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Post by Cei-U! on Apr 14, 2018 21:05:43 GMT -5
Back in 1997, shortly after joining CBR, I collaborated with two of my fellow Silver Agers (as those who joined the site in its halcyon gold-and-purple days are known) in concocting what you are about to read. We were three Justice Society fans deeply unhappy with DC's irreverent handling of those iconic characters and we set out to offer a way for the powers that were to correct this perceived injustice without screwing up the modern DCU as it then existed. Tim, Ken, and I were enormously pleased with the story we hashed out and they were happy with the way I fleshed it out. The proposal you are about to read never went anywhere (though at one point Karl Kesel read it and said he liked it) and not long after I disappeared from CBR for about eighteen months. By the time I came back, the DCU had moved on and so had we. Still, it represented my first serious attempt to write for comics. It's terribly dated now, but I thought you might enjoy a look into where ol' Cei-U!'s head was at two decades ago. And so, with equal parts pride and trepidation (and an acknowlegement that parts of the proposal were cannibalized for other projects like my CCF Guide to DC's Earth-Two), I present LEGACY: The Secret Origins of the DC Universe
by Kurt Mitchell
Based on the ideas and suggestions of Tim Morrison and Ken Cheng
Text © 1997 Kurt Mitchell
Superman, The Justice Society of America and all prominent characters mentioned © DC Comics, Inc.
All rights reserved.
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Post by Cei-U! on Apr 14, 2018 21:06:24 GMT -5
Introduction
Kal-L, the Last Son of Krypton. The Batman, night-shrouded nemesis of crime. Diana, princess of Paradise Island, pursuing peace amidst the ravages of a World War. The Justice Society of America, each member an archetype in his own right. These icons of 20th century American culture are the foundation on which DC Comics has been building a tower of imagination, excitement and creative excellence for over sixty years.
Superman is the living definition of the word ‘superhero’. Every comic book character who ever donned a colorful costume and sallied forth to combat evil owes his or her very exis¬tence to him. He and the other heroes and heroines of DC’s Golden Age epitomize the genre at its purest with all its action, its innocence and its absurdity. Though their adventures often seem antiquated and naïve to the readers of today’s more sophisticated comics, the JSA are held in the highest esteem by fans of all ages and from all walks of life. They are the fountain from which springs the proud tra¬dition that the editors, writers and artists at DC strive to uphold.
As the DC Universe approaches the millennium, the Justice Society—whose origins are firmly planted in the 1940s—are destined to play a smaller and smaller part in it. Their passing seems inevitable. In the years since the publication of Crisis on Infinite Earths, we have seen the murders of The Atom, Hourman, Doctor Mid-Nite and Skyman; the transformations of Green Lantern, Doctor Fate, Hawkman and Hawkgirl into new and sometimes unrecognizable guises; the alienation of The Spectre and Power Girl from their JSA roots; and the inexorable slide into old age of The Flash, The Sandman, Starman, Wildcat and Johnny Thunder.
These noble men and women, though fictional, surely deserve better. To let them wither away in the name of “realism”—an ironic requirement for an inherently unrealistic genre—is not just… and above all else, The Justice Society of America deserves justice.
Legacy: The Secret Origins of the DC Universe is a four-issue mini-series that salutes DC’s Golden Age. Its star is Kal-L, the original Man of Steel, returned from the paradise to which he traveled at the conclusion of Crisis to share with his modern counterpart the rich heritage of the Superman mantle. And what better time to honor that heritage than the sixtieth anniversary of Superman’s debut in Action Comics #1?
Legacy is also the final story of the Justice Society. At its conclusion, the entire membership—living, deceased and those who have been forgotten—are reunited in the Paradise Dimension, to enjoy the immortality and perpetual youth their selfless heroism merits. Such closure honors not only these characters but the count¬less fans who love them.
The revered past and dynamic present of DC Comics come together in a story both epic and human… and without contradicting or disrupting the continuity of the modern DC Universe. Legacy gives longtime readers a chance to say goodbye to the beloved heroes of the Justice Society even as their departure creates exciting opportunities for growth and development in such fan favorites as the modern incarnations of The Flash, Starman and The Spectre.
Now is the perfect time to celebrate the birth of the first and greatest superhero of them all, the original Superman, and Legacy is the perfect vehicle for observing that celebration. As you learn more about the theme, plot and cast on the pages that follow, I’m confident that you will agree.
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Post by Cei-U! on Apr 14, 2018 21:12:59 GMT -5
BOOK I: Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot
It is a beautiful day in what appears to be the Metropolis of 1940. The editor of The Daily Star calls for his top reporters, Lois Lane and Clark Kent, to give them a new assignment. The relationship between the two newshounds seems unchanged from the early days of the Golden Age: Lois regards Clark with contempt while he accepts her abuse meekly. Once alone, however, their attitudes change. They walk down the street arm in arm, obviously deeply in love. Suddenly, they hear a tremendous explosion and the cries of frightened people. Lois says, “This looks like a job for Superman!” and sure enough, Clark shrugs off his outer clothes, gathers Lois into his arms and leaps off to the source of the disturbance.
On arrival, they find a hole in the street: not a pothole or a meteor crater but an actual rent in space. A radio reporter tells Superman the same phenomenon is being reported all across the Earth. Superman and Lois look at each other in astonishment. There is a feeling of déjà vu about this and of great dread. Unexpectedly a figure materializes in front of them. It is Alex Luthor of Earth-3. He says simply, “Kal-L, we have to talk.”
The trio finds some privacy. Superman wonders why he and Lois had forgotten Alex until he appeared. Luthor explains that they are in the Paradise Dimension, to which they traveled following the Crisis on Infinite Earths. Paradise is not Heaven in the religious sense. It is a transtemporal, trans¬dimensional anomaly in which time and space have no meaning and the familiar laws of physics do not apply. Here, inhabitants can be any age, relive any part of their past or play out any alternate scenario they choose, for all eternity. The nature of Paradise depends on the individual: to Lois and Clark, Paradise is reliving their youth, a time when morality seemed less ambiguous; to their companion, Superboy of Earth-Prime, it is the small town pleasures of life in Smallville; to Alex, it is exploring the wonders of the universe. Inhabitants tend to lose themselves in the illusion unless somehow reminded, as Clark and Lois were by Alex’s materialization, of their previous lives.
While attempting to grasp the metaphysical principles governing the Paradise Dimension, Alex discovered that his anti-matter powers were returning. He at once perceived the implications of his powers’ resurgence and rushed to warn his companions. His warning came too late to save Superboy. Alex arrived in the recreated Smallville in time to watch the last bits of the town fade into nothingness and to see Superboy himself discorporate.
Superman and Lois are stunned by Luthor’s tale. Lois asks, “How can people die in Paradise?” Alex explains that when the five universes that survived the Crisis merged into a single timeline, a phenomenon he calls a “chronal reconfiguration wave” was generated. This wave, traveling omnidirectionally through the timestream, reconfigured the disparate components of the merging universes into a coherent and consistent whole, resulting in the obliteration of some individuals and historical events and the reconfiguration of many others. The Paradise Dimension delayed the effects of the wave but, as the obliteration of Superboy proves, it cannot negate them. Soon the three of them must also vanish from existence unless Superman is willing to take a desperate chance.
Alex theorizes that the chronal reconfiguration wave can be counteracted with the mystic power ring of Alan Scott, the Golden Age Green Lantern, which retains within it full knowledge of the multiverse. Using his anti-matter powers, Alex can open a gateway through which Kal-L can travel into the post-Crisis universe in order to retrieve the ring. When Superman questions the morality of depriving humanity of one of its most potent defenses, Lois reveals she is pregnant, a condition that had been physiologically impossible outside the Paradise Dimension. Superman turns to Alex and says, “This changes everything. I’ll bring back the ring or die trying.”
