Hello guys, welcome to the sequel of Stains of Time. Although, I wouldn't consider it necessarily a sequel but rather a story set in the same universe as Stains of Time featuring many of the same characters from Stains along with a few newcomers. This story will mainly be set five years after the climax of Stains of Time in the new timeline that Batman caused with Metron's aid. This story also won't be rather twelve subsequent self-contained story arcs that build up to the climax but rather, four story arcs that will eventually all converge together in the climax.

And don't worry, I'm still working on Out of the Flames as well which ideally should be finished this year. Hope you enjoy.

In Another Place and Time

In the darkness, there sat at a wall. If you could call it a wall. It was more like an endless display of giant grotesque faces that stretched far beyond the limits of the imagination. The wall was the only thing that occupied space in the dark abyss, but it was definitely limitless. From one side, one couldn't see the end of the other. In fact, it was impossible to determine where the wall began and ended, or if it even had limits. Yet, the wall still remained there as the only object in the otherwise vast emptiness that was the abyss. The grotesque faces still remained silent sentinels and stared out angrily or in horror at the endless darkness. But, their solitude wasn't for long.

A large whirring sound echoed in the area as random spots of light appeared everywhere in the darkness. The lights continued to grow as the sounds increased. Soon, objects emerged from the sources of light and expanded. As the objects left from the large circles of light, they began to become completely visible. An entire vast array of ships had appeared outside the wall. Many of these ships had sinister designs and varied in size. Some had seen more damage than others. Others had just been recently built. Yet, all the ships had come to the wall for the same purpose. As the whirring and the white lights had died down, one last ship, which was the largest, appeared. This ship was twice the size of the larger ships in the fleet. But, even this large flagship was nowhere near as large as the wall itself. As the flagship took its place in the center of the fleet, all the ships seemed to froze in time. Every crew and captain of a ship remained nervous about the wall. None of them dared to get closer. Even the massive flagship seemed to be reluctant to approach the large wall. It remained sitting in solemn silence, so the rest of the fleet followed suit. And like the outside, the main cabin of the flagship remained quiet as the leader regarded the wall quietly.

Inside the main cabin besides the crew and the ship's captain stood six occupants. In the back stood three women, if you could call them that. The first woman was smaller and more hunched than the rest. She had yellow skin and wild eyes with sharp teeth and claws. Her green hair was done in a mohawk style. Next to her was a rather larger woman. Round she was, but not flabby. Her whole body seemed rock solid like a boulder. She was bald as well. The only remotely feminine giveaway of her gender was her rather plump lips that were dyed a dark crimson red. Lastly, standing a little ahead of the two women to demonstrate her rank was a tall, thin woman dressed in a black, shiny substance. Unlike her compatriots, she had something of a beauty to her, albeit in a dark and forbidden way. She wore a strange mask around her face as her dark long hair was streaked with strands of white. She had a scar going across her right eye as well. Unlike her other two females who cowered a bit in fear at the sight of the wall, she stood forward confidently and arrogantly. To the side stood a rather short man compared to the company around them. He wore a white military uniform that was elegantly decorated with medals and ribbons. He wore a red and black patterned cape draped over one soldier with a dark monocle covering his right eye. On one hand, he was missing several fingers. To his side stood a taller man with a pointed beard and long hair. He was rather broad shouldered and like the little man that he stood next to, the tall man kept himself rather finely dressed in a black and gold patterned. He wore a strange horned helm of gold over his head.

In the center of the six passengers in the main cabin stood the largest among them. It was a large, monstrous looking beast that looked like it was made of a dark brown, rough rock. Its face was rather large and placed rather low on its body as if the thing was hunched back. Its rocky features seemed to mimic long hair and a beard that matched the same rough texture of the monster's skin. Its eyes however glowed a menacing red with black slits in the middle. The beast had its massive fists behind its back as it looked at the wall rather aggressively. None of the crew, nor the passengers dared to approach the monster and just remained at the side quietly as the monster continued to glare at the wall as if it was a challenging opponent. Finally, the captain of the ship summoned the courage to speak to the monster in the center of the room.

