The League of Heroes......Guardians of Earth. (StarlightKitten & CrimsonMaster)

Since the dawn of man on the planet Earth, there have always been heroes. People who take a stand and fight battles that others can't. Whether those heroes were historical, or everyday. They fought against whatever threatened humankind. The modern day heroes came in many forms. Police Officers, Firefighters, EMS & Military personnel were among those called heroes. There was also a special few who were called Superheroes. They had amazing powers and used those powers to help the innocent. Some of these heroes gained their powers from accidents, magic, birth and there were those who used technology to become greater then they normally would be. The superheroes became the guardians of Earth. All over the planet there were superheroes. Each country seemed to have at least a few. The largest population of superheroes was in the United States. The City of New York had the most superheroes of any place in America. Decades ago New York was the home of a team of superheroes. They called themselves The League of Heroes. This team featured the likes of Black Tiger, Phantom Girl, Lightspeed, Mr. Outrageous, Atomic Man, Sun Spot, Mighty Man & Lady Victory. Their leader was Thomas Reed, a rich businessman who called himself The Raven.

The League of Heroes not only protected New York & the United States, they protected the world. They saw it as their duty to help those who couldn't help themselves. To protect the weak & innocent from those who would do evil. As a counterbalance, nature it seemed created many villains who battled against the superheroes. These villains gained their powers in ways similar to the superheroes. The battles between good & evil were fought almost everyday in one part of the world, or another. Good however always seemed to win out in the end. But the Earth came close many times to being destroyed or taken over by an evil Tyrant. Still The League was always there. In time however, the members grew older. They could no longer protect the planet as they had done in the past. Younger superheroes came forward, but the League found that those heroes weren't interested in joining a team. They were happy to server the planet as single heroes. Finally when Raven died, The League of Heroes disbanded.

The new generation of superheroes was left to protect the Earth. They did a fine job without being part of a team. Sure there were times when one or more of these heroes would join forces to defeat a foe. But they would soon part ways once the job was over. One of the new generation of heroes was Eric Reed. He was the nephew of Thomas Reed and like his uncle used the name Raven. But unlike his uncle, Eric's used a high tech suit in order to fight crime. Thomas's costume was fine for it's time, but outdated. The old Raven costume protected Thomas from most small arm weapons. Thomas even used a jet pack for flying. Eric however built a suit based on a new design his uncle never had the chance to build. This costume was a lightweight armor which provided enhanced strength. Plus Eric added a device which held a pair of mechanical wings. These wings would produce an anti gravity field around Eric giving him the power to fly without a jet pack. Eric like his uncle used an array of gadgets to fight crime. These were always carried in a belt around Eric's waist. Eric's wondrous armor could stop almost anything. It was tough, but looked like a normal black fabric. Eric topped off his costume with a mask. It was really two masks in one. The first which not many ever saw, was a normal looking black mask which covered Eric's head. Only his lower jaw & mouth could be seen. The second was more like a high tech helmet. It formed a delta shape around Eric's head giving him more of an alien looking bird then a raven. This mask gave Eric the power to see in different spectrum's of light. It also had electronic gear to keep those with mind control powers, or those who can read minds out of his head. Eric did use his uncle's old glider cape. It looked like a pair of black wings which laid down his back. This was used only if the mechanical wings ever failed.

Although the new generation of superheroes did a good job protecting Earth from the villains. They hadn't faced an overwhelming threat. This in time would change and Earth's heroes would learn a hard lesson that one can't stand against many. Even New York's dark avenger, The Raven would learn that his lone wolf days had come to an end. That lesson would come soon enough. For now there was still the everyday evil to battle. Like the six men currently removing goods from the rear of a high end electronics store. These men were loading their stolen treasures into the back of a nearby van. Unknown to them, high above on the building acrossed the alley. Raven stood upon the roof looking down. Everything move that these men made he saw even though the alley was pitch black. His special helmet mask could easily pick up their heat signatures.