The moment the portal closed, Cass felt nothing. Every feeling and emotion was replaced with numb disbelief. And then the memory of Jason's screams in that sewer hit her like a shockwave and she sprinted right for the projector's controls. Kara appeared in her path.

"Get out of the way!" Cass shouted.

Kara's jaw tightened. "Jason…has a plan."

"I don't care!" she screamed. "His last bright idea was throwing himself in front of a curse and it nearly killed him!"

Kara stared at her wide-eyed, glancing back at the projector. Before anyone could decide anything, a sigh drew all their attention elsewhere.

"Now…"

And there he was, in the dead center of the room.

Janus smiled and threw his arms outward invitingly. "Where were we?"

The Revenant didn't hesitate, immediately zigzagging toward him and striking at his joints while Blue Lantern conjured a rapid-fire projection of flak. Janus trapped Blue in a time-warp while he tried to fend off Rev's attacks with limited success. Cass felt her whole body tense and freeze. She remembered what happened last time she went head-to-head with Janus. She doubted this time would be any different. If Cass tried to intervene, she'd just be in the way. Given that Caden didn't even try to draw his weapons, it seemed he'd made the same evaluation.

A firm grip landed on her shoulder, and she turned to see Kara pointing elsewhere.

"That way—Kal has an armory of advanced weapons and power armor," she said. "Go! We'll buy you some time!"

With that, Supergirl launched herself into the fray with heat vision blasting at full strength. Janus used a portal to redirect it at Alex, hitting him from the side. Black Bat and Caden sprinted toward the hall of weapons as they heard Kara scream. Cass glanced back to see her blasted with another plasma beam before she rounded the corner.

…

Alex had never been more grateful for his ring than right this second. Bad enough that earlier explosion had nearly taken out the whole team, but the resulting injuries barely even hurt him before they started healing. He'd encountered quite a few major threats since joining the Corps: the Gordanian assassin, Zirconan Nebula, even a few run-ins with the Sinestro and Red Lantern Corps. But he'd never faced anything like this.

Janus was fighting a three-on-one against three of (to his understanding) the most powerful beings on the planet, if not in the whole galaxy. Between his portal control, that time-warp, and the symbiotic armor, he was making it look easy. That time-warp limited their ability to fight together, and any ranged attack they threw ran the risk of being used against their own team. And getting close to him?

Good luck.

Kara was holding back his blows through sheer brute force, but the Element X of his suit was actively cutting through her suit and leaving not a few marks on her skin. The only reason she wasn't completely shredded at this point was her body and suit's self-healing. If she let her guard down for an instant…

Alex focused and sent several projections to trip up Janus' footwork while he flew in and fired a scattershot of hardlight at point-blank range. Janus' armor re-formed to thicken at the point of impact, completely nullifying his attack. Then he countered with a high-speed throw of E-X shards that cut right through his shields. Only a quick jerk of his head prevented him from being pierced through the neck. It still tore through his shoulder, but the wound healed almost instantly.

About as fast as those shards returned to Janus' armor and transformed into a viciously barbed hook. Supergirl and the White Revenant lunged at him from opposite sides. Alex blasted him from a third angle with a single thin beam. Their attacks struck simultaneously. He couldn't counter all three at once.

Except he did—by teleporting ten meters to the side. Alex's beam struck Kara dead in the chest, and Lucas barely blunted her punch by shifting his momentum at the last instant. The glancing blow still sent him flying, and Blue's ring blast brought Supergirl to her knees. Alex whirled around to throw a scattershot of razor-sharp discs at Janus. The instant they got close, Alex stopped them in their tracks before he could make a portal, then turned them into urchin-like spike traps that instantly expanded toward him from every direction.

Janus' golden eyes widened for a moment before he teleported once again. Alex had no time to turn when he felt the wind on his back. A flash of silver lightning intercepted Janus before the blow could land, saving Alex from a gnarly-looking flamberge stab. Janus growled and grabbed Lucas by the midsection, hurling him toward the ceiling and conjuring a bolt of lightning to strike him while he was still midair. Alex tried to send a shield his way, but it was too late. Luke just grinned and vibrated his hands, then caught the lightning and threw it right back.

Janus' armor visibly heated at the point of impact as he stumbled back with a yelp. The time god shook himself off and snarled, about to retaliate. A burst of heat vision melted off part of his armor before he could move. Kara immediately followed up with a barrage of superspeed punches. Janus threw his arms up and hardened his armor there, blocking the entire combo. While she still had him locked down, Luke hit the ceiling feet-first and ran around the room, casting more lightning bolts of his own and striking Janus from every angle. Alex followed suit with four flak cannons bombarding him with explosive hardlight projections.

Janus' armor regenerated and morphed to cover his entire body, head included, in a carapace of layered plates of Element-X. From the muted intensity of his audible response, Janus didn't seem to be particularly bothered by these attacks. Then a faint whine echoed through the room, and Alex's head turned to see Black Bat and Caden outfitted in sleek Kryptonian battlesuits—the latter of whom had a Kryptonian railgun primed and charging. The moment it was finished, Drake fired. The impact took Janus off-guard—and tore off a chunk of his armor, including the right side of his face.

That opening showed Janus' exposed eye glaring daggers at the two humans. Cassandra sprinted in and pummeled him side-by-side with Kara. Supergirl hit high, Black stayed low. All the while Caden pumped another shell into the railgun, and Luke and Alex did everything possible to limit Janus' movements with lightning strikes and hardlight tethers. He hardened his armor once again, effectively turtling up as his growls reached a crescendo.

"Enough!"

Janus' voice boomed through the chamber like thunder. Then all was silent.

…

Jason's initial panic when Janus teleported didn't alleviate one bit when the team unfortunately followed his advice—and didn't open the Phantom Zone. A horrifying thought occurred to him that they simply couldn't, followed by a flashback of that golden-eyed bastard ripping Bruce's heart out. A good minute or two after that was spent just hyperventilating and screaming into the void. Eventually, he sank to his knees and sat in silence for a while, finally getting a hold of himself. Jason let out a long, hissing breath as he took his helmet off and mounted it to his belt. He had to think. He had to remember.

Some of the Phantom Zone's worst occupants had broken free at one point. It was recorded history in his time. If they could find a way to do it, so could he. And he had to. Fast.