"My-my Lord Abaddon, what would you like the fleet to do next?"

Abaddon didn't acknowledge the captain at first and instead continued to glare at the giant wall intently. Eventually, he spoke in a gravelly, boorish voice.

"Years of war with New Genesis, and it has finally come to this moment," he muttered to himself. "I will do what my father always failed to do. Harness the power of the Source and the Anti-Life myself."

Suddenly a beep went off, interrupting Abaddon's musings. All eyes in the cabin shifted towards the small man in the military uniform. Sweating nervously, the small man pulled out a device and looked at it. He then fearfully looked back up at his master.

"What is it Vundabar?" Abaddon demanded.

"My Lord, it appears Sector 1 and Sector 2 have fallen on Earth. The resistance movement called the Bat Knights that is funded by New Genesis has gained momentum. Uh, we may no longer be able to have Earth under our control."

"Earth is meaningless," spat the tall woman in black. She then boldly took a step forward and caressed Abaddon's broad shoulders. It seemed only she was allowed to approach him like that.

"You are the ruler of Apokolips, not some backwards planet like Earth," she whispered into Abaddon's ear. "And soon, you will be the master of the universe. Let New Genesis win a prize of dirt as you work to claim your glory."

"How can I claim glory when I am losing the war?" Abaddon asked roughly and suddenly turned around and struck the woman. Everyone flinched uncomfortably at the blow as the woman yelped and fell to her knee. He then looked around at the other five passengers and his red eyes began to glow fiery yellow.

"Perhaps I've put my faith in the wrong advisors," Abaddon accused. "New Genesis and what's left of the Green Lantern Corps have continued to beat us back. Yet, you all just sing praise as if we are still winning?"

The woman slowly got to her feet and limped back to her rightful spot with her fellow females. The one with wild green hair had a gleeful smirk on her face.

"Nice one Lashina," she whispered to the woman in black,

"Isn't that why we are here?" the man with the pointed beard asked politely with a voice that sounded like poisoned honey. "To finally give us the edge to win the war?"

"Yes," Abaddon acknowledged as if he just remembered something important. He then turned around and finally looked at the captain as if to answer his question.

"Send a probing fleet into the wall. I want them to try to find a safe path in to harness the-ARGGH!"

A bright light had appeared in the middle of the cabin. Vundabar yelped and fell to his back as many of the crew ducked for cover. Lashina pulled out a whip, ready to attack while her two associates followed her lead. The light faded a little to reveal a rather ordinary looking bald man with a sharp face. He looked around the cabin as if in disgust and the light dimmed further, to reveal the bald man now in what looked like a neat, black business suit common among Earthlings.

"Who dares to board my ship?" Abaddaon asked angrily.

"Relax," the intruder said calmly. "I won't be long. I am here to give you a warning."

"Your idle threats won't intimidate me!" assured Abaddon. "I am the master of the Omega! I am the ruler of Apokolips! I am the son of-"

"Lovely titles for sure," the man interrupted. "But they won't save you if you continue meddling with forces you can't comprehend."

The man looked around the rest of the room.

"I am a prisoner of the wall, sentenced to serve it now as repayment for my sins. And I will warn you, you will find no victory if you try to attack or exploit the Source Wall. The Source Wall doesn't bend to anyone's will, not even a god. It has and always will be untouched, unmarred, unbroken."

"I will break the wall if I have to!" Abaddon challenged, undeterred by the tense warnings. The man looked at Abaddon patronizingly.

"You cannot break the wall. It has existed since time began and will continue to do so when it ends. But, the wall will defend itself if attacked. It will lash out at the universe if you do."

"Enough of your pitiful threats, little man. I will crush you," Abaddon proclaimed as his eyes glowed a fiery orange.

"You've been warned," the apparition whispered and disappeared as the omega beams shot out of Abaddon's eyes and hit a random crew member instead. The crew member cried in pain briefly before he disintegrated into nothing. Everyone on the deck held their breath as Abaddon breathed heavily in frustration. His eyes resumed their normal red and he looked around angrily.

