"So let's see if I'm understanding this. We're rocketing through space in an invisible jet. When Wonder Woman flies this contraption, we can all see her sitting in the cockpit clear as day. Now with five of us on board, we expect an enemy, who's always been a step ahead, to totally miss spotting us? I'm hardly the brightest star in the sky, but how exactly does that make sense?" Green Arrow asks half sarcastically.

Despite the serious matter which demands their attention, the feisty personality of Ollie Queen serves to alleviate some of the tension within the ranks. "Oliver, this craft is cutting edge science." Zatanna responds. "Diana's plane is constructed from transparent alloys which render it invisible to the naked eye. Its occupants can be seen unless the invisibility aura is activated."

The Batman listens as Ollie presses the magician for more information. He could contribute much to the conversation were he so inclined, but idle chatter is not his way. The caped crusader pilots the spectacular aircraft with the aid of special goggles which allow him to see the controls. The invisible jet is quite familiar to the Batman, for it was through his ingenuity and prodding that the cloaking technology was developed and incorporated into it. He recognized immediately the great potential total invisiblity presented. Given the craft's unique construction, a cloaking device was imminently feasible, but Wonder Woman resisted such an initiative. As an ambassador of peace, she preaches trust and rejects the stealthful approach. To finally convince her, Batman proposed an optional invisibility screen, which Diana resorts to only on rare occasion.

Mars fades in the distance as the invisible jet approaches Jupiter. "Bruce, any idea yet how close we are?" an anxious Black Canary queries. "The readings are growing stronger, Dinah." the Batman replies. "I would still guess we won't find his ship until we reach Saturn." he adds. The Justice Leaguers all nod in satisfaction. They had hoped their conflict with Phranyx would not escalate to this point, but given that it has, the Batman's fallback plan is working perfectly.

In response to Phranyx's initial attack upon Black Canary, the JLA implemented a clever contingency strategy devised by the Batman. A dozen female potential targets each ingested a unique chemical mixture. These serums were specifically tailored for the particular heroine's biology. Non-dangerous in a small one-time dosage, they spread throughout the body and were designed to remain in the bloodstream for up to two weeks. The chemicals mimicked those of the female DNA and were undetectable. It is only when three such compounds are brought within close proximity that a subtle reaction is generated.

"It's definitely Saturn." the Batman declares as the invisible jet approaches the gaseous giant. "There's no question that the combined chemical signature from Supergirl, Batgirl and Diana is emanating from somewhere inside the planet's rings. I can't determine exactly where, because the trail breaks up upon reaching the atmosphere."

"You see anything yet, Supes?" Green Arrow asks as he turns toward the rear of the plane. Positioned in the last of five singular seats, Superman focuses his keen vision powers upon the rings of Saturn. His colleagues impatiently wait as he sweeps through the dense gases in search of a ship. Suddenly the silence is broken, as Kal boldy proclaims "There it is!"

The Batman skillfully maneuvers the plane into the outer rings as per Superman's direction. The size of Phranyx's craft dwarfs that of the invisible plane. It is protected by a powerful forcefield and contains lead shielding within its hull, thus precluding Kryptonian eyes from peering in or out. The invisible jet has not been detected; therefore the JLA members have a moment to weigh their options.

Great value is placed upon the element of surprise, particularly given Phranyx's heavy reliance upon it. They decide upon a tactic which preserves it for as long as possible. Zatanna invokes her magic to teleport herself through the forcefield and onto the enemy ship. She hasn't the power to do the same for her colleagues; therefore her mission is to disable the forcefield from within to allow easy access for all.

*****

Zatanna's initial arrival is unnoticed. She materializes on the lowest of three levels. As surmised, this deck is the engineering section of the ship. The super heroine notices considerable artilery in the form of laser cannons and nuclear torpedos. This is undoubtedly a warship with immense destructive power at the ready. A lump forms in Zatanna's throat for she knows now that their task is all the more complicated. They not only must rescue their friends, but they also must overcome a formidable adversary with the weaponry to cause mass devastation back on Earth.

The sorceress contemplates a return to the invisible plane to report these developments when her presense is suddenly detected. An angry Phranyx emerges from the engine room to confront her. The powerful villain is heavily armed. He recognizes Zatanna and is no doubt familiar with her from having scouted the Terran women. Unlike his prior encounters with super heroines, he projects no playfulness or sense of sport. Instead he appears very agitated. The magician observes intense, murderous hatred in his eyes, yet strangely enough he is also very indecisive. Phranyx seems intimidated by the Justice Leaguer and trembles while training his energy weapon upon her.

