Post by lawrenceliberty on Mar 2, 2019 15:34:49 GMT
1
Belle Reve Prison had been the site of many a curious gathering during its years of operation; however, seldom had its grim walls sheltered as odd an assembly of costumed felons as it did one night in August 1988. The host was a rather thin man in a brown jumpsuit. He wore an odd headdress that resembled the lock on a door. This was appropriate since his nom du crime was the Key. He smiled at the others but his grin contained very little warmth although he was clearly pleased to be in what appeared to be a position of leadership.
“As you know since I arranged for my psycho-chemicals to be placed in the food here I have been in fact the warden in fact if not in name. Amanda Waller is under my control and her own lackeys have no awareness of who truly pulls their strings. As some of you know some time ago some of us signed what we called the Zandia Accord. We simply agreed to help one another in our ongoing battle for our rights and the freedom to live as we please in face of constant opposition from Superman, Batman, the Flash and their costumed ilk. After all, the heroes help one another, why shouldn’t we do the same? We are their foes and this hatred of them unites us!” he said.
A thin man with black hair and a mustache said, “I was unaware of this pact. I have battled Batman, Robin, Superman, the Flash, and others in my criminal career. I combine scientific expertise and sheer power! Why was I not privy to this bargain?”
The Key said, “My dear Dr. Ecks, you wrong me. We didn’t choose to leave you out. We merely conducted our business as a type of executive committee. We felt we could rely on you and others to agree to our terms since we know you to be a reasonable man not a maniac or a brute.”
Dr. Simon Ecks nodded and said, “I see your point. I do like your idea although I am my own best partner in a manner of speaking. You see I learned how to liberate my own aura and this persona known as Dr. Double X has power enough to handle even a Superman!”
The Key smirked briefly and then said, “Indeed, be that as it may, I have asked you all here to get your help in lending assistance to one of our own. You have no doubt heard of Dr. Destiny a.k.a. John Dee? He has long fought against our common foes and now he is in a pitiful situation. He learned to manipulate dreams and he journeyed to the mystical limbo called the Dream Dimension. Now, he languishes there in captivity of a fiend called the Sandman! Our mission is to liberate Dr. Destiny.”
A woman with silky black hair stepped forward into the light that reflected off her golden face mask and purple armor.
“We know who he is. We will attempt to free him …but how do you know so much about this Dream Dimension? It sounds like myth or fantasy to me!” said Dr. Cyber.
The Key said, “I once experimented upon myself with my psychotropic chemicals. They expanded my senses and enabled me to perceive the vast Nowhereland of Dreams! It is very real although it operates on its own laws that do in fact defy science and logic. I saw it and I saw its gold and red clad guardian the Sandman! He dwells within a citadel of sleep and protects dreamers from the forces of supernatural evil that might threaten them! “
Dr. Cyber said, “Fascinating!”
Dr. Ecks remained silent. Perhaps, he was frightened by the existence of such a mystical domain. In any event, he nodded slowly as if gathering up his own resolve for the task ahead.
Dr. Cyber said, “I can already deduce why you want us for this mission. We have …unique gifts.. that suit us for such a rescue but who is that man? I have a perfect memory and he is not familiar to me from any criminal record I have scanned in my time!”
She gestured to a tall man with long reddish hair. He wore a a blue and gold costume with a jagged design across his torso.
The Key gestured broadly and said, “This esteem gentleman is Sonar! You will learn how capable he is in time!”
Dr. Cyber sat down and crossed her legs. For a woman clad entirely in armor, she was oddly seductive.
“He is not Bito Wladon!” she said.
The Key stood up and said, “No, but he shall prove superior to that ingrate. You see, while my allies and I exerted some effort to free Bito from recent legal difficulties at the World Court, he has refused to join us. He turned down my request for his assistance with this mission. He will regret that in time but for now I have merely worked with some of our allies to create a new and improved model!”
The redhead smiled and said, “The old dude relied on technology but I am my own weapon. Cybernetic implants make me the true master of sound!”
Dr. Ecks said, “But for all our skills and your resources, how will we enter this Dream Dimension?”
The Key said, “You may rely on the Key to open any door…be it a physical one or a metaphysical one!”
2
On a planet designated as Planet X by some Earth heroes who had visited it, another group of heroes sat together behind an elevated stage that had been decorated for a festive ceremony. Rows of small purple colored beings filled an arena and waited eagerly for the Honors Ceremony to begin.