"I gave you orders, follow them!" he barked.

"Sir, look!" Vundabar called as he pointed to the windows. Everyone looked to see bright flashes of light appearing out of the sky. Soon, another fleet of ships appeared on the other side of the abyss. Faint flashes of green light appeared as well.

"It's the New Genesis Fleet!" the captain gasped in fear.

"Along with the remnants of the Green Lantern Corps," Kanto noted bitterly.

"We're receiving a transmission!" a crew member shouted as a holographic screen popped up along the window. The screen fuzzed before becoming clear, revealing a man wearing a helmet and a permanent scowl.

"Orion," Lashina muttered in disgust.

"Hello brother," Orion called on the screen. "Grateful that you put the majority of your strength in one place so we can end this once and for all."

"I'll break you!" Abaddon yelled in frustration. "Attack their ships!"

But the order was useless. At that moment, every ship had already begun to fire at each other. The dark abyss became a multi-colored light show as each ship continued to fire on the other, augmented by random green lights appearing outside. Vundabar and Kanto quickly departed the deck to try to command the fleet from a more secure place, leaving Abaddon with the remaining females. He growled his teeth in frustration as he watched the battle unfold. New Genesis had more ships than they did, along with the Green Lantern Corps to help. But, the Apokoliptian ships were more vicious in fighting close range than the New Genesis style space ships. Plus, the Apokoliptian warships had come to the wall because their side was already desperate. They were willing to make a bloody last stand more than New Genesis. Nonetheless, Abaddon knew deep down, aggression wouldn't stop the New Genesis ships forever. They were outnumbered, but he couldn't retreat now. This would be the end game. He walked over to the control bay and nearly crushed a crew member with his giant hand.

"Pull up a transmission," Abaddon ordered. "I want to send a message to Orion."

The holographic screen appeared again, with Orion's serious face staring back.

"Come and fight me you coward!" Abaddon challenged his opponent. "Why don't we settle this once and for all? The sons of Darkseid battle to see who really is the superior one?"

"Way ahead of you, Kalibak," Orion replied.

"Sir, enemy ship approaching!"

Abaddon looked and saw a small ship speeding towards his own flagship.

"It's a breacher ship!" the captain explained. "Shoot it down!"

"No!" Abaddon denied, overriding the captain's orders. "It's time I ended this once and for all."

The crew nervously watched as the ship passed by their window. Eventually the ship rumbled and shook, indicating the breacher ship had hit its targets.

"They're boarding right now," the captain said nervously as he looked at a screen.

Abaddon turned around and looked at the three females behind him.

"You three come with me!" he commanded.

The lower decks of the ship were filled with chaos at the moment, but Lashina didn't care. She merrily killed any enemy that came her way. The fighting became so disorienting, her and the Furies got separated from Abaddon, but she knew he would be fine. In the meantime, she was enjoying killing anyone that got in their way. She and Harriet had just finished teaming up to slit the throat of a rather large soldier from New Genesis when Stompa went flying across the room. Stompa groaned and muttered out one word in pain.

"Barda…"

Lashina turned around and saw a tall woman in blue armor next to an equally tall man in a red suit and green cape.

"Traitors!" Harriet spat in disgust at the sight of them. Lashina however, kept her calm.

"It's so good to see you Barda," Lashina noted. "I've been looking forward to killing you for a long time."

"And I've been looking forward to beating you once again, Antiope."

Lashina felt her rage boil in her skin and her hatred for Barda increased tenfold.

"Do not call me that!" she shouted and charged at Barda. Harriet and Stompa, followed her lead and began to attack Mister Miracle. Lashina snapped her whip, but Barda blocked it with her weapon. Barda then lifted up a big foot and kicked Lashina who grunted as she slid across the floor. Lashina recovered though and was on her feet again. She placed her usual weapon of choice at her side and pulled out small knives and gave a sadistic grin. Charging at Barda, Lashina unleashed a flurry of fast swipes with her knives, forcing Barda on the defensive. Barda then dropped her weapon and grabbed a hold of Lashina's wrists.

