Having fled one Universe to escape the Time Trapper's machination, Duela Dent created her own special pocket universe using a powerful artifact. In Duela's perfect world, the crimes were of the Silver Age variety where no one was killed or injured, and where heroes never died. But, now outside influences have corrupt Duela's carefully constructed Paradise. Joined by Molecule, Talon, Misfit, Riddler's Daughter, Aquagirl, and the Disruptor, they are the…

Issue #4

Challenge of the Super-Friends Part Four: Crisis On the Pocket Universe Earth

Written By Paul Daimler

When she had thrown herself onto the teleporter platform with Black Manta, his Manta-Raiders and the unconscious Tempest and Tula, she had not really been thinking what her next action was. Her only hope was to not loose sight of Tempest and Tula. Now standing on the Injustice Gang’s satellite—surrounded by the Legion of Doom and the Terror Titans, she realized she probably should have thought a bit more.

“How dare you follow me without permission.” Black Manta chided her.

Aquagirl supposed it was in her favor that she was wearing the costume of a Manta-Raider, no one would recognize her right away.

“I just wanted to see the satellite…” Aquagirl mumbled, realizing how weak it sounded. But, it was the first thing that came to mind.

“I would normally kill you for such impudence.” Black Manta said.

“Oh leave her be.” Giganta said, having recovering consciousness after being defeated by Wonder Girl and the Disruptor. “It can’t be easy being the only girl Manta-Raider.”

Black Manta glared at Giganta. “I don’t need you to tell me how to handle my Manta-Raiders.”

“Well, she’s under my protection.” Giganta said, coming over to Aquagirl, clapping her on the back. “You can be my henchwoman if you want.”

“Sure.” Aquagirl mumbled, just grateful that she was going to get a few more minutes to figure out her best course of action.

As she followed Giganta, Aquagirl cast a look over her shoulder, watching as Black Manta and his raiders loaded Tempest and Tula into cylinders next to the other Justice League and Team Titans members. She noted that not everyone appeared to be in those cylinders, although the entire Legion of Doom and all of the Terror Titans appeared to be present.

Hopefully that was something that she could use to her advantage.

As she followed Giganta, she heard the Riddler telling Black Manta about Wonder Girl and the Disruptor’s escape from the satellite earlier.

Duela Dent stepped into Titans Tower, having used the crystal ball to open a gateway. The crystal ball glowed with cool blue magic. Using it for teleportation was one of the lesser uses of it’s abilities, but it had been needed.

As she stepped into Titans Towers, her eyes immediately when to Misfit—laying on the floor unconscious with a blonde in a silver mirrored costume towering above her—her pale blue eyes crazed.

“Step away from her.” Duela said, reaching into her side-pack to remove on of her gimmicked weapons.

The woman turned her pale blue eyes toward Duela, her lush red lips curling into a cruelly wicked smile.

“Ah, my old arch-nemesis… are you going by Harlequin these days? Or just plain ole Duela Dent?” The woman asked, her hands beginning to glow with hot white light.

“Debbie Disco-Queen?” Duela asked, shocked by the transformation. Gone was the tacky silver disco-jumpsuit and the platform heels. Her costume was sleek and form-fitting, with mirrored armor covering it in places.

“No. I’m the All-New All-Different All-Deadly Debbie Disco-Queen. And that name is for the birds… you can call me the Living Mirrorball.” Debbie Disco-Queen laughed, “I’ve finally grasped the full potential of my powers. To think all this time all I’ve ever done was make silly light shows and used my inner beats to control people… forcing them to disco dance…. There is so much more I can do with my light and sound powers.”

“That’s not a very good name…” Duela attempted her normal banter, but it fell flat. Duela frowned. The Terror Titans corruption of her world had seeped down even to her Z-List rogues gallery. A deadly Debbie Disco-Queen who actually understood her powers enough to use them in deadly and lethal ways was something that frightened Duela a little. The woman had the potential to release supernova level blasts of light and energy—she could truly crack the planet in half if she fully knew how to use her abilities.

Duela quickly snapped the button, a massive powder puff slung across the room heading directly for the Living Mirrorball’s face.

