Crisis ad Infinitum

By Jamie Primas

The lush, green forests of the planet of gods were aflame, each beautiful acre consumed by the death that had come to consume everything. Millions of pale skinned monstrosities, multiplied by each drop of their blood, dealt merciless destruction to everything that came upon their path. It was the end of it all, the fall of the Gods of New Genesis.

The Army of the Yet to Be stood against them. They were assembled out of nothingness, fictional creatures brought to life intent to fit into the universe outside of their eternal nonexistence. They began as few but grew as the conflict escalated. Merryman, former King of Limbo, had allowed everything that was possible to exist to join them as they fought to preserve New Genesis. He had no idea that other forces did not have the preservation of New Genesis as a priority.

He had managed throughout the chaos to stay close to Anna Fortune and Batwoman, even as they watched their other brethren of Limbo fall to the Lilith spawn. Refusing to panic as the monsters attacked in a screaming wave, he manifested further obscurities from his mind; further heroes and villains that were not supposed to exist became real, instantly joining the fight against Lilith. Grifter and Maul joined Merryman as they pulled Anna Fortune away from the bloody jaws of a Lobo-Lilin. Jack Hawksmoor and Backlash helped Batwoman save Aquagirl.

Words were lost through the cacophony of war as the Army of Limbo grew in an attempt to match the numbers of the evilspawn. Merryman screamed instructions to his Army, hoping beyond hope that someone would hear.

The heroes of the Army grouped together tightly as the masses surged to overtake them. Grifter mumbled something but no one could hear it. Overhead, the burning sky slowly turned green, a murky darkness, a green darker than black. The clouds began to change as the atmosphere adapted to its presence. Mighty green lightning erupted accompanied by deafening thunder. The world began to swirl into a vortex as the demon sons and daughters of Lilith were sucked into its eye. Upon concentrating, Merryman saw that the storm was indiscriminant, destroying members of his Army just as easily.

“That’s a wild storm, man,” Grifter grumbled as the air was filled with an eerie silence. I’m sorry I wrote that.

Lilith stood amongst her children, arms reached to the sky as the horde from her womb desecrated the planet of gods. Upon her sudden appearance she was surrounded by her demon children that wished to show her their allegiance, covered in the blood of gods and the forgotten. With a silent sway of her body, the demons were compelled to retreat back into battle to give Lilith the space she needed to destroy the Phantom Stranger.

The Stranger stood across an expanse, unseen by all but Lilith, his first and failed wife. He had spent the entirety of his infinite existence making sure that she was never returned and he stood now facing his greatest failure. As Lilith corrupted the Garden at the Beginning of Creation, she now attempted to force the end of said Creation by destroying the fulcrum of its continuance. So long as the Phantom Stranger lived, God’s world would stand. Without him, the crutch was removed and would force an imminent collapse.

“Lay down quietly, my husband,” Lilith hissed, a sound that covered the entire planet. “Your mere presence gives me the power to eliminate you instantly. Your fear feeds my aggression, which in turn feeds my desire for the elimination of all that our Father has created.”

The Phantom Stranger casually walked the distance between them as the battle flowed away from his course. Although no one could see him, they were compelled out of his way. “It is for this moment that I have continued to walk this life,” he said. “He knew on the day of your exile that this day would one day come.”

“He has allowed you to live as a wandering nomad in order to play the role of His assassin,” she corrected. “It is beyond His power to smite me, Adam. You have lived these lifetimes to no avail. I have outgrown His divine omnipotence.”

With instantaneous speed, the Phantom Stranger latched his grip around Lilith’s throat. His usually emotionless face was overcome with great wrath. His violence was parried by a fanged grin. “We will see about that,” the Stranger growled as he increased his grip and twisted Lilith’s neck.

Lilith howled but not in pain. Inexplicably, she used the physical contact with the Stranger against him, harvesting his essence into her demonic womb. Her screams erupted as her lower torso burst with gore as she birthed the ultimate evil.

The Stranger relinquished his hold on her as he staggered back in horror and surprise. Lilith collapsed to the dirt, instantly healing her destroyed parts as the monster exited her body. The child, a formless mass of both pure evil and ancient good, howled at his father as its terrible claws dug into the Stranger’s chest.

Lilith laughed as the son consumed the father. Above her, the sky grew green as she saw that the next volley against her had been launched.

As the Phantom Stranger wilted into dust, Lilith was joined by the murderer, her beloved ultimate spawn; together perhaps they could defeat the Wrath of God itself. After all, the Essence of His Betrayal was no match for her. There was little chance for the Spectre to do any better.

As Leonard Ayperos, the aged clockmaker turned human bomb maker, finished splicing an impact detonator into the chest cavity of an innocent New Genesis youth, he was not expecting company. After he fastened a Mother Box to the youth’s chest, he dropped his tools as the mystic portal coalesced into being in front of him.

Hector Hall, wearing ragged clothes and a shaggy beard, strode from the portal. He smiled and nodded to Ayperos, casually walking to the medical table across from him. Benjamin Stoner, the usurper of the mantle of Dr. Fate, walked from the portal and hesitantly joined Hector.

Behind the two, completely silent, Botis, Leonard’s serpent brother, slithered as he readied to attack.

“What is this?” Dr. Fate asked, unaccustomed to such horrors.

Hector smiled as he locked eyes with Ayperos. “The Clockmaker,” Hector replied, not losing eye contact. “The hand of the genocide of New Genesis.”

“We were to go to Apokolips,” Fate answered, his confusion masked by the helmet.

“Sorry for the detour,” Hector said. “We’re needed here. Apokolips can wait.”

Leonard did his best to avoid giving up Botis’s position as he backed away from the dying patient. “She’s forcing us to do this,” he said, his voice not wavering, as if he wanted what was coming to him.

“Us?” Hector asked, raising his eyebrow. He reached his hand back, still with eyes locked on Ayperos. As he held his hand behind him, Dr. Fate’s arm was forced against his will, mimicking Hector’s movement. Stoner resisted but his hand erupted with a mystical curse that reduced the lunging Botis into a fine powder.

Ayperos, filled with anger and irrational thoughts of revenge, pushing the medical table over with a maniacal grunt. “My brother!” he yelled as he rushed at Hector. Hector smoothly sidestepped, forcing Leonard to barrel into Stoner.

