Deep within the Pitt military compound, our tale begins with Colonel Browning and several assistants, who are poring over the most recent aerial recon photographs of the Pitt area. While most of the area is relatively unchanged, Browning and his militaristic cohorts can plainly see four hemispheres of relatively calm space near the Pitt's edge. Furthermore, they give off the same energy that created the Pitt...

Heading off to investigate this personally in a M548A1 personnel carrier, Browning quickly hit the first 'normal' area, surrounded by a brilliant white dome of energy, which itself was surrounded by a cauldron of roiling dust and debris. Piercing this cloud of detritus, Colonel Browning emerged to see, all around him, a completely normal section of Pittsburgh - experiencing summer despite the winter outside!

Just then, Nelson Kohler, the so-called Witness, also arrived at the Pitt to discover the same zone of normalcy. Drawn by whatever force compels him to seek out paranormal births, he showed up just in time to see Jacob Burnsley talking with his grandson about these hemispheres of 'fixed' Pittsburgh he had created. Then, stating that he hoped to fix the Pitt itself, Jacob flew off towards the lip of the Pitt.

As he followed the old man, Nelson relived the memories he had of the Pitt's creation, having witnessed Ken Connell's cluster blunder first hand, and the horrific aftereffects he was subjected to. Fearing the worst, Nelson followed Jacob apprehensively, only to see the man give off a truly staggering display of his Star Brand powers, a display that affected him greatly.

You see, shortly after their deaths, all of Pittsburgh's citizens' memories had passed through Nelson's ethereal form and remained within him, like little voices in his head. However, when Jacob used his Star Brand thus, these memories and vestiges of personality were wrenched clean out of Nelson's body, and added to the swirling mix of power that Jacob was weaving.

When the glow of cascading energies faded, Nelson opened his eyes on a completely renewed city of Pittsburgh! Flying around, Nelson found that every square inch of the city was just as he'd remembered it, just as the millions of minds that had been within his own had experienced it. However, he wasn't so sure this was real, since the edge of the Pitt itself was still a blasted, barren plain.

Meanwhile, back at the Pitt's lip, Jacob was confronted by Colonel Browning, who had made his way through the four zones of normalcy Jacob had created. When Browning asked Jacob what the heck he was doing here, the old man only replied that he'd just fixed Pittsburgh, motioning towards the apparently restored city. Nelson chose this time to confront Jacob, telling him that he had not, in fact, fixed the city.

Guiding him up above the town, Nelson showed Jacob what he'd seen, that which was a sort of wavering around he edges of the city. Apparently, then, Jacob's power had only created the illusion of a renewed Pittsburgh, executed with the memories of all its former residents. Crushed, Jacob merely flew off alone, saddened that he hadn't, in fact, been able to help matters with his power.

Elsewhere, in a broken and abandoned church, a pink, baggy-skinned monster emerged from behind a crushed altar, screaming in a rage about his resurrection. Yes, once again, Ken Connell had returned from the dead...

Within the dreams of Theodore Remsen, his sister, Keith Remsen's Nightmask was running rampant. You see, Keith was exploring her dreams in an effort to cure her comatose state, but he had little control over his powers these days, and as such, he was tormenting her badly. Crushing up her wheelchair and subjecting her to several taunts regarding their parents' deaths, Keith then left her in coma-land.

When he woke up, Keith related Teddy's condition to his compatriots, Doctor Lucian Ballad and Lita Mercado, and then vowed to cure her no matter what. Re-entering Teddy's dreams, Keith relived the experiences that caused Teddy to sink into a coma. You see, they were treating an empathic paranormal who'd been rendered comatose after she'd felt the deaths of a busload full of children.

However, while Keith and Teddy were in this woman's mind, the Pitt was created, and the empath's mind was turned to goo after feeling all of these deaths - this on top of her current ailment. This experience rendered Teddy comatose and Keith's Nightmask rather unstable. Hoping to get help with his own sanity issues, Keith convinced Teddy to come out of her coma, so the siblings could help each other...

In a lonely alleyway deep within soot-covered New York City, a terrified woman was being menaced by Pinhead and Spotty, two deformed paranormals who were trying to get a quick thrill. However, they were menaced in turn by Stephanie Harrington, better known as Glitter, who told them to stop - or else. With that, Pinhead charged her with his cone-like spiky head, though she easily evaded his attack.

