Legion World Forums LEGION OUTPOST Bits o' Legionnaire Business LMB Novella: The Lord of the Oval

A sense of urgency undertook Cobalt Kid as he and Lard Lad followed Chionne through the corridors of Priapus' Castle. Things were moving very quickly now, and the stakes were too high to be making mistakes. After so long, things were finally coming to a head.

As they moved, Cobalt couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Lardy had sensed something too before--a hole in the plan that they were walking right into. Priapis--or Pornis rather--was perhaps the greatest strategist they had ever battled. After so much planning and sacrificing, Cobalt felt tremendous fear that he'd be outmaneuvered here in the final phase of the quest.

What am I missing...? he thought. But suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted as Chionne turned back to them.

"Look out!" she yelled.

On cue, giant rock hands crashes through the walls at them from all sides.  Lard Lad and Cobalt Kid scattered in different directions, as Cobalt saw a cadre of rock golems pouring in from all sides. They were large but small enough to maneuver in a tight space; they're color matched the stone walls around them which made it more difficult to discern where they began and ended.

All three of them separated, Lard Lad instantly began working his way back toward his grandmother to protect her, forgetting for a moment she likely did not need it. Cobalt, recalling the literal hundred times he had trained for scenarios such as this with Lardy, instantly went the other way, to get around the flank of the attack.

Feeling confident in using his powers again for the first time in ages, he rose horizontally in the sky and dived forward, using his proficiency in flying to make them hammer each other with the blows. He concentrated on the walls--sensing and then pulling at the metal bolts, nails and other odd bits that kept it all in places; timing it to the exact second, he pulled the walls loose so they collapsed inwards as the golems rushed after him, burying them. 

"Chew on some brick and mortar fellas," he said with a wide smile, as he flew around in an arc to get back to Lardy. 

This feels good, he thought. Priapus had made his move at last, and he felt could stretching his legs a bit. So much had happened in the last few weeks, though he had not realized yet what it meant to him. As he flew in the air and used his magnetism to destroy the golems, he felt himself doing something he hadn't done in a long time--he was having fun. He had stopped being a spy or a warrior in this moment and regained a role he truly hadn't assumed in a long time. That of a superhero. 

"Cobie, here comes another round!" yelled Lardy several yards away as more golems poured into the now destroyed--and continuing to collapse tunnel.

Cobalt flew at the, picking up a wave of debris and wreckage as he did by using the metal within to hold it together, and hurled it at them. A thought occurred to him and he knew it was true so he voiced it: 

"They're trying to separate me from you!" he yelled.

Lardy knew he was right. "Well, it's gonna take a bit more than these dumb fucks!" he replied, smashing them with his sword.

Cobalt prepared another tactic--just one of dozens he could use at any moment. The adrenaline was pumping and he felt good. Perhaps better than he'd felt in 12 years. With that elation, the fear he felt before began to slip away. And it was with that change that, having stopped thinking about it with such anxiety, that he began to realize something else. Where is Mor--?

He was smashed from behind again by a giant golem, and the pressure from the below caused the floor to collapse as both Cobalt and the golem fell down to the level below...and then again to the one below that. 

There, in this lower level, Cobalt saw a vast armory of weapons, armor and shields. Smiling, he used his magnetism to pull them together into a giant phalanx and hurled it forward at the giant golem, instantly destroying it.

And then as quickly as it started the battle was done. "Lardy!" he yelled up to his friend. As he went to fly up, he suddenly doubled over in pain, as he realized he had taken a brutal blow on the head and was bleeding profusely from his scalp. 

He wiped away the blood and tried to concentrate.

His thoughts were jumbled. 

"Lardy needs me," he said aloud. And be flew up to find his friend, hoping he was right there still, and okay.

The Space between Spaces

"I just thought of something," said Lucien Lad. "The Allies defeated a Dream-Eater before. What if there is another one here in the Dark Lord's realm?"

"There will not be," replied Mearl Dox. "It takes him time to create a new one. He did not have enough."

"All well and good, then," said the Phantom Stranger. "I fear our combined strength would not be enough to aid them if there were one."

"Of course, he doesn't need one to turn them to his will here..." Mearl Dox replied. "His influence is strong, and lesser mortals could easily be overwhelmed if they lost heart."

There was a momentary silence as Lucien Lad and the Phantom Stranger digested this. Then at last, the Phantom Stranger spoke. "Well, if there is any group that can keep their hopes up, it would be the LMB."

"And that's why I love these silly mortals," Lucien Lad smiled.

*************************************************
The Dark Realm

"Gee whiz, Candlelight. You sure you're okay?" Eryk asked concernedly as his friend sat, eyes closed.

"Ssssh, Eryk, don't spoil her concentration," Saturn Girl chided gently. "She needs to keep her morale powers on at full blast so we can reach all our allies."

Beside them, Saturn Guy's forehead began to sweat. "And so do we, my lovely counterpart. Even with all our telepathic volunteers boosting our efforts, this is not easy. We're barely covering everyone; in fact, we're focusing on the volunteers, UP soldiers and Dark Oval defectors."

"They are the ones who need it most," Lucifer Lass said quietly as she surveyed the battles outside.

"Yeah, I mean look at our friends go!" Eryk chimed in. "Jeepers, I've never seen them so determined before!"

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

"39!" grinned Abin Quank as his ring's beam lasered through another wyvern. "Beat that, Sonnie."

"Hmph," Sonnie grunted as he took out his thirteenth ghoul.

"Your power ring does give you an advantage, Abin," Poverty Lad replied. "But a little creativity can go a long way. Watch. Now, boys!"

At his signal, nearby rocks began to glow with a purple aura and clump together. They formed two rocks on both sides of the battlefield. Before the dark army could react, two large disks made of rocks slammed into them from both sides.

"Whoa, that was some heavy duty lifting," Sonnie said in approval.

"Not over yet," Poverty Lad smiled. A giant struggled to get up from between the rocks. Like most of the enemies they had been battling, it was clearly not alive anymore. As it pulled itself out of the rubble, the ground around it began to ice up. It scrambled to get out, but in seconds it was encased entirely in ice.

"Cowabungaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" came a loud yell as an iron-gray figure plummeted from above to land on the block of ice, sending tiny shards scattering in all directions.

Abin Quank stared as Mattropolis, Star Boy, Polar Boy and Ferroboy gathered before him with big grins on their faces. "Okay, fine, that was effective. But I've still taken out more enemies!"

Poverty Lad and Sonnie Bloke frowned, though. "You know, Pov," Sonnie said, hand on chin. "I've been in pitched battles before and something doesn't quite seem right."

"You're right," Pov replied. "It shouldn't have taken this many of us to take out this batch of enemies. They're much tougher than we expected..."

Everywhere on the barren, tainted land, the battle for the universe raged on. In the midst of this fought Dom Deluise XXVII, the 'Guru of Lard' of the now-depowered Lard Knights.

Dom was an elderly, overweight man, but he fought with the passion and vigor of a man half his age and weight. He took down many fell demons and assorted abominations with his superior swordsmanship. The younger Lard Knights fighting near him were inspired, seeing their aged mentor fighting by their side and doing much more than holding his own.

Dom knew in his heart of hearts that his time was running out. He would not live to see another sunrise. He would not get to enjoy another of his homemade pasta dishes. He would no longer mentor another young squire and shape his body and mind into something to be proud of. Indeed, the Lard Monastery may no longer exist even if the Knights live to see another day with no Lard Force to give them purpose. All of this, he would be content with should his life end today.

But his heart still ached over the one regret he would still have in his life, one so powerful he knew it would follow him to his grave. If he fell today, he would surely never see his grandaughter Nakia again.

Dom had hurt Nakia profoundly by witholding the truth from her of the great lengths he'd gone through to save her life from a destiny foretold when she was a child. He had spared her from dying along with her nation of Wakanda on another Earth by setting up an elaborate ruse of a quest for her to gone on while Wakanda perished during a brutal alien invasion.

Nakia would have rather died with them than be spared. He knew this, and when he told her what he'd done, she'd fled. And he'd never seen even a trace of her ever since.

Dom would give anything to see her again. And if he did, he would beg her forgiveness and never let go of her. Nakia was all that was left of his beloved wife and daughter....

Suddenly, the fear of never seeing her again washed over him. He fought with even more vigor than before. He had to survive all of this, somehow! He had to live, so that he might see sweet Nakia again! He had to...

Just then, a great shadow fell over Dom and the young Knights who fought near him. He looked up and saw a dark winged creature, and on its back was a dark cloaked ghoul who had an air of great power about him. This ghoul wore a crown.

Dom suddenly knew that this was once a great king who fell before the Dark Lord and sold his soul for a chance to serve rather than be crushed under heel. Dom felt only disgust for this king.

The ghoul king dismounted and tore some of the young Lard Knights in half with his eldritch might. The winged abomination breathed fire and burnt some of the others to a crisp.

Dom avoided these attacks, surveyed the situation and saw a wounded Knight about to be devoured by the creature. Dom bounded over by the Knight's side and got between the boy and the creature, only to be impaled on one of the creature's horns. The creature shook Dom loose from its horn and loomed over him and the wounded boy.

Bleeding profusely, Dom nonetheless gritted his teeth, shielded the boy with his own body and shakily held his sword up toward the creature.

The ghoul king laughed and hissed, more than spoke, "feassst on their flesssh, creature!"

The creature drooled and prepared to lunge, when suddely, a strange object flew threw the air and imbedded itself right between its eyes. The creature looked puzzled for a moment until the item made a beeping sound---then exploded---making the creature's head disappear in a red haze. The headless body rolled over to the side, lifelessly.

The ghoul king was enraged. "What trickery isss thisss?!?

In response a black-clad woman leapt in front of him. She wore a mask with pointed ears that stood straight up, and she had a distinctive large yellow symbol on her chest.

"I've got one for you, too, you son of a bitch!" she yelled. She held up another object just like the one she'd thrown at the creature, the shape of which matched the symbol on her chest. She hurled the object at the ghoul king, and it sank into his chest before he could dodge or parry it.

"Who in the hellsss are you, witch?" the ghoul king hissed.

"I'm Bat-Fem, you abomination!"

The batarang beeped, then exploded, and the ghoul king was no more.

Dom lay there gasping for breath, barely comprehending what had just happened. His life was fading, he knew.

Not now, he thought. Not before I find her...

Just then, he noticed a figure walking toward him in the haze. At first, he thought the creature was about to make another go at him. But as it approached, he realized it was a woman wearing a cowl of some sort. As she drew near, she removed the cowl and knelt beside him.

The milky white skin and the jet-black hair, he didn't recognize. But those eyes...

"I-I know those eyes..." he said weakly. "Can it be...?"

"Yes, grandfather...it is I, Nakia...your grandaughter," she replied as she rubbed his cheek with her bare right hand, having just removed her gauntlet.

Tears poured from his eyes. "I-I must be hallucinating...."

"No grandfather...it is me. When I...when I ran away from you, I tossed away who I was and became other people to hide from my past."

"I am so sorry, my sweet child for all the pain I caused you. Please...forgive a foolish old man."

Her eyes began to well up with tears. "Th-there is nothing to forgive, grandfather. I know now that I would have done the same if I were you. I..." The tears flowed freely as she looked at his fatal wound. "...only wish I'd found you sooner. I could have saved you."

Dom reached his hand up shakily and touched her cheek. "But you have saved me, my sweet Nakia...more than I can ever tell you..."

Nakia held him tightly in his arms, and moments later, Dom Deluise XXVII, Guru of Lard, passed on.

The Knight whose life Dom had saved would never forget this moment.

The Dark Realm

"Take that, you stinker!"

Massive explosions rocked the landscape as ghouls flew left and right. Petty Officer Marvin shook his head as he surveyed the site. "We're doing pretty good here, but I wish we could let loose like this over where the majority of the troops are."

Kairos turned to look at where he was pointing. Ghouls and monsters were swarming all around. "We seem to be doing well so far," she said as she reduced a squadron of skeletons to dust.

"So far," said Special Officer Ralph. "That's the key word. We'll get tired after a while, but our opponents seem to be endless... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Marvin and Kairos turned around in shock their friend seemed to disappear. Something else else which could only be described as hideous was towering over him. It looked like a gigantic praying mantis with wicked fangs.

"No! Get away from him, you - oooooooomph!" Kairos flew backwards as the thing slapped at her.

Marvin cussed as he pulled out his blaster. He didn't dare use a bomb. He began firing, but the creature's hide seemed impervious. He looked desperately for an ally he could signal. Damn. Was Officer Ralph still moving?

Marvin quickly fished out his smallest grenade and lobbed it at the monster. It was little more than a firework and wouldn't do much damage, but it would get its attention.

It exploded, and the monster turned its hand. Ugly fangs snapping, it thrust forward. Marvin leaped away; he could fly away but he needed to keep it occupied until Kairos recovered.

The bug suddenly spit out a black, foul-smelling fluid. It hit the ground behind Marvin, causing it to fizz as if hit by acid.

"Oh. This makes me very angry," Marvin said.

"I'll handle it!" An angry Kairos came zooming up to them. "I owe this thing!" She encased it in a stasis bubble, freezing it in place. Marvin watched in fascination as it began to slowly rot.

Kairos quickly turned to Officer Ralph. "Are you okay? Here, let me slow the bleeding down."

"Alive, anyway," Officer Ralph said weakly. He was very pale.

"We cannot hope to continue like this for long," Marvin said grimly. "These things are upping the ante."

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

"These ghouls aren't so tough," sneered Super Lad Kid as he downed another skeleton.

"Take it from me, pal," Catalyst King said as he caused's armor to rust off. "They're tougher than they look."

"And what they lack in strength, they make up for in numbers," added Magnetic Kid. "I've clobbered a dozen of them, and they still keep coming up. I'm getting tired."

"How long have we been fighting? Time seems wonky in this dimension," Super Lad Kid said.

