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Chapter Text

It was never supposed to be this way. Yet, so it has been and therefore, so it will be. In the aftermath of the Heroes' attack on the Anti-Monitor at the Dawn of Time, The Multiverse should have been forever undone. And, for the most part, at least, it was. Yet, even as the event humans refer to as ''The Big Bang'' reoccurred, Mitosis found its way back into the order cosmic. A glitch in the tuning towers perhaps? Perhaps A stray, intrusive thought from The Spectre? Whatever the reason, the 5 Earths that should have become one, instead were reduced to two. Stronger, yes; But not as strong as they might have been. My friends, Lady Quark and Pariah along with The Monitor and myself, were all too aware of what might come of this when the Anti-Monitor became aware of our partial failure to fully unite the 5. Upon duplicating myself to the new universes, I found myself confronted by Three revelations. First, that the two earths that remained were altered incarnations of Earth's One and Two, that the remaining Earths had been divided evenly among the remnants. and that, even now, the heroes from those worlds erased, as they were, from the very fabric of existence, now found themselves in new homes, unaware that soon, they too would be erased and recreated as the timelines of both reset themselves around them. In the meantime, they woke to find themselves in two worlds of locations, people and histories all alien to their memories. Others found themselves back home once again with all memory of their work on their original world erased, meaningless.

Both Earths would gain something from this botched rebirth. Earth-Two would gain a future in the heroes and villains of Earth-Four, of Hub City and beyond who would be reborn in various ways (thanks to stray vibrational energies from its closest counterpart, Earth-W) as well as seeing the return of the Freedom Fighters, Wildfire and The Jester to its history. Earth-One would receive its own Golden Age in the form of the denizens of Earth-S and their successors and descendants, not to mention many Heroes once exclusive only to Earth- X.

Yet, because the Two Earths that should have been one remained otherwise, the Anti-Monitor and his army of shadows saw a chance to eliminate both in one fell swoop. If not for the courage and sacrifice of the heroes of both Earths, he might have succeeded. Yet, in the end, even with victory achieved, tragedy still found a way to obtain second place. Vic Sage, The Question, would sacrifice himself to save the lives of Helena Wayne and Dick Grayson of Earth-Two; an act he would be justly rewarded for in his new existence. Earth-Two's Oliver Queen, likewise, would also meet his end alongside Adam Waterman, The Aquaman of that world, Earth-One's Dove, Donald Hall would too perish, attempting to save the life of a child, Earth-Two's Diana Prince would ascend to godhood along with her Husband Steve Trevor having grown weary and depowered from the Crisis, and finally, Kal-L, The original Superman of Earth-Two, destroyer of the Anti-Monitor, overloaded with the being's Anti-Matter energies, would be forced to flee to a pocket dimension, joined by his wife, the displaced Alexander Luthor Jr of Earth-Three and the Superboy of Earth-Prime, leaving his cousin, Kara Zor-L to take his place as Earth-Two and Metropolis's main champion under the rebranded name of "Power Woman."

His counterpart on Earth-One would have a similar end to his story not too long afterward, before he, himself, in the ruins of The Fortress of Solitude, broke his most sacred oath, walked into a Gold Kryptonite Chamber and, seemingly, wandered into the arctic wastes, never to be seen again. To make matters worse, back on Earth-Two, the Justice Society of America's founding members would find themselves forever locked in a permanent time loop, doomed to wage the same battle on repeat, until the end of time. All to save their world from the Norse doomsday of Ragnarök.

While the fate of the JSA was seemingly inevitable, our failure to create the singular universe has left both worlds without their greatest champion. And yet, as is always the case, life goes on. Soon, the routine of good and evil reset itself and all seemed to be brought back into line. Or so it would have been, if the activities of Courtney Whitmore aka Stargirl, had not thrown yet another element into the mix of Earth-Two, in the form of a number of Golden Age ''Sidekicks'', plucked from the first Dawn of Time by a cosmic being known as ''The Childminder'', denied their histories during the second big bang and subsequently stranded upon a cosmic Neverland outside of all time and space known as ''Orphan Island.'' Thanks to Courtney's efforts and those of her friend Eniko Queen aka Speedy, plus the Hourman of the 853rd Century, along with the lack of time Anomalies and Paradoxes caused by a fully unified Earth, each of these young crimefighting partners was restored, not only to Reality but to their own proper time and place in it, so that even as Earth-One began to develop a newer, younger, more violent, undisciplined and cynical breed of ''hero'' in the years following their Superman's disappearance, Earth-Two remained a place where light and legacy continued to shine and where history was never forgotten. In 1952, following the persecution of their mentors by the HUAC, these sidekicks would band together in an act of multicultural defiance as "The Super-Squad.''

In the wake of the Lost Children finally receiving the gift of presence, the three of us asked Mar Novu, My father, my Monitor, what all of this and everything that had occurred in the wake of the Duelverse's creation, meant in the cosmic scheme of all things. Had it been just, even right for us to fail if this was the outcome for, at least, one earth? Was this partial disunity of reality something that we should celebrate? Were the inhabitants of both Worlds better off this way? I cannot tell you, for, surprisingly, he never gave us a straight answer. An utterance of contemplation followed by a simple ''I'm not sure.'' was all we would receive.

I understand his reasoning, in a way. Worlds had lived and Worlds had died, just as Legends had Lived and Legends had died. There are many new legends for us to catalog on these new Earths, many new histories and stories to uncover. That's why The three of us voted to open this digital diary and send out its contents to every planet, every being in those pocket dimensions that might have survived the antimatter wave, to those on other planets in both universes, who can keep the secrets of both heroes and villains. To forever preserve and set into data, the accounts that We have obtained from this altered Status Quo. Because stories do matter and to keep them alive, safe and untainted is the ultimate act of good. I'm sure my father would all too gladly agree with this observation. To those wishing to read and to imagine, This is our gift to you.

Harbinger
Pariah
Lady Quark

Chapter Text

 "When is the ending reflective of a time yet to be?"

Victor Sage's fate was changed immeasurably near the end of the Crisis. Like most of his Earth-Four compatriots, he was destined to be erased, reborn and reweaved into the history of Earth-Two. But, as the Anti-Monitor's army swarmed over both his new home and Earth-One, Sage's destiny would, once again, be altered for better or worse. As the shadow demons began picking off civilians and heroes alike, Earth-Two's middle-aged Dick Greyson, aka Robin of Earth-Two, and his adopted younger sister, Helena Wayne, The Huntress, daughter of Bruce Wayne, The Batman, fell into the line of fire. It was Vic Sage, The Question, attempting desperately to rescue lives nearby, who spotted them in the nick of time, pushing both out of the way of a shadow demon's anti-matter attack and taking the full brunt of the blast. Not long afterward, the two Earths would be pulled from the Anti-Monitor's clutches, but not without consequence, as Earth-Two's Superman would be forced to leave for a pocket dimension after absorbing an overabundance of antimatter from the destroyed Anti-Monitor, and many heroes would lose their lives. But no sacrifice or life on Earth-Two would be as forgotten and yet, so richly rewarded as that of The Question.

It is said by The Phantom Stranger, who opted to take up permanent residence on Earth-One, that The Spectre himself was so moved and yet so disheartened by such heroic bravery mixed with such random death, especially to save the lives of two so foreign to his own previous existence, that he appealed to his master, the One Above All, for Sage's new life to be tied directly to those he had rescued so that he may better know them and vice versa. This request, it seems, was justly granted. And yet, the consequences would be further reaching than expected.

In a twist one can only liken to the Earth Fable of ''Sleeping Beauty'', The Question and the other heroes of Earth-Four would be reborn a few years before the time of the Crisis, so that Vic Sage could, once more, come to know his Earth-Four companions. Their careers would now be delayed until the Mid-00s. But, the gift of rebirth that The Spectre had obtained for Sage, the gift that would bring him closer to the heirs of Bruce Wayne, was reincarnation into neither lover, nor brother, but son. Helena's son. Once a man with an unclear heritage, he would now be born into a life of legacy and wealth in the year 1983, as the grandchild of both Batman and Catwoman. His conception began after Helena fell in love with his father, Investment Banker Charles Sage, after her law firm, Cranston, Grayson and Wayne, had successfully defended him in a Sexual Assault case. After their marriage, they moved into Helena's long-since closed family home (known on Earth-Two as The Wayne Mansion, which, in contrast to its grandiose, neo-gothic Earth-One counterpart, was a modest, yet large Spanish Mission Style home at 224 Park Drive in the Gotham Suburbs) and 40 weeks later, Victor Alfred Sage-Wayne (named, in part, after Alfred Beagle, the late family butler) would be brought into the world and introduced to the largest and most loving family any boy could hope to have. Known as Vic to his adoptive Uncles and Aunts, as well as his Uncle Dick, who made himself a prominent part of his godson's life, he had a childhood that most youths could only dream about. Not only were his parents wealthy, but his extended family was made up of Earth's most legendary heroes.

Sadly, he had little time to truly appreciate the presence of his JSA family before they were snatched away into their time loop, but the influence of The Super Squad and JSI more than made up for their absence. As a result, from an early age, Vic was bombarded with stories about the Golden Age of superheroics, the turbulent times of the 1950s and early 60s, the revival of the Justice Society, the cross-dimensional team-ups with the heroes of Earth-One, and so on. His favorite tales, naturally, came from his Mother and his Uncle Dick. The majority were retellings of his legendary Grandfather's exploits in Gotham City in the 1940s and 50s, twinned frequently with those from his Uncle Dick's childhood, of how the nobility of his love reformed Vic's grandmother, Selena Kyle, The Catwoman. Of how her tragic loss drove him to hang up his cowl forever to focus on his position as Gotham's Police Commissioner, of his noble sacrifice in 1979 to save his city, and of how Vic's mother and Uncle now carried on his crusade as a new Dynamic Duo.

With all this in mind, it was little wonder that Vic grew up longing to become a mystery-man, or, at least, a costumed sidekick. His father, however, had a more negative view of the subject. Although a good man, he was one of those kinds of people who believed strongly in the physical and material, in self-security, living safely and wisely. On account of this, he considered hero work to be a one-way ticket to destitution. A reckless investment that offered little to no returns, and he forbade his son from ever taking up such a career path. This was, in fact, his only obnoxious quality, one he frequently quarrelled with his wife and Brother-in-law over, especially Uncle Dick, over what he perceived as "his abnormal, life-threatening  childhood." Indeed, Dick had a deeply unpleasant relationship with Charles, whom he only tolerated for the sake of his Sister's happiness. What further added to this fire was the sort of entertainment young Vic's family encouraged him to watch. The Real Ghostbusters, Darkwing Duck, Ninja Turtles, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, and The Animated retelling of his Grandfather's career by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini. Helena never interfered in these affairs as, deep down, she wanted to make sure that, should Vic's mind go unchanged, Gotham City would have some hope of protection in the future. All the same, she was able to pacify her husband's concerns by promising that Vic would never be permitted to become a "Kid Sidekick" like his Uncle before him.

For most of his childhood to the age of 13, During the administrations of Ronald Reagan/Howard Baker and Jesse Jackson/John Glenn, (the latter's election being effectively caused by the JSA's failure to save Earth-Two's George H.W. Bush as a teenager) Vic began taking training lessons in hand-to-hand combat, gymnastics, acrobatics and gadgetry usage in secret, hoping to one day change his father's mind. The first of these was with his Uncle and Mother, but later extended to a number of his godparents. Mainly, Yolanda Montez, Sparkington "Sparky" Northrup, Judy Garrick, and Raghu Seetharaman. Even his Aunt Kara, Power Woman, and Aunt Lyta, Fury, managed to get some classes in.

All the while, Charles remained unaware of the extended relations' conspiracy, yet maintained his hold over his son in more subtle ways. Off-handed comments, subliminal gestures, and so on. However, it wasn't until high school that his influence would begin to fully germinate within his son. There is, on both Earths, a profound quote by the screenwriter John Rogers of "Jackie Chan Adventures" fame that runs as follows:

"There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year-old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs."

Unintentional as it may have been, it was Charles Sage's desire for his son to put his own needs and security first that led him down the road to objectivism in his teen years in the late 90s. Reading both Atlas Shrugged and several of Ayn Rand's other works caused him, quite quickly, to turn his nobler childhood aspirations towards those of personal gain and fulfillment. Now believing his father's worldview to have been correct, he began to want as little to do with his extended family as possible, spending most of his time now with his Dad who, while seeing his son's turn towards Randian philosophy to be ''a little on the extreme side'', was, at least, happy to see the urge for masked crimefighting far removed from his mind, now turned towards more practical inclinations. This change in attitude greatly worried those closest to him, and they would try desperately to bring back the Vic they'd known and loved. Nevertheless, it would take the return of his Grandfather's oldest and greatest foe to bring him back to the angels.

The now decrepit and feeble Clown Prince had, in his old age, grown bored by the current state of criminal activity in Gotham and sought to recreate what he saw as the "glory years" of crime: First by reenacting several Golden Age Capers with his young Protege, The Harley Quinn of Earth-Two, and later by attempting to recreate a number of his old contemporaries, such as destroying the face of District Attorney, Harry Simm, to recreate Harvey Kent's persona of Two-Face. It wasn't until the clown came after Charles Sage, attempting to lock him in a padded cell stolen from Earth-Two's recently opened Arkham Mental Hospital in an experiment to drive him mad and, thus, construct a new Riddler, (an act prevented in the nick of time by Robin,) that Vic realized the failings of his new worldview.  In the end, The Joker would meet his well-deserved, overdue end, literally by his own hand during his final battle with The Huntress, electrocuting himself with his own fatally shocking joy buzzer after becoming saturated by water from a broken Distillery Tank. However, seeing his father nearly lose his sanity and his mother risk her life to save him and others, forced Vic to remember and accept the values of altruism and humanitarianism once again. Ashamed and no longer feeling worthy of his Grandfather's legacy or surname, he decided, after graduation, to leave Gotham to find himself and to, perhaps, become deserving of the Wayne family name once more, vowing never to accept a penny of his inheritance until he was. His mother and father tried to dissuade him, but ultimately, much to their own reluctance, they allowed their son to go forth and find his deliverance. Charles Sage would forever blame himself for his son's decision and would, not long after his departure, renounce the teachings of Rand and Paul, choosing to dedicate his life to philanthropy and goodwill. Despite this repentance, Helena found it difficult to fully or immediately forgive her husband, leading her to briefly stay with Dick at his home for a fortnight.

