In the wake of the $15 billion bounty placed on his head, the world watched with bated breath to see who would be foolish—or fearless—enough to try and claim it. The underworld trembled, yet some figures who thrived in chaos rose to the call: the Joker, Victor Zsasz, Copperhead, Black Spider, Cheshire, and even minor players like Killer Moth and Brutale saw this as their twisted opportunity for glory.
But Jacob was not a man caught off guard.
Each of them tried, and each of them fell.
Jacob deployed precision countermeasures, his operatives using advanced AI, predictive modeling, and deadly efficiency to neutralize them. The Joker, known for his unpredictability, was lured into a funhouse built to mock him, only to be caught in a brutal psychological trap and eliminated with a finality that stunned even the darkest corners of Gotham. Each kill was filmed, edited with cinematic precision, and released publicly.
The reaction was polarized: the public, weary of the chaos these villains caused, roared in support. "Finally, justice that worked," one commentator said. Jacob's approval rating skyrocketed across neutral and smaller nations. Hashtags of support flooded social media.
But for the Justice League, it was the final straw.
They convened in the Hall of Justice. Batman, grim-faced, scanned through the surveillance footage and digital autopsies of the dead villains.
"He's gone too far," Diana said.
"There's no turning back," Superman muttered. "We must bring him in."
"Jacob is no longer operating under international law," Martian Manhunter added. "This is extrajudicial execution at a planetary scale."
"He's also evading every form of our detection," Cyborg said, tapping through blurred satellite feeds. "It's like he doesn't even exist on Earth anymore."
"Because he doesn't," Batman said coldly.
What the League didn't know—couldn't know—was that Jacob had already evacuated key assets and personnel off-world. Using alien and stolen advanced technologies, he constructed an interstellar empire hidden in plain sight: the Moons of Dominion. Orbiting Jupiter and Saturn, these fortress moons were built with wormhole and gravitational manipulation technology, cloaked from any known surveillance systems in the universe. Even Kryptonian, Martian, and Apokoliptian tech couldn't detect them.
Each moon had its own environment, design, and theme—custom built for each member of the Light.
Lex Luthor was exhilarated by the scale of it all. He toured the massive databanks and energy fields within his assigned moon and called it, "A vision beyond even my ambition."
Vandal Savage was more subdued, but respected the dominance Jacob now wielded. "You did in months what I tried to do over millennia," he admitted.
Queen Bee, observing her own moon—designed with intricate bio-domes and subtle pheromonic networks—admitted Jacob's psychological infrastructure was flawless.
Ra's al Ghul remained skeptical but intrigued. "Power is like water," he said to Jacob during their council. "Too much at once, and even steel bends."
Ocean Master was given a moon comprised entirely of oceans, aquatic megastructures, and deep-sea reactors. He was heard saying, "Finally, a world fit for a true king."
Jacob, meanwhile, stood at the center of this power—a commanding figure aboard the Prime Moon, carved from titanium-alloy and powered by microstars. His throne room was designed to resemble ancient ruins and futuristic architecture intertwined. The message was clear: he was the bridge between forgotten civilizations and the future of order.
As the Light convened among the moons, Jacob looked over them and declared:
"This is not conquest. This is correction. I am not your leader. I am your necessary evolution."
And the stars stood still as the true age of dominion began.