Justice Society of America #5

(Continued from Justice League of America #8)

Overview

Part 2 of the 5-part JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA/JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA crossover with "The Lightning Saga!" Batman and Starman break into the depths of Arkham Asylum in search of the one person who may be able to reconcile Starman's past. But with nightmares literally around every corner, that person may be dead before they reach him. Plus, a battle within the Fortress of Solitude reveals the key to it all, especially the members of the team!

The Justice Society of America and the Justice League of America have split up to solve the case involving the Legion of Super-Heroes. In Gotham City, Hell has broken loose in Arkham Asylum. The G.C.P.D. are outside, including Comissioner Gordon and Detective Bullock. The Bat-signal is on in the hopes that Batman will arrive to assist them. He arrives with some "friends." Geo-Force, Sandy Hawkins, and Starman are with him.

Gordon tells them about the riot inside. The inmates are screaming, some need to be hospitalized, and others are dead. They've deduced that perhaps Scarecrow has managed to make some fear gas that has affected everyone inside. Batman notices a patient whose brother was killed after being bitten by an African Velvet Spider. There are still some crawling on her. Batman says that Scarecrow's gas doesn't work this way. Someone has created real nightmares.

Batman asks Sandy what else he saw in his dream. Sandy tells him that he also saw him being torn to shreds inside. Starman mentions the "doctor with no face" and Dream Girl both being inside. Batman thinks about this and deduces that Starman is talking about Doctor Destiny. He used to have a dreamstone that made nightmares a reality. With the some-what crazy Starman leading them, they head towards the Asylum.

Batman tries to ask Starman what Dream Girl's powers were. He says she can walk into the Dreaming and see the future. Sandy notes that she must be like him. Geo-Force asks about Sandy's ability to cause tremors and raise lava. Starman says he can make things heavy. Geo-Force, feeling proud of himself, says that he has both their powers combined. Starman's reply to this is that he smells like mud.

Batman has come up with a plan to enter quietly to avoid the nightmares Dr. Destiny has created from the other inmates. They notice that Starman has disappeared and see him walking up the front steps. Inside, Starman finds the security monitors and finds Dream Girl. He tries taking the monitor off the wall and is upset when it goes blank. Batman arrives to remind him it was just a television monitor.

Now they are entering the heart of Arkham. Geo-Force mentions that they have to be prepared to face their nightmares. Batman says they have worse nightmares to worry about, those of the inmates like Two-Face, Mad Hatter, and Riddler. Geo-Force asks what are they afraid of. As Batman says they're all afraid of him, at least half a dozen "Batmans" appear in different variations to fight them.

Starman leaves the fight detecting Dream Girl on the other side of a wall. Smashing through, he finds her chained up with Dr. Destiny standing over her. Destiny pulls out the nightmares of Starman. Out comes the dead Kenz Nuhor, a former teammate that Starman killed in self-defense when he was hurting Dream Girl.

As Nuhor wraps his hands around Starman's neck, he recalls the alien words that can wake her up. Her ring is activated and she regains consciousness. She slams Destiny against the wall and all the nightmares disappear.

Dream Girl and Starman are finally reunited. She says that she's missed him but the nightmares are just the beginning for the Legion. She has seen a vision and by coming to this time, one of them is going to die.

At Superman's Fortress of Solitude, he, along with Red Tornado, Stargirl, and Cyclone search for Superman's Legion ring. Stargirl encourages Cyclone to talk to Red Tornado because their powers are similar. She is reluctant because Power Girl told her to "watch [her] motormouth." Cyclone had met Red Tornado when she was six. He had saved her when Professor Morrow kidnapped her. She stumbles with her words but Red manages to reassure her.

Superman locates his ring in his trophy room. Stargirl admires his display models of thirty of the Legion of Super-Heroes. She had never heard of them before. Red Tornado fills her in that they were a team of heroes from the 31st Century made up of representatives from dozens of alien worlds. Superman says they were his friends. He tells them how, growing up, he didn't have a lot of friends. He accidentally broke a boy's arm when playing football. He had to be careful and didn't have anyone to talk to about his powers besides his parents. Then one day, three of the Legion visited him and took him to the future. They said he would become the inspiration that helped create the Legion. He feels that, in the end, they inspired him more.

Red Tornado's sensors detects the second Legion ring. He says that one of the statues is wearing it. Cyclone asks why there's two of Wildfire. Superman says it's not a statue and speaks the alien phrase that wakes him up.

Superman checks his suit yo make sure there's no leaks. His body is made up of anti-energy and his suit is the only thing keeping him together. Wildfire weakly says that he couldn't move or speak. He says he's gonna kill Braniac-5 and needs to hit something. Then he mentions "the storm" when there's a flash of light. Batman's utility belt has appeared in the room. Batman asks Wildfire what's going on and why is the Legion there.

(To be continued in Justice League of America #9)