Transformed by Zatanna’s homo magi DNA, Adam has become hugely powerful and considers himself a god. Gypsy tracks down Pamela Cross. The Martian Manhunter, as John Jones, finds out that the murderer was Artie, the husband of the woman killed and the lover of Burt Biloxi’s secretary, Norma Simons.
Deeply sedated, Zatanna hears the voice of her father, Zatara, desperately trying to rally her to action. In her drugged stupor, Zatanna struggles to recall recent events. Sheri Stanley, the woman who had been subletting Zatanna's apartment, had disappeared. During the course of her investigation, Zatanna discovered that Stanley had fallen in with a cult, led by the charismatic Adam. Stanley betrayed Zatanna, turning her over to Adam. Zatanna's DNA was harvested, and spliced with Adam's DNA, giving Adam Zatanna's powers. Zatanna fights her way, though her nightmares, to consciousness. Zatanna conjures an earthquake, which subdues her guard, and announces her coming.
Donning her uniform, Zatanna escapes, and confronts Stanley. Adam confronts Zatanna. Adam subdues Zatanna. Adam expands his consciousness out across the city, to study and observe Zatanna's companions in the Justice League of America. Adam watches as the Justice League of America rallies to respond to Zatanna's distress signal. Adam takes the measure of each hero, as they race to his location. Adam notes that the Gypsy, and J'onn J'onzz, the Manhunter From Mars, do not respond to Zatanna's distress signal. The Gypsy has located a runaway, Pamela Cross. To garner Cross' trust, the Gypsy buys Cross a meal, and reveals her own origin.
The Gypsy had seemed to live an idyllic life in the suburbs. Behind closed doors, however, her father proved to be an abusive alcoholic. The Gypsy's family lived in fear of her father. On a day that the Gypsy tried to garner favor with her father, he was particularly dismissive and violent. The Gypsy's power to cast illusions manifested, terrifying her entire family, prompting her to run away from home. The Gypsy traveled to Detroit, where she eventually encountered, and joined, the all-new Justice League of America. Cross breaks down crying, in need of help, but too afraid to ask for it. The Martian Manhunter, as private investigator John Jones, learns that his employer's secretary, Norma Simons, has framed him from murder.
Jones surreptitiously follows Simons. Jones confronts Simons, at her lover's apartment. Jones learns that Simons stole the murder weapon from her employer, and used it to murder her lover's wife. Simons' lover snatches the gun, and shoots Jones. Though uninjured, the impact causes Jones to stumble backwards into the fireplace. Jones rapidly weakens, as the flames surround him. Posing as Zatanna, Adam convinces the Justice League of America that her distress signal was a false alarm. Using his power of persuasion, "Zatanna" convinces the Justice League of America to leave. Zatanna watches, in despair, as her would-be rescuers are turned away by Adam.
Log in to comment