CHAPTER FIFTEEN:

RECRUITS VERSUS MENTORS

Hurrying through the halls of Cadmus Labs as quickly, and yet as silently, as they could, the group tried to find the room the draft was supposedly coming from.

"I feel like we're going to get captured, or something like that," Kid Flash said softly.

"Shh!" Wonder Girl hissed back. "If you aren't more quiet, then they will hear us!"

"Quiet," was all Batman said in response, though it was enough to stop them from speaking again.

Hearing this, Batgirl couldn't help but smile. As she had known Batman for almost seven years, she knew how much he hated it when others spoke when they weren't supposed to while they were on a mission.

They soon found an extra hall with five more doors. Batman approached one and felt it with his left hand. A look of realization crossed his face, and he turned the handle on the door.

"Wait, isn't it possible some of the villains are in there?" Kid Flash asked.

"Maybe," Batman said. "But I know what else is in here."

The door opened, and Batman stepped in. Batgirl and the others followed, and when she saw what was inside, she could not believe her eyes.

There were several tanks, all of which looked to be cryogenic in nature. And inside them were all the heroes that had been defeated that had been defeated by their respective archenemies.

"Oh my God," Batgirl said.

"We need to get them out of those, and soon!" Supergirl said next to her.

"We will," Batman said. He looked around the room, and following his gaze, Batgirl found a control panel in the right corner, not too far from the tube that contained Flash.

"Can we open those before we're discovered by our enemies?" she asked.

"Maybe," Batman replied. "But it is possible that they will find us right as we succeed. If that is what happens, then be prepared for battle."

She nodded.

"Why can't we just break them open ourselves?" Supergirl said.

"Because it could cause them even more injuries," Batman said. "Your cousin could withstand such forces that would result from destruction of the tubes, but others here could not, and that is why we must wait until I learn how to open these…which shouldn't be too long."

"Whoever did this…I'm going to beat the crap out of them!" Red Arrow growled.

"Do not be overcome by anger," Aqualad said. "It only leads to more problems. You can use that anger, but allow other emotions to fill you."

Red Arrow sighed. "Understood."

"We'll be ready," Batwoman said.

"I sure hope so," Nightwing said. "I'm not just worried about us, to be honest. I'm also worried about Spoiler over in Europe."

"Same here," Robin said. "I pray that everything works out with her. I don't know if I could forgive myself if she gets badly injured or is even killed."

"Which won't happen," Batgirl said. "Spoiler knows what needs to be done. We've trained her extremely well, and she's been able to take us down before. I think she can use her skill and brains to take down the League of Assassins and the al Ghuls."

Black Canary and Zatanna were also examining the tubes. Black Canary saw Green Arrow and ran to him. "You're almost out of there, my love," she assured him even though he couldn't hear her. "I promise you that."

"If only everything could be easier," Red Arrow said.

"Yes, I believe that is how we all feel," a voice familiar to the Bat-Family said from behind them. They all looked around for its source, only to see a large screen descending from the ceiling. It turned on as it reached ground-level…

…revealing Scarecrow, whose head was down, obscuring his face.

"Crane," Batman said.

"Hello, Batman," Scarecrow said. "Hello, Batgirl." The way he spoke her name made Batgirl almost shiver. "You are wondering how I am alive, I am sure. Well, I can tell you that I was able to escape from Killer Croc's embrace, but that escape came at a cost. And it was all because of you, Batgirl."

"I never meant for that to happen to you!" Batgirl protested. It didn't seem to matter to him, however.

"You believe it was all Jones's fault, but you are wrong!" Scarecrow snarled. "You could have stopped him! You could have prevented what happened to me! You could have stopped this!" He raised his head, and Batgirl and several others gasped as they beheld the severity of his wounds. Through the mask he wore, they could see he was missing most of his nose and lips, revealing his teeth, and he appeared to be blind in one eye. The other contained a fury Batgirl could almost not believe. "Because of you, Batgirl, I decided to capture most of the main heroes of the Justice League, to prove that the Legion of Doom could, in fact, be victorious over its foes! We will end all of you! You did not deserve to escape, Batgirl, and the same goes for you, Batman. Harley and Joker should have done their respective jobs, but they both failed. At least with Joker, I can say he made a simple mistake that can be remedied without too many issues. As for Harley, I have had her beaten for what she did, and that includes her wounding you! That is something I have been longing to do, and I am going to succeed soon enough! If you think you can truly defeat me, then you are in for a rude awakening! Your problems are only just beginning, and I cannot wait to see how you will be defeated. When this is over, your heart will lie in my palm, Batgirl. I will crush it…and everything will be right again." He sighed and sat back. "Enough talking. I feel that you need to experience what it's like to feel so alone against those that you love. I believe you will begin to understand how it feels to not have anyone around you that is ready to trust in you or truly believe you. When we next see one another, I will kill you, Batgirl. Farewell."

