Post by lawrenceliberty on Jul 23, 2020 22:48:49 GMT
JLA
Prologue
A dark haired man with a thin mustache looked around a hidden room at several garishly costumed men. Each of them was remarkable in some way but most of them deferred to this man out of a combination of respect and either gratitude or fear depending upon each man’s disposition.
He smiled as he stroked his mustache and sat down in a large chair that resembled an elaborate throne except for the fact that it was studded with technological dials and sensors and weapons of various kinds.
He waited as if for effect and then addressed the others in a rather smug and condescending manner.
“I am glad you all arrived promptly as expected! It is time for us to launch our long awaited assault on our old enemies. Revenge will soon be mine!” he said.
A tall man in a stylish suit nodded and said, “I am eager to begin. While I have enjoyed conducting necessary research for the last few years I have nothing more to gain from such efforts! My power is at its peak!”
The third man wore a bright purple costume with blue trunks, gloves, and boots. He wore a finned helmet that covered his head and upper facial features but revealed a weak chin and a dark goatee.
He said nothing. He resented being summoned like some common thug. After all he was also a master criminal in his own right.
The fifth man was dressed in a solid purple leotard with an animal print pattern across his torso. He laughed harshly and rubbed his hands together with relish.
“It will feel good to wipe their self-satisfied smiles off their insipid faces! I’ll show them why I’m King of the Jungle be it a natural one or an urban one!”
The next man was frankly intimidated by the others. He had no powers beyond a genius level intellect and he realized their leader was much smarter than he was and more ruthless as well! He wore a drab gray outfit with gold military braiding.
The final villain was younger than the others and wore green and white. He grinned in a cocky manner and said, “You know we didn’t have to answer your call at all! I mean what could you do if we ignored you? It is not like you could send us back. It is a little late for that, ain’t it?”
The man on the throne wore a pink and white costume and he scowled for a moment before smiling once more. His smile was cold and his dark eyes flashed with cruelty and anger.
“Actually, you’d be surprised at what I can do! I have never revealed all of my many skills to any of you. Let it suffice for me to remind you that you all owe your very lives to me! As for you, Mr. Keyes, remember that I alone can supply you with more of the exotic items you require to live up to your nom du crime!”
The brash man in green shrugged and swallowed his own anger. He was trapped. He did need what the boss had to offer.
“We have spent the last few years in solitude and out of the public eye. We have each refined our talents and I have financed a lavish lifestyle for each of you. Now, it is time we strike back at our former tormentors! You know your targets and I will outline our battle plan in detail with each of you. Once we have eliminated our enemies we shall move onward to greater triumphs! Still, any victory would be hallow without achieving the total destruction of those five we hate the most!”
They agreed to his plan even as two costumed youths in another location glanced at each other with concern.
“They are together again! I thought after so long they had given up their careers as super creeps but the fact that they are all together means something big is up!” said the young man.
The young woman nodded and said, “It has to be them, right? Could you be wrong?”
The man frowned and said, “You know my skills with computers and technology and you know how advanced the equipment you gave me from
your college is! Those dudes are back together. There is no mistaking their vibrational energy frequencies. I mean we share it but nobody else does! The eight of us stand out like a sore thumb when I turn on the detector!”
The woman replied, “Okay, okay. Don’t blow a fuse! The question is what do we do about it?”
Her friend grinned sheepishly and said, “I was hoping you’d have a plan!”
1
Superman (Clark Kent) was flying on patrol over the city of Metropolis and he was enjoying every minute of it. It was a beautiful day and he had not run into any serious problems so far.
“Maybe the super villains and invading aliens and vengeful ancient wizards are all taking the day off to enjoy the fine weather!” he thought with a smile.
He grimaced as his super senses allowed him to spot a disturbance near the exclusive shopping district that contained luxury shops and designer boutiques.
“Robots on a rampage! That never gets old! I guess I have a job to do!” he mused.
He flew down to where three gleaming metal men were casually vacuuming valuables into their own bodies with elongated scoops that rested where a human would have hands.
“I suppose these metal menaces have good taste considering the designer labels they are snatching. I guess their creator programmed them to know Versace from Levi Strauss! “he thought.
He used his heat vision to slice neatly through each robot’s coiled arms and then he spun around at super speed to create a whirlwind that swept them closer together for easy disassembly!
“Maybe after I trace them back to their maker I can take Kristin and Jasma out for a picnic!” he thought.
To his surprise as the robots crashed into one another their metallic chests broke open and a cloud of spores floated into the air and into his face.
He gasped for air and then collapsed to the ground. The robots scooped him up via a magnetic ray that drew him toward them by his belt.
A dark haired man in a gray military uniform decorated with fancy braiding grinned with pleasure and stepped out from a nearby alley.
“My robotic soldiers proved to be the perfect container for the alien mushroom spores Keyes gave me. Even the Man of Steel couldn’t not withstand their potency but then again they did come from his doomed planet Krypton!” he gloated.
“The day belongs to Colonel Conquest!” he said.
2
Aquaman (Arthur Curry) was in heated discussion with his young ally Aqualad (Garth). The two old friends were able to talk frankly with one another and their discussion was direct and to the point.
“I understand that you’d be fascinated with meeting more of your people. Your late parents led the Idyllists and merely discovering more of them had to be exciting for you especially after you and Ulla broke up but I’m more than a little concerned about this mad offer of theirs to make you their king!” said Aquaman.
Aqualad said, “You don’t have any problems with monarchy. I mean, you and Mera were both royalty. Even Dolphin’s father is like magic user royalty. I think you just don’t believe I can handle the job!”
