Legion World Forums LEGION OUTPOST Bits o' Legionnaire Business LMB Onevision: The Gold Watch

Note - these events take place several months ago during the term of Ram Boy and Lash Lad prior to the Red Bee conflict on Legion World.

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After decades of preparation, in 3003 when the universe was at its most vulnerable, the Corporations of Earth at last succeeded in taking over the mother-planet once and for all. Through a series of business transactions and political maneuvering, the Corporations gained complete control of the planet, climaxing in Earth’s secession from the United Planets.

Though millions fled the mother-planet, billions remained behind, subsequently finding themselves in a society where an elite class of super-wealthy exploited the poorer classes. Slavery and serfdom quickly returned as institutions in society for the first time in over one thousand years. The vast majority of citizens of Earth suffered in lives of poverty and exploitation.

In the years since, Earth’s relationship with the rest of the galaxy has been confrontational and aggressive. Diplomacy has been abandoned and economic arrangements ceased; the United Planets has maintained a blockade around Earth for several years.

Unknown to the public at large, Earth has repeatedly tried to fund the enemies of the United Planets, the Khanate of Sol Invictus and the Dark Oval in their attempt to find allies. The UP black ops machine, utilizing the military contacts and espionage skills of LMBer Cobalt Kid has halted these attempts by subsidizing an organization of pirates to destroy these merchant ships. This years-long operation has been successful.

However, while a balance of power has gradually become the status quo, the crimes perpetrated by the Corporations of Earth have never been addressed. Justice remains unserved, as the once great bastion of culture and humanity has slipped into a realm of decadence.

Cornelius Ricimer overlooked the beautiful view on his terrace, taking in the beauty of the Atlantic Ocean. The construction of his immense residences were undertaken with specific instructions to be high enough to block out the view of the dreary ghettos and slums below. He found that seeing the common people was depressing and his mind had too many important things to consider without being distracted.

He sipped the finest herbal tea one could find on Earth and inhaled the beautiful morning air. Life was good—he had seen to that. Many who heard his name assumed he lived a life of luxury and ease. After all, he was well-known as the single richest man on Earth. Most commoners didn’t understand why that was, or how it was accomplished, but gave it even more mystique. What they didn’t understand—which he told himself—was all of the hard work he put in then and has continued to put in, managing the affairs of Earth and the his vast wealth. It was so taxing on him, and he deserved all of this luxury for working so hard.

Cornelius checked the morning stock prices before the markets opened. Morning indications were that shares of Google-Facebook were down a half a point. He sent a quick email to his Senior Vice President, Elena to suggest laying off several thousand employees, which would quickly get the share price up.

He took another sip of his tea and watched the beautiful landscape. Down below, he saw a large bird suddenly fly towards the water and pull a large fish out.

He looked at his wrist and delighted in the beautiful piece that adorned it. It was one of his favorite possessions: The Gold Watch.

Celeb Circus Breaking News!!! – Ladies and Gentlemen do we have a scope for you! We know you love your celebrity gossip and we’ve certainly got it now! Boring business news getting you down? Politics seems so confusing? Well we’ve got the dish you need to stimulate those brains!

Here’s the scoop: remember the days of yesteryear when the Legion of Message Board Posters used to live here on Earth before they were all killed by the alien empire of the United Planets? Well, it seems one of the few survivors in the world is finally returning! That’s right, Cobalt Kid, the legendary hero from the planet Ggrrgg is going to be on-planet in the coming days! What could he be here for? Why, romance of course! Evidently he’s got the hots for heiress Tiffany Spiffany, who is currently spending a semester on Earth during her graduate studies at Mayavale University.

No one knows how serious they are though its expected they’ll be hot and heavy! We’ll have photos and videos for you shortly!

Remember, life can be pretty boring, but Celeb Circus keeps you updated with the most important stories!

Celeb Circus owned 100% by MediaCorp.

Metropolis, Earth

The LMBer known as Spellbinder, the Royal Princess of Psyonia, turned off the news feed disgusted. She threw the omni-remote onto the couch and turned to her companion, Furball.

“It’s ridiculous the way news is reported here. They can’t possible think the people are falling for all of this celebrity circus nonsense! It was only 9 years ago that Earth was a vibrant part of the United Planets. The people here haven’t forgotten.”

Furball shrugged and made a sad-face. He walked over and gave Spellbinder a hug.

