The planet Rann, billions of miles from Earth . . .
The citizens scattered as the laser blast struck the city square. The invader's ship was equipped with many weapons, any of which could devastate the Rannian capital city. The Rannians were technologically very advanced, but they were also very peaceful. They had few weapons and fewer defenses. They knew they were no match for the hostile aliens which had taken up orbit around the planet. Only one small enemy ship had landed, to give an ultimatum to the leaders of Rann. Their demands were clear and non-negotiable--Surrender or be destroyed! The invaders wanted the resources of this world to use in their war against some mysterious enemy, and they wouldn't take no for an answer. The leader of the Rannian government, DeGratt G'Karr, wouldn't meet their demands. The furious alien warlord Lynx gave them until dawn over the capital to change their minds. He returned to his ship and left, firing a menacing lazar blast into the city square as a reminder of his power. Now, DeGratt G'Karr had an impossible choice to make . . . Submit to alien domination or refuse and doom his civilization to death! He couldn't see any other option. No one on Rann had the power to fight these creatures! No savior was going to just appear out of the air.
Not far from the Rannian capital city, in a secluded, swampy area, ten heroes appeared out of thin air.
The members of the Justice Society stood momentarily confused. They looked around at the strange landscape.
"Not again!" sighed Wildcat. "It was just a couple of months ago that we got transported to some weird world! We're not back in fiction land, are we?"
"I don't believe so!" said Dr. Mid-Nite.
Their leader Captain America knew it was time to take charge and get everyone focused. "Front and center, everyone! Are we all here?"
They looked around. Everyone seemed to be there. Aside from Cap, Dr. Mid-Nite and Wildcat, there was the Black Canary, the Human Torch, Wonder Woman, the Sub-Mariner, the Sentinel, the Flash and Dr. Fate. All present and accounted for.
"Good!" the Captain said. "First order of business is to find out where we are, and secondly, how we got here."
"The last thing I remember is that black cloud coming at us," added Black Canary.
The impassive Dr. Fate spoke. "I cannot yet tell where we are, Captain, but as to how we came to be here, I believe I can partly shed some light on the matter."
"Go on," Captain America said.
"When we were in Opal City, and I saw the black cloud that was about to engulf us, I knew that it was a thing of dark, evil power. The power of the Nemesis Statue," Fate said. "We would certainly have met with an unpleasant fate had it swallowed us. There was no time to warn the rest of you. I had to act immediately to save us. I cast A quick spell to transport us away."
"Away to where?" Flash asked.
"I had only meant to transport us a short distance. A mile or so, to give us time to prepare to battle the power of the statue," Fate explained.
"What went wrong?" Sentinel asked.
Fate continued. "Something . . . Grabbed us! An unfamiliar force gripped our atoms as we traversed the normal borders of space and time. Whatever it was, it latched on to us in mid journey and transported us here."
"Wherever here is," Flash added.
Cap nodded, taking in the information. He continued to give orders, knowing that hesitation would be mistaken for indecision, and he couldn't let his team think he wasn't confident and in control. "Can you transport us back?"
"Not until I know our position relative to Earth," Fate said. "Even in the astral plane, I need a frame of reference."
"All right," Cap began. "Fate, you and Sentinel use your powers to try and ascertain our location. Flash, do a recon. Namor, there's a lot of water around. Go refresh yourself in case you don't get a chance again. And while you're down there, see if you can communicate with the indigenous sea life. Torch, take to the air and see if you can spot something. If you see anything, don't approach it or try to communicate. Just come back and report to me what you see. Move out!"
Flash, Namor, and the Torch dispersed. Fate and Sentinel began to scan the area.
"I have a bad premonition about this situation, Captain," Wonder Woman said.
"You may be right," Cap said. "I wouldn't be surprised."
Back on Earth, in Opal City, the Society of Substitute Heroes was roughing up the underworld in an attempt to find the mysterious foreign agent who had purchased the Nemesis Statue and who was probably responsible for the disappearance of the Justice Society of America.
The enigmatic villain known as the Shade had given the substitute heroes some information about the power and history of the Nemesis Statue. He also put them on the trail of the man who had bought it from the Opal underworld. However, it was the Shade's opinion that the JSA were already dead. He didn't believe that even they could survive a brush with the Nemesis Statue. The substitute heroes didn't subscribe to this belief. They were convinced that their fellow adventurers were alive somewhere, and the man with the Nemesis Statue was the only way to find them.
