Issue #275

"THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE - Part I"

JUSTICE LEAGUE QUELLS VIOLENT BREAK-IN AT SLAB

The headline and accompanying news story were unemotional, offering a detached, unbiased perspective to be expected from a newspaper of journalistic integrity. Yet as they scrolled up a computer monitor screen displaying the newspaper's website, they elicited a visceral reaction from their reader. His mouth twisted in a scowl, shoulders bunching with irrepressible anger, until finally he pushed his track-wheeled stool away from the terminal in disgust and rose to his feet. As he reached his full height the top of his head nearly brushed against the exposed wiring running along the ceiling. The man was only of average height, but the cramped basement apartment in which he made his quarters allowed for little headroom. In addition, the ceiling proper was completely obscured by uncountable cables and wires snaking across its entire length and breadth, probably half a foot deep. Flat bands of thin, color-coded wires looped through thick ropes of industrial cable with yellow insulation. Bare copper wires ran spaghetti-like in seemingly random directions. All manners of means of conducting electricity or transmitting information, including some not found anywhere else on Earth, blanketed the ceiling.

The man strode across the basement apartment to a porcelain sink, cracked with rust-discolored fissures, and leaned on the edges of it while looking into the dirty mirror above. The sink and mirror, along with the equally poorly maintained toilet beside it and the rumpled mattress in the opposite corner of the room, were the only features of the room that could identify it as a domicile. Crowded into every other usable space was a vast collection of technological devices - racks of computer processing units, humming power generators, analyzer scopes, and others of indeterminate purpose. The wall above the mattress was covered with power tools, ranging in size and shape from a soldering iron no bigger than a sewing needle to a large buzzsaw mounted on a long robotic arm.

Speaking to his reflection, the man said, "Ivo. What a fool! How can he continue to wake up in the morning knowing that the Justice league will always defeat him? He should have put himself out of his misery long ago." He drew a deep breath and fixed his gaze contemplatively on his own eyes. "Not me. One chance is all I will need. One shot at the JLA and they'll be history. And I'll make history," a deadly smile played across the man's lips, far more disturbing than the scorn which had dominated his expression moments ago, "and the world will be my oyster."

The man stared at his countenance in the mirror for a few seconds longer. He was a nondescript white male who would be passed on the street as wholly unremarkable. His dirty blond hair was buzzed short, and his hairline receded. Only his eyes hinted at a life outside the norm - intense green, with wrinkles at the corners and dark circles beneath that marked him as a man who live in a constant state of pushing himself to new limits. He turned away from the sink and approached a workbench strewn with metal shards, wire snippings, circuit boards and other techno-detritus. The track-wheeled stool clacked across the room to the workbench and the man sat, taking up an arm's length of circuit relays and power cells in one hand and a large screwdriver in the other. A faint yellowish glow enveloped the man, tool, and object under construction, pale but unmistakable in the dim basement lit only by the phosphors of the computer monitor nearby. The man touched the screwdriver to the circuits and the tool seemed to become a thing alive, growing metal appendages which manipulated the relays and cells. The deadly smile returned to the man's face.

"Staaaaaaart spreadin the neeeeeeeewwwwwss," Plastic-Man sang boisterously, "I'm leeeeeeeeaaavin' todaaaaaaaayyyyy ...."

The most malleable member of the Justice League bounded through the Watchtower locker room on distended bowlegs, gathering together his personal effects. Sections of his torso were thrust out in the shape of dresser drawers, into which he dropped the objects he collected. He continued singing as he moved about, resembling a grinning, gangly bureau, until a voice behind him caught his attention.

"So this is it? You're really leaving us, Plas?" Supergirl asked from the locker room's doorway.

Plastic-Man whirled around to face Supergirl and saw that she was joined by the Martian Manhunter. Dropping a rubber chicken in his top drawer and shoving it into his chest, Plastic-Man approached them.

