Chapter 6
Chapter 6
Earth – 38; National City
The battle began. Shadow Demons appeared from the windows and came to attack the heroes, who stood in a circle. Oliver, Mia, and Clint shot arrows at them all over the place. Batwoman hurled her batarangs at those who approached her.
Black Panther was running at full speed. He kicked back a Shadow Demon, then leaped over a mound of rubble. Another Demon attempted to intercept him, but Black Panther slalomed between his enemies who all attempted to bring him down. The Wakandan king punched the ground which released all the kinetic energy absorbed by his armor. Immediately, the Shadow Demons collapsed. Then a few new Demons floated around him. Black Panther stretched out his claws and fired projectiles at his enemies, annihilating them.
"Thank you Shuri," he said.
Spider-Man hovered above the heroes with his webs and fired several spider web projectiles, neutralizing the Shadow Demons.
"Expecto Patronum!" the young hero yelled, firing his projectiles at his enemies.
Atom, who was on the ground with the heroes, fired several lasers at the Demons.
""One army." She said, "One army."It's more like ten!" he exclaimed, shooting his enemies.
Still focused, Mia shot several arrows around her, destroying the Shadow Demons. Close to her was Clint who did the same.
Mia had just done an excellent archery on a dark creature.
"Very nice!" Green Arrow complimented her, shooting an arrow at a demon.
As she continued to fight, Mia smiled.
"Learned from the best!"
But their conversation was interrupted when a whole multitude of Shadow Demons appeared out of nowhere and rushed towards them.
"Take cover!" Green Arrow shouted at his allies. "Spider-Man, get down and take cover!"
Instantly, the heroes ran and leaped over the rubble for protection. Soon they were separated with Oliver, Mia, Clint, Spider-Man and Black Panther on one side and Ray and Batwoman on the other.
"They're trying to breach the Tower." Mia said, watching the Demons approach.
"Well, we can't let that happen!" Oliver said, shooting several arrows from the rubble where they had taken refuge.
Clint shot several arrows at his enemies, while Black Panther pulled his claws at the Demons. Spider-Man stood nearby, feeling helpless. His webs were not very effective against Shadow Demons.
"There's too many of them! We would need a big Patronus," he said.
"Focus, Peter, we aren't in Harry Potter!" grumbled Green Arrow, shooting several arrows.
"The kid makes a good point, Queen, there's too many!"Clint added.
As they stayed safe in the rubble, Batwoman turned to Ray.
"I'll take that upgrade now." she said, reminding Ray of his offer earlier.
Atom turned to her, hesitating.
"Oh, uh, if I can have one of those without losing an appendage." he asked politely.
"Mmm-hmm." the batwoman replied, handing him one of her batarangs.
As he held Batwoman's weapon, Ray couldn't help but squeeze his inventive side out of him.
"Oh, so cool! Incredibly balanced. Carbon fiber?"
"Your friend talks a lot." Mia exclaimed to her father.
"He sound like my sister," Black Panther added.
"He reminds me of Tony!" Clint added.
"Yeah, you get used to it." Green Arrow replied, shrugging his shoulders. "Hey, Ray, focus!"
"Focusing." Atom replied, working the Batarang on his glove. "Now, if we can just charge your Batarang with my compressed light energy…"
"Incoming!" Batwoman exclaimed, snatching the gun from her and leaping over the rubble barrier.
She threw down her weapon, sending the Batarang through three Demons at once. Then the gun returned to Batwoman's hand, who smirked at Ray.
"Not bad!"
Green Arrow had leapt out of the rubble barrier and again fired several arrows destroying the Demons. His daughter and Clint joined him, while shooting several arrows at their enemies.
Then a Shadow Demon took Oliver by surprise, slamming him to the ground, causing him to lose his bow. As the dark creature rushed towards the defenseless Green Arrow, Mia aimed her bow at her.
"DAD!"
And she fired an arrow that destroyed the shadow.
Oliver nodded at his daughter in gratitude, while Mia smiled proudly before spotting another Demon rushing towards Clint, who had just been thrown to the ground.
Mia then changed course and reached the archer of the Avengers.