Luthor generates the dimensional bridge and Superman, after bidding his wife a tender goodbye, plunges through it. He emerges in the modern DC Universe and immediately sags to his knees as his body assumes its true age of 87. His Kryptonian physiology has left him more robust than an ordinary human of the same age would be, however, so he shrugs off his fatigue.
He has materialized in the old New York brownstone that he knew as the headquarters of the Justice Society of America. It is obviously deserted: its contents gone, window panes smashed, years of dust and cobwebs throughout. Questioning a young squatter he encounters, Kal-L learns that Jay Garrick, the Golden Age Flash, is still alive and active in Keystone City. He sets out for Keystone at once.
Meanwhile, in the extratemporal fortress called Vanishing Point, the Linear Men are alerted to the presence of Kal-L on Earth. Waverider, Liri Lee and Rip Hunter ex¬press concern about the effects on the timeline of this event and debate what, if any, action should be taken. Unknown to them, another watches their every move from elsewhere within Vanishing Point. This being, who stands cloaked in the deepest of shadows, muses aloud that the return of Earth-2’s Man of Steel poses a grave threat to its plans and that, therefore, the Linear Men must be manipulated into killing Kal-L.
As Superman approaches Keystone City, he sees a huge tornado sweeping through the downtown area as, at its foot, Jay Garrick and Wally West, the Modern Age Flash, race counterdirectionally to its rotation. Without hesitation, Kal-L adds his own super-speed to their efforts. The tornado breaks up. Turning to thank their benefactor for his or her aid, the Scarlet Speedsters are astonished to see a white-haired old man in a variation of Superman’s costume.
Kal-L is dismayed to see that his old comrades don’t recognize him. As he tries to explain who he is and why he has come, suspicion grows in the speedsters. This may be another of the many Superman impostors who have surfaced in recent years. Or perhaps he is a pawn in the schemes of some master villain like Darkseid or Neron. The Flashes decide it is better to capture him first than to take the chance that his protestations of good intent are sincere. They attack with blinding speed but Superman eludes them. Seeing the futility of further attempts at reason, Kal-L leaps away. Jay and Wally want to pursue him but there is damage and injuries left by the tornado. They turn to assist in the clean-up but not before Wally sends a warning to the rest of the Justice League to be on the watch for a metahuman claiming to be “the original Superman.”
Superman sits on a nearby rooftop, overcome with despair. Things have changed drastically since he last walked the earth. Could this be another effect of the chronal reconfiguration wave Alex spoke of? How is he to proceed if he can’t turn to his JSA teammates for help? But Kal-L is too strong-willed to indulge his grief for long. Deciding that the first thing he needs is information about the new reality in which he finds himself, Kal-L seeks out the home of Jay and Joan Garrick. Searching the house at super-speed, he finds the manuscript and notes for Jay’s memoirs. He is horrified to discover that, in the eyes of Flash at least, neither he or the multiverse ever existed at all but he also learns the current locations of the surviving Justice Society membership… including Alan Scott. Determined to complete his mission and be gone, Superman sets off for Gotham City.
It is nearly dusk by the time he reaches Gotham. The city itself has changed beyond recognition, resembling some sprawling Gothic nightmare more than the prosaic skylines of Earths-1 or -2. He alights atop an office tower and scans the city with his telescopic vision for the Gotham Broadcasting building. Suddenly, a net of iridescent green energy drops over him as he is ordered to surrender. Kal-L turns to see Kyle Raynor, the Modern Age Green Lantern, hovering nearby.
Effortlessly, the Golden Age Action Ace tears free of the netting. He attempts to reason with GL but Kyle, determined to prove himself to the rest of the JLA by capturing this impostor, isn’t listening. Kyle launches dozens of weapons at Kal-L with his power ring but Superman either dodges them at super-speed or swats them aside. He is seconds away from grabbing the Lantern when he finds himself seized by a gigantic hand aglow with emerald energy from which he cannot escape, for this is the magical energy wielded by Sentinel—the original Green Lantern.
Kal-L recognizes Alan Scott despite his new costume and restored youth and asks for a chance to explain himself. Confident that his power can handle anything this would-be Superman can throw at him, Sentinel agrees to hear him out. He leads him to JSA headquarters in the basement of the GBS building. Kyle, consumed by curiosity, tags along.
At Gotham Broadcasting, Superman consents to Alan examining him with his powers. Sentinel determines that his subject is an alien, of a species that bears a strong resemblance to the Kryptonians, and that this being absolutely believes his impossible story to be true. Moreover, the energy detects a strange vibration throughout the impostor’s molecular structure, a vibration vaguely familiar to Alan. Sentinel suggests it might me better if “Superman” tells his story to the entire Justice Society and uses his powers to summon the surviving members.
One by one and in pairs, they arrive: Jay Garrick, accompanied by Wally West; Ted and Jack Knight, the father-and-son Starman duo; Wesley Dodds, the Golden Age Sandman, and his former partner Sandy Hawkins, the now-adult “Golden Boy”; Johnny Thunder and his ward Kiku; Wildcat. Last to arrive is Power Girl, who breaks Kal-L’s heart by vehemently denying both their kinship and her Kryptonian heritage.
“Is this all?,” Superman asks. “Where are the others?”
Sentinel tells of the fate of their teammates: the murder of Skyman—the former Star-Spangled Kid—at the hands of Solomon Grundy; Extant’s massacre of Dr. Mid-Nite, The Atom and Hourman; the absorption of Hawkman and Hawkgirl into the so-called Hawk Avatar; the Golden Age Black Canary’s death by cancer; the passing of the Doctor Fate persona from Kent and Inza Nelson and their subsequent deaths; and the Spectre’s indifference to his JSA past. “But now it’s time for you to tell us your story.”
Kal-L begins with the story of Krona of Oa and of his forbidden experiment to witness the Dawn of Time and how that attempt resulted in the creation of the DC Multiverse. He tells of Earths-1, -2, -3, -4, -6, -S, -X, -Prime and a thousand other universes, each occupying the same physical space but vibrating on the molecular level at differing frequencies.
He continues with the pre-Crisis history of the Justice Society of America. He tells them of the Golden Age Wonder Woman, of the Earth-2 Batman and Robin, and of Batman’s daughter, the Huntress. He makes note of the differences—some minute, some significant—between JSA history as it was and as it has become, based on his gleanings from Flash’s manuscript.
He next tells of the Crisis on Infinite Earths, of the duel between the Monitor and the Anti-Monitor with the metahumans of five Earths as their pawns, of the death by anti-matter of innumerable beings throughout the multiverse. He explains how, in order to save the five remaining universes, it became necessary to merge them into a single reality. He relates his own role in the final defeat of the Anti-Monitor, and he tells them of the chronal reconfiguration wave generated by the merging of Earths-1, -2, -4, -S and -X and its subsequent effect on their own histories and memories.
Finally, he describes the Paradise Dimension and its promise of immortality and eternal youth. He tells of the threat to himself and the others and of his mission. Sentinel reveals that his power ring no longer exists, that he has internalized its mystic energy. Kal-L sits stunned for a moment. Then, after looking around at his old and enfeebled comrades, he suggests that Sentinel—and all the JSA—return with him.
The room falls silent, as the Golden Age Man of Steel’s narrative sinks in. Each seems lost in thought until Johnny Thunder jumps to his feet and exclaims, “Say, you must think we’re all senile if you expect us to buy a tall tale like that one!,” thus inadvertently summoning his Bahdnesian Thunderbolt. Seeing Kal-L, the Thunderbolt’s eyes light up with pleasure.
