#34: Journey into the Centre of Madness (Part 3 of 3)

“We’re going on after him,” said Batman adamantly. “Guy, here--” The Caped Crusader took the emerald power ring of the Green Lantern out of his utility belt and threw it at Hal Jordan’s partner, and then looked down at the unconscious Martian Manhunter. “You’re going to need to think up--”

“You had this on you the whole time? I sent it out of here for a reason--!” snapped Guy, as he slipped the ring back onto his finger. “You--”

Batman’s glare shut him up immediately.

“What do you need me to do?” the Green Lantern asked, quietly.

“Our usual avenue for telepathic investigation is compromised, you need to think up a machine that can link our minds to J’onn’s own. Astral projection engine.”

“I’m not sure I can get my head around the logistics of that,” said Guy. “Scott, you’re the League’s super-duper god machine user, aren’t you? Atom, Doc, Firestorm, gonna’ need all the help we can get.”

“I’ll help as best I can,” said Scott, as the five of them headed into the science bay.

Batman turned to Superman, perched against the wall, holding his shoulder as the wound knitted itself back together under his skin. “I hope you don’t mind me--”

“Don’t,” said Superman, his hand raised. “We were compromised, and we’re the League, not a dictatorship, call the play.”

Wonder Woman picked up the Martian Manhunter, and headed to the medical bay, followed by Animal Man. Hawkman helped Superman to his feet, and Big Barda supported Aquaman. “I apologise for your shoulder, Kal.”

“Ha, don’t worry about it,” said the Kryptonian meekly. “What about Barry, Batman?”

Batman leaned over where the Flash was entombed in the thick prison door of Cell Zero, unconscious, the Starro hanging tight to his face. The hinges of the door hissed and the door was suddenly separate from the frame. Batman turned to the Man of Steel. “You up for lifting this? We can’t get Barry out as is, but we can call someone in to help when we’re out of lockdown.”

“Sure,” said Superman, as he readied himself to take the weight. His eyes flashed red, and then he motioned to Barda and Aquaman. “Watch yourself, I’m going to cut a way to the medical bay.”

“How did you take the door off the hinges?” asked Hawkman.

“Please,” growled Batman, as he turned back to Prisoner X. “Activate emergency forcefields. I want nothing getting in there until the door is back where it belongs.”

“Be seeing you, Detective,” said Prisoner X, before there was a flash of blue as the forcefields began to power up.



“It was always about J’onn,” said Wonder Woman, rubbing her temples as the assembled Justice League surrounded the sedated Martian. “The Star Conqueror wanted the power of a Martian in its arsenal.”

“But why?” asked Big Barda, tapping her Mega-rod in her hand as half the League worked on imagining up an astral projection engine, and the others monitored the Martian Manhunter’s vitals.

“It projects a mental field in the vicinity of its probes,” said Animal Man. “The physical connection needs to be there, skin on skin. A link in neural pathways. Controlled by something like the Starro corpse on the San Diego beach, right?” He shook his head. “Damn, all these memories clunking around inside my head, enough to drive a guy insane.”

“Trace transference, it’ll pass,” said Scott Free, looking up from where he was sat with Guy Gardner.

“Anyway,” said Superman, “with J’onn under its control... it wouldn’t need the physical link, it could project directly into every living brain on the planet, and then, eventually, move from planet to planet, a sheer psychic immensity.”

“Is Starro that powerful?” asked The Atom.

Batman stood from where he was sat, at the head of the bed where J’onn was lying. “The question is, is J’onn? And to answer, yes.”

“I think we got it. Taking into consideration everything you said, all the risks we need to control--” Guy closed his eyes, and a massive emerald construct formed over J’onn, five domes trailing off around his comatose form. “Five go in, mainlined into his consciousness. We dig in, we find the problem, and we take it out.”

