Gotham
"We are here," Bruce Wayne declared before a packed forum in his office at the top of Wayne Tower, "To pass judgement on Slade Wilson. Known generally but not exclusively as Deathstroke the Terminator." There was a large crowd of them assembled before Slade, who was bound to a chair in the centre of Bruce's office. Batman stood in judgement with Alfred beside him, the members of the Teen Titans present at the tower attack on one end, Dick, Kory and Mar'i on another. Dick seemed uncomfortable about the whole thing. He wanted to be with his wife, but he had taken on the whole idea of being a father to Mar'i with both hands. Bruce feared it would affect his marriage but there was no sign of that at the moment. Damian was there too, trying to be supportive of both sides. Tim seemed to sit with his friends on the Titans still recovering from his recent ordeal. Barbara was behind Slade, acting as a sort of bailiff. She seemed to have taken control of the police since Harvey Bullock's death. Many of the survivors of the attack on the lockup were even calling her Commissioner Gordon now. Bruce was happy to see she was finally finding her vocation in trying to rebuild something broken as her father had done before her. Rose Wilson was very uncomfortable. She wanted to hate her father for what he'd done, but she'd heard what had happened with Starfire and her daughter and questioned if he wasn't beyond salvation. Not totally at least.
"You are charged with the murder of Amy Allen, Zachary Zatara and Karen Starr," Batman continued, "How do you plead?" "Not guilty," was the sardonic return from the assassin. "You are most definitely guilty, Slade," Bruce replied, "Considering you have admitted yourself to detonating a bomb within Karen Starr's head." "Indeed," Slade nodded, "But that wasn't murder. That was more manipulation of orders with a fatal result. The man who murdered Karen Starr is Eddie Thawne. The man who murdered Amy Allen by a similar proxy is Eddie Thawne." "You're not a soldier, Slade," Bruce replied, "You weren't just following orders, you're a mercenary." "Whose job was to kill the Kryptonians," Deathstroke reminded him, "I only succeeded in eliminating one as you can see." He gestured his head to indicate Conner and Kara being in the room. Kara held her cousin's hand as she saw his eyes fill with rage. "As to the magician, my son, Grant killed him against my wishes," the Terminator dismissively continued, "His half-sister, Rose, is guilty of his murder, in case you're interested. No. Nobody? I didn't think so. Little gang of hypocrites."
"Whilst I will not condone Rose's actions, they were not illegal. You and Grant attacked Titans Tower without provocation. Her killing him when going to harm Mia Dearden can be justified under castle law."
"Law? Law? The law would exonerate me for everything except saving the Tamaranean princess and her child, since that went against Thawne's wishes. He is the law. The Batman is not the law. You live in opposition to the law without Thawne anyway. You're a goddamn vigilante, for Christ's sake. I refuse to recognise this court."
"I don't care, Slade. We're not here to debate ethics."
"Are you sure about that? Those three people who died were killed as a result of a contract. A contract between myself and an extra-governmental organisation. Ethically speaking I'm completely wrong. Mea culpa. But you can't debate the fact that I did my job, albeit unsuccessfully."
"You're a real scumbag, you know that, Slade," Conner Kent shouted from across the room as Bruce stared sternly at him. "I will have order in this court, Mr Kent!" the Batman shot down the interruption. As Conner acquiesced, Slade smiled. "Thank you for abating my lynch mob, Brucie boy," he chortled, returning his attention to the Dark Knight, "But it won't save me. Execute me if you want. Or imprison me. Either way, what's the difference? You'll have one less sword hand against Thawne for when he comes for you and believe me, he will. We've all humiliated him somehow. He won't rest until we're all six feet under. Thanks to your little charm from Dream he can't exactly do that by will to us, but he still has the resources to hunt us down and end our lives. I can help protect you all from that. You just have to let me go."
"Let you go?!" Cassie screamed in anger, "You nearly killed Kon and Kara and you did kill Zachary, Amy and Karen. You destroyed our tower. Your boy tried to rape and kill Mia. Of course, we're not going to let you go." "Well then, you'll all die stupid," Slade spat in her direction with a fury in his eyes bordering on psychosis, "If you want to beat Thawne, you can't afford to go around punishing a man who has defected to your side with the capacity to kill you all." "He's right," Bart said, not looking his friends in the eye, "We're all running out of options fast. Slade may not be the most comfortable of bedfellows to have, but he can get the job done. If we have him on side, and I mean really on side, he'd be invaluable." "Whose side are you on, your girlfriends?" Kon shouted only to feel a sword on his collar. "I want him dead more than you do, Conner," Ravager said almost emotionlessly, "Bart's his own man…and whether we like it or not he's speaking sense."
"His son shot Zachary straight through the head!" Mia screamed at Rose, "We all saw him. The things he would have done to me...to any of us, if you hadn't fired your crossbow in time Rose. He was there. He even told Grant to kill me instead of…" Wonder Girl held Speedy to her as she saw the girl slightly break down. "We can't just let Slade go," she told the assembled crowd. "Why not?" he asked pointedly, "I saved the life of young Mar'i here and her mother." The aforementioned child felt uncomfortable then and her mother held her close to her. "Don't you dare weasel your way out of this like that, Slade," Dick said, reminding himself of all the hurt brought about by Deathstroke over the years, "You've committed the most heinous of crimes, and you always fell back on your kids for sympathy. You justified trying to murder a bunch of teenagers on Grant dying because of his own stupidity. You pretended that it was okay to groom a fourteen-year old girl because it would get you your vengeance. And you made your own daughter cut her eye out and become a cold-blooded killer, because you wanted her to be tougher and more protected than her brothers. You're pathetic, Slade. Totally and utterly pathetic."
