Chapter 1: The Heart of a Lion

Three years later...

A man walked through the streets to his run-down home. The smell of alcohol was hanging onto him like a baby monkey, even though he hadn't done any drinking today. His life was in shambles.

He had shaggy, brown hair and yellow eyes. The first thing he did when he sat down was to pull out an album.

It had been three years, THREE years, since the Puppet Man accident. Puppet Man had pulled through, but lost the use of most of his body and had to wear a special suit that kept his body functioning properly. But still, Super Bryce was distraught by seeing one of his friends reduced to wearing a puppet-esque suit all the time. He disbanded the team soon after.

THIS was Lionel "Leo" Panthro, a.k.a Lion Man.

He looked up at his old costume--a yellow fur suit with brown mane around the mask, gloves with claws, and a pair of cleats that resembled lion paws. He pulled down the mask and just stared at it.

"Why?" he just asked. As soon as the Elite was disassembled, his life fell apart. He missed being a hero. He saved lives and NOW, he was a junkie. He put the mask back up and pulled out a Lion Man action-figure. THIS was a decision he opposed, selling out to the public. But, he lost the vote.

He growled and tossed the figure at the wall, causing it to break into several pieces. He snorted at it. The figure was his life NOW.

He pulled out a bottle and began to chug it as he staggered out. The first thing that happened was that he ran into a strange figure.

"Watch it, punk." Leo growled.

"What is wrong?" the man asked in an African accent.

"What's it to ya?" the ex-vigilante grunted.

"I sense that your life is now in conflict." The man replied, calmly.

"You have no idea." Leo mumbled.

"What is wrong?" the man asked again.

"Ugh, my life's in shambles." Leo replied, "Three years ago, a friend of mine was injured and then my life took a turn for the worse. I'm addicted to alcohol and now...I'm the cowardly lion."

"Who are you?" the man asked.

"Leo Panthro." Answered Leo, "But three years ago, I was Lion Man. Our leader disbanded the team when Puppet Man nearly died. Now, I don't know what to do. I was a hero named after the king of beasts, NOW I'm afraid that I've lost everything."

"Your purpose has simply been hidden from you, Lionel." The man said, "You simply need to regain your courage."

"And how do I do THAT?" Leo snapped.

"By becoming the king of beasts." The man answered, pulling out some strange powder. He muttered something in Swahili and tossed it at Leo.

The ex-vigilante looked at his arm and saw that his arm was covered in tawny fur.

"Wh-what the..." Leo saw that the man was gone. He yelled in pain as his anatomy steadily shifted. His canines lengthened into fangs as tawny fur steadily covered his entire body. A tail sprung out of his jeans, his brown hair covered his entire neck area, his muzzle lengthened into a cat-like face, his body sprung out with muscles and tore through his shirt and boots. Thankfully, his pants stayed. His scream then shifted into a lion's roar.

He looked down at his hands and asked, in a voice far lower than his original voice, "Wh-what happened?"

A woman screamed and the crowd began backing away from him.

"Take it easy!" Lion Man said, holding out his hands. The crowd just backed away further and some police officers held out their guns and fired. The felid man dodged around them and jumped to the rooftops. He ran from rooftop to rooftop until he was sure that he lost them.

"HIS way of restoring me was to turn me into some FREAK?!" Lion Man snarled, "THANKS A LOT, WEIRDO! MY LIFE'S JUST HIT ROCK BOTTOM!"

He then noticed where he was--at the spot Puppet Man had nearly been killed. He began sniffing around. His sense of smell and hearing were greatly enhanced by his transformation and he could smell everything that happened three years ago. It was faint, but he could find the scents of Puppet Man and Gooey Girl and...someone else. He grinned his sharp teeth as he took off. There was ONE person that he needed to tell about this--the guy who disbanded the team in the first place!