The World's Greatest Superheroes..... IF I COULD TURN BACK TIME
JLA #22 - November, Year 2	by Curt Fernlund

 

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AquaMan	Atom	Batman	Black Canary	Firestorm	Flash
Green Lantern	Martian Manhunter	Red Tornado	Superman	Wonder Woman	Plastic Man

Alan Scott watched in fascination, trying to focus on the blurred, shadowy figures moving within the silver and crimson streaks shooting about the room at their incredible speeds. Even with his enhanced sights- magical visions granted him by the energies of the mysterious Starheart that coursed through his very being- he could still see little but the after images of the three blurry figures. He could just make out the frozen after images of their unique passing, like paralyzed visions trapped in the flash of a strobe. When he blinked, they were gone again.

He watched silently as bits and pieces of machinery seemed to fly through the air, floating into place and connecting, expanding with the greater device that was taking shape within the walls of the JLA Conference Room. He had seen the machine before of course, most recently within the confines of the Monitor’s ship during the time of the Crisis. He recognized it, though it was being altered somewhat from the original designs to suit the needs of the current crisis. The treadmill was longer and wider. There were three running stations now- one ahead and two behind- instead of just one to accommodate the three speedsters that would be powering the device. There were leads and couplings, cables running into the geothermal power supplies and solar batteries of the Watchtower itself. It was a grand scheme that the Justice League was planning, expanding on the original designs of the Cosmic Treadmill that Barry Allen had created so many years ago. That had always bothered Scott; how had a police scientist- a chemist for that matter- created a time travel device? Oddly he had never had the chance to follow that up. It seemed that something had always distracted…

Scott watched as the flickering forms of his friends slowed. Their after images sputtered and faded, sliding into the primary forms that waited patiently as time caught up to them once again. Steam rose off of the three men as they rested, their bodies still vibrating, shaking off the excess energy of their efforts. Lightning danced and flashed for a moment, then faded away as Scott finally smiled and stepped forward. He knew them all of course. The hero community was a small place to be sure.

Jay Garrick was in his seventies but it hardly showed in his energy and output. Garrick was the original Flash; the first in the line to be infected by the Speed Force- that extra-dimensional energy field that fueled all speedsters. He had been the fastest man alive for better than thirty years, at least until Barry Allen came along and took over both his name and title. Jay was one of Scott’s oldest friends, and had been a fellow founding member of the Justice Society of America.

The man in the silver and blue was an old-timer as well. Max Mercury had been one of the lesser heroes that had followed in Garrick’s footsteps. Through no fault of his own, throughout the years he had never quite stepped out of the shadows of those more flamboyant speedsters like Garrick and Johnny Quick back in the Forties and Fifties, then by Allen and lastly- most recently by the latest Flash, Wally West. Oddly, Mercury had become sort of a mentor to the younger West, and along with Garrick they were teaching him many things about being both a hero, and a man.

The last figure of course was Wally West himself, the latest incarnation of the Flash name, and perhaps the fastest of the lineage. Wally West had started out as a teenager, a sidekick to Barry Allen. He had worked with the Teen Titans- later just the Titans- and finally taken his well-deserved roll in the Justice League of America after taking on the mantle of his mentor. He had more than proved his mettle and continued to do his namesakes proud. Jay Garrick had nothing but praise for the boy- correction- the man. Old habits were hard to break!

The three men stood winded and weak as Scott and a few of the other heroes in the assemblage started to gather around. It had taken them the better part of ten seconds to assemble the redesigned Cosmic Treadmill, incorporating the original designs of Barry Allen along with modifications suggested by Steel and utilizing off-world technology offered up by the Martian Manhunter. As near as Scott could count in those ten seconds the trio had assembled and disassembled the device at least six times. The resulting machine was an awkward and unwieldy looking device, but he had no doubt in that it would work.

“Well?”

The Batman stared with that dark and spooky look that he had, eyeing the three men with suspicion. It was Jay Garrick that finally stood straight and looked the Masked Manhunter in the eye. He tipped his metal helmet back, exhaling a long, deep sigh. He was still breathing hard and sweating-

“It’s rough, but it’ll do the job. I’d stake my life on it.”

Batman half-snorted. “That’s just the point, Flash. It’s not your life-“

“Hey!”

Wally West stepped between Jay Garrick and the Dark Knight, a flicker of red appearing between the two. He stared at the Batman, trying to hold his gaze steady with the other, trying to catch his breath as well.