“Superman! You’ve returned! How good to see you again!”
This creates instant consternation. “Thunderbolt,” says Sentinel, “you know this man?”
“Of course,” comes the reply. “And so will you, if you use your power to search within yourself for the truth.”
Accepting the challenge, Alan envelops himself in a sheath of his own emerald energy. As the others look on anxiously, sweat beads form on his brow. Never has his fabled willpower been put to such a test. Suddenly, the glow fades and an ashen-faced Sentinel whispers, “Oh my God, it’s all true!”
Before anyone in the room can react to this astonishing proclamation, the entrance to the chamber explodes inward. In the breach stands a furious Superman.
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Post by Cei-U! on Apr 14, 2018 21:17:00 GMT -5
BOOK II: As Through a Glass, Darkly
In the headquarters of the Justice Society of America in Gotham City, the surviving membership has assembled to hear the fantastic story of a man claiming to be Kal-L, the Superman of a dead universe in which the JSA also originated but which none save Johnny Thunder’s Bahdnesian Thunderbolt remembers. Alan Scott, Sentinel, uses his powers to search his own mind for memory of this alternate history. Succeeding, he barely has time to convey the fact to his teammates before the door of the meeting room bursts apart. Standing in the breach is an enraged Superman.
“Where is he?,” the Man of Steel demands. “Show me this latest pretender!”
Kal-L, momentatily forgetting the Earth-1 Superman no longer exists, greets his doppelganger as an old, dear friend. This, however, is the Modern Age Action Ace. He has no memory of the multiverse or of any Supermen other than the many impostors he has dealt with in recent years: Supergirl/Matrix, Superboy, The Cyborg, The Eradicator, Steel, Scorn, Bizarro. Kal-L’s overtures are met with suspicion and hostility.
Sentinel and Jay Garrick, the Golden Age Flash, step forward to assuage Superman’s fury. They try to explain the circumstances but are cut off in mid-sentence. “I heard his story with my super-hearing,” he snarls. “Maybe you can fool a bunch of old men desperate to believe they can turn back the clock but you aren’t fooling me. I’ll get to the truth if I have to beat it out of you!” He seizes Kal-L before the others can stop him and carries him away.
Meanwhile, in a filthy cell at Arkham Asylum, a man clad in rags huddles in a corner muttering to himself. He raves about universes dying and being reborn, events only he remembers, and of how those memories have condemned him to this terrible existence as a sane man trapped among the mad. Suddenly, the darkened room is filled with a golden light. A figure is barely discernible in the center of the glow.
“Roger Hayden, I presume?,” says the visitor.
“Hayden’s gone,” replies the cowering inmate. “Neron took him away.”
“You can’t kid a kidder, Rog! Your little friend may have fooled himself, the docs and even big bad Neron but it takes more than a Medusa mask to be the one, true Psycho Pirate!”
The madman becomes even more agitated. “Go away! You’ll ruin everything! As long as they all think Hayden’s gone, I’m just another lunatic.” He raises his voice. “No super-villains here, just crazy guys!”
“Don’t get your skivvies in a bunch, Rog, I’m here to help. How’d you like to be out of this kindergarten, buddy? How’d you like to be declared sane?”
“Ha!,” snorts Hayden. “None of them will allow that! They don’t know what I know, they don’t remember what I remember, they can’t hear the screams, the death screams of billions of people who never were!!!”
“But I know, PP (I can call you ‘PP,’ can’t I?), and I remember. And if you’ll help me play a little… prank… on someone, I’ll help you prove it all happened. They’ll have to let you out then.”
“Out? Free to walk in the sun, to be among people? Free to feed?”
“It’s your appetite I’m countin’ on, Rog. Whaddaya say?”
Slowly, Hayden nods assent. The other snaps his fingers and Hayden is instantly clean and clad in the familiar black-and-red costume of the Psycho Pirate. “Let’s blow this popsicle stand, chum,” says the glowing figure. And they are gone.
Back at JSA headquarters, the younger heroes prepare to rescue Kal-L from his Modern Age counterpart but Sentinel restrains them. If he is indeed what he claims, he will come to terms with Superman on his own. Meanwhile, the Justice Society must discuss the disturbing implications of his story.
Thousands of feet above Gotham City, the two Men of Steel struggle. The younger Superman shakes the other furiously, demanding to know who the mastermind behind this scheme is. Luthor? The Cyborg? Lord Satanus? Kal-L bursts free, crying out that while he seeks no battle he will not be manhandled. He drops to earth in a field on the outskirts of Gotham. The Modern Superman alights nearby.
“Your masters didn’t do a very good job, old man. They forgot to give you the power of flight.”
“It’s true I can’t fly anymore . There are a lot of physiological differences between the Kryptonians of my universe and yours. Nonetheless I am Superman. No one has better right to the name than I do… but I’ve read enough about you to know that you wear the title honorably. I couldn’t be prouder of you if you were my own son, Clark.”
The use of his civilian name startles Superman. His anger begins to subside. “If you know my true name, you can’t be the pawn of any of my human enemies but that leaves a lot of others. How can I trust you?”
“You heard Alan Scott verify my story. Do you trust him?”
“Normally, yes, but right now I don’t know what to believe. I need to talk to Lo… to someone.”
Kal-L smiles widely. “Lois? You told Lois your secret? Good boy! If she has a tenth of my Lois’ intelligence and compassion, you’re a lucky young man. Aside from my foster parents, no one ever gave me better advice when I was troubled.”
Superman searches his counterpart’s eyes intently. “Maybe… maybe you are what you say. If you vow that you intend no harm, I’ll take you to Lois and maybe she can make sense of all this. She’s staying with my folks in Smallville and…”
“Ma and Pa—the Kents—are alive?” Tears form in Kal-L’s eyes. “To see them again, to hear their voices… Yes, yes, you have my word! Come, Clark, let’s go home.”
“You see?,” says Sentinel, who has been using his powers to allow the JSA to observe the confrontation between the Supermen. “They’re resolving their differences without our intervention.”
Little does the former Green Lantern of Earth-2 suspect that he and his teammates are watched in turn by the mysterious entity hidden away at Vanishing Point. This being shakes with rage, infuriated that the Golden Age Man of Tomorrow has already won over so many and that memory of the multiverse remains in the minds of the Justice Society, requiring only a magical prompt to re-emerge. Turning his attention to the Linear Men, he closes his eyes and concentrates.
“Listen to me, my unwitting slaves,” he whispers. “The time has come for you to fulfill your destiny, to achieve the purpose for which I created you. Listen most carefully.”
Jonathan and Martha Kent are having dinner with their daughter-in-law Lois when they hear footsteps in the attic. “Clark’s back,” says Lois. “Right on both counts,” answers a voice both familiar yet strange. The trio turns to see Superman walking down the stairs followed by an elderly man dressed nearly identically.
“I take it this is the impostor the young Flash warned you about?” asks Jonathan.
Sitting down next to Lois, Superman answers, “Yes, Pa, but I’m not so sure he is an impostor.”
The rest of the Kent family begin talking all at once. Superman calms them down and asks Kal-L to recount the tale of the multiverse. Kal-L complies, this time telling also his own story: of a Krypton whose populace developed superhuman powers in the course of their evolution, of his spaceflight to Earth as an infant in the wake of his planet’s destruction, of his adoption by John and Mary Kent, of his foster parents’ deaths during his teen years, of his creation of the Superman persona, of his first meeting with Daily Star reporter Lois Lane and of falling in love with her, of how his example led to the emergence of other “mystery men” and the founding of the Justice Society of America, of his marriage to Lois in the 1950s, of the discovery of Earth-1 and his many adventures alongside its Superman, and of his and Lois’ life in the Paradise Dimension following the Crisis on Infinite Earths.
