legionmissions | IN BRIGHTEST DAY - Mod Plot [LOG POST | 2

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IN BRIGHTEST DAY - Mod Plot [LOG POST | 2 | IN BLACKEST NIGHT]

Who| Everyone involved in the plot
What| A space battle
Where| In the space sector around Cargg
When| If relevant, like if you want to note it's after an event.
Warnings/Notes| Things may get violent/gory!

Unfortunately, even the last Green Lanterns didn't know where the yellows or reds had hidden their central power batteries. Their long lost bases were still lost to the universe. That meant the only way to find them was to wait for them to attack.

In the space sector around the planet Cargg, reports of an asteroid mining freighter getting attacked clued the Legion and their allies into where the yellows were. By the time they got there, the red Lanterns had also joined in -- attacking all comers, including the yellows themselves. As the different groups of Lanterns collided in combat, the deaths started almost instantly. New rings started seeking owners, including those of the reds and yellows.

By now, they'd all received at least enough basic training with their rings to function in battle, and they all still had use of their normal powers.

A squad of Green Lanterns led by Kilowog gathered around the freighter, trying to shield it from attack.

"Listen up, poozers!" Kilowog called out to his greens, leading them into the fight and setting up a perimeter. "We need to give this ship time to evac. Hold the line! If it's yellow or red, it's not getting through!"

Kid Quantum, wielding a blue ring, called out to the Legionnaires, "We need to protect that freighter! Everyone move in to support the greens. Hit and run tactics! Hit 'em fast and hit 'em hard. Let's go, Legion!"

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Superboy Prime had found himself depowered upon being pulled through the rift to this place. Even with the technological suit the Sinestro Corps had given him feeding him yellow sunlight energy, for some reason he was still weaker, as if passing through the rift had changed him somehow.

Well, no matter. He was still probably stronger than everyone else! All he had to do was help the yellows, and after they trashed this universe, they'd go back and he'd have his chance to kill the Anti-Monitor -- a chance to finally get his revenge for the Anti-Monitor destroying his own universe and everyone he loved.

"Are you actually supposed to be the Legion? You're not the real Legion. You don't even have the founding three members! You're just a joke. And you're in my way."

The nice thing about loud, mouthy people on the battlefield was that it was always easy to keep track of where they were.

Superboy Prime's path of asskicking was an easy one to follow, punctuated as it was by an equal amount of complaining. And the amount of trouble he was causing was enough to keep Sam's attention once he had it. It was just common sense - take out the biggest threat first, before he could cause too much damage, right?

So when he managed to disentangle himself from the fight du jour, Sam took off at top speed, boosting his flight ring's acceleration with a blast of the Nova Force, aiming to plow straight into Superboy.

"If we kick your butt, will you shut up already?"

Prime's eyes went wide.

"Nova?"

DC Comics weren't the only comics he'd read. Back home, he'd had boxes and boxes and boxes of comics in his parents' basement, all packed up in mylar. DC was always his preference because of how bright and idealistic the comics were, but sometimes he read Marvel. Not the depressing stuff like X-Men, but the things that were bright and hopeful.

A story about a normal high schooler -- just like him -- getting amazing powers was definitely one of his favorites from the Marvel side of things. How often did teenagers get superpowers and get to be heroes all on their own instead of being sidekicks? Spider-Man was one of them but Spider-Man had gotten all angsty after Gwen Stacy died and spent all the time being neurotic.

Nova was was like Spider-Man except even less special. He wasn't smart enough to create his own web shooters. He was a nobody, just like Prime had been. Except he still did amazing things. He was still a hero that always saved the day. Maybe his story was a lot like Green Lantern's but it was cooler because he was just a teenager, and look what'd happened to Green Lantern anyway? He'd eventually gone evil.

Prime quickly moved out of the way with superspeed, making it so Nova overshot, and turned around to face him, not wanting to fight him yet, zipping from one place to the next with blurred speed so it'd be impossible for Sam to fire at him or charge him easily.

"No no no, listen, I read about you. I don't know how but my world had comic books that had stories that matched the lives of superheroes in other worlds. I know you. You don't understand!" he said. "I was supposed to be just like you. I was supposed to be a hero! Then all the heroes made me hurt them. It's their own fault. They made me like them."

Hold on, why did Nova look different?

"Wait. How come you're so short? And how come your helmet's blue?" An outraged expression came over his face, and his eyes burned red with rage. "It happened in your world, too, didn't it? Everything went wrong. You're not the real Nova!"

