Feel daunted by the length of this thread? You can also check out the
Recap Thread to catch up!
VOLUME 5: What Makes Us SpecialKorrThe Planet Korr boasts one of the most impressive and complete technological archives in the United Planets. It specializes in old technologies that many today would consider obsolete. One school of thoughts scoffs at the need to revisit the past; but another, growing movement believes that we can learn much from the principles used by our ancestors.
After the Scavenger nearly killed several Legionnaires*, the hoarder was arrested. While he serves his sentence, his extensive collection is with the main museum on Korr for safekeeping. The Chief Curator is reportedly looking into legal options for gaining ownership of the collection. Several United Planets officials have called for the objects to be confiscated from the Scavenger, who is believed to have obtained them through theft and violence.
-
article from The Technological Tinkerer *******************
Active LegionnairesGates, Ti'julk Mr'asz of Vyrga; opens teleportation disks. Current Legion Deputy Leader.
Brainiac 5, Querl Dox of Colu; 12th level intelligence and force field powers
Kinetix, Zoe Saugin of Aleph; telekinesis and animation of objects; affinity for magic
Violet, Salu Digby of Imsk; shrinks and grows own body
*******************
"... and the lack of discipline of some of our teammates is appalling!" Gates finished, just as he and Brainiac 5 stepped into the hall housing the 21st century superhero gadgets. Or rather, floated; walking was painful for Gates, and Brainiac 5 preferred using his flight ring to conserve his physical energy.
Querl Dox temporarily shifted his focus to his 5th thought track, the one he was using to converse with Gates. After all, his best friend deserved an amount of focus at least equal to the focus Querl was giving to the objects before them. "I believe that's why Triad is proposing a demerit system for those who fail to meet deadlines, yes?"
"Yes, and I think it's a good idea. The consequences should be severe enough to act as a deterrent, though." Gates waved his arms in exasperation. "Why, guess who was nearly late filing their mission reports AGAIN, for the third time?!"
"This again?!" Gates and Brainiac 5 turned, in surprise, to see Kinetix and Violet flying towards them. Violet pursed her lips, as Kinetix's eyes blazed. "Gates, anything being submitted up until the deadline is on time!" she pointed her finger at Gates. "Even if it's one nano before!"
"I wasn't talking about you, Kinetix!" Gates protested. "I was talking about someone else I have to keep reminding, because they keep forgetting!"
"Oh, well," Kinetix seemed to deflate a bit. She was always ready to fight back if someone was being unreasonable, an adjective which she often used to describe Gates. She had to admit, though, that Gates was being more reasonable - even thoughtful - lately. Being Deputy Leader seemed to make him more thoughtful.
Sensing her best friend's consternation, Violet tried changing the subject. "Good seeing you both here, though. I didn't know you were interested in ancient superhero technology."
"It is a scientific exercise," Brainiac 5 muttered, slightly displeased. It was one thing to converse with his best friend Gates while studying old objects, and another entirely to give precious attention to two other teammates. "And Gates is here to keep me company."
"I didn't expect either of you would be interested, either," Gates pointed out.
"I'm a student of archaeology, remember?" Kinetix spread her hands. "And although Korr does not house any more mystical artifacts, there's still plenty of interesting stuff here."
"True," Gates conceded. "And..." he looked awkwardly at Violet. "I admire your bravery in coming here again, Violet."
"Oh," Violet blushed slightly. "The Emerald Eye possessed me here a very long time ago, Gates**. And it's safely locked away now.***"
"In short, she's over it," Kinetix quipped. Violet very subtly raised her eyebrow, and Kinetix blushed. That was a sign they had agreed on long ago; Zoe accepted that she could be overprotective of her loved ones.
"Mostly, anyway. Thanks for asking." Changing the subject before Gates could comment again, Violet gestured towards the exit. "We're going for a snack. Do you want to-"
The look on Brainiac 5's face would have been enough answer, but Violet's question was cut off by the ringing of alarms. Security drones rushed around, as other visitors looked up in shock and fear. Guards began ushering visitors out.
"Excuse me, you're Legionnaires, aren't you?" A lean, graceful sentient that looked like an Earth lizard with leathery wings came towards the quartet. "I'm Security Officer Komodo Scales. I don't mean to trouble you, but our securi-cameras caught someone warping into the exhibit hall..."
