Legion World Forums LEGION OUTPOST Bits o' Legionnaire Business Tempus Mosaic (the story)

This is hopelessly ameturistic, but I'll post it anyway. This was posted elsewhere a long time ago (but kind of doubt anyone saw it) and was my attempt to bring the original Legion, the 5YL Legion and the Post-ZeroHour Legion together into one timeline. Everything from the original and PZH Legion's history as presented in the comics is cannon. The 5YL stories as depicted in the comics happened in a 'Pocket Universe' and happened somewhat differently in the universe that this story takes place in. I stopped posting new chapters when the 'Lightning Saga' was announced, but may pick this up again and continue to my original ending point if readers decide they want to know how it ends. Because I extremely lazy, I am going to post the story here exactly as it was originally posted... typos, goofs and all. Hope you enjoy it for what it is........


Tempus Mosaic
Chapter one: Heroes' Return

The End....
Two by two, the Heroes came together, older versions embracing their younger couterparts. In flashes of temporal energy they vanished from exhistence until only six Heroes and the mysterious figure in purple robes remained. Volcanic erruptions on the dying planet almost ended their lives before the combined magnetic powers of two Braalians lifted their metalic platform into the air above the now molten surface. Fighting for balance the final six came together, sacrificing their exhistence for the promise that their universe... that their very timeline could be some how be saved by the dark robed figure. Moments after, all of reallity faded, leaving the Time Trapper standing alone in the endless empty white field...........Until........
The blinding rainbow brilliance of the timestream pushed in on the now defunct timeline, compressing it into a ball that the Trapper siezed in his hand as two more identicle purple robed figures moved to his side.
"Is the plan going to succeed?" the first figure asked.
"Yes, but then, we knew we would succeed, because we already have." the Trapper replied, holding up the ball for them to see. "We have our decoy to block the 'Zero Hour' wave now, and they never suspected."
"How did you fool the telepaths?" the first asked, puzzled.
" I didn't 'fool' them, I told them the truth: that you and I had tampered with their timeline, that I created the duplicates they refered to as Batch SW6 and that by their sacrifice the 30th century could be saved. What I did not tell them is that the 30th century that would be saved was not theirs and that their entire universe was a construct designed to preserve the real timeline by taking the brunt of the effect of the ..*..ahem..*.. 'Zero Hour' wave. Now it will be rewritten instead of the real timeline. Of course some damage will still occur and that is why I, with your help," he guestered to indicate the two robed figures, "have prepared the other 'pocket universes' to use to repair the worst of the damage that might occur. I trust that all is well on that front?" he inquired.
The second figure merely bowed its head, while the first somewhat reluctantly stated "There have been some minor difficulties....... Planet Orando....."
The Trapper interupted "Yes, I know that it failed to be viable in the primary 'Pocket Universe' as well as most of the others, however, isn't it inhabitted in the EC- universe? You can patch it into the primary from there."
"But....but the EC- universe is populated primarily by non-primate hominids, Orando itself is inhabitted by Herpeforms!"
"Giant snakes. But, giant snakes with a culture remarkably similar to medeval Europe of Earth thanks to the manipulations of my daughter. Excellent work, as was your forcing of the events of this universe," he turned to face the figure as he guestured to the ball in his hand "to so closely match the history of the true timeline. Without 2 of the key players at that!"
Tossing back the purple hood, the beautiful blond woman stated "For which I was stripped of my powers, my memories and reduced to infanthood." slight bitterness evident in her tone.
"Glorith," The Trapper sighed, "my child. You were depowered because of your actions in the real timeline. And you were de-aged and temporarily deprived of your memories because it was neccessary for the plan to work, to preserve our exhistence and the exhistence of this very timeline."
"Agreed. Oh, and call me Lori. I have become accustomed to the name."
"Very well, let us finish our work, stabilize the timeline and insure our .... future."
The figures vanished into the timestream leaving behind the condensed ball of time. What none of them noticed was the slender thread that still connected it to the past.

The Begining.....
The Trapper stood at the Dawn of Time, he siezed a single second and used it to create his own timeline which he could manipulate to his own means. He then further devided that timeline. In one of those "Pocket Universes" he created a Legend that would one day be an inspiration to countless generations of heroes. In another, he quite unintentionally spawned a daughter. Meanwhile, in the true timeline he brought about the creation of a great team of heroes and connected their present to the past of his "Pocket Universe" so that every time they journeyed into what they thought was their past they actually travelled to the past of his creation.

Now.....
It had been more than a year since the United Planets lost it greatest defenders. The Earth was still recovering from the damage done while the Fatal Five-Hundred terrorized the world. It had been a worse disaster than when the Daxxamites of the White Triangle had devestated the planet, a worse disaster than the loss of the entire Star Gate Network durring the invasion of the Blight. The only event more devestating had been what had followed the Dominators' covert take over of Earth Gov... but the memories of that were hazy due to the envolvement of Mordru, Glorith and the Time Trapper. Still, it had been over a year since most of the Legion vanished into the Timestream taking the Fatal Five-Hundred with them, and any hope of their return had faded away. The few remaining members had left to join other groups protecting the United Planets or had put their abilities to other uses in helping rebuild the Earth. The ship that landed outside the old Legion headquarters was strangely familiar to the construction crew working on restoring the building. As were several of the figures that exited the craft: a winged Amerind female, a gigantic stone man, a masked blond woman, a Coluan male and a red haired man with electricity crackeling around him.
"Who are you? And what do you want?" a construction member fearfully inquired.
"We are here to help." the red haired man responded "We, are the Legion of Super-Heroes."

Before.....
It had been one Crisis after another: The discovery of the so-called Batch SW6 Legion and the question as to which were the originals, the long waited exposure of the Dominators' covert take-over of Earth Gov and the open war to take back the planet, the short term victory when it was discovered after its liberation that the Earth was doomed and the attempt to save as many as they could, the salvation of 94 Earth cities and the deaths of over 2 billion souls that were the unfortunate remaining population of Earth when it exploded, The dicovery of Batch SW7 and SW8 and the proof that most of the older counterparts were the clones, and finally the devestating alliance between Mordru and Glorith which after their defeat (when Glorith was revealed as an agent of the Time Trapper) had led to this...
"I can save New Earth and the entire Universe." The Time Trapper told them. "I can merge my 'Pocket-Universe' with the true timeline. Planets like Earth, Orando and Daxxam will be replaced with their counterparts. Planets like Braal, Winanth and Trom will be revitalized.... as will the Universe."
"What about the populations of those worlds? We destroy them to save ourselves? I don't think so Trapper!" Garth shouted at him.
The Time Trapper had merely smiled and then explained that the population of the 'Pocket-Universe' was considerably smaller than the true timeline and that none of them would perish in the merger, they would merely be added in. Certainly some worlds would end up with a greater number of inhabitants than they currently had (Rimbor and Xanthu being prime examples), but they would also have better resources. Braal's radioactive wastelands would be replaced with viable lands. Winanth's blighted soil would be fertile and green again. Daxam and Trom would again be inhabited. And Earth would once again orbit Sol. The colonization of this replacement Earth was not a problem either since in the 'Pocket-Universe' Earth had never really recovered from the Great Disaster shortly after it's Super-Heroic Age and so it had neither reached the heights of technology nor the huge population it had in the true timeline. Nor had it had the influence on the rest of the Universe as it did in the true timeline. Of course there were sacrifices to be made... only one Legion could remain in United Planets territory and since the younger group were the originals and most of their memories were implanted ones it was decided they would be the ones to stay and that their memories would be removed or subtly altered. Certain telepathic sugestions would also be made in the minds of the general population so that the merger would be easier to deal with. Eventually the elder Legion might be able to return, but they would have to leave imediately after the merger. With the Trapper and Glorith working together the merger was sucessful. The elder Legion and several of their loved ones and allies joined with a group called the Waunderers and left to expore the far reaches of the restored Universe. The cities of New Earth landed on the surface of the replacement planet and it was soon as if the Earth had never been destroyed. The other worlds adapted quickly and a new fledgling United Planets was formed. Time passed.

Now....
"The Legion of Super-Heroes...." The construction worker started. Then seeing the woman dressed in what appeared to be a pink swimming suit with matching boots and evening gloves it clicked. Turning towards her he said, "Then you must be S.."
"Quantum Queen. " she stated in an ammused tone before the man could finish, "And what Lightening Lad ment to say is that some of us were the Legion of Super Heroes, but now we are the Waunderers. We are here to find and return the missing Legion. Dawnstar? Saturn Girl?"
The winged Amerind and masked blond stepped forward. The Amerind looked unfocussed for a moment before turnning to Quantum Queen.
"Vidar is on this planet and in the city. The Vygran is off-world but getting nearer. We are where we need to be." Dawnstar replied confidently.
"Rond was contacted when we entered Earth orbit. He in turn called Gates... who it would seem joined a team called The Outsiders. They will be arriving shortly after Rond." Saturn Girl stated in confirmation of Dawnstar's report. She took Lightening Lad's hand and spoke quietly to him, "Garth, as I feared, our presence is breaking down some of the mental suggestions put in place after the Restoration. Several of the construction workers remember fully and the rest have dim recollections of there being 2 Legions."
"Is it causing dangerous mental conflict?" he inquired, looking worried.
" I....." she paused, concentrating for a moment, reaching out to all the minds around her, "No. There is some confusion, but it seems to be resolving itself. The time their subconscious minds have had to deal with it seems to have been sufficient."
"Good." Garth smiled "Then once we have restored their Legion we can stay. It is nice to be back."

Before...
The man in the purple robe stood waiting. In just a moment the unthinkable would happen, his private realm would be forcibly invaded for the first time in history ... and the last time. When the second purple robed figure appeared, he wasn't surprised he mearely turned and spoke.
"My child, you know as well as I that if I am struck down another will be given my responsibilities, and my power."
"Of course, father" the other said smiling. "Which is why I have no intention of harming you. As you already know." A smile could almost be seen in the darkness of the figure's hood as it guestured towards the book chained to the other man's wrist.
"Well, I had to try. It is a matter of.... Destiny" He stated as he felt the indestructable links of the chain sepperate and the book fly from his hands and into those of his son. Once there the book glowed, losing it's cohesion, changing form. When the light died down, in it's place was an Hourglass.
"Good bye, father" the Time Trapper said before leaving him eternally trapped in his own private realm.

