By Derrick Ferguson

Issue Number Twenty-Four

"And A Good Time Was Had By All"

The irresistible wave of sheer power that was Captain Atom, Amazing Man, Crimson Fox and Doctor Light charged their four Justice Squadron team mates, eager to carry out the will of their master Deimos and destroy with great good glee.

Plastique started forward, her lovely face a tortured mask of anguish as she called out, "Nate! Nate, I—"

Elongated Man’s arms wrapped her waist and yanked her out of the way as a quantum energy bolt fired from her husband’s hands smashed into the ground where she had been standing, leaving a smoking crater some ten feet deep. If Elongated Man hadn’t pulled her out of the way, Plastique would have been vaporized.

"I’ve seen this mind-control trick done before!" Ralph said grimly, placing Plastique down on her feet. She was shaken as she realized that her beloved husband would indeed have killed her, so powerful was the control Deimos had over him now. "We’ve got to incapacitate them and as quickly as we can! Plastique, I don’t want you fighting your husband! You take down Amazing Man!"

Plastique snarled with impotent rage and frustration and turned to charge at Amazing Man, firing explosive bursts at him as she ran.

"Sheesh…that’s one lady who’s gonna take out her mad on poor Will," Blue Beetle grinned. Ralph nodded his head.

"That what I figured. And I figured that Will is the only one who can survive the whoop-ass she’s gonna put on him. Can you take down Doctor Light?"

Blue Beetle unsnapped his holster and drew his BB Gun and twirled it like an Old West gunslinger. "Done."

"Maya, you take Crimson Fox, okay?"

In answer, the young Indian girl silently formed her bow and arrow of psionic flame and fired at the bounding, somersaulting Crimson Fox.

Captain Atom was flying right at Elongated Man, fists out in front, crackling with quantum energy, his black eyes bleeding excess power. Ralph ribboned his elastic form out of Captain Atom’s flight path and the Captain growled in anger and twisted in mid-flight to come back around. But Ralph had already taken advantage of that momentary respite and had curled into a tight ball and was bouncing wildly down a street, bounding and rebounding off the sides of buildings, hoping to lure Captain Atom away so that the other mind-controlled Squadron members would lose their biggest gun. The plan worked. Captain Atom followed the bouncing ball that was Ralph Dibny as Elongated Man arced into the air, twisting to avoid lethal quantum blasts.

Amazing Man was being forced backwards by the hellishly powerful explosive blasts Plastique was battering him with. Tears of rage coursed down her cheeks and her worry and anger at what had been done to her husband had seemed to open a reserve of power within her, enabling her to tap into power levels she had never touched before. Amazing Man had turned into iron and a good thing that because it was doubtful that he could have survived if he had been any other substance.

Plastique paused as she realized slowly that this wasn’t an enemy, it was her friend, Will Everett who she was blasting with such wild abandon. But he still had to be stopped and quickly so that she could go help Nate. She just knew that she could get through to him if she could get close enough to—

Damn! Amazing Man was rushing her; huge metal fists raised high over his head. Plastique fired another explosive blast at his feet. The pavement, already weakened from the day’s battles, crumbled like a cracker dropped in hot tomato soup and Amazing Man and Plastique went tumbling into the sewer. They hit the foul, stinking water with tremendous splashes, masonry and broken piping collapsing around them. Plastique fought her way to the surface, spitting out something that she had swallowed and she kept her eyes closed while she did so since she had absolutely no desire whatsoever to know what it was she had swallowed.

Amazing Man wrapped a cold metal hand around her throat and shoved her back underwater, holding her down. His black eyes glittered with a madness that was not his. The very evil that was Deimos had taken possession of Will Everett’s body once his soul had been ripped from it’s home. And it was an evil that loved to murder just to have the pleasure of feeling life leaving a young, vibrant body.