“Thank you dear,” she said. “I hate coming to Earth now, but it must be done from time to time for the United Planets.” She looked at him now, obviously measuring her words. There were secrets between Spellbinder and Furball and she did not want to approach a discussion of those secrets. “Cobie was very adamant I include Earth among my tour of the borders of the United Planets. He was adamant you join me.” There was a momentary tension in the room as she spoke. “But now I’ve got to play the Ambassador. I…won’t be back for some time and I know these things bore you dear. So I hope you’ll find some way to…amuse yourself…”

She smiled and began making preparations to exit. Furball watched, not saying anything, silently questioning how much she knew for sure and how much she just suspected. Finally she left.

Now alone and making sure there were no recording devices, Furball quickly changed his form. Furball had been an LMBer since its second year; as a big furry creature, he was generally seen as their mascot, in an almost comical role. But Furball had a dark secret: he had a humanoid form that was very dangerous. And in that form, he had been living a double-life for many years now.

With Cobalt Kid, the former Chief of Security on Legion World and leader of the LMB Espionage Squad, he had been running black ops on behalf of Legion World and the United Planets for a number of years. Cobalt Kid had high-ranking contacts within the UP administrative structure and organized these black ops on their behalf; his number one agent in the field was the LMBer most knew as Furball. However, he and Cobalt had another codename he used for these black ops: Timberwolf.

Now clad in black leather and with his trademark knives and other weapons & gadgets, Timberwolf forced open one of the windows and leapt out into the city below, leaping from the 101st floor of the hotel he was in, landing on a skyscraper nearby.

Legion World

LMB Leader Ram Boy looked at the Mission Monitor Board, sipping a hot cup of coffee and felt an increasingly familiar feeling that all was right on Legion World and with the LMB. His term had its share of events during the course of the year, but in the last few months as his term was coming to an end, it had been surprisingly—and welcomingly—quiet.

Every morning he liked to personally take the first shift of Monitor Duty to keep up on recent events and get a sense of what was happening with the LMB. One of his administrative advisors, Helena Handbasket had remarked once to him that she thought every future LMB Leader should take a page out of his book and follow suit.

It was when he finally finished his cup of coffee that suddenly his day went totally off track. “Ram Boy,” said Gladys, the sentient disco ball, who now worked for his office, “you’re not going to believe who is on the omni-com! It’s the Prime Minister of the United Planets!” she said, almost shouting at him because it was such a special occurrence.

“Maya adi Lva?” he said, loudly. “Why in the world would she be calling at this hour? We have nothing on the schedule?” He quickly regained his composure. “Put her through.”

Maya adi Lva had become Prime Minister several years earlier in 3006 and had been re-elected for a second term. She was notable among the many politicians the LMB interacted with because she had an incredibly cunning mind and was a master strategist and manipulator. Former LMB Leader Kid Marvel and Deputy Leader Rockhopper Lad had filled Ram Boy in on her early in his term and he had gotten to see it first hand. It was very difficult to know where Maya adi Lva stood on almost any issue—her actions tended to be based not on any personal opinion on the issue but a much larger agenda she was trying to accomplish.

“Madame Prime Minister,” he said, “to what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Greetings Ram Boy,” she said politely, “my apologies for the unannounced call. I’ll get right to it. Certain information has been finally fallen into my lap after a number of years of my probing for it. And what I’ve found is alarming.”

“I don’t follow…?” Ram Boy began to respond.

“What do you know about the Odysseus Corp?”

“Come again?” he said, having no idea what she was talking about.

“What about the former Legion World Triumvirate? Do you know them well, Ram Boy?”

“Madame Prime Minister, I’m having a hard time following you.”

“Ram Boy, I’m sure you know all about the history between Earth and the United Planets. I’m sure you must realize that in addition to the highly public aggressive nature of our relationship with Earth, there are likely all sorts of spy games and political maneuvering. What I want to know is, what do you know about certain members of the organization you lead, the Legion of Message Board Posters, that are actively working to take down the Corporate regimes of Earth? What in the world is going on over there and do I have to be worried?”

Ram Boy took a deep breath. This was going to be a long day.



Ten minutes later, Ram Boy ended his call, half-overwhelmed and half-furious beyond measuring. He had no idea what the Prime Minister was talking about, though he knew there were plenty of secrets in the LMB he didn’t know. But enough was enough. He was damn well going to find out.

Metropolis, Earth

Cobalt Kid walked through a cadre of tabloid journalists and holographers, smiling to the masses and cracking jokes along with them. Everyone was in high spirits and laughing.

