" crime rate soaring to an all-time high." " virtual gridlock on capital  tax and spend, big government  fear mongering, deregulation  filing for bankruptcy protection  stock market takes a beating  announced a new round of layoffs" " unprecedented deficit is crippling the economy." "We all need to tighten our belts." " riots breaking out in major cities." "Our civil liberties are being trampled." "Housing market continues its decline." " rabid inflation  affecting global markets." "Severe economic downturn may be, quote, "irreversible. "" " declare a state of emergency." " mobilizing armed troops." " today imposed martial law." "Death toll now stands at 87." "Lex Luthor's attempt to win the presidency the old-fashioned way by buying it, seems to be picking up steam." "New polls show that 22 percent of Americans now support his third-party bid." "In a completely unrelated story twenty-two percent of Americans indicate a preference for getting * * * * * * in the * * * with a red-hot poker." "Tough times require a tough man." "And the tougher times get the more the voters will realize they need me in the Oval Office." "And not the least of the problems we face is that of aliens and so-called superheroes who act on their own as judge, jury, and often, executioner." "No one is above the law." "I learned that for myself many years ago." "And now this principle will be the driving force of my presidency." "I have already taken steps to bring some of these superhumans into the service of our government where their unique powers will be utilized for the benefit of all Americans." "They are Captain Atom Black Lightning Power Girl Katana, and Major Force." "I hope that in the months to come many more will voluntarily make the choice they've made." "And if they don't, they will find that they are not as far above the law as they think." "This started with a routine traffic stop an hour ago." "The driver brandished a gun at police, and" "Whoa!" "That was close." "This man's car has close to 600 horsepower and can go almost 200 miles an hour." "That's faster than any police car." "And even the helicopters are having a hard time keeping up w" "Wait a minute." "So this is what you've been up to these last few months." "Chasing cars." "I help wherever I'm needed." "But you haven't been needed much lately, have you?" " What do you want?" " We want you to admit something." "I'll shoot myself, I swear!" "Just a minute." "I'm gonna" " Ah!" " Come on, you." " Out of the car." "Now, what am I supposed to admit?" "That Luthor hasn't done a bad job." "Told you this would be a waste of time." "Luthor did the one thing nobody was expecting." "He made things boring again." "And boring is good, isn't it?" "The economy is back to normal." "Crime is down." "There are no wars or anything." "He's up to something." "Can't anybody see that?" "That's what I thought at first." "Eventually, I realized all he's trying to do is put that formidable intellect to work doing such a good job no one will have a choice but to respect him." "It's all about ego now." "I'll never respect him." "He's a sick man." "He's not the first to sit in the Oval Office." "He's right." "There have been womanizers, drunks, crooks but Nixon helped turn our worst enemy into our best trading partner." "And Johnson gave us the Voting Rights Act." "Thanks for the history lesson, but I'm not buying it." "Come on, work with us." "Please?" "We need you." "Sorry." "I guess Luthor's not the only one with an ego." "Is the spectrographic analysis complete yet?" "Yes, sir." "And the new data confirms our original analysis." "The meteor is pure kryptonite." "A chunk of Krypton the size of a small country." "That planet's been an endless source of grief for me." "The new numbers also indicate our original estimate of time of impact was right." "Seven days." "Correction." "There's not going to be any impact." "What's the plan?" "Missiles." "We've never shot down anything that big before." "The missiles will work." "When I first heard about this, I started doing the calculations myself." "You're brooding, Amanda." "I'm just thinking we have all sorts of other firepower." "You mean those so-called superheroes?" "They do work for you now." "Most of them, anyway." "That's to keep them from working against me." "I'm not going to put the fate of this planet in the hands of..." "Of freaks and monsters." " That's not why you won't use them." "No?" "You want all the credit for yourself." "Careful." "Try thinking of it this way:" "If