Justice Issue Guide #8

Issue 21:
Illusions

Slamming the door to her office as she stormed in, attorney Amy Windels complained about not making full partner in the law firm she worked at. Commiserating with her coworker, Barb, Amy idly threatened to leave after the partners told her she wasn't aggressive enough, when she saw her opening in the newspaper. Running out of the office in a huff, Amy made for a nearby police station!

Elsewhere, Justice woke in a daze, shaken into that state by his love, Endolina. Having thought her lost long ago, Justice was amazed to hear from her that all was well, that the great battle with the Winterlands had been won at last. Walking past the corpses of Damon Conquest and Daedalus Darquill, Justice explained that he had dreamed he was a man from earth, but Endolina put the kibosh on all that.

Meanwhile, mere feet away, Justice's former boss, Mr. Hanley, was just outside Justice's jail cell. Held in a straight jacket and drugged insensate, Justice didn't hear the leader of the Drug Enforcement Agency attempting to free him from captivity by the Philadelphia police. Refusing to budge, Captain Chafin disregarded Hanley's arguments about Justice being a government agent, and walked off with him.

Nearby, former members of the Millenias cult had assembled in an abandoned home, and were meeting to debate their new name. Despite him rejecting them earlier, these cultists were worshiping Justice, and wanted to choose their new identity before attempting to free their god. This proved difficult, however, as the first name that came to them was the Justice League, though that was already taken.

Back at the police station holding Justice, Captain Chafin took Hanley to a conference room, where he was met by Angela Tensen, Justice's daughter! Curious why she was there, she explained what had happened at the Pitt Aid concert, a story which culminated with her revelation that Justice had incredible pararnormal powers. Neither Hanley or the police believed this, but a fresh interloper bought her story.

This fellow, Terrance Updike, had personally seen Justice's abilities in use near the Pitt, and could vouch for them. As everyone else tried to figure out why Updike was there, his assistant, Victor Pasko, was roaming around the room sniffing everyone. Sneezing loudly in close proximity to Angela, she offered him a tissue afterwards. Just then, Justice's lawyer arrived, so Chafin left to deal with that.

Pushing his way through a media frenzy in the police station, Captain Chafin met with Amy, who claimed to be Justice's lawyer. He had fixed her car a few days back, after all, and she wanted to return the favor. That and representing Justice would show how 'aggressive' she was to her superiors. Unable to see Justice to verify his well-being, she went to file papers to see him released immediately.

Elsewhere, strolling through the ruins of the land of Spring, Justice saw new life sprouting behind Endolina as she walked, only to see her suddenly slain by an inexplicably resurrected Conquest and Darquill. Though she begged him to let the killing end with her, Justice couldn't honor that final request. In his jail cell, Justice's powers were slowly burning through the straight jacket restraining him...

Nearby, the former Millenias had finally decided on a name, the Justice Brigade, and had taken to the streets. Setting a pimp on fire as he was interacting with an investigative reporter, the Justice Brigade claimed that the government had twenty-four hours to release Justice, or else they'd start setting everyone else on fire. Little did they know, however, that their efforts were completely unnecessary.

Back at the police station, as Updike argued with Angela about the true nature of her father and his many crimes, Justice finally freed himself from his bonds. Still in a delirious haze from all the drugs the police had pumped him up with, he perceived everyone around him as Hounds, the dark servants of Daedalus Darquill... and reacted appropriately. He started his response by shooting his way out of his cell!

Though intent on killing the leaders of the Winterlands, Justice honored Endolina's dying wish where his minions were concerned... which was lucky for the Philadelphia police department. Blasting his way through the police station, Justice injured, but didn't kill, any of the hapless police in his path. Once he'd worked his way to the roof, Justice used his shields to walk off into the sky, leaving everyone behind!

As he left, Captain Chafin scoffed at Amy, who had arrived moments before with legal paperwork to secure Justice's release.

Issue 22:
Hide and Seek

In the skies above Philadelphia, a police helicopter found Justice sitting on the rooftop of a building, and demanded that he put his hands up. Looking at the craft, Justice only saw Hounds riding atop a giant, flying reptile. His perceptions still colored by Darquill's psionic programming and the drugs the police used on him, Justice used his shields to destroy the helicopter's rotors, sending it to the ground.

