I got a text from Hope.
Come to the mansion. You're going to want to see this.
That was it. No explanation. No hint. Just that message.
So, of course, my curiosity kicked in.
I dropped what I was doing and teleported straight to the mansion.
The moment I appeared in the living room, I froze.
Standing there… was someone I hadn't seen in a long time.
"JACK!" I shouted.
"In the flesh," he said with a wide grin.
We both walked forward and pulled each other into a hug.
Man, it was good to see him.
"Dude, you have no idea how crazy things have been around here without you," I said as we broke the hug.
Then I took a better look at him.
Yeah… he definitely changed.
He was way more buff than before, his aura felt stronger, and
Wait.
"Hold on… You got a tail now?" I asked, pointing behind him.
Jack glanced back at it and shrugged.
"Long story."
I chuckled. "Oh, I bet it is."
Hope clapped her hands once.
"Well then, how about we all sit down and have a drink and catch up?" she said. "Sounds like everyone has stories."
"Good idea," Jack said. "Because I've got some crazy ones."
"Trust me," I said, grabbing a seat, "so do we."
We ended up sitting there for nearly an hour just talking and catching up.
Jack's stories were absolutely insane.
"I still can't believe the first thing you did was fight a God of Destruction," I said, shaking my head.
Jack laughed.
"I can't believe you fought Darkseid," he shot back. "And it happened a month after I left! Man, I should've stayed."
Hope leaned back in her chair.
"Don't forget the alien invasion."
"Oh yeah," Jack said. "That too."
He grinned.
"Honestly, I hope something big happens again. I want to have some fun."
Hope snorted.
"This is DC. Give it a minute."
We all burst out laughing.
Then suddenly
Beep. Beep. Beep.
The sound echoed from the lab.
All three of us heard it at the same time.
Jack looked toward the hallway.
"What the hell is that?" he asked.
Hope stood up.
"Come on. We'll show you."
We all got up and headed down the hall toward the lab.
When we stepped inside, one of the healing pods was flashing green and beeping.
Inside the pod was Hermione.
Jack stared at it in disbelief.
"Okay, hold on," he said, pointing. "Since when do you guys have healing pods?"
Then he looked closer at the girl inside.
"And is that Hermione?"
Hope walked over and started opening the pod.
"Yeah," she said casually. "We did a lot of recruiting while you were gone."
The pod hissed as it opened, and Hope leaned down to check Hermione's vitals.
Jack slowly looked back at me.
"…I leave for a little while, and you guys start recruiting Harry Potter characters?"
I shrugged.
"You should see who else we picked up."
Hope moved her hand from the girl's knee onto the table so she could get a better look at her. The girl was still unconscious, but Hope didn't see any other injuries or cuts on her body.
At least she looked healthier now… like she'd actually eaten in the last month.
"She's fine," Hope said calmly. "She's just going to be unconscious for a little bit longer."
"Good to know." I nodded. "Stay by her side. I don't want her freaking out when she wakes up. I'll explain everything to her then."
I glanced over at Jack.
"Until then, Jack, you can go check out our new base… and meet the new members."
Jack blinked.
"We got a new base?"
Jack POV
"Fuck me… we really do have a new base," I said, staring up at the massive structure in front of us.
"Language, Jack. Kids are in there," Hope said without even looking back.
She started walking toward the entrance, so I followed. Once inside, she gave me the full tour.
And yeah… they'd been busy while I was gone.
She showed me the training rooms first, huge spaces packed with equipment, sparring arenas, and holographic combat simulators. Then the labs, filled with tech I didn't even recognize. Workshops lined with tools, weapons, and half-built gadgets.
But the craziest thing?
A portal room.
A literal portal to another dimension where they were keeping some captured supervillains locked up.
Yeah… they definitely upgraded.
Eventually, the tour ended in the main common room. It looked like most of the heroes were just relaxing, some sitting around, some eating, others talking.
The moment Hope and I walked in, everyone turned to look at us.
"Who's the new guy?" Flambe asked.
Hope had already given me the rundown on all the new members earlier, so I knew who everyone was.
Honestly, even if she hadn't… I still would've recognized most of them.
I played the game.
"I'm not a new guy," I said. "I'm an OG. Name's Jack."
The moment I said that, everyone in the room froze.
"Holy shit… it is Jack," Soldier Boy said, staring at me in surprise. "When did you get so ripped? And you got a tail now?"
"Kai already told us Jack went off-world to train," Sam said.
"He told us the day he left," Crimson Countess added.
"I was only half listening that whole time," Soldier Boy said with a shrug. "Good to see you, Jack."
Then he casually went back to reading his newspaper as if nothing had happened.
I glanced around the room again.
Yeah…
A lot had changed while I was gone.
Flambe stood up from his seat and walked over to me.
"So you're supposedly the strongest one here," Flambe said, crossing his arms. "Stronger than even that kai?"
"Yes, I am," I answered calmly. "And I got a lot stronger."
"Is that so?" He looked me up and down. "I can see you're well built, but I gotta ask… what's with the tail? Some kind of furry thing?"
