Legion World Forums LEGION OUTPOST Bits o' Legionnaire Business My post-LO3W fanfic series! Latest update February 10: NEW MOON

Hi folks! Because I am apparently not busy enough, I have decided to start writing a Legion fanfic.

Continuity-wise, the series kicks off immediately after the events of Legion of Three Worlds...events transpired exactly as seen in the comics, the only exception being that XS and Gates decided to stay with their home team as the New Wanderers.

The first issue is a spotlight on Infectious Lass, as we find out Whatever Happened to Drura Sehpt?

Click on the above if you want to check it out, preview below!

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In a typical 21st Century teenage girl’s bedroom, Drura Sehpt watched anxiously as pyrotechnics danced around the still form of the very atypical teenage girl before her. “Anything yet, Traci..?” she finally asked, fearing the answer.

Traci Thirteen raised her head slowly to meet Drura’s gaze. She quietly muttered the incantations necessary to dispel the scrying magicks safely, then released a long calm breath. “I’m sorry, Infectious Lass,” Traci frowned slightly. “I tried as hard as I could, but reaching into the timestream is about as difficult as you’d imagine. It looks like you’re stuck here with us for the forseeable future.”

Drura sighed in frustration and buried her face in her hands. She knew being the first Somahturian to leave her homeworld would not lead to an easy life, but she never could have imagined that it would bring her here, trapped a thousand years in Earth’s past. “Grife.” She toyed with her Legion flight ring, gleaming bright against her chalk-white skin. If the Legion had any way of finding her, they would have done it by now. She had to face facts. Traci was right.

very entertaining! Looking forward to more!

Thanks Dave, much appreciated! Constructive feedback is welcome as well if anyone wants to volunteer any

More is up!

TIME\'S INFECTION Part 2: Espionage Squad to the Rescue!

I'm not sure how regularly I will be updating, I need to do a few I think to figure out how long it takes on average for each chapter.

Also, only a very small group in this chapter but I promise starting from Chapter 3 the whole team will take the spotlight in all its glory!

I will be reading this soon, as I love all kinds of takes on the Legion.

Great stuff in the first two installments. Love Drura being competant...but not overly so. Which is obvious in the second chapter...no easy outs in this one. Brilliant use of loose plotlines to fuel your story.

Looking forward to the next piece.

Neat story, and involving characters that I've little familiarity with.

I like your writing style, it's filled with visceral detail that makes it easy to 'see' the scene, like the mud and the trash bags, etc. and Drura's reactions to are appropriately alien (feeling more comfortable around garbage and sewers, because of all the micro-organisms).

It's neat that Drura's a vegetarian as well. Funky little detail I wouldn't have thought of!

Thanks guys!

The vegetarian thing I stole from reboot era LSH, I thought it was a cute idea that made sense....I remember a scene with the team that were trapped in the 21st century where Ayla was appalled at the idea people still eat real meat in this era.

...and I have been enjoying using <span class="spoiler_containter"><span class="spoiler_wording">Click Here For A Spoiler</span><span class="spoiler_text">the LSV Espionage Squad</span></span> more than I thought I would. I only really chose them because there are not that many characters left to choose that could conceivably be on that team, but I am really enjoying them now.

TIME\'S INFECTION PART 3: Same, Same, Different! is now up!

I am not sure if this episode reads a bit disjointed...I have had no real net access for about the last week, so I had to leave it halfway through and finish it off tonight.

As usual, thoughts/criticism/etc welcome!

TIME\'S INFECTION PART 4: Fever Pitch is up, folks!

Featuring high-stakes battle! Heroic sacrifice! Quislet being awesome! This is the penultimate chapter, you have to read it so you can say you were there when it all went down!

The conclusion to TIME\'S INFECTION!

Hey all,

Final chapter of my first story arc is up for your reading pleasure. Three Legionnaires vs the Lord of Time vs Diamondeth vs the Legion of Supervillains! All this, plus a new recruit to the Legion of Superheroes!! EXCITEMENT!!!

Latest installment below; I'm trying to make the individual installments a little more stand-alone while still being part of a larger story arc...

**********

LEGION BY NAME, LEGION BY NATURE...

Cosmic Boy stood before the assembled Legion of Superheroes in a massive conference room in their Metropolis headquarters.

The recent past had been hectic for all of them, with concurrent assaults from Earth-Man, Superboy Prime, the Time Trapper, Mordru and an expanded Legion of Supervillains..not to mention a makeshift Espionage Squad being sent back to the 21st Century to squire Mon-El and Superboy while Infectious Lass, Saturn Girl and Blok waged their own personal mission against the Legion of Supervillains' counterpart Espionage Squad and the Lord of Time. Things had finally settled down for the team though, and for the first time in a while the entire Legion could gather to discuss their future rather than just struggling to stay afloat in the present.

"I have some good news for a change," Cosmic Boy announced to the team which he had founded. "The Legion has always been limited by tax regulations which prohibit us from having more than 25 members--"

"We all know that," Wildfire interrupted rudely, Dawnstar hushing him. "We want more than 25 members, it's gonna cost us a ridiculous amount of credits. What's new?"

Cosmic Boy ignored his teammate's irritating banter and continued. "As Diamond Damsel is our most recent recruit and isn't completely familiar with Legion history yet, I thought it would be worth mentioning." Diamond Damsel nodded self-consciously, aware that the room full of heroes were now focused on her.

"The point is," Cos continued unfazed, "those regulations have been altered. Not just for us, but we may benefit from the change more than most organisations. As of 1145 hours local time yesterday, the threshold for groups such as ourselves has risen to an active roster of no less than 40 members before we're affected negatively by tax restrictions."

The room erupted into chatter, and Cosmic Boy let everyone talk amongst themselves for a few moments before taking control again. "While it may seem excessive at first thought, I can't help but realise how much easier a lot of our recent struggles would have been if we'd had a larger compliment of heroes on hand to deal with them. Some of those alternate reality Legionnaires died fighting our battle, and that may have been avoided if we'd all had a chance to work with those heroes first, to become as familiar with their strengths and capabilities as we are all with our own. If we'd had more heroes on our own team, we may not have had to put those other Legionnaires at risk in the first place."

"I don't need precognition to see that this isn't something that you're putting forward for debate," Dream Girl spoke up with casual sarcasm. "So where do you propose we find these new members, Cosmic Boy?" The heroine from Naltor stopped filing her nails and gave the Legion's leader a challenging stare.

Cosmic Boy tapped at a holoscreen with a few commands. "You'll all find the mission roster has been updated. I think the sooner we get going on this, the better." The assembled team looked down at the holoscreens before them with a range of reactions.

"Excuse me, Cosmic Boy?" Tellus asked with his typical politeness, "You are sending Brainiac 5, Dawnstar and myself to Vyrga? I thought that planet was devoid of sentient lifeforms?"

Brainiac 5 answered in Cosmic Boy's place. "I suggested this expedition, Tellus. You were in the past when we joined forces with our counterparts from two other realities recently, but one of those teams had a native from Vyrga with teleportation abilities. It is possible that United Planets scouting teams in our own reality have made the assumption that no humanoid life on Vyrga means no sentient life on Vyrga. Given the vast similarities between the three Legion teams otherwise it is certainly worth investigating further. Between your telepathy, Dawnstar's tracking ability and my own 12th level intellect, we should be able to make a more educated appraisal of the world's indigenous lifeforms."

"What about the Academy?" Wildfire asked defensively. "If anyone deserves a chance to join the major leagues, it's one of those kids."

"Scan the mission roster," Cosmic Boy replied with the barest hint of frustration, "I've already assigned Bouncing Boy and Duplicate Damsel to offer a place to whomever they judge as the most worthy candidate amongst the Legion Academy."

Across the room, an exaggerated groan of despair came from Timber Wolf as he held his head in his hands. "You gotta be kidding me," he moaned. "You're sending us to Lythyl?"

"Karate Kid's legacy is important to all of us," Cosmic Boy answered firmly. "I want to make sure the third person to bear that name is going to be given the best chance he can to do right by it."