Later....
"Hmmm..." Saturn Girl said, peering up at the sky, "It appears I was wrong. Gates will arive first."
No sooner had she made the statement than a ship appeared in the sky above them. It didn't land, but hovered above Legion Plaza. A green disk materialized in front of her bearing several figures: a young blond man in a garish gold and silver costume, a beautiful dark skinned woman in white with an odd short cape and tiara, an avian female covered in green down and feathers with wings instead of arms and...Gates. As the centipede-like Vygran floated towards them he began speaking rapid fire.
"Rond said the Legion was back, where are they?" then, looking at Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad, shouted "Imra! Garth! You're back! You're not crystal, Garth you're...you're OLD! What happened?!? How...?"
"Old, huh? I wonder what you would think if we looked our true ages?" He replied dryly, "Uh, look, we need to talk. We are not the Imra and Garth that you know, but we are here to help." Seeing a familiar looking dark haired young man arrive and stop just behind the Outsiders, he continued, "Your Rond is here. We have a plan and we shall explain it and everything else to the two of you..."

Now...
Despite the initial shock of the return of the original Legion and a certain amount of awkwardness between the two Rond Vidars, they and Brainiac 6 had worked around the clock on the machine and it was finally finished.
"So, how is this going to work? The machine does... what?" the younger Rond asked.
"In the most simple terms... it is powered by Wildfire, it uses your and your older counterpart's knowledge of time travel to form the computations to open a 'hole' into the dimension 'between' times and then uses Gates' ability to actually open that 'hole'. Then Dawnstar will enter the 'hole', locate the missing team and bring them back." Brainiac 6 responded.
"I thought that her ability allowed her to track across space, not time. How will she locate them?"
"Normally true. However, this 'Shikari' has a similar talent and from the data we have it should be enough to allow Dawnstar to lock in on her."
"So when do we do this?"
"No time like the present." Lightning Lad said entering the room with Gates, Wildfire and Dawnstar directly behind him.
Wildfire took his position and poured his energies into the machine. Gates put the leads on that would allow the machine to tap his power. Dawnstar spread her metalic wings and allowed some of the material to pour across her to form a protective armor. Above the platform a sphere of rainbow colors appeared, Dawnstar braced her self momentarily and then flung herself into the multihued ball of light.
"Brainy, how long will it take?", Lightning Lad asked.
"Undetermined. Distance has no meaning in there, but it could take some time for her to home in on this 'Shikari'. Best case estimate was an instantaneous lock. The longest it should take is one standard hour."
Thirty minutes later an energy spike pre-anounced the emergence of a silver sphere from the 'hole'. The metal retracted into Dawnstar's wings which then folded against her back. Only one figure accompanied Dawnstar: a grey skinned, green haired, yellow eyed young woman with insect-like wings.
"There was a problem. I found Shikari here easy enough, but the rest of the Legion wasn't with her. She was sepperated from them and has been trying to track them ever since. She has come close a few times, but no success. We tried combining our abilities. Didn't work. I don't know how we are going to find them, it all depended on Shikari being with them..."
"Sprock" Lightning Lad whispered, face in his hands.
"Perhaps...I could be of assistence?" everybody turned to stare in shock at the Time Trapper who had appeared without warning and was standing by the platform.

Before...
Jan was quite insane. Candi knew it, but she also knew that her dear friend would never hurt her. Never. And, her words were starting to reach him. If she could just push a little more she knew Jan would realize his mistakes and give up this whole 'Progenitor' nonsence. He brushed his hand across her cheek and she smiled. Unbearable pain lanced through her and then...nothing.

Dr. Regulus had to be stopped and Gim knew that he was the only one that could do it. He was the only one that could match Regulus' sudden ability to increase his size. He defeated him, but the acid from the piping broken durring the battle poured over them both. The pain from the burns was terrible, but he clung to consciousness until Vi could assure him that everyone else was ok, no cassualties. Then darkness took him.

Tangleweb was a monster, no doubts about that one. However, James thought smuggly to himself, he was no match for the stasis field James controlled with the help of the belt he wore. He was so caught up in his own happily confident thoughts that he didn't hear the shouted warning from his team-mates. He barely noticed when the field faded as the belt shorted out. He felt Tangleweb grab him by the head, he felt his head twisted sharply to the right and he heard a loud crack accompanied by a bright flash of light. That was the last thing he he was aware of as his life ended.

Glorith's forces were overwhelming the Legion. Gim increased his size by a couple hundred feet and swept away a group of attacking cavemen. He was concentrating on the Roman soldiers and didn't see Glorith approach. He didn't even have time for a last thought as her touch instantly aged him to dust.

The bomb planted by the Khunds was in her hand when it went off. Laurel Gand din't die instantly, her Daxxamite physiology kept her alive for awhile, but it also hindered the efforts of the doctors trying to save her. She died on the opperating table without ever regaining consciousness.

The detonation of the Dominators' underground chambers came without warning and destroyed a considerable amount of the surface above it as well. As the ground shook and shattered beneath them, Cham desperately tried to shield Val and Jeckie with his own body, but he had time only to reach Val.

The lock created by the Archmage required a life inorder to open it. Pol knew this was his destiny. He never was anything to the Legion other than a second rate replacement for his brother. Finally he would emerge from the long shadow of Cosmic Boy. The lock glowed as he entered it, brighter and brighter until it seared away... everything.

Nemesis Kid had half beaten him to death. Even now, Val was aware of internal injuries that were fatal. No treatment could be provided in time to save him. But, He could save the others and most importantly, Jeckie. Looking up he saw the satelite that kept Orando imprissoned and the Legion cut off from outside help. Blocking the pain from his mind, he launched himself into the satelite knowing that its destruction would save his friends and his love...

Deregon's bomb would destroy much of Australia and ignite World War 7. Condo had one shot at disarming it by accelerating the chemical reactions of the bomb's fuel until it was useless. However to do this he had to get close enough that he would recieve a fatal dose of radiation. It worked, the bomb was rendered inert. As the radiation poisoning consumed him, Condo thought only that he would die like Kyle...in the line of duty.

Validus was on a rampage. Only Lyle realized that the monster was being controlled by the part of Tharok's artificial brain that they kept in the trophy room. He smashed the artifact, but too late. Validus was crushing him. He felt ribs break, lungs puncture, vertebre displace. He knew Myla was waiting for him, but his last thought was of Condo.

The Sun-Eater would consume Sol if not stopped. Tharok had created a weapon to destroy it, but it had to be delivered by one of the Legionnaires. Superboy planned to do it, but Andrew saw how weakened he already was by the Sun-Eater's red-solar barrage. He grabbed the weapon, pushed Superboy aside and flew out the airlock. It worked and the Sun-Eater was stopped. Andrew's atoms were spread across millions of miles of space in less than a second.

Later...

Green disks of light flashed around the room moving everyone as far from the Time Trapper as the space of the lab would allow.
"I am not here to fight. I have come to help. Or are you not interested in the rescue of your missing Legionnaires?" The purple robed figure inquired.
"What is your price, Trapper? What do we lose in order to get them back?" Lightning Lad demanded.
"You lose nothing. In fact you stand to gain more than you could guess. And all you have to do is play a little game. I'll even allow you to choose whether you wish to play it before or after I render my assistence."
"And what kind of 'assistence' do you plan on giving? What kind of 'game' do we have to play?" asked Lightning Lad, reluctance and hope warring in his voice.
"Well... I could just pluck your friends out of the Time Stream, but I doubt you would accept that. So, I will tell Brainiac 6 how to find and retrieve them. As for the game. " Unseen beneath his hood the Trapper smiled, "I require honest answers from the entire Legion to a question I'll ask."
"Answer a question and you help us get the Legion back? That's all?"
"That is all. Do you accept?" hummor evident in his tone.

Now....

After some discussion it was decided to accept the Time Trapper's offer. His solution was surprisingly simple. The needed as many counterparts from the Waunderers to the Legion as they could manage. Then Network would use his power to link Shikari and Dawnstar so they could use both of their powers at the same time. They would use the counterparts as a focus and then use Brainiac 6's machine to enter into the Time Stream. Once there it would be a simple matter to home in on the missing Legion. The
Trapper's question would be answered after their friends were returned. So the counterparts gathered: Lycan for Timberwolf, Duo Damsel for Triad, Mon-el for M'Onnel, Shadow Lass for Umbra, Stasis for Kid Quantum etc. There werre some Legionnaires that there were no counterparts for, but they would hopefully be with the others. The two trackers were linked by the power of the former Waunderer Leader, they scanned the focus group and entered the Time Stream. Fifteen minutes later they returned... the missing Legion with them. Dr. Gym'll examined the returned heroes and recommended rest and a good meal. With the heroes returned, the time had come to pay the Time Trapper his price. The entire Legion and the Waunderers gatheredas agreed. The Trapper appeared.
"So, you are ready then." he stated rather than asked.
"Yes," Lightning Lad replied, "So what is this question of yours?"
Well, it is more of a survey of sorts" The Trapper said, handing Lightning Lad a stack of papers that numbered exactly one per person gathered. "I want each of you to rate these in the order of importance to you. Like or dislike can be considered as part of the rating as you wish."
Lightning Lad looked at the top sheet. It was a list of 11 names:
Fero Lad
Invisible Kid
Chemical King
Karate Kid
Magnetic Kid
Princess Projectra
Tiger Rose
Colossal Boy
Kid Quantum
Leviathan
Monstress
They were all names of Legionnaires that had died in the line of duty.
"What! This is cruel Trapper, even for you!" Lightning Lad angrily stated, list almost balled up in his hand.
"Neverless, it is what you agreed to." was the calm reply
The next day the Trapper returned to collect the papers. He read through them as The small group that had met him stared angrily at him.
"Hmmm, I see. Well, you held up your end and I held up mine." He turned as if to leave and then snapped his fingers, creating a Time Door. "And this is .... a gift. Hope you appreciate it"
Ten figures walked out of the Time Door. Ten of the Legionnaires from the list....

Tempus Mosaic
Chapter two:United

Now...
"Everybody out!" Brainiac 6 shouted. "The EM field is increasing exponentially, he is going to..." An invisible wave of force slammed most of the people present against the walls as the glowing figure in the middle of the room writhed in agony.
"Oh Grife!" Brainiac 5 said as Wildfire's containment suit was breached. Then there was nothing but the silent white light of an antimatter explosion.......

