Battle Against Eclipso

The **Battle Against Eclipso** was a major battle between the Justice Society of America and the demon Eclipso in Blue Valley, Nebraska. The battle served as a turning point for the JSA, who had been divided by Eclipso's mental attacks and onslaughts. It required the help of several new JSA allies to win the battle.

## Background

The Golden Age JSA had previously fought Eclipso and defeated him by killing his than-host, Bruce Gordon. The decision to take the life of an innocent human divided the JSA and they were never the same afterwards, a factor that contributed to their loss against the ISA in 2010. Over a decade later, a modern age JSA rose to power in Blue Valley, and defeated the ISA themselves. Cindy Burman, the daughter of an ISA member, sought retribution against the JSA and Stargirl for their part in ruining her life. She came into posession of the black diamond that housed Eclipso's essence. The essence slowly began to corrupt her until it became strong enough to take control of her body, effectively killing Cindy's stepmother. The being continues to grow stronger and possesses Paul Deisinger, a teacher at Blue Valley High School, and uses as a vessel to commit his atrocities against the new JSA. He entered the minds of Wildcat, Dr. Mid-Nite, and Hourman, making them see disturbing visions. Stargirl remained unaffected because of the Cosmic Staff, as its natural light ability was stronger than Eclipso's power over darkness.

The JSA faces-off against Cindy and her newly assembled team, which sets a chain of events that leads to Eclipso's release from the diamond. He banishes Cindy to an alternate dimension and renders the Cosmic Staff inactive before escaping into the night. Eclipso, despite his physical absence, presents himself to the JSA through mental hallucinations and attacks, specially designed to wear them down and convince them to abandon the JSA. Courtney and Beth remain unaffected by the attacks and Stargirl goes to recruit Jennie-Lynn Hayden, who has assumed her fathers power over green energy, as her power over light might be enough to destroy the diamonds shards. They unknowingly summon Eclipso who sends Courtney to The Shadowlands, his natural home, where he continues to try and wear down her mental status. Meanwhile, Beth has learned that her goggles essentially make her immune to Eclipso's tricks, so she uses them to stay vigilant. After saving Courtney, Cindy, and the original Charles McNider from The Shadowlands, the JSA and their newfound friends prepare to fight Eclipso. Mike recruits his friend Jakeem Williams who has control over the Thunderbolt, a being of pink energy.

## Battle

Beth learned that Eclipso had captured her parents and trapped them in an Eclipso-vision that would eventually kill them. Just then, Stargirl, Wildcat, Shiv, and Pat arrived at The American Dream. They faced-off against Eclipso and Stargirl sent Pat to find Beth. Now, the three heroines attacked Eclipso but he vanished only to reappear across the room. He infected Wildcat and Shiv with illusions of Ted Grant and a younger self respectively. While they were distracted by the realism of the illusions, Stargirl attempted to blast Eclipso with the staff multiple times but he avoided her attacks. Pat was also attacked by a dark version of himself.

Jennie had been infected with residue from the black diamond that had created the portal that trapped Cindy. She was haunted by visions of Eclipso that revealed his plan to take over Courtney's body so he could wield both light and darkness. She jolted awake and warned Barbara that they couldn't let Courtney go after Eclipso as that was part of his plan, but it was too late as they had already left. As they prepared to leave the house to help the JSA, they were distracted by a surprise visitor.

As portals opened in the sky, Stargirl realized that Eclipso wanted to bring The Shadowlands to their world, and he confirmed her theory. Once the two world merged he could consume all of humanity at once and become a god. McNider and Beth were now focused on saving their friends, as McNider stopped Pat from his attacks on his darker self, while Beth guided Stargirl to Eclipso's true whereabouts in the room. Stargirl blasted him backward with Cosmo and managed to wound him. The team rallied around Stargirl but Eclipso quickly overpowered them with a blast of darkness that sent them flying. Stargirl, Shiv, and Wildcat recovered quickly and worked together to attack the monster. He quickly batted away Wildcat, though the remaining duo proved a challenge to him. He ultimately overpowered them despite their expert maneuvers. He threw them out of The American Dream window and scaled the rooftop.

Elsewhere, Rick gave up on trying to fix the hourglass after more failed attempts. Instead, he left with the suit to fight Eclipso without his super strength. Mike and Jakeem tried to stop him but were distracted by Zeek who announced that he couldn't finish S.T.R.I.P.E. until the next day as they needed a rare part. Mike realized that Pat knew they wouldn't fix the robot in time, though Jakeem believed it was because Pat wanted to keep him safe. Just then, Thunderbolt arrived with the Chinese food that Jakeem wished for the day before. He realized that something was wrong. Jakeem wished for the rare part and Zeek repaired S.T.R.I.P.E. just in time for Mike to pilot the robot. Mike flew the robot to The American Dream where he grabbed Eclipso from the rooftop and threw him into a car. S.T.R.I.P.E. proceeded to attack Eclipso with a newly installed chainsaw and then blasted him with the flame thrower.

Jakeem teleported into the fight and wished for Thunderbolt to electrocute Eclipso. The being obliged and attacked. He succeeded in wounding Eclipso but the monster grabbed hold of Thunderbolt's ankles and threw him in S.T.R.I.P.E. This caused the robot to short circuit and malfunction. It fell to the ground unable to move. Eclipso advanced on a defenseless Jakeem, just as Hourman arrived at the fight. Eclipso remarks that he didn't have super strength, but Hourman did - and it lasted longer than an hour. Solomon Grundy appeared and threw Eclipso across the street. He roared before he descended on the monster with multiple attacks. Eclipso regained himself long enough to grab Grundy's punch, fling him away, and then blast Grundy with a ray of darkness that formed a hole in his chest. Grundy fell to the ground now dead. Hourman attacked Eclipso out of anger and was batted aside.

