It was a party of kings. The wealthy and the powerful were there. The most prominent businessmen in New York, and many from other states and even other countries had come to feast on the best food money could buy. No one who wasn't extremely rich could set foot into this luxurious rented hall on this night.
Except the wait staff. And that was the loophole that the Psycho Pirate needed. He had used his emotion controlling power on one of the waiters. The poor fellow was still laughing uncontrollably when the Psycho Pirate left him. No doubt someone would drag him away to the funny farm eventually. In the meantime, the Psycho Pirate had the use of his waiter outfit. The Pirate hid his own gaudy costume and slipped into the party as a waiter.
He cruised through the party guests, carrying a tray of finger sandwiches he'd found on a table. He asked people if they'd like one and then continued to stroll along. Who should it be? he wondered to himself. Who would be the perfect first target?
Nearby, Alan Scott had run into Wesley Dodds. The two of them had met before and taken a liking to each other. Wesley, who had excellent deductive skills, had figured out that Alan was the Sentinel. Scott, however, didn't have a clue that he was talking to the Sandman.
The Psycho Pirate spotted them. There was something different about those two. They weren't as deeply entrenched in that "to the manor born" mentality. They didn't seem to lust after the excesses of wealth as the others did. The Psycho Pirate sensed a nobility about them.
"They're the ones!" Psycho Pirate whispered, with a sinister grin.
He waited until they split up and then he made his move. He went after Alan Scott first. He had hidden his Medusa Mask under his uniform. Ducking into a corner, he put on the mask. He took it off and had an expression of pure anger and rage on his face. He stepped out of the shadows and came nose-to-nose with Alan. When the millionaire saw the Pirate's face, he froze, eyes locked on the hypnotic fury he was seeing.
"Doesn't it get you angry?" Psycho Pirate said. "All this gluttony and excess. All these vacuous people who have so much power and do nothing with it except spoil themselves. I can tell that you would never do that. You're noble. You like to help people. But not the rest of these fools. They're greedy and selfish. Don't you just hate them? Don't you just wish they'd die?"
Alan Scott was filled with a primal rage such as he'd never felt or even imagined. He felt total hate. He wanted to lash out! He wanted to kill! Alan clutched his head. It made a futile attempt to get control of himself and them ran out of the room. The Psycho Pirate smiled. Scott has a strong will. But he won't hold out for long. In a few minutes he won't be able to resist the urge to kill!
The Psycho Pirate looked around for Wesley Dodds but his wealthy target had apparently called it a night early. Too bad, the Pirate thought. I think he would have made a good subject. Oh well.
The Psycho Pirate looked around the room. No one else looked even remotely interesting. So shallow. They'd hardly make a good meal for a man who lives on deep emotions. The Pirate decided to seek out better prey. But before he left, there was one thing he needed to do . . . start a riot!
A planet in a distant solar system . . .
The battle was furious and devastating to the landscape. The power held by each of the combatants was incredible. Together, their power was unbelievable! And they weren't holding back. These three beings had the power of gods and the rage of the devil!
One of the fighters was the Asgardian god called the mighty Thor. He had come to this planet to rid the Earth of a monstrous terror.
The second was a mutated gray monster called the rampaging Hulk. He was a beast of pure, primal rage. Thor brought him there against his will, and he was not happy about it.
The final combatant was the space faring, cosmic powered being known as the Silver Surfer. He was the herald of a mysterious higher power who had designs on this planet. When he found Thor and the Hulk wrecking the place, he set fourth to eliminate them.
"Leave this planet at once!" Silver Surfer ordered.
"I say thee nay!" Thor replied defiantly. "Never shall the mighty Thor flee from the field of battle! I didst come here to settle matters between myself and the monster known as the Hulk. I shall not depart until honor has been satisfied! This planet doth be uninhabited, thus thou hast no authority to order a god to depart."
The rampaging Hulk merely roared a savage roar, warning the others of his fury and impending attack.
"If you will not leave of your own accord, I will compel you to do so!"