"I never said I wasn't when it came to being a father, Dick. Hopefully, thanks to me you'll be a better man than I at that. You're all talking in circles. I did bad things and I'm not denying them. But I'm not going to apologise for fulfilling a contract. Lock me up if you want. But you'll be losing someone worth ten of most of you in the battlefield. You've all fought me before and if you think the princess capturing me is proof I'm slowing down, think again. Tell them, Starfire."
"Slade…Slade took out thirty of Brainiac's drones single handedly in five minutes. If we need someone in the battlefield, it is Deathstroke. I believe he should be punished too, but can we not postpone it until after Thawne is bested?"
"No," Conner screamed, "That man put me in a coma for months. Months! I dreamed for all those months of being happy. Really happy! And every night those dreams would end with him murdering everyone I loved, just like he tried to do at Titans Tower." The Batman had by now stood up and restrained the young man. "Precisely why your opinion cannot be considered impartial, Conner," he told Superboy, "You'd have him hung, drawn and quartered if you got your way. Cassandra, get your boyfriend into line." The veins in Kon-El's forehead were fit to burst. He made a move to calm himself down before issuing a rejoinder to the Dark Knight, "Bruce, I'm not—" "You have a temper, Kon-El," the Batman interrupted him, "One unfit for a courtroom or any civilised gathering of people. A Luthor temper." Conner went for Bruce then, only to receive a headbutt which knocked him out. He may have been invulnerable once, but he wasn't now and this was Batman. "Somebody take him to Leslie," the Dark Knight moved aside, "Cassandra, you stay here. I need your word as team leader against Slade. Your boyfriend can recover on his own." Wonder Girl just sighed and nodded, disappointed in Kon for losing it like that. "Bruce, that was uncalled for," Tim told him. "What, pacifying a mad dog?" he coldly told his son. "No," Tim shook his head sadly, "Calling him Luthor." Bruce merely scowled, knowing he had treated the lad unfairly but not wanting to verbalise it in front of anyone else, before resuming his duties.
Once Alfred had escorted Conner away, Slade just laughed. "I'm already creating such division," Deathstroke chortled, "I feel so flattered." "Shut up, Dad," Rose said through gritted teeth. "Ah, now, Bruce," the Terminator indicated his child, "There's someone impartial. Can't you see it in her face? She's resisting the urge to cut my throat, but also acknowledging that maybe we should leave me alive." "I just think he does have a point," Rose sighed, fidgeting with her sword, "If we lock him up and throw away the key, we might not be able to use him." Everyone seemed to nod at that, except Cassie. "No! Not a chance!" Wonder Girl defiantly spoke up, "He attacked us. Killed some of us." "He killed Terra," Gar Logan told his friend, even though he had been unusually silent for the past while, "Well, as good as. And nearly killed all of us the way he used her. We moved on from that. We acknowledged he's not the best of men, but that he can be useful in a bad situation." "Tell me, Gar," Cassie wept, "When you were leading the team did you ever lose anyone?" "No," he shook his head. "Well then you can't know what it's like to have one of the people you are responsible for, get shot in the head in front of you," she shouted through her tears, and Gar looked at his feet a little upset and ashamed.
"He can't," Dick responded, "But I can. I feel your pain, Cassie. I know what Deathstroke can and has done to people. Gar probably doesn't get how much hurt I feel as well for Terra dying, and I really do. I'll never let that go. And no one would rather see this man on Death Row than me, believe that. Not even Rose or Joey or Gar. And yes, that includes you, because I've shouldered a lot of pain because of him." "Like what?" Cassie bit back in anger, regretting she was talking to a comrade of hers in such a way. "A city," Dick reminded her sternly, "A city of people I protected." Cassie was very, very quiet after that. "But my daughter wouldn't be alive without him," Nightwing sighed, "And it couldn't harm our cause to have us fight alongside him. He had nothing to gain in saving Mar'i and Kory, in fact from what he's told us he's put Joey and himself at risk by doing that. I'd be putting him in Arkham or Blackgate first thing if I could, but it's not feasible. People aren't just divided between good and evil no matter how we like to think that way. There are some who tip lower on one side of the scale over the other sure, but that doesn't mean they're incapable of the opposite approach. Slade has helped us defend the world before. He's been party to awful things too, and he should never be forgiven for them. Slade Wilson is not a good man. He's a totally amoral scumbag." "You really should be my agent, Dick," the assassin smirked. "But he will help us here," Dick ignored the interruption, "I know it. And with everything happening, we can't afford to just toss him aside. I'm sorry, Cassie. I'm not trying to undermine you here, or what he did to Titans Tower. But the real enemy is Thawne, and we'd all ride with Satan himself to stop him at this point. Okay?"
