Book One: The Harbinger
By David Tillinger

PRELUDE : THE HARBINGER

The Harbinger never knew what form itself or the other entities, the Monitor and Anti-Monitor, would take when they entered a particular universe. They could be human or humanoid or animal, or even an inanimate object. But in whatever form they took, their essential nature was conflict and crisis. The eternal conflict between Monitor and Anti-Monitor, with the Harbinger balanced between and standing as the herald of each new crisis, gathering the others who would be needed for the conflict to be resolved.

The Harbinger remembered its last manifestation. A blonde woman in a tight outfit. Though the entities had no particular gender, the Harbinger generally hated its experiences in female form. Females were weak…… The Harbinger paused at that thought, as it really did not differentiate between human genders or any such differences. They were beneath it.

The thoughts were not the Harbinger's but were rather the signs of the taint of the Harbinger's next host becoming active. The Harbinger could feel itself losing itself in its new host. With that loss came a growing sense of who the particular host was and what were to be the parameters of this new conflict. As realization of its host hit, in its last independent moment, the Harbinger entity had one thought.

"This is going to be difficult."

EARTH 2: METROPOLIS

Kal-L, the Superman of Earth 2 pauses as he stands at the podium, toying absently with a pair of glasses. A large crowd has assembled on the stairs of the Metropolis courthouse where the podium is set up. Next to Kal-L are James Olsen, once Kal's pesky sidekick and now his successor as the Editor of the Daily Star. A few other dignitaries stand a respectful distance behind them.

"Thank you all for coming here today." Kal begins. "As many of you know, yesterday, my wife, Daily Star reporter Lois Lane Kent, was laid to rest after her passing a week ago. Those of you who were at the funeral heard my words then and I'll not repeat them." Kal has to pause here, since being honest with himself, if he were to repeat them, he would once again break down as he had at the funeral. Breaking down might be acceptable for Clark Kent, but not for Superman. Most everyone knew they were one and the same at this point, but both Kal & the public still played the game out of respect.

"My purpose here today is to officially retire, in both of my identities. I have passed the reins of the Daily Star to my good friend James Olsen and I have no doubt he will continue to run the paper in the tradition of great editors like Perry White and George Taylor.

"And Clark Kent." James leans over to add, drawing a cheer from the crowd.

"Thank you, James. But this is also my retirement as Superman as well. I know that the other heroes of Metropolis will step up in my absence."

"WE'LL MISS YOU SUPERMAN!!!!" A scream comes from the crowd.

"And I will miss you and my city. But never fear for even a second that you will be far from my heart. Thank you all." Kal tenses for a minute, thinking to fly away in a grand finale of the speech, but for some reason, it feels wrong. So with a final wave, he steps away from the podium entering the courthouse. As he does, he sees a bright light and hears:

"Kal-L, you are needed."

EARTH 1: THE JUSTICE LEAGUE SATELLITE, 22,300 MILES ABOVE THE EARTH

Zatanna was irritated as she sat serving her weekly assigned monitor duty session. Not at the session itself, as given her hectic life, the few hours of relative solitude were something she enjoyed. But her irritation had a source. Roy Harper.

Since they had met at the wedding of Oliver Queen and Dinah Lance, Zatanna and Roy Harper had settled into a complex and tempestuous friendship. Though they were genuinely fond of each other, they had realized immediately that neither was particularly suited for a serious relationship at this point in their lives. Nevertheless, they enjoyed each other's company, but for now, neither saw anything permanent in the arrangement. Roy occasionally referred to them as "bed buddies" (albeit Roy tended to use a more profane word for bed). And Zatanna's dislike of profanity aside, the term was probably accurate.

But at the moment, she was angry with him. Their relationship was certainly not monogamous on either end, but Zatanna had been very much angered by Roy's most recent indiscretion, an affair with the known terrorist Cheshire. There was a line crossed there in Zee's mind, and she was having a hard time dealing with it.

