Chapter 3
Chapter 3
Earth – 1; Lian yu
On the island of Lian Yu in the China Sea, Oliver Queen stood in front of the graves of Robert Queen, Yao Fei and Shado, deep in thought. He thought back to everything he had experienced on this island. He had learned painful revelations about his own family. He had been forced to kill in order to survive. With all of his horrible years, he had become Green Arrow. At first he thought he was righting his father's sings, and then later, he ended up becoming Star City's protector. And even the protector of the universe. He remembered when Barry and Kara had come to join him in his city to tell him about Thanos, the Mad Titan who wanted to destroy half the universe. And he had achieved his goal. He had wiped out half of the entire Multiverse, wiping out those close to him, except for his brother-in-arms John Diggle. After his failure, Oliver had taken refuge on Lian Yu, fearing to succumb to his murderous urges. Then five years later, Kara had returned to bring him hope and together they had undone what Thanos had done in the Multiverse. They had saved everyone, but at what cost? Tony Stark and Natasha Romanoff had both sacrificed themselves to save the universe. And lo and behold today, Oliver found himself facing a new threat unlike anything he had ever overcome. And he had to consider that he was probably going to die in this new Crisis.
But despite this, Oliver had seen the positive: he had been able to have a glimpse of the future of his children, when his daughter Mia had disembarked in his bunker, with William and Connor. Unfortunately, this happiness was marred by the sadness to learn of her death in the future, thus missing the life of his daughter, who had had to learn to fight, to fend for herself. Oliver blamed himself for not being able to be there for Mia.
While he was lost in thought, Mia joined her.
"Hey."
"Hey," Oliver replied, smiling.
"Um, William said I might find you here." she said as her father joined her.
"Figured you'd be the first one on the boat." the archer pointed out. (He caught sight of his daughter's lost gaze.) "You okay?"
"My whole life I heard nothing but stories about you," she explained with emotion. "You know, this legendary Green Arrow and his team. And Mom would also tell me that you went to another Earth to fight a Mad Titan of space alongside the superheroes called the Avengers. I should have been proud of you, because you were a hero, and All I could see is that that is the reason that you weren't with me, and it's it's kind of hard to let that go…"
She was so upset that she couldn't finish her sentence. And her father looked at her with the same sadness.
"I never meant to cause you any pain." Oliver replied with emotion. "Your mom and me just wanted to protect you."
"I know," agreed Mia, still sad. "I, uh I understand that now."
Oliver seemed delighted to realize that his daughter understood the sacrifice he had been forced to make. He looked again at the graves of his father and the people he had known, answering:
"For a very long time, I have hated this place. Just I'd think about all the people that it took from me. It would just It would just make me so angry."
"But you're not now?" asked his daughter softly.
"I'm still a little bit angry." Oliver replied.
Mia chuckled then her father spoke again:
"It turned me into someone else, somebody better than the person I was before. So despite my feelings There are no stories about the Green Arrow to tell if I don't make my way to Lian Yu, and I'm also not standing at this moment, looking at my daughter."
A few tears flowed under Mia's eyes, as she smiled tenderly at her father.
"Thank you for letting me be a part of your story, even if it was only for a little while."
Oliver smirked sadly at his daughter, upset that he couldn't watch his daughter grow up.
"Mia, something tells me you're gonna create your own stories." he answered softly.
And he took his daughter in his arms, hugging her tenderly. After a warm hug, Mia looked at her father, sad and confused as to what to do next.
"So what now?" she asked.
"We need to get back home," Oliver replied. "And just be prepared for whatever's coming next."
"Okay," Mia agreed.
Suddenly, several claps of thunder roared in the sky, only to then turn completely red. Everything they could see of the heavens was red.
Then he had a strong light that dazzled the eyes of the archer and his daughter. Then the whitish halo ceased, and they saw Lyla Michaels. But she was very different from the one they knew. Lyla was now wearing a bluish outfit. She looked like a character from a science fiction novel.
"Lyla?" Oliver asked questioningly.
"Not anymore," replied the woman in blue. "I'm now a Harbinger of things to come."
