Post by redsycorax on Jul 4, 2022 4:34:41 GMT
Previously, Earth-500's sentient universe has attracted only heroic figures to its provenance. Unfortunately, that is about to change. And the Justice Alliance of America is about to encounter one of the greatest challenges of its entire existence.
++
EARTH-338: "CURSED EARTH":
Earth-338's history ended abruptly in August 1969. On that Earth, serial killer and charismatic cult leader Charles Manson's "Helter Skelter" conspiracy bore dreadful and apocalyptic fruit. When it started at his California cult ranch on New Years Day 1968, Manson had predicted a 'holy war' between homo magii and homo sapiens on this Earth and had perfected subsonic pulse technology that had allowed him to mask that message in popular rock music records. As 1969 dawned, attacks on magic users began to spike upwards, first within the United States and then, across the western world wherever the Manson strategy's records were distributed. Unwillingly at first, then with increasing determination, Earth-338's homo magii population took up grimoires and spellcasting against the pogroms that were consuming them. However, the polarisation did not encompass all members of homo sapiens. Some loved homo magii, or had children or friends within the 'other' human subspecies. They took the side of the magii and helped them fight back against their tormentors. However, as occurs in circumstances of extreme polarisation, militant homo magii had also arisen and carried out reprisals against political and religious leaders. Manson and his cult members had retired to a secret Death Valley installation where they waited out the apocalypse. It was not long in coming. On this Earth, Manson's mesmerism had seduced members of outlaw motorcycle gangs into his membership. However much Manson cloaked his rhetoric in apocalyptic Christian fundamentalist guise, he was working for another unearthly power altogether. As magii and sapiens convulsed in a fratricidal global war on the surface, Manson sacrificed the entire 144,000 of his followers to invoke something arcane and malevolent from his Earth's pre-Cambrian era. A portal opened in space and time and with a deafening howl, Great Old Ones were awoken, to raven and slay across the now helpless planet. As the unearthly rancor grew, the armies of magii and sapiens looked up from their mutual animosities and realised that they had been duped into this. But by then, as alien razorteeth, claws, tentacles and other aspects ravaged the Earth, it was far too late. Within two months, the last despairing human cries dwindled into silence as Charles Manson looked across a field of human skeletons to the monstrous entities that he had unleashed, grinning in triumph at the apocalypse he had initiated.
For the alternate Charles Necromanson was a potent sorceror and his work had culminated in that incursion into that universe from those horrific, transdimensional demonic entities, which had massacred all four billion inhabitants of that world. Deeply satisfied with the actions of their chosen votary, and before they departed the sepulchural, desecrated ruins of Earth-338 for their eldritch dimensional home, they conferred immortality and godlike magical prowess on their faithful acolyte. Donning a crystalline skullbelt around his midriff, and imbued with bloodred scarlet eyes, the mass murderer departed his native universe and for a time, travelled through the multiverse, corrupting and destroying susceptible alternate worlds.
EARTH-497:
On Earth-497, where victorious Axis powers Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan had engaged in nuclear war out of mutual lust for global dominion, the ashes of immolated humanity rained down like ebon snow on the laughing form of Charles Necromanson. And then, he felt it. He became aware of a beacon in the darkness of the multiverse, a world where light and hope survived. He snarled and recoiled at the presence of that alternate world and resolved that it would be his next target.
EARTH-500: JAA SEABASE:
Merokee appeared to Willie and Bella Fawcett as they were having lunch in the Justice Alliance Seabase:
"What is it, Honoured One?"
"My young charges, I fear that I must impart some dark news. There is a malignant presence across the multiverse that has set its sights on this Earth and which has plundered, enslaved and destroyed countless other worlds. Because our original Earth-964 ended its existence in 1964 after its fatal nuclear holocaust, this figure was absent from our history. You will need to transform immediately lest you be taken unawares."
"Thunder!"
"Lightning!" And with that, Willie and Bella transformed into their Captain Thunder and Lightning Girl identities. With the clamour of their transformative magical lightning out of the way, the other Alliance members came running. Superwoman stopped when she saw Merokee:
"Honoured elder, why are you here?"
