"That's right, Tom, we have just received word that Central City has been sealed off to prevent the spread of this unknown disease. Governor Winslow has declared a state of emergency and requested the National Guard to be positioned outside the city limits. Barricades are currently being erected, but whether they will be effective in their use remains to be seen."

On screen was a reporter wearing a yellow poncho and holding a microphone with the letters CNN boldly painted on it. Though the guy was your run-of-the-mill correspondent, the scene behind him was most captivating. Central City had several plumes of smoke rising from within its skyscrapers, the glows of what had to be fires scattered randomly throughout. It was much how Flash had left it when he had been teleported to the Justice League HQ.

And all Flash could do was stare helplessly at the screen, his stomach twisting in knots with grief and shame.

Currently the hero was in the med bay—on orders of J'onn due to the outbreak—sitting on one of the beds as his legs dangled off the side. He was hunched over, every passing second of his dying city feeling like pure agony. Yet, he wasn't alone in his anguish.

GL was standing at the foot of the bed, his arms crossed over his chest, a stoic look on his face. The Lantern hadn't left his side since he arrived and hadn't said a comforting word, much to Flash's relief. He wasn't sure how he would react if someone told him everything would be okay. Nothing would be okay, not after the hell he had been through.

Suddenly, the television turned off, breaking Flash out of his angsty thoughts. "That's enough of that," John said, standing right underneath the TV with an arm extended up to hit the power button. Flash hadn't even seen him move, so he was surprised by the mysterious teleporting that must have happened. Turning around, GL then said, "We're going to get to the bottom of this, one way or another."

"Are we?" the red-clad man whispered softly. "I can't see how. You don't know what it was like out there."

"You would be surprised," John replied, walking over to the bed. "I was on Rijal Seven once where a similar outbreak happened. Night of the Walking Dead kind of stuff. Managed to contain it before it consumed the entire planet."

"Oh, how good for you," Flash spat out bitterly. "So how did you stop the zombies, huh? I'm pretty sure you had to kill them all, right?"

John frowned, but hesitantly responded, "Well, yeah—"

Instantly Flash was on his feet, jabbing a finger at his friend's chest. "Exactly. You had to kill them. Central City is a freaking breeding ground of zombies right now. Anyone that isn't one will be one soon; which means we're going to have to exterminate an entire city. My city."

Jerking away, Flash couldn't help pacing back and forth through the room, going faster with every pass he made. In the meantime, GL didn't seem to take his outburst negatively, instead taking a seat on the bed the Fastest Man Alive had just vacated. "I feel for you, Flash, I really do; but now is not the time to lose our heads. Right now we have to determine what caused this outbreak and when we do, we can see if we can reverse that. No one is going to kill anyone, not when we're not even sure what we're dealing with."

That made Flash slow his pace a step, but he was still going at a pretty good clip. His hands clasped together tightly behind his back as his face was doing its best Batman impression—meaning he was well on his way to looking like a constipated gargoyle. Heh, Bats wouldn't like someone else encroaching on his territory.

"Everyone is being called on this too, even the reserves. Trust me, Flash, we will get to the bottom of this. We will save Central City."

"I'm glad someone is confident."

Flash had just turned to walk back the way he came, which gave him a good view of John. Because of this, he saw the scowl on the Lantern's face. "You cut that out right now. Moping isn't going to get us anywhere and we're going to need you to fix things as soon as possible. Now quit your bellyaching and let's get to work."

Flash sighed, his shoulders sagging, though he didn't stop his pacing, reaching his turnaround point and spinning around to continue his walking. Though it was tough love, GL was right. This negative thinking wasn't going to get him anywhere nor would it help anyone. Alright, it was time to put on his big boy shoes and do some work.

Still, he couldn't help himself when he replied, "You really know how to be a hard ass, you know that?"

Thankfully John chuckled in response. "Damn straight."

Flash finally slowed down, nearly coming to a stop. He would have stopped had he not heard a familiar sound, which immediately prompted him to use his super speed to lunge forward.

Head jerking to a side, he saw a green beam fly right where over the space he had just vacated, his back feeling the heat from it. "What the hell?!" he demanded loudly as he turned his eyes to GL.

Only to feel his stomach drop as he noticed the slow paling of John's face coupled with the growing grin on his face. The Lantern had one arm raised, his ring sparking with green energy. "Nice dodge. Let's see if you can do it again, ha ha!"

