DC: Year One

realscreamer:
"I swear to God, Marv, if I don't get Israeli roses here by two o'clock I will have your balls, in a jar, in the back cooler of the shop. I paid for Israeli roses. I expect Israeli roses. So deliver, Marv. Snip snip."

Dinah wasn't exactly the sort of person to threaten the reproductive organs of flower brokers. She needed a good working relationship with them in order to keep her business running, but Marv Hecht was a different story. Marv had been the broker for mom's shop back in the day and she'd known him her whole life. She also knew that Marv needed motivation and she suspected that he secretly enjoyed trying to figure out if Dinah's threats were genuine. Dinah herself wasn't sure, but she was sure she had ordered the roses. They had been a fancy request from a prestigious client, an order that could make or break things. They had to be here and so far they were late.

"Ugh!" Dinah screamed in frustration after she hung up the phone. Vases lining the wall rattled. The girl who worked for her calling out sick had gotten the day off on a bad foot. The roses were making things worse.

chasingastory:

Lois stood outside the main door to the building that housed the Daily Planet. She was so excited. Today was her first day at the Planet.

"Okay, Lo, don't mess this up," she said to herself, earning some looks from the people that passed by on the sidewalk.

mrcrankypants:

The Japanese whaling ship closed in on its target, a humpback whale. Arthur watched from a short distance away and waited. When the men on the ship started to prepare the massive spear for firing, Arthur moved. He got between the ship and the whale. When the massive spear was fired, he caught it and then threw it with all of his might toward the hull of the ship.

maalecaandran:

To most people, Marco Xavier Jr. was a fool and a fop, a playboy wasting away the company, Phobos Inc.,  and the fortune that he'd inherited from his father.  Others knew him to, despite that, be a brilliant inventor and a shrew businessman.  Both of these things did, in point of fact, have some measure of truth to them.  More well liked than Lex Luthor, more open than Bruce Wayne, he antics were the frequent thing of tabloid headlines.

All of these things were, of course, carefully controlled and manipulating diversions.  From the would-be starlets and society darlings seen on his arms, to the lavish parties he threw, to the occasional reality TV show guest appearance, it all made certain that the world knew Marco Xavier to be brilliant but ultimately more spectacle than substance.

None of which could be further from the truth.

At the moment, Marco Xaiver was in his private office, watching multiple news broadcasts, his eyes flitting between each of them, absorbing the information easily.  And what he saw concerned him greatly.

Metahumans and vigilantes, on both the side of the angels and the on the side of evil.  There was wickedness here, as there had once been on his home.  Those who would abuse their gifts to prey upon the innocent.

He had suffered so much at the hands of these humans.  Lost those dearest to him. But he had also seen their capacity to reach out and help those in need, their capacity to better themselves.  They wished to be a great people.

But this felt like a great tipping point...  the time when this world would truly change.

sdrawkcabcigam:

Zatanna Zatara was doing pretty well for herself. She had a show at the Grand, where she performed two to three shows a night, sometimes four on the weekends. She had a pretty swanky apartment, as her job payed fairly well, and all of the fun the city of Las Vegas had to offer. She got invites to crazy pool parties with hot young waiters serving her free cocktails, and could dance all night even she wanted to. Yes, Zatanna was living the life.

But there was still something missing. She still felt helpless that her father had been dead for over a year now, and she still hadn't found a way to bring him back yet. It ate at her. All of her magical training, from her father, Nick, and John, and she was still helpless to bring back the person she loved most in the world. It was on her mind all the time, but she shoved it to the back of her mind as she finished her show.

As usual, the finale was met with a roar of applause. Zatanna thank her audience, and did a final impressive display of fireworks before retreating to her dressing room.

Yes, her inner troubles aside, Zatanna was definitely living a charmed life.

goddamnbatgirl:

Barbara Gordon's walls were covered with pictures and reports of "Batman sightings". According to her father, none of the pictures were actually accurate, but no one had ever actually seen the Batman (except her dad, the lucky jerk), so artist renditions were what she had on her walls. Every sighting of Batman ever documented, it was on Barbara's wall. Even the fake sighting reports.