Aquaman looked across the isolated beach the two men walked across and he sighed once more.
“That’s not it. That’s not it at all! I trust your good sense. I have relied on your courage countless times but I also know how difficult it can be to be a ruler. I gave up the job to focus on being a champion and I don’t regret it! I just don’t want you to get into something that might be wrong for you!” he explained.
Aqualad said, “Then, I guess the best way to convince you that I am my own man is to kick you across the shore like a broken sea shell!”
He tackled Aquaman and started pounding him with all of his strength!
The elder hero was startled by this reaction since Garth was normally rather mild mannered. He grunted in pain as the angry youth continued his assault.
“Stop it! This is not like you!” he said as he blocked the furious blows and then wrestled his partner back across the sands.
Aqualand said nothing but continued the struggle with surprising results! He tripped backward and landed with a thud. His head hit a rock and he remained still.
Aquaman leaped forward and bent low over his friend’s still form.
“Garth! By Neptune!” he cried as he tried to revive the man in red and blue.
“I can’t believe this! He’s dead!” gasped Aquaman as he concentrated and looked intently at Garth.
“My telepathy doesn’t pick up any thought patterns!” he said softly.
He lifted his friend’s body and tried to check for any vitals but there were none present.
“This can’t be happening! I don’t believe it!” he said.
Aqualad vanished before his eyes and he groaned as the sun seemed to ignite the very air around him. He felt his body drying out and he started to move closer to the life giving water but the shore seemed to extend itself until the ocean was miles away!
“This can’t be real. None of it is real!” he said firmly.
Still, his skin did feel dry and the heat beat down on him from above until he realized that he was parched. He felt dizziness and then abruptly he began to choke until the world grew oddly bright around him and he passed out.
At that moment a well-dressed man with longish hair and a monocle approached the fallen hero and said, “Your little friend stalked off in anger but you thought he’d attacked you and then died! Of course, you heard his voice and felt his blows as if they were real. Just like you felt the dryness and believed yourself to suffering from heat stroke when in fact you were merely suffering from my having each of your senses warped by the power of the monocle that gives me my name!”
He nodded in approval as two pink and white uniformed lackeys carried the stunned hero away.
3
Batman (Bruce Wayne) dealt with bad news on a daily basis and the Darknight Detective took such hardships in stride without giving in to fear or confusion. Still, he was deeply troubled by his latest mystery s he sat within his Batcave HQ beneath stately Wayne Manor.
“Jason Todd is missing! He disappeared from a trip out West to look at a private school. The lad was considering a move away from Gateway City and he hoped to study in the California area. He never showed up for his appointments nor did he return to his current school!” explained Alfred his loyal butler.
“Jason. I still can’t quite realize that the Jason I knew and trained and fought beside was an alien imposter. I realize the Martian read the real Jason’s mind and conditioned himself to react to any situation as if he was the real circus acrobat until some mental signal was given by his leaders and he regained his true memories. That Jason…that Robin.. is dead. I’ve accepted that. I remember finding the real Jason. He had been in suspended animation like the real Captain Comet and other captives and I can recall every word of our discussion. I know the Jason I talked to at that private school was almost a stranger to me. He wanted no part of my world. He just wanted to be normal. Now, this disappearance makes me think the poor boy has been drawn into danger because of me!” he said.
Alfred said, “I think we both mourned for the fake Jason we thought we knew and cared for and this circumstance makes it seem as if we are losing him afresh!”
Batman nodded and said, “Yes, and meeting Al Draper the man who was brainwashed into thinking he had been Robin makes me even more concerned. I blame myself for his own confused life and I won’t let the real Jason suffer because some enemy of mine thinks he can strike at me through him!”
Alfred knew his master and friend was probably thinking of the few enemies who knew his true identity and was making plans to deal with them even as they talked.
Batman stood up and pulled his dark cowl up and over his head. He was all business now.
“See what you can do. I’m going to check out his last known whereabouts!” he said.
As he drove out of the cave in a sleek batmobile, he remembered how Jason Todd had been part of a family act of aerialists and his parents had perished at the hands of a criminal known as Killer Croc. Batman and the original Robin had brought the scaly killer to justice but Jason had been left alone until Bruce had taken him in and trained him to become a successor to the first Robin. At some point, the boy had been abducted and a Martian double had taken his place as a type of sleeper agent for a group known as the Red Brethren. When the switch was discovered years later, the fake Jason had become a son to Bruce and his death still troubled the hero. He had found the real Jason but the boy had not experienced the heroic life the fake Jason had known and he insisted he just wanted to live a normal life. Now, he was missing and Batman vowed he would find him.
He frowned as a blinding light filled the road in front of him. He adjusted a dashboard setting to screen out the brilliant light and cancel any strobe effect
He looked out with shielded eyes and saw a flying man in purple and blue. He was actually carried through the Gotham City skies by a streamlined jetpack.
“I don’t have time for this!” he mused.
He hit a button and a spray of thick foam shot out of the car and covered the soaring figure. The jets clogged as expected and he fell hard.
Batman stopped the car and bent over the battered man. He knew exactly how far the villain would fall and he had calculated expertly that his padded costume would protect him from serious harm.
Batman started to cuff the stunned man called Skyrocket when thorns erupted from the fabric of his costume and Batman felt a prickling sensation in his arm. He realized he had been drugged but he did not recognize the odd shaped thorns nor the scent of their toxin.
He reached for a general anti-toxin in his utility belt as he ascertained that the foe was indeed stunned. He was prepared for such attacks because of his frequent encounters with the lethal mistress of plant life Poison Ivy among others.
“Some kind of automatic defense!” he thought before passing out.