“Ha!” The Living Mirrorball spat, a flash of light instantly disintegrating the powder puff.

“Awesome.” Duela shook her head, “You still got a stupid name Debbie, but you sure know what you’re doing with those powers. Finally.”

“All these years, I’ve been selling myself short.” The Living Mirrorball laughed, “But, thanks to the Clock King, I see my full true potential. And, he’s not a bad kisser… for a total geek-wad in coke-bottle glasses.”

“Well, you may have changed your name and figured out your powers,” Duela cracked, trying to find her rhythm. “But, you still speak the lingo of a air-head disco barfly.”

“You aren’t funny!” The Living Mirrorball shouted, “I’m going to burn you to a crisp! We’ll then see how funny you think you are!”

Duela barely side-stepped the blistering ray of light that the Living Mirrorball released—melting away the glass windows behind Duela. Duela hoped that the light had stopped there and not kept going into Manhattan… that could be deadly for innocent civilians.

Duela reached into her side-pack, her mind whirling through the gadgets and gimmicks within. There had to be something in there that would work.

“WAIT!” Duela said, suddenly remembering. “I have just the thing!”

“Nothing can stop me!” The Living Mirrorball hissed. “I’m a living battery! I absorb light and channel it! I am infinitely powerful so long as the sun shines! And so long as I can absorb and store light!”

“Well, that info-dump on your powers is super-helpful. As always, thanks for playing our game!” Duela reached into her bag, removing a small black ball that fit perfectly into her hand.

“How is that going to stop me?” The Living Mirrorball asked.

“Well, there isn’t a Justice Society here on our world, nor is there an Infinity Inc… So, you have no idea who Obsidian is. But, it you did, you would understand he has the ability to channel shadows from some dark and sad dimension… one I can’t quite remember the name of, but I do know that this little bit of his shadow matter can send anyone there.” Duela tossed the ball toward the Living Mirrorball.

The Living Mirrorball extended her hand, bathing the ball in laser-strength light. The ball absorbed it, before slamming into the floor at her feet.

“What manner of weapon is that?!” The Living Mirrorball screamed as tendrils of shadow reached up and began wrapping around her. The tendrils soon had completely wrapped her in the shadow, dragging her down into the ball.

“Well… the darkness worked in my favor this time.” Duela cracked, walking over to the ball. She tossed it into her side-pack, “Thank God no matter how dark it gets on my Earth, my side-pack still has enough junk to help me do the old deux ex machina.”

“Ugh… what happened?” Misfit asked, pulling herself to her feet.

“One of my lame villains got serious.” Duela said, going over to the girl. “Are you OK?”

“I don’t know. I feel like I got run over by a steam roller after getting sucker-punched by Superman.”

“That’s pretty specific.” Duela said, “Let’s get you some water. While we do that, we can start planning how to save the day.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Misfit said, as they made their way to Titans Tower’s infirmary.

“Everyone ready?” Donna Troy asked. The golden armor she’d pulled on over her red Wonder Girl jumpsuit shimmered in the lights of the Justice League Satellite’s main meeting room.

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” Garfield Logan shook his head, his shaggy green hair bouncing with the movement. “I don’t know if this is a great idea Donna.”

“They have Nightwing!” Starfire growled, the pink energy of her starbolts glowing malevolently around her hands as her temper flared. “We are going to go there and we are going to tear their satellite apart until we’ve freed him and our other friends!”

“Shimmer down girl.” Talon shook his head, “You need to dial it down several notches.”

“Do not presume to tell me what to do!” Starfire hissed, getting in Talon’s face. Her luminous green eyes peered directly into Talon’s cool blue eyes. “I don’t trust fully trust you! You’re from the Anti-Matter Earth! And, those people are evil!”

“Hey! I’m not evil!” Talon said, taking several steps back. “I’m a good guy! It’s why I left my Earth. Otherwise the Crime Syndicate and Owlman woulda killed me!”

“A likely story…” Starfire’s lip curled as her anger doubled.

