Justice League Beyond Disco Mummy's Revenge: DCAU Series Part 5

by Loki's Son

The Occupation has lifted in Gotham City. What should be a celebration turns into a fresh nightmare. It seems every super villain team in the world is descending upon Gotham. The Justice League International, Justice Society of America, and elements of Young Justice are that stand in their way. But not every hero walks away even before an army of the undead march on the city.

6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

The Injustice Gang outnumbered the Justice League nearly three-to-one. Every JLer faced at least two foes. The Injusticers seemed prepared for an encounter with the JLI since they paired and tripled off without a word against specific foes. Superman found himself confronted by the latest Cyclotron and Master Jailer as well as the original Muse. Cyclotron's powers were obviously nuclear in nature and could eventually harm Superman.

The original Master Jailer, like the Eradicator, had been Kryptonian AIs akin to Brainiac who instead relied upon living hosts. Master Jailer had operated Krypton's most notorious prison within the Phantom Zone before being liberated by General Jax-Ur and Mala. Eradicator had been a weapons development under General Val-Zod. The Master Jailer didn't impart Kryptonian powers but the bio-neural circuitry that infested the host could generate captivity fields and cages designed to exploit biological weaknesses of a thousand races. The Muse was unknown to Superman. But her touch-telepathy could impart mental suggestions.

"You need to stand down," Superman warned Cyclotron before addressing Master Jailer, "You need to release that poor person."

Looking at the Muse, he simply shrugged, "I don't know anything about you."

"Would you like to?" the Muse asked suggestively, "I'm positively inspiring."

"Um…no?" Superman replied.

"Your loss," the Muse sighed, "Deal with him."

Master Jailer constructed a cell around Superman that blocked out yellow solar rays. But he could fashion physical barriers but still he couldn't create kryptonite. Superman took a deep breath and blew Master Jailer through a wall. The surrounding structure collapsed on him. He could still hear Master Jailer's pulse was strong so he didn't worry as the cell faded away. He felt arms wrap around him and then searing pain that drove him to his knees. Bag O'Bones had done the same to him once when he was still the Cyclotronic Man. He suddenly pushed off of his knees and a head butt separated Cyclotron from Superman. But he quickly responded with radiation blasts that staggered the Man of Steel.

"I was told red solar radiation was your Achilles' Heel," Cyclotron boasted, "I've boosted some x-rays and gamma rays into to kill you with."

Superman advanced on Cyloctron as the Injusticer reached his maximum output only to be put out by a flick of Superman's finger.

"Thank God that's over," Superman braced himself up off of his knees.

"Too bad it left you open to me," the Muse placed her hands on his back.

"Look, lady. I don't know what your deal is but I'd…" Superman paused while he turned around, "follow you anywhere."

"Feeling inspired are we?" the Muse laughed.

Superwoman alighted nearby, "Sorry I'm late. It was a last minute work thing."

"Kill her for me," the Muse requested. Lana Linda Lang had seen that look too many times before on Lord Superman's face.

Supergirl stared down Blackrock, Brain Storm, and Dr. Destiny. Blackrock and Brain Storm had began as Superman foes before graduating into Injustice Gang membership. A previous Blackrock has even been a member of the Legion of Doom. Dr. Destiny was a legacy Justice League villain who invaded people's dreams and lokced them into looping nightmares. What he could do against a very awake Supergirl confused Linda Danvers. Brain Storm's helmet amplified the electrical discharges within the brain and hurled them at targets selected by its wearer. Blackrock's power stone fed off of the all surrounding electromagnetic transmissions made by all modern communication and media devices. So they were obvious threats.

But Supergirl had never faced them before but the previous Supergirl, Kara In-Ze, had. So they were probably expecting an Argoan's wheelhouse. Especially Dr. Destiny. But her physical powers were quite limited. The basis for her abilities was psionic in nature. Making her probably the most resistant JLer to Dr. Destiny's ability. Brain Storm unleashed a mental torrent that caught Supergirl by surprise and took her feet out from beneath her. Blackrock's follow through with a charged force blast that battered her across the street.

"So you aren't the real Supergirl," Brain Storm chuckled.

"I'm better," Supergirl boasted.

"Prove it," he challenged her. Her Telekinetic Vision knocked his helmet free of his head and crushed it against a nearby wall.

"Could Kara do that?" she wondered. Blackrock dissolved and rode transmission waves like Air Wave did to coalesce behind Supergirl and blast her again.

"Brave man shooting me in the back," Supergirl grated.

"Use your super speed to outrace me," he fired again. This time Supergirl braced herself. She threw a punch from her location and a telekinetic "push/shove" extended the distance and knocked Blackrock out. She hadn't want to warn him by using her TK Vision because it created a psionic register in her eyes before unleashing. But would typically augment a physical strike took all her resources to extend the distance Blackrock had been from her. So Supergirl was on the verge of mental exhaustion. And that was hwnw Dr. Destiny struck.

Abra Kadabra had been an old foe of Barry Allen's when he'd still been the Flash in the Nineties. Wally West had succeeded him when Barry vanished under mysterious circumstances only to reappear during the Near Apocalypse of 2009 as the Final Crisis was known on the New Earth. Barry had taken Iris and traveled to the far flung 29th Century.

There his twins were born, Don and Dawn. The Flash didn't know that Barry's creating a looping Flashpoint Paradox had created the Reverse Flash and the Tornado Twins. Ending the paradox, Barry and Iris moved the family to the 31st Century to escape Eobard Thawne's obsession with killing all speedsters, So the Flash had inherited a foe from the previous Flash just as Barry had inherited foes from Jay Garrick, the first Flash.

Turtle Man was all Wally's and he didn't want him. IQ was a complete mystery and the Flash didn't need the headache. So in exploratory gesture, he knocked IQ out.

"Not so hard," the Flash congratulated himself.

"We shall not prove to be so easy to overcome," Abra Kadabra said in his theatrical voice.

"Do me a favor and just knock yourself out, Kadabra," the Flash pleaded.

"You'll never outrun his stage craft," Turtle Man promised. Abra Kadabra relied on 29th Century technology to create "magic". But it was all carefully staged technological "illusions". Turtle Man slowed temporal fields around people or a certain radius, rendering them to be appearing very slow. Which mean the Flash would have to accelerate to Flash Time just to appear to be running at normal speeds.

Turtle Man had to be his most tedious villain. Kadabra was among the most annoying. But like Thawne, Kadabra had taken a one-way trip through time to create a legacy. Reverse Flash wanted to do it by killing every speedster that arose in the Age of Heroes. He'd repeated the process that created the Flash just in time to see Barry Allen's 29th Century arrival and be hailed as the hero Thawne had craved to be recognized as.

So in his warped little heart, he decided he could be the only speedster ever. Kadabra just wanted an audience. The bigger the better. So he was waiting on the local and national press coverage to begin. Meanwhile resisting Turtle Man was like running through molasses.

"And now, my audience awaits my triumph!" Abra Kadabra's voice was artificially augmented. Wally just groaned as the press and spectators had assembled. National news outlets were going live. And as one of the last two Founders still active in the Justice League, the Flash drew a lot of attention. A lot more than he wished for right now.

"And for my first perilous trick…" Abra Kadabra began with a flourish.

Jessica Cruz had certainly never wished to ever witness a murder and go into hiding over it. She'd never wanted to be a Power Ring. And she definitely had never asked to be a Green Lantern. Particularly the Green Lantern assigned to Earth and the Justice League in particular. It made Jess just want to stay curled up in bed for forever.

But she knew Simon Baz's case was even worse so the GL Corps rarely deployed him on Earth. But today was one of Simon's days off from patrol so he got wrangled in by Col. Trevor. Jessica felt a little guilty that she no idea who any of her opponents were. Matter Master, Chronos and Mindancer were complete mysteries to her. But she could feel Mindancer trying to much with her head the way the Ring of Volthoom had. Through sheer willpower alone she cause mental feedback to knocked Mindancer senseless.

"Who wants a piece of me now?" she tried to sound tough and brave.

"So goes the easy way," Chronos warned her, "Now you've chosen the way of pain."

"Really?" Jess was surprised, "Should you be twirling your mustache and laughing in a vaudevillian villain way?"

"Or should that be you?" Jessica asked Matter Master. Matter Master actually had a mustache while Chronos' contour hugging full face and head mask indicated he was clean shaven.

"Do you have any idea who we are?" Matter Master thundered.

"No," Jessica admitted, "Are you the forgotten villains or something like that?"

"Of all the cheek! The gall!" Matter Master raged.

"Look, I've got a power ring and you've got a helmet and some…striped tights and a cape," Jessica was at a loss, "Can we just check the 'win' box in my column and avoid my hurting you?"

Matter Master went into another tirade while Chronos calmly said, "No."

"Okay, I'm bringing it now," Jessica went Green Lantern on them.

"Good," Chronos chuckled, "We're on a schedule."

Wonder Woman had an arrow nocked in the compound bow Steve Trevor had custom made for Artemis. She watched with some curiosity as the dwarfish Dr. Psycho transformed into the towering Steve Trevor-based Captain Wonder. Trident's same named weapon energized and Caress simply stood back to watch.

"Yield or die," Artemis was compelled to warn them.

"Not happening," Trident advised her.

"Good," Artemis drew the arrow and fired it at Trident. He swatted out of the air with his forked weapon. The next shot sailed over his shoulder as he anticipated.

"You missed," he taunted Artemis.

"I never miss," she boasted, "I just changed targets"

Captain Wonder and Trident turned to see a stricken Caress collapsing. She sat her bow down and released her quiver from her belt and took up her shield and drew her sword, "Shall we?"

Trident released an energy blast from his weapon. Artemis' shield easily deflected it.

"Shall we try again? For real this time?" Wonder Woman inquired. Captain Wonder led the charge as Trident joined in. Wonder Woman was determined to sever the link Dr. Psycho was using to draw her fantasy image of Steve out of her. Then she would kill Dr. Psycho. Trident would just be collateral damage.

Simon Baz had been the only Lantern to also carry a handgun. Laira Omoto had also carried short swords as Bekka carried her sword given her by her New God father, Himon, forged on Apokolips amongst the Fear Lanterns. It was her last memento of her father and her people who'd dwelt in Supertown on New Genesis before the Light's genocidal campaigns.