It was obvious what he was doing.
He was trying to gauge me.
"Flambe… probably not a good idea to anger the strongest person in the room," Golem said.
Judging by the looks around the room, everyone else seemed to agree.
"What? I'm not meaning any harm," Flambe said with a shrug. "I'm just curious. I mean, he's supposedly the strongest member, but he went off the grid to train. I just want to see his skills… make sure he actually deserves the top spot."
Like he thought he was making a good point.
I didn't bother responding.
Instead, I simply disappeared from where I was standing.
From Flambae's point of view, I just vanished.
A second later, I reappeared in front of Trini.
"I heard you avenged your home… and got an upgrade," I said.
Everyone in the room froze.
Not a single one of them had tracked my movement.
Not even the Kryptonians.
"Wow," Trini said, blinking in surprise. "Did you learn how to teleport?"
"I did learn how to teleport," I said with a small shrug. "But it's annoying to use sometimes. That was just pure speed."
A few people in the room exchanged looks.
"I feel pity for anyone who fights you," Trini said.
I laughed.
"Hahaha, don't worry. I'll always hold back against my opponents. Honestly, I doubt anyone besides Superman or Wonder Woman could give me a real fight."
I leaned back slightly.
"So don't worry… I'm not going to accidentally kill anyone."
Thaddeus Sivana POV
I carefully painted the last symbol onto the red door standing in the middle of my office.
A door that led to nowhere.
Or at least… that's what everyone thought.
But not me.
After all these years… I had finally figured it out.
"Dr. Sivana?"
"Not now, Crosby," I said without looking away from the door.
"What is all of this?" she asked.
I sighed and finally turned toward her.
"All these years I thought I had the wrong sequence… the wrong symbols to open the door," I explained. "But then I noticed something."
I pointed toward the door.
"That woman's alarm clock that stopped at exactly 7:00."
She frowned. "What are you talking about?"
"That's when I figured it out," I said, my excitement creeping into my voice. "The seven symbols… repeat themselves seven times."
Crosby stared at me like I'd lost my mind.
"A long time ago, I appeared in a strange ancient cave," I continued. "There was a wizard sitting on a throne. He spoke about champions… about magic… about power."
I gestured around the office.
"That's why we're here. The reason I built this company wasn't to study mass hysteria. All those people who said they experienced it… they were telling the truth."
She crossed her arms.
"So an alarm clock malfunctioning is enough proof for you that a wizard is real?" she scoffed. "Come on, Dr. Sivana. You can't seriously believe any of this is actually real."
Then she placed her hand on the door.
The symbols suddenly lit up.
A red glow burst from the carvings.
Crosby gasped.
Her hand began turning black.
Then it started to crumble.
"No, what's happening?!"
The black spread up her arm, across her body, faster and faster.
Within seconds…
She turned to ash.
The pile of dust collapsed onto the floor.
I slowly looked down at it.
And smiled.
"Yes," I said quietly.
"I do believe it's real."
Lex Luthor POV
I was bleeding out in an alley, my armor flickering and sparking as its systems failed one by one.
The plating was cracked. Circuits exposed. Half the HUD in my helmet had already gone dark.
Jester had sacrificed himself to buy me time.
Which meant I had to finish the mission.
Footsteps echoed behind me.
Slow. Confident.
I forced myself to turn around.
Standing at the entrance of the alley were five figures.
Ultraman.Johnny Quick.Owlman.Power Ring.Superwoman.
The Crime Syndicate.
Ultraman stepped forward, a cruel smile spreading across his face.
"It's over, Lex," he said. "You have no more friends… and you're out of options."
His eyes glowed faintly red.
"If you give up now, I'll make it a quick death."
I slowly reached into my damaged armor and pulled out a small gun.
"No," I said, raising it.
"It is not over."
I pulled the trigger.
Ultraman laughed, clearly expecting some kind of desperate energy blast.
But nothing fired.
Instead, a purple shimmer surrounded me.
Reality warped.
And I vanished.
I reappeared in another alley.
Another world.
Another Earth.
I collapsed to the ground, my armor finally shutting down completely.
Every muscle in my body screamed in pain.
Good.
Pain meant I was still alive.
The device had worked.
I had escaped.
But now came the harder part.
I needed to find heroes.
Real heroes.
The kind strong enough to help me take my world back from the Syndicate.
I tried to stand, but my legs barely cooperated. I stumbled forward a few steps before the exhaustion caught up with me.
My vision started fading.
Then I heard a voice.
Soft and amused.
"Well… you poor thing."
I looked up just enough to see a woman standing in front of me.
Red hair.
Yellow eyes.
She crouched down beside me, studying my damaged armor with curiosity.
"Don't worry," she said with a small smile. "I'm going to help you."
Her eyes glinted.
"And maybe you can help me too."
I frowned weakly.
"I do need an excuse… to meet that interesting group."
I had no idea what she was talking about.
But at that moment, I didn't have the strength to care.
My vision finally went black.
And everything faded.