"Yeah, I really am," Plastic-Man nodded. "Don't get me wrong, I'm not leavin' here with any bad memories. Being in the Justice League is a blast - more fun than handing out glow-in-the-dark condoms at a Catholic school prom! But my amigos in the Freedom Fighters asked me, and we go way back. Waaaaaaay back," he insisted, extending his neck away from Supergirl and Martian Manhunter, parallel to the floor. As his neck snapped back to its normal length, Plastic-Man continued, "Plus," - narrowing his head and extending both his ears out to form a plus sign - "the Freedom Fighters really need me right now, as an 'expert' to help 'em out now that they're moving into their own HQ! Y'know, someone who knows the crime-fightin' ropes and that has played with the big boys for awhile. But I'll still pop in on you guys occasionally, so don't be sore, all right?"

"Of course, everyone respects your decision, Plastic-Man," J'Onn J'Onzz said. "We simply hope you will remember you always have a place here with the League."

Plastic-Man's head resumed its normal shape. "Thanks, J'onny. And call me if you guys need me." With that, the drawers along the front of Plastic-Man's body closed and disappeared, while his left hand expanded into the shape of an overstuffed suitcase, now containing all of his belongings. Corners of clothing stuck out of the luggage seams. "Now, I gotta hit the road. One last ride on the Love Transporter!" He resumed singing, spreading his arms wide for his audience of two. "If I can .... maaaaaaaake it there, I'll make it ... ba-boom, ba-boom .... ANYwheeeeeeere ... it's up to EEL! Ooooooo'Brieeeeeeen ........ Oooowoooowooo'Brieeeeeennn!!!!"

"So the Freedom Fighters are setting up headquarters in New York?" Supergirl inquired.

"Nope. Philly, actually," Plastic-Man corrected her. "I just love Sinatra. But I can do Elton John, too!" With that his features morphed to resemble the British pop star, and his sunglasses expanded to a replica of Elton's outlandish, oversized glasses. "Phil....Uh....Delphia....Freedom!" Plastic-Man sang theatrically, " I love...love...love you! Yes, I DO!"

Supergirl put her arms around her departing teammate. "Bye, Plas. I'll miss you - things just won't be the same around here without you," she said as she hugged him.

"I know. Make sure somebody tickles Bats every now and then. He acts like he hates it, but he really likes it," Plastic-Man insisted.

"May the stars help you find your way," Martian Manhunter bowed slightly.

"Live long and prosper," Plastic-Man agreed, holding up split fingers on his right hand and shaping his ears to high points.

"Plas, can I ask you for one favor, before you leave?" Supergirl asked.

"Anything for you, cupcake," he answered.

"Can I have my bra back, the one you stole form my locker?" she asked with a sweet smile, pointing at a red shoulder strap peeking out between Plastic-Man's suitcase-shaped fingers.

"Homina homina how'd that get in there?" Plastic-Man asked with mock astonishment. He retrieved the undergarment and handed it to Supergirl, who took it gratefully. Plastic-Man shook his head ruefully. "Man, I was gonna be the hit of all the FF parties with that little memento, let me tell you. Now I'm gonna have to go back to my old standby, putting a lampshade on my head, impersonating the Human Bomb ..."

"I'm sure you'll survive," Supergirl shrugged.

"I always do! So long, kids!" Plastic-Man grinned. He loped out of the locker room and down the corridor, and his singing floated back to the ears of Supergirl and the Martian Manhunter: "Well, I live and breathe this Phil...Uh...Delphia Freedom! From the day that I was born...I waved the Fla...a...ag!"

"He's a piece of work. I wonder who else's stuff he got away with when they weren't looking," Supergirl mused.

"He purloined a bag of my cookies," J'Onzz informed her calmly.

"And you let him?" Supergirl demanded.

"I did. However, I also planted a telepathic suggestion in his mind, so that when he eats them they will taste like jabanero pepper seeds."

"Ha! And you know, somehow, he'll appreciate that the joke was on him, even while he's crying for water."

"I thought as much, myself," J'Onzz nodded with a slight smile.

Meanwhile, Superman and Batman sat at the main conference table in the Watchtower's meeting room, engaged in serious discussion.

"The rate of attrition on the League's ranks is disturbing," Batman intoned gravely. "Plastic-Man and Aquaman were only the most recent. It was less than a year ago that we lost Orion, Barda, Zauriel and Huntress. And in that span of time Red Tornado has come and gone, as well."

