Champions Presents: Legion Extreme! [Hero 5thEd]-11/04 post extended 11/12!

issue #5, part I

Legion Extreme Issue#5: Frostbite!

In this issue….Cosmic Knight!

Mournz, the troll shaman trotted through the deep forests of Midgaard on his way to the borderlands. Even though this particular realm was kill or be killed, he still made attempts to remain loyal to the thanes of Midgaard and destroy only interlopers from Hibernia or Albion. Today, he was on his way to meet an invasion force into one of these other realms. However, class had made him late. He topped a rise and stopped in horror. Elves were everywhere. Twenty, maybe more sidled through the woods. Some had already seen him and he saw their auras as they powered up magicks undoubtedly aimed at him. His protections lessened some of the damage from these outlyers. The screams of other Midgaardians who had stumbled across the invasion force scrolled across the bottom of the screen. He turned and ran. He had to get to Jordheim and warn the others. Unfortunately, on this server, they probably wouldn’t listen…

“Mr. Montoya…”

Armando Montoya quickly closed the lid of his laptop and hoped he had hit the repeat command.

“…can you check my code? I don’t know if I’m doin’ this right.”

His eyes flitted back and forth between his student and the game. Sigh…oh the weight of teaching, he thought as he gave a cursory glance at the print out the student had given to him.

Without a word, he circled and then corrected the mistake and slid the paper back. While the student lingered a bit and Armando stole a peek at his half-down monitor. It was too late. His shaman had been overwhelmed and was a heap of slag.

“Dang! Time to log back in,” he whispered.

The student looked at him strangely and then walked back to his computer station. Montoya had already forgotten him and was more preoccupied by the worry that his guild-mates would now take him out again and again to teach him the lesson of being on time.

“I think I’ll try a different server,” he mused and gave a secondary glance at the group of students in his class.

“That’s strange.”

He saw someone he did not recognize. The man was tall with blonde hair and blue eyes. He wore an immaculately trimmed goatee and as soon as he met Montoya’s gaze he leaned back with a broad grin and propped his feet on the table. Armando looked at his class roster. This man wasn’t supposed to be in here, but he didn’t remember him coming in to class. He motioned to another of his students to approach his desk.

“Who’s that,” he looked at his seating chart to get this student’s name, “Dennis?”

“I don’t know, Mr. Montoya. He just kinda was there.”

For a second, Armando Montoya thought about calling the others, but dismissed the thought. This was his classroom after all. Montoya rose.

“Excuse me, sir. Can I help you?”

The man stood up, his personal presence rivaling that of the teacher. Some of the students cowered in their seats. Others looked back and forth, ready to run. All for more or less frozen, hesitant to take any action.

“Yes, I would like to audit your class.”

Montoya motioned him forward. When the man got within normal speaking distance

“It’s already November. One, I believe it is too late to audit anything. Two, you should go to the admission’s office to sign up. Three, I don’t think you should be here without such permission. What’s your name?”

He smiled, “Robert Johanssen. Have you heard of me?”

Montoya gave a disdainful look and replied, “No, should I have?”

The man came closer and leaned over, speaking softly so that only Armando could hear.

“There is only one Chesire Cat.”

Montoya reacted too late. He saw Johanssen pull out a club-shaped weapon. Pain exploded across his jaw as the man swung down with amazing quickness and force. Armando crashed to the floor. He heard the screams of his students and tried to mumble “No, not in the face!”, but realized that his jaw was broken. The shock of the suddenness and brutality of attack sent him spiraling into unconsciousness.

**

Somewhere far away, he heard a bell. He was standing on sand and the world was hazy. Light drifted from somewhere, but it was very diffuse. His motion was slow and he was slightly chilled. Brian Parker realized that he was under water….and then panic set in. He couldn’t breathe. He began swimming to the top, sucking in water, towards that ringing sound….

Then he woke up. His phone was ringing. He coughed and cleared his throat. His sheets were damp, and he was still slightly chilled. He shook the cobwebs from his head and ran a hand through his wet hair.

“Uh…hello?” he answered, picking up the receiver.

“Hey, Bri’, you up? Sorry to call you so early.”

Brian recognized the voice as his surfing tour manager, Jim. He had to be careful not to make any Slipstream references. Jim only knew that he was a surfer on the Pro tour and conveniently, one sponsored by Quicksilver.

“Hold on a sec, Jim-bo.”

Brian put the phone down and took a couple of deep breaths. The strange underwater experience began to fade from memory.

“’Kay Jim. Wha’s up?”

“Dude, I just wanted to give you a heads up. Just watch your back. Yesterday, at tour HQ, some woman showed up askin’ about you.”

“Was her name, Elisa?” Brian asked hopefully.

“Nope. She gave her name as Margie Preston.”

Brian’s heart sunk.

“Never heard of her. Why the warning though, bro’?”

“Well, dude. She seemed kinda psycho.”

Thoughts of boiling bunny rabbits flooded Brian’s head.

Jim continued, “Bri’, you still there? Well, anyway she brought this diorama to give to you.”

“Dio’-what?”

“You know, like a box with a 3-D display, like we used to do in elementary?”

“Gotcha!” Although in all honesty, Brian had lost certain memories from his younger days. Good thing he stopped all that.

