Defender of Light

My entry for Round 4 - Gender Bender (step by step video here: [link] )

Qualification Entry: [link]
Round One - Pin-up: [link]
Round Two - Civilian: [link]
Round Three - Sera Myu: [link]


Writeup

Story

After finding the DVD featuring what appeared to be a musical about her Sailor Team, Elise decided to follow the mysterious instructions on it. She transformed and, using her magic paintbrush, she painted a door on her wall and labeled it "U27", and walked through to the other side...

She was downtown in Spectrum City. But it was a *different* Spectrum City, somehow. Everything looked the same at first glance, but the lighting seemed duller, the air less clear, everything slightly more worn. And then, suddenly, a man landed in front of her, as if he'd just been flying! He wasn't especially tall, but he was muscular, wearing a white coat and a rainbow scarf, and his hair... she felt dizzy as she began to realize who he was.

"This is a different universe, isn't it?" she asked. "And you... you're me, aren't you?"

He smiled and nodded, and had to catch her as she nearly blacked out.

He introduced himself to her as Captain Spectrum, and explained that there were many alternate universes like this one, and that her parents had stumbled across this fact in their research. They hadn't actually been researching alternate energy sources for many years; as soon as they'd found a way to access other universes, they had become the world's only experts on the phenomenon and had been doing research on it ever since. Mostly they had done quiet observation and testing, cataloging the places they'd found and trying to interact with them as little as possible.

But as time went on, their supervisors wanted more and more out of them. In some universes people had wonderous powers, or there were fantastical creatures that were only fiction in their home universe. The higher-ups wanted to know if there really *was* an alternate energy source to be tapped in any of these realms. Their trips became more dangerous, until finally one day they didn't return.

"I think they knew they were in danger... they approached me one day and left me with this," he said, withdrawing a small journal from within his pocket. "They let me know they'd left a message for you to come here, and that when you did, I should give you this."

Elise leafed through the book, shocked to see that it was full of her mother's research notes.

"It's dangerous for you to stay here for too long... I have my own enemies here. But take that home and read it. It's yours."

Not knowing what else to say, Elise embraced him, then made herself a door home.

The journal had extensive information about the other universes, with a long list of them and a summary of what had been found in each one. They had noticed that in most worlds, there was a champion of one sort or another, someone with a pure heart and a drive to do good, who sometimes had fantastic powers. Captain Spectrum was one of those champions. There was a long list of others: Superman, King Arthur, Sailor Moon. These heroes all contained something special, something that *made* them this champion. In most cases, this theoretical power source was intangible... but in the example of Sailor Moon's universe, and many of those closest to hers, the power had a real, solid form that could be drawn out and separated from the body in extreme cases.

It was called a "Star Seed."

At this point there began to appear mention of danger... her mother was suspicious that someone had been following them through the universes, as impossible as this seemed. She was afraid they had been noticed, and that whoever was following them didn't have the technology to travel the universes by themselves, but perhaps had figured out how to make it through the weakened barriers they were leaving behind.

Their research then switched to the Star Seed itself, and moved forward at a frantic pace, as though they knew they didn't have much time. They managed to analyze and create their own synthetic Star Seed! The final entry send chills down Elise's spine.

"We have completed the synthetic Star Seed, and not a moment too soon. I've put it in a paint brush and given it to Elise. If the man who's following us manages to get into our world, I know she'll figure out how to use it. He's dangerously close now, and he frightens me. He has eyes that hunger for power, and a chilling laugh. He seems like a charicature of a mad scientist in black and white; it might even be amusing if he wasn't trying to kill us. I've sent Elise away with her aunt, because I don't know what will happen to us. We're going to do our best to lead him away from this world and seal the path behind us. I'll have to figure out some way to get this journal to her... she'll want answers, and she deserves them. Elise, if you're reading this... we love you. And we're sorry."

Elise was speechless. Not only were her parents responsible for making her a Sailor Warrior, they were also responsible for bringing Dr. Monochrome to this world! She now had a whole lot to think about...

To be Continued...



Captain Spectrum Information

Name: Captain Spectrum

Civilian Name: Frank Ellis

Short Bio: Frank Ellis, aka Captain Spectrum, is 21 years old. He's been Captain Spectrum for two years; he defends Prism City from the Shadow Master, a formidable enemy who wants to cloak the city in darkness and fear. His powers are over the visual spectrum; he can fire powerful blasts of light that dazzle the senses, and are capable of burning away the Shadow Master's shadows. He also has a magic scarf that reacts almost like another set of limbs; it can grab or attack, and stretch to great lengths. He also has limited powers of flight.

Captain Spectrum is from the 27th universe that Elise's parents cataloged. It was one that they visited frequently, because it was well-defended and universe-jumpers like themselves weren't unheard of there. Captain Spectrum is the holder of a Star Seed, although in his universe it is not an object that can be separated from the body, but a power source that is a part of him.

In personality, he is very much like Elise. Instead of being good at art as she is, he is a lighting technician in his civilian life. His parents were killed by the Shadow Master when he was 17, and shortly after that he began to develop his powers. It took him two years of training before he was ready to fight, and he has been defending the city ever since.



Art Notes

This was so much fun! This is my first time trying to re-create a comic book cover, and my first truly dynamic two-figure fight scene, complete with background. Creating a male character with rainbow-themed powers was quite a challenge! I love how he turned out. The Shadow Master is a character I play in Mutants and Masterminds, in which he is a reformed villain, so I really enjoyed being able to draw him in his glory days, fighting the bad fight.

Resources:
Rainbow blast aura: [link]
Barcode scanned from Deadpool Pulp issue
Comic Code approval stamp: [link]
City background from background resource gallery at rubberslug.com