Chapter 37: Luna Legacy(1)

Chapter 37: Luna Legacy

Disclaimer: I own nothing

"Legacy is not leaving something for people. It's leaving something in people."

Peter Strople

Luna Legacy

(Saturday-January 27, 2046)

An alarm blared out through a tiny room made of scrap metal. The dirty walls were hard to see, though. Several pictures that looked like they were drawn by a small child were taped over the metal. All the free spaces were covered by different symbols of long dead heroes painted on the wall. The largest symbol on the wall was a familiar DP logo that meant a lot to the owner of the room.

Said owner of the room laid on a mattress with torn blankets. On the rock by the mattress was a broken, barely working alarm clock that looked like it had been put together with spare parts. A slender arm reached from the mattress and tapped the button on top of the clock. The owner of the room then slipped off the mattress and stood up.

The owner appeared to be a fourteen year old girl with long dark hair that reached all the way down to the center of her back. Her still developing form was covered by torn sweatpants and a large, white T-shirt with the same DP logo across the front. Despite this being the start of her day, she didn't walk to the makeshift dresser made out of rotting wood. Instead, she moved to the single window in her tiny room.

As the girl stepped in front of the window, she saw her reflection staring back at her impassively. Her heart shaped face shifted slightly into a frown. Sharp blue eyes that she inherited from her father blinked as the weariness of sleep worn out of them. With a groan, the girl rubbed her face.

"Good morning, Remnant. It's a beautiful day. Weather is exactly the same as every other damn day. Remember to stay discrete and to…" The girl paused, "Crash the mode."

Bart would be proud. She never understood why people used those words. Perhaps it was because people really did give up a long time ago.

A knocking at the door ripped the girl from her thoughts. The pounding against the thin metal was accompanied by the weary voice of her caretaker, "Luna. I know you're up. Get out here. You need to get ready for training."

Luna turned from the window, "Alright. Let me change, though. These clothes smell like Crolotain piss."

A snort came from behind the makeshift door, "You don't even know what that smells like."

"It's an expression. Highfather have mercy…"

"Don't say that," The voice hissed, "You know I hate those pathetic excuses for gods."

"That's an expression too," Luna placed her hand in her face, "Just give me a minute, Grandma."

"Fine. Sixty seconds."

As Luna removed her hand from her face, she rolled her eyes. Well, this morning already sucked. No way was she going to put up with this for the rest of the day. A large white ring appeared above her head. It moved downward and transformed Luna into her ghost form. Once blue eyes were now a neon green. Her black hair had bled white with pink at the end of her long locks. Her sleepwear changed into a skin tight shirt with black covering the torso and white sleeves. Her torn sweat pants then transformed into form fitting white jeans with black seams and pockets. There was a noticeable change in Luna's height as her once bare feet were covered with black shoes with somewhat higher heels.

Knowing that she didn't have much time left, Luna decided to quickly finish her morning routine. She walked over to the large DP logo and placed a hand over her head. She bowed her head in respect for a brief second before raising her head once more to look at the picture she made sure was right by her father's symbol. It was rather crude picture of a tiny Luna holding hands with a man with white hair and a woman with pink hair.

Luna raised her hand from her chest. She softly kissed her palm then placed that hand on the picture. Finally, like every morning, she spoke to her parents, "Wish you were here. I'll make you proud."

With that done, Luna floated into the air. She then phazed through the window into the alley outside of her shack. As she did this, the door to her room opened. Luna didn't even look back to look at her only family. She just flipped off her now shouting caretaker and rocketed into the air.

Once she was high above the square box she called home, Luna took into the torn down and barely put together city of Remnant. Just like the people in it, the city was made from the last remnants of humanity's legacy. With a sigh, Luna turned her gaze upward to see an even uglier sight. A dome covered the city to camouflage it from the outside. The citizens of remnant had a perfect view of the outside, though. So Luna had a perfect view out into space and to a large orb in the distance that looked like it had been burned and torn apart.

"Hello, Earth," Luna pulled a pair of green sunglasses out from her pocket and slipped them on. She frowned up at the planet from which she originated, "You look even uglier than yesterday."

