The town of Blackridge sat in the long shadow of bigger places.
If you asked most people in the state where it was, they'd probably shrug and say something vague like "somewhere outside Gotham." And technically they wouldn't be wrong. Blackridge was about forty miles from Gotham's skyline far enough that the city's constant chaos never reached them, but close enough that its reputation hung over the town like a permanent storm cloud.
The people here liked it that way.
Quiet. Predictable.
Boring.
Silas Foster leaned against the rusted railing of the old railroad bridge and looked out over the fields stretching toward the dark horizon. The night air was cool, carrying the scent of damp soil and pine trees from the forests beyond town.
His hoodie fluttered slightly in the wind.
Below him, the river crawled lazily through the valley, reflecting the pale glow of the moon.
Silas checked the time on his phone.
10:47 PM.
He sighed.
"Mom's gonna kill me if I stay out much longer," he muttered.
Not that she'd actually kill him.
But after working two jobs all week, she'd definitely have something to say about him wandering around town at night.
Still…
Silas glanced back toward the distant cluster of lights that made up Blackridge.
Home.
He rubbed the back of his neck.
Sleep hadn't been coming easily lately.
Not since the anniversary.
Five years since his father disappeared.
Five years since the police stopped looking.
Five years since everyone in town decided it was easier to forget.
Silas never did.
A distant rumble of thunder rolled across the sky.
He looked up.
Clouds drifted slowly overhead, but they were thin too thin for a storm.
Weird.
The rumble came again.
Louder this time.
Silas frowned.
"That's not thunder."
The sky flashed.
Not lightning.
Green.
A streak of brilliant emerald fire tore across the heavens.
Silas straightened instantly.
"What the"
The object burned through the clouds like a falling star, trailing a blazing tail of green light.
For a moment it looked like it might pass overhead and vanish into the distance.
Then it changed direction.
Silas felt his stomach drop.
"No way…"
The meteor plunged toward the forest just beyond the river.
The ground trembled.
A distant explosion shook the valley.
Birds erupted from the trees in a chaotic swarm.
Silas stared.
Every instinct in his brain screamed the same thing.
Don't go near that.
Which was exactly why he climbed down from the bridge and started running toward it.
....
The forest outside Blackridge wasn't particularly large, but at night it felt endless.
Branches clawed at Silas's hoodie as he pushed through the undergrowth.
The deeper he ran, the stronger the smell became.
Burning metal.
Smoke.
And something else…
Something almost electrical.
He slowed as the trees began to thin.
A faint green glow flickered ahead.
Silas crouched behind a fallen log and peeked through the branches.
A crater.
About twenty feet wide.
The earth had been blasted outward in a rough circle, dirt and shattered rock scattered everywhere.
At the center of the crater sat a metal sphere.
It was about the size of a large backpack.
Smooth. Dark. Covered in strange glowing lines.
The green light pulsed softly across its surface.
Silas blinked.
"That's… not a meteor."
He waited.
Nothing moved.
No soldiers.
No helicopters.
No government agents rappelling out of black vans.
Just the quiet crackle of cooling earth.
Silas stood slowly and approached the crater.
Every step made his pulse pound harder.
The sphere shifted.
Silas froze.
"…hello?"
No response.
The device unfolded.
Panels split apart like mechanical petals.
Inside was something smaller.
A circular object.
Black and green.
About the size of a wristwatch.
Silas tilted his head.
"That's it?"
He climbed down into the crater.
The air felt strangely warm.
He crouched beside the device.
Up close, the object looked even stranger.
The center symbol glowed faintly a green hourglass shape inside a circle.
Silas hesitated.
Every survival instinct he had told him not to touch mysterious alien technology that fell from the sky.
Then again…
He was sixteen.
Curiosity won.
Silas reached out.
The moment his fingers brushed the device
CLICK.
The world exploded in green light.
Mechanical arms snapped outward and clamped onto his wrist.
Silas screamed.
"What the GET OFF!"
The device tightened.
Metal plates shifted and locked around his arm like living armor.
Symbols flashed across its surface.
Energy surged through his body.
Silas staggered back.
Pain.
Heat.
His vision spun.
"What did I"
The device beeped.
Then went silent.
The green glow faded.
Silas stood there breathing heavily, staring at his wrist.
The strange watch was now fused to his arm.
"...oh no."
He tried pulling it off.
Nothing happened.
He twisted.
Pulled harder.
Still nothing.
"Come on… come on…"
The device didn't move.
Silas slowly realized the truth.
It wasn't just attached.
It was bonded.
"Okay," he whispered.
"Okay… don't panic."
Too late.
He pressed a random part of the device.
The center dial popped upward.
Green holographic symbols spiraled into the air.
Silas jumped back.
"What the"
Alien silhouettes rotated above the watch.
Creatures.
Different shapes.
Different sizes.
All glowing green.
Silas stared in awe.
"…are those… aliens?"
The dial rotated under his fingers.
One of the holograms enlarged.
A humanoid shape made of living fire.
Silas swallowed.
"This has to be a dream."
He pressed the dial.
The watch slammed downward.
And the world turned green again.
....
Miles away, in the towering skyline of Gotham City, a satellite quietly changed direction.
Its sensors locked onto a massive burst of unknown energy.
Deep beneath Gotham's streets, inside the Batcave, alarms began to sound.
A pair of sharp blue eyes lifted toward the holographic display.
Batman watched the energy signature appear on his screen.
Unknown.
Alien.
Powerful.
The Dark Knight narrowed his gaze.
"Interesting."
.......
(image)