The Surfer unleashed another powerful cosmic blast. The blast was of such magnitude that it hurt even the Hulk and Thor. It sent the two powerful beings hurtling backwards through the air, like rag dolls in a windstorm. Thor used the power of his hammer to steady himself and get to the ground. The Hulk was not so lucky. He disappeared over the horizon, roaring all the way.
"Thou art powerful indeed, Silver Surfer!" Thor said. "But I am the god of thunder and storms! I am the scion of Asgard, son of almighty Odin! I shall not be defeated!"
Thor resumed his attack against the Surfer. The Surfer let loose more cosmic energy. Thor had rarely, if ever, felt anything like it. It burned into him like the fire of a sun and threw him around as if he were a child. If he was to survive this encounter, he'd need to develop a new strategy! Still, Thor was a warrior born. He had been fighting foes of all types for millennia. He was trained to think of ways to defeat an enemy! He was confident that sooner or later he'd come up with a way to defeat even the Silver Surfer.
Alan Scott felt like he was going mad! He was filled with an uncontrollable fury he couldn't understand or control. All he knew was that he had a hateful rage directed at the rich people who he just left. He was mad enough to kill! He wished they were dead!
And why shouldn't I? he mused. Why not kill them? They don't deserve to live! Overcome by his wrath, Alan Scott donned the identity of the Sentinel. Taking to the air, he returned to the party. He burst into the window, intent on killing each and every one of those fools. But by the time he got back, the place was already in the midst of a riot. The millionaires all seemed to have gone mad, attacking each other and wrecking the place. Sentinel decided that it would be a mercy to kill them now, so he left them to their fate. He took to the skies over New York, looking for someone else just like them, someone who he could vent his anger upon!
Dr. Mid-Nite was searching the streets for his prey. It was partly his fault that the man he knew as Patient Zero had escaped the custody of himself and Doc Savage. He was obliged to track the maniac down. He had used his street sources and followed up on rumors or reports that seemed to possibly connect to his emotion altering quarry, and so far had come up with nothing. But moments ago, he was talking to some policemen and heard about the party where all the rich attendees had gone insane. That had to be the work of the man he was after.
Alan Scott was supposed to attend that party. If he was affected by the power of the man with the Medusa Mask, he could be a huge danger to the world. Dr. Mid-Nite planned to return to his identity of Dr. Charles McNider, and look over the patients brought into the psychiatric clinic. If Alan Scott was not there, then he was still on the loose somewhere, under the spell of a force that drives men insane. He would need to be found quickly!
Thor was a god of storms. He realized that he could control the weather of this foreign world he was on. He brought fourth all the fury of skies and focused it on the Silver Surfer. But his enemy hardly seemed to feel it. What sort of being is this Silver Surfer? Thor wondered.
Thor debated leaving the alien world. After all, he had only come here to rid the Earth of the menace of the Hulk. And while it was true that Thor hadn't settled matters personally with the Hulk as he would have liked to do, he could still abandon the Hulk there and the Earth would not be threatened by the monster again. There was nothing else to be gained here.
Nay, I shall not flee! Thor thought. It went against everything that was inbred into his being. A warrior does not run from the field of battle. A warrior fights until the battle is over. It was a matter of pride now for Thor to find a way to defeat his silver foe.
The Surfer and Thor circled each other, taking a pause in the battle, preparing their next strike. Their eyes were focused on one another. Neither saw the incoming threat.
The huge gray figure of the Hulk came leaping into view, ramming into the silver form of the cosmic Surfer. The monster tackled the Surfer like a football player, knocking him off his flying board. They crashed to the ground, and the Hulk's entire massive weight came down on top of the Silver Surfer. While the Surfer was stunned, the Hulk attacked. His huge fists slammed repeatedly into the Surfer. Only the Surfer's silver protective coating kept him from being crushed by the awesome power of the Rampaging Hulk. The Surfer had never been hit so hard. This monster's strength seemed limitless, and he was only getting stronger as time went on. The Silver Surfer knew that he had to do something quickly or the beast would kill him.
