James Waller never had a happy childhood. He came from a broken home and was never loved by his parents. His mother skipped out when he was still a child, leaving him to be raised by his abusive and alcoholic father.
James Waller spent much of his childhood locked in a dark closet, well out of his father's way when he went on his binges. James would sit there in the dark. The darkness became his only true friend, his only family. The darkness would never hurt James, nor abandon him. And so time would pass as he sat waiting in the closet, dreading the moment when he would see the light again. And feel the pain once more.
This went on for many years. One day when something finally snapped in James, and aided by the power of the darkness, he lashed out at his father. Once he got a hold of himself, he found that he had actually killed his father. James Waller was now both orphan and fugitive.
Fearing that the police would throw him in prison, he took to the streets and became a thief to support himself. The power granted him by the darkness made it easy. The darkness would embrace him, surround his being turning him into a living shadow.
During one of his burglaries the costumed vigilante Crusader attacked him. James lashed out once more and trashed Crusader mercilessly, putting him in the hospital.
After his battle James realized that he was now a force to be reckoned with. No more meek James Waller living in fear. Now he was the Night Shade, the Lord of the Darkness, the Master of the Night. Now he would take what he wanted, all those things he missed as a child.
He was not about to stoop to socializing with normal humans, the "lower orders" as he called them. He was too far above that. Now perhaps there was finally an opportunity to break from his solitary existence.
A few days ago he received a mysterious package. The box in a plain brown wrapper contained no return address or markings of any kind. Inside was a mechanical device of some sort. As he picked it up, it started to glow. James quickly dropped the device, but it was not a bomb, rather a communications unit which broadcast a pre-recorded audio message.
"Greetings, Night Shade. You are invited to a gathering of power. A gathering which will ultimately result in Power Absolute. Not to mention the final victory of evil over good. The gathering will take place in three days time at the following address...." The mysterious voice had a metallic quality to it.
It was now three nights later. Night Shade, dressed in his signature all black jump suit, waited atop a building across the street from the ramshackle tenement building that the message had directed him to. The ebony outfit covered only his black hair and the lower half of his face.
"Not what I would have expected for a gathering of 'Ultimate Power'," Night Shade said to himself, disdainfully. "Personally, I would have booked a couple rooms at the Waldorf." Night Shade had been waiting for over an hour now. He saw little activity in the area, save for one large figure in a trench coat entering the tenement some twenty minutes ago. He was sure it must be a supervillain of some sort.
Night Shade considered forgoing the whole episode. It gave him a feeling that was just too unsavory for him. His loneliness got the better of him however. "Besides," he reasoned, "if this arrangement turns out to be too hokey, I can always dump the losers." He concentrated a moment and disappeared from sight.
Inside the tenement, Night Shade appeared in an upper room. He had scouted this entry location from the opposing roof. Once inside, it would be simplicity to locate the other villains. "I hope I'm not wasting my time," Night Shade stated, looking around at the filth of the deserted room. It appeared to have been unoccupied for some time.
Keeping to the shadows and darkness, Night Shade was effectively invisible to most anyone. He could keep this up for hours at a time if necessary. At the same time, he willed himself intangible and slipped through the floor to the next room below. These abilities were quite handy in fulfilling his previous profession as master thief.
Night Shade progressed through the building by partially phasing through the floor to scout the next room. He looked for dark, deserted areas to advance towards the basement of the building. Using this tactic, he managed to reach the lowest level of the building completely unseen.
After another half hour, Night Shade had found nothing. Perhaps this whole thing was simply a joke. Or maybe a trap. Night Shade put those thoughts out of his head. Besides, what did he have to fear of being caught. He could turn invisible and intangible and was quite accomplished at his stealthy endeavors. No one could capture the Master of the Night, Night Shade thought proudly.
"There must be a secret passage or a hidden room somewhere," Night Shade thought to himself. "Let's give whoever organized this get together a little credit." Night Shade began to search and with his quite useful powers quickly located a pair of hidden tunnels.
