Justice Issue Guide #6

Issue 16:
Justice, Justice, Pursue It

At the Clinic for Paranormal Research, Charlotte Beck abruptly woke from a nightmare, having seen the image of John Tensen destroying her in her sleep - not that Charlotte had any idea who John Tensen even was. Having screamed upon awakening, Charlotte was checked on by her friend, Jeffrey Walters, who heard the radio near her bed talking about the work of a so-called Justice Killer.

Nearby, in Chicago, the police were investigating the latest murder committed by the man in Charlotte's nightmare. They observed the pile of ashes that was Lonnie Poole, with a pair of scales traced into them, along with the victim's unburnt hands. While the police searched for the victim's missing head, the crime scene was visited by Miriam Morse, a psychic otherwise known to local police as Playback.

Like many people with psychic potential, Playback developed paranormal powers after the White Event, powers she uses to solve crimes. Grabbing an ash tray presumably handled by the victim, she activated her power, and her perceptions began to shift back through time. Slowly dialing in the approximate time of the murder, Playback finally laid eyes on John Tensen as he kicked in the victim's door.

As she looked on, Playback saw Tensen accuse Poole of using his powers to control the behavior of women to sexually assault them, women he potentially infected with a lethal disease he carried. Tensen then disintegrated most of Lonnie Pool, traced scales in the ashes he'd made, and addressed Playback personally. Even though she was viewing him from, what was in his perspective, the future!

Meanwhile, Charlotte was digging into the Justice Killer story, as Lonnie Poole was a guest of the Clinic for a short while. Calling the San Francisco police, she learned about the first victim of the Justice Killer, Greg Gardner. The police had not acted on the sole witness account, due to the fact that she was a very young girl, and frankly what she told the police seemed downright impossible.

The young witness stated that Gardner had entered her home while she was playing hide and seek, and had brought gasoline to burn the place down. Or, more accurately, to accelerate the fire caused by his own paranormal powers, since Gardner had been paid to burn her house down. He was prevented from doing so by Tensen, who actually needed two blasts to eliminate Gardner, all while leaving the witness unharmed.

That night, Playback returned to her apartment, distressed that Tensen was able to see her during her postcognitive vision, something that had never happened before. Already skittish, she grew even more alarmed when she spotted a man observing her apartment from an alley across the street. Calling the police in a panic, she quickly gave up on the authorities and hung up, knowing no one could stop Tensen.

Charlotte continued her own investigation come morning, interrogating Doctor Guntly, an associate of the Clinic's Doctor Jack Forrestor. The psychiatrist of the Justice Killer's second victim, he was coerced into explaining what had happened to his patient - in his very office! It all started when said patient, Malcom Stokes, who had been suffering from identity issues for years, declared himself cured.

Revealing that he had solved his problems thanks to the emergence of his parability, the power to assume the appearance of anyone he wanted, Malcom then confessed to using said power to rob banks. As he went to leave Guntly's office, Tensen appeared and disintegrated most of Stokes, sparing only his head and hands from vaporization, then drawing scales in the many, many ashes that remained of his corpse!

Panicking as she thought the Justice Killer was coming for her, Playback packed a suitcase and prepared to bug out of her apartment. She was assaulted in her parking garage before she could escape, though. As it turned out, the man stalking her was not the Justice Killer, but instead Jimmy Phearson, a child molester she had helped the police find years ago, who was seeking revenge for his time in prison.

Before he could do her any real harm, Phearson called out to confront someone he saw watching him from the shadows of Playback's parking garage, and was answered by a disintegration beam issuing forth from them. Helping Playback to her feet, Tensen assured her that he meant her no harm, as she was using her powers for the greater good. And if that meant helping the police identify him as well, then so be it.

Soon enough, Playback indeed gave the police a description of Tensen, which was quickly broadcast on televisions nationwide. While Tensen mocked it, considering the police sketch artist's effort a poor likeness, numerous people around the country recognized him instantly. Some of these folks included his old DEA boss, Hanley, and his daughter, Angela! But Tensen didn't care, for he had work to do.

He then walked off into the city, declaring that he... is... Justice!

Issue 17:
Spirit Against the Flesh

Waking up abruptly, Eric Quinn gibbered for a moment about not being ready to die, only to relax as he looked upon his apartment. Sure, the place was trashed just like it was in his seeming dream, but at least he wasn't dead. Surveying his wrecked apartment, Eric smelled something burning, and started looking for fire. It was then that he spied a pile of ash, flanked by someone's unburnt hands and head.

Seeing he was in someone else's clothes, Eric's panic grew more acute, particularly after he realized the severed head was, in fact, his own! Screaming, he heard someone else's voice cry out, one sounding like the Equalizer ™, only without the accent. Rushing to his bathroom, Eric looked into the mirror, and gazed upon a face that was not his own. No, the visage he saw was the face of Justice!

Just then, Eric relived the recent past, that which he thought was but a dream. Recalling the moment Justice blasted his way through his front door, Eric struggled to avoid his fate by dodging the next burst from the vigilante's sword arm. Grabbing his gun, he emptied the revolver when trying to kill Justice, but the man deflected his bullets somehow. And then, before he knew it, everything went white.

Eric then began seeing a life flash before his eyes, but it wasn't his life. No, it was a series of bizarre images that culminated in Justice consorting with strange, costumed men, before everything went black. Soon after, Justice woke up in Eric Quinn's bathroom, unsure how he got there at first. Before Justice could leave, however, two policemen arrived on the scene, and they knew who he was!

Deflecting the rounds they fired at him with his shield, Justice leapt out the window of Quinn's apartment, using his shields as platforms in the sky. At that most unfortunate moment, Eric once more took control of Justice's body, and suddenly found himself falling to his doom. Panicking as he raced to his second death in an hour, Eric abruptly found himself whole, in a strange, shifting landscape.