So Jason started wandering the void, trying to calm his thoughts and focus on one objective. The Phantom Zone, if he recalled correctly, was a pocket dimension that had a psychic component. It changed depending on your thoughts and emotions. Jason closed his eyes and exhaled slowly, focusing all his energy and emotions on his freedom. Yet, amid all this, his mind drifted for a mere split-second, and a flash of anxiety shot through him before—

A faint, dissonant tune reached his ears, and his eyes opened wide at the sight before him. Gone was the indistinct void of stars and emptiness, replaced by a sight all too familiar from his study of history.

A carnival. A moldy, run-down, tetanus-riddled carnival.

With a hard swallow, Jason walked in through the front door. As he walked the grounds, he looked around, finding nothing but empty rides running on their own, half-destroyed neon signs flickering haphazardly, buildings with rotting support beams. Everything screamed of disrepair and corruption. Then he approached the very center of the fairgrounds and froze. A fierce chill shuddered through his whole body. There was movement at a table laid right out in the open. A single figure with a stack of playing cards, alternatively building a house or doing complex tricks.

Jason swallowed hard and slowly approached the table. A quiet hum was heard from the figure, whose features were obscured by a flat, wide-brimmed hat in a deep purple. The rest of him was no less gaudy, with a purple vest, a red shirt, and a green tie. Jason stopped a few shoulder spans from the table and just stared.

"…well, sonny? You gonna sit or gawk all day?"

Jason allowed himself a moment of anxiety before he took a deep breath and relaxed his body and face. He calmly pulled out a chair and sat across from the man, who quickly dismantled the house of cards and started tossing them back and forth in a stream that looked a little too impossible.

"Pick a card. Any card."

Fast as lightning, Jason snapped one from the first third of the deck, memorized it, and slid it back across the table. A queen of hearts.

The man chuckled and shuffled it back into the deck almost too fast for him to see. "Don't get much company here. Real shame. Spent the last few years sprucing up the place, y'see."

Jason looked around and scoffed. "I'd hate to see what it looked like before."

A quiet laugh. "Tsk tsk. Where most see mold and rust and defects, I see possibility."

Jason looked again, and every ride or attraction was now occupied…by some really creepy-looking mannequins with painted-on smiles.

"Like that teacup ride over yonder. Just spin the wheel and have a right 'ol good time."

Jason looked. The twirling ride started spinning out of control, and one of the cups shot from its mountings like a missile, crashing into a food stall and shattering every mannequin involved.

"Or the bumper cars. Everyone's always looking for the next big thing to spice things up. But no one ever thinks of planting binary explosives in the fenders…"

A cluster of half a dozen bumper cars went around in circles like a dance routine, only for two of the mannequin riders' smiles to turn upside-down as they charged straight toward each other. All six—and the pavilion housing them—exploded into a burning rain of wood and metal shrapnel.

"And my personal favorite: the haunted house. What's a little scare without some comic relief to lighten the mood?"

Tinny screams echoed from the haunted house as Jason stared through what looked like a one-way mirror to see a group of mannequins hopping from one stereotypical jumpscare to another. The traps and scares got progressively more demented, until by the end the mannequins collapsed to their knees, and those tinny screams turned to uproarious laughter. The whole group planted face-first on the ground, their painted smiles wider than ever as he saw the faintly tinted gas fill the whole building.

Jason's jaw tightened as he kept his voice under tight control, staring at the grisly scene. "How about a crowbar and some dynamite?" he asked softly. "I hear that's a fan favorite with some."

The man chuckled softly, steadily rising in intensity until he started belting maniacal laughter. Jason turned to see him tip his hat up, revealing deathly pale features hosting a demented smile.

"Now that's something only a fan would know," he chuckled, grinning with all yellow teeth.

Jason smiled venomously and widened his shoulders, displaying his suit's wing insignia. "Not as such."

The Joker glanced down and laughed a little harder. "Oh mercy me—he roped in a new one!" He cackled wildly, slapping his knee. "Didn't he learn the last time?!" More cackling.

Jason just stared at him, completely flat, until he calmed down.

Joker chuckled and shook his head. "Now that's funny." He pointed at Jason. "Speaking of funny, how did you get here?"

"Doesn't matter."

He shrugged. "S'pose not, but seeing as we're both stuck here, I figure we might as well have a little chat to pass the time." He giggled and tossed his cards back and forth.

"I don't think so."

"C'mon, kiddo, sit down and have a little talk with dear 'ol Uncle J…"

"Just morbid curiosity that drove me here in the first place." Jason's jaw clenched as he started to stand up. "Think I'm done now."

Jason froze when the Joker's wrist snapped, and a card imbedded itself in the table, right in line with his crotch. A glance down verified that it was the same queen of hearts. He looked up to see Joker's red eyes staring at him.

"I said sit your ass down, sonny."

In any other circumstance, Jason would crack his skull open and be done with it, but here in the Phantom Zone, there was no telling how his demented mind could affect their surroundings. So reluctantly, he sat down and dug out the card, then tossed it back.

Joker immediately started shuffling, meeting Jason's gaze unblinkingly. "You play?"

Jason's head cocked a bit. "Play what exactly?"

A smile twitched at his lips. "Texas hold'em. What else?"

"…occasionally."

Joker grinned. "Fantastic."

He placed the deck on the table.

Jason cut it and kept a close eye on the bottom cards.

Joker took the deck back and started dealing. "How is the old man?"

"Happy," Jason replied without skipping a beat, picking up and glancing at his cards.

Joker arched a green eyebrow. "Happy? That's all?"

"What can I say?" he replied with a shrug. "Some people just do better away from toxic relationships."

Jason caught the faint twitch in Joker's features before he pasted his smile right back on and kept dealing.

"You know about me. Clearly the Bat's not quite 'out of sight out of mind' where I'm concerned."

Jason looked down at his cards and hummed nonchalantly. "Not really. I mean, I had to look you up myself to get any real details."

He caught another twitch, and when he looked up, Joker was no longer smiling. Jason's hand was…not great. Single pair of twos in his hand, and the river didn't have anything usable. Still, it's not like they were playing for anything…

Right?

He didn't see any chips or anything else Joker could use to harm him if he lost. In short order, Jason lost the hand and tossed his cards back.

While Joker shuffled, he stared at the insignia on TK's chest. "That ain't the usual bat stuff. You one of the Nightbrat's? Hm? He's much less fun now, all grown up in his big boy pants…"

"Well he's getting married soon, so I imagine that's all the fun he'll need in his off time."

Joker cackled, but it sounded a bit hollow. "Really? Who's the unlucky lady?"

