Legion World Forums LEGION OUTPOST Bits o' Legionnaire Business Postlo3w stories *LATEST UPDATE 13 AUGUST*

Hi all, thanks for commenting! It is always fun coming up with ways to make characters with different power levels contribute in a story

Y'all won't have to wait very long at all to see what Otaki and pals are up to, I have an epic 5 part story coming out of that which is going to change the status quo for quite a few characters!

Before all of that kicks off though, we are gonna have a quick detour to Xanthu and I finally get to write Konk somewhere! Happy day!

Nice! Looking forward! Yay Konk! I love everything about her haha. She must have some sort of indestructible head too, else she?d give herself headaches all the time

AVALON
1700 miles above sea level

ROLL CALL
Dawnstar: translightspeed flight, interstellar tracking
King Canary aka K'rk T'wiiu III: sonic generation
Mon-El aka Lar Gand: Daxamite physiology
Tellus aka Ganglios: telepathy and telekinesis
Ultra Boy aka Jo Nah: ultra-energy which can be directed into any one of strength, speed, flight, invulnerability, flash vision, penetra-vision at a time

"I can't believe that squaj Black Osiris wasn't even in jail a whole day before he broke out," King Canary complained to Tellus and Ultra Boy on the bridge of the Legion cruiser orbiting the feudalistic world of Avalon. "Why'd we even bother handin' him over to King Leon?"

"Try to be understanding," Tellus responded, his voice modulator rendering his tone perhaps sharper than intended. "Not all worlds in the United Planets possess the levels of technology to which we are accustomed."

"You don't gotta tell me that," the small bird grumbled. "If I wanted to spend my life around nests and thatch huts I woulda never left home..."

"Don't worry about it too much," Ultra Boy turned away from the viewer where he'd been focusing on Mon-El and Dawnstar floating outside their ship. "King, you haven't been around long enough to see for yourself but take it from me; Dawny just about always gets her man."

A couple of hundred meters away from the ship with picturesque Avalon behind him and a seemingly infinite sea of stars all around, Mon-El allowed himself a small smile as his super-hearing picked up Ultra Boy's words. All too often when his fellow Legionnaires talked about Dawnstar it was in disparaging terms. She wasn't always the most personable of his teammates (though she'd been trying to change that recently) and her tracking ability was easy to take for granted outside of the very few times it failed, so it made him happy when she got the respect she deserved.

Mon supposed that as he was so much more powerful than almost anybody on the team it gave him a unique perspective on the strengths that everyone else brought to the table. It was easy for him with his arsenal of powers to wade into just about any situation and come out on top; he had a great admiration for everyone else on his team who did the same thing with only one or two special abilities to their name.

Dawnstar had been floating ahead of the Daxamite, her enormous white wings spread out behind her. She turned around to face Mon-El and even before she spoke he recognised the frustration in her knit brow. "I...have the trail," she explained carefully, "But I do not know precisely where he is. It almost feels like my ability to sense Black Osiris is being clouded in some way, but I can at least lead us toward him."

"Good work, Dawnstar." Mon-El signalled Jo that they were ready to make a move before he zipped ahead to catch up with the young woman from Starhaven. "I mean it...I scoured the whole system with my telescopic vision and couldn't find him, you've already done better than I did."

Dawnstar consciously stopped herself from biting back defensively as she might once have done. "Thank you, Mon-El," she smiled politely. "Let us hope that I can continue to earn your praise."

With one flap of her wings Dawnstar streaked off into the void, Mon-El and the cruiser close behind her.

**********

LUNA
Tranquility Bay, Chang'e Chinese restaurant

ROLL CALL
Chameleon Boy aka Reep Daggle: Durlan shapeshifter

In a galaxy full of many different variations of sentient beings, the standard Durlan form still drew attention from most non-Durlans. So it was that when Reep Daggle sat at a small round table at one of Luna's most exclusive eateries with his beautiful date Amoris Riccioli, many eyes were fixed on them.

"I'm sorry if this is a little embarassing," the Durlan hero spoke in a low voice to the woman also known as local heroine Tranquility. "To be honest, sometimes I forget what public opinion is like where Durlans are concerned. People generally see me as celebrated Legionnaire Chameleon Boy, not just a random Durlan in what I hope is a nice suit."

"Reep, please! You have nothing to apologise for!" The pale-skinned woman reached across the table and touched his forearm briefly. "It's not up to you to manage the expectations of everyone around you! For what it's worth, I think people here are more curious than anything else anyway. We don't see a lot of Durlans on Luna."

"I suppose so." Using chopsticks as though it were second nature, Reep dipped his har gow into a small dish of chilli oil and transferred the succulent dumpling to his mouth, savouring the texture and the tingling heat. "As long as you're not bothered."

"Not at all!" Amoris smiled, her face glowing with genuine affection. "I'm just happy to see you again, this is what...the third time we've been out together outside of official superhero business? I'm surprised you have much time for this kind of thing outside of your responsibilities with the Legion of Superheroes and Brande Industries! Also, if I might say so...you're very good with those chopsticks!"

The orange-skinned young man raised his hand to stifle a laugh while his mouth was full. "Thanks," he replied after swallowing the mouthful of food. "The thing with being Durlan is...every shape is as difficult to use as any other, really. I only ever learned to use hands with four fingers and an opposable thumb when I was preparing to leave my homeworld, chopsticks don't really require any more practice than any other eating implement under those circumstances."

"I'm sure," Amoris agreed readily. The table was lined with a selection of dishes, and Amoris lifted her small bowl from the table to eat some Chinese broccoli in oyster sauce with a small clump of rice. "Don't take this the wrong way," she ventured once she'd finished chewing, "But do you mind if I ask what it was that encouraged you to spend more time with me? I had the distinct impression after our first meeting that while we got along well, you wanted a purely professional relationship. If I'm being too nosey, tell me so; I'm a very open person but I've learned over time that others don't always feel so comfortable sharing everything about themselves to everyone they meet."

"No, no, it's fine." Reep waved her concerns aside. "I feel oddly at ease with you, and I know that's somewhat a function of your power...but at the same time, I've been friends with one of the most powerful Titanians alive since I was in my early teens so I also feel comfortable knowing that your influence isn't anything untoward. The truth is, I suppose since our encounter with the Weeping Man I realised that I'm so motivated by escaping the bad things that have happened in my life that I so rarely try to pursue anything that might be good. I don't know if this sounds silly or not, but...it's been so long since I did something as simple as have dinner with someone I'm attracted to. It's a nice feeling."

"It's not silly at all." Amoris beamed, and Reep couldn't help but smile in return. She lifted her dainty porcelain teacup and offered it in a spontaneous toast. "Here's to more simple pleasures."

Reep clinked her cup with his and took a sip of the hot liquid. "To simple pleasures."

**********

XANTHU
The Xanth City Grand Colosseum

ROLL CALL
Star Boy aka Thom Kallor: celestial mass-transference

Uncanny Amazers
Atmos aka Marak Russen: team leader, super-strength, invulnerability, flight, energy blasts, low-grade psionic abilities
Atom'x aka Randall Burroughs: atomkinesis
Insect Queen aka Lonna Leing: ability to assume insectoid/arachnid qualities
Konk aka Imma Moy: detachable mobile head
Monstress aka Candi Pyponte-Le Parc III: super-strength, invulnerability

In a vast rounded skycraft which resembled a sporting stadium, tens of thousands of Xanthui citizens crowded the stands. Their constant applause and cheers drowned out the low thrum of the anti-grav modules which kept Xanthu's Grand Colosseum floating two and a half miles above the planet's surface and a polarised perspex domed ceiling ensured a comfortable climate inside the Colosseum regardless of how harsh the wind might blow or how fiercely the sun's rays might shine outside.

As much fun as the annual Patriot Day celebrations were for the wealthy elite of Xanthu and other citizens fortunate enough to win the attendance lottery, it was a very different story for the planet's official superheroes. Star Boy and the Uncanny Amazers spent hours perched on a prestigious viewing balcony before they were finally called out for a power display to bring a climax to the day's celebrations. Performing here had been a thrill for Thom Kallor when he first gained his powers but that was many years and many many interminably long speeches ago.

Star Boy was no longer Xanthu's planetary protector, that role went to Atmos and the Uncanny Amazers; there was no way Xanthugov was going to miss the opportunity to brag about one of their own being in the Legion of Superheroes though, so every year they trotted Star Boy back home for a couple of days to perform for the masses before sending him back to the Legion again.

With the event finally over and the crowd dispersed to their shuttles and sky yachts, Star Boy nodded wearily at a couple of security guards as he made his way down a more private corridor toward an exit...his day of boredom was only beginning; from here he was expected to join the Uncanny Amazers and Xanthu's dignitaries at a more exclusive event, and that was likely to last long into the night. Lost in his own thoughts, he realised someone had been talking to him and he snapped back to reality to see that Insect Queen had caught up to him. Monstress and Atom'x came up behind her along with the Amazers' latest recruit, the rather bizarrely powered Konk. "Sorry, Insect Queen," Thom blinked. "I was a million light years away, what was that?"

"I was just saying, wasn't that fun? And now we get to party! You must be glad to be back on Xanthu, are you gonna visit your family while you're here?"

The young redhead was earnest in her enthusiasm, and surprisingly Thom found it kind of endearing...he wondered wryly if Elastic Lad and Comet Queen had finally worn him down. "My folks are on their observatory," he answered, "So no, I'll probably just have a very long bath and pass out early tonight...I don't want to burst your bubble, but these things are usually more about fending off drunk handsy Xanthugov reps than anything else."

"Ew!" Insect Queen scrunched up her face in disgust.

"Don't worry, Queen!" While Konk's body walked alongside Monstress and Atom'x, her head floated forward to join Insect Queen and Star Boy. "I've got your back!"

"Yes dear," Monstress addressed Konk's boldness, "We know you're fierce. You know, it's a shame Jazmin couldn't make it today....and poor James, of course."

"I think Xanthugov have their noses bent out of joint because Kid Quantum decided to attend Legion Academy rather than rejoin the Amazers," Star Boy explained. "It's one thing to have a former planetary protector in the Legion itself, I don't think they like the optics of one of you actively seeking out more training...no offence meant."

