Work Text
{?????}
{?????}
Every inch of his skin was prickling,
buzzing
, as if his molecules were flying apart. He tried to focus on
slowing down,
even though he was lying still.
“--time travel? I know you can do that.”
The voice was familiar, but he couldn’t quite place it. Sounds were coming into his ears distorted.
“No, I can’t. I can’t go fast enough. Uncle Barry could, but--”
That was familiar, too, but
wrong,
somehow…
“--look at him. He’s not a kid, he’s an adult, same as you.”
He could feel his heartrate slowing to a regular two hundred beats or so a minute. He was also hungrier than he could ever remember feeling in his entire life.
Wally groaned as his stomach growled loudly.
“He certainly
sounds
like you,” a familiar voice said wryly.
“D… N’twing?” Wally mumbled, remembering himself just enough to realize that he didn’t know where he was or who he was with, but he could feel his goggles on his forehead and could tell he was wearing his slightly-too-small-now Kid Flash uniform, so codenames were probably a safe bet. Bats could be
scary
about their IDs. He opened his eyes--the room he was in was bright, but nothing compared to the sheer
light
of--
“Hello?” a voice said. Dick moved into his field of vision, unmasked and wearing his--no, that wasn’t his Nightwing costume. The blue insignia was missing from the black armour, replaced by a slimmer red design, and the armour itself was bulkier.
“Dude, what’s with the new costume?” Wally asked bluntly. “How long have I been
out
?”
Dick raised an eyebrow. “You know me?” he asked.
“Um, duh?” Wally said, frowning. “We’ve been best friends for
years
. Of course I know you. My brains haven’t been scrambled
that
badly, you
Dick
.”
Somebody laughed behind him. It sounded familiar, but he couldn’t place it at
all
. He tried to sit up, but he realized that his hands and legs were shackled. “Dude, what the
hell
?” he demanded. “Why am I chained up?”
“We need to know who and what you are before we let you go,” Dick said, as if that explained anything. “What’s your name? Your
real
name.”
“What? Dude, it’s
me,
Wally West,” Wally said, frown deepening. Dick hadn’t smiled once throughout the entire conversation and it was getting kind of creepy. “I’m not some kind of Reach drone or anything. Get M’gann to check if you want. In the meantime, what happened? Did we get the last chrysalis? Where’s Artemis? Are Bart and Uncle Barry okay?”
Dick’s eyes widened, freezing as he looked over Wally’s head. Behind them, there was a sharp intake of breath. Dick looked back down at Wally, face settling into the intimidating glower he often used when interrogating criminals. It was a look that often reminded Wally very vividly just
who
had trained his best friend. “How old are you?” Dick asked. His tone had gone flat.
“Twenty-one, third year at Stanford University, majoring in Physics and minoring in Vietnamese Lit,” Wally rattled off. “Now will you stop being a cryptic bat and tell me what this is about?”
Dick actually
flinched
. “A
what
,” he asked flatly.
“A cryptic fucking
bat
!” Wally yelled, starting to get angry. He was tired, he was
starving
, and dammit, he was only supposed to be back in the costume for
one
crisis! “I thought we were
done
with you hiding shit after what happened to Mount Justice! So is there a
reason
you’re not telling me what’s going on here, aside from you continuing to turn into fucking Batman?”
Dick’s eyes narrowed coldly on him, before looking over his head again. Wally heard footsteps as somebody walked around the table that he was strapped to.
“Uncle Barry!” he exclaimed as The Flash walked into view. “You’re okay! How’s Bart? What’s going on? Why the hell is Dick being such a--”
“I’m not Uncle Barry,” The Flash said, pulling down his cowl.
Wally felt the world spin and blur.
It was
him
under the cowl.
{Arctic Circle}
{July 25, 22:12 UTC}
The Batplane was well-sealed against the frozen winds of the Arctic tundra, but if he ran the heating all the time, he wouldn’t have the fuel to get home. So Dick Grayson, Nightwing, hunched down into the layers of coats and blankets he had wrapped around him, insulating himself against the chill as he focused on the fuzzy image of his brother’s face on the screen.
“
...no new data, anyway,
” Tim was saying, his voice cutting in and out as the signal wavered. “
You can analyse the da… re at the Batcave.
”
“The energy’s fluctuating completely at random,” Dick said, rubbing his eyes. He was
damn
tired--he’d gotten some sleep, but he couldn't keep a schedule or sleep for long periods before an energy spike would sound an alarm, waking him. He could turn off the alarm, but he wouldn't. “There isn’t a pattern to analyse. You know that as well as I do, I’ve been sending you all the data. Whatever it is that Wally vanished into is coming and going too erratically.”
And sporadically. The spikes are getting further and further apart...
“I’m not going to miss anything.”
“At least…fuel and resupply,” Tim insisted. “It’s been three weeks, and Al….ce are worried about you. So’s ever...the Team. Conner and M’ga... asking about you. Artemis says--”
Dick cut the connection. He knew that he shouldn’t be mad at Artemis. She’d signed up to risk her life; Wally hadn’t. She’d come home; Wally hadn’t. She’d told his parents, informed his University, and thrown herself into being Tigress. She was hurting deeply, she was grieving, she was trying to deal with Wally being dead.
Dick couldn’t. Because until he saw a corpse, he couldn’t accept that his best friend was dead. Even if everybody else had given up, even
Artemis
, he wasn’t going anywhere until he’d found out what had happened to Wally West.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
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“What the hell,” Wally said slowly, staring at the redhead in the Flash costume in front of him. “You’ve gotta admit, we have pretty good cause to worry that you’re an evil clone or something,” the other him said. “Cadmus had some pretty advanced cloning tech. Supposedly the Lords destroyed it all, but--” “The who?” Wally asked, head spinning. “Who’re you--are you me? Why are you The Flash? Am I in the future? I can’t be in the future, I’m retiring . Do you have any food? I’m starving. What the hell is going on?” “That’s what we’re trying to figure out,” Dick said, nodding to--to The Flash, who produced a power bar from the same kind of glove pockets that Wally had. Uncle Barry didn’t have any on his costume, but he didn’t need to eat quite as often as Wally did. Something about being a kid when he’d gotten his powers as opposed to being an adult had made Wally’s metabolism more unpredictable. The him -Flash stepped towards Wally, unwrapping the power bar. “I’m gonna unlock one of these so you can eat,” Dick continued, reaching for Wally’s wrist, “but you understand, we still need to be certain of who and what you are before we can let you go. If you could give us some idea where you came from, that’d help.” Wally shook his wrist out when he was unlatched, resisted the urge to snatch the power bar, and tried his hardest not to inhale it whole. “Well, last thing I remember, Uncle Barry and Bart and I were running around one of the bombs The Reach to destroy the planet after they failed to take it over. It’d already gone chrysalis. We were trying to counter the kinetic energy, but…” He looked aside, scowling. “...Since I’m… not as fast as Uncle Barry or Bart, the energy was… siphoning off through me. I remember… fading…” He stared at his hand, remembering looking through it, feeling himself disappearing. “There was… I dunno, light or something. Then…” He waved his hand sweepingly. “I was here. Ta-daaa,” he said dryly. “Who’s Bart?” Dick asked. “Another speedster?” “Bart Allen, Uncle Barry’s grandson from the future,” Wally explained. “Came back in time to stop those aliens I mentioned.” “His grandson ?” the other Wally said in surprise. “So… wherever you came from, Uncle Barry’s still…?” “Still what?” Wally asked, blinking. “Still the Flash? Yeah…” The other him looked down, suddenly unable to meet Wally’s eyes. “Still alive,” Dick said quietly. “He’s… he’s dead here?” Wally gasped, feeling his stomach twist. “How?! When?!” “Ten years ago,” Dick explained. “He was killed by President Luthor, before--” Wally choked on his next power bar. “ President Luthor?!” he coughed. “As in, Lex Luthor? Slimy, bald creep with a really weird fixation on Superman?” “He lost the election in your world, then?” Dick mused. “Never ran,” Wally said, rolling his eyes. “Ten years ago? Really? I mean, sure, nobody really likes Bush Jr anymore, but still --” “What do you mean, in his world ?” the Flash-Wally interrupted, looking at Dick. “I’m starting to put together an idea of who he is and where he came from,” Dick said slowly. “Let me just ask one more thing. Have you heard of the Justice League?” “Um, duh, ” Wally said, rolling his eyes. “Yes, we have that on my world too--” “Who were the founding members?” Dick interrupted. “Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, The Flash, Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern and Aquaman,” Wally rattled off. “I thought we were done proving my credentials?” “I’m not sure what the hell that proves, because aside from me, those are not the founding members of the Justice League,” Flash-Wally objected. “Aside from The Flash, those were the Justice Lords!” “The what now?” Wally asked with a frown. “But you remember how the Lords were defeated, don’t you?” Dick said to Flash-Wally, ignoring Wally-Wally. “They were defeated by themselves from an alternate universe, one where they never became Justice Lords. I remember it clearly--hard to forget, after the fight between their Batman and Lord Batman that I saw on the cave’s security tapes. This guy could’ve come from that timeline, or another one with a Justice League.” “Okay, you’re gonna have to explain the Lords thing, but what I’m getting from that is that I’m in an alternate universe, right?” Wally realized. “Where Uncle Barry’s dead, I’m The Flash, and Dick’s costume is weird. And seriously, what the hell are--or were --the Justice Lords?” Alarms started blaring over their heads. The Flash immediately pulled up his cowl and zipped off. “Explanations are gonna have to come later,” Dick said, checking something on his wrist computer with a scowl. “Owl’s running some tests that should tell us for certain that you’re not a clone, and if you are who I think you are…” “I’m not a clone! Let me off the table and tell me what’s going on!” Wally protested, tugging at the restraint on his left arm. Dick grabbed Wally’s right wrist, slamming it painfully onto the table and tightening the restraints again. “Not until we know,” Dick said sternly. “We’ve lost too many already to risk it. Just… stay here, alright?” With that, he turned and ran from the room. { Palo Alto }{ July 27, 03:04 PDT} Artemis finally gave up, turning on her bedside lamp and reaching for her phone. Tonight was clearly another night of no sleep. Even with five blankets, she still felt too cold without speedster heat filling the bed next to her. She scrolled mindlessly through her Twitter feed, not really reading anything. She sent a couple of texts to Dick, wondering if he’d resurfaced yet. Tim wouldn’t tell anybody where his adoptive brother had vanished to, only that he was having a hard time mourning without any sign of a body. Artemis wasn’t sure if this would be easier if there was a body to bury. Maybe not. At least this way she’d never seen his corpse. She’d always be able to remember him as he should be--alive and in constant motion, bright and cheerful, not still and cold. Then again, all of her experiences with loss were people leaving, not dying. People who left could always come back someday. Dick’s experience with loss was corpses, twisted and broken and burned. He needed that to let go. She… She didn’t know what she needed to move on, to dull the pain in her chest. Kaldur had put a hand on her shoulder after the last mission, asked how she was doing, and she’d been struck with the wild urge to kiss him, tear off his clothes and press herself close, be with him like everybody on that damned submarine had thought they were, lose herself in somebody that wasn’t Wally. She’d caught herself just in time, and the mask had probably hidden the look in her eyes, but still. Rebound sex probably wouldn’t help, but it was tempting. She’d never slept with anybody but Wally. She wasn’t ready for a new relationship yet, of course, but to feel the touch of somebody else, keep sex from being wrapped up in Wally… somebody who wouldn’t attach any strings, any feelings, just help her feel … but Kaldur wasn’t the kind of guy who’d go for that. Dick, on the other hand... he certainly got around, and from what Zatanna and Barbara had said, he was the master of ‘no strings attached’. If only he hadn’t vanished. Great, Artemis, not too slutty, wanting to throw yourself at your dead boyfriend’s best friend, she groaned, rubbing her eyes. Rebound sex probably wouldn’t help, but what would? Black Canary kept offering to talk to her, but Artemis didn’t want to talk about her feelings, she wanted them to go away and stop hurting her .She rolled out of bed, heading for her drawer full of workout clothes. Maybe she could punch her feelings out.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
{ ?????--Earth-128 }{ ????? } Alarms kept blaring. Wally could hear distant shouting, but none of it was coming anywhere near him. He couldn't see very much of the room that he was confined in--he was facing the wall, the way he was strapped to the table. It wasn’t even an interesting wall, just roughly-hewn rock. Probably underground, then... Has nobody warned the people of this universe that strapping people to tables in underground bases is what bad guys do ? He held his breath, listening. He couldn’t hear any breathing. Definitely no silent guards in the room, then, unless they were robots. He was willing to risk robots. He started twisting his hands, trying to work them out of his restraints, but they were on too tightly. Damn… how the hell does Dick get out of shit like this? he thought, staring at the metal straps. Okay, he has millions of lockpicks in his belt and gloves and shoes and probably in his hair somewhere… if I could just vibrate out of this like Uncle Barry… He stared thoughtfully at his wrists. He hadn’t tried vibrating out of anything since before he’d retired as Kid Flash. He’d never succeeded, except at giving himself a nosebleed. But he was older now, so even if he still wasn’t as fast as Bart or Uncle Barry… But what if he disappeared again? Well, I could wind up back home, he reasoned, closing his eyes and trying to vibrate. He remembered the skin-buzzing feeling from when he’d arrived in this world and tried to get it back, feel the molecules of the restraints and move through -- He gasped as he slid through the table, winding up rolling across the rough stone floor. He got up, staring in shock at the table. I did it! he thought in exhilaration. I actually-- The table rippled in a way that metal absolutely should not be able to, then shattered. Wally dove to the floor with a yelp as shrapnel shot over his head, some of it clanging off something behind him. He rolled over, gaping at the bars set into a gap in the rock behind him. “A prison cell?” he muttered. “For real?” He looked back at the table. Stuff never explodes when Uncle Barry vibrates through it, he thought, staring at the twisted, shattered remains of the table. Did I do it wrong? He rolled to his feet, staring at the bars that were standing between him and… whatever the hell was causing all those booms further away. Well… scientific principle, right? Keep testing to see if you get the same result… He pressed his hands against the bars, closing his eyes again--he was afraid that if he saw his hands slipping through the bars, it would be too much like disappearing again, and he’d freak out and wind up with his hands stuck through some bars. He stepped forwards as easily as if he was stepping through nothing. He opened his eyes, checking that he was free and clear before stepping aside and turning to watch the bars explode. Shards shot into a cell across the hall, clanging off the bars on the way, some hitting the rock or bars with enough force to embed themselves. He frantically ran over to check the cell, but it seemed completely empty, though he heard swearing behind him. He turned and trotted a few feet down the hall, staring into the next cell. There was a man in there, not strapped to a table but sitting on a low mattress. He was wearing a black tanktop and shorts, but no shoes or socks. He glared angrily at Wally. “Lord Superman is going to punish you, Flash,” he spat out. “It doesn’t matter if you change your costume. He will make you pay for your insolence!” “Uh, I’m not Flash,” Wally said, startled by the absolute venom in the man’s voice. “Who are you?” The man sneered, standing up. “Lying Rebel,” he snarled, walking up to the bars. “You can’t pretend ignorance. I know Lord Superman is here to punish all of you!” “Ummm.. okay, maybe I’ll come back later,” Wally said uncertainly, turning and speeding down the hallway. There was an open doorway at the end and he zipped through it, promptly crashing into somebody running down the perpendicular corridor. “Shit, sor--AAAH!” Wally yelled as whoever he’d run into grabbed him by the arm, flipped him and pinned him to the ground. Whoever it was was big, heavy and strong . “What the hell?” the other person grunted. “You’re that weird Flash they brought in, aren’t you? How the hell did you get out of your cell?” Wally grunted, trying to look over his shoulder at the guy who had his arm twisted at a painful angle. He looked like a teenager, with short dark hair, dark blue eyes and a dark scowl-- “ Jason ?!” Wally yelped, feeling like the rug had been jerked out from under him for probably the twelfth time in the last hour. It was Jason--or an older teen who looked just like Jason Todd but with most of the baby fat burned out of his cheeks, not that the kid had ever had much fat on his bones to begin with. He was taller, more muscular, a couple of extra scars on his face, but he still looked just like Jason Todd--or at least, how he would’ve looked if he’d lived. He’s alive here! Jason raised an eyebrow. “Jesus, you just went sheet-white,” he chuckled. “What, you scared of me or something?” He frowned again. “Hey, how do you know my name?” he asked. “I know you,” Wally said quickly. “Or I know you in my world, anyway. I’m not The Flash, I’m Kid Flash, I’m from another universe and can I get my arm back soon, please?” There was another boom , causing the ground to shake and loose stone to fall from the ceiling. “Looks like I don’t have much of a choice,” Jason muttered, getting up and pulling Wally to his feet. “Cap and Lantern aren’t gonna be able to hold the big guy off forever and, fuck it, you’re a speedster. C’mon, we’ve gotta get people out of here.” “Lead the way,” Wally said, letting Jason drag him painfully slowly down the hallway. He couldn’t stop staring at the boy whose funeral had been the first hero’s funeral that Wally had ever attended--in fact, he’d attended it twice, going to Robin’s at Mt Justice as Kid Flash and Jason’s in Gotham as Wally West. When Jason had been alive, he’d been almost as tall as Dick despite being younger, and Dick had always complained that his little brother was going to end up as big and tall as Bruce. It looked like Dick’s predictions had been right on the mark, not that they’d ever gotten to see it back home. Jason was maskless too, wearing a bulky black combat suit like Dick’s but with a blue and white bird insignia that Wally hadn’t seen before. “What the hell’s going on?” “Lord Superman found us,” Jason said grimly. “We can’t fight him, just hold him off while we evacuate everybody.” “Lord… Superman?” Wally said. His head was starting to spin again. “Wait, why’re we holding him off? Why’s Superman attacking us?” “Christ, you really are from another world,” Jason muttered. “Questions later. Right now, there’s a Kryptonian up there who will kill everybody in the Rebellion if he gets the chance, so we’re not giving him the chance. OI! REDBIRD!” Wally stared as Jason dragged him into some kind of hangar. People were running into a pair of planes, one of which looked like it might have been the Batplane once. Dick was standing next to a bank of computers with Tim, who was likewise maskless and this time wearing a dark brown costume with a white bird emblem. “Bluejay, what the hell are you doing?” Dick yelled. “Why’d you let him out?” “I didn’t, he got himself out, and does it fucking matter?” Jason responded, dragging Wally over. “The more the merrier when we’re running for our lives, right?” “For what it’s worth, we haven’t found any of the obvious markers of Cadmus cloning,” Tim put in, looking at Wally with a calculating expression that was somehow actually worse when it was coming from steel-blue eyes rather than a pair of blank white lenses. “We could use his help.” Dick nodded, stepping aside to reveal that he was standing in front of a computer chair, occupied by a redhead that Wally recognized as Barbara Gordon, dressed in grey with no visible insignia and scrolling rapidly between camera feeds. Somewhere, from the looks of it, Superman--dressed in black and white, no blue to be found, only really recognizable to Wally on the small screens by the big red S on his chest--was fighting Captain Marvel and a Green Lantern. The fights moved close enough to the camera feed for a minute to show John Stewart trying to construct shackles that could hold Superman, succeeding only for seconds before the Kryptonian broke out and punched Captain Marvel into a building. “Have you downloaded all you need?” Dick asked Barbara, somehow able to look away from the incredibly wrong sight of three prominent members of the Justice League duking it out full-force. Wally was pretty sure his jaw had dropped and couldn’t find it in him to close it. “Got it,” Barbara said, tossing a removable hard drive to Tim, who slipped it into one of the pouches on his utility belt. She turned to peer over her glasses-- since when did she wear glasses ? Wally wondered--at Wally, giving him the Bat-family’s patented Calculating Look™. “So this is him, huh?” “Stare all you want while he’s taking the two of you to the backup,” Dick said, pointing at Barbara and Tim. “You up for carrying two people?” he asked Wally. “Um, yeah, if they’re not huge, though I can’t run too fast, but where am I going?” Wally asked, looking at Barbara and Tim. “Wait!” Tim protested. “I can stay and help fight!” “Nobody here is fighting except for the Marvels and Green Lantern!” Dick objected sharply. “None of the rest of us can even hold our own in a fight without kryptonite, which we don’t have anymore, remember? But the two of you are the best brains we have, so we need you operating out of our new HQ as soon as possible.” He turned back to Wally. “Flash should be back any second, he’ll show you the way,” he said shortly. “You’ll be taking Owl and Oracle, because we really do need to move them and because they’re eminently capable of taking you out if you are some kind of rogue or plant. Got it?” “Loud and clear,” Wally said, holding up his hands defensively. “If I do this, will it convince you that I’m not an evil clone and get you to tell me what the hell is going on?” “If we all live, sure thing,” Dick said, looking at Jason. “Bluejay, go rev up the second jet. The second it’s at capacity, go .” He glanced at the screens. “We need to get out while he’s distracted. I’ll go keep an eye out for Flash.” “See you on the other side,” Jason--Bluejay, here, apparently--said, saluting as he ran off with Dick. “Are you sure we have everything?” Tim said, looking fretfully at the computer. Wally realized that Owl had to be his codename--it explained the brown-and-white bird insignia, anyway--and that meant that Barbara was Oracle. Thinking of them by new codenames was odd, but it helped him remind himself that they weren’t the Tim and Barbara that he knew. Dick-- Redbird, did Jason say?--definitely wasn’t the Dick Grayson that Wally knew. “Everything we need,” Oracle assured him, straightening her glasses. “Right, Mustard Flash, if you carry me in your arms, Owl can piggyback. He’s strong enough to hang on, you just need to not trip and go rolling, okay?” “It’s Kid Flash, ” Wally grumbled, “and yeah, I can do that.” He glanced down and started as he realized that Oracle wasn’t sitting in a computer chair. “A wheelchair?!” he blurted out. “I can get a new chair on the other end,” Oracle said dismissively. “Getting there alive is the first priority. For a speedster, you’re moving a little slowly, aren’t you?” “Yeah, yeah--uh, are your legs--? I mean, I don’t wanna hurt you,” Wally said uncertainly. “Don’t worry, Kid, all feeling’s gone and you can’t exactly make it worse, so c’mon,” Oracle said impatiently, pulling a couple of escrima sticks out of holsters on her wheelchair. Wally put one arm around her shoulders and slipped the other under her knees. “Got her?” Owl asked, putting his bo staff away and walking around behind Wally. “Alright, watch out--” Wally braced his knees as the skinny teenager hopped onto his back, wrapping his legs around Wally’s waist and gripping Wally’s shoulders tightly. “Okay, I’m secure,” Owl reported. “For such a skinny little punk, you sure weigh, you know that?” Wally grumbled, jogging in the direction he’d seen Redbird go. “Or is that just the requisite bodyweight in concealed weapons?” “Who’s calling who a skinny punk here?” Oracle said, poking Wally in the chest with an escrima stick. “I have a good metabolism,” Wally said, spotting Redbird and the Wally-Flash. He nearly tripped over his own feet in shock when he saw who Flash was carrying. “Holy--Aunt Iris?!” The woman in his doppelganger’s arms stared at him, bright green eyes widening in surprise. “Honey?” she said, looking at Wally-Flash-- the only Flash here, Wally thought, remembering with a jolt of pain that his aunt was a widow in this world. “What’s going on?” Iris asked, staring at Wally in confusion. “He’s me from another reality,” Flash replied. “We’ll figure it out later. I’ve just gotta grab two more passengers and then we’re good to go. Where is --” “Flash!” Rocket called, flying up with her son in her arms. She looked at Wally in surprise. “You know what, I don’t even wanna know,” she decided, handing Amistad to Iris. “Thanks for taking him. You be good for Iris, okay?” she said, kissing Amistad’s forehead. “It’s new home time again.” “Kay,” Amistad said solemnly, hanging onto Iris. “We gonna go fast?” the toddler asked Flash. “Sure thing, buddy,” Flash promised. “See you at the other end, Rocket. Be safe. Have you seen Voice?” “I’m here!” another woman called, running up and hopping up to hang onto Flash’s back the way Owl was hanging onto Wally’s. She’d cut her jet-black hair short, but Wally still recognized Lois Lane. “Let’s get out of here,” Lois said grimly, eyes fixed on the screen of a tablet that she was holding in one hand, the other arm wound around Flash’s shoulders. “Keep up, Kid Flash,” Flash said, grinning at Wally before shooting off. “Thank you!” Wally said, running after him. “At least he gets it right!”
{Watchtower--Earth-16}
{July 26, 09:34 UTC}
Kaldur kept his eyes closed as he floated in the warm water. The swim tank had to have either been set up by King Orin or with Atlanteans in mind, because the salinity of the water was a perfect match for the ocean and artificial currents ran through the tank to keep it from feeling still and stale. Nevertheless, it wasn’t exactly like being in the real ocean. Kaldur never thought he’d be grateful for that. He opened his eyes at the sound of a light tapping on the tank, then relaxed at the sight of Red Arrow standing outside, one hand pressed to the glass. Kaldur swam over to the underwater comms, unwilling to leave the soothing water for the dry air of the rest of the Watchtower’s interior. “I was not expecting to see you up here, my friend,” Kaldur said with a smile. “It is good to see you.” “Good to see you too,” Roy said, shoving his hands in his pockets. “I’m not here for long. The League’s offering to make me a member again.” “Congratulations,” Kaldur said in surprise. “I did not think you wished to return.” “I… don’t, really,” Roy sighed, running a hand through his hair. “That was something Cadmus programmed into me, and I don’t know if I could ever come back without feeling like I’m doing what they want instead of what I want. Besides, for now, I’d rather focus on Jade and Lian. They’re mine, you know?” Kaldur nodded. “They are a part of your life that came neither from Cadmus nor Speedy,” he said. “I understand, and I am happy for you and your family.” He smiled. “There is always the Team, of course, should you ever wish it.” “Yeah, you’ve got Watchtower space and everything now,” Roy said with a smirk. “I’m actually kinda surprised to hear that you came back right away. Thought you’d be taking a break, like Nightwing. After all that time undercover, it’s gotta be weird coming back, especially without…” He trailed off uncomfortably. “I worry that Nightwing is not so much taking a break as failing to deal with Wally’s loss,” Kaldur sighed. “As for myself, leading the Team makes me feel more like myself again, not the part I played to infiltrate the Light.” He chuckled. “Life does take us in unexpected directions. When my King chose me to be Aqualad, I took to it as a soldier, proud to fight alongside my King on the surface world. I never expected to become a leader myself. Nor did I expect to be accepted back so easily. The Team is remarkably light on grudges.” “Speaking of grudges,” Roy said, looking even more uncomfortable. “Seeing as you’re leader again, not Nightwing, I wondered…” “You worry about Arsenal,” Kaldur guessed. “I have spoken to him to offer him another chance on the Team, if he wishes. He does not, but I have left the door open. I worry for him too, and Nightwing should not have taken his stress out on him.” He shook his head. “When I first became Leader, it was in full expectation that it would be temporary, until our young Robin was ready for the leadership that he was surely destined to carry. But…” “Best place to put power is with somebody who doesn’t want it, in my experience,” Roy said with a shrug, “and as for Nightwing… well, he never was quite the same after the second Robin died. His first shot at leadership was overseeing one of his best friends on a major infiltration, too, and that dick didn’t tell anybody about it except Artemis and Wally until the end of the game. Secrecy I get, being scared of losing somebody else I get, but dammit, if he keeps everything this secret, he really is gonna turn into Batman.” “Without Wally to talk to, he seems to have retreated entirely,” Kaldur said, shaking his head. “And I worry that Artemis is faring little better. She has not cut herself off, but on missions she is… reckless, careless with her own safety, and perhaps excessively violent, especially when it comes to protecting the new Kid Flash. I have considered not sending them on missions together at all, but I am concerned that it would hurt more than it helps. She has become quite fond of Bart, and I feel that it can only help for her to get used to somebody new being Kid Flash. She insists that she is doing fine, but I fear she is hiding too much behind the Tigress persona that she cultivated for the mission to avoid dealing with Artemis’ pain.” “Yeah, getting violent was pretty much Jade’s response to loss, too,” Roy said, rubbing the back of his neck again. “She snapped out of it when she found out Artemis was alive, though, so I dunno how I could’ve helped her deal with it in the long term. Dinah says she’s offered to speak to Artemis, but she hasn’t taken her up on it.” “I have to say, my friend, of all the unexpected things in this world, you becoming the calm voice of reason certainly stands out,” Kaldur chuckled.“Yeah, well, that’s all mine, too, so I guess I’ll run with it,” Roy said, rolling his eyes. “I’ll see if it works on Artemis, too, because Wally isn’t coming back to snap her out of it.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
{Bludhaven--Earth-128}
{July 26, 11:34 EDT}
“Isn’t this Bludhaven?” Wally said as he skidded to a halt next to Flash in front of a shipping container. Lois climbed down from Flash’s back, inspecting the front of the container.
“Bring me over there, I’ve only uploaded a couple of fingerprints to the system,” Oracle ordered. Wally stepped close enough to the container to allow Oracle to reach out and wrap a hand around the door handle. There was a
whir
from inside the container and the door cracked open.
“In answer to your question, yes, this is Bludhaven,” Lois said as they walked inside. “They have that on your world too?”
“Did you broadcast an all-points bulletin that there’s a visitor from another world or something?” Wally asked Oracle.
“Well, I
was
in the control room when they brought you in and took some blood to test,” Lois said, “so it wasn’t hard to guess. And I guess we’ve all been a little hopeful that somebody from the other timeline would turn up again ever since
Lord Superman
escaped.” Her tone was so bitter when speaking of Superman that Wally flinched. He’d never really
met
Lois Lane, but from all he’d heard, she and Clark were just about the happiest couple on the planet--after Uncle Barry and Aunt Iris.
He glanced at the other Iris as Flash set her down, still holding Amistad in her arms. This one wasn’t half of a happy couple here, looking forwards to having her first children; she was a widow, Uncle Barry was long gone,
he
was The Flash and Superman was evil or something.
Owl dropped down from Wally’s back, shining a flashlight from his belt around the inside of the shipping container. There wasn’t much to see except a few wooden crates stacked at the back. “Hell of a backup base,” Wally muttered.
“Access: Oracle,” Oracle said clearly. “We need secondary authentication. Owl--”
“Access: Owl,” Owl said clearly. The floor under them shook and started to move downwards, making Amistad giggle. “You
really
thought Redbird and Oracle would design a place that was
that
easy to access?” Owl said wryly.
“I honestly have no idea why I thought that,” Wally said as the floor stopped moving and some doors opened ahead of them, revealing another apparently underground corridor. “Guess not everything’s different, then. You Bats are still all about creepy underground bases and being
way
overprepared.”
“You
whats
?” Owl asked, staring at Wally.
“
Bats,
huh?” Oracle asked, raising an eyebrow. “Am I still Batgirl in your world, then?”
“Actually, yeah,” Wally said, looking down at her. “What happened? If, y’know, it’s okay to ask.”
Oracle put one hand over her stomach with a wince. “Nice thing about heat vision wounds; they cauterize, so if the attack’s not instantly fatal, you won’t bleed out,” she sighed. “So a gut shot didn’t kill me. But it
did
sever the nerves in my spine, and cauterizing
those
sure as hell doesn’t help.”
“
Heat vision?
Like,
Superman
did this to you?!” Wally gasped. “Okay, can somebody please tell me
now
what the hell is going on and why Superman is evil here?”
“Let’s get to the control room to get them set up and see where we’re at with the evacuation,” Flash said, “and then we’ll see if we’ve got time for storytelling or not.” He glanced down the hallway. “Uh… where
is
the control room here?” he asked Oracle sheepishly.
“We’ll need to go downstairs, it’s much further in,” Oracle said, pointing down the hallway. “We can give him the bare bones on the way. He needs to know the situation, anyway, if we’re going to avoid stupid mistakes.”
“How much do you know so far?” Iris asked him gently, bouncing Amistad on her hip. Wally remembered, with a pang, his aunt--
his
aunt, back on
his
world--formally announcing that she was pregnant.
“Ummm… everybody’s got different codenames, Superman’s evil, there were Lords or something, and, uh, Uncle Barry’s… d-dead,” Wally said, unable to help stuttering over the admission. “Killed by Lex Luthor, who was president, they said?”
Iris looked a little sad at the mention of her long-dead husband, but the look was gone quickly as she nodded. “Ten years ago,” she affirmed. “That was the reason that the Justice Lords formed. Lord Superman, Lord Batman, Lady Wonder Woman, Lord Martian Manhunter, Lord Green Lantern and Lord Aquaman. The six of them decided that they weren’t doing enough to keep the people of this planet safe, and banded together to do more.”
“There’s no point in sugar-coating it for him, Eyes,” Lois said sharply. “They took over the planet, became dictators that no force on Earth could stand against, all
for our protection
. They didn’t kill anybody else, not then, but they mutilated and lobotomized anybody that
they
decided was ‘too dangerous’. They kept saying that they’d step down once the planet was ‘safe enough’, but of course it never was. They took more and more power, and it was
never
safe enough, certainly not from them.”
Clark, Bruce, Diana, J’onn, Hal and King Orin… took over the world?
Wally thought dizzily, trying to imagine it. He couldn’t. But then, he couldn’t imagine Clark murdering Lex Luthor, either, or Lex Luthor winning the presidency.
Luthor murdering Uncle Barry, that I can see, but the rest..
.
“So what… what happened?” he asked numbly.
“Well, some alternate versions of the Justice Lords turned up eight years ago, calling themselves the Justice League, and they fought the Lords,” Iris explained. “From your world, maybe?”
“Eight years ago… would’ve been a couple years after the League went public,” Wally recalled. “I… think I remember something weird going on, some rumours that the Justice League had gone evil but then it turned out they hadn’t. I don’t remember, I spent most of it in hospital after getting my powers and by the time I was out of the coma, most people were talking about the League inducting a bunch of new members. It was all over in like a day, seems like, and Uncle Barry said it was all a big misunderstanding.”
“Now
that’s
sugar-coating it,” Oracle said, rolling her eyes. “Well, they fought, and then Lord Batman turned against the other Lords and helped the Justice League win. Lord Martian Manhunter got sent back to Mars for trial, Lord Green Lantern got sent to Oa, Lord Aquaman got sent to Atlantis and Lady Wonder Woman to Themyscira. Nobody knows what happened to Lord Martian Manhunter or Lady Wonder Woman since there hasn’t been any contact from Mars or Themyscira since, but one of the newer Lanterns heard that Lord Green Lantern--just Hal Jordan now, I guess--got his ring stripped from him for misusing his power. We also recently met a scout from Atlantis who was looking into the surface situation and it sounds like Lord Aquaman’s not under arrest, but not on the throne anymore either. Lord Batman built a red sunlight cell somewhere for Lord Superman and retreated there to be his gaoler. Aside from regular check-in reports to the UN and Justice League, nobody’s seen either of them since--until just over a year ago, when Lord Superman escaped.”
“How?” Wally asked in horrified fascination.
“Isn’t that the question,” Owl muttered, opening a door that Oracle pointed him to and finding a room with banks of keyboards and screens. “Nobody knows whether Lord Batman’s alive or dead, and Lord Superman’s not elaborating.”
“He might’ve alive at the time Lord Superman escaped, at least,” Oracle said quietly. “He killed my dad and the other police officers that tried to stop him wrecking Gotham, but he practically airdropped the press in himself. It was mostly a declaration of his return to power, but some of the statements he made sounded like he was speaking specifically to Lord Batman, like he was destroying Gotham in revenge. Though that doesn’t really confirm that Lord Batman was alive at the time, I suppose,” she added with a sigh. “Wouldn’t be the last time Lord Superman taunted a dead opponent.”
“He
killed
Commissioner Gordon?
Seriously
?” Wally said in shock. “I thought you said the Justice Lords didn’t kill anybody except Luthor!”
“Before,” Lois said, shaking her head. “He’s completely out of control now. He’s killing anybody who gets in his way. By the end of the week he’d killed several members of the Justice League and taken power again.”
“Who’d he kill?” Wally asked weakly, setting Oracle down maybe a little too heavily in one of the computer chairs. She gave him a sympathetic look, then turned to the computer and started booting it up, while Lois and Owl moved to a couple of other consoles.
“Hawkman and Hawkwoman first, because
of course
they wouldn’t back out of a damn fight,” Flash said, counting on his fingers. “One of the newer Green Lanterns got killed too, Guy Gardner--Kyle Rayner’s gone to Oa to ask for their help, but we haven’t heard back yet, so the only Lantern we have is John Stewart. Black Lightning, The Atom, Blue Beetle--we’ve got a new one now, but he’s just a kid. Lord Superman destroyed all three Reds, too.”
“Over a hundred nations combined their military forces to fight him, and he destroyed them all,” Lois growled. “He’s been going after the new League as ‘enemies of the world’ and won’t stop until every one of us is dead. Three weeks ago, he obliterated Star City just to get some of us.”
“Star City? So… Green Lantern, Black Canary…?” Wally asked, his mouth dry.
“Speedy and Plastic Man were there, too,” Iris confirmed softly. “Among others.”
“That’s us online,” Barbara said as all of the computer screens lit up. She started typing
“Oracle to B-7, B-8 is active. What’s the situation?”
into a chat window.
“
J-1 and J-2 are en route,
” user “Redbird” replied in the same chat window, text appearing as he wrote it--or rather, utter gibberish appeared, slowly turning into legible text as Oracle keyed it through a decryption program. “
Lantern-3 and Marvel-1 were still engaged at last contact, with Marvel-2 and Marvel-3 on their way to help. Do you have visual on them?
”
“Found the camera feeds,” Lois said, throwing a camera feed up onto one of the larger screens just in time for them to see Superman smash through Green Lantern’s shield and blast him with heat vision dead on.
{Central City--Earth-16}
{July 26, 10:34 CDT}
“Ooohhhhhhhhh, yeahhhhhhh! In the middle of summer, nothin’ beats
victory ice cream
!” Bart crowed, taking the spoon that Flash tossed to him and licking his lips as his grandfather bought the entire contents of the ice cream cart from its very happy vendor.
“Enjoy, you earned it for that takedown,” Flash said, patting Bart on the back. He grinned at the crowd that was forming around them, cheering for their heroes for stopping Mirror Master from using the park’s lake for… something nefarious, probably, Bart had already forgotten the details in the face of ice cream. “I’ll go talk to the press--back in a Flash!” In a red blur and a blast of wind, Central City’s beloved hero intercepted the small press cadre, answering questions from a
heroically
professional Iris West-Allen, resting an arm on her already
huge
twin-bump while asking questions. Her cameraman had a folding chair under his arm--Iris had categorically refused to stop reporting until she was actually in labour.
“Good to see you back around, Kid Flash!” the ice-cream vendor said, pocketing the cheque that Flash had written for him--Justice League cheques
never
bounced, not so long as they still had Bat-cash behind them--and watching with amusement as Bart went to town on the mint chocolate chip. “What happened to your hair?”
“I’m the
new
Kid Flash!” Bart declared, pointing at himself with the spoon. “The former one’s back in retirement, but he gave me his old costume. Crash or what?”
His smile never faltered as he chattered and joked with the crowd. The death of Justice League members or affiliates was never announced publicly, mostly to protect any loved ones left behind but also, at least a little, Bart figured, to protect the League’s image as symbols of hope, powerful and always victorious. As far as anybody knew, there was always a Robin, always a Blue Beetle, always a Kid Flash.
The fake smiles came easily. He was good at lying about this kind of thing.
He’d gotten through more than half the cart before Barry came back. “Hope you left some of the chocolate for me, Kid,” he chuckled, ruffling Bart’s hair. He got a look at the empty tubs sitting next to the cart. “...Hope you left
any
for me,” he added wryly.
“Don’t worry, old man, I got your back!” Bart said, pressing the prized tub of chocolate into his grandfather’s hands.
“What say we go take in a view with the rest of our ice cream, let the poor man have his cart back?” Barry said, nodding to the ice cream vendor.
“Hey, I wouldn’t
have
a cart anymore if it wasn’t for you, Flash,” the vendor said, patting his cart fondly. “Enjoy the ice cream!”
“We really do!” Bart said brightly, scooping up the last couple tubs and zipping off with his grandfather, finding one of their favourite rooftops to sit and eat while getting a good view of the city and good reception for the police radio channels if they tuned in.
“Slow down, Kid, or you’re gonna be the first speedster to get an ice cream headache,” Barry said, tucking into his tub of chocolate ice cream while Bart polished off the butterscotch.
“Oh, I got one, I just powered through it,” Bart said flippantly. He slowed down a little. “I probably should eat a little less, though. I’m not even hungry anymore. Just habit, y’know?” He trailed his spoon through the melting ice cream.
Barry looked at him in concern. “Were you hungry a lot?” he asked quietly. “In… the future.”
Bart nodded. “All the time,” he admitted. Once things had quietened down a little after The Reach left--though things were never
really
quiet, not for the Justice League--Black Canary had cornered him to talk about the fact that he’d lied about his reasons for coming to the past and what the future was like. He’d only gotten out of having to tell her a lot by agreeing to talk to his family about it, which he’d decided meant answering any questions asked honestly but as shortly as possible. He didn’t
want
to talk about the future that he’d left behind, because it was horrible and it was gone now. It wasn’t going to happen, Jaime would always be a hero instead of the monster that Bart remembered, and they had their whole lives ahead of them in a world not controlled by The Reach. He just wanted to forget about all of it.
“You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to,” Barry said, as he always did before asking Bart questions, not knowing Bart’s deal with himself, “but… why did you lie? About why you came back to the past? If we’d known more about The Reach--not that any of that’s your fault or anything,” he added quickly. “You saved the whole world, Bart. But you didn’t have to do it alone.”
“Hey, I didn’t, did I?” Bart said, spreading his arms with a grin. “The Team’s
so
crash. Wish I’d heard more about them in the future, but most of the stories I heard were about the Justice League. Anyway, all the stories I heard about
you
said that when you time travelled, you moded it and had to change things back, so I figured the League wouldn’t be too jazzed to meet a time-travelling speedster.”
“Uhhh… yeah,” Barry said, rubbing his cowl, looking embarrassed. “You definitely did better than me on that score.”
“Figured I couldn’t make it worse, right?” Bart said brightly. “And after a while, well…” He looked away as the grin slid off his face. “I didn’t wanna tell you. You don’t wanna know what it was like. It doesn’t matter anyway. You’re alive, Jaime’s crash, it’s all good…” He plucked at his costume. “...
Mostly
good.”
“Bart,” Barry said, putting a hand on his shoulder, “you couldn’t have known about the twenty-first MFD or what trying to disarm it would do. The Reach won in your time, so they never needed to use them, right?”
“Yeah…” Bart said, staring at the butterscotch milkshake that his ice cream was turning into. “He died long before I was born in my time, too. So did loads and loads of other Leaguers and other people. Seven and a half billion people aren’t going to die or be enslaved by The Reach now. He’d be proud of that, right?” He rubbed at the Kid Flash insignia on his chest. “So why’s it feel so much like I failed?”
“You
didn’t
, Bart,” Barry said, scooting over to sit a little closer and put his arm around his grandson’s shoulders. “You didn’t fail. Neither did he. He saved the whole planet all over again by helping us disarm that MFD. He chose to keep going until he vanished instead of stopping or getting out of the way. That’s not on you. That’s a choice
he
made, because he was a hero.” He squeezed Bart’s shoulders. “It’s okay, kiddo,” he said quietly. “You’re feeling survivor’s guilt, that’s all. You’re not responsible for what happened to Wally. The whole world from now on is not just on your shoulders.”
Just his legacy,
Bart thought, putting his arms around his grandfather and hugging him, closing his eyes and savouring the feeling. He wasn’t bothering to challenge his reputation as a hugger. He’d been moved to a different slave camp from his mother and Aunt Dawn when he was five, and he’d never known what camp his father had wound up in or what had happened to him. Most people at his camp hadn’t been friendly. They’d been busy, and tired, and afraid, and the only friend he’d made was Nathaniel, who even with an inhibitor collar on wasn’t big on hugs or being too close to people in any way. Bart knew that the older man had only looked out for him out of sheer guilt for having killed The Flash, but he didn’t care. The former Neutron had protected him, given Bart food from his own meager rations, and helped Bart figure out how to deactivate his inhibitor collar and build the time machine to fix everything.
You saved Nathaniel,
he reminded himself, thinking of the bald young man he’d seen pottering quietly about Star Labs.
You saved Gramps, and in a few months he’s gonna get to meet Dad and Aunt Dawn, and so are you. You saved the world, and so did Wally.
But I didn’t have to sacrifice myself to save the world. He shouldn’t have had to either.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
{Bludhaven--Earth-128}
{July 26, 14:53 EDT}
Wally let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding as he watched familiar faces climbing out of the two jets that had come into the base’s hangar through some kind of hidden door in the sea. Dick, Jason, Raquel, Karen, Mal, Jaime, Kaldur, and a host of other people he didn’t recognize all started unloading from the jets whatever they’d managed to grab on their way out of the last base. Jaime, Blue Beetle, looked like he did back home, buzzing around the jet in his blue-and-black scarab shell, but most of the others were dressed in the same bulky black armour with different insignias on their chests--with the exception of Kaldur, who was wearing blue-green Atlantean clothes under golden armour.
“What’s the situation?” Redbird asked, jogging up to Flash and Wally.
“Sergeant and Captain Marvel are keeping Lord Superman busy, and Lieutenant Marvel’s on his way with Green Lantern,” Flash reported. “He said he’s still alive, for now. We found the medical wing but--”
“Then you two take Dr Thompkins and Dr Holt there
now
,” Redbird ordered, gesturing to an old woman with silver-blonde hair and a black man with a huge, tight mop of natural hair. “And I mean top speed. Captain Marvel won’t be long and every second counts. Go!”
“Question that I didn’t get to ask before,” Wally said as he picked up Dr Thompkins and Flash picked up Dr Holt. “Why is Dick such an asshole here?”
“You know Redbird pretty well on your world, huh?” Flash asked, taking the lead. “You said he’d been your best friend for years.”
“Yeah, since I started out as Kid Flash,” Wally recalled. “But I was kind of a fan of Robin for a while before that. What kid wasn’t? He was probably my second-favourite hero after Uncle Barry.”
“Well, I couldn’t tell you if he’s always been angry all the time, ‘cause the first time I met him was when he joined the Rebellion,” Flash said with a shrug. “He’s been pretty angry that whole time, but… hell, Oracle told you what happened, can you blame him?”
“That boy’s been angry since he was nine years old,” Dr Thompkins sighed as Wally set her down in the medical wing, shaking her head. “Being Robin brought him a bit of peace, but then the Justice Lords formed and Batman didn’t need or want a kid sidekick anymore.” She opened a drawer with unnecessary force, causing whatever was inside to jangle, muttering under her breath about stubborn, reclusive assholes.
“When we aren’t having a crisis, I have
so many
questions for you,” Dr Holt said to Wally, getting out surgical masks and gowns. “I mean,
another timeline.
What caused the changes? Was there one divergence point that set it all off or did many things add up? Are our timelines running completely parallel or--”
“Operate now, babble later,” Dr Thompkins ordered, pulling on a pair of surgical gloves just as Lieutenant Marvel burst in with a horribly burned John Stewart in his arms. Wally had only met Sergeant and Lieutenant Marvel a couple of times, but the magical superhero wasn’t difficult to recognize--he looked almost exactly like Captain Marvel, but less bulky, his suit blue instead of red. He found himself staring at the cape, trying to figure out if it was the same size as the Captain’s or not, instead of the raw burns covering the Green Lantern. “And unless you’re a surgeon in your timeline,
both
of you get out!” Dr Thompkins added, snapping her fingers at Lieutenant Marvel and pointing at the operating table.
“C’mon,” Flash said, shooting out of the room with Wally in tow. “I don’t know about you, but I’m
starving
. Well, y’know, I do know about you, sort of, so I’m guessing you’re hungry at literally any time.”
“Usually, twenty-four seven, but I think I just saw a little bit too much burned meat,” Wally said with a shudder. He hadn’t even
touched
the Green Lantern and still felt like the smell was following him. He’d seen plenty of bad injuries while fighting with the Team, and plenty of
weird
injuries, but he’d never seen burns that bad up close--and he’d
never
seen anything like that inflicted
by
a Leaguer. He still couldn’t quite get a handle on the fact that
Superman
had hurt somebody like that.
“Hey, he’s alive,” Flash reassured Wally. “Dr Thompkins and Dr Holt’ll patch him up. I mean, Dr Thompkins kept Lord Batman alive for
years
of solo crimefighting, and Dr Holt’s not strictly speaking a
medical
doctor but he does have a
ton
of doctorates and he learns fast enough to be up to Dr Thompkins’ standards, so. Lantern’s alive, which is more than most people get out of a fight with Lord Superman, anyway,” he said darkly. “Seriously, all that running doesn’t have you hungry?” he asked, a little more brightly.
“Is there already food here?” Wally asked, deciding to jump on the different line of conversation. “What am I saying, Di--Redbird set this place up, right? There’ll be, like, ten thousand years’ worth of tinned food or dried rations or something somewhere.”
“Psychic,” Flash said, zooming through an as-yet unoccupied mess hall and into an empty kitchen. “I have no idea when or how he set these up, but he’s thorough.” He started opening cupboards to see what was inside.
“So, uh…” Wally started rifling through drawers, trying to avoid looking at his doppelganger. It was just too
weird
. “You became The Flash after Uncle Barry died, huh?”
“Well, not like…
right
after,” Flash said, a little awkwardly, pushing his cowl back. Wally couldn’t decide if looking at his own face from the outside was more or less weird. “I was never even Kid Flash, really. I mean, I
wanted
to be, but I never got to be Uncle Barry’s sidekick ‘cause he died before I got my powers. Mom and Dad went to visit Aunt Iris a bunch after that, just to keep her company, y’know? One day, Dad pretty much locked her in the living room with a stack of her favourite movies from when they were kids while me and Mom packed up a bunch of Uncle Barry’s stuff for her. I found his notebooks, the experiment he’d set up to recreate the first Flash’s accident...”
“Yeah, I found those when Aunt Iris was babysitting me one day,” Wally said, smiling as he remembered the sheer
awe
that had come over him on realizing that Aunt Iris’ cool new husband was
The Flash
. “You set it up in the garage too?” he asked. Flash laughed and nodded. “Man, Mom and Dad were
furious
that I blew it up, once they knew I wasn’t gonna die…”
“They… kinda were, but they were mainly scared as hell, I guess,” Flash said, leaning against a counter and folding his arms. “They got Aunt Iris in to hold an intervention to stop me trying to go hero-ing. Let the Justice Lords handle things, they insisted. I thought they might need a new Flash, but even after I got out of hospital it was like a month before my powers showed up, and then I saw what they did when they caught Captain Cold and Heatwave, right in the middle of the
street
, and… yeah, it freaked me out, so I kept my head down and hid my powers like Aunt Iris wanted. Nobody had seen Robin around in forever by that point and they’d pretty publicly ordered Green Arrow and Speedy to cease and desist, so it was pretty clear they didn’t want kids around anyway.
Then
the Justice League came and fought them, and they all wound up in prison or whatever… which was a good thing, seriously!” he added quickly. “But there was, uh, kind of a crime explosion. Most of the superpowered people had gotten, y’know…” He poked two fingers into his forehead. Wally stared blankly at him. “Do you know?”
“I have no idea,” Wally said honestly. “What happened to Captain Cold and Heatwave?”
“Oh, yeah, okay. Well, turns out that if you know what you’re doing and are totally precise, two lasers of heat-vision right here--” Flash tapped the middle of his forehead again-- “will kinda fry certain parts of your brain. Won’t kill you, you’ll still be able to walk and talk and eat and stuff, but… your personality and initiative just kinda die. They filled Arkham with ‘em. I’m not sure if any of them are still alive--when Lord Superman wrecked Gotham the asylum caught fire, and the rumour is that they didn’t even think to get up and run away without instructions, they just sat and burned…” They both paused to shudder a little, the smell of burned flesh abruptly filling Wally’s nose again. “There were a small handful of criminals that managed to stay hidden, though,” Flash continued after a moment, “and they had a field day. Mirror Master just noped into a mirror dimension when Superman started heat-visioning people in the brain, so he went wild in Central one day, laughing about how The Flash wasn’t here to save people anymore, and, well…”
“You went out and fought him,” Wally guessed.
Flash grinned. “Well, yeah,” he said, going back to opening cupboards. “My folks and Aunt Iris
flipped
, but I mean, I
won
, and a load of people probably would’ve died if I hadn’t, and, well…” He shrugged. “People were just so damn happy to see a Flash out and about again, y’know? Oh, hey, cereal bars!” he said, pulling out a case with a faded brand on the side. “I guess since Uncle Barry never went all Lord Flash or anything, they weren’t inclined to immediately hate and fear me. I actually got invited to meet the mayor and everything. He thanked me for coming back and asked me to stop being Kid Flash and be The Flash because it was an important symbol of hope and stuff. Which was really weird. I mean, I was just about to turn fifteen and I just did
not
feel like enough of an adult for that and it was
really
weird with it being Uncle Barry’s superhero identity and all, but…”
“People needed you,” Wally guessed, grabbing one of the cereal bars.
“Yeah,” The Flash said, gesturing to his costume. “But Uncle Barry’s still alive in your world, huh? So you’re still his sidekick?”
