Post by redsycorax on Sept 8, 2018 1:00:32 GMT
When the "Core Multiverse" re-emerged from the quantum flux, many things had changed. Chief amongst them was the instability and variability of the throng of alternate Earths and universes amongst them. One such event was "Flashpoint,' which occurred on Earth-0, but whose effects radiated out to engulf other worlds, particularly Earth-13 and Earth-50. But then the events of Flashpoint were cancelled out in their turn and another quantum flux wave coursed through the multiverse and those changes were undone.
BLINK
"And we're back" Jack Hawkmoor exclaimed, as the Carrier firmed back into solidity around them.
"Jenny, what the hell was that?!" Swift asked, as their team leader ran her hand through her hair and frowned:
"I think we momentarily ceased to exist, guys. But whatever it was has reversed itself and we're all here, safe and sound."
The Doctor gazed down at the instruments:
"You're right. For a year or so, we didn't exist in this particular universe, but we appear to be back now. Apparently, there was some sort of multiverse event, but whatever its consequences were, it appears to have unhappened. Apollo? Midnighter?"
"My head. Do you feel it too, Lucas?"
"Yeah. Yeah, it feels like we have two different sets of memories. Like our membership of Stormwatch never ended, or that we were somehow resident on an alternate Earth for a while. Don't...think it was deliberate. Um. A dude named Richard Grayson's ass. Sensational. Not as built as Pollys, but still not bad."
"Guys, we have incoming." A small green distant flare of emerald light materialised in space.
"Where the hell is the Watchtower?" John Stewart said, as his emerald ball of heat and light kept Hawkwoman and Batman safe from the vacuum of external space.
"Never mind that," said Superman through his telepathic plug," what the hell is
J'onn J'onnz pointed to the blurred shape:
"There is something immense coming over the horizon. It is the size of a continent. It appears to be a Monitor Carrier-class multiverse tranversal vehicle."
"They have no right to interfere with events on this world. I'll put a stop to this..."
"Kal, wait!" Diana called, indicating an ominous pulse of answering viridian light as she accelerated away toward him and the looming Carrier as the shiftship firmed into greater detail.
"Not now, Diana."
"Yes, now. That's kryptonite there. Enough to kill you instantly."
Superman stopped. He regarded the object warily:
"Can you raise Paradise Island?"
She shook her head:
"I think I know what this might be. Amazon scientists have studied the multiverse in great depth. One recurrent aspect of its current configuration seems to be reiteration, or quantum flux. It means that the attributes of each world are capable of significant variation."
He nodded:
"Yes, I remember you showing me the relative risk assessments related to each world and its prior and current iterations. You told me Earths 3 and 10/X had gone through several, as had "New Earth"/Earth 0, Earth 2, Earth 4, Earth6, Earth 8, Earth 9, Earth 17, Earth 26/C, Earth 31 and Earth 48. So, now it's happened to our own world."
"Yes, exactly. J'onn and John? What readings are you getting?"
Green Lantern and the Martian Manhunter materialised near them, both bewildered:
"I am not able to telepathically scan the vessel. Moreover, its quantum structure would disrupt me if I attempted to phase into the Carrier."
"I can't scan it either. It's jamming the remote scrutiny from my power ring. Fortunately, I can stop it scanning us."
++
"Enlarge,' said Jenny Quantum as she brought up the image of the Justice Lords,"any reason that we should know these people?"
"Two of them look like the woman Donna Troy and Green Lantern Kyle Rayner from an alternate world elsewhere in the Core Multiverse. On that world, Amazons literally do exist and Donna Troy was one of them. The woman is dressed in an analogous manner, as indicated by her defensive bracelets. As for the African-American man, he is obviously a Green Lantern. Their rings are energy based weapons vulnerable to yellow light wavelengths. Apollo, Midnighter?"
"I...think the black clad guys are S-Superman and B-Batman. They're...heterosexual counterparts of ourselves. Thanks, Habib. That's one hell of a lot better. Okay, From what I remember, Superman is an alien. He's from a red dwarf super-Earth world called Krypton. In our universe, our own Krypton analogue orbited too far from its feeble red sun to evolve sentient life and in any case, anomalous planetary formation led to the concentration of radioactive combustiles at its core. It blew up twenty five years ago. There are no "Kryptonians" here. He usually dresses in red and blue, though. Visitors."
Jenny raised an eyebrow as Elijah Snow and Jacinta Wagner came out of a Door which had opened up on the Carrier bridge: "To what do we owe the profound displeasure of this visit from Planetary?"
