Some art my father recently made for me:


This was his Villains and Vigilantes character back when he was a teenager, his City of Heroes character when that was still running, and is currently his DC Online character.

Erik Lensherr: A Man Forged by Rage (Part 3 of 3)

**********Sakaar, 1997**********

It had been several decades since Erik Lensherr had joined the Red Lantern Corps. When he did, he felt his mind overcome by rage. This rage consumed him, and drowned out all other voices in his head. Shortly after joining the Red Lantern Corps, Erik Lensherr had taken the name of Magneto. He decided that Erik Lensherr had died that night that the Red Skull escaped him.

After decades of exacting vengeance on various alien races, and waging wars on countless others, Magneto had lost confidence in the leadership of Attrocitus. It was a slow realization that began to drown out the pounding of his blood and the thirst for violence. Magneto's moment of clarity came here, on Sakaar. One of the members of the Red Lantern Corps had lost his family to a criminal gang from Sakaar, the gang now lay mutilated on the ground. This didn't bother Magneto. The collatoral damage did. The fight had gotten erratic and uncontrolled, as all the Red Lantern Corps battles did, but this one had spread and killed numerous civilians. As Magneto turned his helmeted head to the side after the fight, his gaze fell on a young sakaaran weeping over the body of his family. It reminded Magneto of too many at Auschwitz. It made him feel like those he hated.

From that point on, Magneto slowly regained control of his senses. The rage remained, but he compartmentalzed it. The following month's within the corps showed him the truth to what his new team was. A roaming band of barbarians lead by Attrocitus, the worst of the bunch. He blamed the Guardians of the Green lantern corps for the extermination of his race. This Magneto understood, but it sounded to him as if that massacre was a mistake on the guardians part, not a calculated plot to exterminate a race like his own experience.

Eventually Magneto took on a leadership role in the Red Lantern Corps. Followers began to join him, accepting his creed to become masters of their rage, rather than letting rage become their master. Attrocitus paid it little mind, they still followed his lead, and he controlled a stronger faction of the corps.

Until Magneto and his followers began making constructs, a feat Attrocitus and his followers had yet to match.

The Parademons swarmed around the huddled lanterns. “There are too many of them. This attack came out of nowhere.” Tomar Tu spoke, sadly. “The guardians should have seen this coming.”

“We can take them.” Hannu said firmly. “Just let me get next to them so I can crush them with my hands.” Hannu enjoyed the combat. He honestly thought he could punch his way out, despite the strength that Darkseid had thrown against them.

“We move out. We try to break free. We need to warn the Guardians. If one of us falls, the others keep going. We need to get the word to Oa.” Graf Toren spoke sadly, but assured in his decision. Moments later, the lanterns broke from their shelter and made a break for the skies. There charge was quickly checked as the parademons swarmed around them. The salvation for these lanterns came from an unexepcted place. A blaze of red light bathed the assembled group as the parademons were thrown to the ground one after the other. From the sky, a group of roughly forty red lanterns formed a circle around the green lanterns.
“Stay behind us.” Their leader said. The Green Lanterns where surprised at how calm the Red Lanterns seemed. Moments later, the Lanterns had broken free of the seige of Okaara, and made their way towards Oa.

“Thank you for the assistance. Your group seems atypical for Red Lanterns, if you don't mind my saying so.” Graf Toren spoke gruffly. He knew of Attrocitus's hatred for the green lanterns. “Does Attrocitus know of this rescue?”

“Attrocitus and I have parted companies. He isn't fit to lead the lanterns. A raving lunatic.” The leader spoke derisevly of his former master. “My lanterns have the willpower to keep their rage in check. It has given us the power to repel Attrocitus and his loyalists. I seek a union with the Green Lanterns. My men and I want to bring certain criminals to justice, chief among them the Red Skull.”

“I will speak to the guardians and propose this alliance.” Graf promised, “But I warn you, they won't accept your proposal.”


