“… And I want to thank you again for inviting me to speak today. It was an honor and a pleasure to be here.”
Nodding and smiling to the applauding crowd, Princess Crujectra turned from the podium to move back toward her seat, stopping long enough to shake the hand of the President of the Businesswoman’s Association. The ceremony had gone well enough, but Crujectra was tired and was more than ready to head home to LMBP Plaza. Personal appearances were one of the drawbacks of being a public figure, especially when you are both a super-heroine and a successful businesswoman.
She had begun to wonder how long the meet and greet session might go on when the flight ring on her finger began to gently vibrate. Turning away from the crowd, she raised her hand up before her face. A small hologram formed in the air above her ring: Invisible Brainiac, who was currently on monitor duty back at headquarters.
“Good afternoon, IBSweetie,” the Princess said, smiling at the young man’s image. “To what do I owe this unexpected visit?”
Invisible Brainiac smiled in return. “I hated to interrupt your speaking engagement, but I wondered if you might be available for a little side mission before you return home?”
“You’re a life saver, IB. I’ll owe you big time.”
“I’m counting on it,” he laughed. “Meet Fat Cramer, Arachne and Shadowplay In Candlelight at the main entrance to the Tropica Zone as soon as possible.”
Blowing a kiss at the hologram just as it flickered out, Crujectra turned back toward the President. “I apologize for having to dash off, but Spellbinder is needed across town.” With that, she hurried out of the convention hall.
[ August 08, 2005, 06:11 AM: Message edited by: Spellbinder ]
Posted by Spellbinder on :
The Tropica Zone: One of the many Environmental Habitats of Legion World, this domed area duplicates the planet Tropica, known for its lush vegetation and warm climate. It also is home to a large number of Tropica’s native animal population, including the Bannata Primates – Encyclopedia Galactica, 3005 Edition
“Here she comes now,” Fat Cramer said, her feline eyes focused on a silhouette arching high above the city. Her two companions also looked up to watch the approach of the Psyonian Princess. Swiveling her body around, Spellbinder gracefully landed beside the other women.
“Good afternoon, ladies,” Spellbinder said, tossing her hair back in place after landing. “What’s the situation here?”
Arachne led the women over to the access portal that would give them entry to the Tropica Zone. “Yesterday a United Planets delegate took his family into the Tropica Zone for a little mini-safari. While there, they were attacked by a group of Bannata Primates. The Bannata were armed with phaser rifles.”
“Gorilla gunmen? Since when do the Bannata have firearms?”
“That’s what we’re here to find out, Princess,” Shadowplay In Candlelight said as the quartet stopped before the portal. A small scanning device activated, bathing the heroines in a red light. Within seconds, the scanner deactivated and the access portal slid open. A tinny computerized voice said, “LMBP Priority Status Alpha… Arachne, Fat Cramer, Spellbinder, Shadowplay In Candlelight identified… Access granted.”
The women entered the Zone.
Posted by Spellbinder on :
The four heroines moved cautiously through the trees, eyes open for any sign of danger. Fat Cramer had shifted into her humanoid/feline form, and was using her enhanced senses to scan the area around them. Spellbinder cast outward with her mind, searching for stray thoughts. Shadowplay In Candlelight opened her senses, ready to catch any sense of hostile emotions.
Cramer stopped suddenly, raising a hand to stop the other women.
“Did you spot something, FC?” Arachne asked, stopping next to her friend.
“Not yet, Al,” she replied. “I’m just going to activate my transsuit. This tropical heat is a little overpowering, and I doubt that you guys will want to smell wet fur.”
Spellbinder laughed. “Actually, that’s a really good idea, Cramer. I just had my hair done yesterday, and this heat isn’t doing it any good.”
The four women sent mental commands to their flight rings. Simultaneously, they were surrounded by body-hugging force fields. While the transsuits wouldn’t protect them from attack, they would provide a contained atmosphere that would keep them comfortable in any environment. As their body temperatures returned to normal, they moved forward again.
“Do we know where the party was attacked?” Arachne asked as the heroines moved into a small clearing. Suddenly, the bushes around them were torn apart, and a dozen huge figures leapt into the clearing. The Bannata were tall, at least seven feet, and the were dressed in body armor. Each was carrying a large phaser rifle, and wore grenade belts slung across their shoulders. “Oh, let me guess. Somewhere around… here.”
Fat Cramer looked at the nearest primate, and her nose wrinkled up in distaste. “Ugh. I guess I shouldn’t have worried about how MY fur was going to smell. At least I’m not wearing armor.”
“DO NOT MOVE, LEGIONNAIRES. YOU ARE COMPLETELY SURROUNDED.”
Spellbinder put her hands on her hips, disbelief on her face. “Hel-looo! Armored Gorilla Gunmen wasn’t bizarre enough? Now we have TALKING Armored Gorilla Gunmen? Who’s writing this crap anyways?”
“Actually, that was me.”