“Nah, I actually retired a couple years ago,” Wally admitted. “My girlfriend and I decided that we were gonna drop out for a bit, focus on University, see just how much we missed it. And honestly? I kinda missed hanging out with some of my friends, but I was also just really happy studying and being with Artie and walking the dog and just, y’know... having a
life
. Artie went back before I did, actually, for an undercover gig because she’d been off the bad guys’ radar for a while.” He munched on his cereal bar. “But Uncle Barry’s still heroing, and I offered Bart the Kid Flash persona once the end of the world crisis was over… damn, they’ve gotta be worried about me. Artie’s going to
murder
me when I get home alive.”
“Artie, huh?” Flash asked with an extremely pervy grin. “She hot?”
“Holy shit, you haven’t met Artemis?” Wally said in surprise. “Now I
really
feel sorry for you. She’s
incredible.
She is
the
hottest, yeah, and she could also kick my ass without even trying, even though she doesn’t have superpowers. She’s a hell of a shot, too. She was Green Arrow’s sidekick for a while. She auditioned by dressing up in a green outfit, making her own bow and saving our butts from Amazo…” He nearly dropped his cereal bar when he realized.
“Dude, you okay?” Flash asked.
“You said loads of supervillains got lobotomized,” he said, eyes widening. “Did that, uh… include Sportsmaster?”
“I dunno, I’d have to look it up,” Flash said with a frown. “Why?”
“Well… part of the reason that Artemis is so badass is that her mom as an assassin called Huntress, up until she kinda wrecked her spine falling out a building, and while she was doing time Artemis and her sister Jade got raised by their dad, Lawrence Crock, AKA Sportsmaster, who was trying to train them to be assassins and is an asshole, by the way. He doesn’t come to family dinners. Jade ran away from home to become an assassin all by herself, although she’s out of the game these days and she’s got a baby with
Roy Freakin’ Harper
, and Artemis bailed to become a superhero.”
“Roy Harper? Speedy? Loosened up long enough to bang an assassin?” Flash laughed in surprise. “Your world is
so weird
. I mean, I love Speedy, he’s one of my best friends…” His face fell as he trailed off. “...
was
one of my best friends,” he muttered. “Shit. Still getting used to the idea that half the people I knew in the League are dead sometimes, y’know?”
“I can’t even imagine,” Wally said quietly. “Jason and Tula’s deaths were hard enough on all of us. Losing that many people…” He shook his head. “Wow, speaking of weird, seeing Jason
alive
. It’s good, I mean, kinda nice to know what he would’ve looked like if he got to grow up.”
“Jason… Bluejay?” Flash asked. “Basically nobody goes by real names here, it’s all codenames. Aunt Iris is Eyes, because she works surveillance and it’s funny. Wait, if things are all good in your world, what the hell happened to Bluejay?”
“Well, part of ‘all good’ is nobody getting lobotomized, so the Joker’s still doing his homicidal psychopath thing,” Wally sighed, crumpling the empty cereal bar wrapper. “Jason became the second Robin after Dick levelled up and started being Nightwing, which I’m guessing by all the red is not his thing here.”
“Redbird,” Flash affirmed.
“Okay, so, Jason was the second Robin, and I don’t know if you ever knew much about the Joker, but he had a creepy fixation on Robin,” Wally explained. “Not like his creepy fixation on Batman. Even creepier, somehow. He managed to catch Robin one day, and, uh… murdered him. To put a horrible story short.”
“Shit,” Flash said with a wince, handing Wally another cereal bar. “Sorry to hear that.”
“Well, y’know… it’s nothing on what you guys are going through here, is it?” Wally said with a shrug, accepting the cereal bar.
“Hey, man, grief and suffering are not a competition,” Flash advised him.
“Amen,” Wally said, saluting with his cereal bar before starting to unwrap it.
“
If you two are done bonding,
” Oracle’s voice said, a slight PA crackle to it, “
grab some cereal bars and get back to the comms hall. We can investigate the people you’re asking about, Kid Flash, but later because I have more important things to worry about, like the SOS some idiot’s
broadcasting
on
radio waves
. You two have ten seconds to get up here and I know for a fact that that’s eight seconds more than you need.
”
{Watchtower--Earth-16}
{July 26, 10:16 UTC}
“What’s that?” Green Arrow asked, leaning over the back of Batman’s chair to peer at his screen.
“What do you want, Arrow?” Batman asked, not looking up as he scrolled through surveillance feeds while some kind of meter scribbled out its readings in a smaller window. The Monitor Room of the Watchtower had a few techs scattered around, but for once, Earth seemed to be having a pretty quiet day.
“Roy turned us down for the League gig, but he’s gone to talk to Kaldur about something, so I figured I’d come bug whoever was on monitor duty until he was ready to go,” Green Arrow said cheerfully. “So, what’s that energy reading? Anything we should be worried about?”
“I don’t know,” Batman said flatly. “Nightwing’s sending them to me. Residuals from the north pole.”
Green Arrow flinched. “He’s still looking, huh?” he said quietly. “Roy’s worried about him.”
“He’s convinced that there’s something in this residual energy that’ll tell us what exactly happened,” Batman said, frowning faintly, which on him was a major red alert. “The residual doesn’t match the energy signature of the chrysalis. I’m running it against every energy signature we have catalogued in the League archives and the Batcomputer to try and figure out what it is.”
“You don’t think… there’s a chance that the kid’s still alive, do you?” Green Arrow said awkwardly.
“We never found a body,” Batman said flatly, “so we can’t know for sure what--” He stiffened as an alert flashed up onscreen.
“There’s a match?” Green Arrow asked as Batman loaded up the matched file. He frowned as it asked for password after password. “
Damn
, that’s a lot of data protection,” he commented as Batman’s hands flew over the keys.
“We’ve definitely encountered this before, then,” Batman said grimly, “and whatever it is, it was extremely dangerous.” He stilled as another authentication screen came up, this one asking for
seven
passwords.
“No kidding,” Green Arrow muttered. “What’s up, Bats? Don’t know the passwords?”
“I know one of them,” Batman said quietly. The second of the seven password bars onscreen changed from red to green at the sound of his voice. “This data needs at least four of seven, all voice authenticated. It doesn’t matter, though. I know what that energy is now.” He put a hand to his ear. “Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Martian Manhunter, Aquaman, Lantern-1, come to the bridge
immediately.
We may have a trans-reality threat on our hands. Get here
now
.”
“
Trans-reality
?” Green Arrow asked nervously. “What the hell does
that
mean?”
Batman didn’t answer before Flash zipped into the monitor room. “What’s going on?” the speedster asked. The fourth password bar changed from red to green at the sound of Flash’s voice.
Batman just pointed at the screen, the energy signature and the seven passcode boxes. “Nightwing sent me this energy signature from the north pole to analyze,” he said curtly. “We have a match. Highest-level security, locked in 2008 by the seven founders.”
“Locked in…?” Green Arrow saw Flash’s eyes widen. What of his face was visible under the cowl paled noticeably. “That… at the north pole?” he stuttered. Superman, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern all walked into the room behind him, but the speedster didn’t seem to notice. “Are you saying
they
were there when Wally vanished?!” he yelled frantically.
“We don’t know what happened yet,” Batman said, entering a password into the second box, “only that this is the same energy signature as the portal they opened.”
“What’s going on?” Green Arrow asked in concern. “Locked in 2008? What portals?” He stroked his beard, thinking back.
Pretty sure I spent most of that year chasing Merlyn around Europe. Although, didn’t I hear something about--?
“Where are Martian Manhunter and Aquaman?” Batman asked, ignoring the question.
“I am here,” Martian Manhunter said, appearing through the floor, “but I believe that Aquaman has business in Atlantis.” The last bar on the screen also turned green.
“Can I stand in to ask what the hell has Bats and Flash so worked up, what the trans-reality threat is and who the ominous
They
are?” Green Arrow asked, raising a hand.
Batman looked at him for a long moment that had the archer seriously wondering if he was going to booted out while the six present Founders had one of their Omniscient Council of Vagueness moments, before he said, “it could be nothing, a mistake or a coincidence, so nothing leaves this room. But we can’t afford not to thoroughly investigate this energy signature. The Justice Lords are too dangerous for us to take that chance.”
“The
Justice Lords
? Are you certain?” Wonder Woman said, running over to look at the screen as the third bar changed colour. Superman followed her, looking as pale as Green Arrow had ever seen him. Wonder Woman and Flash keyed in their decryption passwords alongside Batman’s, then Martian Manhunter added his solemnly, causing the login screen to disappear and a second energy signature to appear. It matched the signature that was already open almost exactly.
“Pretty sure,” Batman said darkly. He put his hand to his comm again. “Nightwing, if you’re hearing this, return to Gotham and then come to the Watchtower. I’ve got something on those energy signatures that you found.” He looked at Green Arrow, then actually
sighed
. “Sit down, Arrow,” he said, pointing at one of the chairs. “It’s a long story.”
“Are you sure about this, Batman?” Superman said, looking sick.
“We don’t need to inform the whole League yet, but we’re all too close to this,” Batman said. “The Justice Lords are too personal to us. We need objectivity, and Green Arrow is a good judge of character.”
“Was that a compliment?” Green Arrow said in surprise.
“Batman’s right,” Wonder Woman said, looking at Green Lantern. “Hal, seal the monitor room, will you? We’ll decide what to do after we’ve explained the Justice Lords.”
“Okay, but if it
is
a portal to the Justice Lords,” Green Lantern said, locking the door, “does that mean… Wally could still be alive?”
Flash sank down on a chair, chin in his hands. “Could he?” he said pleadingly, looking at Batman.
“We can’t rule out the possibility,” Batman said, perhaps a trace hint of softness to his tone, like sandstone as opposed to its usual flint. He turned to Green Arrow. “Kid Flash might be in an alternate timeline,” he explained. “One we had very
brief
contact with eight years ago...”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
{Bludhaven--Earth-128}
{July 26, 15:29 EDT}
“Holy shit,” The Flash breathed, his eyes lighting up as he read the SOS on the screen. “Do you think it’s really Roy?”
“It is on our comms channels, or at least the ones we used to use before we figured out that Lord Superman was listening in to the frequency,” Owl said. “If he’s only got a short-range comm, it would make sense that we’d only start picking up the signal now. Three weeks isn’t an unreasonable travel time from Star if he left just before it was destroyed and has been trying to stay under the radar. So it’s a possibility, but…”
“It could also be a trap,” Lois said. She was scrolling through camera feeds as fast as Oracle could get into them, trying to get a visual on the source of the signal. Bludhaven looked like it had been hit by an earthquake--streets were ruptured, buildings were half-collapsed, and the population seemed to consist of a handful of squatters and homeless who seemed afraid to walk the empty streets during the day.
“Even if it’s not a trap, the chances of Lord Superman showing up get higher the longer he keeps broadcasting,” Oracle added, pointing at one of the larger screens, which was still watching Superman fight with Captain and Sergeant Marvel.
“The Lieutenant’s on his way back to help them keep Lord Superman distracted, but they can’t keep fighting him forever,” Redbird said grimly. “He can’t defeat them, magic’s always been a weakness of his, but they also don’t have the means to capture or kill him, while Lord Superman took Hawkman and Hawkwoman’s nth metal weapons when he killed them. His people could be en route to deliver those weapons to him and if they do, the Marvels have to get out. We have to find out the source of this signal before then.” He looked at Flash. “You’re the only one that can outpace both Lord Superman and anything else his regime can send after you,” he said. “We’ve narrowed down the area that the signal’s coming from. Get in, find out what it is. If it’s a trap, do what you do best. If it is Roy, you know what your priorities are, right?”
“He’s also capable of outrunning Lord Superman,” Flash pointed out, indicating Wally. “If he comes too--”
“We still have a few more things to check to make absolutely sure he’s not a sleeper agent,” Redbird interrupted. “If you’re not back before we’re done, we’ll send him to help.”
“Here,” Iris said, smiling gently at her nephew as she indicated the co-ordinates on her screen. “Go on, honey.”
“Back in a flash,” Flash said, pulling his cowl up over his head and shooting off.
Iris let worry cross her face before she caught Wally’s eye and smiled. “I’ll help you look up those people you were looking for while they’re running their tests,” she offered.
“Thanks,” Wally sighed. “What tests do you need to do?”
“Can you sit in that chair there?” Owl asked, pointing at a chair that had been pushed away from the computers. “We’re just going to do some neural scans. I’ve got the scanner right here.” He held up an unsettling mass of wires and metal.
“Uhhh…. Is that thing safe?” Wally asked, leaning away slightly as Owl approached him with it.
“With your rate of healing? Sure,” Owl said, putting the device on top of Wally’s head.
“He’s messing with you,” Oracle said, noticing his expression. “It’s safe. Just making sure there’s no sleeper programming that even you don’t know about.”
“I mean, that is a legit test because something like this actually happened in my world,” Wally recalled as Owl strapped the helmet into place. “To Roy Harper, actually. Turns out I never met the real Roy until clone Roy found him where he’d been kept in cryo-storage when he was replaced by a clone Roy who thought he was the
real
Roy but had secretly been programmed to help Vandal Savage destroy the Justice League. It was weird.”
“Roy Harper was replaced by a clone?” Redbird said sharply.
“Yeah, but--oh, hey, that probably hasn’t happened here,” Wally said quickly. “He was replaced by Lex Luthor, but you said he died before that would’ve happened, so there’s probably just one Roy here. Anyway, I wasn’t cloned and replaced in my world or here, so--”
“But you acknowledge that we have to test it,” Owl said, pressing some buttons on whatever he’d put on Wally’s head and going over to a computer. “Don’t move or touch that. Just wait there.”
“You were asking about the first Huntress and Sportsmaster before, right?” Iris said, pulling up some files on her screen that had pictures of the two assassins. “I’m afraid they both died in Arkham.”
“I was wondering about their daughters,” Wally said, latching onto the distraction from what may or may not be scanning his brain, though the thought of Artemis’ mother burning to death because she had neither the mental nor physical capacity to run away was sickening. He didn’t even particularly like the idea of Sportsmaster
actually
dying in a fire, no matter how many times an offhand comment from Artemis about her childhood had made him hope for it--especially not after the state he’d seen this world’s John Stewart in a few hours before, the smell of burnt human flesh, the sounds of
pain
he’d been making... “Jade and Artemis,” he said forcefully, purposefully derailing his own train of thought. “Artemis would be twenty just now, and Jade, uhhh… late twenties? I think? I don’t know her exact age and I’m too scared of her to ask.”
“Artemis Crock, twenty; Jade Nguyen, twenty-four,” Iris read off the screen. “That’s what they would be now, anyway. Jade was a runaway at fourteen. Artemis was eleven when her parents were lobotomized and she was taken into state care but broken out sometime later. Presumably by her sister, but the previous Lords regime never found them and we don’t know for certain either, because their DNA and fingerprint records got destroyed at some point after the Lords were imprisoned. They figured out how to fly under the radar and stay under it. For what it’s worth, if they’d died they would’ve been definitively identified.”
“Good to know, I guess,” Wally sighed. “Thanks. Uh, while we’re on the subject of clones…
has
cloning happened before here?”
“We know the Justice Lords specifically destroyed Cadmus and arrested everybody in it for having that technology, and supposedly destroyed it,” Oracle explained, “but I looked through Lord Batman’s records and he took down details of all the technology before destroying it. Probably because from the looks of it he took records of
everything
, but the fact remains that the Justice Lords knew how to clone and, hell, we don’t know
what
all the Kryptonian technology in the Fortress of Solitude can do, let alone where the damn place is…”
“I was just wondering, because in our world, aside from Roy there was also--wait, you don’t know where the Fortress is?” Wally said in surprise. “But you’ve--I mean, in my world,
he’s
been to the Fortress of Solitude a few times,” he said, pointing at Redbird.
“Never,” Redbird said, looking thoughtfully at Wally. “Did he ever tell you where it is?”
“Not co-ordinates, but I have a good idea,” Wally said with a shrug. “Like, I could narrow it down to an area that at my speed, I could search in a couple hours.” Everybody was staring at him now. “You really don’t have a clue?”
“We do now,” Owl said, coming over to take the device off of Wally’s head. “Redbird, there isn’t any Cadmus programming in him. I’m not finding anything at all. He’s genuine.”
“The signal’s stopped,” Oracle said suddenly. “Voice, Eyes, got anything?”
“We saw Flash go into a building, but he hasn’t come out yet,” Lois said, pointing on her screen. “No, wait--there he is, and… who the hell is
that
?”
Wally zipped over to join her, feeling his heart stutter when he saw the figures on the screen.
{
Watchtower--Earth-16
}
{
July 26, 11:29 UTC
}
“The last time we saw Lord Batman was after we finished construction of the Red Sun cell and moved Lord Superman into it,” Green Lantern finished. “He said he was gonna destroy the portal and focus on keeping Lord Superman imprisoned.”
“Did he?” Green Arrow asked.
“We cannot know for sure,” Wonder Woman sighed, “as we have no portal of our own. But no more have opened up here, at least.”
“I think it’s almost certain that he destroyed it,” Batman put in. “He wouldn’t have trusted anybody else to guard it, and it would’ve been unspeakably foolish to keep it in the Fortress of Solitude near Lord Superman. Besides, he designed and built it, so if he feels he truly needs it, he can build it again. However, so far it seems most likely that this energy signature was generated by the chrysalis energy, not a portal generator.”
Green Arrow nodded thoughtfully, stroking his beard. He’d been doing that a
lot
for the duration of the story, mostly while visibly swallowing surprised interjections, but he’d let them get through the entire thing without asking more than a couple of detail questions, so how he felt about the whole thing was as yet unknown. He’d been in Europe during the Justice Lords’ brief foray into their timeline and by the time he’d come back, League discussions had been focused on taking on more members to avoid having to call in Lex Luthor’s assistance again to deal with… well, they’d glazed over precisely
what
in favour of discussing potential Leaguers. “You want my opinion?” the archer finally said. “Hold a League meeting and tell everybody about this
now
.”
Superman flinched. He’d been looking increasingly sick for the duration of the story, especially the part where Lord Superman had tried to murder Flash.
“We don’t know for certain that the Justice Lords are involved,” Green Lantern said tentatively.
“No, we don’t know anything for certain, but if there’s the
slightest
chance that Wally’s still alive, we’ve gotta go find him,” Green Arrow argued. “And if doing that potentially unleashes evil versions of some of the most powerful members of the League, then the League damn well needs to be prepared for that! You should have told us the truth about what happened back
then
!”
“The Justice Lords aren’t evil,” Wonder Woman said softly. “They were us, once, but their honour and sense of justice became twisted. The seven of them were too close. They all felt Flash’s loss too keenly to be objective about Lord Superman’s actions against President Luthor, and they reinforced each others’ bad decisions.”
“One of the reasons that we began to expand the League afterwards was to avoid such a situation,” Martian Manhunter added.
“So what you’re saying is that you
also
think there’s a serious risk of you Founders becoming power-hungry dictators?” Green Arrow asked, folding his arms. “The League
definitely
needs to know about that, especially if it’s our collective job both to stop you going evil and fight you if you do.”
“I agree that the League should be aware of the risks,” Batman said grimly. “When the Justice Lords came to this reality before, they kidnapped and replaced us. They might not have behaved much like us, but with nobody aware that alternate versions of us were around, nobody had any reason to doubt that they were us. We also have no idea, at this time, what the situation is over there. Any or all of the imprisoned Lords could have escaped and returned to power. Lord Batman might have released his former friends, or decided that he’d do a better job of ruling the world alone. If we intend to open up a portal there, then the League
need
to know the risks. What they think of us comes second to keeping
this
world safe.”
“One way or another, if my nephew could be alive, I’m going to find him,” Flash insisted. “I don’t care what we have to tell the League to do that.”
“Easy for you two to say,” Green Lantern muttered. “Their Flash was practically a martyr, and Lord Batman helped us defeat the other Lords.”
“Look, when you invited me to join the League, you said you needed more street-level guys to help you keep perspective,” Green Arrow interjected. “You didn’t take advantage of that back then, but you’re doing it now, and my perspective is that just because these guys used to be you doesn’t mean
you’re
inevitably going to be
them
--”
“But we are risking an echo of the situation which brought about the Justice Lords before,” Martian Manhunter said slowly. “Secretary General of the UN is not the same as being elected President, but--”
“Exactly! It’s not the same!” Green Arrow exclaimed. “Anyway, here’s a wild idea: maybe you should be more worried about Kid Flash’s life than whether or not people will think you’re going to go evil sometime soon!”
Superman nodded, folding his arms. “You’re right,” he sighed. “We need to call a full League assembly. The Team too--they deserve to know if Wally could still be alive, and they’ve more than proven themselves as capable defenders of the planet as any of us.”
“Then we just have the simple task of finding out how to get to another reality when the guy who built the door in the first place is on the other side,” Green Lantern said, putting his hands on his hips. “Any ideas, Bats? It was
your
evil twin that made the portal generator, after all.”
“I observed Lord Batman’s portal generator and I have developed some theories on how it works,” Batman admitted. “Given some time to work on it, I may be able to do something.”
“We appreciate your counsel, Arrow,” Martian Manhunter said solemnly. “The fear of the Justice Lords is a deeply personal one for us.”
“I get that,” Green Arrow said with a nod. “Glad to be of help. And honestly, I think everybody’s gonna be too weirded out by
Batman
being the last evil one to witch hunt you.”
“I have heard it said,” Wonder Woman said, smirking at Batman, “that street-level heroes are best at keeping perspective.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
{Bludhaven--Earth-128}
{July 26, 16:08 EDT}
“Just because we decided you aren’t a clone doesn’t mean you can just run around freely!” Redbird yelled, running up to Wally as he stood in front of the elevator, glaring at the control panel that wouldn’t respond to him. He hadn’t figured out yet if Oracle was locking him out or the biometric system was just glitching out over the presence of two Wally Wests. “They’re on their way back now,” Redbird said irritably, stepping between Wally and the elevator. “Just
wait.
”
“I can help get them back faster, you
know
I can,” Wally said testily. “He might’ve stopped ‘em broadcasting, but your Flash can’t carry three people at once!”
“Flash is only bringing back the package that Speedy’s carrying,” Redbird snapped. “Which you’d know if you’d stayed to see the message he sent us. He told Speedy to stop broadcasting and gave them a location where another team can meet them, but they’re going to have to get there at human speed.” He folded his arms. “Don’t touch the elevator. Flash’ll need it when he gets back.”
“What is the package,” Wally demanded, “and why the hell is it so much more important to you than getting your allies to safety?”
“That’s need to know, and I haven’t decided if you need to know,” Redbird said flatly.
“God, you really have turned into Batman,” Wally said in frustration. Redbird stiffened, his glare darkening. “That doesn’t help…” Wally began, then stopped, sighing. “You know what, man? That isn’t fair of me. In my world, Dick’s got enough of his own issues with his Batman and the idea of turning into him, and he
didn’t
take over the world. And Dick’s my best friend and all, but I may or may not still be pretty pissed at him for roping my girlfriend into faking her death to go on a dangerous undercover mission and blowing up Mt Justice in the process to keep her cover, and I shouldn’t be taking it out on you. But, in my defence, you have been an asshole since the moment I got here.”
Redbird just rolled his eyes. “When we have to fight somebody like
Lord Superman
and the zealots that worship him, we can’t afford to take any risks, so if that involves being an asshole to suspicious people, so be it,” he said. “I didn’t even want to get back into this business at all, but Lord Superman didn’t give me much of a choice, so here we are...”
“The guy I know loves being a superhero too much to
ever
give it up,” Wally said, side-eyeing the red-and-black-clad doppelganger of his best friend. “So what the hell happened? Was it because of the Justice Lords?”
“Anybody ever tell you you ask too many personal questions?” Redbird said tersely.
“Often,” Wally said breezily. “So?”
Redbird sighed. “I didn’t give it up,” he muttered angrily. “It was taken away from me. Being Robin.
Lord Batman
took it away from me when he turned me into a prisoner
for my own protection.
”
Wally winced. The Dick he knew had had a few spats with Batman over the years, but never anything that had caused him to speak with his mentor and father figure with such venom. He’d heard Dick angry at Bruce too many times to count, but never sounding like
this--
like he
hated
him.
“The Justice Lords betrayed everyone on this planet,” Redbird said bitterly, “and when Bruce finally turned on them, he vanished without a word. I haven’t seen him in nine years, and I can live my life without ever seeing him ever again, but he should’ve at least come to see Alfred.
He
wanted to see Bruce again, and… he never got to, thanks to Lord Superman. Thanks to
both
of them.” He looked directly at Wally. “Oracle might be able to remember the hero that he was fondly, but I can’t forgive him for how he let us down. So I hope you understand that I am going to have to hurt you the next time you compare me to
him
, got it?”
“Loud and clear,” Wally said nervously. “What… what happened to Alfred? Was it when Lord Superman attacked Gotham…?”
Redbird nodded, jaw tense, looking up as the elevator rumbled to life. “The first thing Lord Superman attacked was Wayne Manor. I wasn’t there that night--I was out trying to find Batgirl and the new Robin. When I saw the fire and realized where it was coming from, I tried to get back to the Manor, but by the time I got there it was too late. I was probably supposed to die there too…” He trailed off as a red-clad speedster descended into view.
“Whoa!” Flash yelped as he started to run out of the elevator and had to immediately halt himself so that he didn’t run over Redbird and Wally. He was holding a bulky camping pack in his arms. “Awww, you waited up for me?”
“You’ve got it?” Redbird said, eyeing the bag.
“I took a quick detour to check it before bringing it here, and there’s nothing but the goods in a big lead box that’s
really
freakin’ heavy,” Flash said, wrapping his arms a little bit more securely around the bag. “Speedy and the other two are going to wait at the rendezvous point.”
“Who are they?” Redbird asked, eyeing the bag with an intense gleam in his eye. “We didn’t get a clear look on the cameras, but I didn’t recognize them as anyone from Star City...”
“They’re not from Star City, they’re Sirens,” Flash explained. “Had the password and everything.”
“Good to know they’re still around,” Redbird said, stepping aside. “Take that down to Owl and tell Bluejay to come with me to meet Speedy. He’s met most of the Sirens before, I haven’t. It’s been years since I’ve even seen Catwoman, really…”
“Can I come with?” Wally volunteered. “I really wanna see Roy in the Speedy costume again. Especially the hat. It’ll make me feel better about everything. Also, now that we’ve established that I’m not a clone, can I help with stuff? It sounds like the planet kinda needs saved here and, superheroism aside, finding a way home’ll be a hell of a lot easier from a planet that’s maybe not being taken over by a rogue kryptonian.”
“You can help by telling Oracle how to find the Fortress of Solitude and then leading a team there,” Redbird said, “but you’re not going without
this
.” He patted the bag that Flash was still holding.
“Can I ask what that is yet, or is it still need to know?” Wally asked, pointing at the bag.
“Need to know? Dude, everybody in the whole damn Rebellion’s gotta know about this!” Flash exclaimed. “We’ve got enough for everybody, and anyway, we all need hope that we’re not all going to, y’know, die?”
“It’s not need to know, I was just messing with him because he was annoying me,” Redbird said, unzipping the bag. There was a large lead case inside. “This is why Lord Superman destroyed Star City, but…”
“Code’s Black Canary’s birthday, which I
wish
I could kick Green Arrow’s ass for because everybody knows you don’t use birthdays for passcodes,” Flash said, a little sadness crossing his expression. Dick started typing into the keypad on top of the box. “Green Arrow sent Speedy out to deliver half the stash they found to us. He left
hours
before Lord Superman went on his rampage. Lost his bike two weeks ago and was too worried about drawing attention to steal another one or a car. He didn’t want to risk losing this.”
The light on top of the keypad turned green and the case clicked open. Redbird opened it, staring almost reverently at the glowing green stones piled inside.
“Holy
shit,
” Wally said, gaping. “I’ve
never
seen that much kryptonite in one place…”
“I bet Lord Superman thought it was all destroyed when he razed Star City,” Redbird said softly, hand hovering over the stones. “It’s surprisingly fragile stuff for what it can do to the most powerful man on the planet…” He withdrew his hand, snapping the box closed. “Take that to Owl and get Bluejay,” he repeated. “You go with him,” he added to Wally. “You can see Speedy when we get him back here.
You
need to go help Oracle develop a plan to find and take the Fortress of Solitude.”
{
Watchtower--Earth-16
}
{
July 26, 14:08 UTC
}
Conner could hear what the League was telling him, was telling all of them, but he couldn’t quite process the idea. He could see shock and surprise on just about every face in the room. The idea that Wally was alive was exciting, relieving, almost
surreal,
but the rest of it…
The idea that there were other realities that they could travel to seemed less outlandish than the idea that in
any
of them, Superman and the other Founders of the League could have turned into dictators who mutilated and killed their enemies.
He could feel M’gann squeezing his hand. At one point, in the past, he’d be able to feel her very feelings along with his own, but he wasn’t quite comfortable yet with bonding their minds again, and she was respecting that. But he could still hear her rapid heartbeat, still see on her face how her joy at the news that Wally could be alive turned into shock at the news that he might be trapped in a world where there was no Justice League because its very founders had become the very world-dominating supervillains that they were sworn to protect the world from.
Batman was doing most of the explaining, retaining his usual blank demeanour, but there was so much tension in his stance, tone and heartbeat that it made his usual mood seem relaxed by comparison. Martian Manhunter was also blank-faced, but he was silent and looking only at the other Founders. Wonder Woman and Aquaman were both standing with their arms folded, she looking tense and he outright defensive. Green Lantern just looked anxious and kept glancing at Flash, who was visibly vibrating with nervous energy, clearly desperate to get on with finding his nephew. His heartbeat was a whine, the individual beats indistinguishable. Superman actually looked like he was going to be sick and, like Martian Manhunter, didn’t say a word, only stared at his feet, radiating shame.
But he hasn’t done anything, Conner thought in frustration. He hasn’t killed Lex Luthor, he hasn’t taken over the planet, he fought against the Justice Lords--
“
--what Superman did to Doomsday, and then they said it was evil selves from another universe? I thought--”
“--hiding this the whole time--”
“--wasn’t them, though, was it? They fought
against
--”
“--keep it secret if they have nothing to hide--”
“--saved the planet a thousand times--”
“--you think they could really--?”
“--no way--”
“--anybody could, if they got pushed far enough--”
“
--with
Lex Luthor,
of all people
--”
Conner had long since gotten used to focusing his overactive senses, but he still couldn’t help trying to hear everybody in the room at once, trying to figure out the general mood. Suspicion and disbelief were mingling with trust and hope; there didn’t seem to be a consensus on how to feel about the Justice League and Justice Lords.
“Does it matter?” M’gann said quietly. “The Justice Lords, I mean. Nothing’s gone wrong with the League since that happened. Isn’t finding Wally what really matters?”
Artemis abruptly turned on her heel, stalking from the room. “Tigress?” Bart said, starting after her, but Kaldur put a hand on his shoulder.
“Let her be,” the Atlantean said softly. “This must be a shock to her.”
After all that time undercover together, he must know her pretty well,
Conner figured, watching Artemis walk out of the meeting hall as Flash stood up and announced that he was going to look for his nephew and the room erupted into arguments. Most of the Team stayed quiet until Bart weighed in in favour of finding Wally, passionately backed up by Jaime and Gar, and Kaldur added his voice both to finding Wally and knowing for certain what was going on in the Justice Lords world. Conner hung back as everybody else seemed to start talking at once, working on filtering the noise, the arguments and the frantic heartbeats and Artemis’ footsteps--
“
Artemis!”
“About damn time you came back.
”
Conner tensed, focusing his hearing to blank out the arguments raging in front of his face and listen only to the distant conversation. He hadn’t heard Nightwing’s voice in weeks. The former Robin sounded hoarse, tired, and jubilant.
“
Have you heard? I found something, Artemis, I found--”
“I know. Batman’s been telling everybody all about it. What you found, the Justice Lords… did you know about that?”
“A little. Batman told me some about it at the time, and he sent me a lot more information once he discovered what the energy readings were and told me to come back.
” A pause. “
Artemis, what’s wrong? Aren’t you excited? He’s
alive
, I
knew
he was, we just have to--”
“You don’t know that.”
Artemis’ tone was tense and cold, in sharp contrast to Dick’s sheer excitement.
“
He has to be. This explains what happened, why he disappeared. He’s not
gone,
he’s just
--”
“
You don’t know that! You have a theory but you don’t
know
, you don’t
know
that he’s not gone, or that getting transported didn’t kill him, or that the Justice Lords haven’t killed him on the other side--”
“You don’t know that any of that
has
happened! Artemis, what the hell is your problem? Don’t you
want
to find him?!”
“Of course I do!”
Artemis’ voice was cracking; she was screaming at Dick now and Conner looked around, wondering if anybody else could hear her, but everybody else was focused on the ongoing dispute about what to do. Black Canary was making her way to the front of the room--the Founders seemed to have no intent to get involved with the row, so it was time for the League Chair to calm everything down. Conner turned his focus back to Artemis and Dick’s argument.
“
Then why the hell are you so set on him being dead? Why do you talk like you
want
him to be--
”
Somebody else in the room
had
to have heard the slap.
“
Fuck you. You ran off alone to chase this
fantasy
of him being alive, and you got lucky that we live such fucking absurd lives that it might turn out to actually be
true
. You haven’t been dealing with losing him at all. I
have
. For a
month. I
told his parents what happened to him,
I
informed his university,
I’m
the one who keeps finding his socks under my bed and there’s too much food in the fridge that I don’t eat and
I found a fucking ring in his dresser drawer when shoving his fucking socks out of my sight!
I have been
dealing
with
losing the man I love
and
you weren’t here
! And god, Dick, I want him back so much it
hurts
, I want him back so much I can’t breathe, but I can’t deal with losing him twice, do you understand? Until I see him living with my own eyes, I can’t hope because if he’s not--if he’s not--
”
“
I’m sorry,
” Dick replied softly. “
God, Artie, I--I’m sorry. You’re right. I just--without a body, I couldn’t really believe it, you know? I couldn’t give up on him. I won’t. Not until we know for certain. But you--shit, I should’ve snuck in and hidden the damn ring before I took off--”
Conner lost track of whatever Dick was saying as a vicious Canary Cry blasted over the heads of everybody in the room, creating a ringing silence. A few of the more sound-sensitive Leaguers had actually hit the ground and everybody else had their hands over their ears. Conner himself barely stayed on his feet, trying to figure out if it really had gone silent or if his hearing had shut down.
“If we’re ready to have an actual discussion rather than a mess of noise,” Canary said archly--Conner was never more grateful for Dick having once taught the Team to lipread, back when there was only eight of them, just kids hanging out and watching movies and roasting the spy flicks--“the pertinent facts are that a prominent League associate, candidate for League membership and close relative and sidekick of one of the League’s founding members may be alive, but trapped in another reality.” Her voice faintly came back to Conner, sounding tense and serious. “Focusing solely on the possibility that he may be alive, do we, in that case, move to find him? It’s my personal feeling that yes, yes we do, we do everything in our power to find any Leaguer who risked everything to save the planet, but I’m calling a vote anyway because that’s how we do things, and we are
not
a dictatorship. So, all in favour of this proposal?”
Conner raised his hand, keeping his eyes on Black Canary while turning his hearing back to Dick and Artemis as the pain subsided.
“I’m sorry, Artie, I know I should’ve been here, but… he could be alive and I’m going to do everything I can to find him, and when I do you can both beat the shit out of me for being an asshole together, okay?
”
“
...A real dick. That’s what you are. An absolute piece of shit.
”
“
I know.
”
“
I’m not going to believe it until I see him.
”
“
I understand. I’ll make sure you do. I promise.
”
“The Team has every right to vote on this,” Flash argued, momentarily distracting Conner’s attention. “My nephew was one of their founding members!”
“Yeah, and that ‘bunch of kids’ are the ones who ran rings ‘round both the Light and the Reach,” John Stewart added, “and they’re the ones that drove the damn Reach off the planet! They deserve their spot on this tower and their voice in this hall, not to mention your respect--”
“
Don’t make promises you don’t know you can keep.”
“
Wally always said you were the smart one in the relationship. Here.
”
“
A handkerchief? Really? Batman’s kinda overcommitted to the idea of having everything in the utility belt, isn’t he?”
“This isn’t Batman’s idea, it’s Alfred’s. How’s the League taking everything?”
“They were starting to fight when I left.”
“What about?”
“Everything, I think.”
“Well, they’re wasting time, then, aren’t they?
”
“
Then go tell them what they need to be doing, seeing as how you know so much better than everybody else.”
“I acknowledge the sarcasm but I will still take you up on that. The sooner we know, the sooner we either have Wally back or start actually figuring out what a healthy grieving process is, right?
”
“
I’m sure Black Canary has some ideas. C’mon
.”
“The Founders won’t be running this mission,” Black Canary argued, now locked in a glaring contest with Guy Gardner. “I will, as League Chairman. I will be deciding how we distribute resources and personnel, not them. What the League needs to be prepared for is the possibility of perfect doppelgangers of the Founders attempting to take over the planet as a result of this operation.”
“Is that all?” Nightwing said brightly, practically bouncing into the hall. Artemis had her mask pulled back onto her face, Tigress following Nightwing like a dark shadow despite the brighter colours of her costume. “So, when’re we getting that portal underway?”
“You’re back!” M’gann cried, flying over to hug their missing friend. The Team piled around him, chattering so loudly that Black Canary looked like she was considering another Cry.
“What do you need us to do?” Conner asked, projecting his voice as loudly as he could while keeping his gaze fixed on Black Canary. It worked to draw the Team’s attention, solemnity finding its way to many of their faces as they straightened up and awaited orders. “You’re
not
leaving the Team out of finding one of our founding members. So what can we do?”
“Train with the rest of the League until further orders,” Canary said, gesturing to the Founders. “Wonder Woman, can you prepare briefs on how to combat any of the Justice Lords if worst comes to worst and that becomes necessary?”
“Of course,” Wonder Woman said, unfolding her arms and putting her hands on her hips.
Conner moved to join the rest of the Team as Black Canary started handing out prep assignments to the assembled League members. “Welcome back,” he said, putting a hand on Nightwing’s shoulder.
“Thanks,” Nightwing said, smiling at him and looking at Kaldur. “How about it, Leader? Ready to find
our
missing Founder?”
“It is well past time that our team was whole again,” Kaldur said with a little smile. “Are you in this time, Red Arrow?”
“Are we going to stand here gossiping or are we going to make a damn plan already?” Roy said, folding his arms.
“Missed you too, man,” Nightwing said with a smirk.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
{Bludhaven--Earth-128}
{July 26, 16:57 EDT}
“There...ish,” Wally said, pressing an arrow key a few times as he scrolled across a satellite map of the Arctic tundra. “I think? Dick said it wasn’t far from the waterline and was pretty heavy on the ice mountains.”
“So long as you can find it and get a team in,” Oracle said, listing out some co-ordinates on another screen. “I’ll admit that we can’t exactly track where he is at all times, but he does seem to completely vanish sometimes, especially after big fights, and we already know that he doesn’t use Mt Justice anymore. The Fortress would be the best place to catch him off-guard.”
“...and do what?” Wally asked uneasily, remembering the heaping pile of kryptonite that the Flash had handed over to Owl before heading off in search of Bluejay. Owl had asked for directions to Dr Stone’s lab before running off with the case that had to weigh as much as him, while Iris gave a base-wide announcement for all combatants to take their weapons to said lab for kryptonite upgrades. Iris had left with Lois not long after, now apparently either trusting Wally alone with Oracle or as confident as Redbird was that the former Batgirl could easily kick his ass if needs be. Wally had sparred with his world’s Batgirl a couple of times when she’d first joined the Team, before he and Artemis retired, and was pretty sure she’d still wipe the floor with him, wheelchair or no wheelchair.
The look Oracle gave him was sympathetic for a moment before turning serious. “We appreciate your help, Kid Flash, but I understand that this isn’t your world or your fight,” she said. “If we can capture Lord Superman, we will, but if we can’t, we
have
to stop him. If you can’t be a part of that, all I ask is that you don’t get in the way.”
“Oracle!” Lois called as she and Iris returned to the command hub, waving a memory stick. “We finished the latest broadcast!”
“Great,” Oracle said, catching the stick as Lois tossed it to her and plugging it into the computer. “I’ll send it off.”
“Broadcast?” Wally asked in confusion.
“Well, it isn’t
really
a broadcast, because that would be too easy for Lord Superman to hear and track,” Iris explained. “It’s really more of a podcast. The majority of people in the world aren’t happy under the rule of an unstoppable dictator, but they’re too afraid to fight. They need to know that somebody’s fighting for them. They need
hope
.”
“Letting the people know that the Rebellion’s still kicking after that last battle and that we’ve got a new weapon that’ll turn the tides will
definitely
give them something to hope for,” Lois added, looking up at the map that Wally was scrolling. “We didn’t say exactly what--Lord Superman used to have a lead suit that he’d wear when he knew he’d have to deal with kryptonite, and even though he can’t fly or use heat vision while wearing it, he’d still be too dangerous to give up the advantage of using kryptonite. We’re better off if we can take him by surprise, and there’s always a risk that him or somebody who works for him could find the podcast. Balancing between giving people hope and not giving away valuable intel is a real tightrope…”
“It’s what we do,” Iris said, smiling at Wally. “Did you find the Fortress?”
“It’s harder to find from the air,” Wally hedged, stepping back from the monitors, “but I think we have an area we can search…”
“Are you okay?” Iris asked softly, stepping back with him.
Wally sighed.
She might not be
my
Aunt Iris, but she’s still Aunt Iris…
“I just… I know he needs to be stopped,” he said, gesturing helplessly, “but I just… I’m not okay with the idea of
killing
him, even though basically everybody’s who’s talked about him’s brought up somebody he’s killed or maimed or… am I just naive for not wanting to kill him? Do I just… not get it?”
“Oh, honey… no,” Iris said, brushing his hair back from his face and cupping his cheek in a way that was so achingly familiar he could almost believe he was
home
. “It just means you’re
Wally
.
My
Wally wants to do all he can to capture Lord Superman alive instead of killing him too. He keeps saying that killing somebody who was too powerful to be stopped was how it all went wrong in the first place--it can’t be how we end it.”
“Sounds like a smart guy,” Wally said, grinning cockily. “Bet he’s really handsome too, this nephew of yours.”
“Absolutely,” Iris said, elbowing him with a smile. “And he always does what he knows is the right thing, no matter how much other people say it’s impossible, just like his uncle did, because just
being
a Flash is to
be
the impossible.”
“Yeah,” Wally said, feeling bolstered by his aunt’s support, just like he always did.
How are some people so… exactly the same when other people are so different
? he wondered, looking over Iris’ shoulder at the hard-eyed Lois Lane who spoke about Superman with hatred and pain. “This isn’t my world, but I still wanna help. I just hope I don’t screw anything up worse…”
“I believe in you,” Iris assured him, “both of you. And you know what?”
“What?” Wally asked. Her smile grew sad. “Aunt Iris? Are you okay?”
“Mm,” Iris said, tucking her hair behind her ear with a nod. “I just thought… you said that in your world, Barry’s still alive. When he first met you--well,
my
nephew, I remember what a shine they took to each other, even before Wally knew Barry was the Flash. I used to joke that half the reason he’d married me was to get to babysit his favourite fan.” She gave him a watery smile. “If you’ve gone missing from your world, he won’t stop looking for you for anything. He’s looking for you right now. I
know
he is.”
“Well, I hope he hurries up,” Wally grumbled, mock-indignant, just hoping to make Iris laugh and get that painfully sad look off of her face and the lump out of his throat. “I’d
love
to see the Justice League throw down with Lord Superman.”
“Maybe your Barry’s not
exactly
like mine was,” Iris said with, thank God, a little laugh. “He was late to his own wedding.”
{
Watchtower--Earth-16
}
{
July 27, 03:42 UTC
}
“Uncle J’onn?”
“
M’gann,
” Martian Manhunter greeted his niece telepathically, not needing to look up from the monitors that they’d fixed on the North Pole to know that she was walking into the Monitor Room in full uniform, her hands folded behind her back and clutching her cape like she used to when she was nervous. She’d restyled her hair again--it was a little longer, but straight and tied back rather than wavy and loose as it had been the last time she’d had long hair. The shape of her face had changed again too, a little rounder and younger but not as she had looked before she adopted Gar as her brother.
J’onn preferred economy when shapeshifting--he only manifested hair when he was imitating a specific person, and generally did not change the shape of his body from the shape he’d first adopted to fit in on earth--but M’gann was always very purposeful in her shapeshifting. Consciously or unconsciously, she was trying to appear younger, softer… not dangerous.
“
Is something troubling you
?” he prompted after a long moment of silence. Part of him was loathe that he had to ask--he could sense her discomfort, but her mind was not open and mingling freely with others’ as it was on Mars. She kept her thoughts to herself, and kept out of others’, and while this was common courtesy when interacting with Terrans, he often missed that sense of
true
connection with others and it saddened him that she was no longer willing to connect with him in that way.
On the other hand…
“Are you alright, M’gann?” J’onn asked aloud, conceding to her hesitance to use telepathy.
His niece sighed unhappily. “Uncle J’onn… would I be allowed to stay on Earth if I left the Team?”
“Of course,” J’onn said in surprise, “but why would you wish to leave the Team? You turned down League membership to remain on it.”
“...I nearly killed him, Uncle J’onn,” M’gann whispered. “Kaldur was one of my first friends on Earth, and I nearly killed him. I… I might have, if I hadn’t seen in his mind that Artemis was alive. Maybe I
would
have.” Her anguish was easy to feel even though she wasn’t telepathically connected. “Even if he
had
killed her, that wouldn’t have made it right for me to kill him like that, would it? I misused my power for revenge, just like the Justice Lords--!”
“M’gann,” J’onn interrupted, turning to face her, “Stop. You are not like the Justice Lords.”
“But…” M’gann said, chewing her lip, “I misused my powers so many times…”
“You did,” J’onn allowed, briefly glad that they were not connected as the memory of a drooling, mind-broken Krolotean seeped into his mind. “Mightier heroes than you have not found the courage to admit when they have done wrong and seek to correct their mistakes, as you did when you risked your life to restore Aqualad. Refusing to accept that they had been wrong, or to take steps to fix it…
that
was how the Justice Lords compounded their mistakes into sins.” He stepped closer to his niece, resting a hand on her shoulder, a human gesture that he’d come to truly appreciate as a show of support and affection. “I saw my other self’s mind in that world, and it was cold, empty not only of Martian connections but any true Terran ones. The Justice Lords became insular, listening to no dissent and providing none, merely becoming an echo chamber of each other’s excuses and justifications. By the time we met them, they could no longer face any suggestion that they had gone wrong or that the ends did not justify the means that they had taken, and we were almost completely unrecognizable to each other. They truly thought that we were weak and would be grateful, in the long term, for their interference. The issue was not so simple as Superman misusing his power, nor is it for you, but I do not believe that the answer lies in separating yourself from your friends and a positive use for your powers. Connections are what ground us all, and the more, the better.”
M’gann looked up at him sorrowfully. “Are you… afraid, Uncle J’onn?” she asked. “Of becoming them?”
“We all are,” J’onn admitted, letting go of his niece’s shoulder and looking back to the energy signatures on the computer. “They coloured our actions for quite some time after the connection between our worlds was severed, and Lex Luthor’s appointment as Secretary-General of the UN has been… troubling, in many ways. We can only remember their mistakes and endeavour not to make them ourselves.”
“I nearly did…” M’gann said, sounding on the verge of tears.
“But you
did not
,” J’onn said, perhaps more forcefully than he’d intended, going by the surprised look on M’gann’s face. “Do not frighten yourself with what-ifs of people you are not. As you are now, you have made amends for your mistakes and seek to commit no more, and I could not be prouder of you.”
M’gann’s eyes were wide. “Really?”
“Really,” J’onn said, returning to her side and opening his arms. Even without telepathy, she knew she was welcome and flung herself into his arms, hugging her uncle and sobbing into his shoulder. “Whether or not you stay on the Team, you are welcome on Terra, M’gann. I have never regretted allowing you to come here, and I am sure that I never will.”
“Thank you,” M’gann cried, hugging her uncle tighter. It felt like relief and gratitude.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
{Bludhaven--Earth-128}
{July 26, 20:43}
“Man, that smells good,” Wally sighed, trotting into the mess hall. Fewer rebels were openly staring at him wherever he went now, getting more used to seeing a second Flash around, but he still wasn’t completely used to the familiar-unfamiliar faces all around him. More than half of the people on the base were people he
didn’t
know, but that made it all the more jarring when he spotted somebody he
did--
and yet, still didn’t.
“It smells like
food
,” Rocket commented. She was sitting at a table near the door, wiping Amistad’s chin whenever the toddler dribbled some of the delicious-smelling stew that was apparently dinner tonight. “So ‘course it smells good to you. Smells like rehydrated junk to
me
.”
“Beggars cannot be choosers,” Icon told her sternly. “Especially if we have to make sure that our supplies stretch to feeding
two
speedsters.”
“Uhh… sorry about that,” Wally said uncomfortably.
“Hey, beggars can’t be choosers when it comes to allies against Lord Superman either,” the guy sitting on the other side of Rocket said, teenager that Wally didn’t recognize. “Go on, stew’s over there. Help yourself. If, y’know, Flash left any…”
“Thanks!” Wally said, giving him a thumbs-up before zipping off in the indicated direction. Flash had his cowl pushed back as he refilled his bowl from a vast vat sitting between the kitchen and mess hall.
Watching him eat with sincere horror was Jaime Reyes, who going by the apron was on dinner duty with a couple of other people Wally didn’t recognize. “That’s just
weird
,
ese
,” Jaime commented, looking from Flash to Wally.
“Y’r t’l’n mh,” Flash said through a mouthful of stew. He picked up an empty bowl and spoon and waved them at Wally.
“Thanks,” Wally said, using his superspeed to fill and eat three bowls in the space of about five seconds before slowing down for his fourth bowl. “Better fuel up. Oracle says that Speedy and the rest are almost back.”
“Redbird’s gonna want to head out to the Fortress soon as he gets in, then,” Flash said, filling his own bowl again. “Our in-flight entertainment will be convincing him to take a damn nap. It’s a Herculanean task, believe me.”
“Don’t forget to stop by the lab and see what Owl and Doctor Stone’ve cooked up for you,” Jaime commented, filling another couple of bowls with stew. “I’m gonna go take them some of this before these two eat it all,” he added over his shoulder to the other people on kitchen duty, pointing at Flash and Wally.
“I, uh… dunno if kryptonite is really my style,” Flash said, giving Wally a sidelong uncomfortable glance. “What about you, Blue?”
“Scarab says if I give ‘im some he can just… I dunno, incorporate it,” Jaime said, pulling off his apron and turning just enough to gesture to the blue insect-like device plugged into the top of his spine. “Don’t ask.”
“I’ll take your word for it,” Flash said, waving as Jaime headed off. “Hey, has anybody got the Scarab in your world? Nobody here can agree if it’s magic or what--”
“Alien tech,” Wally said, filling his bowl again. “And yeah, you’ve got the same Blue Beetle we do. Once we take down Lord Superman, keep an eye out for some aliens called The Reach. Not friendly, not trustworthy, and they’re
really
gonna mess with Blue Beetle if they get the chance.”
“Yeah… once we take down Lord Superman,” Flash said distantly, frowning down into his bowl. “Should be easy with all that kryptonite…”
“Hey, I don’t wanna kill him either,” Wally said quietly, “and we’re not gonna. With this much kryptonite, it’ll be easy to make him so weak a
kitten
could kick his ass. Living under kryptonite lock and key won’t be fun for him, but killing people’s
not
how the Justice League does things.”
“Great minds think alike,” Flash said with a relieved grin. “I’m sure Owl and Dr Stone are making cool stuff and all, but…”
“Question,” Wally asked, “how come all the doctors here don’t have codenames? I thought you said everybody goes by codenames here?”
“Well…
most
people do, and the people who do pretty much exclusively only use their codenames,” Wally admitted. “There’s a few different reasons. Some of us were in the Justice League, so we already had names. Some people still have friends or family out there somewhere--Owl’s dad died when Lord Superman wrecked Gotham, I heard, but his mom’s still out there somewhere. I think she thinks he’s dead, but she’d be in deep shit if it got well-known that he was alive and in the Rebellion, y’know? There’s safehouses she could go to--
my
parents are living in one in Canada--but it’s better if she doesn’t have to. Same for Blue Beetle’s family. Anyway, Dr Thompkins doesn’t have any family and she insisted on keeping her professional name and title, Dr Stone’s only got his kid Victor who lives here with him anyway, and Dr Holt keeps trying to push ‘Mister Terrific’ but I don’t think anybody’s gonna take him up on it.”
“I’d take him up on it,” Wally offered, raising his hand. “That sounds like a
great
name.”
Flash grinned. “Yeah, and it’s not like he hasn’t earned it,” he said. “The guy’s got like twelve PhDs, and--” He cut off abruptly, grin widening as he looked at something over Wally’s shoulder, then shot to his feet, yelling, “SPEEDY!”
Flash was a blur only visible to Wally as he shot across the room, glomping onto a very familiar red-clad archer.
Awwww… no hat,
Wally thought sadly, munching on his stew.
I guess he never struck out on his own, although… maybe our Roy only did that because he was pushing so hard to get into the Justice League? Hell, if fifteen-year-old me helped rebuild the League, maybe he got to join up regardless of age? I guess the Team wasn’t ever a thing here, but--
His thoughts were completely derailed by the sight of Artemis.