"CLINT, GET DOWN!"
Clint lowered his head to the ground, as Mia fired an arrow that passed right over the archer and hit his target, destroying the Demon.
The archer stood up, smiling gratefully at Mia. He turned to Green Arrow.
"Hey, Queen, I like your daughter," he said to his friend.
Mia handed them their bows, then peered outside, where a whole army of Shadow Demons hovered in front of the Tower.
"You were right, there's too many of them!" exclaimed Green Arrow.
"How can we stop an army like that?" Spider-Man said, joining them.
It was then that Supergirl, Thor and Superman landed very close to them. Then Flash burst out of nowhere at super speed.
"You want some help?" suggested the speedster.
Then it was Rocket and Groot who ran up to them. The raccoon was shooting the Demons with his blaster, and Groot stretched out his arms to stab multiple creatures at once.
"Can we help you, guys?" Rocket said proudly showing his gun.
"I am Groot!" Groot muttered, proud of himself.
"There's no need for panic. Supergirl and Superman are working hard to save this planet. Soon, alien ships will begin circling the globe, picking people up and taking you to safety." spoke the voice Nia Nal alias Dreamer, one friends of Kara, on a building as the ships disembarked to evacuate the gathered civilians.
The Benatar, the famous Guardians of the Galaxy starship, guided alien ships on trajectories in space, far from the wave of anti-matter.
Peter Quill, aka Star-Lord, was on the ground, guiding people to the pods. He was joined by Dreamer.
"Are you Star-Lord?" she asked.
"I am and are you Dreamer? Supergirl's friend?" asked the Guardian of the Galaxy.
"What's the situation?" asked the hero girl in blue.
"Well, we're making progress. Rocket warned me about the anti-matter wave. But we need a better idea. Space is being swallowed up by this fucking wave!"
"Alex and Lena are working on a portal that could bring everyone to Earth – 1," Dreamer replied.
"I hope this portal will appear soon," Quill replied anxiously. "Because according to Rocket, the wave will soon consume this planet. And we have billions of people to evacuate."
"I just hope J'onn can get enough ships. That's why Brainy left J'onn his keys."
"Keys to what?"
A hum came to answer his question. A beautifully smooth white ship, which was much larger than all the other ships put together. It was the ship of the Legion of Superheroes. Stunned, Star-Lord gazed at the gigantic ship above his head.
"My ship looks so tiny compared to that!" he exclaimed, amazed.
"It's the Legion ship," Dreamer replied.
An earthquake shook everyone, knocking people over. Quill and Dreamer tried to stand.
"Right on time, J'onn," Dreamer said into her headset. "Are you ready to get this evacuation underway?"
"Start getting people into groups and I'll start beaming them up." J'onn said at the controls of the Legion ship. "Let's just hope Alex and Lena get that portal on in time so we have somewhere to go."
"All right," Quill replied. (Addressing the large crowd gathered around him.) "Okay, people, let's get into to the ship! Go ahead! This way!"
Then he and Dreamer led the people to the large ship.
From the sky, the Guardians of the Galaxy, piloting the Benatar, had their eyes fixed on the Legion ship.
"This ship is so big!" Mantis exclaimed.
"When the time comes, I'll take it!" Drax said lustfully. "That will be my ship!"
"Hey," Nebula said angrily. "I remind you that there is a wave of anti-matter that will soon destroy this planet. We must hurry to save these people and get us far away from here!"
At L-Corp, Alex and Lena worked hard. Lena was focused in front of her computer screen developing the portal that could save the inhabitants of Earth – 38 from destruction.
"The Quantum Tower is keeping the wave at bay. Supergirl is…" said Alex before being interrupted by an earthquake.
She continued:
"…fighting really hard to protect it, but we've got to get this portal up and running."
Lena groaned in panic in frustration.
"I'm trying! But the transmatter portal works by synthesizing polyelectronic anions. And if I don't get the energy levels right when I interface with the breach device, then the ships will disintegrate when they fly right through it."
Alex sighed miserably.
"Right. That is not a good option."
Lena shook her head as she continued to work.
"No." she said in an equally simple tone.
