Issue #1 | Issue #2 | Issue #3 | Issue #4 | Issue #5 | Issue #6 | Issue #7 | Issue #8 | Issue #9 | Issue #10 | Issue #11 | Issue #12 | Issue #13 | Issue #14 |

It was falling apart.

Ray Palmer, the Atom, looked out into the vast expanse of space aboard the new Justice League Satellite. It hadn't always been theirs to use, but rather once the headquarters used by the Injustice Gang. Now it stood for justice, a symbol of good over evil.

Problem was, the symbol was more intact than the team that made it up.

Ray had seen his new Justice League crumble before his eyes over the last few days. He and Ralph Dibny, the Elongated Man, had assembled their own team designed to face a threat that they had been warned about from a man in the future. A threat that was destined to destroy the Earth would do so because there was no Justice League to stop it. Gabriel had been quite adamant on that: the threat in the future had admitted as much. Without a Justice League, the threat would prevail. Problem was, in the here and now, there was no one to call on to take the place of the League that had shattered after the events of the latest Crisis. Superman was missing. Batman was missing. Wonder Woman was missing. Hal Jordan had been taken up in his duties with the Green Lantern Corps Honor Guard. Wally West had disappeared during the Crisis. Kyle Rayner had never returned home from the Rann/Thanagar Conflict. J'onn J'onzz had washed his hands of the League, tired of the constant bickering and betrayal League stalwarts had taken part in, choosing to go a different path. Arthur was busy maintaining order in Sub Diego, trying to find a balance between the US Government's and Atlantis' ways of looking after a new society. Black Canary was off the grid, presumably on a mission for Oracle. Green Arrow had been severely injured after an attack by Merlyn and Dr. Light. Hawkman had disappeared in some sort of case with the Justice Society. Zatanna had returned very briefly, but only to do what was needed. She asked that Ray and Ralph never call for her again.

Over the past year and more, ever since Ray and Ralph had discovered Gabriel within the ruins of the old Justice League Watchtower, they had tried to forestall the future that seemed damned to come. The threat was coming, but they could change the future. Gabriel had said that there was no Justice League. No Superman, no Batman, no Wonder Woman. That's when Ray had an idea, one that seemed to yell at him in a dream. If there is no League to protect the Earth, then he would just have to make one.

The Justice League was dead. Long Live the Justice League .

 

DC Infinity Proudly Presents

Issue #6

"The World's Greatest Heroes?"

Part 6 of 6

By Mike Hintze & Josh Krenz

 

Ralph Dibny had been told repeatedly that the pain would go away, eventually his loss would develop scar tissue and he wouldn't feel it as badly anymore.

It had been almost two years since his wife had been murdered. It still felt as fresh as the day it happened. He awoke every morning and for a split second, thought about how his life was perfect. He was a famous celebrity, married to the perfect woman. An instant later the reality came crashing in, and his grief would overwhelm him.

He had found a new focus for his life, a way to try and forget the pain and make Sue's sacrifice mean something. Sue had always believed in the Justice League and Ralph's place in it. The League had been no more. Then, Ray had come to him. Helped him. They had found a man on the Watchtower and finally, oh finally, Ralph had a mystery to solve. Gabriel may have heralded a threat beyond imagining, but he had been a godsend to Ralph. He had something to focus on besides his grief. He had something he could do that would make Sue proud.

It had been far easier than they had initially thought. Over the course of the last year, they had obtained and assembled a truly powerful Justice League. They had decided that if they couldn't find the members Gabriel said they needed, then they would create them. It had been simple enough to obtain a Superman robot and tailor it to their needs. Amazo was also another easy member to get. Professor Ivo had made multiple Amazo androids and having access to old Justice League files made it easy to not only procure one, but one that had faced the League before. Green Lantern had been the hardest League member to replicate, and so they had tapped into Amazo's link to the Guardian's Power Battery to make their own.