When he is done, there is silence in the farmhouse. “I can’t say I care for the implications of your yarn,” Pa says after a time, “but somehow I feel it’s the truth.”
Ma Kent and Lois nod in agreement. “What I don’t understand,” adds Lois, “is who this other Superman was, the one from Earth-1. His history is so like Clark’s and yet so different.”
“He was the noblest being I’ve ever known and one of the most tragic,” Kal-L responds. “Like me, he was the first of our kind in his world and served as the inspiration for all those who followed. He possessed more power than both of us combined, he saved humanity and the universe time after time yet he was haunted by what he considered his failures. He denied himself the consolation of personal happiness, of his Lois’ love, until he could atone for his imagined shortcomings.”
“What failures?” asks Superman.
Briefly, Kal-L relates the history of the Earth-1 Superman. He explains the guilt Kal-El felt over the death of both his natural and foster parents, deaths he could not prevent despite his powers. He tells of his doppelganger’s years of trying to enlarge the Kryptonian city of Kandor, to find a cure for Kryptonite poisoning, to reform Lex Luthor and his many other foes. He speaks of his pain when his kinsman Kara Zor-El, the Earth-1 Supergirl, was brutally slain by the Anti-Monitor. But it was his inability to eliminate crime and suffering from the world that Kal-El considered his ultimate failing.
“He never learned, as I did, that there are limitations on what even a Superman can accomplish,” sighs Kal-L. “He never understood that there was room in his life for both his mission and the comforts of home and family. He never accepted that he was just one man.”
“He may be just one man,” Waverider says, “but that one man will cause the unraveling of all reality if he isn’t neutralized.” He is addressing an assembly of metahumans recruited by the Linear Men and brought to Vanishing Point. (Their identities are not revealed in this sequence.)
Waverider and his fellow Linear Men explain that the “original Superman” is a temporal anomaly whose very existence threatens all life on Earth. Already he has deceived the Justice Society and their protégées; that is why heroes with no JSA ties were recruited. It may be necessary to fight the other heroes to get to the impostor but there is no choice. “Time is running out,” concludes Waverider. “We must strike quickly and ruthlessly if mankind is to survive.”
Meanwhile at JSA headquarters, the members are debating the prospect of Paradise. Jay Garrick and Ted Knight, the Golden Age Starman, contend that it is unnatural to bypass death, that old age and its inevitable denouement are the destined order of things. Wildcat retorts that the histories of Spectre, Dr. Fate and Sentinel would indicate otherwise. Alan Scott adds that it would be irresponsible to run off to Never-Never Land while they can still be of service to humanity. The Golden Age Sandman protests that he and some of the others have little service left to offer while Johnny Thunder simply states that he despises old age and is afraid to die. Wally West, the Modern Age Flash, opines that the JSA have earned the right to “live happily ever after,” a point Sandy Hawkins seconds. Power Girl, still shaken by Kal-L’s revelation of her true origin, asserts that they only have the impostor’s word that the Paradise Dimension is real, that his story may be nothing but lies. “Still,” offers Jay, “it would explain why I’ve felt so out of place in recent years, like I didn’t… belong somehow.” The other JSAers admit to the same feeling but Sentinel wonders if he could walk away from his life and his children.
In the midst of the discussion, the Thunderbolt hears his name called, a call no one else apparently hears. Slipping away to follow the sound, he enters an antechamber where the Psycho Pirate and his mysterious liberator await. The Thunderbolt’s eyes open wide. “You!”
“Don’t look so, uh, shocked,” laughs the glowing figure. “Haven’t you ever met the savior of all reality before?”
“If you’re a savior, my master is Albert Einstein!”
“You wound me, Thundy, you truly do. I admit I’m new to this hero thing but I wear it well, doncha think? Much as it pains me to say it, though, I can’t save the universe alone or even with the help of my charming friend here. No, this gig needs that special touch only a Bahdnesian Thunderbolt can bring.”
“Even if I wanted to help you in whatever mad scheme you’ve concocted, I’m bound to Johnny. I can’t just walk away.”
“Sure you can… with my help. Besides it’s not my scheme that’s mad. In fact, for the first time in some ten thousand odd—very odd—years, I’m on the side of sanity. But listen, all that nobility in the next room is nauseatin’ me so what say we continue this conversation in more suitable climes, huh?”
Convinced by something in the other’s demeanor, Thunderbolt consents to accompany the duo. With the wave of a hand, they’re gone.
In Smallville, the two Supermen prepare to return to Gotham City. Kal-L embraces Ma and Pa Kent tenderly. “You’re so much like my own parents, I can’t help but love you,” he tells them. Martha laughingly suggests that they have gained a new son, albeit a son twenty-five years their senior. Kal-L turns to Lois, who smiles ruefully. “The biggest story I’ll ever come across and I can’t write it. But thank you for showing me that my life with Clark really was meant to be.”
As they head east, the younger Superman is pensive. “What’s on your mind, Clark?” asks Kal-L. “Still doubting my bonafides?”
“No,” comes the response. “It’s the Superman from Earth-1. Am I him? If I’m what the chronal reconfiguration wave transformed him into, how do I know that my actions aren’t determined by his actions? Are my thoughts my own or are they his?”
“I’m sure he asked similar questions when he first met me. Look, metaphysics isn’t my specialty but if you compare your life to his, if you consider the choices you’ve made that he never could have, you’ll see that regardless of the similarities, you are unique.”
“And why does everyone treat me with so much respect, like an elder statesman, even though I’m a newcomer compared to the JSA or J’onn J’onnz? Do you suppose people are subconsciously reacting to their latent memories of you or the Earth-1 Superman? That somehow they think of me as the first and foremost superhero despite the rewriting of history?”
“Possibly. Or maybe they’re just responding to your courage and selflessness and nobility. Don’t sell yourself short, son. Whatever respect you’re given, you’ve earned in your own right.”
They arrive at the GBS building to find the debate still in full swing. Sentinel, especially, is torn. Honoring Kal-L’s request means leaving Earth forever and yet how can he let three innocent people die? Before he can decide, one wall of the chamber disintegrates in a burst of energy.
The assembled heroes turn and find themselves facing a small army of grim-faced metahumans: Wonder Woman, the Martian Manhunter, Captain Marvel and his identically-named sister, The Ray, Plastic Man, Captain Atom, Zatanna and Steel. Above them floats Waverider who commands, “There is no time to stand on ceremony. All of existence is in jeopardy. The false Superman must be neutralized. Surrender him immediately or we will be forced to take him!”
“This man is no threat to anyone,” answers the Modern Age Superman.
Sentinel adds, “If you mean to do him harm, you’ll have to go through all of us first.”
Waverider’s eyes narrow. “If we must.”
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Post by Cei-U! on Apr 14, 2018 21:19:27 GMT -5
BOOK III: …and Be a Villain
Two armies of metahumans face each other across a sea of smoking rubble that was once a wall of the Gotham Broadcasting building. On one side, the Justice Society of America and their allies; on the other, heroes gathered hurriedly by the Linear Men. At stake is the fate of the original Superman, newly returned to the DC Universe and accused of threatening by his very existence to unravel the fabric of reality.
Goaded on by Waverider, the Linear Men’s army moves in, met head on by the JSA. It’s hero versus hero in a mad brawl: Sentinel vs. Captain Atom, the Modern Age Starman vs. The Ray, the Modern Age Flash vs. Wonder Woman, Power Girl vs. Mary Marvel, and so on. Unnoticed by the others, Johnny Thunder stands perplexed by his Bahdnesian Thunderbolt’s failure to appear at his command.