"And that's…" Mia whispered knowing what the red sky meant.
"Yes. The Crisis has begun," Harbinger replied worryingly.
Earth – 1; Central City
As the sky was visible across the city, a red and yellow blur raced through the streets in super-speed. It was Barry Allen, aka Flash, who roamed his city in super-speed while trying to contact his team at Star Labs.
"Cisco, what have you got? Is this an isolated event? Is it everywhere?"
He stopped his run when he realized he got no response from his teammates. He only got a spurious communication.
"Cisco? Iris?"
Suddenly there was a great flash of light, dazzling him a little. Then Lyla's figure appeared in front of him. But it wasn't the Lyla the speedster knew about. She was dressed in a strange outfit in blue.
"Lyla?" he wondered.
"I'm Harbinger now," the woman disguised in blue said in a neutral voice. "I'm working with the Monitor."
At the mention of the being of the stars, Flash was stunned. A few months earlier, the Monitor had visited him, telling him that he was supposed to die during the Crisis. He observed Lyla determinedly.
"He sent you to get me? Because the Crisis is here?"
"That is correct," Harbinger agreed with a slight nod.
Resigning himself to face what he expected, Flash turned to the woman with great determination.
"I'm ready!"
Earth – 1; Gotham city
Turning our attention to local news, a series of robberies by the Wonderland Gang continues with seemingly no end in sight…
Two large armored vehicles were stopped. In one of them, a group of men wearing rabbit masks came out. A few carried semi-automatic rifles and others were littered with big bags filled with cash.
As they left the robbed van, a thud on the roof of the vehicle was heard. The rabbit men looked up and saw Gotham's protector Batwoman. The one that scared the city's criminals.
"Where is Alice?" she roared, in a voice full of power.
The rabbit men pointed their guns and fired at the bat woman, but she sneaked up and down, dodging the bullets, and took down the gang robbers one by one. No matter how much they shot her, none matched Batwoman.
Finally, there was only one still standing, and trying to escape. Batwoman drew her batclaw which grabbed the thug's shoulder and threw him into a parked car, smashing the window and sending the man to the ground.
Batwoman approached the incapacitated and nailed thief, then put her foot on the man's stomach, addressing him in a loud voice:
"I said, "Where is Alice?""
The thug with the rabbit mask gave in to his fear.
"Okay okay, I'll tell you. There's an old sugar factory."
"Where is it?" Batwoman questioned, pressing her foot into the thug's stomach.
It was then that a flash appeared out of nowhere, and the silhouette of a woman in blue outfit was facing the bat woman. Puzzled, she looked at the newcomer, wondering what was going on.
"Batwoman, the multiverse is in great danger. You are needed."
But Batwoman had other personal problems to resolve.
"I'll deal with, whatever your crazy is, in a minute." She retorted, determined to get her information on the location of Alice, the leader of the Wonderland Gang.
But the woman in blue shook her head.
"There is no more time!"
Before the bat could reply, it was swept away by a powerful lightning bolt.
Earth – 1; Star City
In a bar, Sara Lance and Ray Palmer were quietly sitting in front of their beers, awaiting the outcome of the quiz night. If they won, they would be entitled to a free tour. The last question was for Janis Joplin's last song. Sara was sure of their answer, Mercedes Benz. But to their surprise, the answer was Little Robot Man. Ray tilted his head, empty-handed, while Sara was dismayed.
"Uh, no, that's wrong. But "Mercedes Benz" was Janis Joplin's last song. I'm gonna tell that trivia host."
Then her partner Ray called out to her feeling like a child caught in the act.
"Sara? So, you remember last year at Woodstock when I was supposed to steal a lock of Janis Joplin's hair without her noticing?"
"Yeah?" replied the young Lance, knowing that her friend was going to confess to her a mistake he had made.
"Uh, she noticed." Ray replied, bracing for his captain's wrath. "Then she called me…"
"Little Robot Man," Sara concludes, understanding their defeat. "Well, congratulations, you change history and lost us trivia night."
"Sorry," answered the sheepish man.
Then a lightning flashed out of nowhere, and Lyla's blue figure appeared on a table. The other patrons left the bar, distraught, while Sara and Ray looked at her in amazement.
