They were in New York. Darkseid recognised Times Square from his meta knowledge, and humans actively gawking at it helped that conclusion too. In panic, he must have pulled the coordinates of one of his assaults on Earth from the original timeline.
This was not ideal. He was not planning to hit Terra before the arrival of the biggest superheroes, like Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. Maybe it would have been easier to jump the planet early, trying to take it with quickness, ambushing the lackluster defense the planet had at this point. The only reason he wanted to wait was his ambitions. He wanted it all. He wanted Earth at the peak of its modern development. He wanted the strongest superheroes from his biggest enemies to become bricks in his Empire. Yes, he was greedy. But he wanted to gather as much strength from this universe as he could.
But destiny had different thoughts about his plans. Suddenly, in a span of a minute, all his future plans were thrown into jeopardy, potentially thwarting his immediate goals to conquer H'san Natall.
"Where are we?" Aurelie asked, looking at him. Darkseid was the only one from their group who had any knowledge of their whereabouts.
"On Terra", he replied shortly. "Furies, protect Suli and Dreamer. Formation – triangle, targets in the center. We have guests".
Barda, Aurelie and Tina had entered battle stances immediately, their military training helping them to overcome their emotions almost instantaneously. Three of them then encircled Suli and Dreamer in a protective formation, their eyes began searching for the potential enemy.
Darkseid, now relatively sure of the safety of his retinue, stepped in front of his group, facing the midday sun. Directly in the middle of the yellow circle of the local star called Sol in the sky, his sharp, overworldly eyes managed to catch little specs. People were rapidly approaching his position.
This was not the primitive aircraft of humanity; no, these were superheroes. Local warriors, defenders of the weak, and the biggest pain in the ass of his potential future self. He squinted his eyes, trying to look closely at who exactly was flying at such high speeds.
He managed to catch the colors. Blue. Red. Golden. Green. Purple. Fortunately, he knew this was not Superman, as Krypton was still (relatively) safe and sound, floating around its big red star. The red and blue were not his. The Golden and the green were the problems. This was probably Alan Scott, the first Green Lantern from Terra, one who managed to get green lantern powers without taking a knee before the Guardians of the Universe.
The gold... It was Dr Fate, patroned by none other than Nabu, one of the Lords of Order. This planet was a pinpoint in the whole universe. Of course, the Lords of Order would send their representative here. Darkseid sighed to himself. The guests would be here in about a minute, so he still had some time to come up with a semblance of a plan. This would probably be a steep ask, as the Lords of Order were a major force, as a group they were far outscaling him in power.
The Lords of Order embodied law, structure, and cosmic order; they were beings of a higher order, sometimes even a dimension. As the beings controlling the structure of the cosmos, they were as ancient as the universe itself. Most of them were ethereal, non-corporeal beings maintaining balance and stability in the universe. But some of them, like Nabu, the patron of Dr Fate, had physical presence and dared to try and influence the world around them directly, unlike most of their kind. Those Agents were the protectors, the operatives, the first responders on the scenes of catastrophes, calamities and armageddons.
Of course, there were also Lords of Chaos. As the forces of destruction and entropy, the Lords of Chaos were continuously battling the established cosmic order. One side wanted law and structure, the other wanted the eternal chaos of perpetual universal destruction and cosmic entropy. And neither of them wanted Darkseid to win. He encountered agents of both in his future, and all of them wanted Darkseid to lose.
"Darkseid. You are half a century too early". A booming voice of one Dr Fate sounded from far away. His group was still ten seconds away from reaching Times Square, but the voice projection was already here. Dr Fate was a powerful magician, capable of incredible deeds. Darkseid needed to be cautious. Even if he was sure that he would win, with Hogyoku and the new Omega Realm on his side, the safety of his companions was not guaranteed.
"Darkseid has its ways". Darkseid replied cryptically. Fate had its way, indeed, but he actively stopped himself from saying that. That joke was too on the nose and it revealed too much, as it would make clear that not only did he take an interest in Terra, but also knew of Dr Fate. Revealing that much information was unacceptable.
