Part One

Place: Earth 6
Time: June 6th, 1984

The burgundy skies glowed with death above the greatest city on Earth. They dripped with the blood of many worlds and appeared over the planet just as fast as any plague. The clouds filled the sky, offering little but panic or fear.

Lord Volt strode onto the balcony with all the grace due a monarch. He and his wife, Lady Quark, had ruled the southern hemisphere of Amalec for the past 15 years, and had every intention of passing the crown of royalty down to their daughter, Princess Fern.

"People of Amalec," Volt spoke solemnly into the cameras, "a time of great mystery is upon us. The red skies have appeared from nowhere and our subjects are seeing images from different times and odd places. You have my assurance that the leaders of Earth will use their every erg of energy to discover the cause of this calamity and restore our world to that which we all love."

"You allowed us," he continued, "to take leadership of each nation-state because the fates decreed upon certain of us powers to protect you. For centuries we have done our best to protect the world from attackers, crime, and all that violates the peacefulness of our world. Today is no exception. WE WILL PROTECT YOU!"

Cheers swelled up from the crowds as the leader finished his speech. Lord Volt waved and turned away from his loyal followers. His words were hopeful and gave the people a piece of mind, but he saw no way to stop the ill facing his world. He looked at his wife, Lady Quark, and saw the pain in her eyes as well. He pulled her close and held her for a moment before he went on patrol.

As her husband walked away Lady Quark pulled her daughter to her. Princess Fern, by the standards of the rest of Amalec, was an oddity. The rest of the royal family in this province had been given electrical powers, but she had shown abilities to be more in line with plants and making things grow. Lord Volt had questioned the oddity but accepted the girl as his.

As the skies rained red, radiation interference made communication harder to deal with around the world. Soon there was almost nothing but static on the viewers, so it was a surprise when Lord Volt's words were heard coming from the observation room.

"Gods!" he hollered over the static around him, "there's nothing here. Buildings, plants, people, color. It is all gone. There is nothing left. It is like it has been wiped from the earth, leaving nothing in its wake. What is worse is it seems to be moving at a fast rate."

"Husband," Lady Quark cried, "can you safely come back here?"

"I do not know, my wife," he said in the official royal communication. "I will try to return, but we have lost many fighting this already. I..." It was at that point she saw the wave of energy wiping out everything in its path. It was pure white, and had no seeming substance or source.

"Karak!!!" Lady Quark cried, "where are you? What happened?" It was then the realization hit her. Her husband was gone, killed by whatever was destroying her world.

She saw a flash of light and looked toward it. A man with white hair appeared before her. He was dressed in almost all green and white, his cape flowing behind him. In her anger and sadness over losing her husband, she attacked him. She fired a stream of electrical bolts at him, which seemed to bounce off of him and reflected back into her. She ducked and avoided them, but not without having destroyed the terminal behind her.

The sudden sounds of battle brought Princess Fern into the room. "Mother, what is going on? Where is daddy?"

"Liana!!" her mother screamed, "get down!" It was at that moment the walls of the communications room faded into nothingness, and nothing stood before them. Pariah rose, and for the first time she could see his face. He was crying, tears flowing down his face.

"There is no time," he cried, "I cannot save this world either, but perhaps I can save one of its souls. Maybe then my torment will end." With that he lunged for Lady Quark and latched onto her arm. Liana saw this and misinterpreted it as an attack. She reached out to restrain him by his arm. The three of them faded away as the world around them literally disappeared from their sight.

Place: New York City (Earth-1)
Time: June 6, 1984

Gar Logan sat with Jillian, seriously talking to her about quitting the Titans. Ever since Terra's death, things had gotten worse for him. First it was his fight with Deathstroke, then the Trigon incident, and most recently the red skies. Things had not been normal for him in a long time and all he wanted was peace.

A bright flash appeared over them and a woman dressed in blue armor, complete with helmet. She pointed to Changling, her blonde hair blowing in the breeze of her arrival, and commanded, "Garfield Logan, you are needed. Come with me."

Changling morphed into the shape of an eagle and soared above the blonde figure. He swooped down, heading toward her, and as he got within inches of her he changed into a python, intending to wrap her up quickly. When he put the squeeze on her, he discovered that she was not solid, but more of a hologram.

She beckoned him again, "Come with me. Time is of the essence and it is a matter of life and death."

"If it is a matter of life or death," he said, looking quizzically, "then let me summon the other Titans first."

"Those who are needed will be summoned," she replied simply. "Come with me."

With that they were off, leaving a puzzled and confused Jillian standing alone in the restaurant, trying to figure out how she was going to pay for their meal.

