"Rayner here," Kyle said, juggling the cellular to his shoulder
and getting back to work. He'd gotten the idea from something Arsenal
said a while back about the old Titans HQ, but he wasn't sure whether
to go with Superman's original costume or the blue one.
"Hey, Kyle, it's Guy. The people from the Red Cross called
for you again. They're double-checking the date to make sure you
can do the gig. Woman sounded kind of ticked. What was your
excuse last time?"
"Er... let's see." Television, with the camera set on the
fight. "Yeah, J'onn and I were fighting another intergalactic menace.
Tell the Cross that I've already got the Flash and Hawk... er, Zauriel
lined up to cover for me with the JLA. I'll be there for sure."
"You got it."
"Oh, Guy? Why're you taking messages for me? Don't
you have better things to do?"
"Kid, the bar gets messages for everyone from
Booster Gold to some idiot named 'Six-Pac'. Mostly,
the other people do the calls. I'm the only one who knows
your phone number."
"Ah. Thanks." The Red Cross. Crap, he thinks.
A couple years at this and I still don't get it.
"We have a problem, Kyle." Ganthet's voice
bellows throughout the apartment, chopping Superman's
head off with a quick stroke.
One day ago. A world without hope.
"How are the life signs?" Truth be told, the
two pink, bald scientists were bored. They'd been at this nearly
a year.
"Stable. He's hallucinating, and mumbles
something about a 'wog'. Are you positive he's the
one we're supposed to implant?"
"Of course he is. The Solar Distortion Unit
was created to catch the attention of someone as
powerful as he is. Anything weaker couldn't hold
the master's essence."
"I saw the specs. I was talking about
HIM."
"Yes, well, life's full of little ironies."
I can hear them, he thought. In a glass
tube full of something that looked like aloe gel and
felt like chunky peanut butter, the first consciousness
stirred.
"Hold on. He's conscious."
"How do you know? The instruments don't
read anything."
"He's moving, you idiot. He's looking at us
right now."
His thoughts coagulated slowly. He remembered
the oath, and the dissolution of his body. He had no idea
what the Soul Eater was at the time he'd died, but with
a glance about the lab, he knew who'd been responsible.
Two bald men with eyes like baseballs smiled at him.
He was on Qward.
"So he is. Begin the implantation."
Pain lanced through his mind. He looked at
the Qwardians, and knew he hated them. He remembered
the Earth, all of them, and knew he wanted them destroyed.
He remembered himself, as he was, and knew he was all
powerful.
"Release him."
Hal Jordan stepped forward as his chamber
drained. The gel on his skin cooled him, but the heat
was still nearly unbearable. Damn it, he thought, can't
I even die right? The two Qwardians grinned their
mad little grins.
"The Master is reborn!"
"Always full of melodrama, aren't you?"
"Sorry, it's that Khan guy's teachings. You never
forget. How are you, Master?"
"Aside from that little bit of mindbending you
just did, I'm fine. You, however, are in serious trouble."
The light absorbed them. Across the Anti-Matter
Universe, a wall of white light claimed everything. An
entire universe died in the course of hours.
2:12 AM. Tuesday.
"Guy? Tell the Red Cross I'm not going to be able
to make it." Kyle's eyes remain on the little glowing gem in Ganthet's
hand, even as its light died.