Crisis Event, Part 1

Note, the parenthesis indicates languages other than Japanese, in this case, English and Interlac.

Nowhere and Nowhen

"Not that I'm complaining about the show, but I am…" Asuka fidgeted a bit. Not even she was free from the disturbing effect the Phantom Stranger had on people. For some reason, it only affected her when she stopped to think on the strange shadow play on the man's eyes. "Curious." She finished. "I mean, why are you showing us so much? I know they were big on secret identities, and you are revealing us their secrets."

"Their secrets were made to protect them and their families. Very little of what I have revealed to you could affect them now, as they are either retired or gone; and neither of you are likely to use these secrets to harm them or their surviving families. However, forces are now gathering against you. Unless we gather enough allies, Third Impact will happen. As we speak, heirs of heroes are preparing themselves to fight. They are not yet aware of you specifically, but they know the fight is inevitable. Many times, during the Metahuman Age, events escalated to what they called Crisis level. Events so dire the lack of a single hero could doom the world. Or even worlds. The worst of these events happened a few years before Second Impact. The Crisis in Infinite Times. (1) Everything changed after this. Until now, most superhero battles were relatively limited in scope; but this time, the whole world watched as events unfolded." (2)

Monitor's Satellite,
High Orbit over Earth
1990 (3)

The Stranger opened a door, and suddenly, the three stood on a strange room, the floor occupied by fifteen colorful characters. Shinji beamed, looking at so many heroes gathered. Even some villains! (4) He searched in his memory to place faces, uniforms, names and powers.

The Stranger guided the pilots to an empty platform, from where they could watch the events unfold. "This is the moment of the call. For months, heroes and villains have been under the vigilance of a mysterious entity with great power and responsibility. The Monitor." He pointed at a powerfully built humanoid, with pinkish skin, and a suit of futuristic armor protecting his torso, forearms and lower legs, a purple cloak hung regally at his back. Next to him, a blonde woman in blue armor floated in the air, her eyes searching anxiously for something in the eyes of the heroes and villains gathered below.

"The Monitor has watched over all time and space, aware of a threat to everything. To everywhen. His opposite number, the Anti-Monitor willing and able to destroy all the universe, all the time-space continuum."

"The w-whole universe?" Shinji gulped. "How?"

"This universe you know is not the only one that exists. And the history you are aware of is not the only one to be. This…" he swept a hand in an expansive gesture, "is known as the positive matter universe, but there is another, darker opposite, composed entirely of antimatter. This is known as the Qward universe. Where every vice is a virtue. It is absolutely inimical to this universe, and the ultimate ambition of its inhabitants is to either conquer or destroy everything. The Second Green Lantern clashed frequently with them, as the Weaponeers of Qward were the ones who equipped his own nemesis (5). The Anti-Monitor has manipulated the Weaponeers, promising unlimited conquest, when all he really offers is oblivion."

"The Anti-Monitor wants to ensure an absolute victory, by destroying not only the timeline you know, but all possible timelines."

"Wait," Asuka interrupted, her brow furrowed in concentration, "You mean parallel universes? The old Road Less Taken stuff?"

"Asuka? What does that mean?"

"It's a poem or something, about some guy in a forest, who found a fork in the road, and decided to take the road less traveled, saying it meant all the difference. Gott…" She swayed, "It was used as a metaphor for some quantum physics stuff. Think of an important moment, like choosing what college you go. If you had chosen a different school, all your life changes! You would have met different people, gone to other places, your whole life would be different!"

The Phantom Stranger nodded approvingly. "Exactly that. We are at a crossroad. Our actions, our decisions can mean stopping Third Impact or letting it happen. Had I not been shown the first clue about the SEELE conspiration, I wouldn't have intervened in your lives, and it is very likely that their plans would have proceeded to their conclusion without significant opposition."

Shinji had to grab a railing, "I would have been…"

"Yes, just the Third Child." Asuka growled. "Instead of Robin. And I would have been a raging lunatic, I'm sure. You have a talent for synching with your EVA I cannot match, and it would have been a blow to my ego." (6) She laced her fingers into his, and squeezed.

"I'm glad that timeline was erased." Shinji whispered.

To their horror, the Stranger commented, "It wasn't. It still exists in a way. It was folded into this timeline when you started to change events. We can't reach it, as we are, ironically, too close to it. We would have a better chance to reach more divergent possible timelines." (7)

"What?" both exclaimed.

"I am somewhat aware of other versions of myself, and they are of me. Alternate selves separated by chronal vibrations. I can only feel vague emotions from them. Since a little while ago, I've felt a version of me whose plans have failed, and fears his world is almost certainly doomed. Still, he keeps hoping and working towards salvaging what he can." (8)

"Can we help him?" Shinji asked.