Spotty then got in on the action, growing to an immense size and chasing her down. When she fled the alley, Glitter was joined by her friends Dave Landers (Mastodon) and a transformed Jennifer Swensen (Chrome), who helper her beat on the immense Spotty. Their attacks had no effect on the green beastie, however, and they found out why soon after the appearance of Jacob Burnsley.

You see, the immense Spotty faded when Jacob appeared with the normal-sized Spotty in hand, explaining that he was simply creating an illusion of his larger self, and that the heroes were inadvertently trashing a building, thinking it was Spotty. Thankful that he cleared that mess up, the heroes introduced themselves to Jacob, and then tool him home to meet their other friends.

Meeting the assembled folks that are D.P. 7, Jacob explained that he used his Star Brand to neutralize Spotty's powers, at which point Mastodon and his pal Randy (Antibody) took him aside. Explaining that their friends were the victims of a suicidal hypnotic suggestion, they asked if Jacob could help them defeat the man responsible. After he agreed, they told him the man responsible was the President!

Elsewhere, in the blasted plains surrounding the Pitt, a lone man walked amidst the rubble, and was thinking about his past, present, and future. This man was Ken Connell, recently resurrected and still seemingly angry about the whole thing. You see, he realized that nobody ever really liked or cared for him, only his power, and angry about this, he vowed to get his power back - no matter what!

Meanwhile, on the moon, Jacob discussed his predicament with his grandson, Billy. Though he didn't want to hurt the President of the United States, he was pretty sure he couldn't just forget about this matter, should Randy and Dave be right about the man, one Phillip Nolan Voight. Jacob then left his grandson with those New York paranormals should bad things happen to him, and flew to Washington.

Upon his arrival, Jacob was greeted warmly by the President, who wanted to know why Jacob had come calling. Jacob explained plainly that some folks thought he was a bad egg, and that he wanted to find out for sure. When he wouldn't reveal who said folks were, however, Voight got angry - real angry - and decided to get vengeance. Especially since he knew who they were anyway...

Far away, in orbit around Jupiter, the Star Child, now physically in his late teens, contemplated what he had discovered. He found out that the Star Brand was created during a weird violation of the laws of physics, one in which space and time had been folded in on themselves for the tiniest of instants, and that this action had caused the fabric of space-time itself to unravel! He then went to gather the others...

Back in Washington, Voight started badgering Jacob with his 'overpower', when Jake decided to cut loose, explaining just how insignificant the President's powers were before his own, the original power! Jacob then used the Star Brand to take control of Voight's own abilities, causing them to mimic the powers of every paranormal, all at once. This caused a massive burst of power that killed Jacob.

Of course, Jacob wasn't really dead - he just assumed that fleshy regenerative form that all wielders of the Star Brand take once 'killed', and returned to New York. Meeting up with Dave and Randy, he explained that he hadn't killed Voight, but had nonetheless burnt out his 'overpower' abilities, rendering him normal. The paranormals then went to celebrate, finally free of Voight's influence...

Trapped in a nightmare not his own, John Tensen was confronted with his choice of three fleshy, organic door-orifices, at the taunting of his dreaming captor. His first was a bust, but the second pulled him through, leading him to a throne of skulls occupied by the Madman, who was himself surrounded by a veritable harem of nigh-naked female companions.

Taunting Tensen, the Madman laughed about how his sword-arm wouldn't function in this world, and began to kick him around some. Further, he gloated about his many kills and his invincibility, at least until Tensen used his psionic shield generating abilities to manifest several planes of psychic energy within the Madman's body, chopping him up into little itty bitty pieces.

Hearing dozens of voices, Tensen looked back only to see dozens of little Madmen walking about, all of which decided to pitch him off a cliff. However, Tensen didn't die, as the Madman only wanted to make sure that this, the most dangerous paranormal he knew of, couldn't kill him in his dreams. Releasing the vigilante, the Madman was unaware that forces were aligning against him.

In the waking world, you see, Keith Remsen had managed to discover just who the Madman really was. He was, in fact, an institutionalized paranormal, bound up in a straight jacket and housed within a padded room. Telling several doctors who he was and what he was doing, they decided that in order to save people from his predations, he had to be lobotomized - immediately...

At the grave of Madeline 'Debbie' Felix, the Star Child contemplated death, destruction, and the end of the very universe itself. He stared at the stones over her shallow grave, and when this didn't help him enough, he levitated them out of the way in order to view her remains directly. Then, he felt a sudden urgency to 'close the loop', and set out to gather everybody else who had used the Star Brand's power.

