Justice Society of America
American Nightmare
by Libbylawrence
Within the brownstone HQ of the Justice Society of America two concerned members stood over a young woman who sat within an odd network of wires and dials. She was very attractive and she was determined. Beneath her steely fa�ade however she was very afraid. She did not know her name. She did not understand how she had gained amazing powers over matter. She did trust the two costumed heroes who had cared for her for several days and had established global reputations as champions of justice and humanity.
Doctor Mid-Nite made certain adjustments to the machine in which the woman sat and he listened keenly as Wonder Woman gave him certain suggestions as to the best use of the Amazon device!
“That’s the correct setting. Paula herself confirmed that via mental radio. I believe we’re ready to begin if our patient is willing!” said the Amazon Princess.
The woman in question smiled ruefully.
“I am ready. I’ve felt like such a fool! I fought Power Girl and created so much panic when she first found me. I should have trusted her! Even in my day the JSA was known for integrity and mercy; however, something made me lash out at her and fear her because she wore a costume!”
Doctor Mid-Nite said, “I think your brief fear of costumed characters came from some attempt to manipulate your instincts by the captors who robbed you of your memories. It passed too easily once we managed to talk to you and assure you that you were safe here. ”
Wonder Woman said, “I noticed you mentioned your era as if you came from another time. You’ve mentioned that you have memories of the year 1951 but you recall nothing since that date. You also recall a man with a name like Tim or Jeff and a newspaper called the New York Daily Star.”
She nodded eagerly. “I can’t understand it! I fluctuate between remembering the late forties and early 1951 with sensations or images that stop much earlier! I must be crazy!”
Wonder Woman took her hand and gently said, “Do not be afraid. This memory relearner was designed for a far different purpose but it should enable us to break through the mental barriers that plague you!”
Doctor Mid-Nite said, “Remember I am a physician beneath this Halloween garb. We’re going to help you and not harm you!”
She nodded in appreciation and the machine was activated!
Wonder Woman said, “The link to the Magic Sphere will allow us to see mental images drawn from your own mind as we restore your memory!”
She said this to reassure the woman and not to inform Dr. Charles McNider. She knew her close friend was very familiar with Amazon science.
They stared at a screen as images began to form!
“That’s Washington DC! I know the city like the palm of my hand!” said Princess Diana.
“That is where Power Girl first fought her!” whispered Doctor Mid-Nite.
The Huntress entered and sat down silently.
“That complex she came out of appears to be a rather well-concealed structure! From without it appears to be nothing more ominous than a private research facility. Inside it reveals another story! Notice the guards and the ruthless experimentation!” said the heroine as they saw a spacious complex displayed before them.
Wonder Woman nodded and said, “Be calm, sister! There is no need to fear. No matter what occurred within that place you are safe here!”
The young woman nodded and said, “I can’t recall the facility except for brief moments. I think I was held there since 1951 in some type of sleep! I was only awakened occasionally and all I know of the place comes from those brief times in which I was awake!”
Doctor Mid-Nite said, “Certain physiological facts from your exam shows prolonged suspended animation did indeed keep you from aging for the last thirty plus years!”
The Huntress said, “You escaped from that lab during your most recent period of being awakened! Your lack of memory made you fearful and you lashed out when Power Girl tried to catch you.”
She said, “Yes! I regret it all but I just felt such fear.”
Wonder Woman said, “I’m going to ask you to try to recall how you first came to the lab. When we first questioned you about where you came from before meeting Power Girl, you could not recall. Your most recent memories had faded already. Thanks to our machine you seem to be regaining all the memory you lost!”
The woman gasped as she replied. “I was abducted by them! They used machines and chemicals to give me my powers but I retained free will and my efforts to resist their programming caused my mind to just shut down! I know that now!”
The Huntress leaned forward and said; “If this place was trying to create super beings back in the early 1950′s then we could very well have encountered other creations of theirs over the years! Why maybe many of our old foes gained their own powers from that place!”
Wonder Woman said, “Hera help us! We’ve discovered a super villain factory for lack of a better way to put it!”
