*Black Mask POV*
*Location: Gotham, New Jersey*
*Date: July 5th, 2010, 8:00 PM*
"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN The BAT HIT OUR WEAPONS SHIPMENT!" I shouted as I nearly crushed the phone in my hand. A couple of my guards winced in surprise, but not my secretary, Ms. Li, a good woman but a better secretary, unlike these two worthless guards, whom I would probably replace soon enough.
"Well, sir, like I said, he came out of nowhere." I stopped him before he could try to make any more excuses, not wanting to hear his annoying voice anymore.
"Stop, just stop before I get someone to shoot you, now you listen here, gather whoever you can and go to our other, make sure no one gets in or out, I want that place locked tighter than Fort Knox, UNDERSTOOD!" I said as I hung up, knowing my lieutenant already knew where to go.
Leaning on my desk, I started rubbing my temple in frustration as I waved my hand back and forth.
"Li, make a note that if this second shipment is hit to "fire" John McHarton, for gross incompetence." Using air quotes on the word fire with everyone in the room knowing it meant take him out back to shoot in the back of the head like Old Yeller.
Nodding, she quickly flipped over some papers on his clipboard and wrote it down in her notes, using the red pen, I believe, to mark it as important and something to be remembered. Turning around in my chair, I looked out of the massive window that gave me a full view of the city and all the splendid dirt and grim it offered. Learning back in my chair, I just sighed and continued rubbing my head, frustrated beyond all belief as I thought I would finally have a night off from the Bat, but apparently I was wrong.
"Do we have anything else scheduled for tonight, or was that it?"
I could hear her flip through the papers, eventually stopping after double-checking everything, at least that's what I was guessing anyway.
"No, sir, your next appointment is tomorrow at 11 AM."
Hearing that, I just slumped into my chair, letting myself relax a tiny bit, wanting a break for a little while from all this.
"All right, then, you can take the rest of the night off, and you can come in a little late tomorrow morning if you want to get some extra shut-eye or something." God knows I was, well, if I could anyway.
"Thank you, Sir." I then heard her walk out with one of the two guards opening the door for her.
Now all I was left with were my two guards and the peace/quiet, which would hopefully last a little longer before the Bat or the clown, or any other freak in this city ruins it for me. That's also when I saw it, a fuckign golden portal opening up right in front of me with a weird bird-human thing slowly coming out of it, a mean look in its one visible eye with its fist clenched, ready to kill.
"Oh, you have got to be fucking kidding me!" I said as I got out of my chair, my two guards getting into the middle of the room as I ran passed. The last thing I heard before their screams was their guns firing and the glass breaking.
Just what I needed, more freaks tearign trhough my shit and destroying my livilhood in the process. Unluckily for me, it seems like it wouldn't be my problem much longer as I felt something pierce through my chest, and looking down, I saw its clawed hand with my heart in its hand. I spat out a bit of my blood as they ripped their hand out of my chest.
"I...fucking...hate...Gotham." Those were my last words as I blacked out.
*3rd POV*
As the Harpy watched Black Mask's body fall to the floor, its head slowly turned upward and rammed itself into the ceiling, destroying it as it rocketed to the sky above it. The being looked down on the city, at the place often called the crime capital of the world, and showing no emotion, only one thing flowed through its mind, the need to kill.
It began spreading its wings, allowing them to be unfurled and shown to the world. Slowly, several feathers detached from them as a bright orange energy began surrounding them. They then launched themselves at several nearby buildings at blazing speeds, each one sending massive blows to them, destroying large sections and killing dozens of people in the process.
Soon enough, people were screaming or blasting, trying to gun down the creature, doing their best to defend the city, cop or criminal, it didn't matter in that moment as the monster kept sending feather after feather after them. Each one guaranteed a child would be orphaned, a widow born, and a family destroyed as it was shot indiscriminately across the city, uncaring of where it went, only caring that it caused pain and death.
People screamed as news helicopters tried to get a frontline view, only to be quickly shot down in the not unable to do anything, only barely able to run away, but not being quick enough. It didn't take much for the feathers to destroy them and send the debris flying all over the ceiling, causing far more damage in the process.
Eventually, though, the being stopped firing the feathers and curled their wings, returning to their original form as the same orange energy began spreading all over their body.
"CAAAAAAA!" would be the only thing it screamed as its alienistic bird cry echoed throughout the city. This only intensified the fear in the people as they began trampling one another, with criminals and cops now realizing their weapons had no effect and were now running as well, some stealing cars and running or crashing into anyone that was in their way.
High above the atmosphere, Icarus was making his way through, rapidly approaching the Earth toward Gotham, where the Harpy was currently on a rampage. The Justice League, though, was gathering and preparing, making their way to Gotham as Batman himself had called it in, knowing that this would require all the help he could get.
Yet the full ramifications of this event would not be seen for years to come, as this would be the first sign of things to come, the first of the many entities sent to this invasion to test Icarus. This was the first of The Dread Beast, monsters and entities with their own unique abilities and powers sent for an unknown purpose.