Invasion [Dick]

[Superman]

Players: Superman, New Krypton, Nightwing [Chris Kent], Larfleeze, and his orange constructs.
Location(s): Planet New Krypton
Plot Summary: Having been made aware of New Krypton's existence and the prizes that await him there, Larfleeze mounts a large scale invasion of the planet.

The darkness of space grew just a bit brighter as waves and waves of orange bodies flew through the cosmos, at the helm their fearless and greed stricken leader; Larfleeze. His orange lantern dangled in the grip of one hand as his other pointed out ahead of him leading the charge through Sector 2814 and toward Earth. That planet that seemed to be of much interest to the Guardians of the Universe lately was of no concern of Larfleeze's. A kind stranger had told him of another place, a bountiful place that could be all Larfleeze's and all he had to do was kill one puny man in tights and a red cape.

Agent Orange's army of constructs flooded through space like angry ocean waves, rushing over every planet in its path without slowing or stopping even once. As the glow of the system's yellow sun came into view Larfleeze's snout broke into a greedy little grin. His hand bearing the single orange ring in the universe waved through the air and immediately nearly half of his force broke off and split from the rest of the group. Larfleeze's ring quickly created more hard light soldiers in their absence.

The orange trope's shadows befell Earth and nearly ate the entire planet up, but Larfleeze was careful to only leave their shadow for but a moment. Their destination, just on the other side of the sun, lay in wait unsuspecting and free for the taking. Agent Orange slowed, his body taking a more upright posture as he floated high above the new Kryptonian homeworld. Orange flames melted off his body and rolled through the dark vacuum. The waves of pure avarice commanded his squad of creations and without hesitation the constructs moved into position to flank the lone city that sat atop New Krypton.

Down on the recently regrown capitol of New Krypton a modest man by the name of Tok-En, member of the Labor Guild, took time out of his busy schedule to enjoy the sunshine the day had to offer him. Tok was dressed in the flowing casual Kryptonian wear and a baseball cap on his head. Prior to Alura getting Kandor onto New Krypton the man had spent time on Earth and he was one of the few who had enjoyed it. Baseball was an interesting sport and he became a large fan of the game almost instantly. Sometimes he'd stand out on the balcony of his home and with the incredible hearing Kryptonians had near a yellow sun he'd listen to the baseball games down on Earth.

Tok-En stopped what he was doing in his garden and let his eyelids fall, and began to listen for the sounds coming from Yankee stadium. Instead what he got was an earful of explosion and a faceful of dirt. Thrown to the ground Tok struggled to stand, his eyes barely focused as he glanced upward. All that the Kryptonian could see was the vibrant color orange, seemingly pouring right out of the sky above.

[Batman]

Sleep was an indulgence and a hobby rather than a requirement for Lor-Zod. Ever since he had become Nightwing he had found himself dealing with all types of responsibilities. What made it worse was that he had several responsibilities on both New Krypton and Earth. He was literally a man who split his time between two planets every day. As stressful as it was he wouldn’t have it any other way. He basically helped root out Kryptonian terrorist sleeper agents out of Earth while training himself in Kryptonian culture with Alura on New Krypton. If he had to choose he still wasn’t sure what planet he would dedicate his time to. Would he train to become the next leader of New Krypton or defend Earth? Alura had made it clear that he would have to decide one day but for now Lor-Zod was simply going to do his best to be a man of two worlds.

Sleep claimed Lor-Zod and he was snoring so noisily that the blanket he had smothered himself in floated off of his body every few moments. Lor-Zod didn’t notice. He was practically dead to the world. He was in so deep sleep that he very well might have slept through the invasion. The explosions and screams of terror hardly woke him. The sound of the ground quaking underneath his bed didn’t exactly do the trick either. What did wake him up was when the entire wall to the left of him exploded. The crystallized metal expanded inwards and the concussive force of the blast knocked Lor-Zod clear off of his bed, through the wall and on the ground. He opened his eyes suddenly and quickly covered his face as debris showered upon his face. Lor-Zod then struggled to his feet, clad only in boxers and socks. “Oh no…” He murmured as he stared up at the sky. He couldn’t even see the sun, the whole skin was a dull orange.

Lor-Zod desperately hoped that his powers were going to be sapped away due to the yellow sun being blocked out by the hazy orange. Yet as Lor-Zod stared up at the sky he started to realize it wasn’t a haze. His microscopic vision told him that these were constructs that were about to lay waste to the city! Lor-Zod uttered a Kryptonian curse and without as much as dressing he rocketed off towards the sky. As he flew he summoned his powers of shadow and with no more than a gesture grabbed two orange constructs and hurled them down at the ground below. As he turned his attention back to the orange mass he suddenly found himself surrounded by armed fiends who slashed, stabbed and scratched at him. Lor-Zod quickly destroyed them with a blast of heat vision before he turned and noticed a lizard like creature wielding a lantern.