Keeping to the shadows, the mutant villain traveled invisibly down one of the passageways until he saw a faint light ahead. Turning intangible, Night Shade slipped into the solid rock that the tunnel passed through and slowly progressed onward. He finally reached a room with a single bulb shining weakly. The edges of the room remained shrouded in darkness. Under the bulb, an old table sat alone in the center of the room. Night Shade slipped into the room and turned tangible again. He struggled to see if he was alone.
"Thank you for finally joining us!", a voice called out. Suddenly the light increased in intensity, illuminating the entire room. Night Shade was no longer invisible and now was in plain sight. Across from him he saw no less than seven other villains seated in chairs around the table. Standing amidst them was the cyborg villain, Halfjack. "Welcome to our gathering of power!"
"And now the final player in our little caper enters the scene," one of the other villains declared.
Night Shade glanced around at the assembled group. He knew a few of the villains already. Halfjack began the introductions. Seated at Halfjack's far right was a hulking brute of a man, most likely the same figure he had seen enter the structure earlier. "First, we have the man known as the Bulldozer," the cyborg began.
"Yeah, yeah," the large villain responded in an irritated tone. "I jus' wanna bust some heads." Bulldozer twisted a steel rod in his hands absentmindedly.
"Bulldozer's our strongman," the villain in two-tone brown, with dull yellow accessories continued. He placed his hand beside his mouth and stage whispered. "Of course, some say that he had his name tattooed on his arm so that he'll remembered it."
"Why you...!" Bulldozer stood up menacingly. "I'll squash ya, ya lil' twerp!"
"Calm yourself, Bulldozer," Halfjack asserted. "Foxbat is not your enemy. Those self-styled heroes are the ones deserving of your fury."
"Besides, you're not the only one with muscles." An armored woman spoke up threateningly.
"Even if hers are mechanically enhanced," Foxbat continued, oblivious to the hulking Bulldozer. "This is one Ladybug that you don't consider it lucky to run into."
"In fact, it's bad luck to try and crush this Ladybug," the armored woman continued. "Wanna arm wrestle again, Dozzie?"
Bulldozer sat back down disgustedly and glared. He had already lost seven matches to her tonight. He hated the fact that a woman could be better than him at anything. Night Shade took the episode in with not a little reservation.
"Now if we could get back to the introductions...?", Halfjack stated.
"Jack always did like these formal meetings," Foxbat interrupted. "Must be his cyborg implants that made him..." Foxbat looked up to see Halfjack staring impatiently at him. "Sorry, please continue," Foxbat conceded with a sheepish grin on his face.
"Thank you," Halfjack continued. "Next to Bulldozer is the Black Paladin." Black Paladin wore a suit of jet-black armor. Rather than reflect light, it appeared to nullify and absorb it. There was something dangerous about the man. Night Shade felt an instant admiration for him. The medieval villain was rumored to have been a true legend. There was talk that said that he had fought Lancelot. The knight nodded towards the newcomer.
"The Black Paladin is also known as the Knight of the Crow," Foxbat started up again. "I like Blackie. He looks almost as cool as me."
"Foxbat. You're a twit." This comment came from another armored figure at the far end of the table. Night Shade recognized him as Ankylosaur of the Conquerors.
"Sparkler..." Halfjack said continuing his introductions. All the while, Foxbat kept up with his embellishments. Most of the villains just ignored his ramblings.
"Sparkler's got a funny looking costume," that brought an unhappy look from the villainess. "But she's big league material. She's helpful on the Fourth of July too."
"You can't miss Foxbat," Halfjack said, referring to the villain seated at his left.
"That's right, bub. The Foxbat. A legend in his own time. 'Nuff said. Excelsior!", Foxbat stated proudly. Night Shade wondered to himself if the villain had any idea what he was talking about. "And next true deceivers, we come to..." Foxbat made an extravagant gesture towards the armored villainess at his side.
"Ladybug," Halfjack stated simply.
"She's one a' our northern neighbors, eh?", Foxbat bantered. "Do you like hockey?" Ladybug wore a deep golden colored suit of armor with red highlights. The metal gleamed in the light as though it had been recently polished.
