Item Biography
"Worlds In Limbo" - - *In his dark lair, the Monitor's adversary gloats that the Monitor and the first two prime universes - those containing Earth-1 and Earth-2 are gone. But he wonders why he has not received their energies. He informs the Pirate that he and the Red Tornado will serve as his tools, and that the Flash of Earth-1, capable of transversing dimensions unaided, cannot be allowed to run free. Still, three universes remain to be destroyed, and without the Monitor to guard them, their doom is at hand.
In the satellite, Pariah stands by the Monitor's body, mourning, when he is joined by the anguished Lyla, changed from her Harbinger identity, unable to believe that she could have killed him. They are interrupted by the voice of the Monitor, coming from a prerecorded videotape. The image of the Monitor explains that he knew of Lyla's possession, and that she had no other choice but to kill him, but in doing so, she fulfilled his last request.
The Monitor's image explains that all his energy was released into the machines at the moment of his death, powering all his vibrational forks and then some. His very being was transformed into a netherverse, absorbing and guarding the universes of Earth-1 and Earth-2. However, on those worlds, all time has become one. His energies have calmed the populace, but, because the vibrational fork machines were not fully attuned due to the lack of time, the Earths are still in danger. Their vibrational rates are slowing, and when they reach the same frequency, they will occupy the same space at the same time and destroy each other.
Telling Lyla he loves her, the image of the Monitor concludes its message, while Pariah and Lyla continue to mourn over the body. Suddenly, another voice fills the chamber. Clad in golden armor, Alex Luthor, now aged to young adulthood, introduces himself, and explains that the Monitor saved him, and then discovered that he was composed of positive and negative matter. The Monitor then left Luthor with instructions on how to help save the remaining universes, but first, Alex proclaims, the Monitor must be given a proper farewell. They eject the body into space. Lyla declares her love, and Alex replies that they can show their love by saving the universes that remain.
Back in the lair of the Monitor's adversary, the overlord of evil curses his opponent as he realizes what has happened. He vows to have Earth-1 and Earth-2, but there are other worlds to conquer first. The Psycho-Pirate asks what he is expected to do, and the villain explains that the Pirate will be given the last three Earths to play with, but for now, he can amuse himself with the Flash of Earth-1, as long as he doesn't kill him. The Flash, demanding answers from his hosts, is put under a spell of fear by the Pirate.
On the merged Earths 1 and 2, Lana Lang of WGBS-TV is doing a live report on the chaos befalling the joined worlds. Beings and artifacts of every time era exist side-by-side, Manhattan skyscrapers overlook dinosaurs, Fokker Triplanes, Colonial dwellings, propeller planes, futuristic skycraft, and Indians and white men from the 19th century. The Robin and Huntress of Earth-2 stand side-by-side with the Earth-1 Batman; Sinestro, Sgt. Rock, and Nuklon gape at the proceedings together.
In the satellite, Harbinger, Pariah, and Alex Luthor have teleported almost all the super-beings of Earth-1 and Earth-2 into the meeting chamber to enlist them as allies in the struggle for universal survival. Alex tells them that answers to the strange occurences on their worlds will now be given. Alex reveals to the throng that the Monitor is dead. They face an enemy, the name and nature of whom was never revealed to them by the Monitor. However, they do know this enemy's goal - the destruction of all positive matter universes.
Alex tells them, again, that all the Earths remaining - including Earth-1 and Earth-2 - are separated by different vibrational rates. So that they might escape the attack of the enemy's anti-matter, the Monitor began the process of merging the universes of Earth-1 and Earth-2 into one. At the dawn of time, the prime universe was split into an infinite number of universes. To save all life, the multiverse must become a universe once more.
He tells the unbelieving crowd to return to their worlds and see the danger, to help them decide, but their decisions must be made quickly, for there is little time left.
On the planet Oa, a contingent of Green Lanterns, their power rings inoperative, land their spacecraft at the headquarters of the Guardians. Tomar-Re, Arisia, Xax, Ch'p, and the others behold their masters, held immobile in a statis beam. Suddenly, an energy burst knocks them all out.
In the time-stream, Rip Hunter and his three allies find their Time Sphere buffeted by incredible forces, making it impossible for them to emerge in any time period.
At Wayne Manor, Alfred Pennyworth introduces Batman, Jason Todd, Robin of Earth-2, the Huntress, Nuklon, Metamorpho, Katana, Halo, and a group of super-villains to the cave-dwelling family of Anthro which has just appeared, complete with cave, by the stairwell inside the mansion.
In Russia, Firestorm, Starfire Firebrand, Polar Boy, Killer Frost, and Sun Boy give aid to the Soviet super-hero, Red Star in fighting off a dinosaur attack. Firestorm is shocked to find that the Psycho-Pirate's spell on Killer Frost has worn off, so that she treats him once again as an enemy.
In the lair of the Monitor's foe, the Red Tornado is being subjected to powerful energies by his unseen host, while the Psycho Pirate and the protesting Flash look on. The enemy explains that the Tornado is actually a primal force, more than machine or human. The Tornado suddenly becomes a living cyclone, and the enemy says that now the Red Tornado will never again be the being they knew before. The cyclone, and the Tornado, fade from view, and the chamber is dark once more.
Elsewhere on Earth-1, the time-lost band of heroes sees a gigantic crimson cyclone appear in the sky, endangering aircraft. Huge thunderbolts shoot from its surface. Dr. Fate leads a group of magically powered heroes from Earth-2 in uniting their power and banishing the tornado. Wildcat, carrying a child away from the torrent, is struck by lightning. The Flash of Earth-2 comes upon the motionless body of the Red Tornado in the wreckage, while Ultra Boy, examining Wildcat with his penetra-vision, declares that his legs are shattered and that he will probably never walk again. Reviving, Wildcat asks what became of the girl he was carrying, and Jade points out Yolanda Montez, who has caught the girl safely.
All over Earth-1 and Earth-2, the bands of super-heroes and super-villains contact Harbinger and accept her terms to join the fight against the Monitor's enemy. Alex Luthor, Pariah, and she choose a small group of heroes from an audience and summon them to the satellite: Steel, Hawkman of Earth-2, Northwind, Changeling, Starfire, Dr. Light and (as revealed in the next issue) J'onn J'onzz, Katana, Azrael, Blok, Flash of Earth-2, Kole, Supergirl, Black Canary, and Wonder Woman. Alex explains that the anti-matter cloud is now moving through the final three universes of Earths S, X, and 4. Only by saving all five universes will they have power enough to resist the hidden enemy. Just as he is about to send them through the vortex between the Earths, the satellite starts to shake apart.
In his lair, the dark being and the Psycho-Pirate wacth a viewscreen image of the satellite disintegrating. The villian says that this will only delay his enemies, but not stop them. When the Pirate asks him about the fate of Apokolips, the villain responds that Darkseid won't be able to resist him when the proper time comes. The Flash challenges their host to show himself, if he is so powerful. He reveals himself to the hero, and to the Pirate. They gaze at a huge figure, in an armored suit like the Monitor's whose face seems to be composed of whitish "unflesh."
"Call me - The Monitor!" he says, "And very soon I shall be ruler over all who live!"
On Earth-X, the anti-matter is rapidly destroying the planet. The Freedom Fighters stand before the curtain of void, unable to understand what it is. Vowing to die trying to save their adopted world, they head straight toward the anti-matter and destruction. *Source: The Official Crisis on Infinite Earths Index #1 - Published by ICG.