As if it knew that she was thinking about Harper, a buzzer jerks Zatanna from her thoughts and his image flashes on a monitor screen. As Arsenal, Roy was currently taking the place of his mentor Green Arrow in the League. He looks perplexed on the screen.

"Arsenal." Zatanna says to the screen, somewhat coldly.

"Zee, there's something really weird going on here. Some things I simply can't make any sense of. " Arsenal replies. And the fact that he doesn't reply to her cold tone with some witty joke or comment brings Zatanna immediately to alert, her irritation forgotten.

"Describe it." She responds. From her review of the log records of each Leaguer's current status (a required task at the beginning of each monitor duty session) she knew he was working undercover in Metropolis, trying to get an entry into the operations of a criminal entity called the Monitor. For him to look for the League's help on this sort of street level mission, meant there was something much more serious involved.

"That's just it, Zee, there's nothing to describe. I know there's something going on. Too many weird disappearances and such. There's an operation here, I know there is, but I can't find a damn thing on this Monitor….."

He pauses and suddenly the screen is filled partially with a bright light. Zatanna can see that there is a shape inside the light, but cannot discern what it is.

"Roy Harper, you are needed." The voice says and moments later the light and more importantly Arsenal, are gone.

EARTH X: WASHINGTON, D.C.

It had been 5 long years since the Nazi threat had finally been ended. Carol Vance, who was 17 at the time, had been just starting out as a costumed freedom fighter when Uncle Sam and his team had destroyed the Nazi super weapon with the help of a mysterious group of heroes who some people had said were from another world.

Carol, who used the name Wildfire when in her costume, was not sure she believed that the heroes were really aliens, but rather heroes like her who had operated in secret. But whoever they were, she was certainly glad they had done what they did.

"Carol, darling, you must tell me where you got that dress." Carol is snapped from her thoughts by the voice, a friend of her adopted mother's and the hostess of the party which she was reluctantly attending.

"This old thing?" She says with a laugh and a toss of her long red hair. It always amused her to act the vapid socialite during occasions like this. Her adopted father's fortune had made it through the Nazi purge, but Carol was anything but a spoiled rich girl. "I just looked in the closet and there it was."

"Hardly, that's a genuine Mooney if I've ever seen one." The woman responds. Carol is about to replies with another witty remark, but stops when she notices a strange glow outside one of the windows. Shrugging and smiling her goodbyes, she walks away from the woman and out an open set of glass doors. Rounding a corner, she walks up to a glowing figure who she cannot discern.

"Carol Vance, you are needed."

EARTH 2: OPAL CITY

A man walks across a street towards the First National Bank of Opal. The man is sharply dressed in a crisp suit, which falls flawlessly across his muscular frame and he wears a fedora.

"Where are you headed, Benetti?"

The speaker is the defender of Opal City, Starman. The person being asked the question and the man in the fedora is Jake "Bobo" Benetti, who debates with himself whether he should take a swing at the hero, out of sheer form more than anything else. He chooses not to, deciding that the August afternoon is much too hot to get into a needless brawl.

"Making a withdrawal." Benetti growls, unable to resist at least some pretense of villainy. He did have a rep to protect, after all. Seeing Starman tense and raise his cosmic rod, Benetti raises his hand and then reaches the other hand into his jacket pocket, pulling out a bankbook. He flashes the open bankbook to the Astral Avenger who looks at it pensively.

"Where'd the money come from, Benetti?" Starman responds, still aggressive towards Benetti.

"I didn't steal it, if that's what you're askin'. It's legit, Stars." Benetti sees that Starman is not entirely convinced. "Before I went inside the last time, I did a bodyguard gig for some computer geek, Gates, I think his name was. He heard talk that a rival of his might try to steal his program or some such, so he hired me to protect it. I did the job and since I kinda saved his life in the process, he paid me and gave me some stock in his company as a bonus. Then I got stupid and pulled a bank job and got sent up for a few years. Ends up my shares are now worth a fortune."

Starman considers this for a minute. As Ted Knight, he personally knew the person that Benetti was referring to and everyone knew the man's computer company. Considering it for a minute, Starman nods and moves slightly aside.