Donna Troy watched quietly, her hand resting on the glowing golden lasso at her side. It had been enchanted by the Amazonian sorceress when it had been given to her on her eighteenth birthday—replacing the lasso she’d used before. It had far more powers than her sister’s did, but Donna had yet to fully explore all of it’s powers or get enough practice using them to feel one hundred percent effective with it. She’d already used it as a portal from the Injustice Gang’s Satellite here once… she wasn’t entirely sure she’d be able to use it that way again.

“You both need to chill out.” Donna said, feeling weary. She did not know if she was up to leading this rescue mission. She trusted Starfire and Gar… but she still wasn’t sure about Talon, and Disruptor had just graduated from Transformation Island. It was still so soon in the girl’s rehabilitation. What if this was too much and sent her spiraling back toward villainy?

Talon and Starfire both looked at Donna. Donna could see bloodlust all over Starfire’s face. Kory had always struggled with her violent warrior nature, but in the past few months Starfire was more likely to fly off the handle and blast first, ask questions later. It was troubling… along with all the other darkness that seemed to be crowding into their world.

“Sorry Wonder Girl.” Talon said, casting his eyes down.

There were times when Talon came across as a vicious little punk and Donna wondered how close he was to flipping and taking everyone out. But, at other times like this, she could see that there was a good kid somewhere in there. Was it his Anti-Matter origins that made him darker? Did he struggle against that darkness and sometimes just not win? Donna sometimes wished that the Amazons accepted men at Transformation Island. Someone like Talon was a prime candidate for their teachings.

“It’s OK.” She said kindly, “We’re all tense right now. There is a lot at stake.”

Donna Troy looked at the four people in the room with her. This mission was destined to fail. She shook her head, pushing the doubt aside. Donna reminded herself that they were sure to fail if she didn’t believe in them. They had great power. She and Starfire had taken out entire platoons of H.I.V.E. soldiers just the two of them. They could do this. She just needed to keep her faith. She whispered a prayer to Athena, Goddess of Wisdom and Warfare, and to Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt and Moon. Both of their favor could aid her greatly in this mission looming before them.

“Let’s go.” Donna said finally, keeping her voice far more firm and steady than she felt.

She removed the shimmering lasso from her side, spinning it until it’s loop began to vibrate and tremble—a tentative doorway beginning to open.

“Quickly.” Donna said, “I don’t know how long the lasso can maintain this spell.”

Donna took a deep breath, saying another prayer under her breath to her gods as Starfire led the charge through the gateway the lasso opened.

The Clock King stood in front of the cylinders containing the Justice League and Team Titans members. A sly smile curled his lips. Everything was falling into place. There was no way Duela wouldn’t give him that crystal globe to save all of her friends and team-mates.

“Are you sure about this?” Persuader asked, leaning in. Her eyes flickered toward the Legion of Doom from behind her silver helmet. “The Joker is completely nuts. He just killed one of the Riddler’s henchmen for standing too close to him.”

“Everything will be fine, Elise.” The Clock King replied. “The Time Trapper has promised us this world for our own. Once Duela gives us that globe, the Time Trapper can come to this world and take her away. And, then we’re going to kill all the heroes and all the villains of this world until only we remain. And, then the Terror Titans will rule here.”

The Persuader’s eyes sparkled with excitement, her eyes falling upon Molecule trapped in his cylinder. “And, then do I get to kill that little punk again?”

“Yes. Of course.” The Clock King said, sliding his arm over the Persuader’s shoulders. “And, I’m also going to let you kill that traitor—the Disruptor. You are going to execute her guillotine style… so that everyone sees what happens when you cross the Terror Titans.”

The Clock King turned toward the Persuader smiling.

“I can’t wait.” The Persuader said, turning her attention to the other villains in the room.

“Keep your eye on that female Manta-Raider.” The Clock King grinned.

“Why?” The Persuader asked.

The Clock King’s grin grew wider and more terrible, “Because it’s Aquagirl. She disguised herself as Manta-Raider to sneak aboard the satellite…”

“How do you know that?” The Persuader asked. “You can only see a few seconds into the future I thought…”

“Normally.” The Clock King replied, “But, for whatever reason my future vision doesn’t quite work the same here as it did on our world. I don’t know if it’s because of the Time Trapper’s manipulations or what… I can’t see anything Duela Dent is going to do when she gets a little loopy… but from time to time I get a flash of nearly an hour into the future. And, in about three minutes Wonder Girl is going to burst into this room leading a group of heroes to try and defeat us. And, that female Manta-Raider is going to remove her helmet to reveal that she is really Aquagirl.”