“What?” Stoner asked as he attempted to fight the old man off of him. His efforts to engage his mystical powers were ineffective.

Ayperos cussed in Bulgarian as Hector squinted his vision, surging his will into the Helm of Nabu. He willed the form of Dr. Fate to blast Ayperos from the depths of the helm. Leonard’s flesh boiled without heat as he screamed. Stoner was too befuddled to move until Hector lifted him to his feet, using Fate’s own magic.

Without the exchange of words, Hector left the room to seek out the center of the floating city of Supertown, the newly deserted heart of New Genesis. Stoner followed, unable to access his own power.

“What are we doing?” Stoner asked as he removed his helmet since it was doing him little good.

“There are two Kryptonians, a Martian and a Terminian on the surface of this planet that no one seems to be aware of,” Hector responded. “I think they will be able to turn the tide. I need to make up for some recent lapses in judgment.”

“We aren’t going to be turning the tide,” Stoner replied. “We’re to do the bidding of the Demon Mother.”

Hector smiled and shook his head. “Have you not realized what I can do?” he asked as he pointed a finger to the side of his own head. Stoner resisted as his own hand was forced to his head. The tip of his finger glowed with golden energy, threatening to erupt. “The vestments won’t work on me anymore,” he said as the energy intensified,” but they still work for me. The opposite seems to be true for you.”

Stoner shook in his boots as he smelled his hair begin to smolder. He clenched his eyes shut tightly as he attempted to muster his will to overcome Hector’s will.

Hector released his hold and turned to resume his search of Supertown. “Come on,” he demanded. “There’s work to do.”

The Parliament of Elements sat around a circular table amidst the soot and smell of the dreaded Apokolips, joining hands at the urging of the man that brought them together. John Constantine lit a cigarette before offering his hands to the former Wonder Woman turned Earth Elemental, Diana, and former Animal Man, Buddy Baker, to his sides. Across the table, linked at the hands were Red Tornado of the Vapors, the Jack of Fire of the Flame, Black Orchid of the Gray, Misty Kilgore of the Myth, Mera of the Waves and Kudzu of the Green. Black Alice and Secret stood nearby, both unaware of their necessity.

“Alright, people,” Constantine spoke with a voice that had smoked three packs a day for the last thirty years. “As we make contact with the atmosphere of the planet, you all need to jump into it. Snatch control out of the Source and get down to business.”

“What do we do then?” Mera asked, not fully briefed on the situation.

Constantine grinned as the cigarette bobbed from his lips. “We destroy New Genesis before Lilith gets it. If that nasty bitch gets to the Source that feeds the planet, it’s all done.”

The entirety of the assembled muttered to each other, pondering the cost to their souls. Buddy Baker attempted to break the circle in protest but the grip was unbreakable, all of their hands bonded until the deed was done or failure had taken them.

“We can’t do this,” Buddy said as he tried to yank his hands free to no avail.

“We must,” Diana replied from her seat next to him. “Reach into your connection to the pulse of it all. You know inside what must be done.”

“What do we do about the Spectre?” Red Tornado asked, his voice electronic.

Constantine peered back at Secret, who watched them intently. “I’ve got that well in hand,” he said as Secret perked up in confusion. Black Alice put her hand on Secret’s nearly immaterial shoulder to try to ensure her calm. “Black Alice over here knows what to do when the time’s right.”

Ash fell from Constantine’s cigarette as he initiated the power of the circle. The Parliament of Elements were whisked from their bodies and propelled through the ethers on a course to destroy the once beautiful paradise of New Genesis.

With the Parliament out of their bodies, Constantine turned and winked at Black Alice. She smiled a bit too sinisterly. “Go for it, Alice,” he said as the black-garbed girl plunged an ancient dagger into Secret’s heart. Although Secret consisted of smoke, the dagger did its job. Secret screamed as she died, deeply betrayed. Her soul dissipated into a mist to match her ghostly body. As she rose to face the hereafter, her path was blocked by something green.

Aquaman led his dead friends through the chaos of New Genesis, reunited to form a Justice League of the Dead. Barry Allen, once again wearing the scarlet uniform of the Flash, zipped around faster than the eye could perceive, disabling the wretched Lilin without spilling their duplicating blood. Oliver Queen, with the green cap and feather of the Green Arrow, brought down the opposition with his trick arrows. Hal Jordan wielded a facsimile of his Green Lantern ring, sweeping the demons away and capturing them in emerald bubbles. Magnar, the fallen New God, destroyed the things effortlessly, using his magnetic powers to siphon the metals of the Lilin’s blood from their bodies. With but a thought, he rendered the duplication properties of the blood inert. Assembled together, they seemed unstoppable. Already dead, they had nothing to fear.

Through the haze of battle and the sounds of both the Lilin and the Army of the Yet to Be destroying each other, the air around them grew heavy, the sky grew dark. Something had taken over the sky; a green blanket that took monstrous human form.

The Spectre, unleashed and without a human anchor, vomited spectral flame from the sky, raining devastation upon the planet. With a motion of his gigantic feet, he tore caverns into the earth. Countless died instantly as he brought about his wrath in unspeakable ways.

“It’s him,” Hal muttered, his willpower dissipating with the sight. He had been the Spectre and had yet to overcome the fear that the experience had left within him.

“Get down, Hal!” Ollie hollered as Barry Allen tackled Hal to the ground to remove the Green Lantern from a harmful assault.

“Keep it together,” Barry urged. “It can’t hurt you anymore, buddy.”

“It’s seeking a new host,” Hal replied as he fought to keep himself away from panic. They watched the Spectre as it filled the sky, by far the most terrible sight amongst endless terrible sights. The Lilin were similarly distracted as they hesitated in their assault. All eyes were on the Spectre. All words were unspoken.

After several long moments of silence, Aquaman broke the tension in the air.

“I know what to do,” Aquaman declared and started running in the Spectre’s direction. The others shared glances and followed. The Justice League was there for each other.

As they ran, from the chest of the Spectre burst Supertown, the capital city of New Genesis, blasting a hole in the monster’s chest before it plummeted at the ground.

