Legion World Forums LEGION OUTPOST Bits o' Legionnaire Business DC2's Legion of Superheroes #0

This is a preview of the soon-to-be posted Legion of Super-Heroes title on DC2Universe.com website. I'll continue to post them on this thread as long as there is interest... or at least as long as Harbinger keeps asking for more!

I'm not re-inventing the wheel here... just putting a slightly different spin on some things. I hope y'all enjoy!

Written by Scott Kruger (lanternlad)
Cover by Scott kruger

The End…

Wonderful.

I knew you would arrive… it was just a matter of time. But, then again, isn’t it always?

I assume you have come to me to find out why you exist. Perhaps not why, exactly… but why you are who you have become.

Please, hear me out before you make any choices you may come to regret… I could erase anyone you love from history with but a thought.

Good boy.

Now to make a very long story short… I needed a champion. Someone that could stop the greatest threat the Universe had ever known. A threat, that not even I, in my seemingly infinite ability, could stop. No, I needed an icon for others to rally around.

An icon that could form bonds with others just as powerful. Or, perhaps, just with other powers, when used alongside your own, would be unstoppable.

Over the years I have watched as you, and your friends, flourished… grew… developed bonds far greater than any that I could ever experience.

Am I jealous? Of course.

Is that why I did what I have done to you over the years? No, of course not. I was trying to turn you into what you needed to be to defeat him. I molded you into the perfect fighting force. Yes, some of you had to die in the process. It was a necessary evil. But it had to happen. I make no apologies. It was, quite simply, survival of the fittest.

Should I be vilified for that? Perhaps. Is that judgment up to you to decide? No.

You are my children, and I am far wiser than any of you could ever hope to be… even your little green friend. Yes, even he should admit there is a difference between knowledge and wisdom.

I have said all that I will about that. You and your group of friends have performed the task I set out for you… admirably so. And now you see fit to punish me for creating our little family? You feel that I am wicked?

So be it. You may try…

Legion of Superheroes #0
Chapter 1: The Champ

Before…

The war with Imsk had been hard on all the families of Braal.

Once upon a time, the planet had been a mecha of tourism. Beings from every sector of space traveled light-years to get there. And many of them traveled there to see him.

Rokk Krinn, the great ‘Cosmic Boy’!

The youngest Magno-Ball champion in the Universe… at least that was the case 2 years ago. There was no longer a Magno-Ball team on Braal. In fact, no one ever came to Braal willingly anymore. Braal had seceded from the United Planets and declared war on their neighboring world, then proceeded to lose… badly. The world was now in a constant state of economic disaster, and luckily for it’s inhabitants, forced back into the United Planets. Rebuilding had just commenced, but with so many dead from the war, the going was slow.

Rokk’s father had been drafted into the war and was injured, like so many others, in the battle of Venado Bay. He came back a broken man, unable to manipulate magnetic fields like his fellow Braalians. It was now up to Rokk to provide for the family. As the eldest, it was his responsibility.

Unfortunately, there was not much work on Braal for a 14 year old ex-Magno Ball champion.

For the year his father was gone, Rokk assisted in rescue efforts following frequent bombing runs on their planet. He contemplated joining the peace corps when word reached his ears of a new opportunity…

“Rokk! Rokk!” Pol shouted as he leapt over the remains of a hover-car.

“Not now!” Rokk snarled at his younger brother as he strained to lift a 10 ton steel slab that was once part of an apartment building. He gently sat the slab down on the rubble hauler, giving the driver a thumbs up.

“Rokk…!” Pol whined.

“What?” Rokk loomed over his brother as the hauler pulled away.

“Lookee!” Pol beamed as he shoved an advertisement in his older brothers hand.

Rokk read the paper, his mood lightening with each word.

“Where did you get this?” Rokk asked excitedly.

“A pretty girl at the Starrrrporrt!” His brother smiled dragging the last word out as an 8 year old would for dramatic effect.

Rokk took off at a sprint for his family dwelling. To call it their home would be an insult. The Krinn’s, like so many other displaced families, had taken up residence in an old abandoned warehouse in the Industrial section of Old Town. It was one of the few remaining buildings in Old Town and currently housed 5 families.

“Mom! Dad!” Rokk shouted as he entered the warehouse with Pol in tow just trying to keep up.

