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Alexander stood at the edge of a rooftop in the heart of the city, his eyes scanning the bustling streets below. The weight of his armor no longer felt foreign—each piece, each inch of the synthetic black suit and the indestructible cloak clung to his form like a second skin. He had long since stopped feeling like an outsider in this world, but as he watched the flow of life below him, a gnawing sense of unease tugged at the edges of his mind.
It started with whispers. An unknown organization—one that he had no knowledge of—seemed to have taken interest in him. He'd noticed them days ago, their low-level minions lurking in the shadows, watching, waiting. The League of Villains, as they were called. They sent their thugs to either recruit him or, more likely, destroy him if he refused. The thought alone brought a faint smirk to his face.
They clearly underestimating him or probing him.
Just last night, two of their operatives had followed him to the outskirts of the city. He hadn't been in the mood to entertain them, so he dispatched them quickly, leaving them unconscious in an alley with a message carved into the wall in their own language:
Stay away.
Yet, the annoyance gnawed at him. These games—these low-level attempts to understand him, to manipulate him—it was beginning to grate on his patience.
But it wasn't just these shadowy criminals that had become an issue. The government was involved now, too. They weren't subtle either—agents of A.R.G.U.S., the CIA, N.B.I., and even the ultra-secretive Bureau 39 were investigating the ruins near Star City. The ruins of the stone Towers, with their pulsing, eerie symbols, had drawn far too much attention. The authorities, with their primitive methods, believed they were dealing with some supernatural force or alien technology, and in a sense, they weren't wrong. But they were digging into matters far beyond their comprehension.
Alexander's senses picked up a shift in the wind, and his gaze sharpened. Something was happening. Something big.
Far to the east, over the forested hills of Star City, the sky flickered with faint, golden energy. He recognized it immediately—the arrival of magic users. His lips pressed into a thin line as he watched the golden haze form into sigils and symbols high in the air. They had arrived. Zatanna, Doctor Fate, John Constantine, and others—all drawn to the ruins, like moths to a flame.
He could almost hear Constantine's sarcastic drawl now. The British warlock was infamous for poking his nose where it didn't belong, and with him, wherever there was trouble, there were problems for everyone involved. Zatanna, however, was a different matter. Her control of magic was unlike anything he had seen on this planet—raw power, tempered with a sense of grace and discipline. The others—Doctor Fate, Green Arrow, and Green Lantern—were also present, their expressions tense. They had been searching for their missing comrade, the Flash, ever since he had vanished near these ruins. Despite their efforts, there had been no sign of him—or of his most frequent adversaries, the Rogues. It was as if they had all been swallowed by the earth itself.
It had been weeks since The Flash disappeared, along with several of his most notorious villains. Word was starting to spread that the towers had something to do with it, and the Justice League had finally taken notice.
A flicker in the corner of his vision pulled Alexander's attention. His eyes narrowed. Zatanna was performing a tracking and memory relay spell, her delicate hands moving gracefully through the air as she summoned strands of glowing blue light. He could see the magic weaving together, forming a shimmering web in the sky above the ruins. She was looking for Flash—piecing together fragments of his memories, tracking the energy signature left behind by his speed.
Suddenly, Zatanna's spell flared to life. A shimmering, ghostly image of the Flash appeared in the air, running through the ruins, pursued by shadowy figures. The villains he had fought—Captain Cold, Mirror Master, and Weather Wizard—were there, too, their faces twisted in fear as they attempted to flee from an unseen enemy.
But that wasn't all she found.
Alexander's enhanced senses picked up on it first—a cold, creeping presence lurking just beyond the veil of reality. It moved like a shadow, slipping between dimensions. And then it appeared.
the image shifted. A tall, hulking silhouette appeared in the distance, moving toward them with terrifying speed. It wasn't human—no, it was something far worse. The figure reached out, and in an instant, the Flash and his foes were overwhelmed, swallowed by darkness.
A 9-foot-tall humanoid figure, its sickly orange eyes glowing with an unnatural intensity, stared back at Zatanna through the veil. It was a towering silhouette, barely visible like a nightmare barely remembered upon waking. Its eyes bore into her as if it knew exactly what she was doing.
It had defeated The Flash.
And it wasn't alone.
Through Zatanna's spell, the rest of the League could see it too—Flash, along with several of his villains, lay beaten and unconscious at the base of the Towers. The ground around them was scorched, the air crackling with residual energy. The creature, this inferior's shadow, loomed over them, victorious, yet not entirely interested in their fate.
Zatanna's hands faltered slightly, her lips pressing together as a cold sweat formed on her brow. She knew this was no ordinary enemy. Whoever or whatever this figure was, it had the power to incapacitate The Flash—one of the fastest beings in the universe—along with his greatest foes, without breaking a sweat.
"Zee?" Constantine's voice broke through the tension. He stood off to the side, a cigarette dangling from his lips. "What the bloody hell are we looking at?"
Zatanna didn't answer immediately. She blinked, pulling herself back to the present as the image of the shadowy figure faded. Her heart raced in her chest, the lingering sensation of being watched, scrutinized, by that thing still crawling along her skin.
"I don't know," she finally whispered. "But whatever it is… it's dangerous."
Green Lantern, who had been hovering beside them, clenched his fists, the green light of his ring flaring to life. "We need to get Flash out of there. Now."
Doctor Fate, who had remained silent until now, nodded. "Agreed. But we must proceed with caution. The energies surrounding those towers are… unstable. The creature guarding them is no mere physical entity. We'll need to combine our efforts if we are to retrieve Flash and close whatever breach has been opened."
As the League continued to discuss their next steps, Alexander stood far above, watching from the shadows. The Justice League would soon realize they were in way over their heads. This wasn't just another villainous plot, another scheme from some rogue alien or would-be conqueror.
This was something far older. Far deadlier.
And if the League wasn't careful, they wouldn't just lose The Flash—they might lose everything.
With a faint sigh, Alexander turned away from the rooftop, his form disappearing into the night sky as he flew towards Star City.
It seemed the time for inaction had come to an end.
The storm was coming. And he would be at the center of it.