(On Duelist Kingdom Island, Wonder Woman is talking to a mysterious man whose face is hidden in shadow)

WONDER WOMAN: Please, I need your help. They're after me, and even my fanboys couldn't stop them! Can you assist?

MYSTERY MAN: Of course. I have the power of all the seven Millennium Items at my disposal, so my power is matched by no-one else. Even with his extra troops, neomage won't stand a chance.

WONDER WOMAN: Oh, thank you, sir, thank you! Now, how much do I owe you?

MYSTERY MAN: Well, normally my fee is half a million dollars...

WONDER WOMAN: OO;

MYSTERY MAN: ...but since it's neomage we're talking about, I'll gladly do this one for free. Just don't expect this kind of favor from me again.

WONDER WOMAN:  Of course...

CHAPTER 07

TIME: 9:50 a.m.

PLACE: A castle outside Metropolis

"How's your injury, Mr. Savage?" Humanite asked with some concern.

"No worries, my friend," Savage assured him. The ugly wound on his face was now little more than a mark. "I'm an immortal, so I heal rather quickly – of course, that all depends on the wound. And this one was, at best, insignificant. But you did do the right thing, pulling the group back. The arrival of that mystery person was quite unexpected."

"Do you think it could have been Hawkgirl?" Humanite suggested. "She was the only member of the League we didn't see in Keystone City."

Savage snorted. "Not a chance. Remember, she resigned from the Justice League last year – it's public knowledge now. And she disappeared, and nobody's seen her since then. How could it have been her at all? Besides, there are lots of heroes that fly – whoever attacked me could have been any one of them."

"Yes...I suppose that's true," Humanite assented.

Nearby, the other five villains were not feeling at all pleased. "Just when I was about to finish off that Lantern, some mystery person shows up and attacks us!" Sinestro stormed.

"Hey, look on the bright side," Zoom said. "At least we've given the Justice League a major beat-down. Next time, we'll finish them off for sure – AND we'll be ready for that mystery person, too."

"Yeah, he's right," Killer Frost agreed. "All that that bastard could do was hit-and-run, anyway – he was too much of a coward to stand and fight."

"Still, I just can't wait for the next time we fight the League," Volcana declared. "Hey, Savage, it was real cool of you to fire those energy blasts like you did, to knock them out. At least we know now what you're really capable of."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Savage grinned. "Now, then. Some of us have been injured, but the Justice League's in far worse shape. As soon as we feel fit enough to fight, we'll go and finish the job. Is that all right with you?"

"I'm cool with that," said Killer Croc, rubbing the bruise on the back of his head where Superman had hit him.

"Good." Savage chuckled evilly.

TIME: 10:00 a.m.

PLACE: Keystone City Hospital

J'onn's eyes slowly opened. "Wha...? Where...where am I?" he wondered. As his vision came into focus, he saw that he was in a hospital bed, Flash seated over him.

"This is Keystone City Hospital, complete with all the latest equipment suitable for the medicinal field," Flash announced. "I have to admit, between Volcana manipulating your weakness to fire and Savage firing those energy beams, it's a wonder you're alive at all. The doctors say you'll pull through, though."

"I see." J'onn was silent for a moment. "What about the others?"

"G.L.'s in no better shape than you are right now," Flash sighed. "He got quite a good shot of that energy beam, plus Sinestro was blasting him with full force. Batman thinks that the only reason G.L.'s alive is because the energy field from his ring was protecting him to some degree." He indicated the bed across from J'onn's, where Green Lantern was lying down, unconscious.

"Superman? Diana?" J'onn persisted.

"They didn't get as much of the energy blast as you guys did," Flash revealed. "They'll be all right. In fact, they're outside talking to Bats right now."

At that moment the door opened and the other three heroes walked in. "Glad to see you're finally back with us, J'onn," said Superman warmly.

"What about G.L.? He hasn't regained consciousness yet?" asked Wonder Woman.

"Nope," replied Flash.

Just at that moment Lantern started to groan. "Did...we...win...?" he asked weakly.

"Sorry," said Batman. "We got our asses handed to us."

"Then how did we survive being killed?" J'onn asked.

"Actually, that what I wanted to talk to you guys about," said Batman. "Superman, Diana and I were just talking about it. It seems that several civilians saw a person with wings swoop down and attack the Secret Society single-handedly, forcing them to retreat."

There was a moment of silence as the six heroes pondered this.

"How do they know that it was really a person with wings?" asked Lantern, his voice becoming stronger.

In reply, Batman switched on the TV, just in time to catch a news report. The anchor was saying, "Just a little over half an hour ago, the Justice League fought against a band of super-villains right here in our city, but the heroes were soundly defeated. Then, just as the villains were about to kill the League, according to several eyewitnesses someone with wings attacked them and forced them to retreat. One eyewitness managed to capture this footage on his video-camera." What was shown next was a person in full black with white wings attacking the Secret Society.