"I can't tell, but..... YEOW!" Magnetic Kid said as a large boulder crashed into the ground in front of him. All three turned to see that the very cliff seemed to be moving.

"What is THAT?" yelled Catalyst King as he used his powers on it. "I'm trying to erode it but nothing's working!"

"I don't know, but we'd better get out of here fast!" Super Lad Kid gulped as rock and stone flew up into the air all around them.

The three youths flew up and outwards, trying to avoid the rock barrage. It was difficult as they were constantly being pelted; Magnetic Kid could stop some of them, but there wasn't enough iron ore for him to stop them all.

Before they could advance further, a wall of stone rose up in front of them. Then another on their right, then again on their left. Then a roof over their heads. They were trapped!

Sharp spikes suddenly formed out of the rock all around them, and the walls moved slowly inward. Super Lad Kid tried to break them off, but as he did they regrew and multiplied. After a few minutes he knelt down, panting. "I'm sorry, guys. I can't..."

Magnetic Kid and Catalyst King held each other. Condo whispered, "I guess this is it... We won't get to see Ventura anymore..."

Pol rested his cheek on his lover's as a tear fell. "Are... are we dead already? I can see a white light..."

"It is just me, my friends." The white light shimmered and molded itself into the shape of a hooded girl. She threw back her hood to reveal the face of White Raven. "The very ground is possessed by an evil demon. Please, assist me while I use my soulself to exorcise it. You must protect my body while my soul is fighting!"

The three LMBers nodded as White Raven's soulself merged itself with the very ground. As it did, the very rock seemed to scream. Stone erupted everywhere, but the three fought on, shielding themselves and White Raven with their powers.

After what seemed like an eternity, it finally stopped.

"Is... Is it over? Is she alive?" Super Lad Kid said as he peered over here.

"Oooooooohhh...." White Raven began to stir. "Stronger... stronger than I thought..."

Magnetic Kid gently lifted her. "I think we're in over our heads here, boys. Let's go find the others before the ground erupts again."

The carnage continued, and what was once a pitched battle had devolved into pure chaos. No one could tell where the enemy began or ended, and indeed, once you were in the chaos, there was no escaping it. Lolita had found herself separated from her allies on two occasions already; she had no idea where Shark Lad could be, which was alarming since he was the largest being in the entire war. She ran and ducked hellfire and melee blows, tumbling out of the way and firing off her blaster everywhere she could. Her computer mind tried—so desperately she tried—to make sense of the chaos by finding a pattern…anything…but there was nothing. Only hell.

“Behind you, Lolita!” said a familiar voice as a sai came flying through the air, over her shoulder, and cut through one of the devils behind her. Zhiya instantly appeared and Lolita felt tremendous relief at the sight of her friend.

“Zhiya! Thank Hypatia!” she said, feeling glad to see a familiar face. “It’s so…overwhelming…do you have any idea how its going?”

Zhiya’s face was grim. She was blind but her super-senses were overwhelmed by the carnage around her. “Not well, I believe,” she replied.

“C’mon then,” said Lolita, grabbing her friend as the two moved on to another smaller battle ahead with several soliders in dire straits. “We’ll do what we can…”



“This is our chance lads!” yelled the Red Pirate. “Full clemency we’ve been granted! Now we just have to live through Armageddon!” he laughed. His entire pirate crew laughed back right along with him.

The Red Pirate and his crew aboard the spaceship known as Venus in Chains understood the situation was dire. But after a decade of being spoken of in the same breath as Mordru, the Red Bee and Middlefinger as the galaxies greatest villains, there was something invigorating about being given the chance to play hero. They had little choice in the matter—if they failed now, they would be slaughtered by the Dark Lord along with the rest of the United Planets. Being given a full pardon for all of their crimes was icing on the cake.

Blackteeth, his longtime first mate, tied his hair up in a pontytail as they prepared to join the fray. “If we survive this, Cap’n, and that’s a big if, what’ll ya do after? Settle down to a nice quiet life? You, the great plague of UP trade ‘n commerce?”

The Red Pirate simply smiled. “Aye, maybe…” he said. “But chances are we’re all dead men. So shall we…?” he asked.

“Yo ho let’s go!” yelled the pirates as they charged into the fray.



“Fall back!” yelled Knightress, as a new wave of monsters pushed forth into the fray. Around her was a mix of Allies: soldiers, knights templar, Hyrkosians, even a few Legionnaires. Those who didn’t hear her tried to hold their ground but buckled, as this new wave of vile creature—large, tentacled beasts with a single yellowy eye—brought a new type of horror.

“Dammit…” she yelled, seeing a cadre of soldiers now caught in the lead beast’s grip. She ran forward, sword slung over his shoulders for maximum impact, and then leapt into the air all the while swinging downwards. Immediately upon impact, the tentacles were sliced off the creature and the allies fell to the ground. “I said fall back!” she yelled in her most bossy voice yet.

“Look out yourself!” yelled a voice suddenly as her friend and fellow knight, Sir John dove forward and knocked her out of the way. Another Beholder, this one smaller and more slimey than the rest, had hidden underneath the bigger one and was preparing to strike. It was Sir John Red, who grabbed her and rolled forward. He looked gaunt and worse for wear, but he was fully vested in winning this battle somehow.

Behind them, Knightress saw Sir John Purple fighting the smaller Beholder as the two got out of harm’s way. And then she saw something that made her heart sink. Yet another Beholder, amidst the rubble, was waiting. “Noooo!” she yelled, and as she did, Red immediately knew what was about to happen to his brother.

A tentacle came out with full force and instantly impaled Sir John Purple—always laughing, always smiling John—and killed him. Like his brother on Daroon, Sir John Purple fell to the ground and died in battle.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!” screamed Sir John Red, the final brother of the Carrgitte triplicates, crying out in both pain and despair. He screamed uncontrollably and would not stop.

“No, no, no, no…” Knightress kept repeating, and she knew Purple was done for. She thought for a moment and made a decision. She sheathed her sword and grabbed John Red, slinging him up over her shoulders. She didn’t know if a lone Carrggitte could survive without its two triplicate siblings but she wasn’t going to take this chance. She would get him out of harm’s way and save him, if it was the last thing she did.

As she ran, tears ran down her face though she hardly noticed. Another fallen comrade for this damn war.



Up above them, Engine Joe soared by, with Space Ranger and Blacula behind him, sweeping down with their might to shatter cohorts of enemy combatants. Lolita was thankful, but it did not lift her spirits. She could feel the tide had changed; they were losing.

By now, large piles of the dead had become strategic blockages and hiding places. They were covered with debris and ash—from fires that were always somehow burning in war, though one could hardly ever figure out why. Lolita ducked behind one of these with Zhiya, as the two tried to lure their pursuer—a large ogre—into a makeshift trap. “He’s six paces behind us,” said Zhiya using her sense of smell, since the noise all around her effectively dismantled her super-hearing.

“Six paces, five meters per stride…” said Lolita, figuring out exactly when he’d be turning the corner…and suddenly he was there. But they were ready for him, and well placed blasts to his knees and elbows eliminated the ogre’s ability to pose any threat at all.

“What’s next?” said Zhiya with a grim smile, as the two of them considered their next opponent.

“Pick anyone,” said a voice as suddenly the Earth-4 Outdoor Miner came into view. He used his teleporting powers to open a “gate” and appeared before them. “I’d be glad to dump you ladies somewhere where you take out some of these fascists—“

And suddenly he was cut off.

A dagger, hurled by a charging barbarian undead warrior pierced Outdoor Miner’s throat, and he fell forward, his blood spraying all over the two women. He tried to speak, as Lolita tried to hold up his bug self, but all that came out was a terrifying gurgling sound. “M-Miner…” said Lolita, forgetting for a moment this was the Outdoor Miner from Earth-4, and thinking it was her own. “N-No…no, don’t…” she said.

Zhiya stood up, knowing the danger. “Lolita, you must focus. The attacker is coming,” she said, getting herself into prime defense position.

But Lolita stared at Outdoor Miner, who was dying in front of her. He had mere moments left. “It’s hopeless, Zhiya…” she said. “All we’re doing is buying time…we’re all going to die here…”

Timberwolf hit the ground hard. He hit hard enough to knock the wind out of him. He didn’t stop moving though; he would get his wind back soon. He always remembered what his father had told him when he was just a cub. The trick is to not panic. To trust that your body will adjust and to keep moving. It’ll eventually catch up to the rest of you.

He grabbed the ghoul that had taken him down and twisted the arm right off. This gave him the chance to flip the now unbalanced creature off of him. He rolled and put his fist through the side of the ghouls head. The thing convulsed twice and then stopped moving.

Another ghoul coming up behind him exploded in a flash of light. He grinned, that would be the love of his life…Kalla Hykros. He had met her by chance several months ago during a fiasco that almost tore the LMB in two. So much had changed for him since then.

After they had landed on this forsaken planet, Kalla and he led close to a thousand Hyrkosians intot he thick of the monsters that awaited them. Lon was impressed by the determination that the Hyrkosians were showing in this battle. They didn’t move one step cbackwards unless they were thrown by an enemy, and then that just made them try to advance that much harder. Anything for Kalla, their leader.

Lon bounced onto his feet and ran towards a group of ghouls that had a dozen Hyrkosians trapped by the landscape and some giant creature that had been knocked out of the sky. When he got close enough, he jumped into the air and forced a change in himself. He morphed himself into Furball. A form that could withstand damage better than his human form, but oit also left him a little lacking in the strategy department.

Furball grabbed two of the ghouls as he hit the ground. He pivoted and threw the one in his right hand back towards the other ghouls and twisted the neck of the one in his left hand. He changed back to his human form and tossed a few weapons to the five Hyrkosian soldiers that were still alive.

They cried a war cry and charged the remaining ghouls fighting with every ounce of strength they had left. Lon helped them dispatch the remaining ghouls. The five thanked him, said a word for their fallen brethren and ran off towards another group of monsters headed their way.

Lon looked around and climbed up the rocky terrain so he could get a better vantage of the battle. Kalla landed next to him as he reached the top. She blasted ghoul after hellish creature as they looked around. Lon had pulled a gun from his holster and was shooting creatures when he had a clear shot. Between them, no creature got close enough to do either any harm.

“Not that I mind, but this is going from bad to worse every second,” Kalla said as she blasted a flying creature over Lon’s left shoulder.

Lon fired three shots to his right and chuckled. “If they don’t do something soon, we’re not going to make out of here. I’m good, you’re good, but we’re not even that good.”

They glanced around and saw another group of Hyrkosians get overwhelmed by the sheer number of creatures coming from seemingly everywhere. Lon knew this was tearing at Kalla, these were her people and they were dying in massive numbers.

“Lon. Your arm,” she said as she illuminated his right shoulder. He had been bitten by something. Something else else big that had taken a good tear out of his upped arm.

“It’ll heal soon enough,” he said.

She flew up a few feet above his head and twirled around, cutting down everything within 50 yards of where they were. Several groups of her soldiers fell back into the clearing and started forming a circle of protection around them.

She landed and could see that Lon was sweating. That wouldn’t have bothered her , except his right arm was hanging just a little too much. He was hurting worse than he would show.

“This is going to hurt Fuzzy,” she said as she lifted her hand to his right arm.

He looked at her and nodded. “Can’t hurt much worse than it already does…”

She touched his arm and her power came to life in her hand, burning flesh and infection out.

“gggnnnnnn…that’s good.”

She looked at him, and he saw why he loved her so much in that moment. She was concerned for him, concerned for her people, acceptance that they would probably die here unless a miracle happened, and through it all, her love for him overwhelmed every other emotion that tried to work its way to her consciousness.

“Thanks darling,” Lon said and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. “I feel better already. Now that the infection is gone, my body is healing itself much easier.”

“We have a lot more of these things to destroy before we can take our final rest,” she said.

He smiled at her and then looked around. “Let’s try heading for that group over there,” he said motioning to their right. There was a large group of their alliance fighting, and they had been cut off for a while now. They needed to get to a larger group if any of them were going to survive.

Kalla nodded. “Hyrkosians! To your right is where we are heading.”

They all looked up at her and cheered. They started a push towards the direction Kalla had flown to try and blast some kind of path for them. Lon took point and led them screaming into the hordes that stood before them and their allies.

The plan had sounded so good - establish a home base, then fan out and advance towards the castle. They just hadn't been able to anticipate not only the sheer strength and numebrs of the enemy, but the fact that ghouls were coming from everywhere - they sky, under the ground, and some were even teleporting in!

All around the battlefield, the Allies' leaders were realizing the same thing. They had the enemy's attention; now they needed to survive.

Invisible Brainiac and Blaze had lost track of their friends, and IB was cursing himself for that. If anything happened to any of them...

"Power Boy!" IB called, rushing to the shining form of his comrade. "We need to fall back! I'm heading to the ships!"

"I agree," Power Boy said as he effortlessly cleaved a ghoul in two. "I'll follow. I trust your judgment. Here, take him," he said. He held up the feebly stirring form of Salad-Tosser Lad. "Hey guys..." STL whispered, as Power Boy rushed off to blast through another set of ghouls.

"Hey, hang on, pal. All the gay Allies will kill us if we let anything happen to you," IB whispered encouragingly.

"Wait, what's that?" Blaze said. A few meters away, a bright light had erupted.

"Looks like Reflekto, and possibly Kinetix too," IB said. "Let's go grab them and hurry."

They took off, Blaze blasting a path through the ghouls in the way.

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

"Brother, we're barely holding our own! We have to do something!" Rockhopper Lass cried as she impaled a dragon on an ice spear.

"You are right, Adelie. We must fall back," Rockhopper Lad said calmly. Inside, he was reeling. So many had already fallen, though he would not blame himself now. He had to remain strong. "Quickly, everyone. Back to the ships!"

The Rockhopper siblings formed an ice wall to halt the oncoming horde as Abin Quank and Harbinger quickly gathered the injured.