Pink and white uniformed thugs came into view and carried both fallen men away from the now empty batmobile.
4
Wonder Woman (Queen Nubia of Mars) was happy with her roles as Amazon Champion, J.L.A. member, wife to the Martian Manhunter, ruler of a group of yellow skinned Martians, artist, and mentor to young Wonder Girl Cassie Sandsmark. Life was good for the warrior princess and yet she never rested completely. Her instincts prevented her from letting her guard down for long. Thus, she was not surprised when her defeat of a minor super villain known as the Hangman was abruptly followed by an attack from a newcomer dressed in a purple costume with an animal print pattern.
He posed defiantly as she calmly placed both hands on her hips and said, “What do you want here? Are you allied with the Hangman? Are you yet another wrestler turned to crime? If so, I hope you offer me more of a challenge than he did!””
He said, “I am Menagerie and I only wrestle in the sense that we all struggle with the concept of man versus nature. I always win that battle since my powers allow me to channel the raging might of any wild beast!”
Wonder Woman aimed her gleaming lasso in his direction but he bounded away from it with an astounding leap.
She charged forward as he flipped acrobatically through the air and the two met with a thunderous crash!
“I have the power of the mightiest gorilla!” he said as he grappled with her.
She said, “I tamed gorillas often when I was a child!”
She flipped him over her shoulder and whirled as he leaped upward again with the swiftness of a gazelle.
She rammed one knee into his chin and he countered by tackling her.
They rolled to the ground and she started to kick him aside when he spat at her. She blocked the venom with one metal gauntlet and then swatted him aside.
He twisted to avoid her next move but she refused to give him time to react and knocked him cold
She started to bind him with her magic lasso when a shrill sound attacked her hearing and the world grew white around her. She could not see, hear, or feel anything as the sound abruptly stopped.
Heavy blows knocked her out as robots closed in on her. She neither saw nor felt their attack but she was defeated in any event.
The Monocle fresh from his defeat of Aquaman had managed to help Menagerie defeat her. He would gloat about this in due time.
5
The captive heroes were brought to the HQ of the mysterious Overlord and his henchmen Skyrocket, Monocle, Colonel Conquest, Menagerie, and Green Thumb. It was the last villain’s unique access to various alien seeds and his power to stimulate their instantaneous growth that had enabled the very capable Justice League members to be trapped by what appeared to be frail vines that draped over their bodies as they seemed to slumber.
The Overlord (Sandor Fane) looked down at them and raised both fists over his head.
He said, “We all come from an alternate Earth where separately battled and met defeat at the hands of heroes who mentored youths who aspired to emulate them. These so-called Super Friends were dedicated to such teaching because each of them had trained from an early age for their eventual roles. Superman, the original Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Batman and Robin foiled our every plan. Then, our world perished in cosmic Crisis! I teleported myself and my allies to this Earth moments before our Earth met its doom. I killed the wealthy Sandor Fane of this world and assumed his identity. I used his wealth to support and equip us all as I studied all I could about the heroes of this slightly different Earth! In time I deduced your secret identities and now I have captured you all! You are the closest equivalents of the Super Friends we fought on our own Earth and now we have won!”
Green Thumb (Fargo Keyes) said, “They can’t hear you. They are dreaming endlessly thanks to the power of the alien plant called the White Mercy!”
The Overlord said, “I know that! I merely wanted to gloat a bit. I have earned that right!”
He looked over at where a young man dressed in a Robin costume slumbered as well under the control of the alien plant.
“This boy is this world’s counterpart of the last Robin from our world. Apparently, he is no longer Robin here but he will serve as the double for his dead counterpart. I still recall how that brat dared kick me in the face when we last battled on our lost world!”
He pointed at the captive Jason Todd. He didn’t know the Todd who had been Batman’s second Robin on Earth 1 had been a Martian. He merely knew Jason Todd had been the second Robin on his world and this was his counterpart.
Monocle said, “My ability to control all senses could have robbed them of any awareness just as easily as Green Thumb’s alien plants have done!”
Colonel Conquest said nothing. He knew his robots had failed miserably against Superman. Menagerie rubbed his aching jaw and cursed Wonder Woman once more. Skyrocket imagined how much he could steal now that he was hopefully free from serving Overlord.
The Overlord said, “Yes, yes, and my cloned minions did their part as well.” He pointed to the identical men in pink and white who had physically retrieved the heroes after each defeat.
He thought of his previous attempt on his Earth to create a super clone with the powers and mentality of an evolved future man but those efforts had met with rebellion on the part of his creation so he had settled for manufacturing mindless doubles to do his bidding.
“I suppose Futurio died along with everyone else in that Crisis!”
He said, “Perhaps, next we shall hunt down this world’s Wonder Twins! These heroes aren’t their mentors like their doubles were on our home world but it would be delightful to kill them! I found them to be terribly irksome.”
At that moment two costumed youths slipped inside the HQ and the man in green and gold smiled as he said, “My silencer let us get past all his fancy security devices!”
“Don’t hurt yourself patting yourself on the back, Masked Marvel!” said the pretty black haired girl in a black sparkling leotard with silvery boots, bracelets, and earrings.
“Okay, Wendy…I mean Titania! Let’s get them free!” he said as he adjusted his cowl.
Titania charged forward and knocked a startled Overlord backward.
"The combat skills I learned at the Amazon college back home really boosted my strength and speed!” she thought. “The old Wendy Harris could never have done that!”
The Masked Marvel hurled a pellet at the other villains and bright light filled the room.
Before the two young heroes could rip the plan away from the heroes, Monocle instantly enabled his allies to see in spite of the blinding glare!
