The New 52 Redux

by YouKnowItMakesSense

What if Flashpoint hadn't changed reality and the New Earth continuity had persisted? Time and space still tried to assert itself in the form of Eobard Thawne returning to the present as Eddie Thawne, a messiah of resurrection for the world six months after the Blackest Night. And he really does want to change the world.

2. Song of the Red Robin

The Narrows, Gotham

The job is never easy when no one wants you here. Last time he had seen the man who had adopted him as his son, Tim Drake had been rebuked for, of all things, mercy. When Dick and even Damian had congratulated him on not avenging his father's death, Bruce had merely expressed an angry concern. Or at least that's what Tim assumed when he was feeling more generous than usual. Tim had heard rumours about what happened to Joe Chill. While Chill was alive, Batman had hounded him to death essentially. Not to mention Tony Zucco wasn't still kicking either, though reports as to the nature of his demise varied. Whilst neither Bruce nor Dick had directly killed them…it wouldn't be beyond the realms of possibility to assume their deaths were brought ahead of schedule by their presences. Almost as soon as Zucco was out of prison, Nightwing was all over him, and reports again varied as to what befell Joe Chill. Bruce was chastising Tim, simply for being like him and Dick. After the Blackest Night, the night when the dead had risen, some people were restored from death permanently by something called the Entity. The way Hal Jordan had put it, this thing was the universal embodiment of life. Some eternal force going back to the dawn of time, sort of like God. This thing had brought back a few people from the grave after they defeated it's dark counterpart, Nekron, the embodiment of death. Some of them had deserved it: J'onn J'onzz, Arthur Curry, Jade and most of all, Boston Brand, the veritable Deadman. It was good and just that these people got a second chance at life. Some of them didn't live up to it, but still…they had a shot. But one of those people was Digger Harkness, better known as Captain Boomerang, the man who had killed Jack Drake in cold blood on the worst night of Tim's life. Tim had shown restraint when dealing with Harkness, but he had so wanted to snuff the murderer out of existence. In going after Harkness, he had let Bruce down. And in trying and failing to avenge his father, he had lost another father.

The worst part was that Tim believed in Bruce more than the rest of them. After Bruce had "died" fighting Darkseid, Tim was the only one who knew in his heart of hearts that the man had survived. Everyone else had moved on, but Tim had made deals with the devil to find his father. To find Bruce Wayne. And now Bruce didn't want to know about him. Still, not the problem. Tim had burnt a lot of bridges recently. After Bruce's disappearance, he had basically told the girl he loved that she was incompetent and inferior to him. Then he had hit Damian for being an ass. Damian is an ass, but Dick sees good in him, so there might be something to him. While he was getting back on board with the Teen Titans, he only felt that needed to be for emergencies, and things were tense the last he had seen them all, though most of his friends had put on brave faces. The problem with this job was that no one really got him, even his peers as heroes. They liked him for what they thought he was or perhaps just admired the enigma as far as Tim could see. Except Bruce, which was probably why he was disappointed in him. It's the old cliché about cops, he thought, we do work no "civilian" could understand, which is why we have affairs with our co-workers. But it was true. The only relationship he ever had that was in any way…well, good…was with Stephanie Brown, another vigilante. Now she tolerated him, though they saw little of one another lately and he'd screwed up big time with Tam Fox, the first civvie he'd dated to know of his dual life.

He thought he and his fellow Titan, Cassie Sandsmark might have worked had life not been the way it had been. She would always love Conner, and someone like Tim who was Conner's best friend…well, being with him was just a way of expressing shared grief. He probably could reconnect with Tam if he tried, but it would never work. Tim knew that. It never does. But what had drawn Cassie to Tim was also his greatest weakness: they were broken by grief. Sure, Cassie had lost Conner, but that was it, as horrible as it may sound. Since he had turned thirteen, both of Tim's parents had been gruesomely murdered because of him being Robin. And then Steph had died, or pretended to be dead, not long before his dad and Conner. And what did he do the whole goddamn time? He stood by Bruce. The man who now hated him, for being him. Sure, every hero had lost someone. It seemed to be part of the job description to have lost a loved one in some horrible, inexplicable fashion. But it had been too much for Tim at too young an age. The fact that Bruce left him, and now didn't believe in him. It…he couldn't go on.

He'd learned all the basic acrobatics from watching the Flying Graysons as a youngster, and years of being a Gotham vigilante made the lad adept at gliding, grappling and various other methods of defying gravity. Anyone who knew him can safely say that Tim Drake could jump off a building and live. But this time, he wasn't going to. Bruce's last words to him had been festering inside him for a while and all Tim could think was that he was a failure. And so, tonight he figured he'd go join his mom and dad. Gotham doesn't need Red Robin. No more than the Teen Titans do, with their powerhouses like Kid Flash, Superboy and Wonder Girl. He removed his cowl from his face to wipe away bitter tears. This time no one could save him. He'd timed it right. He was still part of the Batman Family and knew no one would be on patrol tonight. And since he hadn't breathed a word of it, it's not like Clark or anyone could hear his intentions. They'd just assume he was jumping off a building with confidence again. Tim took one last swig of whiskey from his hip flask. He'd never been one to drink. Not before, since he was such a good little boy, fixed to wait until he was twenty-one. Oh, well. He hoped those super-hearing types wouldn't pick up on the tears. They did need to focus to hear such thingsand it's not like they didn't have anything better to do to be focusing that much. Right. A bell chimed. Midnight. Moment of truth, Drake. Time to finally do what you set out to do at thirteen and make the world a better place.