A bruised Kid Marvel turned to his leader. "Rocky, I'm amazed. Your feathers are singed, and things have been trying to kill and eat you for hours. Yet you still haven't cussed!"

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

Invisible Brainiac and Kinetix floated over the battlefield. Around them, Angdar Fel and Blaze were protecting their lovers, clobbering ghouls who tried to attack.

"Okay, so we have to wall off our beachhead. Trouble is, where do we start?" Kinetix asked.

"Yeah, the enemy's swarming everywhere... But I have an idea." He telepathically reached out to Saturn Girl and asked her to send over DrakeB3004, Rouge, Abin Quank, Harbinger, Infra-Red Lass, Space Ranger and other energy casters available. Several other LMBers including Reflekto, Kairos, Polar Boy, Tromium and Blockade Boy were asked to stand by.

The group quickly agreed on a plan. "Ready?" IB asked. "NOW!"

The energy casters fired all at once at a spot IB had picked. Their multi-colored beams incinerated a group of ghouls who were advancing on the ships, then dug a trench in the ground. As the trench was dug, Polar Boy sprang forward to ice up the trench's edge, forming a protective wall around the "camp".

As the energy beams traced the trench around, another LMBer would step forward to seal the area; Tromium created a crystal wall; Reflekto stretched her forcefield to fill another gap; Mattropolis compressed some boulders into a dense diamond shield; Blockade Boy formed a solid wall; Kinetix telekinetically lifted some debris.

"Finally," Blaze said as he admired their handiwork. "Looks like we can get some rest," he added, pointing to the cheering soldiers below.

"Don't rest on your laurels yet. Look!" Angdar yelled, pointing at the ground. Rocky arms were reaching out, grabbing Allies left and right.

At the same time, a horde of flying ghouls began to descend, led by the biggest roc IB had ever seen.

IB cussed as he blew the bird's head off. "Fan out! Fan out, we can't let them get to the ships!"

Gear moved forward again, trying to get to the Science Police Officer that had just been cut off from them. He blasted things he couldn’t identify, and kept the forward momentum going. He needed another few seconds.

He reached the Officer a second too late. He was hit with a spray of blood as he finally got to him. “Grife!” He said as he fell back against the horde that now had him next in their sights.

He blasted creature after creature until he found his way back to the group he had allied himself with. At least at this point anyway. He had started out with an entirely different group that had been scattered after being hit by a large group of flying creatures. They had all scattered when the things attacked, and he had not seen most of them since. For all he knew, they were dead; of course…they probably thought the same about him and the few that moved with him as well.

Science Police Officer Gig Cusimano greeted him when he backed into the group. “You did the best you could Gear.”

“Jon…my name is Jon, but I think I need to change it, as I already exist here in this universe.”

She smiled a little. “You’re worried about that at a time like this?”

He glanced over at her. “Not worried about it, just thinking ahead.”

“You’re thinking we’re getting out of this alive?”

“Trying to stay positive,” he said as he blasted into a group of four legged beasts that had probably been extinct for centuries.

She turned to say something as another wave of ghouls crashed into them from their left. Gear turned and started blasting the creatures off of anyone he could as fast as he could.

Gigi flipped the ghoul off of herself and blasted it in the head.

“Nice shooting,” Gear said.

“Thank…” she started to sat as she was hit by something that sent her flying.

Gear turned and grabbed the horned creature. It twisted and threw him to the ground. He threw his left arm up to block the beast as it lunged at him. Its jaws clamped down on his metallic arm, and he could see that it was starting to buckle in places.

He looked around frantically for a weapon he could use. As he did, he saw Gigi laying unmoving some 30 feet away.

“No,” he said softly, “not again…not her again.”

He finally grabbed a blaster from a fallen Science Police Officer that had landed next to him.

The beast finally had bitten through his left arm and tore it off at the elbow. It tossed the remnant away and turned back to his prey to begin the feast.

It roared as it opened its mouth to attack and Gear shoved the blaster into its mouth and fired repeatedly until the thing collapsed. As it did he pushed with everything he had to not let it fall on top of him.

He scrambled to get up and blasted another creature as he gained his footing. He saw several Officers fighting and headed the other way, towards where Gigi was laying.

As he got closer, he was tackled from the left and hit the ground again. He grabbed the thing by the throat, but was at a loss without his left arm. He had also used up or given away the rest of his weapons anyway. All he could do was hold the beasts’ jaws at bay and hope that someone saw him before the thing ripped through his body armor.

The jaws inched closer and closer. He could feel the breath that emitted from the beasts maw.

The thing was dripping saliva onto his face and he shut his eyes, preparing for the inevitable.

He heard a blaster go off and felt the beast collapse to his left.

He looked over to his right and saw Gigi straining to hold her blaster up. He moved to her as fast as he could and took the weapon from her.

He swiveled around and shot the three ghouls charging them and then the gun was out of energy.

His left arm was gone, and his left leg was broken. It was also robotic and could be fixed, but not here right now.

Gigi collapsed again and he gently rolled her over. Her right side was a mess, but it was not a fatal wound. Her face was bloodied as well from a gash going down the left side of her face, starting above the eye and going around it down to almost her upper lip. He worked as best he could to stop the blood loss and wrap her midsection with the fabric from a downed officer lying nearby.

She opened her eyes again. She realized her side was wrapped and that he had moved them to a small crevice in the landscape. There was only one way in, and he had moved a dead creature so it was blocking the majority of the opening.

“Lost you fight?” she said weakly, but with a smile.

“Not really, just the ability to. Besides, someone has to watch over you.”

She laughed once and grimaced in pain.

“I know,” he said, “don’t make you laugh.”

“That would be a good thing.”

There was a small light coming from a lantern he had set up. It was dim, as to not attract attention, but bright enough that they were not completely in the dark.

“Did any of the others…”

He shook his head. “I saw the last one go down after you saved my life. There was nobody else near enough to see, so I got us in here and sealed it the best I could. I just hope the carcass out there is enough to mask our scents.”

“You did good Jon.”

He looked down at her and tried to speak, but nothing would come out. He realized a small tear was rolling down his right cheek.

She reached her hand up and wiped it away. “What’s the matter?”

He looked at her and sighed. “I guess you would have found out eventually anyway. Just didn’t think it would be…”

“Find out what? What’s wrong?”

Gear shut his one good eye for a minute and took a breath and began, “I’ll start here, a little while ago. When you were down and I couldn’t tell what had happened…if you were alive or dead, it brought back a flood of memories.”

“I know you said you lost a lot of friends over the years where you were.”

“Yes, but this was about one specific person.”

Gigi looked at him, and a realization was setting in.

“I met her when I was around 19 or 20, I can’t really remember. She had been fighting for years at that point and had the scars to prove it. She was around 20 years my senior, but we hit it off immediately. It was the first and only time I had ever felt that way about anyone. I didn’t come by friends easy, let alone someone I was actually interested in.”

Gigi pushed herself up against the wall opposite him, which was not very far away, and leaned back so she could look him in the face as he told his story.

“Anyway, we fell in love. It was something that I don’t think any of my friends understood, but it was real. We had a little over 8 months together before…”

“You don’t have to…”

“Yes. I do, I owe it to her.”

They heard a commotion outside the crevice and were quiet until the beast wandered off.

“There was a mission that I was supposed to go on with her. She was piloting the chip, and there was a strike team assembled. I was supposed to lead the team, but other duties arose and my expertise was needed in the lab. I never saw her again. The ship was shot down a few minutes after takeoff…after they left the safe zone we had established.”

“I’m so sorry Jon.”

Jon was fiddling with his leg while he talked and seemed to have it almost repaired.

“I swore I would never love again and all that. Truth be told I havd never found anyone that compared to her. She had been in the military, and had gone through a tough time of it. She had taken the blame for something that wasn’t her fault, but a Commanding Officer pinned her for a disaster that killed 5 of her fellow Officers. Her career had never fully recovered…of course all hell broke loose soon after, so she never had the chance. She joined the underground almost immediately.”

Gigis’ eyes were getting wider. “Jon…”

“She was a good Officer. One that had been fast tracked because of her performance.”

“Jon. What was her name?”

“I never thought that I would run into her here…”

“Jon.”

“I’m sorry Gigi,” he said and he pulled his Omnicom out of his belt pouch. He handed it to her. “I’m so sorry. I should have been more upfront with…”

She hit the application for pictures. And hit a name. A holo of the woman Jon Em, Gear, had loved appeared. Aside from the scar going down the left side of the woman’s face, and the subtle wrinkles that came with living a life in wartime, it was as if she was looking in the mirror.

“You seemed like you had no idea who I was when you met me,” she said looking at him through her other selfs face.

“Part of it was shock of seeing you again…for the first time. Part of it was I had not known her until she was a bit older than you are now.” You look just like her, but I had to be sure. Then you started talking about your universes Dev Em, and that you had known him…and I just needed to hear that. Needed to know something about him.”

“You could have told me.”

“I was going to. Then we were marching off to war. Then I thought you were taken away from me again.”

“But we…I mean I…”

“I don’t mean…I mean that I had just found you here completely by accident, and I was thrilled to know that part of her lived on somehow. It’s the same as finding out that Dev Em had died before I could meet him. I mean, I wouldn’t think that you would be the exact same as her. I was just content to know that you were here. Alive. That’s all.”

She continued to look at him as she shut off the Omnicom. “Did you think that when you et me that I would…”

He shut his eye. “Actually…no. Like I said, It was a different time and place. A different you. An older you that had been through different things. I…”

He was stopped in mid sentence by the feel of her pulling him into her for a kiss.

“Gigi, I…”

“You think way too much…old man,” she said with a laugh.

“I’m not that much older,” he said smiling, “and I also have my leg working again. We can get out of here and head back to the ships.”

“I’m not sure I can make it that far.”

“I need you to man the guns.” he said and handed her two blasters. He had also cobbled together enough of a functional left arm to be able to carry her. “won’t be able to fight much getting you back. You up for this?”

“I think I am,” she said with a smile, “and you owe me a really nice dinner when we get back to reality.”

He moved the beast from the front of their cover and picked her up.

They looked over the battlefield and were amazed at how horrific a sight it was. They had expected it to be bad, but this was something from a nightmare.

He scanned the area real quick and they found a few more cartridges for the weapons.

“All right then…let’s see if we can make it back to the ships,” Gear said as they began moving.

“HEY BABE!” bellowed SharkLad as he leapt from the cavern below. “I LEARNED A NEW TRICK!”

SharkLad’s joy was brief, however, as the ground gave way beneath his feet, sending him reeling once again into the cavern below. He landed with a mighty crash that caused the cavern to be filled in from above.

“I GUESS BEING 100 FEET TALL ISN’T ALL IT’S CRACKED UP TO BE.”

SharkLad struggled to move more than a few feet.

“INYUK CHUK!” he cried, shrinking back to his normal height. The rocks above him held their place, creating a smaller cavern than before but one that was still connected to the smaller caverns he had blasted the ghouls into.

SharkLad got himself to his feet. He staggered a bit. It still reeked of ghoul-fueled vomit.

“Phew! Man, that stinks. Maybe I should just stick to shooting teeth. Now, where do these other caverns lead?”

SharkLad squinted in the darkness. The caverns seemed to stretch out in all directions, including that of the castle. SharkLad grinned.

“Doesn’t matter if it’s victory from above or below, I guess.”

SharkLad pulled out his communicator.

“Lolita, it’s Bruce, over.”

But, there was no response.

“Lolita! Come in. Lolita.”

Still, no response.

“Sprock, this thing must have gotten fried when I fell. I guess I’m on my own down here.”

SharkLad entered a cavern that led in the direction of the castle. He passed several ghouls, impaled into the sides of the cavern.

“Death by vomit. What a way to go.”

After about five minutes, he heard a familiar, comforting sound – the rustling of water.

“Alright!”

SharkLad hurried towards the sound of water, eventually entering a larger cavern with a raging, underground river.

“Now we’re talking.”

SharkLad dove into the river. It had been too long since he had felt the sensation of being submerged underwater. He took a moment to relish the feeling before finally kicking his powerful legs in the direction of the castle.

“Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water...”

Power Boy fell.


He clutched his side in surprise. He bled.


It must be this Dark Realm. Power Boy had never bled before.

He lay on the ground as his life ebbed away. In the grey dust of the Dark Realm he had a dim perspective of his surroundings. His heart beat louder than the chaos around him.


………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

A handful of New Gods remained with Power Boy after Weber’s World. He had sent most home, most were scholars unused to battle or the physics of this dimension. Many he did not trust, he believed them to be infested with spies and allies of the Dark Lord.

“GAAAAHHH!” Another New God fell, swarmed by ghouls, they punctured him with swords and spears simultaneously.

Only two New Gods remained alive, they attempted to shield Power Boy’s fallen body but it was chaos.

One was a tall man with a look similar to Asians of Earth. His long straight black hair swung as he barely held off the scores of enemies around them. Black Lightning spun from his hands in rapid succession. Xin was his name.

The other remaining New God, Helio, blurred as he parried the thrusts of a large inky giant. He was shorter than the other but blonde, and used a combination of teleportation, speed, and intangibility to deadly effect. Neither of the New Gods would be fast enough to hold off the mob of enemies surrounding them.

Moments ago, as the retreat was sounded, the New Gods and Power Boy covered the rear. They were overwhelmed as they ran. The pursuing army overran them, separating and scattering them.

A small group of Lard knights fought fiercely nearby. Power Boy laid there, he heard the sounds of Science Police blasters.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Lolita was knocked to the ground as she ran. Her blaster fell out of her hand, she reached for it in the melee. She stood, winded, and looked at the disaster before her.

She saw 9 giants of night. 3 storeys tall, they all wore sickly yellow crowns. Their forms wavered and resisted her vision. She saw them close almost instantly on Power Boy who defended the LMB’s retreat. One shadow giant gored Power Boy with a large Trident.

