ISSUE #7 (May 2018)
Written by John Cheese Featuring: Mister Twister
Killer Croc
Mayfly
Fatality
Neutron
Green Lantern
Wonder Woman
Batman
Onomatopoeia
Martian Manhunter
Hawkman
Flash
Green Arrow
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"THE SCHISM"THE CROOKED HOUSE
PHANTOM ZONE The hunchbacked man servant of 'the Titan' turned around from his duties as the armoured form of Mister Twister stomped into the main hall and sat down in the remaining seat. This so-called Legion of Doom seemed down hearted and more than a little worried, in short they felt that they had failed in their respective missions. "If none of you ain't gonna say it I will." Killer Croc hissed, his Cajun accented tones breaking the silence. "We fucked up, we accepted work from this Titan and angered the sleeping bear." "On the contrary Mr Jones." The Titan's voice stated as his digital form coalesced before the assorted villains. "I would call this a victory, you see simply killing a member of the League would make them a martyr. Even if you killed all of them then their replacements would simply carry on their actions." "Then why did you send us after them?" Mayfly buzzed as she began to rise from her chair. "Because your actions, your attacks were only ever meant to serve as the touch paper for the League's own implosion." The Titan revealed as he gestured to the computer monitors his lacky was working on. "If you'll humour me, I can give you front row seats to the death of the Justice League." In brightest day, in blackest night, No evil shall escape my sight. Let those who worship evil's might Beware my power--Green Lantern's light! John Stewart recited his oath as he charged his ring with the glowing power battery that he had Barry run him over from his house in Coast City. Once recharged he summoned his uniform, felt the light construct fingers form where Onomatopoeia had sliced them off his hands, felt the bleeding stop. "You should go to a doctor." Diana's voice stated from the doorway. "So, should you." John replied as he picked the power battery off the floor and stored it in one of the lockers lining the room. "Has the meeting started?" "Not yet, I came to ask about Fatality, ask what she meant by the real monsters, the real villains wear a mask and play hero with one hand, while crushing the innocent with the other during our battle." Diana asked as John walked towards her, only to freeze when he heard Diana repeat Fatality's words. "She's talking about the worst accident in the history of the Green Lantern Corps." John sighed as he turned and looked out of the window at Hub Cities industrialised heart. "Yrra Cynril was off world when a young Green Lantern aiding in the capture of an escaped criminal destroyed the planet Xanshi. And in that moment Yrra became Fatality, the most feared hunter of the Lantern Corps since the initial release of the Manhunters of Oa." "I see." Diana replied quietly as she looked at John's posture, his frustration and his sorrow. It didn't take an expert in psychology to know which Green Lantern had been behind the death of Xanshi. Feeling her rage bubble to the surface Diana took a deep breath and quashed it, if just for the moment. "I'll see you at the meeting." She croaked before striding away from the one she now felt was responsible for the death of her sisters. "Who else Alfred?" Batman asked as he watched the Federal Marshalls walk a handcuffed Onomatopoeia off their prison truck and into the atrium of the Hub City annex of the Hall of Justice. "Two-Face, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, Clay Face..." Alfred stopped as if weary. "Continue Alfred." Batman ordered. "...Zebra Man, Bagman, the Spook, the Ratcatcher, Clock King...Sir there are over forty names here, and while I suspect you'll need this list very soon I also suspect that there is something else more important you need to attend too." Alfred stated as Bruce watched the Marshalls recoil slightly as J'onn J'onnz walked through the door into the garage to sign the prisoner transfer notice. "Nothing is more important than Gotham's safety Alfred. Access the threats posed by each escapee and hand them out appropriately." Batman ordered as he swept down to the holding cells ready to begin the interrogation. "Please do be careful Master Bruce." Alfred sighed. "Don't worry Alfred, I'll be back by Nightfall." Batman growled as he waited for his teammate to bring his prey down to the place where he would surely spill his guts. "TALK BEFORE I BREAK THE REST OF YOUR FINGERS!" Batman roared as he cracked the digits of Onomatopoeia's right hand. <CRACK, SNAP> Onomatopoeia answered. "Suit yourself!" Batman snarled as he delivered a hammer like blow to the hitman's fingers. "Let me go into his mind, I'll find what we need." J'onn offered as he slid next to Onomatopoeia and looked down