"We can't forbid anyone to leave, Bruce," Superman responded evenly. "Serving in the JLA isn't contractual. It's an honor, freely given, freely given back. The League endures, no matter who or how many hold the honor at any given time."

Superman paused, allowing the Batman a chance to respond. The Dark Knight remained silent, a single gloved finger resting against his lips contemplatively. The Man of Steel continued, "But, if you're concerned that our strength of numbers isn't what it should be, we could extend invitations to some of the reserves at any time. Perhaps Captain Atom ..."

Now Batman interrupted, "It's not pure numbers that concern me. The make-up of the team roster itself has a certain balance to it, those of us who can move planets," - he inclined his head slightly but meaningfully toward his friend across the table - "and those of us who can't. Huntress fell into the latter category. Plastic-Man did as well. There's a groundedness that comes from members of the team like that, which I think is indispensible."

"Groundedness, as found in someone like ... Oliver?" Superman asked. This time his look was meaningful, the thought 'I saw him die' etched clearly in the Kryptonian's eyes.*

(* Yet the Emerald Archer is back at FDC - check out the still-smokin' Green Arrow #1!)

"I'm respecting his need for space right now," Batman responded, closing the subject from further discussion.

"Someone else you have in mind?" Superman pressed on.

Before answer could be made, the communications channels came to life. "This is Oracle calling the Watchtower," the familiar female voice broadcast through the speakers embedded in the meeting room walls. At the same time, a holographic image of a pale green, angular female face appeared above the JLA logo emblazoned on the meeting table.

"Superman and Batman here, Oracle," Superman responded authoritatively. "Go ahead."

"There's something going on in Japan that the League needs to look into," Oracle informed her audience. "A high speed train on the way from Sendai to Tokyo nearly drove off a smashed-up trestle about thirty minutes ago."

"Something more significant than sabotage or natural failure related to the trestle's destruction?" Batman inquired.

"The train's conductors insist that they saw a giant creature lumbering south, away from the train tracks, and blamed the destruction on it - whatever it is. Police and news crews have only been on the scene about ten minutes, but the radio traffic seems to indicate they're buying the conductors' version of events, and ... hold on ... bingo. I was hoping this would come in while I contacted you. There's a second report coming out of Tokyo of a giant creature sighting."

"We'll be down there as fast as we can," Superman acknowledged. Without formalities, Oracle disconnected. The holographic head winked out of sight.

"I hear everything that you're saying," Superman resumed his conversation with Batman even as they rose from their seats. "It makes sense. We'll continue this later?"

Batman nodded sharply and headed for the door.

Seven figures hovered high above Tokyo. Green Lantern, within a force shield of emerald energy; Steel, held aloft by boot jets that caused him to bob up and down to maintain position; Supergirl, statuesque against the sky with angelic wings spread wide; Firehawk, flying in slow circles around the others; Martian Manhunter, Wonder Woman, and Superman, floating effortlessly as if standing on solid ground. From this height, they could see the creature approaching the outskirts of Tokyo, appearing at a distance as a small, mottled blob of movement. Based on its relative size to its surroundings, however, the creature was at least ten stories tall.

"Batman and Flash are in position inside the city," Martian Manhunter announced.

"Assuming the creature continues the kind of wanton destruction inflicted on the rail system," Wonder Woman said, "do we have a plan for containing it? Do we know where it came from, where we can return it?"

Superman peered intently at the creature below, saying nothing. Finally, he spoke: "It's made of people."

"Weird time to be tossing out the Chuck Heston references, Supes," Green Lantern jibed. All eyes fixed on Kyle Rayner with bewilderment. "Aw, man, I gotta get you guys some culture. Am I the only one who does non-JLA stuff every once in a while?" he asked, shaking his head.

"Soylent Green," Superman said, still focusing his telescopic vision downward.

Now the rest of the Leaguers turned their eyes back to the Man of Steel, further confused.