The fall was like any other, only for the first time in years, he didn't have control. Normally, he'd glide from building to building and be confident that even though there was no ground beneath his feet, he'd be safe. There was no traffic in the Narrows at this hour, so he'd be splattered all over the pavement. He hoped Oracle or someone would find him first, before the police could identify Red Robin as Tim Drake. Still, it wouldn't matter anyway. They'd just assume the orphan kid had taken it upon himself. No more than that time everyone knew Steph was Spoiler. Bruce wouldn't be compromised. Tim smiled to himself as he became more confident of his fate. Then…

Two claws grabbed Tim by the cape and hoisted him in mid-air. The shrieks were inhuman. Breaking the sound barrier on more than one level. Reaching for a projectile, Tim opened his eyes and saw what was holding him. A Man-Bat. One of Talia al Ghul's modern squad of Man-Bat commandos to be precise. So, the Leviathan rumours were true then. Tim started struggling with the beast as it tore through his costume. They flew a couple of blocks, before it threw him on a roof. Readjusting his cowl, Tim got out his baton and began doing a dance of death with the foul creature. It looked like a bat, only more gigantic, and was really a human augmented by the formula of one Dr Kirk Langstrom. Except now the Daughter of the Demon had his formula and had summarily outfitted her shock troops with them. This one was a scout, though why it had grabbed Tim he had no idea. Perhaps Talia wanted him for something, though he couldn't figure out what.

The Man-Bat began parrying his blows one by one with ease. Tim wasn't in the form for fighting tonight. He had specifically chosen this patrol so he could end it all. The thought occurred to him that perhaps death by Man-Bat was just as good an exit? Except it grabbed him as if it wanted him for something. Or maybe it was just playing with him for food? He didn't care. Maybe he should get more sluggish. Just enough so that it can finish the deed. Then a black and purple figure descended on the beast and knocked it out with a kick in the jaw before the battle could conclude. "Well, it's not every night you bump into your ex fighting a Man-Bat," a cheeky and charming voice emanated from the new arrival "But then again, we're not one for "every" kind of nights in this line of work, are we?" Tim took his damaged cowl from his face and looked upon his ex-girlfriend. Stephanie Brown. Batgirl. She was almost radiant in how well she handled these guys. But he couldn't tell her that, couldn't let her get back in. Not now. Not for her sake. "You shouldn't be out tonight, Steph."

"Who says? Oh wait, I forgot. I'm not good enough to be a superhero, am I? I thought you and I were over that crap."

"We are. That's not what I meant, and I already apologised…"

"Then why shouldn't I be out?"

"Because tonight is…it's important to me. I have things to do...alone."

"And what's so important you don't want any of us around to see it?"

Tim didn't answer. He looked deeply through Steph's mask into her blue eyes, and thought of all the times they'd silenced one another with a kiss in interactions like this. Things were so much simpler then. Before everyone started dying. Before everyone started coming back...except Mom and Dad. Red Robin composed himself and maintained a defiance in his demeanour as he regarded his former love. He gestured at the unconscious monster Batgirl had just felled to get her attention back to the situation at hand. "This Man-Bat…it's one of Talia al-Ghul's. Bruce will want to know." Steph nodded and began cuffing the beast. "Roger that," she said nonchalantly while doing this before, unable to resist the nagging feelin something was wrong poked the bear further by adding, "And you can tell Bruce yourself."

"Fat chance."

Steph just looked up at her ex-boyfriend as if she were talking to a total stranger. "Tim, are you sure, you're alright? You looked like you weren't up to form fighting this thing and…is that whiskey?" Tim realised there was no point in maintaining any composure with her anymore and withdrew his hip flask from his belt. "Yeah, it's good stuff. Try some." Steph knocked it away with the force of a newspaper taking the life of a fly, spilling what little contents remained over the roof. "What are you thinking? Bruce would kill you if he found out! And he'd be right…you're going jumping off rooftops completely wasted." Tim picked up the hip flask and downed it. "Well, if you're going to be like that, I might never share anything ever again." Steph was normally the clown of the Bat Clan, cracking wise like Dick always did back in the day. But she could see Tim was broken. Well, he had every right to be. "Do you know what day it is, Steph?"

"Wednesday."

