DC Infinity - Justice League Issue 2

"Reboot"

By Josh Krenz & Mike Hintze

Initial Concept by Ken Hintze

"Listen, the world needs the Justice League. There needs to be something to take care of the world. Innocent people need us. Good people. This world isn't safe-you know that better than anyone else."

But this.this isn't the Justice League.it's an abomination.

"Don't be stupid. Of course it's the Justice League. Look-we have Batman, we have Superman, we have The Flash, and we have the Green Lantern. Sure, Wonder Woman is gone, but really that's the best thing for everybody right now. This is the Justice League."

It is?

"Of course it is. Once again people will be able to look out on the night's sky and know that the world is a safer place. They will understand why we are the good guys-because we do the right things."

We are doing the right thing.

"Not only are we doing the right thing, but we are the only ones who can do the right thing. We are good people, and we are doing the right thing."

Yes. Yes we are.

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His name is Monarch. He wears black and gold now.

Inheriting the world had always been his destiny, but things changed and Destiny was wrong. It was a different time, a different world. Things changed.

He watched the furl below him unravel in mild boredom. His presence here almost seemed redundant, but requisite none-the-less. The shuttle continued to rip apart as Evil Star, his new partner, barraged it with star-shots from his starband staff. Sparks launched into space as the solid-light projectiles collided with the ship's hull. Soon it would give way and the vacuums of space would finish off the inhabitants.

Flash and Canary watched helplessly. Confined to their own shuttle they were nothing more than prey waiting to be harvested from a tin can.

"I'm sure glad we brought him along" Flash gestured towards the back of the shuttle. Somehow Ralph Dibney, the Elongated Man had managed to wrap himself around a fire extinguisher. "I though Plastic Man was supposed to be the deranged one."

"Be nice toots," replied Canary, "he's had a hard time-what with his wife and all."

"Throw him outside to those two. Worse comes to worse it will at least save us some air."

Another comet ripped into the shuttle, sending Flash face first into the controls.

"Couldn't we have put any guns on this thing?" moaned The Flash.

"We're the Justice League, we don't use real guns."

"Oh, but arrows are alright?"

"A boxing glove on a stick never hurt nobody."

Once again the ship screamed and shook as the starlight projectiles crashed into the only thing keeping their air supply in. A small crack raced across the shuttle's windshield.

"WHERE ARE YOU GUYS?" Canary screamed into the headset.

"Hey! Whoa! Slow down. I still plan on dying rich!" said Flash, "we don't need any of that."

Still, the reinforced window could not take the impacts. The cracks spider-webbed across the piece of glass, counting down the moments until the ship would finally crumble under the weight of space.

Then it stopped.

A green bubble wrapped itself around the craft, protecting everyone inside from the deadly abyss outside.

"Green Lantern," sighed Canary, "thank God."

Flash glanced through the fractured glass. "Not exactly."

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Rebooting.

An electrical surge.

A disc starts to spin.

A memory.

My parents , he thought, are dead.

His muscles did not want to work. Something kept telling him to give up-to let go of the impossible. Just fall asleep.

No , no more sleep.

He lifted his hand towards his face and pulled the starfish off. Viscous matter hung between his face and the Starro. It wriggled and surged towards him, but his grip would not give.

No more sleep.

With that, he lifted a blade out of his belt and slashed the starfish open. It pulsed one final time before he threw it to the ground. He pulled his mask back down, covering his white hair.

He looked around the shuttle. His assailant-a former astronaut possessed and deformed by Starro-was nowhere to be seen.

I don't belong here.

A few moments later he had teleported out of the doomed craft. His new surrounding was white and familiar.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Monarch was disappointed at this new arrival. Most of the World's Greatest had either found a way to dispose of themselves, or had already been taken care of. Still, this one managed to slip through the cracks.

"You," spat Monarch.

"Me," replied Hal Jordan .