It was an efficient and matter of fact gesture.

Power Boy fell, first to his knees, clutching his belly, then over on his side and he rolled onto his back. His virgin blood adding bright colour to the grey dirt.

Lolita's heart broke.

Xin and Helio fought furiously around him. Three Giants of Night and a mob of ghouls harried them, the rest moved to kill the retreating LMB.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Rockhopper Lad and his sister were on their winged horses, leading the UP forces to the ships. Some of their allies were terrified. The scattered members of the LMBP were professional and stoic even in this midnight hour.

The hills of this wasteland obscured their vision as they moved towards the fleet of ships. Rockhopper’s horse rounded a corner into a clearing. He could see the ships in the distance on the vast plain.

Then, the ghouls were upon them pulling him off his horse. The horse fell roughly pinning Rockhopper’s leg underneath.

His sister moved in quickly, her horse kicking the ghouls away.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Invisible Brainiac saw Rockhopper Lad go down. He fired energy bolts but … he paused and gasped as he came into the clearing.

They were cut off from the ships. In between the fleet and the LMB forces, was an army of ghouls, monsters, and beasts.

I.B. took a moment to stare, they were trapped, the dark army behind them and in front of them. There was no way to get everyone to the ships.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Reflecto fought hard. The dark army swarmed them. Why weren’t the LMB forces moving forward? The LMB was getting scattered, fragmented. Only Nam’Lor stayed close to her, like a protective big brother.

She had to assume the worst. “We are trapped. We’ve lost … already.”

Then something changed in her and she glowed brightly. She was angry.

“RAHHHHRRRR!!!!”

She fought with vigour, instinctively, and time stopped, she thought of nothing, nothing at all. Her will to live filled her.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Hrun’s warship fell from the sky, it crashed with a great shuddering boom. It thrashed as it fell and bounced across the dusty surface of this wasted planet in this grey dimension.

To Power Boy, it seemed like a whisper very far away.

He lay there as the world moved on around him. He would die. He asked himself “an immortal could die”? The thought amused him. He did everything he needed to do, saved Weber’s World, brought the New Gods to heel, rescued his friends, bought time for Cobalt Kid and Lard Lad ….

He licked his lips at that last thought. Delirious, his mind focused, “No, I’m not yet finished. They need more time. They have not won yet.”

He groaned … rolling over on his side. Out of his blurred vision he saw a glimmer, a bright light in the distance. A woman not much more than a girl, one of the new members, a Reflecto? She was glowing with light. He saw the look in her eyes. She fought. She fought not to buy time, not to win, she fought to live.

She fought to live.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………


Xin and Helio, the New Gods in their bright armour fought furiously against the giants of night. They were shocked when one was split from head to crotch from behind by an energy beam. The giant body parted and fell apart. Behind, stood Power Boy, eyes glowing with energy.

He picked up the fallen giant's trident, faced the other two giants with this enormous weapon, and swung it in a vicious wide arc. The thunderous force knocked them and many of the surrounding ghouls away. Enemies flew and scattered, ghoul forces flying all around them like dominoes.

Power Boy stood, proud, triumphant, and calm.


“They need more time” Power Boy said quietly to his loyal New Gods.

He turned and faced the huge castle of evil in the distance, the bastion of the Dark Lord, blood soaking his side.

He spat. “Rally.”

His voice boomed with a gutterall passion like the cry of a wild animal.

RALLY!!!!!

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Hrun chopped his way through the Dark Army. He heard Power Boy’s voice in the distance. His surviving barbarians swirled around him. They hacked as they moved, rotating so they always had their backs to each other.

Finally, they reached Power Boy. They were covered with gore and looked like a pack of death itself.

Hrun’s face was dark with blood except for his wide grin, which showed his bright white teeth. “HAHAHAHAHA!” He laughed as his bare chest expanded as he swung his arms wide to smash away two burly trolls.

“Did you have a nice nap?” He teased Power Boy.
“Not all of us have been sitting in a comfy chair, your highness.” Power Boy retorted with a sly grin. Power Boy had matured very much over the course of the war against the Dark Oval, becoming serious, but with Hrun, the old adventure seeker in him came back.

Hrun spoke softly as the Dark Oval forces around them pulled back at the fierceness of the incoming barbarians. “We are in it now, aren’t we my friend.” It was clear Hrun expected this to be his last glorious battle.

Hrun held out his fist, and Power Boy gripped the fist in his hand and nodded toward the Dark Lord’s castle. “We take THAT now.” Hrun looked at Power Boy, and trusted him.

“RALLY AROUND POWER BOY!!!” Hrun bellowed with his powerful voice.

It could be heard all over the battlefield.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Nam’Lor grabbed Reflecto in his huge hands. “We go now.”
They flew to Power Boy’s growing group of warriors. They fought back to back, in a circle, surrounded on all sides by enemies: ghouls, giants, snakes, trolls, ogres, lizard men, and insect women. The huge dark mass around them writhed like ants on an anthill. But, the growing circle of Hrun’s barbarians, LMB members, UP military, and other allies gave and gave at their enemies. They repelled wave after wave of the Dark Oval and their fierceness grew with each new heroic arrival.

Nam’Lor’s huge physique deposited Reflecto right next to Power Boy as the young god swung the giant trident, slicing through several Dark Oval creatures.

‘What the hell was Nam’Lor doing here?’ Power Boy thought in the din of the battle.

“And where the BLOODY hell IS Shark Lad.”

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Invisible Brainiac was nothing short of amazing. He hurled light blast after light blast in quick succession and continuously. Many members of the LMB, and the UP owed their lives to him. He covered a large group as they joined Power Boy’s circle.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Lolita hopped over a Dark Oval soldier. She had blasters in both her hands, firing in every direction. Power Boy was up. He was up.

The fellowship survives.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Kalla Hykros and Lon burned and slaughtered their way to Power Boy’s group. Kalla was on fire! They were a force of nature. Kalla waved her hands and her opponents tumbled and burned. Lon crippled opponents with mechanical efficiency.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Rockhopper Lad brewed a blizzard. It swept the enemy forces away like a tide. It would be a brief respite but, he flew to Power Boy on his winged horse, followed by the majority of the surviving UP and LMB forces.

His horse stepped up to the fierce Power Boy, who stood messily with his enormous trident in hand.

Ameratsu the golden robot stood at his side with scimitars in each hand. Juj the Durlan stood at his right.

“Boy Power” Rockhopper Lad said formally, and then nodded as only a penguin can. “Its your show.”

Power Boy turned to face the castle. He hoisted the trident … and hurled it with incredible strength and force.

It flew at the speed of sound, breaking the sky with “BOOM” after “BOOM” … until
It burst into the main gate of the castle, SHATTERING and splintering the gate with a KRAKAKOOM!!!!.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Power Boy spoke to the close-knit crowd.

“The Dark Lord may kill us.” Power Boy said. “But it has to hurt.” He said forcefully.

“IT HAS TO HURT! LET HIM SUFFER, AND FOREVER RUE THE DAY HE THOUGHT TO CONQUER FREE PEOPLE!!!!”

.
.
.

Hrun was first to savagely raise his axe towards the castle and roar. Massive arms and weapon raised high. Soon the assembled remaining forces of the LMB and UP roared as one like savage beasts.

Then they sprinted for the castle. Many died before they reached it. Many took wounds and did not feel them.

Soon the small rabid force was at the gates of the Dark Lord.

“It has to hurt.” Power Boy snarled. “Let our death be a wound he can never heal.”

"Foolish, foolish boys!" Chione scolded as Cobalt flew back up topside to find Lardy and her perfectly safe and sound. "I told you that my son couldn't harm me. If you'd simply stayed by my side, you'd have been fine!"

Cobalt felt a burst of shame as he touched down for a landing. He glanced at Lardy, who was nursing a black eye one of the golems had given him with a lucky shot, and saw that he looked embarrassed as well.

Then, Lardy got a good look at his friend. "Shit, Des--your head!"

Cobie wiped some blood off his scalp and lied, "it was just a scratch." He smiled and added more truthfully, "my healing factor's got this one." He walked up to Lardy and laid a hand on his swollen eye. "Quite a shiner, there, Lardy." Then, his hand glowed. "I'm pretty sure you could use both eyes open against Pornis."

A moment later, Lardy's eye looked as good as new.

Chione smiled. "I love how you boys look out for each other. Such a pair of fine young men!"

Both couldn't help but smile and blush a little. Neither was used to being doted on and fussed over. It was a feeling they would both like to have more often.

Lardy shook his head after a moment, and his face grew serious. "Grandma," he began, "neither of us is a paragon of virtue."

His eyes met Cobie's, and Cobie added, "we've both done some really terrible things, Chione."

Chione smiled gently. "I know you have, dear boys." She laid both her hands on their chests where their hearts were. "But in there, you've both always had a purity that you just had to find your way to. If you survive all of this, you will have reached a tipping point. You will find your path in life and not be plagued by doubt and fear and darkness as you have been up 'til now."

"Are...are you a seer?" Cobie asked, voice trembling slightly.

With that gentle smile never waivering, Chione replied, "no, sweet boy. I am a mother...and a grandmother--never underestimate our power!"

All three shared a chuckle filled with warmth. If it should have seemed strange to share such a moment under such dire consequences, it didn't occur to them.

Suddenly, Lardy pointed out, "why is it so quiet? A coupla minutes ago, it's golems everywhere...and now...nothing?"

Chione grew quiet and reached out with her senses. "My son is weakened...for the moment."

"Why?" Cobalt pressed her.

She looked at them and smiled widely. "It's your friends!"

"Our friends?" Lardy repeated. "Which ones? Are they in here?"

"No, not in here," she replied and pointed to either side. "Out there. Outside, in this realm my son poisoned from me. Your Legion and most every ally you ever made. And some you may never have dreamed would ever come to your aid. They fight for you...hundreds of thousands of them! They fight for you and for the future of the universe. They fight with such purity of spirit, many of them giving their very lives."

"Such selflessness and bravery on such a large scale and in the face of such such dire odds hurts Priapus. More specifically, it scares him! And that is something he has never felt before! He is distracted by it, boys."

Lardy and Cobie's flashed with wonderment and then hardened with resolve.

Vocalizing their unspoken sentiment, Chione said, "let's honor them by taking my son out to the woodshed, shall we boys?"

Sticking close to her, they walked briskly down the winding passageway. Their momentum was quickened by the obvious downward trajectory of the path. It felt as if they were literally going down to the heart of hell.

Finally, they reached the edge of an ethereal white force shield that matched the one that had earlier held Chione herself in stasis. This one, however, was much thicker, and the trio could not see beyond it.

"My son is on the other side," Chione said with an air of sadness. "By all rights, he should have broken through by now. But the bravery of your friends has stalled him. This is a very good thing. So confined, he should be easier to...deal with."

"Grandma," Lardy said with great empathy, "are you sure you can do this?"

Her jaw stiffened as she answered, "yes, my sweet boy. For you, and all that is, I must."

"Now," she barked, "the two of you must place your hands on the field. Your combined powers should be able to dissipate it. Once it's down...well, get out of my way."

"Understood," Cobalt agreed, and the two stepped into position and began mingling their energies into the force shield.

Chione stood behind them several feet and held her hands in front of her, monitoring their progress and preparing to release her energies when the moment came.

Cobalt was concentrating on his task when a stray thought entered his mind. What am I forgetting? This is going TOO damned smoothly, isn't it? It was right on the tip of my brain when we got attacked back there. Then, I got hit on the head and-- Suddenly, it hit him like a ton of bricks. Mordra! Where the hell has she been? I'll bet--


thump


The sudden dull noise from behind them startled both men, and they both turned their heads from their work. For his part, Cobalt had a sick feeling he knew what he'd see.

What they saw was Chione slumped to the grown on her back with a pearly white sharp object protruding from her chest. A a widening circle of blood stained her white gown.

Above her stood Mordra, her hands drenched in Chione's blood.

Invisible Brainiac felt chills running down his spine as Power Boy rallied the troops. "We have to go, as soon as we get the wounded secure."

"I'll handle that," Jerry said, stepping up and placing a hand on IB's shoulder. "They need your power. Yours and Blaze's and the rest. Just help me gather the wounded, then leave us."

IB nodded, then led the charge. The few remaining LMBers near the ships joined him. IB, Blaze, Spellbinder, Kinetix and Space Ranger covered their allies as Crusader, Angdar Fel, Omni and Kidflash2fan quickly gathered the wounded in the immediate area into a circle. They moved quickly, both to save lives and also so the enormity of the ravaged battlefield wouldn't hit them.

Although many of them were hardened by years of battle, they still felt a deep sadness at seeing many allies injured or dead. Such was life during war, though. Sometimes who lived and who died was all a matter of luck.

Once gathered, Faraway Lad teleported them to safety within the shields the group had prepared.

Kent Shakespeare, Dr. Gym'll, Nurse Tina and Healex quickly took over with those injured worst, while Gigglebot Girl did her best to comfort the rest. Kairos likewise volunteered to stay behind, her time powers helping many hang on to life.

IB led the others in reinforcing the shields over their gathered ships.

"We'll be okay here," Jerry said. "Everyone else, GO! Go now!"

The remaining dozen or so LMBers flew off to join Power Boy. They formed a blazing squadron in the sky, and any living foes would surely have been intimidated by the sight.

IB and Blaze were the last to leave. Blaze shuddered as he stared at the sight. He gripped IB's shoulder. "I can't believe this. We drank silverale with that girl... and didn't you tell me that guy's the new youngest LMBer? And even Salad-Tosser Lad looks so pale! How could this happen? We're the good guys, right? We always win!"

IB looked Blaze right in the eyes. "Baby... I'm sorry. I hoped to shield you from the worst of it, but things were pretty bad on Weber's World too. It's sad, but this is the reality we face as LMBers. I promise you though... we'll be okay. We won't let anything happen to one another."

