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Understanding Our Fate: Crisis On Infinite Earths Part 1.
On Earth-38…….
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It never seemed realistic just how light Barry Allen and Kara Danvers could be. Even more than his prodigious speed and her phenomenal EVERYTHING, their greatest strength remained their ability to keep calm and sunny even during the darkest times. And right now, at this specific moment, that particular skill was very useful.
Because as it turned out, Damien Wayne and Dick Grayson were not in the slightest bit ok with having been drug away from what they were doing to fight a battle against an opponent that they did not know, with “allies” they also did not know. So they were preparing to fight, and then they saw them. The only two people they did know. People Bruce had sworn were good, and kind, and noble people who just wanted to help. Knowing what they needed, and realizing that he was the only one who could, Barry Allen unmasked and told Damien and Dick the truth.
“This is the battle Bruce would have dreamed to fight in. This is everyone, every hero on every earth who has ever felt the calling to do good, coming together. Because if we lose, if we all fail, there won’t be an earth. I trust everyone in this room. I’ve trained and fought alongside everyone in this room, and I trust them all with my lives” Kara said, honest hope in her voice.
“We have to win, guys. With all we have, we have to keep fighting until there’s nothing left for us to do. If we don’t, there isn’t a world to defend” Barry said, and finally Damien and Dick nodded their heads and understood.
But soon, an alert sounded and in flew Superman and J’onn J’onzz, with Alex Danvers, James Olsen, and Dreamer right behind them. This was big enough that petty disputes, or desires to be away from the hero’s life, fell before it. Saving the universe, the multiverse really, was just entirely too important for any of those other concerns to be front of mind.
So there they all stood, heroes from 2 earths attempting to defeat an enemy they did not understand. If this was a regular army, warriors from every earth tasked into battle by a specific general, it could be fair to say that army would have been soundly routed in open battle. The confidence in that statement could not be more well-founded. Here stood three former members of the League of Assassins, including a former Ra’s Al Ghul, and someone who had trained under Lady Shiva, Wildcat Grant, and Nyssa Lance-Raatko. Then there was the Flash, whose hand-to-hand skills had also been augmented by Nyssa Al Ghul and Lady Shiva. Add to that the Green Lantern and Supergirl, and you could be forgiven for thinking the defenders of the Multiverse were stocked.
And then a white light showed up, and Lyla Michaels showed up with some more help. Namely, John Constantine, Zari Tomaz, Nate Heywood, Ray Palmer, Nora Darkh, Mick Rory, and Max Mercury. At this, Sara and Nyssa smiled. If they were going to go through a war like this, it felt right to be there with their team.
So, while they waited, everyone did introductions.
(Oliver Queen’s POV)
As Oliver tests the balance on his bow, making sure the new compound model he had made works for what he knows he’s going to need it to do, he hears a whoosh and notices Barry Allen, his younger brother in all ways but blood, booming in. Noticing that the Flash’s cowl has remained down, and that there are tears in his eyes, the Green Arrow pops into action in his role as a protector.
“Barry. What happened? Was it Patty? Are she and the kids alright?” he said, not liking the way Barry looks. He knew, after the Dominators invasion and the wedding last year between himself and Laurel that had been invaded by Nazis from a 53rd earth in the multiverse, he began to feel like there was something bigger coming. It was just a flicker at the back of his mind, like the sound the burner makes on his stove at home before he turns it to the temperature he needed. But for some reason, he had ignored that worry through everything. Through Prometheus, and Diaz, and the whole business with Cupid last year that had ended up with he and Laurel almost dying in a prison riot, he had not allowed himself to think about it.
But seeing Barry now, he realized that was the wrong play. And he hated himself for making the bad decision. Back home in Starling City, and on two earths now he realized, Oliver had always taken responsibility to be the rock and sounding board for the network of heroes that had come up in his wake. He had somehow become the guy people went to when they needed advice, and he relished that. But somehow, in some way, he felt like he had failed Barry.
“Remember that newspaper I showed you during the invasion? The one that talked about how I was going to die during a crisis? Well, after Nora left us, Mar Novu showed up and he told everyone it was all true. In this crisis, there will come a time when I have to sacrifice myself to save us all. Not just the multiverse, but the very concept of the Speed Force itself might be in danger. When the skies turn red, Ollie, I have to go. Without it, every speedster across the multiverse could lose their powers and I can’t let that happen” Barry said, tears leaving his eyes as he knows what he has to do but hates being put in the position to have to do it.
