My name is Jefferson Pierce, but a lot of people know me as Black Lightning. I'm a metahuman; I control electricity. I teach physics at Theodore Knight High School, and in my spare time, I put on a costume and use my powers to clean up organized crime in my city.

Let me set a scene for you. I'm taking my class on a field trip to STAR Labs, Metropolis's biggest scientific center. We're walking past the astronomical observatory, when I hear Maxine Hunkel, one of my students, whispering to another girl. "Maxine, please pay attention," I say.

"Yes, sir," she responds. We keep walking, and I start describing the equipment in the observatory. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I see some nutjob in a white mask and a yellow cape sprinting own the hallway we had just come out of. Certainly looks like a supervillain.

"Excuse, me class, I need to use the restroom. Be right back, " I say. I jog down to the restroom, and change into my Black Lightning costume, (which I carry in a briefcase for emergencies like this.) I run out of there and start searching for that maniac. It doesn't take me long; I spot him at a door marked, "Clearance Level 6". He throws some sort of chemical onto the lock, and it completely dissolves, letting him walk right through. I pull out my cell phone and send a text to my crimefighting pal Vixen, telling her to come to the eleventh floor of STAR Labs in a hurry, and then take off after the perp. Following him at about twenty feet, I see two guards on the ground with bloody holes in their heads. I start to run even faster; no one else is gonna die today.

Suddenly, a red-haired girl in a green dress and candy-cane stockings flies past me. I don't get a good look at her face. I arrive in a room with all sorts of sci-fi looking stuff, where that flying girl, the supervillain, and a scientist in the STAR Labs uniform are. The redhead points her arms at the perp, and I hear a whoosh that sounds like wind as he falls on his face. I take the opportunity, and run up and grab him. I look over my shoulder to get a better look at the other superhero, and immediately recognize her as my student, Maxine Hunkel. I want to say something to her, but I know I can't reveal my identity to anyone, let alone the Nobel Prize winner in the chatterbox category.

While I'm looking at Maxine, the perp takes that chance to joint-lock me and escape my grip. He runs toward this crazy-looking gun, and I throw a small lightning bolt at his leg. He falls down again. The scientist, who I recognize as famed physicist Kimiyo Hoshi, runs at him. I put out my arm to tell her to stop; this is too dangerous for civilians.

Finally, the Vixen comes in, the same way I did. Running at super-speed, she clocks the perp. He's still conscious, though, and he manages to grab that gun he wants so badly. Vixen, Maxine, Doctor Hoshi, and I all run at him, but before we can do anything, he pulls the trigger and opens some sort of portal on the floor, which he falls into.

What else is there to do? I jump in after him, and the others follow. My last sight before the world around me disappears is a man, in an outfit even crazier than mine, holding on to a **** missile, flying right at me.

My name is Dr. Kimiyo Hoshi. I am one of the world's premier physicists, and one of STAR Labs' three Directors, alongside Doctors Palmer and Morrow. As of late, I have devoted an area of STAR Labs to storing technological artifacts recovered from super-criminals, both to keep them out of the wrong hands, and to hopefully reverse-engineer them.

I am working in said area when the man known as Chronos, whose time portal generator we had stored, runs in. He was quickly followed by two superheroes in absolutely ridiculous costumes, who started attacking the villain with wind and lightning. This was obviously a risk to the delicate technology all around them, so I ran to try to apprehend Chronos myself. I was stopped, and a third hero ran in. She attacked Chronos, but he managed to reach what he came for: his time machine. He escaped by creating a portal on the floor. Of course, I had to recover that potentially world-changing machine, so I jumped in after him. Those three heroes joined me, looking for a fight as superheroes always are. As the four of us fell into the time portal, I saw someone, likely another super-moron, holding on to a missile and flying right at us.