Cassie took in a deep breath and then nodded. "You're right, Dick, I know that," she reluctantly conceded, "Fine. Let him work with us. But he's never to be left alone." "Fine by me," Slade charmingly replied, "It will be a pleasure working with you Wonder Girl." Tim had his hand on Cassie's shoulder now. "The pleasure is all mine, Slade," Cassie scornfully but sarcastically replied. "Are you okay?" Tim whispered shortly afterwards. She nodded and put her hand on his atop her shoulder. She turned to see her friend's face but saw him smile back warmly and flinched. That wasn't the first time that had happened. Tim found it very strange. He was just trying to make her relax by smiling. It was a common action to show those who were upset that things would be alright in the end. Why on Earth would that scare her so?
"Mia?" Bruce nodded, "You have nothing to say about the verdict?" "It doesn't matter, Bruce," she replied, "You've all decided." "Your opinion is important," he reminded her, "Like the rest of the people here, Slade's actions have affected you." "I think you're all right on paper," Speedy shrugged, "We should use him. But that's all he is. A tool. I wouldn't dignify a piece of shit like him with the mere concept he's a man." Mia then stormed out and Tim, Bart, Rose and Cassie immediately followed, seeing how upset she was. "Working relationships are hard to foster in such hostile environments," Slade laughed only for Bruce to unexpectedly punch him in the face. "Everything Mia just said about you is true, Slade," the Dark Knight told the Terminator, "You're less than a human being. Everything human you've done you're not fit for. You're only fit for that which animals are good at. Killing. Hunting. Torturing. You are a tool." The man with the eyepatch looked directly into the intense eyes of his captor. "Takes one to know one, Bats," he chuckled.
Bruce and Alfred then left the mock courtroom as did the rest of the Titans and Jim Gordon, who hadn't said a word and let justice do its part here. Mar'i walked up to Slade. "I don't think you're a tool," the child said, "You've done bad things, but you're not going to hurt any of us, are you?" "No, not if I can help it, little one," the assassin smiled with some warmth, "But they're right. I am a tool. I've killed a lot of people for what others want. Now, I'm finally doing something selfless. Go figure." Mar'i then gave him a flower she'd picked in the nearby garden and stuck it in his ear. Slade found it odd how childlike she could be, but also so much more mature than others. Maybe it was a Tamaranean thing. Dick just leered at him as his child rejoined him and held her close to his body. Slade had to laugh a little to himself. In this situation nobody had won but somehow, he had come out on top. That was always how Deathstroke operated.
The Waverider
Work on the Time-Space Visualiser was the first thing Michael Carter had dedicated himself to. He knew the engines were all but beyond repair, and that trying to travel forward in time would be all but pointless. The whole thing was as useful as a kick in the head. All he could do was try and communicate through time. Which was why he had activated the Visualiser for the first time since his son had turned it into a machine. Michael hadn't really mourned his family yet. When they had been murdered in front of him, Michael had simply thought of saving them through time travel. He manipulated his son, who was more responsible on the temporal front, into agreeing with him. His grieving son. Now he had no family at all, except maybe his sister and his insane father who were lost somewhere in the timestream. Michael didn't know. He couldn't know. All he cared about now was restoring the timeline so his family were never murdered. Then a version of Rip and his wife, daughter-in-law and grandson would all live again. And his best chance at doing that was restoring the timestream by making sure the future they had witnessed recently did not occur and more importantly, stopping Eobard Thawne.
His brand burned on his back still. He remembered distinctly the mark of Darkseid being laid upon his flesh. He had screamed in such agony when it happened. Now it just felt like a reminder of his failure. But now he felt he could reach through time and affect events. His failure was moot. But everything seemed to be static. Everything in the near future. And his own time. There was somewhere he could go. Somewhere beautiful and powerful. The 31st century. The time of the Legion of Super-Heroes and the United Planets. A time when he could find heroes able to stop Thawne. A time with resources aplenty. When Darkseid had ruled Earth for three months not long ago, it took Superman using the Miracle Machine, a contemporary device of the Legion to stop them. If any solution to his problem could be found, it would be with the Legion. Placing a VR helmet on, Michael projected himself into their future.
But it wasn't the future he had wanted to see. Skies were red, buildings falling. This was not the world of hope he had journeyed to find. Three versions of the Legion fighting to save refugees all around the world from various bombings. All three vying for some kind of salvation. There was something coming, just like the antimatter wave had a decade ago. Something which would destroy reality. XS sped up to him with Brainiac 5, Mon-El and Saturn Girl by her side. "Booster?" she asked, seriously confused, "Listen…world…ending…hold…on…" "I need your help," Michael said, "We need to save my son…save Rip. Please." "Hold on," Mon shouted as he grabbed Michael with the other three and a large wall of fire consumed them. Michael recognised that wall of fire. The time explosion. It had finally reached the Legion. They were too late. Too late to do anything. He felt himself burn and his four companions with him as suddenly he woke up outside the VR, with all four of their unconscious forms before him. Standing nearby was Scott Free, aka Mr Miracle. "Scott…how the…"
"I used Motherboxx. Shilo did good work on this thing. Your Time Space Visualiser combined with the resulting causal outburst. They got very lucky."
"You can't escape a time explosion."
"I can escape anything, as can anyone with my help. I'm Mr Miracle. I'd recommend you take another quick peek in the Time Space Visualiser to the same point in time."
