The Oblivion Clocktower – Earth, 3:03 AM
"Zatanna… if you go through with this, you can't take it back." Constantine's voice cracked under the pressure of the arcane glyphs spiraling through the air. The old magic in this place hated being remembered—every word spoken in it echoed like blasphemy.
Zatanna's face, lit only by the violet circle drawn beneath her boots, didn't flinch. "This ritual predates Nabu. Predates all of us. If we don't act now, there won't be a 'later.'"
Doctor Fate's helm pulsed gold beside her. "The spell you speak of breaks the Pact of Nine. If we invoke it, every realm will feel the ripple. Olympus, New Genesis, the Green—"
"Then they'll feel it," she said flatly.
John lit a cigarette with shaking hands, his eyes darting toward the circle. "We're not summoning a solution, Zatanna. We're summoning an echo of something that wanted to be forgotten."
But no one moved to stop her.
---
Elsewhere – A Cathedral of Rusted Wings
She hung above the altar like a mockery of salvation—wrapped in wires, bathed in sickly red, smiling with bloodied lips. Her laughter no longer echoed. It commanded.
The Batwoman Who Laughs had chosen her offering.
The girl knelt below, trembling, her name already slipping away. A wayward archer from another timeline. In another world, she wore green. Here, she wore terror.
"You called it survival," the Batwoman cooed. "You were wrong."
A whisper, like a kiss made of glass, spread from the grin beneath the spikes.
Then the girl screamed.
It wasn't death. It was reforging.
When the light dimmed, she stood with hollow eyes and a jagged bow.
"Rise," the Batwoman purred. "You're my first."
---
Titan's Tower (Ruins) – That Same Hour
Raven hovered inches above shattered glass, watching the sky split in half.
Far beyond Earth's curve, Vorax had reached Saturn.
The planet didn't explode. It didn't scream. It just… folded inward, swallowed in a ripple of black geometry. A cold geometry that made her soul recoil.
No debris. No rings. No aftermath.
Neptune had been the warning. Saturn was the promise.
"They won't believe me," she whispered to herself. "They'll think this is just cosmic noise."
Then she heard it—laughter, laced with teeth and filth.
"You look so serious."
Raven turned instantly. The Batwoman stood atop a lamppost, one heel balancing perfectly on the edge, like gravity had to ask permission to touch her.
"You're following me."
"I'm following him," she said, licking blood from her claws. "And watching you squirm is the only decent television left."
Raven's eyes narrowed. "You turned that girl. You warped her."
"I showed her," the Batwoman corrected. "Just like I'm offering you. No lies. No hope. Just clarity. Let's laugh before the end."
Raven clenched her fists, her aura flaring dark violet. "I don't laugh."
"You will," the Batwoman sang, vanishing into smoke. "Or you'll scream trying."
---
Earth – Global Magic Network Activation (Codename: Lazarus Lattice)
Three thousand magical nodes lit up across Earth's crust.
Sacrifices of memory, relics, and forbidden names triggered one by one. The Leylines screamed.
And then, it began to speak—a voice that hadn't been heard since the Second Collapse.
> "WHO CALLS THE ECHO IN DARKNESS?"
Doctor Fate's voice was like thunder through sand. "We call you not for alliance. But for knowledge."
> "KNOWLEDGE IS A DOOR. DOORS OPEN TO THINGS. WILL YOU STAND WHEN IT OPENS?"
John Constantine shuddered. "We don't have a bloody choice."
Zatanna stood at the center, her voice steady despite the tremor in the air. "Vorax is here. And he is not a god. He is not a devil. He is what comes next. Tell us how to stop him."
There was a silence so vast it devoured every ticking clock on Earth.
> "YOU DON'T.
YOU ONLY CHOOSE WHAT REMAINS."
---
The Moon – 7 Minutes Later
What remained of the Watchtower broadcast its last signal.
Earth's Moon was breaking.
Not by force. But by logic.
Vorax's presence, now closer than ever, caused time to slur and fracture. The Moon's shadow began to move against the light. Dust drifted upward. And a single whisper echoed through space:
> "I see you now, little candle."
---
Batwoman's Cathedral – Bloodstained Hour
The converted girl now stood at the edge of Earth's atmosphere, her arrow nocked and void-tipped. She was the beginning of a new breed—one that laughed at entropy, at fear, at truth.
Below, the Batwoman Who Laughs watched as stars blinked out one by one.
She smiled wide and whispered to no one:
> "Come and see, my king of unmaking.
Let's give the gods something to choke on."