Metropolis had a certain radiance to it. When compared to its sister cities, it stood as a shining example of the heights mankind could achieve, creating a future of hope and happiness. It was the envy of the eastern seaboard with its technological advancements, architectural designs, and a booming economy, or so the brochures claimed. Those pamphlets had been Diana's first introduction and piece of research into the city when she had entered Man's World.

For all its brilliance though, the Amazon preferred her own protectorate. Gateway was a more humble city to Metropolis, yet no less magnificent. As much as she loved her city, it was not at the forefront of advancement that Metropolis was.

Though her visits had been occasional, it was serving to be a hindrance in her and Flash's search for Superman. The moment the two Leaguers had arrived, they had set their plan into motion, Flash racing through the streets at super speeds to either attract or discover Superman's location. Meanwhile, Diana took to the skies, searching for the familiar colors of red and blue.

Alas, an hour had passed without anything to show for. Opting to meet on a building with a large globe jutting upward from its roof, Diana and Flash felt a change of plan was needed.

"I don't know what to say," the speedster said, puzzlement laced in his voice. "I did everything I could to make Supes poke his head out just to make sure there wasn't any trouble going on and I didn't get so much as a peep."

"I had the same result as well," Diana replied, her hands resting on her hips. A breeze blew by, causing her dark hair to wave in the wind. "I believe a change in tactics would be appropriate."

"Sounds good to me." There was a moment's pause before Flash added, "How about we check the more crime-ridden areas? Like the harbor, or the industrial sector? The factories and power plant type places. I bet anything that if Big Blue was too distracted to come out, it's because he's handling some crime, or something."

The Amazon could find no fault with that logic. "How familiar are you with where the factories are in his city?"

"Not very, but I'm a fast learner. You can take the harbor while I scout out everything else."

Flash didn't even wait for her agreement before he became a red blur, racing off towards the edge of the roof before disappearing over its edge. Staring after the red-clad man's exit, Diana soon lifted up into the air before she began flying towards the east. Because it was night time, the ocean in the distance appeared black despite the lights of Metropolis shining onto its surface.

In no time, Diana was soon making her way between all of the warehouses, keeping her eyes open for any shady activity. If there was a drug shipment, or an arms deal occurring—much like what had occurred during her original foray into the city with Superman—the Man of Steel would no doubt be close by. Raising a hand up, the Amazon activated her comm link, making sure to keep her voice calm and collect as she hailed, "Superman, this is Diana, please respond."

This had been something she had been doing ever since she had arrived in the city. Like her previous attempts too, she received no answer. Diana wasn't one to become discouraged by the lack of success, but considering what was going on, she was beginning to feel an uncomfortable feeling in her stomach. Something wasn't right about this.

"Superman, do you copy?" she asked again as she drifted between two more buildings. A glance to either one had shown there were no lights to signify the presence of people. Her hearing—though not at the same sensitivity as Superman's, she could still hear much better than the average person—did not pick up the drone of heavy machinery at work, no the chatter of bored shipping workers. In fact, the entire harbor was closed down.

She felt that this was out of the ordinary.

"Flash, have you found anything?" she then called out to her partner. Unlike her unanswered calls to Superman, Flash was quick to respond.

"Nothing on my end. I did see that one factory Supes had that fight in last week, but nothing seems out of place with it. How about you?"

"Is it normal for a harbor to have no activity occurring?"

"Depends if there's any scheduled arrivals. Try and find the master planner for the place. It'll tell you what's going on."

That wasn't a bad idea. After informing Flash that's what she would do, Diana raised higher into the air, looking for anything that looked like the headquarters for the harbor. That turned out to be quite easy to find. Much like a control tower at an airport, there was one such building towards the south side of the harbor. Though there were a lack of satellite dishes, the height of the tower in comparison to the warehouses made it stand out.

Heading towards the tower, Diana noticed a fire escape on one side of the building. Deciding this was her best point of entry, she landed on top of the fire escape and saw a door nearby. Grabbing the handle, she gave a quick jerk and forced it open, pieces of what used to be a deadbolt clattering on the floor and even falling between the metal bars of the fire escape.

Entering the tower, Diana had to pause as her eyes adjusted to the dark room. It took a moment, but soon she could make out the computer terminals, desk stations, and even a large whiteboard hanging from the wall. It was the whiteboard that drew her interest, the Amazon strolling towards it.