Although Hawkman was the official leader of the Society of Substitute heroes, he conceded authority to Starman on this occasion. Opal was Starman's home territory and he knew best who's butt to kick to get results. Hawkwoman, Atom, Star-Spangled-Kid, Stripsey, and Johnny Thunder all followed Starman's lead.
After hours of futile questioning, they finally got a lead from the criminal known as Angle Man. (So named because he knows all the angles and is an expert in playing the game.) The heroes flew off toward the clock tower, where a foreigner in a ‘red skull mask' is hiding on the storage floor, just below the clock. He had arranged, though Angle Man, passage on a boat to Europe. He would be leaving soon and they had to get there quickly and catch him before he leaves.
What they didn't know was that the Nemesis Statue was able to sense their approach from blocks away. The man in question, the man in the red skull mask, was ready for them. He had eliminated the main JSA team, and now he'd destroy the reserves!
Flash reported back to Captain America. "There's a city about five miles to the northwest. Heavily populated. There seems to be some kind of commotion going on but I couldn't understand their language. There's also a huge, smoking crater in the city square. It seems to be the center of the commotion."
"A meteor?" Black Canary asked.
Flash shrugged.
The Human Torch landed. "There seems to be a -- "
"A city five miles from here?" Wildcat interrupted.
The Human Torch looked sad. "I guess I wasn't very useful."
Black Canary threw an angry glance at Wildcat and then took the Torch by the arm.
"You did fine," she said. "You were much more useful then I was. All I did was stand around and look pretty. No one sets the world on fire every minute. No pun intended. Cheer up. You're doing fine."
The Human Torch smiled. Dr. Mid-Nite watched this with some amusement. The Torch's schoolboy crush on the Canary was rather touching. Dr. Mid-Nite knew that the Canary didn't feel the same way. She felt more sisterly. One day soon, the Torch would get his first lesson in the heartbreak of life.
Namor returned. "I have communicated with the local aquatic life, Captain. They seem to have no fear of the land dwellers, as the marine life on Earth does. This would indicate that they do not fish or eat the sea creatures of this planet."
"Taking it a logical step further," Dr. Mid-Nite. "They're probably not predatory. They may be a very peaceful people."
Dr. Fate and the Sentinel finished their task. "Judging by the position of the stars," Sentinel said. "We're no longer in our native solar system. We may not even be in the same galaxy. The configuration is totally unfamiliar."
"I still have no frame of reference to return us home," Fate said.
"If the population of that city is truly peaceful," Wonder Woman said. "Then perhaps we can ask their help."
"Maybe," Flash suggested. "Their astrologers can help us locate out own universe. If they have astrologers, that is."
"Good call," Captain America said. "We should start now. It looks like night is falling."
The JSA members made their way on foot, so as not to cause any alarm among the locals. But as they neared the city, they saw several small ships swooping down toward their destination. To their surprise, the ships started firing on the city. Screams and explosions came from within the city.
Hippolyta began to charge forward. "There is a battle commencing! Let us . . . "
"Wait!" Sentinel cried. "We don't know what the situation is! We can't take sides without full information!"
"I agree with ring man," Wildcat said. "This isn't our fight."
"Peaceful people are being attacked!" Wonder Woman said.
"We don't know that they're peaceful!" Wildcat said. "We just think they are."
"Then how come they're not fighting back?" Flash asked.
"It does seem that they're defenseless," Dr. Mid-Nite said.
"They're being slaughtered!" said Black Canary.
"Yes!" Namor snapped. "And such an act is dishonorable! We must intervene!"
"I sense no hostility or aggression in the indigenous population," Dr. Fate said. "All indications are that they are defenseless."
"And we, as warriors, should defend the defenseless!" Hippolyta stated.
"I . . . I agree," said the Human Torch. "We should help."
Cap took a few seconds to make his decision. "Right! We act! We can hopefully apologize later if we need to. Everyone, break and attack!"
The JSA sprang into action. The locals were running in panic and didn't notice the arriving Earthmen at first. But the JSA made their presence felt very quickly!
The Sentinel struck first, blasting a ship with his power ring. He underestimated the resilience of the space craft. It was damaged but survived the attack. It turned and fired at him. He created a force field. He was surprised by the power of the ship. His shield almost collapsed. The alien ship flew past him and came around for another run. This time he unleashed the full power of his ring. This time, he crippled the ship and it crashed.