"Lyla? What's with the suit?" exclaimed the Captain of the Waverider in amazement.
Earth of the Avengers; Wakanda
In the kingdom of Wakanda under the red sky, King T'Challa was still trying to figure out where that strange red sky and its thundering lightning came from. At the bottom of his palace, people were starting to panic. Soon he would be faced with a panic. It had to be avoided. He turned to Okoye.
"We must calm everyone!" he ordered. "Alert Dora Milaje and the Border Tribe. Until we find out what it is, all residents should stay in their homes without exceptions."
The Wakandan warrior nodded and set off on her mission. Then Black Panther joined his sister who was hunched over her digital tablet.
"Shuri, were you able to discover anything in all of this?"
But the younger sister looked at her brother, totally panicked.
"From what our satellites can tell us, this is a wave of energy flowing through space. An extremely powerful wave of energy. No one had seen this before! This red sky, brother, it's not just Wakanda, it's the whole world that is affected! On all news channels, regardless of the country, it's the same thing! This red sky is everywhere! This wave of energy, whatever it is, is beyond my knowledge. I have no idea what that can be! And if this thing gets into our atmosphere, I doubt our technology can repel this! If that enters our planet, we risk disappearing! I don't know how to fight this thing, whatever it is!"
Despite his sister's anguish, T'Challa remained calm, meditating in his thoughts.
"What are you thinking?" Shuri said noticing the king's behavior.
"Do you remember the Monitor's visit last year?" Black Panther told her. "He warned us that a Crisis was coming. I think it's here…"
At those words, Shuri's eyes widened in amazement.
"What are we going to do?"
But before T'Challa could respond, a powerful flash of lightning flashed, and a woman in blue appeared right in front of them. Black Panther extended his claws and eyed the woman with a threatening gaze, while Shuri stood still in amazement.
"Who are you and what are you doing in Wakanda?" asked the Wakandan king with a loud voice.
"I'm Harbinger," the woman replied. "I'm working with the Monitor. He's the one who sent me for you. And also you, Shuri!"
"Me… me too?" murmured the young sister, dazed.
"The Crisis has begun," Harbinger said. "There's no more time."
And a dazzling light carried Black Panther and his sister.
Earth of the Avengers; Barton Farm
Clint Barton and his wife stood close to each other, watching the eerie red sky and its lightning bolts that kept roaring. Laura was distressed, while her husband was calm, even though he wondered what was going on.
Then a dazzling light appeared out of nowhere, and a woman wearing a blue outfit appeared right in front of the couple.
Clint drew his bow and aimed at the woman.
"Who are you?"
"Clint Barton, I'm Harbinger," the new woman explained. "I'm working with the Monitor. He sends me for you!"
At the mention of the Monitor, the archer lowered his bow, and was calm.
"Has the Crisis he told me about begun?"
"Correct," Harbinger agreed.
Laura took her husband's hand, as if he was about to go to war.
"Clint, please…"
Then her husband reassured her by caressing her shoulders.
"It's okay, honey, we talked about it before, remember? We both knew that day would come," Clint said calmly.
"But I don't want to lose you!" Laura cried, panicked. "The Avengers aren't like they used to be. Tony Stark, Nat, and Steve…"
"It's gonna be okay, Laura, it's gonna be okay," Clint reassured her, still calm. "I promise I will come back and I will not lose you and the kids like six years ago!"
His wife nodded, but still anxiously. Then Clint, determined to have to fight what he expected, took a few steps towards Harbinger.
"I'm ready!" he declared with determination.
Harbinger nodded, and the two of them disappeared in a dazzling new light.
Earth of the Avengers; Queens
Spider-Man hovered around the houses in his neighborhood, and landed in an inconspicuous alley where his loved ones were: his best friend Ned Leeds and his girlfriend Michelle Jones aka MJ. His two friends approached him anxiously.
"Peter, do you know what's going on?" MJ exclaimed, stunned.
"What's that fucking red sky?" Ned added, completely bewildered by the strange event.
Peter pulled the Spider-Man mask down from his suit, revealing his worried face to those close to him.
