Titans of Justice Unlimited #100 - “Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing”
Written by: Corporal Marvel, Green Lantern, Power Guy & JLA SilverAgeFan
Edited, & Maxi-micros by: Power Guy


The Brownstone - Earth 2…

Power Guy and Sargona had just teleported to the headquarters of the Justice Society Infinity while the two discussed their dinner plans.

“I can’t wait to try this new Vietnamese restaurant you told me about. I’ll bet it’s better than any of the Vietnamese restaurants on Earth 1,” surmised Sargona as she and Power Guy waited for the teleporter-tube door to open.





“What makes you say that?” questioned the modern age Man of Steel.





“Because, almost all of the restaurants on Earth 2 are better than on Earth 1……their cooking has a more classic approach to it,” explained Sargona as she tucked one side of her hair behind her ear.

As the teleporter door opened, the couple got much more than they bargained for. In front of them was three members of the JSI: the Jade Sentinel, Wildcat IV, and Hawk Warrior locked in battle with the Wizard’s niece, Magic Mistress. The vile sorcerers had them floating in the air in a stasis spell as she screamed, “Where is it?!?!?!”





“If you mean the nearest mental ward, we’ll be happy to show you!” exclaimed Sargona as she sent a spell book that she was holding, flying into Magic Mistress’ head, forcing her to lose her concentration on the spell she was performing.

As the three Earth 2 heroes dropped to the ground, Power Guy flew up to the sinister sorceress and grabbed her wrists and commanded, "No more magic from you today!”

“I don’t need to move my arms around like some movie magician, you idiot!” hissed Magic Mistress as the tip of her wand grazed Power Guy’s forehead, sending him flying through the wall behind him.

“This should slow her down,” thought Hawk Warrior as he threw an Nth Metal net over the wicked witch of Earth 2. “Your spells won’t get through the metal’s magic dampening properties!”





Becoming infuriated, Magic Mistress retorted with, “I don’t need to get through when I can go - UNDER!” as she slammed the point of her wand on the floor causing it to disintegrate and drop her to the basement level, free of the net.

“After her!” commanded Wildcat as he plunged into the newly created hole.





As the four other heroes present followed Wildcat, Sargona asked the Jade Sentinel, “What’s she after?”

“The Spirit Crystal….but I’m not sure why.”





“That’s that gem that the Secret Society used to switch bodies with the JLA several decades ago,” recalled Sargona from an adventure her mother had told her about.

“And she’s probably stupid enough to try the same thing with our team,” scoffed Wildcat as he raced after the witch.

Magic Mistress heard the boxing champ coming, turned around, and declared, “Unless you’re willing to tell me where the Spirit Crystal is, I have no time for the likes of you!”

“Ah stuff it, pig-tails!” shouted Wildcat as he leapt into the air, ready to pounce on his adversary until a bolt of lightning came from Magic Mistress’ wand and struck him down.

“Wildcat!” hollered Power Guy, in fear for his friend’s life. The Kryptonian powerhouse flew up to his teammate and check his vitals. “He’s alive but in a state of shock! Can you three take down Magic Mistress while I get Wildcat medical attention?”

“Go!” acknowledged Sargona.

Meanwhile the Jade Sentinel flew up to the evil enchantress and encased her in a green power-bubble. “That’s enough out of you today, lady!”

“Wrong, Jade Simpleton!” countered Magic Mistress as she began to pull something from her pocket. “I came prepared for the likes of you!” she smiled wickedly as she produced a box of toothpicks. A simple gesture from her hand caused the toothpicks to fly outwards in all directions, dissipating the green bubble around her. The Jade Sentinel shared his mother and grandfather’s weakness to wood so something that would be near harmless to his teammates was his Achilles’ heal.

A few seconds later, Magic Mistress spotted what she was looking for, she grabbed onto the Spirit Crystal only to have Hawk Warrior smash it out of her hands with his mace. “Hands off, woman!”

“Imbecile!” screamed Magic Mistress in anger. Another bolt from her wand struck Hawk Warrior, sending him crashing to the ground.

“That’s it lady, magic show’s over!” declared Sargona as she grabbed onto the other end of Magic Mistress’ wand. Her Ruby of Life took control of the stick, sent it flying at the sinister sorceress’ neck, and contorted it to wrap around her neck, suffocating her just long enough until she passed out and dropped to the ground.

“Good timing, Sargona,” congratulated the Jade Sentinel as he picked several toothpicks out of his forehead.

Sargona removed the wand from her enemy’s neck and snapped it in half. She then picked up the Spirit Crystal and said, “I wonder what she was planning on doing with this?”

