Post by redsycorax on Oct 9, 2020 3:40:48 GMT
On Earth-3655, the League of American Justice and Society of American Justice confronted an insane, predatory godlike entity named Aquarius. It had already vaporised neighbouring Earth-3656, although they were saved by the thaumaturgy of Doctor Fate. Spitefully, Aquarius launched a ball of energy toward the SAJ, witnessed by a familiar onlooker as it hurtled toward them. The onlooker saw it careen directly toward the person they loved most in this world, or any other. They didn't hesitate when it came to their own safety, even though they paid the ultimate cost.
++
The multihued rainbow ichor slowly, menacingly coalesced into a ball, and although its creator intended for it to travel toward Green Lantern, instead it pivoted toward the nearest human quarry in its path- although Larry Lance struggled against the fluid that held him down, inexorably the ball slid closer and closer toward the prone detective. Then, as he continued to strain, his wife Dinah (Black Canary) Lance looked up from the prone form of Green Arrow where she held a poised arrow. Then it registered. Her eyes widened, she swallowed and realised what was happening: "Larry... in trouble. Larry...oh my darling, Larry!" Her love for the man warred with the psionic control of Aquarius for a fraction of a second, then broke irrevocably. And suddenly, she turned and ran:
"Larry! I'm coming, sweetheart!"
Dinah Lance leapt desperately in the path of the necrotic glistening sphere and then, silhouetted briefly against it for a fraction of a second, her body shielded that of Larry Lance as it hit her with all of its momentum. And then, the brave, heroic Dinah Drake Lance, a superhero named Black Canary, rolled away, dead. It had only taken a minute but a world had been saved- yet another, a private world of two people whose lives had been entwined for decades, was riven irrevocably asunder. Larry stumbled to his feet, wide-eyed, shaking his head in horror, scarcely believing what he had just witnessed, then knelt alongside his wife's body, taking her hand in his and started sobbing from his torn and broken heart.
As Earth-3656 firmed back into solidity, Alan Scott stepped forward: "Larry, man...I promise you...we'll catch the bastard who did this..."
"None of that matters now. Just please...leave me alone."
Although the Earth-3656 Green Lantern knew that it was Larry Lance's grief talking, he was stung. He stepped toward his alternate universe counterpart and said bitterly:
"What's all the good of this power we possess, Hal...when we can't protect people from the likes of that?"
"Easy, buddy. Like you said, Aquarius won't be able to hide on Earth or heaven. We'll track him down and we'll put an end to him."
The rest is history. Aquarius couldn't resist rematerialising and disrupting the solemnity and sanctity of Dinah Lance's funeral, provoking the SAJ and LAJ into following him. Alan Scott and Hal Jordan lured him into entering a portal to the antimatter universe of Qward, where he was annihilated by a swarm of onrushing antiasteroids. Shortly after, the LAJ took their leave of the SAJ, but then they were met by Larry Lance, carrying a suitcase. He said brokenly that he couldn't continue living on this Earth, where everywhere he looked, he could still see his Dinah and asked the LAJ if he could accompany them to their Earth instead. The LAJ had no idea that an unseen form accompanied them. Dinah Drake Lance's love for her husband had survived her corporeal death...
1970:
"Wow, you mean Green Arrow's quit?"
Hawkman sighed: "He's almost turned into a lawless dissident. I think the trauma of losing his fortune in his civilian identity may have done it. He's been showing up at anti-war, Native American, civil rights and environmentalist protests. Not that there's anything wrong with those causes, at all, but he's thrown himself into it heart and soul."
Larry raised an eyebrow: "Uh, I don't know about Thanagar, Katar buddy, but we don't have dissidents in the United States. Or at least we didn't back home. Mind you, we didn't get involved in this Indochinese War that happened here either. I remember watching television with..." Larry trailed off, remembering his dead wife.
"Hey, now. I know you miss her. She was a hero and an honorable woman. I wish I'd had the chance to meet her." Shayera said softly.