“So this display it’s got like you and her. Well, actually it’s got a Barbie doll and a Ken doll modified to look like you two. And they’re holding hands.”

Brian felt sick. The last thing he needed was a stalker following him. He had enough drama already with the love triangle that he found himself in.

“It gets worse. In big red cardboard letters it said ‘Margie and Brian, Forever’.”

Brian threw up. It was mostly water, though it had a salty tang to it.

“Man, I gotta go. I’m just feelin’ real sick, but thanks man. Oh, and see ya Thursday.”

Brian hung up the phone, and heard Grandma Shannon stirring somewhere in their town home. He found some carpet cleaner and a towel to clean his mess and began scrubbing. The smell of pancakes wafted into his room, and surprisingly, it didn’t make him ill. He washed his face, bounded down the stairs and joined his grandma for breakfast.

**

Later that day, sometime in the afternoon, the phone rang again. This time it was Slipstream’s cell phone.

What now? he thought answering. “Hello?”

“Hey Slipstream. It’s Valor. Finally. I haven’t been able to reach anyone. Hey, Som--, I mean Armando is in the hospital. They took him to Mass Gen. I’m here already. Just wanted to see if anyone else wanted to come. Apparently, he got punked in class.”

There was a hint of laughter in Valor McCoy’s voice. Valor cleared his throat.

“I was gonna take him some flowers. Don’t know if his family knows yet, or if they would be here.”

Brian, now very concerned for his teammate, replied, “Dude, I’ll meet you there.”

He gave a quick kiss goodbye to his grandmother. Then, with a “Gotta run” and a beaming smile, Brian was out the door and into a nearby alley.

“Wonder Twin Powers, activate!” he cried and then snickered.

In a flash, he was suddenly Slipstream and then quicker than that, he became a blur headed towards the hospital.

**

When he arrived, Valor and Armando were already in one of their famous discussions, sort of. Valor was looking at a pad of paper, then responded. Armando took the pad back and scribbled something on it. Montoya had a brace that covered his face and would not allow him to speak.

“Sorry guys, got stopped by all ma adorin’ fans.”

Which in fact was true. Slipstream had had to sign at least ten autographs on the way up, and made an agreement to visit the children’s ward a later for all the little dudes and dudettes. Not that he minded. He saw the sad state that Montoya was in.

“Man, that’s just not right. Here let me help you.”

Slipstream laid his hands on Armando’s face and began his reconstruction madness. Aramando felt the warmth of the repair and soon his jaw was no longer broken. Only the bruising and a little soreness remained.

“There ya go, bra. Now you can eat solid food and ya won’t need no dentist.”

Valor and Slipstream helped him to remove his jaw restraint and soon Armando Montoya was testing his fixed jaw. He ran his tongue over his teeth and even felt the ones that had been shattered completely whole.

“What about the wires?”

Slipstream just shrugged his shoulders.

“Dude, don’t know how it works. Know just that it does.”

“Amazing, Slipstream. Absolutely amazing!” Valor stared incredulously at the healing done to his friend and rival. “So, Armando, does this mean that you will finally take a job at MIT. I have a position in my lab.”

“Work for you? I don’t think so.”

They started up again and Slipstream had to chuckle.

“Wait a sec, dudes. I wanna know who laid the smack down on ya.”

After telling Slipstream about Robert Johanssen and what he had said, Armando related the following: He had accidentally received an email from someone thinking he was someone named Chesire Cat. The hard stare that Armando and Valor gave each other was lost on Slipstream.

Not this time, punk, sent Armando through Valor’s mindlink. Valor stopped attempting to read his mind.

Slipstream had already made the link to GRAB. Johanssen was publicly known to be the super-thief Chesire Cat.

“Next time, Montoya. Don’t take another super’s call sign,” Slipstream said, breaking the silence. “Has anyone told Jae Son?”

No one answered his question, but the conversation became more cordial, and the three Legion-extremers were getting to know each other better. Towards the end, Slipstream promised to come and visit the next morning. Then he was off to encourage the kids. Valor told Armando about an exciting cryo-experiment the next morning. They discussed the hardware aspects of trying to set up such an experiment, but eventually Valor left as well. As he departed the ward, he heard some of the nurses gasp at the miraculously healed jaw.

issue#5, part II

Valor McCoy watched the electromagnetic chamber and glanced back and forth at the dials and computer screens in the observation room. His colleague Dr. John Hatcher paced back and forth as his very low temperature experiment progressed. The various readings indicated that the cyronic chamber was working. The temperature was creeping towards absolute zero.

“I think its working, John.”

John Hatcher shrugged his shoulders.

“We’ve gone further. I’m just hoping that those quantum figures you gave us are accurate, and that they can be translated to the machine to stabilize our test material’s molecular structure.”

“Of course they are. Do you doubt?”

Hatcher rolled his eyes, and then opened them wide as the energy levels spiked, and the temperature dropped significantly.

“You see?”

The energy levels jumped again, so much that red lights began flashing and then within seconds, klaxons went off.

“Dr. Hatcher, the test material is..um..growing” exclaimed one of Dr. Hatcher’s technicians.