“That’s uncalled for, Batman. If Jay says it’ll work, then it’ll work!”

Alan Scott glanced about the room. There were over a dozen heroes assembled in the Watchtower’s Hall of Justice; eleven of the twelve current roster of the JLA, one of their part-time past members, three members of the JSA, Max Mercury and one other. All but that last focused their collective attention on the sudden bit of friction sparking between the Batman and the Flash. No one expected a fight, but then no one had expected Wally West to stand up to the Batman either. Time seemed to standstill for a long moment to Scott. It must have been a little slice of hell for the speedsters waiting for something to happen-

“Fine.” Batman finally said, turning away. The tension in the room eased but did not fade completely away. “You three rest, eat, do whatever you have to do to get ready. Sentinel-“

Alan Scott stepped forward at the Batman’s command. The Dark Knight was easily half his age and a fellow Gothamite to boot. There was no reason why Scott should listen to his harsh attitude and condescending tones, but he did. He had less power than anyone did in the room, but he oddly seemed to command the most respect of the entire assemblage.

“You know what you have to do?” The Batman glanced at Sentinel, the first Green Lantern of Earth as though he was looking over one of his own recruits. Sentinel suspected that perhaps because of the Batman’s lack of powers, maybe he needed to be especially certain of everything he did. He did not have the margin of error that many of the others did. The next mistake might be his last, and he had so many opportunities that the rest of them did not share. He was just a man after all.

“Of course, Batman. I’ll be using my energies, the magical properties of the Starheart’s Green Flame to help hold this contraption together. My magic should give the speedsters the extra boost they need to kick your party through the veil of time.”

“And I’ll be linking the energies of my ring to the power that Alan’s providing.” Kyle Rayner stepped up then, the Earth’s current Green Lantern. He wore the Power Ring of the Green Lantern Corp- the last such ring in existence- almost. He had inherited the ring, the name and the title from the last, perhaps greatest Green Lantern- Hal Jordan. Jordan had died a hero, but his legendary career had been tarnished at the end through a series of tragedies that would have corrupted the will of any man. Rayner had been a good choice as a replacement, and he had proven himself time and again. Still, he was green- no pun intended- and there was still so much that he could learn.

“I’ll be tethering my power to his while I keep us all together in an energy construct, providing us all with heat and air beyond the aura that Flash says the Speed Force will generate while we travel the Time Stream. It’ll be that link between me and Alan that hopefully gets us all home when this is all over.” Rayner held up his ring, letting the power flare for a moment before the Batman nodded. As soon as the Caped Crusader turned however, Kyle Rayner seemed to sag and sigh in relief. He was nervous. Alan Scott had to smile.

“Fate?”

The man in the blue and gold turned at the Batman’s call, his golden helmet glistening in the stray starlight that filtered into the room. Doctor Fate was another old timer, a member of the JSA that had survived into the Twenty-first Century. He was one of the few heroes that had the distinction of being both a member of the JSA and the JLA. It had been a brief encounter for Fate of course, a few short adventures after one of Darkseid’s legendary attempts to enslave the Earth. Still, like the Black Canary, the Red Tornado and the Hawkman, Fate was one of the select few.

Fate was one of the most powerful magicians on the planet- even on this plane to hear him tell it. There were things beyond Heaven and Earth that Scott did not even want to consider, and Fate was best suited to deal with those. For the longest time, almost as long as the careers of Sentinel and the original Flash, Doctor Fate had been the man called Kent Nelson. It had only been in the most recent times that the mantle had been taken up by others; Nelson’s wife Inza, Jared Stevens the alleged archaeologist, and again Kent Nelson for a time. Each was only a host body for Fate, projecting the will of the Lord of Order- Nabu. It was all fairly complicated, and well beyond Scott’s ability to sort out. He had never met Stevens, but the Nelsons were true heroes, playing the hand that Fate had dealt them as best they could. Ozzie and Harriet they were not, to say the least.

This latest incarnation was someone new again, donning the helm and amulet of Nabu to become the new Doctor Fate. He was unproven in battle, but Nelson had spoken for him in a round about way. That was good enough for the JSA. Was it good enough for the Batman?

Fate had been waiting patiently, standing apart from the others. He drifted closer at the Batman’s call-

YES

Batman glanced up, grimacing in annoyance at the man hovering just enough above him to make him adjust his stance that he had to look up. Fate was imposing, his long cloak fluttering in the slight breeze of the internal air, his muscles straining within the confines of his armor. His deep voice echoed coldly from beneath his golden helmet.