"No! It is…my mother's birthday. She would've been fifty today. Can you imagine that? She would have been so proud of me. And my dad, well he'd be…older, but that's not the point. The point is, Steph, is that I miss them."

"Of course, you do" Steph half smiled, understanding that her friend was hurting. Despite it all, Tim was more sensitive than he liked to let on to the others. He could be cocky, arrogant and driven, but since she'd returned from Africa, there was an edge to him. The only time he'd been really vulnerable in front of her since then was when he'd kissed her impulsively with the realisation she was back from the dead. She moved forward a little slowly and took one of his gloved hands in hers affectionately before continuing, "How could you not? But, hey, you've got us. Dick, Babs, Cass, Bruce...Your family."

"No, I don't though do I? Bruce made it very clear how much of a disappointment I am last time we met."

As Tim violently pulled himself from her midsentence, Steph came to a terrible realisation then. Tim was ever the consummate professional when it came to his work as a superhero. Even when he was supposed to be unwinding with his friends from Young Justice or the Teen Titans, he made sure he operated on a mental and physical level approaching Batman's. The rest of them never put the kind of mental pressure on themselves that Tim did, except maybe Bruce. Of all her colleagues in Gotham, Tim was by quite a distance the least likely to jump into battle with a Man-Bat after consuming alcohol. Not unless...Dumbstruck, it took Steph about ten seconds to stumble out the words that had just hit her psyche: "You…you were deliberately jumping off, weren't you?"

"Yep."

"Oh, Tim, I…"

"Save your sympathy. I bottled it anyway, as you can plainly see. Live to fight another day, and all that. I'll see you again, Batgirl. Hopefully, when I'm a lot less drunk." And with that, Tim Drake vanished, leaving Stephanie Brown to shed a single tear of sympathy for the man she still loved.

The Batcave

"It's not like you to visit, Stephanie. Nice work with Spyral actually. You've come a long way." Bruce Wayne swivelled in his chair to greet the new Batgirl. It meant a lot to Stephanie that now Bruce approved of her after her failure as a Robin. He was a good man underneath it all, and craving his approval was something his charges, hell, even other heroes, had as second nature. "Thanks, Bruce. But I'm not here about that." Bruce straightened in his chair, gathering seriousness. "Of course. Anything unusual on patrol?"

"Well, if you think a Man-Bat is unusual, then…yes."

"Well, it can't have been Kirk. He's safe and secure with Francine in Paris at the moment. So, it must have been one of Talia's."

"We don't know what it was here for. But it attacked Tim."

"Red Robin was out this evening? Barbara told me he was taking the night off..."

"Bruce, what did you say to him?"

"To who? Langstrom?"

"No, you imbecile! To Tim!"

"Miss Brown, I don't take kindly to my intelligence being insulted by…by…"

"By one of us. By the children you abuse, is that it, Bruce?"

"That isn't fair."

"Oh no? It makes sense why Damian acts out like he does after what I saw tonight. He acts like such a pig, when really, he's jealous because he knows you approve of us more than him. And now you're doing the same shit with Tim…"

"What happened between Tim and I is private…"

"You can't just say that stuff to him and leave him thinking you despise him. You love him, just as much as I do."

"You couldn't possibly understand."

"That's where your wrong, Bruce. We all can. You seem to think you're the only one who feels emotions sometimes, you know that. Goodbye!"

Bruce brooded as Batgirl left his presence. So, she'd met Tim tonight. And he was acting out of sorts. Considering what he'd suggested they do with the boy to Oracle of late. Let's just say she wasn't on board, and Bruce safely assumed she'd put it to Tim by now. Hence why he shouldn't be on patrol. He should be completing another mission, a far more dangerous one. Well, all Bruce could do now was hope his plan with Red Robin was coming to fruition. Or Tim would be losing more than just his kindness.

The Clocktower

"The man is such an ass, Barbara," Steph said as she relaxed with mask off on the couch of Oracle's office. "Tell me about it," Babs responded in kind while she handed Steph a piping hot mug of coffee. "I love the guy, but he thinks he's the boss of every one of us." Oracle's Clocktower Headquarters was as ever impressive, and Batgirl couldn't help but admire all that her mentor had put together. Still, Babs still didn't keep her house in the greatest of orders. Empty coffee mugs were strewn everywhere and Babs' discarded clothes lay on the floor yet to be assembled for laundry day, though as a college student with a similar habit the younger lady knew not to throw a stone in a glass house and bring that up. Steph instead nodded at the Nightwing costume laying beside her on the couch. "Some guy I know with a great butt staying here tonight?" Babs giggled a little uncharacteristically, though Steph had grown used to her acting a little softer in her presence as their relationship developed. "Shut up. Yeah, Dick's in the shower."

"Good, 'cos I need to tell him something."

"About what?"

"It's Tim. I met him tonight."

"Ah, dating a Robin. I'm the expert on that one."

"Babs, Tim and I have not been together for a long…long time."

"I know, but still. You do still like him."