But none had carried a pistol and ammunition before. It had taken words with Superman to get him to stop doing so and just trust in the power he had over his ring. So as Simon, still masked because he was an innocent man framed by the FBI as a terrorist, faced down Sonar, Mirage, and Lady Chronos he did so confidently. The Guardians of the Universe had sent back one Guardian per Lanetern Corps. Even the Zamarons, finally reunited with the Oans, agreed to these terms.

"I really don't want to figjt you people," Simon informed them, "I don't even have to arrest you. Just surrender whatever weaponry you have on you and leave Gotham City."

"Generous to a fault, But I don't think so," Sonar replied. Simon had fibbed a bit. He knew Bito Wladen was a sonic tech genius that was minor nobility from a Balkan state liberated from Soviet control in 1989. Bito had sought to create a commercial empire for his people usinmg Wladen's genius for speakers and other sonic devices for medical instruments. But the poor nation hadn't the manufacturing capability to produce Bito's devices. So he become Sonar and developed his tuning fork gun to raise capital to take back and create the manufacturing hubs that could rise his people out of poverty.

Sonar had been laughed out of Luthor and Powers boardrooms because of his humility and lack of charisma when displaying the fruits of his labors. Max Lord's Innovative Concepts had taken an interest but Max himself wanted a demonstratable prototype. Which was why Sonar had developed a weaponized version of his tech. To humble the Luthors and Powers of this world.

Lady Chronos had followed a simlar career trajectory. Except her chronal technology was laughed at as pure science fiction by those board members after Lex Luthor had proven time was immutable. She hadn't intended to alter time, just bend it in such ways as to preserve life until such time as medicine or conditions changed to repair damage to the body or cure diseases. Only Chronos had taken an unbiased interest in her work since it mirrored his own. So he reached out.

If the world wouldn't accept beneficial applications of their work, then Chronos and Lady Chronos would receive financial rewards from the fruits of their labors. So they became criminals. Eventually arriving with the Legion of Doom for short tenures before separating from it once again. It had taken all of Signalman's persuasive powers to enlist them in the Injustice Gang. But their last stop in Gotham had snared them the gold bullion reserves at Gotham's Federal Reserve Bank.

So when a mysterious offer came offering them billions to be equally shared amongst them to merely slow the Justice League down, they decided as a group to endure some lumps. The money had even been deposited in advance. Whoever had the financial resources to pay them up front and track down their individual numbered accounts had the wherewithal to find them and kill them if they failed to deliver. So the Injustice Gang willingly pitted itself against the Justice League International on the pretext of looking for Hellequin and Red Alice.

Signalman sharing the knowledge with Libra and Major Disaster that the Secret Society of Super Villains had received a similar offer. If they were the opening gambit, what else awaited the heroes while they occupied Gotham's streets and skies?

Mirage had come along simply for the money. It had always been about the money since Mirage's holographic technology had been perfected to create simulated artificial environments and characters. Such an environment wrapped itself around Simon and the Injusticers.

"The hell?" Simon was used to reality warping powers as a member of the Green Lantern Corps but rarely on Earth. And even rarer on Earth, the holograms possessed physical substance as projections of force fields and photon light emissions. So between Sonar's sonic weapon and Mirage's holograms, Simon was already under threat. What could Lady Chronos additionally bring to bear?

Carol Ferris, the Sapphire Queen, had arranged for the disgraced Star Sapphire Remoni-Notra to inherit the bulk of her shares in Ferris Air in order to provide the newly created identrity of Deborah Camille Darnell a comfortable life while serving as the Star Sapphire of Earth. Part of that arrangement was for Star Sapphire to join the Justice League. As Carol herself had been a member at one point. Debi could redeem herself and live in luxury while doing so.

Remoni-Notra had nothing to complain about regarding Deborah Darnell's life on Earth beside the occasional stockholder's meeting. Carol had split her 70% majority share between Debi and Hal Jordan. Hal received 10%. An ample reward for breaking Carol's heart. But Hal couldn't get over the fact that Sapphire law had compelled her, while Hal was still rejecting her being Sapphire Queen, to marry Kyle Rayner to bring the GL Corps and the Star Sapphires closer literally and metaphorically. Even while Kyle lived and slept with Kara In-Ze, Hal had taken great offense had been substituted.

Carol had tried stepping down and distancing herself from her binding marriage to Kyle. But in the end, hal rejected her once and for all and even the GL power rings rejected him after his had been destroyed alongside John Stewart's when Hal attacked John over his marriage to Shayera Hol. Hal had developed a demented obsession with ending romantic relations between GLs and all others.

He'd briefly been courted by a Ring of Volthoom before a Fear Ring selected him and liberated him from the Power Ring Corps' Ring of Volthoom. Now Hal Jordan had been the leader of the Fear Lanterns and member in good standing of both the Legion of Doom and the Injustice League. Debi had vainly pursued Jordan but he'd simply used her for revenge sex. Even as a Star Sapphire, Deborah found it difficult to muster even platonic love for Hal. Still, Star Sapphire had proven her worth to the Justice League International several times over by now.

She found herself confronted by Mr. Atom and the duo of Night and Fog. None of whom were infamous enough to merit recollection in Star Sapphire's mind. But as Night rolled in darkness around Star Sapphire and Fog did the same with his namesake, Debi began to wonder just how powerful they were. Mr. Atom was the one who exuded sheer confidence. As her power ring let her read his heart, Star Sapphire knew his sole intention was to harm her. So Star Sapphire simply chose not to let him. And Night and Fog were determined to assist his malevolent intentions. So she'd stop them as well. She just hadn't reckoned on the sheer amount of raw power Mr. Atom could unleash.

As a Wonder Woman, Nubia wasn't surprised to be faced with a Cheetah or Dr. Cyber. Dr. Cyber had long been one of Queen Diana's foes during her tenure as the second Wonder Woman to enter Man's World. But Priscilla Rich had been Hippolyta's enemy when she'd become the first Wonder Woman during the Great War. She'd returned to menace Wonder Woman in the next World War. But Priscilla had been rejuvenated and her youth restored to her and another Cheetah, her niece, Debi Domaine.

Nocturna was a mystery to Nubia. But the living vampire wished to sample Amazon blood. This Cheetah, unlike Barbara Minerva, fully retained her humanity. As did her niece. But they'd been given feline prowess and hardened nails-like claws. Barbara was physically the most powerful of the Cheetahs. Which warranted her invitation into the Legion of Doom. Priscilla was the most experienced which earned her place in the Injustice Gang.

Nyssa Raatko had recruited Debi after she'd been captured by Dept. of Meta-Human Affairs agents and pressed into government service. But Waller rarely called upon Domaine and Nyssa liked having a mole inside Waller's departmental machinery. Despite Wonder Woman never having laid eyes on Cheetah before, the animosity between them bordered on hatred.

Dr. Cyber hated any Wonder Woman regardless of who they actually were. Her drones encircled Nubia as Cheetah lunged in for the attack. Nubia's shield sparked as Cheetah's hardened nails scratched its surface. She attempted to use the flat of her blade against Cheetah while knocking drones quadcopters from the air.

"She'll pay for that," Dr. Cyber hissed.

"Just deliver what you promised," Nocturna advised Dr. Cyber. Wonder Woman smashed her chield into Cheetah's face to bloody her and knock her back. But it left her open. Several drones hit her with tranquilizer darts. Despite her enhanced Amazonian constitution, Nubia's succumbed.

"Keep her down," Nocturna ordered Cheetah. She then inserted an IV and began filling bags with blood.

"Truly a dream come true," Nocturna grinned.

"I could get some for you even quicker," Cheetah traced a nail across Wonder Woman's throat.

"I need her heart beating to get my quota," Nocturna warned Cheetah, "What I lose I'll take out of you."

"Why do I listen to you?" Cheetah tried to recall.

"Because I drugged you into doing so," Nocturna laughed, "I simply bought Dr. Cyber's assistance."

Nocturna was the only Injusticer that came from money. Her net worth easily outclassed the bounty being paid to each Injusticer. Gotham was her home. So she had safe houses available and equipped to store the precious blood. Dr. Cyber had no idea that Nocturna would've added to the cash bonus in order to get an Amazon's blood

Joe Jones had an inspirational and patriotic speech at every opportunity as General Glory. Donovan Wallace was far more circumspect. He believed actions provided more than any words could. He'd teach Black Spider, Crowbar, and the new Clock King civic duty if it killed them.

Black Spider at least had begun by simply targeting drug dealers. Crowbar was a simple thug with a scientifically augmented crowbar that enhanced his physical attributes. Clock King literally wore a clock as a mask. So he was simply an obsessive lunatic with a clock hand shaped sword. But the Spirit of Lady Liberty not enabled Donovan, a quadriplegic, to move again but enhanced him the way Crowbar's same named weapon did for him. Crowbar could match General Glory physically. Black Spider was the best fighter. Clock King was just one wild variable. But General Glory had stepped aside as a beat cop and he wouldn't start now as a JLer.

"Care to surrender, boys?" he asked.

"Because it's our patriotic duty?" Black Spider sneered.

"Because it'll save you from an ass kicking," General Glory told them.

"You're not the original," Black Spider assessed.

"It took you 3.2 seconds to deduce that," Clock King had a stopwatch out.

"Stop doing that," Crowbar warned him.

"That took an additional 5.7 seconds," Clock King put away the watch, "We're precisely on schedule."

"I'm so relieved you agree," Crowbar grated.

"Separate and take him together from three sides," Black Spider ordered.

"I don't take orders from you, man," Crowbar rebutted him.

"You do today," was all Black Spider replied with.

"I don't take shit off no one!" Crowbar yelled back even as he complied.

"We're lagging behind, gentlemen," Clock King said as his German accent became more noticeable.

"Nazi-assed motherfutzer! You ain't tellin' a brother what to do," Crowbar yelled at him now.

"Your ranks seem to lack discipline," General Glory observed.

"You make do with what you have not what you want to have," Black Spider replied evenly.

"I thought you always worked alone," General Glory kept his focus on Black Spider.

"I do," Black Spider told him, "For good reason."

General Glory ducked and retreated as Crowbar took a swing at his head and Clock King went low with a thrust of his clock hand sword, missed by Crowbar whom he stabbed.

"What the futz, man?" Crowbar raged and went after Clock King.

"That went well for you," Black Spider observed.

"It won't last," General Glory admitted.

"No, eventually the idiots will remember that you're the target," Black Spider allowed, "But leaves it just to us for now."

"Shall we?" General Glory adopted a boxing ready stance.

Black Spider assumed a kickboxing stance, "Ready when you are."

"Let's do this then," General Glory committed himself into action. Black Spider looked forward to it as he responded to General Glory's opening punches.