To better enact his journey of self-healing, and now going simply by "Victor Sage", the former scion used half of his college fund, the last time he would use his family's wealth for years to come, to study journalism in Hub City, Illinois, inspired greatly by the life of Clark Kent aka Superman. Back in the late 19th to late 20th centuries, Hub City had certainly lived up to its name, being one of the primary seats of commerce and industry in the Midwest. Historically, it was still envisioned by many as one of the main manufacturing centers of the nation. In those better times, Hub had also been home to the hero Yellowjacket, plus the 1st and 2nd Blue Beetles. Sadly, the days of insect-themed saviors and thriving production were far behind it. In the present, Hub had fallen into severe decline, with corrupt, bought politicians, white-collar, corporate greed, crooked judges and cops, an indifferent media, and a total lack of integrity, causing the city's crime rate to skyrocket since 1997. The time came when Hub was as unsafe to live in as Gotham City on Earth-One, if not worse. In other words, the perfect place for an aspiring hero to get their start. Vic's journalism course lasted for three years, during which his political and social views took a sharp turn to the progressive. Using what he now perceived as a true form of reason, as opposed to the Objectivist definition adopted in his teen years, he took a more forgiving and merciful stance upon petty crime, Juvenile delinquency, and Drug Use in particular, the working and middle-class being those he empathized with. But towards harder crimes such as Sex Abuse, Organised Gangland Crime, White Collar Crime, Murder, Spousal and Child Abuse, and more, he was almost entirely intolerant. In a city like Hub, that sort of mindset was liable to put a person in mortal danger, but, in this case, Vic didn't care. He had made a vow never to let selfishness consume his life again. He was without a price tag, he couldn't be swayed, he'd never quit, and, in many ways, that made him more dangerous than anything Hub could hope to throw at him. All he needed were the right tools.

Graduating at age 20 in 2003 (by now, President Bob Dole was wrapping up his final term), he was able to land a job at KBEL, Hub City's premier news network, as a reporter for its news department, writing opinion pieces for the fledgling website. His unrepentantly aggressive, left-wing firebrand approach earned him the ire of the higher-ups at the station but, simultaneously, made him a deeply popular figure among the younger citizens of Hub. It wasn't long before the station bosses gave him his own segment on the station's TV news show, making him the youngest news anchor in the network's history, all in the hopes of reining him in. In brief, they failed, and Vic continued to be a pain in his centrist superiors' asses for years to come.

A year later, in 2004, Vic was summoned, via Email, to the laboratory of the famous Inventor, Aristotle Rodor, his college's old Science teacher, whose advanced tech and biology courses he'd frequented so as to hone his general scientific skills. Nicknamed ''Tot'' by his students, Rodor was renowned the world over as a former child prodigy who'd been inventing since the age of 5. Despite this, Rodor was also seen as a ''gadfly.'' His ethics were so unbending that he had never once received a doctorate for his work, as he saw the idea of submitting what he deemed "Inferior yields" to merely further his own prestige to be "unacceptably dishonest." Living a modest, albeit honest life, he continued to work on new innovations that he hoped might someday truly benefit mankind. When Vic arrived at the old inventor's lab on the promise of a huge news story, he was treated to an account that would change his life forever.

It seemed that, in recent times, Rodor had been collaborating with the infamous surgeon, Dr Arby Twain, on a prosthetic material that perfectly mimicked skin in both appearance, texture and functionality: One that, in theory, could be used to treat victims of irreversible skin damage such as Third degree burns and Irreparable wounds. This fabric, known as ''Pseudoderm'', would tighten around the afflicted area with the aid of an experimental gas, forming a skin-tight seal, allowing the patient to live a normal and pain-free life.

Alas, as well-intentioned as its creation was, biochemical examinations of Pseudoderm, prior to human testing, revealed a disastrous side effect. Due to unexplainable and unfixable chemical imbalances within the material's formula, it was proven to be highly toxic to open wounds, bordering on fatality. Dejected and with no apparent way to amend this mistake, the two scientists had no choice but to scrap the Pseudoderm project indefinitely. However, this, it seemed, was not the end of the project's story, for, as Rodor explained to Vic, Dr. Twain, having a reputation in the scientific community for being both self-serving and reckless, still wished to sell the "miracle bandage," failure or not. Yet despite his best efforts to cover up his unscrupulous dealings, receipts somehow fell into Rodor's hands, which revealed that Twain had, indeed, stolen the Pseudoderm formula behind his back and was now pitching it to many third-world dictatorships on the black market along with the fledgling dark web. On top of all this, Rodor was also convinced that Twain was using the material in his own practice, following one of Vic's Exposés, which showed a mysteriously rising fatality rate in Twain's wealthy clientele. With no way for Rodor to prove what was occurring, the 22-year-old reporter swore to find the evidence necessary to convict Twain and save the lives of millions in the process.

Despite his former student's bravery, Rodor was concerned that such a public figure as Vic would be easily recognized and dispatched by the probably desperate Twain. Remembering his own lineage and his promise to restore honor to his family's secret reputation, Vic Sage resolved to wear a disguise to hide his identity. Rodor approved of this, promising to give his old student the most perfect camouflage he could ever ask for, if he could return to the lab the following night after work. When Vic arrived at the appointed time, Rodor was waiting for him with his new mask, made entirely out of his remaining supply of Pseudoderm. On the inside, it contained a visor and special air holes in the mouth and nose areas, but on the outside, it was nought but a meer sheet of beige that, when pasted over the face, gave the wearer the impression of having no facial features whatsoever; Only smooth grooves of flesh where eyes, mouth and nostrils should have been. Inspired by early mystery men such as The Crimson Avenger and The Sandman, Vic added to the ensemble one of his grandfather's old trench coats & Fedoras, which his mother had packed for him the day he'd left The Wayne Mansion for college, to remind him of home.

Remembering his Grandpa Bruce's resolve to become The Batman in an effort to scare criminals, Vic took an instant liking to his new disguise, assuming that the image of an otherwise normal-looking, albeit archaically dressed, man without a face, would be more effective at putting fear into the ''superstitious, cowardly lot'' of crime than a stylized bat suit. When Vic placed the material over his face and the tightening gas was sprayed, other surprises were in store for him. Rodor, in order to finalize the effectiveness of the disguise, had added special chemicals to the gas formula, which changed Vic's natural red hair to black (Like his mother's) and his Brown suit to Greyish-Blue, along with sticking the Pseudoderm tightly to his features. So that the effects of the gas could be undone, Rodor provided Vic with a secondary antidote spray as well, which he had developed a week or so prior on a whim.

Two nights later, after fighting his way through the crooked physician's goons to his practice, Vic soon discovered the evidence he needed in Twain's office desk and, after dealing with Twain himself, snuck off around the back of the building without his new disguise, in order to find a pair of cops to bust the dishonest Doctor. The raid was a success, and Arby Twain was swiftly convicted. With Vic's exposé on the affair earning KBEL News a substantial ratings boost, the executives and the news department heads soon grew more tolerant of his Alexander Hamilton-esque methods. So much so that he was given a pay rise not long after. Then, suddenly, eyewitness accounts of the mysterious ''No-faced Man'' who'd been seen sneaking into Twain's workplace on the night of the raid began to circulate. The News Cycle inevitably spread to Gotham & to Helena and Dick, who, in turn, spread the word to the rest of the hero community. Given the familiarity of the suit, despite the color change, it didn't take long for them all to realize who this faceless manhunter was. For this reason, Dick Grayson came up to Hub City to speak to his godson about where his life might go from here. Vic admitted that while, in his mind at least, he still wasn't deserving of the legacy that Dick and his mom had carried from Grandpa Bruce, he dearly wanted to be. Perhaps his reasons were slightly selfish and self-pitying, still feeling a need for redemption, but with the crime rate in Hub City being as terrible as it was, he talked next of expanding his birthright beyond the original stomping grounds of the bat, to the city where it was needed most. Dick was instantly onboard with the idea & encouraged it whole-heartedly. The exchange neared its conclusion just so:

Dick: "So, what do you wanna call yourself? Assuming you don't intend to just leave that up to the papers."

Vic: "Hurm. With a gimmick this bizarre? Isn't that the million-dollar Question?'' 

This remark struck a chord with Vic, who realized just who he could be with his horrifying visage. An eternal Puzzle, an Enigma that crime would never be able to answer. And so, the somewhat pretentious name of ''The Question'' stuck. At first, Dick wasn't too big a fan of the moniker. However, after a failed attempt to find an alternative, he gave up and accepted it, promising that he and Helena would help Vic with this new career however they could. With his paycheck going mostly towards food & bills, Vic was happy for the help, but remembering his vow, insisted on only being given a limited amount of cash for gadgetry purposes, not wanting to leach off his folks like an idle trust fund brat. With this money and the help of ''Tot'' Rodor, Vic, as The Question, built up a limited but effective arsenal.

A hydrogen-powered grapple gun, gas and anti-gas capsules, question mark calling cards that contained smokescreen chemicals, and a brass utility belt, hidden under his trenchcoat to hold it all, complete with a secret compartment buckle for his mask. These were all The Question required. (There was also his Q-Cycle, a purely aesthetically modified motorbike that he often used when speed was of the essence.) On top of that, inspired by his Mother's VHS recordings of MacGyver and with his own personal know-how, thanks to her and Dick's lessons in gadgetry, Vic was able to make use of everyday objects as weapons. A coat hanger for picking locks, a can of deodorant, and a lighter for a flamethrower, etc. Although he tried to operate mostly at night, reserving daylight for his hard-biting journalism, the necessities of his new life and devotion to The Question persona usually compelled him to operate by the sun's light also. Nevertheless, it was at KBEL that he would meet, for lack of a better term, his Lois Lane. Myra Connelly, A young, red-haired single mother and a fellow TV reporter. She was a firm believer in The Question's cause and, rather than chasing after the vigilante as Lois Lane had so often done with Superman, was often apt to work alongside him as a more capable April O'Neil figure. Outside of the mask, while she first considered Vic Sage a rival, she quickly warmed up to him as he did with her. Soon, both began dating, and Vic was able to reveal his privileged past to her. Regardless, Myra wouldn't know the truth of her boyfriend's dual life until after he had reunited her with her daughter, as mentioned earlier, Jackie, a special needs child whom Myra had, unwittingly, sent to live at birth with the despicable preacher Reverend Jeremiah Hatch.

Despite his inner redemption, Vic remained unsympathetic towards Hard and 1%er criminals, and while he never killed any of them in his life, he wasn't exactly in the business of letting them go unbroken. Still, he remained judicious and stood by the old tried and true maxim of ''Innocent until proven guilty.'' This, in turn, earned him back his extended family's trust and respect, and he was welcomed back into the hero community with open arms. Like his Grandfather before him, Vic found himself faced with his own rogues gallery, though none as gaudy or as theatrical as those of The Batman. Figures such as syndicate leader El Beato, Plastic magnate Alexander Polys, Max Bine aka The Banshee and Richard Perignon aka The Muse, The Question's only costumed adversaries, The ''Wild Ones'', ''Deltoids'' "Grinning Ghosts" "Huns" and ''Hi-Brows'' street gangs, Criminal Hitman Carlton "Cathy" Fregosi, Kung King, Moonwalk, Mikado, The gunrunner Sundance, The Musto Crime Family, Hub's corrupt, republican mayor, Wesley Fermin and The serial Killer ''Baby Gun." 

Unarguably, The Joker to Sage's Batman (In other words, his Arch-Enemy and greatest foe) was and is the previously mentioned Reverand Jeremiah Hatch, Methodist Preacher and former Chaplain of the Vietnam War in the 1970s. Driven mad and to murder by the atrocities committed in that terrible conflict, Hatch had become Pastor of the Hub City First Methodist Church as well as a popular television evangelist, backed and endorsed as a respectable citizen by Mayor Fermin, despite the former's lack of qualifications. (Hatch had been expelled from the Garrett–Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois in his youth owing to increasing mental instability via trauma sustained from his abusive childhood, coupled with his heretical views that suggested that there were "sinners" who should never be witnessed to on account of deserving eternal damnation; leading Hatch to falsify his credentials to the US Army.)

In reality, Fermin was merely a puppet for the psychotically fanatical Hatch, who secretly ran the city through the bought and paid Mayoral Office and City Council. The true reason for the city's decent towards its reputation as "America's deathtrap;" For Hatch's experiences in facing the Viet Cong had convinced him that Heaven had placed him upon the Earth to hasten humanity's descent into debauchery and self-destruction in order to fast-track the rapture, the final judgment and God's destruction of the planet. (Hatch was a firm believer in a Post-Tribulation Rapture.)

But, as new legacy heroes began to emerge throughout the rest of the 00s, new heroes, unrelated to the All-Star Squadron, arrived with them in the Great Lakes region and beyond. These were the holdovers from the old Earth-Four, now finally reborn in new forms. First, there was the quiet, contemplative blue-skinned quantum hero, Captain Atom, who seemed to be simultaneously bored & fascinated by everything, but still took time out of his Extra-chronologically aware musings about existence to protect the innocent with his vast array of powers. Washington, D.C., likewise found itself with the mysterious, yet lovely, Nightshade, Heir to The Land of the Nightshades, who could generate and bend darkness to her will. Back in Hub City, the 3rd Blue Beetle, Ted Kord, made his first appearance. A protege of 2nd  Beetle, Sparky Northrup, now tragically deceased. (In his new life, Sparky and his mentor, Dan Garret, had been members of the All-Star Squadron alongside Vincent Harley, The Yellowjacket.) Unable to unlock the secrets of Garrett's mysterious Scarab of Power, Ted had become a tech user and a frequent partner of The Question while on cases.