"You're so damned lucky, Katar."
"I know. I can't imagine my life without Shayera. In fact, I never want to do so."
"Get a cage, you two." The Atom said as he brought over a couple of beers.
"Do you think we'll lose Green Lantern as well?" Hawkman asked.
"I have no idea. You know he's quit his civilian job and taken off on a cross-country jaunt with Green Arrow?"
"From what I heard, I think his civilian relationship broke up with a long term sweetheart." Hawkgirl added.
"Ah well, it's almost time for me to get back to work. See you later. It's been excellent talking." As Larry got up to leave, the incorporeal form of Dinah Lance hovered near him. She was startled to hear a cleared throat almost next to her:
"Penny for 'em, gorgeous?"
"Deadman. Sorry, you must think I'm crazy..."
"Watching over your lifeside partner. Hell, no. I think it's sweet. And I do it too."
"Thanks. Then you know that I'm not ready to move on yet. I'm worried that he hasn't either. It's been almost two years since I died and there's no new woman in his life."
"Hey, you sound like you're a class act to follow. It's no wonder"
"Flatterer. Sorry, Boston, got to go. I'm heading off on patrol with him."
"So you get to use psychokinesis if someone throws a knife or bullet at him."
"If you've got it, protect him with it. You probably understand."
"All too well. Later, songbird..."
As Sargeant Larry Lance sat in his MCPD police car, he thought back to the time he'd arrived here on Earth-Aleph [3565- Author]. There were some obvious visible differences- Quebec wasn't an independent state, but still part of Canada, apartheid still existed in South Africa, the French had lost at Diem Bien Phu in 1954 and as a result, the United States had become embroiled in a highly unpopular war in Indochina. Given that this was a parallel world to Earth-Beth [3566- Author], he'd tried to find an alternate version of Dinah Drake here, but she had turned out to be a gangland assassin and moll. They could have no future together. Shortly after, "Laurel Drake" was killed in an ambush which she had instigated but which had gone wrong.
Time to put Dinah's alternate out of his mind. Invisible, Dinah floated above his car. It was now evening and as she extended her ectoplasmic sensorium for anything that might threaten him, she caught site of the mysterious green figure named the Thorn, a vigilante who had seemingly made it her duty to halt the operation of the 100 criminal cartel in Metropolis and elsewhere. That gave her an idea. She rustled Larry's newspaper and nudged his plastic coffee cup. A drop spilt over a story about the aforementioned cartel, leading Larry to ponder the significance of the fact that the Thorn vigilante's exchanges with the mobster group in question usually occurred within the vicinity of Suicide Slum. Then, as the Thorn began her nightly assault against the minions of the 100, he heard the sounds of gunfire and a nearby physical struggle. He made sure his kevlar vest was securely fastened and quickly left his car. Dinah smiled to herself.
"Ah. I take it he's your widower?" The voice came from an ethereal figure in his forties or fifties, with a bushy moustache and hazel eyes.
"I know you! James Forrest? Why haven't you passed over?"
"I imagine for the same reason as you, Mrs Lance. In your case, it's Larry you want to look after. In my case..."
"Wait a minute. It's Rhosyn, your daughter, isn't it?"
"Yes. She developed dissociative identity disorder- "multiple personalities", in colloquial terms. Rhosyn is plain, regular Rose, during daylight hours, but when the moon comes up, she metamorphoses into a martially adept vigilante called..."
"The Thorn. Hmmm. Larry needs someone to look after him when and if I'm not around. Jim, would you mind if..."
"Hell, no. They'd make an ideal match and so does Rose. Want to do some matchmaking?"
Dinah smiled: "Definitely."
