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A New Start
By
Scott "RaZrEsHaT" Hall
Sam looked at the mask in his hands. It had been just
over a year since he last wore it, and despite that fact, what it represented
had ruled every moment of his life since. The dark gray and blue mask looked
as exciting as the first time he had worn it, but somehow the feeling was
now different. Seeing all of your friends slaughtered has that effect.
After pulling his top on, he looked into the mirror to make sure it looked exactly right. The white and red colors of his new costume more than symbolically contrasted his old one. He had gone to excruciating effort to reinvent himself and succeeded beyond what he thought possible on that day over a year ago. The day he swore he would get revenge.
--------------------------
Smoke and fire surrounded him and Sam could barely
breathe, let alone see a way out. Despite the chaos surrounding him, Sam concentrated
and pushed out with his mind, separating smoke particles from breathable air.
The destruction did more to take his breath away than all the smoke in the
room.
Sheltering him was the massive form of Pillar. The
granite powerhouse had dove over him when the roof came down and shielded
him from the worst of the blast. Unfortunately, this left Pillar's head exposed
and a massive support beam had fallen and crushed it. Sam couldn't believe
that the man who had been like an older brother to him was gone. He resisted
the urge to sit down next to his massive teammate and wait for the rest of
the roof to come crashing in.
The smoke continued to clear and with it any protection
from the horror of the attack. The mangled and dead bodies of Dr. Entropy,
Hornet, Glam and Skirmish all lay in various broken and distorted positions.
Sam stared at their broken forms, unable to get over the fact that just minutes
before they had been sitting around and joking with each other. Sam could
even hear Dr. Entropy's usual toast after a successful mission, "To a
better life and a better future."
Not far away a massive hole in the wall of their base
laid Mr. Gruesome. He had obviously put up quite a fight, but the ending was
no different.
They had finally done it. The Liberty Union had killed
the Obsidian League. The only family that Sam had ever known was dead at the
hands of their enemies. The Obsidian League had taken him in when he was homeless
and living on the street. Burning fury welled up in Sam and he swore that
revenge would he his.
"They will pay…"
--------------------------
"You coming, JC?" Ozone's sultry
voice beckoned from beyond the doorway.
Justice Centurion had been hard to get
used to, but in a way it made more sense than Hyper Flux had as a call sign.
"Yeah, want to look good for my big
day." It was a big day on more levels than the ones Ozone would think
of. "I'll be out in a few minutes."
"Ok, cause everyone is here, and
I mean everyone."
Sam knew that they would be there. They had spoke about today like it was Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Independence Day all wrapped up into one. The day Justice Centurion became a full member of Liberty Union.
--------------------------
Things had grown tense between the two groups, more
so than normal between opposing super groups. The dance was pretty well established
by now. The "Villain" group tried to take over the world or some
other plot and the "Hero" team fought to thwart their plans. However,
things had become more personal between the Obsidian League and Liberty Union
as of late. Pressure had built ever since Mr. Gruesome figured out the real
identity of Cerulean Star.
Gruesome had grown obsessed with the female leader of Liberty Union and eventually went so far as to kill her husband. It made no sense to Sam that his teammate would think that the woman would come to love him after the murder of her husband, but very often it was hard to see the method to his madness. Regardless, the murder of Stewart Gunderson, the husband of Tina Gunderson a.k.a. Cerulean Star pushed the relationship between the Liberty Union and Obsidian League beyond super powered nemesis. It had become personal and someone was going to get hurt.
--------------------------
"Hey buddy, don't be scared. " Inspiron taunted
through the door. "Even if they bite, I got your back and will heal it
up lickity-split." Apparently it was the Union's healer's turn to coax
him out of his room at the Hall of Liberty.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah… You don't hurry perfection."
Sam tried desperately to hide his anxiety. Sure, he was about to be introduced
to not only the entire Liberty Union at once, but to the world as the newest
member. That alone would be enough to get someone nervous, however Sam had
darker concerns.
He had never been around the entire Liberty Union when they were together. With the destruction of the Obsidian League, the need for a centralized team of superhumans seemed to have vanished. Sam wasn't sure if it was because the LU could afford to spread out and take on more solo work, or if it was because the guilt of what they had done made them want to spend less time in the presence of each other.
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It had only been days since the destruction
of the Obsidian Obelisk, the League's secret base of power, but Sam had already
found a place to crash. He didn't feel comfortable at any of the safe houses
or hideouts that he knew the other Leaguers kept; he had to assume that any
or all of them had been compromised. Sam was forced to rent a dirty apartment
in the middle of no-where and figure out what to do.
It might have been easy to take revenge on any one of the Union's members. Sam might easily blindside one of them during a fight they were in or a patrol they were on, but what would that prove? Soon the rest of the Union's members would realize who he was and that he had survived, then it would all end in very short order. No, he needs a much grander vision for his revenge; something more symbolic than simply taking out one or more members of their team.
