Titans of Justice Unlimited #87 - "Homecoming"
Written, Editing & Maxi-Micros by: Power Guy


The Hall of Justice…

Virtually every member of the Titans of Justice past and present along with some members of the Titans of Authority, the Super Friends, and the Justice Society Infinity had been invited to a party hosted by Black Vulcan, Jem, Black Orchid, and Power Guy to celebrate Sargona's return. The party was catered by the Cheesecake Factory and Teavana which supplied many of the raven-haired beauty's favorites such as Thai Lettuce Wraps, fried zucchini, Jamaican Black Pepper Shrimp, sautéed plantains, steamed white rice, a variety of cheesecakes, and several different flavored white teas. The meeting room of the Hall was cleared out for the most part and turned into a club setting with Power Guy DJing dance music videos on the Trouble Alert screen for the attendees to dance to. The attendees were told to wear their costume as with so many people coming, they wanted to make sure Sargona recognized everyone after her time away and recovering from amnesia.

About forty-five minutes after the party had began, the guest of honor arrived sporting a brand new costume for everyone to see. "I can't believe you guys did all of this for me!" sighed the daughter of Sargon the Sorcerer and Zatanna as she approached the party hosts. She gave Black Vulcan a hug and continued, "Celeste! Come here, you mangy old Thunderdog!"





"Look at you, beautiful as ever, Sarcasta!" noted Black Vulcan. "I love the new wardrobe but what inspired the change?"





"After everything I've been through over the last several months, I needed a fresh start and since I'm stuck with you guys…………..I had to get a fresh set of clothes," Sargona said with a smirk as she continued hugging her group of close friends.

"I can't imagine what you went through on Earth 3," Black Orchid said with sympathy. "That world's citizens have been causing trouble for us since around the time I first debuted as Black Orchid. First the Crime Syndicate…..now their legacies the Syndicate of Terror."





Power Guy held Sargona in his arms tightly and said, "I'm just so glad you're back, safe and sound." He then kissed her on the cheek.





"So how did you make it back here? Corporal Marvel thought maybe you slipped through the dimensional disturbance that occurred a short-while back?" Jem asked as she sent her sister Kimber a text message to check on her son Steven.





"I wasn't aware of the disturbance," revealed Sargona. "Actually, the Syndicate sent me back here."

"They did?" asked a perplexed Black Vulcan. "Fill us in, girl!"

"Here goes…" began Sargona, "You all know about the deal I made with the Syndicate to help us out against the Super Fiends in the Universe of Evil. I thought once I got to Earth 3, I would be the subject of torture and ridicule but the Syndicate had other plans for me. They had me supply them with mystical advice, protection from their magical adversaries, be their personal servant responsible for cooking and cleaning the Hall of Crime. These responsibilities gave me an opening that I hadn't anticipated. I was able to learn a great deal about the Syndicate. Jeremy Quick was stealing money from the other Syndicate members to support his drug habit. Power Ring still wets his bed. The Oppressor was cheating on Mega Guy with Preditress. Corporal Terror is really a decrepit old pervert when not in his magical form. The list goes on and on with lies, deceit, and other atrocities and secrets. One day, a meeting was called for all of the Syndicate members but no-one could determine exactly who called the meeting. Shortly after the meeting began, the Syndicate members started blurting out their own dirty secrets. Everyone was shocked and dumb-founded at their new-found honesty. At first, there was some question as to whether mind-control was at play until the meeting table floated into the air revealing that The Oppressor's magic-lasso had been wrapped around each of one of the Syndicate member's ankles which forced them to speak the truth."

"YOU DIDN'T!" exclaimed Black Vulcan as she gasped.

"You could have gotten yourself killed for pulling a stunt like that!" pointed out Power Guy.

"I know but I knew that the Syndicate would be in shambles after that so I thought it was worth it as I would never see home again," explained the wielder of the Ruby of Life.

"So what happened from there?" asked Jem.

"Oh, needless to say, the Syndicate was quite ticked off at me. Mega Guy told me that since I obviously didn't like being on Earth 3, they were sending me home then Power Ring used his ring to mind-wipe me and the next thing I know, I'm Conjura the Great. I guess, the Syndicate thought it would be mental torture for me to be back here and not remember who I am or who my family and friends are."

