*POV: Eclipse/Victor Nelson*
*Location: Apocalyptic Battlefield*
*Date: January 20th, 2021*
All around me, heroes and villains battled side by side as the being known as the Darkest Knight unleashed his army of Supermen. Each one is evil and twisted in its own way, a result of both the dark multiverse and the machinations. I also fought side by side, throwing punch after punch and making sure my friends, and the people I both fought and fought with over the years, were protected against their more powerful attacks, knowing that even if they weren't my version, they were still heroes, they were still people worth protecting.
I fought my hardest, as bits and pieces of my own costume/armor broke off, I still fought with everything I had, using all the power I could to make sure the people who were key to winning this had all the time they needed. It was funny in a way, I spent so much of my old human life reading about all these fantastic characters, heck, not just reading but watching them on the big screen, fighting these epic battles but now here I was, helping them, doing everything I could to save the multiverse and undo Perptuas and the Darkest Knight's work.
In fact, I think I read something like this before, a comic from when I was a human, and while I knew that Wonder Woman would play the main role, I knew that every battle was important. Every victory we could get would help us stop the darkness from rewriting all creation. Either that, or something terrible would happen involving the creators of our multiverse, but I couldn't remember what. Didn't matter, though, because as I punched the face of a black/orange Superman and sent him flying back, I knew that right now my place was here.
I was Eclipse, a reminder to every person I saved that no matter how dark something was, there was always light waiting around the corner. That everything I did and all the work I put into my world was not for nothing, that even if I was not the strongest, nor the bravest, I still did my part, and as the same evil Superman I punched and blasted myself with the full force of his heat vision, with me being barely able to tank the hit as more of my allies started surroding me, joining the fray.
Which gave me a chance to breathe, but most of all to recover, as I have been fighting at full or at least near full strength for who knows how long at this point. Doing everything I could to help turn the tide of battle and not let the remaining Earths, still free from the Dark Multiverses' corruption, and Earth Prime's destruction.
*Cough Cough*
Coughing a few times, I slowly rose to my feet and cracked my neck, knwoing that even if I wasn't as strong as Superman or the Prime one anyway. It didn't matter. At first, I let being a Kryptonian go to my head. I thought I was invincible, but after losing a couple of times and needing some help from some good friends, well, I eventually became a true hero, or at least I think so at the very least. Which was why I looked to Superman, at first anyway, to think of what he would do, and eventually I started simply doing, doing what I would do instead of following another's path.
As I rejoined the fray, I was reminded of the one true good thing I believe I did in my original universe, the establishment of the Metahuman Association. An international group that helped train new metahumans in how to control their abilties and, most of all, how to be a hero if they so wished, to know the laws, and to help work with law enforcement. Alongside that, to work as a team when need be, to not be like me, a guy who only ever works solo, who can barely work on a team.
No, I wanted them to be better, to be something more than me, and even if I never took on an official prodigy, I thought of every one of them as my students. Even now, while I was fighting alongside all these people, all these villains and heroes putting aside old grudges to fight for their world, their universe, regardless of their beliefs, it was poetic in a way, even if not everyone was here.
As I threw another punch across this version of Superman's face, I felt a twinge of something, something unnatural, and considering where I was currently, that was saying a lot. No, this wasn't magic or anything like that; no, it felt like reality itself was ripping apart and being torn to pieces around me. I could tell others were feeling it as well, this strange alien feeling, but it didn't matter right now; we were fighting for our future, and well, right now, this was technically my first multiversal excursion, on this scale at least.
So I, of course, thought it was par for the course, and still fought with all my might, putting all the strength I could into my fist, into each blast of my heat vision. Into everything I could throw at these monsters, and if I were to die, then so be it. With each punch we threw at each other, sending shockwaves across the battlefield, and unfortunately sending my allies away.
Not an ideal situation for sure, but right now, if I were keeping one Superman concentrated on me, then that was a win in my book. Yet it seemed like reality wasn't as stable as I thought, as everything began to look all wavy and disoriented, but I couldn't concentrate on that as the Evil Superman kept throwing punch after punch.