“What is it son?” Hu Krinn, Rokk’s father asked fearing the worst.

“Look!” Rokk thrust the advert into his fathers hand.

“I… I… found it…” Pol panted.

His father read in silence, a glimmer of hope kindled once again in his eye. He finished reading the flyer and launched himself into his makeshift bedroom moving so fast the flyer seemed to remain in the air of it’s own accord. Rokk laughed to himself as he reached up to catch the paper.

“Hu! What are you up to?” Ewa Krinn asked emerging from their kitchen to the sounds of her husband rummaging loudly through their bedroom.

“Mom! Read this!” Rokk urged.

“Attention Magno-Ball Players! The Metropolis Miracle Men will be holding open tryouts…” She paused looking at her son with confusion, “But Rokk… we don’t live on Earth.”

“Keep reading Ewa!” Hu’s voice came out of their bedroom followed by a crashing sound, “Ow!!!”

“As a show of solidarity to our brothers on Braal, we are extending our tryouts to any Braalian willing & able to travel to Earth!” She stopped and grabbed her boys, embracing them in a bear hug.

“But…” She held her sons out at arms length, and turned toward the bedroom her husband was ravaging. “Hu… how are we going to get to Metropolis? We don’t have anything we could use to get us off the planet.”

“Maybe not all of us!” Hu said emerging with a small metal case. He opened the case revealing medals in all shapes and sizes. “These were my fathers & these are mine,” he said motioning to specific medals in the case. “They’re valuable enough to get Rokk there.”

“But Dad, I can’t…” Rokk started.

“You can & you will.” Hu said proudly. “You my boy are the best Magno-Ball player in the Universe! And you’re going to knock their socks off! We better get you packed!” Hu added with a smile.

It was the first time in a month that Rokk had seen his parents happy. He could do this. He would do this. He would make them proud again.

Chapter 2: The Live Wire

“Ladies and gentlebeings, please place your trays in the upright position and fasten your safety restraints.” The voice of the flight attendant droid boomed through the comm. system, startling Garth Ranzz back to consciousness. “Brande Industries flight 214 will be setting down on Braal momentarily.”

Garth had the dream again… He, Ayla, Mekt… on that terrible planet. The final straw that set Mekt off the proverbial deep-end. The ominous black & gray clouds, the lightning, the beasts… everywhere.

He shook off the memory of the nightmare, opening his eyes. It took a few moments for his eyesight to adjust to the garishly lit passenger section. Everywhere he turned, a different creature… not that he was a Xenophobe… it was the first time he had been off planet alone. In the past he had traveled with his family. The family he was responsible for shattering.

“Sir?” A soft, yet metallic feminine voice spoke to him. The golden hued, uni-wheeled flight attendant droid stood over him unthreateningly. Garth looked up into its automated eyes, “Please fasten your safety harness.”

“Wuh?” Garth looked down and hastily snapped the harness together. “Oh! Right… sorry.” The droid rolled, whistling happily down the row making sure everyone on the passenger liner had obeyed it’s request.

Garth leaned back into his seat, trying to relax, yet subconsciously bracing himself for the inevitable entry into the Braalian atmosphere. The turbulence never came. The increased size of Brande industries luxury liners, coupled with upgraded gravity repulsors that surrounded the rear exhaust casing made sure of that. The ship looked bulky and unmanageable, but looks were incredibly deceiving. It could take just about anything thrown at it.

A few moments later the flight attendant droid’s voice came over the comm. system once more. “Ladies & gentlebeings, on behalf of Captain Covix, Brande Industries welcomes you to Braal.” Garth unfastened his safety restraint and rose as the droid continued. “As always, please be sure to familiarize yourself with Braal’s law book, located in the customs area of the arrival terminal. And again, thank you for flying Brande Industries, please enjoy your stay!”

Garth gathered his carry-on luggage and proceeded out of the liner following a relatively small Bolvaxian.

The terminal had no windows to the world outside, which was no great surprise since Braal was considered the armpit of the galaxy. Since the end of the war Braal has been considered a refuge for smugglers, prostitutes and other unsavory types. Hells, newscasts reported that most the buildings were destroyed. Just the sort of place a teenage runaway with powers would hope to disappear into. He had spent every last dime he had ever earned on the family farm to pay for the flight and he had traveled under a false name. If his parents stopped screaming at each other long enough they, may have even realized he was gone.

