The World of Tomorrow, New Jersey, Over A Hundred Years from Now
Brother Kal just flitted as fast as he could through the forest holding Helena Kyle as tightly as possible. His world had just collapsed and he was damned if he was going to let the best friend he just got back lose his child. Suddenly, someone caught up with him and shouted "Stop!" Kal halted just short of hitting a tree and turned around to see Bart Allen with Rose Wilson, Cassie Sandsmark and Conner Kent. "Kal, what's after happening, why are you running?" Conner asked his father sincerely. "It's not just raiders, Kon," Kal shook his head, "It's the New Gods. They're back. Intergang have been resurrecting them somehow. We don't know how." "The New Gods," Rose said to herself, remembering when the Calculator had made her a pawn of the Dark Side Club, "No, they can't be." "But they are," the former Superman corrected her, "And let's just hope that Darkseid of all people isn't back yet."
"But you ran, Kal," Conner angrily said poking him in the chest authoritatively, "You ran away and left our friends to die." "So, did you," he shouted. "I haven't got any powers," Conner shouted back, "and Cassie's my fiancée and Bart's my best friend. They were trying to get me and Rose to safety when they saw you running off with Helena." "Is my dad okay?" Helena looked into Conner's eyes pleading, so he hugged her. "I don't know, Helena," he said caringly, "I hope he's alright. And everyone else. Kal, there are innocent people in that village getting slaughtered. You're goddamn Superman, you should have stayed behind to help them. Kara's still there for Christ's sake!" "I...AM…NOT…SUPERMAN!" Kal shouted at Conner with a look of dread in his eyes, "I may have my powers back after all these years but I lost the right to call myself Superman the day I gave them up to Eddie Thawne. The day he tricked me. A day that will haunt me forever because it went on to kill Lois and Jimmy and Cat and Perry and all the other people, I worked with…Superman would have saved them but I stopped believing in him. And because of that I couldn't save them. I fell for all his tricks. Because I wasn't Superman, I lost little Jon and Lara before I even had them. And even when I got my powers back, I kept trying to save people, but I was inexperienced. Dumb. Most of those families were just the lucky ones whose ancestors caught me on a good day. But it's okay now. Can't you see that? You're alive, Kon. You're alive! My son. The son I never had! We can all go to the Fortress. You and Cassie can get married, and I can be a grandfather. We'll all live happily ever after." Helena had moved aside by now, as Kal now had a manic look of desperation in his eyes, his hands on Conner's shoulders, searching for approval.
"You sicken me, Kal," Conner brushed his father's hand off him, "The Kal-El I was cloned from, the man who I and so many others looked up to wouldn't do this. No, more importantly…Clark Kent wouldn't do this. He'd still be brave." "I am being brave!" Kal retorted, "I went into a burning building to save Helena here, what more do you want?" "I want Superman back!" Conner rejoined. "Superman has been dead for a century," was the emotionless and frank response Kal gave him, "If you're looking for him here at the end of the world, then you haven't got a prayer. I'm sorry." "I can see that now," disappointed and fighting back tears, Conner looked to Helena, "Do you want to run away like this old fool, or are you going to help us save your dad?" Helena walked across to Cassie and Rose and Bart, and Wonder Girl gave her a great big hug as she cried a little. Conner remained disgusted at his father. "To think I had grown to love you," he looked Kal dead in the eye, "See you as a father. You're nothing but an irrelevant old man who chickens out when push comes to shove. Come on, guys. Let's go scout around the village. See if we can save any of them." They all held each other's hands and sped away with Bart's power as Kal fell on his knees and began crying like a baby.
"Wailing will do you no good, Kal-El," a familiar, gruff voice spoke from the darkness. The old man looked to his side and saw a large figure limping through the trees. He had strawberry blonde hair, a burly demeanour and seemed to be injured, going by all the lacerations around his form. "It has been a very long while, old friend," the figure addressed him with familiarity, "I think we have both died since we last saw one another." The man collapsed into Kal's arms as he held him tight, fighting his injuries. "Who are you?" Kal asked. "You don't recognise me?" the stranger asked, "I suppose it has been a century. It's me, Kal. Orion, son of Darkseid." "Orion?" Kal asked, not believing this could be the same man he fought alongside after all this time, "You've aged terribly."
"I could say the same to you, Kryptonian. Not for your physical appearance but for your lack of courage and drive. You are not the man I bled with, Kal-El. You are…darkened. Frightened of yourself and disappointed in your own failures."
"How are you alive?"
"Metron…and my brother."
"Kalibak?"
"No, Scott. He lives, Kal."
"How is he alive?"
"What does Mr Miracle always do?"
"Escape."
"Precisely."
Orion hacked up some blood then and beckoned to someone in the corner behind Kal-El. "I require medical attention," Orion addressed the shadowy figure, "This form has yet to acclimatise to battling Parademons." Kal turned behind him and saw an old man donning a hoodie which obscured his face in shadow, playing with a Rubik's cube in his wheelchair. "Hello again, Kal-El," the sonorous and divine voice spoke with the wisdom of aeons. "Metron, I take it," Brother Kal smiled. "Indeed, Kal-El," the man responded, "And I am here to help you save your friends." Metron solved the Rubik's cube then and a Boom Tube appeared before them. "Would you like to come with us?" the man from beyond asked the former Man of Tomorrow. Kal heaved Orion on his shoulders and they both went through the portal to somewhere beyond most people's understanding.
Meanwhile, the heroes and surviving villagers found themselves being transported to a labour camp underground ten miles south of the World of Tomorrow which had since been razed to the ground. Bart, Conner, Cassie, Rose and Helena all arrived at the site finding young children impaled on spears and innocent men and women's heads displayed on pikes, with other body parts lying scattered around. "They were quick, it seems," Conner said to himself. "Too quick," Bart said angrily kicking a head in frustration, "Can nowhere be at peace? Do we always have to save people? We get one year…one frigging year of perfection, and now it's all gone to shit." Bart stopped on a nearby log and harrumphed. "Do you see any sign of my dad?" Helena asked the other three. "No," Rose responded, "They probably took him. Someone as clever as Bruce Wayne would be a valuable prisoner." "What are these New Gods anyway?" the Huntress asked Cassie. "Aliens from two planets called Apokolips and New Genesis," was the cold, educating reply of the girl who was busy staring at the mangled bodies of children she had taught for the better part of a year, "These serve the King of Apokolips, Darkseid. He wants to submit all life to his will through something called the Anti-Life Equation. He conquered Earth once for three months. But he was defeated. Seems we didn't do as good a job of it as we thought."
Cassie walked off to herself, letting her mask of strength slip a little as she went into a corner to cry, seeing a family she and Conner had been friendly with lying dead in front of their house. "I think your girlfriend needs you, Kon," Rose said, "I'll look after Helena and Bart. Go to her…" Conner nodded and went over towards Cassie. "You okay?" "Of course not," she said, sniffling through her tears, "All these people died because Superman is too much of a coward. Kids I was teaching who believed in me and in him and we let them down by running away. We're back to carrying the can and hating ourselves when people die on our watch, and he's more scared of himself than anything. Are you sure you still want a family?" "If we can save our friends and make it out alive," Conner replied, trying not to show how upset he also was, "I'd love to marry you and have kids, Cassie Sandsmark." "Any child of ours is going to grow up in a world destroyed," she turned to him, her eyes filled with tears, "A world without hope. A world where all this can happen and even we can't stop it." Conner rubbed his cheek awkwardly thinking of the right words to say.
