Legion Tryout: Johnny Napalm

Hello, folks! L1701E here! This one-shot I came up with is a one-shot featuring the Legion try-out of a new character of my own creation. Enjoy! And in case you're wondering, this is the "Threeboot" Legion, the Legion that first appeared in Legion of Super-Heroes (Vol. 5) #1, and this one-shot is set after Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds. It is a side one-shot to NebulaBelt's great fic "Legion TryOuts".

Disclaimer: The Legion (All its incarnations) belongs to DC Comics. Napalm Lad is mine.

TRYOUT #4

JOHNNY NAPALM

NAME: STEVAN PAYGE (Birth Name)

HOMEWORLD: EARTH

POWERS: TELEPORTATION, PYROKINESIS

"Ugh..." Shadow Lass grumbled in disgust, pulling some silly string from her hair.

"Thank you, Prince Prankster. Next..." Lightning Lad sighed as a teenager dressed like a clown left the room. For a couple minutes, nobody entered the room. "Uh, next?" A couple minutes later, no one entered the room. "Is someone coming in to try out or what?!"

Boom!

"Whoa!" The Legionnaires all yelped in unison as a flash of light and flame erupted in the middle of the room, accompanied by a plume of black smoke. When the smoke cleared, it revealed a teenage boy, with a lanky frame.

He had long black hair with blond streaks in it. He was wearing a heavy metal t-shirt, a black sleeveless leather jacket with red-and-yellow flames on it, blue jeans with flames painted on the sides that were held up by a black studded belt, and black combat boots with steel-tipped toes. His wrists were covered by studded bands, and his hands were covered by biker gloves and sheathed in flames. His face formed a smirk, and playful blue eyes peeked out from his black shades.

"Are you all ready to rock?" He smirked, his voice revealing a thick New England accent. The Legionnaires' jaws dropped.

"I don't believe it." Lightning Lad gaped. "I don't florgin' believe it."

"My God!" Invisible Kid's eyes bugged out. "Johnny Napalm. THE Johnny Napalm is trying out!" The Legionnaires

"Dude, I love your music, man!" Ultra Boy whooped.

"He's even cuter in person!" Shrinking Violet grinned.

"Wow." Princess Projectra whistled. "Now that is an entrance!" Shadow Lass nodded in agreement.

"Thanks!" Johnny grinned. "I used my stage show to refine my powers. Let me tell ya: I can burn up a lot more than just the charts, baby! Whoo!"

"Teleportation." Brainiac 5 noticed. "You can teleport."

"Like that little bug thing from that other Legion." Projectra remembered. (1)

"Not to mention I can do this." Johnny chuckled as he started juggling fireballs. "I'm hot stuff." He shot a wink at Projectra. He made the fireballs vanish and blew a kiss at the Orandan princess, making a fireball flare up. Projectra giggled.

"You do realize that being famous doesn't automatically give you a spot on this team." Lightning Lad reminded.

"Are you kidding?!" Projectra yelped. "This is Johnny Napalm! And he wants to join the Legion! How can you say no, Ranzz?! Are you crazy?!"

We cannot give anyone special treatment. Saturn Girl answered. It's not fair to the others who wish to try out. And just because Johnny Napalm is a spectacular musician, it does not mean he'd be Legion material.

"Yeah, I know. It's cool." Johnny shrugged. "But I wanted to give this Legion thing a try. After all, I got kickin' superpowers. Why not use 'em for more than just putting on a hot show for my fans?"

"There is an inconsistency in your tryout form." Brainiac 5 noted. "You say your name is Johnny Napalm, but under the name on your form, you put two names: Johnny Napalm...and Stevan Payge." (2)

"Stevan Payge is the name my mama gave me." Johnny smirked. "Johnny Napalm is just a name I use for the singing career."

"Stevan Payge is a nice name." Shadow Lass complimented. "I don't understand why you had to change it."

"Eh, I thought Johnny Napalm would sound better on the tongue." Johnny answered.

"I see..." Brainiac 5 nodded.

Let's see what you can do. Saturn Girl smiled encouragingly.

"If you've seen his stage show, then you wouldn't need to say that." Projectra grunted, crossing her arms.

