Gotham City, 1942
Wesley Dodds walks through a back alley as the sun begins to set. He's a somewhat short man, and a bit chubby, and very harmless looking. He has short reddish-brown hair and dull brown eyes hidden behind wire frame glasses. He dressed in a dark green suit with yellow pinstripes under a brown trench coat, while a fedora rested on his head. As he reached a staircase leading down to a basement, he reached into his coat and produced a yellow gasmask with green tinted goggles.
The Sandman stepped down the stairs, pulling a homemade gas grenade from his left pocket and a gun connected to a bottle of his own special knockout gas from within his coat. He looked down to an iron door with an eye slot leading into the basement he needed access to. Though he wasn't as strong as many of his peers, he was resourceful.
He knocked on the door and waited for someone to pull back the slot. A few moments later blue eyes stared at him as a gravelly voice asked, "What's the password?"
"Poison," the Sandman replied as he pushed the grenade through the slot. Upon hitting the ground it released a cloud of green smoke that quickly filled up the room. "Open the door, or you die."
The man began to frantically undo locks on the other side as he coughed before pushing open the door and running out to catch his breath. The Sandman stepped out of the way, and a moment later he fell to the ground unconscious. He wasn't a killer, but it helped to look like one. The sleep gas administered from his gun worked instantly, while the grenades took nearly half a minute to work but were still quite useful.
He stepped into the basement, finding another door waiting for him at the end of what was essentially an empty hall. Empty, aside from a red flag baring a swastika on one wall, and the Crest of Owls on the other. It wasn't surprising that there were Nazis in Gotham, but it was disheartening none the less. Still, he wouldn't be slowed down by a flag. He could always burn it on the way out.
Past the door he found a large room with three men occupying it, drinking wine as they played cards. Each one dressed in a fine suit, far more expensive than what Wesley wore, while white masks with large dark eyes and small sharp noses covered their faces. Owls. Nothing more than another pesty predator for the Sandman to take care of.
The Sandman approached the table, alerting one of the Owls who rose to his feet in panic before he gassed him. The Owl's body hit the floor in a heart beat as the other two rose to their feet. He quickly gassed the second while the third reached for a pistol on the table. The Sandman grabbed his arm before he could take it while the second Owl fell to the ground, then he pushed the last one to the wall and brought his right arm over the Owl's throat.
"I need answers," he growled. "Who's the Talon!?"
"Ha ha!" the Owl laughed, his voice strained.
"Whose his net target!?"
"Why… you, of course…"
Behind the Sandman rose a black shape with bronze goggles over its black mask. In one hand it held a dagger and the other sharpened bronze claws. It pulled its arm back as it prepared to stab him in the back, before a yellow portal suddenly opened to their right. The Sandman, Talon, and the Owl all turned to look as a man dressed in crimson red and bright fell out of the portal, followed by a large creature that appeared to be a partially decomposed corpse dressed in gold bug like armor.
The man leapt off the ground as the monster charged at him, landing behind it before turning around and kicking it in the back. The monster was thrown backwards and collided with Talon, knocking both to the ground. As they recovered the man produced a small cubicle black box with a yellow glass circle on each side. Beneath the monster and Talon another portal appeared, pulling both inside, before the man jumped in after them. The portal closed, leaving the Sandman and Owl alone.
"What on Earth did I just see?" the Owl asked, before the Sandman silently gassed him.
As the Owl's unconscious body fell to the ground the Sandman said to himself, "Interesting. It appears I have more work to do," then set off on a new mission.
Gotham, 2011
Dick Grayson sat at the Batcomputer, watching a news report from the Daily Planet. Lois Lane stood in front of an empty grave in an otherwise empty field. Her emotional distress was well hidden as she spoke confidently for the camera. "Some time in the last week Superman's body was stolen, for unknown purposes. Cruel prank, or sinister plan, we don't know. If you have any information on the whereabouts of his body or the thief, contact the police department immediately. I'm Lois Lane, signing off."
Behind Dick rose the Batman who asked, "Are you ready?"
"Yeah, but I'm still not sure what for," Dick replied.
"I told you. we need to show up for pictures. It's good publicity."
"It's just another office building! We should be beating up some bad guys, not taking pictures with a bunch of rich snobs!"
"I'm a rich snob."
"You know what I mean."
"What about that Miracle guy? Is he coming?"
"No. I left him in a new prototype cell for Arkham. He's testing it for us."
Star City
Oliver Queen and Roy Harper practice training in the Arrowcave, which Oliver has insisted Batman stole from him. Though both are incredibly skilled archers, they aren't the best when it comes to hand-to-hand combat, and as such practice disarming each other. Behind them Felicity Smoak watches in boredom as she sips coffee and scrolls through her Twitter feed.
In the streets above Dinah lance dawns a sleeveless leather jacket and a pair of jeans before pulling fish net gloves over her arms. She looks into her bedroom mirror as she tries on an air mask, before deciding against it. Instead she pulls on domino mask that covers most of her upper face and decides it will have to do. Not that anyone would recognize her anyway.