"Clark…our Clark…always told me that hope springs eternal, and that life will always find a way. We had no hope when we were back on the Waverider a year ago. Stranded, running out of food, and relying on two geniuses who were just as scared as we were to fix the thing and get us home to a world that judging by the future we see here, is doomed regardless. Then, Bart, Mia and Gar found this place. I got to be part of a family again. We were happy. All of us, even Bruce. And he lost the most of all of us, but still he found hope in Helena. We had a year of bliss. All of us in this place, when none of us expected it. We were all just sitting on the Waverider, scavenging and waiting to die, or in my case screaming in my sleep and waiting to die. And then we came here."
"Yeah, but this place was a miracle."
"Cassie, I'm a test tube grown teenage child of human and Kryptonian DNA. One in a million. You're the daughter of the king of the Greek gods, born in the 21st century. Hell, Clark is an alien who landed here in a rocket, and Bart and his family can run faster than the speed of light. Miracles is what we're all about."
"But they're all—"
"No, listen. I'll tell you something a bit more mundane. Might make more sense to my gawky goddess now, won't it? Remember when I found out I was part-Luthor, and I started acting all weird around everyone except Tim…since he was the only one who knew? Remember? When we first joined the Titans."
"How could I forget? As soon as you were about to tell us, you went ape shit and attacked everyone."
"That's what I was getting to. That was the straw that broke the back of the old me. I became everything I feared I was going to be because of who one of me was. I left the Titans. But then I came back to save the universe from that asshole, Superbitch-Prime. And I died. But then I got better, and still didn't believe in myself. But I had hope that I'd be a better Superboy. That I'd be more Kal than Luthor. I kept that hope. And in the end, I was proven right. And now I'm myself. I'm Kon-El. I'm Conner Kent. And I am not letting any of our friends die on us today, because I hope that one day, we're all going to look back on this night and thank God we all survived. I hope that day we tell any child of ours all about how badass his Mom and Dad and Uncle Bart and Aunt Rose were in saving everyone. I hope for all of that. It might be a slim hope. But it's still hope. Do you get me?"
"I love you, Conner Kent."
"And I love you too. But right now, we've got friends to save."
In the labour camp, Mia Dearden and Kara Zor-El found themselves being escorted into a laboratory by a much taller teenage girl and the old woman they both knew to be Granny Goodness. "Ah, two beautiful girls. A prodigal Kryptonian and a brand new human. It's a shame that Granny doesn't get one of your kind to play with today, little one, since you don't have your powers. Still, the solar pits of New Apokolips will rejuvenate you in time." She kissed Kara affectionately while caressing her a little too intimately. "Get off me, you harridan!" Kara shouted. "Oh, your cowardly cousins aren't going to save you, Supergirl," mocked the old crone, "We let them run off with their young like fools. They couldn't care less about you." Mia merely sneered at the drill sergeant. "I'm gonna' fire an arrow straight through your fucking eye for what you just did to our home," Speedy said with defiance, "That village was full of innocents." "'Innocent' my dear," Granny drawled, "is but a synonym for 'target' in the language of Apokolips."
"Where's Darkseid?" Kara demanded angrily. "The God of Evil has not yet taken physical form," was the glib reply from Granny, "None of the primitives of this world have been suitable for his majesty as of yet. He desires a permanent host. One of an intellect to match his own. Not even Dr Palmer or Dr Irons could muster that, but we think we have one from your party." "Ray and John Henry are alive?" Kara asked confusedly. "Yes, but they have given their will over to Darkseid," Granny smiled malevolently, "Sadly, we no longer have access to Anti-Life without him. So, my methods of indoctrination shall be far cruder." Kara and Mia were then strapped into two machines and large black masks tied to computers placed over their faces. "Avia," Granny indicated her companion, "you know what to do." The tall girl pushed a button on a nearby computer terminal and horrific imagery entered both Kara and Mia's minds with Granny Goodness' voice narrating over it. They were shown images of people hurting and killing one another, families torn apart by domestic violence, nations descending into civil war. People in impoverished communities robbing and murdering their own.
"Is the world of mortals truly one to envy? Free will has caused all this suffering. Wars have occurred because one will constantly resists another stronger or equally matched will. the proliferation of free will is anathema to peace. All the universe need be one will and then everlasting peace shall reign. Those who resist the will that is Darkseid are enemies of peace. You can become agents to bring that peace to the universe by becoming his Female Furies. Do not attempt to resist knowing that you will not only bring suffering to yourself but prolong the suffering of others by your example. Do not resist for these reasons. Instead give in to the will that is Darkseid. Give in to hate and hopelessness. Give in to Granny!"
While Kara and Mia screamed in vain through their masks, John Constantine, Zatanna Zatara, Garfield Logan, Rachel Roth, Hal Jordan, Oliver Queen, Dinah Lance and Michael Carter found themselves being dragged to a room where they were tattooed with the Omega symbol on their backs. Any attempt to resist followed holowhipping by one of Granny's crude new Parademons. The beasts were as soulless and evil as their Apokoliptian predecessors but seemed to be less sophisticated. One dropped his helmet and Constantine distinctly noticed he had no sight as well as a lobotomy scar. Not to mention he was evidently human. Bruce Wayne and Rip Hunter were brought to separate rooms where they were psychologically evaluated by Mokkari, the New God known for being chief of Darkseid's experiments into the Anti-Life Equation. He still had yellow skin, but it was evidently painted on over that of his human host.
"Bruce Wayne. My it has been a while. 104 years, give or take? My, you're looking much fresher than when we held you. Now tell me, what do you believe in?"
"Batman."
"The answer is Darkseid or I will have Simyan break your fingers."
"I don't believe in Darkseid. Not even the Anti-Life Equation could do that."
"Yes. Evidently. Well, I think you will work very well. Keep the time traveller for further questioning though. He has knowledge beyond even this one."
Bruce was then escorted to an operating theatre with Mokkari. "Now we shall need to render you brain dead before removing your heart, Mr Wayne," the inhumane scientist continued, "This will only take a moment." They fried his synapses with an electrical charge, but he wouldn't back down. "Try harder," he gritted. They fried them again with the only visible effect being a nosebleed. "My will is greater than you know, Mokkari," Bruce spat some of his blood into Simyan's face. "That is all too apparent," Mokkari seemed to be enjoying this, "Very well. We shall have to try again tomorrow, when you are less…keen to resist." A sedative induced sleep in Batman as he bled from his nose and whispered to himself affirmation of the hope that Kal had saved his daughter.