“Should I kill her now?” The Persuader asked.

“Not yet. Let’s give her a little bit. I’m sure we’ll be able to put that to good use shortly.”

A shimmering gateway opened in the air, Wonder Girl, Starfire, the Disruptor, Gar Logan, and Talon flew through it.

“Let the battle begin!” The Clock King cackled.

“Gar!” Wonder Girl shouted, “Biggest animal you can manage!”

“Gotcha Wondy!” Gar Logan replied, transforming into a giant green rhinoserous. He rushed a group of villains, slamming into them and sending them flying through the air.

“Starfire, clear Talon a path to those cylinders!” Wonder Girl said, using her bracelets to defect energy bolts Black Manta was firing at her from his helmet’s visors.

With lethal precision Starfire’s starbolt slammed into the satellite’s decks, sending the villains and their henchmen blocking the cylinders scurrying in ever direction.

Using a grappling line, Talon swung across the room, landing at the control panel at the base of Nightwing’s cylinder, he quickly began the process of freeing him. Wonder Girl had told him to free Nightwing first—since his tactical planning skills could be the difference between winning and losing.

“TALON! LOOK OUT!” Wonder Girl screamed.

Talon turned just in time to block a punch from the Riddler.

Talon and the Riddler began to parry, tranding blows.

“Disruptor!” Wonder Girl called.

The Disruptor looked to Wonder Girl, who gave a quick gesture to her left. Disruptor followed the motion, her eyes landing on Talon and the Riddler.

With one single blast of the disrupting energy at her disposal, the Disruptor knocked the Riddler off his feet, sending him to the floor in a quivering tangle of limbs.

Talon quickly returned his attention to freeing Nightwing and the Disruptor moved between the cylinders and the swarm of villains as they moved to stop Talon. She began firing as much energy she could into the swarm—knocking many of them off their feet and keeping them at bay.

“Stay back.” The Disruptor growled, “Or you end up like the Riddler…”

Many eyes turned toward the Riddler still twitched and then turned back toward the Disruptor in doubt. The Disruptor knew that she had probably used a little too much power… but, she had just reacted to Wonder Girl’s order. She was used to using much more force. Her Amazon training had not broken all of her Terror Titan learned battle techniques, but she did not purposely try to harm anyone severely anymore.

“When this is all over girl, I’m going to chop your head off of.” The Persuader hissed through her helmet, her cold eyes boring into the Disruptor.

“When this is all over your butt is going to end up in juvie.” The Disruptor retorted.

“Oh, what? I’m not good enough to go the Transformation Island?” The Persuader scoffed, “Not good enough for me? You’re the trash-can baby here. I had real parents. And, you think I’m a loser!”

“You’re a loser because you have no faith in yourself or in people.” The Disruptor replied, unleashing a full blast of disruption energy—directing it toward the Persuader’s atomic axe. “You’re a loser because instead of trying to fix things and help people, you only want to tear things and people down. You’re a loser because you think this awful life of evil and destruction you live is fun.”

“I’m going to kill you!” The Persuader screamed, swinging her axe toward the Disruptor.

Quickly the Disruptor swung her gauntlet in front of her, blocking the blade with it.

“What?!” The Persuader’s face was unreadable through the metal mask she wore, but her shock was clear in her voice.

“My disrupting powers disabled the atomic properties of your axe..” The Disruptor said, swinging a fist toward the Persuader’s gut. “And, my gauntlets were recast with Amazonium steel. Even more indestructible than Promethium.”

The Persuader groaned as she collapsed to the floor.

The Disruptor picked up the atomic axe. “Can’t leave this handy.”

Talon turned toward her, his tone frantic. “I can’t get these to unlock.”

“Of course not silly boy.” The Clock-King grinned. “They will only unlock with a special code. One only I have.”

“Give us the code.” Donna Troy said, as she fought back henchmen and lower tier members of the Legion of Doom. Her fists connected with each punch, and her bracelets caught every bullet and bolt of energy shot toward her.