Jason smiled, looking down at a pair of kings with another on the turn for three-of-a-kind. "She's a model. Drop dead gorgeous and very well off. Also absolutely crazy about him, and vice versa."

Joker chuckled as he flipped the river and laid down his cards: a straight flush of clubs. Jason frowned and tossed his cards in.

Then he had a thought that made him smile. "There's a new Robin now. There's been three, actually—though one lasted only a week before Bats fired her."

Joker glanced up at him briefly. "That so?"

"Mhm." Jason smirked to himself and continued nonchalantly. "Oh and someone resurrected the one that died a couple years back. He's doing great solo."

Jason's eyes were solely on his cards, but he could feel the Joker's gaze boring into him.

"And what's he calling himself now? Zombie-man?" Joker sounded less than amused.

Jason met his eyes and smiled. "The Red Hood." He chuckled. "Guess that was his final way of flipping you off: turning your old persona into a vigilante who isn't afraid to put criminals on a T-shirt."

Joker was no longer holding any pretense of amusement. Jason stared down at his cards: a dead man's hand. He threw them down.

"I fold."

The Joker took the cards and shuffled again. "Y'know, you could at least pretend to be interested in the game."

Jason shrugged. "Why? This is just me passing the time until my friends let me outta here." He chuckled and waved around. "Only reason I haven't buried you under this mold-infested shithole is because I find you mildly amusing."

Joker smiled, all venom, and tossed Jason a fresh hand.

Jason stared down at his cards and sighed. Another low pair.

"And you can just…do that?" Joker asked.

He shrugged. "If I'm motivated enough."

"…"

…

The moment Janus' voice echoed through the chamber, everything slid to an immediate stop. All five teammates were practically frozen mid-motion, like flies in honey, and they stayed that way as Janus stalked his way toward Caden's armored form. Janus glared at the railgun that nearly scored actual damage and flexed his hand as his armor melted to form a serrated machete.

Janus cocked his arm back to bisect Caden, power suit and all.

Then screamed as he was impaled from behind.

Janus gasped and stared down at the Kryptonian metal spike imbedded in his gut, then shifted to look over his shoulder. The White Revenant stared back at him with a malevolent smile.

Lucas waggled his eyebrows. "How ya doin'?"

Then he ripped the spike out and ducked under Janus' retaliatory slash, stabbing him again, in the leg this time. Golden ichor spilled from both injuries as Luke dug the long dagger in deeper. He'd taken it off Black Bat's suit as Janus focused in on Drake.

"H-How?" Janus grunted.

Lucas grinned and twisted the dagger. "You're not the only one who can mess with time."

Then he pulled it out again and deflected two swipes of that machete before catching it at a bad angle and finding the weapon knocked from his hand. Lucas tried to dive away, but Janus immediately caught his belt and threw him into a crystalline column.

Janus hissed as his injuries and armor rapidly sealed. "Interesting…you're immune to the time-stop…but you can't use your speed in this state." His head cocked, machete re-forming into a javelin. "Which means you're no more dangerous than a mere human now."

Lucas chuckled and coughed, all bloodied teeth. "Still made you bleed." His head tilted for a moment. "And made you look."

Janus stared at him for a moment before thrusting at him with the javelin.

He didn't get halfway before Supergirl's hand clamped on his wrist. Her other hand clocked him in the head—hard. Golden blood spurted from his mouth as he stumbled only to be pulled right back into a knee that struck his ribs. Janus cursed. In his hyperfocus on the Revenant, he'd let his concentration slip and all the others had escaped the time-warp. Caden immediately dialed in on him with the railgun while Black Bat charged him and fired dual plasma casters from her armor's gauntlets.

Janus growled and opened two portals, one spewing volcanic emissions toward Caden to limit his fields of movement and vision. The other was a stream of red solar radiation that struck Supergirl and weakened her grip just enough for him to slip free and slam her head with a wheel kick. Lucas' speed had returned, and he came at Janus from every direction with electric punches that gradually heated his armor. Janus teleported repeatedly, hopping all around the room and striking at each teammate in rapid succession.

He slashed Caden's railgun in half with a greatsword and transformed his blade mid-motion into a giant hammer that put a crater into Drake's chestpiece on the backswing. Even the Kryptonian armor wouldn't be able to protect his chest from being crushed by a dent like that. He teleported again and opened a portal that bathed Blue Lantern in a solar flare. Again, and he slammed two hook blades against Black Bat's gauntlets in rapid sequence until his speed and a minor time-warp allowed him to score a hit on her leg. With her footwork disrupted, she quickly fell victim to a rapid barrage of slashes that tore her armor to shreds.

Lucas slammed into him shoulder-first before he could do more damage, but found himself thrown airborne and teleported at an angle that used his own momentum to slam him into the ceiling headfirst. Which left Supergirl, who had picked up Cassandra's discarded dagger and charged at him, stabbing from several angles using her speed. Janus grunted when she snapped a kick into his gut, hooking one of his swords around her leg, then using it to turn her around and snap a cable of Element-X around her neck. He yanked her backward off her feet and slammed her into the ground, boot on her neck.

A tightly-controlled bolt of explosive plasma slammed into his chest and sent him stumbling away. He whirled around and peered through the smoke to see—all five, perfectly healthy. Janus bared his teeth and glared at the Blue Lantern, whose ring flared brightly as all the rest charged.

A blast of heat vision went into a portal, redirected into what was left of Caden's armor as he popped off another explosive plasma bolt. Janus redirected that one toward Black Bat, who leapt over it and let off another barrage with her plasma casters. He hardened his armor on that side and lunged toward Supergirl, firing off a time-warp when he saw a flicker of silver in his peripherals. Lucas' speed was disrupted enough for Janus to snag him with a cable and hurl him into Kara's path.

He blasted both of them with a portal to the surface of a red sun. Supergirl spun them around to take the hit at the last second, screaming when he threw a small spike of Element-X through her back—and Lucas' chest. Cassandra reached him and slashed at him with her batarangs while Alex laid into his other side with a constant beam that was steadily cutting through his armor. Janus placed a time-warp right in the center of the beam and snapped his body to the side so Alex was too late to stop it from piercing through Black's shoulder.

She stared at the burning hole for a moment before hurling an explosive batarang into his face and collapsing to her knees. Janus stumbled back and waved the smoke away. He immediately zeroed in on the blue glow.

And opened another portal that sent a barrage of antimatter straight at him.