"No worries, Officer," Gates puffed himself up. "A Legionnaire is always ready to serve and protect. Right, gang?"
"Right!" Kinetix and Violet said in unison.
"Of course..." Brainiac 5 sighed inwardly. Perhaps they could prevent any theft, and he would have a chance to actually study the objects here while the museum was closed after...
*******************
A figure in gleaming golden armor looked greedily at the exhibit full of ancient weapons in front of him. "A Blue Lantern's lamp... an ancient batarang in the Jean-Paul Valley style... a Cosmic Converter Belt... all mine for the taking!" He reached out for the nearest object, a pair of aero-discs. "What I can learn from studying these..."
A glowing green aura enveloped his arm, pulling it back. "Can't you read? The signs all say don't touch!"
The figure snarled as he turned his head. Four beings with Legion of Super-heroes utility belts were flying towards him. Not the first time he'd faced the premiere do-gooders of the 31st century...**** And like before, he had come prepared.
"Kinetix, restrain him now!" Brainiac 5 commanded, not even looking up from his Omnicom.
"I'm guessing you recognize him, Brainy?" Even as she spoke, Kinetix extended her telekinetic field to keep their would-be-thief fully immobile.
Xotar just smiled. His advanced technology was beyond these primitives' imaginings... he drowned out the green one's sterile tones, as he focused his mind on the discs attuned to his brainwaves.
"... commanded discs that animated the robots," Brainiac 5 finished.
"Like those?" Violet, ever-watchful, pointed. Small gray discs flew down from the ceiling, attaching themselves to various objects in the exhibit.
"He was prepared!" Gates opened one of his teleport discs in the flight path of a flock of discs, sending them out of the museum. Kinetix growled as she extended her field to immobilize a dozen more, while Violet enlarged herself and swatted several more to the ground, smashing them.
Xotar smiled even more as he watched his surviving discs attach themselves to their targets.
The Blue Beetle's gigantic Bug hummed to life, breaching the museum ceiling! Dozens of other ancient weapons flew after it, causing frightened screams outside.
"Kinetix, with me!" Gates chirped, even as he teleported a silver hammer away - making it crash into what he recognized as a suit of Rocket Red armor. He was there last time the Legion faced Xotar, and knew how dangerous those disks could be.
"But-" Kinetix protested.
"He can control these things even without your field, Zoe," Violet "sent" her best friend through their telepathic earplugs array. "And your telekinesis can stop more of these objects than the rest of us."
"... fine," Zoe muttered, as she let Gates teleport her away.
Brainiac 5 tucked his Omnicom into his belt pouch, as his forcefield sprang to life around Xotar. The collector from the future pounded at the translucent wall containing him.
"Are you sure that will hold him?" Violet grabbed a yellow trident that was firing energy blasts, and pointed it at some other objects running amok.
"I would prefer to enact some contingency plans," Brainiac 5 said dryly, as he modified his field's shape to protect himself from a flurry of icicles being generated by a gun. Idly, he allowed his eleventh thought track to ponder how the weapon could operate within the laws of thermodynamics. "Given he is from the far future..."
"On it," Violet shrank out of sight.
Brainiac 5 felt his body jerk. Now that his forcefield was physically part of him... he narrowed his eyes, observing Xotar running his hands over the field surrounding him. Possibly some technology that allowed him to manipulate the physical functions of other beings...
Shifting tactics, Querl widened his forcefield into a dome, and slammed its edges onto the floor, throwing debris up at Xotar. The would-be future conqueror snarled, and Querl smiled as he felt the pain disappear. As long as Xotar didn't touch his field...
He let ten of his thought-tracks go dormant, as he focused his attention on keeping Xotar off-balance. He had full confidence in Violet, but he still needed to give her enough time to do her job.
*******************
Gates frowned as he and Kinetix emerged from a teleport disc. Fires and explosions raged around him, as the weapons activated by Xotar spread around the top floor of the museum. "I detest these vile , selfish sentients who don't care about the suffering they inflict!"
"100% with you there," Kinetix muttered as she snagged a gun that spouted some kind of thick, viscous liquid. She pointed it at a pair of Thanagrian Nth-metal wings, causing them to crash to the floor. "Thankfully, the guards have evacuated everyone!"
