered in dust and flecks of debris, but no worse for wear.
"Is he?" said Libby.
"I don't know. But we'll sort that out later." Black Canary gestured at Starman. "He needs us."
The Flash ran on through the current of light and color. He had no sense of where he was going, only that it was the right direction. At the end of the tunnel, an image formed, the man with red hair. The Flash doubled his efforts as he shot out of the corridor into Metropolis, his fist making an introduction to the man's face. To their mutual surprise, it actually made contact, sending the man sprawling.
The Flash kept running past the initial point of contact, doing a quick loop of the surroundings. He patted his body down as if to verify it wasn't a dream. The area was looking worse, many of his teammates missing, but he was in Metropolis. The Flash came to a stop, near where he had exited.
"Flash," said Starman, lowering from the air.
"The one and only."
"Where did you go?"
Jay shook his head. "No time for that. All I can tell you is I'm not going back."
The man he hit was already up and moving. He was flitting away from the heroes, a ring of light around him, the same that had displaced Jay before. He wasn't going to chance that it would send him away again.
"Looks like he learned his lesson. I won't be able to sucker punch him again."
Starman gave him an odd look.
"What?" said Jay.
"Your body...it's almost..humming."
Jay realized he was still vibrating. He had been holding that form for so long he had forgotten to drop it, in spite of the sweat that drenched his forehead.
"Part of how I escaped."
Starman's eyes were pinched, jaw set. Gears were turning in there. The Flash left him to it for a moment to take the opportunity to disarm a group of warriors, free a family trapped by rubble and save a dog that had wandered into the danger. When he returned Starman opened his mouth.
"I have an idea."
"Hit me with it."
Starman adjusted the settings on the base of the cosmic rod, while the Flash pestered the glowing man, keeping him busy. It was all for show anyway. He only had to tweak its output to mirror the frequency that Flash was vibrating on. The problem was that it would require both a big burst of outside energy and a sampling of that vibration.
Ted glanced up as Black Canary, Liberty Belle, and Mr. Terrific approached. He filled them in on what was happening.
"Is it down to us?" said Black Canary.
"Looks like it. I have no clue where Superman is, but that brute seems to," indicating the massive creature that stomped a few blocks over.
"Are you close?" said Black Canary, pointing to the rod.
"Nearly there. I just need more power."
"Think this will help?" Mr. Terrific was already opening up a nearby power box, unfurling the bundles of cables and splicing them together with an expert touch. "I think we can draw power from half the city from here."
"That, uh, that should be enough." Starman brought over the rod.
"How do you know how to do that?" said Black Canary.
Mr. Terrific grinned. "I dabble in electronics and engineering."
"That level of knowledge is dabbling?"
"I dabble in a bit of everything."
Starman let Mr. Terrific attach the cables. He removed the paneling over the receivers.
Mr. Terrific finished his work. "You're only going to have one shot."
"Flash!" said Starman, summoning the speedster. He directed him to vibrate at the frequency and put his hand on the receiver.
The Flash blurred with the effort and did as instructed. The receiver hummed, but Ted could tell it wasn't enough.
"What's the problem?" said the Flash.
"The rod isn't designed for the input we're giving it. It draws cosmic energy, constantly. This..the vibration is foreign enough for it to have trouble picking it up."
Black Canary frowned. "Meaning?"
"Without more time to modify it, this isn't enough to change the wavelength of the energy I project."
"What about her?" said Mr. Terrific.
All eyes changed to Liberty Belle, suddenly aware she was the subject.
"Me?"
"You have sonic powers, right? Can you mimic and amplify this vibration?"
She shook her head. "I don't think so. No. I've never done that."
"Yet," said the Flash with a smile.
Liberty Belle's face verged on a frown, wobbling with no small trace of nerves.
"It's probably not possible.."
"Most of the things we do aren't supposed to be possible," said Starman.
She gulped and shut her eyes, opening them with a steadier expression. "I'll try."
Mr. Terrific patted her shoulder. "That's the spirit."
With a slight tremble of her own, Liberty Belle clasped the Flash's hand as he vibrated. She stifled a cry, a hint escaping all the same.