In New York, Peter Cannon, having spent most of his life in a Himalayan lamasery following the deaths of his wealthy parents & having learned the ability to activate the unused portions of the human brain, began his own one-man crusade on evil as Thunderbolt. Back in Chicago, Sonia Sato, daughter of a former Yakuza assassin, took up the mantle of golden age hero Rip Jagger to become the new ''Judomaster'' while, in the Swiss Alps and worldwide, the lone agent known as The Peacemaker revealed himself. A man who loved peace so dearly that he was willing to kill to make sure it was maintained. And with an array of high-tech weaponry, charity founder Christopher Smith set out to do just this. All of them, except for, maybe, Peacemaker, were accepted by the hero community in general, but they were just a few of the new heroes who would pop up across the country over time.

Due to their former lives on Earth-Four, the 7 heroes found themselves inexplicably drawn to each other by cosmic fates. Outside of Ted, Vic found himself teaming up with Captain Atom and Judomaster on several occasions, just as The 3rd Beetle found himself working with Nightshade on many others, the two growing close romantically as a result, while a reluctant Thunderbolt found himself chasing after the fanatical Peacemaker. Justice Society Infinite took an interest in all and planned to attempt to recruit each. Alas, these plans were doomed to failure as these heroes would be brought together, not by the JLI nor the old JSA, who, at long last, had escaped their endless Norse battle with the help of The Spectre, but by Earth-Two America's Director of the Government agency "Argent", Amanda Waller. It was she who recruited the 7 heroes mentioned before to go after the Golden Age Judomaster's sidekick turned villain, Tiger, who now went by the name of "The Avatar'', and kept them together to act as a costumed peacekeeping task force, under her agency's employ, intended to supplant JSI's role as the country's 1st line of defense. For the first time since the All-Star Squadron, the government had its own team of heroes to shape and direct. but that's another story.

(Author's note. Most of this backstory is lifted and edited from a version I made for an, as of now, out-of-use Twitter RP account I once had. Just thought I should say this in case people get rightfully worried about potential plagiarism. Thanks.)

Chapter Text

In the early years of the Justice Society of America, Ian Karkull: Mad Scientist and Arch-Foe of Dr. Fate, Kent Nelson, found a way to observe the future through the power of the Shadowlands. Using this newfound precognition, he discovered the identities of nine future American presidents to come after FDR. Wanting vengeance on the United States for ''rejecting his genius,'' he brought together a cabal of 9 villains previously thwarted by the Society's individual members and sent them off to kill the future leaders. Found by Roosevelt himself, a list of these names, in turn, fell into the hands of Dr. Fate who then turned it over to his teammates. The Justice Society managed to save 8 out of the 9, but sadly, Alan Scott, The first Green Lantern, failed in his task. The powers of the sorcerer Wotan proved to be too great for the Emerald Knight to match and, as a result, a 17-year-old boy lost his life. This mission was covered up by the JSA and US government for decades, until the year 1985 when the team ended up in a gruelling trial, framed as covert Axis traitors by the late Batman, Bruce Wayne, via his diary, as part of a convoluted project to finally bring their greatest foe, Per Degaton, to justice. Yet, even as the details of this failed mission came to light, not to mention the scope of the lives the Society had saved, one question remained on everyone's mind...

Who was the boy who'd died?

That boy, as it happened, was George H.W. Bush whose counterpart on Earth-One would end up fulfilling the destiny so cruelly taken from his Earth-Two self. As a result of his untimely death, the Bush Dynasty in Washington would never come to be. But, as if to further alter destiny, vibrations from yet another Earth, one where the age of eligibility for both Senate and Presidency was lowered considerably, washed over the recreated Earth-Two following the recreation of the Multiverse into the Dualverse. As a result, Earth-Two's line of presidential succession runs as follows:

Ronald Reagan/Howard Baker (R) - 1981 - 1988

Jesse Jackson/John Glenn (D) - 1989 - 1996

Bob Dole/Jack Kemp (R) - 1997 - 2004

Prez Rickard/Martha Rickard (D) - 2005 - 2012

Michele Bachmann/Bill Frist (R) - 2013 - 2020

Julian Castro/Ro Khanna (D) - 2021 - 2028

Chapter Text

The End of the Crisis brought about the end of many other things. The creation of the Duelverse, in its way, assured that there could be no Superman for the future of either Earth; as if The Man of Steel's quiddity could not metatextually continue without some form of globally united chronology. Kal-L of Earth-Two retired to a pocket of reality with his wife and two others, with nowhere else to go, after poisoning himself to save the Duelverse from The Anti-Monitor. But for Kal-El, the younger Superman of Earth-One, his end could only be described as a Modern Greek tragedy. His soul already weighed down by the loss of his Cousin, Kara/Supergirl,  Superman had found himself with little to do but space exploration, following the deaths and disappearances of most of his worst foes. A sudden change in fates, however, would set off a chain of events resulting in the loss of his dearest friends and his Clark Kent identity, the corruption of his most lighthearted foes, and the destruction of The Fortress of Solitude, all orchestrated by a bored Mxysptlk. The seemingly cartoonish and mischievous entity from The 5th Dimension, who had decided to take a turn towards pure evil after two millennia of pranks, would see Superman's final and most terrible of stories come to be.

It was only by purposely breaking his greatest vow, ripping the abomination in two between the Phantom Zone and the 5th Dimension, that Superman was able to save his Universe from torment. Haunted by this, despite the encouragement of Lois Lane, he walked away, into his lead-sealed chamber of Gold Kryptonite, permanent pacifier of all Kryptonian Solar Cells. When his Justice League allies were finally able to enter the Fortress of Solitude, following the breaking of Mxyzptlk's energy dome, they found a distraught Lois among the wreckage of a Legend. Not even Krypto, the "Superdog" of Clark Kent's boyhood in Smallville, had been spared; Fatally biting the throat of The Kryptonite Man at the cost of his own life. It was assumed that Superman had wandered, depowered, into the arctic wastes to die, though no corpse was ever found.  For 30 years, the truth would remain unknown to the world.

The Heroes did their best to continue without their leader. The Detroit-based Justice League, The Titans, and The Outsiders attempted to carry out their work as normal, and in time, the scars seemed to heal. But, of course, they hadn't. They couldn't. How could they when those left behind would never have enough personal time to? Over the course of four years, the hero community entered a period of disassembly for better and worse. Dinah Drake and Oliver Queen finally tied the knot and entered semi-retirement to raise their daughter, Olivia. Bruce Wayne would lose his second Robin, Jason Todd, two years later at the hands of The Joker, subsequently becoming darker and more violent until one, "Tim Drake," would enter his life and make it seemingly whole again for a time. Aquaman eventually found he'd had enough of the hero lifestyle and returned to Atlantis to rule full time. Recognizing the need for an Atlantean champion on the surface, he began grooming his former sidekick, Garth, aka Aqualad, to one day take his place among the heroes under his old codename. Hal Jordan, 1st of Earth's three Green Lanterns, found himself getting on in years, his brown hair greying around the temples and his vitality fading. He would find himself constantly called away from Earth in the coming years to protect the rest of Sector 2814, leaving his position in the dwindling inner circle of the 1st JLA to be taken over by John Stewart.

The man most affected by the Post-Crisis world was Wally West. With the death of his famed Uncle Barry, he had taken it upon himself to continue his work as the second Flash of Earth-One. Recognizing the fragility and the finiteness of life in the wake of his Uncle's supposed demise, he would seek and find love in one Linda Park, who would bear him two children: Iris West II and Barry West, the eldest son.  Before then, in the wake of his Aunt Iris' pregnancy, he would help raise and eventually train his cousins Don and Dawn, who would later find their place in the hero community as The Tornado Twins. Without the close guidance and counsel of Jay Garrick, the former Kid Flash found himself overcompensating as the years went by. Desperate to keep Central City as protected as possible, as well as keep his Uncle's legacy alive, he developed an obsession that proved to be the undoing of his humanity. Dedicating most of his waking life to his work as The Flash, he initiated a habit of staying in costume for weeks at a time, never resting, never slowing, racing from one crime scene and disaster to another, no matter how petty, no matter how small. In essence, Wally West had stopped...stopping, racing at speeds no human eye could follow. But the more Wally used the power of the Speed Force, the more that power was woven into his genetic makeup and, in the end, he would lose his human form and become a being of pure Speed Force energy.

Confining himself to his city and its surrounding areas, he eventually lost all contact with friends, family, and the 1st League, which, in the end, disbanded with a whimper after Princess Diana, Wonder Woman was forced to return to Themiscura to take her assassinated Mother's Place as The Queen of the Amazons. In the wake of her retirement, her former sidekick, Donna Troy, would take up the Wonder Woman mantle. With the original Justice League gone and their 2nd incarnation in Detroit falling to 2nd place behind The Titans in terms of public opinion, the hero community seemed on the brink of collapse before the end of the coming decade...

Then, David Sikela made himself known.

The events that led this young Lance Corporal of the United States Marine Corps, fatally dismembered by Russian explosives during a mission in Afghanistan in the Fall of 1990 during the early days of what they called "The Gulf War" to stumble upon the Old God ''Gog,'' buried for millennia deep within the tunnels of an abandoned Jewel mine, leading to the old god restoring his body and imbuing him with a third of his power, could only be seen as the definition of the traditional superhero origin. Yet, even as the scarred and half-blinded Sikela, now Christened "Magog", took up his master's golden armor and spear as his new Champion on Earth, the events that transpired in the decades that followed proved this ''hero's'' position to be anything but conventional.

It was undoubtedly Sikela's own ego, overfed perhaps by becoming the herald of such an ancient and powerful deity, that led him to brazenly set himself in/near the memorialized city of Metropolis, using his military identity to request a transfer to an Army Base on its outskirts. At first, everyone considered him a novelty as he and his energy weapon spent most of their time averting disasters and, in the absence of any worthier foes, fighting organized crime, often unavoidably having to work with Kristin Wells aka Superwoman, the John Henry Irons of Earth-One, who had taken up the identity of Steel in tribute of the city's former defender and the violent, Street Level vigilante Jose Delgado, known to the underworld as Gangbuster. Out of the three of these, Sikela's only successful working relationship was with the third. It wasn't until Magog saved a broken down bus of high schoolers from a runaway freight train by reducing the engine pulling it to scrap with a single toss of his power-boosted spear, and when he brutalized both Bruno Manheim and the entirety of Intergang, taking the fight to their doorstep thanks to Gangbuster's intel, that people began to take notice of his no holds barred tactics. Despite the efforts of Irons and Wells to rein him in, he refused to compromise, neither for the sake of Superman's memory, nor his ideals.

This all came to a head just 2 years into his career during the 5th anniversary memorial of Superman's death in the early Summer of 1992. During the service in New Troy Cathedral, The Joker, having come all the way up from Gotham City, activated canisters of his lethal Joker Gas, tied to the undercarriage of each pew, the night before. Hundreds of mourners lost their lives that day before the Clown was apprehended, but as Steel led him towards a waiting police van, Magog, maddened with rage and sick of the rigidity of the ''Antique Davey and Goliath morals'' of the Man of Steel that the superhero world still venerated, arrived on the scene and, without uttering a word, blasted a hole through the Joker's chest with his spear.

The heroes of Metropolis were stunned and disgusted by this turn of events, and it was only a matter of minutes before they brought Magog into Police custody as well, where he was forced, by law, to reveal his secret identity to the public. But where the reaction of the hero community was one of horror and outrage at seeing the noble ideals they had fought so hard for spat on and ripped apart, the public reaction was one of almost unanimous adulation and support for "Team Magog." Even as the Marines honorably discharged Lance Corporal Sikela, several of his superiors and most of his subordinates each gave him seemingly nothing short of full sympathy. But as Superwoman insisted that the gold-plated killer be kept incarcerated till trial, public pressure from Metropolis' citizenry, coupled with the fundraising efforts of Gangbuster and pressure from the District Attorney's office, allowed Magog to be released on bail a month later.

In truth, the denizens of Earth-One had grown exhausted and discontented with the nonviolent, by-the-book, merciful methods of the Justice League and those that had come before them and seing someone like Magog do what none of them even believed a hero ever could or would, putting down one of the biggest monsters in the history of human atrocities, awakened a desire in the majority of America's younger citizens for someone like that lead the change into a new era. A ''Dick with Balls'' as one famous shock jock described it. Indeed, in the interviews that followed, the unrepentant Magog defended his actions thusly while he projected one scathing, raw diatribe after another against the current superhero community and its obsession with Silver and Bronze age ideology.

Even as the date of his trial was announced for August 1st of that year, a small handful of new and young heroes publicly and vocally came forward in Magog's defense. The Nihilistic, Masochistic vigilante 666, The pliable, Hispanic human nuclear reactor known as Nuculoid, Dragonknight, the Wyvern possessed by the Spirit of St. George, The Whiz, rebellious teenaged inheritor of the Power of Shazam and son of Freddy Freeman and Mary Batson, (King and Queen Marvel) The Biomechanical shapeshifter with the psyche of a 9-year old addressed simply as ''Trix'' and the tortured, semi-repentant, Asian-American female vampire codenamed "Bloodlust", Together, these 6 young, sloppy, cynical champions, along with Magog himself, would make up the inner circle of the coming generation.