Black Manta continued firing bolts at Donna Troy, each one blocked by a flick of her wrist.

“Hey!” The female Manta-Raider shouted at him.

He turned slightly, just in time for the female Manta-Raider to remove her helmet and throw it with great force in his direction. It slammed into Black Manta, cracking one of the lenses in his visor.

“ARGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!” Black Manta cried out.

“Aquagirl!” Donna Troy said, “Good job! Help Disruptor give Talon the space he needs.”

“Yes, ma’am!” Aquagirl said, leaping into the melee. She landed on the Toyman’s back, getting him in a headlock and trying to remember the precise choke hold Garth had shown her that would knock him out.

Across the room Gar Logan had turned into a giant ape to fight Gorilla Grodd on equal terms. The two apes knocked each other back and forth, slamming their fists into each other.

The Disruptor found herself engaged with fending off more henchmen, trying to keep Talon uninterrupted while he tried a succession of different codes into the containment cylinders. Beside her Aquagirl held her own, landing punch after punch.

“They just keep coming.” The Disruptor whispered, hoping she could keep the lines of surging villains back.

“Give us the codes Clock-King!” Donna Troy repeated.

“Why would I give you the codes?” The Clock-King laughed.

“Because I say so.” Donna Troy said.

“Ha!” The Clock-King cackled.

“Kory! Cover me!” Donna Troy shouted.

Starfire turned her attention away from keeping the Cheetah and Solomon Grundy corned with her starbolts. She directed her bolts toward the villains Donna had been fighting, knocking several of them out with her starbolts.

Donna Troy unlooped the golden lasso shimmering at her side, tossing it so that it’s coils ensnared the Clock-King.

“Give me the codes.” Donna Troy said, holding the lasso secure with one hand and deflecting bullets with the other.

“Uh…”The Clock-King gritted his teeth. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead as he tried to resist Donna’s command. Finally: “5-7-12-87-62-3.”

“I got it.” Talon said, typing the code into the key-pad at Nightwing’s cylinder.

The cylinder slide open as Nightwing coughed and woke from his state of suspended animation.

Talon moved to the cylinder holding the Riddler’s Daughter.

“This is boring.” The Joker sighed, shaking his head. He reached toward a button on the control panel.

He pounded it with his fist.

An electrical charge exploded from the floor, knocking everyone over.

“What did you do?” Aquagirl asked, looking at the bodies littering the floor. Everyone had fallen except the Clock-King. A grin nearly as wide as the Joker’s covered his face.

“Heh-heh-heh…” The Joker grinned. “Just a nice big bolt of electricity. Me and the Clock-King have nice thick rubbery soles to protect us. How did you escape?”

“My boots are made of hard impact rubber… for added speed underwater.” Aquagirl said. One of the doors to the massive meeting room they were in slide open and the Joker’s henchmen spilled in. There were nearly a hundred as near as Aquagirl could figure.

In the center of the room, Duela Dent and Misfit teleported in.

“Oh-boy.” Duela said, looking at the bodies that filled every corner of the room, then to the Joker’s grinning face.

“This isn’t quite what I was expecting.” Misfit said, her mouth agape.

“Oh. Thank God you’re here!” Aquagirl gasped.

The Joker’s henchmen began to advance toward them, all of them pointing guns, knives, and clubs.

“What are we going to do?” Misfit asked, her fists clenched tightly.

“I am trying to figure that out.” Duela replied coolly.

“Give me the crystal ball, Duela.” The Clock-King said. “And I’ll let the three of you go, unharmed.”

The crystal ball hummed in her side-pack as though it came alive when it was mentioned.

“Give me the crystal ball.” The Clock King grinned widely. “You’ve lost. The Justice League is defeated. Your Team Titans are defeated. You, Aquagirl, and Misfit are not going to beat the me, the Joker, or all of the Joker’s henchmen.”

Duela’s eyes swept the room, as the Joker’s men crowded in around them, trapping the three girls in the center of the room with their fallen team-mates littering the floor around them.

“Oh…. I’m so tired of hearing about your stupid little crystal ball.” The Joker sighed, rolling his eyes.