"He is out of our reach. The means to travel into and through Hypertime are closed to me. But not to the Monitor nor his counterpart." The Stranger tilted his head down.

Down below, the Monitor explained his plan to the heroes, and at the push of a button, the image of a tower appeared before their eyes, "These devices," he said, "have been distributed to key points in the continuum. For as long as they operate without opposition, they release waves of chronotons, stabilizing the timeline, protecting the segment they are set in, from the antimatter waves sent by the Anti-Monitor."

In a holographic screen, a winged woman flew through the red tinted sky of a futuristic city (9), dodging strange creatures made of shadows. As she weaved between the creatures, she screamed, "(Legion Alert! I need any available Legionnaires at the Chronal Institute of Metropolis! A tower appeared in place of the building! It exploded as soon as it appeared, and a white sphere is destroying everything! It is expanding geometrically Anybody who can, respond now! Full evacuation!)"

Down below, people, human and alien alike, tried to flee the place, while a white wave of nothingness devoured everything in its path. Buildings, vehicles, people, anything the white wave touched, vanished at if it had never existed.

"Gott…" Asuka whispered, As the woman picked up a scared child from the path of a heavy vehicle, "It that..? Oh, no! Noo!" Asuka slammed her fists on the railing, as the white wave enveloped everything. The winged woman last act was to cover the eyes of the child in her arms. A moment later, nothing remained, only a white, empty nothingness.

The Stranger sighed sadly. "This was a possible future, completely erased from being. That was Dawnstar (10), a member of the Legion of Superheroes, the premier heroic team of a XXXth Century that has been erased from the face of Hypertime."

Tentatively, Shinji wrapped Asuka in a hug, tears running down his cheeks. He said nothing, while his friend screamed impotently.

A minute later, Asuka composed herself, wiped her own tears from her face, and turned to the Stranger. "They beat this, I know. They had to, or we wouldn't even exist. How? Show me how!"

The Stranger nodded, "With sacrifice. Hope. Courage. Resourcefulness. And even help from unlikely sources."

"Like villains? I recognize Killer Frost and the Psycho-Pirate down there." Shinji said.

"Yes. Their own lives were at stake, or were manipulated into helping. However, as you can guess, they were ready to betray their allies at the first opportunity. But, that is not what I…" He interrupted himself, looking at one of the screens. Quickly, he gestured towards that screen, and they had full sound and image.

Asuka and Shinji followed his gaze, and gasped at the sight in the hologram.

Ruins of New York
A Possible XXVth Century

One of the Monitor's towers stood close to what seemed to be the ruins of New York, the unmistakable shape of the Statue of Liberty rising from a bed of mud and water, tilted to almost 45 degrees. A swarm of shadow creatures flew around the device, trying to find an opening to enter and destroy it from the inside. (11)

A blonde boy, dressed in ragged blue jeans, tried to rappel down urgently from the tower, only to fall when a shadow creature cut his rope. However, he was caught by a giant hand. A silver hand that belonged to a titanic biomechanoid. A shape familiar to all three watchers. It was the unmistakable shape of an Evangelion Unit.

A girl's voice could be heard. "(Blondie! You okay?)"

"(Yeah! Good catch, Mari!)" The boy grabbed the fingers to steady himself. With one hand, he pulled out a walkie talkie from his pocket, "(Dr. Canus! Send Beetle and Booster! I planted the device!)"

"(Go! Go! Go!)" Canus yelled, still with his finger on the radio button.

From above, a gorilla jumped down. "(Kamandi! Mari! The tower needs more energy to stabilize this segment!). The red cloak fluttered in the wind. Quickly, the titan put boy and gorilla over its shoulders, into the support rig that had been fitted for safe transport of passengers

A small flying platform soared above the tower. A man dressed in blue piloted it, while a man in blue and gold flew next to it, blasting shadow creatures to bits with energy discharges from his hands.

Shinji babbled. "The Blue Beetle and Booster Gold? Is that the future? I thought they had died during Second Impact! Is that Unit-04?"

The Stranger raised a hand, asking for silence. His shadowed eyes studied the events in the screen. His normally stoic face held an expression neither pilot had ever seen in him.

Surprise.

"I knew Unit-04 had been sent to the future. All the signs at NERV-02 site pointed to it. I didn't know they had been involved in the Crisis." He said.

At the platform, Blue Beetle manipulated the controls with the air of somebody who knows exactly what his craft is capable of. "(Michael! Keep those shadow creatures away from Unit-04! Keep your energy blasts at the level I told you! That will disrupt their cohesion with minimum energy loss!)" He ordered, and with a wave, his friend complied, Beetle mumbled into his mike. "(Man! I thought once was enough! It's the freaking Crisis in Infinite Times again!)" He yelled.

