"Ralph, I have to see him! You must take me to him!" Iris Allen's pleas are understandably impassioned, yet she maintains a degree of composure. As the wife of a Justice Leaguer, she lives every day with the fear that her husband may be felled in the line duty. Over the years, Iris has tried to block this terrible prospect from her thoughts, but deep down it's always there.

"I'm afraid that's not possible at the moment." Ralph Dibney compassionately explains. Green Lantern and Wonder Woman help reassure Mrs. Allen as their colleague continues. "Barry is being attended to on the JLA satellite, where he is under heavy meta-human restraint. He's currently a danger to himself and others. We've contacted top specialists and Barry is being examined as we speak. Believe me Iris, Barry's fine physically and we're doing everything possible for him."

Iris Allen groans in frustration. She knows that the Elongated Man's rationale is sensible, but her feelings of helplessness and uncertainty are overwhelming. "Just what the hell happened out there?" she demands, hoping to gain any additional insight into the situation.

Green Lantern provides a brief summary of the events which led the Flash on his ill-fated quest to track down the missing Hawkship. Wonder Woman picks up the story from there. She recounts meeting up with Barry in the Atlantic Ocean and following the ship's faint energy trail. The heroine asserts that her colleague seemed perfectly fine when suddenly he became stricken with utter insanity. "There were no warning signs or apparent causes; he just snapped." Diana notes. She pauses for a few seconds before adding "This may be small consolation Iris, but he has not suffered pain so far as I can tell."

*****

"That was uncomfortable!" Diana remarks as she and Green Lantern ascend towards the clouds. Green Lantern nods his head, but says nothing. Hal Jordan is resolute. The determination is etched about his face. Barry Allen and Hal are very close friends. As such, Jordan feels an extra obligation to uncover the cause of the Flash's malaise and set things right.

Green Lantern insists upon a team-up effort with Wonder Woman, for he reasons that their combined powers stand the best chance of success against a dangerous unknown. The Justice Leaguers must attain a velocity of Mach 5 in order to match the Flash's earlier speed and detect the Hawkship's minute wake. They opt to utilize the invisible jet as their means of transport. Diana takes the helm while Hal sits directly behind her. Green Lantern envelops the craft in a powerful green energy cocoon to provide supplemental shielding in the event of an attack.

The invisible jet soars out over the coast of the United States along the route the Flash had taken mere hours earlier. The Amazon keeps an open radio link with her colleagues on the satellite. "We're registering the energy trail, Diana." Green Lantern observes. "It's barely discernible, just like Barry reported." Wonder Woman concurs with Hal. "We've got a lock on it Katar and we're closing in on the coordinates where Flash was stricken."

Diana subtly flips off the radio while Jordan's attention is riveted to the tracking monitor. "Katar? Are you there?" the heroine inquires. "Shayera? Bruce? Ralph? Somebody answer me." Green Lantern leans forward in his seat, rightly concerned over the sudden loss of communication with headquarters. "What's happening Diana?" he asks. Remaining cool under apparent pressure, Wonder Woman shakes her head in confusion. "We suddenly lost contact, Hal. I can't explain it."

As the princess struggles to reestablish the radio connection, Hal reaches over the seat to assist. The hero suspects nothing and is completely caught off guard when Wonder Woman turns on him. Suddenly ensnared in the magic lasso, a dumbfounded Hal Jordan is compelled to relinquish his power ring to the Amazon.

Wonder Woman slips the ring onto her left index finger, which allows for the best fit on her decidedly leaner hand. Accustomed to using telepathy to control her plane, Diana's keen mind commands the alien power source with relative ease. She wills the ring to become invisible, as she has often seen Hal do while in his secret identity.

"Diana, just what the devil do you think you're doing?!" Green Lantern angrily demands. The princess looks at her frustrated ally. She is momentarily tempted to give him her reassurances that Flash will be OK and that everything will make sense a few days from now. She opts against this, however, because she can't risk providing Jordan with any information which might lead him to deduce the dangerous truth.

"Silence Hal!" Wonder Woman commands. Green Lantern gnashes his teeth with rage, but try as he might, he can not utter a single word. "You must forget my transgressions here." Diana hastily instructs. "Your understanding of this situation is that we have been assailed by a bizarre, shapeless entity. This mysterious foe wrested your power ring away from you and also seized control of my invisible jet."

