Identity Crisis

## **Chapter One - "No Justice"**

Hall of Justice explodes. Ted Kord is killed, with Booster Gold, Rocket Red, and Metamorpho left in severe condition, and Red Tornado is missing.

The League investigates the remains of the Hall, finding that the servers were wiped completely; no surveillance on the Black Box to what could have happened. Batman finds Skeets in the wreckage, with his circuitry damaged and his memory encoded. He secretly takes Skeets without alerting the League.

Funeral for Ted Kord, numerous heroes attend. The League is torn, with sides taken to hunt down who killed their allies. They confront enemies of the heroes attacked, including old villains from the JLI rogues list.

They scan the globe for red tornado; nowhere to be found. Will Magnus is contacted, providing assistance. Later that night there is a raid on Star Labs, with Magnus the only survivor.

In the Slaughter Swamp headquarters of the now crippled Legion of Doom, the villains discuss the attack on the JLI (Girder, Killer Moth, Mad Hatter, Sonar, Livewire, Tattooed Man). Nobody seems to know who did it, as the Legion's leaders themselves are locked away. I.Q. arrives at the meeting, collapsing in front of everyone, as an individual behind murders the villains. Quimby is the only one left alive.

## **Chapter Two - "Divided We Fall"**

Schism in the League, as the seven convene at Mount Justice to decide the proper course of action. Batman and Aquaman argue, with Diana splitting them up. Quimby is brought to Watchtower for questioning. Ray Palmer takes the bodies of the dead villains in to autopsy.

Aquaman joins the contingent of the remaining JLI dedicated to tracking down the villains; staging a raid on the villain hub of info: Calculator's headquarters. They ravage the location attacking Calculator, interrogating him for information on the Legion's demise. He reveals that the security footage was wiped the moment that Quimby entered the building; also informing them that a number of minor supervillains have disappeared. Batman entrusts Oracle to decode Skeets, while she informs him of the string of villain disappearances such as Brain & Mallah, Baron Bug, and Komrade Krabb; all minor mad scientists.

Terrorists called the "Weapon Masters", wreak havoc on Metropolis with the stolen Star Labs weaponry, but Superman stops them. However, the goons are mind controlled by small ant-like devices, with a recording that says: *"Hope you enjoyed the goose chase boy scout, now's where the fun begins!"* Magnus and the League rummage through the wrecked STAR Labs to then find that besides the stolen weaponry; the Amazo android parts have been taken too.

As Guy Gardner examines Quimby's body, he finds a tracker hidden inside him. I.Q. slashes his throat, explaining that he himself was the bait. A rebuilt Amazo attacks the watchtower (with Komrade Krabb in tow). This Amazo lacks the weaknesses of the JLA previously found. Amazo knocks out Fire & Ice, while Aquaman battles the android. Komrade Krabb disables J'onn with a neuro-crown, using him as the key to the JLI's secret prison on Mars, V'Kaa V'Komm, as only a martian can open V'Kaa V'komm. Aquaman's trident is destroyed by Amazo, who proceeds to cut off Arthur's hand.

## **Chapter Three - "Outbreak"**

I.Q., Krabb and J'onn arrive on Mars, where Krabb forces him to de-camouflage the prison and unleash all the supervillains. Aquaman falls to his knees as he grasps his mutilated arm. Amazo prepares to kill him before Guy Gardner blasts him with him every last iota of will in his power ring. With the villain distracted, Aquaman activates the transporter, taking him and Amazo to the depths of the Mariana trench; ripping him apart with the ocean itself. Guy collapses, cupping his neck as he bleeds out.

The League is alerted by the attack on Mars, and Batman activates the Doomsday Protocol, alerting every single hero in the world to the problem. Heroes across Earth rally to Mars to quell the outbreak. I.Q. and Krabb unlock the cell of Professor Ivo, claiming that an "old friend" is expecting him. J'onn breaks free from their control, knocking the two villains back. However, he is attacked by Protex and the White Martians. Protex and the white martians torture J'onn, but Despero fights them off wanting to kill the martian himself.

Titans, JL Dark, and JLI battle the army of inmates. They save J'onn, and he broadcasts to every hero that the villains wanted Ivo. The League is able to take Ivo away, as Doctor Fate and Superman dispatch I.Q. and Krabb. The two teleport away, while Doctor Light blinds the League with his powers; and the remaining villains escape. Everyone believes that it is Ivo who is the mastermind behind everything: with him using Amazo and killing Red Tornado (his nemesis' creation) . With the Watchtower compromised, the League operates out of Mount Justice.

Superman and Wonder Woman interrogate Ivo in Fortress of Solitude, pressuring him as to why he attacked both the League and the Legion, as well as the whereabouts of Red Tornado. After mentioning Tornado, Ivo becomes paranoid, claiming that he himself hasn't done anything, and that "he" is behind it; he is back for revenge. Wonder Woman uses the lasso and Superman asks who, with Ivo responding: T.O. Morrow. Batman receives the autopsy analysis of the bodies of the dead society members, finding that they were all suffocated. Red Tornado sends a distress beacon to the League. At Mount Justice, Booster awakens saying only the words "Tornado".

## **Chapter Four - "The Tornado"**

Black Canary and Green Arrow lead a League faction to Red Tornado's last known location; Oolong Island. Batman unearths Morrow's coffin, finding it empty. Canary's team arrives at Oolong only to find a destroyed compound. Inside, they find Tornado's beacon, and a rotting corpse. At the graveyard, Batman is attacked by Tornado, who states the words "Help me". John Stewart analyzes the corpse, revealing that it belongs to T.O Morrow.