Then he added more desperately, “The chamber, it’s breaking!”

Super-cooled gases began emanating from the containment chamber, and valves began popping, releasing tubes that began spraying liquid helium. The plexiglass wall between them and the chamber-room started to crack.

He felt a presence.

“Run, John. Get your men out of here,” stated Valor.

He saw something inside the extremely cold room. John began to back away, and Valor gripped his right wrist and his clothes instantly became armor plating. Sparks flew and smoke began pouring from the machinery in the observation room. The technicians began coughing. Valor formed a telekinetic bubble around most of the group and attempted to use his battlesuit’s infrared sight to peer into the mess. It was absolutely black. There was a complete absence of heat. He quickly switched to a different wavelength and saw a myriad of strange energies and something large. It crouched ready to pounce.

“Get out of here!” he yelled and everyone ran from the room.

The glass exploded. Machine parts and melted plastic bounced off his armor and he leaped forwards screaming and firing his telekinetic blast to confront the thing in the room. It was a massive, four-legged beast with two canine-like heads. The creature's mouth was filled with sharp teeth. Most depressingly, The blast did not even seem to phase the creature.

“Foul demon! Go back to where you came!”

Valor’s scientific mind couldn’t think of what else to call the beast. The thing shimmered like ice as it bounded towards him. One of its jaws snapped shut in an attempt to crush Captain Valor. Valor attempted to push the creature back with more telekinesis, but it was too heavy to move. He didn’t even want to try and affect its alien mind. From out of the icy fog, something spiky struck Valor, penetrating his armored suit. He smashed into the nearest wall. Then before he could recover it clamped down on his body with its other head. For a creature so large, its bite was surprisingly gentle. The teeth did not penetrate Valor's armor.

But then, Valor screamed as his joints began to stiffen and his mind began to numb. The fight became a battle of wills. In the end, Valor lost, and all he could think of was service to his new master.

**

“Did you bring it?” asked Armando Montoya.

Slipstream handed him the bundle that he had asked for. Montoya was relieved. Now he had his Somnus costume and could don it on at a moments notice. Although, today, Sunday morning, he wasn’t expecting much trouble, and he was to check out this afternoon.

He had also been concerned that the hospital staff had seen the gem embedded in his chest, but Valor had assured him that for some strange reason none of them recalled the memory of it. He was sure that They were looking for him, and the less that any “normals” knew about him, the less chance that They would find out…

Armando Montoya grew up in Detroit/Millenium City and was brilliant as a child. During his adolescence he discovered that he had a latent talent mental talent. He remembered the Battle of the Detroit and the rebuilding. During his teen years, he was recruited by Mind, Inc and received treatments to augment his mental powers. He took on the name Somus. Over time, however, he discovered that the psionic institute was a front for PSI. His morality was greatly opposed to their agenda and he bided his time until he could find a way to escape and protect his family. Over two years he sent his family to the east coast spreading them between Boston and Providence, RI. Then he ran.

Somewhere in upstate New York PSI found him and nearly caught him. Armando remembered his last encounter with the PSI’s hounds, deep in the bowels of a cave system, with their leader, Hypnos on his heels. He stumbled blindly and finally into a cave filled with sparkling gems. The largest drew him towards it. He reached out in desperation and following the brief but incredible burning sensation, found the large gem embedded in his chest, The rest of the gems in the cave had been reduced to dust. With augmented power, he surprised his hunters, blasting his way out of the caves, leaving Hypnos and his gang unconscious. Then he flew towards Boston and changed his name. With Dr. Valor McCoy’s help, he enrolled at MIT, and finished his degree in Computer Science and Systems Operations. However, instead of staying at MIT, and much to the disappointment of professors and colleagues, he had obtained a teaching position at Bunker Hill Community College. MIT was too high profile. PSI would come sooner or later. They would want revenge and they would want the Gem. Better that they had a harder time finding him.

“Montoya! Montoya! Dude, you’re spacin’ again”

Slipstream’s voice brought him back to the present. Montoya tried to smile, but it still hurt. Despite the healing that the speedster had performed, Armando was still hurting. It pained him to laugh and yawn, and there was a tightness in his gums and muscles. He was also sure that the metal rods and wires the doctors had placed in his mouth were still inside, but now fused to his bones.

Hmmmm….titanium-laced bones… Armando thought as he rubbed his chin.

Slipstream’s pager started buzzing. He looked at the number, and reached for the phone.

“You know, I can help you guys out. I have some skill in electronics. It would not be too hard to make some radios for us to communicate and be located easier.”

“Yeah, yeah. Talk to Jae Son. I’m not the one who has trouble gettin’ to the scene,” Slipstream responded as he dialed.

Armando was going to say something more, but he was shushed, “Dude, it’s Cambridge PD. It could be important.”

Slipstream recognized the voice on the phone. Captain McKinney was normally a solid, dependable officer, except now he seemed a little shaken. The speedster put him on speaker-phone.

“Yo, Slipstream. Somethin’s up in Kendall Square,” he said. “We don’t know what, but we’ve had a lotta phone calls outa there. Crazies yellin’ somethin’ about zombies, monsters from hell. I sent three squad caas and they ain’t reported back. ‘Cept one of my best saagents screamed, before the radio went dead.”

