Tag Archives: Haley

Arc 4.2: Under 30

Under 30: Part 3

30 Comments

“Oh yuck.” Sydney crinkled her nose. “I didn’t think that movie could have been worse, but that’s worse.”

Camille smiled a little as Sydney talked, but addressed me, “You made it sound like this was embarrassing for you. Was it? Come on, you can tell us.”

“OK. My grandpa told me what it did when I was twelve, and I tried it on my family’s cat. I mean, who was going to notice? We’d already had him neutered. Except there were a few things I didn’t know. One thing was that the genes that make a cat’s fur a particular color show themselves differently in each gender, so his fur started to change color. He’s normally orange, but female cats aren’t generally orange—”

Haley asked, “What color did he turn into?” She used the same, slightly disbelieving voice she used when asking things like how many days in a row I’d worn a pair of jeans.

Continue reading Under 30: Part 3 →

Arc 4.2: Under 30

Under 30: Part 2

21 Comments

When we got back, we set the pizzas on the table, and people spread out around HQ’s main room, eating, and talking, sitting on the floor in little groups.

I sat with Haley, Sydney, and Camille which was weird for a whole lot of reasons. To start, Sydney was the sister of Haley’s ex-boyfriend Sean, who neither Haley nor I got along with. Camille was Sydney and Sean’s half-sister due to their late father having some kind of wandering penis problem.

Eating pizza with them, I found it funny that I hadn’t noticed till we bugged Sean’s house last year. Sydney and Camille looked like sisters—within limits, anyway. Like Sean, Sydney had blond hair, pale skin and blue eyes. Her face reminded me of Sean’s—as much as a girl’s could. As a freshman (freshperson?), she’d always looked a little young to me, but very “in-style.” If her personality were anything like Sean’s, I could imagine her growing into the sort of popular girl who regarded me as a lower form of life. Continue reading Under 30: Part 2 →

Arc 4.2: Under 30

Under 30: Part 1

34 Comments

The screen darkened, and the credits rolled. Travis brought up the lights, and people stood up to grab more pop. We’d put the cups and 2 liters on the main table next to the computer screens and keyboards. That may not have been the best idea, but nobody had spilled anything yet—except on the carpet, and that was no big deal. The original League had last renovated in the 1970’s, so the carpet was olive green shag.

Heroes League headquarters felt full, and it was, relatively speaking. We had all of the League’s grandchildren (nine of us), most of the former Justice Fist team (except for Sean, Jody, and Dayton), plus my friend Chris, and Cassie’s friend Kayla.

In short with the sixteen of us, we had more people with powers in the complex than some small countries had in their armed forces. Continue reading Under 30: Part 1 →

Guest Posts, The Omnisphere

The Omnisphere: Part 6

33 Comments

~*~

Nick did the only thing he could think of–he flew.

Whoever this guy was, it was clear that he had been issuing orders to Legion from afar–possibly another dimension. Those orders had included keeping the rest of the League alive–which made Nick the primary target.

As soon as Nick turned and took off, War flew off after him. The gunfire tore through the floor where Nick had once been, gouging out silver dollar sized holes; Nick aimed for the window and flew out into the cold night.

Behind him, the wall exploded as War tore through it and pursued. Continue reading The Omnisphere: Part 6 →

Guest Posts, The Omnisphere

The Omnisphere: Part 5

27 Comments

~*~

Vaughn traded strokes of lightning with Shock Jock, with the former rising higher and higher into the air. Shock Jock grinned, moving forward.

“I was hoping to see you again before we left,” he said. “I wanted to ask you a question.”

“Me too,” Vaughn replied. “Are you color-blind?”

Shock Jock extended his arms outward. Several generators shuddered and groaned, tearing their way off the ground and floating toward him. Tongues of electricity wove their way across the surface of the generators, licking any nearby metal surface in bright, violent strokes.

“Have you told your ‘friends’ yet?” Shock Jock asked. Continue reading The Omnisphere: Part 5 →

Guest Posts, The Omnisphere

The Omnisphere: Part 4

23 Comments

~*~

By the time Nick had managed to rewire the elevator to work, it was clear that the attackers had left.

His first priority–making sure that everyone was safe–was immediately satisfied when he charged into the lobby, sonics armed and ready to fire.

Haley raised her hands. “Everyone’s okay,” she said. “Daniel and the others are in the lab, cleaning up the pieces.”