"Does it hurt?" said the Flash.
"I can take it."
Ted looked on as Liberty Belle's other hand began to shake, till it blurred the same as the Flash as she matched the energy.
"Put you hand here and give it everything you can," he instructed.
Her hand on the receiver, producing a noise too low for their ears, Liberty Belle grit her teeth and channeled all of the Flash's vibrations and more into the cosmic rod. The receiver sparked, then hummed, then took on a steady glow as it absorbed the frequency. Eventually, the rod rattled in Ted's hands as Liberty Belle let go, nearly falling, only kept upright by Mr. Terrific.
"That's it," said Starman.
"One shot," said Mr. Terrific.
"I'll herd out friend this way," said the Flash, disappearing in the same syllable.
Ted grappled with the rod, which shook under the new energy it was harnessing, like fighting with a fish on a line. It was all he could do just to not drop the damn thing. The flickering man came into view, harried by the Flash in their direction, the ring of light still around him.
"A last stand then," said the man. "I'll grant you that end."
Pools of color spilt on the street beside him, with creatures and men and vehicles coming out. Tanks and cars, what Ted assumed were dinosaurs and other prehistoric beasts, ships that looked straight out of sci fi paperback art, beings in novel forms, all with hostile dispositions. All the while, the man stormed right at their party, his body still jittering around, unable to remain consistent.
"You don't get a happy ending," the man screamed, at all of them, but Ted knew it was meant for him.
He tried to point the rod at the man, a difficult proposition given the violence with which is shook. A tank shell flew past their heads, the explosion close enough behind to startle Ted. Bullets, lasers, arrows and all manner of projectiles flew their way as the motley horde shambled at them.
Ted felt another set of hands grab the cosmic rod. Black Canary settled in next to him, wrestling the device towards its target.
"Together," she said.
"Together," Ted echoed.
The flickering man was mid cry, his red hair disheveled, when the pule of energy that blacked out half the city hit him. Every window in a three mile radius broke. Ted wasn't sure what would happen, only that it would disrupt the energy that manifested in the man. The flickering man folded inwards, his form collapsing like a crumpled piece of paper, until nothing remained. All of the summoned warriors blinked away.
Ted and Black Canary fell on their rear ends.
Superman was trying to persuade Lois to run, to no avail, when a tremendous noise blasted across the city, and Validus dissipated into a flash of light, along with every other combatant. He and Lois let out a sigh of relief, followed by a spate of laughter.
"I think the headline might be a bit different this time," he said.
"Oh? How so?"
"Lois Lane saves Superman."
Lois patted him on the arm. "This is why I'm the journalist".
Diana remained frozen in the underbrush, even after the flock of peacocks had left. The Amazons on the beach finished their business, standing vigil as the others took to their boats and rowed off for waters unknown. Those who remained left, until only her mother remained on the beach, a hardened look on her face. Hippolyta left too, leaving Diana alone. She wondered if they would ever find her, if she could even be found, under the power of the goddess or if she would become some unremarked upon fixture of the island's geography. From the island she was born. To the island she would go.
There was no telling how long she had been trapped when a burst of light popped in front of her, ushering in a large spherical object with an opaque hatch on the exterior. Two bands of light surrounded it. The hatch popped open, disgorging a man with sandy blond hair in a green jumpsuit with red detailing down the edges of his limbs.
"Fancy a lift?"
The Flash helped the others clean up. A quick check in at the nearest hospital told him that Sandman was receiving treatment under the direction of Doctor Midnight, something he relayed to the others. Their worries about the others, who had not reappeared when their foe was banished, were quickly and bewilderingly alleviated when a big sphere arrived with a pop of light and let out every missing team member, save for the Spectre. Each of the returned had a story that sounded ludicrous, except to the Flash, who was still certain he had arrived in the time of the dinosaurs.
"...a cowboy named Nighthawk and his partner Cinnamon. We fought a man with a flaming skull," said Hawkman. Hawkwoman spoke of a warrior and scholar from Africa. Doctor Fate briefly mentioned witnessing some sort of climactic battle. Wonder Woman had gone to her home at an unclear time. Hourman babbled about a city of the future and aliens.