“Not good,” commented Montoya.

“Like, Legion Extreme is on it Captain!” Slipstream declared and hung up the phone.

He was about to bolt across the Charles to Kendall Square, when Armando spoke up.

“Umm, don’t you think we should contact the others?”

“Oh, yeah. Dang! Those radios would sure come in handy.”

Slipstream dialed Dr. Lu’s, but only got a hold of Dragonfist. He informed him of the zombie situation and then handed the phone to Armando who called Valor’s lab at MIT. He got the answering machine, and had to leave a message. Before he finished, Slipstream was zipping from hospital room and down the back stairs. Armando, grabbed the bundle Slipstream had brought, blasted the window and flew out into the chilly morning, still in his hospital gown. Ooops! he thought, activating his prismatic sphere for modesty. He headed across the river above the water-skating Slipstream towards the T-station at Kendall Square. In flight, he changed into the dark-body suit and cowled cloak of Somnus, Master of Sleep.

In almost no time, the duo saw the chaos. Knots of people, including some in police uniforms, were chasing individuals who were screaming. Nearby, three or four people dragged a woman from her car. Further back, a coffee house worker was being restrained by two others. Across the street, another group forcibly led a struggling man in business suit. They all looked like civilians.

Slipstream looked up towards the prismatic sphere that contained Somnus, “Hey buddy, do you have any suggestions?”

“Uhh…you go first.”

“Hah! I always do.”

Slipstream sped towards the first knot of people.

Hey all!

I'll be out of town this week, but hopefully, I'll put at least one post before I leave.

If I am inspired, I may leave Issue#6: Blue Hawaii with malachai_rose to post while I'm gone.

cheers,

B.H.

edit:

Alas, I was unable to do any of the things I had planned to do to keep this Story updated.

Please keep her goin'! I'll be back on the 12th with much to update!

B.H.

Back!

Update in the next few days!

And I promise...I'll finally introduce Cosmic Knight.

issue#5, part III

Theo Coolidge was bored and a little annoyed. He monitored a diagnostic test while his mentor Valor McCoy participated in a cutting edge cryogenic experiment.

Sigh…it would be nice if Dr. McCoy were a little less protective.

Sometimes he felt that McCoy kept him locked away and hidden from the rest of the world. Theo felt that the professor took that debt to his father a bit too seriously. He examined his arm reflecting the fluorescent lab lighting on the metallic sheen of his dark skin. He almost looked like a bronze statue in the right kind of light. Too bad it didn’t give him any armor protection like Ironclad of the Champions, just a little energy reflection was all. Still, Theo was very distinct and maybe even lucky that McCoy was a fellow mutant and had taken him into his lab as a graduate student. He began to doze. Today’s task was definitely dull.

The phone rang, startling Theo fully awake. Before he could answer, the ringing stopped but shortly an indicator light on the phone showed there was a message. Theo listened as Valor’s “colleague” Somnus related the strange tale of the trouble in Kendall Square. He went to a nearby window not quite seeing the square from where he was, but knowing it was just over a few buildings. He ran to his own lab. Now was his chance to…to do what?

Big decision, Theo. Is it ready yet?

In the basement, Theo fumbled excitedly with the keypad and typed in his combination releasing the lock and a hiss of cold gases. The temperature adjusted quickly and Theo climbed into a suit of powered armor.

Valor, you have your ‘secret’ technology, but you know what? So do I.

He sent commands along another keypad on the arm of the suit, attached the virtual interface and the armor locked into place. Had anyone been looking from about 10 feet away, they would have seen an oversized knight in shining plate-mail armor complete with covered helm. A closer inspection would have revealed its more modern accouterments.

“Father,” Theo Coolidge whispered from inside the suit, “It’s time for Cosmic Knight!”

**

Slipstream knocked aside several zombies he had just blinded, keeping them from harming a normal human. Somnus at first attempted to Brain Drain the zombies, seeing as they had little will to begin with, however, he soon found that they reasserted themselves after walking in circles for a few seconds. He decided that his talents would be better used if he removed the normal humans from the ‘zombi-fied’ ones. While Slipstream shot flashes of light to blind pockets of ‘combatants’, Somnus flew in and lifted the screaming humans from the fray, depositing them on the roof of nearby building. He made haste after seeing one of the zombies close-up. They had a strange blue tinge to them and were covered in ice. The speedster had an even more harrowing experience at close quarters with the ice zombies. He recognized some of them, still dressed in their police uniforms, yet now blue and frosty.

Somnus was the first to notice the newcomer, a flying knight in full-plate armor, like something out of one of the munchkin D&D games he used to play…Of course, that was before DAoC. Whether this new flyer was a friend or foe or the cause of this havoc, Somnus could not tell, but he remained on his guard rescuing another panicked normal from the ice zombies.

Slipstream looked up for a nanosecond and saw the flying knight also. A second glance, this one for a microsecond so he could process better, saw the knight blast a zombie away from the front of a hardware store as it tried to drag away a fleeing customer. So at least this guy was anti-zombie. Slipstream also wondered where the rest of the team was.

Snap!