Days Ago...
"Jasmine?" Cosmicboy started as he looked around the wreakage of the quarters they shared, "I understand that you are upset, honey, but..."
"Don't tell me that you understand! You can't understand, you've never lost a brother. The Pol that came back isn't your brother. Your brother never died. Well, mine did and all those others returned, but not James. Why Rokk? Why didn't James come back?"
"The Time Trapper is twisted Jas. Its all just a sick game to him. He..."
"Yes, a game. A game that we all played. Eleven names on that list of his. Eleven names that we had to rate how important they were to the Legion, how important they were to us. Eleven Legionnaires that died in action and ten of them returned alive. Not James though. Why is that Rokk? Why is it that James Cullen isn't amoung them?"
"Jasmine, I told you the Trapper is.."
"Don't try to blame this entirely on the Trapper, Rokk!" she screamed "He made the list, but we are the ones that rated it. James isn't here because he wasn't important enough to any of you!", and in a quiet tone added, "He never was." and with that she left the room.
Cosmicboy considerd going after her, but decided to give her some space. He sighed as he looked at the devestation Jasmine had wrought upon their quarters. Furniture sheared in half, walls cracked, metal reduced to piles of rust, all the glass shattered. Jasmine could always do a lot of damage with the variable temporal fields in her quantum spheres, but recently she had realized that if she created two or more intersecting spheres around the same object, then the stress of the different temporal fields would rip it apart. With a little effort, she could neatly disect the object along the intersection of the spheres. He knew the recent events hadn't been easy on her. Nass, they hadn't been easy on anyone. His team's rescue from the timestream, the return of the older team and the breakdown of the mental blocks that had made them forget about the events that had led to the older team's departure. It still boggled his mind that there had been an older version of him that was actually a clone. That there were likewise clones of other Legionnaires, sometimes their entire families and also some other associates of the Legion. That the 'originals' had spent decades in suspended animation. That he had been a Legionnaire prior to his, Imra and Garth's rescue of R.J. Brande. That the rescue (and other events in his life) had been manipulated by by the Time Trapper to resemble previous events for some purpose known only to the Trapper. Then there was the return of the 'dead' Legionnaires. Appearently the Trapper had grabbed them out of time the instant before their deaths...well most of them. Monstress remebered dying and had vague memories of somehow being 'reconstituted' by another purple robed figure with the Trapper. Now there was a concern, another Trapper? Was he not unique, were there a race of Trappers? What a thought, save it for later. Now they had multiple versions of themselves. They seemed to be working it out though. Some were even taking new code names: The older Invisible Kid for instence was now calling himself Wraith, the older Timber Wolf was now Lycan, the older Fero was calling himself Alloy and the Brainiacs had settled into the older version (who as it turned out was the brain of the clone in an artificial body)calling himself Brainiac 6 while the younger version returned to the Brainiac 5 designation. The two Wildfires (and there was a really good example of the Trappers manipulations, creating a second Wildfire with no connection to the original yet bearing the same name) were still deciding what each would call themselves. On a positive note, the Brainys had determined that a small 'transfusion' from the older wildfire to the younger would stop his slow deteriorization and allow him to once again regenerate any energies he expended. Also the repair of Legion World was well underway, and they would need it! The group was larger than any time in all its history and they were looking at how they might devide their forces to best advantage. It had already been decided to revive the Legion Accademy under the guidance of several experienced Legionnaires that would be leaving active duty to be administrators and teachers for the next generation of Legionnaires (some of whom were actually the children of Legionnaires like the older Garth and Imra's children and Jo and Tinya's boy). The Legion Espionage Squad would be a sepperate autonimous entity within the Legion. A new Legion Medical division was planned. A Legion Exploration Team composed of the former Waunderers and volunteers would travel past the known edges of explored space and periodicly return to Legion World to report. The Outsiders, lead by Gates would form the core of a 'street level crime' prevention task force. So many plans and dreams. If only Jasmine could see...

One Hour Earlier...
"Jasmine?" Rokk asked as he answered the comm.
"Brainiac 6" came the crisp voice on the other end. "We need you in Medical Lab 2. We are ready to begin the transfer."
He was worried, it had been days since Jasmine stormed out. She should have called by now. But, he had a job to do. When he arrived at the lab everyone else was already there: Dr. Gym'll, Med Tech Condo Arlik (aka Catalyst, formerly Chemical King), Med Tech Larel Kent, (aka Legacy), Med Tech Kent Shakespeare (aka Impulse, Academy student), Brainiac 5, Brainiac 6, Saturn Girl, Umbra Magnetic Kid and the two Widfires. He and Magnetic Kid were providing the 'magnetic bottles' for the transference of antimatter energy from the elder Wildfire to the younger. Umbra would provide back-up since she had already proven capable of containing the anit-energy for a short time. Saturn Girl would co-ordinate the efforts of the Legionnaires with the medical team. The tricky part was maintaining and manipulating the the 'magnetic bottles' that would contain the anti-energy. They were just constructing the energy patterns necessary for the bottles when the door to the lab ripped apart. A figure dressed entirely in black with a full head mask entered the lab.
"Jasmine?!?" Cosmic Boy asked.
" Yes," The figure said, reaching up to pull the mask off. "I should have known you would recognize me even with this." she smiled and tossed the mask to the floor.
"What are you doing here Kid Quantum?" Brainiac 6 calmly inquired.
"Don't call me that. That name belongs to James and I am here to get my brother back. Unfortunately, you have to die." And the fight began.

Seconds Ago...
The nearly invulnerable Legacy and Impulse seemed on the verge of subduing her until she used her quantum spheres to drop the floor out from under them. Then, she hurled a series of spheres at Cosmic Boy and, smiling, fled. As the spheres sank into Cosmic Boy's chest he sank to the floor in pain. Brainiac 6 ran to his side and used a hand scanner to take readings as Cosmic Boy's body seemed to ripple and glow.....

Now...
"Everybody out!" Brainiac 6 shouted. "The EM field is increasing exponentially, he is going to..." An invisible wave of force slammed most of the people present against the walls as the glowing figure in the middle of the room writhed in agony.
"Oh Grife!" Brainiac 5 said as Wildfire's containment suit was breached. Then there was nothing but the silent white light of an antimatter explosion followed by the thunderous sound of air rushing in to fill the void left by the destruction of matter. From the outside it seemed the top floors of the building pulled inwards slightly then collapsed into rubble......

Now, Legion World infirmery....
Dr. Gym'll paused to let it sink in then looked at his patient and stated, "He is gone."


Earlier, Legion Plaza..
Chaos and Confusion. The top floors of the recently reconstructed Legion Headquarters on Earth pulled inwards and collapsed as Validus and Mordecai appeared in a flash of green light and attacked. Gating in by Threshold Leviathan and Colossal, backed by Element Lad and Alchemist rushed to defend the damaged Headquarters and those that might be trapped within. Validus launched an electrical attack on Leviathan and was momentarily stunned when his assult was repelled by the Bokovium alloy weave that Alchemist had transmuted for him. Mordecai slashed at Colosal, who blocked with the Inertron gauntlets Element Lad had created for him. Increasing their size to an even greater hight than the two towering monsters, the gigantic heroes were on the verge of subduing their foes when the Emerald Empress entered the fight. Alchemist and Element Lad threw everything they had , trying to wrap the Eye or her in Inertron, Kryptonite or pure Tromium crystal. However the Empress continued to slowly advance on them, an evil smile twisting her lips. Just then, the figure that might be their salvation emerged from the Headquarters.
"Kid Quauntum! Put the Eye in a stasis field!" Alchemist shouted.
She turned to look at the Empress and launched quauntum spheres that reduced Leviathan's protective suit to dust. The four Legionnaires only had a moment to register surprise at her betrayal before Validus and the Empress shocked them into oblivion.
"I got what we came for, let's get out of here." Jazmin stated flatly. Then. turning to the Empress who was about to finish off the fallen Legionnaires "I said, let's go. We'll take care of all of them later. For now, letting them live will make them suffer more."
"Yes. As you wish" she replied and then teleported herself and her 3 comrades away.

Later, Legion World infirmery....
"Cassualties? Damages?" Brainiac 6 inquired.
"Querl ..." Dr. Gym'll began, looking down at his patient, then sighed and responded to the question "We are lucky that the building was evacuated for the procedure. The upper 2 levels are gone entirely, the 4 levels below that are so severely damaged that nothing can be recovered from the wreckage and the rest of the building will have to be demolished because it is structurely unsafe now. Kent and Laurel are fine, invulnerability comes in handy. Imra is unharmed physically, but her conscious mind shut down from the psychic trauma. She is so deep inside her own head that none of the other telepaths that have tried can reach her. You and Brainiac 5 managed to erect sheilds around those of us nearest to you: Imra, Tasmia, Condo, Pol and me, but the strain of maintaining the force fields took a toll. 5 collapsed and his sheild failed. Somehow, you maintained your sheild and extended it as far as possible. You have been unconscious for over 72 hours. 5 is still unconscious, expected to recover. Pol and Condo were only partially sheilded after 5's field failed. Both have multiple fractures and severe burns. Prognosis is good for Pol, undetermined for Condo at this point...." Brainiac 6 grimaced and Dr. Gym'll paused a moment "Look, even with this new biotechnic body of yours, you need rest. I can..."
"No! I...I need to hear this now Dr. Please continue."
"Alright. We have one Wildfire in a containment chamber. We haven't been able to establish which one yet.. he isn't communicating. He refuses to enter the suit we have prepared for him.. or he is unable or unaware. We aren't sure. There were two unidentified males in the wreckage, unharmed but unconscious and seemingly complete blank slates mentally. Leviathan, Colosal, Alchemist and Element Lad are recovering from injuries sustained while defending the building from attack by Jasmine's accomplices... and you aren't going to like this... She had Validus, Mordecai and that Cera Kesh girl that is calling herself the new Emerald Empress helping her."
"Grife! We suspected the Fatal Five was reforming.. possibly the LSV too, but now we have confirmation." Brainy sighed. "Go on."
"Dreamer and Delphi have been treated for shock and are doing well, but...."
"Shock? How? Were they there trying to defend the building? ... Or ... Did they have a vision of the attack?" he intertupted.
"A vision, the same vision for both: Dying in the destruction of Legion headquarters in Metropolis... but not this attack. Delphi is in better shape than Dreamer because she said she knew the vision was off. They both had the same vision, but they were both the same age in the vision and Delphi said that she was much younger than now. She also said that the building was different and that she believes that the 'her' in the vision is neither herself nor Dreamer. She is sure of that, but can't explain. She also said that she thinks the 'false' vision interfered with either of them foreseeing the actual attack." Dr. Gym'll paused, looking at Brainiac 6.
"You think it was done intentionally then? A possibility we'll have to look into, but I can't see how anyone could have done it. Of course, I can't see how it could have happened 'accidentally' either. A mystery for later. Now, tell me the rest. What about the young Cosmic Boy? Is he Ok? The EM exposion didn't injure him ....?"
"He's gone."
"Dead?! His Braalian physiology should have been able to handle any disruption from the EM blast! How..." Brainy demanded, rapid fire before being cut off by Dr. Gym'll's answer.
"From what information we have recieved from those who were there and can tell us... There wasn't just an EM blast from Cosmic Boy. His body exploded.. no that is not correct... his body transformed into Electro-magnetic energy. He was the explosion. If he isn't dead, then we don't know where he is. There is no body and no detectable remains....." Dr. Gym'll paused to let it sink in then looked at his patient and stated, "He is gone."

