~Prologue~

Batman was thrown back against the wall of the Watchtower by a wind that tasted of Darkseid's acrid breath. Clark and Diana were somewhere in the smoke—god only knew where the others were.

Darkseid held the glowing cube aloft. There was a second hanging from his belt. Together they would unleash pure unadulterated darkness—Doomsday. Batman fought against the maelstrom. Clark was dangling from Darkseid's hand now, thrashing, but there was kryptonite shards spread across the floor, glowing deadly. Diana's bracelet's glimmered—she was lying on the floor—he couldn't tell if she was unconscious or…

Darkseid brought the second cube up.

Bruce fought.

Darkseid kicked him away like litter, breaking ribs, and brought the two cubes together.

Batman felt the air suck from his lungs and the light from the world and everything plunged into blackness.

He opened his eyes to light and the blurry figure of a thin man in a chair seated before him. He wasn't religious enough to wonder if it was heaven, but he did note that his ribs no longer hurt.

Also, Clark and Diana were seated on either side of him. He blinked and the figure solidified into Metron of the New Gods.

"Fancy you showing up at the end of the world," he said. Clark gave him a look. "Couldn't have thought to intervene sooner?"

"I did not think it would get so far as to require my intervention," Metron intoned. "Only recently did I escape from the motherbox Darkseid had ensnared me in, and my powers were quite weak. I required regeneration."

"Darkseid just killed the world!" Bruce yelled. "Why are we even here?"

"Calm yourself," Metron said. "I have used my temporal powers to preserve the world for as long as I am able. There is a reverse device to the one currently in Darkseid's possession…though he has broken it into twelve fragments and scattered them across the dimensions."

"Well, perhaps you could go and get them," Clark said.

Metron shook his head. "It is taking all my power just to freeze this dimension. I cannot hold in for an infinite amount of time—the three of you must travel through the dimensions and put the device back together, before I lose my hold."

"Why us?" Diana asked. "Get Barda or Mr. Miracle—they know how to work motherboxes. You're endangering the world by using us."

"Not at all." Metron looked at them like he might small, annoying children. "You three are resonance points. Some form of you exists in all worlds where life is possible—enabling you to travel to them."

"There is no more time to waste," he continued, and brought three things from his pocket. The first, a flat black disc, he handed to Clark. "This will locate the twelve fragments and lock on to the dimension of each, but it cannot pinpoint it inside the dimension, only locate the vague area."

The second item, a motherbox of shining silver, he gave to Bruce. "This will take you to the dimension that the disk finds. With all luck, you shall arrive within the same city as the fragment."

The final item was small, almost the size of a locket. He handed it to Diana, and she saw that it was an hourglass. "This will tell you how long you have left for your quest. My powers would allow you a day or two per fragment."

Metron let go of the hourglass and turned back to face all three of them. "Any harm you should incur in a dimension should be erased when you enter the next. But death…not even I have dominion over her. Also, you have one chance in a dimension. There are no second tries."

He touched the disk in Clark's hands and it began to glow a startling crimson. The cube Bruce was holding vibrated and suddenly a gaping black maw opened underneath them and they were sucked through before they could speak another word.