Blue Lantern grunted and put up a thick forcefield, steadily being eaten away by the antimatter stream as Janus slowly advanced toward him. Alex's teeth gritted, and then a swarm of tendrils shot out from either side of the shield, attacking him from all angles. Janus flew upward and twisted through the air, forcing Blue to focus on tracking him more and more until—

Janus vanished. A swish of air and a quiet slick of blood.

Alex screamed as his severed left hand fell to the ground. Janus scowled and shin-kicked him into a wall. His ring's glow faded as he lost consciousness. Janus looked across the large room and its crystalline architecture. The place was wrecked. Cratered. Littered with burns and pockmarks. And the five interlopers who'd stood with Jason Wayne were strewn across the landscape, unconscious or heavily injured. A faint whine snapped his head around, and he saw Caden crawling toward the Phantom Zone projector. Janus sighed and stalked toward him with a thin metal spike. He didn't see the rail pistol tucked under Drake's arm until an instant before it fired.

Janus roared in agony as the slug tore off a good chunk of his jaw. Then immediately lunged at Caden's smoking form and impaled him to the floor with a spike in his gut. Janus snarled and hissed, stumbling back as he doubled over. He clutched his face and heaved for each painful breath, relying on his physiology to heal the damage.

The agony and ichor spilling from his face blinded him just enough to keep him vulnerable.

…

Rapid, heavy breaths echoed through the chamber from the opposite end as the Revenant shakily pushed himself up to all fours. Getting skewered through the chest was never a fun experience, but at least this time had missed any vital organs. His Speedforce healing would take care of it quickly enough. But the rest…

He looked around at the other four, at Alex's severed ring hand, at Caden steadily bleeding out from a hole in his gut, at Kara shakily trying to catch her breath. It seemed that spike had hit one of her vital organs. Probably a lung. And Cass…

Only one side of her chest was rising and falling.

"All right," he sighed.

Both hands clenched into fists before one opened, fingers splayed out toward the ground. The limb started vibrating, sparks of lightning leaping from the ground into his body. He closed his eyes, feeling the energy of Earth's rotation fill his body as he siphoned it off. His gray eyes snapped open a moment later, alit with electric arcs as his voice echoed with a vibrating growl.

"Enough of this shit."

Luke saw Janus' gaze lock onto him for just a moment. An instant later, he shot forward fist-first, caving in Janus' armor at the point of impact and hurling him into a wall. The next blow came immediately, and the one after that. Every single impact sent a sonic boom echoing through the Fortress as he hit this bastard again and again and again. He tackled Janus through a doorway, smashing him into wall after column until he reached a long, wide hallway with glass on either side—the viewing chamber of Superman's menagerie.

Lucas quickly carried him through to the other side, into a high-vaulted atrium with statues of Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van. Then Rev blitzed him from every angle, hitting Janus with massive kinetic energy and electric arcs. He tried to time-warp to slow Luke down, but for all his speed and foresight, he may as well have been crawling. Lucas struck at his casting arm as he passed, snapping his wrist a hundred degrees in the wrong direction. Then he sprinted around the room in circles, creating an electric cyclone that continually shocked Janus and formed a powerful vacuum that sucked all the air out of the room. Janus growled and opened two portals to the edge of a cosmic maelstrom, creating current enough to disrupt Lucas' movement. It didn't slow him down.

Instead, he plunged straight into the center and tackled Janus into a wall, pummeling him through it—and several behind it. Then he kept Janus airborne with each supersonic punch knocking him back a dozen meters. The damage was mounting, but not fast enough for Luke's taste. He vibrated both hands, charging up massive energy, then slammed into Janus' body from every side. The vibrational energy overloaded his Element-X with each hit, tearing large gashes in the armor. Janus opened a portal right behind him, a window to the edge of a singularity. The massive gravitational pull threw Luke off and slowed him down just enough for Janus to get a lucky hit on his ribs.

But he'd built up so much energy and saw the strike coming. The silver lightning crackling around his form shifted and concentrated at the point of impact, completely absorbing the blow. Luke bared his teeth and smashed Janus' jaw in the same spot Caden had shot him, nearly tearing off what was left. It was definitely dislocated and the gash reopened, spewing golden blood everywhere. Rev knew it wasn't enough. He needed more. More speed, more impact. He had to hit this son of a bitch faster than he could heal.

The Revenant shot away from Janus and made a lap through the whole Fortress to build up speed and check on the others. Kara was upright and dragging herself toward the Phantom Zone projector. Cass had crawled to Alex's severed hand and was trying to get to him to wake him up. Caden was still lying on his back coughing up blood. They needed more time.

So Luke grit his teeth and ran several laps through the Fortress, each time clocking Janus in the head faster and faster. Then he phased through the outer wall of the Fortress and ran away, miles and miles away. He rapidly tapped his gauntlet and pulled up a holographic projection: a map, of sorts. And a message ready to be transmitted on his go. Then he started vibrating his whole body to match the frequency on the first location: Earth-2442. He reached down and twisted his large belt buckle, which housed his tachyon emitter. Instantly, his body was flooded with energy and the vibrations reached a fever pitch as he rapidly accelerated to faster-than-light.

With his whole body drifting out of phase, he reached out in front of him with both hands, fingers ripping in opposite directions.

And he tore a hole in the fabric of reality.

The White Revenant stepped into the place between worlds, streaking across dimensions as his entire body was engulfed in energy. A nanosecond later, he exited another tear into a familiar world with very different heroes, and his suit transmitted its superluminal SOS. Another tear formed, and he leapt to Earth-144, where the Knights of Camelot reigned over a magicpunk utopia. Another tear, and he landed on Earth-28, where the next generation of the Justice League protected a cyberpunk dystopia—and a new Batman protected a Gotham nearly beyond saving.

Again and again and again this repeated, one universe after another, as his suit sent that signal everywhere he went. Then he adjusted his frequency one last time and tore open one last passage back to Earth-1. As his tachyon device dispensed the last of its built-up energy, he glanced at his gauntlet and saw every return ping.

And he smiled as half a dozen Revenants followed in his wake—his Legion, as it were.

As always, they would only have a brief period to act together. The Speedforce didn't take kindly to the existence of time remnants, and the only way he could avoid incurring its wrath was to keep them separated across dimensions. But that was fine. Every time Lucas-Prime visited one of his "brothers," any new memories he'd made would instantly be transferred to that universe's remnant. He never needed to explain a thing; they were always on the same page.

So it was as one that seven Revenants lanced toward Janus in a barrage of lightning and fury. He barely had time to thicken his armored carapace before they struck him from all sides at full power.