Plastique cut loose wildly with explosive blasts but they were ineffectual. She was firing blindly because her mouth had been open when Amazing Man had shoved her under and she had taken in a mouthful of foul, icy water and she couldn’t BREATHE! Amazing Man’s weight on her back was crushing her and could feel herself beginning to lose consciousness. She closed her eyes and summoned all her remaining strength and did something she’d never done before. Driven by desperation, fueled by the terror of losing her life, Plastique triggered an explosive surge through her entire body!

KRA-KAWHOOM!

Amazing Man was thrown high into the air, a living projectile of metal that went straight up into the air some thousand feet and arced into a vintage record shop, where he smashed through the plate glass window, into bins holding vinyl records, right through the cashier’s booth, continuing on through the rest room and finally, out the back wall where he came to rest in a storm of wood, glass and vinyl. There was a burst of light as he returned spontaneously to his human form as he always did when knocked unconscious.

Crimson Fox easily dodged the flaming arrows Maya was firing at her. No easy feat, that, since Maya could form new arrows as quickly as she could think about doing it. Crimson Fox laughed as she swung easily from lamppost to flag post, swinging lithely as a jungle cat as she dodged the fiery missiles. Crimson Fox laughed as she again dodged another arrow and leaped to—

Too late Crimson Fox saw what Maya had done. The girl had maneuvered her right into the position she wanted The Fox to be. Right over the hole into the sewer Plastique had blasted.

Maya grinned triumphantly and thrust a slim arm skyward and the water from the sewer roared upwards in a pillar of liquid that struck and engulfed Crimson Fox. Maya’s brow furrowed in concentration as she closed her open hand into a fist and the water swirled itself into a tight, compact sphere around The Crimson Fox, who struggled wildly within, trying to swim out. But Maya moved the watery sphere along with Crimson Fox and soon, The Fox’s mad struggles slowed and then stopped. Maya opened her hand and the sphere collapsed, The Crimson Fox dropping to the ground.

Maya ran over to check her pulse. She was deathly afraid that she had kept Fox in the water sphere for too long. She only wanted to knock her unconscious…not kill her…

Maya breathed a sigh of relief as she saw Fox’s chest rise and fall. She was alive. And she was unconscious and no longer a threat. Hearing a sound behind her, Maya turned to see Plastique climbing out of the sewer, covered in slime and goo and goodness only knew what else. Plastique looked just about done in as she crawled on her hands and knees over to Maya and Crimson Fox.

"I’ll be glad when this day is over," Plastique gasped. "Have you seen my husband? Where’d he and Ralph go?"

"Down that side street somewhere, I think. I’m not really sure. I was pretty busy myself. Ralph won’t hurt him." Maya wiped gunky slime from Plastique’s face. "Hopefully we can all come out of this without hurting each other."

"That doesn’t go for HIM," Plastique said darkly, pointing at Deimos, who was hovering in the air, The Urn of Infinite Souls held above his head. Jennifer Morgan was on the ground, looking up at her hated enemy.

"Why doesn’t she DO something?!" Plastique raged in frustration. "We went all the way to Skartaris because we were told that she was the only one who could beat him, so what is she doing?"

Jennifer Morgan could clearly hear Plastique’s words from where she stood. In fact, Jennifer could hear a lot of things mortals couldn’t hear, including the scream of the souls of an entire city that were now all imprisoned inside of The Urn Of Infinite Souls, which was now powering Deimos. Jennifer raised her arms and levitated up to where Deimos hovered, standing in mid-air, his sardonic, black bearded face triumphantly flushed with excitement.

"I’ll give you a better chance than you would give me, Deimos. Surrender The Urn that I may restore those stolen souls to their proper vessels and I’ll grant you a quick and clean death."

Deimos threw back his head and his booming laugh filled the world. "You must be joking! At the very moment of my greatest triumph I should just surrender because the great and powerful Jennifer Morgan says so? With this urn and the millions of souls inhabiting it, I have a nigh-unlimited source of power to tap into, assuring that my mystical might shall never again be drained! And in addition, I have four beings of matchless power who will be my generals, leading my troops into the conquest of this world and once I have do so, I will return to Skartaris to take my rightful place as-AARKK!"

