Ultimate Wonder Twins

[StGrimblefig]

Okay, we have had a few good, but quite similar ideas. Oblique angle time.

The twins are just regular, ordinary alien siblings (twins, obviously) from a race that regards space travel in much the same way that we regard automobile travel. It is relatively easy for adolescents to obtain governmental (if not parental) permission to pilot a vehicle in "public."

Zan is a contemplative, almost bookish young alien male. He studies science and philosophy, would rather negotiate than fight and enjoys puzzles.

Jayna on the other hand, is a dynamic, friendly young alien female. She would rather be outside doing something than spend much time studying. Her impetuous nature tends to cause her to act first and consider the consequences later.

The situation on their home planet is complicated, and includes several competing points of view. None of these is obviously in the right, but neither is any of them obviously in the wrong. The factions are mostly peaceful, and confine their conflict to governmental debates -- except one. This one faction (which I'll call ba'adGu'uy, for lack of a more convincing alien name) has, on more than one occasion, physically attacked representatives of other factions within the "senate" chambers.

On one of the twins' first times out with their parent's personal transport ship, they get very lost. They land on a nearby planetoid to try to call home (it is patently illegal to attempt communication while piloting a moving vehicle -- a sign of an advanced culture?). Leaving their vehicle to try to get a signal on their communicators, they stumble upon a secret base for the ba'adGu'uys, in which they are developing some horrible retaliation for percieved slights in the "senate."

Being young and foolish, they are quickly discovered and pursued. They barely reach their vehicle ahead of their pursuers, and the scene becomes a space chase. The twins are lost at the start of the chase, so they do not know that they are heading into a dangerous nebula until it is too late.

Somewhere in the nebula lurks a spacial anomaly into which several research and survey ships have been lost. The foolish children are chased into this anomaly by the ba'adGu'uys. In a chaotic and wonderfully dramatic action scene, the twins fall into the anomaly and through a wormhole-like space tunnel with many branches and turns. The ba'adGu'uys follow, but make a bad choice and end up on a different path from the Twins. The Twins come out near the Sol system and Earth.

Unfortunately, the energies of the anomaly have fried many of their vehicle's navigation and control systems. They are forced to make a crash landing on Earth.

Their crash landing did not go unnoticed on the little blue planet. Local authorities were dispatched to investigate any damage caused by the "meteor."

The Twins are able to breathe on the planet, but it does make them rather giddy at first. There is something unusual in the air here that makes them feel funny. The local authorities arrive to see the wreckage of some kind of vehicle, and immediately call for backup. The Twins try to communicate, but the languages are just too different. The effect of the new air only enhances Jayna's impetuous streak, and she gets frustrated and runs toward the officer to "make him understand" -- only to get shot at by the frightened human police officer.

She recoils back to Zan, and instinctively reaches for his hand for reassurance. Their fear, combined with the something in the air, trigger their first transformations. The first time, it is instictive, and their forms reflect this. Zan takes a liquid form, allowing the bullets to pass through him without harming him. Jayna becomes the most ferocious animal that came to her mind. She is about to pounce on the lone officer, when the backup he called for begins arriving. Zan convinces her to run rather than fight, and they disappear into the night.

At the end of their debut issue, they are very much alone, very much frightened, and very distrustful of the native beings of this planet.

They assume that because their first transformation happened when they touched, they had to touch each other for it to work. This is not true, and they will discover this later in the series. Their alternate forms are initially similar to the ones they first assumed, but as they learn and grow into their powers, they will expand the kinds an complexities of the forms they can assume.

They will eventually meet up with the JLA, after a few adventures that involve obtaining (or recovering) the technology to translate between themselves and the natives -- probably involving the help of a pair of human teenagers (and their dog), who are big fans of the JLA.

How's that?

[bblackmoor]

Okay, we have had a few good, but quite similar ideas. Oblique angle time.

Oblique, indeed. I like it. It reminds me of Cloak and Dagger, back before Marvel Mutant Mania ran rampant and turned every single Marvel character into a mutant of some kind, including Cloak, Dagger, and Spider-Man.

[Blue]

That painting is BEAUTFITUL. It should be in the NGD forum's "Art that Inspires" thread!

[Blue]

Oh, and here's the real plot....

He's an effeminate aqua-moprhing freak, she's a monkey-loving animalistic twin: They fight crime!

Actually, I've thought that the main reason Gleek hangs around is because she can change into animals...

[Enforcer84]

Oh, and here's the real plot....

He's an effeminate aqua-moprhing freak, she's a monkey-loving animalistic twin: They fight crime!

Actually, I've thought that the main reason Gleek hangs around is because she can change into animals...

He's just waiting for the right moment...

[Blue]

Then... Hot monkey love!

[Urklore]

WOW! That is a kewl picture of the Wonder Twins!! When does the mini-serious come out?

[bblackmoor]

Hmm.... That gives me an idea, actually.

Zann and Jayna are actually humans from the very far future, long after the Singularity has rendered human civilization unrecognizable. In their native timeline, they do not even have physical bodies: like the rest of their civilization, they exist as data streams in the transdimensional network, and interact with the physical world (when necessary) through a highly symbolic virtual interface. Most of the people of Zann and Jayna's society never even physically see or touch the "solid world", and live their entire nigh-endless lives existing in environments that can be altered with a mere thought.