"Thank God we found you," smiled Power Guy as he hugged Sargona tightly again.

Suddenly, Power Pup came racing through the room and approached Power Guy. "Settle down, Jake," Power Guy said as he began stroking his loyal pet behind the ears.





"Who is this cute little devil?" Sargona asked curiously as she knelt down to become acquainted with Jake. "You must be Power Pup? Your dad has told me a lot about you already." Sargaon began petting Jake's head as he licked her face a few times.

"I think he likes you already," smiled Power Guy noticing the instant bond the two seemed to form.

"How could I not like this little guy when he's kept watch over you while I was away?" Sargona said as she gave Jake a hug.

Suddenly, the Trouble Alert went off and the Sixty Minute Soldier(who had stayed on Earth 2 to perform monitor duty) appeared on the screen. "I'm sorry to interrupt your celebration but we've got trouble in Metropolis. Some nutcase calling himself the Lightning Master is perched a top the Daily Star building causing all sorts of havoc. He's using his electrical abilities to control in-flights and out-flights of the city. No plane can get in or out………………..until he's paid one billion dollars.





"Lightning Master? My uncle Kal-L fought someone by that name in the forties but he was just a costumed crook without powers. No way he could be healthy enough to be causing trouble seventy years later."

"Tell that to Per Degaton," reminded Lightspeed.





"Good point but I'm guessing this is some new version of the villain. Either way, I'd better check it out," Power Guy stated as he headed towards the transporter tube.

"Hold on……I'm coming with you," instructed Sargona.

"What? No way! This is YOUR party," advised the modern age Man of Steel. “Besides, I bet Sherry is hoping I’ll ask her to tag along. I see her over by Corporal Marvel eyeing me up.”

“Alright….” sighed Sargona, “But you’d better be careful,” smiled the mistress of magic as she hugged Power Guy.

“You can count on it,” promised Power Guy as he, Constellation, and Power Pup teleported to Earth 2.

***

Metropolis - Earth 2…

The transporter tube on top of the Daily Star building glowed bright. A few seconds later, Power Guy, Constellation, and Power Pup made their exit and noticed that the Lightning Master was standing across the rooftop, arms crossed, as if he was waiting for them.

“Well, that didn’t take long….” noted the green and yellow-clad villain as he raised his arms in the air and his fists crackled with electricity.





“Who are you and why are you doing this?” demanded Power Guy as he began flying towards the terrorist.

“Ah…..so you realize that it’s not really about the money for me……..you’re a smart one, I’ll give you that but that doesn’t change anything between us. You see, your grandfather killed my own grandfather decades ago. His death left my father and grandmother to struggle for the rest of their lives. My grandmother went insane and killed herself. For years, my father worked on various experiments to give himself the power to destroy your grandfather but he never could quite get things right. As my father got older, I took on his work and finally perfected his formula to give me the power necessary to accomplish the task at hand and since your grandfather hasn’t been seen since the those red skies threatened the planet a few decades ago and your mother seems to have retired, YOU will pay the price for my grandfather’s murder!!!” vowed the Lightning Master as he blasted Power Guy with electricity.

As the lightning approached him, Power Guy thought to himself, “This guy hasn’t done his homework if he thinks a little bit of lightning is going to hurt…..” as the lighting struck the Kryptonian powerhouse, his whole body felt as if it was on fire. He fell out of the air, lying the rooftop in agony as his body glowed green. “Kryptonite….” he murmured.

“That’s right! I found away to give myself the ability to generate Kryptonite-infused lightning!” revealed the Lightning Master. “You can thank my dear cousin for that………….Alexi “Lex” Luthor! My father was his brother and the two often shared secrets with one another. It took decades for my family to figure out how to perfect the formula that gave me my abilities but I’d say it was well worth it!”

“And I’d say it was a BIG waste of time!” shouted Constellation as she hit the Lightning Master with a spree of shooting stars, knocking him wildly about.





