The League of Legends

Base of Operations: Legendary Headquarters, or their airborne team vehicle, The Vigilant Regular/Current Roster: The Crimson Comet (courageous dynamo), Impulse (gruff electro kinetic bio weapon), She-Beast (apish powerhouse and acrobat), Riptide (hydrokinetic control freak), Dragonfire (sagely alien with power over and the ability to absorb fire), The Grey Genie (crafty gypsy and expert sorceress), Thunderfist (Native American whose fists create supersonic waves of sound), Menagerie (lively animal mimic)

Former Members: Justice (healer and force fields, killed in action), Rose Red/Rosemarie LeFleur (commands plants; retired for age), Quasi (reality warping; left to guard his homeworld), Henrietta (technokinetic intelligent ape; betrayed) Leader: The Crimson Comet

Status: government funded and supported, worldwide crime fighting, largely free of legal confines, heavy government/public surveillance of activities

Begun during World War III as a team of superhumans to fight on the battlefront, the war ended suddenly in 1992 and superhumans were globally banned from military combat. This idea was modified to become a legally monitored and backed team of superheroes meant to be the strongest on the planet. The original roster consisted of the recently subdued rampaging alien, a recently meteor-struck teen, rogue bioweapon for the military, a genetically modified and brillaint ape, and an upright citizen/mother with control over plantlife.

The group was shaky at times and their early work was highly criticized by the media and many state officials. Their chemistry was off, which was mainly blamed on the fact that they were thrown together with no past together, few attachments between them and being put together and taking orders directly from the government, while the few budding team in existence were built out of camaraderie.

Over their first few months, their roster added the dimensional alien Quasi (after a thorough investigation on him) and Justice, a military protestor who was caught in a nuclear testing range. Unease was littered through the group, eventually defeating a giant robot when Crimson Comet noticed a muted but peculiar interest from Henrietta in the machine. He brought it up to the other members, convincing Quasi and Dragonfire to help him follow her after duty. They found her reconstructing it and reprogramming it to her bidding.

Its purpose unclear, the group considered keeping it under wraps for the time being while Quasi directly informed their superiors. Henrietta was approached by officers to be subdued, struggling her way out and unleashing the robot on them. It was again stopped by the League, but it was a dire blow to the group. Comet, having been lately deemed a true leader among the group, led them in speaking against the government’s methods in controlling and recruiting their forces. Their superiors displeased with their rebellion on top of Henrietta’s deviation, and the League was temporarily dropped in 1995.

Left under The Crimson Comet’s solitary command, the group did not wish to abandon their group. They lost their funding and headquarters, working on a far more “street level” than they were used to, and yet how they had begun. It was during these later years that they acquired Riptide, a hydro-kinetic youth recruited with a few heartfelt answers to open questions. Nothing as deep as a background check. Their overall morale and camaraderie grew tremendously during these 11 months, their teamwork, tactics, and inspiringly moral path set by The Crimson Comet at an all-time high.

In 1996, the legion of mad scientists known as S.C.I.E.N.C.E. launched a barrage of experimental missiles on the Whitehouse. Despite their collective efforts, it was the final act of Justice that stopped the assault when she redirected the onslaught into the ocean with her psychic barriers. The immense stress caused her to die of an aneurism shortly after.

President Oswald was quick to respond, personally appearing at Justice’s funeral to negotiate the team’s return in exchange for their support. In the end, the government gained little but an official figurehead for their forces. The group was left largely to their own devices for most of their work, the group officially voting Crimson Comet as their leader, despite being one of the youngest on their team.

Tryouts were held some time later in the spring of ‘97 under the “Who Wants To Be a Superhero?” campaign, where heroes of all sorts were allowed to pursue and be tested for their entry into the league. The League made all official decisions on the finalists, who were then tested in various ways and gradually whittled down by selection done by President Stanley Oswald himself. Both She-Beast and Thunderfist found their way onto the team through the first year’s auditions, and annual additions of Menagerie and Grey Genie during following years.