Epilogue

The Lords of Order:

We watch as the mysterious man in spectacles performs some sort of mystical dance before calling forth the giant stone beast to crush the One Earth tanks and helicopters.

"Astonishing," another Lord says, rubbing his chin. "I have never seen magic like this before. Is it magic?"

"But is it magic," another Lord asks, all of us turning to face him. "To summon such a beast? Is it magic, or simply something else?"

"It is magic," I answer, all the Lords turning to face me. "I detected magic but you are right. This is unlike any magic we have ever seen before. It's something more. Something new."

I return to the magical circle, watching as the man in spectacles slams his palms together. As he does, his stone beast does the same, slamming a helicopter in between its hands. Turning to more magical circles, I see the man calling forth green animals to fend off Superman while he tends to Supergirl's wounds. In the final circle, he somehow controls both water and fire to push back the One Earth soldiers as they try to enter Superman's private chamber.

"Who is the man in spectacles," I ask. "Where did he come from? What is this new magic he had?"

All of the Lords of Order are speechless.

"This is not possible. We are the Lords of Order. To preserve that order, we must know everything."

"But we do not," another Lord interrupts. "We do not know anything about this man in spectacles. We do not even know where he had disappeared, nor the locations of Kara Zor-El, Barry Allen, Oliver Queen, or any others who have disappeared with them. We cannot sense their presence anywhere."

"The world is changing once more," I say, holding out my hands. The circles all disappear, bursting into dust. "And with this changing, I sense much destruction and chaos. All because of him."

"We must stop him before it can happen," a Lord cries.

"And we will. I believe it is time to revive our most valuable asset."

"Agree," the rest of the Lords says, nodding their heads. "It is time to bring back Dr. Fate."

Jason Todd:

"Give me one reason," I say, keeping my gun trained on Slade Wilson. "One reason why I shouldn't put a hole in your head."

Dressed in his yellow and black armor, split right down the middle, he is armed to the teeth; a broadsword on his back, dual machine pistols on his waist, and two bullet belts going across his chest, he looks like he just got offered a job.

"Calm the fuck down, would ya," he says, pulling out his hand from his crossed arm. "I'm not here to fight you."

"People don't track me down unless they want something," I say, lining up the shot so I have Slade's head between the iron sights. "So if you don't want a fight, then what is it you want?"

"I'm just here to make you an offer," Slade says, his hand going back into the fold. "That's it. If you say no, then I'm out of here. But if you say yes, then we have a common goal."

"A common goal," I repeat, lowering my gun only a little. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"I'm sure you heard about him. About the guy that's been giving Superman trouble."

"The one in the sunglasses?"

"Yeah, that one. From what I've been hearing, he has been giving Superman a lot of trouble. From blowing up the Watchtower to infiltrating New Metropolis, he becomes a real son of a bitch for that son of a bitch."

"What's your point?"

"My point is, I'm offering you an invite to help me find him."

"What?"

Slade nods his head, he goes on.

"I want to help the guy in sunglasses, but he's hard to find. That's why I came to you. I figure the two of us working together, we might have a better chance of finding him. Plus, I know you're not too happy about what Superman did to Batman."

"Not my problem. Despite what you may think, Bruce and I aren't close. Not anymore anyway."

"Either way, I doubt you're too happy knowing he is under Superman's control."

Slade must have seen something because, despite his mask, I can hear the grin on his face.

"Listen, I'm going to Gotham City. Follow me or don't."

Slade turning around walks back into the alleyway, the shadow eating him as he walks.

"Fuck," I moan, turning back to walk out. "I'll meet you in Gotham City. I need to stop by my hideout. Grab a few things."

"Fine," Slade says from the shadows. "Hope you got bus fare."

Lana Lang:

"Is this it," I ask, the car stopping. Getting out, I walk a few steps away. "Is this really Gotham City?"

"It's what's left," Ellen says, getting out too. Her door opens, she lends on it. "Not much uh."

"It's dead," I say, trying to hear anything. There is no sound whatsoever. No people on the street talking, no cars honking as they passed, not even the sound of a chirping bird. The city really is abandoned.

Looking at the building as they're covered in cracks and their colors are fading, I turn back to Ellen. Reaching for an envelope I have in my pocket, I hand it to her.

"Here," I say. "Thanks for the ride. This is far enough."

"What do you mean," Ellen asks.

"This is far enough," I say again. "I just needed help getting here. You can go back to Starling City."

Ellen laughs, she takes me by surprise and takes the envelope. Tossing it inside like it's trash, she looks back at me.

"There's another reason why I wanted to come here," she says, reaching for something in her back pocket. "I think it's the same reason why you wanted to come to an empty city."

Before I know it, Ellen pulls out a pistol.

"You want to find the Insurgency, don't you? Well, so I do."

Superman:

"I changed the frequency on the betas," Cyborg says, his arm falling to his side. "Now, even with the information they stole, they can't hack the betas."

"Excellent," I say, my head resting on my hands as I watch my One Earth soldiers clean up the destroyed betas. Picking up the parts and tossing them into trucks to be either recycled or smelted, I look at Cyborg.

"Are you sure you can't trace the portal's energy signature?"

"I tried Superman," Cyborg replies, "But The Man must have changed it somehow. Or they're done opening up portals. Either way, there are no more energy signatures for us to trace."

"Dammit," I say, slamming my fist and making a hole in the seating area. Everyone looks at me for only a few seconds before returning back to work.

"So what now," Cyborg asks. "What's our next move? Do we try to lure them out?"

Thinking it over, trying to come up with the best possible answer, I see my yellow lantern ring and get up.

"Yes," I say, "Yes. We are going to lure them out. All of them. With an invasion. Cyborg, are the new betas fliers ready?"

"Yes, there are."

"Then tell everyone to prepare. We're going to Oa. The invasion starts now."