Issue #1 | Issue #2 | Issue #3 | Issue #4 | Issue #5 | Issue #6 | Issue #7 | Issue #8 | Issue #9 | Issue #10 | Issue #11 | Issue #12 | Issue #13 | Issue #14 |

The very nature of space and time was warped as he approached. The Tyrant Sun was now more than he had originally made of himself. His size was nearing that of a planet, expanding more with every opportunity to reconfigure other planetary bodies and assimilate them into his own being. He may have started out as a sentient sun…but now he was on his way to becoming a sentient planet…and then, a sentient galaxy. The starlight reflected off of his black surface, the spiked protrusions glowing with a dark light as they propelled him across the universal expanse.

He could feel a yearning he had never felt before as he came closer to the planet Earth and the hated Kryptonian. He had been created in a causal time loop by his own future self, a loop that ensured his existence despite its paradoxical circumstance. Now, though, he was determined to change the future events he knew of from his future self. He would change things so that his dominance of all happened sooner…and happened far more efficiently.

Within Solaris' massive body, was a man imprisoned. He wore a uniform of black with silver designs angling down from his neck to his feet. He was a young man, but bruised from the tortures Solaris had done. He opened his eyes slowly, breathing despite the pains his chest gave him.

“ Hello, Walker ,” said the booming voice of Solaris. “ Your return to consciousness pleases me. I have more questions to ask .”

“Go…to…hell,” said Walker. “I'll…tell you…nothing.”

“ You are a time traveler ,” said Solaris, “ Your knowledge of the future will be mine. I will break through your chronal blocks .”

“The hell you will,” said Walker. He chomped down as if biting something, and his body disappeared in a flash of light. An instant later, Walker appeared ten feet away, but now free of his bonds.

“ Interesting ,” said Solaris, “ A hidden timehopper in a false tooth? My initial scans had missed it…you continue to surprise.” Spherical droids with tentacles came out of the walls. “ But not much longer .”

Walker ran out of the chamber and into an adjoining room, narrowly avoiding the tentacle robots. There, he saw his time travel gauntlet suspended in a magnetic field. He leaped towards it and snatched it away.

“ There is nowhere to run, Walker ,” said Solaris. “ Surrender, give me what I want…and I will kill you painlessly.”

“Piss off,” said Walker. He punched a red button…and disappeared.

The tentacle robots caught the time travel gauntlet before it hit the floor. A robotic eye extended out and scanned the gauntlet. The coordinates had been set in an emergency jump, a jump Walker had been unable to activate when he had arrived on Solaris and was captured. The new coordinates angered Solaris. They were set for almost 2 Earth years in the past…on the moon.

The gauntlet glowed then exploded, destroying the robots and the remote eye of Solaris. The surface of the tyrant sun shuddered as Solaris screamed in frustration. Walker had escaped into the past…but Solaris had installed Palmer as his agent by then. Was this Walker the same man as who Palmer and Dibny had found in the Watchtower ruins? It must be…and thus another piece fell into place. Walker's knowledge would have been useful, but ultimately was not truly needed.

His invasion and attack on Earth was commencing now. The future was his to write as he willed.

Let the games begin.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

DC Infinity Proudly Presents

#12

‘SOLARIS STRIKES – PART THE SECOND'

BY MIKE HINTZE

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Dammit, listen to me! You need to kill Ralph Dibny! Now!”

Everyone was speechless. Arthur Curry, aka Aquaman, was the first to acknowledge what the mysterious Gabriel had to say. “No one is being killed here. Explain yourself.”

Gabriel had been scarred from intense burns after travelling through time, warning of an impending threat. His memories had been lost in the trauma, details of his warning far and few between. Now, the Spectre had restored those memories, healed those injuries. No sooner had that happened than Gabriel was demanding the death of Ralph Dibny, the Elongated Man.

“My name is Walker Gabriel. I've come from the future to stop potentially the biggest threat this world has ever faced…and the key to that threat is standing right here!” Gabriel ran at Dibny, arms outstretched. “He needs to die!”

Liandra, the Fallen Angel, grabbed Walker before he could get close to Dibny. “Hold on, cowboy,” she said, “I don't think everyone is all on the same page here.”

“We will reconvene to a more secure location,” said the Phantom Stranger. He waved his hand and everyone present: Aquaman, Zatanna, Liandra, Jason Blood, Walker Gabriel and Ralph Dibny…disappeared. The Stranger looked at the Spectre. “Remember our agreement, Spirit,” he said. “When the time comes, you will be needed.”

“I WILL NOT FORGET, ” said the Spectre.

With that, the Phantom Stranger disappeared as well.

“BUT I HOPE YOU WILL FORGIVE ME,” said the Spectre, “WHEN WHAT HAS TO OCCUR…DOES.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jason Blood's residence, Gotham City

Jason Blood spread his arms wide to keep everyone focused. They had been in his skyscraper home for several minutes now, having been teleported by the Spectre. Blood hadn't even had time to start the preparation of tea when the mysterious man named Gabriel started into his tirade again.