But their greatest success and the final birth of their era came on the day of Magog's trial. As David Sikela was marched towards the dock, the Earth under the Metropolis Courthouse seemed to shudder violently. Almost at once, reports came in of an unidentified creature, Massive, Grey, Hideous, covered in jagged, bony stalactites and filled with hate and rage far beyond those of mortal men. A creature from the stars that'd already laid waste to 2 small towns and was making its way toward the city. To make matters worse, the Justice League's attempted intersection with the monster had ended in injury and manhandling for all involved but The Martian Manhunter. As the beast, now named ''Doomsday'' by the media, continued its rampage towards the city, Superwoman and Steel rushed to its defense. But even as they did so, Magog, slipping away from the chaos of the panicked court, flew off to beat them to the punch. What he found was the two heroes fighting a seeming stalemate with the monster.

Being more brutal and bloodthirsty than either of them, Magog proceeded to do battle with the beast his way, wounding it in several areas with his spear. But, even as Doomsday attempted to recover and adapt, the air was filled with the roars and cries of a hormonal, adrenaline-poisoned MTV generation as the 6 previously mentioned heroes came crashing onto the battlefield with weapons and powers blazing. Yet despite their efforts, it was only when Magog, using the leadership skills he'd inherited from his time in the Marines, took charge of the group and organized them into a fighting force that, even as the fight spilt out into the heart of Queensland Park. Together, they managed to bring the monster to a standstill before a final, lobotomizing blow to the head was dealt by the Spear of Gog.

Cheered for by the people of all Six Boroughs, the heroes' brutal takedown of the beast earned them not only the support of the city and country but also Magog's acquittal later that month. The ''Golden Guerrilla'' was subsequently released, both to an inquisitive press and to the custody of his newfound teammates who rallied around him. As the heartbroken and disillusioned Superwoman and Steel flew away without a word, Magog hushed the interviewers and announced to the world that, from then on, there would be a new guiding order in heroism. Mainly "Play nice, or play dead." In the next breath, he announced the formation of a new superteam. One that would succeed the Justice League and put an end to the ''outdated'' principles of the Superman era. Its name would define all that was to come in the decade and beyond: ''EXTREME JUSTICE.'' Just like that, it was over. The indulgent and the aggressive had won out. Shortly after the creation of Extreme Justice, Kristen Wells retired from her role as a superhero, Steel moved up to New York to start over, and the Detroit League, demoralized by their defeat, disbanded not long afterwards. Even the Titans found themselves going their separate ways after Magog's speech, but more significantly, after the betrayal of their teammate Jericho Wilson, son of their most hated enemy, led to the destruction of their longstanding HQ of Titans Tower on Titans Island on the East River near NYC by the crime cartel "The Wildebeest Society." With their departure, the Iron Age, the age of the so-called ''Anti-Hero'' had begun. All under the guiding light, not of a Golden Calf, but a Ram.

(It should be noted that David Sikela offered Jose Delgado Extreme Justice membership in its early days due to their close friendship, and that while Gangbuster initially turned this down to focus on street-level crime in Metropolis, he would join the ranks of the Team just two years later.)

After Extreme Justice established themselves publicly, the fledgling team found itself faced with the question of funding. Luckily, aid would soon arrive in the form of one "Funky Flashman." charismatic conman/businessman who, having found his fortune in the Anime Dubbing and Licensing markets with his new company "Flashman Media", was now looking to produce a fully animated superhero cartoon series (with some help from South Korea) and had, to this end, turned financier and Promoter. Sensing that this New, Hardcore group would be the next big thing, he offered his services to Extreme Justice. With no other options and planning to kill the infamous promoter should he betray them, Magog and his team agreed to the proposal. Starting in a rented skyscraper that came to be known as "The Tower of Justice" and living off of Flashman's funds for 4 years, Sikela was able to use his connections in the Marines to secure a renewable military grant, which was used to build an enormous Moon Base known as ''The Barrel." (As the team saw themselves and, in truth, were more akin to living projectiles than guardsmen of humanity, this name was more than fitting: It was deadly accurate.)

In the years between the Tower and Barrel Eras, an increasing number of heroes came to heed Magog's call to arms. A menagerie of strange, new and incredible heroes, of all forms and origins, of all nations and walks of life. The Alien mercenary ''Mr. Scarlet'' who took his name after Gotham's Golden Age defender, the time-displaced, noncorporeal Hippiman, Katarina Armstrong; The New Spy-Smasher,  The Batwoman of Apokolips and her hellhound, Ace, New Green Lanterns of Earth, Jessica Cruz and Simon Baz, Risk, Argent, the invisible Nowhere Man, Daniel Khalifa; the new Ibis, Taylor Waters; the 2nd Minute-Man, Bulleteer, Windshear, The new Bulletman and Bulletgirl, The 3rd Vigilante and 1st Mr Terrific of Earth-One, The Manhattan Guardian, Dogwelder, The Heckler, Condor, Tommy Monaghan, aka Hitman, Gunfire, General Glory, revived hero of The Golden Age and the only voice of tradition in a world gone insane, The Second Rac Shade, Space Cowboy, Rogue Superman Robot duplicate; Mysteryman, Phoebus, successor to Firestorm, the possessed Native American statue ''Iron Bow'', Manotaur, Cybernetically enhanced bovine alien abductee from Ancient Greece, a descendant of the legendary Minotaur, The elephantine-mech piloting, Indian-American Tusk, The legendary Sherlock Holmes, revived by unknown forces, The likewise resurrected Lamont Cranston aka The Shadow, Rorschach, Nite-Owl, Lady Blackhawk, The Satanic King Crimson and Blue Devil, The African-American brother duo Stars and Stripes, The Somnambulist. Brainiac's Daughter, Traci 13, OWAC, Horny Toad, Bazooka Joe and the Demonic "Demon Damsel," time-displaced/exiled member of the 30th century's Legion of Super-Heroes, Not to mention the trend of ''Hero Tribute Bands'' such as The Village Warriors from a Post-Apokalyptic Hypertime Future, The Monkeemen and the Fab Four personality-programmed androids who called themselves ''The Pepperguard."

Abroad in Japan, new protectors arose in the forms of New God of New Genesis Kabuki Kommando, the sentient, AI mecha S.H.O.G.U.N. and the greatest freelance assassin in Asia, Tokyo Rose. In Britain, the armoured, self-righteous "Inquisitor" Cathedral stalked the country with his array of sonic-based weaponry and signature "Spire of Vengeance", while in India, the destruction god Shiva, with his many arms and lethal Third Eye, came down upon the mortal plain to declare war on its evils. This then is but a sample of the Iron Age, which was defined in one word. Excess. Excess in their methods and excess in their appearances, especially in ammo belts, armour plating and quantity of pouches. In many ways, the very term "Iron Age" defines the period of these so-called defenders.



As a metal, Iron is, by its physical nature, a practical metal. Rough, hard, flexible, heavy, a great conductor of Fire and Lightning, and a deadly weapon in the right hands. Despite its value in human perceptions, Gold is rarely useful outside decoration and currency purposes. Silver and Bronze, likewise, can be as decorative, yet have their practical uses besides. Soldering, Mirror making, Music, and, in the case of the former, highly durable architecture. Magog later admitted in his autobiography "From S to M" that he helped popularize the new age's name after The Daily Planet had first coined it, on account of the useful, straightforward brutality of Iron compared to the soft, decorative glitz of those heroic ages coined by precious metals and, therefore, a symbol of everything the modern hero should be. Yet, while Gold, Silver and Bronze may tarnish, Iron will only rust when water is thrown on it.

Before long, the young heroes, all eager to make legends for themselves, would be joined by several veterans who had decided to do what they could to exist under Magog's new paradigm, while still following the ideals of those who'd come before. This was mostly covered by The Titans, who, after great reflection and regret over their team's dissolving, would reunite in an underground complex where Titans Tower had once stood, cunningly concealed by a holographic recreation of the original structure. Joined by 18-year-old Rose Wilson, The Ravager, sister of their betrayer, The Titans had agreed to reform as a countermeasure and rebuttal to the viciousness of Extreme Justice; An open act of defiance against Magog's illiberal standards.

Aside from Rose who possessed all of the skills and weapons of her disreputable father, the team also included: Earth-One's Dick Grayson aka Nightwing, the original Robin and named now after a legendary Kryptonian Superhero of the same name, now older but still situated in Gotham's sister city of Blüdhaven, Garth who had, indeed become the new Aquaman, Donna Troy, formerly Wonder Girl and Troya who had taken up her Mentors Vestments, Lasso and Gauntlets as the new Wonder Woman, Roy Harper, the Speedy of Earth-One, now known as Red Arrow in Star City taking over for his former mentor while trying in vain to keep his adopted niece in line and Cyborg, Vic Stone, his soul and mind now encased in a golden, humanoid nanotech form that, much to his delight, resembled an adult version of his former, fully-human body, not to mention Garfield Logan, formerly Beast Boy and Changling, now known as Menagerie who, through the natural mutation of his powers had become able to transform into mythical fauna as well as "real" beasts. Unfortunately, a byproduct of this mutation was that Logan had become forever deformed by it, leaving him unable to return to human form and turning the once happy-go-lucky jokester of the Titans into a brooding, cantankerous, beer-swilling hybrid of A Flying Monkey from the 1939 adaptation of "The Wizard of Oz" and Dr. Seuss's "Grinch."

His situation was similar to that of Kartar Hol, who, following an incident with a devolution ray, had become a literal Hawkman, driven to protect nature from the selfishness of man. Other vets outside of The Titans Included Jason Todd, the second Robin, now revived and wandering around the states as The Red Hood on a murderous rampage of vengeance, Aleea Strange, teenaged daughter of R'ann's champion, Adam Strange, The Ghosts of Sandra Knight, The Phantom Lady and Charles McNider, Dr. Mid-Night from Earth-Two, brought to Earth-One by The Phantom Stranger, Adam Blake, Captain Comet, King and Queen Marvel, former sidekicks of Billy Batson whose connection to the Rock of Eternity and years in hibernation had stunted their aging, The Red Tornado, his elemental spirit freed from his android body and now going by the codename "Tornado Champion", Boston Brand, Deadman, his spiritual form now reflecting the total decay of his now skeletal body, and Alloy, a composite formed by the unintentionally permanent joining of Doc Will Magnus' Metal Men robots, (minus their personalities)

The only veteran that truly dared to oppose the new regime, General Glory aside, was Bruce Wayne/Batman, but after a fight with the Venom drug enhanced ''Bane'' left The Dark Knight crippled, paralyzed from the waist down like Barbera Gordon before him, Bruce in a medically induced stupor, recruited and Trained the violent vigilante Jean-Paul Valley aka Azreal to take his place as a newer, more violent and Robinless Batman, only to realize his error when it was too late. With no other options, Tim Drake relocated to Blüdhaven to join Dick Greyson and his wife, Princess Koriand'r of Tamaran/Starfire, as Red Robin. Meanwhile, back in NYC, John Henry Irons, in tribute to the true Caped Crusader, discarded his Superman theme in favor of a Batman-styled suit of armor, complete with its own utility belt filled with hardware tools. Back in Gotham itself however, Cassandra Kane, the mute niece of 1st Bat-Girl, Elizabeth Kane and daughter of Betty's Uncle David, bred to become the world's greatest assassin, surpassing even the legendary Slade Wilson, Deathstroke, would join Jean-Paul Valley in his "Holy War" as his Batgirl. Damned to follow her father's intent without the guiding hand of Bruce Wayne to direct her down a better path. On top of this, Valley would also, out of vain glory, revive the multi-national "Batmen of Many Nations," a global group comprised of non-powered vigilantes inspired by the example of The World's Greatest Detective. The first three members; The Samurai of Japan, The Dragon of China and The Cossack of Russia, helped to form the core of this resurrected Club of Heroes.

In time, as their influence grew, Extreme Justice would be joined by a new generation of teen heroes calling themselves Young Justice. Darkstar, a member of the GL Corps' more deadly rivals, Iris West, the New Kid Flash, Mar'i Grayson aka Nightstar whose father and mother are too obvious to mention,  Tula II, the New Aquagirl, Olivia Queen, The new Black Canary, both a screamer and an Archer, Avia, the Daughter of Mr. Miracle and Big Barda and Lightning, the daughter of Black Lightning and Johni Thunder. Owing to the predominantly female membership of the group, they were mockingly and crudely nicknamed ''Darkstar's Angels'' by their elders. Something they attempted to endure with dignity. Despite this, both teams somehow managed to work well in tandem despite YJ's secret resentment and loathing of EJ and EJ's inability to show anything more than begrudging respect for and interest in YJ. During Young Justice's Early years, before they found their own base, Magog even allowed the teens access to The Barrel's top facilities, including its Gym, Automat, Spare Sleeping Quarters, and holographic training room.

Of course, with the Iron Age of Heroes came, in turn, the Iron Age of villains, and its numbers were as violent as the heroes who fought them.