"Of course we're not offended, dear!" Monstress gave a chuckle that sounded oddly girlish for her huge frame. "Why, I think she's going to be the best of us when she comes back home! Or maybe she'll join the Legion of Superheroes, wouldn't that be exciting?"

"Speaking of people who aren't here," Star Boy changed the subject, "Where's your mighty leader? I notice he flew off the second the closing light show began."

"Atmos wanted to be back at our headquarters before any of the dignitaries got there," Atom'x noted. Nobody said it out loud, but they all realised that it was perfectly in character for Atmos to want to be the main focus of attention without his teammates around to share the limelight.

As if he'd been summoned, Atmos's holographic image suddenly appeared before them all. "Amazers, we have a mission!" he barked. "Home in on my coordinates and follow in the shuttle, I'll explain en route!" His image blinked out before any of them could even acknowledge that he'd spoken.

"You want to come along?" Insect Queen asked Star Boy cheerily.

"Lonna, I don't know if Atmos will like us just inviting non-team members along..." Atom'x countered as diplomatically as he could.

"Randall, don't be so silly!" Monstress waved a giant green hand. "Star Boy has more experience than any of us!"

"Besides," she gave a cheeky wink, "Atmos didn't tell us we couldn't have a superhero team-up!"

**********

In no time at all, Star Boy and the rest of the Uncanny Amazers were on board a gleaming vessel following the sparking trail of the man named Atmos as he left Xanthu's atmosphere under his own power. Orbiting space observatories had picked up a distress signal from somewhere just beyond Xanthu's moon, and though that kind of thing would normally be handled by the Science Police or Xanthu's own military it had seemed the perfect opportunity to show off what the Amazers were capable of.

"Have you picked up that ship's signal again?" Atmos demanded over the ship's intercom. He'd been less than pleased with Star Boy tagging along and it came across very clearly in his clipped tones.

"I'm afraid not," Atom'x replied. "It cut off too abruptly, we don't even know who sent it...we have a lock on their last transmission locus though, you should be coming up on them visually any nano now."

"What kind of underhanded trick is this?!" Atmos exploded a moment later. Curious, Star Boy and the rest of the Amazers gathered around the shuttle's viewscreen to see the muscular hero floating stationary in space. Before him was a small powerless vehicle adrift in the interplanetary void, though there were no visible signs of damage to the vessel. More startling, the ship was clearly composed of organic matter.

"Is that..." Insect Queen's eyes grew wide.

"A Dominator ship," Star Boy answered her query. "I'd recognise that tech anywhere."

"I thought there were no more Dominators?" Konk asked.

"They lost their homeworld," Thom explained, "But not every Dominator was on Elia at the time of its destruction....some of the Legion encountered a Dominator on Lallor not so long ago."

"They will not bring their evil to Xanthu!" Atmos railed as his clenched fists began to glow with atomic energy.

"Atmos, don't be an idiot!" Star Boy barked. "This ship sent a distress signal and it's been completely disabled. They haven't done anything to us to deserve violence!"

"Can you hail them, Randall?" Monstress asked. "Even the worst villains don't deserve to just die in space, how awful!"

"I've been trying," Atom'x responded, "But no luck...I'm not picking up any life signs on board either, but I don't know if that's normal where Dominion tech is involved."

"Wait!" Insect Queen suddenly pointed at the bioship. "Look!" Noiselessly, the ship just flung itself apart. There were no signs of explosive force, it just seemed to come apart of its own volition. Parts of the vessel floated outwards in all directions, and soon the heroes saw two Dominator corpses floating among the wreckage.

"Your team have life support gear, right?" Star Boy asked Monstress. He activated his own transuit and made his way toward the airlock. "I need to get out there and see if I can find out what's going on."

"You all suit up," Atom'x said, a bright pink nimbus of energy enveloping his lean body. "I'll meet you outside." He phased through the ship's hull, and the others saw him alongside Atmos in no time.

"You shouldn't have brought Kallor," Atmos frowned without directly looking at Atom'x by his side. "We don't need him."

"I knew you'd think it was a bad idea," Atom'x shook his head. "Hey, wait...do you see that?" One pink glowing arm reached out and Atmos followed the gesture to see a chalk white mass forming at the centre of the field of Dominion debris. Atom'x squinted. "What is that?"

"I knew this was a trick!" Atmos ranted. "Typical Dominion deception!" He shot forward like a missile, his superhuman frame tearing through any part of the ship that drifted into his path.

The white components had congealed into a humanoid shape by the time Atmos came within punching distance, and the Xanthui powerhouse suddenly found himself stopped dead in his tracks and completely immobilised while his foe finished taking form before him. The others had joined Atom'x by now, and they all watched as a bulky almost completely naked man almost 7 feet tall stared Atmos down. Ribbons of black material formed trunks on the stranger and banded around his forearms and calves, also forming a stylised skull emblem across his torso. The mysterious man's skin was a stark white color, and he had no visible nose or mouth but only two beady black eyes which seemed to bore into Atmos's soul. Twin antennae sprouted from his brow, a black disk taking up the rest of the forehead on his oversized cranium. Finally, immense white wings unfurled from his shoulder blades giving him the appearance of some vengeful angel.

<I wish only death upon the Dominion> Atmos heard the stranger's sepulchral voice inside his skull, <But I sense your disbelief and I do not wish to spare the time it will take to convince you of my intentions, Atmos of Xanthu.>

Though there was no visible sign of assault, Atmos roared out in pain and was flung backwards. Insect Queen stopped him from spinning too far away from the others, and looked across to Monstress in visible shock. "Candi, he...he's totally unconscious!"

Star Boy saw the Amazers falter and began to say something, but Konk got in first. "Get him!" she hollered. Encased in its own sealed bubble, Konk's head rocketed straight at the white stranger. To her surprise, he didn't attempt to stop her but instead split into two identical beings as she approached.

Konk's disembodied head darted through the space between the two men and by the time she turned around for another attempt, the second figure had turned to face her. <There is no need for me to harm most of you> he cautioned everyone present, <And I fear that any measures I might bring against some of you could prove overtly harmful.>

While this happened, Monstress waded in to punch the other winged man. She had prepared to fight through whatever force he'd used to freeze Atmos, but instead was surprised when the shattered remnants of the ship flew in and surrounded her like a cocoon of sorts. Monstress was much stronger than Atmos, but compressed beneath tons of super-hardened organic material and robbed of any leverage to push through she was trapped like a fly in amber.

Atom'x made a move to fire at one of the strangers, but Star Boy intercepted before he could complete the action. "Okay, everybody just...calm down!" Thom raised his arms. "Did you kill those Dominators?" he asked the white men.

<I did> the same telepathic voice sounded inside all of their heads. <But I do not wish to harm any of you, Star Boy. Atmos is too powerful and too impulsive to be dealt with in any other way, but he will suffer no permanent damage.>

"Who are you?" Thom continued. "Why did you kill those sentients?"

<I am...a revenant> the man spoke once more. <And my reasons are my own...it was a clever tactic on your part to activate your flight ring's emergency beacon while attempting to distract me but my work here is done, Star Boy. I will trouble all of you no further.>

"Now wait a nano--" Star Boy began to protest, but both of the men had already vanished without a trace.

Monstress finally tore her way out of her makeshift prison, and Atmos slowly began to stir back into consciousness as well. "Star Boy?" Insect Queen asked. "What should we do now?"

"There's not much we can do," Thom's brow furrowed. "These people at least deserve proper funeral rites though, let's take them back with us."

As Monstress collected the Dominator corpses and Atmos and Atom'x worked together to vaporise the remains of their ship, Star Boy looked out into the starry void for any sign at all of their weird foe. The Uncanny Amazers might not have the experience or power to deal with you, Thom thought, But you just got yourself on the Legion of Superheroes' radar, Revenant...

...We're not done by a long shot.

**********

DEEP SPACE
Sol system, outside Neptune's orbit

ROLL CALL
Dawnstar: translightspeed flight, interstellar tracking
King Canary aka K'rk T'wiiu III: sonic generation
Mon-El aka Lar Gand: Daxamite physiology
Tellus aka Ganglios: telepathy and telekinesis
Ultra Boy aka Jo Nah: ultra-energy which can be directed into any one of strength, speed, flight, invulnerability, flash vision, penetra-vision at a time

Dawnstar had realised that Black Osiris's trail was leading her to the Sol system before any of her teammates, but they'd all come to the same conclusion at some stage and though nobody wanted to be the one to say it out loud they were all concerned that their home might be at risk from the powerful villain. It frustrated Dawnstar that she was having enough trouble following the trail that she couldn't reach her top speed, but she and Mon-El had still been easily outpacing the Legion cruiser all the way here. Dawnstar slowed down now though, and eventually came to a halt just before the enormous blue orb of Neptune.

"Dawnstar?" Mon-El approached the tracker. "Is everything alright?"

"No," she turned to him with a concerned expression. "Everything is most assuredly not alright...do you remember when I said it felt almost as though my sense of Black Osiris were being clouded? I just lost all sense of his trail entirely, as though someone just flipped a switch in my mind."

"Black Osiris doesn't have telepathic abilities," Mon-El reasoned. "Back on Avalon, King Leon said there were two others that broke him out of that dungeon...so we're looking at someone who can manipulate earth and maybe a telepath?"

"He's building a team, isn't he?" Dawnstar asked.

"It certainly seems that way," the Daxamite agreed. "Come on, let's board the cruiser...maybe Tellus can help you mount a defence."

While the two Legionnaires made their way back to their teammates, the young woman named Otaki breathed a sigh of relief billions of miles away.

"Did it work?" Nightstone asked, Black Osiris waiting expectantly behind the teenage girl.

Otaki had been sitting cross-legged on the floor in deep meditation. She stood up now, wiped sweat from her brow and stretched her legs. "Even with his guidance, I wasn't capable of stopping Dawnstar from tracking Black Osiris from multiple solar systems away. I needed to wait for her to get close enough for my mindsense to latch on to her mind more fully. Honestly though, I don't know if I'm strong enough to fight Tellus. None of that matters now though."

"You are correct," Black Osiris sneered. "I would have defeated the Legion on Avalon myself if it weren't for that bird's trickery...now there are three of us, we cannot lose."

