Through a window in space itself, they watched the young students: Clark; Bruce; Bart; Diana; Lois.
"It looks like everything is falling into place," the leader of the young ones said. "Kal-El has found his destiny with Lois Lane, and the others are on their way to becoming the heroes we all know."
"So it would seem," said an elder man in a metal chair.
Another of the younger ones, a girl, raised an eyebrow. "Why do you sound skeptical?"
"There is still danger to them all, Imra," said the other elder, a shadowed man wearing a blue cloak and a golden amulet. "Danger they, and we, cannot know for now."
"Why not?" an impulsive boy asked. "Why can't we just use this window thing to look a little bit farther into their future?"
"That's not how the portal works, Garth," another boy responded. "The temporal mechanics of slipspace are—"
"Okay! Okay," Garth interrupted. "Sorry I asked, Five."
"Do not lose faith," the cloaked man said gently. "There may yet still be a way."
"He is correct," the seated man stated coldly. "Our findings have indicated that Bart Allen and Diana of Themyscira are the two most significant causality anchors in this time, and that their determinant event is very near."
Garth rolled his eyes. "Aaaaand that means wha—"
"It means that what happens to them affects everyone, as well as the entire timeline," the boy named Five responded. "And something very important—some kind of major event—is going to happen soon, that'll determine the fate of everything."
"A great battle, I sense," the shadowed man added.
"Alright," the young leader said, "so what can we do?"
"Wait a minute," Imra said with sudden realization. "I think I have an idea. If we can twist this portal over that event—even just a little—I think I can sense their minds. Maybe I can find out what happens."
"That's possible," Five said. His eyes began to glow with a bright yellow light, and a thousand calculations sprinted through organic circuits in his mind. "Use these coordinates: 327.4678, by 5.8769. Be sure to account for variance at .728 along the 18th axiom."
The man in the metal chair placed his hand over a glowing console built into his chair's arm. "It is done."
The portal window twisted and shifted. The view of Metropolis faded, replaced by liquid shadows.
"There," the chaired man said. "This is the most stable I can make the portal."
"Then it'll have to do," Imra said determinedly. She shut her eyes, and focused as hard as she could. "It's working. I'm looking for them... I—" Imra's eyes shot open. "No..."
"What is it?" the leader asked.
"They're... gone," Imra said, shocked. "I searched the entire globe. Their brains aren't active."
"So they're asleep?" Garth asked.
"No, Garth..." Imra replied. "Even if they were asleep, I could find them."
The leader felt a shock go through his mind as he suddenly understood. "You don't mean..."
"They're dead."
The group fell silent for a few moments.
"There is one other option," the chaired man said. "All beings follow their own event path; a mortal's past and future are inexorably linked. If we examine the pasts of these two, we may in turn learn how to save their future."
"Then let's do it," the leader said. "Maybe we can find a way to help them win that battle."
"No," the chaired man said. "We cannot interfere in that conflict."
"What?!" Garth said frustratedly. "How are we gonna help them out if we can't help them out?!"
"Patience, Garth of Winath," the cloaked man gently spoke. "There is still hope yet."
"But," the leader said, "what you're basically saying is that it's up to them for right now."
"Yes."
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