The Huntress said, “I did some digging. The New York Daily Star went out of business years ago but I found a list of former women employees dating back to the 1920′s!”
Doctor Mid-Nite said, “We need to know who our guest is! You were abducted and experimented on but how does the Daily Star fit in? Did you work there? You said the paper’s name meant something to you.”
The young woman looked over the list of names and said, “I was a reporter! I know you’ve said the paper went out of business since then. The names you found of former employees don’t mean much except for one name Joan Dale! Something about that name speaks to me!”
Wonder Woman said, “Joan Dale? That was the name of a heroine from the 1940′s! I never met her because she disappeared before my time. Didn’t she die on another earth?”
Doctor Mid-Nite said, “She was a heroine who predated you. She called herself Miss America and she died on the alternate earth we called Earth X around the very date Pearl Harbor was attacked! Hourman was with her and he should be called in! I think we’ve found Joan after all!”
The pretty woman said, “I am Joan Dale! I almost know that! You said I was a heroine! Did I have matter altering powers?”
Doctor Mid-Nite said, “Yes, and you were better known to most of us as Miss America!”
2
Later Doctor Mid-Nite, Power Girl, the Huntress, the Atom, Hawkman, and Johnny Quick sat around the JSA meeting table and talked over the matter.
The Atom leaned forward in his chair and rested his powerful hands on the table.
“It’s too bad Wonder Woman had to leave so abruptly. When that Greek joker popped up like a ancient world version of Marley’s ghost and ordered her into action, I almost fell out of my seat!”
“Diana was called away to complete one of the Labors of the Titans she has been doing as a way to rescue the captive gods. I offered our help but you know our favorite Amazon Princess, she likes to do things for herself!” said Hawkman.
Doctor Mid-Nite said, “Diana is eager to finish the mission. Working on the whims of the Titans is getting to her!”
Power Girl said, “Every time we get mixed up with those cosmic ego cases, we get in trouble. Take it from from someone whom Odin tried to recruit as one of his Heavy Metal Cheerleaders!”
Johnny Quick laughed and said, “You mean he wanted you to become one of his Valkyries? You sure have a colorful way of talking! I like your style, lady!”
The Huntress said, “Kara has a unique way with a phrase but then you always did like blondes who could turn a phrase as well as turn heads! Speaking of your ex-wife and current romantic partner, I just read Liberty Belle’s book on the World War Two generation! It’s a fascinating read!”
Before Quick could answer, Hawkman cleared his throat and called the meeting to order.
“I’m sorry to end the small talk but we need to get down to business! As you know Power Girl brought a super powered young woman here for help. Doc learned that she is Joan “Miss America” Dale. Miss America was a heroine in the dark days immediately prior to Pearl Harbor. We have always thought that she had departed from our earth to an alternate earth around that infamous day in 1941. Apparently, we were wrong!”
“Don’t be so sure, Hawkman! As you can see our pretty guest may be Miss America but I can assure you that she is not Joan Dale!” said a gold and black clad figure as Hourman entered with a newly costumed and masked Joan Dale!
She wore a very brief red and white striped skirt with a sleeveless blue top and high heels. She looked very much the picture of a patriotic heroine in spite of her slight nervousness.
“Hourman says he knew Miss America. I have no memory of ever meeting him. He also says I can’t be Joan Dale!” she said slowly.
Atom said, “Hourman should know! I almost forgot that he was one of the mystery-men Uncle Sam recruited all those years ago to act as a freedom fighter on that alternate earth we called Earth X!”
Hourman grinned and said, “Is your memory as short as your stature, pal? I can say with certainty that even after forty plus years I know this woman is not Joan Dale. Even in the rather fetching costume, she looks as much like say.. Lois Kent as she does Joan Dale.”
The Huntress said, “But she certainly has many of the same memories one would associate with Joan Dale although they end before that day in 1941 when you met her. She also has some memories of years after the war going up to 1951! I’d suggest you use that memory relearner along with the magic sphere a bit more. Perhaps, Joan’s memories have been implanted over top of her true memories of her own life and identity!”