“You know your job.” It was a statement, not a question, but Fate answered regardless-

I SHALL USE MY ABILITIES, THE POWER OF ORDER TO FORCE ASIDE THE VEIL OF TIME THAT YOUR CONSTRUCT MIGHT TRAVERSE THAT GREAT FLOWING RIVER!

Batman stared at the man floating just above him for a moment. They were fractured images; darkness reflecting light. Finally the Gotham Guardian nodded and turned away. He strode across the room, ignoring most of his fellow heroes as he headed for the far side where waited the Martian Manhunter and the one that had brought them all together-

Superman…

The Batman had explained to all of them his beliefs, that the man that had been seen across the globe all that morning accomplishing miraculous feats was not actually the Superman that they all knew. The Batman had said that he was certain that the real Superman had been replaced with a doppelganger from some alternate reality- a pocket dimension that had been created by a being of immense power. A villain he named the Time Trapper! Just how the Batman had reasoned all of this out he had not said, but the Justice League apparently took his word at face value and that was enough.

The bogus Superman was a being of incredible power, and it had taken the entire compliment of the League to take him down in the frozen wastes of Antarctica. The being had apparently been doing things in hopes of converting the planet into a facsimile of the Earth that he recalled. The Earth that he thought it should have been and damn the consequences to its inhabitants and environment. Scott supposed that the being had to be stopped, but as always he felt that there should have been a better way to do it. Beating the man into submission should have been a last resort. Alan Scott sighed, stepping closer to listen. Maybe he was just getting old.

They had encased the bogus Superman within a case not unlike a coffin. It was made of metal, a metal that Scott could not identify that Firestorm had apparently created out of the very molecules of thin air. He called it inertron, supposedly the strongest substance in the universe at least according to Rayner. It was heavy, dense, and Scott’s initial probes with the energies of the Starheart proved that it was nigh unbreakable. At least by him- to Superman though? Who could say?

Despite the casing, the League was taking no chances it seemed. The doppelganger was additionally bound- almost mummified by the glowing golden cord of Wonder Woman’s supposedly unbreakable magic lasso. The magical rope extended through the very molecules of the coffin to allow her to retain control of it, her very will apparently strengthening it somehow. The Amazon had the trailing end of the cord wrapped tightly within her fist as she kept a close watch on the man within, staring with concern through the view plate set in the coffin’s lid.

The magician Zatanna stood next to the Amazonian Princess peering within as well. She had apparently used her mystical abilities to deliver the ‘killing blow’ to the doppelganger; first by binding him in magical chains, then mystically enchanting him to sleep. Scott knew that one of the real Superman’s weaknesses was against magic. The League was very lucky that it affected the doppelganger as well.

With Wonder Woman and Zatanna standing ready, and Firestorm as well keeping watch over his construct, the last Leaguer about the coffin was J’onn J’onzz, the Martian Manhunter. J’onzz had been defeated by the doppelganger early on in the day- actually beaten unconscious and frozen into the icy glaciers at the North Pole for a short time. He would still be there, trapped in a form of suspended animation buried beneath the thick polar ice if not for Aquaman and his telepathic abilities. The Sea King had found the Martian and somehow sparked him back to awareness, his mind ‘speaking’ to the unconscious Martian’s. It was incredible, and Alan Scott wondered how quickly they would have won the war with the likes of these in the All Star Squadron!

“J’onn?” Batman asked, glancing at the coffin and then at the Martian standing at its head. “Status?”

The Martian looked up slowly, his golden eyes sparkling from the shadows beneath his large, overhanging brow. He seemed tired and grim to Scott- they all did in fact, except maybe Plastic Man. Still they were all business as well, and ready to do their job whatever the cost.

“Still asleep, Batman. Deeply. I sense no mental activity outside of his dreaming. I sense nothing that suggests that he is other than he claims to be- Superman. His memories are different, however, and many include most of us though slightly altered. You figure most prominently in many, Batman. It was almost as though in whatever reality he heralds from that you were partners, and friends. There were battles with the League against opponents that I do not recall. He had family- other Kryptonians that arrived on Earth; a cousin, a dog. It is all very… strange.”