“Then that’s what we do,” said Batman. “Diana, if anyone is able to find the truth in a fragmented psyche, it would be you. Scott, J’onn’s going to need some help escaping from the grasp of the Starro. Guy, you’re the one in control of the construct, that means we’re going to need you there in case something goes wrong. Instant out.”

“I’m in,” said Animal Man. “Having that thing sitting inside my head, the things it’s done across the universe-- the animals it enslaved, I think I have an idea of how it works, how it plays into the unified theory of the morphogenetic field. I can help.”

“No need to explain yourself, I trust you with my life,” said Batman, placing his hand on Buddy’s shoulder. “And I volunteer myself. The rest of you are needed in case we fail. And if we do... that means our psyches will be contaminated. Starro-posession without the tell-tale... well.” He patted his forehead.

Wonder Woman nodded slowly. “Barda, a word?”

Wonder Woman and Big Barda exited the medical bay and Superman looked at the others. “You be careful in there. We don’t know what Starro has done to J’onn’s mind. A Martian’s mindscape is a very unique, special place. It represents the core focus of a Martian’s being. If it’s been compromised, there may be traps waiting for anyone hoping to save J’onn.”

“Traps are my speciality. And there’s not been a room built that I can’t escape from, and no lock I can’t pick,” said Scott Free, as he positioned the emerald helmet over his own mask. “Wow, this isn’t at all comfortable.”

“Sorry,” said Guy, and with a flash of his ring, the helmets filled with a soft padding. “We just waiting on the princess?”

“No need,” said Wonder Woman, returning. She looked adamant, in complete control. Barda followed her swiftly, her Mega-rod crackling.

“You alright?” asked Batman, standing beside his emerald helmet.

“I will be when this is over,” said Wonder Woman, as she placed her helmet on. The rest of the team followed suit, and Guy began to countdown.

“This might feel weird,” said the Green Lantern.

Animal Man laughed quietly. “When doesn’t--”

“...Buddy?” asked Doctor Light, as the five Leaguers fell silent beneath their helmets. “Animal Man?”

“They’re in,” said Big Barda, glancing down at the Martian Manhunter. “May the Source be with them.”



“Holy Hell!” cried Guy Gardner, flames licking at his boot hells. “Y’sure we’re where we’re supposed to be?”

The entire area was engulfed with an intense and almighty inferno, walls melting all around them. Batman was the first to step forward from the group, and he began to assess their situation. “This place is J’onn’s mindscape. And if it’s on fire, if it’s reacting the way it is, then that can only mean one thing--”

Wonder Woman nodded in agreement. “The Star Conqueror is destroying J’onn’s psychic defenses. It’s tearing him apart from the inside.”

“It makes sense,” said Mister Miracle, pacing around in a tight circle. “For most, the Starro infestation is an instantaneous effect, tissue on tissue and a psychic link is formed, that’s what we know from past experiences with the thing, but this... this... J’onn’s the greatest psychic in the whole universe, the best I’ve ever met anyway, so he’s putting up a fight... This must be excruciating for him.”

<intruders! infection!> The hollow voice rang out all around them, shaking the very ground they were stood upon. <excise! excise!>

“That’s not a good sound,” said Animal Man, his fists clenching tight.

Batman drew a batarang tentatively from his belt, and he then contemplated the action, realising everything about him right now was a psychic projection, and grimaced. He felt like a two-dimensional projection, like a hologram, and he knew from previous experience and ‘shop talk’ with J’onn that if his soul-form was to die here... he wouldn’t return to his physical body.

“Stay sharp,” he muttered, well aware that the others were already contemplating what was to happen next. “We need to find the primary infection; we need to remove the secondary psyche from J’onn’s mind.”

“How do you suggest we do that?” asked Guy.

“How about you use that wish-ring of yours and think up something that can perform thought-surgery on an immense pyschic infection?” said Scott Free, as faceless shapes began to rise up around their feet.

“Easier said,” grumbled Guy, as his ring began to spark inside the thoughtscape. “But I’ll try.”