Then he was gone, leaving a blank screen.

"What in God's name did he mean by that?" Nightwing said.

"I don't know," Batman said.

Batgirl opened her mouth to speak, but she was cut off before she could get a sound out.

The sound of an alarm appeared, and everyone in the room looked over to the tubes holding the other heroes. It looked as if the ice within the cryogenic tubes was melting.

"Oh God," Batman said. "He woke them up."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Wonder Girl asked.

"We don't know that for sure," Batman replied. "But knowing Scarecrow, he isn't doing this to help us. He planned something that could kill us."

Batgirl's mind was racing as she contemplated what was about to happen.

She had never meant for any of this to occur. She had never meant for them to be confronted by brainwashed heroes and possibly wounded or killed by them. She had never meant for Scarecrow to come up with this plan all because of her.

How could she have fully stopped Killer Croc from attacking him?

She heard Batman speak to her, and she shook her head and looked over to him. "What?" she said.

"I said, be ready!"

As the "unfreezing" process ended, the eyes of the heroes began to open. The first of them to do so was Superman, and Batgirl looked over to Supergirl, whose eyes were wide open as she stared at her brainwashed cousin.

"How can we possibly fight all of them?" Batwoman asked Batman.

"We'll have to take them to other rooms in the compound, somehow," he said. "Use whatever you can to take them down! Use as much force as you need to without killing them! They're brainwashed, but they still have the same weaknesses as before!"

"I can't use Kryptonite against him," Supergirl said, pointing to Superman. "Not without hurting myself, as well."

"But you're just as strong as he is, aren't you?" Batgirl asked, her brain beginning to return to its previous thoughts before Scarecrow appeared and blamed her.

"Kind of…"

"Use your strength to knock him out! I know you don't want to, but it might be the only way."

The top of the tube containing Superman burst open, and he stepped out of it. When they saw his eyes as he stood up, they found they were more green than blue.

"Ivy," Batman said.

"Poison Ivy can control other heroes?" Red Arrow said. "You've gotta be fu—"

Before he could finish, Superman attacked. The heroes jumped out of the way, and Batman was able to kick Superman across the face. The attack was hard enough—somehow—for Superman to grunt in pain, and look back at Batman with great anger.

"You're not in the right mind!" Batman roared at Superman. "You know who you really are, and while I can't say it here, you and I both know that you are a true hero. You are more than this! Your symbol means hope!"

Punch after punch followed, but Superman could not hit Batman. The recruits and their other allies tried to find a way to help him, but not even Supergirl was sure she could find her way into the fight without more trouble arriving.

"You need to do something!" Batgirl said to Supergirl. "I know you don't want to, but…you might have to be the one to take him on!"

"I'm not sure if I can," Supergirl said. "But you're right. I'm the only one that truly stands a chance against him right now. We need to find a way to stop all the heroes from being brainwashed."

"How in God's name are we going to do that?" Catwoman said.

"I have an idea, but it means a couple of us will have to leave the room and go find another," Batgirl explained. "Supergirl, go and stop Superman, so that Batman, Catwoman, and I can go and find this control room or whatever. I have a feeling that's where they're doing all this!"

"Understood," Supergirl said.

"What about us?" Robin and Nightwing asked simultaneously.

"Stay and help the others," Batgirl commanded. Then she turned back to Batman and Superman.

Supergirl flew into the fight and punched her cousin hard in the side of the head. It knocked him back into the tube in which he had been held.

"Batman!" Batgirl called. "We need to find the control room that's doing this to all them! There's got to be a reason why they're brainwashed outside of these tubes and we're not!"