There was The aforementioned Wildebeest Society, The anarcho-fascist terrorist Swaztika, The metal skinned, Yugoslavian Amateur dictator Von Bach, Goulish Goblin Lord and his sidekick, April Fool, The Sadomasochistic mercenary, Pinwheel, The masked cultist known as Buddha, The bio-warfare raging ''Germ-Man'', The insectoid Tyrant-Tula, Demon Gate, The militant, Far-Right, Ultra-Nationalist militia leader ''The Ammericomando'', his followers the ''Minutemen'' and his robotic minions Red, White and Blue, the lost hero ''Triumph'', dismissed as a lunatic for his memories of being both founder and leader of the Justice League, the telepathic Brain-Trust duo, The Riot Grrrl "Harlequin" aka the Harleen Quinzel of Earth-One (Counterpart to Earth-Two's Harley Quinn),  Signalwoman, N-I-L-8, the rogue AI mecha gone mad, , Tefé Holland, daughter of the Swamp Thing, Jade Fox, Atlas, The Extremists, The Blue Screenies, Togarmah, Atom-Smasher; Evil Earth-One Counterpart of Nuklon, Shrapnel, King Snake, Fel Andar, Duela Dent now known as Holiday, The psychopathic gang of serial killing butchers known as The Slaughter Brigade, the Robotic Iron Butterfly, A new Catwoman in Gotham, Black Mongul, Tommy Merlyn, Possessed statue Spartan, Decay, Quiz, The Circus of Strange, Salamander, Orca, The aforementioned Bane, Conduit, Condiment King, Mister X, The Acid Queen, King Shark, Doctor Morpheus, Sabbac, The NKVDemon, Double Down, Tar Pit, Cassius Payne the 4th Clayface, Maxie Zeus. Bloodsport, Hi-Tech, Ultra-Traditionalist Vigilante Lock-Up (whose counterpart on Earth-Two bedevilled Huntress and Robin for a time), The tiger-skinned Huntress, Kabrini, Victor Zsasz the Tally-Man of Gotham, and larger threats such as Starro, Mongal, The Black Adam Family, Dreamslayer, Knockout, Bloody Mary, The Intergalactic fear demon ''Parallax'', Fatality, The Velorpians, (Czarnians on Earth-Two) Neron, Massacre, The Various Evil Lantern Corps and spurned third son of Darkseid ''Grayven,'' who sought to take his father's throne from Orion, then King of Apokolips. These are just a couple of handfuls.

Despite the presence of these foes, however, the greatest and most prominent threat the Superhumans of the Iron Age faced was no ethereal threat from another world, nor was it a conqueror from the stars. The most terrible foes faced by the heroes of this time were, in fact, nothing more than a collection of (mostly) unpowered humans. The MLF, The Mankind Liberation Front. This cabal of veteran and 2nd/3rd generation Supervillains was a more subtle and effective incarnation of the Anti-Justice League/Injustice Gang/Legion of Doom of yore. Led by a figure who claimed to be a clone of the Earth-One Lex Luthor, who'd perished in the Arctic at the hands of a superpowered Lana Lang, the MLF was one of the best-worst-kept secrets in the world of metahuman affairs. They were presented as an urban myth, as was to their liking. A legend of a shadowy conspiracy of has-been villains who, never able to give up their dreams of world domination, had supposedly gone "legit" after their sentences were up, manipulating national and international political, cultural, and social events behind the scenes.

No one knew which villains were in the group, least of all those in Extreme Justice, but the reality of its existence was so well accepted by most of the modern heroes, that it only strengthened their resolve to exterminate as many decrepit Silver and Bronze Age heroes as they possibly could. In reality, aside from the supposed Luthor clone, the MLF's membership consisted of the following: Edward Nigma, The Riddler, Selina Kyle, The original Catwoman, King, former leader of the Original card themed crime cartel "The Royal Flush Gang", Georgia Sivana, youngest daughter of the late nemesis of Captain Marvel, Jeffrey Franklin aka Kobra aka Lord Naga, former leader of the Kobra Cult and Ibn al Xu'ffasch, bastard son of Bruce Wayne of Batman and Talia al Ghul who had taken over the League of Assassins in the wake of his grandfather's death. (And who, subsequently existed on Earth-Two as Damien Wayne, the Great-Grandson of its Batman.) United, this cabal's primary goal was the total extinction of metahuman kind and the dividing of the world into their own personal fiefs to rule and run as they desired.

On top of all these, the new heroes inherited from the Bronze Age the likes of Eclipso, Intergang, Technis, The Nuclear Family Several evil New Gods and the aforementioned Ra's al Ghul's League of Shadows, both of whom they eventually wiped off the face of the cosmos (The League lived on even if Ra's, of course, didn't.) Yet, despite their generation's ''Put the sick dogs down'' attitude, it would take them most of the Iron Age to successfully hunt down and kill even half of them, especially with the holdovers from the Silver/Bronze Age sending them to court and prison as their mentors before them. Lastly, although it may seem from this entry that the Iron Age was merely a mindless bloodbath with heroes of this time doing little to nothing worthy of praise, it must be mentioned, in the interest of fairness, that the Hero Community also found themselves involved in several major events: The war between the Greek and Roman Pantheons, Victor Stone's attempted assimilation of the solar system as The Omegadrome, The invasion of the Bloodlines Parasites, The mass possession of the Earth Population by Eclipso, the almost World-Ending attack from the entity known as "The Sun-Eater", The Identity Crisis and the Trinity War.

For 25 years on Earth-One, "Play nice or Play Dead" became the Standard by which all heroes lived, and with the younger heroes cutting off all contact with Earth-Two and its champions after less than a decade of their reign, there was no one left to instruct them in the ''Might for Right, Truth and Justice'' principles that had made the eras before so hopeful. The older generations were the first to criticize and condemn Magog's Breed and could be heard in the early days, to the dismay of their children, reminiscing on the "innocence" and "wonder" of the time of the Justice League, Titans, and Outsiders. The eldest among them, waxing nostalgic over the days of the Squadron of Justice.

To capitalise on this sense of dissatisfaction with modern times, former superhero Michael Jon Carter aka Booster Gold, used the fortune he'd amassed by selling his likeness to anyone who would take it to start the "Planet Krypton" Restaurant chain, a series of eateries that used memorabilia (most of it being replicas save for the original restaurant in Metropolis) and iconography of the Gold, Silver and Bronze Ages to sell dishes and drinks with such delectable names as "Dial "H" for Hoagie," "Black Condor on the Rocks" and "The Phantom Platter." Although Carter's customer base started as a niche, his chain mostly catering to older folks who opposed The Iron Age, as the years went by, the appeal of Planet Krypton would soar with nearly every demographic.




After 19 and a half years of their tenure, however, a dwindling supervillain population left the Iron Agers with little to do other than disaster prevention. Restless and uncaring, the heroes began turning on each other, staging mock battles, oftentimes in crowded areas, causing devastating amounts of both collateral/property damage and loss of human life. To make matters worse, when the heroes weren't attempting to kill each other over their petty pride, they were getting inebriated at the Secret Sanctuary Bar, Grill, and Hotel, a sub-alpine tavern converted from the original Justice League base within Mount Justice in Happy Harbour, Rhode Island. This bar, incidentally, also became a haven for the remnants of the villain community as, by that point, neither side could tell the difference between the other.

Suffice to say, with the constant mindless destruction, death, and infighting, compounded with the seeming apathetic and thrill-seeking hedonism of the new champions whom it'd once so fervently cheered for, global society began to fall into a desperate and hopeless slump. Confronted by the prospect that they could never rise above or even to the level of their reckless superpowered demigods who, at any time, could accidentally vaporize an entire region in the course of their self-indulgent ''missions,'' the human race seemed to simply give up on itself. Over the next three years, institutions such as the Nobel Peace Prize, the Olympics, and the Oscars came to an end as humanity waited for their heroes' out-of-control lust for warfare to make them extinct.

Little did they know that, in a faraway town in the Midwest, a young man, having known of his own great powers since infancy, was learning from his father, a retired mechanic and his mother, a former ace reporter for the Daily Planet, of his true heritage. And it would be this knowledge that would save the Earth and put human civilization back on its feet.

That man's name was Jon Elliot.

Chapter Text

With her legendary Cousin's self-exile to protect the inhabited Universe from his anti-matter-permeated body, Kara Zor-L, Earth-Two's Power Girl and counterpart to the deceased Supergirl of Earth-One, found herself cast as the most powerful woman on the planet. Possessing the power levels that her cousin had enjoyed in his prime as Superman, Kara was now thrust to the forefront of the Superhero community, with everyone now expecting her to lead them into this strange, new tomorrow. This pressure only mounted with the JSA's sudden disappearance and Infinity Inc's restructuring into Justice Society Infinite. Former Star-Spangled Kid turned Skyman, Sylvester Pemberton attempted in vein to hand the reigns of power of this new team over to Kara, even as the 2nd JSA Satellite to replace the iconic brownstone in Gotham City, which they had converted into a museum to memorialize their missing mentors, was put into orbit. Her refusal came as a surprise to most, save for the rest of the 2nd Trinity, the Huntress, and Fury. After all, she had her cousin's city to protect and the weight of the responsibility of filling the hole left behind by her legendary relation had already matured her quite enough. The time for change had arrived. Power Girl was no more and Power Woman would rise from the ashes of youth.

But as time passed, life only seemed to worsen for Kara. The disappearance of Superman, coupled with that of the Daily Star's Editor in Chief and his well-acclaimed wife caused suspicion to grow among the people of Metropolis. As this began to impede on Karan Starr's own life, she recalled the press conference in which the various members of Infinity Inc. had revealed their own secret identities and, at a similar kind of conference at Metropolis City Hall, revealed her true face to the world, subsequently exposing Clark Kent's 5-decade secret in the process. This shouldn't have posed much of an issue for Kara, who had very few loved ones left on Earth. In truth, she'd hoped that revealing her identity would make life less complicated. But, in her haste, she'd failed to take into account the relentlessness of the tabloid press machine, which now followed her around wherever she went, interfering with her civilian life as well as her hero work. Fortunately, she was able to find solace in her close friends, sympathetic teammates and Lois Lane's now middle-aged niece, Susan Tompkins. Before long, A new generation of villains and societal/social ills arrived on Power Woman's doorstep, spearheaded, in the wake of Alexi Luthor's death, by The Ultra-Humanite, still encased in his Simian form and, occasionally, Mr. Mxyztplk who would often pop in at the worst times possible. But, of course, these she was more than capable of handling on her own. It wasn't long, however, before Romance entered Kara's life and changed everything once again.

During the late 80s, Kara found herself entangled in several cases alongside a team known as "The Mighty Mystics", a quartet of magic and spirituality-based heroes led by The Spectre, which was comprised entirely of superpowered, costumed counterparts of Earth-One plainclothes sorcerers, who had come to exist on Earth-Two due to cross-dimensional vibrations from Earth-One at the dawn of time. The most prominent among its ranks being the English black magician, John Constantine aka Hellblazer. Despite the crude, immature, chainsmoking nature of this masked mage, Kara found, by degrees, that she was gradually developing feelings for him. There was no fear of competition. The Earth-One Zatanna's counterpart on Earth-Two was Zatara's Nephew, Zachary and he was still a child. In time, the two's feelings towards each other developed into a sacred bond and it wasn't long before the superheroes were married in a public ceremony in Metropolis following which, Hellblazer relocated to America permanently.

Naturally, it wasn't long before John gave Kara a Child to bear. Born in 1987, Omar Starr-Constantine, Kryptonian name Om Zor-L, was raised into a life of legacy and duel power. His innate Kryptonian abilities activated almost instantly despite his half-human heritage, and it was clear to everyone in his extended family that when he grew up, he'd be as much of a Superman as his cousin before him. With the stories his mother told of him, the world's first superhero, it was impossible for Omar not to get invested in the idea of continuing the family legacy of heroism. However, with his father being what he was, a master of black magic, it was just as hard for him not to get invested in that as well. Knowing the Kryptonian weakness to magic on both worlds, his father gladly, once his mother decided he was old enough, helped him turn this inherent weakness into an asset, teaching Omar a select number of defensive and offensive spells: Teleportation, basic illusions, and clairvoyance. In divination, the boy also revealed himself as a prodigal Aeromancer. As he grew older, he would advance to greater and more powerful hexes. Summoning, Possession, Voodoo, and Transmutation.

Aside from his Father, Omar had other teachers. Doctor 13 and Mr. E, retired mystics like Zatara and Sargon the Sorcerer, Salem Nader, Jared Stevens, the man called ''Fate'', and Hector Hall aka the Silver Scarab turned Sandman. As he grew up, his mother also taught him the ins and outs of being an L. Super Strength, Super Speed, Super Senses, and, for the time being, Super Leaping.  During one such practice session, The Spectre arrived on the orders of his master, who may or may not be the Biblical God, to inspect the child. He explained to his parents that, in heaven, a prophecy had been pronounced by the almighty himself that on the ''second earth'', a champion would rise to bring the forces of darkness and light, the scientific and the spiritual together in harmony. A champion that would be praised by the angels, yet consort with Demons. Relaying this news to her teammates, Kara convinced Beth Chapel and Jared Stevens to keep an eye on and protect her child, lest the L Family's enemies kidnap her son for their own monstrous ends.

As Omar grew older, however, he began to feel more and more like a novelty. Being the cousin of the legendary Superman and the son of the great Power Woman,  it was hard to tell if his ''friends'' liked him for himself or his family tree. Many times, during the 4th to 7th grades, he longed to be rid of his powers and live as a normal kid. growing up, his closest companion was Victor Sage-Wayne, who was his senior by four years, but as the years ground on, he managed to make himself a few close comrades his age. By High School, the hype surrounding his bloodline seemed to have calmed down considerably and he began to put his mind back to heroic pursuits. The timing couldn't have been better. Shortly after graduation, following his mother's grand battle with Manchester Black and his ''Elite,'' The Ultra-Humanite, seemingly destroyed after an atomic implosion had seemingly decimated his white gorilla body, returned once more. This time, in the form of a semi-digital android, having downloaded his consciousness into cyberspace two seconds before the inversion of his atomic structure.

Power Woman quickly engaged this new form, but due to the new body's digital nature, she was unprepared for the Humanite's newfound semi-intangibility and Duplication skills. The Situation only escalated when the android created a Mini-Y2K in the City Center, turning all electronic devices connected to the internet into rampaging, malfunctioning shock troopers. Omar, who happened to be on the scene at the time saw his chance to debut. Having constructed an Indigo and Bazil Green costume with a v-shaped hole, exposing his chest where an All-Seeing Eye surrounded by Atomic Rings was tattooed onto it, a cape that looked almost like a wizard's cloak, bronze cape clips and shin and arm guards with ancient runes emblazoned upon them, Omar came forth to aid his Mother in the battle against the Humanite.