The others soon followed. This ramshackle League faced down Harley Quinn, Zoom and Prometheus on separate occasions. Using old and relatively familiar means, they had molded these criminals and psychopaths into models of the best of the best in the League: Black Canary, Flash and Batman. Being mentally unstable, their minds were more willing to accept altered memories and assume their new identities wholly. At least, for awhile.

Now, the new Batman had gone rogue and escaped the satellite. The Flash had left as well. News reports were filtering in of what the Flash was supposedly up to, and it wasn't good. The reports didn't out and out say it was the Flash, but Ralph knew. He was a detective.

Black Canary had also left and despite the teleport logs showing she had appeared near Gotham , there was no trace of her. Ever since the encounter with Starro their programming had been slowly unravelling. Ralph wasn't sure why he never noticed it before, but he was starting to have an idea why.

His mystery senses were beginning to kick in like mad..and he didn't like what he was smelling.

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

Jason Rusch had been concentrating for days. He had no idea how he had returned to the Justice League satellite after he and Bruce Gordon, together as Firestorm, had tried to fight off the control of the Starro-parasite. He had lost consciousness as the two separated the Firestorm Matrix..then he had awoke on the satellite, in the aftermath of a battle resulting from Amazo reverting to his core programming. Someone had beaten him and departed the satellite, but the question was, who? The video logs had shown the mysterious individual to be a man garbed in a carapace-like armoured suit of dark blue and gold, reminiscent of a man from the League's files named Monarch. Thing was, Monarch was dead. Monarch had been fated to exist in the year 2001..a future that never happened. Who this new Monarch was left a surprising mystery, one that bothered Jason far more than it did the others..and that was another mystery unto itself. Ray Palmer and Ralph Dibny were veterans of the League. Surely they would be concerned that this Monarch lookalike was capable of coming and going from the satellite at will?

Jason had been concentrating in an attempt to find his partner, Dr. Gordon. There was still so much he didn't understand about the Firestorm Matrix, but Professor Martin Stein had showed him that the Matrix was far more than a simple amalgamation of two people into a Nuclear Man. Those that had been a part of the Matrix remained connected, even in a small way, after the Matrix was separated. Jason had used this connection to find Stein in the past on one occasion, now he hoped it would work again for Bruce Gordon.

A movement in the air took Jason out of his meditative state. He looked around to see what it was and saw he was still alone in the room. He turned back to resume his search when he saw that his solitude was not quite what he thought.

A man wearing a dark suit and fedora, with a dark cloak around his shoulders, stood staring at Jason. The man's hair that showed beneath the hat was stark white. His eyes were covered in shadow. This man wasn't the most surprising thing Jason now saw. Beside the cloaked man, was Bruce Gordon.

"Dr. Gordon! How did you--? Who is this?" Jason stammered.

"We haven't got much time," said Gordon. "The Phantom Stranger needs us both, and we need to get away from here. It's not safe." Gordon looked around himself as if he were expecting an ambush.

"What the hell are you talking about?" said Jason. "Do you know how I got back here?"

"All will be answered in time," said the Stranger. "For now, we must be off. A dire threat is aboard this station, one that has dire plans for you both..and Firestorm."

An instant later, they were all gone.

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

Ralph was regaining his composure and senses. He was understanding things that he hadn't realized before. Somehow, his own mental faculties had been eroded, for how long he didn't know. His mind had been clouded, not so much he couldn't function with Ray and the League, but enough that his deductive reasoning was held back.

He was seeing the folly of their actions over the last year. Assembling a team of villains, brainwashing them to act as heroes. Trusting in psychopaths when there were others available to carry on as the Justice League. This was wrong. He and Ray had been duped, obviously mind controlled. Who was manipulating them? What had been done to them?

Ralph mentally began retracing his steps. Events that seemed innocuous in the past were now coming to a clarity that shocked him.

He needed to talk to Ray. They needed to do something.

