THEMYSCIRA

NOVEMBER 16TH, 20:42 EDT

...

"Alright, our first order of business should be discovering where that machine is..." Tim addressed the small group of heroes, gathered in order to attempt a daring mission to repair the course of history.

"This shouldn't be a problem..." Imra replied, activating a star-map with her wrist-mounted device. "This was where the Miracle Machine's origins were traced to..."

Greta shuffled next to Jon.

"What are we supposed to be looking at?" She asked.

"I have no idea..." he replied.

"What you're looking at is Oa..." yet another feminine voice spoke from behind the two pre-teens.

The four turned to face the source of the voice, and it turned out to be Big Barda. As it was getting late, Barda was no longer wearing her armor, having switched to her more casual attire, which consisted of a (very casual) red two-piece garment, a golden head-piece, black gauntlets and matching bands which wrapped around her biceps.

Imra covered Jon's eyes.

"Really?" He asked, crossing his arms in annoyance.

Barda ignored Imra's attempt to preserve Jon's innocence and walked right up to Imra's star-map.

"I remember that New Genesis had a mild conflict with the Green Lantern Corps a few years ago..." she explained. "And that is where their headquarters are located..."

"Oa?" Imra inquired as Jon removed her hand from his face. "I suppose it's possible... The Corps is all but gone in the 31st century, but I do remember one of our scientists call it a Will-based contraption..."

"So what brings you here, Barda?" Tim asked.

"It was impossible not to hear his little rampage earlier..." Barda said, referring to Jon. "I followed the sound to make sure it wasn't Darkseid's forces and I ended up overhearing them discussing the Miracle Machine. And if you are forming a party to go and use it, I'm coming too!"

"You don't have to..." Jon said. "It's already bad enough that I have these guys trying to fix my mistake, I don't want anyone else to..."

"You don't understand..." Barda interrupted him. "I..." she paused and huffed. "All this... what Darkseid did... I know it's awful for all of you... but for me? It's personal! And I wasn't asking, little boy..."

Jon raised his arms in an attempt to calm her down.

"Well, at least we have another problem solved..." Imra said. "We can use your Mother-Box to transport us to Oa..."

"That won't be possible, unfortunately..." Barda lamented.

"Why not?"

"Darkseid has Cyborg and Oracle monitoring any Boom-Tube activity..." Tim explained. "No Mother-Box is activated without him knowing. And this not only lets him know where someone is headed..."

"But also allows him to track the Boom-Tube's source..." Barda finished. "In other words, I can't use my Mother-Box without alerting Darkseid to our sanctuary..."

"Great..." Jon mumbled as he crossed his arms. "What about the Green Lantern? You've used his powers to bring us here, plus if we're going to his HQ..."

"Yeah, that won't work either..." Tim lamented. "Alan's not exactly a part of the Corps. It's complicated, so I won't get into it. But even if he was, he couldn't bring his lantern. So he has to use his powers very sparingly or else he'll run out of power completely. And to conserve energy, he made it so he can only transport people to and from anywhere on Earth, but not beyond..."

"So we're back to square one...?" Jon exhaled.

"Not necessarily..." Greta chimed up. "You guys did bring John Constantine with you, right?"

Tim and Barda grinned while Jon and Imra looked a tad confused.

CENTRAL CITY

NOVEMBER 16TH, 19:20 EDT

...

'There was a voice, and thundering and lightning, and an earthquake. And there followed hail and fire mingled with blood. There fell a great star from heaven, burning as if it were a lamp. And he beheld and heard an Angel, saying with a loud voice...'

"Run!"

The passage of Revelations 16:18 would be an apt description for the mayhem that was happening in the streets of Central City. Mayhem that lasted no more than a second or two, but felt like an agonizing lifetime for these two.

Wally could not believe what he was seeing before him.

His uncle Barry. Alive?!

But how? He and the other speedsters personally witnessed him disintegrating before them as he destroyed the Anti-Monitor's Anti-Matter Cannon. And who was he running from? Why was he here and now?

Those were all good questions that Wally didn't have time to ponder. Even with him being a speedster. Because it would appear that Barry's chaser was someone who could move just as fast as them.

Without thinking, he obeyed. He turned the other direction and ran. As Barry approached him, he could feel it. The vibrations were much stronger than they were mere attoseconds ago, and they were still undeniably Barry's. Even with their proficiency, not even Thawne or Hunter could mimic Barry's vibrational frequencies to the exact nanohertz.