He’d heard Dick mention the codename Tigress, he’d gotten a glimpse of her on the security cameras so he’d
known
she was on her way to the base, but somehow that hadn’t really
prepared
him to see her again up close. Her Tigress outfit wasn’t the same tricked-out armour she’d gone undercover in back home, but an orange hooded jumpsuit under black kevlar and a full-face tiger mask like her sister’s, currently hanging off her belt. Her beautiful hair was cut messily short, and she had a dark, angry look in her eyes the likes of which he hadn’t seen since her earliest days on the Team. It took everything he had not to zip over to her, sweep her up and kiss her senseless; this wasn’t
his
Artemis, finally coming home after her long mission undercover. This Artemis had no idea who Wally West was, and she’d probably stab him or something. Cheshire was also wearing a hooded jumpsuit, hers dark green, rather than the
extremely
short wraparound dress she preferred back home, and her hair was also much shorter, likely to make sure it was easy to tuck under her hood. Otherwise she looked pretty much the same as she had last time Wally had seen her, so she probably had enough edged weapons to frighten the Joker hidden about her. Right now, though, she was whispering to her sister while giving Flash and Speedy an amused look.
Hey, she probably only just met Roy too,
he realized, watching them.
No Lian here… not yet, anyway.
His view of the sisters, Flash and Speedy was obscured as more of the rebels who’d gathered for dinner went to greet them, but he spotted Bluejay and Redbird hanging back by the wall.
Redbird was examining a pair of escrima sticks with glowing green tips, and Bluejay had a handful of bright green birdarangs. Wally’s stomach turned at the sight of them.
He zipped over to get a closer looked just as Speedy pushed Flash off of him. It was really a little weird seeing him in the Speedy costume again; Arsenal hadn’t gotten out his old costume once he’d returned to action, actually dressing more like Red Arrow, who likewise hadn’t worn his Speedy costume in years. Red Arrow seemed to be the only person that the original Roy Harper
wasn’t
perpetually angry at. “‘Sup, Speedy!” Wally said brightly, somewhat enjoying the completely flabbergasted look on the archer’s face. “Nice to meet you. Sort of.
This
you, anyway.”
“Huh. Didn’t know The Flash was
twins.
”
Wally’s heart flipped again at the sound of Artemis’ voice. He took a breath and then spun on his heel, grinning at the unimpressed-looking blonde. “Heyyyy! Tigress and Cheshire, right?” he said, focusing on the unfamiliar short haircuts instead of the all-too-familiar faces. “The name’s Kid Flash.”
“What the hell?” Speedy said, scowling at Flash. “What did you
do
?” he demanded.
“Me?” Flash said, clutching his heart. “
I
didn’t do anything. Except in an alternate universe, where I did, and wound up here, and am apparently still calling myself
Kid
Flash in college…”
“Hey, I told you, I retired!” Wally argued. “And so did
you
, for that matter, Speedy, back in my universe. Well, you quit as Speedy, then you were Red Arrow, and now you’re retiring. Cool to see the old uniform again--hey, what happened to your hat?!”
“Are you kidding me? You from an alternate universe?” Speedy said incredulously, still glowering at Flash. “What’s he doing
here
?”
“He just kinda turned up,” Flash said with a shrug, “but he’s gonna help us find the Fortress of Solitude! Turns out it’s
real
, at least in his world! Wicked or what?”
“The
Fortress?
Where?!” Speedy demanded, grabbing Wally’s arm, suddenly wearing a look as intensely furious as the one permanently glued to Arsenal’s face. “Are you sure?! You can find that bastard’s hideout?!”
“Maybe! Watch the iron grip!” Wally yelped, trying to extricate his arm. “But I’m totally up to help capture Lord Superman--”
“
Capture?!
Fuck that!” Speedy burst out furiously, shaking Wally. “Soon as I get some kryptonite arrows, I’m going to fucking
kill
him!”
“Speedy, calm down--” Flash began, grabbing Speedy’s shoulder and trying to pull him off of Wally.
“Why should I?!” Speedy roared. “Hasn’t anybody
told
you what he did to Star City?! There were
three million
innocent people there, and he
didn’t fucking care
!”
“I know, man, but we’ve gotta be better than that!” Wally yelled.
“Better than that?” Cheshire snorted. She also had her mask hanging on her belt, so Wally could easily see the pure murder in her eyes. “
Please.
Are you from the same universe as that other Justice League that came through before? The world where the Justice Lords were still heroes?
They
were ‘better than that’, and now
our
world is paying the price for it.”
“Cat says you’re from Gotham too, Redbird,” Tigress said, looking past them to the two former Robins leaning against the wall. It hurt Wally to see the same look in her eyes as her sister’s, hear the same coldness in her tone. In his world, Artemis had never gotten as
jaded
as her sister. “Don’t you want him dead too?”
“What I
want…
isn’t going to happen,” Redbird said, holstering his escrima sticks. “For now, I’ll settle for stopping Lord Superman, any which way that presents itself. Flashes, go get some sleep. According to Oracle, Lord Superman’s still flying search patterns, but as soon as he goes out of sight, I’m taking you with me to find and recon the Fortress.”
“I’m going with you!” Speedy immediately burst out.
“Dude, you’ve been travelling on foot while carrying that fuckoff lead case for
weeks
,” Bluejay pointed out. “You need sleep and all the food the Flashes didn’t eat. I’ve already had this fight with Redbird--”
“I’m keeping the recon team small because if this is a
trap
,” Redbird said, looking pointedly at Wally, “I don’t want to risk too many people. You’re leading the backup team, Bluejay.”
“Which you are very welcome on,” Bluejay said, saluting Speedy with a glowing batarang.
“If he’s in, so am I,” Cheshire said with a languorous grin. “I want to
be there
when Lord Superman dies.”
“Maybe before that you two can
get a room
?” Tigress hissed, sounding frustrated. She caught Wally’s eye and jerked a thumb at her sister and Speedy. “They’ve been making eyes at each other across five states and I’m
sick
of it,” she confided. She tilted her head, narrowing her eyes. “Why are you staring at me like that?”
“Why wouldn’t I stare, babe?” Wally flirted automatically before slamming a hand over his mouth, internally panicking.
Does it count as cheating if you flirt with your girlfriend’s alternate self
? he thought nervously, covering by slinging an arm around Flash’s shoulders. “Whaddya think, Flash? She
hot
or what?”
“Kinda scary, really…” Flash muttered, giving Tigress a nervous grin.
“Believe me,
scary
is
hot
,” Wally hissed.
Flash’s eyes widened as the word choice sank in. “You display a bravery I never thought I’d have in me,” he muttered.
“We’ve only got one bunkroom, but help yourself to bedding,” Redbird sighed. “Bluejay, can you take them around? I’m going to go make sure Owl’s working on some kryptonite arrows--”
“Redbird. I wish to accompany your team.”
“Kal!” Wally yelped happily, spinning to face the Atlantean. He’d briefly seen this world’s Kaldur leaving one of the jets before, but hadn’t had a chance to see him up close. The blue-and-gold Atlantean armour was a completely different look from the Aqualad suit Wally was used to seeing Kaldur in, and his exposed neck and ankles showed the snaking black lines of more tattoos than the Kaldur of Wally’s world.
“Maelstrom,” Redbird said in greeting. “Shouldn’t you be reporting back to Atlantis soon? I thought you were sent to the surface to gather information, not fight Lord Superman.”
“You are correct,” Kaldur--Maelstrom now, apparently--said, still staring in surprise at Wally. “But in my time on the surface, I have become certain that Lord Superman will not stop his quest for dominion here. If you are seeking intelligence on Lord Superman, such information will also be valuable to my Queen.”
“Hmmm… if you went with us, would you be able to get us there under the ocean?” Redbird asked thoughtfully.
“Yes,” Maelstrom said, nodding. “I can requisition a ship that might be safe for you to travel in from Poseidonis.”
“Then all of you go to Owl and get tooled up,” Redbird ordered, pointing down the hallway. “We’re leaving as soon as Lord Superman’s out of sight. We ran out of time to waste three weeks ago.”
{Watchtower--Earth-16}
{July 27, 09:15 UTC}
“
Recognize--Batman--02
”
All heads turned to the Zeta tube as it fired up, the Dark Knight materializing a moment later and making an immediate beeline for Black Canary.
“With Flash and Impulse’s help, I cracked the design of the portal,” he said shortly. “Flash, Impulse and the Lanterns should have it finished within the hour.”
“Then we need to prepare the advance recon team,” Black Canary said, looking around at the assembled heroes of the League and the Team. About half of the combined roster was training together against Superman, Wonder Woman and Martian Manhunter, while the other half of the roster were off-duty, either resting or taking care of more local troubles in their free time. “Alpha team’s job will be
only
to gather intel and assess the situation in the Lords world. Batman, you’re familiar with the Lords world and the portal should be opening in Lord Batman’s Batcave, so you’ll lead Alpha on recon. Take Robin and Batgirl with you. Nightwing,” she said, turning to the acrobat, who immediately perked up, “you won’t be on Alpha. This isn’t a slight against your skills, you’re just too close to Wally and I’d rather keep you here until we have a clearer picture of the situation in the Lords world. Same goes for you, Tigress, and Flash and Impulse. They’ll have to come back up here before we activate the portal.”
“I wouldn’t compromise the mission!” Dick burst out angrily. “You can’t bench me
now
!”
“You’re not
benched
, you’re just not on the advance team,” Canary said firmly. “You’ll be on a search team once we have a clearer idea of where Wally is, if he’s there at all.”
“Take the time to get some rest,” Batman put in. “You’ve been exhausting yourself searching for Wally since he disappeared. If he needs help, then you need to be on peak form. Eat something, take a rest, and wait for Black Canary’s command.”
“Understood,” Artemis said quietly. Dick swallowed any further indignation. They were right, and he knew it, but he was as desperate to find Wally as he knew Artemis was terrified to
not
find him.
“Atom, Bumblebee, Miss Martian and Martian Manhunter will make up the rest of the recon team,” Black Canary continued. The Martians and Karen all immediately stepped up.
“Atom’s on monitor duty,” Karen volunteered.
“Superman, can you go relieve Atom and send him down here to join the recon team?” Black Canary asked.
“Of course,” Superman said, immediately flying off. Ever since Dick had gotten back from the Arctic and the Justice Lords had been a topic of discussion, the Man of Steel had borne a constant expression like he’d swallowed kryptonite.
“We’ll decide on the rest of the teams once we have a clearer picture of the situation,” Black Canary continued. “Otherwise, everybody else, consider yourselves on-call.”
“Batman’s right, you know,” Barbara said quietly, putting a hand on Dick’s arm. “I say this in a loving way as your
other
best friend, but you look like shit warmed up. I know it won’t be easy to sleep when you’re worrying about Wally, but at least
try
, please? I promise I won’t let them leave you out of the loop on anything.”
“You’re the best, BG,” Dick sighed, squeezing her hand.
“I know,” she said lightly, squeezing back briefly before letting go and returning to Batman and Robin as Atom ran into the assembly hall and the recon team began preparations. Dick couldn’t resist hanging trying to hang back to listen to Batman give his team their orders, but Artemis dragged him out of the room.
“C’mon, you’ve already got your orders,” Artemis said, pushing him down the hall towards the bedrooms that had been assigned for the Team once they’d begun working out of the Watchtower, giving them somewhere to rest immediately after missions or while on-call. “Go sleep until we get more.”
“What about you?” Dick asked.
“I’m… going to wait for orders,” Artemis said, taking a deep breath. “And I’m not going to think about anything or hope for anything or worry about anything until… I don’t know. Until we know, I guess.”
“Hey,” Dick said, nudging her, “just stay traught, okay? We’ll find him. We
will
.”
“You’re such a dork,” Artemis groaned, shoving him before stalking off down the corridor towards her own room. Dick really didn’t want to be alone with his on thoughts, but Artemis clearly didn’t want company--at least, didn’t want
his
company--so he let her be, instead heading for the Monitor Room.
He knew he wasn’t going to be able to sleep, and the need to do something,
anything,
was itching under his skin. Even if he couldn’t do anything from the Monitor Room, at least he’d know whatever there was to know as soon as possible.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
{Atlantic Ocean--Earth-128}
{July 28, 05:44 AST}
“This is
so creepy
.”
“So you’ve said,” Redbird sighed. “And said. And said. And
said
…”
“It is, though!” Flash exclaimed, gesturing at the pitch-blackness outside of the vessel. Maelstrom was sitting at the front of the ship, eyes closed and tattoos glowing as he meditated to maintain the safe bubble of air and pressure around the submarine--the Atlantean ship was not designed to transport passengers who could not breathe underwater or survive the pressure of the ocean floor. “I have
never
seen this much darkness in my
life
, and it’s too damn quiet!”
Like the opposite of… wherever I was,
Wally thought, remembering the screaming wind and blinding light that had taken him from his own world. The ocean floor was soothing by comparison. Peaceful. It had been easy to get a few hours’ sleep, but when he’d woken up, Redbird had still been working away at something on his wrist computer without having moved or apparently slept.
Then, for a brief instant, a
huge
tentacle hit the bubble around the ship, visible in the brief flash of light from the magic deflecting it.
“Whatthehellwasthat?!” Wally shrieked, falling out of his seat.
“Probably a giant squid,” Redbird said, glancing uneasily at Maelstrom.
“Do not fear,” the Atlantean said quietly. “It was startled away by my magic. It will not pursue or attack. It may have simply mistaken us for a deep-sea shark due to our size.”
“There are
sharks
the size of this
ship
down here?!” Wally and Flash blurted out in unison.
“You know, I’m
really
glad you don’t do that more often,” Redbird said, staring at the pair of speedsters. “Calm down. We’re making good time.” He brought up a map display from his glove.
“Dude, is your secret superpower getting signal for that thing anywhere?” Wally asked.
Redbird ignored him. “Last anybody saw of Lord Superman was a few hours his fight with the Marvels yesterday,” he said, “and magic is always a real problem for him. After fights like that, he always vanishes for a day or two--even his own people don’t know where he goes, according to our intel--and odds are good he’s recuperating at the Fortress of Solitude. Priority One is actually
finding
the place and getting co-ordinates out.”
“So… what, we just find the Fortress and then… run away?” Flash said, half-incredulous, half-hopeful. Wally fidgeted uncomfortably with his gloves. In one of the compartments where he normally stored extra power bars was a set of Kryptonite handcuffs. He and Flash had each been given a set by Owl, but Redbird and Maelstrom were both bearing more potentially lethal weapons.
“No,” Redbird sighed. “I
know
you two got handcuffs instead of weapons. With your speed and Kid Flash’s familiarity with the building--”
“I’m not exactly
familiar
with it, I just know where it is,” Wally interjected. “Sort of. Generally.”
“More familiar than us,” Redbird said, one hand going to rest over one of the hip holsters for his now Kryptonite-boosted escrima sticks. “Like I said, at your speed it shouldn’t take you long to search the building. Find and restrain Lord Superman. If things come to a fight, try and get it outside, where Maelstrom will have better access to the water to support you. We’ll try and keep his attention so you can jump him with the cuffs.”
“Which we are totally on board with and planning to do,” Flash said, pointing at Redbird’s escrima sticks, “but if we
can’t
cuff him for whatever reason…”
“Two speedsters, faster than Lord Superman, each capable of carrying one person in armour, and two people in armour,” Redbird said calmly, pointing to himself and Maelstrom. “We retreat.”
“We’d better,” Flash said, folding his arms and looking from Redbird to Maelstrom.
“I
told
you,” Redbird sighed, rolling his eyes, “if we get the chance to stop him, we
stop
him, killing him just won’t be the
first
method.”
“Wish I could believe you mean that,” Flash muttered.
Dick’s gotten up to some shady shit over the past year back home, but I’d
never
expect him to solve
any
problem with murder,
Wally thought with a shudder, watching the argument.
He’d never even consider it, not as first, last or ANY resort. What the hell does this world
do
to people…?
“We are in the Arctic Circle,” Maelstrom reported. “We will be approaching land soon. I will make my intentions very clear,” he added. “I am content to be part of your plan to capture Lord Superman, but he is an unambiguous threat to Atlantis as well as the surface, and should we engage him I cannot allow him to escape or to prevent me from completing my mission. Capturing him to receive judgement would of course be preferable, but I have no compunctions about slaying him if needs be.”
“...You sure you’re not just saying all that because of the spy that died in Star City?” Flash accused. “The one you got sent to the surface to replace?”
“The death of my… comrade… does not help Lord Superman’s case,” Maelstrom admitted, narrowing his eyes, “but I would say it is too far into this mission to question my presence wouldn’t you?”
“Stop picking fights with our allies, Flash,” Redbird said sharply. “If you want allies who are going to be objective about Lord Superman, you’re going to be waiting a long time, and that isn’t time we have.” He looked up as the water around them shifted from inky black to steadily lightening blue.
“Looks like it’s up to us to make this mission work,” Wally muttered to Flash, giving Maelstrom an unsettled look.
I guess he kept serving in the Atlantean military when Aquaman wasn’t looking for sidekicks,
he thought, remembering the cold-bloodedness Kaldur had affected when undercover in Black Manta’s organization after Tula’s death. It didn’t seem affected here.
“Exactly what I was thinking,” Flash sighed.
It wasn’t long before there was a
crack
overhead as Maelstrom broke the ice above them, first raising them up in a dome of water and then letting the water fall away, exposing them all to the frozen air. Flash stepped over to Maelstrom, silently stooping in the offer of a piggyback, leaving Wally to do the same for Redbird. They’d done this a million times back home--more often when they were younger and Dick was significantly smaller, but Kid Flash had given Nightwing a lift once or twice--but by the uncertain way Redbird gripped Wally’s shoulders, he had to guess that this Dick Grayson hadn’t often travelled by speedster before.
Wally took off as soon as he was sure that Redbird was secure, heading towards a ridge of ice mountains that looked vaguely like what he’d heard Dick and Conner describe. It only took twenty minutes of high-speed searching to find gigantic doors carved into an icy cliff face.
They came across the door to the Fortress of Solitude just as it was opening.
Wally and Flash ducked down behind the ridges of cloudy ice as something shot by overhead. They looked up just in time to spot Lord Superman, already distant and flying further away every second.
“We missed him,” Maelstrom growled lowly.
“What do you want to do, yell at him until he comes back?” Flash said in frustration. “We’ve got an opportunity here! Let’s take it!” He turned and, without setting Maelstrom down, zipped through the closing door of the Fortress. Wally went after him, narrowly making it through the huge door before it ground closed.
“Dammit,” Redbird muttered, hopping off of Wally’s back and tapping away quickly on his computer. “Message sent. Oracle knows where the Fortress is… and that Lord Superman’s on his way out somewhere. He’s usually out of sight for at least a day after a fight like that…”
“Maybe he does not spend all of it at the Fortress,” Maelstrom theorized. “If he does not hear us and return… do we lie in wait for him?”
“Might as well have a look around while we’re here,” Flash agreed, setting Maelstrom down and shielding his eyes as he looked around the cavernous room that they found themselves in. Two towering figures stood over them, holding up a sphere, while light reflected through the ice all around them from some unknown source to illuminate the otherwise empty entry hall. A few doors were visible set into the cold blue walls.
“Hold on!” Wally shouted as Flash started forwards. “This place might have--”
As soon as Flash set foot out of the entryway and into the main hall, a siren blared. “INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT!” a squat robot screeched, flying down from the ceiling. “INTRUDER--!” Several birdarangs whistled through the air, exploding on contact with the flying droid and tearing it apart.
“Thaaaaaaat can’t be good,” Flash said as a siren continued to wail throughout the Fortress.
“Wherever that siren’s coming from, we need to shut it off
now
!” Redbird snapped, unholstering his escrima sticks and running across the main hall, heading for one of the doors ringing the room.
Flash and Wally zipped ahead of him to have a look at the door. “Everything’s locked down,” Wally said, pointing at a keypad by the door. It was flashing red in time with the continually ringing siren, which in his experience was never a good thing.
“Let me have a look,” Redbird said, connecting his gauntlet to the keypad and frowning at the twisted green lettering that scrolled across his holographic screen. “What the hell is this--Kryptonian?”
“Does that mean you can do nothing?” Maelstrom demanded, looking at the ice surrounding them. “Perhaps I can--”
“I just need a little more time to get the hang of Kryptonian,” Redbird muttered, “just give me--nevermind!” he yelled, falling backwards as a blur of black, red and silver burst through the door and smashed into Maelstrom, plowing the Atlantean across the room and into the far wall.
“That is NOT good!” Flash yelled, running to help.
{The Batcave--Earth-16}
{July 28, 05:31 EDT}
“No! No damn
way
am I staying here!”
“Black Canary’s orders were very clear,” Batman said sternly. “Neither you nor Kid Flash is on the recon team. But you
will
be informed as soon as we have any intel on Wally.”
“You can’t expect me to just sit here and wait while my nephew could be trapped in the same world as the
Justice Lords
!” Flash exclaimed angrily. He’d been agreeable enough about sending his grandson back to the Watchtower to take a break after working nonstop at superspeed on the portal, but Barry Allen’s usual amiable nature had vanished as soon as Batman told him that The Flash also had to stay behind.
“Barry, calm down,” Hal Jordan said, stepping in between his best friend and Batman. “You have to admit, subtle recon is noooooooot exactly your thing. But if Alpha runs into trouble, they’ll need the big guns right here and ready to go, right?”
Batman nodded, turning away as something
beeped
on the computer array behind him. “The bioship’s incoming,” Robin reported.
“Disarm the waterfall security and guide them in,” Batman ordered, looking back at Flash. “Wait by the portal if you wish, but do
not
go rushing through early.”
“Feel honoured,” Batgirl added lightly. “He rarely even lets
us
hang out around the Cave without his supervision.”
“Just don’t touch anything,” Batman growled. There was a distant splash and all eyes turned to the ripple in the darkness as Miss Martian’s bioship flew into the Batcave and decloaked, making for the empty turntable where the Batmobile usually sat. The car itself had been parked elsewhere to leave an obvious landing pad for the martians.
“
Wicked
,” Bumblebee breathed as she walked out of the bioship, staring around at the Batcave. “So
this
is the famous Batcave, huh? You been here before, M’gann?”
“Actually, no,” Miss Martian said as she and her uncle followed Bumblebee and Atom out of the ship. “But Zatanna came a few times back when she was dating Nightwing, when he was still Robin, and she told me a bit about it…”
“This is
not
a playground… or a makeout point... and you’re not here to gawk,” Batman said sharply. “When the portal activates, I will go through with Atom and Bumblebee. If several Justice Lords or other hostiles are there, we will return immediately without engaging. If nobody is there, or if there are a more minimal level of hostiles or civilians, Bumblebee will return to inform the rest of the recon team whether to come through cloaked or uncloaked. If there is no contact after five minutes, or if anybody
other
than one of the three of us tries to come through, shut the portal down
immediately
. Either the portal itself will be unsafe, or danger is waiting immediately on the other side, and either way we will not risk more Leaguers.”
“If you don’t come back, we’re just gonna relocate the portal and try again, you know,” John Stewart pointed out.
“Make sure to recheck all the calibrations first,” Batman said, stepping towards the portal. “Kid Flash and Robin worked with me on them, so they should be able to reset the portal if needs be. Robin…”
“We’ll be waiting for your signal,” Robin promised, stepping away from the computer and moving to wait next to Batgirl. Bumblebee and Atom shrank and flew over to Batman, who held out the edge of his cloak for them to hide under.
“And
we
will be making sure Flash waits for Black Canary’s signal,” Hal added, nudging Flash, who was starting to dig a hole in the bedrock of the cave with the speed at which he was tapping his foot, arms folded and an unhappy frown on his face.
“Flash, I won’t force you back to the Watchtower, but I’m not going to activate the portal until I have your word that you will wait here until the recon team has done its job,” Batman said sternly.
“Dammit, Batman--”
“But you have my word,” Batman added, the barest touch more gently, “that you will know the
instant
we have information on Wally. You’re not the only one determined to bring him home, Barry.”
Flash didn’t look much happier, but nodded tightly, shifting his weight slightly so that he was relentlessly tapping the floor with his
other
foot. “I’ll be waiting right here,” the speedster said.
Batman watched Flash for a long moment before nodding, apparently satisfied, and walking over to the portal, working at the attached console to activate it. The device was shaped like a large, empty hexagon, tapered towards the platform at the bottom, and a wall of rippling yellow light began to build inside the frame.
“Should we be able to see the other side?” Batgirl asked.
“No… this was the appearance that Lord Batman’s portal took as well,” Martian Manhunter said, watching the portal curiously.
The Dark Knight nodded, setting his jaw even more tightly than usual before stepping into the yellow light and vanishing. Batgirl started a count in her head.
One-Gotham City, two-Gotham City, three-Gotham City…
She’d gotten to thirty-one when the buzzing intensified before the source of the sound revealed itself to be Bumblebee, returning to full size immediately outside of the portal. “It’s all clear on the other side,” she reported. “Recon team, come on through, no cloaking needed.”
“See you on the other side,” Miss Martian said, waving to Flash and the two Lanterns before heading through the portal with her uncle.
“Let’s go,” Batgirl said, heading for the portal with Robin. “Wonder what the other Batcave looks like?”
“How different can it… be…?” Robin said, trailing off as they stepped through the portal and came out into almost complete blackness, only a few inches ahead of them lit by the portal’s faint yellow glow.
“Somehow, it’s actually
darker
than the Cave back home,” Batgirl commented, turning on the night-vision lenses in her cowl and stifling a gasp at what she saw.
Half of the Batcave was
gone.
A wall of fallen stone cut off where, in the Batcave in their universe, the computer and turntable for the Batmobile stood. The costume cases were still there, though there were only two of them rather than the four at home and no sign of Jason’s memorial. The cases that remained were completely clouded with dust and filth. Batgirl walked up to one of the cases and wiped off some of the grime to see what was definitely a Batman costume inside, though it had a far longer cape and a chrome emblem on black rather than a black emblem on grey. The cowl and cape had both been knocked askew by whatever disaster had hit the cave and a glove had fallen off of the frame. The other case contained a Robin costume, but it wasn’t Jason’s or Tim’s--the tiny costume, she realized with a jolt of nostalgia, was Dick’s first Robin costume, from when he’d just started out.
What happened to Robin when Batman became Lord Batman…?
“What happened here?” Batgirl said aloud, her voice ringing through the empty cave. A few bats shrieked in response, which was weirdly comforting--at least there was still
some
sign of life. “It looks like the Cave… caved in.”
“The stairs upwards are gone too,” Batman said. Batgirl looked around to the staircase that used to lead up to the back of a grandfather clock in Wayne Manor and now only led to a steep drop where the stairs had collapsed. She wondered what condition the
Manor
was in.
“The way to the waterfall isn’t completely blocked, though,” Robin noted. “We could try going out that way.”
“Martian Manhunter, Miss Martian, fly through and try to find--” Batman began, cutting off as Atom appeared at full size in front of them.
“Everybody hush!” the shrinking hero hissed. “There’s somebody down below!”
“
Atom, what did you see?
” Martian Manhunter asked, linking them all up psychically as Batman signalled to everybody to hide behind one of the outcroppings of rock. The link felt a little different from the way M’gann usually linked up the Team. Martian Manhunter’s links were a little quieter, not quite as deep or emotionally resonant as his niece’s--or at least, not as much as they had been, before M’gann’s recent hesitance to use telepathy. Batgirl wasn’t sure what was behind the change, but she had to admit that, weird as it had been the first few times, she was starting to miss such easy communication with her friends and allies while on a mission, and she had no idea how the League had managed so long without utilizing Martian Manhunter’s telepathy the same way.
“
I only saw one person,
” Atom reported. “
A teenager, I think. They were creeping around one of the lower levels. I don’t know where they were, but I missed them on our first sweep of the cave. They turned off their flashlight as soon as they heard our voices.
”
“
The stairs down to the vaults and trophy room are still there,
” Robin pointed out, indicating the downwards staircase that he was hiding near. He ducked back behind a fallen boulder as someone appeared on the stairs, creeping up slowly and quietly.
As Atom said, they appeared to be a teenager, wearing ragged jeans and a thick hoodie with the hood pulled over their face. They had a satchel slung over their shoulder that they were gripping tightly as they crept silently through the cave.
“
Looks like a civilian,
” Batgirl commented. “
Should we let them go and follow them out?
”
“
We need information,
” Batman interjected. “
Robin.
”
Robin nodded, moving up behind the teenager and clamping a hand over their mouth. “We’re not going to hurt you,” he said quietly. “We--urk!”
“Robin!” Batgirl shouted as the hoodie swung their bag, hitting Robin in the side of his head and ducking out of his grip while the Boy Wonder was stunned. The stranger bolted, but immediately went down as Batman threw a bola around their legs. Batgirl was already moving to keep the kid pinned to the ground with their arms behind their back.
“We’re not here to hurt you unless you make us,” Batgirl corrected. “Robin, are you okay?”
“Yeah… what do they have in that bag, bricks?” Robin complained, rubbing his head.
“Wait… Robin?” the girl under Batgirl said in surprise. “
The
Robin? You’re back in Gotham?”
“Sort of,” Robin said, pulling back the girl’s hood. She was pale with long, light hair tied up under her hood, though Batgirl couldn’t see colours clearly through her night vision. “Who are you? What are you doing down here?”
“My name’s Steph and right now my arms are
really
hurting, so can you get off me?” the girl complained. “I won’t attack you again or anything, you just kinda startled me by jumping on me out of the darkness like that.”
“That’s fair,” Batgirl allowed, looking around and confirming that the rest of the recon team was circling her and Steph and getting a nod of agreement from Batman before letting the girl go. As soon as she did, Batman stepped in and pulled the girl’s bag off her shoulders.
“Hey! That’s mine!” Steph exclaimed, snatching at the bag and scowling as she missed it entirely in the darkness. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a flashlight. Batgirl only just managed to turn off her night vision before the flashlight turned on, revealing that Steph was a blonde in a dirty purple hoodie and faded black trousers. She turned the flashlight and it highlighted Batman holding her purple satchel. “...oooorrrrrrrrr yours, I guess,” Steph said nervously. “Holy shit. Holy
shit.
I am
so
sorry, but I swear I’m not stealing stuff for Lord Superman or anything. I’m just a scavenger and, in my defence, everybody thought you were dead. What happened? How did Lord Superman escape? How’d
you
escape getting murdered by Lord Superman?”
Batgirl felt a chill go down her spine at the girl’s words.
Lord Superman escaped. The Justice Lords are free
!
“I’m not Lord Batman,” Batman informed Steph. “But I am looking for him.”
“What are you, a fanboy?” Steph said, gesturing to Batman’s costume. “You’re a really brave one, walking around looking like
that
. If Lord Superman or one of his enforcers sees you dressed like that…” She drew a line across her throat. “I mean, after what happened to Batgirl, I never thought I’d see
anybody
dressed up like
that
again.”
“What happened to Batgirl?” Miss Martian said, glancing at Batgirl in concern.
“Ummm… what rock have
you
guys been living under?” Steph said, turning in a circle and playing the light of her torch over the whole team, her eyebrows rising and her jaw dropping a little more as she took in Atom, Bumblebee, Robin, Batgirl, Miss Martian, and finally dropping her flashlight with a shriek at the sight of Martian Manhunter. “Ohmigod! Lord Martian Manhunter! Ohgod, are you all Martians, please don’t mindwipe me, please don’t kill me, ohmygod Carrie was right I should’ve never come here alone I’m fifteen I’m too young to die ohgodohgodohgod--”
“I am not Lord Martian Manhunter either,” Martian Manhunter said calmly, picking up Steph’s flashlight and handing it back to her. “We are not friends of the Justice Lords. Years ago, we assisted Lord Batman in defeating and imprisoning them, and then returned to our world. But we believe that one of our own has become trapped in your world, so we have returned again.”
“Are you here to take down Lord Superman again?” Steph said, her face lighting up.
“If necessary,” Batman said, opening Steph’s bag and narrowing his eyes on whatever he saw inside. “Start with Lord Superman’s escape. When did that happen?”
“One year and six days ago,” Steph said, her expression visibly darkening. “First thing anybody knew of his return…” She gestured to the cave around her. “I remember I was…
out
that night, and suddenly this huge glow went up on the skyline. Pretty soon, the whole city was burning. There used to be a big mansion above this cave but, uh… well, I guess you knew that. Lord Superman razed it to the ground, and when the police and fire department responded to the scene, he killed the police commissioner and a bunch of other cops who pulled their guns on him…”
“Commissioner Gordon?!” Batgirl blurted out in horror.
She felt Robin put a hand on her arm. “
It’s not your dad,”
he reminded her through the psychic link. “
This is another world.”
It didn’t help much to quench the mental image of Superman towering over her father, eyes glowing with heat vision. Hearing the story of the Justice Lords on the Watchtower had been unsettling, but for the first time, she felt real terror at the concept of the Justice League going rogue.
“What happened to Lord Batman?” Batman asked. The slight rough edge to his voice was barely discernible, but that it was there at all told Batgirl he was probably thinking the same as her.
“Nobody really knows,” Steph said quietly. “I mean, after Lord Superman’s rampage, everybody was talking about it and everybody said Lord Batman disappeared to guard Lord Superman, so if Lord Superman got loose, he probably killed Lord Batman on the way out. Must’ve been pretty pissed about being locked up for all those years and went after Gotham for bonus revenge… he wrecked most of the city. If I’d been home that night, I probably would’ve died, just like my…” She scowled angrily at the ground. “His rampage got derailed when Batgirl attacked him, but the fight didn’t exactly last long. I saw it myself when he hit her with heat vision.” She patted her stomach with a wince. “Then Robin turned up with some kryptonite. It wasn’t enough to really stop Lord Superman, just hold him off until Robin got her out of there. Both of them vanished. By the end of the week, Lord Superman killed, like, half of the Justice League and was back in power. The survivors went underground and turned into the Rebellion. Oooh! I have the latest podcast!” she added, digging into her pocket and pulling out a smartphone. “You gotta get
really
good noise-cancelling headphones to listen to it, though, because if you get unlucky and Lord Superman’s flying by and hears you listening to it… I mean, it’s only ever happened once, but the military took away the guy who was caught and basically everybody he’d ever talked to in his life, so once was enough for everybody.”
“Podcast?” Martian Manhunter asked.
“Like a radio show, but they post ‘em online so you can listen to them at any time,” The Atom put in.
“I am aware of this,” Martian Manhunter replied stoically. “What I wish to know is why a rebel movement has a podcast.”
“Well, you can’t broadcast radio waves because Lord Superman could hear ‘em and trace ‘em to the source,” Steph explained, tapping away at her phone screen. “They just broadcast to… you know, let people know how they’re doing. I guess there were too many encryption problems with just having a blog or something. It’s only hosted for a little while, so you’ve gotta download it quick when it goes up. No vital intel like where they are or anything, obviously, but just to let people know that somebody’s still out there and fighting Lord Superman. Last broadcast as just a couple hours ago, and they said they got a new weapon, too! They didn’t say what or anything, but Voice sounded pretty excited about it.”
“A new weapon… like a new speedster, maybe?” Miss Martian suggested.
“Like the Flash?” Steph asked. “Dunno. They said a survivor from Star City turned up with it. I kinda assumed ‘it’ meant a thing instead of a person but who knows, they might’ve been speaking in code. They do that a lot in case somebody from the regime finds the podcast.”
“Star City was also destroyed?” Batman asked.
“Yeah, about three weeks ago,” Steph explained. “Official broadcast was that the whole city was swarming with rebels. Podcast said there
were
rebels there, but also a few million civilians… If I had to guess, I’d bet the other half of the Rebellion’s hiding out in largely uninhabited areas now. Lord Superman doesn’t care who gets in the way anymore.”
“And what about the other Justice Lords?” Robin asked. “There were four more aside from Lord Superman and Lord Batman, right?”
“If any of them are out, nobody’s seen them,” Steph with a shrug. “Seems to just be Lord Superman. Personally, I bet the whole thing with Lord Batman turned him off of the idea of teamwork, so he left the rest… wherever they are. I mean, it’s not like he
needs
the help ruling the world...”
“This is most troubling,” Martian Manhunter said. “Lord Superman’s freedom will make the search for Wally extremely dangerous.”
“We need to call in more firepower,” Atom said nervously. “We need
our
Superman, and as many other Leaguers as we can bring to bear to take Lord Superman out.”
“We need to know for certain if he’s working alone and what weapons and forces he has at his command before we announce ourselves with an army of Leaguers,” Batman interjected. “We need to find out if there’s a way of making contact with the rebels. Steph, we need to hear that podcast and see if we can get any information.”
“Sure, but I really don’t think it’ll help you,” Steph said, holding out her phone. Batman took it and pulled a connection cord out of one of the ears on his cowl. “Eyes and Voice are
really
careful about what they say on air. But I think the Sirens know something about them.”
“The who now?” Batgirl asked.
“They’re the street gang that smuggle supplies into Gotham,” Steph explained, pointing upwards. “There’s still a lot of people left in Gotham, but Lord Superman’s edicts stop the city being rebuilt, any supplies going in or anybody leaving. But the Sirens are getting food in and trading it, and they, uh… well, they buy the stuff I scavenge from down here,” Steph added sheepishly. “I keep hoping to find some kryptonite or something, I dunno, really
useful
… but Cheshire once told me that they passed on some of the weapons I found to the Rebellion, so I bet they know how to find them.”
“Cheshire?” Miss Martian said in surprise. “You mean Jade Nguyen?”
“Um… maybe?” Steph said with a shrug. “I don’t know her real name and I haven’t seen her face. It’s always hidden behind this freaky cat mask…” The girl widened her eyes and pulled up the corners of her mouth with her fingers, attempting to approximate the vicious grin on Cheshire’s mask.
“Cheshire’s parent were both targeted by the Justice Lords before,” Batman said, “so it’s not entirely impossible that she would join a rebellion against him. On the other hand, she was not particularly close to her parents either and is more strongly motivated by her own self-interest. Going underground alone to avoid meeting the same fate herself as a criminal would be more plausible.”
“She doesn’t work alone, though,” Steph volunteered. “She’s basically always with Tigress. I think they’re sisters.”
“Isn’t Tigress what Artemis went by when she went undercover?” Bumblebee asked.
“She’d
definitely
get involved in a rebel movement,” Batgirl agreed.
“How many members of the gang are there?” Batman asked sharply. “How many do you know?”
“I don’t really
know
‘em, but I’ve met a few,” Steph said, counting off on the hand that wasn’t holding her flashlight. “Cheshire, Tigress, Bluebird, Huntress, Catwoman…”
“Catwoman, huh?” Robin said with interest. “Guess that explains the gang name. Think she’d talk to you, Batman?”
“Unlikely, given Lord Batman’s conduct and the risk that she was at from the Justice Lords,” Batman said, shaking his head. “Not to mention that the other two original members of the Gotham Sirens gang, Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn, were both lobotomized by Lord Superman. That’s assuming that the Catwoman Steph’s talking about is even Selina Kyle. She mentioned Huntress being one of the Sirens, but it won’t be Paula Nguyen--she was lobotomized by the Justice Lords a long time ago. We saw her Arkham. It’s entirely possible that Selina Kyle has since met the same fate and that the name’s being used by somebody else.” He held up Steph’s phone. “Martian Manhunter, if I listen to this, will you all be able to hear it over the psychic link?”
“Of course,” Martian Manhunter said with a nod. Batman pressed
play
. The voices of two women entered all of their heads without going through their ears, a feeling that Batgirl was probably far too used to, even if she hadn’t heard these particular voices psychically before.
“
Good evening, Rebels. This is Eyes--
” “--
and Voice, and we have a lot of good news for you today. For those who saw the last fight the League had with Lord Superman, you’ll be pleased to hear that there were
no
fatalities. Green Lantern was severely injured, but he’s safely under medical care, and thanks to the heroic fight put up by the Marvels, we were able to evacuate the entire League safely. We’re hidden away in new headquarters now, where we recently received a very special guest--a survivor of Star City who brought us something
very
special indeed, a weapon that might turn the tide against Lord Superman and even bring him down the next time we fight!
” “
This weapon is why Lord Superman destroyed Star City, so in the name of all who died that day, we will be putting it to use as soon as possible. Please keep up hope, everybody, and never forget the innocent lives lost in Star, Gotham, and around the world since Lord Superman’s return to power. Keep your heads down, keep each other safe, and never forget, somebody is fighting for you.
” “
You are not alone
,” the two voices concluded together.
“
Wasn’t that the voice of Wally’s aunt Iris? Eyes, I mean?
” Miss Martian asked.
“
And Voice was Lois Lane,
” Batman added. Aloud, he said, “Batgirl, Robin, Martian Manhunter, Miss Martian, go with Steph to make contact with the Sirens.”
“I mean, I’m stoked to help, but they can
not
go out dressed like that,” Steph said, pointing at Batgirl and Robin.
“Return through the portal and get undercover wear first,” Batman agreed. “While they do that, Martian Manhunter, perhaps you ought to report to Flash, the Lanterns and the rest of the League what we’ve learned so far. Emphasize the fact that we only have a lead, no certainty that Wally is even here, and that at this stage moving covertly is
crucial
because Lord Superman is free and has returned to power
.
”
“Speaking of covert, can I have my phone back?” Steph asked, holding out her free hand. “I need it to keep track of the feeds. People tweet and stuff all the time if they see Lord Superman. Last I saw he was up in Canada, but if he comes Gotham-wards, I gotta get the hell out of here. You can never be
totally
sure what he’s listening to or looking at, and I’m betting he wouldn’t be too friendly to anybody he found around here. I only go scavenging when I know he’s busy and on the other side of the planet if possible. Thanks,” she added when Batman handed her the phone, immediately switching apps to scroll through some newsfeeds.
“I’m impressed you get a signal down here,” Bumblebee commented. “We just gonna hang around here while Batgirl and Robin are gettin’ dolled up?”
“No,” Batman said. “I want to have a look around this cave. Atom, Bumblebee, Miss Martian, all of you have powers that make it easier to get around or through blocked areas, and it’s possible that there’s still some kryptonite stored down here that Lord Superman never found or destroyed in the cave-ins. Steph, I need to know where you’ve scavenged and
what
exactly you’ve scavenged.” He pulled the orange-and-black hilt of a broken sword out of Steph’s bag, managing to radiate an unimpressed air despite not changing his expression at all.
“There are a bunch of vaults down there I never got into,” Steph admitted. “I’ve been trying to figure out how to bypass those locks, but safecracking on
this
level is a
liiiiittle
beyond me…”
“Come,” Martian Manhunter said, heading towards the portal. “The League must prepare to fight Lord Superman, and you two have your own preparations to make.”
“Hey, at least this was a peaceful recon mission so far, right?” Robin said as they walked back towards the portal.
“The operative phrase here being
so far…
” Batgirl murmured, shivering again at the sight of the ruined Batcave, her hand unconsciously ghosting over the spot where Steph indicated that Lord Superman had seared right through her counterpart.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
{Bludhaven--Earth-128}
{July 28, 06:32 EDT}
“Hmmm? Oh, mornin’, Oracle,” Mal Duncan said, looking up in surprise from the computer bank. “You’re here early. Shouldn’t you still be asleep?”
“Morning, Ops. I can never sleep very well the first few nights in a new base,” Oracle said, sipping at her coffee. “Any word for Redbird’s team?”
“No, and nothin’ on Lord Superman either,” Ops said with a shrug. “It’s been a quiet night. Tigress came in to send a message to Catwoman that they got here okay with Speedy, but that’s been it.”
“No news is good news, I guess,” Oracle commented, wheeling up next to him and looking at the displays.
No urgent military alerts from Tuxedo... always good. John Stewart’s vitals are stable… also good. Vast majority of people sound asleep in the bunkroom…
She smiled a little at the sight of Billy, Freddy and Mary, all sprawled across the same bunk as Freddy’s brother Kit, a mess of lanky teenage limbs and exhausted magic.
Well, it does take a lot out of them, fighting like that… Tigress, Cheshire and Speedy all found themselves bunks, good… Dr Stone’s tending to his son again, of
course
...
“For the love of God, tell me Owl has
not
been working in there all night,” she said, pointing at the security feed from the lab where Tim had been adding kryptonite components to weaponry.
“Bluejay
did
convince him to go to bed around two, but Owl was back half an hour later,” Ops said apologetically. “I guess he had some ideas and couldn’t sleep on ‘em, and it’s not like he’s keepin’ Doctor Stone up…” He gestured to one corner of the camera, where Silas Stone could be seen leaning over the elaborate life-support system that he kept his son on. He spent every waking second working on whatever he was trying to build to get Victor awake and mobile--and he almost never slept. “Owl’s been fixin’ up people’s armour, mostly,” Ops continued.
“I’m going to have to ask Leslie what’s the recommended dose of…
anything
… to get a fourteen-year-old to
sleep
for more than twenty minutes a night,” Oracle sighed. “Redbird’s bad enough…”
“Speak of the devil,” Ops said as an alert flashed up with a message from Dick. He unlocked and put it into the decoding program. Oracle read the text onscreen, decoding it herself before the program finished.
“It’s co-ordinates for the Fortress,” she breathed. “They found it! And…
damn,
” she hissed, feeling her heart drop into her stomach.
“What?” Ops asked, looking from her to the screen as the full text of the decoded message was displayed onscreen. “...Oh. He sure recovered fast…”
“We don’t know that he has,” Oracle pointed out. “We don’t even know for certain that the Fortress is where he spends
all
of his downtime, but it’s good to know that he
does
still use it. Redbird’s team might turn up a lot of useful information.”
“Where do you think he’s goin’?” Ops said quietly.
“I try not to speculate without more data,” Oracle replied, watching the multiple scrolling displays of posts featuring Lord Superman. They were still almost all talking about yesterday’s battle, but--
#HallofJustice
was trending and rising rapidly, which wouldn’t have caught her eye if it hadn’t started almost at the same time as a private message from Tuxedo arrived. She opened the #
HallofJustice
feed up in another window while reading the message from Tuxedo. She didn’t bother with an encryption program for these--her own abilities with coding were more than enough, and they always contained information that was just too sensitive to even
exist
without being encrypted to hell and back.
It contained several updates on other rebel groups around the world--seven people executed behind closed doors in France, a close escape for a cell in Bialya, a successful breakout in South Africa--and, most pertinently, a major security breach at the Hall of Justice just minutes ago.
The nature of the breach was listed as ‘unknown’, so she turned to see what the general public had to say on the subject.
Anybody else see that golden light over the #HallofJustice?
Just saw loads of people get blown out of #HallofJustice by golden light… are aliens attacking? Save us #LordSuperman!
Got woken up and snagged my phone just in time to catch this… #HallofJustice #NoFilter #nomoresleepforme
There were pictures, mostly, of people lying outside the Hall of Justice--a memorial to the reign of
five
of the Justice Lords, these days--with a few catching some kind of golden light shining out of the windows. Then, as she watched, more photos and videos appeared, this time of the Hall of Justice being
obliterated
by another blast of gold.
“What the hell?” Ops muttered, throwing up videos and photos on the screen bank around them as they tried to get a handle on what was happening. “Guess that explains where the big man’s goin’... You ever seen anythin’ like this?”
“Blue Beetle, Icon, to the Monitor Room
now
, please,” Oracle said, leaning on the intercom and while watching the bunkroom monitor out of the corner of her eye. The Scarab awoke before Jaime did, coating his body in blue-and-black armour before the teen had even opened his eyes, while Icon awoke and was on his feet only a fraction more slowly. Speedy, Cheshire and Tigress were also awoken by the sound of the intercom, weapons in hand and on their feet before their eyes even opened, still tense from how long they’d been travelling in the open. Several others looked around or reached for weapons as they sat up, before looking at Icon and then going back to bed--it looked like the mysterious hero was speaking, probably explaining that only he and Blue Beetle had been summoned. Only the Marvels didn’t rouse, too exhausted to notice the sound of the intercom.
“There’s someone flyin’ over what’s left of the Hall of Justice,” Ops reported, picking out photos and videos. The figure was visible as no more than a slight flash of light in the dark, no detail visible on low-res phone pictures. There were no official reports on what was happening, not yet, and probably wouldn’t be until it was all over.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Oracle said, lining up several photos from different angles around the Hall of Justice. The place didn’t stand in or particularly close to any residential areas, but it was close enough to DC that the golden light seemed to have been visible from a good part of the city and had caught the attention of a lot of early commuters, and a few photos were clearly coming from the employees who had been thrown out of the Hall before it was destroyed.
“What’s up?” Blue Beetle called as he buzzed into the monitor room, Icon hot on his heels.
“Icon, have you ever seen anything like this?” Oracle said, pointing at one of the upper screens, where she’d left a few photos and looping videos of the second blast of golden light that had obliterated the hall. “Or your Scarab, Blue Beetle?”
“Scarab says negative,” Blue Beetle said apologetically.
“A blast of that power must come from some kind of superweapon, or…” Icon folded his arms, narrowing his eyes on the photos that Ops was trying to enhance depicting a small figure flying over the wreckage of the hall. “Or
extremely
powerful magic.”
“Blue Beetle, go try and wake up one of the Marvels,” Oracle ordered. “
Any
of them. Wisdom of Solomon might be able to tell us what this is if it
is
magic.” Blue Beetle nodded, heading off again while Icon watched the screens. “I’ve never seen magic on this scale before, have you?” Oracle asked Icon.
“Not in a very long time,” Icon said quietly. “I have seen evil sorcerers perform acts of great destruction like this, but whoever this was emptied the Hall before destroying it.” He gestured to one of the early pictures, half-buried under other windows, showing people wrapped in golden light lying outside of the Hall. Later pictures showed people on their feet fleeing the rubble, but nobody still on the ground. “Though I do feel as if I have seen that golden light before…”
“Found somebody livestreaming,” Ops said, giving the stream a whole window to itself just in time for the jittery image to catch a familiar figure in black, white and red slam into the golden figure floating over the former Hall of Justice.
{
Gotham--Earth-128
}
{
July 28, 06:32 EDT}
“And I thought Crime Alley looked bad back home,” Tim muttered, holding his hood over his face as he peered up at the crumbling buildings around them.
“The whole city’s Crime Alley now,” Steph sighed. “What’s left of it, anyway…” She’d pulled her hood back up over her head and had a black cloth tied over her nose and mouth, muffling her voice a little. All of them had dressed similarly, with hoods pulled up and cloths tied over their faces; Martian Manhunter and Miss Martian had shapeshifted into John Jones and Megan Morse in the appropriate attire, while Batgirl and Robin had their costumes hidden under their thick hoodies and jeans, Robin’s mask in his pocket and Batgirl’s cowl pulled down around her neck. Thick, warm clothes and hidden faces seemed to be
de rigeur
in Gotham now.
“We’re in the East End now, though, aren’t we?” Batgirl said, recognizing some of the broken buildings. “I have to admit, I don’t normally see this much of the city from street level…”
“
There is a great deal of fear here,
” Martian Manhunter said, his voice ringing in everybody’s head but Steph’s.
“
More than usual for Gotham?
” Robin thought back wryly.
“
Yes,
” Martian Manhunter said, entirely seriously.
“Okay, hold on,” Steph said, holding up a hand. “I see who I need to talk to. Just hang on here a second, okay?” They stepped back into the doorway of what had once been a cafe with, according to Barbara’s memory, decent coffee and the good grace to still be serving sugar-saturated doughnuts at three in the morning. Steph headed across the cracked street, her satchel gripped tightly in her hands, and stepped into an alleyway.
“
I’ll go,
” Miss Martian said, fading out of sight and slipping after the girl. “
She’s talking to a woman,
” the martian reported after a moment. “
Calling her Huntress. She’s wearing purple too, but I can’t see much of what she looks like. Huntress is looking through the stuff in the satchel.
”
“
I can’t believe Batman let her take that stuff,
” Robin mentally sighed.
“
It’s not really his stuff anyway,
” Batgirl pointed out. “
And most of it was out of the Trophy Room anyway, except those batarangs.
”
“
Huntress is offering her a price for the stuff,
” Miss Martian reported.
“Steph’s offering to drop it if she helps us get in touch with the Rebellion. She’s explaining that she’s met some people who want--there’s somebody else here
!”
“
M’gann, is everything alright?
” Martian Manhunter asked urgently.
“
Yeah, just--hang on, they’re coming towards us now,
” Miss Martian reported, flitting back across the street and returning to visibility next to her uncle just before Steph walked back out of the alleyway, followed by two others. One was a tall figure in a long, dark purple coat with the hood pulled up and a white scarf tied over most of their face. The other was shorter, even shorter than Steph, possibly even a child, though it was hard to tell under their black hoodie, also pulled up, with a black scarf over most of their face.
“These your friends, Spoils?” the tall woman said, leaning an arm against the doorway as she looked them over, looming over all of them except Martian Manhunter. Batgirl didn’t miss the way the woman’s other hand slipped into a pocket of her long purple coat, no doubt reaching for a weapon. Batgirl carefully, without any visible sign of movement, checked the batarangs in her sleeves.
“Yeah,” Steph said. “Huntress, believe me, they really--”
“You just met them today,” Huntress said skeptically. Under her dark purple hood, Batgirl could see curly black hair framing dark, suspicious eyes. “Not like a smart girl like you to trust strangers.”
“Well…” Steph looked uncertainly at the other stranger, who had yet to be introduced. The child was standing perfectly still, staring steadily at the rest of them. “They really aren’t friends of Lord Superman, believe me.”
“
Huntress feels extremely suspicious,
” Martian Manhunter said telepathically. “
I do not believe it will be easy to convince her. The other one… I do not know what to make of them. They are not suspicious, but nor do they trust us. They are… waiting.
”
“
What do we tell them?