Hector Hall relished the experience as he stood within the control interface that fueled the entirety of Supertown. By moving his arms he controlled the motions of the giant city. As he saw the Spectre form from the green ethers of the atmosphere, he laughed as he drove Supertown through him. Benjamin Stoner watched as Hector apparently had lost his mind, nervous and helpless as he prepared to die.

“What are you doing? You’ll get us both killed!” Stoner yelled. Hector ignored him as he pushed his hands downward, plunging the city downward. Stoner lost his balance as his surroundings tilted awkwardly.

“Change of plans,” Hector announced as he saw everything below him. Lilith was rallying her troops as the Army of the Yet to Be rushed at her. Hector thought nothing of the people below and cared less of the monstrous Lilin. Stoner was shocked as Supertown nose-dived at the Demon Mother.

Metal met earth as Supertown made violent contact with New Genesis, its angle bringing it into a devastating skid. Hector strained to maintain his control as the city rumbled across the surface. Lilith commanded her children to protect her even as Supertown overtook her, mashing everything into broken chaos. After a mile long slide, Supertown came to rest.

Hector let out a triumphant hoot as he released his control on the interface. Dr. Stoner regained his footing and dusted off his formerly immaculate vestments. Hector pushed past him in a hurry as he made his way to the exit into the city outside.

“Get ready for some crazy happenings, Stoner,” Hector said as he left. Reluctantly, Stoner put on his helmet, knowing that he was now the puppet. He did not appreciate the role reversal.

The spirit of Greta Hayes, the Secret, hovered in the beyond, teetering on the edge of oblivion. She concentrated on the object preventing her ascension, knowing of only one thing capable of blocking the way. She felt the Spectre in her ethereal core, centering every iota of herself into facing it.

She moved between aspects of reality, reentering the physical world. Floating before the monstrously deformed Wrath of God, she knew what was going to happen. She thought back upon her experiences with the Spectre and realized that it had been preparing her for this very moment.

John Constantine, still latched into the circle of the Parliament of Elements, nearly choked as he yelled to Black Alice.

“Now!” he belted as the long extinguished cigarette butt fell from his mouth.

Black Alice closed her eyes and was transformed before his very eyes. Replacing her lacy dress and fishnet stockings and gloves was a ragged green cape. Her pale skin became white and her eyes bled green energies. She had stolen the Spectre’s power.

“I hope I can keep this at bay for long enough,” she said as she struggled to contain the near-omniscience coursing through her body. “C’mon, Greta.”

“Now I can get to the real work,” Constantine muttered to himself as the Parliament of Elements made their presence known across the expanse on the planet New Genesis.

Vince Kennedy waited for his eyes to adjust to the utter darkness of the hidden chamber buried deep below Darkseid’s stronghold. The only thing he could discern through the black was the glowing evil of Darkseid’s eyes. The malevolent overlord was unaffected by the darkness, striding to the huge door on the far side of the chamber. As the seconds crept by, Vince decided that the darkness was too impenetrable. He would have to wait for the shower of green light he was about to free.

“It has been held here for three thousand years,” Darkseid’s growl echoed throughout the room. “A Green Lantern called Raker Qarragat approached me with a request to hold him and something in his possession indefinitely in an inescapable prison.”

The great door that held back the ancient Green Lantern shuddered and unlocked as it recognized Darkseid’s presence. The door shook as it opened, scraping rock against rock as it opened.

“I don’t need a story,” Vince replied, uninterested in what Darkseid had to say. “You know as well as I do that the rings need to be free. The Demon Mother will visit Apokolips next.”

“I am unaccustomed to having my back against a wall,” Darkseid responded as he entered the prison beyond the door. “If I am to release such a stratagem, I demand that I take my time so New Genesis cannot be saved.”

“It’s too late for them,” Vince said, somehow knowing. The mathematics flowed through his head as he calculated from afar the casualties of Apokolips’ sister world. With the knowledge of the Anti-Life Equation, he counted each death into a final solution. As the Lilith-spawn and the Spectre and the Parliament of Elements ruined the planet, it fueled the calculations as it scrolled through Vince’s imagination. The formula led to a solution. The answer to the Anti-Life Equation was the Life Solution and only Vince Kennedy knew of it.

A cough broke the silence, originating from the prison. It was soon followed by a small green glow. The glow increased to reveal the haggard, violet skin of Raker Qarragat.

“Is it you?” Raker rasped, his voice used for the first time in centuries. “The man called Vince?”

“Hardly a man,” Darkseid interrupted. “How do you know of this ‘man’?”

“The Guardian speaks to me through dreams,” Raker replied as he tried to stand up straight with obvious discomfort.

“The Guardian is long dead,” Darkseid said. “It was dead when I put you in there.”

“He speaks,” Raker said. “He uses words only I can understand. He speaks of this day. The day that the Corps returns to glory.”

“Take me to him,” Vince demanded, pushing Darkseid out of his way. The large stone skinned man was actually knocked off balance by the small teen.

“This way,” Raker said as he turned. His hand was encased in a globe of green energy. The globe protected his ring, feeding itself its own power to sustain itself.

At the end of Raker’s prison lay a mummified corpse of a Guardian of the Universe. Webs covered its desiccated body, the Green Lantern symbol on its chest barely discernible.

Vince knelt before it, touching it lightly on its head. He turned to see Darkseid watching with suspicious eyes. “Step back, Darkseid,” he demanded. He was quite surprised when the evil god stepped back.

Upon contact with the corpse head, the skull opened up to accept Vince’s touch. The Guardian’s brain came to life, throbbing with green energy. Vince scooped the withered, glowing brain with both hands, pulling it out of the skull. He turned to face Raker and Darkseid and watched as Raker was instantly revitalized in the brain’s presence. His wrinkled and old skin tightened as his muscles reconstituted. Darkseid’s eyes showed unpleasant surprise as the green brain transformed into the unmistakable form of a Green Lantern ring. The ring rested on Vince’s palm as they all stared into its grandeur.

“It is time to finish what I could not so many centuries ago,” Raker announced with a grim tone.

Vince put the ring on his finger as they left the prison, leaving Darkseid alone to contemplate his next move.

“Child,” Darkseid rumbled as he turned, the Omega Sanction pulsating behind his eyes. “You promised me the Equation.”

