Indiana Stark, A.K.A. Tony Stark's little sister, became the deadliest woman known to man.
And there came a day unlike any other, when Earth's Mightiest Heroes found themselves united against a common threat. On that day, she joined the Avengers.
This is what she does now that they're gone.
What has Barry done this time??
*************************************************************************
I spoke too soon.
I started to dream, which was weird – not only because it wasn't the usual memory gone wrong, but because it was one of those freaky premonition dreams. Like the ones I got about Loki before the Battle of New York.
I was sitting in Granite Peak National Park with Nora Allen. I was maybe 11 years old. It was a warm day in Central City, with a cool breeze blowing through the elm trees. We stopped at the pond to skip stones across the water. I managed three skips. My mum – Nora managed four. She always won. Neither of us cared. She would laugh and hug me and that was enough for me.
It's hard to describe her. To really understand Nora Allen, you had to meet her. She used to joke that her spirit animal was Tinker Bell from Peter Pan. If you could imagine Tinker Bell at age thirty-something, minus the wings, wearing flannel, denim and Doc Martens, you got a pretty good picture of my mum. She was a petite lady with delicate features, blond hair and sea blue eyes that sparkled with humour.
She radiated joy. That's the only way I can put it. She loved life. Her enthusiasm was infectious. She was kindest and most purely decent person I ever knew... until her death.
"When I was a little girl, Grandma taught me a prayer: Accept the things you cannot change," she told me. "Have the courage to change the things you can... and have the wisdom to know the difference."
The stepped out of the body of 11-year-old Barry Allen and the dream shifted. I found myself in London. Margaret Carter was known to most as the founder of S.H.I.E.L.D. But I just knew her as Aunt Peggy. She had a photograph in her office: Aunt Peggy standing next to JFK. As a kid that was pretty cool. But it was a lot to live up to, and I already had so much on my shoulders as the next Captain America.
Aunt Peggy pulled me close and kissed my forehead.
I asked her how she managed to master diplomacy and espionage at a time when no one wanted to see a woman succeed at either.
She said, "Compromise where you can. Where you can't, don't. Even if everyone is telling you that something wrong is something right. Even if the whole world is telling you to move, it is your duty to plant yourself like a tree, look them in the eye, and say, 'No, you move'."
The dream changed again. Suddenly I was standing in a World Between Worlds, a cold grey fog in Ginnungagap – the primordial void – below me. I stood on nothing outlined by a white path, I had a feeling if I stepped outside the lines, I would fall into the gap. I did not want to fall. Every now and then there was a doorway – a portal maybe. This place seemed to be the Central Station of time and space dimensional gateways.
Maybe this place was what allowed me to exist in the DC Universe with the help of Eternity.
I walked a little further. In the centre of this dimensional gateway hub, an old, twisted tree rose taller than the Statue of Liberty. Yggdrasil. The lowest of its skeletal branches were maybe a hundred feet up. Its canopy stretching to the glittering cosmos above. Its roots had crept over the path and hung down into the Gap.
From the gateways I could hear voices echoing through the cosmos.
"I used to want to save the world. This beautiful place. But I knew so little then. It is a land of beauty and wonder, worth cherishing in every way. But the closer you get, the more you see the great darkness simmering within. And mankind? Mankind is another story altogether."
"Because he's the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now. So we'll hunt him. Because he can take it. Because he's not our hero. He's a silent guardian, a watchful protector. A dark knight."
Then I recognised Steve's voice, clear as day.
"I know I'm asking a lot. But the price of freedom is high. It always has been. And it's a price I'm willing to pay. And if I'm the only one, then so be it. But I'm willing to bet I'm not."
Nick Fury.
"There was an idea, Stark knows this, called the Avenger Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, to see if they could become something more. See if they could work together when we needed them to fight the battles that we never could."
The opening lines from Arrow.
