Underworld Unleashed#null(1998)

Five of the Rogues undertake a strange mission at the urging of their fellow Rogue Abra Kadabra. Given little explanation, if any, they agree to strike at five specific, though seemingly unremarkable, locations across the United States. Each attack is committed simultaneously, yielding explosive results far beyond their expectations. Each of the Rogues is consumed by green fire while they are still alive as their respective target sites go up in flames. The incident does not go unnoticed by the super-hero community. In the Justice League Satellite, the members of Justice League America take note of the five attacks and spring into action. The Flash orders Blue Devil to call for back-up as everyone leaves him at the satellite. Blue Devil is the only one of them to realize the strategic pattern of the five random locations. By tracing a line between each of them, Blue Devil draws a perfect pentagram. He, and he alone, knows that something has been set free. A few weeks later in Keystone City, the Trickster is frustrated with the pedestrian pranks that he has been reduced to do just to make ends meet. When he reads in a newspaper about the tragic deaths of the five Rogues, he grows depressed, knowing that his fellow super-villains had never rated any higher than petty crooks. The Trickster decides that he wants to "take the next big score." At Belle Reve Penitentiary, a convict named Lou Krupke goes to the office of the prison's chaplain. He complains that a guard named Finney swiped his calendar, and the man behind the desk agrees to help Lou out. He provides Lou with a riot shotgun that he had bought from an gun shop earlier, and tells him that Finney will be in the turbine room at precisely midnight. Lou does not trust the "chaplain," but he accepts the weapon and agrees to carry out his vengeance. After Lou leaves, the man withdraws the missing Betty Grable calendar from behind his desk. The phony chaplain arranges for the captain of the guards, the prison engineer, and the warden to be unavailable for the night. At midnight, Lou ventures down to the turbine room. He finds Finney and viciously guns him down. The gunfire sets off sparks that damage the turbines. Engineers race about to correct the situation, but there is nothing they can do. The power shuts down and the doors to the prison cells unlock. One hundred forty-two super-villains escape out into the night. One week later, in Keystone City, the Trickster teams up one night with another fellow Rogue — the Rainbow Raider. The Raider shows him a tapered green candle with intricate carvings on its sides. He tells the Trickster that someone had delivered it to him, but he has no idea who did it or why. Before the night ends, the Trickster surreptitiously pockets the candle and replaces it with a rubber chicken. When he lights the candle, he finds himself instantly transported to an unknown location. The Trickster gapes in surprise as he finds himself in the company of over 60 super-villains, many of whom are likewise in possession of a lit green candle. The Trickster immediately figures that it will be five seconds before everyone is at each other's throats. He is off by four. Before the infighting can go too far, however, a demonic being known as Neron steps out and introduces himself. He takes credit for staging the Belle Reve breakout and for providing the super-villains with their respective candles. In exchange for their souls, Neron promises to give each of them their greatest desire. Many of the super-villains are only too happy to accept Neron's offer. Some even feel that their soul belongs to him already. Others, such as the Joker, are present just for the sheer fun of it. Some, however, have little desire to play second fiddle to Neron. Mongul, for one, refuses to acknowledge Neron's power and attempts to strike him. Neron effortlessly punches Mongul onto the ground, then stomps on him with his boot, after which he takes Mongul's soul anyway, then it is collected in a huge Soul Jar. The Trickster debates the value of accepting Neron's offer. He then remembers that he had wanted to "take the next big score" and thinks, "It doesn't come bigger than this." After this display of Neron's sheer power, over 30 of the super-villains accept his offer and over 30 reject it. The ones who rejected the offer are all sent back to Earth first by Neron in utter contempt but unharmed, then the ones who accepted it are all given their greatest desires and their souls are then collected in the Soul Jar, after which Neron also sends all of them back to Earth to wreak havoc and seek revenge on the super-heroes. There is one more guest who arrives after receiving a special invitation – Blue Devil. Blue Devil steps out from a spiraling green haze of smoke and addresses Neron.