"You can't win," Barda warned as Lashina struggled to try to free her wrists. "Our forces will wipe out what remains of Abaddon's fleet."

"Then I'll just have to take you with us," Lashina promised. She then clicked her heel and a small knife came out of the tip of her boot. Before Barda could react, Lashina placed a well-aimed kick in her opponent's gut. Barda grunted in surprise and looked to see blood emerging from her. Lashina took advantage of the distraction and freed her wrists. She then stabbed both knives into Barda's chest. Barda screamed and fell to her knees.

"Barda!" Mister Miracle cried as he ran over to her. Lashina realized he had managed to on his own dispatch Harriet and Stompa. Mister Miracle rushed over to his wife as she collapsed into his arms. Her dying breaths forcing blood out of her mouth. Lashina smiled wickedly at her work and turned around and ran. Barda was right; the battle was lost the minute it began. If she could find an escape pod, she could flee. And she could take comfort in the fact she had finally beaten Barda for good.

"You will never be as good as me!" Abaddon yelled as he slammed Orion's face to the ground. They had been fighting nonstop since they ran into each other on the ship. Their fight had somehow taken them up to the main deck. The captain and the crew had scattered to escape the two brothers as they fought. Abaddon made to stomp on Orion's back, but Orion rolled over and pulled a pistol at his side and fired point-blank at Abaddon's face. Abaddon screamed and covered it in pain. By the time he was able to regain his senses and recovered, he saw Orion's fist heading towards his face.

"You try to think you were the one worthy to be Darkseid's successor, but you were wrong. He even favored Miracle over you."

Abaddon growled as he found himself on the receiving end of a bunch of violent blows from Orion.

"Because in the reality, you're still just a dumb, ugly, brute. What good is the power of the Omega if you don't know how to use it?"

"I'll destroy you!" Abaddon promised and he let his eyes flare up. He shot high intensity omega beams at Orion who picked up a strange device. The beams hit it, but instead of destroying the device, they instead absorbed the beams. Abaddon grunted in frustration and tried to increase the beams intensity. But, the strange device kept absorbing the beams. Abaddon growled in pain and collapsed to his knees after a while. The constant increasing of the energy from the omega beams took its toll. Before he could recover, he looked to see Orion standing over him.

"You were always a vicious, dangerous beast," Orion acknowledged. "But your stupidity was always your greatest weakness."

And before Abaddon could say anything, Orion swung a club at his head, forcing him to the ground. Orion continued to violently hit Abaddon with the club as the battle continued around the Source Wall.

Lashina grabbed the controls as the escape pod released itself from the ship. It would take a while for the pod's own boom tube to charge, allowing her to flee the Source Wall. In the meantime, she needed to pilot the ship out of harm's way. She looked around and saw the battle raging outside the Source Wall. Even though it appeared the Apokoliptian ships had done damage to their enemies, it wasn't enough. With the help of the Green Lantern Corps, the tide of the battle was turning. It would soon be lost. She needed to escape while she could. Just as she was about to pilot the ship away from the flagship, a rogue torpedo had hit her pod.

"NOO!" Lashina yelled as the pod spun wildly out of control. A red, ominous light blinked rapidly as a bunch of disturbing beeping sounds echoed all around. She tried to regain control, but it was hopeless. The pod kept spiraling out of control towards the Source Wall. In desperation and on impulse, she grabbed the ejector lever and pulled. The seat forced her outside the doomed escape pod, hurling her towards the wall. Before she had time to regain her bearing, an invisible force seemed to have taken control of her and tugged her towards a rather large face on the wall.

Lashina struggled and kicked as hard as she could, but the invisible force pulled her in and for a brief moment, she only saw darkness. She then became bombarded by bright lights everywhere and felt as if her mind was being crushed and reformed constantly back and forth. All she could do was scream and struggle, but it was no use. Now she was trapped in the wall and in forever agony. A million voices echoed around her and she felt her own becoming one of them. There had always been stories that only certain people could survive the encounter with the Source Wall. She wouldn't be one of them though.

