The water rippled with a mechanical hum as the sleek submarine—crafted with precision and innovation by Cyborg himself—sank into the depths of the Atlantic Ocean. Its polished hull shimmered under the sunlight for a brief moment before vanishing beneath the surface, leaving behind only a disturbed trail of bubbles.
Standing on the shoreline, Ethan stood with his arms folded across his chest, his long coat fluttering with the ocean breeze. He watched the sub disappear. Beside him stood Shazam, Flash, and Batman, all silently observing their teammates depart.
Inside the sub were Arthur and Mera, leading the way to the underwater kingdom of Atlantis. With them were Diana, Victor, piloting and fine-tuning the systems from within, Green Lantern, and Superman. They were going there to initiate peace talks.
Ethan actually wanted the events to play out somewhat like the animated movie—at least close enough that he'd know when to step in.
That way, he'd have a reason to finally stretch some muscles… and maybe crack a few skulls while he was at it.
A few minutes passed in silence before Ethan finally broke it, "Why did you stop me from going with them, Bat?" He didn't sound accusatory—just genuinely intrigued. "I respect your decisions, that's why I didn't question you back there. But I need to understand the reason."
Batman didn't move at first, then turned his head slightly toward Ethan, "When you go into another country for diplomatic reasons," he said calmly, "you don't bring nuclear weapons along with you."
Ethan raised a brow, then lifted a single index finger and opened his mouth as if to counter the point. But after a moment's pause, he let out a short breath and nodded.
"Alright," he said with a reluctant chuckle. "That… actually sounds reasonable."
Flash blinked and looked at Shazam. "Okay, I don't say this often, but… that was kind of a mic-drop moment."
Shazam nodded slowly. "Yeah. Classic Batman logic. Doesn't say much, but when he does, it hits like a truck."
They also understood that Ethan's power was no joke—I mean, this guy almost soloed Darkseid when the entire League couldn't even make a dent on his armour.
Ethan smiled faintly, then began to rise slowly into the air. Electricity sparked gently around his form as his boots left the ground, levitating with ease.
Shazam stepped forward, "Wait! Before you go—I've been meaning to ask. How did you even get all that power?"
Ethan turned his head mid-hover, a playful glint in his eyes. "I got all my powers by drinking water… given to me by an old man."
Shazam blinked. "...Seriously?"
Flash squinted. "Wait, that's it? Like, just some guy handing out miracle water?"
Ethan winked. "Yup." And with that, a sonic boom cracked through the air as he shot skyward, vanishing from sight in an instant.
Flash stood with his hands on his hips, watching the trail of wind Ethan left behind. "Man. I want to meet that old man too. Maybe I can get a power-up. Imagine that—Speed Force squared."
Shazam chuckled awkwardly and his expression turned to thoughtful one, "Eh… based on my experience with old magical guys handing out powers, it's not all it's cracked up to be."
They both turned to ask Batman for his opinion—but found only empty air. A low whir echoed in the distance as his jet, nearly silent, cut through the sky and disappeared toward the horizon.
Flash let out a low whistle. "Sometimes, I think that guy's faster than me."
Shazam laughed. "He definitely has a flair for exits."
With nothing else to do, the two heroes turned and began their journey back to the temporary Justice League quarters located within S.T.A.R. Labs, leaving the coast behind.
---------------------
Meanwhile…
High above the clouds, far beyond the reach of any human eye, Ethan soared alone through the sky. Once he had put a considerable distance between himself and the rest of the world, he slowed his flight, his coat flapping gently in the wind as he hovered still in the air.
With a smooth, practiced motion, he extended his hand and twisted his wrist. A shimmering, crystalline ripple spread out in a perfect circle—reality bending like glass.
The Mirror Dimension opened with a soft shimmer, swirling with floating fragments of reflective matter and ancient architecture folded upon itself in impossible geometry.
Ethan stepped in and the dimension closed behind him.
Inside the Mirror Dimension, there were no rules. Architecture floated like thoughts, fractals looping into infinity. Reflections shifted and stretched in impossible ways, and gravity bowed to Ethan's will.
Here, he could practice in peace.
Floating in the center of the vast mirrored realm, Ethan inhaled deeply. The air shimmered green around him, and a faint aura of energy flickered across his skin like fireflies made of emerald light.
"Now…" he said softly to the empty space, "let's master that power."
He crossed his legs and sat mid-air before closing his eyes.
A glow began to form around him. Subtle at first—just a trace of green threads swirling like mist. But within seconds, the glow grew brighter, more focused.
Time itself seemed to slow in the Mirror Dimension. The flow of everything—the shimmer of light, the heartbeat in his chest, even the floating particles of the Mirror Dimension—began to warp and drift.
Time manipulation.
The one power he had intentionally delayed mastering.
In all his training, all his battles, Ethan had been cautious. As tempting as time manipulation sounded—undoing moments, glimpsing the future, freezing an opponent mid-strike—he knew better than most that tampering with time was not only dangerous… it was terrifying.
He had held off mastering it for a long while, cautious of its potential. Time was sacred—fragile. To meddle with it was to tempt fate itself. A wrong step could undo lives, rewrite histories, or shatter destiny beyond repair.
Ethan chuckled before shaking his head as the green energy swirled around him.
"I always told myself I wouldn't mess with time too much. It was too risky. One wrong move and boom—suddenly Batman's a stand-up comedian, Superman's allergic to sunlight, and Aquaman's running a sushi restaurant... but now..."
But now… He could feel it.
