When Batman regained full consciousness, he found himself lying facedown in a cell in the penitentiary. He groaned weakly and tried to push himself up, only to find that his hands were being held behind his back by a pair of thick handcuffs that covered both of his fists, rendering his hands completely immobile. He shook his head, then rolled onto his back. As soon as his head had cleared enough, he lifted his legs and flung them forward, using the leverage to get himself into a standing position. After observing his surroundings, he decided on the best course of action.

"Activate emergency escape protocol number six."

He felt the spikes on his gauntlets snap outwards, breaking the handcuffs from the inside. He rubbed his wrists for a moment to return blood flow to his hands before pressing a finger to his temple, activating his comms link.

"Oracle. Can you hear me?"

"Bruce! Thank God! The vitals readings from your suit have been all over the place for the last hour and a half! And when you didn't respond, I thought..."

"I'm fine. Joker got the drop on me. He must've had someone plant a remote smoke bomb. He's loose."

Barbara groaned. "Of course he is. This is going to be one hell of a night... Apparently there was some kind of situation at the Watchtower. J'onn's been trying to get through to you."

"What's going on up there?

"I'm not really sure, I didn't get the whole picture. Hang on, I'll patch J'onn in."

Batman heard the sound of frantic typing, and the slight buzz of new radio static. "Batman. Is that you?" Asked the ever calm and measured voice of J'onn J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter.

"I'm here. What's going on up there?"

"We were attacked. I... It's best if I simply show you. I shall send you the footage from the docking bay's security cameras."

Batman opened the computer in his gauntlet and entered the command to receive the footage. All of the League members had gathered in the hangar, and it was immediately apparent why; sirens were blaring, and each screen displayed a message about approaching invaders. As the second door of the airlock opened, a small plane passed through, landing neatly. Before it had even rolled to a stop, five men had jumped out of the hatch with submachine guns drawn. Each of the intruders was equipped with black combat armor (printed with a large white T) and masks that covered the lower halves of their faces. The man in front was wearing a bright red vest to indicate seniority. He ran directly for J'onn, muttering into an earpiece as he went.

"Have the room cleared. Now! The intruder barked in a firm, authoritative voice.

Wonder Woman stepped forward to confront him. "Excuse me," she growled, folding her arms, "but you're not in any position to be giving orders. By my count, we outnumber you fifteen to one. Now we demand to know how you got in here!"

The guard whispered something that was too quiet for most of the room to hear, but it clearly had a strong impact on J'onn. The Martian dropped his fighting stand and raised a hand, ordering everybody in the room to stand down. "All non founding members are to leave the room immediately. Thank you for your cooperation."

With a great deal of muttering, the room steadily emptied, leaving only J'onn, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, the Flash, and Shayera Hol. As soon as the rest of the League had cleared out, J'onn spoke again, with anger in his voice. "Show your evidence."

The intruder stepped forward to access the Hangar's monitor. After several moments of typing, he pulled up a camera feed. It showed several men wearing the same uniform as the men who had broken into the tower dragging a half conscious Batman down a hallway, his hands cuffed and four guns pointed directly at his head.

"You're coming with us, or I send the other to pull the trigger. Make your call."

One by one, the Justice League stepped forward to be cuffed and loaded into the ship. Superman looked exceptionally grave, Green Lantern seemed to be lost in thought, Shayera and the Flash both looked stunned, and Wonder Woman looked as though she was having a hard time holding back from wringing the guards neck. When J'onn stepped forward, the intruder held up a hand to stop him. "Not so fast, Martian. Orders say to leave you here. And remember; if we see you or anybody else following us, we kill the hostage." Without another word, the intruders piled back into their aircraft.

Batman closed his gauntlet and stood still for a moment. He couldn't believe that he'd been caught so easily in the first place; now his incompetence had cost the entire team. He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes, focusing on formulating a solution.

"Bruce, it wasn't your fault." Oracle said, sounding concerned. "There was no way you could have-"

"It was stupid and careless. Now it's down to me to fix this. J'onn, can you tell me anything about those intruders?"

"Not much. They appeared to be some sort of paramilitary group. Most likely Private Contractors. I tried to read their minds, but I couldn't."

"You mean you were blocked? Like with the Thanagarians?" Batman asked, trying to make some sort of connection.

"Not exactly. I could read his mind, but only when he spoke. It was as if he were a blank slate."

"Definitely odd. I'm going to run this down from my end. There's no way that the Joker isn't involved in this. I'm going to track him down."

"Good plan." Responded J'onn. "I'll do what I can from up here. Contact me if you need anything."

"Alright, Bruce." Oracle said, steeling herself. "What's the plan. You think Joker's behind this?"

"No. He said something about being tonight's 'entertainment.' And besides, even his pockets aren't that deep. Mercenaries and space ships don't come cheap. The Joker's got some muscle, but there's no way he could have got his hands on that kind of cash with me watching his every move. I think he's working with somebody. He almost definitely has somebody on the staff on his payroll. The first step is to find out where he's holed up." He walked over to take a closer look at the security gate. "Oracle. My security override code isn't working. Can you get on the system and unlock it from there?"

"I can give it a shot... Yes! Got it!" The door swung open, and Batman jumped out, immediately taking cover in the shadows. "Alright, Bruce. Where are you going next?"

"I'm not sure yet. I'll activate the cowl's scanner and see if I can't find somebody who'll rat him out." Batman grimaced and cracked his knuckles. "It's been a rough night, and I'd love nothing better to take it out on someone."

Author's note: I wrote and rewrote this one, so it might be a bit choppy. If you see any inconsistencies, drop me a line and I'll get right on them.

This was supposed to be longer, but it's 4 Am, I have class tomorrow, and I hit my 1,000 word minimum, so what the hell. I wasn't planning on posting until Friday at the earliest anyway. I left a lot of hints here, but everything will probably be revealed in the next chapter. Well, not everything, but you get the idea. Now for my favorite game: review responses!

M2J MandalorianJedi: Trust me, it's no coincidence. I'm pulling a ton from the Arkham series, mostly because it does an excellent job of showing the tools in Batman's inventory, as well as how he operates in the field. In fact, I had the game in mind while writing Oracle and Alfred. So good eye, and keep an eye out for more because I'll definitely be throwing out a nod to the series every now and then.

Unleash the Shadow: That ego, always getting him into trouble. But then again, bringing her could have just meant one more gassed super hero. But anyway, things are definitely serious.