The League of Just Flame

"The League of Just Flame": The Illusion of Order in New Vane

The City the Heroes "Save" (But Actually Control)

New Vane is a metropolis of 12 million, divided into three tiers:

• Upper Tier (The Radiant District) – Skyscrapers of mirrored glass, elite residences, and the League’s headquarters. Home to those who can afford superhero "protection."
• Middle Tier (The Gray Belt) – Working-class neighborhoods, small businesses, and police stations. Here, the heroes stage most of their "heroic deeds."
• Lower Tier (The Shadows) – Slums ruled by gangs. The League deliberately leaves this district unchecked to justify their existence.

Who Pulls the Strings?

• Prometheus Light Corporation – The League’s official sponsor, an energy weapons manufacturer. Unofficially, they supply weapons to the mafia to maintain "demand" for heroes.
• Mayor Richard Vane – Cousin of Lady Illusion, covers up the League’s crimes in exchange for their political support.
• The Beacon Newspaper – A propaganda mouthpiece that spins the League’s failures into "great victories."

1. The League of Just Flame: Who Are They Really?

🔥 Captain Torch (Jason Bright)

"Light conquers darkness… if the darkness pays well."

Powers: Pyrokinesis, complete fire immunity, plasma barrier creation.

Public Image: Charismatic leader, "father of the city," the face of ad campaigns.

Dark Truth:

• Sets fire to insurance company buildings as part of a deal—they pay him millions, and he "saves" the property.
• Killed the League’s former leader, Legend, staging his death in battle with a "supervillain" (whom he hired).
• Keeps his family (wife and son) hostage in a mansion under 24/7 guard.
• Secretly funds the cult Children of the Flame—fanatics who kill journalists investigating the League.

🎭 Lady Illusion (Marissa Vane)

"Truth is just a bad hallucination."

Powers: Perfect mimicry (can become anyone), hypnotic suggestion, illusion creation.

Public Image: Mysterious and elegant heroine, the "soul of the team."

Dark Truth:

• Former hitwoman for the Shadows' crime lord. Betrayed him, setting him up for the League to take down.
• Alters witness testimonies in court, sending innocents to prison (for corporate bribes).
• In a relationship with the mayor—blackmails him over his ties to drug cartels.
• Killed her twin sister, who wanted to expose the League.

🛡️ Barrier (Gregor Shostak)

"I protect you… even from yourselves."

Powers: Absolute force fields, immunity to all weapons.

Public Image: Unshakable guardian, the "shield of New Vane."

Dark Truth:

• Split personality: His alter ego Stringer is a maniac who strangles victims with invisible force threads.
• Provokes disasters to later "save" people (e.g., weakens a bridge’s defenses before a hurricane).
• Hates Captain Torch because he knows his dark side and blackmails him.

⏳ Chronologist (Elias Crow)

"Time isn’t an arrow… it’s my wallet."

Powers: Slows time within a 50-meter radius, brief time stop (2 seconds).

Public Image: Cold-blooded strategist, the "brain of the League."

Dark Secret:

• Phantom thief: Robs banks and museums using his powers.
• Falsifies League reports, erasing their failures.
• Addicted to Chrono-Crystals—a rare mineral that extends his powers (mined through murdered miners).

🧪 Doctor Genesis (Arthur Wayland)

"Progress demands… sacrifices."

Powers: Creates biological agents (viruses, serums, mutagens).

Public Image: Genius biologist, the "savior from epidemics."

Dark Truth:

• Creates epidemics himself to later sell vaccines.
• Experiments on the homeless, turning them into mutants (who later "attack the city").
• Hates Barrier for once blocking his lab and destroying a valuable specimen.

The Darkening Sky of New Vane

Rain. Always rain.

It trickles down the gilded statues of the League in Salvation Square, washing away their fake smiles. Neon ads flicker through the watery haze—"The League of Just Flame—Your Protectors!"—their reflections drowning in puddles littered with cigarette butts and torn newspaper scraps boasting yesterday’s "heroic feat."

Somewhere in the Lower Tier, a siren wails—another "villain" has started a shootout. But those who’ve seen the heroes’ true faces know: it’s just theater. Expensive, bloody, but theater all the same.

In the Radiant District, behind the bulletproof windows of the League’s headquarters, Captain Torch adjusts his cloak, woven from insurance tycoons’ money. His fingers leave soot stains on the crystal glass—he’s been burning things again. On purpose.

Beside him, Lady Illusion tries on a new face—today, a young activist; tomorrow, she’ll be "accidentally" killed during an arrest. Her laughter scrapes like a knife on glass.