"That kid wants nothing to do with us!" Timber Wolf objected loudly. "He's already rejected us, it's a waste of frakking time!" Lightning Lass placed a concerned hand on her lover's arm as his temper rose.

"He's rejected my long-range communications," Cosmic Boy continued calmly. "Maybe he just needs the personal approach." Something else else in Cosmic Boy's tone said that he wasn't going to brook any further argument about this, so Timber Wolf took to swearing under his breath as Lightning Lass tried to soothe him.

"What about the rest of us, Cosmic Boy?" Shadow Lass asked, taking the attention away from Timber Wolf's outburst. "Even assuming all three of the teams you're sending are successful in their mission, that's still going to leave us four or five people short of 40...assuming you want to expand our ranks that much so quickly?"

"I definitely want to," Cosmic Boy said. "That's why I'm asking for several volunteers to commit to a full day at headquarters in a week's time from now."

"Oh, I see where this is going," Matter-Eater Lad piped up, rubbing his hands together gleefully. "Welcome back, Legion try-outs! I can't wait to see who ends up covered in protoslime this time around!" Sun Boy shot him a silent but vindictive glare.

"I'm sending the announcement out on public networks as soon as this meeting is over," Cosmic Boy finished, before noting a look on Night Girl's face and adding, "I've already taken the liberty of inviting the Subs to try out. I think the number of people in this room who have earned their stripes in the Substitute Heroes should leave no doubt as to their abilities. Is there anything else?"

The meeting wrapped up not long after that...while there was hesitation in some corners about Cosmic Boy's decision to add so many new members without any real consultation, everybody gathered could also see the merit in that decision even if they didn't personally agree that it was the wisest move. More importantly though it achieved what Rokk had really wanted; after such an extended period of bitter conflict, the Legion was focusing on something positive. This membership drive would restore the team's optimism, Cos was sure of it.

As his team filed out of the room, he wondered idly who else would be among their ranks by the next team meeting. Flying out of the room for a scheduled meeting with Gigi Cusimano, he couldn't help but smile to himself.

The Legion was back.

An adventure starring Bouncing Boy, Duplicate Damsel and some of the Legion Academy students!

Shooting Star
As the drab prisoner transport vessel left Takron-Galtos, its unusual occupants gathered around their equally notable charge.

"Parse me to the C-Span, Bouncy...we've gone way over the event horizon on this one!" Comet Queen rolled her eyes, leaning back against the ship with her arms folded across her chest. As cryptic as her distinctive slang might be, the lithe young heroine's body language left no doubt as to how completely and mind-numbingly bored she was.

Bouncing Boy tensed involuntarily; he hated the nickname Comet Queen had given him, but it seemed to have stuck. Beside him, his wife and fellow Legionnaire Duplicate Damsel suppressed a chuckle. Comet Queen's crush on her husband was obvious to everyone around her, and kind of cute really. The veteran Legionnaire turned to her husband with a cheeky smile. "Why don't you put the kids out of their misery and tell them why we've brought them here today...Bouncy?"

"Et tu, Luornu? Et tu?" Bouncing Boy threw his hands up in mock protest then looked over the three students that had come on board this vessel at their teachers' request. Comet Queen was picking at the hem of her shiny garment, seemingly oblivious to anything else going on around her. Next to her, Nightwind contrasted starkly. Standing demurely in her voluminous grey cloak, her pale yellow face watched Bouncing Boy and Duplicate Damsel in respectful silence. Rounding out the trio, the muscular purple-skinned Power Boy towered over the others, his hair almost brushing against the ceiling. Of the three students he was the only one paying attention to their prisoner, looking down upon him with what he hoped was an intimidating glare.

The prisoner was a man in a plain green jumpsuit with tight curls of ginger hair. He would have seemed out of place in such an exotic group were it not for the fact that he were only seven inches tall. Enclosed in a glowing force bubble, he returned Power Boy's stare with one of pure malice. He snarled something hateful, but the soundproofed bubble meant Power Boy could only guess what it was.

"Students, this is Lalo Muldroon, the villain slightly better known as Micro Lad." Bouncing Boy gestured toward the villain. "He was part of Superboy Prime's recent attack on the Legion of Superheroes, and like the rest of the villains that we captured that day he was sent to the prison planet Takron-Galtos. His homeworld Imsk has asked for him to be transferred to local incarceration and the Science Police requested a Legion escort for the prisoner transport. We saw it as a perfect opportunity for some of our students to come along and see that being a Legionnaire isn't always high adventure. Sometimes Legion missions can be downright tedious, but that doesn't make them any less important."

Nightwind raised her hand curiously. "Bouncing Boy? Isn't it Legion protocol normally that homeworld missions be led by whomever is native to that world? Why isn't Shrinking Violet here with us?"

Bouncing Boy and his wife exchanged a glance before Luornu fielded the question herself. "That is generally mission protocol, Nightwind. In this case though, Shrinking Violet was happy to allow us to use this as a training exercise of sorts." Duplicate Damsel tactfully omitted any mention of Shrinking Violet's history with Micro Lad, or the Imskian heroine's mixed feelings about her homeworld where she had spent almost a year in sensory deprivation at Micro Lad's hands.

"Waait a minute," Power Boy said slowly, stroking his chin. "If you're doing this to show us a typical day in the life of a Legionnaire, does that mean..?"

Duplicate Damsel gave him a wide smile. "That's right, Jeb. The Legion is expanding its ranks, and we've been asked to choose a new recruit from the Academy. You three are our best students and we didn't want to--"

The rest of her statement was cut off by a high-pitched shriek of excitement from Comet Queen, who hugged Nightwind and Power Boy together. "One of us is gonna be a Legionnaire!" she screamed. "One of us is gonna be a Legionnaire!! Nova burn to the MAX!!"

**********

By the time they finally entered Imsk's solar system, Comet Queen felt like she was about to explode from the monotony of it all. She didn't know how the others could just....sit here for hours chatting idly and watching a little man in a bubble doing absolutely nothing at all. She almost squealed with glee when she finally heard their Sci-Pol pilot announce that they were about to enter planetary orbit. Suddenly, the shuttle shuddered. The students and Legionnaires all were knocked about, and even Micro Lad tumbled head over heels into the perimeter of his cell.

"What was that?" Bouncing Boy shouted. "Are we under attack?"

"You Legionnaires had better come up front and see this!" the shuttle's pilot called back over the internal comms with a note of panic in his voice. "It's -- uff!" The ship rocked violently again.

"I'll take Power Boy and Comet Queen and see what he's talking about," Luornu said as she split into two identical women. The second Duplicate Damsel continued without missing a beat. "Chuck, Nightwind and I will stay to keep an eye on Micro Lad." As the departing trio left the cell area, Luornu noticed that Comet Queen had risen a couple of inches above the ground. "Good idea, Comet Queen. Use your flight ring, Power Boy - we won't get knocked around as much by whatever's impacting the ship." The three of them levitated the rest of the way to the cockpit, the ship rocking twice more on the way.

As the door to the cockpit slid open, their eyes widened in shock. "Flashing pulsar flares!!" Comet Queen exclaimed. "What is that thing?" Before them, Science Police Officer Harmon Del Rio grimaced as he tried desperately to evade the source of their current troubles. They could see through the shuttle's wide foreview that a massive metallic red dragon was attacking their vessel again and again. The space dragon dwarfed their small ship, and its size belied its great speed.

"It just came out of nowhere!" Officer Del Rio shouted. "By the time sensors picked up its charge, it was on us! It's already disabled the repulsors and we don't have anything more powerful on a ship this small!"

"It must be defending its territory," Duplicate Damsel said thoughtfully. As way of explanation to the students, she explained further. "Space dragons are kept in the planetary area by Imskian-designed beacons, and the beacons are meant to keep them from attacking ships. Maybe this fellow got lost, or maybe he thinks we're intruding on his area. I don't know, but judging from that alarm that just started going off, I'd imagine we can't take much more of this battering!"

"I'll take care of it!" Power Boy leaped at the opportunity for action finally. "One bop to the snout and I should have him running with his tail between his legs!"