"Hiya, Night Shade. How's it goin'?", Ladybug added with a nod.
"We can socialize later, Ladybug. Next we have Lady Blue." She was another villain that Night Shade recognized. Of course, she was relatively famous. Night Shade thought that her attitude was a little pompous, but she had held her own over the years against some powerful heroes.
"Lady Blue is the media darling of us all," Foxbat said. "I think the press likes her even more than me!" Foxbat seemed genuinely surprised by this statement. "Who'd a' thunk it?!"
"The skirt gets all the press 'cause she plays nice," Bulldozer groused.
"Hey," the popular villainess spoke up, "if more supervillains were like me, this country would be a much nicer place."
"Gimme a break." This was Ankylosaur again. He was more concerned with cash than notoriety. He had rarely stood for anything in his entire life.
"Your jealousy is showing right through that ugly armor of yours, Anky," Lady Blue chided him in her always cheerful voice.
"And lastly we have Ankylosaur." The armored villain grunted in response. Ankylosaur looked impressive. His armored form stood nearly 6'7" tall. The armor was dark green with rust colored patches and topped with gold-colored mask, claws and tail.
"Ankylosaur is on loan to us from the Conquerors," Foxbat stated. "We tried to get his buddy Wyvern too, but he didn't show up. I'm not sure why,... vern." Sparkler rolled her eyes at the pun, while Ladybug burst out in a high-pitched giggle. Night Shade thought the armored villainess seemed like a giddy school-girl.
"And I, of course, am the architect of this perfect plan," Halfjack stated. "We each bring a piece to this contest that will make this assemblage unstoppable."
"Just a second, Halfjack," Lady Blue spoke up. "I'm not so sure..."
"Awright, we're all here," Bulldozer interrupted. "Now git to the good part. What's dis talk about Ultimate Power?" All the villains started speaking at once, asking questions, each trying to talk over the rest.
"Quiet. Quiet!" Halfjack amplified his voice to overwhelm the din. "Thank you. Night Shade, if you would have a seat, I shall begin." Night Shade tentatively sat down at the open chair. All the villains looked on with varying degrees of interest.
"Some of you know the details already. For those of you who do not, I shall now elucidate."
"That means he's going to explain it to us," Foxbat whispered as he leaned over toward Bulldozer. If Bulldozer caught the put down, he didn't let on.
"We are currently in the first phase of this Contest for Ultimate Power," Halfjack started to explain.
"So who's responsible fer runnin' this contest, anyways," Ankylosaur interrupted. He tapped his golden spiked fingertips impatiently on the tabletop as he spoke.
"The being behind the Great Supervillain Contest goes by the name of the Crimson Claw," Halfjack answered. "I say 'being' as he has remained hidden behind a long robe and cowl, but the extremities are clearly not human in appearance."
"He could want you to think that," Sparkler announced. "Maybe it's a trick, amigo."
"Even if it is," Halfjack conceded, "what difference does it truly make? I am unsure what this Crimson Claw's motives are, but I am certainly interested in his prize."
"Now yer talkin'," Bulldozer spoke up. "What's 'is thingamajig yer flappin' yer gums all about?"
"I am getting to that Bulldozer. All I know is that the artifact is known as the Emerald Eye," Halfjack continued. "The villain who wields it will be all-powerful."
"I can get behind that," Ladybug chimed in.
"What are the rules and the victory conditions for this contest?", asked the Black Paladin.
"The goal of the villains participating is to battle heroes," Halfjack explained.
"Now yer talkin' my language!", Bulldozer interrupted.
"Please allow me to finish before spouting your infernal hysterics," Halfjack chastised. "Each participant gains points by battling, defeating and humiliating superheroes." Ankylosaur rubbed his gauntlets together vigorously as Halfjack spoke. A few of the other assembled villains had smiles on their faces as the explanation continued. "The more formidable the hero, the more points are awarded for his defeat. Conversely, the more villains there are in a fight, the fewer points there are to go around."
"This whole thing sounds incredibly stupid to me," Lady Blue spoke up.
"Who asked you, ya dizzy broad?", Bulldozer countered with a sneer.
