Metropolis University

The tall man with short, blond hair was dressed in an orange shirt that appeared to be made of scales and green pants, with a kind of crustacean armor surrounding parts of his body. He wielded a trident in both hands, standing in front of the hole he’d just made. But the strangest thing about him wasn’t his strength or his odd costume. It was the starfish-like creature wrapped around his face, its giant red eye staring out dispassionately.

“Aquaman, right?” asked Superman. “I’ve heard of you. But I thought you were one of the good guys.”

Aquaman responded by thrusting his trident at the Man of Steel. It was a sudden attack that managed to catch Superman off-guard. In the short time he’d been operating, he found himself invulnerable to everything. But when Aquaman’s trident slammed into his chest, Superman felt the impact. So strong it threw him right through the wall.

“Okay…” said Superman, rising to his feet. “I guess that means no holding back.”

When Superman sprung, his power of flight separated the distance between him and Aquaman in the blink of an eye, and Superman’s fist connected with Aquaman’s jaw. The blow threw the Atlantean back through the hole he’d made and Superman followed him out, taking to the skies.

Superman’s telescopic vision spotted Aquaman on the street just outside Gardner Hall. A campus bus was coming right towards him, but Aquaman stood tall in front of it, aiming his trident.

“No!” Superman was a blue and red streak, flying as fast as he could to get to the bus before it connected with Aquaman. Superman had no idea just how much damage Aquaman was capable of, and he certainly didn’t want to risk any lives to find out.

Superman flew behind the bus, grabbing it by the rear bumper and lifting it over Aquaman’s head before setting it back down. Just as Superman turned his head back to the battle, Aquaman’s emerald-gloved fist struck him in his jaw.

Aquaman looked away, the red eye on the starfish glowing brightly. Superman wasn’t sure what had distracted him, but he knew this was the best chance to get him away from a populated area. He grabbed Aquaman around the waist and took off, carrying his opponent up into the clouds.

They kept flying higher, with Superman trying to get him outside the city limits. Aquaman struggled against Superman’s grip, but it was no use. And then, Aquaman stopped, just stared at him. Superman wasn’t sure what he was doing, but then suddenly, he was hit with an overwhelming pain flooding his mind.

Superman stopped in mid-flight, hovering there and losing his grip on Aquaman. The Atlantean struck Superman one final time before he began falling to the ground, flipping and achieving a perfect landing on one of the buildings.

The pain left Superman’s mind and he was able to think clearly once again. “Wh-what was that?”

He tried to find his enemy, but Aquaman was gone from the building. Superman cursed himself and flew back to the city, scanning with his telescopic and x-ray vision to find him. Despite Governor Mason’s claims to the contrary, Superman had gotten the impression that Aquaman was like him, someone with powers trying to do the right thing.

Something else was going on. And Superman was willing to bet it had something to do with that starfish Aquaman sported on his face. Identical to the one he found on the ship in the Persian Gulf. The man it was attached to also attacked him and then the creature tried to come after him.

He had to find Aquaman and get that thing off his face before the Atlantean could do any further damage.

THE CONQUEROR

Part II

By Dino Pollard

Gotham City

Wayne Manor, the ancestral mansion that has housed the family of its namesake for generations, sat on the outskirts of Gotham. But despite sharing the massive home with only his butler, the current master of the house spent most of his time not relaxing in the lap of luxury, but working in the damp caverns located beneath the house.

Contrasting against the cold, dark rocks was an advanced Cray supercomputer. The main monitor was the size of most big-screen TVs, with smaller, ancillary monitors off to the sides. A single high-backed executive chair, flanked by keyboards and other controls and scanners, held the form of a dark-haired man in his thirties. His cold, blue eyes stared intently at the data across the screen.

Multiple video files played simultaneously. One showed a man dressed in blue with a crimson cape, stopping a bank robbery. Another showed a man in green, creating energy constructs from a ring. A red blur accented by lightning saving civilians from a burning building. A man in orange and green, crustacean-like armor accenting his form, diving into the ocean. And finally, a statuesque woman in red, gold, and blue, surrounded by armed police officers without a worry on her face.

These incredible individuals had all seemed to appear simultaneously. Beginning with the man in the cape from Metropolis. All these beings with godlike powers suddenly turning up at once? It was one hell of a coincidence.

A little too coincidental.

“Master Bruce, at the risk of sounding like an old nag, when was the last time you ate?”

Bruce Wayne didn’t turn to acknowledge the voice of Alfred Pennyworth. Instead, he continued reviewing the footage, his chin resting on his hand.

“Or, for that matter, when was the last time you slept?” asked Alfred, stepping beside Bruce’s chair and glancing at him out the corner of his eye. “Or bathed?”

“There are more pressing matters, Alfred,” said Bruce.

“Yes, these so-called metahumans,” said Alfred, looking up at the screen. “From most accounts, these five individuals have been doing quite a lot of good since they appeared. So what makes you so suspicious?”

“We know nothing about them. The things they can do either indicates advanced technology…or something else.”

“Some would say the same of the Batman,” said Alfred. “In fact, many have.”

“It’s different.”

“How?”

“Ever since the first one appeared in Metropolis, I’ve been researching. Surprisingly, this isn’t the first time there have been unusual reports.”

Bruce typed on the keyboard, the videos moving to the sides and several websites opening up. Alfred frowned when he saw some of the sites the man he raised had been visiting.