The Clock King swiveled toward the Joker, opening his mouth to respond. Before the first word came out of his mouth the Joker swung his mallet—slamming into the Clock King’s face.

The sound of bone breaking was loud and gruesome. A string of blood shot from the Clock King’s mouth, splattering the ground. The Clock King collapsed to the ground, moaning horribly through his broken jaw as blood gushed from his ruined nose and mouth. The Joker towered above him.

“Didn’t see this one comin’, didja?” The Joker gave a blood-curdling laugh before bringing the mallet down on the Clock King’s head.

The Joker then turned toward Duela, Misfit, and Aquagirl.

“Now… for you.. the Imposter Daughter. You’re going to wish that you had just given the Clock King that gaudy little globe and been done with it. Because when I’m done you’re going to be a big bloody mess. No foolin’.”

“Duela?” Misfit looked at her with wide fear-filled eyes.

“Misfit… Charlie…” Duela took the girl by the shoulders. “I want you to teleport out of here.”

“I can’t leave you guys.” Misfit said, her eyes going to the Clock-King’s ruined face.

“You have to get out of here.” Aquagirl said, clenching her fists, her eye never leaving the Joker. The henchmen continued advancing toward them, but with them Aquagirl knew what to expect.

“I can’t take you with me.” Misfit whispered, a tear coming to her eyes. “People explode if I try to take them with me.”

“I’m not asking you to take us with you.” Duela said, smoothing the girl’s coppery red hair. “I just want you to get yourself to safety. It’s about to get very violent and probably deadly here. I don’t want you hurt.”

Misfit looked at the bodies littering the ground. Some of their team-mates looked dead. Things here were as bad as they had been in her old Universe. Duela had promised a brighter better world where nothing bad ever happened. But, since she’d been here… things had gotten progressively darker until this world looked more and more like the one she’d originally come from.

“I can’t leave you two.” Misfit whispered as the tear slid down her face.

“You have to.” Duela gave the girl a kiss on her forehead. “Everything is going to get better. I promise.”

“We’ll be fine.” Aquagirl chimed in, trying to keep the tremor of fear from her voice.

Misfit nodded. “I’m going to call in everyone when I get back to the Tower. Every hero on this world. And, we’re going to come back and safe you.”

Duela smiled at her, “That’s a great plan. Now get out of here Charlie.”

Misfit stepped back and teleported away.

“That was beautiful.” The Joker said. “I can’t wait to hunt her down later and filet her like a fish.”

“You’re not going to touch a single hair on her head.” Duela said, reaching into her side-pack. She removed the crystal globe. It shimmered with cool blue light from within.

“I have no use for that.” The Joker chuckled, “That was the Clock King’s bag. I just want to kill you. And, then cut you up into little pieces.”

“You have no use for it…” Duela said, “But I do.”

“What’s that?” Aquagirl asked.

“Lori,” Duela began. “I want you to cover your eyes and wait for me to grab your hand. Then we’ll get out of here.”

She lifted the crystal globe above her head and then slammed it down as hard as she could into the metal floor below her.

The crystal globe exploded in a bright blast of blue light.

Duela closed her eyes, shielding them against the blast.

The light faded, shimmering.

Duela stood alone in the cold empty satellite of the Injustice Gang.

She hugged herself tightly, her heart heavy. Shattering the globe had enabled her to step outside of time. Here between the seconds she could remain as long as she needed to until she could solve the issue.

There was only one thing she could do… Duela shook her head, hating the option. She removed the Gauntlet of Amethyst from her side-pack. Looking at the cool silver metal and glittering amethyst embedded in it.

“The power to retcon anything is here in my hand.” She said, sliding it on.

Duela closed her eyes. How to retcon the whole mess? The problem was that she had not retconned the new arrivals into her world. If she had just done that, instead of resisting using the gauntlet, none of this would have happened. Instead of sending the Terror Titans to the Phantom Zone—putting them outside of time where the Time Trapper could reach them--she should have just made them part of her world. Then no one would have questioned her new Team Titans members. The Terror Titans wouldn’t have been able to corrupt her world.

