Issue #265

Written by Barry Reese

WHAT HAS COME BEFORE : The Justice League discovered that a strange series of 'time quakes' was shaking the multiverse, resulting in the arrival of another timeline intermixed with their own. Now the JLA teams with the Justice League of that strange world, hoping to deal with this unexpected crisis...

JUSTICE LEAGUE ROLL-CALL : Flash, Aquaman, Superman, Firehawk, Plastic Man, and Supergirl.

Superman and Firehawk flew over Metropolis, smiles lighting their faces. "Thanks for spending the afternoon with me, Superman."

The Man of Steel shrugged. Though Lorraine had met him a few times before, this was her first real get-to-know-you session with him. He wasn't like she had expected. He was a normal guy, with kind of a rugged good-naturedness that made him very appealing. "It's no problem, Lorraine -- with all the problems I've had lately*, this afternoon has been a nice break. Besides, you helped me capture those Intergang thugs and I appreciate that."

(*See recent issues of Superman for more.)

Lorraine blushed. A compliment -- from Superman! She always figured JLA work was more cut out for Ronnie*, but she had to admit that she was almost starting to believe she could fit in. "I'm sure you didn't need my help, Supe--" The words died in her throat as reality seemed to ripple and shift around her. When the sensation passed, she opened her eyes wide. Gone was the familiar shape of the Daily Planet building -- in its place stood the Daily Star.

(*Ronald Raymond, Lorraine's ex-beau, is also the former Leaguer known as Firestorm.)

But most shocking was the purple and gold clad figure in the city streets, battling a large automaton. Superman narrowed his eyes. "Great Scott! I hope this doesn't have to do with that JLA alert they sent out -- if we hadn't been in the middle of dealing with Intergang, we could have responded..."

The long-haired blond man in the costume turned to face them. "I don't know where you get off wearing a costume like Supergirl's, but if you can help, man -- then do it!"

Superman wondered over that comment for only a moment. Whatever had happened, this was still his city. He zoomed into the fray, his heat vision striking the automaton at the juncture of arm and shoulder. The limb vaporized, raining the streets with debris. Firehawk circled closer, melting the debris before they could land and cause damage.

The huge robot disappeared before any further attacks could be made. Superman turned to face the mysterious stranger. "Care to explain yourself, friend?"

The man smiled back. "Funny -- I was about to ask you the same. I'm Ultraa, leader of the Justice League of North America."

Firehawk blinked, coming to a landing near the two figures. "North America...What does he mean, Superman?"

Superman rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I'm not sure -- but I'm betting we'll get answers at the Watchtower. We'd best escort our new friend there..."

Ultraa frowned. "You took the words right out of my mouth again -- I was headed up the Watchtower myself..."

On earth's moon, eight of the most powerful heroes in any reality stood in confusion. Four members of the Justice League of America -- Flash, Aquaman, Supergirl, and Plastic Man -- were standing in the Watchtower belonging to their new 'guests', the Justice League of North America. The JLNA were represented by their reality's versions of the same heroes -- a beardless, obviously very friendly Aquaman, a raven-haired Daxamite named Supergirl, a hulking behemoth called Plastic Man, and the Silver Speedster, Ultra Flash.

Aquaman paced, staring at his other-worldly counterpart. His long blonde hair framed his regal face and he couldn't help but consider his variant self with a mixture of disdain and envy. It was obvious that the Aquaman of this alternate world had never known the pain he had grown used. He crossed his arms and was pleased to see his counterpart staring at the hook at the end of his arm. "Are you the leader of your delegation?"

The parallel Aquaman seemed shocked. "Me? Leader? By Neptune's Trident, no! Outside of water, I'm not very useful."

Our Aquaman grunted. "Well, it's not the same here, believe me..."

Meanwhile, the two Supergirls were also getting to know one another. The Daxamite seethed with rage. "So you mean that you're not even a Daxamite?"

Linda shook her head. "No...I'm actually a protomatter being merged with a human. It's kind of complicated..."

The Daxamite rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I just bet...Next thing you're gonna tell me you're not even dating Brainiac 5..."

"Um...well, no..."

The two Flashes just stared at each other and shrugged. Both were used to travelling through the time stream -- alternate Flashes were nothing new. Ultra Flash spoke up first, directing his comments to the entire room. "I hate to break up this love fest...but does anyone have any idea what's going on here?!"

The Flash smiled. "We were just discussing that when you arrived. Something's going on in the timestream -- some realities that are meant to be destroyed are being knocked into others. We think your reality bumped into ours and we're slowly merging -- unless we can put you guys back in the right continuum."

The Daxamite Supergirl frowned. "Wait a minute -- you're saying that our world was supposed to have been destroyed...Why? And why would we want to go back if it means our deaths?"

Our Aquaman answered her. "We don't know what was going to destroy your world -- but I promise that we'll do everything we can to prevent it. But you can't stay here -- every moment our realities continue to intersect, the more things will become frayed. It's possible our realities might merge completely somehow -- or both might be destroyed."