He didn't know how or why, but it was him running beside him like they used to do in the old days. Before Wally retired and was then forced to pick up Barry's mantle. Those were simpler times. No timeline alterations, extra-dimensional macguffins or parallel realities. Just a boy running next to his fun uncle and punching bad guys in the face.

He cherished every second of those memories. Like each one was a gift.

Streaks of blue and yellow lightning extended far behind them like the tail of a comet as the two speedsters tried their best to outrun this entity.

After a few nanoseconds, Wally's curiosity got the better of him, and he looked back at the figure that was hightailing them. A shudder ran up his spine when he realized that it was none-other than the Black Racer. He barely managed to shake him... or it off his heels when he tried traveling through time on Apokolips, and now? With Barry running next to him? Well, we all know the old adage truth that if someone is chasing after a group, make sure you're faster than at least one person, because if you're not, you're toast.

And Wally wasn't faster.

At least, that's what he kept telling himself.

"He's catching up!" Barry exclaimed in worry.

"Let's try maneuver 16!" Wally suggested.

"You wanna punch death in the face?" Barry asked.

"Well..."

"Attaboy, Wally!"

The two had a slight chuckle before changing their trajectory. They aimed for one of Central City's many skyscrapers and began running straight ahead. Just as they were about to collide with the door, the two split up; Wally running to the right and Barry to the left.

The Racer scoffed. It had been chasing living beings since the dawn of time, and these two slightly more persistent mortals thought they could trick it into doing what? Crashing into the building? Abandoning his pursuit of one of them? It was insulting.

The Racer changed its trajectory as well, moving up the walls of the building. It would be easier and less taxing to intercept the two speedsters by going over the obstacle. Crashing through the building would be a lot faster, but it would also require a lot more effort. And people whose time has not yet come may still reside in the building, and it didn't want to accidentally take an unworthy soul.

As the Racer reached the other side of the building, it paused for an instant. It lost sight of its targets. No matter. They couldn't outrun death forever. All they were doing was delaying the inevitable. Darkseid instructed it to stop any individual attempting to rewrite Darkseid's victory, and those connected to the Speed Force could do it so easily, that it would be more effective to just eliminate them as a threat.

It became distracted trying to regain visual on the two scarlet clad speedsters. Only for a moment. But that was all they needed.

Out of nowhere, Barry and Wally came charging into the Black Racer, their fists vibrating. Before Death could react, the two had crashed their fists into it, causing its vibrational frequency to shift slightly. That slight shift meant that the Racer now matched the frequency of a different reality, which sucked the Racer in, eliminating it as a threat to the Flashes.

At least for now...

"Now is not my time!" Wally quipped, rubbing his wrist.

Barry didn't join in on the fun, as he was too busy hyperventilating, desperately trying to steady his breath with his hands firmly placed upon his knees.

"Givemeaminute..." he said, raising a finger to Wally as an indication for him to wait. "I'vebeenrunningnonstopforyears... gotta... catchmybreath..."

"Barry?" Wally asked cautiously as he approached his long-dead uncle. "It's really you, isn't it? You're... you're back..."

"Why do you sound so surprised?" Barry asked, standing up and cracking his back. "Clark came back to life, why should I be any different..."

"That's not what I mean..." Wally stammered. "You were dead. We never got over it. Do you have any idea how I'm feeling right now?"

Barry looked at him and smiled tenderly.

He didn't have to say anything for Wally to get the message. The two walked, at a human pace, up to each other and embraced in a spine-crushing hug. Jon and Clark had their reunion earlier, now it was their turn.

"It's the curse of Team Flash..." Barry began. "Everything gets done on the run, and life happens in the rearview mirror. My God, it's good to see you, Wally..."

No one, especially themselves, could tell how much time they spent just hugging. As a speedster, Wally likes to get everything done within the ticks of a second, but there were moments that were worth slowing down for, even when five minutes feels like a lifetime.

It usually happens with family. He slowed down when he and Linda exchanged their first kiss as husband and wife. He slowed down when he held his children for the first time. And now, he was slowing down again.

His uncle. His friend. His mentor... his father in all but blood, had just popped into existence in front of him after years of being dead. To Hell with everything else. He had to spend some time with him.

