Watchtower

Eclipso materialized into the Watchtower with a small zap. There was even an announcement by a computerized female voice, with his very own ID - B-16.

He looked around him. Blank-faced heroes stood around him in a loose circle. Some of them looked a little worse for wear. He wondered if that was because of Prometheus, or if there was some trouble embedding the stones. A couple of bodies stood piled to the side. The android members of the League, he assumed. He had given instructions to eliminate all non-biological threats.

He quickly took a headcount, based on the numbers Prometheus had given him. The whole Justice League was accounted for.

Wonderful.

He let a manic grin spread across his face. "I am your master now, heroes. You will obey every command I make. Is that clear?"

As one, every superhero in the room nodded in acceptance.

He giggled. "Perfect! Let's have some fun. Beat the living daylights out of each other!"

He waited for a few minutes while they obeyed his command. The Watchtower shook a little, the thudding of several unusually strong people taking its toll.

"That's enough. We want you in tip-top shape for later."

He called Hawkgirl to his side. "Open the communication lines for me, dear."

"We have some kiddies to talk to."

Mount Justice

Once, when he was younger, and before he got his powers, Wallace West had been deathly afraid. Three class bullies had accosted him outside his high school, promising punishment for causing their lockers to explode.

He had hightailed it out of there, running as fast as he ever had. Until the experiment, of course. After he got his powers, he felt, not powerful exactly, but immune to such fear. In the back of his mind, he knew that he would get out any mess. He did, after all, have the Justice League at his back.

He felt a very real fear for the first time in a very long time when we looked at the glowing computer screen in the middle of the Cave. Suddenly, the size of the giant screen seemed scary, and it made him feel small.

The guy they had fought earlier, Eclipso, stood in front of the screen, the core members of the Justice League kneeling at his feet. Uncle Barry was off the left, his costume torn up and one lightning bolt missing.

The rest of the League stood behind him, shackles at their hands and feet. They looked beaten up, and worse for wear. He felt his heart drop.

He reached out and took his girlfriend's hand. Usually, it helped center him, because Artemis was so unwavering. But now he felt a tremble in her hand.

M'gann slowly floated over towards Conner. His normal swagger was gone. He looked almost hunched. Kaldur's body was set in tight lines. Not surprisingly, he recovered first.

"What is the meaning of this?" Kaldur asked in a low, quiet voice.

Eclipso, that bastard, chuckled. "Well, juniors, you were so easy that I sought out more...challenging prey. As you can see, I've climbed up to the very top of the food chain."

Artemis let go of his hand and stepped forward. "What do you want?"

"Oh, nothing. Just letting the kids know that the parents won't be coming home for dinner," he trilled. "My partner in crime must be feeling lonely. He should be calling any moment now. Ta, dears!"

The screens fizzled to nothing.

There was absolute silence in the Cave.

Artemis turned towards them. "What the hell just happened?!"

Wally was dumbfounded. "Who's this 'partner'? How could they have defeated the entire League? That's impossible. Not even an alien invasion can do that!"

"It clearly happened," snapped Conner. "What do we do about it?"

"I am at a loss," Kaldur said.

"We should probably call in reinforcements, right? I mean, this is an extreme situation. We need help!" Even on the mental link, M'gann's voice sounded shaky.

Artemis nodded. "That's probably a good idea. It'll take a while to get everyone together, M'gann why don't you get on that? And where is Robin? Was he in the Watchtower?"

Wally shook his head. "He wasn't, I checked."

While M'gann was trying to contact the others, Wally, Artemis and Kaldur stood off the side, waiting for Eclipso's next move. It had been decided (much to Conner's chagrin) that a hotheaded rescue was ill advised.

Conner banged his fist on a table. No one reacted.

Wally was rapidly walking back and forth. Without realizing, he had started speeding around the room.

Suddenly, he stopped. "Wait a minute. Where did this battle happen? We didn't see anything on the news."

Artemis grunted. "In the Watchtower, obviously"

"Doesn't it feel wrong? That one guy, or two guys, defeated the entire Justice League on their home field? I'm sure Batman has the tower rigged up with all sorts of alarms and traps," Wally mused out loud.

"He has. No one should be able to easily get in an out, and zeta tube teleportation is impossible to do without an authorization from the other side."

They all looked up. Robin stood at the entrance. No one had heard him enter.

He held up his hands. "I'm sorry I was unavailable, guys. I had an...argument with Batman." Robin glanced at the empty space where the screens had been. "I went for a ride. But I'm all caught up, thanks M'gann. I have a pretty good idea who the 'partner' is. And it's bad news."

TEAM ALERT. TEAM ALERT. GOTHAM CITY. TEAM ALERT.

M'gann looked over the computer. "It's Prometheus."

Robin nodded solemnly. "Thought so."

"What do we do?" Conner asked. It sounded like a challenge.

Kaldur looked over at Robin. Rob nodded. So did Artemis and M'gann. Conner crossed his arms. Wally steeled himself.

It seemed impossible, especially after the beat down they had received earlier.

"We deal with this."

A/N: Next chapter: YJ vs Prometheus!