As part of a research project to study ancient pre-Singularity societies, "meat" bodies have been fabricated for Zann and Jayna, along with Jayna's "companion", G'lek, for which a gorilla-like simian body is fabricated (although it has near-human dexterity and the power of speech). G'lek is a lesser intelligence (a formally defined class of being), and is a combination of pet, servant, and (ahem) playmate. Such companions are not considered unusual or distasteful in their society; they are actually quite common, although an excessive devotion to them is seen as unhealthy and more than a little sad.

The initial theme of the story would be the twins' dawning realization that reality in the 21st century is not kind to creatures who still live encased in "meat". They have taken for granted that no injury is to be taken seriously, and assume that anyone who falls in battle will simply get up once it's over. The shock of true death, which is almost unknown in their time, will horrify them. Their "research project" will cease to be a lark as they realize that life and death in the 21st century is serious.

Meanwhile, Jayna will be spending more and more time with G'lek, which disturbs both Zann and G'lek. The physical sensations of being a "meat" being are intoxicating to her, and she has begun thinking of G'lek as more than a pet and personal servant. The conflict will start with Zann making oblique comments about how Jayna is spending her off hours, and will eventually result in Zan and Jayna having a screaming match over her "unhealthy appetites", during which G'lek packs a few belongings and leaves, "For mistress Jayna's own good."

Zann also begins to have problems. In their far-future society, mind-altering experiences take the form of (virtual) physical interactions, much like visiting art museums or amusement parks. The effects last only as long as the participants want them to last, and the concept of "addiction" is completely unknown. Zann's experiments with biochemistry-altering substances leads him to chocolate and marijuana first, and then to more dangerous materials like alcohol and tabacco. The level of acceptance these substances have in society misleads him into believing that he can indulge in them without risk or any sense of moderation.

G'lek's capture and vivisection galvanize Jayna into the realization that G'lek is her responsibility, and that she is to blame for its predicament. She persuades Zann to fight down his self-destructive urges long enough to help her retrieve G'lek from the Evil Corporation which had captured it, only to discover that its capture was simply bait to capture Zann and Jayna, in the hope of prying their advanced future-knowledge out of them.

The arc of the miniseries follows their personal journies into the realization that the "meat" world, which they had initially dismissed as a pale copy of their own, has become more important to them than the easy, dream-like existence of their far-future home. G'lek is rescued, and Jayna resolves to seek the companionship of humans; although G'lek will always be a beloved pet, she vows that from now on that is all he will be. She is not a child any longer, and it is time to put away childish things. Zann (now mostly sober) realizes that he, in his way, had become as obsessed with physical sensation as Jayna had, and that he would have to exercise moderation in the future. It is clearly going to be difficult for him.

The miniseries ends with Zann and Jayna sending their research data back to the future without them. They have decided to stay here in this primitive world that has become so real to them, to protect it from Evil Corporations, and to continue to indulge their respective physical appetites (within moderation, of course).

Zann lights a cigarette. Fade to black.

[bblackmoor]

Hmm.... That gives me an idea, actually.

It sounded better in my head than it looks on screen. Eh.

[nexus]

Its is interesting in a borderline creepy "Is this a comic or science fiction?" sort of way.

[assault]

Zann's powers aren't necessarily useless as they are. He just needs a bit of practice, and some intelligence.

Potentially, he can become "invisible", pass through locked doors, and generally do the stealthy intruder thing. Give him a bit of training and he could become quite viable.

Hmm. Actually, he's just annoying enough to make it into _my_ Champions Universe. How would _you_ like it if he kicked your character's butt?

I wouldn't bother to Iron Age them up too much. Just taking them seriously would fix them a lot.

[Tim]

Zann's powers aren't necessarily useless as they are. He just needs a bit of practice, and some intelligence.

Potentially, he can become "invisible", pass through locked doors, and generally do the stealthy intruder thing. Give him a bit of training and he could become quite viable.

Hmm. Actually, he's just annoying enough to make it into _my_ Champions Universe. How would _you_ like it if he kicked your character's butt?

I wouldn't bother to Iron Age them up too much. Just taking them seriously would fix them a lot.

Body of steam: Desolid: cannot pass airtight spaces
Invisibility to sight (normal only) with fringe
flying 8", not in strong winds

[Crackerjacker]

The Wonder Twins are not really aliens, just two earth metahuman kids, brother and sister, with elven features and control over the universe at an atomic level. Theyre both young teenagers, 12-17, but regardless of even if theyre 17, theyre still very naive, idealistic, ect. The idea is that theyre the sidekicks of all superheroes in general. When they show up it's another complication, but they can also be very usefull with their powers. The general theme I would create is that the only people fit for such cosmic powers are the innocent who would use them for nothing more grandiose than helping out whenever they see injustice or evil being done. And they half beleive/half pretend theyre alien royalty, when theyre really orphans.

[Drakkenkin]

Just taking them <and their powers> seriously would fix them a lot.

There have been a lot of excellent ideas, but I think, if you want to bring in the people that watched the original Super Friends, the above statement would be the best way to go. Keep It Simple and close to the original. Just try put them in better situations so that their powers shine!

[Side thought] I loved seeing Spider-Man being close to what I remember of the comics. Yea, the maker of the film has Artistic-License to change things but he doesn't have to use it. But what ever is done, please, for the love of all that is good, DON"T make the pet monkey into a sex slave. [/Side Thought]

Even if the you don't care about the original viewers, there is still much that can be done with the twins original powers (both visual, and in respect to the story line.)

If you did want to expand on their powers you can do something like the picts ChaosDrgn posted. Make it so that the Wonder Twins don't have to fully transform. Just one small idea.

Drakkenkin

[Madstone]

She's a little bit country,
He's a little bit rock and roll.

And the monkey is there because hey, a monkey!