The Revenant of Earth-7929, Hunter, engulfed his entire body in a lightning aura—a trick he'd learned from the Grimm hunters of his world—and phased through Janus' body repeatedly, filling him with unstable charges of electricity that discharged inside him. Xeno and Beyond, from Earths 37 and 28, used their cybernetic implants to deploy explosive spikes in Janus' legs that shattered his armor and left a good bit of damage on the flesh beneath. Earth-25's Revenant, Magnus, used a Motherbox linked to his suit to temporarily destabilize Janus' psychic link to his Element-X and essentially cut any control he had over the armor.

Retro, Earth-2's Revenant, used a technique taught to him by a young Jay Garrick to lock Janus down with tethers made from Speedforce energy, shackling all his limbs in different directions. Lord Carlisle, the Revenant of Earth-144's Camelot, reached to his left hip with both hands, conjuring a sword made from his own lightning and the energy of the Speedforce itself—the Vortex Blade. As he streaked past Janus, a thousand cuts carved through the time god's body, leaving burning trails from every angle.

Which left only Prime and Big Brother, the oldest Revenant from Earth-2442—older than Prime by about two years, in fact. They ran together, lapping around the outside of the Fortress while the others locked down Janus. Then they phased through the walls and slammed fists-first into Janus from opposite sides. Prime felt something crack on impact—possibly Janus' spine. As one, every Revenant used their own tachyon device to return to their Earth before the Speedforce took notice.

Leaving Prime to finish him off.

Rev roared as he phased his right hand, streaking toward Janus with every intent of crushing his heart. Then he saw the air around Janus shimmer for an instant, like another teleport, and Luke's gray eyes widened when Cass's bloodied form appeared in his place. Lucas immediately stopped vibrating his hand and slowed down a bit.

He realized too late that "Cass" had golden eyes.

An instant time-warp dragged Rev's body down to human speed, and his momentum sent him tumbling across the room without any control. His body picked up dozens of heavy bruises, ending when he finally collided with a support pillar and cracked his head hard enough to knock him unconscious.

…

Joker was cheating. Jason had known that from the jump, of course, but it didn't make it any less irritating. He hadn't won a single hand of this so far, which made the game not only extremely boring but altogether useless for distracting him from the situation outside. The look on Janus' face when he teleported…

Jason huffed and threw his cards down in agitation.

The Joker noticed and chuckled. "Someone's a sore loser."

Jason fixed his eyes on Joker's and felt a wave of pure malice tug his lips upward. "You wanna know what it's like to really lose? I imagine you have some idea, being trapped here, but you have no clue how deep that well actually goes."

Joker giggled and leaned back as he shuffled. "Oh this should be good."

"Y'see…I'm from the future." Jason pointed to Joker with both hands. "Your future. Now, I made a very strict rule never to divulge any knowledge critical to the timeline. But right here, right now, I'm going to make a special exception." He smiled wider, all malice and disgust. "Because I know how it ends. Your 'reign of terror.' You—you wanna know?" Jason waved him closer. "Come here."

Arching an eyebrow, Joker reluctantly leaned in.

And Jason whispered, "Alone. In a cave." He leaned back and lounged in his chair. "No…grand exit, no big punchline, no party, no explosions. You die in a cave, whimpering like a wounded animal."

Jason watched the Joker's face twitch with no small amount of glee.

The boy smiled and clasped his hands together. "And that's not even the best part." Jason chuckled bitterly. "See, by the time someone finally lets you out of here…Batman's dead."

Any trace of amusement or dismissiveness left the clown's face, replaced by a growing dread in his eyes.

Jason shrugged. "He never even sees you again. And the only reason you get pulled out of the Phantom Zone?" Another mirthless laugh. "Is so that his successor can shackle you in that cave and torture you to death. You wanna know how long it takes for you to break?" Jason held up his index. "One. Week. One week of isolation and relentless torment, and what's left of your mind straight-up shatters. And then?" He shrugged. "He just snaps your neck. No build-up, no big speech. Just business. And then, he broadcasts little…snippets of your time in that cave to all the big players in the city…while he parades what's left of you through the streets.

"The coronation of a new Dark Knight," Jason snarled, voice trembling.

He sat in silence for a few moments to let it sink in as Joker kept shuffling.

After a while, Joker finally spoke. "So why tell me all this?"

Jason glared at him, hands fisted on the table. "Because death is all that remains for you outside this place. By his hand…or mine." His jaw tightened. "And I will not let it be his." His eyes stung. "You've done enough damage."

Jason reached out to cut the deck, sneaking a card under his hand as he did. Joker dealt them a fresh hand, and he looked at his cards: ace of spades, three of hearts. Not great. The flop left a jack and ten of spades with a five of diamonds.

"This new Bat sounds like a real charmer," Joker said as he flipped the turn—a seven of clubs.

"There won't be a new Batman. Not on my watch."

The clown prince laughed softly. "For once, we agree on something." He flipped the river—a queen of spades—and threw his cards down. "Read 'em and weep! Straight flush!"

Joker had a nine and ten of spades.

Jason stared down at the table, then looked up at Joker and smiled. "Royal flush."

He laid down an ace and king of spades.

Joker stared at the cards, slowly dragging his eyes up to glare at Jason. Jason smiled and flipped the discarded three of hearts out from between his fingers, waving it around like a streamer.

"That's not fair, sonny," Joker growled.

He just smiled wider. "Sure it is. Exactly as fair as my opponent."

Jason pointed the card at Joker's right sleeve, which had a just-visible pair of eights. The boy waggled his eyebrows once. Joker chuckled, steadily escalating into full-blown cackles.

"Y'know," Joker giggled, wagging his finger at Jason, "I think I like you, kid. Y'got a name?"

Jason's smile gained a faint edge. "None that you'll ever know."

Suddenly, the air off to his right erupted with dark energy, and the fabric of the fairgrounds twisted around the tear. Jason huffed and smiled.

They did it.

He made to stand up.

"Put 'er there, sonny!"

Jason turned his head to see Joker holding his hand out.

"Good game," he said with a smile.

Jason warily eyed his hand, slowly reaching to take it…

Then his hand wrapped around Joker's throat and snatched him into the air.

"You think I'm an idiot?" Jason growled. His other hand ripped the fatal joybuzzer from Joker's hand and crushed it. "Let me give you one piece of advice." He nodded at the portal. "If you ever see one of those again…" his head shook, "stay on this side. Because if you ever come back, I'll know." He dragged Joker in close, hissing right in his face. "And no one will ever find your carcass."