He flash-blinded another group of icicle-men. Then he remembered they would have to fly all the way across the Charles from downtown Boston, and Darkfire wasn’t that fast. He saw Captain Valor streak across the buildings and his heart was hopeful. There were a whole lot of zombies, and more seemed to be spilling out from nearby alleyways adjacent to the square. He had to prevent some from attempting to chase people down into the subway.

Cosmic Knight also saw Valor. He was assaulted by mixed feelings and did not know whether to be relieved at the support—there were really a lot of zombies and a couple were climbing up a building towards him--or upset at possibly being upstaged. The flying knight made to wave, but suddenly Valor pulled up and blasted him with telekinetic energy, driving Cosmic Knight back until he hovered a few feet above the hardware store.

Slipstream and Somnus were momentarily confused as they saw Captain Valor in his metallic black armor knock the flying knight backwards with an energy blast. The knight retaliated with a blast of his own, but Valor deftly avoided the shot with aerial acrobatics. Slipstream and Somnus thought for a second to leap and fly to Valor’s aid against this new enemy, but there were just too many zombies to take even a few moments respite from their current corral and rescue operation. Plus, it looked like Valor could hold his own.

Cosmic Knight had reeled backwards and nodded his head to activate the gyrostabilizers after Valor had surprised him with his force blast. Then he had fired back ineffectively.

“What’s wrong with you, Valor?!” he yelled

He heard Captain Valor grunt and then fly rapidly towards him. As Valor approached and subsequently smashed into him, Cosmic Knight saw his ice-encrusted faceplate and the frost that covered his suit. Then the knight crashed through the roof from the force of the strike scaring a group of huddled patrons even more, and knocking tools and other do-it-yourself supplies throughout the store. The shadow of Valor then hovered over the hole he had created and fired again sending Cosmic Knight skidding backwards even as he tried to rise through shelves of lawn and garden equipment. The knight ended up in a heap of rubble, attempted to rise, and then lay still

When Captain Valor fired and fortunately missed him sending debris exploding nearby, Slipstream knew something was wrong. He wanted to retaliate, but was caught in the middle of another group of ice zombies. From the direction of the river another flying ‘hero’ glided into view, adding to the chaos. This time it was a woman with blonde hair, blue robes lined with fur and a sparkling aura. She gave a cursory wave to Somnus and continued to fly towards the alley most of the zombies were marching to.

Inside the hardware store, Theo Coolidge opened his eyes trying to remember where he was and what had happened and why he was in so much pain. He couldn’t feel his hands or his legs, and he only heard this “beeping” sound in his head and he only saw green, fluorescent light. After a few seconds the light turned from a blur to words. Slowly he began to comprehend seeing the scrolling messages of his heads-up display, and when he realized what had happened he quickly sat up, sending another shelf toppling to the ground. He activated his suit’s stealth capabilities and then its infra-red sensors before peeing through the store window and out the hole in the roof.

Outside, with the arrival of Darkfire and Dragonfist, Slipstream had finally confronted Captain Valor, hitting once with his sonic clap. The attack caused sparks to fly all over Valor’s battle suit and drove the corrupted Captain Valor back. Dragonfist took out a few zombies with his Super-Hakuden sending the ch’i energy around the fleeing people to strike the frost zombies squarely. Darkfire picked up a zombie and hurled it into a group, knocking several over. Then she followed her projectile crashing into a horde pouring from one of the alleyways.

“The main danger is that way!” cried the blonde woman. “Legion Extreme, concentrate your attacks over here.”

Darkfire needed no encouragement as she punched zombies into “unconsciousness” with relish. Soon the tide stopped, thanks to her and an ice wall that had formed in the alley. She looked up to the roof and saw the blonde woman wink as she glided across to the other side.

In the main square, Dragonfist and Somnus cleaned up the rest of the icy creatures. Cosmic Knight attempted to rush at Captain Valor unseen. By some stroke of misfortune, the new hero missed and crashed into the wall behind Valor instead, knocking himself unconscious. Slipstream heard the crash and then saw the flying knight appear from out of nowhere half in and half out of the building and not moving. Seizing the opportunity as the twisted Valor turned to a new, closer foe, Slipstream sent another sonic boom his way. The hit sent Valor into convulsions and then tumbling to the pavement.

There was a brief pause as the heroes waved or gave a thumbs-up to each other from various locations in the square. A group of untainted humans had gathered around Dragonfist for protection.

“Worry not, good people, the danger is passed,” Dragonfist spoke to the crowd.

As if on cue, a rumbling began, shaking the foundations of the square, and sending the citizens screaming in all directions once again. Dragonfist was knocked prone but rolled and came to his feet quickly. The street below him caved in and a wave of cold assaulted him. Two enormous feral heads filled with sharp teeth rose from the sinkhole followed by a huge sinuous, four-legged body.

Dragonfist, who was closest, and the rest of Legion Extreme paused as the creature spoke:

[size=large]“I am Frostbite! Now you will know what it is to fear the cold….[/size]

At last the introduction of cosmic knight. I wonder how the battle of the armored mutants will go, with the introduction of Frostbite.
Will the heroes carry the day or will more Ice zombies roam "Bean Town." To bad about no other help being forthcoming as it looks like Cosmic Knight has to face off against his professor. Good intro Broc. Keep these coming. And YEAH!!! I can post a reply again.