Jennifer had reached into the leather satchel slung around her shoulders and removed a crackling golden thunderbolt which she had hurled with unerring accuracy, hitting Deimos squarely between the eyes. "You always did talk too damn much," Jennifer muttered as the mad wizard tumbled through the sky, screaming in pain, hands holding his smoking face. Jennifer had to act fast. She had only brought a limited amount of offensive spells in the satchel and once they were exhausted, she’d have to draw on her own personal reserves of power and she had no idea how long she’d last against Deimos then. She DID have one ace in the hole but she was hoping she wouldn’t have to use that unless there was absolutely no choice.

She seized The Urn, gritting her teeth against the pain as she forced her hands through the crackling ebony energy outlining the Urn. Jennifer pressed her palms against the rough-hewn surface of the urn and allowed her mystical senses to probe the artifact, searching, searching…

Deimos came flying back in a storm of energy, his face a blackened mask that had split in places, showing red, raw flesh under the scorched skin. His obsidian hands smashed into Jennifer’s midsection, knocking her out of the sky, completely disorienting her for a second until she regained her concentration and floated softly to a landing. She had to give Deimos her grudging respect. He’d recovered much faster from being hit with a Skybolt of Sofican than she would have guessed. Reaching into her satchel, she withdrew what looked like a mass of shining silver strands and hurled them at Deimos, who was dropping rapidly towards her, The Urn held under one arm.

The silver strands struck Deimos and stretched, expanded, wrapping themselves around the mad wizard until he was virtually cocooned in the shining silver strands. But so was The Urn, which Deimos hadn’t let go of. Jennifer rummaged around in her satchel for another defensive spell since she had the unpleasant feeling that the Spell of Containment wouldn’t hold him for long…

Shilo Norman tumbled out of The Boom Tube and into airless space. He watched helplessly as The Boom Tube vanished, leaving him in the empty, cold blackness of intergalactic space where he estimated that he had maybe forty-two seconds before he died. Well, this mission had been a calculated risk and he would rather go out fighting for a chance to save innocent lives than just stand by feeling helpless.

Shilo was falling toward a roughly oval shaped asteroid that was directly below him. It was an odd thing because the small asteroid didn’t seem to have enough mass to possess a gravitational pull, but he wasn’t complaining. His feet touched the surface of the asteroid at the same time his lungs demanded air that wasn’t to be had and his mouth opened.

Incredibly, there WAS a breathable atmosphere. Shilo’s amazement increased as he found himself breathing quite normally, even though the asteroid was barely big enough to be dignified with the term. As Shilo looked around, wondering just what was going on, he spied a cave and what appeared to be a soft, pale light coming from within. Shilo was never one to over think a situation and quite obviously, somebody or something had taken a hand in his fate and had brought him to this asteroid. His first thought that it had to be a New God of Apokolips or New Genesis. Hopefully, the latter. Shilo had run into some of the Apokolips crowd and if they had somehow diverted Gardinel’s Boom Tube here, it was only with the intention of torturing him slowly.

Still, anything was better than standing around watching the comets go sizzling by, so Shilo entered the cave. He could dimly see, thanks to the light that apparently was coming from deeper inside the asteroid. Shilo started walking, the cave slanting down gradually. The further he walked; Shilo noticed something very odd indeed happening. The rough stony walls of the cave were changing, transforming into rich oak paneling and the ground under his feet was slowly morphing into a beige carpeted staircase. He descended down the staircase until coming to a plain brown wooden door that he opened. Shilo’s mouth opened in total amazement.

The large, well-lit room he found himself in was warm and comfortable. A Wurlitzer jukebox in one corner was playing Bill Withers singing, "Lean On Me". A long, low couch flanked by two well-worn armchairs was home to a pair of lazy looking German Shepherds who barely looked up as Shilo walked on inside the room. A sliding French door was allowing bright yellow sunlight to stream inside and Shilo rubbed his eyes in disbelief because through the doors and past the balcony he could clearly see the Manhattan skyline.