Michael complied and saw something altogether different. Rather than the bright utopia of the United Planets, he saw the Earth consumed in fire pits with all that was left being slaves. Then he recognised people. People like John Henry Irons but walking around with a leer on his face, and Ray Palmer with a similar attitude, their skin changed. They were beating slaves. Beating them mercilessly. Then he saw who stood at their head. A grey-skinned man with a brown beard sat on his throne, red eyes ablaze. Then the man seemed to look at him. "Hello, Michael Carter," the man spoke with a deep and commanding yet oddly familiar voice, "I know you will pursue me, and in doing so you will bring your own destruction and ensure my conquest of your home time. I swear on all that is holy that I, Darkseid, will not rest until I have my revenge on your beloved heroes for thwarting my conquests." Michael then saw whose body Darkseid was wielding. His son's. Rip Hunter's.
Coming out of the Visualiser he gasped for air. "Rip…he's got Rip…I've got to get back," he hyperventilated, "Get to the future. Save him from…" "You're doing no such thing," Scott warned him as he approached Michael closely, "Some of us want to live to see the morn. You're part of his plan to get back to this time, Michael, you have to see that. And besides…there's no way you can free Rip from him." "Yes," Carter nodded sadly, "But I can avenge him." "No, Michael you can't," Mr Miracle shook his head with sorrow, "Darkseid will crush you like an insect. Meanwhile, you have an actual chance of stopping the man who killed the rest of your family and gaining vengeance for them. Join us in stopping Eobard Thawne, and preventing the future we found one another in. Be Booster Gold again." Scott gestured at a display case behind him containing the blue and gold uniform Michael had once worn in his heroic days. Inhaling deeply before nodding reluctantly, Michael hugged Mr Miracle, prior to donning the outfit and becoming the hero the present deserved. Booster Gold.
Central City
Grandma Joan was dying. Everyone was dying. Jai West was losing too many people. First his dad, then Bart and now the woman who had been as good as a grandmother to his father. Jay, her husband, his namesake was too distraught to communicate with anyone and had abandoned his recent missions when Linda had called to tell him about Joan's stroke. She hadn't been coping well since the attack on Titans Tower and seemed to be giving up on life. She was passing out randomly when at home, and Jay had had to bring her to hospital more than once. They couldn't find anything specifically wrong with her, except perhaps an unwillingness to live. With Barry still battling alcoholism of late, it was decided to keep Joan's illness lowkey since there was nothing that could combat what she was going through. Jai had asked her one day why she wanted to die, and Joan had replied with, "It's not that I want to go, sweetheart. I just don't feel like I have anything left to live for. I'm old now, Jai, and I'm tired of seeing people younger than me die. You're young, and you have a lot to live for. Remember me when I'm gone. And look after Jay. He'll need all the help he can get."
Of an afternoon, Jai decided to go walking downtown by himself. Not trying to use his speed, just contemplating how he was beginning to feel like Joan did. Like there was no purpose to life. He'd lost two very good people in his life and now she was going too. He felt sickened at the thought of living when good people die. Not to mention he knew he couldn't live up to his father's legacy. Now that Bart was dead, he expected Irey to be the next Kid Flash. And she should be. Jai wasn't as fast as her. He still had speed, but Eobard Thawne had taken away his connection to the Speed Force. Jai couldn't comprehend yet how much that man had taken or would yet take from his family. He sighed as he kicked a tin can down the curb outside a disused garage. A man sat outside smoking a cigarette who had dark hair and a pencil moustache. He seemed rather down. He leered over at the boy who was transporting litter.
"Do you think that's a good way to respect the town you come from, lad?" he spoke with an old fashioned accent. "My great-grandma's dying, mister," the speedster shot back, "I don't really care what you think or about the crummy town that's already killed my dad and my cousin." The man smiled as he dragged on the cigarette. "I agree with you," he nodded, "Times are tough. I lost my son a while ago. John he was called. Burned up in a…plane crash. How'd you lose your old man?" "Kind of the same thing," Jai evasively replied. "Not easy is it," the old man said, "What's your name?" "Jai," the boy replied, "Jai West." "Oh," the man was taken aback, "That explains a lot. You're Wally's boy. Well, I'm Red Tornado's dad." Jai was confused. "What?" he scoffed, "He was a robot, don't be stupid." "Robots have to be built, don't they?" the man asked rhetorically, "And that's just what I did. Thomas Oscar Morrow, at your service."
"T.O. Morrow? God, that's corny."
"Yeah, well the Flash would sound corny too if we weren't all so used to it."
"No, I don't think it would."
"What do you know, you're just a kid. I wanna' show you something."
"I'm a kid, not an idiot. I know not to go into rooms with strange men."
Morrow then sighed and pulled something out of a bag he had beside him. It was a head. Specifically, the head of Red Tornado. "I keep it with me at all times," he told the boy, "To remind me of him. Stole it from S.T.A.R. Labs. Even I can't work on it. They threw it out with the trash. Said it couldn't be fixed. And they're right." He inserted a wire that was loose from the back of Red Tornado's head into his cortex, and there was a deafening scream. A scream so inhuman in its howl that a robot couldn't possibly have made it. It was the kind of scream that could only be made when flesh was being ripped apart. Morrow quickly turned it off as he and Jai both winced at the noise. "Sorry. I just wanted you to know you're not the only one grieving, kid."
"They told me the man who made Red Tornado was a villain."
"I was, once. Reddy here convinced me to be better. Then, when we were really starting to build something…he died. It's a shame, really. You're a speedster right, kid?"
"Yeah."