"Less of the attitude, Ms Quantum. I take it you've detected our group of visitors?"
"Possibly from an alternate Earth."
Snow shook his head: "More like an alternate iteration of our own Earth. At one point, our own universe was erased from existence and Apollo and Midnighter here were transferred to Earth 0/New Earth for a period of service within an alternate version of Stormwatch. Which may explain the divergent memories that have since been resolved after that neurochemical batch..."
Abruptly, klaxons started to ring out.!" As he scanned the distant Earth, his sense of foreboding grew still further. There was no sign of his Justice Lords 'protective' planetary rule anywhere on the world below them...
There was a rending of metal and an agonised cry that reverberated through the Carrier. The Doctor spun to face the others:
"They must not be allowed to capture this vehicle! With it, they could bring their skull-crushing brand of metahuman totalitarianism to all of the Core Multiverse, and possibly beyond."
"Wait a minute.I'm...getting whispers of something. A,.. Kryptonian city."
Jenny pointed to Jack Hawkmoor: "If that means you can face Superman, then do so. Angie, that so called Batman? If he's anything like Midnighter, he's the intellectual core of the group. As for the alien Martian, Doctor, he's yours. Apollo, your abilities are energy based. You get the Green Lantern. Swift, Hawkwoman. The Amazon's mine."
"Something's wrong." The Martian Manhunter intoned, witnessing the growing transparency of his hand.
"Did breaching that alien vehicle do that to us?" Hawkwoman asked.
"No. It appears to be something related to the reiteration process. We are no longer protected from consequent erasure through our presence in the Bleed. We do not have long to reverse the process and restore our iteration of the Earth.":
And with that, battle was joined. Batman and Midnighter matched each other perfectly, while Superman was unprepared for the Kryptonian class impact that drove him into the vehicle's wall. Swift dodged Hawkwoman's mace and ripped her wings from her armature. As Wonder Woman threw her lasoo at Jenny Quantum, the Martian Manhunter tried to telepathically subdue her, and then found that the Doctor was blocking him. His body contorted into green flares and nodules and fell onto the pavement. Jenny Quantum undid the probability register that had led to Wonder Woman's compatibility with her iteration of Earth 50, while Apollo didn't have to lay a finger on John Smith as the Green Lantern dematerialised. In a matter of instants, so did the others. The confrontation was over, and Earth 50B stood there in the crosshairs, immaculate and stable. The last echoes of the Justice Lords incursion faded into incoherence as the Carrier repaired itself and the world of the Wild Storm of existence returned to claim its place.
THE END
BLINK
"And we're back" Jack Hawkmoor exclaimed, as the Carrier firmed back into solidity around them.
"Jenny, what the hell was that?!" Swift asked, as their team leader ran her hand through her hair and frowned:
"I think we momentarily ceased to exist, guys. But whatever it was has reversed itself and we're all here, safe and sound."
The Doctor gazed down at the instruments:
"You're right. For a year or so, we didn't exist in this particular universe, but we appear to be back now. Apparently, there was some sort of multiverse event, but whatever its consequences were, it appears to have unhappened. Apollo? Midnighter?"
"My head. Do you feel it too, Lucas?"
"Yeah. Yeah, it feels like we have two different sets of memories. Like our membership of Stormwatch never ended, or that we were somehow resident on an alternate Earth for a while. Don't...think it was deliberate. Um. A dude named Richard Grayson's ass. Sensational. Not as built as Pollys, but still not bad."
"Guys, we have incoming." A small green distant flare of emerald light materialised in space.
"Where the hell is the Watchtower?" John Stewart said, as his emerald ball of heat and light kept Hawkwoman and Batman safe from the vacuum of external space.
"Never mind that," said Superman through his telepathic plug," what the hell is
J'onn J'onnz pointed to the blurred shape:
"There is something immense coming over the horizon. It is the size of a continent. It appears to be a Monitor Carrier-class multiverse tranversal vehicle."
"They have no right to interfere with events on this world. I'll put a stop to this..."
"Kal, wait!" Diana called, indicating an ominous pulse of answering viridian light as she accelerated away toward him and the looming Carrier as the shiftship firmed into greater detail.
"Not now, Diana."
"Yes, now. That's kryptonite there. Enough to kill you instantly."
Superman stopped. He regarded the object warily:
"Can you raise Paradise Island?"
She shook her head:
"I think I know what this might be. Amazon scientists have studied the multiverse in great depth. One recurrent aspect of its current configuration seems to be reiteration, or quantum flux. It means that the attributes of each world are capable of significant variation."