The ground was a thick, viscous muck, and the shapes began to sharpen in form as they staggered toward the small group of Leaguers. They were mindless, saliva dribbling from their mouths, but there were so many, and something inside their chests bulged and pushed out, trying to break out from under the skin...

“I recognise them,” said Wonder Woman.

“Me too,” said Batman, gritting his teeth.

“Care to share?” asked Animal Man.

“J’onn has been on this planet for the better half of a century, and he’s created countless identities to experience the best and worst of humanity. These shapes, these thought forms--”

John Jones snarled as a massive Starro emerged from his chest, wrapping its tentacles around his upper torso. The eye was massive, unblinking. <the star conqueror is all. you have no hope of survival.>

“Of course we do,” said Batman. “We’re the Justice League.” And with that, the group surged toward their attackers, well aware that they were about to face the many-faceted psyche of J’onn J’onzz!



Doctor Light looked up from the lifesigns monitor they had hooked up to each Leaguer currently diving into the mind of J’onn, and shook her head. “Heart rates are increasing, something is happening.”

“We can but guess,” said Superman, clutching his wounds tenderly, even as they healed.

“I’ve contacted the Justice Society,” said Hawkman. “Jay Garrick, Jesse Quick, Max Mercury, they’re all ready to move in to help excise Barry from the vault door. They think the jolt of Speed Force from an outside source should help him vibrate out.”

“Good thinking. We’ll thank them when the Star Conqueror is finished,” said Superman. “Barda, are you alright?”

Big Barda clutched her Mega-rod tentatively at the head of the medi-bed that J’onn was lying on, and she looked up from her contemplation of the Starro glued to J’onn’s face. “Yes, I’m fine Superman. And you?”

Superman nodded slowly. “Healing. Firestorm?”

“No change,” said the nuclear-fueled hero. “The Prof says that we’ll know when there’s a change.”

“Look!” said Barda, pointing at Green Lantern. His ring was spluttering with power, trying to form a construct. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know, but I don’t like it,” said Superman.



Animal Man leaped over the head of one of J’onn’s personalities, and settled behind Batman, who was fighting hand-to-hand with a garishly-clad superhero that he didn’t recognise. “We’re outnumbered, Bats.”

“I’m well aware. Any insights?”

Animal Man paused, punched a Starro-J’onn in the face, and then turned back to the caped crusader. “I have one, but it could be the stupidest thing I’ve ever done.”

“Stupid and pointless? Or stupid with a chance of success?” shouted Scott from where he soared above them on his aero-discs, people clutching at his legs.

“This place is pure thought, right? Our shapes are us because that’s how we see ourselves, right? But what if I... I... bend that perception? What if I twist the rules? Inside here we have some of the strongest spirits in the world. We have a Green Lantern, you, a God, a Queen, and a connection to the entire morphogenetic field, through me... the whole of humanity and the whole animal kingdom, because of a genetic tinkering I underwent against my will. I’m gonna love this...”

“What are you talking--?” Batman felt something tug at his utility belt and saw Animal Man’s hand pull a bat-grenade away from him. “What are you--?!”

Animal Man shook his head. “You gonna trust me, Batman?”

“Of course I--” Animal Man barrelled away from the Dark Knight and surged into the group of attackers, then pulled the pin off the grenade. “--Buddy!”



Animal Man keeled face first into the medical table, and his lifesigns went dead. Doctor Light’s eyes surged with power and panic, and she rushed over to him. “Buddy! What’s happened to Buddy?!”

The Atom leaped off of Hawkman’s shoulder and began to check Animal Man’s vitals but he shook his head gravelly. “He’s... he’s gone.”

“No, wait,” said Superman slowly. “Can you hear that?”



The possessed fragments of J’onn’s personalities hesitated. Mid-punch they slowed to a crawl, and the Justice League quickly pulled together around the charred ground where Buddy had just sacrificed himself.