And then the ring fired again.


The Monitor Womb was one of the most technologically sophisticated rooms in the Justice League Headquarters. Not only did it contain the teleportation equipment, but it was also the hub for surveillance throughout the world. Most of the computers and monitors geared towards this purpose were in the corner of the room, right where a large screen hung from the wall.

Currently, the screen was displaying an aerial shot of Central City. A news team had gotten a hold of a helicopter and were flying over the city, providing images of the destruction in the streets. People were scurrying around like tiny ants, bashing cars and breaking down doors and windows of buildings with various hand-held weapons. Smoke was billowing out of many of the buildings and from vehicles.

It was no wonder Flash was so despondent.

There was no reason for it, not any that had been discerned yet. Flash's description of things had been strange with no evidence of what had actually caused the outbreak. However, it was readily apparently the longer this went on, the more manic those infected became. Sooner or later, something would give; either Central City ran out of property to destroy, or the mania would consumed its people. Neither was an option the League wanted to find out.

The only two in the Monitor Womb were Diana and J'onn. Batman had been summoned mere moments ago and they were waiting for his arrival. Superman and Hawkgirl were handling a situation in the Himalayas and were thus not expected to be available for the time being. With John comforting Flash in the med bay, that left them accountable for everyone at the moment.

Of course, Diana would have preferred to be out in the streets doing something about this. It rankled at her that she was currently sidelined, though not by her choice. J'onn had refused to send a team in without more intel lest one of them became infected and joined in the destruction. It was sound thinking, don't get her wrong, but she just rather be doing something other than watching.

The were both quiet as they stared at the screen, Diana because she had nothing worth saying that wouldn't remedy the situation, and J'onn because he was actually searching through the mental plane for answers. His eyes glowed a brilliant orange, signifying he was telepathically seeking out a composed mind in Central City.

As luck would have it, J'onn's eyes dimmed to their normal hue, indicating he had finished his sweep. Focusing his attention on the Amazon, he said, "Nothing. All I can sense is madness and terror. Any rational thought is currently being overpowered by basic instinct."

That wasn't the answer Diana had been hoping for. "We cannot continue to stay out of action for fear of the unknown," she spoke in frustration.

"Not without the proper safety equipment," the Martian responded evenly, not the least bit irritated with her. "If you were to succumb to the mania—"

"Then I could cause even more harm," Diana finished for him. "I know...I know..." she trailed off in acceptance.

"It isn't easy to feel helpless."

"No, it isn't."

A humming sound filled the room, causing both heroes to turn towards the teleportation pad. A bright light emerged from the pad, becomingly eye-burningly painful, before fading away and leaving the shrouded form of Batman. He didn't so much as greet them as he strode off the platform, making his way towards them. "Any developments," he stated the moment he reached them.

"What you see is what you get," Diana replied, a smile appear on her face. It was almost reassuring to see Batman's no-nonsense approach in light of what was transpiring.

"Any indication as to its cause and transmission?"

It was J'onn who answered the vigilante this time. "No to either. Flash was at Ground Zero and said the mania seemed to come out of nowhere and spread just as quickly."

"And Flash is…?

"In the med bay with Green Lantern."

The Dark Knight went still, something Diana was able to notice, which caused her to frown. His sudden hesitation set off alarms in her head, even as the dark-clad man turned his head to give J'onn his full attention.

As if to compound things, Flash's voice blasted out of the speakers in the room. "Guys! I have a situation in here! GL's gone berserk!"

A mad dash ensured between the three heroes as they charged to a nearby computer console. As it turned out, Batman reached it first, immediately bringing up the security cameras inside the med bay.

Much to Diana's horror, she saw Flash racing about the room, a continuous blur that seemed to have no end. John, on the other hand, was zig-zagging through the air, firing energy blasts from his rings, his target being his comrade.

Suddenly, blast doors began sliding down in front of the med bay doors. Flash seemed to notice this as he exclaimed over his comm, "Hey, what the hell?! Why are you locking me in?!"

Diana was confused for a moment before she noticed Batman's extended hand, a finger jammed on top of a button on the console—no doubt the one that activated the blast doors. "What are you doing?" she demanded.

"Flash is a carrier," Batman responded calmly, his eyes never moving from the screen, or so she thought. It was hard to know where he was looking at because of his mask. "He seems to be immune to whatever is infecting Lantern, but that means he carrying it on his person. He can't leave that room until we know he's been decontaminated."