Then Alex had a thought.
"Have you thought about using an inverse variable to help calculate the differential?" she suggested helpfully.
Lena finally looked up from her work to look at Alex as if she should have thought about it sooner.
"Galleon's theory." added the DEO director.
Lena nodded as she was hopeful.
"That's smart. An inverse beta-decay to figure constituent quark, that could work."
Both women gasped as the earth shook again, causing Lena to fall only for Alex to catch up with her.
"Thanks." Lena said gratefully before returning to her work.
"Yeah, um, just keep working." Alex replied.
Earth – 16; Star City 2046
"I never thought I'd see you again." said Oliver from Earth – 16 to Sara.
"One of the benefits of parallel Earths." White Canary explained.
Oliver frowned in incomprehension.
"Parallel Earths?" He looked thoughtful for a moment before speaking again. "It would appear that your reality is a little stranger than mine."
"You really have no idea?" Sara asked, noticing this Oliver's confusion.
The archer shook his head sadly, it almost looked like he had lost a loved one.
"All my life… I just wanted to… to apologize for bringing you on that boat. But you aren't even you."
Deeply saddened, Sara walked towards him with great gentleness.
"Ollie, if your me was anything like I was, then getting on the Gambit with you was her choice. And in my world, that trip it set off a whole series of events that neither you or I could've ever dreamed of. You became a hero, a husband, a father."
Oliver had tears in his eyes as he listened to his friend tell him about the man he was on another Earth. Sara continued gently:
"And I'm flying through time happier than I've ever been. And none of that would've ever happened if I didn't get on that boat with you. (She put her hand on the archer's shoulder.) It was destiny."
Finally, Oliver of Earth – 16 seemed to be filled with hope for a better world, and a better future for him.
Then Brainy and Shuri joined them.
"I'm sorry to break up what I'm sure must be the strangest reunion in the history of the world…" said Brainy.
"…But if we don't leave now, our extrapolator might not have enough power for us to return home." Shuri finished.
"All right," Sara replied.
"Wait, what's an extrapolator?" Oliver asked, confused.
"It's a device that allows us to travel between several parallel Earths," explained Black Panther's sister. "It's very complex, but for a simple definition, this is it! Sara, we have to go now."
"Yeah, yeah," White Canary replied, before looking at Oliver again. "You're a good man on every Earth."
She gave him a kiss on the face, and stroked his face. And she joined Shuri, Brainy and Lois who were holding Jonathan in her arms. And the group left Earth – 16.
Earth – 38; National City
The heroes of the Three Earths continued to fight the Shadow Demons. Thor had thrown Mjolnir straight in front of him, immediately the hammer flew, passed through all the Demons in its path, causing them to disappear before returning to the hand of the Asgardian. Flash rushed in at super speed, and made the last Demons disappear.
"Is that it?" he exclaimed, surprised.
"Like that was easy?" Supergirl asked incredulously.
"It doesn't, there's still a job to do." Thor retorted.
"Thor's right, they're on the roof." Atom replied, looking at the sensors in his suit.
Then the Tower burst with a sudden surge of electricity. The sky turned red again over National City.
The wave of anti-matter was approaching dangerously close to Earth.
"Look, the sky is red again!"Spider-Man exclaimed in an anguished voice. "It means that the Tower is dead!"
"It must have lost some of its power," Black Panther said. "There must be a way to recharge it!"
"What's happening out there?"Alex's voice said to their communicators. "The skies are red again, the anti-matter wave's moving, and the portal isn't open yet!"
"And others Dementors are coming!" Spider-Man added, gazing outside.
Several dark creatures were flying. Few millions.
"These Shadow Demons are thousands, even more," Mia added.
"I am Groot," Groot muttered, his eyes wide at the sight of the large number of Demons.
"I couldn't kill them all with my gun," Rocket pointed out in fear. "Thor? The Supers?"
"Oh God!" Clint exclaimed in horror.
Oliver turned to the two Kryptonians and the God of Thunder.
"Kara, Clark, Thor, get to the roof! Get the tower operational again. We'll stay behind and hold them off!"