"Well done," he complimented. "You, Catwoman, and I will go and stop them. The rest of you, take the others down! Maybe there's a way to stop them without destroying whatever is controlling them. But it might mean hitting them as hard as you can multiple times."

"Shouldn't be a problem," Kid Flash said.

"True," Red Arrow said. "He knocks me around all the time."

With that, Batman, Batgirl, and Catwoman ran out of the room. Superman attempted to stop them, but Supergirl stopped him.

"You need to stop this!" she roared at her cousin. "I know that's not you in there! Your brain is screwed up, and I need to find a way to get through to you!"

He attempted to punch her back, but she dodged, then dodged another. She sent a kick into his abdomen, causing him to grunt.

She looked around and saw most of the other tubes were now open, and the other heroes were now face-to-face with their allies and/or sidekicks.

Supergirl looked around real quick and saw this room wasn't enough for them to fight in, which meant she was going to have to create more space for them somehow.

"I'm sorry, Kal," she whispered to herself as she concentrated. She punched him even harder than before. He grunted again as he flew through the air. He broke through a wall behind where Red Arrow and Black Canary were battling Green Arrow.

She rushed through the broken wall and found Superman on the other side.

The room around them looked like an electrical maintenance room, filled with wires and machines. But none of what was in there looked like it could help them stop the brainwashed heroes.

She shook her head and looked back to where her cousin know knelt.

He looked as though he was still under the control of Scarecrow's brainwashing, but she could also see that his eyes were beginning to clear.

They were returning to their usual blue color, which made her feel relieved.

Blood ran down his chin as a result of the powerful punch she had just given him, which made her cringe a little, but at the same time she fully understood that was what she had needed to do in order to try and get through to him.

Without that, things might have been worse off already.

"Who are you?" he demanded of her.

"I'm your cousin, you idiot!" she snapped. Maybe she was being a bit harsh, but she needed to find some way to get through to him. "You are Superman, the hero of Metropolis! You need to overcome whatever Scarecrow has done to you and realize who you are and what's currently happening!"

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"

He screamed and shouted, and Supergirl ran over to him. She grabbed his arms and tried to speak to him in more calming tones.

"You know who you are!" she told him. "Just remember. The first time you met Lois. The first time you fully met me when you found my ship adrift in space. The first time we all teamed up with Batman and his allies! We can get through this together, you and I! But you need to listen to me. Do you understand what I am telling you? Don't let Scarecrow or anyone else in!"

Just as she thought she had succeeded in getting him to calm down and realize exactly where he was, he grabbed her by the throat and tossed her to his right. She righted herself in midair and flew straight at him. He raised his left fist as she raised her right fist.

They collided, and a shockwave burst out, causing the machinery in the room to short-circuit. Smoke filled the air.

When it cleared, Supergirl was the one who was still standing, with Superman on the ground, his eyes closed.

When he finally opened them, he saw her, and then he smiled.

"Thank God," he said. "I thought I'd hurt you."

"I'm sorry that I hurt you," she said gingerly.

"It's fine, you did what needed to be done," he assured her. "Now, let's help the others."

Wonder Girl had seen Supergirl take Superman into the other room. She had the idea to do that with her mentor, as well, but she knew it was going to be a lot harder with Wonder Woman, given that she was not as strong as her.

But she was not alone in battling Wonder Woman, as Captain Marvel had joined her in this fight. Knowing that she would not be able to do it alone, Wonder Girl asked for his help, and together they were going to take her down.

She didn't want to hurt Wonder Woman, since she saw her as a mother-figure, someone she could fully confide in whenever she needed to, but when it came to the current circumstances, she had no other choice.

As Wonder Woman threw the first punch, Captain Marvel punched her back. It wasn't a hard punch, but it was enough to make her also grunt in pain.

"I don't want to punch her too hard," he told Cassie. "If I do that, then I might really hurt her!"

"I know," Cassie said. "But we don't have a choice. You saw how it was with Supergirl and Superman. She didn't want to punch him too hard, either, but she had to in order to clear his mind." She dodged a punch and a kick from her mentor. "If we can get her into that other room, then maybe we'll have more space to take her down in."

"Okay, got it," Captain Marvel said.

Just as they finished speaking, Wonder Woman reached back, and a sword appeared in her hand.