Barely are the first blows exchanged when all the participants freeze in place. Only the Golden Age and Modern Age Men of Steel are unaffected. They look around in wonder. Suddenly, three figures materialize: the Thunderbolt, the Psycho Pirate and one other Kal-El knows all too well.
“Mxyzptlk!”
“In the glorious fifth-dimensional flesh, Supey, old kid!” chortles the imp. “Far be it from me to interrupt this delightful little scuffle but duty calls.”
“Now it’s all starting to make sense,” growls Superman. “I should’ve seen your fine hand in this madness.”
“Madness indeed, Big Blue, but not mine for a change. If you’ll unclench for a sec, I’ll try to explain all this so simply even a Kryptonian can understand it.”
“Please, Superman,” interjects the Thunderbolt, “I know you have every reason to distrust Mxyzptlk but countless lives depend on you’re listening to him with an open mind.”
Kal-L points an accusing finger at the trio. “How can you expect us to trust you with the Psycho Pirate at your side? Do you think we’ve forgotten his role in the Crisis?”
Mxyzptlk turns a sour face to Kal-L. “I see decrepitude hasn’t mellowed you any, old boy. You’re as big a drag now as when we first met fifty years ago!”
“When we…?? That was Mxyztplk, your Earth-2 counterpart!”
“That’s the problem with you 3-D types, no vision.” Suddenly, he transforms into the Golden Age Mxyztplk. “Didn’t it ever occur to you that I…” He changes to the Silver Age Mxyzptlk. “…and the imp who tormented the Big Blue Boy Scout of Earth-1…” Finally, he reverts to his modern guise. “…and the swingin’ Nineties version might all be the same guy? We of the 5th Dimension constantly reinvent ourselves. It’s the only way we can deal with the otherwise boring condition of immortality. Heck, I’ve been through hundreds of personas. Still, I gotta admit I never thought I’d end up playing the role of hero.”
“Hero?” counters Superman. “What are you talking about, Mxy?”
“Lemme give you a little history lesson, Clarkie,” Mxyzptlk begins. He explains that the 5th Dimension and the DC Universe are only two among an infinity of parallel and alternate realities, the aggregation of which is known as the omniverse. Each individual universe is separated from all the others by a barrier. Some barriers are more permeable than others, so that interdimensional travel may be relatively simple between one pair of universes and impossible between another. The inhabitants of his native 5th Dimension have always enjoyed easy access to the DC Multiverse and its successor but no event within the DC Universe—no matter how ‘cosmic’—has ever threatened their existence… until now.
Now the unsuspected mastermind behind the Crisis on Infinite Earths and Zero Hour is about to learn the secret of crossing all dimensional barriers and plots the destruction of the entire omniverse. The rulers of the 5th Dimension devised a plan to stop this mad agenda of omniversal armageddon and selected Mxyzptlk, by virtue of his familiarity with the world of humans, to act as their agent… a post he neither sought nor wanted “but when the Big Enchiladas ask for a favor, you don’t say no!”
“Who is this mastermind?,” demands Kal-L.
“Believe me, Supes, you’d never believe me! I think it’s better if you find out for yourselves. Well, enough chit-chat. I’ve got a mission to carry out and you two are a big part of it so let’s mosey, shall we?”
“Where are we going?,” asks Superman.
“Let’s just say time will tell!” And with those words, the quintet vanish.
Meanwhile, at Vanishing Point, as Rip Hunter and Liri Lee follow Waverider’s progress on Earth, they question the rightness of their actions. Are they acting under some sort of compulsion? Suddenly Hunter points excitedly to one of the viewscreens.
“Did you see that?,” he exclaims. “The two Supermen just disappeared!”
“Did they streak away at super-speed?,” asks Liri.
“No, the chronoscopes would’ve detected that and tracked them. Where’d they go?”
“Right here,” comes a voice from behind them. They whirl around to see the Kryptonian duo and their bizarre entourage materialize. Before they can react further, Mxyzptlk transforms the two Linear Men into statues. When the Supermen object, the imp assures them the effect is temporary.
“What now?,” the Thunderbolt asks.
“Now we go exploring,” answers Mxy. He leads the others away from the control room and into a labyrinth of corridors that wind for miles. Superman comments that the fortress is bigger on the inside than it should be, to which Mxy responds that it is built on fifth-dimensional principles.
In Gotham, the battle at JSA headquarters rages on. The heroes recruited by the Linear Men are slowly gaining ground. Hovering above the melee, Waverider suddenly notices the absence of the Supermen. He uses his wrist communicator to call Hunter and Liri Lee, assuming they will have tracked his quarry from Vanishing Point. Receiving no answer, he orders his recruits to stand by and vanishes.
“That was strange,” says Plastic Man.
“It doesn’t take the wisdom of Solomon to realize this whole situation is strange,” comments Captain Marvel.
Sentinel steps forward. “While there’s a lull, perhaps we should talk.”
Deep in the bowels of Vanishing Point, Mxyzptlk’s team continue their explorations. Abruptly, the Psycho Pirate stops before a huge armored door. “I sense something,” he says. “Great emotional turmoil… anger… fear… despair… hatred… it’s delicious!” The Modern Age Superman sinks his fingers into the metal of the door and rips it away. They enter the dank chamber beyond. In the dim light can be made out two forlorn figures chained to opposite walls.
“Oh my God,” whispers Superman.
Waverider materializes in the control room. He is horrified to discover his friends transformed into statues. As he follows the trail of the intruders, he wonders how events got so far out of control. He becomes even more disturbed as he penetrates deeper into the fortress’ interior. Not only has he never traveled these hallways but neither he nor the other Linear Men knew they even existed.
Back at the dungeon, the prisoners—Hank Hall, alias Extant, and the composite being called the Hawk Avatar—are being released. Both are emaciated and filthy. Extant, nearly catatonic, raves that he is the rightful emperor of Earth and that the usurper who has thrown him into this hellhole must die. The Hawk Avatar, thankfully, is still lucid and able to relate how he and Extant had come to be here.
Following the death of the Hawk God’s latest champion, the Thanagarian warrior Katar Hol, the personalities of Carter and Shiera Hall—the Golden Age Hawkman and Hawkgirl—became dominant within the strange gestalt being. The Halls were intent on gaining revenge on Extant for his murder of three of their Justice Society teammates. So began a pursuit across a myriad of dimensions and time periods. At first Extant’s powers kept his nemesis at bay, but the Hawk Avatar was relentless. The chase ended in the timestream. Exhausted and increasingly psychotic, Extant turned on his pursuer, determined to battle to the death. But before either could draw another breath, they were struck down by an unseen presence of incalculable power. Stripped of their space-time powers, the antagonists were left to languish in this cell. How long they have been here, the Avatar cannot say.
No sooner has the Avatar finished his story than Waverider rounds the corner and abruptly stops, dumbfounded by the odd tableau before him. Outraged to learn that two beings had been imprisoned beneath his very nose, he begins to wonder whose agenda the Linear Men are really serving.
“My agenda, fool,” hisses the shadowed figure who lurks at the heart of Vanishing Point. “For years, you and your noble friends have unknowingly done my bidding, all the while convinced of your own righteousness.” The entity turns to address another standing motionless nearby. “It’s all coming undone, my dear. Curse that obnoxious little imp and his magical meddling… and curse me for not anticipating Kal-L’s return! But perhaps it’s not too late,” he adds as he turns back to his viewscreen. “If I can somehow destroy these cretins before any others get involved, I may yet be triumphant.”