Remnant was a city of refugees. It was filled with people from Earth that had escaped enslavement from the Reach or slaughter by the other opposing alien forces during Earth's Final War. With the Earth now completely barren and unable to sustain life anymore once the Life Entity was ripped out by the Green Lanterns, humanity had to choose a new home to settle. Unfortunately, Earthlings were illegal and wanted throughout the galaxy. So they only had one choice. They decided to settle on the moon.

Luckily, there had been a giant, readymade crater just the size for a city that had been made by the ancient being Colossus during the feared Black Night. The brightest of humanity had built a special dome around the city to provide protection, camouflage, and air. Once that was done, humans crammed themselves into the dome to create a city made out of scrap. Luckily, their own agriculture and scavenging had provided food. So they would survive. It just wouldn't be a pretty life.

Overall, life was tolerable. It was all Luna had ever really known, and it was pointless to compare this to old stories of the past. So she just accepted it. The biggest issue she had with the situation was how people kept commenting on how a girl named Luna was living on the moon.

If someone called her Moon Girl one more Apokolips forsaken time…

"Hey, Luna!" The voice of Luna's best friend brought Luna out from her thoughts.

"For Highfather's sake, Bart," Luna hissed as she landed by the boy, "Keep it down. We're supposed to be at training right now."

"Oh, right…sorry…I forgot about that…I should stop talking. Don't want to be put on mode…You're glaring at me…I'll shut up now…"

Bart Allen was a young thirteen year old boy with short brown hair. His slim, runners build was covered with a gray shirt, green jacket, and old jeans. Bright green eyes shined with enthusiasm, but there was a deep jadedness hidden in them. Luna didn't blame him. It wasn't even two years ago that he was a slave of the Reach.

Luna sighed, "Just come on. I don't want to get caught."

The two of them slipped through the back alleys of Remnant. The day had already started, so the sounds of people on the main streets going about their own business drifted through the alleyways. As they moved, Luna and Bart saw the different stands selling rather bland fruits and vegetables. Meats and spices were a rarity that no one could obtain anymore. And junk food…that was just a dream…speaking of which…

"Put that away," Luna glared at Bart as the boy basically drooled over an old magazine that showed pictures of a variety of different fancy food from the past, "You're just teasing yourself."

"I know," Bart sighed and put the magazine back into his coat, "But it's a beautiful dream. I'd love to try some of this stuff."

"That stuff's been gone since before we were born," Luna muttered, "Best not to think about it."

"You're one to talk," Bart commented.

"True. Guess we both got a sickness," Luna stopped her trek. She eyed the large wall in front of her, "You remember the paint?"

"Oh…" Bart rubbed the back of his head, "I knew I forgot something."

"Yet you remember the magazine," Luna snorted, "Fine. We're almost out of that crap paint anyway. This gives me a chance to try out a new trick."

Pink light flashed in Luna's hands. She thrusted them forward and covered the wall in pink ectoplasm. The energy shifted until it was a familiar DP logo.

"There," Luna smirked, "Works just as well as paint, and it'll be harder to clean off."

"People will know it was you, though," Bart argued.

"They already do," Luna shrugged, "Who else is obsessed with that logo?"

"True…" Bart bit his lip, "Hey, Luna…Don't you think that this is kind of pointless? I mean, I get that you want to inspire some hope in people, but we've been doing for a while now, and nothing's changed."

"So?" Luna crossed her arms, "People need to remember what people did to make sure that we could live. Next time, I'll do your grandfather's logo."

"That's not the point," Bart argued, "You said it yourself with the magazine. Looking to the past won't change anything. Maybe we should focus on our training and building up humanity again?"

"Bart…I've been training since I was born…All for a war we can't win anymore," Luna rubbed her forehead, "Maybe it is dumb to look back like I am, but—"

"Well, well, well, look who we have here!"

Luna turned to see the owner of the familiar voice calling them out. Bart hissed out the obvious, "Jokerz…"

Even when humanity was its lowest point, there were still troublemakers. The members of Justice League weren't willing to turn away any human, even the Rogues. Most of the old dangerous villains were locked inside Remnant's famous penitentiary. The minor offenders had a more in and out type of relationship with the makeshift prison.

That was basically what the Jokerz gang was. Even after his death, the Joker had an influence on people. The Jokerz worshiped Joker like a deity. Luckily, they were smart enough to not create too much trouble in the city, otherwise a certain member of the Justice League wouldn't treat them as much as an afterthought.