"Well…be a hero. Do good by your father. And here…"
Morrow tossed the head to Jai. "It's only making me maudlin, this hunk of junk," the scientist stubbed out his cigarette with his foot, "You look like you need something to remind you to be a hero. Have this. Just don't turn it on indoors." The professor went back into the garage and closed the door behind him. Jai thought he could hear crying. When he was back home in his bedroom, Jai just looked from the head to something in the wardrobe his mother had put there. An old, red Flash costume of his father's. Putting the head down, Jai began testing his speed a little. He wasn't as fast as Irey, but he could create a bit of a whirlwind around the place. A whirlwind that upended his bed even just by trying to speed when standing still. Cool. He was able to make a tornado with his speed. Even if he couldn't be Kid Flash, he doubted his sister could do that.
Amanda Waller's Safehouse, Arlington, Virginia
"You've got to be kidding me?" Lucy Lane said when she arrived in this rendezvous point with her new security guard, Mercy Graves to find Lex Luthor sitting right across from her. "Why so shocked, Lucy?" the newcomer smiled, "I am Lex. I prepare for everything. Including being trapped in a dimension which would make Hell look like a tropical island." "Well, good for you," Lucy said as Mercy winced a little walking into this apartment which was dingy and smelled putrid, "And you're based here of all places? Arlington? Close enough to Washington D.C. for your plan, I'm thinking." "I have an insider with the government," he conceded, "As I hope you do as well." "Always, Lex," she affirmed, "So, what's your new plan? Take down President Eiling and restore yourself."
"No, not quite Lucy. Mercy, could you put a cup of coffee on? Me and your other boss are talking." Mercy just looked with a deathly stare at Lex. "You should be dead," she said with shock. "And we both should be in jail," he reminded her, "Now get in there and make me some damn coffee." Lucy looked up from where she was sitting to indicate that Mercy should do as Lex said. Sighing, Mercy walked into the kitchen. "What do you want from me, Lex?" Lucy threw her hands up. "First I want you to ensure Eve Teschmacher loses her shares," he almost commanded. "The legal battle is still ongoing, considering we've managed to dispute the DNA test results," she admitted, "I was thinking of rehiring her with an added bonus."
"My thoughts exactly, Lucy. Now, what can you tell me about this Black Mercy situation?"
"We've been analysing it for a while now, and some people in Metropolis have been reported to be having psychotic episodes of late. Our own independent testing once we procured them from hospital, has revealed something altogether sinister."
"What?"
"That it's merged with something in the air from Gotham. Some kind of combination of all the different toxins that have been sprayed over the place through the years. Joker Venom and fear gas to name a few. It's not only affecting people to make them think Thawne and Eiling are great and nothing's wrong with their cult building a massive prison over Smallville and kidnapping metahumans despite everything the Daily Planet has been saying on the issue. It's also making them...feral. And we get more and more new victims each day. In some cases, it can even be lethal."
"Hmm. So, you reckon this could be a problem?"
"A major one, unless we can find a solution soon. It's likely that within the next few years the mutated contagion could spread and…maybe kill most human life on the planet."
"So, time is of the essence."
"No doubt."
"Very well, we better get to it. Put me in touch with this resistance as soon as you can. I hear Black Lightning's the leader. Jefferson is a reasonable man, I can work with him."
"Fine. Waller said you…had something for me."
Lex produced a file and threw it on the coffee table as Mercy returned with the coffee. "My congratulations to your sister by the way," he sardonically told Lucy, "I hear she's going to be a mother soon. I wonder what your father would think of that?" Lucy browsed through the dossier biting her lip. "What the hell, Lex?" she asked with derision, "None of this makes sense. Where did you get it?" "Waller," he informed her, "It's a DEO file concerning the work of Silas Stone on cybernetics. Important work. Work which will be necessary for my plans. And I think you shall benefit from it too, Lucy."
Metropolis
Chris was choking up about to knock on this door. His mother and father's apartment. He was going to see Clark and Lois again. Thara saw him hesitating and held his hand. "Hey, I'm here for you," she reminded him, "Don't worry, Chris. They love you. They'll be so happy to see you." Chris smiled and kissed her deeply. "You'll stay with me, won't you?" he asked. "Of course," she patted his cheek. "Love you," he smirked. Knocking on the door, an old woman with glasses Chris recognised as his grandmother answered. Behind him, they saw a pregnant woman with black hair and violet eyes sitting on a couch eating a whole tub of Haagen-Dazs ice cream. She didn't seem to notice them. "Hello, young man. Who might you be?" Martha asked as Chris stared so happily at Lois. He was home. Lois was alive. Lois looked up and saw him too. Her smile broadened as a tear came down from her eyes. "Chris!" his mother shouted ecstatically. Lois was about to stand up when Chris moved past Martha and gave her a massive hug.
"Lois," Martha protested, "Chris is only a little boy. This fellow is—" "It's me, Grandma," he drew her into the hug, "I got older. Mom must have mentioned." "She said you had for a while but you were a child again," Ma Kent was bemused. "I'm back to what I was, Grandma," he informed her, "I've been stabilised thanks to—" "Thanks to who, honey?" Lois asked cupping his hand in her own. "Lex Luthor," he reluctantly answered. The room went silent then. "Where is he?" Lois asked angrily, "Where is the son of a bitch?" "We got out of the Phantom Zone and left him in Washington D.C." Chris stood in the way of his mother leaving, "He said he needed to see someone there. We owed him, Mom." Lois just seethed before sighing knowing Chris did the right thing. "He'll have gone to ground by now," she shook her head, "Why didn't you bring him to jail or something?" "Mom, he still might be able to help," Chris pleaded, "He swore to us he would. Lex's word is his bond. He genuinely believes he owes us something and he's not going to do anything to deceive us like that." Thara then came in and waved awkwardly. "Hi, Lois. Martha," she smiled, "Good to see you both." Lois fainted then and Chris caught his mother to make sure she was alright.