A man sat at a large desk that was loaded down with old books and a computer terminal and keyboard. The man swung around in his chair. He stood up slowly, rising to his full height of six feet four, dressed in faded jeans, sturdy Stanley work boots and a sweatshirt with ELRIC LIVES! written on the front. He took off his round-framed glasses and began to clean the thick lenses with a handy Kleenex.

"You wanna tell me what’s going on here, bro?" Shilo asked.

The tall black man smiled and replaced his glasses on his nose. "Be happy to, Shilo. I’d be very happy to…"

Doctor Light screamed in rage as The Blue Beetle once again effortlessly evaded her laser intensity light blast with a one-handed handspring that he turned into a series of somersaults, firing concussive bursts from his BB Gun as he did so. And he was making it look ridiculously easy. Doctor Light was doing nothing but melting the furniture of the outdoor café they were destroying with their combat.

"Kimi, Kimi, KIMI! You oughta realize by now that not only am I dashing, handsome, brilliant and talented, I’m also kinda hard to hit if I don’t WANT to be hit!" Blue Beetle landed running and ducked under a table and was out and leaping over two others while Doctor Light was cutting the first one in half. Blue Beetle was keeping Doctor Light off balance with the concussive bursts from his gun. He figured that the strobe light bursts would be ineffectual against her, but that was okay because he had a plan. As he ran, he tapped in a series of commands on the beetle insignia on his left gauntlet that would bring his Bug to his location.

Blue Beetle suddenly stopped, back flipped right over the low flying Doctor Light and fired a concussive burst into the small of her back that smashed her into a 200 year old fountain, turning it into 200 year old rubble. If she hadn’t been protected by the energy aura that normally outlined her body when she flew, her body would have been a bag of shattered bone and pulped organs.

"OUCH! That’s gotta hurt, Doc! Maybe you ought take two aspirin and call ME in the morning!" Blue Beetle looked up. The Bug was here, hovering over his head. The Beetle aimed between his feet and fired a concussive burst that propelled him upwards through the open hatch in the belly of The Bug. Holstering the BB Gun, The Beetle ran to the rear of The Bug where the laboratory was and began tearing though the lockers there, looking for a very special canister.

The Bug shuddered as it was being cut neatly in half by Doctor Light’s laser blast. "Damn!" Blue Beetle could only hold on as his beloved aircraft was carved up like a toy and the two halves crashed to the street. Beetle prayed that no innocent people had been lying in the street as the halves of The Bug came to flaming rest.

Doctor Light was standing just outside the rear half of The Bug, her mouth twisted in a cruel grin as light energy bathed her in a golden corona. Beetle hefted the container he was looking for and heaved it at Doctor Light, who quite predictably blasted it. Blue Beetle took cover as the container was blasted apart and the gas inside escaped. His powerful leg muscles effortlessly propelled his muscular body up and over the top of the wrecked Bug as the gas spread rapidly.

Doctor Light grabbed her throat, coughing and choking as she sagged to her knees. The container Blue Beetle had thrown had been a special kind of fire extinguisher, one that literally sucked the oxygen out of the atmosphere. Due to the nature of the chemicals and the unique fuel The Bug used, a fire extinguisher of this type was the best kind to have on board. Blue Beetle waited until he saw Doctor Light finally collapse and roll over on her side. He then ran over and swiftly picked her up and threw her over his shoulder and carried her out of the cloud of gas.

He trotted over to where Maya and Plastique were watching the battle between Deimos and Jennifer. "Who’s winning?" he asked as he gently lowered Doctor Light next to the still unconscious Crimson Fox.

"Hard to say," Plastique muttered sourly. "How DO you score a battle between wizards? Ted, I’ve GOT to find Nate! There’s no telling what’s happening to him!"