"What..?" Otaki had a moment of confusion. "No, that's not what I mean...we're finally going to do what I've been training to do this whole time, what I recruited you two for. This mysterious mentor has been pushing me toward this for months now, and today I finally get to find out who he is and why he's been helping me become more powerful."

"How are you going to do that?" Nightstone asked. "You've never even met him face to face, have you?"

"No," Otaki replied, "But I'm about to. Get ready, you two.

It's time for us to invade Legion Headquarters."

NEXT: EVERYTHING FALLS DOWN!!!

Mon-El is such a sweetie, how he values Dawnstar. Also good of Dawnstar to keep at changing her attitude! (also smart of the team to change their lineup for the pursuit of Black Osiris).

Luna continues to be adorable, empathic, open, I love her. Chinese food, is this a nod to Chinese restaurants staying open during the holidays in the USA?

Chili oil and dumplings, you my friend are a connoisseur! My fave combination!

Heh, drunk handsy Xanthugov reps...

Hah, Atmos. Yeah, gloryhog... nice blending of Preboot and Reboot by the way, Reboot Atmos was much less arrogant than Preboot one. Ah, classic Monstress, while Atom'x is the diplomant...

This Revenant promises to be interesting. At first I thought it was BION (shapeshifting, splitting into two, some sort of psychic assault...) but maybe I'm wrong... I do like the whole bit where it does not want to cause violence against others not Dominators, maybe they can reason with it later... maybe...

Uh oh, an invasion of Legion HQ... with only 3 of them, interesting... Otaki's range is crazy impressive too!

looking forward to the next bit!

I think I was just hungry when I wrote it, hahahaha.....asian food is like 80% of my diet

and YES to chili oil and dumplings! Chili and anything really!

The Legion will have some more chaos to deal with before Revenant, but he's not that far away!

And I think in her brief appearance in the comics, Otaki's vague mindsense was tracking people light years away so I figured it wasn't pushing it too much to have her boosted abilities being able to do more than just tracking someone in the same solar system...but we'll see how successful the break-in is as soon as I get over my NYE hangover!

Have a happy new year, y'all! Thanks for reading and commenting, I'm very grateful that people like my self-indulgent ramblings! <3

chili oil is love, I put it on fish, mix it with rice...

yeah agree, Otaki was known for her range in canon, so it's all good!

I always love reading about the thought processes behind, so please continue rambling

yes, everything should have chili!

this isn't really related to anything current but I just felt like drawing Lydda so here goes:

She?s rocking the beehive In your drawing, stunning!!

Thanks IB!

Raz, hi there, happy new year!

So much to catch on and it's all great stuff!

Your Grava is always, always excellent! "You're on the Comet Express now!" haha, superb. Marla Lantham meeting with Phantom Girl... nteresting, looking forward to seeing where you take that.

Good move Bbob, kicking Tel to the curb. Though sweet that Tel started to apologise, pity it was just too little tooo late.

Yay! King Canary! My latest favourite character (untl Strut appears, of course). Prince Gerold of avalon? Didn't he stab Mordru in the ankle? Nice obscure character there. Describing Avalon as "those silly roleplaying games that Star Boy and Sun Boy were so fond of" was a good line. Harlack and Mysa are nice surprises, Blok's readng of the situation and giving Nura and Mysa space was sweet. They're convesation was quite surprising, and overdue. Very nice charcterisation of the two showing how they thougt and why they actted as they did. Hopefully Nura will try harder now, it would be nice to see Mysa appear more in your stories.

Black Adam? Ace! He's a real powerhouse with very questionable morals - the perfect opponent for the team. Oh, okay Black Osiris... close enough Nice how you highlighted just hoe excessively powerful he is, and also really good to see Diamond Damsel in action. Though, ouch! That punch that knocked her skyward will hurt!

Yay King Canary!

Throwing Black Osiris off balance like that was a clever move. Ouch again - brnging the peak down on them!

Good to see Harlack and Mysa contribute more, by finding out who it is and what his vulnerability is. And speaking of useful mystics, Xao holding the peak together so Blok could throw it into the star was a nice use of his powers, though Ayla shocking him awake was ...possibly dangerous though it gave me a little inappropriate laugh. You'r characterisation of Ayla has been great throughout by the way - what a day to no longer be Light Lass indeed!

"Does she know she ain't the leader?" "I very much doubt it," Hahaha. Yay King Canary! Nice use of him again deafening BO like that so he could tell Iris the plan. Iris really got a pounding! Her determination and loyalty to the team is really outstanding. I'm sure she;s due a spotlight (I typed hopefully ) Nice how King Canary (Yay!) was the one to take BO down, Okay, with the help of Harlack and dream Girl and the rest of the team, but still Yay! King Canary!

Otaki and Nightstone - oh dear, this is getting quite worrying! Great cliffhanger there Raz, and I really love how you are building that storyline - a masterclass in plottng!

I'll review the next part later when I have more time, can't wait!

Hi Harbi, happy new year!

The very same! Weirdly he was never actually given a name in that story I don't think, so I just made up something suitably olde times lol
I don't wanna give anything away, but funny you should say that...I do like looking at Nura and Mysa as sisters though, I have always wanted to read more about them because you could pretty reasonably get through a lot of old Legion comics without ever realising they're related - they definitely have a lot of unexplored relationship material!

Glad you liked Black Osiris, he will pop up again before too long! It was a good excuse to get Diamond Damsel into some fisticuffs, I think it's been a while since she had a chance to let loose! And I sorta felt like I was giving Strut too many good lines lately so I figured his fellow newbie King Canary needed a chance in the spotlight for a change

Thanks for reading, we are very close to seeing the culmination of all Otaki's weird goings-on and it is gonna change things up big time for quite a few characters!

This was a fun read, raz, I'm consistently impressed by the storytelling and characters.

In the last chapter, I was really impressed with how you fiddled with Dawnstar's senses there. Also, the revenant fascinates me - When it was first coming together, I was wondering if it was turning into the Infinite man or Omega.

Can't wait to see the invasion of Black Osiris and his gang!

Between you and Ibby, I swear I always finish these reads hungry!!!

Thanks GL!

Dawnstar's a funny one, you gotta have the tracking sense hampered occasionally for plot reasons but "oh no my tracking power doesn't work this week and I'm being snotty about it" is kinda played out too...it makes sense to me that someone with psi talents would be able to interfere with it

There will be more on the Revenant in a little while but I'm glad you are hyped for Black Osiris and pals because I am just finishing writing the first chapter of that up tonight and things get a bit intense!

MARS
Husband Hill, Legion of Superheroes Headquarters

In the Legion of Superheroes' monitor room, the team's two Lalloran heroines sat side by side. While Life Lass concentrated on mastering use of the Legion's equipment, Gas Girl read celebrity gossip on her omnicom with her right leg crossed over her left. "I told you you'd pick this stuff up in no time," Gas Girl complimented her friend. "I don't even need to be here, Somi...you've got this!"

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Life Lass smiled smiled nervously. "I do appreciate you taking the time to teach me the ropes, Tal!"

"You, Miss Gan, need to have more confidence in yourself." Gas Girl reached across and poked her friend's arm. "...But this isn't a surprise to anyone. Hey, have you seen Ana Karinu's new look? I think this would really suit you!" She held up the omnicom to show the popular Carggite hyperceleb's bubblegum pink hair streaked through with more vibrant streaks of colour, with a long rainbow-like ponytail emerging from her crown.

"Oh my gawf!" Somi Gan's eyes widened. "I couldn't dye my hair like that, Tal! Are you crazy??" The two girls giggled like schoolchildren before a breep caught their attention and Phantom Girl's icon pulsed brightly.

"Quick, put that away!" Life Lass warned as her power made Gas Girl's omnicom jump out of her grip to land facedown on the nearest bench space. "Hello, Phantom Girl!" Life Lass greeted the team's leader with a more professional tone. "What can I do for you?"

A small holographic bust of Tinya Wazzo appeared before the two girls. "Hi Life Lass, Gas Girl...nothing dramatic, I was just wondering how everything's going back there. I'm about to lose comms for the next 20 minutes, I thought I might just check in beforehand to make sure I'm being an attentive leader and such."

"Well, let's see..." Life Lass squinted as she analysed everyone's holographic icons. "Nightwind's team are just leaving Lupra now...Dawnstar checked in a few minutes ago actually, she hasn't had much luck locating that nasty Black Osiris yet I'm afraid...obviously you made it to Zuun okay...I'm pretty sure that's everyone on active missions! Aside from that, everything's fine!"

"Good to hear," Tinya smiled. "Well--"

"--Have you scanned my Chlory?" Comet Queen's golden visage suddenly appeared over Phantom Girl's shoulder. "He hasn't beamed me yet, he's getting our little sprout all shiny new and spaceworthy today!"

Life Lass gave Gas Girl a sideways glance and Gas Girl just shrugged helplessly. "Uhh...I'll be sure to tell Chlorophyll Kid to get in touch with you if I see him, Comet Queen..?"

"Thanks starshine, you're supernova gleaming!" Just as quickly as she'd burst in on the conversation, Grava disappeared again.

"Yes...thank you, Life Lass." Tinya gave Somi a slight smirk knowing full well how baffling Comet Queen could be. "This little escapade on Zuun doesn't sound like it's gonna be anything too complicated, hopefully we'll all be back soon!"

**********

In the Legion's multilab, Ral Benem held Ivy Arcane in a makeshift baby harness he'd constructed from flowering vines and layers of soft paper bark. "I can't believe she's a year old already!" Ral smiled down at the happily cooing child. He tickled the solitary green leaf growing from among the black curls on her scalp and she squealed with laughter. "I really appreciate you taking the time to give her a check-up, Dream Girl! Normally I'd ask Saturn Girl but she's spending the day with her own family today."

"It's my pleasure, Ral." Nura Nal flashed her former teammate a flawless smile before turning to a screen where Ivy's biometrics scrolled slowly. "She's perfectly healthy, by the way. Aren't you, dear?" Nura gave Ivy a wave and the little girl reached giddily for Dream Girl's chrome bracelet.

"Does it make you want a little one of your own?" Ral asked. "You and Star Boy would make great parents!"

"Oh, absolutely not." Dream Girl looked herself up and down with a self-deprecating laugh. "It'll be a long time before this body's ready to surrender to motherhood, my friend."