Skyrocket zoomed forward to lift the struggling Masked Marvel off the ground while Menagerie pounced like a jungle cat on Titania.
The Overlord got up and said, “I know these dolts. They are costumed versions of the first pupils taught by the Super Friends on our world. Marvin and Wendy! I never fought them since by the time I faced the heroes they had graduated.”
Colonel Conquest sent his robots forward to encircle them as they villains walked closer to the now captive Marvin White and Wendy Harris!
“How did these punks escape the Crisis?” asked Skyrocket as he shook Masked Marvel.
Suddenly, the stentorian voice of Superman rang through the room!
“You have bigger problems!” he said.
The captive heroes were free! Superman moved with his amazing speed to smash the robots which his vision had enabled him to note were not full of spores like the special ones that trapped him earlier.
Aquaman ducked a punch thrown by Menagerie and knocked him cold before he could react. A blast of his telepathy power had slowed Menagerie Man down long enough for him to attack before the villain could mentally draw on any one animal power.
The Monocle started to use his gifts to make himself invisible to their senses but he was knocked out from behind as Jason Todd, who had freed the others, flipped into him with the grace he had once displayed as one of the Flying Todds in the circus.
Batman smiled at the sight of the young man and said, “Good work, son!”
Jason, in the Robin costume Overlord had dressed him in, nodded but said nothing. He had awakened from the alien plant’s thrall and freed himself and the others while the villains were distracted by Wendy and Marvin. Something about the way his brain had once been probed so deeply by his Martian double long ago had given him greater immunity to the White Mercy which was weaker than the more notorious Black Mercy Superman had encountered before. Still, he was clearly troubled by his plight.
Wonder Woman flew through the lab and smashed equipment leaving Skyrocket’s jetpack crumbled in a ball of twisted metal much to his display.
Batman twisted Green Thumb’s arm behind his back and prevented him from using his altered right hand to stimulate the instant growth of the alien seeds he carried in his pouch! He had been supplied with them by the Overlord who had incredible resources of his own.
Colonel Conquest was tripped and tied up by Titania who carried a silvery rope much like the golden one used by Nubia.
“Well done, Sister!” said Wonder Woman.
The Overlord had been cut off from his equipment and his allies were defeated. He sputtered in rage and cried, “This can’t be happening! How did these brats bring about this ending?”
Marvin the Masked Marvel said, “We were on our Earth like you when the red skies and strange storms started but we didn’t die. We were sent here before the end came. We were sent by your mutated clone Furturio –the one with advanced mental powers saved us! He said he’d try to save the world too but he sensed we’d be needed here someday! There must be a time difference between the worlds since we have not been here very long. We used a device Marvin cobbled together with Amazon tech. I gave him to see if anyone else from our Earth survived here. We learned you had survived so we monitored you and when an alert indicated all of you had assembled at last, we figured it was time for us to take action!”
Marvin said, “Right! We tracked you here and you know the rest! If it wasn’t for Robin there, we would have all be in trouble!”
Overlord said, “Your troubles aren’t over yet!”
He drew a small but advanced gun from his belt and aimed it at them!
Before the heroes could react, a giant sized version of the Overlord appeared in the room!
“Furturio!” gasped Titania as she recognized the Overlord’s benign clone.
“I was drawn here in time to stop my father from hurting others out of his mad desire for power! I am proud of you kids!” he said.
The Overlord cried, “Once more you thwart me! How did you survive the Crisis?”
Futurio said, “I did not. I am able to exist in two places and two times at once. I saved our Earth but died doing so! This is my last act to atone for your evil deeds!”
The clone clutched the Overlord’s struggling form and together they vanished!
Colonel Conquest gasped, “They returned to our old Earth! Why can’t we?”
Superman said, “I don’t know if that parallel earth can be reached by anyone other than that remarkable clone!”
Wonder Woman placed an arm around Marvin and Wendy.
“We owe you both our thanks. Let us help you find a place on our world!” she said.
The two young heroes smiled and Marvin said, “Thanks! We sure could use Super Friends like you!”
Later, after the villains had been secured and Batman sat alone with Jason Todd.
“I’m going to buy this building. It could make a great additional HQ for us all. It could be the Hall of Justice Wendy told us about before she and Marvin left with the others!”
Jason had removed the Robin mask and sat silently.
“Batman, I meant it when I said I wanted a normal life. I was happy being plain old Jason Todd. Then, something happened to me when those goons grabbed me and put that mind warping plant on me. It didn’t really put me into a trance like it did with the others. It somehow awakened dormant memories that had been shared with me by the Martian who took my place and lived life as your partner. He’s gone but I know the mind scan he set up was so through it left a link that that plant reforged. I know everything he knew. I can do the things you taught the other Robin to do. It’s like muscle memory on a bigger scale. Now, I also know I want to help people with the things I can do. I really do recall everything from Nocturna and Nightslayer to Penguin and Crazy Quilt and Film Freak and all the others! I do want to be a hero but not as Robin. You’ve got a Robin. I saw her photo in the paper!”
Batman said, “Jason, I don’t know what to say. This is dangerous life but if you really are as good as the fake Jason was then I know you’ll be fine. What can I do to help you?”
Jason smiled and said, “I’m heading West for enrollment at a California boarding school soon. Perhaps, they could use another hero in California!”
Batman said, “Son, I know they can. I even know a group or two that might be good for you!”
The two talked long into the night and Earth 1 gained three new heroes thanks to the addition of Masked Marvel, Titania, and whatever role Jason Todd decided to take. Somewhere, on another unknown vibratory frequency on another Earth which did survive the Crisis the Super Friends would have been proud!