Guided by the Psycho Pirate’s empathic powers and accompanied by Waverider and the freed prisoners, the intrepid band make their way to the center of the fortress where awaits their enemy. Suddenly appearing in their path are the forms of Kal-El’s most powerful, most feared foes: Doomsday, Darkseid, Massacre, Bizarro, Mongul, Solomon Grundy and others. Without a word, they attack.
The Supermen, Waverider, the Hawk Avatar and the Thunderbolt unhesitantly throw themselves into battle, while Mxyzptlk, Extant and the Psycho Pirate hang back. Yet for all the raw power brought to bear against them, the heroes sense something wrong: the ferocity one would expect from such foes is lacking. The Psycho Pirate shouts out, “They have no emotions. They’re not real!”
At his words, the villains begin to fade away. “The Big Kahuna must be getting desperate to try such a shabby trick,” gloats Mxy. “I’m thinking it’s time to pay attention to the little man behind the curtain, kiddies.” With that, they burst through the doorway the illusionary army had been guarding.
The heroes reel back, overwhelmed with fear and dismay as their enemy steps out of the shadows, his identity revealed at last. Standing haughtily over his cowering guests, his face contorted by a contemptuous sneer, is Pariah.
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Post by Cei-U! on Apr 14, 2018 21:22:01 GMT -5
BOOK IV: A Far, Far Better Rest
In the extratemporal fortress called Vanishing Point, a small band of metahumans—the Golden Age and Modern Age Supermen, Johnny Thunder’s Bahdnesian Thunderbolt, Mr. Mxyzptlk, the Hawk Avatar, Extant, the Psycho Pirate and Waverider of the Linear Men—stagger in disbelief at the revelation that their opponent, the mastermind behind the Crisis on Infinite Earths and the events of Zero Hour, is the being they know as Pariah. Held at bay by his aura of intense fear, the others can only look on helplessly as Pariah laughs icily.
“Surprised, are you?,” he sneers. “You never suspected that poor, pathetic Pariah might be more than he seemed?”
“Pariah,” gasps Kal-L, “you were a good man, a hero. What’s happened to you?”
“A good man? You trusting fool, I’m neither good nor a man! But before I go on, I think it only fitting that the rest of my hapless pawns join you. It’s so much… tidier that way.”
Pariah reaches over to a nearby console and triggers a switch. In response, the two factions of metahumans who had been battling in the streets of Gotham City —the Justice Society of America and its young protégées, as well as those super-heroes recruited by the Linear Men—materialize in the chamber. At the same time, Rip Hunter and Liri Lee also appear, the spell cast over them by Mxyzptlk having been lifted so that the imp could focus on the greater menace. The new arrivals are all immediately subjected to Pariah’s aura and fall back fearfully.
“Once I have destroyed you all,” Pariah says, “no one will stand between myself and my ultimate goal.”
“What goal?,” asks Waverider.
“Haven’t you guessed it? Can’t any of you see?,” demands Mxyzptlk. “He…”
“If anyone explains my motives it will be me! I would enjoy showing you how easily I’ve led you on all these years. Until now, only one other has learned my secret and she’s in no position to appreciate it, are you, my pet?”
At this, the shadowed figure that stands behind Pariah shuffles forward into the light. It is Lady Quark, features slack and eyes glazed over. The assembled heroes react in horror at her condition.
“And now,” announces Pariah, “before you die, I will tell you of my beginnings and of the armaggedon to come.”
In the first millenium after the Big Bang, a being of pure energy becomes sentient. This entity is empathic, feeding on the emotions given off by corporeal lifeforms, particularly the emotion of fear. For thousands of years, the creature travels the cosmos, continuously absorbing the fear of the universe’s inhabitants and slowly growing more sophisticated in its thought processes.
In time, the entity discovers that it can interact with corporeal beings. Through telepathy, it can influence the actions of others. The entity amuses itself on planet after planet by manipulating the unwary into creating situations that generate extraordinary levels of fear. It becomes a figure of legend, given many names by the various civilizations it encounters. The creature adopts one of these names for itself: Kell The Whisperer.
One species Kell finds especially fascinating: the Oans, whose vast energy-manipulating powers render them virtually immortal . Immortality, combined with their other attributes, allows the Oans to live completely without fear. Or almost, for there is one thing they do fear greatly: the consequences of trying to learn the origin of the universe. When an Oan scientist named Krona proposes an experiment to do just that, his peers attempt to dissuade him. They might have succeeded had not Kell, curious to examine the fears of the fearless, begun incessantly whispering in Krona’s mind, driving him half mad.
Krona performs his experiment, which results in the creation of the DC Multiverse . Where once there was one universe, there are now thousands, each filled with billions of beings—all generating fear. The quantum jump in incoming energy overwhelms The Whisperer. He slips into a coma in which he remains for fifteen billion years. During that long sleep, he evolves like a caterpillar in its chrysalis, developing new and awesome powers.
Awakening in the mid-twentieth century, Kell sets out to explore the universe. He comes across a conflict between the so-called “cosmic vampire” Starbreaker and the Justice League of America . Starbreaker is Kell in microcosm: an empath who feeds on fear; he creates consumable levels of the emotion by casting populated planets into their suns. The Whisperer is enthralled by the JLA. He follows them back to Earth where he observes them for many months, growing to admire their selfless heroism.
During this period, he witnesses many of the League’s interdimensional adventures with their Earth-2 counterparts of the Justice Society. He learns of Earth-X, Earth-S and Earth-Prime ; he also discovers he can travel between the universes at will. Inspired by Starbreaker, a terrible notion enters Kell’s mind: to destroy the various universes slowly and agonizingly and feed off the fear of their dying populaces. To ensure a steady food supply, he will permit five universes to survive, all characterized by the presence of the super-heroes that fascinate him.
Kell learns of another new power: the ability to create soulless automatons animated by a minute portion of his own lifeforce. So perfect are these homunculi, so detailed are the false memories implanted in their brains, that they themselves are unaware that they are not living beings endowed with free will.
He creates three of these pawns. Two are alien in form. The first, the Monitor, he plants on a moon of Oa. The other, the Anti-Monitor, is placed on a moon of Oa’s anti-matter universe counterpart, Qward. Both are activated simultaneously. His third automaton is in the shape of a young girl named Lyla who will become the metahuman Harbinger.
Thus begins the Crisis on Infinite Earths, as the Anti-Monitor destroys world after world with anti-matter, each universe’s death increasing his—and Kell’s—power. To better experience the terrors of each dying world and to enable him to physically interact with its lifeforms, Kell creates a fourth automaton that he infuses with his own essence. He creates for this physical incarnation the identity of Pariah, sole survivor of the first universe destroyed by the Crisis.
For his own amusement, The Whisperer implants a suggestion within the Monitor’s mind to randomly recruit the heroes and villains of the five universes slated to survive the Crisis and use them as pawns in his machinations. The Monitor’s selections seem to make no sense… if the goal is to stop the Anti-Monitor . The entire scenario is nothing but a puppet show in which the metahumans of five earths star.
But things begin to go awry with Kell’s plans.
First, the Anti-Monitor grows so powerful that he exceeds his original programming and pursues the destruction of all the positive matter universes. Like a modern-day Dr. Frankenstein, Pariah must take up arms against his own out-of-control creation. Ironically, it is he who leads the other heroes into final battle with the Anti-Monitor.
Second, a wild card is introduced: Alex Luthor, the infant son of Earth-3’s only super-hero, sent to the Earth-1 universe at the moment of his native planet’s annihilation. This singular transition transforms the child into a strange mutant lifeform, half matter and half anti-matter, capable of destroying Kell in both his physical and non-corporeal incarnations. Growing at a highly accelerated pace as a side effect of his powers, Alex soon becomes a major player in the Crisis scenario. When he uses his powers to merge the five surviving universes, he unknowingly deprives Kell of 80% of the food source he had set aside for himself.
