The Legends of Forever by Barry Lyga (books to read for beginners .txt) 📕

My name is Barry Allen, and I am the fastest man alive. A freak accident sent a lightning bolt into my lab one night, dousing me with electricity and chemicals, and gifting me with superspeed. Since then, I’ve used my powers to fight the good fight, protecting my city, my world, and my universe from all manner of threats. I’ve stared down crazed speedsters, time-traveling techno-magicians, and every sort of thief, crook, and lunatic you can imagine.

With the help of my friends and my adopted family, I run S.T.A.R. Labs, a hub of super-science, and use it as a staging base to keep Central City safe from those who would cause it harm.

I’ve traveled to not one but two different futures, and I’ve seen the amazing heights to which humanity will soar. In the present, I do everything I can to help get us there.

I am . . .

PUBLISHER’S NOTE: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for and may be obtained from the Library of Congress.

ISBN 978-1-4197-4686-4

eISBN 978-1-68335-982-1

Copyright © 2021 DC Comics and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

THE FLASH and all related charcters and elements © & ™ DC Comics and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

WB SHIELD: © & ™ WBEI. (s21)

Cover Illustration by Shawn M. Moll

Book design by Brenda E. Angelilli

Supergirl is based on characters created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster.

By special arrangement with the Jerry Siegel family.

Published in 2021 by Amulet Books, an imprint of ABRAMS. All rights reserved.

No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher.

Amulet Books are available at special discounts when purchased in quantity for premiums and promotions as well as fundraising or educational use. Special editions can also be created to specification. For details, contact [email protected] or the address below.

Amulet Books® is a registered trademark of Harry N. Abrams, Inc.

ABRAMS The Art of Books

195 Broadway, New York, NY 10007

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It’s not the end of the world—it’s the end of the worlds!

The villainous Crime Syndicate of America has escaped from the destroyed Earth 27, wreaking havoc on Earth 1. And with them come ten thousand innocent refugees, each imbued with superspeed! In Star City, the quite insane Ambush Bug has pranked the city into paralysis and now plans to unleash a horde of robot bees.

On Earth 38, the Flash, Green Arrow, Supergirl, and Superman managed to defeat Anti-Matter Man, at the cost of Supergirl’s powers. And now breaches have opened throughout the Multiverse, randomly catapulting people from universe to universe.

Thanks to the Martian Manhunter, our heroes know that their foe is at the End of Time. Now they just have to get there . . .

THE FLASH (BARRY ALLEN)

GREEN ARROW (OLIVER QUEEN)

SUPERMAN (KAL-EL/CLARK KENT)

SUPERGIRL (KARA ZOR-EL/KARA DANVERS)

IRIS WEST-ALLEN

VIBE (CISCO RAMON)

AVA SHARPE

WHITE CANARY (SARA LANCE)

HEAT WAVE (MICK RORY)

THE ATOM (RAY PALMER)

MADAME XANADU

OWLMAN (BRUCE WAYNE)

PLUS:

SPECIAL GUEST STARS GALORE!

IN A PLACE AT A TIME

Hello.

I have gone by many names, but I am most often and most familiarly known as . . . the Phantom Stranger. For untold years following interminable years, I have walked the world and the worlds, known to many, friend to none. I help those I can, sometimes through direct intervention, more often through the timely and prudent injection of information, of truth, of perception. Cursed to wander for all eternity, I do what I can to lessen the pain of mere living.

In my time, I have witnessed the rise of tyrants, the fall of empires, the glory of peace, and the horror of war.

Never have I seen impending doom such as I see now, spreading throughout the Multiverse from its origin point at the End of All Time. Fissures in the very fabric of reality have opened, and the barriers between universes—once fortified and difficult to traverse—have frayed. Ordinary people find themselves transported from one universe to another, many of them lost in worlds they cannot comprehend, at risk of losing their sanity or even their lives.

What of our heroes, you wonder? Surely their puissance is high enough to meet the challenge?

They, sadly, believe they understand the contours of their challenge, the perimeter of its dangers.

They do not.

Their foe is no ordinary enemy. Their foe perceives all of reality from the vantage point of its ending. All of history is at the enemy’s command . . . and the threat is larger than anyone could imagine, encompassing not merely the reality of the book you hold in your hands, but the other reality as well!

The threat of Anti-Matter Man took almost all the power of our heroes to defeat. And he was merely the first salvo.

Worlds will live. Worlds will die. And the DC Universe—this one, at least—will never be the same again.

Perhaps you have heard these words before. Perhaps you scoff.

Do so at your own risk.

Now, Dear Reader, turn the page. For the story is about to begin. And end.

“Time’s an enemy and a friend.”

—BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN,

“Visitation at Fort Horn”

1

Supergirl folded her arms over her chest as she sat up in the recovery bed at the Fortress of Solitude. “I should be the one going!” she complained.

Her cousin shook his head. “No,” said Superman. “You’re still recuperating from your battle with Anti-Matter Man. Your powers haven’t even begun to return yet.”

It was true. With the entire world on the precipice of destruction due to the corrosive powers of Anti-Matter Man, a synthetic life-form/weapon from the anti-matter universe, Supergirl had risked her life and sacrificed her powers. Channeling all her powers into a Super Flare, she’d funneled so much energy