It had been seven years since the battle to save the planet from Alex's rouge father. The four heroes had moved on with their lives, helping the Justice League when they needed it and studying for their exams. Jason had managed to pass his A-levels and was now at Roehampton University training to be a teacher. Wally had gone on to study forensic science at Kingston University in London. Ben had followed in his father's footsteps and gone to work for him at the Bugle's London office as a photographer. Alex however had not gone into a place of work. He stayed behind in the lab that had been given to him, monitoring the world's communication systems for any trouble. He also spent his days building new equipment to help both the four of them, but also the main Justice League.
It was a cold day in December and the four heroes found themselves standing at the top of the Shard in London, looking down at the scenes below. They were there to ensure that a Royal visit by the Duke of Cambridge was not interrupted by a terrorist threat. Alex had been working on their costumes, adapting them to be able to cope with the cold better. He had incorporated special technology into them, which emitted a thin layer of heat, enough to keep them warm, but not affect the surrounding area. In this mode, the suits were white, with their symbols in black. They could almost blend into the clouds they were surrounded by.
"Can you see anything suspicious?" Wally asked Jason.
Jason was using his super vision to scan the area below.
"Nothing yet, but that doesn't mean something or someone won't try and attack."
"So what are you guys planning on doing this weekend?" Alex asked.
"I'm hoping to spend some time with mum and dad," Ben said. "We have been so busy at the office, we haven't had a social life. They want to take me on a day trip up to the Midlands to go and visit one of dad's friends who works at Rugby School. When he heard I play, he wanted to show me round where it was invented."
"Me and Jason are off to Twickenham to watch the England vs New Zealand match, we know England will lose, but it will still be fun to watch. What were you planning Alex."
"Well I was going to work on developing a new suit for us to wear in hotter areas. I have managed to get the basics down, but there is a problem with the cooling aspect of it. Every mannequin I have used to test it has suddenly been frozen in a block of ice. I don't want that to happen to us."
"No please, I don't want to be frozen," Wally said.
They continued to watch the Royal party move around and soon they had departed. It had gone without incident. The four heroes then moved off to the nearest Zeta tube to transport themselves to Mt Justice. They entered in to a dilapidated building which contained the Zeta tube. Moments later, they emerged from the tubes into the base of the Justice League, the computerised voice announcing their arrival and designated codes.
"Hello!" Jason called out. No one replied.
"Aren't the League supposed to be here today?" Wally asked.
"Yeah, Batman wanted to get them training in here," Alex replied.
"So where is everyone then?" inquired Ben.
Suddenly, the sound of running came from one of the corridors off of the main cavern. The four heroes stood in a defensive layout. Robin came running into the cavern.
"Thank goodness you are here, he said, panting." Robin, or Tim Drake, was the second person to take on the title and had just had his eighteenth birthday. "Everyone just disappeared and communications went down, I tried to call you, but couldn't get through."
"What do you mean disappeared? How did they just disappear?" Wally asked.
"They were all in here training and then they weren't. It all happened in the blink of an eye, I didn't see it coming. As far as I can tell, none of the outer alarms were triggered and no one broke in."
Suddenly red lights started to flash all around the cave, sirens accompanying them. A hologram of Batman's face then appeared in the centre of the cave.
"It has been four hours since the safety codes were entered into the system. Please insert the codes. If they are not known please state your name and where Batman is," the hologram ordered, the sirens falling silent, but the lights continuing to flash.
Jason stepped forward.
I am Superboy, B Zero Three and we have lost Batman and the whole League, they have disappeared."
It was a moment before the hologram responded, as though it was thinking about what Jason had said.
"Identity confirmed. The New Justice protocols have been initiated. Take in the information and use it to find the League. Batman out."
The hologram fizzled out and disappeared.
"What are the New Justice protocols," Ben asked.
"Over here," Tim called.
The team moved over to a computer table to see that a set of files had appeared from a hidden slot. The table top was showing a map, which had five dots pulsating in different countries. Jason reached over to the pile of files and opened the first one. Inside was a sheet of instructions from Batman, detailing what the New Justice protocols were.
"If the Justice League has gone missing and there are any associated members remaining, the New Justice protocols are to be initiated. These protocols will give the remaining members jurisdiction over all League property and privileges. The accompanying files list pre-approved subjects who can be assembled to form a new Justice League to help find the main group and continue to protect Earth from any threats."
Jason finished reading the sheet to the other three.
"So what do we do now then?" Ben asked.
"Well, let's have a look at the first of these files and see who we need to go and find. If Batman put all of this in place, he must have known something like this was going to happen someday," Wally said.
"So, who is first up?" Jason asked.
Alex took the next file and opened it up.
"James Carmichael is our first 'subject'," he stated, placing the file down on the table, showing the rest of them.
They read through it carefully, taking in all the information, bit by bit.
"So a werewolf," Wally said. "Never met one of them before."
"Dad has," Ben said. "His boss' son was an astronaut and went into space, only to become a 'space' werewolf. Dad managed to stop him and he hasn't become one since."
"Right, but this isn't a space werewolf, this was done by humans," Jason said.
"So where is he then?" Tim asked.
"Well I guess we need to go to Scotland and have a look around there. Clearly Batman has been to see him, but he doesn't mention anything about moving anywhere else in the rest of the file."
Jason began to go through some photos that had been put in the file, showing the five of them came to believe was James in various stages of his transformation.
"Well the sooner we go, the quicker we will find the League," Alex said.
"How shall we travel there?" Wally asked.
"Let's take the League's plane," Tim said.
"?Do you know how to fly it?" Ben asked.
"Of course, Batman and Nightwing have taken me out in it several times."
"Well that is settled then," Wally said. "We will take the plane over to Scotland. I'll grab the files and let's go."
With that, the five of them went to the plane's hanger and set about on their flight to Scotland.