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

Ray monitored the newscasts on Earth, observing that the Flash they had created had been arrested and stopped by another mysterious speedster. It wasn't Jay Garrick, he was in the hospital according to other news sources. Ray hoped beyond hope that Jay was alright. Maybe the mysterious speedster was Bart? If so, the Flash legacy would indeed live on. Barry and Wally would be proud.

Gotham City had reports of vigilantes duking it out somewhere in the city. Details were sketchy, but Ray knew it involved their Batman, the former Prometheus. He had proven too strong for the conditioning to take hold. Everything had unravelled after the Starro Incident. Sure, this new League had saved the Earth from the parasitic invasion, but the encounter with the telepathic alien had begun the course of destruction that led to the Leaguers leaving on their own. Amazo was destroyed and beyond hope. Black Canary presumably with her lover, the Joker. The Superman robot was repaired, but Ray was having nagging doubts about its use. It had been far from the Superman they had needed.

This new League is needed. Nothing must be allowed to stand in its way.

Ray knew this, his mind knew this to be true. He was a scientist, but he also knew that a feeling of faith was often as strong as any intellect. Faith in something bigger than yourself. Faith in the Justice League.

He checked over to Jason's room. It was empty. He checked all over the station. He was nowhere to be seen. In fact, Jason Rusch was no longer aboard the Satellite. Ray came to Ralph's room where he had been resting. Ralph was now sitting up. He was concentrating intently, deep in thought. That's when Ray saw something that Ralph hadn't done in over a year or more:

Ralph's nose was twitching.

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

This idea was insane. How could we have thought that this was viable? How did we think we could get away with this?

Ray and I collected these villains over the last year, brainwashed them and set them up as faux Leaguers. Something happened to cloud my judgment..Ray's, too. We've been acting as puppets, but for whom?

Ralph's mind continued to race over the possibilities. This faux Monarch must be behind this, he has full access to this satellite..he comes and goes as he pleases..he saved us from the faulty Amazo..but why? WHY?

Then it hit Ralph like a freight train.

He realized the truth.

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

He is close to finding us out, the control has been broken.

A pity. With the Batman otherwise occupied, he was the only other who could have put two and two together.

We tried it your way. It failed. Now, we kill him.

He's been through so much..It would be a mercy to end his life.

He's a threat. Deal with it.

As you wish.

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

Ralph Dibny went to the door from his quarters and took a deep breath. He needed to get off the satellite and save Ray. Problem was, how to do it without alerting suspicion. He activated the door and peered out into the hallway. There were security cameras everywhere. He closed the door again and thought hard. He needed to get to the teleport bay without using the hallways.

He looked up.

Bingo.

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

Ray Palmer sat up straight as the camera view of Ralph's room went to static. His camera was offline. He checked the diagnostics, but saw that the system was fine..Ralph's camera had been knocked offline.

He got up and went to investigate.

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

Ralph wound his way through the ventilation shafts of the satellite. He wasn't sure where exactly he was heading, but he knew the general direction of the teleportation bays. Eventually, he would find it.

The Injustice Gang's satellite? How the hell did we think this would work? This place must be the least secure facility we could have thought of! Hell, this was a watering hole for the supercriminal mindset !

His body continued to contract and stretch out. He was nearly to his limit, with there being miles of conduits on the satellite. Ralph had left the ventilation shaft and went up a circuitry shunt. The labelling on the hatch indicated massive power requirements, the kind a teleporter would need.

His nose, as stretched as it was, twitched some more. Ralph was in the midst of a mystery..and a race for his and Ray's lives.

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

Ray walked into Ralph's quarters. They were empty.

The room was what you would expect of a bachelor. Relatively messy, but still liveable. Ray knew Ralph used to be one of the neatest men he knew. Now, since Sue's death, he had changed. Not for the better.

I've never seen anyone miss someone so much , thought Ray.