Monitors flash with crime scene footage, but Chronologist is already rewinding the tape. Just a few seconds. Enough to erase what shouldn’t be seen.

And somewhere in a basement, Doctor Genesis drops a vial of green liquid into a ventilation shaft. Tomorrow, they’ll call it a "mutant attack."

The city believes. The city must believe.

Because without its "heroes," New Vane is just a heap of concrete, soaked in lies and ashes.

And somewhere off-screen, in the shadows, Barrier clenches his fists—his force field trembles like the line between truth and madness.

Soon, someone will die.

But for New Vane? It’ll just be… another dazzling special effect.

Blood on Marble

Their world crumbles when Captain Torch is found dead in the League's secret headquarters—his heart pierced, yet no signs of a struggle remain.

The corpse of Captain Torch lay posed like a ceremonial portrait—arms outstretched, as if caught mid-wave to an invisible crowd mere seconds before death. His fireproof samanite cloak, usually ablaze like living flame, now resembled dead embers, slumped heavily in a pool of blood.

Oddities at the Crime Scene:

• No signs of struggle, no burns—the body lay perfectly centered in the League Council Hall, where the floor was made of triglass (a material that records all energy disturbances). Yet the playback showed nothing.
• The wound—a perfectly circular hole through the armor, as if the heart had been laser-cut, but the edges were charred.
• His expression—frozen in rage, not fear. Teeth clenched so hard the ceramic jaw implant cracked.
• In his right hand—a melted communicator with a final fragmented message: "You knew this was..." (charred beyond recovery).

Details Only a Pro Would Notice:

• The smell—not blood and smoke, but bitter almonds (cyanide?). Yet Torch was immune to toxins...
• The body's placement—precisely at the convergence point of the floor's hexagon panels, where defense field lines intersected. Someone knew the energy grid layout.
• The reflection—distorted but recognizable in the victim's polished helmet... a gloved hand bearing the League's insignia.
• 
  

The headquarters hummed with silence—even the emergency systems hadn't triggered. As if death had walked in with a keycard.

"He burned from the inside out," muttered Chronologist. But that was a lie. Fire fears only water... or another flame.

Detective Victor Wrayne's Investigation: The Evidence That Screams

1. Burns on Torch’s Hands – The Flame That Betrayed

"Captain Torch burned from the inside—yet he wasn’t reduced to ashes. Someone killed him… neatly."

Burn Patterns:

• Not random scorch marks, but precise spiral patterns—as if the fire was guided through his veins.
• Palms charred to the bone, yet wrists untouched—like he grabbed something that killed him.

What It Means:

• Someone rewired his powers—possibly via a DNA virus (Genesis’ signature?).
• Or… it wasn’t his fire. League archives mention "Phoenix Flame"—an experimental weapon capable of consuming even the invulnerable.

2. The Shattered Clock (03:47) – Time That Lied

"Is Chronologist asleep? Or does he just want us to think so?"

Clock Analysis:

• Hands fused into the glass—as if time itself warped around them.
• Face cracked in micro-fractures forming "47"—possibly referencing Article 47 of the League Charter (leader’s right to eliminate "threats").

Chronologist’s Alibi:

• His "time-suit" (wrist device) confirms he was asleep at 03:47.
• But… his bedroom has no clocks (he hates ticking). So why was a clockface reflected in his mirror?

3. The Note "7-4-1" – A Code Not Everyone Knew

"Numbers that lead to the truth… or a trap."

Possible Meanings:

• 7-4-1 = "G-D-A" (7th, 4th, 1st alphabet letters) → Gregor D. Arkham (Barrier).
• HQ coordinates: 7th floor, 4th room, 1st safe—where blackmail files on each League member are kept.
• Date – April 7, 2001: The day Victor Wrayne’s family died (coincidence?).

Oddities:

• Paper saturated with ether (Barrier uses it to suppress his alter ego).
• But… handwriting isn’t his—too precise, like a forgery.

4. The Unknown Chemical – A Poison That Shouldn’t Work

"Doctor Genesis swears it’s not his formula… but he always lies."

Substance Breakdown:

• A neurotoxin mixed with power inhibitors—blocks abilities, doesn’t kill.
• Yet combined with Torch’s plasma, it crystallized, piercing his heart.

Who Could Make It?

• Genesis—but his lab is suspiciously clean.
• Lady Illusion—she’s stolen reagents for "special ops" before.
• Torch himself—he ordered a batch to "control dangerous mutants."

The Catch:

• The chemical evaporates in 3 hours—meaning it was brought in just before the murder.