The New Earth had seen three Cyborgs. All Victor Stones. The first Cyborg had derived from Earth Prime and died as a JLer in the line of duty. The elder Victor Stone was originally from Earth-4 and was fourteen years older than his counterpart had been. This Victor had been transformed into Cyborg purely on his father's efforts. He'd stayed out of the public eye, only working with children who relied upon prosthetics and dating a therapist that taught them how to use them.

Vic Stone, from Earth-27 and half of the Prime Victor's age, was a teenager transformed by a Father Box. Vic struggled to reconcile his moral impulses with the Father Box's malevolent directives. Victor had no such hardware or software issues and was his own man. Cyborg had quickly established himself, beside General Glory, Owlwoman, and Chief Man-of-Bats as a squad leader. But Cyborg's self-appointed foes had wisely cut him off from his fellow JLers.

Col. Future used futuristic technology as weaponry. Electrocutioner had his famed electrical gauntlets and a bad attitude, bluff, and bluster. The Ghost used a phasing device to enable him to pass through physical objects though energy fields could still affect him to a certain degree.

"I've looked forward to this day," Col. Future admitted, "My tech genius versus the vaunted Cyborg."

"Maybe you want the younger Cyborg with the Outsiders," Victor replied.

"You'll do fine," Col. Future promised him.

Electrocutioner charged his gauntlets, "Let's just roast his ass."

Ghost stood off to observe how his fellows fared. Direct confrontation wasn't Ghost's specialty. Though he knew how to fight. Col. Future fired his anti-proton beam at Cyborg. Victor erected an energy shield that deflected the beam at Electrocutioner. But the former assassin was already headed at Cyborg. Victor's systems threatened to overload as Electrocutioner's blows rained down on him. Cyborg's organic parts also suffered from the repeated shocks.

"Poor Cyborg," Col. Future chuckled maliciously, "Let's see of we can add to your discomfort"

He enveloped himself in an electrostatic forcefield and then joined Electrocutioner is shocking Cyborg slowly to death. Ghost just stood by

The woman known as Strange Visitor didn't remember her life as Sharon Vance or any moment before the Lady of Order, Kismet, saved her from a plane crash and empowered her as an Agent of Order. She didn't know who the Infinite Man was but she could sense he was a Chaos Avatar. Beside him stood the equally mysterious Invisible Destroyer.

"Imagine my dismay discovering Order had an agent in place within the Justice League," Infinite Man taunted her, "Giving my being here today even greater purpose."

Invisible Destroyer simply turned, well, invisible.

"Now you die, Agent of Order!" Infinite Man screamed as he charged forward. Strange Visitor was no longer a corporeal being. She was composed of energy fields. Her primary powers being electrical in nature. So Infinite Man's initial physical attacks did little to her. Then he began to draw on the infinite nature of Chaos magic and his blows began to register pain within Strange Visitor. Strange Visitor blew him back with an electrical surge.

His smile was rictus of conflicting desires, "So, the agent has teeth."

She felt pain as the Invisible Destroyer laid hands on her and disrupted her energy fields. But he quickly withdrew, still invisible, having only become visible while he inflicted destructive energy into her core matrix.

"You can't win, agent. Order cannot stand against Chaos," Infinite Man boasted.

"Shut up and let's finish this," Strange Visitor demanded of them both.

Wenonah Littlebird was dismayed. As Owlwoman she had the ability to fly and extend talons from her fingertips. She had great pride in the fact that three Native American tribes were represented in the JLI. Owlwoman was irked by the Injustice Gang's timing. Wenonah's closest friend from her Reservation days was in New York City to meet Liam McHugh.

Sussa Many Hearts knew Wenonah since they were children together and would see the truth behind Wenonah's growing love for Liam. Was it true or a shadow of what she'd felt for his cousin, and fellow Jack O'Lantern, Daniel Cormac? Every second wasted with the Injustice Gang just delayed that meeting and revelation. Though Owlwoman strongly felt it would only confirm what her heart was already telling her.

Two out of her three opponents that Isolated her were known quantities. Punch and Jewelee used powers strings and gems to project energy and create hover discs. They were married and obnoxiously proud of that fact. Throwing it everyone faces with unwarranted and unchecked PDA.

Moonbow, though, was a mystery. Owlwoman had never seen a white girl with bleached platinum white hair with a crescent moon tattooed on her face before. That was a First Nation mark given only to the finest archers and hunters. If Moonbow had truly earned it, Owlwoman could be in actual trouble.

The Crimson Queen had experimented on Owlwoman while she was in the Queen's thrall. The magic that gave Owlwoman her flight powers hadn't been enhanced but her talons had been an addition made to her as well as her enhanced tracking senses. Most of the captive Global Guardians had likewise been "improved". Jack and Little Mermaid being exclusions. Jack's power exclusively derived from his fey lantern. Ulla Paske's half-Atlantean physiology hadn't been deemed needing alteration. The Crimson Queen's unheralded genius at mind control having suborned the heroes' wills to her own.

The Queen herself was dead now at the hands of her baby daddy, Lex Luthor, in a custody dispute. But her body was now the host to a succubus and the demon enjoyed having all of the Crimson Queen's memories. But she'd earned Erishkigal Narayana's undying wrath. Though she'd "magnanimously" restored Scarlet Rose and returned her to her sister, Disco Mummy still controlled Suri. And she always would.

Punch and Jewelee formed their hover discs and went airborne. Owlwoman joined then as their power tokens began to fire. Moonbow nocked an arrow but didn't draw it or aim it yet. She was as careful as Owlwoman had feared. When Moonbow struck it would be when Owlwoman was at her most vulnerable and it was the most unexpected outcome.

Punch and Jewelee attempted to cage Owlwoman within a certain periphery. To be expected if they were herding the game to the hunter. So Wenonah focused on breaking free for the cage and staying out of Moonbow's estimated range. The arrow that pierced her just above her heart was as unexpected as Owlwoman had feared it would be.

While she'd aerially danced with the couple, Moonbow had adjusted her position and taken precise aim and narrowly missed a kill shot by pure happenstance that Owlwoman had minutely adjusted her position in response to Jewelee's recent power blast. Moonbow's kill having been foiled by her own "partner".

Owlwoman knew she'd never get that lucky again. If she survived this first strike. Which was getting less and less likely as the pain distracted her and made her head cloudy. Which just gave Punch and Jewelee their opening to finish her off regardless of Moonbow's further participation.

"Guns `n a frightful razor bladed glove?" Jack O'Lantern mocked Cannon and Steelclaw, "That's the best ya futzer's got?"

"An' you! Whut's yer futzin' story?" Jack asked of the Spook.

"It's a big gun," Cannon sulked.

"Don't stoop to his level," Steelclaw "cracked" his gauntlet covered knuckles.

"You'll see soon enough," the Spook promised.

"Good. `Cause ye yobbos ain't seen nuthin' yet," Jack's head ignited and the eldritch fire composed a pumpkin Jack O'lantern's head, "How'z that?"

"Better," the Spook said amicably. Cannon opened fire. The rounds melted in bursts of flame before they reached Jack. Then his cannon ignited and melted.

"That's not fair," Cannon complained.

"Wait fer it," Jack said as Steelclaw's gauntlets ignited. The man screamed in pain as he tried to slough molten metal from his hands and arms.

"I guess it's just you and me now," the Spook's voice altered into an eerie cadence and echoing tone. Jack came to realize he'd underestimated one foe at least.

Mr. Element and Dr. Alchemy had originally been the same man. But just as he'd been a foe to a legacy hero so too did he inspire two legacy holders to take up his names while he rotted away in Iron Heights. Mr. Element and Dr. Alchemy were traditionally the Flash's foes. The original had been Barry's enemy while the new title bearers were Wally's.

Trajectory had studied up on them perchance she she should encounter them. After serious of successful robberies in Central and Keystone Cities, foiling both Flashes that lived there, they'd simply vanished. Only to reappear with the Injustice Gang in Gotham over the last several weeks. Signalman had seemed to recruit the lesser known archenemies of prominent JLers or their legacy holders. He himself being a prime example. But he'd once been a member of the Legion of Doom however briefly. Still, it was hallmark amongst super villains.

Eliza Harmon had seen much while she'd been in the Speed Force. Her body adapting to it rather than the artificial meta-gene the Everyman Project had tried to develop within her. The experiment nearly killed her…it should've killed her. But Trajectory had begun using Velocity 9 to make up for her faltering artificial powers. The combo supposedly killing her. Instead they'd shifted her near-corpse inro the Speed Force itself where she healed and developed an actual connection to the primordial force.

"So who should begin?" Mr. Element asked Dr. Alchemy.

"Do be a sport and begin testing her," Dr. Alchemy replied. Trajectory was tired of them already. But their abilities to transmute states of elemental nature put her on her toes.

"I never got the chance to kill Batman so I guess a member of Batman International will have to do," Signalman told Chief Man-of-Bats.

"You confuse me with my brother, Man-of-Bats," Robert Great Eagle advised Signalman as he warily watched as Night Slayer rounded about him.

"Oh, I have the right man, Chief Man-of-Bats. You see, I have the new Batman International's membership rolls and your name is listed," Signalman warned him, "And we have a surprise for you."

"What could you possibly…?" Chief Man-of-Bats lost the power of speech as Night Slayer presented himself restraining Raven Red with a knife to the boy's throat.

"A trade then," Signalman offered, "Your life for his."

"What kind of man are you?" Chief Man-of-Bats angrily demanded to know.

"One who wins," Signalman laughed.

Col. Cameron Scott, then Capt. Scott USAF, had become the first Capt. Atom during the Vietnam War as the military tried to replicate the accident that created Dr. Manhattan and the prior had refused to take part in the war effort. The experiment was a mixed success at best. Capt. Atom retained his humanity at the cost of losing a great amount of comparable power. But the experiment at Scott's career as a government agent was successful enough they tried again with Capt. Nathaniel Hale, creating the energy matrix being known as Captain Atom.

A special containment suit was developed to house Captain Atom's energies and give him physical form. A secondary attempt created the unstable Major Force. Both had died by being dissipated beyond recovery. So Col. Scott had been reactivated as Capt. Atom. But even the JLI didn't know his history. They assumed he was an altered version of Captain Atom. Capt. Atom feigned amnesia to dissuade the pthers from becoming too close. Only Nightshade knew the truth

Eve Eden and Cameron Scott had been dating for several months before his reactivation and then her recruitment into the Justice League International as part of the Dark Justice branch. It was a shared game pretending they had no other association with one another. One Nightshade greatly enjoyed playing.

