A group of colorfully costumes men and women waved out to a crowd from a stage in front of a beautiful marble building.
The crowd cheered as a man in a costume of a gray shirt with a rounded square containing the chemical symbol for manganese and black pants stepped up to a podium to begin a speech.
"Welcome ladies and gentlemen, to the 2048 Justice Alliance induction ceremony. I'd like to thank all of you for coming out to show your support of our little band of heroes, and all of you at home for tuning in."
A cheer went up from the crowd, and the man, Manganese, smiled at them.
"As you know, the original purpose of the alliance was to provide a sort of safety net for the heroes amongst its ranks. Should any of us face a threat that is too great for one hero, we'll have allies to call upon for aid. Since those days, it's become something more. A symbol of hope and unity for the world and other heroes.
"This year we welcome three heroes whom we feel embody the ideals we stand for. So without further ado, we present you with this year's Alliance Initiates!"
A woman in a white bodysuit and cape with a prismatic letter "P" on it stepped up beside the man, taking over the speech and introducing the initiates to the crowd.
"Funnel-Web."
A man in a brown spandex suit with black spiderweb designs on the shoulders and hips and the silhouette of a spider's head overlapping his own with large white eyes approached the stage as his name was called. He shook hands with Photon as he took his new Alliance ID card, and golden flight ring from her.
She smiled at him and read the next name.
"Sir Dinadan."
An older man dressed in shining armor came up to the stage and shook hands with her as well, before taking his place beside Funnel-Web.
"Horseman."
This time it was a young man around eighteen who stood up. He wore a brown jacket over a black shirt, a black bandanna to hide his face, and strapped to his right hip (over a faded pair of blue jeans) was a leather holster that held a silver gun. He bumped fists with a girl in a similar outfit of white and blue, and walked up to the stage like the others.
"And lastly, Chromium."
Jonathan stood up, dressed in an all grey jumpsuit with a black bet with a silver buckle. He approached the stage and shook his mother's hand.
He'd waited nearly nine years for this moment, and now that it was here he was beside himself with joy.
"You've earned this." She whispered to him.
He smiled so wide he thought his face might split in two. He saw his fellow sidekicks sitting in the front row waving him on, and felt a small pang of guilt cross his mind. He would apologize to them later, but for now he would just enjoy the moment.
The area began to slowly darken around the stage, as if a cloud had passed over the sun.
Manganese turned to the supers who could control the weather.
"I thought you guys were keeping it clear today?"
Photon began to say a few words to the crowd about each of the new member's accomplishments.
A woman in the crowd looked up at what was casting the shadow and screamed. Everyone else turned to look too, and quickly began dreading what they saw.
A large ship was hovering above the city, panels opened on the sides and released millions of humanoid figures in white and red armor.
The gathered heroes took off with their respective powers and began to fend off the attack.
Manganese took charge immediately.
"Chromium, Thunderstorm! You two set up a safe zone for civilians inside HQ. Grid and Motherboard, these things look mechanical, try and find a weakness. Everyone else, I don't know who these aliens think they're dealing with, but let's show these ET's why they should've stayed home!"
With a mighty battle cry he leapt into the air and grabbed the nearest invader by the collar. He spun around and threw him into a nearby cluster of invaders who were attacking Dinadan.
He then flew to join his wife, who was currently blasting the armored attackers with technicolor beams of light. He rammed into one that was about to get her from behind. Photon grinned at her husband, and the two prepared to take on the next wave.
Meanwhile, Jonathan was running through the city at Mach one looking for any sign of civilians with his infrared and x-ray vision. He spotted one couple about to be crushed by falling debris from the battle above. He sped up and snatched the pair out of the way, not slowing down until he reached the barricade in front of the Alliance HQ. He set them down and motioned towards the door.
"You should be safe here."
They nodded and thanked him before running inside.
He was about to take off again, when a blue and red blur went hurtling past his head. He looked at where it landed and recognized the figure of Thunderstorm rising from the ground next to a small dent in the wall. He sped over and helped her up.
"Are you okay?"
She snorted at the question. "Not the first wall I've been thrown into."
A low growl came from behind them and they turned to face it.