Blaze took IB's hand and pulled him close. "Yes, we must make sure of that."

The two shared a kiss and held each other tight. No words passed between them, but no words were needed. The depth of their love had let them survive together this long, after all.

Then they flew to join their comrades. Join them as they stared into the pit of hell. As they descended to the ground, IB yelled, "You did your best, Dark Lord, but we're coming to spit in your face!"

Jerry watched the LMB fight their way towards the ancient dark castle in the distance. He hated seeing them go but, he had a job to do. He stood on the bridge of a United Planets war bird. He felt the vibration as the war bird lifted off. It would be the first of many.

The fleet was pulling out, taking advantage of the LMB and ground forces distraction. Skeleton crews were taking the injured away, there was nothing else to be done here.

Small raptor ships would blast a way clear for the larger war birds and few supply ships to get away. However, the enormous Dark Oval fleet was actually in confusion, they floundered, moving to support the defense of their lord’s castle.

Kent Shakespere walked up behind Jerry. “Well that is that, the fleet is waiting for the coordinates.”

“Where should we go?” Jerry asked Kent as the Dark Oval planet got smaller and smaller as they fled. “Where can we take these people that they will be safe?” “We can’t go back to the United Planets. If the LMBP fails, nowhere will be safe. Earth, Durla, Weber’s World … they’ll all be consumed. I wish we could save even just a few somehow. What if we lose, what if the LMBP fails??? The Dark Lord will burn every known planet! We will be wiped from existence.”

Kent Shaksepere thought for a moment … “I don’t know.” He said sadly

He took off his glasses and began to wipe them, there were small spots of blood on them, from countless battlefield surgeries.

He continued, thinking out loud: “The only ones who ever evaded the Dark Lord for a sustained amount of time were the New Gods, and they are either dead or have fled away already, beyond the edge of the universe. We have no way to track or follow them.”

It was at that moment, Jerry wished for his long lost lover, his shoulder to lean on.

“THAT’S IT … and I know just how to get us there!!!”

Jerry spun around and teleported away through the time stream, leaving Kent Shakespere behind, shocked and confused. He nearly dropped his glasses.


…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Ancient History

Jerry walked into a large domed room. It had a sacred atmosphere, like a temple or a hospital. There were a few people milling about peacefully.

Jerry walked around searching for someone, until he spied a large figure out on the grass. The sun was hot, it felt nice compared to the artificial cold of the ship he just teleported from. The strange man had his back turned, was wearing loose white clothes, but even from the distance an impressive athletic physique was noticeable beneath the thin material.

“My love.” Jerry said in a deep voice as he approached.

The man turned around, a smile on his lips for Jerry, His face was hidden by the glare of the sun. His smile broke when he noticed the serious expression on Jerry’s face.

The man frowned and Jerry began “ … its bad. We need you. We need you to lead us to safety … to the edge of the universe. I would never ask, you know that, if there were any other way.”

Recognition dawned on the man’s face and he looked scared for a moment and then the giant man said meekly “ok”.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Now
The Edge of the Dark Realm


The fleet fled the Dark Realm. They wouldn’t go home. They would go beyond the edge of the universe, in hopes of safety, in case the LMB failed, in case the Dark Lord decimated the entire universe. One small seed of humanity would survive.


The war weary ships followed a man who flew through space unaided. He was dressed in red and white. He had a cape that trailed behind him in the ether. His face was covered by a white mask.

He sensed the path to the edge of the universe.

Lard Lad and Cobalt Kid disengaged from the force shield. Their work was unfinished, so the shield remained intact.

Lardy headed straight for Mordra, barking to Cobie as he went, "SAVE HER!"

Cobie didn't need to be told that and headed straight for Chione, laying his healing hands on her.

Mordra simply stood there cackling as Lardy knocked her to the ground in a bum rush.

Lardy climbed on top of Mordra, put his hands around her neck and screamed, "WHY?!?!" He loosened his grip momentarily on her, so she could answer.

Mordra gasped for air and the sick smile returned. "Idiot! I have always belonged to the Dark Lord! Everything I've ever done has been for Him! I served Him as High Priestess of the Church of the Eternal Void! I served Him in His efforts against you! I served Him as a shade in His unholy realm! I served Him by using a dagger carved from a tooth He kept as a souvenir of His father after dispatching XXXauron in glorious battle! I have slain His mother...the only one who could have prevented His Ascendance!"

Lard Lad was incredulous. "And just what, you inhuman trash, did you think your reward would be from the greatest evil existence has ever seen?"

Mordra smirked, "I don't care! I could be His lover...He could remove me from existence...He could tear me to pieces...it doesn't matter! He is my Dark Lord, and I am his servant!"

Lardy's face turned bright red. "But you were a ghost! How--?"

"When you entered this 'prison', I was able to follow. Once here, the Dark Lord was able to restore me."

"I'll...I'll--!" Lardy's grip began to tighten.

"Go ahead, lover!" Mordra managed, gasping. "Kill me again!"

For a moment it's all he wanted to do. But how far had he come in the last several years? Would he throw all of that away for revenge...again? And he could almost feel his father egging him on from behind the veil.

"NO!" Lardy screamed. "Not again!"

Lardy released his grip and instead pulled out some rope from a pouch and binded her hands and ankles together behind her back. Then, he tied a gag around her mouth, so he wouldn't have to hear her taunts any more.

Mordra looked severely disappointed in her silence.

His knees shaking and hands trembling, Lardy walked over where Cobie was working on Chione and knelt beside them.

Cobie was sweating profusely, but Chione's wound remained open.

Lardy put his hand on his friend's shoulder. Cobie could barely look him in the eyes. "It's not working," he whispered hoarsely and tears started pouring from his eyes.

Lardy squeezed his shoulder, as if to say, it's okay.

Chione's eyes fluttered and she spoke weakly, "didn't...see that coming. My...son is very...resourceful."

"Save your strength, grandma," Lardy said. "You're a goddess. You...you can pull through..."

"No," she said managing a smile, "I can't. Ironic...that a part of the man I loved would...be the death of me."

"Grandma...we can't do this without you."

"Yes, you can...sweet boy. I don't know how.....but I have faith in you...and your brother." She glanced weakly at Cobalt and smiled. "You have...love...on your side....."

Both men embraced Chione as she passed away.

Cobie was shaken. "I should've seen this coming, damnit! Now, how are we--?"

<span style="font-size: 25px;">THOOOM!</span>

They were startled out of their grief and self-recriminations by the sound. It came from the other side of the force shield.

The Dark Lord was ready to break free.

Lardy and Cobie looked at each other. Their eyes showed fear that strengthened into resolve. They would fight with everything they had...even if it might not be enough.

<span style="font-size: 25px;">THOOOM!</span>

Lardy raised his sword in front of him. Cobalt raised his hands as his energies pulsed through them.

<span style="font-size: 25px;">THOOOM!</span>

The whole structure around them shuddered and threaten to buckle with the force.

<span style="font-size: 25px;">THOOO--</span>

Lardy and Cobie were startled to see time frozen around them. The deafening sound stopped...rocks were frozen in mid-tumble...Mordra's face was frozen in a glare.

Before either could speculate aloud as to what was happening, an ethereal image appeared. It was of two familiar ladies: Nura Nal and Tempest. Lardy and Cobie reached their hands toward them and realized that the two ladies weren't really there. They were basically live magical holograms of the ladies broadcast between the dimensions.

Lardy looked lovingly at Temp. She held her intangible hand out to him, but her eyes looked full of sorrow.

The ghostly ravishing form of Nura Nal finally stepped forward and spoke. "This, as they say, is the moment of truth," she said.

Nura paused, took a deep breath and looked as if she were an executioner who was loathe to do her duty. "If you have any hope of defeating what's about to break through...a sacrifice will have to be made."

“Just when you thought it was safety to go back in the water…”

SharkLad hurtled through the underground river, a vicious grin forming on his face. In every way, he was in his element, and he could almost taste the blood of the Dark Lord. But, as bloodthirsty as he was, SharkLad’s thoughts went to Lolita. He hoped she was safe, but, more importantly, he hoped that when the assault on the Dark Lord was finally over that they would have a chance to truly put their love to the test. But, what of Cobalt Kid? Dead or alive, would the legendary hero continue to cast a shadow over their relationship?

SharkLad shook these thoughts from his mind as the river began to quicken, finally reaching a drain. He clutched the bars. This must be a way into the castle. SharkLad pulled at the bars. They wouldn’t budge – at least not at his current size. SharkLad had hoped for the element of surprise – growing to 100 feet would certainly alert the Dark Lord’s forces. But, what was war without risk?

“Inyuk Chuk!”

As he grew, SharkLad tore through the drain and surrounding walls – metal and brick ripping apart like tissue paper. Once the dust settled, he found himself crouching in the bowels of the castle, unsure just how far below the battlefield he was.

Only one way to find out, SharkLad thought. He reared back, unsheathed his talons, and began to claw his way up, tearing his way though the castle – to the battle, to Lolita, and, he hoped, to bloody victory.

"A sacrifice..." Lardy said, repeating Nura Nal's words. "I just lost my grandma, Nura. Isn't that sacrifice enough?"

"I am so sorry about Chione, Lard Lad," Nura replied with a bowed head. "But it isn't what I referred to."

"Look," Lardy shrugged, "I came here ready and willing to give my life if it's what it takes, so if that's it--"

Nura interrupted, "you may yet lose your life before this is over, but this is something more personal that you..." Nura paused and pointed to the other ethereal projection. "...and Tempest must choose to make together."

"No way!" Lardy exclaimed in anger. "I won't let her get hurt! I--!"

"Lardy...Anthony," Tempest intervened. "It's not like that."

"Then, what the fuck IS it like?!? Get to the point, Nura!"

Nura took a deep breath. "It's your future together, Lard Lad. You both must decide if you will give it up."

Lardy was incredulous. "Our future?!? What the fuck--?"

Nura nodded silently. Then, a series of images flashed for all of them to see.

They saw Lardy and Tempest joined together in holy matrimony in the biggest, most extravagant wedding any of them had ever imagined. They saw the two of them uniting Legion World and Avalon as an even greater force for good in the galaxy. They saw the couple's ecstacy as they learned of the impending birth of their first child. Then, Lardy, at long last, held a newborn child of his in his arms and shared the moment with his exhausted, but blissfully happy, wife.

Finally, years later, they saw the child, their daughter, being honored by every race imaginable as her heroic actions brought together the U.P., the Khunds, the Khanate of Sol Invictus and the Dominion for a lasting peace, as her doting parents looked on.

As the 'slideshow' concluded, Lardy was in tears. This was everything he'd ever wanted manifest. A family together and true, lasting love.

"I...I'm not giving that up," he stammered, overcome with emotion.

Cobalt was speechless. In many ways this was the kind of future he wanted as well. All he could manage was to pat his friend on the shoulder in support.

"It's sadistic, Anthony," Tempest added. "I told her so when she showed me the same thing a few days ago." Tears welled in her eyes. She wanted to hold her lover so badly at that moment.

"D-did you agree to it, Temp?" Lardy asked.

"No!" she asserted. "Never!"

"Well, there you have it, Nura!" Lardy said with new confidence. "Why would we ever give that up? What supposed benefit could we get from that?!?!"

Tempest spoke up. "Nura says the sacrifice will activate a degree of power within you that you could never access otherwise. Through a transference spell, you would receive the full inheritance of your birthright as the son of Pornis...at least for a short time."

"And would that be enough to defeat Pornis?" Cobalt asked.

Nura shrugged. "I have not foreseen whether it would be enough. But Chione said herself that the two of you would not be able to defeat them without her as you are now."

Lardy had a haunted look paint his face and said, "she said I had 'love' on my side."

"Lardy," Cobalt said, "that could mean a lot of things..."

"Yes," Lardy replied, "it could." The images he'd just seen ran through his mind. "But none of that could ever happen...if Pornis wins. Would it, Nura?"

"No," she answered definitively. "Pornis would destroy any future we would otherwise have if he is let loose on the universe."

Lardy slowly walked toward the image of his lover. "Temp..."

"No, Lardy! Don't you DARE!" Tempest screamed, and phantom tears rolled down her cheeks.

He stood right in front of her. He would hold her if he could. "You heard her, Temp....none of that could ever happen if my father wins today."

"Lardy...I have faith in you! You can do this without a boost! Don't you realize what this spell would DO?!? It would DELETE all of our love for each other! We wouldn't feel ANYTHING anymore of what we'd had--and we'd never get it back! We'd see each other and feel nothing but APATHY! We were meant to BE, Lardy!" The tears came fast and furious, now. "And I...I love you...so very much..."

"Gods, Temp...Theresa..." Lardy choked. "I love you, too...so much it hurts. But LISTEN! No matter what this spell does to us, I have absolute faith that what we have would eventually overpower whatever it does to us! We'll find each other again and have all of what we just saw! I have faith in us! You...you've got to, too..."

She looked into his eyes and was overcome by the love that burned in them for her. She knew at that moment that maybe...just maybe...he was right, against all logic from what she knew about the spell. She also knew that none of it would ever come to pass if they couldn't defeat Pornis.

"All right, Anthony. I...I agree."

"I love you so much, Theresa. Hold onto that...believe in it, and we'll be together again."

"I will, Anthony."

Then, the two leaned in for a kiss. And though each was a phantom to the other, they both felt it.

Then, Tempest stepped back and began to cast the spell which Nura's sister had prepared before her death. Tempest's resolve was firm, but she kept eye contact with her lover throughout the process, even as tears continued to cloud their vision. Both of them never felt so proud of the other, and their love never felt so strong.

As the incantation progressed, a white glow surrounded Lardy and Tempest. A blinding strand then withdrew from each of them and combined into an orb. Then, the orb shifted colors rapidly before charging right into Lardy. It knocked him backward to the floor, and he lay unconscious. An energy pattern swept over him alternating between red, purple and blue in color.