"Wait a blip, Bep!" Comet Queen interrupted him. "That thing's just a poor dumb animal, kind of reminds me of you," she teased. "I think I can lead him away from the ship without having to hurt him at all!"

"Be careful, Comet Queen," Duplicate Damsel placed a hand on her student's forearm. "The space dragons may be big, but they're fast too. And they're dangerously radioactive."

"Fast?" Comet Queen scoffed. "I'll give him fast!" She turned and flew directly for the airlock, then within seconds was flying free in the vaccuum of space. Unable to suppress her joy at finally being out of that dreary vessel, she did multiple loops around the ship. With the tail of gases which poured out from behind her scalp, she took on the appearance of her namesake to the ship's passengers and she caught the space dragon's attention. The magnificent creature eyed her suspiciously, but kept clawing at the shuttle.

Looking back at the ship, Comet Queen realised something....it wasn't the transport vessel the dragon was trying to destroy, it was a chunky piece of equipment magnetised to its hull! The gadget bore a bright blue pulsing light, and Comet Queen recalled what Duplicate Damsel had said about the Imskian homing beacons. The golden-skinned Quaalian screwed her face up and dashed with unearthly speed and agility directly between the space dragon's swiping talons. Before it could grope at her, she grabbed the makeshift beacon with both hands and wrenched it free of the ship's hull. She fled as far from the ship as she could, glancing over her shoulder to make sure her ploy had worked. Sure enough, the space dragon was coming straight for her...and gaining quickly. Comet Queen supposed fear would be sensible, she was not remotely a match for this beast if it actually caught up with her. But being chased through the void of space by a giant radioactive dragon?

This was the kind of thrill she lived for.

**********

On the transport shuttle, Power Boy headed back to the others on his own while Luornu stayed in the cockpit to monitor Comet Queen. He was explaining to the others that Grava had left the ship to lure the space dragon away when the air was perforated by the distinctive peal of laser fire. Even as Bouncing Boy shouted at the students to cover themselves, everyone but Power Boy himself had hit the floor. Jeb knew that very little could hurt his superdense form, so he tried his best to shield the others.

"Where are they coming from?" this room's Duplicate Damsel shouted over the multiple blasts.

"Over there!" Jeb pointed as the beams ricocheted off his tough hide. Once he had isolated the gunmen's position, the others saw as well. Just inside the entry portal, held aloft by tiny jetpacks, was a squad of five Imskians. They couldn't have been more than two inches tall, and when they realised they couldn't get past Power Boy directly they separated.

Noticing Micro Lad's calm smile, Bouncing Boy realised what had happened. "They're Micro Lad's terrorist goons!" he bellowed. "They must have coerced that space dragon to attack the ship so they could break him free during the confusion!"

"They couldn't have been aboard all along," Luornu added. "The ship's security sensors would have picked them up. They must have taken advantage of Comet Queen's exit!" Luornu yelped in pain as one of the Imskians managed to get past Power Boy and land a direct hit on her shoulder. Normally the laser would have seared a hole clear through her arm, but at its reduced size it only tore her costume and left her with a nasty burn. Still, she didn't want to have to take too much more of that punishment.

"There's not enough room in here for me to bounce around," Chuck remarked, trying to shield his wife with more of his own ample mass. "And as small as they are, it'd be like trying to hit a wasp with a beach ball -- oww!!" Another laser burst struck Bouncing Boy this time, leaving an angry red welt across his cheek.

"That's enough of that," Nightwind announced. Spreading her arms out before her, the air in the room suddenly picked up. "There may not be enough space in here for me to really cut loose, but I'm sure I can whip up enough of a breeze to take you psychotic insects out of commission!" True to her words, the heroes saw two of the diminutive assailants hurled directly against the door they had entered and slump to the ground unconsious, their jetpacks damaged beyond repair.

"Good work, Nightwind!" Chuck encouraged his student. "Power Boy, you have to--"

"Way ahead of you, Bouncing Boy!" Jeb cut him off. "I'll make sure they don't get Micro Lad out!" He huddled over the forcefield, using his massive bulk to effectively add an extra layer of defence to the cell.

"No!!" Chuck shouted. "Nightwind! You have to protect Nightwind!" His warning came too late though. Realising now that the pale woman with the strange facial markings was their only real threat, the remaining Imskians grew a few inches so that they were the same size as Micro Lad himself. They were still small enough that the room was cavernous from their perspective, but even this small change in scale made their weapons more dangerous. Before she could adjust the strength of her wind to deal with her larger foes, all three remaining gunmen fired on Nightwind. She screamed and crumpled instantly, the sick smell of her burning flesh filling the air.

"Damn it Jeb, she was our best hope to end this quickly!" Chuck yelled. "You should have been covering her, forget the prisoner!!" Bouncing Boy himself succumbed to the tiny villains' lasers, and Luornu cradled him on the floor as she formed another two duplicates to stand over him.

The three Imskians took to separate areas of the room, one of them targetting Nightwind, and the other two aiming their weapons at Chuck and Luornu. One of them narrowed his gaze and addressed Power Boy directly. "Release Lalo Muldroon to our custody and we will depart peacefully, offworlder. Refuse and we'll kill everyone in this room and take him ourselves. You may very well be able to stop one of us, you may even be able to stop all of us. I guarantee you though that at least one of you will die in the process. Are you willing to take that risk?"

"Wh-what do I do, Duplicate Damsel?" Power Boy stammered. "What do I do?"

Luornu sighed in resignation. She knew they were right. She could create an army of duplicates if she had to, but she couldn't chance them killing her husband or her student...and if they had to, they could shrink to microscopic size and just bide their time until they could make their escape anyway. She opened her mouth to speak when the door suddenly opened again.

"Eat my exhaust, space microbes!" Comet Queen flew into the small room and spun around at dizzying speeds, filling the room with thick black plumes of smoke from her gaseous trail before anyone could react. Luornu and Jeb hacked and coughed; within seconds visibility was reduced to zero. A few moments later, the ship's ventilation system cleansed the air and Comet Queen faced the heroes with a victorious grin. In her outstretched palm she held the two Imskians that Nightwind had earlier knocked out, and Jeb and Luornu saw the other three hovering in the air, their jetpacks keeping them aloft even unconscious.

The prime Duplicate Damsel followed Comet Queen into the room bearing med-kits for the injured heroes. "We watched the whole fight from security holos in the cockpit," she explained as she split into separate women and tended to Nightwind and Bouncing Boy's wounds. The other duplicates in the room vanished, sent back to wherever they were when they weren't here. "We were going to seal the room off with a forcefield and flood it with stun beams anyway, but the controls were damaged from the space dragon's attack....that's when Comet Queen reminded us she can alter the chemical composition of her gas tail. And tiny lungs don't need so much of a dose that it would cause any real damage to normal size people. Fantastic work, Grava!"

"I'm just like totally hyperbeamed that I came back here in time after I got rid of that fake beacon those asteroid-worms planted on us! I would totally hate to think about what woulda happened to Bouncy and Nightwind if I was a blip later!"

Bouncing Boy opened his eyes to see his wife leaning over him and gave her a weak smile. "...Hey gorgeous," he mumbled, stroking her cheek. "You save the day again, my Legion lady?"

"Not me," Luornu smiled back. "Though you may not be wrong in saying it was a Legion lady who did save the day." She looked up at Comet Queen. "I'll have to discuss it with Bouncing Boy after he and Nightwind are fully recovered and we've dropped Micro Lad off, but after today's performance....I think we've found our next Legionnaire!"

Poor Jed, always a bridesmaid!

Good showing from Grava, 'though, and fun story!

Thanks dude...I was wondering if people are actually reading these, so it's nice to have the feedback!

I know Comet Queen's valley girl schtick gets on people's nerves, but for a gimmick character I think she's got a lot of spirit and she has an interesting powerset and visual; it's a shame she never made it onto the Legion (though I think she might have been one of the Academy recruits in the DnA Legion just before it all ended...)

Creepy Crawlies! A new POSTLO3W adventure starring Brainiac 5, Dawnstar, Matter-Eater Lad and Tellus...with a surprise guest villain!