Steph shrugged. She didn't really know how to feel about Tim these days. She loved him, but she'd never say that to him or Barbara, knowing look thrown in her direction or otherwise. Anger was another, though that had dissipated since his apology a few months back. Anything else was a bit too carnal for her to be saying in front of Oracle or the man's brother. Right now, the strongest emotion she felt for Tim was pity. And concern. And that concern meant she needed to be honest with Babs right now.

"Babs, he tried to kill himself tonight."

Barbara bolted in her wheelchair at that, visibly shocked. "Tim? Our Tim? Tim Drake," she asked, her face showing the expectation of a punchline to the joke, "The best Robin in the business? And he…" Steph nodded as lightly as possible, but her emotional barrier was starting to crumble and as she recounted the events to Oracle, began crying a little. "He was so drunk. He threw himself a off a building. If one of Talia's Man-Bats hadn't have been nearby…he'd be..." Babs interrupted Steph before she could finish, as she couldn't believe a single word she was hearing. "No, not Tim," she said, slowly shaking her head, "He was always the strongest. The one we could count on…the reliable one. Maybe he just tripped, it could have been an accident. You said he was drinking…"

"He's not stupid enough to go out on patrol drunk like that. He only did it, Barbara, because it was what he intended to do."

"What's with all the raised voices, girls?"

Dick Grayson, fine specimen of a man as he was, did look kind of pathetic in Barbara's pink dressing gown having cut himself shaving. "Steph, you alright?" he asked upon seeing the tears in the younger woman's face. Babs moved towards him. "It's Tim, he…he…he tried to kill himself tonight." Dick gulped audibly, showing he was had taken this news heavily. "It's what Bruce said, isn't it? I heard him say he wasn't too impressed with Tim going after Digger Harkness." "So, that's what it is," Steph said through her tears. "I was wondering what he could say that would piss him off so much. Make him not realise how much we all love him!" Steph began weeping into her arms as Dick sidled beside her into one of his famous, compassionate hugs. He motioned to Babs to head to the shower so they could talk alone and she followed suit.

"Tim…he's my kid brother. I love him. He's told me about thinking like this before. But he's been hiding how much he hurts for so long. More than Bruce. He's lost more than Bruce. I know you Conner and Bart are back now, but still. God, it feels like so long ago when that kid walked up to me at the circus and told me I needed to be Robin again. Don't think I've ever had a bigger shock in my life. This bright-eyed slip of a lad just telling me he knew who I was, and that Jason was dead. Then telling me why Bruce needed a Robin. I could see then and there he'd be better than me and Jason combined. He chose to be Robin. Bruce didn't take him in from the cold, the kid had everything. Two parents, good grades in school, fairly athletic, good looking and he had a hot Russian girlfriend." Steph giggled a bit disapprovingly at Dick for that, nudging him playfully in the arm. He smiled back at her, knowing his teasing had elicited some humour in her "But above all, he had studied us. He was as clever, if not cleverer than Bruce. He wasn't just a Watson to Bruce's Holmes. Then, it all went wrong. Poor boy lost his mom only a month into being Robin, before he even started really. Things were okay for a few years after that. Then you died, then his dad, then Conner, then Bart…and finally Bruce. All in a pretty short space of time all things considered. I still remember when I found him, trying to bring all of you back with a Lazarus Pit. Bart, Conner, his parents…you…"

"He never mentioned that…"

"I had to stop him. Remind him, they wouldn't be the real you. The way he wept. I should have been there for him when Bruce disappeared. I should have known…but I was too busy with Damian and being the new Batman that I…I just couldn't. I need to find him. Tell him how loved he is. Tell him…tell him that he matters. Fucking Bruce, he never gets it. For a man who's been through so much, he's the most insensitive jackass I ever met at times." Steph continued to sob as her head was on Dick's chest now. "You still love him, don't you? What am I saying…it's like me and Babs…never really stopped, did it? Even when I was with Kory. Sure, I loved her. Still do. But, it's not the same. Us Gotham teens we gotta' stick together. Eh? Hey, Steph, come on. I'll call him tomorrow. I'm sure he's sleeping off that booze right now. Here, I'll show you something that will cheer you up." Dick rummaged in a nearby drawer, producing a small black box. Steph's eyes widened in astonishment. "You're not?"

"I am. My time as Batman taught me, I can't be a kid anymore. Sure, I'm still going to be loveable, old me, but…Well, I think it's time I settled down properly. That's why I'm still in Gotham. I always wanted a home to call my own and since I left Bruce, I feel like I've never really had that." Steph hugged him with a great warmth, not being able to find the right words to show how happy she was at the thought he'd marry Barbara. "Oh, Dick Grayson, why can't your little brother be as sweet as you?" "Me, sweeter than Tim? This is the same Tim who went above and beyond to help you have a baby when you didn't even know his name yet? Steph, he's a great guy. He just needs to see how much we all love him."

"Where do you think he's gone?"