The strong, clear voice of Superman rang throughout the room. He entered, flanked by Ultraa and Firehawk. "Aquaman is right -- we'll uncover what was threatening your world. But our primary goal should be to restore our realities as separate entities first. And I might have someone in mind who can help with that..."

The Daxamite Supergirl turned to her variant. "Hmmmm....Is that your boyfriend?"

Linda laughed. "Um...No...It's an even longer story..."

Vanishing Point, the Observation Post of the Linear Men, Existing Outside Normal Time and Space

"And how exactly did we arrive here?" The Ultra Flash gaped as he took in the odd colors and swirls that made up the timestream. He and his compatriots in the JLNA were standing with the heroes of the JLA inside a large bubble-sphere.

Superman checked the controls once more. "This is a Time Sphere -- invented by Rip Hunter. There are a lot of problems with it, but a friend of mine gave this one to the League -- it's been fixed so that it only allows us to go to and from Vanishing Point."

Ultraa grunted. "Sounds like it would have been easier to have used the Cosmic Treadmill back in our Watchtower -- Ultra Flash can access almost any point in time using it."

"That may well be, Ultraa -- but Vanishing Point exists OUTSIDE space and time."

Plastic Man elongated his arm around his counterpart. "So -- you hang around with Woozy Winks where you come from, pal? He's a bit of a loon but hey -- who can talk, huh?"

The large, solid form of the alternate Plastic Man ignored him. Mute and trapped within his plastic shell, he found his counterpart disturbing -- to be so free and to be able to talk so readily...it caused envy. He pulled away from his counterpart, preferring to stand near his closest friend, Aquaman.

The King of the Seas grinned. "I wish Porm or Garth could be here, Plas -- this is just like one of the original League's time-crossed capers. I remember back when we used to team up with the Liberty Society and..."

Our Aquaman interrupted. "Hush." He pointed towards a light streaking towards them. "Is that supposed to happen, Superman?"

The Man of Steel pursed his lips. "I'm not sure. This is the first time I've come here this way..."

The light swelled and embraced them. A nanosecond later, they were inside the tower of Vanishing Point. Waveride stood before them, looking grim. "Welcome to Vanishing Point, Leaguers."

Firehawk waited until the others had filed out ahead of her. She touched the arm of her own Supergirl. "Are you okay with this?"

The beautiful blond smiled. "What do you mean?"

"I'm just not used to travelling outside of time and stuff..."

Supergirl squeezed Firehawk's hand. "It's okay -- it's a bit out of my usual league, too. But we'll be okay -- I was having doubts myself, until the Flash straightened me out.*"

(*The two had a heart-to-heart last ish.)

Superman stepped up to Waverider. "We need your help, Waverider."

The golden-skinned man nodded. "I know -- I've been expecting you. It's worse than you can ever realize, Superman. These aren't just timelines being destroyed -- they're alternate worlds."

The Man of Steel blinked. "I don't understand the difference, Waverider -- isn't it just a matter of semantics?"

"No...but it is a problem we'll have to deal with later. These people shouldn't even exist." He motioned towards the JLNA, who were conversing amongst themselves. "But the fact is -- they do. We've got to restore them to their proper place and time, Superman. Then the Linear Men must investigate what all of this means -- with the recent Crisis*, the return of a being long thought dead**, and now this...the very nature of our universe might be unraveling."

(*See Crisis of Destiny -- now on a website near you!)

(**See the return of the Anti-Monitor, in the pages of Wonder Woman!)

Superman shook his head -- conversations with Waverider rarely made much sense. "Can you help us?"

"I think so, Superman. We've been tracking these time disturbances -- and we think we've located the source."

Ultraa interceded. "Then let's go take care of it -- both realities are at stake."

Waverider nodded. "I can take you there -- it's a site in Limbo."

The Justice Leagues of two worlds materialized outside an imposing structure composed of hard light. The Daxamite Supergirl frowned. "My x-ray vision can't penetrate the structure."

Waverider nodded. "The building is composed of hardened light and time particles. Your vision powers aren't strong enough to penetrate it."

The two Aquamans floated in the airless space of Limbo. "By Neptune's Beard...I'm not going to be much help here -- I don't even have my finny friends to command!"

Our Aquaman whirled, his hook pressed at the throat of his variant self. "Knock it off -- I've had it up to here with the finny friends crap! You're me -- or at least a skewed version of me -- and you can take care of yourself. You have superstrength and the experience that comes from leading an entire kingdom. Now act like it."

Superman and Ultraa were at the forefront. The structure was glowing. Ultraa sighed. "Well...if this stays true to form, our enemy is about to come out and gloat. Are villains in your universe as predictable?"

Superman smiled. "Sometimes. It's the only thing that gives us an advantage, usually."