” Robin asked mentally. “
We don’t know anything about this Huntress, or the other--
”
“What are you talking about?” the smaller one--the voice sounded like a girl’s--asked.
“We didn’t say anything,” Batgirl said cautiously.
“Not aloud,” the girl said sharply, “but you are talking. What are you talking about?”
“There’s no lying to Orphan, folks,” Huntress chuckled. “Believe me, she sees right through you. So tell us the truth. What do you want with the Rebellion?”
“
Orphan isn’t psychic,
” Miss Martian put in, “
but she’s definitely reading us
somehow
!”
“
Doesn’t look like we have much choice but to tell the truth, then,
” Batgirl thought. “We’re looking for a friend of ours who disappeared a few weeks ago,” she said aloud. “We think he might have ended up in this world.”
“This
world
, huh?” Huntress said, looking at Steph, before looking at Orphan, who just nodded. “Okay, I’ll bite. What world are
you
from?”
“The world of the Justice League that defeated the Justice Lords years ago,” Martian Manhunter said simply.
Huntress’ eyes visibly widened as she looked sharply at Orphan again. The girl stared for a long time at Martian Manhunter before slowly nodding. “Not lying,” Orphan said slowly. “Are you… Justice League?”
“Yes,” Martian Manhunter said with a nod. “We wish to find our friend and to return Lord Superman to captivity. This world is suffering because we failed to properly contain him before. Let us amend our mistake.”
“Are you
serious
,” Huntress muttered, rubbing a hand over her eyes and staring helplessly at Orphan.
“Don’t know,” Orphan said with a shrug, “but it is true. They are not lying.”
“Just because they
think
they’re superheroes from another world doesn’t mean they
are
,” Huntress snapped. “Sounds to me like they’ve breathed in a bit too much of the ashes of Arkham, y’know?”
“They’re real,” Steph insisted. “I saw… I saw their Batman. He looked just like the pictures of Lord Batman, before Lord Superman had them all destroyed, just, y’know… alive. There was Robin and Batgirl, too, and martians. Just like Martian Manhunter, but they didn’t hurt me. They asked for help getting to the Rebellion. If they stopped the Justice Lords before--!”
“We want to stop them again,” Miss Martian said. “Please, can you help us meet the Rebellion?”
Huntress started pulling her hand out of her pocket. Batgirl tensed, and out of the corner of her eye saw Robin shift slightly in preparation.
Then Orphan
moved
, faster than Batgirl could react to, grabbing her arm and twisting behind her in a fluid motion, slamming her into the wall while sweeping Tim’s legs out from under him and planting a foot in the middle of his chest.
“
Don’t
!” Batgirl ordered mentally as she saw Miss Martian’s eyes start to glow.
“Stay still,” Orphan ordered. “Wait.” She looked up at Huntress, who had pulled a phone out of her pocket.
“You guys have good reflexes, I’ll give you that,” Huntress observed, texting rapidly. “Two of you do, anyway. Not as good as
her
, but don’t worry, nobody is. You can let ‘em up, Orphan,” she added, glancing down at Robin on the ground. “They know I didn’t pull a weapon, so they’re not going to pull any, right?”
“Right,” Robin coughed.
Orphan gave the pair of them another one of her long, calculating looks before letting Batgirl go and stepping off of Robin, even offering him a hand up. “Sorry,” the girl said.
“Can’t blame you,” Batgirl said, rolling her shoulder. “
That girl’s got a grip of steel,
” she thought to herself.
“Who the hell taught her to fight?!
”
Huntress’ phone shook silently in her hand. “C’mon, then,” she said, pocketing it. “Catwoman
really
wants to meet you guys now.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
{
Fortress of Solitude--Earth-128}
{July 28, 06:32 AST}
Wally pulled the kryptonite cuffs out of his glove compartment as he and his counterpart shot towards the shattered ice wall where Lord Superman had thrown Maelstrom. They saw the Atlantean fall to the ground, the black-and-white-clad Kryptonian with a huge red “S” on his chest falling on top of him, slamming Maelstrom into the ground and raising one powerful fist above his head.
“HEY! ALIEN BREATH!” Wally yelled. It was a
terrible
insult, but it was enough to draw Lord Superman’s attention for a second, stilling his hand just long enough for Flash to jump the kryptonian from behind and snap kryptonite cuffs around his upraised fist.
Lord Superman roared in rage, flinging Flash away from him before clawing at the kryptonite cuff around his wrist, hissing in pain. Maelstrom’s tattoos glowed as he drew his waterbearers, drawing the snow and ice on the ground up as glowing blue water and using it to electrocute Lord Superman. The kryptonian gave an animalistic roar of pain, jumping away from Maelstrom and staggering against the wall. Maelstrom holstered one of his waterbenders, replacing it with a kryptonite-tipped nunchaku, smacking Lord Superman across the face with it before wrapping the chain around his neck, slamming the kryptonian against the wall in a chokehold. Lord Superman grabbed the chain, but couldn’t seem to break it.
“The kryptonite’s already affecting him! He can’t fly!” Redbird yelled, drawing his escrima sticks and charging. Lord Superman turned and glared at him, snarling, before his expression turned confused a moment later.
No heat vision either,
Wally thought, feeling more confident about charging Lord Superman, diving and snapping his kryptonite cuffs around his opponent’s ankles, making it easy for Maelstrom to slam the prisoner to the ground. Lord Superman rolled over, snarling in rage.
Damn, this angry he kinda reminds me of Conner...
Flash shot over, grabbing Lord Superman’s free arm again and reaching for the dangling end of the kryptonite cuffs around the alien’s wrist. Wally helped him wrestle the rapidly weakening kryptonian into submission with his arms cuffed behind his back and his ankles cuffed together. “He’s down!” Flash yelled.
“That was… easier than expected,” Maelstrom said, letting the chokehold go and holstering his other waterbearer and the kryptonite nunchaku. Redbird slowed down as he approached the prisoner, looking almost disappointed that he hadn’t gotten to fight.
“Told you we could get him without killing him,” Flash said proudly, turning Lord Superman onto his back. The kryptonian’s struggles were growing weaker by the second as the two sets of kryptonite cuffs and the proximity of Redbird’s kryptonite-tipped escrima affected him, and all colour had drained from his face. Wally found himself unable to look away from that face as the alien growled at them, even managing to glare pretty well through pain-fogged eyes.
“Been a long time since I’ve seen him without his cape,” Redbird said quietly. “He almost looks… smaller.”
“Uh, guys…” Wally said, growing more sure by the second as he stared at their prisoner, “I don’t think this is Lord Superman.”
“What are you saying?” Maelstrom demanded. “Can you not see him?”
“Yeah, and I’m betting I’ve see Superman up close a lot more recently than any of you have--
our
Superman, anyway,” Wally said, rubbing his eyes briefly before looking down again. Sure, the guy they’d caught was wearing black and white, like the Lord Superman Wally’d distantly glimpsed on the battle footage before, and he was wearing the big red S, but... “And he looks a lot
like
him, sure, but… listen, you said the Justice Lords took all of Cadmus’ cloning tech, right?”
“They
destroyed
it,” Redbird said slowly. “Or at least, they said they did…”
“Cloning tech? Wait, you think this guy’s a
clone
?!” Flash said, gaping as he looked from Wally to their prisoner.
“Superman was cloned on our world too,” Wally said with a heavy nod. “Superboy. He’s… a friend of mine. And looks
just
like this guy. Like Superman, but younger. And Kryptonian DNA isn’t stable enough to clone without throwing some human DNA into the mix, so he can’t fly or use heat vision or freeze breath.”
Redbird slowly knelt down next to the kryptonian--or half-kryptonian. “Are you Lord Superman?” Redbird asked loudly and clearly.
The prisoner turned his glower on Redbird. “No,” he said hoarsely. It was the first thing he’d said that wasn’t a wordless scream of rage. “But when he returns, he will kill you all.”
“Probably,” Redbird said, rubbing his face with a tired sigh. “A goddamn
clone
…” He looked up sharply, looking around. “Are there more of you?” he demanded.
“No,” the clone--Wally mentally dubbed him ‘Lord Superboy’--growled. “I am the first
successful
clone. The first of Lord Superman’s true army, to make this world secure once and for all.”
“Good, ‘cause we’re outta handcuffs,” Flash said nervously. He stood up carefully. Lord Superboy glared at the speedster as he moved, but made no moves himself, a thin sheen of sweat breaking out over his face.
“Hey,” Wally said softly. “How long’ve you been… awake?”
“...when you trespassed… security protocols woke me up,” Lord Superboy mumbled. It sounded like he was struggling to stay awake. “This is… my first…”
“Look, dude, put those away, willya?” Wally said, pointing at Redbird’s escrima and their kryptonite tips, which were still in Redbird’s hands and hovering extremely close to the prisoner. “The cuffs have him. We just need to subdue him, not kill him, and he looks pretty subdued, alright?”
“He’s a guard dog,” Redbird said quietly, holstering his escrima. A little more colour came back into Lord Superboy’s face when the extra source of kryptonite was gone, though he still looked extremely ill.
“But he spoke of an army,” Maelstrom pointed out. “We must ensure that that
does not happen.
”
Redbird nodded. “Let’s take him with us and keep searching the place,” he said, looking back at the doorway that Lord Superboy had smashed through to attack us. “Seems like he could really open doors for us.”
“Was that a pun? You
are
Dick after all!” Wally said, grinning as he put an arm around Lord Superboy’s shoulders. “C’mon,” he grunted, hefting the half-kryptonian to his feet.
Might not be as big as Superman, but Conner’s still always been a huge lump of muscle…
“I have him,” Maelstrom said, jdrawing his waterbearers again and constructing a small platform of enchanted water that lifted up Lord Superboy. “You said a clone such as him existed on your world?” the Atlantean asked as they headed back over to the broken door. Wally realized that the alarms had gone quiet, perhaps because Lord Superboy had been released, perhaps because the clone had smashed whatever was controlling the alarms on his way out.
“Yeah… made by Cadmus,” Wally said with a nod. “He goes by Superboy… or Conner. Look, when we first met him, Cadmus was using him as a… well, like you said, as a
guard dog
, like Lord Superman’s doing.” He looked at Lord Superboy, waiting until the clone’s attention was on him before continuing. “They wanted him to be a weapon for them, but he… he just wanted to go outside, y’know?”
And meet Superman,
he didn’t add. He didn’t think it wise to encourage any obsession with Lord Superman that had most likely been programmed into this clone. “We helped him escape because he’s not just a tool or a weapon. He’s a
person
. He’s got the right to choose his own life. And he chose to become a hero and our friend.”
“He’s not the Superboy you know any more than Lord Superman is the Superman you know,” Redbird said curtly, walking through the ruined door. The corridor on the other side was long and thin, with large windows on either side. Every single one had alien-looking plants or creatures behind them.
“Dick… the one I know… he said Superman had a sort of zoo,” Wally explained. “Somewhere he could look after all sorts of animals that turned up on earth and didn’t have a home planet to go back to.”
Lord Superboy came from down here,
he thought with a chill.
“What do we do with these when we get Lord Superman?” Flash said, looking through the glass at something that looked like a cluster of black roses that lazily waved a tentacle at him. “Do you think anybody else knows how to… I dunno, feed or care for any of these?”
“Worry about that after we get Lord Superman,” Redbird said, eyeing up a pool full of pink starfish-like things that reminded Wally uncomfortably of the mind-control devices that Klarion and Vandal Savage had infected the League with during the Team’s first year.
“Hey,” Wally said, tapping Lord Superboy on the shoulder. “You’ve never gone outside, right? Do you want to?”
“...I’ll get to go outside… when it’s time…” Lord Superboy said weakly. “And I’ve already been… shown images…”
“Not the same thing, dude,” Wally insisted. “Don’t you want to see stuff for real? Like the sun, or the moon, or the ocean? Not just going past them on your way to fight somewhere, but just to
see
them?”
“Kid Flash,” Maelstrom said, frowning at him. “He is a clone of Lord Superman, not a friend.”
“Just ‘cause he’s a clone doesn’t mean he has to be the same guy,” Wally insisted. “Doesn’t he have the right to figure out who he is?”
And he wants to,
he recalled.
If he’s anything like our Conner at all, he
does
want to experience the world for real, he just doesn’t know it’s an option yet...
“I hear you, man,” Flash said, putting a hand on Wally’s shoulder consolingly, “but maybe later, yeah? When we’re not creeping around this creepy…” He made a face as they stepped through another broken-down door.
The room on the other side was open and high-ceilinged, like the entry hall, but smaller--only the size of, say, a house instead of a cathedral. Strange technology stood in alcoves all around the rounded walls. The light filtering down from the ceiling picked out two things in particular; the open Cadmus pod on the far end the room and, a couple alcoves over, on a raised circular area, a table with a figure lying on it. With all the tubes, wires and a display with a prominent heart monitor on the wall above, it looked almost like a hospital bed until Wally noticed that the figure on the table had no bandages, despite being covered in half-healed burns and other various wounds. The other major red flag was the metal bands binding the injured man to the table by his wrists, ankles, waist and throat.
“Shit!” Flash exclaimed, zipping over to the bound figure. “Hey, mister, can you hear me? Hello?” He looked up at the monitors. “Heartbeat’s weak but steady, and I think the rest of these displays are… monitoring his blood? Something like that...” He looked back down at the man on the table, looking sick. “Look at these burns… heat vision, you think?”
“He looks almost… flayed…” Redbird said, stepping up onto the table next to Flash and sucking in a sharp breath.
“What do you think happened to his arm? ...Redbird?” Flash said, staring at Redbird. “You okay? It’s horrible, I know…”
Redbird ignored him. “Bruce,” he said in a choked voice, staring at the ragged form of Lord Batman.
{
Gotham--Earth-128
}
{
July 28, 06:44 EDT}
Tim was a little disconcerted that he hadn’t noticed Orphan vanish as they followed Huntress along the streets of Gotham, headed in the general direction of the river. From the easy way she’d taken down both him and Batgirl earlier, he just
knew
the girl had to be highly trained, but he couldn’t think of anybody like her that he’d encountered back in
their
world, hero or villain. There were any number of skilled female martial artists and assassins in Batman’s files, but none that
young
. One of the first things he’d done after finally becoming Robin and getting access to the Batcomputer was memorize all of Batman’s profiles and past case data, so he was certain.
Dick had teased him a little about his fastidiousness, both in studying and training, but Tim didn’t let that put him off. He was determined never to slip up. Batman and Nightwing
needed
Robin. They couldn’t lose another one.
I wonder where
I
am here,
he wondered. On their way from the remains of Wayne Manor to central Gotham, they’d passed his house, but it seemed empty and abandoned. All of the manors in that part of the city seemed empty, the wealthy families all long gone--presumably, everybody who could afford to leave Gotham in the wake of Lord Superman’s wrath had. Though Steph
had
said there’d been another Robin working with Batgirl…
“In here,” Huntress said, guiding them into a ruined building. Tim recognized it as one of the community centres that the Wayne Foundation helped fund. He’d studied up on the extent of Wayne Enterprises and the Wayne Foundation too, when he’d become Robin, partly because the workings of one of the most profitable companies on the planet really did interest him, and partly because things like disguises and spare equipment tended to be hidden in Wayne-owned buildings. A couple even had zeta tubes hidden somewhere on the premises. This building, though, didn’t have the Wayne Enterprises logo on the doors--it had something else that he didn’t think he’d recognize even if it hadn’t been half-scraped away.
What happened to Wayne Enterprises and the Wayne Foundation after he disappeared to guard Lord Superman? What happened to them before? He makes time for them as Batman, but did he have time for them when he was ruling the world? Maybe they weren’t important, compared to wiping out crime once and for all…
He couldn’t really envision Bruce Wayne ignoring or abandoning the company and charities that his parents had left him, but he also couldn’t imagine Bruce Wayne letting anybody play judge, jury and executioner and still call themselves a hero, not even Superman.
Especially
not Superman. The Batman back home had several highly secure pieces of kryptonite for the express purpose of
stopping
Superman if needs be.
Tim wondered if he’d kept kryptonite around like that before meeting the Justice Lords.
The building showed clear signs of having been long stripped of anything valuable, but a couple of teenagers in dirty blue hoodies were poring over the exposed parts of a ruined computer at a charred desk. “She’s in the back office,” one of them said, pointing at the only door that still seemed to be on both its hinges.
“Thanks, Blue,” Huntress said, leading the group through. Both teenagers stared at them with open curiosity and not a little suspicion until they stepped into the office.
The first thing Tim noticed was that there had to be at least fifteen cats wandering in the room, most of them grubby-looking strays, eating or drinking out of bowls scattered around the floor. Another one climbed in the open window at the back of the room as they walked through the door. With all the distracting cats, it was more than three seconds before Tim noticed the sole human in the room. Dressed in all black, she was hard to make out in the dim lighting, but it did look a
lot
like she was wearing the kind of expensive catsuit that Selina Kyle favoured.
“So, these are the heroes from another world?” the woman said, leaning over the broken desk. She still wasn’t very visible, but it was definitely Selina Kyle’s voice, even if she wasn’t the woman they knew. She seemed to have the same trouble zipping up her catsuit properly, too.
“And you’re Selina Kyle, AKA Catwoman,” Batgirl said, having evidently come to the same conclusions as Tim. She pushed down her hood to let Catwoman see her face. “Back home, I’m Batgirl, and he’s Robin.” She gestured to Tim, who followed her lead and pulled his hood down too.
“I am impressed that you have gone unnoticed by the Justice Lords all this time,” Martian Manhunter said, also pulling down his hood though he did not shift back to being green. Miss Martian did the same. “They never sought to… stop you, as they did so many other notorious criminals?”
“You mean, why aren’t in that mass grave in Arkham with two holes in my skull like Harley and Pamela?” Catwoman said, putting her hands on her hips. “To put it simply, I didn’t rank as dangerous enough to go after at first. When things were getting a little too black-and-white for my liking, I skipped town and headed for Europe. Before long they were ruling the whole damn world, of course, but I kept my head down and that’s why I got to
keep
it until the Justice League turned up.” She grinned sharply. “Almost wish I’d been here to see that. Two Batmen going at it? Talk about dreams come true!”
“It was an unpleasant situation for everybody,” Martian Manhunter said seriously. “And because we failed to properly secure Lord Superman, this world is endangered again. We wish to help you stop them.”
“And to find a friend of ours who’s gone missing,” Miss Martian chimed in. “We think he might’ve wound up here. We were hoping that you might be able to tell us…”
Catwoman looked at Steph. “Where’d you
find
them, anyway?” she asked.
“Same place I find everything else I sell you guys,” Steph said with a shrug. “Down in, y’know… the Cave.”
“Someday, you’ve
gotta
make her tell us where the hell that is,” Huntress complained.
“Oh, I know where it is,” Catwoman said quietly, looking thoughtfully at Batgirl. “You do look
scarily
like her,” she mused. “It’s almost like seeing a ghost. I mean, she lived, but still…”
“
Can
you help us find our friend?” Batgirl pressed.
Catwoman reached out to stroke one of the cats that hopped up onto the desk. “
I
don’t know anything about anybody else turning up from another world, but what’s left of the League might.” She pulled down one of her gloves before pulling a phone out of her pocket and starting to text. “But even if they do, I’m not putting you in touch with them until I know you’re gonna take down Lord Superman. For
good
, this time.” The dim lighting did nothing to dampen the glare she shot them. “You can’t just bat him around and then vanish like your Justice League did before. If you’re here to stop him, then damn well
stop
him, got it?”
“We will ensure that this time, he is properly restrained--” Martian Manhunter began.
“
Restrained
?!” Huntress burst out angrily. “So he can just bust out again?! Fuck that! You need to fucking
end
him!”
“You mean
kill
him?” Tim asked. “No way! That’s not how we--”
“Not how you
heroes
do things, is it?” Catwoman said acidly. “Your way of doing things didn’t exactly work out before, did it?”
“That does not mean that we ought to resort to the Justice Lords’ way of doing things,” Martian Manhunter said flatly.
“...Fuck you,” Huntress muttered, for lack of any better response.
Catwoman just turned her glare on her phone. “Huh,” she said thoughtfully. “This friend who went missing--an Atlantean, right?”
“No,” Batgirl said as Tim felt his heart sink. “A speedster. Kid Flash.”
Catwoman grinned again. “Got you. Just checking. A couple friends of mine recently hooked up with the rebellion. According to them, there’s a weird second Flash that people were saying was from another world…”
“Wally!” Miss Martian cried, clasping her hands and actually levitating a few inches off the ground in her excitement. “Ooops,” she said sheepishly as Steph, Huntress and Catwoman stared. The cats seemed unruffled.
“What the--” Huntress began, but she was cut off by the office door bursting open again, nearly knocking Tim over.
“Whoops! Sorry, kid.” It was one of the blue hoodies who’d been out in the lobby. She held out a hand to pull Tim to his feet before throwing a tablet to Catwoman. “Cat, you’ve gotta see this. Streaming live from DC, near the Hall of Justice--or what’s left of it, anyway.”
Catwoman’s eyes widened as she took in whatever was on the screen, then her lips thinned as she turned the tablet around. “You know the deal,” she said, pointing at the shaky image. “Go get him.”
Onscreen, a flying, caped figure was briefly highlighted by an ankh symbol made of golden light as it narrowly missed crushing him.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
{
Fortress of Solitude--Earth-128}
{July 28, 06:40 AST}
“You know this man?” Maelstrom asked as Redbird leaned on the table, hands shaking.
"Shit,
is
that Bruce?” Wally asked, completely unable to recognize the former Lord Batman in the shape he was in. Aside from the burns and bruises painting every inch of him in shades of pain, the man on the table was frighteningly thin, the jagged lines of oft-broken ribs clearly visible under the damaged skin. The Bruce Wayne that Wally kinda sorta knew a little was more than six feet of solid muscle, hidden under well-tailored suits and airheaded charm, but the man in front of them was practically a skeleton. His right arm seemed like it had had whole chunks sliced out of it, exposing torn tendons, muscle and even what might have been
bone.
“Um… Bruce?” Flash asked. Redbird ignored him, starting to examine the bindings holding the man to the table.
“Y’know… Bruce Wayne? Batman?” Wally explained, a little thrown to realize that they didn’t already know. Then again, perhaps he’d kept his identity secret even after becoming Lord Batman, and this world’s Barry Allen had died before the other Wally became Kid Flash and was introduced to the world of superheroes. Wally-Flash had never met Dick Grayson when he was Robin, never learned each other’s identities on a rooftop after a successful Flash/Bat teamup (and gotten in a LOT of trouble with Batman for it), never visited Wayne Manor to play the new Justice League video game with his best friend, never eaten Alfred’s cooking, never seen Bruce Wayne when he was neither the playboy nor the terror of the night but just sacked out on a couch for a pre-patrol nap…
When I get back home, Dick’s forgiven for everything ever,
Wally thought, watching Redbird struggle frantically to release his former mentor.
If I get to go home, if I get to kiss Artemis again, meet Uncle Barry and Aunt Iris’ kids, and hang out with my best friend again…
"This…
was Lord Batman?" Maelstrom said in surprise. "He looks little more than a corpse now. Were he not breathing..." He gestured to the former Lord Batman, whose half-sunken chest was indeed rising and falling almost imperceptibly, the heart monitor over his head beeping slowly but steadily.
“Holy shit,” Flash gasped, looking up at the displays. “Redbird--I dunno if we should move him. He looks like he’s in really poor shape, and this--whatever it is, the Fortress or whatever…it might be keeping him alive.”
“We need to at least get him out of…” Redbird gestured hopelessly at the metal binding Lord Batman to the table. “But there aren’t any locks or anything… it just looks welded down.”
“If Lord Superman is the only one coming in here, then it is likely that he saw no need for locks,” Maelstrom suggested. “He can break those bindings with his bare hands, and can weld them back with heat vision.”
“Hey…
you
could break them, right?” Wally said, looking at Lord Superboy, who glared halfheartedly at him.
“Why should I?” he growled stubbornly, sounding
exactly
like Conner.
“What do you want?” Wally parried.
I didn’t keep in touch with him or M’gann as much as I should have,
he thought guiltily.
I should’ve kept up with the whole team, even if I wasn’t on it anymore. I helped
found
it, after all. If I get to go home, I’ll visit every week...
“My task is to
destroy
you intruders!” Lord Superboy snapped back.
“Okay, but… what do you
want
?” Flash put in, picking up Wally’s thread. “Not what you’ve been told or… or programmed, or anything.” He waved a hand vaguely at the open pod on the far side of the room, which seemed, like Lord Batman, to be connected to the icy walls of the Fortress of Solitude itself. “Just
you
… what do
you
want?”
“You cannot be thinking--” Maelstrom began.
“Sssh,” Redbird hissed, watching Lord Superboy intently, one hand still resting on the mangled flesh of his mentor’s. Wally briefly, queasily noted that the former Justice Lord was missing fingers, and the ones remaining didn’t look much like fingers anymore.
Lord Superboy stared at them all blankly. “I want…” he mumbled, looking down. He glowered at the cuffs on his wrists. “I want these off,” he demanded.
“You gotta understand, we can’t exactly do that if you’re still gonna kill us when we get the cuffs off,” Flash said apologetically. “I mean, trust me, I’d
love
to get those off you. They look like they’re really hurting you. But…”
“You don’t want me to kill you. Makes sense,” Lord Superboy conceded. His gaze settled unhappily on the pod that he’d likely come from. “I don’t want to go back in the pod,” he said quietly.
“Done!” Wally said, more than happy to grant
that
request. He zipped over to the pod, vibrating his arm through it. “Get under cover!” he yelled, running back as the pod visibly shuddered. Maelstrom dropped Lord Superboy on the floor and redirected the water as a shield barely a second before the pod exploded, throwing shards of glass and metal all around the room. “Sorry… probably should’ve warned you about that,” Wally said sheepishly, looking at the sharp shards caught in Maelstrom’s water shield between himself, Redbird, Lord Batman, Flash and the devastation.
“You can
vibrate
through stuff?!” Flash yelped. “And make them
explode
?! That’s
awesome
! I’ve
never
been able to vibrate through stuff!”
“Only been able to do it since I got here,” Wally admitted. He turned to look at Lord Superboy, who was struggling to sit up with the kryptonite sapping his strength. “You okay?” he asked.
“Fine,” Lord Superboy huffed, not looking at all fine.
“I apologize for dropping you,” Maelstrom said politely, “but I had need of the water.”
“I said I’m
fine,
” Lord Superboy snapped, staring at the destroyed pod. “You destroyed it,” he said, sounding surprised.
“You said you didn’t want to go back in, right?” Wally said with a shrug.
“No…” Lord Superboy looked down at his cuffs, setting his jaw stubbornly. “I can’t betray Lord Superman,” he insisted. “He created me. He’s my
father.
I wouldn’t exist without him!”
“That a man is your progenitor gives him no right to command you,” Maelstrom said, dismissing the water shield forcefully.
It struck Wally to wonder if this Kaldur knew that Black Manta was his father.
Probably, going by that comment, and about as happy about it as Kaldur back home… I wonder how he’s doing, with all of that over. Is he back on the Team? Is he taking a break? Is it uncomfortable, with everything he did while he was undercover? I hope Conner, Dick and Roy are standing with him…
“He’s the only family I’ve got,” Lord Superboy said stubbornly.
“Yeah, but…” Flash looked at Wally with an uncomfortable expression on his face. “You said in your world, they had to use human DNA when making the guy you know, right? So he’s not your
only
family,” he told Lord Superboy. “There’s human DNA in you too…”
Probably not Lex Luthor’s, all things considered,
Wally thought, finding his gaze almost magnetically drawn to the burned, broken Lord Batman lying on the table...
Who was awake. And staring blearily at them.
Redbird followed Wally’s gaze, eyes widening when he saw Lord Batman awake. “Bruce!” he gasped, leaning over the table. “Bruce, can you hear me?”
“...Di…?” Lord Batman croaked, staring at Redbird like he thought that blinking would make the younger vigilante disappear. Then he grimaced, screwing his eyes shut, shaking his head. “...No…”
"Bruce!" Redbird called frantically, putting a hand gingerly on Lord Batman’s shoulder. The older man’s eyes flew open in shock at the touch, causing Redbird to swiftly retract his hand.
"Di… ‘s you?" Lord Batman murmured weakly. "No… y’r d’d… so’s…" His fuzzy gaze wandered to Flash. “...
’llen…
?”
“Um, hi,” Flash said, pulling down his cowl. “My name’s Wally. You were, uh… friends with Uncle Barry, right?”
“Are you clones too?” Lord Superboy asked, looking from Flash to Wally in confusion.
“Not exactly,” Wally muttered, “We’ll explain later, I promise.”
“Here,” Maelstrom said, gently redirecting some water up to Lord Batman’s lips for him to drink. “It is a great surprise to see you alive, Lord Batman.”
“We all thought you were dead,” Redbird said quietly. “But you were alive all this time…”
“Same,” Lord Batman said, his voice sounding hoarse but better than it had when he’d woken up. “You’re… alive,” he said, staring at Dick with open awe. “You weren’t… at the Manor?”
“No,” Redbird said, stepping back, his expression blanking. “Alfred was.”
Lord Batman’s eyes flashed for a moment before his expression blanked in
exactly
the same way, his jaw tightening briefly before he had to open his mouth to breathe again.
“If I may,” Maelstrom put in, “why
are
you still alive?”
“He wants... revenge,” Lord Batman said darkly. “Not just... on me. He wants me... to tell him... how to build…” He frowned. “Hard to explain.”
“Wouldn’t be a portal to the reality of the Justice League that took the Justice Lords down, would it?” Wally quipped, stepping up next to Flash. “Because I could kinda use one of those myself, honestly.”
Lord Batman looked from Wally to Flash. “The Justice League... is here?” he asked, looking less startled by Wally’s appearance than Redbird’s.
“I wish,” Wally sighed. “I wound up here through a weird accident. I’d
like
to go home, but I totally understand if you’re not up to portal-building yet.” He grimaced as he looked over Lord Batman’s wounds. “Are these… because you wouldn’t build the portal?” he asked tentatively.
“Clark isn’t... the motivator he once was,” Lord Batman said dryly. “It isn’t just... the portal… he was also making…” His gaze fell on the destroyed pod.
“Clones, yep,” Flash said, nipping over to help Lord Superboy to his feet. “We found him. There aren’t any more locked up around here, are there?”
“No… he destroyed the previous...” Lord Batman said, scowling darkly. “The first few were… unstable. Violent. They fought... he destroyed them. Then he figured out... the instability problem…” He looked down at his mangled arm, confirming Wally’s suspicions.
“So… what, half of this guy’s DNA is…
you
?” Flash asked, looking from Lord Superboy to Lord Batman. “Hey, there you go, man, Lord Superman’s not your only family! Plenty of people have two dads, although not like
this,
I guess…”
“You’re…?” Lord Superboy said, staring at Lord Batman. “Are you my father?”
“Apparently,” Lord Batman murmured, looking Lord Superboy over slowly before looking at Redbird, who was looking at the clone with a conflicted expression. He didn’t say anything, though, so, Lord Batman asked, “Do you... have a name?”
Lord Superboy shook his head. “He said he knows a clone like me named Conner,” he said, looking at Wally.
“Do you want... to be called... Conner?” Lord Batman asked.
Lord Superboy shrugged. “I don’t have a name,” he said. “Conner will do.”
“Okay, Conner,” Lord Batman said. “Do you know why… Lord Superman didn’t... give you a name?” Lord Superboy shook his head. “He’s been waiting... to see if... you’re stable. If the human... DNA works... he wanted to... experiment. Get rid of... weakness to kryptonite… things like that..” Lord Superboy looked down at the kryptonite cuffs on his wrists, which were visibly weakening him. “He didn’t... give you a name... because he... was going to...
destroy
you... once he’d made... something better...”
“No,” Lord Superboy said, shaking his head. “He’s not going to destroy me! I’m his
soldier
! He
trusts
me!”
“Lord Superman... hasn’t trusted anybody... in a very... long time, Conner,” Lord Batman said, a hint of sadness in his voice. “He didn’t... release any of... the other... Justice Lords... because he thought... they’d betray him. Like I did.
He’s
unstable... and has been... for a long time. He filled your head... full of things... that would let him... control you... so he could use you... like a weapon... but you could never... be strong enough... to oppose him... wouldn’t ever... even
think
of it. But you’re... awake now... Conner...” he said, stopping to cough, hacking nastily at all the strain on his throat, blood dribbling from one corner of his mouth.
“Bruce, don’t try to move or talk too much, you’re really hurt,” Redbird said urgently, leaning over him. “We have to get him real medical help,” he said, looking up at Maelstrom.
“Taking him by submarine will take too long,” Maelstrom said, shaking his head. “I fear he will not survive the trip…”
“We could probably run him back,” Flash said, looking at Wally, “but that’d leave you guys without a quick getaway if Lord Superman comes back…”
“Where...
is...
he?” Lord Batman asked hoarsely.
Redbird pulled up his wrist computer again. “Fighting
something
in DC,” he said, looking at Flash and Wally. “This is a livestream. There’s no actual news broadcasts yet--there never are until it’s all over,” he explained at Wally’s confused expression. “Not until Lord Superman has
heroically
saved the day. For a former journalist, he’s not that big on freedom of the press anymore. But so long as there’s nothing on the news, you should have time. If we could just…” He tugged in frustration at one of Lord Batman’s bindings again.
“Let me,” Lord Superboy spoke up, holding up his hands. “I might not be as strong as Lord Superman,” he said bitterly, “but I can break those. I can free him.”
Flash looked at Redbird, raising an eyebrow. “You wanna try it?” he said.
Redbird narrowed his eyes on Lord Superboy. “How do we
know
that, once you’re free, you won’t kill us for Lord Superman?” he asked sharply.
“Guess you don’t,” Lord Superboy admitted. “But right now I want… I want to help.” He looked at Lord Batman with the same lost look Wally’d often seen Superboy give Superman back home.
Given what Bruce Wayne’s like around messed-up kids without a family, he might actually have a better chance than Superboy,
Wally mused. “I say we give him a shot,” he offered. “Every second counts and all. Besides, we got those cuffs on him pretty easily before,” he added. “We can probably cuff him again if he causes a problem, right?”
“He has a point,” Maelstrom said, reaching out to rest a hand on Lord Superboy’s cuffs. “Redbird?” he asked, looking at the powerless vigilante.
Redbird looked at Lord Batman, then nodded. “Alright!” Flash cheered, clapping Lord Superboy on the back as Maelstrom started undoing the handcuffs. Redbird leaned down to take off the cuffs around Lord Superboy’s ankles.
Wally leaned back a moment, taking in the four of them.
Kaldur, Wally and Dick working together to befriend and free Superman’s clone… always the start of
awesome
things,
he thought with a fond grin.
Still, he tensed up a little when Lord Superboy was freed, in case the way Lord Superman had programmed this one was different enough from Cadmus that he
couldn’t
break free of his programming--or in case he was playing them. People often assumed that because Superboy was super-strong and straightforward, he wasn’t particularly bright. Those people were
wildly
, and often painfully, wrong.
The clone shook out his limbs, sighing deeply as colour returned to his face. “Thanks,” he said, rolling his shoulders. “Hey--you kept your promise again,” he said, holding up his newly freed wrists. “Guess I should keep mine.”
“Thank you,” Lord Batman said hoarsely as Lord Superboy reached for the shackles around his ankles.
“Sure,” Lord Superboy mumbled, scowling as his first grip around the metal bands only left finger-shaped dents in them. “Dammit…”
“It’ll take a minute for your strength to come back from kryptonite,” Wally advised. “Sorry we left you in those for so long, but, y’know…”
“I tried to kill you, yeah, I remember,” Lord Superboy said dismissively. He narrowed his eyes, flexed his hands, and grabbed the bands again, this time in tearing the metal away like it was paper. He made quick work of the bands around Lord Batman’s wrists, waist and neck, too. “You okay?” he asked Lord Batman, his hands hovering nervously in the air, as if afraid to touch the injured man.
“Better than... I have been... in a long time,” Lord Batman said, trying to prop himself up on his good arm and then falling back heavily, gasping in pain.
“Lemme go find something to use for a stretcher so we can carry him back,” Wally offered.
“Good idea,” Flash said, looking at the various tubes still plugged into Lord Batman’s arms. “Lemme see what’s safe to disconnect here…”
Wally had noticed a few more open doors off the room they were in, and headed off down one at random. The hallway he found himself in looked like some sort of trophy hall, a bit like the one in the Batcave, but with various items hung on the walls instead of laid out in glass cases--a doll that looked like one of Toyman’s creations, a fragment of circuitry with three connected circles on it, a sheet of paper with an incomprehensible scrawl of consonants on it, the broken-off shoulderplate of some black-and-blue armour…
He stopped short at the sight of an nth-metal mace hanging among the trophies from defeated villains. Another empty brace was hanging next to it.
Flash said he killed both Hawkman and Hawkwoman, right?
Wally remembered, feeling sick.
So I guess that’s for the other mace…
He didn’t want to just leave the mace there--it felt
wrong
, leaving it hanging there with prizes taken from supervillains--but he couldn’t even
budge
the incredibly heavy weapon, so he didn’t have much choice but to leave it. It wasn’t long enough to make part of a stretcher out of, anyway.
He came across another locked door. He contemplated it for a moment, looking from the door to his hands.
Maybe it won’t explode if a vibrate through something not metal?
he wondered.
This isn’t metal, right? It’s like… weird ice or glass or something… can I even vibrate through weird Kryptonian material?
He started vibrating his hand, slowly reaching towards the door, then
through
it. It felt different to going through a metal table, bars or pod, but nothing bad seemed to be happening, so he vibrated all the way through the door before it did.
A second after he stepped into the room on the other side, the door shattered like glass. “Okaaaaaay… same result, different materials,” he muttered, looking around the room that he found himself in. It was a small lab with a cloning pod under construction in the middle of the room. “Nope, no more of
that
,” he muttered. He stole the door and ran his arm through the rest of the pod to destroy it before speeding back to where he’d left the others.
“He was building another pod,” he reported, holding up the door. “I wrecked it. He’s not replacing you any time soon,” he said, looking at Lord Superboy.
“...Thanks?” the clone said, frowning at the door.
Wally zipped up next to Flash, who helped him hold the the metal and glass out flat. “Damn… we’re gonna need some way to secure him on,” he said, looking from Lord Batman to the door. “You kinda don’t look like you could hold onto a thought just now, never mind a door at the speed of sound.”
“Will this help?” Lord Superboy said, taking the door and bending it into a gentle curve. The glass window at the top shattered out, but the rest of the door stayed intact, now a little more like a half-tube than a flat surface. It looked like enough to keep Lord Batman from falling out at high speed, and to give him a little more protection--Wally had carried people while running before and anything he held close enough generally seemed to be safe from whatever protective bubble kept speedsters from being torn apart by the particles in the air, but even with two of them he was concerned about making Lord Batman’s already fragile state worse.
“Uh… yeah, that should work,” Wally said, giving Lord Superboy a thumbs-up.
“Okay… Leslie’s gonna kick your
ass
when they get you back to base,” Redbird said, detaching a few more wires, making the computer console beep angrily at him--until Lord Superboy put his fist through it, making them all jump and stare nervously at the clone until he folded his arms and looked away, almost embarrassed.
“What?” he growled. “It was annoying me.”
“It was indeed annoying,” Maelstrom agreed. Lord Superboy looked a little less irritated.
“Where
is...
your base?” Lord Batman grunted, shaking as Redbird put an arm around his shoulders and Maelstrom picked up his ankles to move him over to the makeshift stretcher. The former Lord Batman had lost a lot of weight and muscle over the past year, but he
was
still pretty tall and in too poor shape to just be lugged around in somebody’s arms.
Redbird didn’t answer the question until they’d set Lord Batman down on the stretcher. “We have… a patron, you could say,” he hedged. “They always figured that since none of the Justice Lords were actually
executed
, as far as we know, there was a risk of them coming back, and even if it was a small risk it had to be prepared for. They’ve been keeping rebel movements worldwide in supplies and any military intel they can get. I won’t say more outside of a
really
secure location.”
“Even
in
a secure location, the only people who know are him and Oracle,” Flash grumbled. “But whoever it is is the reason we’re still here, I guess.”
“Good,” Bruce grunted. Unplugged from whatever the machine had been, he was going from pale to sickly grey, his eyes drifting closed.
“Is he okay?” Lord Superboy asked in concern. “His heartbeat’s getting weaker…”
“Shit,” Flash muttered, shifting his grip so that he was holding his end of the stretcher behind his back. “You ready to go, Kid Flash?”
“Lead the way, Flash,” Wally said, looking at Redbird, who was checking his computer again.
“Lord Superman’s still fighting,” he reported. “
Go
!”
{
Watchtower--Earth-16
}
{
July 28, 06:40 EDT
}
Diana did
not
like the way that Black Canary’s frown was becoming more pronounced as she listened to whatever transmission was coming from the Batcave.
“Beta Team, Gamma Team, convene in the monitor room
now
,” the League’s current chair ordered through the comms before looking around at Superman, Wonder Woman and Aquaman. While Batman and Martian Manhunter were investigating the Lords world and Flash waited in the Batcave with Green Lantern, the three remaining founders had been unable to tear themselves away from the Watchtower as they waited for news. Clark looked deeply ill again--with his hearing, he’d likely heard every word of the transmission to Black Canary. He hadn’t said a word since the first reports had come in indicating that Lord Superman was free and enforcing absolute dominion over the other Earth.
Diana felt the same sickness when she remembered Lady Wonder Woman. She couldn’t help hating the woman, not because she didn’t understand her, but because she
did
, and it turned her stomach. How many times, after dealing with corrupt leaders like Queen Bee, had she thought that the people of the world would be safer if the League could remove such leaders without restriction and instate good ones that cared for their people, like her mother Hippolyta? How much evil they might
prevent
if they only walked into the United Nations, took Lex Luthor away and locked him up, or--?
But they had all seen where such thoughts led. Besides, they were the simple thoughts of a child.
The world would be all better if people did what I say.
Nothing was so simple. They would only replace one evil with another, and forget themselves along the way. Protecting the innocent was a sacred
service
, not a position of privilege to be abused with impunity.
What did the Hippolyta of the other world think of what her daughter had become?
Sometimes, Diana wished that they had never had contact with the Justice Lords’ world, never seen what they could become if things had gone just a little bit wrong. But other times, in her darker moments, Diana found herself grateful for how the fear of becoming Lady Wonder Woman made her think her actions through. Would they have become the Justice Lords themselves, eventually, had they never thought of themselves as beings to be feared?
They’d never really
talked
about it, not the seven of them together. She and Clark had spoken a little, though he hadn’t wanted to talk about it beyond asking for her word that she’d never let him off the hook if he
did
resort to killing. She’d spoken a little more to Bruce--it had been the first time that knowing that he had
just in case
plans to take down everyone else in the League was reassuring, rather than frustrating. He was just as recalcitrant as Clark, although unlike Clark that wasn’t unusual for him, but had
had
told her the combination to one of the vaults where he kept kryptonite, should it ever be needed. Bruce had even sounded openly worried when he told her that Clark had all but
begged
him not to hold back on using kryptonite if needs be.
Always holding the weight of the world on your shoulders,
Diana thought, watching the way those powerful shoulders tensed as Black Canary ended the conversation.
Now you carry the weight of another man’s sins--of
all
of their sins, as if it were all
your
fault and yours alone.
She wished, more keenly than ever, that they
had
all talked about it, but there’d never been a right time--probably never would be, with how complicated the situation had been for all of them.
But this wasn’t just about the seven of them anymore.
“Is there word of Kid Flash?” Orin asked urgently.
“They made a contact who knows where to find the Rebellion against Lord Superman, which they’ve gathered consists mostly of survivors of the Justice League that formed after the Justice Lords were destroyed,” Black Canary explained, putting her hands on her hips. “Supposedly the Rebellion recently got a second Flash. It could be him, but we can’t really know for certain until we actually make contact with him. But the contact’s refused to give up any information on how to communicate with the Rebellion until Lord Superman’s taken down. As for finding Lord Superman, supposedly he’s fighting something in DC as we speak.” Hawkman, Hawkwoman, Icon, John Stewart, Captain Atom and Doctor Fate all entered the room as Black Canary spoke; the League’s heaviest hitters were, along with the Founders, forming up the Beta and Gamma teams. Superboy, Wonder Girl, Rocket, Zatanna and Aqualad were not far behind, as they would be fighting alongside their mentors. Most of the rest of the Team would be in Delta Team, intended to deploy the second they had a location on Kid Flash.
Clark’s grip on his tightly folded arms only grew tighter. “We’d have to stop him anyway,” he said.
“We will,” Diana said, putting a hand on her friend’s arm. “We defeated the Justice Lords before, when we had five to fight. If there is only Lord Superman, victory is already ours.”
“It might not be that easy,” Black Canary cautioned. “I said
survivors
of their Justice League. Sounds like Lord Superman killed a
lot
of them. Either he’s a lot stronger than our Superman, or…”
“Or he just doesn’t hold back,” Superman said grimly. “I won’t either, if that’s what it takes to stop him killing anybody else.”
“Let us get a hit in, at least,” Hawkwoman said, tapping her mace in her hand with a bloodthirsty smile. “Don’t hog the best opponent!” Her husband bore the same bloodthirsty grin as he slung his own mace over his shoulder.
“Delta Team, report for debrief,” Black Canary said into her comms. “Beta, Gamma--you know what to do.”
“I’m still not happy about this,” Captain Atom said, side-eyeing Diana, Clark and Orin as they headed for the zeta tubes.
“You wanna go fight a Superman without
our
Superman with us?” John Stewart asked him. Captain Atom just grimaced. “Yeah, I thought so.”
“Beta Team will go in first--Gamma, follow but hang back,” Diana said. She, Clark, Hawkman, Hawkwoman, Superboy, Wonder Girl and Wolf were Beta; Icon would be leading the rest in Gamma. The teams were arranged so that those who were best at up-close combat went in first, and if they weren’t able to handle Lord Superman, the second wave would be ranged attackers. If those teams between them couldn’t stop Lord Superman--it seemed like an unlikely possibility, but it had to be planned for--it would be up to Black Canary to decide whether to deploy the remaining Leaguers offensively, as search and rescue, or to shut down the portal completely. Diana did not envy her the position, nor the current burdens of leadership on the younger woman’s shoulders.
“We’ll follow in three minutes,” Icon said, raising a hand to halt Gamma Team as Beta headed through the zeta tubes, coming out in a dilapidated underground car park in Gotham.
“Is it still July?” Cassie said with a frown as they crept towards the surface exit of the car park. “Shouldn’t the sun be up by now?”
“Ominous cloud cover’s year-round weather in Gotham,” Superboy said, rolling his eyes.
“It’ll cover us on the way to the Batcave, anyway,” Diana said. “It’s best if we aren’t seen. Follow us.” She looped her lasso around Wolf’s middle to pick up the massive canine and flew into the air as Clark picked up Superboy and followed, the Hawks and Wonder Girl close behind.
“I can’t believe we’re gonna get to see the
real
Batcave,” Cassie squealed as they shot high into the air, above the tops of the highest building, hopefully high enough that they’d be taken as no more than a flock of birds or a plane as they flew over the city. “Batgirl always complains that it’s gloomy, but it’s also one of the oldest superhero hideouts still in use, y’know? It sounds
so cool
!”
“We will not have time to be tourists, little sister,” Diana cautioned her. “We have very urgent work to do.”
Perhaps there will be a
little
time to look,
she thought to herself, watching the crammed buildings below give way to more spaced-out manors and estates as they reached the more affluent end of the city, with the vast grounds of Wayne Manor rapidly approaching.
Perhaps I ought to visit Bruce’s vault before we go…
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
{Bludhaven--Earth-128}
{July 28, 06:50 EDT}
“Access, Flash!” Flash said as soon as they were inside the shipping container, before the door had even fully closed behind them. Somebody inside must have seen them coming and provided secondary authorization, because a moment later the elevator was descending. Wally couldn’t help tapping his foot rapidly on the floor as it lowered, feeling agonizingly slow. Lord Batman was fully unconscious again, and the unpleasant wheezing sound when he breathed was the only indication he was breathing at all.
“C’mon, c’mon,” Wally muttered as the doors slid up towards them. “C’mooooonnnnn…”
“Ugh, I know,” Flash said, looking over his shoulder with a worried frown. “God… can’t believe he’s actually been
alive
all this time,” he mumbled. “Don’t know how people are gonna feel about us bringing a former Justice Lord in here…”
“Not that he’s all that dangerous just now,” Wally pointed out just as the doors opened and they headed for the medbay, barely avoiding crashing into corners as they went just a little too fast through the hallways.
Then again, Lord Superman was scared enough of him to weld him to a table when he had nothing on him but a pair of black briefs and a shitton of injuries
, Wally thought, gasping as Flash stopped so suddenly in the medical wing that the back of the stretcher slammed into his stomach.
“Sorry,” Flash mumbled as Dr Thompkins and Dr Holt ran over.
“Redbird messaged and said you were bringing a patient, but he didn’t say--oh my god,” Dr Thompkins gasped, coming to an abrupt halt and staring in horror at the man on the stretcher. “Get him into surgery
now
!!”
“Those burns are
awful
,” Dr Holt said, directing them towards a surgery while Dr Thompkins started directing nursing assistants to prep equipment. “Have these been treated at
all
? Here,” he added, gesturing a nurse over so they could move Lord Batman onto the table. “Go junk that stretcher,” he ordered, pointing at the door out of surgery as another nurse handed him some surgical gloves. “Then go check in with Oracle. I think she wanted to speak to you as soon as you got in.”
“Sure,” Flash said, stepping aside to let a tight-lipped Dr Thompkins into the room before he and Wally headed out. A few seconds later, after they’d dropped off the broken door in the hangar, they were in the monitor room, where it seemed like every person in the base who wasn’t on the medical team was gathered, watching a shaky camera feed that was filling the largest screen over the centre console.
“Hey, yellow Flash,” a voice said, tapping Wally’s shoulder.
“Yeah babe?” Wally said automatically, grinning as he spun around, only realizing his mistake when he saw the expression on Tigress’ face. She wasn’t wearing her mask, so he could see the way she narrowed her eyes on him, one hand going to the crossbow hanging on her belt as she stepped back from him a little.
“Is it true you’re from another reality?” she asked suspiciously.
“Um, yeah,” Wally said, folding his hands behind his back. He didn’t like knowing that he’d creeped her out, which he felt showed a lot of personal growth from his teenage years.
“
Really
?” she said, looking
extremely
doubtful.
“Weird, I know,” Flash said, pulling his cowl down and slinging an arm over Wally’s shoulders, “but we definitely aren’t
twins
.”
“Huh.” Tigress just looked down at her phone, texting rapidly.
“What are you doing?” Lois Lane said, detaching herself from a computer console and walking over to Tigress.
“Cat wanted to know if he’s really from another world,” Tigress said, pointedly stepping out of Lois’ reach and sending the message before showing it to her. “And before you say anything, Voice, yes,
obviously
it’s thoroughly encrypted. Like Cat would let any of us use anything Bluebird hadn’t played with first.”
“Cat? Bluebird?” Wally said, looking in confusion at Flash.
“Why’s Catwoman asking after him?” Flash said, pointing at Wally.
“Dunno, she didn’t say,” Tigress said, pocketing her phone and heading over to her sister, who was eying Wally with an expression that suggested he should probably check his bunk for poisoned needles before going to sleep tonight.
“Anyway, what’s going on in DC?” Flash asked, turning to Lois. “Redbird said Lord Superman was fighting something there?” He gestured to the screen, where a shaky, low-res video showed Lord Superman using an indistinct weapon to viciously pummel some kind of golden shield before being blasted away in a barrage of green and blue energy beams. Several of the people crowded into the room cheered.
“A magic user, we think,” Lois said grimly. “He’s definitely using an nth-metal mace, so it looks like the team we sent to keep him busy got there just in time.”
“Any enemy of Lord Superman’s is a friend of ours,” Owl added. He was sitting at one of the desks, working kryptonite tips into a line of crossbow bolts. “Besides, some people were chomping at the bit to try out their new kryptonite weapons. What happened at the Fortress of Solitude, anyway?” he asked, glancing up. “Redbird’s message said something about a clone…?”
“FLASHES!” Oracle yelled. “You’re back! Get over here!”
“Never mind, tell me later,” Owl said, gesturing them towards Oracle, who was craning over the back of her chair with a worried look. Onscreen, Rocket was dragging the downed magic user out of the way in a purple shield while Blue Beetle and Icon kept Lord Superman pinned down in a hail of blue lasers. The Kryptonian had his arms up to shield himself; Icon’s energy blasts didn’t seem to be actually hurting him, but it seemed like the Scarab had successfully “incorporated” some kryptonite into its system, because Blue Beetle’s green shots were leaving burns on the kryptonian’s arms.
“Do you want us to head there?” Flash asked as they sped through the crowd and wound up next to her chair.
“Maybe. What’s the situation in the Fortress of Solitude?” Oracle asked. “What’s this about a clone? And is the prisoner you found really…?”
“The artist formerly known as Lord Batman? Yeah,” Flash said grimly. “He’s in bad shape. Lord Superman’s been trying to get him to rebuild the portal back to his world.” He gestured to Wally.
“I mean, nice to know he
can
send me home at some point,” Wally said, looking up at the screen, “but we’ve
gotta
stop Lord Superman first. I don’t want that one-man-army loose on my world, y’know?”
“He’s been alive all this time…” Oracle murmured, all the colour draining from her face. “And Lord Superman was…” She shook her head. “So, clones?”