--------------------------
"This is so exciting…" Sam could tell
that the newest voice under the door belonged to Ricochet, the team's beautiful
Hispanic female bow master. "I can't believe everyone is back together,
at least for a few hours." Just before Sam could blurt out a retort to
the latest attempt to pry him out of his room prematurely, another voice spoke
up from the hallway.
"Just… thrilling." Rook's sarcasm was
as dry as the stoic look permanently attached to his constantly masked face.
Everyone on the team assumed that his mask covered some serious scars from
the many vicious battles he had partaken in. "Lets get to the meeting
hall and leave the kid alone." As anti-social as Rook was, it was clear
to most of the Union's members that he had a thing for Ricochet.
A pair of footsteps slowly disappeared into the distance. The meeting hall was quite an impressive sight to be sure. The high vaulted ceiling and large meeting table reminded Sam of a bright and happy version of Dr. Entropy's command center. The meeting hall served as both an official location for events like his induction as a member of Union to unofficial functions like weddings and birthday parties. It had been a long time however since the entire team had gathered in the meeting hall, and that was on everyone's mind.
--------------------------
Sam realized that true revenge would have to be taken
on the whole of the Liberty Union and not just an individual member or two.
Somehow he would have to find a way to single handedly take revenge on all
of them.
As Hyper Flux, Sam was relatively new to the world
of superhumans, however all indications from the other members of the Obsidian
League were that his telekinetic powers were very formidable. But Sam knew
that there was no way for Hyper Flux to personally take revenge on the Liberty
Union. A plan dawned upon him. If he stopped being Hyper Flux and became someone
else, then maybe the Union would take him in and he would be able to do from
the inside what he knew he could never accomplish from the outside, thus Justice
Centurion was born.
In the guise of Justice Centurion, Sam had trained long and hard to disguise his powers. Although it had taken months, Sam had trained himself to use his telekinesis to simulate super strength, to create a barrier around himself for protection as well as cause himself to fly. It was a dramatic change from his normal ability to toss objects around and at his enemies. The training had worked out perfectly and all Sam had to do was wait for his chance to gain Liberty Union's attention.
--------------------------
A vigorous banging on his door snapped Sam back to
the present. He didn't even realize that he had started to get lost in his
thoughts again.
"Come on, dude! Come on! Come on! Come on!"
The rapid fire statement announced that Torque had finally run out of patience.
Actually, Sam was surprised that the speedster had lasted longer than the
other Union members.
"I'm surprised that you…," was all Sam
got out before more rapid fire came under the door.
"I had to run halfway across the state to get
here! Let's go! Let's go! Let's GO!" That explained it.
"Just give me another couple minutes. I need to make sure I am ready." Sam looked down toward the countertop in front of the mirror. There sat his present for the rest of the Union members.
--------------------------
The invasion by the alien Tbvark provided Sam just
the opportunity he needed to gain the Liberty Union's attention. As the tentacled
invaders teleported down from their invasion ships Sam donned the guise of
Justice Centurion and flew out to the nearest battle zone. There a collection
of local heroes battled the invaders. Luckily for Sam that loose collection
included Cerulean Star.
The sullen leader of Liberty Union had been mostly
absent from the world of super-human activity since the Union's response to
the murder of her husband. But today was different. Violet blue blasts of
energy leapt out of her hands, decimating the soldiers of the invading aliens.
Sam could see the pent-up emotion flooding out of the woman as she assailed
the invaders and led the charge that pushed the numerically superior aliens
back. Apparently, he had left an impression upon her as well.
"You did really well today," Sam didn't even
realize that the Liberty Union leader had walked up to him, let alone that
she had noticed his contributions. "What's your name?"
"Ma…er, Justice Centurion." Sam pretended
to be green enough to have almost accidentally spit out his real name. A slight
chuckle from Cerulean Star let him know it worked.
"You know this is a hard business to get into."
"You're not kidding," Sam played up his youth.
"My first day and I have to fight invading aliens. Sheesh!"
"I know some people that might be able to help
you." He was in.
The next couple of months flew by as Sam became a probational member of the Liberty Union. Classes, briefings, training sessions, joint patrols all followed and occupied nearly every waking moment of his life.
--------------------------
"JC, we need to start soon." It was her voice.
"Everyone is excited to be here for your big day, but people do have
other commitments to contend with as well." Cerulean Star was ever the
patient and professional leader. Her calm demeanor influenced everything around
her at all times.
"Just give me another minute and I will be there." The device on the countertop was almost ready and Sam knew he would finally be able to complete his long journey. The events of that day had been set in motion long before and it wouldn't be long now til they were complete.