More through survival instinct than through rational thought, the Surfer summoned his board. The board swooped through the air and headed toward its besieged master. The board hit the Hulk in the legs, throwing the monster off balance. As the Hulk tripped, the board slid under the Surfer and carried its master away from the powerful, gray brute.
Thor watched the Surfer sail away, still reeling from the Hulk's brutal attack. Thor knew that he couldn't let the cosmic being have the time he needed to recover. He threw his hammer, which knocked the weakened Surfer off of his board. The Surfer crashed to the ground as the hammer Mjolnir returned to it's master's hand. Thor quickly bore down on his silver adversary. The stunned Surfer tried to gather his wits and unleashed a cosmic blast. But his concentration was unfocused and the blast was a weak one. Thor blocked it with his hammer. Before the Surfer could muster the concentration to fire another, stronger blast, Thor leaped at him and struck a mighty blow with his hammer. The Surfer yelped with pain and staggered backwards. Thor hit him again, this time on the head, drilling the Surfer halfway into the ground. Thor raised his hammer for the final, lethal bow.
But the blow was never struck. Thor had forgotten about the rampaging gray brute he had come to this planet to fight. The Hulk struck Thor from behind. Thor was taken completely off guard. A powerful blow to the back of his head sent his thoughts spinning. And the monster did not let up. The Hulk pounded and pounded on the Asgardian, not allowing him the chance to counter-attack. Thor was rocked by awesomely powerful blows. His legs could barely hold him. The Hulk picked him up and slammed him into the ground, creating a crater. The Hulk stomped the Thunder God into unconsciousness.
The Hulk roared a triumphant roar, raising his fists into the air. But his celebration was short lived. The monster's simple mind had forgotten about the Silver Surfer. In the minutes it took for the Hulk to pummel Thor into oblivion, the Surfer had recovered. And he focused his concentration on his next massive attack. He took the Hulk by surprise, blasting the monster with the limitless force of the power cosmic. The Hulk roared in rage and pain, but stubbornly refused to fall. Despite the indescribable energy being used against him, the rampaging beast tried his best to get at his silver foe. He tried to make headway against the torrent of energy that engulfed him. He actually made some headway before the power of the Silver Surfer became too much for him. He began to feel weak and dizzy. His vision blurred. Everything went black. The Hulk finally fell to the fury of the power cosmic.
The Silver Surfer looked down at his two fallen opponents. This was the hardest fought battle he had ever been in. These beings were powerful. What should he do with them? Should he kill them? The Surfer raised his hand to deliver the finishing blow that would end the lives of the rampaging Hulk and the mighty Thor.
Flash sped through the streets of New York. Dr. Mid-Nite had warned him that the Sentinel might be under the spell of a psycho with a magic mask. Flash couldn't bring himself to believe that the Sentinel was capable of endangering innocent lives. Flash and Sentinel had become good friends since they first met years back, during that whole Martian mess. Sentinel was too good a man to be corrupted. Anyway, no one knows for sure if Alan Scott had even gone to the party. The Flash was convinced that Dr. Mid-Nite was jumping the gun a bit.
But he needed to check it out. In the back of his mind was the enigmatic warning from that Max Mercury guy, about how a full-time member of the JSA would one day betray the others. Could he be talking about Alan?
Flash heard the familiar sounds of battle. He raced to the scene. When he got to the site of the commotion, he was stunned. There was his good friend Alan Scott, the Sentinel, destroying an exclusive nightclub. He was tearing the place apart, throwing the patrons around.
"You're all scum!" Sentinel yelled. "You are all selfish, greedy, self-obsessed, stuck-up slime who never do anything good with all the money and power you have! You all deserve to die!"
Flash's jaw dropped. "Oh my . . . This is not good!" He activated his JSA emergency signal.
The Sentinel created a big, green mallet out of the energy of his ring. The huge mallet hovered above one of the rich diners. "You deserve to die!" The Sentinel said, bringing the hammer down toward the head of the terrified man.
Flash swiftly yanked the man out of the way, then made his presence known to the Sentinel. "Stop this! Sentinel it's me! Your buddy, the Flash. Don't do this!"
"Get out of the way, Flash!" Sentinel hissed. "These scum deserve to die!"