“Sir, I believe this qualifies as what a certain small-fingered vulgarian would refer to as ‘fake news.’”

“Until recently, many would have said the same of the Batman,” added Bruce, flipping Alfred’s previous argument back on him. “There’s a lot of bullshit, but some truth. Some of it reported on by this man.”

An image appeared of a young man with shaggy, brown hair.

“Snapper Carr, a noted UFOlogist. Many of his articles focus on alien sightings dating back to the mid-fifties,” said Bruce. “In Carr’s last video broadcast, he said he was on the road heading to Happy Harbor, a town in Rhode Island where he believed he’d find the answers he’d spent his life searching for.”

“And…?”

“And nothing,” said Bruce. “I didn’t say it was his latest broadcast, I said it was his last. He’s taken down the site and all his videos.”

“You think he saw little green men? Or that these new metahumans are of alien origin?”

“It’s the first explanation I’ve found that makes any sense.”

Bruce pushed his chair back and rose. He walked towards a tall, circular chamber and the glass container slid down, revealing gray armor with a black cape, cowl, and a giant bat emblazoned on the chest.

“And the Batman’s going to find out if these are connected.”

Metropolis

Running hundreds of miles may seem insane for most people, but for Wally West, it was a simple feat. After speed-reading through his textbook three times in preparation for an upcoming test, he’d just been lounging in his dorm room, when the news had a report of Superman and Aquaman battling it out on the streets of Metropolis.

Part of Wally felt he should intervene. If two metahumans were fighting, who knew what kind of damage they could cause? And on a purely selfish note, it was Superman’s appearance in Metropolis that inspired Wally to use his newfound super-speed to become a hero himself. So how could the Flash resist this opportunity?

The Flash was a streak of red with yellow lighting following him in his wake. He skidded to a stop in the center of the city, watching as Aquaman delivered a haymaker that sent Superman flying through an overpass.

“Ohcrapohcrapohcrap!” The Flash raced up the onramp, pushing his speed to its limits and hoping he could reach the people in those cars before they went through the hole.

But just as he was about to reach the first car desperately trying to stop and avoid the hole, something odd happened. A near-translucent green construct appeared over the hole, allowing the car to pass harmlessly over. The Flash stopped on the shoulder and looked around to see what could have happened.

“What’s up?”

The Flash looked up and he saw a man hovering, surrounded by a green energy field. He was dressed in a costume composed of different shades of green, a white circle and some sort of green symbol on his chest.

“The Flash, right?” he asked, lowering himself to the ground. “I’ve heard of you, I’m—”

“Green Lantern, yeah, I know,” said the Flash with a smile. “I’ve heard of you, t—”

The Flash was silenced when they felt a tremor. Both heroes turned and saw Aquaman standing on the overpass. Cars honked their horns, but he ignored them and walked towards the two heroes.

“Is that Aquaman?” asked Green Lantern.

“Yeah, and I think we’re about to have our first team-up,” said the Flash.

Aquaman twirled his trident and moved into a battle stance.

“Race you,” said the Flash, and then he was gone in the blink of an eye.

“Show off,” said Green Lantern, watching as the red and yellow streak attacked Aquaman, running around him and trying to deliver a series of rapid punches. Kyle Rayner thought this battle would be over quickly, but then the red streak slammed into him.

The Flash and Green Lantern both lay on their backs. Green Lantern pushed him off and stood. “Dude, what the hell was that? You’re gonna embarrass us in front of Super—”

Green Lantern looked down at the Flash and saw that the same starfish on Aquaman’s face was now on the Scarlet Speedster’s.

“Oh, this can’t be good…”

Superman groaned as he got back to his feet. He shook his head, trying to get his bearings. Aquaman had knocked him clear across the city and he flew right back towards the battle. He had to find Aquaman, get that thing off him, and then hopefully the two of them could figure out just what was going on.

He found Aquaman standing over someone. Superman’s telescopic vision zoomed in, and he saw Aquaman putting one of those starfish on the victim. He rocketed from the sky, slamming into Aquaman and knocking him away from the victim.

Superman turned to help the young man when he felt a gust of wind and he was struck hard enough even to hurt him. And then, Superman looked up to see a giant, green robot towering over him, right before its foot stomped on him.

Superman struggled under the robot’s foot, holding it at bay, his knees buckling under the weight. He pushed back and stared into the center of the robot where he saw a man floating.

“Y’know…really starting to miss the days when I was the only one I knew with powers.”

The red and yellow streak came at him again and it distracted Superman long enough for the robot to flatten him against the street. The streak came to a stop and Superman found himself looking up at a young man in a red and yellow suit with a lightning bolt on his chest. Like Aquaman, the Flash also had one of those things on his face.

“Superman.”

He tried to look at the source of the voice and saw Aquaman walking towards him, one of those starfish in his hand.

“It’s time we became one.”

Superman was about to use his heat vision just as he had last time, but the Green Lantern generated a visor around his eyes to stop him before he could. Aquaman bent down and placed the starfish.

Clark tried to resist. He tried to scream as he felt the creature’s limbs wrapping around his head, suctioning itself to his face. Thoughts that weren’t his own flooded his mind. He kept seeing visions of destruction.

And then, it was gone. Green Lantern’s robot vanished and the Flash and Aquaman both stood still as Superman slowly rose. Though he wasn’t Superman though, not anymore. Clark Kent, Superman, everything he was before was now gone.

Now, there was only the Conqueror.