A moment later, the images of Nura and Temp vanished, and a humming echoed in Cobie's ears.

<span style="font-size: 25px;">-OOM!</span>

Shit! Cobalt thought with sudden realization. Time's back on track!

"Lardy!" he yelled. "Wake up!" Cobalt yelled and tried to rouse Lardy with smacks on his cheeks. Unfortunately, Lardy was out cold.

<span style="font-size: 25px;">THOOOOOOM!</span>

"Damnit! That was the strongest one yet! I've gotta--"

<span style="font-size: 99px;">THOOOOOOM!</span>

And all of a sudden, the barrier was shattered.

As the dust cleared, Cobalt saw a figure glowing red step through. He was about fifteen feet tall. His skin was a sickening red hue. His nails were long and razor-sharp on his fingers and toes. His head was dominated by a single eye that glowed a bright yellow. He was the most terrifying thing Cobalt Kid had ever seen, even moreso because he could see the resemblance to his best friend.

Cobie glanced back at Lardy.

All right, then. Gotta buy Lardy some time...

"<span style="font-size: 15px;">Well, well, well,</span>" Pornis laughed, "<span style="font-size: 15px;">it seems my son is down for a nap! This will be all too easy!</span>"

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Cobalt said defiantly, his hands glowing with power as he stood between Pornis and his son.

"<span style="font-size: 15px;">A snack, then, before the main course!</span>" Pornis snarled.

Then, all at once, Pornis charged!

Cobalt Kid, after years and years of seeing just about everything he could ever have imagined, found himself wide eyed at the sight of Pornis. Single-eyed, massive and reeking of pure evil, the deity smiled at the Legionnaire.

For a moment fear overtook him. And in that moment he was lost.

And then--something else. Acceptance, and the grim acknowledgement that he had a part to play. It was his duty. And if he were to die today, he would not do it afraid.

Here we go. At last.

<span style="font-size: 15px;">"It has been too long since I've felt the sheer joy of choking out the final vestiges of life with my bare hands." </span> He cackled as he spoke, the elation of his freedom in every breath.

"Yeah, well life is full of little disappointments," said Cobalt grimly. He took the air, where he was most dangerous and in an instant, he full full speed ahead. 

Cobalt pulled every ounce of metal with him as he flew, hoping a direct hammer shot would do some damage. Have to keep him away from Lardy , he thought. Its our only shot. 

The impact was deafening, as Cobalt's adrenaline made him pour every ounce of willpower he could into the crash.

As the dust settled, Cobalt looked for the figure and his heart sank as he saw Pornis looming over him. And then he heard the cackling again.

<span style="font-size: 15px;">"Such bravado. Yet wasted, nonetheless."</span> 

And in a flash, he whipped his arm around in an arc, smashing down on Cobalt. It connected with a THOOM, and Cobalt was sent reeling.

The LMBer had been hit by Daxamites before; by vampires; by supermen. But never had he felt a blow like this. The armor he had stolen earlier shattered at the impact, and he felt bones breaking and skin ripping, as his body landed twenty feet away in a terrible bloody mess. Only his magnetism protected him, creating a force field of resistance. Any other man would be dead on impact.

There's something else, he thought strategically. He's weak from being imprisoned for so long. And from exerting his will against our friends. Their attack has left him vulnerable. But even now, I can tell he's getting stronger by the second.

<span style="font-size: 15px;">"Rise," </span> came the booming, evil voice. Every syllable oozed contempt. <span style="font-size: 15px;"> "You style yourself a warrior. Come meet your end, then."</span> 

Cobalt stood up, every inch of his body screaming. "My...pleasure..." he said through some effort.

Cobalt began to move in an arc, always trying to move the Dark Lord away from his son. Pornis had no doubt he could destroy them both, and gladly took the bait. At last, when he was up against the wall with nowhere to go, he was forced to move. He ran at Pornis again, flying high but then ducking low at the last minute to take out his legs. All the while, he used the old trick of pulling the metal support of the wall to crush Pornis with it.

Before he made contact, the plan had failed. 

Erupting from his single evil eye, a searingly powerful blast ripped forward and nailed Cobalt full-on. In an instant, Cobalt felt tremendous pain throughout every fiber of his being. He felt his skin burning with red hot intensity. He felt his nervous system shutting down.

He fell forward right before Pornis. Struggling to get to his knees, Cobalt braced for the impact, as Pornis rained down one, and then two, and then THREE hammering blows. Each one was harder than the last--there's no doubt he's getting stronger.

Pornis let out a bellowing laugh.<span style="font-size: 15px;"> "If that is all this universe has to stand against me, then this will be easy!" </span> And with those words, Pornis turned to Lard Lad once more.

Cobalt felt his body shattered. He felt exhaustion seap in as the  adrenaline began to fade. He knew he had no chance of winning. He knew it was over for him.

And yet, in that knowledge came freedom. "I'm not afraid of you," he said softly--mostly to himself. "I'm not afraid to die, or to lose...I'm not afraid anymore."

Pornis heard the hero muttering, and turned back with curiosity. Perhaps he had misjudged the hero after all. <span style="font-size: 15px;">"Stay down, fool. Die in silence."</span> 

Cobalt looked up and spit blood. He smiled a small, tired smile. And suddenly, he stood up, and rose to his feet. 

He stood in defiance and felt no fear.

<span style="font-size: 15px;">"Very well. Die smiling then," </span> said Pornis and he walked across the chamber, fists razed, to end the Legionnaire once and for all.

"ENOUGH!"

Both Pornis and Cobalt turned to see Lard Lad standing once again. His words echoed with authority and his stance rippled with power.

"This ends now father!"

Invisible Brainiac's mind was a dull haze. He had been fighting for so long that he no longer felt pains in his body, or the disgusting feeling of sweat and blood and grime, or the full-on exhaustion that soaked into his very being.

He was on automatic now. His body cried out that it wanted to rest, but his mind and soul knew that giving in would mean the absolute destruction of himself and of everything he loved.

He didn't even need to look around to know that those beside him felt the same thing. Blaze stood so close beside him, and IB took courage from his warmth and his scent. Any other day that scent would have driven him crazy, but now he had to keep focusing.

The surviving Allies had shifted their tactics under Power Boy's leadership. Those in the rear and at the sides covered attackers from behind and the sides and even above. Hrun led them in their desperate, furious stand to make sure those in the middle did not fall. Ghoul after ghoul after ghoul fell at their furious hands. Danger Damsel, Ameratsu, Lumborg Fox, Knightress; furious fighters all; they could have decimated entire armies elsewhere, but the foul unliving creatures here kept coming and coming.

Spellbinder and Crusader led those who could move the earth in protecting their allies from the churning, living ground. They could feel the Dark Lord manipulating the very ground beneath them, and they countered him with all their might. IB saw Kinetix, dress torn and auburn hair flowing behind her, deftly twisting the earth so it flew harmlessly around them. Angdar Fel hovered near her, his fighting skills and nth metal armor making him an effective human shield.

Then there were those in the middle. They hurled mighty blasts with all their might so they could break down the gates to the Dark Lord's castle. Everyone believed that was all that was keeping them from entrance, yet the wrought-iron gates seemed to absorb all force and energy aimed at them. Petty Officers Marvin and Bugs threw their explosives; mighty LMBers like Abin Quank, Harbinger and Myriad poured their energies out; newer members like Conjure Lass and Indian Lad were fighting with an energy IB never knew they had; even Reboot was letting loose with the biggest mothersprocking gun IB had ever seen. Nothing.

Lolita was beside him, letting rip to the limit with her firearm. IB could tell she was worried about Shark Lad; but she had no choice but stay and fight. If the Dark Lord won, it wouldn't matter if Shark Lad was still alive elsewhere.

"Come on, we can do this!" Blaze yelled beside IB. "We're the LMB right? We're the good guys! We always win!"

"Yes, listen to Blaze!" Power Boy bellowed, voice like thunder. "Let justice strengthen our blows!"

"Yeah, we can't let the Dark Lord push us around!" IB cried! "We can't!"

"And we won't!" came Saturn Girl's voice in their heads. IB was shocked; he thought she had joined the evacuation. He turned to see Saturn Girl and Candlelight being lifted above the fray in a Dominator craft, courtesy of Cleome. She shrugged as he saw her. "Hey, I wouldn't have felt good running away you know? Besides, I worked hard to gain control of this Dominator tech, might as well use it!"

"Feel your strength, Allies!" came Candlelight's encouraging voice. "Feel your strength and let yourselves strengthen each other!"

Her morale powers settled into each surviving Ally, and they all felt their spirits grow. It was as if a healing spring had been poured on them. Their attacks grew stronger.

Power Boy rose to float above the gathering. He was more pumped up than ever; he looked like he'd just come back from a luxurious vacation. "As one, Allies! On my mark, we will burst into the Dark Lord's castle! Think of all that you hold dear, for we fight for them! Even if we fall, we will make the Dark Lord regret doing battle with us!"

As one, they roared and fired. Beams of energy and light in every imaginable color converged at the gates to the Dark Lord's castle. IB's heart caught in his throat as he saw them meet the beams... and bend! They bent!

"More, more!" Rockhopper Lad yelled. "We are succeeding!"

And they poured on more and more. IB saw that the attacks from ghouls in the area stopped; their combined energies were so strong that none coudl approach.

Suddenly, the light grew so much that even IB had to shield his eyes momentarily. He quickly used his powers to redirect it so the Allies could see. A thunderous noise erupted...

... and when the light cleared, the gates of the castle had fallen!

The Allies stood in stunned silence for but a second. Then Power Boy leaped forward with a roar.

And as one, the Allies charged forward.

IB's heart leaped. He couldn't believe it. They had managed to breach the Dark Lord's castle!

In their exhaustion, none stopped to think. How could it have been so easy, when they had barely kept from being overwhelmed by a fraction of the Dark Lord's strength at Weber's World?

In their haste, they didn't hear the warnings being cried by Saturn Girl or Floating Foxlike Creature. Somehow they sensed what was going on inside. Spellbinder and Crusader sent a desperate telepathic message to the crowd.

"Pornis is free!"

Had they known earlier, it still wouldn't have mattered. For as soon as Power Boy stepped on the castle's threshold...

The very world seemed to explode. Bodies flew through the air as pure energy seemed to come from castle. The Allies were battered by what IB could only describe as a pure wave of energy. He heard screams and smelled burning flesh as they were all thrown backwards; even the hastily thrown shields conjured by their mightiest could only barely dull the blast.

Invisible Brainiac had no idea how long he was out, but he slowly opened his eyes and heard only silence. He could barely move his neck, and saw all around him the barely-twitching bodies of his friends.

He crawled over to Blaze's side and collapsed, an arm around Blaze's chest. He barely had enough time to register that Blaze was still breathing, before he slipped mercifully back into unconsciousness.

His last thought was that they had failed their friends. Lard Lad and Cobalt Kid were in there alone without them.

SharkLad continued to barrel through level after level of the castle. It seemed to go on forever. After several grueling minutes, he paused to take a breath in a large antechamber, so large it was able to contain his massive 100 feet tall frame. There were no windows – impossible as it seemed, he must still be underground. Somewhere above were his colleagues, engaged in a battle he longed to join. But, he could hear nothing. SharkLad began to wonder if he had fallen into some kind of trap. The more he thought about it, he harder he found it to believe that he could have been allowed to enter the castle so easily.

Despite his growing doubts, SharkLad reared back and prepared to resume his climb. Before he could take action, he sensed movement around him – all around him. The walls began to drip with a foul-smelling black oil. Seemingly alive, the walls began to close in on him. Unsheathing his talons, SharkLad swiped futilely at the coming darkness. Despite his best efforts, soon SharkLad found himself completely engulfed. He tried to open his mouth to unleash a barrage of teeth, but his massive jaws remained firmly closed. He found it impossible to take a breath. Is this how he would meet his end?

SharkLad thought of Lolita – did she yet live? He thought of his teammates and the last time they had actually shared a moment of levity. It was in the untamed wilderness of Antioch, swapping stories around the campfire. It was then that a drunken Invisible Brainiac had asked SharkLad a question in front of Lolita that nearly got him a tooth between his eyes –

“So, Sharky… is it true what they say about sharks? You guys, you know, like, actually take a leak through your skin?”

Not one to embarrass easily, SharkLad nonetheless had fumed over IB’s lack of tact in front of his ladylove. But, now, with his very life on the line, SharkLad thought back to the “new trick” he had used in the caverns against the ghouls – maybe he had another one in him. Desperate times called for desperate measures, and with that, SharkLad let nature take its course. Suddenly, SharkLad was able to move ever so slightly. Disgusting, yes, but it was working – the ghouls he had consumed giving an extra kick to his “trick.” Soon, the darkness completely retreated, and a victorious, albeit urine-smelling, SharkLad gave a cry of triumph.

Again, SharkLad reared back – and found himself slammed to the ground as a wave of pure energy emanated from above. His flesh burned – SharkLad roared in anger, but found himself unable to move otherwise. A mighty battle must rage above. As he fought to remain conscious, SharkLad’s final thought was of two of his teammates.

‘Cobie and Lard won’t let it end like this.’

The first thing Lardy felt as he slowly emerged into consciousness was an emptiness deep inside him. He struggled for a moment to remember what had happened. He remembered most of what happened with Nura and Temp, but there was a strange...detachment...about his recollection. And what exactly had Nura shown them all that he could no longer recall at all? And why had Temp seemed so important to him at the time?

Lardy quickly shrugged himself out of his malaise as he was snapped out by the sounds of a fierce battle. He looked around and quickly saw Cobie fighting for his life against some red abomination.

Oh my gods, he thought as realization and horror dawned on him. That's him! That's Pornis!

Then, all at once, he saw his friend rising shakily to his feet. Lardy could see it was all Des could do. He saw his father raise his fists to deal what would surely be a killing blow.

