Amaurex Key
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Real Identity: Not Applicable
Appearances (Comics): Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay (Chapter One, Chapter Eight, and Chapter Twelve)
Powers/Skills: Liberation from Eternal Damnation
Voiced By: Not Applicable
The Amaurex Key is a supernatural relic originally commissioned by Vandal Savage. It was designed for a similar purpose as the Get Out of Hell Free Card, to free the holder from Hell, and took centuries of slow enchantment to realize. While it keeps the user out of eternal damnation, it does not guarentee entrance to Heaven. 13 blacksmiths were hired total to build and complete the key. The last was hired out of Boston. He was blindfolded and taken on an ocean voyage. Several weeks later, he was taken to a city where French was spoken and led down underground into a chamber. He engraved patterns into the key shown to him from ancient scrolls. When he was done, Savage paid him and returned him home. The next day, Savage killed him in Boston and laid his body to rest at Granary Burial Grounds to prevent his ghost from haunting him. A dark priest was directed to bind the key to the dead. Solomon Grundy was chosen. A reanimated defender kept the key from being bound to a living user that wasn't Savage and grew stronger over time.
For a time, Savage could control Grundy but he began to find Grundy more useful than the key. He made Gentleman Jim Craddock swear to guard the key. At some point, the key fell out of Savage's possession. Unable to recover it, Savage turned his attention to gaining the Hell Card. Jason Blood took a text from Rasputin that contained an entry about the key. In the present, Blood plotted to find the Amaurex Key. Since it kept the soul from Hell, he believed it would break him and Etrigan apart at long last then likely destroy him. Blood needed a patsy to find it for him while he masked his involvement from the other realm and Etrigan. The chance came during a session with Amanda Waller after it was determined the Hell Card was already redeemed. Blood mentioned the Amaurex Key as an alternative solution. Waller asked how it would be known if it was still in existence. Blood stated if it were gone, the entry in his book would disappear. Waller then asked where to start looking. Blood warned her it wouldn't be easy then advised her to start with any connections to Savage's underground society she might have.
Jason Blood discovered a blacksmith connected to the Amaurex Key was buried at the Granary Burial Grounds in Boston. He arranged for Deadman to act as guide and instructed Waller to meet him there at twilight. Gentleman Ghost was bound to safeguard the bearer of the key because of his oath to Savage and it functioned best where it currently was. He intervened and attempted to kill them all. Deadman arrived and dispatched him. The ghost of the blacksmith who finished the key told the story of his part in its creation. Waller, the Squad, and Deadman met with Scandal Savage in Paris, along the Seine. All but Waller descended into Vandal Savage's catacombs. Once in the temple room, she found scrolls that detailed the protection spell cast on the key and used a crystal ball to find where Grundy and key were. It told Savage they were in the South back in the United States of America but then revealed Waller's deception. Once they got out of the Catacombs, Savage told Waller the key was somewhere in the Maurepas Swamp.
Savage led them to Grundy but he was warned of them by Gentleman Ghost. Grundy swore to kill them all. Ms. Clay uppercut Grundy then got her arms ripped off. Scandal Savage emerged from Clay's body and slashed his chest. Dr. Polaris sensed the Amaurex Key and drew it out. Waller tripped and realized the Spectre was an illusion the entire time. Removing the key created a temporary tear between the physical world and afterlife. Everyone floated around and could now see Deadman and Gentleman Ghost. Jason Blood appeared and estimated things would return to normal shortly. Grundy faded away then Gentleman Ghost did as well, no longer bound to the physical world. Deadman was summoned for his next mission and bid the squad goodbye. Blood was insistent on finding the key so he could prepare it for Waller. Ms. Clay took the key from Savage and passed a fake onto Blood. He admitted he manipulated Waller into finding the key so the other realm and Etrigan wouldn't know of his plans.
Blood intended to use the key to break his curse once and for all. He transformed and realized he was tricked. Etrigan was amused and told Ms. Clay he was indebted to her then teleported away. Scandal Savage declared she was keeping the real key until Knockout made a full recovery and, in the meantime, set out to take over her late father's empire. Harley looked at the bright side of things and Waller would get what she wanted if Knockout pulled through and she lived long enough.