Eclipso then grabbed Pat and dragged him across the road until he stood in front of Stargirl. He threatened to rip off Pat's arms if Stargirl didn't admit how she truly felt about Eclipso. She struggled as she watched Pat writhing in pain as his shoulder and arm were broken. Stargirl, finally at her breaking point, screamed that she hated him. Eclipso stopped, sighed in satisfaction, and then used his hyper speed to appear in front of her. He grabbed her by the throat and raised her above the ground. He admitted that everything he did - torturing her friends, family, the illusions, it was all so she would admit one thread of darkness inside her. That was all he needed to get his claws in her. Eclipso turned into darkness as he possessed Stargirl, entering her body through her eyes and mouth. Stargirl fell from the hovering stance to the ground. Pat called out to her. She raised her head up and her eyes glowed red. She reached out and grabbed the Cosmic Staff, which reacted to the darkness inside her as it glowed with purple energy. Eclipso spoke through Courtney as he revealed that he now wielded the power of both darkness and light. He could now merge The Shadowlands with this world. He turned to the sky and shot beams of Cosmic Staff energy into the rifts.

Beth and McNider watched as her parents were suddenly freed from their illusion by a returned Shade. He revealed that when Eclipso brought The Shadowlands to this world, it was just what he needed to come back. His whole theater debacle was just his flair for the dramatics. Meanwhile, Wildcat and Shiv, who had to pop her bones back into place, agreed to try and take the staff from Eclipso instead of killing the host as the Golden Age JSA had. They descended on Stargirl as Wildcat tried to pull the staff from her hands while Shiv wrapped her arm around Stargirl's neck. Eclipso cackled that they couldn't beat him and easily flung Shiv backward. Wildcat tried to reach Courtney but Eclipso had already taken hold. He shouted that the staff was a conduit for spiritual enlightenment and is creation itself. Only one person can wield the staff. He threw Wildcat aside as he repeated that only one could wield the staff.

Suddenly, Sylvester Pemberton grabbed the staff and smirked that maybe two can wield it. He gripped the staff as Eclipso struggled against his pull. They locked into a battle of will as the staff rose them several feet above the ground. The JSA and their allies watched in awe as the scene unfolded. As they struggled for control over the staff, Sylvester admitted to Courtney that he was still getting caught up. However, if the staff worked for her, that means she was chosen for a reason. He told her to fight the monster inside of her. Eclipso also taunted Courtney by telling her she's unwanted by her father and unloved. Memories of her friends and family flood her mind. Pat encouraged her from the ground as Sylvester pulled at the staff. Eclipso began to groan as light began to enter Courtney once again. Eclipso gave a shout before Courtney expelled him from her body in a burst of dark energy. She let go of the staff, which allowed Sylvester clutch it. Sylvester used the staff to guide himself to the ground, and caught Courtney in his arms. She looked at him in shock before they looked over at Eclipso.

The duo was joined by Sportsmaster, Tigress, and their daughter Artemis. Artemis had broken her parents out of jail. Meanwhile, Eclipso laid on the steps. Stargirl, Wildcat, Hourman, the Dr. Mid-Nite's, Pat, S.T.R.I.P.E., Thunderbolt, Jakeem, Shade, Barbara, Jennie, and Sylvester advanced to Eclipso. Shade stated that Eclipso was in a weakened state, so those who commanded the light must act fast. Sylvester gripped the back end of the staff while Courtney held the front half, and together, they blasted Eclipso. They were joined by Jennie who wielded green energy and Thunderbolt who used pink energy on the command of Jakeem. With their combined efforts, Eclipso was defeated, though Jakeem's wish for Eclipso to "be toast" was taken literally as the creature transformed into a half-burnt piece of toast. After the blast was over, Courtney turned to Sylvester and introduced herself as Courtney. He smiled as he said his name was Sylvester. Jakeem wondered what they should do with the piece of toast, and Hourman stated they should put it somewhere safe. Thunderbolt peered over and cringed as he saw the toast was a little burnt which was his bad.

## Aftermath

In the aftermath of the battle, the JSA returned to baseline as Yolanda rejoined the team in a full-time capacity. Blue Valley returned to sunny skies, Jennie left to find her brother, Courtney welcomed Sylvester into her life as a mentor, while Beth said goodbye to Charles, who hands over the mantle of Dr. Mid-Nite to her full-time. Shade gave Rick an ominous message that Grundy has a habit of returning under the circumstances, while also admitting that he found something charming about the town and had decided to stay. Meanwhile, Yolanda confronts Cindy over her involvement in the JSA, and learns that Eclipso had gotten Cindy thinking about her future, and she wants a second chance at redemption by joining the JSA herself.

## Participants

* Eclipso
* Justice Society of America
	+ Courtney Whitmore
	+ Pat Dugan
	+ Yolanda Montez
	+ Beth Chapel
	+ Rick Tyler
	+ Mike Dugan
* Cindy Burman
* Jakeem Williams and Thunderbolt
* Jennie-Lynn Hayden
* Dr. Charles McNider
* Sylvester Pemberton
* Paula Brooks
* Larry Crock
* Artemis Crock
* Richard Swift
* Bridget Chapel (Victim)
* James Chapel (Victim)