The superheroes finally arrived at the location. It was a lengthy and nerve-wrecking process not only for Darkseid, his group, and the superheroes, but also for all the bystanders screaming and running around in a panic. He also noticed that a couple of journalists were taking photos of his group at a safe distance. Or what they thought a safe distance was. Of course, he could reach and kill all of the weaklings around him in a matter of seconds. But why would he do that?
He could even win against the superheroes and whatever else the guardians of this planet would toss his way. But he recognised that there was no point in doing so. With no invading army on standby, at the reach of a Boom Tube. With his desirable targets absent at the moment. With his potential window of time to conquer H'san Natall narrowing with each passing day. Perhaps, there was another pathway forward, just like the one he took with the New Genesis. Perhaps, he could turn the current disaster of a situation into something positive for his future plans.
He was promptly pulled from his thoughts by one Dr Fate.
"Why did you come here, Darkseid?". Dr Fate asked. He was a human male whose appearance was hidden by a shiny golden helmet. This helmet contained the power and the spirit of Nabu, a Lord of Order. The wearer of the helmet became an agent of the order, carrying out its tasks designed to establish and support law and structure in the whole universe. On his back, he had a magical cape, a fitting inclusion for a magician; the rest of his body was clothed in a deep blue bodysuit accented with golden gloves, boots, and belts. At the center of his chest, a powerful magical amulet was glowing with power. There was no doubt that the man was preparing for battle.
With him, standing in a wing formation, were his comrades. Green Lantern, Starman, Red Tornado and Johnny Thunder. All powerhouses in their own right.
A sudden boom of sound and an explosion of light, the group of superheroes that flew to confront Darkseid was joined by none other than the Flash himself. This was Justice Society, he guessed.
"I came here to talk", Darkseid slowly walked forward approaching the superheroes. He was towering above them like a mountain above a hill. He had even put a bit of Omega force into his steps, leaving behind scorching, fiery footprints. "Justice Society, I presume?"
"Justice Society of America, yes", a dashing rogueish man came forward. He flashed his white smile and held out a hand for a handshake. Both charismatic and overconfident, this man was the weakest of the present, Starman. Still, he held an artefact powerful enough to light a star. This was Ted Knight, the original Starman, a vibrant red and green bodysuit, a bright star emblem on his chest. His headpiece was unique in its retro-futuristic design; it partially covered his head and left his face visible. It was not a practical look. But perhaps, this man was not keen on practicality. After all, he had built the Cosmic Rod himself, and there was nothing practical about the weapon, despite its immense power and lethality. Although the current version of it was far from the look Darkseid remembered from his meta knowledge. A prototype of sorts.
"Tell me, Darkseid, what does a ruler of New Gods want to talk about with mere humans?" Voice of Dr Fate lost its previous character; gone was the confident human male in his forties. Someone far older, ancient, was talking instead of the superhero standing before Darkseid.
"Fate. I want to talk about Fate, Nabu."
Darkseid wanted to think that he had a good, competent team with him, but even Furies, with their extensive military training, shot him concerned looks at him, betraying their nervousness. The team of superheroes in front of him did the same. Except for Dr Fate, every single member of the team looked at each other quizzically; most of them were out of their depth. Not only did they lack knowledge of him, New Gods, but they probably hardly knew about the Lord of Order that was hidden away in the golden helmet of their teammate. Thundrebolt was even shaking at his knees.
"Come with us", after a moment of contemplation, Nabu opened a golden portal behind him and proceeded to walk through it.
After nodding to his retinue, Darkseid followed the Lord of Order into yet another portal. This was the second one in a span of five minutes. This day was full of surprises.
"He could do that?" Flash, John Garrick, voiced his bewilderment. Turning around to face his team, he pointed at the back of the aliens that were passing through a magical gate created by Dr Fate.
"Why don't we teleport everywhere?" Alan Scott joined his friend in confusion.
"You tell me.", Starman, the ever-optimistic jock, just shrugged and entered the portal. His team, one by one, followed him. Apparently, they were talking with a god today.