Toro flew quickly, anxious to catch up to Wonder Woman. She had left quickly when she heard the report about Bucky and Fury. She had ordered Toro to stay behind, but he couldn't sit and wait for her to return any longer. He was so infatuated with Hippolyta that he was itching to make a good impression. Besides that, Bucky was his best friend, and Toro wanted to do something to help him if he was in any danger.
As he raced rapidly across the sky, he spotted another flying figure heading his way. It was Namor, the Sub-Mariner. Toro didn't particularly like Namor. He wouldn't admit it, but he was jealous of Namor's relationship with Hippolyta.
"Greetings, young Toro," Namor yelled, as politely as the sea prince ever got. He had no idea of Toro's feelings for his beloved Hippolyta, and so had no malice toward the boy.
"Sorry, gotta go!" Toro yelled. "Emergency!" He raced away, not wanting Namor to come along and share Wonder Woman's gratitude for any help she may get. Toro thought he'd leave Namor behind. But looking back, he noticed the Atlantean Prince following him. "Doggone it!" Toro muttered.
"You appear to have a most urgent mission to attend to," Namor called. "Captain America would be most irate if I allowed a youngster like yourself to go unescorted. Let us battle together, eh?"
Toro tried to repress a frown. "Yeah, sure. Great."
Soon . . .
They reached the bank. The police were there, questioning people and making out reports. The two super heroes landed. Before Toro could say a word, Namor made his princely way to the center of the disturbance. He immediately got everyone's attention.
"Speak, surface men," Namor ordered. "Tell me what has occurred here!"
Just then, Wonder Woman stepped out of the crowd. Both Namor and Toro gazed upon her admiringly.
"Toro, I told you to stay out of this," she said. "There are two young sidekicks in trouble already."
"I'll look after the boy," Namor said. "Greetings, lovely one. What is the emergency?"
Wonder Woman filled them in on the Missing-In-Action status of the Star-Spangled Kid and the Fury.
There was another man standing next to Wonder Woman. He was a tall, fair-haired man in a trench coat.
"This is Detective Reily," Wonder Woman said. "He often works with Doc Savage. He has some news."
"I've got a lead on the guys who robbed the bank," Reily said. "There used to be a fourth member of the gang. A guy called the Fox. Savage and I caught him recently and the FBI just sweated some information out of him. I know where his hideout is. I was on the way there, and wanted to get some back-up."
"Just tell us where they are," Wonder Woman said. "We'll handle the rest!"
Wonder Woman, Namor and Toro reached the docks, where the trio of Gambler, Sportsmaster, and the Yellow Wasp had rented some space from an unsavory local slumlord. The three JSA members were heading with righteous rage toward the door, determined to batter the villains and rescue Bucky and the Fury, who they assumed were prisoners.
Toro spotted something. "Hey! Look up there, on roof!"
They were surprised to see Bucky the Star-Spangled Kid crouching on the roof, waving at them. They landed on the roof. Bucky put a finger to his lips to indicate silence. He pointed down, bringing his partners attention to an inch-wide fissure in the old roof. They could see the three villains counting their loot.
"Sitting ducks," he whispered.
Down inside the hideout, the criminal trio was gleefully splitting their ill-gotten gain. They were blissfully happy. Just then, the door was smashed down. In stormed Hippolyta, followed by Bucky, Toro and Namor.
"Uh oh!" the Sportsmaster said.
Using the crystal ball given to him by the Enchantress, the Answer was watching Namor, Toro, Bucky, and Wonder Woman take down the trio of small time villains. The Answer looked at the Carbon Copy Man.
"Hmmm. I suppose a test run before the main event would be beneficial."
Back at the Harlequin's hideout, which looked like a teenage girl's much-too-pink bedroom, Harlequin and the Fury arrived. The Harlequin plopped down on her soft, plush, pink bed, and stretched out, contentedly. She grinned at the Fury. "Home again. How do you like it? Oh, wait, I forgot. You're a zombie."
Somewhere deep in her mind, Fury heard this but it was like a surreal dream. Part of her knew she'd failed Bucky but trapped inside her own mind by Harlequins power, she could do nothing.