***

Coast City, California: Coast City Stadium…

“Woah!” exclaimed a colorfully dressed adventurer as a hockey puck whizzed by his head.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, sir,” said the Sportsmaster as he took aim and sent a second puck speeding towards the chest of the visitor from Earth-two. “What was your name again.”





“Lightspeed,” whispered Jason Daniel Garrick as he quickly removed the hockey stick from his adversary and tossed it a safe distance away. The Sportsmaster found himself immediately and unexplainably chained with his hands behind his back.





“VERY impressive,” remarked the villain as he turned invisible and the chains dropped to the ground. Reappearing behind Lightspeed he asked, “What brings you to Coast City?”

“He came to see me,” answered Green Lantern as he appeared out of nowhere, and put a small device under the nostrils of his nemesis.





Lightspeed raised an eyebrow as he watched the Sportsmaster pass out. “Wait here,” ordered Daniel Jordan with an authoritative voice. “I’ll be right back.” Jason Garrick cocked his eyebrow, but obeyed the instruction.

A few moments later the Green Lantern reappeared and said, “I got your message. Its good to see you. What did you want to talk about?”

The two heroes sat on one of the bleachers of the empty stadium as Jason said, “I have found it increasingly difficult in recent days to juggle my studies and personal life with my responsibilities as Lightspeed.” After a long pause he added, “I am thinking of resigning from the Justice Society Infinity to concentrate on ministry.”

“Oh, I couldn’t disagree more,” said Daniel confidently. “If it weren’t for you, who knows what the Sportsmaster would have done here today. Ministry is important and should be prioritized, and we must never give it up. But our duties as heroes are equally important.” After a few moments of thought he added, “Just trust God.”

“Who is this Sportsmaster, anyway?” asked Lightspeed.

“Oh, he is my most brilliant foe,” answered Green Lantern. “He uses various sports themes for his capers and has several amazing abilities. He can turn invisible and has the power to replicate himself into up to 52 duplicates at anytime. He also has the ability to change his appearance to look like any individual. Once he posed as an alien hero from Venus named Kai-Ro and became a member of the Super-friends. He has been a great challenge for both the Huntress and myself. There was also some type of embarrassing altercation with Black Vulcan at one point. I understand that he once bypassed HoJ security and searched through the private quarters of every team member. Rumor has it that he confiscated some of Sargona’s personal possessions.”

“You almost sound...impressed,” said Lightspeed.

“Think of all the good he could do with his abilities and his great mind!” answered Green Lantern. “I think that he is greatly misunderstood.”

Before Jason Garrick could reply his JSI communicator buzzed. He was very surprised that someone should use the signal on Earth-one. He answered the signal, “Yes?”

“Lightspeed, this is the Huntress. Could you please report to the Hall of Justice? There is some disturbing news about Green Lantern we need to discuss.”





Turning away from Green Lantern he sais softly, “What is it?”

“Its best to discuss it in person,” insisted the Darkknight Daughter.

“Sure, I’ll be there in a Flash,” agreed the speedster. Then he closed his communicator and turned to find that Green Lantern was already gone.


***

Central City…

Wilma West was out hanging out with some friends at a new teen club that just opened up. After partying much of the night away, she was about to leave when just about Sub Zero showed up across the street in hopes of robbing a prestigious bank that was known for housing large amounts of cash. After several months of recuperation, he had finally healed up from the gruesome torture he experienced at the hands of Punchline and his Society of Insanity.

Willma quickly pulled out her cell phone called Eric Allen and advised him on the situation. Eric told her to change into Hot Flash but to wait for him to show up unless civilians were put in danger.

A short while later, Eric showed up as the Flash and worked with Hot Flash to devise a plan of attack. The villain was already into the bank vault stuffing bags with cash.

The Flash told Hot Flash to attack Sub Zero from the distance and he would attack him close and hard with several speed-tricks of his own.

After hearing a rumbling noise, Sub Zero cried out, “Ok, Flash, where are you? I hear you coming!”





“Wait and see!” exclaimed Hot Flash while she attacked Sub Zero near and far with pens, staplers, and coffee mugs as Flash instructed her to do. The villain became slightly disoriented as the spree of office items struck him. Sub Zero tried to counter-attack by turning portions of the floor to ice but Willma seemed to be one step ahead of him, dodging the slippery surfaces.





Meanwhile The Flash noticed an open window on the 49th Floor of an office building not so far from the bank near the Flash Museum – so at Super Speed he ran up the building to the 49th floor and got down to other side of the building and instructed Hot Flash via interlink – “Move - Now!”





