The ranks of Dick’s still unnamed team seemed to have no limit following the addition of Victor Stone. Halo’s powers appeared to have a similar cap as well, adding an indigo aura that allowed her to open boom tubes at will. The heroes of Young Justice: Outsiders had plenty to work out between the two unforeseen developments, but another former hero faced his own crisis of self elsewhere. Now a TV star, Gar faced his own past and future thanks to a set of Goode goggles. Trauma has a way of shaping people, but Gar’s might just break him.
Souls Intertwined
M’gann’s introduction to the rest of the team catches them off guard. The news of Halo’s new ability did little to solidify their constitutions. An offhand comparison between Halo’s ability to open boom tubes and Mother Boxes by Forager sparks a theory behind Halo’s origins. Connor recalls the destroyed Mother Box in Markovia and believes that the device’s soul fused with Halo’s after her death during Bedlam’s meta-human experiments. Artemis recalls Doctor Fate’s recognition of an old soul within Halo, giving further credence to the theory. The news pleases Halo, who can finally leave her life as Gabrielle behind. Victor butts in, wanting a similar resolution to his questions about himself.
Halo tells the team of her ability to cleanse Victors living technology, subduing his homicidal rampage. Victor just wants the Father Box tech off of him, but the mention of a Father Box causes the Supercycle to attack Victor. Connor breaks up the fight and Halo once again cleanses Victor of the Father Box’s influence. He apologizes, but remains adamant about not returning to his father.
Augmented Reality
Gar’s life as a sci-fi television star is much more cushy than his career as a hero. Praise is heaped on him by his co-stars and producer, Gretchen Goode, before an awkward run in with his stepfather, Mento. No matter though, as the work day gives way to the celebrity nightlife. Gar passes the time waiting for his girlfriend, Queen Perdita, to get ready by trying out a pair of Goode Goggles. He begins playing a video game based on his show when the goggles inject him, giving him the desire to go to Encino. He quickly breaks free of that motivation only to be cast into a spiral of past trauma.
He’s transported to the bridge of a spaceship populated with holograms of his former teammates. He is forced to watch his friends die, some of them for the second time, before having his memories of Wally West’s death are replayed. Gar wants out, but is instead transported to a Teen Titans Go! parody populated by the Doom Patrol. The team sings and chants about going on a mission and dying after Gar’s godmother, Rita Farr, reminds him of how much she and his mother, Maria, love him. The channel changes, placing Gar in a sitcom where Rita and Maria don’t recognize him. His next jump forces him to watch his mother die. He begs to shut it off but can’t change the channel.
In Control
M’gann and Connor put aside their own relationship issues to help Gar. M’gann tries to help pull Gar out of his suspended state, but Gar might not need much help after all. A pep talk from the Monkey God helps Gar realize that he made himself into a hero. The Monkey God made him Beast Boy, but Gar transformed himself into a force for good. Becoming a TV star might’ve brought him closer to his mom, but he was simply denying his reality. Gar emerges from the Goggles’ influence, and tells his friends that Gretchen Goode is a villain. The couples reconnect with respective kisses while Brion and Halo share a kiss of their own back in Happy Harbor.
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