"But that leaves him trapped with Green Lantern," J'onn pointed out, his voice the same calm as the vigilante's, much to Diana's growing irritation. "He cannot wait out Lantern's ring to run out of power."

"Then he needs to knock Lantern out."

J'onn regarded Batman coolly before he nodded his agreement. Reaching a hand to his ear, he activated his own comm link and said, "Flash, you need to subdue Green Lantern by whatever means necessary."

"Yeah, I was kinda thinking the same thing," came the speedster's response. "You know, since you locked me in here and all."

During that exchange, Batman seemed to be focusing on the computer screen, his eyes boring into the image. Fingers dancing over the keyboard, the image froze before it began to zoom in on John. Curiously, Diana watched the vigilante as he worked and it was because of this she witnessed his face hardening at what he saw.

Suddenly, Batman was standing at his full height, turning around and marching towards the room's exit. "I'm going to the med bay," he declared just before the doors slid open and he passed through the doorway.

Startled, Diana looked to J'onn, who was returning her look of confusion. Their minds kick-starting at the same time, the two gave chase to the vigilante, catching up with him in the hallway. "Slow down, Batman," the Amazon called out as she caught up with him, matching his stride. "You just put the med bay under lock down. Why would you try to go inside now?"

"I need confirmation on what this infection is," the Dark Knight answered her as he took a turn at an intersecting corridor. He didn't go too far down this one as he stopped at a nearby door, opening it a moment later. Peering through the threshold, Diana was greeted with the sight of hazmat suits and protective medical equipment. Batman was currently grabbing one of the hazmat suits and was putting it on over his costume.

"Do you think this is a wise course of action? I know the hazmat suit will provide you protection from what plagues John, but he still is a threat," the Amazon Princess inquired, one of her hands moving to rest against her hip. "If he damages your suit, that'll leave you vulnerable to the disease."

"He won't be," came his clipped response while he sealed the suit up. "J'onn, is there a sedative available outside of the med bay?"

"I believe there should be one in one of our First Aid kits," the Martian answered.

"Bring it to the med bay, but do not open the doors, even if Flash has given the all clear. I'm also going to need to take samples from both Flash and Green Lantern—blood, saliva, urine, the whole works. Until we determine how this designed hot agent was administered, I don't want anyone going in or out of the med bay unless they're appropriately protected."

J'onn merely nodded before he took off down the hall in search of Batman's requests. In the meantime, Diana stayed with the vigilante. She still had some questions. "What makes you so sure this was designed?" she asked. "Isn't that sort of thing highly restricted?"

"Green Lantern's face," Batman replied just before he placed the hazmat helmet over his head. He then proceeded to lock it in place, ensuring a seal. Because of this, he didn't elaborate, which only fueled the dark-haired woman's growing curiosity.

Though Batman believed that to be an answer, Diana couldn't see how that was sufficient. "What about it?" she prodded.

"Pale face, wide smile, eyes bulging out of their sockets," Batman rattled off as he moved towards her, passing right by her and making his way—undoubtedly—to the med bay. "I've only seen that combination once." Though she couldn't see his face because she was following him from behind, she didn't have to imagine the scowl that was most surely there as he growled out, "Joker."

Diana frowned. From what she understood of the man, he had an obsession with Batman, choosing to focus his acts of mayhem in Gotham. It seemed strange that he would suddenly take an interest in Central City. In fact, she said as much; "Why would he involve himself in a city he had no previous interest in?"

"That's something we're going to need to figure out before he strikes again."

The Amazon nodded her agreement and understanding even if the Dark Knight couldn't see her do so. His insight into this foe would be invaluable considering their history. Still, that could act as a double-edged sword, where Batman let his prejudices get the better of him. A balance would need to be maintained somehow.

The rest of their journey was done in silence. Batman was focused on the task at hand and Diana had taken to mulling this new information. Eventually they reached the sealed med bay doors, the man stopping to turn towards her. "Once I go inside, no matter what happens, do not open up these doors," he told her. "Do not let anyone in or out unless I give the all-clear. The last thing anyone needs is for this to infect anymore Justice League members."

Diana once again nodded sharply. "You can count on me."

That was when J'onn returned, his body phasing through the floor until he reached his full height, his form filling in a moment later. "I've brought the sedative," he announced before his moved an arm out from beneath his cape. In his large hand was a syringe, a plastic cap covering the needle.

