Thanks for the positive reception on chapter one, everyone! I'm definitely going to try to up the stakes a bit in the future, since there's a whole storyline I'm eager to explore. However, I'm not going to take it too fast. I also am going to try to make it campier (and/or darker), because I personally enjoy that format of comic, but I'm not going overboard with it.
"This is Martian Manhunter from the Justice League Watchtower, calling to all available members. This order shall be relayed to junior teams. We have recently detected a metahuman trafficking ring operating out of Markovia. Evidence strongly suggests the involvement of Baron Bedlam and the Bad Samaritan, both of whom recently escaped from a prison in Tbilisi. Available units please respond."
Martian Manhunter stared at his computer screen, watching intently for responses. Justice League members were pinpointed on a 3D globe, and upon the stroke of a few keys members of other organizations such as the Teen Titans or Outsiders would also pop up.
"This is Batman. I am currently tracking Killer Croc through the sewers. Have you contacted Geo-Force?"
"No, Batman. Geo-Force has not replied to the call I just sent out. But now that I have you on the line, I was meaning to ask if you've been noticing a decline in super-crime. These days I only notice street thugs while patrolling Middletown."
"Yes, Martian Manhunter, I have. But upon further study, I found that the crime rates aren't declining, they're simply becoming more… controlled, standardized, almost. It's almost like the supervillains teamed up and monopolized crime."
"Interesting, Batman. I will look into it. Goodbye."
Batman hung up and continued prowling the sewers. He came to a sewer exit that emptied into Gotham Harbor. But while a normal hero would curse his luck and turn away, Batman noticed something – the bars, while wide, weren't wide enough for Killer Croc to slip through. Wary of an attack, he activated his transponder beam and continued searching. As he slunk back through the sewers, he noticed a loose brick.
"Interesting… This brick is four inches out, unusual for this tunnel – it's only been three years since they remodeled it, and this seems… unnatural…"
Batman touched the brick, and it automatically pushed inwards, only for the entire wall to slide open.
"What? There's no way Croc built this himself… who's helping him?"
At this moment a beam of ice blasted right past Batman's head.
"Mr. Freeze. Still not one for subtleties, I see." Batman growled as he flung Batarangs in the direction of the beam, only to hear a dull "thunk."
"You forgot me, Bats." Killer Croc's hulking figure emerged from the shadows, glimmering Batarangs sticking out from his hide. Mr. Freeze followed behind him, as well as… Two-Face?
Batman smirked. "Heh. A three-in-one deal. I've been tracking you three for a while now. Come quietly, or else."
"Or else what?" Two-Face laughed. "It's three to one, Batman. You can't do anything against us."
Batman started running towards the trio, drawing weapons from his utility belt. "Actually, I can. You see, one of you is vulnerable without your sub-zero suit -" Batman proceeded to throw an EMP grenade at Mr. Freeze – "One of you simply sucks at fighting -" Batman downed Two-Face with a right hook – "And one of you is vulnerable to lack of foresight."
At this moment Robin dropped down from the roof of the secret room, executing a perfect kick to Killer Croc's face and knocking the villain out.
"Nice job, father. You distracted them perfectly."
"Heh. I've been doing this a lot longer than you have, kid."
Robin scowled, though those close to him would have known he was hiding a smile.
After the two deposited the three villains at Arkham Asylum, Batman's communicator lit up.
"Justice League, this is The Atom… signal… Skyman… blood flow… nan"
The signal went dark. Batman and Robin looked at each other alarmedly – or at least, the Bat-Family version of alarm.
"Robin, grab the Teen Titans. I'll grab what I can of the Justice League. Watchtower, as soon as you can."
"Yes, sir."
"Justice League, this is Batman. All available units to the Watchtower NOW."
Batman quickly teleported up to the Watchtower, where he met a haphazardly organized group of heroes.
"I see everyone's here. What do we know about The Atom's last transmission? Hourman, anything? Spy Smasher? Elongated Man?"
Elongated Man cleared his throat.
"Yes, Bruce, I have something. Ray was investigating the death of Skyman, we all know that. He mentioned a signal, likely referring to his transponder signal, which was damaged. He said 'blood flow', which I think refers to Sylvester's blood. We know he was in there investigating that. But I noticed something interesting. Cyborg, play Ray's message back."
Cyborg tapped a few keys, and a recording started playing.
"Justice League, this is The Atom… signal… Skyman… blood flow… nan"
"Everyone, if you listen carefully, he says nothing I didn't. But what is exceptionally interesting is the last 0.7 seconds of the recording. He says 'nan' before being cut off. So, I started thinking to myself, what does 'nan' mean? He didn't finish what he was saying, obviously, but Bruce, I think you know what I'm referring to here. We worked on this case before."
Batman thought for a second, before scowling furiously.
"Nanobots. That's what The Atom was trying to say."
"Precisely. And who's the only people with advanced enough technology to create nanobots that can flow through someone's bloodstream and attack a living being on their own?"
"Lexcorp."
