A battle between heroes and the forces of Chaos had been joined on the streets of Gotham City.
Donna Troy swooped down amongst the dog-headed Chaos soldiers, knocking them aside with her fists, then flew up over their heads, and dove back amongst them to punch out more of them.
Starfire's starbolts scattered the forces of Chaos. "X'Hal! This is worse than fighting off Gordanian Slavers!" she shouted.
Dark Opal came forward, and the crowd of dog-soldiers parted to let him through.
"You are foolish to oppose me and my army. Surrender now, and you will die quickly!"
Suddenly Dark Opal was surrounded by a shimmering column of water, which rose and dove down his open throat. He gurgled water and grasped for air.
Tempest flew forward, continuing to cast the watery spell over the villain.
Dark Opal was a superior mage, however, and dispelled the watery death that was meant for him.
"You . . . humans are more ruthless than I thought. One who manipulates water so well . . . must be vulnerable to fire!"
Dark Opal cast a spell that sent a column of black flame at Tempest, scorching the hero. Impulse and Red Tornado zoomed forward and zipped around Tempest, attempting to put the magical flames out, but to no avail. These evil flames needed no oxygen to burn the hapless young Titan.
Dark Opal was busy concentrating on his evil spell when a kick in the spine knocked him to the ground.
As Dark Opal picked himself up, he realized he was facing the Dark Knight Detective, the Batman.
Gambit was dead. The X-Men were unable to prevent that. Wolverine had tried to save him, but Gambit couldn't get a good grip. But it was a more shocking revelation that the X-Men were musing about now.
Currently, the six remaining X-Men - Storm, Wolverine, Beast, Rogue, Nightcrawler, and Archangel - were standing in Lilandra's palace. Standing beside Lilandra was the Shi'ar Imperial Guard, including Gladiator.
"Are you saying that the void of space is turning white?" Lilandra asked.
"Yes," Storm replied. "And it is what caused Gambit's death, not the vacuum!"
Lilandra thought for a moment and then sighed. "Well, that is another mystery for another day. Now, you must travel to the M'Kraan crystal and try to repair it."
"Uh, Lilandra?" Wolverine asked. "How're we supposed t' get that blasted crystal fixed? Every other time, it either required time travel, or . . . th' Phoenix." Logan stumbled on the last words, remembering the terrible ordeal that the X-Men had to go through a few years before.
"Very simple," a voice behind them said. The X-Men turned around and saw a small man. He had no nose, bluish hair, and skin with a purple tint. "You don't. I told you not to call them, Lilandra."
"Quiet, Jahf," Lilandra replied. "You may be the guardian of the crystal, but that doesn't mean you are right."
Jahf walked over to just in front of Lilandra's throne. "My advice is to just give up and enjoy your new lives in a new universe."
"Lilandra, what is this elf talkin' 'bout?" Rogue asked.
"I thought you knew. This universe only has two days to live!"
In the Negative Zone, Access was trying to get the Brothers to stop fighting, but they were too busy blasting at him. Even as ill as he was, he was still able to dodge their blasts.
The red-hued Brother stopped to rest after firing at Access. As he rested himself, he almost lost consciousness, and Atom and Steel nearly faded away from existence.
Iron Man and Thor stopped, and the Silver Surfer turned to see if the two heroes were all right.
"You don't want to know what I feel like right now," said the Atom. "Let's keep going!"
The blue Brother sent energy bolt after energy bolt at Access, each one getting weaker in intensity. After one last blast, he lost consciousness. The Silver Surfer, Thor, and Iron Man flashed out of existence . . . and then came back, after a few seconds.
"We're dying!" Access said to the Brothers. "The three of us are dying! But there's one way to stop it, if you'll just cooperate."
Atom, Steel, Iron Man, Thor, and Silver Surfer gathered around the weakening forms of the three who kept two universes alive.
The efforts of the heroes in the Negative Zone were equalled by the efforts of the other heroes on both the Marvel and DC Earths to save their worlds. But the onslaught of blank whiteness was coming too fast for them to stop it.
"Two days?" Storm asked. "What is going on?"
"Very simple, Windrider. This universe is deteriorating. So is the one beside us in the timestream."
"Excuse me," Beast interrupted. "I am not following this much . . . "
Jahf sighed. "Very well. I guess if you're going to journey into the crystal anyway . . ."
BLINK!
"What was that?" Gladiator demanded.
Oracle, one of the Imperial Guard, answered. "It was as if everything simple ceased to exist."
"It means the crystal is expanding!" Jahf said. "The X-Men should come with me now if they have any hope of saving their universe!"
On the DC Earth, Superman flew at incredible speed, herding busloads of civilians out into the countryside on his back. He would drop a busload off in Wheatville, a town 30 miles away from Metropolis, then zoom back into his adopted city. His last busload contained Lois Lane.
"Superman, don't you feel like resting? You've done nothing but hoist people out of Metropolis all day!"
"No. There's more . . . people to save."
Superman looked off into the distance, and could see with his super-vision the city of Metropolis vanishing into whiteness.
"No!!!" he cried. He almost took off into the sky, but Lois held his cape.