The planet’s recently formed citizens militia proudly lined the borders of the arena and tried to exude an air of confidence and capability.
Behind the stage five costumed man waited to be honored by the aliens they had protected and trained to defend themselves. Once called the Lawless League these alternate timeline counterparts of the famed Justice League of America bore their new acclaim in different ways.
Batman (Bill Gore) wore a black and red costume that concealed his face completely. At one time Bill had worn a beard but he had changed his appearance and his costume since becoming a defender of the alien world. He was an excitable man who relished action of any kind. He lacked the more cerebral aspect of the Bruce Wayne version of Batman. He made up for this with his sheer enthusiasm for life.
“It feels good to be cheered. We’ve earned this celebration. We came here to a world that had lost all drive for personal or global improvement. Reliance on technology had robbed generations of the natives of any sense of how to fight for what they needed against nature or against invaders. They really need us and they appreciate our efforts to help them! It feels so good to use my skills for something beyond crime!” he said.
Superman (Ripley “Ripper” Jones) smiled and pushed his long blond hair out of his eyes. He wore a red and blue costume with a cape and s distinctive “S” emblem but the style differed from the costume worn by Kal-El the Superman of this timeline.
“Bill, you grew up a bored rich kid. You used your money to learn how to fight and to equip yourself with a remarkable array of gadgets which you used for crime and thrills! Now, doing good for others gives you more satisfaction!” he said.
Batman said, “Rip, you were as bad as I was. You were one of the only survivors of Krypton but you used your powers to hurt others. You sure didn’t feel like you owed it to weaker beings to protect them!”
Superman nodded and said, “I am ashamed of myself. I hope every good deed I perform will erase some of bad things I did. I’ll try to atone for my actions for as long as I live!”
The Flash (Race Morrison) said, “When your domed city warped its way to the Arctic Circle on Earth to escape the destruction of Krypton, nobody knew what to make of you aliens! Luckily, almost all of your people were exposed to gold Kryptonite and lost any powers that might have gained on Earth! I’d hate to imagine a city of Supermen!”
Superman nodded and said, “I was a bad seed. My people were eager to make lives for themselves on Earth and to fit in if possible I was a rebel and they banished me from Argo because of my behavior! It means something to me to belong here!”
The Atom (Barney Judson) wore a black and red costume and shrugged his shoulders. He said, “In our timeline we were criminal, lawless versions of the heroic League of this timeline. We were brought here more than once by different villains to serve as pawns.
Then, that mystical being the Sandman altered reality and made us good. We vowed to protect this world and help the natives defend themselves and we’ve done a good job. Why are you guys feeling so sentimental or down right gloomy? We’re heroes now! We’re awesome!”
The Flash grinned and said, “He’s right! We have powers and we’re loved here. Why live in regret about our pasts misdeeds? We’re not the JLA. We have their powers but we are different. I mean Barney and I got our powers in totally different ways than the other Atom and Flash did and Rip and Bill grew up differently from the other Superman and Batman! Heck, poor ole Ed was nothing like the JLA’s Martian either. May he rest in peace!”
He referred to a fallen member of their League. The Martian Manhunter (E’d O’rson) had perished a few weeks before and they still missed him.
“Ed had a big heart. He’d want us to carry on in his name. I mean he saved us all from the Khunds who tried to take over this world. I say let’s honor him and be happy that we’re alive and doing good!” said Batman.
The final member of the team was a brown haired man named Monk Loomis. As the Green Lantern of the Lawless League, he used a powerful ring that could turn his will power into a wide variety of useful energy constructs. He had been a balding man when he first came to Planet X but like the others he had changed his appearance in subtle ways. All of them had changed but none of them seemed to notice.
He was serious and morose. He sighed heavily as they stepped on stage and received medals from the planet’s small purple President Alyx who beamed with pleasure as the crowd roared with approval!
Monk thought, “None of them get it. None of them understand. How can we take credit for doing good or being heroes when we can’t be sure if anything we do is really being done willingly? When Sandman altered reality with that magic gem of his, he turned us villains into heroes. If that magic was gone wouldn’t we revert back to killers and thugs in an instant?”
Monk didn’t realize it but they would find out the answer to that question all too soon!
3
The Key led Dr. Cyber, Dr. Ecks, Sonar, and three others into a special room away from their previous meeting space.