Immediately, Supergirl and Superman flew away. Thor waved his ax and hammer and flew away, joining the two cousins.
All three flew to reach the top of the Tower. A few panels surrounded the roof of the Quantum Tower. Thor used Mjolnir and Stormbreaker to summon lightning to stay in the sky.
"Are those solar panels?" Supergirl asked.
"Looks close enough," Superman replied. "We won't be able to power it definitely."
"We just need to buy more time." explained the Girl of Steel. "We might lose the planet, but we can still save the people."
"Kara, Kal, I have an idea," Thor said, his body bulging with lightning. "Use your heat visions on me! On my hammer and my ax! If we combine our powers, we could power the Tower long enough to save everyone on Earth."
"What a wonderful idea, Thor! Let's do that!" Kara exclaimed.
Then Superman fired his heat vision at Thor's ax, while Supergirl shot her heat vision on Mjolnir. Thor drew lightning from the sky, knocked Stormbreaker and Mjolnir together, and, with the heat visions of the two Super Cousins, produced a powerful blast of electricity which he aimed at the panels of the Quantum Tower.
Back at L-Corp, Lena was still working on the portal with Alex's help.
"You almost got it?" the DEO director asked, wanting to save as many people as possible quickly.
"Almost done, I think." Lena replied hopefully.
On her computer, she could see the systems turn on.
"Yes, systems are a go." the Luthor woman announced. "Calculating destination destination set. (She turned to Alex with a proud smile.) Smart call with Galleon's theory."
Alex replied shyly:
"Oh, lucky guess. But you're the real genius here, so…"
"Don't mistake us working together for friendship." replied Lena smirk. "I told you before, Kara and you showed me who you were and I accept that. Now, let's go help people get on these ships."
In the sky, Supergirl, Superman, and Thor combined their powers to power the Quantum Tower. Supergirl drew her heat vision on Mjolnir, as Superman drew his power on Stormbreaker. Thor, his body and his whole face bulging with lightning, threw an immense lightning on the panels of the Tower. Eyes crackling with lightning, Thor let out a long roar and used his two weapons with his powers and those of the Kryptonians on the Tower.
"Come… on…" he roared between his teeth. "Come on!"
Suddenly, Superman stopped, losing his strength. Supergirl struggled to stay strong and continued to shoot her heat vision on Thor's two weapons. Then finally gave in and fell into the void.
Thor stopped his thunderbolt and flew off to catch up with the Girl of Steel before she crashed to the ground.
Flash joined them in super speed. Then Atom and Superman.
"That was too close for comfort." said the speedster.
"Always gotta one-up me, huh?" added Superman.
"She's great," Thor retorted, smiling at his friend.
"Thanks Thor," Supergirl replied. (Turning to the Tower.) "Did it work?"
Atom looked at the sensors on his suit.
"You did it. The tower is working again and the portal is open."
At his words, the sky turned blue again.
Ray continued:
"Uh, but the ships better be fast. Your charge didn't actually stop the wave, it just slowed it down. According to Brainy's algorithm, we have 14 minutes before it makes contact with Earth."
"Well, then we better make every minute count," Supergirl said.
"Let's use this limited time to save all this people," Thor added.
Then, they were joined by Rocket, Groot, Black Panther, Green Arrow, Mia, Clint, Batwoman and Spider-Man.
"We've got your back." Black Panther said, walking towards them.
"We need to keep those shadow demons at bay until every last ship gets through," Green Arrow added, walking towards them.
Then turning around, all the heroes saw a swarm of Shadow Demons, flying like a swarm of bees, heading towards them.
"Tallyho!" Spider-Man whispered.
"Here we go, ghosts of space!" Rocket roared, brandishing his blaster.
As the heroes fought to save them, ordinary citizens panicked as Alex, Lena, Dreamer, Kelly, and Star-Lord tried to get as many people as possible onto the ships.
"All right, get to the ships!" Dreamer said, guiding civilians to a space craft. "Keep your eyes open for debris, people!"
"Keep it orderly, people. Come on." Lena yelled to make herself heard.