Another ship spotted Dr. Fate floating in the air and homed in on him. Dr. Fate cast a spell that altered the laws of time and physics around the ship. The alien's personal time-stream slowed. Suddenly, the ship was moving so slowly it appeared to be stationary. Then Fate shrunk the ship down to less than an inch in size. It now appeared to be a speck hovering in the air.
Prince Namor flew up and rammed one of the ships. It was tougher than he thought and he rebounded off, crashing to the ground. Wonder Woman ran to him. "Are you hurt, Namor?"
Namor was embarrassed that Hippolyta had seen him like this. "I am not hurt!" he growled. "I am angry!"
He launched himself again, and this time grabbed the ship as it zoomed by. It dragged him along. He started to pound on it. Hippolyta lassoed the same ship, and she too got dragged along. She pulled herself up and joined Namor in pounding on the craft. They did enough damage to force the ship to crash.
In the center of the city square, a squad of the aliens appeared, having been transported down from the mother ship. They were large green, reptilian creatures with pointed ears.
"Stop this resistance!" one of them said, using his translator to make himself understood. "You cannot win! You must surrender to the Skrull empire!"
Before the Skrull could say another word, the Flash rammed into the group, toppling them like tenpins. The Flash unfortunately underestimated their resiliency. As he ran off to rescue some of the locals, the Skrulls recovered and started to rise. Captain America's shield struck, ricocheting from one to the other, until one of them suddenly changed form. He transformed into a four-legged, fanged, clawed beast. The shield flew over it's head. As the shield started to make it's return trip back to Cap, the Skrull/beast was also charging the star-spangled-hero. It looked like the Skrull would reach Cap first and rend him to pieces. But Dr. Mid-Nite was close by. He hurled a smoke bomb that blinded the Skrull. It took the Skrull a few seconds to change it's eyes into those of a nocturnal creature, and in those seconds, Cap caught his shield. The Skrull lunged at Cap again, but now he was able to defend himself. The Flash returned battered the creature with a thousand blows per second. The Skrull collapsed.
"They're metamorphs!" Dr. Mid-Nite yelled. "They can change form at will!"
Close by, Wildcat charged one of the Skrulls who was just recovering from the Flash's attack. He punched it in the face as hard as he could. The Skrull barely seemed to feel it.
"You're as tough as you are ugly!" Wildcat said. "But I love a challenge!"
Wildcat struck again, with no better results. The Skrull back-hand slapped him away. The Black Canary joined him, and they started to do some damage to the Skrull, when it changed form. It turned into a huge, tentacled creature. It grabbed Wildcat and the Canary, squeezing them.
"Holy mackerel!" Wildcat cried.
"A little help here!" the Canary yelled.
A burst of flame from the Human Torch incinerated the Skrull. The Canary gave him an encouraging wave. The Torch smiled.
Doctor Fate, Namor, Wonder Woman and the Sentinel finished off the last of the ships, while the Flash and the Torch routed the ground troops. The Skrulls all beamed back up to the mother ship. The locals gave a rousing cheer when the invaders fled. The JSA didn't take any time to soak in the adulation. They began rescue efforts, assisted by the Rannians.
Soon, after the wounded were being taken care of, the Rannian leader, DeGratt G'Karr, introduced himself to the new arrivals. After greetings had been exchanged, via a spell of translation cast by Dr. Fate, DeGratt explained that the Skrulls wanted to ravage their planet for it's natural resources.
"We are eternally in your debt! Thank the Gods that you arrived. Where are you from?" DeGratt asked. "How do you come to be here?"
"We're from a planet called Earth," Captain America said. "But we're not sure how we came to be here. We were transporting across the face of our planet and something pulled us here."
"Ah!" DeGratt exclaimed. "That would be the Zeta-Beam. It's an experiment we are trying. Instead of traveling across space in ships, we use the Zeta-Beam to either transport ourselves or to bring alien artifacts here for study. You must have gotten caught in one. But don't worry. When the effect of the beam wears off, you'll be instantly returned to the spot you left from. You'll be back on your Earth."
"Fan-friggin-tastic!" Wildcat yelled. "How long does this Zeta-thingy last?"
"About a solar day."
"We've been here for several hours. It can't be that long before we vanish," Sentinel said.
"Uh, Governor G'Karr, do you mind if I have a word alone with my partners?" Flash asked.
"Certainly, certainly," DeGratt said. "Anything for our saviors."
DeGratt left the room. Flash addressed his teammates.
"Listen guys and gals," he began. "The Rannians are too inexperienced with these types of villains to think of this, but the Skrulls aren't going to give up so easily!"