CHECK IT OUT ONE TIME WHY DON'T YOU.

I gotta catch up on this...hopefully this weekend.

Wow Razsolo ... you wrote these??? AWESOME stuff there bud, I am totally impressed! Yes I read them all and really, really enjoyed them!
You should seriously consider sending your stuff (if you haven't done so already) in to the BIG 2 companies and see where it goes.

I look forward to reading more.

Dev Em: Everything after Time's Infection is more or less self-contained if that makes it easier; I am making a conscious effort to not get too tied up in continuity so you don't necessarily have to read every installment (though there will be more multi-parters thrown in every now and then too)

future king: Thanks heaps! That's a great compliment! I actually did start doing my own superhero webcomic a while ago with my own characters, but didn't have time to give it as much energy as it deserved...I find I can either write or draw something, but can't really do both at a level I'm happy with..

It's been a couple of weeks, have a Timber Wolf/Sensor Girl spotlight, folks!

This is the first of a two-parter, also sowing some seeds for future plotlines featuring some old-school Legion villains...

Enjoy!

**********

TWISTED LEGACY Part 1: Shrouded Nostalgia

Countless billions of miles away from the rest of their team on Earth, Timber Wolf and Sensor Girl sat in orbit around the planet Lythyl.

They had spent the majority of their journey in a comfortable silence; Timber Wolf had never been the most loquacious Legionnaire and Sensor Girl was happy as often as not to keep her own counsel. There was something the burly hero had been wanting to raise with his regal comrade though, and finally he decided to just come out and say it. He turned from the ship's controls to face her.

"Jeckie...when we get down there, just stand back and let me handle any trouble, okay?"

Sensor Girl's mask hid her features completely, but there was no mistaking the annoyance in her reply. "Timber Wolf, I have been a Legionnaire more than long enough to face any challenge before me - frankly, I am offended that you feel otherwise."

Brin waved his hands before him in an exaggerated gesture. "No no, it's not like that! It's just...Val was your husband. It must be hard on you having to come on this stupid pointless mission to try and recruit some new kid that's not even worth his name..." His voice trailed off towards the end, fearing that his social ineptitude had just made things worse. "Sorry, I should just shut up."

Behind her mask, Projectra smiled. She knew that a lot of the team found Brin Londo's lack of finesse frustrating and she could certainly understand why at times, but there were other times when his blunt honesty was endearing. There were few people who dared to speak so openly to her since her transformation from Princess Projectra to Sensor Girl. That kind of relationship was one she sometimes missed. Sensor Girl touched her teammate's forearm gently.

"Never apologise for voicing concern," she replied more warmly than expected. "I will not lie, Timber Wolf. This task is not one that I am looking forward to. I feel that you are most likely correct, and this third Karate Kid will have no interest in following the tragic path of his predecessors. However, hope springs eternal...and I do understand why Cosmic Boy chose the two of us. As Val Armorr's wife and his closest friend, we have the closest ties to his legacy. If anybody is able to convince this young man to leave Lythyl's brutality behind, it must be us."

Timber Wolf grunted non-commitally. "I guess. Let's get this over with then." He turned back to the ship's controls again, making sure that it was adequately cloaked from passive scans. If anybody looked for the cruiser sitting in geosynchronous orbit over Lythyl's surface they would find it without too much effort, but the Legionnaires didn't expect anybody to actually search for it. The two heroes placed their telepathic earplugs in and left the cruiser's airlock. Protected from the rigors of their environment by their flight rings, they descended towards Lythyl together.

As they flew at great speed through the planet's filthy atmosphere, Sensor Girl almost casually wrapped the two heroes in a layer of illusion that was far more effective than the technology which cloaked their vessel. Nobody would know they were here until she wanted that to be known.

Their descent gave her time to ruminate on the task before them. It was too late now for regrets, but she couldn't help but think of the opportunities she had missed in the brief time the second Karate Kid had been associated with the Legion. Sensor Girl had found his presence to be a painful reminder of the only man she had ever loved, and she had made sure to keep her distance from him. Since Val's death, she had grown quite talented at maintaining a distance between herself and those around her.

She thought on her days as Princess Projectra, and wondered with a bittersweet nostalgia how she had managed to survive to become the person she was now. She had been so naive when she came to the Legion, so full of ideals and so lacking in comprehension of the real cost of the life she had chosen. She had lost her husband, her father...for now, her path with the Legion had even cost her Orando, the world she was born to lead. She wouldn't change a thing though. If she had learned anything from Val Armorr, it was the strength of conviction.

Sensor Girl returned her focus to the here and now as she and Timber Wolf landed inside the heavily fortified walls of Lythyl's Central Arena Complex. Observing the grotesque and battle-scarred forms of the warriors around them, she waited until nobody was facing their direction and then modified the illusion hiding herself and Brin to help them blend into the crowd easier.

In the place of two instantly recognisable Legionnaires now stood more generic barbarian fighters. Projectra wore a skin-tight black leather outfit which revealed as much flesh as it covered. Twin gargoyles adorned the top of her thigh high boots. The shoulder-length blonde hair of Sensor Girl was replaced by short stark-white spikes, and the look was completed by a torn and tattered cape. Looking over herself, she was struck with the realisation that she had subconsciously clothed herself in a twisted version of the iconic costume she had once worn as Princess Projectra.

Timber Wolf looked like an older version of the Brin Londo who had come to this reality with the rest of his Legion from Earth-247. Sensor Girl had been in the 21st Century during their most recent meeting, but she drew her inspiration from her own team's holographic records. Covered in coarse brown hair, a longer unkempt mane fell halfway down Brin's back giving him a truly animalistic appearance. With bright yellow eyes and pronounced fangs, his facial features had been made more canine. His fingernails elongated into nasty black talons, and the disguise was completed with a strong musky scent. Timber Wolf saw his reflection in a nearby puddle of water and felt a shudder of revulsion pass through him. He understood the necessity of this charade, but he had spent years denying himself his own humanity...he wasn't at all comfortable even pretending to lose it again.

"Let's go find this kid," he grunted darkly. He was surprised to hear his voice grow more gutteral he finished speaking until it degenerated into a low growl thanks to Sensor Girl's power.

Don't forget to use the telepathic earplugs for communication, Sensor Girl projected her thoughts calmly. We want to draw as little attention to ourselves as possible.

Right, Timber Wolf thought back to her. Sorry.

The two Legionnaires moved into the crowd, Timber Wolf keeping a protective watch over Sensor Girl as she used her own abilities to try and locate their quarry. Despite her earlier assurances, Brin wished that Sensor Girl hadn't come to this place. He took comfort in knowing that at least Ayla was spared this savage world...all around them fights broke out constantly, and over the slightest provocation. Violence was a tangible energy that permeated the very air they breathed. They could smell blood, hear the clang of metal upon metal, the sickening crack of broken bones. The worst part of it all was that some part of this sent adrenalin coursing through Timber Wolf like nothing else could. Some part of him wanted to lose himself in this, to let himself go in a way he rarely did as a Legionnaire.

I've found him, Sensor Girl announced.

She glanced at her teammate, slightly worried. She didn't know why, but she could sense his pulse racing, every muscle tensed and bursting for action. Distracted, Sensor Girl bounced off something right in front of her with a surprised gasp. She turned to face the obstacle before her and for a second couldn't help but stand slack-jawed in shock. Craning her neck, she looked into the sunken eyes of a gigantic yellow-skinned Khund. He was half-naked, his leathery skin covered in scars old and new. Each of his fists were larger than Sensor Girl's head, and at his hip was holstered a serrated blade almost the length of her torso. Instinctively Sensor Girl began to apologise but before she had uttered the first word, Timber Wolf hurled her to the ground.

Winded by the impact, Sensor Girl pouted angrily. Her anger faded quickly though when she saw that Brin had saved her life. The Khund had drawn his weapon and was slashing furiously at where she had been standing less than a second prior. He was moving faster than she could possibly hope to, and despite herself she was entranced by his speed and skill. Timber Wolf though...as fast as the Khund was, Timber Wolf was a blur. He moved in a vicious ballet, skirting the Khund's thrusts then grabbing his wrist with one hand and smashing his other elbow down at the same time. The tremendous force smashed bones in the Khund's hand, and he bellowed in fury as the knife flew aside.