The End
Prologue
A dark haired man with a thin mustache looked around a hidden room at several garishly costumed men. Each of them was remarkable in some way but most of them deferred to this man out of a combination of respect and either gratitude or fear depending upon each man’s disposition.
He smiled as he stroked his mustache and sat down in a large chair that resembled an elaborate throne except for the fact that it was studded with technological dials and sensors and weapons of various kinds.
He waited as if for effect and then addressed the others in a rather smug and condescending manner.
“I am glad you all arrived promptly as expected! It is time for us to launch our long awaited assault on our old enemies. Revenge will soon be mine!” he said.
A tall man in a stylish suit nodded and said, “I am eager to begin. While I have enjoyed conducting necessary research for the last few years I have nothing more to gain from such efforts! My power is at its peak!”
The third man wore a bright purple costume with blue trunks, gloves, and boots. He wore a finned helmet that covered his head and upper facial features but revealed a weak chin and a dark goatee.
He said nothing. He resented being summoned like some common thug. After all he was also a master criminal in his own right.
The fifth man was dressed in a solid purple leotard with an animal print pattern across his torso. He laughed harshly and rubbed his hands together with relish.
“It will feel good to wipe their self-satisfied smiles off their insipid faces! I’ll show them why I’m King of the Jungle be it a natural one or an urban one!”
The next man was frankly intimidated by the others. He had no powers beyond a genius level intellect and he realized their leader was much smarter than he was and more ruthless as well! He wore a drab gray outfit with gold military braiding.
The final villain was younger than the others and wore green and white. He grinned in a cocky manner and said, “You know we didn’t have to answer your call at all! I mean what could you do if we ignored you? It is not like you could send us back. It is a little late for that, ain’t it?”
The man on the throne wore a pink and white costume and he scowled for a moment before smiling once more. His smile was cold and his dark eyes flashed with cruelty and anger.
“Actually, you’d be surprised at what I can do! I have never revealed all of my many skills to any of you. Let it suffice for me to remind you that you all owe your very lives to me! As for you, Mr. Keyes, remember that I alone can supply you with more of the exotic items you require to live up to your nom du crime!”
The brash man in green shrugged and swallowed his own anger. He was trapped. He did need what the boss had to offer.
“We have spent the last few years in solitude and out of the public eye. We have each refined our talents and I have financed a lavish lifestyle for each of you. Now, it is time we strike back at our former tormentors! You know your targets and I will outline our battle plan in detail with each of you. Once we have eliminated our enemies we shall move onward to greater triumphs! Still, any victory would be hallow without achieving the total destruction of those five we hate the most!”
They agreed to his plan even as two costumed youths in another location glanced at each other with concern.
“They are together again! I thought after so long they had given up their careers as super creeps but the fact that they are all together means something big is up!” said the young man.
The young woman nodded and said, “It has to be them, right? Could you be wrong?”
The man frowned and said, “You know my skills with computers and technology and you know how advanced the equipment you gave me from
your college is! Those dudes are back together. There is no mistaking their vibrational energy frequencies. I mean we share it but nobody else does! The eight of us stand out like a sore thumb when I turn on the detector!”
The woman replied, “Okay, okay. Don’t blow a fuse! The question is what do we do about it?”
Her friend grinned sheepishly and said, “I was hoping you’d have a plan!”
1
Superman (Clark Kent) was flying on patrol over the city of Metropolis and he was enjoying every minute of it. It was a beautiful day and he had not run into any serious problems so far.
“Maybe the super villains and invading aliens and vengeful ancient wizards are all taking the day off to enjoy the fine weather!” he thought with a smile.
He grimaced as his super senses allowed him to spot a disturbance near the exclusive shopping district that contained luxury shops and designer boutiques.
“Robots on a rampage! That never gets old! I guess I have a job to do!” he mused.
He flew down to where three gleaming metal men were casually vacuuming valuables into their own bodies with elongated scoops that rested where a human would have hands.
“I suppose these metal menaces have good taste considering the designer labels they are snatching. I guess their creator programmed them to know Versace from Levi Strauss! “he thought.
He used his heat vision to slice neatly through each robot’s coiled arms and then he spun around at super speed to create a whirlwind that swept them closer together for easy disassembly!
“Maybe after I trace them back to their maker I can take Kristin and Jasma out for a picnic!” he thought.
To his surprise as the robots crashed into one another their metallic chests broke open and a cloud of spores floated into the air and into his face.
He gasped for air and then collapsed to the ground. The robots scooped him up via a magnetic ray that drew him toward them by his belt.
A dark haired man in a gray military uniform decorated with fancy braiding grinned with pleasure and stepped out from a nearby alley.
“My robotic soldiers proved to be the perfect container for the alien mushroom spores Keyes gave me. Even the Man of Steel couldn’t not withstand their potency but then again they did come from his doomed planet Krypton!” he gloated.
“The day belongs to Colonel Conquest!” he said.
2
Aquaman (Arthur Curry) was in heated discussion with his young ally Aqualad (Garth). The two old friends were able to talk frankly with one another and their discussion was direct and to the point.
“I understand that you’d be fascinated with meeting more of your people. Your late parents led the Idyllists and merely discovering more of them had to be exciting for you especially after you and Ulla broke up but I’m more than a little concerned about this mad offer of theirs to make you their king!” said Aquaman.
Aqualad said, “You don’t have any problems with monarchy. I mean, you and Mera were both royalty. Even Dolphin’s father is like magic user royalty. I think you just don’t believe I can handle the job!”
Aquaman looked across the isolated beach the two men walked across and he sighed once more.