"Sorry, Mom," he said reviving her with a couple of light taps to the face, "Thara's back. All thanks to someone I'm sure you've heard of." "Eddie Thawne," Lois and Martha said collectively. "Indeed," Thara replied, "I'm scared of what he'll do." "He mentioned something about Dad," Chris added, "Giving up his powers." "It's a long story, Chris," Clark Kent said as he walked through the door and hugged him strongly, "One I hope you'll stay with us for dinner over." "Dad," Chris Kent couldn't contain his delight at the sight of his adopted father, "It's taken me so long to get back here. And now I've got you guys and Thara back. Of course, we'll stay."
DEO, Washington DC
"Would you like some tea?" Hurt nervously asked the man who had buried him alive as he sat across from his boss, Eddie Thawne. "No, I'll be alright, Simon," came a slightly less churlish than usual reply from their guest, "You seem a lot higher up than the last time I saw you." Hurt just ignored the Joker and walked over to stand beside Thawne. "So, Jack-", Thawne began. "Nope," he was immediately interrupted. "What?" Thawne was dumbstruck. "You're not telling me who I am and who my mother was, Eddie baby," the clown wagged a finger at him, "You're going to talk to me about something I want. And I don't want anyone back from the dead. The heroes have made that one a bad joke." "Alright then," Eddie put his hands together and inhaled seriously, "I um…have nothing else to offer you." "Oh, I think you do," his guest sneered mischievously, "There's a certain element of mine caught in the air, mixing with one of yours. I think you should help me weaponise it. Then, I can do what you ask."
"You don't even know what we want."
"What you want is to deal with the heroes and fix your mistakes. I'm going to need an army for that. And the little epidemic in Metropolis no one's talking about means you can give me one. Douse people with that stuff and I'll have hordes of people just like me to fill the whole planet with laughter."
"We don't want—"
"What you want is something unexpected? Something madcap that will kill your enemies. I know just how to do that, provided you give me some help. You first have to agree."
"I—we agree. Fine. Just don't make me regret this."
"I won't. I may be mad, but I'm not going to bite the hand that feeds me…knowingly anyway."
"Just tell us what you plan to do. Put our minds at ease."
"Fine, I'm going to attack the Daily Planet."
"I—what?"
"Take out the biggest paper in Metropolis. The paper the real Superman works for. It'll cause pandemonium. Superman will come out of hiding to fight me, but I'll have my army and any backup you can provide. Then we're going to have a battle for the ages. A battle that will shake the Earth to its core."
"You're completely mad."
"And that's why you want me. But…I'm willing to hold off on the attack until you give me the green light. Call it a discount for my services."
"You're a hard man to bargain with, but fine Joker. So long as you do nothing until we say so, you've got a deal. May God have mercy on us all."
"I accepted a long time ago that he'd screw his own mother before showing mercy to me. And from what I've heard about kids vanishing and what a little demonic birdie told me in Arkham…I think you need to take a good long look at yourself for that, Eddie."
"How can God have mercy on me? I am the Prophet of the Light of Life. He should hope I show mercy to Him."
Gotham
"Well, this is awkward," Dinah Lance said, stroking her natural black hair as she was speaking to Barbara Gordon who was still regarding her with pursed lips but lightened up after a couple of minutes of silence. "I'm sorry, Dinah," Barbara furrowed her brow, "I shouldn't be mad at you. I just…we just can't get over this whole idea you all abandoned us in that time machine." "Well, I'm sorry if we made you feel that way," her best friend sighed, "But we didn't have it easy lost in time for a year and a half. I mean, you ever try staying a room down from John Constantine." Barbara laughed then before continuing to smile. "You got me there," Oracle shook her head, "It's just so good to see you. It feels like it's been years. I missed you, you know that?" "Yeah, I do," Black Canary added, going in for a hug to her dearest friend in the world. "Bruce tells me you and Ollie tied the knot again?" Babs asked her. "Do you approve?" Dinah asked, expecting a reprimand. "Girl, you never should have split up in the first place," Oracle scoffed, "Now, more importantly…when you called you said there was something important you had to discuss. Like, very important."
"Yeah, it's um…to do with something that happened to me before we met."
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine…it's just this is something I haven't talked to anyone about. I got…hurt when we were travelling in time, and I had to say it out loud for the first time since it happened. Barbara, I have a kid."
"You what?"
"I had a child when I was in the JLA early on. The father was this guy I knew from training with Ted. Can't really remember him. But I had the baby. A little girl. Cute thing. Looked like my mom. She had blonde hair. Thought that was unusual."
"You mean you really can't remember the father? Dinah, dare I ask, but…"
"It was consensual, Babs. I remember that much at least. It's like I can remember the relationship but not him. Anyway, Mom took care of the baby. When I asked her about it later, she said she gave it to some family and when I said I wanted to see her she gave me a lecture about being too young to be a mother and having a future. I gave in a little too easy."