you don't reach out to some of those freaks and monsters there might not be a planet left to feed that massive ego of yours." "Now, if you have nothing else for me..." "Ms. Waller." "Thank you for your honesty." "And I want to assure all Americans and all the citizens of the world that I intend to handle this meteor with the efficiency that characterized my previous endeavors." "But, as a precaution, I'd like to meet with Superman as soon as possible." "It's time to bury our rivalry once and for all and work together for the good of mankind." "This is one time he's not lying." "About burying the rivalry?" " I don't think so." "No." "About the meteor." "I've been following it the last few days with my own instruments." "I could go up there in a lead suit and smash the thing." "There's no amount of lead that could keep out so much radiation." "And it wouldn't stand up to all that smashing either." "Got anything better?" "I'm working on something with one of my contacts." "You're going to go and meet with him, aren't you?" "You know me too well." "I can't just stand back and do nothing." "Well, when it all goes south, don't count on me to save you." "I won't." "I know you pretty well too." "Well?" "Somehow, I knew that would be the first word out of your mouth." "When the meteor gets close enough, I'm sending up a dozen missiles." "Each one is going to have a 50-megaton warhead." "What do you want from me?" "Some of my people don't have as much confidence in this plan as I do." "They think I need a backup." "With the whole world at stake, that's not a bad idea." "Does that mean you're willing to work for me?" " For you?" " Yes." "You'll be working for me." "But only insofar as I represent the country that adopted you." "And that you love." "What's wrong?" "Was I getting too sentimental?" "Luthor." "You think I'd be crazy enough to meet you without some kind of protection?" " Metallo." " Who else could stand up to you?" "Shouldn't have done that." "He's the president." " That's not gonna hold him for long." " I know." "That's why you have to get out of here." "Superman." "From me to you." "What was that explosion?" "Plastique?" " Something like that." " It won't stop him." " He's going to reconfigure." " Don't worry about that now." "The kryptonite is near your heart." "I don't know if I'll get it before the wound closes." "Where's The Flash when you need him?" "Do me a favor and lose the sense of humor." "Do us both a favor and buy one." "We can't go back up." "He might still be there." "Neither of us is in any shape to take him on." "Then what are we supposed to do?" "The cemetery was built over the old sewer system." "But how can we-?" " Are you up to it?" " We'll find out, won't we?" "Oh, it's you." "Bruce." "It's not ending here." "I won't let it." "I thought I was supposed to rescue you." "There might still be time for that." "Can we get to your cave from here?" "Eventually." "Time for you to see my side of the world." "Some company you keep." "Come on, Bruce." "Stay with me." "You know who I was thinking about the other day?" "Who?" " Magpie." "The criminal?" " Do we know another Magpie?" "Whatever happened to her?" " She died." " No." "Are you sure?" "Reasonably." "Why is it that good villains never die?" "Clark, what the hell are good villains?" " Can you do it?" " Sure." "Bend steel and all that." "Clark." "It tickles." "Halt." "Identify yourselves." "Alfred, it's me." " Master Bruce." "You can rest easy, sir." "I'm already feeling better." "Thanks." "I took the liberty of washing and repairing your shirt and cape." "The souvenirs of the Gotham City sewers are best left under the streets." "I'm sure Lois will appreciate that." " honor and distinction." "John Corben might have been more machine than man but he was still human." "A human being who certainly didn't deserve this." "He came to me months ago, seeking a pardon and a fresh start and, mindful of my own history as well as his enormous potential for good I granted him both." "In the short time Mr. Corben had left, he worked hard for this country helping to keep her secure from terrorist threats." "Then, last night, John Corben was murdered." "Murdered, our prosecutors believe by a man who used his own freakish power to settle a personal score in violation of the laws that bind us all." "A man who calls himself Superman." "Does he think anybody's gonna believe that?" "I met with Superman to try to enlist him in the government's effort to stop the meteor." "He, of all people, should