Justice League Year Two

## History

Following their brutal confrontation with the God of War Ares, the JLA returns to protect the Earth from threats larger and more dangerous than they have ever encountered!

## **EP1 - "Initiation"**

**Justice League conducts a recruitment drive, while star labs is attacked by the criminal organization Intergang!**

The league recruits Atom and Blue Beetle, along with Green Arrow. Green Arrow declines due to his hatred of authoritative powers, and not wanting to be global police. Blue Beetle and Batman fund the new Watchtower, a satellite base for the JL that orbits the Earth. A Hall of Justice is also built as an earth-ground base.

At star labs, Victor stone angrily berates his father for not attending his football game. Silas stone ignores victor, as he operates on a mysterious device along with T.O Morrow. Star Labs is attacked by a group called Intergang led by Bruno Mannheim. They refer to the device as belonging to a race of "Evil Gods" who come from Apokolips. Victor fights back, but is mortally wounded by an Apokoliptan weapon used by Mannheim. In the scuffle, Silas uses the device (Fatherbox) to heal Victor, but it transforms him into a cyborg. Cyborg attacks the Intergang members but the League arrives and the situation is detained. As Cyborg fights back against the league, green arrow calms victor down and he resolves to join the league. The league takes cyborg in.

*On Mars, a mysterious figure unearths a temple holding legions of dormant creatures.*

## **EP2 - "All Along the Watchtower"**

**The Watchtower is attacked by Manhunters led by Sinestro!**

On Biot, legions of deactivated Manhunters lie dormant. An individual bearing a yellow ring powers up a dozen, claiming to exercise his revenge. While the League is earthbound dealing with a prison riot, J'onn confronts Ted over the significance of his name. Ted shows J'onn the Blue Beetle artifact, finding it in Bialyian ruins, revealing that it is deactivated and possibly "dead". J'onn seems concerned, but we don't know why yet.

As Hal enjoys the view of Earth from above, the Watchtower is attacked by the Manhunters. Battle on the Watchtower, but the robots teleport Hal away. Hal comes face to face with Sinestro, revealed to have sent the Manhunters to draw him out. They fight again, with Hal outmatched, but refusing to give up. Sinestro baits him, hinting at a new larger threat than ever before coming to Earth soon. Beetle and J'onn defeat the androids, and Ted uses his expertise on alien tech to hack the Manhunters and find Jordan's location. J'onn tells Kord of the relation between his name and the androids, as the Manhunter was tasked with protecting the sol system while these were employed by the Guardians before the Lanterns, but went rogue.

Hal is saved by the League, and Sinestro escapes. Hal convenes with his teamates and reveals that with Sinestro's return, he must return to Oa and pursue his duty of sector patrol; thereby quitting the League. The heroes are sad, but they understand. Hal leaves Earth.

*J'onn examines Ted's scarab and sheds a tear, recalling two names, m'yri'ah, k'hym.*

## **EP3 - "Sleep of the Just"**

**Doctor Destiny causes riot at Belle Reve, and faces off against the JLA, while Batman is confronted by a pale man with the secret to defeating the villain.**

The League quells a riot in Belle Reve but are encountered by a strange man in a cloak who expose them to a red ruby. The league is hit by the glare and thrown into a reality fabricated by their own nightmares. Destiny feeds off of the emotional feedback from the superhumans to become more powerful, and manipulate reality itself.

Batman, while on another mission, is met by Morpheus. Morpheus is Dream of the Endless, seven beings created to embody the natural orders of existence. Morpheus explains that he was injured after a conflict with a cosmic entity, and lost a powerful weapon, the dream-stone, on Earth. In order to descend into the physical plane, Dream was forced to revert to mortal form. Batman agrees to help Morpheus after the two discover that the JL has been put under control by a criminal using the stone, Doctor Destiny. They meet up with Batman's magically attuned ally, Zatanna, who agrees to lend her expertise and help them.

The three arrive at Belle Reve, where Destiny grows more and more powerful. Destiny pits Superman against them, where Morpheus pits Batman. Zatanna casts an incantation to contain the battle in Belle Reve. She discovers that Destiny has somehow manipulated the dreamstone into a kind of chaos magic that is cracking realty itself. Zatanna uses her abilities to enhance Batman's power, amplified by the fact that a mere mortal stands unsullied in the face of gods themselves. Cosmic entities across the universe view the struggle, including the Endless themselves. Zatanna and Morpheus defeat Destiny through hubris, Destiny pushes the stone too far, cracking it.

The raw magic is unleashed, and reabsorbed by Dream, who frees the Justice League and thanks them for their help.

