Tales of Earth-Prime: Before They Knew Him (Short Fiction, Three Electronic Formats)

Before They Knew Him
A short story set on Earth-Prime
By Richard Lee Byers
Editing: Jaym Gates
Proofreading: Samantha Chapman
Graphic Design: Hal Mangold
16 pages, three formats: PDF, ePub, mobi (Amazon Kindle)

Freedom City’s strength is Dr. Metropolis’s strength. But that’s about to become his Achilles heel.

About Richard Lee Byers

Richard Lee Byers is the author of forty horror and fantasy books including The Things That Crawl, This Sword for Hire, Black Dogs, Black Crowns, Blind God’s Bluff, and the volumes in the Impostor series. He’s also written scores of short stories, scripted a graphic novel, and contributed content on tabletop and electronic games.

A resident of the Tampa Bay area, the setting for many of his contemporary stories, he’s a fencing and poker enthusiast and a frequent program participant at Florida conventions, Dragon Con, and Gen Con. He invites everyone to follow him on Facebook and Twitter.

Richard On "Before They Knew Him"

"As a lifelong superhero comics fan, I was eager to delve into the Mutants and Masterminds universe. It was just a matter of deciding which of the many cool heroes to feature in my first story.

"Ultimately, I focused on Dr. Metropolis. I liked the idea of an inhuman but noble hero who was the incarnate spirit of Freedom City. One challenge that comes with writing about him, though, is that he’s an extremely powerful hero. How, then, does an author put him at a disadvantage and so compel him to prove his mettle?

"After mulling that over, I thought of a way for an enemy to attack him through the very source of his strength. As a bonus, the idea would permit cameos by some of the setting’s other interesting characters and enable me to showcase bits of Freedom City’s rich history.

"Once I had my premise, I only needed an appropriate villain to implement the diabolical master plan. I chose Blackstar. He interested me, and he had the cunning and the right sort of mighty powers to set this particular scheme in motion.

"And thus, this story. I hope you enjoy it."