"Ghoul and his flunkies," Luna raised an eyebrow from behind her shades, "I thought you had another week in the penitentiary."

"We busted ourselves out," Ghoul was a rather pale man. He wore a pointed wizard's had over his straw hair. He wore a torn pumpkin shirt that didn't do much to hide the different scars across his body.

Bart snorted, "That's not smart. The League will be after you as soon as they find out."

"I know, but we couldn't wait for our rematch!" Ghoul's right hand shifted until it turned into a spinning saw, "You punks keep ruining our rep! Time for payback."

"Oh, Highfather have mercy," Luna gave them a bored glance. Her eyes looked from Ghoul to his backup that were all dressed up like literal clowns. While strong in their own rights with their own powers and augmentations, none of them could hold a candle to full-blooded meta-humans, "How many times do we have to beat you?"

"One more time!" A somewhat heavier man wearing a smiling mask said. His most discernable feature was the fact that his legs were replaced by a metal rolling ball.

Ghoul used his non weapon hand to smack his face, "Chucko! Do you know how bad thaaaaaaaaat sou…"

Time began to slow down for Bart as his body moved at speeds that none of the Jokerz could follow. He moved behind the group to a pair of twins that were dressed up like ragdolls. He quickly tied their shoe laces together. He then took the jaw of a man that looked like a hyena and placed it on Chucko's arm before moving back to his previous spot by Luna.

"…nds!"

"AAAHHH!" The twins cried as they fell down.

"OWW! Why in the Apokolips are you biting me, Woof!?" Chucko cried out in pain.

Shaking her head, Luna lifted a hand and blasted the large man of the group with some ectoplasm. The energy carried the man to the wall and trapped him there. She then placed her hand on the ground and surged her energy through that, causing the Jokerz to tumble to the ground.

Ghoul was quick to get back up, "Damn it! Stop doing that! Can't you ever fight fair?!"

Luna nonchalantly checked her nails, "Not our fault if you can't keep up."

Ghoul was about to charge forward and attack, but he was stopped when Bart raised a hand, "Wait! Look out for Batman!"

"Oh, like I'd fall for—"

"OOFF!"

A few cracking noises sounded out from behind Ghoul.

"AAAHHH!"

Ghoul whipped around in shock to see a dark figure standing above his now unconscious friends. With a roar, the Jokerz rushed forward with his saw hand raised. The figure quickly caught the arm by the wrist, twisted it around, and smashed Ghoul's face into the ground. He did not get up after that.

Luna smiled, "Nice work, Terry."

The dark figure stepped forward to show a muscular man wearing a full body suit that covered everything but his mouth. Thin ears reached from the top of the man's mask. Everything on the suit was black except or the red bat symbol and the white lenses that covered his eyes.

"I told you to call me Batman when I'm in uniform, Luna," Batman growled.

"Oh please, Terry. Everyone knows that it's you," Luna rolled her eyes, "I don't know why you Leaguers still insist on codenames. No one to hide your identities from."

"It's tradition."

"A very retro tradition," Bart noted, "That's why no one in our class has picked a name yet."

"Speaking of which…" Batman glared at them, "Shouldn't you be in training right now?"

Luna pouted, "Oh, come on, Ter…Batman. We're skipping one day. Matt told us that you used to skip all the time when Bruce Wayne trained you. Wouldn't it be hypocritical for you to bring us in?"

"True…" Batman smirked, "But it wouldn't be for her."

A large figure landed behind Luna and Bart. They both gulped.

"Oh man, not crash," Bart hissed a hand grabbed his collar and lifted him up, "We totally just got put on mode."

Luna had her arms crossed indignantly as she was carried over the shoulder of her capturer. Bart was being carried under the assailant's other arm. Said kidnapper was an extremely muscular woman wearing apron over thick black body armor. An old gray beanie held her dark hair from view but still allowed the blue skin of her face to show.

"You suck," Luna mumbled just loud enough for the woman to hear her, "You know that, Box Lunch?"

"That's rich coming from the pain in the ass that had me track her down for training…" Box Lunch glare at the girl, "AGAIN!"

"I didn't ask you to," Luna argued.

"Yeah, well Dani did ask me to the day she handed your training over to me and the League," Box Lunch frowned, "Worst decision of my life, I swear."