Still using his shields, however, he cushioned the fall of his enemies and their strange conveyance, albeit only enough to spare their lives. As they crawled away from the wreckage, Justice seized both police officers by the throat, and implored them to tell their master that Justice was coming. He then stalked away, leaving the dazed police officers to do his bidding, or whatever else they saw fit.

Back at the police station Justice destroyed as he escaped, Captain Chafin was being berated by Mayor Huntley for the current state of affairs when Colonel Browning arrived on the scene. He stated he intended to deploy special forces to deal with Justice, while Terrance Updike tried to talk the politician out of that course of action. He was successful, but Browning already had men on the scene anyway.

Nearby, drifting through the alleys in a haze, Justice asked a group of homeless men if they had seen Darquill. Their leader, Eddie, took exception to this and pulled a gun on Justice. Justice shielded himself, deflecting Eddie's bullet back at him, which dropped him where he stood. Taking his coat and stalking off, Justice left Eddie's friends to their own devices, who then burned Eddie's body for warmth.

Just outside the destroyed police station, shortly after Browning left in a huff, Amy Windels discovered that Justice had trashed her car during his escape as well. Cursing the day she met him, Amy was astonished to see Justice suddenly appear before her, though he was calling her Endolina for some reason. Panicking, she pulled a can of Mace (R) and sprayed the hallucinating vigilante in the face with it.

Seizing it and destroying it with his sword hand, Justice paused before menacing Amy further, unnerved after he suddenly saw the image of Playback appearing before him. Viewing him from a point in the near future, Playback had homed in on him after touching Amy's car, and he reacted poorly to her appearance - and her message that she was there with his daughter. Justice then fled the scene in confusion.

Back in the alleys, the homeless men warming themselves over the charred corpse of Eddie were approached by one of the Justice Brigade, hoping they had seen his ostensible god. Annoyed that they didn't seem to know much of anything, and vexed by the simply awful smell of their fire, he stalked off soon afterwards. This was observed by a member of the NSC, who assumed the hoboes weren't worth questioning.

Nearby, the rest of the National Security Council's local operatives were combing the city in a search for Justice, as was his daughter. Joined by Playback, who had come to Philadelphia to aid Updike in his efforts to recover the vigilante, Angela was walking the streets near the destroyed police station. When Playback sat down on a trashed car while talking to Angela, she suddenly picked up on Justice psychically!

Looking back in time, Playback spotted the man gibbering at Amy, and when he saw her she tried to talk Justice down. This failed utterly, but at least she could tell which way the man fled. When Updike approached, seeing Playback was in a trance, he followed her directions as soon as her perceptions returned to the present. Naturally, Angela insisted on coming along, and tired of arguing with her, he let her do so.

Elsewhere, Browning and his men had caught up with Justice, who was perceiving the colonel as Daedalus Darquill. Fighting his way through the soldiers, wounding yet sparing all of their lives, Justice came face to face with the man, threatening to kill him outright. At the last minute, he was stopped by Angela, who pleaded with him to stop. Unfortunately for her, she appeared as a horrifying monster to him!

Embracing him before he could attack her, Angela broke Justice out of his drug-induced stupor, which caused him to release Browning. When the colonel pulled a gun on him, Updike knocked him out with a tranquilizer gun, and escorted Justice to his car. Passing out as he protested, Browning and his subordinates were then rolled by those homeless men from earlier, who took their uniforms and guns... for kindling.

Issue 23:
Ramifications

Finally heading home after a long, long day, Captain Chafin opened his door at last. Unfortunately for him, his house had been invaded in his absence by members of the Justice Brigade, who sought the location of the paranormal they worshiped. Before he could react, Chafin saw that the Brigade had taken his wife and children hostage, leaving him little choice but to tell them what they wanted to know.

In Washington, DC, Terrance Updike had a similar question as he walked the halls of the National Security Council's headquarters. Approaching Victor Pasko, Updike asked him where Justice had gotten to and, using his parability, sneezed Updike in the right direction. As it so happened, Justice was in the building's firing range, practicing with a firearm for the first time since his encounter with Leon Crisp.