With that, Jason tossed him across the landscape and shot through the portal.

…

Janus collapsed to all fours as soon as the speedster slumped to the ground. He stared at the Revenant's body wide-eyed, panting hard with every breath an exercise in pain. Even his godly physiology and time-altering abilities couldn't regenerate him fully, not the way they usually did. Still, Janus grit his teeth and forced himself to stand, stalking over to Carlisle and glaring down at him. He reached down to finish him off, but hesitated for just a moment.

If the speedster recovered from being stabbed that quickly…

He grabbed Lucas by the arm and teleported both of them back to the Phantom Zone vault. Janus growled and hurled Lucas' body into Cassandra, knocking her away from the still-unconscious Blue Lantern. Then he turned his attention to Supergirl and snatched her by the waist. Whatever that Motherbox had done to his armor was still working, so he was forced to grab her manually, but he still managed to rip her away from the projector before she could touch the controls.

Kara immediately elbowed him in the face and used her speed to weave around his counterattack. She targeted his unhealed injuries, reopening wounds and spattering golden blood everywhere. Janus snarled and snapped his fingers as he palmed one of her punches with his other hand.

Then promptly stabbed her with a knife-shaped shard of kryptonite he'd warped into his hand.

She gasped and sputtered, staring down at the crystalline blade imbedded deep in her gut. Then she grabbed his shoulder and headbutted him hard enough to dislodge the knife and slam him into the ground. Kara stumbled back, hand pressed to the hole in her gut, and heaved for breath as her veins stood out with a pale, sickly tinge.

"W-Why—why are you doing this?" she gasped.

Janus sighed and stood up, his armor's fractured form slowly stabilizing as he felt his connection to it being restored. "Because the gift the Waynes stole from me must be kept safe." He flipped the knife to an icepick grip and met her eyes. "And I do not trust it in mortal hands."

She stared at him, uncomprehending. "What gift?!"

He smiled faintly, venomously. "No need to explain it to a dead woman."

Janus shot across the short distance between them, stabbing at her neck. She caught his wrist and held him back, barely, but he still slammed her against a wall and pinned her there. Between her existing injuries and the proximity of the kryptonite, Kara was weakening—and that knife was slowly getting closer. She clenched her jaw and pushed with everything she had. It wasn't going to be enough. Janus snapped his other hand up to push the knife down, and it steadily approached her skin.

She sobbed faintly as the point pressed to her neck, just starting to draw blood when—

Janus' head snapped back just a little on pure instinct. He and Kara stared as a batarang flew between their heads, through the space Janus' face had just occupied. Janus turned his head to see Black Bat lying on the floor next to her wrecked armor, her injured arm clutched to her chest. The other fell to the ground after the throw. Janus stared at her for a long moment through the broken section of her cowl.

And then he saw the smirk on her lips and whirled toward the batarang.

Its path ended a split-second later—at the controls of the Phantom Zone projector. Supergirl blasted him dead in the face with her heat vision, roaring over the din as he screamed. He stabbed her in the thigh twice before she stopped firing. Janus had time enough to draw his hand back for one last stab at her eye socket.

Then all the armor on his left side crumpled with a single impact. Janus flew across the room, rolling to a stop and breathing raggedly. He pushed himself to one knee, looking up to see Jason staring at his teammates. Even behind the helmet, Jason's pallor was visible. Janus immediately threw his arm out to cast a time-warp.

The Tomorrow Knight strode through it like it wasn't even there, the air around him buzzing with energy as silvery runes erupted all over his body.

Janus' golden eyes widened when he saw Jason snarl, his glowing eyes burning with desperation.

Shing!

That accursed Nth-metal sword sprang to full length along with his shield. Janus' right arm flexed, and a long, curved blade grew directly from his flesh—the same one he'd used at the tail end of their fight in Bialya. His left arm grasped a short axe, and they charged each other.

They met in the center of the hall in a deafening clash of metal and fury. Their strikes came so quickly, no one except the speedster or Kryptonian could've kept up with it. Jason growled and parried Janus' axe with his sword, then spun counterclockwise with the blow and elbowed him in the jaw with his left arm. That same arm slammed the edge of his shield into the same damaged spot Jason had hit when he exited the portal.

Between Caden's lucky shot and the speedster's rampage, Janus could feel the damage mounting—and with Jason using Nth-metal weapons, his regeneration would be all but nullified. Janus opened a portal in Jason's blind spot, and a tongue of plasma lanced out at him. Without skipping a beat, Jason shifted his shield and completely blocked it while he stabbed at Janus repeatedly. Janus dodged or deflected everything, countering with an upward axe swing that turned into a flail swing mid-movement, extending his range and force considerably.

The Knight's eyes widened as he snapped his head back just enough to avoid taking the full hit. It still impacted just hard enough to knock his helmet off. Immediately, his arm-blade thrust at Jason's neck, just barely deflected by his sword. Jason lunged in and smacked his pommel against Janus' collarbone. Janus kneed him in the ribs and elbowed his shoulder. Jason didn't back down for a second, staying in close and slamming his shield into Janus' shins.

Janus teleported repeatedly and attacked from multiple sides, but nothing got through his defenses. Janus glanced at Kara and Cassandra, then opened another portal that sent two lightning bolts streaking toward them. Jason's shield flew into Kara's grasp as he dashed between his sister and the second bolt. His gauntlets took the brunt of the blast, and he immediately sent it right back at Janus.

Janus scoffed and opened a portal, redirecting it into Jason's back. This time, he didn't avoid it. Janus kept up the pressure, unleashing a steady flow of electricity that ripped ear-piercing screams from the boy. But the Knight wasn't done.

Within seconds, the tongues of electricity began to alter their course, flowing around him like a magnetic field. Janus' eyes widened.

He couldn't have already learned—

As one, every single bolt of lightning flowed into his gauntlets, supercharging them.

"You…will never touch them again."

The Tomorrow Knight's altered voice boomed through the chamber, louder than even the lightning storm. Then Jason charged through the stream and rapidly closed the distance. Janus' arm-blade and a short staff clashed with Jason's sword and bracer. Janus twirled the staff and jabbed at him repeatedly, trying to create distance. But Jason had learned from his fights with Philippus. He deliberately took a hit to the ribs, then tucked the staff under his right arm and trapped it while he dropped his sword into his left hand. Jason's counterattack nearly took off Janus' hand and immediately forced him on the defensive.