Lor-Zod’s eyes narrowed. He knew what was happening now. He was well aware of the Green Lantern mythos and it just so happened that there were other armies who used similar weapons. He wasn’t sure what orange represented but he knew it couldn’t be good. Lor-Zod turned and angled his body towards Lor-Zod before he flew straight at him. He opened his arms wide and attempted to grab the lizard creature in a crushing bear hug before rocketing down to the surface below at sonic speed.

[Superman]

The orange constructs rained down over New Krypton like a storm of aggression that was completely unprovoked. Though the inhabitants of New Krypton were vastly strong thanks to the yellow sun near their planet, this surprise invasion had caught them all off guard. Beings composed completely of orange energy terrorized the streets, scooping up kryptonians here and there and taking fights to the mammoth skyscrapers as well. The attacking agents of Larfleeze's all worked in waves, none of the constructs splitting up and working on their own. Larfleeze knew the kryptonians were incredibly strong and resilient, thus they could not expect to be taken out fairly, such as one on one.

The city was in a state of disarray, and though a few of the Kryptonians managed to fight back and shatter some of the constructs Larfleeze was quick to produce more. Larfleeze had been watching the entire thing unfold with what could only loosely be described as a smile but his mood shifted when a young Kryptonian turned to glare at him. Larfleeze held his lantern dangling by the handle hooked in the crook of his arm, he floated with an orange aura around him and did not bother moving an inch as Chris Kent flew at him.

Without so much as lifting a pinky Larfleeze watched as one of his loyal constructs flew in and intercepted Chris Kent. A slender orange member of Agent Orange's corps crashed into Chris, taking the bearhug himself, and they both plunged down to the ground below. "Keep him busy. But don't any of you dare interfere when the other one shows." Larfleeze looked away from his army and stared into the dark sky, the other orange squadron should have been nearly in place by now.

Superman flew through the halls of the Capitol building with great speed, before long Alura was right beside him. "What is this, Kal?" New Krypton's leader looked to him with a vaguely accusing glare. "Remember the Blackest Night I told you about on Earth? Well this is closely related to that as far as I can tell. The invading forces are just constructs of hard light, tell the Military Guild not to hold back." "As if they ever would." Alura nodded affirmatively to her nephew before splitting up from him and heading toward the Military guild.

As Superman flew out of the Capitol Building he drove his body straight through a wave of orange constructs, shattering them with tremendous ease. All over the skies and grounds of New Krypton war was being raged. It had sneaked upon them and it seemed the Kryptonians were taking a beating, but the element of surprise had faded now and soon the tide would be turning. "Commander El!" Superman spun around in the air, finding a small group of kryptonians belonging to the Military Guild following him. "I'm not your commander. That was only for a short period of..." Superman stopped once the looks on the faces of the other Kryptonian men registered. They looked to him with respect and honor and it was him who they wanted to be led by at this time. Commander El clenched his jaws and nodded to his men. The squad of six nodded back and followed Kal as he ripped through the waves of constructs.

[Batman]

Chris grunted in surprise as he was suddenly knocked back towards the ground. The wind was driven out of his ribs and for a moment he couldn’t breathe. It had been his intention to grab the lizard leader and take it down back towards the surface but it had generated another construct to take its place. This particular construct had taken him by surprise and as a result Chris was suddenly finding himself in a desperate grapple that he was on the losing side of. That didn’t mean he was going to allow himself to continue losing. A construct could only go so far and Nightwing was regarded to be one of the greatest warriors of Krypton. If not now than he wold be soon. “Unhand me.” He snarled.

The construct didn’t respond to his demand but Chris hadn’t been expecting him to. He quickly flexed his arms and with little effort forced the construct to let go. He then darted to the side and then up higher into the air. As the construct turned to pursue Chris wheeled around to face it. As the orange avatar flew towards him Chris unleashed a blast of pure heat and obliterated the avatar with contemptuous ease. It wasn’t a living thing and as a result he had no reason to show mercy. Chris wheeled around and unleashed another blast of energy at an avatar flying towards him. Then he glanced out of the corner of his eye and noticed that Superman was leading six men into battle.

He wasn’t sure what their plan was but he knew it would be better than Chris’. Right now he had no idea who was attacking or why. He didn’t know their objectives or their attack plan. All he knew was that they were trying to overwhelm the Kryptonian forces and right now they weren’t necessarily succeeding. Not when Superman was here to turn the tide. Chris flew towards the group at the speed of sound. He flew beside his adoptive father and quickly adopted the elder man’s flight patterns. “Any idea who these guys are and what they want?” He asked in Kryptonian as he knocked a construct out of the sky. It exploded in orange shards and Chris shielded his eyes as the sudden burst of light temporarily robbed him of his vision.