"The name of the island they found me on is Lian Yu. It's Mandarin for "purgatory." I've been stranded here for five years. I've dreamt of my rescue every cold black night since then. For five years I've had only one thought, one goal - survive. Survive and one day return home. The island held many dangers. To live, I had make myself more than what I was, to forge myself into a weapon. I am returning not the boy who was shipwrecked, but the man who will bring to those who have poisoned my city to justice. My name is Oliver Queen."
Superboy from Young Justice.
"Why let them tell us what to do. It's simple. Get on board or get out of the way."
Jason...
"Is that what you think this is about? You letting me die? I don't know what clouds your judgement worse, your guilt or your antiquated sense of morality. Bruce, I forgive you for not saving me. But why, why on God's earth... is he still alive?"
His voice faded and was replaced by the Joker's manic cackle.
"Whatever life holds in store for me, I will never forget these words: "With great power comes great responsibility." This is my gift, my curse. Who am I? I'm Spider-man."
"Indiana!"
This wasn't an echo, but for a second I thought I'd misheard. But the voice calling for me came again.
"Indiana!"
It was coming from the tree, from a hollow about halfway up the trunk.
I stated to climb. Every branch on the World Tree would hold me. The biggest ones were wider than Interstate 93. The smallest were as large as your average redwood. As for Yggdrasil's trunk, it was so immense it just didn't compute. Each crevice in its surface seemed to lead to a different world, as if someone had wrapped tree bark around a column of television monitors glowing with a million different movies.
Wind roared, ripping at my trench coat. Beyond the tree's canopy I saw nothing but the glowing cosmos. Below was no ground – I felt woozy and unbalanced – Yggdrasil and everything contained, including my world, was free-floating above primordial mist – the Ginnungagap.
If I fell here, in the best-case scenario I'd hit one of the paths and break my neck (though I probably wouldn't die, because this was still a dream). Worst-case scenario, I'd keep falling into the Great Black Beyond.
I hauled myself over the lip of the hollow and peaked in. Suddenly, Barry Allen, the Flash was in my face. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me in.
"Indiana," he said. "Darkseid. Darkseid is coming."
He started to fade with the dream, but I held on. There was no way I was just letting him leave after saying some useless out of context cryptic bullshit. And why was it Barry warning me and not Constantine or Zatana, or someone who could explain the World Between Worlds stuff.
Unless...
"Did you fuck with the timeline again?" I demanded.
Barry scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. I sighed.
"Tell me his name again."
"Darkseid. He invades planets. He takes what he wants. He wipes out the population. He's going to send the Parademon's to Earth."
"What's our timeline?"
"No telling. He has the Mother Boxes. That already makes him the strongest creature in the whole universe. If he gets his Planet Reapers set up, Indy... they'll drain the Earth of its molten core destroying all life on the planet."
Cold wind blew through the hollow, so strong that it pushed me a few inches across the rough floor.
"You're waking up," Barry said. "See you soon."
My dream changed. Barry vanished. I was in Metropolis I think, hot coals showering over me, and there was a throne blazing with hellfire. The clouds turned to rolling banks of volcanic ash. Above the burning throne, two glowing red eyes appeared in the smoke.
YOU. The voice of Darkseid washed over me like a flame thrower. YOU HAVE ONLY DELAYED ME. YOU HAVE EARNED A MORE PAINFUL, MORE PERMANATE DEATH.
I tried to speak. The heat sucked the oxygen from my lungs. My lips cracked and blistered. The Socks of Death suddenly made sense. I was fucked.
Darkseid laughed. WHEN WE MEET, YOU WILL BURN, REALM WALKER. YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS WILL BE MY TINDER. YOU HAVE STARTED THE FIRE THAT WILL BURN THIS WORLD.
The smoke thickened. I couldn't breathe, couldn't see. My eyes few open. I bolted upright, gasping for air. I was in Jason's bed in his and Roy's apartment. Darkseid and Barry were gone. Early morning light was staring to peak through the windows.
At least I got almost four hours of sleep.
Meme of the day
Indiana: *Has a bad dream* Nah I'm sure it's not a plot foreshadowing or anything like that