My name is Rory Regan. I run a little pawnshop in the Robbinsville area of Gotham City, called Rags'n'Tatters. I also happen to own a magic suit of rags that collects the souls of evildoers and draws upon their energy for power. At nights I go out and use said suit to clean up the streets. I'm not that well-known in the capes-and-tights community, since most of the people I punch are just muggers and thieves; never really chanced upon super-criminals.

So it's a typical Thursday morning. I'm sitting at the checkout counter, no one else is in the store. Guess it's gonna be a slow day. I decide to switch on the TV. I'm reaching for the remote, when suddenly I'm in a whole different place. Guess I should back up for a second and explain a couple things about my suit. First off, I'm always wearing it, even when I'm not. When I need to look like an average Joe, it disappears, and when I need to be a vigilante, it magically replaces my regular clothes. Second, my suit can teleport me to where I need to be. And the suit, not me, decides where that is. Today, that place is some room full of what look like supervillain weapons, where Black Lightning, the Vixen, some flying teenager, and some scientist are fighting supervillain Chronos. (So sue me; I'm a superhero fanboy.)

Borrowing some energy from a serial killer, I turn myself invisible. Better to have surprise on my side. I run at Chronos, but I can't lay a finger on him before he shoots the ground with his time gun, opening a portal into which everyone in the room subsequently falls, including yours truly. Right as we're falling, some guy on a missile crashes through the wall and flies into the time hole with us. And before a single cup of coffee.

My name is Mari Jiwe. I'm a world-famous fashion model. I'm also superhero, who goes by Vixen. A few years back, on a trip to my homeland of Zambezi, I stole a mystical artifact called the Tantu Totem from my uncle, who had been using it for evil. The ancient legends I heard as a girl told me that there was a mysterious force called the Red, that connected all the world's animals together. The Tantu Totem links into the Red, allowing me to borrow any ability from any animal, anywhere.

It's about 9 in the morning. I'm on the street, giving an interview to Steve Lombard of the Daily Planet, when I get a text from an occasional crimefighting partner of mine, Black Lightning, telling me to come to the eleventh floor of STAR Labs. "Gonna have to come back later, Steve. This is kind of important," I say.

Luckily, I'm just one block away from my destination. I run in the front door, where I'm asked if I have an appointment. "My name's Mari Jiwe," I say. "You've probably heard of me. I'm doing a science-themed photoshoot today, and I'm kind of late." Before the guy at the door can say anything else, I run past him to the nearest ladies' room. I go inside and put on my Vixen costume, which I carry around in a $500 designer purse, and stash my other clothes under a sink.

I borrow speed from a cheetah, and run up to Floor 11 in record time. I switch to the hearing of a greater wax moth, and notice a struggle in a hallway that should be locked. I switch back to cheetah speed and run to said hallway. I arrive and see a struggle between Black Lightning, some scientist in a STAR Labs uniform (a white lab coat on top of a black jumpsuit with a white star on it), some flying teenage girl in green, and this time traveler I fought once named Chronos. I run at Chronos, switch to gorilla strength, and punch his head. He manages to shake it off. Must be wearing something stronger than cloth. He grabs his time gun off a shelf and shoots the ground, opening a time portal, which he jumps into. Everyone else in the room jumps in after him. As I'm falling, I hear something crash through the wall. I can't see what it is past everyone else, but it sounds dangerous.

My name is Shilo Norman. You've probably heard of me. I also go by Mister Miracle, the world's greatest escape artist. I've sold out Madison Square Garden.

I'm doing a show at Soder Cola Stadium in Metropolis. I run my usual tricks; run-of-the-mill stuff for me, unthinkable for anyone else. But for the encore, I pull out my show-stopper: the missile escape. It's a simple concept, really. I strap myself to a missile with about fifty different types of locks, and an assistant sends the missile up into the sky. I pick every lock, take control of the missile, disarm the payload, and pilot it back to the ground. I've done it a million times, but this time is different.