"You're right," Sentinel said. "They'll be back."
"And we'll be gone in a few hours!" Black Canary said.
"The Rannians will be defenseless again!" Hippolyta added.
"Maybe we can do something to extend the effects of the Zeta-Beam," Flash said.
"Hey, aren't you forgetting something?" Wildcat said. "We've got a war going on at home! Every hour we're away is another hour that Hitler's superthugs like Icicle and that Black Lama guy can do a whole lot of damage! Who know's what's happened in the day we've been gone!"
"Wildcat is right," Sentinel said. "The Spectre said that we are necessary to the war effort. Our absence could cause the allied forces to lose the war! We have to get back immediately!"
"But we can't abandon the Rannians now!" Flash said. "We gave the Skrulls a bloody nose and they'll be back in a real bad mood! They'll level this planet. This race is facing genocide and it will be partly our fault!"
"I agree with the Flash!" Wonder Woman said.
"It's up to you, Cap," Dr. Mid-Nite said. "We'll abide by your decision."
Cap thought for a minute. "If we've only got a few hours, then we have to get the Skrulls to attack immediately. Before we disappear. Sentinel, I have something to ask of you that will be very dangerous.
Sentinel flew out of the stratosphere. He spied the alien mother ship. It was huge, about a mile long. Captain America wanted the Sentinel to engage the mother ship in battle, and hopefully antagonize the Skrulls enough to make them follow the Sentinel down to the planet immediately, so the JSA could meet them in combat before they disappeared. A crazy plan, but it really was the only thing they could do. If they were going to help the Rannians, they had to do it now, and so the Skrull attack had to come now. And the Sentinel had to instigate it.
And so his attack began. He fired on the mother ship. He truly felt like David against Goliath. Except in this case, David's sling shot wasn't fatal on the first shot. Or the second. The Sentinel had never unleashed the full, unfettered force of his power ring before, for fear of doing lethal damage. But now he was afraid that the ring wasn't powerful enough. He was damaging the alien ship, but it was far from being destroyed. They started to fire back at him. Even with his force field up, the pain of the ships lasers was excruciating. He knew the force field wouldn't hold for much longer, so he guessed it was time to retreat back to Rann, and hope that the aliens would follow him.
But the Sentinel had never experienced a tractor beam before. When he was caught in it, he was confused. It held him tightly. The pressure on his shield was increasing and the end looked inevitable!
If not for the arrival of the powerful stranger.
The shining being streaked through space on something that looked like a surfboard. He was known as the Silver Surfer, and it was his duty to find worlds filled with life to feed the hunger of his world-devouring master. His master, the all-powerful space God who was at the top of the universe's food chain. The Silver Surfer was his scout, his herald. He had led his master to many a world, many a feast. And now, he had found Rann!
He was about to summon his master to this latest world, despite the presence of the Skrull craft. It didn't matter who inhabited this world - the Skrulls or anyone else - they would still make a sufficient meal for the master.
But before he could send out the cosmic summons, he saw the Sentinel appear and engage the Skrulls in battle. The Silver Surfer was curious about this being, this small creature who dared to challenge the mighty Skrull empire. The Surfer had never yet seen the Skrulls defeated, and it didn't appear that they would be defeated now. Still, this man was intriguing. One man fighting a Skrull mother ship.
The Silver Surfer wished there had been some like this man on his home world of Zenn-La. Like this man, the Surfer had been the sole being who could save his world. The Surfer succeeded, but at the cost of his soul, his freedom. Would this being meet a better fate? Or was he about to die?
Something suddenly overcame the Silver Surfer. He was overwhelmed with the desire to see this man win. And so he did something he never did before . . . He defied his master's will, and put the life of another being ahead of his master's hunger.
When the Silver Surfer unleashed the Power Cosmic, it was an unbelievable sight. It was indescribable. He battered the Skrull mother ship with waves of energy that devastated the already damaged vessel. Inside the ship, Lynx recognized the legendary Silver Surfer and knew that his ship was no match for the herald of the space god. If they stayed much longer, the ship would be destroyed. Lynx sounded the retreat and the mighty Skrull empire bid a hasty withdrawal from Rann.
The Sentinel was free of the tractor beam. He watched the badly damaged Skrull ship move away as fast as it was still able. He moved closer to the silver being who had saved him and saved Rann.
"Thank you," Sentinel said. "I'm in your debt."
"No, my friend," Silver Surfer replied. "Thank you. For reminding me that hope still exists in the universe."