"Sentinel, listen to me! You're under a magic spell. Dr. Mid-Nite told me . . . "
"Shut up and get out of my way!!" Sentinel shouted with rage.
"Can't do it, pal."
"Then I'll make you!" Sentinel replied.
He tried to blast the Flash with energy from his ring. But the Flash was gone before he could raise his arm. The Sentinel surrounded himself with a force field. "Where are you, Flash? Come out and face me!"
Flash popped in and out of view, making a few token efforts to pierce the Sentinel's energy shield. Sentinel just got angrier and angrier. "It's no good, Flash! He can't get through my force field. No one can! You can't hurt me! Just run away before I hurt you!"
Flash realized that sound pierced the Sentinel's shield. He waited until all the innocents had run out of the club, and then used his speed to make a powerful sonic boom!
Sentinel screamed and covered his ears. The attack broke his concentration, and his force field dropped. It only fazed out for one millisecond, but that was more than enough time for the Flash to pierce the field and strike the Sentinel with a blow powerful enough to knock him unconscious, but placed just right as to do no permanent damage to his friend. Sentinel fell.
"Whew!" Flash sighed, glad that it was all over so quickly and no one was hurt. He leaned over to pick up the limp form of the Sentinel, but suddenly green energy started to flow from the ring. Flash leaped back before the energy could engulf him. He wondered what was going on. Alan was unconscious. How could the ring still be active?
It must be something subconscious! Flash thought. Since this magic spell or whatever it is, breaks down a person's inhibitions and lets his emotions take over, that must include his subconscious emotions! Now that he's unconscious, the thoughts and feelings of his subconscious have been unleashed by the power of this magic mask!
The green energy of the Starheart continued to leak out of the ring, forming a large mass. The Flash tried to get the ring off of Sentinel's finger but he couldn't touch it, due to the energy that was being released. The Starheart energy rose to six feet high and began to take form. The form of a man. It looked identical to the Sentinel, except green. The energy-being looked at Flash.
"You are a traitor!" the Sentinel energy form said, still raging with fury. "I will destroy you!"
It unleashed a blast at the Flash. He evaded it. He kept moving, hoping to devise a new plan of attack. This energy being didn't have human eardrums, it was made of energy, so the sonic boom attack wouldn't work. He had to find a way to stop this thing. It was powerful enough to ravage the whole country if it wasn't subdued.
Dr. Mid-Nite heard the JSA emergency signal and was rushing to the point of its origin. En route, he saw a bus full of people, all laughing hysterically. A street vendor was standing nearby, looking over the chaos.
Dr. Mid-Nite ran over to him. "Did you see what caused this?" he asked.
"A guy in a weird red and black costume, with a yellow mask. He ran that way!" the man said, pointing.
"Thank you. Please call the police to take care of these poor people. I have to find the author of this carnage!"
Dr. Mid-Nite ran in the direction that the vendor had pointed.
The Silver Surfer was about to slay his defeated foes. But something stopped him. There was something noble about this Thor. And the Hulk seemed more like a wayward child than an evil being. He was loath to kill them. But he couldn't leave them here. The last battle had destroyed miles of the planet that his master planned to feed on. The Surfer couldn't allow them to destroy any more. The master would be furious enough as it is. If there was another battle and they ruined more of the landscape, the master would punish everyone! The Silver Surfer stood debating his options.
And all of a sudden, he was not alone on the planet. Near him stood a man-like form that did not feel like a man to the Surfer's cosmic senses. This newcomer was something very unusual. He was ghostly white, except for his green cloak and hood.
The Surfer raised his hand defensively, pointing at the newcomer, preparing to strike if necessary. "Who are you?"
"I am known as the Spectre," the other being said, with a voice of authority. "I am not your enemy, Silver Surfer. I have come to help you."
"To help me? How?"
"To remove the temptation that threatens to engulf you," the Spectre said. "If you do as you feel your master would demand, you will slay these two warriors, each of whom is important in the grand scheme of things. Aside from the damage you would do to the forces of light and justice, the guilt of killing two unconscious, worthy foes would eat at your already tortured soul. You have much in your past that torments you, Norrin Radd."