Abaddon groaned defeated as he watched Orion walk over triumphantly to observe the battle outside. He remained silent and pensive as the battle continued to range on. However, Abaddon already knew the outcome. His fleet was crumbling and Orion had taken over his ship. Still angry though at his defeat, Abaddon quietly began to crawl to a control panel.

"It's finally over," Orion said, not bothering to look around. "This horrible war is finally going to end, along with your reign. Apokolips will terrorize the universe no more."

Abaddon gritted his teeth as he pulled himself up and typed at the control panel. Orion still seemed too engrossed on his imminent victory to realize what Kalibak was doing.

"And you will face justice for your crimes," Orion promised. "I should kill you for all the lives you've ruined or destroyed by your bloodlust, but I won't. The universe deserves to see you stand trial first."

"There won't be a trial!" Abaddon warned. "There won't be a universe at all anymore!"

And he hit a button on the control panel. Orion turned around and stared at him angrily.

"What are you doing?"

But it was too late for Orion, the flagship already launched all its firepower straight at the Source Wall.

"You idiot!" Orion yelled. "You'll kill us all!"

Abaddon just stared at his brother and laughed wickedly.

"See you in Hell Brother!"

Orion tried to communicate to one of his ships to intercept the missiles before they hit the Source Wall, but it was futile. By the time the New God managed to get in contact with a ship, the missiles had impacted the wall. There was a large, enormous explosion on the wall that consumed anything nearby it. For a second, Abaddon thought he actually managed to crack the wall. But, as the dust cleared, it was obvious the Source Wall didn't even have scratch. Yet, all the holes within the faces along the wall began to glow a menacing white color. A strange humming sound echoed all over the place and even the flagship found itself shaking somehow. Suddenly, the white light expanded and a huge wave of energy emerged from the wall in all directions, consuming everything in its path. Abaddon just sat there and laughed as Orion stared in horror as the Source Wall retaliated. In a matter of microseconds, the flagship was destroyed, along with both sides of the battle. But, the energy of the white light wasn't done. It kept expanding, going beyond the reaches of the universe rapidly consuming everything in its path from planets, to asteroids, to stars. In a matter of moments, the white light had consumed everything in the universe and in the blink of the eye, disappeared.

The entire universe was gone now, save for the wall which continued to remain in the same place it had always been.

Lashina couldn't determine how long she had been in the wall. It felt like ages sometimes, but then it felt like seconds. The entire wall seemed intent on torturing her before destroying her. She wanted it to end so badly, but she couldn't move her body. In fact, she wasn't sure she had one anymore. The lights and different colors along with the thousand voices disoriented her. The woman made an attempt to try to summon the will to force herself to focus, but it was too much. Her mind couldn't handle it. And just when she felt like it would be the end for her, a small voice stood out from the thousand.

"Lashina…" whispered the voice. Lashina felt her focus returning briefly. That voice seemed so familiar. If she could hone on it, maybe she had a chance to keep her mind from falling apart.

"Lashina…" the voice spoke again, standing out more than the many.

"Who's there?" she asked. She noticed the pain seemed to fade a little and she seemed to have a little bit more control.

"Focus on me…" the voice ordered, louder than before. It seemed in response, the thousand other voices picked up their volume as if to drown out the one. Lashina gritted her teeth and tried to find the voice. It was her only chance of survival.

"Who are you?"

"You know who I am," the voice spoke forcefully. Lashina realized she knew that voice.

"It can't be," she gasped. The buzzing other voices seemed to grow harsher and more violent, as if to attack her. But, she at the same time felt isolated from them. It felt like the familiar voice had put a bubble around her somehow.

"We don't have much time," the voice explained. "I can save you if you do something for me. But first, you need to open your mind to me."

Lashina didn't hesitate because not only was the voice the only thing that could save her, she could trust it as well. She knew who it belonged to. She then felt her mind being filled with a bunch of information. No, it wasn't information. It was a plan. In a matter of seconds, Lashina found her mind filled with more information and knowledge than she ever had before.