His thoughts drifted to his twin sister, Ayla… her long, red hair up in pigtails… her nose crinkled with frustration, accentuating her freckles, as she shot lightning bolts at his picture. He felt guilty leaving her behind, but he could no longer take the scrutiny of their parents.

If only he hadn’t pushed… No. he had to leave that behind if he was going to survive on a backwater Hellhole like Braal.

He passed through the customs area, taking the Braalian handbook on laws as it was handed to him and stepped out into the main terminal. It was packed with beings of all size and shape. Most waited for their connecting flights to the UP core system. Others either seemed to be waiting for a handout, or just a way to get off the streets.

Garth squeezed by the loiterers & beggars toward the door when he was stopped by a security guard.

“Not that way kid,” a rough gravelly voice guard bellowed. “Departures only. Arrivals over there.”

Garth was roughly pushed aside toward the arrival exit. Like it really mattered. A door was a door. He began to turn away as the door swung open and a gray haired man rushed in, surrounded by assistants & luggage carrying droids. Something else else was very familiar about the man…

R.J. Brande! The richest man in the Universe!

Garth stood in awe of the older man as he strode by, rustling Garths hair as he passed. Garth turned again to leave when a beautiful blonde girl burst through the door. Her long blonde hair, wet from the rain outside, was pulled back into a bun, revealing Saturn shaped earrings.

A Telepath!

She looked around frantically until she caught site of R.J. Brande.

“Stop!!!” She shouted.

Chapter 3: The Girl from Saturn

Imra Ardeen was bored out of her mind… and for a telepath, that was not an easy feat to achieve.

She sat at her hotel room window looking out over the rain slicked streets of Braal. The sheer & utter misery that drifted through the air was almost a tangible thing to her & it took every effort to shut it out. Her mother was the ambassador to Titan, the largest moon orbiting the planet Saturn, and it was her duty to reach out to worlds less fortunate. Braal was far from less fortunate though. The world was a disaster of epic proportions.

The hotel they stayed in was barely standing and it was touted as the sturdiest building on the planet. Imra found it sickeningly ironic that they were staying in a, relatively, luxurious hotel on a war torn world to preach peace and offer amnesty when the populace at large lived in boxes, or worse.

But, she was her mothers intern, and there was nothing she could do but accept what fate threw at her.

Ha! Right… The last thing Imra wanted was to be an ambassador & she didn’t mind letting her mother know that on a daily basis. Imra dreamed of joining the Science Police and becoming a Detective!

She left her window sill and jumped onto her bed. She reached under her pillow for the latest issue of ‘Dick Tracy Grayson: The Batman of Metropolis’, a popular novel series based off of recorded fact from the 19th century of Earth, to find it missing. In it’s place, a small sheet of flimsiplast with writing scrawled on it:

Imra,

Did you really think I wouldn’t know? Now get back to your studies!

Mom

“Bloody Nass!” Imra cursed to herself, burying her head in her pillow.

Imra lifted herself up and retreated to her desk. She sat down and pulled her blonde locks back into a bun. She reached down under the desk for the second copy she brought along just in case her mother found the first. It was gone too, also replaced with a letter:

Honestly child, the more you fight it, the more I forbid it.

“I hate this!!!” she howled to herself.

{I hate him. He must die! He will die!} Thoughts. Anger, hatred… they reached through her mental filters. They were far stronger than any of the others and nearly knocked her off her chair. The other thoughts, the ones she had been able to filter out, were mere thoughts of misery & defeat. Just thoughts, general thoughts from the populace.

{He will die. There! There he is…}

These thoughts were of action. Someone was going to commit murder.

{We must follow him… I don’t care if we are surrounded by security. I don’t care if we all die in the process… he will die.}

And that someone was not alone.

She rushed from her room on the 5th floor of the hotel, down the stairs, through the lobby and into the rain soaked street. She placed both hands on her head, closed her eyes and opened up her thoughts.

{…damned rain…}
{…rich folk, can’t even spare a cred…}
{…circle will triumph…}
{…full house! I have a full…}
{…richest man in the Universe!…}

Random thoughts flooded her mind, but not the one she had heard before. She concentrated filtering out the benign, focusing on malignant.

