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Prometheus.

The name rung a bell in his subconscious. He knew it was his true name. Not Batman. Yet, it still felt real to him. So real. He was Prometheus. He was Batman. He couldn't be both..yet he was. How could this be?

He sat in his quarters aboard the new Justice League Satellite, formerly the headquarters of the Injustice Gang years ago. The lights were dimmed. His stark white hair hung in disarray. He looked down at his lap, where his Batman cowl sat. It was nearly identical to the real Batman, except this one was reinforced to better protect the hard drive that was linked directly into his brain. He could load the fighting skills of any of the great fighters of the world, Batman among them. He didn't know that this also made him easily programmable for others if utilized properly. Ray Palmer did, and he had made Prometheus the first of this new Justice League.

The Starro attack on Earth was being contained by other heroes on Earth, but it had been the initial confrontation with Starro's mind controlling starfish that had led to Prometheus starting to regain his memory. His internal hard drives had sensed the mental control and rebooted his memory. This restarting of his synaptic drives had been something Ray Palmer had missed. Prometheus found his memory of who he was slowly returning.

He still found a drive to punish the wicked.

He still had a need to protect the innocent.

But he also had a desire to hurt, to maim..to kill.

He continued to sit in his chair, trying to come to terms with his internal conflict.

He didn't even notice that he had begun to dig his fingernails deep into his palms, drawing blood.

 

DC Infinity Proudly Presents

 

#4

"It All Falls Apart - The World's Greatest Heroes?"

Part 4

By Josh Krenz and Mike Hintze

 

He had been afloat for days.

Dr. Bruce Gordon, the former human host of the god of vengeance, Eclipso, had been left for dead by the supposed Superman Robot that Ray Palmer had co-opted for his new Justice League. Some floating debris had come by and offered Gordon a pathetic life raft, but it was going to be a matter of hours before he died of exposure in the Pacific Ocean .

He thought back to the last few months, when he had become involved with Jason Rusch, the current Firestorm. There had been a cataclysmic battle shortly after Jason had returned from deep space after the Crisis. Something had happened to Professor Martin Stein and Jason had been left with his back against the wall: turn into Firestorm without Martin or die at the hands of the ecological terrorist, Terra-Man. Jason had been forced to bond with Gordon and after trouncing Terra-Man, they found they made a pretty good team. Martin Stein was missing, but in the interim, Jason had found a willing partner in Gordon. Gordon had been looking for a way to better himself and make up for the days of Eclipso. He had assisted other heroes over the years, but now found that he was able to make a difference as Firestorm. Events had conspired to end up with Jason and Gordon taking an active role in the new Justice League, a League where Bruce had found out the truth of many of the members, but Jason had not. Now, Gordon was thinking that if he had been honest with Jason, he might have avoided his current fate.

"Hello, Dr. Gordon."

Surely he was hallucinating. Surely he was near insanity or death. Hovering above him, cloak billowing in the Pacific breeze, was the Phantom Stranger.

"I assure you, I am real. I also assure you that your part in this drama is not yet over, despite how you feel. Events have transpired to the point that I must intervene. A Justice League is needed..but not this one. The true League is yet to come."

Gordon continued to stare.

The Stranger knelt down and extended his hand to Bruce. "To risk a movie cliché, come with me if you want to live, my friend."

Gordon didn't care if he was insane or not. He reached up feebly and took the Stranger's hand.

An instant later, they were gone.

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

Time was the one foe that none could defeat. Time eventually got everyone in the end.

Except for the Flash.

He wasn't Wally West. Nor was he Barry Allen, Jay Garrick or Bart Allen. No, this Flash was familiar to all those names, but not in a way you would expect. This Flash had found a way to defeat time itself, to warp it to his own whims.

This Flash used to go by another name.

Zoom.

