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Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen Vol 1 4

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"Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen, Conclusion": Lex Luthor's lair in Metropolis. Then.

Look into my mind. See what I have in store for them.
— The Batman Who Laughs

Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen #4 is an issue of the series Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen (Volume 1) with a cover date of May, 2020. It was published on March 18, 2020.

Synopsis for "Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen, Conclusion"

Lex Luthor's lair in Metropolis. Then.

Seeing the change in the person of her boss, Lex Luthor, Mercy Graves asks him why he decided to do all this. After all, he was a billionaire, and a man respected and loved after he became part of the Justice League. What could a man wish more than that? But Lex answers her: yes, he was the greatest realization of a human's potential. But what is that, when a dumb kid from a farm can punch through mountains? When there is literally an alien intergalactic police patrolling the universe, sitting among children of the gods and kings and queens of might?

He reached his maximum potential, the pinnacle of humanity, and then he decided to become one of those mighty heroes everyone loved. He defeated the Crime Syndicate, and was welcomed inside the Justice League. Then, a while ago, he learned that the Syndicate was reborn, inside Earth 3. The Multiverse decided they had to come back, for stability. And Lex never even knew that, because he was too small. But then, a truth was revealed to him: that humanity was incomplete, and had much higher potential. That they just needed to find again the root of Doom, and to awake the mother of all creation, so that they could ascend and make the gods their subjects. Now humanity rules over godhood.

So Mercy tells her he understands Lex, but the Batman who Laughs? What does he want? Lex tells her it doesn't matter: he already lost.

Now. In front of the Hall of Justice

Lex is able to cure the infection inside the heroes: the deranged Batman was amplifying the Dark Metals he had in his blood, connecting them to the metals he infected the heroes with, turning them into their darkest reflection. With his cure, Lex stopped the amplifying effect, and the metals inside each hero stopped working. Now they are all free, and Lex has captured the Batman who Laughs. He leaves, transporting himself, his prisoner and Mercy to the Godhead, the court of the mighty Perpetua.

There, he presents himself with Batman, and tells Perpetua he cured the dark disease which disturbed her. Perpetua compliments Lex, calling him her loyal servant. And so Bruce laughs, telling Lex he's just a dog, a lackey for Perpetua. And then, he speaks: he tells her that he knows her. Perpetua herself whispered in the ears of Barbatos, to make him betray the Forger and then prepare for an invasion of the Multiverse. And then, when Barbatos failed, he whispered to Lex, making him know part of the truth, so he might evoke her, giving her full power once again.

She does not know that the Batman who Laughs himself told to Lex crucial information when he was stuck in his odyssey. He did it, because he had plans of his own: Perpetua is the mother of all reality, while him, well, he's a children of Unreality. He's the reflection of a dark mirror. And he knows things even Perpetua does not know, for example that the core members of the League she thought dead are alive, and completing a mission that could overthrow Perpetua's rule on the Multiverse.

With this, he captures the goddess' attention. He convinces her that Lex is just a lackey, useless now, and she agrees: after all, she just showed him the future he wanted to see. As Lex rebels against her, she transforms him back into his human form, sending him and Mercy back on Earth. Then, she tells Bruce to be more specific: how could he know that the League was still alive, and what he wants to do to stop them, if he really wants to be Perpetua's right hand? Batman tells her he took the Phantom Stranger prisoner: he was one of the powerful forces who protected the League from death. He made him talk. That's how he knows things.

For the solution part, for how he wants to deal, once and for all, with the Justice League, Perpetua just has to look inside his mind. And so the goddess does it, and in awe she laughs, screaming in joy.

On Earth, Lex lays naked in a crater, crying. As Mercy asks him what just happened, Lex tells her that they are all going to die.

Appearing in "Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen, Conclusion"

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Other Characters:

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Vehicles:

  • The Godhead

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Notes



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