"Soylent Green, that's the movie, all of which sets up the big punchline that 'soylent green is made of people'," Superman explained. Looking at Green Lantern, he added, "And it's a fun movie, Kyle, but I'd hardly call it culture."

"Heh heh heh. You got me there," Green Lantern conceded.

"In any case," Steel interjected, shifting his hammer from one shoulder to the other, "what exactly are you talking about, Superman? As it relates to the situation at hand, that is."

"It will probably be easier to show you," Superman replied. "Let's get closer. If I'm right, we can't go in with guns blazing, but it seems that the creature has stopped as well. We should be all right."

Superman fell into a graceful dive and the rest of his comrades followed. They soared into the city and took positions in the middle of a street where cars had already come to dead stops, drivers openly gawking at the towering creature.

It had the approximate shape of a human figure - head, torso, arms, legs. But, true to Superman's word, the colossus was composed of Japanese human beings, bundled together without any visible means of connection. Dozens and dozens of people made up each limb, not in straight rows and columns but in a loose conglomeration, perhaps a thousand bodies in total making up the entire giant creature.

As the Justice League observed the bizarre oddity, the colossus stood with its legs planted firmly, straddling the city street. Every person making up the gigantic figure looked around the street searchingly.

The expressions on their faces were full of terror, revulsion, even pain, yet none of the component persons seemed to be trying to escape. Whatever they looked for in the crowded Tokyo streets, it was not salvation. They hardly seemed to notice the JLA at all.

"Hera ... how is this happening?" Wonder Woman asked.

"I'm not sure," Superman answered. "I've scanned the whole ... mega-body ... with my X-ray vision, and there's nothing there except people. No endoskeleton holding them in formation, no power source at the nucleus generating a stasis field, nothing. As far as my senses are concerned, everything about those people except their monstrous configuration is completely normal."

The Flash ran up at that moment. "Except for the Human Kong over there, I didn't see anything out of the ordinary in the entire city," he reported.

"This is one of the biggest cities on Earth," Supergirl suggested, "could you have missed something?"

Flash shook his head. "I went over every inch. Three times. Otherwise I would've been here sooner."

"Where's Batman?" Steel asked.

"Hiding in the shadows, I'd bet," Green Lantern offered, jerking a thumb over his shoulder. Several of the drivers stopped in the street had produced cameras and were snapping photographs of the JLA.

"Perhaps I should try to establish mental contact," the Martian Manhunter said. "For that colossus to have moved from the site of the destroyed railway to here, it must be acting under some kind of collective consciousness."

"As good an idea as any," Superman nodded. Martian Manhunter rose higher into the air, muscular green arms out to the sides, royal blue cape flaring. J'Onzz ascended to a level even with the towering figure's head. The martian's red eyes closed, and he began a telepathic probe.

No more than two seconds later, J'Onn J'Onzz screamed in excruciating pain. His hands flew to his protruding brow and his body stiffened. He began to fall from the air, ten stories above the street.

Green Lantern willed his power ring to project a harness around the Martian Manhunter's torso, connected to an emerald parachute that slowed the dazed alien's descent. As J'Onzz drifted to a gentle landing amidst his teammates, he strove with broken voice to articulate the experience. "More psionic power ... than I've ever ... encountered before. ... One will ... outside those people ... channeling through ... all of them ..."

"If they are being used, we must confront whomever is behind this," Wonder Woman said. She flew swiftly into the air.

Wonder Woman unfastened her magic lasso from her belt and draped it around the neck of the gigantic form. "Who did this to you?" Wonder Woman demanded. "Who?"

The powers of the lasso made obedience compulsory. The magic also formed the response in the same language in which the question had been posed. In an eerie, unison chorus of voices, the answer rumbled forth from all over the mega-body: "We do not know ..."

Suddenly, the colossus's heads stopped moving and the hundreds of pairs of eyes closed at once. Only a few faces, within the mega-body's "face", kept their eyes open.

"Oh, this can't be good," Firehawk exhaled as the League watched.

Undaunted, Wonder Woman attempted another question, "Why have you been sent to this city?"

