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away. “I’ve heard that before.” “Do not make light of the dreadful apocalypse before us.” The Monitor ignored Jason’s gun; Donna suspected that mere bullets posed little threat to him. “All that you know may perish—unless you help me find the one called Ray Palmer.”
    “Ray Palmer?” Donna echoed in surprise. “The Atom?” A longtime member of the Justice League of America, the Atom had once used his size-changing abilities to defend humanity by microscopic means. In recent years, however, his life had been marred by tragedy; his mentally disturbed ex-wife, Jean Loring, had murdered some of the Atom’s closest friends and later become host to an evil entity known as Eclipso. Crushed by guilt and heartbreak over what Jean had done, Ray Palmer had literally shrunk out of sight. As far as Donna knew, no one had seen him in years.
    “Indeed,” the Monitor confirmed. “Sources beyond your ken foretell that Ray Palmer shall play a crucial role in the coming struggle, but only if he can be located in time. For that, I require your assistance.”
    “Is that so?” Jason said sarcastically. “Why us?”
    Good question, Donna thought. This sounded more like a job for the Justice League. I barely know Ray Palmer — nor does Jason.
    “Though vast,” the Monitor explained, “my knowledge does not grant me a full understanding of the emotions that drive humans such as yourself. Ray Palmer has hidden himself from the universe for reasons of his own; it may well be that I shall need your insights to grasp his past and future behavior.” His enigmatic gaze swept over the humans. “Moreover, I have reason to believe that Palmer now dwells in a reality in which he does not truly belong, much as the pair of you now do.”
    Donna nodded. She thought she understood ... sort of. “Set an anomaly to catch an anomaly, right?” She eyed the Monitor suspiciously. “Our meeting here today, Jason and I... That was no coincidence, was it?”
    ' He shook his head. “I planted the idea in Jason Todd’s mind to bring you together, and remind you of your unique status in the universe.”
    “What?!” Jason lunged at the Monitor. “You stay out of my head, you comrowed freak!”
    Moving at super-speed, Donna grabbed hold of Jason, restraining him. He fought furiously to break loose, but she was many times stronger than him. “Jason, please! This isn’t helping!” She didn’t think that Jason could actually harm the Monitor, but she wasn’t going to let him provoke the powerful being into retaliating. Despite his preternatural return from the dead, Jason was still just an ordinary human being with no superpowers. “Get control of yourself!”
    “Like hell!” he snarled. His gun went off, missing the Monitor but tearing up the earth at the foot of Donna’s tombstone. Were there still remains in the buried coffin? If so, the bullet had probably just shattered her skull. “I’m tired of being treated like a pawn in these lunatics’ cosmic games! I’m not letting anybody mess with my life again!” The sheer fury in his voice startled Donna. Jason had always been kind of a hothead, but this was something else altogether. He’s changed, she realized, and not for the better. She deftly pried the gun from his fingers and tossed it onto a grassy sward nearby. And since when did Batman’s apprentices carry guns anyway?
    She knew the Dark Knight would not approve. “Enough!” the Monitor said impatiently. “Such primitive histrionics only delay our quest. I am responsible for thi s universe, and / say we must get under way. Somewhere outside this reality, beyond even my own ability to detect, Ray Palmer awaits.”
    Jason stopped squirming against Donna’s tight embrace, but she kept holding on to him just in case. “Uh-huh,” he retorted. “And how do you know the Atom’s not already dead?”    '    '
    “Because if he is,” the Monitor stated gravely, “then we all are.”    "
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