LexCorp's latest project was a beautiful piece of design, nothing like it had ever been seen before, a sleek piece of design, with no wings, lifted entirely by an anti-gravity unit to allow it to leave the atmosphere. Designed to allow humanity to explore the stars even beyond the Moon, it was about to leave on it's first tripulated test flight.
"Everything's ready, Mr. Luthor." said one of the technicians in the control tower.
"Excellent," said Lex before turning to his assistant, "what about the press, Mercy?"
"All major tv stations and newspapers are here Mr. Luthor, from the Daily Globe to the Daily Star."
"Excellent, begin the launch."
And so, the spaceship began to ascend towards the sky, on its maiden voyage. Everything seemed perfectly fine, however, as soon as it was about to leave the atmosphere all of it's systems suddenly turned off and it began to descend.
"What's going on?" asked an angry Luthor to one of his scientists.
"I-I don't know sir, it's systems suddenly stopped working."
"Fix it!"
"From here?"
"If you want to keep your job, you'll find a way to do it!"
As the experimental spacecraft kept falling towards Earth, it suddenly stopped. It quickly became clear that someone had stopped it. That someone was a tall, well muscled man wearing blue and red thighs with an "S" shield on the center. A red cape hung from his neck and fluttered magnificently on the wind as he gently brought the spacecraft down, beautiful blue eyes framed a smile that would've made anyone trust him.
"You're safe now" he said to the spacecraft pilots before flying off.
"It's amazing! If I hadn't seen it I wouldn't believe it!" said a reporter "One man managed to save LexCorp's experimental spaceship! Could this be the first of a new group of mystery men like those who fought on World War-
The transmission was suddenly cut off, leaving behind a teenager's bedroom with two dark haired youths standing on it.
"Are you really watching that again, Rokk?" asked the younger of the two. "I don't see what's so interesting about it."
"You don't see what's so-" said Rokk, dumbfounded, "It's Superman's debut, Pol! The beginning of the Second Heroic Age! Without him history would be nothing like we know it! I doubt as many heroes would've appeared without him as an inspiration! It's impossible to imagine the JLA forming without him! His ideals paved the way for the formation of the United Planets!"
"Yeah, yeah, I know. You've said this so many times I've got it memorized" said his younger brother "Anyways, you usually watch it before a game, but you haven't even left the planet."
"Ah well, it's just that the finals will be on Metropolis and I got too excited so I wanted to watch it before leaving." said the older teen, "Speaking of which, I better get going before the spaceship leaves without me, don't touch my 21st Century holomodels while I'm gone."
And so, Rokk Krinn left Braal just to play in the Magno Ball finals, but he would find much more than he could've ever imagined there on Earth.
The Lightning Beasts surrounded them, there was no escape for him or his siblings. If only he hadn't agreed to go out for a joyride with Mekt, if only he hadn't had that stupid idea of recharging their ship with the Lightning Beasts' electricity. But it was too late to think of any of that now, the monsters' tusks surged with energy and-
A red haired teenager woke up in a cold sweat.
"That dream again, huh?" he said to himself and got off his bed before walking to his window "Are you out there somewhere, Mekt? Well, I'll find you and bring you back home."
With that said he changed out of his pajamas and prepared some things to take with him before opening the window.
"Garth, what are you doing?" asked a sleepy voice.
"Ayla? Did I wake you up?"
"Yes, but that doesn't answer my question."
"I had that dream again."
"The one with the Lightning Beasts?" his sister asked "Where we-"
"Yes, that one, and I'm tired of it."
"So?"
"So I'm gonna go look for Mekt, he's out there somewhere and he's our older brother. Even with these powers," he said as electricity crackled on his fist "he could still end up biting more than he can chew."
"But Garth-"
"Don't try to stop me, Ayla."
"I was gonna ask if you have any idea of where to start searching."
"...oh"
"Yeah, I hear Earth is a pretty popular destination for a lot of people, you could start there"
"Thanks sis, cover for me with mom and dad please."
And so, Garth Ranzz left Winath to search for his brother, but he would find much more than he could've ever imagined there on Earth.
"Is this seat taken?"
Those were the words that roused Rokk from his half asleep state.
"Not at all, go ahead."
"Thanks, Garth Ranzz." the redhead introduced himself.
"Rokk Krinn," the Braalian answered, "going to Earth too?"
"Yeah, going to look for my brother," the Winathian said, "what about you?"
"Gonna play in the Magno Ball finals, if my team wins this, me and my family will never have to worry about money again." he said clenching a fist "Besides, I always wanted to see Earth."
"Really? Why?"
"Well, it's where most of the heroes of the Heroic Ages came from, even now, while not having had superheroes in centuries, they still have some pretty important people." he said as he noticed someone coming aboard "Like R.J. Brande, did you know he is the richest person in the galaxy."