He looked in on Ken Connell. Sitting amidst the rubble of Pittsburgh still, he was shaving off the beard he'd grown, and clipping off the long hair he'd cultivated since his latest resurrection. He'd also come to terms with what he'd done and, despite his rabid claims last issue, vowed to make reparations for his destructive deeds, even if it cost him his life. The Star Child then collected him.

He looked in on Jacob Burnsley. In their lunar fishing hole, Jacob and his grandson, Billy, were merely relaxing after the former's battle with the President and his dangerous 'overpower', when they noticed something. Reaching out with his power, Jacob tried to determine what was disturbing them within his hidden sanctuary. The Star Child then collected him.

He looked in on Roger Price. Driving to work in his truck, Roger was contemplating how happy he was to have his life back to normal. No super powers, no weird floating baby heads, no military prison. He thought it was odd that nobody wanted to know where he and Jane had gotten to for these many months, but didn't care too much. The Star Child then collected him.

Meanwhile, at the bottom of the Pitt, amidst the roiling bubbles of sulfurous gas and mutagenic Pitt-Juice, something stirred. Moreso than the materials around it, this organic soup moved and flowed with a specific purpose, as it was alive. It began to form itself into a humanoid mass and, once it was done with this task, began to make its way out of the Pitt altogether...

Elsewhere, on a small asteroid in orbit around Jupiter, several human beings appeared in a flash of glowing light. These humans were Ken Connell, Jacob Burnsley, Roger Price, and the Star Child himself. Introducing himself, the Star Child (now physically an adult) explained that he'd completed his search for answers, and that the Star Brand represented a threat to causality itself!

Back on earth, an Army research crew was tracking down traces of strange energies that were emanating from the Pitt (stranger than normal, apparently), when they were menaced by a pink, super-strong monster with big, baggy flesh and sharp teeth. This creature ranted and raved, claiming that he was 'coming for Connell' and that he was going to get his power back, before flying off in a rage.

In orbit around Jupiter, the Star Child sensed this revival, and sent Jacob to retrieve the being that had just reincorporated itself within the Pitt. Teleported to earth, Jacob tried to reason with the beast, but it was too angry to listen, especially once it learned that Jacob wielded the Star Brand. Not wanting to come along peacefully, it blasted Jacob with its power. Badly.

Enraged, Jacob rose to the being's attack, and blasted him right back. The two then began a powerful duel, during which a nearby Air Force plane was blasted out of the air. Hoping to save the innocent pilot, Jacob used all of his might to blast the strange monster senseless, and made his way to the crash site, where he found that pilot dying. Refusing to allow this to happen, he used his power to heal the man.

With that done, he collected the unconscious monster's body and returned to the Star Child's asteroid on Jupiter, where it was revealed that this creature was, in fact, the Old Man! After everybody dealt with this, the Star Child explained that he, Ken, and the Old Man were, in fact, the same being, simply at different stages of their existence. Of course, Ken and the Old Man disputed this at first.

The Star Child then explained that the creation of the Star Brand caused this paradox, and that space-time itself would collapse unless they all acted - quickly - to resolve this. He proposed to do so by creating a temporal loop, one in which all three versions of Ken would be deposited at certain points in time in order to stitch up this paradox, though it would sentence them to live within this loop forever.

Wishing to atone for the terrible damage he had caused, Ken readily agreed to do this, though the Old Man took some convincing. After he realized that this was necessary, the old man went along with this plan, even though he was completely terrified about the prospect of living out a sort of hell within a temporal Mobius loop. Once all three were ready, the Star Child put his plan into motion.

He started out, however, by completely removing any traces of the Star Brand which remained within Jacob Burnsley and Roger Price, though they still retained the alterations that the Star Brand had inflicted upon their bodies, as Ken did before. The Star Child then transported Jacob, Roger, and Jacob's grandson, Billy (who was still on the moon) back to one of Jacob's repaired city blocks by the Pitt.

These three then walked off to live their lives out in peace, oblivious to the fact that in a nearby military hospital, Air Force pilot Jim Hanrahan bore the power that the Star Child had tried so hard to eliminate from the world. Somehow, as Jacob healed the broken pilot, he had apparently transferred the power of the Star Brand to him. How this occurred wouldn't be revealed for quite some time...