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JLA
Times Past, "1960"
The Forgotten Crisis
Continued from The Space-Time Gambit: Book Five
Part 1
Superman had always felt rather alone in the world since the death of his adopted parents. True, he had access to a host of past memories of both the Kents and the Els due to natural memories and the advanced science of the memory scanner, and of course his lovely young cousin Kara and his relatives in Kandor now offered him more immediate familial ties. Still, Kara was a girl, and he often felt that he lacked adult peers with which to share concerns.
There was a certain pleasure in having others of the same age around with whom to work and discuss relationship concerns. He enjoyed discussing the rewards and petty irritants of journalism with Lois Lane or the mentoring relationships he enjoyed from two different roles with young Jimmy Olsen and the older Perry White. Still, journalism was only one of his jobs. His more pressing occupation or vocation was being the costumed hero called Superman. This role isolated him since, merely by being a hero, one was separated from the masses. So he relished the idea of the newly founded Justice League of America.
He now could actually be with people who also had fabulous powers, heavy responsibilities, and dual identities with which to deal with daily. Batman had been his close friend for years, anyway, but even Bruce Wayne could not relate fully about what it was like to live in constant check or fear of accidently damaging someone or something through a careless use of super-human power.
Superman glanced over their new headquarters -- their Secret Sanctum -- and while it lacked the grandure of the Fortress of Solitude, it also lacked the solitude itself. This place was usually full of voices, movement, and action. A large percentage of the above elements came from the boy who presently entered with fingers snapping.
"This is the toppermost of the poppermost!" gushed Snapper Carr. "The most far out hangout yet! Don't ya agree that no place could be cooler?"
"It is nice, although there is much to be said for Mars," said a solemn-voiced, green-skinned man who accompanied the youth inside.
"Welcome, J'onn, Snapper!" greeted the Man of Steel. "I thought I'd get here a bit early and make a final check of security and iron out any bugs."
"Well done. All is in order, I trust?" asked the Martian Manhunter.
"Nothing out of place that I can see... except that we might want to make adjustments to the perimeter alarms, due to the hiking season and all," said Batman as he seemingly appeared from the shadows. He smiled warmly at his friends as he and Superman related a joint case of theirs in which they had fought Dr. Double X.
"A ghostly double? That sounds weird enough to fit in with my Rogue's Gallery," offered the surprisingly timely Flash.
Part 2
The Flash was followed by Green Lantern, Aquaman, and Wonder Woman. The assembled JLA was now ready to meet for the second time in their new headquarters. A set of rules quickly gave way to informality as Green Lantern bantered with the Flash and Aquaman shyly praised Wonder Woman's new hairstyle.
"Thank you, Arthur!" said the Amazon Princess. "I may even change my costume itself one of these days. Maybe get rid of the sandals and go back to boots."
"The sandals do give you more of a classical Greek look," added Superman.
Snapper said, "You want Greek? This whole book is literally Greek to me!" He waved a book from his school in one hands.
Green Lantern smiled. "The Argonautica? Sounds like a rock group! Seriously, though, I've read it before."
Batman chimed in, "As have I. Snapper, you should relate to that book more than most people. It's about a gathering together of super-powered heroes to quest for a rare magical item."
"Yes, the Golden Fleece!" smiled Wonder Woman. "I've seen it on Paradise Island in mother's room."
Superman added, "See the connection? The JLA is like a modern Argonauts."
"I dig it!" said Snapper. "So I need to just ditch my bad vibes and think of those dudes as crimefighting swingers!"
The Flash looked rather lost in daydreams as Green Lantern's energy fingers waved in front of his face. "Earth to Flash? Come in," he said.
Barry Allen, the Flash, said, "You know the JLA owes more to an even more recent group than those Greek champions. Have you heard of the Justice Society of America?"
Superman nodded. "In the comics? I read those back on the farm. Pa saved some from a neighbor kid's collection for me."