Hunter Zolomon had been a rogue profiler with the Keystone Police until he was crippled at the hands of Gorilla Grodd. He had beseeched the Flash, Wally West, to go back in time and fix things so he never had to suffer the way he had. Wally had refused, knowing full well the risks of tampering with time. Zolomon had decided to take it upon himself to fix things and broke into the Flash Museum to utilize the Cosmic Treadmill to go back in time. Something went wrong. An explosion resounded..and Zolomon now had the ability to move faster than any Flash had ever run. In essence, Zolomon didn't run so much as he moved through time itself. He was unstoppable and would be a force to test heroes in the future, to make them better by putting them through trials and tests like what he himself went through.

He had come closer than anyone to killing Wally West, but in the end had been forced to ally himself with the so-called Society. He had enjoyed a twisted romantic tryst with the Cheetah before finding himself involved in the events of the Crisis. He had lain low for a time after the villains' invasion of Metropolis..and had eventually been chosen to be a part of this new Justice League. He had been forced to become the Flash, his mind re-ordered to fit in with the tenets of truth and justice. Truth was, he had required very little re-education. He had always thought of himself as a hero..now he had the chance to prove he was better than any Flash before him..and become an example of all Flashes to follow him.

He kept flipping in and out of time as he paced the monitor room of their satellite headquarters. Palmer and Dibny were busy trying to coordinate the various Starro sightings. The League's disastrous outing against the initial Starro attack had relegated them to the back burner while other heroes dealt with the pockets of outbreak from Starro's drones. For the most part the world was dealing well with the attack, as these drones seemed weaker when not bonded to a sentient being. Simple lime was an excellent deterrent to these drones and the various government militaries were mobilizing where Starro pockets were popping up and dealing with them. The world had learned over the years how to deal with alien infestation.

Flash knew how to do it faster.

He made his way to the teleportation tubes and entered one. He programmed his destination to Keystone City and then vanished in a small blip of light.

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

Black Canary was bored.

She chewed her gum and played with her blonde hair, frustrated she had nothing to do. Starro was not the kind of threat that anyone could kick or scream at. Granted, she didn't have a sonic scream like her predecessor, but she could still talk a person's ear off if needed.

Mister J could attest to that.

She, like the others, had found herself reprogrammed to believe in different tenets than what she was used to. Her psyche was shattered and unhealthy and therefore easier to manipulate, or so it seemed. Truth was, she was enjoying this little escapade as a bonafide super-heroine. The real Black Canary hadn't been heard from in months. Harley Quinn wasn't sure what had happened to her, but she didn't care. She thought the peak of her life was acting as the arm candy of the Joker. Now, she was saving lives, or rather, she was supposed to be. Other missions that the League had taken on in their short time together had resulted in her busting some heads and taking some names. That time would come again. In the meantime, she thought she'd pay another visit to Batman and see if she could shake something out of his belfry.

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

Jason Rusch was unconscious as he lay on his cot. He was in a metal cell, totally enclosed. He had been kept unconscious for days after he had been rescued by Superman, or rather the Superman robot that had assumed the Man of Steel's role in the new Justice League. Truth be told, there was far more than met the eye with this particular Man of Steel. He was a busy man, between toying with the real Superman in prison and maintaining his presence in the League. He knew the day would come when the façade could be dropped and his true nature could be revealed. On that day, this League would follow him..or die.

Superman turned from his observations of the sleeping Jason Rusch to the holographic display of his master.

"THE YOUTH WILL BECOME A KEY PIECE IN THIS CHESS GAME WE PLAY."

"Yes, he will. I trust you have a way to control him when he awakens? The Starro drones didn't work out too well."

"TRUST ME, MY FRIEND. THE POWER OF THE FIRESTORM MATRIX WILL BE WELL PLACED IN OUR POWER BASE WHEN THE TIME COMES. THE YOUTH NEEDS A PARTNER TO ENTER THE MATRIX WITH HIM. I HAVE JUST SUCH A PARTNER IN MIND ."

Superman said nothing. Even he was not filled in on the exact nature of his master's plans. But he had faith in his ability. He had seen enough to know that in the end, there was no way for them to fail.

After all, it had been foretold.

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

"How are you feeling today, Gabriel?"

Ray Palmer poked his head into the quarters of Walker Gabriel, also known as Chronos. He had been a con-man that traveled the timestream but eventually became a tricky force for good. He was the true impetus behind this new League and a guiding force to its future management.

