Bruce woke up, and knew something was wrong.
It had less to do intuition, and more to do with what was on the TV screen at the other end of his room. In Metropolis, Luthor had gone on a crime spree, robbing banks all across the city. But Superman wasn't stopping him.
He changed the channel.
In Keystone City, Captain Cold and Captain Boomerang had teamed up and were wreaking havoc by icing up train rails and destroying buildings. Flash, however, was nowhere to be found.
It was the same in the hometowns of most of the heroes.
Bruce contacted the rest of his makeshift league.
"There's a situation."
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Back on the Watchtower, the Leaguers had been herded into the cafeteria. Grodd and The Ultra-Humanite were standing atop one of the tables, shouting orders to a group of mind-controlled gorillas. Thanks to Flash frying his brain, his mind control only worked on gorillas now.
The gorilla gang went around handcuffing the heroes. Wonder Woman was slightly disturbed at how easily some of her comrades submitted with out their powers. She would not be that quickly defeated. Even without the abilities her armor afforded her, she was still a warrior.
Diana leapt at Grodd. He turned, and pulled something from his fur. A weapon. She didn't she him shoot, but she felt it.
After that, none of the others fought back.
*****************************************
Batman dispatched members to each of the cities struck by a crime wave in the wake of the loss of their protector. The rest, he brought to the batplane and told to get in.
"Will that fit the seven of us?" Green Arrow asked. "Can it even fly in space?"
Batman glared at him. "Superman doesn't know about all my modifications."
Green Arrow sighed and climbed in, followed by Wildcat, Gangbuster, Huntress, Nightwing, The Question, and Batman himself.
Nightwing reached for the controls. Batman cut him off with a look.
"I know how to fly it," Dick said.
Bruce took the wheel anyway, and within twenty minutes, they were hovering outside the Watchtower docking bay. A blue forcefield crackled away, protecting the opening.
Batman opened a hatch in the back of the batplane and handed everyone a gray suit with a faceplate.
"Put these on," he said, suiting up himself, "And take one of these." He handed each a black cartridge. "Just point and shoot, and it will bring you inside the docking bay."
They all put on the suits, and Batman opened the hatch. He went first, grappling to the wall of the Watchtower and deactivating the forcefield.
"Superman should watch you more closely," Nightwing said through the suits' intercom. Batman gave him a look.
Soon, they were all inside the docking bay.
"Grodd is in there definitely," Batman said, "With either the Ultra-Humanite or Shade, but most likely the former. He probably has a group of gorillas with him, but don't hurt them—they're being mind controlled."
The group nodded, and went to the door of the docking bay.
Batman tried his old code in the security pad, but it was denied. He pried the panel off the wall and switched around some wires, and cut a few more. The light blinked green, and the door slid open.
All was deathly silent, save for a faint buzzing.
"Do you hear that?" Batman asked. The others nodded. "That's the machine that is sapping the Leaguers powers. The main device will be located in the central shaft, where the power supply is."
He handed Green arrow a map of the Watchtower. "You, Question and Nightwing are taking care of that. The rest of you are with me."
****************************************************
In the cafeteria, the heroes had been shackled in a long chain, and every fifth or so was locked to the wall.
Grodd and The Ultra-Humanite were still seated at the center table, eating the food from the kitchen and making comments about how bad it was.
"This shall be lucrative," The Humanite said.
"How much is Luthor paying to keep them up here?" Grodd ate a bunch of bananas with his feet.
"Three million. And that's just him."
They laughed together. Superman pulled at the chains around his hands and feet, but couldn't break free.
The cafeteria doors slid open. Four gorillas walked in, carrying their pistols. Flash squinted. He hadn't seen these ones before.
Neither, apparently, had Grodd. He looked skeptical, but the black gorilla walked up with a report for him.
And promptly electrocuted Grodd with a black device that looked like a boomerang.
No, Flash thought, Batarang!
The four ex-Leaguers pulled off their gorilla costumes just as the real primates cam pouring in, ready for a fight. The Ultra-Humaite leapt up and started swinging around on the rafters, shooting his ray gun into the melee. Gangbuster went after him.
Superman saw Batman take out five of the gorillas within a few minutes. Across the room, Huntress had knocked out four more, and Wildcat was doing his share, as well.
And suddenly, the buzzing that had been annoying him all day stopped. He felt the power flow back into his body. Around him, the other heroes broke out of their chains and joined the fight.
It was over in another minute.