ARC ONE: The Loot House

Chapter One: The Clouds of a New World

Over the night skies of the island nation of Corto Maltese, a large sky battle was taking place. One on the ground might have been able to see the flashes in the clouds or hear the thundering boom of engines and sonic booms, but for those on the ground, that's all it was.

Random sounds and flashes in the clouds.

Days earlier, The Justice League had received information of a plot being conducted by The Secret Society of Super Villains. It was discovered that Gorilla Grodd had hired Scarecrow, Deathstroke and Posion Ivy for a truly nefarious plot. Grodd had hired Scarecrow to create a more potent Fear Toxin that could be spread by plant spores. With Poison Ivy's plant manipulation powers, they were to spread the spores over the island nation and cause flowers to bloom all over. Once they did, the flowers would spread the toxin and cause the entire human population to kill each other out of paranoia and extreme terror. However they were sure that the Justice League would try to stop them, so in a bid to have their asses saved, Grodd payed Deathstroke a down payment of 15 million dollars for his assistance.

In the end, Scarecrow would have successfully tested his new Fear Toxin, Poison Ivy would allow plant life to return to it's original state on the island and Grodd would have a new foothold for his new Ape Empire.

As for Deathstroke, he just wanted a paycheck. Everybody wins.

Currently, Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern (John Stewart) and Red Tornado were in combat over the skies of the island. They were handling four high tech jets stolen from S.T.A.R. Labs that were protecting the cargo plane carrying the spores. Superman used his eye beams on a jet, but it masterfully dodged to left and fired its turrets at Wonder Woman who was in front of her. She flung herself back and with her sword sliced the aircraft in half.

She was able to quickly pull the gorilla pilot out before it exploded.

"Damn filthy hairless ape! Get your grotesque hands off me!"

Before he could scream anything else, Wonder Woman karate chopped him in the neck knocking him out.

Red Tornado and Green Lantern subdued the second aircraft with ease. Lantern put a shield around the next Gorilla pilot to ensure his safety. Superman flew down hard on the next jet, smashing it to pieces letting the next pilot fall, only to be caught by Red Tornado. The Batwing maneuvered around the next two jets and headed straight for the Cargo Plane. The other jet tried to stop him but was caught by Lanterns Power Ring.

The League tried to follow Batman, but several more jets had arrived and stalled them.

"Those insignificant curs! I'll devour their flesh when this is over!"

Grodd crushed a human skull he had been using to partake in human brain matter with. Scarecrow was busy setting the capsules on the large plant Ivy had conjured.

"Easy there Grodd. We just need a few more seconds and this extraordinary specimen will get to spread her wings."

"Well let's hope, we can get close enough to the site."

"No to worry my dear, soon we'll have what we came here for."

Suddenly, Deathstroke came out of the front bay and clocked his pistol looking out the window.

"Maybe not."

Scarecrow looked up at him in a questioning manner, "Why's that?"

"Because Batman is here."

The villains looked out their respective windows and could clearly see the Batwing tailing them. Grodd began using his telepathic powers to try and stir Batman's mind.

"Not this time Grodd."

Batman put on a special headband created by Flash and Mister Terrific to help block out Grodd's powers. Batman began firing turrets on the Cargo Plane, bullets bounced off the sides of the planes. Deathstroke soon opened the load out doors, the turbulence of the vast winds almost knocked Scarecrow and Ivy off their feet.

Scarecrow stared at Deathstroke in bewilderment "And just what are you doing?!"

"Giving us a couple seconds."

Deathstroke pulled out a nearby machine gun and fired upon the rival aircraft. The Batwing skillfully dodged the shots and fired back in response. Grodd used his powers to levitate several boxes that were still inside the Cargo Plane. He launched them at the Batwing as Deathstroke continued firing. One of the boxes caused the Batwing to swerve to the right. Bullet blasts caused it to lose some trajectory. In the madness of the battle, Batman fired several rounds at the right wing of the plane. The wing flew off and caused the plane to spiral out of control. Batman followed, with the rest of the League not far behind. Ivy tried to use large vines to stop the plane from spinning further, but to no avail.

"Well isn't this just fantastic. And here I thought I'd be at least a tad frightened."