The structure cracked open and a tall, familiar visage appeared. He strode forth like a god, flanked by three Chronobots. He waved his hand through the air dramatically. "Welcome, heroes. You're the first to actually make it this far. I am Extant."

Our Supergirl flew up to float beside Superman and Ultraa. "You're a former superhero who betrayed his friends* -- and you already failed at restarting everything. What are you up to?"

(*Extant is actually Hank Hall, formerly the superhero Hawk. He aided Parallax during Zero Hour.)

Extant smiled. "Before I was hampered by my partnership with Hal Jordan. Now it's all my gameplan. I'm absorbing the energy given off by the deaths of realities. When I have enough power, I'm going to create my own."

Ultraa clenched a fist. "You're going to fail, villain. The Justice League of North America never loses."

Extant grinned. "Oh, do shut up." He fired an energy blast which tore into Ultraa. The greatest hero of his world screamed in agony before fading away into nothingness."

"Ultraa!!" Ultra Flash screamed. He rocketed towards Extant. He felt his legs slowing down, as if he were moving through molasses. Time itself bore down upon him, aging him in mere seconds. He heard his skin cracking and peeling, his life's blood issuing forth from his orifaces. He crumbled into dust upon reaching the villain.

"Two down." Extant laughed.

Superman held up a hand. "No one else move. He's obviously gotten a lot more powerful."

Extant nodded. "You can say that again, Supes. To think I actually used to look up to you...You should be fighting with me, not against me. If I have my way, Krypton will back the way it should be. My brother Don will be alive again...it will be perfection."

Waverider bellowed. "It will be madness! Again and again you bedevil me, Hank Hall. It ends here today!" The two timelords rushed towards one another, while the Chronobots streamed forth from the structure to face the remaining Leagues.

The battle was fierce. The two Supergirls surrounded one of the Chronobots. While the Daxamite distracted it, absorbing the brunt of its damage, Linda circled around. Calling forth her flame powers, her eyes spewed forth angelic flame. The Chronobot screamed until it was silenced by a powerful blow from the Daxamite.

The Flash tried to put out the image of his counterpart dying, in a fashion so similar to how his Uncle Barry had died. He focused his anger on the robots, vibrating through two of them. The mechanoids continued vibrating as he left the, finally exploding.

The two Plastic Men, though different in nature, made a good team. The two of them wrapped around the robots, encasing them. The two Aquamen then made short work of them.

Meanwhile, Waverider and Extant fought amidst spiraling chaos, chronal waves washing out from them. "You have to be stopped, Hall -- you're weakening the fabric of reality!"

Extant shook off a powerful blow, sending one back. "You think I weakened it? It was already falling apart -- our conceptions of what reality is are completely wrong..."

Superman had flown inside. The interior of the structure was a mishmash of eras -- an antique printing press stood next to a 30th century computer. The Man of Tomorrow tried to understand the machinery as best he could, while his friends fought for their lives outside. He realized that he couldn't make heads or tails of it, and finally did the only thing he could think of -- he smashed the computers.

The effect was immediate. The energy which had been funneling into Extant was now gone. The villain pulled back from Waverider. "You haven't won, you know -- I'll keep coming back. Forever. Once in the timestream, I can't be caught."

"Maybe, maybe not. Who says we're letting you get away?" Firehawk fired her nuclear-created flames at the villain, encasing him in a ring of fire.

Extant still laughed. "Oh please. I can teleport right out of --"

The villain felt a tap on his shoulder. When he turned, he saw the Daxamite Supergirl smiling. "This is for Ultraa." She let loose a full-force punch that sent Extant flying through Limbo. Waverider reached out a hand to stop his flight.

"I have an idea of how we can make sure he doesn't bother us again..."

He floats in Limbo, encased in a sphere of pure chrono energy. Signs of in hundreds of interstellar languages warn not to free him, but the man known as Extant is patient. After all, he has plenty of...Time.

The two Leagues said their goodbyes. "I'm sorry about Ultraa..." Superman found himself at a loss for words.

The Daxamite Supergirl held up a hand. "You did all you could. How our world will cope without him, I don't know. But it will somehow. Goodbye." She shook Superman's hand and smiled. "Maybe we'll do this again sometime."

Waverider dispatched them back to their home reality, while the Flash let out a sigh of relief. "I don't know about you guys, but after that mess with the Psycho Pirate, then Starbreaker and now this -- I think we need a break."

Superman nodded. "Maybe you're right -- maybe we do need to unwind."

NEXT ISSUE : The World's Greatest Heroes...on a picnic?! Guest-starring a plethora of former Leaguers (and some old Society members too), the JLA lets their hair down in style! Be here for a decidedly different issue of JLA!

Barry Reese

11.2.98 Write Me!

The DC Universe of characters, which includes 90% of all the ones written about on this site, their images and logos are all legally copyrighted to DC Comics and it's parent company of Time/Warner. We make absolutely no claim that they belong to us. We're just a bunch of fans with over active imaginations and a love of writing.