Prologue

Beyond

Good and Evil. Heroes and Villains. Two diametrically opposed forces. I want to know which, under even conditions, would win. From earth I will take those who will act out my experiment.

Which would draw more to its cause? On earth much more of the metahumans and those individuals with above-average skills have chosen evil. But the forces of good have had the support of the more common population. So while persistent, evil has yet to fully win. I can remove the support of the heroes, but then the villains would be stronger. Therefore equal numbers of these two groups must be drawn.

I also cannot ignore the gray element. There are many who stride across the line that differentiates good from evil. I will make a small group of these and see where ultimately their allegiance will fall, to see whether good or evil is more alluring.

Thus I shall draw them. Twenty-five heroes, twenty-five villains, and three of those who earth men would call "wildcards".

Atlantis

Aquaman had answered the call. The Atlantean Guard reported a disturbance outside Atlantis itself, a shining anomaly which so far had actually had no effect on its surroundings, with sea creatures passing through it harmlessly. Thus Aquaman did not fear it, wondering if it was merely a bizarre lighting effect. The sea held many secrets. The ruler of Atlantis neared it and found himself growing increasingly more attracted to it, out-swimming his royal guard to their chagrin.

"Sire! Please slow down! We don't know what that is!"

Aquaman ignored his guards and sped into the anomaly. Unlike the fishes, he did not emerge on the other side, but vanished, with the light closing behind him.

Gotham City

Mr. Freeze was running along the catwalk in the warehouse. He had just stolen several new formulas and secrets from a Gotham subsidiary of STAR Labs and Batman was now hot in pursuit. The Dark Knight smashed through the skylight above, gunning straight for Freeze. The villain was fast and fired off his freeze gun. Batman managed to glide out of its path and land on the catwalk.

"Surrender, Freeze! Your thefts have gone far enough!"

"Indeed, these were the last items I needed to borrow. But I will not surrender," said the villain in his icy voice, aiming his gun.

Suddenly a bright light enveloped Mr. Freeze. Batman foolishly leapt into it, though in truth he had little control over himself. Other light anomalies appeared in Arkham Asylum, taking several others. A lumbering beast in the swamps nearby, Solomon Grundy, walked into another.

JLA Watchtower

Alarms blared and red lights flashed on and off. A large light was coming upon the Watchtower.

"Quick, activate the thrusters and get away!" shouted Firestorm to the Martian Manhunter. The alien just stood there, mesmerized.

"Hey, J'onn, aren't you listening? We're about to be engulfed by God knows what and you're just standing there!"

The Martian Manhunter remained motionless by the control panel.

"Fine! I guess I have to do things myself!"

Black Canary and Green Arrow stood in front of him. "No," they said in unison.

"Huh? What's with you guys?"

"J'onn, activate thrusters," ordered Black Canary. The Manhunter complied.

"Oh, good, you guys had me worried there for a second. I…"

"Go for the light."

"WHAT?"

Green Arrow and Black Canary fought off Firestorm as the Watchtower passed into the light. The anomaly disappeared as they passed through each other. Firestorm was left alone. His teammates were gone. All that was left was him and Plastic Man.

Keystone City

Wally West, better known as the Flash, ran even faster than normal, which was saying much, to the light. He originally was going there to simply investigate and see if there was a danger, but now he found himself attracted to it. He zipped into it and it closed behind him.

Metropolis

"Clark! Lois! Anybody, get to that anomaly as fast as you can! I want this story covered ASAP!" yelled Perry White gruffly. "Olsen! Get over there and take some pictures!"

"Right on it, chief!"

Half the staff of the Daily Planet rushed out of the building. Of course, as they were in an office many stories above ground, they took the stairs or elevator. Clark Kent, however, slipped into a deserted room, took off his glasses and clothes, and became Superman. The Man of Steel rushed to the scene of the anomaly, on the fringes of downtown, and found it strangely enchanting.

"What's going on here, officer?" he asked the leading police officer.

"This big light show just popped out of nowhere. Apparently it's been happening in other spots of the world as well!"

Superman looked further at the light. He wanted to go in.

"Sir, I'm going in."

"What? Are you sure? You have no idea if it's safe or not!"

Superman ignored him and speeded in, not knowing that several others were gunning for the same anomaly. The anomaly closed up before the Daily Planet reporters could reach it.

Washington DC

Wonder Woman fist cracked against the jaw of the genetically enhanced crook. She had been fighting over two dozen of his kind and despite a long, hard battle was winning. Washington DC for now was going to be safe, though the mastermind behind the plot remained unrevealed. Suddenly a great light washed over the Amazon.

"Great Hera!" She was gone. So were many others as anomalies appeared near Titans Tower, in Khandaq, and several other places. All of this happened at roughly the same time, and now all were instantaneously transported to a galaxy trillions upon trillions of light years away. The stage was set.

Next: The heroes and villains end up at their destination and learn what they are wanted to do.