"I don't know, Steph. I can't imagine it's anywhere good, though…"

Old Gotham

The old island where the city was originally built was full of many disused houses. Being drunk and with a throbbing headache Tim Drake had headed back to his secret loft on this island and slept off the booze. With a crushing headache the next night, he decided to go back to the mission Oracle had set him upon which he'd neglected last night in his misanthropy and melancholia. As he left, he checked his phone, and saw twenty missed calls from Dick, sixteen from Steph and three from Cass, and honestly didn't know if he wanted to speak to any of them He knew where he wanted to go. He walked up to a door in a back alley where a tall man stood outside. "State your name, boy!" he shouted, before Tim placed his fighting stick on the man's temple. "My name is Timothy Drake and I demand an audience with the Demon's Head!"

Before he could dismiss the erstwhile boy, the bouncer was pushed aside by Ubu, who graciously beckoned Tim inward. "The master awaits you, young man." Tim had come to this building, a disused gym many times before because he had staked it out as Ra's al Ghul's new Gotham headquarters not too long ago. A place for him to meet the Demon's Head and perhaps deal with him. That was before Captain Boomerang and Bruce. That was before all this. Before Oracle sent him looking for the League. Before he wanted to find something else. Some new purpose. Walking into the old dressing rooms, he found the old man standing there in full green robe, admiring a troop of ninja. "Hardly a place for one of your standing, Ra's?"

"It serves its purpose for our meetings, Detective. What news do you bring me?"

Tim produced the ear of the Man-Bat from his satchel, brandishing it before himself before tossing it to the ground. "Your daughter's been busy…you'd want to be careful hanging around here." Ra's turned to look at the removed bit of flesh and stalked around it, his gaze never lifting, until he beckoned Ubu to remove the offending article and his malevolent eyes came to rest on the defiant boy. How much greater than his traitor grandson this one was.

"You bring this to me and not to your "father," then? How curious."

"Bruce is too small minded to understand that maybe the League can be valuable allies. He just looks at you and sees an old enemy. Whereas I…I see a man who will one day rule the world and require those able to serve him. I see…a man who has never lied to me."

"Hmm. The open-mindedness of youth. I am glad it is not an attribute you squander, Detective. We will deal with my daughter, presently. Right now, we're going to need some means of bringing her down without the help of your "father". Will that be an issue?"

Tim knelt before the Demon's Head, knowing Ra's would be necessary for the trials ahead, as if to truly demonstrate his obeisance. "For you, my lord, nothing is an issue." Bowing his head, Tim allowed Ra's to place his hand into his jet black hair. He thought of nothing but how he'd humiliate and bring blow the League of Assassins. He needed this purpose, this drive. He'd drag Ra's before Bruce and show to him that he was worthy to be in the Clan. Worthy of fighting with Batman. Worthy of being a hero.

The Palace of Queen Hippolyta, Paradise Island

Diana did not know how to comprehend what she had just been through. Having slain the primordial goddess, Nemesis, and taken her Flashing Blade, Diana had been more overwhelmed than she ever had been as she took the woman's place and become a goddess herself. And one feared by her former masters, the Olympians, at that. The whole world had been changed by Nemesis so that those who were unjustly killed were rightfully slain and she was Wonder Woman instead of Diana. Diana was the only one who could remember this timeline, and as she returned home to Themyscira she had felt a change coming and warned her mother. Hippolyta had understood. They both did, deep down. And they had both gone to sleep with that comprehension gnawing at their peace of mind in the form of anxiety. Now Diana's dreams were plagued with the idea that she was some kind of monstrous warrior who would destroy the world fighting Arthur Curry of all people. There was only one person Diana trusted to talk to on this matter right now: her mother.

"Dear daughter, you seem troubled by something," the resplendent Queen of the Amazons said to her only child as she wandered in. The two women were alike in so many ways, but as with many mothers and daughters the relationship was tempestuous at the best of times. Still, Diana found she trusted no one more in this life than the woman who had formed her from the clay of Themyscira's sands, and allowed the gods to nurture her unborn soul into that of a living child. "Mother…it is my dreams," Diana responded gravely, "Dreams of another world...of the end of all things...of me leading our sisters to war against Man's World."

"So, you suffer from them also?"

"By Hera, mother…have you seen what I have seen? War with not just the surface men but with Atlantis?"

"Atlantis is no more, Diana! You told me so, yourself!"

"Its capital was destroyed but the disparate realms remain. Arthur…Arthur said he found weapons like those made in Poseidonis…they're still out there somewhere."

"But even if that were true, he is no longer their king. Does King Orin really think he still has a say since his…resurrection?"

"I can't speak for Arthur, only that I know in my heart he is honourable. I pray we don't have to fight him or his people. And do not speak of my friends as such. You make it sound so vulgar, mother. Do you not remember I myself was dead and came back to life as well?"

"Too many people have been. It is not something that should be taken lightly. The invasion of the Black Lanterns taught us that. I fear that we will have more repercussions to this."