“That’s not it. That’s not it at all! I trust your good sense. I have relied on your courage countless times but I also know how difficult it can be to be a ruler. I gave up the job to focus on being a champion and I don’t regret it! I just don’t want you to get into something that might be wrong for you!” he explained.
Aqualad said, “Then, I guess the best way to convince you that I am my own man is to kick you across the shore like a broken sea shell!”
He tackled Aquaman and started pounding him with all of his strength!
The elder hero was startled by this reaction since Garth was normally rather mild mannered. He grunted in pain as the angry youth continued his assault.
“Stop it! This is not like you!” he said as he blocked the furious blows and then wrestled his partner back across the sands.
Aqualand said nothing but continued the struggle with surprising results! He tripped backward and landed with a thud. His head hit a rock and he remained still.
Aquaman leaped forward and bent low over his friend’s still form.
“Garth! By Neptune!” he cried as he tried to revive the man in red and blue.
“I can’t believe this! He’s dead!” gasped Aquaman as he concentrated and looked intently at Garth.
“My telepathy doesn’t pick up any thought patterns!” he said softly.
He lifted his friend’s body and tried to check for any vitals but there were none present.
“This can’t be happening! I don’t believe it!” he said.
Aqualad vanished before his eyes and he groaned as the sun seemed to ignite the very air around him. He felt his body drying out and he started to move closer to the life giving water but the shore seemed to extend itself until the ocean was miles away!
“This can’t be real. None of it is real!” he said firmly.
Still, his skin did feel dry and the heat beat down on him from above until he realized that he was parched. He felt dizziness and then abruptly he began to choke until the world grew oddly bright around him and he passed out.
At that moment a well-dressed man with longish hair and a monocle approached the fallen hero and said, “Your little friend stalked off in anger but you thought he’d attacked you and then died! Of course, you heard his voice and felt his blows as if they were real. Just like you felt the dryness and believed yourself to suffering from heat stroke when in fact you were merely suffering from my having each of your senses warped by the power of the monocle that gives me my name!”
He nodded in approval as two pink and white uniformed lackeys carried the stunned hero away.
3
Batman (Bruce Wayne) dealt with bad news on a daily basis and the Darknight Detective took such hardships in stride without giving in to fear or confusion. Still, he was deeply troubled by his latest mystery s he sat within his Batcave HQ beneath stately Wayne Manor.
“Jason Todd is missing! He disappeared from a trip out West to look at a private school. The lad was considering a move away from Gateway City and he hoped to study in the California area. He never showed up for his appointments nor did he return to his current school!” explained Alfred his loyal butler.
“Jason. I still can’t quite realize that the Jason I knew and trained and fought beside was an alien imposter. I realize the Martian read the real Jason’s mind and conditioned himself to react to any situation as if he was the real circus acrobat until some mental signal was given by his leaders and he regained his true memories. That Jason…that Robin.. is dead. I’ve accepted that. I remember finding the real Jason. He had been in suspended animation like the real Captain Comet and other captives and I can recall every word of our discussion. I know the Jason I talked to at that private school was almost a stranger to me. He wanted no part of my world. He just wanted to be normal. Now, this disappearance makes me think the poor boy has been drawn into danger because of me!” he said.
Alfred said, “I think we both mourned for the fake Jason we thought we knew and cared for and this circumstance makes it seem as if we are losing him afresh!”
Batman nodded and said, “Yes, and meeting Al Draper the man who was brainwashed into thinking he had been Robin makes me even more concerned. I blame myself for his own confused life and I won’t let the real Jason suffer because some enemy of mine thinks he can strike at me through him!”
Alfred knew his master and friend was probably thinking of the few enemies who knew his true identity and was making plans to deal with them even as they talked.
Batman stood up and pulled his dark cowl up and over his head. He was all business now.
“See what you can do. I’m going to check out his last known whereabouts!” he said.
As he drove out of the cave in a sleek batmobile, he remembered how Jason Todd had been part of a family act of aerialists and his parents had perished at the hands of a criminal known as Killer Croc. Batman and the original Robin had brought the scaly killer to justice but Jason had been left alone until Bruce had taken him in and trained him to become a successor to the first Robin. At some point, the boy had been abducted and a Martian double had taken his place as a type of sleeper agent for a group known as the Red Brethren. When the switch was discovered years later, the fake Jason had become a son to Bruce and his death still troubled the hero. He had found the real Jason but the boy had not experienced the heroic life the fake Jason had known and he insisted he just wanted to live a normal life. Now, he was missing and Batman vowed he would find him.
He frowned as a blinding light filled the road in front of him. He adjusted a dashboard setting to screen out the brilliant light and cancel any strobe effect
He looked out with shielded eyes and saw a flying man in purple and blue. He was actually carried through the Gotham City skies by a streamlined jetpack.
“I don’t have time for this!” he mused.
He hit a button and a spray of thick foam shot out of the car and covered the soaring figure. The jets clogged as expected and he fell hard.
Batman stopped the car and bent over the battered man. He knew exactly how far the villain would fall and he had calculated expertly that his padded costume would protect him from serious harm.
Batman started to cuff the stunned man called Skyrocket when thorns erupted from the fabric of his costume and Batman felt a prickling sensation in his arm. He realized he had been drugged but he did not recognize the odd shaped thorns nor the scent of their toxin.
He reached for a general anti-toxin in his utility belt as he ascertained that the foe was indeed stunned. He was prepared for such attacks because of his frequent encounters with the lethal mistress of plant life Poison Ivy among others.
“Some kind of automatic defense!” he thought before passing out.