"Why have you never told Ollie this?"
"Because only Mom and Dad knew. And I felt like sleeping dogs should lie. I just hope that girl is happy. She'd be about seventeen, eighteen now. I want to find her, Barbara. If that's okay?"
"Anything for you, Dinah. Just give me all the details you can on her."
"She would have been adopted from Gotham back in Bruce's early years as Batman. Blonde hair, blue eyes, and the hospital was Elliot Memorial."
"Got it. Don't worry, Dinah. I'll get to the bottom of this. For you."
"Thanks Babs. I owe you one."
"Don't ever say that."
Meanwhile, Stephanie Brown was giving a new present to her daughter with the help of Avia Free, whom she had recently developed a bit of a bond with. Avia looked older than she was. She was only thirteen, but had her mother, Barda's height, making her taller than most men. Still that didn't stop her being referred to as Little Barda, like she had during a time travel escapade to Steph's time before. Tim had knitted Debbie a gorgeous toy which he wouldn't let Steph see and had insisted Avia wrap. Steph had so wanted to tease him about getting into knitting, but it seemed to be a great coping mechanism for him. He only seemed to be into it since his awakening. It was something he'd never expressed an interest in but Steph couldn't help but be taken aback at how talented he was at it. He'd knitted Mar'i a jumper the other day, when she complained about how cold Earth was compared to Mi'ran.
Avia handed the present to Debbie. "What is it, Mom?" she asked Steph, who would still get so emotional when she called her that. "It's a surprise from Tim," Avia told the child while Steph put her hands to her mouth a little. Debbie grinned showing a missing tooth typical of young children losing their baby teeth. Avia handed her the present and she ripped it open eagerly. Inside it were two perfectly knitted teddy bears. Well, they weren't bears. They were dolls. Dolls of Red Robin and Batgirl in full costume. "Tim thought that if ever you miss him or your mom, you should have this," Avia smiled a little, "To sleep with at night. Remind you of them." Debbie squeezed both dolls to herself tightly. "This is the best present ever!" she squeaked with sheer joy.
An hour or so later, Leslie had brought Debbie to bed and Steph had got to talking with Avia. "It must be very weird being here with," she tried to dance around the issue but said it out loud anyway, "Humans." "Mom and Dad always talked about humans in such glowing ways," Avia smirked, "You guys all seem really lovely. But the first humans I met were raiders from Intergang. Servants of Darkseid and…Granny." "I remember when Darkseid ruled the Earth," Batgirl sighed, "My mom got taken over with the Anti-Life Equation. I had to go on the run for a while. It was a dark time…for everyone. But we got through it." "I grew up in a paradise," Avia replied, taking a swig of coffee, "Metron's void. There was just me, my family, him and Uncle Orion. I never got to meet my grandfather, Highfather. Metron said he wasn't able to save all of our people's souls. Then when we left Granny did things to me. Made me her…Female Fury."
"Sorry, but Female Fury is badass. Is that name taken?"
"Um, I don't know."
"Well, if not, you should totally go by Female Fury. Might be a leg up on Little Barda? Sorry, it's just…"
"No, I like it. Imagine if Granny shows up again and gets her ass kicked by someone calling herself Female Fury. That's cool, Steph, thanks."
"I aim to please."
At Leslie Thompkins' clinic, she was busy looking over the four new arrivals from the future Scott and Michael had just brought in. Mon-El was still unconscious, but Querl, Imra and Jenni were all awake. "Can you describe exactly what happened?" Michael asked the Coluan. "We were trying to get to the Miracle Machine," Brainy replied nonchalantly, "But Jenni was knocked out. We all got incapacitated. Now everyone we care about is...gone. We failed." "We didn't fail anyone, Brainy," Saturn Girl said holding his hand and began to continue his explanation, "Like Booster says our time was being destroyed. Utterly annihilated by something we couldn't explain. It was like all three versions of us had to come together to stop it." "Reminds me of when the Anti-Monitor came," Scott added. "Indeed," Imra continued, "But it's worse than that. It's like time was being ripped apart and having some kind of wet cement poured over what was there. New foundations. And rough ones." Michael cleared his throat to get their attention. "It seems as if by your time Darkseid rules the whole Earth," he regretfully informed them, "None of you were ever born, or your friends. Like Scott and I, you're anomalies in this time." "Then what's keeping us alive," Jenni asked. "The fact you travelled through time has delayed your erasure from existence by a few…I don't know months or weeks," Booster shrugged, "Especially since we don't have a time machine to protect any of you. Mon-El is probably immune since his past self is already born by this time. Your connection to the Speed Force might protect you, Jenni, but I can't guarantee anything for Querl or Imra. For all we know, your worlds have been conquered by New Apokolips." "What can we do?" Brainy queried. "Well, you could start by helping to fix the Waverider," he pointed at the Coluan, "Apart from that, the four of you should help us get the future back on track. Help us stop Eddie Thawne."