Meanwhile, Dinah Lance had been handed over to Kalibak in order to begin her conditioning. He struck her with a holowhip on the point where her Omega tattoo was placed and she let out her Canary Cry. "Tell me something only you know!" the beast demanded. "Fuck you!" she shouted at him. "Tell me!" the tiger god screamed as he struck her once more with the holowhip, "Tell me now or I shall have Desaad gut one of your friends." "I…I am married to Green Arrow," she said, trying to deflect by confessing home truths, "And I love Barbara Gordon and Helena Bertinelli and..." "Something only you know!" he shouted, striking her once more. "Fine!" Dinah inhaled deeply, "I have a child. It's not his, I had her eighteen years ago, in my early days on the League. It was with this guy I'd never met. Real handsome fella'. I can't even remember his name, but I seemed to know him my whole life. I had the baby and I put her up for adoption. I miss her every day. But I never told Ollie because he'd want me to find her. And she's better off without me." All she got in response to that was a laugh. "You mortals and your obsession with the fruit of your loins is so primitive," Kalibak smirked, "Now, scream for me!" He struck her once more with the holowhip, eliciting the scream he desired. "Excellent," he lowered the whip, "You shall be a most effective weapon!"
Back with the others who had been tattooed as slaves, Constantine had already been in a fight with one of the Parademons and brought in for re-education by Glorious Godfrey. He sat tied to a chair with the preacher standing over him proselytising. "Do you know who you are?" the ecclesiastical god queried. "I'm John Constantine, you holier-than-thou prat!" he shot back. "Wrong again," Godfrey shook his head and tutted, "No human has an identity here. You are either our vessel or our slave. And since you are a slave that just makes you an inevitable vessel for Darkseid's all-encompassing and benevolent will." "Listen, mate, I was raised Catholic," the occultist smiled with derision, "That crap was all about love and understanding. Do you think you'll win me round by telling me I'm a slave? I fought your type before. This is a new Evil Factory for Mokkari, eh? The New Gods can never win against humans. It was prophesied we would be your successors." Godfrey then slapped Constantine in the face knocking him to the ground. "Blasphemy does you no favours, slave!" the preacher said, his cool demeanour betrayed by indignance, "Praise the glory that is Darkseid! He is hate made manifest, the darkness in your soul born. You are full of hate, aren't you?" "Yeah," Constantine spat out some blood after Godfrey pulled his chair back up, "for you!" "But your hate is unjustified, my good man," lectured Godfrey, "You hate us because we are your betters. Such hatred would be better used as an instrument of our will. Now, repeat after me…Anti-Life justifies my hate!"
"Fuck you!"
Constantine was then knocked unconscious by a punch from Godfrey. Meanwhile, Zatanna was being interrogated by Desaad as to the nature of her powers and likewise resisting as best she could while the god was protected by anti-magic. Dinah's Canary Cry was being tested on some unruly patients after Kalibak had muzzled her. Ollie was being considered for Parademon status due to his abilities as an archer. Hal, as well, for his stubbornness. Not all the people working here were slaves though, or Parademons. Some were raiders being provided with suitable living conditions to work security. And it was that flaw in their system that would lead to the Evil Factory being infiltrated by those with intentions anathema to Darkseid and his followers.
On a ridge overlooking the Evil Factory, Kid Flash, the Ravager, Wonder Girl, the Huntress and Superboy observed slaves being beaten in the middle of the labour camp. Using a pair of binoculars, Helena recognised Dinah being dragged around by Kalibak with a muzzle. "Dinah's alive!" she whispered, "But that tiger guy has her." "Right, we need to find a way in," Cassie said to them all, "We can't just have Bart speed us in, that will draw attention. No, what we need is to get some raider gear and walk in like we're part of those grunts working security. They don't have Omega marks on them, so they're not slaves. Rose and I will try and find Kara and Mia, because if Granny Goodness is behind this, we know the Female Furies won't be far behind her. My strength and Ravager's...certain skills will make it better we deal with them instead of Parademons. Bart and Conner can look at the slave compound, see about getting everyone out. And if what Kal said about them making Bruce a host of Darkseid is true, Helena, we need you to find your dad. He's probably with Mokkari and Simyan again." They all nodded in assent. Approaching the compound, the five of them hid behind some bushes as five uniformed guards walked up and had a collective smoke. "That is way too convenient," Kon said as Bart knocked them all out instantaneously.
As they put their costumes on and infiltrated the base, Brother Kal found himself standing in an extra-dimensional void with Orion and Metron by his side. "Where are we?" the former Superman asked, "This place seems to be...Impossible. Almost like I shouldn't be here." "All things are relative, Kal-El," Metron replied, "Time and space. Life and death. You have come to this place because the laws those relativities abide by have been transcended by quirks of matter." "I don't understand what he means either," Orion said as Metron traced away his lacerations, "I think this is just where he lives when he's not busy cryptically pestering the rest of the universe." "What do you want us to do, Metron?" Kal put to the man in the wheelchair. "I need you to find yourself, Kal-El," Metron replied, "Find Superman. Find Clark Kent. You lost that a long time ago. If your adopted homeworld is to become the Fifth World, then you need to help Orion and his brother return to the past and prevent the resurrection of their father." "You mean Scott Free?" queried Kal. "Indeed," Metron nodded solemnly, "The man known to your world as Mr Miracle. He is currently embedded within the Evil Factory on the mortal plane. His wife is here to speak with you though." An incredibly tall woman in battle armour ran up and hugged the elderly Kryptonian. "Barda, my God," Kal grinned from ear to ear, "It is good to see you?"
"And you, Kal," Barda patted him on the shoulder as their embrace ended. She looked very different. Her face was not as stern nor her body as muscular as it had once been. She had a new human host like Orion or Metron did, and likely their enemies at the Evil Factory would too. "How did this happen, Metron?" Kal asked. "It began when Eobard Thawne's actions led to the death of all civilisation on this planet, as you yourself know," the wise deity explained, "The DEO and Simon Hurt survived in their base as the Black Mercy virus spread and took various hosts from the human populace. Other communities popped up around North America which overcame the virus as well, but few and far between. Seeing the error of his ways, Dr Hurt began experimenting to end the virus with the New Gods technology Thawne and Noah Kuttler had worked on years before. He managed to create more than just a Boom Tube. He recreated the Hyper-Adapter. You remember the Hyper-Adapter? It was what pursued Bruce Wayne through time after Darkseid destroyed him with the Omega Sanction. In doing so, Hurt summoned into existence some of Darkseid's followers. Their incorporeal souls took over several of the DEO as hosts and begin building an army. They subjugated as many communities as they could find and used their army of human followers, the Intergang, to do so." Metron thought back with a brooding stare to these serious events as he continued apace.
"But then your World of Tomorrow fought back and routed Intergang while the New Gods continued to roost happily in the DEO. They didn't even know their campaign had been thwarted by Superman. It was only recently when John Henry Irons and Ray Palmer visited the DEO in search of Zeiton-7 with which to fuel the Waverider that the gods of Apokolips discovered what had become of their followers. They amassed a new empire themselves and became dead set on restoring Darkseid. They saw that the heroic example lived, and Darkseid's dream needed to be fully achieved by destroying it. They also discovered from Irons and Palmer who was among your number. One in particular intrigued them. The perfect host for Darkseid. Bruce Wayne."