Zatanna capitalizes upon her foe's hestitation. She casts a swift incantation which topples a stack of supplies on top of him. Zee is tempted to press her attack but she dares not risk it. Given the size of the ship and its military nature, she reasons that it is likely manned by a crew of thirty. Phranyx is the leader and the most powerful, but reenforcements will surely barge in momentarily. It is imperative that she deactivate the forcefield before his troops arrive.

The magician scampers through the eeirily silent and unoccupied engine room. Besides her own footsteps, the lone sounds emanate from Phranyx as he regains his footing and gives chase. She can't imagine why his crew hasn't yet responded. Frantically, Zatanna searches amongst the various technical consoles. The ship's design is hopelessly foreign and she frets as to how she can ever discover the means to carry out her assignment.

Phranyx swiftly catches up to the sorceress and manages to pin her up against a work station. Zatanna notices the same bizarre reaction from her attacker as moments ago. He wants desperately to annihilate her, yet something makes him deathly afraid to do so. The villain orders her to move away from the computer terminal. Although he does not divulge why and his behavior is schizophrenic, Zee intuitively knows that she has unwittingly found what she seeks. This control panel is a direct link to the warship's forcefield.

The daughter of Zatara and Sindella complies with his orders, but she takes a calculated risk by stepping directly towards him. At this range, she would be felled by an energy discharge before she could even think of a defensive magic spell, much less utter it. However illogical, Zee believes Phranyx will not fire upon her. Sure enough the heroine removes the weapon from the hand of her astonished opponent without the use of her mystical talents. In retaliation, the flustered villain clobbers her with a sneaky left-handed blow. The punch lands flush against the magician's chin and she collapses to the hard metallic floor.

"No, my jaw! He's broken my jaw!" Zee thinks to herself as sharp pain radiates through her lower mouth. She is in grave trouble for she must speak to cast her spells. As Phranyx slowly approaches her prone form, she faces the grim prospect of defending herself without her trademark abilities.

She instinctively braces for the vicious impact that should be forthcoming. To her surprise she gains a brief reprieve due to more indecision from her attacker. The hurting heroine spots a window of opportunity and she is quick to react. Zatanna scurries along the floor on all fours, narrowly avoiding the outstretched arms of her confused foe. Phranyx recognizes too late the heroine's intentions. She lunges for the villain's discarded energy gun which lies on the ground. The sorceress scrambles to her feet and fires the weapon. The energy beam passes harmlessly around the villain and strikes its intended target, the forcefield console. A small explosion is the result and the energy shield about the ship dissipates in seconds.

Sensing the urgency of the situation, Phranyx teleports himself out of the engine room before Zatanna can detain him with his own weapon. Unable to communicate, Zee is reduced to cautiously roaming the lower deck of the ship. She will search the corridors for Wonder Woman and the missing heroines while hoping to join forces with the fellow members of the rescue party who can now come aboard.

*****

The invisible plane pulls safely into a docking bay after Superman forces open the outer door. Now inside the alien warship, Kal's x-ray vision reveals some tactical information on the vessel, although much is still obscured by lead lining. The Justice Leaguers agree to split up. Batman's goal is to seize control of the first floor bridge. Green Arrow and Black Canary will search the crew deck on the second floor. They reason that it is there that they are most likely to find their abducted comrades. Meanwhile the Kryptonian seeks to demolish the war-making artillery on board. Covering all three levels, someone is bound to reunite with Zatanna, who is not responding on her JLA frequency.

*****

The Batman is astonished by the ease with which he reaches his destination. He encounters no resistance whatsoever until he sets foot upon the enemy bridge. The automated door slams shut beyond him and an imposing figure steps out from the shadows. The caped crusader recognizes Phranyx from their brief roadside encounter back in Gotham City. He possesses a hand-held laser weapon which he unwaveringly points in the hero's direction.

Instinctively, the Batman dives for cover. The deadly beam barely misses his backside as it burns a six-inch diameter hole through the middle of his cape. The energy proceeds to strike the floor and ricochet into assorted computerized command stations. Sparks fly momentarily, but the equipment appears undamaged. Evidently, the bridge has been constructed to withstand considerable firepower.

Phranyx is livid that his bridge has been boarded. He fires haphazardly in Batman's general direction. The hero is safely shielded behind the conn, but his assailant is closing on his position. Bruce decides to aggressively counter attack. He blindly whips his batarang towards the villain. As anticipated, it does not strike Phranyx, but he is forced to temporarily duck to evade the weapon. The Batman charges while his enemy is momentarily distracted. The Justice Leaguer kicks the powerful energy gun out of his foe's possession, leaving them face to face without weapons.

Enraged, but unimpressed, Phranyx violently assaults the super hero. The Batman is startled by the swiftness of his opponent. Bruce gasps for breath as he tries to fend off a two-handed chokehold about his neck. Phranyx is a big and powerful man, but he is also quite skillful. The darknight detective is afforded no leverage with which to work.