"How can I do this when I'm trapped in here?" Lashina asked. "And you can't protect me forever. The Source Wall will destroy my mind soon."

"An opening has appeared," the voice instructed. "Take it."

And through the flashing lights, Lashina saw a rather bright white one that stood out. It didn't flash rhythmically like the other lights and instead remained a constant white light. What was more interesting, the white light seemed to have a shape like a jagged line somehow. How could light have a shape?

"The crack won't stay open forever, go!" the voice ordered. Lashina propelled herself towards the jagged white light. She could feel her mind being almost peeled away from the aggressive collective voices as if the wall was trying to stop her escape. And just when she felt like she was going to give up, she reached the white light and felt herself disappear.

Tartarus-Sometime later

"Yes!" Hades yelled triumphantly. "He is already breaking!"

Hades looked in his palms and saw a glowing white light emanating from both of them.

"I can feel it! The despair! He has been broken! It won't be long until he finally dies and I will have the full power of Anti-Life! In the end, only I am going to be the one who wins! Everything will be swallowed by death! For I am Hades, the Alpha and Omega! The true Destroyer of Worlds!"

Off to the side, unnoticed, was a figure in a heavy blue coat. He wore a strange blue hat that caused a permanent shadow on the upper side of his face. The only thing visible in the shadow was his bright, white eyes.

"It seems you ended up winning after all Hades," the stranger said with disgust. But, there was nothing he could do. He wasn't allowed to participate and had to remain as a passive observer, cursed forever to wander in payment for his sins. In disappointment, he moved away from the gloating god and headed towards the river. Sitting on an island was the soul of a sad woman, trapped forever due to her unwillingly forfeiting her eligibility for Elysian Fields. She seemed to despair at the sound of Hades' gloats across the underworld.

"I'm so sorry Diana," the stranger said regretfully. "I'm sorry it has come to this."

"It can't end like this!" Diana snapped suddenly and for a second, the stranger thought Diana had seen him. But she couldn't have. People could only see him when he allowed them to. He realized she was just ranting and raving at the cruel universe for what had transpired.

"I don't care what Hades thinks! It's not over!"

A part of him was tempted to reveal himself and be honest to her. He could tell her there was nothing that could stop Hades. But what good would that do? That would hurt her more. Not like the stranger hadn't already hurt her before.

"I know someone out there is listening to me! Whether you're a god or the universe itself I don't care! You all listen to what I have to say!"

It was then the stranger realized something was odd. He looked up and saw that he wasn't the only one watching Diana. Floating in a chair that looked technological sat a small, thin being in a blue suit. He had a bit of a crazed look in his eyes. The stranger realized immediately that the intruder was also not visible like he was. Except, the stranger knew the intruder couldn't see him. Only the stranger could see the intruder; the stranger could see anything.

"Hades has is it backwards!" Diana shouted. "He thinks one mere life does not mean anything to the universe. But it's the other way around. Every life, every soul, matters! And the soul of Bruce Wayne especially does matter!"

The stranger realized Diana's words seemed to affect the intruder. He eyed her with apprehension.

"He may be just a man, but that's what made him so special! He has saved so many lives time and again and suffered through so much pain, and not once did he expect a thank you or a reward! He may've expected in some way or another that his efforts would matter, but he still never asked for anything! He did the right thing and continued to fight the good fight no matter what! Think of all the lives he saved and changed; he deserves better than this!"

Diana then threw her fist up in the air angrily.

"You all owe him!" she shouted. "The whole universe owes him! The man has done too much to die like this! He has always saved others and now it's the universe's turn to save him! You have to save him!"