After the two parted ways, Barry was quick to remind Wally of the situation his life was now in.

"What's with the Doom armor?" He asked, referring to the heavy and segmented suit that Wally now dawned. "Guess things got out of hand 'round here pretty quickly, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess they have..." Wally said, looking down. "Darkseid..."

"I know all about him..." Barry interrupted. "Believe it or not, for an aspect of death, the Black Racer likes to ramble a lot... I heard everything about the Anti-Life Equation and what not..."

"What...? How...?" Wally was struggling to get the exact words he wanted out.

"I'll answer everything that I can..." Barry answered. "But first, you gotta get rid of that awful armor. It makes you run all awkward like you're underwater. Why are you even wearing this Mad Max lookin' piece of junk anyway?"

"It's a post-apocalypse..." Wally replied. "I thought I'd make the best out of it..."

In a flash, Wally disappeared from sight before reappearing in front of Barry again, wearing his second Kid-Flash uniform, the sleeves being cut short since even it barely fit anymore.

"Nononono!" Barry said. "That's not gonna fly!"

"Why not?" Wally asked. "You're the Flash, aren't you?"

"But you're not a kid anymore, Wally... I know you carried mine and Jay's legacy while I was gone. Don't be ashamed of it..."

Wally hesitated for a moment before vanishing again. When he reappeared this time, he was wearing his usual Flash uniform; an amalgamation of Barry's uniform and his Kid-Flash costume. The accents and multiple metallic bolts of lightning on his costume were silver instead of Barry's gold.

"Much better..." Barry replied. "Now, care for a jog?"

Wally smirked and got into position next to Barry. Lightning crackled in their eyes as they took off. Where? Wally didn't ask. He had enough questions already and he didn't want to overwhelm the up-until-recently-deceased.

"Jesus, will you pick up the pace, slowpoke?" Barry asked sarcastically as he grabbed Wally's wrist and dragged him at light-speed through a portal which is created whenever a speedster breaks the barrier between dimensions, something Wally never attempted to do.

Wally closed his eyes, unsure of what to expect. Only once all the cacophony calmed down and he felt his limbs stop moving did he allow himself to open his eyes again.

He gasped in absolute shock at what he was seeing.

He was inside an honest to God giant hall. It looked like the Metro-Tower, though there were dozens of columns with red energy moving inside them, like blood pumping through veins.

But that wasn't what caught Wally's attention the most. What did was the amount of colorful characters that were moving around. Some were chatting with each other, some were performing tasks such as monitor duty and some were partaking in what appeared to be combat practice.

However, what weirded Wally the most was the fact that they all were the spitting image of many of his fellow superheroes, albeit with some differences.

There was an African-American Superman, a female Aquaman, a Batman wearing armor which vaguely resembled that of the Atomic Knight and... was that a giant rabbit?!

"Wally West..." Barry spread his arms wide. "Welcome to the House of Heroes!"

THEMYSCIRA

NOVEMBER 16TH, 20:50 EDT

...

Darkness.

The only source of light being the dull flame from John Constantine's cigarette as he huffed in while walking around in the dark catacombs under Themyscira. He was still disappointed in the fact that he couldn't just leave whenever it fancied him, so he decided to make the best out of a bad situation and have some time to smoke. Alone.

Like he's always been, and always will be.

He huffed in once more before blowing out a column of smoke, not so different from the clouds of sulfur he's bound to see once he inevitably goes to Hell. The sound of shuffling and mumbling was also something he'd undoubtedly encounter a lot, so it was bad that he was being so annoyed by it at the present day.

"What's that bloody noise?" He asked himself as he turned around to the darkness, trying desperately to see what was causing the sounds.

Having little luck, he rolled his eyes, placed the cigarette between his fingers and pulled it out of his mouth. He mumbled some gibberish and then flicked the cigarette to the ground, causing a controlled column of fire to erupt, granting him at least some vision in this place.

He saw something which reminded him of the gridded walls of a prison cell. Though the more accurate term would've been dungeon, due to its ancient look. He could see faint silhouettes moving around on the other side of the grid, but he was still too far away to make out any details. He walked closer and squinted his eyes, trying his best to understand what he was seeing.

His eyes widened when he finally managed to understand.

Children.

Dozens of children, ranging from infants who could not even walk to pre-teens who'd just be entering middle-school.