Wonder Woman leaned forward. "Justice Society?"
"They were a group of heroes who fought crime as we do, but in the 1940s," said Batman. "One fascinating element is they also had a Flash, a Green Lantern, and others."
"I can't recall much about them," said Superman. "It's like that part of my memory is clouded."
"That is odd," said Aquaman. "You never forget a thing, usually."
"I wonder how that writer came so close to reality by creating a speedster named Flash, a ring user named Green Lantern, and others?" asked Martian Manhunter.
"He did not create us!" said a blur as a figure rocketed inside the headquarters without setting off any alarms. "We're the real things!"
Soon, as Barry Allen's eyes adjusted to the speeding form, he gasped, "That is the Flash!"
The Flash was followed by a black man in green and gold, a handsome turbaned man, a broad shouldered blond man, a red-headed woman, a red and green flyer, and amazingly enough: an exact double of Wonder Woman!
Part 3
The attacking group of heroes, members of the wartime All-Star Squadron of Earth Two, had been enslaved by a time traveller named Dr. Doome. He, in turn, had given them to a fellow despot of the timestream called the Lord of Time, who had brought them to this early point in JLA history to slay his foes. Now, Starman, Manhunter, Amazing Man, Sargon, Firebrand, Wonder Woman, the Flash, and Captain Triumph had nothing on their minds but defeating this group of outlaws who patterned themselves after some of the JSAers!
The golden age Flash raced around the table, only to be met by the current Flash, Barry Allen. "You move pretty well, but you lack the right stuff," said the original Flash, who was really Jay Garrick.
"Well, you may impress the Buck Rogers Fan Club, fin-head, but you leave me dry," said Green Lantern as he flew up to meet the hovering Ted Knight.
A pulse from the gravity rod shattered Hal Jordan's own green shield. Great, thought the guardian of Earth's space sector. He's using stellar energy of yellow hue.
Batman frowned as his agile moves were countered by the equally able Manhunter, who in fact was big-game hunter Paul Kirk.
"Hold it!" said Superman. "If you're the real JSA brought to life, then we have much in common!" His words stopped as Captain Triumph belted him across the room with ease.
The Martian Manhunter stepped up to restrain the blond battler, but the red-headed girl blocked his path with a wall of flickering fire that sapped his strength and drove him back, while Amazing-Man touched the iron of the table and slugged Aquaman with a sudden and skilled attack.
Wonder Woman gazed in dismay as her twin leapt over the table and pulled her to her feet by her hair. "You've got a lot to learn if you think you can copy me, sister! The shoes are all wrong, for one thing," she snapped.
Diana tucked herself up in a ball and rolled back, freeing herself from her twin. Great Hera! It's as if I fought my own reflection, she mused as she tossed her golden lasso, only to have her high-jumping double dodge it with ease.
Batman admired Manhunter's technique as they fought across the floor. He parried every move the Darknight Detective tried.
The Martian Manhunter probed their minds and frowned even more deeply than usual. "They truly are the JSA you've read about -- brought here from another Earth and controlled by someone with evil intent," he yelled.
Superman blew his super cold breath across the flames generated by Firebrand, and the Manhunter took that instant to elongate an arm and snare the agile girl. He squeezed quickly and she passed out before her heat could hurt him.
Green Lantern switched strategies too, as Starman's glowing power bested his every creation.
Part 4
Green Lantern suddenly created a green cage around Manhunter. This freed Batman to toss his batarang and knock the rod out of Starman's hand. As Ted Knight fell to earth, Green Lantern cushioned his fall, while restraining him as well.
The JLA's Flash followed suit and spun around Amazing-Man just out of reach until he passed out from lack of air.
The Golden Age Flash tried to stop his fleet footed foe, only to be caught by the golden lasso of Wonder Woman. "Stop!" she ordered.