[ August 02, 2005, 02:04 PM: Message edited by: Spellbinder ]
Posted by Spellbinder on :
From out of the bushes stepped an over-muscled man dressed in combat fatigues. Numerous knives and guns were stuffed in pockets and holsters all over his body, and his face was painted in a variety of colored, creating what was, presumably, intended to be a frightening mask. The Legionnaires didn’t look impressed.
“And just who, or what, are you supposed to be?” Arachne asked.
“I am your worst nightmare come true, girly. I am… The BANNATA COMMANDO!!!”
Arachne looked around as though she were expecting suspenseful music to play. When none sounded, she turned back to the Bannata Commando. “Oooookay then. I suppose that’s better than the Emerald Ass of Ekron.”
Spellbinder rolled her eyes. “The Legion fights the Fatal Five and Darkseid. The LMBP fights Middlefinger and the Banana Commando.”
“That’s… THE BANNATA COMMANDO!” the villain screamed.
“Like it makes a difference. So what’s your story, Monkey Man?”
“I was a sergeant in the Science Police when my mutant powers first manifested. I learned that I had the power to telepathically communicate with primates.” He scowled at Arachne, who was trying not cover her giggle. “Don’t laugh at me, girly!”
Arachne looked at Shadowplay In Candlelight out of the corner of her eye. “One more ‘girly’ out of him and I am so kicking his ass.”
“Anyways… so I learned that I could communicate with primates. Just after that, I was visiting the Tropica Zone when I began talking to the Bannata. I discovered that they were being kept here like zoo animals, forced to be looked at by tourists as though they were freaks! So I vowed to help them get their revenge.” He thrust his ample chest out proudly. “ So I taught them to fight back. I got them weapons, and taught them how to fight. Now they are a finely tuned Freedom Force, who will bring their people out from under mankind’s thumb!”
“Actually, dear, you are a petty thief who learned that he could control primates, and now you are using these poor creatures to help you make it into the big leagues of crime.”
Bannata Commando whirled around to face Spellbinder, a look of shocked disbelief on his face. “How did you…?”
Spellbinder threw back her hair, an annoyed expression on her face. “Hel-looo? ‘The Telepathic Princess of Psyonia.’ Do you not own a holovision set?”
The Commando roared in anger. “Bannata Warriors… ATTACK!” As one, the mind-controlled Bannata moved forward, phasers armed and ready.
[ August 02, 2005, 02:06 PM: Message edited by: Spellbinder ]
Posted by Spellbinder on :
“Don’t hurt them, dears,” Shadowplay In Candlelight said as the Legionnaires leaped into action.
Fat Cramer pounced forward, feline eyes locked on the approaching primates. As laser rifles fired, her cat-like reflexes let her leap and roll with a gymnastic grace seldom seen in a humanoid. She easily dodged the laser fire, and when she reached the nearest primate, she somersaulted over it with a feline howl. Landing on it’s back, Cramer lashed out with her claws extended. The claws easily sliced through the fastenings that held the body armor in place. As its armor fell from its body, the Bannata began to turn toward her. Without a pause, Fat Cramer grabbed its arm. Calling upon her LMBP Academy training, she used the creature’s own momentum to send it hurtling into the bushes. She turned toward the next primate, snarling.
Nearby, Spellbinder and Arachne stood poised for action as six of the Bannata rushed toward them, phaser rifles firing. Under Spellbinder’s command, rocks and broken branches flew into the way of the gunfire. The Princess turned to Arachne. “What do you say, Al? The old 1-2?”
“I’m with you, Princess.”
Spellbinder summoned her will, and then lashes out. Her arms sweeping from side to side, her telekinetic fury rained down on the Bannata. One by one they were thrown backward, each one crashing against nearby trees. Without missing a beat, Arachne sent hundreds of strands of psionic force out, weaving mental webbing that wrapped around the primates, lashing them to the trees they had hit. Resisting the urge to high five, they turned to see Fat Cramer standing on a pile of three unconscious primates.
“Well, that’s ten down, two to go… wait, where’s Shady?”
The three heroines spun around. Suddenly they began to laugh. There was Shadowplay In Candlelight, seated demurely upon a nearby rock. The last two Bannata were seated on the ground at her feet, heads resting on Shady’s lap and eyes closed. She looked up at her teammates and shrugged. “What can I say? I have that affect on people.”
“You girlies might have stopped my warriors, but you ain’t gonna stop me!”
Arachne turned toward the Commando, who was rushing forward in anger. “Would you ladies excuse me for a moment? I need to kick a little commando ass.”
Posted by Spellbinder on :
The heroines watched as the Science Police cruiser flew off, taking the unconscious Bannata Commando into custody. Without his telepathic control, the peaceful Bannata went back to their harmless ways, their guns forgotten in their renewed quest for fruit and berries.
Spellbinder looked at her three teammates and smiled. “You know, ladies, we should work together more often. We make a pretty good team.”
Cramer, who had returned to her fully-humanoid form, stretched. “What say we head on back to Café Cramer for a little caffeine pick me up?”
Spellbinder looked thoughtful a moment. “Tell you what: I’ll meet you there shortly. There’s a certain someone on monitor duty today who I owe a great big hug.”