"I've no idea!" he replied. "This red sky is everywhere in the world! I spoke to Happy, he told me this stuff is all over the planet! Everyone is hit by this thing!"
"Holy shit, it's like with Thanos!" Ned panicked. "We're all gonna die! We're all gonna die! Peter, you gotta do something, man! Save us! I don't want to dust yet and reappear five years later!"
Peter took his friend by the shoulders.
"Ned, Ned, I need you to calm down, buddy! Calm down! I'm as freaked out as you are, but this is no time to be hysterical."
"It's the perfect time to be hysterical, Peter!" MJ added as distraught as her friend. "We need a plan! Do you have one?"
Before the young man could respond, a powerful light shot out right behind them, and a strange woman in blue attire appeared to them.
"Peter Parker! The Multiverse is in great danger, you are needed!
Dazed, the young Avenger looked at the woman, while Ned and MJ were speechless in amazement.
"Listen, lady…"
"There's no time!" retorted the woman. "We have to go now!"
And Peter disappeared with the woman under a whitish light that enveloped them, leaving Ned and MJ dazed with anguish.
"It's the end of days!" Ned declared in panic. "We're all gonna die!"
Earth – 38; National City
"Panic is rising out there," Alex told all the DEO agents. "I want every available agent in the field until we get a handle on whatever this thing is."
She turned to her sister, who was in mourning for the disappearance of Argo City. She put a hand on her shoulder in comfort.
Supergirl nodded determinedly. Despite her sadness, she had to stay focused on the present moment. Her Earth would risk suffering the same fate as Argo. She had to overcome her grief in order to be objective.
Finally, Kara, Alex, and J'onn headed with a few agents to help people, when a blinding flash of light erupted in the center of the DEO. Then a woman in a blue suit appeared right in front of them.
Instantly, weapons were pointed at her, but the woman remained neutral.
"Hands where we can see them now!" Alex ordered, pointing her gun at the mysterious woman.
"Did you do this? Did you destroy Argo?" Supergirl asked threateningly.
But before anyone could attack, there was another burst of light closer to Alex and Supergirl. And the God of Thunder Thor appeared before the two women, along with Rocket and Groot, who had clung to the Asgardian's red cloak.
At the sight of Thor, Alex urged her agents to lower their weapons, while Supergirl looked stunned.
"Thor?" the Kryptonian exclaimed.
"Kara, I'm sorry for Argo!" said the Asgardian warrior gently. (He pointed to the woman in blue.) "This woman is on our side! She's Harbinger! She's working with the Monitor! The Crisis, the one he told us about last year, has just begun. This is it. Argo City is just the beginning!"
Stunned, Supergirl noticed the two Guardians of the Galaxy who had accompanied Thor.
"Rocket? Groot?"
The raccoon waved a little.
"Hey Kryptonian! (Turning to his tree friend.) Groot, did you see that? The Kryptonian in pants now!"
"I am Groot," replied Groot, looking at the Girl of Steel.
And there was a new burst of light behind Harbinger. Then nine people were standing in front of the entire DEO.
With amazement, Supergirl recognized Black Panther, her sister Shuri, Clint Barton and Peter Parker aka Spider-Man from Avengers Earth. Next, she spotted Batwoman, Oliver Queen, and a blonde girl she didn't know. And to her relief, she discovered her cousin Superman and her step-cousin Lois Lane.
The two sisters looked at the newcomers in surprise, as did J'onn and Brainy.
"Oh, my God, you're okay!" Kara exclaimed running to join Lois's arms.
"Thanks to her." replied her step-cousin, pointing to Harbinger. "She appeared at the last second and brought us to Thor, and then here."
Then, the Girl of Steel came to hug her cousin who in turn explained:
"We sent Jonathan off in an escape pod!"
Then, Supergirl asked the question she dreaded with anguish.
"And my mother?"
But Superman shook his head in shock.
"I am so sorry!"
Supergirl looked upset again. Argo City had disappeared with her mother. Alex gazed sadly at her sister, then Thor put his hand on his friend's shoulder.