A grid made of black tape was on the board, forming small rectangles. In each of the rectangular boxes were letters and numbers. From what she could make of it, there were the names of ships to the left side of the grid, followed by either the word Arrival or Departure. Numbers indicating times were next, which were followed by random codes of letters and numbers she could not identify. Looking through the column with the times, she soon found out there were no scheduled ships arriving or leaving the harbor for the night. It seemed this was just a dead end.

"False alarm, Flash," she then spoke into her comm link. "The harbor is closed for the night."

There was a moment before Flash responded. "I'm not finding anything on my end either. We should have found Superman by now."

"Agreed." Diana sighed. There was a sinking feeling in her stomach, which told her that something was most certainly wrong. Unless Superman appeared before them or in Happy Harbor, they were going to have assume he was missing-in-action, or worse.

"I don't like this, Diana," Flash said then.

"Neither do I, Flash," she replied. "Neither do I."


"Estimated time to destination: 3 minutes," the on-board GPS system droned out.

Hands gripping the cockpits joystick, Batman stared out the windshield, spotting a glow in the distance, one that was growing bigger with every passing second. Normally the lights of streetlamps and buildings would be casting out light pollution, blocking out the stars in the night sky for anyone within view of it. Now though, the light of the city was replaced with fire and smoke. Considering how much time had gone by since the initial outbreak, it was nothing short of miraculous that the city hadn't collapsed onto itself.

"Hawkgirl, J'onn, are you in position?" the vigilante asked over his comm link.

There was a moment before Hawkgirl responded, "We are, Batman. Canisters are active and air re-breathers are operational. We're waiting for the go."

Excellent. "Remember the plan. I'll make a sweep of the city and you two cover any areas I miss."

"Roger that."

One hand leaving the joystick, Batman began pressing a few buttons, followed by flicking several switches. This activated the gas disbursement system on board his plane, switching the controls from the defensive system to the one he desired. Buttons and triggers that fired missiles and starbursts were now primed to release the antitoxin onboard his aircraft.

Eyes darting to the dashboard, Batman looked at one of the gauges, checking for the presence of wind. According to the gauge, there was a four to five mile per hour wind from the northeast, something he would need to take into consideration.

It was about then he reached the Central City city limits. Angling his plane towards the north side of the city, the Dark Knight couldn't help but glance out his side window, eyeing the damage below. He couldn't repress the distaste he felt as he saw Jokerized people were still destroying whatever they laid their hands on. Intellectually he knew it wasn't their fault, but he couldn't help chide the people inside his head. Taking the moral high ground was an instinctual urge for those on the outside looking in.

"Batman to all points, I'm detecting a wind current from the northeast," he reported to the other League members. "Make adjustments as needed. I'll be beginning my first run shortly."

Finishing his report, the vigilante pressed a button to cut off his communication line. There was no point in hearing either of the aliens confirming his words. Closing in on the northeast corner of the city, Batman made sure to put some distance between them, making a u-turn before flying straight at Central City.

His index finger rested on the trigger then. Taking in consideration the wind currents and the speed of his plane, he needed to begin dropping the antitoxin early so that the wind would blow the gas into the city. The issue became of timing: if he went too early, some of the antitoxin would end up wasted; if he waited too long, that was a section of the city he would miss and he did not want to miss an inch. As the city grew bigger as he drew near it, he began a mental countdown.

He depressed the trigger.

He was about a hundred feet outside the first row of buildings when an orange-colored gas began trailing his plane. In the blink of an eye, he was over the city, crossing over it as the skyscrapers blurred beneath him.

As soon as he reached the other side of the city, Batman took a right turn, his plane leaning to a side as his view shifted from a dark horizon to the smoking buildings and streets. Eyeing a gauge to his left, he made note of how much antitoxin he still had on board, estimating he had a few more passes he could make. Straightening out the plane, he began crossing over Central City again, only this time he saw a thin orange cloud floating down between buildings, conforming to the grid-like structure of the streets.

Accelerating, Batman raced towards the other side of the city again, making a wider turn to the right and repeating his action.


High above the city, Shayera watched as the Batwing crisscrossed Central City. Patiently she waited, her sharp eyes spotting areas that were being missed by each pass the Dark Knight made. Occasionally those spots would be covered in the orange gas Batman dropped on the city and she would put her focus on other areas.

