Mother Box tried to erase me, so it told me the universe doesn't need me. You all tried to win by telling me I'd already lost. But you forgot one thing. I may be wires and metal on the outside, but deep down... I'll always be a Victor. So now you gotta deal with... Cyborg One Million, Baby!
- — Cyborg
Justice League (Volume 3) #33 is an issue of the series Justice League (Volume 3) with a cover date of January, 2018. It was published on November 15, 2017.
Contents
Synopsis for "Bats out of Hell, Finale"
The Justice League is defeated and carried by Murder Machine to the Cosmic Tuning Fork, where many other heroes have already been tied up. Cyborg, dismembered, has his Mother Box flooded with energy from the Dark Multiverse by The Batman Who Laughs, who's trying to extract out of him something called "Element X": this results in Victor seeing over and over again ways in which he could lose and his worst nightmares could win over him. Suddenly, an intermittent sound from inside him stops, and a voice announces: "You are ready, Victor Stone".
Victor finds himself floating in his own mind, with his Mother Box in front of him. It explains to him that he's ready for his true programming, which comes from the Element X at its core, "the purest, brightest metal in the cosmos, from the World Forge itself". It tells Victor that there are many like him (i.e. many creatures who connected to a Mother Box), but he's the only one who resisted from achieving his perfect form, which would delete his original programming: in other words, it would cancel his own identity to get him to his fullest potential. To convince him it is the right choice, Mother Box shows Victor the Multiverse, with its 52 Universes and countless life-forms, who would die if he didn't do anything. Only if he becomes one with the Multiverse will he be able to defeat Barbatos and his Dark Knights. Victor is almost convinced, when a faraway voice stops him. In the form of a glowing Raven, she tells him she's been watching him and that his heart is what's special in him, not his Mother Box, so he shouldn't leave his consciousness. Victor seems persuaded to do what Mother Box says, though, so he starts making an intermittent sound, merging with it.
As the Alfred Protocol leads the Justice League to be strapped to the Tuning Fork in order to start the descent into the Dark Multiverse, its connection to Murder Machine suddenly stops, as Cyborg transforms into his final form: Cyborg One Million. With his renewed powers, he's able to cut the Justice League loose of Murder Machine's tentacles, as the evil Bruce explains that Cyborg used his Mother Box connection to the Element X to draw power directly from the Multiverse. The League takes on the Dark Knights, and they manage to liberate the holders of Nth Metal from their confinements. At the same time, Cyborg locates Raven, who explains that The Batman Who Laughs wanted her darkness and she was going to give up, when she felt Cyborg's will to fight on. Cyborg frees her, hugging her and telling her they are stronger together. As Cyborg explains he now sees the Dark Knights for what they truly are, ghosts of dying worlds, he says that Barbatos wanted to separate the League, but he only succeeded in bringing them together and connecting them to the Multiverse in new ways. The truth, Cyborg explains, is that the Dark Knights regret what happened in their worlds, so they struck a deal with Barbatos: if they help him destroy this world, he'll give them theirs back.
The Batman Who Laughs is tired of this, so he calls for Barbatos himself to make his entrance. Cyborg immediately teleports the League and Raven away from there, as Barbatos notices that Cyborg's transformation brings an unknown into play. The Batman Who Laughs reassures him: as long as they have the Teen Titans and the Task Force X, the League will be back.
Cyborg teleported the League to the Hypertime, the web of time-streams outside the Multiverse. As they see other realities unfold around them, Cyborg starts struggling with his identity, starting to feel he's losing control of it. Raven manages to calm him, as he takes the lead and asks The Flash and Raven to follow him: they need the Nth metal to defeat Barbatos, so they're going to hack the Multiverse.
The other League members break up into teams themselves, all teleported in different places to find the metal: Hal Jordan is paired with Mister Terrific and Plastic Egg; Wonder Woman with Doctor Fate and Kendra Saunders; Aquaman with Deathstroke.
As all this unfolds, The Batman Who Laughs tells Barbatos that he's glad he could be the beacon of hope Batman always represented for the League: now they think they have a chance at winning, but all they're really doing is to unknowingly spread Barbatos's darkness across the galaxy.