The silver EVA's head turned sharply to him. "(What do you mean again, Bugboy? This has happened TWICE?)"

"(NO! It's the same Crisis! But it's a different point in time for me! The first time I got sent to Europe during World War Two! (12) About a decade ago for me!)" He answered as he maneuvered the platform to deliver a coil of reinforced cable into EVA-04's hands. The characteristic shape of an umbilical plug could be seen at one end.

The biomechanoid uncoiled the cable, and connected one end to the device planted at the side of the tower by the blonde boy.

While Booster Gold and Blue Beetle ran interference, Kamandi checked the readings he got in a device strapped to his left forearm. "(Okay, Mari! Connect!)"

EVA-04 connected the umbilical plug at the socket in its back, and a hum filled the air.

The tower emitted an energy field, that seemed to blow outwards at unimaginable speed.

The Heroes landed, and the silver EVA knelt next to the tower, allowing the blond kid and the gorilla to drop to the ground. The girls voice sounded again. "(Are we done, Solovar?)"

The gorilla checked his own device. He looked at the tower for a long time, confirming the device's readings. "(We are, young Mari.)"

Everybody relaxed, even Unit-04.

It was premature.

A last shadow creature attacked Solovar, before Booster Gold blasted it to bits.

The silverback stumbled forward a couple of steps, and fell heavily on the ground.

"Solovar!" Kamandi exclaimed, above him, Unit-04's hand spasmed, as if its pilot fought two contradictory impulses.

The silver mask turned quickly around, scanning the area with every sensor it had available.

Blue Beetle jumped from the platform, and ran to the wounded gorilla. With effort, he and Kamandi managed to turn him face up. "(Hey, big guy, take it easy, Okay?)"

"(I…)" the ape tried to speak. "(I feel… weak inside…)" he gulped; his face distorted by pain, he still tried to speak. Solemnly, Blue Beetle knelt next to him and held his big hand in his own.

"(Don't strain yourself, Solovar. The Monitor is about to recall you to base (13). There are medical bots there, you'll be back on your feet very soon. Just hang on. Okay?)"

Solovar nodded. "(I'll send help… my friends…)"

Beetle nodded, "(Save your strength. Don't try to speak.)"

The gorilla closed his eyes, and vanished in a ball of light.

Beetle sat down, and removed his mask to wipe a tear from his eye. "(I hope he manages it.)"

Still vigilant, Mari's voice asked "(Are you sure he will get help, Bugboy?)"

"(Yeah…)" Beetle answered. "(I got wounded defending the WW2 Tower, got sent back to the Monitor's base and treated by one of those med bots I told him about. I don't think he survived, though. I don't remember ever seeing him again after I got back on my feet.)"

Booster landed next to them. "(Skeets? Is there anything about Solovar in your files, buddy?)"

"(I fear I have nothing about Master Solovar, Sir.)" the mechanical voice answered after a few seconds. "(It's not good.)"

Booster nodded, "(Tell us anyway.)"

"(There are no mentions of King Solovar after 1990. Though I found a couple of references about Gorilla Grodd (14) as the new ruler of Gorilla City in late 2000.)"

"(Damn!)" Booster kicked a rock. "(No help will come!)"

Beetle put his mask back on. "(Poor guy.)"

Author Notes

1. This is gonna be a bit complex. the original DC characters were first published in the late 1930's, but by the late 1940's, due to several factors, DC had ceased publication of almost all its superhero titles. about the only characters left were the big three, Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, in their own books. Plus Aquaman and Green Arrow, as back ups in other titles.
In 1956, DC started a new anthology title, Showcase, with the intention of using it to check if a new character or concept would be popular enoigh to receive its own title. Showcase issue 1 (Mar 1956) had several stories about firefighters, and introduced a new character, Fred Farrel, a newly minted fire fighter. The idea was not popular enough for a magazine, but the concept behind Showcase would be proved solid enough for continual publication. The next two issues tested the idea of people against nature/ wild animals, and Frogmen. But the issue that really proved popular was issue 4 (Oct 1956). The featured character? The Flash, but not the original Flash, but a new character, who only had two things in common with the original, name and powers. everything else was new. Barry Allen proved to be popular enough to receive several more issues of Showcase, just to confirm the popularity of the character, and eventually graduated to his own book, with The Flash issue 105 (Mar 1959) continuing the numbering of the original book. DC repeated the feat with Green Lantern, and it was another hit. However, the original Flash would make a return, in The Flash issue 123 (Sept 1961). This issue established the concept of a multiverse, by postulating that the original characters, published in the late 1930's, lived in a different world, and that the two were separated by a "dimensional barrier", that could be crossed with relative ease. After this story, team-ups between characters from different worlds became a tradition, especially in the JLA title, with an annual crossover with the JSA. These stories presented new and varied Earths with regularity, Earth-3, with the criminal counterpart of the JLA. Earth X, where the Axis had won WW2, and many more. Things complicated more and more, until DC decided to clean house by dropping the concept of a multiverse, and destroying most of its parallel Earths in a special event, the Crisis in Infinite Earth, named after the JLA/JSA team-ups, which always were titled "Crisis on Earth (number/letter)".