Central City
A train comes loose from its tracks and barrels towards the Central City zoo. Before it can reach the parking lot, the horrified passengers and crew find themselves peacefully not just back on track but reaching their destination in Star City half an hour ahead of schedule. Back in Central City, both Flash and Kid Flash take a moment to appreciate their work.
"My arms hurt," Kid Flash says after a moment, breaking the silence.
"Yeah, mine too," the Flash replies.
"But damn was that cool."
"Hell yeah that was cool! I mean, we lifted a freaking train out of the air!"
"I know, right! Was that super strength!?"
"I don't know! I think it was a combination of our enhanced strength and running so fast, we could just kind of push it however we wanted!"
"Oh my god! That was… SO fucking cool."
"Watch the language."
"Sorry, Barry."
"It's cool, Wally. Now, let's say we get some tacos? I'm starving."
Metropolis
Kara Zor-El, dawning an identical outfit to the one her cousin wore, punches an alien called Lobo in the jaw hard enough to dislocate it, hurting her own hand in the process. Lobo returns with an attack of his own, punching Kara in the throat before kicking her in the chest, knocking her back across the street.
Lobo stood 6'4 and was a solid wall of muscle. His skin is pure white and his hair blacker than night. His eyes glow red while the skin around them is black and looks almost like exaggerated makeup. Despite being an alien with minimal time spent on Earth, he dressed like a biker stereotype with a leather jacket over a white tank top and dark jeans tucked into combat boots. Wrapped around his right arm is a chain that ends in a hook which he holds in his meaty fist, while several grenades cover his person.
His jaw almost instantly popped back in place and he growled out in a gravelly voice, "Bastiche! No one hurts th' main man's face! Th' main man's gonna rip off your fraggin' arms!"
What!?" Kara asked, having no idea what most of that meant.
Before either could make a move against the other, a shadow covered them that stretched over the entire city. Lobo looked up first, his eyes widening with shock, before Kara turned and looked too. It took all her willpower not to crumble at the sight of the skull shaped ship that stole her home city.
"Aw, frag no!" Lobo cursed. "Brainiac's here!? This bastiche is out o' here!"
Kara watched as he whistled, summoning a pile of junk that looked vaguely like a flying motorcycle. He quickly hopped on and flipped his middle finger at her before flying away, leaving Kara to remark, "What the hell was that?"
A booming monotone voice played through every electronic device in the city, "People of Metropolis. Your world is doomed. You have been chosen as a shining example of the perfect city and will be spared from the tragedy. You will be kept in my collection of cities, each taken from a dead world forever. You will not die. You will not age. You will live forever, in display. If you do not comply, you will be eliminated."
Across the city there were cries of terror, voices called out for their heroes, for Superman most of all. Kara let out a cry of rage and flew upwards, pulling her arm back as she prepared for a devastating blow on the ship's hull. Pods began to launch from across the ship, each one carrying three skeletal robots that served as The Collector's private army. She wouldn't lose another home to the monster.
Kara struck the ship with all she had, only to receive a painful electrical shock as a dark blue energy shield was momentarily revealed before disappearing again. This filled her with even more rage, and she began to strike it with everything she had, only to electrocute herself several more times. At last she resorted to her heat vision, only for it to be deflected back at her. She narrowly dodged the beam before yelling with anger and giving it one last punch, which shocked her once again.
"Uh, hi," came a deep but shy voice from behind her. She turned to see Shazam who said, "I have something that might work. But I'll need you to catch me. And also, please don't freak out."
"Okay," Kara replied. "What is it?"
He then smiled and yelled out at the top of his lungs, "SHAZAM!"
A massive bolt of blue lightning descended from seemingly nowhere, striking the ship before ripping through the top of the hull all the way out to where Shazam floated. Upon contact with him his muscular form disappeared, revealing the small defensless teenager who fell to the ground below. Kara's eyes widened before she quickly flew down and caught him in mid-air, before safely lowering him to the ground.
"What was that!?" she asked. "Why is everything so weird on this planet!?"
"Oh, I got magical powers from an old wizard," Billy casually replied.
"WHAT!?"
"How did you get your powers?"
Kara sighed and said, "I don't have time for this," before flying back towards the ship.
Billy called out after her, "Wait! Can I get your number?"
As Kara flew back towards the ship, Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen arrived on scene in a news van. Lois wasted no time running out to find the perfect place for her report, while Jimmy pulled the video camera from the back of the van before making his way towards her. Jimmy lined up the camera, so Lois stood adjacent to the distant sight of Kara ripping open the ship's hull before counting down the seconds until they were live.
He mouthed, "Five, four, three, two,"
Lois smiled and said, "I'm Lois Lane, live on the scene as Supergirl attacks the alien space ship that appeared over Metropolis a few minutes ago. Before this eye witnesses reported she was battling some form of metahuman or perhaps an alien, that may own this ship. After arriving, a voice warned all citizens of the city that it would be taking us as a souvenir. Let's see how well it likes a good old Metropolis welcome."