“A clone, singular,” Flash corrected her. “I mean, according to Lord Batman, there
were
other clones, but the first few Lord Superman tried to make were unstable maniacs even compared to
him,
so he destroyed them. The one we met is stable, though he doesn’t have all of Lord Superman’s powers. Also his name’s Conner now, I think…”
“Kryptonian DNA’s notoriously unstable when cloned,” Wally explained. “On our world, a stable Superman clone was only made when they patched up the instabilities with human DNA. Back home, Cadmus did it with Lex Luthor’s DNA, but I’m pretty sure Lord Superman used Lord Batman’s, as the main ready supply of human DNA to hand. I mean, he’d better be the other dad,” he added sheepishly, “because I kinda told the clone as much to get him to help us break out Lord Batman--he was kinda welded to a table.”
“You
teamed up
with a clone of
Lord Superman
?!” Oracle demanded, her eyes flashing angrily. “And then you
left
Redbird and Maelstrom with it?!”
“Him,” Flash and Wally chorused, earning a truly vicious Bat-glare in response. “Hey, they’ve got the kryptonite cuffs and weapons too,” Flash pointed out, “and he was uncuffed for a while without hurting any of us before we left. Lord Superman tried to sort of… program him for loyalty, but KF here and Lord Batman talked him around.”
“If he’s anything like the Superboy at home, his programming gets him pretty strongly, but what he really
wants
is family,” Wally said with a shrug. “When he talked up Lord Superman as his creator, I figured pointing out where the other half of his DNA came from would get him onside--”
A loud cheer suddenly rose up around them. “They
got
‘im!” Karen shrieked excitedly, throwing her arms around Mal. Oracle spun around to look back up at the screen. Lord Superman was kneeling on the ground, clutching his leg.
Even on the shaky, low-res footage, the glint of green sticking out of Lord Superman’s calf was easy to see.
Lord Superman jerked forwards abruptly, arrows peppering his back. Wally winced, even as more cheers erupted behind him. He’d
seen
what Lord Superman had done to Lord Batman, heard endless stories about all the horrors he’d committed, but still…
hearing about it isn’t the same of living with it,
he thought, seeing the excitement on most of the faces around him. Even Flash looked more relieved than anything else.
Until Lord Superman turned, the blast of heat vision so intense that the video was nothing but white for several seconds, then dark as the camera overcorrected for the sudden high light level. The audio was still fine, though, and they could hear the person filming ecstatically yell, “I think he got ‘im! Lord Superman got the bastard! He’s
down
!”
“What the hell did you
do
?” Cheshire yelled furiously, cutting through the sudden deathly silence that had fallen. Wally turned just in time to see Tigress grab her sister as she leapt at Owl, though Cheshire’s furiously kicking foot still knocked the kid off his chair.
“HEY!” Oracle yelled furiously. The crowd quickly parted to let her roll through, putting herself between Owl and Cheshire. “What the hell’s your problem?!”
“You saw it! He had a back full of kryptonite arrows and he could use his goddamn heat vision!” Cheshire snarled, gesturing to the screen where, with a flick of his cape, Lord Superman knocked the arrows out of his back. He seemed to be struggling more with whatever was stuck in his leg, however. “
He
made those arrows! What the fuck did you
do
?!”
“The arrows
are
kryptonite tipped!” Owl yelled defensively. “I don’t know what went wrong--”
The video blurred frantically for several seconds before refocusing on a domed purple shield that shattered under a single blow from Lord Superman’s fist. Before he could land another blow, a bright red blur slammed into him, knocking him back and into the rubble of the Hall of Justice. The red blur stopped in front of the two dark figures that had been crouched under the purple shield with Rocket as Icon and Blue Beetle flew over to join them.
“Honey?” Iris said, looking from Flash, to Wally, to the
other
Flash on the screen.
“Not me,” Flash said, staring wide-eyed at Wally. Wally couldn’t tear his eyes away from the screen as Lord Superman started to fly towards the onscreen Flash, before being knocked aside again, this time by a blur of red and blue.
“Oh my god,” Lois gasped as Superman and Lord Superman started duking it out.
“Kid Flash,” Oracle said sharply. He tore his gaze away to see her staring intently at him. “Go,” she said simply. “And Flash?” she said, looking past him. “Get back to the Fortress and…”
Wally didn’t hear what else, because he was already out the door and accelerating.
{
Gotham--Earth-128
}
{
July 28, 06:49 EDT
}
“God
dammit
,” Batman growled as a red blur shot out of the portal and through the fallen rocks that blocked the main way out of the cave. He glared at Hal Jordan as the Lantern flew through the portal. “Jordan…”
“It’s not his fault,” Superman said, coming out of the portal. Superboy, Wonder Woman, Wonder Girl, Hawkman and Hawkwoman were quick to follow. “I mentioned we were heading for DC.”
“To fight Lord Superman, not because that’s where Kid Flash is,” Wonder Woman sighed, “not that Flash listened… we’d better get after him.”
“There’s an opening over there,” Batman said, pointing towards a rope dangling from the ceiling. He’d gotten some of the lights in Lord Batman’s Batcave working again, so the rope Steph used to get in and out of the Cave was visible--not that any of them needed it, as Superman picked up Superboy before flying out, with Wonder Woman, Wonder Girl, Hawkman and Hawkwoman close behind, Wonder Woman carrying Wolf. “Hold it,” Batman said, grabbing Hal Jordan by the ankle as the Green Lantern started to fly after them. “We need to go meet up with the Martians, Batgirl and Robin.”
“You could just
say
hold it,” Jordan grumbled, shaking his foot when Batman let go of it.
“We goin’ to DC after?” Bumblebee as as she and Atom shrank and hopped onto Batman’s shoulder.
“
We
might be,” Batman said, gesturing to Hal Jordan. “You two need to go back through, close the portal and move it. It won’t be long before Lord Superman realizes that a portal’s been opened--in fact, he probably already does, at Flash’s speed. The Batcave is the first place he’ll look when he gets the chance.”
“Good point,” Atom said, hopping off of Batman’s shoulder and returning to full size on the way. “Where should we move it to?”
“You decide,” Batman told him sternly. “Or Black Canary.
After
you’re over there. The important thing is that
nobody
on this side should know where to find it.”
“So we can’t tell the Justice Lords if we get caught,” Jordan said quietly as Atom walked through the portal.
“You’d
better
not,” Bumblebee threatened, flying through the portal after her mentor.
Batman waited until the yellow light flickered and vanished before turning to Jordan. “They’re in the East End,” he said. The Green Lantern nodded, picking Batman up in a bubble of green light as they flew out of the now-empty Batcave.
The fallen Batcave had been unsettling enough, but even though he’d had time to prepare himself for it, the sight of the ash and rubble where Wayne Manor should be was even worse. “Son of a bitch,” Jordan muttered, looking aroun. “I take back anything I ever said about Gotham looking terrible back home.”
“Turn down the glow,” was all Batman said, eyes trained on where the Gotham skyline should have been. Even with the distance between Wayne Manor and the bulk of the city, the devastation was already visible, and only got worse as they flew closer.
“
Batman. Green Lantern,
” Martian Manhunter greeted them psychically as he got into range. “
I apologize for the brevity of my transmission before. Huntress and Catwoman expressed a quite vehement concern that Lord Superman can hear radio transmissions.
”
“
Understandable,
” Batman replied mentally. Jordan shifted their flight path a little, following the slight tug of the martian’s telepathy. “
We informed the League that we may have a lead on Kid Flash and that Lord Superman is currently engaged in combat in DC. A team is already on their way to combat him.
” He pointed downwards. “There,” he said aloud to Jordan, recognizing Batgirl and Robin among a group of hooded figures waiting on top of the ruins of a community centre that Batman was pretty sure he funded in his own world.
As Jordan brought them to landing, Batman noticed that two of the hooded figures were Martian Manhunter and Miss Martian, still wearing their human faces, and another was Steph, who twitched nervously but didn’t move. The other two figures did, stepping back and raising weapons defensively. Batman didn’t recognize the tall woman in dark purple who pointed a crossbow at him, but he
did
recognize Selina Kyle standing next to her, even wearing a more shapeless black hood rather than her usual distinctive cat-eared mask.
“Hey, it’s okay!” Miss Martian said quickly, turning to the woman with the crossbow. “They aren’t Justice Lords! They’re
our
League!”
“Martian Manhunter, Miss Martian, go on ahead to DC,” Batman ordered. “A team’s already gone to engage Lord Superman, but the sooner we can end this, the better.”
“Of course,” Martian Manhunter said as he and his niece shifted to their green humanoid forms and flew away.
“You didn’t tell us they were
martians,
Spoils,” Catwoman said, looking at the smaller figure in purple.
“Um, yeah…” Steph said uncomfortably. “I kinda thought it might… freak you out?”
“I sure as hell wouldn’t have brought them here if I knew!” Huntress said angrily. “Catwoman, we should move the black market stuff
now
--”
“The League is going to be moving the portal to our world, but if Lord Superman gets away, this is the first place he’ll look,” Batman said, “so you should spread the word and get as many people as possible who are left in the city
out
of it. We don’t intend to let him get away this time, but if we do and he comes after Gotham again…” He gestured to the ruined buildings and cracked streets.
“Be prepared and minimize the civilian casualties, hmmm?” Catwoman murmured. “
Just
like he used to be… Huntress, Spoils, get the word out,” she ordered sharply. “
Go
. Head west, do
not
head for Bludhaven!”
“Why not Bludhaven?” Batgirl asked.
Catwoman shooed Huntress and Steph away before turning back to him, arms folded. “Well, you’re keeping up your end of the bargain, marching off to fight Lord Superman and everything,” she said, tapping her fingers. “So I suppose I’ll tell you that the last I heard, the Rebellion was in Bludhaven now. I don’t know exactly where, but trust me…” She nodded at Batgirl. “Once you’re there, Oracle will find
you
.”
“Bludhaven’s close enough that we can get there ourselves to make contact,” Batman said, looking at Jordan. “Go to DC. I know you want to be there to back up Flash. Do
not
say anything about Bludhaven.”
“Gotcha,” Jordan said, tapping his ear before flying off in a burst of green light. Batgirl and Robin pulled out their grapple guns.
“Thank you,” Batman said, looking back to Catwoman, who was suddenly standing
very
close.
“Don’t mention it,” she purred, laying a hand on his shoulder and leaning up to press her lips to his.
She even tastes the same,
he caught himself thinking before she pulled away and whispered, “just put him down for
good
this time.” She patted his shoulder before brushing past him, heading through the roof access door that Huntress and Steph had disappeared down.
“You think she misses this world’s Batman?” Robin said. Batman ignored him, and the way Batgirl laughed, focused on finding a relatively stable-looking building and grappling away.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
{
Washington, DC--Earth-128}
{July 28, 07:01 EDT}
Wally had never slipped into relative time the way Uncle Barry sometimes did--he wasn’t fast enough--but he thought that it probably felt like what came over him as he vaulted the rubble of the Hall of Justice, taking in the scene before him. It was like time froze to give him time to process it all.
Superman and Lord Superman were fighting in mid-air, striking at each other with powerful fists, an nth-metal mace dangling from Lord Superman’s belt. Wally felt a surge of joy at the sight of a familiar figure in a black Superman shirt on the ground below them, Wolf at his side, glowering up at the two full-blooded Kryptonians locked in combat above them.
Superboy!
My
bro Conner! It’s really him!
Though he was watching Superman fight, Superboy was carrying the unconscious figure of Doctor Fate--
that explains the golden light, then
--and seemed to be headed towards the alternate Icon and Blue Beetle, who were both hovering over alternate-Rocket as she cast a purple shield that was lifting up Bluejay and Speedy. There was a
lot
of blood dripping from them, though Wally couldn’t tell which of the powerless heroes was injured, if not both. alternate-Icon was standing protectively over Rocket, and, in front of them, standing between the group of rebels and the battling Kryptonians, was--
“Tell me you’re Uncle Barry,” Wally exclaimed, skidding to a halt in front of the Flash.
“Kid!” Flash yelled joyously, immediately grabbing Wally and swinging him off his feet in a hug. “You’re alive! Oh, thank god--”
“U--” Wally began, unable to really talk with how tightly his uncle was hugging him, but it definitely sounded like Uncle Barry’s voice and felt like one of Uncle Barry’s hugs, so Wally didn’t really care. He could have melted right there with sheer
relief
.
“WALLY!” he heard Superboy yell as the ran over to them, Doctor Fate hanging limp and bloodied in his arms. Wolf barked happily as he ran past Conner and bowled over Wally and Uncle Barry both, licking Wally’s face enthusiastically.
“Missed you too,” Wally coughed, petting what he could reach of Wolf’s snout.
“Can you hug
later
?!” Bluejay yelled. “WATCH OUT!”
“Wh--” Superboy turned just in time for Superman to slam into him
hard
, thrown full-force by Lord Superman. The clone dropped Doctor Fate as he and Superman were knocked all the way into the treeline, leaving a deep gouge in the earth behind them.
“That’s not good,” Uncle Barry hissed, scrambling to his feet and pulling up Wally with him, putting himself in front of his nephew as Lord Superman flew towards them, knocking Wolf aside with a powerful blow when the gigantic canine tried to bite him.
This is the first time I’ve gotten a real look at him
, Wally thought in a detached way as Uncle Barry pulled him at superspeed out of the way of a bone-crushing punch. Lord Superman didn’t really look at all like Superman, despite having the same blue eyes, the same almost cartoonishly strong jaw, the same black hair with the famous spit-curl…
But Superman had never
grinned
like that. Like he was
enjoying
trying to kill them. It twisted his whole expression away from anything remotely recognizable as the Man of Steel, one of Earth’s greatest heroes.
The malicious grin turned into a wide-eyed gasp as a golden lasso looped around his neck, jerking him sharply away from the speedsters. “HAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” Wonder Woman roared as she landed, planting her feet and putting her whole body into swinging Lord Superman around, away from them and into the rubble of the Hall.
“What a
swing
!” Wonder Girl cheered as she landed next to Wally and Uncle Barry. “Ohmigod, Kid Flash, is that really
you
?”
“Live and in person,” Wally said, zipping over to check on Doctor Fate. He was a little thrown to realize that this wasn’t exactly the Doctor Fate that was currently on the League back home--it was a woman, with long black hair spilling out from underneath the now somewhat dented helmet.
Me-Flash did say Zatara was killed, right? So does this mean this is Zatanna? She put on the helmet here too, and this time Fate didn’t let her go...
“She ain’t lookin’ good,” alternate-Blue Beetle said, flying over next to him. “Scarab says her magic’s tryin’ to heal her, but somethin’s wrong. Think we should get her outta here,
ese
?”
“Seems like a good time for a tactical retreat,” Wally agreed, looking up as Wonder Woman cried out. Lord Superman had gotten to his feet, grabbed the lasso still looped around his neck and
pulled
, yanking Wonder Woman towards him--or rather, his fist, pulling her into an agonizing gut blow that sent her flying back, knocking Hawkman out of the air just as he and Hawkwoman were flying into battle.
“We’ll handle him!” Superboy yelled, landing next to Wally as Superman shot by overhead. “A second team’s on the way to back us up! Get the injured out of here!”
“Will do,” Wally said. Superboy abruptly threw an arm around his neck, crushing Wally to his chest. “Whoa!”
“I’m glad you’re alive,” Superboy said gruffly, before letting Wally go and leaping into the fray as Lord Superman swung Wonder Girl over his head. Learning from what happened to her mentor, Wonder Girl let go of her lasso in midair and corrected her flight path, shooting back to punch Lord Superman at the same time that Superboy, Superman and Wonder Woman all came at him. Lord Superman blocked Wonder Girl and threw her into Superboy, ducking Superman’s punch in the process, but he couldn’t dodge Wonder Woman’s vengeful right hook to the ribs. As soon as he was on the ground, Wolf was on him, catching one of Lord Superman’s arms in his powerful jaws and worrying at it before being kicked back with a pitiful yelp.
“C’mon, Kid,” Uncle Barry said, stooping to grab the alternate Doctor Fate. “Guessing this isn’t Zatara,” he added with a grimace.
“Nah, turns out he’s dead here,” Wally said as they followed alternate-Blue Beetle and the rest of the rebels as they fled into the treeline. Uncle Barry’s grimace only deepened.
“Jet’s not far from here,” alternate-Rocket told them. “Those other guys… they from your world, Kid Flash? Think they can keep Lord Superman busy?”
“Yeah,” Wally said, unable to keep from grinning. “And believe me--they’ll do more than keep him busy.”
“Then let’s get Speedy and the magic user back to base for medical treatment,” alternate-Icon said sternly, pointing at the jet as it became visible through the trees ahead of them. Wally hadn’t taken more than three steps before the ground shook violently under his feet.
“Earthquake!” Uncle Barry yelled, dodging a falling tree as the earth began to crack under their feet. Wally’s senses sped up again as he ran across the breaking ground, looking for solid footholds and avoiding the spreading splits. Trees collapsed all around them and, ahead, the jet vanished into a chasm that opened up in the earth.
“
That’s
not good!” alternate-Blue Beetle yelled. “Guys, Scarab says the fighting back there’s causin’ the earthquake!”
“Icon, take Doctor Fate!” Uncle Barry shouted, holding up the unconscious Lord of Fate. “You and Rocket fly back to your base! Blue Beetle, gonna need your help!”
“What with?” Blue Beetle asked in surprise as Icon swooped low enough to pick up Doctor Fate.
“The city’s in danger from these earthquakes! We need your Scarab to scan for buildings that are in danger of collapsing and direct us!” Uncle Barry said, ramping off a broken piece of earth and pointing in the direction of Washington, DC. Already Wally could see cars that had crashed into each other or slid off the road as the ground shook. “Can you tap into our comms?”
Alternate-Blue Beetle looked at alternate-Icon, who nodded, before he and alternate-Rocket flew off with their patients. “Uhhh, maybe?” alternate-Blue Beetle called, looking down at the Flashes. “We don’t use comms,
ese
! Lord Superman can hear ‘em!”
“He seems pretty busy just now!” Wally yelled as the earth shook again. “C’mon! We’ve got civilians in danger and it looks like you’re short a sidekick, Flash,” he added, grinning at his uncle.
“I suppose you’ll do as a stand-in until my grandson gets here,” Uncle Barry shot back, sticking his tongue out like the mature adult that he was.
“
Grandson?! Wait, how old are you
?!” alternate-Blue Beetle asked, successfully tapping into their comms. Uncle Barry didn’t answer, he and Wally pouring everything into outrunning the tremors.
{
Mount Justice--Earth-16}
{July 28, 07:16 AST}
“C’mon c’mon
c’mooooooon,
” Bart whined, tapping his foot at high speed as Atom and Bumblebee connected the portal generator to Mount Justice’s power cells. Flying the portal generator from Gotham to Happy Harbour in the bioship hadn’t taken long--Batman had,
of course
, built it to make it easy to move--but they’d had to plug it in twice after choosing Mount Justice as the new portal site. They’d spent a while picking a spot in the destroyed mountain that would still be open in the intact Mount Justice base, if it was still intact in the Lords timeline; they’d already dug out connections to the buried power core before anybody thought to ask Aquaman if he knew for certain that Mount Justice had even been hollowed out into a base at
all
in the Justice Lords timeline. After the King of Atlantis had acknowledged that, while they’d been to the Batcave, Arkham and the Watchtower, they hadn’t seen Mount Justice, Black Canary decided that, for safety’s sake, it was best to move the portal further down the exterior of the mountain.
“Not all of us can phase through solid rock,” Nightwing said, squeezing the hyperactive young speedster’s shoulder. In truth, he could relate to how Bart was feeling--Dick also felt about ready to jump out of his own skin, knowing that Wally was alive and
just on the other side of that gateway
--but telling the kid to calm down helped Dick pretend that
he
was calm and patient. “Besides, if they set that up wrong--”
“Looks fine, all the settings are the same as when we set it up the way Batman said, it worked then, let’s
go
!” Bart insisted. Nightwing pulled his hand back as the speedster’s nervous vibrations made his hand phase
through
the younger hero’s shoulder.
“Kid Flash,” Black Canary called. Bart ignored her, continuing to vibrate slightly and stare at the portal. “
Bart!
” she called sharply, this time catching his attention. “Repeat the plan for me,” she said sternly.
“Gamma team goes to DC to help fight evil Superman, Delta’s headed after BatmanBatgirlandRobintoBludhaventofindtheantievilSupermanclubthatWallymightbewith,” Bart immediately rattled off, words starting to blur together in his haste.
“And what team are you?” Black Canary prompted.
“Delta,” Bart responded.
“Which means you
stay with
Delta instead of running off like Flash,” Black Canary said sharply.
“Don’t worry,” Artemis said, putting her hands on her hips. “I am
not
letting
this
Kid Flash out of my sight.” Bart stopped jittering with a slightly guilty look.
“Alright, here we go!” Bumblebee called as the portal powered up, bright yellow light building in the middle of the machinery.
“Readings look stable!” Atom called. “I just need to test it--”
“Allow me,” Captain Atom said, stepping up to the portal. Black Canary gave a nod of approval and the atomic hero stepped forwards, vanishing into the light.
He returned only seconds later. “All clear,” he reported.
“Gamma Team, go!” Black Canary ordered. Aquaman, Aqualad, Lagoon Boy and Zatanna went running through the portal, with Icon, Rocket, John Stewart, Captain Marvel and Doctor Fate flying after them. “Bumblebee, go through with Delta but wait immediately on the other side,” the League Chair continued, turning to Karen. “If you get an order to close the portal, or if anything happens, come back through and let us know and we’ll close it.”
“Understood,” Karen said with a nod, kissing Mal on the cheek before shrinking down and flying through the portal.
“Ready, Delta?” Mal said, pulling his helmet down and looking over the team that he’d be leading to find Wally--Nightwing, Artemis, Kid Flash, Beast Boy, Blue Beetle and Red Arrow.
Sphere rolled up and beeped at them. “Sounds like Sphere’s ready too,” Nightwing said, affectionately stroking the living machine, who beeped happily at him.
“Good luck,” Green Arrow said, squeezing Artemis’ shoulder and nodding at Red Arrow before stepping back to watch Delta go through the portal.
It was disorienting, going from looking at the ruins of Mount Justice to looking at the more familiar shape of the intact mountain. Otherwise, nothing was different at all, though the distant green glow of Gamma’s Green Lantern flying with a green bubble full of non-flying teammates was still faintly visible.
Their comms crackled for a moment, then Hawkwoman’s tense voice came through. “.
..stop using the comms. Lord Superman can hear you. Get moving--six against one is
not
a fair fight, and not for the usual reasons.
”
“
Radio silence as much as possible, then,
” Aquaman ordered Gamma.
“You heard ‘em,” Mal said, petting Sphere, who unfolded into the S-Cycle. “Stay off the comms. All aboard for Bludhaven?”
“Whoa… you feel that?” Nightwing asked as the ground shuddered. “Was that an earthquake?”
“I didn’t think you got earthquakes in Rhode Island,” Red Arrow said, frowning more than usual as he jumped into one of the seats in the S-Cycle. Artemis climbed up next to him, then Beast Boy turned into a falcon and perched on her shoulder.
“Well, it
was
only a small one,” Mal said, climbing into the other seat with Nightwing hopping in next to him. “Whatever that’s about, though, it probably ain’t good.”
“Weird weather later, rebellion now!” Bart said, winding up to start running. Blue Beetle plucked the hyperactive speedster off the ground, starting to fly in the direction of Bludhaven. Bart just looped his arms around Jaime’s neck and hung on instead of trying to escape his grip and run.
“...How long has
that
been a thing?” Dick asked Artemis as Blue Beetle took off, the S-cycle close behind. “Jaime and Bart?”
“Oh, not yet,” Artemis said, her eye-roll very visible under her mask. “Jaime’s just gotten used to how touchy-feely Bart is and doesn’t seem to have noticed that the kid’s
more
touchy-feely with him than anybody else. Don’t say anything--I have twenty dollars on Jaime not figuring anything out until Bart breaks down and kisses him.”
“You’re pretty fond of Bart, huh?” Dick said quietly. He still wasn’t used to seeing the kid in Wally’s old colours, himself, though he knew he had only his own long absence from the Team to blame for that.
“Yeah… at first it was… weird,” Artemis replied, gesturing vaguely in the direction of Blue Beetle and the former Impulse. “Seeing him in that uniform, hearing that codename… it hurt. But he’s insecure as hell about picking up Wally’s legacy… reminded me of Jason, really, except for the language he used.” Dick chuckled, even through the spark of pain that always accompanied any memory of the second Robin--of his
little brother.
“Couldn’t bring myself to do anything except support him. It’s hard not to be fond of the little punk, really, once you get to know him.”
“Fond of?” Mal snorted. “She’s downright
overprotective.
Shoulda seen what she did to this thug workin’ for Brick that got in a lucky shot--”
“Shut up, he
shot
at a
kid,
he deserved what he got,” Artemis snapped.
I know the feeling,
Dick thought ruefully.
But it’s about to get a lot easier, Artemis. We’re getting Wally
back.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
{
Washington, DC--Earth-128}
{July 28, 07:10 EDT}
Thanagarians were a warrior race, and though it had been a long time since they’d lived on Thanagar, Shayera Thal and Katar Hol took pride in that. They believed that the best way to truly know a person was to fight them, and that was why any new members of the Justice League often found themselves sought out and challenged to spar by one or both of the Hawks within their first couple of weeks. The only real sticking point, for Shayera, was Superman; she’d sparred with him alone or with her husband more times than she could count, and
every single time
, he held back. No matter where they fought, no matter how much the Hawks goaded him and pushed him to fight as hard as he could, Superman
never
gave them a real fight. Even when he let go a little, Shayera could tell that the Man of Steel was holding back.
She’d never
imagined
just how much.
Wonder Woman was punched into the ground so hard that her boots were likely brushing the realm of her Hades. Even missed punches from Lord Superman created massive splits in the earth that had already decimated most of the trees around them and what was left of the Hall of Justice. Superman pulled half of a gigantic, gleaming statue of Lord Superman out of the ruins and threw it at the Justice Lord himself, who was pushed back only a few feet before he caught it, stopped in midair and threw it down at the groundbound Superboy and Wolf. The two were saved at the last second by Wonder Girl tackling them out of the way of the statue, which ploughed into the earth, burying itself from hairline to waist.
Shayera and Katar both flew at Lord Superman, maces in hand. Lord Superman grabbed the mace dangling at his waist to block Shayera’s blow while grabbing Katar’s wrist with his other hand. The sight of the mace Lord Superman was swinging only fuelled Shayera’s rage--she knew her husband’s weapon as well as she knew every feather in his wings, and she knew a battle trophy when she saw one.
She fed that rage, drew on it, poured it into her arms and forced down with all of her strength, power crackling off of her mace like lightning… and Lord Superman was still unmoved. He didn’t even
notice
, instead looking at Katar, his eyes glowing.
“NO!” Shayera screamed as heat vision ripped through one of her husband’s wings, filling the air with the foul stench of burning feathers. Katar gave no more than a grunt of pain as he fell back, unable to keep himself aloft with a burned wing. Shayera swung her mace again, this time aiming directly at Lord Superman’s head, but he blocked again with his stolen weapon and, now only focused on one enemy, reached past their interlocked weapons, grabbed one of her wings and
yanked--
The pain was
excruciating
, tearing at every muscle and tendon and sinew in her body, but she gritted her teeth and let her mace swing aside, dropping it and grabbing the mace that Lord Superman held instead, struggling to yank it from his grasp.
Even if you kill us again, you bastard, you will
not
keep your trophy!
She steeled herself as she saw the glow building in Lord Superman’s eyes, but the burning pain never came--Superman clamped his hands over his doppelganger’s eyes, yanking his head back, forcing Lord Superman to let Shayera go as he clawed at the sudden impairment while smoke slipped out between Superman’s fingers. Shayera held onto the stolen mace as tightly as she could, yanking it from Lord Superman’s grasp as she fell.
She tucked her undamaged wing against her side and clutched the mace, gritting her teeth and bracing herself for the impact against the earth--she’d survive, of course, a little fall like
this
wasn’t enough to kill a Thanagarian, but it was definitely going to
hurt
. Once again, however, the pain she expected never came, this time due to a timely catch from Wonder Woman.
“Delta team’s running late,” Wonder Woman muttered, setting Shayera down next to Katar, who was leaning on his mace to stay upright as he shivered with the pain from the blackened wing lying limply down his left side. Shayera didn’t want to
look
at her own right wing. All she could feel from that limb was agony, but it was better than nothing. She stumbled, nearly falling again as the ground shuddered, hissing in pain as she automatically tried to lift off and only succeeded in pulling at torn muscles and tendons.
“What’re we gonna do?” Wonder Girl said nervously. She was holding Shayera’s dropped mace. “Here,” she added, holding it out.
“Thank you,” Shayera said, unable to help a hiss of pain as she reached with the wrong hand to grab the mace, pulling at her broken wing. She set the dead Hawkman’s mace that she’d retrieved into the holster on her waist and took her own mace into her good hand. “Lord Superman must have killed our counterparts,” she said, looking down at the third mace. “He will not be easy to defeat.”
“We need a plan,” Wonder Woman said, looking up at the Kryptonians fighting above. Superboy had leapt up and grabbed Lord Superman’s ankles, and was clinging on while the Justice Lord fought to kick him off while trading punches with Superman. “We’re not going to be able to overpower him. If I could--” She cut off with a scowl. “Any plan we try to make aloud, he’ll hear,” she muttered in frustration.
“
Superman, Superboy, get down!
”
“
J’onn!
” Wonder Woman thought in relief as the martian linked them up psychically. Superman and Superboy dropped away from Lord Superman, who looked around to see the half-buried statue wrenched out of the ground and sent flying directly at him. “
Where’s Delta team?
”
“
Moving the portal,
” J’onn responded. “
Flash’s rush tipped our hand and the Batcave was too obvious a place to leave it. They will be here soon. Flash himself is in the city, rescuing civilians. This battle is causing earthquakes.
”
“
Wally’s there too!
” Miss Martian thought happily. “
It’s really him! He’s alive!
” The young martian was bouncing in midair as she and her uncle focused on using the broken statue to grind Lord Superman into the earth. Lord Superman roared in rage as he struggled against the psychic power of the martians.
“
Keep him down!
” Wonder Woman mentally ordered, reaching into her breastplate and pulling out a small silver box. “
If I can get close to him for long enough--
” She started flying towards the downed Kryptonian. “
Superman, Superboy, you’d better keep back!
”
“
I wondered where you got to in the Batcave when we were keeping Wonder Girl away from the trophies,
” Superman commented as he flew out of the way, swooping to grab Wolf and Superboy as the ground beneath their feet buckled. “
Wonder Girl, get Hawkman and Hawkwoman off the ground
!”
“Oh! R-right!” Wonder Girl said, shaking off her nervous blush. She gripped Shayera’s wrist with one hand and reached out to grab Katar’s hand with the other, straining a little as she pulled both Hawks off of the shaking earth.
Shayera had to crane over her shoulder to watch Wonder Woman fly towards where Lord Superman was pinned under the broken statue--
Which was glowing red.
“MARTIANS! MOVE!” Shayera bellowed, forgetting the psychic link in her urgency. The martians, both focused on psychically overpowering Lord Superman, moved a little too slowly and a little too late to avoid it when Lord Superman’s heat vision fully melted a path through the statue and shot right into Martian Manhunter’s leg. The martian’s burst of agony hit all of them through the psychic link, intensifying the pain radiating from Shayera’s wing and almost causing Wonder Girl to drop her passengers.
“
Uncle J’onn!
” Miss Martian cried, flying to catch her uncle as he dropped several feet, clutching his burned leg in agony. “
Hang on!
”
Lord Superman pushed the half-melted statue off of himself, but Wonder Woman was on him as soon as he was in sight, opening and holding out the silver box. It was tiny, but the green glow inside was unmistakable, as was the way Lord Superman staggered back, already shaking.
“
We need to take this chance to get the injured to safer ground!
” Superman ordered psychically. “
Martian Manhunter
--”
“
I will be fine,
” Martian Manhunter thought firmly. “
The pain is manageable. I do not need a working leg to fly or to fight.
”
“
I can fight too if you can get that bastard on the ground!
” Katar argued.
“
I believe you, but there’s no solid ground to be had around here,
” Superman thought firmly. “
You need to get out of here if you can’t fly or move easily!”
“We will not flee!”
Shayera argued.
“
You’re not running, you’re being ordered to retreat!”
Superman snapped. “
You got rid of his mace--that’s a lot! It’ll make it difficult for him to hurt Captain Marvel or Doctor Fate! There’s no further point in hanging around for him to kill you!”
“
Wonder Woman!”
Miss Martian cried out. Shayera looked back to see that Lord Superman was back on his feet, his white cape wrapped around his fist and clutching the hand that Wonder Woman had been holding the kryptonite in. The Amazon’s face was white with pain.
“How’s he--no!” Superman thought angrily. “Why didn’t I realize it sooner? His cape--it’s lead-lined! He’s using it to protect himself from the kryptonite!”
Lord Superman abruptly whipped Wonder Woman away, smashing her into the broken statue. Shayera saw him fidget briefly through his cape before tossing the now-closed box into the air and using a burst of heat vision to weld it shut.
“That’s
enough
of that,” Lord Superman growled, catching the box again and flinging it into the crater left by the statue before kicking the statue back into it. He rose up into the air, glaring at Superman before looking around. “All of you except Superman, Martian Manhunter and Wonder Woman,” he called imperiously, “you do not have to die for their mistakes. You do not understand what you are doing--misled, I’m sure, by your League Founders. You do not understand the danger that you are putting this world in by opposing me--or that I
will
kill you to protect it. But it doesn’t have to be that way.”
He sounded like Superman during any League crisis--assured, in command, reassuring, like he knew they were worried but it would all be okay if they worked together and stuck to the plan. But
the plan
, in this case…
“Your League Founders must be executed, of course,” Lord Superman said calmly, “but the rest of you could be forgiven for your crimes if you surrender yourselves and the portal you used to come here.”
“We will
not
surrender our world or any other to a
tyrant
like you!” Wonder Woman yelled angrily, flying towards Lord Superman. He caught her fist easily, swinging his own punch at her, which she also caught, but struggled more to hold.
“
Beta, this is Delta! We’re on our way! Hang on!
”
Lord Superman’s expression darkened abruptly at the sound of John Stewart’s voice over their comms. “Why do
none
of you understand?” Lord Superman said angrily. “We made this world
safe
! But then
you
came, you turned him
against
me--” He gasped as a blast of heat vision hit him in the back, then turned and threw Wonder Woman at Superman, who was forced to dodge to avoid dropping Superboy and Wolf. “No… you revealed Lord Batman for the traitor he always was,” Lord Superman growled. “He’s gotten exactly what he deserves--and so will
you
!”
“Are you saying you
killed
him?” Superboy yelled. “We’re not letting a
murderer
control the world!” Superman narrowed his eyes on Lord Superman, firing a blast of heat vision that Lord Superman barely dodged, before spinning and flinging Superboy at the Justice Lord while he was off-balance. Superboy slammed into Lord Superman, pummelling the man as hard as he could with both fists.
“
Wonder Girl, go!”
Wonder Woman ordered mentally. “
Delta Team’s coming! GO!”
Shayera wanted to fight it as the half-Amazon flew away from the battle, but the pain from the way her shoulders were pulling on her damaged wing was making it difficult to focus. She could only watch as Superman, Superboy, Wonder Woman and the martians all flew into full-on combat with Lord Superman again, Wolf snapping at the Justice Lord’s heels any time he fell close enough to the shaking earth.
“Delta Team, I have to find safe ground to take Hawkman and Hawkwoman to, they’re both badly injured,” Wonder Girl reported as they flew out over the city. There were huge pileups on the roads closest to the site of the battle and the air was filled with screams and sirens. “Oh gods--the city!”
“
Wally, Hal and I are on it,
” Flash said, sounding jubilant despite the chaos. “
We’ve got this world’s Blue Beetle helping out too!
”
“
Wally? It is really him? You found him?”
Aqualad said quickly.
“
Live and in person
!” Wally said brightly. “
We’ve got the civilians--go help kick Lord Superman’s ass
!” The sound of the young man’s voice was overwhelmingly reassuring--Flash’s nephew had been a peripheral fixture of the League almost as long as Robin, and like Batman’s first sidekick, they’d all seen him grow up into a great hero that the Hawks, at least, loved like their own nephew.
If they could not stop Lord Superman, then at least they had to get him home safe.
“And stop using the comms,” Shayera added sharply. “Lord Superman can hear you. Get moving--six against one is
not
a fair fight, and not for the usual reasons.”
{
Bludhaven--Earth-128
}
{July 28, 07:21 EDT}
“They found him!” Robin said excitedly as soon as the comm chatter went quiet. “That was his voice, right? They really found him!”
“Good,” Batman said, swinging into an upper level of a crumbling car park and holstering his grapple gun. Batgirl and Robin followed suit, both grinning broadly in excitement, even as they had to watch the shaky ceiling--minor tremors had started about ten minutes previously, and while they had been barely perceptible at first, especially from the air, the shaking was now small but definite and only seemed to be increasing with each wave. With the way Bludhaven already looked like it had been hit by a major earthquake, the half-fallen buildings would become unsafe extremely quickly. “Just because we’ve achieved the main objective doesn’t mean we’re finished,” Batman cautioned. “Last time, it took all seven of us working together with Lord Batman to stop the Justice Lords… and a Luthor weapon that we destroyed as soon as the portal was gone.”
“But this time, it’s only Lord Superman, right?” Robin said. “And he was locked up until a year ago…”
Robin was grateful for Batgirl’s presence; he was still learning the secret art of reading Batman’s mood, but Batgirl and Nightwing had both long mastered it, and had a tendency to mirror their mentor’s mood when things got serious. Batgirl’s relieved grin turned to a look of grim concern before Batman spoke. “If it were that easy, Beta would have already handled him,” their mentor said slowly. “
Our
Superman is far stronger now than he was eight years ago. We cannot assume Lord Superman’s power has followed the same trajectory. Perhaps he isn’t as strong due to his long imprisonment. Perhaps he’s stronger. We can assume nothing yet. We still need to find the Rebellion that Catwoman talked about. If anybody can tell us anything we need to know about fighting Lord Superman--” He abruptly went silent, narrowing his eyes on something behind Batgirl and Robin. All three of them melted into the shadows of the car park before Batgirl and Robin turned to look.
The purple glow was the first thing to catch Robin’s eye, easily drawing his notice to the figures around it. They were flying low and fast, cautious but urgent. The purple glow was coming from what was clearly one of Rocket’s shields, and the dark figure in the long green cape next to her had to be Icon. Icon seemed to be carrying another figure in gold in his arms, and two people were discernible in Rocket’s shield--one in black armour, one whose outfit was either bright red or soaked in blood. Batman held up a hand, then, as soon as Icon and Rocket had passed, drew his grapple gun and motioned at Batgirl and Robin to follow, shooting off down a street parallel to the one that Icon and Rocket were flying down.
The three of them followed Icon and Rocket along the abandoned streets of Bludhaven in the direction of the docks. It was unclear whether Superman’s rampage against Gotham had actually come through here too or if Bludhaven’s destruction had just been a side-effect of Gotham’s, but the damage was done. Businesses were closed, the streets empty, only those too poor to leave still to be seen, ducking out of sight of any shadow that passed over the morning sun.
Robin was used to seeing people move fearfully at night. It was far more unsettling in the light of day.
The Bludhaven docks were empty of ships, but abandoned shipments and empty containers still littered the dockside. The tremors were more noticeable here, with some of the containers rattling lightly with every shake and the waves thrashing and slopping onto the docks. Icon and Rocket were on the ground now, walking between piles of heavy metal shipping containers, Icon still carrying somebody in gold and Rocket dragging the shield with a limp figure in red inside--
Robin about had time to register that something was amiss before Batman whipped around, batarang already in hand. It tumbled from his fingers and clanged loudly off the shipping container under their feet as Batman froze, staring in what
anybody
could see was utter shock.
Robin and Batgirl both turned, bo staff and escrima in hand, to face the figure in black who had silently crept up behind them, a long knife in each hand. He had short dark hair and dark blue eyes, which were focused on Batgirl in an expression of open surprise. He looked
familiar
, but Tim was sure he’d never seen him before--
“...Hold on,” the stranger said, frowning as he looked at Batgirl. “You’re… not just
dressed
as Batgirl, are you? You’re
Barbara
.”
Batgirl nodded, her breath hitching. “Oh my god,” she murmured, her voice choked. “You’re…
Jason
?”
That’s right,
Robin realized as everything clicked.
I haven’t seen him before, not in person. And he never got any older than I am right now.
Tim had found photographs of Jason Todd here and there in Wayne Manor--a school photograph hanging next to a few of Dick’s in a hallway, a picture of both previous Robins together in Dick’s room, and a small framed photograph hanging in the Manor’s main library that was the only photograph of any sort in that room. It showed Jason in that very library, aged perhaps twelve or thirteen, curled up on the reading sofa and utterly engrossed in a book that was open in his lap, the cover hidden by his knees. Tim had been a fan of Robin for
years
before the first time he ever met Batman--what Gotham kid wasn’t a fan of Robin?--and had pored over every photo of the first two Robins that the internet had to offer, plus a few he’d managed to snap himself, and whenever he was in the grotto he always took time to pay his respects to his predecessor’s memorial, but photos like the library photograph were different. They were like a reminder: your predecessor was just a child too. And, like everything to do with Jason Todd, there was a warning attached: this life is not a game, and childhood does not inspire mercy.
Tim had had that warning drummed into him for months before he was first allowed to patrol with Batman--and Nightwing, and sometimes Batgirl too, all at once. It often chafed, or made him feel insecure, but he knew that it was borne of the fear and loss that weighed heavily on all of them, and they
had
been letting up lately. Perhaps it was only out of necessity, with various alien invasions and intergalactic trials stretching the League thin, but nevertheless he was finally starting to feel like he
was
Robin instead of just wearing the costume. Like he was a
hero
, not just a wannabe kid.
He
felt
like a kid, looking at the Jason standing before them.
He’d be sixteen now,
some part of Tim’s memory supplied, and Jason did
look
young, when Tim didn’t compare him to the memory of the kid in the library photo. But the former Robin’s counterpart was taller than Dick, and while it was hard to tell under the bulk of his body armour, Tim would lay money on him being pretty big even without it. Jason’s dark blue eyes darted curiously from Batgirl, to Tim, to Batman, who’d straightened up, features gone perfectly blank. All four of them shifted their stances to plant their feet more firmly as a slightly stronger tremor hit.
“Wait, are you from that yellow Flash’s world?” Jason asked. “He freaked when he saw me, said something about me being dead there. And…” He nodded at Batman. “He said the Justice Lords were heroes in his world. Part of the Justice League and everything. I mean, nobody in this world’d dare go ‘round dressed like
that…
”
“We are,” Batman said roughly. “We’re here to find Kid Flash and to deal with Lord Superman once and for all.”
“Right… good luck with that,” Jason said, shifting his stance to something less hostile but not putting his weapons away either. Tim figured that the other teen hadn’t made up his mind if they were friend or foe yet, so was waiting for… something. Backup, maybe, or a signal of some sort. He looked at Tim curiously. “Huh… you’re Robin, kid?” he asked, nodding at Tim’s costume.
“Um.”
Really eloquent, Drake.
“Yeah, I am,” he said.
“Cool,” Jason said, absentmindedly flipping one of his knives. Tim wondered if Jason was only talking to him to avoid the looks on Batgirl and Batman’s faces. “So was I for a bit. Changed costumes when I met the original, though. He always looks like he’s gonna either puke or punch somebody whenever Lord Batman or Robin comes up, so you guys better watch it.”
“How’d you become Robin if Lord Batman was gone?” Tim asked curiously. “Did somebody else start calling themselves Batman or did you just…?”
“
Nobody
else would call themselves
Batman
,” Jason said, shaking his head and laughing. The sound sent an almost imperceptible shudder through Batman and put a much more perceptible look of pain on Batgirl’s face. “But there was a Batgirl,” he added, nodding to Barbara without looking at her. “She invited me to hang out with her and be her Robin. This was after I tried to jack her bike and hit her with a crowbar and she kicked my ass and bought me a burger.”
“Come again?” Tim asked. Batgirl slammed a hand over her mouth to hide a choked giggle.
“Look, if you leave a fancy-ass motorcycle out in Crime Alley,
somebody’s
gonna steal it, right?” Jason said with a shrug and an unrepentant smirk. He and Batgirl both blinked as Batman made the slightest pained noise, but none of them acknowledged it. “She caught me before I got away with it,” Jason continued, still only looking at Tim. “I tried to whack her with my crowbar and run away, but she nabbed me. I like to think I put up a fight, but she
completely
kicked my ass. When I came around, she bought me a cheeseburger and asked me some questions. Some Falcones had been rebuilding their business since the Justice Lords went down and she was fishing for intel. I ended up helping her find and hit a few places, we figured out we made a good team, and the rest is history… ‘specially since we ain’t Batgirl and Robin anymore since Lord Superman came back.” He scowled angrily, spinning one of his knives again.
“Quite a story,” Batman said. “You’re killing time. What are you waiting for?”
“Confirmation that you are who you say you are,” Jason said, nodding at somebody who near-silently landed behind them.
Tim turned and was startled to come face-to-face with… himself.
It was
bizarre.
He vaguely remembered reading that people often thought they looked different in photographs because they were used to looking at themselves in mirrors, where everything was in reverse, and photographs tended to flatten faces whereas mirrors didn’t. This was something else entirely; his face, so familiar but just the wrong way round from how he was used to seeing it, the whole effect being slightly destabilizing. The other-him wasn’t wearing a domino mask, like Jason, and he also wasn’t dressed in Robin’s colours, but bulkier body armour in brown and white.
He was also staring at Tim with an uneasy look that the Robin imagined was mirrored on his own face. “Just when I got used to the two Flashes…” Jason muttered, shaking his head. “Still
weird.
”
“Yeah,” other-Tim said, looking Tim up and down briefly before unclipping a DNA scanner from his belt. “Just need to make sure you are who you say you are,” he said, holding the scanner out. Tim looked to Batman, who nodded, prompting Tim to remove one of his gloves and put his hand on the scanner, not wincing as it pricked his finger to draw some blood.
“DNA scan’s not gonna be much good if they’re clones, is it?” Jason asked.
“We got some intel from Redbird that tells us they won’t be clones,” the other Tim said, checking the scanner. “We just need to make sure they aren’t lookalike plants. Oracle hasn’t received a tip about plants in a while, but that doesn’t mean they’re not happening, just that her source isn’t hearing about them anymore…” He nodded as the scanner beeped with a match. “Great, he’s me. My life is so weird…” He moved on to Batgirl.
“Won’t be clones? So Lord Superman doesn’t have Cadmus’ shit anymore after all?” Jason asked, finally putting his knives away.
“Can’t say any more out in the open like this,” other-Tim said shortly, nodding as the scanner beeped a match again, turning to Batman.
“You’ve got DNA to match him to?” Jason asked, arching an eyebrow.
“We do
now
,” other-Tim said, watching Batman touch the scanner before looking up at Jason. The two had a long moment of eye contact before Jason’s eyes widened and he inhaled sharply.
“You’re shitting me,” Jason said. “Are you serious?”
“Speedy isn’t in surgery yet because the doctors are still busy with the patient the Flashes brought back from their recon mission,” other-Tim said, looking down at his scanner, which displayed a match for the third time. “Right. We’d better get inside. The tremors are only getting worse--we don’t have any live feeds from DC anymore, but Oracle got some intel that the fighting’s still going on and it’s what’s causing the quakes. We’ll be secure up to a magnitude nine down there.”
“Since you’ve assured yourselves of our identities,” Batman asked, pulling his glove back on, “will you need to DNA scan everyone from our world, or will you let us confirm their identities?”
“I think it’s better if Oracle makes that call, not me,” other-Tim said guardedly. “How many did you bring?”
“A few,” Batman said, pointing. Tim turned to see the S-Cycle descending towards them. Half the people on board it were staring at the two Tims.
The other half, especially Dick and Artemis, were staring at Jason.
“If every fucker from your world’s gonna stare like that, I’m out,” Jason growled, walking towards the edge of the shipping container. “I’ll go ask Oracle about who confirms who… you got this, Owl?”
“Go,” other-Tim said, waving him off, squinting curiously at the S-Cycle. Blue Beetle was flying next to it, carrying Bart, while Dick, Artemis, Mal and Roy rode inside. Beast Boy flew down towards Tim in the shape of a green falcon. Jason hopped off of the shipping container and headed off before any of them could land.
“Was that who I thought it was?” Artemis demanded as soon as the S-Cycle hovered next to the container.
“Is that Tigress?” other-Tim said, squinting at her. “She’s in the
Justice League
in your world?”
“Dude, that is
so
weird,” Bart said happily, jumping down and zipping over to look rapidly from Tim to his alternate self. “
Awesome
.”
“
Another
Kid Flash?” other-Tim said in confusion. “This is just getting weirder by the minute.”
“Am I the only one more worried about why the ground’s shaking than the two Robins?” Red Arrow asked, leaning over the side of the S-Cycle.
“Dude, just because you’re already used to seeing another you runnin’ around doesn’t stop it being weird for the rest of us,” Beast Boy pointed out as he shifted back to his preferred monkey form and flipped to a landing.
“B, what’s going on?” Nightwing asked shakily, staring at where Jason had been.
“We found the Rebellion,” Batman said gruffly. “We’re waiting for the all-clear to know where their base is. Once inside, we should be able to get more information on how the battle in Washington DC is going.”
“Not what I was asking and you know it,” Dick said sharply as he leapt down from the S-Cycle.
Barbara put a hand on Dick’s arm. “Things went differently here,” she told him quietly, “for a lot of people. We need to focus on finding out what’s going on in DC and if we’ll be needed to help there. Did you hear anything before we had to go quiet?”
“Only Hawkwoman’s orders to go silent,” Dick said, shaking his head. “Are Beta and Delta Teams fighting Lord Superman?”
“Yes,” Barbara said, a grin slowly spreading over her face as she looked from him to Artemis, “and Wally’s with them. Not this world’s Wally--
ours
. He’s here. He’s
alive
. We
found
him!”
“For real?!” Bart yelled excitedly. “Definitely for real? YESSSSSSSSS! SO crash!” He grabbed Artemis, spinning her around. “Hear that? He’s
alive
!” he cheered.
“WOO-HOO!” Gar cheered, leaping up to fistbump Jaime. “Mission
success
!”
“I was right,” Dick breathed in relief, a grin breaking out across his face. “He wasn’t
dead
, just
gone
!”
“Thank God,” Red Arrow groaned, rubbing a hand over his face with a grin. “We
found
him.”
“
Sweet
,” Guardian said, leaning back in his seat in relief.
“He’s alive…” Artemis said, wrapping her arms around Bart when the kid hugged her. “If he’s in DC, I’m going there
now
--whoa!” She grabbed Bart a little tighter, tugging the kid away from the edge of the shipping container as the tremors abruptly increased.
“She’s right, we gotta
go
!” Bart agreed. “If he’s there and fighting Lord Superman--”
“Hold on, you can’t just go rushing off to fight
Lord Superman
,” other-Tim objected.
“We already sent two teams to fight Lord Superman,” Batman cut in, looking at Nightwing. “Do
not
engage with Lord Superman. Retreat here if you can without being followed. If not, retreat to the portal and move it.
Do not engage with Lord Superman.
Just do what you came here to do and get Wally.” He held one fist out from the depths of his cape, pressing a silvery container into Nightwing’s hand that the younger vigilante swiftly hid in one of his own pouches. “Be careful,” Batman added finally.
“Thanks, B,” Dick said softly, before looking to Batgirl and Robin. “What are you two going to do?”
“I’m going to stay here and speak to the Rebellion,” Batman said, looking away from his former sidekick to look over his current sidekick and never-sidekick. “What you do is up to you.”
“Are you kidding? I owe Wally a solid kick for breaking my best friend’s heart, and another for breaking Artemis’,” Batgirl said, putting her hands on her hips. “What about you, Robin?”
“I’m… pretty curious about the Rebellion, actually,” Tim admitted, looking at his other self. “Go get Wally. I’ll stay here with Batman and see what we can do to help. Be careful,” he echoed, looking at Nightwing.
“Will do,” Nightwing promised, gently squeezing Tim’s shoulder before turning and hopping back into the S-Cycle next to Roy. “Let’s get this show on the road!”
“Budge up, Barnum,” Batgirl said as she climbed up next to him while Artemis took her seat next to Guardian. “There isn’t room for three of us back here, even with your tight ass.”
“You could always sit on my lap…”
“Nice to see them back to normal, huh?” Beast Boy said, before turning into a hawk and flying away after the S-Cycle. Blue Beetle just sighed, scooped up Bart and flew after them.
“It is nice to see Nightwing smiling and making jokes that Batgirl’s gonna smack him for again, though, isn’t it?” Tim said, looking to Batman, who nodded slightly before turning sharply to look at someone on the ground behind them.
“Owl?” Mal Duncan’s voice called up. Tim looked away from the S-Cycle, which had flown away with the new Guardian steering, and looked down at the street below to see a second Mal Duncan, this one in all black and grey with no sign of the golden Guardian armour or helmet, uneasily picking his way across the ground, which in addition to shaking was starting to flood. The waves were getting much wilder as the tremors continued incessantly. “What the hell was that just flew away? Was that--?”