Stoopid Ice Dog... lol, that was a fun encounter watchin Cosmic Knight and Valor Mckoy knock each other around. Alas me and Somnus had to spend all our time helping the norms outta harms way and didnt take the time to realize that Valor was being mind controlled by blues clues.

Well cool post and glad to see ya back Broc

issu#5, part IV

Even in the crisp November morning the ice dog-seal thing that called itself Frostbite steamed. Dragonfist’s teeth chattered as he looked up at the creature’s baleful frosty-blue eyes. A boom sounded above him as Slipstream hit Frostbite with a sonic attack from range. Ice and snow rained down on the martial artist as he closed to rapid punch the beast. In seconds Dragonfist’s hands were blue with cold and his fists bled. Punching Frostbite did not seem to have hurt him. Dragonfist wondered it that was what hitting a glacier was like. Stiff from the cold, he was unable to dodge when one of the dog heads grabbed him in its gaping maw. The other head stared through him, boring into his psyche with a mind-numbing hum. Dragonfist felt his joints harden even more.

Slipstream heard Dragonfist scream as he attempted to twist himself free from jaws of the ice demon seal-dog. He fired another blast, but again the attack did not even seem to phase the creature. Finally, Darkfire got the creature’s attention with a fireball. Unfortunately, only one of her balls of black arcane flame hit. Frostbite was surprisingly agile for his size…and tricky.

A spiked tail struck the superheroine from her blindside sending her spinning into the air. Slipstream closed to attempt a Quicksilver Strike hoping to get past the demon’s tough defenses. He only felt pain, as Frostbite’s supernatural cold assaulted him when he touched its slick hide.

Dragonfist pushed with all his might as his will and body were being transformed to serve the Master of Cold. He cried out as he tore free and then rolled away as far as he could.

“The cold…the cold…,” Slipstream heard him mutter as he tumbled by.

The Speedster ducked as the giant, spiked tail whizzed by his head. Another blast of fire annoyed Frostbite and the demon roared and turned his head towards Darkfire. Then, strangely, one of the heads yawned. Slipstream turned to look for Sonmus. He saw the scintillating sphere of his companion’s force field hovering nearby, out of range of the demon seal-dog’s reach, of course, but perhaps they had found the beast’s weakness. Slipstream felt that they would loose in a battle of attrition even with Darkfire’s fire melting Frostbite’s glacial hide. However, maybe their mentalist would turn the tide.

That momentary musing cost Slipstream. He felt a sudden cold and tried to dodge at the last second, but to no avail. Frostbite had him in one of its mouths. Slipstream shook his head violently to try to avoid the gaze of the creature, but he could not resist.

You are mine….mine…mine…. he heard over and over in the depths of his brain. Slowly, he was becoming encrusted with ice.

“If your gonna do something, Somnus, dude, do it quick!” he screamed hoping anyone would hear.

Slipstream attempted to speed up his molecules to slip out from the creature’s jaws, but it was those cold eyes that held him. The beast shuddered as Darkfire hit it with another volley of fireballs sending chunks of ice in all direction and creating a surreal mist throughout the square. Finally, Frostbite gave a massive yawn and slumped to the pavement. Slipstream slid from between it’s icicle-like teeth and gave a thumbs up to the prismatic sphere that hid Somnus from the view of most mortals.

Slipstream ordered, “Destroy it! Destroy it!” as he crawled away.

Darkfire went at the task with a fervor, reducing the “sleeping” form of Frostbite to a corpse of molten slag. The stench was incredible, and Bostonians later claimed that the smell reached all the way across the Charles to Beacon Hill.

Somnus landed near the recovering Slipstream and Dragonfist.

He made an off-hand remark, “Hmmm…didn’t know that I could affect alien minds. I guess I am even more powerful than I thought. Oh, she said her name was Ice Shadow.”

Then he noticed that a nearby cyber-café had not been damaged by the fight and excused himself to log on. They also noticed that the blonde-haired super that had joined them was gone as well.

Warmed by the blazing fire, Slipstream hit on an idea. He called Darkfire over and asked her to tone down her flames a little to scorch the still frozen Valor. As the flames singed him and his suit, the blue pallor soon disappeared. Dragonfist informed F.B. I. Agents of their discovery once they arrived and soon, the ice zombies, though a little burned, were returned to normal.

When Valor came to, he was not pleased. Cosmic Knight, who had just shaken off his second set of cobwebs that day, made a comment about Valor succumbing to the mind powers of the ice demon. In response, Valor wrapped him up with a nearby lamppost using his suit-enhanced telekinesis.

“Who are you, really, Mr. Cosmic Knight?”

Valor used his own mutant mental abilities to probe the mind of the powered armor hero.

Cosmic Knight received the mental image of a smile, Shouldn’t you be monitoring the lab, Theo.

Theo replied with a telepathic “Doh!”

“It’s alright, fellow Legion Extremers. I know who he is now and I am sure that this information will keep him tame.”

“Aww, dude. Punked twice by Cap’n Valor and on your debut!”

Slipstream kept up with all the supers and had never heard of Cosmic Knight before.

