[h3]Somewhere in Space[/h3]

Thanos addressed the one woman in the entire universe he was interested in, Death.  "I have been rejected for being beneath you, and because you thought I was above you, so I shall become your equal, and give up the Gauntlet."  He snapped his fingers and a Black Ring appeared in front of him.  He reached out and grabbed it.  "With this ring I shall become the agent of death, your equal in almost every way."  He placed it on his finger and immediately became aware of other rings similar to his own.  "Interesting.  It seems that more than just this ring came through.  No matter.  I can send them back just as easily as I brought them here.  He raised his now-ringed hand and snapped his fingers, and Lady Death watched as he disappeared as well.

Thanos found himself floating in space, unsure where he was.  [i]This is troubling,[/i] he thought, before raising his hand and snapping his fingers once more to fix this.  But nothing happened.  He needed to figure out a way home, and the place where he sensed most of the other rings seemed the best place to start.

"Ring." he said, addressing the only item he possessed that still had power.  "Take me to Earth."  With that he began to accelerate to far beyond the speed of light, and he knew that he would soon be there.

[hr]

[h3]Gotham[/h3]

Zebediah Killgrave found himself in an alleyway, unsure how he got there.  One minute a Yellow Ring had appeared before him to tell him he was worthy, and putting it on, and the next he was standing somewhere else.  He stepped out onto the street and saw a man selling a newspaper called the Gotham Gazette.  Well, at least he knew where he was now, though he'd never heard of a city called Gotham.

He walked across the street to a coffee shop and ordered a cup.  "That will be $3.57." the barista said.

"It's free." he said, using his power.

She nodded and handed it to him, and he sat down at a nearby table.  [i]Why did this Ring bring me here?[/i] he wondered, twirling the ring on his finger.  [i]Is it sending me on some kind of mission?  A Job?[/i]

A woman in a wheelchair saw him and a look of shock filled her face.  "Sinestro Corp." she said, before starting to spin her chair around.

He noticed, however, and ordered her to come over to him.  "You know about this ring?" he asked.  "Tell me what you know."

"It marks you as a member of the Sinestro Corp." she said, unable to stop herself.  "The Corp is named for the alien that leads it, named Sinestro.  The ring lets you create hard light constructs by harnessing the emotion of Fear.  Generally, it's used for energy blasts, a skin-tight protective force field and flight.  Would you like more details?"

Fear, huh?  It made sense that it chose him if that was it's power source.  All he had to do was be himself to keep it charged.  "No, that's ok.  Tell me your name."

"Barbara Gordan." she responded.  "I take it you're a Metahuman with mind-control powers?"

Killgrave smiled.  "Metahuman?  Well, it sounds better than 'mutant'.  Yes, I'm a metahuman.  You can call me 'The Purple Man'."  She squeezed the arm of her chair in fear, but he ignored it.  "I'll need a place to stay for now.  I'm going to live with you.  Take me to your place."

She tried to resist, but her arm seemed to act in spite of her resistance, turning her around and rolling forward.  "You know, you won't get away with this."

"I've heard that before.  And call me Master."

"Yes, [i]'Master'[/i]" she answered sarcastically, unable to do more than snark at him.

A few minutes later she let him into her apartment.  She pushed the button on the remote near the door to turn on the lights, but they didn't respond.  "Forget to pay the power bill?" he asked, not noticing the silhouette of a man coming through a nearby doorway.

"So, I take it Sinestro sent you here?" the shadow-cloaked man asked.

"Oh, no.  I don't know why I'm here." Killgrave answered.  "Tell me who you are."

"I'm Batman." the man said, springing into action.  Within a few seconds Killgrave found himself tied up in two bolas, one around his legs and one around his waist, holding his arms to his sides.  A second later a bat-shaped shuriken-like weapon stuck into the wall beside him and exploded, the bright light and loud explosion blinding and deafening him temporarily.  When he recovered he looked at his new slave's chair only to realize that it was empty.  "How did she call for help?"  He remembered her squeezing the arm of the chair and flipped it on its side, now noticing a button that was there.  "Silent alarm?  Damn it." he said.

Well, at least he had her computer, which he now saw in an open room across the living room.  If she had Hero connections, surely it had info on those heroes.  He went over to it and booted it up.  If he couldn't access it he'd go out and find a slave to access it for him, but for now he wanted to try to access it on his own.