Right as the missile takes off, I feel something different. I turn my head as best as I can and look over my shoulder. My worst fear is confirmed: I'm flying in a direction other than straight up. Someone jacked the targeting system. I start picking the locks, hoping that I can fix this before I hit a building. I escape my chains even faster than usual, grab onto my usual handhold, and get a better look at my situation. I'm headed straight for the STAR Labs skyscraper. I can still fix this. I then discover yet another obstacle—the panel I use to access the targeting system is welded shut. Luckily, the right index finger of my costume comes outfitted with one of the world's hottest blowtorches. I manage to cut open the panel and gain control, but it's too late. I can't steer away from STAR Labs.

I crash through the wall, knowing I'm about to die and take others with me, when I see a glowing hole in the ground. Absolutely no idea what it could be, but it's my only chance at saving my own life and those of thousands of others. I steer down. This is the craziest thing that's ever happened to me.

My name is Zauriel. I'm an angel, working for what most humans call God, though I prefer to call it the Presence. Since the dawn of time, I've operated on the metaphysical plane, giving people visions and such. A few years back, though, I decided that Heaven, or the Silver City, was beginning to bore me. I became the first angel to operate on Earth. I live in a floating, invisible base called the Aerie, and I fly around the world saving people from housefires, suicide attempts, and other dangerous stuff.

I'm at the Aerie one day, watching TV, when I get a voice in my head. I've heard this voice a few times—it's the Presence. It tells me that I'm needed in Metropolis in the year 5233, that that there's a ride waiting for me out front, and that I'll need a weapon. I grab my standard-issue flaming sword and fly out the door, where I see a familiar sight. It's the Chariot of Fire, the same one that brought Elisha into heaven all those years ago. I've driven this thing all over creation. I climb inside, and see a note left in the driver's seat, in the same handwriting as the Book of Life, and I'm not talking about Guillermo Del Toro. The note says, "Keep it." Mentally fist-pumping (the Chariot is quantifiably the greatest ride in all creation), I snap the reins and steer to Metropolis, 5233.

Hey, everyone! My name's Maxine Hunkel! I'm a sophomore at Theodore Knight High School in Metropolis oh! and I'm also a metahuman with wind powers. I also sometimes put on this cool green outfit and use my powers to fight bad guys as Cyclone! Well, really only the one bad guy so far but you know what I mean.

So I'm on this field trip with my physics class to STAR Labs which is totes one of the coolest places I've ever been! I'm a really good multitasker, so while I'm listening to my teacher and looking at all the amazing technology around me, I'm talking to my BFF Megan about everything we're seeing. My teacher, Mister Pierce (who's a secret superhero with lightning powers), tells me to pay attention, which I'm doing, but Mister Pierce doesn't realize I am because not everyone's as good a multitasker as me ANYWAY—Mister Pierce then runs off to the bathroom. I'm smart enough to realize that he's changing into his hero costume, so I look around for what he might be dealing with, and sure enough there's a supervillain who looks like Chronos, the time traveler! I tell my class that I need to use the bathroom as well and run to the bathroom. I pull out my Cyclone costume (it's really thin so I just ball it up and keep it in my pocket) and use my wind powers to fly after Chronos.

Mister Pierce—oh wait, I should probably start calling him Black Lightning—chases Chronos down some confidential-looking hallway. I follow him and eventually get past him and start fighting Chronos. I blast him in the back with wind which makes him fall over, and then Black Lightning grabs him by the collar. He gets out and starts running for his time gun, which is laying on a shelf, but then another awesome superhero runs in the room! The Vixen runs to Chronos at super-speed and punches his head, but Chronos gets back up and grabs his time gun! He makes a portal on the floor and jumps in, and all the heroes, plus the physicist Kimiyo Hoshi, jump in after him. I know that I'm a superhero now, and that it's my duty to fight bad guys, but have you ever tried jumping into a time portal?! It's really scary, guys! Anyway, then this missile with some guy hanging on to it crashes through the wall, so I panic and jump into the portal. The missile flies in after me, though, so as a protective measure it wasn't that smart. Still, I'm going to the past! Or the future! Crazy!