1971:
Earlier that August day, as Oliver Queen, Green Arrow had been hit by one of his own arrows and had managed to make it to an adjacent hospital for a quick patch-up. Asking the assistance of his friend Hal (Green Lantern) Jordan to track down the assailants, Green Arrow and Green Lantern ended up in a drug den, where Green Arrow was surprised to make the reaccquaintance of his former ward, Roy (Speedy) Harper. He assumed that Speedy had tracked down the drug dealers as well and the two heroes took their younger associate back to Oliver's apartment. Wanting to renew their bond, Oliver went out to buy some chili for a meal. When he returned, he was shocked to see Roy shooting up heroin. He made an unfortunate reaction, promptly punching Roy and shattering his drug paraphenalia. Roy snapped back that Oliver must feel proud of himself for being such a 'big man', whereupon Oliver told Roy to leave the apartment. After Green Arrow left as well, Roy shivered in an alleyway. Green Lantern might have found him, but Harper had crawled beneath a yellow plastic tarpaulin and his scan of the area revealed nothing as a consequence. While Green Arrow tracked the dealer Saloman Hooper to a boat, and thence, off to a Carribean island where both of them angrily destroyed his drug laboratory, Roy Harper found another hit of heroin on the street. Unfortunately for him, he overdosed and quickly, he ceased to breath and his heart stopped. It took two hours for Green Lantern and Green Arrow to return to Star City, but only twenty minutes to find Roy Harper sprawled across the alleyway, lifeless.
1972:
Harper's death had a serious effect on the morale and perspective of his former associates within the Teen Titans. Dick Grayson gave up his Robin identity and settled down at Hudson University and would become a forensic psychologist in time. Donna Troy returned to Paradise Island and her foster mother Queen Hippolyta to grieve the death of someone she once loved. Kid Flash and Aqualad continued as their elder counterparts associates for several more years, but Oliver Queen blamed himself for his ward's death. He even shut out his former friend Green Lantern and became further radicalised as time went on. In Metropolis, Larry Lance met the Thorn and tracked her down. He learnt from the Thorn that Rhosyn had no direct knowledge of her activities. Larry told the Thorn about his time as Black Canary's husband on Earth-Beth and the two of them pursued the 100 together, until they had apprehended all of them. Whereupon Rhosyn reintegrated the Thorn into her mainstream identity and shortly after, Rhosyn and Larry Lance married. Superman, the Guardian and Black Lightning were all grateful guests at their wedding.
Shortly after, Dinah Lance saw a trail of iridescence unroll itself into the sky. With Larry now able to survive on his own and healing well from the trauma of his widowerhood in the arms of Rhosyn, the Black Canary finally felt able to take her leave of her former husband after three years of tending to his needs. She ascended and left her earthly life and cares behind forever, finally at rest once and for all.
1974:
But Roy Harper wasn't the last one to die as a consequence of Dinah Lance's death. Without Green Arrow present, the LAJ's other members had to work harder when it came to heroic endeavours and his turn toward radicalism didn't assist matters. One dark day in November 1974, Batman was on the trial of kidnapped philanthropost Deborah Manton, abducted by local gangster Bugsy Cathcart. He had tracked him down to a tenement building, but tragedy was in store. As soon as Batman set foot on the fire escape of the abandoned police station that was Cathcart's base of operations, he was electrocuted by a sustained 2000 milliampere burst. His heart stopped, his major organs sustained irreperable damage and he stopped breathing. Cathcart unceremoniously dumped the body in front of Gotham City Police Department, where it was taken to Gotham Hospital, but to no avail. Ray (the Atom) Palmer had had a visit to Gotham University scheduled to talk about the properties of neutronium, but the absence of Green Arrow had put extra demand on his specialist services and he was assisting the FBI with forensic inquiries. Resultantly, a chain of events that might have inadvertantly led to the revival of the Caped Crusader did not take place. Honouring his wish for secrecy, Batman was buried in his mask and cape. Shortly afterward, Bruce Wayne's butler Alfred Pennyworth announced that his employer's car had run off a narrow mountain road and burst into flame, consuming him. The remains were carefully faked to duplicate Wayne's body. Not that Gotham's underworld and Batman's rogues gallery had long to celebrate, as Robin resumed his duties and took his place. Nevertheless, Batman's untimely end was a major blow to the League of American Justice, Robin, the Gotham City Police Department, Batgirl and Superman. Worse was to come, however.