The Blue Lanterns had been accepted into an alliance with the Green Lantern Corps. This was against the desire of Scar who had pushed hard for the inclusion of Magneto and his group of rational red lanterns. Now, Scar found himself far from Oa, meeting with Magneto and his lanterns. “The Anti-Life Equation is being transported t Oa for safekeeping. The Nova Corps is currently in possession of it. It will be vulnerable at Voori.”

“I see. How do you know Darkseid will go for the equation, and how will you prevent it falling into his hands?” Magneto asked the rogue guardian.

“The Lanterns and the Nova Corps are excellent warriors, they should be able to protect it. Be that as it may, I need your Red Lanterns ready to strike should it fall into the wrong hands. If all goes as planned, the guardians will see this threat as proof that we need to take the fight to our enemies, and nobody is better suited to do that then your Red Lanterns.” Scar finished, talking as though well above those he met with.

“I see.” Magneto said, “And when we are accepted into the corps, you will help me find The Red Skull? He has fallen off the map after his failed coup attempt.”

“Indeed. The Lanterns will find him, and if they fail, I can always dust off the manhunters.”



“Suppose you tell me what Red Lanterns are doing on Oa.” Taskmaster asked, striding up to their leader.#

“Saving your planet from Parralax, apparently.” Magneto Spoke, looking around. “More to your point though, we were summoned here by one of your guardians. Apparently they are thinking of expanding your little club.#

“What?” Taksmaster looked surprised. The Guardians had spent years trying to secure the universe with just the green light, and now they had added the Blue and apprently the Red light to their spectrum. What was next?

Lyssa Drak limped over to the gathered lanterns, supported by her followers. “I thank you for the assistance exorcising Parralax Blue Lantern. What should I call you?”

“I would hope you would call me a friend.” Xavier spoke softly, “But my name is Charles Xavier, a mutant from the planet earth.

“A mutant from earth?” Magneto asked quickly, looking to the man, “Interesting. I am as well. What brought you to space?”

“The Blue Lantern Corps selected me because I have fought my entire life to spread hope that man and mutant can live side by side. When I heard of the state of the galaxy, I had no alternative but to take my message of hope to the stars. How about yourself?”

“The man who experimented on me in Auschwitz fled to the stars like a coward. I have tracked him all these years, but to little avail. I hope, with the assistance of those gathered here, to finally put an end to the Red Skull.” The rage in Magneto's voice was palpable, but he kept his words steady. It was and interesting sight for those that had not seen this new form of Red Lantern.#

Uatu's eyes widened slightly when he heard Magneto say he was hunting the Red Skull. Uatu was privy to the information that after his fall from head of the Sinestro Corps, the Red Skull had returned to the planet Earth to regather his former group, Hydra.#

PROLOGUE
(with permission from davethebrave and Rurouni82)

"Well, if it isn't Little Johnny Stewart!"

The Green Lantern in question turns his head, eyebrow raised in silent response. That's the last thing he'd expected to be called way out here on New Titan. Least of all from a giant shirtless red monster.

"Sorry, son. Sometimes I forget what I look like lately. Maybe you'd remember me like this?" With that, the Red Hulk shifts his mass, compacting it into the form of a mustachioed gray-haired white man - still in surprisingly good shape, as he remains shirtless. Stewart's eyes widen.

"General Ross?" he asks, incredulously. "I haven't seen you since... "

"Since Afghanistan! You know, it's not often that a Marine can impress the Air Force brass, son, but that pincer maneuver you orchestrated - as an FNG, no less - had you on the command track for sure. Too bad these green space cops snatched you up before you could rack up some stars."

John smiled a little. "Yeah, well, it's a little hard to go back to policing border scuffles in the desert once you get the bigger cosmic picture. I haven't been to Earth in years." Also a little hard to go back home when you're married to an alien.

"Well, it seems Earth is coming out to you, then," Ross says, with a bit of his old bristling. "I'm still a bit new to the space-ace game, but I'm still an American, and there's some important business out here that needs taking care of, on orders straight from the leader of the... er, OUR free world."