have been eager to help." "But instead, he lost his temper." "Metallo stepped in to protect me." "And this is what Superman did to him." "I know many of you will find it difficult to believe that Superman could do this." "I shared that skepticism until some of our top scientists reminded me that Superman's vulnerability to kryptonite can have a psychological component." "In other words, the radiation from the approaching meteor is affecting Superman's mind." "He's a danger to us all now." "And himself as well." "In accordance with that I am announcing a bounty on him in the amount of one billion dollars." "It pains me to do this but as our planet faces its gravest peril we cannot afford to be distracted by one man's growing irrationality." "Thank you and good night." "And we're out." "Thank you, Mr. President." "Let's go, people." "Come in." "Mr. President, can I talk to you?" "It's really important." ""Growing irrationality"?" " Who does he think-?" " Can it affect your mind?" "No." "I mean, it never has." "Look, this whole thing is just plain ridiculous." " I can prove I didn't kill him." " How?" "You were with me the whole time, and" " Oh." " I'll figure out a way to clear this up later." "Right now, you and I have a meteor to stop." "He didn't do it." "I'm sure of it." "Oh, really?" "It's just not in him." "Do me a favor." "Think back to three years ago." "Could you have even dreamed back then that I would be president today?" "Did you think it was in me?" "Then if I could change that much, couldn't he?" "You're late." "What took you?" "I honestly don't think you'd understand." " Lois?" " Mm-hm." "You're right." "You know, you didn't need to use the wire." " I could have carried you." " Between you and me, I hate that." "This won't take long." " See something?" " Smell something." "Now even I can smell it." "They must think I did this with my heat vision." "You couldn't have." "Not unless your heat vision is radioactive." "It's not, is it?" "No." "This way." " Now I really do look like a criminal." " It's done wonders for me." "But how do we get the data now?" "There's one other possibility." "Okay, where's your friend?" "Yeah." "The one who's worth a billion bucks." "You wanna play it that way?" "Okay." "Superman." " Little busy at the moment." "When you can, bring the heat." "Now!" " You all right?" " Better than them, anyway." "Banshee's out." "Can you keep her that way?" "Hypersonics." "Effective even on metahumans." "If she tries anything this will drive her scream right back at her." " More?" " Everyone wants that reward." "All you are is a rat with wings." "And what better way to get rid of a rat than by drowning it?" "There." "That wasn't too difficult." "I'll have to ask the Joker why he's had so much trouble doing this over the years." "So this isn't a complete waste of my energies let's have a peek under that cowl." "What do you need with money, Mongul?" "All you've ever cared about is ruling the universe." "Grundy not feel good." "Grundy gonna feel a lot worse." "Shiva." "You wanna be Luthor's boy now?" "I'm sick of Lex Luthor." "Mongul wasn't his usual talkative self." "And Grundy sounded like William F. Buckley." "You think there's some kind of mind control going on?" "A telepath, or maybe a-?" " Nightshade." "Interesting." "Even the lesser ones have some value when their powers are put to the proper use." "I know that speech pattern." "Top of that building." "Grodd." "Of course." "Had to be a telepath." "Heard a gorilla's heartbeat." "Pull." "Hey." "What-?" "We're surrounded." "I can hear them coming." "I suppose it's useless to tell you to leave." "I wouldn't miss this for anything." " Your funeral." " Already had one." " I never believed in the cavalry." " Captain Atom, I wanna thank you" "I have a federal warrant for your arrest, Superman." "So much for the cavalry." "Are you all right, Mr. President?" "Fine." "But thank you for asking." "At ease, at ease." "Let's see those missiles, general." "You sold out to Luthor." "I'm doing my duty." "Look, this isn't my decision to make." "It's the court's." ""Court's"?" "This is Luthor's vendetta." "Power Girl, what do you think about all this?" "It doesn't matter what any of us thinks." "Luthor is the president and what he says goes." "Now, are you coming or not?" "Not." "You piece of" "Look out!" "Enough." "Some of our scientists were going over the scenario in their computers." "They don't think the missiles will be enough to" "General, I don't care what your scientists think." "The