Late afternoon sunlight reflects across the towering skyline of Metropolis.
Below, millions of people move through their daily lives.
Cars flow through the streets.
Air traffic crosses the sky.
Then suddenly
BOOM
A thunderous shockwave rattles the city.
From high orbit, alarms begin sounding inside the Justice League Watchtower.
Red warning lights flash.
A holographic display expands in the command chamber.
Flash streaks across the room in a blur.
"Something big just showed up in Metropolis!"
The main screen zooms in.
Massive metal figures rise above the skyline.
Giant armored robots.. each over 80 meters tall...march through the city streets, crushing vehicles and buildings.
Their eyes glow red as energy cannons fire across the skyline.
Superman's expression immediately hardens.
"Everyone move."
Within seconds the members of the Justice League launch toward Earth.
Leading the charge:
Superman
Wonder Woman
Flash
Green Lantern
And flying slightly behind them…
Derrick.
The alarms echo through the station as they descend toward Earth.
Superman speaks mid-flight.
"Priority is civilians."
"Take the machines down fast."
Derrick nods like a determined hero.
> "Understood."
Inside his mind however
He is analyzing everything.
Robot structure.
Energy sources.
Metal composition.
Combat capability.
The robots continue their assault across downtown Metropolis.
Buildings collapse as plasma blasts rip through the skyline.
One robot lifts an entire city bus and crushes it in its metal grip.
Citizens scream as they run through smoke-filled streets.
Then
A blue blur slams into the first robot.
Superman hits it with enough force to shatter its armored chest.
The machine collapses into the street.
Another robot turns its cannon toward him.
Wonder Woman intercepts the blast with her bracers and leaps upward, slicing through the robot's head with her sword.
Flash appears everywhere at once.
He evacuates hundreds of civilians in seconds.
Green Lantern constructs massive emerald restraints that bind two robots together.
One massive robot turns toward a collapsing skyscraper where civilians are trapped.
Its cannon begins charging.
Derrick shoots forward.
He slams into the robot with controlled force.
The impact sends the machine crashing through several buildings.
Derrick grabs its arm and tears it off.
Metal screams as the limb rips free.
Flash pauses nearby.
"Okay new guy's pretty strong!"
Derrick pretends mild surprise at his own strength.
"Guess adrenaline works."
He lifts the robot and throws it hundreds of meters into another machine.
Both collapse into rubble.
Inside his mind, Derrick calculates carefully.
He maintains small moon level strength output, exactly what he showed during training.
Not too powerful.
Not suspicious.
Another robot targets a hospital.
Derrick's eyes ignite.
But instead of his true destructive beams…
He fires controlled energy lasers.
The beams slice through the robot's joints.
The machine collapses.
Superman glances over.
Clearly impressed.
"Nice control ."
Derrick nods.
"Still learning."
A swarm of smaller attack drones deploy from the remaining robots.
Hundreds of flying machines begin firing into the streets.
Flash laughs excitedly.
"Race you!"
Before Derrick can respond, Flash disappears.
But Derrick moves as well.
He accelerates near light speed, weaving between the drones and destroying them with precise strikes.
From the ground it appears like streaks of light tearing through the sky.
The drones explode one after another.
Flash returns moments later.
"Okay you're fun."
The largest robot emerges from the smoke.
Over 120 meters tall, heavily armored, armed with massive particle cannons.
It fires directly at the city center.
Superman intercepts the blast.
The explosion pushes him back through several buildings.
Wonder Woman leaps forward but the robot swats her aside with a massive arm.
Green Lantern's constructs begin cracking under the robot's power output.
Derrick flies forward.
He grabs the machine's leg.
Then with controlled force
He flips the entire robot over his shoulder.
The massive machine crashes into the harbor outside the city.
Superman recovers instantly and finishes it with a focused heat vision blast that melts its core.
The robot explodes.
The battle ends.
Smoke drifts over the city but the damage is far less than it could have been.
Civilians cheer as the heroes land in the streets.
Flash gives Derrick a thumbs up.
"Not bad for your first Earth crisis."
Green Lantern nods approvingly.
"You handled yourself well."
Wonder Woman still watches Derrick carefully.
But even she admits:
"You fought with honor."
Superman smiles.
"Told you he'd be an asset."
Derrick nods humbly.
"Just doing what I can."
Inside his mind however…
He is analyzing the entire battle.
The speed of Flash.
The power of Superman.
The combat skill of Wonder Woman.
Every ability cataloged.
Every weakness observed.
Far away in Gotham City, Batman watches the battle footage.
He rewinds Derrick's movements frame by frame.
Something about the fight bothers him.
Derrick never made a mistake.
Never overcommitted.
Never hesitated.
Every move perfectly calculated.
Batman leans back slowly.
"You're pretending to be human."
He zooms in on Derrick's eyes during the fight.
For one brief frame
The pupils distort.
Like liquid.
Batman's voice becomes cold.
"And I'm the only one who noticed."
Meanwhile.
That night aboard the Watchtower, Derrick stands alone looking down at Earth.
The planet rotates slowly beneath him.
Billions of lifeforms.
Thousands of powerful beings.