Diana glowered at the Amazon queen. Hippolyta was never one to mince her words around her daughter and often publicly disagreed with Diana, humiliating her before their sisters many times. Only before men would she stand resolute and keep their differences private. When it came to issues such as these, Hippolyta's parental fear for the child of her heart was unbearable for both parties. All Wonder Woman could do was shake her head, close her eyes and sigh before adding, "You fear too much, mother."

"As is my solemn duty, as a mother and a queen. Go, daughter. You have tarried too long. Man's World awaits our ambassador. It is time you visited your friends, Diana."

Diana took her leave of her mother almost instantaneously as Hippolyta rubbed her hands to her temples and stared into a nearby pool of water. "Oh, Moirai, tell me. What truth is there to be found in mine and my daughter's dreams?" The faceless faces of the three who are one appeared in the scrying pool to greet the Queen of the Amazons. "Time has been upended, Queen Hippolyta. The forces of life have returned to the universe to bring destruction." Hippolyta seemed perplexed. "How can life be something to fear?" The Fates laughed. "It is the great destroyer, my queen. Soon, your people will be tested like never before."

"And if we survive this test?"

"Then further hardship will come to Themyscira…"

Oa

A couple of weeks in the Sciencells had done Hal Jordan no favours. He was surprised that when he finally saw the light of day again that the first face he saw, was that of Kyle Rayner. "Kyle? Never thought I'd ever be this happy to see you!" Hal rushed up and hugged the man who had replaced him when he was Parallax. "Easy does it, Hal," was the younger man's reply as he gently pushed his predecessor away from the forced embrace. Hal Jordan had been in the Sciencells experiencing a hallucination for the past couple of weeks. The Guardians of the Universe had tricked him into believing he was back on Earth, stripped of his ring. Only one of those things was true. As the illusion continued, Hal had his memories altered so he could live a horrific life on Earth. He could only guess as to why they were doing it after a while. The most plausible theory was they wanted him to be some kind of harness to the Emotional Spectrum. Because the day after his first new life where everything went wrong, and he had known rage and resentment greater than ever before…the day after that Hal Jordan became an avaricious businessman who did nothing except accumulate wealth. After that, Hal had a dream where he became an aid worker in Africa and was killed in a skirmish after years of aiding the sick and impoverished. The compassion of this Hal had known no bounds.

In the next life he had led, Hal had been a psychotherapist known for treating his patients more effectively than anyone else in his field and giving those without hope a second chance. After that, Hal was a womaniser who was murdered by his wife for loving too many other women. Then, Hal was back to being a fighter pilot, except he never met Abin Sur and his willpower led him to a fiery grave from his reckless flights. After that, Hal was a soldier who took glee in taking innocent life and was eventually court-martialled and executed. Then, he had been woken up in the middle of his latest dream, where he was a renowned surgeon and preacher who brought lif-

"Hal, wake up!" Kyle smacked him in the face as Hal had become so lost in thought since he entered the room, constantly zoning in and out of focus, barely noticing the presence of fellow Green Lantern Guy Gardner, who was grinning inanely at the state of his old comrade. Kyle gave him a deathly stare when a chuckle emanated from behind him, "Guy get him a coffee, will you?" Guy regained his composure and looked to Kyle, "Coming right up." He then constructed a coffee to go with his ring and poured it down Hal's throat a bit too quickly, causing him to splutter and cough. "Use your head, will you, Guy?" Kyle patted Hal's cheek gently this time to rouse him further, "You good, old timer?" Hal's eyes slightly registered Kyle. "Yeah, yeah…I'm fine. Is this a breakout?"

"Sorry, Hal. We're just here to be well…your defence."

"My defence?"

"As ever Mr Perfect can hear when he wants to, but he never listens. Yep, Jordan, your defence."

"The Guardians want us to act as your attorneys, Hal. We convinced them that you deserve a fair trial considering your years of service to the Corps. Well, John did."

"Ya' ask me, we're more "devil's advocate" than defence. You're as guilty as sin, Jordan."

"What Guy means is that this is more sort of an appeal than a trial…we're trying to get them to go easier on you."

Hal lowered his head and thought of why he had been imprisoned by his bosses in the first place. For saving the Corps from Krona, one of the Guardians' species who had betrayed them millions of years ago, Hal had been stripped of his ring and made a human. But why they kept him in the Sciencells to harness the Emotional Spectrum he didn't get? He wasn't some criminal. He supposed it was more complicated than him beating Krona. For years, Hal had crossed the line as a Green Lantern, constantly ignoring their orders and siding with their enemies to defeat greater threats, like Nekron and the Black Lanterns. But the Guardians had imprisoned Hal Jordan most of all, because they feared him. In defeating Krona, Hal had killed him. With a Green Power Ring. That shouldn't be possible. Hal should not have been able to kill a Guardian.