"The best thing we can ALL do is stay right here," The Beetle insisted firmly. "If worst comes to worst and Jennifer can’t beat Deimos, then we’re gonna haveta jump right back into the fight. But for right now, all we can do is watch and take a breather."

Maya was looking at Blue Beetle with something like awe. "You beat Kimi. NOBODY beats Kimi. Is she going to be angry when she comes to—"

"Don’t give me too much credit, kiddo. I’ve had to fight mind-controlled buddies before and that mind-control thing has its drawbacks. The people who are being controlled are usually subconsciously fighting against whoever is controlling them and so they don’t use their powers as well as they usually do. Plus, they’re probably dead tired from fighting Deimos while we were in Skartaris—" Blue Beetle broke off as magical energy erupted from Deimos, engulfing Jennifer Morgan in a black aura that screamed and yowled like a living thing.

"Exactly who ARE you?" Shilo demanded. "How do you know my name?"

"Let’s just say that I’ve got a vested interest in what happens to you and your friends. I don’t usually get to pull a stunt like this…matter of fact, the last time I got away with it was in Mon-El#7 so I figure a sufficiently decent amount of time has passed that I can do this again." The tall black man shrugged his shoulders. "Besides, who’s gonna tell me I can’t? Well, maybe Barry, but he did his riff on this act in Doom Patrol so I don’t think he’s gonna complain much."

"Look, I dunno what you’re babbling about, but I gotta get hold of The Justice League or The JSA or The Titans and take ‘em back with me to Paris! There’s this wizard—"

"And his name is Deimos and he’s cut off Paris from the outside world and The Justice Squadron are fighting to stop him from stealing all the souls in Paris and puttin’ ‘em inside this jug called The Urn Of Infinite Souls…yeah, yeah, I know.."

"But how?"

"Trust me, Shilo, there’s a lot of plots I keep track of in here." The tall black man tapped a long forefinger against his right temple. "And I’m going to help you out just this one time. I can get you to Earth—"

"But I see it right out there!" Shilo took a few steps toward the sliding French doors and the balcony. "That’s the Manhattan skyline! I—"

The pair of German Shepherds lifted their narrow gray heads and growled warningly at Shilo, who backed away from the French doors.

"You can’t just go walking out there, Shilo," the tall black man sighed. "Yes, that’s Earth out there, but it’s not YOUR Earth and I’m afraid we don’t have a JLA or JSA or even an Inferior Five here on this Earth."

"Jeez…that’s tough…"

"Not really. You’d be surprised at well we make out with our own resources and skills." The tall black man handed Shilo an hourglass that was maybe two inches high. The sands inside sparkled as if they were tiny grains of diamond dust. "Hold onto to this tightly and walk back up the stairs. Concentrate on returning to your Earth and this will take you there. Once you’re back on your Earth, it will disappear, so don’t be surprised."

"Man, nothin’ else that happens today can surprise me. What IS this gehooka anyway?"

The tall black man grinned suddenly. "You wouldn’t believe me if I told you, Shilo. Off with you now. And good luck."

"Wait! You seem to know a whole lot about what’s happenin’! Is everythin’ gonna turn out okay?"

The tall black man had reseated himself at his computer and reached for the keyboard. "As long as I have anything to say about it, everything will always turn out okay. Now hurry! You don’t have much time."

Deimos had ripped free of the binding silver strands and Jennifer Morgan was barely holding back his latest onslaught as Deimos was simply trying to overwhelm her with his dark magic, hoping to overload her sorcerous shields. But Jennifer’s power was holding back Deimos’ attack but she was expending too much energy too fast and there was only one thing left in her repertoire. Her ace in the hole that she had been holding back because it was an ancient spell that gave her the ability to reshape and rework reality itself and it was a highly dangerous spell to use since it could backfire on the one who spoke it, but Jennifer didn’t really see where she had a choice at this point.