[Superman]

Orange befell the grey and white scenery that was Earth's moon, the swarming troupe of constructs that acted as beings all employed by the mind and workings of Agent Orange. The Avarice Corps had a very specific task before them and as Larfleeze led the assault on planet New Krypton it was up to them to handle the security insurance on the stony moon. A legion of orange lanterns worked together to transport and large cylinder shaped piece of machinery that was easily thirty feet tall, twelve feet wide, and weighted approximately sixteen tons. The item was once but a simple trinket that Larfleeze had horded a very long time ago and left to sit in a pile of his stolen belongings, another gift given to him by the power of insatiable avarice. But the lone stranger who had wandered into Larfleeze's domain and made it known to him that New Krypton existed and should be his also had another bit of information for him; that 'useless trinket' was quite powerful against stars.

Larfleeze mostly stood back and watched everything as he held his orange lantern safely in hand, his beady little eyes watching as he Corps tore through New Krypton. Agent Orange was not a creature that drew enjoyment from destruction on most occasions but whenever something dared to place itself between him and the thing(s) he wanted, then he could be just as destructive as any other villain heroes faced.

A twelve foot orange crab attempted to clamp its translucent claw around Kal-El but Superman easily ripped the construct in two. "Not really." Superman commented back to his son as the battle waged on. His fists plowed through construct after construct, and at other times his heat vision was used to disrupt Larfleeze's creations. But as long as Larfleeze remained there with his ring and lantern Superman knew there would be no end to the onslaught of orange constructs. "We have to take him out, separate him from the lantern." Superman instructed Chris just as a battalion of orange constructs overpowered him, though the six Military Guild kryptonians that followed him immediately leaped into the fray to assist. Believing that Superman and the others could take the constructs Nightwing flew quickly toward Larfleeze to break his connection with his lantern.

Larfleeze quickly threw up an orange wall to blockade Chris as he looked to the heavens again, his constructs had completed their job. "I win" Larfleeze chuckled just before the wall before him shattered and a powerful fist slammed into his face. Agent Orange reeled back, his body doing a full 360 spin before he finally stopped. The lantern still clung in Larfleeze's hands and so Chris Kent charged again and continued his attack on the invader. Left and right after left and right impacted the creature's jaw with quick spurts of heat vision blasting Larfleeze's chest, yet he still managed to stay afloat in the air. "Look up." Larfleeze choked out through blood and broken tusks.

Hesitantly Chris peeled his crimson glowing eyes from Larfleeze and looked to the sky. "No." "Yes!" Larfleeze shouted in triumph before swinging his orange lantern through the air and batting Nightwing in the face with it. Caught off guard Chris was thrown backward and nearly clear out of the sky. He knew he was in an important battle but even as he recovered from the invader's blow Chris could not take his eyes off of the sky, or the red sun that filled it.

"A goodie I'd be holding onto and didn't even know it! It has the power to weaken or strengthen suns, and at an astounding pace! Though I prefer orange, red isn't so bad either. Oh, you Kryptonians aren't big fans are you?" Larfleeze looked all around the planet and watched as the weakened alien began to lose ground against the orange constructs they were duking it out with. "Of course you have reserves you can run off of I'd imagine, but how long can that last?" Larfleeze wasn't sure but he was positive that it didn't matter. "But you, you're strong! Not the strongest mind you, that'd be Superman - be considering he'll be dead shortly that makes you former number two and current number one! I want you to meet a friend of mine. Ophidian."

From the center of Larfleeze's orange lantern uncoiled the shining glow of a snake large enough to swallow New Krypton in one gulp. The snake entity of avarice slithered in the air with its narrow eyes closely watching Chris Kent, the orange chain keeping it tethered to Larfleeze's lantern clanking loudly. "This is Ophidian the Temper. I have to keep him chained because as the embodiment of greed I do not trust him to not take what is mine. He belongs to me just like everything else in the orange corps. But at the moment he wants something - really wants it - and I want him to have it. Can you guess what that something is?" Ophidian flicked its forked tongue in Chris' direction. The snake then lashed out, flying straight at Chris before the Kryptonian had any time whatsoever to react. Lor-Zod. Avarice.

As the entity possessed Chris Kent and the Kryptonians were weakened by the now red sun, Larfleeze stood victorious and unchallenged. "CHRIS!!" Finally Superman had broken free of the constructs that fought to keep him away from their leader, and with an unchallenged rage burning in his eyes he flew straight for Larfleeze. Shattering the sound barrier Superman drew back his arm and prepared to punch Larfleeze with everything he had, until the face of his adoptive son appeared before him. "Father." A voice that sounded to be Chris's layered by heavy hissing spoke to Superman before turning and flying off at the speed of sound.

Without thought, focus, or concern for those still on New Krypton Superman blindly flew after the Ophidian possessed Nightwing, hoping to save and free his son. As stars flew past him as nothing but blurs Superman could feel his power draining, the sun going red had stopped his powers from staying charged and now he was running on reserves alone; the further he got from the sun the shorter he could count on those reserve powers. Left behind on New Krypton Larfleeze created an orange throne in seat himself in before creating thousands of orange power rings, designed to fast onto the fingers of any kryptonians still standing and make them a part of his Corps. "It's all mine.

[END]