Kelly noticed that a woman had panicked and a young man was trying to pick her up, but a piece of concrete had broken in the shake and fell towards them. They would have been run over if Kelly hadn't run forward, crouched down on top of them and raised her arm above her head. As the stone came closer, the young woman revealed a shield capable of protecting civilians from the debris.
Once saved, the couple fled as Kelly stared at Alex who was watching her.
She smiles at him.
"James left it for me." she said with a smirk, which Alex shared.
On the roof, the thirteen heroes battled an endless swarm of Shadow Demons. Arrows were fired, coming from Green Arrow, Mia and Clint. Thor whirled his two weapons and used them to destroy as many Demons as possible. Flash was speeding through, passing several creatures in the process. Batwoman used her fists and batarangs on Demons. Spider-Man used his fists and cobwebs to repel the enemy. Black Panther ran like a wild animal and attacked demons with his powerful claws. Rocket was shooting the Demons with his blaster. Groot made his arms grow into branches and pierced several dark creatures. Atom fired several lasers at the enemy. Supergirl and Superman used their heat visions on the Shadow Demons.
In the midst of the battle, Supergirl found herself fighting alongside Thor. She eliminated a group of Demons with a hammer throw. At the same time, Thor hurled the Stormbreaker at other opponents. The two heroes then reached out and collected their weapons.
Thor inherited Mjolnir, while Supergirl recovered the Stormbreaker.
"No, no, Kara, give me that," Thor demanded, slightly offended. "You have the little one." *
With a roll of her eyes, Supergirl tossed Stormbreaker at her, and retrieved Mjölnir.
The enemy was easy to repel. But more Demons fell and more rushed forth.
"I've the feeling that the more we kill, the more they multiply," Spider-Man commented.
Suddenly Mar Novu appeared on the rooftop battlefield.
"The battle is lost! We must retreat and save our resources for battles yet to come."
"No!" Thor yelled in rage, using his ax to destroy a Demon. "We have to save everyone! We have to! All of these people must be evacuated."
But the Monitor ignored the Asgardian and waved his fingers.
As Batwoman fought with her weapons, she gone into an interdimensional breach. Then it was Atom's turn.
"What are you doing?" Thor exclaimed stunned and furious. "Stop, don't do that! DON'T DO THAT!"
Then it was the two Kryptonians who disappeared. Next, Rocket and Groot. And also Spider-Man and Black Panther in their turn, under the horrified gaze of Thor, who screamed at the cosmic being:
"STOP! DON'T DO THAT! NO! NO! DON'T DO…"
And a breach swept him away.
The Monitor turned to Oliver, Mia, Clint and Flash. Mar Novu gestured with his fingers, immediately Hawkeye and Mia disappeared in their turn.
A Demon jostled the Earth – 1's archer. Flash wanted to help him.
"Oliver! Oli..."
But he in turn disappeared into a breach.
Only Green Arrow remained, facing the army of Shadow Demons.
"Oliver! It's time!" said Mar Novu.
Green Arrow then turned to him.
"Has the planet been evacuated yet?"
"Not entirely." replied the Monitor.
Oliver shook and said in an imposing voice:
"Then it's not time!"
He shot an arrow that neutralized Mar Novu, immobilizing him. Taking advantage of his respite, Green Arrow resumed combat with the Shadow Demons, now alone.
He fought alone on a battlefield with his bow and arrows. But alas, the Demons, too numerous, jostled him and threw him into the debris. Oliver ends up losing his arrows, leaving his bow as a weapon.
He saw the cloud of Shadow Demons rushing towards him. Resigned to his fate, Oliver let go of his bow, and ran towards the enemy with a howl of rage, like a fierce warrior.
As the ships made their way to the portal, the sky turned red again. On board the Benatar, Quill had taken control of the ship. Nebula came to the cockpit screaming:
"Quill! We have to leave this planet right now! It's too late! If we don't go to the transmatter portal, the wave of anti-matter will consume us! We have to get out of here, now!"
"I am," Star-Lord replied, activating the ship's controls.
The Benatar went through the portal, as did the last ship. The Quantum Tower collapsed.
And the wave of anti-matter came and took everything in its path.
And the Earth – 38 disappeared…