Ral began to echo her laughter when he noticed that something behind him had caught Dream Girl's attention. He turned to see the teen sorceress Glorith walking slowly through the multilab almost as though she were in a trance. Behind her, Kid Quantum was following with a concerned expression.

"Do you girls need a hand with anything?" Dream Girl asked across the equipment-laden room.

"Glorith said something bad's going to happen," Kid Quantum ran over to the adults. "She doesn't know what, but she made us come down here...can you help us, Dream Girl?"

Nura's expression immediately grew more serious. "Jazmin, stay here with Ral and Ivy. Glorith..?" She approached the innocent young mage. "...What are you sensing? Maybe we can work this out together."

"I believe I may know," another voice replied. Without any hesitation, everyone present recognised it as belonging to Blok. Coming in from the other side of the lab, he and Diamond Damsel intercepted Glorith. "I believe Glorith's mystic senses may have felt the same thing I have myself...and if I am correct, then I think that all of you should leave immediately."

"Blok, what are you talking about?" Dream Girl asked. "There's nothing mystical down here of all places."

"It's not Alek Arcane again, is it?" Ral hugged Ivy a little closer.

"Blok won't tell me," Diamond Damsel complained. "It's like he's scared saying it out loud will bring it to life, it's infuriating."

"It is not my intent to be vague," Blok looked Diamond Damsel in the eye, "...And rest assured, I have no particular knowledge of Alek Arcane's schemes. In this particular case however I very well may speak this evil into life if I am not cautious. Please...my friends, leave here. Take the children with you."

"Blok, stop being so melodramatic!" Dream Girl made light of his concern. "Whatever's brought you down here, we can face it together like Legionnaires."

A broken gasp emerged from Glorith and everyone saw the young girl's face lined with fear. She looked at all of them one after the other, landing on Blok last before finally speaking in a very small voice.

"...I'm afraid we are too late."

There was a tremendous booming noise, followed by a series of low rumbles. The entire room shook, untethered instruments falling to the floor as the lights flickered momentarily. The sudden tremors knocked a yelping Glorith and Kid Quantum off their feet, though Dream Girl had the presence of mind to levitate as soon as she realised what was happening. Thick wood panelling grew out of the baby harness Ral Benem wore, shielding Ivy and covering himself in plated armour even as it shot out mooring vines to wrap around fixtures and keep him standing. Jostled, Ivy started crying but Saturn Girl's tireless efforts had taught the infant to trust in her adoptive parents to protect her; as long as Ral held her close, he was confident that he could prevent one of her infamous outbursts of uncontrolled power.

"What the sprock was that?" Ral tried to keep the anxiety from his voice for Ivy's sake. "We don't get quakes here!"

Blok and Diamond Damsel alone had been unaffected by the abrupt quake thanks to their great strength. While Blok helped Kid Quantum and Glorith to their feet, Diamond Damsel verbally deactivated the alarm which had begun to scream all around them. "Blok!" the diamond woman's jaw dropped. "Everyone...Look!"

A solid column of red dirt and stone had appeared in the multilab, tearing the floor up and disappearing through the ceiling. "Get down!" Dream Girl suddenly screamed, gathering Glorith and Kid Quantum close together and huddling behind Blok with the two girls. Immediately after, the column of stones exploded outwards like a makeshift bomb. Ral's armour protected himself and Ivy, and Blok and Diamond Damsel were at no risk, but a second earlier and the explosion would have killed Nura and the students as surely as it smashed computer consoles and monitors all around them to pieces.

Dream Girl's heart sank as she remembered what had been behind that column of dirt. She hadn't been entirely correct when she'd told Blok there was nothing mystical in the Legion's multilab...there was one thing which until now had been safely locked away behind multiple levels of security; the Rock of Eternity. Nura understood now why Blok had been reluctant to speak his fears to life because until right now there had been someone else imprisoned within that cosmic stone as well, one of the Legion's oldest foes...

A musty fog cleared from the site of the explosion, and its passing revealed four newcomers standing before them all. Dream Girl recognised Otaki by virtue of having seen her in the multilab after Alek Arcane had left her comatose months ago; she had no idea who the other young woman was with the darker skin and dreadlocked hair, though by a process of elimination Nura figured that it must have been she who'd created the large underground tunnel they'd clearly used to gain entrance here. Black Osiris was instantly recognisable, and looked every bit as powerful as he had when Dream Girl had seen him in action on Avalon recently...and the final member of the quartet? Their final member was a broad-shouldered elderly bearded man who nonetheless emanated the most commanding presence of them all. He should have looked ridiculous in his anachronistic wizard's garb and winged helmet, but instead he made Dream Girl's blood run cold.

"Finally, Mordru the Merciless is free!" the ancient villain announced imperiously. "Though you'll all wish it were otherwise before I drain the marrow from your bones, Legion!"

"You've got that backwards," Diamond Damsel charged the ancient sorceror, "You're the one who's about to wish--"

"Enough!" Mordru barked. With an incantation that sounded like glass breaking, the villain shattered Iris Jacobs into hundreds of individual diamonds. The lifeless gems scattered across the floor, leaving her empty costume behind.

"Glorith!" Dream Girl hissed at the terrified young girl by her side. "We have to get out of here, we can't face Black Osiris on our own and we certainly can't face Mordru!"

The ground thundered with Blok's footsteps as he lost himself in rage and raced toward Mordru to avenge Iris. As Blok came within mere feet of his enemy, Mordru simply snapped his fingers and uttered one word coldly through pursed lips.

"Shazam."

A blinding lightning bolt crashed down from nowhere, and Blok was reverted back to the gold statue he'd once been. In as many seconds, Mordru had taken out the two strongest people in the room.

"Go," Mordru commanded the other three. "Cause chaos. But leave the killing of Legionnaires to me, I have earned this victory." Nighstone and Otaki looked at one another uneasily without moving, but Black Osiris simply grinned wickedly and smashed through the ceiling.

"Gee whiz, it's Mordru!" Drawn by the alarms, Elastic Lad's elongated torso stretched through the room before Mordru could turn his attention to Dream Girl and the others. The plucky young redhead shouted, knowing that the base's systems would transmit his message. "Elastic Lad to all Legionnaires, Mordru is free in the multilab! And he's got some mean pals with him, he--"

"They will find out soon enough lad," Mordru interrupted, instantly spreading Jams-Ols 5 across the room with a wide burst of eldritch energy for which even his rubbery body had no defence. "Don't you worry about that."

While all this was happening, Chlorophyll Kid crouched down to join the girls behind a large workdesk. "Dream Girl, I don't feel right just running--"

"Ral, this isn't cowardice!" Dream Girl snapped. "Ivy is the Avatar of the Green, do you know what Mordru could do with that power?? We need to get her out of here and I'm not leaving Glorith and Jazmin here to be tortured by him either...make us a portal, Glorith! We'll come back once we've got a plan, but we need to go now!"

Glorith hesitated, but saw the fear in Jazmin Cullen's eyes and realised if she didn't act she might be responsible for something awful happening to her best friend. Trembling, she nodded and set to summoning her power.

"Don't think I don't see you children over there," Mordru chuckled indulgently. "It is wise of you to hide from Mordru the Merciless, but I assure you....it will not help." He gesticulated wildly, and all of the furnishings around Ral and the girls flew across the room leaving them fully exposed. Desperate to buy them some time, Ral threw a handful of random seeds and grew an ever-thickening mass of vines and branches between the villain and themselves.

"Is that...is that a baby crying..?" Nightstone ventured, clearly shell-shocked at the power she'd seen on display.

"It will not be for long, my dear." Mordru gave the young geokinetic a look that chilled her to the bone, then turned his attention to withering the vegetation between himself and his intended victims.

Nightstone punched Otaki in the arm. "I didn't sign up to kill no little kids!" she whispered harshly.

Otaki stammered helplessly, looking between Nightstone and Mordru. Her mindsense recognised this infant...it was the child who'd led to her trauma at the Legion Tryouts that day. If it hadn't been for that child, Otaki might not have had to live these past months in mounting fear each night. Otaki was repulsed at the idea of murdering a baby...but she couldn't bring herself to stop Mordru from doing it.

"Where do you wish to journey?" Glorith asked Dream Girl, weaving lavender light into a portal big enough for all of them to walk through.

"Somewhere safe, Glorith!" Nura could see Mordru approaching through the brambles and the thorns. "Take us to the safest place you know!"

The evil old man finally made his way through the last of Ral's barricade, just in time to see a woman's slender heel disappear into a diminishing portal in mid-air.

Mordru glared after the dissipating mystical energies without saying a word.

**********

Several stories above, five of Glorith and Kid Quantum's fellow students in the Legion Academy had been in a turbolift when the building shook. Chemical Kid, Lullabye Lad, Key Kid and Variable Lad had been taking their newest classmate Sojurn to the gym to teach them how to play dodgeball when they'd all had a pulse-pounding freefall for just over two seconds before the lift came to a screeching halt. Right now, the students were all a tangle of limbs where they'd collapsed when the quake hit.

"What the sprock was that?!" Chemical Kid was the first to climb to his feet, readjusting his holographic glasses. "Gym level please," he commanded the lift but nothing happened.

"Whatever it was took us offline," Lullabye Lad smoothed down his cape and slid open a small panel on the wall revealing a pad of buttons. "Even the stupid manual controls aren't working."

The lift shook once more, though this time it seemed more in response to a nearby impact. "Classmates," Variable Lad removed one of his rounded metallic earpieces and pushed his ear up against the side of the lift. "Do you hear that?"

"That thumping?" Key Kid put his own ear up against the opposite wall. "And I'm sure I heard an alarm go off for a nano...do you guys think we're under attack?"

<I sense heightened emotion and specifically great distress> Sojurn added telepathically. The others hadn't quite gotten used to the blue and gold alien octopus yet, and waited awkwardly for them to finish. <Not just from within this transport capsule, but in our immediate vicinity without. Shall I teleport us from here, fellow students of Legion Academy?>

"Maybe you don't need to," Key Kid flexed his arms. "This door might be stuck, but it's still a door. I should be able to..." The red-haired youth tried to dig his fingers into the door's seam as far as he could, then allowed his power to do the rest. "...There we go...oh..oh my gawf."