Jennifer stood outlined her personal shield of silver energy while Deimos’ black magic yowled and roared around her. She cleared her throat and began to chant, quietly at first, then louder as she felt more power flooding into her very cells.

"Ana’l nathrakh, u’rth va’s bethud,dokhje’l djenve…"

Deimos paused in his attack as he heard the words spoken and his ebon eyes opened wider. "No…not even YOU would dare to use a spell that old and that powerful!"

"ANA’L NATHRAKH, U’RTH VA’S BETHUD, DOKHJE’L DJENVE…"

Jennifer Morgan was no longer visible. She was encased in a shrieking silver aura that was forcing Deimos’s black magic back. Her strong, powerful voice rang out clearly as she spoke the spell once again.

"ANA’L NATHRAKH, U’RTH VA’S BETHUD, DOKHJE’L DJENVE!"

The silver aura faded to reveal Jennifer Morgan transformed into an angel of war. Dressed in baroque silver armor with a huge battle blade of pure silver light, she took flight with one powerful thrust of the gorgeous white wings of light that extended from her back. Deimos pushed The Urn Of Infinite Souls to one side, out of the way as Jennifer lifted that terrible blade high and brought it down to split Deimos in half.

Deimos caught the blade between the palms of his hands and for a long second held it firm and to Blue Beetle, Maya and Plastique, it seemed as if in that moment, the fate of their world had been decided in favor of the mad wizard…

Captain Atom landed, his silver face an ugly mask of hatred. That damned Elongated Man had led him down so many side streets that he had no idea where he was. The part of Deimos that now inhabited the body of Captain Atom wanted to just KILL that rubberized fool and return to bring the enormous quantum power of Captain Atom to work on destroying Jennifer Morgan. Sorceress or no, a quantum force beam would disintegrate her just as well at it would anybody else.

There was no sign of Elongated Man anywhere. Where HAD that blasted—

The street suddenly quivered under Captain Atom’s feet and he looked down. Ralph had stretched himself out thin as paper and merely laid down on the ground, deducing quite correctly that Captain Atom wouldn’t look down. Ralph quickly wrapped his elastic body around Captain Atom, securely binding his arms to his side. Ralph wound himself tighter and tighter around his friend’s body. He had to keep Captain Atom from using his hands to focus a quantum blast—

"Let me GO!"

"Sorry, Cap," Ralph replied grimly. "But as the old saying goes, this is for your own good—" Ralph snaked out one arm into a nearby drugstore he had scoped out earlier and plucked a large bottle of chloroform off the counter where he had placed it. Using an elongated finger to unscrew the cap, he splashed a goodly amount of the anesthetic over one of his gloved hands and expanded the hand until it covered Captain Atom’s entire face. Muffled curses could be dimly heard.

Captain Atom triggered a quantum burst of power that made Ralph’s hair stand on end as pain sizzled through his every nerve and his body spastically snapped back into its normal shape. He was unable to maintain any kind of concentration necessary to stay elongated, much less keep The Captain wrapped up.

Elongated Man lay at Captain Atom’s feet, slightly scorched and smoking. Captain Atom pointed a hand at The Justice Squadron’s dazed and disoriented leader, crackling quantum energy waiting to be discharged…

Shilo Norman simply appeared out of nowhere, a burst of light signaling his arrival on Earth, HIS Earth and he opened his hand and watched as the small hourglass faded away. Shilo looked at his empty palm and wondered just how he was going to explain all that had happened to him to Max, Oberon and Gardinel. Maybe he wouldn’t explain anything to them. He wasn’t sure himself exactly WHAT had happened.

"I believe you’ve got some explaining to do, young man."

There was only one voice on Earth that powerful and commanding. Shilo looked up to find himself looking up into the piercing sky blue eyes of Superman himself. In fact, a veritable army of brightly costumed men and women surrounded Shilo. The Justice League. The Justice Society. The Titans. The Outsiders. The Global Guardians. The Doom Patrol. The Blackhawks. And dozens and dozens more. Superhumans from all over the world who had converged on Paris in response to the emergency.