Using an array of Spells, it was a simple matter of compelling the Humanite's army of digital demons to exit their hosts before turning to their master himself. Despite his best efforts, being a person of pure science, the Humanite was no match for the powers of the arcane and unknown that this new opponent possessed and soon, he found himself solidified, unable to return to semi-existence. After that, all it took was an uppercut to send him crashing to the earth. But even as the Humanite found himself imprisoned on a multiply locked and zipped file on a Warden's hard drive on a PC at the recently renamed Clark Kent Correctional Center, the world and, in fact, the Principal and Superintendent of Metropolis High quickly seemed to recognize this new hero. Owing to his Mother's Lack of a secret identity, it wasn't long before they realized why.

Luckily, Omar remained unphased by this turn of events, having known full well that this would be the result sooner or later. Given his position as a being of creation and evolution, darkness and light, he quickly took on the name "Equinox" before joining the ranks of the hero world in JSI. Eventually, he would move his activities to Civic City, Pennsylvania to attend college there, hoping to one day become the defender of Metropolis like his relations before. In Civic, Equinox quickly established himself as one of, if not the most powerful beings on the planet, besides The Spectre, and all this before he reached the age of 20.  Mad Scientists and terrorists came first but before long, alien invaders, killer robots, malignant spirits and fallen angels took up his time as Civic seemed to be a hidden hotspot for villains and demons alike. He even followed in his cousin's social justice work, taking on the corrupt, rich, abusive and prejudiced. In time, Equinox would form his own trinity to supplement the all-female one of his mother's time, with Vic Sage, now working in Hub City as The Question, and Daphne Trevor-Hall aka The Night Hag, who spent half of her life protecting the realm known as the Dreaming and the other half Protecting the waking world. Together, they formed the basis of what would end up becoming L.A.W: the Living Assault Weapons, once Vic had convinced the other two to join it.

Needless to say, Earth-Two's society was in for a shakeup.

Chapter Text

Before the events of the Crisis on Infinite Earths, the history of the superhero on Earth-One had been fairly simple. Heroes that were already established on Earth-Two by the late 1930s to mid-1940s, began appearing on Earth-One, 17 to 20 years after their original counterparts. Younger, stronger and some under different yet similar names, faces and circumstances but still, the first generation of heroes for their world and the ones that would one day band together to form the fabled Justice League of America. Over the years, many other champions of Right would join them on their crusade for justice and dignity.

Names such as The Green Arrow, The Atom, Black Canary, The Elongated Man, Metamorpho, The Doom Patrol, The Challengers of the Unknown, Robbie Reed and his H-Dial, The Teen Titans and more all became legendary but still, all of them the same, all of them part of the first generation. For most of their existence, it was such, their only interactions with older heroes being the cross-dimensional affairs with the Justice Society of America, which started when Barry Allen, the first Flash of Earth-One, while performing before an audience of children at the Central City Community Center, accidentally vibrated himself into Earth-Two's Keystone City, where he met and befriended Jay Garrick and his family, including his 12-year-old daughter and the future Boom, Judy. Jay who had been considering ending his 12-year retirement from Superheroics, did so after Barry's aiding him in taking down his three greatest foes; The Thinker, The Fiddler and the Shade. From that point on, other visitations to Earth-Two by Earth-One heroes and vice-versa persisted, leading, in time, to the full reformation of the JSA in the Earth-Two 1960s.

In many ways, the restructuring of reality following the Crisis has cheapened these interactions. And yet, it has, as a plus, given Earth-One a great number of inspirations to fall back on in times of need. Billy Batson and the rest of The Marvel Family might have found their lives relocated to more contemporary surroundings in a truly unified world, yet the continued separation of Earths One and Two, plus a kind of universal "luck of the draw" has, instead, landed them, the rest of their Earth-S colleagues and many displaced Earth-X heroes considered, perhaps, too superfluous for the All-Star Squadron on Earth-Two, into the timeline of that other world in the 1930s/40s. In this way then, the history of an entire globe was changed forever; and, as the histories of Earth-One clearly note, it all began in 1936 with Brian O'Brien.

What possessed this young Sports Star turned District Attorney of New York City to resign from his position and take up the black veil of the figure the Manhattan underworld would come to know only as "The Clock", armed, for a time, with only his fists and a handgun? Boredom? Frustration at the seeming ineffectiveness of the era's Legal System? Perhaps a higher calling involving divine prophesy or time travel? Whatever the reason, It was O'Brien's decision to don the mask and begin his vigilante career that would, as the Golden Age came into being, inspire many others to follow his lead after three years of acting solo. The first of these was young private detective and adventurer Hugh Hazzard with his liberated ''Iron Man'' Bozo; An automaton created by the mad scientist Van Thorp in 1939. 

But it wasn't until February of the following year, 1940, on a dark, rainy night outside of a subway station in Fawcett City, Illinois, that the world would receive its first great champion. That fateful night when 9-year-old orphan and newsie, Billy Batson, left penniless and homeless by his greedy uncle Ebeneezer following the death of his parents, would find himself brought deep into the depths of the tube by a mysterious, shadowy figure and taken on board a magical locomotive, which, in turn, brought him to the otherworldly, mystical Rock of Eternity, home and headquarters of the Mighty Wizard Shazam, a former Canaanite Shepard Boy turned immortal sorcerer, who had spent many a century defending the mortal world from the forces of evil. It was Shazam, in his old age, who had chosen Billy to be his successor and the inheritor of his power. Each letter of his name was a divine attribute to pass on, gifted to him by the elder gods of long ago, ever-changing through time and pantheon. By speaking the wizard's name with intent, Billy would be transformed into a super-powered adult form containing each of these qualities and dubbed by the wizard himself as "Captain Marvel, The World's Mightiest Mortal.'' With Batson's empowerment came Shazam's passing. And yet, he would remain an ever-present mentor in Billy's life from beyond the grave.

In the time that followed that first night at the throne of The Wizard, Billy gained employment at Whiz Radio, Fawcett's foremost radio station, as a presenter for a program for children like himself. As Captain Marvel, he would save many lives, thwart many crimes, stop many disasters and obtain a manager of outlandish and unforgettable foes such as Dr. Thaddeus Sivana, the leading Mad Scientist of his time, The Alien Worm Mr. Mind, The rogue atomic robot "Mr. Atom," Axis Super-Agent Captain Nazi, The bat-like extra-terrestrial Jeepers, IBAC, former protohuman despot turned modern-day terrorist King Kull, Axis spy and balladeer Kurt Filpots aka Mr. Banjo and, possibly his greatest foe of all, Black Adam, another former student and would be successor of Shazam from Ancient Egypt gone malevolent. These and many others would eventually join forces to create the world's first, largest and most dangerous cabal of supercriminals known to the planet's history, which, in time, would come to include all three major Axis leaders: ''The Monster Society of Evil." In the early years of this career, however, Billy would also find the one thing in all the world that his young heart desired: A family. First with a young Captain Marvel fan named Freddy Freeman.



Crippled and nearly killed along with his grandfather, Jacob, by Captain Nazi, he would be brought before the Rock of Eternity and rejuvenated, now able to gain the same powers as his idol by speaking his name, becoming the blue-suited ''Captain Marvel Jr.'' But for Billy, the family truly began with his long lost Sister, Mary Bromfield who, in addition to her foster family's adoption of Billy, would become a hero in her own right with The Wizard's blessing as Mary Marvel. The family would later be extended by the inclusion of Hoppy the Marvel Bunny, Mary's pet rabbit, The three ''Lieutenant Marvels", all sharing Billy's name and Dudley H. Dudley, a lazy but lovable humbug with the personality and mannerisms of the actor WC Fields, who attempted to mooch off Billy and Mary by passing himself off as their ''Uncle.'' Upon discovering their secret, Dudley would take on the identity of ''Uncle Marvel'', The Team's manager who routinely claimed to have the same blessing of Shazam as the others and would've gladly used it if not for his "Shazambago'' always seeming to ''act up'' whenever actual danger reared its head. There was also Tawky Tawny, member of a secret race of Tigermen from the Grasslands of India who immigrated to the United States and became a sidekick of sorts to the Marvels.

With the coming of Captain Marvel, a vast array of gladiators soon joined them in the crusade against crime and injustice. The Brightly colored Archer and playboy Tom Halloway, aka The Spider from River City, Debutante Brenda Banks aka Lady Luck, Carol Vance, herald of the fire god Logi who operated as Wildfire, The Debonair Magic-Ring Weilder, Diamond Jack, The murderous Mouthpiece of Star City, Kit Freeman aka Kid Eternity, Freddy Freeman's long lost kid bother who, following his untimely death and revival, was granted the power to summon the souls of the dead to aid him in crimefighting, the enigmatic speedster known as "Quicksilver", the extra-terrestrial "Wonder Boy", Homo Magi Jim Slade, aka Tor: Master of Magic, Mr. Scarlet and his kid sidekick Pinky, 1st Defenders of Gotham City, Jim Barr, a Fawcett City Police Officer who took on the identity of Bulletman alongside his girlfriend Susan Kent who would become Bulletgirl. (Their arch-nemesis, Mortimer Gloom aka The Weeper would serve as their generation's Joker.)

The Egyptian Prince turned Mage Amentep,  known as Ibis the Invincible, General Glory and Ernie the Battlin' Boy, Mariner Lance O'Casey, Western archer and vigilante, Roger Parsons aka The Golden Arrow, Rich scion of the city of Carterville, reporter for the Daily Blade and top-hatted vigilante, Kenneth Wyman aka "The Devil's Dagger," wrongfully disgraced district attorney Dan Dyce who would perish early into his career as the masked #711, Destiny, the mysterious teleporting hobo from Main City, in actuality the personification of destiny and freedom and owner of the Book of Souls who would avenge the aforementioned's death, Los Angeles drug store soda jerk and discoverer of an unnamed super-powered vitamin, (Earth-One's version of Miraclo) Stormy Foster aka The Great Defender, Argentina's Red Gaucho, Wild Bill Dunn and his all-terrain ''Blue Tracer'', the Earth-One equivalent to Jim Lockhart and his ''Red Torpedo,'' Crossdresser Richard Stanton aka Madam Fatal, the horrifically dated, but well-intentioned Barry Moore aka The Scarlet Seal, The mysterious, shirtless Foreign Legion soldier "The Unknown," The Unaging "Voice" who had survived well beyond 170 years thanks to an island of supernatural herbs, Alan Armstrong, The Spy Smasher, who began his life of battling Axis Agents long before America's entry into World War II, Margo Presto, daughter of another Homo Magi magician. A.C Egan, the US Army Air Corps' spacefaring "Ace of Space". (Tony Grey and Dianne Grayton, aka The Raven and The Spider Widow, would be transferred to Earth-Two and thus would never take part in the Earth-One Golden Age, instead becoming members of the All-Star Squadron on their new home.)

With America's entry into the Second World War, new heroes would join the growing community:

Earth-One's Blackhawk Squadron, Navel Secret Service operative Jerry Noble, codenamed "Yankee Eagle", Jack Weston, the patriotic Minute-Man, Bruce Blackburn the ''Destroying Demon,''  Prizefighter turned ''Champion of Democracy'' Don Glory, Masked pilot Mickey Malone aka The Phantom Eagle, The Department of State's Clairvoyant telepath Human ''Radar,'' Timothy ''Pep'' Pepper, WHIZ Radio personality turned homeland nazi fighter Chase Yale aka Commando Yank and Earth-One's female counterpart to Uncle Sam, the spectral ''USA,'' Ghost of 18-year-old dutch settler Ursula Sanne Appelman, who, rewarded with a locket of threads from the original American flag, given by Betsy Ross for patiently watching her sew, was caught in a rain storm on her way home and subsequently perished of fever not long after. For her enthusiasm and belief in America's cause, a divine act of paradise allowed her spirit to return to earth and become her country's eternal living spirit. She carried with her a spiritually bulletproof version of the American flag that would only stop fluttering in her hands when danger was near, as well as a ''Torch of Liberty" that could redirect objects, fire bursts of kinetic energy, and even redirect radio waves to expose spies and 5th Columnists.

In this early time of heroes, many were underpowered but still skilled enough to hold their own against injustice and enough to defend others as well as themselves. Even The Clock, much like Earth-Two's Sandman and Crimson Avenger, started to wear his own stylized ''Hero costume'' in order to change with the times. But it wasn't until the strongest 10 of them, plus a time-displaced JLA, came together on the behest of the god Mercury to save Shazam and all of Humanity from the machinations of King Kull that they truly became a unified and organized force for good. Under The Wizard's guidance, Captain and Mary Marvel, Captain Marvel Jr, Bulletman/Girl, Mr Scarlet and Pinky, Spy Smasher, Ibis the Invincible and Wildfire joined forces to become their world's first-ever superhero group "Shazam's Squadron of Justice." Together, they battled against the Monster Society of Evil, Organised Crime and The Axis both on the homefront and abroad for the remainder of the war. Over the next 13 years, The Batson Children grew into young adults, and with that age came maturity and change. While Billy, now calling himself Bill, remained progressively dedicated to his work as Captain Marvel, becoming withdrawn and disinterested in the concept of romance as he groomed himself for his future role as the Rock of Eternity's new caretaker (Following the end of World War II, the gods behind the Marvel Family's powers had decreed that Bill would take the role that Shazam had filled in the eons before his death), Mary and Freddy grew closer together physically. They would eventually tie the knot in 1950 and would, in due course, have a child of their own, while Bill remained childless and unmarried, finding the cultivation of a family incompatible with the fate that had been prophesized.