While Janus was still recoiling from the slash, Jason lunged in even closer so he couldn't use his arm-blade and headbutted Janus in the jaw. The same—damn—spot.

Janus growled and turned a section of his armor into a barrage of amorphous bladed tendrils, striking at Jason from all angles while his arm-blade stabbed and slashed at the boy from the front. The Knight's arms turned into glowing silvery blurs, deflecting most of the tendrils while keeping the arm-blade at bay. Some hits got through, and Jason's armor was perforated with dozens of small cuts and stabs. But it wasn't nearly enough to stop him.

The Knight's gauntlets slammed together, sending a massive blast of energy at Janus too close and too fast to dodge. Janus thickened his armor at the front and took the full force of it. Jason's left hand fired his grapnel, yanking the empty husk of Cass's discarded Kryptonian battlesuit and hurling it at Janus' side. Janus teleported behind him and made to stab him in the back. His golden eyes widened when Jason extended his gauntlet blades and trapped Janus' weapon between them. The husk bounced off Jason's glowing form as he spun around and thrust his sword like a bolt of lightning.

Janus scrambled and hardened the armor on his left side, grasping at the Nth-metal blade. He still grunted as the first two inches pierced his shoulder, dangerously close to his heart and barely held back by his iron grip.

"No more."

Janus looked up from the sword to Jason, eyes wide.

"This—ends—today."

Janus growled and twisted his arm-blade, managing to wrench it free. Then he immediately shortened it just enough to slip past Jason's guard and found a gap in his armor in almost exactly the same spot he'd just stabbed Janus. And there they were, fingers clenched around each other's weapon, trying desperately to push their own in deeper before the other could do the same.

"Stop—get out of there!" Kara screamed.

Janus looked from their weapons to Jason's glowing eyes and felt a fierce chill pass through him at the purity of the hatred he found there. Then he sighed and pushed his blade in deeper.

"No! Get back!"

Janus glanced at the Kryptonian, seeing her barely upright and trying to limp toward them. Jason screamed and pushed back, his whole body shaking as his runes began to dim. Janus could feel him getting weaker—but not from his injuries.

So…he doesn't understand…not yet.

Janus kept digging his curved weapon into Jason's chest, getting closer and closer—

A blast of heat vision slammed into Janus and sent him crashing into a wall. From the way Kara collapsed to all fours, it was all she had left. The others…

As soon as Janus stood back up, he saw Blue Lantern on his feet, ring aglow, with his hand reattached. The rest quickly joined him, already almost fully healed. Janus' jaw clenched, and he met Jason's eyes—just normal blue now. Janus nodded for a moment, then snapped his fingers as Jason lunged and screamed in denial.

Then he was gone, and there were six.

…

Jason stared at the empty crater in disbelief for a moment. And then he turned to Kara, voice barely a whisper.

"What did you do?"

She just stared at him.

"What did you do?!" he yelled.

Kara blinked. "What did I do? I saved your life!"

Jason stormed toward her. "I had him!" His voice cracked with desperation and no small amount of anger. "I could've ended this, right here and now!"

She didn't even blink. "That's not what I saw."

"I don't care!" Jason whirled around and paced, about ready to pull his hair out. "This was it…this was our shot, our best shot at finally being rid of that bastard!"

Lucas groaned as Cass helped him stand. "There'll be another time," he groaned.

Jason whirled toward him. "Yeah? When? When we're separated and he has the element of surprise? And he can pick us off one by one? He took me from the Watchtower. The most heavily guarded and secure space station in the Sector. You think that was coincidence?! If he can reach us there, he can reach us anywhere."

"So why hasn't he?"

They all turned to Caden, who was frowning.

He looked up at the rest of them. "Why hasn't he come for us before now? He knows who we are. Thanks to Adonis, he certainly knows where I live, and you too." He nodded to Jason. "If our theory is right and he's been watching us for months, then why wait to strike until we were all together on the Watchtower? It doesn't make any sense."

"Intimidation?" Alex suggested. He shivered and rubbed his left wrist. "I know I feel intimidated."

Caden's head shook. "No. There are any number of ways he could've done that without putting himself at risk, and if he's just after the kid, why not hit him while his powers were gone?"

Jason huffed and waved to Caden. "Well, what's your theory, genius?"

Caden arched an eyebrow. "I have a few. One: that his powers have limits and we've been led to believe he's stronger than he is. Which is…" he looked around the wrecked Fortress and shrugged, "unlikely. Two: that he's as much a sadist as the rest of his family and likes to play with his food."

Cass frowned. "I'm sensing a third theory."

Caden's lips pursed tightly. "Arguably the most outlandish…but the only one that makes any sense." He met Jason's eyes. "Janus doesn't actually want us dead."

Everyone stared at him for a good five seconds before Jason chuckled humorlessly and Alex shook his head.

"Well, excuse me if my recently severed hand disagrees with you," Alex said, holding up the appendage.

Caden turned to him. "Yes. He cut off your hand when you were the last man standing by blindsiding you so you couldn't heal everyone else."

"Yeah, so?"

"So why didn't he cut off your head?"

Jason froze.

Caden waved to himself. "Why did he stab me in the gut instead of the heart?" He waved at Kara. "Why not time-bubble you and use that kryptonite to shiv you in the spine or brain stem? In fact, from what I can see, the only ones he actually tried lethal force on were Lucas…and Jason."

Cass blinked. "The only ones who actually came close to killing him."

Caden snapped his fingers and pointed to her. "Exactly."

Kara frowned and stared at the ground. "Then why is he doing all this?"

His head shook. "I don't know. There are too many pieces missing from this picture. But whatever Janus is really after, I don't think it's nearly as simple as we've been assuming."

Jason laughed bitterly, feeling a surge of burning rage stirring in his chest. "Better question: who cares? He can't plan anything if he's dead." He waved at the empty crater. "I could've finished this." He jabbed a finger at Kara, torn between pain and anger. Anger won out. "You…took that from me."

She stared at him in confusion. "I know why you feel that way, but I'm not going to watch you die just to—"

"Just to what?!" he screamed, steadily getting closer to her. "To protect everyone I love?! To make sure the future doesn't repeat itself?!" He clapped his hands together with every word he spat. "That's—the—whole—point!"

Kara came right back at him, undaunted. "You're not the only one who gets to care, Jason. We're all in this together."

"But I guess some of us are more committed than others."