Bart blurted out without thinking, "Even compared to the decision to marry Colin?"

Box Lunch stopped. She easily moved the speedster from under her arm to right in front of her face, "What was that, boy? You commenting on my choice of a husband? You got a problem with my man?"

"N-No…" Bart was now extremely pale, "I-It was a joke. Colin's the nicest guy I know. He's very forgiving, just like you should be now."

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Box Lunch placed the boy back in his previous spot and continued in her trek through Remnant, "Honestly, you two need to grow up. You know that no one has the luxury of slacking off any more. Especially one of the last speedsters alive and the last ghost born in twenty damn years."

Luna rolled her eyes, "And it's not that kind of pressure at all that makes us want a break once in a while."

Box Lunch ignored this and continued to walk through the streets of Remnant. As she carried them, the citizens laughed at the sight of seeing such powerful meta-humans being carried like sacks of food.

"Hey, it's the quick mouth and moony."

"Got caught again?"

"You'd think they would learn by now."

Luna responded to their comments and mocking grins the only way she could. She flipped them off.

After making her way through the city, Box Lunch came to an open area covered in different posts of cracked wood and garbage. She stepped over the white stone of the moon and into the field with several figures in it, "I think I found something you lost."

The largest figure in the field turned and sighed at the sight, "Lose suggests that they showed up to begin with."

Box Lunch nodded. She quickly placed her captives on the ground, "Apologize."

Bart and Luna bowed their heads, "Sorry, Amy."

Box Lunch smacked them upside the head, "It's Bombshell, brats."

"Well, why don't you have a 'codename' then?!" Luna snapped.

"Full ghosts never used codenames," Box Lunch explained, "Those that reborn as ghosts already gained a new name, and newborns like me didn't need to hide our identity. Besides—"

"It's tradition," All the children in the field said out at the same time, "We know."

"Damn right," Box Lunch smirked to the instructor, "I have other work to do. Can I trust them to you?"

"Don't worry," Bombshell was a fit, beautiful woman with pure silver skin. A black tank top with a red symbol of Captain Atom covered her chest while jeans firmly fit the curves of her lower half, "You can trust me."

"Alright, Allen," Bombshell pointed to the speedster, "We're doing personal demonstrations today. You're up. Show us how you've improved."

Bart saluted, "Will do, miss teacher lady."

Bombshell looked to Luna, "Fenton, you join the others. Be ready, you're after Allen."

"Whatever," Despite her ambivalence, Luna did as her teacher said. She walked over to the other five students in her class and waited her turn. As soon as Bart began to go through the League's course, the others began to speak to her.

"Heard that Batman was the first to catch you," A young man of obvious Asian descent smirked at Luna causing the domino mask on his face to shift. He wore dark red body armor with a utility belt at his waist. A yellow 'R' covered the left pectoral part of his chest.

"That was literally five minutes ago, Matt," Luna gave her friend a side glance, "How did you already hear about it?"

"Family secret…and call me Robin."

"Highfather have mercy," A chocolate skinned girl around Luna's age rolled her eyes. She flicked her almost magical, fiery red hair over her shoulder. Grayish eyes sparkled in a playfully mocking manner as she crossed her arms over her golden armor, "If you're going to pick a dumb codename, can't any of you be original? I mean…Robin? Supergirl? Those names are so old. It's gross."

"U-Um…" A stunning, curvatious young woman with short dark hair and stunning blue eyes shifted her dark boot covered feet. A black unitard with the Superman symbol across the front showed off her generous curves. She rubbed her gloved hands together. Despite her incredible strength and nearly unnatural looks, the girl looked very unsure as she spoke, "W-What n-name w-would you pick, A-Anita?"

"Well, Cir-El," Anita smirked, "I would pick something befitting my unparalleled beauty and elegance. Something like Empress."

"Your humility is amazing as always, Anita," Luna muttered dryly.

"I do not believe that you are one to speak, Luna," A floating young man with a shaved head spoke. He was covered in the uniform of a Green Lantern. He was one of the few remaining members of Corps after its destruction. One of the last power rings and power lanterns had chosen him as its owner despite Earth being a dead zone, "Your actions show that you think that you are above training. That shows far more arrogance than Anita's simple boasts."

