“ALIAS NEGATIVE MAN.” The Brotherhood of Evil captures Negative Man in a lead coffin! The remaining members of the Doom Patrol act quickly to place Larry's body in suspended animation so he doesn't die from prolonged separation from his other self. Meanwhile, the Brotherhood launches a campaign to cause civil unrest around the world using subliminal messages!

During a simple training exercise, the Chief confirms that Robotman is susceptible to magnetic attacks. The Chief immediately conceives all the counter measures he'll need to build into Robotman's body to overcome the, potentially, fatal flaw. The Chief also sees exploitable weaknesses in Elasti-Girl, too, but has already begun work on bolstering her abilities. Only Negative Man, whom the Chief considers to be the most powerful member of the Doom Patrol, is deemed, essentially, flawless. Across the Atlantic Ocean, in Paris, the Brotherhood Of Evil makes preparations to test that theory, with a scheme specifically targeting Negative Man for elimination. Dubbed "Operation Lead Coffin", the plan commences when Negative Man is lured to a European city to arrest, then extradite, Nazi war criminal, Hans Horst, to France. When Negative Man arrives, he finds a funeral procession carrying Horst through the streets, in an open coffin. Investigating more closely to confirm Horst's identity, Negative Man finds the coffin lid being dropped on him, trapping his radio energy form in the lead container. Unable to live separated from Negative Man for more than 60 seconds, the Chief has only a few moments to place Larry Trainor's body in a cryogenic chamber, to keep him alive.

The Chief determines that the only way to rescue Negative Man is by convincing the Brotherhood Of Evil that they've actually failed to capture him. To that end the Chief broadcasts a signal to the lead coffin to shut down the radiation counter, which indicates Negative Man's form is, indeed, trapped within the coffin. While awaiting the coffin's arrival in Paris, the Brotherhood of Evil contacts Gargaux and gives the go-ahead to begin "Operation Darkside". Gargaux launches a satellite from his base on the dark side of the moon. The satellite projects a simple advertisement for a popular cola in the skies of every major city on Earth. Hidden within the messages, flashing at super speed, is a subliminal message inciting the peoples of the world to riot. When one of the Chief's friends suddenly develops the ability to perceive subatomic particles with the naked eye, the Chief becomes wise to the plan. Contacting the Flash, the Chief instructs the Scarlet Speedster to circle the globe, as fast as he can, while impersonating Negative Man, and take pictures of the sky. With "Negative Man" sighted in multiple cities, and the radiation counter receiving no signal from inside the coffin, the Brotherhood of Evil begins to doubt that Negative Man is truly trapped in the lead coffin. The Flash's gathered evidence confirms the Chief's suspicions. Contacting friends in the military, the Chief has Gargaux's satellite blasted from the sky.

With "Operation Darkside" thwarted, General Immortus contacts the Chief, from Sahara Station Gamma. There, General Immortus plans to rocket the lead coffin into outer space, disposing of Negative Man, once and for all. The Doom Patrol, along with the Flash, scramble to reach the Sahara desert, before General Immortus can make good on his threat. En route to Sahara Station Gamma, the Doom Patrol's aircraft is intercepted by Gargaux. Though there's no hope for the Chief to escape, Robotman, Elasti-Girl, and the Flash exit the plane, unnoticed, and make landfall, each in their own inimitable fashion. The Flash scouts the whole of the Sahara desert, in a matter of seconds, and locates Sahara Station Gamma. Collecting Robotman and Elasti-Girl, the trio mount an assault on the missile base. They arrive, however, too late to stop the launch. While Robotman battles against Monsieur Mallah, the Flash races to the launch site, carrying Elasti-Girl. Expanding to gigantic size, Elasti-Girl is able to grab the rocket, but the lead coffin breaks loose from the top and plummets to Earth. Gargaux moves the Chief to his ship, and the Brotherhood of Evil flee the scene. Robotman releases Negative Man from the lead coffin. Once freed, Negative Man quickly boards Gargaux's ship, and rescues the Chief, before Gargaux can break orbit. After bidding farewell to the Flash, the Doom Patrol returns to their headquarters to reunite Negative Man with Larry Trainor.