Welcome one and all to the New Years Special! One last hurrah and one last update to every story to close out 2024 right. This is Part I. Last time, General Luthor hijacked Myriad's process to drain the Elements from Flash, Batwoman, Martian Manhunter, Superman, and Supergirl, using the system he took from the D.E.O. to hijack her system, intending to use the five Elements collected to take Malefor out and take his place. You know, typical Lex Luthor. Why Malefor trusted this guy is beyond me. Anyways, the end of this story is coming along, so what could possibly come next? Read on to discover...

(Our scene resumes in the Tower, where the remainder of the heroes are gathered in an attempt to locate those captured in the raid on the D.E.O. Brainiac 5 and Lena Luthor are manning the computer while the Waverider flies by outside with White Canary, Black Lightning, and Sentinel at the helm, preparing their computer system)

Black Lightning: Are you sure Gideon can hook up to the Superfriends' system?

White Canary: We don't really have much of a choice but to find out.

Gideon: (Activating) I should be able to connect to any system with little trouble, presuming they're up to date for their time period.

Sentinel: Then we'll be good. If there's one thing Brainy could always make sure of, it's keeping the systems up to date. (Activates the comm system) You ready, Brainy?

(Meanwhile, inside the Tower, Brainiac 5 and Lena Luthor have activated their computer system)

Brainiac 5: Tell Gideon to begin connection.

Sentinel: Roger that. (To Gideon) You heard him.

Gideon: Connecting...

(Back inside the Tower, Gideon easily connects to their supercomputer, and with the expert tech skills of Brainiac 5 and Lena Luthor, their tracking program soon has a lock on the five missing Element bearers)

Lena Luthor: (Radioing to the Waverider) We've got them!

White Canary: Then we can't waste a moment. I'll get you all aboard...

Sentinel: No need, Sara. (Picking up the comm system) Brainy, prep the Tower for flight.

White Canary: Wait what?

Sentinel: You're going to like this.

(With a few keystrokes in his computer, the entirety of the Tower converts into a star ship and is soon flying off in the direction of the signatures they're tracking, with the Waverider close behind)

Sentinel: Hang on everybody, we're on our way.

(As the two ships head off in the direction of wherever the Element bearers are being held, we transition back to their scene, where it doesn't appear that General Luthor's machine has made much progress in extracting the Elements from them)

General Luthor: (To Myriad) You'd think with the combined processing power of all of your world's human population plus the standard Coluan intelligence, you'd be able to work this a lot faster!

Myriad: Don't blame the software when it's clearly a hardware issue.

General Luthor: (Checks what version of the operating system she's running) Normally I'd take that as a snide comment, but you're actually not running the same version my Warsuit runs on. So for once, you're right. But not like it matters anyways.

Malefic J'onzz: We thought you were our friend, Luthor!

General Luthor: Oh please. The last time I had a friend, he rendered me a dead man walking. (Glaring at Superman) Oh yes, I mean you, Superman. You see, the little story I told all of you? It was just that. A story. Superman never went rogue. He was truth, justice, and a better tomorrow the whole way. A better tomorrow for everybody but me.

Superman: What are you on about?

General Luthor: My world's Superman and I did still work together, that much was true. But perhaps our biggest feat? Stopping a Kryptonite Bomb from destroying Smallville. Whatever villain was behind that, I've long forgotten. But one thing was clear, while I defused the Kryptonite Bomb, you took all the credit for saving the town. And my woes only got worse from there. A later medical checkup revealed that all that Kryptonite exposure had caused me to develop an inoperable brain tumor, aggressive enough that I'd lose control of my mental faculties within a decade. The only reason I even have motor function is this suit.

Supergirl: So all of this was because you blamed your world's Kal for developing cancer?

Martian Manhunter: That explains what would make someone as smart as Luthor crazy enough to join Malefor. The cancer must be spreading at an advanced rate.

General Luthor: Indeed it is, Martian. Hence why I'm doing this now. I don't have much time, and I can't waste another minute yapping. (Putting on the Warsuit's helmet) Not when I have a date with unlimited power at hand.

(And as the draining process continues, our tale ends for today)

This concludes Part I of the New Years Special. For Part II, journey on over to A Song of Spiders and Dragons. So now we learn the truth. Lex Luthor blames Superman for developing Kryptonite based cancer and that's why he's doing all of this. Believe it or not, I borrowed this idea from the DCAU, where Lex did develop cancer from Kryptonite exposure, and in the universe of the Justice Lords, went a little bit crazy by the end of his days. And now that madman is close to getting Elemental power. But thankfully, the good guys are on their way to stop him. But will they arrive in time? Tune in next time to hopefully find out! Same time... same channel!