Vince turned and went to face Darkseid. He held out his hand to the god with a smile. “When this is over, I have something much better,” Vince said as he handed Darkseid a Green Lantern ring.

Vince’s newly restored ring could create new rings. Vince was to reinvigorate the Green Lantern Corps and he had chosen Darkseid.

The surviving Lilin, numbered in the millions, swarmed Supertown as it came to rest atop their mother. Golden buildings began to topple from the damage done while plumes of black smoke rose from the destruction.

Aquaman and Green Arrow rushed to the fallen city, aided through the chaos by the constructs of the Green Lantern. Flash had already reached Supertown, instantly engaging the Lilin swarm. Above them, the Spectre disappeared.

Secret was facing the Spectre as the enormous ghostly monster was reduced to a human skeleton. What was once the Spectre was no longer, its power stolen. Secret knew the secrets of the Spectre, what it was and how it lived, that without a host the Spectre would run rampant through creation. Knowing that she had been groomed for the moment, she merged her ethereal being into the skeleton, becoming the new host for the Wrath of God.

“God help me,” she pleaded as she became the most powerful being in all of creation. Through the omniscience granted to her, she knew that He would not.

Magnar was laughing as he tore Lilin apart with his every move. It had been so long since he had the chance to show off the fact that he was more than a second rate Orion. Through his death at the hands of Lucifer Morningstar, he had been reborn as a mighty warrior, no longer a god of peace and harmony, but a god of violence and conflict. It was a second chance that he relished.

“Stay near my side, Aquaman,” he offered as Aquaman fought the Lilin alongside him. “The plots and threads are reaching a juxtaposition that mandates our close proximity.”

Aquaman continued to run, avoiding contact with the Lilin as much as possible. “The plan is still in effect despite everything going wrong?” he asked.

Magnar smiled beneath his strange blue helmet. “Nothing has gone wrong,” he corrected. “This is all part of the plan.”

As the heroes reached the cusp of Supertown, the planet began to come to life. Geysers of magma shot into the sky, forming into the demonic visage of the demon Jack of Fire. The air swirled and solidified, creating avatars of the Red Tornado. The forgotten legends and stories of ancient New Genesis came into being, created from the beliefs of the dead under the command of Misty Kilgore. Rock and stones rose from the ground as they metamorphosed into Amazonian soldiers each identical to Diana, the former Wonder Woman. Fungus and mold, hidden and dark, spread from the cracks of the broken foundations, becoming the silent Black Orchid. The burning and dying flora grew and spread across the land in growing vines of life, sprouting samurai warriors in the shape of the Assassin of the Green Kudzu. Animals of all shapes and sizes charged into the scene, travelling from all parts of the globe to assist Buddy Baker and his allies within the Parliament of Elements.

The moisture in the air condensed as the rivers and fountains of Supertown churned into a huge facsimile of the Queen of Atlantis Mera. Aquaman felt her presence before he saw her. He hurried his pace as Green Lantern assisted in his entrance into Supertown.

“Mera!” he yelled as loud as he could as he was joined by the Flash, Green Arrow and Magnar beneath a protective bubble projected from Green Lantern’s ring. It had appeared to be the five of them against the millions of Czarnian Lilins until mere moments ago, but now the Parliament of Elements had arrived. Aquaman hoped that the progression of events would turn into their favor soon.

Across the entire planet, the elements came to life. The ground crumbled into dust as volcanoes burst from below. Trees wrenched themselves from their anchors, committing suicide under the influence of the Green. The wildlife went to war amongst itself, murdering each other. The water receded from its banks, evaporating into the air where it was destroyed by the killing winds.

The Source within the core of the planet screamed in agony of New Genesis began to be torn apart.

Aquaman ran at the solid water form of his wife that towered over the spires of Supertown. He snuck away from the others as they began the excavation process to ensure Lilith’s defeat. He would be reunited with his wife at any cost. He leapt over a fallen statue, landing near a collapsed doorway. As he prepared for a second leap to bring him closer to Mera, Dr. Fate and Hector Hall exited from the door. Aquaman stopped immediately, growing instantly furious.

“You!” he shouted as he wasted no time in attacking Dr. Fate. Hector moved away casually as Aquaman began punching the Helm of Nabu relentlessly. “You killed me! You started this whole ordeal. Because of you, this is happening!”

“No, wait,” Stoner appealed beneath the assaulted helmet. “Stop!”

Aquaman was not in the mood to listen as he continued his barrage, leaving imprints of his knuckles in the golden metal. After what seemed an eternity, Hector stepped in and put his hand on Aquaman’s shoulder.

“I appreciate the outrage,” he said, his voice defying the bedlam of all that was around them, “but I’m going to have to stop you there, Aquaman. You see, it wasn’t him that killed you…it was me.”

Aquaman turned to him, his eyes wide with rage.

“You seem to have come out of it all right, though,” Hector continued as Aquaman went at him. Hector raised his hand to block, while Stoner’s hand rose equally to produce the mystical shield that protected Hector. Aquaman’s fist met the shield and dissipated.

He had every intention of beating Hector Hall into a coma until the air seemed to grow rotten. The smell was enough to distract the three of them as they looked around for the source of the putrescence. Descending from the sky was a pair of jet-black monstrosities dripping blood from their red eyes. One of them had an ‘S’ carved into its chest.

Dr. Fate could not raise a shield fast enough to block the near light speed motions of the Kryptonian Lilin as it came at them. As Dr. Fate was lifted skyward, arcing over the giant water form of Mera, Hector and Aquaman were left to fend for themselves.

Without Stoner nearby, Hector was useless. Aquaman was clearly outmatched as he recognized the vague facial characteristics of Superman and Icon within the new assailants. Lilith had mated with two of the most dominant physical forces on Earth and produced equally threatening demon spawn.

The Superman-Lilin shot straight for him, zipping at great speed while simultaneously unleashing red-hot heat vision. Aquaman bounded to the side to avoid the monster, feeling the intense heat drying his pores as he moved. He swiveled to make visual contact with Hector only to see the man fleeing, attempting to escape. Aquaman stood firm as the Superman-Lilin turned to face him and the Icon-Lilin floated slowly behind him. As the Icon-Lilin attempted to grab Aquaman’s head, the hero dodged quickly and managed to plant his elbow into the thing. A meaty crack of its ribs did not slow it down and it grabbed him by the hair.