*Despero is brought to a group of shadowed figures by the mysterious individual who states: "only injustice for the martian".*

## **EP4 - "Injustice"**

**Injustice league: Grodd, Metallo, Scarecrow, Giganta, Black Manta, Doctor Light, & Despero.**

Injustice league pilots holo evil versions of JL. Metallo(Superman), Scarecrow(Batman), Giganta(Wonder Woman), Grodd(Flash), Black Manta(Aquaman), Doctor Light(Green Lantern), Despero(Martian Manhunter). They attack Central City, killing many civilians. The League comes to aid, battling the holo duplicates. Steve Trevor and ARGUS come for clean up, and controversy arises where across the world the JL is seen portraying crimes. Trevor is forced by Waller to apprehend the League, Diana uses the lasso on the team in front of the tribunal to show they did not commit the crimes.

While the seven stand trial, the 4 new leaguers discover another satellite orbiting Earth, and go to investigate. They board the station and are attacked by the hulking abomination Solomon Grundy. It is revealed that the holo duplicates were piloted by a group known as the Injustice League; a superteam created to destroy the League. An army of holo duplicates descend on Washington DC as the IJ launches an attack on the Hall of Justice. Truth comes out, and the seven go out to take down the IJ in an all out brawl in DC. The league defeats the evil alliance, and the league recruits dispatch grundy. The League reconvenes, claiming that with this new threat of villains coming together, they must be ever vigilant for larger threats to come in the future, as what happened could have been the end for the heroes. In Mongolia, Savage Ra's and Luthor agree that their team performed as expected and that now they know a Legion must be used to take down the league of heroes.

*On the massive station known as Warworld, the mysterious figure presents the world of earth to Mongul, who smiles.*

## **EP5 - "War"**

**Mongul and his Warworld attack!**

Warworld passes Jupiter's moon, carrying a dark authority. Satellites pick up the rogue station approaching Mars. The League is summoned and sanctioned to repel the threat before it reaches earth to prevent another Starro level event. Celestial forces (Superman, Batman, Blue Beetle, J'onn, Cyborg) distract the Warworld from the outside as a strike team (Atom, Aquaman, Diana, Oliver, Flash) is sent into the behemoth. The GLC is out of reach due to an attack by Evil Star and the growing manhunter threat.

The celestial team neutralizes incoming projectiles and attacks, with superman ravaging the outer shell with his heat vision while the Bug and the Bat-Rocket provide defense. The strike team enters the warworld, discovering that it is not only a planetary weapon, but a gladiatorial pit for the armies of Mongul. Mongul notices the power of Superman, ordering his fighters to bring him to the pit. Superman is taken, and Batman relays to the team that they must free superman and neutralize the war world. The strike team splits up: to save superman from the pits (Diana and Flash) and to take out Mongul and his link to the war world defenses (Aquaman, Oliver, Atom).

Superman is found with a red sun chain that limits his power, being beat down by Mongul's champion Draaga. However, no matter how hard the blows come, Superman keeps getting back up, stirring the crowd. Clark outsmarts Draaga, using his own weaponry to destroy the red sun chain. Mongul orders more champions to surround Superman, but is confronted by the strike team. Diana and Flash help Clark take out the hordes, but they are extremely outnumbered. Mongul demolishes the heroes, coming to blows with Aquaman and Oliver. As batman and ted struggle to keep the defenses occupied, cyborg uses the watchtower maser cannon on the war world.

Ray goes subatomic into the systems of Warworld in an attempt to overload the core, but discovers that it is powered in tandem by Mongul's sheer will. Mongul knocks the League back, revealing he had only used 60% of Warworld power; now planning to unleash the ultimate arsenal. Just then, Mongul is met by 7 shadowy figures, and the Warworld defenses go nil. J'onn senses a presence he had not felt in years Ted loses contact with cyborg and batman as well as the teams inside war world. The Bug is torn apart and knocked out of orbit, and the Warworld vanishes. J'onn awakens on Mars facing 7 individuals and the mysterious figure...