at the white circle mask that obscured the villain's face. "There are no secrets you can hide from..." J'onn stopped as a massive tumour like mass started growing over his face and neck until he fell to his knees in pain. "J'onn what's wrong?" Batman asked as he held the convulsing Martian in his arms, the tumours inflating and deflating until they finally subsided. "What did you see?" "He...he has an unreadable mind, maybe if my powers..." He stopped as a loud <CUCKOO> sounded from the prisoner. Getting to his feet Batman loomed over the captured villain before slamming Onomatopoeia's head into the table with enough force to knock him out. "That's enough from you!" Batman snarled. "Actually Bruce, we haven't covered enough ground for this to be done." A new voice stated as Onomatopoeia's head rolled and white sparks danced around his mouth. "Who are you?" Batman asked as the Martian Manhunter struggled to his feet. "We are Legion, and you are doomed." The force controlling Onomatopoeia hissed before the sparks faded and the villains head slumped into unconsciousness once again. "J'onn get him up by the time I come back from the meeting." Batman ordered as he stalked out of the room, malice radiating off him like an unstable storm ready to strike. Hawkman had returned by the time Batman returned to the meeting room several stories above the holding cells. With J'onn down below, Superman MIA and Black Canary in hospital the League looked small, even vulnerable. "We need to review what happened." Batman stated as he brought up holographic representations of the attacking members of the Legion of Doom. "Shouldn't we wait for Clark?" Barry asked as he tapped his foot nervously. "Clark won't be joining us." Carter stated as he placed both the mace and axe on the table, followed by his helmet. "We had a choice between Midway City and Clark, in the end we chose to save the city." "Where did you leave his body?" Batman growled. "With his family." Carter replied his head held low. "Then you've done all you can." Batman hissed as he refused to look his former friend in the eye. "Take yourself down to a holding cell, I'll deal with you later." "But Bats we're going to need everyone on this." Barry stated as he tried to see the difference between Hawkman the hero who'd flown out of Metropolis and Hawkman the killer who'd landed at Hub City. "I won't fight alongside someone with my friend's blood on his hands." Batman replied as he produced a pair of hand cuffs and threw them at Carter. "Then let's put that blood where it belongs." A voice announced from the corner of the room where Green Arrow was leaning against one of the computer consoles. "I predicted that this attack would come, I just didn't predict it would come so soon." "What makes this attack any different from those perpetuated by the Injustice Gang or the Secret Society?" Diana asked as she watched Hawkman put the cuffs on with evident disgust on her face. "It was motivated by fear." Oliver answered as he crossed the room to where Hawkman had placed his weapons. "The Legion of Doom knew about the Watchtower Expansion, and they reacted in the most violent way possible." "But how could they know about the Expansion, no one outside the League knew what we had planned?" John Stewart asked. "I asked the same thing." Oliver announced as he pointed at the screen, a signed decree popping up. "I checked the logs and confirmed it with Diana and Barry, there have been no cyber breaches, no physical breaches between the Watchtower Expansion decree being drafted and Tar Pit's destruction of the Hall of Justice. Someone must have talked, and then I remembered what Dinah said after we fished her out of the sewers." "She blamed the League for the attacks." Diana stated as Hawkman left the room and headed downstairs towards the holding cells. "Why in Hera would she do that?" "I can only imagine she stumbled across some things while on monitor duty that she shouldn't have." Oliver answered as he brought up another copy of the Watchtower Expansion decree, one that was almost identical to the first save for the signature and date. "Such as this, a signed copy of the Watchtower Expansion decree dated before Prometheus's attack on the Hall of Justice. "The logs state that this file was accessed three times; one to be signed, one on the day of Prometheus's attack and once when I expect Dinah accessed it." He finished as there were gasps of surprise from the other League members, all save for one, his silence speaking about his prior knowledge of the events. "But this doesn't make any sense?" Flash spluttered as all eyes turned towards Batman, the Dark Knight as calm and stoic as ever. "We agreed on the points together in the aftermath of Prometheus's attack." "Or where shepherded towards agreeing on them. You and J'onn were very vocal during