Present day.
Superman was enjoying his coffee quietly enjoying the tranquility of monitor womb. Things were going alright on his adoptive planet or so the constant stream of data on multiple continents was telling him so he figured he might as well use this time wisely. He quite enjoys coffee, many people forget but he was also endowed with super taste which makes it more pleasant when he takes time to savor his favorite beverage. Across him, he has the magnificent view of the blue planet its glory breathtaking. He let himself smile a little at such breathtaking beauty; earth always reminds him on the farm he grows on. However is musing was cut short by the blaring noise of the watchtower intruder alert. He took a longing look at earth before speeding out of the monitor womb.
Untold future
"Maya you can't go up there, Mom forbid it' whined and sobbed the little 5 years old. He was afraid to go upstairs in the antic. Dad always told him frightening stories about monsters lurking in the antic.
"What, you are afraid little baby Dylan" smirked the 13 year old girl already on the step. She knew that calling her little brother coward would rile him up at least enough to stop his incessant whining since she told the others about her plan. And sure enough little Dylan visibly stiffened and glared at his sister.
Behind her the others; Bryand'r, Rebecca, Sharon and Roxanne all stopped and equally smirked at the little 5 year old except for Rebecca. She was always the gentle one.
"Maya are you sure this is a good idea. After all considering your mother's knack at sniffing anything fishy she is bound to notice that none of us are down there at the party" said Rebecca, a small frown adoring her beautiful face. Indeed, Raven always had the nose to spot when the children were up to some mischievous deed and many a times they had been at the receiving end the firm and motherly glare of the magic user.
Sensing that she would quite soon lose the argument, Maya compromised. "Ok, let's just take a peek. If we don't like what we see we can all go down and tell anyone that asks that we were playing outside or something. Come on guys" She half whined herself.
"Let's just go already" said Bryand'r and proceeded to climb the stairs pushing Maya aside. When he was at the front of the group he turned back and said impatiently "you coming or what?"
The three girls looked at each other and shrugged and continued toward the forbidden antic. Dylan not so sure looked at the retreating back of his sister and his lips trembled slightly. No, he wasn't going to cry again else his sister will call him a baby again and he was NOT a baby. In fact, his mother always calls him his "little man ". So with all the courage a 5 year old could muster he took the first step to climb the stairs.
With a push Bryand'r opened the door to the antic and climbed inside, the others following a step behind. He flipped the switch and light poured in from a flickering bulb hanging precariously by an electric cable. The inside was what you would expect of any suburban antic to look like at first glance and he admitted that he was a little disappointed.
The entire room had an appearance of neglect to it, like if someone hasn't set foot in it in a while. Boxes were pile up everywhere at the point where it was difficult to distinguish the wall from them. Dust covered every spot of the room and cobwebs hangs from the ceiling making it quite irritating to move forward.
Not without caution Maya took one of the boxes from the piles it was stacked on and opened it only to find broken hardware and old clothes. Slowly they dispersed around the room and each took to opening some of the boxes even Dylan did with some that he could reach. Their search was disconcerting to say the least, nothing quite extraordinary was found and Maya was getting frustrated by the minutes. Their mother will eventually found about their disappearance sooner or later and then they would have to face the disproving looks of a flustered and disappointed Raven. But she would not give up yet, she was too stubborn for that.
But even she was getting was frustrated as time goes by without any result at least until a whole stack of boxes nearly crashed on Roxanne head If it was not for the quick action of Sharon who was quick to pull her out of the way. The content of the boxes fell unceremoniously to the floor in a cloud dust producing coughing fits from the children in the room.
"Thanks Sharon, these boxes are a health hazard "said Roxanne still catching her breath.
"I think we should get out of here now, our parents will be sure to hear the commotion "said Roxanne giving the door an uneasy glance.
"I think you are right, let's the hell out of here. I don't see anything here but dust and old stuff" concluded Bryand'r already halfway to the door.
But Maya wasn't paying any attention to them because if her eyes didn't deceive her she might just have found something interesting after all behind the fallen heap of boxes. With hushes she silenced them and pointed toward the mysterious object. It was a small wooden chest lying covered with what seems to be engraving or some sorts and hidden quite inconspicuously too. If it was not for that little accident they wouldn't have found it, not without toppling everything and that was sure to bring the whole crows downstairs on them.
Maya stepped toward the object of her curiosity and kneeled to have a better look. The shadows cast by the group of children behind her made the task quite impossible but what she could see made her quite exited. This close up, she could make out that the markings resembles the ancient writing that her mother occasionally showed her from time to time. She was always fascinated by her mother's origin but the family really brushes the subject, even her sometime babble-mouth father was quite tight lipped about the whole subject. This was what prompted her to explore the antic in the place.
"Should we open it" said Sharon her voice a mixture of excitement and apprehension.
"I don't know Maya; your mother would have a good reason to want to hide it from you. Besides, she is going to be furious if she found out all this "said Rebecca always the voice of reason. Sometimes Maya wondered if she was really the daughter of Wonder Woman who was always known to rush into battle fist first.
"I'm for opening the box, what could happen to us really "encouraged Sharon. That bought a small smile on Maya's face. She knew Sharon couldn't resist the temptation of knowing what was inside.
"Besides, I think your mom would have done a better job hiding it if it was dangerous" She finished.
"Sheesh what's all the fuss about, open it already "said Ryand'r a bit frustrated about all this talking.
With a nod Maya took both end of the chest lid and pried it open with little effort. They all peered over her neck trying to have a better look at what was inside.
Their trepidation wasn't left unquenched however as the thing inside the chest started to emanate a faint orange light and within the seconds they were engulf by the now bright unbearing source of energy.
Maya last thought was about how her mother was going to be pissed when she find out.
Present day.
Superman located the intrusion 3 milliseconds in his flight across the monitor bay. In several few milliseconds more he was in the justice hall his eyes barely registering at the sight in front of him.