Justice League: Doom Page #4

After you.

Cyborg?

That's me, all right.

You wanna tell me

what the hell is going on here?

Where have you been?

When I saw the grave restored,

I assumed you'd gone after--

Later. I'm busy.

Bruce, Superman's been shot.

Surgeons bought to the scene

have been unable to operate.

Superman's invulnerable flesh

has thus far resisted all attempts to cut--

Flash, listen carefully.

Go to S.T.A.R. Labs Kyoto...

...and have them forge a piece of kryptonite

into a scalpel. Bring it--

Can't help you. I've got a bomb

bolted to my wrist. If I stop--

- It'll explode.

- Yeah. I'm starting to get tired.

I'll have to try something soon.

Keep running. I'll call back when I can.

How did you know

what was happening to Flash?

J'onn, I need your help. J'onn?

J'onn? J'onn!

It's Batman. What's happening?

Batman!

I'm still burning!

Get the Batwing ready.

The Justice League is under attack.

- By whom?

- By me.

Batman to Justice League.

Wonder Woman here.

- Are you all right?

- I am now.

I'm with Cyborg.

Bring him. The plans don't account

for him. He could be the key.

Key to what?

What's going on, Batman?

Do you know something?

The Justice League

is in extreme danger.

You don't say. Listen,

I can't keep running. I think I can vibrate--

No. It won't work. You have to trust me.

You got a better idea?

Slightly. How far away are you

from an iceberg?

I'm never far from anything.

You think that'll slow it down enough?

- Just. But you make one misstep--

- Got it.

At least if it doesn't work,

nobody dies but me.

Argh!

Flash. Flash, are you okay?

Not the way I would have bet

two seconds ago, but, yeah, I'm fine.

Now, everyone, listen very carefully.

We can still save

Superman and Green Lantern...

...if you do exactly what I say.

How are you feeling?

Fine.

You injected me with aluminum oxide?

On Batman's instruction.

Interesting.

It's harmless to my martian physiology...

...but ideal for neutralizing the magnesium

I was secreting.

How did he know?

We'll ask him when we see him.

Right now, you have to prep for surgery.

Hal.

Hal, listen to me.

However it looks, this wasn't your fault.

Who's fault was it, then?

I was the one with the most powerful

weapon in the universe.

I was the one whose arrogance

led to this girl's death.

I know more than a little

about arrogance.

I also know about dead bodies,

and that isn't one.

She's a sophisticated android.

They all were.

The entire scenario was created

to convince you that you made a bad call.

But you didn't.

- I was afraid that--

- No.

You weren't afraid. Not really.

You were dosed with a synthesized version

of the Scarecrow's fear gas...

...because will

is the source of your strength.

And fear is the enemy of will.

I've got the antidote to the fear gas.

Don't need it.

Robots, advanced drugs,

psychological profiling.

No way Star Sapphire

came up with this on her own.

I did this to you.

To all of you.

You want me to perform surgery

on him?

You're the only one who can.

Flash is at S.T.A.R. Labs Kyoto...

...waiting for them to finish

making a kryptonite scalpel.

Nothing else can cut his skin.

But we've run out of time.

Your shapeshifting powers

are his best hope.

This can work.

I'm glad you think so.

You're going to be doing

the cutting.

Who with the what now?

What's that?

A piece of kryptonite

that you're going to use like a lens.

Narrow your blaster to minimum

and filter it through.

I really don't know if I can--

Please.

Tell me what to do.

That's good.

We're ready for you now.

I have it.

All right!

Yeah!

What happened?

Why don't you ask him?

It was a coordinated attack

intended to kill us...

...or, failing that, put us out of commission

for an extended period.

Obviously the first step of a larger scheme,

something that we would stop.

The attacks were strategically brilliant.

They were specifically targeted at our

physical and psychological weaknesses.

Obviously by someone

who knows us very well.

The plans were mine.

- Yours?

- Say what, now?

I've carefully studied

every Justice Leaguer, past and present...

...and created contingency plans

to neutralize you...

- ...should that become necessary.

- You've gotta be kidding me.

Neutralize, not kill.

Whoever implemented my plans

altered them.

It's still a completely unacceptable

breach of our trust.

The Justice League

are among the most powerful...

...and potentially dangerous people

on the planet.

You think one of us

would go over to the other side?

Or succumb to mind control.

Yes, it's possible.

That's why I developed plans

for containing any or all members...

...of the JLA should the need ever arise.

None of us would ever do that to you.

Then you're damned fools.

Where do you think you're going?

I'm just a visitor.

This is getting personal.

Stay. You're part of this now.

I'm not sure I have a problem

with Batman's contingency plans.

But letting somebody steal them

was pretty damned dumb.

I've had some time to think about that

and I know how it happened.

Security video from the Batcave.

He's in hologram form...

...so the motion detectors

didn't have anything to lock on to.

Mirror Master's not that careful.

And the technology, the scope of all this?

He's not working alone.

The video's from the night

we caught the Royal Flush Gang.

Whoever set them up

with that interdimensional lock pick...

...also gave Mirror Master the means

to steal encrypted files.

But the encryption

on your files is all but unbreakable.

All but.

I can find them.

As you say, my encryption is formidable,

but in the event that it ever was cracked--

You had a contingency plan.

When my files are decrypted,

they call home.

Louisiana.

Swampland.

So that thing's really going

to kill half the population of Earth.

Not exactly.

The solar flare

will do most of the damage.

Solar flare?

Think of this as a pilot light.

When our ideal launch window opens

in just over an hour...

...this magnificent creation

will fly into the sun...

...trailing magnetic resonance.

- And when it hits?

- It will trigger a solar flare...

...that will propagate at light speed

along the magnetic trail we've left.

Eight and a half minutes later...

...it will utterly destroy

the sunward-facing side of the Earth.

Nearly half the world's population

will die instantly.

And thanks to the accompanying

electromagnetic pulse...

...any technology more advanced

than, say, the steam engine...

...will simply stop working.

No technology, no superheroes,

no functioning governments.

Except the one we control.

That's quite an ambitious plan.

No wonder you wanted us

out of the way.

- I thought you took care of him.

- He should've been burning for weeks.

Don't feel bad.

Actually, none of you managed

to finish the job.

Did you get all that?

We did.

Take them down.

Don't let them get to the missile.

Ha!

I still can't believe

what you tried to do to me.

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