The turbolift had only half descended to the fourth level, and the students could see why; something had torn through the tube itself just beneath them, leaving jagged plasteel everywhere in its wake. They saw one bloodied taloned foot twitching beneath rubble that had once been a wall, clearly Firecrest in his transformed state. Further down the corridor, Lightning Lass and Lightning Lad were both blasting a broad-shouldered man in black and gold who seemed entirely unaffected by their combined power. Saturn Girl was crouched down against a wall, shielding her young sons as best she could from the violence.

"Saturn Girl!" Chemical Kid shouted. "Let us help, what can we do?"

Imra Ardeen Ranzz looked across at her students, blood trickling down from a gash in her forehead. "Hadru, the best thing you can do is get away from here and take my children with you! This is Black Osiris, he's too dangerous for you!"

"Mommy, no!" Graym Ranzz clutched at his mother's arm. "We don't wanna go!"

"Come with us, Mommy!" Garridan was in tears, tugging at his mother's sleeve to drag her toward the open turbolift door. "Please, that man's too strong!"

"Don't worry, kids!" Amp, Fire Lass and Dragonwing had heard the commotion and come running down the emergency stairs once they realised the turbolifts were out of action. It was Amp who'd spoken, and she stood behind the man Garth and Ayla were attacking. "With my help, your dad won't have a problem with this creep!"

Saturn Girl tried to warn Amp against getting involved, but it was too late. The young woman increased the intensity of Lightning Lad's assault more than double, and everyone in the corridor was almost blinded by the resulting output of energy. Garth Ranzz himself seemed to become pure living energy for a second as he channelled millions upon millions of volts directly into Black Osiris.

To the heroes' credit, their combined power did actually cause the villain to grimace in pain. Ignoring the sensation, Black Osiris flew straight at Garth and punched him in the jaw. Mordru had told him not to kill anyone so Black Osiris pulled his punch enough not to take Lightning Lad's head clear off, but still the hero flew back a metre before tumbling to a painful halt. In truth Black Osiris didn't care all that much if any of these fools died, he'd only agreed to free Mordru as a stepping stone to reviving the glory of Kahndaq anyway.

"That's my brother, you--" Ayla never got to finish what she was saying, because Black Osiris picked her up like a ragdoll and threw her at Amp with enough force to knock both women out.

Black Osiris turned to face the others, and broke out in a sadistic grin when he saw that the majority of his foes here were children. He could discard of this lot soon enough and then find a Legionnaire more worthy of his might. He'd not taken more than a step toward the others however when his brain felt like it was on fire. Black Osiris stopped in his tracks, instantly realising that Saturn Girl was responsible for this. His eyes watering from the pain, he turned slowly upon her and the two became engaged in a battle of wills.

<Sojurn...> Saturn Girl projected outwards as beads of sweat dripped down her forehead <...Black Osiris's willpower is stronger than anybody without psi talent that I've ever faced...I'm praying that your innate telepathy picks this up because I don't have it in me to divert energy to speak...but you need to take your fellow students and my children and teleport away from here...I don't know how long I can hold him at bay!>

To Imra's immense relief, she saw the telltale orange glow form around her extradimensional octopus student which meant that they were building up their teleportation ability. <Fellow students of Legion Academy> Sojurn spoke telepathically to all of the students present, <Teacher Saturn Girl has instructed me to depart, you must come within contact range>

The gathered students all shared confused glances with one another; they didn't know Sojurn nearly well enough to trust that they were telling the truth, but none of them had seen Saturn Girl under this much obvious stress before either...and they'd all seen how easily Black Osiris had dispatched Lightning Lad, Lightning Lass, Amp and obviously Firecrest before them. Dragonwing was the first to make a decision. Grabbing Graym and Garridan and pulling them close to herself, she dragged them away from their mother. "No!!" Graym protested while his brother bawled. "Mommy!"

"Kid, I don't like this anymore than you do," Marya grunted as she half-dragged them toward the turbolift. "But both your parents will kill us if we let anything happen to you." She hefted the twins up into the lift, allowing Hadru and Waiane to bring them close enough to Sojurn for their power to envelop them as well. "Arqiia!" Dragonwing commanded as she stepped up into the lift herself and felt the still uncomfortable touch of Sojurn's tentacle upon her. "You're stronger than me, bring Amp over here!"

The gaunt flame-haired woman paused for a second, looking uncertainly at Amp and then at Firecrest's foot which was gradually shifting back to normal. Fire Lass turned calmly to Dragonwing, crammed into the lift with the boys. "No," Arqiia said simply. "I was created to serve godlike power. But I defied my creators to save myself, and I can defy this man to save others. Perhaps my role is not to worship, perhaps my role is not to be a hero...but nor will my role be to allow needless suffering upon those who have helped me. I have learned that much."

Without a further word Arqiia walked right up alongside Black Osiris, drew a deep breath, and exhaled a massive plume of flame directly into his face. It didn't hurt him and she hadn't really expected that it would, but the attack served its purpose. Taken by surprise, he was momentarily flustered and Saturn Girl took the advantage. Black Osiris fell to one knee with a roar, clutching at his head with both hands. Slowly, Saturn Girl climbed to her feet while a trickle of blood found its way to her left nostril and she pushed on.

"That was...reckless, Arqiia," Saturn Girl spared a fraction of a second from her ongoing onslaught against Black Osiris to glance sternly at her student, "But it was also very...heroic...thank you."

The artifical lifeform who'd taken the name Fire Lass felt a rare emotion come over her. For once, she felt validated and valued for who she was, not for what she'd been created to be. She allowed that feeling to envelop her as she heard her fellow students screaming her name...

...and then the building shook again. Arqiia gazed uncomprehending as parts of the building transformed from plasteel to bluestone, the lights flickered, and parts of the ceiling fell.

A small grate from the ceiling fell on Arqiia's head and melted in the flames upon her scalp before it could harm her. A larger part of the ceiling fell upon Saturn Girl's head and knocked her out stone cold.

In the turbolift, Dragonwing could see where this was going before Saturn Girl had even hit the floor. "Let me go!" she hollered at Sojurn.

"Marya, Saturn Girl said we had to protect her kids!" Chemical Kid protested, grabbing at her sleeve.

"And Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad told me I had to look out for Arqiia!" Marya snarled back. "Now let me go!" She tore herself free of Sojurn's tentacled grip, ignoring their telepathic pleas about the risk involved.

The orange flash of light which by now was becoming more familiar to Dragonwing hit her peripheral vision and she realised the others had all teleported away. She was too late to help Arqiia though, and could only watch what happened next with mounting rage and horror. Black Osiris recovered almost instantly once Saturn Girl had fallen, gripped one of his frighteningly strong hands around Arqiia's face and pounded her so hard into the wall that he left a bloody indentation in the panelling and she became limp in his grasp. Black Osiris threw Arqiia's unmoving body aside, her scalp no longer flaming. She landed on the floor which was becoming increasingly made of large paved stones rather than more advanced materials, and Black Osiris turned to Dragonwing.

"You..killed her..?" Marya Pai uttered in shock. "...I'll kill you!" She launched herself at the laughing villain, a corrosive assault building in her throat. "I'll kill you!!" Dragonwing never got the chance to launch her attack, as more of the building succumbed to Mordru's mystical transformation. The parts that didn't transform into something more medieval collapsed without anything to hold them up and buried Marya Pai whole.

Black Osiris waited a moment for the angry girl to emerge, then seeing no sign of life he fled the scene to find more heroes to ruin.

**********

SOMETIME LATER
Mars, Husband Hill

Gim and Yera Allon hadn't said a word to one another in almost two minutes. They held each other close at the edge of an enormous crater, the twin moons of Mars making their journey across the sky above them.

"Colossal Boy?"

Gim looked up at the mention of his codename to see Dawnstar descending from the starry skies above; even under these circumstances, Dawny looked positively angelic. Mon-El and Ultra Boy appeared close behind her, and not far behind them Gim and Yera saw Tellus and a flitting golden bird they knew was King Canary.

"What...what happened here?" Dawnstar asked as she landed by Gim and Yera. The crater was half a block wide and easily as deep. Their headquarters had been here up until hours ago, but now it was just a cavernous pit.

"I don't know exactly," Colossal Boy answered despondently. "Yera and I were visiting my folks on Earth, we were just on our way back when we heard Elastic Lad's transmission, but by the time we got back here this was all we saw. But you all got that message too, right?"

"Yes." Mon-El landed alongside Dawnstar and trained his incredible vision across the crater for any indication of where his friends and loved ones had gone. "Mordru is free. But this...to destroy our home like this...there were children here..." Everyone present could tell he was making a monumental effort to keep the anger and despair from his voice.

"Hey, buddy." Ultra Boy touched down alongside Mon-El and laid a hand on his shoulder. "We know what Mordru's like, there's no way he just wipes out the Legion without bragging about it, right? I don't know why we haven't been able to get anyone on comms but we've got Dawnstar...and Mwindaji's with Tinya on their way back from Zuun right now. We got the two best trackers in the galaxy...we'll be good, okay?"

"I suppose so," Mon-El answered unconvincingly.

"...I suppose we have to be."

**********

At that same moment, somewhere very far away, some loose rocks shifted in a pile of dirt.

A sizzling noise could be heard from beneath the earth, and soon a sickly verdant stream of corrosive fluid broke through the surface.

A young woman's hand followed, wearing the tattered remains of a shiny black glove and caked in dried blood.

The would-be Legionnaire named Dragonwing pulled herself from the ground through the path her acid venom had made, hacking and wheezing as she emerged exhausted and lay flat on her back under a sunny sky. She was filthy and her whole body ached, but she was alive. Alive. Not like Arqiia.

Marya Pai ignored her body's protests, stood up and looked around. In place of Legion Headquarters, she'd been trapped under some kind of ancient castle...and she didn't know where she was, but this place with its rolling green hills and perfumed flowerbeds was definitely not Mars.

It didn't matter, not now...

...the only thing that mattered now was finding a way to kill Black Osiris.

TO BE CONTINUED!!!

Finally had time to review your latest post this morning Raz, so here goes:

Yay, more King Canary! And a nice hint about his home world too, cool.