“Justice League,” other-Tim said, flipping off the shipping container. His landing roll was a little messy thanks to the persistently shaking ground, and the other Mal pulled him to his feet before the ankle-height water could soak him too badly. “They went to find their Flash. Did Oracle say to bring any down?”
“Yeah--holy shit,” the other Mal said, stepping back as Batman and Robin leapt down to join them on the ground. “Holy
shit
--I mean, Bluejay
said
, but still--god
damn
,” Mal said, gesturing to the pair of vigilantes.
“Let’s take this inside,” Batman said pointedly. “Lead the way.”
Tim couldn’t be completely certain without Batgirl or Nightwing there to check, but he thought Batman sounded apprehensive--the same way he’d sounded about coming to this world at all. The world where, depending on who you spoke to, he had been a tyrant or a traitor.
He squared his shoulders, sticking close to his mentor’s side as they followed the alternates of himself and Mal Duncan to the hidden Rebel base.
I’m here for you
, he thought, preparing himself to meet more confusion, shock and suspicion inside.
I’m right by your side. Just like Robin should be.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
{
Washington, DC--Earth-128}
{July 28, 07:21 EDT}
Wally ran, trying to focus on grabbing people he could reach without having to phase through anything and getting them to open spaces. The earthquakes were only getting worse, buildings were starting to crumble and fall all around, and no matter how fast he ran there were just
too many people in danger
and only him, Uncle Barry, and the other Blue Beetle to save them.
Lord Superman
had
to be able to hear the rumble of falling buildings, the
screaming
. How could he hear this and not care?
Running was difficult with the ground shaking and crumbling under his feet, like running on water, constantly adjusting for the uneven surface and random spikes of earth like waves. He couldn’t afford to slow down, though--ahead of him, a car with a pair of screaming teenagers inside was tipping into a sudden new crack in the overpass. There was no time to open doors, even at his speed; gritting his teeth, Wally phased into the car, grabbed the girls and phased back out without breaking his stride before he had time to think about the fact that he’d never taken another person along while phasing before.
Tucking a teenager under each arm wasn’t an easy way to carry them, straining his arms and shoulders, and it was sheer momentum more than anything else that got them away from the car before it exploded.
“Run! Stick to wide streets and open spaces! Go!” Wally yelled, setting the girls on their feet. He wasn’t going to have time to carry
everyone
to safety, but perhaps more lives could be saved if he focused on getting those who were trapped out so they could get themselves somewhere safe.
“Th-thank you,” one of the girls said shakily, staring at the insignia on Wally’s chest. “But--I thought you were a--”
“Babe, c’
mon
!” the other girl yelled, grabbing her arm and tugging her away.
“Kid!” Uncle Barry yelled, shooting up to Wally in a blur of red. “I was a block over and I heard the explosion--are you
okay
?! What happened?!”
“I’m fine,” Wally said sheepishly. “The explosion was… well, it was me. I figured out how to phase through stuff! I just can’t do it without making the stuff explode.”
“Really? Whoa!” Barry yelped as another chunk of the overpass fell. The two of them took off running. “Show me!” Barry yelled.
Wally looked around, then ran right through a stray heap of rubble. He heard the concrete blow apart behind him, a few bits pelting his ankles as he ran out of the blast radius. “I’m trying not to do that, ‘cause I don’t think it’s helping!” he called, watching his uncle phase flawlessly through a trapped car, pulling out a man and two children on the other side.
“Go!” Flash yelled, setting the three down on one of the wider avenues. “Y’know, Kid, you might just be phasing through stuff too fast,” he added, returning to Wally’s side.
“Too
fast
?” Wally said incredulously.
Barry grinned and took off running. “Haven’t you noticed, Kid?” he asked when Wally caught up. “You’re faster than me now! You never could’ve caught up to me running this fast before!”
Holy shit, he’s right,
Wally realized with elation as both he and his uncle sped up with ease. He aimed for another chunk of broken road, recalling again the buzzing feeling that he’d been relying on to phase, then trying it slower…
Going more slowly
hurt
, and he nearly stopped halfway through, but he pushed back out, stumbling on the other side.
“You alright?” Barry said in concern, catching Wally by the arm.
“Going slowly stings like a bitch,” Wally groaned, rubbing his head. He glanced over at the broken piece of road, which was shaking in the continued quakes but didn’t seem to be exploding. “Guess it works, though.”
“Yeah, but maybe--oh god,” Barry gasped, looking at something over Wally’s shoulder and then shooting off. Wally headed after him, easily catching up and seeing what it was that had his uncle so concerned.
Ahead of them, the Washington Monument was tipping. Wally could see enough of the Mall to tell that it was full of people who’d fled the shaking buildings for the wide open spaces of the Mall, now at risk from the gigantic stone pillar that was tilting further to the side with every violent shake of the earth. A sharp turn to get him on a more direct street brought him up short in front of a gigantic pile-up that his uncle was phasing in and out of, dragging trapped people out onto the road. Some immediately started to run, others trying to help those too injured to move, others still lying completely still. Some might just be unconscious, but others were very clearly never waking up again.
“I’ll get everyone out of this pileup! Make sure nobody’s under the Monument when it falls!” Uncle Barry yelled, depositing a shrieking child in a blood-soaked woman’s arms--or arm, rather, the other hanging at her side at a decidedly
wrong
angle.
“Got it!” Wally yelled, ramping off the cars and focusing on getting to the Mall in time. “Hey, Blue Beetle, you on the comms? The Washington Monument’s going down!”
“
Kinda busy, ese!”
the alternate Blue Beetle yelled back. “
It ain’t just the Monument! The Basilica’s tryin’ to go down too, and there’s still a shitton of people hidin’ inside that haven’t gotten out yet
!”
DC can’t handle earthquakes of this magnitude,
Wally thought as he left the buildings behind for the usually wide-open spaces of the Mall. The park was jam-packed now, every single person screaming and frantically pushing to get out of the way of the falling Monument.
Where the hell can I move people
to…?
“I got your back, Kid!”
“Hal!” Wally yelled in elation as the Green Lantern flew overhead, wrapping the Monument in green light to tip it back upright. “You have no idea how glad I am to see you!”
“Not half as glad as I am to see you,” Hal said, grinning ear to ear as he flew back down to throw an arm around Wally’s shoulders. “Remind me to give you a solid kick on the ankle for worrying your aunt and uncle so much. Later, when the world isn’t falling apart and civilians don’t need rescuing.”
“Will do,” Wally said with a relieved grin as he shot off to rescue more people.
{
East Coast--Earth-128
}
{
07:20 EDT
}
Gamma Team had to fly across the East Bay of New York on a direct line from Rhode Island to DC, so Aquaman, Aqualad, Lagoon Boy, and Zatanna were carried in an energy bubble generated by John Stewart. They were about halfway across the bay when a huge, glowing wave burst out of the sea and smashed into the Green Lantern, dragging him and his passengers under the sea.
“
Lantern! Aquaman
!” Zatanna heard Icon yelling in her comm. The green bubble around her and the Atlanteans suddenly vanished and she got a lungful of water before she thought to hold her breath. She curled herself up as she was buffeted back and forth by the underwater currents, wrapping her arms around her head to protect it and stop herself from breathing any more water. Her grip also kept her comm in her ear, so she could hear Icon shout, “
FATE! WAIT!”
She suddenly went still as a golden bubble surrounded her and she collapsed on the bottom of it, coughing up sea water.
“We are being attacked by this world’s Atlanteans,” Doctor Fate said, his voice even more echoey than usual as he was standing right next to her as well as coming through on her comm. “We will handle this. Get to DC and defeat Lord Superman.”
“
...We will go,
” Icon said reluctantly, “
but if you need help, alert us immediately.
”
“Of course,” Doctor Fate said dismissively. “Go.”
Outside of the protective glow of Doctor Fate’s power, off of which Atlantean swords and spears were bouncing harmlessly, Zatanna could see Green Lantern fighting while enveloped in his own green bubble while what looked like a small army attacked Aquaman, Aqualad and Lagoon Boy.
Did they mistake Aquaman for Lord Aquaman?
she wondered, taking a few deep breaths.
Or is Lord Aqauaman on Lord Superman’s side and nobody told us?
She stood up, cautiously watching Doctor Fate, who was watching the battle instead of looking at her. “...Thanks,” she said quietly.
“Neither Icon, Rocket, Captain Marvel nor Captain Atom can traverse underwater, while I can thanks to my powers,” Doctor Fate said calmly. “It was logical that I come after you.”
“...Logical. Sure,” Zatanna said bitterly, squashing down the surge of pain that always came with any crushed hope. It had been years since Doctor Fate had taken over her father, and she
still
couldn’t stop looking for signs of Giovanni Zatara peeking out from the golden mask.
She turned away and focused on the fight, trying to figure out the wording of a useful spell.
Snopaew ot… no, Aquaman’s trident and possibly Green Lantern’s ring would be affected too, plus Aqualad’s waterbearers. Snaetnalta… no, that would affect Aquaman, Aqualad and Lagoon Boy too…
Doctor Fate merely raised a hand and a barrage of golden energy blasts struck the attacking Atlanteans, and that was something else she always hated him for. All that power, and he could and
did
do so much good with it, and it always made her feel--
invalid
for hating him for taking her father away. Was her father’s life really worth all the lives that Doctor Fate saved as part of the League?
Was it so wrong of her to think that he was?
Then there was a bright blue glow and the golden blasts were blocked by another wall of magic energy.
Atlantean sorcerers,
Zatanna realized as she spotted several more figures swimming out of the dark depths, glowing blue with tattoos of power. One of them expanded rapidly just before slamming into Green lantern; another came directly at Doctor Fate and Zatanna, uplit by the glow of her power.
“NO!” Zatanna yelled, her stomach lurching as she grabbed Doctor Fate’s arm. “Don’t hurt her!”
“They are attacking us!” Doctor Fate snapped, shuddering at Tula’s powers slammed into his bubble. Unlike the Atlantean weapons, her magic was
definitely
dangerous. Back home, when she’d died, Tula had been on track to be one of the most powerful sorcerers in Atlantis--here, she was still on track.
“I think there’s a misunderstanding! TULA!” Zatanna shouted, turning to face her late friend’s counterpart. It hurt to look into Tula’s face, see her glaring at them furiously as she attacked them, but no more than it hurt to look at Doctor Fate every time she fought with the League and know that her father’s face was under that mask.
Tula looked startled by being addressed by name. “Who are you?” she demanded. “You are not Atlanteans. Why are Surfacers with the pretenders?”
“Pretenders? You mean them?” Zatanna said, gesturing to Aquaman, Aqualad and Lagoon Boy, who were still struggling to fight off Atlantean soldiers while Green Lantern grappled with another Lagoon Boy. “There’s been a misunderstanding! That man down there is not Lord Aquaman!”
“Hence why I called him a
pretender
,” Tula snapped. “You are all to be brought into custody--whether it is dead or alive is up to you. Submit!” She attacked Doctor Fate’s shield with a glowing blue magic form like a gigantic squid, wrapping its long tentacles of magic around the sphere of golden light.
“
Zatanna! Doctor Fate!”
Green Lantern yelled. “
What’s happening? Because I’m being attacked by Lagoon Boy!”
“We cannot submit,” Doctor Fate growled. “We have a purpose to fulfill and order to restore to this world!”
“Our
purpose
is to find Wally!” Zatanna reminded him. “We’re not here to pick a fight with anybody but Lord Superman!
Tup pu a dleihs
!” she added, using her own power to reinforce Doctor Fate’s shield. “Tula, we’re not here to fight you!” she shouted. “We’re on our way to fight Lord Superman!
Your
people attacked
us
!”
“PRETENDERS! YOU ARE SURROUNDED! STAND DOWN!”
Tula’s magic squid fell away, revealing that they were indeed surrounded by a veritable
wall
of Atlantean soldiers. Green Lantern, Aquaman, Aqualad and Lagoon Boy ha backed up to each other, watching the other Lagoon Boy and Tula as they swam to the side of…
Aquaman. Another Aquaman.
Lord
Aquaman.
If told to imagine “evil dictator Aquaman”, Zatanna probably wouldn’t have said “the same, but with a hook hand”, for a whole
host
of reasons. Despite his near-identical appearance, Aquaman’s expression darkened at the mere sight of his counterpart. “
You,
” Aquaman snarled. “Here to prevent us from stopping Lord Superman, are you?”
Lord Aquaman’s eyes widened in recognition. “
You
,” he said lowly. “You’re here to cage us all again, starting with him?”
Aqualad was staring at Tula in open agony, but he tore his gaze away as both Aquamen raised their weapons--Aquaman his trident, Lord Aquaman a spear. “We came to this world seeking a missing friend,” Aqualad said, raising his hands placatingly. Tula and the other La’gaan stared at him in surprise, seeming to realize who he was for the first time. “We were promised information on his location if we defeated Lord Superman. You were not mentioned.”
“Even though you
ought
to be imprisoned,” Aquaman growled.
“Lord Orin… you know who they are?” Tula asked. Both Aqualad and Lagoon Boy visibly flinched at the sound of her voice. “They are not imposters attempting to steal the throne?”
“Imposters? No,” Lord Aquaman said, stroking his beard thoughtfully. “And I will
not
allow them to lay a hand on the throne… or the king.”
“The--you’re not the king?” John Stewart asked in surprise.
“Rightly so,” Aquaman snapped.
“My throne was not taken from me as punishment from the people of Atlantis… nor was my hand,” Lord Aquaman added pointedly, raising his left arm. As Doctor Fate’s protective bubble drifted closer, Zatanna realized that it was not a hook, but a
harpoon
. “Regardless. The order of the crown is that you be brought in. If the King decides to believe that you are only here for Lord Superman, you may be released. But if it is decided that you are a threat to the people of Atlantis…”
“We can fight our way outta this,” Lagoon Boy muttered quietly, his voice clear over the comms.
“Against this many Atlanteans? Perhaps not,” Doctor Fate said, folding his arms. “If we have a chance for a peaceful release that will return us to our mission, better to take it.”
“We will not be
your prisoners,
” Aquaman said furiously, pointing his trident at Lord Aquaman.
“Hold on,” John Stewart said, getting between the two angry Atlantean kings--or king and ex-king. “You’re here on behalf of the king, not Lord Superman?”
“He has not approached me since he returned to power, nor have I approached him,” Lord Aquaman said, glancing briefly at Tula, who folded her arms, looking down. “I do not know how he escaped Lord Batman’s prison. I do not care. My only concern is whether or not his new regime is a danger to Atlantis… and whether or not you are.”
“Then why not let us go fight him?” John Stewart offered. “Either way, you lose a potential danger…”
“Or I double my danger by letting you bring back the rest of your Justice League to interfere with Atlantis as you did with the Justice Lords,” Lord Aquaman said scornfully.
“Again:
you
attacked
us
first,” Aquaman pointed out. “Then and
now
. How long will you insist on blaming others for your own mistakes and violence?”
Lord Aquaman’s scowl darkened, but he said nothing. In the sudden quiet, there was an odd orange flash.
“Lord Orin!”
The tense ranks of Atlanteans broke to let an Atlantean submarine through. It was a simple cargo ship, normally too open for a Surfacer to safely travel on, but a bubble of magic was protecting those standing inside.
At the fore stod Aqualad--or Aqualad’s counterpart, dressed in teal and gold Atlantean armour, his tattoos glowing with the magic that he was using to protect the ship. Behind him stood three other men: Dick, maskless and dressed in black and red; Flash; and Superboy, dressed in a black and white outfit with the red crest of Superman on his chest. Aside from the fact that
their
Aqualad was still right in front of them, there were other telltale signs that they were looking at counterparts rather than the men they knew. The other Aqualad had more tattoos, the other Flash’s costume was slightly different, and the look on Dick’s face was darker than she’d ever thought her perpetually easygoing ex-boyfriend was even
capable
of.
“So… that one’s
ours,
right?” La’gaan’s counterpart asked Tula, pointing at the other Aqualad.
“Maelstrom,” Lord Aquaman demanded, pointing at the other Superboy, “what is this?”
“Dude, don’t be rude,” Flash said. Zatanna saw Kaldur start as
Wally’s
voice issued from under the red cowl. “
Who
is
he?
The answer being Lord Superman’s clone. We’ve been calling him Conner for like… the past couple hours.”
“Please be silent,” Maelstrom sighed. “Lord Orin, he is indeed a clone of Lord Superman--the first of an army that Lord Superman intended to build. He joined us upon learning that Lord Superman intended to destroy him and build better clones. And he has unpleasant news about what those clones were intended for.”
“The Fortress of Solitude taught me much,” the other Conner explained. “About Lord Superman, about the geography of this world, different styles of fighting… and it didn’t just teach me to fight humans. It taught me to fight other species of this world too. Including Atlanteans.”
Shocked murmurs spread through the assembled Atlantean soldiers. “Conner,” Tula said, swimming down towards the sub, “were you also taught to fight Amazons?”
“Yes,” the other Conner said with a nod.
“He was gonna teach his army to fight
us
! That’s
proof
that it’s ain’t just the surface he wants!” the other Lagoon Boy yelled.
“Queen Regent Mera agrees,” Maelstrom said. “She sent us to find your patrol, Lord Orin, and inform you that Lord Superman presents a clear danger to the people of Atlantis, and as such she has King Artur’s permission to declare our alliance with the Rebel movements fighting Lord Superman, such as Redbird’s faction.” He gestured to the other Dick Grayson, the strange, angry man in red and black.
Aquaman looked startled. “
Artur
is King?” he said. “But he’s only--”
“You came from Poseidonis?” Lord Aquaman said with a frown.
The other Dick Grayson--Redbird--held out an odd red-and-black rectangular device. “Among the things we found in the Fortress of Solitude was this,” he said. “Conner accessed the Fortress’ computers and identified it as a device called a Father Box that would allow us to open portals to travel around the world. Apparently, it comes from a planet called Apokolips, tough we don’t know how or when Lord Superman--”
“You took not only a
clone
of Lord Superman, but
Apokoliptan technology
to
Poseidonis
?!” Lord Aquaman roared furiously.
Apokolips… the source of those extraterrestrial weapons that we’ve been seeing more and more of these days back home,
Zatanna recalled.
We haven’t been able to track how they’re getting them on-planet at all… are things like that Father Box how?
“Forgive me, Lord Orin, but the intelligence that I uncovered in the Fortress of Solitude was most urgent, as are Queen Regent Mera’s commands,” Maelstrom said, bowing his head. “Tsunami, our Queen also ordered that you return to Themyscira with word of our findings. She thinks of Queen Hippolyta as a friend and believes she has a right to know that Themyscira, too, is at risk of Lord Superman’s dominion.”
“Do I have your leave, Lord Orin?” Tula asked Lord Aquaman.
“Go,” he told her. “Fulfill the Queen Regent’s commands.” Tula bowed, threw a brief concerned look at the cornered Justice Leaguers, nodded to Maelstrom with a sad smile and swam off, quickly turning into no more than a distant glow in the dark waters as she propelled herself with her magic.
“If you are allied with the Rebels, as we are, then we too are allies,” Doctor Fate said, “or at least, we have a common enemy of greater priority.”
“I trust none of you otherworlders,” Lord Aquaman said imperiously, “but… I will not disobey the Throne. You are free to go about your way.” He turned to the other La’gaan and the rest of his troops. “We are not far from Shayeris; we will return there to rally the armies of Atlantis. Maelstrom, go to the Rebels and inform them of Atlantis’ standing on this matter.”
“Of course, Lord Orin,” Maelstrom said with a bow.
“We’ve wasted too much time we needed to spend fighting Lord Superman as it is,” John Stewart said, floating in his green bubble towards the Atlantean sub as Lord Aquaman, exchanging a last contemptuous look with Aquaman, swam away with his soldiers. “Could we borrow that Father Box thing?”
“If you’re headed after Lord Superman, so are we,” Redbird said, throwing an uneasy look at the other Conner, who looked furious to a degree that Zatanna hadn’t seen on the Conner
she
knew since her early days on the Team, when half the time he’d been out of his mind with suppression patch-generated rage. “He’s still in DC.”
“Last I saw him, that was where your
me
was headed, too,” the Wally-Flash said, pointing at himself.
Aquaman’s anger softened as he looked at the other Flash. “You are this world’s Wally,” he said. “You became the Flash after your uncle was killed?”
“More like a couple years later, after you guys busted the Justice Lords,” Wally-Flash said uncomfortably.
“Speaking of which… we should go,” Aqualad said, exchanging identically unsettled looks with Maelstrom. “Is it true that Lord Aquaman is no longer allied with Lord Superman?”
“It is true that Lord Superman has not approached Lord Orin since his return to power,” Maelstrom said uneasily. “Queen Regent Mera found this most suspicious, which is why she spent spies to the surface and emissaries to Queen Hippolyta to see if Lord Superman had reached out to the former Lady Wonder Woman either, which he has not. It seems that her suspicions were well-founded.”
“We are wasting time,” Doctor Fate pointed out. “Lord Superman will be a concern to none if we keep our pact and defeat him. Tell us how to operate the Father Box.”
Redbird gestured to them to move closer. When they did, he held the orange-and-black box up to his face and growled, “Lord Superman.”
There was a flash of orange light, and then they were no longer underwater, but falling through the air towards the Kryptonians fighting below.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
{
Bludhaven--Earth-128
}
{
July 28, 07:32 EDT
}
There was a perceptible hush as Batman and Robin followed the other Tim and Mal--the entry system had identified them as Owl and Ops--into what looked to be the hub of the whole base. Several rows of desks and computers were lined up facing a vast wall of monitors, most of which were showing various satellite images of Washington DC and the growing areas of destruction. The technology looked to be of a similar level to the equipment Bruce had in the Batcave--the kind of thing that
definitely
wasn’t available to the private sector.
About thirty people were in the hub. Some of them were familiar faces--Artemis and her sister, Karen Beecher, Raquel Ervin, Iris West-Allen, Lois Lane,
Jason
--and others were unfamiliar, but all of them were staring at him with expressions ranging from shock to suspicion to fear. The quiet in the room wasn’t simply quiet of nobody talking, but the heavy silence of a room full of people
not speaking.
A couple of people moved aside to let a wheelchair roll through, and Batman and Robin found themselves on the receiving end of one of Barbara Gordon’s most piercing glares. She was wearing her reading glasses and a grey bodysuit that looked like
very
high-quality kevlar armour--again, not something easily acquired, and far above and beyond what the Barbara he knew had put together on her first outings as Batgirl, before he’d agreed to supply her with equipment. Whoever was supplying her now had
serious
money and connections.
“So you’re one of the ones who stopped the Justice Lords before,” the other Barbara said, tapping the arms of her wheelchair. “The
other
Batman. And…” She actually chuckled at the sight of Robin. “Owl’s Robin in your world? You really can’t stay out of things, can you, kid?” she asked Owl.
“I thought you knew that,” Owl said, going over to one of the desks where the keyboard and mouse had been shoved aside to make room for a collapsible bo staff and several tools. It looked similar to the staff that Robin used, except the taser in the end was being taken apart and replaced with a lump of kryptonite.
“You’ll want lead shielding for that,” Batman pointed out, gesturing to the kryptonite. “You shouldn’t leave it out. It’s not as dangerous to humans as it is to kryptonians, but it
is
radioactive and it
will
make you sick if you’re working around large quantities of it.”
“Uh… yeah, I figured as much, but I won’t have to worry about cancer if Lord Superman kills us all, soooooo… that comes first,” Owl said with a shrug.
“He’d really kill everybody here?” Robin asked quietly.
“Yes,” the other Barbara said flatly. “I would’ve thought your mentor would’ve warned you of what the Justice Lords were capable of--what Lord Superman
is
capable of.”
“We were informed about what Lord Superman has done since his escape by the Sirens in Gotham,” Batman said. “They said that nobody knows what happened to Lord Batman. Is that true?”
The other Barbara met his gaze as steadily as Batgirl always did, but there wasn’t as much of the burning defiance and independence that propelled the Barbara Gordon of his world. This Barbara, crippled and orphaned by Lord Superman, burned with something much colder, weary but determined and so
angry
.
The same weary anger was burning in the eyes of every person in the room--everybody who had, presumably, lost something or some
one
to Lord Superman’s need for dominion.
“Until a few hours ago, he was presumed dead,” she announced, her voice level but projected like she was addressing the whole room--she
was
, Batman realized, noticing the surprised look on the faces of many of the rebels around him. “Redbird’s team found him imprisoned in the Fortress of Solitude. He’s been severely tortured and is currently undergoing surgery. We don’t know what his chances of survival are. It’s Flash’s opinion that only the Fortress of Solitude’s advanced technology kept him alive through what Lord Superman did to him. During the brief time he was conscious, according to Flash, he mentioned that Lord Superman was torturing him because he wanted the portal to your world rebuilt. Lord Batman persistently refused.”
“He wants revenge on us,” Batman stated.
The other Barbara nodded. “If you know what Lord Superman’s done, you also know that when he comes after you, he won’t just come after
you
,” she said, her gaze flickering to Robin. “You shouldn’t have brought--”
“Oracle!” the other Mal Duncan yelled abruptly. “Message from Tuxedo!”
“Another one?” the other Barbara said sharply, turning her seat and wheeling rapidly to the computer. What appeared onscreen seemed to be a string of alphanumeric gibberish, but clearly the code meant something to Oracle, who went sheet-white as she read it.
“Before I say anything, be aware that we have
heavy
jamming in place to prevent audio transmissions from going in or out of this base, so don’t even
try
your comms,” Oracle said sharply, starting to type rapidly in another window. “I’m alerting Blue Beetle that they need evacuate a mile radius of the Hall of Justice. An airstrike’s been called in. They’re going to carpet bomb the area.”
Batman’s instinctive response was to go for his comms to warn his team, pausing with his hand in mid-air as Oracle’s anticipatory warning caught up with his automatic reactions. “Lord Superman can survive an attack like that,” he said. “So can Superman, and probably Wonder Woman. The Green Lanterns might be able to shield themselves and whoever’s standing closest against a certain magnitude. But the majority of Beta and Gamma teams will be wiped out.”
“Exactly what he’s counting on,” Oracle said grimly. “Blue Beetle’s still on the scene--he’s a good kid, he’ll warn your people to get out in time.”
“But what if there’s still civilians in the area?” Robin asked. “They have to get them out first!”
“Also what Lord Superman’s probably counting on,” Oracle said darkly. “Lord Superman’s long past caring about collateral damage. The former residents of Gotham and Star Cities can attest to that.”
Another coded message appeared onscreen, but this one started visibly decoding itself as it appeared.
We have an escape route and a plan. Standby.--Redbird
“What the hell could he be plan--wait, is he in
DC
?” Oracle said incredulously. “What the hell is he
doing
?”
“Move!
Move
it! Coming through!” a familiar voice barked. Batman, Robin and Oracle turned to see Leslie Thompkins, still dressed for surgery and splattered with blood, the assembled rebels parting like the Red Sea before her. She stopped in her tracks to stare at Batman with her brows furrowed in confusion, then looked from Robin to Owl, then stared at Oracle. “Other world, I assume? Don’t answer, don’t care,” she snapped. “Do you
realize
who those Flashes brought into surgery?!”
“They didn’t tell you?” Oracle asked.
The alternate Dr Thompkins shook her head, glowering furiously. “No, but I operated on that man
plenty
of times over the years… god knows he looked more familiar on the inside than the out right now.”
“Is he alive?” Batman asked.
The alternate Leslie stared at him like she had no idea how to cope with him speaking to her after having
just
walked out of surgery on his alternate self. “He’s alive,” she said, “barely. But he’s stubborn enough to have lived this long--I think he can pull through, given time. How much of that do you think he’s going to get once Lord Superman finds out that he’s gone, though?”
“Depends on whether or not your teams can take him out before that airstrike hits,” Oracle said grimly, looking at Batman.
“
Airstrike
?!” Leslie said incredulously.
“How long until the airstrike?” Batman asked Oracle.
“Three minutes,” she said, checking her watch. “So whatever Redbird’s going to do, he’d better do it
soon
.” Under her breath, she muttered, “come on, Dick…”
{
Washington, DC--Earth-128
}
{
July 28, 07:29 EDT
}
“
Whoa!”
“Beetle, Kid, are you okay?” Artemis called, leaning out of the side of the S-Cycle in concern as Blue Beetle stopped abruptly in mid-air.
“Yeah, just--of
course
there’s a threat, we’re nearly at--what’s
that
supposed to mean?!” Blue Beetle yelled. A lot of things about Jaime Reyes made a lot more sense after he’d admitted that the Scarab in his spine often spoke to him. Until the Reach arrived, he’d kept it a secret, thinking nobody would believe him--though given what some of the other members of the Team had going on with their own personal lives and powers, an alien artifact speaking to Jaime inside his head really wasn’t that odd. It certainly made it less confusing when the teenager started yelling in frustration for no apparent reason.
“Beetle!” Mal called, bringing the S-Cycle around. “Report! What’s up?”
“The bug says there’s another Scarab nearby,” Jaime said, glancing at Bart, who’d stiffened with a panicked expression.
“You think it means him?” Barbara suggested, pointing down at the shaking streets below, where a familiar blue figure was flying out of a third-floor window, taking trapped people down to the street.
“Oh, duh! There’s another you here!” Bart said, rolling his eyes and slapping his forehead. There was a sharp increase in screaming as the building rumbled and tipped precariously.
“We’ve gotta help him get people outta there!” Gar yelled.
Mal nodded. “Delta Team, go!” he ordered. Beast Boy immediately flew down through a window as a hawk and was out again a moment later as a giant gorilla, climbing down the building one-handed with three people under his other arm like it was nothing. Blue Beetle swooped low enough to drop Bart on the building’s roof, the second Kid Flash becoming a red-and-yellow blur as he shot in and out of windows to get people down to the street. Mal flew the S-Cycle low enough for Dick, Barbara, Artemis and Roy to drop onto the crumbling roof and then rappel down to the highest windows where panicked people were clamouring for help, firing off ziplines down to ground level on the opposite side of the street. Jaime nearly flew into himself as the two Blue Beetles went for the same window. The pair stared at each other for a moment before turning at almost the same moment to swear at their Scarabs in strings of frustrated Spanish. They exchanged sheepish looks before heading back to work flying people out of the collapsing upper floors.
Dick was in the middle of showing one of the last people on his floor how to wrap her jacket around the line and her hands so she could slide down safely when a Blue Beetle buzzed up to him. “Which one are you?” Dick asked, checking the woman’s grip before urging her out the window.
“Uh--well, this is my world,” the Blue Beetle--apparently the alternate--said. “Errr… I’m kinda confused. Who’s the Kid Flash you’ve got with you? Are you from a different world than the Kid Flash that turned up here?”
“That’s the second Kid Flash,” Dick said, gesturing down to Bart as he paused briefly to unwrap a small child who had a death grip on his neck. “We’re looking for the original--” He grimaced and braced himself as the building shook harder. The last two civilians in the room, an elderly couple who’d insisted on the younger people getting out first, screamed and clutched at each other.
“C’mere and I’ll fly you down!” alternate Blue Beetle called, holding his arms out to the couple before looking back at Dick. “Well… last I spoke to your original model, he was headed the Mall ‘cause the Monument was about to come down on a shitton of scared people. Heard him talkin’ to a Green Lantern who was helpin’ him out. Didn’t sound like one of ours…” He wrapped his arms around the elderly couple and started to edge back out of the window.
The Mall,
Dick though. “Got it! Thanks!” Dick yelled, zipping down the wire himself before the building came down or either end detached. Not far away, Artemis, Barbara and Roy were doing the same. “Tigress! Red Arrow! He’s at the Mall!” Dick shouted.
“We’ve gotta get there
now
!” Artemis yelled, looking up at the S-Cycle, which Mal was using to fly a load of people to ground level. “Guardian! We’ve gotta go to the Mall! Wally’s there!”
“He
is
!?” Bart yelled, stopping for a brief second next to Artemis before vanishing in a blast of air.
“This building’s almost clear! We got this!” Beast Boy roared as he set a couple more people on his feet.
“Go get Wally!” Barbara said, loading up a new grapple line. “Leave the civilians to us!”
Mal looked from Beast Boy to the two Blue Beetles, then nodded. “Let’s go,” he said, gesturing to the S-Cycle. None of them needed told twice.
They weren’t far from the Mall, but the flight felt like an agonizing eternity. The feeling of being
so close
to finding Wally and still not seeing him was almost
suffocating,
but just as agonizing was flying over the earthquake-ravaged city. They’d all had training on dealing with widespread disaster scenarios, and running off half-cocked into a crumbling city wasn’t their job. Their primary goal was locating Wally, and they needed a fuller analysis of the state of the city before they could be deployed where they were needed most, where they wouldn’t be in the way of the emergency services, but all of them were twitching in their seats to personally check every shaking building passing below them, no matter how unfeasible it was.
And then suddenly they were at the Mall, the pillar of the Washington Monument and half of the buildings around them bathed in supporting green light from Hal, and Dick’s heart skipped a beat when he saw a yellow streak below him before realizing that it was only Bart--
Then Bart hit another yellow blur and both Kid Flashes skidded to a halt, or at least stayed in one spot as they spun around, Wally hugging Bart so tightly that he was swinging his cousin off his feet as they spun out the momentum of the hug.
Artemis immediately leapt out of the S-Cycle and Dick followed without even thinking about it, only sheer reflex causing him to throw a grappling line behind himself to descend from. Artemis didn’t bother with a line, but she screamed “WALLY!” at the top of her lungs, and the speedster looked up, dropped Bart and sped to catch her, flopping to the ground with Artemis clutched to his chest.
“You--!” Artemis yelled, leaning down to kiss him. “--moron--you--rotten--asshole--you--
bastard
--you--!”
“At some point, you’re gonna have to let him up to breathe so I can squeeze the life out of him,” Dick joked weakly during one of the kiss-breaks in Artemis’ disjointed tirade.
“Dude! Holy
shit
am I glad to see you,” Wally said, sitting up with Artemis still straddling him but making no move to let go of her. “The version of you here’s an
asshole
.”
“So exactly the same?” Mal said as he landed the S-Cycle. Roy hopped out, staring at Wally and putting a hand on Dick’s shoulder. It felt supportive, but also like the archer needed a little support to stay upright at the sight of Wally alive and well. Then Roy lunged forwards and dragged Wally and Artemis to their feet, either putting them both in a chokehold or hugging them both around the neck.
Dick deemed this the opportune moment to pile in with the hug that he’d practically been
bursting
with since the moment Batman had confirmed that Wally could be alive. Bart dove back in too, the force of his speed combined with a sharp tremor sending all of them crashing to the ground and not
one
of them cared.
“--can’t believe you’re
alive,
you
asshole
--”
“--missed you
so damn much
--”
“--would not
believe
what the alternate you is like, he’s--”
“--running off like that--”
“--missed you--”
“--
love
you--”
A high-pitched shriek from the S-Cycle cut through all of them. “Guardian, what’s wrong?” Dick asked, getting to his feet and dragging Wally with him, unwilling to let go of his best friend now that he finally had him back.
“I dunno, but she ain’t happy,” Mal said uncertainly. “You know only Superboy really understands this thing--whatever she ain’t happy about, though, it’s happening over
there
.”
“Isn’t that where the Hall of Justice is?” Roy noted, reluctantly letting go of Wally and Artemis to reach for his bow. “Is it Lord Superman?”
“Nah, I think it’s somethin’ else,” Mal said uncertainly. “Load up--I think we oughta check it out. I’ve never seen the S-Cycle freak out like this.”
“I think I might’ve,” Artemis said, climbing on and pulling Wally in after her, not letting go of his hand. “You weren’t on the Intergang raid last week, Guardian, but the S-Cycle started screeching like this anytime we got too close to the weapons they were trading. Superboy said they were from a planet called Apokolips that Sphere’s home planet’s been at war with since forever.”
“Who
chooses
to name their planet ‘apocalypse’?” Bart asked as they all piled in and the S-Cycle lifted into the air. “Or do you think it’s a translation problem and in, like, the dominant language of the planet, it means ‘lovely place’ or ‘dirt’ or something?”
“Lantern!” Dick called as they flew up to Hal, who had his eyes closed, sweat running down his forehead and he focused on keeping the Monument and the surrounding buildings from collapsing. “Are you okay?”
“I got this,” the Green Lantern grunted. “Go!”
The S-Cycle didn’t need told twice. They shot off in the direction of the Hall of Justice, the epicentre of the tremors shaking the city. What they found was chaos.
“Holy
shit
,” Wally gasped, staring at the landscape of rubble. The ruined Hall of Justice and destroyed forests were all jumbled together in a shaking mass of destruction. Zatanna and Doctor Fate were flying on golden platforms of magic, raining down spells on Lord Superman when they could without hitting an ally. Behind them, Miss Martian was half-supporting her uncle, both of their eyes glowing as they tried to telekinetically pin Lord Superman under boulders and slabs of earth. John Stewart was supporting Aquaman, Aqualad and Lagoon Boy on a platform of green light, along with a second Aqualad dressed in teal and gold. Both Aqualads had a startling quantity of water aloft in a sphere above them, transmuting the water into spheres of ice and firing them at Lord Superman. Lagoon Boy was expanding to massive size, lifting up Aquaman in one huge hand.
On the ground, Superboy had Wolf over his shoulders, the huge canine apparently unconscious and bleeding. He dove out of the way as Lord Superman flung Superman into the ground, before a
second
Superboy, dressed in black and red, threw himself at the Justice Lord with a furious roar. They hit the ground at the same moment that Lagoon Boy threw Aquaman, who stabbed his trident at Lord Superman’s head. He narrowly missed, but pinned the Justice Lord’s white cape to the ground, ripping it from his neck.
“What the hell--when’d they get here?” Wally said in surprise, pointing at the second Superboy and Aqualad. “That’s, uh, Maelstrom and a guy I’ve been calling Lord Superboy, and where’s--there they are,” he said as Lord Superman threw Lord Superboy off of him and was immediately bowled over by a blast of red. “Hey, have you met this world’s Flash yet?” Wally said as Lord Superman struggled to his feet, then collapsed, kryptonite cuffs glowing green at his ankles. “He’s a cool guy.
Extremely
handsome.”
“Didn’t Luthor kill--ahh,” Dick realized, pointing at a figure in red and black who jumped out from among the rubble to whack Lord Superman down with glowing green escrima sticks. “And is that attractive figure who I think he is?”
“Gotta warn you, he goes by Redbird but he
is
a dick,” Wally said as Redbird wrenched up one of Lord Superman’s arms and slapped another kryptonite cuff around the alien’s wrist. He didn’t get the chance to grab the other arm, though, before being abruptly flung aside by Lord Superboy, who started pummeling Lord Superman so viciously that they sank deeper into a crater with every blow.
“I SAW!” Lord Superboy bellowed. “I SAW WHAT YOU DID TO THE OTHERS--TO THE
FAILURES
! WHAT YOU WERE GOING TO DO TO
ME
!”
“How
DARE
YOU!” Lord Superman roared, somehow still having the strength to haul Lord Superboy off of him. “How dare
any
of you--”
The earth beneath him, already sunken and shaking from the battle, split apart, and Lord Superman fell into the fissure.
“NO!” Redbird yelled, lunging after him, only to be tackled away by the other Flash as the earth continued to split apart and slam back together as everything shook. “We can’t let him
get away
!”
“We’re gonna get crushed if we stay here!” the other Flash yelled--though they’d expected it, it was still startling to hear Wally’s voice come from under the red cowl.
“Damn it all!” Aquaman snarled, then grabbed both younger heroes and dragged them onto the platform of water that Aqualad and Maelstrom lowered towards them. “What now?”
“Now we--shit, we get the hell out of here!” Redbird yelled, looking at something on his wrist computer. “They’re going to carpet bomb the whole goddamn area!”
“Define ‘the whole area’,” Superman demanded as the assembled heroes clustered together.
“A mile square around the Hall of Justice,” Redbird said grimly, showing them a map projected from his wrist. “We can get out of here with
this
, though,” he added, hefting an orange-and-black box.
The S-Cycle’s screeching peaked sharply. “Whoa, girl,” Superboy said, jumping up onto the back of the cycle. “Is that Apokoliptan tech? Is that how you got here?”
“And it’ll be how we leave, soon as we’ve made sure there aren’t any civilians in the area,” Wally-Flash said, vanishing.
“I’m gonna go with him to do a quick sweep,” Wally said, kissing Artemis on the cheek and running off.
“You’d better come
back
!” she screamed, leaning out of the S-Cycle.
“I’ll make sure he does this time,” Bart promised, zipping off after his cousin.
“I’ve got my eyes on them,” Superman promised as he flew past.
“Shit--Batgirl! Beast Boy! Blue Beetle! Come in!” Dick said, remembering his other redheaded best friend. “Can you get to my co-ordinates inside of--how long do we have?” he asked Redbird.
“Three minutes, twenty-two seconds,” Redbird said, typing furiously.
“Get here in three minutes!” Dick ordered. “There’s an--”
“
Airstrike, we know, the other Blue Beetle got a message!
” Batgirl reported. “
We’ve got Icon, Rocket, and Captains Marvel and Atom helping us move civilians, they just got--wait, why do you want us to go
towards
the airstrike location
?”
“They’ve got some kinda… teleportation device,” Dick said, looking uneasily at the Apokoliptan device that the S-Cycle was so unhappy about. “Please just get here as fast as you can!”
“
I hear you,
” Barry-Flash said. “
Hal, you hearin’ this
?”
“
I think… I can stabilize this a bit more…
” Hal grunted. “
Fuck it. There’s nowhere here to drop the Monument, I’m bringing it with me. Sorry, history, but I can’t let you fall on all these people.”
They could all see the glowing green shape of the Washington Monument as Hal towed the crumbling structure with him, flinging it into the carpet of chaos that the area around the former Hall of Justice had been reduced to. Not far behind him flew the two Blue Beetles, Beast Boy in hawk form, Icon, Rocket carrying Batgirl in a purple bubble, Captain Atom and Captain Marvel.
“Aquaman… how did your half of the team get here before we did?” Icon asked, looking nonplussed.
“Same way we’re getting out--the teleportation device,” Aquaman said, pointing at the thing in Redbird’s hands.
“One minute,” Redbird said, holding it up. “We need to go!”
“Kid Flash--
Wally
!” Dick yelled over his comms. “Where are you? We’ve gotta
go
!”
“
Handful of people were trapped in a basement--the area’s almost clear! Give us thirty more seconds
!” Wally shouted.
“Are they coming?” Maelstrom said, looking concerned. “If they do not return before the bombers arrive--”
“My ring’s picking up incoming,” Hal Jordan reported.
“Our bugs too,” one of the Blue Beetles said, looking at his counterpart.
“We are
not
leaving without him!” Artemis snapped furiously.
“They’re on their way!” Superman shouted as he flew back towards them. “Area’s clear!”
“Good! Let’s get goin’!” Mal shouted, bringing the S-Cycle closer to the still-shaking ground. Four streaks of colour--two red, two yellow--shot towards them.
“How does it function?” Wonder Woman asked, eyeing the box skeptically.
Redbird held it in both hands. “Oracle,” he said quietly to it. There was a
boom
and a circle of orange light opened up. “Go!” he shouted, pointing at it.
The Flashes shot through, followed closely by the S-Cycle and flying heroes. One second, they were flying over the crumbling debris of the Hall of Justice, then in a brief flash of light, they nearly crashed into a wall.
“What the
hell
?!” Roy yelled as he nearly fell out of the overcrowded S-Cycle. Dick dove to catch him, looking around at the room they’d appeared in. It was some kind of hangar or dock--a plane was sitting not far away, tethered to the ground near a bay of water. As the portal vanished, depositing them all inside, a door at the far end of the room opened. A number of armed and armoured people ran out, spreading along a raised gallery that looked down over the hangar, levelling various weapons at the newly-arrived heroes. Dick had just enough time to recognize another Artemis and Jade among their number before a wheelchair rolled through, carrying a grey-clad Barbara Gordon, flanked on one side by Batman and Robin and on the other by another Tim and--his heart tried to jump out of his mouth--
Jason
. He hadn’t gotten a good look when he’d been in Bludhaven before, only a glimpse of a tall figure with a familiar face, but actually
seeing
his little brother’s face again…
“Well,” the other Barbara said, peering at all of them over her glasses with an expression halfway between curious and frustrated, “what now?”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
{
Earth-128--Bludhaven
}
{
July 28, 08:31 EDT
}
Artemis knew it was selfish to wish they could be alone.
So many people
loved Wally, not just her. Barry’s grin threatened to take the top of his head off as he rested a hand on his nephew’s shoulder and explained to anybody who would listen that Wally was not only faster than him now, but a natural at destabilizing matter. Bart was chattering so fast that Artemis couldn’t make heads or tails of what he was saying, but the kid was practically euphoric in a much more genuine way than his usual hyperactivity. Dick looked tired, as if a month’s worth of sleep was finally catching up to him, but he couldn’t take his eyes off of Wally and his grin wouldn’t fade even though this meant he was watching Wally
eat
.
Everyone was so happy that it felt selfish to want Wally all to herself, but she did. When he’d jumped out of the S-Cycle to get civilians out of the strike zone, it had felt like tearing her limbs off. He was eating one-handed because she hand the other in a deathgrip and wouldn’t let go.
The last time she’d looked away from him, she’d
lost
him.
It slowly dawned on her, though, that not everybody in the room was delighted. She kept finding her gaze drawn to the group of Rebels keeping a careful but watchful distance from the League--one face in particular.
The other Wally, the one that was the Flash, couldn’t take his eyes off of Wally, Bart and Barry, and he looked so sad it
hurt
. She wanted to reach out to him, comfort him, but though he was Wally, he wasn’t
her
Wally.
Her
Wally was right next to her, and she wasn’t sure she could ever let go of him.
“I still don’t get it, though,” Wally sighed, gesturing with half a bread roll. “I got here, like… three days ago. So where was I for three and a half weeks between vanishing and getting here?”
“It could be a touch of time travel,” Barry suggested. “I’ve
done
it--always into the past rather than the future, but it’s theoretically possible…”
“With you people,
anything
is theoretically possible,” Red Arrow said, throwing up his hands. “How do you do
so much
shit just by running fast?”
“I don’t question it, I just enjoy and embrace it,” Bart said, patting Red Arrow on the shoulder. “Damn, these bread rolls aren’t half bad--I’m gonna get some more. You want any, Wally?”
“Thanks, but… I’m good,” Wally said, standing up and tugging Artemis with him. “If you’d all excuse me a minute…”
Artemis was long since used to Wally
literally
sweeping her off her feet, but it still startled her to go in less than a second from being surrounded by half the Justice League to being alone in the hangar bay with Wally.
Artemis didn’t waste any time in grabbing him by the hair and dragging him in for a kiss. This wasn’t one of the fast, light kisses she’d rained down on him when they first saw each other in this world, separated by a torrent of words; this was beyond words, raw and ferocious, feelings passing from mouth to mouth without disturbing the air between them. It felt like she was trying to devour him, to take him inside of herself where she’d never have to lose him again.
On that thread, she was moving her hands down Wally’s suit, starting to move towards the clasps, when Wally pulled enough just to breathe, “Artemis, I’m
so sorry.
”
“Damn
right
you are!” Artemis snarled, pushing him back into the wall as she abruptly remembered that she was also
incandescently
angry at him. “How
could
you, Wally?! How could you
leave
me like that?!”
“I didn’t now I was gonna
vanish
--” Wally protested.
“But you knew you might not come back!” Artemis interrupted him. “Why else would you leave without saying anything?! God dammit, Wally, even
Jade
actually
told
me when she was leaving!”
Wally hesitated. “I… I know, but there wasn’t time--”
“Bullshit there wasn’t!” Artemis snapped. “There’s
always
time for
you
! You just didn’t want me to stop you from leaving!”
“Maybe! Look, I really
did
think I was gonna come back, but if I didn’t, I didn’t want our last moments together to be
arguing
, okay?!” Wally yelled, throwing up his hands. “I
had
to go! There weren’t any other speedsters to go help!”
“You think I didn’t fucking notice that?!” Artemis screamed. “You really think I’d have
stopped
you with the whole world at stake?! Why couldn’t you at least give me the chance to say goodbye?!”
She could feel hot, heavy tears pouring down her cheeks. They’d blurred her vision so much that all she could see of Wally was a blob of red and yellow. “Artemis…” Wally said, his voice faint over the blood roaring in her ears.
“After what I just did, going undercover with Dick and Kaldur, you thought I wouldn’t
understand
?!” Artemis sobbed bitterly. “I know you didn’t want to agree with me when I said I wanted to take Dick’s offer. I meant it, you know, when I said I wouldn’t go if you didn’t agree with it. But you did, even though you didn’t want to, because you understood that it was important to me, and I love you for it. And even if I didn’t
want
you to go, I would’ve let you go because I know you
had
to. We
both
know how this life is. Couldn’t you at least have given me a
goodbye
, Wally?!”
“Artie, I…” Wally sighed. “Remember when you left, I said I… I love you, I understand, but I was gonna feel sad and angry for a while ‘cause I was scared? And I did, I felt
so
scared,
so
sad,
so
angry. And you… you didn’t
fuck up
like I did. I can’t
imagine
how much angrier you must be at me, and I’ve earned it. I won’t ask you to forgive me until you’re ready, but--”
“Wally, you idiot, I just got you back from the
dead
, of course I forgive you,” Artemis sighed in exasperation, wiping her eyes. “But I
am
angry because it
hurt
, god dammit. It hurt
so much…
”
“What can I do, Artie?” Wally asked, his voice choked, like he was starting to cry himself. “What can I do to help make it better?”
“Don’t go,” Artemis said, pulling him close again and burying her face in his chest. “Don’t leave me alone like that again. I know it’s… silly of me to ask. If there’s another crisis, another threat, neither of us will be able to say out of it, will we? We couldn’t. Just… promise me that the next time we fight, we fight
together
. If we die, we die
together
.” She felt Wally tense up, but she ploughed on. “I missed you
so damn much
and then as soon as I got back, I
lost
you. Just promise me that whatever we do from now on, we do it
together
. Please.”
“Isn’t that kind of promise usually called, uh, a proposal?” Wally said hoarsely. “I do actually have a ring, I just left it in my other reality…”
“Found it,” Artemis sniffed. “Anyway, this is
my
proposal, buster. Do you promise?”
“Yes,” Wally said, tipping her head up to kiss her again. They pressed so close together that their tears ran down each others’ cheeks.
{
Earth-128--Bludhaven
}
{
July 28, 08:35 EDT
}
“Hey, uh… can I ask you something?”
Iris took a moment to steel herself before turning around to see the face that matched the faintly familiar voice.
It’s been ten years,
she thought, half-wishing he’d take his cowl down and half-grateful he’d left it up.
Has his voice changed because he got to live past his twenties? Or have I been forgetting him?
She was aware, of course, that time passed and memories faded, whether you wanted them to or not, but most people didn’t get confronted with a version of their dead spouse from an alternate universe to slap them in the face with just how much. She didn’t wonder how he’d found her working in the interrogation room that she and Lois had been using as a sound recording booth--he had the speed to search the whole base in under a minute.
“You’re Barry,” she said softly. “From the other world. Right?”
He nodded, reaching for his cowl before apparently thinking better of it. “If this is a weird question you can ignore it, or if you’re just not comfortable talking to me then that’s fine,” he said rapidly--slightly faster than a regular human could, but still at a speed that she could comprehend. “It’s just… there’s something I wanted to ask you.”
“It’s okay,” Iris said, gesturing to an empty computer chair. “What is it?”
“Well… we were only in this world a little while, so I never got to find out what happened to you after your Barry was killed, and I was always kinda, y’know, worried,” he said, sitting down and leaning forwards with his elbows on his knees, one foot jittering nervously.
All the familiar little tics, the way he spoke, all those echoes of things she didn’t know she’d remembered--it was like the feeling of unexpectedly running into somebody she’d last seen in high school, amplified by a million.
“The Justice Lords promised me their protection,” she recalled. “It was… comforting, at first. They all came to visit me in their time off, as Hal and Clark and Diana and Bruce instead of as superheroes… turns out Bruce had set up very lucrative life insurance for Barry through about twenty shell companies so I was well off enough to take as much leave from work as I needed to. And honestly, I needed to. Did they tell you
how
Luthor killed Barry?”
“Come to think of it… no,” the other Barry said, rubbing his hands uncomfortably. “Just that he did.”
“He shot him,” Iris said quietly. For the first time, she realized that she’d almost never said it. She’d had to lie about how her husband had died, reciting the false story so often she’d numbed to it, but as Barry’s identity had never come out she’d only had to explain the truth to her nearest and dearest. It hurt in a sharp way that nothing to do with Barry had done for a long time. “President Luthor invited Superman and the other costumed heroes to come meet him at a public press conference to discuss making a formal relationship with the US government. Bary was the only one willing to give Luthor a chance. When he turned up… of course it was a trap.” She sighed, closing her eyes. “Luthor blew his head off with a shotgun. On a live broadcast. The news cycles had already been caught up in President Luthor’s increasingly erratic and hostile behaviour… I couldn’t report on it. I couldn’t handle other people reporting on it, day in and day out. God, I was ignoring the news so hard that I didn’t even know that they’d killed Luthor until Hal visited and told me…”
“Jesus... “ Barry’s hands moved, starting to reach for her, before he caught himself, clasping them in his lap. “I’m so sorry.”