"No, Superman! It's all over for Metropolis. You have to help the people you saved now. Get us to safety."
"Yes," Superman replied, steadying himself as he landed. "I have to save those who survived. I think I know a way." Superman had an idea. "Lois, the people of Metropolis know and respect you, from your years of reporting. I need you to get them to head West on this highway. Don't stop for anything!"
"Where are you going?"
"I have a plan, but I need some help implementing it. I'll be back before you know it." Superman took off towards Metropolis.
Dark Opal and Batman faced each other. "I see you carry no sword, warrior. Perhaps you are just a commoner, and not worthy of facing Dark Opal . . . maybe I should turn you into dust.."
"Not likely!" Batman said, punching the villain in the jaw. Dark Opal's bones were denser than those of humans, so the bones in Batman's right hand shattered on impact.
"Arrrgh," the Dark Knight moaned. He clutched his injured hand, but was still ready to fight.
"Now it's my turn to do violence to you," Opal said. "I think I'll change you into a real bat and swat you . . . or maybe a mouse and stomp . . . "
At that moment, Opal paused. He noticed the wave of nothingness that had already engulfed half of Gotham City while his army and the heroes were fighting. He didn't say it, but he knew that even his magical powers could not stop the destruction. "Perhaps your world is not worth taking, after all. I will not take possession of a world, only to be destroyed along with it!"
Dark Opal called his troops to him, then cast a spell and opened up a portal through which he and most of the Chaos forces stepped. Some of the heroes tried to nab the escaping Chaos legions, but they were shoved out of the portal.
As the portal closed, the superheroes regrouped. They were all very tired and some were wounded from fighting Dark Opal's forces. And now, there was an encroaching whiteness coming.
Nightwing gathered the wounded together, including Batman. "Arsenal, go get the Titans Jet. We'll head for the mountains or something, with all the civilians we can carry . . . it looks like it's all over now."
In a flash of mystic light, five figures appeared before the Titans and Young Justice. They were Dr. Doom, Dr. Fate, and Dr. Strange, as well as the former Titan Raven and the Spectre, Hal Jordan.
"It's not over yet, friends," Jordan said. "Dr. Doom, Dr. Fate, and Dr. Strange are going to go into the Negative Zone to help cure our damaged universe. I will transport you to the Midwest, where other survivors are gathering, so you may have some chance of escape. Raven has her own mission."
"There are many dying all over our Earth. As a last gift to the world that once treated me well, I will take on the pain of your dying, so they may pass into the next world in peace."
With that, the Spectre transported the Titans, Young Justice, and the civilians they had gathered to Springfield, a small town in the Midwest where Captain America had set up a refugee camp.
Dr. Fate, Dr. Strange, and Dr. Doom had resolved their differences, for now. "Now, to the Negative Zone!" Fate said. In an instant, the three formed a magic circle and teleported to the Negative Zone.
The X-Men were amazed. Or rather, they would have been amazed had they not been inside the M'Kraan Crystal before.
Around them, they saw blackness. On that blackness were lines. Most of the lines were parallel.
Jahf pointed to a pair of lines that began to come together at the bottom.
"This is your universe," he said, pointing to the one on the right. "And this," he said, pointing to the other one, "is the universe beside yours. However, you'll never find it by conventional means. You can only find it by using . . . different methods."
"Like going through the Negative Zone?" Storm asked.
"Yes," Jahf replied.
"That's where Jean is!" Logan exclaimed.
The X-Men were silent. They stared. Suddenly, the lines began to turn even more, affecting all of the lines.
"How can this be?" Nightcrawler asked.
"Let me put it this way," Jahf answered. "The M'Kraan is a nexus. It is the nexus point between all matter and anti-matter, crossing over every single reality in existance!"
"I was around years ago, before any of you ever thought about being X-Men, when a sort of . . . Crisis . . . happened." He pointed to the line that represented the universe that Jean Grey was in. "This one used to be an infinite number of lines. Many years, ago, they merged together, and all hell broke loose. In the end, only one remained."
"The one we are merging with," Beast finished.
"Yes. Even so, only a few years ago, the two universes began to cross. There was a great battle, which resulted in an Amalgam universe. However, most of you have forgotten. Storm and Wolverine, you were two of the combantants for your universe."
Storm and Wolverine looked at each other with confusion.
"Anyhow, this universe is beyond help. Not only is it merging, but it is falling apart. That's why white spaces of nothingness are appearing. You will not exist in two days." Jahf looked down. "But I will."
"Huh?" Beast asked.
"I live through all reality. I was around during the Age of Apocalypse. I met Gambit. It was a terrible time. All of reality almost died then. You see, the M'Kraan is also a doorway. A doorway to all realities that must be kept closed at all places. However, those doors have been left over. These two universes will merge retroactively, and none of you will remember it! All that will show for it is this little line here."
"Isn't there anything we can do?" Archangel asked.
"Well, there is one thing . . . " Jahf said.
In the Negative Zone, Steel, Iron Man, and Atom were constructing an energy-converting machine to boost Access' powers.