The Dark Justice unit of the JLI had been called away so Nightshade wasn't present with the team in Gotham. Something that dismayed Capt. Atom. Scott had turned to the administrative side of military operations so he was unfamiliar with most modern super villains. Neutron, Dr. Double X and the Untouchables were unknowns to him. The criminals calling themselves Dillinger, Bonnie and Clyde able to phase shift through material and energy states.

Neutron was easily Capt. Atom's nuclear equal and Dr. Double X's energy blasts could harm the JLer. As he was about to discover. Dr. Double X opened the fracas by blasting an overconfident Capt. Atom. As he staggered under the weight of the blast, Neutron hit him with hard rads.

The Untouchables, who themed after the 1930s gangsters they took their code-names from, opened fire with highly modified energy projecting tommy guns that also hit Capt. Atom with photon "bullets" that caused mind blowing pain.

"Just give in and let it happen," Neutron advised him. Capt. Atom had never given up. And he wasn't about to start now.

Fire faced three unknowns, at least to her. Which Beatriz da Costa found slightly insulting. She was veteran JLer and a Brazilian Intelligence operative before she'd become the Green Flame and now Fire.

Kalista was obviously a Tamaranian. The alien mercenary had deserted the Omega Men and betrayed them to their deaths. Earthworm was an old Flash foe from Jay Garrick's days. Rat Catcher was evidently French and she had a rat fetish. Kalista soared into the air while Earthworm opened a hole in the street beneath Fire. Bea ignited into her plasma form and joined Kalista in the skies even as Rat Catcher summoned a legion of rodents from the sewers

Kalista lacked Blackfire and Starfire's abilities to cats solar bolts. But she'd been trained as an assassin by the intergalactically famed Warlords of Okaara. She seemed to prefer energy and bladed weapons. Neither of which could conventionally harm Fire in her plasma form. But someone had forewarned Kalista when she prepped for her chosen traget. Her plasma gun disrupted Fire's being, causing intsnese pain.

Earthworm opened holes in the street that Kalista tried forcing Fire into. Rat Catcher's vermin army waited to immolate themselves swarming over her body iuntil they smothered her flames and consumed her mortal flesh. All in all, Bea wished she was back in Rio.

Ice found Overthrow and Goldface to just be odd. Overthrow used scoops to hurl explosive discs at her. Goldface used tech toys to try to batter away Ice's defensive ice shields. Fadeaway Man was her greatest threat. He could literally fade away and reappear at will at other locations to physically threaten Ice.

Tora Olafsdottir had left the icy regions in northern Norway to learn about the world of humanity. Her brethren having been worshiped by ancient Scandinavians as ice gods. Then she decided to try to help alleviate the suffering she saw there caused by ambitious exploiters.

But since Ice joined the Justice League it had been one battle after another. Now even their sponsors in the UN were turning against them. Tora's idealistic view of the United Nations eroding into pessimism. A mood the ever optimistic Ice was beginning to slide towards more and more frequently. Even the one bright spot in Ice's life, her friendship with Fire, was doomed. Ice was immortal. Fire wasn't. So Overthrow, Goldface, and Fadeaway Man battered away at more than Ice's defenses. They hammered out at her soul as well.

"Inuk chuk," Apache Chief said as he grew in stature.

Black Mass simply increased Apache Chief's gravity while Black Thorn mystically hammered away at Apache Chief's source of power. Apache Chief additionally hardened his density to further resist the gravity field Black Mass was projecting while Black Thorn's druidic mysticism failed to affect First Nation magic. But Apache Chief still struggled just to move.

Bolt was a Hollywood electrical and special effects engineer by trade and a super villain by choice. He'd been a foe of the original Blue Devil. His son had taken up his mantle as Dreadbolt. But Bolt had his own misgivings regarding Dreadbolt's associates in the Terror Titans. Disruptor in particular seemed a homicidal lunatic. His suit was designed to absorb and throw off electrical charges. Hence his predilection to face down Black Lightning and the original Blue Devil. Evil Star had no personal grudge against one of the original Super Friends but was convinced by Bolt that Black Vulcan was a target of choice. While Bolt countered Black Vulcan's own power, Evil Star would have an opening to finish off the hero.

"Guys, really?" Black Vulcan tried to reason with his foes. His mentor, Jefferson Pierce, had always attempted to diffuse a situation as Black Lightning. He'd passed that lesson onto his own daughters, Thunder and Lightning. While Jefferson had retired from the superhero scene to raise his daughters, Black Lightning was now a Young Justice instructor.

A young Black Vulcan and been presented to Pierce as a protégé. Black Vulcan had dedicated his life to bettering life for communities otherwise bogged down by oppressive forces. A mandate that helped dictate that the Super Friends leave the Justice League Unlimited when it became the Justice League International. The three had refused to become the face of what they saw as multitude of oppressive regimes. Superman and the Flash had eventually convinced them they could only change the world from within its power structures. And admittedly, Black Vulcan's impact had narrowed to specific neighborhoods in the interim.

He wanted to affect more than just the local Intergang 100 and 1000 bosses. So he was the first to be swayed by the argument. Bolt was a veteran super villain if a somewhat obscure one of late. Evil Star had joined Grodd's iteration of the Secret Society before Luthor took it over and later disbanded it in order to create the Legion of Doom. Grodd had made peace with Luthor for a time and they worked together as Legionnaires. But Grodd inevitably betrayed Luthor and died for it.

Bolt had gone his own way after the Secret Society shut down. He'd been an independent operator again until Signalman recruited him for the Injustice Gang. Evil Star had followed the same career trajectory, with a stint in Belle Reeve in between memberships.

"Really? You want to do this?" Black Vulcan inquired with a shade of disbelief.

"More than anything," Bolt admitted.

"The pay's good," Evil Star shrugged.

That was a JLer's first clue that the Injusticers were motivated by mercenary motives rather than their ostensible bounty hunting. Mercenary reasons that compelled them to engage the Justice League rather than slip away and resume their hunt for Hellequin and Red Alice. Black Vulcan knew then that he had to end the fight in order to divulge his deduction to the others. Which further meant, he had to engage Bolt and Evil Star with violence in order to dissuade them from killing him.

"Fights on, then," Black Vulcan streamed electricity at them. Bolt intercepted and absorbed the charges.

"Got anything better?" the villain grinned victoriously.

"Like this?" Evil Star's star shaped mask began to glow and then erupted with an energy discharge. One that would've killed Black Vulcan had it connected.

"Well, shit," Blakc Vulcan grumbled as Evil Star lined up for a second shot and Bolt covered him to deflect anything Black Vulcan sent to stun the Injusticer threat.

"I do not know you," Samurai politely admitted to FireFist and Lodestone, "I have no quarrel with you."

"Yeah, but I have few million quarrels with you," FireFist boasted.

"With a few million to be added if you die," Lodestone's magnetic power began ripping nearby cars into shrapnel to hurl at Samurai. FireFist's fists literally projected fire. But air and fire were Samurai's to command. He snuffed FireFist's flames and created a vortex to capture Lodestone's projectiles.

"Shall we conduct ourselves honorably then?" Samurai asked. FireFist still struggled to reignite his hands.

"Well?" Lodestone was impatient, "Kill him already!"

"I can't!" FieFist lamented, "He's canceled my power."

"Not mine. Wind or no wind," Lodestone decided. She snared every piece of metal she could and threw it at Samurai. Whose winds became a mighty hurricane to blow at Lodestone's weapons and redeposit them miles away.

"You have no hope of victory," Samurai advised them, "I suggest honorable surrender."

"I suggest you honorably shove it up your ass," Lodestone snarled.

"So be it," Samurai sighed.

Certain Justice League reservists currently in Gotham had been called into action against the Injustice Gang. Jack Ryder had been a spectator of the brewing conflict in his capacity as a news pundit host. He ripped off the patch that prevented his transformation into the Creeper and then shucked his clothes and adopted his minimalist attire and bounded off to confront the team of the Harlequin and the Jester.

The Harlequin was merely latest legacy holder of a crime tradition dating back to the original Green Lantern's guardianship of Gotham beginning in 1940. The name had passed down from one woman to the next through the decades since. The Jester was an ex-cop that had tired of the seemingly endless crime wave. So he decided to become part of the problem thereby solving his conflict.

"What'choo lookin' at bee-yoo-tee-full?" Creeper asked Harlequin as he landed in front of her.

"Oh God, anybody but him," Harlequin bemoaned.

"He a problem?" Jester wondered.

"Simply a half naked migraine," Harlequin explained.

"I can hear you," Creeper reminded them, "And it's not like I couldn't offer you some fashion advice as well."

"Do tell," the Jester was already feeling offended.

"First of all, these pants. And the mask. Too…too…" Creeper smashed his fist in the Jester's otherwise unprotected face, "Ha! Sucker punch. That's why you need a face guard."

"You're one to talk," Harlequin had a gun on him now.

"And hide my magnificence from the gawking world?" the Creeper asked melodramatically, "You must be joking. Wait! You're Harlequin so of course you must be joking."

"Only I'm not," Harlequin deadpanned.

"Oh, my wounded soul! Quick! Shoot me and end my suffering," Creeper begged. She fired and he easily dodged away while she pulled the trigger. The bullet squarely hit the Jester.

"Why?" he asked before collapsing.

"Hmm…it seems you need some firearms safety course training," the Creeper assessed.

"Will you ever shut up?" Harlequin demanded.

"No," Creeper just grinned at her

Brie Larvan adjusted the intake from her goggles as she controlled her swarm of mechanized insects. The Bug Eyed Bandit hated her press given name but the goggles did have that affect she had to admit. Right now, everything she had to offer was committed to attacking the Atom.

Ryan Choi was new to the superhero game but not so new as to simply stand in one place and wait for a cloud of robot bugs to kill him. So he shrank to their size. He hopped onto closest one. Others converged to destroy it to get to him. So he simply hopped onto an attacker. The cycle repeated itself. The Atom kept going this way but he wondered how long he could keep it up before one of the attackers goy him or he slipped and fell and was killed while recovering.

Tatsu Toro was done with the Yamashiro name. She'd grieved, avenged, betrayed, and had sex with both her husband and his murdering brother before Takeo died for Maseo's death. The brothers themselves, their souls both trapped within the SoulTaker, had vowed their penance was to leave Katana in peace. Meanwhile, in her spare time from the Birds of Prey, Katana dismantled the Yakuza's operations in North America.

