The JLA disbands in the "World without a Justice League" storyline in 2006, in which the Key plays a major part. The Key emerges from the "mental maze" with his telepathic powers even more greatly enhanced. Unable to shut out the voices of millions of people, the Key comes close to insanity before realizing that killing people helps calm the voices. The Key commits a large number of murders in Metropolis, which the Justice League investigates. The Key kidnaps the heroine sorceress Manitou Dawn, and attempts to merge his mind with hers in order to wipe all human life from Earth. The League stops him, but his new Key-Man android delays the heroes long enough to allow him to escape. The Key mentally orders thousands of people to kill one another. As the League separately battles the Seven Deadly Sins, the personification of Envy tries to stop the Key in order to keep envy (a human emotion) alive. Envy tries to use the Key to enter the minds of millions of people and listen to their seedy thoughts, but the Key resists and breaks free—forcing a temporarily unpowered Envy to flee. The Key begs Manitou Dawn to kill him, but she sends him to a "dream plane" instead, where he will hear no voices and can be at peace.