## **EP6 - "New World Order"**

**The Justice League is dead! Now the Hyperclan is here to save earth.**

 Professor Saul Erdel gives a speech endorsing the Hyperclan, a superteam who claim that they come in peace; hailing from a dying planet and saved by Erdel's experiments. At Earth's darkest hour, they went to Warworld and defeated the tyrant mongul, but were too late to save the Justice League, slaughtered at the hands of Mongul. The Hyperclan bring miracles to humanity, turning the Sahara into a lush rainforest. The UN takes in the Hyperclan and it seems that they have accomplished what the League had attempted to do. The Hyperclan receives a signal after the Bug crash lands in the North Pole. They investigate the wreckage, finding nothing but the vehicle in flames. They refuse to approach it and leave the scene, but unknown to them, Ted Kord is still alive and determined to save his allies. Cyborg awakens in a cell, finding the entire League around them in their own cells. Bombarded by a mental handicap, Cyborg orders his cybernetic systems to flood his brain with adrenaline to dampen the effects. He breaks free of the cell, taking out a number of mysterious soldiers, servants of the hyperclan, making it to a console where he discovers that he's on the Warworld. Just as the Hyperclan surrounds him, Victor sends an SOS to the Watchtower.

The clan leader, Protex, interrogates Superman, holding him hostage with a piece of Kryptonite dangling around him. They probe him on the key to the Fortress of Solitude, but he refuses to submit. Saul Erdel enters the room placing his hand on Superman, explaining that every mind breaks. Superman screams in pain, echoed across the station. Blue Beetle watches the Hyperclan gain more and more support across the world, even making peace with rogue nations. Beetle boards the Watchtower, receiving Cyborg's distress beacon. He is surrounded by 2 Hyperclan members and engages them in combat. The remaining Hyperclan members leave their post on Earth, arriving on the watchtower to transport the rogue leaguer to Warworld, but find two members incapacitated with a note stating "I KNOW YOUR SECRET". Surrounded by a circle of gasoline, a fire is ignited and they are set ablaze by the Beetle.

## **EP7 - "Children of Mars"**

*Years ago on Mars, two children were born: one with a mind attuned to the collective unconscious, and one with a mind closed off. The child lacking the gift would forsake his people and go into self imposed exile, while his sibling would become the greatest hero their planet had ever seen: the Manhunter. While the Manhunter championed his people and defended his home, the other would create a weapon powerful enough to take away the gift of all the children of the red planet, and would wait until the perfect time to strike. The other became the Ma'alefa'ak, the red ripper of ma'aleca'andra. When the Manhunter was called to defend his solar system against the ultimate invader, Ma'alefa'ak released H'ronnmeer's Curse, a plague that set all connected by the collective unconscious ablaze with eternal fire. The Manhunter would return to find his people dead and his planet lost. When the Manhunter found peace among the superhumans of Earth, the Ma'alefa'ak returned to put down his sibling; finding a secret army long forgotten with just as much hatred of the green martians as himself.*

J'onn awakens at the fortress of solitude in the Arctic: the top of the world. He is met by Saul Erdel who greets J'onn as an old friend, and brother. Beetle pilots a Hyperclan ship to the Warworld, sneaking onboard and making his way to the holding cells where he frees Superman, weakned by the constant glare of Kryptonite. Ted is attacked by Protex who prepares to vaporize him, but Ted reveals the secret of Hyperclan to Clark: there wasn't ever any kryptonite, it was psychosomatic/mental projection, because they are martians! Hyperclan was able to control Earth through their mental abilities. Superman overcomes the mental hold and flies at protex, while Ted frees the remaining leaguers. They disable the martians revealing their true heritage as the mortal enemy of J'onn's green kind: White Martians, freed from purgatory on Mars. Protex is trapped in a circle of fire, but says they are too late: the final plan has been enacted.

At the fortress, Erdel reveals himself as J'onn's sibling Ma'alefa'ak, who has turned J'onn into a psychic bomb which he calls "H'ronmeer's Gift". Once activated, J'onn's weaponized mind will connect itself to every human mind on earth, granting all instantaneous telepathy hrough a makeshift collective consciousness. The minds of humans are ill-suited for telepathy, and the resulting telepathic exchange and feedback will lobotomize every living being on the planet. The League rushes to the Fortress, while Ma'alefa'ak actives H'ronmeer's Gift. J'onn's lfe flashes before his eyes: his wife and child, his planet's death, Starro, Despero, the League. He remembers the bonds he made and the new life he has on Earth with the people who saved him: the League. J'onn screams just as he did those years ago, but this time he will not fail his home and friends. J'onn redirects the blast into the mind of M'alefa'ak, containing the field of power between both their minds. Ma'alefa'ak is lobotomized while J'onn is rendered comatose following the psychic stress. The League emerges from the Fortress with J'onn, placing him in Mount justice for recovery. Ma'alefa'ak and the white martians are returned to their purgatory on mars, and warworld is hidden in Jupiter's orbit.

## **Timeline**

* This event is part of **The Silver Age.**
* It is preceded by **Paradise Lost**
* It is followed by **Wanted: Hal Jordan**

## **Links**

* Full Reading Order
* Justice League Reading Order