“Foolish girl………..don’t make this fight your own. It’s the Superman Family that must pay!” howled the green and yellow clad villain as he steadied himself but before too long, Power Pup tackled him to the ground and began growling viciously after seeing his caretaker hurt.

“Power Guy is my family so if you mess with him, you mess with me as well!” vowed Constellation as she imprisoned the Lighting Master within a force-field.

“What are you? His little sister who didn’t inherit the alien family genes?” scoffed the Lighting Master. “I know you get your powers from that shiny belt around your waist girl,” revealed the villain as he released a surge of electricity that filtered through the force-field Sherry had created and back into her belt. Suddenly, the belt began to spark and shorted out. “Ha! You’re now powerless!”

“But I’m not!” shouted Power Guy as zapped the Lighting Master with his heat-vision.

“ACKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!” hollered the villain. “Nice shot but that won’t save you from my wrath!” The Lighting Master’s body lit up with electricity again. Suddenly, Power Pup went to tackle him again but this time, got burned by the green-tinted sparks coming off of the villain’s body.

“Power Pup!” shouted the modern-age Man of Steel as his pet fell to the ground, whimpering. “You’ll pay for what you’ve done!”

“No, it is YOU who will pay for the sins of Superman you imbecile!”

Instantly, Power Guy’s body was flooded with the Kryptonite electricity. He soon collapsed to the ground in pain. The pain was so intense that he could barely focus his vision. The Lightning Master approached the fallen hero and began kicking him in the stomach and chest.

Sherry became panicked at seeing the display of violence in front of her. Her eyes darted around the rooftop looking for some sort of weapon to use. She spotted some rubber lining around the base of the Daily Star’s antenna. She quickly ripped the two-foot wide strip of rubber off of the base and ran up behind the Lighting Master and wrapped it around his face, blinding him. Her Cosmic Converter Belt had started functioning again so she used it to fuse the two ends of the strip of rubber together so it sat on the Lighting Master’s face like a mask. She then spotted a doorway into the building nearby. She quickly opened the door while the Lightning Master struggled to get his new headgear off. Acting fast again, she pushed the villain through the doorway, causing him to fall down a flight of stairs, temporarily injuring him. She then helped her cousin and Power Pup up and asked, “Are you ok, PeeGee?”

“I still hurt like crazy. Kryptonite and electricity are not a good combination………. We’ve got to think of something before he gets his barings.”

“I’ve got it!” exclaimed Constellation.

“I’m all ears,” offered Power Guy.

About a minute later, the Lightning Master burst through the door leading to the roof and shouted, “Now you both are going to die!!!” He began firing off blasts of electricity left and right. Surprisingly, Power Guy flew head-on into him. “Eager for a quick death, huh?” the villain said as he blasted away at the Metropolis Marvel. Shockingly, the Kryptonite lightning seemed to have no effect this time. “What? Why won’t you fall?” he demanded, continuing to pour on the lightning, not noticing that Constellation was flooding Power Guy’s body with rays from her belt.

“Sherry’s plan is working perfectly,” Power Guy thought to himself. “Kryptonite weakens me because it negates the solar energy in my cells but by Sherry constantly feeding me solar energy from her belt, there is no solar degradation.” Power Guy punched the Lighting Master a few times, leaving him groggy. “Your little revenge scheme is over. I’m truly sorry for your family’s loss all those decades ago but I know that Superman did not intentionally kill your grandfather. From the report I read, the lighting machine your grandfather was using exploded on him which is what took his life.”

“And that was Superman’s doing!!!” howled the modern Lighting Master. “You……you…..you will pay for this!”

“Not today!” Power Guy said as he shook his head back and forth and then promptly TKO’d the villain.

“How sad,” frowned Constellation. “His family has carried this grudge and anger for decades. I guess the Luthors are all alike.”

“It’s a shame to think what good this man and his father could have done with their intellect instead,” noted Power Guy.

“Well, let’s go drop this guy off at the authorities and get back to Sargona’s party,” smiled Constellation.

Power Guy threw the unconscious Lightning Master over his shoulder and replied with, “Last one there is a rotten Bizarbara!” stating Sherry’s classic saying.


THE END!