He nodded:
"Yes, I remember you showing me the relative risk assessments related to each world and its prior and current iterations. You told me Earths 3 and 10/X had gone through several, as had "New Earth"/Earth 0, Earth 2, Earth 4, Earth6, Earth 8, Earth 9, Earth 17, Earth 26/C, Earth 31 and Earth 48. So, now it's happened to our own world."
"Yes, exactly. J'onn and John? What readings are you getting?"
Green Lantern and the Martian Manhunter materialised near them, both bewildered:
"I am not able to telepathically scan the vessel. Moreover, its quantum structure would disrupt me if I attempted to phase into the Carrier."
"I can't scan it either. It's jamming the remote scrutiny from my power ring. Fortunately, I can stop it scanning us."
++
"Enlarge,' said Jenny Quantum as she brought up the image of the Justice Lords,"any reason that we should know these people?"
"Two of them look like the woman Donna Troy and Green Lantern Kyle Rayner from an alternate world elsewhere in the Core Multiverse. On that world, Amazons literally do exist and Donna Troy was one of them. The woman is dressed in an analogous manner, as indicated by her defensive bracelets. As for the African-American man, he is obviously a Green Lantern. Their rings are energy based weapons vulnerable to yellow light wavelengths. Apollo, Midnighter?"
"I...think the black clad guys are S-Superman and B-Batman. They're...heterosexual counterparts of ourselves. Thanks, Habib. That's one hell of a lot better. Okay, From what I remember, Superman is an alien. He's from a red dwarf super-Earth world called Krypton. In our universe, our own Krypton analogue orbited too far from its feeble red sun to evolve sentient life and in any case, anomalous planetary formation led to the concentration of radioactive combustiles at its core. It blew up twenty five years ago. There are no "Kryptonians" here. He usually dresses in red and blue, though. Visitors."
Jenny raised an eyebrow as Elijah Snow and Jacinta Wagner came out of a Door which had opened up on the Carrier bridge: "To what do we owe the profound displeasure of this visit from Planetary?"
"Less of the attitude, Ms Quantum. I take it you've detected our group of visitors?"
"Possibly from an alternate Earth."
Snow shook his head: "More like an alternate iteration of our own Earth. At one point, our own universe was erased from existence and Apollo and Midnighter here were transferred to Earth 0/New Earth for a period of service within an alternate version of Stormwatch. Which may explain the divergent memories that have since been resolved after that neurochemical batch..."
Abruptly, klaxons started to ring out.!" As he scanned the distant Earth, his sense of foreboding grew still further. There was no sign of his Justice Lords 'protective' planetary rule anywhere on the world below them...
There was a rending of metal and an agonised cry that reverberated through the Carrier. The Doctor spun to face the others:
"They must not be allowed to capture this vehicle! With it, they could bring their skull-crushing brand of metahuman totalitarianism to all of the Core Multiverse, and possibly beyond."
"Wait a minute.I'm...getting whispers of something. A,.. Kryptonian city."
Jenny pointed to Jack Hawkmoor: "If that means you can face Superman, then do so. Angie, that so called Batman? If he's anything like Midnighter, he's the intellectual core of the group. As for the alien Martian, Doctor, he's yours. Apollo, your abilities are energy based. You get the Green Lantern. Swift, Hawkwoman. The Amazon's mine."
"Something's wrong." The Martian Manhunter intoned, witnessing the growing transparency of his hand.
"Did breaching that alien vehicle do that to us?" Hawkwoman asked.
"No. It appears to be something related to the reiteration process. We are no longer protected from consequent erasure through our presence in the Bleed. We do not have long to reverse the process and restore our iteration of the Earth.":
And with that, battle was joined. Batman and Midnighter matched each other perfectly, while Superman was unprepared for the Kryptonian class impact that drove him into the vehicle's wall. Swift dodged Hawkwoman's mace and ripped her wings from her armature. As Wonder Woman threw her lasoo at Jenny Quantum, the Martian Manhunter tried to telepathically subdue her, and then found that the Doctor was blocking him. His body contorted into green flares and nodules and fell onto the pavement. Jenny Quantum undid the probability register that had led to Wonder Woman's compatibility with her iteration of Earth 50, while Apollo didn't have to lay a finger on John Smith as the Green Lantern dematerialised. In a matter of instants, so did the others. The confrontation was over, and Earth 50B stood there in the crosshairs, immaculate and stable. The last echoes of the Justice Lords incursion faded into incoherence as the Carrier repaired itself and the world of the Wild Storm of existence returned to claim its place.
THE END