*A/N: Here be the next chapter! Keep in mind that all of this is a flashback being collected by Dr. Fate from our furry crime fighters. Hopefully these next few chapters will shine some light on how this mess started. Here's the next chapter. Enjoy!
In the Metropolis City jewelers, glass and metal littered the floor as a shadow blasted through a wall and violently crashed on the floor. As the dust and debris cleared, the exhausted silhouette of an apprehended thief- Copperhead- lay propped against the wall, as his opponent gracefully floated down from the air, resting her hands on her hips, watching as the spineless wretch cowardly surrendered. "Well that's the last of them," sighed Superman as he landed beside Wonder Woman. With an unconscious Shade draped over his shoulder, he proceeded to turn and face Green Lantern and Flash as they escorted Sinestro and Killer Frost- trapped inside the force field of Lantern's ring- to the wall beside their partners in crime.
The team continued to muse over the apprehended criminals as Batman approached, his eyes fixed on his handheld computer as he deduced the reasoning behind the gang's poorly executed heist. Skeptical, he approached Shade and began the interrogation. "Who are you working for this time?" he asked as he snatched the creep up by his coat.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Shade snidely riddled back.
"Judging by how unorganized and how easy it was to take these creeps down," commented Green Lantern, "I doubt they're following anyone's orders."
"Seriously," agreed Flash. "Just ran a search of the building, everything's where we left it. They didn't take a thing. Heh," he chuckled as he confidently leaned on Superman's shoulder, "Either these guys are really losing their touch, or we're just that good!"
"Don't jinx yourself," mumbled Copperhead under his breath. "You jerks'll get yours..."
"What's that supposed to mean?" questioned Wonder Woman as she took a step toward the reptilian rebel. Comically, he flinched and closed his eyes- as well as his mouth- in fear, much to the Amazon princess' amusement. Still contemplating the thief's words, the League prepared to further investigate the warning, but within moments it was shrugged off as an empty threat, and within no time, the authorities arrived and proceeded to apprehend the criminals, allowing for the league to further analyze the crime scene. Though it had been confirmed that no valuables had been stolen, something still didn't add up. "I don't get it," Wonder Woman thought to herself as she and Green Lantern surveyed the perimeter of the building. "If they weren't here for the jewels, then what was the point? Why even break in?"
"When you're as crazy as those losers, who knows?" he replied as he confirmed another locked safe. "Those guys could've just been bored-"
"Or maybe Lex is the bored one," interjected Flash as he joined his teammates in the discussion. "Maybe he just got tired of getting his butt kicked, so he decided to let those goons get caught." At first, the others stared at Flash impatiently, but in time his point was ignored, until Batman and Superman approached, voicing their own opinions.
"Call me arrogant, but that was almost too easy," Superman commented as the team exited the building.
"Can we agree to both statements?" Green Lantern joked with a smirk.
"He's got a point," Batman agreed as he contemplated the scenario. "Think about it: they broke into the building in broad daylight, stole nothing, and practically let themselves get caught. There had to be reason for this."
"Hello," sighed Flash as he confidently repeated his hypothesis. "Lex definitely sent those losers here to get busted. The Injustice League is falling apart, so he set his lackeys up to get caught."
"As low as that sounds, I don't think an egomaniac like Lex Luthor would pull a stunt like that," replied Wonder Woman.
"Unless they weren't the ones being-" just before he could finish his statement, Batman flinched and clenched his neck in pain before wearily dropping to his knees.
"Batman!" Wonder Woman shouted as she and the others ran to their unconscious teammate's aid to address his sudden pain; but before any of them could even determine what had happened, they too were also struck with a sudden twinge of stinging pain in their arms, legs and necks- causing them to weakly pass out on the city sidewalk. As the others slowly drifted out of consciousness, Superman, barely awake himself, looked down to his arm and found the source of his pain: a large dart-like syringe filled with a metallic-pink liquid which was quickly emptying into his veins! Summoning his last bit of strength, he weakly reached for the syringe, but his efforts to remove the object were futile as he too eventually passed out on the floor...