He said, “When our final associate magically transports you to the Dream Dome in which the Sandman holds Dr. Destiny, you will merely occupy the so-called Lord of Dreams long enough to free our friend then you’re return here the same way you came! You need not worry about anything else!”
Sonar said, “I got a question. Who is big and gruesome there?”
He gestured to a hulking brute of a man who had broad facial features, a receding hairline, and powerful muscles belied by sloping shoulders. He wore a dull blue tunic and pants.
“He is my property although I built him based on designs found in the papers of one Dr. Viktor Willard. He named the original model the Netherman. I find that name unoriginal but it serves this new version well enough. He loyal to me and will do my bidding. You need not question his worth unless you’d presume to question my own!” declared Dr. Cyber as the monstrous being stayed behind her and watched the others with dull eyes.
Sonar raised his hands in a placating manner. “Okay, Doc! I yield! Did you build those two as well?”
He pointed to two other figures who looked rather timid and ordinary. The man had lank hair and a rather large nose. He wore a white lab coat and stood slightly slumped forward and his walk betrayed a pigeon toed gait. The woman had dark hair and attractive eyes but they were concealed behind large glasses and her figure although very good was covered by dowdy clothes.
“Joe and Mindy are my recruits. Their sluggish manner is due to the psycho chemicals I fed them. You see while they will obey Dr. Cyber who is my representative on this mission, they are not willing participants!” he said.
Sonar said, “Look, I like the sexy babe in armor as much as any guy but why is she the leader?”
Dr. Cyber said, “I have plundered nations. I have led a criminal empire. I have battled Wonder Woman among others. When you have done as much and when you have acquire my genius, then you may lead!”
Dr. Ecks stepped forward and said, “My brother is ready!” At that moment a glowing figure flew into the room and stood defiantly before them. He looked like a muscular version of Dr. Ecks but he wore a red and gold costume with a cape and a ridged cowl. Twin letter “X”s adorned his chest.
“While he is Ecks, I am Double X!” announced the grinning newcomer.
“He is my aura brought to powerful life by a machine next door. He will make me proud!” declared Simon Ecks! Indeed, Double X seemed to radiate sheer power and sheer menace.
The Key said, “And our final teammate will use her magic to bring you to our goal. I present to you all, the alluring Enchantress! “
The Enchantress was a lovely woman with flowing blonde hair. She wore a brief pink costume with an ornate pattern across the fabric. Her arms and legs were bare above pink gloves and boots.
“You know why I am here. You offered me what the heroes could not deliver. You promised to reunite me with my missing husband! I only serve you for this reason! If you betray me I shall destroy you all!” she said as she clinched her fists and her bright green nails dug into her own palms.
“Do not fear. I will honor my pledge. Nadir will be located!” said the Key.
Dr. Cyber thought, “The Key explained his plan to me. I know exactly what role we are each to play and I know why the others were selected for this mission. What I don’t know is how far we may trust the Enchantress. The Key didn’t tell me she would be our means of transportation. She has worked on both sides of the law. Is the Key not as smart as he thinks he is?”
The Enchantress thought of Nadir. The illusionist from a parallel Earth was her husband and they had been happy together until he literally disappeared one night. She had appealed to Sargon the Sorcerer to find him when her own magic failed to do so. The heroic John Sargent was trying his best to do so but so far he had not succeeded. Thus, June Moon had turned to the Key upon learning that he was now in charge of the prison and had access to data and powers beyond her own reach. She was deeply unhappy. She missed her husband and she lamented how far she had fallen. She had been evil before. Was she willing to surrender herself to darkness once more?
Sonar thought, “I think that woman is at the breaking point. I don’t’ know her or her husband but she’s about to crack up!”
At that moment after exchanging a nod with the Key, the Enchantress (June Moon) spoke arcane words and the team vanished! The Key waited for a moment as Dr. Simon Ecks looked at him with a worried expression on his face.
“Do not be concerned. The Enchantress assured me her magic will boost the amount of time and distance in which your partner may exist away from you and your machines!”
As Ecks nodded in agreement, the Key turned and then walked back to his office. He had other matters to deal with and other villains to aid.