"Superwoman, are you familiar with the name 'Charles Manson?"
"Yes, I am. He tried to persuade some of his cult members to attack film star Sharon Tate. Kalel and I arrived in time to stop Patricia Kenwinkel, Tex Watson and Sue Atkins from trying to kill them. We called in Bruce and Dick and their interview skills and forensic skills soon revealed Manson's implication in what could have been a tragic mass murder. Thankfully, that didn't happen. We informed law enforcement officials and the FBI and we launched a raid on their Spahn compound, on the outskirts of Los Angeles. Manson was imprisoned for attempted murder but died in the maximum security psychiatric institution that incarcerated him. Dear Rao. Am I to take it from your tone that was not the case on other alternate Earths?"
Three Face raised her eyebrows: "It sure as hell wasn't the case back on Earth-3, Kara. Bishop Manson was an heroic and brave man, a pillar of the Episcopal Resistance Movement and a courageous fighter against the tyranny of the Crime Syndicate. When Sharon Tate murdered him, she broke a lot of hearts in Los Diablos that day in '69. Awful woman, propaganda hack for the corrupt, criminal establishment on our Earth."
But Mysta nodded: "However, I am familiar with the name too, Kara, Willie and Bella. On our Earth, Charles Manson's cult murdered a drug dealer, a UCLA music teacher, Gary Hinman, actors Leno and Rosemary La Bianca, Vietnam vet Jim Willet, and those are only the known cases. Although I don't approve of the morality of capital punishment, it was still legal in California when Manson and his cult members were given the electric chair in 1973, four years later. So, what exactly are you saying, Merokee? That we're dealing with some sort of empowered alternate version of that mass murderer?"
"Yes, I am afraid so. On the former alternate Earth that he called home, designated Earth-338 when it came to the Heisenberg Alternate Probability Index I believe, there were no metahumans to stop him and that his version of the Helter Skelter conspiracy involved a fratricidal civil war between magic users and baseline humans. The resultant slaughter was used to open a portal to dark higher dimensions and unleash obscene and ravenous daemonic entities across that world. Once satiated, they imparted some of their own power to their servitor. He left the scene of his global genocide to raven and slay across the multiverse. In doing so, he has amassed considerable power."
Superwoman frowned: "But we don't have all that many magic users on our Earth. Present, honoured company excluded, Merokee."
"Yes, that might present either an obstacle or opportunity. On some Earths, there is a distinct human subspecies called homo magus. Here, magic use capabilities rely on a rare, recessive genetic complex."
The Flash bit his lip: "Satanna. He might approach her, unless he's found others."
"Bruce, Helena, we'll need the Batlair database. Do you have forensic files on modus operandi and current locations of any other magic users?"
Batman nodded: "I've asked Albert to email them to us. Ah. Coming through now."
Superman interjected: "So, why is the egress to our universe taking so long, Merokee?"
Merokee smiled: "I am not without thaumaturgic skill myself, Kalel. I have managed to utilise suitable figures from my Monhegan faith to delay his entry here. However, although the conflict is arduous, my sources in the upper worlds tell me that it may be only hours before he arrives here. Beforehand, you will need to prepare for his advent."
"Merokee, is he subject to any technological limitations? Could that be used to impair him?"
The shaman shook his head: "No, Tanaka Rei, I fear not. On Earth-1230, a Faraday Cage was tried against him, but it failed to contain him. He sought entry to Earth-777, the so-called "holy Earth", but its sanctity prevented his arrival there. Unfortunately, that particular Earth is hermetically sealed off from the rest of the multiverse as well, so while we can contact them, we cannot rely on concrete assistance from that quarter. Virtuous magic users have fallen in battle where they have tried to resist him."
"Honoured One, are Willie and Bella's magically conferred abilities at risk from this?" Superwoman asked, concerned at what this might mean for their adopted children.
"Thankfully not, Kara Kalel. Although this "Necromanson" and his eldritch abilities are not to be underestimated, they cannot reverse my own endowment of William and Isabella with their abilities as my champions. However, Kalel and you..."