"Damn it all," Kal muttered to himself. "Now you must save Bruce Wayne unless you want Darkseid to be resurrected and return to your world with the capacity for time travel, Kal," Metron concluded. "I'm no hero," Brother Kal shook his head, "I was a warrior for a time after I woke up...but I'm just a farmer like Ma and Pa before me now." "A hero is not just someone who defeats evil," Orion told him, "They are one who builds bridges and leads people despite overwhelming odds. I learned from Highfather long ago, that heroism doesn't only through violence. Metron resurrected us and Mr Miracle to help stop the tide of evil. We were all living peacefully in this void with the other gods of New Genesis. But now we realised we needed to return to the mortal plane and destroy Darkseid." Kal then noticed a little boy poke his head behind Barda, black haired and blue eyed, he seemed to disappear as soon as he appeared.. "Is this your lad?" Kal asked, picking him up the next time he appeared "Yes, Jacob, or Jackie as his father calls him," she tousled his hair and Superman noticed she was a few months pregnant as the boy played with her stomach, " Despite the fact his little sister, Roz will be joining him shortly, he misses his big sister, Avia. She was taken when her father and I tried to free Palmer and Irons. I fear Granny may have her. Kal, you only fled that village to save your friend's child. Now come with Orion and I to save my child. Be a hero once more. If not for my child and everyone else there, then in memory of the children you lost with Lois." Kal bowed his head in shame and Barda and Orion collectively embraced their now wizened friend. "We will be by your side, old friend," Barda reminded him, "So long as there is a Superman, he will never walk alone, for others will strive to be like him and do right." Metron smiled and activated his Rubik's cube. "Have you made your decision yet," he asked expectantly, "Superman?"
At the base, Cassie and Rose found their way into Granny Goodness' laboratory where a statuesque girl was observing two young women screaming and writhing in pain behind masks. Kara and Mia. "What do you want, warriors?" Avia asked harshly as she approached both of them, not seeing through their disguise. Her height was truly spectacular, standing at over six feet five inches tall. "Granny has sent us," Cassie answered back, "Sent us to relieve you of your duties. She has some grunts she wishes you to drill." "My duty is to guard my sisters," the girl spoke perfunctorily. "Sisters?" Rose asked. "You show the ignorance of your kind, human," the girl scoffed, "They are to be my sisters. My fellow Female Furies. The greatest warriors in Lord Darkseid's army when he returns." "Right then," Cassie said to herself before looking at the girl once more, "Well, can we speak to your sisters for a minute?" "You are lucky I am even acknowledging you, mortal wretches" the tall girl answered, withdrawing her sword out from under her and was about to strike both of them as Rose reached for her sword, when a voice came from behind her. A man's voice. "Now is that anyway to treat guests, my little shieldmaiden?"
The man speaking had black hair tinged with grey and a beard of the same colour as that on his head. He was wearing a costume of all red and green and seemed to be opening himself up to a hug. "Avia? It's me," the strange spoke softly and with a familiar voice, "Your Daddy." "Dad," she began to recognise him, when a steel gaze descended over her once again, "No. You are a traitor. Betrayed...Darkseid." "Oh, my little shielmaiden," he said, walking up to her, his words still minimising her height despite the fact she was much taller than him, "What has Granny done to you? Nothing good it seems. Remember me. I'm your dad. Remember little Jackie? And your mom? They both must miss us terribly. You shouldn't hurt these poor girls. They're only trying to help their friends." Avia began crying and then fell in her father's arms. He looked into Rose and Cassie's eyes, "Here's something Darkseid and his ilk will never understand. Love and hope conquer all fear and intimidation. Especially the love I have for my daughter."
"Who are you?" Rose asked incredulously. "The name's Scott Free and this here's my daughter, Avia," the escape artist smiled in response, "Though most folks know me in your time as Mr Miracle, the world's greatest escape artist. Which is a little inaccurate since I'm not from your world. I'm guessing by your dress you're related to Slade Wilson somehow. And those red star earrings you have scream Amazon to me." That earned a smile from Cassie. "Cassie Sandsmark, Wonder Girl," she introduced herself, "This here's Rose Wilson, the Ravager." "Delighted to meet you both," Mr Miracle smiled, "Now I'd recommend getting your friends out of those booths and being particularly kind to them when you do." Cassie and Rose then ran over to their friends and unhooked the masks. Kara was unconscious at first while Mia kept crying as Rose held her. Cassie tried to rouse Kara. "Come on, Kara!" she said, trying to wake her dear friend up, "You can make it! Get up!"
Kara did wake up and immediately started moving her hands to Cassie's throat which Wonder Girl smacked away. Supergirl's eyes were bloodshot, and all she could see was hate. She began screaming, "Die for Darkseid!" at the top of her lungs before Rose knocked her out with the butt of her sword. "Can't have her drawing attention to the rest of us," the Ravager shrugged. Cassie didn't even bother arguing even though she was annoyed Rose had done that to her friend. Still, Cassie had demanded a stealthy approach and Kara was not going to compromise that. "I said treat them with love, not knock her out!" Scott shouted, "The conditioning is stronger than you think. It's not as full blown as Anti-Life, but still. Be careful."
While this was happening, Conner and Bart walked into a slave quarters area where they saw Zatanna, Ollie and Hal, all looking the worse for wear after their conditioning. They perked up when they recognised the two boys and followed them out of the room. "What's happening?" Zatanna asked when they were out. "We're trying to get everyone out of here. Their security is dreadful," Bart replied, "Cassie and Kara are trying to get Kara and Mia. Where are Gar and Rachel?" "You don't wanna' know," Hal replied solemnly. In Kalibak's menagerie, Gar was being struck with holowhips mercilessly by some of the Parademons to trigger his transformations, by earning his ire they made each one more bestial than usual. Raven on the other hand was being probed by Desaad to see could she use her demonic powers on other prisoners. He kept her chained to a platform while he would have test subjects brought before her. To her chagrin, she was successful, and caused many worthless slaves to kill themselves. Disguising Hal, Ollie and Zatanna as Parademons, Conner and Bart burst into the menagerie with them, and took out Kalibak's men with stealth, releasing Gar. Finding Ollie's quiver, they armed him and gave Hal a gun. "You alright, pal," Superboy asked Beast Boy, who was looking worse for wear, but still strong enough to stand. "I'm fine," he nodded, "Just...we need to get Raven." "Where's Constantine?" Ollie asked the shapeshifter. "The medical centre with Raven," Gar replied, "Glorious Godfrey's trying to turn him into some kind of elite Parademon."
Meanwhile, Helena was likewise bamboozled by the shoddy security in a place which everyone was calling the Evil Factory. She even got directions straight to Mokkari's lab where her father was supposed to be. A giant ape stopped her at the door and grunted. She grunted back, and he just seemed to giggle a little before walking away. Entering the lab, she saw Rip Hunter tied to a chair. "Rip, it's Helena," the Huntress whispered as she moved over to him, "Are you alright?" "Helena?," Rip was pale and seemed to have undergone quite a large amount of torture, "Good…your dad he…they have him inside." Helena then heard a scream of agony from behind a pair of double doors and rushed in there to see Mokkari working on her father. She reached into her new belt her dad had given her back at the World of Tomorrow and tossed a Batarang she'd made at the blacksmith's. It knocked the mad scientist out all too easily. They really should be more security conscious here.