4
The group appeared in a bizarre structure that seemed to change its shape from moment to moment. Dr. Cyber noted that the sensors in her helmet failed to make what she saw when she looked at what must be the Dream Dome remain consistent. She frowned and thought once more, “I did more than accept this mission. I lobbied to be a part of it for purposes of my own! However, I find this magical real1m most disconcerting!”
The Enchantress said, “I shall try to transport us into the building but I can’t be certain my efforts will be successful! Nothing is as it seems in this place!”
Sonar thought, “My cybernetic sense of hearing should let me hear what is going on in that place but I can’t detect anything. I don’t like this place a bit!”
Joe and Mindy remained silent but the Enchantress hesitated for a moment and thought, “Those poor pawns don’t deserve this enslavement. If didn’t need the Key’s help to find Nadir, I would free their drugged minds from his control!”
The Netherman lurched along and loomed protectively over Dr. Cyber.
Dr. Double X smiled as if he was eager for action. He obviously exulted in using his super human power!
Light flashed around them and as they blinked a new environment appeared around them. They were inside the huge dome which seemed much bigger on the inside than it did from without. Walls were lined with unusual looking machines and sounds filled the complex. Some were soothing like white noise designed to lull someone to sleep while others were strident like a shriek heard in a terrible nightmare.
As they hurried into the weird complex, Double X flew ahead of the rest and marveled at all he saw. He retained a connection with his other self and as a man of science he relished seeing so many wonderful devices! He stopped abruptly to look up at row of clear tubes that contained humanoid figures. The occupants seemed to be sleeping which made sense considering where they were. One of them was a frail man with brown hair.
“That’s Dr. Dee!” announce Dr. Cyber. “We must free him! Netherman, do so!”
The brute shambled forward at his mistress’s command and reached upward to touch the tube.
At that moment a newcomer appeared. He wore a red and gold costume and posed dramatically as the invaders moved closer.
“Leave my pets alone! They belong to the Sandman as do you all!” he said. His voice echoed throughout the complex and Sonar noticed that the distortion was mystical in nature. He knew this since he detected no technological devices concealed in the man’s cowl or costume that would explain his inhuman voice.
Double X charged at the Sandman and grunted as the man matched his might and held him back from the tubes.
“In this realm my strength is as limitless as the imagination!” bragged the Sandman.
The Netherman pulled the tube down with a crash and the waking Dr. John Dee staggered out of the remains like a sleepwalker.
“He’s not the Sandman!” he muttered as he tried to regain his bearings. “He ambushed the real Sandman and locked us all up!”
Sonar said, “The Key sent us to free you, buddy!”
Dee said, “I don’t want to leave but I want you to free my friends as well!”
Dr. Cyber raised her gauntlets and energy surged out to engulf the red and gold clad figure.
His form shimmered and changed until he resembled an ancient man with a withered body.
“You cancelled my illusion but it does not matter. No, I am not the Sandman. He rests within one of the tubes above along with his slaves Glob and Brute. I rule over him as I will soon rule the worlds beyond this domain! I am the figment of your imagination that keeps you awake in the dark of night. I am the Nightmare Wizard!’
The Enchantress jumped forward and grasped a ruby that hung from the evil being’s neck. She recognized the ruby and decided she could use it to find her missing spouse. She didn’t need to rely on the Key or his shaky promises!
“Where is Nadir!” she cried as she combined her magic with the reality altering power of what she knew to be the ruby that empowered a device Destiny had called a Materiopticon!
She collapsed to her knees as she suddenly saw the reality of her husband’s plight.
“Nadir is on his original Earth. The energy that brought him here along with others from Earth 2 wore off and they were all drawn back through time and across the borders to that other parallel Earth! I must go to him now!” she cried.
The Nightmare Wizard smiled crookedly and said, “You will go to him but only on my terms!”
The blonde shuddered and seemed to split in half. The blonde half vanished and a different woman remained behind. She had long black hair and wore a green tunic with black hosiery and green slippers. She smiled in a cruel manner and said, “I am free of the insipid June Moon! Now, only the Enchantress remains!”
She cackled wildly and vanished before their startled eyes!
The Nightmare Wizard said, “I have gained a purely evil slave to create terror on your Earth while her good self may seek her spouse elsewhere! You’ve brought me a gift!”
Dr. Cyber said, “This is getting out of control! Netherman, attack him!”
She thought, “We have no way home now unless we get control of this place!”