{…Brande, can’t lose him…}

That’s it! Using her class 5 telepathic abilities, she focused in on the location of the attacker and ran towards the star port situated next to the hotel.

She was soaked to the bone when she finally reached the entrance…

{Kill}

Still there, before her.

She slammed into the door nearly taking out a young red-headed boy.

{A Telepath!}

Imra pushed past him looking frantically for R.J. Brande… she had met him twice now. The first was on a diplomatic trip to Earth with her mother… and the second time was the night before in the hotel lobby, with mother, as always. What would her mother say about all this??? There he was!

“Stop!!!” She shouted.

Chapter 4: The Entrepreneur

Metropolis, four days earlier…

“I don’t care what you think Doyle!” Renee Jacques Brande (R.J. to his friends!) yelled into his personal communicator. “If I deem it necessary to give my ENTIRE fortune away to these people, then, by damn, I will!”

He paused long enough to hear his longtime associates retort. Doyle Theg had become increasingly belligerent daily… and R.J. put up with it because of their longstanding friendship. But denying the people of Braal relief because he thought they were ‘traitors’ and the dregs of society. Well, that was the pin that broke the Andarian’s back!

“It was the politicians that started the war, not it’s people! You can’t punish an entire culture for the mistakes of it’s leadership… ” Another pause followed.

“I’ve heard enough Doyle!!!” Brande shouted into the communicator, followed by yet another pause.

“Really? You think so?” Another pause.

“Clean out your desk, Doyle! You’re fired!” Brande clicked the communicator off & threw it across his office. His assistant Luornu Durgo caught the communicator just before it hit the far wall.

“Trouble with Doyle, sir?” She said slipping the communicator into one of her many pockets.

“Lu, my dear, you and your ‘sisters’ have a knack for stating the obvious!” He said, relaxing a bit.

“It’s what we do best, sir.” She replied with a confident smile.

“He believes the Braalians deserve to suffer for the sins of the politicians, I couldn’t live with myself if I associated myself with someone that believes that.” Brande turned to look out of his 251st story office window down into the streets of Metropolis. “Lu… these people. The Braalians… They need something. Something else else to rally their spirits! If I just toss them money, yes, it’ll help… but they need something more. A symbol of hope.”

“Sir… if I may?” Luornu’s sister asked, as she walked in the door.

“Of course!” he replied with a toothy grin. His teenage assistant walked past her identical sister and stood next to Brande’s desk, looking out onto the Metropolis skyline. Her eyes fixed on an object in the distance.

R.J. looked at her puzzled, then followed her eye line to the Metropolis Miracle Men Stadium. “By damn! Magno Ball! Lu, you’re a genius!”

“Thank you, sir” both girls said in unison.

Brande clicked his tabletop communicator on. “Sir?” came a familiar voice.

“Lu, we’re taking a trip to Braal, book us on the next flight! Oh, and notify Marla Latham… my accountant should be with us to make sure I don’t bankrupt the company with generosity!”

“Yes sir, I will let him know!” Lu replied and the communicator went silent.

“Lu, take a note!” Brande ordered.

The two girls that were Luornu Durgo touched hands and instantly merged into one being.

“Yes sir!” She said, pen & flimsiplast in hand.

“Attention Magno-Ball Players! The Metropolis Miracle Men will be holding open tryouts…”

~

Braal, Three days later…

R.J. Brande & Marla Latham stood on the corner of Levitz St. & Swan Blvd. in what was once the capital city of Braal. The devastation surrounding them brought up a lump in R.J.’s throat. Being a history buff, he heard stories & saw old ‘photographs’ of the great wars of Earths history. He’d even personally witnessed the Green Lantern rampage of 2992… this though. He’d never seen anything quite like this before. He was amazed the people hadn’t fled the planet en masse.

The star port was one of the first structures rebuilt, Brande saw to funding that personally. The people needed supplies and without a star port, that wouldn’t have happened. Once construction on that was completed, relief began to pour in, in the form of medical supplies, food, construction crews. He funded much of it… but it was apparent that even if he did spend every last dime (not that Marla would let him! The man was tight with a cred…), it wouldn’t be near enough.