Perhaps the most unexpected deviation in Kell’s scheme results from his decision to assume physical form: he is now susceptible to such human phenomena as fatigue, loneliness… and lust. While witnessing the obliteration of Earth-6, he finds himself consumed with passion for one of its metahuman defenders, Lady Quark. On an impulse, Pariah snatches her away from her dying universe.
Ultimately, the Anti-Monitor’s plans are defeated and the creature himself is destroyed. In helping to bring about that defeat, Pariah expends much of his acquired energy . Desperate to rid himself of the threat of Alex Luthor, The Whisperer implants knowledge of the Paradise Dimension and a suggestion to go there in Alex’ mind in the belief that, once under the dimension’s spell of amnesia, Luthor will never return. He fails to anticipate that Alex will take others with him and in so doing, allow them to reinforce each other’s memories of their previous lives.
Shorn of most of his powers, Kell bides his time by joining Harbinger and Lady Quark on their exploration of the post-Crisis Earth. Still obsessed with Quark, he is frustrated by her indifference to him. He turns to Harbinger who, as his own creation, is compelled to yield to his sexual advances. After a time, the trio split up.
The DC Universe and its inhabitants continue to change under the influence of the Retcon Effect, even as Harbinger and Pariah become peripherally involved in the War of the Gods and other events. Over time Kell grows paranoid, convinced that sooner or later someone will discover his role in the annihilation of the multiverse. To cover his tracks, he withdraws his lifeforce from the Harbinger automaton, in effect killing her. He then uses his telepathic powers to influence three time travelers—Rip Hunter, Matthew Ryder and Liri Lee—to organize as the Linear Men, guardians of the timestream, whose true, unacknowledged agenda is to watch for and eliminate all those who might stumble upon the truth.
What Kell does not learn until later is that, just as in his energy state he acquired self-awareness, so too did Harbinger. When he destroyed her body, her soul was liberated. Too obsessed with revenge to leave the earthly plane, Lyla’s spirit seeks out Lady Quark.
Kell’s energy level continues to drop. Certain now that the destruction of the multiverse was a bad idea, he seeks a way to re-create it. The tool he chooses is Hal Jordan—the Silver Age Green Lantern—who, distraught over the obliteration of Coast City, proves highly susceptible to The Whisperer’s blandishments. As Parallax, Jordan nearly succeeds at restoring the multiverse but is thwarted by his fellow metahumans. Kell briefly feels his power levels restored to full strength, only to quickly lose them again.
Returning to Vanishing Point, the bitterly frustrated Whisperer is confronted by an enraged Lady Quark. The soul of Lyla communicated the truth to her and now she seeks the death of the being who robbed her of her husband, her daughter and her world. But Quark is no match for Kell even at his weakest. Sadly, he overcomes her and wipes her mind clean, reducing her to a zombie. He consoles himself by using her mindless body to satiate his long suppressed lust for her.
It is shortly after this incident that Kell experiences a revelation. Long believing that the Crisis wiped out all of reality except the DC Universe, he is puzzled by the appearance of metahumans from another universe . Using the equipment at Vanishing Point, he discovers the amazing truth: that the realities destroyed in the Crisis were an infinitesimal fraction of creation. An infinity of universes await his unholy appetite if only he can find a way to breach the dimensional barriers!
When the battle between Extant and the Hawk Avatar crosses into the timestream, Pariah captures them and strips them of their space/time powers. These powers, added to his own, give him access to a handful of other universes. It is only a matter of time before he locates others with the interdimensional powers he needs and breaks through to the entire omniverse.
“And on that day,” he chortles, “I will recreate the Crisis on an omniversal scale, absorbing universe after universe until I am powerful enough to challenge the Creator Himself for supremacy. This world, however, I will leave intact so that its inhabitants may worship me. What good to be a god without subjects? It’s a pity none of you will be alive to see it!”
But as Kell turns his attention to his captives, he notices that they are no longer cowering in fear, that in fact they have slowly surrounded him. He gestures impatiently, intent on draining their lifeforces. Horror spreads across his features as he realizes his powers are gone.
“What have you done?,” he screams.
The crowd of heroes part to reveal the Psycho Pirate writhing in agony. Mxyzptlk, Zatanna and the Thunderbolt stand over him, their faces grim. “While you were ranting, Kell old kid,” Mxy explains, “we three sorcery types wove a spell draining your juice into poor Rog here. I gotta thank you for having your flunkies bring along the Big Z, by the way. We couldn’t have pulled it off without her.”
“You’re just another mortal now, Pariah,” adds Zatanna.
The two Men of Steel step forward.
“Because of you, untold trillions of lives were snuffed out,” says Superman tonelessly.
“You heedlessly rent the fabric of reality for your own perverse amusement,” Kal-L adds. “You turned our very existence into a grotesque joke and desecrated the memory of many of creation’s noblest souls.”
“On a whim,” Sentinel interjects, “you corrupted the most incorruptible man that ever lived and stained his hands with the blood of billions.”
“You used us like puppets,” snarls Rip Hunter. “You took our honorable intent and turned it into something dirty.”
“I thought I’d seen evil,” says Wonder Woman, “but I was wrong. You are the most evil creature that ever roamed the cosmos and you will pay for your crimes.”
“…in a court of law,” Superman replies. “If we yield to the rage we all feel and simply execute Pariah, then we’re no better than him. Kell the Wanderer, alias Pariah, in the name of humanity we place you under arrest.”
“No!,” screams a voice from the back of the crowd. Over their heads hurtles Extant. “He’s mine!” Before even those with super-speed can stop him, he seizes Pariah by the throat and throws him to the ground. In one hand he holds a small mechanical device.
“Everyone get back!,” shouts Liri Lee. “He has an anti-matter detonator!”
“It’s always a mistake to ignore me,” Extant cackles. “I palmed this when nobody was looking.” He turns to Kell. “You cost me everything, you bastard! I would’ve been monarch of the universe if not for you. Well, it’s payback time, you son of a…”
In the instant before the explosion, Sentinel and Green Lantern erect a protective barrier over the startled heroes. But nothing can save Pariah or Hank Hall. When the green barrier fades away, the survivors find the huge chamber in ruins and only a handful of ashes that a moment ago were history’s greatest villain and a tormented madman who had once been a hero .
Lady Quark falls slowly to her knees as she is released from Kell’s dominance, her personality restored. She weeps in frustration and shame. “I couldn’t stop him,” she moans. “I was aware of everything happening, a party to his every vile deed, but I was helpless.” Wonder Woman gently takes her in her arms and tells her, “You have been horribly violated, my friend, but even this great pain will heal in time. Come with me to Themyscira. My Amazon sisters will help you find your way.”
“What next?,” asks Waverider.
“We send all these people home, Matthew,” answers Hunter. “Then I suggest we take a long look at ourselves and see if there’s still a place for the Linear Men in this world.”
“One moment, please,” interrupts the Thunderbolt. “You’ve forgotten the Psycho Pirate.” The group turns to the fallen villain. “Pariah’s powers were too much for him to safely absorb,” notes Zatanna. “He’s dying.”
The Pirate manages to speak. “Don’t waste any tears on me,” he whispers, “I wanted this. All those years in Arkham, the lucid part of me dreamt of atoning for my role in the Anti-Monitor’s plan. I’ve been a rotten excuse for a human being my whole miserable life. I was sure I was going to Hell but maybe, just maybe, I’ve found a way into Heaven after… all…” With those words, Roger Hayden dies.