Cassie's eyes widened, and she wondered how she was going to be able to escape from a weapon such as that. She had seen it take down some major enemies of theirs, and while it did not always kill them, they didn't attack them again for quite some time.

"Okay, I didn't think to check for that," she said in a shocked voice.

"I have another idea, but it's also kind of stupid," Captain Marvel suggested. "Let's just see what happens, okay?"

"Uh…"

She had no idea what he was about to do, but she prayed that it went well.

"Hey, Wonder Woman!" Captain Marvel said to her. "You know, I always wanted to be able to work with you. After all, you're amazing. Powerful, beautiful, and smart. With all three of those, it's no wonder you're the perfect girl for someone like me!"

Cassie's jaw dropped.

This seemed to make the brainwashed Wonder Woman angry, for some reason, and she swung her sword at Captain Marvel. He dodged and Cassie kicked the sword out of her mentor's hands.

Then Captain Marvel grabbed hold of Wonder Woman and shouted, "SHAZAM!"

A burst of crackling lightning appeared, hitting both Captain Marvel and Wonder Woman. For a split-second, as the flash ended, Cassie saw a young boy where Captain Marvel had just been. But then he yelled, "SHAZAM!" one more time, and there was the flash of lightning once more.

When that had finally cleared, she saw Wonder Woman on the floor, looking as if she had been completely knocked out.

"I hope I didn't hurt her," he said.

"I don't think you did," Cassie replied. "You knocked her out, but she'll probably be back on her feet in a moment or two. Hopefully what you did was enough to make her realize she's been brainwashed."

Wonder Woman began to stir, and both of them waited with bated breath for her to see them.

Was she going to be still brainwashed, or had they found a surprisingly simple way to get her to stop attacking them?

When Wonder Woman sat up and opened her eyes, seeing them, she smiled at Cassie and threw her arms around her. "Thank Hera you're safe!" she said.

"Thank God we were able to free you!" Cassie said. "Captain Marvel here was the one who came up with the whole idea."

"You both did good," Wonder Woman said. "Even though my brain wasn't completely my own, I was still able to see what you were doing and fully comprehend it. Now, I—"

She was cut off as she saw everything that was happening around them. "Oh no. Scarecrow fully enacted his plan."

"We know," Supergirl said as she flew through the wall with the now freed Superman. "We need to find a way to get to him. But first, we'll need to help all the other heroes."

"Batman, Batgirl, and Catwoman need to hurry with everything," Cassie said. "I'm not sure if some of us can handle the other brainwashed heroes."

Robin and Zatanna had decided to go up against Green Lantern. Surprisingly, he still had his ring with him, which made them wonder how Scarecrow and the other villains had been able to take control of his brain without removing it.

This was something they had never seen before, and in some ways, it kind of scared them.

Green Lantern raised his right arm and created a sword, which he then took hold of and brandished. Dodging the blows, Robin tried to think of a way they could take the ring off and completely stop him.

"There has to be a way to take him down without hurting him, right?" he asked Zatanna as he dodged another few attacks from the sword.

"There are some possibilities," she answered. "But it's not going to be as simple as you might think."

"That's okay. We just need to be able to learn some way of accomplishing it!"

As Zatanna mulled it over, Robin saw the ring and decided he would have to remove it from his finger. Without much more thought, he leapt forward, dodged the sword, and landed on Green Lantern's left shoulder, where he kicked him in the face. Green Lantern grunted, but other than that he did not make any other sounds that showed to them he was in pain in any way.

Zatanna then raised her hands and said, "Tih eht llaw!"

Green Lantern flew into a wall and slumped to the ground. He soon regained his focus, and while the sword had disappeared soon after the attack from Zatanna, he used the ring again to suddenly gag her.

She could not speak now, and that meant she could not use any of her spells against Green Lantern, which made this fight harder for Robin.

He would have to do it on his own.

But then an idea popped into his mind, and he thought that it seemed better than any of those before. He nearly slapped himself in the head because of how simple it truly seemed.

Even though Green Lantern attempted a few more attacks, Robin was too quick for them, thanks to Batman's training. He believed that, if Green Lantern's mind was all there, then he would be a far more formidable opponent. But under Scarecrow's control, his powers were dampened.

