Silence. Fire and ash choked the sky. It formed a haze that blocked the sun. Visible debris floating in the air, clogged lungs burning with each and every breath. This was not an isolated incident, the same story could be found across the planet. The gleaming tower that served as the QuantumSyndicte's headquarters reduced to rubble. Government buidings, schools, bunkers, nothing looked intact. He couldn't see any bodies, nor any clothes. Whatever else this meant, the earth was dead.
The hero known as Doctor Mastermind opened his eyes while terror gripped his heart and shook him to his core. Perhaps he had fallen asleep while trying to use his powers? Once his heart rate died down he'd just have to try again.
When his power showed him the same ruin, void of life he knew that he hadn't fallen asleep.
The power to see exactly one year into the future had helped him in his line of work, keeping the world safe as a part of the largest hero organization on the continent The Quantum Syndicate. He acted as a dispatcher for, in his opinion, the legendary team arranging the members schedules to help them minimize colateral damage, and wasted time. Yesterday nothing of note had happened, but he had missed something. There was no life on earth one year into the future. What happened the day before that caused the world to end in fire?
He worked out of an inner room of headquarters. Away from danger and as much stimulus as he could while he spends his time researching what could, and would without his interference, happen in the future. With the migraines his power caused him he had to limit his usage and scope or the migraines would form clots ending his life before he could use whatever information he had gathered. Low soft yellow lighting to reduce eye strain, had a side effect of casting much of the place in shadow which the odd work lamp broke up with occasional bursts of bright white when he needed more intense light to facilitate his research, sound proofed walls covered in grey foam made his home feel like a padded cell where he was kept to keep others safe, and barricades both physical in the form of key card locked doors and a camera based intercom system and social as his floor being seperated with restricted access between him and any of the more sociable members of the syndicate. He envied them with their ability to help people directly and to engage the world. Meanwhile he was trapped inside of four walls behaving as a glorified bookkeeper. All but useless to the world outside this marginal capacity.
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His notes of the days and weeks before this apocalypse should hold any details necessary to find the reason behind the catastrophe, and yet when he searched them everything seemed to be fine. No villains had obtained any weapons of note, there hadn't been mentions of so much as tension between any of the world powers. It had been a peaceful day. The government had requested a hero or two escort a convoy of disarmed bombs to prevent state secrets from being leaked earlier that month. These bombs had been disarmed following something, maybe a redistribution of military funding it wasn't written down due to lack of importance. The convoys were well guarded. None of the villains in the area were a significant threat to them. The crazies hadn't escaped as far as the news had relayed. No known buildup indicated a plot. Heroes were scrambling to keep up with an increase in general threats. Nothing made any sense, why was there a sudden change then? It made no sense.
Rumors of a blackmarket deal had made a few rounds for the cargo, but considering it was supposed to be the remains of a disarmed bomb the presence of Madd Y was more of a request to protect state secrets than a threat deterent. Master Merlin had a small fry who managed to get his hands on a few sticks of dynamite and used his potions to fight fire with fire with Scarlet Magician catching the entire area on fire trying to help.
Rosethorn was struggling against one of Mister Vindicator's normal threats, ex-terminator, since he was stuck in the hospital at base due to an accumulation of glitch issues. Nothing too surprising there. It was around that time when he was indisposed. None of this was pointing him to the reason the world was reduced to rubble the next day.
Hands still shaking from the pain of using his powers twice in close proxemity he reached for his side of the intercom system, updating the digital calendars wouldn't be enough. Captain Quake needed to know. He would need all hands on deck to help prevent this crisis.