There are certain heroes who are the stuff of legends. Their powers are incredible. They just had the misfortune to wind up in DC's arms and get mushed into a quick muscle bound moron. This is my way of creating a new legacy. Welcome to the Marvel-ized DC heroes. These are non-OC OC's that exist in the Marvel universe.

Light of Hope

Gerald Levine was not what any sane person would pick for a hero. Gary was sixteen, moody, and constantly depressed. He listened to music by Marilyn Manson, and Voltaire, and other such artists. He wore black consistently. He wore make-up to darken his pale features. His clothes were adorned with metal studs and barbs. He was an airport security officer's worst nightmare and a standard issue high school Goth.

In fact if you asked around, no one would have anything good to say about Gerald. He had no friends, his family was worried about him, and he frightened his own teachers. But there was one thing he had done, one decent thing, in his life that had made him, for just one moment a hero. When he was ten, before the leather and metal of his Goth period, he knew a girl, her name was Sarah. He was playing in the snow one day and she was out on the pond skating. She fell through a hole in the ice. Gerald immediately leapt up and rushed to the spot. He thrust both hands into the icy water and began to pull her out. She couldn't work her way out and the hole was quickly freezing over. So he had to sit there holding her head above the freezing water while an adult came and helped. They were both fine, except for a cold. She gave him a kiss and said he was a hero.

Things went down hill after his father's drinking got out of hand. His father started beating his mother, but she had the sense to file for a divorce immediately. That was when he began to change. He about the time his father got violent, Sarah Southers, the girl he had saved, moved away. It was as if she had taken a piece of his heart with her. He began to hate the world, the stupid violence that it caused, he began to fall into depression. He began to go dark.

It was when he was five months, three days, after his sixteenth birthday. To be more specific it was October eleventh. He was walking out of school when he saw Donovan Corbin and a couple of the other jocks from the football team circled around a freshman. "Give it up!" he heard them jeer at the boy.

One finally grasped the freshman and Donovan said, "This is how it works. I run the school, and you pay me for the privilege. Now fork over whatever you have. Cash, cell, food, I don't care, just give it up."

Suddenly he found himself with a very sharp blade pressed to his throat. The blade was a switch knife. The knife was held by Gerald. "Let him go," Gerald growled gutturally. "or you all get to see what the inside of his throat looks like."

Donovan spat back at Gerald as his buddies tossed the kid aside, "You freak, what are you doing? This has nothing to do with you!"

"You are pathetic," was Gerald's simple answer as he walked away. He was one of the few skateboarders at school who actually locked his board to the rack. No one ever dared mess with it for two reasons; one they were afraid of him, and two recognizing it was no problem. You see the board was covered in unique hand drawn and markered designs. Gerald was an artist.

His art was not pleasant or appealing. It was dark, it was sharp, it was harsh, and it was usually bloody.

After this he was fairly sure he would get picked up by the police, wouldn't be the first time. He didn't care. He continued his walk home which was now a lonely walk. He lived in an area that no longer had any kids, it used to have Sarah, but she had moved. So his was a lonely walk. That was when he began to feel dizzy. Then he lost all consciousness.

When he regained consciousness he took stock of his surroundings. The area was black and featureless. In fact if he didn't feel a floor beneath his body, he'd swear he were floating. There was nothing there that showed a horizon. He felt as if he were on a black piece of paper. Then he noticed the only other thing there; a man. The man was old and possessed a knowing look.

"Good to finally make your acquaintance Gerald," said the old man.

"Who the hell are you?" he said, then looked around again, "And for that matter, where the hell am I?"

"You are in a place I prepared for you." The old man seemed to sound nice, but Gerald felt something was being held back. not shown. "You see Gerald, I have an offer to make to you, and please listen well. I offer you the adventure you have always dreamed of, and the power to do great things, but there is a catch."

"Isn't there always," Gerald said sourly.

"The catch is that you must follow the purpose you hold in your heart. You must use your power for good. Your adventure will lead you to be a hero. You will be the light of hope for those trapped within darkness, your luminescence will banish away the shadows of evil, you will."

"I get it." Gerald was terse.

"In short you will be a lantern. In fact you will be a Green Lantern."

"Say what?" Gerald said beginning to walk around.

"I will give you a Lantern which can power a ring. The ring will allow you to manifest your will through a green energy."

Gerald sorted through his mumbo jumbo to realize what he was saying. "So what is the trick? What is the catch?"

"Only this. Every twenty four hours you must recharge the ring. Now the ring can summon the lantern but if the ring is out of power, you cannot use the lantern to summon the ring." The old man seemed very strict about this.

"And you want me to do it why?" he asked.

"Because you are a diamond, or rather, an emerald in the ruff. You have the soul of a hero. This is your destiny."

"But why me, there must be others more qualified."

"But none," the man said opening his hand to Gerald, "are destined for this." In the old man's palm was a ring. It was grayish green from dust and didn't seem all that special.

It felt so natural to Gerald to take the ring and put it on. It fit perfectly on his center finger, but it rubbed against a ring on his index finger which looked like Satan. Gerald slipped off the Satan ring. "I don't feel any different." He said.

"there is an incantation, a spell" explained the old man. "It will also serve as an oath. Do not speak it lest you mean it." Said the old man.

He began to recite; "In Brightest day, in darkest night; no evil shall escape my sight, lit by Green Lantern's light!"

Gerald felt the ring grow warm and, almost without thinking he began to whisper. "In brightest day, In darkest night; No evil shall escape my sight, lit by Green Lantern's light!"

He felt a jolt go through his body. When it ended he definitely felt different. He looked down at himself and found he was dressed differently. Before he had been wearing a black T shirt that read, "I hear voices, and they don't like you", black jeans, and a black leather jacket, and high tops he had markered black.

Now he was dressed in a white ruffley-chested shirt under a Emerald green vest. He wore Black pants with black boots, such as one might find on a pirate. He also wore an emerald green leather jacked covered in studs that looked to be made of emeralds themselves. He could feel the energy the old man had spoke of earlier.

The old man looked at him and said, "By speaking the incantation, you have accepted the responsibility."

"I know."

"Go, then and do good" Said the old man, and Gerald was returned to the real world. Meanwhile in the strange world the Beyonder said to himself, "Now to set the other side of the board."

Back on earth, Gerald came to in the woods where he was walking home. He thought perhaps it had been a dream, till he saw the lantern beside him, and the ring on his hand. Now would begin his adventure. Greater, and more incredible than he could ever imagine.