Apokolips Now

Ten hours have passed since the Titans easily defeated Darkseid's Furies. That was just a test. A message before the invasion begins now. Outside a factory in Gotham City, Batman and Jordan look at it from the top of a rooftop with the help of binoculars. They continue to look through the binoculars before placing them back on their utility belts.

"This is it. This is where all the Boomtube activity is coming from," said Jordan.

"Then, let's check inside. There may or may not be a guardian inside, but we have to find out. We can't allow Darkseid and his minions to find a way in," said Bruce.

"Yeah, but what if it's a trap?" asked Jordan.

"These are always traps," said Bruce.

"True, but we can't be taken out. We're too important for the fight," said Jordan.

"We'll be fine. Just be cautious and we will retrieve the Motherbox," said Bruce.

"Ok. Let's go," said Jordan.

Jordan and Bruce hop off the rooftop and glide toward the factory. They land on the roof and Bruce pulls out a gadget. He opens the gadget and uses it to cut a hole through the glass roof. The two heroes hop through the hole and land on the ground. They turn around and see the Motherbox in the center of the empty factory floor.

"This is a trap," said Jordan.

"Yes, it is," said Bruce.

"Fools! You have fallen for the easiest trap in Darkseid's glorious book! You are screwed!" exclaimed Darkseid's warrior.

"Who was that?" asked Jordan.

"Trouble," said Bruce.

"Trouble indeed," said Darkseid's warrior as he hops out of the shadows.

This warrior is decked in an Apokoliptian mech armor. His scarred face can be seen from the inside of his helmet. The two heroes see the warrior but are not fazed.

"You should be shivering! I will be your doom!" exclaimed Darkseid's warrior.

"You seem more like a chump to me," said Jordan.

"What is this chump!" exclaimed Darkseid's warrior.

"A loser like you," said Jordan.

"I am no loser! I am Darkseid's greatest warrior! Prepare to be destroyed!" exclaimed Darkseid's warrior.

"Eh. Whatever," said Jordan.

"Take this!" exclaimed Darkseifds warrior.

Darkseid's warrior tries to punch the two heroes, but they easily dive out of the way. The warrior then slams his fists on the ground, causing the ground to shake, but the two heroes grapple to the rooftop and then dive-bomb the warrior. They land on his helmet and then try to rip off his head.

"You can't rip it off! My armor is a part of me!" exclaimed Darkseid's warrior.

"Ok then. This will hurt," said Jordan.

Jordan punches the glass in the center of the warrior's helmet and breaks it, causing glass shards to fall onto his face. The warrior screams as some glass fall into his eyes and blood starts to spew out of them. Bruce takes advantage of this and drops a couple gadgets into the warrior's armor. The gadgets release acid and the acid melts the armor off the warrior's armor, removing most of his skin as well. The warrior screams in pain but stops once he is hit with a hard right hook from Jordan.

"Sweet dreams," said Jordan.

Bruce doesn't leave a snark. He just walks over to the Motherbox and pulls out a gadget to start analyzing it. Jordan walks up to him a few seconds later and kneels to look at the gadget doing its job.

"Anything strange?" asked Jordan.

"This was used to bring him here, but that's it. It's just a normal Motherbox," said Bruce.

"There's no such thing as a normal Motherbox. There has to be something else," said Jordan.

"Probably, but I will need to take it back to the cave and run a full-blown analysis," said Bruce.

"Let's go then. We don't have much time before Darkseid comes," said Jordan.

"Wait. I'm getting something," said Bruce.

"What are you seeing?" asked Jordan.

"It's beeping like a bomb," said Bruce.

"What's happening?" asked Jordan.

"It's starting to shake and the readings are going off the charts," said Bruce.

"We gotta move," said Jordan.

"We can't take it out of here. We can't allow any innocent people to get hit with this," said Bruce.

"I'll call Barry. He will help contain the blast," said Jordan.

"He's on a mission like the rest of the league. We are all alone," said Bruce.

"Then, we have to create a perimeter to minimize the blast," said Jordan.

"No time. Move!" said Bruce as he pushes Jordan away.

The Motherbox lets out a giant white light and Bruce vanishes. This light wave does send Jordan flying into a wall and prevents him from saving his mentor. He looks up a few seconds after rubbing his eyes and sees that the Batman has disappeared.

"Bruce?" asked Jordan as he gets up.

Jordan walks over to the Motherbox and sees that his mentor is not there. He turns his head and sees that Bruce is still not there. He then looks down and sees the device scanner and the Motherbox still there. This isn't good.

"Phoenix to the League, we have an issue. Batman has disappeared," said Jordan.

"Superman has vanished as well right in front of me," said Connor.

"Diana is gone as well. She just disappeared," said Donna.

"Doctor Fate has gone off-grid. I can't find him," said Raven.

"Green Lantern is gone as well. He vanished once we found the Motherbox," said Starfire.

"Barry is gone too. He may have gone too fast, but I doubt that. He disappeared once we got close to the Motherbox," said Wally.

"Martian Manhunter is gone. It's like he vanished," said Beast Boy.

"Billy is gone as well. He's not dead. Just not here," said Jaime.

"Aquaman disappeared too. He got too close to the Motherbox and got teleported away," said Cyborg.

"This is not good," said Jordan concerningly.

An hour passes. Jordan now stands before the very few members of the Justice League plus the main Titans. He clears his throat and starts to speak in a serious tone.