Pink and white uniformed thugs came into view and carried both fallen men away from the now empty batmobile.
4
Wonder Woman (Queen Nubia of Mars) was happy with her roles as Amazon Champion, J.L.A. member, wife to the Martian Manhunter, ruler of a group of yellow skinned Martians, artist, and mentor to young Wonder Girl Cassie Sandsmark. Life was good for the warrior princess and yet she never rested completely. Her instincts prevented her from letting her guard down for long. Thus, she was not surprised when her defeat of a minor super villain known as the Hangman was abruptly followed by an attack from a newcomer dressed in a purple costume with an animal print pattern.
He posed defiantly as she calmly placed both hands on her hips and said, “What do you want here? Are you allied with the Hangman? Are you yet another wrestler turned to crime? If so, I hope you offer me more of a challenge than he did!””
He said, “I am Menagerie and I only wrestle in the sense that we all struggle with the concept of man versus nature. I always win that battle since my powers allow me to channel the raging might of any wild beast!”
Wonder Woman aimed her gleaming lasso in his direction but he bounded away from it with an astounding leap.
She charged forward as he flipped acrobatically through the air and the two met with a thunderous crash!
“I have the power of the mightiest gorilla!” he said as he grappled with her.
She said, “I tamed gorillas often when I was a child!”
She flipped him over her shoulder and whirled as he leaped upward again with the swiftness of a gazelle.
She rammed one knee into his chin and he countered by tackling her.
They rolled to the ground and she started to kick him aside when he spat at her. She blocked the venom with one metal gauntlet and then swatted him aside.
He twisted to avoid her next move but she refused to give him time to react and knocked him cold
She started to bind him with her magic lasso when a shrill sound attacked her hearing and the world grew white around her. She could not see, hear, or feel anything as the sound abruptly stopped.
Heavy blows knocked her out as robots closed in on her. She neither saw nor felt their attack but she was defeated in any event.
The Monocle fresh from his defeat of Aquaman had managed to help Menagerie defeat her. He would gloat about this in due time.
5
The captive heroes were brought to the HQ of the mysterious Overlord and his henchmen Skyrocket, Monocle, Colonel Conquest, Menagerie, and Green Thumb. It was the last villain’s unique access to various alien seeds and his power to stimulate their instantaneous growth that had enabled the very capable Justice League members to be trapped by what appeared to be frail vines that draped over their bodies as they seemed to slumber.
The Overlord (Sandor Fane) looked down at them and raised both fists over his head.
He said, “We all come from an alternate Earth where separately battled and met defeat at the hands of heroes who mentored youths who aspired to emulate them. These so-called Super Friends were dedicated to such teaching because each of them had trained from an early age for their eventual roles. Superman, the original Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Batman and Robin foiled our every plan. Then, our world perished in cosmic Crisis! I teleported myself and my allies to this Earth moments before our Earth met its doom. I killed the wealthy Sandor Fane of this world and assumed his identity. I used his wealth to support and equip us all as I studied all I could about the heroes of this slightly different Earth! In time I deduced your secret identities and now I have captured you all! You are the closest equivalents of the Super Friends we fought on our own Earth and now we have won!”
Green Thumb (Fargo Keyes) said, “They can’t hear you. They are dreaming endlessly thanks to the power of the alien plant called the White Mercy!”
The Overlord said, “I know that! I merely wanted to gloat a bit. I have earned that right!”
He looked over at where a young man dressed in a Robin costume slumbered as well under the control of the alien plant.
“This boy is this world’s counterpart of the last Robin from our world. Apparently, he is no longer Robin here but he will serve as the double for his dead counterpart. I still recall how that brat dared kick me in the face when we last battled on our lost world!”
He pointed at the captive Jason Todd. He didn’t know the Todd who had been Batman’s second Robin on Earth 1 had been a Martian. He merely knew Jason Todd had been the second Robin on his world and this was his counterpart.
Monocle said, “My ability to control all senses could have robbed them of any awareness just as easily as Green Thumb’s alien plants have done!”
Colonel Conquest said nothing. He knew his robots had failed miserably against Superman. Menagerie rubbed his aching jaw and cursed Wonder Woman once more. Skyrocket imagined how much he could steal now that he was hopefully free from serving Overlord.
The Overlord said, “Yes, yes, and my cloned minions did their part as well.” He pointed to the identical men in pink and white who had physically retrieved the heroes after each defeat.
He thought of his previous attempt on his Earth to create a super clone with the powers and mentality of an evolved future man but those efforts had met with rebellion on the part of his creation so he had settled for manufacturing mindless doubles to do his bidding.
“I suppose Futurio died along with everyone else in that Crisis!”
He said, “Perhaps, next we shall hunt down this world’s Wonder Twins! These heroes aren’t their mentors like their doubles were on our home world but it would be delightful to kill them! I found them to be terribly irksome.”
At that moment two costumed youths slipped inside the HQ and the man in green and gold smiled as he said, “My silencer let us get past all his fancy security devices!”
“Don’t hurt yourself patting yourself on the back, Masked Marvel!” said the pretty black haired girl in a black sparkling leotard with silvery boots, bracelets, and earrings.
“Okay, Wendy…I mean Titania! Let’s get them free!” he said as he adjusted his cowl.
Titania charged forward and knocked a startled Overlord backward.
"The combat skills I learned at the Amazon college back home really boosted my strength and speed!” she thought. “The old Wendy Harris could never have done that!”
The Masked Marvel hurled a pellet at the other villains and bright light filled the room.
Before the two young heroes could rip the plan away from the heroes, Monocle instantly enabled his allies to see in spite of the blinding glare!
