History: (Forever People I #8) - The Sect were a group of Satan worshippers who spent centuries searching for a man who wielded “The Power.” They didn’t realize that “The Power” was actually the anti-life equation, which let anyone who possessed it sap the will of others and force people to obey their every whim. They found providence when they met Billion-Dollar Bates, who’d unknowingly used the equation to amass a life’s fortune. He was on the run from the law, so the Sect took him in, explained why he was so special, and nurtured his command of “The Power.” Bates took over a town in the wastelands, removing every citizen present because he didn’t want company. He then hired a militia to patrol the town and protect his Sect. Congress appointed a national panel to investigate Bates, but once they found him they fell under his power. Bates tormented them at a dinner, constantly reminding them that he had the power of life and death over them. The Forever People arrived in Bates’ town, but were captured by his militia. He offered them to the Sect as sacrifices as he prepared to don the Stimulus Hat, which would broadcast his power worldwide. Bates, consumed by anti-life, had decided that free men and free will was an atrocity, and the world would only have direction once he commanded it. Unbeknownst to him, Darkseid and Desaad, who sought the secrets of the anti-life equation, had infiltrated the Sect, and used the Stimulus Hat to put his body into shock. The Forever People escaped their shackles, and in the ensuing fight with Bates’ militia, one of the soldiers accidentally fatally shot his employer. Darkseid mourned the loss of power that was within Bates mind, and that he was denied it while a yipping self-important man had it his entire life and didn’t know how to wield it.

Comments: Created by Jack Kirby.

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