"Dad, it's me," Helena said as she began undoing his straps. He winced at her and began shaking his head, saying "No," though his mouth was filled with blood. "Don't be stupid," she dismissed his concerns, "We're getting out of here. I'm going to make sure you're okay, and we're going to get home to your time, like you said we would a year ago. And I'm going to get to meet that awesome family we always talked about and stop this future from happening." Simyan then struck Helena with a holowhip from behind as Mokkari began laughing like a buffoon. "Oh, you and your friends didn't think this was going to be this easy, did they?" chuckled Mokkari, "Disguising yourself as members of Intergang. I mean, really?" Helena's unconscious form was dragged away by Simyan. "She'll make a fine new Fury for Granny," Mokkari said to himself as he returned to experimenting on a defiant Batman.
In the medical centre, Raven screamed in terror as Desaad began forcing her to make a child slave swallow his own tongue. "This whelp is not fit to serve the great lord, Darkseid," the torturer told her, "He is therefore not fit to breathe the oxygen of this world or eat of its fruit. Daughter of Trigon, do as I say!" Raven kept resisting until eventually an electric shock from Desaad forced her powers and the child did as it was made to. Meanwhile, Glorious Godfrey continued beating on John Constantine in the room beside them. "Submit to Darkseid!" the preacher demanded, any attempt at charm having vanished long ago. "I'd rather fucking die!" Constantine spat in his face. "You think we haven't broken wills stronger than yours before, human?" Godfrey wiped the blood from his face, his anger palpable, "Who do you think you are?" He continued striking the man, while the rescue team approached the infirmary, but before Conner could make a move to burst through the double doors, Kalibak appeared behind them with an unmuzzled Dinah. "Ah, I see your wills have yet to be broken," the tiger sneered, "Now, my little pet bird here will have to break you all accordingly." "Dinah, honey," Ollie pleaded, "Don't do this." "Too late," Kalibak proclaimed as he struck her with his holowhip and her Canary Cry knocked them all to the floor. Bart tried to speed to the tiger and take the holowhip, but was a split second too late.
At Granny's programming centre, Kara finally came to and realised who she was again. "Oh, Cassie no," she shook her head, grabbing her friend's hand, "You shouldn't have come here." "We weren't going to leave you like this," Wonder Girl retorted. "No, you don't get it," Kara was crying now, "Tell her, Avia…" Avia seemed to still have fear in her eyes even though her father was trying to alleviate it. "Even though I am the sentinel of this area," the Female Fury informed them, "Granny never leaves this room." "Indeed, I don't," the demanding voice of Apokolips' matriarchal sadist said as she deactivated her cloaking device revealing herself to Mr Miracle and the women, "So, you finally broke out and came for your little one, Scott? She isn't half as bold as you were in your day. Gave in far too easily. I used to love playing with you, Scott, because you never gave in. She's so disappointing, but if it were you now it would be refreshing. Learn from your child, Scott. Learn to give in to the will that is Darkseid." "Fat chance," Mr Miracle said before revealing the man standing by Avia was just a hologram, which vanished. A stun gun then struck Granny Goodness from behind as the real Scott revealed himself. "She always only thought one step ahead instead of five did Granny," the escapologist shook his head, "Now, you said you and Rose came here with friends, Cassie, yeah?"
"Yeah, my boyfriend, one of my best friends and Batman's daughter ."
"Well they're all captured by now, I should say," Scott bluntly told her, "But I've never met a prison I couldn't escape from. So, stick with me and you might be able to help them." That was when Simyan entered carrying the young Helena Kyle and he was baffled to see an unconscious Granny Goodness, but not quick enough to stop Speedy hitting him in the eye with an arrow, seemingly taking him out. "Mia!" Cassie shouted, annoyed lethal force had been used in such a cavalier fashion. "He was a giant gorilla who was going to kill us all," Rose stopped her, "I think he's fair game, Wondy. Now, let's make sure Helena is alright." Helena was then roused by her comrades and she began panicking and screaming for her dad. Cassie pacified her by singing a lullaby of the River Styx, one she hadn't used on Kara since she was still in shock at her friend's reaction. She cradled the younger girl closer to her as Helena began babbling about the Jokers coming to kill her and her family. Whatever Mokkari had just done to her it had paralysed her with terror. Cassie's soothing song brought her back to reality though she was in no fit condition to fight or walk.
Scott led them all out with Mia carrying Helena as if she was a prisoner and now wearing Granny Goodness' armour. They made their way to the medical centre only to see the ambush in which Black Canary unwillingly took out the others. "Balls," Rose whispered, "Now what do we do?" "We go after Bruce and Rip," Cassie decided, "They'll be able to think a way to get the rest of them out." "Not rushing in to save your boyfriend?" Rose jibed. "Oh, you know I'm well over that phase," Cassie replied, "He'll be fine, we just need to get to them when Kalibak doesn't have Dinah." Before they could move, Avia instead took it upon herself without asking any of them to head to a door nearby marked 'Auto Repair'. Inside was a room full of nuts and bolts, but nothing special bar John Henry Irons and Ray Palmer sitting there with vacant expressions. "Avia, what the-," Cassie was stunned into silence at the sight of the two heroes. Neither seemed to even register their presences. "What's wrong with them?" Cassie asked waving in both their eyes. "Desaad turned them into drones to utilise their skills in building a time machine," Avia answered, "And they're on a break so they don't die from exhaustion. Now they have your Waverider all they need to do is put the Zeiton-7 in it, and the New Gods have a way back to your time so Darkseid can exact his revenge once he's been resurrected." Scott just walked up to both the Atom and Steel and knocked both their heads together quite violently. "Ow! What the—" John Henry said as he got his bearings, "Mr Miracle? Aw no, are we dead, Ray?" "Guys the time for explanations is not now," Scott interrupted Ray before he could speak, "Go and get this time machine ready. We need to get people out of here."
Ray and John Henry regained themselves and headed straight to the Waverider without a second thought. When Mr Miracle knocks you out of a stupor and tells you to fix a time machine, you don't hang around. That and their memories were slowly returning so they knew who had done this to them. On the wall of the repair room were some guns, which Avia tossed to the others. "We don't use guns," Cassie drily commented. "Yeah, well we're fighting Parademons. We're using guns," Avia told her brusquely, "Now, Wayne is being held down this way." They all headed out of the garage and down the corridor to the special holding facility for Bruce Wayne and Rip Hunter. Little did they know there were Parademons waiting in the Waverider. Parademons about to pounce on the Atom and Steel. As Ray set to working on the console while Steel was in the engine room, he could see one advancing behind him. He turned to grab a ray gun to defend himself with but that only resulted in the creature shooting him in the chest.