“What happened?” Nick said. Continue reading The Omnisphere: Part 4 →

Guest Posts, The Omnisphere

The Omnisphere: Part 3

23 Comments

~*~

“Good evening, Mr. Sumerset,” the orderly said, his voice coated with a sugary-sweet enamel.

“Fuck off and die in a greasefire,” the old man replied.

“Now, now,” the orderly said, “is that any way to behave?” He took hold of Daniel Sumerset’s wheelchair and nudged the old man down the hallway. “You really should behave yourself, Mr. Sumerset. It’s only polite, what with all I do for you.”

“You eat my candy-bars and steal my meds to sell to your punk friends,” the old man said. “Be grateful I don’t sneak into the cafeteria and take a piss in your cereal bowl every morning.” Continue reading The Omnisphere: Part 3 →

Guest Posts, The Omnisphere

The Omnisphere: Part 2

8 Comments

~*~

“What the hell happened here?” Vaughn whispered.

“My best guess? Teleportation gone wrong,” Nick replied.

A sphere shaped chunk of reality–approximately 10 feet in diameter–had been carved out of the floor, wall, and several exhibits, then summarily replaced with another sphere shaped chunk of reality from elsewhere. Within that space, a carpeted floor had collapsed into the crater created by the effect. Half of a bed had tipped over near the edge; the part where it had been ‘cut off’ smoldered.

Within this space, there were two girls. Continue reading The Omnisphere: Part 2 →

Guest Posts, The Omnisphere

The Omnisphere: Part 1

29 Comments

 

~*~

Robert’s Introduction:
There are a lot of reasons I love comics, but at the end of the day, it’s mostly because Superman once punched Dracula in the face.

How many settings have that level of elasticity? Would we buy superheroes showing up in a Twilight novel? No. What about Twilight characters showing up in a Deadpool comic? Absolutely. Hell, that thing I just described? That actually happened. Deadpool issue #30. Go look it up. I’ll wait.

Back? Cool. Moving on.

In most narratives, the rules are flexible, but solid. Your average urban fantasy setting has some basic protocols. Magic exists, yeah, there are werewolves and vampires, sure–but a robot dimension? Nazis on the moon? Amelia Earhart running a government agency that deals with invasions from alternate universes? Now you’re just being weird.

But in a superhero setting, anything is possible. Superman can punch Dracula. Batman can fight reptile people in the earth’s core. Zantanna can cast an invisibility spell by saying ‘Elbisivni’. The weird isn’t just possible; it’s probable. In a comic book universe, the weird is standard operating procedure.

And this is why I love superhero comics. Because rather than just recreate our world except with werewolves, they celebrate the bizarre. They blend science fiction and fantasy together into a frothy mixture and pour it down our throats. The best superhero comics aren’t about dark, gritty, washed out worlds where men in tights fight crime–they’re about the strange, the hideous, the beautiful, the intense. They’re worlds full of color–some of them darker than black, some of them brighter than the sun.

And this is why I love Legion of Nothing–because while its characters occupy a world where the danger is real and death lurks around every corner, it doesn’t forget that these are heroes. Flawed, sure. Just kids, absolutely. But they’re good guys, fighting the weird fight. Rather than parody or deconstruct it, Legion of Nothing celebrates superheroes and all their strangeness.

You can keep your violent re-imaginations and deconstructions of the superhero genre; I want stories that embrace the weird. To that end, I’ve hijacked this narrative with my own piece of Legion of Nothing fanfiction. I beg your pardon in advance if it’s a little stranger than what you’re accustom to–my settings probably tend to be a little more ‘unhinged’ than Jim’s. Hopefully, you’ll enjoy it, and not hold the fact that Jim allowed me to post this here against him.

Thanks for reading.
Continue reading The Omnisphere: Part 1 →

Arc 4.1: Haley

Haley: Part 11

13 Comments

I listened from a roof top while the police talked to people, and the specialist paramedics who drove the Box sedated Laser Guy (he’d begun to wake up). Cassie talked to them. Donna told the police everything, even showing them Rod’s room inside her house. They came out carrying the bag of money he’d stolen from Chuck’s Pizza.

That was nice. It made it feel the whole night of pointless fighting had been worth something. I didn’t think three or four hundred dollars had been worth the risk I might lose control, but he didn’t deserve to get away with it either. Continue reading Haley: Part 11 →