The satellite scans showed no trace of Ralph on the satellite. However, the teleport logs showed no one had left in the last hour. Jason was missing and now Ralph.

What the hell is going on?

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

A plastic porthole offering access to the teleport bay popped off and landed on the floor. A small protuberance came out and eventually seemed to pour onto the floor. Eventually, it formed into a man. Ralph had made it. The teleport controls were across the room from his current position.

He went to move closer when his foot began to go numb. He looked down and saw it was melted into goo. Steam rose up from his jellied foot. Shock began to set in. He reached down for his foot. A shadow came across him. He looked up..

The Superman robot was hovering above him, its heat vision emanating from its eyes.

"Hello, Ralph," said the robot. "Trying to leave, were we?"

Fighting against the onset of shock and pain, Ralph looked up into the eyes of the creature. "I..know who..you are."

"Too bad for you," said the robot. "You should have stayed brain addled and grieving for your wife. You were more entertaining that way." He fired another burst of heat vision.

Ralph barely dodged it, singing his side as he stretched away. The teleporters were out of his reach. He would never make it to the controls. He also knew he would never beat this Superman imposter. That left one avenue. Ralph was surprised how calm he felt when this possibility had occurred to him. If he couldn't get help, he would have to call for it.

Faster than the robot had expected, Ralph stretched out into the hallway and made a dash for his secondary objective. The robot was surprised Ralph had moved as fast as he had.

He gave pursuit.

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

Ray accessed a hallway monitor and accessed the security viewing mode. He tabbed through the views until he saw it.

Ralph running for his life, undulating like a snake to move amazingly fast, the Superman robot after him.

Ray ran.

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

Ralph was now in excruciating pain, the damage to his malleable foot almost too much to bear. He was almost to the main computer hub. He outstretched his arm and grabbed a metal bench, throwing it at the robot. The robot stopped his flight and grabbed it from the air, ripping it apart.

"This is what I'm going to do to you, elastic man," said the robot.

The second of bravado had been enough. Ralph leapt into the computer room and activated the blast doors. They slammed shut.

Immediately, the robot began hammering on the doors. Dents were becoming more and more stressed. Very soon, the robot would break through. There was no way out that Ralph could see. But then, he knew that would be the case.

He grabbed a transmitter and found a specific frequency. He activated the microphone. "This is Ralph Dibny of the Justice League! The League is not what it seems! We've been manipulated! They must be stopped! They're really--!"

Ralph stopped. He looked out the window to the Earth below them. Floating there in space, shaking his index finger back and forth like a parent scolding a child, was the man who looked like Monarch. Energy began to arc in his hands, building up to critical mass. In horror, Ralph knew what he was going to do. His other hand reached over to another set of controls..

Monarch blasted out the viewing window and the atmosphere depressurized into space. Ralph tried desperately to hold on, but was sucked out himself. Monarch grabbed Ralph's stretched body and brought his face up to Monarch's own.

Ralph saw Monarch's eyes. They were insane, the pupils mere dots. The pressure of space was overwhelming Ralph. Monarch's hands glowed..and vaporized Ralph's head.

The robot had broken through the door and joined Monarch in space. Monarch released the body into the cold expanse, letting it drift into the darkness.

"Now what?" asked the robot.

"Now..we try again," said Monarch. "This League was not quite right. The next one will be."

They turned to head back to the satellite. Once inside the monitor room that Monarch had blown out, he erected an energy field to act as a barrier until they could replace the shattered viewport. The atmosphere returned to the room.

"Now," said the robot, "Who do you propose for this new League? Is Palmer still controllable?"

"Most definitely," said Monarch. "In fact, he-!"

Monarch looked down at the monitor board. The satellite was powered by a neutrino reactor. That reactor, according to the status board, was now in critical overload.

"Damn you, Dibny!" was all Monarch could say.

The reactor breached. The satellite seemed to gain an internal glow through all hallways and passages.

An instant later, it exploded.

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

Next Issue: ?????????