"Flash!" Superman and the others called as they searched the Watchtower for their elusive teammate. After hours of research and genetic analysis, the furry five were finally within reach of an antidote; all they needed was Flash's DNA to perfect his personalized solution.
"He couldn't have gone too far," said John as he flew into one of the tower's empty rooms, "the little fur ball can barely take a walk without tripping over his own feet." He joked as he floated over Clark's head.
"Flash," Diana called again before she and the others heard the sounds of women giggling and cooing down the hall. Intrigued, the group followed the voices until they came to a large group of the League's women, all crowded around something in the hallway.
"I think we've found him," John replied sarcastically as he and the others made their way through to the front of the adoring women, only to pause and stare, lost for words, at the sight of a shaggy ball of red and white fur lying on its back advertising for stomach rubs.
'That's it ladies, everyone gets a turn,' Flash sighed happily, his tail wagging excitedly as Fire and Ice stepped up and took their turn tickling the 'sweet spot' of plush patch of white fur on Flash's stomach. 'Haha ladies,' Flash laughed uncontrollably as his leg began to tap, 'You just found the spot!' He cheered as the women excitedly continued to crowd enthusiastically around him, until he saw three pairs of paws waiting in front of him.
"Oh, hey guys," he said awkwardly, a slight twinge of embarrassment in his voice, as he rolled over and rose to his feet. "You know, it was really weird and annoying at first," he paused and looked back at his tail which continued to sway happily, "but I think I'm finally getting the hang of it!" He continued as he confidently spun around and looked back at his fan club. "And I thought the ladies loved puppies!" he said jokingly before advising Bruce and Clark to give the tummy rub trick a shot.
"Lab. Now," Bruce growled as he looked from an embarrassed Flash, to the crowd of women, signaling for them to leave.
"You guys got something?" Wally asked, his tail's happy waving ceased as he alertly waited for an answer.
"We've managed to come up with a temporary antidote, but we'll need a sample of your blood to finalize the outcome."
"Temporary?" Flash asked, flabbergasted. "You mean we are stuck like this?"
"Not unless we can get back to the Legion's headquarters and get enough of the serum to fully eliminate the foreign DNA," Bruce dictated calmly. "What we have now is only a fraction of what it's going to take."
"Well that's a downer," Wally commented bleakly. "But what do you need a blood sample for? I know you said this ran on the genetic level, but I didn't think it ran that deep."
"That serum's key component was a splicing agent. It was intended to completely overwrite our genetic code and turn us into animals," Batman replied as the group began to make their way back to the lab.
"Isn't that what it did?" Superman asked sarcastically.
"Not entirely..."
"What do you mean?" Diana asked confusedly. "Maybe you haven't looked in a mirror recently, or you've just gotten used to it, but we're not exactly human anymore."
"Compared to what that serum was supposed to do to us, we're a lot more human than Grodd intended. The splicing agents in that serum were highly sophisticated, and potent," Batman explained as they entered the lab and he directed Wally to an examination table to give a blood sample, "it was intended to turn us into animals- completely."
"What do you mean 'completely'?" asked Clark. "How much more thorough could they get?" He asked as he looked around at his team and their furred and feathered appearances, before studying his own pearl-white fur and detracting his razor-sharp claws.
"The components in Grodd's solution were intended to overwrite our DNA with that of animals," Batman explained as he approached one of the computers and clumsily opened up a diagram of Flash's health readings and diagnostics. "Physically and mentally."
"Mentally?" John asked suspiciously. "I don't like where this is going..."
"Where it was going," Bruce corrected as he continued to study the findings on the computer. "They were really trying to turn us into animals-entirely." Shocked, everyone stared at Bruce, all aware of what they'd heard but none of them sure how of how to take it. When no one replied, Bruce continued to explain until his findings were made clear. "They were trying to eliminate us, without actually killing us."
"But why?" asked Flash. "Lex and Grodd have been trying to kill us for... forever," he said in jest, "why would they suddenly stop now? They finally realize it was a lost cause?" he laughed confidently.
"They finally came up with a plan to get rid of us, and without any evidence," Clark said to himself in realization. "People could search for years to find us, believing we were dead-"
"Only there'd be no bodies left to find," Batman said bluntly. "And no one would ever think to run a lion's DNA for a match to Superman's."
"But what I don't understand is," John interrupted as he flew towards Bruce and landed on the keyboard, "if this was meant to affect us on the mental level, why didn't it? If what you said is true, shouldn't we all be growling and howling, trying to kill each other?"
"Yes," Bruce replied as he looked to his friend. "Fortunately we were able to override that part of the splicing agent before it could take effect."
"How?"
