A YJA Moment - Crime Syndicate

In the dimension Earth-3, also known as the Anti-Earth, everything is in reverse.  The greatest heroes in the prime timeline are its greatest villains and vice-versa.  On this Earth, the greatest threat to peace and stability was the Crime Syndicate.  So powerful were these individuals, that they dominated much of the planet.  Also, their origins do not exactly match their prime counterparts in the Justice League.

The being known as Ultraman was created when pregnant Kansas farmer Martha Kent was exposed to exotic radiation from a shower of meteors from the destroyed planet Krypton.  Growing up with extraordinary powers, Clark Kent would end up being the world-level threat known as Ultraman.  Unlike his counterpart Superman, Ultraman's powers rely on him periodically absorbing the energies emanating from Kryptonite.

After failing to assassinate the leader of Themyscira, the Amazon known as Luma was exiled to the World of Men as punishment for her weakness.  After discovering the existence of Ultraman, she took over the identity of reporter Lois Lane to be close to him.  After joining the Crime Syndicate she returned to Warrior Island and destroy it, wiping out its inhabitants and looting the ancient artifacts for her own treasure vault.

Developing the super-speed inducing drug known as Velocity for the United States Military, Johnathan Chambers stole his creation and used it in order to commit crimes throughout Central City.  Saved from the heroic Captain Cold and his Rogue Hunters by the Syndicate, he donned a costume and became Johnny Quick.  Unlike the Flash, Johnny Quick has no natural powers and is hopelessly addicted to both Velocity and the connection to the Speed Force it facilitates.

In ancient times, the warlords of the planet Maltus bound an ancient demon to a ring for power.  When the Maltusans were wiped out the ring was lost for eons until it appeared on Earth and was discovered by fighter ace Harold Jordan who used it to become the villain Power Ring.  Possessing great powers of energy manipulation, Jordan has his soul linked to the essence of Volthoom, whose infernal appetite is steadily consuming it.

Backed by the magnanimous Court of Owls, Thomas Wayne Jr. was destined to be the world's greatest champion until his parents were killed in an attempt to murder Court Leadership.  Embittered, he took his knowledge and wealth in order to become the villain Owlman.  He would vanquish the leadership of the Court and turn their Talons on his enemies.  After being lost on an excursion to Earth-Prime, his prize pupil Calvin Rose has succeeded him.

A YJA Moment - Z'Ha'Dum

In their arrogance, the ancient beings that have terrorized Known Space for millennia have no name for themselves.  They are content for others to call them The Shadows, for, without a true name, they have proven a difficult foe to effect with magic.  Every dozen or so millennia, The Shadows emerge from their homeworld to spread across the Universe.  Those that proved worthy would survive; the rest would be eradicated.  Only the most powerful of groups, like the Green Lantern Corps, were able to stop their relentless advance.

Every time the Shadows were defeated, the survivors scurried back to their homeworld, the infamous planet known as  Z'Ha'Dum.  There they would heal, rebuild, and foment new plans to scour Known Space of all weakness and raise up the strongest species to thrive in their place.  Underneath the desolate surface were seemingly endless corridors and caverns, where their automatons were located.  Hundreds of birthing chambers, fabrication centers, and spacedocks prepared the mighty Shadow fleet for its next interstellar crusade.

No species could ever get close to Z'Ha'Dum to strike a final blow.  Every empire and entity, no matter how powerful they perceived themselves, could never reach past the threshold of the system.  The greatest of Elves, the largest alien fleets, and the mightiest of Vorlon vessels sought to reach orbit around the Shadow homeworld, only to be pushed back gravely injured or outright destroyed.  No one knows what devices were responsible, only that the Vorlon saying is true:

If you go to  Z'Ha'Dum, you will die.

The Shadow War was one of the greatest conflicts the species had ever seen and the closest it had ever been to complete victory.  They had sworn oaths of allegiance, thinking him a kindred spirit.  By the time they realized the Lord of Apocalypse had ulterior motives, the Army of Darkness had already started to fragment.  Torn apart by the Army of the Light, the last remaining Shadows limped home and slept, determined to let the younger races decline into their own ruin without their intervention.

But they didn't consider their Oath and the power it contained.  Ensnared by the pact, Darkseid has forced the Shadows to awaken and activate the fleet of vessels which automatic facilities had built in their slumber. Now effectively slaves to Apokolips, the Shadows are being sent to attack the empires of Known Space, attempting to cause division that will weaken their resolve and allow the new Army of Darkness.

The Second Shadow War is coming and instead of being its architects, it's become its cannon fodder.

 

A YJA Moment - The Court of Owls

The group that is known as the Court of Owls began innocently as an exclusive gentlemen's club for the richest families on the East Coast.  Founded by R.H. Orchard in 1836, it was envisioned as a meeting of the greatest financiers in America.  The club was very exclusive, only admitting those whose pocketbook could afford the initial membership fee and yearly tithe.  Membership allowed access to their lavish meeting halls and activities such as hunting trips, lavish parties, and debauched escapades inspired by the infamous Scottish Hellfire Clubs of the 18th Century.

Through the Court, a network of influence was created, which allowed the members to further increase their wealth and power.  Because of its location, many of the upper classes settled in Gotham and the Court of Owls gained unprecedented control over the daily affairs in the city.  They used that control to promote industry but stifle workers rights, creating a wealth gap that far exceeded its neighbors.  Problems they couldn't solve from money and politics were dealt with by their trusted agents known as Talons

The Talons were originally hired goons that provided security for their soirées, but as the group gained wealth and connections, so did the Talon's capabilities.  By the turn of the 20th Century, a Talon was a brainwashed assassin, trained by the best warriors in the world, physically augmented with fringe science, and cryogenically frozen until they were needed.  So feared were the agents of the Court, that the Talons became enshrined in children's nursery rhymes in Gotham.

