Justice League Possessed

[Toney Talbot]

BostonBrand is a supernatural superhero and a ghost also known as Deadman. He was formerly a circus acrobat; who was murdered during a trapeze performance by a mysterious assailant. The Hindu goddess, Rama Kushna took pity on him and gave his spirit the power to possess any living being bringing justice to those who deserve it.

Boston Brand was a circus performer known for his death defying trapeze act but he was infamous for fooling around with married women and having a knack for irritating the wrong people. Eventually, karma caught up with Brand. During a packed weekend show, Brand was shoot by an unknown assailant in the middle of his act. Brand's spirit made a perfect landing but he looked down and saw his body down in the middle of the ring surrounded by his colleagues. Instead of moving on, Brand's spirit was called by the goddess Rama Kushna. She took pity on him and gave him the power to possess the living so he could bring his killer and others to justice.

About five years later, Rama Kushna sensed a spike in homicides caused by Destiny's madness threatened to break down the walls between the planes of existence and even affect the afterlife. She tasked Deadman with gathering Constantine, Zatanna, and the Justice League to end this threat. Deadman went to Wayne Manor and wrote Constantine's name on the master bathroom's mirror then all over the master bedroom walls in red. Batman went to the Gotham Square Garden and approached Zatanna after the conclusion of her latest magic show. Deadman possessed Batman as he pressed her for any information on John Constantine's location. Deadman told Zatanna it was important for Batman and Constantine to talk and she should come, too. Zatanna recognized him and resigned herself to seeing Constantine again. Deadman couldn't control Batman's mind for any longer and was ejected. He called shotgun. During the drive, he complained the Batmobile's backseat was rather cramped. Zatanna referred to him by Boston. Batman recognized the name as the murdered circus performer.

Deadman was stoked and asked Zatanna to tell him he was a fan, too, but to be cool about it. Zatanna ignored his request. Deadman asked her to ask him if he caught any of his shows. She ignored him again. Deadman was deflated. Zatanna briefed Batman on what happened after his murder. Batman inquired why he felt the need to write on his walls like a child. Zatanna apologized on his behalf. They were soon attacked by a demonic tornado conjured by Destiny through Felix Faust but were able to take refuge in the House of Mystery. Deadman felt validated someone was trying to stop them. Constantine refused to play "telephone" for the two and incanted. Batman could now see and hear him. Deadman apologized about the Batmobile getting wrecked and made a joke about having insurance. Batman grunted. Deadman was taken with Orchid, the manifestation of the House, and was surprisingly at a loss for words. She observed he was a spirit whose existence was not its own, like herself. She took his hand. Constantine teased him. Deadman exclaimed it's been awhile.

Constantine agreed to look in on it alone. Deadman insisted they had to work as a team. Constantine pointed out the Justice League was useless against dark magic. Deadman countered that's why he was going to lead them. Constantine was sure even gods could be mistaken but asked Zatanna to help him. She agreed only if they did so as a group. Constantine recalled the situation was similar to the Sumatra incident. They argued until Batman broke it up. After procuring a Keshanti Key from Ritchie Simpson, they went to the Metropolis Health Center to sift through the memories of one of the infected. Deadman possessed a nurse and left to make sure no one else would bother them. He hung around the nurse's station until a Golem was summoned. He jumped behind the station, left the nurse, and followed after the Golem. He possessed a security guard then tackled the other out of the beast's way. He was soon stifled by the guard's bad health and jumped into the other guard then tried to open a series of locked doors.

Deadman couldn't open the last door and was forced to abandon the guard as the Golem smothered him. Batman tried to hold it off with exploding Batarangs. Deadman possessed an orderly then grabbed Steve and tried to run away. The Golem recovered, grabbed Steve, and locked itself away. Zatanna and Constantine left Steve's mind just in time and dissipated the Golem all over the room. Deadman couldn't resist and joked. Constantine wanted Simpson to identify a ring they found in Steve's memories but Shrouds returned for his soul. Deadman tried to fight them off in vain but Batman revived Simpson with a syringe to the chest. Simpson later identified the ring as Felix Faust's. Etrigan attacked first then Zatanna. Deadman possessed Faust then made him punch himself repeatedly. Faust was well prepared and pulled Deadman out then bound him with the construct of a boa constrictor. Zatanna lost control over the course of the battle but Constantine set her straight. They soon realized Faust was innocent and the real threat was Simpson.

