A sudden flash of white light and the diminishing echo of chattering crowds as the familiar monotone of Doctor Fate's chant resumed and brought the team back from their glimpse into the near past. Once the mantra had ceased, Green Arrow and the others- now fully informed of their teammates' predicament- immediately prepared to correct the situation. "Well," he sighed matter-o-factly, "now that we know how you guys got into this mess, let's see if we can't get you out." He looked from Batman- his eyes and ears alert and attuned to Arrow's statement- to Green Lantern, vigilantly perched on the black wolf's back. "Any suggestions how to..." awkwardly his voice died down as, upon receiving an annoyed glance from the furred and feathered five, he was reminded of their inability to speak. "Right..."
"Well shoot," said Vigilante, perplexed. "How're we supposed to git ya'lls back to normal if ye can't even tell us where to start?" Just as lost as their teammates, Batman and the others sat in silence for a moment before Flash zealously blurted out an idea.
"We could write it down for them to read," he said with an accomplished smirk. "We all still know how to do that right?"
"Uh, one problem with that plan of yours," replied Green Lantern as he unenthusiastically looked at his wings, and then shared a defeated stare at Flash, and the others' paws.
"Oh," sighed the scraggly fox, defeated, "right. Well, what about ty-"
"-Tried that already too," interrupted Superman as he gestured to Batman.
"Okay, I'm out of ideas."
"Perhaps there is another way to reestablish communication amongst the team..." suggested Doctor Fate as he stood between his teammates- both human and animal alike. "I may be able to forge a telepathic link amongst the League. While verbal communication has been lost, contact through the mind is still present." At first everyone was silent, congested with the mixed emotions of joy, confusion, and gratitude for Fate's inventive proposition.
"Do what you gotta," encouraged Vigilante, as he and Green Arrow- along with the compliant nods of Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman- approved of the suggestion.
"Very well," replied Doctor Fate, as he raised his open hands and proceed to repeat a series of inaudible mantras to himself. After several minutes and a sudden blast of blue light, his chanting ceased and he calmly confirmed that his work had been done. "The telepathic link has been set," he declared. "Communication can now be accomplished." At first there was only silence as everyone sat, unsure if anything had been done and how to test for success.
'How do we know it worked?' Booster Gold thought to himself as he awkwardly looked around the room at the now annoyed expressions directed towards him. Irritated, and, slightly amused, Wonder Woman let out a low, sarcastic, sigh as she looked to Superman.
'I guess that answers that question,' she commented as she literally shared her thoughts.
"Ha-ha, agreed," Green Arrow said aloud, "With that out of the way, let's get down to business. Now that we know how this happened, any idea how to fix it?" He asked as he took a knee and waited for Batman or Superman to respond.
'The transformation was done by splicing and recoding DNA,' Batman replied calmly. 'Theoretically, the only way to reverse it is to repeat the splicing process, this time, with human DNA.'
"Okay," said Arrow obediently. "You're the scientist. Lead the way-"
'-Wait,' interrupted Wonder Woman. 'What do you mean, 'theoretically'?'
'You mean you don't know for sure if this'll work?' asked Superman and Green Lantern anxiously.
'Until I can determine exactly how the Legion's serum was composed, we can't be sure of anything.' Batman replied as he stood up and made his way to the Watchtower's laboratory. 'We don't even have enough of the serum to apply the studies to.'
'So you mean we're working from scratch?' Green Lantern asked as he followed Batman down the hall. Gliding overhead, he anxiously waited for a response as the black wolf calmly continued on his way to the lab.
'Yes.'
In the Watchtower's main laboratory, all was silent, tense, as Batman began work on analyzing and trying to decode the mystery of the Legion's splicing serum. With the help of Green Arrow, and some of the other human leaguers operating on the computers and searching for data under Batman's advisement, the search for an antidote was instantly underway. Pacing back and forth monitoring the work done on the lab's computers, Bruce studied the hacking and scientific skill-set of his teammates, advising and giving directions on what to do and how it should be done. Though everything seemed to be going swimmingly, Bruce couldn't help but feel irritated. It was bad enough he had gotten into this mess in the first place, how could he even take himself seriously, giving orders while on all fours, covered in fur and a tail. Still monitoring the League's progress, he stopped and stood between two of the main monitors to study the results and give further direction, before turning around in response to the whispering of two men commenting on the Dark Knight's current appearance.
Staring intently, Bruce turned around completely and stood in silence listening to their jokes and comments about the situation a moment longer before making a comment of his own, 'Find anything yet?' he asked as he stood before them, slightly amused at the sight of the two grown men jumping in fear, startled by the sound of the cold and unemotional voice in their heads.
"-Woah!" one of them shouted in fear, before he looked down at the ominous black wolf that calmly sat before them. Despite his furred face and four paws, anyone familiar with the Dark Knight was aware that, no matter what his form, that concentrated expression, and that penetrating stare were more than enough to know that he was not amused, or in the mood for any jokes. "Oh, yeah," stuttered one of the lab's scientists as he subordinately addressed the Alpha male in the room before turning back to the computer to recite their findings. "We ran an analysis of the sample you gave us," they dictated while continuing to tap and peck at the keyboards. "The key components of the serum confirm that it is a splicing agent. We're picking up on heavy traces of mammalian DNA."