"Uh…If you’ll just gimme a minute…" Shilo held up his hands and smiled nervously. Superman looked downright peeved and standing right behind him was The Batman and The Martian Manhunter and they had equally grim expressions on their faces.

"Superman, wait! I know him! He’s okay! He’s a friend!" Shilo looked up into the sky and grinned in relief. The gaudily colored costumed form of Mr. Miracle dropped from the sky, riding his aero-discs. Mr. Miracle landed and Shilo hugged him tightly.

"Manoman, Scott! You dunno how happy I am to see you!"

"Well, once I heard what happened here in Paris, I immediately knew that you and Oberon had to be mixed up in it. As you can see, metahumans from all over have been here trying to get inside that dome. Shilo, just what’s going on?"

"It’s a long story, Scott—"

"Then give us the Reader’s Digest version, son," Alan Scott, the original Green Lantern said.

And Shilo did.

Jennifer shrieked, a harpy’s cry of rage and Deimos trembled as if the scream was vibrating his very bones. Jennifer yanked her sword loose from his grip and extended a hand and seized hold of the great crimson gem embedded in his chest and simply ripped it free from his body.

Deimos screamed as black ichor poured from the gaping hole in his chest. The ichor was like a living thing as it flowed along the street like a serpent, seeking escape. But Jennifer was quicker. The sorceress seized the black substance and squeezed, vaporizing it in her metal gauntleted hand.

Deimos was staggering around, holding onto the Urn of Infinite Souls, muttering spells and words of power as he attempted to tap into the power of the urn. Jennifer was upon him like a bird of prey as her shining silver sword came down to strike Deimos on top of his head. Deimos screamed as Jennifer Morgan’s power coursed through him, striking at the very core of his being. Deimos dropped to his knees, his eyes devoid of intelligence, The Urn Of Infinite Souls dropping from his hands.

Jennifer sagged to one knee, panting with near exhaustion. Tearing loose the crimson gem and destroying the black ichor had taken a lot out of her, but she still had one more thing to do and using the ancient spell to do it with would take the rest of her dwindling power. But it HAD to be done and it had to be done NOW.

"Ana’l nathrakh, u’rth va’s bethud, dokhje’l djenve…"

The Urn Of Infinite Souls shivered and Deimos floated upwards into the air. Both were subject to Jennifer Morgan’s will now and she was attempting to accomplish a complicated task: to release the millions of souls imprisoned in The Urn while thrusting Deimos inside, which she hoped would undo the effects of Deimos’s spells on Paris. But she was so tired…

"ANA’L NATHRAKH, U’RTH VA’S BETHUD, DOKHJE’L DJENVE…"

Blue Beetle, Plastique and Maya were all holding their ears and turning away from Jennifer. The silver blaze of light surrounding her, The Urn and Deimos was intolerable and a high-pitched shrieking was ripping through their eardrums.

"What is she doing?" Maya yelled.

"I don’t know!" The Beetle yelled back. "Just pray we’re all still alive after she’s finished!"

"ANA’L NATHRAKH, U’RTH VA’S BETHUD, DOKHJE’L DJENVE!"

Paris was consumed in a silent silver explosion as reality was wrenched to serve the will of Jennifer Morgan…

Captain Atom threw back his head and something black and stinking of evil burst from his mouth and nostrils and ran down his shoulders and chest in noxious black streams. Elongated Man looked on in horror as Captain Atom’s body jerked and spasmed as the foul stuff ran off his friend’s silver skin and into the gutter where it flowed through a rusty grating into the sewer. Elongated Man scrambled to his feet and caught Captain Atom before he fell.

"Ralph?" The Captain blinked, trying to focus his eyes. "Ralph? You okay?"

"I’m fine, Cap. Just fine."

"I knew what was happening…couldn’t stop myself…I tried.."

"It’s okay, buddy. It’s okay. Can you stand?"