1977:
Azgore and Count Crystal had been apocryphal references in other Earths histories. But here, the demon and his human surrogate succeeded in killing Superman, Wonder Woman, Robin, Hawkman and Red Tornado. On other Earths, the Phantom Stranger had been present to revive them, but he was busy elsewhere and Azgore's thaumaturgic abilities were sufficient to halt him from intervention this time. The LAJ now resembled an increasingly threadbare patchwork. Shell-shocked, Supergirl, Wonder Girl, Batgirl, the Atom, Aquaman, Flash, Zatanna, Green Lantern and Hawkwoman assembled at the satellite. But more dominos would fall in coming years.
1978+:
Following the tragic death of Arthur Curry Junior, Aquaman resigned from the LAJ to take care of his responsibilities as King of Atlantis. Shortly afterward, Ray Palmer and Jean Loring were married, but centripetal forces were beginning to tear at the LAJ. When the Flash narrowly saved Iris Allen from the lethal hands of Professor Zoom, he and his wife left for her native 30th Century. As Donna Troy, Wonder Girl married Terry Long and retired from the League as well. As Barbara Gordon, Batgirl became Gotham's Congresswoman once more and permanently abandoned her superhero career. There were some positive unintentional consequences- Ray and Jean Loring stayed together and Jean never lapsed into mental illness. Aquaman and Mera had a second child, this time a daughter.
1985:
However, such an abbreviated LAJ, now consisting solely of Superwoman, the Atom, Green Lantern, Hawkwoman, Starman, the Golden Guardian, Black Lightning and Elongated Man, was no match for the onrushing chaos and destruction that beset Earths 3565 and 3566 in the wake of the Crisis on Infinite Earths. The LAJ and SAJ made their last stand amidst roiling antimatter storms and bloodred scarlet skies, but to no avail. Their sacrifice was valiant but futile, as the primeval furies tore them from existence and shortly after, the worlds that they had once protected, leaving only the declining echoes of terror, pain and omnicide. Ultimately, all matter and energy perished from what had once been two vibrant, living universes full with quadrillions of lifeforms. gone as if they had never existed.
THE END.
++
The multihued rainbow ichor slowly, menacingly coalesced into a ball, and although its creator intended for it to travel toward Green Lantern, instead it pivoted toward the nearest human quarry in its path- although Larry Lance struggled against the fluid that held him down, inexorably the ball slid closer and closer toward the prone detective. Then, as he continued to strain, his wife Dinah (Black Canary) Lance looked up from the prone form of Green Arrow where she held a poised arrow. Then it registered. Her eyes widened, she swallowed and realised what was happening: "Larry... in trouble. Larry...oh my darling, Larry!" Her love for the man warred with the psionic control of Aquarius for a fraction of a second, then broke irrevocably. And suddenly, she turned and ran:
"Larry! I'm coming, sweetheart!"
Dinah Lance leapt desperately in the path of the necrotic glistening sphere and then, silhouetted briefly against it for a fraction of a second, her body shielded that of Larry Lance as it hit her with all of its momentum. And then, the brave, heroic Dinah Drake Lance, a superhero named Black Canary, rolled away, dead. It had only taken a minute but a world had been saved- yet another, a private world of two people whose lives had been entwined for decades, was riven irrevocably asunder. Larry stumbled to his feet, wide-eyed, shaking his head in horror, scarcely believing what he had just witnessed, then knelt alongside his wife's body, taking her hand in his and started sobbing from his torn and broken heart.
As Earth-3656 firmed back into solidity, Alan Scott stepped forward: "Larry, man...I promise you...we'll catch the bastard who did this..."
"None of that matters now. Just please...leave me alone."
Although the Earth-3656 Green Lantern knew that it was Larry Lance's grief talking, he was stung. He stepped toward his alternate universe counterpart and said bitterly:
"What's all the good of this power we possess, Hal...when we can't protect people from the likes of that?"