"Damn, thought I'd go out in a better way than this," he winced, firing a shot through the creature's head. He activated the comms and spoke into them slowly. "John…it's Ray…I'm getting life sign readings all over the ship," he struggled through the pain, "The Parademons have set up an ambush. I've been hit. The wound's fatal. Just get out of here." Steel was incensed with rage at his travelling companion's predicament. "I ain't leaving without you, Ray!" he shouted back, noticing a Parademon himself and striking it with his hammer. "Well then pick my body up when you get up here," the Atom quipped, "You've three minutes to get out before I burn every Parademon in here with the failsafe." Irons ran up to the bridge, swatting away Parademons who got in his way and grabbed Ray, who was still bleeding out. "John…in the Microverse," Ray struggled, "I told you. Remember, what I told you? I found Ryan…He's alive. His girlfriend…their son…bring him back…use my machines…no matter what it takes…" "You're going to do that yourself, Ray," Steel reassured him. "I'm already dead, John," he laughed, "Now get the hell out of here." John Henry Irons lifted Ray Palmer out of the ship and laid him on the floor of the garage, just as he saw electricity and flame surge through the interior of the Waverider behind him. Antibodies eliminating the infection that was the Parademon ambush crew. "Huh, nice one, Ray," John Henry smiled, only to look down at a corpse. He closed Ray's eyes, then saw a door burst open with Parademons en route. "You just killed a friend of mine today," Steel announced, picking up his hammer to throw himself into the affray, "I'm not letting that stand!"
Desaad was more than happy to see Raven's friends being brought before her for torture. "Oh, this is wonderful, Daughter of Trigon," he smiled as though he were the cat who had caught the cream. Kalibak grunted and exited with his new pet, the Black Canary. Desaad turned to Raven, chained up before him. "You know what to do," he indicated Beast Boy, his sadistic smile spread from one end of his face to another. Gar looked helplessly into Rachel's eyes and she began crying. As Desaad struck her with the holowhip she struck Gar in kind with nightmares as well as Conner and Bart. She was hurting people she loved. Just like her father would do. Desaad was just like her father. Raven's eyes glowed red with rage at the thought of anyone like Trigon hurting her again. "Puny New God," she turned to him, anger coursing through her as extra eyes appeared upon her face and her skin began transmogrifying, "You think you can control me." Raven transformed into her more demonic form, reflecting her paternal heritage, and towered over Desaad. She had six eyes on her head now and her cloak more resembled shadows than anything, her skin crimson as blood. "No, please, Lady Raven," the perverse lackey begged, "I am sorry. I didn't mean-" "You force me to do wrong as my father would," she grabbed him by the lapels of his robe, "You are nothing, Desaad. A termite, an insect. Abase yourself!" Desaad got on his knees and began pleading, "Mercy, my lady!" Raven then struck the torturer with the nightmare of all the pain he had inflicted on others over the years. The torturer screamed in agony, babbling like a buffoon as he writhed on the floor. Looking to her suffering friends, Rachel slowly returned to her true form and began weeping. The most sinister of the New Gods seemed catatonic and helpless. Gar went over to hold and comfort the woman he loved, knowing she didn't mean to do that. Everyone else in the room just looked pitiful rather than grateful, knowing how much that must have hurt Rachel.
In his little cell nearby, John Constantine was now lying on the ground, his face incredibly bruised. His chair was broken and his blood everywhere from all the beatings Godfrey had given him. "You serve Darkseid!" the preacher insisted, kicking him in the stomach, "You will die for him, mortal! You will submit your brain to Mokkari and become a Parademon!" "I—I—will…" Constantine struggled, coughing up blood. Godfrey seemed hopeful then. At last, this most stubborn of beings was giving into him. He would make John Constantine the greatest of all Parademons because of the adversity it had taken to subdue him. He lifted the man up. "You will?" he asked expectantly, his joy unable to be contained, "Yes, go on. You will what?" "I, will fucking end you, you stupid piece of shit!" Constantine screamed as he raised his hand to Godfrey's face and incinerated it with hellfire, "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, scumbag." Godfrey's screams of pain echoed into the night, drowning out any and all sounds. Picking up his trench coat from the fallen ground and putting his bloodied white shirt back on, John Constantine exited the cell as Glorious Godfrey continued in his wailing.
When Constantine joined them, Zatanna and Ollie jumped in for a group hug with him. "I'm happy to see you lot too, but we've got New Gods to kill," he said, pushing them off gently. Raven rolled out another patient. A young blonde boy covered in bandages. Kamandi. "Thank you," the boy looked scared, "Demon." "You're welcome, savage," Raven replied in an uncharacteristically sarcastic tone. "We've got to get Dinah out," Ollie insisted. "No," Michael gravely noted, placing his hand on Ollie's shoulder, "That's not the way to go about this, and you know that, Oliver." "I'm not leaving my wife to die," Green Arrow shouted in Michael's face as he grabbed his lapels and held the man up close, "We're not letting anyone else die like Vixen and Firestorm did, you hear me? Otherwise, you're getting thrown in the Time Vortex! Capiche?" "Capiche," Michael answered, realising his place as Ollie let go of him. Kamandi beckoned them all outside and as soon as he exited, the other slaves went berserk in triumph at the sight of their champion. The escaped one was alive and with help. Kamandi made noises like a gorilla and the slaves seemed to follow him like he was some kind of king.
"What the hell is happening?" Gar asked, perplexed at the change of heart in the prisoners. "In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king," Constantine smugly nodded, "And this kid just proved he can survive in the wastes. They're all gonna' want out now." Kamandi's friends started rushing the Parademons and raiders all around them. In the midst of the chaos, Kalibak revealed himself and Dinah. Kamandi grunted aggressively at the sight of the bipedal tiger and began slamming his fists on the ground as a sort of war dance. Despite his language not being too unsophisticated, he was every bit the return to humanity's natural beginnings in his manner. He ran at Kalibak, who laughed at the pathetic display. Whipping Dinah as hard as he could, her forced the poor woman to let loose her loudest Canary Cry. The Cry cowed most people before it, but the leaping Kamandi was struck fatally. All of his humours were thrown off balance while he leapt towards Kalibak. The boy died in midair, with all his thoughts focused on slaying the tiger god. His body lay a mess, with blood coming out from every orifice as Dinah cried angrily muttering how she would kill Kalibak when she got the chance.
Beast Boy growled manically and turning into a sparrow, rested on Kalibak's shoulder before turning into a tiger and mauling the beast. Dinah quickly broke free and began hitting him with his holowhip savagely but accidentally glanced Gar, knocking him from the tiger man. "You dare strike me, bird woman!" Kalibak boomed as he sliced Dinah's rib cage with his claws while gathering himself. "I would have killed you hours ago if I had the chance," she shouted, "You're a monster, Kalibak, and I'm a hero. And if heroes do anything, we die before bowing to you!" Kalibak raised his claw for a fatal blow. "My sweet little bird, you have signed your own death warrant," he growled, "I would have had you kill more in the most exquisite ways had you just been patient. No more, I'm afraid." Ollie fired an arrow straight through his raised paw in anger just as Dinah regained her bearings and unleashed another Canary Cry which knocked the tiger to the ground. Kalibak howled in agony while he was overwhelmed by angered slaves looking to avenge Kamandi. They seemed to be completely on top of him as Green Arrow lifted Dinah up by the hand. "Ollie," she smiled through her tears, "I didn't know you cared." "You know I do, don't be silly," he shook his head as he led her to relative safety, "Just because we're back to fighting bad guys isn't going to change that."