Commenting on how his legendary aim seemed to have slipped, Updike walked with Justice as he left the shooting range. Encountering Playback in the halls, Justice showed frustration with her as she continued to act skittish around him, though he seemed to be the only person surprised by this reaction. You know, despite the killing spree he had been on over the last year or so, and all the brainwashing.

Later introducing Justice to the Creeping Crud, Updike reacted poorly to Justice's offer to put him out of his misery. This culminated in an altercation between the two men, one that was interrupted by the arrival of Justice's daughter, who was being put up by the NSC while Justice recovered from being drugged by the Philadelphia police. Justice and Angela then walked off to have a long, hard talk.

Elsewhere, a Palestinian dignitary was leaving his protected residence when he was suddenly approached by several men. As the three members of the Justice Brigade menaced him, their leader indicated that he was Jewish, and that he sought Justice. The three Brigadiers then fired their flamethrowers at the diplomat and his bodyguards, their leader chuckling under his breath as they died in a napalm blaze.

Leaving as the sirens of first responders rushed past, Justice and his daughter went out to a nearby park. Angela questioned Justice about the surprise donation to her tuition fund, as well as all the murders he had committed. Growing increasingly frustrated at his answers, or lack therein, Angela began to argue with him, though her interrogation was cut off by Chauncy and Victor, who had come running after them.

Needing his help with a pressing issue, Chauncy pulled Justice aside, leaving Victor with Angela after he helped Chauncy find the man. As Angela and Victor walked together in the park, they got to talking to each other. This culminated with Victor asking Angela out, an attempt interrupted by a loud sneezing fit. He played it off by making her laugh, though, which was something she could appreciate right about then.

Returning him to the NSC building, Chauncy was present when Updike let Justice know there were a band of flamethrower-wielding maniacs terrorizing the city. Having documented up to eleven sightings of the seeming vigilantes, Updike asked Justice for his help in dealing with the matter. As they had modeled themselves on him, Justice declared that he would deal with these lunatics, and got into costume.

Sensing they thought similar to himself, Justice traveled to the Supreme Court, where he met a member of the Brigade. He implored Justice to come with him to their current base of operations, an unoccupied building they were renting from an unscrupulous realtor. Doing so, Justice indeed joined up with the Brigade named after himself, insisting that they tell him just who the heck they were.

Revealing themselves as the remnants of the Millenias cult, the Justice Brigade declared they were his servants, and that they had armed themselves to do his great work in the world. Infuriated, especially after seeing they had dragged their own children into this madness, Justice demanded that the Justice Brigade must cease to exist once and for all. Walking out, he only realized his error too late.

Before he could stop them, the Justice Brigade turned their weapons on each other, immolating themselves and the building they holed up in. Not having considered they would take him extremely literally, Justice had no idea the Justice Brigade would cease to exist via mass suicide. Shaken, he returned to where his daughter was staying, and completely broke down over what he had done.

Issue 23 (Backup Tale):
Healing Time

As one Mr. Pippin rampaged in the Bethesda Naval hospital's paranormal wing, the wing dedicated to treating the wounds of would-be draft dodgers before passing them on to the military, Dr. Ballad attempted to calm him down. Pippin refused, however, and used his pararnormal power to spin at reckless speeds to slice and dice numerous soldiers, almost cutting Ballad himself before he suddenly flew upwards!

Flung into the ceiling tiles, Pippin then dropped to the floor, heavily injured as a result. Just then, Kathy Ling burst out of her room, yelling at everyone to settle down so Stasi could rest. Once she realized that Pippin and numerous soldiers were hurt, however, Stasi pulled herself out of bed to help heal them with her power despite having been seriously weakened after the Medusa Web captured her.

When Ballad asked Stasi to help, Kathy lost her temper, and threw Ballad, a nurse, and a soldier against the wall with her telekinesis, slightly less forcefully than she had handled Pippin. Kathy was talked down by Stasi, though, and released the government medics and allowed Stasi to do as they asked. As they left, however, Kathy vowed that they wouldn't be staying with the government much longer...