With the end of the War and the approaching new decade of the 1950s, many of the old heroes of the Golden Age hung up their garbs and tried to establish normal lives for themselves, but others still stuck around. Don Glory ran for office, eventually becoming Governor of Connecticut, Pep Pepper, Jerry Noble and the Blackhawks stayed on with the government and military, now turning their eyes toward the Soviets, Diamond Jack continued as a vigilante, travelling across the country, USA stuck around for a time until the disillusioning cruelty of the CCUAC caused her to retreat back to the afterlife for over a decade until the assassination of JFK and her support for the growing civil rights movement compelled her to return. Jack Weston and Stormy Foster continued to maintain their heroic identities till 1955, while Barry Moore burned his costume and makeup kit post-d-day, after meeting actual Chinese-Americans face to face for the first time.

The only heroes in full standing after the end of the war were those in The Squadron of Justice and indeed, at the time, it seemed as if the team would go on fighting unfairness forever. However, in the shadows, as the world recovered from the hardships of wartime life, Dr. Thaddeus Sivana and his two cloned children, Georgia and Thaddeus Jr, devised what they believed to be their final and most fatal blow against their eternal foes. In the spring of 1953, with their closest friends, their unwitting coworkers from Whiz Radio, their lieutenants and the other members of the Squadron of Justice as witnesses, The Marvel Family were receiving mayoral honors in front of Fawcett City Hall when the Sivanas put their terrible plan into action. Using a large and powerful vacuum to abduct all present aboard an experimental rocket, The Sivanas then flew their captives out into space between the Earth and the Sun, to a large globe of a semi-solid element discovered by the senior Sivana known as ''Suspendium." This substance, being, as its name suggested, capable of inducing suspended animation upon anyone or thing that entered into it, the Sivanas intended to keep the Marvels and their allies in a state of permanent preservation for all time, while they returned to reform the Monster Society and conquer the now defenseless world.

However, due to Thaddeus Jr's over-enthusiasm and carelessness, the craft flew out of control and was piloted into the Suspendium glob which, for the next 17 years (20 in the old Earth-S timeline), remained their prison. Only Pinky Butler,  Sidekick to Mr. Scarlet/Brian Butler, would be left behind, having been sick and bedridden that day. As he grew older, he would find himself giving crimefighting lessons to a young Bruce Wayne, in his guise as the original Robin which he had used on the famous Gotham Police Detective, Harvey Harris. Eventually, the world and the loved ones of those lost to the disaster were forced to move on with their lives without them, especially when NACA and, later, NASA discovered and confirmed that the suspendium ball was drawing ever closer to the sun, ensuring that within the span of two decades, all aboard the ill-fated spacecraft would be incinerated as, regrettably, suspendium is, despite all of its properties, not heat proof.

Indeed, it might have been the end for the Marvel Family and their allies, friends and enemies, if not for the combined efforts of NASA, Superman, Batman, The Atom and Hal Jordan's Green Lantern who would finally, with the assistance of Captain Comet and Adam Strange, aid the lost in breaking free of the melting element and flying them back to Earth. The Justice League of America had for the past few years, been petitioning both the Federal Government and NASA for consent to and aid in attempting a rescue mission of the doomed passengers, but only now, with three years left before incineration, had it been deemed possible to execute such a feat, with Superman leading the effort. The Man of Steel had never forgotten reading about the exploits of his boyhood idol during his childhood in Smallville as Superboy and wanted, more than anything, (besides preserving the precious lives of those aboard the rocket) to thank him personally for inspiring him to become what he had become in the only way that Superman could, by saving his life and returning him to Earth. Within the space of two days, the heroes succeeded in pulling the ship from its gelatinous tomb by concentrating the heat of the sun entirely on the Syspendium, melting it without damaging the ship via magnifying glass created by Hal Jordan's ring, before the other heroes gently pulled the ship back to Fawcett City.

The effort was hailed as a triumph and a miracle by the international press. As loved ones reunited with those unchanged in nearly two decades, efforts to reacclimatize them to the future they now found themselves in were soon put into play by the JLA and government. The Squadron of Justice too had to be brought up to date and, needless to say, they were not only astonished and mildly bewildered by the world that they now found themselves living in, but, more importantly, delighted to return to some semblance of their old lives and make up for the time lost. Freddy Freeman especially made a great effort to reinvent himself and step out of The Big Red Cheese's shadow. Upon hearing about the life of Elvis Presley, meeting The King in person and learning of how he had been such an inspiration for him growing up, (especially now in the latter stage of his life) Freddy decided, in 1972, as Elvis began incorporating Fleur-de-lis Vegas jumpsuits and capes into his Vegas attire, to return the favor, updating his image by sheer force of will and several meetings with Shazam, to become King Marvel. Mary too would follow similarly, updating her own appearance and taking on the title of Queen Marvel. Together, they would give the future Whiz, Ross Freeman, to the world in 1977, both remaining as vital and youthful in appearance as ever by then, due to the magical properties of the Rock, to which the powers of The Wizard were tied.

Bill Batson continued his work as Captain Marvel, eventually even joining the Justice League itself for a brief period of time before, eventually and inevitably, retiring to become Guardian of the Rock of Eternity after Superman's supposed death via the orders of Shazam who, with the aid of The Phantom Stranger, was finally able to pass on to the afterlife. Ibis, Spy Smasher, The Bullets and other SoJ alumni all ended up retiring some time before, soon bringing their own children and successors into the world, all of whom would grow up to help form the Iron Age of Heroes. Alas, while the legacies of these legendary heroes would continue, in a way, through these progeny, the standards and morals they stood for would, sadly, be cast to the wayside, in favor of the ideals established by Magog and Extreme Justice, effectively and entirely putting an end the remnants of The Golden Age of Earth-One.

Chapter Text

The Childminder sought one thing and one thing only when she Twice denied The Twelve their existence on Earth-Two. She was an entity of time that concerned herself very much with the affairs of children, but so torn was she by her status as a builder and creator of childhood, that the positive and negative aspects of this role caused her to take on two forms. By many, she was known as the kindly and gentle Mother Goose; Goddess of Infancy and Youth, weaver of Nursery Rhymes and Fairy Stories. Her other form went by several names. "The Wicked Witch", "The Evil Fairy", "The Old Hag." Attempted cannibal of children, tempter of the innocent, tormentor of beautiful young princesses. Yet, throughout her life, she longed, more than all of this, to have children of her own. Little ones to cherish and raise, to surround with play and care, to hold and tickle, to tell stories to at night and feed sugar and spice come morning. But like most things cosmically unattainable, that longing soon turned to dangerous obsession. The craving for motherhood slowly drove The Childminder insane, warping her physical appearance until there was no more distinction between evil and good.

Her power over children, throughout time and space, is what allowed her to kidnap the would-be child sidekicks of many Golden Age heroes from their places in Earth-Two's timeline before any of them had a chance to actually exist in it. And so, they didn't. Before and long after the Crisis, they were denied their lives, their families, their friends, their very presence. And yet, they had no knowledge of this fate, all while, retaining memories of the lives they were supposed to have lived as kids and as sidekicks to their respective heroes. In what was supposed to be their timeline, they had all come into their costumed personas as a direct result of the inspiration provided by Dick Grayson aka Robin, the then kid sidekick of The Batman. As a result of Robin being the 1st kid sidekick and all of the rest rallied around him as a sort of leader in the time of the All-Star Squadron. Despite their number, 6 of these pubescent partners would end up becoming the most relevant in the decade to come. Their identities were and are as follows.

Raghu Seetharaman aka Quiz Kid - Orphaned at age 10 in Nashua, New Hampshire, this 3rd generation Indian-American began a personal quest for absolute knowledge after discovering a book of trivia under his bed at an orphanage. He soon became a fan of a new Mystery-Man on the crimefighting scene in New York calling himself "Mr. Terrific," who believed and exhibited the sacred principle of "Fair Play." By 1942 at the age of 13, Raghu had entered High School a year early and was participating in ''Youth Trivia'' competitions across the country. The finals of one such tournament would be interrupted by the presence of Roger Romaine, The Spirit King, who would hold all involved for random. If not for the timely arrival of Terry Sloane aka Mr. Terrific and Raghu's helpful assistance, he might have succeeded. After the fiasco was over, Mr. Terrific agreed to stay on as a guest judge of the contest, which Raghu, as expected, won. Sloane, impressed by the boy's skill, challenged him to a one-on-one match that lasted 12 hours before it was finally called a tie to the relief of everyone involved.

Now deemed to be the smartest boy in the world by his Idol, Raghu would soon don a mask and costume of his own as Terry Sloane's ward and Mr Terrific's sidekick "Quiz Kid." Terry, being a former child prodigy himself and, arguably, The Smartest Man on Earth at the time, took an instant shine to the boy and became like an older brother to him. Indeed, the boy became, for a time, the only person to know of Terry's dual identity prior to them joining the All-Star Squadron. Known for being Polite, mature and wise well beyond his years as well as a natural-born leader, as evidenced by his handling of his neighborhood's local charter of the "Fair Play Club," he was also the most cunning and the most clever of the sidekicks taken.

James "Jimmy" Martin aka Tick-Tock - Unlike the rest of those taken, Jimmy Martin had already existed in Earth-Two before the crisis and had assisted his own mentor, Hourman, as founder/member of the Ham Radio Operators Club "The Minute Men of America." Rex Tyler had, in actuality, several dealings with Martin in the 40s, most notably the solving the murder of his older brother and sweatshop slave, Billy, the Martin family having been long beset with poverty in Appleton City, NY. Indeed, Jimmy's only possession of worth was the ham radio his father had given him before his death. After avenging Billy's killing, Hourman suggested that the boy use his skills in Radio Operation to help create a network of agents to help him fight crime across the United States. This organization successfully aided The Man of the Hour in a number of cases, but it was Jimmy's rebirth during the crisis into an eventual Sidekick for his idol that put him on the Childminder's Radar, his mentor sharing the secrets of Miraclo with the boy. More specifically, a version of it refined for younger bodies in the form of syrup.

Sadly, Jimmy's time with Hourman as Tick-Tock: The Hourlad would be short-lived as the toxic effects of the adult Miraclo soon took their toll on Rex after 3 years of service. The Massive Heart attack that followed and the dangers of the drug would put Rex Tyler out of action for good in 1943, leaving Tick-Tock to defend New York on his own, often aided by Little Boy Blue and his Blue Boys and Betsy Ross and Molly Pitcher. Known for being a jokester, the standard ''comic relief'' of his team, but often touchy about how his career with his mentor ended.

Sparkington J. Northrup aka Sparky - Born wealthy on the South Side of Hub City, the young Northrup became orphaned at the age of two when his parents died under "mysterious circumstances." (though, in actuality, the result of a hit job by the local mafia that was covered up by the crooked police department.) Shipped over to England by the family butler for his charge's protection, he soon found himself the ward of a close friend of The Northrup family. One "Lord Wellington" in the historic county of Suppleshire. (now absorbed into Shropshire) following the outbreak of War in 1939, Sparky saw his new home beset by the Nazi Luftwaffe's blitz. Even as the attacks cooled down in 1941, Lord Wellington saw it fit to send his ward, now 12, back to the States for his own safety, joining him on the journey, having purchased property in or near Hub City sometime prior. Due to his being brought up in an environment of grace and airs and gentlemanly conduct in the English countryside, Sparkington found himself out of place in the tougher urban environment of Hub.

Mocked as a ''sissy'' by other kids his age due to his laced clothing and refinement, not to mention his accent, it came as a treat to Sparky when his Lordship invited archeologist Dan Garrett to his 13th birthday. It also wasn't long before Sparky saw Dan transform for the first time into The Blue Beetle! Now knowing the Secrets of Khaji Da, it was only a matter of time before Sparky himself ended up involving himself in Dan Garrett's heroic affairs. Never one of the greatest imagination, he used his nickname as his costumed identity, hoping that it would be enough to cover his tracks. Known as a Refined, elitist, high-society gentleman with pretentious tastes and the air of a noble Cavalier, his partnership lasted significantly longer than those of his fellows.

Gloria James aka Cherry Bomb - Being born black in 1929 wasn't exactly the most blessed outcome for Gloria James. On top of that, growing up in NYC throughout the 1930s was no bed of roses either. With segregation and a poorer quality of life therein for most people of her race including herself and her family, her only marginal shield from the prejudices and frequent attacks she was forced to endure every week, was that her widowed father, Brian James, just so happened to be a distinguished Professor of Chemistry whose work on corrosives always overshadowed his skin color in the eyes of Society. Of course, as the saying goes, "almost" only counts in horseshoes. Gloria often worked alongside her dad and hoped that one day, she would be able to follow in his footsteps despite being well aware that if being black in her era was a difficult obstacle to overcome, being black and female made the jump close to impossible. As she reached the age of 14 in 1943 and with WWII now in full swing worldwide, Gloria began seeing a new face around her Papa's laboratory, one Roy Lincoln. 

Another respected chemist of his time, albeit with the added advantage of being Caucasian. Roy and Professor James were hard at work for the War Department in the creation of a kind of lubricant chemical that could open any lock without causing damage, to be used by American spies and French resistance fighters. As time wore on, Gloria noticed some peculiarities surrounding her father's new colleague. Mainly that he never seemed to take off his gloves. She soon found out why when a pair of cheap hoods murdered her father for his formula. In her mourning, she sought out Roy Lincoln, only to see him change into the full-body protective suit of "The Human Bomb." Misunderstood Mystery-Man, after swallowing the experimental "27-QRX" explosive to keep it from the hands of Axis Agents, developed an uncontrollable ability to cause anything his bare skin touched to explode.