Doctor Mid-Nite said, “I agree.”
He turned to the young woman in the red, white, and blue costume and said,
” I suggest Miss America and I stay here and work with the machine while the rest of you investigate the complex shown in her memories of Washington DC!”
Hawkman said, “Agreed! Let’s go, team!”
The heroes departed and Doctor Mid-Nite held out his hand to the attractive woman.
“Hope you don’t mind if I call you Miss America. It seems like as good a name as any until we find your true name!”
She smiled and said, “Certainly. I believed it to be my name. I still do but I can’t explain why. I suppose your Hourman can’t be wrong! If I’m not Joan Dale then why do I have her powers and many of her memories?”
Doctor Mid-Nite nodded and began to lead her to the medical chambers once more!
3
Within the complex in question the stern and elderly leader of the covert organization faced his creations and nodded approvingly.
“As you know I first started this project in 1940. I was concerned that the sudden rise in the number of sensational costumed mystery-men could spell disaster for America! I was suspicious of them and when Hitler’s mad talk of a Master Race began to become common knowledge and the specter of the Axis Empire began to rise in lurid flames around the world, I started to look into the possibility of what might occur if Superman, Green Lantern and their ilk decided to take over the world! It seemed likely that beings with such raw power could also carry within them the same seeds of dictatorship and disregard for what they imagined to be lesser beings as a Hitler! I worked briefly with another government project before I realized that I could not trust anyone to fully embrace my vision! Thus, I took the data I had gathered as part of that group and I brought it here. I lured Miss America here in 1941 and we examined her. We tried to duplicate her powers but all we could do was study their nature. We released her and she had no memory of the experience. An irony may be found in the fact that I believe she originally received her own powers from some associates of mine in the original government project I quit!” A portly man nodded and said, “Dr. Syn, we know your proud history. We rejoice in all you have achieved for our great nation. You vowed to create your own team of super patriots to protect the country from their champions if ever they should turn evil!”
Dr. Anthony Syn nodded and said, “I used my personal fortune to finance experiments. I hired experts to dig into the truth behind the masks. I used every source of data from spying on their allies to questioning their foes. Still, I bided my time. When the war ended, I waited. One terrible regime had been destroyed. Would it be replaced by one created in the image of the capes and the masks? They opposed the Axis. They won the war as well; however, could we truly trust men who hid behind masks? I doubted them!
The portly man said, “And you were right to do so! You had a clear vision of the evil they cloaked beneath pious and patriotic symbols! You were there when they were put to the test!”
Syn said, “I put the project on hold when the Justice Society was asked to reveal their names and secrets by a House investigative committee. I was willing to give them a chance to prove their true intentions. Still, they refused to cooperate. They disbanded in 1951! That led me to take action of my own. Using the data I had gathered from my studies of Miss America and other super powered individuals over the years, I made an effort to duplicate the Miss America powers in an unwilling but misguided captive. It worked but left her in a near mindless state. I decided to keep her alive in suspended animation in case we could ever make her loyal to us and serve this nation, as a true daughter of liberty should do! ”
The portly man said, “I am still saddened by how she failed to surrender her will. She lost much because she would not obey us! But, we may rejoice in the fact that those test subjects that followed her have succeeded wonderfully!”
Dr. Syn said, “Indeed! They stand before us as we await the Invasion.”
The portly man named Johnson said, “Invasion? Ah, such a poetic way with words! You may indeed call it an invasion for the infernal forces of the JSA will invade us when they learn of our existence!”
Dr. Syn said, “I doubted they could do so at first but I’ve changed my mind. They are skilled. I will give them that. I also now eagerly wait their attack. We will defeat them and expose them to the world. Let them do their worst. We will do our best!”
Syn continued, “My own son will lead our new breed of American Heroes! Super Patriot here will make his father and his country proud!”
A blond man in a red and blue costume smiled with determination.
“I have waited to serve since I left the military in the sixties. I have waited while American boys died while so-called heroes like Superman failed to help them end the Communist spread in places like Korea and Vietnam!”