The Netherman grabbed the Nightmare Wizard and began to crush him! Dr. Cyber raced forward and ripped the ruby off his neck even as the wily old man slipped free like a phantom.
Dr. Cyber clutched the gem and a glow surrounded her for a moment. She laughed with pleasure and darted aside as the ruby shattered at the mental command of the Wizard!
At that moment the Wizard turned his attention to the group at large.
“I won’t allow you to use my ruby a moment longer. You will die from terror as your worst nightmares consume you!” he shrieked.
Double X smiled broadly and moved closer. As an energy aura he didn’t dream and was unharmed by the dark magic of the mind!
The Netherman also seemed unfazed. As an android his synthetic mind had no means of dreaming.
Sonar hesitated and then using his cybernetic implants he resisted the illusions that briefly threatened to overwhelm his mind. Using his ability to mimic any sound, he put the Key’s prearranged plan into effect and generated a weird high pitched sound!
At that moment all the tubes opened and two monster jumped free of their prisons as did the real Sandman!
“You managed to copy the sound of my hypnowhistle and liberate us!” he said in amazement.
Sonar grinned, “I am pretty amazing!”
Glob was a small yellow blob while Brute was a big, strong monster. They served the Sandman and eagerly attacked their cruel captor.
Sandman said, “You won’t get away with this! You’ve held us long enough! You used my form for your evil schemes!”
The Nightmare Wizard laughed and said, “I beat you once. I shall do so again! I beat you before because you became overconfident. Your arrogance let me fool you! You were drunk with what you thought was your own power but you were not that strong. Did you really think you could change the heart and soul of another person?”
He grew larger until he loomed above them all. He grabbed Brute and Glob and hurled them at the others. As they fell in a heap, Dr. Cyber mentally activated a device in her helmet that stimulated Joe and Mindy!
Joe Silver suddenly changed from a dull, little man who studied dreams into a powerful man in a black and purple costume. He had long black hair and his eyes were circled with heavy make-up.
“I’m Astra Lad again after all these years!” he said with a smile.
He raised his hands and beams shot out to shatter some of the machines and cause the Nightmare Wizard to run from the fragments as they rained downward!
Mindy Newman changed as well. The mousy librarian became a pretty woman with long black hair, a flawless face, and a brief blue and red costume.
“Nova Woman! I’m Nova Woman! My dreams came true!” she whispered. She flew forward at super speed and joined Astra Lad in smashing the citadel’s machinery.
The Nightmare Wizard realized he was outnumbered and his powers would not work on most of the foes who challenged his power.
Sandman smiled and said, “I will not allow you to conjure your phantasms here now that I am awake and aware of your presence. Without your solid monsters and your mental attacks, I believe you are helpless!”
Dr. Cyber smiled as Sonar’s sound waves prevented the Nightmare Wizard from concentrating for long. He shrank back to his normal size as Netherman and Double X slammed into him from two sides.
He cried out and suddenly raised his hands in a placating manner.
“I yield! Sandman! I suppose it was inevitable. You were opposing me even from within your tube. I know it was your mind that placed dreams in mortal minds so that they could oppose my pawn Dr. Spider in Markovia and perhaps even alerted this group to my weaknesses! SO be it. We existed for eons together in our separate spheres! I shall return to my own realm!”
Sandman said, “No, you will not. We will not return to our long détente. You will be my prisoner from now on!”
He grabbed the old man and pushed him into a tube that remained intact. As the tube closed over him, Glob and Brute laughed wildly and slapped hands together in celebration.
“You got that old fiend!” screamed Glob.
“Personally, I’d have murderized him!” said Brute.
Sandman said, “I have a lot of things to do to make up for the evil he did in my name with my guise. First though, I owe you my thanks. He caught me by surprise and imprisoned me and my assistant Dr. Dee. He did much harm until you beat him. I am impressed. Most of you don’t dream so he could not harm you but how did you resist his power, Dr. Cyber? You are not …like the others!”
Dr. Cyber said, “I fear no nightmare. I have lived with horrors beyond any mere night terror!”
Dr. Dee said, “Sandman, these people are super villains as I once was! I do not wish to go with them!”
Sandman said, “You will stay here if you wish. You’ve been a good helper and a better friend. I truly need a friend now since I have seen how true the Wizard’s words were. I have been guilty of being arrogant.”