"No problem, Blondie." Johnny winked at Saturn Girl. "Time to fire it up, baby!" He did a series of teleports that allowed him to appear all over the room, while also juggling and doing tricks with fireballs. One stunt he did made the Legionnaires gasp: He teleported to one side of the room, pitching a fireball at the opposite wall. However, before the fireball hit, he teleported to the other side of the room and caught it. He then smirked as he teleported into the center of the room. He got down on one knee.

"What's he gonna do?" Ultra Boy whispered.

"BRINGIN' THE NAPALM, BABY!" Johnny whooped. He teleported high into the air. While he was in mid-air...

FOOM! FOOM! FOOM! FOOM! FOOM! FOOM!

He fired a volley from fireballs from his hands, creating the Legion logo in flames on the ground. The young man then did one final teleport, landing on the ground. The Legionnaires clapped and whistled.

"It was...adequate." Brainiac 5 nodded.

"That...was...amazing!" Ultra Boy whooped.

"Wow." Lightning Lad clapped. "An actual tryout that was amazing."

"Thank you, God!" Invisible Kid whooped.

"We have to let this guy in! Seriously!" Shrinking Violet exclaimed.

Indeed. Saturn Girl nodded in agreement. We could use a new flamethrower. Especially after what happened to Dirk... The Titanian girl tried not to show sadness. (3)

Imra, the guy is good, but we're not going to let him in just so we can have a new Sun Boy. Lightning Lad answered back. He then turned to Johnny Napalm. "Napalm, that was the most impressive tryout we've seen so far."

"It was the only remotely good try-out we've seen so far." Shadow Lass remarked.

"However..." Lightning Lad looked at Johnny. "The life of a Legionnaire is a dangerous one. I'm not gonna lie to you, Napalm. We've had to deal with crises, like those Terror Firma guys, and we've even lost Legionnaires." The Winathian briefly remembered Dream Girl's first death, as well as the death of Sun Boy. "A Legionnaire's life is a tough one. You got the powers, and you have the ability to use them, but I don't know if it's for you."

"Dude, I know that a Legionnaire's life is a risky one." Johnny shrugged. "Seeing you guys do your thing, it made me do some thinkin'. Sure, I'm a successful rock musician and all that stuff, but I think I could do more with my powers than make my show the hottest show in town, don't you think?"

You are of the best mindset to be a Legionnaire. Don't get us wrong, Johnny. Saturn Girl smiled. It's just we're afraid of the reaction if anything happened to you.

"And you think you don't have fans that worry if anything happened to any of you?" Johnny countered with a smirk. "I mean, you guys are big hits among people my age. I know guys who would give their left limbs to go out with any of you lady Legionnaires." He then shot Princess Projectra a wink. "And I sad;can help you guys out. My membership can give you guys some prestige. And what you do for me..." He took off his glasses. "Increase record sales. It's win-win!"

"You wish to use your Legion membership to increase your fame?" Shadow Lass frowned, crossing her arms.

"Not really, Midnight Blue." Johnny answered. "But it will happen." (4)

"What about your busy schedule?" Lightning Lad answered. He crossed his arms and smirked. "Aren't you supposed to go on tour?"

"Uh...whoops..." Johnny chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his head. "I guess I forgot about that."

"Too bad." Invisible Kid sighed. "It'd be cool having you on board."

"Maybe we can, Lyle..." Lightning Lad grinned. "You have any problem with being a reservist, Napalm?"

"It's cool." Johnny shrugged.

"Alright!" Lightning Lad grinned. "Welcome to the Legion, Johnny Napalm!"

"Rockin'!" Johnny whooped. "You Legionnaires will not be sorry! Expect tickets to my next show in the mail!" He then teleported out in a flash of flame and smoke.

"That was a good one. Next!" Lightning Lad called. A teenage boy wearing what appeared to be cardboard boxes waddled in.

"I'm Cardboard Kid!" He grinned.

"Aw great. Just when things were looking up." Invisible Kid groaned.

(1) – Projectra is referring to Gates, a member of the Post-Zero Hour Legion. The Threeboot Legion and the Post-Zero Hour Legion met during Legion of 3 Worlds.

(2) – Johnny Napalm's real name, Stevan Payge, is a nod to two rock legends: Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, and Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin.

(3) – Superboy-Prime killed the "Threeboot" version of Sun Boy in Legion of Three Worlds.

(4) - "Midnight Blue" is a 1987 song by Lou Gramm, formerly of Foreigner. It was off his first solo album Ready or Not.