Syn said, “Steven, your day has come! I know I am old and I have little time remaining to me but ever since the JSA reformed, I have continued to create your peers in the American Brigade! These good American woman and men will make my dream a reality before I leave this mortal coil!”
Johnson said, “With Jay Flash Garrick eyeing the White House, we must act! If one of them becomes President then our cause is lost!”
Dr. Syn said, “The American Brigade will never fail me or their nation!”
4
Hawkman led the JSA to the complex in Washington DC. The Huntress had already checked out a few facts about the large base and she discussed the data with Power Girl as the Maid of Steel carried her through the sky.
“This complex is not really a secret. It is supposedly a privately owned research lab but apparently the clients who hire the staffers within the place to consult for their companies are all very tight lipped about what they actually do for them. I think your theory about Chief Wilson of DC being involved is not too far-fetched. All of their alleged clients are men and women with considerable influence. It was not easy to hack to that amount of data. This place could be the hub of a real web of dangerous activities!” said the Darknight Darling.
Power Girl said, “I’d like to go shake Wilson around until he talks but for now we might as well check out the source of the problem! Wilson and his group may be making their own private army of super powered soldiers. ”
Hawkman said, “Power Girl, scan the place with your super senses and give us a report!”
Power Girl grimaced and said, “Speaking of soldiers, Hawk gets increasingly dictatorial every day!”
She looked down at the labs and said, “Lead shielding prevents me from seeing a thing. I hear plenty of activity though. ”
The Huntress said, “That much lead suggests they deliberately wanted to block the x-ray vision you and Superman possess. If they are really trying to create super soldiers then they naturally prepared for interference from us!”
Power Girl smiled and said, “I’d love for them to try to stop me from interfering! I’m more than a little angry about the way they abused that poor woman I brought to HQ!”
Within the JSA skimmer Johnny Quick turned to the Atom and said, “You know I could have checked out that place in record time if you’d allowed me to go on ahead!”
Atom said, “And they call me the impatient one! Johnny, you and I have something in common beyond rugged good looks. You are trying too hard to impress us. We wanted you in the group. Jay picked you personally to replace him. Relax!”
Johnny sputtered for a moment then laughed and said, “You got me! OK, I’ll try to reign in the Quick Ego!”
Hourman said, “Atom, you’ve become a regular elder statesman of the super hero set! I guess you just can’t take the college professor out of the man even when he’s wearing a mask!”
Atom said, “Since I lost my atomic powers and reverted to being just a fighter, I’ve been working out a great deal more than I had been in years. It has given me time to think and readjust my views on a couple of things!”
Hawkman called down and said, “A mellow Atom! This is something I never thought I’d see in a hundred lifetimes!”
They landed and entered the main lab building where they were greeted and ushered inside by uniformed guards.
“This way, sir! Dr. Syn is eager to talk to you all!” said one guard.
Hawkman frowned. “Syn? He was one of our harshest critics back in the 1950′s. He was very eager for us to unmask during that witch hunt that led to our disbanding!”
Atom slammed one fist into the palm of his other hand and said, “Yeah! I remember him! If he’s behind this place then we can expect a hostile reception!”
5
They were led into a spacious room in which Dr. Syn awaited them. He nodded to his portly aide Johnson who frowned and eyed the JSAers warily.
“Welcome! I have been expecting you. You might even say I have dedicated my life to this moment! You see I have never trusted any of you. I put together this project with the help of a network of agents placed around the nation in positions of authority. We were content to monitor your actions until one of your ilk Jay Garrick presumed throw his shiny winged hat into the political arena. That action made it necessary to take a rather more drastic measure to make sure your long reign over the hearts and minds of the deluded masses ends abruptly!”
Power Girl said, “Why you sanctimonious old creep! You go around torturing and imprisoning helpless people and dare to talk to us about trust and the public good? If you weren’t well past S.S.I. time, I’d show you a thing or two about misuse of power!”
Hawkman said, “Easy, PG! Dr. Syn, we’ve learned that you are conducting experiments here on unwilling test subjects. We’re shutting you down now! We’ve received full authority from a source a bit higher than your own well-hidden connections. The President himself has authorized us to take appropriate action!”