Behind the walls of an empty cell, Wonder Woman lay slumped against the wall, unconscious and unaware of her surroundings until the odd sounds of gurgling and sniffles woke her subconscious. Sleepily, she opened her eyes, only to find that she was trapped in a small grey room with a single, barred window peeking outside. Anxious and disoriented, she immediately staggered to her feet, her eyes still adjusting to the dim light shining into the cell. Once she had finally regained consciousness, Wonder Woman managed to stand and step away from her spot in the corner, but winced as a sudden stinging pain ran through her calf. Reacting to the pain, she crouched down and clenched her leg, taking a moment to examine it for any wounds. Under the dull light, her eyes strained to find the source of the pain; but upon checking her leg she saw no sign of any cuts or scars, nothing except for an oddly colored bruise over the source of the stinging: a strange brown spot on her calf, surrounded by several black blotches. Unsure of what the odd mark was and how it had gotten on her leg, Diana suspiciously continued to study the mark further, until her attention was redirected to the odd gurgling sound coming from the back of her cell. Apprehensively, she proceeded to investigate, but after a few small steps into the shadows, she lost her footing and tripped over a large mass on the floor.
Pushing herself up from the ground, Diana looked to see what it was that she'd tripped over, only to have her question answered for her as a familiar and, equally disoriented, voice began to babble and excitedly ask what was going on. "Whoa, what the-" the voice stammered as its owner quickly sprang to his feet. "Where am I? Whose-"
"Flash!" Wonder Woman exclaimed in relief. "Thank Hera."
"Diana?" the Scarlet Speedster replied with a yawn, sleepily blinking his eyes, trying to get his bearings. "Where are we? What's going on?"
"I wish I knew," Diana replied. "Were you here the whole time? Sleeping?" she asked, humorously realizing that the odd sound that had woken her was probably his snoring.
"I guess. Anyone else in here?" Flash asked as he surveyed the dark room.
"I don't think so," Diana replied as she walked toward the little window peeking outside the cell. Spotting several other cells scattered through the hall outside, she tried to see if she could get a look inside of the other cells. "The others must be in one of those cages." She inquired, pointing to the window. "We have to get out and find them, so we can figure out where we are."
"No problem," Flash replied as he approached the thick steel door. "I'll vibrate through the door and let you out. Then we can look for the others." Flash explained as he walked past Wonder Woman. After taking a moment to stretch and analyze the door, he took a step back before running at the door, only to collide with it head on.
"Are you alright?" Wonder Woman asked as she helped her friend to his feet.
"Uggh… Super," Flash groaned as he rubbed his throbbing head. "What gives? This door can't be that thick?" he griped as he stood and proceeded to run at the door again, only to be knocked out a second time.
"Maybe I should try," Wonder Woman suggested as she sat Flash aside and took her turn in front of the door. Her fist clenched, she drew her arm back and then hurled it forward in an attempt to punch the mighty door open, but as her hand made contact with the hulking piece of metal, like Flash before her, the only response the Amazon received was that of the shrill pain that pulsed through her arm. "Ouch!" she cried as she gripped her aching fist and stared up at the victorious door.
"You too?" commented Flash in regards to Wonder Woman's failure. "This door is no joke. Must have been built specifically to keep us in," he continued.
"But it looks like an ordinary cell door," Diana replied as she ran her hand over the heavy piece of metal. "There has to be a way to get through it. Maybe we're just not trying hard enough?" She mused as she made her way to the back wall of the cell; turning back towards the door, she began to run forward before leaping into the air with the intent of flying through the steel blockade. However, her intent of flight was short-lived as she quickly came down on the concrete floor with a thud.
"Are you okay?" Flash asked as he helped his fallen teammate up from the ground.
"Why can't I fly?" Diana whispered to herself as she sat on the ground and looked back at the door.
"Maybe it's the altitude?" Flash suggested. "Or it could be that door. That's probably why I can't move quick enough to vibrate through." He continued as he prepared to take a seat beside her. "Ever since I woke up in this place I've been slow-OW!" he shrieked in pain as he sprung up from the floor and clenched his upper thigh in pain.
"What is it?" Wonder Woman asked as she turned her friend around to study his backside.
"I think I just sat on a piece of glass," he whined as he tentatively rubbed his backside. Studying the source of the pain, Diana calmed her teammate long enough to remove the foreign object from his rear. Holding it in her hand, she then looked back to a now calmed Flash and showed him the cause of his discomfort.
"I think I've found why our powers aren't working," she said as she held up a small syringe, partially filled with pink fluid. "And it's not the altitude..."
*A/N: Sorry about the RIDONCULOUSLY long wait, I've been up to my eyeballs in other obligations (mostly pointless homework XP). But hopefully it was worth the wait! Should have the next chapter up soon. 'Til then, please RxR! ^^