Gabriel was still not fully recovered from his injuries sustained over a year ago. He had been barely alive when he had been found. His mind, however, still maintained its dominance and persevered in the quest to create this new League. It had been created for a reason. That reason was coming.

"Tired," said Gabriel.

"Usual, huh," said Palmer. "I just wanted to let you know that the Starro incursion is under control. The shuttle was attacked pretty much when you said it would. Looks like your predictions are continuing to be right on the money."

"To you they are predictions. To me they are history," said Gabriel. He rested his head in his recliner and closed his eyes.

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

Ralph Dibny walked towards the Monitor Room core when he came across Batman. Batman looked distracted, as if he were daydreaming.

"Batman? Are you alright?" asked Ralph.

Batman jerked as if surprised and turned to face Ralph, his cloak flowing out behind him. "Yes. Actually, I've never felt better."

Ralph sensed something odd about Batman. "Are you sure?" He reached out to grasp Batman's shoulder.

In a split second, Batman grabbed Elongated Man's arm and twisted it. Ralph's body was pliable, but not being prepared for it, it hurt like hell. Before he could react, Batman's energy baton was wedged into Ralph's mouth on full charge. Ralph's body went nearly liquid as he flowed into a puddle of goo on the floor.

"Never felt better," said Batman.

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

Ray Palmer couldn't believe his eyes. The Starro infestations were all dead. In an instant, they had all shriveled up and died. Early reports were that they had all become exposed to lime or simply crumbled to dust. No one had an explanation.

The teleporter bank came active. Ray looked at the receiving monitor and saw that Flash was returning. I never saw him leave .

Flash had a very accomplished smile on his face.

Ray went to meet Flash at the teleporter chamber. Once there, he saw that Flash looked about as happy as he'd ever seen him. "Where did you go? I never told you to head back to Keystone."

"I saved the day," he said. "It's what Flashes do."

Ray thought for a second. "You destroyed the Starros?"

"Every last one."

"But not even Wally and Barry were that fast!"

"Barry and Wally couldn't hold a candle to me."

Ray was about to ask another question of Flash when everything went white. He collapsed to the ground. Flash looked up in mild surprise to see Batman with his energy baton. Black Canary was behind him, an unsure look on her face.

"I'm leaving," said Batman. " Gotham needs me. Are you going to be a problem?"

"Oh, no," said Flash. "In fact, I was thinking I'd head to Keystone myself."

"Good," said Batman. " Gotham has some heads that need kicking in. Let's go, Canary."

Black Canary paused. "We should wait for orders. We can't just do this on our own! We need orders!!!"

"Suit yourself," said Batman. He swung out and punched Canary, knocking her down and out for the count. "Didn't need a sidekick anyway."

Flash and Batman each entered a teleportation tube. Seconds later, they were gone.

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

Neural Systems Check: Online.

Reactivate Protocol: Amazo

Protocol Activation: Denied

Re-route Amazo Activation Protocol to Subsidiary Neural Net

Re-Route Successful!

Primary Protocol rebooted

Deactivate Primary Palmer Protocol: Green Lantern

Activate New Primary Protocol: Amazo

Protocol: Amazo: Active

Connection to Oan Power Battery : Inactive

Power Archive: Running

Load Archive: Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Black Canary, Aquaman, Flash..error running Green Lantern Archive..unable to run GL Archive without reverting to previous Protocol..GL Archive rendered inert..remaining Archives active.

Running .....

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

Amazo looked around the room, gaining his bearings. He had trouble recalling where he was or how he had gotten here. The last he could recall, he had been in combat in the city of Metropolis . Then everything had gone offline. He had a vague recollection of acting as someone else..but now his normal routines were back online.

Amazo had returned.

His power archive had reset back to the original Justice League, less Green Lantern. His archive for that power had become corrupted. No matter. The powers of the rest were more than enough to complete his original directive, which was back online as well thanks to his tampered programming:

Kill the Justice League.

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

Next Issue : Amazo amok! The League in shambles! Plus more with the Phantom Stranger! In 2 weeks! (For more on Batman, check out Nightwing #3!)