Having battled physically superior beings before, the Batman does not panic. He deliberately twists his frame against the conn. Doing so increases the stress upon his neck to a nearly unbearable degree, but he can now gain thrust from his left leg. The caped hero propels himself into the villain, thus breaking his crushing grasp. The Batman exchanges punches with Phranyx, each drawing blood from the other's mouth.

The combatants continue to punish one another. Within two minutes, the hero's left eye is nearly swollen shut, but he is still getting the better of his tough opponent. The Batman connects with a combination of precision blows. Phranyx is visibly beaten, but he stubbornly refuses to succumb. The villain appears ready to unleash yet another flurry when he surprises the Justice Leaguer by invoking his teleportation technology to escape the fierce confrontation on the bridge.

*****

Green Arrow and Black Canary cautiously explore the second level of the ship. There is no response to their presense as they roam the halls and check various rooms. They find a conference room, several open crew quarters and an empty brig. There is no sign of the missing heroines and Ollie reasons it's time to start knocking down some locked doors.

Positioned outside of the first unit on the primary corridor, Black Canary bombards the electronic locking mechanism with a concentrated sonic cry. This weakens the door sufficiently enough for Ollie to smash his way through. Like the vacated quarters they have already seen, the room has minimal furnishings and is quite bland. With nothing to be gained here, the Leaguers prepare to exit the room when Phranyx suddenly appears in the doorway. His stealth and quickness catch Green Arrow off guard and he is floored with a single blow to the head.

Black Canary is cornered within the small confines of the crew quarters as Phranyx seals the door behind them. The villain draws his laser weapon upon her. She reacts with her sonic cry, but unbenownst to her this is exactly what her nemesis expects. The powerful sound waves succeed in shattering the weapon but not before he hurls it in her direction. The laser gun explodes at Dinah's feet. It causes minor skin burns, but more significantly her legs are numbed and she is unable to flee.

Phranyx immediately goes for Black Canary's throat. He slams the super heroine's head to the floor and thrusts his forearm into her Adam's apple. Dinah is unable to use her special vocal abilities. She is at the mercy of her assailant, but strangely enough he seems hesitant to finish her off. Suddenly, the villain screeches in agony and scurries away from her. The cause of his pain is soon apparent, for Dinah notices a signature arrow embedded in her attacker's left biceps.

As they have done so often over the years, Black Canary and Green Arrow complement one another superbly. The super heroine follows Ollie's timely initiative with one of her own. She blankets the room with her Canary cry. The high pitched sounds are exceedingly painful for Phranyx while the archer is prepared with earplugs. The vile nemesis collapses to his knees and appears defeated. Without any indication of a remote signalling device, he somehow manages to elude his captors' clutches yet again via the use of his teleporter.

*****

The Justice Leaguers receive a quick message from Superman instructing them to converge upon the shuttle bay at the rear end of deck two. The Batman arrives first and finds the entrance tightly sealed. He is joined momentarily by Black Canary and Green Arrow. Bruce notices they are both ailing. Dinah unconvincingly reassures him that her leg burns look worse than they feel. The archer is groggy having sustained a concussion. Ollie grumbles that he too can persevere.

The trio spots Zatanna staggering towards them from the far end of the corridor. The sorceress still isn't answering on the JLA frequency. With Phranyx having already impersonated Superman, the League has established a mission protocol whereby each member must respond with a specific security codeword. Zatanna is not doing so. Batman reaches for his Batarang while Ollie draws his bow. Black Canary is prepared to use her Canary cry, but instead approaches the sluggish figure over her colleagues' objections.

"Oh Zee!" Dinah exclaims as she embraces her friend. Black Canary leads Zatanna towards the others. Batman and Green Arrow remain a tad skeptical until the women emerge from the shadows. Tears roll down the face of the sorceress. Her jaw is noticably swollen and the heroine is in agony. She tries to acknowledge the men with a smile, but she grimaces from the effort. Zatanna needs medical attention, but she understands that she must endure her pain for the duration of their rescue effort.

The door to the shuttle bay suddenly rises, revealing Superman standing beside an escape pod. Evidently, Phranyx is on board the mini-vessell and had attempted to flee the ship. The Justice Leaguers seem to forget their various aches and pains as Kal-El tears the craft open. To their surprise, they discover three separate beings on board, each bearing a striking family resemblance to the others.

"Phranyx is three different guys!?" Oliver proclaims incredulously as the Kryptonian and the caped crusader quickly secure their prisoners. The three men offer no further resistance for they recognize their defeat. Supergirl, Batgirl and Wonder Woman still have yet to be found. The Batman eyes the captives with his trademark chilling contempt while Superman sums up the feelings of the entire group. "Gentlemen, you've got some explaining to do," he declares, "and you don't want me to have ask again!"