Activating her comm link, the Thanagarian spoke, "How much more of the antidote do you think Batman has left?"

There was a brief moment before J'onn answered, "I believe he still has a few more passes before he runs empty."

The winged woman nodded, even though it was a pointless gesture. Some time before Batman began spraying Central City, he had cut off his comm link, so she knew he wasn't listening. She was guessing he wanted to focus completely on the task at hand, something she couldn't fault him for.

However, just because he wasn't in a talking mood didn't mean she wasn't. Because of the gas flooding the streets, Shayera wasn't able to see what it was doing to the people below. They could be cured, or their conditions exacerbated for all she knew. "Can you tell if this is working?" she asked then.

J'onn took longer to respond this time, something she was able to keep in perspective. The Martian was trying to be thorough in his mental search, so there was no need to be nervous if he was taking his time. No news meant things weren't getting worse, or so she told herself.

Then, "It appears to be working. The mania I'm sensing is beginning to recede and more rational thought is emerging."

Flash is going to be so happy, she thought, the corner of her mouth twitching up into a smirk. It looked like J'onn and Batman had made the right antidote after all.

Suddenly, Batman's voice came over the comm link. "I have about two more passes I can make," he reported. "Once I leave the city, it's up to you two to cover what I missed."

Shayera focused her attention on the city below. As far as she could tell, Batman had done his best to cover as much of the city as possible. There were a few places she could immediately pick out, mostly at the outskirts, and there were one or two spots closer to the center that did not appear to be receiving any of the antidote.

"J'onn, if you cover the northwest sector, I'll get the southeast," the Thanagarian said.

"Understood."

Gliding through the air, Shayera headed towards her handpicked section. Spotting an antidote-free area, she pulled out one of the many small canisters she carried in a bag at her hip. Holding it firmly with one hand, she used her other hand to grip the top and turn it to the right. On the canister's lid was a tiny square window, a number appearing in it as she turned it. When the number five appeared, she stopped, holding the canister away from her before she let go.

Keeping her eyes on it, she watched as it fell at an increasing acceleration before it suddenly combusted, a large cloud of orange gas exploding in all directions. This was when Shayera really paid attention, making sure the cloud floated down into the gas-free area. It wasn't perfect, but she received the results as wanted as the orange gas covered that section of the city.

Immediately, the winged woman darted towards another part of the city, putting on another five-second fuse on a canister. Reaching another cure-free zone, she dropped the canister, pausing long enough to watch it exploded and drifted downward into the correct place.

Over and over she did this, though she noticed quite a few other orange clouds appearing to the north where J'onn was. The Thanagarian was sure to keep her altitude though, so she could create as large of a cloud as she could to cover whatever area was lacking in the antidote.

Eventually, there came a time where she couldn't see any other place she was needed. In fact, things were quieting down with J'onn as well, until there weren't any canisters being detonated. Of course, it was at that time the Batwing entered her peripheral vision, circling around Central City's outskirts.

"Is that everyone?" Batman asked.

"Think so," Shayera answered, her head slowly moving from side to side as she did another scan of the city. "I'm not seeing anymore hot spots."

"Neither am I," J'onn added.

"Hold on, I'm doing a thermal imaging of the city," Batman spoke then. Curiously, the redhead looked towards the Batwing, watching as it flew over Central City again, though at a more sedate pace than what it had been. It was several minutes and a few more passes before the vigilante finally said, "Scans are clear. Time to clear out."

"Excellent," Shayera said out loud, mostly to herself. Considering she hadn't used her comm link, she doubted the other two heard her. Activating her earpiece, she then spoke, "We'll rendezvous at headquarters."


Crossing multiple time zones was rough on the body. Though the hour hand could change without much trouble, the body didn't recognize that change, its internal clock set on what it perceived as day and night. Jetlag was just beginning to settle into Batman's mind as he landed his plane in the cave.

J'onn and Hawkgirl were on their way to Happy Harbor following their success in Central City. Unfortunately, the Justice League Headquarters lacked a hanger since its members had little need for vehicles. That meant he had to drop his plane off and teleport in, an extra step he was resigned to.

As the engine slowly died, the cockpit's canopy opening up and Batman hauled his weary body out of the cockpit, dropping and landing on his feet on the floor. Walking towards the wing, he lowered his body down so he could move beneath it. Emerging on the other side, he made his way to a couple of large tanks, a long hose lying on the ground next to them.