Central City
Wally West sat in his bedroom flicking through TV channels as he ate a chili dog. Finding nothing interesting on any of the cartoon or movie channels, he decided to watch the news in hopes something interesting was happening. His eyes widened with excitement as he saw Lois' report, and he stuffed the rest of the chili dog into his mouth before dropping the remote control as he moved towards his Kid Flash costume.
He pulled the uniform on before looking around in confusion for his boots, not seeing them anywhere. After checking under his bed he found one, while the other he had somehow left on top of his closet door. After pulling them on he looked around for his mask for a moment, before remembering it was attached to his costume. He reached behind his head and pulled it over his face, before running out the door. Behind him, the remote fell onto his pillow.
Metropolis
Kara entered the ship, flying past massive wires and cables that reached on endlessly. Most others would marvel at the advanced and intricate design of the ship, but Kara didn't care. The only thing she made note of was to destroy it from the inside out once she was done beating its owner into a paste.
Wally arrived in Metropolis only seconds after Kara entered the ship, as massive anchors were shot out of it, embedding in the ground around the edge of Metropolis. It didn't take a genius for Wally to realize what he had to do. Without wasting a moment he ran to each anchor, climbing up the cables connecting them to the ship, and vibrated his hand at the right frequency to cut each one free before running to the next.
Once finished he took a moment to admire his work before he realized he no longer had a way inside the ship. "Oh," he whispered to himself. "Shit."
"Excuse me, Kid Flash?" Lois asked as she jogged up to him. "Can I have a moment of your time?"
"I don't have a moment," Wally replied, running away.
"Fucking super heroes," Lois cursed before turning back to her cameraman. "Alright, Jimmy. Back to filming the ship."
Wally ran around the perimeter of the city hundreds of times, building up speed. Once satisfied he ran through the streets before reaching a building that he began to run straight up. He moved so fast he was barely able to step onto its roof, before leaping off the ledge towards the ship. He moved his knees under his chin and held them tight as he began to vibrate his entire body, hoping he was hitting the right frequency.
He passed through the hull of the ship with ease, before slowing his vibration down to that of a normal human. He wasn't prepared for the impact however and collided with the ground harshly before hitting a wall, cracking his ribs. He groaned in pain as he slowly pulled himself up, looking around for signs of life. There were none, nothing but machinery and odd lights built into the various cables and walls.
Kara arrived at the ship's command room, unaware of Wally. Her fists clenched as she glared up at the monster that stole her family. He towered over her even as he sat upon a throne of cables, his full height being eight feet tall. His skin was dark green although it was barely visible beneath a nearly entirely cybernetic body, while his eyes glowed bright green. Purple lights pulsed across his body, while ten cables connected into his back and two dozen wires were pressed into the back of his head.
"Kara Zor-El," he said in a monotone voice. "Alias: Supergirl. Last survivor of the planet Krypton. I see you've come to offer yourself to me."
"Not today, Collector," Kara growled.
"Please, call me Braniac. Are you here to stop me then?"
"That's," Kara began before Wally was suddenly standing next to her.
"Me too!" he enthusiastically said.
"Wally West. Alias: Kid Flash."
"Dude, you don't have to just throw my secret identity out there."
"I don't care," Kara hissed at him. "I was in the middle of something."
Brainiac continued, "Metahuman. Yet you do not possess the meta-human gene. Interesting."
"Wait, what?" Wally asked in surprise.
"I will have to study you intensely. Defeating you two shall be no trouble," he said as he rose to his feet, wires and cables disconnecting from his body. "It has been quite some time since I have had the pleasure of engaging in combat with a worthy opponent."
Kara let out a yell of anger as she flew forward, punching Brainiac in the side of the face as hard as she could. The only affects were his head being pushed to the side while his lip was slightly cut open, spilling pale green blood. He smiled and wiped the blood from his mouth before saying, "Interesting."
Brainiac punched Kara in the gut, knocking the air from her and throwing her against the wall. Wally looked to her in surprise, not expecting Brainiac to be nearly that powerful. He quickly readied himself and ran forward, landing punches across Brainiac's body as he ran around him in a circle. Brainiac remained stationary for several seconds, which allowed Wally to plant hundreds of punches, before the alien grabbed him by the throat and suspended him in the air.
"You are very fast. But you must build up your speed. That is an error," Brainiac stated.
"Fuck off," Wally replied through a strained voice.
Before either could say anything, there came the sound of a massive explosion that shook not just the ship but the entire planet, along with the moon, Mars, and Venus. Those who watched space and even the skies in most of Europe, saw the impossible. A small black planet filled with fire loomed over the Earth, somehow spared from Earth's orbit.
Brainiac said, "Oh. It appears I'm too late."
Kara rose to her feet and coughed out, "No… not him…"
"Who is it?" Wally asked, struggling to get free from Brainiac's voice.
"The one who destroyed my planet."
"Darkseid," Brainiac said in a tone that was almost fearful. "The Lord of Apokolips."