T'Challa and Shuri, who were in the background, stared at the DEO environment in amazement.
"Where are we, brother?" Shuri exclaimed, shocked.
Even Clint and Peter looked around, their eyes widening.
"What's that?" Spider-Man said fearfully. "Where are we? Where's Queens? Where are Ned and MJ? Who are everyone? (And he saw the Earth – 1's archer.) Oliver?"
The protector of Star City gave him a friendly nod.
"Hey Peter! (Turning to the archer Avenger) Hello Clint!"
"Hey Queen!" replied the archer of the Avengers. (Then he saw the blonde girl with Oliver.) "Hey kiddo!"
"Where are we?" repeated Peter. "What the fuck happened?"
"For once, I agree with the kid," Clint replied. "What are we doing here?"
Rocket turned to Harbinger.
"Okay, pretty blue lady, what if you tell us what we're doing here?" he asked.
Batwoman had approached Supergirl and Thor.
"Kara? Thor? Where are we? And what just happened?"
Before either could respond, Harbinger spoke up, addressing all the Heroes of the Earths who had appeared.
"You're on Earth-38. There was…"
Then Batwoman punched her interrupting her, much to everyone's surprise.
"I like this one," Clint commented admiringly, looking at the woman in the bat.
"That rabbit was about to talk." she exclaimed, furious at being pushed off a trail to find Alice.
"She's talking to rabbits," Brainy commented quietly to J'onn.
"Uh Groot, So she is the woman disguised as a bat that Thor told us about," Rocket replied, looking at the woman from Gotham City smirk. "And she talks to rabbits?! I prefer her to the Kryptonian."
"I am Groot," Groot retorted, expressing his disagreement.
Thor turned to her, in a calming tone.
"Batwoman, right now, a cataclysm is coming. No one in the whole universe has been confronted with this before! All worlds are in danger! And if we want to save them all, we have to work together!"
"It's okay," Supergirl added. "'Cause we're all on the same side."
"Are we?" Batwoman retorted, turning back to the Asgardian and the Kryptonian. "'Cause I don't know them."
"But you know us, Thor and me!" the Kryptonian replied with an embarrassed smile. "And if you were brought here with all these other heroes, it's probably because we need you. I trust everyone in this room with my life. Including you!"
After a moment of reflection, Batwoman removed her bat mask featuring a pink wig, revealing her true face.
"Well, I guess you should all just call me Kate!" she said to all the heroes around her.
T'Challa nodded at her in greeting.
"I knew it!" said Thor with a smile.
"We haven't met yet," Clint said to the newcomer. "I'm Clint."
"Hey," replied Kate uninteresting.
"Hey Kate," Spider-Man added, delighted with this meeting. "I'm Spider-Man! Nice to meet you!"
Kate just nodded at him.
"Yeah, yeah, that makes a lot of sense," Oliver muttered in a low voice.
And the blonde girl accompanying Green Arrow raised her hand as if to introduce herself.
"Uh, I'm Mia, I'm Oliver's daughter!"
Everyone looked at her, frowning.
"I never knew he had a daughter!" J'onn wondered.
"Really?" Peter wondered, dumbfounded.
"Oliver Queen has a daughter?" Clint exclaimed stunned, looking at the girl with wide eyes. "Well then… that's news to me!"
"Don't worry, he gets that a lot." Mia replied sarcastically.
Oliver gave all the heroes an embarrassed smile, while Alex turned to Harbinger again.
"Okay, you. Start talking."
"Yes, I agree," T'Challa agreed. "It's time to find out why we're here and what we are up against!"
So the director of the DEO invited the woman in blue and all the other heroes to follow her into an agency meeting room. With an awkward gesture, Peter raised his hand to Mia.
"Hey, I'm Peter!"
"Hey," Oliver's daughter replied uninterestedly, ignoring his hand.
Then, Clint walked over to Oliver, talking to him in a low voice.
"The last time we met, you told me about your son William, but you don't have never referred to your daughter," he explained.
"The last time we met, she didn't exist yet," Oliver replied. "My current daughter's still a baby who is a few months old. The Mia here is from the future. From 2040."
Clint looked stunned.