In Mokkari's lab, Cassie, Rose, Scott, Helena, Mia, Kara and Avia advanced slowly on the mad scientist who was still electrocuting Bruce. "Heart death, once again," the yellow skinned experimenter shook his head, "We may have to clone this one." He electrocuted Bruce once again to restart his heart. "Screw you, Mokkari," Batman gritted as Scott leapt right behind his captor and knocked him out. Cassie and Helena helped Bruce to his feet. "Scott," Bruce said candidly but with surprise to his rescuer, "I should have known you wouldn't be far behind." "That's another one you owe me, Bats," Scott winked cheekily. "Now where's Rip?" Rose asked, as they hadn't seen the brown-haired man in his chair when they entered. "They took him," Bruce muttered as his daughter unstrapped him from the gurney, "Took him to the warrens. They…they ripped his heart out. They're performing the ritual to make his body a host. They did the same with the other New Gods. I'm not sure who they're turning him into, but I have a bad feeling about it." "Hell," Cassie said under her breath, "Is there any way we can get to him?" "I'm sorry," Bruce shook his head, "But hopefully there's enough Zeiton-7 to get the Waverider working." "Well…" Cassie began when a noise could be heard from the other side of the room. "We really need to get out of here," Rose spoke first as they saw Parademons entering. Bruce recovered instantly and led the others at the Parademons, knocking them all down one by one like dominoes with the ferocity of the Batman.
"Come on, let's go! Quickly!"
They all exited, to see Kalibak now held a spiked club and had beaten the slaves he had just been fighting to a pulp. Constantine walked out and doused the god in the body of a tiger with hellfire only to lose a finger when Kalibak bit it off. "Gah!" he screamed, having fallen to the ground, "This kitty bites!" "Fire cannot kill a god, John Constantine," a charred and angry Glorious Godfrey said as he exited the medical centre, "This one is damaged goods, Kalibak. Not fit to be a Parademon. You can feast on him." Bruce rushed into the fray without thinking and leapt on Kalibak's back, stabbing the savage attacker with a hypodermic needle he had taken as a makeshift weapon from Mokkari's lab. Conner picked up a gun and fired a few rounds into Glorious Godfrey before he could think, wounding the God. Bart began pummelling Kalibak with all his super speed, only to receive a paw in the chest similar to Dinah's when he wasn't paying attention. Kalibak tossed off Bruce while the others began fighting the Parademons and raiders with the help of the slaves, who were more than useless in combat. As Godfrey began beating a powerless Conner, he laughed and shouted, "It is folly for any mortal to resist Darkseid and his will! You will all die for Darkseid!"
"What about me?" a familiar, wizened voice said from the sky as Brother Kal descended with four others. A small boy with a very tall woman, a man in a wheelchair which seemed to be levitating and of all people, a large, stocky man in red battle armour with a silver helmet who was unmistakable to anyone. While this was happening, Conner reached deep within himself. He remembered what he could do. Godfrey felt a strange sensation. "What are you doing boy?" Godfrey asked with curiosity. "Doing something I haven't done in years, Superboy laughed, "Being tactile." Using what limited control he still had over it, Conner fired Godfrey into the air with his telekinesis. Batman was struck in the stomach with a punch by Kalibak as this happened and went prone, looking into the sky to see Kal and his comrades descending. "Orion," Bruce spoke in disbelief, while Kalibak picked up his form and placed his paw by the man's neck. "Kal-El!" the beastly deity roared, "I will slit the Batman's throat if you do not surrender immediately!" "No, you won't Kalibak," Kal answered solemnly. "What do you know of me, Kryptonian?" the evil god laughed, "You are a weakling who thinks he can save mortals by running a farm and forgetting that they are violent and bestial. They are everything my father admires in the universe, not filthy pacifism." The five newcomers landed in the middle of the battle. Kal slowly moved towards Kalibak and said, "You always wanted to prove to your father you could best me, Kalibak. Now…prove your strength. Defeat me!" "Even injured I shall crush you, old one!" the feline beast smirked, delighted at the prospect of a real battle. Tossing Bruce aside, Kalibak leapt upon Brother Kal.
Orion began blazing the Parademons with fire while Avia rushed to her mother and brother. "Mother!" she embraced Barda warmly and Jackie joined the hug, "Jackie! You both must come with me, there is a machine we can escape!" "But my heart," Big Barda tried to reassure her child, "Metron will take us—" Metron was gone. Barda took in a deep breath, acknowledging that Metron would not abandon them without good reason. They needed to return to the past and help defend it against Darkseid's return. Barda followed her daughter and husband who had appeared behind Barda to aid them, carrying Jacob with her into a nearby garage. By the time they arrived there though, Steel was fighting off Parademons and Ray Palmer lay dead on the ground. "Have you guys got a Mother Box?" Steel asked, genuinely afraid for his life. "Yes," Scott said removing from his cloak then shaking said Box. "Then get that thing hooked into the Waverider right now!" John Henry ordered them, "We're going to need immediate evacuation."
In the middle of the chaos, Bruce and Helena came upon Michael. "Bruce, where's Ted?" Carter demanded, "My son, Rip Hunter." "I'm sorry, Michael," Bruce apologised, "They rendered him brain dead, and they're turning his body into a New God's." The whole foundation of the prison seemed to shake then. Glorious Godfrey appeared to be gone, as if he were fleeing in terror from Kal, while Conner was exhausted after beating the preacher with his limited telekinesis. The true reason for Godfrey's absence was far more sinister than that. The ritual was being started. Kal's duel with Kalibak was just a diversion. "He's not dead, Bruce," Michael insisted, "I can't lose him too." Batman held the older man back. "Michael, I'm sorry," he pleaded, "He's gone." "Get out of my way or I'll kill—" Bruce knocked Michael out with a cosh and handed him to Helena. "Get him to safety," he told his daughter, "I'll be with you in a minute after I secure the others. Go to the Waverider." She nodded, and, kissing her father on the cheek, ran with Michael's prone form to the ship. In the garage, Steel again held off more Parademons and raiders with the help of Avia and Barda while Scott hooked the Mother Box into the ship. Another bullet pierced his armour as Steel took out a raider with a machine gun with his hammer. He wasn't going down. John Henry Irons refused to go down. Not without saving everyone. He looked to Ray, his companion for three months of hell, and saw there was no life in his eyes, and kept fighting to make sure that wasn't the case for the rest of the Legends.
Kal and Kalibak continued to spar with one another, each delivering blow for blow and Kalibak's paws piercing the otherwise impenetrable Kryptonian skin. "Even under a yellow sun," the princeling mocked, "You are no match for a New God, old one!" As this was happening, Bruce escorted Dinah and Ollie onto the Waverider before returning to help Kal. "When I'm done with you," Kalibak continued to deride his opponent, "I will kill my worthless brother and present both your corpses to my father when they are done restoring him." Wonder Girl saw her boyfriend was a little weak. "Hey, Cass," Conner smiled groggily, "The red sun...didn't get rid of my..." He passed out in her arms. "Oh, this is getting to be a real habit for him," she rolled her eyes and carried him to the time machine as well. Rose did the same with a prone Bart and Mia helped Kara, who was still groggy from her indoctrination. "Is that everyone?" Steel shouted through his injuries when they were done. Mia shook her head. "Batman, Orion and Brother Kal are still out there," she informed him as Raven and Beast Boy arrived.