Iris nodded jerkily. “Anyway… Hal still visited regularly throughout the Justice Lords’ reign, and the others on occasion, but after a while… it stopped making me feel safe,” she admitted. “I felt watched. I’d been warned by more than a few people that it wasn’t worth going back to work unless you were willing to swallow the end of the free press. Everybody knew Lois Lane had been locked up, although I think a lot of people thought it was because she’d fought too hard against the Lords’ control of the media… Lord Superman claimed it was for her own safety. Bruce had done the same to Richard Grayson. I kept expecting to be locked up myself any day, and I couldn’t grieve properly, not feeling like they were watching me, not feeling like I had to grieve the way they were expecting to see…” She crossed her arms, gripping her upper arms. “I couldn’t move on, and I
needed
to. But if I tidied away Barry’s things, or tried to socialize more, I was scared they’d think I was betraying Barry’s memory. And I was so scared, all the time, for Wally, if his powers got out… would the Justice Lords want to bring him in as one of them? Or would they…” She gestured to her head, shuddering violently. The other Barry pressed a hand over his mouth, looking sick. “So at the time your Justice League arrived, no, I wasn’t okay. But I have been since, thanks to what you did.”
“I’m glad,” the other Barry said sincerely. “So, what’s he like? Your new husband?” He gestured to her hands. “Or wife, I guess. Is that legal here yet?”
“Yes, actually, but husband,” Iris said, a grin finding its way back onto her face, “and his name’s Steven.” She fiddled selfconciously with her wedding ring--of course he’d noticed that it wasn’t
their
wedding ring. She still had it in a chest at home, along with Barry’s wedding suit, one of his
other
suits, their photos, and some other things that reminded her of him. She looked at them when she felt up to it. It had hurt, seeing her wedding ring every day for two years after he died, feeling like she had to keep wearing it lest one of the Justice Lords ask why she wasn’t. “We worked together at CCN,” she elaborated. “He’s a fact-checker--he threw a party about a week after the Justice Lords were imprisoned to celebrate getting to do his job properly again. His memory’s like a sponge for the most random array of information and he likes to share interesting facts, although he’s been known to forget his own birthday. Much as he babbles, he’s a really good listener, the kind who actually pays attention to what you’re saying to him instead of spending the time thinking of what he’s going to say next. Bakes
amazing
lasagna.”
“Sounds like a great guy,” Barry said with a grin. “How long’ve you two been married?”
“Six years,” Iris said. “We dated for about a year before that, and we’d been friends since the day I went back to CCN… his idea of flirting was leaving me post-it notes every day with the most interesting animal fact he had on his mind.”
Barry actually
laughed
, that warm, wholehearted laugh that was one of her favourite memories of him. “Good,” he said, leaning back in his seat, sounding more relaxed. “You weren’t alone for a long time. I’m glad. I mean, I know my Iris… I know
you…
you’re tough. You’d get along. But I always hated the thought of hurting you like that and not being there for you. I’m glad somebody is. You seem really happy when you talk about Steven. I really am glad,” he stressed.
A weight she didn’t know she was carrying lifted from Iris’ chest. “Thank you,” she sighed. “I mean, I knew… I knew Barry would want me to go on with my life and be happy, and would’ve been happy for me to find love again, but still… to
hear
it. It helps more than I can say.”
“Happy to help,” Barry said warmly. “Bet not a lot of widows get a chance like this!”
“Not many would want to, probably,” Iris laughed. “Wouldn’t you expect your dead spouse to be jealous?”
“Hey,
my
Iris is still very happily married to me, so I’m pretty confident,” Barry said with a shit-eating grin that was just so
him
.
“And I know she’s happy too,” Iris said gently. “I’m not going to rank which one of us is happer. No Justice Lords in her world probably tips things in her favour, anyway. She’s happy with you and I’m happy with Steven… it’s not the same happiness I had with Barry, but it’s not worse or better. Just different.”
“Wouldn’t expect you to settle for anything less,” Barry agreed. “You guys have any kids?”
“Betty,” Iris said, clenching her arms again at the thought of her little girl and the unpleasant thought that she didn’t exist in this other Barry’s world. “She’s three. She’s at a safehouse with Rudy and Mary… god, I haven’t seen her in nearly a year,” she whispered, all her cheer deflating.
“All going to plan, you’ll see her soon,” Barry reassured her. “I promise, we’re gonna do everything we can to make it safe for you to reunite with your family.”
“Thanks,” Iris said softly. “What about you?”
“Got twins coming in four months’ time,” Barry said, grinning again. “Dawn and Donald, according to my grandson from the future. Can’t wait to meet ‘em.”
“All going to plan, you will soon,” Iris said, smiling gently. “Make sure you get your nephew home safe so he can dote on them. Mine always spoiled Betty
rotten
whenever he babysat.”
“I could not be less surprised,” Barry said with a grin. “I’ve seen how he spoils his dog!”
{
Earth-128--Bludhaven
}
{
July 28, 08:38 EDT
}
Left, then right… right?
Rocket thought as she wandered down the corridors of the rebel base. Every corridor was bland and unmarked--probably to confuse invaders or spies, but it was confusing her too. And she did not appreciate being lost and confused when her bladder was bursting.
Finally setting her sights on what was probably the bathrooms, she opened the door and stumbled as something immediately bashed into her shins.
“Baby, wai--ah…” the other Rocket said, jogging up and slowing abruptly to stare when she caught sight of her doppelganger.
Rocket looked down at the curly-haired toddler who’d bumped into her legs and was now staring up at her with wide eyes while clinging to her knee. “Well, hello, handsome,” she said, reaching down and picking up her son’s counterpart. “Ain’t you just the most beautiful baby in the world!”
“Momma?” Amistad said, looking in confusion from Rocket to Rocket. “Momma?”
“Oh, baby,” the other Rocket giggled, holding out her arms for Rocket to hand Amistad over. “Sorry about him runnin’ into you, but I guess you know what a little bundle of energy he can be.”
“Oh, yeah,” Rocket said with a grin. “That’s your momma, baby,” she said, pointing at the other Rocket. “I just look like her.” Amistad stuck his fist in his mouth as he looked at his mother, continuing to throw confused glances Rocket’s way.
“Guess things ain’t all bad here,” Rocket said, stroking some of Amistad’s hair off of his forehead.
“Things look pretty shiny for you too, huh?” the other Rocket said, tapping the engagement ring on Rocket’s finger. “You could knock somebody’s teeth out with a rock like that!”
“Who says I haven’t?” Rocket said with a grin. “You ain’t gettin’ married yourself?”
“Me? Hell no,” the other Rocket said, rolling her eyes. “Must be a hell of a guy to make you think stickin’ with him’s a good idea.”
“She ain’t a guy,” Rocket said, grin widening. The other Rocket whistled. “I won’t say more. I don’t know if you just don’t know her yet or what, but you don’t wanna feel like you
have
to date her just ‘cause I’m marryin’ her in another world.”
“I like how you think,” the other Rocket said with a nod. “I won’t lie, it’d be nice to have somebody to raise Amistad with, but we’re doin’ just fine with just us, aren’t we, baby?”
“Surprised you’ve got him here with you,” Rocket admitted, putting her hands on her hips. “This don’t seem like a safe place to raise a kid…”
She caught the way her doppelganger’s arms tightened around Amistad. “There’s safehouses, but… I don’t trust ‘em,” the other Rocket said guardedly. “They ain’t any safer than places like this, and if Lord Superman found one… well, all the people most able to fight ‘im would be too far away.” She shook her head. “‘Sides, he’s all the family I got and I’m all the family he’s got. I don’t wanna leave him with strangers if I don’t gotta.”
“I got lucky I had all my friends from the Team around to help out when I was havin’ him,” Rocket recalled. “...huh. Was the Team ever a thing here?”
“Team? Like the Justice League?” the other Rocket asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Sorta… but it got started by sidekicks,” Rocket said. “It’s mostly for kids too young to join the Justice League proper. The under-eighteens, you know?”
“Huh… our Justice League don’t have…
didn’t
have a minimum age,” the other Rocket said, bouncing Amistad gently in her arms. “‘Course, one of the founders was Flash, and he was like… sixteen himself at the time.”
“Oh yeah, your Flash is…” Rocket trailed off, unsure of how many people had shared their identities in this universe. Her counterpart had sounded so
lonely
when she’d talked about raising Amistad alone. She couldn’t imagine having had her son alone, without having her friends all around her, especially with how
disapproving
Icon had been of the whole “unwed teen mother” thing. She couldn’t imagine going shopping for baby supplies without Zatanna and Karen, couldn’t imagine babyproofing her apartment without Dick and Babs’ help, couldn’t imagine life without the Team-wide sparring tournaments to see whose turn it was to take her to her ultrasounds. She was proud of having moved on to the Justice League, but by and large the Leaguers treated each other like coworkers, some of whom happened to be friends. The Team had been a
family
to her.
She winced as her bladder twinged, reminding her of what she’d gone looking for in the first place. Much as she loved her son, she
did
miss life without an extremely dodgy post-pregnancy bladder. “You be good for your momma,” she said, patting Amistad on the cheek. “‘Scuse me…”
The other Rocket just grinned as she stepped aside to let Rocket go running into the bathroom.
{
Earth-128--Bludhaven
}
{
July 28, 08:41 EDT
}
People often told Conner how much he looked like Superman--but only when they knew they were talking to Superboy, only when he wore the shield of the House of El on his chest to trigger the association. He didn’t even wear a mask, but when he was in civilian clothes, talking to people who only knew Conner Kent, it was extraordinarily rare that anybody told him he looked like Super
boy
, never mind Super
man.
He didn’t like mirrors, not because he looked like Superman, but because he really
didn’t
. He’d seen it just the same in the face of Match, his uncontrollable brother, his older twin; the way their chins were sharper than the heroic lantern jaw, their cheekbones sloped different, their skin a few shades paler, their hair a little thinner and too straight and spiky to ever spring into a curl over their foreheads.
The
other
Conner--Lord Superboy, Wally had mentioned calling him--also didn’t look that much like Superman, nor even that much like Conner. His jaw was squarer, even though the rest of his features were sharper for the most part, his eyes a little darker, his black hair a little thicker and longer. Conner could see echoes of Superman, but also echoes of the Bruce Wayne he’d occasionally seen on TV at home.
Frankly, this clone looked more like Bruce Wayne than the former Lord Batman who lay unconscious in the medical bay. There was a viewing window that allowed people to look into the bay without going inside--one of the beds had a curtain drawn around it for privacy, but a badly-burned John Stewart was visible sleeping in another with both Hal Jordan and an intact John Stewart napping in chairs next to his bed, exhausted from draining their rings’ power into the injured Stewart’s to help him heal faster. Lord Batman had to be the practically mummified patient who Batman was standing over, talking quietly to a doctor. Lord Superboy was hovering outside the bay, looking in with an all-too-familiar lost, wistful expression.
The two of them weren’t even close to being the same person, but at less than a week old, the other clone was already struggling under the trappings of older heroes and longing for a family to care about him. Conner could relate to that, anyway.
“Hey,” he said, shoving his hands into his pockets as he walked up to the other.
The other Conner’s eyes immediately fixed on the red S-shield on Conner’s chest and, yeah, he remembered that all-consuming obsession, that magnetic draw to
anything
to do with Superman. It had taken months and years of filling his life with experiences that
weren’t
Superman-related to dilute it, and that was time that the other clone might not have. “In your world,” the other clone said, pointing at the shield, “he made you? Your Superman?”
Conner shook his head. “Cadmus used his DNA to make me--to kill Superman, actually, if he ever went rogue. But Kryptonian DNA’s too unstable to clone, which is why you and I have human DNA. Different humans, though.”
“Oh… so that’s why we look different,” the other clone said. Conner nodded. “Who’s your other parent? Another hero?”
Conner shook his head. “Lex Luthor.”
“Luthor!” the other Conner yelled furiously, clenching his fists.
“I guess you know about him, huh?” Conner said, watching the other warily. He remember that rage, too--all the feelings he couldn’t handle or understand mixing into anger that would rise up into an all-consuming red fog at the slightest provocation. He’d endangered himself and his friends more times than he could count until he’d finally begun to understand and control it--and a big part of that, he knew, was Superman finally beginning to accept him, treat him as a brother and teach him. That had taken away the agonizing pain of rejection, making it easier to learn to control his emotions.
Things weren’t going to be so simple for this guy.
“I know about him,” the other Conner snarled. “The Fortress’s computers taught me all about the rise of Lord Superman… including Lex Luthor’s murder of The Flash!”
Conner nodded. “He’s not a good guy in our world either,” he said. “Actually, he’s a manipulative, megalomaniacal asshole. But I’m not him anymore than you or I are Superman.” The clone flinched at that. “Look, I don’t expect this to sink in right away or be easy to deal with, but I might as well say it and get it out of the way: you’re not Superman or Lord Superman or whatever. You never will be. And that’s
fine
. Whoever the hell you wind up being, just don’t be Lord Superman. He’s killed way more heroes than Lex Luthor.”
“I… the Fortress told me he’s only killed supervillains and terrorists,” the other Conner said, screwing his eyes shut and rubbing his head. “It told me that the rebels are all terrorists, but… they’re not… they saved my life!” he blurted out, his eyes opening and staring in anguish at Conner. “Maelstrom and Redbird and the… the two Flashes… they fought me, but then they destroyed my pod! They kept their promises, they didn’t…
lie
to me…”
Conner nodded. “I know,” he said. “Believe me,
I know.
Everything you’ve been told goes against everything you’ve experienced. Your head and your gut are going in different directions and you don’t know what to do with it.” The other Conner nodded. “I know you wanna deal with it quickly, but there
isn’t
a quick or easy way to deal with it. Sorry.”
“How did
you
deal with it?” the other Conner asked helplessly.
Conner grimaced. “It took time,” he said evasively. He sure as hell wasn’t recommending that the other Conner go back to Lord Superman…
Has M’gann come to Earth here? If Lord Martian Manhunter was exiled, probably not...
“My friends helped. Stick with yours. And you’ve got something I didn’t,” he added.
“What’s that?” the other clone asked in confusion. “We have the same powers, don’t we?”
“Not powers,” Conner said, shaking his head. “But your other parent’s the good kind of manipulative billionaire. Well… better than Luthor, anyway,” he amended, remembering that the other Batman had been
Lord
Batman once, even if he’d then turned on the other Justice Lords. “Depending on how much like our Batman he is, you might be in with a chance at having a family with him. The kind that won’t abandon you or use you. I mean, he’s adopted three kids who weren’t even
related
to him in our world.”
The other Conner looked through the viewing window again, gazing wistfully at Batman and Lord Batman. “He said he was my father,” he mumbled. “He told me that I… I don’t belong to Lord Superman…”
“You don’t belong to anybody except you,” Conner said, “and… anybody you
want
to belong to.”
The door was nosed open by Wolf who padded up, sniffed at both of them and then nuzzled against
his
Conner. “Finished trying to out-eat Kid Flash?” Conner asked in amusement, petting him. “This is Wolf. He was a genetic experiment too, but after I beat him in a fight and took his mind-control collar off, he decided he liked me. Wolf, this is Conner Wayne.”
He saw the other clone mouth
Conner Wayne
under his breath. “Hi, Wolf,” he said, holding out his hand. Wolf sniffed it, then licked it gently, leaning his head against the second Superboy until the clone scratched his ears. “Heh… you think he likes me?” he asked, a tentative smile appearing on his face. Wolf wuffed gently and flopped down on his side. The other Conner knelt down next to the huge canine, carefully scratching his belly around the bandages wrapping his injuries from the fight with Lord Superman.
“And you didn’t even have to fight him,” Conner said, grinning back. Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced through the window; Batman was still talking to the doctor, the pair of them blocking the comatose Lord Batman from view. Between them and Wolf the other Conner seemed thoroughly distracted from his brooding without having to leave the waiting room, which Conner was quietly grateful for. He didn’t like wandering around the base--everybody was either frightened of him or reached automatically for their weapons whenever they saw him.
Perhaps that was why Conner Wayne was hiding out here too, as much as out of curiosity about Lord Batman. Everybody who saw them saw Lord Superman.
{
Earth-128--Bludhaven
}
{
July 28, 08:32 EDT
}
“I can’t think what you’re getting out of being here, except self-flagellation,” Dr Thompkins said, pointedly shouldering past Batman to change Lord Batman’s IV bags. “It’ll be a long while before he’s up to telling anybody anything.”
“His condition tells me plenty,” Batman murmured. “Where did Lord Superman learn to torture like that?”
“Wherever he learned to be an alien warlord, probably,” Dr Thompkins grumbled.
“When he became Lord Superman,” Batman stated.
“No, the time before that,” Dr Thompkins said, shooting him a curious look. “He attacked the Earth at the head of an alien army. This was a couple of years before Luthor became president… hell, it was what he built his goddamn campaign on!”
“This never happened in our world,” Batman said quietly. “Nor did we hear anything about it when we were here last. The earliest event in your world that we heard of was President Luthor’s murder of the Flash. Who was this alien army? Kryptonians?”
“No… damn, what was their name?” Dr Thompkins muttered under her breath. “They’d brainwashed Lord Superman, turned out… of course, he was just Superman then. He’d been missing for nearly half a year, and then he came back and conquered the earth in the name of…” She snapped her fingers. “That was it. I don’t remember what the planet was called, but you bet your ass I remember the smug prick who took over all terrestrial channels to tell us that he was our god now. Darkseid. That was it. He didn’t get to reign long, since Bruce and the others snapped Superman out of it and he drove the lot of ‘em back off of Earth. But people were dead, half of Metropolis and a few other major cities were in ruins… the damage was done. There were plenty of frightened, angry people who hated Superman enough to vote for Luthor.”
“Darkseid,” Batman murmured. “Never heard of him.”
“Well, that’s a first,” Dr Thompkins said dryly.
Batman looked down at Lord Batman. The other man was too weak to breathe on his own, a ventilator steadily breathing for him. Batman had too many questions and no time to wait for the severely injured man to answer them. Even if the former Lord Aquaman was now only Captain of the Guard in Atlantis and entirely loyal to his son, as Orin had described, Batman wasn’t sure that he trusted any of the former Justice Lords to answer him entirely honestly about what had happened to Lord Superman--none except the one who’d spent years keeping the Kryptonian imprisoned.
Then again, none of those questions were necessary to defeat Lord Superman, only to quell his own restless thoughts and fears. “Tell me everything you can remember about Darkseid,” he said.
If he’s going to come after our world in the future, I want to be ready.
“Sorry, but I never knew much about him ‘cept that he was big, ugly and apparently liked dominating whole planets as a hobby,” Leslie said with a shrug. “Unfortunately, I think the only one who really knows anything about him is…”
“Lord Superman,” Batman said grimly, glancing down at Lord Batman.
Which leads me back to you… the only other person, if anybody, to know anything that could help me if Darkseid is still in our future.
He glanced towards the window towards the waiting room. For a moment, he thought that Lord Superboy was still watching them, before he realized that he was actually looking at their Superboy, Conner Kent, and that Conner was watching Lord Superboy play with Wolf on the floor.
“Heard somebody saying that that Lord Superman clone’s half Bruce’s son too,” Leslie said, following his line of sight. “If so… it’s a shame for that boy. I wouldn’t call Lord Superman fit to care for a pot cactus, and Bruce…” She gestured to her patient. “Well, even if he was conscious, he was never much of a father to Dick anyway.”
“I’ll speak to him if I get a chance,” Batman offered. “If he’s similar to our Superboy, he needs somebody, and that somebody
can’t
be Lord Superman.”
And I thought
Clark
was being a problem when we first found Superboy…
“Not just now,” Leslie said, smiling at little when Wolf licked Lord Superboy, making the clone grin. “But when you get the chance.
If
you get a chance before Lord Superman takes his next shot at killing us all, anyway.”
{
Earth-128--Bludhaven
}
{
July 28, 08:41 EDT
}
“Who’s Tuxedo?” Batgirl asked, leaning against the desk next to Oracle. She’d pulled her cowl down for a while, figuring that there wasn’t anybody in the base who didn’t already know her face (not that she was too secretive about it anyway, not among the Justice League), but it had drawn her enough startled, confused looks on the walk from the canteen to the control centre that she’d pulled her cowl back up halfway there. She wondered, belatedly, if Oracle wouldn’t want to see her, dressed as the hero that Oracle could no longer be, but her counterpart didn’t really react to Batgirl’s presence.
“I thought all your people were taking over the canteen,” Oracle commented, not looking away from her monitors, the dozens of camera and satellite feeds spread across the screens in front of her.
Batgirl followed suit, looking at the devastation that had been wrought by the battle with Lord Superman. It was upsetting, but still easier than the disorienting effect of looking at her doppelganger. Easier to look at were the security camera feeds--the Lanterns sleeping in the medical bay while Batman talked to a doctor, Miss Martian helping her uncle apply some kind of burn salve he’d been mixing up in one of the base’s labs, Wonder Woman and Superman having a quiet conversation in what looked like a storeroom. Batgirl couldn’t blame Superman for wanting to go somewhere more solitary than the crowded canteen or bunkroom. However weird people were looking at her, it still had to be a million times better than whatever crossed people’s faces at the first sight of
Superman
walking around their base.
“I’m as happy to see Wally alive as anybody, but I want to know what’s going on, too,” she replied, glancing briefly at the video feed to the hangar bay, where Wally and Artemis’ legs were all that could be seen of them past the plane they were hiding behind, which was probably for the best. “Everybody’s whispering that Tuxedo’s coming here. Seems like a big deal. Who’s Tuxedo?”
“Our patron,” Oracle hedged. “They get us our equipment and some intel.
You’ve
sure got way better equipment than
I
ever had as Batgirl,” she added, gesturing to Batgirl’s costume. “I had a leather jacket over some filched police kevlar, not real body armour like we have now.”
“Batman pays for my equipment, but I think you figured that already,” Batgirl said. “You didn’t really answer my question. Who
is
Tuxedo? They have to be in the military--high-level, given the intel they sent about that airstrike. I understand why they’d want to keep their identity protected, but I still think you know what it is. I wouldn’t put my life so completely in somebody else’s hands, let alone the lives of dozens of people that I’m responsible for, without knowing who they are and why they’re willing to throw so much into fighting Lord Superman. Not that there seem to be many people in this world
without
a personal reason to fight Lord Superman…”
“You’re right,” Oracle allowed. “Not that I was swimming in options after I lost my fight with Lord Superman, but I still wouldn’t have risked my life or Jason’s to Tuxedo’s help if Dick hadn’t introduced us and vouched for their integrity--financially and morally.”
“That’s all it took?” Batgirl asked in surprise. “I mean, I love Dick, he’s my best friend, but he’s too trusting for his own good sometimes.”
“No,” Oracle said, looking at Batgirl for the first time, a deep sadness in her eyes, “he isn’t. Not the one
I
know.”
Batgirl felt her heart break all over again. The Dick Grayson she knew was secretive, sure, but she didn’t think you could get his faith in
people
out of him with a crowbar.
“Besides, once we were introduced, I found out they’ve got as much motivation to want Lord Superman taken down as I do,” Oracle said grimly, turning back to her computer. “In fact, they--” She inhaled sharply, rapidly clicking a keyboard command to maximize one of the camera feeds.
“What is it?” Batgirl asked, looking up at the blown-up feed. It showed a back alley where a couple of homeless were warming their hands over a trashcan fire, one of them fanning it with a piece of cardboard.
Wait a minute… it’s
July, she realized, examining the “homeless” more closely. Their faces were completely hidden under tatty scarves and hats and their builds and sexes were indiscriminate under their layers of sweaters and long, heavy coats--a look that was indeed reminiscent of homeless people wearing everything they owned rather than leave any of it behind or carry it all, but still odd for the weather and distinctly identity-concealing. The one discrepancy was their boots--filthy, but to the experienced eye,
much
better combat boots than most civilians would own, and in good condition under the dust and dirt.
She looked back at the trashcan fire. It was smouldering, one of them flapping the heavy smoke away in irregular puffs. “Smoke signals,” she said.
Oracle nodded. “It’s Tuxedo,” she said, “and they’ve brought a friend.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
{
Earth-128--Bludhaven
}
{
July 28, 08:59 EDT
}
“F’m’r m’n’s, Al,” Dick slurred, trying to roll over. His bed wasn’t as wide as it was supposed to be, though, and he fell gracelessly off of the side.
“Wow, you are
really
out of it,” he heard Tim observe. “I feel
really
bad about having to wake you now, but I think you’re gonna want to be up for this.”
Dick rolled to his feet, looking around at the rows and rows of beds with identical blankets. It was like a military barracks, although in some places the beds had been shoved together, and bags were sitting under some of the beds. One had a ragged stuffed bear on it. He recalled seeing some other people asleep when he’d given up on Wally and Artemis coming back any time soon and staggered in for a nap, but they were all gone now, the blankets on a few of the beds lying in careless heaps on the mattresses or floor.
“What’s happening?” he asked as his recollection booted up. The alternate reality. Wally.
The Justice Lords.
“Somebody called Tuxedo’s arriving,” Tim informed him as they headed out of the room and in the direction of the comms centre that seemed to function as the hub of the base. “Owl told me that they’re the rebels’ benefactor, and the one who set up all these bases, but nobody’s actually met them except for Redbird, Oracle and Bluejay. Redbird’s gone to meet them and escort them in. Supposedly they messaged Oracle about knowing Lord Superman’s next move and wanting to deliver the information in person.”
“They know Lord Superman’s next move? He’s resurfaced already?!” Dick said in alarm.
“I don’t know,” Tim said uncertainly. “Anyway, they’ll be here any minute and apparently
everyone’s
to be here…” He trailed off as they walked into the comms centre. The whole room fell quiet, staring at them, and then a hum of conversation resumed. Dick spotted Wally--
his
Wally, in his Kid Flash costume--standing with an arm around Artemis, talking to a Flash who was the exact same height as him and so was probably his counterpart. The suit was a touch different, too--accents slightly different sizes, things like that.
“...get him one?” the Flash-Wally was saying as Dick and Tim approached.
“I’m gonna go ahead and guess that The Brain is no longer practicing here, so you’ll probably just have to get him, like… a regular puppy,” Wally said, nodding at Lord Superboy, who was extremely focused on petting Wolf and not making eye contact with anybody in the room, while M’gann and Conner stood nearby, talking under their breath to each other. “Maybe one of those husky-wolf hybrids. Dude!” he said brightly, spotting Dick. “
Damn,
it’s still so good to see you.”
“That’s my line,” Dick said, no power in the universe able to keep him from hugging Wally and Artemis both. “
God
I missed you.” He was immeasurably grateful to feel how tightly Wally hugged him back. They’d never
really
sorted things out between themselves after the fight they’d had when Mount Justice was destroyed, both slightly avoiding each other with the uncomfortable knowledge of just how much they hadn’t been getting along for a while but too scared of completely destroying their slipping friendship.
“Missed you too, man,” Wally said softly. “Missed you for a while now. And, look… you were right about Aqualad. I shouldn’t have been so hard on you. I should’ve trusted you more. And… I know you didn’t just come to Artie because you needed help with the mission. You and Kaldur were running a really hard op and you needed
help
, and I should’ve seen it. I’m sorry, man.”
“I’m sorry for being vague and using the need for another agent as a cover and not just, y’know,
asking
for help,” Dick said, patting Wally on the back and leaning back, looking from him to Artemis. “And I’m really sorry if I caused you guys any problems. I shouldn’t have interrupted your lives like that. I probably should’ve talked to M’gann and Conner--Conner
really
gave me hell for that when M’gann let you kidnap her, Artemis--but things were so weird with them after they broke up and, well… they weren’t my
best friends
. Not like you guys were.”
“Are,” Artemis assured him. “But We won’t take it as an insult if, the next time you need an undercover agent, you talk to Batgirl first.”
“She might have to move out of her dad’s before she can pull off any long ops like that,” Tim commented. “Can I do it? I can skip school, it’ll be fine, I’ve already skipped two grades as it is.”
“Sorry, but you haven’t graduated
yet
,” Dick said, ruffling Tim’s hair just to get squawk out of the kid.
“Nightwing,” Batman said, walking up to them. “Are you rested?”
There was absolutely no way he’d made up for the last month in an hour and Batman had to know it, but Dick heard the question for what it was.
“I’m great,” he promised. “So, who’s Tuxedo?”
“I don’t know yet,” Batman said, looking towards the computer monitors that take up one end of the room, “but we’ll find out in a minute.” On one of the screens was Redbird, flanked by what looked like a pair of homeless people. One of them was already unwinding a long, ragged scarf and unbuttoning their coat, and Dick could see flashes of what looked like black body armour underneath.
He took the moment to take stock of the rest of the room. The Justice League and the Team, the members who came through the portal, were mostly gathered on one side of the room; Wonder Woman, Superman, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter and Hal Jordan had all managed to drift to the back where they were less visible to the uneasy-looking rebels who were mostly congregated on the other side of the room. There were a few outliers--Lord Superboy petting Wolf, Flash-Wally standing with Wally, Bumblebee and Guardian chatting to their counterparts on the far side of the room, Batgirl standing near Oracle and chatting to her, Owl and Bluejay.
Dick’s chest still hurt at the sight of his dead brother’s counterpart. Before his nap he’d tried searching the younger boy out, but when he’d found Bluejay in a lab, talking to an older black man in a labcoat about prosthetic arms for Speedy, he had no idea what he was going to stay. He’d just stood in the doorway, unnoticed by the pair, listening to Jason talk. Bluejay’s voice was deeper than his brother’s had been, properly broken rather than still squeaking through puberty, and that was what had smacked him in the face with the knowledge that this
wasn’t
his little brother. It was another guy who was living another life while Jason was still cold in the ground.
That was when, tired beyond all measure, he’d gone for a nap and dropped off almost immediately into a deep enough sleep that he hadn’t even been woken up by everyone leaving the room.
The chatter died again, the whole room falling silent as Redbird walked in, followed by two women who were both carrying armfuls of shabby clothing that they’d been disguising themselves with. Divested of their disguises, every eye in the room immediately caught the air of threat in the pair of newcomers.
One was tall and
extremely
pale with bright red hair that was nearly buzzed. The other wasn’t
short,
but she looked it next to her companion, with brown skin and dark brown hair that was also cut short, though not nearly buzzed-short. Both women had the musculature and stances of experienced fighters, and sharp gazes that had probably assessed every person in the room as fast as they assessed the pair. They were both wearing the black tactical clothes that Dick had glimpsed on the camera feed. It looked like high quality custom gear, the kind of thing that he, Bruce, Tim and Barbara wore.
Dick’s gaze returned to the women’s faces as he realized that he
knew
one of them. He’d only met her once, and it had been years, but a look at the way Batman had stiffened told him that he recognized her too. “B,” Dick said quietly, “that woman, is she--”
“Yes,” Batman said. “She’s Julia Remarque. The other woman is Katherine Kane.”
“Should we know who either of them are?” Superman asked with a frown, carefully smoothing his expression into something more neutral when he caught Julia and Katherine staring at him intently. “...they
do
know who we are, right?”
“Yes,” Oracle said as she rolled past, “to your second question. As for the first...” She shook her head as she rolled over to greet the two women. “It’s good to see you both. I wish it were under better circumstances.”
“If we want better circumstances, we’ll have to make them ourselves,” Katherine said, looking around the room, her gaze lingering on Bruce and Dick with a tight expression. Dick was a little surprised to hear a distinctly Gotham accent under her stiff delivery. “Is this all of them?”
“Barring a few who are too injured to leave the medical wing and a doctor,” Oracle said with a nod. Katherine and Julia exchanged a look, then Katherine nodded again, stepping back a little so all eyes were drawn to Julia.
“Good afternoon, former and alternate Justice League,” Julia said, standing in front of the loose groups, feet planted shoulder-width apart, arms folded in front of her. Katherine stood next to her at what was distinctly military parade rest. Julia had a very clipped English accent and a clear, ringing voice that cut through the chatter without her raising her voice particularly loudly. Every eye was already on her, and now every ear was too. “Some of you may have heard of me under the name Tuxedo. Some may even be under the impression that I am responsible for keeping the lot of you in high-security bases, MREs and military intel. To a certain extent, yes--I’ve donated my fair share to the cause and done a truly unpleasant amount of organizing, but mainly my job is to be a comfy layer of plausible deniability between you and the source of the bulk of your money and intel. Since apparently we’re bloody well doing this--” she threw a
Look
at the taller woman next to her, which was returned impassively-- “my name is Julia Remarque, and your sugar mummy here is--formerly--Major Kate Kane.”
“I’ve kept several layers of protection between me and you, partly to make it harder to trace and destroy the supply lines, and partly so that if anything
does
happen to me, I’ve spread out some assets among trustworthy people like Julia here to keep you going,” Major Kane barked. If the stance and title hadn’t given her away as military, the way she spoke when addressing a crowd definitely did. “So why am I here, giving out name, rank and face for all of you to see?”
“Actually, I was kinda wondering how a Major got military intel on the level you’ve been providing to us,” Owl asked.
“Good to know I haven’t been funding fools,” Major Kane commented. “I have… friends in high places, let’s say. People I’m close to, good people, who stayed in the military figuring that if Lord Superman was going to turn us all into his personal armies, there might be some bad orders that need softening.
I
left the military because I feel like the problem with staying to soften the blow of bad orders means you still have to
follow
bad orders, and I will
never
do that. Still, I’ve still got a lot of connections who’re happy to share and not ask questions. I’ve received intel of a major operation to be carried out tomorrow--one that is so secret and sensitive that I only felt it safe to deliver it personally.”
“Well, we were a
bit
curious about the new arrivals, too,” Julia added, looking over at the Justice League. “That’s why
I’m
here, anyway. Superheroes from an alternate universe? I think that comic book might be in my childhood bedroom somewhere…”
“What’s happening tomorrow?” Batman asked. Major Kane looked a little surprised that he’d spoken, while Julia just narrowed her eyes thoughtfully on him.
“There’s going to be a sweep through Gotham to pick up the remaining refugees,” Major Kane reported bitterly, “and execute them as rebels.”
The uproar was
immediate.
The whole room was filled with a cacophony of shocked gasps, swearing and furious questions.
That… is such an absurdly supervillain move,
Dick thought, unable to really process the sheer evil of what Major Kane had told them.
They have to
know
that all those people aren’t rebels…
His heart sank as he realized that
of course
nobody thought for a minute that the survivors trapped in Gotham were rebels, but that wasn’t really the point.
Lord Superman’s expecting this exact reaction,
he thought, looking around the room.
They’re not rebels, they’re
bait...
The whole din continued for half a minute before Julia, whose scowl had been getting steadily more pronounced, sighed, put her hands on her hips, and bellowed, “RIGHT! THAT’S ENOUGH!”
It was a cry worthy of Black Canary. Almost the whole room fell silent, though there were still more than a few mutinous mutters. “If you’re going to make such a racket any time we tell you anything, we’re going to be all week about it,” Julia snapped, meeting the glares of the room head-on. “Honestly, how do you get anything done around here?”
“Desperation and panic,” Oracle said dryly. “We’re a cobbled-together rebel movement, Ms Remarque, not a military.”
“Julia, for the love of god, Ms Remarque is my mother,” Julia said with a shudder. “Or Agent Remarque, if you must, though I had to make a swift exit myself before Lord Superman moved on from the US. And I’m sure I don’t expect complete military discipline, though it’d be a good idea, don’t you think? But I would
appreciate
it if we could get through this briefing
without
everybody screaming like children at every sentence.”
“We’re just supposed to keep quiet after you tell us the military’s gonna execute a ton of innocent people?!” Flash-Wally demanded angrily.
“No, Flash, I do not expect you to keep quiet or do nothing, but there will be time for questions and outrage
after
the briefing,” Major Kane said drily. “Thank you, Julia. As I was saying,” she continued, “the purpose of this sweep
is
to execute rebels--but Lord Superman and the generals know full well that those refugees are no rebels. They expect
exactly
this furious reaction to threatening the lives of innocent people. They’re planning to make a very big production out of detaining and executing them, giving you plenty of time to be alerted and sweep in to the rescue. That’s when they’ll strike.”
“As I’m sure you couldn’t possibly have guessed, the whole thing is a trap,” Julia added, “but they really are going to bring in and quite probably execute those refugees, so it isn’t as if we can ignore it. But this way we have time to prepare and plan instead of rushing in frantically, as they’re hoping for.”
“I’ll give the technical specifications to Oracle, but in summary, Lord Superman’s bringing in all the forces he can summon to give it to you with both barrels,” Major Kane continued, tossing a flash drive to Oracle, who immediately rolled back to her computer and plugged it in. “Password’s the address of the first place Julia harboured you kids. They might capture one or two of you alive so they’ve got somebody to put on a facsimile of a trial, but the goal is to kill as many of you as possible. They are aware that several new rebel metas have turned up,” she added, looking to the Justice League, “though nobody except Lord Superman knows who you are or where you come from. I suspect that there’s been some chatter from those who remember how the Justice Lords were taken down last time, but there’s been no official statement, internally or externally. They know enough to anticipate that, even pulling in forces from all over the globe, they might not be able to take you all out. But that’s why the military’s going in first--to thin the numbers and soften up the rest for Lord Superman to finish.”
“Now, the pretty part is that this is as all-or-nothing on Lord Superman’s part as it is on ours,” Julia commented. “The military’s bringing in soldiers from all over the world because they’re prioritizing the genuine loyalists and fanatics who can be trusted to
just obey orders
--It’s not quite a secret that the military worldwide’s been rife with internal dissent, and plenty of men and women thinking about the difference between being a good
soldier
and being a
good
soldier.” She glanced at Major Kane. “Should we win the day tomorrow, we’ll not only take out Lord Superman himself, but the majority of his most armed and ardent supporters.”
“
Should
we win,” the short-haired alternate Artemis commented darkly. “What actually
are
the odds of that?”
“Not bad, actually,” Oracle said, tapping the arms of her chair as she scrolled through maps and documents, speed-reading as only Barbara Gordon could. “Major Kane gave me a pretty thorough tactical analysis of where and how the military’s likely to deploy. I need to look at this in more detail, but I think we’ll need three divisions--one to deal with fighting the military deployments, one to prioritize getting any refugees that they capture to safety before helping with the military, and a reserve force specifically to take down Lord Superman.”
“First order of business is dividing up our forces,” Redbird said, turning to face the rest of the room. “Major Kane, do we know what time they’re starting?”
“Daybreak tomorrow,” Major Kane said with a scowl, “so we have less than twenty-four hours. Seems Lord Superman needs some recovery time and most of this intel’s being kept pretty tight--most of the soldiers who are being deployed won’t even be told what they’re doing until they’re minutes from starting. I’m just lucky that one of my sources is
very
highly placed. They’re expecting you to panic when you see what’s happening on the news and rush in.”
“But thanks to you, we have plenty of time to make a plan, eat well and get some sleep before it’s time,” Oracle opined. She looked around the room. “Any objections?”
“We’re gonna throw everything into this fight on the world of these two?” the alternate Karen said uneasily.
“Their word and money has been good for a year now,” Redbird pointed out. “And they’re not wrong that we’re never going to get a better chance.”
“What about you lot?” Julia asked, looking to the Justice League. “Any objections?”
“We’re here to stop Lord Superman from hurting any more innocent people,” Superman said heavily. He looked around at the rest of the League. “I won’t presume to speak for you all, but I’m willing to help with this plan.”
“Seconded,” Batman said shortly. “I’ve met their counterparts. I believe they can be trusted.”
“Damn, the you in our world must be pretty impressive if
he
called you
trustworthy
,” Hal Jordan commented. “Seriously, Batman, who are they?”
“Nobody you’d know,” Batman said flatly. “That isn’t important right now. What’s important is the issue of what level of military force we’re facing. We can prepare to fight Lord Superman, but going up against an
army
is new for us.”
“Actually, I think what’s important is that we’ve got more company,” Bluejay called, pointing at one of the screens rotating through surveillance cameras.
“That’s one of the underwater exterior cameras,” Oracle said, stopping the screen from rotating through camera feeds and finding the one she was after. Julia and Kate followed her, leaning over her shoulder to look intently at the screen.
“
Vey’z mir,
Oracle, is that who I think it is?” Kate said sharply.
“Maelstrom’s with them but… dammit,” Oracle muttered, leaning around in her chair to look at the Justice League. “All of
you
, down to the hangar bay
now
… please,” she added, as if belatedly remembering that they weren’t technically under her command the way the rebels were. “I’m only seeing a small delegation, but given that it looks like the Atlanteans
and
the Amazons, I do not want to take any chances.”
“Christ, love, I know we need all the help we can get against Lord Superman, but do you
really
want to let two former Justice Lords into the place?”
“No, but as the other Batman pointed out, we’ve got an army to fight and we don’t
have
an army,” Oracle sighed. “
They
do. What we
do
have is the only people who’ve fought Justice Lords and definitively
won
.”
“
Two
former Justice Lords…? Ah. You mentioned the Atlanteans and the Amazons,” Martian Manhunter said, looking from Aquaman to Wonder Woman.
“Rest assured,” Wonder Woman said tightly, “we can and
will
deal with them if needs be.”
“Then
go
, because they’ll be in any second,” Oracle said, pointing to the door.
{
Earth-128--Bludhaven
}
{
July 28, 09:23 EDT
}
Princess Diana was a woman who rarely experienced discomfort. She was an Amazon, raised from birth to fear no enemy--and not just any Amazon but a princess of the Amazons, trained to be as much a diplomat as a soldier, a leader and representative of her people. She knew how to be at ease in any company in a way that comforted others, and how to be at ease in a way that put others on edge, confident enough to inspire or confident enough to strike fear as needs be. She cared not whether her allies were men, women or neither, human or not, so long as they could be trusted to stand besides her against any foe.
Yet now, surrounded by allies that she trusted implicitly, some of a decade or more, she felt deep disquiet. Any second now, the faces of old enemies would rise from the water, and one of them would be
her
face.
The first one out of the water sent ripples of shock through the whole room--
Tula
, Diana thought, remembering the Atlantean sorceress who had died so young fighting to defend her people.
“Oh,” Tula said, looking around with a tense frown. “You’re
them,
aren’t you? The Justice League from the other world. Where are the rebels?”
“We’re here,” Redbird said, walking to the fore with Wally’s counterpart, the one who had become the Flash, and Aqualad’s counterpart, the one who had become a soldier instead of a spy. Tula relaxed at the sight of her fellow Atlantean, but only slightly.
“They are suspicious of Lord Orin and the Amazons, I am afraid,” the other Aqualad said, stepping forwards, “but I believe that we all share a purpose--that of defending our world from Lord Superman.”
Tula nodded, stepping back and tapping the water, causing odd ripples. “Then I would like to formally present to you the representatives of King Artur of Atlantis and Queen Hippolyta of Themyscira,” she said formally.
A protective bubble rose out of the water first, letting three Amazons step out onto the hangar floor. Diana vaguely registered the faces of Donna and Melanippe, but her focus was drawn by her other self, the her who had forgotten her duty in favour of power.
She’d expected her suspicion to be returned with a glare of anger or defiance, but Lady Wonder Woman displayed neither, instead radiating as much discomfort as Diana felt. She was wearing none of the sacred armour, to Diana’s inner satisfaction; no doubt Hippolyta had stripped it from her daughter and the former Justice Lord had yet to earn the right to it back. Instead, she wore plain brown armour, carrying her sword and shield instead of the Lasso of Truth. She steadfastly met every suspicious look in the room with nothing more than calm acceptance. It was Orin’s counterpart, who followed the Amazons out of the water with two more soldiers at his side, who met every glare with a defiant scowl of his own.
“Lord Aquaman,” Redbird said coldly, “Lady Wonder Woman. We understand that your rulers wish for you to fight alongside us against Lord Superman.”
“We are no longer Justice Lords,” Lady Wonder Woman said calmly. “We are both simply soldiers who wish to protect our kingdoms. Queen Hippolyta’s will is that we are to fight alongside you against our common foe, so I will gladly do so. The greatest army in history is prepared to stand against Lord Superman’s forces.”
“As are the armies of Atlantis,” Lord Aquaman added. Lady Wonder Woman had said that they were no longer Justice Lords, but Diana couldn’t stop thinking of them that way. They’d hovered at the back of her mind for too long, tinging every decision she made with self-examination and doubt. “But we need your intelligence on Lord Superman’s movements and plans. We will not waste Atlantean lives charging in blindly.”
“Lucky you don’t have to, then, since we got pretty detailed information on Lord Superman’s next move,” the Flash who was Wally said. Redbird elbowed him. “What? We need those armies!”
“We understand that you’ve come here in good faith, but forgive me if it’s hard to trust Lord Superman’s former allies,” Redbird said bitterly.
“Diana’s been serving faithfully in the army for years now,” Donna objected. “She’s not your enemy! She’s here as an
envoy
!”
Diana felt her heart grow heavy at the sound of her little sister’s defensiveness, the way Donna still had faith in a version of Diana who had done heinous things.
“Donna, be calm,” Melanippe advised. “It was Queen Hippolyta’s hope that seeing Diana no longer wearing the mantle of Wonder Woman would show you our good faith, but if you will not treaty with Diana, she is to leave and we will stay to discuss matters with you instead.”
“There is no need for that,” Diana said, stepping forwards. Lady Wonder Woman met her eyes, and both of them very carefully did not flinch. Diana unwound the Lasso of Truth from her belt. “If they can be trusted as allies, we will know now.” She held out a length of the golden rope as it began to glow. Lady Wonder Woman immediately put a hand on it, followed by Melanippe and a reluctant Donna.
“I have no desire to aid Lord Superman in ruling the world,” Lady Wonder Woman stated. “I believe that what he is doing is wrong, not just because he is a threat to Themyscira but because he has forgotten himself, and all we stood for before we lost the Flash.” She looked sadly at Barry, then back at Diana, continuing, “I am here not only at the behest of my mother and my Queen, but to do what I believe is right and thus, hopefully, to atone for my own sins. I have remembered what I am. I am a defender of those people in this world who need to be saved, and I will not forget that again.”
“I am Melanippe of Themyscira, and I am here on the orders of my Queen to forge an alliance with the rebels of Man’s World against the tyranny of Lord Superman,” Melanippe stated simply.
“I am Donna of Themyscira, and I am here to support my sister, who I believe deserves the chance to make things right,” Donna said, turning red when she realized that what she’d said was probably not her official statement.
Her sister smiled at her. “Is that enough?” the former Lady Wonder Woman said, looking back to Diana.
“It is enough,” Diana said, gesturing for them to let go of the Lasso. “Welcome back to yourself, sister.”
The other Diana smiled a little, lightening Diana’s heart as she did so.
No matter how lost she became, she still found her way back,
Diana thought, turning to Lord Aquaman. “Now you,” she said, holding out the Lasso.
“Hmph… if we must,” he said, gripping the Lasso. “I am Lord Orin, Captain of the Royal Guard and the armies of Atlantis, and I am here on the orders of King Artur and Queen Regent Mera of Atlantis, who wish to form an alliance between Atlantis, Themyscira and the rebel movement in order to defeat Lord Superman and protect Atlantis from his desire for domination, even though
I
think it's a big damn mistake to get involved with all of this seeing as it’s stayed on the surface so far. But I will not disobey my King… or take any action that will dishonour my son.” He dropped his hand. “Content?”
“I am,” Diana said, looking to the soldiers, who put their hands on the rope.
“General Neptune, here on the orders of King Artur and Queen Regent Mera to form an alliance,” one of them said stiffly.
“General Pacifica, here on the orders of King Artur and Queen Regent Mera to form an alliance,” the other repeated.
“None can lie holding the Lasso of Truth,” Diana said, turning back to the assembled heroes. “Are we all content to proceed with planning for tomorrow?”
“There aren’t any secret Amazon tricks to circumvent the lasso, are there?” Redbird asked suspiciously.
“
Dude
,” Wally exclaimed. Artemis patted his shoulder as he facepalmed. “I’m sorry, but this guy being the most suspicious person in existence has been stressing me out since I got here. And I mean the
most
suspicious person, and I say that as somebody who’s seen what the Batcave security looks like.”
“There are no tricks to circumvent the Lasso,” Batman interjected. “I’ve investigated it. They aren’t lying to us. We have an offensive to plan.”
“
Bring them upstairs and we’ll discuss what we’re looking at in terms of a fight tomorrow,
” Oracle’s voice said over a speaker. “
Those armies will make all the difference, believe me.
”
Diana hooked the Lasso back onto her belt, drifting over to her counterpart. “Indulge my curiosity,” she said, as some of the League and Team members started filing upstairs, though neither her fellow Founders nor Redbird seemed content to turn their backs on the two former Justice Lords, Lasso or no. “Just how angry
was
Mother?”
“Extremely, but it was not that that undid me,” the other Diana sighed. “It was her disappointment. Knowing that she was not proud of me, but truly, deeply ashamed, made me think back over who we had been before Barry’s death… and I realized that we had been
you
. We had become our own enemies. And all because we decided that we knew best for everyone and needed no counsel when doing what we thought was best. But you cannot protect anybody if you do not listen to them, and we had become deaf to the world, become conquerors instead of protectors. I only hope that we can help Clark remember himself,” she added softly. “We should never have let him forget.”
“He made his own choices,” Diana said, but her counterpart shook her head.
“I was one of the first into the room when he killed Luthor,” she said lowly. “I was right there at Bruce’s side. And when Bruce said that Clark had only done what he had to, I did not challenge him. I swallowed my own discomfort and agreed, thinking it was what was best for Clark. I should never have done so. I could have stopped this all, then and there.”
“You cannot stop it then and there,” Diana told her, “but you can help us stop it here and now.”
“I would be honoured,” the other Diana said, “to fight alongside heroes once more.”
Diana smiled, her discomfort ebbing. Innocent people were in danger, and she would protect them, because that was who she was and what she did. For the first time in eight years, she felt truly confident of that.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
{
Earth-128--Gotham
}
{
July 29, 04:21 EDT
}
It only made sense to send all of the Atlanteans to Gotham Bay. Even with the assurances of the Lasso of Truth, not everybody trusted the former Lord Aquaman, so of course some members of the Justice League had to go with them. Of course it made sense to send
their
Atlanteans, and the three Green Lanterns, as they could also move underwater.
That didn’t mean that Aquaman had to like any of it. Lagoon Boy was happily chatting away with his counterpart, but Aqualad was keeping his distance from his alternate self and Tula’s doppelganger, who were talking quietly together. Both of the John Stewarts seemed content to float quietly in place, regularly performing scans with their rings as they waited for the ships to arrive. Their intelligence had said to expect them to make contact at 4.30 sharp.
“I wonder where Lord Green Lantern is,” Hal mumbled. “If they took his ring, they’d have sent him back to Earth in disgrace… No way he could’ve just gone back to his life, but I can’t think where the hell I
would
go if that happened to me…”
“At least you don’t have to
look
at him,” Aquaman said quietly.
Hal looked over at Lord Aquaman. “Yeah, that’s weird. Gotta be even weirder for you. But at least he’s not our enemy just now, right?”
“I still don’t like him,” Aquaman growled under his breath.
Lord Aquaman caught his eye, folding his arms in a challenging expression. Aquaman took the challenge, ignoring Hal yelling at him to leave it as he swam over to his counterpart. “
Artur
is king now,” he said, as much a demand for information as a statement of disbelief.
Lord Aquaman raised an eyebrow. “Not quite what I expected you to challenge me on,” he said, “but yes.”
“He’s a
child,
” Aquaman pointed out angrily. “The last time there was a child king of Atlantis--”
“The problems that Atlantis suffered under Marin the Young were entirely the result of the power struggle between his regents who were forever murdering each other,” Lord Aquaman interrupted. “With Mera as regent, there have been no power struggles. None are capable of challenging her politically, diplomatically or magically, and as Captain of the Guard I myself have routed any less…
open
challenges to her position. As it happened, putting Artur on the throne was the only way to stabilize the kingdom. There is no need for you to interfere,” he added sharply.
Aquaman diplomatically chose to not point out, for the millionth time, that the Justice Lords had attacked first. “Captain of the Guard… so Orm has disgraced himself here, too.”
“If you mean that he revealed himself for the disgrace that he always was, you are correct,” Lord Aquaman snorted. “Sending me back to Atlantis is
chains
was a gift from the gods to him. Atlantis was already conflicted--those who supported the Justice Lords, those who feared that our relationships with the surface would turn dangerous because of me, those who felt I had disgraced or abandoned Atlantis… you know how Atlanteans are. Put three in a room…”
“...and they’ll have four different opinions,” Aquaman finished quietly. “I remember Mother warning me of that before I took the throne.”
Lord Aquaman nodded. “Atlanteans need a firm throne to lead them, and my throne was shaking, especially since it took over a year for my powers to return. Orm struck in that time, attempting to kill myself and Artur. Without my powers, it took great sacrifice to rescue Artur from the deathtrap Orm left us in.” He gestured to his harpoon hand. “He believed that his ascension to the throne, after our deaths, would be easy--he was not me, which appeased those who opposed my rule, but he was of my blood, which satisfied those who had supported me and would no doubt be mourning my death and that of my son.”
“He
was
of your blood,” Aquaman said, a cold feeling in his gut.
Lord Aquaman looked at him, then sighed, shaking his head. “You
imprisoned
him, didn’t you?” he said, as if Aquaman had done something mildly disappointing. “After what that treacherous snake did, you merely
locked him up.
I shouldn’t be surprised.”