Heatvision arced out and swept around as he tried to tag Sam with it.

"What, even in another dimension I can't get away from that?" Sam said indignantly, upping his speed and dodging the beams.

Usually accusations of him not being the real Nova came with either disdain or disappointment. At least the rage was something new...although probably not something to be thankful for, he realized as he sped within a few centimeters of Prime's heatvision. This guy was not your average Lantern.

And he was apparently pretty damned serious about taking Sam down.

"You know we're a corps, right?" Sam broke hard down and to the left, looping back around to try and tag Prime with his own blasts. "There was never supposed to be only one Nova."

(Never mind the fact that somehow, it had still happened, to both of them. That was then, but he and Rich were both here now, and as long as either of them was still breathing, they weren't going to let there be only one Nova again.)

The blasts knocked Prime back so he started zipping around again to make himself harder to hit.

Alongside the heatvision, he started firing blasts of yellow ring energy at Sam, trying to overwhelm him with sheer firepower.

"I'm going to call you NINO, because you're Nova in Name Only," Prime said snottily. "It doesn't matter if there's supposed to be a corps. Rich Rider is the only real Nova and there's no way you can replace him!"

A tightly focused beam of energy hit him in the back of the head, and he cried out. Turning back to see where it came from, his eyes went wide.

"Actually, I think he'd do a great job of it, but lucky for me, I don't need any replacing at the moment." Rich extended his flesh and blood hand and poured the power on, using his own powers to lay on a barrage. The gravimetric energy pushed Prime back. "Like he said, we're a Corps, and maybe that's a only a Corps of two, but you mess with one of us, you mess with both of us."

His ring sparked and constructs of Nova Corpsmembers coalesced around him.

"Or maybe I should say all of us."

The Corps constructs started divebombing Prime, punching and battering him and blasting him, giving Rich at least a moment to regroup with Sam.

"That's not going to keep him busy for long." He was shattering some of them with one punch. "We're outmatched in strength but I think we have a chance if we rely on speed, especially with the two of us, and especially if we keep using the rings to throw hurdles in his way."

Corpsman constructs came up from beneath and overhead and clocked him good.

"We've both got experience fighting in space. Looks to me that he's not as good at thinking in three dimensions as us."

He kept expecting attacks from on a horizontal plane and kept having a blind spot for attacks coming from other angles.

"So did you try for the total poetic justice timing, or was that just luck?" Sam swooped over to hover next to Rich, grinning.

Hearing the man himself blow a hole in Prime's argument might even have been more satisfying than punching him in the face would've been.

Not that he could really afford more than that brief moment to feel smug about it, of course - because Rich was right, and the distraction was only that. It was a solid enough plan, though. "Well, speed is what we're best at."

He darted off from Rich, moving to put himself not only on a different side than Rich, but farther below. Three dimensions, that was easy enough. Superboy Prime, no matter how much he threw their way, was still one guy, and Sam's first battle had been cutting through the middle of a Chitauri armada. He could handle being shot at.

Now he just had to actually remember to use the ring instead of falling back on old instincts.

Getting it to work was still a little strange. He kept wanting to use it the way he controlled the Nova Force, or like he'd heard Hal describe the green rings - wanting it bad enough, putting in the will - but will wasn't what drove the Star Sapphires. Just wanting to make it happen wasn't good enough; he needed to feel something else to make it work. Love. How did you just...make yourself love?

He did the best he could. He thought about home.

The twenty-first century, where everything was familiar and comforting but the wonders of space were still just a flight out of orbit away. Watching normal football on ESPN instead of whatever cool but weird future sports were on. Tacos with real meat and not some wannabe soy substitute. Skateboarding to school. The house he'd grown up in, before they lost it. Mom. Kaelynn.

Dad.

It happened in almost the blink of an eye, like he didn't have it and didn't have it and then suddenly his mind just landed on exactly where it needed to be. In a violet flash, the space around Prime (in all directions, because three dimensions, take that) filled with a hail of soccer balls.

"I never liked playing goalie. Maybe you'll be better at it than me."

Prime was bombarded. Between the soccer balls and the constant blows from the Nova Corps constructs, he was temporarily occupied.

"But you're not a teenager. And why are you missing an arm? And why do you have a sidekick now?"

The questions were petulant and whiny, like he was a child begging for ice cream after being told they weren't allowed to have any.