The Superman-Lilin grumbled in an alien language, a Kryptonian-demonic language, as its eyes filled with power. Aquaman struggled as he faced imminent death. The heat vision sprang from the monster’s eyes, burning slowly into the mail armor of Aquaman’s orange shirt. The skin beneath began to blister as the Lilin shared a brotherly laugh.

The assault suddenly stopped with the arrival of a streak of red and the sudden appearance of a hideous green beast with hundreds of tentacles and numerous rows of razor sharp teeth. The red streak erased the Icon-Lilin from the battle as the green monster swallowed the Superman-Lilin whole. As Aquaman regained his senses, the green monster façade melted away from the Martian Manhunter and he was soon joined by the Kyptonian Red Sun armored General Zod.

The Icon-Lilin had been reduced to a bundle of broken joints, still hissing while J’Onn J’Onnz spit out the skeletal remains of what had been the Superman-Lilin.

“Disgusting,” the Manhunter said as he wiped his chin of the rancid saliva. “Not at all my taste.”

“J’Onn,” Aquaman smiled as he shook his old friend’s hand. “It’s good to have you here. We need all the help we can get.”

“We are all the help you need,” Zod bellowed as he floated inches from the ground so as not to taint himself with contact with the inferior planet. “The energy in the atmosphere reminds me of my native Krypton as it teetered on the verge of explosion. I fear we have little time left.”

The world shook at the Elements continued to disassemble New Genesis. Mera was gone from the line of sight, moving to greater aid the other Elements.

“I think I know what to do,” Aquaman said as Zod and J’Onn listened. “Before Dr. Fate killed me, there was a fallen angel held prisoner that guarded the gateway to the Demon Mother’s prison.”

“I have met the Archangel Zacharael,” J’Onzz replied. “He delivered your body to the Justice League after your death.”

Aquaman nodded. “He was chained to wall with something fused to his sternum.”

“And what would that be?” Zod asked, unable to hold back the condescension in his voice.

“A Mother Box,” Aquaman answered. “I think Lilith was held in a Boom Tube loop, perpetually teleported between multiple places without a second to reconstitute herself.”

“The New Gods are dead,” J’Onn announced. “Their Mother Boxes have all been extinguished.”

“I know where we can get one,” Aquaman said. “We need to find Magnar.”

Magnar barely maneuvered out of the way of the falling Dr. Fate, who smashed into the ground with a burst of yellow ankhs. Deducing quickly that the sorcerer was incapacitated, he grabbed Fate by the golden cape and dragged him along as he searched for Aquaman.

“How many times did I tell him to stay close?” he asked himself. “Are all of Earth’s heroes as dense as he?”

Overhead he heard tiny explosions and looked up to observe thousands of green comets lining the upper atmosphere. The comets shot in all directions as he watched. He was mildly surprised as one of them streaked at him with uncanny speed. He was speechless as the small green ring floated before his face and even more at a loss for words when the ring spoke to him.

“Magnar of New Genesis,” it said. “You have shown the ability to overcome great fear. Welcome to the Green Lantern Corps.”

Magnar smiled as other rings buzzed past him, swarming the planet for as far as his eyes could see. As he slid the ring onto his finger, he heard the voice again.

“Benjamin Stoner of Earth. You have shown the ability to overcome great fear. Welcome to the Green Lantern Corps.”

As Magnar pondered what was happening around him, Hector Hall ran into him. Hector’s retreat had left him exactly where he did not want to be. Magnar recognized him immediately. “I know what you did,” Magnar said as he encased Hector in a green bubble and headed to where his divine senses claimed the whereabouts of Aquaman.

Vince Kennedy floated in the sky, smiling as his rings showered duplicate rings into what was left of New Genesis. The cascade of Green Lantern rings lent a bright green glow to the blackened sky as they sought out receptacles for their power.

Deciding to travel to the surface, he was interrupted by a green manifestation of Darkseid’s face, sprouting from his ring.

“The Lilin have reached Apokolips,” Darkseid muttered with urgency. “That is unacceptable.”

“You have a Lantern ring now, Darkseid,” Vince replied as he sought to disengage the communication. “Overcome it. Use the power of your will for something other than pure evil.”

Darkseid’s image scrambled into nothingness as Vince had no intention of conversing further. He had a Corps to rebuild. Swooping through the endless sky, he thought of only yesterday when he was a normal boy. Oh, how a Crisis changes a person.

The Army of the Yet to Be continued their seemingly endless war with the Lilin as the legions of both sides grew to staggering numbers. Even as the world around them turned against itself, the heroes and villains of Limbo fought as though they existed.

Merryman was on his way to losing his voice from hollering battle strategies, swarmed on all sides by ally and enemy alike. He had lost Arkillo and the beast’s yellow ring of fear. He had lost Genocide, the embodiment of murder. He had lost Powerboy, the Apokoliptian force of nature. He had lost countless friends, pulled from their nonexistence in Limbo to fight a war in reality. He regretted bringing them all into this situation and hated the Phantom Stranger for forcing it upon them. He would mourn his fallen friends later and hoped to rebuild his legion from the ashes that survived.

Jason Rusch was pulled to the ground and devoured. Batwoman exploded into a red mist. As Most Excellent Superbat and his Super Young Team co-founder Shy Lolita Canary were reduced to sludge by the horde of Czarnian-Lilin, Merryman was on the verge of collapse. While he contemplated surrender, the rings poured from the sky, choosing their hosts from the Army of the Yet to Be. The rings spoke in unison as they picked their users. The Army of the Yet to Be began to throb with green energies as the Green Lantern Corps grew exponentially.

A hint of hope fluttered into Merryman’s dire expression as a ring approached him.

“Myron Victor,” it said. “You have…” Before it could finish, Merryman snatched the ring and placed it on his finger enthusiastically.

“Hell yeah,” he said as he joined his army for the final assault.