Wasting no time, a nearby Talokkian reached for the blood-spattered blade for himself. Sensor Girl's face flushed warm red. She had recovered now, and she refused to allow this situation to degenerate any further. The merest use of her abilities had the Talokkian grasping at dust in confusion. She could see other fighters approaching though, and knew she had to act decisively. Sensor Girl closed her eyes for a moment to hone her concentration, and when she opened them again she had everyone around them running for cover from what they perceived to be a localised earthquake. They stumbled and fell to their knees, clawing their way over one another to escape the area.

The Khund warrior was too wrapped up in his battle with Timber Wolf to even notice...Brin was faster, but the Khund had more reach. Time to do something about that, the Legionnaire decided. Brin darted between the Khund's legs, braced himself on the rocky ground with both hands, and kicked at the back of the Khund's knees. Timber Wolf had already rolled into a standing position by the time his massive foe hit the ground and while the Khund was getting to his feet, Brin's balled fists pounded each side of his head. The Khund roared again, swaggering unsteadily on one knee. He tried to stand again, but one more mighty blow from the Legionnaire had him unconscious on the ground. Timber Wolf stood over his fallen enemy, his lips curled back in a feral snarl.

Composing himself, Brin wondered why they hadn't been swamped by other combatants when he suddenly realised everybody else was standing at a respectable distance from himself and Sensor Girl, watching in quiet awe. That wouldn't last long. Come on Jeckie, he projected at her forcefully. We have to move.

"I think it's too late for that," Sensor Girl replied aloud. She pointed, and Brin saw the crowd parting.

Striding through the motley assortment of brawlers that called Lythyl home, three figures came towards them. Lythyl's ruling council was comprised of three judges, and one of these was the subject of their quest. He was the third Karate Kid, the student of the man named Myg. He led this trio, exuding a serene confidence completely at odds with his surroundings. He was a young man, younger than either Brin or Projectra themselves had been when they first joined the Legion. His head shaved, his Asiatic features placid but firm, he wore a black headband and a red bodysuit covered in black arching patterns. Every step filled with unmistakable purpose, he led his triad directly to the disguised Legionnaires.

The second of the trio was an oddly familiar figure hidden beneath layers of clothing with a large hood obscuring his face...and behind both of them, a towering golem of a creature at least 15 feet tall. The ground tremored with each of its footfalls, glowering golden eyes peering out from a brown carapace of armoured flesh. The creature was unmarked save for a red five-pointed sigil on its massive torso.

"I watched your fight from my quarters," Karate Kid spoke, gesturing to an imposing tower beyond in which Sensor Girl had initially seen him. "You are quite a skilled warrior to have defeated Worokk so easily," he addressed Timber Wolf respectfully. He then turned to Sensor Girl, analysing her curiously. "And I would be interested to know what power you possess which has so effortlessly affected so many of our greatest fighters."

"We don't want any trouble," Timber Wolf answered, holding both hands up in a gesture of peace. "We're here to make you an offer, Kid."

Timber Wolf!! Sensor Girl shouted telepathically, cutting him off. Brin glared at her, surprised to see all color drained from her face. She was fixated on the hooded figure behind Karate Kid, her eyes wide in horror. Brin felt a sinking feeling deep in his gut.

The hooded man behind Karate Kid stepped forward, crouching down before the fallen Khund.

With his left hand he pulled the hood back over his shoulders, revealing an almost featureless black silhouette of a face inside a transparent round plastisteel bubble. His right hand, which until now had been closed in a fist inside his garments, stretched out towards the Khund. As Timber Wolf and Sensor Girl watched in mute shock, he lightly brushed the unconscious man with the glowing palm of his hand. The Khund was enveloped in a crackling violet aura for an instant before being completely disintegrated.

"Well well well, aren't you the popular one today?" the casual killer sneered at Karate Kid before narrowing his predatory gaze on Timber Wolf and Sensor Girl. "He's already accepted an offer...an offer to join the deadliest criminal team in the universe. But you two look like you have potential, and Mano's Fatal Five needs two more members.

What do you say, strangers?"

TO BE CONCLUDED!!

The conclusion to the Twisted Legacy two-parter!

Fatal Five (kinda)! Legionnaires! Extreme violence! Lots of great stuff.

TWISTED LEGACY PART 2: INITIATION

Hey you guys, sorry it's been a while between updates - I have been coming up with an epic battle between the Legion and the Fatal Five (with a couple extra villains thrown in for good measure!)...it's a long one so I will just post the intro here - if you like it, check out the whole story by clicking on the link in my signature!

PRISON BREAK

Science Police Officer Kiffen Laul surveyed the damaged mess room, sweat stinging his eyes. He was weaponless. His friend and colleague lay bleeding at his feet. Laul could see at least that G'eith was still breathing, though if the fourteen hardened criminals standing around them had their way he didn't know how long that would last. The room was filled with the shattered remains of security droids, the work of the Braalian supervillain hovering before him on a magnetically propelled sheet of metal. This was certainly a worse than average day on the prison planet Takron-Galtos.

Magno Lad wore a smug grin as his outstretched palm closed into a fist. Officer Laul saw his firearm suspended in mid-air between them crumple into a dense ball of scrap, before Magno Lad allowed it to drop to the floor with an off-key thunk. "I'll ask you again, Officer," the blonde villain queried menacingly, "Which way to the hangar? We've been in this squajhole more than long enough and we want out."

Laul frowned defiantly. "Do what you want to me, but if you think I'm going to help you monsters escape Takron-Galtos you're all crazier than I thought."

"Wrong answer, screw." One of the other prisoners spat on the floor, approaching the officer with a stun baton he'd taken from a previous victim. Laul met the musclebound prisoner's eyes with a steel gaze, refusing to show any weakness even as the man lifted the baton in an upward swing.

Suddenly, before the prisoner could attack, a black and blue blur smashed him off his feet. The prisoner collided with two of his fellow inmates as Officer Laul watched the round projectile ricochet around the room at blinding speed. A moment later, Magno Lad and over half of the other prisoners were unconscious. The remaining five men were scattered around the room, picking themselves up with groans of pain. Bouncing Boy took a protective stance in front of the wounded Science Police officers, instantly deflated back to his normal proportions.

"You know, if you boys don't like the accommodations here there are less destructive ways of registering your complaint," Bouncing Boy quipped, ensuring that the criminals focused their attention solely on him.

"Are you sprockin' kidding me?" one of the prisoners snarled, baring teeth which had been filed down to fangs. "Bouncing Boy? They send sprockin' Bouncing Boy for a breakout on Takron-Galtos??"

"Not that I need the help for you slime," Chuck retorted, "But I didn't exactly come alone." He cocked a thumb toward the door, and with a rending sound from outside two giant hands tore the wall of the mess room in two. On one knee, Colossal Boy towered over the room's inhabitants as he peered down at them. Six copies of Duplicate Damsel flanked her giant-sized teammate in the air, and Chameleon Boy leaned casually against Colossal Boy's boot.

"It's gonna be okay Officers," Colossal Boy boomed, smiling.

"The Legion is here."

New installment! I should say thanks at this point to Set for inspiring me with his awesome tryout pieces to do some of my own - this one is for anyone wondering what other superbeings on Bismoll might be like...

BILE
Cosmic Boy stood in Brainiac 5's multilab, silently watching his Coluan teammate dissect a scaled down three-dimensional holographic simulacrum of Validus. "Well, Brainy?" he finally asked, "Do we have any answers yet? How are half the Fatal Five back when they're meant to be dead? Why did the Eye of Ekron turn on the Emerald Empress and Tharok the way it did?"

