Double Doomsday

Air roared as the Batwing settled onto its custom landing pad at the bottom of the Batcave.

A blast of hot air swept outward, sending ripples across the underground river nearby.

The hatch sprang open.

Bruce strode down the ramp.

Hal Jordan lay across his shoulder, covered in blood.

Hal's green uniform was torn in several places. Medical gel had temporarily sealed the twelve-inch gash across his chest, but dark blood still seeped through.

The broken ends of his ribs were plainly visible.

Barry Allen arrived beside the ramp in a red blur.

He opened his mouth to ask what had happened, then his nose twitched twice. He edged back half a step.

Arthur Curry followed Bruce out of the aircraft.

He carried the Dark-Gold Trident, his powerful muscles bare.

A stench of dead deep-sea fish and cheap whiskey rolled off him, spreading quickly through the enclosed cave.

"Good God, did you spend three days in a fish market?" Barry asked, pinching his nose.

Arthur gave Barry's red suit a cold look and curled his lip. "Shut it, kid. Seawater smells better than those donuts on you. When trouble comes, you'd better run faster than that."

"The Medical Pod is ready." Alfred emerged from the shadows, cutting off their argument.

He carried a tray neatly lined with concentrated cardiac stimulants, hemostatic forceps, and medication to prevent rejection of alien tissue.

The old butler's face betrayed nothing, but his hands were perfectly steady.

Without a word, Bruce went straight to the medical area and laid Hal on the Medical Pod's metal bed.

A green light came on above the Batcave's private access shaft.

The heavy lift descended smoothly.

Diana strode off it, dust and dried blood staining her red-and-blue armor. The Magic-Breaker Dagger rested in its sheath at her waist.

Behind her came a metal-bodied figure more than two meters tall.

Victor Stone.

The right half of his face was human, numb and expressionless with the look of someone who had lost everything.

His left half was clad in sleek silver mechanical armor, with dim blue electricity flickering at its joints.

The red energy core in his chest gave off a low engine rumble. His glowing red left eye swept through the dark cave, scanning every corner for weapons.

Barry sucked in a breath. His body went rigid, and he sprang three meters back to a safer distance.

Arthur flipped his wrist and brought the Dark-Gold Trident across his chest, its points aimed straight at Victor. His muscles tightened, ready to fight.

"Lower your weapon." Diana pressed Arthur's trident down. "His name is Victor Stone. He's the only survivor of the energy explosion at S.T.A.R. Labs. He's seen true despair, and he's here to join us."

Arthur snorted and slammed the trident into the floor. Metal struck stone with a dull clang, sending chips flying.

"Half man, half machine. Technology's always making things that are neither one nor the other." Arthur made no effort to hide the hostility in his eyes.

Bruce turned, his gaze lingering on Victor's mechanical torso for two seconds.

He could tell at a glance that the metal belonged to no technology currently found on Earth.

Bruce asked no questions. He turned toward the main console.

Inside the Medical Pod, Hal's eyes flew open.

He coughed violently, spraying mouthfuls of dark red blood across the sterile sheets.

He forced himself halfway upright and raised his right hand with difficulty.

His Green Lantern Ring gave off the faintest glow. Fine cracks covered its surface, and its energy had fallen below three percent.

A beam projected a broken image into the air.

Against a backdrop of stars, a vast army of Parademons blotted out the starlight.

They had hideous membranous wings, glowing red eyes, and high-energy weapons. There were enough of them to make anyone's skin crawl.

Farther out in the darkness, a Starship so enormous its size was impossible to judge hung motionless.

"Monsters... are gathering in space." Hal's voice was hoarse, every word thick with blood. "They're coming. The sector defenses have collapsed."

The image flickered twice and went out.

Hal fell back onto the bed, gasping for air.

Diana stepped up to the main console and braced both hands on its cold metal surface.

"It isn't just space." She looked at Bruce, her face grave. "The seal on Themyscira has shattered. The Mother Box went out of control. Steppenwolf's projection tried to force its way through. I drove him back with the Aegis, but the rift was open. Apokolips's vanguard has already caught Earth's scent."

Victor walked to the holographic projection table on heavy mechanical legs.

His metal feet hit the floor with weighty clicks.

He said nothing. The red glow in his left eye flared.

A miniature model of Earth, glowing blue, appeared above the table.

Three blinding red beams rose from its surface, shooting straight into space.

"The coordinates are locked." Victor spoke with a cold metallic echo, his voice utterly flat. "Location one: Themyscira. Location two: deep in the Atlantic. Location three: Central City."

He raised his mechanical left arm and pointed to the projection of outer space.

"The coordinates have been transmitted to the Apokolips invasion fleet. They have the key to open the door. A spatial passage is forming."

Barry went deathly pale. His muscles trembled beneath his red suit.

Arthur stared at the red beam rising from the depths of the Atlantic. His face darkened completely. It marked the location of Atlantis.

The countdown to an alien apocalypse stood before them all.

Arthur drove his trident into the floor with a deafening crash that made Barry's ears ache.

"Let them come." A cold smile spread across Arthur's rugged face, full of a sea king's defiance. "Doesn't Gotham have a madman? If alien scum want to take our territory, let that Tyrant stand in their way. We can watch them tear each other apart."

He turned to Bruce, mockery in his voice.

"Didn't you say he could boil the sea? Darkseid's vanguard can cool him off. God or monster, he'll run out of strength against an endless alien army. Once he falls, we'll step in and clean up."

Barry's eyes lit up. Following Arthur's reasoning, he thought he could see a chance.

Diana did not argue. She kept her brows drawn tight and her eyes on the projection.

Victor whipped his head around, his red mechanical eye fixed on Arthur.

"You have no idea what we're facing."

Victor swept his left hand through the air in one sharp motion.

The model of Earth vanished from the main screen. Surveillance footage took its place.

Ten minutes earlier, he had hacked into the Iceberg Lounge's security cameras and captured the footage.

In a luxurious suite, Chu Men reclined on a leather sofa.

Harley lay across his lap, letting Chu Men toy with her blue-and-gold pigtails.

Her face held an obsessive devotion, like a docile pet.

At the bottom right of the image, rows of red data boxes flashed rapidly.

They showed the Mother Box's real-time readings.

[Bio-electric Field strength: cannot be calculated]

[Body density: cannot be calculated]

[Energy level: data overflow]