Episode 50: Undermined
Takes place 10-18 June 2011.
Short version
The Light launches a simultaneous attack on multiple League members, culminating in the theft of an artefact that lets the holder control other artefacts, and the kidnapping of King Orin's secret illegitimate child in order to activate it with his blood.
Longer version
Paul launches a Bleed Torsion Generator power system in New York, and challenges the industry to step up and innovate or he'll build more. When he comes back, he finds Canis giving Kaldur advice about using the Trident of Neptune; by focusing less on specific spells and more on expressing himself through it, Kaldur is able to use it successfully. Canis is impressed and kisses him, but Kaldur politely declines a relationship.
Several days later, Paul is on a day assignment with the Hawks, who face a Thanagarian-shaped robot with plasma projection abilities; analysis of its chassis afterward shows signs of being powered by demon magic. Their home is then attacked by Harm (Sabbac Three) and a Devil Jizz user; Paul disables both, inadvertently leaving Harm soulless in the process. He is then set upon by a cloud of tiny demons linked to a novel ball-shaped demon, which disables different senses and renders the tiny demons immune to any attacks except those using the blocked sense. It retreats when Paul shows that he has the resources to seriously threaten it.
It then becomes apparent that the Watchtower has been attacked, since it is not responding and is invisible to sensors. While investigating, Paul is attacked by Satanus himself, who uses a famine elemental as bait, but rather than assimilate it, Paul destroys it, has his Praexis Demons eat two of Satanus' portals, and Satanus flees.
On board the Watchtower, Paul and the Hawks find a robot Hawkman controlled by technology-demon Richard Simpson. Although they beat the robot, Simpson himself is able to download himself elsewhere and disengage.
With communications restored, they learn that other League members were similarly targeted, and that there is an ongoing attack on Poseidonis. The attackers retreat after successfully stealing the Diadem of Dominion, which uses Atlantean royal blood to control other artefacts, and Paul discovers that King Orin's illegitimate son (whom Orin didn't know about) has been kidnapped.
In the Renegade timeline, a different plan is underway. With Grayven as an acknowledged hero to form the nucleus of a Justice League replacement, the Light votes to kill the League by summoning the King of Tears. Grayven, who is only informed about the vote after the fact, takes this as his cue to give up on reforming the Light and arrange their complete downfall.
He also Awakens Chester Black, with Sunset Shimmer observing so she can get more data about apotheosis.
The title may refer to the attacks putting the League in a dangerous position, or to the Renegade plotting the Light's downfall.
- Achilles' Heel: The demon ball that attacks the Hawks is able to block different senses, and make the surrounding demon swarm invulnerable to attacks not based on the blocked sense. So, if you're blind, you have to attack with light, no sense of smell, attack with skunk spray, etc.
- Alien Geometries: The Light is planning to summon the King of Tears from another dimension. Its dimensional topography is complicated even for the Brain.
- Eldritch Abomination: When Praexis Demon Construct-Lanterns eat portals to hell, no one really knows what the resulting entities are, but it's almost certainly not good. Fortunately, the Sword of the Fallen works on them.
- Human Shield: Well, human half-transformed into a demonic caterpillar, anyway. Unfortunately for Sabbac 3, Paul is aware that that makes her quite resilient, and he is therefore willing to shoot through her so long as he doesn't hit her brain.
- Royal Blood: King Orin's son was kidnapped in order to use his blood to activate a magic artefact.
- Stupid Evil: Grayven finally gives up on steering the current membership of the Light into more sensible paths, after they unveil a grand plan... to kill the Justice League.Luthor: I'd rather the chance of victory was higher than eighty percent, but even if it is… That's a four in five chance that the next day you'll be the head of the new Justice League and the biggest obstacle to our advancement of humanity will be gone.
Grayven (internally): Third biggest, right after Human nature and people like the Light.
