(Kaiba's on the stand, and Birdman's questioning him)

BIRDMAN: Mr. Kaiba, how well do you know my client?

KAIBA: I've only heard of him, but I never met him until the day I brought the court summons to him.

BIRDMAN: So, then, you don't really know for sure whether he did use your Blue-Eyes White Dragon without "proper authorization," do you?

KAIBA: I don't know what you mean.

BIRDMAN:  Mr. Kaiba, how many times in the official Yu-Gi-Oh storyline has anyone other than yourself used your Blue-Eyes White Dragon—that is to say, how many times that you know of?

KAIBA: :( I can distinctly remember four times or so...

BIRDMAN: Would you recall those times for the benefit of the court, please?

KAIBA: Fine...Well, the first time was when Yugi fought my evil clone that Pegasus brought back from the Shadow Realm. The second time was when Pegasus captured one of my Blue-Eyes White Dragons with his Dragon Capture Jar to make that horrid cartoon version. The third time was when Yugi was fighting against Noah in the virtual world. And the last time was when I was dueling against Joey – he used Monster Reborn to revive one of my dragons from the Graveyard to his side of the field.

BIRDMAN: (pouncing on that) And in all those instances, you never once gave those individuals permission to use your Blue-Eyes White Dragon, did you?

KAIBA: Uh...no...

BIRDMAN: Yet you haven't summoned any of them to court, have you? So why have you summoned only my client? Answer me that!

JUDGE MAN: Mr. Birdman...

BIRDMAN: It's just a simple question, your Honor—one that I'm sure Mr. Kaiba will have no trouble answering. So, Mr. Kaiba, remember you're under oath, and answer!

KAIBA: ARRRRGH...BECAUSE IT'S MY BLUE-EYES WHITE DRAGON AND NOBODY ELSE IS SUPPOSED TO BE ABLE TO CONTROL IT SO EASILY! YOU HAPPY NOW?!

EVERYONE ELSE: ...............

CHAPTER 17

TIME: 8:12 a.m.

PLACE: Rome, Italy

"Aw, damn," Flash whispered. "We are so screwed..."

"Not if we smash that cannon first!" Hawkgirl flew up to do the deed, her mace tightly clutched in both hands—but suddenly a blast of energy flung her back. "What the hell?!" she exclaimed

Savage had one hand out, his palm smoldering from the energy he'd just thrown. "That's impossible! How did you do that without your gauntlets?" Batman asked in disbelief.

Savage smiled wickedly. "Two words will answer that question, Batman," he said, and he jabbed a thumb behind him. "The meteorite."

"What?" Wonder Woman asked.

"You see, this meteorite fell to Earth during the days of the Cro-Magnons," Savage explained. "I lived back then, as a normal human...then one night this meteorite came to Earth, and I slept near it for warmth...then the next morning I awoke and I had become a powerful immortal, though I didn't realize it until years later. I had a powerful mastery of sorcery, as well, but over the years I lost that ability.

"Then, only recently I discovered this meteorite again, but by that time it had been placed in the Midway City Museum. So I had to plan a very elaborate scheme in order to retrieve it. I stole the Nth metal so I could fortify myself, and I had the Secret Society revived to assist me. I had to pick my group members very carefully, as each had skills that would prove useful to me – Sinestro's power ring, Zoom's speed, Ultra-Humanite's technological expertise, Killer Croc's brute strength, Volcana's pyrokinesis and Killer Frost's bloodlust all worked in favor with my own experience.

"Ever since I've had the meteorite, I have spent hours basking in the energy it radiates, and slowly but surely I have regained all of my earlier powers. And as for the cannon—did you really believe I would target any country with it? No, for there is only one target for it—and it speaks to you right now!"

Slowly the implication of Savage's words sunk in. "You're...crazy..." Superman croaked.

"No, but I am a genius! Now, watch as my true power is resurrected!" And with that Savage pushed another button on his gadget. The cannon barrel instantly locked onto him, and the energy began to course through.

"We won't be able to stop it in time!" Lantern yelled. "Duck for cover!"

All the Leaguers dashed away from Savage—and just in time, as the cannon fired at that very moment. Savage laughed maniacally as he was engulfed in the blast. "Yes! Yes, I can feel it!" he yelled.

Several feet away, Flash looked into the glare. "This is nuts!" he cried.

Finally the light died down, and what the heroes saw stunned them considerably. Savage was now floating two feet off the ground, his body covered by an orange glow. "Yes!" he exulted. "I can feel the power coursing through me! It's wonderful, this power! Ha, ha, ha, ha! Now come, Justice League – come to your doom!"

"He's really lost it!" Flash shook his head.

"He never had it," Batman determined grimly.

"Well, it doesn't matter – I'm going to smash his face in!" Wonder Woman vowed, flying toward Savage.

"Diana, no!" J'onn screamed.

But it was too late. As Wonder Woman closed in on Savage, he suddenly teleported away from that spot, reappearing behind her and blasting a fireball into her back that sent her sprawling.