It was their rescuer, a man by the name of Rip Hunter who offered any clarity. He had a faraway look in his eyes, as if he was perpetually staring past whoever he talked to. Up close, his clothes smelled of burnt rubber and lemons.
"You did in fact travel through time. An act with an enormous capacity for disaster."
"Isn't that what you do?" said the Flash.
Rip stared at him as though he'd insulted his mother. "I am the exception." Normally, Jay would take umbrage with such an arrogant statement, but this man meant it wholeheartedly.
"Did we change anything?" said Hawkwoman. "I think...I think I was interacting with a past self…"
"No. I've made sure nothing changed." A point on which he would not elaborate.
"Who attacked us?" said Superman.
"A foe from your future. One coming to grips with his newfound power. This was an act of blind rage, merely lashing out at everything around him. "
Hawkman gestured to the destruction around them.
"He did all this and he didn't know what he was doing?"
"Correct."
Black Canary stepped up. "What about the others?"
"Chronal duplicates. Copies of real people, mostly devoid of individual agency. Some random, some directed. A few of you siphoned off energy which is why you were attracted to time periods with relevance to you."
Superman whispered something to himself, but Flash ignored it. "So is there any more to this guy?"
"None that I can offer you."
"That's it?" said the Atom. The smaller man looked haggard, his costume shredded by a prolonged brawl with a veritable army of the time displaced warriors. The mask barely covered his face at all, only concealing his eyes.
"You have yet to meet him properly. I can't risk altering it."
"Great," scoffed Al.
Rip returned to his vessel. He paused at the hatch. "I can offer you this. He will return. And if you don't stop him, all will be lost."
With that, the apparent time traveler climbed into the sphere, which vanished as readily as it appeared.
"Delightful," said Dinah.
Libby found the room that the nurse directed her to. Doctor Midnight sat next to Sandman, who was missing the gas mask, but had another facial covering to preserve his identity.
"Ah, hello. Our friend here is sleeping."
Libby joined him at the bedside. "Will he be okay?"
"He should be. We've treated his injuries and done all we can to prevent infection. All that's left is to wait, and if you are so inclined, to pray."
"You're religious?"
Doctor Midnight smiled and nodded. "A Quaker. I confess, it was my faith that led me to our first meeting."
"Excuse me?"
"In Warsaw. In that hospital. I was there on a religious excursion."
Libby didn't refute what he said, but she stayed quiet. Her suspicions were confirmed, at the expense of her own secret identity.
"It's okay. No one's in ear shot and our friend is out."
"I was shocked to see you again at the meeting."
"A mutual feeling."
It was unfair, but a trickle of anger bubbled up.
"I thought you were dead. After we got caught at the farmhouse. Why didn't you ever let me know?"
"I narrowly escaped the reaper's due. My flight from France took longer than yours. I had to go south, cross the Pyrenees into Spain, then Portugal. I paid a cargo ship's captain for passage in the hold. Not all of us can swim the English Channel."
Libby averted her eyes, embarrassed at her annoyance.
"By the time I got back to America you were famous. It felt wrong to try to track you down."
Dr. McNider was calm, his face serene, but Libby could hear the regret in his voice.
"I was alone. More alone than I've ever been. This may sound out of touch and I bet it is, but all that attention only isolated me. I thought I was used to a taste of fame after the Olympics. It's incredible how wrong I was. The interviews, the photoshoots, the public appearances. And they..they would always tell me how brave I was, how patriotic. Most of them would remember to offer condolences about my father.
But he didn't really matter to them. And my story was only useful for publicity. I'm proud of what I did. I hope it saves lives. Even more, God help me, I hope it results in those monsters that killed my father meeting their own ends. But that doesn't change how alone I was. How alone I am."
Doctor Midnight put a hand on her shoulder. She hadn't noticed, but her cheeks were wet.
"I'm sorry Elizabeth."
"What do you mean you think you know who attacked us?" said Hawkman.