“Everyone needs to calm down,” said Arthur Curry, aka Aquaman. “We all seem to have individual knowledge of what is happening, and we need to get it all together so we can make sense of it all. That means everyone speaking calmly…including you, Gabriel.”

Everyone in the room nodded and took a seat in the opulent sitting room. Marble pillars bordered the large room, with cushions on couches that seemed to speak of age as well as style. Tapestries hung on the walls showing scenes of battles from hundreds of years ago all the way to the most recent century. Many of the tapestries showed a man who looked remarkably similar to Blood himself.

One person refused to sit. The mysterious man named Gabriel had been horribly scarred and suffered from memory loss after he had been found amid the ruins of the Justice League Watchtower months ago by Ray Palmer and Ralph Dibny. He had repeated that a threat was coming, one that the Justice League was needed to stop. Palmer and Dibny took this warning as impetus to create their own League, one that backfired shortly after its conception.* Palmer was eventually revealed as a traitor, working for the threat, namely Solaris the Tyrant Sun. Dibny was assaulted and left for dead in space, but survived. Dibny contacted his friends Aquaman and Green Lantern Hal Jordan and ended up joining up with Jason Blood, the Phantom Stranger, Fallen Angel, and Zatanna at the residence of the Spectre's human family, the Allens. The Spectre had restored Gabriel's memory and healed his injuries…and instants afterward, Gabriel had accused Ralph Dibny of being a traitor and agent of Solaris.*

(*See Justice League #1-11 and DCI's ‘52' series – Repetitive Mike)

“The longer you allow Dibny to live,” said Gabriel, “The closer we are to everything falling apart.”

A shimmering portal opened at the wave of the Phantom Stranger's hand. Through the portal walked Firestorm, the Nuclear Man. “The time has come to join us,” said the Stranger.

“About damn time,” said the Nuclear Man. “I was getting tired of the House of Secrets. Where the hell are we?”

“Jason Blood's home,” said the Stranger. “Now be quiet and listen.”

“Start from the top,” said Aquaman. “No one is leaving here until we all hear the whole story.”

“I can guarantee that,” said Blood. “This building exists outside of proper time. We are as safe here as anyone can be.”

“Fine,” said Gabriel. “My name is Walker Gabriel. I've also been called Chronos.” He looked around the group and saw the recognition of the name. “Obviously I'm not David Clinton, but I did inherit his research. I've operated as a time traveler for a while…even ran into a few people you might recognize. Anyway, after a time I ended up as an agent of the Linear Men. They're kind of the cops of the timestream. I was assigned to investigate a new blip that came up on our chronal ‘radar' as it were. A period of time that was suddenly rife with what we call ‘timestorms'. From approximately this current time until several years in the future. It makes reading events problematic, and more direct investigation was required.”

“I originally travelled to 2015. I was horrified at what I saw.” He began pacing the room, his face more somber than ever. “I saw a world…a universe…that was, simply put, hell. Earth was no longer a planet, hell, the solar system was no longer what it was. Solaris the Tyrant Sun, an artificial intelligence that nearly destroyed the population of Earth back a few years ago, had returned and assimilated not only Earth, but the solar system itself. It had essentially made itself into a giant Dyson Sphere, with the superhuman population of Earth as its army. The races of the galaxy had assembled an armada to strike at Solaris…but it was decimated. The Coluans, Vegans, Daxamites…even the Oans with their Green Lantern Corps, were all destroyed. Solaris was going to conquer the galaxy, and then afterward…the multiverse. Solaris had captured Green Lantern Kyle Rayner and his ally Axel Asher, the Access…it used them to power a gateway to other universes. Once the alien armada was destroyed, Solaris was going to expand to universe after universe…nothing would stop it.”

“Solaris had a right hand man, a human named Monarch. He essentially ruled the populations Solaris subjugated as well as commanded Solaris' military. Monarch was a human bonded to an extraterrestrial scarab, not unlike that from the Swarm. I was able to do some investigating…and found out Monarch's identity. It was him.” Gabriel pointed at the Elongated Man, whose face was starting to drip like slowly melting wax.

“That can't be,” said Aquaman. “We know now that Monarch is Ray Palmer.”

“He…he tried to kill me…” said Ralph.

“I know what I saw,” said Gabriel. “I also learned there was no Justice League to stop Solaris, which was something Solaris had seen to before his rise to conquer. He had used the turmoil from the last Crisis to consolidate his power.”

“What then?” asked Firestorm.

“I then came back in order to stop this, but the chronal timestorms made me misstep my timejump. I landed within Solaris' own self and was captured. I was able to free myself and do an emergency timejump…but I did so without the protection of my time gauntlet in order to mask my jump. The ravages of time travel must have nearly killed me…everything else was a haze…until the Spectre healed me.”

“I was also approached,” said the Phantom Stranger, “By another who warned of Solaris' impending attack. It was for this reason that I protected Firestorm from death at the hands of Monarch and his cronies.”

“Who approached you?” asked Gabriel.