He didn't seem to be gunning for them heavily yet, but he was momentarily confused -- and curious. As if, just for a moment, he wanted to understand instead of destroy, like he was hoping to get an answer he didn't actually hate.

Rich, meanwhile, was taking advantage of his extreme speed and Prime not having a good grasp on situational awareness. Sam was finally getting front row seats to him working to his full capacity. As Prime fought and was disoriented by all their combined constructs, Rich was rocketing around the fight, the Nova force adding to his speed, attacking him from all different angles, moving so fast that he was difficult to visually track, at times just a yellow and green blur.

He managed to snipe Prime in the head with a tightly focused gravimetric beam -- a lot of force, a lot of energy, all narrowed down into a tiny beam for extra punch.

"I did this little thing called growing up. And I lost my arm saving the universe from some Lovecraftian juju. And he's not my sidekick, he's my protege. Subtle but very distinct difference. He deserves being called Nova just as much I as do, because he's every bit the hero I am."

Every time Prime had a chance to recover and aim, he was already gone, rocketing to a new position.

"That's why he's helping me kick your sorry S. We don't care about all this nonsense with us being different than you expected, or comic books, or any of that. What we do care about is that ship is filled with civilians and you're helping the people trying to murder them all. And one thing that is the same is I'll always be a cop."

Another twirl in the void, another quick turn, another focused gravimetric beam.

"That's why you're under arrest. You have the right to issue a statement or remain silent at this time. For everyone's sake, I encourage the latter. If you don't have a legal-rep the Science Police will provide one. Do you understand these rights as I have explained them to you?"

Sam had started bristling at the word "sidekick," but Rich's rebuttal was all it took to put the grin back on his face as he kept the pressure on, giving Prime a few dozen more things to think about on top of trying to deal with Rich's attacks. His onslaught wasn't as strong as Rich's, but it was busier, more of a distraction meant to help give Rich more openings to deliver the real whammy.

"Nobody can really make anybody do anything. Doesn't every teenager know that?"

Maybe there'd been pressure, or some weird circumstances, but it was never a matter of no choice that led people to do things like this. It was a matter of a bad choice or a worse outcome. His father's dilemma didn't make Sam miss school or land himself in trouble; he just decided that the trouble and the suspensions were worth finding him. Moffet had never made him get detention with all of those fights; Sam just decided that detention was worth getting a punch in instead of taking it quietly.

Whatever Prime thought the heroes of other worlds had done to make him throw in with these guys, Sam wasn't buying it for a second.

"Just make this easy and give up. Seriously. Did your comic books show you Rich when he gets mad? Because Annihilus sure ain't around to tell you about it."

"You killed someone, too?" Prime cried out, getting bombarded by hits of Nova Force and construct. He sounded like he almost wanted to cry. "Of course it happened to you, too. It's the same everywhere, isn't it? Heroes don't know how to be heroes anymore."

A massive blast of heatvision, directed all around, broke through most of the constructs.

"And I bet you're teaching your sidekick to be terrible, too."

When the heatvision blast came his way, Rich threw up a construct and then dodged before the heatvision broke through.

Then the constructs of the Corpsman faded and he changed it up a bit. Instead, he tossed up constructs of the New Warriors -- the original team. Speedball bounced around the battlefield, slamming off of other constructs and into Prime, moving around completely unpredictably. Firestar blasted green ring energy at Prime that looked like flames. Night Thrasher and Namorita got right up in his face, fighting him hand to hand, and Marvel Boy put up green shields that looked like teke to protect Rich (and sometimes Sam) as they shot around the battlefield.

"I fought in a war where an omnicidal maniac was trying to destroy all life in the universe. He killed billions of innocent people. Whole worlds. You're damn right I killed Annihilus. But it wasn't because I was mad."

Sure, he'd been furious. After a war where he'd led the resistance against him, after trying to counter his every move, after failing to stop countless acts of bloodshed initiated by him, after losing the Corps and Xandar to him, he'd hated Annihilus. But that wasn't the only reason, and Rich figured this here was something of a teaching moment, for both Sam and this lunatic that claimed he wanted to be a hero.

"I did it to save all life in the universe. I did it because no prison would've held him, and because the billions of spacebugs that were his troops would've kept fighting unless he was dead. No one that calls themselves a hero should kill someone just because they're mad. Hell, I was mad when a war criminal almost killed my little brother, but her, I arrested, because life could go on if she was alive and there were tribunals to try her and a prison that could hold her."