Superman nodded: "Yes, we are vulnerable to magic. Has he confronted any Kryptonian or Daxamite class metasapients before, Merokee?"
"No, Kalel. You and your wife will be his first such encounters. Moreover, it will take time to discern or harness the energies that the Overlords of Oa have designed within Jose Hernandez' power ring and its vulnerability to certain mycorhizal fungi, or Tanaka Rei's mastery of the Speed Force and he is also unfamiliar with Martian humanoids, J'Onn J'Onnz. In those universes that he has ravaged, Mars is bereft of life. He is thus unfamiliar with your world's thaumaturgy and you do not share Kryptonian vulnerability to magic. Unfortunately, Princess Diana of Themiscyra, that cannot be said for Amazons on the previous worlds that he has encountered. Mysta, you come from a world where thaumaturgical traditions do not exist. Hermes Trismegistus, the same limitations that exist when it comes to Princess Diana also apply to you."
Hermes sighed: "Damn it. Looks like I'm going to have to sit this one out. So long, my love and good luck." He kissed Green Lantern goodbye, to the smiles of the others. The relationship had arisen when Jose and Hermes got together after a recent Alliance mission and discovered that both of them preferred men.
Superman concluded: "Merokee, is there anything else you can tell us?"
EN ROUTE:
En route to their forthcoming encounter with Necromanson, there was a momentary pulse around the Alliance members and then Green Lantern's power ring activated. The holographic image of an Overlord of Oa appeared within its beam:
"Jose Hernandez, Green Lantern of Earth and Sector 2814. We have been approached by the universal sentience. It has consented to certain tactical and strategic modifications against the Necromanson entity. Your ring is now impervious to its usual inimical mycorhizal weakness. That is not all."
As if to prove that, a kryptonite projectile thrust toward the group and impacted on Superwoman's chest. To her surprise, the isomorphic radioactive fragment of her perished homeworld had no effect whatsoever on her. She examined one of the meteor fragments with her microscopic vision:
"Kal? The atomic composition of this kryptonite has been modified. It can't affect us anymore."
"Oh, this is going to be good." Tanaka Rei smiled, wondering what else had been changed to their advantage.
ELSEWHERE:
In a higher dimension, the venerable Monhegan shaman and sage Merokee had materialised in a realm that transcended human experience, but then, he had not been human for some centuries. At length, he came upon his quarry. It was composed of various impossible and contradictory sharp geometric angles, a travesty of natural law and orthodox science. Angrily, it sensed Merokee's presence and tried to occupy the sage's same spatial location, but recoiled as Merokee's words of power deflected it from that course of action. Seething with fury and screeching obscenities in several dead eldritch languages, it then launched a multidimensional pincer attack on the sage, who foresaw it in all its complexity and eviscerated the razor-edged appendages that sought his destruction. He waited until his opponent's harangue was over and then sternly replied: "Entity? We will discuss this like sane and sentient beings. You have a servitor in one of the realms under my protection. It will not be permitted to pursue its objectives here. No, this matter is not open to debate. You will desist from empowerment of this individual in this context or you will face the consequences."
There was further angry retort from the monstrosity, until Merokee placidly looked above the quarreling, irate entity. At length, it directed its sensory facilities 'above' them as well and then let out a long, ululating cry. What it witnessed were several creatures of even stronger paranormal qualities than itself and they did not seem 'pleased' or 'happy' to witness these proceedings. As they descended on it, the entity tried to recoil and retreat as Merokee turned his back on the scene, a smile on his face. There, he thought to himself, that should even up the odds.
BLEEDSPACE:
"Necromanson? You are not wanted here. Cease your planned incursion into this universe and withdraw at once, or face the consequences."
"You dare defy me?! Are you aware of how many iterations of Earth that I have brought to judgement and wiped from existence?"
The Flash rolled his eyes: "Pretentious much, dude?"