Meanwhile, the Harlequin's mind was hatching schemes. "Hmmm, now just a minute here. I need a light bulb to put over my head, cause I just got a brainstorm! I've heard that Sentinel has been looking for me. And you're one of his little pals. I think you've just graduated from slave to bait!"
The trio of Sportsmaster, Gambler, and the Yellow Wasp fell easily to the combined force of Namor, Toro, Bucky, and Wonder Woman. Yellow Wasp was unconscious. Wonder Woman had a grip on the battered Sportsmaster. The Gambler was stunned. He lay on the ground, feigning unconsciousness.
"How'd you end up on the roof, Buck?" Toro asked.
"And where's Fury?" Wonder Woman asked.
"Back at the alley, Sportsmaster gassed us," Bucky said. "I held my breath with a controlled breathing technique and faked unconsciousness, hoping that Fury would do the same, so we could take them by surprise. But I guess she doesn't know how to do that. So she hit the road, instead."
"She ran out on you?" Namor asked, appalled.
"She did the right thing," Bucky said. "At least, from her point of view. She thought the battle was lost. I'm sure she went for help. Anyways, while the bad guys were distracted by the Fury, I slipped away and followed them here. I waited on the roof, knowing she'd be coming with the cavalry."
"But we haven't seen her," Toro said.
"You haven't?" Bucky said, surprised.
"Where is Fury?" Wonder Woman asked the Sportsmaster, who was wrapped in her golden lasso, which forced him to tell the truth.
"I have no idea," he said. "She got away."
"He speaks the truth," Hippolyta said. "But where could she be?"
Just then, everyone's attention was diverted to the figure who was entering the hideaway. It was a big blue monstrosity. He lumbered toward Namor. "Who or what are you, creature?" Namor demanded to know. "Speak if you can."
As the creature came close enough to Namor to scan his biology, he suddenly turned into an exact duplicate of Namor . . . a carbon copy! Namor hesitated, stunned. The duplicate took the opportunity to land a punch, using Namor's own strength, and send him out through the side wall.
Toro was alarmed by the newcomer, but Wonder Woman rushed in bravely. Toro was suddenly filled with the urge to protect her. As the Amazon hooked up in battle with the enemy, it amazingly took on Wonder Woman's appearance, surprising Queen Hippolyta with strength equal to her own. It shoved Wonder Woman away. She was about to return to the battle, when Toro cut her off, placing himself between her and enemy. "I'll protect you!" he shouted.
"Toro, get out of the way!" she yelled.
Toro disobeyed and rushed into battle. Suddenly, the Carbon Copy Man became an exact duplicate of Toro and met the boys flame with his own. Then, lunging forward with surprising speed, the mimicking creature struck Toro with Amazon-like strength, equal to Wonder Woman's own. Although the blow was not a clean one, it was enough to put Toro down. Wonder Woman pulled him clear of the robot.
Bucky charged in, not exactly sure what he was going to do. Surprisingly, the Carbon Copy Man suddenly turned and left for no clear reason.
While all this was happening, the Gambler took the opportunity to slip out, unnoticed. He leaped out a back window.
Outside, he ran into another unexpected visitor . . . The Grandmaster! The Universal Elder was covertly watching his handiwork. He looked at the Gambler with amusement. "Hello, Gambler. I am the Grandmaster. Do you know something, mortal? I like your style. A man pledged to the gaming table. I think you're a being I can get along with. We should talk. Come to my ship."
The Gambler was too stunned to refuse and suddenly found himself being transported off the planet Earth.
The Carbon Copy Man returned to the Answer. The traitor smiled. "Successful test," he said. "Just a few little adjustments, and it'll be time to finish off the Justice Society permanently!"
Back at the JSA mansion . . .
Captain America returned to the mansion, and found no one around. He was immediately concerned. Soon, however, a group of his partners returned. Namor and Toro limped in weakly, followed by Wonder Woman and the Star-Spangled Kid.