Rich finally managed to pull off a shot that damaged one of the energy siphons on the suit. It was the same one that he'd noticed Sam get a few hits on, too. Between the two of them, the damage finally took.

"That's what I'm teaching the kid: that unless the goddamn universe is ending, unless there's no other way to save lives, justice is more important than vengeance. Seems like if you think you're supposed to be a hero, it's a lesson you need to learn, too. What you're doing right now? This ain't justice. This ain't saving lives. This is just you acting out your rage on everyone around you. I don't know why you have so much of it, but you're not protecting anyone or anything by doing this. You're just helping monsters that wanna see innocents die."

"That's a really nice way to say that if the irony of your situation is still escaping you, you've got to be delusional," Sam said, his tone surprisingly thoughtful for someone doing a hairpin turn at high speed and launching another barrage of constructs at Prime, the space around Prime, and pretty much anywhere it looked like Prime might move to next.

Sarcasm was easier than thinking too hard about what Rich was saying. Not the general idea of it - because that was right, and Sam felt a little stupid for needing the reminder.

But he hadn't known that, about Rich's brother. About Rich arresting whoever was responsible and playing it completely by the book.

Sam's family hadn't been hurt, when Kaldera came after them. He'd been pissed off enough that they were threatened in the first place, but if something had actually happened...would he be able to do that? Rein it in, do the right thing and not the thing he wanted?

He didn't know, and this really wasn't the time or the place to start questioning himself.

Kon couldn't care less about the shit-talking, really. He was already having a bit of an identity crisis without having to worry about whether or not his Legion status was legit. (Although, it apparently was kind of legit, in a way, so screw you, Superboy-Prime.) No, what really got him was the guy's face. He had never met this guy before, but he definitely knew that face.

He pulled down his sunglasses to get an unobstructed look at him.

"Hey, wait a sec. Do I know you?"

Maybe not the best time for a question like that, but, you know, that was how the Superboy of New Earth did things.

"YOU!"

Prime blasted at him with yellow ring energy, a powerful barrage fueled by his rage. Blast after blast was fired Kon's way, and Prime moved closer with each one. After he battered him down, he wanted to strangle the life out of him with his own hands.

"Everything went wrong because of you. If you'd just accepted I was the better Superboy, that fight never would've happened! I never would've had to kill those Titans! You're a fake! An imitation!"

He grinned a wicked grin, eyes glowing red.

"I don't know how you're alive and how you're this young again, but I'm glad you are! Now I can kill you all over again!"

Edited 2016-07-09 11:07 (UTC)

Oh. It all made sense now. It was his face. That was why it looked familiar.

Honestly, an attack wouldn't have surprised him. That was what they were here for, to fight. But the intense amount of anger, clearly directed at him, not just because he was a member of the Legion or a Lantern or anything like that, but just because he was... himself? That part was more than a little unexpected. He'd never experienced that kind of hatred before—not toward anyone, let alone himself.

He'd practiced with the ring, of course, but he was hardly an expert, and he was definitely caught off-guard. Not afraid, just surprised. The first thing that came to mind was a wall, because he suddenly felt like he needed to distance himself from that anger as fast as he possibly could.

"Wait. Are you telling me—" he started behind a green wall of brick, but between being startled (and probably the yellow—he wasn't thinking too hard about the logistics at the moment), it wasn't holding up terribly well. Or at all. He was going to need another plan. "—I've got a nemesis? And it's me?"

What the hell. This was totally cheap.

(Also not the most appropriate commentary, but he was quickly realizing that he maybe wasn't in the best position right now. But he wasn't going to just give up, either.)

"I'm nothing like you. You're clone trash -- just a cheap copy! I'm Clark Kent. I was the real Superboy! I was Superboy before you!"

Prime punched the green construct wall with enough force to shatter steel.

"At first, I just wanted to take your place, but now I'm going to take his. After your Superman is out of the way, after I get rid him for good, I'll be the real Superman -- a better Superman!"

When the wall was weakened, he blasted it with his heatvision.

"But I'm starting with you first!"

"Yeah, well, I've never even heard of you. How do I know you aren't the fake?"

To be fair, there were a lot of things he'd never heard of before. That was probably why a lot of the things this 'Superboy' was saying weren't making a whole lot of sense. Kon didn't doubt that he was who he said he was—that face, those powers? Definitely Superboy. But it didn't matter if he understood the situation or not. When someone started off a conversation with, 'You're clone trash,' and 'I can kill you all over again,' context didn't matter because that guy was totally a dick.

