Command Performance. Mister Miracle performs a special magic show, with the fate of Big Barda hanging in the balance.
Big Barda is dying. Due to Granny Goodness' conditioning, any separation from Granny Goodness causes Big Barda to lose the will to live. Though rescued from Granny Goodness' clutches, by her husband, Mister Miracle, Big Barda has turned her warrior's will against herself, willing herself to die. Refusing to give up on his wife, Mister Miracle seeks the council of Himon. Soon thereafter, Mister Miracle begins mass distributing event flyers on Apokolips, concentrating on Armaghetto. Informed of these actions by Granny Goodness, Darkseid is perplexed regarding Mister Miracle's motivations. Documented by a remote camera, Mister Miracle and Oberon arrive in Armaghetto, to hype Mister Miracle's upcoming show, in direct defiance of Darkseid. Though Mister Miracle's broadcast is seen on hundreds of worlds, it is primarily for Big Barda's benefit. By openly defying Darkseid, on Apokolips, Mister MIracle hopes to show Big Barda, and all others, that they are not constrained to obey the edicts of their oppressors. A street patrol closes on Mister Miracle's position, but the world's greatest escape artist lays down a smoke screen to cover his movements, then leaps away. Mister Miracle and Oberon elude Darkseid's patrols for a night and a day. The patrol's failure to locate Mister Miracle is punished by swift, but brutal executions, carried out by Darkseid's son, Kaliback. Suddenly, the sky is filled with light, as Mister Miracle's name, in fireworks, illuminates the oppressive darkness of Apokolips. Mister Miracle openly confronts Darkseid, in the streets of Armaghetto. Mister Miracle and Oberon are seized, put in chains, and placed beneath a rapidly descending, rotating blade. Though Mister Miracle was searched and stripped of the majority of his technology, prior to his public execution, the guards missed the X-Ray lens hidden in his eye. Locating the dump chute, beneath their feet, Mister Miracle kicks it open, then dives, with Oberon, to safety, moments before the blades reach them. The absence of blood and gore on the blades informs the audience that, somehow, Mister Miracle has survived. As the blades hit bottom, and shatter, Mister Miracle appears amid the debris, and takes a bow. Seeing Mister Miracle challenge the will of Darkseid and triumph, Big Barda shakes off Granny Goodness' conditioning, immediately regaining her sense of self.
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