Just as he said, an old, heavyset man boarded the spaceship, he was accompanied by a blonde with pointed ears and pink eyes wearing pink and a dark-skinned girl with three colored hair and eyes wearing purple.
"Actually," said Rokk, "that guy looks a lot like R.J. Brande."
Rokk's eyes widened in surprise as he took a closer look at the new passenger.
"Oh damn, he is R.J. Brande!"
"Please pay no attention," the aforementioned man said "today I'm just another passenger like you."
"Honestly," said Garth, "I'm more interested in that cutie with him, she's pretty sprocking hot."
"Don't even think about it." said the blonde girl as she passed by him.
"Should've paid more attention, Garth." said his companion, "See that insignia? Means she's from Titan, therefore-"
"A mind reader! Grife, I'm so embarrassed, she must think I'm some horndog."
"Don't worry about it, I'm sure she deals with a lot of that, she'll forget it eventually" the Magno Ball player reassured his seatmate, "besides, you'll have it easier than I'd do, Titanians and Braalians haven't exactly gotten along, historically speaking."
"Speaking of history, why don't you tell me a bit more about that whole 'Heroic Age' thing you mentioned earlier. That sounded interesting."
"With pleasure! I love that part of history! You see, the first Heroic Age started a little before what humans call World War II with a man called the Crimson Avenger..."
"...and as it turned out, the Cyborg Superman was actually Hank Henshaw, remember him? I'm pretty sure I mentioned him earlier, and-" Rokk was then interrupted by the ship reaching Earth.
By this point, Garth had gotten so bored that he had never been so happy at a spaceship landing before.
"Gotta say, Rokk, you must be the nerdiest sportsman I've ever known."
"I'll take that as a compliment." he said as they both unboarded the ship, alongside the other passengers.
One of which, Mr. Brande, was met by a pair of men.
"Mr. Brande," said one of those men, "we wanted to welcome you back to Earth."
"Yeah, it's been a while since you've been here," the other said as they both reached into their coats, "and we wanted to give you a welcome back present."
"Mr Brande!" shouted the blonde girl with him as she tackled him to the ground, barely avoiding a pair of laser shots.
"So close! But we won't miss a second time!" said one of the two men, angrily, as he pressed the gun trigger a second time.
And nothing happened. So he did it again. And again. And again.
"What's going on?"
"That's what happens when a Braalian stops the metal in the mechanisms from moving. Now, why don't we relieve you of these hunks of metal?" said Rokk as he stretched his hands out, making the guns float in the air.
Next to him, the red haired Winathian smirked. Pointing his arm at the now disarmed men.
"Not bad Rokk, my turn!" said Garth as he sent lightning at the men, shocking them into unconsciousness.
"Are you ok, Mr Brande?" asked the Braalian.
"Yes, thank you young man." said the billionaire, "It seems you were right... Imra, was it? I did need some SciPol escort. I'll have to thank Luornu for insisting I agree. I wonder why they attacked me?"
"I'll call for some more SciPol to get them in jail, as soon as they're conscious I'll be able to read their minds to find out." said the newly identified Imra.
"Very well, now, I'd like to know the names of my other two saviours."
"Rokk Krinn, sir."
"Garth Ranzz."
"I'll be sure to remember those names, as soon as I get home I'll send you both a reward."
"Oh, there's no need for that, sir." said Rokk.
"Yeah, we were just doing the right thing. I like to think any good person would have done the same"
"And humble too," said the only human present "in that case, let's get going Luornu." he said to the dark skinned girl that was with him. "Are you coming, Imra?"
"I'll stay here keeping an eye on the two men."
"Suit yourself." Brande said as he left with his secretary.
"Well, I'd love to stay and chat but I've got stuff to do here on Earth," said the Winathian, "good luck on your game, Rokk." he added as he left.
"Thanks, good luck on finding your brother."
The Magno Ball player then turned to leave but only walked a few meters before he was stopped by a voice calling out to him.
"Wait!"
He turned around to see the owner of the voice was a very pale girl around his age, with black hair done in a tall bouffant , wearing black clothes and sunglasses.
"I just wanted to say it was pretty great how you saved Brande." said the girl
"Thanks, uhh..."
"Lydda, Lydda Jath. I've always been a big fan, but I didn't know you could be so heroic."
"Well, I guess that means you'll be supporting me in the finals."
"Of course! I never miss one of your games."
"Well, if you want to, you can look for me after the game and I'll autograph something for you."
"That'd be great! See you then?"
"Of course."
"And Rokk Krinn scores!" said a slug-like announcer "Winning this game and the championship for his team!"