After being strengtehen by the Imperialist Forces during the Occupation, the Yakuza had flaunted their identities in Gotham. Providing Katana with a target list. The SoulTaker was being well fed before Intergang interfered and the JLI called up Katana from the reservists rolls.

Saber and Fire Jade had been warned Katana was in Gotham and could prove to be an obstacle. So they delegated themselves to solving the Injustice Gang's Katana problem. Saber wanted to test his skill with a sword against Katana. Fire Jade wanted to be the assassin that finally killed the assassin killer.

Katana hadn't rallied with the other JLers but stayed in the shadows nearby. That was where Fire Jade and Saber sought her out. She was aware of their approach well before they could do anything to harm her. She drew the SoulTaker from its scabbard.

"I see you both come prepared," she'd observed. Fire Jade drew her sword even as Saber delightedly unsheathed his.

"Together or separate?" Katana inquired. The killers moved as one.

Katana smiled, "So much the better."

The Secret Society had shed members to the Legion of Annoyance as of late. But those that remained were the deadliest and most skilled. The JSA's information on the Secret Society was dated and their actual composition of foes surprised the JSAers.

Green Lantern, the first human to bear the title, studied Major Disaster and Big Sir, "Someone told me you were trying to go straight."

"I am what I am. It's in the name," Major Disaster warned Alan Scott. Rather than bear a ring powered by the Emerald Light of Will from the Emotional Spectrum, Alan's ring was derived from the Green Flame, a merger of the Oans' Starheart and the Earth elemental force. Various champions had been chosen since the merger but Alan represented the very best that the Green Flame sought from humanity. The ring was fashioned as a focusing tool for Green Lantern to employ the power of the Green Flame.

His name was drawn from the fact the Green Flame chose to also craft a green lantern to symbolically charge the power ring every 24 hours to keep Alan humble. Green Lantern being unaware that the Green Flame infused his body and he himself was the true power source for the ring. What he was aware of was that Major Disaster had the singular ability to generate otherwise natural disasters at will.

He could generate earthquakes without needing fault lines. Tornadoes, hurricanes, or typhoons without storms. Tsunamis without shock waves. Magma eruptions with no previous displacement or warning. Sinkholes in solid granite. The list was endless.

Big Sir was a mountain of a man with a child's mind. Physically, he could give Wonder Woman a run for it. Though Hippolyta would never admit as such.

Green Lantern struck first and swiftly. His bludgeon construct knocking Major Disaster out before he could react. Big Sir, however, did react. With a tantrum fueled rage wielding the strength of Solomon Grundy.

The Flash faced three speedsters at once. Jay Garrick knew he was the slowest of the three men to bear the name but he'd been the very first. But he was still faster than Speed McGee, Expressman, and Express.

Speed McGee used a steroidal compound to enhance his speed in an experimental process his wife, Tina, had rejected as potentially mood and mind altering. She'd been proven right. Which was one reason why Dr. Tina McGee led STAR Labs.

Expressman and his grandson, Express, used an alchemiac formula to achieve super speed. Unlike a Speed Force enabled speedster, the trio all faced fatigue and friction burn vulnerabilities. Express had reformulated his grandfather's elixir and was faster and more resilient but still fell short of the Flash's potential.

Speed McGee was just one steroid dose from a heart attack or a murderous rampage. It looked as though he was ready for both at that moment. Expressman was Jay's age and looked as though he bore the weight of the world on his aging shoulders. Express was young and cocky. It reminded Jay of Impulse, Kid Flash, and Kid Mercury, Max Mercury's grandson. Somehow that trait had passed over Jesse Quick.

But Jesse Chambers and Rock Tyler had retired upon Jesse getting pregnant. The Flash missed Jesse's brilliance and the younger Hourman's resolute enthusiasm. Not that having Rex Tyler back was anywhere near detrimental in anyway. But the original Hourman was still an action junkie.

The Flash reacted just as Speed McGee, Expressman, and Express exploded into action. The Flash had spent years under Wildcat's tutelage. So Jay knew how to exploit his speed in devastating ways. Only the Reverse Flash and Rival were willing to explore more brutal options. Edward Clarice, the Rival, being Jay's Reverse Flash.

The Flash quickly sized up his opponents. Speed McGee was a literal madman. Express was young and opportunistic but also very impatient. Expressman was the real threat. He was cooler headed and calculating, exploiting vulnerabilities as they presented themselves. Despite Speed McGee's aggression and Express' constant attacks, Expressman had been the only one to hurt Jay in any meaningful way so far.

The Flash realized he couldn't face all three of them united at his age. It was simplicity itself pitting Speed McGee against Express. Now it came down to just the Flash and Expressman. The only actual contest since the fighting began.

"Don't you boys want to help me out?" Sweet Sixteen, who appeared younger than her actual thirty-two years, asked Wildcat, Guardian, and Dr. Mid-Nite. Sweet Sixteen's hypnotic power didn't rely on visual cues or Dr. Mid-Nite would've been excluded. But her telepathic power only worked on men.

"What the futz?" Hawkgirl demanded to know, "What the hell is wrong with all of you?"

"Kill them!" Sweet Sixteen demanded. The men flew into hostile action. Hawkgirl took to the air but had to evade Guardian's hyperkinetic rounds. Wildcat and Dr. Mid-Nite worked together to attack the Whip, the Tarantula and Spider Queen. Wildcat was one of the greatest fighters of all time. Dr. Mid-Nite was blind but could "see" in the dark so he employed dark goggles and blackout bombs to gain an advantage over his foes.

Shelley Gaynor was a legacy heroine as the Whip. Her heritage went back to colonial California. Texas Ranger Catalina Flores had been an FBI Special Agent until being the Tarantula had interfered with her work life. The Rangers were willing to look the other way and back her plays in and out of uniform. Shannon Kane had genetically modified cow's lactose glands to spin spider silk and she'd become the Spider Queen.

Right now, Spider Queen and the Tarantula had fallen victim to one of Dr. Mid-Nite's blackout bombs and were back to back trying to defend themselves from Dr. Pieter Cross. Meanwhile the Whip was using her namesake weapon to fend off multi-time Boxing World Heavyweight Champion, Ted Grant, as Wildcat. Wildcat was also an undefeated Meta-Human Brawl champion. So the Whip couldn't afford to let him within arm's reach. Even if it meant using her bullwhip's stinger.

James John Digggle was an excellent marksman with both rifles and pistols. As Guardian he used a modified pistol using the hyperkinetic rounds developed for Greg Saunders when he'd been Vigilante. Getting hit by one was like having a bus dropped on you from altitude. Hawkgirl ran evasive patterns while trying to reason with Dig. But one of his shots connected and Hawkgirl was swatted out of the sky and plummeted like a dead bird.

"Oh, boys. You shouldn't. Not just for me," Sweet Sixteen exulted in her seeming victory.

"And who are you supposed to be?" Power Girl asked her armored prospective opponent.

"I'm called Carapax the Indestructible Man," his mechanized voice replied.

"Lead lining, smart," Power Girl smirked, "Guess I'll just have to rip that helmet off to see who you really are."

"You can try," Carapax snorted. Green crystalline elements were exposed as hatch slits opened up. Proving the suit was lined with green kryptonite, "I came prepared."

Power Girl staggered back. Before she was known as Power Girl or Karen Starr, Galatea Hamilton had mainly been known as Kara In-Ze's clone. Like their Kryptonian ancestors, Argoans were vulnerable to kryptonite. Green being a lethal variant.

"I see you're feeling it," Carapax unloaded a right cross across Power Girl's face.

She stumbled back and spat blood out and wiped it from her nose, "Worst mistake you ever made."

"You'll be dead soon," Carapax's synthesized chuckle seemed unreal, "So what can you really do to me?"

Power Girl wore a feral grin, "I was hoping you'd ask."

Wonder Woman was confronted by Angle Man. Hippolyta wondered just what he could do with his triangular angle iron. Then he thrust his fist through it and it connected with her jaw. Angle Man then created a triangular portal and stepped through it to appear behind Wonder Woman. He kicked her backside. But her armor shielded her from the blow as well as over two thousand years of battle experience.

Hippolyta drew her sword and went at Angle Man, who portalled elsewhere. But she had her shield ready to block his next surprise attack. She nearly sliced him in half and he portalled a retreat. She was wary now, looking everywhere for the triangular outline that would herald a developing portal. A large outline formed up in front of her and Hippolyta readied her shield and sword. And then Angle Man drove a bus into her.

Wonder Woman was rattled but not down. She gazed about as Angle Man prepared his next attack. She didn't see the portal appear above her or the armored car that drop atop of her. Angle Man hit the ground rolling, having bailed out of the armored car as it went through the portal.

Even if Wonder Woman survived, his next attack would be a physical bane upon her being as he portaled her arm elsewhere and severed the connection and thereby her arm. He gloated as he made his approach. She'd never see it coming. Yet when he reached the truck, Wonder Woman was nowhere to be found.

Michael Holt had anticipated meeting two criminals since becoming Mr. Terrific in Terry Sloane's original footsteps as a JSAer. One was the inexplicably young Terry Sloane who called himself Master Terrific. The other, Mr. Terrible, stood before him now. T-Squares positioned themselves to engage Mr. Terrific's T-Spheres.

"You even copied my jacket," Mr. Terrific said dismally.

"No, I improved your jacket," Mr. Terrible gloated. Mr. Terrific's sleeves said "Fair" on one sleeve and "Play" on the other. Mr. Terrible wore "Cheat" and "Foul."

"We going to debate fashion superiority or finally settle who is better?" Mr. Terrible asked.

"I already have my answer," Mr. Terrific promised him. Mr. Terrible said something unprintable and his T-Squares attacked. Mr. Terrific's T-Sphere's defended. He began to teleport around to try and catch Mr. Terrible off guard. But Mr. Terrible copied him yet again.

Summer Day began stripping.

"I'm flattered, Really. But this is unnecessary," Hawkman promised her.

"Sure it is," she transformed into the Hyena.

"Well that answers that," Carter Hall grumbled and took to the air. Hyena began hunting down bystanders to draw Hawkman back to the ground. Hyena was known for her wild impulses. But she was about to discover why Carter was labeled the "Savage" Hawkman by law enforcement officials.