There is a moment of silence, then Superman says softly, “Let’s go.”
An instant later, he and the others are back at JSA headquarters in Gotham. No sooner do they materialize than the Hawk Avatar begins to blur and become indistinct. “I expected this,” he says. “With Katar Hol dead, I can no longer remain on this plane. I had hoped to redeem Hank Hall—who was destined to become another Hawk Champion until the Lords of Order and Chaos chose him and his brother as their pawns—and use him as a focus for my powers but I see now that was but a foolish dream. Goodbye, my friends.” The Avatar fades away and in his place stand the Golden Age Hawkman and Hawkgirl. The heroes recruited by Waverider bid the others farewell and depart, even as Carter and Shiera are welcomed home by their teammates.
Sentinel uses his powers to repair the damage to the GBS building. The Justice Society members and their young allies sink into their chairs exhaustedly and try not to catch each other's eyes. At last, the Golden Age Superman breaks the silence.
“I’m sorry but it’s not over yet.” He reminds them that if he doesn’t return to the Paradise Dimension with Sentinel’s power ring energy soon, he and Lois and Alex will fall victim to the Retcon Effect. Alan Scott rests a hand on Kal-L’s shoulder. “There’s been enough death, Clark. I’ve got some good-byes to say but I’ll go with you.”
The shock in the room is palpable. “I’m going too,” the Golden Age Flash announces, “and I’m taking Joan with me if she’ll go. This world—in which our lives are a colossal lie—holds no meaning for me anymore.”
Sentinel summons Joan Garrick, Dian Belmont, his own wife Molly and his children Jade and Obsidian. The situation is explained to them and a vote is called for. In the end, every senior member expresses his or her desire to join the others in Paradise… except Ted Knight. “I can’t do this,” he says. “No good can come from cheating the Reaper. Besides, Opal City needs me. Jack needs me.”
The younger Starman takes his father by the hand. “I do need you; I always will… but that doesn’t matter. You’ve fought the good fight longer than most people have been alive and, damn it, you deserve this. But if you won’t do it for yourself, do it for me. I never wanted to be Starman, you know that, but I did it out of respect for you. Super-heroes aren’t supposed to seek rewards but I’m asking you for one: I want the satisfaction of knowing you’re happy and beyond all harm. I love you, Dad.”
“If it means that much to you, son, I’ll go,” replies Ted. “I just wish Rex and Terry and the others could be here. They deserved a better fate.”
“And they shall have it,” announces a voice from nowhere. Materializing in the center of the room is a ghastly white figure cloaked in inky green.
“The Spectre!”
“Not quite,” comes the reply, as the figure pulls back his hood. “Jim Corrigan is here, true, but the Spectre’s other aspect—the Wrath of God—is not. Recent events have helped me grow beyond my obsession with vengeance so I’ve severed my ties to Spec. The Justice Society are the only real friends I’ve had in all the years since my death. If you’ll have me, I’d like to go with you.”
“I think I speak for all of us,” says Hawkman, “when I say welcome home, Spe… Jim.”
“But what were you sayin’ about Atom and the others?,” asks Wildcat.
“If the word ‘justice’ is to have any meaning, then I had to see our departed friends received the justice they deserve. I used the power of the Spectre to travel back through time to the moment of each of our friends’ deaths and gathered their departing souls into myself until I could return here and restore them to life.”
Out from the shadows of Corrigan’s cloak walk Skyman, Doctor Mid-Nite, Hourman, the Atom and his wife Mary, the Golden Age Black Canary and her husband Larry Lance, Kent and Inza Nelson, Mister Terrific and Doris Knight. Tears flow as friends thought forever gone are welcomed home. Hasty explanations are made and now a last round of good-byes are said.
Power Girl gives each of her former teammates an uncharacteristically gentle kiss. “You understand why I can’t come with you, don’t you, Jay?,” she asks Flash. “It isn’t important whether I’m Atlantean, Kryptonian or Bialyan; what matters is what I’m trying to become. And perhaps I can help, in some way, to keep the name and the legend of the Justice Society alive.”
The Modern Age Superman embraces his doppelganger. “Thank you for teaching me what being Superman is really about. I’ll never forget you and I vow to always be worthy of the legacy you and my Earth-1 predecessor have handed down to me.”
“You will, Clark, I’m sure of it. Be true to your own inner light and you can’t fail.”
“It’s time,” announces Sentinel. All those bound for the Paradise Dimension join hands. There is a flare of blinding emerald energy and they are gone. They rematerialize on a rooftop in the Metropolis of 1940. Superman’s eyes open wide, for standing alongside his wife and Alex Luthor are the Golden Age Batman, Robin, Catwoman, Huntress, Wonder Woman and her husband Steve Trevor.
“I can’t explain it,” stammers Alex. “They appeared the instant you left.”
Jim Corrigan smiles knowingly. “Perhaps it is Justice balancing her scales.”
Back in the DC Universe, those left behind mill about aimlessly, reluctant to return to their own lives. “All’s well that ends well, eh Big Blue?,” chortles Mxyzptlk, who has been watching the proceedings from a corner the whole time. “I do so love a happy ending.”
“Not so fast, Mxy,” growls Superman. “If I remember correctly, you knew the truth about Pariah all along and did nothing to stop him. That makes you as culpable for his atrocities as he was.”
“I didn’t think of that. And now, thanks to my magic, neither did you!”
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, Mxy, but thank you. Without you, Pariah’s horrible scheme might’ve worked. I’d say that makes you a hero.”
“Well, don’t get used to it, Supes. Next time we meet, all bets are off!” And with that, the imp returns to the 5th Dimension.
“Mxyzptlk was right about one thing,” sighs Jade to her brother. “I love a happy ending.”
“I know what you mean, sis,” Obsidian replies. “I get a good feeling knowing that somewhere the adventures of the Justice Society of America will continue forever.” In their minds’ eye, they picture the JSA—youth restored—racing through the city streets on a never-ending quest for…
“Hold it. Hold it!,” exclaims Mxyzptlk from the story’s last page. “Before you readers get all warm and fuzzy and nauseatin’, I got something for ya to think about. Somebody once said, ‘All stories are imaginary stories.’ Well, I’m tellin’ you that’s a loada crap.” (As he speaks, Mxy slowly fades away from panel to panel until, like the Cheshire Cat, only his grin remains.) “The truth is that all stories are real and everything real is part of somebody’s story. So the next time you’re feelin’ all smug and superior to a bunch of comic book characters, ask yourselves this: Is what I remember really what happened? Has my life been rewritten as a result of some big cosmic brouhaha? Am I just a pawn in some creator’s ever-changing continuity? Wouldn’t that blow your mind? Wouldn’t that be… the end?”
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Post by Cei-U! on Apr 14, 2018 21:30:19 GMT -5
And there you have it, more or less. There are 22 footnotes missing that didn't get copied over from the original Word document and I've omitted the glossary, cast list, and the sample sctipt that were part of the proposal packet but otherwise this is our story exactly as the Cei-U!, fly on the wall, and Buried Alien of 1997 envisioned it. I thought this thread might make an interesting companion to nero9000's recent Crisis on Infinite Earth reviews. Hope you liked it! Cei-U! I summon the early effort! |
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Post by Jesse on Apr 15, 2018 16:50:26 GMT -5
That was a damn interesting read and a great way to spend a rainy Sunday.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 17, 2018 9:45:14 GMT -5
Nicely Done Cei-U! ... Enjoyed reading it and done a great job capturing it!  |
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,197 
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Post by Confessor on Apr 25, 2018 6:02:12 GMT -5
I'd love to see that as a drawn, fully finished comic. Great stuff!
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