Grenade / Nightmare

Grenade started his super hero life as the sidekick Nightmare, working alongside Mr. Midnight. Eventually he ended up working as a villain-for-rent before eventually returning to superheroics alongside the Honour Guard.

## Korben Gray

### Affiliation

Team Midnight, Crimelord Deacon, Honour Guard

## Origin

Korben Gray never knew his real family; being handed to an orphanage in the city at only a few days old. Life inside the orphanage was tough for any child; but Korben struggled with feeling outcast from the majority of other kids. He loved to read and this made him a target for older bullies. Eventually a teacher at the school decided to 'toughen up' Korben, teaching him how to defend himself from physical attacks. Breaking away from his introverted nature; Korben soon started fighting back at the slightest of incidents - leading him to gain a reputation amongst staff and other children. Korben found himself enamoured with the crimefighting stories of the Super Legion and one day tracked down the hero known as Mr. Midnight. Showing how he could easily take down random thugs during an attack, Midnight decided to take Korben on board as his newest sidekick, Nightmare.

## Powers & Abilities

### Powers

Generation of plasma blasts with varying destructive force

### Additional Abilities

Trained hand-to-hand combatant, criminal underworld knowledge

### Restrictions

Plasma blasts take immense pressure to control

## Light

Korben trained extensively with his new mentor; working alongside his other sidekick Margot Holloway (aka Devil's Kiss) to become a dynamic trio of crime fighters. Korben was also enrolled in the Foothills Charter School; an elite private school paid for by Jude. Here; Korben was targeted by the villainous Mannequin - who prayed on the young man's troubled mind. Korben was the toughest of the three - seeming to punch first and ask questions later. He was never afraid to get dirty in a fight - something that he constantly butted heads with Mr Midnight about. This came to a head during a fight with a regular villain - who managed to almost drown Korben in toxic sludge because of his hot-headed nature & influence by Mannequin. Although he survived - Korben found himself with brand new explosive superpowers. Attempting to train him; Korben would have regular sessions with the Founding Family & Supernova to understand his new abilities. It was also at this time that Korben and Margot started a teenage romance; which fizzled quickly as it disrupted their working relationship too much.

## Dark

Tragedy struck during the events of Fall from Grace - when Mr Midnight was killed by an emotionally charged mob due to the abilities of a grieving Spirit. The two young sidekicks witnessed the murder and after burying their mentor and friend, they would retire from the superhero life. With his only true 'family' torn apart, Korben became increasingly distraught; eventually turning to the drug Mist to help ease his trauma. He would also become reliant on freelance work from darker and darker sources; eventually becoming part of Crimelord Deacon's inner circle (alongside fellow super-powered individual Chi). However Margot (now a police officer) would constantly try to pull him back onto the right path, and the pair would move between lovers to enemies to friends regularly, both trying to deal with the shared trauma of their past. Korben turned further to drugs to solve him problems and seemingly disappeared from everybody's lives.

## Grenade

Fate would bring Korben back into the spotlight when the Night of the Netherworlders occurred. Finding himself being attacked by vicious creatures; Korben was helped by Margot to understand the truth - that Deacon had unleashed this attack on the city. Having inside knowledge on the villain and seeing it as a chance for redemption, Korben led an attack on Deacon's base alongside the Phantom. This lead to a heroic sacrifice, with both heroes being killed when Korben's powers destroyed the base and ended the invader's attack. Being so removed from everyday life, Korben was only mourned by his friend Margot - without her knowing that Korben's powers had actually helped him survive the incident.

## Comatose

Korben lay comatose after the attack for months; becoming another John Doe after such a destructive event for the city. Eventually Margot discovered the truth and tried to find him - but a newly awoken Korben was completely amnesiac about who he was. Using the skills of Attaya, they managed to recover his mind and reunite the pair. Margot brought him home to the Midnight Bunker; which ignited a battle when Korben revealed that External member Chi was actually a mole for Deacon. As a final repayment for revealing his true identity, Chi killed Margot in front of Korben and brought the Midnight Bunker crashing down around them. Korben was distraught after the event and was taken in by the other betrayed heroes; eventually deciding to join the Honour Guard to honour his lost friend and make amends for his own criminal past.

## Super Legion 3

Korben would later become romantically involved with Reclaim and also adopted a cat called Moonshine

## Notes

* Grenade is the equivalent to the Robin line of the Batman mythos; concurrently standing for Dick Grayson & Jason Todd