“I just didn’t want to manipulate anyone any more.” Duela whispered, hot tears rising. She had come to realize more and more that she lived in a make-believe world of her own creation. All the perfection and all the predictability and all of her preferences were boring sometimes. She wasn’t actually living a real life… and allowing real people into her world—not people she’d created when she’d created this world had meant she had real conversations sometimes.

Duela wiped the tears away. She had no choice. Fake people or not, the people of the Pocket Universe relied on her to protect them from danger and harm. She couldn’t let her own needs supersede theirs.

Duela slammed her fist into the metal of the satellite floor.

Around her the time bubble shattered, and again it was her, Misfit, and Aquagirl standing there facing the Joker, Clock-King, and all of the henchmen paused in battle as the Joker slammed his mallet into the Clock King’s face.

“Oh my God…” Aquagirl whispered, her hand going over her mouth. “The Joker just killed him…”

Duela frowned. She had tried to retcon back farther… before the Clock King was murdered. She had wanted it to go back to earlier today, before they’d split up into teams and everything had gone so horribly awry. Why didn’t it work?

“He killed him.” One of the Joker’s henchmen sounded shocked, “I’ve worked with him all these years… he’s never crossed that line.”

The Joker looked at all of them, blood dripping from his mallet. His grin spread wide revealing his full madness.

“I can’t believe it.” Another henchman said, his mouth agape.

Duela stepped up, “Attention henchman… We have always played fair with each other. There are just some things we never do… killing each other is one of them. We have to join together and stop the Joker! If we don’t, then we are all going to follow him into that horrible darkness…”

There was the murmur of voices as the henchmen discussed it back and forth.

“Oh, puh-leeze!” The Joker said, rolling his eyes. “The little imposter to my lineage is full of #$*@!”

“Oh my God!” Another henchmen gasped, “He just said #$*@!”

The Joker pulled a magnum from his waistband, pointing it at Duela Dent.

“Let’s see you escape from this bullet!” The Joker cackled.

He snapped the trigger.

Duela’s eyes grew wide. What would happen to her Pocket Universe if she died? Would it die with her? Or would it go on without her?

“NO!” Aquagirl screamed.

Aquagirl threw herself between the bullet and Duela.

The girl did not even scream as the bullet slammed into her chest, leaving it a bloody mess.

In a flash, Misfit had teleported right beside him and disarmed the Joker and knocked him unconscious with a single punch to the face.

“Oh my God! Lori!” Duela said, dropping down to the where the girl bled out.

Aquagirl smiled lightly as blood seeped from her mouth and poured from her chest.

“Duela…” Lori whispered. “Everything is so bright and glorious. I see stars and light… and a great shimmering ball of light… it’s brighter than the sun.”

“Misfit!” Duela screamed. “Get Raven out of that container! Quick!”

Misfit moved over to the cylinders containing the empath known as Raven.

“What’s the combo to this?” Misfit said, feeling desperation.

“I know.” One of the henchmen came forward, typing in a code.

The cylinder slide open and Raven’s eyes snapped open.

“Raven… the Joker shot Aquagirl.”

Raven disappeared in a puff of smoke, materializing instantly at Duela and Aquagirl’s side, bowing down. She took Aquagirl’s hand in hers. Raven’s dark eyes looked into Duela’s, filled with pain.

“I’m sorry Duela… but, she’s too far gone even for me.” Raven shook her head, “I can make her passing much less painful though.”

Every one watched in sorrow, tears freely flowing throughout the room as Raven drew as much pain from the girl as she could.

“It’s OK, Duela.” Aquagirl smiled as her eyes began to cloud up, “Everything is going to be fine. I see forever… and this is not the end. It’s just the beginning…”

“Oh, please… no…” Duela shook her head, “Please…” Her thoughts returned to the Gauntlet in her side-pack… she could use it to save Aquagirl and the Clock King. Just another punch and she could go back before all of this.

She reached into the side-pack, pulling it free. She slammed it into the satellite’s floor. A flash of light later she found herself still cradling a dying Aquagirl.

“Why didn’t it work?” Duela asked, horror filling her voice. “Why?!”

“Duela…” Raven stood beside her, putting a hand on her shoulder. “She’s gone.”

Duela collapsed into Aquagirl’s lifeless body… sobbing openly.

THE END