posted
NOTE: This story takes place immediately after L.E.G.I.O.N. # 55. I have not read L.E.G.I.O.N. beyond # 55, so I take responsibility for any continuity errors.
As the L.E.G.I.O.N. ship blasted away from Talok VIII en route to Cairn, the four women aboard began to relax and look forward to a peaceful voyage home after their intense experiences on Talok VIII. Young Lydea Mallor, in particular, felt a need to carefully digest the legacy she was now part of as the anointed champion of her home planet. Seated next to her was Lady Quark, who enthusiastically expounded on her pride in her younger colleague.
“You truly carried yourself as a champion should. I predict a bright future for you.”
“Thank you.” replied Lydea timidly.
“A celebration is in order once we reach Cairn.” She turned to face the backs of Strata and Phase, who were respectively piloting and co-piloting the ship. “Are you not in agreement, ladies?”
Phase turned around to reveal a friendly grin. “Absolutely.” she said.
“Not to put a damper on things,” said Strata, “but I predict a somewhat turbulent future for all four of us. Scanners show a small rift between the matter and anti-matter universes up ahead, and I don’t think I can swerve around it.”
Lady Quark stood up and leaned over Strata’s shoulder to see the scanner. “It is but infinitesimal.” said Lady Quark. “My powers can easily seal it long enough for us to continue on our course.”
“It’s risky.” warned Strata.
“Risk is what I live for.” declared Lady Quark, smiling as she headed for the ship’s hatch.
“Be careful, Tashana.” said Lydea to Lady Quark.
“What she said.” echoed Strata.
“Ditto.” said Phase.
A moment later, Lady Quark, her super-powers allowing her to fly and breathe freely in space, flew towards the rapidly expanding rift. Her keen eyesight combined with cosmic awareness warned her of what appeared at first to be a speck in the middle of the rift. As she got closer and the object got larger, Lady Quark realized it was moving forward towards her. The object took on the outline of a young humanoid female, who then quickly revealed herself to have blue skin of the exact same shade as Lydea and other Talokians. The stranger’s long, straight dark hair trailed behind her gracefully as she continued her flight towards Lady Quark. It was then that she got close enough for Lady Quark to see her blazing-angry yellow eyes and razor-sharp teeth.
“Stop!” said Lady Quark, “I come to you in peace!”
“Ah,” replied the stranger in a shrill-as-barbed-wire voice, “but I come seeking sport.”
Suddenly, blasts of yellow energy burst forth from the stranger’s hand. The energy was an ugly shade of yellow, suggestive of pus. Lady Quark instinctively formed a quantum shield around herself. The yellow energy beams bounced off, but Lady Quark was still staggered...and angry.
“To invite battle with me,” screamed Lady Quark at the stranger, “is to invite doom for yourself!” She then blasted the most powerful quantum energy bolts she could muster, point-blank at the stranger.
But the bolts did no harm to the stranger, who then declared, “Beneath your bravado and pride lies turmoil, insecurity, and fear...delicious fear!” She created a construct of yellow energy shaped like a fishing net, and ensnared Lady Quark within it. Lady Quark began to shriek in physical and emotional pain, kicking and clawing frantically to free herself from the web. The stranger calmly took hold of the net and began twirling it around herself, until she let go and a now-unconscious Lady Quark went flying against her will toward the surface of the nearest planet.
The other three L.E.G.I.O.N.naires looked at the ship’s monitor in horror. Strata was the first to speak. “If we engage this monstress with the ship’s weapons, she’ll simply blow us up! Better to avoid that creature, while we calculate Tashana’s trajectory and go rescue her.”
“Scanners identify the planet as Talok IV.” noted Phase.
“Oh, great!” moaned Strata. “The most misogynous world in the whole galaxy! The sooner we find Tashana and get ourselves all out of here, the better!”
On the planet’s surface, Lady Quark had landed with the force of a nuclear explosion in the capital city’s main street. The natives were not happy to see her emerge from the crater she had created, and they went ballistic when they saw she was a woman.
Lady Quark scolded the angry mob. “Barbarians! Though I did not mean to cause your world harm, I shall not hesitate to defend myself with all the force at my command.” Her fists blazed with quantum energy for emphasis.
But before Lady Quark could make her stand, the mob was incinerated by a colossal blast of the same yellow energy which had temporarily disabled her. The horrible stench of burned flesh polluted the air as the charred remains of the Talokians lay at Lady Quark’s feet. She looked up to see the stranger floating above while adopting a messianic pose.
The stranger then spoke. “People of Talok IV, I am your avenging angel! I have journeyed far and wide to obtain the power with which to end millennia of oppression against all who do not conform to the neanderthal rules of so-called society! Yes, I am a woman, and yes, I defy so-called society by freely exposing my face, hair, and body, and by demanding that men change their ways...or DIE!”
While some men cowered in fear, many others yelled insults and hurled rocks at the stranger. She responded by incinerating them as she had Lady Quark’s would-be attackers.
At a safe distance, the L.E.G.I.O.N.naires aboard the ship watched and heard the morbid spectacle.
“She’s utterly mad!” exclaimed Phase.
“Or is she?” whispered Lydea.
“Lydea!” snapped Strata. “You don’t know what you’re saying. I don’t like this planet any more than you, but this is not the way to solve problems.”
“What do you suggest?” inquired Lydea.
“Her powers seem to be light-based,” replied Strata, “which makes you the only one of us who stands a chance against her.”
“Very well.” sighed Lydea, heading for the ship’s hatch as the ship headed in for a landing.
