“Yeah, right,” Vaughn said. “Cause we’re going to let you guys run away, and keep on robbing banks, and protesting with monkeys. That’s totally brilliant.”
Unless Evil Beatnik planned to use magic to tell Justice Fist to stop, I didn’t know how he’d do it. I supposed he could use a cellphone if he didn’t care about the rain. That said, in this case, the rain would destroy Mr. Beacham’s cellphone, and Evil Beatnik probably didn’t care.
Half an hour later Vaughn and I were flying away from the Parks and Recreation Department. The city had two ways to get at the speakers in Riverside Park—inside the park or through the system that allowed someone to address the entire downtown.
We wanted to pump our own music into the park, but we didn’t want to go there to set it up. Thus, our visit to Parks and Recreation.
We flew up to three hundred feet. I could see the Black River, News 10’s helicopter, Riverside Park, and all the people. Shouting and singing carried across the distance along with a hint of a drumbeat. Continue reading Under 30: Part 23
Dixie didn’t stay to talk after that. She dived over the ledge, flew down two floors to rescue Destruction Boy, and left through the hole on the third floor.
As her feet left the ledge, I activated the roachbots I’d released earlier. They had a chance to catch her.
Jaclyn appeared out of the stairwell, and leaned over the edge of the walkway, watching them go.
Continue reading Under 30: Part 17
Jaclyn and Marcus had arrived first. I arrived second—but only because I grabbed the stealth suit instead of the full Rocket armor.
So instead of appearing almost knight-like in shining gold armor, I appeared in armor that looked like a black leather jacket with matching pants, and gray helmet. Plus, I’d worked out a way to hang my guitar next to the rocketpack on my back in a way that felt comfortable. Granted, it still looked like a guitar hero controller, but it was useful.
Ambulances, police cars, and a Metahuman Containment Cage (generally called “boxes” because of their shape) pulled into the parking lot as I landed. Continue reading Under 30: Part 7
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
“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
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
“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
~*~
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
I happened to glance at the guy I’d been fighting as I flew away. He had blood dripping from his eyes. I’d hurt him for real.
Almost as gross, I glimpsed the damaged eye reforming out of goo.
We’d talked about what we’d do if they detected us, and agreed that we’d have to fight all out to escape. It wasn’t as if we’d be able to permanently hurt them. All of Prime’s reserves were nearly invulnerable, and they regenerated. It hardly seemed fair. Continue reading War: Part 23