DC: The Brave and the Bawdy

Legends of Tomorrow: Poking the Wild Side

Gotham City, C District

Year 2044

Zari clicked the joysticks with intense precision. Her eyes remained focused on the screen as she successfully pounded in the button combination and executed the command. Her avatar on the screen obliterated the other player's in a flurry of kicks and punches. The other avatar fell to the ground as Zari was declared the winner.

Zari sat in a bean bag on the floor of her tiny studio apartment. The room consisted of a kitchen with a card table for dining, a small TV in front bean bags chairs, a twin bed in the corner, and a small bathroom the size of a walk-in closet.

This was where Zari lived and where she was predicted to spend the rest of her life. She had been designated a "C" class citizen by A.R.G.U.S. per the Citizen Designation Act of 2025, making her the lowest class of citizen. This meant she would always be bypassed by B and A class citizens for better paying jobs.

The CDA created a system of qualifying citizens by their perceived value to America. Politicians and members of the military were given priority. Beyond that, citizens were scored based on their physical fitness, test scores, and "flight risk." Zari had earned her classification for her poor academic performance, disruptive behavior towards authority figures, and by virtue of being a child of immigrants. Zari had only her modest collection of stolen retro video games to keep her distracted from her abysmal quality of life.

Zari tensed up when she heard a knock at the door. She didn't say a word. She waited. If this was A.R.G.U.S. they'd announce themselves, wouldn't they?

Zari looked at her bag on her bed, which contained her family's sacred Air Totem.

No! she realized, If they know about the totem, they're just going to kill me and take it. I have to move now!

The Air Totem belonged to Zari's younger brother, Behrad. He had been branded a criminal for possession of the totem, which was a family heirloom and granted him wind powers. This alone was against the law; any use of superhuman powers was considered a serious crime.

Behrad was part of a resistance. Though they hadn't taken action beyond protest yet, Behrad recently revealed to Zari that a tide of change was coming before leaving the totem with her and leaving. He needed to leave the totem behind because A.R.G.U.S. had been using it to track him. That shouldn't have worked with Zari though, since she wasn't connected to the totem like Behrad.

It didn't matter. Zari just needed to escape now. She had finished pulling on her backpack of supplies when an enormous scimitar crashed through her door. A man in dark robes brandished the blade, revealing it to have glowing red marks.

"Wow," whispered Zari, "You're definitely not A.R.G.U.S."

Zari leapt off the bed as the figure rushed in and swung the blade downward into it, cleaving the mattress in two.

Zari stumbled away from her bed and pulled her backpack in front of her, pulling out her handgun and the accompanying clip. She let her bag fall to her feet as she loaded the gun and unloaded the entire clip at her assailant. The being effortlessly repositioned their sword to deflect each of the bullets individually.

"What the-!?"

Zari had never shot a person before, but she was pretty sure it wasn't supposed to go like that.

The being raised their sword and rushed at Zari again. Zari stepped back but immediately found herself up against the wall with nowhere to run. She was certain the blade would connect and kill her, but instead she felt a rush as yellow lightning sparked in her peripheral vision. She was behind the assailant on the opposite side of the room, a slender man in yellow and red spandex standing beside her.