Suddenly, the heroes are intercepted by Vandal Savage and Legion of Doom members also looking for justice against the murder villains (having tracked the beacon). The League does battle with the Legion members. Batman fights Tornado, and is able to deactivate him with the help of Will Magnus & the Metal Men. Seeming to be the culprit behind the murders, he is then taken back to the Hall for answers. It appears that Tornado has gone rogue, destroying the Hall and the Legion of Doom, while breaking into STAR Labs to reactivate Amazo and unleash V'kaa V'komm to kill Ivo. Batman examines the evidence, but refuses to believe that Tornado would betray his fellow Leaguers out of the blue.

As the Legion and League do battle, a screen pops up on the compound broadcast where the missing villains reveal that the island is rigged to blow (I.Q, The Brain, Monsieur Mallah, Baron Bug, Komrade Krabb). Firestorm and Pohzar attempt to lessen the explosion while John Stewart pushes his ring to the limit to save everyone. Pohzar knocks Firestorm back, sacrificing himself to save the island.

Tornado is operated on by Platinum & Ray Palmer, and awakens, knocking back the two. He battles Platinum and the League intervenes. Skeets comes back online, and Oracle contacts Bruce, discovering that the last person to zeta into the Hall was Will Magnus. He watches Skeet's decoded video files, seeing Red Tornado attack the Leaguers. As Red Tornado battles Platinum, he explains to the other Leaguers that in fact she is the threat. More metal men arrive, and suddenly turn on the league. Meanwhile, the Fortress of Solitude teleporter activates, and Will Magnus arrives; disabling Superman and Wonder Woman with tachyon devices. Superman sends an alert through the sunstone console, but is knocked out. Magnus greets Ivo as his old friend.

## **Chapter Five - "No Strings"**

*Flashback to the Hall. Zeta tube opens, Will Magnus enters. Red Tornado welcomes him, but is in shock after seeing an xray analysis. Magnus says the words "No Strings", and Red Tornado is under his control. Tornado knocks Magnus back and tells his allies, Booster + Beetle + Rocket Red + Metamorpho, to get out now. He attempts to resist, but is reprogrammed, attacking them. Tornado activates the Hall's self destruct sequence, and it explodes. Ted uses his powers to shield his friends, taking the blast.*

In the present, the League and Tornado battle the Metal Men inside Mount Justice. Booster, Metamorpho, and Rocket Red awaken, helping to defeat the rogue androids. They escape and Atom asks Tornado if Will Magnus is the culprit behind the murders. However, Red Tornado states that Magnus is not who he appears to be. Batman receives an alert from the Fortress, and he races to the Batwing; now knowing who the orchestrator is. Magnus reveals that he is **T.O. Morrow**; explaining his plan to Ivo.

*Ivo's attack on Morrow left him mortally wounded, using his tesseract technology to transport him elsewhere, faking his death. Morrow was out for vengeance, creating a cabal among the smartest minds the heroes had ever faced with the promise of the destruction of the Justice League in return for the death of Ivo. Using entropy to barely keep himself alive, Morrow arranged for the Cabal to kidnap his protege Will Magnus, and have his brain transplanted with help from Brain and Monsieur Mallah. Using Magnus' body, Morrow was able to keep track of the heroes plans without any suspicion. I.Q. would coordinate the villains: Baron Bug, Brain, and Mallah stage the raid on Star Labs, rebuilding the Amazo robot without the flaws of JL weakness, while Bug would send a mind controlled Weapons Masters to keep the heroes distracted. Morrow learned from Quimby and Krabb that their former overlords of the Legion of Doom were missing, while rumors of a secret prison maintained by the JL, allowed for the perfect distraction, with Morrow selecting his very own creation (Red Tornado) as the means to discover its location, as well as a tool to further the facade of conspiracy against both the Legion and the League. Tornado would detonate the Hall, while killing the remnants of the Legion, eventually leading both groups to their deaths on Oolong island. However the League captured Ivo, who led them on the hunt for Morrow, while Red Tornado defied his reprogramming: going to Batman for help. Morrow tracked him down, and the reprogrammed Metal Men defeated him. Morrow would then send the Metal Men to reprogram Tornado at Mount Justice as well as kill everyone inside.*

Batman arrives at the Fortress, racing to stop Morrow from killing Ivo, but Morrow threatens to reveal the secret identities from every single JL member he acquired from Tornado's memory. Batman attempts to bargain, but Morrow laughs, as it doesn't matter, he has already succeeded. He kills Ivo, then shoots himself, activating the countdown to revelation. Superman freezes Magnus' body to attempt the brain transplant later, but they have bigger fish to fry.

The League & Legion return from Oolong, ending their temporary truce: neither side will forgive for the blood shed on both sides. Palmer and Cyborg clean the remaining programming from Red Tornado's mind as he admits remorse for his actions regardless of Morrow's control. Batman gathers the heroes once again, briefing them on the situation. At the remains of the Hall, I.Q., Komrade Krabb, Baron Bug, Brain, and Mallah confront the heroes with an army of metal men and a rebuilt Chemo. Tornado defeats the Brain, saving Magnus' brain. Big fight; right before the countdown is initiated, Zatanna and J'onn use the remaining white martian hosts to wipe the collective mind of everyone in the world who knows the identities of the heroes.

The heroes attempt to deal with the fallout on Mars, while Aquaman is nowhere to be found. Will Magnus is saved, but mentally scarred, destroying the metal men responsometers. Ronnie and Jason bury an empty grave for Professor Stein, with Booster Rocket Red and Animal Man visiting Ted's grave. The heroes release the bodies of the dead Legion villains to their families, allowing a feeling of mutual respect between good and evil. Red Tornado resigns from the League, and in turn, the JLI disbands.

## Timeline

* This event is part of the Modern Age
* This event is preceded by Batman Eternal
* This event is followed by Justice League Year Five

## Links

* Full Reading Order
* Justice League Reading Order