So, Hot Flash ran directly to Sub Zero and blitzed him with an array of Super Speed Tricks that ended up pinning Sub Zero against the back wall of the bank vault, exactly what the Flash had in mind.

With his vaulted super speed – he vibrating so fast that he literally passes through walls a process(known to us as quantum tunneling) and with lighting fast reflexes he subdued Sub Zero with a punch that was fueled by the speed of sound.

As a crowd of people began to assemble outside to cheer for the super-fast duo, Sub Zero began muttering a bunch of threats and insults.

The Flash went to grab Sub Zero to haul him off to jail but unfortunately, the frigid villain vanished before his eyes. In his place, a holographic message appeared stating “The Legion of Doom is back and we’re coming for you!”

“Nice Job Hot Flash” congratulated the Flash to his partner.

Hot Flash smiled and said “Thanks. I hate to cut you short but I have a meeting with the Super Friends and must get going for it.

The Flash replied with “No problem. I have to head to my parents(the legendary Father – Barry Allen and his wife Iris) for dinner. Have a good night!”

***

Star City, Connecticut[: Star City Business District…

A villain dressed in a snake-themed costumed briskly scaled the outer Star City bank wall. Three large bags of cash and jewelry were attached to his tail. He clutched two more bags in his right hand. He thought of returning home to Columbia as he reached the roof of the building. To his horror, the escape helicopter was not there. Instead he was greeted by a founding member of the Titans of Justice.

“Drop the bags, Copperhead,” ordered Green Lantern in a calm, unthreatening tone.

The man dressed in an orange costume looked both directions as he tried to formulate an escape plan. “Where is Julio!!?!!” he thought as he was suddenly encompassed by a large emerald colored energy bubble. An evil grin overcame his face as he watched his brother throw a large bank bag at the back of Daniel Jordan’s head. That grin was quickly replaced by a look of great concern.





“Thanks!” said Lightspeed as he caught the bag of jewels before it could hit Green Lantern’s head. Just as quickly as he appeared, Jason Garrick dropped the bank bag to the rooftop and disappeared. Then he quickly reappeared behind the second Copperhead twin, seized the villain’s tail and threw him toward’s Green Lantern. “Hey, Lantern! Catch!”

Soon both villains were secured in emerald chains and on their way to the Star City Police Station.

“You think the Earth-one police are capable of handling those two?” asked Lightspeed.

“If they aren’t they will pass them along to a more capable authority,” answered Daniel Jordan. “Thanks for meeting me.”

“Anything for a friend,” replied Lightspeed. “Congratulations on your marriage!”

“Thanks!”

“So, where is Sonic Boom now?””

“Oh, she wasn’t feeling well this morning, so I told her to rest at home,” answered the newlywed.

“I think it is so cool that you guys have two homes!” exclaimed the hero from Earth-two.

“Yeah, its great,” answered Daniel. “The Queens gave us a house in Star City for our wedding present and my parents gave us a house in Coast City. Its very helpful to be close to both our families.”

After a short pause Lightspeed answered, “Yeah, I can imagine...so, why did you contact me? What did you want to discuss?”

“Well...I have been thinking, “began the Emerald Gladiator, “about the wisdom of a married man being a costume hero.”

“You’re not thinking of quitting the Titans of Justice?” asked Lightspeed in horror.

“And maybe even giving up being Green Lantern,” explained the young pastor. “You know, to focus on my duties as a husband and minister. I thought I would get your advice”

“My advice?” began Lightpeed, “Never quit. The world needs you. The universe needs you. Whatever you do, do not quit.”

Green Lantern scarcely had a chance to let Lightspeed’s words sink in before his ToJ communicator rang.

“Good morning, Huntress,” said Daniel Jordan in a friendly tone.

“Lantern,” said the Huntress urgently, “drop what you are doing and come immediately to HoJ headquarters. There is something very disturbing I have to tell you about Lightspeed.”

“Sure, but how did you know that I was with Lightspee...” asked the Verdant Guardian as Lightspeed disappeared before his eyes.

***

Metropolis - Earth 2…

“Where… am… I?” Constellation weakly asked, feeling dizziness and displaying slurred speech, she couldn’t recall how she ended up there. A few minutes ago, which now seems like hours ago, she was with her boyfriend Freddy and her Aunt Karen(Power Girl) stargazing with her new telescope. A mysterious shadowy figure had other plans, snatching Constellation without breaking a sweat.





“HOME” The mysterious figure uttered. It was a windowless room which remained pitch black even on a sunny afternoon like today. “Hey! You are too late for Halloween. Take off that unsightly S&M-like ET costume.” Constellation joked, in order to stave the oppressive feeling of loneliness now invading her mind.