"In the early hours of the morning, the League and the Titans decided to go on a cooperative covert mission to find and search for any Motherbox activity. It was supposed to be a simple mission, but something happened. I first-handedly saw Batman disappear. He wasn't the only one through. Superman, Wonder Woman, Doctor Fate, Green Lantern, The Flash, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Shazam, and Zatana also disappeared. There is no way that this wasn't deliberate," said Jordan.

"Whoa. Those are all our big guns. It must have been Darkseid," said Green Arrow.

"Yeah. it's too obvious. He is planning to do something with them, but I don't know what," said Jordan.

"We have to save them," said Starfire.

"Yes, but we can't. We still have to prepare for Darkseid's arrival," said Jordan.

"So we'll just let the alien do whatever he wants to them," said Starfire.

"They will be fine. They've been doing this for years," said Jordan.

"Darkseid is not like anything they have ever faced. We can't be so confident," said Donna.

"We have to. We can't go save them and allow Darkseid to launch a secret invasion. We will save them once we take out the boss," said Jordan.

"How will we protect the entire planet? We don't have that many forces. Especially with most of the League gone," said Cyborg.

"We have a lot of help. Throughout the years, we have inspired many young heroes and many of them wanted to become Titans. In secret, I've been training them and I believe that they're ready for an event as dangerous and important as this," said Jordan.

"Wait. We have secret forces?" said Beast Boy.

"Yes, Gar. We have secret forces. Let me introduce them to you. We are known as Titans West, the main team. We have Titans East to our east, but we also have other teams around the U.S. and the world. We have Titans South, led by Robin, and includes the members Kid Flash, Miss Martian, Wonder Girl, and Kaldur. We have Titans North led by Nightwing and includes the members Static Shock, Jessica Cruz, and Lagoon Boy. We have other members as well, but it will take too long to introduce them all. We will be fine," said Jordan.

"So, we will be in command of all of these forces?" asked Raven.

"Only the ones in the states. The others will have to be in charge of themselves. We still have a job to do after all," said Jordan.

"So, we are going to be led by kids? I didn't see this coming," said Black Canary.

"Well, we kids will be saving your butts, so be grateful," said Jordan.

"I always am," said Black Canary.

"Will any other heroes be joining us?" asked Beast Boy.

"We will also have assistance from the Batfamily and other heroes of course," said Jordan.

"Oh," said Beast Boy.

"I tried to get her help, Gar, but she won't be coming. Never again," said Jordan.

"Bummer," said Beast Boy.

"So, what is the plan?" asked Red Tornado.

"We Titans will protect our cities from Darkseid's forces. The rest of the Leaguers can choose the places that they want to protect. If anyone gets overrun, Cyborg will help you boom tube away. Pretty simple plan," said Jordan.

"Too simple," said Cyborg.

"Any issues?" asked Jordan.

"What if Darkseid comes up with a counter to that plan? What will we do then?" asked Cyborg.

"He's searching for the Anti-Life equation. He will probably use not just his forces, but also the League to get it. He doesn't seem too smart. This plan will work. I have thought it all the way through," said Jordan.

"When will he invade?" asked Green Arrow.

"Nothing later than New Year's Eve. He needs that equation," said Jordan.

"Then, what are we waiting for? We got planning to do," said Green Arrow.

"Arthur is right. Let's get to work," said Jordan.

Fourteen hours pass. As the Titans hurriedly prepare for the arrival of the alien tyrant, an alarm is heard in the tower coming from the living room. Jordan runs to the main computer and sees a giant Motherbox appear on the screen. He places his cowl on his face and starts to walk out.

"Boomtube activity in the sewers. I'll be back. If the invasion starts, don't come get me. Just get to alien slaying," said Jordan as he walks away.

Ten minutes pass. Jordan hops off his bike and walks over to the entrance to the sewer. He pulls off the manhole and enters the sewer. He quietly walks through the sewers until he hears something. He latches onto a wall and tiptoes until he reaches an opening. He leans over and sees an alien placing a Motherbox on the wall.

"There you are," said Jordan.

Jordan sneaks up on the alien and tries to silently dispatch it, but it sees him and hits him with a fireball from its mouth. Jordan kind of dodges the fireball, but this gives the alien enough time to arm the Motherbox. It then turns to look at Jordan.

"For Darkseid," said the alien as the Motherbox explodes and creates a boom tube.

From the boom tube, hundreds of the same alien species fly out and fill up the sewers. Jordan quickly gets up and pulls out an explosive. He blows it up and creates an opening to escape and the aliens follow. They rocket into the sky and start to fill it.

"Well, this isn't going well so far," said Jordan as he gasps for air.

Jordan gets up and runs into the streets. The civilians of the city are already running and panicking. Jordan sees the aliens and prepares to fight them, but some are cut down with Starbolts while others are taken out with blasts from sonic cannons, magic, and brute force. The Titans have come to save the day.

"You guys got here quick," said Jordan.

"We live here," said Raven.

"I know. Now, we have to deal with these aliens before the big guy shows," said Jordan.

"Ummm. We may be too late," said Beast Boy as he points at the sky.

Jordan looks up and sees a giant boom tube appear in the sky. Out of it comes the big man in all of his glory. His hands stand behind his back and his blank face sends chills down the Earthling's spine. He is Darkseid.

"Great. Just great," said Jordan.