“Definitely not our Superman then.” The Batman stated with finality, but the Martian continued-

“There’s more. In his deepest subconscious, almost locked and hidden away I sensed another, older set of memories just as established if not more so. Memories of another place, another dimension perhaps. A place where neither men nor things exist. Only unformed, shapeless beings. Ideas… I believe it is this that the Parasite tapped into when he leeched the powers and memories from the doppelganger. It is this- Quarrm- that drove him mad!”

“The word he said-“ Wonder Woman added, and the Martian nodded-

“I believe it is the name of that formless void.”

“Whatever, J’onn. Madness is no more than the Parasite deserves. He’s forgotten any of Superman’s similar memories, which is what I hoped.”

“Madness is a high price to pay for helping us, Batman.”

Batman stared at the Martian for a time, almost as though trying to sort what the Manhunter had said and fit it in with his own theories. If he cared that he had used the Parasite, he did not say so. He frowned finally, and turned, striding back to the treadmill where the Flashes and Max Mercury were already getting into position.

“You’re the expert on the metaphysical, J’onn. If you think any of that is relevant then inform me. Otherwise keep looking for anything on the Trapper in the doppelganger’s mind that might be of use.”

“Shouldn’t we have contacted the Legion of Super Heroes in Metropolis?” the Black Canary asked, hurrying to intercept the Batman while he was between tasks. She, along with Aquaman, Red Tornado and Plastic Man had little to contribute to the preparations, though they all might be needed during the actual trip through the Time Stream. Aquaman for his mental abilities, the Tornado for his control over the air and wind, and the Canary with her sonic scream- all would act as buffers on the journey. Plastic Man would be good for something too, though at the moment Scott could not figure what. He was a hero through and through, though he had been one of the borderline cases back during the war. He had fought alongside the All-Star Squadron on occasion, but had never truly joined due mainly to his somewhat shady origins and secret identity. He had proven his self though, and his worth or he would not be counted in the League.

“We tried, Canary.” Batman said without breaking stride, forcing the shorter woman to hurry to keep pace. “I had hoped to involve them and perhaps utilize Brainiac Five’s input. They are from the future, after all, and it was during an encounter with them- or a version of them- that Superman first learned of the Time Trapper as he related the story to me. The doppelganger is a grown version of a Super-Boy that was somehow linked to the Legion in an alternate reality that the Time Trapper created to confound that group. An entire timeline created by a single being for the sole purpose of attacking the Legion of Super Heroes-“

“He almost sounds like a god.”

Batman snorted. “We’ve encountered gods before, Canary. And defeated them!”

“I just thought that since we are traveling to the future…” the Black Canary paused for a moment, as though the notion of what they were about to attempt was finally sinking in. She shivered, “Well, it seems we should take the Legion with us. They are trying to return to their own time and we’ve done nothing to help-“

“Yo, BC!”

Plastic Man stepped forward on overly long spindly legs, his pliable body morphing as he fell into a rolling gait beside the heroine. His uniform seemed to grow bulky and baggy, his pants drooping about his ass. He held his hands out awkwardly, waving them as he spoke-

“Poppy Plaz dropped by homie’s cave-crib but they’s out, awiight? Bat-dawg done re-called his peeps, but they’s out doin’ their thang, y’knowhatI’msayin’? It’s the shizzo, but what’chu gonna do? Ya snooz- ya looz! Word!”

Black Canary blinked, trying to sort out what Plastic Man had just said, ignoring the strange movements and noises he was making as he strolled away. She turned back to the Batman-

“If this works, and if we return home safely we’ll offer the opportunity to the Legion and try to help them get back home. We don’t even know if what we’re planning will work.”

“Oh, it’ll work Batman.” Jay Garrick looked up from his position on one of the rear treadmills on the device. He was attaching leads to his skin to help monitor the energies that his speed would be producing, the better to stay in synch with Max Mercury and Wally West. In the past, several speedsters had made the time trips together, but it had never been attempted in such a way as to take so many passengers. Mercury and the original Flash would be providing most of the power in this instance, but it would be Wally West who was doing the actual steering, guiding the JLA into the farthest reaches of the future. Farther than any of them had attempted to travel before.

“The Cosmic Treadmill is fool proof.” Garrick continued as he checked his leads to Mercury’s standing on the other track to his left. “it’s perhaps the only proven way to travel through time repeatedly, at least since the Crisis.”