"Hmm?" Brainiac 5 looked over to his team leader as though he didn't realise Cos had been standing there for the past twenty minutes. "Oh...yes. They're clones. Obviously. We know the Eye has exhibited something resembling cognizance in the past, possibly it realised the woman we had imprisoned on Takron-Galtos wasn't really its mistress once it had a quiet moment to analyse her fully." He turned back to poking at his work with delicate laser instruments.

"Clones..?" Cosmic Boy pinched the bridge of his nose. He could feel the beginnings of a migraine. "Well, I guess that explains Timber Wolf and Sensor Girl's reports of facing Mano on Lythyl while Element Lad and Lightning Lass were watching him die on Takron-Galtos....it doesn't make sense though! It's been years since we thought Tharok died! Why would he wait so long to make his move?"

Brainiac 5 turned again to give Cosmic Boy his undivided attention, this time visibly annoyed. "Cosmic Boy. Tharok, the Emerald Empress and the Persuader are all fairly average physical examples of their respective genotypes. Mano and Validus on the other hand...I project it would take me weeks of devoted research to be able to produce cloned replicas of them. Tharok, while he is a genius by most standards, is not in possession of my 12th level intellect. I imagine this must have been a far more time-consuming task for him. As some Legionnaires witnessed for themselves, it is not a task he has perfected. His versions of Mano and Validus both degenerated at an accelerated rate, and if you can manage to stop badgering me with questions some time today, I may even be able to find out exactly what his reproductive errors were."

Cosmic Boy threw up his arms in mock defeat. "Okay Brainy, you've made your point....let me know when you're done." Rokk left Brainiac in his lab. As disturbing as he found it that the Fatal Five were back, a large part of him was relieved to hear that Validus was not in any way Garridan Ranzz. He looked forward to telling Imra and Garth the good news - they had both put on a brave face since the mysterious reappearance of the creature, but he knew it must be weighing on their minds.

Rounding a corner, he walked straight into Saturn Girl and Lightning Lass. "I was just about to come looking for you," Rokk smiled after exchanging apologies with them. "Brainy tells me that Validus was a clone -- as far as we know, all of the Fatal Five have been cloned. Not good news for the team, because I'm sure that wasn't the last time we'll see any of them, but it's nice to know we don't have to worry about Garridan."

Saturn Girl gave a reserved if sincerely relieved smile while Lightning Lass whooped. "About time something went right for our family!" she shouted, punching the air. "Thanks, Rokk!"

"We were actually looking for you," Saturn Girl announced in a more quiet tone. "Garth left Takron-Galtos alone and he hasn't come back yet. It's been days, Rokk. I'm getting worried."

"Mekt sent him on some wild goose chase," Ayla added in disgust. "Saturn Girl and I are going to pay my psychotic brother a visit in jail and find out exactly what he said."

"Thanks for letting me know before you left," Cosmic Boy replied, touching both their arms. "Good luck, let me know if you need backup."

As he watched the two women walk away, a part of Cosmic Boy envied them their task. In some ways, he would much rather have to face Lightning Lord than perform his next task.

It was time for the Legion Tryouts.

********************

Weisinger Plaza was filled with thousands of hopefuls as well as several media pods offering commentary on this, the first Legion Tryout in a number of years. Just before the entrance to the Legion's iconic headquarters, hidden behind an opaque forcefield dome which had been erected both for security and privacy reasons, ten Legionnaires sat evenly spaced apart in two tiers of seating. The first tier housed Night Girl, Shadow Lass and Phantom Girl gossiping amongst themselves. Phantom Girl's left hand rested on Ultra Boy's shoulder next to her as he made conversation with Tyroc. On the second tier, Cosmic Boy was flanked on the left by Dream Girl and Star Boy with Blok and Timber Wolf on his right. A monitor had been set up in the Legion's recreation room for any other team members interested in the day's proceedings, and a live feed was being streamed through the flight ring communications channel for anybody away from base. The team was as prepared as it was ever going to be. With that in mind, he advised Computo to admit the first applicant.

The young man standing before the ten Legionnaires presented himself with admirable confidence. He stood with his fists on his hips, chest puffed out before him. He wore a costume of khaki green and mustard yellow, with the Interlac letter B emblazoned in gold across his torso. Some of the Legion scanned the brief bio he had provided Computo, while Cosmic Boy asked him to identify himself.

"The name is Bile and I came here today from Bismoll," he enthused. "You won't regret giving me this opportunity, Legionnaires!"

"Bismoll?" Timber Wolf huffed. "We don't need another Matter-Eater Lad."

Bile scowled, obviously put out by Timber Wolf's brusque attitude. "Any Bismollian can eat things," he retorted. "I come with the added power of super-corrosion."

"Well that's something we don't have yet," Phantom Girl smiled encouragingly.

"Yes," Shadow Lass added in support of her friend. "Maybe we should see what he can do before we judge him?" She flashed Timber Wolf an annoyed glare as she finished her statement.

"Shadow Lass is right," Cosmic Boy interjected before they could get sidetracked. He pressed a button on his console and two droids levitated up from hidden panels in the floor on either side of the startled applicant. "The combat droids are programmed not to cause you any real harm. We just need to see what you're capable of, Bile."

The Bismollian regained his composure quickly, signifying his assent with a nod as he backed away slowly from the advancing droids. Turning to the one on his right he made a sickly retching sound...just as the gathered heroes were beginning to realise how he'd come up with his codename, Bile expelled a stream of thick noxious green-yellow vomit. The viscous liquid soaked the artificial construct and the air filled with a hissing sound as the droid quickly melted away. What was left clanked to the floor, where it too soon dissolved into nothing in the pool of Bile's bubbling vomit.

Adapting to the perceived threat, the remaining automaton gagged Bile with a chrome tendril. Bile bit straight through the restraint and swallowed it with a few chomps. Wiping his mouth with the back of his glove, he spun on his heel and began again with the dry retching sound that had preceded his earlier attack.

"That's enough!" Cosmic Boy shouted, his voice perhaps slightly more high-pitched than normal. He cleared his throat before deactivating the assessment and summoning for cleanup.

Bile faced the Legionnaires, disappointed that his tryout had ended so suddenly. Most of the team were a sickly shade paler then their normal complexion, and Phantom Girl and Dream Girl both covered their mouths and noses in horror as they tried not to breathe the toxic smelling air. "I've got more!" he volunteered. Unnoticed by the would-be hero, he still had a string of mucus dripping from his lower lip and burning a hole through his glove.

"No, no, that's - that's fine, we've seen enough." Cosmic Boy inhaled deeply as the environmental filters began to pump fresh air around them all. "Thanks for your time today, but we - we don't think you're really Legion material."

"Well, it's your loss!" Bile shouted. "You losers don't know what you're missing out on!" Before anybody else could speak, he stormed out cursing.

A shrill beep alerted Cosmic Boy that he had an incoming message. Sighing, he opened a channel and was immediately greeted with the sound of Matter-Eater Lad's uncontrolled laughter. Rokk shook his head and shut the channel off again.

It was going to be an awfully long day.

Picking up on some oooooold plot threads! Also, again the first bit is an ongoing subplot with Imra and Ayla which is unrelated to the tryout story in the second half. Hope people are enjoying this!

Link to the rest of the series can be found in my sig, feedback is welcome!

**********
TAKRON-GALTOS
Isolation Cell A37
Mekt Ranzz hung suspended in his dingy cell, massively oversized manacles siphoning the electrical force from his outstretched limbs with an audible hum. The manacles dwarfed his own muscular body, feeding a glut of tendril-like cables that disappeared into the dark corners of the room. With no small bitterness, the man named Lightning Lord assumed the prison planet was using his power for their own purposes. He took solace in knowing they would pay though. Freedom from this hellish place had been so close recently, there was no doubt in his mind that it was only a matter of time. Then they would all pay...the Science Police, the Legion of Superheroes, and most of all his treacherous younger siblings.

Interrupting his train of thought, the door to his cell creaked open. The light outside was blinding at first - a deliberate tactic to keep him off-balance. But as his vision slowly adjusted, he saw the silhouettes of his two slender visitors before him. He could guess already who they were, even before he could discern the finer details of their faces and costumes.

"Ayla," he said with a tight-lipped smile, "I was wondering when you'd come calling...and I see you brought your sister-in-law with you."