"Do you have a daughter from the future? Twenty years later? (And he chuckled.) And you who said my Earth was weird…"
The Heroes of Three Earths sat in the DEO briefing room, listening to Harbinger tell them about the situation. On the screen behind her was a picture of the solar system with an approaching wave of energy.
"There's a wave of antimatter sweeping across this universe...destroying everything in its path." she informed the group of heroes.
Oliver, who was seated next to his daughter, Kate, Clint and Brainny, spoke in turn:
"I've seen the antimatter wave in action. It wiped all of Earth-2 right out of existence." he revealed ominously, as he recalled his trip to Earth – 2 now destroyed where her mother was alive and married to Malcolm Merlyn, where Tommy was alive and the Dark Archer and where Thea died of a drug overdose.
It wasn't a pleasant trip, but he had accomplished what the Monitor ordered him to do.
At the mention of the destruction of Earth - 2, a feeling of dread ran through all the heroes gathered around the briefing room table. Rocket swallows in horror.
"I am Groot," the tree whispered in a small voice trembling with anguish.
Harbinger continued:
"I've brought you all to Earth – 38 because this is where the Monitor wants you to make your stand. This universe is the tipping point. If we don't stop the antimatter wave here, it will continue to the next universe, and the next and the next… until it has obliterated not only every Earth, but everything… across all reality."
"A wave of antimatter?" exclaimed Peter shocked at the idea of the wave of energy destroying his Earth, wiping out his friends and his aunt.
"The wave of antimatter will destroy all the Earths including ours!"Shuri realized in a voice shaking with fear.
"Exactly," Harbinger replied.
"Damn it!"exclaimed Clint anguished for his Earth and his family.
"All right. So we are going to need a bigger team." Oliver said, looking at Harbinger. "Where's Barry? Where are the Legends?"
"Doing reconnaissance."replied the woman in blue. "I'm headed to check on them now."
And at his words, she turned and disappeared in a great burst of light.
"I...still don't like her." Kate said simply.
"I am Groot," Groot added, sharing her point of view.
"Groot, not now!" Rocket said, shocked at the current situation.
Alex got up from her chair.
"Well, Brainy's algorithm will help forecast exactly how much time we have until the antimatter wave hits."she said, trying to bring some optimism to the group.
"This Crisis is much more serious than I imagined," Thor said anxiously.
"Thank you all for being here." Supergirl said to the heroes. "I know we can beat this together."
Everyone got up to leave the room, when Lois and Superman had turned to Kara.
"About Jonathan we set a course for Earth in his pod, but we don't know where it landed." Lois said with concern.
"Or even if it landed." added Superman in anguish, looking at his cousin.
Shuri, who had heard them, turned to them.
"I can help you retrace his trajectory," she said, taking out her tablet. "With the technology of our Earth's Wakanda, I may be able to locate your son's pod. I promise to find him for you. A Kryptonian pod shouldn't be difficult to locate."
Relieved, Lois took the hand of Black Panther's sister.
"Thank you," she said.
But at that moment, the Earth shook even harder than before. Taken aback, the heroes ran out of the briefing room at the bridge to see the outside.
Outside the DEO building, a strange tower had suddenly risen from the ground to join the buildings of National City.
"What's that?" Peter exclaimed, dumbfounded.
"I am Groot!" added the tree speaking worriedly.
"This is a new problem," Oliver said simply.
"We really needed that on top of everything else!" Clint added, his eyes fixed on the tower.
"I can handle it," Supergirl replied, about to fly off towards the tower.
Then a new burst of light burst under the bridge, and Harbinger reappeared with The Flash, Sara Lance aka White Canary and Ray Palmer in his Atom suit.
"Wait, the tower isn't a threat." Flash warned, seeing his teammates about to go into battle.
"How do you know?"Oliver asked his friend.
"It's a Quantum Tower, apparently." Atom replied.
Then the sky turned blue again, much to everyone's surprise.
"Look guys, the red sky is gone!" exclaimed Peter surprised. "'Cause of this Quantum Tower?"
"Yes, and it's the only thing that can save the people of this world," Harbinger said, stepping forward.