"Yes…yes, I think so. What’s going on, Ralph? Did we win?"

Elongated Man pointed down the street. "I kinda suspect we’ll find that out pretty soon, Nate."

Captain Atom turned and saw that a solid silver wall of crackling, throbbing energy was rushing towards them, engulfing everything in their path. It would be on them in maybe ninety seconds.

"Did you find Jennifer Morgan? Did you bring her back with you? Is this her doing?"

"Cap, I’ve got no way of knowing. I lead you away from where the others were fighting because I didn’t want Deimos using you against the others. I don’t know if any of the others are even still alive. I don’t know if Jennifer Morgan was able to stop Deimos or not."

Captain Atom nodded and laid a hand on his friend’s shoulder. "No matter what happens, it’s been an honor to serve under your command, Ralph."

"Thanks, pal."

The two men stood shoulder to shoulder as they waited to be engulfed by the silver wall.

And the world was changed.

Maxwell Lord entered the main meeting hall of The Justice Squadron where the entire team was waiting for him. He threw open the double doors and entered the room where the team was standing in small groups, talking amongst themselves.

Blue Beetle was the first to spy him and he shouted; "Hey, hey, Max! So what’s the good word?"

Max walked over to The Beetle as the team crowded around. "The news is good. Wally West and Max Mercury did a superspeed check of the entire city and they’ve confirmed physically that EVERYTHING in Paris is exactly the way it was before Deimos was freed from that damned jug. Doctor Fate has done several magical examinations and he’s pronounced Paris cleansed of Deimos’s magical influences." Max looked over to where Jennifer Morgan sat, sipping a tall lemonade. "No disrespect to you, of course, Jennifer."

"None taken, Max." Jennifer had only just awakened not more than an hour ago. Her final spell had completely drained her but it had done its work. The city of Paris had been restored, including The Louvre and the souls of its entire people returned to them. "But if you have no objections, I’d like to stay here for a while longer."

"Planning on getting some shopping in?" Crimson Fox grinned.

Jennifer’s musical laugh bubbled from her elegantly long throat. "Well, it HAS been some time since I’ve visited Earth and there are some things I’ve missed. But I really should stay to make sure that there are no residual effects of the spell I cast. Such a massive restructuring of reality itself CAN have side effects. And I need to examine the rest of those Atlantean artifacts in The Louvre and make sure that they’re not dangerous. And then there’s this young lady here…" Jennifer smiled at Maya.

"Me? What about me?"

"I’d like to examine you magically. There was a reason Deimos used you as a means of gaining access to this world. I suspect that you’re much more powerful than you know. It would be to your advantage to find out more about your powers, wouldn’t it?"

Maya looked nervous as she answered; "I suppose so. I mean, I DID hear voices coming from that urn and Deimos was able to use me to escape. I don’t want anything like that to happen again."

"You’re more than welcome to stay here as long as you like, Jennifer," Ralph said, elongating an arm to pat her on the shoulder. "After all, we wouldn’t be here without your help. I don’t know what you did to Deimos, but I for one am grateful."

"What DID you do to him, anyway?" Plastique asked. She was standing with both arms wrapped tightly around Captain Atom.

Jennifer’s voice was tinged with a wicked satisfaction as she said; "he’s back in The Urn of Infinite Souls where he belongs, of course. Only this time he’s in there by himself and I think he’ll find it a very cold and lonely place in there."

Max clapped his hands together and rubbed them together vigorously as he continued; "And the French government is ecstatic that The Louvre has been restored. I’d have to say that the new Justice Squadron’s first battle together as a team has been a success."

Maya looked around at the smiling faces of the men and women who had become more than her friends. They were her FAMILY now and her heart was filled to bursting with love for each and every one of them. "So what happens now?" she asked of them all with the eternal optimism and enthusiam of youth.

NEXT ISSUE: What happens is that The Justice Squadron finally gets time to resolve some personal issues among themselves! Be here for "Just A Series Of Conversations"!