Cliff Steele had become the second Robotman when "the Chief" Niles Caulder transferred his living brain into a robot body as he assembled the Doom Patrol. The procedure had actually been pioneered in 1941 when Dr. Robert Crane had first constructed such a body with the intention of using it to house the brain's of the terminally ill or traumatically wounded soldiers destined to die until such time as living bodies could be cloned for them. That procedure was still decades away from the modern era.

The Mafia learned of Crane's development and wanted the robot body to "save" their don. Crane refused and was mortally wounded. Guiding his own spared research assistant, Crane's mind was transferred into the robot body and the very first Robotman was born.

Robotman had joined the JSA years after it had been first created in 1940. He joined in their effort to defend the USA since Hitler's use of the Spear of Destiny and the Dragon King's implementation of alchemiac sorcery prevented the Justice Society from operating in either theater of war, even as civilians. That chore left to the original Blackhawk Squadron, the Freedom Fighters, while the Minutemen assisted in the domestic chores. Robotman had followed the JSA into official retirement in 1951 but not into Limbo to prevent Ragnarok in `52.

Slipping into obscurity until the Eighties when he joined the All Star Squadron, he celebrated the JSA's release from Limbo in `87. The Justice Society retired again, a well deserved one. The Watchmen, the All Star Squadron, and the American Crusaders all faced heightened scrutiny and all eventually disbanded no later than `89. But in 1980, an obscure and then increasingly infamous Batman made his debut. Ten years later, Superman entered the superhero field. The Justice League wouldn't form until 2001.

The Justice Society reconstituted in 2006 with the mission to train up the next generation of heroes. That mission was two-fold. They'd accepted adult members into the JSA to train them up and recently convened the Young Justice program for teens. With the collapse of Spyral after the Near Apocalypse of 2009, Katherine Webb-Kane had come aboard Young Justice as its administrative officer.

Black Lighting, Max Mercury, and Paula Nguyen were its permanent instructors with the JSA members rotating as instructors and field mentors. Most of the first graduates had already joined the Justice League Outsiders. Superboy, Miss Martian, and Wonder Girl staying on with Young Justice as field exercise instructors.

Wendy Harris and Marvin White came aboard as Proxy and Paragon with their dog, Wonder Dog, as well Cullen Row as peer mentors. Everyone at the program agreed Marvin and Cullen made the cutest couple. Cullen's older sister, Harper, had resigned from being Bluebird to attend MIT on a full academic scholarship.

Cullen lived at the K-Star Ranch in the dorms and his every need was provided for by either Young Justice, Marvin, or Wonder Dog. Marvin, Wendy, and Felicity Smoak all recently discovering they shared a common father, the criminal known as the Calculator.

Robotman had been persuaded to come back to the modern Justice Society. Over the decades he'd improved the quality of his metal body and made it appear more human. Far more than poor Cliff Steele. But there was still seams and connective areas that laced the body and that was what Sting exploited. Being insect sized and able to command actual insects, Sting swarmed an unsuspecting Robotman and hot himself and them into the robotic body to wreak havoc.

Stargirl and STRIPE had hoped to never see another Libra. They didn't know anything about Elena Oleyinska other than she wielded the Cosmic Transmogrifier. That and she'd somehow taken it from the previous Libra. Courtney and Mike Dugan had no way of knowing that Elena had been sex trafficked into the USA as a "foreign bride" and sold to the original Libra. She'd killed him as soon as he explained that his Cosmic Transmogrifier would imprint on the first person that wielded it after he died. She'd killed him twenty minutes later.

Calling on Major Disaster and Miss Shady, they'd arranged to dispose of the body and create the new Libra's identity. Fay Shady was no longer using Libra as a proxy vote in the dual leadership of Libra and Major Disaster. Major Disaster was the senior partner in the dual power sharing arrangement. Libra didn't mind for now. When she felt she could effectively take over on her own merits, she'd simply eliminate him as well.

The Secret Society was leery of their new leader but she was winning hearts and minds. The Ukrainian-born, unlikely émigré, young woman's rags to attempted riches story appealing to most of the others. Now, Libra faced her predecessor's greatest fears.

Stargirl's Cosmic Rod had been created by Dr. Ted Knight the very first Starman, converted into a staff by Jack Knight, and her Cosmic Converter Belt had been designed and built by Sylvester Pemberton, the former Star Spangled Kid. STRIPE's armor had originally been built by Pat Dugan, the Star Spangled Kid's sidekick/protector as Stripesy, before his son Mike rebuilt it as a remote operated mecha.

Courtney's stepbrother and her had long ago put aside their resentment for each other and now they shared a half-sister in common, Patricia Dugan. Pat and Barbara Whitmore having given up trying to block their children's heroic ambitions years ago. Pat had watched over Courtney for a time as STRIPE. The younger Mike had been allowed to take part in the JSA when he and Roxy redesigned STRIPE to be run from a control pod at the K-Star Ranch or the JSA Brownstone.

The Justice Society's headquarters being underneath Wesley Dodd's old home and Young Justice being based out of the K-Star, donated by Rex Tyler. The original Libra had been Ted Knight's assistant during the retired Starman's final revision of the Cosmic Rod. He'd killed Dr. Knight to steal the plans but the Cosmic Rod went ballistic on its own and destroyed the lab. Libra had reconstructed the elements of the rod he was familiar with and the result had been the Cosmic Transmogrifier

Jack Knight had inherited the Rod had converted it into its present staff configuration. He promoted Courtney, who'd found Sylvester's belt in Pat's holdings and become a second Star Spangled Kid, to being Stargirl by Jack's giving her the Cosmic Staff. Mike had stumbled on Pat's hidden bunker buried behind the family home in Blue Valley, Nebraska and found the original STRIPE armor.

First Mike apprenticed under his dad as Pat began to step back from assisting Courtney to spend more time with Barbara and Patricia. Mike eventually redesigned the STRIPE unit into a remote mecha to convince his father to let him take over the role. Courtney had graduated high school but Mike was in his Junior year. Roxy and the remote learning curriculum at the K-Star classrooms became Mike's new experience. And he thrived under it.

Mike and Courtney, as JSAers, lived in the JSA Brownstone rather than at the K-Star dorms. Anna Fortune had moved in as well from Fate's Tower after marrying Al Rothstein. Courtney's boyfriend, Billy Batson, still lived in Fawcett City but as Shazam easily met up with Court every day.

Libra hadn't felt nervous since she'd killed her "owner" and taken the Cosmic Transmogrifier for herself. She didn't appreciate feeling that way now. The previous Libra had been obsessed with balancing the Age of Heroes begun in 1940 with the first appearances of Green Lantern, the Flash, and Wildcat. Hawkman, Hawkwoman, the original Atom, the Sandman, Dr. Fate, and the Specter soon followed.

Elena didn't give a damn. She wanted to balance her previous poverty with riches. And maybe get some justice for women like her, recruited by "foreign brides" agencies and sold into slavery across the world. But first Libra had to free herself of Stargirl and the threat she posed to Elena's confidence.

"Do it!" Libra demanded.

"What? You think I'm actually going to blast you and have you send half of the energy back at me?" Stargirl mocked her, "I may be blonde but I'm not stupid."

"Хіба!" Libra swore in her native tongue.

"That sounded naughty," Stargirl was unrelenting.

"Сука-мінету" Libra continued.

"Oooh, getting worse. I can tell," Stargirl began approaching Libra, "Have I told you that I'm a very advanced kickboxer?"

Libra now began to worry. She'd studied a few Russian martial arts before leaving the Ukraine, and while Ukraine was still strongly aligned with the Russian Federation. But like all Ukrainians, she chafed under the "Great Russians" patronizing attitudes towards the "Little Russians". At least the Belarusians got to be "White Russians". Libra was done chafing under a yoke. Implied or otherwise.

"So, you'll set down the Cosmic Staff and I'll lay down my Cosmic Transmogrifier and we'll beat each other senseless like civilized people?" Libra inquired.

"I could have STRIPE beat you senseless right now," Stargirl suggested.

"Yeah," STRIPE's mechanized voice conveyed Mike's enthusiasm.

"Fine. We'll play your way," Libra conceded, "But you take off the Cosmic Convertor Belt as well."

"Done and done," Stargirl complied. Libra did as well and shucked her outer robe to reveal the body glove underneath. Courtney saw how in shape Libra was and worried for half a second before her overconfidence kicked into overdrive again.

"Then let's do this," Stargirl enthused.

«Давайте, лайно за мізки», Libra agreed. Courtney didn't understand the words but she got the menacing meaning.

Hourman popped a Miraclo tablet as Velvet Tiger isolated him. She was becoming one of the premier killers in the world. Rex Tyler had been an original JSAer. His 1st Gen Miraclo pill could grant super strength and hardened bone and muscle density for one hour every twenty-four. 2nd Gen had reduced that to once every twelve hours. 3rd Gen, Rick's formula, removed the addictive properties and could be used four times every twenty-four hours. Rex's new 4th Gen could be used six times in a twenty-four hour period. But it restored some of the addictive qualities.

Rex had given Bruce Alan Wayne the formula to 1st Gen Miraclo back in the Eighties. After Batman vanished, Bruce Alan crafted his Bat-Man identity. But now, even Bat-Man was missing. Hourman had no idea that Bat-Man had delivered 1st Gen Miraclo to Crows Commander Jacob Kane and his elite militarized Batmen.

Crows Security did not publicize the existence pf the Batmen. They only contracted with Waller's Dept. of Meta-Human Affairs. Kane had recruited the Bat-Man solely to access Bruce Alan's access to Miraclo. He also gained access to monitor accounts in Intergang run banks owned by Selina Wayne, having inherited them from her brother, Carmine Falcone.

Kate Webb and Jessa Carde, the former Bat-Woman and Bat-Girl attached to Bat-Man had become valued Batmen. Through the Waynes, Kane also had a conduit to Helena Wayne and Ulysses Armstrong, the Robin and Red Robin of Young Justice. Thereby able to monitor the program and its director, Katherine Webb-Kane. These were all things the JSA and TylerChem would eventually discover. Then a reckoning would occur.

First, Hourman had to survive Velvet Tiger. She'd began by using her powers of temporal distortion to step through seconds of time to extort business men by taking pictures of them screwing their secretaries and co-workers. Then, becoming more ambitious, she'd set out as a contract killer. Now she'd earned a place in the newest incarnation of the Injustice Gang. By jumping ahead a few seconds, Velvet Tiger seemed to have super speed. But she was nearly frozen in place as she jumped. So her actions could be anticipated.