"The Justice Alliance will not permit your entry here. Return to your universe of origin now." Superman warned. With a sneer, Necromanson cohered kryptonite into existence and flung it at the Kryptonians. As he did so, Superman and Superwoman seared it from existence with their heat vision. Captain Thunder and Lightning Girl closed in on the startled demigod and landed a series of punches, as Green Lantern directed a series of power ringed energy beams at the intruder, whose eyes widened. He was now feeling an emotion that he had had no reason to summon for many years- fear. He was feeling pain. No matter what his senses told him, the baseline sapients that were encountering him now could harm him! He had been assured that this could not happen. No matter what his senses had told him, his words of power and ensorcelments could not affect them. He was losing ground. And then Superman, Superwoman, Captain Thunder and Lightning Girl all began their assault on the bewildered being, who screamed the same obscenities in dead eldritch languages that his mentor and enabler had done. He screamed and then, fleeing away from Universe-500, he was gone.
LATER: EARTH 12,220 (HEISENBERG ALTERNATE PROBABILITY INDEX DESIGNATION):
It is the way of the Justice Alliance not to kill their opponents unless all else fails, or that opponent presents a clear and present danger to individuals, groups or worlds. And thus it was that Charles Necromanson had fled across multitudes of alternate universes to one where there was no landbased life, nor indeed any life beyond algae, plankton or diatoms within that Earth's oceans. It lacked sentience and was thus unaware of its prodigal visitor. Sitting on a barren rock, a shell-shocked and perplexed Necromanson tried to come to terms with what had happened to him. It was his first defeat and the psychological impact was great. He rocked backward and forward, softly moaning to himself. After several hours, he looked up and his eyes shone blood red. He could not destroy the world known as Earth-500, but this would do as a substitute. And so, freefloating protoplanets and tendrils of sunstuff descended on the hapless world that he had chanced upon and destroyed its atmosphere and oceans, before shattering its crust, mantle and core in a prodigal and wasteful display of excessive, yet impotent power. And as the blinding flash of Earth 12, 220's immolation faded from existence, the insane, grinning, grimacing harbinger of doom had some consolation. However, Charles Necromanson was addicted to his depredations and as a result, this did not last. He swept the Justice Alliance of America and its universe from his memories and sought new prey elsewhere in the multiverse. And then, satiated for that period at least, however, he relocated from the cadaver of the alternate Earth that he had senselessly obliterated and it was left to its funereal, sepulchural silence.
THE END
[12.03 PM, JULY 11, 2022]
++
EARTH-338: "CURSED EARTH":
Earth-338's history ended abruptly in August 1969. On that Earth, serial killer and charismatic cult leader Charles Manson's "Helter Skelter" conspiracy bore dreadful and apocalyptic fruit. When it started at his California cult ranch on New Years Day 1968, Manson had predicted a 'holy war' between homo magii and homo sapiens on this Earth and had perfected subsonic pulse technology that had allowed him to mask that message in popular rock music records. As 1969 dawned, attacks on magic users began to spike upwards, first within the United States and then, across the western world wherever the Manson strategy's records were distributed. Unwillingly at first, then with increasing determination, Earth-338's homo magii population took up grimoires and spellcasting against the pogroms that were consuming them. However, the polarisation did not encompass all members of homo sapiens. Some loved homo magii, or had children or friends within the 'other' human subspecies. They took the side of the magii and helped them fight back against their tormentors. However, as occurs in circumstances of extreme polarisation, militant homo magii had also arisen and carried out reprisals against political and religious leaders. Manson and his cult members had retired to a secret Death Valley installation where they waited out the apocalypse. It was not long in coming. On this Earth, Manson's mesmerism had seduced members of outlaw motorcycle gangs into his membership. However much Manson cloaked his rhetoric in apocalyptic Christian fundamentalist guise, he was working for another unearthly power altogether. As magii and sapiens convulsed in a fratricidal global war on the surface, Manson sacrificed the entire 144,000 of his followers to invoke something arcane and malevolent from his Earth's pre-Cambrian era. A portal opened in space and time and with a deafening howl, Great Old Ones were awoken, to raven and slay across the now helpless planet. As the unearthly rancor grew, the armies of magii and sapiens looked up from their mutual animosities and realised that they had been duped into this. But by then, as alien razorteeth, claws, tentacles and other aspects ravaged the Earth, it was far too late. Within two months, the last despairing human cries dwindled into silence as Charles Manson looked across a field of human skeletons to the monstrous entities that he had unleashed, grinning in triumph at the apocalypse he had initiated.