He did so, and Aquaman moved to trip the golden age Wonder Woman. She fell, only to spring back up in Triumph's path as he was shoved in her way by Superman. They subdued the JSA with teamwork that, though new in the making, was already strong and effective. The different All-Star Squadron members lacked unity and will to reach their best potential.
"Do you think these heroes are under some spell?" asked Wonder Woman.
"I'd swear the Flash and his friends were heroes from my boyhood reading," offered Barry Allen.
Batman said, "Can you trace the source of the mental domination?"
The Martian Manhunter nodded. "I do sense four locations, and nothing more."
Superman said, "Perhaps the power ring could free them."
Green Lantern Hal Jordan bathed them in his emerald glow, and slowly comprehension reached their eyes. He did not realize that nothing from Earth Two would have worked, due to Doome's spell.
The golden age Wonder Woman frowned in worry. "What has happened? Where are we?"
"I think we are on another world," said Starman. "The heroes here must be different from us in some cases. That voice that drove us to fight hated them."
Amazing-Man looked at the Martian Manhunter. "I'm the only negro super-hero on my world. It's nice to see this place even has green ones!"
"We were under a spell," said Firebrand. "We don't really want to harm you."
"We can use your help to deal with this unseen enemy," said Batman. "We'll divide up into groups to investigate the sights J'onn saw."
Part 5
Starman and Batman found themselves in Egypt, where it was the middle of the night, after Batman deduced where one of the locations J'onn plucked from the minds of the All-Stars was at in the isolated desert. They made their way to a pyramid.
"It figures that this would be where that image that was so strong in your mind would originate from," said Batman. "You all say you were taken from 1943, and that means time displacement as well as movement through space. These pyramids stand as an all-too obvious image of the ancient world juxtaposed uneasily with the modern one."
Starman nodded. It was uncanny seeing this man who was so very like his own Batman. Perhaps this one was a bit more taciturn, but otherwise he had all the traits Ted Knight associated with the Batman he knew. "The gravity rod is detecting a high level of cosmic power around the pyramid, and that means trouble... unless the old Egyptians had stellar heating in their palaces," said the Man of Night.
The Dark Knight and the Man of Night made their way towards an opening and stepped across. Seconds later, Batman shouted a warning and brought Starman down to the ground as a huge blade swung across their doorway and narrowly missed slicing Starman in half.
"That was too close!" said Starman, frowning. "Let me get rid of any other unwelcome surprises," he said, and the rod pulsed with brighter light and heat to melt away any traps ahead of them.
"That hieroglyphic represents Ptah, the 'opener of the ways' in old myth," said Batman. "He was a seeker of knowledge and rewarder of the innovative. I suppose time travel would fall under his domain."
Then a dwarf entered from the shadows which reflected the wall behind him, as if he was not truly present. His eyes were wide, but seemingly endless in depth. Stars and comets hurled by darkness within his two eyes as if they were gateways to beyond. He stared even more widely, and the two heroes felt themselves being drawn into his range, as if by a magnetic field.
Batman shouted, "Don't let him bring us into contact with his body. I suspect he is toxic. Notice the faint glow from his body."
Starman smiled in spite of the danger. "You're good! I'll generate enough of a gravitational field around us of stellar power that he won't have a chance!" He did so, and the glow not only anchored them, but drove the little man backward in fear.
Batman frowned. "He's not human. No eye movement when you brightened the rod's glow. No disturbing of dust or webs when he passed by them. I'd say he's more plastic than Ptah!"
Starman took Batman at his word and blasted out at the little figure. He shattered into metal pieces. "A robot! You were right. So why lure us here? Death trap in case we failed to kill you?"
"That's my guess," said Batman. "Unless there is something hidden here that transmitted your stellar blast elsewhere too... absorbed it for other uses. That means a cunning foe."
Part 6
Captain Triumph and Aquaman made their way to a ship miles below the surface. They communicated via radios. Aquaman led the way as Lance Gallant, alias Captain Triumph followed.
"Uncanny how your body resists oceanic pressures like this," said Aquaman.