The Cosmic Knight tore from the lamppost entangle easily and stormed off, fuming amidst the laughter from the rest of the gang….

End of Issue #5

Legion Extreme Issue#6: Blue Hawaii

Anaka Ai Lee, a.k.a. Dragonfist flipped through the channels of the television as he munched down his third bowl of Wheaties. He paused as he saw a familiar “face” pop on the screen on SNN, the Superhuman News Network.

“That’s right, Cavalier. There’s a new power-armored hero in town. Well, not in Millennium City, but here in Boston. Next time you want to visit Beantown, know that you have a rival whose gonna lay the smackdown on you. Me, that’s right. Cosmic Knight! ”

Anaka spit out some of his breakfast as he guffawed.

“Guys! You gotta come and check this out.”

Darkfire and Dr. Lu ran in while Jae Sun casually walked to get a view of the screen.

The report continued:

“There you have it, folks! Cosmic Knight, Boston’s newest Superhero, and the most recent addition to Legion Extreme calls out MC’s very own Cavalier.”

Gasps ensued.

“Who?” asked Jae Sun

“Since when?” questioned Dragonfist

The view on the screen switches back to Cosmic Knight holding up a can of soda.

“And remember kids, drink Nar-cola. It’s refreshing!”

Jae Sun frowned. Darkfire began to giggle finding the situation particularly funny. Dr. James Lu laughed raucously.

“Does Slipstream know about this?” asked the immortal.

They all shrugged their shoulders.

**

The Parker residence: Beacon Hill, Boston, MA

“Uhhh…Elisa. Like this is Brian. I was wondering, like if you wanted to fly out. I mean I’ll fly you out to Hawaii for the Sunset Cup.”

a pause

“Surfing. Like to see me compete.”

Brian Parker grimaced.

“Yes, Bobby can come. ‘Cept I ain’t payin’ for him.”

Elisa Perez spoke of Bobby Morrero aka Meteor Man.

“Well great. I’ll have my agent set things up and we’ll see ya in Honolulu!”

another pause

“Yeah. My grandma is coming also. OK, bye. I know.”

Brian Parker hung up the phone and exhaled. He was in love with Elisa Perez, Meteor Man’s girlfriend. However, she thought of him only as...as a great friend.

“Curse you, Meteor Man,” Brian said shaking his fist.

The long-time hero was definitely a rival. Brian believed that he had prevented Slipstream from admission into the California Patrol, and thus, forced him to move from California, humiliated. His envy clouded his memories and made him ungrateful. Brian Parker was soon shaking his head realizing that he had really moved to Boston to take care of his aging grandmother and that had he not left San Diego, he would have never met and become a part of Legion Extreme.

He sighed, fingering his latest gadget. Armando Montoya, Valor’s friend and sometime competitor had created custom-shaped radios for all of them to keep in contact. His looked like a Star Trek Federation Badge Communicator and worked just like on the Next Generation.

It had been a few weeks since the “Frostbite Affair”, and Boston was getting colder. To all in the great metro area, Legion Extreme were heroes and conversation pieces. This week, Congressman Mansfield was going to recognize them publicly for their service at a ceremony in Boston Common. Fortunately, since Hatcher Cryogenic’s experiment, nothing strange had happened. GRAB was silent and none of the baddies that had surfaced that night at MFA had come back up. It was too quiet, in Brian’s opinion, but hopefully, nothing would happen until the weekend since he would be in Hawaii at the World Surfing Federation’s Sunset Beach Cup competition. If he could perform well there, then it was on to Australia in the early 2003. As it stood now, he would have to run back and forth at least once after he arrived to make the Boston Common Ceremony (Wednesday) and then surf the first rounds on Thursday. One superspeed trip a week was enough for him.

His communicator beeped.

“Well, the quiet was nice while it lasted,” he said before picking it up.

“Yoh! Slipstream here.”

“Hello, Slipstream. Jae Sun, here. Could you please join me at Suffolk County? There’s been a breakout.”

Slipstream arrived seconds after he had hung up the phone. Deep inside, he met Jae Sun, as the immortal and Anaka stood in front of a burned out jail cell.

“Whoa! Anyone dead?” asked the speedy superhero.

“Fortunately, no. However, the Morbane escaped.”

“Who?”

Jae Sun rolled his eyes and sighed, “Oliver Nesmith, whom we discovered was a D.E.M.O.N. agent, possibly a leader which they call a Morbane.”

“How do you know so much about them, Jae Son?”

Slipstream narrowed his eyes seriously, but as Jae Sun, keeper of the Dragonlines stared back, Slipstream smiled and then laughed.

“Naw, bra, ya know I’m just kiddin’. Right?”

“Sometimes, Slipstream, I wonder whether you take anything seriously. The Morbane, although locked away was able to still cast spells. Apparently, he either created a fiery rift to escape or summoned something that did. We will need to keep a close eye on the city this week.”

“Well, without me, Jae Son. I’m goin’ to Hawaii.”

“What?” Jae Sun crossed his arms and scowled disapprovingly.

“Grandma and I are takin’ a little vacation. Some tasty waves. Surfin’ competition. All that good stuff. Oops!”

He smiled and tried to pretend that he hadn’t said that in front of Dragonfist.