"Kai-Ro," A thinner woman with long platinum blonde hair chastised the shorter boy. Her swimmer's frame was covered with a smooth green fabric that covered everything except her webbed hands and feet. A small frown marred her toned skin, "You know that is not fair. We all have our own personal issues to deal with."

"Yet our call to duty pushes us through it, Mareena," Kai-Ro argued.

"Hey!" Bombshell shouted over to the trainees, "Are you paying attention."

"Yes," All the youngsters stated dutifully.

Bombshell was skeptical. She pointed to the now floored Bart, "Then tell me what Allen did wrong."

"Um…" Cir-El blushed, "H-He tripped over a-a rock?"

"He was too predictable, and you hit him with an energy blast," Robin suggested.

"His metabolism go the better of him?" Anita shrugged uncaringly.

"…Lucky guesses," Bombshell sighed, "Allen, get up. It's Fenton's turn."

"Yeah…" Bart lifted himself back up and trudged to his friends, "Thanks so much for your help, guys. Totally crash."

"This was not a team exercise," Mareena gave him a sympathetic smile.

"Plus, it is humorous to see you fail," Kai-Ro added.

"Kai-Ro!"

"You all suck," Bart grumbled as he passed Luna. Said halfa girl stood in front of the makeshift training course.

"Alright, now this will be a time trial. Hit as many of the targets as you can in—"

Luna didn't wait for her instructor to finish. She raised her hand and gathered a large ball of pink energy. Multiple blasts shot out of her hand and smashed into the various posts. In seconds, they were all knocked over. As the energy disappeared from her one hand, Luna raised her other hand just as Bombshell sent out a blast of energy at her. The radiation hit her palm and was instantly absorbed into her skin.

Bombshell huffed. The older woman launched herself forward with both her fists glowing. Without even blinking, Luna caught the fists in her own and absorbed the energy. This didn't stop Bombshell as she sent out a blast of energy from her foot. The burst smashed into Luna's stomach and sent her tumbling back. Luna's shades were sent sliding away.

"Don't get too cocky, kid, you're not invincible," Bombshell proclaimed, "I know all your weaknesses."

Luna didn't bother sitting up from her position on her back, "And the enemy will?"

"Don't underestimate alien tech. They can analyze patterns and see weaknesses," Bombshell noted, "Plus, your lack of real battle experience makes your talent and genetics useless."

Luna sat up with a deep frown on her face. One of her eyes had shifted to pink, "I get it. Next time, I'll just absorb all of your energy so you can't take advantage of me being nice."

"Luna…" Bombshell paused. She lifted her hand up to her ear to press her com piece, "Yeah…I see…What do you want me to…Okay, be there in a few minutes."

All the students exchanged confused looks.

"Alright," Bombshell looked to her students, "The League called. I have something to deal with. Class dismissed for now. See you…ALL of you…tomorrow. Same time."

Luna stood up and walked over to her sunglasses. As she placed her shades back on, she muttered, "Yahoo…"

Cir-El floated over to Luna as they were leaving the training grounds, "W-What do you think Miss Amy had to go do, L-Luna?"

Luna looked back to the last Kryptonian. Unlike the other teenagers who were capable of flight, Luna chose to walk. She wasn't in any hurry, "How would I know?"

"You've been around the League the longest," Anita mentioned, "You would know what it would take for training to be canceled for the first time…ever."

"Probably just a problem with the dome," Luna shrugged.

Matt was frowning, "I don't know. I'm a bit worried. Batman usually contacts me through my com piece with those types of things."

"So it is something more serious?" Kai-Ro gained a contemplative look.

"Then why didn't they ask us for help?" Bart questioned, "They've been training us for a reason."

"It is about the protection of the next generations," Mareena noted, "They want us to avoid danger. After us…There are few children left besides us, and those are the few that have no powers…"

"Ahem," Matt glared at her.

"Or genetic fighter heritage," Mareena conceded.

"Geeze…" Bart gained a sullen look, "That's a depressing thought."

"It's depressing times," Luna sighed, "Speaking of which, I guess there's the implied order to go home…"

"Indeed it is," Kai-Ro began to float away, "I will see you all tomorrow."

"Y-Yeah, s-same…" Cir-El began to leave as well.