Now...
The massive object came straight down, nacelles upwards.
"You understand what this means don't you?" Brainiac 6 asked the young man beside him.
"Dear Gods! You don't mean..." Rond Vidar replied, clearly terrified at the thought.
"Yes...."

Before..
The elder Imra had been called back from Orando, where she had been helping to establish the permanent headquarters for the new Legion Accademy, and Aven had been summoned from Titan to help settle some questions left in the aftermath of Jasmin's devastating attack on the Metropolis Headquarters. And they had answers aplenty, and a few more questions as well. They immediately recognized that the Wildfire in the containment room was neither the older nor the younger, but both. The anti-energies fused together and minds slowly merging as well. This was why the being was unable to enter the containment suit they had prepared, he had no control until the process was finished. The 2 unidentified 'blank slate' males turned out to be Randall Burroughs a.k.a. Atom'x and Jahr Leroy Drake Ningle a.k.a. Blast Off, the 2 beings that had been merged as the second Wildfire. While no one was able to explain the reappearence of their original bodies, Aven and Imra were able to sift the seperate memories of Randall and Jahr from the merging being in the containment room and imprint them upon the apropriate bodies. The shared memories they had experienced as a merged being were unretrievable, however and would continue to merge with Drake Burroughs' own memories. The 2 telepaths would help him as much as posible to adjust to the merger and afterwards he would be able to enter a containment suit or the new forcefield harness that Brainiac 6 had created. From the conscious and unconscious minds of those present durring the attack, they pieced together a complete picture of what had happend to Cosmic Boy. Brainiac 5 and Brainiac 6 conferred and saddly determined that with his body gone, the unique magnetic signature completely dispersed and no sign of his consciousness anywhere in the remains of the headquarters or with any of the survivors, that Cosmic Boy was truly dead. Services would be open to the public, but would take place on Legion World and all attendies would be stringently scanned before be being granted access. The younger Imra's mind was finally reached by the joint effort of Aven and the elder Imra, but it would be months before she recoverd enough to leave the medical ward and longer before she could return to active duty. Pol was released and elected to return to Braal to convelesce. Condo was past the critical stage, it seemed his own powers interacted with his medications to speed his body's healing, and he was looking forward to returning to active duty as part of the newly established Legion Medical division. The new Legion ExplorationTeam had been chosen, trained, equipped and was prepared to start their mission sometime after the funeral. It was decided that the Outsiders would remain an autonimus team, but with full access to Legion equipment and facilities. The new Legion Espionage Team (it's membership a secret held only by those on it) was already functioning and had gathered enough intelligence to identify most of the reformed Legion of Super Villains. Several of the older Legion members and their families would be going to the Legion Accademy as instructors and students. The Orando location was perfect since the extra-dimensionally located world was accessable only by a combination of Magic and Threshold technology. It would ensure a safe enviroment for both Accademy students and faculty. After heated debate as to whether or not it was even viable to maintain the base of operations on Earth, the descision to completely replace rather than repair the badly damaged Metropolis Headquarters building had been made.

Later...
Brainiac 6's plan to replace the destroyed Headquarters with the ship that he and his former fellow Waunderers had called home for years had gone well and was nearing completion. The 'docking' base was finished and the ship itself was in a geosynchronus orbit waiting to descend at his order. The unique layout of the interior of the ship (origininally designed by B6 to confuse any hostile boarders) ment that the ship would be docked nose down so that the 'floors' would be parallel to the ground. The tesseracts and the fact that it was made of materials from the 'Pocket Universe' Krypton insurred that it would be both more spacious and more durable than it's predacessor. Two figures stood surveying the completed structure of the 'docking; base that would also serve as the main entrance hall.
"So, are we going to talk about whatever it was that they found while excavating for the dock? You know, the thing that excited you and Brainiac 5 so much that the two of you spent the next 3 days locked in your lab on Legion World?" Rond Vidar inquired.
"No. We are going to discuss how we need to expand once the new Headquarters is functional. With so many Legionnaires spread across the gallaxy.. not to mention Shikari's Second Universe.. or retiring, we need to look to adding more full-time members."
"Come on Brainy. I want to know about those 'pods' that you and 5 pulled from the excavation. I didn't get a really good look at them, but I'd swear they looked just like the ones that the SW6, SW7 and SW8 batches came from...What are you hiding Brainy?" He demanded, then calming added "Besides, it will be months before the new Headquarters is ready, pleanty of time for..."
"Nonscence." Brainy said, cutting him off and looking to the sky as he continued "I already sent the signal. The ship is comming down now."
"Nass." Vidar spit out, looking up, trying to see the ship that should be visible in a few minutes.

Now...
The massive object came straight down, nacelles upwards.
"You understand what this means don't you?" Brainiac 6 asked the young man beside him.
"Dear Gods! You don't mean..." Rond Vidar replied, clearly terrified at the thought.
"Yes...." Brainiac 6 almost smiled, "Metropolis Legion Headquarters will be completely functional in a few days. Then we can hold open Legion Auditions."

Okay, part 4 is going to be a bit lighter toned than the previous parts, but Legion Auditions usually are.