"Then we can focus on the task at hand," Gates clicked. "I wish we could preserve these historical artifacts, but..."
"... but maybe we can!" Kinetix snapped her fingers. "These are being animated by those discs..." Concentrating on the gun she held, she cast her mind out, searching for a piece that was foreign. "There!" With a bit of focus, she pulled the disc off and crushed it. "it takes a bit of focus for me to do this, though. If you can help me by..."
"I get you!" Gates teleported a purple-and-green suit of armor in front of Kinetix. "You conserve your energy here, while I deliver them to you!" He winked at Kinetix, as he disappeared through another disc.
I definitely need to give Gates more credit," Kinetix thought, as she searched for the disc animating the armor.
He at least doesn't complain ALL the time...*******************
Xotar growled as he blasted away an approaching wall of debris. Curse the Coluan! He needed to touch the forcefield to break through!
He had hoped to defeat Brainiac 5 quickly, but the 12th-level intellect had been too quick for him...
*******************
A diminutive Violet popped her head out from the ruined floor, a few meters away from Xotar. Narrowing her eyes, she studied his armor. Testing the wind, she grew a few centimeters and tossed a piece of metal at it.
Her eyes widened as said metal disintegrated a few centimeters away from the armor.
"Okay, time for Plan B..." she muttered.
*******************
Gates watched as Kinetix sat, cross-legged, back against the wall. She was clearly tiring... and so was he. Dozens of dangerous arms still flew about, and it was taking all his attention to ensure that none escaped the museum building.
Kinetix caught his eye, and she flashed a quick wink. A mammalian expression that Gates had long learned to appreciate.
She's not so bad..., Gates thought as he teleported an unwieldy-looking glider in front of Kinetix.
I should definitely be more patient with her...*******************
Brainiac 5 bit his lip as he used his forcefield to steer Xotar into the center of the hall. His options would be limited if Xotar approached a corner of the room...
His head snapped up as he heard a loud thunk on his forcefield. Looking up, he saw a silvery piece of armor waving at him.
"I trust you're in there, Violet?" he asked.
Violet's voice - garbled, but unmistakably hers - responded. "I can't get to his armor, but I could get into this. If you give me an opening..."
Brainiac 5 opened a hole up in his forcefield...
... and Violet aimed her armor through the gap, making it crash into Xotar's smaller bodysuit!
A tiny Violet sped through the air just before the point of impact, letting the shockwaves carry her further. She grew to normal size behind Brainiac 5, letting his forcefield protect her.
"Brilliant tactic," Brainiac 5 nodded, all the while keeping an eye on Xotar's prone figure.
"You bought me time to think of it," Violet smiled back.
A glowing green aura signaled the arrival of Kinetix and Gates. "We guessed you'd beaten the bad guy," Kinetix quipped.
"Those discs of his fell inert all of a sudden," Gates explained. Curiously, Violet noted that Kinetix had her arm around Gates' shoulders.
"Just like the last encounter," Brainiac 5 said calmly... "I would shield your eyes, now." His warning came just in time, as the unconscious Xotar vanished in a blinding flash. "And his retreat through time was also expected."
Kinetix sniffed. "It's so unfair that he just escapes unpunished!"
"Unpunished, perhaps," Brainiac 5 allowed himself a small smile. "But I have enough data on his armor's energy patterns, to allow us to track him if he appears in our time again."
"Great. Now we just have to help clean up..." Violet looked around at all the destruction around them.
"Can we at least get a snack first?" Kinetix stuck her tongue out. "My stomach's been rumbling since before this fight!"
"I completely agree!" Gates nodded. "We do better work on full stomachs!"
"I know this really rad place nearby, that specializes in invertebrate proteins," Kinetix began, as she and Gates flew towards the exit.
Violet and Brainiac 5 gave each other knowing looks, as they followed their respective best friends.
*******************
IB's notes:
1) The Legion fought the Scavenger in LSH 74, L* 31!
2) Revealed in Legionnaires 40!
3) The Emerald Eye is in a
containment unit enhanced by Robotica!
4) Xotar fought the Legion in Legionnaires 68!
Previous Thread
perhaps some tongues will be visible in the next 3 installments 