"What of Sinestro?" Hal groggily asked as he came to his senses, "How goes the prodigal career of the "greatest" Green Lantern?" With Hal losing his ring, Sinestro had also gained one and re-joined the Corps. Hal's mentor and nemesis was now back where he belonged. "The Guardians dunno'," Guy grunted as Kyle hoisted Hal's arm over his shoulder. "Rumour has it he's off trying to take down his own Corps," was all Kyle could add. Hal grinned, noting Kyle was avoiding eye contact with both him and Guy. Kyle had not long ago discovered that Soranik Natu, the woman he loved, was the daughter of Sinestro. And not just that, her mother had been the sister of Abin Sur, Hal's predecessor as Green Lantern 2814. Kyle had every reason to know what was going on with Sinestro "The two greatest Green Lanterns are still the biggest troublemakers," Hal chuckled, "Maybe the Guardians should dwell on that a bit more. Speaking of Guardians who think clearly, where's Ganthet?" Ganthet was one of only five Guardians in the billions of years of their existence to have embraced emotion. Another, Sayd, was his lover and had helped him to found the Blue Lantern Corps. Scar was one who had been corrupted with antimatter which led her to form the Black Lantern Corps as a servant of Nekron. The others, Appa Ali Apsa and the aforementioned Krona were madmen.

"Gone. He went with Sinestro. But I think he has another mission."

"And what's that?"

"Whaddaya think, Jordan? To find Krona!"

"Krona's dead. I killed him."

"And yet, a white light spirited his body away just as your construct pierced his spine."

"A white light? The Entity?"

Krona's plan had been to harness the various forces of the Emotional Spectrum, the primal forces which embodied each of them, to use as weapons against his people. Only the human Green Lanterns, since they were previously possessed by Parallax, the fear creature, were able to escape his hold by changing their rings to that of other Corps. Just as Hal was about to ask about how the Entity could or would have spirited Krona away after the evil he had done, John Stewart, one of his oldest friends walked into the room. "You guys all ready?" Kyle and Guy nodded before Hal could interject and he was taken straight to the inquiry, all but kicking and screaming.

In the chamber of the Guardians, Hal looked up to see the floating blue creatures who had imprisoned and tortured him for the last two weeks. One of them, stood forward and announced the charges. "Hal Jordan of Earth, former Green Lantern 2814.1, you are charged with dereliction of duty, insubordination and the ultimate crime of slaying a Guardian of the Universe. How do you plead?" Hal laughed quite mockingly. "Not guilty." John grabbed him by the arms. "Hal, you're not doing yourself any favours here!"

"No, John, I'm not. But I stand by my actions…That's right, Guardians. Not guilty!"

"Do you deny that you shirked your duty?"

"I do deny that. I took my own initiative to save the universe from Krona and from Nekron before him and I succeeded. Sure, that meant working with the likes of Atrocitus and Sinestro…I'm not proud of that, but by God we needed them to stop those monsters! You Guardians can't see anything beyond black and white because you have no emotions! I don't expect you to understand. My duty is to protect Sector 2814, and I did just that as well as every other Sector, by ending the Blackest Night and freeing the emotional embodiments from Krona's grip. So, no, I did not shirk my duty."

"But yet you condemn yourself by your own words. You were insubordinate to us, to our people. You defied our orders and our laws as you just admitted."

"Guardians aren't infallible. Just look at Krona…and Scar. She started the goddamn apocalypse for Christ's sake! Your actions, as well as those of your kinspeople, have resulted in more destruction than many of our enemies, and yet I haven't lifted a finger to stop any of you!"

"You forget, Jordan. We do not expect you to like us, or even believe in us. Nor do we expect you to protect your sector. We expect you to enforce our law therein."

"Well, then, maybe Krona was right. We need new Guardians of the Universe, if you care more about your own rigid laws than the wellbeing of the universe you claim to rule."

"As to killing a Guardian…the only reason you think that's a crime is because I could stop one of you one day. And you forget, that I was still able to kill you all when I was possessed by Parallax. I killed Krona, yes, but to save the universe. To save you…Some gratitude."

"Do you have nothing else to say?"

John Stewart sidled forward to take Hal's place before the Guardians. "We'd like to enter a plea for Hal to be better treated." The Guardians scowled and proclaimed in unison, "He can never return to Earth. He is a deserter who will bring knowledge of us to the primitives and give them a means of resisting." John, Guy and Kyle didn't buy that excuse for a second, but nevertheless they had to live with it. "I'm just asking that Hal not be treated like a guinea pig because he's your first human prisoner. We know what you've been doing to him." The Guardians feigned ignorance. "We do not know of what you speak." Kyle had to interject then. "We've looked in on Hal for the last couple of weeks. You've been leading him to believe he's living other lives…lives defined by aspects of the Emotional Spectrum. You're experimenting on him."

"Yeah, and you sons of bitches need ta' respect this guy. He's a hero, after all. We're not asking ya' ta' release him but come on! He deserves better treatment than this!"