In typical future sidekick fashion, Gloria blackmailed the Bomb into letting her join him on his investigation in exchange for his secret. When Lincoln responsibly refused, an Enraged Gloria returned to her father's lab and, having heard Lincoln's recount of his own origin, attempted with her own amateur skills in chemistry to recreate the formula for the explosive. When Roy Lincoln returned to the lab on a hunch, he found it destroyed and Gloria unconscious and bursting with energy. Together, the two brought her father's killers to justice, but whatever isolation Gloria had felt before was now doubled by the curse she now shared with Roy, who would help her learn to control her powers and lead some semblance of a normal life. Taking on the new name of ''Cherry Bomb,'' Gloria became her mentor's confidant and a frequent fixture at meetings of The Freedom Fighters, a favorite of Uncle Sam and a frequent babysitter to his kid sidekick, Buddy Smith. Known for being sassy, cynical, and the 2nd smartest of those listed.

Salem Nader aka Salem the Witch Girl -  Salem Rula Nader never had much use for a secret identity, what with her green skin and her abandonment by her parents at birth. Her mother was a resident of Limbo Town. A hidden, subterranean community of sorcerers and mages and a twisted parody of Puritan America based around the occult, illuminated by luminous blue rocks that surrounded it. Unfortunately, Limbo Town had a terrible curse placed upon it by its founders. Any woman born into Limbo Town who dared to desert its jurisdiction would be struck with ''bad fates'' that would affect those closest to the victim. Having abandoned her home for an Armenian immigrant and knowing that the curse would soon be upon her newborn daughter, Salem's mother departed with her lover to another dimension, leaving Salem to fend for herself, alone, penniless and green on the streets of Boston, Massachusetts. To add to her troubles, her Mother's curse had, indeed, been passed on to this unfortunate girl, as she had been born in the town before her family's escape. Anyone she ever grew close to, adult or child, would find their lives brought to injury, end or ruin, simply by having a relationship with her. Lonely, heartbroken and racked with guilt by her own vague awareness of the jinx, not to mention bombarded by fanatical Christian doctrines, she soon hardened her heart to friendship and love, believing herself to be unworthy of such things.

In the June of 1940 at the age of 10, a year after MGM's The Wizard of Oz had unintentionally made her think her life even more unbearable, Salem found herself unwillingly taken to the sacred tower of JSA founder Kent Nelson aka Dr. Fate. Fate'd had Salem on his radar for quite some time, but not before his nemesis, the dark sorcerer Wotan had discovered her first, Fate soon learning of Wotan's plans to sacrifice the child for power. Despite her continued protests, Salem was forced to stay in the Tower of Fate until the crisis was averted and reluctantly became her well-meaning captor's apprentice. During this time, she learned that the power of the Helmet of Nabu made her Tutor immune to the Limbo Town curse and, for the first time, Salem found a sliver of hope with her new teacher who she only grew closer to. Eventually, she began aiding Dr. Fate on his adventurers, becoming known by the press as "Salem the Witch Girl,'' easily recognized by her lime complexion, white hair, puritan garb and long, striped stockings. Still, the Limbo Town curse persisted, harming and killing all others she dared to grow close to. As a result, she kept her distance from her fellow sidekicks, maintaining a grating, cold, angry, exterior based on Margaret Hamilton's performance as The Wicked Witch of the West. It took her mentor's subsection of the JSA, Justice Society Dark, to finally find a counteractive spell for the curse in 1947. However, although the spell worked, due to its nature, not only was Salem constantly beset by agents of Limbo Town, but the charm had to be renewed every month, or the curse would return. Into adulthood and her magically extended life, she remains arrogant, quick to anger and vehemently protective of herself and her loved ones.

Rosibel Rivera aka Ladybug - A native of El Salvador, Rosibel's family emigrated to the United States when their daughter was 13 years old in 1939. Her father, Miguel, was talented in the art of beekeeping and as a result, they and Rosibel's mother, Ana, set up a Honey Farm named "Big Bee Ranch" outside of Superior City, Oregon. Rosibel had very few friends upon her move to the States, due to both her heritage, awkward nature and rounded figure, and as a result, she spent her first two years of her life in Superior helping out around the farm with the flower garden and sorting the different honey flavors. Due to the love she had for her family, however, she rarely complained about her work, despite her obvious loneliness and desire for friendship. As it happened, Rosibel's life would turn around in 1940 when she met one of her Family's most frequent customers. Local District Attorney Richard Raleigh who, unbeknownst to all but Miguel, was secretly the vigilante known as "The Red Bee.", one of two vigilantes during that era who used trained Hymenoptera to fight crime. (the other being the wasp-wielding vigilante, Vince Harley alias Yellowjacket.)  Rosibel's father frequently, in secret, helped Raleigh to train his army of crime-fighting bumble bees, which the district attorney would often buy honey and flowers for in bulk from the Ranch. Raleigh, an amateur beekeeper in his own right, had chosen to become The Red Bee, as he felt the country's legal system was too broken to do its job through the normal channels, especially in a corrupt, gangland-laden city such as Superior. Sure enough, sometime that year, a local gang with a protection racket set their sights on Big Bee ranch, vandalizing the farm to extort the Riveras.

Although the mobsters were arrested, the city's Chief of Police was on the take and soon dropped all charges against them. Inevitably, it fell on The Red Bee to put a stop to the injustice, proving the guilt of the gangsters and landing the corrupt chief behind bars. Although The Red Bee tended to be overlooked and underestimated as a superhero by many, Rosibel never forgot the kindness he had done for her family and, in many respects, became his number one fan. As thanks for his kindness, her parents set up their farm as a kind of Batcave for the vigilante and consequently, Rosibel began seeing more and more of her idol, who was now regarded as part of the family. Now, Rick Raleigh had a nemesis in the form of a Mad Scientist called Professor Pollen and after one adventure involving Pollen's shrink ray, hid the device in his hideout. Unfortunately, Rosibel soon ended up on the wrong side of the ray while visiting her "Hermano Mayor" one day and was shrunk to the size of one of her family's bees. Fortunately, Red Bee was able to fix the problem before destroying the ray for good, but Rosibel was left with the permanent ability to shrink and unshrink at will. Seeing the benefit of the new ''kid sidekick'' fad, Richard Raleigh revealed his true identity to his fangirl and offered to train her as his partner. From then on, and with the aid of a special winged suit that enabled her to fly, Rosibel became The Ladybug, the Red Bee's cute, chipper, kind, friendly, affectionate, annoyingly playful right antennae girl and caretaker for his favorite bee "Michael".

It was the work of Courtney Whitmore, Stargirl, and Emiko Queen, Arrowette to Lian Harper's Red Hood (and distant relative of Earth-Two's Oliver Queen,) coupled with the efforts of Matthew Tyler, the future Hourman of Justice Selection Alpha, that brought these lost sidekicks and others out of The Childminder's claws and into the rightful places in time and space. But of course, one of the most depressing realities of life is that all children have to grow up; Though some end up having to do so faster than others. Rosibel Rivera had just over two years as the Red Bee's sidekick before his death at the hands of Baron Blitzkrieg. Still, with the help of her partner's drinking buddy and fellow Freedom Fighter, Patrick O'Brien aka Plastic Man and fellow sidekick in mourning Dan Dunbar aka Dan the Dyna-Mite, (former partner of Tex N. Thomas, alias TNT) she would end up joining the latter's team, The Young All-Stars, for a time. Meanwhile, Jimmy Martin, perhaps justifiably, finished up resenting his mentor for passing his addictive steroid as a vitamin and leaving him out to dry when the effects took their toll. In contrast, Quiz Kid, Sparky and Cherry Bomb all enjoyed long and happy careers working alongside their partners. Salem remained, as ever, on the fence.

All of these crimefighting partners had reached their early to mid-20s by the time the early 1950s came around and found themselves in uncertain times. With the end of the war, a good many of America's masked crimefighters, who had gotten so used to battling Nazi agents both at home and overseas for the government, found it difficult to readjust to civilian crime smashing and began, one by one, to hang up their costumes. Many, but not all. The Seven Soldiers of Victory had disappeared four years prior following a final battle with the Iron Hand and his Nebula Man, most of the Freedom Fighters were making plans for the Cold War and the Justice Society was carrying on as ever, hoping to continue throughout the new decade.

The Sidekicks of the various heroes, living and dead, were unsure of where to go from there in this post-war society, the decade starting off so tentative with the formerly allied US and USSR on a collision course towards what would go down in history as the Cold War. That all changed for the former proteges in 1951 when the JSA were called before the Combined Congressional Un-American Activity Committee headed by Wyoming Senator Moses O'Fallon, taking command of the committee following the unexpected death of the Earth-Two Joseph McCarthy in a car accident. At a televised trial witnessed by the entire nation, O'Fallon ordered the present Justice Society roster to unmask themselves so that the work of clearing their names could commence. This blatant invasion of privacy was more than the heroes could handle and, with the aid of The Green Lantern's magic ring, before the eyes of a shocked Congress and republic, the world's premier hero team vanished in a flash of green light, not to be seen for the rest of the decade.

With the JSA seemingly gone for good, deemed as traitors by the House and Senate, The Seven Soldiers vanished, The Young All-Stars disbanded with the end of the war and the Freedom Fighters pulling out of their governmental contract talks and stepping down in solidarity, only Superman, Batman, Robin and Wonder Woman, the most well-recognized and regarded of the Mystery Men, remained active. Despite their continued presence, however, it simply wasn't enough to prevent costumed criminals, old and new, from finding conditions safe to come out of the shadows. In response to this, President Harry Truman, one of the few men left in power who still believed in the cause of the Mystery Men, yet stood unwilling to challenge Congress in their decision, managed to talk then Director of Central Intelligence, General Walter Bedell Smith, into setting up a new kind of Domestic Intelligence and Defence Taskforce designed to combat the costumed and mad genius threats that the mystery-men had once dealt with. thus the CIA team ''Argent," made up of former OSS agents, was formed.

But even with all of their experience, training, organization and success, Agent's arrival on the scene only solved just a little over half of the country's crime problem and no one understood what was needed for the rest of it better than Raghu Seetharaman, now calling himself Quiz King. This is undoubtedly why, in January of 1953, Raghu sent out letters to the 5 other former sidekicks mentioned, instructing them to meet him in a secret location in Rapid City, South Dakota. A few things had changed in the time between them becoming sidekicks and reaching adulthood. Salem The Witch Girl had dropped the ''Girl'' part of her name, Sparkington Northrup had inherited Khaji Da from the retiring Dan Garrett, becoming the 2nd Blue Beetle, and Jimmy Martin had long since given up his costumed identity, despite pleas from Rex Tyler to make use of his nontoxic Miraclo Ray. Gloria James and Rosibel Rivera were the only ones seemingly unchanged, albeit older and with upgraded costumes.

Finding themselves inside a seemingly abandoned Victorian Orphanage, furnished and brimming with electronic and scientific equipment, the 5 met with Quiz King who offered them a proposition. With the forced self-exile of the Justice Society and only less than a handful of classic Golden Agers outside of the Trinity still in active service, (Johnny Quick, Robotman, Plastic Man, and Liberty Belle) America had been left without a solid team of costumed champions. Argent was still overwhelmed by civilian villainy despite their strides and thanks to the efforts of men like Fredric Wertham turning the population against the remaining stragglers, It was clear that America's costumed heroes needed to reestablish themselves both for and against this new era. Raghu saw an opportunity to turn things around for the Mystery Men of America. From this base and, as the team's leader, he promised those assembled that they could help bring America out of the grip of the Red Scare and back into the light of sanity. In the end, all agreed to join this new team except for Jimmy Martin who was seemingly certain that he wanted nothing to do with costumed heroics ever again.

The then-unnamed Team's first mission was, seemingly, against Hammer and Sickle. A pair of Nikulin's Circus Acrobats turned MVD Agents who would soon meet their end at the hands of the Blackhawk Squadron. But although the team did well against these Soviet Agents, they were quickly thrown off guard by the real main event. Vladimir Sokov aka The Red Lantern. Communist rebuttal of Alan Scott and Bearer of the Crimson Flame. The aim of the mission, it seemed, was sabotage. Wrecking vital American infrastructure and overwhelm the local and state government, creating unrest and allowing Stalinist politicians to establish a hold in the country.

The team was nearly overcome by the power of Sokov's ring, only for Jimmy Martin, having had a change of heart and full of the energies of the Miraclo ray and in a similar Hourman costume to his mentor, to arrive on the scene and turn the tide, causing Red Lantern and the other two agents to flee back in defeat. This would prove to be Sokov's last mission for the Soviet Union, dying a week later while saving his newborn daughter, the future superheroine Ruby Sokov from human experimentation. In the present, however, The 6 young heroes were praised by a grateful populous, who saw their combatting of soviet forces as exactly what the country needed from their superheroes. Despite the team coming together to spite the JCUAAC Witchhunts, they were soon labeled as ''Champions of Capitalist Virtue'' by the press and a special ceremony was arranged for them in front of Rapid City Hall. When asked about their name, it was the ever-enthusiastic and childlike Rosibel who forever branded her teammates with their new title: "The Super Squad!" Before they could stop her.

Despite the looks she got from her friends, the name stuck and Harry Truman, like Franklin Roosevelt before him, was more than happy to put his stamp of approval on the team. This came off as both disrespectful and annoying to Red Dugan. Former Marine captain and current head of the Argus team who began selling his unit to keep the organization useful in the eyes of Washington. And so, a new, civil skirmish in the Cold War began, between the domestic agents of Argus, specialized defenders of American society and A brand new coalition of costumed heroes dedicated to truth, justice and liberty. "Costumed defenders of The American Way!"

Quiz King: Protege of The World's Smartest Man, Master of Knowledge and Man of 1001 Talents!

Hourman: Second hero to bear the legendary mantle,  60 minutes of raw speed, strength and agility!

Blue Beetle: Master of the Blue Scarab, new defender of Hub City!

Ladybug: Shrinking Violet from South America. Tiny Terror of America's enemies!

Cherry Bomb: The Ebony-skinned Human Warhead. Crusader of Acceptance and Peace!

Salem the Witch: Mystical Queen of the Western skies! Casting a curse on all evil!