"Easy, buddy. Like you said, Aquarius won't be able to hide on Earth or heaven. We'll track him down and we'll put an end to him."
The rest is history. Aquarius couldn't resist rematerialising and disrupting the solemnity and sanctity of Dinah Lance's funeral, provoking the SAJ and LAJ into following him. Alan Scott and Hal Jordan lured him into entering a portal to the antimatter universe of Qward, where he was annihilated by a swarm of onrushing antiasteroids. Shortly after, the LAJ took their leave of the SAJ, but then they were met by Larry Lance, carrying a suitcase. He said brokenly that he couldn't continue living on this Earth, where everywhere he looked, he could still see his Dinah and asked the LAJ if he could accompany them to their Earth instead. The LAJ had no idea that an unseen form accompanied them. Dinah Drake Lance's love for her husband had survived her corporeal death...
1970:
"Wow, you mean Green Arrow's quit?"
Hawkman sighed: "He's almost turned into a lawless dissident. I think the trauma of losing his fortune in his civilian identity may have done it. He's been showing up at anti-war, Native American, civil rights and environmentalist protests. Not that there's anything wrong with those causes, at all, but he's thrown himself into it heart and soul."
Larry raised an eyebrow: "Uh, I don't know about Thanagar, Katar buddy, but we don't have dissidents in the United States. Or at least we didn't back home. Mind you, we didn't get involved in this Indochinese War that happened here either. I remember watching television with..." Larry trailed off, remembering his dead wife.
"Hey, now. I know you miss her. She was a hero and an honorable woman. I wish I'd had the chance to meet her." Shayera said softly.
"You're so damned lucky, Katar."
"I know. I can't imagine my life without Shayera. In fact, I never want to do so."
"Get a cage, you two." The Atom said as he brought over a couple of beers.
"Do you think we'll lose Green Lantern as well?" Hawkman asked.
"I have no idea. You know he's quit his civilian job and taken off on a cross-country jaunt with Green Arrow?"
"From what I heard, I think his civilian relationship broke up with a long term sweetheart." Hawkgirl added.
"Ah well, it's almost time for me to get back to work. See you later. It's been excellent talking." As Larry got up to leave, the incorporeal form of Dinah Lance hovered near him. She was startled to hear a cleared throat almost next to her:
"Penny for 'em, gorgeous?"
"Deadman. Sorry, you must think I'm crazy..."
"Watching over your lifeside partner. Hell, no. I think it's sweet. And I do it too."
"Thanks. Then you know that I'm not ready to move on yet. I'm worried that he hasn't either. It's been almost two years since I died and there's no new woman in his life."
"Hey, you sound like you're a class act to follow. It's no wonder"
"Flatterer. Sorry, Boston, got to go. I'm heading off on patrol with him."
"So you get to use psychokinesis if someone throws a knife or bullet at him."
"If you've got it, protect him with it. You probably understand."
"All too well. Later, songbird..."
As Sargeant Larry Lance sat in his MCPD police car, he thought back to the time he'd arrived here on Earth-Aleph [3565- Author]. There were some obvious visible differences- Quebec wasn't an independent state, but still part of Canada, apartheid still existed in South Africa, the French had lost at Diem Bien Phu in 1954 and as a result, the United States had become embroiled in a highly unpopular war in Indochina. Given that this was a parallel world to Earth-Beth [3566- Author], he'd tried to find an alternate version of Dinah Drake here, but she had turned out to be a gangland assassin and moll. They could have no future together. Shortly after, "Laurel Drake" was killed in an ambush which she had instigated but which had gone wrong.