Again, the ghoulish monotone of hundreds speaking at once replied, "We do not know ..." With that, the creature raised the ends of its arms to its neck, shoving more bodies into the loop of Wonder Woman's lasso. The creature then began to pull vigorously at the god-forged rope. The lasso held, but as its unbreakable material dug into several bodies comprising the giant creature's hands, the people began to cry out in pain. Wonder Woman was forced to release the snare to prevent serious harm being done to the component men and women of the colossus.

Once freed, the towering creature raised both arms over its misshapen head, then swung them at the nearest building, obviously intent on smashing it.

"Lantern, the people in the hands!" Superman called out, already flying up toward the building, with Firehawk and Steel close behind.

"On it, but ...," Green Lantern left his concern unvoiced as he projected protective forcefields around the mega-body's upper extremities. When the two green solid light mittens struck the building, the people within were protected from harm. However, the energy constructs with the colossus's force behind them did far more damage to the structure.

"D'oh," Green Lantern winced.

Massive cracks shot through the side of the building in all directions as if two titanic bullets had shot through the wall. Chunks of glass, steel and concrete began to crumble toward the street below. Pedestrians and drivers panicked, screamed, and tried to run away from the cascade of falling debris.

In mid-air, Firehawk superheated larger fragments of the building walls, exploding them into harmless clouds of dust. Steel fired twin rivets from his wrist launchers, which arced away from each other to unfold a steel-cable net between them. The rivets found purchase in two vertical beams still standing in the lower half of the building, and the taut netting stopped the fall of smaller pieces of broken construction materials. Superman flew from floor to floor on the exposed side of the building, cautioning those within to stay clear of the edge and calmly move out of the building by stairways. Miraculously, no one had fallen out of the upper floors of the building.

On the street below, faster than the eye could follow, the Flash relocated those who had fallen in their attempts to escape or were simply paralyzed by fear, clearing people out of the major drop zone for fallout. Supergirl shielded a group of people from a rain of jagged fragments which none of the airborne heroes had been able to stop.

The massive conglomeration of human bodies began to move up the street. Its first giant step kicked two cars full of people twenty feet though the air. Green Lantern projected a pair of emerald wide receivers, which gently caught the cars and returned them to street level.

"It's like babysitting for Godzilla," Green Lantern muttered to himself. Then, struck by inspiration, he aimed his power ring at the air directly in front of the rampaging mega-body. Before it appeared a twelve-story tall green Godzilla, baring its teeth and clawing threateningly at the colossus.

The colossus never slowed down, walking into the energy construct without hesitation. The green light rendering of the atomic dinosaur wrapped its arms around the beast, but much like Wonder Woman, Green Lantern was forced to release it before the people pressing against the solid energy were damaged.

"J'Onn can't probe it, Wonder Woman can't hold it, I can't scare it off," Green Lantern grumbled. "Now what do we do?"

"We follow it," Superman said, as he and the rest of the League regrouped.

"To what end?" Steel asked.

"We protect people from the damage it causes, and in a city of eleven and a half million, if this thing stays very long, that's a job for all of us. We find out where it's going and what it wants, and deal with that accordingly. And we try to figure out how to ... disconnect those people, somehow."

"Try to figure it out ... even though none of us know how a walking human pyramid came to be in the first place," Supergirl added skeptically.

"Even without the luxury of that knowledge, Superman's course of action is the correct one," Martian Manhunter stated, recovering from his psionic trauma.

"Agreed," Wonder Woman confirmed.

"Babysitting Godzilla ..." Green Lantern sighed, flying after the colossus with an emerald projection of an oversized baby rattle, flanked on all sides by the rest of the JLA. "Tokyo better have no problem with us raiding the fridge after we put the little monster to bed ..."

TO BE CONTINUED ... !

JOYFUL LETTERS of ACCOLADES

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JUICY LISTS of ACCUSATIONS

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NEXT ISSUE: "The Will of the People" concludes! The Justice League of America are the sworn protectors of humanity, faced with an opponent using humanity itself as a weapon! How will the JLA stop this assault when any counterattack guarantees that people will be hurt? And what are the ultimate goals of the power behind this unique force? The answers - plus a special FDC guest star - in the next issue!