"With the three of them at such a low power level, Access is not going to have too much energy to ignite the merger of the two universes," Iron Man observed.
"We need another power source, then," said Steel. "I'll put in the power components of my armor," he said, starting to take off the pieces of his armor.
"Likewise for me," said Iron Man, as he began the armor-off sequence that his armor's computers ran at his bidding. "If we don't make it here, we won't have any world to come back to, anyway. I can always build another set of armor--I can't rebuild the universe."
With the contribution of equipment from the armors of Steel and Iron Man, and the ingenuity of both along with Atom, they quickly constructed an energy-enhancing harness. They placed it over Access.
"I always like to try my machines out before I release them to the public," Tony Stark said, "but I guess this time I just have to trust in our mechanical skills." They switched on the harness and Access felt a rush of power.
"Wow! I almost feel like I did before this whole thing started!"
"Just concentrate on the task at hand, Access."
Suddenly, three figures appeared in the Negative Zone.
"Doom!" Tony Stark yelled.
"Foul villain! Hast thou captured Doctor Strange and dragged him here?" asked Thor.
"No!" shouted Doctor Strange, his hands and mouth back to normal. "He's here to help, and so is Doctor Fate. You need our power to merge the universes."
"Mayhap we do," said Thor. "But I will never truly trust Doom." He pointed his hammer Mjolnir at the villain.
Doom sneered beneath his mask at the Thunder God.
The magicians formed a circle around Access, who was wired to the two brothers through conduits that Atom, John Henry Irons, and Tony Stark had constructed. Magic and scientific power flowed equally through Access, and, though dying, he still felt more powerful than ever before.
"I'm ready to do the merging!" he exclaimed over the hum of the energy.
Access started to channel the remaining energy from the Brothers into the creation of a new universe. All of a sudden, Doom stood up from the magic circle and tried to make himself the focus of all the energy.
"Now . . . I shall rule the universe with all the magical and technological might . . . "
But the power surge was too great for Doom's armor or mystical abilities to contain. As the heroes yelled at him and tried to force him into the magic circle, Doom flamed out in a ball of energy and disappeared.
"I knew he would do that," John Henry Irons said.
The energy chain stopped, weakened from Doom's greedy attempt to sap the energy.
"We're going to have a lot of trouble matching the power level we had before," Tony Stark said, checking some readings on Access' harness. "Doom wasted the power from my armor and from Steel's."
"I apologize, Iron Man," Dr. Strange said. "Dr. Fate and I had reached an understanding with Doom, but he broke it."
"Never mind that, Strange. What is done is done. I shall add the power of Mjolnir to your machine's energy, Iron Man," said Thor.
"And I shall add the Power Cosmic," the Silver Surfer volunteered.
"Good," Iron Man said as the blue Brother groaned and Iron Man, Silver Surfer, Thor, and Doctor Strange blinked out of existence again. "We can't afford to mess up again."
Superman guided a small aircraft toward the site in the farm town of Springfield, where many of the survivors of the destruction of the DC Universe had gathered. Hank Pym and Reed Richards had come from JLA Headquarters to help this Earth's greatest scientists build two very special machines.
"I guess you had the same idea as I did," Superman said as he landed and the plane he was guiding came to a landing in the cornfield.
The boarding ramp for the plane opened up, and, eventually, out came some scientists from the Cadmus project, including Dubbilex, and then, one imposing bald man with red eyebrows.
"Luthor!" Superboy exclaimed. He readied himself to blast the evil businessman.
"You needn't attack me, young man," Luthor said as he stepped forward. "We may have been at odds before, but I have no sincere interest in dying here. You'll find my technical expertise quite helpful, if I may say so myself."
Captain America came forward. "I think it's time I address the group, Superman, about our ideas and why we're building these machines."
One of the techs from the Daily Planet had a portable microphone, which they gave to Captain America. He stood on a hill in the sea of the cornfield.
"I can't say how proud I am to see us all gathered here in this time of destruction. It is wonderful to see people putting aside their differences for a common cause, the survival of the people of our planet. To survive, we're going to have to undertake an experiment that has not been done on this scale before."
A confused murmur arose from the crowd.
"As you can tell, this Earth we are on is not going to be around much longer, and neither is the one that I'm from. We need to leave this Earth, this universe, if we are to survive. There are two places we can go; one is a place called Hypertime, where things and people on Earth are somewhat similar to what we know, but have slight differences. Superboy suggested that we send people into future Hypertime worlds, ones that would normally have a large population, so that we wouldn't overwhelm our new home. I have suggested that we send some people to the Earth of the Squadron Supreme. Their Earth is a lot like ours, only more peaceful--I've actually been there myself. Our group of scientists has been working to create mass teleportation devices to our new homes. We will try to keep families together when we can; many of us will never be able to see each other again, but we will live on. Just keep that thought in mind, and you'll have the strength to go through what we have to go through today."
The crowd was inspired by Captain America's speech. He was a true leader, no matter what world he was on.
The same scene repeated itself over and over again on both the Marvel and DC Earths. Nothingness engulfed entire countries . . . entire continents. No one could stop it.
The end of everything was at hand.