The end of the world didn't come with a loud crash or a deafening explosion, but rather one silent disappearance at a time.

It was a good plan, one which wouldn't arouse attention very quickly. People went missing all the time, didn't they?

By the time anyone noticed what was going on, it would be far too late. Nothing would stop them.

__________

Kara Danvers woke to the sounds of her city. Cars honking, sirens wailing, people talking. And her favorite sight greeted her eyes when she opened them. Her boyfriend, Mon-El, still asleep, lay next to her in bed. She gently kissed his forehead, then climbed out of bed to get ready for the day.

She made herself a cup of coffee, then sat on her couch, enjoying the solitude of the morning. It was very rare that she'd wake without the sounds of a crime alerting her. It was peaceful, quiet. Almost too quiet. The lack of unusual noises made Kara slightly suspicious, but she stayed on the couch and sipped her coffee.

When Mon-El awoke, he poured a cup of coffee and joined her, nuzzling his face into the crook of her neck. Kara smiled. The two sat in peaceful serenity for several minutes, then reluctantly, they got up and prepared for work.

Kara dressed in a navy blue button-up and white dress pants. She did her hair up in a slightly elegant bun, and put on her lead-lined glasses. Mon-El wore his usual attire of button-up shirt and jeans.

"Wow, babe. You look stunning as ever," Mon-El said, sweetly kissing Kara. She giggled and grinned cheesily.

"Thanks. I love you. You are my favorite dork." Kara kissed Mon-El again. "But, we are going to be late for work, so come on, we gotta go."

Mon-El grinned and followed Kara out the door.

_________

"Where's James?" Kara asked Winn Schott. It was ten 'o'clock, and James Olsen was no where to be seen.

"I have no idea. I texted him and he never answered," Winn replied. It was really unlike James to not show up for work without letting one of them know. Kara furrowed her brow.

"Huh. I'll text Lena. Maybe she's heard from him," Kara said, whipping out her phone.

"Now that you mention it, have you seen Snapper today?" Winn asked. Kara sighed.

"No, but it's not like I want to go searching for him." Snapper Carr was Kara's boss. He was a grumpy, middle-aged man with a taste for Danishes and well-written stories. He also didn't particularly like Kara, calling her either "Danvers" or "Ponytail," depending on his mood.

"Okay, I completely understand because your boss scares the crap outta me," Winn said. "But you have a job, and I'm not talking about the up, up and away one. You need to get your next assignment, so now's as good a time as any to go check on him."

Kara sighed. Winn had a point. So she sucked up her crappy attitude, put her trademark smile on, and headed for Snapper's office. She noticed a couple other people missing from their desks on her way, so it didn't surprise her too much when her boss was absent from his well-used swivel chair.

Kara scrunched her brow. Why were so many people missing? It concerned her more than she would have liked, so she headed back to Winn, pulling out her phone again.

A text from Lena was waiting for her, confirming her suspicions that James was MIA. If he hadn't texted his business partner, letting her know he wouldn't be at work, something had probably happened.

"Snapper's absent, Lena hasn't heard from James, and several of our other coworkers are missing, too," Kara announced, as she perched herself on Winn's desk.

Winn's brow furrowed. "Call Alex," he suggested. "Maybe she knows something we don't."

Kara nodded as she dialed her adoptive sister's number. She breathed a sigh of relief as Alex's voice came through the other end.

"Hey Kara. Is everything okay? You don't usually call during work," Kara could hear worry lacing her sister's voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine, but several people haven't showed up for work. Snapper, James, and a couple more of my coworkers. Is everyone accounted for on your end?"

Alex sucked in a sharp breath. "Yeah, we've got a few absent. I wasn't worried until you called. Now I'm thinking something's up."

Kara rubbed her temple. "What do you want me to do?"

"Just stay at CatCo for now. Act as if nothing's up. I'll call you if you and Winn are needed," Alex instructed. "I'm going to talk to J'onn about this, get his thoughts. I'll let you know more later."

"Okay. I'll call Mon-El and ask if any of his coworkers are missing," Kara said. "I love you, Alex. Stay safe."

"Love you, too, little sis. You stay safe as well." Kara smiled as her sister hung up the phone. Then she turned to Winn.

"Alex's instructions are to do nothing for now. We're to stay put and continue on with the day. Who knows? This could turn out to be nothing important at all! We could be worried for nothing!" Kara tried to keep up her cheerful countenance. Winn lifted an eyebrow.

"Or this could be something major and doing nothing is what they want us to do," he replied mysteriously.

"They? They who?" Kara asked, dialing Mon-El's number.

"I dunno. Just trying to make a joke in lieu of the current situation." Winn grinned. Kara snorted.

"Since when do you use the words, in lieu?"

Winn shrugged, still grinning. Kara shook her head, smiling, as Mon-El picked up the phone.

"Hey babe. Everything okay, cause I'm kinda working." Kara could here the clinking of glasses and the murmur of voices in the background, all the regular noises heard at the alien bar.

"Well, kinda. It's just several of my coworkers are missing today, including James and Snapper. How about your place?" Kara asked.

"Actually, yeah. My usual coworker is gone, as well as a few regulars." Mon-El sounded worried. Kara could almost see the crease in his forehead.

"I called Alex. She's going to talk to J'onn and get back to me. She said to just act normal for now. I'll call you if I find out anything new."

"Okay. Be safe Kara. Love you," Mon-El said, a serious note entering his voice.

"Love you, too, Mon-El. I'll talk to you soon." Kara hung up. "Alright. Now we try to act normal."

Winn smirked and placed his legs on his desk. "I always act normal."

Kara rolled her eyes. "Sure ya do," she said, walking back to her desk.

As Kara tried to resume a normal day, her mind wandered to her Earth-1 friends. She wondered if they were discovering the same crisis. Was it multi-worldly? Or just restricted to her earth?

She guessed she'd soon find out.

__________

Out in the far reaches of the galaxy, they waited. Their plan was coming into perfect order.

The hunt would begin soon enough. Once the blight had spread throughout the multiverse, they would begin the end.

AN: I hope you all liked this start to my new book. I actually have a lot of motivation for this book, as well as Spiders, Coffee & Internships, so expect these two books to be updated frequently. This does not mean my other books will be discontinued. It simply means they will be updated sooner. So please, please don't beg for updates. That actually causes me to feel less motivated when someone is badgering me to finish.

All my EAH books are definitely included in the slow updates list. This is due to the lack of new EAH content. The webisodes and Netflix specials were the catalysts that motivated me to write, and now that they've stopped...well...you get the idea.

Enjoy this new book. It's been a process getting this first bit published.

Peace out, my loves.

-Tess