"This comes at a time when, across the country, there have been numerous sightings of winged persons, which immediately brings to mind the Thanagarian race that occupied Earth last year," the anchor continued. "The question now is, is this person who helped the League a friend? Who is this mystery person? And what are his/her objectives and intentions?"

Batman switched off the TV. "That answer your question?"

"Well, at least we know a few things now," Superman remarked. "For one, our mystery caller's information was correct to the letter. There is a new Secret Society – and Vandal Savage is its leader. Plus we've seen that Savage has a new kind of weapon – gauntlets that shoot energy. And," here he paused for dramatic effect, "we have proof that there is a winged individual flying around – and chances are, he or she could very well be on our side."

"That still doesn't answer a few of my questions," said Batman. "How did this person know how to call our specific extensions? How did he/she know about the Society and about Savage's weapons? And why did he/she wait to act until we were placed in direct danger of being killed?"

Flash seemed to be pondering something. "I have a question, too," he spoke up. "D'you guys think that that mystery caller and the winged person who helped us might be one and the same?"

They all looked at him with some amazement. Then Superman replied, "It's too early to tell on that score, but yes, it could very well be possible. As for Batman's questions – maybe this person's been spying on the Society for a while, long enough to know what they're up to. Maybe he/she knew that, given our different abilities, we wouldn't need any extra assistance unless it was absolutely necessary. That's how I view it, anyway."

"And our extensions?" Batman persisted.

"Well, the person who called could have been anybody," said Wonder Woman. "Our comm.-links are tuned to one general frequency that is actually public knowledge. Whoever it was must have figured out how to tune to our specific extensions after toying with the general frequency..."

"A hacker?" J'onn asked.

"If it is, he/she must be a good one," Batman mused.

"That still leaves one question, though," said Lantern. "The person who called...can we really trust him/her?"

"Well, the person was right about Savage," Flash admitted. "I think we can trust this person until we have reason not to."

"I'll have to agree with Flash," said Superman. "We really don't have anything else to go on right now. The Secret Society could be planning anything; they could be hiding anywhere; they could strike anyplace. We need to stay on our guard, but at the same time we'll need all the help we can get...even if it's from a phantom ally."

TIME: 10:20 a.m.

PLACE: The border of Keystone and Central Cities

Flash and Superman were soon heading out of Keystone City. "Okay, big guy; now what?" asked Flash.

"Batman said he'd place a tap on our respective lines, so in case the mystery caller contacts us again we'll be able to find out who he/she is," Superman explained. "For now, we just have to keep a sharp eye out for the Secret Society. We know who their members are now...it shouldn't be too much of a difficulty spotting them if they emerge again."

"Yeah...I just hope it's later rather than sooner," Flash lamented.

"Well, for the time being, I'll head back to Metropolis. Call if you need any help," said Superman, and with that he flew off. Flash nodded in agreement as he sped on to Central City.

As he flew over Central City on his way to Metropolis, Superman suddenly stopped in mid-flight and listened intently. For a moment he thought he'd heard a faint beeping, but he wasn't sure. Then suddenly it came again: a distinct beeping sound that he knew only too well. Some years ago, he'd given Jimmy Olsen, a friend of his at the Daily Planet, a special beeper that he could press to call the Man of Steel whenever he needed help. Superman knew, too, that Jimmy wasn't irresponsible enough to push that button for no reason.

"Jimmy's in trouble!" he thought, a feeling of panic spreading through him. He quickly accelerated his flight speed, zooming toward Metropolis and hoping Jimmy was still all right.

TIME: 10:30 a.m.

PLACE: Metropolis

Ten minutes later Superman was in the sky overlooking Metropolis, listening out for the beeping sound. He heard it again and started flying in its direction. But after a moment he noticed something – the sound seemed to be coming from Suicide Slum.

Suicide Slum was one of the worst neighborhoods in all of Metropolis. Reeking of poverty and crime, nobody who had sense would dare set foot in this area at any hour, even in broad daylight. Nevertheless, Superman could hear the sound coming from one of the dilapidated apartment complex buildings below him.

Flying through one of the windows, he surveyed his surroundings. This building had been abandoned for some time now; if Jimmy was being held here, then his kidnappers would surely be waiting somewhere near the top floor. So, as quickly as he could, he flew through the available doors and up the stairs. As he did, the beeping sound grew stronger and stronger – then he stopped in front of a certain door, where the sound was loudest. Pushing the door open, he stared in surprise.

In the middle of the room, Jimmy was curled up on the floor, bound and gagged and badly beaten. His eyes were tightly shut, and he was moaning in pain. "Jimmy! Are you all right?!" Superman cried, dashing over to his friend.