Place: Metropolis (Earth-1)
Time: 2985

Garth and Imra had settled in for the night. Grayam had been put down to sleep and the couple was ready for some down time. With everything that had gone on lately, the Legion of Super-Villains, the death of Karate Kid, and the new Legion recruits, things were busier than ever for the 30th century's teen team.

Imra had put in a holo-vid, a gift from Rokk* (*Rokk Krinn is third Legion founder Cosmic Boy), and the couple settled into their hover-chair, lazy and enjoying each other's company. Garth pulled Irma closer and kissed her gently, the start of a promising night, Saturn Girl thought.

A flash interrupted their embrace, and the woman in blue appeared before the couple. "You are needed," she said, pointing at Saturn Girl. They looked on her stunned.

"Who are you?" Lightning Lad asked.

She looked at him dully, blonde hair flowing behind her, and said simply, "I am Harbinger, assistant to the Monitor, and he has called Saturn Girl into service. Come with me, Imra Ranzz."

Saturn Girl scanned the woman's mind for harmful intent. As much as she hated invading another's mind she sometimes felt compelled to use her gift to get to the bottom of things. "Can you tell me what this is about, or where I am going?" she asked.

"All I can tell you is that you will go where you are needed," the armor- clad woman told her.

"Then I am going with her," Garth said suddenly, stunning them both.

"That was not part of this assignment," Harbinger said to him, looking into his eyes icily.

"Part of the assignment or not," he shot back angrily, "either I go with my wife or no one leaves."

Harbinger sighed and realized she was not going to win this fight. She encompassed them both in her travel device and they all vanished in a flash of light.

Place: New York City (Earth-2)
Time: June 6, 1984

"I now declare this meeting of the Justice Society of America adjourned," Hawkman said with a bang of the gavel. The members and guests rose and headed to the adjoining room where they held their annual get-together.

An observer would be stunned by the people in attendance. Not only were the active JSA'ers in attendance, but most of the inactive ones, as well as the members of Infinity Inc. Soon they were all chatting and eating the food brought.

"...thinking about hanging up my Robin costume and..."

"...men all like that? Someone needs to teach that overgrown child a lesson."

"...tweak the gravitronic couplers in your belt we can..."

Suddenly the all the conversation in the room went quiet. In fact except for Superman and Obsidian everything stopped. Every hero and spouse in sight seemed to be held in a stasis field except for the two of them. A secondary glance across the room brought forth the reason.

Harbinger stood in the center of the room and motioned to the two of them. "You both have been summoned. Come with me." Instead of waiting for an answer, she activated her device and took them whither. The moment she vanished the others came out of their stasis, with no memory that Superman or Obsidian were ever there.

Place: Central City
Time: 24th Century

Barry Allen walked about the house where he and his wife had lived almost four centuries earlier. He sighed as he looked at the preserved museum that was once his home. He looked different now, black hair instead of blonde, and a scar on his cheek, but he still felt a sense of pride and loss over his former life.

Back when he was married to Iris in the 20th century, he was the speed-wielding hero known as the Flash. He had a happy life and he missed it greatly. As easy as it would be for him to go back and change the past, he knew there were consequences.

It all had gone bad for him when Iris was killed. She and Barry had gone to a costume ball and she had been poisoned there. He lived the next several years in mourning until he had met Fiona. Again he sighed. He had not thought about her in all the time that he had been here, but he had almost married her. He would have too, he thought, if not for Professor Zoom interfering with the wedding, and Barry having killed him.

He looked up when Iris came into the room. She was as beautiful now as she was the day he married her. She had saved him from being put in prison when he was accused of killing Zoom* (*see Flash 344-350) and when it was all over he joined her in her home in the 24th century. "Honey, are you ready to go?" she asked.

He took one last look around and closed the door behind him. That part of his life was over. As far as his friends in the 20th century knew, Barry Allen was dead as well.

Place: 22,000 miles above Earth
Time: June 6, 1984

The blonde in the blue armor looked at the shadowy figure, waiting for his next command. Harbinger shimmered and her armor changed into her regular red bodysuit. As usual she was weak when she sent her splinters out of her body. She had been adopted by 'him' when she was a young child, and she owed him her life.

"Another Earth has died," the shadow said simply.

"Which one?" Lyta asked.

"The Earth known as Earth-S is gone," the dark shadow said, "as well as Earth-6."

"Was Pariah able to save anyone?"

"He saved two on Earth-6 and was able to pull three from Earth-S."

The shadow lost his balance, regained it quickly, and looked into Harbinger's eyes. She started to rush to help him but he waved her away with his hand. "How many are left now?" she asked.