chapter 2. pt. 4

"Sorry Retcon Kid, but your power is just too dangerous and unpredictable. Your application is denied." Queen Projectra saddly proclaimed to the obviously shocked applicant, who promptly stormed out of the Trial Room.
"He is quite angry and resentful. I fear we may not have seen the last of him." Imra Ranzz stated. "Are you sure it was wise to dismiss him so bluntly, Brainy?" she asked the image of an empty lab on the screen in front of her.
"Definately." Brainiac 6's replied, his image stepping back into frame on the monitor, "However, his powers to effect reality are far to dangerous to allow him to wield freely. I have already alerted the Espionage team. They will follow him and use the device I have given them to radically diminish his ability. It is not what any of us wish, but I see no alternative. If left unchecked his 'small' tampering with history could destroy the Universe as we know it." He and Brainiac 5 looked at the image of the four Legionnaires that had been chosen as judges of the applicants as they grimmly nodded their assent to his plan of action.
"So who is the next applicant?" Val asked, looking down into the empty space below that had been used as a training area when this was the Waunderers' base of opperations.
Earlier...
Thanks to one of the many tesseracts within the structure, the Trials Room was a much larger space than one might think would fit into the Legion's new Metropolis Headquarters. It also contained a huge variety of sensors that could send information directly to Legion World. While the four judges actually present observed the trials first hand, a visual record was being made and sent to Brainiac 6's new lab. Other data was also being gathered, recorded and uploaded for Brainiac 6 and Brainiac 5 (who were working on some mysterious project again and so wouldn't be physically present). Periodicly, they checked the screen to see what an applicant was doing and looked at the other readings, then made their recommendations to the other four judges. The ajacent changing area and meeting rooms were also large and could comfortably hold the applicants that had come for the Legion Auditions. They could be pre-screened to see that they met minimal requirements: 1. An inheirent ability that did not rely on any outside device (mechanical, chemical or mystical). 2. That they were at least 14 standard years of age (the U.P.'s required age for legal consent to binding contracts). 3. That they had at least ability both unique and useful to the Legion. For this Audition, the 'under 18' rule had been temporarily lifted and a general ban on magnetic abilities was in effect. The second descission had been reached after much debate amoungst the Legionnaires, but the recent death of the younger Cosmic Boy and the resignation of Magnetic Kid had resulted in the application of litterally hundreds of Braalians that had only modest to moderate magnetic powers. The potential for disaster was too great. The elder Rokk Krinn (who had been asked to be a judge at the Auditions and had declined) agreed with the mandate. So, the Trials had opened. Even with those that obviously failed to meet the minimum requirements politely weeded out, there were over a hundred hopeful would-be Legionnaires. Several familiar faces were to be found in the gathered crowd including Legion Accademy students Comet Queen, Infectious Lass, Night Wind, Lamprey, Babbage and several others. Also certain die-hards like 'Splitter' made their appearances as well. All of these failed to make it into the Legion, but departed cheerful and full of hope for the next Auditions. One of the surprises was the tryouts of Mysa Nal and her young friend Xao Jin. Mysa (with her powers now under her control, albiet with a 3 memorized-at-a-time spell limitation) was inducted as the new White Witch and Xao (who was still mastering his chaotic magics) accepted the offer of joining the Legion Accademy as Dragon Mage. Another surprise was the return of April Dumaka. She had only been seen one other time since her memory was wiped durring the Glorith/Mordru affair, and that had been at an open Legion Audition too. It had been only the younger Legion then (who didn't know her) and they had dismissed her due to her attitude towards males. This time they offered her a place in the Legion Accademy which she readily accepted. Despite the posted rules, a few applicants were found to be using devices to create their 'abilities' (precisely why Queen Projectra was on the pannel of judges) and were rejected. Then there was the promissing applicant that called himself Gastrix. He was a Bismolian that had undertaken the same matter-transformation experiments that had given Cosmic King his powers. In Gastrix's case however, he had not gained full matter-transforming abilities, only the ability to generate nearly any form of gasseous elements. He demonstrated his ability to generate pure oxygen, methane, cyanide and several other gasses and then proceeded to incompassitate his opponents in the Trial, using nitrous oxcide and a particularly complicated type of sleeping gas. He impressed two of the judges, but Val and Triad noticed he made vertually the same motion with his cape every time he used his ability and suspected that he might be using a device concealed in his cape to produce the effect. This proved not to be the case, however. The cape, while not the source of his power, was being used by Gastrix for two purposes: 1. To distract from the true, and completely inheirent, source of the gasses and 2. To to help fan the gasses outwards towards the target. After some embaressment all around, he was rejected for Legion membership, but offered a place at the Accademy (which he declined). Then there was Retcon Kid....
Now...
"So who is the next applicant?" Val asked
"Deborah Dancer... hmmm.. no Codename. File says Earth born, but she has been off world for some time." Triad read through the file and continued, "Powers are listed as: Super Strength, Agility, Reflexes, Hearing, Vision... particularly in the dark, Quick Healing ability, and.. Oh, this is different... Super Hypnosis. She also says she has had moderate training in armed and unarmed combat and lists proficientcy in more forms of martial arts than anyone here except Val". Val raised an eyebrow and smiled at that one.
"Standard evade-and-escape senario then?" Imara asked.
"Sure. Should be interesting..." Val answered as he programmed in the maze and summoned the four Legionnaires that had volunteered as opponents for the Trials.
The rules were simple and quickly explained to the beautiful young red haired applicant: Evade or incompassitate her four opponents and get through the door at the end of the maze. When asked if she had a Codename she would like to be called by, she replied, smiling, that she hadn't thought of an apropriate one yet and that she could come up with one if she passed the Trials. She entered the maze and imediately seemed to know exactly which route to take. Of course her opponents were waiting along the only way that led to the exit. The first one she encountered was Timberwolf. She came around a corner to find the young former gang member leaning against the wall, arms crossed, customery leather jacket on, long brown-with-white-streaks hair tied back in a ponytail, smiling in a slightly bored fassion. He asked her if she would like to give up and he would escort her to the exit and maybe dinner later. She laughed and the combat started. Much to Timberwolf's surprise, she easily blocked every punch or kick he threw at her. Soon, instead of being on the offensive, he found himself desperately fending off her attacks. Then she flipped over him, and landing neatly behind him, applied pressure to the juncture of neck and shoulder that rendered him unconscious. The next opponent was the older version of Brin, the one now calling himself Lycan. He didn't have the feral look of his younger counterpart (and somewhere in the back of her mind she recalled that the other had been brought up on Rimbor while this one had been raised by a mad scientist father on Zuun), but he moved just like him. At first the combat went much like it had with Timberwolf, but when she tried the flip manuvre he dropped down and kicked out, taking her legs out from under her. Before she could stand, he stepped back and transformed into a giant, hairy beast. She looked up at him... and smiled.
"That was a mistake." She stated, locking eyes with him.
He looked into her eyes and the fight was over. His will completely drained, he stood like a statue, or like a robot awaiting orders. And orders were given. She sent him on through the maze with instructions to find and delay her other two opponents. A few moments later she heard him growl a challenge, roar in shock or pain and then go silent. She rounded the last corner and saw his unconscious form on the floor near the exit. Between her and the door were her last two opponents: Ultra and Ultraboy.
"Crap." she said, trying to figure out how she was going to get past these two. They were faster than she was, and stronger. Atleast, they were when they were using those abilities..... Aha! "So boys," She said as she slowly walked towards them and the door, "Do you think you are strong enough to keep me here?"
"You bet, lady." Ultraboy smirked as he and Ultra each took one of her arms.
"Good." she smiled as she pulled against them with all her strength, failing to pull her arms free. Then using their hold to support her body, she shot both legs straight up into a particularly vulnerable area of the male humanoid's body. "That means you aren't invulnerable then, doesn't it?" She looked down at the two men curled up in fetal positions on the floor and walked through the door. Above her, unseen due to the one-way holographic cealing the judges looked on. Val winced, Triad and Imra tried not to laugh out loud and Projectra leaned forward with an odd look on her face.
Meanwhile on Legion World...
Rond Vidar had been summoned to Brainy's lab. He knew this had something to do with the secret project that both Brainiacs had been working on and that it had to do with the 'pods' he saw being removed durring the excavation for the new Headquarters. He was not prepared for what was waiting for him, however.
"Oh my Gods! What are we going to do Brainy?!?" he demanded when he was shown the contents of the six pods in Brainiac 6's lab.
"That is the question, isn't it? Do we release them or not?"
"What kind of question is that? Of course we release them." he replied, a new thought in his head, "Besides, this is rather well timed don't you think? You wanted re-inforcements for the Legion and they certainly will add plenty of power to the team."
"And you don't think they will want to return to their own homes?" Brainiac 6 continued.
"Once you explain to them that they are clones and that they have no place to return to, that it is long gone.. I am sure they will decide to stay and become permanent members of the Legion." Rond smiled at the idea.
"That is the problem," Brainiac 5 interjected, "We ran the test. They are not clones. These.." He guestered at the pods, "are the originals."
"What?" Rond turned to look them in the eye, expecting this to be some odd Coluan idea of a joke, "That can't be. It .... Oh bloody Nass!"
"Yes." Brainiac 6 said as he looked at the two pods that contained the dark haired boy and the young blond woman, both with 'S' shields on their chests
Back at the Trials...
"Last one!" Triad stated cheerfully. "Three days of Auditions, and this is the last."
"And this one is....?" Val inquired.
"Ummm...." Triad read the file then glanced at Projectra, "It says Sensor Girl of Orando"
"Jeckie, honey... are you.." Val started, remembering how she had responded when she first found out that the new Orando was inhabited by herpe-forms.
"I am fine, Beloved. Triad, read the rest."
"Ok," Triad looked surprised and then continued. "Sensor Girl of Orando. Sponsored by Queen Projectra of Orando."
"You sponsored this applicant? If you are ok with this, then whay is your mind closed Jeckie?" Imra asked, a woried expression on her face.
"Do not concern yourself with my state of mind. Concentrate on this applicant, I will not judge this one since I am her sponsor. It is up to the rest of you to choose whether or not she is worthy of the title Legionnaire.
The door opened and a large snakelike being moved across the floor to stand below the Judges.
"And what is your power Sensor Girl? " Imra asked. "It doesn't say in your file."
"I can effect all of your senses. I can make you see, hear, taste, smell and feel anything I wish you too... and I can see through the illusions of the Universe."
"Uh huh. Are you related to Jeka Wyzor?" Triad asked.
"No." she responded with what was surely the reptile equivalent of a smile on her face.
"I thought only members of the Royal Family had telepathic abilities.' Imra said. "Are you prepared to give us a demonstration of your abilities?"
"Of course" She answered, and suddenly the judges found themselves transported to the deepest reaches of space. They barely had time to register the shock before they were shivering on a snow and ice covered plain. Then they found themselves in a tropical rainforest. Suddenly they were grabbed by odd looking aliens. Imra and Triad were held motionless while Val fought.
"I ... can ... actually ... feel ... their ... attack." Val said between punches and kicks. "This is..."
And as suddenly as it started, it stopped and they were back in the Trials Room.
"That was amazing!" Triad exclaimed. "I think she has proved herself."
"Indeed. Brainiac 6's voice came from the monitor. "The rainforest was quite detailed."
"Wait a minute." Val looked at Sensor Girl and then looked at Brainiac's image on the monitor, "You saw the rainforest?"
"Yes. As I said, quite detailed."
"But if you saw it then it couldn't be a mental projection. Could it?"
"No. Clearly this Sensor Girl is not an Orandian, and her power is not projective telepathy."
"Oh, I am not a telepath, true, but I am an Orandian. Just not from NEW Orando" Sensor Girl said as the snake facade dropped and revealed the young clone of Projectra.
"You are already a Legionnaire. Why go to this trouble? Why audition?" Imra asked.
" I was never really a Legionnaire. I am a clone after all... and I died just a few days after I came out of the pod. Since being returned by the Time Trapper I have questioned my right to even exist, let alone be a Legionnaire. I approached the Council of Orakills and faced their trials. They honed my power and told me that my destiny is here, in the Legion, but only if I could truly earn it. So have I?"
"Yes!" all the judges responded at the same time.
"Well," Imra said to Brainy as she prepared to leave the room after the others were gone, "Several new Legion Accademy students and 3 new Legionnaires: The White Witch, Sensor Girl and... What did that Dancer girl decide to call herself anyway?"
"She hasn't yet. By the way, Sensor Girl's Telemetry wasn't the only annommoly in the bunch. Look at this." Brainy said and played back Deborah's Audition. It clearly showed Timberwolf, Lycan, Ultra and Ultraboy, but Deborah Dancer was no where to be seen.
"That's impossible! Where is she?"
"She is right there, obviously. The others are being tossed all over the place by some one. The machine's simply didn't register her. No visuals. No vitals. Nothing. Did you by any chance get a read on her in person?"
"No," Imra looked thoughtful for a moment, "Not a single stray thought. Not when she was introduced and not durring the Trial itself. Odd."
"Yes, but helpful. I am going to recommend her for the Espionage Squad... unless you have a reason not to...?"
"No... No reason. I think a few questions might be in order though."
"Alright. Later though. 5 and I are busy at the moment. Brainiac out." he said as he turned off the monitor. then, turning back to the pods, "Well, things are going to be interesting for a while."

Late and rough (due to computer failure) but ... Happy Holiday to all!