Skyrocket zoomed forward to lift the struggling Masked Marvel off the ground while Menagerie pounced like a jungle cat on Titania.
The Overlord got up and said, “I know these dolts. They are costumed versions of the first pupils taught by the Super Friends on our world. Marvin and Wendy! I never fought them since by the time I faced the heroes they had graduated.”
Colonel Conquest sent his robots forward to encircle them as they villains walked closer to the now captive Marvin White and Wendy Harris!
“How did these punks escape the Crisis?” asked Skyrocket as he shook Masked Marvel.
Suddenly, the stentorian voice of Superman rang through the room!
“You have bigger problems!” he said.
The captive heroes were free! Superman moved with his amazing speed to smash the robots which his vision had enabled him to note were not full of spores like the special ones that trapped him earlier.
Aquaman ducked a punch thrown by Menagerie and knocked him cold before he could react. A blast of his telepathy power had slowed Menagerie Man down long enough for him to attack before the villain could mentally draw on any one animal power.
The Monocle started to use his gifts to make himself invisible to their senses but he was knocked out from behind as Jason Todd, who had freed the others, flipped into him with the grace he had once displayed as one of the Flying Todds in the circus.
Batman smiled at the sight of the young man and said, “Good work, son!”
Jason, in the Robin costume Overlord had dressed him in, nodded but said nothing. He had awakened from the alien plant’s thrall and freed himself and the others while the villains were distracted by Wendy and Marvin. Something about the way his brain had once been probed so deeply by his Martian double long ago had given him greater immunity to the White Mercy which was weaker than the more notorious Black Mercy Superman had encountered before. Still, he was clearly troubled by his plight.
Wonder Woman flew through the lab and smashed equipment leaving Skyrocket’s jetpack crumbled in a ball of twisted metal much to his display.
Batman twisted Green Thumb’s arm behind his back and prevented him from using his altered right hand to stimulate the instant growth of the alien seeds he carried in his pouch! He had been supplied with them by the Overlord who had incredible resources of his own.
Colonel Conquest was tripped and tied up by Titania who carried a silvery rope much like the golden one used by Nubia.
“Well done, Sister!” said Wonder Woman.
The Overlord had been cut off from his equipment and his allies were defeated. He sputtered in rage and cried, “This can’t be happening! How did these brats bring about this ending?”
Marvin the Masked Marvel said, “We were on our Earth like you when the red skies and strange storms started but we didn’t die. We were sent here before the end came. We were sent by your mutated clone Furturio –the one with advanced mental powers saved us! He said he’d try to save the world too but he sensed we’d be needed here someday! There must be a time difference between the worlds since we have not been here very long. We used a device Marvin cobbled together with Amazon tech. I gave him to see if anyone else from our Earth survived here. We learned you had survived so we monitored you and when an alert indicated all of you had assembled at last, we figured it was time for us to take action!”
Marvin said, “Right! We tracked you here and you know the rest! If it wasn’t for Robin there, we would have all be in trouble!”
Overlord said, “Your troubles aren’t over yet!”
He drew a small but advanced gun from his belt and aimed it at them!
Before the heroes could react, a giant sized version of the Overlord appeared in the room!
“Furturio!” gasped Titania as she recognized the Overlord’s benign clone.
“I was drawn here in time to stop my father from hurting others out of his mad desire for power! I am proud of you kids!” he said.
The Overlord cried, “Once more you thwart me! How did you survive the Crisis?”
Futurio said, “I did not. I am able to exist in two places and two times at once. I saved our Earth but died doing so! This is my last act to atone for your evil deeds!”
The clone clutched the Overlord’s struggling form and together they vanished!
Colonel Conquest gasped, “They returned to our old Earth! Why can’t we?”
Superman said, “I don’t know if that parallel earth can be reached by anyone other than that remarkable clone!”
Wonder Woman placed an arm around Marvin and Wendy.
“We owe you both our thanks. Let us help you find a place on our world!” she said.
The two young heroes smiled and Marvin said, “Thanks! We sure could use Super Friends like you!”
Later, after the villains had been secured and Batman sat alone with Jason Todd.
“I’m going to buy this building. It could make a great additional HQ for us all. It could be the Hall of Justice Wendy told us about before she and Marvin left with the others!”
Jason had removed the Robin mask and sat silently.
“Batman, I meant it when I said I wanted a normal life. I was happy being plain old Jason Todd. Then, something happened to me when those goons grabbed me and put that mind warping plant on me. It didn’t really put me into a trance like it did with the others. It somehow awakened dormant memories that had been shared with me by the Martian who took my place and lived life as your partner. He’s gone but I know the mind scan he set up was so through it left a link that that plant reforged. I know everything he knew. I can do the things you taught the other Robin to do. It’s like muscle memory on a bigger scale. Now, I also know I want to help people with the things I can do. I really do recall everything from Nocturna and Nightslayer to Penguin and Crazy Quilt and Film Freak and all the others! I do want to be a hero but not as Robin. You’ve got a Robin. I saw her photo in the paper!”
Batman said, “Jason, I don’t know what to say. This is dangerous life but if you really are as good as the fake Jason was then I know you’ll be fine. What can I do to help you?”
Jason smiled and said, “I’m heading West for enrollment at a California boarding school soon. Perhaps, they could use another hero in California!”
Batman said, “Son, I know they can. I even know a group or two that might be good for you!”
The two talked long into the night and Earth 1 gained three new heroes thanks to the addition of Masked Marvel, Titania, and whatever role Jason Todd decided to take. Somewhere, on another unknown vibratory frequency on another Earth which did survive the Crisis the Super Friends would have been proud!
The End