"ENOUGH!" Lardy shouted as he rose to his feet. "This ends now, father!"

Pornis turned and looked down toward his son. Pornis saw that his son was more powerful than expected as he watched blue energy crackle around him.

<span style="font-size: 15px;">"So,"</span> Pornis finally said, <span style="font-size: 15px;">"you've somehow accessed more of your gifts. Perhaps this shall be a bit of sport for me, after all!"</span>

Pornis turned from Cobalt and walked towards Lardy. As he turned, Cobie's legs gave out on him, and he crumbled to the ground. He was hurt very badly, but he wouldn't let himself lose consciousness. He wouldn't die asleep, should it happen, and if there was anything he could do to help Lardy, he'd do his best to be ready for it.

Lardy noted his friend's fall but knew there was nothing he could do for him at the moment. He made a silent prayer that Cobie's self-healing would kick in and be enough.

He watched as his father approach almost cautiously. Lardy realized that Pornis was trying to guage his son's power level. Lardy thought fast, trying to figure out what he could do. He noted Pornis' height advantage of about nine feet. Could he--?

Lardy concentrated, and suddenly, he grew to Pornis' height. It hurt like hell, though, as his bones and organs distended.

<span style="font-size: 15px;">"More of a fair fight, now, dad?"</span> Lardy taunted, even as he grimaced from the pain.

This seemed to amuse Pornis. <span style="font-size: 15px;">"Impressive, young one! You learn quickly. But it will not save you!"</span> Pornis laughed deeply. <span style="font-size: 15px;">"Long have I watched you, son. Watched as you struggled with your inheritance. Watched as you punished yourself for taking the life of my whore..."</span> Pornis pointed toward the bound form of Mordra, whose eyes looked upon the scene with utter ecstacy. <span style="font-size: 15px;">"Any son of mine who inherited my gifts should be a conqueror--not some hand-wringing, second-guessing weakling! You are an utter disappointment!"</span>

Lardy smiled. <span style="font-size: 15px;">"That's the nicest thing you could've ever said to me, pops!"</span>

Pornis snarled and charged Lardy. Lardy was knocked down but flipped right back up to his feet.

Pornis then threw a powerful right hook, which Lardy managed to block with in his left hand. Lardy felt something give in his hand and heard a crack. Nevertheless, Lardy took his father's hands in his and struggled to control them and keep them in his grip.

Suddenly, Pornis' eye glowed brightly and blasted Lardy full-on. Lardy flirted with unconsciousness as he fell to the ground, but he fought it off.

Pornis howled. <span style="font-size: 15px;">"Not a good idea to grapple with me, my son! I cheat!"</span>

Lardy focused and energized his body for a powerful retaliating blast. It hit Pornis square in his red chest. He stumbled for a moment but did not fall.

Gods, Lardy thought. I'm barely doing anything with more power than I ever had! If I hadn't had that power-up, I'd be dead already. it still may not be enough...

Suddenly, he thought of that kiss he shared with Tempest moments ago. Why couldn't he feel it anymore?

Sensing his son's distraction, Pornis jumped on him. Lardy was on his back, and Pornis had all the leverage.

Pornis drooled and reached his clawed hands toward Lardy's face. Lardy grabbed Pornis' wrists and fought back with all the might he could muster. But he was losing the battle.

To Lardy, it seemed as if that one horrifying eye was growing ever-larger as Pornis leaned over for a closer look at his son's face.

<span style="font-size: 15px;">"Hm. I can see some resemblance, for sure. I'm surprised, frankly, that anything could grow in the withered womb of that frigid mother of yours. Definitely, the worst lay I ever had!"</span> Again came the horrible laughter.

The eye bent down further and almost pressed against either of Lardy's own eyes, alternately.

<span style="font-size: 15px;">"Your face could do with a bit of cosmetic surgery, though, to make our relationship a little more obvious...."</span>

Suddenly, Pornis broke Lardy's right, robotic wrist. With a cry in pain, Lardy let his right arm fall momentarily limp. Pornis used his advantage to break his right arm free and pin Lardy's left arm to the ground with his right hand.

Wth a terrible swiftness, Pornis took his left thumb and dug his nail into Lardy's right eye socket. With a sickening squish, Pornis pulled out Lardy's right eyeball, impaled on Pornis's thumbnail.

<span style="font-size: 15px;">"AAAAAAIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEE!!!!"</span> Lardy wailed, even as blood oozed out of his empty eye socket.

Pornis laughed. <span style="font-size: 15px;">"Ah, yes! Much better...though we could do with the other eye being centered. Well, we'll be satisfied with what we can improvise!"</span>

Pornis licked the eyeball off his thumb, chewed it up and spit the remains on Lardy's face.

<span style="font-size: 15px;">"Enough of this revelrie,"</span> he taunted. <span style="font-size: 15px;">"Time to finish this--I have a universe to rape!"</span>

His eye began to glow a brighter, more terrible yellow than ever before.

And Lardy knew his time was up.

Suddenly, even as he winced in agony from the trauma to his eye socket and prepared for a killing blow, Lard Lad felt a surge build in him. And all at once, a powerful blast of blue energy blazed through his remaining eye and hit Pornis full-on. Pornis, caught completely offguard, went flying hard against the far wall and was momentarily stunned.

Lardy's head hurt like hell when the blast subsided, but he was happy to be alive. Shakily, he climbed to his feet and wiped the blood and gore from his face. He braced himself and used some energy from hs left hand to cauterize the eyesocket. His mind racing, he somehow remembered to reattach his robotic hand and let its self-repair systems do the rest. He assessed his human left hand and figured it was functional enough. Whatever bone was broken in it either wasn't all that major or else the adrenaline he must have been running on was compensating.

Pornis snarled, and his eye began to glow a bright yellow. An instant later, he fired a massive power beam toward Lardy.

But for Lardy, it was almost as if the beam fired in slow motion. He dodged it rather easily, and the energy hammered the wall behind him instead.

Pornis was incensed. <span style="font-size: 15px;">"How is this possible?!? I had you beaten!!!"</span>

A stray thought occurred to Lardy that maybe it was the fact that he now only had the one eye that allowed him to access more of the power. He wasn't about to give Pornis that insight however.

Instead, Lardy responded by firing another powerful blast of blue energy. Still somehow too surprised to be ready for it, Pornis again found himself slammed against the wall.

This time, Lardy's head felt like it would explode.

I can't keep doing that. I'll burn myself out!Gotta keep it physical for a while...

Lardy then leapt all the way across the room intending to land feet first on Pornis while he was down. Unfortunately, Pornis reacted in time, grabbed Lardy's legs and threw him hard into the near wall.

<span style="font-size: 15px;">"It still won't be enough, whelp!"</span> Pornis taunted.

Stars dancing in his eyes from the blow, Lardy knew his father was correct. Even as the thought went through his mind, Pornis sucker punched him on the back of the head.

Reeling, Lardy first thought he needed to teleport somewhere across the room, but he forgot that power didn't work in this prison. The power-up apparently made no difference. That moment cost him a blow to the mid-section and, from the feel of it, at least two cracked ribs.

Lardy knew another blow was coming, so on instinct, he withdrew his sword from its scabbard and swiped blindly. He felt it cut throught something.

<span style="font-size: 15px;">"AAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!"</span> Pornis screamed, as he held the stump where his left hand had just been lopped off. It oozed yellow blood.

Lardy gasped and managed a weak grin when he yelled, <span style="font-size: 15px;">"I can cheat, too, you bastard!</span>

Pornis howled and slashed at him with his right claw in response. Now, in swordsman mode, Lardy dodged the blow with a small jump backwards and held up the sword, the one that was bequeathed to him by Sir Roy, in front in a defensive position.

He sized his father's movements up, looking for some tell to show what his next move would be.

<span style="font-size: 15px;">"You want a sword fight boy?"</span> The sound of his laughter was deafening. <span style="font-size: 15px;">"I'll use my 'sword' on your corpse when I'm done with you! But otherwise..."</span>

Pornis raised his stump, and Lardy watched in horror as the red clawed hand suddenly grew back. Then, Pornis stepped toward him. Lardy swiped at the hand again, and this time it didn't even draw blood. He tried to stab Pornis in the chest, but it didn't go in. He then went to gouge Pornis' eye, but it was undamaged.

Pornis laughed and swatted the sword so hard that it broke into four pieces which landed several feet away.

<span style="font-size: 15px;">"You took me by surprise, boy, but no weapon from your universe can harm me for more than a moment!"</span>

SHIT! Lardy thought. But his eye showed only defiance as he launched himself at Pornis, and they started trading blows. The hard way, then.

Meanwhile, Cobalt was still fighting unconsciousness. His healing power was working overtime to mend all of his wounds, but it had its work cut out for it.

He marveled at his friend's valiant struggle against the unimaginably monstrous evil that was Pornis. More than once, though, the flying bodies nearly landed on him. He could tell, though, that Lardy was doing his best to steer the fight elsewhere. But there were a lot of close calls, any of which might have put an end to him had they found him.

Cobie struggled to move. Damn! I feel so helpless! He glanced back over at the melee. And Lardy's weakening. He won't be able to keep this up much longer. If I could buy him some time...

He lifted up his hands and tried to manipulate some metal pieces. Some bits rose for a moment...then promptly fell back down.

Shit! He then tried to concentrate enough to shut down his automatic healing response, so that he could redirect it towards his magnetism. But he just couldn't muster the kind of concentration that required.

Then, suddenly, he saw an eerie white glow out of the corner of his eye. His first thought was: No, damnit! I can't die NOW! I'm not done here yet!

The light drew nearer, and he realized it surrounded a person. His heart skipped a beat at first because he thought it was Mordra.

He realized it wasn't her as he looked and saw Mordra was still lying bound across the room.

He looked at the apparition again,and felt a wave of warmth that seemed to flow from her.

"M-mother?" he whispered as his eyes filled with tears.

But when his eyes adjusted, he realized the woman's face belonged to another familiar person.

"Ch-chione?" he confirmed weakly. "A-are you here to take me w-with you? P-please....n-not yet. Lardy...I gotta..."

The ghost smiled gently and shook her head. Silently, she pointed to her left.

Cobie followed her finger and saw that she seemed to be pointing toward her own corpse.

"I...don't understand..."

She pointed there again, and Cobie forced himself to look harder. It was difficult for him because he felt he had failed both her and Lardy by not being able to heal her wound.

His eyes lingered on the wound a moment until suddenly he realized what she was trying to get him to focus on.

Chione's ghost saw the light go on in his eyes and smiled. She then lay her intangible hands on Cobie's chest and kissed him on the forehead. Then, her form dissipated.

As she faded, Cobie realized her phantom touch had momentarily engulfed him in a white glow. When it faded, he felt a boost to his system. It wasn't much, but it would definitely help.

He used his power to reach out to the thing he needed to get. No effect.

Gotta do this the hard way...

And with an extreme effort, Cobie rose to his feet and slowly, excruciatingly started ambling over to Chione's corpse.

Lardy wasn't doing so hot. Trading blows with Pornis was only weakening him while Pornis didn't seem to be losing any steam at all.

As hard as Lardy tried to hide it, Pornis was noticing the difference.

<span style="font-size: 15px;">"Save yourself some pain and FALL, boy!"</span>

<span style="font-size: 15px;">"NEVER!"</span> Lardy screamed defiantly. Then, he put his fists together and knocked Pornis back a few steps.

Pornis wiped some yellow blood off his chin and grinned evilly. <span style="font-size: 15px;">"Yield now, and I will spare your children, my son."</span>

Lardy involuntarily let his thoughts drift toward little Hugh and Helena. They were the most precious things in the universe to him. He remembered the time he spent with them before starting this whole quest. He'd do anything for them....

Lardy shook his head. <span style="font-size: 15px;">"You're a fucking liar, Pornis! You won't let anything in this universe live if you have your way!"</span>

Somehow, Pornis's grin grew even more sinister. <span style="font-size: 15px;">"You're wrong. Your lot has cost me my most loyal servant. Titus is no more. What better replacement for him than my two young grandchildren..."</span> He paused to guage Lardy's reactions with amusement. <span style="font-size: 15px;">"So innocent...so impressionable. They will be lost without their father....and their mother, after I've had my way with her...."</span>

Lardy screamed something unintelligible and fired away with the blue beam from his eye.

Pornis grinned and let loose with his yellow beam.

The two beams met and reached a momentary standoff as yellow and blue tried to push past the other.

Lardy's forehead sweated profusely as he tried to push his power to overcome the other. His eardrums echoed the swift beating of his heart. His eye, ears and nose started bleeding profusely the harder he pushed himself.

For Pornis' part, he seemed to only get stronger and stronger as he sustained the beam. His grin became more pronounced and ghoulish. Drool dripped from his prominent fangs as he felt Lardy's exertion.

Finally, Lardy's beam sputtered out, and he was hurled hard into the near wall. More than the force, Lardy was stricken by the sheer agony that the energy caused its victim to feel. From the hole in the wall the impact had made, Lardy fell limply to the floor, face first.

Pornis licked his cracked lips and leisurely strode toward his son for the kill.


Cobalt came within a few steps of his goal when suddenly he felt a hand grasp his ankle.

"No, I won't let you!" Mordra cried. She was crawling on bloody knees. She had freed her hands and removed the gag, but her legs were still bound.

Cobalt barely had any strength to walk, so her grasp was a huge hindrance. He struggled to shake her grip.

"Enough, you bitch!" he yelled. "I owe you one for all the shit you put Lardy thru...and another one for making me stab a good friend all those years ago!"

Cobalt then fell on his back and kicked Mordra hard in the face twice with his free foot. Her eyes rolled and she fell unconscious.

While he felt a certain satisfaction, the exertion he spent threw away some of his energy boost. He struggled to get back on his feet. When he couldn't manage, he crawled the last few feet and grasped the object he needed.

