THE MEGAVERSE

HISTORY

The world dubbed The Megaverse was an alternate Earth, a world with a similar history to the main Earth but one where superhumans were rare, and none of Earth's heroes and villains had any counterparts. The world was not completely without heroes, American super-soldier Captain Victory of that Earth's World War II is a prime example, but superhumans were a rarity, until test pilot Jack Miser arrived.

Jack Miser was a Cold War U.S. Air Force test pilot from the main Earth. Captured by the evil Darkseid of Apokalips, Jack was tortured and experimented on by Darkseid's servants before he eventually escaped with help from one of the gods of New Genesis. Fleeing Apokalips in a Boom Tube, Jack attempted to return home but instead found himself appearing on the Megaverse Earth. The experiments on Apokalips had given Jack super powers, and his arrival on this alternate Earth triggered the appearance of several native super heroes and villains. Jack became the hero Elemental, and fought alongside many of this Earth's heroes for over a decade before his worst fear came true – the forces of Apokalips tracked him down and attacked his new homeworld.

Elemental fled, hoping to draw the forces of Apokalips away. He was able to return to his home Earth, where would continue his heroic career as a founding member of Justice Incorporated. Months later Elemental's Atomic Four teammate Firedrake came to find him, claiming that the heroes of the Megaverse had successfully repelled the forces of Apokalips. Elemental and Justice Inc. traveled with Firedrake to the other world where it appeared that the Megaverse Earth had indeed survived relatively unscathed. The truth, however, soon became apparent.

At the same moment that Justice Inc. were in the Megaverse, a great battle was taking place between Darkseid and his son Orion. Darkseid was apparently killed and as a result a shadow passed through everything the powers of the New Gods had touched. On the Megaverse Earth the change was instantaneous; a veil was lifted and the world was revealed to be a devastated wasteland. The reality was that Darkseid's forces had destroyed the world and killed most of the population, including almost all of the world's heroes. Two of the surviving heroes, Dr. Psyche and Dream Weaver, combined their powers with a recovered Mother Box to create a facsimile of the world as it had been, including their deceased teammates. The shadow of Darkseid's passing broke the power of the Mother Box, revealing the truth.

Elemental was also affected by the shadow, his connection to the Source resulting in a portion of Darkseid's essence tainting him. Elemental became a reflection of Darkseid and proceeded to rally surviving heroes and villains along with the scattered remaining forces of Apokalips. With this he declared himself the new ruler of the devastated ruler, claiming a firm hand was needed restore order. Unable to stop their former teammate, Justice Inc. were sent back to their Earth. True to his word, Elemental and his allies restored order to the devastated world, though at the cost of any remaining freedoms.

Elemental's rule lasted less than two years. Darkseid returned, his earlier apparent death being part of a larger plan, and now he was seeking the fragments of his essence that remained. Elemental and his allies were unable to resist this new invasion from Apokalips and Darkseid. The fragment of Darkseid's essence was stripped from Elemental as were the former hero's powers. These events coincided with the Genesis crisis, and due to the resulting disturbances the heroic Guardians from the main Earth also found themselves in the Megaverse universe. As Darkseid and his forces prepared to finish the destruction of the world they had begun years earlier, the Guardians were able to help a few thousand survivors escape back to the main Earth. These people, including a trio of remaining heroes as well as the de-powered Elemental, would be the only survivors from their Earth which had now been rendered completely uninhabitable. The three surviving heroes were Cavalier, Silver Vixen, and Spectrum and they have attempted, with mixed results, to find a place for themselves on their new world.

HEROES

Before the invasion of their world by Apokalips, the Megaverse Earth was home to many super-heroes. Three prominent super-hero teams were:

ATOMIC FOUR

HISTORY

Dr. Marshall Michaels was an aerospace engineer working on an experimental space plane when he took the vehicle out on an unauthorized test flight, aided by his fiance and her brother. The test flight coincided with the arrival of Jack Miser to their world with a Boom Tube. The exotic Fourth World energies mixed with high energy radiation during the test flight and the combination bombarded the flight crew and disabled the space plane. The pilot, Alan Christopher, managed to get the plane down and afterward the trio discovered the exposure to the strange energies had granted them super powers. Together with Jack Miser the group decided to form their world's first super-hero team, calling themselves the Atomic Four.

The quartet became a cornerstone of a new heroic age and battled many dangerous threats, notably saving their world from the cosmic being known as the Celestian. After Elemental's effort to lure Darkseid's forces away failed, the remaining three attempted to help defend the Earth but Mr. Quantum and Atomica were killed. Firedrake was killed during the second Apokalips invasion.

MEMBERS

VINDICATORS

HISTORY

The Vindicators were the most powerful super-hero team on the Megaverse Earth. The team was originally formed by accident, an unintended consequence of the manipulations of a super-villain, but the heroes remained together in the aftermath. The roster would change frequently over the years, with certain members remaining part of a core to provide continuity, but the team would consistently help defend the planet against a variety of threats. The Vindicators wound up taking the brunt of the casualties from Darkseid's initial invasion, and after the devastating second invasion only two members of the Vindicators, Cavalier and Silver Vixen, were among the survivors to escape the destruction of their world.

MEMBERS

There have been dozens of members of the Vindicators over the years. These are some of the most notable heroes to have been part of the team.

FACTOR 500

HISTORY

The team of outcasts called Factor 500 is named after a genetic factor identified as the cause for the spontaneous development of superhuman powers. The individuals who developed powers because of the Factor were often called mutants or freaks and faced persecution from the public, with the media adding the 500 based on early reports of the alleged number of mutants in the United States caused by it. The Factor was discovered by geneticist Dr. Michael Lawson, who himself possessed power caused by it. Blaming himself for the oppression called by the public disclosure of the Factor and its mutating effect, Lawson assembled a group of fellow Factor mutants for self-protection. With the rise in popularity of superheroes like the Atomic Four and the Vindicators, several of the mutants gathered by Lawson decided they would also start operating as superheroes, hoping it would help dispel some of the prejudice. Lawson himself would head the group as Dr. Psyche and the team elected to use Factor 500 as their name.

The public perception of the team varied over time, with them being viewed as threats to being hailed as heroes. Regardless of how the public felt, the team was on the front lines of the battles against the forces if Apokalips. By the end all members except Spectrum had been killed and he was among the handful of survivors of the Megaverse Earth that escaped with the Guardians.

MEMBERS

There were many members of of Factor 500 over the years, starting with founding five Spectrum, Material Girl, Condor, Freeze Frame, and Wild Thing. The tam rose to higher prominence in the public awareness with the second major lineup, presented here.

Warp Zone | DC Heroes | Parallel Worlds | The Megaverse