the proceedings." John stated as Diana stared daggers at Batman. "The two of them were the original drafters of the document." Green Arrow stated as he pointed a figure at Batman. "He took all of us for fools, took our right to choose away." "Then this belongs here!" Diana growled as she picked up the blood-soaked axe from the table and handed it to Batman. "Kal's blood is on your hands, the blood of my sisters is on your hand, all those killed by the Legion may as well have been killed by you!" "You're letting yourself get caught up in the emotions." Batman stated before receiving a burning slap round the face, the material of his cowl warping from the ferocity of the blow. "How dare you try and shift blame!" Diana screamed. "You had the audacity to suspend Green Arrow from the league for killing Prometheus, to send Carter away for choosing many lives over one, and yet you have done worse!" "This blame isn't mine, somebody was behind this attack, none of the Legionnaires are smart enough to plan the attacks they carried out." Batman stated calmly. "This infighting benefits the mastermind behind his pawns movements." "Or perhaps you meant that it doesn't benefit you to have control wrestled out of your hands." Green Arrow announced as he looked around the room at the rising anger in the other League members. "You didn’t even try to deny the accusations against you." "I don't deny them." Batman growled. "In fact, I take responsibility for them. As for keeping the initial bill secret, well until the League suffered from tragedy, was actually struck against and struck hard there was no way anybody would agree with it." THE CROOKED HOUSE PHANTOM ZONE "And so, the League warps, schisms and eventually dies." The Titan lamented as the Legion of Doom watched the core members of the Justice League argue and bicker among themselves. "No outside force could quash the League completely, not without the members culled becoming martyrs, but like so many immovable objects, the League cannot defend against itself. In Greek mythology the titan Prometheus had the audacity to steal fire from the gods to allow mankind to stand on an equal footing, and so once again Prometheus has stepped in and humbled the gods for a second time. Watchtower would have made them Gods but now the League are just men, and men are fallible." "Men are killable!" Fatality replied as her eyes lit up with a bloodthirsty joy. "Finally, it is time to collect my trophy." She added as she stroked the ear complete with earring hanging from the necklace she wore. "No any interference now could reverse the events I set in motion!" The Titan bellowed as Neutron stepped forward and blasted the Titan's digital form with a high energy blast, shattering him into a shower of photons. As he did Killer Croc removed his machete from its leg sheath and grabbed the hunchbacked Crooked Man as he tried to lope to safety. "Give me a reason why I don't cut you into fish bait boy!" Croc snarled as the other members of the Legion of Doom encircled the pair. "I...I can send you b...back to Earth." The Crooked Man stuttered as he looked round the myriad of angry faces glowering at him. "I say we let him proceed." Mister Twister buzzed as he gestured for Croc to let the hunchback down. "Be warned though, that if you attempt to betray us, you will be made to suffer." JUSTICE BASE 05 HUB CITY "Diana perhaps your lasso could get an answer out of Onomatopoeia?" Oliver asked as Wonder Woman watched Batman lead Hawkman into a cell. “Conventional methods don't work with this guy, trust me I know." "He seems so sure that what he did, what he is doing now is right." Diana replied absent minded as she looked at the crestfallen expression on Hawkman's face. "How could Bruce be so cruel, so conniving." She added as Onomatopoeia made drew a finger across his throat in Hawkman's direction accompanied by the simulated sound a knife grinding across a surface. "There's more, he hides it well but it's there, something or someone has the Bat spooked, not to mention the man under the mask too." Oliver added as Batman closed the cell door before glowering at the two prisoners with a judgmental glare, before shooting a similar look out of the cell block at Diana and Oliver. "Fear or not it doesn't forgive him of what he did." Diana answered in a voice that was far colder than anything she had ever mustered before. "No, it does not." Oliver replied as the entire building shook and Onomatopoeia let out a frightening chuckle. Seconds later the monitors in the cell block sprung to life to reveal the armoured form of Mister Twister flanked by the remaining members of the Legion of Doom. "Little pigs, little pigs." Mister Twister buzzed as the sky behind him darkened before becoming cracked with thunder and lightning. "Come out, come out before I blow your house down!" |