For the alternate Charles Necromanson was a potent sorceror and his work had culminated in that incursion into that universe from those horrific, transdimensional demonic entities, which had massacred all four billion inhabitants of that world. Deeply satisfied with the actions of their chosen votary, and before they departed the sepulchural, desecrated ruins of Earth-338 for their eldritch dimensional home, they conferred immortality and godlike magical prowess on their faithful acolyte. Donning a crystalline skullbelt around his midriff, and imbued with bloodred scarlet eyes, the mass murderer departed his native universe and for a time, travelled through the multiverse, corrupting and destroying susceptible alternate worlds.
EARTH-497:
On Earth-497, where victorious Axis powers Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan had engaged in nuclear war out of mutual lust for global dominion, the ashes of immolated humanity rained down like ebon snow on the laughing form of Charles Necromanson. And then, he felt it. He became aware of a beacon in the darkness of the multiverse, a world where light and hope survived. He snarled and recoiled at the presence of that alternate world and resolved that it would be his next target.
EARTH-500: JAA SEABASE:
Merokee appeared to Willie and Bella Fawcett as they were having lunch in the Justice Alliance Seabase:
"What is it, Honoured One?"
"My young charges, I fear that I must impart some dark news. There is a malignant presence across the multiverse that has set its sights on this Earth and which has plundered, enslaved and destroyed countless other worlds. Because our original Earth-964 ended its existence in 1964 after its fatal nuclear holocaust, this figure was absent from our history. You will need to transform immediately lest you be taken unawares."
"Thunder!"
"Lightning!" And with that, Willie and Bella transformed into their Captain Thunder and Lightning Girl identities. With the clamour of their transformative magical lightning out of the way, the other Alliance members came running. Superwoman stopped when she saw Merokee:
"Honoured elder, why are you here?"
"Superwoman, are you familiar with the name 'Charles Manson?"
"Yes, I am. He tried to persuade some of his cult members to attack film star Sharon Tate. Kalel and I arrived in time to stop Patricia Kenwinkel, Tex Watson and Sue Atkins from trying to kill them. We called in Bruce and Dick and their interview skills and forensic skills soon revealed Manson's implication in what could have been a tragic mass murder. Thankfully, that didn't happen. We informed law enforcement officials and the FBI and we launched a raid on their Spahn compound, on the outskirts of Los Angeles. Manson was imprisoned for attempted murder but died in the maximum security psychiatric institution that incarcerated him. Dear Rao. Am I to take it from your tone that was not the case on other alternate Earths?"
Three Face raised her eyebrows: "It sure as hell wasn't the case back on Earth-3, Kara. Bishop Manson was an heroic and brave man, a pillar of the Episcopal Resistance Movement and a courageous fighter against the tyranny of the Crime Syndicate. When Sharon Tate murdered him, she broke a lot of hearts in Los Diablos that day in '69. Awful woman, propaganda hack for the corrupt, criminal establishment on our Earth."
But Mysta nodded: "However, I am familiar with the name too, Kara, Willie and Bella. On our Earth, Charles Manson's cult murdered a drug dealer, a UCLA music teacher, Gary Hinman, actors Leno and Rosemary La Bianca, Vietnam vet Jim Willet, and those are only the known cases. Although I don't approve of the morality of capital punishment, it was still legal in California when Manson and his cult members were given the electric chair in 1973, four years later. So, what exactly are you saying, Merokee? That we're dealing with some sort of empowered alternate version of that mass murderer?"
"Yes, I am afraid so. On the former alternate Earth that he called home, designated Earth-338 when it came to the Heisenberg Alternate Probability Index I believe, there were no metahumans to stop him and that his version of the Helter Skelter conspiracy involved a fratricidal civil war between magic users and baseline humans. The resultant slaughter was used to open a portal to dark higher dimensions and unleash obscene and ravenous daemonic entities across that world. Once satiated, they imparted some of their own power to their servitor. He left the scene of his global genocide to raven and slay across the multiverse. In doing so, he has amassed considerable power."