“That’s right.” Max Mercury spoke up for the first time, authority in his voice. “The Speed Force is actually linked to the Time Stream. It’s an integral part of what keeps time flowing. Before the Crisis, it was much easier to breech the barrier. We still can, but for some reason never the same way twice. As speedsters deriving our powers from the Speed Force we’ve found that by slightly altering our vibratorial patterns we can still use Barry Allen’s Cosmic Treadmill to ‘pierce the veil’ so to speak. Basically we cheat, doing the same thing, just slightly out of synch every subsequent time. As I understand it, Hal Jordan had traveled to the future before using his power ring. This Green Lantern-“ Mercury motioned to Kyle Rayner, “could do the same- once! He would then be stranded wherever he ended up, at least until he figured a new, different way home. Likewise, whatever means your Legion of Super Heroes used to get to this time from their own worked once. Now they’re stuck. At least until we try this successfully. If this works for us, it should work for them.”

The Black Canary nodded that she understood, and at the Batman’s indication stepped up onto the wide platform that had been built around the central, forward treadmill where Wally West stood impatiently. Alan Scott watched as she got into position, and one by one the rest of the JLA followed suit, Wonder Woman and the Martian Manhunter carrying the doppelganger’s coffin aboard and securing it into place. Sentinel stepped to his own position at the rear of the construct, opposite Doctor Fate on the far side. The mystic was already floating, his arms stretched wide as he gathered whatever magical forces he would need for his part in the attempt. He was starting to glow.

Sentinel called forth the ancient power of the Starheart from deep within his very being. He felt the wild rush of the energies as they welled within him, building like a song in crescendo. His body started to glow, faintly green at first, then brighter and brighter. His body seemed to ripple as a dark green flame danced over his skin. He saw the Batman watching, waiting for a signal that he was ready and Scott nodded. The Batman took up his own position on the platform, waiting as Wonder Woman played out more of her infinite cord, looping the lasso about the Dark Knight Detective and every other member of the League, tying the trailing end at last to the Flash- Wally West.

The Batman turned to each and every one assembled in turn, waiting for them all to acknowledge that they were prepared. Only the Atom was missing, already shrunken to microscopic size and hidden away within one of his teammates as an ace in the hole. Sentinel assumed that he was riding with the Batman, but even the Caped Crusader probably did not know for sure. It was safer that way, if the Time Trapper was as powerful as they all expected.

“From what Superman told me, the Time Trapper’s base of operations is within a fortress at the farthest reaches of known time- the alleged end of everything! I do not even pretend to understand the workings of time and space in that fashion. But I believe that what the Flashes have told us all, and Superman for that matter to be true. I have no reason to doubt any of them- any of you. If time does have an ending, then we will reach it.”

Everyone waited for the Batman to add on the obvious- or die trying- but he never did. The Batman was certain that they would succeed, the only one among them with no Meta power, the only one that was truly only human. If he believed, then that was enough for the rest.

“Even a circle… has a beginning… Batman.” The Red Tornado spoke stoically, his hollow voice echoing from within the shell of his robotic form. “And an end… One simply needs… to know… where to look. Time is a circle… unending… spiraling out of… control… beginning to… ending… and back again… Forever…”

There was an odd silence for a moment after that, and Sentinel sensed a cold shiver run through the crowd. Finally Aquaman broke the tension-

“We should begin before we start debating theology, Batman. We’ll be here till the end of time otherwise- one way or another.”

“Right.” The Batman nodded, setting his face in stone as he anchored himself down grabbing one of the metallic bracers jutting up from the crowded platform, the others following his lead. He turned to Kyle Rayner, and the Green Lantern nodded, licking his lips-

“Here we go then. Next and last stop, the End of Time!” Rayner quipped as he concentrated. His ring started to glow, and with a thought a green tendril snaked out and away from his hand to merge with the dark green flames of Sentinel’s own energies. It was theorized that the Starheart- the actual verdant meteor that had crashed to Earth so many years before- was actually some strange part of the great Green Flame on the planet Oa that had once powered the thousands of rings belonging to the Green Lantern Corp. Kyle Rayner held the last of those rings, the most powerful of them all, given to him by the last Guardian of the Universe- Ganthet. Connected by a common past or not, the energies of Green Lantern and Sentinel seemed to merge well and compliment one another. It took little thought at all for Rayner to link with Scott, and no effort then to maintain their cohesion, leaving Earth’s last Green Lantern free to create a construct to contain the heroes for their upcoming journey. Rayner had stated often enough that he ‘did not do bubbles’, but the Batman had said to keep it simple- to concentrate on keeping them alive and tethered to their past. As such, a transparent green bubble encompassed the platform acting as a force field as well as a safe haven with an earthly atmosphere contained within.