Dr. Syn said, “I expected as much from a man so smitten with public acclaim! Before you do anything else I think I should merely summon my American Brigade! They are real heroes with nothing to hide or to fear!”
A group of costumed figures charged into the room from all sides and attacked the JSA!
Johnny Quick sprang into action and dodged a blistering bolt of energy that came from the hands of a black woman who wore a star-spangled jumpsuit.
“You move well but then your kind has always been known for physical and verbal acrobatics!” she said.
Johnny said, “Listen lady, you have a lot of nerve to lecture me about my kind! I’ve lived my whole life treating people of all races equally. That means I have no qualms about trashing you either in spite of your gender!”
Starlight laughed and merely flew at him like a human rocket!
She crashed into him and they fell hard as her form of solidified light rammed into the hero!
A tall blonde in a brief pink costume and thigh books slammed into Power Girl and an explosion sent the Girl of Steel reeling.
“I’m called the Blonde Bombshell for obvious reasons, honey!” said the taller woman with a sneer.
Power Girl pushed herself to her feet and said, “I’ll call you something else for obvious reasons!”
She charged forward and noticed how her larger foe’s hands crackled with explosive energy!
“She’s some type of human bomb!” mused Kara.
She traded blows with the other blonde and frowned as her best efforts did little more than hold her in place.
6
Meanwhile, Hawkman faced a flying man with a thick mane of bright red hair.
“I’m American Eagle and I’ll pluck your feathers, old man!” said the brash newcomer in red and gold!
Hawkman received a punch in the stomach and kicked his foe aside as they circled each other warily above the fray!
The Atom rolled aside as one of Bombshell’s explosions shook the room.
“She has powers like my old ones or like the ones Cyclotron II has! She’s out of my league now. I better try to stop the more human types!”
He drew closer to a stocky man who wore no costume except for a gray suit and dark glasses.
“So who are you? Lounge Lizard Man?” quipped Atom as he tossed a right hook at the man.
He gasped as his punch sailed over the head of the suddenly smaller man.
“They call me Vocal Minority. Hear why?” he said as he screamed and sonic blasts hit the Atom.
He groaned in pain and fought to keep his balance.
“Got to ignore the pain! Got to keep moving!” he thought.
Hourman activated his hour of power with a touch of his hourglass and a moment of concentration. He no longer needed to take the wonder drug Miraclo to gain such wonderful adrenaline based power. Now, he could merely concentrate and reap the benefits of the residue of the drug he had created so long before!
He dodged a left hook thrown by Steven Syn the Super Patriot.
“My father gave me the power to expose you and bring your JSA down to rubble so real Americans can take their rightful places as national heroes!” he said.
He moved with agility and a raw strength that made Hourman hesitate as he struggled to wrestle the younger man to the ground.
He connected with a smashing blow of his own but the man in red, white, and blue merely lowered his head and rammed it into the gold and black clad hero’s chest!
The Huntress nimbly jumped over the head of a young woman in a skimpy blue and white costume.
She spun around to aim a high kick to the woman’s platinum blonde head only to fall as her leg went directly through the woman’s head!
7
A high pitched giggle resounded as the woman called Free Spirit smiled as the Huntress rolled across the floor and rose up again!
“No one can lay a hand on me unless I want him or her to!” said the ghostly woman.
The Huntress was the Batman’s daughter and she had inherited more than her legendary father’s physical skills. She also had a keen and agile mind.
She said, “I seldom miss any target!”
She whipped out her crossbow and fired directly at the mocking woman.
The bolt passed harmlessly through her chest and struck American Eagle as he hovered behind her!
“I never said you were my target!” said the Huntress.
The American Eagle cried out and whirled around to see the source of his wound. As he lost concentration Hawkman brought a morning star down with stunning force!
“Thanks, Huntress! I owe you one!” he said as he stood over the beaten Eagle!
The Huntress smiled and flipped nimbly across the room as Free Spirit bent over her fallen friend.