A four armed figure standing eight feet tall and dressed in all black armor was charging at them. They tried to dodge him, but his arms shot out and brought them into each other. Hard.
Thunderstorm was knocked out cold, and Jonathan could feel the telltale fog of a concussion in his own mind. He tried to hit the creature with a photon blast, but it just dodged and brought its fist down hard on Jonathan's face, knocking him unconscious.
Jonathan stared at the ceiling as he lay prone on the ground. He felt cold and disoriented, and for some strange reason he could no longer see outside of the visible light spectrum. He recognised the sensation of his hair being pushed to the side of his face in a motion he'd felt numerous times throughout his childhood.
"They captured us. This cell must have something that dampens our powers, I can't project through the window, or tunnel through the door."
He recognized the voice as his mother's, and realized his head was being cradled in her lap.
"And I can't manipulate the door." Said his father, Manganese, from behind them.
Jonathan shook his head trying to clear his mind.
"What do they want?"
"An excellent question." Said a voice from outside. "Let me explain."
A man in a black bodysuit with purple highlights running along the sides of his torso and outer thighs, with a dark blue cape trailing behind him, and a black helmet with a purple visor strode into the hall between the cells.
"My name is Norra Sullecram, I run an organization that is dedicated to accessing the creation of all things. Unfortunately, doing this will require a substantial amount of power, so I have scoured the omniverse in search of powerful beings.
"Congratulations, I've chosen your world to aid in that goal."
He made a motion with the large battle axe in his left hand. Screens appeared on the walls of the cells, showing the planet below. A large beam of orange light hurtled towards the Earth. A blinding flash emanated from the planet, and when it subsided nothing remained.
The heroes stood in silence, some fell to their knees, others stood frozen in place, but all were to scared to say anything.
Suddenly a roar came from Manganese and he charged the door. There was an ear splitting noise as the metal was torn apart and two of the world's most powerful heroes were freed.
Manganese charged at Norra intent on taking him out, while Photon made for the cell controls and released the remaining supers.
They rushed from their prisons to help their friend, but stopped short as they saw his body hit the floor.
The man in purple removed his axe from Manganese's skull and absorbed the silver aura that was released from the wound through the purple gemstone that sat in his axe head. He smirked at them and motioned towards himself tauntingly.
The heroes charged, filled with righteous fury at the death of their friend, and their planet. Many were prepared to break their vows of non lethality for the atrocities they'd just witnessed, others swore to let him live so that they could inflict such pain on him for the rest of his life.
Regardless of their intent for him the man stood with confidence, he knew it didn't matter
The battle was over in seconds, and the axe wielder stood amongst the hundreds of corpses that now lined the hall between himself and Jonathan. Fear coursed through every inch of the boy's body before he turned and ran out of the room. He didn't know where he was going, he just wanted to get away.
He moved through halls and quantum tunneled through walls until he could run no further. He stumbled and landed in front of a console that was connected to an orb of pulsating energy in a tube.
"Now now, let's not be a spoilsport."
The man had somehow followed him. He swaggered towards Jonathan with a hungry gleam in his visor.
"After all, I only save the most rewarding kills for last."
With a crazy glint in his eye, Norra hurtled his axe at Jonathan with to deal the killing blow. But Jonathan ducked and the weapon smashed into the console instead.
"What have you done!?" Shouted Norra.
The sadistic man fled the battle, as sirens began blaring throughout the room.
Somewhere, Jonathan heard a gunshot ring out, and a loud yell. He saw bodies in white and red fall from the catwalks above him, and idly thought he was glad to be taking some of these monsters with him.
There was blinding flash of red light, and then, nothing.
Howdy Y'all! I'm back. I took a long time to look at the characters I wanted to write about, and the characters I think could work within the context of the RWBY universe, and I think this is going to be a good fit. I have no idea if I'll actually manage to keep this one alive, but I think it'll be a story I'm comfortable leaving up.
I'm considering making a companion piece to this ala WoR to give background to Jonathan's world, so if Y'all are interested speak up.
If you have any advice for how I can improve my writing style, please let me know. Thank you for reading, and I'll talk to Y'all next time.