Ted Knight was beside the winged crimefighter, as well as Green Lantern, Flash and Black Canary. The others were in the process of cleaning up, looking for anyone who was missing or on their way back to their homes. The Spectre had returned on their own, apparently capable of such a feat.
"I worked with him."
"That madman?" said the Flash.
"Didn't Rip say we haven't met him yet?" said Black Canary.
Ted sighed. "I'm not expecting the same from you, but this will go easier if I just tell you. My name is Ted Knight. I'm a scientist and at one point I was a scientist for Uncle Sam. That fellow worked with me."
Hawkman shook his head in disbelief. "Must have been some project if it employed lunatics like that."
Green Lantern spoke up. "What was his name?"
"That's just it. I don't know. He was impersonating another scientist, a Malachi Zee. I managed to get him shut down, but I never did find out who he is."
"So to sum up, we were attacked by a time traveling scientist who worked for our government under an assumed identity, who we have not met yet, but will at some point return and threaten everything we know and love?" said the Flash.
Everyone else stared at him.
"Keen," said the Flash. "Real keen."
When Clark returned to the Daily Planet, those who remained at the office were winding down. He heard from the others that work had been frantic, trying to keep up with the battle that raged through parts of downtown. Mr. White had dispatched nearly everyone to tackle the story from all the angles. Though Clark had no doubt as to who would have her name on the byline.
"Busy day, Clark?" said Lois, her fingers clacking away.
"I missed most of the excitement. Got caught on that train accident in Hell's Gate."
"Too bad."
Clark sat down to finish his story from the morning, knowing full well the Prankster and Insect Master weren't making it anywhere near the front page after today.
"So where are you taking me?" said Lois.
"What?"
"There's a Portuguese place I've wanted to try out in Bakerline. But, I can be flexible?"
She wasn't looking at him, her attention kept on the typewriter.
"You there Smallville?"
"Yes, uh.. I am."
"Good. Friday works best for me. You'll have to pick me up. I'll make sure you have the address, unless you remember it from last time we swung by there."
"Lois," said Clark, interrupting her. "What are you talking about?"
"That's simple, Clark. Are you taking me out or not?"
Clark Kent didn't stop smiling till he fell asleep that night.
Lois for her part caught herself smiling on and off the rest of the evening. It was hard to put the boy from Smallville out of her mind for long, with his quiet confidence, his kindness, his attention. Her anticipation was enough to let her forget for a moment the other reason for her change of heart on letting Clark take her on a date. The bundle of notes that lay in the bottom drawer of the cabinet in her closet, the ones she began keeping a year ago, after Superman rescued a sinking ship in the harbor. The one that marked all the times Superman made a public appearance.
Right next to all the dates where Clark made an excuse for where he was at the time.
Lex Luthor shook General Lane's hand. "This has been most productive."
Lane leaned back in his chair, his cap in his hands. "What I wouldn't give to have all my meetings go as smooth as this one. Some of you business types get enough money and forget about the value of patriotic duty."
Luthor smiled. "I would never. Especially, when the results of cooperation can be so generous."
"Long as you make sure we can send anyone who picks a fight with us running, compensation isn't an issue."
Luthor propped himself up on his desk, fingers pressed together. "Speaking on the matter of fights general, I have another thought to add to our earlier discussion."
"And that would be what?"
"You're kept informed of the activities of these so-called superheroes in our country. Today marked a rather..dramatic skirmish in the heart of my city. One that nearly had dire consequences for everyone present."
General Lane sat up, intrigued.
"I have my own misgivings about them. Particularly, Superman."
"Meaning?"
"I only wonder what the consequences would be if these 'heroes' turned on us. If they failed to value patriotism."
"Can't say the thought hasn't crossed my mind. What do you suggest?"
"You spoke of preparation. I think that should extend to the unpleasant possibility of a change in their allegiance."
"This would fall under Lexcorp's research?"
"Researched, developed and manufactured all in-house. But, for the benefit and protection of this fine country."
General Lane narrowed his eyes at Luthor, took further stock of the man.
"Tell me more."