The Surfer looked surprised at the mention of his real name.
"Yes, I know who you are. Norrin Radd of the planet Zenn-La. It was your noble sacrifice that led you to a life that consumes you with guilt and pain. You are teetering on the edge of the abyss, Norrin Radd. You could one day be a great force for good or a deadly foe to all that lives. One day, you will make that decision. But for now, I remove one more burden from your troubled brow. I will remove these two from your sight. I wish you well, Norrin Radd. Your lot is not an easy one. But I have faith that you will one day make the correct decision. You have the strength within you. And when the time comes, I hope you realize it too. Farewell, Silver Surfer. I bid you peace."
The Spectre vanished, taking Thor and the Hulk along with him. The Silver Surfer was left alone, as always. He was left with much to think about.
Flash was battling the Sentinel's subconscious energy form, which lashed out with uninhibited fury. Flash had managed to evade all attacks so far, but was having trouble forming a counter attack. Help arrived none too soon. Captain America, Wonder Woman, Sub-Mariner, Human Torch, Black Canary, and the Star-Spangled Kid arrived. The three who couldn't fly were squeezed onto the Black Canary's motorcycle, which was carried by Prince Namor.
Cap leaped down to the ground. Flash ran to his side. "What's the situation?" Cap asked.
Flash quickly explained about the Medusa mask and how the ring had created an energy duplicate of the Sentinel, driven by his subconscious.
"I see," Cap said. "Our first priority is to protect innocent bystanders. We have to take him down. Hopefully without hurting him, but regardless, we need to stop him quickly. Flash, do what you can to distract and confuse him, break his concentration. Wonder Woman, you hit him from the front. The rest of you, break and attack!"
The JSA members split up. Flash whizzed around, trying to attract the Energy-Sentinel's attention. He tossed some debris at his opponent. By vibrating through the debris, he turned it into little accelerated particle bombs. When the debris struck the Energy-Sentinel, they exploded. The Energy being was hurt, his form going out of focus for a moment and then reconstituting itself. Wonder Woman charged it. It threw balls of energy at her, but she blocked them with her bracelets. The Energy-Sentinel used a wider blast to knock her away. Namor tried to grab to from behind, but found the energy form too hot to hold. The Torch hit it with flame, but the attack did little good. The Black Canary and the Star-Spangled Kid were easily knocked away. Cap's shield was deflected by an energy burst.
"You can't stop me!" Energy-Sentinel yelled. "I will kill you all!"
Dr. Mid-Nite searched the area for his quarry. He had to be nearby. The mind-altering psychotic made it easy to trace him. He left a trail of victims. Each one laughing, screaming or otherwise being overcome by their emotions. Then Dr. Mid-Nite spotted something. Something moving in the distance. A red and black costume with a cape.
The Psycho Pirate stood on the hood of a parked car and looked up at the city.
"Yes!" he screamed. "This is more wonderful, more spectacular than anything I could have imagined. All these emotions to feed on. So tasty, so exciting. Emotions are the ultimate drug. I love it!"
The Psycho Pirate saw the caped figure crossing the street, heading his was. "Ahhh. A masked adventurer! This should be fun!"
Dr. Mid-Nite approached the car. "Don't make this difficult. I don't want to hurt you. I know that you're a very sick man. I just want to take you somewhere that you can get help. Please, give me the mask and we'll go together. We don't need to fight."
The Psycho Pirate laughed. "Sick, am I? Yes I suppose so. I must be very sick indeed. Isn't it sad?" The Psycho Pirate put the Medusa Mask on. When he took it off, he had an expression of despair on his face. "It's so sad, isn't it? Life is so sad. So much pain and anguish. It makes you wonder why we all bother. Wouldn't it be easier to just end it all?"
Dr. Mid-Nite steeled himself. He had undergone a series of self-hypnosis conditioning sessions to harden his will power against attacked from the likes of the Fiddler. The Psycho Pirate was much more powerful, however. Dr. Mid-Nite felt a wave of utter despair overwhelming him. No, I mustn't succumb. I can't give in. This is a spell! It's not real! I can beat it! I have to beat it! I . . . am . . . in . . . control!