Batman didn't even hesitate as he reached out and accepted the syringe. "I'm assuming you heard."

J'onn nodded. "I did."

"Good." The vigilante then tilted his head to a side. "Flash, status report."

There was a moment before a reply came. "Just about got things wrapped up in here. Give me...two minutes."

"You have one." Batman then looked to J'onn. "Get ready to open the blast doors."


There was only so much real estate in a tiny room. It didn't help matters that furniture was knocked over and scattered about the room at very inconvenient places. Still, Flash could work with it.

He had no other choice.

Making another lap, he heard the constant blasts from GL's ring, the beams exploding on walls, floor, and what was left of the beds and chairs. He was actually pretty thankful his friend was so fixated on using his energy beams than actually using a construct. The speedster repressed a shudder at that thought. There was no telling what the man would make in his current state of mind.

"C'mon, you can run faster!" John gloated, firing another barrage of blasts. "Run, Flash, run!"

Flash scowled at the goad. He was really getting sick of this. First his city was going up in flames and now his best friend was trying to make him a young corpse. This day was totally for the birds.

So he decided to change things up. Heading for a wall, instead of running with it, he ran onto it, the room itself turning ninety degrees as he shot up the wall. Reaching the ceiling, the room turned again, leaving him racing in an upside-down med bay.

However, he didn't keep running, instead pushing off with his feet and flying like a missile through the air. John never stood a chance as the red-clad man rammed into him, wrapping his arms around the dark-skinned man, tackling him in midair. The two men tumbled out of the air, landing hard on the ground. Unable to keep his grasp, Flash bounced off the Green Lantern, rolling over the floor until he came to a stop.

"Ow," he groaned as he slowly pushed himself up onto his hands and knees. That had been interesting. While he wouldn't want to try that again any time soon, at least it got the job done.

"Heh he he he ha ha," GL giggled then, also starting to push himself up. His pale face looked right at Flash, looking exactly like the people in Central City. "Didn't your coach ever tell you to always wrap up when you tackle?" he taunted.

Oh, c'mon! Even at a time like this, GL could joke around? That was his job! And the joke could really use some work, let him tell you.

"Flash, status report."

Oh, now Bats wanted to talk. He didn't bother asking him when he shut the blast doors, but now he wanted to know how he was doing? Freaking crazy vigilantes...

"Just about got things wrapped up in here," Flash replied, diverting his attention from GL. "Give me...two minutes."

Hearing the tell-tale sound of the power ring, Flash darted his eyes back to John, widening them as he saw a wicked-looking boxing glove—just think of your standard, run-of-the-mill boxing gloves, only green, giant, and with a hundred spikes sticking out of it—flying right towards him. Dashing to a side, he dodged the attack, hearing it hit the wall somewhere behind him.

"You have one," Batman responded, only adding to Flash's ire. Oh sure, he could make such demands. After all, he wasn't fighting a laughing zombie version of a Green Lantern.

"Oh sure, I'll get right on it," Flash grumbled, even as he began dodging from his left to his right and back, more green energy beams flying at him. "It's not like I can knock a guy out in less than sixty seconds. I'm not that—"

Wait, what was he saying? He was fast enough to knock someone out in a minute; hell, he could do it in a second if he wanted to. Well, right now called for that minute. Steeling himself, even as he ducked by another flying blast, Flash prepared to give GL one hell of a headache when he woke up.

"Sorry buddy, but this is going to hurt you a lot more than it's going to hurt me."


Batman stood within the med bay, the blast doors once more sliding into place behind him. The room before him was a mess. Beds, cabinets, and furniture were tossed about, littering the floor as debris. There were scorch marks on the walls indicating several explosions had been detonated.

And in the middle of the room sat Green Lantern, his head slump forward as a cable wrapped around his body, pinning his arms to his sides. Next to him stood Flash, who was dusting his hands in the gesture of a finished job. "You sure took your time," he remarked. "Mind rolling up those doors again? I really want to get out of here."

"You're not going anywhere," Batman replied as he marched up to the seemingly unconscious Lantern. Raising up his syringe, he removed the cap and quickly stabbed the needle into Green Lantern's upper arm. Depressing the plunger, he injected the sedative as quickly as he could, pulling the needle out a moment later and activating the safety lock to cover up the sharp tip. "Get him on a bed and restrain him."