Evil Star responded with a less verbal salutation. Instantly he redirected the attention of his star-shots towards the Green Lantern, Jordan responded in equal fashion. The first blast from his ring simply deflected the incoming comet. The second, however, knocked the staff from Evil Star's hands. Panic filled Evil Star's eyes as he soared after the partial source of his powers.

With another blast Evil Star was subdued.

Monarch looked over towards his fallen comrade.

" You ."

"Don't feel so bad, big guy," taunted Hal, "bigger guys than that have fallen even faster to me. Besides, I know better than anyone else not to put all of your eggs in one basket."

"Enough of this," yelled Monarch. "I grow tired of your banter."

Pointing his fists in the direction of Hal Jordan , Monarch fired two blasts of energy at the young hero. The first was easily knocked away by the power of the ring. The second collided with Hal's body, knocking him back. His ring sparked energy briefly, as if short circuited. Even with his ring activated, the heat and strength of the blast could be felt. It lay on his body like a great pressure until finally, the blast dissipated and Jordan righted himself. He searched around, but Evil Star and Monarch had disappeared.

Hal looked down towards the Justice League shuttlecraft.

"Did you two.see." but he cut himself short as he looked at the occupants of the vessel that he had just saved. He shook his head, then flew over to the NASA shuttle.

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The NASA shuttle, infected with Starro, was transported back to the new Justice League satellite headquarters. The Atom and Superman were extracted, but Batman was unaccounted for. Still, no one was surprised when he returned a few hours later acting angrier than usual. The NASA shuttle was placed inside quarantine, the surviving astronauts placed under intensive care and surveillance.

Hal Jordan and Ray Palmer grasped hands inside the docking bay. Hal's ring seemed to spark momentarily, then settled.

"It is always nice to see you," said Ray, "tell me, now what do you think of the operation?"

"Firestorm is still unaccounted for. The shuttle's integrity was compromised. Those two attackers- Evil Star was one of them. got away. What was this all about, anyway? The shuttle attack.it made no sense."

Ray shrugged.

"We are all at risk for infection," continued Hal, "And yet you want to know what I think of the operation?"

"Maybe now's not a good time," pleaded Ray.

"So," said a new voice, "when would be a good time?"

Kara from Krypton, Supergirl, touched down inside the hangar. Her face was more concerned than usual. Still, in recent months she had started carrying herself with a different kind of seriousness. Before she had been the naïve new-comer from a different world. Now she was starting to taste real loss first hand.

Ray walked over and greeted Superman's cousin.

"Supergirl," he said with a sincere smile, "it is always a pleasure."

"Hmph. There's something going on here."

"What? Well, yes! Of course! We took care of it. Didn't you see?"

"Something else, Ray."

Hal looked over at the recovered NASA shuttle. "She's right," he said, "something big is going on here."

"Don't be such nay-sayers you two. Look, something happened-a ship got attacked by Starro, but we took care of it."

"No," scolded Supergirl, "something bigger than that. Starro pods have been sighted all over the planet."

Ray stepped back, shocked by the news. "What?" he said "That's impossible! We have sensors all over this satellite! We would have picked up the activity. I'm the one who arms the system, after all. You'd be really amazed guys-we used to rely so much on J'onn, but I've found a better way to do it-"

"Stop," Hal interrupted.

"Listen," Ray said calmingly, "we can discuss this more later, okay? Right now there are people out there that need our help."

Hal looked at his old friend for a moment. The two had shared a lot together, but the weight of the past sat heavily on Ray Palmer's shoulders. Hal Jordan understood guilt, but he also understood forgiveness and redemption. At one point you have to let go of the pain.

Hal nodded towards Ray, said his farewells and flew off.

"I should get back there as well," hinted Kara, "I'm sure people need me."

"The world needs a Justice League, Supergirl."

It was an odd moment. Ray's countenance seemed forced, but at the same time she could still see the truth and integrity of the statement. She slowly nodded in agreement, and started to walk away.

"Wait," Ray said. "There's someone here who wants to see you."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"It is good to see you, cousin."

"Yes," replied Superman.

