Chapter 1
5 ABY
Coruscant, a galaxy far far away
"The Empire is stronger than ever, my Master," Darth Vader intoned, his deep mechanical breaths filling the hallway as they walked through the Senate building, which was now little more than a relic of a bygone time. "With the destruction of the Hut Clan, the last of the independent factions have been eliminated. The entire galaxy is now under our power. We have finally succeeded in bringing order and peace to the galaxy."
"The galaxy? You think too small, Lord Vader," Darth Sidious chuckled raspily. "The galaxy is only the beginning."
"I… don't understand."
"You know just as well as anyone else that our galaxy is merely one of many," Sidious stated. "Now that we have succeeded here, we can look beyond our galaxy, to the furthest reaches of the universe!" He paused, an unreadable look on his face. "And even beyond."
Darth Vader stopped, turning towards his master. Despite the helmet covering his face, his confusion was still readily evident. "The universe is all there is."
"I have been meditating on our predicament for some time now," Sidious explained, ignoring Vader's remark. "And I learned through the Force of universes beyond our own. Limitless universes, ripe for the taking. The key to reaching these universes is a planet in a distant galaxy. Once we have conquered this world we can use it as a base of operations to take over the rest of the universe, as well as all the others. This planet is the key to dominating all of creation."
"What is this planet?"
"The humans living on this world call it Earth."
. . . . .
2015 AD
Central City Missouri USA, Earth, Milky Way Galaxy
A van pulled up quickly in front of the Central City Bank, releasing a pair of unusual men. While the weather hadn't exactly been boiling this summer, it would have still been an unusual sight to see a man wearing a blue parka. Over his eyes were a pair of goggles, much like the kind one would wear if they were going swimming. This startling appearance was only made more odd by the man's companion, a man who wore what almost looked like a fireman's turnout, along with a pair of workman's goggles. The two men walked into the bank confidently, the large vehicle in the street blocking them from prying eyes until they entered the bank.
A security guard saw the pair enter and immediately reached for his sidearm, only for the man in the parka to whip out a glowing gun and blast the man, freezing him instantly. "If anyone attempts to raise an alarm, they die," Captain Cold proclaimed to the stunned bank patrons, pointing his Cold Gun at them menacingly. "Do we understand each other? Good. Now, my compatriot will remain here and watch you while I go and retrieve the oh-so valuable jewels recently put into safe keeping at this fine establishment. I suggest you don't do anything to set him off. He's a real fire cracker."
The other man pulled out a gun of his own, shooting a blast of white-hot flame upwards to prove his point. Captain Cold left Heatwave behind and walked into the vault, destroying the vault doors by blasting them with his Cold Gun and kicking the weakened metal with his boot. Walking through the ruined doors he gladly found the correct safe and broke that open as well, emptying the priceless gems into a bag before turning to leave.
Suddenly there was a blur of electricity and a man in a bright red costume appeared, leaning against a column and grinning. "Well, if it isn't Captain Cold and Heatwave," the Flash stated. "Where are the rest of the Rogues? Because you really should have brought back up."
"You're supposed to be-"
"Away on Justice League business?" the Flash finished for him. "I am. I just heard over the wire about your jailbreak and I guessed something like this would happen. I've got about five minutes to wrap this up, which is four more minutes than I need to deal with you two."
"I wouldn't be so sure." Captain Cold and Heatwave both blasted the spot the Flash had been standing, covering the column in ice while also leaving scorch marks and filling the room with steam, but failing to hit the now-vanished speedster.
"Where did he go?"
Suddenly their guns were torn from their hands and they found themselves tied to the column they had attacked, the Flash standing over them triumphantly with both weapons in hand. "I'll just hold on to these for you while you wait for the cops to pick you up," the Flash told them with a laugh. "You guys made it too easy this time. Next time you should really bring the rest of the Rogues along. We could have a reunion party, with party hats and everything." A beeping noise came from one of the lightning bolts on the side of his mask. "That would be my cue to leave. See ya!"
With that the speedster was gone, leaving the two criminals to wait for the police to arrive.
. . . . .
Tony Stark's Malibu mansion, Los Angeles California
"Tony, you really need to stop this."
"But she was hot right?"
The darker man gave Stark a look. "Aren't you in a relationship with Pepper now? I don't think she'd like you ogling other women."
"Rodey, just because I can' touch doesn't mean I can't admire the view. Besides, I was saying that you should hook up with her, not me." Tony Stark leaned back, taking a swig of his drink. "You don't have nearly enough fun. You're almost as bad as Mr. Uptight over here.