There was a sigh before Flash responded, "Aye, aye, Captain." In a blur of red, the speedster took off, turning a nearby overturned bed back onto its legs, Green Lantern's body appearing on the mattress a moment later.

Turning away, Batman made his way to a cabinet that miraculously went unscathed. Opening it, he was quick to find an airgun, a couple of empty vials lying next to it. Picking up the airgun, he placed a vial into its chamber before returning to the two Leaguers.

Flash was just putting the finishing touches on the restraints when Batman arrived. Placing a small needle on the barrel and securing it, he then pressed it into the crook of the unconscious man's arm, drawing blood into vial.

"How many of those are you going to need?" the red-clad man asked after a couple moments.

"Not much," Batman answered. Pulling the airgun away and holding it up so he could view the blood sample, he mentally calculated if it would be enough and settled on a possible maybe. "I'm also going to need a sample from you too."

"Why?" the speedster asked immediately, genuinely confused by the request. However, to his credit, an actual reason hit him a moment later. "To make sure I'm not carrying any of that bad mojo, gotcha." Flash was quick to retrieve his own vial, even going as far as to removing one of his gloves and begin rolling up a sleeve. "So what are we thinking this is?" he spoke mostly for small chat—the man was incapable of keeping quiet after all. "Some sort of zombifying virus?"

"That's what we're here to find out."

"I'm glad you're so confident you can do that. Care to share with the rest of the class how? Some of us don't like to be kept in the dark while people are trying to rip off other people's faces."

Batman deftly ignored the man. Instead he was focusing on a nearby computer console, his mouth twisting into a scowl at the sight of it. Unfortunately, it was damaged, no doubt due to the fight that had been going on in here.

"I'm not going to come down with this like GL, right?" Flash continued, oblivious to the Dark Knight's mood. "I mean, I know we're not the best of friends, but I don't want to start giggling and you decide to bash my head in so that I don't bite you or something."

Even worse, some of the lab equipment he needed was also in a less than workable state. He could see a centrifuge lying against a wall, part of it split open to reveal its mechanical innards. The microscope seemed to be okay, though there was no telling if the lenses were still intact until he looked into them.

"Now that I think about it, why did GL become a zombie? I mean, he wasn't in Central City at all."

He was going to have to move to a lab then. First he needed to collect some more samples, mostly bodily fluids aside from blood.

"It was crazy, I tell ya. One moment he was just sitting there listening to me and the next he was trying to kill me. I'm not going to hold it against him or anything, but it is hard not to take that personally. It's not like I gave him the zombie virus."

There was a brief silence, one that made Batman wonder if Flash was about to stop talking. He was having a slightly difficult time focusing with all that incessant—

"Or did I?"

No, apparently Flash wasn't finished.

"Oh...oh, God. Did I do this to GL? I mean, I know there are some people that can have illnesses and never show that they have it, only to give it to someone else. Is that what's going on? Oh God, it is. It totally is. Oh, GL, I'm sorry, buddy. I didn't mean to make you a zombie. Please don't take that personally."

"Flash," Batman growled.

"I promise I'll pay ya that fifty bucks I owe ya. I'll really do it this time."

"Flash."

"I mean, I might have to borrow a few bucks from Supes, but I'm sure he'll—"

"Flash!"

The red-clad man finally stopped blabbering, looking to the vigilante bewilderingly. "What?"

"Shut. Up."

Wisely, the young man took his words to heart, not even letting a sound slip from his lips. Feeling as if he could think, Batman said, "Now, I need you to tell J'onn to set up the closest lab and a mobile decontamination room. Once you do that, I want you to collect samples of saliva, skin, hair, urine, and, if possible, stool from yourself and Green Lantern. After that, you are to strip out of your uniform and entire the decontamination unit. Do you understand?"

Flash slowly nodded. "How fast do you want this?"

"As soon as possible, so get started. You have until J'onn returns to have everything collected."

Feeling confident the younger man would follow his directions, Batman turned his attention elsewhere. Aside from having as many samples he could analyze, a big reason he gave all of those orders was to give Flash something to do so he didn't worry himself into being useless. People preferred being directed in times of high stress, removing all responsibility of thought from them while they focused on mind-numbing tasks. It was considered relieving when someone else took charge.

"Okay, GL, you're probably not going to thank me later for this, but I'm gonna need you to relax every muscle in your body so I can get your pee and poop."

Then again…