Posted by Spellbinder on :
The End
For anyone who might not know, Shadowplay In Candlelight is one of the Founding Members of the LMBP, who has empathic-type powers.
For storyline purposes, I gave Fat Cramer the ability to shift from a fully humanoid form (although she always has feline eyes) to a half humanoid/half feline form like the one I gave her in the Project Runway thread.
Hopefully no one minds any creative license I may have taken, and I hope everyone's personality was portraying in an acceptable way Posted by MLLASH on :
I enjoyed! How 'bout a couple of illustrations?
Posted by Spellbinder on :
It could happen, Lashie Poo Posted by Caliente on :
Ooh, that was neat! ^_^ Go team girls!!
And I'm in favor of those illistrations too...
Posted by Arachne on :
Way to go, Cru! That was a blast. Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
Cru, I loved it! You have such a great grasp on the LMB personalities, it's such a blast to read. And I've said it before, but you know how to write an interesting fight scene! (something the comic writers of today should take note of!).
Bannatta Commando...yes, this is a LMB villain that shall be reappearing! Posted by Spellbinder on :
creating an LMBP villain is hard for me. I lack your sense of the wacky Posted by Luna on :
I consider this a must read, it was really good!
I liked the villain, great interaction between the characters.
Posted by Harbinger on :
This is a lot of fun! Bannata Commando indeed
Great characters, fun plot, four strong women - what can I say but more, more, more!!!
Posted by Spellbinder on :
Glad you all enjoyed. The scene with Shadowplay In Candlelight is one that's been kicking around in my head for awhile. I had always wanted to do one where, in the midst of battle, you see the villain broken down, crying about his parents who didn't love him or something, while Shady is consoling him. It just felt like such a Shady-type moment. So, when I decided to do an all-girl LMBP story, I figured it would be a good place to let that scene play out. Only in this instance, Shady has soothed the savage beasts, so to speak.
It was important to me to show all four women as being strong and powerful in their own individual ways. They possess very different powers, but each one has definite strengths. I think they worked well together.
Posted by Fat Cramer on :
That was a great scene with Shady - "I do have that effect on people"!
Spellbinder is priceless! Very funny in addition to being strong, smart & beautiful - I think she should be in a movie - or get her own TV show. Nice teamwork with Arachne, and who better to send into a jungle than a spider expert. (Good touch to have the Encylopedia entry, too.)
I love having killer claws! And cat eyes!
Posted by Spellbinder on :
Glad you liked it, Cramer. I'm always nervous writing other people's "characters", because you never can get their "voice" just right. The best you can hope it to be close Posted by Spellbinder on :
Well, after a flood of requests (it takes two to make a flood, right? ), here is a little something I did while watching TV last night. It's a little more ambitious than anything else I've done lately, but I think it turned out okay-ish
Note: I created a thumbnail for this because I left the original image at 1024x768 screen resolution... this pic has alot going on, so I wanted to have a large pic for Loser... err... I mean, for anyone who might feel inspired to color it
[ August 08, 2005, 10:47 AM: Message edited by: Spellbinder ]
Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
WOW. Just...WOW. What a pic! Awesome, and each lady is poised for attack and unique in her own way!
Posted by Spellbinder on :
Glad you enjoyed it, Cobie. Now that I'm looking at it again, the one thing I wish I had done differently is swapped Shady and Spellbinder in the background. Spellbinder and Arachne's costumes each has alot of black in it, and I wish now that I had separated them.
Oh well... too late now, cuz I am so not redrawing it Posted by White Raven on :
Awsome picture
Posted by Spellbinder on :
Thanks. It was a bit unusual for me, if only because I rarely put much of a background in my pics. Typically I just do poses. Of course, it's not the most realistic looking bunch of tropical trees I've ever seen, but since it's an alien environment, I'll pretend it looks realistic Posted by Caliente on :
*whistles*
Those're some sexin' girls!! I can only imagine how awesome a colored version would look... Posted by Spellbinder on :
That's the great thing about Legion World women: they show that beauty and sex appeal come in a variety of packages.
And I agree, a colored version would look awesome!
<looks around for a colorist> Posted by MLLASH on :
That may be your best yet! Thanks!
Posted by Fat Cramer on :
Great illo! I like the balance in the characters, two standing, two moving. Black costumes on one side and white on the other works fine, IMO - it would just be balanced differently if you alternated the figures. And the jungle leaf background is really a nice touch. More than okay-ish!
Posted by Loser Lad on :
Posted by Spellbinder on :
Oh... my... goodness...
That looks awesome, Loser! Yippee!!!! Posted by Caliente on :
Ooh, I really like how Archane looks kind of Spider-Woman-esque. It's nifty. ^_^ Great colors Loser~
Posted by Luna on :
I just got here, Cru that's a way awesome pic, I love the dynamic, Lou, awesome colors, man!
Posted by Loser Lad on :
Thanks all! Kind of went a bit simplistic on the background details, but I think it works. I'm really happy with the way Cramer came out too.
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