"Don't drag me into this," Bruce raised his hands in surrender. "I'm just here for the food."
"Doctor Banner, don't be a pregnant hippopotamus," Tony told him. "You need to cut loose more, even more than Rodey does."
"We all know what happens when I cut loose."
"Yes, and it is amazing."
Banner just shook his head. "Look, you really need to stop egging me on. Your tin can wouldn't save you against me."
"That's debatable." A ringing erupted from Tony's pocket and he pulled out his phone, listening to the person on the other side. "That was Cap," he told them after a moment, putting the phone away. "We've got a situation."
. . . . .
Earlier
Kahndaq
"We're nearing the drop point." Natasha strapped on her Widow's Bite. "You ready Cap?"
"I still think we should have brought Thor along, just in case," Steve replied.
"This is a stealth mission. Thor isn't exactly the stealthy type."
"Natasha has a point," Clint pointed out. "I certainly wouldn't want his thunder and lightning breaking my cover."
"You do remember who rules this country right? If we are discovered we will all wish we had Thor or Wanda to help us out."
"We're at the drop point now Cap. Let's get this mission over with and we won't have to worry about any Egyptian god-kings." The doors opened and all three of them put on parachutes, leaping out into the darkness below. The wind whipped past their faces, the city below them slowly coming into view. The land was a desert, sand covering everything, including the buildings, many of which were very old and made of weathered sandstone. Once they were low enough they pulled their chutes, the massive sheets of cloth carrying them down until all three of them landed on the ground with in a roll, abandoning the parachutes and running forward into the closest building.
Inside was just as their informant had told them, a hidden trap door opening to reveal a massive underground compound. They were in Kahndaq to investigate and destroy a secret Hyda base one of Natasha's former SHIELD contacts had informed them about, one of the very last Hydra bases that were still operational, at least to their knowledge. They dropped into the complex expecting a small army of Hydra agents waiting for them, but instead they discovered the compound completely empty, with a very large amount of damage.
There had been various machines lining the walls, but their purpose was meaningless now as they were completely destroyed, occasional sparks flying out of the broken electronics. The walls and floor had suffered severe damage as well. Steve walked towards a particularly large piece of machinery that was now sticking out of the wall at an odd angle, as if it had been thrown. "Natasha, Clint!" Steve called as he examined the machine. "I think we were beaten here."
They came over and saw what he had been looking at, a pair of hand prints deep into the metal, as if someone impossibly strong had grabbed the machine and thrown it into the wall. Suddenly a large blast of wind swept past them, but when they spun around to see what it was there was nothing. Another blast of wind blew behind them, but this time when they turned around they saw the culprit, a man dressed in a red suit who was smirking confidently.
"Of course you were beaten here," the Flash told them. "I am the fastest man alive of course."
"You didn't do that," Cap replied, pointing at the handprints in the machine.
"I admit that I am unfortunately not strong enough to do that." Barry smiled mischievously. "But he is." A tall man floated out from the rubble, a regal crimson cloak billowing around his blue suit. After Superman came Wonder Woman, her sword gleaming in the dim light, Green Lantern, illuminating the chamber just by being there.
"You idiots!" Natasha blurted out. "This was our mission!"
"Then we did your job for you," Green Lantern replied nonchalantly.
"This was supposed to be a stealth mission, and you tore this place apart! Do you really think no one noticed that kind of destruction?"
"I noticed." Lightning cracked loudly despite the fact that the sky had been clear for miles just minutes previous, and everyone looked up to see a black-clothed man, a black cloak billowing around him as he hovered at the opening to the Hydra base. In the center of his chest was the symbol of a lightning bolt, the symbol crackling with real electricity. "I am Teth-Adam, and this is my kingdom. You have no place here, outsiders. Leave before I tear you limb from limb."
"There was a Hydra base here," Superman informed Adam, floating up to be level with him. "Hydra is an organization that seeks to take over the entire world, including your kingdom."
"Then I will weed them out," Black Adam replied. "But I will not allow outsiders into my kingdom. Leave now, or none of your abilities will protect you from my wrath, Kryptonian."
"Of course." Superman nodded to the immortal dictator respectfully, giving his teammates a nod as well. "We will leave. If you ever require assistance against Hydra or those like them, the Justice League will be more than happy to assist you. However, if you try to expand your empire and enforce your rule on those who do not want it, you will have to deal with us, and we won't be as nice as we are now." The two titans stared at each other for several moments before Superman brushed past Black Adam, the rest of his team and the Avengers following him out.
. . . . .
