| Synopsis | - In Gotham City, a group of seven robotic-looking figures called the Pantheon bask in the glow of a small container. Their leader Zeta announces that with this living diamond they will change the world. Later that night, Batman sees these hooded figures running out of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. They shoot a security guard while leaving, and Batman is forced to save the man's life rather than pursue them.
In Metropolis, Superman relaxes as Clark Kent with Jimmy Olsen at Galaxy Communications. He responds to a distress call at Gotham Airport, where the Pantheon have stolen a plane. Superman is forced to stay behind and save lives rather than chase the Pantheon.
Batman looks over the crime scene with Commissioner Gordon. There were many objects destroyed in the museum theft, but Batman believes they were after a specific South African vase. This vase was smashed in the robbery, which Batman believes was done to throw off the trail. He believes that there is a message hidden in the vase, and is determined to crack the code.
Superman finishes evacuating the airport victims to the hospital. Suddenly a horrible earthquake hits Gotham City, and Superman rushes around to repair the cracking buildings. Batman hears about these earthquakes, but decides they are better handled by Superman. Superman realizes these natural disasters are happening all over the world, and he flies across the globe stopping them. Batman rests in the Batcave and attempts to figure out the vase with Alfred Pennyworth. He realizes that the pottery markings are not a language, they are a map leading to Mount Ossa in Southeast Africa. The map also contains three unexplained symbols, a dinosaur, a tree, and a bat.
The Pantheon's plane arrives in Africa. Military fighter jets force them to land, and they slaughter the pilots. Batman is close behind in the Batplane, and he finds the corpses they left behind. Batman sees that they slaughtered the surrounding civilians and burnt a path through the jungle. Walking through the jungle, Batman is surrounded by strange spores that change his perceptions. The plantlife seems alien and he sees a dinosaur through the mists.
Batman arrives at Mount Ossa, where he is confronted by Rho of the Pantheon. Rho announces that the Pantheon will rule the Earth, humans are obsolete, and the old must die to make way for the new. Batman is attacked by the mute brute Epsilon and Epsilon's winged wife Delta. They nearly kill him, but he tricks the two into crashing into each other. Batman approaches Rho to threaten her, but he's knocked out from behind by the sneaky sadist Mu. Rho sends Mu on a mission, and he disappears into the jungle. Superman arrives nearby, having traced the earthquake vibrations to their source. He finds a giant crystalline structure called the Cosmic Tree, which holds pods that contain figures resembling the Pantheon.
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