In the boundless expanse of the universe, Paradise Island—freshly torn from the continental shelf—drifted over a blood-red sea.
The Amazons stood at the island's cliffs, their gazes fixed on the endless ocean stretching beyond the horizon.
"This… this isn't the sea where Paradise Island once rested. Could it be that the world's reboot has ended?"
Queen Hippolyta looked to the heavens, where dozens of suns burned above. Yet, despite their brilliance, the air wasn't scorching.
Below, colossal waves—each towering over a thousand meters—rose and crashed in rhythm, but the land beneath their feet remained unmoved.
"Could it be," she murmured in awe, "that we've returned to the dawn of creation itself… before even the gods were born?"
Her words hung heavy in the air. The Amazon warriors around her stood silent, stunned by the raw, untamed energy that filled this primordial world.
Then, a voice rolled across the heavens like thunder—so vast and deep it seemed to shake reality itself.
"This is My World. You will remain here temporarily. Once the situation outside stabilizes, I will send you back."
The sound reverberated through the Amazons' bones. Hippolyta winced, clutching her ears.
"Are you… Malrick?" she called out, her voice trembling.
No form appeared. The sea stretched endlessly, the sky burned with light, and only two massive, glowing white pillars rose in the distance, piercing the clouds.
"Where is he speaking from?" one Amazon whispered.
Then the voice spoke again, calm and commanding.
"It is I. The giant before you—and the ocean below—are My Blacklight constructs. During your stay here, do not leap into the sea. Each drop of its water weighs over a thousand tons."
"Diana will find you soon. I need to begin my restoration."
As his final words echoed, the "pillars" in the distance began to move.
Slowly. Tremendously.
The movement stirred the red ocean, sending titanic waves climbing into the sky. Their shadows fell over Paradise Island like storm clouds.
Hippolyta's eyes widened. Her heart froze.
Those weren't stone pillars at all—
they were legs.
The Queen tilted her head back, following them upward through churning clouds until her vision blurred. She couldn't even glimpse what lay above them.
"Is… is that truly Malrick!?" one warrior gasped.
"He must be over a million meters tall! Were the titans of myth ever this massive?"
"Oh gods… can Diana really face someone like that?"
"Quiet!" another snapped. "He said it himself—that's just his Blacklight construct, not his true body!"
"Then who is he really? The reincarnation of Atlas himself?"
Their murmurs blended with the howling wind. Hippolyta, pale and silent, stared at the sea below. Even that ocean… was part of him.
Just who—what—was Malrick?
---
Elsewhere
Across the inner continents of this strange world, Malrick appeared again—though not in his full form.
This time, his consciousness had manifested as a Siberian Husky, standing upright like a man. Around him were Diana, Kara, and Tony Stark, who had just landed on a vast plain.
"You're saying you're… Malrick's Blacklight construct?" Tony asked, crouching to get a better look at the dog, disbelief etched across his face.
"Why so formal?" the Husky huffed, rolling his eyes in a distinctly human way. "I am Malrick. Just a separated consciousness."
Diana and Kara exchanged amused glances and reached down to pat his head. Tony joined in, inspecting him like an engineer examining alien tech.
"I get it," Tony said, snapping his fingers. "It's like how I control my drones—only you're doing it with, uh, biology and magic. So this clone is basically your extra hand."
"More or less," Malrick said, enduring their petting. He gestured toward the horizon. "You'll stay here for now. I'll release you when it's safe."
Tony nodded, still skeptical, running his hand down the Husky's back.
"Sure, sure… but why a dog, of all things?"
Malrick shook himself free from their hands, fur glinting like liquid metal.
"Superman has a Kryptonian dog named Krypto. Marvel didn't have one—so I made my own version."
He flicked his tail dismissively. "Now, explore a bit. I have to focus."
But Tony wasn't done. He lunged forward, wrapping his arms around the dog.
"You can't just turn into a Husky and expect me not to pet you! That's a crime against science!"
Malrick's glowing eyes narrowed. His form shimmered, then melted into a pool of black liquid that seeped into the earth.
"I'm cultivating," his voice echoed from the ground. "Do not disturb me."
Tony stumbled back, wide-eyed. "Holy hell! The clone can transform too?!"
His mind raced. If he could learn that—oh, the possibilities! His main body could work, while a clone partied. He could even—
"Don't even think about it," Malrick's voice interrupted sharply. "This ability was granted by the World's Consciousness. You can't copy it."
Tony groaned, punching the dirt. "You're kidding me! That's just cruel!"
Diana and Kara stood several meters away, arms crossed, staring at him like disappointed parents.
"Damn it," Tony muttered. "Social death… again."
Jarvis' voice chimed in his helmet, unhelpfully cheerful.
"Sir, I cannot order you a grave via network. Shall I have the armor dig one for you instead?"
"Shut up, Jarvis," Tony muttered, rubbing his face.
---
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the multiverse, Malrick and the Wizard Shazam emerged at the doorstep of Clark Kent's farmhouse in Smallville.
"Huh? We're already here? That reboot finished faster than expected…" the old wizard muttered, brushing the dust off his robe.
Malrick scanned the quiet home. Clark and Lois slept peacefully inside, unaware.
"We're in another branch of reality," Malrick explained. "We'll use this world as a bridge to return after the reboot stabilizes."
The wizard grinned, clapping his hands. "Then let's move, kid. I'm not getting any younger!"
Malrick resisted the urge to kick him away and activated his traversal power again.
The void around them twisted. Bubbles of entire universes shimmered and merged. The DCEU timeline restructured itself, scenes flashing like broken glass.
Moments later, everything went still.
"We made it," Malrick said, scanning the air. "But… I can only reach a much later point in the timeline. Barry's reboot hit harder than I thought."
The two vanished again into
the ether—
while, back in Smallville, Superman smiled in his sleep, unaware that reality itself had just shifted around him.
---