Jimmy was still moaning as Superman began to undo his bonds. But when the gag was removed from his mouth, he managed to croak, "...it's...a trap..."

Suddenly Superman felt himself being violently hoisted up by his scalp and hurled through the doorway, crashing through the wall and landing one story down. As he grimaced, he looked around wildly for his attacker. "Looking for me?" a familiar voice sounded, seconds before something rushed past him, knocking him down with a wicked clothesline in the process.

Painfully Superman got to his feet. "It's you...Zoom!"

At the other end of the room, the Reverse-Flash sneered at the Man of Steel. "I still owe you for throwing me into that bus back in Keystone," he declared. "Fortunately, I managed to get a bit of information on your contacts from Sinestro and Volcana, since they've dealt with you before. That kid up there – he was kind enough to give this to me after I, ah, persuaded him." He held up Jimmy's beeper!

Superman glared at Zoom in rage. "You bastard...!"

Suddenly, before Zoom could react, Superman flew into him with the speed of a gale. Both men went flying through the wall, the bricks showering in all directions with the force of the impact.

TIME: 10:35 a.m.

PLACE: The skies over Gotham City

Batman was back in the Batplane, heading for the secret passageway that led to the Batcave. Already he'd bugged the frequency on all the Leaguers' communicators, so if any strange person tried to contact them he'd be able to pick up their frequency and trace them. The bugging technique had always worked on phones and was highly effective; however, the drawback was that contact had to be maintained for one minute before the trace could begin to take effect.

"A lot of good that'll do," Batman thought grimly.

Suddenly his comm.-link began to beep. Without missing a beat, he answered it. "Go ahead."

The stranger's voice emerged. "They're planning to ambush Superman in Suicide Slum, in Metropolis. He needs assistance ASAP."

"How can I trust you?" Batman asked. He knew that he had to keep the person talking for as long as he possibly could.

"There's no time. Go, now!" The line went dead.

Batman swore under his breath. The entire exchange had taken fourteen seconds, not enough time to set the trace into motion. Even so, he'd detected the urgency in the caller's voice, and years of experience had taught him how to sense sincerity in a person's various tones of voice. Swinging the Batplane around, he rocketed off toward Metropolis.

TIME: 10:39 a.m.

PLACE: Keystone City Hospital

J'onn sighed as he munched on his grapes. Nearby, Lantern watched him with amusement. "You actually like hospital food?" he asked.

"It's okay, I suppose," J'onn replied. "Although why anybody complains about it when it's the only thing they can have is beyond me."

Sitting in between the two men, Wonder Woman grinned. "Oh, you two," she laughingly complained. "So tell me, J'onn, how do you feel? Any better?"

"Somewhat," said J'onn. "I definitely feel stronger now than I did before, but if the doctor says I should stay here a while longer, that's okay with me. How about you, G.L.?"

"I'm well enough to be up and about on my own, but the doctor insists that I should stay here a few hours more for observation," replied Lantern. "Speaking of which, I need to go really bad...I'll be back in a few." So saying, he slipped out of bed and headed for the door, stepping out into the corridor.

"J'onn, do you need anything? Anything at all?" Wonder Woman asked kindly.

"Actually, yes...I could use a magazine or two," said J'onn. "I think they brought in a new stack in the waiting room outside."

Nodding, Wonder Woman got up and exited the room. Sighing as he finished his grapes, J'onn set the tray on the side-table beside his bed, leaned back and closed his eyes. Then suddenly the door opened.

"That was pretty fast—" he started to say, then froze in horror.

Standing at the doorway was Volcana, a wicked gleam in her eye. "Hello, little green man," she said softly. "I'm here to finish what I started earlier." As J'onn's eyes widened in terror, her hand materialized into flame.

(neomage's group has arrived on Duelist Kingdom Island)

MIRAI TRUNKS: I hope we find her soon. I don't like to wait too long.

YUSUKE: Yeah, me too. I need some action fast!

NEOMAGE: Just keep a sharp eye out, that's all.

(Suddenly, hoarse laughter can be heard; the group stares about them wildly)

GENE: W-w-w-who's th-there?!

(All of a sudden, the mystery man Wonder Woman hired earlier jumps out and confronts them!)

MILLIA: Hey, I know you! You're Yami Marik!

YAMI MARIK: That's right! And I was sent here by Wonder Woman to ensure that you fools don't get anywhere near her! (he throws his cloak open, revealing that he has all seven of the Millennium Items) Now, I'll use the combined power of these Items to banish you all to the Shadow Realm!

FLASH & ZOOM: Oh, crap...

NEOMAGE: Bring it on, freak-show!

NARRATOR: What'll happen now? neomage, his posse and their Blue-Eyes White Dragon vs. Yami Marik and the power of the Millennium Items! Which side will prevail?!