"Anything specific?" asked Shayera, as she, Vixen and Superman entered the lab and joined Batman in hearing the findings.
"Actually, yes," one of the scientists replied. "Of the two syringes recovered, each is comprised of large quantities of lion and fox DNA, respectively." She dictated while awkwardly looking from the alleles on the computer, to Superman.
'Well that explains Flash and I,' Superman said while staring at the two big computer monitors, following the extensive genetic sequences on the screen. 'But what about you guys?' He asked looking at his best friend, 'I take it this means the contents of the syringes were activated at random?' He hypothesized, before waiting for Bruce to correct him.
'No,' Batman replied as he approached the computers, placing his paws on the keyboard counter and pulling himself into a standing position to better read the lab's findings. 'These are only two of the syringes we found in yours and Flash's cells when we escaped. They only possess the genetic makeup of a fox and a lion because they were intended to turn the two of you into just that: a fox,' he paused and looked back at Superman, 'and a lion. They were composed individually, one for each of us. Otherwise they could have mixed together any combination of DNA, leaving us as deformed hybrids.'
'So that confirms that this was planned,' said Superman as he held his paw in front of his face and studied his claws. 'But why animals? I mean, if The Legion was trying to neutralize our powers was it really necessary to take it this far?'
"More importantly, are we any closer to changing you guys back?" asked Shayera.
'I think this was their actual intent,' stated Batman, still staring at the monitors, forcing back his urge to use the keyboard and further the research, knowing that his paws remained a typing handicap. 'Like I said before, if the only purpose was to eliminate powers then John and I wouldn't have received it.'
"So they were trying to turn you guys into animals?" asked Vixen, both she and Shayera still confused as to where this discussion was going. Silently Batman nodded, his eyes still glued to the screen. "But why?"
"Yeah, if they were trying to axe you guys this sure is a weird- and, overly elaborate- way of doing it. I mean, since when did Luthor start practicing animal cruelty?"
'How do we know they were really going to kill us when the transformation was complete?' riddled Batman. At first there was no response as the group remained silent. Finally Superman approached his colleague and, breaking their telepathic conversation with Vixen and Shayera, asked Batman to follow him to the far corner of the room for a private discussion.
"What are you talking about Bruce?" he asked, a slight hint of skepticism in his voice. "If they weren't trying to weaken us for the final battle, then what was the Legion trying to do?"
"I never said this wasn't a part of their plan," Bruce replied, "Obviously this puts us at a disadvantage." He said as he lifted his leg and casually scratched his side while standing. "But who's to say they would be the ones to finish it...?" Lost, Clark raised an eyebrow and waited for Bruce to continue, just as John and Diana entered the lab.
"There you two are. You see Flash anywhere?" they asked as they joined the conversation.
"No," Bruce replied blandly, "But unless he plans on staying like this all night, he'd better turn up soon."
"You've got an antidote?" Diana asked excitedly.
"We've calculated the formula and can begin composing it soon, but we'll each need to provide a blood sample."
"More needles?" Green Lantern groaned. "What for now?"
"Each of those vials was intended specifically for one of us," Bruce explained. "In order for an antidote to be completely effective we'll each need to supply a sample of our own DNA and use it to genetically override the effects of Grodd's serum."
"But wait," interrupted Clark as he presented Bruce with a pressing roadblock in his plan. "If the antidote is meant to be individualized like the serum itself, then how are you three going to change back?" he asked looking at John, Diana and Bruce. "You said we only obtained samples that were intended for Flash and I."
"What?" asked Diana, agitated. Calmly, Bruce proceeded to acknowledge Clark's observation.
"We've managed to extract just enough of the serum's chemical make-up to replicate and divide it enough to accommodate each of us," Bruce replied as his teammates all shared a sigh of relief. "Temporarily..."
"Temporarily?" shouted John. "So you mean once we're human again we won't stay that way?"
"Not unless we can obtain the proper dosage of The Legion's original serum. With what we have right now, the antidote would only last us until the morning." Bruce continued as he turned and pointed towards a whirling centrifuge containing several vials of a clear magenta-colored liquid.
"Well how are we supposed to get another sample large enough to change us back permanently?" Diana asked as she took a seat and testily waited for Bruce to respond, her tail impatiently tapping on the floor at her side.
"Yeah, the only way to even try to get more would be to go back to The Legion's headquarters, and we don't even know where to start looking," commented Green Lantern.
"First, let's find Wally and get these blood samples out of the way," Bruce said as he turned and made his way towards the centrifuge on the other side of the lab. "We can formulate an antidote that will last long enough to let us put together a plan with some dignity," he rolled his eyes and sighed as he looked back at the two lab technicians who resumed their muttered gossip. "It'll be a lot easier to work when everyone has fingers and the ability to speak again."
"Agreed," Clark said as he, John and Diana followed Bruce to a prepared lab table to give blood.
"Man, I'm telling you," sighed Green Lantern as one of the lab workers prepared his leg for the needle's injection, "After today I never wanna see another syringe again."
"You and me both," laughed Superman as he closed his eyes and strenuously willed for his claws to remain retracted. "You and me both."