The Man of Steel and Kara from Krypton sat in a lobby located above the satellite's operations deck.

Silence.

"Tell me, cousin-how have you been?"

"Things are good. The world is safe now. How are things with you?"

Supergirl was taken aback.

"Safe?"

"Safe."

"The world is more dangerous now than ever before. I know that may be clichéd-but how can you say it is safe."

"Because. I stand for Truth and Justice. The world is now a better place."

Kara looked Superman over. A distant look washed her face. Quickly she stood up and started walking towards the door.

"I need to go," she said. "Since the world is so safe and all..". She walked up to Superman and gave him a closer look. I don't know what the hell this is, but I'm going to find out, she thought.

She exited the room, and then the satellite. Still, Superman sat mindlessly in the lobby paying no mind to the world around him. A careful observer would notice how perfectly still he actually was-like a statue locked in place.

"You know," came a voice from the darkness, "I've always hated your kind of Justice."

Four batarangs flew from the shadows and embedded themselves into the Man of Steel's chest. He glanced down at the small black objects that somehow managed to impale his flesh.

Two seconds later, the batarangs exploded.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What the hell was that?!" screamed Ralph from his bed. He slept a lot more recently, especially after Ray had helped him out. He would never be able to fully fall asleep again, but he could try. Sometimes, at night, he could still feel her breathe on the back of his neck. Sometimes it would make him smile, but most of the time he just cried.

Ralph ran down the hallways of the satellite as another set of explosions rocked the ground.

"Are we under attack?!" he screamed as he ran into the command deck.

Flash, Canary, and the Atom had already arrived at the large kiosk from repairing their Green Lantern. A large screen displayed a room filled with smoke.

"No," said the Atom, "Batman and Superman are having a disagreement."

"Oh," said Ralph, "just like old times."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Superman scanned the room. A series of explosives lined the exits and walls. A red light blinked on and off steadily-the universal symbol for "Active".

"Go ahead, try to outrun them. See what happens," came the voice from the darkness. "They are motion activated, but I designed them to react to the presence of faster-than-light travel. They even react to heat-vision."

"You die as well."

"Small price to pay. Plus, I have a plan. Do you?"

"Why can't I see you?"

"Oh, I always have more than my fair share of tricks."

More batarangs exploded against Superman. He could already feel his outer structure being compromised.

"Why are you doing this? I stand for Truth and Justice."

"Justice? My parents are dead. What justice can you offer them?"

Batman walked out of the shadows, revealing himself to Superman. In his hand he held a small silver remote with two flashing buttons.

"If," he said, "I push this button the entire satellite will detonate. You may survive, but no one else will. If I push this button all the explosives will de-activate."

"Why are you doing this?"

"Because I hate you, and I hate what you stand for. Justice?"

"BATMAN!" came Ray's voice through the overhead, "STOP!"

Batman's entire body froze at the command. His body was completely immobile but for his eyes-which glared at Ray Palmer through the camera.

"DEACTIVATE THE BOMBS" Ray commanded.

Unwillingly, Batman's thumb pressed one of the buttons on the remote. The red blinking lights faded away.

"Superman," said the Atom, "please leave the room."

The Man of Steel walked out of the room, his repair systems already activated.

"I know about your game now, Palmer," said Batman, "and as soon as I learn the rest of the rules I'm going to start playing my way."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ray Palmer lowered his head. Ralph Dibny, his old friend, stretched out an arm and patted him on the shoulder, but Palmer simply shrugged it off. Together with the Flash and the Black Canary, the Elongated Man left the room.

Ray Palmer, the man known simply as the Atom, stared at the large screen-Batman's dark eyes staring right back into his own. For a full minute Ray watched the Dark Knight stand frozen in space. Then, with a simple flip of a switch he turned off the lights in the lobby, leaving Batman alone in the darkness.

As Ray walked away from the large monitor he could hear laughter coming through the speakers.

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NEXT ISSUE: Where is Firestorm? Why are Starro pods landing all over the world? Plus, the Joker!

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