Chapter One
Arctic Tundra, November 27th 11:28AM
Superman has vanished.
Soft, large snowflakes fall silently upon the icy, white tundra. The cloud-covered sky seamlessly blends into the frosty horizon, and were there anyone crazy enough to travel this far north, they'd surely think themselves doomed as nothingness stretches out in each direction.
The undisturbed picture is interrupted by the roar of a man-made engine, which startles what little wild life could survive in such an extreme climate. A matte, black jet rips through the grey sky with haste, before pulling up, hovering for just a moment, and carefully settling down, onto the frozen tundra like a helicopter. It's landing gear breaks through the perfectly smooth mounds of snow until reaching sturdy ground keeping the plane standing upright.
Hydraulics whizz and whirr as the jet's hatch swings open revealing two people stowed in the cockpit: a pilot and a passenger. The pilot hops out of the jet, landing heavily in the soft snow, which reaches all the way to his knee; his passenger takes a more graceful approach, gliding down and softly meeting the ground.
BATMAN and WONDER WOMAN share an uneasy glace before beginning their journey on foot.
"We'll have to walk the rest of the way." He says.
"There is an alternative…"
"No."
He almost looks naked to Wonder Woman without his trademark, black cape flowing behind him, but this thought is quickly dismissed once he pulls a heavy, dark trench coat on over his batsuit – it's tails reach all the way down and rest atop the surface of the snow. Wonder Woman laughs, pulling her own blood, red cloak around her shoulders along with a matching, red scarf for her neck. Underneath, she wears her typical battle armor and knee-high boots; on her back rests a shield, and at her hip a sword and her golden lasso.
She looks at Batman, who, despite his insulated Batsuit and external coat, is visibly shivering. Knowing he would never accept it, she takes the scarf from around her own neck and wraps it comfortably around his - the crimson red of the silk stands out against the black of his cowl and the stark white of the surroundings.
"Diana..."
She smiles, but it quickly fades as she remembers their reason for visiting this sheet of ice.
The pair trudge their way along the tundra until they reach a cliff. They approach the edge and gaze at the scene below.
"Oh... Hera."
At the bottom of the cliff sits The FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE - the home of Earth's greatest hero, and it has been destroyed.
Batman allows Wonder Woman to assist him down to the valley as they approach the glacial home of their best friend and ally. The entrance, which is usually concealed and only accessible to a Kryptonian has been blasted open. Black scorch marks mar the ice, some of which seems to be melted. Batman advances on the scene to assess the situation. Using two fingers, he wipes at the scorch marks and rubs it with his thumb before bringing it to his nose.
He looks towards Wonder Woman, anxiously. "Let's go in."
Inside, the fortress is enormous; a spectacular, modern-day castle built into the frozen arctic glaciers that reach up as far as the eye can see. Walking in feels as if you've left Earth and entered an advanced, alien city.
Batman activates his cowl's detective vision, but it's not necessary. The interior walls sport similar damage as the exterior; scorch marks decorate the icy barriers, ancient Kryptonian heirlooms, alien collectables, and trophies are strewn across the floor. Several impact craters are left in the walls and all over the floor. There was definitely a fight here, and a big one. The two Justice Leaguers cautiously search the area for any clues; Wonder Woman's probing takes her into the Fortress' main atrium.
"No!"
Batman hurries to her side.
"Kara!"
The principal concourse seems to stretch on forever and is home to Superman's most valuable possessions including the bottled city of Kandor, the Phantom Zone portal, and the, now ruined, statue of his birth parents, Jor-EL and Lara, holding up his home planet of Krypton. The statue was carved into the ice by Superman himself using his heat vision, it was his most cherished monument. At the foot of the statue SUPERGIRL, otherwise known as KARA ZOR-EL - Superman's cousin, lies unconscious on the frozen ground, bloody and beaten. Batman rushes over and slides to the girl's aid. He pulls a mini-flashlight from his belt and carefully lifts her head. He shines the light directly into her eyes and studies her pupils' reaction. Throwing the light to the ground, he softly feels around her skull for any sign of bumps, bruises, or other physical trauma.
"She's concussed – probably has a few broken bones, but those are the least of her worries, we need to get her to the med bay!" He yells, urgently.
Wonder Woman is already two steps ahead of him.
"That may be a problem..."
The Fortress' Kryptonian med bay has been completely thrashed in the struggle. Medical droids lay broken and inactive.
"Do you have any experience with Kryptonian technology?" Wonder Woman asks.
"What little I do won't be able to help us; those are broken beyond repair. What about the healing waters in Themyscira?"
She drops her head, "I've been exiled, I wouldn't be able to find the island even if I tried – the patron gods have hidden it from my eye."
"The batcave then." He rips off his coat and marches back towards Kara, carefully wrapping her in the heavy fabric before lifting her into his arms and turning to Wonder Woman, "Get us to the Batplane, we need to get to Gotham!"
Wonder Woman grabs Batman and Kara and takes off towards the exit and back out into the extreme cold until finally landing beside Batman's jet. They carefully load Supergirl into the back with Wonder Woman before Batman hops into the pilot's seat. The black bird jostles a bit before lifting up, into the dark sky and shooting off back towards civilization.