Nice that Jo is sticking up for Dawny, she really is incredibly useful when she's given the chance. You've always written her well in your fic so I'm looking forwad to this story. Humble Dawnstar struggling not to get all acidic is funny to read, though I kind of miss her snark but given how you've shown her character growth with the knowlege that if she doesn't try harder to intergrate into the team then Bounty will get her it's a great bit of writing. Mon El is a bit pompous there, but given he can literally move planets we can understand it and let him off this time

Cham and Tranquility make an intriguing couple. Nice moment there, as they get to know more about each other in a respectful way. Reep saying he only got used to thumbs and fingers just before leaving Durla was a nice way to highlight how versatile he is - never thought about it but he has to quickly adapt to each form he assumes or they'll be pretty useless. And if any of the team deserve a bit of happiness it's Reep as he always seems so intense.

Thom's cynicism towards the Patriot Day's performance is something we can all relate to sometimes. "...he wondered wryly if Elastic Lad and Comet Queen had finally worn him down" haha, nice. Oh drunken handsy Xanthugov reps doesnt sound like fun, poor man. Bit like any woman's experience on a packed London tube then... Atmos wanting to be the centre of attention, yup, that's him isn't it? Though I thought they'd enjoy having some time away from him.

Dominators - oh dear! Your team never has much luck with them, do they? Great visual description of your new badguy, I could picture them perfectly. He shows a few Legion-like abilities - is the Revenant a BION gone feral? Looking forward to seeing where that story goes. Nice touch that the Amazers take the Dominator corpses back with them to give them a proper send off.

Poor Dawny - she reaaly beats herself up when her tracking doesn't work. Though good suggestion that Tellus may be able to help her. Otaki's abilities were never really clarified in canon, other than they had a tremendous reach, so it'll be interesting to see what you do with her. And they're going to the Legion's headquarters to find her mysterious benefactor? Oh, okay, the only idea I have is Brainy going loopy again but I hope not.

Another great cliffhanger Raz, can't wait for more, more, more!

raz -

This was awesome. You kept upping the stakes and some of the folks (minor characters, to be sure) paid the price. I love it. What I figured was going to be another step in the search path for Black Osiris turns into a full on brawl with Mordru. Awesome. Nightstone and Otaki suddenly having second thoughts was a great touch, too.

Now I really can't wait for the next chapter!

oh goodie, a new installment already!!

Hah! Nura's crack re surrendering her body to motherhood is SO her!

"I may SPEAK this evil into life," that was an epically chilling line!

Nice touch re Nura being the experienced enough one to levitate as soon as she could.

Interesting that Imra was able to teach Ivy to trust in Ral/Grava, nice explanation of how her powers are under control

Oh crap, Mordru, I never expected this! (also nice bit re he should have looked ridiculous...)

Oh double crap, D. Damsel and Blok taken out just like that...

I like how Nightstone and Otaki are uneasy, while that nasty Black Osiris is reveling in all of this... maybe Nightstone and Otaki will switch sides later? they were both manipulated after all...

Nice nod to Otaki's conflict... the poor girl. I'm really looking Nightstone more and more by the way, and I hope she gets a happy ending. Otaki too, the poor dear...

Brilliant of you to have Mordru specify that he had killing rights, a great way to explain why nobody dies even while facing someone like Black Osiris I'll have to borrow that trick...

Good of Dragonwing to realize that running away is often the good choice!

Go, Fire Lass! smart girl!

oh my gosh! Fire Lass... Marya... are they ok...?

oh gosh, Marya made it... and she's out for blood...

i'm hooked as always, great work raz, more more more!

Hi all, thanks again for commenting!

I might be churning these out a bit faster than usual for a while, we'll see how we go...I got covid on Boxing Day so I've been isolating the past couple weeks (luckily I am fully vaxxed so it was like a bad cold more than anything else but still not much fun) and covid numbers in Australia are going mental at the moment so I predict I will be spending more time home for the forseeable future - but I have been looking forward to writing my big Mordru story for ages so I'm secretly not that upset about it all lol

Anyway, enough with tedious real life, on with the Legion!

- Harbi, I am glad you liked with Cham and the chopsticks...it kinda just occurred to me on the spot that he's probably weirdly got an advantage with trying new dexterity tasks because his power gives him a passing familiarity with how to use the shape he's in but he doesn't have any preconceived notions of how it's meant to function

- that's two votes for Revenant as a BION now! Interesting...

- Nightstone and Otaki are gonna have a pretty harsh lesson about what happens when you ally yourself with actual villains so we'll see what happens after that!

- I tried really hard to keep Mordru a secret all this time, I am glad you were surprised IB!

- Dragonwing wanting to kill Black Osiris wasn't something I planned for, it was one of those things where the character just decided to take their story a different way as I was writing...but I'm glad it happened because I'm finding pissed off Marya is the best Marya to write

Next up: we've only just started so y'all just know things are gonna get worse...

oh gosh, get well soon raz, glad the symptoms aren't too bad. on the plus side, does give you more writing time (and I'm eager to see where this goes too lol)

re Dragonwing writing herself, that is so true and I can relate, getting into a character's head can lead us too some surprising places

poor Nightstone and Otaki, I feel a bit sympathetic - both were misled and manipulated after all. Black Osiris, no sympathy at all for him!

Both excellent statements!

Is there any other kind of Marya other than pissed off? LOL

Good luck with the coronavirus down there and get some rest!

Thanks y'all!

So I just caught up with the last five or so chapters of this, and wow, it's so good! You've got such a great handle on classic characters like Star Boy, Saturn Girl and Dream Girl, and yet also such vibrant original characters like Diamond Damsel, Elastic Lad and King Canary!

Great use of Dragonmage and Dragonwing, my two favorite Legionnaires with 'dragon' in their name. I love how you can juggle such a ginormous cast and make it look so easy!

Thanks Set!

I have a lot of the broad strokes of long-term story arcs planned out months in advance, so a lot of the time even stuff that doesn't seem related to anything else works toward those broad strokes on the downlow (eg a while ago I did a one-off story where Orion the Hunter kidnapped the Academy kids, because I knew they were gonna be a big part of this 5 part story I'm doing now so I wanted people to be familiar with their personalities and what they can do when they suddenly started taking the spotlight)

Dragonwing in particular is gonna get a good workout over this storyline so hopefully you stay liking it!

MARS
On board a Legion cruiser just outside the atmosphere

ROLL CALL
Chameleon Boy aka Reep Daggle: Durlan shapeshifter
Chameleon Girl aka Yera Allon: Durlan shapeshifter, reserve member
Colossal Boy aka Gim Allon: growth powers
Dawnstar: translightspeed flight, interstellar tracking
Infectious Lass aka Drura Sehpt: disease transmission and immunity
King Canary aka K'rk T'wiiu III: sonic generation
Light Lad aka Darvan Locke: gravity negation
Mon-El aka Lar Gand: Daxamite physiology
Shrinking Violet aka Salu Digby: shrinking
Star Boy aka Thom Kallor: celestial mass-transference
Tellus aka Ganglios: telepathy and telekinesis
Ultra Boy aka Jo Nah: ultra-energy which can be directed into any one of strength, speed, flight, invulnerability, flash vision, penetra-vision at a time

On the crowded bridge of a Legion cruiser with Mars dominating the viewscreen behind him, Mon-El stood with his arms folded across his broad chest. "...So by our reckoning," the Daxamite finished explaining to small holograms of Phantom Girl and Nightwind's respective crews, "Even after Dawnstar collected everyone she could find who wasn't on base when Mordru struck, we still have 18 Legionnaires unaccounted for. At best, we have to assume they're all wherever Mordru is. At worst..." His normally authoritative voice trailed off weakly.

"Mon." Phantom Girl spoke bluntly. "I know you're frightened for Shady, I'm frightened for her too. But we can't give in to that fear or we've already lost. I need you to keep your head in the game, Mordru's too big for us to do anything else."

Mon-El took in his leader's words for a moment, then consciously forced himself to relax as he exhaled. "...You're right, Tinya. I'm sorry."

"Don't sweat it, Mon." Tinya immediately lightened her tone. "We all know Shady's your world. But I've got Dragonmage and Mwindaji here working on a way to find Mordru, and Nightwind's got Evolvo Lad and Kid Computo working the tech angle. You've got Dawnstar and Tellus with you...we're a very resourceful bunch when we need to be, and that includes everyone who's not here with us right now. We'll figure this out, okay?"

"Phantom Girl's right," Nightwind added. "The Legion of Superheroes always comes out on top, right? We've set course for Mars, we'll see the rest of you soon."

Once the transmission ended, the Legionnaires dispersed to do their own thing. Colossal Boy prepared stimbevs for himself and his wife and met her at the long communal table in the cruiser's galley. "Are you sure you're up for this, honey?" Gim asked in a low voice as he handed the cold drink to Chameleon Girl across the table. "I mean you know, with...the future stuff and all that?"

"I can't risk being a full-time Legionnaire," Yera squeezed her husband's hand, "But I don't think I'm in any danger of bringing that awful future about by helping out as a reservist occasionally...and you're missing nearly half your roster, Gim. I'm surprised Phantom Girl didn't call in more of the Legion reserves to be honest."

"Mordru's scary, but even half our team these days is bigger than the Legion used to be," Gim reasoned, bringing Yera's hand up to kiss her knuckles. "We're gonna make that crabby old bastich wish he'd stayed in his stupid rock."

At the galley entrance, Shrinking Violet had been about to walk in when she saw Gim and Yera sitting at the table. With nobody else in the room to take her attention, Vi rolled her eyes and kept walking through the ship. She found herself passing Dawnstar and Tellus by the airlock door. "You two are leaving the ship?" Violet asked curiously.

"We are," Tellus replied. "I thought perhaps I could use my abilities to help hone Dawnstar's focus, and Dawnstar mentioned that she would feel less anxious outside the vessel."

"Tellus, I don't enjoy casually discussing my mental health with my teammates," Dawnstar said icily.

"I apologise, Dawnstar." Though his voice modulator betrayed no emotion, the pods on Tellus's pods turned a pastel pink. "Even after all this time away from Great Mother Ocean I sometimes misjudge the intricacies of psychology within other species."