"Quit it with the snarky remarks, Crane. Grodd! Use your psychic powers to stop the plane!"

"SILENCE WOMAN! I am trying that at this very moment."

As Grodd began to focus, Deathstroke who was hanging on to the interior sides looked out and muttered something.

"What the hell is this?"

The rest of the villains looked as well and saw that the clouds were forming around them and the skies were morphing ever so slightly. Grodd was the first one who noticed another issue.

"What?"

Grodd looked around him and out the window, only to ask one last question.

"Who is laughing?"

Batman noticed that the skies were morphing all around him. He saw what appeared to the sun for a split second, even though it was the middle of the night. He then heard what he thought was laughter. And then…

"-baru."

"What!"

His vision became blurry and clouds enveloped his jet, as the rest of the Justice League was trying to catch up. Batman activated his comlink and tried to contact his teammates.

"Team! Something is going on! I think it's a wormhole or someone is teleporting me somewhere!"

Nothing.

"CLARK! Can you hear me?!"

He heard nothing but incoherent static and muddled voices.

"DIANA! TORNADO! COME IN! CLARK!"

More static, and then a connection was made.

"COME IN OVER!"

"Protect him."

The connection was lost and nothing but static was heard.

The Batwing blasted through the clouds…only to see a bright morning sky. And a vast city, one Batman had never seen before.

Batman looked down at the large complex rows of buildings, with lakes and rivers covering the land. He saw a large castle in the distance that was atop a mountain overlooking the city. He decided to land the Batwing near a clearing next to some trees that sat near one of the lakes. The Batwing had landed safely and Batman jumped out to overlook the condition of his jet. He noticed only a few dents and scratches on it. He took inventory on his Batwings ammo. He had a permissible amount of turret rounds and a full amount of rockets and other specialized weapons. The fuel capacity was average but he did not intend to use the Batwing for a while. He activated his comlink and tried to use it again.

"Come in Watchtower! Cyborg! This Batman come in!"

Nothing was heard, not even static this time. Batman pulled out a special grid from his utility belt and activated it. It was a Universal Atlas, designed by the scientific division of the Justice League and with the cooperation of S.T.A.R. Labs; it documented the vast parallel universes and mapped them out. If someone discovered a new universe, the Atlas would pinpoint where it landed in the vast stretches of time and space. And it would also connect with other Atlas' across the multiverse. Almost every universe the League visited, had one or was given one. It was invented with the sole purpose for helping members who got sucked into wormholes or were unwillingly dragged to other worlds. Batman was relieved that it wasn't damaged. He then activated it.

"UA System. Mark my destination."

[BZZT. BZZT. ERORR. UNABLE TO FIND LOCATION.]

Impossible. The machine is a fast thinking computer connected throughout countless universes and has charted an almost staggering amount of worlds. How could this be?

"UA system. Connect with the nearest System."

If he could not find his location he could connect with another UA System in another universe. Surely it would-

[BZZT. ERORR. CANNOT CONNECT.]

"WHAT?"

Even the stoic and reserved Batman could not help but feel a tinge of unease with what he just heard. How could it not connect with a single one? He has met countless Batmen who agreed to carry a UA System, just in case they needed each other's help. So why could it not connect with a single one?

"UA SYSTEM. Search for closest corresponding device."

[ERORR. SYSTEM IS UNABLE TO FIND CORRESPONDING CONNECTION.]

"UA SYSTEM. Pinpoint my location."

[ERORR. SYSTEM IS UNABLE TO PINPOINT LOCATION OR CHART POSITION.]

"Try it again."

[ERROR.]

Clear frustration resided in his voice.

"Again!"

[ERROR.]

"…try again."

[BZZT. BZZT. BZZZZZZZT. -an't!]

"Huh?"

[BZZZT! –leave. Can't-!]

"What the…"

[You cannot leave yet. Subaru, protect him.]

The UA SYTEM then burst into flames and crumpled away. Batman lost his last chance to get rescued. Unsure of what to do he set the Batwing on lockdown mode. He then turned to the city that was viewable from afar. He then began walking to it.

"I'm going to get some answers."

As he walked on the soft grass, Batman looked up at the bright blue sky and questioned something.

"Who is Subaru?"

Bruce Wayne, also known as Batman, now had to start his new life, in another world.