Ten jet-black Lilin felt the might of the Lord of Apokolips as Darkseid blasted solid green will in a salvo of immeasurable authority. He defended the empty bodies of the Parliament of Elements while they were occupied spiritually upon the surface of New Genesis. Darkseid knew that if the circle were to be broken, then New Genesis would not be properly destroyed. It was his priority to first see New Genesis obliterated then to acquire the Anti-Life Equation from Vince Kennedy. Ultimate supremacy was within his grasp and he was not going to allow a handful of Kryptonian-Lilin hybrids to stand against him.

Black Alice assisted him in the guise of the Phantom Stranger, having stolen the power of the Stranger as the eternal wanderer had apparently died. She manipulated mystical energies and pockets of dark matter against the Lilin as she stood cryptically in her blue brimmed hat and her flowing blue cloak.

“I have to admit, I kinda have a crush on you right now,” Alice smiled in the shadow of her hat.

Darkseid blasted the final Lilin from the air, setting it aflame with green energy. “Now is not the time or place to discuss such things.”

Alice did not expect such a response, more expecting his weird red eye beams to reduce her into nonexistence. Her pale skin blushed as, somehow, unconventional love was in the smog.

The Green Lantern Army of the Yet to Be gathered their multitude in the abandoned and decimated streets of Supertown. With minimal effort and a proper amount of bloodlust, they had eradicated the Czarnian –Lilin with the combined might brought to them by their newly acquired rings. The Army was silent as they waited for word from their leader.

Merryman climbed atop an overturned New Genesian Super Bus to address his friends and teammates. He outstretched his arms and smiled as he began his victory speech. “People of Limbo!” he exclaimed. His usually measly voice was filled with confidence and pride. He had finally become the leader he had always strived to be. The crowd cheered his name. “It is with great satisfaction that I bequeath upon you en masse the right to reality! Each and every one of you has fought by my side to victory and let it be known our years of waiting have finally paid off! We will be real!”

As he soaked in the adulation, he did not feel the antler pierce his torso until he was dead. Lilith hissed as she rose from his body, growing in height as her body became something other than humanoid. Green Lantern energy shocked out of every onlooker as they assaulted the Demon Mother with the full force of their wills while Merryman collapsed to the ground, dead and pouring blood. In a shower of green and gore, Lilith began devouring the Army of the Yet to Be, mere seconds after their proclamation of existence.

Avoiding the usual exuberance expected of the Spectre, Secret, now the Spectre, coalesced from the bloodbath, prepared to put an end to that which her predecessor could not.

J’Onn J’Onnz led Aquaman to a small metallic bungalow where he and Zod had hidden away the severely injured Superman and Icon; the original occupants had been mummified by some form of Lilin and left to rot in their beds. Aquaman was shocked as he saw Superman; the injuries were grisly but it was apparent that the sunlight of New Genesis, no matter how corrupted it currently was, was working to regenerate his Kryptonian physiology.

“Clark,” Aquaman whispered as he knelt to greet Superman. “You’ve looked better.”

“You’re much more alive than you were the last time I saw you,” Superman replied, every word a labor, lessening as he healed. “This world’s sun is doing wonders for me. I’m sorry it’s not doing the same for Icon.”

Aquaman peered at Icon, who was not as terribly injured as Superman. “I apologize, Clark, but I have something I have to do.”

Superman nodded gingerly as he tried to stand on his mangled limbs. He lost his footing as the building began to collapse. Outside, the structures were being equally destroyed, some by fire, others from the gale force winds.

Aquaman supported Superman and led him to lean on Zod. The General reluctantly accepted the injured hero, his look of disgust hidden beneath his helmet. As the Martian Manhunter lifted Icon from the floor, they heard the unmistakable rumble of incoming destruction.

As they reached the exit a tsunami from nowhere stood one hundred feet tall, crashing in their direction with only seconds until contact. As the tsunami bore down on them, a green energy bubble encircled them.

Magnar had arrived, proudly brandishing his new ring, and Hector Hall and Dr. Fate, the later wearing a green variation of the traditional Dr. Fate garb, accompanied him.

Aquaman looked into the wave and saw his wife’s face. “Mera!” he shouted. Somewhere deep within the heart of the tsunami, the Queen of Atlantis must have heard him. The tsunami paused as if frozen solid.

“Arthur,” the waves moaned. “Run!” it urged and Aquaman wasted no time.

Within the green orb, Hector Hall grabbed Aquaman by the wrist, preventing him from going anywhere. “We have places to go,” Hector whispered to Aquaman as the tsunami proceeded, lashing back into motion. It collapsed upon the protective shield

Hector motioned to Dr. Fate. “Now, Stoner,” he ordered as he touched his index finger to his thumb, in turn placing his hand to his forehead. Dr. Fate mimicked the motion, casting the spell that Hector required. Knowing his fate, Magnar latched onto Hector as the spell took effect, opening the teleportation channel to their final destination.

“Get them home, Dr. Fate,” Hector demanded as the three disappeared into nothing, leaving Dr. Fate, Superman, Zod, J’Onn J’Onnz and Icon submerged in the flooded Supertown as the Parliament of Elements set forth its final onslaught.

The Spectre spread her essence as solidly as she could, still unaccustomed to the severity of her abilities. Lilith was unleashing everything she had at her disposal to kill another Spectre. Battling over the mutilated bodies of the Army of the Yet to Be, the two immeasurably powerful beings rocked the world with their conflict.

“You will perish a thousand times a day for the rest of my eternity,” Lilith spat, blood drooling from her mouth as the antlers that protruded from her head grew and twisted. Her arms stretched impossibly as her jaw unhinged, curling her face into a terrible scowl.

The Spectre was at a loss for words, unfamiliar with mystic banter. “I sense the true you,” she said as her mental tendrils existed in multiple dimensions. She stood towering over Supertown, dropping her defensive stance, allowing the possibility of a fatal attack. “I know you are truly elsewhere.”

Lilith did not attack, sensing with mild confusion that she was unable to harm this new iteration of the Spectre. The Spectre had always been a man of flesh wrapped within the Wrath of God. The Secret was not of the flesh and remained so as the Spectre.

