by Hitman 44077, partially adapted from Crisis on Infinite Earths #11 by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez
Kid Flash sped east toward New York City, and within moments he found himself at Titans Tower. He stood in front of the Tower for a few seconds, remembering the circumstances that brought him here previously. I haven’t been here since Lilith conducted the seance, trying to reach out to Raven. At that point, we had no idea what was happening to her. I’m ashamed to say it, but I’m glad she’s not here. And we have more important things to do, Kid Flash thought as he entered the Tower.
Entering the Tower’s elevator, Kid Flash made his way up to the meeting room floor. He wasn’t prepared for what he saw when the elevator doors opened. Well… I didn’t expect to see this many heroes already, Kid Flash thought, walking out of the elevator. Apparently, the other Earths have survivors as well. That’s a good thing. He looked for other Titans, but the only one there was Kole. He walked over to her.
“Hello, Kole,” Kid Flash said warmly. “How have you been doing?”
“Wally, hi! I’m doing well, for the most part. It looks like everyone on our side is meeting here,” Kole Weathers said with a smile.
“It’s been a bizarre few days, to say the least,” Kid Flash said as more heroes entered the Tower. “Has there been any word on Tula?” he asked, noticing that the elder Flash had arrived.
“Yes,” Kole said sadly. “Garth reached us this morning, before Wonder Girl was called away. Tula died yesterday… while we were fighting the Anti-Monitor at the dawn of time. I feel so bad for him.” Kole wiped tears from her eyes. “I haven’t been a Titan for long, but her death hurts.”
Kid Flash felt bad for Garth and sad as well at the loss of Tula. It’s a damn shame, he thought. Garth deserved some happiness, and Tula gave him that. She deserved better than this.
He gave Kole a warm hug. “They’re like family… they really are,” he said, referring to the Titans. “Unfortunately, we’re all mortal. We die. But she provided happiness to all that knew her, and knowing that, we are all better for knowing her as long as we did.”
“You really seem wise. Why on Earth did you leave the Titans?” Kole asked.
“I had issues that I had to deal with as Wally West and not as Kid Flash. Sometimes, I’ve felt out of place here, and when I think about it, I hold some of the blame. I’ve been selfish at times, and I wish I could take that back,” Kid Flash said.
“You could always rejoin,” Kole suggested.
“I wish it were that simple,” Kid Flash said, feeling that he’d already said too much. “But it’s not.”
“I had some issues, and the Titans helped me face them, both with Thia and my own parents,” Kole admitted.
Kid Flash paused. Sometimes… sometimes it’s hard. You distance yourself from something, trying to escape the past. It catches up eventually, he thought, as his disease seemed to match the very words he was speaking. “Maybe… maybe it is time I faced my past and dealt with all my insecurities. That’s the only way I’ll be able to move forward.”
Kole noticed that he was speaking in confidence. “No matter what, you’ll always have friends. And I’m proud to call you my friend,” Kole said, giving Kid Flash a friendly peck on the cheek. “Thank you,” she said, smiling.
“No problem,” Kid Flash said with a smile of his own. She has a heart of gold. A fresh innocence. That’s rare these days. If I wasn’t already in love with Fran, I’d like to meet a girl like Kole, he thought, watching as more heroes entered the Tower, including the two Supermen, Changeling, and Cyborg. Not far behind was Wonder Girl, who just arrived back from Paradise Island.
While Changeling and Cyborg spoke to some of the various heroes from the five Earths, Wonder Girl found herself shocked at the amount of heroes in the Tower. “Great Hera!” she said as she spotted Kid Flash. She walked over to him and asked him some questions. “Wally, did you ask us all here? What’s going on?”
Before Kid Flash could answer the questions, someone else interrupted. “No. I brought you here. You must listen to me,” a familiar female voice spoke.
The Superboy of Earth-Prime shouted with surprise, “You?”
The many heroes assembled at Titans Tower found themselves face-to-face with Harbinger, who once again possessed the powers she had sacrificed when she brought Earths Four, S, and X into the protective Netherverse occupied by Earths One and Two, preventing their destruction. (*)
[(*) Editor’s note: See “Three Earths, Three Deaths,” Crisis on Infinite Earths #6 (September, 1985).]
She looks different. I didn’t know she had any powers, Kid Flash thought as she floated in the air, wearing an outfit he’d never seen before.
“I summoned you here because this new Earth is still imperiled,” Harbinger said.
Changeling shouted, “Harbinger?”
“I thought you lost your powers,” said Cyborg.
“In the rebirth of the universe many realities have changed,” Harbinger replied. The assembled heroes listened as Harbinger revealed that the heroes survived because they were at the dawn of time when the universe was recreated. They existed before the change.