"What happened?" Cap asked, taking charge and looking for a quick summation of events so he could plan a response. He heard all about the mystery creature. They didn't know why it retreated, but common sense told Cap that they needed to be ready in case it returned. He activated the emergency summons, which would bring the rest of the JSA.
"I am concerned about Fury!" Wonder Woman said.
"We'll find her," Cap said. "Wait until the others get here. Then the JSA will act as a team!"
Human Torch was the first one to return and was filled in on all this. He listened, with a worried look on his artificially created face. The creature Cap described sounded like another mechanoid.
The Torch had an idea. He had been wanting to see his fellow Horton-created Androids - the Creature Commandos - in action since they began their retraining with Michael Jupiter, the Hurricane. And the JSA was not at 100% with Namor and Toro hurt, with the Flash on hiatus and with the Hulk gone. Maybe this would be a good time for the Commando's trial-by-fire.
"Cap, listen," the Torch said. "I'll be right back. I'm gonna go get us some extra firepower."
"What do you mean?"
"Trust me."
Cap nodded. "Hurry back."
The Torch nodded and raced off. Cap planned strategy while he waited for the others to arrive.
Sentinel knew he was letting his obsession get the better of him, but common sense couldn't deter him from going after the object of his fantasies. He heard the JSA emergency beacon but he ignored it. The Sentinel had gotten a message on Wonder Woman's specific frequency, but it was done in short spurts. The Sentinel realized that it was Morse code. The message was from the Harlequin, inviting him to a meeting.
He found her on a rooftop, just where she said she'd be. To his surprise, Wonder Woman's young trainee, Fury, stood by her side. It was an easy guess that she had taken Wonder Woman's emergency alarm beacon, and then fallen under Harlequin's spell, much as he himself had done.
The Harlequin was taking no chances. As soon as the Sentinel descended toward the roof, she looked at her unwilling slave. "Protect me!" Harlequin commanded.
With blind obedience, Fury obeyed and stood defensively in front of Harlequin. The Sentinel descended to the roof. He tried to ignore the fact that his heart beat faster at the sight of the Harlequin.
"Hi, handsome," the Harlequin said. "Looking for love?"
"I know who you are, Molly," Sentinel said.
"Ooooo, someone's getting to be a smarty-pants," Harlequin said. "The milk and cookies keeping you awake at nights?"
I can help you, Molly," Sentinel said. "Let the girl go and come with me."
"Where, to your bedroom?" Harlequin said. "Listen stud, you don't really wanna talk. Tell the truth. If you're good, I'll command the blonde bimbo here join us in a threesome . . . "
"Molly, listen -- "
"No! You listen!" Harlequin shouted. "I called you here for a reason. I'm calling the shots here. You just listen, otherwise, I'll have my little slave here kill herself."
Sentinel had no option but to agree. "You win."
Flash ended his hiatus. Joan was disappointed, but after three months, she couldn't expect him to give up the super-hero gig forever. And if he did, he wouldn't be the man she fell in love with. So she reluctantly gave him her blessing and watched as he donned his helmet and raced off to answer the emergency beacon.
In no time, he arrived at the mansion. He was thinking how good it would be to see his friends again. Then he heard a noise. He knew the sound of battle when he heard it. There was definitely trouble. Some things never change, he thought, and raced inside.
Once inside, he was stunned. He saw Captain America, Black Canary, Star-Spangled Kid, Namor, Toro, Dr. Mid-Nite, and Wonder Woman, along with Plastic Man and Starman all laying unconscious on the rubble-covered floor. Standing over them was a creature that looked like an amalgam of photographs of the team. He was a fearsome potpourri of JSA dopplegangers combine into a single ogre. The creature looked at the Flash, while instantly duplicating his speed powers.
"You . . . must . . . be . . . destroyed!" it said. "The Justice Society must be destroyed!"
Concluded in Justice Society of America Annual #3! All of your questions will be answered! Can the JSA survive the onslaught of a creature that has all their powers? What does the Harlequin want with the Sentinel? Will Thomas Halloway cure himself of the curse of the Hulk? And finally . . . the identity of the traitorous Answer is revealed!
Then, come here for the beginning of the Chinese Connection in All-Star Comics #7!