As he neared Green Lantern, he front-flipped and tried to grab for the ring. Green Lantern grabbed him and threw him to the ground. He raised his hand and prepared to smash something upon Robin.

But it did not happen.

Looking over at his hand, Green Lantern found that the ring was missing, and it was now in Robin's hand. His suit disappeared, leaving him in what appeared to be clothes one would wear to the gym, with workout shorts and a white T-shirt streaked with sweat.

Zatanna, no longer gagged, then waved her hands again and said, "Pans tou ti!" With that, Hal Jordan groaned, and before he knew it, he was no longer under Scarecrow's control.

"What just happened?" he asked them.

"We'll explain later," Robin replied, handing him the ring.

Aqualad battled his mentor over in another corner. It was a hard fight, as Aquaman was far more trained than he was. But at the same time, Aqualad belived this was going to be a short fight.

Having watched the others, he had seen the other heroes were not as strong as before, which appeared to be a major side-effect of Scarecrow's toxin. If Scarecrow had wanted them to be more powerful, then he should have thought through the formula he used to control them, then.

"My King, this isn't you!" he shouted at Aquaman. Like with all the others, his mentor did not listen. It had been fruitless, but Kaldur believed it was best if he gave it a try. "You must remember what you are, who you are! You are the King of Atlantis! You have a beautiful wife with a baby on the way! You must snap out of this and come back to us, so that you can return to them and see who it is that truly loves you!"

Aquaman slammed a fist into the wall behind Kaldur's head, cracking the drywall. Fortunately, Scarecrow had not decided to let him keep the trident he utilized as his main weapon.

If he had, then this battle could have easily gone south already.

He caught one of Aquaman's punches, then punched him back. It was enough to send him back a little ways and allow Kaldur time to take a deep breath before getting right back into the heat of battle, but even then Kaldur believed that it had not been enough. He was going to have to do a great deal more in order to get through to Aquaman and save him from Scarecrow's mind control.

He'd seen Batman, Batgirl, and Catwoman go to try and find a way to help everyone out, but how long was that going to take?

Not to mention, there was the possibility of another threat coming their way. Not only were there all the other villains, such as Joker, but Scarecrow was out for Batgirl's blood, which meant that she was going to have to tread cautiously along the way.

"You are nothing!" Aquaman yelled right at Kaldur. But this made Kaldur smile.

"You know what's funny?" he asked. "You told me the exact opposite when we first got to know each other. You knew that I was something, even if my father was Black Manta. You told me that I was something, even if I had to live in the shadow of someone as great as you. You told me that I would always be a success in your eyes, and so to hear you be controlled to say that…it shows that Scarecrow's hold on you is truly weak. If that's all you can do, Scarecrow, then you might as well give yourself up now, because you are the one who is nothing."

Aquaman sent another punch at him, but Kaldur escaped it and kicked his mentor in the gut, sending him to the ground. Aquaman began to get back up, but Kaldur placed his foot on his chest and prevented that. At least, he tried to, but soon Aquaman was able to grab his foot and send him flying into one of the tubes.

Kaldur would have to find a way to stop him soon, but he was not sure how he could do it without severely hurting Aquaman at the same time.

Kid Flash dealt with the actual Flash. Both were quite fast, but it was made harder by the fact that Wally was not quite as quick as Barry. They weren't too far off, but Flash was able to get to places far quicker than Wally was. While that had once discouraged Wally, he didn't let that affect him too much now.

All he needed to do at the moment was find a way to take him down without hurting him. There was a larger spot, where Wally would be able to take Flash and run around safely without hurting anyone else. He looked over to that spot and nudged his head towards it, as though goading Flash to follow him.

When he ran through the hole in the wall caused by Supergirl earlier, he found that Flash was following closely, allowing him to adhere to his plan.

While Batman, Batgirl, and Catwoman were trying to get everything done wherever they were, he would have to do what he could. As he had already seen with Aqualad and Aquaman, the former had been unable to get through to his mentor despite some good hits, which meant that Wally might have to wait until Batman and his group had finished their plan.

"Kid Flash! Do you need help?" Supergirl yelled to him as he zoomed around the room, trying to be one step ahead of Flash.