Yes, Barbara Gordon considered herself Batman's number one fan. And her dad actually talked to him on a regular basis. Of course, he would never tell her what they talked about, and he didn't even want her knowing, but ever since she overheard them talking one night, Barbara was determined to meet the Dark Knight herself one day.

She just didn't know how. She was still too young to get into the police academy, and every time she brought it up, her father would laugh and say that she wouldn't even meet the height requirements. Which just irritated Barbara anymore. She knew damn well why her father didn't want her on the force, but he wasn't going to stop her. Calling Barbara stubborn was calling the sky blue. She would get to meet Batman someday. She just didn't know how.

Barbara sighed, flopping on her bed on her stomach. Superheroes had always fascinated her, and being in the same city as one made her all twenty different kinds of giddy. Part of her still wanted to be a superhero. But how? That was the question. And the bigger question was, how would her father not find out? He was too good of a detective. Barbara had a hard enough time hiding bad grades from school, let alone if she decided to be a superhero.

Barbara sighed again. She'd figure it out. Somehow.

not_a_killer:

The streets of Gotham had been Cassandra's home for a few years now. She'd adapted to the environment as best she could. Which, of course, meant that she was doing as well as she possibly could for a homeless girl. Homeless shelters kept her fed and dry when she needed to be. The people there were nice, if sometimes a bit invasive at first. They meant well, but she didn't like people prying into her life so much. They would never understand, and she'd never be able to make them understand. She couldn't even speak to them.

Which, of course, gave her an unwanted reputation. She was the quiet Asian girl in black, raggedy clothes. After awhile, everybody learned to just leave her be. New volunteers would occasionally pop up and ask her some questions. She would try her best to smile, accept the food she was given, and then eat by herself. They learned the routine quickly, and she was fine with that.

Today would, hopefully, be the same deal.

amazonchampion:

It seemed that lately, all Diana did was go meetings. Steve Trevor claimed that they were "essential". Diana failed to see point in them. How was she learning anything about Man's World by listening to a bunch of old men argue about budget problems? That wasn't what Diana had in mind when she became her peoples' ambassador. And she barely saw the President anymore.

She started outside the window. There were people clamoring to get a look at the princess from a magical island that no one had ever seen nor heard of. And normally, she was happy to stand for photos with young girls who said they wanted to be like her when they grew up, before Steve would usher her into the car and off to their next meeting. She liked those people.

She did not like the protesters. The group of people that seemed to follow her everywhere, and stood out in front of buildings with signs and yelled nasty things at her. They said that she was a terrible influence, that she dressed trashy, and that she would instill violence in young girls. There were some that said that Diana would turn them into lesbians, which was ridiculous. Diana had never been interested in women, as the ones she'd grown up with were her sisters in arms.

They'd even made a name for her, both the people that loved her and the ones that hated her. They were calling her "Wonder Woman". Diana didn't know why they'd chosen to make a name for her, but she liked it.

Even though she didn't see what was so wonderful about sitting in meetings all day.

watchtoweron:

One thing that Chloe loved about her job at the Planet was that she got to travel everywhere. Chloe enjoyed traveling, and being able to go to new places that she might not be able to normally. Tonight, she was in Star City. The long-lost Oliver Queen, thought dead, had returned from being stranded on a deserted island for a couple of years, and had reclaimed Queen Industries as his own. So naturally, they were throwing a big party. And the Daily Planet, being a world renowned newspaper, got to send a reporter into the party to try and interview Mr.Queen.

And hey, even if she couldn't interview Mr.Queen, maybe she'd run into this Green Arrow that she'd heard much about.

But for now, Chloe was enjoying herself. The party was at a nightclub called Verdant, owned by Queen Industries. She sipped on a glass of champagne as she made her way around the club, looking out for the "Prince of Star City".