Lilith shrank instantly as she instinctively knew that someone was trespassing upon her property. Someone had found her location. With a scream, she sent forth a flood of insects from her mouth, calling upon her Phantom Stranger spawn to confront the Spectre in her stead. Angered beyond reason and disrupting her plans for New Genesis, Lilith called the remainder of her doppelgangers back to her birthing chamber hidden inside the darkest depths of reality in the Empty Space. It seemed things might end where this all began.

The Demon Mother was gone as New Genesis collapsed into itself, the once wondrous city of the gods was now nothing more than space rubble. The Parliament of Elements had succeeded.

Thousands of Green Lantern rings fled from the destruction of New Genesis, leaving their dead hosts to be consumed in the destruction. Each one whizzed in a different direction as they were released into the galaxy to fully assemble the new Green Lantern Corps.

The universe was atwitter with the sounds of the rings in their search.

“Ring status report,” the rings spoke in unison, repetitively. “Scan for replacement sentient initiated.”

Mazikeen bled from a hundred wounds as she fought the true form of her mother within the darkened confines of her grotesque birthing chamber. Limbless beasts slithered in their own afterbirth while disgusting insects crawled around the battle. While Mazikeen swung her dual blades at the endless flow of her newly born brothers and sisters, Lilith reclined back in her birthing apparatus, spewing demons from her terrible womb.

Mazikeen had been working to reach her mother for hours, never able to get close. It was almost a blessing as three men entered the room from nowhere. Hector Hall and Aquaman entered the Empty Space once again to end what they had unintentionally set in motion, accompanied by Magnar, who had stolen a ride along with them. Within seconds of their arrival, Lilith bolted upright, pouring amniotic fluid to the already disgusting and highly unsanitary floor. She had pulled all that she had spread out into the universe back into herself.

With a scream that defied comprehension, she skittered to the heroes on spontaneously manifested spider legs. “No man may enter my domain!” she screamed as she attacked Aquaman. With speed strengthened by his years of living under the intense pressures of the bottom of the ocean, Aquaman snatched Magnar’s Mother Box from the large man’s arm and punched it into Lilith’s belly. Lilith’s follow-through tackled Aquaman to the ground, allowing him to access the Mother Box’s teleportation properties.

Hector Hall’s ears ruptured as the Boom Tube exploded into existence too close for comfort. Lilith was sucked into the Tube while Magnar challenged the precarious laws of the physics involved to latch onto Aquaman and save him from a similar fate. As Magnar made contact with Aquaman, he felt a tug on his soul.

“The plan worked,” Magnar said with a smile as he slowly began to grow immaterial. He pulled Aquaman to his feet and grabbed a deafened Hector Hall by the collar of his shirt. The Mother Box beeped as Aquaman picked it up off of the ground, signaling the activation of another Boom Tube elsewhere.

“Seems it has,” Aquaman replied as he felt himself lose cohesion. With the three in physical contact, Magnar was pulled back to life with two additional stowaways.

Batman tightened his grip as Magnar turned out to be heavier than usual. With a grunt, he hefted Magnar out of the Lazarus Pit, discovering immediately why Magnar was heavier. Magnar coughed as his lungs shed the life-giving water, hacking as he lifted Aquaman and Hector out of the Pit.

“Good work,” Magnar,” Batman said as he was joined by Nyssa and Bekka to assist the three returned heroes. “I never had a doubt that this was the job for you.”

Magnar would have normally basked in such praise but he had deduced differently. “This was no plan of your,” Magnar grumbled. “This reeks of the machinations of Lucifer Morningstar.”

“I agree,” Batman said as he showed them what had happened to Zacharael. “I’ve come to the conclusion that he planted everything in our heads.”

“I barely activated the Boom Tube,” Bekka said, relieved as she attended to the unconscious Justice League. “Damned Archangel.”

The Archangel Zacharael was limp on the dirty ground, a Mother Box once again attached to his chest. The Box beeped in conjunction to Magnar’s Box, a loop between the two once again imprisoning Lilith between infinities. Once a second, Lilith’s face would throb to the surface of Zacharael’s stomach, her mouth twisted in an eternal scream.

“Has it come to an end?” Aquaman asked, unaware of what had happened to Earth during this crisis. No one was sure if it was over or, in fact, it would ever end.

“It’s over,” Nicholas Onokentauros stuttered as he emerged from the shadows, expecting either Aquaman of Hector to attack him for his earlier treachery. “I can’t feel her anymore.”

“You liar!” Hector yelled as he knocked Onokentauros unconscious with a single punch. “You mislead me into almost destroying everything! All of this is your fault!”

Aquaman calmed Hector. “He will face what he has done every day for the rest of his life, Hector,” he said, unusually forgiving. “He will see justice. I didn’t kill you for killing me, so I only ask you to show a similar amount of faith.”

“You’re right,” Hector frowned as Onokentauros lay at his feet. “I trust you. I’m sorry I killed you.”

Aquaman shook Hector’s hand. “It’s all in the past, Hector. Besides, I got better.”

The heroes collected the injured and exited the remains of the fallen lighthouse, walking to the beach to see the world begin to calm. They all looked into the night sky as it hovered over the ocean.

“My wife is out there,” Aquaman looked into the sky. “And my people are still in trouble.”

“Not everything can be resolved at once,” Batman said as he stood at Aquaman’s side. Batman lowered his voice, foregoing his usual gruffness as he talked to his old friend. “When you decide to reform the Justice League, I’ll be there.”

Aquaman was reminded that Batman was the world’s greatest detective for being able to know what Aquaman had already be considering.

All grew silent as, from the dais of Darkseid’s Elite Fortress, Darkseid watched as New Genesis was reduced to pieces. His hardened face curled into an atrocious smile as he had finally received what he had wanted since time immemorial. He rubbed the Green Lantern ring on his finger as he awaited the deliverance of his ultimate goal.

“The Parliament is waking up,” Black Alice said as she placed he hand on his shoulder. He pulled away from her touch, removing the smile to maintain his evil demeanor and mask his joy.

“Has the boy returned?” Darkseid asked as he walked with Alice to see to the Parliament of Elements. Even as he finished his question, Vince Kennedy landed before them, floating on a platform of green.

“Ah!” Darkseid exclaimed. “I will have the Equation now.”

Vince set foot on the Apokoliptian ground and held out his hand. “The ring no longer belongs to you,” Vince said, avoiding the demand. “It has to seek a proper user that will wield it for the good of the universe.”