Inside his mind, his calculations continue evolving.
Assimilating even one of them could increase his power drastically.
But patience is still the optimal strategy.
Then he senses something strange.
A faint mystical presence watching him.
Somewhere beyond Earth.
A cosmic observer.
Unseen.
Possibly connected to The Spectre.
Derrick narrows his eyes slightly.
For the first time since arriving in this universe…
He realizes something important.
There are beings here…
Who might actually see through him.
Elsewhere....
Deep beneath Gotham City, Batman finalizes a quiet contingency.
He stares at holographic projections of Derrick.
Genetic anomalies. Perfect reactions. No mistakes.
Batman's conclusion is simple:
"He's hiding his real nature."
Batman activates a classified protocol.
WATCHTOWER CONTAINMENT SCENARIO... CODE: CHIMERA
The plan is subtle.
No confrontation.
No alarms.
Instead, Batman designs a training scenario specifically for Derrick.
The Watchtower simulation chamber will generate:
synthetic civilians
collapsing structures
unpredictable hazards
biological "victims" needing rescue
But hidden within the simulation are adaptive nanite sensors.
These sensors are designed to detect:
cellular restructuring
matter absorption
non-human regeneration
biological mass manipulation
Exactly the traits Batman suspects Derrick is hiding.
He uploads the scenario to the Watchtower.
Then he opens a secure line to Superman.
"Clark. Run a training drill tomorrow."
Superman replies calmly.
"You want everyone there?"
Batman pauses.
"No."
"Just Derrick."
Batman closes the channel.
"Let's see what you really are."
The next day, Superman approaches Derrick.
"Batman wants to run a tactical drill."
Derrick nods.
"Sounds good."
Inside his mind, calculations spike.
Batman initiating a private test = potential suspicion.
Still, Derrick agrees.
Refusal would be more suspicious.
They enter the simulation chamber.
The scenario begins.
A city environment appears.
Buildings collapsing.
Fire spreading.
Injured civilians.
Derrick immediately begins rescue operations.
He flies at controlled speed.
Lifts debris.
Carries civilians to safety.
Everything normal.
Then
A sudden explosion.
A simulated building collapses unexpectedly.
Debris buries several "victims."
Derrick moves quickly to clear rubble.
One "civilian" is crushed under heavy mass.
Derrick's instinct nearly triggers his mass-shifting ability.
But he stops.
He instead lifts the debris normally.
Batman watches remotely.
"He hesitated…"
Another hazard triggers.
Fire spreads.
A "victim" is critically injured.
Derrick considers regenerating them with viral biomass.
Again he restrains himself.
He carries them instead.
Batman narrows his eyes.
"You're controlling yourself."
The final test activates.
A structural collapse occurs.
Derrick must choose between:
saving civilians normally
or reshaping his body to expand and catch them all
For a fraction of a second…
Derrick's arm begins to liquify.
Then he stops.
He splits his effort, barely saving them with brute strength.
Simulation ends.
Batman studies the data.
Nanites recorded micro-level biological instability.
Not proof.
But confirmation.
"You're not human."
POV Switch
In a hidden underground facility, far from major cities, a group gathers.
A war room illuminated by holographic displays.
At the center stands Lex Luthor.
Unlike previous eras, Luthor here operates strategically, quietly manipulating events behind the scenes.
He addresses the group.
"The League has a new member."
A hologram of Derrick appears.
Around the table sit several powerful enemies of the League:
Vandal Savage
Brainiac (remote projection)
Deathstroke
Black Adam
Luthor continues.
"He arrived suddenly."
"Unknown origin."
"Unknown limits."
Vandal Savage speaks.
"You fear him."
Luthor smiles slightly.
"I respect unknown variables."
Brainiac's hologram flickers.
"Biological anomaly detected. I request specimen."
Deathstroke leans forward.
"He fights like a machine."
Black Adam crosses his arms.
"If he threatens Earth, I will destroy him."
Luthor raises a hand.
"Not yet."
He changes the hologram to show Derrick fighting the robots.
"Notice anything?"
Savage answers.
"He holds back."
Luthor nods.
"Exactly."
Brainiac calculates.
"Probability: concealed power level exceeds demonstrated output."
Luthor smiles.
"We agree."
Luthor activates another display.
It shows the Watchtower.
"We test him."
Deathstroke asks.
"How?"
Luthor replies calmly.
"We create a scenario forcing him to reveal his true nature."
Brainiac adds.
"Or capture him."
Black Adam cracks his knuckles.
"Or kill him."
Luthor shakes his head.
"No."
"First… we learn."
He looks at Derrick's hologram.
"Because if he's as powerful as I suspect…"
"He may be useful."
Back on the Watchtower
Derrick stands alone again, looking at Earth.
His senses detect something new.
Multiple hostile intelligences.
Coordinating.
Planning.
He doesn't know the names yet.
But he recognizes the intent.
"Opposition forming."
Derrick's mind begins preparing counter-strategies.
Unknown to him…
Both sides are now watching.
Batman from the shadows.
Luthor from the enemy ranks.
And Derrick standing between them.
A hidden predator… surrounded by hunters.