The Atom fought through his own pain and managed to deliver a rapid series of blows that dropped Vocal Minority to the ground.
“A guy who can make himself smaller at will is not much of a threat as long as he keeps a glass jaw!” muttered the powerful Al Pratt!
The woman called Starlight continued to fire concentrated light or energy beams at Quick who managed to evade her with ease but he was getting tired of being a moving target. He spun around rapidly and the force of his spin created a whirlwind that swept the misty form of Free Spirit apart!
That freed the Huntress to use a small mirror from her belt to deflect the now startled Starlight across the room into Bombshell’s eyes!
As the blonde powerhouse blinked in dismay Power Girl brought both fists into her foe’s chest! She followed up by knocking her through the wall into an adjoining chamber and closing the hole at super speed! She inhaled sharply and drew all the oxygen in the room into her own lungs. Without air Bombshell staggered and fell flat at Kara’s feet!
Power Girl smiled mockingly and said, “Who’s the Blonde Bombshell now?”
Back in the main chamber Hourman managed to wrestle Super Patriot to the ground and hold him there.
“Son, you’ve got a lot of skill but you fall short when it comes to my experience!” he said.
As Starlight reformed herself she fell to a swift jab by Johnny Quick.
“That woman was a real spitfire!” he said.
Atom smiled and said, “Just the way you like them!”
Power Girl used a blast of icy super breath to freeze Free Spirit’s still vapory body in place.
“That wraps up the so-called American Brigade!” she said.
Hawkman said, “All right, Dr. Syn. We’ve bested your team. That means nothing to you. I’m sure you still see us as monsters in masks. I’ve read your old papers. I know your motivation. However, the methods you’ve been using are illegal. While these poor deluded men and women were willing test cases, the woman we’re calling Miss America was not! We’re closing down this place and you’re going to jail!”
Dr. Syn said, “Virtue ever triumphs over vice. Thus, I give my life to see my work complete!”
He clicked a button and nothing happened!
Power Girl said, “I deactivated your self-destruct mechanism at super speed. I also made a nice copy of your private files. It’s funny how easy it is to get into private records when you can enter a million passwords in a few moments!”
The Huntress said, “Chief Wilson and all of your other agents will be exposed and may lose their jobs if not their freedom.”
Dr. Syn shook his head and said, “You are evil! I’ve known for decades that you were merely pretending to be heroes! Why have you won? This simply can’t be! This can’t be possible!”
Hawkman said, “Dr. Syn’s lost more than his project here. He’s confronting the infinitely more frightening prospect that he has been wrong all along. That’s quite a punishment for a man like that!”
He gently led the old man out as his teammates collected the rest of the staff.
The fat man named Johnson shook his head in disbelief and turned off the lights as the heroes led him away. His leader was a broken man and he had lost years of work in a moment. No defeat could be more complete.
8
Back at JSA HQ, Doctor Mid-Nite smiled as Miss America embraced him.
“Thank you! You’ve given me back my true identity and my memories! You were right when you deduced Syn’s efforts to duplicate Joan Dale’s powers in me also grafted some of her memories over top of my own! That’s why I thought I worked at the Star and knew an FBI man named Tim Jefferson Healy. Those things applied to Joan not to me.”
Doctor Mid-Nite said, “But you were a reporter for a different newspaper in 1951 when you stumbled on to the project and became it’s first test subject. You were pretty brave to try to get into that place on your own all those years ago but they did call you Lady Danger!”
She nodded. “My real name is Valerie Vaughan. My colorful nickname of Lady Danger did get me a bit of attention back then before I was taken prisoner while investigating the project. You’ve given me my life back but after decades in suspended animation what kind of life is it?”
Doctor Mid-Nite said, “Valerie, when our comrade the Star-Spangled Kid was rescued from time displacement, he did adjust to the New World around him with some help from us. You have super powers and you have a rather suitable name and costume. I propose you join the JSA informally and let us help you get used to the changes that have occurred. You could do a lot of good with those powers!”
Valerie nodded and said, “That’s the best offer I’ve had in 40 plus years!”
The End