"So what you're saying," Foxbat stated, standing up to speak, "is that all we have to do is embarrass, defeat and ultimately destroy the superheroes of Earth and the one who is the best at it will receive even more power?"
"Essentially, that is what he explained," Black Paladin answered.
"Cool!", Foxbat responded. "We all know that Foxbat is the greatest supervillain of all time. I'm a shoo-in!"
"In yer dreams, bozo" Ankylosaur grumbled. He considered launching a grenade at the egomaniac, but ultimately decided against it.
Bulldozer smacked his fist into his other hand, a smile etched on his visage. "This'll be a riot! Takin' out these sissies in tights and gettin' a reward fer it is a dream come true!"
"You must have missed the part where you have to actually beat a hero. 'Dozer," Ladybug teased. "When was the last time you actually won a fight?"
Bulldozer was nearly livid, but he knew that he couldn't beat Ladybug. The male villains here though were another matter. When Ankylosaur laughed at Ladybug's joke, Bulldozer screamed at him. "I can mop the floor with a punk like you, tin can!"
"Any time you want to try me, baldie, I'll be more 'n happy to oblige." Ankylosaur has leaped to his feet and the two stood toe to toe. "I'll cut you into so many pieces they'll never find 'em all."
A few of the other villains quickly moved between the prospective combatants. "I see we have quite a large amount of pent up energy," Halfjack stated. "Save it for the heroes. There is no need to fight amongst ourselves." After everyone had been seated again, he continued, "A complete explanation of points awarded and deducted is available at the Crimson Claw's lair in the mountains over Los Angeles."
"Hey, who made you the spokesman for the Claw, anyway?", Bulldozer finally asked.
"The Claw and his minions have been contacting as many villains as they are able, with instructions to inform as many other supervillains as possible. I simply deemed it prudent to not only inform all of you, but to organize you as well."
"I take it you have a plan," Night Shade asked.
"Indeed. I shall inform you all momentarily."
"The powers of light shall never know what caused them to be so quickly snuffed out," the Black Paladin stated.
"Yeah, what he said," Foxbat added. "Looks like the next issue is going to be one big, blowout of a fight!"
The next afternoon at the Homestead, the base for the Chicago-based hero team, the Champions...
"Come on! We're gonna be late!" The man better known to the world as the beastly Jaguar shifted uncomfortably. Once more he looked up the stairs toward the team's personal quarters and yelled, "Will you please hurry up?"
Defender strolled past, decked out in his red, white, and blue battle armor. "Calm yourself, Santiago. You still have plenty of time to make the parade."
The home town Chicago Bears had just crushed the New England Patriots in the Superbowl, and the Champions were to be honored guests at the victory parade the city was throwing this afternoon.
"I'm excited about this! I don't want to miss a thing."
"That being the case, I think your teammates have gotten the idea." Defender pointed towards the staircase where the remainder of the team was currently descending.
The woman known as Tritium was in the lead. She was in her standard heroine costume: a light blue body suit with yellow accessories. Her light brown hair was short with tight curls. Its hue matched the heroine's soft brown complexion. "Settle down, Jaguar," Tritium muttered in an annoyed tone. "Kids at Christmas aren't as bad as you are."
The wanderer from Australia called Seeker was next. Seeker went shirtless and wore billowy white exercise pants. "Oy, mate, relax. We'll be there shortly."
Last, and largest of all, was the being known as Obsidian. The stairs creaked under his great bulk, for Obsidian was over 8' tall and was as dark and glossy as the dark volcanic glass he was named after. "I find the whole affair to be most interesting. A grateful city is hailing its conqueroring heroes. A tradition as old as warfare itself."
"Have a good time observing, Obsidian," Defender said to his teammate. "I should make it there before the parade is over."
"Are you not joining us?", Jaguar wondered aloud.
"I have a speaking engagement at Illinois Institute of Technology this afternoon. I may join you depending how long my seminar lasts. Have fun!" With a wave, Defender departed the Homestead. Activating his bootjets, he rose into the air and flew towards his destination, unaware of what was awaiting him....