But he wasn't alone.

Facing his killer, Eric Quinn looked on as Justice explained that he was trapped within the vigilante's mind, presumably as a last-ditch use of his paranormal power to project his personality into others. Futilely struggling with his killer, Eric then watched as Justice detailed his crime, showing Eric using his power to compel his ex-girlfriend's new man, Hugo, into leaping off a balcony to his doom.

Mad that Justice knew so much about him, when he knew very little about the guy that murdered him, Eric asked why Justice thought he could do what he does. Justice then explained his origin, how he started out as a youth who always believed in being the good guy, the man in the white hat. This earned him the nickname of 'narc' in high school, which was meant as an insult, but was a name that Justice wore with honor.

Though he had few friends in school, Justice nonetheless fell in love, and was wed right out of high school. While Irene worked, Justice went to college, gaining a high-paying job with the Drug Enforcement Agency after graduating. Once he was the earner, Irene went to school as well, but sadly Justice had made many enemies on the job. They placed a bomb in his car one night, trying to get revenge on him.

Irene borrowed Justice's car that next morning, sealing her fate. Withdrawing after the death of his wife, Justice took a job his boss offered, an investigation into the alleged drug empire of Daedalus Darquill. And that fateful choice is what scrambled Justice's mind over the last year or so. Once he dealt with Darquill, Justice vowed to prevent paranormals like him from hurting others, no matter the cost.

Wrapping up his tale, Justice let Eric know he was about to fade away, prompting him to ask Justice one last favor. Letting Eric control his body a final time, Justice watched as Eric apologized to his ex-girlfriend, Kelly, for killing her new man. Confused and enraged, she fell out her apartment window. Justice allowed Eric the use of his shields, with which he saved her from her otherwise lethal fall.

Wanting to give him a piece of her mind, Kelly was infuriated when Eric's mind passed on, finally leaving Justice alone in his head again.

Untold Tales of the New Universe: Justice
Who Judges the Judge?

In New York, deep within the halls of Club 69, Rodney Jung was chatting up a young legal assistant by the name of Trish. But Rodney wasn't there in an attempt to hook up with the lady, for he had a much more sinister goal in mind. With just a fleeting touch, Rodney was able to inject Trish with the drugs inherent to his very body, the unique gift he received after the White Event just over a year ago.

Slipping her his card and letting her know the score, Rodney left the club moments befor the man stalking him arrived. At the entrance to the club, Justice was once again having bouncer trouble. Instead of charming them this time, though, Justice simply assaulted the man and barged his way into Club 69. However, he was too late, for his special aura vision saw no trace of his criminal quarry.

Unfortunately, Justice did spot the consequences of Rodney's visit. Seeing the effects of Rodney's parability already taking hold in Trish's body, he collected her from the bar and escorted her outside, intending to take her to the hospital. When Justice asked about Rodney, Trish remembered that the man gave her his card. Once she handed it off to Justice, he finally knew where to locate Jung.

Later, at Rod's Bods, Rodney was doing paperwork and chatting with his daughter. After pestering him to go out on longer dates, she was happy to hear that Rodney had secured enough money to cover her first year in college - quite a feat, since her mother cleaned out her college fund when she divorced Rodney. She then left Rodney dinner, and went to rebuild a transmission she was working on in the garage.

Before Rodney could eat his McDonalds ®, however, his office walls suddenly exploded! Recovering his wits, Rodney looked up to see Justice standing in the rubble, outlining Rodney's many paranormal crimes before declaring he had passed judgment on him. Not wanting any of that, Rodney pulled his semi-automatic pistol out of his ruined desk, and fired several rounds at the vigilante.

Though Justice easily deflected Rodney's bullets with his shield arm, the ricochets from his failed attack caused a series of incidents that set the repair shop on fire. Running to warn her father, Rodney's daughter arrived just in time to witness Justice using his sword arm to disintegrate the man. Sad that such a vile man had a daughter, Justice looked at her aura, and saw it rapidly darkening.

Regretting what he saw unfolding, Justice prepared to eliminate her as well, before he caught himself and stopped. Suddenly realizing that he was about to kill an innocent, Justice flashed back to his time under the influence of Daedalus Darquill, which reminded him of the mission he'd adopted after partially recovering from the incident. He then resolved to help repair the damage he'd done to the young woman.

As the fire Rodney's ricochets caused consumed the garage, Justice attempted to rescue his daughter, though she understandably fought tooth and nail against him. While the two stood in the midst of the blaze, Justice explained in lurid detail what the fire was going to do to the two of them, though he did exaggerate quite a bit. Having a moment of clarity, she finally let Justice to get her out of the building.

Allowing her to judge him, Justice handed Rodney's daughter her father's weapon and attempted to explain himself, but she used it to fire several more rounds at the vigilante. When Justice seemingly collapsed in a bloody heap afterwards, Rodney's daughter freaked out at the sight of the man she'd seemingly killed, and ran to the approaching authorities. Distraught, she told them that she had just killed a man!

Upon approaching the spot where Justice fell, however, the police found no body to speak of. This is because Justice, using several ketchup packets from Rodney's last meal at McDonalds, let his daughter think she'd killed him. This act turned her back from her path of darkness, which apparently repaired the damage he'd inflicted upon her aura, and allowed her to resume something resembling her previous path.

Minus her father, anyway.

Glad that he had tied up the loose end he created in the wake of Rodney Jung's execution, Justice found himself pondering his path. How much collateral damage had he caused in his extreme pursuit of justice against paranormal criminals? Was he any better than those he passed judgment upon? At the very least, Justice decided that he owed it to Rodney's daughter to at least consider this before continuing his mission.

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