The Tempus Mosaic Holiday Special

Pt.1: 8 Crazy Nights

Marte Allon smiled as she looked out the window and saw the ship guided by it's Kwai escorts come through the Threshold portal and slowly descend to Orando's only Spaceport. For the first time in years (No, she corrected herself, the first time ever) her entire family would be together for Chanukkah. Wynn Allon, her beloved husband was at home, her Daughter Driana and her husband Lohn Marl had arrived a couple of days ago, and her Sons (Sons, a happy concecpt she was still getting used to), with her Daughter-in-law and three of her Sons' (ah, that miraculous word again) friends were on that ship and all would be celebrating the Holiday together. Better yet was the news that the elder Gym and his wife Yera would be staying since they had decided to permanently relocate to Orando, Gym having accepted a teaching position at the Legion Accademy. The ship landed and the few passengers dissembarked. Marte went out to greet them.
"My boys!" she shouted, throwing herself at the 2 men and pulling them into a hug. "I had thought I had lost you, both of you and now I have you both together! This will be the best Chanukkah ever!"
"Mom..." both started, then laughed as they hugged her back.
"Now.." Marte started as she reluctantly released her boys, but happily turned to her Daughter-in-law "I remember a time I gave you a rather chilly greeting, Yera.... I want you to know how sorry I am that I was so fooloish back then and that I am so happy that you and Gym have found each other and that you are here to celebrate with your family." and she embraced the startled Durlan woman who quickly smiled and returned the gesture fully.
"Thank you, Mrs. Allon, I am glad to be part of Gym's family."
"Then you must call me Marte, or Mom."
"Ok... Mom." Yera replied.
"And I don't want to leave you out." Marte added turning to the other 3. "Jan, Sean and.. and.. I'm sorry, but what do I call you? Element Lad is so ... impersonal.... ?" she faltered.
"Like your sons have chosen Gym and Allen to differentiate themselves," he added gently, "Dad and I have chosen Jan and Aaron as our names."
"Dad?" she asked, looking questioningly at Jan Arah.
"Yes," Aaron replied, "Since he is the donor of the cells from which I was created, he is in a very real sense my biological parent. And.. since he and Sean are maried, they are my parents and I wanted my name to reflect that. Aaron, if I understand it correctly, is another form of Erin, Sean's surname. I like it, it fits.'
"Yes, yes it does Aaron." She said, smiling again, "So, Jan, Sean and Aaron, I am happy to invite you to my family's celebration of Chanukkah. Are you three familiar with the customs and history of the holiday?"
"Ummm..." Jan started, looking a little embarassed, "We had intended to research the Holiday, but with the events recently...." his face darkened a little.
"I understand, Jan. It is alright, and it will give me the chance to explain it to you then." she stated, well aware that the 'events' Jan spoke of nearly cost him, Aaron and both of her boys their lives, did result in the death of Cosmic Boy and was part of the reason for Gym accepting the offered post as an Accademy instructor on Orando. "So, we should be headed for home ... our sleigh awaits!"
She lead them through the small spaceport to the passenger pick-up area at the front and to their shock, to an actual sleigh. Granted, this sleigh was pulled by horses that were fully destination-programmable androids and had an eviromental bubble that would sheild them from the winter weather, still it was not the type of ground transport tany of them were used to. It was a sleigh. She was amused at their surprise and reminded them that Orando employed a very low level of technology in general. The spaceport was limited in use to a few U.P. dignitaries, The Legion and their families (Orando would never be a vacation destination)... and... the Legion Accademy was situated a great distence from the main population center of Orando. She explained that the sleigh was a gift from Queen Projectra (a huge thing made for transporting a large Royal Family) and that Brainiac 6 had created the enviromental bubble and eight horses for it. Soon they were at the Allen home.
"So," she asked Jan, Sean and Aaron "Do you know anything about Chanukkah?"
"No, " Jan started, "but Clark explained Christmas to me a long time ago. Isn't it a similar concept?"
"Not really!" Marte laughed. "Christianity and Judaism do have a common origin, but we split well.... basicly at the point of the birth of Jesus, whom Christians believe to be the Christ. We are still awaiting the Messiah. That has nothing to do with Chanukkah though. Let me see, how to explain the reason we celebrate... Ok it is like this:" and she started her explaination..
"Chanukkah, also known as the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalim. Chanukkah is observed for eight nights, starting on the 25th day of Kislev according to the Hebrew calendar, and may occur from late November to late December on the Gregorian calendar. The celebration commemorates the 'miracle of the container of oil'. According to the Talmud, our sacred text, at the re-dedication following the victory of the Maccabees over the Seleucid Empire, there was only enough consecrated olive oil to fuel the eternal flame in the Temple for one day. Miraculously, the oil burned for eight days, which was the length of time it took to press, prepare and consecrate fresh olive oil. The festival is observed by the kindling of the lights of a special candelabrum called the Hanukiah, or the Menorah. One position is lit on each night of the holiday, progressing to eight on the final night. An extra light called a shamash is also lit each night, and is given a distinct location, usually higher than the others and in the center. The purpose of the extra light is to light the others and so adhere to the prohibition against using the Hanukkah lights for anything other than publicizing and meditating on the Chanukkah story. There are prayers, music, food and games every night after the lighting and of course gifts."
"That sounds like a beautiful celebration. My family and I are very grateful thet you and your family have invited us to share this with you. Is there anything else we should know before we start?" Jan asked.
"I think that covers the basics." Marte asserted.
"But Mom, you didn't mention the dreidel." Gym added mischeiviously.
"I said games." She replied with mock indignation.
"And you didn't mention Chanukkah gelt!" Allen chimed in.
"Ah yes, very important." she was nearly laughing at this point, "Why don't you boys explain."
And they did. For the Allons and their friends it was eight crazy nights of joy, celebration and family.

Pt. 2: The Holly and the Ivy
Garridan looked at the many guests gathered in the great hall of the Royal Palace of Orando. While a great celebration of the
Earth holiday, Christmas, would be held here (due to the Royal Consort being a native of Earth and a follower of that custom) soon, right now though they were celebrating Yule with a number of the Legion, their families and friends participating. Yule gifts had already been exchanged and the feasting was well underway. Wild stories had been told, some of which Garridan had enjoyed like the tales of great battles, and some he didn't care much for like the story about the Holly King which reminded Garridan a bit too much of 'Santa Claus', a ridiculous figure to fourteen year old Garridan. He scanned the Hall, looking for his brother, friends or other kids of his own age. With the Legion Accademy recently opened, there were a number of meta-powered kids his age present who, like him, would be attending the Accademy to learn to control their abilities and maybe someday join the Legion. His brother Graym was off somewhere on his own, but he saw his best friend Ivy talking with someone over in the corner. Great, it was that Nah kid. Cub Nah looked like he was around the same age as Graym, Garridan and Ivy, but he wasn't. He had aged rappidly and was actually only a little over a year old. He was remarkablely mature at times, but he was incrediblely naive at others. He still believed in Santa for grife's sake and when Garridan had tried to logically explain why such a figure couldn't exist... *sigh*... Well, being surrounded all the time by people with remarkable abilities did make it hard to convince the kid that Santa could not possiblely perform all the feats atributed to him. Ah well, Ivy's company was likely to be worth suffering the prescents of the twirp.
"So, whatcha guys up to?" he said approaching Ivy.
"Hey, Garridan! We were just talking about the story that the White Witch told." she replied.
"Oh, which one, the one about the Holly King or the one about the little girl?" he asked without much enthusiasm.
"The one about the little girl. Wasn't it just the most dreadful story you ever heard? Freezing to death like that..." Ivy gave a dramatic shiver. "The only heat she had from those ... What were they called?"
"Match sticks." Cub Nah replied. "They were little pieces of wood with chemicals on the end that iginted when friction was applied. They were used to light candles, start campfires and stuff in ancient times. The..."
"Ummmm.. yeah. So, what do you say we get out of here and do a little exploring?" Garridan interupted.
"I don't know..." Ivy said indecisively, "Orando is a pretty wild planet. There could be animals out there in the woods."
"Yeah, Lion and Tigers." Garridan snickered, "Come on, you can control plants, I can shoot lighning bolts and Cub here is a little version of Ultra. How much trouble could could a few bears or wolves or whatever be?" It sounded reasonable enough, so ten minutes later they were out of the Palace and in the woods. Thirty minutes later, they were hopelessly lost.
Meanwhile..
"Ms. Nal? If I may.." Blok nervously started, "I knew your Mother many years ago. I... I wondered if you might agree to speak of her with me?"
"You are Blok, correct? Mother spoke of you often when I was young. It has been many. many years ago, but I still remember those stories. I would very much like to talk to you, but you have to call me Mysa." she said with a smile.
She lead him to a table in the far corner of the Hall and they exchanged stories of their memories of the original Mysa Nal, the White Witch. For hours they talked as the festivities slowly wound down. It was very late when the absence of the three children was noticed. The Palace was thoroughly searched, but to no avail. Search parties were organized and sent out into the forrest around the Palace, but the thickly falling snow obliterated any trace of a trail the children might have left. It was suggested that they contact Dawnstar or Shikari for assistence, but since both were on missions it would be some time before they could be reached. Worry over the children being in the woods durring near blizzard conditions mounted.
"I have an idea." Mysa announced suddenly. "A spell that will help us find the children."
"I thought that your spells required preperation, that you could only hold three in your memory at a time." Queen Projectra questioned.
"True, normally. However this is one that I can perform with a little help from you and some others. It can only be performed once a year. Now. I believe it is our best chance."
She explained her plan and it was agreed that it was their best chance at finding the children quickly and bringing them home safe. She and Projectra perfomed the ritual with help from Blok and Accademy students Inferno, Nightwind and Spash. Then, with the spell cast, they waited.
In the Woods...
"Phase!" Garridan shouted at Cub as he unleashed a lightning bolt from his forehead.
It passed harmlessly through Cub and shocked the huge wolf-like creature behind him into unconsciousness. At the same time, Ivy was being backed up to an enormous tree by 2 more of the creatures. As she touched the trunk, the tree bent down and swept the beasts away with it's branches.
"Thank you." she sighed to the tree. "Can you help my friends too?"
Suddenly, the tree she was standing under and all the others in the general area started bending towards the creatures and swatting at them. Soon they were on the run.
"See. I told you we could handle any dumb animals!" Garridan confidently declared. "But I still don't see why you can't use your vision powers to see which to get back to the castle." he grumbled.
"I've already explained.. one power at a time. If I use telescopic-vision, I can't see through the trees or the snow. If I use pentra-vision, I can only see as far as I normally do and all I see is more woods! We are too far from the Palace, we have been walking for hours after all!" he replied a bit angrily. "I still say that are best bet is to find some shelter, or at least build that fire we were talking about before the wolves showed up and wait for them to find us. They have to have noticed we a re missing by now and will be looking for us."
"Alright, alright!" Garridan growled back, "We'll wait for 'the grown-ups to rescue us' like a bunch of little kids. We'd better find some wood and make a fire though, or we'll end up like that girl from the story."
"Not a problem." Ivy said then whispered to the tree, which rattled and shook untill dead limbs fell in a neat pile in the little clearing between the trees.
Garridan used his lightning to ignite the wood and start a nice little fire. Soon they were sitting close together, warming themselves.
"Do you hear something?" Cub asked.
"Like bells in the distence?" Ivy added.
"I hear something ... not sure what. " He started then shouted, "Look! There it is .. What the..."
At the Palace...
The three kids climbed out of the sled, shouting thanks to their rescuer and running to the waiting group of adults at the main gate to the Palace. The White Witch approached the man dressed in red, sitting in the sleigh pulled by the largest deer anyone prescent had ever seen.
"Thank you." was her simple stament.
"Anything for the children." the man said and then continued, "Besides I am glad to be doing something helpful on my last night before my brother takes over. Well, have to go now. Happy Yule Mysa Nal! I think you will be finding something special under the tree." and with that statement he shook the reigns and to the astonishment of most of his audience, the deer and the sleigh they pulled flew up into the sky and disappeared. Cub stood grinning at the open mouthed expression on Garridan's face and the smug knowing look on Ivy's.
"See, I told you he was real." and with that statement he turned and walked into the Palace.