Dawnstar sighed, her own face slightly flushed with embarassment. "No...I'm the one who should apologise, my friend. We shouldn't expect you to behave as though openness is some kind of social flaw. I suppose I'm just frustrated, I have had no luck locating our teammates and...and Wildfire is among them. I know it's ridiculous and probably selfish to be concerned for Drake, of all of us he may be the only one who can't die. But still..."

"Dawnstar, really..." Vi gave her a shrewd smile, "...I swear, beating yourself up for having normal human failings is your real super-power. You care about Wildfire, of course you're going to be worried. It's totally normal. That frustrating bag of machismo is one of our most powerful members though, wherever he is...

...I bet he's giving as good as he gets."

**********

Wildfire flinched.

He was lying face down on some kind of slick rock surface, the scent of the ocean almost overpowering. Feeling like his brain was filled with cotton wool, he slowly tilted his head up to look around...nothing but choppy water and blue skies ahead of him as far as he could see. That would explain the smell, he considered. I wonder where I am? He stood up and looked around, forcing his memory to work through the fog and piece together how he got here as he surveyed his surroundings more fully. He seemed to be on some kind of desolate island in the middle of nowhere; aside from a sea cave leading into a small raised peak of jagged black rock there was nothing of interest here at all. There were washed up strands of seaweed but no marine life, no birds...not even any guano anywhere.

Okay, think! he chastised himself. Elastic Lad told us Mordru had escaped, I found a tunnel someone bored straight through Legion HQ from the multilab, and when I followed it back to the multilab...when I followed it back... Wildfire suddenly stopped dead cold, a lurch of sick anticipation coming over him.

...Why can I smell the sea??

Wildfire remembered scent; even after all these years, he remembered what it was like to smell freshly baked pie or the perfume of a flower, but he hadn't possessed a sense of smell since he'd been transformed into a being of anti-energy so long ago. That was when the gleam of something glass-like in a nearby rock pool caught his eye...it was a small curved plate of reinforced plexiglass, deep blue in color and instantly recognisable. Almost frightened to approach it, Wildfire reached out with a trembling hand and picked up the faceplate which should have been keeping his energy form from spewing explosively out of its containment suit. His reflection in the detached faceplate was distorted, but it was impossible to ignore...

...he was staring at the face of Drake Burroughs. His human face.

Tears spontaneously flowed and he reached up to touch his cheek in confirmation. Feeling stupid but giddy, he self-consciously collected a tear on his gloved finger and licked it. "I can taste it!" he yelled in triumph. "I can taste it!!" Leaping with sheer joy, he whooped so loud his voice gave out, and when he landed he lost his footing on the wet rocks and slipped straight onto his backside. A jolt of pain shot through him and he yelped then immediately lost himself in hysterical laughter. He could feel pain!

An unholy roar suddenly sounded from the sea cave, sobering Drake immediately. Snapped out of his euphoria, he remembered the circumstances which had led to him being here and called out to Elastic Lad on the comms installed in his containment suit. Nothing.

Another roar, this one even louder.

"Okay okay, don't panic," Drake muttered to himself. "...Makes sense it wouldn't work, my anti-energy was powering it...flight ring!" He brought his hand up before him only to see that there was no flight ring on it. "Sprock!"

A third roar sounded, and this time a stream of fire the size of a tree trunk shot out of the cave and dissipated on the ocean breeze outside. The cave was maybe 70 feet away across open ground, but thankfully there were enough rocky protuberances along this shore for Drake to at least hide behind. He did that now and watched as a dragon the size of a small shuttle emerged from the cave. It had huge leathery wings with a spike upon each one, two massive curved horns upon its reptillian head, and its hide was a greyish color. It was the flame which ran down the back of its neck like a fiery mane which tipped Wildfire off as to who this dragon really was though. Forgetting his new vulnerability momentarily, he got up and approached the giant beast.

"...Firecrest?" Drake asked in mild awe. "...What did Mordru do to you?"

The dragon which had been Staq Mavlen snapped its head toward Drake's voice. Firecrest approached him on scaled talons like a predator sizing up its prey...

...and then he attacked.

**********

Somewhere far away from the two Legionnaires, Mordru roared with laughter as he watched Wildfire frantically leap out of the path of Firecrest's flame breath in an enormous crystal ball. The sorceror sat in an elaborate throne on a raised dais in the castle he'd made of the Legion's headquarters. Pictures of himself adorned the cavernous throne room's walls, huge arched windows filling the space with light from outside. "Isn't this wondrous sport?" the Lord of Chaos chortled as he turned to a clearly uncomfortable Nightstone standing to his left.

"Why...why isn't Wildfire fighting back?" the teenage girl asked nervously. "...Isn't he meant to be super powerful?"

"I have enscorcelled the fool to believe himself human again," Mordru cackled. "Either he allows the illusion to hold and drifts to the four winds once he thinks himself slain or he breaks the illusion and kills the man-dragon...either way, one kills the other and the triumph is mine!"

Nightstone bit her lip. She'd been mad at the Legion and had almost gleefully embraced the chance to get her own back at them after the way they'd betrayed her and her friends, but this...all of this was just insane and cruel. Worse, she was absolutely certain that Mordru knew that she and Otaki weren't comfortable with how things had played out and she thought maybe that was all part of the fun for him. They needed to find some way to stop all of this or at least escape, but he'd taken the whole sprocking building to some weird magical planet and he never let Nightstone or Otaki out of his sight...for now, as much as it ran counter to the way she normally did things, Nightstone just had to bide her time.

"There will be time for more frivolity later," Mordru waved a hand and the crystal ball vanished in a puff of smoke. "For now, I have work to do even as Black Osiris cleanses this world for me." He turned to Otaki, who'd been standing on the other side of the throne. "Child, summon the prisoners."

Otaki looked down at the old-fashioned crank handle she'd been tasked with operating. Stammering, she gazed imploringly at Mordru but a coldness overcame him that made it clear to Otaki even without using her mindsense that she didn't dare disobey him. She wiped tears from her eyes with the back of one gloved hand as her other hand turned the crank. The handle operated a series of elaborate gears and cogs which ran through a slot in the floor to the furthest wall. The machinery continued up the wall and along the perimeter of the ceiling, whining as the wheels slowly turned at Otaki's hand.

The whining came not just from the mystical contraption though, it came from Elastic Lad whose trapped form was stretched almost paper thin between all that grinding metal. Otaki tried to numb his pain with her power as well as she could, but she couldn't imagine how agonising this must nonetheless be for him. Hundreds of feet of elongated flesh later, the mechanism opened the double doors at the other end of Mordru's throne room and led in seven Legionnaires who were all bound at the wrists and ankles by Elastic Lad's magically manipulated limbs. Matter-Eater Lad, Lightning Lass, Crystal Kid, Polar Boy, Life Lass, Gravity Kid and Lightning Lad were all forced to shuffle through the enormous room until they were presented before the villain.

"Hang in there, pal!" Matter-Eater Lad called out, unable to even tell where Elastic Lad's face was as he'd been stretched so thin. "We'll get you out of here as soon as we can, okay?"

"You won't get away with this, Mordru!" Polar Boy protested.

"Where's my wife, you son of a bitch?" Impotent sparks danced in Lightning Lad's eyes. "Where are my sons? I swear by all that's holy, if you've hurt them then Legion code be damned--"

Mordru allowed himself indulgent laughter once more. "I must say, Legionnaires, you have provided me with much amusement this day...how pleased I am that I didn't simply murder you all in one fell swoop! As I just said to these young ladies however, we have work to do...so let us begin."

**********

MEANWHILE...

Chemical Kid felt anxiety turn into panic as he tumbled head over heel beneath a black ocean. Sojurn had teleported them all somewhere underwater and immediately lost their grip on their fellow students. It was freezing and Hadru's lungs felt like they were about to burst and he couldn't even save himself, let alone anyone else--

--no.

He forced himself to try and remember his neurochemistry training with Saturn Girl, released enough serotonin and gamma-aminobutyric acid into his brain to overcome the stress that was stealing his ability to think his way out of this. Not too much...you'll have time to bliss out when the drowning steals your last bit of oxygen, Hadru... He did feel noticeably calmer, but that only dealt with the least of his problems. He'd stopped rolling incessantly, but he still had no idea which way was up. He saw the orange flash of Sojurn's teleportation somewhere to his right and swam towards it but his clothes weighed him down too much and before he'd covered even a quarter of the distance he saw Sojurn disappear once more with someone else in tow. At least that stupid octopus came back for us, Chemical Kid tried to give himself hope. They'll save you, just stay alive long enough for them to save you, Hadru.

He saw another flash of light, this one more like an electrical arc. He turned towards it and nearly laughed out the last of his air when he saw one of the Ranzz kids flailing wildly. You spiked your own brain, idiot! he chastised himself. How is any of this funny? And why would Garridan or Graym or whichever one it is have lightning coming out of their head..?

Chemical Kid didn't have time to think anything else because he finally exhausted his ability to hold his breath and the air exploded out of his lungs. He reached out in a futile attempt to help the Ranzz kid anyway, and just before he blacked out he saw the enormous jaw of some undersea leviathan open wide and swallow them both whole...

**********

AVALON
Former Skull Peak base camp

ROLL CALL

Chlorophyll Kid aka Ral Benem: hyper-stimulated plant growth, reserve member
Dream Girl aka Nura Nal: Naltorian precognition
Glorith: time sorceress, Legion Academy student
Harlack: Khund sorceror, Legion ally
Ivy Arcane: infant Avatar of the Green
Kid Quantum aka Jazmin Cullen: quantum field manipulation, Legion Academy student
Mysa Nal: former sorceress and ex-Legionnaire

Glorith lay prone on a modest cot, drifting in and out of consciousness while Kid Quantum sat rigid on a folding chair at the foot of the bed and watched her with a furrowed brow.

Mysa Nal placed a steaming mug of herbal tea on the dresser beside Glorith, and just the scent of the restorative concoction perked the teenage sorceress up a little. "Poor thing's exhausted," Mysa smiled with affection as she brushed Glorith's cheek lightly. "Drink that when you're up to it, little one. It'll help you recuperate faster."

"Glorith will be alright, won't she?" Kid Quantum asked, looking around at her elders crowding Mysa's tent. "I don't think she's ever opened a portal this far before...all the way from Mars to Avalon!"

