The shuddering bellow out of Gotham shook the Watchtower's very foundations, shattering the strategic thinking and tense arguments like a fist. On the main screen, the emerald creature's containment facility's live feed flashed into blinding green light. The complex energy field rippled, groaned, and then, with a deafening crackle, dissolved. A massive, emerald-colored shape, seething with uncontrolled chaotic energy, burst from the ruins. Conner, distorted and monstrous, was finally free.
"It's loose!" Robin's voice was as hard as a blade, with an edge of urgency. "Coming directly for the city center! It's emitting raw discord!"
"This is it," Zatanna announced, her hands already tracing complicated patterns, iridescent energy building around her. "Mordru's last move of destruction. He's not only fueling it; he's building it, forcing it towards a cataclysmic convergence."
"We must head to Gotham, immediately!" Superman ordered, his eyes blazing with a combination of dark resolve and searing pain. Seeing his deformed 'son' was an open sore.
As the League readied itself for instant deployment, new deluges of communications descended upon the Watchtower. Holographic images of Lex Luthor, Vandal Savage, and Klarion flared on public screens globally. Luthor's voice, now victorious, thundered: "See, humanity! The Justice League's beloved 'superboy' has broken free of their irresponsible confinement! This is the anarchy they generate, the instability they promote! Only sane leadership can hold this in check! Only we can restore order!"
Savage concluded, his voice booming with a chilling authority, "The world plunges into primal anarchy. Only by disciplined, unyielding control can we endure this plague. Accept the order that is necessary!"
Klarion laughed, his body blurring. "More chaos! More fun! Watch the heroes scramble! They're losing!" His magic struck, tangling comms lines, malfunctioning emergency services, and random islands of irrational terror popping in cities around the world, deliberately diverting attention and resources from Gotham.
"Diversions," Batman snarled. "They're attempting to disperse our forces, leaving Gotham exposed." He nodded to Michael. "Michael, Zatanna, work on shutting down Klarion's global disruptions. We require clean channels of communication, and the public must be able to have faith in emergency services. Martian Manhunter, Wonder Woman, with me. We put a stop to the beast."
"Aqualad, Young Justice, on the ground in Gotham," Superman ordered. "Keep the beast's rampage contained. Save civilians. We'll follow as quickly as possible. Avoid engaging it directly if you can. Just save the city."
"Got it!" Aqualad replied, already rallying his team. "Move out!"
As the primary Justice League force sprang into action, Michael felt the monumental weight of his and Zatanna's mission. "Klarion's magic is too pervasive to attack head-on with targeted blows," Michael grumbled to Zatanna, as she and he initiated their complex counter-spells. "We must locate his origin, his focal point, and then.break his story."
"He's everywhere, Michael," Zatanna exclaimed, perspiration glistening on her forehead as golden energy pulsed about her, fighting against the disruptive static. "He's drawing off the worldwide terror, directing it for Mordru. He has to have a focus for that energy."
In Gotham, meanwhile, the green monster, untempered and wild, rampaged through the city. Its thunderous roars boomed through the streets, producing physical shockwaves that shattered glass and buckled pavement. Its frenetic energy burst outwards, infecting the air, causing humans to lash out in blind panic and fury. Wally was a blur, evacuating civilians, laying safe corridors, but the creature's path of destruction was huge. Robin travelled with grim calculation, tracking the creature's movements, attempting to anticipate its direction and lead the team.
Abruptly, a huge holographic image of Lex Luthor materialized directly above the monster. Luthor's own voice, thundered to a deafening roar, reverberated through the ruined city. "Look, Gotham! Your rescuers have failed! Only I, Lex Luthor, can bring the order to subdue this destruction! Only I have the real power!" He started energizing a series of colossal, experimental energy projectors deployed across the city, meant to entangle the monster.
"He's trying to tame it!" Robin screamed, his voice strained with fear. "He thinks he can tame it! He's going to make it worse!"
The creature, feeling the try at domination, emitted an even more primal roar, its green energy bursting wildly. Vandal Savage, materializing atop adjacent skyscrapers, started to mobilize varied factions of frenzied citizens and turn them into an hysterical mob, sending them running in the directions the Justice League would be coming from, making a human shield of chaos.
Michael, watching from the Watchtower, recognized Luthor's arrogance, his desire for dominance, as the final act of discord. He was not a pawn; he was a goad to fuel the chaos. He envisioned the strands of a story crossing paths: Luthor's ego, Savage's manipulation, Klarion's eagerness, and Mordru's desire for oblivion, all coming to center on the beast. An icy lucidity fell over Michael. At times, to establish order, to re-write a malicious script, the soft option was not available. The fury symphony was nearing its apogee, and the setting stage was for a brutally conclusive act. The shadow of the inescapable loomed, and the cost of preserving order was soon to be paid.