"There are but five Earths left in this subsphere," he told her sadly.

At that moment Pariah appeared in the sphere floating above Earth-1. With him there were two females. Lady Quark and Princess Fern staggered as they came back into existence, visibly shaken by the transport between Earths.

"Where are we?" Quark demanded.

"You are aboard my orbital home above this Earth," the shadow explained, "and it will be your new home until we can adjust you to the shifting onto a new Earth."

"I do not want to adjust," Fern said angrily, "I want to return to my home!"

"That is not possible, my child," the man called Monitor told them, "for you see, your Earth is gone, as is everyone who lived upon it."

Place: Earth-3
Time: June 6, 1984

Owlman checked his calculations again, but they remained the same. The white force was devouring the Earth quickly. City after city devoured within its grasp, and there was nothing the world of villains could do about it.

Ultraman and Power Ring attempted to subdue it from the upper quadrant of the earth but it eluded them from there was well. Johnny Quick covered the Earth, sending the group casuality updates, while Power Woman fought the hardest battle of all; shifting the survivors to safe ground.

"How are you doing, darling?" she heard Ultraman over their communications equipment.

"I am well," she told him, "I am just worried about our son. He is so young and so much has happened to him."

"I am sure he is well," he told his wife, "but I will check on him during my next sweep of the Earth." With that they closed communications he headed toward their home of three years.

When he landed outside their home he saw it. The white wall which was working its way across the planet was heading into their town, and down their street. Quickly he flew into his house and scooped up his child and his nanny and took off away from their residence. As he looked back he saw his house vanish into thin air. Without a second look he flew the two of them to the Fortress, in the arctic.

Johnny and Power Ring met up in Spain, trying to head off the loss of life that the 'white wall' was inflicting upon their world. Quick scooped up three more people and pulled them into a clearing where Power Ring would take them away from their disintegrating homelands.

"You know the oddest part of this whole thing?" Johnny asked.

"What?"

"We have spent the better part of two decades trying to subjugate the population of this world, to take over this planet and make it our own to rule. Now here we are, in this world's final days, and we are acting like the heroes we despise."

"Just remember, my friend," Power Ring said with a sardonic smile, "you can't rule a corpse."

Ultraman and Power Woman met at the Fortress, both knowing this could be the last time they would ever see one another. She held their child, and put her head on his shoulder. Suddenly, the woman who had killed dozens over land disputes, broke into tears. "He can't die," she sobbed, "he can't!"

"The whole planet is dying," he told her, "but you are right. We have fought to control this world all our lives and if it has given us anything it must be the salvation of our child. Unfortunately there is only one person on this planet who can save him now."

"Who?" she asked hopefully.

"Luthor."

Ultraman scooped his two loved ones up and flew them to Metropolis. Using his Ultra-vision he searched for the only hero in a world full of villains. After several sweeps over the city he finally found the bald scientist.

"LUTHOR!" Ultraman screamed, "you are wanted."

Luthor was working hard to come up with a solution to the issues that were plaguing the planet. The red skies and the appearance of people that looked alike were priorities on his list. Something in the tone of his foe's voice told him he needed to listen.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I need you..." Ultraman's voice weakened slightly, "to save my wife and child."

"I cannot save anyone on this planet right now," Luthor said with some resolution. "People are vanishing form our world at the rate of twenty-six people per second and there is nothing I can do to stop them."

"I want you to get them off-planet, away from the danger here. Send them somewhere that they will not be exposed to this death. If we survive I can go get them, and if not, well, they will be able to start a new life elsewhere."

"I cannot save them both," Luthor told him, "but I can save one. Either the child or your wife can be spared from this catastrophe. You need to choose."

Ultraman thought for a moment, weighing the possibilities. If he saved the child he would lose his wife, and the love of his life. However if he saved the woman, his only son would be lost to him, and possibly the only chance to sire an heir to this Earth.

"Send the child," he said, tears streaming down his face.

Within moments, they had put the toddler into a rocketship that Luthor designed. Mother and father looked on as the scientist strapped and bolted the young one in. The engines roared to life and soon the child was carried from their sight, their world, and their universe.

Moments later the ship crossed the dimensional barrier and appeared suddenly in the vibrational planet known as Earth-1. It glided to a landing at the exact time as his parents' sphere of existence ceased to exist. It sat on the docking ring of the Justice League satellite for several moments before another a beam pulled it from its resting place and into the Monitor's home.

"This child is the salvation of this subsphere," the Monitor announced.

***End Chapter 1***

Next issue: A hero dies, more are gathered, the introduction of the being known as the Monitor, and the secret of the Earth-3 child.