"Not right now, but I think I know a way to actually stop him, so maybe in a moment or two!" he called back to her, glad that she was both concerned for him and also ready to work with him in order to save the brainwashed heroes.

He looked over and saw that Superman was with her, and that he was no longer brainwashed. If that was the case with him, then maybe Wally would be able to have the same kind of luck with his mentor.

As he tried to evade Flash at one point, Barry succeeded in taking hold of him. He found that Flash was about to punch him…

…only for Superman to come in and slap Flash away as though he was nothing more than just an annoying fly that wanted your lunch.

"Thanks," Wally said. "I guess I did need your help earlier than I thought."

"Understandable," Superman said.

Flash got to his feet and started running at them. Before he could reach them, Superman breathed upon the ground and turned it to ice. Flash slipped and hit the floor, sliding towards them.

With this, Wally hit him with a flurry of punches and was able to mostly evade some of his uncle's retaliation attacks.

When he had finished, he found Flash was rubbing his head, and when he looked up at them, he smiled a bit. "Uh, hey, guys," he said. "What happened?"

"There's a lot to explain," Wally said.

"While he was able to free you, not everyone else has been freed from Scarecrow's control," Superman said. "We need to find a way to take him down."

"Isn't Batman working on that?" Wally asked.

"Until he returns, we can try and do it ourselves," Supergirl answered for him.

"Okay, then," Wally said. "Then we'd better get a move on."

Back through the hole in the wall, Nightwing and Batwoman had teamed up to take on the Martian Manhunter. Nightwing had read Batman's files on him and deduced that, while he definitely wasn't the strongest of the Justice League's founding members, he was nonetheless a formidable opponent, one that was not to be taken lightly.

"Are there any sorts of weaknesses for this guy?" Batwoman asked.

"Fire," Nightwing replied. "But we don't want to do that just yet. We don't want to injure anyone here too badly, because they're still extremely important to the League. We'll have to try to take him down without using our last resort."

"Got it."

"But there is one problem."

"Which is?"

"He can shapeshift, and he can also get into your mind with his telepathic abilities."

"Oh God."

They dodged a couple of blows from J'onn, but he soon hit Nightwing with a psychic blast that caused him to stumble a bit.

You are nothing.

The Manhunter had found his way into Nightwing's brain. He was going to have to fight back. Hopefully this would be enough, just enough, so that he would not have to switch to the fire idea.

Shut up, he replied mentally.

You are nothing, and there is no one that you can turn to. Batman does not see you as an ally, but as a threat, J'onn continued.

No. He sees me as a son. Scarecrow may be in your mind, but he will never get into mine, even with you! You are not going to tell me who I am! So, all I have to say to you is…watch out.

Before the Manhunter knew what hit him, Batwoman had already kicked him as hard as she could, taking him down. He tried to get back up, but before he could, Batwoman stood over him and held up a lighter.

"If you so much as stand and try to attack us again," she warned, "I'm going to light it up. I don't want to do this to you, but I know I have no choice if there are no other options."

The Manhunter stared at them with his wide, red eyes. He appeared afraid of the lighter, and Nightwing could see that he at least understood how vulnerable he was at the moment because of it.

But at the same time, he attempted to attack them anyway. As he leapt at them, Nightwing grabbed the shock stick he had taken as a back-up accessory. As J'onn attempted to phase through it, Nightwing activated it.

His yells of pain filled the air, and then he crumpled against the wall, his eyes closed.

"That didn't take as long as I thought it would," he admitted.

"Good thing, too," Batwoman said as she pocketed her lighter. "This lighter doesn't actually work."

Due to the absurdity of this, both of them laughed for a moment or two, and then returned their attention to the fights behind them.

By this time, Aquaman and Green Arrow were the only two that had not been fully taken down. As Nightwing went to help Aqualad, Batwoman stayed behind to watch Martian Manhunter's unconscious body.

Meanwhile, Red Arrow and Black Canary were taking on Green Arrow, who was providing a far more formidable fight than the two of them had expected. They guessed that, since he was the only one here that had been brainwashed and yet didn't have any actual powers, he was not any less of a threat than he was in his usual state.

This was going to lead to problems for both of them if the fight continued on too much longer.

"We need to find a way to take him down!" Red Arrow growled.