Superwoman frowned: "But we don't have all that many magic users on our Earth. Present, honoured company excluded, Merokee."
"Yes, that might present either an obstacle or opportunity. On some Earths, there is a distinct human subspecies called homo magus. Here, magic use capabilities rely on a rare, recessive genetic complex."
The Flash bit his lip: "Satanna. He might approach her, unless he's found others."
"Bruce, Helena, we'll need the Batlair database. Do you have forensic files on modus operandi and current locations of any other magic users?"
Batman nodded: "I've asked Albert to email them to us. Ah. Coming through now."
Superman interjected: "So, why is the egress to our universe taking so long, Merokee?"
Merokee smiled: "I am not without thaumaturgic skill myself, Kalel. I have managed to utilise suitable figures from my Monhegan faith to delay his entry here. However, although the conflict is arduous, my sources in the upper worlds tell me that it may be only hours before he arrives here. Beforehand, you will need to prepare for his advent."
"Merokee, is he subject to any technological limitations? Could that be used to impair him?"
The shaman shook his head: "No, Tanaka Rei, I fear not. On Earth-1230, a Faraday Cage was tried against him, but it failed to contain him. He sought entry to Earth-777, the so-called "holy Earth", but its sanctity prevented his arrival there. Unfortunately, that particular Earth is hermetically sealed off from the rest of the multiverse as well, so while we can contact them, we cannot rely on concrete assistance from that quarter. Virtuous magic users have fallen in battle where they have tried to resist him."
"Honoured One, are Willie and Bella's magically conferred abilities at risk from this?" Superwoman asked, concerned at what this might mean for their adopted children.
"Thankfully not, Kara Kalel. Although this "Necromanson" and his eldritch abilities are not to be underestimated, they cannot reverse my own endowment of William and Isabella with their abilities as my champions. However, Kalel and you..."
Superman nodded: "Yes, we are vulnerable to magic. Has he confronted any Kryptonian or Daxamite class metasapients before, Merokee?"
"No, Kalel. You and your wife will be his first such encounters. Moreover, it will take time to discern or harness the energies that the Overlords of Oa have designed within Jose Hernandez' power ring and its vulnerability to certain mycorhizal fungi, or Tanaka Rei's mastery of the Speed Force and he is also unfamiliar with Martian humanoids, J'Onn J'Onnz. In those universes that he has ravaged, Mars is bereft of life. He is thus unfamiliar with your world's thaumaturgy and you do not share Kryptonian vulnerability to magic. Unfortunately, Princess Diana of Themiscyra, that cannot be said for Amazons on the previous worlds that he has encountered. Mysta, you come from a world where thaumaturgical traditions do not exist. Hermes Trismegistus, the same limitations that exist when it comes to Princess Diana also apply to you."
Hermes sighed: "Damn it. Looks like I'm going to have to sit this one out. So long, my love and good luck." He kissed Green Lantern goodbye, to the smiles of the others. The relationship had arisen when Jose and Hermes got together after a recent Alliance mission and discovered that both of them preferred men.
Superman concluded: "Merokee, is there anything else you can tell us?"
EN ROUTE:
En route to their forthcoming encounter with Necromanson, there was a momentary pulse around the Alliance members and then Green Lantern's power ring activated. The holographic image of an Overlord of Oa appeared within its beam:
"Jose Hernandez, Green Lantern of Earth and Sector 2814. We have been approached by the universal sentience. It has consented to certain tactical and strategic modifications against the Necromanson entity. Your ring is now impervious to its usual inimical mycorhizal weakness. That is not all."
As if to prove that, a kryptonite projectile thrust toward the group and impacted on Superwoman's chest. To her surprise, the isomorphic radioactive fragment of her perished homeworld had no effect whatsoever on her. She examined one of the meteor fragments with her microscopic vision:
"Kal? The atomic composition of this kryptonite has been modified. It can't affect us anymore."
"Oh, this is going to be good." Tanaka Rei smiled, wondering what else had been changed to their advantage.