"That's it—you are a DEAD man!" Flash exploded, speeding toward Savage.

"Flash, come back here!" Batman ordered.

But Flash wasn't about to listen. He reached Savage in less than two seconds and jumped up to fight him. Savage chuckled, however, and directed a hand behind him without so much as turning to face his foe. The next thing Flash knew, he got a lightning bolt straight in the chest that flung him back several feet.

"Don't charge him one by one – he'll find a way to counter you!" Batman ordered. "We have to hit him all together, at the same time!"

"I think so, too," said Lantern. "Now, let's get him!"

Superman's eyes glowed red as he prepared to shoot his heat vision at Savage. Batman readied three Batarangs, Lantern's ring powered up, and both J'onn and Hawkgirl readied themselves to fight.

"Do you honestly believe you can defeat ME?" Savage demanded incredulously. "I have the powers of a god! I AM A GOD!"

"Idiot," Batman growled. "There is no mortal that can claim to be godlike...especially not you."

"No? Well, come and see for yourselves!"

"I've just about gotten sick of hearing your voice!" Superman raged, releasing his heat vision at Savage. The megalomaniac laughed, however, and held up one hand—and deflected the laser beams right at Lantern, who swiftly put up an energy shield to protect himself.

Right at that moment, however, Batman rushed forward and threw all three Batarangs at the same time. Simultaneously, J'onn flew forward, transforming into a dragon and wrapping himself around Savage's body. But Savage, still laughing, pushed both arms out to the sides, releasing a powerful blast of energy that formed around him like a dome, expanding rapidly and pushing the heroes back. Batman's Batarangs exploded without harming him, and J'onn flew several feet to the other side of the coliseum, reverting to his humanoid form.

Lantern and Hawkgirl rushed Savage at the same time, Lantern blasting him with short quick bolts from his ring. Hawkgirl flew around to the other side, ready to deck Savage with her mace. But again Savage teleported, first grabbing Hawkgirl by her neck, then rushing in to face Lantern. He rammed Hawkgirl's face into Lantern's and both of them collapsed.

"Damn it—nothing we try works!" Flash groaned, struggling to get back up.

Wonder Woman, who was already up by this time, wasn't about to give in. "I don't care if he's got infinite power," she vowed. "And I don't care if he's immortal—I'll still destroy him!"

"Wait—I've got a suggestion," Hawkgirl declared.

The others looked at her. "At this point I'm open to any suggestion," said Lantern. "What've you got in mind?"

"He's blasted himself with a considerable amount of energy, but even that must have a limit," said Hawkgirl. "If we can force him to run out of energy..."

"...and at the same time destroy the source of his power..." Flash shot a glance at the cannon. "You guys go after him! I've got a plan!"

With that the Scarlet Speedster started to run toward the cannon, pushing his velocity capacity to the maximum until he lost all sense of how fast he was really going. Savage saw him heading toward the cannon. "NO!" he roared.

Flash was almost at the cannon. Since the cannon and the meteorite were side by side, he knew exactly how fast he'd have to run to fulfill his plan. Kicking his speed up another notch, he soon appeared as nothing but a blur as he raced seemingly through the cannon. Then he came back round to join the others.

"What were you thinking?" Wonder Woman demanded. "And whatever it was, I can't believe you missed!"

Savage smiled, however. "Imbecile. The cannon's still intact, after your measly attempt to destroy it!"

But Flash merely grinned. "I didn't miss."

Suddenly, taking everyone else by surprise, there was a loud BOOM as the cannon exploded! Because of the severity of the blast, the meteorite was swept into it, too, resulting in a considerably big mushroom cloud expanding over the area!

The shockwave forced everyone to shield themselves, including Savage. "No!!!" he screamed hysterically. "What have you done, you FOOL!?"

"Now—while he's distracted!" Batman yelled.

Superman needed no further cues. Flying in fast, he tackled Savage hard in the chest, bringing him back down to the ground. But Savage recovered quickly, however, and responded with a lightning bolt to the chest that sent Superman flying several yards back. Instantly Wonder Woman and J'onn moved in to attack, both pummeling Savage with heavy blows. Savage blocked several of their attacks, though, and blasted energy from both hands, knocking the two of them away.

A blast to his back caused him to howl in pain, and he turned to fire a blast at Lantern. But then as he did that, a sudden clunk could be heard as Hawkgirl's mace connected to the back of his head. Screaming in frustration, Savage spun again—and felt rapid-fire hits to his side as Flash battered him with machine-gun punches and sped away quickly. Finally Savage doubled over as a blunt-edged Batarang connected with his stomach—and then exploded, lifting him off his feet and causing him to land face-first on the ground.

Savage slowly got back up, a maddened rage in his eyes. "You...you will all pay for your insolence!" he screamed, spittle flying out of his mouth in his fury.

"I've had enough of this guy," Batman said disgustedly. "Let's put him out of his misery."

"I'll take care of that!" Lantern fired another blast from his ring, trapping Savage in an energy sphere. But suddenly a powerful eruption of energy cancelled the emerald energy and knocked Lantern back at the same time.