"I'll take you at your word, Benetti. But you'll forgive me if I stick around to watch your 'withdrawal.' Just in case."

Benetti smiles. "Wouldn't have it any other way, Stars. In fact, if you want, I'd be happy to buy you a drink afterwards if you wanted to shed the union suit."

Starman has to smile back at that, both at the possibility of befriending and even rehabilitating the invulnerable criminal and Benetti's nerve in presuming that Starman would simply reveal his identity to him. Before he can respond, a bright light, visible even in the noontime sun, appears before the two.

"Jake Benetti, you are needed."

Before Starman can respond, both Benetti and the light are gone.

EARTH S: FAWCETT CITY

The first time back had been not been easy, Susan Kent Barr thought as she flew back to her home from police headquarters. It was a routine bank robbery and she'd handled the crooks with ease and (if she said so herself) her usual aplomb. It wasn't the collar which had been difficult.

The difficulty had been in putting on the suit to begin with. She hadn't put on her Bulletgirl outfit since Jim had died. It was ironic, she thought, that her husband Jim, who'd also been her partner Bulletman, a hero who'd faced every tough villain there was, died in such a mundane matter. A severely viral strain of Pneumonia, made worse by its interaction with the chemicals in his bloodstream that had given him the ability to become Bulletman in the first place. He'd gotten sick on a mission to the Artic and never got better. A flying helmet simply wasn't much defense against the body failing.

She'd eventually realized that she needed to get back into the game. Jim would certainly not want their city to suffer in his absence. The city needed protection. So Susan Kent Barr would go on, but not as Bulletgirl. Bulletgirl, Susan had decided, had died with her partner. She'd go on with the name that Jim had suggested at the end, knowing he was going to die. From here on out, she'd be The Bulleteer.

As Susan lands, she is confronted by a bright light.

"Susan Kent. You are needed."

EARTH 8: NEW YORK CITY

Kyle Rayner, the Green Lantern, wasn't sure this new Justice League idea the President had suggested was going to work. The idea was solid enough, all of the World's Greatest Heroes banded together. The problem was that the heroes themselves, Kyle figured, would never get along.

From his perspective, the only one he really trusted was Connor Hawke. He'd worked a few missions with Green Arrow and considered him a friend. The others were wildcards and in some cases worse. This so-called Wonder Woman, Artemis of Themiscyria, for example, was never going to work with a team with her attitude and barely concealed dislike of men. Walter West, the Flash, was an arrogant jerk with severe violent tendencies. And the Huntress? Kyle may have possessed the most powerful weapon in the universe, but he was honest enough to admit that the dark Ms. Bertinelli scared him.

But the president, through the government's agent, the atomically powered soldier named Breach, had asked the heroes to unite and they had done so. They'd even managed to take down their first menace, the alien Star Conqueror, without killing one another. But Kyle still wasn't sure this would work.

Kyle used his ring to pass through the wall of his apartment and change from his Green Lantern uniform to a more comfortable outfit. A quick check of his watch showed that it wasn't all that late and that maybe he could get a couple of hours of drawing in before he went to bed.

Kyle was putting the finishing touches on a page when he heard a noise.

"Alex?" Kyle yells out, thinking (well hoping anyway) that it was his girlfriend Alex DeWitt coming to the apartment to surprise him.

"Kyle Rayner, you are needed."

EARTH 3: DENVER, COLORADO:

The kill had been an easy one. Not that most kills were not simple if you were a telepath with super-strength and the ability to turn invisible at will. But this "police officer," to use the Terran name for the man's position, had been so weak and simple minded that he hadn't needed to even use his alien gifts.

Kills like this one made K'arl K'ohn, the Martian Manslayer, understand why his occasional allies in the Crime Syndicate had sometimes chosen to challenge the heroes of other worlds to battle. There was simply no challenge on their earth for beings such as they. K'arl had never involved himself in the battles, even upon being informed that one of these groups of heroes included a fellow Martian, one who used his gifts for "good," for lack of a better term. The concept boggled and dismayed K'arl, that one such as he who had been brought to Earth by a scientist's error, just as K'arl had, would seek to protect the Terrans in lieu of killing them at will.