Constantine barely had any time to make sense of the situation when one of the children charged at him. The little boy tried to claw at John through the gaps in the grid, foaming at the mouth and gnashing his teeth. His eyes were, unsurprisingly, all black.

Constantine jumped back startled before putting out the fire he'd used for visibility.

"Depressing, isn't it?"

Constantine snapped his body 180°, maintaining a battle stance should he need to fight against whoever thought it was appropriate to sneak up on him like that.

"Relax, I'm not gonna hurt you..." it was Tim.

"Right. You have to forgive me for being on high alert after I just discovered the f***ing Justice League has a bunch of kids locked up in a bloody dungeon!" He yelled. "I mean who's idea was it? Batman's?! That's how he recruits his new Robins, is it?!"

"Careful..." Tim shut him up before letting out a sigh. "It was actually Barda's..."

"And you morons actually went with it?!"

"Hey, none of us are particularly proud of it!" Tim snapped back. "Of anything that we've been doing! You really think that if there was any other option, then we wouldn't have gone with it?! Infected adults are put to work on Darkseid's camps, but children..." Tim paused. "They would be sent to Granny Goodness' Orphanage..."

"And...?"

"Did I say orphanage? I meant cult recruitment center! Barda grew up on Apokolips and told us all horror stories of what she and the other Furies have been through! And they were the ones that survived! We weren't going to have any kids fall to her hands! Not while we had a say in it!"

"Then why the dungeon, mate?!"

"Because like it or not, they're still infected by the Equation. They would try to kill and/or infect anyone else on the island, so we had a choice to make. The dungeons here, or Granny Goodness... and there really isn't that much of a choice to make there..."

Constantine finally took a more calm stance.

"Well, I'm not really in a place to claim moral superiority..." Constantine said. "My rap-sheet's not exactly clean, y'know..."

"Oh, I know..." Tim crossed his arms. "John Constantine. Born in Liverpool, June 25th, 1984. You experimented with the occult since your early childhood. In your teen years you were part of a band called Mucous Membrane. At some point in your early adulthood you sold your soul to no-less than three demons, and ever since then you've been dealing with supernatural incidents all over the world, bribing, cheating and drinking your way through any underworld in the vain hope that you can do enough good to clear your soul of sin and save yourself from damnation..."

Constantine stayed silent for a few moments.

"You did a thorough job clearing your past, but I'm not one of the world's greatest detectives for nothing..."

"Am I supposed to be impressed by you readin' off the back of my trading card?" Constantine grabbed a new cigarette. "If you came 'ere for an autograph, then I gotta disappoint you... uh... who are you again?"

"Red Robin..."

"Red Robin? Oh, I see. One of the bat-babes... real original name there, Red. Well, in any case, tell your boss that whatever he's sellin', I still ain't buyin'..."

"Batman didn't send me. But I am trying to sell you something that you will want to buy..."

"Oh, really? An' what would that be?"

"Redemption!"

"Bah! Ain't no redemin' me, mate. Trust me, I tried bein' one of you good guys. It just ain't me..."

With the cigarette in his mouth, Constantine messed with his thumb in the same way a person would move if they had a lighter on their hand. A small flame finally burst out of his thumb after a few tries.

"You tried because of Zatanna, didn't you?"

Constantine froze. His flaming thumb only a few inches away from his tobacco tube.

"I met her once. I was with a..." Tim cleared his throat. "... Friend, in front of the Metro Tower when she showed up. She needed my team's help to deal with some floating demon kid and his cat. I didn't know her well, but I could tell she was sweet, kind, smart... and to quote my 'friend', she was also really hot..."

"The most beautiful woman I ever knew..." Constantine lamented. "And I always hated myself whenever I was with her... a girl like her shouldn't be with a guy like me..."

"I heard Batman saying something about survivor's guilt before you punched him in the face..." Tim said. "Did it have anything to do with her?"

Constantine didn't want to share a really traumatic moment of his life (so much so that it stuck out amidst all the others) with what was virtually a complete stranger, but at that point, what did he really have to lose?

He sighed and put the unlit cigarette away.

...

APOKOLIPS

MAY 29TH, 10:00 EDT

...

"I wasn't sure why I was even there in the first place. Sure, I was technically part of the team, but only part-time... I really had no obligation to show up... but I did..."