He was startled by a loud thud and looked around in time to see Lardy fall on his face, unmoving. He was horrified to see Pornis, unharmed, moving casually in for the kill.

"LARDY!" Cobie shouted with as much voice as he could muster.

Lardy's eye opened at the sound of his friend's voice. With great effort, he rose to his knees.

"CATCH!" Cobie yelled as he saw Lardy rise. Then, with all the strength he could manage, Cobalt hurled the slender object as he had hurled many spears in the course of his life. He was the best known sentient in that skill and this would be the throw that counted the most.

A look of horror painted Pornis' face as he instantly recognized the object. He tried to stop its trajectory with a blast of power from his eye, but the energy passed harmlessly around it.

Lardy managed a leap and caught the object. It was off to his left four feet, but it was close enough.

Lardy took a moment to examine his prize and instantly realized its significance. It was the dagger that had been fashioned out of the tooth of XXXauron. Mordra had used it to slay Chione. If it could kill her....

Lardy grinned. then, he grasped the dagger and charged Pornis with renewed energy.

Pornis tried to dodge his son, but Lardy's speed was too much.

Lardy pointed the dagger forward. Pornis tried to shield himself with his hands, but the dagger cut right through them. Yellow blood spewed from the hands, and splurted all over Lardy.

Pornis stepped back, but Lardy kept on slashing at him with the weapon. He stabbed him in the chest three times, and Pornis sprawled to the ground on his back.

<span style="font-size: 15px;">"M-mercy, my son...I beg of you...."</span>

Tears flowed from Lardy's eye. He really didn't want to kill again, but... If I don't, there's no other way to contain him--

Suddenly, Pornis' bleeding claws dug into Lardy's throat.

<span style="font-size: 15px;">"WEAKLING!"</span>

Lardy managed to keep hold of the dagger and buried it right into Pornis' eye just as it was firing up for another blast.

<span style="font-size: 25px;">"AAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!"</span>

Pornis's grip loosened, and Lardy staggered backward. He fell to the ground and watched as Pornis grew a brighter and brighter yellow, and his scream grew louder and louder.

Moments later, Pornis' body grew cracks all over it and yellow light bled through each crack. The whole prison began to crumble and shake.

He's dying...and going to critical mass! I've got to get us out of here!

Lardy rushed over to where Cobalt lay. He paused very quickly to gather up the pieces of Sir Roy's sword in a pouch and then went to Cobalt's side to help him up. Lardy struggled with his friend's dead weight, suddenly realizing that he himself had shrunk back to his normal height.

"C'mon, Des, help me out here!"

"You...you get 'im, Lardy?" Cobalt said weakly.

"Yeah, Des...we did it...now, we gotta live through it!"

That seemed to give Cobalt a boost, and he staggered to his feet, supported by Lardy.

Lardy headed for the tunnel, then turned to Mordra. She was weeping uncontrollably.

"Can't carry both of ya," Lardy said to her. "Save yourself." Then, he cut the bonds on her feet.

Freed, she simply shrieked and ran toward where her Dark Lord was expiring. Lardy watched her get as close as ten feet before the heat of his death throes reduced her to ashes.

Lardy shook his head. Then, he proceeded up the tunnel with Cobie's arm around his shoulder.

"Shit!" he cursed. "Forgot it was collapsed!"

He looked back as the globe of destruction spread outwards.

"Well, hope I can 'port out of here now...and if so, that I have enough energy left to make it happen! If not...well, it's been fun..."


A moment later, the prison of the Dark Lord was atomized.


Out in the realm itself, ghouls and all manner of fell creature suddenly dissolved into black dust.

Volcanoes emerged and erupted with immeasurable violence all over the dark, barren world. Earthquakes more powerful than any the Richter Scale had ever measured tore everything apart.

Rockhopper Lad observed all of this and the destruction of the fortress from above on his winged steed.

"The Dark Lord has fallen, LMB!" he cried. "Lardy and Cobie did it!"

A great victorious roar rose from the survivors.

"But this realm is destroying itself! Retreat to the ships at once! That's an ORDER!!!"

And as he gave the order, Rocky knew that there would be no time to attempt a search and rescue for the valiant destroyers of Pornis if they even survived that horrific explosion. Even the fastest among them wouldn't be able to find them in time, especially haggard as they were from this endless battle.

He prayed to Dywh that they had an escape plan. He prayed to Dywh for their souls.

“Back to the cruisers!” yelled Rockhopper Lad. As he spoke, another volcano erupted in the distance. “We don’t have much time!” His voice echoed over the chaos, booming with the authority of leadership.

The Legionnaires responded in kind; all save one. “Cobie! Lardy! We can’t just leave them!” said Invisible Brainiac. He suddenly flew up in the air.

“Don’t you dare!” yelled Blaze to him.

The words broke Invisible Brainiac’s heart because he knew he’d already made the choice. “I’ll see you in orbit,” he said with a smile. And suddenly he was off.

“We won’t abandon them,” said a voice falling in beside him. It was confident and it was filled with grandeur. “For the fellowship,” said Power Boy.

Invisible Brainiac smiled. He heard another rustle and saw two others would join them in this last desperate search party. Angdar Fel, silent and grim, but determined to do his duty.

And Engine Joe. The legendary hero took the lead. “We must have hope,” he said.



They ported onto a large rock and before they could get their bearings, the rock shifted, causing them to fall. A large BOOM followed as the rock was ripped out of the landscape and swept into a river of lava. Ash and a blast of lava reigned down around them.

The rock was barely big enough to hold two men, yet it did. Lard Lad and Cobalt Kid were there, coughing through the ash, and on the cusp of death…but still holding on. The lava gnawed at the rock, slowly burning it until it would be eventually reduced to nothing.

Cobalt rolled over to his back, coughing. He tried to muster some amount of energy or power…but he was spent. His magnetism was not functioning, nor was his healing. He had given everything, and even now, with certain death approaching, he had nothing left.

He turned towards Lard Lad, who now mustered every bit of effort to sit himself upright. Lard Lad had found the strength for one final ‘port and Cobalt knew he was trying to find the strength for one more—but he was failing. Lard Lad concentrated but exhaustion was setting in.

The adrenaline of the battle had worn off.

“Nothing?” said Cobalt.

“Nothing,” replied Lardy.

“Me neither.”

Cobalt forced himself to sit up. All around them was ash, lava and explosions. Yet, a sense of calm overtook him. He could see Lard Lad felt the same.

A tremendous weight had been lifted off the two of them.

“We did it,” said Cobalt with a smile.

Lard Lad—bloody and with just one eye—smiled back. “We did it. All that hard work…and sacrifice…the universe is safe.” Lardy wiped the blood and sweat off his forehead. “I just wish we could see it one last time.”

They both knew it was over. Neither had the strength to carry on a long conversation, let alone anything else. For these longtime heroes, death was fast approaching.

They were in tatters. Emaciated. Bloody and injured. They clutched on small items that meant more to than their own bodies. For Lardy, the bag of remnants from Roy’s sword; for Cobalt, a common pipe given to him as a gift on Antioch.

Cobalt reached out his hand and put it around Lard Lad’s one good one. “I’m glad to be here with you, Lardy, at the End of All Things.”

And the two of them hugged, embracing like brothers. Tears ran down their cheeks; not out of sadness for their final moments, but out of happiness. For the support in helping each other find themselves again. For the brotherhood.

Too tired to speak further, they simply leaned back against the rock, watching the ash pass by like snow and feeling the heat inch ever closer as a molten death loomed.

Cobalt felt himself drifting into unconsciousness. Suddenly he heard wings flapping. An angel? Is that what…?

“Is that a dragon?” he said suddenly as a large winged shape took form in the ashy mist.

“Yeah,” said Lard Lad with a grin. “It sure is.”



Zee, the dragon, was a creature full of secrets. For instance: among her various abilities and talents was a trick that allowed her to shrink down to incredibly small size for special stealth purposes. It was exactly this trick she employed while on Naltor that allowed her to enter the Dark Realm of Pornis via the portal of Lard Lad and Cobalt Kid.

Her entrance was mere moments later, yet that small yet important delay caused her to be shifted across space and time to elsewhere in the Dark Realm. For weeks she stealthily, and often viciously, battled the Dark Lord’s legions and in the last two days she battled bravely alongside the Allied Forces against the Dark Lord’s ghouls.

At long last, she sensed Lard Lad’s presence as he ‘ported out of Pornis’ castle. And at long last, she could save him.



“It’s no use,” said Angdar Fel. He was not one to mince words and spoke truth. “We’ll never see them through all this ash and fire. Even more eyesight cannot pierce the veil too far.”

“We can’t give up!” yelled Invisible Brainiac. The realization was setting in that two of his brothers were not going to be coming back with him.

Power Boy looked at Engine Joe. His senses and abilities could find no trace of their friends. But perhaps this legendary hero might have a trick up his sleeve. “What do you think?” he said at last.

Engine Joe looked forward into the ashy storm and remained emotionless. Then, a curious look. Then a frown. And at last, a smile.

“Is that a dragon?”

The Dark Oval
In Orbit, near the former Dark Realm

For months the volcanic explosions and carnage would ravage the Dark Realm, cleansing it of its evil. Eventually, it would settle into a quiet period of restoration, as life crept back into the once barren landscape. And on the spot where Chionne fell would be a spring. Water would flow outwards from it, replenishing the land around it so that a beautiful paradise would one day exist.



The Legionnaire known as Kid Prime, a Legion World founder and beloved member, was unique in that he could expand and grow his massive techno-frame at will. He transformed himself into a massive space craft when needed, called by the other Legion World Founders as Prime. It was here that the majority of the Allies vast armada was housed, as they recovered from the Greatest of All Battles.

Within the sick recovered; the injured were healed; the exhausted found rest. But the mood never once ventured towards the negative. For the universe was saved and the future began now. There was cheering and there was singing. There was dancing and there was laughing. Sentients hugged each other and kissed each other; they drank and they ate. They were merry. The truly celebrated life.

A smaller few stayed close to one another. They felt the bounds that only those who have experienced great hardship and tremendous reliance on one another felt. They were the Fellowship. They gathered now, near the sickbay: Invisible Brainaic, Helena Handbasket, Power Boy, Juj, Ameratsu, Lolita, Timberwolf, Kalla Hykros, Time Teller Lad, Rockhopper Lad and Hyvvie the Wonder Beagle. They were stationed in the sickbay, outside of two rooms where their Fellows lingered on the brink of either death or life.

Suddenly a rugged, brash voice could be heard as thundering footsteps hammered the floor. Shark Lad was coming down the hallway.

Lolita ran to him at full speed and wrapped her arms around him. “Oh, I was so worried,” she said. He picked her up and held her tight.

“You’ll never guess what new powers I’ve developed…” he said, though Lolita wasn’t paying attention.

“Easy fishlips,” said Timberwolf, coming over to greet his cousin. “Don’t ruin the moment.” Timberwolf had been on edge the entire time. Some of them knew he was still reeling after Dev Em’s death. They wondered how badly he blamed Cobalt.

Nearby, Princess Crujectra with her brother Crusader, stood outside Cobalt Kid’s room. She looked prepared to walk over to the Fellowship but her brother put his hand on her arm. “Don’t, sister,” he said calmly. “At this point, I don’t think any others are welcome”.

Finally, Nurse Tina, who had become close friends with Invisible Brainiac during the Battle of Weber’s World, opened up the door to Lard Lad’s room. She smiled at the assembled fellowship, who looked on earnestly. “He’s awake,” she said finally.



Within, Lard Lad was dazed for a moment—not believing he had somehow survived the ordeal in Pornis Castle. Not believing he was alive. And then, a feeling beyond description overtook him. A sense of victory; of relief; of safety. He couldn’t help himself and started to laugh.

As he laughed, they came in, one by one. They met his laughter with their own. They hugged him, one by one, welcoming him back into the fold. Rockhopper Lad sat down on the bed of the man he once loved and the two looked at each other with a loving, caring smile, and hugged each other deeply.

When they let go of the embrace, Lard Lad saw Kalla Hykros, and she was smiling. He surprised himself when he realized he was smiling back.

And then in the doorway was one more of the Fellowship: Cobalt Kid. Healing himself, he had struggled to his feet when he heard the commotion. And the first place he went to was to check on his comrades. Juj walked over and gave him a tight hug, and Cobalt just looked at Lardy and smiled, and Lardy smiled back.



Outside in the hallways, they were all clapping. And as the elation died down, one by one, they began to move back to their responsibilities, confident they would see each other soon enough on this long journey home. “Let him heal, now!” said Nurse Tina, though she was laughing as well. “And you, Cobalt Kid, back to your room. And you too, Tim!” she added to Time Teller Lad, who blushed.

Cobalt was still too tired and in too much pain to have any real meaningful conversation right now. He wanted to talk to them all at length: Lolita, Lon, Rocky…everyone. But he only got out of his bed to see them all again. As he walked back to his room, he saw Princess Crujectra waiting for him outside the room. She walked over, and gave him a deep, tight hug. Beside her, Crusader smiled.

Cobalt hugged her back. It felt so familiar and so warm…yet so different. Their telepathic link had been shattered by Titus was gone, perhaps forever. And while he knew Crujeckie was incredibly relieved he was safe, he felt something a little colder about the huge. More formal. He knew she was still incredibly distressed by the Khunds. Perhaps she’d never forgive him for it. Or perhaps it was that during this journey, Cobalt had changed too much.

“There’s to be a party tonight,” she said after a moment, smiling and looking him in the eyes. “You need to get your rest as I believe you’re a guest of honor”.

Cobalt’s stomach growled at the thought of food. “Food. Booze. A shower. Brushed teeth.” He closed his eyes and smiled. “I never thought I’d experience any of those things again.” He started to walk back into his hospital room and laid down on his bed. His eyes began to immediately close from exhaustion.

“Come on, sister,” said Crusader. “Let him rest.”