“Anyway, see ya Wednesday for the hoopla.”

“When are you leaving?”

“Umm…mañana.”

“So you can patrol tonight.”

“Whatever. When I get back next week, man. I gotta get psyched and prepare, like mentally.”

And then Slipstream was off in a flash.

Jae Sun shook his head. Too many villains were still at large in Boston, and his most efficient ranger was going on vacation.

“Anaka, what am I to do with all these egos?”

With a sigh of frustration, he walked towards the exit.

**

Honolulu, Hawaii

Slipstream smelled something fishy. Several of his fellow competitors had been checked into the hospital, and their only link was that they had attended the same party, one of the many being thrown before Thursday’s events.

Why did it have to be so complicated? Brian Parker mused to himself as he left the hospital.

This afternoon he had to be back in Boston for the ceremony and then the opening round tomorrow. Elisa would arrive. Now, a mystery had surfaced. His mates were sick and he suspected sabotage by the notorious drug-dealer “slick” Rick, a ne’er-do-well who hung around the surfing circuit. He had declined the invite to his party, but not being totally innocent of use in the not so recent past, he had decided to “live and let live.” He regretted his decision as he had visited Sean and Kevin. Both were hooked up to tubes, and had trouble breathing and suddenly had melanomas and no hair. The doctor had told him that they were suffering from severe radiation sickness. What was Rick up to?

He hid behind a palm tree and muttered, “Scooby-dobbie doo!” in his best imitation of the famous cartoon dog.

In a heartbeat, Slipstream was heading towards the resort were Rick was staying. It was time that pusher had a talking to, and if he didn’t want to talk, well Slipstream didn’t mind if he needed a little encouragement.

When he arrived, two of Rick’s hired thugs attempted to stall him. Slipstream spun between them in less than a blink of an eye and knocked them forcibly to the ground.

“Where’s your boss?”

Groggily they pointed towards one of the bedrooms of the suite. The superhero entered to find his quarry just waking up. The drug-dealer sat up

“Whoa! Slipstream. Ummm….lookin’ for some special candy?”

“Rick, I’m tired of your antics and I’m gonna ask you nice to leave town. I already called the cops and they’re on their way over. So you got some choices.”

“Awww, dude, why the bad vibes? I know you don’t smoke anymore, but man you used to be cool about and not be all preachy. Dude, have you gone boy scout on me? Man, it’s makin’ me itch.”

“That party! You hurt some of our friends.”

“Slip’, man, I’m innocent.”

“Then if not you and your drugs, who?”

“Can’t tell you, cuz…well, I don’t wanna get all beat up.”

Slipstream made a threatening move.

“Alright, alright….man this glowing creature came up out of the water and started messin’ with us. He wanted a cut of the action. His name was RADIUM of the Ultimates!”

Slipstream gave him a quizzical look as Rick raised his voice. Then he heard moaning from the other room. As he went to check it out, he saw Rick dash out the window from the corner of his eye. He was about to pursue, but the sight in the common room gave him pause. He saw a yellowish, green glowing man, possibly naked, but with no mouth or ears and nothing down there either. The worst of it was that the two thugs were vomiting violently and writhing on the floor. Slipstream began to feel sick as waves of radiation, emanating from the glowing figure hit him.

“Radium!” he gasped, firing a sonic blast as he retreated back towards the bedroom.

Radium followed and soon another villian popped his head in. Slipstream recognized him as one of his arch-rivals Slick, also of the Ultimates.

“Well, well, what have we got here? Welcome to our parlor, said the Ulitmates to their latest fly.”

Slipstream suddenly found himself stuck to the floor as if he had just stepped on super-strong fly-paper.

“Radium, blast him!”

The “man” made out of radiation projected sickly green energy at Slipstream causing intense pain and nausea to the speedster. His previous attack had hit, but the thing made of energy seemed to absorb it. He tried again, but with little result.

“C’mon you coward,” Slipstream called to Slick, “Can’t you finish me yourself?”

“Why’ever for, Slip’? I got Radium here to pump you with rads. No more kids for you,”

Slick laughed as Radium hit Slipstream with radiation again. It was becoming hard to see and think. Then it clicked.

“Got. To. Get. Out,” Slipstream muttered as he focused and vibrated his molecules to incredible speeds. He began to sink through the floor and the strange force that had held him fast. He made it to the basement and took a few seconds to recover, then sped back upstairs, only to see the glowing Radium, and Slick next to him, heading for the jungle.

Slipstream followed at a distance locating the cave where they were hiding.

“Can’t face them alone. Must get help. Will bring others.”

He shook his head getting the rest of the fuzziness out, and becaue he had just heard how stupid he sounded. It was almost time to leave for Boston anyway. He hoped that his grandmother was alright. He raced down to the shore, looked east and tested the water.

“Time to fly!”

Slipstream, taking a hyper-velocity start, streaked across the ocean, sending water high into the air and a wake felt for at least a kilometer. In record time he hit the California coast, and then continued onward as a blur across the United States.

Very cool update Broc. I liked the way you described Slips mega-movement from Hawaii back to Boston, heh, nice visual. As for Slick and Radium... well Slicks a punk but Radium, well hes pretty tough for a mook bad guy