Each time his fist collided with my body, I could feel my bones starting to strain and break under the pressure, my blood pouring out just as his own was as well. Then, with a punch straight to the jaw, I nearly flew back a couple of blocks away, and as I stopped myself, I saw something, cracks, literally cracks in reality.
No matter, I charged forward while screaming, and the Evil Superman launched his heat vision at full blast against me, and it took everything I could to keep on going forward, fist outstretched, ready to slam it across his face. When my fist collided with his face, that's when I saw it. I saw a tear in the very fabric of reality. Then and there, did I finally figured out that this was not a normal occurrence, especially for the Justice League, and that whatever was happening here was both caused by this event but not at the same time.
That's when it happened, as I was distracted for the briefest of seconds, I was pushed by my current foe through the portal. As I fell through the portal, I saw the ever grim face on this Superman as the others joined in the fray, finally free to fight, with only one or two trying to save me, but being a second too late as the portal closed, sending me to somewhere new, to a place between realities.
I already knew the multiverse was far bigger than what my new reality was trying to make it seem, but this...this was a whole new experience. Imagine you were driving through a large neighborhood with a large variety of different houses, each one strange and yet familiar in its own way. I saw worlds where Nazi's and the Soviet Union were the sole superpowers on a doomed planet.
I saw worlds where somehow Dinosaurs developed a nearly identical culture to our own, with subtle differences, of course...probably anyway. I saw worlds where the Justice League fought alongside a weird version of Darkseid against a gigantic...Brainiac...Doomsday, some horrible fusion between the two. Surprised I've never seen something like that before, either way it didn't matter as I kept going further and further into the blue swirling vortex.
I saw strange realities where humanity wasn't even a concept or idea, but rather a fiction told by strange alien creatures, and I mean truly alien. This next one, though, was by far my favorite; it was a reality of...colors, quite literally just colors, no fighting, no civilization, nothing like that, just...existence, a peaceful existence and nothing more. Like a painting that constantly changed colors and positions, with new shapes and forms being made every minute, and new color combinations alongside them.
Then I felt it, a sudden pull like a rope being tugged as I climbed up a mountain and neared the top of it. It started off light, growing stronger and stronger, as the tunnel became darker and darker, more black with no light to be seen. That's when a new portal opened, one that led to a whole new reality...probably, unless this was an elaborate way to reach the void between all of creation.
Either way, with one final tug, I felt myself being pulled right out of this tunnel and into the void of space. I looked around and checked my helmet's functions, wanting to know if I had to hold my breath or if it was still functioning enough to let me breathe easily. Right now, I don't feel like I am suffocating or running out of Oxygen, but that was no indicator that I wasn't running out of air.
"Helm, can you tell me my oxygen supply is steady, or do I need to hold my breath?"
Honestly, if theirs one thing I'm truly grateful about being part of the Justice League, it was the fact that you had plenty of people who knew how to build gadgets. So after a few too close calls with suffocation, I ditched the regular old spandex mask and upgraded to something a little more mechanical. Something that matched the trench coat, gloves, and boots I already wore as my costume.
[Air Supply at 79%]
I sighed, relieved at the fact that while not at 100%, it was at a pretty good level for right now.
"Curren-"
I was about to say 'Current Location' before seeing a familiar gigantic ball; it was Neptune in all its blue glory. Not the furthest I've ever traveled, but it certainly was a good distance from Earth, and right now I just wanted to figure out what reality I was in. First though...
"Helm, any chance of connecting to Earth Satellites?"
As I floated there for I think about a minute, I got a response that, well, if I were being honest, was not at all unexpected.
[Negative, no local communications array in range]
"Well, I tried, but Earth still might be my best bet, at least until I figure out what new reality I'm in anyway."
"After all, they still need me on the battlefield...probably."
Then I began flying toward the sun, knowing that eventually I'd reach Earth and begin the journey back to my home reality, and hopefully still help if there was any fighting still needing to be done.