Lightning Lass and Saturn Girl walked into the cell and Lightning Lass came within a few inches of her brother's face. Her arms were folded across her chest and her expression was grim. "This isn't a social visit, Mekt," she said coldly. "We know you spoke to Garth, what did you tell him?"

Mekt answered his sister with a harsh laugh. He looked her blue and white bodysuit up and down, golden lightning insignia breaking the colors up. Lightning Lord's clear blue eyes were filled with menace. "I see you changed your costume to look more like his again, little sister. Independent streak wore off? You decided to go back to being his dutiful twin again?"

Ayla's own blue eyes flashed with electric light for the briefest of instants, but she knew that Mekt was deliberately goading her. He was trying to make her attack him directly, give him the added power he would need to break free of his restraints. She had let him manipulate her too many times to fall for that again. "I already told you," she replied, "this is not a social visit. Now what did you tell Garth? Where is he?"

Mekt laughed again, and shook his head as if enjoying a private joke. White strands of hair dangled before his face, obscuring his features. "I sent him on...a mission, little sister. One that you'll find out about soon enough. I think I'll keep the surprise for now though...it must be driving you crazy that you're being kept out of the loop. Well, now you know how I've felt all those years, being without a twin. Being alone--"

"No offence Lightning Lord, but I'm sure I've heard this particular rant only about half as often as Ayla has." This voice was Saturn Girl's, and her tone was all business. "Lord knows I'm sick of hearing it, so I can only imagine how she must feel." She stepped up beside Ayla and touched her fingers to her temples, staring deep into Mekt Ranzz's shadowed eyes. "We only asked in order to be polite, but we don't need your permission to find out what insane errand you've sent my husband on.

Now shut up and let me think."

**********
EARTH
Weisinger Plaza, outside the headquarters of the Legion of Superheroes
Cosmic Boy raised an eyebrow as he called on the next Legion applicant. "Kid...Computo?"

A young African girl walked in to face the judging panel. She wore a red and white bodysuit with a large visible seam down the front, and a red jacket half-zipped over that. The sleeves of her jacket were rolled up to her elbows, revealing bare skin and red gloves. Large golden hoops dangled from her earlobes, and her afro had artificial honey-colored highlights.

Dream Girl recognised the girl instantly. "You're Invisible Kid's sister," she announced by way of greeting. "Looking to follow your brother into the Legion, Danielle?"

"That's my hope," Danielle replied with what she hoped was the right blend of confidence and humility. She hoped none of the sheer terror she was feeling came through at all.

"Jacques only has his powers thanks to Lyle Norg's invisibility serum though," Phantom Girl continued. "What can you bring to the Legion?"

"My power is cyber-empathy," Danielle explained, "Admittedly it doesn't sound that impressive compared to what some of you can do...maybe I should just show you?"

There was a moment of awkwardness as some Legionnaires asked themselves if they really wanted to see what she could do; her last interaction with the team had nearly killed the lot of them. Cosmic Boy defused the tension and took charge of the situation. "...Certainly. Prepare yourself, Kid."

Two combat droids rose from hidden panels at either side of the teenaged girl. Before they had a chance to do anything at all however, they felt her power and fell inactive to the ground. Danielle's heart continued to pound. She knew the test couldn't be this simple.

She was right.

"Very impressive," Cosmic Boy granted her. "If you're going to be a Legionnaire though, you won't just be facing automatons. Time for round two....Timber Wolf, Ultra Boy?"

Obligingly, both men entered the arena to face Danielle. "Relax," Jo gave her a cocky grin. "We're just gonna restrain you. Jacques would have a fit if we hurt his baby sister."

While her concentration was focused on Jo, Brin cleared the distance between himself and Danielle with one powerful leap. She didn't even see him move until he was almost on top of her, and despite herself she let out a frightened squeak as she stumbled backwards. Timber Wolf landed directly in front of her, her mind desperately searching for some way to confront him. "Don't feel too bad," Brin laughed as he reached for her arm. "You didn't stand a chance against a real fighter, kid."

Seeing the light gleam off of Timber Wolf's flight ring, Danielle was struck with inspiration. "Maybe not," she agreed with the seasoned Legionnaire, "But then I don't have to fight you to beat you, Timber Wolf." Before his fingers could close around her forearm, Brin Londo suddenly flew backwards at great speed. He smashed into Ultra Boy, knocking the two men off their feet.

"Using our flight rings against us?" Ultra Boy noted while Timber Wolf was still trying to figure out what had happened. "Nice tactic...if we're wearing them." He made a point of removing his own flight ring and flicking it to Tinya, then shifted his ultra-energy into flight and advanced on Danielle.

"Don't worry," she retorted, warming to this game, "I'm just getting started, Ultra Boy." With his power diverted to flight, Jo was helpless against the barrage of tasers from the newly reactivated combat droids. He skidded across the floor with a grunt of pain, coming to a halt at Danielle's feet. The droids turned on Timber Wolf next, but he had already recovered from his earlier surprise. Taking Ultra Boy's lead, he discarded his flight ring and easily evaded the tasers with his heightened agility. Frowning, Danielle had one of the droids reach out to him with a mass of tendrils, which Brin simply grabbed and used to swing the droid into its partner with enough force to smash both of them into scrap metal. He jumped across to Danielle again, and grabbed her firmly by both arms.

"You were saying?" Brin teased.

Danielle simply released a sigh of disappointment as her shoulders slumped in defeat. "Okay, okay....you win."

As Ultra Boy picked himself up with a groan and met Phantom Girl's worried expression with a shame-faced smile, Cosmic Boy announced an official end to the tryout and asked Kid Computo to wait while the Legion discussed her application. As soon as a secondary privacy screen was erected to separate them from her, the Legion burst into discussion about the girl's merits.

"I don't like it," Shadow Lass piped up. "Computo has had this whole team on the brink of defeat on more than one occasion, and now we're going to admit a Legionnaire who has the same powers and even the same name?"

Tyroc raised both hands in protest. "Woah, woah, you're going to judge her because she has the same powers as one of our enemies? Isn't that a little prejudiced, Tasmia? He's not even a threat anymore! This is the same Computo we currently use for housekeeping, right?"

"You don't understand," Phantom Girl answered her teammate's concern, her voice unusually soft. "Computo nearly ended Triplicate Girl's career...he nearly killed us and this whole planet. Just thinking about it gives me the shivers."

Ultra Boy gave Tinya a squeeze of support. "For what it's worth, her reaction time is great for someone who's never actually been in a brawl - and she seems like a nice smart kid. She may have Computo's powers, but she definitely doesn't have his sparkling personality."

"I'm going to vote in favor of admitting Danielle to the team," Dream Girl chose her words carefully. "We can't do anything about where she gets her power from, and in all honesty I'd much rather have her somewhere we can keep an eye on her.
Besides," she finished, looking at Blok, "It isn't as if we have no precedent for finding great heroism in former foes."

Blok nodded slowly and agreed in a creaking voice. "I am willing to give her a chance, my friends...our destiny is not decided by our origins..."

"Right on," Tyroc chimed in, a defensive tone in his voice. "She has power we can use, she wants to do the right thing with it, I don't see the problem."

Cosmic Boy spoke up bluntly. "No. I'm going to thank her for her time and call the next applicant."

The Legionnares traded glances with one another until Night Girl challenged Cosmic Boy's decree. "Rokk...you can't just decide that. The Legion is a team."

"It's too dangerous," Rokk continued flatly. "Her abilities are too subtle to provide any real offence or defence in the field, and I'm not going to bring another Legionnaire's sibling into this team to die."

Dream Girl leaned across Star Boy, visibly annoyed. "Cosmic Boy, Night Girl is right. You know she's right. This isn't your decision, it's the team's. Besides which, her power is easily more offensive than her brother's, or even mine for that matter! Are we suddenly unsuitable for membership too? Are you going to come down on everybody who can't bench press a cruiser?"

Cosmic Boy scowled silently, staring at his clenched knuckles. "Fine," he eventually said without looking anyone in the eye. "Enough discussion then, let's vote."

