PLOT:
The death toll in Metropolis ended up being in the thousands. Hundreds of them, Kobra agents, given up like lambs to the slaughter. But in the name of what? The end goal of Jason Burr's
masterful plans has even yet to be hinted at and the JSA are beginning to feel as though they're being lead on a wild goose chase. Burr fakes right but goes left and the Society stumbles in the process of catching up. What's worse,
the uncomfortable air of distrust between Power Girl and Mr. Terrific is coming closer and closer to the forefront. That's why when the JSA come across another potential lead in Kobra's plans, Michael is eager not to take
everything at exactly face value.
The somber team returns to the Brownstone only to find that someone else has already been there before them. And that someone is none other than Jason Burr himself. When Tom's nose alerts them to the presence of a rotting corpse inside their
utility's closet it's immediately rushed to Doc Mid-Nite for analysis. Michael meanwhile combs through their database to look for any Kobra fingerprints. And sure enough he finds one. The list of every surviving member of Kobra's assault team. Sent out to
every law enforcement agency. Another obvious piece of bait in this ongoing game of misdirection. But on the corpse, they find another lead.
The body is that of a Checkmate agent. His throat slashed, they find soil particulates left behind from the blade. Sand tells them that the dirt itself is from the Shepard Reservoir in Opal City. It's also been infused with the same
stellar radiation as Stargirl's Cosmic Rod. Obviously Kobra wants them to know that they're next step lay in Opal City - home of the original Starman (and creator of the Cosmic Rod) Ted Knight!
But while the rest of the team goes to thwart a terrorist attack at the reservoir, Michael heads by himself to the Starman Museum. And with good reason. Ariadne isn't at the Reservoir. It was a set-up to begin with. Within moments the Kobra soldiers are on the ground, writhing in pain as death magic changes their insides into
venomous snakes. The real action of course is at the museum. As a memorial to one of the superhero community's greatest, it's there that all of Professor Knight's documents and memorabilia are housed. And it's there
that Terrific finds Jason Burr. And so the atheist squares off one on one against the religious zealot.
Burr is strong. Surprisingly strong. And he somehow gets the upper hand against the master tactician, piercing his shoulder with the blade of his Kobra sword! As Michael lay bleeding on the floor of the museum, Burr reveals that he was never
after any one of Professor Knight's designs. But rather the notes of one Dr. Saul Erdel, left behind with Knight's correspondence. Erdel, he reminds Holt, was the father of teleportation. And so, as Jason Burr opens up an Erdel-Gate door and steps in, he offers this
chilling statement. "You have no concept of how to beat me, because you'll never fathom what motivates me. I'll simply outbelieve you, Michael."
And in seconds, he's gone.
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