He leaned over to Dr. Cyber and whispered, “I know your secrets. I have watched the dreams of your old foe Wonder Woman. I sense that you used the ruby to change yourself, I shall not interfere with what you did with that mystical gem since I do owe you my freedom and I know Diana would not have wanted even an enemy to suffer as you have done.”
Dr. Cyber said, “I battled a girl who possessed great magic. She used it against me. Thanks to her cursed magic, I have been a prisoner of my own armor. I was turned into a mere girl by magic. I realized if I came here I might find a way to restore myself! I have done so now!”
The Netherman bowed low and said, “Mistress, please, let me stay here. I want to learn how to dream. I want to see beauty and poetry and feel things like normal men do!”
Dr. Cyber said, “Fine. I can make more of you if I wish to!”
Sandman said, “You are welcome here. I sense you have a gentle heart beneath that exterior.”
Sonar said, “Well, I want to go home.”
Double X said, “I do too. This wonderful place has sparked the flames of creation within me. My brother and I may now create technology that will do marvels!”
Sandman said, “Go down this slide and it will put you back at the point at which you departed. I wish you pleasant dreams and better mornings!”
He stepped forward and said, “However, these innocents will not go when you do!” He gestured to Astra Lad and Nova Woman.
Dr. Cyber, Sonar, and Double X obeyed his words and vanished down a mysterious slide that did return them all to Belle Reve!
He moved toward Nova Woman (Mindy Newman) and Astra Lad (Joe Silver). He reached into a pouch that hung from his belt and touched their eyes with some fine dust.
“First, I awaken your minds from the drugs the Key used to enslave you. I also sense that you would keep your powers. Tell me what you wish me to do!”
Astra Lad (Dr. Joe Silver) said, “I study dreams. I’ve done so for years. I used technology once to project a super powered adult version of myself back into my past. I enabled my teen self to become a super hero for a time. I later realized that my meddling with time had effects I had not anticipated. Somehow, in this realm I was able to tap into my dream self once more and become a super powered version of myself again. I guess I should be called Astra Man now though! This place is amazing. I could learn so much here!”
Sandman said, “Stay here. Study all you want. I welcome you. You may also retain your powers if you wish. I can help you do that much. I didn’t bestow them but I may awaken them. The ruby that altered reality was not really destroyed. I can forge it anew at will!”
Brute muttered, “He means we’ll do it. We do all the grunt work!”
Glob said, “We are artists!”
Nova Woman said, “This is all new to me. I mean I used to dream about being a super heroine. I even romanced Superman in my dreams but there were still only dreams!”
Sandman said, “Only dreams? Dreams can be so much more than you know. There was once a futuristic device that fell into the hands of a youth named Jimmy Olson. He didn’t understand how it worked. Perhaps, no one did. He wanted to use it to find perfect romantic matches for his friends. He found you as both a librarian and as heroine Nova Woman and realized that you could very well be Superman’s perfect woman. He later thought that he had been mistaken and eventually decided that the machine merely created solid manifestations of idealized images drawn from dreams. Nova Woman was not meant to be and she faded away when the machine was returned to its proper time. What he did not know was that the machine didn’t make these dreams come to life by drawing images from fantasies. It tapped into real possibilities that had merely not yet occurred since the machine did come from the future. Nova Woman was always meant to be and now she is real.”
Nova Woman said, “I will be a real heroine. I’ll use my powers for good if I may keep them!”
Sandman said, “I believe you will at that. I look forward to watching your adventures and seeing you learn your real origin!”
Dr. Destiny said, “How did the Key learn so much about so many different people? Dr. Cyber did say the Key was behind the rescue?”
Sandman said, “While in that prison tube my mind still roamed free. I sent dreams of this place and of all who might rescue us to the Key’s advanced mind. He thought he had achieved this union by his own means but I was the one to made him envision our plight and how best to free us. I showed him all those who could best defeat the Nightmare Wizard. He will not bother us again. He will have to accept that you have reformed and do not wish to leave this realm!”
He added, “We shall improve our security here immediately. This realm will not be as easy enter from this moment onward! We shall
be safe!”
As Nova Woman also departed via the slide, Dr. Destiny calmly showed Netherman and Joe Silver around the complex.
Sandman sighed and said, “I have another stop to make. I may leave here for one hour at a time as you know and I have to fix some errors I made through my own arrogance!”