"It's sweet that you're concerned about her," Mysa smiled at the young Xanthui girl. "I'm glad Glorith has such a good friend in you, Jazmin...sending her to the Legion Academy might be one of the only good things I did when I was the Black Witch. Don't you worry though, she's just worn out. That girl has strength she can't imagine, but interstellar transmigration would be tiring for anyone. I doubt she'd even have been able to do it if she weren't so familiar with Harlack and I...well, with who I was."

"Don't undersell yourself," Dream Girl remarked. "I asked Glorith to take us to the safest place she knows and she brought us straight to you...that's more than just familiarity; that girl is devoted to you, Mysa."

"Forgive me for changing the topic," Harlack spoke up as delicately as he could, "But we really need to formulate a battle plan. If the dread Mordru defeated Blok and Diamond Damsel as quickly as you described, we must assume that he has taken the rest of your Legion as easily...and if he possesses the power that Mysa once wielded as the Black Witch, we have the fight of our lives ahead of us."

"You can take the sorceror out of Khundia..." Dream Girl noted dryly. Harlack gave her a confused look in return and Nura shook her head. "Never mind; I'm just being silly, Harlack. You're right though, we do need to come up with a strategy. I'm concerned that I can't reach anyone on my flight ring. I'm not entirely surprised that I can't reach anyone at base, but there were plenty of Legionnaires not on base when Mordru attacked. I'm worried that he's damaged the equipment that coordinates our subspace comms relays, but that equipment is insanely well protected and it's not something he'd know to target."

"I'm sorry, Dream Girl...I don't think I understand what you're getting at?" Ral Benem asked. He rocked Ivy back and forth slowly as he spoke; she'd cried herself out not long after arriving here and now slept soundly in his arms.

"I think...I think Dream Girl means Mordru would have had to cause catastrophic structural damage to our headquarters?" Kid Quantum guessed out loud. "Is that right..?"

"Clever girl," Nura complimented her. "But yes. And by catastrophic I mean...well, let's just say when Universo brainwashed the original Supergirl into tearing our old building to pieces, that didn't cause enough damage to affect our comms. I think the first thing we need to do is find a way to make contact with Phantom Girl and go from there."

"That shouldn't be difficult," Mysa volunteered. "Avalon may be primitive by Legion standards, but we do have Science Police contacts with access to the normal UP networks. I'm sure King Leon would be more than happy to help!"

"Let us depart then!" Harlack clapped once and stood up. "The sooner we leave, the sooner we can destroy the fiend!"

"Nura..." Mysa cast a glance toward Glorith, who'd only just now sat up to drink her tea. "...I don't think she's ready to travel, but I don't feel comfortable leaving her here alone with Mordru able to follow her mystical trail here..."

"This might be as good a time as any to bring it up then," Ral spoke up hesitantly. "Dream Girl...I have a higher responsibility now. I can't join you in this, I need to make sure Ivy's safe. I'm happy to look after Glorith and Kid Quantum as well, but I'm afraid my days of traipsing into battle against the Legion's latest power-mad villain are over."

Harlack visibly bristled at the idea of Chlorophyll Kid electing to stay with children to avoid battle, but Dream Girl simply placed a perfectly manicured hand on Ral's shoulder. "I understand, Ral...and honestly, I'm glad they'll have someone so experienced to be here for them."

"Wait, no!" Kid Quantum jumped to her feet. "I'm worried about Glorith, but I'm worried about our other friends too! I don't need looking after, I want to help!"

"Out of the question," Dream Girl shut her down. "Mordru and Black Osiris are both extremely out of your weight class, young lady. You're going to stay here and help Chlorophyll Kid protect Ivy and Glorith and that's the end of it!"

A woman's shrill scream cut Jazmin's refrain short, and everyone but Glorith ran outside the tent to see what was going on.

"Demon Mother..." Harlack mouthed almost reverently as he gaped at the spectacle above them.

"What...what are those things?" Ral asked, staring wide-eyed at the dozen or so humanoids darting across what was left of the camp site. They seemed composed of pure blackness, their outlines crackling with unholy energy.

"They're Shadow Demons..." Mysa's voice was barely a frightened whisper.

"...Mordru has come for us."

**********

ELSEWHERE

Dragonwing brooded as she carefully edged her way around the exterior of the massive bluestone castle where she'd found herself. She had next to no cover here outside the castle, so she'd forced herself to wait till nightfall and then begun her cautious reconnaissance. In the meantime she'd seen some crazy things; winged horses flying far overhead, giggling pixies dancing among a bed of rainbow-hued flowers, a circle of chittering toadstools which up and ran away into taller grass as she approached. So far she'd not come across a single entrance into this structure nor any indication of where she actually was, but she'd confirmed her initial deduction that this wasn't Mars; for one thing she'd seen no moons in the sky and for another, Mars didn't have a seemingly endless array of ridiculous fantasy creatures popping up every ten feet.

"Dragonwing!"

At the sound of her name being hissed at her, Marya Pai spun on her heel and exhaled a stream of vivid green flame.

"Hey! Do you mind?!" Amp fell backwards out of the way of the attack, barely avoiding a bad burn. "What the sprock is wrong with you?!"

"Calm down Lallor, I didn't know it was you!" Marya offered a hand to help her stand up, but Amp rejected it and instead awkwardly made her way to her feet using only her right arm to support herself as she stood. "What's wrong with you?" Dragonwing shot back at her once she realised Amp's left arm was hanging in a makeshift sling.

"That Black Osiris nasshead broke my arm if you must know!" Amp snapped. "I've been amping my regenerative ability but it's still gonna be a while before I can use my stupid arm again...it took me forever to dig myself out from under that stupid castle, do you have any idea what's going on here? Why would Black Osiris have a whole sprocking castle?! Where are Miqui and Fire Lass and--"

"Fire Lass is dead," Dragonwing spat. "Just like Black Osiris is gonna be by the time I'm through with him."

"What?!" Amp almost shouted.

"He killed her," Dragonwing explained. "Black Osiris just...killed her and laughed about it. Don't worry, Key Kid and the others are okay; I saw Sojurn teleport everyone away."

"Oh Marya..." Amp came closer and started to place a hand on Dragonwing's arm. "I'm so sorry--"

"Forget it," Marya slapped her hand aside. "I never liked her anyway, and it's not like you and I are such good friends all of a sudden. But I'm going to find a way to kill him, so try and keep up." Having said her piece, Dragonwing stormed off.

Amp fumed silently for a moment but couldn't contain her frustration beyond that. "You're a real bitch, you know that? Do you think you're the only one who ever lost someone, Dragonwing? One of the only friends I ever had killed one of the only other friends I ever had, but you don't see me being the absolute worst--"

"Be. Quiet."

The two girls both heard the same commanding voice, and they stared at one another wide-eyed. An instant later, a tiny corkscrew of thick smoke descended between them and formed itself into an approximation of a female face.

"Gas Girl!" Amp recognised her immediately.

"Shh!" Gas Girl hushed her. "Honestly, Ming! I'm surprised Mordru hasn't found you two yet, I heard you halfway around the perimeter of the castle!"

"Mordru?" Amp was taken aback. "Isn't he that wizard guy? What does he have to do with anything?"

"Mordru and Black Osiris are working together!" Gas Girl explained in hushed tones. "Along with some telepath called Otaki and an earth-mover named Nightstone...girls, it's really bad. I've spent most of the day drifting through the castle, trying to figure out what's going on as best I can...he's torturing nearly half the team in there! I think...I think he killed Diamond Damsel."

Dragonwing and Amp were speechless momentarily. Finally, Dragonwing found her voice. "How though? And...and why??"

A bolt of lightning seared the ground near them and all three turned toward its source. They saw Lightning Lad, Gravity Kid, Polar Boy, Crystal Kid, Life Lass, Matter-Eater Lad and Lightning Lass descending from the night sky above; Garth Ranzz's fist was crackling with electricity and Gravity Kid was smiling smugly.

"Why is none of your business, you ignorant fems," Tel Vole condescended to the trio, "And as for how? Well, I guess the servants of sin are just that much more superior to the servants of virtue."

The three girls swapped baffled glances. "Gravity Kid..?" Dragonwing finally asked. "What the sprock are you talking about?"

"No more talking!" Lightning Lad exploded in rage. "Let's go, Legion!"

...and then Garth Ranzz fired upon them.


NEXT: ARE YOU READY FOR THE MOST UNEXPECTED CHARACTER RETURN EVER?????

so tickled to see part 2 up Raz! yay! I hope your symptoms continue to be mild/nonexistent.

pretty impressed with your plot planning, I don't plan out that well

curious as to who the 18 "missing" Legionnaires are... are reservists like Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl counted in that number?

go Tinya, for calming Mon down - and go Mon for calming down, you know. I never liked his panic attacks from the Levitz era (though I did understand it, after all surviving 1000 years in the Phantom Zone would probably drive me nuts...)


Stimbevs! nice term!

Nice reference to Yera's possible future.

Vi rolling her eyes at Gim/Yera, heh, some wounds take time to heal eh. Nice scene with Dawny, Tellus and Vi - I like both Tellus and Dawny apologizing, while Vi is also right that Dawny shouldn't beat herself up too much - a simpler apology would have sufficed, Dawny shouldn't overthink either.


Wow, Mordru's revenge is awful, pitting Legionnaire vs. Legionnaire. Also, interesting that Drake BELIEVES he's human, but is not really (but I guess Mordru did that so he could potentially fight back).

Nightstone is quite insightful, re her and Otaki also being for Mordru's entertainment

Ooh nice, Chemical Kid learned to use his power on himself, nice touch! oh wow, where are they... oh, I bet that leviathan swallowing them is Variable Lad, eh?

nice seeing Mysa and Harlak around, makes sense they'd be involved, and makes sense Glorith would see Mysa/Avalon as a safe place!

Good going Kid Quantum, and nice of Nura to praise her!

oy, Shadow Demons!

glad to see some managed to escape - I guess Mordru was concerned with Legionnaires, so Amp and Dragonwing slipped through. and of course Gas Girl has an edge!

I did like Amp's explosion at Dragonwing (it was all true!) and Gas Girl shushing both

OMG, Servants of Sin... Seven Legionnaires... they're possessd by the Deadly Sins aren't they???

wow, way to up the ante!