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A late evening patrol was always nice in the summer.
By 11 P.M. the weather had cooled off and flying was a joy. Sam was very happy
that he had forced himself to both learn to use his telekinesis to fly as
well as get over his fear of heights. The Union finally felt comfortable with
him patrolling on his own and he was making the last of his rounds for the
night.
Somewhere off to his right the distant sound of a siren
echoed and Sam instinctively turned toward the direction of the noise.
"Always move to the sound of the sirens,"
was the mantra crammed into his head by the various Liberty Union members
who became his mentors over the last couple of months. Apparently it had stuck.
Speeding through the dark evening sky, the source of
the alarm became easily recognizable. A twenty story building stood bright
in the night as flames of orange, red and yellow lapped out from the middle
floors. Down below, the firefighters arrived on the scene and scrambled around
in their efforts to combat the blaze and save the building and its inhabitants.
Something about the fire was hypnotic and Sam didn't
even notice himself drifting closer. Before long he was less than fifteen
feet from the burning building, staring into the raging fire. His eyes unfocused
and distant as the scene of primal fury played out in front of him.
"Help! Help! Mr. Red and White! HELP!" The
screams of a young woman broke Sam from his hypnotized state. He looked to
where the screams originated and found that several floors above the fire
a young woman hung out of a window. She stared up at him with fear as tears
streamed down her face.
Hesitantly, Sam hovered down to the window. Before
he could ready himself, the young woman leapt from the window and landed in
his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he began to fly away from
the burning building. Still unsure of what he was doing, Sam tried to concentrate
on flying while carrying another person.
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Tears
of joy ran down the woman's face as she peppered Sam's face with a storm of
kisses. The entire front of his mask was damp from the woman's thankful effort
and Sam wasn't sure how to feel. "You saved my life and I don't even
know your name! Who are you?"
"I'm Justice Centurion of the Liberty Union." A strange feeling knotted up in Sam's chest.
--------------------------
The door to his room closed quietly behind him. Sam
walked down the empty hallway toward the entrance to the Union's meeting hall.
His hands hovered around the belt of his red and white costume. The utility
pockets on his belt usually contained any number of useful devices for a super-human
adventurer, but today all but two of the pockets were empty.
His mask as Hyper Flux was stuffed into one of the
pockets on his right side and the present to the Union in a pocket on the
left. Brushing his hand on the left side pocket, Sam could feel the cold metal
cylinder of the remote detonator inside. It had taken him nearly a month of
watch duty in the Liberty Union World Watch Center before they let him pull
the duty alone. Even then, it had taken nearly another three months to emplace
the charges. He hadn't dared to do it all at once for fear of arising suspicion.
Today was the first day that every member of the Liberty
Union had been together since the massacre of the Obsidian League, and Sam
had lined the support beams of the base's meeting hall with several tons of
remotely detonated explosives in preparation. Today he would get revenge for
Dr. Entropy, Hornet, Glam, Skirmish, Mr. Gruesome, and most of all, for Pillar.
A rousing cheer erupted from the crowd in the meeting
hall as Sam stepped through the entrance. He could see pride in the eyes of
the various members of the Union, past and present, as he looked to them one
at a time.
"To Justice Centurion!" Each of the Liberty
Union members held aloft a glass of champagne as they toasted the group's
newest member.
"Here, here!"
A familiar pain synched up in Sam's chest. The time
had come and he reached down for the pockets on his belt. As he fumbled with
the snaps on the utility pockets he could hear the combined members of the
Union shouting encouragement to him.
"Congratulations!"
"Welcome!"
"You're gonna do great!"
"I'm very happy you are with us." Cerulean
Star's sincerity stuck in his chest. Suddenly the sounds of the cheering Liberty
Union members went silent and all Sam could hear was a voice from the past.
"To a better life and a better future." The pain found a name; pride.
--------------------------
"I can't begin to tell you what I am feeling right
now." The combined members of the LU would be amazed at exactly how true
the statement was. "Today I find myself proud to be accepted amongst
your ranks."
Sam wasn't sure why or how it had come to pass, but
suddenly revenge seemed like the wrong answer. Somehow he felt that the members
of the Obsidian League no longer cared for getting even or exacting vengeance
on their former nemesis.
"However, before I can accept what you offer there
is something you need to know." Sam's long pause was mirrored by the
look of uncertainty that enveloped the face of everyone present. "You
see there is something about me that you are all unaware of. I am proud to
be accepted here as a member of this union, however this is not my first membership
with a superhuman organization. It is something I feel that I must share with
you before we go any further." The look of uncertainty slowly became
one of concern.
Sam quickly pulled the gray and blue mask from his
left side pocket and held if aloft. Several members of the Union showed signs
of recognition.
"You see, I was once Hyper Flux of the Obsidian
League."
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