He was reassured that he was on the right track… it was morale that needed rebuilding! His first night there he & Marla met with the interim mayor of the capital, hatching a plan to rebuild the Magno-Ball stadium. At no cost to the city or the taxpayers, of course! But that was months away… they needed hope now.

Luornu split herself in three, and passed the flyers out along the streets and the star port. Brande loved having a Carrgite as an assistant, someone who could literally be in 3 places at once. And Marla followed R.J. everywhere with the ‘books’ in his hands.

Unfortunately though, other obligations required them to return to Earth the next evening. He resolved himself to do whatever he could in the meantime.

“Marla, put that damned thing away and come with me!” R.J. demanded, donning a hard hat, he proceeded into the construction zone of what would be an apartment building.

“Umm… sir?” Marla stammered, “Sir? Oh my!” He chased after R.J., placing a hard hat on his own head.

~

Doyle Theg arrived on Braal on Brande Industries flight 418. He had a few ‘friends’ with him and an agenda. He had been Renee Jacques Brandes partner since… since… before the beginning! How dare R.J. ‘fire’ him! Hells, is that even possible? They started Brande Industries… Well, maybe Renee funded it and actually started it… But by damn, he was there every step of the way!

And now Renee was going to throw out 25 years of faithful friendship, over the dregs of society! The damned Braalians seceded from the United Planets! They started a war with a neighboring planet! So what if they underestimated the Imskians! Braal got what it deserved! A one way trip back to the dark ages… Serves ‘em right!

“As always, please be sure to familiarize yourself with Braal’s law book, located in the customs area of the arrival terminal. And again, thank you for flying Brande Industries, please enjoy your stay!” The golden flight attendant droid repeated to them as they passed by.

“Sprock you.” Doyle cursed at the befuddled droid, causing his shady associates to guffaw.
“Well! I never…” The droid replied as the men exited the craft.

The men stepped off the craft into the busy terminal. Beings of every race imaginable stalked purposefully about. Doyle and his three associates stopped before a Silver Ale cart.

“So what’s the game plan, boss?” One of Doyle’s goons asked.

“We wait…” Doyle looked at his wrist chronometer, it had already reset itself to Braalian time. “Luckily I still have access to Brande Industries computer systems. The old fool left in such a huff, he forgot to strip my security clearance!”

“Yeah… the old fool.” A second goon added with a chuckle.

“Shut up.” Doyle glared at the goon. He began jabbing a meaty finger into a small computer terminal lodged on the wall beside the Silver Ale cart. “His flight leaves in 3 hours. You three morons loiter around here. When I spot him, I’ll signal your chronometers. Activate your personal holograms, and take position around the East gate. You grab him, I kill him, got it?”

“Yeah, but boss… why do I gotta be the girl?” The skinniest of the 3 henchmen asked.

“Just do your sprocking job you idiot!” Doyle shouted and stalked off toward the exit.

Chapter 5: A Team is Born

The rain pounded incessantly but Rokk didn’t mind. Soon he’d be in Metropolis and part of a team again. He entered the Star port and shook the rain out of his hair. He wished his parents could come along, but his fathers injury flares up whenever the weather is bad, so his mom chose to stay behind to watch over him. Pol wouldn’t come along because he was jealous. So it was just Rokk Krinn…

“Hey! Cosmic Boy!” A security guard called over to him. He smiled & waived. “Can I get your autograph?”

“Sure!” Rokk replied… he could get used to this life again.

[Brande Industries Flight 214 from Winath now arriving at Gate 3. Passengers boarding for connecting flight to Metropolis, please check in at Gate 3.]

“That’s my flight!” Rokk said dotting the ‘I’ in his signature.

“You’re joining the Miracle Men?” Rokk nodded, bracing himself for a harsh response since the Metropolis Miracle Men & the Braalian Warriors were bitter rivals. “Way to go Cosmic Boy! Good luck, make us proud!”

~

R.J. Brande made his way through the star port entrance flanked on one side by his assistant Luornu & on the other by his accountant Marla. There was security everywhere, an unfortunate necessity on Braal. He made his way quickly past a young boy with red hair that obviously recognized him based on the gaping hole the lad had for a mouth. R.J. reached over, rustling the boy’s hair and winking an acknowledgement.