Meanwhile, Lady Quark attempted to reason with the stranger. “Whoever you are, you must realize you are committing injustices of equal magnitude to those against which you protest.”
The stranger said nothing, merely fired a yellow beam at Lady Quark, who was struck in the chest and fell into the crater.
“This is judgement day!” declared the stranger.
“I order you to halt your destruction and return from whence you came!” said Lydea authoritatively as she approached the stranger.
“Ah, you must be the champion of Talok VIII.” said the stranger. “If so, then I am surprised you seek to stop me, when I in fact intend to implement the progress of your world’s society.”
“This is not the way to go about it!” replied Lydea.
“You are either for me or against me, little one!” said the stranger as she blasted powerful beams at Lydea, who countered with shadow beams of her own, which pushed away the stranger’s beams back to their source, turning the stranger’s own power against her.
But the stranger recovered quickly, and she constructed a gigantic scythe out of yellow energy and set it against Lydea.
With a fraction of a second before she would be struck, Lydea closed her eyes and cleared her mind, creating a shadow force field around her, against which the yellow scythe shattered. She then directed her outstretched hands at the stranger. Lydea felt her peak powers flowing through her as she directed the most powerful shadow beams she could produce at the stranger.
The stranger screamed as the shadow beams nullified her light powers. A moment later, she was clearly having great difficulty staying in the air.
"It would seem this is not my time." she hissed. "But my time will come. And when it does, all who opposed me shall pay!" She pointed at Lydea. "Especially you, champion!"
The stranger flew away awkwardly in a zig-zag line towards the rift between universes. In the blink of an eye, she and the rift were gone.
Lydea stood motionless and speechless until Strata put a hand on her shoulder. "Let's go. These guys are not going to be grateful that they were saved by a woman."
Lydea, Strata, and Phase, with Lady Quark, who had just climbed back out of the crater, close behind, entered their ship and set course for Cairn.
"I don't think I'll ever fully understand what happened tonight." said Lydea to Lady Quark.
"It may be we are not meant to understand it." mused Lady Quark. "In the end, it is but another mystery in space."
Lady Quark landing on the most misogynous planet in the galaxy made me laugh, even though the story took a serious turn. It was wonderful to see Lydea save the day, how effective and strong she was.
I'd love to see some follow-up, with Lydea discovering who and what the attacker is - and also further developments on Talok IV. Were any women observing this battle inspired to fight for more equality? Or did the men become even more severe, feeling threatened by outsiders? Perhaps Lydea, who sees that brute force and vengeance is not the answer, can help implement more gradual change. (A very topical theme, as well.)
posted
Unfortunately I think I only read the LEGION run once and no longer have access to it so don't really know the characters, that said I really enjoyed this and hope you can follow this up.
I agree with FC that Lady Quark (who I do remember was insufferable!) land on a misogynous planet was funny! A wee critism, hope you don't mind, but if she landed with the force of a nuclear explosion there wouldn't have been anyone around for the mysterious villainess to blast.
Looking forward to reading more, more, more!
-------------------- "Tempus Fugitive" the final part of the Adventures of Dream Boy series, set in the Three-Boot Universe. Read it only in the Bits o' Legionnaire Business Forum.
From: here, more often than not | Registered: Sep 2003
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I have an idea to re-title this thread "The Book of Talok" or something like that and tell stories about the different Taloks over the centuries and the different champions of Talok VIII (wouldn't a Lyrissa Mallor-Katma Tui team-up be awesome?), plus the evolving relationship of Talok VIII to its less-enlightened sister planets. And, of course, explaining who exactly that villainess was. (If anyone's already figured it out, please don't spoil it for others.)
I appreciate the criticism, Caron. I do so tend to get carried away with hyperbole.
But...Lady Quark, insufferable? Awww, I adore Tashana! Still, I respect your opinion. Diversity in opinions and tastes is what makes the world go round.
cleome46
or you can do the confusion 'til your head falls off
posted
Like Harbinger, I don't know much about L.E.G.I.O.N. / R.E.B.E.L.S. Everything I do know comes from here and a few other comics-related boards.
But I, too, found it interesting. Based on what I've seen of Strata, I wonder if the people of Talok IV would even know that she was a she.
-------------------- Hey, Kids! My "Cranky and Kitschy" collage art is now viewable on flickr. Drop by and tell me that I sent you.
From: Vanity, OR | Registered: Dec 2008
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posted
Yes, Stealth, I know who your mysterious villainess is! Mwah-ha-HAA! I also know you have a certain fondness for her, so it was nice to see you get to play with the character. Interestingly, I didn't see any reference to a certain...item...she's quite fond of. Did she not have it with her?!?!
Obviously, there's more to this story than meets the eye--and a particular significance to that rift (a temporal one, right?). What was she after? I think you've given us a hint of an origin for her that would eaplain what she wanted to do. Hopefully, we'll find out some day!
Nice one, Stealth! (though when I saw this was a LEGION story, I was kinda expecting a certain character to appear... )
-------------------- "Suck it, depressos!"--M. Lash
From: The Underbelly of Society | Registered: Jul 2003
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It IS unfortunate that Stealth did not join the other ladies of the L.E.G.I.O.N. for the mission on Talok VIII, because I'd have loved to write her. I'm sure Barry Kitson and Mark Waid had their reasons, though.
The villainess' favorite object that Lardy mentioned was not there because she hadn't yet...er...grown so attached to it as she later did.
We will find out more in the not-too-distant future, and the revealtions will be closely connected to another project I'm working on (see my new signature.)
Hyperpath: Email this page to someone!
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