“How insolent, blondie. I suggest you watch your tongue, lass. I can cut it off with my both hands tied.” threatened Constellation’s malformed abductor. “You may call me Brainwave.” the eery woman said while using her bulbous lobe to levitate some darts to hit a collage resembling Constellation’s face made by newspaper clippings.

Constellation managed to overcome her initial dizziness and shot a brief energy blast, burning Brainwave’s darts into ashes.

“Is that all you can muster up? Just pixie dust.” Brainwave challenged, smugly. “I can play with your surroundings like you’ve never imagined, Barbie Doll.”

Constellation could barely stand as the room is became topsy turvy. Constellation tried to emit a few energy blasts which came across like a random sneeze in comparison with Brainwave’s mental might.

“You are a vile aberration. WHY?! ARE?! YOU?! DOING?! THIS?! TO?! ME?! Do you enjoy making the people around you feel miserable?” Constellation demanded. She almost lost her voice due to gagging from nausea.

“You really don’t know, do you? You are my sister.” Brainwave revealed while making Constellation think the walls around her were starting to close in, like a trash compactor. “Nothing is real. Everything is an illusion. Including your own words.”

Constellation became angry at Brainwave thinking she was lying while tarnishing her father’s former code-name. The girl formerly known as Sherry Girl of Two Thousand Gimmicks began attacking the new Brainwave with energy shurikens, only to hit an optical illusion made by the mental antagonist to feed her sister’s frustration.

Brainwave then began telling Constellation a litany about her life story. Her name is Henrietta King, born with an abnormally large head. So large that her mother died while Henrietta was in the womb. Upon Henrietta's birth, her father, the former Brainwave Jr. cried blood for days. He lost his sanity afterwards, become Brainwave Jr. one last time, and was promptly arrested by the former Starwoman (Courtney Whitmore).

Henrietta ended in a poorly-run orphanage, ridiculed by her peers and neglected by the caretakers. Henrietta's deformities become so spectacular, that her skull burst apart, exposing her pulsating brain. Her first act was killing all her tormentors. A group of uncaring scientists snatched up Henrietta; put her in a windowless pitch black room, only allowing her to leave to participate in experiments with a low survival rate. Henrietta's sanity worsened, and she resented society for shunning her and treating her as a science project. She eventually killed the lead scientist, but since he was the son of a State senator, his family connections were enough to put Henrietta in a Super Max prison for life.

“You won the jackpot at the misery poker, sis.” Constellation replied upon hearing about the abject life which turned Henrietta into the supervillainess she is today.

“I snatched you because misery was the only real feeling I know. Life forced me to wear it like a second skin. I made a New Year’s resolution to do something unselfish. I’ll share my misery with you dear sister, whether you like it or not.” Brainwave’s words become as tightening as the straitjacket she was wearing. Constellation reached out to hug her sister in an attempt to sooth her anger. For a second, Brainwave seemed to let her guard down, only to make the naïve heroine feel strangled from head to toe with her mental abilities.

“Where are Corporal Marvel and Power Woman?” Constellation’s screamed about her loved ones whereabouts. Her pleads were barely audible to Brainwave’s ears.

“I have new toys to play with.” Brainwave said, introducing Wyvern and Lightning Master to the captive heroine. Wyvern bear-hugged Constellation while Lightning Master conjured a whip made out of electricity out of thin and berated the heroine with it.

“You’ve sent your attack dogs to me just because you don’t have the guts to tell me what you did with my boyfriend and my aunt.” Sherry shouted in a very defiant tone to her enemy. “Wait! Wyvern and Lightning Master are not what they seem to be. You used my loved ones as your unholy playthings.” Constellation said, starting to see through the villainess’ illusions.

“You are too clever for own good. I’m not afraid to get my hands dirty, but I’m not picky, either.” Brainwave, arrogant as ever, retorted to Constellation.

Wyvern become a fire breathing giant dragon, making debris fall like raindrops while Lightning Master kept Constellation distracted with his lightning powers.

“Why do I feel like I can’t see myself in the mirror? My hands suddenly become clawed and scaly. I am a dragon. A WYVERN!” Corporal Marvel said appalled, after nearly frying his girlfriend alive like a Barbie Doll in the microwave with lightning from his golden hammer. Corporal Marvel used his strength to swiftly scavenge through the debris to reach his girlfriend. He found Constellation badly bruised and battered, without thinking Corporal Marvel give her the kiss of life. Started as such, but soon become a kiss of true love. Not only did Constellation awaken, but her aunt Karen managed to break free from Brainwave’s illusions upon seeing the young couple lock lips.





