Inspector Fisher slammed his palm on the metal table, making the surveillance photos tremble.
"Mr. Flash, we have the evidence! The lab cameras don't lie. It was you who stole the isotopes. Right now, all we want is a confession."
On the other side, Barry Allen, still in his scarlet suit, ran a hand through his hair. A foggy veil obstructed his memory, more impenetrable than a lead wall.
"I'm telling you for the last time, Inspector, I don't remember anything. Damn it! I was after Grodd, and then... nothing."
"Then we have no choice. We have to bring you before a judge. The Justice League will have to understand."
Just then, there was a knock at the door, disconcertingly polite. Before anyone could answer, it opened. The man who entered seemed to alter the very atmosphere of the room. He wore a suit of immaculate white, red boots, and a wide belt in the shape of a capital 'U', made of shining gold. On his chest, a red shield emblazoned with a golden eagle seemed to capture all the light in the room. It was Utopian.
The inspector stood up, red with anger.
"Who gave you the right to enter?Who do you think you are? And why didn't my men stop you?"
A calm smile touched Utopian's lips.
"I introduced myself with a pleasant smile and walked through the door.It's surprisingly effective. Now, let's move on. This file I'm depositing contains the evidence that was sorely missing from yours – energy analyses confirming Grodd-level mental manipulation. Flash is coming with me."
"You think you can just do whatever you want? Who says this evidence is verifiable?" Fisher thundered.
Utopian's smile didn't falter, but his eyes turned cold as steel.
"Think what you want,Inspector. But I guarantee you, a judge presented with these facts would order his immediate release. He is remaining here out of simple courtesy. That courtesy is now over."
Before Fisher could utter another word, the handcuffs around Flash's wrists disintegrated into fine metallic dust, falling in a small pile on the table. Flash stood up.
"Thanks, old friend. I owe you one," Barry murmured, shaking his numb wrists.
"Solidarity is our greatest strength," Utopian replied, heading for the exit. "Solovar and I have discovered who Grodd is getting his technical expertise from."
"Who?"
"Professor Sarah Corwin."
Barry stopped dead in his tracks, his breath catching.
"Sarah?But... how is that possible? She's brilliant, upstanding..."
"The Watchtower compiled the data. Batman's research is conclusive: ever since she joined the Institute, she's been developing technology whose core schematics are identical to the machine Grodd tried to use in Gorilla City. She's under his control, Barry."
Flash's eyes ignited with pure anger.
"We have to stop her.Now!"
With a roar of wind that bent the files on the desks, Flash vanished, leaving Utopian to let out an exasperated sigh.
"Damn it, that hothead! I forgot to tell him about the anti-telepathy headbands..."
---
The machine room of the Institute was a cathedral dedicated to madness. A complex metal arch, bristling with energy crystals, dominated the space. Before it, Grodd, imposing in his armor, monitored the final adjustments. Beside him, Professor Sarah Corwin, her face blank, her eyes glazed with a green haze, operated controls under his direction.
"Surrender, Grodd!" a voice thundered through the air.
Flash was there, standing in the center of the room, his scarlet costume vibrating with anger.
Grodd turned slowly, a grimace of triumph distorting his simian jaw.
"Ah.The little speedster comes to admire the dawn of my reign. The pinnacle of my vengeance against you, against the traitor Solovar, and against the entire Gorilla City!"
As if answering his name, Solovar emerged from the shadows, his laser pistol aimed.
"This ends here,Grodd!"
Utopian stepped through the doorway behind them, his gaze sweeping over the machine with growing urgency.
"Do not listen to his taunts!"
"Too late!" Grodd roared. "This marvel will amplify the power of my helmet! Why control one mind when I can dominate an entire city? Central City is just the beginning! And once this army of humans is at my feet, I will deliver my judgment upon Gorilla City!"
Solovar fired. A beam of pure energy shot from his weapon, but it crashed against an invisible energy shield surrounding Grodd and Sarah. The gorilla burst into thunderous laughter.
"You still don't understand? You are already late for your own enslavement!"
His finger, thick as a sausage, came down on a central switch.
The effect was immediate and apocalyptic. The machine groaned, and a light of terrifying white, silent and absolute, exploded from the heart of the arch. It wasn't a shockwave, but a wave of annihilation.
Utopian projected crimson rays from his eyes, Solovar emptied his weapon's charge pack, Flash struck the shield a thousand times in a nanosecond. It was no use.
The light swallowed them.
And the world... changed.
The machine's roar was replaced by a tomblike silence. The white light dissipated, revealing the unthinkable.
Central City was gone.
No skyscrapers, no streets, no cars, no noise. They stood in the center of a desolate, infinitely flat plateau, covered in a white, dusty substance, under a sky that had become strangely pale and empty. Void. A silence so heavy it was deafening.
Then, shapes emerged from this nothingness. Human silhouettes, hundreds, then thousands. The citizens of Central City. They were all there, standing, motionless, eyes wide open, expressionless, radiating a familiar green glow. They formed a silent, menacing sea that encircled the three heroes.
And then, Flash turned towards them. His eyes, once so lively, were now dull, infused with the same hypnotic green glow. A vacant, mechanical smile stretched his lips.
Utopian and Solovar, back to back, hearts pounding, watched as they stood alone amidst Grodd's hypnotized army, their greatest ally now their most immediate threat.
Grodd's first judgment had been delivered.