Time to put Dinah's alternate out of his mind. Invisible, Dinah floated above his car. It was now evening and as she extended her ectoplasmic sensorium for anything that might threaten him, she caught site of the mysterious green figure named the Thorn, a vigilante who had seemingly made it her duty to halt the operation of the 100 criminal cartel in Metropolis and elsewhere. That gave her an idea. She rustled Larry's newspaper and nudged his plastic coffee cup. A drop spilt over a story about the aforementioned cartel, leading Larry to ponder the significance of the fact that the Thorn vigilante's exchanges with the mobster group in question usually occurred within the vicinity of Suicide Slum. Then, as the Thorn began her nightly assault against the minions of the 100, he heard the sounds of gunfire and a nearby physical struggle. He made sure his kevlar vest was securely fastened and quickly left his car. Dinah smiled to herself.
"Ah. I take it he's your widower?" The voice came from an ethereal figure in his forties or fifties, with a bushy moustache and hazel eyes.
"I know you! James Forrest? Why haven't you passed over?"
"I imagine for the same reason as you, Mrs Lance. In your case, it's Larry you want to look after. In my case..."
"Wait a minute. It's Rhosyn, your daughter, isn't it?"
"Yes. She developed dissociative identity disorder- "multiple personalities", in colloquial terms. Rhosyn is plain, regular Rose, during daylight hours, but when the moon comes up, she metamorphoses into a martially adept vigilante called..."
"The Thorn. Hmmm. Larry needs someone to look after him when and if I'm not around. Jim, would you mind if..."
"Hell, no. They'd make an ideal match and so does Rose. Want to do some matchmaking?"
Dinah smiled: "Definitely."
1971:
Earlier that August day, as Oliver Queen, Green Arrow had been hit by one of his own arrows and had managed to make it to an adjacent hospital for a quick patch-up. Asking the assistance of his friend Hal (Green Lantern) Jordan to track down the assailants, Green Arrow and Green Lantern ended up in a drug den, where Green Arrow was surprised to make the reaccquaintance of his former ward, Roy (Speedy) Harper. He assumed that Speedy had tracked down the drug dealers as well and the two heroes took their younger associate back to Oliver's apartment. Wanting to renew their bond, Oliver went out to buy some chili for a meal. When he returned, he was shocked to see Roy shooting up heroin. He made an unfortunate reaction, promptly punching Roy and shattering his drug paraphenalia. Roy snapped back that Oliver must feel proud of himself for being such a 'big man', whereupon Oliver told Roy to leave the apartment. After Green Arrow left as well, Roy shivered in an alleyway. Green Lantern might have found him, but Harper had crawled beneath a yellow plastic tarpaulin and his scan of the area revealed nothing as a consequence. While Green Arrow tracked the dealer Saloman Hooper to a boat, and thence, off to a Carribean island where both of them angrily destroyed his drug laboratory, Roy Harper found another hit of heroin on the street. Unfortunately for him, he overdosed and quickly, he ceased to breath and his heart stopped. It took two hours for Green Lantern and Green Arrow to return to Star City, but only twenty minutes to find Roy Harper sprawled across the alleyway, lifeless.
1972:
Harper's death had a serious effect on the morale and perspective of his former associates within the Teen Titans. Dick Grayson gave up his Robin identity and settled down at Hudson University and would become a forensic psychologist in time. Donna Troy returned to Paradise Island and her foster mother Queen Hippolyta to grieve the death of someone she once loved. Kid Flash and Aqualad continued as their elder counterparts associates for several more years, but Oliver Queen blamed himself for his ward's death. He even shut out his former friend Green Lantern and became further radicalised as time went on. In Metropolis, Larry Lance met the Thorn and tracked her down. He learnt from the Thorn that Rhosyn had no direct knowledge of her activities. Larry told the Thorn about his time as Black Canary's husband on Earth-Beth and the two of them pursued the 100 together, until they had apprehended all of them. Whereupon Rhosyn reintegrated the Thorn into her mainstream identity and shortly after, Rhosyn and Larry Lance married. Superman, the Guardian and Black Lightning were all grateful guests at their wedding.