“Oh, you two lovebirds are so cute that you make me want to puke.” Brainwave said at the sight of the warm feeling of true love, the one feeling she thought she will never be able to experience. When Corporal Marvel was about to bash Brainwave’s lobe with his hammer, she cornered Corporal Marvel with her life-like illusionary duplicates, which threw the son of Captain Marvel for a loop. Corporal Marvel took Power Girl’s hand and both of them raced around the room, creating a whirlwind which was so strong that it disoriented the villainess into dissipating her illusions.

“If you dare to touch a single lock on my niece’s beautiful head, I’ll leave you as a doddering mess.” declared Power Girl in an authoritative tone to the strange woman before her while readying her heat vision.





Corporal Marvel made a giant ball from the debris, using his hammer similar to a baseball bat in order to swat the debris at Brainwave, knocking her over. “HOME RUN!!!” Corporal Marvel shouted triumphantly at the sight of the defeated villainess.

“You have two options, jail or family therapy. It’s not a threat, sis. I’m trying to help you. Let us start all over. As family. In this atrocious war of sibling rivalry, I don’t want you get drafted to the losing side. Let me give you a helping hand.” Constellation offered, trying to make amends with Brainwave.

“Listen, Barbie-doll. Don’t play Mother Teresa with me. I’ve reached a point of no return. I don’t want you or your charity and I’m not going to stop until your life has become as miserable as mine has been and only then, will I kill you!.” Brainwave promised. Since she never heard a kind word in her lifetime, she deemed Constellation’s words as insincere.

Brainwave was defeated, but for Constellation, it was not a happy ending. Corporal Marvel and Power Girl offered to bring Brainwave to the nearest Super Max prison. Constellation told the other two heroes that she wanted to be alone for a bit, in order to reconcile the shattered state of mind which Brainwave left her as a souvenir.

Once in the new Super Max prison, Brainwave met two familiar faces. “You hate Constellation, huh? Said a hooded man with electric powers.





“Welcome home.” Said his cellmate, a large man with dragon-like wings. “I’m not much of a social animal. But there always a first time for everything.” Brainwave rejoiced to find that her powers were still strong enough to manipulate the prison’s authorities to place her with the real Lightning Master and Wyvern.





Two guards walked by with Magic Mistress in custody. Overhearing Brainwave’s conversation with the other two inmates in her cell, she thought to herself, “I was foolish to go to the JSI’s headquarters alone. Even though Wildcat was initially alone performing monitor duty, it didn’t take long for him to summon Hawk Warrior and the Jade Sentinel. Then Power Guy and Sargona showed up which only complicated things even more. It’s high time I reformed the Injustice Society. With them at my side, I’ll be able to crush the Justice Society Infinity and get my old body back!”

***

The Hall of Justice…

Green Lantern and Lightspeed arrived simultaneously at the Hall of Justice.

“Hey, what happened back in Coast City?” asked Lightspeed. “You just disappeared on me.”

“...I was going to ask you the same about Star City,” answered Green Lantern.

“Star City? You and I just took out the Sportsmaster at Coast City Stadium,” said a perplexed Jason Garrick.

“Interesting, replied the Green Gladiator, “I just got back from Star City where you and I captured the Copperhead Twins.”

“What is going on!?!” exclaimed Lightspeed. “Did the Huntress call you here too?”

“Yes, and what is even more alarming is that she isn’t here,” added Daniel Jordan as he activated his Titans of Justice communicator. “Huntress, are you there?”

“Kind of busy right now Lantern,” came the reply of the Darkknight Daughter. “Just a sec.” Green Lantern listened patiently over the ToJ communicator as the Huntress successfully took down six members of the Salamander’s gang.

“Okay, everything’s under control now,” said the Huntress. “What’s up?”

“Did you ask me or Lightspeed to meet you at the Hall of Justice this morning?”

“Lightspeed?” asked the surprised heroine. “I thought he was on Earth-two. No, I have been on a case hunting down the Salamander since 1am.”

“GL, I found something here,” interrupted Lightspeed as he pointed to a flat surface on the ToJ monitor.

“Huntress, there is a card here addressed to you,” said Daniel Jordan on the communicator.

“Open it cautiously,” said Huntress.

After a few moments Green Lantern read the message over the communicator, “It says ‘I’m back.’”

“Who’s back?” demanded Batman’s daughter.

“There’s one here for us too,” said Lightspeed as he opened the card addressed to him. “Mine says, ‘Nice to meet you.’”

“And mine says, ‘Congratulations on your wedding. I look forward to meeting your first-born son.’” read Green Lantern softly.

“Its the Sportsmaster,” said Huntress with great concern. “He’s back……….and more obsessed with us than ever.”



The End!