"Hey, Carl? What do you got?" K'arl, in the joys of the kill, had momentarily forgotten that he was in his human disguise, that of mafia thug Carl Cohen. K'arl despised using that identity, to hide his Martian heritage in a weak human form, but it allowed him freedom and access to areas where his true White Martian appearance would cause undue attention.

"Somebody got to that cop that was harassing Owlman's gang. Damn fine job, too."

"Somebody?"

K'arl shrugged his human shoulders. "You'd better call it in, the boss will need to let the Owlman know."

The other thug starts to pull out a cell phone, but stops, his eyes wide and staring at K'arl. K'arl is surprised for a moment until he looks down and sees that he has changed, without willing it, into his true Martian appearance.

K'arl senses another presence in the shadows and turns towards it.

"K'arl K'ohn. You are needed."

EARTH 4 - HUB CITY

Ted Kord was regretting his generosity. It had been the right thing to let Al go home early and see his wife. Al was his best friend and partner in Kord Industries, after all and this was his fifth wedding anniversary. But sending Al home had left him with a pile of extra work to do, a considerable amount of programming for their latest video game which was due to beta test in less than a month. And they still didn't have quite the right design for the boss character on the last level.

A phone rings and Ted pauses in typing on his computer. He looks over at his phone and after seeing the name, presses a button for the speakerphone.

"Miss me already, sweetheart?' Ted says.

"Hardly. Turn on your TV. Channel 5." Ted's partner Al replies. Ted does and sees that the news is showing a bank robbery in progress. "I'm on it."

Ted saves the programming he was working and heads towards a wall in his lab. Walking up to a photo of Albert Einstein (that had been Al's idea), Ted, pressed in on the great scientist's nose and the segment of the wall opened to show his Blue Beetle uniform. Every time he did this, it astonished him. That lab jockey Ted Kord liked to dress up in his underwear and fight crime would amaze all of those people who knew him. But he did it anyway.

He pulls on the costume and is about to pull his mask on when he looks over at the TV and sees that his fellow hero Captain Atom is already on the scene and wrapping things up. "Thanks, Cap." He says to himself and turns back towards the wall.

"Ted Kord, you are needed."

LIMBO

Ted Kord, having managed to pull his mask on, suddenly finds himself in a blank room, filled with people he does not know.

"And that's my story." Susan Kent is saying as he appears. With his appearance, the assembled individuals turn to him.

"Who are you, blue boy?" Jake Benetti asks him.

Before he can answer, a voice responds for him from the shadows. "He is the Blue Beetle. And he is here for the same reason that I have gathered each of you. To save all of your worlds."

It is a voice that Kal-L thinks he recognizes despite a certain degree of electronic masking. "And you would be?"

The figure steps from the shadows, the soles of the feet of his metallic battlesuit making a slight scraping noise. All at once, several of the heroes seem to recognize him.

"Mr. President?" Asks Kyle Rayner.

"Smallville?" Says a surprised Blue Beetle.

"Nice dome." Cracks Jake Bennetti.

But it is Arsenal that truly recognizes the man, since this person is from Earth-1 just like Arsenal.

"Luthor."

TO BE CONTINUED

A Note from the Author

A couple of comments about this issue. First of all, this idea has been in my head for a long time and predates the developments of the last couple of years (i.e… the Meltzer JLA, Infinite Crisis, etc…), so plot developments from those books (like Roy Harper in the JLA) which appear in this series were not taken from those books, but have been in the plot since the beginning.

One thing I did take was the concept of Earth 8 from Infinite Crisis. It's too good a concept, i.e… that if the multiverse had survived there would be a separate Earth where characters like Kyle Rayner and Connor Hawke assumed their heroic identities, to pass up for a book like this.