Ancient Voices ⚔ Legends Of Tomorrow

⚔ One. Recruitment ⚔

         Selena woke up with a groan, holding a hand to her forehead and squeezing her eyes shut in an attempt to clear the disorientation from her senses. Similar noises were heard on either side of her, causing her eyes to shoot open. Around her were eight others, all of them looking as confused as she felt. Selena was sitting in between a blonde woman in a furry cloak and an older man with white hair and circular glasses.

"Stein?" a man wearing a large wintry coat stated, looking at the older man seated beside her, "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I'm as ignorant as you for once." he replied, dislike for the other man clear in his voice.

"Where are we?" the blonde on her other side questioned, her tone cautious.

"Why don't you ask the dude who knocked us out and kidnapped us." a younger man stated from the right end of the line, "British dude with the flashy thing ring any bells?"

"I don't really care about who he is, I just want to know how he managed to find me, and how he figured out about me and my problem." Selena spoke up, her voice hardening on the last word.

The rest of the gathered looked at her quizzically, wondering what she meant by 'problem'. But, before any of them could ask the inky-haired girl the anticipated question, a voice cut in.

"The name's Rip Hunter. And the answer to your question is quite simple." the group of nine spun around to see a familiar man in a brown trenchcoat approaching, "I'm from East London. Oh, and the future."

"Nice to meet ya, Rip." a bald man in a dark green coat stated, reaching inside his coat.

"Ah, while you were incapacitated, I may have tampered with your weapons." at Rip's words, the bald man looked up with a glare, but the supposed time traveler continued on without heed, "I've assembled you all because I need your help. The future of the world is in peril because of a man by the name of Vandal Savage."

"That can't be." a brunette man wearing brown armor dismissed, "We destroyed him."

"Yeah." a dark-skinned woman in similar but more feminine armor agreed from beside him, "Green Arrow and Flash helped us do it."

"And therein lays the problem." Rip confirmed, "Unless you or Mr. Hall delivered the death blow, Savage can be restored from but a single cell."

"The hell are you talking about." the bald man interrupted impatiently.

"Vandal's immortal, Kendra and I reincarnate." the armored man responded calmly.

"Yeah, I've done that." the blonde commented, her tone casual.

"And what the hell does this Randall guy have to do with us?" the bald man demanded.

"Vandal." Rip corrected briefly before continuing on, pacing in front of the group,  "In the future, he will employ the evil he's perfected over his long life, and the power he has amassed throughout history, to finally conquer the world. I've been tasked with assembling an elite team to stop him."

"How do we stop a man like that?" Selena inquired skeptically.

"By traveling through time, and capturing Savage before he grows into the monster he becomes." Rip turned his back to the group, holding out an arm as if to paint the picture for them.

"Okay, I don't know how you knew about me and what I can do, but obviously you must have gotten some wrong information." Selena stated firmly, lightly brushing past the brown armored woman and stepping away from the group, "I can't help you. Hell, I can't even help myself when my powers are involved. The only thing I can do is try to keep her at bay. And now you want me to go out and purposely fight someone? No way. I'm out of here."

With that, Selena shook her head and began to walk away, shoving her hands in the pockets of her jacket.

"The lady's right, Rip. You obviously have the wrong info, 'cause 'hero' ain't on my resume." the man in the wintry coast piped up, following Selena's lead and beginning to exit the rooftop.

"Or mine." the bald man added in agreement, already close behind the other man.

"I know it's difficult for you to fathom," Rip called out, causing the retreating figures to halt momentarily while he continued, "But where... when I'm from, the year 2166, you and everyone on this roof aren't just considered heroes..."

"You're legends."

With those two words, Rip single-handedly silenced the entire rooftop.  Nine faces stared back at him with varying levels of shock, excitement, awe, and disbelief.

"Legends?" Ray was the first to break the heavy quiet after a few moments, his obviously overjoyed tone giving away his opinion.

"I, um, I hate to nitpick, but doesn't a legend have to be dead?" Stein questioned rhetorically.

"Yeah, see, uh, that's a deal breaker for me, so I'm gonna pass." a dark skinned younger
 man piped up.

"And not to mention impossible for me." Selena dismissed, "Trust me, If I could die it would have happened by now."

This once again caused her to receive a few curious looks, but Rip cut in before they could voice their inquiries.

"It's dangerous for any of you to know too much about your own futures," Rip stated, "But I am here because each of you, as individuals, are destined for greatness."

"I could get behind that." Ray admitted.

"And because if you don't follow me, this is what is in store for your world 150 years from now." in a instant, Rip had whipped out a strange device and pressed the button.

Suddenly, a mirage-like wave seemed to spread across the skyline in from of their eyes, revealing a horrible sight.

Where a flourishing, modern city once stood, burning rubble had taken it's place. There were huge quantities of smoke and ash in the smog-filled air, and bits of embers floated past. Fire scorched the ruins that had once been towering skyscrapers, and every so often, a red beam would shoot past, destroying anything left in the apocalyptic zone. It was a truly horrifying sight to behold; to see such a bustling place become a literal wasteland.

"I could have chosen any time and any place." Rip sighed as his finger released the button, prompting the vision to slowly begin to fade away, "Of all the people who ever lived, I chose you nine. I certainly hope that you won't let me, and the world, down."

With that, the time traveler began to briskly walk past the assembled group.

"If your answer is yes, meet me at the address in 36 hours." he announced, pausing only to hand a small card to Stein before he was gone.

"Well." Selena spoke up, "That was certainly... interesting."

The rest all silently agreed.