But Hourman was unaware of that just yet as Velvet Tiger struck again and again without his being able to adequately respond. The Miraclo coursing through him made it so Hourman could withstand the attacks but he still felt them. And he was on the clock as each second neared the end of his dose and he needed take a ten minute break before he could dose up again. It was all a matter of balancing time. Could Hourman withstand the punishment long enough to devise a counterattack? Could he do so swift enough to retain some portion of his Miraclo dosage in case of further threats? And could he restrain his temper as Velvet Tiger grew more arrogant and taunting?

When the second Red Tonrado, the android created by TO Morrow, was destroyed Maxine Hunkel retired her Cyclone identity and was honored to become the third Red Tornado. A name that ran in the family since her great-grandmother, Ma Hunkel, had been the original Red Tornado. Ma Hunkel had experienced a series of misadventures as the Red Tornado and was an honorary member of the JSA as well as secretly being their housekeeper.

Morrow had kidnapped a ten-year old Maxine and injected her with nanites to reproduce the Red Tornado's powers. But they wouldn't manifest for another nine years when she was a sophomore at Harvard. Now a baccalaureate and an aspiring post-grad student, Red Tornado was considered a veteran JSAer now, having once been one of the adult students mentored by the JSA Founders as Cyclone.

So Red Tornado was brimming with confidence as she confronted Weather Witch. The legacy criminal that could control limited weather patterns. But rather than employ the Weather Wizard's rather limited wand, the Weather Witch had constructed and even more powerful staff model of weather control device.

"Want to see a real tornado?" Weather Witch mocked Maxine.

"Would you?" Red Tornado asked.

"Mine'll be bigger," Weather Witch promised.

Red Tornado rolled her eyes, "That's such a guy thing."

"Says the girl who like me inherited her name from a guy. `Cept yours was a robot," Weather Witch snorted.

"I inherited my name from the original Red Tornado and then the android named after her," Maxine grated.

"A woman Red Tornado before you?" Weather Witch was surprised to hear, "Intriguing, but she must've been a nobody for no one to remember her."

"She was my great-grandmother!" Red Tornado angrily revealed.

"Like I said, another nobody," Weather Witch shrugged.

"You really do want a fight," Red Tornado realized.

"What I want, is for you to finally realize what it is I've been doing all this time," Weather Witch stated. Red Tornado looked up and saw a massive vortex cloud system building. The winds and rains began to start and the rain already flew sideways.

"Are you freakin' nuts?" Red Tornado asked.

"I just want to see if you can stop it," Weather Witch admitted, "Especially with me doing this!"

Weather Witch took a swing at Red Tornado with her staff.

"You are nuts!" Maxine decided.

"Just try and keep up if that's all you can do," Weather Witch laughed as she continued her physical assault and amplified the storm system so that a cyclone was forming at its center. Red Tornado realized it was going to be a very long day.

Judomaster was a legacy named handed down from master to student for generations, beginning with the end of the Japanese internments in the USA. Sonia Sato was the current Judomaster. She'd been summoned from Japan by the previous Judomaster, Rip Jagger. He'd culled the finest martial arts students in Japan for three candidates to be presented to him. Sonia won the tournament that chose her as the next Judomaster. Not only had she displayed exceptional skill and talent, but no foe ever laid a hand on her. She never received a blow, a trip, a throw, or a kick.

Rip Jagger suspected Sonia was an undisclosed meta-human. Potentially even unaware of her own gift. Once crowning Ms. Sato as Judomaster, Jagger reached out to the JSA to complete her training in making her a guardian for the people. Since then Judomaster had only proven Rip Jagger right in selecting her. She'd even begun to expand her limited English vocabulary. But words were unnecessary when fighting Catman.

Thomas Blake had been soft bodied and willed when he went on a big game hunt in Africa. Through a series of misadventures, his guides had left him in the bush to die. Instead a lion pride had adopted him. When he'd learned everything there was to know from the cats, he made his way back to America and became the Catman. But no longer having rutting lionesses about anymore left Catman feeling frustrated.

So he adopted thirteen-year old foster child, Katie Conn. They immediately began a sexual relationship. At age fifteen, Blake gave himself legal permission to marry her, since a guardian's signature was required. She divorced him when she turned seventeen and he was doing a stretch in Belle Reeve.

But when he returned, she was still living in their apartment and still conducting crimes under her alias as his sidekick, Kitten. Kitten was willing share a roof with Catman but not her bed. He satisfied his urges with teen prostitutes now that Kitten had rejected him. He wisely stayed out of her affairs. They'd finally become professional partners rather than a super villain and his sex toy. There was enough of a difference in their success rate to attract Signalman's offer to leave the Secret Society and join the Injustice Gang.

Catman thought Judomaster would be easy prey. But the hunted had become the hunter. Catman couldn't lay a glove or a claw on her. But she was effectively beating him senseless. So he pulled the weapon of last resort from the super villain playbook: he took a bystander hostage

"Stand still or I rip her throat out," Catman growled.

"Is that a futzing hard on pressing into my ass?" the woman angrily demanded to know.

"Maybe," Catman allowed.

"Lady, go back to beating the shit outta him," the hostage told Judomaster.

"Gothamites," Catman sighed as he tossed the hostage aside. But even with Judomaster distracted over the woman's safety, he still couldn't touch her.

"What the hell?" he asked just before she delivered a backspin kick to his jaw.

"What the futz?" Catman grumbled.

He decided he needed Kitten's help…against Judomaster and to do something about his massive erection.

Diana had replaced the dead Boomerang with a woman called the same thing. They'd quickly become a thing. Boomerang had her weapons ready and Diana had her bow drawn. But Sir Ystin and Maid Maleen had arrived on a flying horse of all things. The Shining Knight was obviously a teen girl but she didn't seem to realize it. Maid Maleen was her one true love. And Sir Ystin's squire. They had their swords drawn and were poised to deal with Boomerang and Diana.

"Oh the hell with it," Diana muttered and fired her first arrow. Boomerang threw her first namesake weapon. Neither hit their target.

"This is turning into a shitty day," Diana grumbled, then adopted a cocky smile, "So let's take them out as we go."

"I love the way you think," Boomerang confessed.

Todd Rice and Jennie-Lynn Haden were fraternal twins separated at birth when they were given up for adoption. Their father, Green Lantern, had never known about them until they tracked him down. Obsidian drew on the Shadow Realms and Jade had a power pulse in her left hand powered by the Green Flame. First, the twins had found each other despite being adopted by different families and moved to different cities.

Todd was diagnosed schizophrenic and had an abusive father who couldn't tolerate his son's mental illness issues. Jennie-Lynn grew up safe and happy. Yet strangely feeling torn asunder. Todd ran away from home and lived on the streets as he made his way cross country seeking something he wasn't even sure existed. Jennie-Lynn graduated and also headed out for a "break year" before heading to college. The twins met in the middle of the country. And suddenly their powers manifested.

Jennie-Lynn also suddenly found her skin to be permanently turned green. Using Jennie-Lynn as their template they haunted local libraries after closing hours, Todd's powers easily getting them in, they tracked down possibilities for their parentage. Both were utterly convinced the other was the missing "twin" they'd always felt they had. Eventually DNA typing would prove it. And prove Alan Scott's paternity.

Alan deduced that his wife Rose had become the villainous Thorn again and left without a word or news of her pregnancy. The entire family had suffered. They'd lacked one another and Todd had inherited his mother's mental illness. Obsidian and Jade became founding members of the first Infinity, Inc. They'd each retired afterwards. Todd into a spiral of madness and Jennie-Lynn to become a make-up artist in Hollywood. Los Angeles being the perfect place for someone with naturally green skin to hardly stand out.

Despite a disastrous confrontation between Green Lantern, Jade, and Obsidian the family was reunited in the JSA. Todd took his meds now and had a boyfriend while Jennie-Lynn worked crazy hours with long stretches of nothing in between jobs. Perfect for superheroes. But they were about to face a challenge even they might not be able to overcome.

Abigail O'Shay had been one of Jonathan Crane's last and most tortured victims. His death denying her justice and a sense of closure as well the psychic scars he'd inflcited making her permanently paralyzed by crippling fears. As one of Dr. Crane's former research assistants, Abigail had helped him develop the anti-fear toxin. She simply overdosed on it and transformed into the murderous and completely uninhibited Madame Crow.

Now Obsidian and Jade were about to be confronted by Madame Crow, who'd studied Obsidian's telltale symptoms and desired to set him free. Pitting him against his sister would be child's play afterwards. She just had to play the victim long enough to dose Obsidian and then get the wheels turning. Injecting him had proven easier then expected.

"The hell, lady?" Obsidian smacked the empty syringe out of his arm.

Madame Crow shucked her overcoat and affixed her mask, "Have no fears, Obsidian. For I've set you free."

"Free of what?" Obsidian was beginning to feel the fast acting drug take hold.

"Of everything," Madame Crow delightedly informed him, "Of every doubt, fear, and inhibition. Your sister holds you back. Don't let her anymore."

"Obsidian?" Jade asked him.

"It's true," Obsidian growled, "You exiled me to the Shadow Realms and I barely escaped alive. You've held me back since we met. No more!"

"Obsidian, this isn't you talking. It's whatever she shot you full of," Jade counseled him.

"You'd like to think that, wouldn't you?" Obsidian snarled, "Perfect little Jade. Daddy's little girl with his power. And me the cast off no one wanted."

"I want you. Green Lantern wants you. Derek wants you. We all love you and want you to be safe," Jade advised him.

"But it's your idea of safe! Not mine!" he screamed at her.

"Todd, you seriously need to calm down," Jade warned him.

"No, not anymore. I'm done with 'safe'. Now I live my life my way," Obsidian announced.

Jade looked around but Madame Crow was nowhere to be seen, "Todd, she messed with your head with that drug. She turned you against me and now she's gone `cause she did her work too well."

"I don't need you anymore. If I ever did," Obsidian said angrily, "All you've ever done is hold me back."

"I held you together. There's a difference," Jade replied.

"But your idea of 'together' is my idea of a hellish prison," Obsidian told her, "I'm leaving now. Don't try and stop me."

"Todd, you aren't safe. I can't just let walk away. I need to be certain you won't hurt yourself or anyone else," Jade warned him.

"Why would I want to do that?" Obsidian asked.

"You've wanted to before," Jade reminded him.

"That was different. I wasn't thinking straight before. Now I am," he clarified for her.

"You thought you were then too," Jade refused to back down.

"Let's not make this personal. You go your way and I go mine., And we never futz with each other ever again," Obsidian decided.

"I'm not letting you leave here," Jade gave one final warning.