Constantine was in Apokolips, going up against one of Darkseid's most trusted elite; Glorious Godfrey. Before being outed as an agent of Apokolips, he was known as G. Gordon Godfrey, a loud-mouth TV personality for GBS with a bone to pick against the Justice League.

Constantine fired a magic bolt of energy from a sigil that appeared in front of his hand, only for Godfrey to dodge it.

"You don't want to fight me, do you?" He asked, clearly utilizing the only ability that actually made him some use to Darkseid; mind control.

"Sure I do!" Only for it to be completely useless. "If I'm already 'ere, might as well 'ave some fun..."

"But... but how-?!"

"Can't spoil a pot that's already rotten, luv..."

Constantine then struck Godfrey across the jaw, sending him flying a few feet backwards, blood spewing from his mouth, before hitting the ground, unconscious.

Constantine wiped his hands together to represent a job well done. Without thinking, he reached for his coat's pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes.

"Really, John? You agreed that you'd try to quit..." came Zatanna's voice from behind him.

She landed on the cracked ground of the alien hellscape, holding Amazing Grace's (Godfrey's sister) unconscious body by the cape.

"Sorry, Z. Force of habit... so, how are things lookin' so far?"

"Surprisingly well..." Zatanna replied. "I mean, so far no-one's dead. You think we'll finally be able to get rid of Darkseid this time?"

"If this Darkseid really is as bad as the big boys say, then you can't 'get rid' of the likes of him..."

"Always the pessimist..." she rolled her eyes. "Can't you just hope that things go well for a change..."

"In my experience, when you expect the worst, nothin' can catch you off guard..."

At that moment, the battlefield shifted. Constantine looked up once he heard a very human sounding scream. He saw Hawkman falling from the sky, his body smoking. The culprit? Captain Marvel, who was still hovering above his teammate's defeated body with an empty grin on his face.

Constantine's eyes widened in shock, which soon turned to terror once he kept looking. All around him, the heroes who were supposed to be fighting against the forces of darkness began allying themselves with them. The small number of those who fought against them stood little chance and were dropping like flies.

"Not what I'd call an optimal case..." Constantine tried to hide his insecurities with a light-hearted joke. "C'mon, let's show these superheroes who's boss..."

"Tsalb Nhoj Enitnatsnoc!"

Constantine was hit in the back with a magical bolt of energy which sent him flying towards a nearby wall. He struck it face first before falling to the ground, blood flowing from his nose and mouth.

He turned himself around and got into a sitting position. He barely had time to ponder what just hit him when the answer made herself clear to him. He looked up and saw Zatanna, hovering over to him, runes and sigils flying all around her hands, like she was ready to fight. But Constantine was drawn most to her face, and not for the usual reason.

Her face was contorted into a scowl of pure malice and hatred. Her eyes were like pools of ink and a red omega symbol glowed brightly in the center of her forehead.

Constantine was speechless. No... he was scared.

"Egduj srehto. Evalsne srehto. Itna-Efil seifitsuj ym etah!"

She kept repeating those three short phrases as she hovered closer to him. Two Parademons landed next to her and handed her a helmet.

Having finally regained control over his limbs, John kicked the ground with all his strength, getting enough leverage to run out of there. He turned his back on the love of his life and ran.

A terrified expression still glued to his face, he opened a portal to Earth. He spared one final glance at the ever approaching Zatanna. With a look of guilt and sadness in his face, he turned away for the last time and closed the portal before Zatanna could follow him back.

THEMYSCIRA

NOVEMBER 16TH, 20:57 EDT

...

"Been up against all sorts of bastards and I always stood tall..." Constantine said, holding his hands up to his hair. "But this time I just ran..."

"Because you couldn't stand seeing her like this..." Tim concluded.

"Because I knew she would have resisted if it wasn't for me!" He snapped. "You didn't know her like I did. There was no darkness inside that girl... at least, not before she met me..."

"Blaming yourself won't change anything..." Tim reasoned. "But I know of something that will!"

"I said I'm not going to be part of some suicide mission to save the world!"

"Then do it to save her!"

There was silence.

"We just need you to take us to and from a specific place. After that, you can go back to wallowing in self-pity. Unless, of course... you're actually interested in what I'm selling..."

"You swear that she'll be back to normal..."

"I swear that we'll die trying..."

Constantine sighed. "That's good enough for now... alright, I'm in. But I'm gonna need a drink..."