The Huntress, the daughter of Earth-Two’s Batman and Catwoman, revealed her experiences waking in this new world. How she searched high and low for proof that she existed, only to find out otherwise. Her partner and adopted brother, Earth-Two’s Robin, related his experiences and his dealing with his nonexistence, and how his confusion led him to the new Earth’s Wayne Manor and its cemetery grounds, just as it had lured Helena there earlier. There he and Helena had learned that the graves of Earth-Two’s Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle no longer existed.
Those poor souls, Kid Flash thought as Earth-Two’s Robin finished speaking. I can’t even begin to imagine what type of Hell this has to be for them.
Harbinger commented on the cosmic rebirth and the paradoxes that, at times, made no sense. She revealed the history of this new world, speaking about all things from the evolution of man to World War Two, mentioning that World War Two was won as it was on most Earths before it, with the added aid of Earth-X’s Freedom Fighters and Earth-Two’s All-Star Squadron, who existed in this new world. She revealed that there was only one Krypton that exploded, with its only survivor, baby Kal-El, carried to this new Earth, and one Wayne Family gunned down in front of one Bruce Wayne.
Several heroes spoke about their existence, or nonexistence, but only one hero was beyond rage. “And I understand it… all too well,” said Earth-Two’s Superman, growing angry. “Some things from each world survived. Some things didn’t. My Krypton never was…” The elder Superman began bolting out of the Tower and into the sky, the truth cutting him deeply. Though the heroes couldn’t hear everything he said after leaving, they could hear him scream an anguished, “NO!”
“Omigod — he’s going crazy!” Changeling screamed.
“I’ll stop him,” Earth-One’s Superman said, greatly concerned for his friend.
Harbinger turned to the Earth-One Superman and said, “Listen… we must bring him back. There are things he does not know.”
“No problem. Kal stuck by me when I needed him.” The memory of Supergirl’s death still obviously haunted the Man of Steel. “I’ll do anything to help him now,” he said, and flew off in search of his Earth-Two counterpart.
Kid Flash spoke to the crowd of heroes. “We reached some of you, and Harbinger reached those that we weren’t able to. Four of us attempted to cross over to Earth-Two. By using the Cosmic Treadmill, the two Supermen, Jay Garrick, and I made the journey. The only thing we found was a black void. No stars, no life… nothing. The sight of that nearly pushed the elder Superman over the edge. We made it back, but the attempt destroyed the Treadmill. He needs our support right now, as does everyone who’s suffered the loss of their existence.”
Subtly and slowly, the Earth’s sky began changing color from blue to a stormy shade of pink. With what the heroes were currently involved in, no one noticed the change.
After Kid Flash finished speaking, Wonder Girl related why she had been called away to Paradise Island earlier in the day. She and Wonder Woman were summoned by their mother Hippolyta due to the arrival of Earth-Two’s Wonder Woman and her daughter Fury. Since there was only one Hippolyta in the recreated universe, she did not know of the other Wonder Woman’s existence. The irony was that the new Paradise Island, like the new Earth, contained elements from both incarnations.
Power Girl was puzzled that she seemed to exist in this new world, yet her cousin, Earth-Two’s Superman, didn’t. Harbinger didn’t know the answer.
Batman of Earth-One, with Alex Luthor and the new Robin of Earth-One, spoke next. Batman had wanted to see if any of the villains remembered joining forces with the heroes, so he visited Earth-One’s Lex Luthor in prison. Superman’s arch-enemy denied ever helping the heroes and vowed that nothing would ever convince him to ever help any heroes.
“Only the guys who fought Monny at the dawn of time remembered the confusin’ good ol’ days!” Changeling said as he looked out the window and finally noticed the changes in the weather. The skies had grown red and purple, and lightning struck across the skies. “Hey, listen to that thunder! Please… not the funny weather again!”
Quickly, the weather grew worse, the lightning and thunder stronger. Swirling energies emerged as the heroes watched from Titans Tower.
“This is crazy! It’s like something outta Ghostbusters — only worse!” Changeling remarked.
“He… help me,” a haunted voice said within the meeting room. The heroes turned to see Pariah in pain.
“Pariah! What is happening?” Lady Quark of Earth-Six asked him.
“I — I feel the tug of evil again… pulling at me… B-but… but I’m not disappearing… Lord, it hurts… so cold… so very cold!” Pariah said, his fear matching his pain.
Batman turned to see Alex Luthor surrounded by the antimatter from within his body. “The antimatter effect has taken over Alex’s body again,” he said.
Within seconds, the very Earth found itself in darkness, with a sky of stars alien to their universe. The lightning remained. The heroes at Titans Tower grew silent. Their silence was broken by another voice that could be heard across the planet.
“WELCOME TO MY UNIVERSE! WELCOME TO YOUR DOOM!”
It was the voice of the Anti-Monitor.