“You killed him,” Aquaman said, remember the overwhelming rage at the realization that his own
brother
was the one who’d nearly torn his kingdom apart. He remembered Tula’s body, Kaldur and Garth’s rage and pain, the powerful urge to put his trident through Orm’s lying throat--
But he’d restrained himself. Orm had to see trial for his crimes, and he did, and he was imprisoned in the deepest, darkest cell that Atlantis had, in accordance with Atlantean law. But Orm hadn’t raised a hand to Artur. Perhaps he’d planned to, but he hadn’t had the chance. Aquaman wondered if he’d have been able to stay his hand if Artur had been in danger, or if he also would have...
“He attempted to kill his nephew,
my son
, in front of my eyes,” Lord Aquaman said, as if he’d read Aquaman’s mind. Perhaps their thought had followed similar paths. “And it would not be completely accurate to say that I killed him. His own collapsing plan put his life in danger, and I chose not to save him. I have lain awake many nights thinking of all the times that Orm was allowed into my family’s confidences, left alone with Mera, with Artur… but I have slept soundly over the decision to leave him to his fate.”
“And what did Atlantis make of your decision?” Aquaman asked.
Lord Aquaman grimaced. “As Ocean Master, he put great work into fanning the flames of discontent, and the divisions between the people of Atlantis did not die with Orm,” he sighed. “Atlantis was on the brink of civil war. Orm was right about one thing--the largest number of people would be satisfied with a ruler who was not me, but was of my blood. So I stepped down, named Artur King and Mera his regent, and took Orm’s vacant position as Captain of the Guard. War was averted.”
“I must profess my astonishment that you did not take a more forceful approach to the matter,” Aquaman said archly.
“By the time my powers returned to make that possible, Artur had been King for six months,” Lord Aquaman said dismissively. “I made a vow to serve him as my King. Even if I were to break my word, I would not overthrow my own son. No doubt I
could
have united Atlantis by force, had I my powers--Atlanteans know the value of a throne. The Surfacers would have come to respect the benefits of the Justice Lords in time, too. It was not to be. I have had time to accept that and my role as it is now. Regrets are a waste of time.”
“You truly regret
nothing
that you did as a Justice Lord?” Aquaman snorted. “Even though it nearly plunged your Atlantis into war?”
“I regret only one thing,” Lord Aquaman said quietly. “Your world. We
did
invade, and we invited in war. Those who start a war have no right to complain about how it ends. But the one inviting war with you now is Clark, not I. So stay away from my Atlantis and my King. They are not your business. I let my brother die to protect it. I will not let Lord Superman or anybody else threaten it.”
Aquaman met his counterpart’s eyes. “Understood,” he said, holding out his hand. “I will not bring war to you. Do not bring it to me.”
“Understood,” Lord Aquaman said, shaking his hand.
“Yeah, how about we focus on our job and work together to bring war to
them
?” one of the John Stewarts said as all three rings started pinging. “Ships are coming into the bay. A
lot
of ships.”
“Not one of which will ever leave,” Aquaman vowed, raising his trident.
{
Earth-128--Gotham
}
{
July 29, 04:31 EDT
}
Bluebird checked her watch again. It told her that it had been less than thirty seconds since she’d last checked.
A small but strong hand closed over her wrist. She looked up from the watch to the small space between Orphan’s scarf and her hood where her warm brown eyes were visible. “I know,” Bluebird said, “but we’re
never
going to get everybody out before sunup.”
Orphan just squeezed her wrist. It meant
we’re going to do all that we can.
Bluebird let out a breath. “Okay,” she said. “The bay next, right?”
Gotham bay was so polluted that there wasn’t any fishing to be done, but there were still things to scavenge from the miles of warehouses and sunken boats, if you knew what you were looking for. Bluebird and Orphan made their way along the piers, trying to spread the word from Catwoman: the army’s coming. A tunnel’s been cleared that’ll let out on the far side of Bludhaven--go through there. Catwoman hadn’t said
how
this mystery tunnel came to be, though Bluebird would bet her wrenches that the weirdoes who’d been to see Catwoman yesterday had something to do with it. So long as it got people out before Lord Superman’s armies arrived, she didn’t care.
They were halfway along the wharf when they heard screaming.
Neither of them wasted a second in running towards the source of the screaming. It was something that Cullen had said was going to get them killed someday, but as much as Bluebird hated worrying her brother, she couldn’t hear trouble and ignore it. One night, Catwoman had heard screaming and hadn’t hesitated to put some stiletto heels into some homophobic faces, and it felt like bad karma not to pay that forwards in every way she could. She didn’t know why Orphan always ran towards screaming, except that the smaller girl was the best fighter that
anybody
had ever seen and had nightmares that woke her sobbing wordlessly and washing her hands for at least twenty minutes in any water she could find.
They both ran, even as they realized that the popping sound amongst the screaming was gunshots. They ran past people fleeing in the other direction, a handful of people turning into a torrent. They ran until they saw the ships coming across the bay.
Orphan saw them first, grabbing Bluebird and dragging her under a broken shutter on the nearest warehouse. The sun wasn’t quite up yet, though the eastern horizon, now that they could see it, was a line of dawn light. Against it, they could see the military ships, gun-mounted and bristling with soldiers. There were no bodies on the ground, none in the water, but shots were being fired into the air.
Bluebird grabbed her phone, dialling from memory--programming in any numbers would be outright foolish, and she deleted her call history every time she made a call. “Cat,” she said, as soon as the boss picked up, “there’s ships coming in across the bay. They’re shooting, but I don’t think they’ve killed anybody…”
“
They’re trying to panic people, drive them into the city,
” Catwoman said. “
The place is flooding with soldiers. If everybody’s bolting out of their hiding places and running around in a panic, they’ll be easier to pull in. Keep spreading the word of the tunnel. We’ll keep it safe.
”
“Sure, we’ll--what is it?” Bluebird asked, pulling the phone away from her ear as Orphan tugged insistently on her arm. The girl was pointing out at the water. “Yeah, I see… ‘em…” Bluebird said, trailing off as she realized that shots were no longer being fired towards the land, but into the water. Screams and shouts were rising again, but they were coming from the ships, not the shore.
Every single one of the ships was visibly sinking.
“...Cat?” Bluebird said, putting her phone back to her ear. “I think we have friends in the water.”
Orphan stretched her arms, rolling her shoulders, eyes on the shoreline as soldiers started to abandon ship, striking out frantically for shore. Some of them were visibly being yanked under the water.
“
Then leave the soldiers to our friends in the water and keep putting the word out,
” Catwoman said, hanging up.
Bluebird pocketed her phone and tugged Orphan’s arm. “C’mon,” she said. “They’re having a bad enough time without us. Let’s send a few more people towards that tunnel.”
{
Earth-128--Gotham
}
{
July 29, 04:45 EDT
}
“Hey,” Nightwing called as he stepped out of the collapsed building that he’d been searching for refugees and spotted Redbird coming out of his across the road. “Behind your building--is the shortcut to the botanical gardens still good?”
“Don’t know,” Redbird said, looking back up at the building. “Where’s the shortcut?”
“This way,” Nightwing said, leading him around the back of the building. “There’s a lot of edible plants in there if you stay away from the poisonous flowers room--there’s probably refugees hiding around there. You’ve never been this way before?”
“Didn’t really get into this part of the city much before Bruce took the cape from me,” Redbird said quietly.
“Bruce took it away from me once, too,” Nightwing commiserated. “I followed him to a fight with Two-Face when he’d forbidden me from going out, and I nearly got killed. When he took the cape… for a while, I thought he was going to kick me out, too. I’d gotten a bag packed and everything to run away before he could kick me out, but he caught me before I could. But instead of being mad, he was horrified that I thought he was going to throw me out… first time he ever really told me what he was thinking, when he told me that he’d been too afraid of losing me to let me keep being Robin. He didn’t come out and say the words, but he came
this
close to saying I was more important to him as a son than a partner. I’d never imagined that I mattered to him like that…” He trailed off, looking over at Redbird again, wondering if he was causing his counterpart pain by describing how close he was to
his
Bruce. “Sorry, I’m babbling, you know how I am.”
“No… if
your
Bruce said that, maybe that was what mine was thinking, too,” Redbird mused. “I never fought Two-Face. I hadn’t been Robin for long before he took away the cape and locked me up. He never gave it back. I barely saw him after that. The only person I ever saw at all was Alfred.”
“I’m sure he wanted to protect you,” Nightwing assured him, “it’s just… from everything I’ve heard about the Justice Lords, they seemed to get it into their heads that right and wrong was up to them, and they didn’t have to explain themselves to anybody. I guess there wasn’t anybody capable of holding them accountable until they met the Justice League.”
Redbird nodded. “What was it like?” he asked, looking up at the skeleton of the botanical gardens. Every single glass pane was gone, the place blackened with scars from an old fire. “Not the botanical gardens, I
did
go to them once. Poison Ivy. But… growing up with him. With Bruce. What was it like?”
“
Nothing
like Mom and Dad,” Nightwing said, going up to the husk of the botanical gardens and peering inside, pulling a penlight out of a holster on his wrist and sweeping it over the ashy sludge inside the building, looking for recent footprints. “He’s… well, I guess you mostly grew up with Alfred, so you know that he can be kinda distant, right? Like, I know he loves us, and he shows it in
his
ways, I just wasn’t very good on picking them up when I was a kid and I just thought he was weird and quiet and formal.”
“Yeah… I loved Alfred like a grandfather, but getting open expressions of emotions out of him was harder than pulling teeth,” Redbird said, starting to climb up the frame of the gardens to get a better look inside. “Bruce was pretty distant too, when I first got there… I was kinda scared of him.”
“Me too,” Nightwing said, following him up the frame. “I mean, he learned how to deal with emotions from Alfred, so… it took a long time before I discovered that he wasn’t
aloof
, he just had no damn clue what to do with me. When he was a kid, when he lost his parents, I guess he’d just wanted to be left alone, so he tried to give me space, but I didn’t want that. God, I just wanted a hug, y’know?”
“God, yeah, I felt
so
touch-starved within days,” Redbird groaned. “I mean, our parents, Auntie Karla, Uncle Rick, Johnny, they were all
about
the hugs and hair-tussles…”
“...and affectionate headlocks and surprise hoists,” Nightwing chuckled in fond remembrance. “Sometimes I swear half the reason I wanted to be Robin was because in combat training, Bruce would hold my hand or touch my arms and back to show me how to position. He’s still not much on the hugging front, really, but I learned that if I just hugged him, he’d never push me away. Worked pretty good on Jay, too…” He reached the curved top of the building. While the glass panes were gone, the steel beams still felt secure enough to walk on, and he did so, standing up and looking down into the dark, empty mess of the botanical gardens.
“Bluejay? Your Wally told us he was dead in your world,” Redbird said, throwing Nightwing a sidelong look that he recognized
exactly--
the ‘am I following a line of conversation that’s going to hurt you?’ look. He’d been throwing it at Redbird for ten minutes. “He also said that Bluejay was Robin in your world--not Batgirl’s partner, but Batman’s.”
Nightwing nodded. It was strange to see Gotham spread out before him, pitch-black but for the grey light of pre-dawn picking out a cityscape that should have been familiar but was shaped all wrong, warped by collapsed buildings. “When Bruce brought him home, I thought… well, what with the Team and everything, I’d been branching out from Batman and doing more of my own thing for a while. I was starting to think of striking out on my own, but the idea of Robin
not
being Batman’s partner didn’t feel right. So I decided to give it to Jason. It was a way of showing that he was one of us now, he was
family
, he…” He hung his head, folding his arms over his chest. “He died because of it,” Nightwing whispered. “I gave him my old costume and he died in it, because of how much the Joker hated us. Hated
me
.”
“I should have been at the Manor that night,” Redbird replied, just as quietly. “I was supposed to die with Alfred. I think… I think Bruce thought I had. When he saw me at the Fortress of Solitude, he didn’t believe it at first, then he looked at me like… like I was the most amazing thing he’d ever seen.”
“I think you were,” Nightwing said, putting a hand on his counterpart’s arm. “I know your Bruce did some awful things, and
none
of that’s excused by the fact that he cared about you, but I know that he
did
. Love’s a choice as much as a feeling, deciding that somebody matters more to you than you do, and that’s a choice he made the first time he saw you. He decided that making sure that you didn’t grow up suffering like he did was going to be one of the most important things in his life. I know it doesn’t justify anything, but I have a sneaking suspicion it’ll make you feel a hell of a lot better just to know that yes, he loves you.”
Redbird smirked at him. “Uncanny how you know these things,” he said. “I made a choice, too… I know you know this. Even though I can’t replace my family, I still wanted to
have
a family. I wanted
him
to be my family, and all this time, I thought he didn’t care about me at all… and I got to know Jason pretty well after Barbara got hurt and the three of us went on the run together,” he added, “and if there’s one thing he
hates
, it’s people moping around when they could be doing something useful. He’d rather know you beat the shit out of the Joker than sat around crying over his uniform.”
“Hey, I am a multitalented man and I did
both,
” Nightwing said indignantly, looking to the west as the sun finally lit up the horizon. “Damn, Lord Superman really isn’t messing around, is he?
Look
at that army rolling into Gotham.”
“They’ve got to fight the greatest army in history before they get in,” Redbird said, unholstering his grapple gun, “so let’s hope magic weapons, super strength and invulnerability to bullets make up the technological difference well enough. Let’s go find some more refugees.”
“Enough moping around,” Nightwing agreed. “Let’s go do something useful.”
{
Earth-128--Gotham
}
{
July 29, 05:13 EDT
}
I brought Jason up here the first time I met him,
Batman remembered, looking over at the dark lump that was strewn in place of the constellation of city lights that he could usually see from the hill over the river south of Wayne Manor. To the east, the water was lit up with bursts of gunfire, flashes of searchlights and occasional green glows as the Atlanteans and Lanterns took out the ships meant to drive people into the city. To the west, the neat ranks of APCs, full of troops meant to sweep the streets for refugees, were falling apart under the onslaught of Amazons.
“He’s coming,” Superman said, shooting off as soon as he’d said it to intercept the oncoming Justice Lord.
“Go,” Batman ordered, looking at the four speedsters carrying Kate, Julia, Red Arrow and Robin. They vanished, heading off around the city, planning to keep moving until it was time. Batman started off himself, running down towards the remains of the Robert Kane Memorial Bridge. In his mind, he could feel J’onn’s faint presence, tracking all of them as they got ready to fight Lord Superman.
The bridge was entirely collapsed, but it wasn’t too far for his grapple gun to reach. He couldn't go yet, though. He needed to be clearly visible to Lord Superman.
“Where are you, Superman?
” he asked mentally.
“
Over the city--Superboys, I need your help to drive him north!
”
“
On it,
” Superboy--or maybe Lord Superboy--reported. Batman looked upwards, catching sight of the flying, fighting figures in the early dawn glow. They were moving almost too fast to track, but he saw somebody else fly up from the city to join the pair. Possibly one of the Superboys had thrown the other to make up for the lack of flight. A moment later, there was a sonic
boom
as Superboy flew over Batman’s head and ploughed deep into the earth behind him.
“Superboy!” Batman shouted. He got a groan in replay, which told him that the young clone was probably alright.
“
Batman, he’s seen you!”
Superman said urgently. Batman turned and fired off his grapple gun. He didn’t have time to check on Superboy now.
As soon as his feet hit the ground, he heard a roar of rage from above. “
Superman, I still need a few seconds to get into the city, we need a solid building overlooking
!”
“
I’m trying to buy you--
” Superman’s mental voice was cut off in a surge of pain. Batman kept running, hoping he could trust Superman to buy him just long enough to get into the city. He was expecting it at any second, but he still let out a gasp of shock as he was snatched off of his feet and slammed into the ground.
“YOU!” Lord Superman roared, his face inches from Batman’s, spittle forming at the corners of his mouth, pinpricks of red in his eyes. “THIS IS ALL
YOUR
FAULT!”
“I’m not Lord Batman,” Batman said sternly. He was walking a fine line, he knew, between keeping Lord Superman’s attention and riling him up too much. He could be dead in an instant if he played this wrong.
But he didn’t have to do it for long. None of the Flashes would be more than seconds away.
“No,” Lord Superman growled, “but he turned on me because of YOU! He was one of US! He was the brain behind the Justice Lords! It worked because of HIM! I
needed
him this last year,
needed
him to get things back to normal, but
you
messed with his head--you--
you--YOU--!”
“I didn’t torture him,” Batman said, as calmly as he could manage the bones of his arms fracturing under Lord Superman’s grip. “I didn’t burn him. I didn’t imprison him.
You
did that.”
Lord Superman gave a wordless scream of fury, lifting one hand and slamming it into Batman’s chest. He gasped as he felt his collarbone break, cracks spiderwebbing across his armour.
“But you… know what… I
did
do…?” Batman gasped. Breathing hurt, but the red glow was building in Lord Superman’s eyes. “I… distracted… you.”
Lord Superman didn’t move an inch as the smokebomb exploded against the back of his head. He blinked, started to look around, and then coughed violently as he inadvertently breathed in the spreading cloud of green gas. Over his shoulder, Batman could see Kate standing on the cracked roof of an old apartment building, lowering the grenade launcher that she’d used. Standing next to her was Flash, his bright red costume easy to spot if you weren’t blinded with range and laser focused on the face of your greatest hate.
Lord Superman coughed more violently, struggling to stand. A second kryptonite smokebomb hit him on the side of the face, and Batman looked aside to see that Julia and this world’s Flash had arrived. Lord Superman stumbled backwards, starting to cough up blood as he fell to his knees, struggling with inhaling two doses of kryptonite gas.
One Flash shot past Lord Superman in a blur of red that left his ankles cuffed in green kryptonite handkerchiefs. The other got his hands, pulling them behind his back. The poisoned kryptonian’s resistance probably felt weak as a kitten.
“Batman!” Robin shouted as he and Bart appeared, leaning over Batman. “Are you okay?”
“Fractured arms, broken collarbone, fractured ribs,” Batman grunted. “Arms around my shoulders, help me sit up.” He tried not to lean too hard on the two boys, but his arms were nothing but pain when he tried to support his weight on them.
“I’ll be having that,” Julia said, pulling a comm out of Lord Superman’s ear. “Flash, one’ve you be a love and take this far away from the gas cloud, get it to Superman, right?”
“Got it,” one of the Flashes--sounded like Wally--said, taking the comm from her fingers and zooming off.
“You th--think you’re gonna--stop the a--army coming--?” Lord Superman gasped between heaves, finally giving up and throwing up a mouthful of blood. The blood dribbling down his chin and staining out the white on his costume just made him look even more frightening, even knowing that he was bound, poisoned and helpless.
“Yes, actually,” Kate said, holding out a hand. Robin tossed her his kryptonite smokebomb and she made very deliberate eye contact with Lord Superman as she loaded it into her grenade launcher. “Lord Batman woke up at three o’clock this morning. Goddamn miraculous, given what you did to him. He heard you giving orders from the Fortress. He
memorized
your
codes
while suffering from torture. Can’t blame you for being mad about losing him.” She hefted and aimed the grenade launcher. “But you’re not going to hurt him, or anybody else, ever again.”
J’onn slowly became visible as he descended to land with them. “Everybody is on their way here,” he said. “The army is standing down. They got orders to do so, from the voice of Lord Superman, using Lord Superman’s passcodes. It is over, Lord Superman,” he said calmly. “For good, this time.”
Lord Superman just spat blood at him. “It isn’t over,” he snarled. “You won’t kill me, will you? You’re
weak
, just like we were once, weak and naive and--”
Whatever else they were, they never knew. There was no more silence than a soft
thunk
and then a sudden hush as the light faded from Lord Superman’s eyes, the rage draining from his face as he collapsed to the ground, the shaft of an arrow sticking out of the back of his head.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
{
Earth-128--Gotham
}
{
July 29, 05:20 EDT
}
“Eyes on the road,” Roy said as Wally stumbled on unexpected debris for the third time, squinting at the distant specks fighting in the sky. “I’ll let you know if anything happens!”
Everything’s happening,
Wally thought, trying to force his focus onto finding a random route through the city. The idea was to go back and forth at random until Lord Superman went for Batman--any of the four speedsters could reach them in seconds while Lord Superman was distracted. Wally found himself trying to keep away from the water. To the west, the far side of the riverbank was lighting up with small arms fire as the Amazons fought Lord Superman’s forces. To the east, there was more gunfire and no small amount of screaming as the Atlanteans destroyed ships and dragged people underwater. Wally was normally pretty fond of the Green Lanterns and thought their powers were pretty cool, but the green glows under the dark water as ships were dragged under was downright unsettling.
It felt like forever and no time at all when his comm crackled in his ear and his Uncle Barry’s voice came through. “
We’ve got him
,” the Flash reported. “
We’ve got Lord Superman! We’re in the parking lot of the Knights stadium!”
“You know where that is?” Roy called as Wally immediately changed course.
“Sure, I’ve been to a game with Dick a couple times,” Wally said, which was about as long as it took for the half-collapsed bulk of the stadium to rise up in front of them, the cracked parking lot spread out in front of them with all of its fences collapsed or torn down.
The first thing that caught Wally’s eye was Bart in his screaming yellow Kid Flash suit. The second Kid Flash and the third Robin were both apparently helping Batman sit up.
The second thing that caught his eye was Lord Superman, falling to the ground with the shaft of an arrow sticking out of the back of his head, two equally shellshocked Flashes standing either side of him with Kate Kane and Julia Remarque.
There was a silent, breathless moment, then Kate and Julia both drew their guns, aiming in the direction that the arrow had come from, drawing all eyes to Jade Nguyen as she tossed a bow to the ground in front of her. It hit the ground with a
crack
that split the silence like thunder.
“There,” Cheshire said, “problem solved.
Du ma,
that felt good.”
One of the Flashes was in front of her in an instant, visibly vibrating with agitation. “We had him
cuffed
with
kryptonite
!” he yelled, revealing himself to be the alternate Wally. “He was a helpless prisoner!”
“He was
Lord Superman
! He wouldn’t have
stayed
a helpless prisoner,” the other Artemis argued, stepping up next to her sister. “Lord Batman tried, and look how well that turned out for him!”
“Even if he was going to be executed, it should have been after a trial,” Barry said, joining his nephew’s counterpart. “You can’t just shoot people down in the street like that!”
“I didn’t shoot down a person, I put down a rabid animal,” Cheshire said scornfully. “You can preach all you want, I’m not going to lose any sleep over it. And all you
heroes
won’t have to worry about figuring out what the
right
thing to do with him is, how to keep everybody
safe
. Isn’t that nice for you?”
Wally was vaguely aware of other people starting to arrive--Nightwing and Redbird dropping down from a roof, Captain Marvel slowly floating down from the sky with a shocked expression, refugees creeping outside of the alleyway behind Cheshire and Tigress. All were breathlessly silent as the sisters glared defiantly at the Flashes.
“That’s not how we were going to deal with him,” Wally-Flash said tightly. “Killing Luthor because he was too powerful to arrest was how Superman became Lord Superman. We have to be better than that.”
“All I have to do to be better than
that
is not slaughter millions,” Jade snapped, pointing at Lord Superman’s body, “and I’ve done some bad shit in my time but my body count is
definitely
not that high. I
can’t
destroy cities with my eyes or tear steel with my fingers, so all you have to do to stay on your high horse is arrest and try a normal, if
supremely
beautiful and badass, human woman. Don’t pretend you aren’t a little relieved at how much easier your life just got.”
“
Two
beautiful, badass human women,” her sister insisted. “You took my bow to kill him and I didn’t stop you. I’m complicit.”
“No you’re not,” Jade snapped. “Don’t try and pull some noble bullshit--”
“Listen, when you rescued me from that juvenile reclamation shit you promised me you weren’t gonna leave me again, and I promised I’d hold you to that,” Artemis snapped. “Besides, they’re gonna want to do this the
right
way.” She started shedding weapons, knives and arrows and crossbow bolts raining to the ground. “
Them
arresting us just means getting locked up, not daily beatings for wrongthink. I’ll chance it.”
“You do have to admit, this makes things a touch easier,” Julia muttered quietly.
“It does,” Kate said, “but no less complicated. And they’re correct--we have to do this
right.
” She looked at Batman and Robin. “You wouldn’t happen to have handcuffs, would you?”
Wordlessly, Batman pulled a pair out of his belt, wincing at the way the movement forced him to twist. Nightwing took the handcuffs, as well as pulling a pair out of a pocket on his own belt, and took the two pairs over to Kate.
“Cheshire, Tigress… you’re under arrest for murder,” Kate declared, snapping a pair of handcuffs around Jade’s wrists as Nightwing did the same to her sister. “You
will
get a fair trial, as soon as we can figure out a jury.”
“Wouldn’t expect any less,” Tigress said as she and her sister let themselves be cuffed. Despite their obvious compliance, there was a lot of muttering among the refugees that the sisters had been escorting, and not just them--looking around, Wally could see other groups starting to appear, as if the death of Lord Superman had been sensed across the city, a shockwave that instead of blowing people away was pulling them in to see if it was true.
“Mommy,” a child said in that hugely carrying whisper that children have, “if Lord Superman’s dead, can we get our house fixed now?”
“Somebody pick up the body,” Kate ordered. “We’re leaving.
Now
.” She was eyeing the refugees, who were staring at the body with such deep hatred that it seemed like they might be about to try and tear it apart with their bare hands at any minute. Wally wondered if they even could.
Martian Manhunter picked up the body and flew away. Wally picked Roy up again and ran, not wanting to see the alternate Artemis and Jade hauled away under arrest.
{
Earth-128--Bludhaven
}
{
July 29, 06:49 EDT
}
Lord Superman had been dead for less than two hours. Some of the braver news stations were already running tentative mentions that there had been some form of conflict around Gotham, while others were staying staunchly silent for fear that the destructive overlord would reappear, bringing with him the temper that had levelled Star City and Gotham. Kate had vanished as soon as they’d brought back Lord Superman, gone to talk to some military officials she knew, but no official statements had come down from Lord Superman’s government yet. Oracle’s screens were covered in both official and unofficial newsfeeds, but they were lost among the ongoing debate that flared up every time another member of the rebellion returned from the field. The alternate Flash had already left to deliver the news to the other surviving cells, to confirm that Lord Superman’s body was cooling under a blanket in an empty cell in Bludhaven.
“There needs to be a public wake,” Redbird said. “People
need
to see that he’s really, truly dead. It’ll bring comfort to his victims and might settle the fanatics a bit. We’ll need to be able to prove that it’s
him
, too.”
“There’ll be political chaos, no getting around that, but I think we’d be best to stay out of the politics and focus on preventing too much fighting,” Oracle put in.
“We just gonna hang his body up in a square somewhere or do we want to be a little classier than that?” Julia asked in such a dry tone that it was impossible to tell if she was joking or not.
“Better not let people get too close, or we’ll have an epidemic of broken hands from trying to punch the body,” Owl muttered.
“Let us have some dignity, please,” Lady Wonder Woman said with a scowl. “He…
was
… a good man once. A hero. That man deserves to be mourned, even if the monster he became doesn’t.”
“There’s already an empty grave for Clark Kent next to Jonathan and Martha,” Voice said bitterly. “He’s
been
mourned.”
“Might be a good place to hide the body once the wake’s over, though,” Nightwing suggested thoughtfully. “We don’t need anybody getting their hands on it and cloning him… no offence,” he added, looking at Lord Superboy, who just shrugged.
“Wait… what happened to my parents in this world?” Superman interjected, startled.
Nobody could meet his eyes except Lady Wonder Woman. “They died during the invasion of Darkseid’s army,” she said sadly. “They were in Metropolis at the time, there were so many casualties… there were many reasons that his time as Darkseid’s right hand was hard for Clark to come back from. Perhaps he never did.”
“Now he never can,” Barry murmured.
“Hundreds of thousands of other people aren’t coming back from Lord Superman’s regime either, so forgive me for not cranking up the waterworks,” Bluejay snapped.
“Nobody’s got time for waterworks,” Oracle announced, raising her voice to draw the attention of the room. “We won. That was the hard part, but it was also the quick part. Cleaning up is going to be a long, difficult process, so we need to get to work… and you all need to go home,” she added, looking at the Justice League.
“We could help,” Superman began, but trailed off as several people shook their heads.
“I’m sure you mean well, but
you
, especially, should not hang around,” Julia pointed out. “The last thing people need to see while we’re rebuilding our world without Lord Superman is, well… you.”
“Or
any
of you who look like former Justice Lords,” Redbird added, pointing an escrima stick at Martian Manhunter. “Sorry, but it’ll just cause more trouble than you could help with.”
“Besides… look, how am I gonna put this?” the alternate John Stewart said, folding his arms with a frown. He was still levitating a few centimetres off the ground, finding it easier to let the ring hold him up than to stand under his own power. “When you guys took down the Justice Lords before… don’t get me wrong, that was great, they needed their asses kicked.” He threw an uncertain look at the former Lady Wonder Woman.
“Well… we did,” she admitted with a shrug. “We lost ourselves, and we hadn’t even seen how badly until we faced our former selves in you.”
“But… well, shit, everybody
knew
that the only reason we weren’t living under a fascist dictatorship anymore was because heroes from another universe had to come save us,” the alternate John sighed. “All of the Justice Lords’ supporters still felt justified, because their heroes were only taken down by alternate universe interference. And those who’d been scared of the Justice Lords were
still
scared, because what if they came back? Who’d stop ‘em? Nobody making up
our
new Justice League had ever fought a Justice Lord, after all…”
“We appreciate all you’ve done for us,” Oracle added, rescuing the increasingly uncomfortable-looking Green Lantern, “but you have what you came for.” She nodded to Wally. “Go home. Let us clean up ours.”
“There isn’t much footage out there of the fight at the Hall of Justice after Superman showed up, so shouldn’t be tough to explain how the battle went without bringing the lot of you into it,” Julia mused. “We could always claim the other Superman that a few people saw was Lord Superboy. And there’s only a handful got a good look at you all standing around Lord Superman’s body. Shouldn’t be too hard to convince most people we’re the ones who took down Lord Superman.”
“Hang on, we helped save your goddamn world and you’re gonna claim all the credit?!” Red Arrow said incredulously.
“Yep,” Julia said flatly, “because that’s what people need to move on from this.”
“Besides, he
was
killed by a shot from an assassin from
our
world, using kryptonite in a weapon
our
Owl made with Kryptonite
I
brought,” Speedy snapped. He’d dragged himself out of his hospital bed to see Lord Superman’s corpse for himself and then refused to return to bed, even though he looked pale and weak from pain and kept clutching at his shoulder above the dressing where his arm used to be. “You
helped.
That’s all.”
“I’m not going to deny that we needed the help, but you have to understand, the people of this world need to believe that
their
heroes saved them,” Oracle added. “Ones who are going to go back to being here to help after handing the power back to the people… or at least, to their governments,” she added with an eye-roll. “It’s only been a year since Lord Superman took over. I’m sure most people will just want to put things back to how they were. Some people might take advantage of the chance to change things…”
“But if they do, that’s up to them,” Redbird added. “Not us, and not you. Just people, rebuilding their own world.”
“There’s no need for us to cause any further confusion,” Batman said before anybody else could speak. “Lord Aquaman has already returned to Atlantis. We should return to our world with Wally soon. This world is in capable hands.”
“Can I go around and say goodbye to some people first?” Wally asked. “Just… want to thank some people for all they did for me while I was here.”
“Not a problem, but I’d like to personally see each and every one of you head back through the portal to your own world,” Julia said, putting her hands on her hips. “It’s not that I don’t trust you. It’s that I don’t trust
anybody
. That was literally my job. Will be again, once I can back home. I
liked
my job.”
Batman nodded. Then, very quietly, he leaned close to her and said, “the Alfred of my world is very proud of the work our Julia is doing. If there’s one thing he truly regrets, it’s not being involved with her life when she was a child, but he’s very happy to be part of the life of the adult she is now--an adult very much like you.”
“If that’s your weird roundabout way of saying Dad’d be proud of me… thanks,” Julia replied quietly. “Now say your goodbyes and go home.”
He nodded, sweeping past her and out of the room.
“Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m done, so wake me when we’re headed back,” Red Arrow said, sitting down by the wall and leaning his head back. “Hopefully sooner rather than later. This took about half a day longer than I said it was going to, so my wife is
definitely
going to stab me when we get back.”
“You’re married?” Speedy said curiously. “What’s she like?”
“Nope, I’m outta here before that conversation happens,” Artemis said, throwing her hands up. “Let’s go find some people to say goodbye to.”
“Absolutely,” Wally said, grabbing her hand and running out of the room.
{
Earth-128--Bludhaven
}
{
July 29, 06:58 EDT
}
“He was my enemy longer than he was my friend.”
“If there’s anybody you can’t lie to, it’s me,” Batman pointed out. “He was always your friend to you, even when he was your enemy. You were looking for a way to help him all those years that he was imprisoned at the Fortress of Solitude, weren’t you?”
Lord Batman didn’t deny it. “It’s incredibly difficult for a human to come back from the kind of trauma that he underwent, but kryptonians are so much more resilient,” he said quietly. “I thought there might be a way. Even if it was just giving him some time to cool off under a red sun lamp and see the good the Justice League were doing in the world. I kept showing him the news reports, to make him think about the good he could do by going back to being a hero instead of a dictator, but I think he knew that I was keeping things from him. All the problems he thought we’d fixed as the Justice Lords that came back without us.”
“None of the world’s problems are so simple that they can be solved by dictatorship,” Batman pointed out. “Dictators just breed their own problems. Worse ones.” Lord Batman nodded tiredly. “How did he get out? Did you let him out?”
“No… an alien arrived. I don’t know who he was, exactly, and if Clark found out he never told me,” Lord Batman said, shaking his head carefully. He was so thin that there seemed to be a genuine risk that his head would snap off of his neck if he moved it too quickly. “He had a robot with him that was saying something about seeking the universe’s greatest warriors… he wanted to break Clark out and fight him. I tried to stop it, but it had some kind of third eye… the next thing I knew, I woke up welded to a table, stripped of my suit, Clark was free, and the alien was in pieces all around the Fortress. He had… a lot of questions for me.” Lord Batman winced, closing his eyes.
“He tortured you for a year, and you still call him Clark,” Batman noted.
“You said it yourself… he was still my friend, even when he was my enemy,” Lord Batman said without opening his eyes. “He was another friend I failed to save from himself. If I’d just gotten to the Oval Office before he did, if I’d done
something
…”
“Your Wonder Woman has her own regrets on that score,” Batman said. “Regrets for the past won’t do anything. They won’t save anybody who’s already long gone. What matters is that you learn from the mistakes you made going forwards. You abandoned Dick,” he said abruptly.
“I got it into my head that I was protecting him… that he was better off without me,” Lord Batman murmured. “I get the feeling that that isn’t how he saw it.”
“No,” Batman said, glancing at Lord Batman’s vitals on the monitor. The man was still very weak, and probably wouldn’t be able to maintain consciousness for much longer. “Talk to him. Tell him what you were thinking. Tell him what you
are
thinking. He needs to hear it. And not just him. You spoke to the clone?”
“Conner… that’s what they said his name was,” Lord Batman said, wearily opening his eyes. “How is he… with Lord Superman’s death?”
“I don’t think he knows how to feel,” Batman said. “He was programmed to idolize Lord Superman, and then Lord Superman tried to kill him, not long after he found out that he was going to be killed all along. It’s a lot for somebody who’s less than a week old to process. We all left our Superboy alone for too long while waiting for Superman to reach out to him. Don’t make the same mistake we did.”
“Don’t know… how much reaching… I’m capable of,” Lord Batman said, briefly raising his remaining hand before dropping it, his eyes closing in exhaustion, “but… how he was made… isn’t his fault. He’s half my son too. He’s Conner Wayne, if that’s who he needs to be.”
Batman nodded. “Rest,” he said. “Wake up in a new world.”
Lord Batman nodded. “Take care of yours,” he said, his voice a near-whisper. “Don’t let…” He trailed off as he fell asleep again, energy spent. Batman checked the monitor one last time to assure himself that his counterpart was stable, then looked up to see Nightwing and Zatanna walking in.
“Oh, hey, that’s where you went,” Nightwing said, looking at Lord Batman. “Is he gonna be okay? Seeing him in that state is…” He trailed off uncomfortably.
“He’ll recover,” Batman said, putting a hand on his son’s shoulder as he walked past. “Be careful. Dr Fate is very dangerous.”
“We know,” Zatanna said grimly. Batman stepped aside to let the pair walk over to the blue-and-gold figure resting in a bed a few down from Lord Batman, then walked out of the medical wing entirely.
{
Earth-128--Bludhaven
}
{
July 29, 07:08 EDT
}
“Oracle said that Zatara was one of the first heroes that Lord Superman killed for standing against him,” Dick said quietly. He hung back while Zatanna sat down next to the bed. She was grateful for that, and for him being there at all. Being up-close to her own doppelganger was odd, but all the more frightening for seeing what she herself would be if her father hadn’t stepped in and sacrificed himself to Fate years ago.
“You must be mostly healed by now,” she said bluntly, poking Dr Fate in the shoulder.
She (was Dr Fate a woman now, while inhabiting a woman’s body, or still a man, she wondered? Zatanna couldn’t remember the feeling of wearing the helmet) opened her eyes, another small flash of gold under the golden mask. “The mace that Lord Superman used was made of something that disrupted my magic,” the echoed, distorted voice of Fate said. “Combined with the physical trauma, it was all I could do to keep my host alive. My magic is returning rapidly, so I have nearly finished repairing the damage. If you wish to speak to your counterpart, however, know that I do not consider this a sufficient reason to relinquish my host.”
“I may have a better one,” Zatanna said, fighting for calm. As if he sensed how upset she was, hearing an echo of her own voice buried in Fate’s, Dick silently put a hand on her shoulder. Zatanna straightened her spine, narrowing her eyes on Fate. “She made a bargain with you when she gave herself up as your host, didn’t she? What were the terms?”
“Is it not obvious? Surely you, of all people know that she wanted revenge on her father’s murderer,” Fate said bluntly.
“Did you promise that you,
specifically
, would give her that revenge?” Zatanna pressed.
Fate was quiet for a long moment. Then, she said, “I promised that I would give her the power to take revenge on her father’s murderer, and restore balance to the world.”
“Then you have to give her up,” Zatanna said, unable to help grinning. “You promised her
you’d
give her revenge, but you
lost
your fight with Lord Superman,
you
didn’t kill him, and now that he’s dead,
you can’t give her revenge.
So give her up. You have no right to her as a host anymore.”
“What concern is she of yours?” Fate said angrily. “You have no reason to--”
“Because fuck you, that’s why? Let her go, Fate,” Dick interjected.
“Is breaking the terms of a bargain how a Lord of Order behaves?” Zatanna asked. She tensed as Fate raised her hands, but the powerful magic user raised her helmet, the gold-and-blue armour around the alternate Zatanna dissipating as Fate vanished and the golden helmet dropped to the floor.
“Hi,” Dick said as the alternate Zatanna’s blue-again eyes flickered open. She’d been returned to her stage costume, or possibly her hero outfit. The neckline was noticeably higher than what Zatanna preferred--possibly a result of still working with her father.
I
wish
I could hear him tell me that there’s no way I’m going onstage dressed like that, young lady. But she’s got no chance at all of ever getting him back now…
“What’s… what?” the alternate Zatanna said, staring in confusion at Zatanna. “Just…
what
?”
“We came from an alternate universe to fight Lord Superman but we’re going back soon, we just wanted to try and get you out of Fate first, which we managed because Lord Superman’s dead but Fate didn’t kill him so the terms of your agreement are broken,” Zatanna explained quickly. “Is that okay?”
“He’s
dead
?!
Really
?!” the other Zatanna blurted out, sitting up sharply and then doubling over, clutching her stomach and gasping in pain.
“Hey hey hey! He did hit you with an nth-metal mace a couple of times and you’re still recovering,” Dick said, putting a hand out to steady her as she pulled up the bottom of her shirt to reveal an ugly mishmash of black-and-purple bruises on her stomach.
“Well… if bruises are all I’m left with, that’s a good result for a fight with Lord Superman,” the other Zatanna said bitterly, dropping her shirt. “He’s
really
dead? He’s
gone
?” she asked, looking from Zatanna to Dick.
“He’s gone,” Zatanna promised. “We know he killed your father. He won’t hurt anybody else.”
“That’s… good,” the other Zatanna sighed, resting her forehead on one hand. “I can’t believe he’s really gone…”
“It’s a lot to take in, but you’re in good company,” Dick promised. “Pretty much everybody else in this whole base has lost people to Lord Superman. We can help you upstairs to meet some people, if you want.”
“...Yeah,” the other Zatanna said, looking down at the helmet of Fate for a long moment, long enough to make Zatanna wonder if her counterpart was actually considering putting it back on. But then she pushed herself to her feet, swaying a little but steadying herself with Zatanna and Dick’s hands on her arms. “...he must be gone in your world too, because he’d
never
let me out of the house in a corset like
that
,” the other Zatanna said, eying Zatanna’s cleavage. “Damn, my boobs look
good
, though.”
“I know, right? Treat yourself, you’ve earned it,” Zatanna said. “Dick, whatever you’re imagining that’s making you grin like that, stop it
immediately
.”
{
Earth-128--Bludhaven
}
{
July 29, 07:08 EDT
}
“Whoa!
Dude
,” the Flash exclaimed as he shot out of the elevator and nearly steamrollered himself. “Are you leaving?”
“I think we’re gonna get booted out soon enough, I’m just saying some goodbyes,” Kid Flash said with a shrug. “Artemis was having a conversation with the other her and Jade down in the cells that I thought I should leave them to, so I went to say goodbye to your Rocket and Owl and stuff and then thought I’d hang around to say goodbye to you. After are, you
are
the single coolest person I met here.”
“Naturally,” Flash said with a grin. “It was cool to meet you to. And it was… nice, to hear about your life, and Uncle Barry’s.”
“What’re you gonna do now?” Kid Flash asked curiously.
“Me? Go back to what I do,” Flash said, taping the emblem on his chest. “I’m happy for you and your girlfriend, going to university and enjoying civilian lives, but just because we’re the same person doesn’t mean we’re the same person, you know? Much as it was complicated, dealing with Uncle Barry’s legacy, I
love
being the Flash, and I want to keep being the Flash as long as I can. And the Flash is an important symbol in this world. I think
this
world needs the Flash more than it needs Wally West, undergrad. Although, I dunno, is it harder to do college assignments at superspeed than high school ones?”
“Nah, just pick your professors carefully, you definitely want the ones who well and truly don’t care about attendance so long as you turn in the assignments,” Kid Flash suggested. “They’re more common that high school would have you believe.”
Flash grinned. “I’ll keep it in mind, thanks. Best of luck to you and your Artemis, okay?”
“Best of luck to you too, Flash,” Kid Flash said, ripping off a salute. “I’ll remember your world next time an alien device flings me through dimensions.”
“Don’t forget to leave us a review on yelp dot com,” Flash said, giving him finger guns and then looking at somebody over his shoulder. “Hey, Ears! Have you seen Eyes?”
“We can use real names again, you know,” the woman who’d just walked out of a door behind Kid Flash pointed out.
“Fine, fine… Linda, have you seen Aunt Iris?” Flash asked, giving Kid Flash one last thumbs-up before zipping past him and back to the business of restoring the world.
{
Earth-128--Rhode Island
}
{
July 29, 07:31 EDT
}
“This is awfully exposed,” Batman commented as they waited on the side of the mountain that had never been Mount Justice.
“Not if we go through quickly,” Wonder Woman said. She wasn’t looking at the spot where Black Canary had promised to reopen the portal once an hour for a report from Bumblebee, but down the mountain to the beach, where several rebels and Amazons were waiting and watching. She knew that some of the Leaguers were grateful to be going home, while others were resentful of being shown the door after they’d helped save this world, but she only felt acceptance. They had done the part that was needed of them, and they had achieved their own goal of retrieving Wally in the process. Further contact between their two worlds could only ever make things more complicated.
If she was grateful for anything, it was seeing Lady Wonder Woman find her way again.
May this whole world find itself as true,
she hoped.
The yellow frame of light materialized suddenly from thin air. “Let’s go,” Batman said shortly, walking through the portal without a look backwards. That prompted Robin and Batgirl, with a last look at the beach, to follow. Nightwing went next, refusing to unlink his arm from Wally’s and thus tagging both him and the similarly attached Artemis through the portal in one. Barry and Bart were gone in a rush of wind, caught up in the joy of Wally’s return. In ones and twos, the Team and the Justice League went home, to their world.
“Let’s go, Clark,” she said when only she and Superman were left. “Back to our world.”
“I just want to know,” Superman said quietly. “If we face Darkseid… if something happens to me, changes me… promise me you won’t let it go this far. Batman has kryptonite, but he might hesitate to use it if he thinks he can save me. Please, Diana,” he asked, looking at her with a tortured expression. “I don’t want to make him a killer on my account. It would destroy him, if he could even do it. But you’re a soldier, always have been. It wouldn’t destroy you to kill me if you had to. So please, promise me… don’t let it get this far. I’m not worth it.”
“Some would disagree,” Diana said, “but I know that it would kill you just as surely to come back to yourself and find that you had killed so many. I will do what I have to, Clark. You can rest soundly knowing that… so long as you’ll promise to do the same if I ever went too far to come back from. I know that you don’t wish to kill,” she added, “but, I say this as a fact and without ego, you’re probably the only person who could even manage it.”
Superman nodded, smiling weakly. “I don’t think Batman likes that he doesn’t know how to incapacitate you if he had to.”
“He likes little save for his kids, we all know that,” Diana said, taking Superman’s arm and guiding him through the portal. “Come on. Let’s go back to protecting our world. I’m sure somebody has a welcome back party planned for Wally…”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
{
Central City--Earth-128
}
{
July 31, 01:28 EDT
}
Over the years, and despite the many upheavals in the world, the Flash Memorial Museum was one heroic monument that had remained largely untouched. When the Justice Lords had built it, it had been a memorial to a friend but also a martyr, whose death had been the catalyst for a better world. Afterwards, the Hall of Justice had been closed but the Flash Museum left be, a tribute to the one hero who would never have allowed himself to have become so corrupted--or the one who would have saved the world and the Justice Lords from the alternate-universe invaders, depending on your personal feelings on the Justice Lords. Lord Superman, on his return, hadn’t touched the memorial despite Wally publicly opposing him. Wally wasn’t sure if Lord Superman thought Barry would’ve been on his side, or if the death of the second Flash was too sacrosanct for even Lord Superman’s madness to touch, the dead hero on too high a pedestal for even a god to reach. Whatever it was, Wally clung to it as a reminder that, once, there’d been a man that Uncle Barry had thought of as a friend, and in another life was one of Earth’s greatest heroes. In this life, that man had probably died years ago, long before a kryptonite arrow breached his skull, but he still deserve to be mourned.
So did Barry Allen. To so many people the previous Flash was a hero, an icon, a symbol of anything that anybody wanted to elevate--but right now, Wally keenly missed his
uncle.
Uncle Steve was a great guy and he made Aunt Iris happy, which was a heroic trait in Wally’s book, but he wasn’t the one who’d changed Wally’s life even after losing his own.
Given all that, it probably would’ve been more appropriate to visit Barry’s grave, but it was in a prominent spot in Arlington with high security that wouldn’t give him the privacy he needed to talk--and he
needed
to talk, to get all the things buzzing in his skull
out
, even if it was to an empty suit. The Museum just had one night guard, who’d worked every single night straight for the past five years with steady determination and dedication. They’d met often enough and got along well enough that he could probably be convinced to go sit in his booth and work on his Candy Crush scores for a little while to give Wally some privacy.
He entered his security code into the museum’s back door and quietly closed the door behind him, walking through the day staff’s breakroom for the main museum floor. During the day, the museum was always bustling with staff, visitors and school trips, but at one in the morning the place was dark aside from the occasional uplit exhibit an as still and quiet as the--
Time for pun systems to go offline,
he told himself sternly, walking among the displays from STAR labs of their data on Barry’s top speeds and theories on how he went so fast without destroying his body or being ripped apart by the air itself (only theories--even now, with Wally visiting regularly, they still hadn’t really figured it out). The next hall was the main room, with the main display of three uplit costumes. Jay Garrick’s most iconic outfit was on the left as Wally approached it, his own first Flash costume on the right, and in the middle…
“Hello?” a voice called as a beam of light swung through from the room on the far side of the hall. “Somebody there?”
“Hey, Harrolds,” Wally said, raising a hand to cover his eyes as the night guard’s flashlight found him. “Just working through some stuff. Is it okay if I hang out?”
“Oh, hey, Flash,” Harrolds said, lowering the flashlight and touching the brim of his cap respectfully. “‘Course you can.This is basically your place, after all. I reckon it’s safe from villains for a while if I take a nap in my booth, eh?”
“Thanks, man,” Wally said, grinning as Harrolds fished a bag of Haribos out of his pocket and tossed them to Wally on his way past. It wasn’t exactly a secret that speedsters like to eat, and Harrolds always happened to have snacks in his pockets whenever Wally saw him. He chewed on the gummy sweets as he waited for Harrolds’ flashlight and footsteps to fade away, then turned back to Barry’s uniform. It didn’t look like the one the alternate Uncle Barry had been wearing--he’d probably gotten upgrades from STAR labs, like Wally did periodically. But it was the uniform of
his
Uncle Barry.
“Hey, Uncle B,” he said quietly. “I bet you already know, but I wanted to tell you myself… Superman’s dead.” He took a deep breath. “I mean, the guy you knew died not long after you did, basically. But now he’s dead the way you don’t come back from, too. He was killed by people he’d hurt, but… that doesn’t make it right, does it? No trial, no judge, no jury… I don’t know
how
we could’ve done it right, but still… hell, we don’t even know how to put the women responsible on trial. Like, where the hell do we find an impartial judge and jury for the murder of
Lord Superman
? Space? Kyle’s not back from space yet, maybe he’ll bring some Green Lanterns that can do the job, if they do that kinda thing… Like, I hear they passed judgement on Hal Jordan and took his ring away, but I dunno if they judge non-Lanterns, but if they’re space cops, maybe they know a space justice system? I’m rambling…”
He fell quiet for a minute, discomfort rolling in his guts. The empty uniform waited patiently for him to gather his thoughts. Finally, he slowly said, “you were there when he died. Not
you
, but… from an alternate universe where you never died and none of this happened. Or, well, a bunch of other stuff didn’t happen first, and Lex Luthor murdering you was something that didn’t happen as a result. The other you seemed pretty relieved when Batman and Lord Batman were figuring it all out, like it’d been crushing him with guilt to think that all his friends became dictators because they lost him. Or would’ve. But I guess that’s how you would’ve felt, if you knew, huh? Point is… there’s a world not far away where you’re alive. He’s still the Flash, and he and his Iris are having kids. His sidekick’s his grandson from the future because the other me’s dropping out of the hero game to go to university with his girlfriend… might be fiancee, now, I think he proposed to her when she found out he was alive. Anyway, the other me and the other you both seem happy with their lives.”
The other him didn’t have all of the friends that Wally did, but he had plenty of friends that Wally didn’t. He had a girlfriend, a dog, a place in his world that felt right for him. That place didn’t involve being the Flash, but on the other hand, he still had his Uncle Barry. How could you really quantify any of it, say which was better or worse?
Wally let out a breath. “It was good to see you happy. It was good to see a you and me that got to fight side by side, and they were everything I’d always dreamed of. It’s good to know that that world exists, even if it’s not here. I mean, string theory, right? Everything happens somewhere. But it was good to
see
it.” He shuffle from foot to foot. “It’s good to
know
that that world’s real. But so’s this one, and this one’s
my
world. I wish you were alive, and I wish everything wasn’t a mess right now with all the governments and the military struggling to rebuild themselves without Lord Superman and all the fighting with his loyalists, and I wish we didn’t have to put Cheshire and Tigress on trial. I wish
he
wasn’t dead…” He sighed. “Running out of pennies here, and wishing’s not going to change anything, right? That’s up to us. And I have no goddamn clue what to do, except to keep doing what I think’s the right thing as hard as I can, even if other people think it’s… naive, or simple, or whatever. Like I don’t understand that what Lord Superman did was horrific or anything. I just think…” He rubbed his head through his cowl. “Sometimes there’s no right thing to do. I know that. I just think that doing the wrong thing for the right reasons isn’t the same as doing the right thing, y’know? If I can’t do the right thing, I can do my best, at least. That’s enough, right?”
“I think so.”
“Whoaholycrap!” Wally yelped, spinning around at superspeed.
“Whoa, kid, it’s just me,” Harrolds said, briefly shining his flashlight under his bearded chin like a cheesy horror movie villain.
“Scared the hell outta me,” Wally gasped, rubbing his chest, looking from Harrolds to his uncle’s empty, silent costume. Then what Harrolds had said sank in. “Wait, were you
listening
?”
“Sorry,” the guard said sheepishly. “Sound kinda carries when it’s this quiet, y’know? But for what it’s worth, through everything so far, you’ve stuck to your principles and never let them slide for anything or anyone. If I knew him…” He gestured to Barry’s costume. Wally was startled to realize that Harrols had taken his gloves off--he’d never seen the guard without them, and thus never realized that he was missing fingers on both hands. “...I’d say he’d be proud of that,” Harrolds finished.
“Yeah… thanks,” Wally said awkwardly, feeling a little shaken up. “I, um… I’d better go. Thanks.”
“No problem,” Harrolds said, saluting with his torch as the current Flash zipped off. The guard stayed by the costume case for a whole, regarding the empty costumes in the dark.
“He’s a good guy, Barry,” the man said softly after a while. “He’ll do you proud. He won’t let you down like we did.”
He shifted his grip on his flashlight, then turned and went back to his rounds.