Bruce threw a punch at Kalibak who was stronger than he'd ever been and the beast simply swatted him away. Batman's fall was cushioned by dozens of dead bodies strewn all around him from the tiger's carnage. In the med-bay of the Waverider, Cassie checked to see if Conner was alright. "I'm fine," he reassured her while rubbing his head, "But we've got to get out of here." "Not without my dad," Helena pleaded. Cassie nodded in agreement and rushed out of the Waverider only to find John Henry all but overwhelmed by what little remained of his opponents and bleeding out. She quickly dispatched the five or so that remained before they could use her comrade's body for carrion. "Hey, John, don't go now," she begged the bleeding older man, "Come on. You and Ray did it. You found the time machine. You can't die. For us. Don't die. We can't lose anyone else from this trip." That just received a smile and a slight laugh from Steel. "You know it's funny," he told her through his pain, "I became Steel to replace Superman, and your boyfriend was one of the ones who thought he was better than me. Now I'm dying to save him and the rest of you. Ray wanted me to go to Ivy Town after this. He thinks he can bring Ryan Choi back. Give this to Natasha, Cassie." He handed her a USB drive as the last of the life left his body. Kissing the USB drive as she shed a little tear and closed his eyes, Cassie headed out to make sure Bruce would make it if Steel wouldn't.
The battle between Kal and Kalibak was not going well for the former, as Kalibak was now atop him scraping his face with tiger paws at the pace of a mongoose. Orion could not allow Kal to be killed like this. He swooped down and unleashed flames upon his half-brother, burning the fur off of him. Kalibak screamed and grabbed Orion by the foot slamming him on the ground with all his might. "I'll deal with you, later," the tiger told his brother as he began to regain himself. Kalibak was truly a sight to behold now. An enflamed behemoth with no fur, his skeleton visible but still intimidating, his presence full of fury and aggression. Wonder Girl lifted Bruce up as he struggled to get to Orion. Kal was by now a shadow of himself. Covered in the wounds Kalibak had inflicted and barely able to breathe. "You have failed Earth, Kal-El," Kalibak continued derisively, "You are nothing, Kryptonian. You are not even a man. You are an old, irrelevant buzzard, who for some reason I wasted years wanting to kill. Your wife must have been a blind fool to have married someone as worthless as you. Die now, Kal-El, king of the ashes." With that insult to Lois, Kal used what remained of his power to flit behind Kalibak and with the last of his strength pull the spine and brain stem from the tiger god's body.
"I…AM…SUPERMAN!"
Brother Kal then fell to the floor with Kalibak's corpse as he beckoned Bruce towards him while Wonder Girl assisted Orion. "Clark, try and save your strength," Batman told him, "We can still help you." "No, Bruce," the old man shook his head, "Use the Boom Tube. Get back to your own time. Give me another chance. It's not too late to stop Thawne. Make me Superman again." He handed Bruce a package from within his shirt. "It's a letter for me," he told his best friend, "A bit like the one your dad gave to Barry Allen in a similar situation. Let me see it, Bruce. Let me know how things end because I stopped believing in Superman." "A fatal mistake for any of us, old friend," Bruce adjusted his friend's body so he could be comfortable in his final moments, "Sleep well now." As Kal lay down, his inhuman, blue eyes staring up into space, Bruce closed them and ran with Cassie and Orion back to the Waverider. "Is he gone?" she asked, desperate to be wrong. "Yes," Bruce responded, "But thanks to him we're going to live. And so is the future."
Hal started the Waverider up just as Bruce, Cassie and Orion got on and slammed the anachronistic controls down, sending them flying exactly a century into the past. All the damaged engines were in repair thanks to Scott's Mother Box and while the ship couldn't move in space yet, the Zeiton-7 they'd procured from the New Gods allowed them to move in time. The crash-landing shook everyone as the Waverider gave a bit of a splutter before entering hibernation mode to recover from the recent ordeal. "Where are we?" Michael asked, recovering himself, "Where's Rip?" "Dead or worse," Bruce informed him, "I'm sorry, Michael. It's never easy to lose a child but there was nothing we could do." "You don't know what you're talking about, Bruce," Carter said, storming off in disgust. Hal walked over, himself with cuts and bruises all over, and hugged Bruce unusually. "What's that for, Jordan?" Batman asked confusedly. "You're alive, that's all," Hal smiled through a solitary tear, "We made it." "But the mission failed," Dinah reminded her friend, while sitting to herself in a corner of the bridge crying over the people Kalibak had made her torture with her powers, "We didn't stop Thawne, and we lost Vixen, Firestorm, Steel, Ray and Rip. Not to mention all the people we knew in the World of Tomorrow." "Dinah's right," Bruce said, "We shouldn't celebrate anything. But we can't just lay down and mourn either. We need to save the future. We're back home now, and we have new friends to help us take down Thawne." He then put his hand on Mr Miracle who smiled. "Where are we Daddy?" Jackie asked, still attached to his father's leg and holding his sister's hand since their little reunion. "We're back a long time ago," his father tousled his hair, "The world you would have been born in if the universe had been a kinder place. We're home, son." Jackie leapt up into his father's arms, as everyone else on the Waverider smiled a little knowing this small child could bring as much hope for the future as his father had.
But back in the Evil Factory, a grey-skinned slim figure emerged from beneath the warrens. The body had once belonged to Rip Hunter. Removing his heart and enchanting it with the technology of Mother Boxes had created a body fit for the God of Evil to be housed in. He looked upon the devastation and the failure wrought before him as well as Kalibak's corpse which he spat upon. A failure of a child, once again dying because of his own lust for glory in battle. Then he noticed two strange looking vessels. John Henry Irons and Ray Palmer. Two dead men. Smiling, he summoned a cowed Desaad and Godfrey to his side. "Take these two," their lord ordered them, "Prepare Irons for my son, Kalibak. He gets too excited when he's in an animal's body. As for the other one, we shall make a decision on that later." He stroked his new brown beard. Hardly fitting for his divine person. Then he turned behind him to Desaad and Godfrey. "I take it the other heroes escaped in their time machine," he asked his underlings while the bodies were being taken away by Parademons. "Yes, lord," Desaad curtsied through his whimpering, fearing a reprisal from his master for allowing such an eventuality to occur. "Your priority was my resurrection, not their imprisonment" his master said, suggesting there would be no punishment, "It was Kalibak, Granny and Mokkari who failed to stop them escaping. No matter. We will soon reconstruct the time device and follow them to their own time." "But my lord," Godfrey interrupted, "With respect, we have barely any technology. No one is capable of committing such an impossible act now we have lost so much manpower, and our technology is still limited. Not one being is capable! No one!"
"DARKSEID IS!"