missiles will knock out that meteor." " I did all the calculations myself." " Yes, sir." "Captain Atom." "This isn't the best time." "I'm sorry, sir, but you wanted to be kept apprised." "Yes." "Fine." "Do you have them in custody?" " No, sir." " What happened?" " We lost Power Girl." " She's dead?" " We're not sure." "She" " Captain Atom I have three words for you:" "Finish your job." "Superheroes." "It's not gonna be any easier without Power Girl." "We should have killed them." "We do not kill people." "Understand?" "Is that right?" " You all right?" " Uh-huh." " What made you do that?" " Warn you?" "It just sort of came out." " You don't think I killed Metallo, do you?" " Don't know." "Luthor says you did." "Tell me something, Power Girl." "Now that you've been up close and personal with Luthor..." " ... how do you feel about him?" " He's the president." "But how do you feel when you're around him?" "He" "He makes my skin crawl." "Sometimes you have to trust your instincts." "But how do you know when?" "Now." " See?" "She's a traitor." " Is that true?" " It's complicated." " No, it isn't." " Tell me something." " What do you want, dirtbag?" "Did Metallo say anything before he died?" "Was he surprised to see you?" "I don't know what you're talking about." "What did Luthor promise you?" " Money?" "What do I need with money?" "I'm living energy." "You're not going to tell me you killed him for your country, are you?" "Some of us still believe in putting our country first." "Sorry, but I don't see any patriotism here." "All I see is a psycho who's latched onto an excuse to kill people and who's so stupid he doesn't realize he's being used by Luthor." "Power Girl, don't!" "Do you know what you've done?" "Can either of you contain that radiation?" " I might be able to put up a force field." " Go." " He's not gonna be able to keep that up." "I can absorb it." " Captain, I can't let you" " I was watching." "And listening." "This is the least I can do." "Let's do this." "Five, four, three, two, one." "Liftoff." "And they're on their way." "Wormhole generator engaged." "Closing on target." "Don't worry." "I'm not going to say "I told you so. "" "Good thing." "General, what the hell happened?" "You" "We didn't take into account all that radiation." "It detonated the warheads before they hit." "So the meteor is" "Still on course." "Well, this is it." "Luthor's got his own office in there." "This has to be where he's keeping the information." "And by now, they must have the numbers we need on the meteor's radiation level." " So how do we get in?" " Don't worry." "We've got it worked out." "But you need to be somewhere else right now." " Yeah, but" " Go." "They're bound to have all kinds of radar." "We should go the rest of the way on foot." "We do have something worked out, don't we?" "No." "But I'm sure it'll come to me." "It doesn't take the wisdom of Solomon to know you should stay down." "Tell me something, Captain Marvel." "Would Solomon have gone to work for Lex Luthor?" "Batman, don't make this any more difficult than it has to be." "You wanna play it that way?" "Fine." "You know, you've never been any good against magic." "And magic's what I'm all about." " Superman." "Castling." " Good call." "Captain Marvel?" "Hawkman, before you black out I want you to know I wish it didn't have to be like this." "Before I black out?" "Are you all right?" "Say something." "Shizam." "This initial attempt was planned from the start only as a research mission." "Now that I have the data I need about the meteor I'll be able to put the second phase of my plan into operation." "I want to assure you that I will deal with this promptly and effectively." "You have nothing to fear, so, please, continue your work your play, your travel, your shopping and everything else you normally do." "Thank you, and may God" "I'm sorry, no one's allowed" "Mr. President, the whole country's in a state of panic and they're ready to take you out behind a barn and" "What are you-?" "Just taking my supplements, that's all." "Supplements?" "A little steroidal cocktail for strength, and some liquid kryptonite for" "Well, just in case." "How long-?" "Since the last week of the campaign." "It's given me boundless energy and a clarity I never had before." " What about the meteor?" " The meteor's going to hit." "It doesn't have to." "There are other ways." " That boy in Japan." " I know all about him." " I won't be needing him." " But" "Don't worry, Amanda, everything's going to be