Wally West had said that the aura that the Speed Force provided him and the other speedsters would probably not extend to passengers- at least in the way that they were assembled on the platform. Barry Allen had carried passengers through time before- his wife Iris not in the least, but West could not carry everyone. Tethered as they were to Wonder Woman and Sentinel- and connected to the three speedsters as well- it was theorized that the aura of the Speed Force would encompass them all, radiating out and about the Lantern’s protective shell from West’s central position on the platform, then merging with the auras produced by Jay Garrick and Max Mercury. It was a gamble, and had never been tried, but it was the best they had.

The Batman turned his attention to the front of the platform as the speedsters started to run, slowly at first, testing, but quickly picking up speed.

“Fate?” the Batman shouted as the Cosmic Treadmill began to hum and whine from the building strain.

I AM PREPARED!

Batman nodded again as the three speedsters began to pick up their collective pace. Scott watched, concentrating on his tether as Rayner’s bubble faded opaque. Wally West had suggested- and Jay Garrick agreed- that it was probably best that the passengers not actually see what they were traveling through. Everyone in the League had a strong will, but the mysteries of time were not there for all to see. The Batman had grudgingly agreed, bowing to their greater expertise in the matter. The energies of the Starheart allowed Scott to pierce Rayner’s globe, but the occupants were simple shadows to even his sight as they started to fade from view, hanging on for dear life.

The grind of the treadmills had become an irritating whine finally vanishing as the two Flashes and Max Mercury ran faster and faster. The sounds of the machine became too fast to discern, too high-pitched to hear. Sparks flared and lightning danced off of the original Flash and Max Mercury, their bodies slowly starting to glow and almost liquefy it seemed. Within the space of a heartbeat they were suddenly gone, just a blurry patch in the corner of Scott’s vision. The treadmill itself seemed to melt as energy erupted over its length.

At the far end of the platform- its technical front- Doctor Fate hovered in mid-air, silent and motionless. Strange glowing symbols appeared and vanished rapidly at the magi’s beck and call. Scott recognized a few, but most were alien to him and unknown. An Ankh appeared suddenly as the magician extended his arms forward. It was huge, glowing gold and pulsing with energy. It seemed to suck at the platform, grabbing at Rayner’s bubble and stretching it out as though forcing it through some unseen hole. Lightning flared, and a quick series of thunderous explosions rocked the chamber, as suddenly the front portion of the treadmill seemed to stretch out towards infinity and vanish into the Ankh!

Alan Scott screamed as his own energies started to follow, caught up in the ultimate slipstream. He could feel the anchor, the link that he had established with Kyle Rayner growing fainter, almost dwindling. It never quite vanished, but it took every bit of Sentinel’s will to focus on that link as it faded away into the Time Stream. Still, that was why he was here, to anchor the League with the past. He would not fail!

There was a final brilliant flash of lightning, followed almost anti-climatically by a dull, muted whump of thunder, and then all was still.

Alan Scott only then realized that he had been clenching his eyelids shut against the glare, gritting his teeth against the hypersonic whine of the machine. He opened his eyes and saw the green tether of his energies flailing outward, vanishing in the midst of Fate’s huge glowing Ankh. He saw Jay Garrick and Max Mercury slumped over the support bars of their individual treadmills, both heaving for air and dripping in sweat. They were thin and haggard, exhausted, but neither left their station. Fate still hovered, apparently oblivious to it all-

“Well?” Sentinel asked, forcing the words through his suddenly chattering teeth. He was freezing.

Max Mercury and the Flash forced themselves to look up, and the effort almost killed them it seemed. Doctor Fate tilted his head, considering his comrades for a moment, then looked away again-

THEY HAVE PASSED BEYOND THE LIMITS OF MY KNOWLEDGE. THEIR FATE NOW RESTS IN THE HANDS OF ANOTHER FAR MORE POWERFUL THAN I…

Sentinel sighed as the speedsters sagged once again. He could feel Rayner’s energies- barely- fading, dwindling as time and space separated them. Alan Scott dug his feet in and concentrated.

There was nothing left to do but wait.

Wait and pray…
 

Next Issue: What will the JLA find at the end of their journey to the farthest reaches of time?  Only time will tell…

 Be here next time for guest stars galore in the little tale I call…

 Crisis at the End of Time!