"Watch out!" cried Flash. "He's gonna blow!"

Large energy balls were now forming in Savage's hands. "DIE, ALL OF YOU!" he screamed as he released the energy into a blast that careened to the other side of the coliseum. As the Justice League scrambled to get out of the way, the blast tore a hole in the wall, blowing the ancient bricks out of their place.

"If he keeps this up, he'll destroy the whole coliseum!" Superman yelled.

"We have GOT to stop him right now!" Batman declared.

Looking at Savage as he continued to release dangerous energy, Hawkgirl's eye caught a huge stone monument near the Caesar's throne, hanging right above the maniac's head. "This might be a long shot—but it's better than just waiting around!" she muttered as she hefted her mace in one hand and threw it with all her might.

The mace sailed upward and knocked the monument off its pedestal. It wavered, then its marred base gave way and broke apart. It fell toward the ground, heading right for Savage, who was so preoccupied with destroying his enemies he didn't even see the shadow on the ground getting bigger and bigger...until the heavy stone crashed down on him.

But when the monument hit, the force of the impact unleashed a massive explosion right where Savage had been standing. The force of the blast knocked all the members of the Justice League some considerable distance away again, slamming them into the coliseum wall. "Owww! That smarts!" Flash grimaced as he hit the wall and slumped to the ground.

Huge clouds of dust collected where the explosion had taken place. One by one the League members got up and gathered around the spot. "Is...is Savage dead?" Wonder Woman asked with wonder in her voice.

"Perhaps...or perhaps not," Batman shrugged.

"Does it matter now? We won!" Flash said gleefully.

"Well, we can't quite say we've won just yet...we still have to take these guys back to prison," Superman reminded the group. "That includes Savage, too, if he's still alive..."

Suddenly a hand pushed upward through the rubble, startling all of them. The next thing they knew, Savage himself emerged from underneath the stones, badly bruised, scraped and burned, with a maddened glint in his eyes. "Why can't this guy just stay dead when you kill him?" Flash groaned.

Savage laughed wickedly. "Time to die, you fools!" He held up a palm – and nothing happened. Stunned, he forced his hand outward at the League, with the same result.

"Well, well, well...looks like somebody's insane power went down the drain," Superman chuckled wryly. "However, WE still have ours."

Savage's eyes widened. "Oh, no," he muttered before Superman's fist crashed down on his face, knocking him out cold.

The League looked down at their fallen foe. Then, somewhere in the rubble, Hawkgirl spied her mace and, reaching over, picked it up. "Looks like that's it," she said quietly.

"Not really," said Lantern. He indicated behind the group, where the fallen members of the Secret Society were laying here and there. "Let's take them in; then we can call it a day."

TIME: 5:45 p.m.

PLACE: Wayne Manor, Gotham City

By the evening of that day, the whole world knew of the battle between the Justice League and the Secret Society inside the now-ruined coliseum of the city of Rome. Tabloids everywhere gave statements collected from each of the League members, and snapshots of each individual member of the Secret Society were plastered on every kind of newspaper for readers to see.

But now, only one concern was left: True to prediction, many people around the world were still sensitive about the whole issue surrounding Hawkgirl. Therefore, when it was revealed that she had helped the League defeat the Society, many people wondered if she was the same person who betrayed Earth; and if she was, why was she helping now? And if this was a different person, would she join the League permanently, or would she turn out to be another treacherous Thanagarian?

The reports of the battle, plus poll results taken from civilians, showed up in one such paper, the Daily Planet. Batman was reading a copy of the paper Superman had given him, and he scowled. "I knew this would happen," he muttered. "I just knew it."

Nearby, Hawkgirl stood, her head down a little. "I...I'm glad I was able to fight alongside all of you again," she said quietly. "But I don't want to put you in the spotlight unnecessarily because of me. So, let me take my leave now..."

To her surprise, J'onn stopped her. "Wait, Shayera," he said to her. "There may still be hope."

"Hope? Hope for what?" she asked.

J'onn's eyes glinted with a mysterious light...

(Very late in the day, the jury has reached its verdict)

JUDGE MAN: What say you on this matter, Mr. Spokesperson?

SPOKESPERSON: On the charges of abduction, unlawful possession and unlawful usage of Seto Kaiba's Blue-Eyes White Dragon, we find the defendant, neomage...not guilty on all counts!

NEOMAGE and BIRDMAN: Woo-hoo!!!

KAIBA: WHAT?!?!?!?! I object!

JUDGE MAN: Shut up, you stuck-up pig. CASE DISMISSED! (bangs gavel)

(Later on, outside the courthouse, neomage and Birdman are flanked by Zoom, Flash, Darkseid and the rest of the gang)

ZOOM: Yeah, boss! You beat Kaiba!

NEOMAGE: Ah, nothin' to it! (whispering to Birdman) Thanks a lot, man.

BIRDMAN: (whispering back) I told you bribing the jury would work wonders...how else do you think I win so many of my cases? 