The three time-displaced Legionnaires looked at one another and nodded. "That's fine. But first, I'd like to meet some of my family," Jenni began, "My mom's parents are both still alive in this time. And my cousin, Bart. I'd like to see them if possible." "Bart is with his friends from the Titans and Young Justice at the moment," Scott informed them, "They're having a little reunion of sorts. Getting to terms with everything that's happened. They'll be at Cassie and Conner's temporary place in Park Row." Jenni stood up and went out as Querl placed his hand on Imra's shoulder while she remembered the fate of their comrades. Among that number were all three versions of her husband, Garth Ranzz. And her sons, Graym and Garridan and daughters, Dacey and Dorritt. "I need to get back to them, Brainy," she said, hoping the erasure wasn't permanent. "I know, Imra," Querl sighed, "But we were right to follow Booster here. If we want to restore our time, we need to go with him. Lest all creation fall to Darkseid." Imra shivered thinking of when they had fought Darkseid in their own time. He was a shell long fallen at the hand of his son Orion, but still malevolently powerful in trying to forge his own resurrection. Querl sighed holding his friend in an embrace as he thought of how his beloved Kara Zor-El still lived in this time and she didn't even really know him. She didn't know anyone.
At the Queens' place, Mia Dearden sat in Connor Hawke's lap on a couch, thinking of all she had been through in the future and pouring her heart out to him about it. "I really missed you, you know," she said after a while, "I just kept thinking of all the people I cared about who weren't with us. It was great to have Ollie and Dinah there. Like having a Mom and Dad. My Mom walked out when I was young, and my Dad beat the crap out of me till I ran away and got mixed up as a sex worker in Star City. Not fun." "Then you found Ollie and me," he reminded her. "Yeah," she smiled, "And that was great." She laid a kiss on Connor's lips, but then pulled away again. "I know" he sighed, "I must seem like your kid sister... "No, you're not," he put his hand on your cheek, "I was always taken aback by how mature you were for your age, Mia. But now, you're a woman. Very much a woman. I don't want to…"
"Connor, the only men I've…been with in that way were old perverts. One of them gave me a disease I'm never going to lose. I want to be with a man who loves me. You don't have to ask. I've taken my meds, and I have…protection. Just be gentle with me."
"I would never be any other way with you, Mia Dearden. I adore you."
At Conner and Cassie's place, Bart, Rose, Cissie, Gar, Rachel, Vic, Donna and Tim were all having a little party in honour of the Teen Titans and Young Justice which they had swooped on the couple. Of course, Rose had brought alcohol. She always seemed to find it no matter what. They were mainly trying to forget that Slade had been recruited to their cause. And get drunk. Cissie King-Jones was more than happy to see everyone again but felt a twinge at seeing how Bart and Rose were a couple now. The last time she had tried to meet with Bart she had wanted to confess her feelings for him. But that was immediately alleviated by getting to spend time with her best friend, Cassie Sandsmark, again. "You really lived in the future?" Cissie asked. "Yep, got to teaching some kids," Wonder Girl smiled, "That ended...badly. But Connor and I got engaged. It got so normal, we even started talking about having kids." "Don't call one of them Cissie," her best friend quipped, "For my sake as well as theirs. If you're running short of imagination you have plenty of other girl friends with nice names like Rachel and Rose and Donna. Don't let me be your first choice for naming a kid." "Wouldn't dream of it," Cassie laughed. "It seems different to last time," Arrowette indicated the boys, "You and Kon...you're taking it very seriously? Even talking about kids when you were in the future. You're not-
"By Hera, no! But in a few years when we're married, I'd love to be. Anyway, you won't want to talk about parents. Have you had a chance to talk to Ollie?"
"Yeah, well I still haven't talked to him. Dinah and Connor were great helps about the whole thing, but then she left and he was in Seattle. Dick and Babs were great though. Always have been. I can see why Tim loves them so much. And Steph and Cass are like the annoying sisters I never had. Gotta' love those two. I'll miss Helena immensely, but this new Huntress seems fun if a little unnecessarily shy."
"She's been more upended than the rest of us. After all, she's been reunited with a mom she knew was dead and Barbara who was as good as a mother to her."
"I get you. This has been so weird. Everything. I just hope we all get out of this alive."
"Yeah, well, I hope that too. I'm getting sick of us all dying."
There was a knock at the door while Bart was jokingly on Dick's back singing "MMMbop" out of tune with a glass of whiskey in his hand. Donna opened it to reveal a dark-skinned girl with a curly afro standing still, a little perplexed. Bart drunkenly sped off Dick's back to give his cousin, Jenni a massive hug. "Jenni…how the hell did you get here," he beamed from ear to ear, "Rip told us there was a time explosion…your time would be…" She put a finger on her cousin's impulsive lips to silence him. "You haven't learned when to shut up yet, I see," XS laughed, "We nearly had it back home because of that time explosion. Booster somehow got us back with the help of Mr Miracle. Me, Saturn Girl, Mon-El and Brainiac 5. We're going to try and help stop this Thawne guy they're talking about." "Well, you're more than welcome to join us," Kid Flash grinned, "Eh, Rose, get my cousin here a beer. By the way, Jenni Ognats, my cousin, meet Rose Wilson, my girlfriend." Another hour whiled away until Tim got a phone call from Bruce towards the end of the evening. "Bruce, yeah, what's up? Black Lightning said what. Oh...damn. Yeah, I'll…I'll tell him. Thanks." Everyone was looking at Tim now as he sullenly put the phone down. "Bart…that was Bruce…he got word from Jeff. He's in Central City. Joan Garrick died an hour ago. He said her last words to Jay were about you. I'm sorry, man. I'm really sorry." Bart just stared into the distance thinking of more death being inflicted on those he loved as his cousin held his hand warmly.