“I don’t understand, what did he do?” said Scott, kneeling over the patch of ashen ground.

The Starro eyes across the host psychic husks blinked. Their yellow and black eyes shifted. <infection! must be-- must be-->

Batman smiled slowly. “He figured out how to tap into the Star Conqueror’s abilities.”

Each yellow eye faded. Each eyeball rolled into itself and came back from the bottom as a blue, human iris. <and one of the most fascinating aspects of starro is its ability to possess.>

“Buddy?” whispered Wonder Woman.

<it’s me, diana. sorry about the voice modulation, this was... weird... and i’ve not got the full hang of it yet.> John Jones felt his face, and then smiled. <huh. another ability of the starro is its...>

“Regeneration,” finished Buddy, stepping up from the charred ground. “I am not repeating this. I mainlined the entire collective consciousness of Earth against this measly thing. I took control. It’s just one Star Conqueror, but it’s weak, barely hitting its true potential, and it’s on a whole different playing field.”

<so all we have to do is find j’onn’s core personality, and then we can excise starro and be done with all this,> said John. <this way.>

The whole mindscape unfurled, and miles down, just within view of Wonder Woman’s vision, was a small, foetal Martian, enveloped in green tentacles that lashed against its skin. “Take us down, Guy.”

“Multitasking, yes, yes,” said Guy, as he turned his attention away from the psychic scalpel he was trying to think up, and down to an emerald platform to get them to where J’onn was.

“Friends,” whispered J’onn, “you cannot be here.”

Batman examined the tentacles wrapped around the main consciousness of J’onn, and then looked down at the darkness below, where an eye blinked up at them. “Lantern, now would be the time.”

<NO!> screamed the psychic force of the Star Conqueror. <THIS IS THE TRUE WAY OF THINGS! STAR CONQUEROR CONQUERS! STAR CONQUEROR RULES!> Tentacles shot up and separated the League, only Mister Miracle able to hang on near J’onn. <YOU WILL DIE. YOU WILL FALL. YOU WILL BE REPLACED.>

“I don’t like the sound of that, do you, J’onn?” asked Scott, grinning.

“I don’t understand how you can be so flippant, Scott. This thing lashes at me, pushes my defences to their lowest, takes my psyche and splits it down and down... I am so weak.”

“Yet here you are, still fighting,” said Scott, dodging a massive tentacle as it slapped down near him. “League! Play some defense?”

“You heard the man,” said Wonder Woman, slicing through a tendril as it tried to crush her. The tentacle withered to a husk immediately, and Guy Gardner grinned at this, his ring flashing.

“Does this mean I getta cut loose?” His ring flashed once more, and a thousand buzzsaws grew into existence. “Come to Daddy, Starro!”

Scott Free continued to talk to J’onn. “You’ve kept it at arm’s length, you’ve stopped it from killing us, haven’t you? Sure, it took control of the flakes of your psyche, but if it had complete control we’d be dead. J’onn, listen to me. This is your house. This is your head. So you can pick and choose who gets to come and play, right? Starro isn’t welcome here, so you need to lock him down.”

“So weak...”

“No, you’re not!” seethed Scott. “You’re the strongest person I know, after my wife. You’re a rock. And now you need to step up, and take control. I know you can. And if you need help,” Scott extended his hand, and J’onn took it, his own baby-like fingers lost within Free’s palm, “take it from me.”

“From us,” said Batman, leaping over a tentacle and clutching Scott’s hand.

“All of us,” said Animal Man, as Green Lantern and Wonder Woman joined them together around the tiny pedestal J’onn was floating above. “You can do it, J’onn.”

J’onn managed a smile, and Starro began to shake. The whole mindscape began to rumble and debris began to fall around. The damaged parts of J’onn’s psyche collapsed, and suddenly the fire and the ash was gone, replaced by a gleaming alien palace, the true mind of J’onn J’onzz. The League were surrounded by doors leading to parts of the Martian Manhunter’s memories, his abilities, and below them were two trapdoors, both obsidian in colour, both sealed shut.