5
Back on Planet X , the Lawless League sat on the stage and listened to the speeches in their honor. Superman frowned. Something was wrong. He felt something was amiss. His keen brain raced as he realized that his memories of a city of Kryptonians on Earth was wrong! He also felt that he had never been the rebel and criminal he wrongly remembered being. Was he going mad?
Batman looked pale as well. He rubbed his glove across his brow as if he also was troubled by some memory. “I’ve been living a lie! Is this some revenge scheme by the Brainwasher? What has happened to Robin? Is she okay?”
Green Lantern staggered as he stood up and muttered, “Why would they give a power ring to a thug like me? Where did I get the ring?”
Atom trembled and thought, “I don’t understand. Why haven’t I used all my powers? Have I lost the ability to grow?”
The Flash drank heavily from his glass and said, “Is this Mopee at work again?”
Then, all of them stiffened where they stood as sand rained down on the crowd and the red and gold costumed Sandman appeared from thin air. He pointed to the crowd of purple aliens.
“I may only dim their eyes with sleep for a moment. There are too many of them!” explained the Sandman.
The Atom said, “Sandman, you were the one who changed us from villains to heroes! We’ve all seen you in our dreams since then!”
Batman suddenly looked as determined and as keen as the Bruce Wayne version of Batman.
“No, he didn’t. He fooled us all. He gave us false memories. He even made us see ourselves differently but that part wore off in time. What game are you playing?”
Sandman said, “I have wronged you all. I swear that I meant well but I was foolishly arrogant. I didn’t have the power to do what I thought I had done. I did face a murderous Lawless League taken from another timeline by Dr. Destiny when he was still a villain. He brought them from their timeline to oppose the JLA in the main timeline; however, I tried to use the ruby to change reality and make that evil league heroic. I thought that I had changed the Lawless League and that they had agreed to defend this world. I was guilty of hubris. The Nightmare Wizard was watching me as he often had in the past. I didn’t realize that while he was biding his time all these eons, he was plotting against all who wore the mantle of Sandman. He made me think I had turned bad men into champions when in fact I could not do that. As he said, I could not change the hearts and souls of men. He took the evil Lawless League away in a second and brought you here in their place. I thought you were villains that I had turned into heroes. You were never the Lawless League nor were you villains nor do you share their pasts or their names. All these false memories and fake appearances were created by the Nightmare Wizard. You see, he wanted to remove heroes like you from your proper timeline. He did so. You come from a different timeline than the one that spawned the Lawless League. By removing you and making us all think you were a reformed Lawless League, he increased the chances of boosting his own power in your original timeline by increasing the odds that terror and crime would reign there and nightmares would become commonplace in the absence of that timeline’s super heroes!”
“Now that I realize what truly happened I have come to restore your memories and offer my apologies. You are regaining your true memories as we speak. “
Green Lantern said, “I wondered if our heroism was due to you alone. Now, I guess we know it was always in us.”
Batman said, “The aliens here now have a militia. We aren’t needed. We may go back to our proper timeline with honor. We kept our promise here.”
Flash said, “The Martian Manhunter died never knowing his true self!”
Sandman said, “It pains me that I have wronged you all. I am a humbled man. I can return you to your proper timeline if we hurry. “
The Flash said, “The natives here have learned all we had to teach them. The militia can do what needs to be done.”
Sandman said, “I may give them all the same dream but it only last a few moments. They will awaken content to be their own heroes but they will remember your efforts on their behalf with gratitude. You will not be forgotten!”
The heroes of the League of Justice, for such was their true name, agreed and with one last look at the planet and people they had served so well, they departed in Sandman’s wake.
Epilogue
The day after the adventure in the Dream Dimension, the Key and his allies returned to their individual pursuits. Dr. Cyber piloted a sleek jet toward Asia. She no longer wore her armor or her golden mask. She was a beautiful adult woman once more. She also had many plans of her own. Dr. Ecks was on his way to Los Angeles. His energy aura had once more faded away temporarily. He wanted to see if he could do something with dreams to increase his own power and he knew exactly which heroine could be of use to him. The new Sonar had plans for a team of his own. No one knew where the purely evil Enchantress had ended up but her better self had begun a quest to get to Earth 2 and reunite with her husband. As for the Key himself he entered a locked room beneath the old prison and smiled at a group of captive super heroes.
“Greetings, my Suicide Squad. I have a mission for you!” he announced.
The End