Dr. Mid-Nite lunged forward, tackling the Psycho Pirate. They wrestled for the mask. Dr. Mid-Nite won the scuffle and tore the mask from the Psycho Pirate's hand.
"No, that's mine!" Psycho Pirate screamed, "Give it back to me!"
All the Psycho Pirate got in return was a gloved fist to the face.
Energy-Sentinel had fought his way out of the club and was tearing up the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Flash was his biggest problem. He created a "homing-fireball" designed to follow Flash around where ever he went. But the homing ability depended on the mind of the creator, and even an energy man couldn't follow the Flash's movements. He looked around for Flash again.
Flash popped into view in front of him. "Don't make us fight you," Flash pleaded. "We're your friends."
"No, you're not!" the energy being said.
The fireball swooped around and headed for the Flash. The Energy-Sentinel was willing it to hit the Flash in the back, as he spoke. The energy being continued to distract the Flash as the fireball came closer and closer.
But the fireball went right through the Flash, as if he wasn't there. Instead, it hit the Energy-Sentinel. The two identical energies canceled each other out and both the energy man and the fireball dissipated.
"What just happened?" Cap asked.
Flash smiled. "By moving back and forth at the speed of light, I can appear to be two places at once. I figured he'd try to hit me from behind with that fireball. From my other vantage point - the 'me' that the Sentinel form couldn't see, hidden in the wreckage - I could see the fireball coming closer. At the last moment, I ducked out of the way, leaving a light-speed after-image to confuse him. The fireball seemed to go right through me since I wasn't really there. When the identical energies collided, they canceled each other out."
Black Canary knelled by the unconscious form of the real Sentinel. He groaned, and she propped him up. He opened his eyes. "What's going on?" he asked.
"It's a long story, pal," Flash said. "It's just good to have you back."
Cap turned and saw Dr. Mid-Nite walking towards them, with an unconscious, costumed man over his shoulder and a golden mask in his hand.
"I see everything is under control here," Dr. Mid-Nite said.
The Spectre returned to Earth with his two injured charges. He waved his arms over them. "Let your wounds be healed. No lasting damage from this battle shall you retain. You, Thor, I will send to a place which, when you awaken, will lead you to the prize you have been seeking . . . the goddess Sif. And as for you, Hulk, you will be returned to the form you were born in. You will once again be Thomas Halloway, the Angel. You will awaken in your own home. You both have many adventures ahead of you and you will both play significant roles in the battle between good and evil."
The Spectre used his mystic senses to see what had happened on Earth during his time away. He saw the Sentinel's rampage. He was concerned. "Trust must be maintained. The Justice Society cannot be so tainted with scandal at a time like this."
With a mere though, the Spectre altered everyone's memory of the battle. Everyone would remember only that the alien ring-bearer who had come to Earth months earlier, the mysterious being named Dobj Xio, had returned and caused the chaos. No one would remember the Sentinel's part in it. The JSA's reputation would go untarnished.
"All is again as it should be."
Dr. Charles McNider and Doc Savage looked in on the man who had been the Psycho Pirate. He sat in his padded cell, contained by a straight jacket. He stared blankly at the wall.
"He seems to be catatonic," Doc Savage said.
Dr. McNider nodded. "He is addicted, both physically and mentally, to the emotions that the Medusa Mask supplied him. Without them, his fragile psyche couldn't handle the withdrawal. So he retreated into his own mind. Poor man. Even with all he's done, I still feel sorry for him."
"Me too," Doc Savage said. "It's very sad when reality is too much for a mind to deal with. But we'll do what we can to help him. After all, we're healers. That's what we do."
Dr. McNider smiled. What Savage said reminded him of something Captain America had said.
"We're heroes. That's what we do."
Next issue: Next issue: Vandal Savage and his league of immortals are capturing gods. What is their purpose? Can the JSA and Thor stop them? And introducing . . . Toro! It's all in Justice Society of America #21!