Darkseid removed the ring. “I will no longer require the garish bauble once you give me the Anti-Life Equation.” He held on to the ring, unwilling to relinquish the bargaining chip.

“A trade then?” Vince asked, already aware of the truth. He smiled and shook his head. “Through my connection to the Source and the knowledge that I carry concerning the Anti-Life Equation,” Vince explained, “I have found the solution to the Anti-Life Equation.”

Darkseid’s eyes widened. “I must have it!” he yelled. “Give me the Life Solution!” Black Alice backed away as she inherently realized what was about to happen.

Vince raised his fist to the side of his own head. He tried to put up a smile but his sadness was apparent. “You’ll never have it,” Vince said as he blasted a hole in his head, putting an end to his life rather than live with knowledge that could give Darkseid ultimate power.

Darkseid howled in fury as Vince collapsed to the ground. Black Alice rushed to Vince’s body, hoping to be able to draw magic from somewhere in hopes of reviving the boy. Darkseid opened the hand that clasped his ring and it dashed into space, joining Vince’s departing ring to seek a true Green Lantern. He fell to his knees, unable to deal with losing his chance when it was within his grasp.

Black Alice fought back tears. To think she was oddly attracted to such a monster. “You don’t know the meaning of ‘revenge’ until I come back for you, Darkseid,” Alice cried as she accessed Alan Scott’s connection to the Starheart in order to remove herself and Vince Kennedy’s corpse from Apokolips.

Darkseid was not listening to the girl’s threats but, someday soon, he will wish he would have.

John Constantine watched as the individual members of the Parliament of Elements roused from their astral endeavors. Finally getting his hands free of the others, he immediately reached into his pocket to light a cigarette.

“Never destroyed an entire planet before,” he chuckled as he took a drag. “Not for lack of trying, mind you.”

He stood and walked around the table, puffing and exhaling a cloud of smoke into each of their faces. They remained groggy as they breathed in the fumes.

“Thanks for the assist, gents and birds,” he said as he watched the new form of the Spectre descend from the dark sky. “Too bad you won’t remember a jot of it.”

Spectre landed in the middle of the table, her dark green cloak flowing into nothingness around her.

“You should have told them,” she said, her voice was a wispy song. “You’ll have to pay for your various treacheries eventually.”

Constantine shrugged and grinned. “Ah, well, just one more thing I have to keep looking over my shoulder for,” he said as the Parliament of Elements began to dissolve back to their proper places on Earth. “You don’t scare me, girl,” he announced as he flicked his cigarette into her immaterial body. “Wrath of God or not, ye’re still a little girl.”

The Spectre knew that one day, John Constantine would face his past and she promised herself then and there that she would be there to watch him fall.

Dr. Fate collapsed to the ground, exhausted from the exertion of shunting an entire city into another dimension. The entirety of Supertown found itself removed from New Genesis seconds before the planet’s destruction. Unable to stand, he cursed Hector Hall for only allowing him enough power to do the one mighty task.

“I’ve heard about you, Dr. Stoner,” J’Onn J’Onnz said as they acclimated to the change in atmospheres. “Although you may have saved us from certain destruction, you deserve to have been stranded on New Genesis.”

“I know,” Stoner replied feebly, sobbing. “I know.”

General Zod rose into the sky, surveying the world outside of Supertown to assess their position. Narrowing his attention and focusing his enhanced senses, he found that they were surrounded by endless sand, dunes rolling and dipping across Africa.

“We’re in the middle of the Sahara,” Zod announced from above. “It appears my involvement is no longer necessary. Do not contact me again.” He streaked away into the Northeast, a red flash fading in the sunlight.

“Not if we can help it, Zod,” Superman muttered as he got to his feet, his recovery accelerating.

J’Onn shared a thoughtful glance with Superman. “With Zod and Stoner and all that has so recently transpired, it appears that we need to get to work on the future of the Justice League.”

As the quiet winds of the desert began to seep into the fallen city of gods, from the rubble of the structures and the ruined architecture raised the first of the survivors. What was once a civilization of millions of gods was now reduced to a handful of lost souls. J’Onn, Superman and Icon wasted no time in assisting them, true heroes from elsewhere welcoming new alien refugees into their adoptive world.

Within the birthing chamber of the recently defeated Demon Mother, Mazikeen began to collect the decomposing bodies of her corrupted brothers and sisters to give them a proper burial. Although the demons spawned from her evil mother’s were borne specifically as fodder, they were still her family.

She dreaded the idea of digging graves for them in the night of the Empty Space, a realm full of otherworldly threats. She forced herself, however, working for days, digging individual holes for each of the dead with only her hands as tools. As she finally buried the last, Lucifer Morningstar made his entrance.

“Have you finally reached your peace?” Lucifer asked as he accepted her embrace. She clung to him tightly as she growled with frustration. “Do you feel that you have earned your reward?”

“I have,” she sobbed, clutching him with all of her love.

Lucifer petted her hair and forced her to raise her face to look him in the eye. He removed her porcelain mask to reveal her entire face. For the first time in the long relationship, they kissed.

“Then you shall have that for which you have wished,” he whispered quietly into her ear as it began to decay. The half of her face that had been covered by her mask fell apart, leaving a gory, dripping mess of what had once been a beautiful woman. She smiled and let her tears flow.

“You are now prepared to accompany me into my Kingdom,” he announced as a bright rectangular portal opened before them. He held her hand as they exited the Empty Space and entered into a paradise of Lucifer’s own making.

“My Kingdom will soon be the only Kingdom,” he said as they left this reality. “Lilith’s defeat has assured it.”

“Uh lufph yoo,” Mazikeen said as she cherish the touch of her hand in his.

“I love you too, Mazikeen,” he said without a hint of deceit. “This was a happy ending. A happy ending indeed.”

Through the flotsam of what was once New Genesis, as it floats aimlessly through a hidden cosmos, the Phantom Stranger walked from the destruction, step by step, making his way back to the world of men to wander for another eternity.

In the debris of the fallen lighthouse, a hand broke the surface of the abandoned Lazarus Pit. Someone else had returned.

In a long-term care hospice somewhere in Europe, Lyta Hall finally woke up.