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Appearing in "The End"

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Synopsis for "The End"

Captain Atom is forcefully brought to The Authority's Carrier and is greeted by Jack Hawksmoor and The Doctor along with a frozen Majestic. Hawksmoor states to Captain Atom that, even though he is a "nice guy", he must be killed in order to prevent the destruction of the universe. Atom pleads to everyone that killing himself will only cause the destruction. Jack rebuts that the Doctor traveled one year into the future and found their world intact, concluding that killing Captain Atom is the inevitable answer to save their universe. Atom tries to point out that he too traveled to the future and that there is something that everyone hasn't realized. Jack refuses to listen to Captain Atom anymore and directs Apollo to kill him. Just as Apollo uses his eyebeams on Atom, his attack unexpectedly causes a reaction within Captain Atom, causing him to glow.

Back on Earth, Nikola is in her Void form, lamenting to a dead Grifter that she couldn't do anything to prevent what is happening and doesn't believe herself to be a superhero. Then, at the same moment of Captain Atom's reaction, Nikola takes notice and fully controls her powers stating that Grifter was actually right about her all along. She states that she must go to the "end" in order to ensure that there is "another beginning" before flying to the Carrier, saying that she will become "whole again".

Back on the Carrier, Captain Atom's reaction damages the surrounding room and he himself has been changed to a dark, radiant and foreboding form. Hawksmoor questions The Doctor about how their efforts to save the universe come to be "alright". The Doctor states that, though the universe will be saved, he doesn't mention them surviving the outcome. Taking chances, Hawksmoor orders Apollo to absorb Captain Atom's energy to shut him down before he can do anything more.

Captain Atom pleads to Apollo this won't work. Apollo refuses to listen, stating that he has absorbed thousands of suns before. But, as Atom warned, Apollo is instantly incinerated to a charred skeleton. Shocked to see his husband's death, Midnighter is overwhelmed by anger and disobeys Hawksmoor's warnings as he attempts to kill Captain Atom. But, then Atom's energies incinerate him, too. Frantically, Hawksmoor orders The Doctor to unfreeze Majestic. Hawksmoor asks Captain Atom if he is just going to kill them one at a time; Atom responds that killing everything is what he will do. Atom also states that nothing can stop him and tells Hawksmoor to "pray for a miracle."

Majestic is unfrozen by the Doctor and realizes what has happened. He grabs Hawksmoor, berating him for what he has done, and Jack admits that he was wrong. Before Majestic can do anything to Hawksmoor, Jenny Quantum enters the room and is very disappointed in Jack for allowing the destruction of their universe to happen while she was away. She approaches Captain Atom stating that she, the spirit of the 21st century, will solve everything with a "happy ending". However, as she touches Captain Atom, she is also instantly incinerated.

Appalled over Jenny's death, Hawksmoor berates The Doctor for doing nothing to help. However, the Doctor says that he has given up; the death of the Spirit of the 21st Century signifies the true end of their universe and that there is nothing to stop the inevitable. He then askes Jack if he is going to spend his last moments "whining and fighting", and Hawksmoor, defeated, softly replies, "no". The Doctor then tells Jack to stand up as they "have company". Nikola appears, having accepted her role as the new Void. She successfully removes the other Void fragment from Captain Atom, causing him to revert back to his regular appearance. The threat is over, as confirmed by The Doctor. Void then teleports Captain Atom back to his native universe, and he thanks her as he vanishes.

Shortly after that, Void reveals that she will end the universe much to everyone's surprise. She explains that the reason she wants to end it is due to the ways some superhumans, especially The Authority, have changed the world into a "twisted image" that it is too difficult for a normal person, like Nikola, to endure. However, as she initiates the end of the universe, she will not only to end it but also to begin anew (as it happen a "million times before"). She then creates a magnificent burst of light, and the universe is reborn.

Many of Eaeth's inhabitants, including a resurrected Grifter, feel the universe's rebirth but yet seem to be oblivious to the nature of the change they have just experienced.

Meanwhile, Captain Atom finally returns to his universe and crash lands into the ruins of Bludhaven. Relieved to be home, Captain Atom then remembers of traveling a week ahead and recalls what the future Nikola had said to him before leaving to the present: "It's not what you think". Atom realizes that Nikola herself saved her world and contained the "worldstorm." Now, it is his turn to save his.

Notes

  • Void's actions in this issue serve as a "soft reboot" of the Wildstorm Universe, leading into the subsequent "Worldstorm" relaunch of several Wildstorm series. Changes to continuity mainly involve the resurrection of several dead characters (e.g. Deathblow) and massively revised status quos for Wildstorm's marquee franchises (i.e. Gen 13, StormWatch, Wildcats, etc.).
  • "Worldstorm" coincides with the DC Comics event "Infinite Crisis", resulting in the Wildstorm Universe becoming part of the DC Multiverse. The 52 series will later reveal that the Earth of the Wildstorm Universe has been designated Earth-50.
  • Captain Atom's return to the DC Universe and his presence in Blüdhaven is a prelude to the events of the "Infinite Crisis" spin-off, the "Battle for Blüdhaven".
  • The issue includes a one-page summation of the "Worldstorm" relaunch by Jim Lee.
  • This issue is reprinted in the Captain Atom: Armageddon trade paperback published in 2007.

Trivia

  • Jenny Quantum's disappointment with Hawksmoor's failure as being worse "than the time D.C. got destroyed and the team broke up," alludes to the events in The Authority: Revolution.
  • Going forward, Nikola Hanssen is the only one in the whole Wildstorm Universe to fully remember the reboot. Though there are others in the post-Worldstorm issues who acknowledge the reboot, and some leading participants in Captain Atom: Armageddon vaguely remember the events of this series, none but Nikola can recall everything.

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