The intruder seemed to be affected deeply by Diana's proclamations, he then slowly guided his floated chair away from Diana and floated around unnoticed in Tartarus. The stranger cautiously followed the intruder who seemed in deep thought. After what felt like an eternity, the stranger noticed the intruder had made up his mind. What happened next happened so fast for the stranger. The intruder revealed himself and confronted Hades. The two shared a chat before the intruder then proclaimed he was going to intervene to save Batman. The intruder then trapped Hades in a prison, before opening a boom tube to transport himself. Feeling satisfaction and amusement at Hades' plans being overturned, the stranger was about to leave when something caught his eye.

It was a white flash of light, but not really a flash. Instead it took the form of a jagged line and glowed brightly. The light then seemed to grow like a large crack. As it progressed, the place where the crack originated from faded away. As the crack continued to move across the underworld, it also began to fade away in the back, almost being a constant length that kept growing on one side while disappearing on the other.

"Uh-oh," the stranger muttered to himself when he saw the crack continuing to progress. "Not good."

He then continued to follow the crack as it slowly led its way out throughout time and space.

2009- Apokolips

"Did you hear the Justice League on Earth almost got wiped out, including Superman?" Mad Harriet asked as she and the other three Furies sat by the fire. "Apparently some people hijacked their base and were this close to killing them all."

"Who cares?" Stompa muttered.

"Just saying if they were taken out, maybe we could have convinced Granny to set her sights on Earth instead of always fighting Vundabar."

"Granny won't give up Apokolips," Lashina muttered bitterly. "She believes she's the rightful ruler of it."

"Vundabar is weak anyways," Stompa proclaimed. "He doesn't have us."

"Not like we had a choice on which side to pick," Harriet muttered bitterly. That comment didn't set well with Lashina and she sat up and walked away.

"Where you going?" Harriet asked.

"None of your business," Lashina muttered angrily and continued walking away from her so-called sisters. Harriet for once was right. Lashina and the other Furies had no choice. They were still slaves to Granny no matter how strong they were. It didn't help Granny was an idiot. The crazy woman didn't know how to lead armies or organize any form of government at all. Not that Vundabar was any better though. The little man was all flash, but no substance. Lashina knew she was better suited than either of them to lead Apokolips, but she couldn't inspire loyalty like the others. It reminded her of the time her sister stole her birthright. The memory made Lashina clench her fists in rage. So lost was Lashina in her reverie, she didn't realize someone had sneaked up on her before it was too late. She gasped as she felt the weapon pierce her skin and looked down in surprise to see it protruding out of her body, between her breasts. Dark blood began to spill out of her wound and she fell to her knees.

"Don't take this personal," an oddly familiar voice spoke behind her. "But it is for the best. You'd understand."

Her attacker stepped around to face her front and Lashina's eyes widened in shock and confusion at her killer. Lashina felt like she was staring in a mirror. The person looked just like her. The only difference was her uniform was slightly different, her hair had some white streaks in it, and she had a scar around her eye.

"Who-" Lashina gasped as she felt dizzy from the blood loss and experienced difficulty in breathing.

"Don't worry, I'll take good care of our life in this new timeline," the other Lashina whispered as she pulled out her knife and swiped it along Lashina's throat.

2014

The stranger stopped at where his search had taken him. He was staring at the gigantic Source Wall, a structure most sentient beings regardless of their powers still failed to completely understand. The multiple grotesque faces of the wall stared back at him as if to taunt or mock him. The stranger knew his worst fears had been confirmed. He then looked around, expecting someone to meet him. His hunches were proven right as a bright light suddenly appeared next to him and a bald man emerged.

"Who are you?" the bald man asked.

"Someone like you, Luthor," the stranger explained. "Someone punished for eternity and forced to walk in an existence beyond life, death, and time."

"You're the Phantom Stranger," Luthor noted as if he just figured it out and crossed his arms. "What brings you to my wall?"

"It's not your wall, it's the Source's Wall," the Phantom Stranger corrected.

Luthor didn't say anything and continued to eye the Phantom Stranger with suspicion.

"They say if the Phantom Stranger allows you to see him, it can't be a good thing. Why have you come?"

Phantom Stranger turned to stare back at a random face on the wall before speaking again.

"Metron," he explained.

"The New God scientist?" Luthor asked in confusion. "He is dead."