“What did you do?” asked Batman.

“I took control. I sealed the Star Conqueror’s psychic immensity inside my own mind. As long as I am alive, it shall be contained here. And when I die, it shall die with me.”

“There are two trapdoors,” said Animal Man.

“One... was already here,” said the Martian Manhunter, as they began to fade out of the place J’onn called home, and returned to their own bodies, and back to the waiting arms of a confused and relieved Justice League.




“What’s wrong, Diana?” asked Big Barda, as the Queen of the Amazons led the New God outside the medical bay.

“J’onn is infested. Infected. If we fail, that means the Star Conqueror has completely overrun his mindscape and there’s no rescuing him. If we fail, I don’t see any other rescue attempt working. If J’onn wakes up... he can’t be allowed to spread Starro across the planet.”

“What are you saying...?”

“I’m saying... that you’re the one I believe can resist its influence. You’re disciplined, you’ve got access to Mother Box technology. Your mind is a fortress, and I think you could fight off the Star Conqueror for long enough to make sure--”

“Say no more,” said Barda. “I would die for this planet, Diana. And I would kill for it too. I know that’s not welcomed in the League charter, but it’s a fact of life. If dread Darkseid were to return once more to the world, I know I would not stop in my quest to kill him. But you will do your utmost to save J’onn, your highness, because he does not deserve to be the host to such a force.”

“He’s my best friend,” said Wonder Woman, “but if I were in the same position on the outside...”

Big Barda placed a hand on Wonder Woman’s shoulder. “I understand.”



J’onn J’onzz pulled himself of the medi-bed, and flexed his shape-changing abilities. He moved from his natural Martian form to his more humanoid superhero demeanour, but then snapped back, unable to hold the shape too long. He’d need rest, meditation for a week or so, and then he’d be back to peak operating ability. He hoped.

“How do you feel, J’onn?” asked Katar Hol, sat quietly at the bottom of the Martian’s bed. J’onn hadn’t been able to detect his presence, and rubbed his tender temples as his gaze turned toward his comrade.

“I have felt better, Katar. This ordeal... has revealed holes in my armour.” J’onn shrugged awkwardly. “I still have things to learn about myself. Even after so long on this planet.”

“Don’t we all?” said the Thanagarian, contemplatively. “You are among friends, J’onn. I know you have felt distant recently, but you know that you can talk to any of us, correct?”

J’onn managed a smile. “Are you extending your hand out in friendship, Katar?”

Katar allowed himself a small smirk. “My hand was always extended, J’onn. You just have to take it in your own. I know I am not the easiest to get along with, but at least..." Katar scratched the back of his head, and then allowed himself a small smile. "I'm trying. Which is the best any of us can do, yes?"

J'onn nodded. "Thank you Katar... I appreciate it."



"Do you feel that?" asked Blue Beetle, as he looked around the Hall of Justice. He'd finally been allowed back inside the base after the Starro incident, and was examining the Black Colossus device along with the Atom, Firestorm and Doctor Light.

"Yeah, what is that?" said Firestorm, looking around.

The Atom pointed to the tip of the Black Colossus. "Holy-- look at that!"

The tip of the Colossus was glowing. It throbbed a bright, blinding light, and even Doctor Light couldn't look directly at it. "What does that mean?"

"It means," said a voice, as a mass of shapes began to become clear in front of the device, fading in from some unknown location, "that something terrible is about to happen--" A man, clad in red and black and wearing a cowl that covered all but his lower jaw, extended a hand to Blue Beetle. "My friends... my old friends... trust me, you're going to want to hear this--"



NEXT ISSUE: The Justice League faces the beginning of one of the greatest threats to all existence, and must come to terms with the simple fact that this time... they might not be able to save the day![/b]

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