"Keep in mind the president's jurisdiction doesn't really extend out this far... unless they're thinking of joining the interstellar empire business, which I do not recommend."

"Understood. I may be a patriot, but I'm not myopic." Ross takes a breath, taking on a more serious tone. "I understand your wife is from Korugar. I've been reading up on the history of that planet. Where Sinestro took over the world in the name of your Green Lantern Corps and ran it like a dictator until your wife helped overthrow him and give him the most dishonorable of discharges. Drove him into terrorism with the Yellow Lanterns, buddying up to Nazis like the Red Skull."

Stewart's eyebrow raises again. He knows about Katma Tui, so this isn't just a surprise coincidence that they've run into each other here. Ross has done his homework. Although the red ring on Ross' finger gives him a bit of pause.

"Now what if I told you that there's someone from Earth pulling that same stunt on Korugar's neighbor, Sakaar?"

"I'd say that's a bit quick, since until recently, Sakaar was under Darkseid's control, and he was even worse than Sinestro."

"You know as well as I do that it doesn't take long for a despot to set up shop if he's got enough power behind him," Ross responds, before shifting back into his hulking red form by way of illustration. "And the man I'm talking about has more power than he can handle. THIS kind of power."

"Cut from the same cloth, are you?" John asks, skeptically.

"Not hardly." Although there's a split-second where Thaddeus realizes that could be true, he wills himself through the thought to stay on track. "Although this menace on Sakaar was also my son-in-law, once upon a time. So I know him all too well. That's why I know he's gotta be stopped, and why I'm hoping you'll help, given your experience with Sinestro - and the Red Skull, for that matter. We're gonna need some serious power to counteract his. He ran roughshod on Earth, until he was captured and exiled from the planet by the commander-in-chief. A public safety issue. But again, I'm not myopic. The bigger cosmic picture, you called it? Remove a threat from one planet, and he becomes a threat to another. We've gotta go in there and take him down for good, so he doesn't bully his way into power anywhere else."

John's jaw clenches, considering this. "Who is this guy?"

"They called him the Hulk back on Earth. You can read the reports on him - property damage and casualties whenever he throws a temper tantrum. He was a complete milksop before he got the power, and now that he's got it, he abuses the hell out of it. Typical supervillain profile."

Supervillains. Has he really been gone from Earth long enough for there to be a 'typical supervillain profile?' "How do you know all this?"

"Seems the Red Lanterns have some eyes on Sakaar - there's a history there. Pretty reliable intel from an informant named Angmo. Not to mention some backchannel chatter from the Kree, who were fighting with Apokolips over it before Hulk made his move, resulting in a hell of a lot of unnecessary collateral damage."

"The Reds do have some history there, sir," John replies, although he quickly realizes he doesn't have to revert to military protocol out here. "The kind of history that might make somebody suspicious of your intentions."

Ross narrows his glowing yellow eyes. "I'm with Magneto, not Atrocitus, if that clears things up for you. And I was recruited long after all that went down."

John tightens his lips. He's got no real reason to disbelieve the iron-willed general, who had his back in Afghanistan when things got hot. The red ring is all that casts some doubt, but anger isn't always wrong. "Let me get a squad together, and we'll investigate." He has a feeling that Katma will have a keen interest.

Ross just gives a somber nod. "Give me the go sign when you're ready, sergeant."

Once John flies off, Ross wipes a little oozing blood from his lips. Won't be long now, Banner. The righteous fury is long overdue.

Lol I love it :D See, I wanted to do Rulk stuff, and Im happy to input here, but damnit if Skullbrother (Not to mention Rurouni82, Docsilence, Baron Impossible, and Mikksaur) aren't WAAAY better at creative writing than I am XD Still, I love it, and I'm happy you basically put words to my exact thoughts with the intentions of Ross

Also Mikki, that art by your Dad is really cool . I like it alot!

Thanks! There is more to come, and I hope you like where it goes!