Grabbing the hose, the vigilante dragged it back to the jet, pulling himself and the hose up on top of the plane's wing. With practiced ease he located the fuel panel and opened it. Pulling on the hose to get more slack, he then plunged the hose's nozzle into the open panel. Making sure it was secure in its place, he then hopped off the wing and made his way back to the tanks. Finding a nearby control panel, he turned it on before he initiated the fueling program. It would take some time before it was complete, but at the very least he'd have a fully gassed plane at a moment's notice.

There were other maintenance issues he'd have to deal with, but right now he had a meeting to go to. Raising a hand to his cowl, he activated his comm link and inquired, "J'onn, are you at HQ?"

The Martian was quick to respond. "I am. Are you requesting a transport?"

"I am."

"Very well. Fifteen seconds."

Calmly Batman waited until a white light began to overwhelm his vision. The cave vanished a moment later until the light began to dim, the sight of the Monitor Room coming into focus. Immediately he spotted J'onn by a computer station, his orange eyes looking to the vigilante.

"Any word from Wonder Woman and Flash?" the Dark Knight asked as he stepped off the teleportation pad.

J'onn shook his head as he replied, "No word as of yet, though the signal from their comm links indicate they are on their way back."

"And Superman?"

"Nothing still."

There was a pause, something Batman couldn't help but narrow his eyes at. There was something else J'onn was keeping quiet about. "There's something else," he pressed.

The Martian appeared hesitant, but eventually gave in. "I tried to locate Superman by his comm link as well. The signal is dead."

Batman cursed under his breath before he turned away, heading towards the exit. He heard J'onn following a moment later, his longer legs allowing him to catch up with the vigilante. "You believe something's happened to him," the Martian stated succinctly.

"Until proven otherwise, yes," he replied bluntly. "I'll wait until I hear the report, but I highly doubt it will be positive."

Out of the corner of his eye he saw J'onn pull up next to him, matching the dark-clad man's pace. "I am of the same mind," the taller man admitted. "This foe of yours is proving to be quite formidable."

The rest of the trip was made in silence, mostly because Batman didn't like the idea of a psychopath being an equal match for some of the most powerful heroes on the planet. It seemed ludicrous to think about it, but so far the evidence proved otherwise.

As they reached the meeting room, they found Hawkgirl lounging in her seat, her legs propped up on the table, her arms on the armrests. She was quick to note there were only two of them. "The others aren't back yet?"

"They're on their way," Batman replied as he made his way to his own seat, J'onn doing the same. He decided not to mention his and J'onn's suspicion regarding Superman's continued absence and fortunately the winged woman didn't ask, seeming content in his answer. This was something he found surprising considering he knew just how inquisitive the Thanagarian was.

"They better hurry up then. We have a debrief to go through," she muttered, shifting in her seat, but not bothering to move her legs from the table.

How gracious of her to only want to hear things once. Still, at least he wouldn't have to repeat himself over and over. With nothing left to say, the three sat in silence, waiting for their teammates to return.

In was a while before the doors to the meeting room were slammed open, Flash standing in the middle of the doorway with his arms extended out to either side of him. There was a pleading look on his face the moment he looked at the three Leaguers. "Please tell me you did it," he begged. "Central City's gonna be okay, right?"

In response, Hawkgirl merely raised an arm up, giving the young man a thumb's up. The tension in Flash's body left him, causing his shoulders to sag as he dropped his head. "Thank you, God, thank you," he whispered.

That was when Diana appeared behind him, placing a hand on his shoulder and gave him a comforting squeeze. She looked as if she wanted to say something to, but it seemed she could tell there wasn't anything more than needed to be said.

Unfortunately, they had a debriefing to do, which had to interrupt Flash's display of relief. "There's been extensive damage to the infrastructure, but nothing that can't be repaired," Batman spoke, earning him the attention of the entire room. "Most, if not all, inhabitants of the city have been inoculated, but it will take them time to overcome the effects of the Joker Venom."

"How long are we talking about?" Flash asked, straightening his posture out as he dropped his arms to his side.

"A day, two at most. It's hard to say considering this is a new strain. For now, Central City is out of danger."

Flash and Diana began taking their seats then. "Any chance of a repeat performance?" the red-clad man questioned.

"Can't say. Until we can determine what the Joker's ultimate goal is, he could attack as many times as he wants, or he could be finished."