The resistance he once felt—the overwhelming weight of time—was gone. His body, mind, and soul, forged through his evolution and Phoenix energy, were finally in sync with this power.
He extended both hands with his eyes still closed. A transparent green clock formed in the air before him, its hands ticking slowly. Ethan flexed his fingers, and the clock reversed.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
He breathed in—time slowed.
He breathed out—time flowed again.
He opened his eyes—brilliant bluish white energy blazing from within them.
The green, transparent clock shimmered for a moment—then vanished, merging seamlessly into his body.
Ethan stretched his fingers outward.
This time, the green energy swirling around him didn't just glow—it pulsed, deeper and richer than before. It wasn't just time manipulation anymore.
It was understanding. A connection.
A resonance with the very fabric of time itself, as if the flow of past, present, and future now moved with him—through him.
Lines—no, threads—began to shimmer into view before him, dancing like delicate spiderwebs of emerald light.
They weaved and spun in all directions, crossing through layers of the Mirror Dimension like vines through broken glass.
He tilted his head. "Whoa… okay, that's new."
Each thread pulsed with energy, and the closer he looked, the more he could see that these weren't just threads of his time… they were branches.
"Whoa…" his eyes widened with awe. "These are timeline branches. Actual connections to parallel points in the DC multiverse."
He reached out, and as his fingers grazed one of them, the thread responded with a vision:
—A boy kneeling over his dead parents. Gunshots echoing through a dark alley. A bat silhouetted against the moon.
Ethan blinked. "Ah. Gotham's favorite orphan origin story."
He looked at another thread—brushed it gently.
—A rocket crashing into a Kansas field. A farmer and his wife standing over a crater. The symbol of hope swaddled in cloth.
"Aw, baby Clark. Still cuter than most politicians."
He floated among the threads now, slowly drifting through a nebula of stories, timelines, and moments suspended in translucent green.
Each thread glowed differently. Some pulsed gently with calm, others buzzed with violent chaos. Some were bright with hope. Others... dim, weighed down by tragedy.
He paused by one that buzzed with dark energy, With a cautious touch, he peeked inside—
—A laughing man in a bat suit. Steel teeth. Red skies. An entire Justice League, corrupted and dying.
"Batman Who Laughs timeline. Yeeeah, that one's a hard nope. Yeah, I'm not touching that. That's some hot topic horror fuel."
Another thread shimmered, humming with a unique cadence. He reached for it—
—Superman raised by the Soviet Union. Cold war tension. Red capes and red flags.
Ethan laughed. "Oh right. Communist Clark. The cape still looks fabulous though."
He tapped another.
—A girl with purple hair wielding the Speed Force, chased by shadowy Speedsters who existed across time. Reverse Flashes screaming in every direction.
"…Nah, I'm not babysitting that party."
As Ethan floated among the branches, he began to understand: these weren't just potential timelines. These were actual, fully-formed timelines of the DC Multiverse—distinct universes, each running in parallel, each one humming with its own rhythm and fate.
And now… he could see them.
More than that. He could interact with them.
He turned slowly in place with his eyes glowing brighter as more and more of the web unfolded around him.
"This is insane," he whispered. "I'm looking at the actual fabric of the DC Universe. Not just the mainline, but all of it. Pre-Crisis. Post-Crisis. New 52. Rebirth. Hell, I think I just saw Batman Beyond over there somewhere."
He pointed to one that shimmered in animated hues, full of stylized motion and old-school sound effects.
"Oh my God, that's the Justice League Unlimited timeline. If I see animated Flash start cracking jokes, I might actually cry."
He sighed before rubbing the back of his neck. "But… what do I even do with this?"
He paused. Then, he laughed. "Nah. I ain't gonna mess it up. I'll adapt."
He began floating backward, holding his hands up in mock surrender.
"I'm not about to be the guy who accidentally deletes Wonder Woman's origin story or fuses Superman with a fridge. Nope. Hard pass. Let that be someone else's problem."
Still, curiosity burned in his eyes.
He observed one timeline where the Justice League was never formed. Instead, the world was ruled by an elite corporate syndicate. Lex Luthor wore armor made from Kryptonian tech, and Wonder Woman was a global enforcer.
Ethan snorted. "So, Amazon Prime Earth. Got it."
He tilted his head, observing a chaotic branching thread that sparked crimson lightning. That one reeked of crisis.
"That's gotta be a Flash timeline. Too many time loops and self-fulfilling prophecies in one place. Barry, my man, get a hobby that doesn't destroy causality."
He drifted again, slower this time. The threads vibrated as he passed, some responding to his presence with resonance—as if inviting him to walk their path.
But he remained still.
"I could… jump into one of these timelines, sure. I could test things. Learn. Even meddle."
He smirked, then added, "But it's best for everyone I wouldn't start any timeline reboots until at least Thursday."
From the edge of his perception, something shifted.
A ripple. A tremor. A timeline thread thrummed unnaturally… not in response to him, but something else.
Ethan's brow furrowed. He turned toward the anomaly.
In the far corner of the web—deep in the oldest threads, where reality itself was brittle and faded—one of the timeline branches was starting to fray.
He narrowed his eyes. "That… shouldn't be happening."
He floated closer.
The thread was corrupted. Flickering. Fading in and out of existence, like someone had touched it improperly… or something was devouring it from within.
His expression turned serious. "Great. I guess Thursday came early."
A smirk tugged at the corner of his lips. "Let's see what the universe looks like," he whispered, "when time bends… for me."
And with a sharp snap of his fingers—Time obeyed.