“Solaris himself,” said the Stranger, “From the 505 th Century. It appears in that time, Solaris was reprogrammed by the Superman of that era into a force for good. It was this Solaris, who claimed to be a friend and ally of mine in that time, who warned me of the intent of his past self.”

“And you believed him??” said Liandra. “This could all be part of his plans for all you know.”

“He… proved his identity and intentions to my satisfaction,” said the Stranger. “It was his advisement that told me where to be when Firestorm's life was at stake.”

“Yet he didn't warn you about Ralph? He nearly died at Monarch's hands. Look at him now…he can barely keep himself together,” said Aquaman.

“That possibly lends credence to Gabriel's assertions,” said Zatanna, “However hard I find it that Ralph could ever betray us.”

“He…may be right,” said Ralph. Everyone turned to stare at the pliable hero. “I have every reason to believe that Ray is not a true traitor, but controlled by the scarab bonded to him. If that scarab ever had reason to change hosts, it is possible I might become a new host in the future.”

Gabriel looked abashed. “I…hadn't thought of that.”

“Critical thinking isn't much of a prerequisite with the Linear Men, huh?” asked Firestorm.

“That's enough,” said Aquaman. “Where do you and your colleagues come in, Stranger?”

“After rescuing Firestorm from death, I proceeded to recruit Liandra into assisting me in stopping one of the fronts Solaris intended to assault…namely, the Dreaming. Solaris utilized John Dee, who some of you might recognize as Doctor Destiny, to subjugate the Dream Realm and through him, control the very minds of the population of Earth. Firestorm ended up an invaluable asset there, and we were able to stop Dee.” The Stranger moved to pour himself some tea, which had appeared in the sitting room with no one noticing.

“So if we stopped that front,” said Aquaman, “Where will he strike next? How do we predict his next move?”

“One thing was of paramount importance,” said the Stranger. “Gabriel has confirmed it. The lack of a Justice League was key to the ascension of Solaris.”

“So we need to create a new one,” said Zatanna. “But it can't be that simple, can it?”

“Solaris feared specific people,” said Gabriel. “He feared the League, but there were certain members that he feared when they acted as a whole. I think it was this garbled memory that caused Dibny and Palmer to create the League they did.”

“But,” said Ralph, “That League was started with Monarch in control of Ray.”

“History said a League could stop Solaris,” said Gabriel. “Solaris merely took advantage of the Crisis to remake history to suit him…there was a League, but it was one under his thrall.”

“We need to make some calls,” said Aquaman. “And I'm not making no for answer.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had sat in darkness for many months now, waiting to be activated. It's arrival in Ethiopia* had been met with members of the human military, which suited its purposes in any event. It was technically a ‘he' now, having possessed the body of one of the military humans, a man named Gary Nathaniel. Nathaniel was essentially dead, but his memories were now at the beck and call of the Rifter. It was a member of a race of dimensional invaders, a race that had made an incursion to Earth once before when another human, Tim Zanetti, had become empowered with Rifter energies. The tyrant sun Solaris had itself breached the Rifter dimension and using advanced nanotech had conquered the Rifters. He had then sent this specific one to act as a hidden vanguard on Earth for Solaris' attack. Since his arrival, this Rifter had named itself the Flesh Artist. He had a platoon of soldiers, part of a ‘Human Defense Corps', soldiers that served under Nathaniel, that he had remade to suit his wishes.

(*See DCI's 52 #11 – ‘Wrote It Way Back Then' Mike)

IT IS TIME, came a message into his mind. STRIKE AT METROPOLIS. SHOW NO MERCY. The shock of Solaris touching his essence made his shake with pleasure and convulse in pain. As he shivered, his recreated humans shivered as well, their re-made flesh shifting in small waves like a pool of water that had a stone dropped into it.

Praise Solaris , thought the Flesh Artist. He waved his warped and changed hand and his thralls stood at the ready.

The underground cave they were housed in erupted upward, the ground heaving hundreds of feet into the air. The Flesh Artist and his Seven Soldiers flew through the air, heading to Metropolis. The city of the Kryptonian would burn.

The Strike of Solaris was now underway.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They stood assembled in the dark room. This chamber had been used in the past by superteam called the Outsiders, housed several floors beneath the Wayne Foundation Building in Gotham City. It had been empty for some time now…but was being used again for the first time in years.

Aquaman stood in the dim light, his mystical water hand glistening in the light. He looked at the others that had assembled in the room at his request.

“I know you all have your reasons,” said Aquaman. “But right now, those reasons mean nothing. The Justice League is needed…you are needed.”

“No more need be said,” said Superman, his S-shield reflecting the light from Aquaman's hand.

“If the League is needed,” said Batman, “We're here.” Nightwing nodded beside him.

“If the League is needed,” said Superman, “We're all here.”

Aquaman looked behind Superman and Batman. Dozens of superheroes stood in the large auditorium. The call had gone out to all members of the Justice League, past and present. All had answered.

“We will stop Solaris,” said the Martian Manhunter. “Or die trying.”

“Damn straight,” said Green Arrow. “Bring on the badguys.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next Issue: Metropolis Under Siege! And the return of the Justice League of America!