"It is only logical he gets to make the winning shot!" added his fellow announcer "After all, it was his leading that let his team get this far!"
After leaving the field and hitting the showers, Rokk went to meet with the girl from earlier to give her the autograph but instead he came across one of the two girls who were with Brande, the dark-skinned one, whose hair was now completely white, as were her eyes.
"Rokk Krinn? Mr. Brande wants to see you."
"I already told him I didn't need a reward. Especially not now that I have the cash price."
"It's not about that, have you ever felt you were meant for something more? Have you ever wanted to help people? Have you ever wanted to be-"
"Like Superman?" interrupted the Magno Ball champion.
"Something like that," said the dark-skinned girl with a smile, "I guess you're in, come with me."
And so Rokk did.
Garth Rannz found himself being punched into the wall of a bar.
"So you think you can just barge in here and start asking questions?" said a muscular, pig-like alien. "What are you? SciPol? Some detective?"
"Nothing," he answered, "I'm just looking for my brother!"
"Yeah, right!" the alien said as he and some other bar patrons converged on the Winathian, "Like we're gonna believe that!"
Before Garth could discharge the lightning he had been gathering on his hand, a hooded girl barged in.
"Everyone! There's a Science Police raid coming!"
"You got lucky, kid!" said the barfly as he left the place with everyone else.
"Are you ok?" asked the girl, removing the hood to show she was the girl that had been with Brande, only her hair and eyes were now purple.
"I could've taken them." said Garth as he stood up and dusted himself off.
"Sure you could've, follow me." answered the girl, "Who knows? You could find a clue on your brother, or you could even find something better."
Intrigued, the Winathian followed the girl.
"You know what I don't get Sea- Svaughn?" asked a SciPol officer, "Why are we still letting Titanians in after what happened with Eve?"
"Careful," answered the redhead he was talking to, "she might hear you, or your thoughts."
Hearing this, made Imra break her concentration as she tried to read Brande's assailants' minds, leaving her unable to do it.
"Agh, let's try again." she said as her eyes began glowing pink once again.
As she managed to enter the hitmen's minds she discovered something that made her gasp.
"Imra Ardeen," said the girl that had been with Brande, her hair and eyes now orange, "I'm here to-"
"There's no time!" said the Titanian "Brande's in danger, take me to him!"
And so, the dark skinned girl did.
"Sadly, we'll have to tell Mr. Bolto we'll have to check his background before funding him," said R.J. Brande to his business partner, "that criminal record of his worries me."
"Oh, you know how Venusians are," answered Doyle as he reached for something in his jacket, "talking to a non-Venusian for a minute is enough to get you a criminal record there."
"Yes, I suppose you have a poin-"
Brande was cut off by the surprise of seeing his partner pinned to the wall by his wristwatch brandishing a gun.
"You were right, Imra," said Rokk, who had just arrived alongside Garth, Imra and three near exact copies of the same girl, "Doyle was the one who hired them."
"What?" exclaimed a shocked Brande, "But why?"
"This company is the only one to have the technology to make stargates, as well as to create suns or destroy them, do you have any idea the kind of money people would pay to have that power?"
"Money that he needed to pay his gambling debts," said Imra, eyes glowing pink as she read his mind.
"Well," said Garth, "I guess it doesn't really matter anymore. I doubt debt collectors can reach where he's going."
"Indeed." agreed the Titanian, slapping cuffs on the mastermind "Roderick Doyle, you are under arrest for conspiracy to commit murder and for attempted murder. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can be used against you in-"
"Oh save it," interrupted the businessman "if you brats think this is the end you're dead wrong! I'll just get out, get plastic surgery, get my old- AGH!"
"Shut up." said Garth, having just shocked Doyle into unconsciousness "Now what?"
"Now, I'll call SciPol backup to have Doyle dragged off to jail." answered the Titanian.
"You know," said Rokk "with how frantic things were I didn't notice before, but I'm not seeing triple, am I?"
"Oh no," said one of the dark-skinned girls as the other two converged into her, "you're just seeing a Carggite. Now, Mr. Brande, wasn't there something you wanted to show them?"
"Indeed, thanks for the reminder Luornu." he said as he pressed a button on his desk, revealing a door leading to a darkened room, "Go in, and then I'll tell you why I had Luornu bring you three here."
Confused, the three youths nonetheless stepped through the door.
For a moment, the trio saw nothing but darkness, until a light shined, illumination a mannequin of a green-skinned, red-eyed bald man, wearing nothing but a pair of blue boots, trunks, a pair of red suspenders in an x-shape and a blue cape.
"That's the Martian Manhunter!" said Rokk getting close to the glass display the figure was in, "One of the Core Seven of the JLA, last survivor of Mars transported to Earth during a human experiment! He became a detective, hunted down the Idol Head of Diabolu and infiltrated VULTURE to destroy it from the inside!"