Appearing in "Bats out of Hell, Finale"
Featured Characters:
- Justice League
- Batman (Earth 0) (Flashback only)
- Aquaman (Earth 0)
- Cyborg (Earth 0)
- Green Lantern (Earth 0)
- The Flash (Earth 0)
- Wonder Woman (Earth 0)
- Superman (Earth 0) (Flashback only)
Supporting Characters:
Villains:
Other Characters:
- Deathstroke
- Doctor Fate
- Lady Blackhawk
- Mister Terrific
- Nth Metal Golem (Seen in Hypertime)
- Steel
- Suicide Squad
- Teen Titans
- Earth -1
- Superman (Earth -1) (Flashback only)
- Earth -12
- Wonder Woman (Earth -12) (Flashback only)
- Earth -22
- Joker (Earth -22) (Flashback only)
- Justice League (Mentioned only)
- Earth -44
- Alfred Pennyworth (Earth -44) (Flashback only)
- Earth -52
- The Flash (Earth -52) (Flashback only)
- Earth 0
- Jason (Seen in Hypertime)
- Kid Flash (Seen in Hypertime)
- Tornado Twins (Seen in Hypertime)
- Earth 1
- Earth 16
- Earth 21
- Earth 23
- Earth 51
- Justice League 3000 (Seen in Hypertime)
- Justice League's future children (Seen in Hypertime)
- Flashpoint Timeline (Seen in Hypertime)
- Titans Tomorrow (Seen in Hypertime)
- All-Star Superman Universe (Seen in Hypertime)
- Futures End Universe (Seen in Hypertime)
- Unknown Dark Multiverse
- Batman (Mentioned only)
- Lex Luthor (Mentioned only)
- Unknown Cyborg Justice League of a possible Dark Multiverse
- Superman
- Wonder Woman
- Batman
- Flash
Locations:
Items:
- Element X
- Mother Box
- Nth Metal (Mentioned only)
Notes
- This story continues from Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #32.
- This story continues in Dark Nights: Metal #4.
See Also
Links and References
- Issues Rated T
- Bobbie Chase/Executive Editor
- Ethan Van Sciver/Cover Artist
- Jason Wright/Cover Artist
- J.G. Jones/Cover Artist
- Joshua Williamson/Writer
- Tyler Kirkham/Penciler
- Mikel Janín/Penciler
- Tyler Kirkham/Inker
- Mikel Janín/Inker
- Arif Prianto/Colourist
- Jeromy Cox/Colourist
- Richard Starkings/Letterer
- Comicraft/Letterer
- Eddie Berganza/Editor
- Brian Cunningham/Editor
- Rebecca Taylor/Editor
- Andrew Marino/Editor
- Victor Stone (Prime Earth)/Quotes
- Justice League (Prime Earth)/Appearances
- Bruce Wayne (Prime Earth)/Appearances
- Arthur Curry (Prime Earth)/Appearances
- Victor Stone (Prime Earth)/Appearances
- Hal Jordan (Prime Earth)/Appearances
- Barry Allen (Prime Earth)/Appearances
- Diana of Themyscira (Prime Earth)/Appearances
- Kal-El (Prime Earth)/Appearances
- Raven (Prime Earth)/Appearances
- Barbatos (Dark Multiverse)/Appearances
- Dark Knights (Dark Multiverse)/Appearances
- Bruce Wayne (Earth -22)/Appearances
- Bruce Wayne (Earth -32)/Appearances
- Bruce Wayne (Earth -1)/Appearances
- Bryce Wayne (Earth -11)/Appearances
- Bruce Wayne (Earth -12)/Appearances
- Bruce Wayne (Earth -44)/Appearances
- Alfred Protocol (Earth -44)/Appearances
- Bruce Wayne (Earth -52)/Appearances
- Slade Wilson (Prime Earth)/Appearances
- Kent Nelson (Prime Earth)/Appearances
- Kendra Saunders (Prime Earth)/Appearances
- Michael Holt (Prime Earth)/Appearances
- John Henry Irons (Prime Earth)/Appearances
- Suicide Squad (Prime Earth)/Appearances
- George Harkness (Prime Earth)/Appearances
- Floyd Lawton (Prime Earth)/Appearances
- Enchantress (Prime Earth)/Appearances
- June Moone (Prime Earth)/Appearances
- Harleen Quinzel (Prime Earth)/Appearances
- Waylon Jones (Prime Earth)/Appearances
- Teen Titans (Prime Earth)/Appearances
- Jackson Hyde (Prime Earth)/Appearances
- Garfield Logan (Prime Earth)/Appearances
- Koriand'r (Prime Earth)/Appearances
- Earth -1/Appearances
- Kal-El (Earth -1)/Appearances
- Earth -12/Appearances