"Is poor Jennie-Lynn afraid of being alone?" Todd mocked her, "Too bad. That's most of life. Get used to it. I'll tell this now. You try and stop me and I won't be held accountable for what you release inside of me."

"So now we're down to threats," Jade realized.

"I prefer to call them 'certainties'," Obsidian warned her this time.

"Don't do this," Jade pleaded, "Not again."

"Except this time there's no going back," Obsidian promised.

"That's what I'm afraid off," Jade confessed.

"You know what? I'm finally not afraid of it. Or anything else. I'm free. So let me go," Obsidian demanded.

Jade's power pulse in her hand began to glow, "I can't let that happen. Not like this. Not when you're like this."

"But this is the real me that I always have to hide. I'm sick of hiding," Obsidian decided, "So do your worst, sis. `Cause I won't hold back this time. This time you'd better kill me before I kill you if you try and stop me from going."

Jade made a construct to bind Obsidian, "I'm sorry."

"You know what? I'm not," Obsidian grew shadows into weapons and inflicted them upon Jade without qualm or mercy. She deflected them but her restraints faded away.

"You brought this on yourself. Just remember that," Obsidian wore a manic grin.

Jonni Thunder hated three things right now. She hated Gotham City. She hated Crazy Quilt. And she hated being forced into being a superhero.

"You really want to stop now," Jonni wiped the blood from her split lip. The next punch would leave a bruise and Jonni knew it.

"Okay, meet Yz. She's the Thunderbolt," Jonni transformed into her electrified alter ego, "Now you still want to play this game?"

"Try and stop me," Crazy Quilt laughed.

Yz jolted her into unconsciousness, "Easy enough."

Then she saw Jade fighting for her life against her own brother.

"That can't be good," Yz decided to take part.

"Really? This is all of you? I thought you wanted to pose an actual challenge?" Anna Fortune mocked the assembled Secret Societors arrayed against her and Atom Smasher.

"I think there are already enough of them" he replied.

"Tosh. Where's your spirit of adventure?" Anna scolded him.

"In my other tights and mask?" he ventured.

"Enough already!" the archer called the Huntress had become a killer to avenge herself upon being jilted by a lover. Seeing a happily married couple was pushing her over the edge. The Trickster was already there and Kitten was inclined to agree with the Huntress. Only Miss Shady seemed cognizant of the threat the couple posed to them.

"So do this but faster," she demanded.

"You must be the intelligent one," Anna observed, "But are you also a fighter? I wonder."

"I'm what I need to be," Fay Shady had grown up the half-Anglo daughter of an Indian prostitute in the streets of Calcutta. It was there she'd met the Mandarin for the first time and he'd gotten her in with Intergang. But her ambitions grew and she saw a seat for herself in the resurrected Secret Society.

"I believe you," Anna allowed.

"Can we just beat them up now?" Atom Smasher asked.

"Dearest, I am attempting to diffuse the situation. First with some well deserved scornful remarks to get their attention and now presenting reasonable alternatives to violence," Anna scolded him.

"There not buying what you're selling," Atom Smasher warned her.

"Alas, I fear you're right. Very well, pound them into pudding if you must," Anna sighed, "I'm ever so sorry. But he gets this way when people threaten him or a city full of people. You will try and understand, won't you?"

Atom Smasher grew to be three stories tall and attacked the Trickster, Kitten, and the Huntress together.

"Ah, ah!" Anna dodged out of the way as Domino Lady tried to ambush her, "It seems your ruse with Miss Shady has failed, Domino Lady."

"You recognize us?" Domino Lady was surprised.

"A lethal vigilante gone rogue paired with an underappreciated criminal mastermind?" Anna asked, "How could I not? Now have a care and surrender."

"We have all the guns," Domino Lady was joined by Miss Shady in aiming their weapons and jacking the hammers back to ease the trigger pull required to fire the pistols.

"But, I am an Agent of Order and no mere firearm can stand against me," Anna made a waving gesture and the pistols began to glow as they superheated. But the gunpowder in the rounds was rendered inert rather than exploding.

"Shall we call it a draw then?" Anna suggested.

"I'm going to kick your orderly ass," Domino Lady predicted.

"I suppose you feel the same?' Anna glanced over towards Miss Shady.

"You're an obstacle in my path. I tear those down," Miss Shady promised.

"Very well. I hadn't wanted to do this before," Anna snapped her fingers

"Is that really a keyboard strapped across your chest?" Shazam asked the Mad Maestro.

"A mere keyboard, you suggest?" the musician was offended, "Did Mozart merely play a piano?"

"I'm guessing you're going to say 'no'," Shazam sighed.

Mad Maestro began to play. Shazam listened for a while and then asked, "Catchy tune? Does it have a name?"

"You're not mesmerized and in my thrall?" Mad Maestro asked.

"Not in the slightest," Shazam promised him.

"We'll see," Mad Maestro resumed playing, "Shazam, I want you to deal with Captain Marvel Jr."

"He's actually just Captain Marvel now," Shazam advised him.

"Just kill him," Mad Maestro commanded. Shazam suddenly felt the need to kill Captain Marvel. Mad Maestro accompanied him as he went to confront Captain Marvel.

Lady Marvel had given up using the Batson name and gone back to her legal name of Mary Bromfield while she was still Black Mary to spite her brother. Now she simply carried on because it was her name now. Typhoon surged wave after wave at her from the bay. Lady Marvel was tired of the deluge and simply took jim out with a single punch. Then she noted that Shazam was being escorted towards Captain marvel by Mad Maestro. She knew that look on Shazam's face. She'd worn it too many times as Black Mary.

Lightning Girl hit Captain Marvel with every iota of juice that she possessed. It barely tickled him.

"Maybe you'd prefer sitting down with me for a cup of coffee?" he suggested.

Isobel Blake was flattered but saw Mad Maestro leading Shazam in for the kill.

"I think you're going to be too busy to ask me out," Lightning Girl predicted.

"What?" Captain Marvel never saw Shazam's sucker punch coming. Lady Marvel knew that only Mad Maestro's lack of understanding would save Freddy Freeman and her lives. Shazam granted them their power. He could also take it away. So she had to intervene before her brother did something he'd regret. She knew far too much about sorrow and regrets and didn't want him to have to live with any.

Will Everett was the latest hero to join the JSA as Amazing Man. Will's father developed a molecular bonding formula that he injected into Will. Granted the ability to bond and mimic any surface that he touched, Will stepped out against local Intergang elements as Amazing Man, or so he was dubbed by the local Harlem press and the New York Times. Harlem's local hero garnered the attention of the JSA Founders and they offered to hone Amazing Man's ability so that he could more effectively give back to his community.

Will himself, despite having a genius IQ, was a local business owner operating a bar. Being self employed gave him the freedom to move about as Amazing Man whenever he so chose. It also gave him the opportunity to chat up local women. Amazing Man found himself confronted by Kandy Wilson, known professionally as the Flame. Blessed, or cursed, by a chemical spill during an arson job, the Flame was granted pyrokinesis as a power. The Flame was confident she could combust or melt anything Amazing Man could become. A theory she was more than happy to test out in order to one upmanship her principal rivals, Volcana and Flame Girl.

In the Prime Universe, Commander Steel had died. But in the New Universe, Hank Heywood III was still alive and still Commander Steel. His grandfather, Citizen Steel, had served as a government agent during the WWII . He'd served alongside both the JSA and the Freedom Fighters. He'd even done a brief tour with the All Star Squadron.

Citizen Steel had possessed steel-laced bones. Commander Steel's very body had been transformed into a hardened, steel-like substance though he still resembled flesh and blood. Hank Heywood had called upon the JSA to train up his grandson. And so Commander Steel joined the Justice Society.

Today he faced the Faceless Phantom. A criminal that used an Alosun derivative recreated by Tom Strong, leader of the Agents of SMASH. The Egyptian formula granted Faceless Phantom super strength and durability. It had also unhinged an already unstable mind.

Commander Steel's synthetic muscles matched Faceless Phantom's chemically endowed strength. But unlike the bone face masked Faceless Phantom, Commander Steel was virtually indestructible. So the question was how much punishment could the Faceless Phantom take?

Bess Lynn had been a masked hero during the Revolutionary War. After the victorious end of the war, she'd returned to being a nurse and married. Having two children, Bess found herself transported by the Monitor to the future where she met her descendants, Libby Lawrence and Libby's daughter, Jesse Chambers. There she discovered that all three women had masked identities. Bess had been Miss Liberty, Libby had been Liberty Belle, and Jesse was the recently retired Jesse Quick.

At the JSA's urging, Miss Liberty donned her costume once more as part of her adjustment to the modern era. She found herself confronted by Flame Girl. Like Volcana and the Flame, Linda Dale was pyrokinetic. Having Flame Girl and the Flame on the same team just ramped up their competitive natures. Both had attempted to be superheroes. But the police and prosecutors frowned on vigilantes that burned criminals to death.

They'd escaped from government servitude as Volcana had endured. She'd given her Superman-endorsed self isolation to join Grodd's Secret Society and then Luthor's Legion of Doom. She was still a Legionnaire under the Immortal Dr. Fu Manchu's directorship while Luthor officially "divested" his interests in LuthorCorp and the Legion whilst serving as the UN's Secretary-General.

"What's with the Revolutionary War get-up?" Flame Girl asked Miss Liberty.

"I find women of this century tediously obsessed with fashions," Miss Liberty sighed, "Who are you and why are facing one another on the fields of combat?"

"You sound British," Flame Girl noted.

"I'm a Colonial born and bred I'll have you know," Miss Liberty was offended.

"I get it. You actually think you're from the Revolution," Flame Girl understood now, "I understand. My Uncle Morty thinks he's the Statue of Liberty."

"Doesn't the statue depict a maiden?" Miss Liberty was confused and was tempted to seek out Miller Harbor to look out upon the actual statue.

"Who really cares these days?" Flame Girl shrugged.

"So, shall we settle matters by a duel or fisticuffs?" Miss Liberty had a brand new revolver she'd been practicing with. Imagine! Six shots without reloading versus a ball and powder for every shot. She just couldn't fathom semi-automatics just yet despite Guardian and Harbinger's best efforts.

"I'll show you my duel," Flame Girl gestured and everything in a fifty foot radius ignited. Except for Miss Liberty and her possessions.

"Curioser and curioser," Flame Girl muttered.

"Well, that was certainly dramatic and surprising," Miss Liberty confessed, "But can you burn a bullet?"