The Guardians turned to one another and nodded. "Very well, we shall end the experiments on Jordan, so long as we are not asked to disclose the reason for them." The three human Lanterns bowed their heads. "We'd also like to request that Hal Jordan be given minimum security refurbishment in a different Sciencell." The Guardians looked vexed. "Request…granted, Lantern Stewart." As the humans took their leave, the Guardians once again looked at one another. "Jordan's dreams were vital to our experiment. Without him, we are lost. We will not be able to harness the spectrum and form the weapon to stop the other Corps."

"Fear not, brother. We shall use the other three."

"Lanterns Rayner, Gardner and Stewart are still loyal members of the Corps!"

"Yes, but we should give them…certain things they desire. Let Lantern Gardner lead with his unchecked rage for instance. Allow Lantern Rayner permission to…love his fellow Lantern Natu. And let Lantern Stewart provide emotional support for his fellows."

"This goes against every law…"

"Mayhaps Hal Jordan has a point. To do better, we must adapt to emotions and emotional slaves like humans are what we need to do just that."

Star City

Loads of people say the city is a jungle, in a metaphorical sense, of course. But in the case of Oliver Queen's hometown of Star City it was more of a forest. And not in a metaphorical sense. Little under a year ago, the city centre had been devastated by a villain known as Prometheus, and Ollie's granddaughter had been ripped apart at the epicentre of the blast. Just a kid. Didn't know any better. The worst part was they couldn't imprison Prometheus for what he did. So, Ollie fired an arrow through his brain. His friends cast him out like a leper, and let the world discover his identity as Green Arrow. They called themselves the Justice League, but they had punished Ollie for getting justice, no matter how crude or cruel it may have been.

Even Bruce Wayne, the most holier than thou of all his friends, had accepted killers like the Huntress so long as they didn't make a habit of it. The worst part was that Ollie's family were pretty much destroyed. Last he heard of Roy, he had lost his arm and gone rogue. Dinah had left him as well, the only woman he'd ever really loved. Only Mia kept believing in him, and Hal Jordan, his best friend. Hal had been off world a lot since the whole Dawn of the Dead thing that happened a while ago. And Ollie's son, Connor wouldn't talk to him because of what his father had said to him when he briefly turned into a Black Lantern. The only one who still gave a crap was the aforementioned Mia Dearden, the girl he'd saved from prostitution not long after he got back from the grave. He had never wanted her to be the new Speedy, but she was so damn good and insistent he had to. Then the poor girl was diagnosed HIV positive and all the goodness in Ollie meant he had to stand by her. She was supposed to be in his house with Lian when Prometheus blew it up. She had wanted to kill Electrocutioner, the asshole who had set up the bombs in the first place for it, but Ollie couldn't let her become like he had. Ollie knew killing was wrong and killing Prometheus had only put the final nail in the coffin of his old life.

But Ollie wasn't going to let that rejection get him down. A few months after the whole zombie apocalypse thing Alec Holland, the Swamp Thing had grown a large forest in the remains of the old city centre. Getting back to his roots roleplaying Robin Hood in a concrete jungle, Ollie had suited up as Green Arrow and defended what was left of his city. He didn't need anyone's approval for that. But that still didn't change the fact he missed his family. There was something pinging on his signal device today and he needed to check it out. He had given Swamp Thing a transponder to alert him if he was ever in trouble. Holland had chosen Ollie as his guardian after he had absorbed the White Light of Creation, because he knew some evildoers would come looking for his power.

Heading to the lake, Ollie could see Swamp Thing talking to someone. Someone young and tall. He could barely make out what they were saying. "YOU DO NOT DESERVE THE LIGHT!" That voice was Swamp Thing's, no mistaking that one. But who was this new friend of his? He kind of looked like Barry Allen. But he couldn't be. And last he checked Barry didn't hang around with…was that one of Hal's bosses? Those blue guys. Except this one was looking weird. And a little worse for wear at that. The alien spoke; "Eobard Thawne will do more with the Entity than you could hope to achieve, Alec Holland! You live on a planet where the life or death of its heroes twists up and down like a yo-yo, all but ignorant of cause and effect."

"AND YOU THINK THIS MONSTER DESERVES IT, INSTEAD?" Barry's doppelganger advanced slowly towards Alec and reached out his hand. "More than you, you big green brute." He moved his hand too fast for Ollie to fire an arrow and stop him as it reached inside Swamp Thing and caused a flash of light, before both he and the blue nanite were gone. And Alec Holland lay there in human form, catatonic. Heading down to him, Ollie checked his pulse. Alec was physically fine but babbling something about the "Life Giver". Reaching into his pocket, Ollie produced a phone and dialled one of few numbers he had on the new one. "John? It's Ollie. Yeah, yeah…I know. Cary Elwes from Men in Tights. It's Alec…someone or something has gotten to him, he's gonna' need your help and mine. Who do I think did it? Well, the funny thing is, he looked a lot like the Flash."