Diana must sell the notion that both she and Green Lantern were overcome by the same attacker. As such, the Amazon princess binds herself tightly within her trademark golden twine. Her aircraft is already in motion, heading due north. The heroine repeatedly flips the radio on and off as they soar through the upper atmosphere. Inflecting a tone of desperation, she transmits an intentionally choppy message to her concerned JLA colleagues.

"Something has seized control of my plane! It ..." kzzzzzt .... (static) ... "Trying to regain command of ..." kzzzzt ... (static) ... "think we're going nor ..." kzzzzzt ... (static) ... "it stole GL's ..." kzzzzzt ... (static) ... "using my magic lasso against us! I can't free my hands to ..." kzzzzzt ... (static)

"Diana! Answer us!" Hawkman implores from the command center of the JLA satellite. "Wonder Woman? Green Lantern? Respond please!" The Batman chimes in. "I have a fix on the invisible plane. It's heading northward and nearing the Arctic Circle. In fact, its trajectory projects to the Fortress of Solitude!"

Bruce Wayne's observation causes added consternation amongst an already anxious group of Leaguers. "Great Thanagar!" Hawkgirl exclaims. "Whomever has taken over Diana's plane must now be intent upon penetrating Superman's secret refuge. He must know Superman is away. There's no telling what he could do with all that Kryptonian equipment!" Elongated Man adds yet another chilling thought. "Not to mention the Kryptonite locked up there for safe keeping!"

At the moment the satellite received Wonder Woman's initial distress call, Hawkman opted to issue a triple priority JLA alert. This indicates the most dire of circumstances and requires the immediate response of the entire membership if at all possible. As such, Leaguers are filtering in as the events quickly unfold. The Batman prepares to dispatch a strike force to the arctic when the proceedings are interrupted by a radio message from an unexpected source.

"Batman, this is Superman checking in!" The Man of Steel indicates that his deep space mission concluded ahead of schedule. He has received the JLA alert and overheard the aborted transmissions. "Supergirl and I are just passing Mars." Clark reports. "We will reach Earth in a couple minutes. Kara and I will handle this for now. I'll keep the channel open and if we should lose contact, take whatever action you deem appropriate!"

"Great Zeus!" Diana thinks to herself as she draws within ten miles of her destination. "Kal and Kara weren't supposed to be back yet. This complicates matters extensively! I have to get what I'm after at the Fortress, but first and foremost I must handle Superman carefully. If the same insanity that claimed Flash should befall him, Athena only knows how we'll stop him!"

Wonder Woman quickly issues new instructions to Green Lantern to ensure that his reactions and behavior are consistent with her change in plans. "This little ruse has to be flawless because both Superman and Supergirl must be duped." she reasons. "My most convincing alternative requires the greatest personal risk. If I'm wrong, I die here and now and Circe goes free!"

Having already bound her wrists and legs with her golden lasso, the princess exacerbates her difficulty. Using her mental control over her mystical lariat, she wills the rope to expand its length. Diana forms three small loops from the added slack and slips them all over her head. The Amazon tightens the line, thus forming a grueling stranglehold about her throat. Her pain is very real. She is unable to breathe and the blood flow to her brain is considerably restricted. The lone concession she makes is that she can not lose consciousness, for in such an event Green Lantern's stolen power ring would again become visible on her left hand.

The invisible jet descends rapidly towards its arctic target. Its precision handling, power and Amazonium alloy combine to make it a most effective projectile. Nose first, the transparent craft smashes through the solid stone and ice exterior of the hidden Fortress. The outer wall is utterly demolished and the plane proceeds to take out the steel and lead-lined Kryptonite vault before coming to rest. Due to its remarkable construction, the invisible plane is undamaged from this intense impact and its two occupants remain uninjured as a result.

Superman and his cousin witness the crash with telescopic vision as they soar beneath the cloud cover. "Great Scott!" the hero bellows. The Kryptonians touch down on the edge of the gaping hole in the Fortress wall. Through the dust and rubble, they make out the prone forms of Green Lantern and Wonder Woman within the plane. "They're both alive." Kara observes.

"Careful!" Kal-El warns as the anxious heroine starts to venture inwards. "There's Kryptonite scattered throughout the complex." The cousins use their super breath to blow the dangerous meteor fragments back against the far wall. The volume of Kryptonite is so great, however, that even at a distance of fifty yards its toxic radiation is acutely felt. As they reach the crashed jet, both experience light-headedness and severe nausea. They each take a wing and attempt to extract the craft from the cavern. The Kryptonians perspire profusely as fatigue swiftly sets in. Kara's knees nearly buckle underneath her, but the young heroine maintains her balance and draws upon her inner determination to complete the successful rescue effort.