Minutes later, Kid Computo was shaking hands with the gathered Legionnaires, beaming a wide grin.

She thanked them all profusely for the opportunity they had given her as the Legion's newest recruit, finishing with Cosmic Boy. He congratulated her stiffly but before they could converse any further, Dream Girl placed a shimmering chrome glove on Kid Computo's shoulder. "Danielle?" she asked, Star Boy standing right behind her, "Why don't Thom and I take you to meet some of the others inside while Computo cleans up Timber Wolf's mess? I think we might need all need a short break anyway." Nura gave Night Girl a surreptitious glance before escorting Danielle away.

As Star Boy and Dream Girl walked off with their newest recruit, Night Girl approached Cosmic Boy. As tactfully as she could with the others milling about, she asked how he was feeling.

"I'm fine," he answered with slightly too much emphasis. "You were right to argue with me. The Legion always comes first, I should know that by now." He continued scanning Kid Computo's file, subtly indicating the conversation was over.

Lydda opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it again silently. This wasn't the time or place for it, but soon...soon they would need to have this out.

She walked away from the others, lost in her own thoughts.

Hey folks! Don't know if anyone is actually interested in this, it has been a few months since I put the last post in here, but here is the latest chapter in my LSH fanfic - it's a neat little done-in-one character piece about them getting a new leader.

(If you wanna read the rest of the series in order, there's a link in my signature)

NEW MOON
Sun Boy walked into the Legion of Superheroes' monitor room to begin his shift. He had expected to find Ultra Boy there waiting for him, but was surprised to also find Night Girl poring over the mission monitor board.

"Did Computo screw up the duty roster again?" Dirk Morgna smirked. "I thought it was my turn to sit around being bored for hours?"

"Hello Sun Boy," the Kathooni heroine replied, obviously distracted. "No, I'm just looking for Cosmic Boy....let me see, Tyroc and the new recruits are en route back from Aleph...Dawnstar's taken a team to track down the Takron-Galtos escapees...Chameleon Girl's squad is halfway to Durla by now...Rokk hasn't returned any of my messages since he decided to step down as leader this afternoon, I'm a little concerned about him...darn it, where is he?"

"I'll let him know you're looking for him if I hear from him," Sun Boy reassured his teammate. "He's a big boy though Lydda, I wouldn't worry too much about him. It was past time for a new election anyway, I've already cast my vote for Mon-El."

"Hey, me too!" Ultra Boy joined the conversation. "Great minds, huh? Who did you vote for, Night Girl?"

"I haven't voted for anyone yet," she sighed. "To be honest, I think Cosmic Boy is the best leader we could ask for. If Rokk doesn't want to do it though, I suppose that's his choice. If you do speak to him Sun Boy, I would appreciate you passing on the message - thank you. I'll see you two later." Lydda gave them a gracious smile and left the room.

Once she had left the room, Ultra Boy released a long whistle. "Can you believe Cos let a girl like that go?" he asked, shaking his head slowly. "Crazy!"

"I don't know, buddy," Dirk retorted. "Night Girl's nice enough, but too intense for me! I like my ladies to be a little more relaxed, y'know?"

Jo laughed as he got up to leave. "A second date is too intense for you...speaking of which, I've got some people to call so I'll catch you around. You know how hard it is planning a mystery date for your girlfriend when she's on the Espionage Squad? Sometimes I think it'd be easier trying to surprise Dream Girl!" The two men shared a chuckle and Jo left Sun Boy to his own devices.

**********

In one of the base's many hallways, Night Girl passed Quislet and Polar Boy arguing.

"Quislet vote for fun!" the extra-dimensional creature shrilled. "Other Legionnaires vote for boring!"

"It's not boring!" Polar Boy threw his hands up in the air, exasperated. "Night Girl, would you please help me explain to Quislet why it's important that the best candidate is nominated leader?"

"The best candidate will be nominated leader," Lydda answered diplomatically. "They always have been before."

"He wants to vote for Matter-Eater Lad!" Polar Boy exclaimed. "Can you believe it?"

"Not want to vote," Quislet interrupted, flying his micro-ship around until it was directly in front of Brek's face, "Quislet already cast vote!"

"Does Tenzil even want to be leader?" Night Girl asked incredulously, one eyebrow raised.

"Doesn't matter!" Quislet replied utterly joyfully. "Done now!" He zipped off before either of the others could retort, leaving Polar Boy to fume helplessly.

"Honestly," Brek frowned, tiny icicles forming on his eyebrows, "I don't know what goes through whatever passes for a brain inside that ship!"

"Polar Boy, have you seen Cosmic Boy?" Lydda asked, changing the subject. She didn't understand Quislet any better than Polar Boy did, but it didn't seem to bother her nearly as much.

"Hmm? Oh..no, sorry. I'll keep an eye out for him though."

Lydda sighed. "Thanks...I guess I'll keep looking then."

"No problem," Brek passed her, then stopped and turned back. "Hey, who did you vote for anyway?"

"You know, I haven't really given it much thought," she answered honestly. "You?"

Without hesitation, Polar Boy replied. "Mon-El."

**********

In a dimly lit room filled with eerie golden statues, Rokk Krinn stood lost in introspection. His brother loomed over him, both literally and figuratively. As Magnetic Kid, Pol Krinn had joined the Legion to follow in Rokk's footsteps, and he had made the ultimate sacrifice any Legionnaire could make. Not a day went by that Rokk wasn't acutely aware of his brother's absence in his life, and not a day went by where he didn't blame himself for Pol's death.

"Rokk?" Lydda entered the memorial chamber softly. "Sorry if I'm intruding, Computo told me you were here."

Cosmic Boy straightened up, hands folded across his chest. "It's fine, Night Girl. How can I help you?"

"I just..." Lydda had been searching the entire building for him before she stumbled across Computo, but now that they were here alone she was terrified. Unable to meet his gaze, she forced herself to continue. "...I just wanted to make sure that you're okay. I spoke to Imra and Garth before, both of them were as surprised as I was to hear that you'd stepped down as leader."

"I took the reins when it was necessary," Cosmic Boy answered impersonally, as though he weren't talking to the woman who had been his lover for years. "When Earth-Man nearly destroyed us, there was no choice. Now that the Legion is back on its feet though, the team deserves to decide its leadership for itself. It's the right thing to do."

"What if we want you to lead us?" Lydda implored. This time she looked up, her deep blue eyes catching Rokk's and refusing to let go.

Cosmic Boy sighed. There was a tension between them that was almost unbearable and a silence compounded by the stillness of the statues surrounding them. "Night Girl," he said finally, "I'm tired. I don't want to lead any more. I'm not leaving the Legion, the Legion is like..." His eyes darted again to the imposing figure of Magnetic Kid standing over them. "..The Legion is very important to me. But the best way I can help the Legion right now is to let someone else lead them, someone else with the drive to help them succeed. I've already cast my vote for Mon-El. My decision is made. You have to accept it."

Night Girl felt as though her heart were breaking. Call me Lydda, she wanted to scream at him. Why won't you call me Lydda??

But his words were hanging in the air like something tangible.

My decision is made.

You have to accept it.

"I understand." Her voice sounded too weak to her. She cleared her throat and continued. "Then let's get this over with. Not that I think my opinion makes a difference at this stage but if someone else is going to run this team, I think it should be a girl. I'm voting for Duplicate Damsel." She pulled her omnicom out of one of the pouches on her belt and tapped in her selection.

*breep*Final vote lodged, Computo's voice filled the room abruptly. Please hold for official tally.

"Let me guess," Night Girl muttered sarcastically. "Mon-El, right?"

*breep* Incorrect, Computo chided. *breep* As of 1925 hours local time, Mon-El is the new deputy leader of the Legion of Superheroes with 8 votes. Beginning her term as leader with 9 votes is Night Girl *breep*

Night Girl was stunned. "M-me!?"

"Looks like you weren't the only one who thought it was time for a female leader," Despite his dour mood, Cosmic Boy gave Night Girl a genuine smile.

"Congratulations, chief!"