"The suppressant I administered at the Legion's lab," Batman said calmly, no one answered. "While skimming the serum's intent, I noticed the mind-altering agent and managed to cancel it out before we all ended up doing more than just looking like animals."
"Nice," Wally scoffed, impressed and grateful. Looking to Wally, Bruce silently acknowledged the compliment before getting back to business.
"We have to get into the Legion's lab and obtain a larger amount of their serum. Then we can bring it back here and reconfigure it to turn us back, permanently. We can administer the antidote we have now, it should last us long enough to get us in and out of their headquarters."
"Sounds like a plan," commented Diana as she stood behind Bruce, reading the codes and encryptions on the monitor from over his inky black, densely furred shoulder. "But how are we going to get there. None of us know where the Legion is stationed." Simultaneously the others nodded in agreement.
"Louisiana," Bruce replied calmly, his eyes still glued to the computer screen.
"What?" everyone asked in confusion.
"Before we were teleported out of their headquarters, I managed to run a quick homing scan of the Legion's exact location and send the coordinates to the Batcave's main computer system," he explained as he gingerly poked and jabbed into the monitor's keypad- confidently displaying his perfected ability to type with his paws. "We can use the location to sneak back into their lab and take the necessary amount of splicing agent to permanently rewrite the coding." He continued as he turned around and motioned for the group to make their way towards the centrifuge in the far corner of the lab, containing their temporary cure.
"How did you know to do that?" Clark asked inquisitively.
"It was obvious we didn't have the time or the strength to stay and fight against the Legion before," Bruce replied as he finished skimming his findings on the computer. "None of us knew what was going on, and had we stayed and found out there, Lex could've earned himself a rare, white lion-skinned rug and had the rest of us stuffed," he said bluntly as he walked toward the centrifuge, his tail arrogantly flitting in Clark's face as he passed. "Our best chance of beating this was to get out while we still had a chance, and returning once everything had cooled down." He continued as he slowed the whirling centrifuge to a stop with his paw. "In order to do that, I had to save our position so that we could relocate and return at a later time."
"Do you have to plan ahead for everything?" John asked sarcastically, he and the others blown away by Bruce's foresight.
"Unless you were all planning on spending the rest of your lives like this," Bruce spitefully replied. "I'm sure the world has complete faith in the Green Eagle, Superlion and The Fox- with his super powerful tummy rubs..." he snickered as he glanced back at his friends, before peering into the centrifuge and studying the now thoroughly mixed antidote solutions. Once the mixtures had fully settled, Bruce then called for Shayera and Green Arrow to help them administer the antidote and free them from this beastly nightmare.
After several minutes of queasiness, the antidote's recoding factor took effect and the League's founding five were back on their two-feet.
"Alright!" Flash cheered as he gleefully spun around and checked for a tail and examined his body for any remaining tufts of fur. "I'm back!" He said after elatedly running a quick sprint through the Watchtower, making sure that his powers were back up to speed.
"Great work Bruce," Superman praised as he studied his familiar black locks for any sign of white hair and followed his friend back to the computer to help him pinpoint the Legion's exact location.
"We have to get at least a liter of the original compound." Batman instructed. "We only have a few hours before this dose wears off. I'm retrieving the coordinates from the Batcave's hard drive," he continued as he rapidly typed and tapped at the keyboard with a speed and ease that, earlier, had so cruelly eluded his paws. Within minutes he had the location and punched it into the Watchtower's teleporter on the main floor. "Once there, we have to get the serum and get out. If we stay too long, the antidotes effects will wear off and we'll be back where we started."
"So we get in, get what we came for and get out," John repeated as he stretched his arms and flexed his fingers, counting to make sure all five were present. "Sounds easy enough."
"Not so fast," Diana interjected as she approached the lab's observation table and picked up one of the empty syringes that had started this fiasco. "I want to know exactly what Grodd and Luthor were planning to gain from this. I mean, the fact that we weren't just turned into monkeys is probably just the result of Grodd's 'primate superiority' complex," she said while sarcastically rolling her eyes and waving the empty needle in her hand, "but Lex had to have been getting something out of this."
"Agreed," Clark added as he left the computer and lead the way to the transporter. "But until we can get our hands on the serum, that matter will have to take a back seat." As the group left the lab and boarded the Watch Tower's transporter, Bruce entered the coordinates and warned the team to stay alert and quiet once they'd arrived. With a final countdown and a bright explosion of light, they were sent back to the Legion's headquarters, ready to put an end to this wild adventure once and for all.
*A/N: I know it's been FOREVER since my last update. My bad, but hopefully this'll make up for my lazy behind ;) At least our team is back to normal! ...For now anyway... let's just hope they can make it in and out in time. Will update sooner than later, and always please leave a review!