"That's comforting," Flash said sarcastically.

"Can't say the same thing about us," Hawkgirl interjected then. Sometime during Batman's briefing she had slid her feet off the table and was leaning forward in her chair, her arms resting on the tabletop in front of her. "Since you two came in without Superman, I'm guessing he's still missing."

Diana was slow to nod her affirmation, but she did so as she replied, "You're correct. Flash and I searched all over Metropolis and we couldn't find him at all. I even tried hailing him over his communicator and he never answered. It's as if he vanished into thin air."

Batman glanced to J'onn, who caught his look. The Martian cleared his throat, gaining the attention of the room. "Just a short while ago I tried to locate Superman by his comm link, but I discovered he is currently not broadcasting a signal at this time."

Flash groaned. "The sun's practically up by now and you're telling me we don't even have a lead on Supes? This just gets better and better."

There was a silence then. It was obvious tempers were beginning to flare, but were currently being restrained if only in the name of professionalism. There was repressed energy just begging to be unleashed. Unfortunately for the Leaguers, the one person they could hit was just as unavailable as Superman.

They were being picked off one by one, a feeling that did not settle well with any one of them.

"Okay, so searching for possible hiding places for the Joker didn't work," Hawkgirl spoke then. "That means we need to change tactics. So far we're only reacting to what this guy is doing—so we need to flip this around and make him react to us."

There were nods of agreement, save from Batman. He was more engrossed in his own thoughts. The chief one was why the Joker was doing this. What did he stand to gain from targeting the Justice League? He couldn't think of a benefit other than there was a larger plan in the works, one that required that the League be out of the way before it was implemented.

Yet, the madman was going out of his way to make sure everyone knew he was behind everything. It made more sense for him to keep himself hidden out of sight until the last possible moment, or when it was required of him to make an appearance. While there hadn't been a physical sighting of the green-haired clown, his fingerprints on everything that had happened today were obvious.

Damn it, where was the benefit?

Suddenly, the hologram project came to life, which startled Batman out of his thoughts. As the holographic image appeared, alarm welled up within the vigilante. The only reason this would be happening is because of an immanent threat. Through a surveillance program in the Monitor Room, an alert system was activated when the program detected a high-level threat—namely an alien invasion, or a suspect on the Interpol Most Wanted list had been detected. A glance to the other Leaguers told him they were all just as astonished by this new development.

When the image appeared, it was of a Metropolis news channel, a reporter crouching next to an open door in a helicopter. A microphone clutched tightly in his hand, the reporter was shouting to be heard over the loud spinning of the helicopter blades.

"This just happened mere minutes ago. We're making another pass, but you'll be able to see the devastation in a few seconds."

That was when the cameraman zoomed on the scene beyond the reporter and the description was quite apt for what was being shown. Chunks of buildings and skyscrapers were missing with piles of debris lying on the street.

"Holy crap!" Flash exclaimed, jerking his head to look at Diana, who was doing the same with a look of astonishment on her face. "We just left there, what, less than half an hour ago? It didn't look anything like that!"

That was when the reporter shouted, "Look out!" and the helicopter suddenly took evasive action. The camera shook all over the place, but if Batman wasn't mistaken, he could've sworn he caught sight of a car flying from one side of the image to the other.

"Those people are under attack!" Diana exclaimed, standing straight up as she knocked her chair over. Flash and Hawkgirl were on their feet a moment later, the three heroes turning to head for the exit and most likely the Monitor Room.

That left Batman and J'onn as the only ones watching the image as someone was screaming, "Get us out of here! Get us out of here!" over and over. And it was because of this they were able see to the helicopter suddenly rock violently from side to side before going completely still.

"Ohhhh, Looooooois…"

The sound of that voice caused all of the Leaguers to freeze where they were at. As Diana, Flash, and Hawkgirl turned around to look in shock, Batman and J'onn stared with wide eyes as a familiar, yet disfigured face appeared on screen through the open helicopter door.

His face was pale and stood out in contrast to the dark colors of his blue and red uniform. Eyes bulging out of their sockets and a smile that covered the entirety of his lower face, it took less of a second for all of them to recognize who they were staring at.

"I know you're heeeeere, Loooooois," Superman sang off tune, his manic expression growing wider. "Come out, come out, wherever you aaaaaaaaaare!"