fine." " "Fine"?" " I've come to realize that this meteor is a gift from the heavens." "It's going to scourge the earth of millions, maybe billions of people the planet couldn't sustain anyway." "The world that will spring from the ashes will be a better one." "Rational, orderly." "And you know how I know that?" "Because I'm going to build that world." "And, of course, I intend for you to play a role in all this." "A very important role." "Mr. President, Hawkman and Captain Marvel are here." "We'll talk more later." "Captain Marvel." "Hawkman." "This is a surprise." "You wouldn't know what happened to those fugitives you were supposed to bring in?" "They're right in front of you." " How-?" " We had some help." "Give us all the data you've got on the meteor." " Hurry." " Of course, of course." "What's wrong?" "Feeling a little green at the gills?" "Well, well, a bat by any other name..." "He said hurry, Luthor." "All right, all right." "I'll tell you where it is." " Computer." "Yes, Mr. President?" "Delete all files immediately." "Deleting." "Deleting." "Deleting." " No!" "All files deleted." "Aw." "You two aren't going to be able to save the world now." "Well, I'll tell you something." "Everyone who lives see the new world will have learned never to trust your kind again." "Shut up." "Here." "It's got all the information you need on it." "Now go save us." "Bitch." "General, arrest him." "It's like the old saying." "If you want someone killed right, you have to kill them yourself." "Mr. President, are you all right?" "Mr. President." "I'm perfectly fine, as anyone can see." " Where does a kid get this kind of money?" "I had this kind of money." "Wasn't interested in toys, though." "Hey, guys." "How did it go?" "Got everything we needed." "Thanks again for your help with Hawkman and Captain Marvel." "Wait a minute." "Why aren't you with the boy?" "I'm close enough right here." "And he's not really that much of a boy, you know?" "He's 13." "He's down that way." "I'll just stay back here." "Supes, Bats." "Que pasta?" " Is it ready, Hiro?" " Toyman to you." "I got a copyright to protect." "And, yeah, it's ready." " All I need is some numerals." " Everything you need is in here." "Excellent." "I'll input them, and then it's blastoff time." "Hey, did you guys see Power Girl when you came in?" "If you see her again, tell her I'm sorry about the X-ray goggles." "I was just testing them, that's all." "Now I gotta rebuild them from scratch." "Hiro" " Uh, Toyman, can we please see the rocket now?" "Sure, sure." "I didn't have a lot of time so I based it on a design I whipped up when I was 7." "That's why it has manual controls even though it's not going to need a pilot." "Oh, one other thing." "Back when I designed it, I was way into hero worship." "You are absolutely sure this is going to work?" "Does Power Girl have big-?" " Just feed it the numbers, kid." "You got it." "Wow." "Who's there?" "Isn't there any way to speed this up, Toyman?" "Sure, go find some other kid with a 210 IQ." "And good luck with that." "Hello, sunshine." "Keep going." "I can't think of a morning I haven't woken up with the thought of strangling you." "That sanctimonious image of yours fooled everyone except me because I know evil." "It had to be you the one other person in the world smart enough to stop that meteor." "The only person smart enough." "You couldn't do it, remember?" "What are you doing?" "How am I gonna guide my rocket?" "You're not going to." "It's never going to take off." "Wait." "What are you doing?" "I'm going to fly this thing myself." "Are you crazy?" "Goodbye." "You come to this planet declare yourself the savior of mankind." "Well, I think it's time you died for your sins." "That was my best friend." "And you just killed him." "When does it end, Luthor?" "I'll answer for you." "It ends tonight." "You can't touch me." "We're on American soil now." "And I am the president." "Consider yourself..." " ... impeached." " Yeah!" "Superman." "Looks like I recovered a little too late." "Forget about that." "I got a message from Toyman." "He says that there's still a chance." "What are you doing?" "Stay back." "Stop." "That's an order from the president!" "The voice of the people must be heard." "I am the president!" "God bless America." "God bless me." "I have the feeling I'm not gonna have to worry about that murder charge." "Would have been an interesting trial, though." "Wanna stick around for a while?" "Lois and I would" "I can't." "It's late." ""Late"?" "Come on, it's early."