A second light revealed the mannequin of a blond-haired bearded man, wearing green pants and gloves and an orange scale-patterned shirt. While his left hand was replaced with a harpoon his right hand wielded a trident.
"Aquaman, Prince, and later King, of Atlantis," continued the Braalian, "born from an atlantean and a human, he ruled over the seas and fought people like his brother Ocean Master and Black Manta, you know, no one's ever been able to discover why the later one hated him so much."
"Problems with his sibling?" said Garth, "I can relate."
A third light showed a brown-haired man, in a glowing green uniform, with a domino-mask hiding his eyes.
"That's a Green Lantern," noted Imra, "they haven't been seen around this Sector in years."
"Not just any Green Lantern!" said Rokk, unable to contain his excitement any longer, "THE Green Lantern, Hal Jordan! He faced Sinestro when he betrayed the Lanterns, was possessed by Parallax, became the Specter, God's Wrath, to redeem himself and came back better than ever! Though historians still debate on who was the greatest human Green Lantern, him, Stewart, Rayner some people have soft spots for Cruz or Baz and some fringe guys really like Gardner, for some reason."
A fourth light revealed a man in a red bodysuit covering even his face, with lightning accents.
"And who can talk of Earth Green Lanterns without talking about their usual best friend the Flash! The Fastest Man Alive! One of the greatest examples of the legacy heroes! From Garrick to Allen to West! Some say Allen's wife Iris West was born this century, some even say he will come here to live with her after discovering his arch-enemy Professor Zoom the Reverse Flash didn't actually kill her."
A fifth light revealed a woman with long black hair wearing what looked to be an armored one piece with a red and gold pattern on the top and blue with a star pattern on the bottom, completing the ensemble were a golden lasso at her hip, two silver bracers and a golden tiara.
"Wonder Woman, Princess Diana of Themyscira, left the island as an ambassador to what they called Man's World, wielding the Lasso of Truth, she became one of the greatest heroines Earth has ever known! She tended to try and reason with her enemies to reform them, even if nowadays she's remembered mostly for having been a warrior who killed when she had to."
A sixth light showed a man in a bat-themed blue and grey suit.
"Batman, actually, not much is known about him nowadays, just that he protected the lost city of Gotham as was known as part of what people call the Trinity alongside Wonder Woman and-"
A seventh and final light showed an exact reproduction of the man Rokk had seen countless times in holo-recreations."
"Superman..."
"No need to explain this one to us, Rokk." said Garth, "Even if he wasn't a legend in the United Planets, I certainly would know after hearing you geek out in the plane."
"The Last Son of Krypton, the Man of Steel, the Man of Tomorrow," added Imra "rocketed to Earth as an infant so he would survive the destruction of his planet, given powers by Earth's lower gravity and its yellow Sun."
"Raised on Smallville by Jonathan and Martha Kent, who instilled on him the ideals that would one day inspire the formation of the United Planets." continued the Winathian.
"Founding member of the JLA and the reason the Second Heroic Age ever started." finished Rokk, "Eventually, he just disappeared, some say he now lives in the Sun, what's certain is that he's the greatest hero the universe has ever known."
"But why is Mr. Brande showing this to us?" asked the Titanian.
"Isn't it obvious?" said the man in question, appearing as all lights went on, showing a countless amount of herois "I want you three to be the first of a new Heroic Age."
"But, why us, sir?" asked the Braalian.
"Why not? You three have shown you have the powers AND the heroism needed to do it, only thing you really need to start is some funding, which I'm willing to give." answered the older man, "Just imagine, three youngster all of different races, coming together to show the values Superman had that inspire us nowadays."
"You want us to be a publicity stunt?" asked the Winathian.
"No, I want you three to be a new inspiration in these troubled times. What do you say? Do you want to form the Legion of Super Heroes?"
The trio needed no more than a minute to think about it. They looked at each other and smiled.
And so, a day later, Rokk, Garth and Imra found themselves standing in front of each other. Rokk was now wearing a pink and black form-fitting outfit, with four white circles on his chest, he was also wearing a glass helmet. Garth wore a red shirt with yellow sleeves and two lightning bolts on the chest alongside purple pants and red gloves. Finally, Imra wore a green skirt and a black and yellow shirt with an image of Saturn on its chest alongside green gloves. The three of them raised their right hands and said:
"To the Legion of Super Heroes, I make this solemn pledge: to use my powers for good. To fight for justice and to protect the innocent. To aid my fellow Legionnaires in times of peril and to keep their secrets safe."
"I am Cosmic Boy."
"I am Lightning Lad."
"I am Saturn Girl."
And so the Legion of Super Heroes was born.