Later
Avengers Tower, New York New York USA
"The Justice League are out of control," Natasha told the other Avengers. "They have no concept of stealth or tactics. They blundered in there and completely destroyed the facility, along with any possible intel we could have stolen from it, and almost turned what was supposed to be a stealth mission into an all-out war with one of the most powerful beings on the planet."
"Are we really all that much better?" Cap asked. "If we are being completely honest, Tony doesn't have a grasp of stealth or tactics either, and Thor definetly isn't one to bring on a stealth mission."
"But we don't bring Thor on stealth missions," Clint replied, ignoring the Asgardian's offended look. "The Justice League should have just sent their stealthier members to infiltrate the facility, but instead they only brought in their heavy hitters. The Justice League don't understand how to work as a team and most of them have absolutely no training. Green Lantern is just a guy with a fancy ring, the Flash is just a guy who can run really fast, and Superman destroyed several buildings the first time he had a fight."
"What do you suggest?" Pietro asked. "Are you saying we should just wherever their secret base is and say 'Hey there, I know you are busy trying to help protect the world and all, but we are going to have to ask you to retire,' because if that is what you are saying, I don't think they are going to take that very well. Fast as I am, the last time the Flash and I fought, I barely managed to land a single hit on the guy."
Wanda nodded in agreement. "We don't want to start an all-out superhero war here. Besides, we can't be everywhere. The Justice League may be less than subtle, but they can reach disasters long before the Quinjet can get us there."
"Wanda has a point," Vision pointed out, his mechanical voice slightly abrasive. "Their decision to send who they did was not without strategy. They could have sent Batman and the Arrow if stealth was required. Instead they sent Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and the Flash. Each of these individuals has the ability to either fly or run at many times the speed of sound, faster than any man-made aircraft. They sacrificed stealth for the sake of speed. It is entirely possible that if Captain Rogers and the others hadn't arrived the Justice League would have been gone before Teth-Adam was able to apprehend them."
"We don't mess with the League," Tony finally stated, everyone turning towards him. His face was thoughtful, even guilty. "They were formed for a reason. People don't trust us after what happened with Ultron, and they are right not to. If the Justice League can give them hope then all the better. They are new to being a team, but so were we once. If anything they are doing better than we did. After all, they aren't trying to kill each other."
"I agree with Tony and Vision." Bruce looked around at the others, judging their expressions. "This world needs as many heroes it can get, especially when those heroes have as little to do with Ultron as possible. I say we let them be."
. . . . .
A long time ago
Citadel of the Guardians, Oa
The blue-skinned beings gathered together in a circle, hovering above the ground as they contemplated this dark news.
"These are grave tidings Ganthet."
"I know. The aggression of the Dark Sector has always been contained within the sector itself. Now that a faction has succeeded in uniting the sector, they will look beyond the worlds they know for enemies to fight."
"What should our course of action be?"
"We will watch, as we always have. If they choose to reach beyond their limits our Green Lanterns are more than capable of stopping them."
"Have you paid any attention to the events of late?" Ganthet asked the other. "Their weapons have only grown more disastrous, and their mastery of this 'Force' has given them power beyond any technology."
"Yet only two of them have mastery of this power you speak of," the other replied. "Besides, their technology cannot even take them beyond their own galaxy. What hope could they possibly have of reaching us, much less endangering us? We will wait, and we will watch. If it eases your conscience Ganthet, we can prepare a squadron of Lanterns to meet them should they break beyond their galaxy. Until then we do nothing."
. . . . .
A galaxy far, far away
"Behold Lord Vader, the culmination of our plans."
"Your foresight is impressive, Master."
They stood in the Death Star, looking out at the space before them. That space was filled with what appeared to be millions of Imperial-class Star Destroyers, along with thousands of Executor-class Dreadnoughts, more commonly known as Super Star Destroyers. It was the largest fleet Vader had ever seen, and somehow he had known nothing about it.
"I have been preparing this force in secret since our victory over the Rebel Alliance," the Emperor explained. "This force is the greatest force ever assembled, and it will have to be for our victory to be assured. Ten trillion of the Empire's finest soldiers, with our greatest weapons in their possession. The universe beyond our galaxy will learn to fear the might of my Empire. And this force will be led by the only general worthy of such a force. You, Lord Vader. You will lead our forces into the universe."
Vader hesitated for a moment. "I will do as you command, my Master."
"Now only one more thing is required," Sidious hissed. "My agents recently discovered the location of an ancient Gree hypergate. Once we are able to reactivate this gate we will be able to travel anywhere in the universe instantaneously, and we shall begin our conquest of the universe."