The impact against the wall pushed him backward, but he just went with it. If he could 'touch' him somehow, he could probably do something about that armor of his, but there was no way he could get that close right now. He needed distance.

"But if you wanna be Superman so bad, you're gonna have to earn it."

And what better way than with a Doomsday-shaped construct? Since he was no longer invulnerable, he couldn't get close enough to punch him, but Doomsday sure could, and that was exactly what Kon had him do.

"You must just be from an earlier time. I haven't had the chance to kill you. Yet."

Prime and the Doomsday construct clashed together in what would have been a thunderous clap of sound if they'd been somewhere with atmosphere. It would've undoubtedly broken some windows and maybe some eardrums. But while Prime wasn't the brightest bulb in the drawer he was very determined to get to Kon, so after that first punch he flew backwards, making it so the construct had to charge again, then grabbed its arm, twirled at superspeed, and threw the construct into a chunk of debris from the mining ship.

"Your Superman tried to tell me the same thing. About earning it. He tried to tell me being a hero was about action."

Then he flew at Kon, using the yellow ring to create the construct of a plow, planning on just plowing anymore constructs Kon made out of the way.

"Like he had any right! Wonder Woman killed someone. The Justice League brainwashed villains! What about their actions? The heroes of your world made me like them and somehow I'm the bad guy and they're not!"

"I can tell you right now what the difference there is."

A gigantic green slingshot superimposed itself between Prime and Kon; as long as Hal could keep it up through that initial hit, it was big enough to propel Prime backwards.

"Responsibility. Owning your actions, not blaming the next guy over for what you did. There's not a one of us who hasn't screwed up a few times along the line, but Clark, Diana - they know that their decisions are theirs. Nobody else's."

The sudden appearance of a construct, regardless of color, was enough to prompt Kon to move back, but he couldn't help feeling somewhat relieved when he realized it had come from a particularly familiar Lantern.

One who also, perhaps unsurprisingly, had a better idea of who he was dealing with than Kon did.

"Took the words right outta my mouth." Except... you know, not, because he really had no idea what this other Superboy was talking about. "You're a pal, GL. Somethin' tells me this guy ain't too fond of me. I think he might be jealous."

Prime was flung back by the slingshot and crashed into a large piece of debris from the ship. He ripped through the metal like it was paper as he climbed out of it.

"I'm not jealous of you. You're nothing. I'd say that you fooled yourself into thinking you're worthy of being Superboy but the truth is worse -- you fooled yourself into thinking you're a real boy."

Now that Green Lantern had joined the fight, Prime actually had to rely more on his ring, knowing that a direct fight would be hard for him with someone that knew how to fight at a distance. He created a construct of a massive whale with sharp teeth and had it bear down on them both, crashing through the air like it was swimming through the ocean.

"Well, guess, what, Pinocchio? You're wrong."

A huge construct of a harpoon materialized into the space by the whale, zipping forward to strike.

"Captain Ahab, can we get a clean-up on aisle seven?"

"Sure, long as we can wipe the floor with his— er, our... face."

That wasn't intentional. ...or maybe it was. Who knows. But really, he'd never wished he'd had his powers more than right now, because he really wanted to knock this guy's teeth out.

But since he couldn't do that, he might as well continue with the theme, creating a great white shark to send after Prime instead.

"I might not be the real thing, but I've got plenty of other things over you. I've definitely got better style."

That just made Prime let out a loud, slightly-hysterical scream -- which was a definite plus. Between the harpoon and Prime getting frustrated with Kon, the whale construct broke into pieces.

"This is exactly what I'm talking about -- you're even worse at this age. You don't understand what a Superboy is supposed to --"

The shark hit Prime head on... and in the process of shaking him, actually broke part of his suit.

He blasted through the shark with heatvision and then looked at the broken part of his suit with wide eyes.

"This isn't over."

But for now he needed to retreat to try to fix it. (Not that he'd manage to). He was afraid to lose his advantage. With a burst of superspeed, he was gone.

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IN BRIGHTEST DAY - Mod Plot [LOG POST | 2 | IN BLACKEST NIGHT]

HARD MODE

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You said you wanted a rescue, so let me know if this is okay?

Perfect! Let's see if we can't do another tag or two, then I'll call for reinforcements! :d

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