Pt.3: The Twelve Days of Christmas
Tinya had a mission. When she found out that Rimbor had imported the concept of Christmas along with the many colonists that had come from Earth and that her husband Jo celebrated the holiday, she decided to give him the best Christmas ever. She did a little research into Rimborian Christmas customs (not easy since she couldn't tell him what she was up to and Rimbor was not the most sharing of UP worlds when it came to information... well, or anything else either for that matter), made arrangements for Cub to stay on Orando until they joined him for the big party on Christmas Day, and with a little help from Brainiac 6 and a couple others, set her plans in motion....
On the first day of Christmas.
"Ummm... Ok, I give. What is it?" Jo admitted defeat and asked his wife.
"It is a tree. A Pear Tree to be precise and that little data crystal tied to the upper branch is the latest game cartridge you have been hinting you wanted so bad. In short, it is the traditional 'Cartridge in a Pear Tree' given as a gift on the first day of Christmas as prescribed by Rimborian custom." she practically beamed.
"Oh honey, how sweet!" he said sincerely, deciding then and there not to tell her that no one on Rimbor actually followed that ancient custom anymore. Nor would he tell her that it was supposed to be a 'partridge' not a 'cartridge' in a pear tree. After all, the game would be a lot more fun than some silly bird.
On the second day of Christmas..
"Turtle doves?" he asked.
"Yeah. Brainy helped me with those. I had never heard of a Turtle Dove before and couldn't find any anywhere, soooo.... I asked Brainy to make these. Aren't they darling?" she asked
"Oh. Yeah. Really cute. Thanks baby." He said out loud. looking at the odd little creatures that had the head, wings and feat of some type of bird (dove, he guessed) and the skin and shell of a turtle. To himself he thought 'Well, hopefully Brainy made them both the same gender or at the least sterile so they won't reproduce!'
On the third day of Christmas...
"That was delicious, Angel. What was it called again?" Jo asked, looking at the remains of the 3 tiny birds on his plate.
"Chicken Cordon Bleu." she replied, "Usually they just use the breast for this recipe, but for this occasion I used 3 cornish hens. You liked it then?"
"Oh yeah, one of the best meals I ever had."
On the fourth day of Christmas....
Jo was looking at Tinya on the Vid-phone. this was her fourth call and her fourth outfit. The first call had been Tinya in a red wig and a Batgirl costume. The second, a Huntress costume. The third, a blond wig and a Blackbird costume. He wasn't sure what this one was supposed to be, but it looked vaguely millitary and had a hawk insignia of some sort (no wings or he might have guessed Hawkgirl).
"Uh.. Tinya,," he gulped.
"No, silly! Lady Blackhawk. And I have orders for you soldier!".she stated authoratively as she transmitted data along with the audio/video signal.
Jo looked at the message and switched to super-speed to get to the location she had transmitted.
On the fifth day of Christmas.....
Jo was starting to get nervous since he couldn't remember the number of days nor the exact 'gifts' specified by this ritual, but the fifth one proved to be a nice surprise. She had presented him with 5 golden earrings (since the ones he wore tended to get a bit beat up).
On the sixth day of Christmas......
Oh God! Nobody could eat that many roast geese, but there they all were, laying out on the dinner table. Each one prepared in a different manner too. So, he did the only thing he could and sampled a little of each. Later as he lay in his bed, vaguely nausiated he thought that the one in orange sauce with the spicy stuffing wasn't bad and that he would have to tell Tinya to fix it again some time, but not any time soon. That thought unfortunately sent him rushing to the bathroom... again.
On the seventh day of Christmas.......
Fortunately, by the next mourning he was feeling better. Unfortunately his gift was a trip to see 'Swan Lake' performed by a new dancing troup from Durla. Seeing seven dancers suddenly transform into actual swans aand start swimming around in a pool in the middle of the stage wasn't much of an improvement to 'clasical' ballet, but he smiled and clapped because he wanted Tinya to be happy.
On the eighth day of Christmas........
A trip to a dairy farm on Earth. Where he learned from eight female workers, more than he ever wanted to know about lactating bovines and how milk was procured. Only a few more days... he hoped.
On the ninth day of Christmas.........
It had all started out so well... she had told him to go play his game. All day if he wanted. He was so suprprised that it actually took him a moment to process it. Then, he was straight off to the holo-room to play. The first odd thing he noticed was that all of his opponents were female: 3 versions of the Emerald Empress, Caress, Flare, Charma, Captain Frakes, Starlight and Starbright. Still, not too off.. until they stopped attacking him and launched into a dance routine that he would later identify as the 'Can-can'. It was all he could do not to run screaming from the game.
On the tenth day of Christmas..........
More of the same. Only this time it was ten different versions of Lightning Lord that suddenly switched from attacking him to making some sort of ballet jumps. At least that was what it looked like with them leaping all over the place. Later that night Jo had managed to find the refferences to the ritual for 'The Twelve Days of Christmas" and it wasn't promissing for the next day. He really wasn't sure he could take being set upon by 12 versions of the Pied Piper. *sigh*
On the eleventh day of Christmas...........
The bright side was that it wasn't eleven Pied Pipers. The private performance by eleven members of the Rimborian Woodwind group wasn't as bad as being attacked by eleven Pied Pipers. Jo kept telling himself that throught the entire performance, and he almost believed it.
On the twelth day of Christmas............
They were heading to Orando to attend the Legion Christmas party and pick up Cub (whom they understood had gotten into a bit of mischief, but they would deal with that later). There was no time for the twelth gift before they had gotten on the ship and it was a trip of several hours... They had to travel to the New Orando in this universe then take a special Threshold gate through a magical portal to reach Projectra's Orando. So, Jo was just a bit aprehensive. Would they be greeted by 12 royal drummers? What would Tinya have come up with for the 12th gift? Once they were seated he found out. She handed him a music data crystal with his 12 favorite songs by 12 different artists, all heavy on the percussions. 12 drummers drumming. He smiled, kissed her and thanked her,
"This has been the best 12 Days of Christmas I have ever had, Angel. I am so lucky to have you!"
On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me
Twelve drummers drumming
Eleven pipers piping
Ten Lightning Lords a-leaping
Nine villainous ladies dancing
Eight maids a-milking
Seven shape-shifting swans a-swimming
Six geese a-laying on the dinner table
Five golden rings
Four calling Birds of Prey
Three French cooked hens
Two genetically engineered turtle doves
And a cartridge in a pear tree