It's ironic that the decline of the Court corresponded with the rise of the Dark Knight.  Bruce Wayne's parents had long campaigned to change the fortunes of the city's poor, working to restore infrastructure and social programs that had stagnated over the decades. Though it's unclear if the Owls had anything to do with the death of Thomas and Martha Wayne, they used their proxies within the GCPD to hinder the murder investigation.  It would be this injustice that would spur Bruce to become Batman.

The Bat-Family and the Court of Owls would clash on a regular basis, with the Gotham heroes becoming victorious each time.  No matter what the Court seemed to plan, Batman and his allies would find a way of stopping them, stripping away a layer of influence in the process.  In the aftermath of the Apokolips Incursion, there were only a handful of Talons in reserve and most of the Court's chief influencers saw themselves incarcerated or otherwise neutralized.

Their final hope was the Special Security Zone and the Magistrate, who was a loyal member of the Court.  The fallout from that debacle put the city in the hands of the Sword Nations and their arch-enemy James Gordon. Fearing a radical change in the social order, many of the wealthiest dynasties have chosen to leave Gotham, and as a result, the members of the Court of Owls dwindle each day.  It truly seems like the end of an era.

Now with the referendum nearing, the Court of Owls believes they need to act decisively or they will be swept away.  

They would need another Night of the Talons…

A YJA Moment - The War Worlds of Cybertron

 The revelation that the Warworld piloted by Vandal Savage was created by Cybertronians came as a shock to the Mythic Avengers, but it had the effect of revealing a previously unknown era of Transformer history. In the time before the All-Spark, the robot servants of the Quintessons served the Infinite Empire.  They were based on the artificial factory-world of Cybertron, which made numerous products for the growing Rakatan military.  Amongst them were giant Battle-Spheres which were intended to serve as mobile bases for the Infinite Empire fleet.

The original Battle-Sphere prototype, code-named Nul, underwent extensive trials against the neighbors of the Infinite Empire. It was slated to be officially transferred to the Imperial fleet, when its commander staged a rebellion, using Nul against Rakatan ships which had been escorting it.  After leaving a swath of destruction across the entire Empire, where he was pursued by the entire Infinite Empire armada, he took the Battle outside Known Space.  It would be many centuries before Nul would return, piloted by the alien Mongol as Warworld.

The loss of Nul caused ripples throughout the Empire, including Cybertron.  The leadership of the Rakatan completely halted further development of the Battle-Spheres, leaving the future of the other three prototypes Unias, Binar, and Trion uncertain.  To prevent further incidents, the Quintessons were ordered to disable the propulsion and centralized control systems from all the Battle-Spheres immediately.  This forced them to repurpose the satellites for other purposes.

Unias, the largest of the Battle-Spheres, was redesigned for matter-processing.  Large planetoids or other mineral-rich debris were funneled to Unias so it could be ground down, sorted, and smelted into any useful metals or other elements.  Over time, a central control unit was installed similar to the one utilized in Cybertron in order to improve coordination and efficiency.  This proved disastrous during the Prime War when Unias was turned against the rebel Transformers.  Primus used the power of the All-Spark to grant sentience to the Battle-Sphere, creating Unicron, which proceeded to devastate the Quinesson forces before leaving for parts unknown.

Binar and Trion were only partially completed when construction was ended, and neither the Quintessons nor the Transformers seemed to be interested in rendering them operational.  Instead, they transitioned to be expansion areas for the Transformer population, with much of their combat systems replaced with habitation and manufacturing areas.  During the Great War between the Autobots and Decepticons, the moons were considered a great prize by Megatron, who sought to mount orbital weapons on them to strike at Autobot cities on the main planet.

A YJA Moment - The All-Spark

The beginning of the history of the Transformers lies with the Quintessons, a cybernetic race of aliens which operated as vassals of the great Infinite Empire.  In the time before their development of their Starforges, the Rakatan were reliant on a number of client species, of which the Quintessons were but a part.  They developed armies of robotic servants which mined heavy minerals and crafted them into finished goods for the Empire's voracious appetites.  These robots ranged in awareness, with the Prime Coordinators being the most intelligent.  None of the robots were considered sapient.

In one of the worlds, a Prime Coordinator stumbled through a natural rift to what later would be revealed to the Underworld. Utilizing survival routines, they began to explore the area in order to find a way back to his mining unit.  Instead, he discovered an abandoned tomb within a glowing gem that seemingly called out to him.  Touching the gem, it was suddenly flooded with knowledge and self-awareness, becoming a sentient robot being.  No longer was it a Prime Coordinator, but the first of a brand new species.  He was now Primus, imbued with the seemingly-endless spiritual reservoir called the All-Spark.

He made his way back to the living world and granted souls, known as Sparks, to his fellow automatons.  This created the first of what would be known as Transformers.  Primus traveled across Quintesson space, granting self-awareness to every robot he could find.  When the Quintessons intervened, his followers took up arms against them and freed themselves from the yoke of slavery.  The last act of their former masters was to turn one of the Warworlds of Cybertron against them, but the attack ended when Primus gave it a Spark, creating Unicron.  Unicorn destroyed the last of the Quintesson armada but turned his back on the rest of the Transformers to travel to worlds unknown.

In order to facilitate the future of his species, Primus traveled to the deepest layers of Cybertron, where he merged with the central processing centers.  This created the Well of the All-Spark, the heart of the planet where all-new Transformers protoforms receive their souls.  In terms of Transformer religious belief, Primus is the closest thing that the Cybertronians have to a god, and they give reverence to him for the foundation of their entire species.