Prologue: Drawn to Life

It was long into the nighttime in Domino, so much so that all of the stores had closed and the windows were completely darkened. It was the night of a new moon, so the only sort of light came from the streetlights, making the unlit alleyways and backs of the building look exceptionally eerie.

In one of the alleyways, a young man was sitting on top of a metal trash can, drawing away with fervor in a sketchpad he held on his lap. He looked like he'd lived in the streets most of his life, with his wild, unkempt brown hair, his rather raggedy T-shirt, jeans with holes in the knees, and dirty white sneakers with a few holes in the soles. In his free hand, a flashlight let him see what he was actually drawing: a very realistic sketch of a lion with a flowing mane that looked as though it was walking right towards him.

"Yo, Art!" a voice cried out from the end of the alley.

Art looked up fearfully for a moment, pointing his flashlight in the direction of the voice, but his face relaxed once it shined on who it was: a pretty girl with blue hair and red eyes wearing a black tube top, red miniskirt, knee-high red boots, and a red cloak draped around her shoulders, carrying a black leather jacket in her arms. "Susiros, don't scare me like that!"

Susiros gave him a sweet smile as she walked down the alley to him. "Sorry about that, but look," she said, holding up the jacket, "I got this especially for you."

Art stared at the jacket in shock; the last time he'd had clothes as new as that was…never. "Whoa…is that real leather?" he asked, reaching out to touch the jacket.

Susiros pulled it away from his reach. "Yes, but you can't have it just yet. First you have to complete the little task that I've put before you."

Art's eyes became rather saddened. He looked down at his sketch pad and said, "Susiros…I don't know if I can do it…I mean, I know I have that gift, but…"

"But you're having a little trouble actually using it, right?" Susiros finished.

Art nodded, not daring to look up into her eyes.

Susiros shook her head. "Art, Art, Art…It's not really all that hard to use something that's yours. C'mon, now," she pointed down at the sketchpad. "You try to focus on that power inside of you and use it to bring this particular drawing to life."

"Uh…" Art stared down at his lit-up drawing. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

Susiros laughed. "It's just a lion, Art-trust me, we can handle it."

Art looked down at the drawing. He shut his eyes and focused intently on sending something-he wasn't quite sure what-down to the sketchpad.

Slowly, a strange, warm sensation came up from within him, flowed through his arms, and down into the pad. The page glowed with a white, magical light that shot up in a stream which jumped right off of it, the drawing still intact, and landed right in front of the two.

Art opened his eyes and stared in shock at the light as it shifted form and became an actual lion with golden fur and a tan, flowing mane. "I…I did it!" he cried out as the lion stretched and opened its mouth wide, revealing sharp teeth perfect for ripping through flesh.

The lion turned and stared directly at the people in the alley. Its eyes appeared to narrow and a small growl came out of its mouth.

"Uh…wait…" he said, staring in fear as the lion knelt and prepared to pounce. "How do I get rid of it?"

Susiros rolled her eyes and muttered, "Amateur." She ripped the drawing of the lion out of his sketchpad and tore it up into pieces.

Right as the lion jumped for them, it suddenly vanished into midair.

Art stared at the space where the lion had vanished, gasping for breath. "Dear gods…" he panted.

"Calm down, Art," Susiros shook her head. "You should be thrilled, anyway-now that you know how to do this, you can finally take down those brats who have been putting me and my boyfriend through such terrible, terrible times…" She let a small tear drop from her eye.

Art looked at her sadly. "Have things really been that bad for you?"

"Oh, yes…with those guys around, it's just impossible for us to make our world into the perfect one we've always dreamed of…" She buried her face in her hands and started sniffling.

"Hey, it'll be okay," Art said, gently stroking her back. "I think I've got something which could help you." He flipped through his pad until he came to one particular sketch. "Here we go," he said, shining his flashlight down on the page

Susiros lifted up her face and gazed down at the lit-up sketch. It was of a man and a woman standing back-to-back with one another, arms folded and eyes glaring. He was wearing a skin-tight body suit of black leather which looked as though it was going to burst from holding bulging muscles underneath, grey gloves, a grey utility belt, and grey leather boots. She wore a similar suit of black leather, except sleeveless, with grey gloves that went up to her elbows, a more slender grey utility belt, and knee-high grey boots. Both of them wore black satin masks over their eyes.

She blinked. "They look…interesting."

"They're superheroes," he replied.

"Uh…" Susiros stared.

"Oh, I know they look rather strange, but that's because they're based off of American ones," he explained. "I think it's interesting, reading those comic books and seeing just how different their heroes are from ours-more of these weird costumes, more realistic looking drawings, more of a clear cut line between good vs. evil…I figure that they if they view those kids as nothing but the enemy, then they should be more willing to take them down than anyone ever would be."

"Oh, I dunno about that…" Susiros murmured.

"What was that?"

"Oh, nothing. Now then, my dear Art…bring these two to life, and have them take down the pests once and for all…"