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The night sky is dark and grey. What moonlight, that is present, is quickly swallowed by the stormy clouds. Batman watches the warehouse from the convenience of his elevated position on the building across the street. He retracts his infra-red contacts and watches the bumbling figures through the skylight. 'Someone has been stealing Gotham's supply of precious stones. All other valuable jewelry have been left untouched. Just the gems have been stolen. 'Something big is going on,' thinks Batman. It is his job to find out just what. A portly gangster helps hold steady a large cask as he and two other gangsters watch the 'Boss' walk towards them. "Careful, ya bum! This treasure is worth more than all of us!" shouts one of the gangsters as they almost drop it. "I'm holdin' it! I'm holdin' it! Don't get your underwear in an uproar." mumbles the portly stooge as they set the treasure chest safely on the floor. They open it, revealing sparkling diamonds, rubies, opals, emeralds, and many more gems of all shapes and sizes. Suddenly the sky light explodes in glass shards as Batman tumbles towards the startled gangsters. He rolls with his landing and proceeds to knock the three gangsters off their feet. Batman's cape cascades behind him, as he approaches their 'Boss'. "YOU! I should have known!"
The leader of the gang puts up no struggle as Batman grabs him roughly by the arm and drags him away from the fallen henchmen. Once they are far enough to not be overheard by the still groggy hoodlums Batman speaks again. "Okay, Dick, I knew that no one else knew the city well enough to pull these heists off. Now why? Why aren't you in Bludhaven, and more to the point, why are you walking the dark side now? I thought I raised you better than that." Nightwing shrugs. "Raised me? You didn't raise me Bruce, you shoved me into your lifestyle, whether I wanted it or not. Why wouldn't I switch sides? All your way ever got me was a lot of bruises and a lot more grief. I'm not the only one you know. None of us so called 'kids' are putting up with it any more.Wait til Ollie sees what Conner has been up to." He paces the room as he speaks then suddenly grabs a wooden carton from a shelf and throws it at Batman. As the caped crusader is momentarily off balance Nightwing makes his escape. Still stunned by the revelation that his former ward is now the leader of a criminal gang Batman mutters to himself, "It can't be. Someone has to be behind this. Much as I hate to admit it, I think it's time I called in some help."
Chapter Three by Kell Carpenter Batman teleported into the Watchtower on the moon. When he saw what awaited him in the meeting room, he allowed a gasp to escape from his lips, surprising himself and the rest of those present. Several members of the JLA were there: Superman, Wonder Woman, Steel, Aquaman. They each looked just as shocked and defeated as he did, sitting around the meeting room table. Also present were these guests: Max Mercury, Sentinel, Jay Garrick, and Cliff Steele (known to most as Robotman). "Wha-? What's going on here?" Batman asked weakly. "They've turned against us. All of them..." Superman mumbled. The Martian Manhunter approached from behind him. "Their former wards, sidekicks and teammates, that is. Each of them has come from a battle similar to yours, one in which they came face-to-face with a former friend and ally...that had become a criminal mastermind." They told the story of how Superboy, Wonder Girl, Supergirl, Tempest, Wally West, Impulse, Jesse Quick, Green Lantern, and Changeling had been behind crime waves in their respective bases of operation. Batman sat, wide-eyed, on the verge of tears. The others had never seen him this vulnerable, this stricken. Alan Scott stood up abruptly. "Wait just a minute! I may have an idea on where to start our search for the person -or persons- behind this!" He looked to Jay Garrick. "Do you remember a couple of our cases, one in the 40s and again in the 80s..." Alan let his words trail off. "Of course!" Jay slapped his forehead. "Why didn't I see it before?" The other heroes leaned forward, eager to know what the two veteran JSA members were thinking. They told the assemblage in unison: "The Stream of Ruthlessness: KOEHANA!"
Alan Scott leads the other assembled heroes-Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Steel, Aquaman, the Martian Manhunter, Robotman, the Flash (Jay Garrick), and Max Mercury-into the transporters in the Watchtower on the Earth's moon. There is a grim determination on the faces of all of the heroes, knowing as they do the seriousness of their mission. Outside of the Watchtower, an ion storm can be seen buffeting the surrounding area, making the moon seem even darker than it normally is. "If the stream of ruthlessness has taken over the minds of our young compatriots," Martian Manhunter points out in his cold way, "We must go at once to stop them." "That's just what I was thinking, J'onn," Alan Scott replies. "Jay and I know all too well the effects Koehana can have on someone, turning them the complete opposite of what they are." "But, we also know that they will be called back to the stream frequently," Superman points out. "Right," Batman agrees. "And that's why I've set the transporters to send us to the shore of the stream, so that we can be ready for them when they show up." "Let's get into the transporters and stop them before they hurt themselves...or worse," Wonder Woman suggests. The heroes rush into the transporters. Batman is the last to reach the transporters, after having set the controls of the transporters for a delayed transport, allowing him the time to reach his own transporter. Soon, the heroes disappear from view. The ion storm raging outside, however, has a great impact on the transporter beams, opening up not only a doorway to another place, but another dimension as well. The heroes find themselves, instead of the own Earth, on an Earth where the Crime Syndicate have claimed ultimate control over all of its citizens...an Earth known as Earth 3! As the heroes collapse from the strain of the transporter journey that took them through a dimension to another Earth, they are greeted by the sight of Ultraman, Super Woman, Power Ring, Johnny Quick, and Owlman...the Crime Syndicate! As surprised as the heroes are, the Crime Syndicate seems even more so. "Wait a minute!" Ultraman remarks, shocked by the sudden presence of the heroes. "What are they doing here? And where did the Wizard go?!" "I don't know," Power Ring points out, his energy ring glowing with sinister power, as he looks down at the heroes, his brown hair blowing in the gusts of wind. "But look at them! They're weak as kittens! Let's finish them!" Meanwhile, on our Earth, a very confused Secret Society of Super-villains-the Wizard, Professor Zoom, Blockbuster, Plant Master, Mirror Master, and Star Sapphire-land ignominously on the shore of the stream of ruthlessness. However, they too, are stunned by a transporter beam that has transported them from Earth 3 to this dimension, and they fall into the stream, immersed in its powerful waters.
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