ELSEWHERE:
In a higher dimension, the venerable Monhegan shaman and sage Merokee had materialised in a realm that transcended human experience, but then, he had not been human for some centuries. At length, he came upon his quarry. It was composed of various impossible and contradictory sharp geometric angles, a travesty of natural law and orthodox science. Angrily, it sensed Merokee's presence and tried to occupy the sage's same spatial location, but recoiled as Merokee's words of power deflected it from that course of action. Seething with fury and screeching obscenities in several dead eldritch languages, it then launched a multidimensional pincer attack on the sage, who foresaw it in all its complexity and eviscerated the razor-edged appendages that sought his destruction. He waited until his opponent's harangue was over and then sternly replied: "Entity? We will discuss this like sane and sentient beings. You have a servitor in one of the realms under my protection. It will not be permitted to pursue its objectives here. No, this matter is not open to debate. You will desist from empowerment of this individual in this context or you will face the consequences."
There was further angry retort from the monstrosity, until Merokee placidly looked above the quarreling, irate entity. At length, it directed its sensory facilities 'above' them as well and then let out a long, ululating cry. What it witnessed were several creatures of even stronger paranormal qualities than itself and they did not seem 'pleased' or 'happy' to witness these proceedings. As they descended on it, the entity tried to recoil and retreat as Merokee turned his back on the scene, a smile on his face. There, he thought to himself, that should even up the odds.
BLEEDSPACE:
"Necromanson? You are not wanted here. Cease your planned incursion into this universe and withdraw at once, or face the consequences."
"You dare defy me?! Are you aware of how many iterations of Earth that I have brought to judgement and wiped from existence?"
The Flash rolled his eyes: "Pretentious much, dude?"
"The Justice Alliance will not permit your entry here. Return to your universe of origin now." Superman warned. With a sneer, Necromanson cohered kryptonite into existence and flung it at the Kryptonians. As he did so, Superman and Superwoman seared it from existence with their heat vision. Captain Thunder and Lightning Girl closed in on the startled demigod and landed a series of punches, as Green Lantern directed a series of power ringed energy beams at the intruder, whose eyes widened. He was now feeling an emotion that he had had no reason to summon for many years- fear. He was feeling pain. No matter what his senses told him, the baseline sapients that were encountering him now could harm him! He had been assured that this could not happen. No matter what his senses had told him, his words of power and ensorcelments could not affect them. He was losing ground. And then Superman, Superwoman, Captain Thunder and Lightning Girl all began their assault on the bewildered being, who screamed the same obscenities in dead eldritch languages that his mentor and enabler had done. He screamed and then, fleeing away from Universe-500, he was gone.
LATER: EARTH 12,220 (HEISENBERG ALTERNATE PROBABILITY INDEX DESIGNATION):
It is the way of the Justice Alliance not to kill their opponents unless all else fails, or that opponent presents a clear and present danger to individuals, groups or worlds. And thus it was that Charles Necromanson had fled across multitudes of alternate universes to one where there was no landbased life, nor indeed any life beyond algae, plankton or diatoms within that Earth's oceans. It lacked sentience and was thus unaware of its prodigal visitor. Sitting on a barren rock, a shell-shocked and perplexed Necromanson tried to come to terms with what had happened to him. It was his first defeat and the psychological impact was great. He rocked backward and forward, softly moaning to himself. After several hours, he looked up and his eyes shone blood red. He could not destroy the world known as Earth-500, but this would do as a substitute. And so, freefloating protoplanets and tendrils of sunstuff descended on the hapless world that he had chanced upon and destroyed its atmosphere and oceans, before shattering its crust, mantle and core in a prodigal and wasteful display of excessive, yet impotent power. And as the blinding flash of Earth 12, 220's immolation faded from existence, the insane, grinning, grimacing harbinger of doom had some consolation. However, Charles Necromanson was addicted to his depredations and as a result, this did not last. He swept the Justice Alliance of America and its universe from his memories and sought new prey elsewhere in the multiverse. And then, satiated for that period at least, however, he relocated from the cadaver of the alternate Earth that he had senselessly obliterated and it was left to its funereal, sepulchural silence.
THE END
[12.03 PM, JULY 11, 2022]