Pt. 4 Auld Lang Syne

Science Lab 1 at the Legion Accademy on Orando...
With the holiday celebrations past, things were returning to normal. Except for what was going on in a lab in the Legion Accademy. Once Ms. Dancer had approached Brainiac 6, Brainiac 5 and the elder Rond Vidar and told them that not only did she know what was in the 6 pods they had removed from the new Metropolis Headquarters, but that they had better decide how they were going to handle it or she would simply rip the pods open herself after telling the rest of the Legion what was in them, things had progressed fairly rappidly. 4 of the 6 pods had been opened, their occupants revived and acclimated as much as possible to their situation. They were present, also awaiting the opening the last 2 pods. It had been decided to open them on Orando due to it's limited access both from the outside Universe and to the outside Universe. It had also been determined that awakening Kara first would be best since she was older, more likely to accept the situation and could help restrain Clark if needed and Mon-El was on hand as well. Red Sun projectors were set up at all exits from the lab, all was as ready as it was going to get.
"Pod opening sequence started." Brainiac 6 anounced. "Prepare for termination of outside power source."
"Outside power terminated." Brainiac 5 replied, "Internal power activated. Entering opening sequence code."
"Code accepted. Pod beginning shutdown." Brainiac 6 continued as a thin line appeared along the top of the pod. "Hermetic seal breached. Stasis terminated. Life signs normal. Pod opening."
The line continued the full length of the pod then split at the bottom, curved up and traveled back to the top to complete an oblong shape with a deviding line down the center. Abruptly the 2 halves of the oblong moved upwards slightly then seemed to simply evaporate. The blond woman within opened her eyes, blinked rapidly, then foccused on Brainiac 6.
"Brainy? Where am I? What happened? Why do you look... different?" she seemed confused.
"Kara, I'll answer your questions, but first... tell me, what is the last thing you remember?"
"We were fighting Darkseid. He was killing me, but then your forcefield surrounded me. After that it gets fuzzy. I don't know what happened next. I guess we won. Was I hurt? How long have I been out?"
"Kara...." Brainiac 6 started, then the whole explaination poured out... or, most of it.
Later.
"So I was replaced shortly after the Darkseid affair, before I could return to my own time, and this clone of me lived out my life. So now, I can't go back because it would change history if I did. Is that right?"
"Yes."
"And you are sure that the 'me' in history is the clone? I mean, there is no way you could be mistaken? Maybe I could go back and bring the clone forward?"
"That is not..." Brainy's face darkened for a moment, then he continued, "not an option."
"Ok. And there is a Clark too. A Clark that is younger than I remember because the Clark I knew was a clone that had already taken the real Clark's place? And, you are certain of that too."
"Yes. Tests prove conclusively that the Clark in the other room is the original and that the man history knew as Superman was his clone. This Clark may or may not know you. We are uncertain as to exactly when he was replaced. Obviously he is not the Clark that greeted you when you arrived on Earth, but he may have shared some of your adventures in the Legion."
"Ok. What do we do next?"
"We go in there, wake up your cousin and explain to him that he can never go home."
"Ok."
So the process was repeated, the pod opened and Kara aproached her awakening cousin. Explainations were given, but acceptance was not as forthcoming.
"Why are you so certain that I can't gpo back? Why are you sure that your history's 'Superman' was a clone? Maybe I can go back and take my rightful place and this clone can come to this time."
"Clark, we explained to you that tests on Superman's remains and on Laurel Kent's DNA prove that he was a clone. He stayed in the past, you have to stay here. If you go back then you risk changing history and destroying our timeline."
"I don't believe it, Brainy. Turn off these Red Sun lamps and let me go home! You can tell me what I have to do in order to maintain the timeline... Imra can implant it dirrectly in my head for God's sake!"
"Sorry, it can not be done Clark. You think you can live the life we have in our history books, but the temptation would be too great even for you."
"Brainy..." he started.
"Yeah, Brainy. Turn off the lamps. Clark has to decide this on his own." Deborah Dancer said from the doorway. "If he wants to go back we don't have the right to stop him. He can go back to his time and Kara to her's."
"Deborah, he can not do that. The ramifications..." Brainy trailed off.
"The ramifications are that he can live his life as he chooses." Deborah stated.
"I will live the life history says I did. I swear."
"You believe that? " she asked. "You believe that you can leave Mon-El in the Phantom Zone for a thousand years, knowing that you could use the cure that Saturngirl created and Brainy perfected to free him in your time?"
"I.." Clark swallowed, looked at Lar and continued, "I know that he will be free someday and that the Legion needs him."
"I see. So you could leave him trapped because it serves the greater good and you know it will be alright in the end. Can you meet your cousin when she comes to Earth, foster her, mentor her.... and watch her die, serving the greater good?" Deborah probed as Kara looked at Brainiac 6 and saw the truth of it in his eyes.
"Die? You are right.... I can't go back can I? The temptation... I can't go back. I will never see any of my family other than Kara again."
"Not nescessarily." a familiar voice came from behind Deborah Dancer and before even his mind could identify it a white dog and an orange cat with lightning bolt markings streaked in and butted their heads against Kara and him.
"Pa?" Clark said as Deborah moved aside so the man and woman could enter the room. "Ma? You look ... so much younger. Is it really you.. or are you ....?" he unconsciously stroked the head of the dog as it pressed against him in joy.
"Clones? No, Clark. We are the 'originals' as mister Dox here puts it. We do look a might younger ... and healthier too I reckon. They woke us up days ago and the first thing they did was take us to a Doctor B'relden. He gave us standard treatments.. well standard for now adays anyhow, that prolongs the human life span. It seems that in your Ma and I's case it actually turned back the clock a bit. You won't be alone here son. You have friends and you have family."
"How?" Clark asked, not yet daring to believe.
"We were replaced around the time you were, brought to the future and stored in the same way that you, the young lady, Krypto and..."
"Streaky." Kara suplied, stroking her purring cat.
"And Streaky were." Pa Kent said, smiling.
"So if I had gone back..."
"It wouldn't have really been us, son. But you didn't know that and you made your choice for the right reasons. We are so proud of you son."
"Yes we are!" Ma Kent said as she rushed over to embrace Clark and her husband.
"Well," Deborah said looking at the Kents and then down at her watch, "It just turned midnight back at Metropolis. A new year has begun and it looks to be off to a good start. Wouldn't you say?"

Now...
"Well, " Queen Projectra said as blood dripped from her nose, "I didn't expect this either...."

A few months ago....
Three figures in black moved silently through the darkened halls of Legion Headquarters Metropolis making their way to their destination, a vault-like door. Stepping forward, the leader pulled off one black glove exposing the mecahanical hand beneath. He extended the hand, and tiny wires and probes extruded from it and connected to a pannel on the door. He smiled beneath his hood as the door opened with a hiss.
"Well," he said, "It seems the codes she gave us are good. Mano, Persuader, you know what we are looking for. Grab them and let's get out of here, the whole place will be coming down soon."
They split up, each heading for a different section of the lab. A few moments search, Mano disolving one lock, the Persuader cutting another with the Axe theat appeared in his hands from nowhere and Tharok using the stolen codes on a third and they had what they came for. A thundering crash came from somewhere above them, dozens of alarms and a flash green light in the hall outside signaled the arrival of their way out.
"Come on boys..." The Emerald Empress called from outside the lab, "I dropped off Validus and Mordecai outside. Dahlia is probbably just about done with the distraction and we need to get you out with..." She paused for a moment, looking at the small cannisters and the pack that the men carried. "Is that it?" she asked, clearly disappointed.
"Ooohh yeah. This..." Tharok smiled evily and guestured at the pack, "is our best chance at defeating them once and for all. By the way, not complaining here, but since you are providing our way out.. Why didn't you just 'port into the lab in the first place?"
"Because the lab was shielded against my power and alarms would have sounded the second I appeared outside it. Legionnaires would have been swarming all over me before I could have broken in... Buuutt," She pointed up, "with the distraction going on and you already having gotten in, I can quietly get you out of here and they will never miss that." she smirked, pointing at the pack and cannisters. "Now, let's go."
They vanished in a flash of green light.

One month ago...
In a torch lit room beneath The Royal Palace of Orando, a group of Legionnaires (comprised of : Phantom, Apperition, Wraith, Invisible Kid, Queen Projectra, Sensor Girl, Chameleon Lad, Chameleon, Chameleon Girl, Shadow Dancer and Sensor) were gathered in a secret meeting.
"I call this meeting of the Legion Espionage Squad to order." Invisible Kid announced, silencing the whispering going on around the meeting table. "First, I want to welcome our newest members... Deborah, Yera and... umm.. sorry, Princess, but I'm not sure what to call you?" he fumbled.
"You don't need my title. Call me Morganna. I have chosen that name to differenciate myself from the Queen" she said, smiling warmly.
"Welcome Pri..uh, Morganna." He said, pausing and then continued, "So, some of us couldn't make it, but I understand you have their reports Shadow Dancer?"
"Yes," Deborah replied, "Delphi and Dreamer still have nothing for us, but the report from the Lab confirms what you feared. Someone walked away with one of every sample in the gene-bank.. And there is worse news."
"What is worse than the fact that they have cells from every Legionnaire and some of our most powerful allies?" Wraith inquired in the same breath as Invisible Kid.
"They also got the Bizarro Ray and the Bizarro Matrix." she replied calmly.
"Grife! Is He sure of that?" Invisible Kid demanded.
"Positive. He went through all of the wreckage and the construction site afterwards personally. That is how they found the pods. There were no remains of the projector or the Matrix. He calculated the missing mass within a milli-kilo and there was enough to account for the Bizarro Ray, the Bizarro Matrix and the missing gene-samples. Also there was residual Emerald Energy on wreckage that came from the hallway outside the secure Lab consistant with use of the Emerald Eye to teleport. The Emerald Empress was there, probably before she showed up to help Validus and Mordecai. She couldn't have gotten into the secure Lab, but she could have been picking someone up after they broke in and got the 'goods'. There were remains of two locks in the wreckage. One showed signs of molecular disintegration and the other had been sliced open by a device that cut between the molecular bonds."
"Mano and the Persuader." Queen Projectra stated. "And Tharok?" she inquired.
"Nothing conclusive, but probbably. The up side to all this is that the process created by Dr. Clonus was on the Waunderers' ship and not in the Lab. If they do use the samples to create clones, they won't last. Hours, a day or two at the most and then... boom. They won't be like...." Deborah trailed off, suddenly realizing 3 of her fellow members on the Squad were clones.
"Me?" Wraith said smiling at her embarassment.
"Which brings us to our other mystery." Invisible Kid interupted, "What do we have on that?"
"Confirmation of your suspicion that those cloned and/or replaced were not all taken at the same time. That some of them were taken before they even became Legionnaires. So, knowledge of future events by the person or persons responsible is implied" Deborah answered.
"But still no idea of who that person is. Or why they did it....." Invisible Kid stated unhappily.

Now...
Dreamer slammed face down, Queen Projectra walked towards her with a small smile on her face. Across the room Sensor Girl aimed a roundhouse kick at her target only to find Delphi already airborn and aiming a shot at Sensor Girl's stomach. Delphi had a split second to realize her mistake before she passed harmlessly through the illusion and felt the hand of her opponent hit a pressure point that rendered her unconscious. Meanwhile, Projectra causciously approached her fallen opponent.. but not causciously enough. As soon as she was within range, Dreamer's leggs shot out and knocked the wind from the surprised monnarch. She followed it up with an upper hook that dropped her opponent.
"Ooooh Kay. I think that is enough for today ladies." Val Armour aka Sensi said as he moved in to help his bloody nosed wife to her feet. "You sure you are not planning on returning to active duty, Jeckie? You sure have been putting in a lot of practice this last month for a woman of 'royal leasure'."
"Don't forget that I wasn't an active Legionnaire when you were ... killed. A life of 'royal leasure' even on Orando can be a dangerous prospect. Better to be prepared." she smiled at her husband as he wiped the blood away from her damaged nose. She winced and thought that she would need to seek some minor medical care at the Accademy later. Turning to Dreamer she said, "Good match, Dreamer. I'll beat you next time though."
Preparing to leave, Dreamer and Delphi suddenly stiffened and turned to the doorway of the gym as one. Deborah 'Shadow' Dancer came through carrying an omnicom.
"The election results are back. We have a new Legion Leader." she said, turning to face Dreamer and Delphi "Of course. I suspect that you two already know."
"No, we didn't 'peak' at the results." Dreamer said looking first at the omnicom and then at Delphi, "And we certainly never expected this.."
"So, who is it?" Val asked as he and his wife both leaned to read the results on the omnicom.
"Well, " Queen Projectra said as blood dripped from her nose, "I didn't expect this either...."