It was a dark and stormy night. One of which several heroes had been observing, across different universes. But in one place, something sinister was about to occur...

"Heh." A dark man said. He sat inside a dark room, where technology was thriving and seemingly controlled it. He faced a wall of monitors, of which he observed, an arrogant smirk occupying the lower half of his face. "Those fools have no idea of what is about to occur. At last, they shall be unwittingly bringing me the power I need to finally put this plan into action." He leaned forwards, and laughed to himself. "No matter how they attempt to defy me, this world will learn its place."

After a short while, he was aware of the presence of somebody else that had entered the room.

"It's funny how those we have had to eliminate to proceed in our plans have labelled us as evil, isn't it?" The other figure stated. "Strip away the restrictions of law and common decency, and it becomes clear that the engine that drives humanity is their own selfish ambition. To achieve one's goals necessitates trampling those of others underfoot. Yet mankind is all too anxious to label those that would do so as evil. What tragic irony. Humanity's defeat at our hands will serve to strengthen you. You will be baptised in the fire of their unabashed ambition and set anew, ready to usher in a new age free from the restrictions of artificial morality..."

"And whilst we sit here and wait for the fruits of our device to come to us, we can be confident in the knoweledge that this fight was over the moment it started." The man at the monitor laughed manically. "Fire up the machine! Let's take this to the next level!"

"Of course, sir..."