Mount Justice — Training Hall
"They're Intergang," Cyborg said, pulling up a dossier the moment Ben asked. "A mercenary outfit that hops borders and never stays put. Lately, they've been operating in Kahndaq—mining some kind of ore."
The files scrolled past in clean, clinical blocks of intelligence. Cyborg's brow tightened as he read the local reports.
On paper, Intergang had dressed it up as "development assistance" for an underdeveloped nation—leased a huge tract of land, hired local labor at rock-bottom rates, and started digging day and night.
But no matter how you framed it, it was exploitation. Strip the resources, leave the people with dust.
"This organization is poison," Ben said. "And in some versions of the story, they're tied to Darkseid. We need to be careful."
Intergang wasn't just a bunch of hired guns. It was a transnational crime syndicate.
And in certain continuities, Intergang wasn't even truly independent—they were a proxy, a pipeline, Darkseid's hands on Earth. Their upper ranks were believers. Their operations were sometimes backed by Apokoliptian tech.
Black Adam was dangerous, sure—but there was a simple rule Ben never forgot:
The enemy of your enemy is still useful.
If Black Adam was cutting down Intergang, then maybe—just maybe—he could be leveraged into something bigger. A partner. A deterrent. A future asset when Darkseid inevitably stopped lurking in the background and started moving in the open.
Ben turned to Shazam.
"Did the wizard at the Rock of Eternity say what we're supposed to do with Black Adam?"
If the wizard demanded Adam's power be stripped away, Ben wasn't sure there was anything they could do to stop it.
Shazam shook his head.
"He only said we have to stop the darkness from awakening."
The warning had been blunt: Adam's past, why he'd been sealed, and what kind of threat his return represented.
But there hadn't been a commandment—no instruction to reclaim Adam's power, no explicit judgment, no order of execution.
Which was exactly why Shazam had asked the League for help.
Ben's eyes narrowed, gears clicking.
"Then I think Black Adam isn't the real problem," he said. "I think we're here to stop someone else."
Cyborg leaned in, catching the implication immediately.
"You think Intergang is what the wizard meant by 'darkness'?"
Ben nodded slowly. A memory of an old plotline surfaced—too sharp, too specific to ignore.
"If I remember the story right, the real boss of this event is Intergang's local handler in Kahndaq—Karim. He uses a ritual to become the host of a demon's power."
Shazam blinked, then scratched his head, thinking out loud.
"Like me and Black Adam?"
"Similar method," Ben said, "but completely different source."
Shazam's power came from a divine lineage—magic granted by a wizard, fueled by gods.
What Ben was describing was something else entirely: a dark ceremony, an exchange that always came with a price.
"Sabbac," Ben added quietly. "Demonic power through black magic. The cost is bigger, and the power—at least in most versions—doesn't match what you and Black Adam carry."
Cyborg's tone sharpened into mission-mode.
"Then we stop Intergang from completing that ritual. Period."
He hesitated, then looked back at the satellite footage still paused on-screen—Black Adam moving like a wrathful storm.
"But Black Adam is still… Black Adam. He's been sealed for thousands of years, and he's killing Intergang like it's nothing. If the real boss is someone else, then what is Black Adam to us?"
Ben thought carefully before answering.
"He might not be a superhero in the way people like to define it," he said. "But to the people living there… he could be a hero."
In most cartoons and comics, Black Adam drifted into the antagonist role more often than not.
But in the version Ben remembered most clearly, Adam tearing Intergang apart wasn't seen as villainy by the locals. To them, it was liberation.
Ben's conclusion came out clean and decisive.
"I want to try and bring him into the League."
Shazam's expression stayed wary, but he didn't object.
"As long as the wizard doesn't try to take his power back, I'm fine with it."
Billy's understanding of Black Adam was second-hand—wizard stories and Ben's "I've read the script" summaries.
If Adam wasn't truly evil, then having him as an ally—especially with Darkseid as a looming future threat—was a net gain.
But if the wizard's spirit objected and demanded Adam's power be reclaimed… Billy couldn't refuse. Not as the successor.
Ben exhaled.
"Alright. We move. And let's hope this plays out the way I think it will."
He gestured toward the exit.
"Cyborg—open a Boom Tube to Kahndaq."
Mount Justice — Exterior Perimeter
"Knock, knock."
Wrapped in bandages from head to toe, the Joker mimed knocking on an invisible door and waited for a miracle: the hidden entrance to open.
He glanced sideways at the man beside him—his unwilling accomplice.
"How long until we get in?"
His tone was impatient, spoiled, and faintly excited—like a child forced to wait before opening presents.
According to the one who had revived him, the Justice League was busy tonight.
Perfect.
Joker wanted to be inside before Batman—before Batman's new friends—returned to base.
He wanted to leave them a "surprise."
"Stop talking," the Riddler hissed, sweat beading at his temple as he tried to work. "I'm cracking it. This is the hardest security system I've ever seen in my life."
He risked a glance at the "team" Joker had assembled around them.
Solomon Grundy, silent as a tombstone.
A strange gorilla that didn't speak.
A woman built like a predator, her silhouette wrong in the dark—too sleek, too feral, like a leopard made human.
The Riddler didn't know how Joker had come back from the dead.
He didn't know what organization owned this base.
He only knew one thing with absolute certainty:
If he failed…
The monsters beside him wouldn't need a riddle to decide what to do next.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 138)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter160)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter98)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter175)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 163
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 150
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 100
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 170
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 145
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 125
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 69
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 90
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 66
Uma Musume: From Beginner 100
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 70
Uma Musume: I Want All 90
I Can Copy Unique Skills 65
Summoning an Evil God, but the 52
Supernatural Multiverse 65
My Harem Is Indescribable 55
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 55
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 66
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 55
Still playing traditional Honk 35
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 35
What Should I Do After Switchi 24
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 35
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 27
Transmigrated as Sukuna 27
Checking In in Demon Slayer 32
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