Shortly after, Dinah Lance saw a trail of iridescence unroll itself into the sky. With Larry now able to survive on his own and healing well from the trauma of his widowerhood in the arms of Rhosyn, the Black Canary finally felt able to take her leave of her former husband after three years of tending to his needs. She ascended and left her earthly life and cares behind forever, finally at rest once and for all.
1974:
But Roy Harper wasn't the last one to die as a consequence of Dinah Lance's death. Without Green Arrow present, the LAJ's other members had to work harder when it came to heroic endeavours and his turn toward radicalism didn't assist matters. One dark day in November 1974, Batman was on the trial of kidnapped philanthropost Deborah Manton, abducted by local gangster Bugsy Cathcart. He had tracked him down to a tenement building, but tragedy was in store. As soon as Batman set foot on the fire escape of the abandoned police station that was Cathcart's base of operations, he was electrocuted by a sustained 2000 milliampere burst. His heart stopped, his major organs sustained irreperable damage and he stopped breathing. Cathcart unceremoniously dumped the body in front of Gotham City Police Department, where it was taken to Gotham Hospital, but to no avail. Ray (the Atom) Palmer had had a visit to Gotham University scheduled to talk about the properties of neutronium, but the absence of Green Arrow had put extra demand on his specialist services and he was assisting the FBI with forensic inquiries. Resultantly, a chain of events that might have inadvertantly led to the revival of the Caped Crusader did not take place. Honouring his wish for secrecy, Batman was buried in his mask and cape. Shortly afterward, Bruce Wayne's butler Alfred Pennyworth announced that his employer's car had run off a narrow mountain road and burst into flame, consuming him. The remains were carefully faked to duplicate Wayne's body. Not that Gotham's underworld and Batman's rogues gallery had long to celebrate, as Robin resumed his duties and took his place. Nevertheless, Batman's untimely end was a major blow to the League of American Justice, Robin, the Gotham City Police Department, Batgirl and Superman. Worse was to come, however.
1977:
Azgore and Count Crystal had been apocryphal references in other Earths histories. But here, the demon and his human surrogate succeeded in killing Superman, Wonder Woman, Robin, Hawkman and Red Tornado. On other Earths, the Phantom Stranger had been present to revive them, but he was busy elsewhere and Azgore's thaumaturgic abilities were sufficient to halt him from intervention this time. The LAJ now resembled an increasingly threadbare patchwork. Shell-shocked, Supergirl, Wonder Girl, Batgirl, the Atom, Aquaman, Flash, Zatanna, Green Lantern and Hawkwoman assembled at the satellite. But more dominos would fall in coming years.
1978+:
Following the tragic death of Arthur Curry Junior, Aquaman resigned from the LAJ to take care of his responsibilities as King of Atlantis. Shortly afterward, Ray Palmer and Jean Loring were married, but centripetal forces were beginning to tear at the LAJ. When the Flash narrowly saved Iris Allen from the lethal hands of Professor Zoom, he and his wife left for her native 30th Century. As Donna Troy, Wonder Girl married Terry Long and retired from the League as well. As Barbara Gordon, Batgirl became Gotham's Congresswoman once more and permanently abandoned her superhero career. There were some positive unintentional consequences- Ray and Jean Loring stayed together and Jean never lapsed into mental illness. Aquaman and Mera had a second child, this time a daughter.
1985:
However, such an abbreviated LAJ, now consisting solely of Superwoman, the Atom, Green Lantern, Hawkwoman, Starman, the Golden Guardian, Black Lightning and Elongated Man, was no match for the onrushing chaos and destruction that beset Earths 3565 and 3566 in the wake of the Crisis on Infinite Earths. The LAJ and SAJ made their last stand amidst roiling antimatter storms and bloodred scarlet skies, but to no avail. Their sacrifice was valiant but futile, as the primeval furies tore them from existence and shortly after, the worlds that they had once protected, leaving only the declining echoes of terror, pain and omnicide. Ultimately, all matter and energy perished from what had once been two vibrant, living universes full with quadrillions of lifeforms. gone as if they had never existed.
THE END.