"Diana is choking to death!" Supergirl exclaims as the Kryptonians set the plane down on the tundra a mile from the cliff base. The cousins employ swift and effective teamwork. Superman pries his fingers underneath the golden twine about the Amazon's neck. Kal can not break the magic lasso, but his super strength, spurred by the imminent peril to a close friend, allows him to loosen the twine ever so slightly. Wonder Woman desperately gropes for precious air while Supergirl tackles the bonds. The Girl of Steel unravels the lasso, thus freeing Hal and Diana from its firm clutches.

*****

Having quickly recovered from her ordeal, Wonder Woman gathers the deadly fragments of Kryptonite within the crippled Fortress. Superman and Supergirl remain at a safe distance, watching over the invisible plane. The Kryptonians discuss the circumstances with the now powerless Green Lantern and all agree that JLA members and their assorted resources are under siege by an unknown adversary. As such, the recommended course of action is to doubly secure individual residences and strongholds. Once these facilities are deemed the safe, the League will be better equipped to deal with the damage that has already been done.

"Merciful Aphrodite! This is going too far!" Diana frets to herself while stowing the Kryptonite chunks back inside the vault. "The League is getting nervous and I can't blame them. I'm starting to take too many risks and it only figures to get worse. I gambled that Clark is not the colleague who is death to me. Granted, that was an educated guess based on my history with Circe. She's too devious to go with such an obvious choice as Superman, but how long can I count on my luck holding out?"

Having returned all of the deadly rocks to their rightful place, Wonder Woman sets to work on the vault itself. The metal has been shredded over much of the front wall and the door was completely torn away. The heroine bends the thick steel and lead layers back in place. The task proves unusually difficult and it is now that Diana really recognizes the drop-off in her Amazon strength. She manages to complete the job expeditiously enough to avoid suspicion, but her arms and hands ache from the effort expended.

The princess secures the door and walks inside the reconstructed compartment to examine the interior. Now shielded from super vision, she grabs a one ounce sample of Kryptonite. Diana uses GL's power ring to encase the element so as to block its radiation. The heroine tucks the small fragment behind her golden belt and proceeds to rejoin the others.

*****

Wonder Woman recognizes that the JLA wants everyone to stick closely together, given the perceived threat. She can not allow herself to be dragged into such, for she must devote as much time as possible to addressing the effects of Circe's confounded spell. The Amazon therefore ad-libs a reasonable excuse to stray from the group.

"As I was just telling Superman a moment ago," she begins over radio to her colleagues on the satellite, "some sort of formless entity seemed to seize control of my invisible plane and golden lasso. I don't know whether it's intuition or some sort of subconscious telepathic link, but I am convinced that the answer lies within my airplane. I plan to go over every inch of it, take it apart bolt by bolt if I have to, until I find the hidden clue to this mystery!"

"Diana, this is starting to sound an awful lot like the Construct!" Black Canary offers. Several voices can be heard mumbling in the background. Clearly, others are thinking likewise. Wonder Woman refutes this forboding notion. "I don't think so Dinah. Remember, I have experienced the Construct's influence firsthand. Its filthy evil is all too familiar. Believe me, I would know if this were the work of the Construct!"

Wonder Woman convinces her allies of the merit of her plan. She reasons that the safest place for her to work is Paradise Island, because its enchanted barrier should afford adequate defense. She requests assistance from Hawkgirl, for the Thanagarian's scientific knowledge should be most helpful.

With the invisible jet still in question, Supergirl escorts Diana back to Themsycira while Superman and Green Lantern remain in the arctic to secure the Fortress. The princess discusses the bizarre happenings with Kara, whom she has developed a close friendship with over the years. The Kryptonian senses Diana's anxiety, but she has no inkling as to its true nature.

"Well we're here." Supergirl observes. "I don't mean to be rude, but I'd best get back to the Fortress to help Kal fix things up." Wonder Woman suppresses her pleasure at not having to come up with a subtle line to drive her away. As Kara turns to depart, she calls back. "Good luck, Diana. I'm sure you and Hawkgirl will find some answers!"

Diana waves as Supergirl flies off. "I pray you're right Kara." the Amazon ponders pensively. "I must find my own answers. And Hera help Shayera, she has no idea what's in store for her!"