The blond man smiled. "We have our secrets."
Aquaman stopped as they peered within the old husk. "This craft was a beauty in its prime. No doubt that it is the ship in the mental image J'onn pulled from your mind, though."
Captain Triumph said, "We always wanted to be pirates as kids, didn't we?"
Aquaman realized he was not the person being spoken to. "Are we not alone?"
"I'm sorry," he said. "I'm never alone. My brother Michael's ghost is with me... merged with me, in fact. That's where I get the we pronoun."
Aquaman nodded. "I assumed you were royalty using a royal we." Captain Triumph frowned. Aquaman said, "A joke? I'm new at surface humor."
"You'd never know it," said Triumph kindly.
"My own brother -- half brother -- and I could never be that close. We are at each other's throats all the time. He has vowed to kill me, in fact. It pains me deeply. I wish I could somehow just get through to him," confessed Aquaman.
Lance said, "I can't imagine what that pain is like. When I thought I had lost Mike, I went mad... for a while... until he spoke to me and I saw that he was still with me. Now I am never alone. I don't need to worry about other friends or relationships since he's always there for me." Aquaman wondered if that was healthy, either, but he said nothing.
They saw movement in the murky depths and a squid appeared. "Stop, my brother of the deep!" ordered Aquaman telepathically.
The creature merely snaked out its limbs and tangled the two within a crushing embrace. "He's not responding to my commands. He does not even have a mind that I can detect," muttered Aquaman as he pitted his mighty muscles against the crushing force.
Captain Triumph gritted his teeth. "Must be a robot then, so that means I don't have to hold back." He dug his hands into the creature and peeled back metallic shielding. He struggled harder, and ripped out the machinery that operated the metal beast.
"Good work!" said an admiring Aquaman. "You must be in Superman's class of power."
"True," said Captain Triumph dismissively. "Now let's find the master behind this thing."
They swam deeper within the ship and found nothing. "We came this far so you could show off your power and I could uselessly mentally probe a robot," shrugged Aquaman. "I wonder just who is doing the leading here. Us or our foe?"
Part 7
Manhunter was not impressed by Superman. He knew that the Metropolis Marvel was like the one of his own world and had world shattering powers, but to the trained tracker/fighter/hunter, the man lacked the warrior's instinct. He accompanied the hero to South America, where he felt more at home as they entered the dense rain forest, and came at last to a small, crumbling ruin.
"My X-ray vision shows movement within and a high level of energy -- powering something," said Superman.
Manhunter nodded. "I sense something is amiss, too. We're definitely not alone."
As they entered, the age of the long fallen glories of ancient America contrasted sharpely with the Man of Tomorrow's colorful costume. "Great Scott!" cried Superman as a huge warrior appeared before them and hurled a spear with unerring skill.
Manhunter was already in motion as it shattered against Superman's skin. He rolled across the floor and charged the vision from an ancient and violent past. He dodged a bolt of fire that issued from the warrior's hand, and Superman smashed through the robotic figure with grim efficiency.
"How'd you know he was a robot?" asked Paul Kirk. "X-ray vision?"
"More like super hearing, which detected the sound of gears within his chest," smiled Superman.
"I suspected as much. What was his purpose? Merely to keep us back or kill us?" Kirk wondered.
Superman admired the keen instincts of Manhunter, but was a bit put off by his almost total coldness and lack of emotion. Batman was not this bad.
Part 8
J'onn waited as Amazing-Man touched the ancient tiles and became as solid as the mosaic that so elegantly decorated the floor of the Byzantine palace.
"So why was this place in my head?" said Will Everett, the Amazing Man, as he shoved the broken death machine aside. "Obviously it was a trap, since no sooner did we arrive than we were jumped by that nutty robot."
