Finally convinced to take a break, Michael steps outside for a moment when he is confronted by a Naga suicide bomber sent by the Kobra cult. Focused on what they call the Kali Yuga, the cult is intent on bringing about the destruction of the Earth. Since the attack occurred on their home turf, the JSA is there in time to stop the bomb from killing Michael and are able to minimize damage. It seems as though the bomb was created using off-world metal alloys in order to not only cause an explosion but also trigger a mini-vortex when it's set-off. Realizing that their enemy is a faceless suicide cult which has now somehow procured intergalactic arms, the heroes know that they must act quick in tracking the smugglers who got the Nth metals into Kobra's hands.

After intercepting the smugglers at a storage facility, Michael and the others take one of the cultists in for questioning. Thanks to a post-hypnotic trigger word Checkmate had subliminally planted inside the smuggler the first time they crossed paths, Holt and the rest of Checkmate are able to gain valuable intel on the bomb makers. Impressed though she may be (and perhaps a little frightened), Power Girl refuses to let Checkmate take over the show completely. Though it's no doubt Michael's position as the White King of Checkmate that caused him to be the target of this attack, his Justice Society colleagues are insistent that they be allowed in on the investigation.

What they don't realize however is that Jason Burr, the new leader of Kobra is playing this game one step ahead of our heroes. The intel was planted in order to create a diversion. Realizing that the morally righteous do-gooders in the JSA would never willingly kill any of his operatives, he had intended from the start for some of his pawns to get captured. And while the JSA is busy stopping a Kobra sect from destroying a church, another Kobra operative is sneaking into a Checkmate facility and downloading Checkmate's data on the probable location of the transient A.I. they had been keeping tabs on!