At this, Oliver’s heart breaks for his friend. He couldn’t imagine, and didn’t really want to try, what it must be like to know your fate and be powerless to stop it. So, not for the first time, he hugged the Flash and told him he’d fight to make sure it never came to that.
But as Oliver finished hugging Barry, he noticed the Scarlet Speedster’s skin felt clammy to the touch and that Barry’s eyes looked a little glassy. Realizing what else was happening, the Green Arrow took one look at the Flash and sat him down while he made him some food. “You need to eat, Barry. You’re going to pass out if you don’t, and the vanguard of the Speed Force, and one of the best men I have ever known, can’t pass out. Not now.”
(Kara Danvers’s POV)
Before big things like this, big battles like the ones she had with Reign and the Children of Liberty, everyone knew what Supergirl truly needed. So, they didn’t interrupt her when she ensconced herself in the DEO cafeteria with a tray of salted caramel dulce de leche brownies. She had lost so much since the night she rescued her sister Alex from that plane that had been sabotaged, but if she was being honest with herself, she had gained so much too.
She had gained friends, a 2nd family with as much richness and love in it as her birth family had, and a boyfriend who was about to become a fiancé. While she loved James Olsen like a brother, she could freely admit that the kiss they shared after defeating Myriad was illuminating in a lot of ways. Because when that was done, she felt something new. Fear that the one kiss she had was going to damage a relationship she had also had for a year. Right alongside that fear, she felt love. It had been difficult for her to say out-loud, but she knew, in her soul, that she was in love with Winn Schott.
So, she flew over to Winn’s apartment and told him. And, for the rest of her days, she’ll remember the look on his face after. Like no one, no person, had ever told him that before so his mind had literally rebooted as he tried to figure it out. Eventually, as the shock faded, joy took its place. And from that day to the Elseworlds business last year, she had been living with joy and hope and love in her life.
But then, the Monitor came in after she had helped Barry and Oliver set the world back to its natural order and told her of what was to come. He told her that every kryptonian, from Earth-1 to the grand infinitudes of space beyond what even her mind could comprehend, would be called to battle in this upcoming crisis. Some would die, but most would not. And to her great horror and sadness, that most included her.
And as she sat there, finishing the tray of brownies, she looked down at the ring she kept in a pocket of her skirt. She remembered what it felt like, the terror, when Mon-El had to leave because of a decision she made. She remembered the look of utter heartbreak on her face, and on the faces of her found family, when they realized that Rhea had left her no choice. She sobbed for hours that night, and for weeks after. It had only been because Winn had convinced her to take a trip to Starling City on Earth-1 to talk to Oliver Queen that she had been somehow able to find a way through the darkest point.
She had spent all of that whole last year, fighting alongside Winn and the rest of the Superfriends, feeling like she was keeping a secret from them. But she knew why. She couldn’t make them feel that way again.
Right now, at this moment, she knew she needed to talk to Winn, and Alex, and everyone. If she was going to do this, she needed to prepare for the possibility that she could lose. And for all of her hope, for all of her belief that she could pull one more miracle out, it was beginning to dawn on the Girl of Steel that she just might not be able to. And she didn’t know what to do with that.
Meanwhile, back on Earth-1 in Central City…….
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(Nash Wells POV)
This whole business with Bloodwork, and the Zombies, was rattling him. He would admit to that now, and because of it, he was standing in a sewer in Central City with the very real notion that he was about to die hitting him like a ton of bricks. And then, a beam of pure unfiltered UV light hit through the sewer and burnt the Bloodwork zombies to the point that he was rescued. And in this moment, he knew. It was like someone had walked in a dark room and turned it on. Whoever that being was behind the wall had saved him. So, with no hesitation at all, he walked back to the wall that he had been trying to hammer through and waited for the voice to summon him again. Once it did, he swore his fealty.
But in the moments right after the door opened, Nash Wells saw his mistake. He saw where he had gone wrong. Because, in this small room, he could barely make out a speedster on what looked like a truly tremendous treadmill. And in this moment, he knew he had just unleashed the crisis they had spent all year trying to avoid. He’d never forgive himself. Because, right now in this moment, he was a pariah.