The Martian Manhunter had no reply. He was certain this exercise in combat was not seriously designed as a threat; they were too strong for it. He did suspect that a reason lay behind bringing them there and getting them to display their unique powers. But more pressing on his mind was the young athlete beside him. He said he was the only black super hero on his world. J'onn knew of none, as yet, on the JLA's world. It was impressive that Will had achieved so much so early on in the 20th century, when things were even more racially tense than in his own era.
Still, Will had mixed emotions. He believed he could make a difference as an example for young people everywhere who would look at him and believe that all men were equal and could contribute greatly to society. However, he also carried a bitterness at how his own Olympic glory had failed to bring him the income other white athletes earned through endorsements or even acting.
"So how'd you do it?" he asked. "How did a big green giant from Mars fit into normal life?"
The Manhunter said, "I have not, as yet. I have only recently taken to displaying my alien form. I can change my shape and looks, and thus I hid for a long time and posed as a human, John Jones."
"I don't think that says much for progress on your world, and it sure don't promise much social change on mine, which is thirty years behind yours," said Amazing-Man.
The Manhunter again had little he could say.
Part 9
While the four teams investigated the locations placed within the minds of the dominated JSAers by the Lord of Time, the remaining heroes merely talked. The Lord of Time had only intended for one of two things to result from his plan. Either the JSA would defeat his old foes or lead them via the images he planted within their minds to locations where their powers would be fully catalogued by his hidden scanners. The data would be used in future battles and he would win. He had not bothered to plant such lures in the minds of the other heroes, since he had already gained data on Wonder Woman, Flash, and Green Lantern from a battle even they did not recall.
Now he was through with his pawns, and he calculated that with the return of the heroes to their proper time and world, all memory of the encounters would also disappear. Yet, he thought as he smiled, this forgotten crisis would have far reaching effects when next he met the JLA and used the data he had gathered.
Firebrand, alias Danette Reilly, had opened up to Green Lantern. His charm was evident, and she admired his utter fearlessness. In some ways Hal Jordan reminded Dann Reilly of her daredevil brother Rod. He, too, cared little about risks. "How do you do it? Risk your life across the universe for beings not even remotely humanoid, or so I gather from the stories you told me?" she asked.
He smiled. "I do it because it needs to be done, I'm good at it, and I like it. I have never looked at being different as being bad or wrong, so the alien looks don't deter me from helping. I find folks are folks all over space. You meet good ones and bad ones, but all have worth and value..."
Dann impulsively kissed him, as he encapsulated much she wished to develop in her self. After Pearl Harbor, the red-headed heiress had harbored a hate for all Japanese because of the pain and death they had inflicted upon her brother and his peers. It took the realization that it was a loyal American of Japanese descent who had saved Rod's life during that same crisis.
Hal lifted her chin gently and said, "Listen, honey, I'm spoken for... and you must have a special someone back home, too."
She blushed and nodded with an effort at being demure at last.
Elsewhere, the two Flashes compared careers. "You are the role model I based my name and career on. You have no idea what a hero and legend you are to me, through the comics!"
Jay smiled. "Right now, We're about the same age and though when my world hits your time I'll be an old man, I hope I will still be remembered. I like the idea that a simple man doin' his part could inspire others. I guess that's me at the core: I believe one man can make things better. Simple human decency goes a long way with me. I guess I seem old fashioned."
Barry smiled. "You? Never! The Flash is always ahead of his time!"
Wonder Woman and her counterpart shared much. "My Steve Trevor can't see me as Diana, for being blinded by the allure of Wonder Woman," said the Wonder Woman of 1943. "I imagine movie stars or royalty often have the problem of never being too certain if one loves them for their warts and all, or because of their title and their glamourousness."
"I know!" she said. "My Steve is a dear, but I wonder if I can ever get close to him as plain old Diana Prince. My mother is against it totally. It is so nice to talk with you. I miss my Amazon sisters."
Diana of 1943 said, "I never had a true sister, and you make me feel the want of one very much." They hugged and later talked for most of the day.
The Earth Two heroes did flicker back to their world not long afterwards, and all memory of the meeting faded as well.