The scorching heat closed in, but Valentina seemed oblivious to it, staring in shock at Jack Kadere wreathed in nuclear flame. "Impossible—the equation is correct. A single person can't withstand the reactor's energy. You can't become Firestorm alone!"
"Don't understand?" Jack shrugged. "Then don't. Plenty of things in the world you don't understand."
He glanced at Lilah.
She walked over to Valentina and touched her lightly. In an instant, nuclear fire erupted around them both, merging them into Firestorm once again.
This time, Lilah was the primary host.
"Let's go."
Jack smiled, thrust his hands downward, and rocketed upward, punching straight through the ceiling. Lilah followed close behind, the two of them smashing through floor after floor until they burst through the roof and into the Aerie's open hatch.
Laurie flinched at the sight of them—two figures wreathed in flames boarding the ship. Jack dropped out of his Firestorm state, and Lilah released hers a moment later, Valentina separating from her and stumbling back.
"No—"
Valentina seemed to realize what was coming. She scrambled for the exit, but the Aerie's engines had already engaged, the ship rising steadily into the night sky.
Below, in the camp's open courtyard, Vandal Savage stood pointing at the ascending ship, screaming curses into the dark.
"Goodbye."
Jack tapped a button on the console.
A missile streaked from the Aerie's hull. A heartbeat later, the Gulag Camp disappeared in a thunderous explosion, fire blooming across the compound.
Poor Vandal Savage—freshly resurrected and already dead again.
The Legends were saved. The future Firestorm crisis was resolved. Jack piloted the Aerie higher until it vanished into the night.
---
The Time Stream.
A river of dark green light stretched endlessly in both directions—every moment in history flowing past like current.
Jack parked the Aerie here and rose from the pilot's chair.
Lilah had braced herself, but Laurie and Valentina were experiencing the aftereffects of time travel for the first time. Both looked pale and unsteady.
"Clean yourselves up." Jack retrieved a box of his belongings from the supplies Lilah had packed and headed deeper into the ship.
He had plans. A collection room.
Books, artifacts, interesting finds from various eras. After all, wasn't he a cultured person now?
Before long, Lilah came to find him.
"Don't you think it feels empty?" Jack gestured at the room—a few lonely books on the shelves and nothing else.
"If Master wants, this place will be full soon." Lilah considered for a moment. "At the Gulag, I noticed the guards liked collecting trophies from their work. Perhaps the Master could do something similar?"
"Trophies?" Jack shook his head, chuckling. "Not interested." He glanced at her sideways. "But you did give me an idea. Maybe I'll hang photos of the women I've slept with. That way, if there's no one new around, I can pick one as a temporary substitute."
Lilah blinked. "That... doesn't seem right?"
"Why not? My ship, my collection room. Without my permission, who's going to come in here? Who can come in?"
Lilah shook her head slowly. "No one."
"Exactly."
No point in just thinking about it. Jack set to work immediately.
Within the hour, he'd assembled a shooting setup in the corner of the collection room—backdrop, lighting, a camera.
Lilah changed into her original outfit from Redemption. She held a placard in both hands, shifting poses as Jack directed—front, left profile, right profile. The placard displayed a name, a codename, a serial number. The whole arrangement felt distinctly like a prison intake photo.
Then a second set. Same poses, less clothing.
Name: Lilah
Codename: One half of the Firestorm
Number: 4
Era: 1871
Location: Redemption, Dakota Territory
"Much more convenient this way," Jack said, examining the developed photos now framed and mounted on the wall. The standard shots hung openly. The detailed ones stayed in the camera for later review. "When I need a substitute, I'll have references."
He turned to Lilah. "Bring Laurie in. And there's fabrication equipment on the ship—have her make a copy of her suit first."
"Yes, Master."
Lilah left and returned shortly with Laurie, now dressed in her yellow-and-black Silk Spectre costume. Same process—poses, placard, two sets of photos.
Name: Laurie Juspeczyk
Codename: Silk Spectre II
Number: 5
Era: 1985
Location: United States
Looking at Laurie's photo mounted behind her own, Lilah noticed the empty spaces at the front of the wall. The numbers made sense now—arranged by when each woman had become Jack's. If she was number four, that meant only three before her.
She'd assumed, given his personality, there would be far more.
"Done." Jack put the camera away. "Now we can figure out where to go—"
The Aerie lurched violently.
"What the hell?"
"Did Valentina do something?"
BANG.
Another impact rocked the ship.
"We're under attack." Jack strode out of the collection room.
Valentina was clinging to a chair in the main cabin, panic on her face. The console showed the Aerie's status: multiple spacecraft outside, weapons fire incoming. The defensive barrier was failing.
"Damn it—"
Jack moved toward the pilot's seat to mount a counterattack, but another explosion shook the hull before he could reach it.
The barrier collapsed.
"This is what happens without an AI running systems," Jack muttered. "Need to fix that."
The Aerie tumbled out of the time stream.
Unknown time. Unknown place.
BOOM.
The ship hit something hard. The impact threw Valentina, Lilah, and Laurie to the deck.
"Unknown destinations are always full of surprises." Jack steadied himself against the console, then smiled at the three women picking themselves up, hair disheveled and clothes askew. "Let's see where we ended up."
He walked to the cabin door and opened it.
The Aerie had crash-landed in a port, its bow wedged against a pier. Scorch marks and dents scarred the hull. Around them: warehouses, cranes, modern infrastructure.
"Architecture says contemporary." Jack scanned the surroundings. "Roughly present day—"
"Jack Kadere?"
A familiar voice.
He turned toward the sound. Two groups of people stood on the pier, and in one of them—
Wonder Woman. Diana.
"Well." Jack's smile turned complicated. "What are the odds?"
Behind him, Valentina, Lilah, and Laurie emerged from the damaged ship.