The others began to leave as well, leaving only Bart and Luna at the edge of the field. Bart looked to Luna, "Um, Luna, sorry to bail on you, but Dad will probably already freak out on me for this morning. I don't want to double the lecture. He'll probably go slowly on purpose as punishment too. That would be Apokolips…"

"Fine, whatever," Luna bit her lip, "Go. I'll see you tomorrow, Bart."

"Bye, Luna!" Bart rushed off in a blur. Luna was left alone at the edge of the training ground. Her first instinct was to go anywhere but home, but Bart had a point. She'd be in even more trouble if she didn't head home right away.

"Guess it's time to face the music."

"Oh, if it isn't the drama princess herself."

Luna sighed as this was the first thing she heard as she opened the door to her tiny shack. The main room of the metal shack was a simple room with a single window and plain metal walls. A large desk covered in papers was in the corner farthest from the makeshift bathroom and a broken down cot lie in the other far corner.

"Hi, Grandma…" Luna said unhappily, "How was your day."

"Same as every Goddamn day," A woman with short white hair sat at the desk with her back turned to Luna. While Luna couldn't see the woman's face, she could see the rest of her caretaker. Black and white armor hid the curves of her body. The armor stopped at the elbow and knees at the woman's arms and legs respectively. This allowed the robotic replacements for her right leg and left arm to be seen. The limbs that were still flesh were littered with scars, "And how was your day of ignoring my rules and orders."

"Sucky," Luna closed the door behind her, "Only got five minutes to have fun before Terry and Box Lunch showed up."

"Good," Dani Masters turned away from her desk to look at Luna. A thick, curved scar ran from the left side of her nose down over her lips. Burns on the right side of her face caused the halfa woman to continuously squint with her right eye, "You keep proving that you constantly need someone to keep an eye on you. Next time you pull that shit, I'm tearing down your door and dragging you out of your room every damn morning."

Luna rolled her eyes, "You say that every time I do anything you don't like, Grandma."

"Because I'm too Goddamn nice," Dani huffed, "Always treated you too kindly. Made you think that you can get away with anything."

"Too kindly?" Luna glared at the older woman, "When have you ever been nice to me? When have you ever SAID anything nice to me?"

"Never, because we don't live in a nice universe," Dani hissed at Luna, "You might not realize it, brat, but you've had it pretty Goddamn good here. You got food and a roof over your head. Outside of here, there is war and death. I've seen it all. I've lost everything. And it's all because of your damn mother's group. This is the best humanity will ever get again, and a lot of people gave a hell of a lot to get you here. And you parade around like you own the place and you know best. Here's your wake up call. Luna, you don't know shit."

"I've heard every story there is to tell, Grandma," Luna argued, "I know everything there is to know about what happened out there."

"Oh, but you didn't live through it. I did, though, so I know what's best. There's a reason I lead the League, so you need to get over your own wants and do what's best for humanity for once, instead of painting graffiti of a logo that lost all its meaning forty-two years ago," Dani growled.

Luna rolled her eyes at this old argument, "Someone has to remind people that there's still hope in the universe. Everyone knows what my father's logo means. They just need a reminder."

"No one cares—"

"Shut up! Highfather! You always say the damn same thing!" Luna snapped, "At least I do something to lift people's spirits instead of wallowing in pity like you! You say that you 'lead the League,' but I always see you at that damn table every day!"

"I coordinate their movements," Dani stated, "And I'm working on a very important project. The most important one in human history."

"If you say so," Luna shook her head and crossed her arms.

Dani raised her real hand and rubbed her temple, "God…I'm tired. Too tired to deal with this. Just go to your room, and don't leave it. I'll think of punishment for you later."

"Whatever," Luna walked over to the door to her room, "All you seem to do is think of punishments for you."

"Because all you do is disobey me. You got too much of your damn mother in you," Dani turned away, "Danny would have been ashamed."

Luna paused as she opened her door. Slowly, she turned her head around to look at the woman that had taken care of her all her life, "Grandma…"

"I'm not your Grandma!" Dani shouted without turning around, "You're not funny making fun of my age like that. I'm your genetic sister, and even that's tainted. Both of us are illegitimate as it gets, but at least Danny had the chance to accept me."

The implied 'unlike you' was left hanging in the air. Tears filled Luna's eyes. With a small whimper, she entered her room and slammed the door behind her, leaving Dani alone. Unlike the younger halfa, Dani did not make any noise as she cried and remembered how she lost everyone she had ever loved.