"Babs?" Nightwing swung through Barbara's bedroom window. Her computer was on screen saver mode.
The living room on the way to the kitchen was a mess. Broken ceramic strewn on the floor.
There was a fight.
Her empty wheelchair lay in the middle of the room.
Nightwing heart sank as his legs gave way.
Not Babs.
Not her too.
The lower half of her body is paralyzed.
She has no way to escape . She can't walk, let alone run.
Sitting on the ground, hugging his knees, tears threatened to spill out of his eyes.
What if they kill her?
After all they had been through together, he couldn't imagine life without her.
"Get your act together Dick," he chided himself. "Bab's smart and tough. She's a survivor."
His eye caught sight of the marks on the table made by a switchblade.
The corners of his mouth twitched. There's hope.
He got up and studied them.
Bab's handiwork done in a hurry.
Smart girl.
Her final message - She had been taken by whoever she was last researching on her computer.
Entering Bab's password, the last file Bab's accessed displayed on the screen.
Carl Sands. Shadow Thief.
There's more.
He's working with someone who amplified his power. Bab's hadn't identified his sponsor yet.
"J'onn, Oracle's been kidnapped," Nightwing contacted the Martian Manhunter through the mind link.
-------
Nightwing sounded distraught.
J'onn could understand.
Dick and Barbara were very close, walking the fine line between best friends and lovers.
Entering Bab's apartment, he saw Dick with his eyes fixed on Oracle's laptop, scrolling through some files.
"Are you okay?" J'onn placed his hand on the man's shoulder.
"Yes," he lied.
"It looks like Carl Sands is involved in the kidnapping of the Bat family.
He's got a power boost from his sponsor. Some shell company registered under a series of shell companies,"
Dick's voice was shaky.
"Bab's was tracking the parent company before she was abducted."
"We'll follow the money trail," J'onn's brown furrowed. "Carl should have received payment for the abductions."
"Cyborg, can you scan all payments made to Carl Sands, Shadow Thief?" Martian Manhunter asked through the League's mind link.
Cyborg returned the names of the shell companies in Oracle's file. "They are owned by Wayne Enterprises," Cyborg continued through the mind link.
"What's the latest on Bruce Wayne now that his alter ego has gone missing," Martian Manhunter asked.
"Latest memos circulated in Wayne Enterprises state that Bruce Wayne is on vacation with several beauties in one of his private islands and is not to be disturbed," Cyborg replied.
Minutes later, Bruce Wayne strode into his company's board room and took his seat at the head of the table.
The room fell silent.
"Mr Wayne, aren't you on vacation?" Said the executive beside him.
"Vacation ended early," beamed Bruce as his eyes scanned the room.
"Have a cigar," the man offered him a Cuban.
"I don't smoke," frowned Bruce.
"I insist," the man took out what looked like a cigarette lighter, throwing up flames that surrounded Mr Wayne.
Bruce Wayne morphed into the Martian Manhunter as the flames engulfed him in a fiery prison.
-------
The mind link connecting Justice League members went dead.
"J'onn? You there?"
No response.
Cyborg continued scanning all digital sources for anything related to the disappearance of Batman, the Robins, Oracle or members of the extended Bat family.
An innocuous file he opened contained an odd piece of code.
Something in his system recognized it.
"Shit! That..."
His systems locked up.
A Trojan virus activated!
He realised it was put inside him by Batman during one his "check ups".
Victor was unable to move. His cybernetic limbs refused to comply.
His boom tube activated pulling him in against his will.