Alex's eyes widened, and he stepped toward them. "Hold on now…"

Kara huffed. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Jason sneered and waved dismissively, pacing away from her. The burning in his chest was only getting worse, getting unbearable.

"You think I'm not committed to keeping you safe?"

He whirled around and screamed, "It's not about me!" Anger drove his feet closer to her and squeezed words from his lips. "I am not the priority!" The burning in his chest rapidly spread to his head, clouding his vision and thoughts. "Only the mission matters, and if you don't get that, then maybe—"

"Kid!"

Jason blinked, and Caden had stepped between him and Kara, hand on his chest. His body blocked Kara from view, and for a moment, the red cloud started to clear.

"Don't." Caden's head shook slightly. "Don't."

Kara stepped around to the side, arms crossed. "No. Say it. I'm sick of all these secrets. We agreed to be honest with each other." Her voice lowered, all ice. "So stop holding back and tell me the truth."

Jason stared at her, saw Caden shake his head again. The red crawled up over his vison, and his lips moved before he could think.

"If you don't get that, then maybe I should reconsider my choice of partner."

The growling words echoed through the chamber, seeming way louder than they should've been. Caden's eyes squeezed shut and he sighed hard.

The moment the words left his mouth, Jason felt the burning sensation flee. The red completely vanished from his vision. And even before he saw the hurt in Kara's eyes, shame flooded his entire body.

"Kara," he gasped, blinking at the floor. "I—I didn't—"

"Maybe you should," she whispered.

Jason took a shaky step toward her. "Kara, I didn't mean—"

Kara swallowed and took a step back. "But do it at home." She shrugged. "I wanna tidy up a bit before Kal comes back." There was no emotion in her voice, but the shakes and cracks were enough.

"Kara," Jason pleaded.

Her jaw clenched and her eyes flickered with a hint of red for just a moment. "Go. Home."

"But…but what if he comes back?"

Kara just left the room without a word.

Alex clapped a hand on his shoulder. "I'll stick around, make sure all that kryptonite's actually outta her system."

Jason swallowed and nodded his thanks.

Caden gripped his arm tightly and pulled him toward Cass and Luke. "Let's go," he ordered.

Jason didn't fight one bit.

Moments later, they teleported back to the Watchtower, and Jason sat next to Cass at a conference table as Lucas gave him a once-over. Caden was pacing back and forth, visibly seething, but he stayed silent for a full minute.

Then he whirled toward Jason. "Kid, you and your dad are two peas in a friggin' pod, y'know that? And that's not a compliment."

Jason stared at the floor.

"'Only the mission matters?' Are you kidding me?"

"It's the only reason I came back to this time," Jason said softly.

"No! It isn't!"

Jason looked up at him.

Caden shook his head slowly. "You can lie to your friends, lie to your family, lie to anyone you want; but you can't lie to me. I know what drives you, what really drives you, and it isn't just 'keeping everyone safe.' I know that rage, Jason. Janus tipped the first dominoes, and from there, your whole life spiraled out of control so badly, you couldn't take the thought of having to live it anymore. This isn't about protection; this is about vengeance."

Jason sneered. "Oh and what, this is the part where you feed me some…" he waved vaguely, "sanctimonious lecture about revenge being empty?"

Caden laughed—laughed. "You…you really don't know me at all, do you? If you did, you'd know I'm the last person who'd ever feed you that bullshit." He huffed and sat across the table from him. "Listen. When I was ten years old, my parents were assassinated by the same people who created Project Achilles. I spent the next eight years running from them, trying to find out who gave the order, tracking him down. I wanted revenge. I got what I wanted.

"I stood there in his penthouse, and I put five bullets in his chest, and kicked him through his own goddamn window so I could watch him turn into a greasy smear on the pavement." Cade's eyes widened with a touch of madness. "And it was…beautiful…and horrible, and vindicating, and sickening, and so many other things." His head shook. "But it was not empty. You wanna know why?" He tapped the table with his index. "Because I spent each of those eight years making sure there would be an after. That my life wouldn't end with his."

Caden shrugged and smiled sardonically, waving at Jason. "You, on the other hand, seem intent on pushing everyone you love away. You keep secrets, you alienate your family, you never listen, and you continually use your 'mission' as an excuse to let your anger take the wheel—and it's killing you. If you keep going down this path, there won't be anything left but the mission. And when it's over, then what? Then what?"

He let the question hang in the air. The room was silent for a long, long time.

"Not my first time being stabbed or tossed around like a ragdoll, but it's never fun." Caden sighed and stood up. "Everyone get some rest."

Jason felt a flicker of that anger burning in his gut. "If you know so much about all this, why are you stuck in Star City, alone, living someone else's life?"

Caden paused in the doorway.

Jason stared at his back, voice laced with a hint of scorn. "What happened to your 'after?'"

He looked over his shoulder and smiled ruefully. "Didn't work out. I got sloppy, too wrapped up in what I was anticipating to see danger coming."

For a moment, Jason could see the horror of the memories flash in his eyes as he stared at the ground.

Caden looked at him. "You want to make a tomorrow for everyone else?" He shrugged. "Well, they feel the same way about you…and that's not something you get to decide for them."

With that, he left.

The Watchtower was quiet for a long few minutes after, until the Justice League teams started to return. Everything passed by in a blur, with Jason only vaguely aware of his parents' animated voices as Cass and Lucas explained everything that had happened. He stayed numb long after they teleported back home, all the way until he slumped over into bed after a long, scalding shower. Then he finally let himself remember the hurt in Kara's eyes and laid an arm over his face as he sobbed hard enough to be heard down the hall.

Damian's shadow hovered outside his door for just a moment before he moved on.

AN: So ends Act II. As hard as these last two chapters were to write, the next few will probably be even harder for one simple reason. We have still not yet hit rock bottom. But we will get there…oh we'll get there.

Writing this chapter taught me a few things. First: the Joker is much harder for me to write than I expected. Second: I now know for sure that I was absolutely justified making Olympus terrified of Janus—portals with unlimited reach are ridiculously overpowered. Add on the rest of his power set? Yeah, terrifying. Third: DC's speedsters are broken. I'm very lucky that the Speedforce hates time remnants, because the Legion working together on the regular would be stupid overpowered.

Hopefully I can keep going and close this story out with Act III, because it is extremely important that I end this strong. For a lot of reasons, story wise and personally.

Drake out.

Formatting notes:
– Internal Thoughts/Flashback
– "Super-Hearing/Surveillance/Hallucination"
– Telepathy/Divine Speech
– "{Translation}"
– [Text Message]