2. DC rearranged the timeline of its stories into a single timeline. By the end of the series, all parallel Earths had been destroyed, except by four, and these were fused into a single, unique, world, with a defined timeline. However, instead of a hard reboot, with titles and characters starting from scratch, most titles and characters continued more or less intact. The Crisis barely affected the background of Batman, for example; but Superman had to be rebuilt from the ground up. This carried its own problems, that even now, are still affecting the stories. Also, the Crisis still happened! Post-Crisis Crisis has barely been explored, and it was changed from multidimensional, to time destroying. I'm basing most of this chapter in my interpretation of both the original series, and the background established in JLA Incarnations issue 5. The Crisis was also addressed in DCU Legacies, (10 issue miniseries, Jul 2010 to Apr 2011), in issues 5 and 6, specifically. Though, as the main point of the miniseries was to show the DCU story told from a regular person perspective, there is not much info abut the Crisis itself, as it focuses on the effect it had on regular people.

3. The original publication of Crisis on Infinite Earths began in April 1985. For my purposes in this story, I moved the Crisis itself to 1990.

4. In the original series, characters from Earth 1 (E1), Earth 2 (E2), and Earth 4 (E4); were pulled from the Past (Ps), Present (Pr), or the Future (F). The characters in the gathering are Psychopirate (E2, Pr), Firebrand 2 (E2, Ps), Psimon (E1, Pr), Blue Beetle (E4, Pr), Solovar (E1, Pr), Geo-Force (E1, Pr), Firestorm (E1, Pr), Killer Frost (E1, Pr), Superman (E2, Pr), Arion (E1, Ps), Dr. Polaris (E1, Pr), Obsidian (E2, Pr), Cyborg (E1, Pr), Dawnstar (E1, F), and Green Lantern (John Stewart; E1, Pr). With the obvious absence of Dawnstar here, I'll replace her with Hawkgirl (E2, Ps).

5. Sinestro, a renegade Green Lantern, who was expelled from the Green Lantern Corps, and exiled to the Antimatter universe. Where he was equipped with the opposite to the GLC power ring, powered by yellow energy. He debuted in Green Lantern issue 7 (Aug 1961)

6. Basically, the timeline of the original Neon Genesis Evangelion TV series, and the End of Evangelion movie.

7. Hypertime was introduced as a concept to avoid the pesky elimination of the Multiverse. Its basically the same thing, but instead of completely separated universes (analog to a pack of cards, each one representing a universe), Hypertime is akin to a tree with each branch representing a universe. At least, that's how I will use it here. Hypertime was first mentioned in The Kingdom issue 2 (Feb 1999)

8. The Divergence caused by Asuka's choice of going to the Circus with the group, or to the blind date arranged by Hikari's sister.

9. This is the XXXth Century of the original version of the Legion of Superheroes. This version of the Legion debuted in Adventure Comics issue 247 (Apr 1958). Though it took a while to really gel into a distinctive setting.

10. Dawnstar was one of the most recognizable Legionnaires, with her native American descent and white wings. She debuted in Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes issue 226 (Apr 1977). She is one of my favorite Legionnaires, but as the original Legion is replaced by the reboot Legion after the Zero Hour event, I decided to use the Legion to illustrate the elimination of a whole timeline.

11. This scene comes from Crisis in Infinite Earths issue 2 (May 1985). But with the addition of a few changes. Let's say the Monitor felt Solovar would have enough local help, and reinforced some other team with Superman and Hawkgirl

12. Crisis in Infinite Earths issue 3 (Jun 1985)

13. The Monitor did recall the wounded Blue Beetle and Solovar in Crisis in Infinite Earths Issue 3. Though Solovar didn't survive.

14. One of the most persistent enemies of the Flash, Gorilla Grod was a would-be conqueror, a renegade from his own city of evolved gorillas. Unlike the enhanced animals of Wild Island, the inhabitants of Gorilla City were forcibly evolved by the radiation of a meteor. Grodd, Solovar, and Gorilla City all debuted in The Flash Issue 106 (May 1959).