"I know," Black Canary sighed. "Of course, that could mean that we'll have to really hit him in the head. I don't want to do it, but then again…it would allow me to get back at him for all the times he made jokes at my expense."

"What kinds of jokes were those?"

"The ones that involved puns."

"I guess you could say he really liked punishing you," Red Arrow remarked. He smiled a little, and Black Canary just frowned at him before they dodged a punch-and-kick combo from Green Arrow.

He had not yet used his arrows, but Red Arrow was sure it wouldn't take long until one of them was nocked and then loosed in his direction.

When that happened, he would have to take cover, for he did not know what Oliver would choose in his brainwashed state.

As if on cue, Green Arrow grabbed one.

Looking at it, Red Arrow saw it was one that would freeze him in place if it succeeded in hitting him. He jumped away from it, and then dodged.

It missed him by a wide margin, and fortunately, it happened to hit Aquaman before he could land a serious hit on Aqualad.

As Green Arrow nocked another arrow, he found Black Canary standing there off to his right.

"Are you really going to do this, Green Arrow?" she demanded of him. "Are you really about to attack the ones you consider your friends and family? That's not you. You're better than that! You are going to snap out of this right now!"

He pointed the arrow at her, much to her surprise, but Red Arrow hit him with one instead, which caused a glue-like substance to wrap around him and keep him in place.

It didn't last long, though, and as soon as he was free, he nocked another arrow and pointed it at Black Canary, who jumped over the arrow as it came at her, rolled to the side when it exploded behind her, and then unleashed her Canary Cry.

Everyone present that was conscious shielded their ears, and Green Arrow attempted to do the same, screaming at the top of his lungs along with her, though for him it was because he was in extreme pain.

When she had finished, he was lying there on the floor, whimpering in pain. Black Canary knew the real Green Arrow would never do something like that, so she gave him a good kick in the face.

When he looked back up, he found her and Red Arrow, and he smiled.

"Wow, aren't you a sight for sore ears," he joked. As soon as she heard this, Black Canary and Red Arrow knew that he had been returned to usual.

Looking back at Aqualad and his fight with Aquaman, they saw that it was still continuing.

Red Arrow prepared to get into it, but Black Canary stopped him.

"He has to do this on his own," she said.

They watched as Aqualad continued to take on Aquaman, who was becoming more and more jumpy. Every time someone around him moved, he looked around as if he was about to be attacked by them.

Then he lunged at Aqualad, who dodged and kicked him in the abdomen before pinning him to the floor and, like most of others around him, gave his mentor a good hit to the head.

Aquaman seemed to be unconscious before he looked up at Aqualad.

"Kal—?" he began before realizing where he was. "Oh, what happened?"

"It's a long story, My King," Aqualad said. He helped him to his feet.

As they looked around, Aqualad realized all the heroes had been defeated, and they were no longer brainwashed.

"Did we win?" Supergirl asked.

"I think so," Nightwing answered.


In his roost, Scarecrow was watching the whole thing, and he could not believe his one good eye what was happening down there!

The heroes had somehow been able to defeat all the heroes that he had turned against them, when he had expected them to be at the very least injured, or at the worst, killed!

"What happened?" he demanded of his helper who stood behind him. Hugo Strange looked at him with a shocked expression.

"I'm not sure," he admitted. "They should have been able to kill the other heroes, but…"

"But nothing!" Scarecrow snapped. "Because of your mistake, the heroes are back to what they were! There is still one last part of this phase I could attempt, but it should never have come to this! They should have done what we asked them to do! What I asked them to do!"

"I am sorry," Strange said.

Scarecrow typed on the keyboard before him, trying to release the brainwashing agent from before. Maybe he could get all of them to go insane, to attack Batman, Batgirl, and Catwoman, whom he had seen leave the room to try something else.

But as he attempted this, he found it was impossible. Somehow, the air filter had been turned back on, and as a result of how the agent would have to be used, it was now impossible for him to try it again.

He tried to figure out what he could do, but decided there was nothing more that could be done when it came to this phase in his plan.

"You were right about one thing, Strange," he told the man behind him.

"What is that?"

"You are sorry."

Scarecrow whirled around, slitting Strange's throat with his scythe. Blood sprayed throughout the room, including onto Scarecrow himself.

Then he turned back around, ready to "congratulate" the heroes on their win.