“Sir, I’ve worked out the details with the mayor. Once the Magno Ball field is finished, all natural born Braalians will have free lifetime passes to all home games.” Marla said massaging tension from his own neck.

“Good work Marla, Lu…” Brande put his arms around both of his assistants, “We did good here…”

“STOP!!!” {STOP!!!} a young female voice echoed not only through the star port terminal, but through their minds as well.

The attackers (a skinny and very ugly brunette girl, an oafish human and a short Xudarian) heard the command and froze in mid-pounce, their signal chronometers beeping frantically and small blasters in their hands.

Security guards charged toward the girl that issued the command, but she reached out telepathically into the minds of those around her for someone that could help her save Mr. Brande. She found them… the red headed boy that was ogling her, and a black haired boy standing near the terminal.

{You two, take out those creeps… their trying to kill Mr. Brande!} She ordered.

Rokk dropped his duffle bag and used his magnetic powers to strip the three attackers of their weapons. The Magnetic pulse disrupted their personal holograms, revealing the 3 goons real identities.

Garth stepped up and let out a short, but powerful burst of electricity, immediately rendering the three attackers unconscious.

R.J. Brande was surrounded by his assistant Lu, who had split into her three separate selves. Marla lay on the ground, covering his head with his butt high in the air.

{He’s not safe yet…} Imra thought toward her two new allies.

{Gotta get out of here…}

“There!” she shouted, pointing out Doyle.

He took off at a sprint when he had been made. Rokk focused on Doyle with his magnetic ability, he wore steel tipped shoes. Rokk flipped Doyle’s feet out from under him, sending him skyward.

“AAAAHHHHH!!!” Doyle screamed, whipping his blaster out of it’s holster.

“Draw!” Garth shouted, pulling out his finger in a makeshift gun and firing a steam of electric energy into Doyle’s blaster.

“AARRGGHH!!!” Doyle shouted, dropping the gun.

The attack was over in less than 15 seconds. The three teen heroes stood side by side, with the girl in the center.

“You’re safe now, Mr. Brande.” Imra said.

“By damn!” R.J. exhaled slowly, a look of shock on his chubby face. He looked down at his accountant still huddling in a fetal position. He gently kicked the number cruncher in the rear. “Get up Marla!”

Brande made his way out from behind his bodyguards toward Doyle (who was still hanging upside down by his boots). He stopped just below him, Doyle just glared at him.

“Doyle… Of all the under-handed, dirty…”

“Don’t get all righteous with me Renee!” Doyle spat back. “After 25 years of faithful service, you trade me in over a planet full of traitorous pigs!”

The comment bit Rokk, but he held steadfast, not dropping the offender on his head, which is what he really wanted to do.

“And that comment is why, Doyle. Security, would you please escort Mr. Theg & his unsavory associates to the nearest holding cell?” Brande turned his back on his old business partner focusing his attention on his new friends.

“This isn’t over Renee!” Doyle screamed, Rokk slowly lowered the man, then indulged himself letting him fall the remaining inches, landing on his head.

“Ms. Ardeen, if I remember correctly, the ambassador’s daughter.” Brande smiled, placing his arms behind his back.

“Yes sir, Mr. Brande.”

“And you two…?” He inquired.

“Rokk Krinn, sir.” Rokk said holding out his hand, which impressed R.J.. He took Rokk’s hand and shook it.

“Yeah Cosmic Boy!” the security guard from earlier shouted out, causing Rokk to blush.

“Garth Ranzz.” Garth nodded with a suspicious glint in his eyes. He preferred to keep his hands to himself, since he usually gave people a small shock upon contact.

“That was quite a show you three put on there.” R.J. smiled, the wheels of his brain turning a mile a minute. “Walk with me for a while, would you?”

Brande put his arms around Rokk & Imra, and allowing Garth the space he seemed to prefer. Marla & Lu stayed behind, looking at each other quizzically. Marla just knew this was going to cost them all dearly…

“What do you three know about the heroes of the 21st century…?” R.J. asked jovially with a toothy grin.

THE BEGINNING…

Nice start Scott, you've introduced the characters well (loved LL's reluctance to shake hands - the image of one of those old 'joy buzzer' adverts sprang to mind), given a good reason for someone to want to assassinate Brande and laid a solid foundation for further stories.

I'm sure I don't have to say this but.. More, More, More!