They returned to the House of Mystery but were too late. Destiny revealed himself and materialized using Simpson's body. He flew through Washington D.C. and continued to draw more power from the citizens' torment. Deadman made a beeline for Destiny could couldn't get past his force shield. Destiny formed an arm construct and grabbed him then called him a fool for trying to defeat a god. Deadman retorted gods didn't need a force shield. Destiny threw him down to the streets and continued on. Deadman possessed the driver of a big rig truck and reunited with Constantine, Batman, and Jason Blood. They watched as Green Lantern, Etrigan, and Swamp Thing all failed to stop Destiny. Constantine got an idea and used himself as a Trojan Horse. He threw a fireball at Destiny's shield then started insulting him. Destiny fell for the act and pulled Constantine into the shield. Due to his experiences, Constantine was mentally strong enough to resist going mad and gave the signal. Deadman flew out of Constantine's body and possessed Destiny.

Destiny struggled and his force shield dissipated then landed on the street below. Deadman was ejected then Blood impaled Etrigan's sword through Destiny's back and dislodged the Dreamstone. Constantine incanted and turned the sword into flames then purged Destiny. They could only watch as Shroud's pulled Simpson's soul to Hell and as Blood passed on. A few days later, Blood was laid to rest near where his home village used to be. Constantine and Zatanna walked to the reformed House of Mystery to talk about an offer to join the Justice League. Deadman was about to fly away but Orchid opened the door for him. Deadman flew in and the House teleported away.

David Kane, also known as Black Manta, was a mercenary and the son of the late Jesse Kane.[1] Formerly the second-in-command of a pirate crew led by his father, he came into conflict with Aquaman after the latter refused to save his father's life. Upon allying with Orm Marius of Atlantis and receiving experimental Atlantean technology, David combined the Atlantean weaponry with his own equipment to create a powerful battle suit to combat his new enemy. Despite this, he was defeated during a skirmish in Sicily, but survived and was found by Stephen Shin, a scientist obsessed with the existence of Atlantis and plotted to find a new way to kill Aquaman. He created a crew consisting of him, Dr. Shin and Stingray. They eventually find the Black Trident which results in Black Manta being possessed by Kordax.

Over a period of months using the capabilities of the ancient trident, Manta secured enough Atlantean technology to repair his suit and wage a personal war against his long time nemesis, forcing Aquaman to need the help of his brother in order to defeat him. Manta's campaign ultimately culminated in a confrontation within the Lost Kingdom of Necrus. After a grueling battle between himself, Aquaman, Mera, and a reformed Orm Marius, he was finally defeated and deprived of the abilities of the Black Trident. Following the defeat of Kordax and the subsequent destruction of the Lost Kingdom, David found himself hanging from a ravine. Aquaman offered him a chance to save his life, the choice he never gave his father, but David refused, instead willingly falling to his death as he would never accept the help from the man who let his father die.

David Kane was a pirate like his father, Jesse Kane, and at some point in time, he learned about Aquaman and wanted to encounter him. During their pirating career, he helped his father's crew steal a high-tech submarine owned by the United States Navy to aid in their operations. In 2018, their crew took over a Russian submarine and killed many sailors aboard, with David personally executing the captain. As they were celebrating their apparent victory, Jesse presented him with a special knife.

Initially, David scoffed at it, calling it a piece of junk, and the love of "[his father's] life"; but when Jesse told him about how it belonged to his grandfather, who fought in World War II as one of the Navy's first "frogmen" (code-named "Manta" for his stealthiness), he immediately changed his mind, and accepted the blade. Suddenly, they were interrupted by Arthur Curry, known as Aquaman. David proclaimed that he expected to eventually face the Aquaman but was quickly defeated by the Atlantean and easily subdued after a brief fight.

Aquaman deflected a rocket from Jesse, that caused a torpedo to topple over him, trapping him as the submarine became flooded. David begged Aquaman for help but was told that they kill innocents and should not expect mercy from the ocean. David tried to save his father, but his father committed suicide by using a hand grenade. David was forced to flee and started to bear a deep grudge against Aquaman.[2][3]

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