"Yes, I know. He sacrificed himself in the world between worlds to jump start a new timeline."

"And everything worked out," Luthor dismissed. "Not only was the Justice League saved in this new timeline, the entire universe was as well."

"Forgive me friend, but you don't understand time like I do. It isn't linear. It has depth as well. Changing the present doesn't just change the future, it also can change the past and the present across the entire universe at once."

Luthor didn't say anything in response and joined the Stranger in his staring contest with the wall.

"Yes, the Source Wall did reveal to me how time works," Luthor explained as if a little offended that the Phantom Stranger assumed he didn't know something. "But it doesn't matter. Any unintended damage Metron did was inconsequential. The new timeline saved the universe."

"As well as threatened it," argued the Phantom Stranger. "Metron's intervention caused a couple cracks along the depths of time."

"And most of them quickly sealed," Luthor replied back.

"Not all of them," the Phantom Stranger warned. "There was one large one that traveled through space and time. It ended up here."

The Phantom Stranger then pointed a gloved hand at the wall.

"Impossible," dismissed Luthor. "There is no crack here, I would've sensed it."

"It's not here now. It was here in the alternate timeline, right when a big battle was going on. You were probably too distracted by what was happening outside the wall to notice what was in it."

"Even if there was a crack, it doesn't matter. It would've eventually sealed."

"Not if something passed through it when it was open," the Phantom Stranger countered. He then turned to Luthor and lifted a hand. An image appeared above his hand of a tall woman in black hurtling towards the Source Wall.

"She was in there when the crack passed through the Source Wall. She jumped through it."

"The wall would've killed her," Luthor denied.

"The inside of the wall is not just made of one consciousness. It is made up of multiple at once to form a collective."

"Exactly. The wall would've overwhelmed her."

"These consciousness still are echos of the unfortunate souls wiped from existence," the Phantom Stranger pointed out. "Occasionally even one echo will find itself separated from the throng of many. She was protected long enough to escape through the crack."

"Where is she then?" Luthor demanded.

"She's been on Apokolips for the last five years. Now the timeline is in jeopardy again. But, it is not the future this time. Past, present, and future are all threatened now. Our entire universe from the start to the end faces a threat we haven't seen before."

Luthor closed his eyes and suddenly opened them in fear.

"You're right," he whispered apprehensively. "I've glimpsed into the future now and all I see is doom."

As if in response, the image above the Phantom Stranger's hand changed as well, showing a rapid succession of images. First one was a dark figure with yellow glowing eyes. The second was a monstrous looking thing transforming into a rock-like monster. That was followed by what looked like a fleet of spaceships arriving in Earth's atmosphere. The next image showed the Justice League all dead and defeated, including Superman. The last image though showed a silhouette of a giant standing triumphantly as fires raged around him.

"It can't be," Luthor muttered in disbelief. He then looked at the Phantom Stranger.

"You have to stop this,"Luthor pleaded. "You can't let this happen."

"I am like you, my friend. Forbidden to interfere, cursed to watch. Nonetheless, I can make myself visible when I want and try to point people on the right path."

"What do you plan to do?"

"This," the Stranger explained. Suddenly next to the silhouette of the giant, a dark shadow formed next to it. A shadowy horned figure in black carrying a glowing, orange sword appeared. The giant and shadow began to fight.

"Are you crazy?" Luthor asked in disbelief. "You would bring him back? If he had lived five years ago, the universe would've been destroyed."

"It's the only option. I have seen all the other possible timelines and this is the best course of action."

"How are you going to bring about it then if you can't interfere?" Luthor asked. The Phantom Stranger began to fade away.

"I won't be bringing this about, the Justice League will," he assured as he disappeared.

Depths of Time

Starring

Superman/Clark Kent

Wonder Woman/Diana of Themyscira

Batman II/Dick Grayson

Vandal Savage

Abaddon/Kalibak

Superboy/Connor Kent

Lashina

Tom Tresser

Orion

St. Dumas

with the Phantom Stranger

and Lobo, the Main Man