- Diana of Themyscira (Earth -12)/Appearances
- Earth -22/Appearances
- Joker (Earth -22)/Appearances
- Earth -44/Appearances
- Alfred Pennyworth (Earth -44)/Appearances
- Earth -52/Appearances
- Barry Allen (Earth -52)/Appearances
- Prime Earth/Appearances
- Jason (Prime Earth)/Appearances
- Wally West (Prime Earth)/Appearances
- Tornado Twins/Appearances
- Dawn Allen (Prime Earth)/Appearances
- Don Allen (Prime Earth)/Appearances
- Earth-1/Appearances
- Bruce Wayne (Earth-1)/Appearances
- Kal-El (Earth-1)/Appearances
- Diana of Themyscira (Earth 1)/Appearances
- Earth 16/Appearances
- Alexis Luthor (Earth 16)/Appearances
- Cissie King-Hawke (Earth 16)/Appearances
- Damian Wayne (Earth 16)/Appearances
- Wally West (Earth 16)/Appearances
- Sasha Norman (Earth 16)/Appearances
- Christopher Kent (Earth 16)/Appearances
- Earth 21/Appearances
- John Wilson (Earth-21)/Appearances
- Justice League of America (Earth-21)/Appearances
- Barry Allen (Earth-21)/Appearances
- Hal Jordan (Earth-21)/Appearances
- J'onn J'onzz (Earth-21)/Appearances
- Diana of Paradise Island (Earth-21)/Appearances
- Earth 23/Appearances
- Justice League (Earth 23)/Appearances
- Batman (Earth 23)/Appearances
- John Stewart (Earth 23)/Appearances
- Steel (Earth 23)/Appearances
- Kalel (Earth 23)/Appearances
- Vixen (Earth 23)/Appearances
- Nubia of Themyscira (Earth 23)/Appearances
- Earth 51/Appearances
- Benjamin Boxer (Earth 51)/Appearances
- Kamandi (Earth 51)/Appearances
- New Gods/Appearances
- Big Barda (Earth 51)/Appearances
- Highfather (Earth 51)/Appearances
- Lightray (Earth 51)/Appearances
- Mister Miracle (Earth 51)/Appearances
- Tuftan (Earth 51)/Appearances
- Justice League (Justice League 3000)/Appearances
- Tina Sung (Justice League 3000)/Appearances
- Shiryalla Tome (Justice League 3000)/Appearances
- Teri Magnus (Justice League 3000)/Appearances
- Kara Zor-El (Justice League 3000)/Appearances
- Diana of Themyscira (Justice League 3000)/Appearances
- Tora Olafsdotter (Justice League 3000)/Appearances
- Beatriz da Costa (Justice League 3000)/Appearances
- Nora Allen (Justice League: Legacy)/Appearances
- George Marvin Stone (Justice League: Legacy)/Appearances
- Jason Allen (Justice League: Legacy)/Appearances
- Jennifer Allen (Justice League: Legacy)/Appearances
- Hunter Prince (Justice League: Legacy)/Appearances
- Eldoris Curry (Justice League: Legacy)/Appearances
- Flash: Flashpoint/Appearances
- Diana of Themyscira (Flashpoint Timeline)/Appearances
- Orin (Flashpoint Timeline)/Appearances
- Titans Tomorrow/Appearances
- Garfield Logan (Titans Tomorrow)/Appearances
- Lorena Marquez (Titans Tomorrow)/Appearances
- Timothy Drake (Titans Tomorrow)/Appearances
- Katherine Kane (Titans Tomorrow)/Appearances
- Raven (Titans Tomorrow)/Appearances
- Bart Allen clone (Titans Tomorrow)/Appearances
- Kon-El clone (Titans Tomorrow)/Appearances
- Cassandra Sandsmark (Titans Tomorrow)/Appearances
- All-Star Superman/Appearances
- Kal-El (All-Star Superman)/Appearances
- Futures End/Appearances
- Terrence McGinnis (Futures End)/Appearances
- Multiverse/Appearances
- Sector 2682/Appearances
- Polaris System/Appearances
- Sector 2814/Appearances
- Earth/Appearances
- Bialya/Appearances
- Rock of Eternity/Appearances
- United States of America/Appearances
- Central City/Appearances
- Gotham City/Appearances
- Challengers Mountain/Appearances
- Dark Multiverse/Appearances
- Element X/Appearances
- Mother Box/Appearances
- Dark Nights: Metal
- Comics
- 2018
- 2018, January
- November 15, 2017 (Publication)
- 2017, November (Publication)
- Justice League Vol 3
- New 52
- Synopsis Written