"Who are you?"
"A wanderer," Silver Surfer said. "I once had a home. Now, all I have are the stars. Goodbye, noble hero."
Before Sentinel could say another word, the Silver Surfer had sped away at nearly the speed of light. Inwardly, the Silver Surfer vowed not to lead the master to Rann. This good deed will stand untarnished in his mind . . . Rann will live!
Sentinel was thinking the same thing as he headed back to the planet. Rann would live and the JSA could leave without guilt or shame. Suddenly, the Sentinel started to vanish. The Zeta-Beam must be wearing off. The JSA would now be going home!
The man known as the Red Skull was ready for the Society of Substitute Heroes. As they arrived at the clock tower, he sent out the same black cloud to engulf them as he had sent after the main JSA team.
But the heroes were no fools. They knew that a black cloud had swallowed up their peers, and the Shade had told them about the power of the Nemesis Statue - so they were ready for it. And just as the Red Skull had a statue that could grant him wishes, the American heroes had something similar . . . The Thunderbolt! Johnny Thunder had his Thunderbolt create a defense, a bright glowing orb which swallowed the black Nemesis cloud. The Thunderbolt strained to keep the cloud under control. The rest of the JSA reserve force headed for the clock tower building. The Skull was angry for a moment that he wasn't able to quickly dispose of these annoying Americans, but then he cheered himself up by thinking of how much fun it will be to destroy them slowly. That pink magic thing - the Thunderbolt he believed it was called - was tied up with the cloud. But the Nemesis Statue still had some power left. Not enough to make another black cloud, but enough to create some lethal bodyguards. At his whim, the gargoyles that decorated the building suddenly came to life and attacked the heroes. Hawkman, Hawkwoman, Atom, SSK and Stripsey all engaged the gargoyles in battle. Starman blasted his way through and reached the room where the Red Skull was hiding. Unfortunately, he ran into an invisible force field. He bounced off and was flung out the window of the tower. Unconscious, he almost fell to his death. But he was caught by an energy beam shaped like a human hand - This was Sentinel! The main JSA team had returned.
Sentinel, Namor, the Torch and Wonder Woman easily disposed of the gargoyles, while Dr. Fate helped the Thunderbolt dissipate the dark cloud. The Flash carried Captain America up to the room where the Skull was. Having seen what happened to Starman, the Flash decided to enter by vibrating them in through the far wall.
The Nemesis Statue warned the Skull that the Flash and Cap were coming, but the Flash moved so quickly that he never got the chance to react. The Flash snapped Cap around, sending Cap lunging forward. With gymnastic grace, Cap flipped in the air and drop kicked the Red Skull. He stood over the Skull, waiting for his next move, while the Flash blocked his access to the statue.
"It's over!" Captain America said.
"It is, for now," the Skull said with a laugh. The Skull had previously commanded the Nemesis Statue to transport him and the Statue away if danger threatened. The Skull couldn't understand why that Black Llama cretin had insisted that he not transport back to Germany to begin with. It would have been much easier to just will the statue to send them instantly back to Germany. But he respected the Fuhrer's wish to follow the Llama's instructions. So he made arrangements to get home by boat. But now that he was caught, he figured that the Fuhrer would forgive him transporting home under the circumstances.
Suddenly, he realized that he had made a mistake. As the statue started to transport him, he screamed . . . It felt like his soul was being ripped apart. Now he knew why he was told not to transport with the statue. No human could bear this! He was drawn inside the statue, sucked into it. The way the statue transported a person was by absorbing the person inside itself, making him a passenger inside the statue. The statue started to disappear. Fortunately, Dr. Fate arrived and used his own power to give an alternate command to the Nemesis Statue.
"Where'd it go?" Flash asked.
"I changed the statue's instructions," Dr. Fate. "I commanded it not to go to Germany, but rather to Limbo. The statue will drift in limbo forever and the Nazi who dared to try and control it will remain trapped in it eternally."
Outside, Starman had recovered and was thanking Sentinel for the close save. "Glad you guys are back," Starman said.
"Good to be back," Sentinel said. "Although our trip was rather fortuitous for a certain group of people. And I met the most interesting man. A silver man who travels throughout the stars on a surfboard."
"You're joking!"
"I'm not," Sentinel said. "It seems that heroes are everywhere."
Next: A visit from the CORPS in Justice Society of America Annual #1, and then meet Namor's brother, Aquaman, in Justice Society of America #7!