“Cobie, c’mon, you gotta give us a shot of you two hugging and kissing. It will make our whole week!”

“Sorry guys, but I’ve got to clear it with her. Why don’t you contact her publicist and we’ll set something up.”

Shouts of ‘c’mon Cobie!’ went out, but Cobalt ignored them. He saw up ahead she was waiting. “Okay guys, gotta run!” he added, suddenly flying into the air and across a few hundred yards of metropolitan streets. Without missing a beat, he swung down and scooped up Tiffany Spiffany in his arms, again taking to the skies.

“I think that should be enough for the tabloids for one day,” he said to her.

“You owe me,” she replied, “big time!” She was annoyed and tried to show it but when she saw him smile, she returned a half-smile. “But me down over there and lets get a cup of coffee or something.”

He did so, and they began to walk to a café. “They haven’t outlawed coffee yet?” said Cobalt, “I’m shocked.”

“I’ve gotten special privileges because I’m a Spiffany,” she said, “they desperately want to open up trade with Daddy’s operations.” She spoke with a measure of guilt in her voice. “It’s gotten horrible here, Cobie. The people are being treated like chattle…the disparity between classes is visibly getting worth every day.”

“I noticed on the way in,” said Cobalt, looking around. “This is the first time I’ve been back on planet since…since the bombing where I was believed dead. I honestly can’t believe I’ve never been back until now.”

“It must be pretty depressing then. What you’ll see is they try to keep the masses well fed and well entertained. Anything to distract them. It’s become awful…you’ll never believe what they are trying to institute again.”

“Gladiatorial games,” said Cobalt matter-of-factly. “I know. I read about it on the way over. Bread & Circuses is the strategy…to keep the citizenry occupied.” He looked around again, still in a bit of shock. “It’s not too late to save it all,” he added. He turned back to her, watching her look at him quizzically. “Thanks Tiffany for arranging this ‘visit’. It was the easiest way to get me on planet for what I’m about to do.”

“No problem,” she smiled, “what else are business partners for. How are our various holdings, anyway?” she asked.

“Profitable,” he smiled. “But honestly, I can’t thank you enough,” he added. Cobalt was usually very stoic and not prone to emotional outbursts, but he felt a wave of emotion rolling over him. Earth had been his home for many years and he never really had a chance to say goodbye. In 3003, the world believed him dead, but it was actually a cleverly disguised kidnapping. By the time he was freed, Earth had seceded from the UP and the LMB were long gone. He never had returned since.

“The Princess is here,” said Tiffany, “are you going to meet up with her?” Tiffany and Cobalt had once gone on several dates years earlier but it only resulted in some modest flirting. They had gradually grown into good friends over the years—so much so that she was partially teasing him but also partially curious as a friend.

“I don’t think so,” said Cobalt. “If there is time, I will…but right now, I’ve got a mission of the utmost importance.”

Tiffany understood and realized he probably was going to leave in a moment. So she added one more comment: “Cobie, I hope you’re doing well. You’ve seemed very distant these last few months. Even longer, really. You need to laugh more. And not just for the cameras.”

He looked at her and forced a smile. “Someday soon. Maybe when this is done.”

Timberwolf blended in quickly with the impoverished citizenry of Earth, picking up a bland, old coat to wear over his clothes. He took in the scope of what Earth was now like, finding it almost incomprehensible that the LMB had lived here only 8 years earlier. The majority of the cities looked broken down and decayed, with pollution and trash everywhere. People barely had enough money to survive—and many did not—while crime was starting to sore.

It was much worse. The Corporate controlled Government had created a massive bureaucratic organization whose sole purpose was to distract the population with “bread and circuses”: keeping them well fed and saturated with pointless entertainment with little substance, such as celebrity circus. For a significant part of the population, it was working. Timberwolf could only hope that more people didn’t buy into the crap than did.

“Don’t let it depress you,” he heard a voice and turned to see Cobalt Kid. He’d already picked up on Cobie’s approaching scent, otherwise, if he’d been caught by surprise, he might have gutted him. “I was having a hard time getting accustomed to it earlier. But the plain facts are, Earth as we knew it is currently gone. We need to focus on the mission at hand, and try to get it back.”

Timberwolf smiled. “The lack of UP contacts throughout this thing is noticeable. Are you running this op yourself?”

“Something else else like that,” Cobalt said grinning back. Timberwolf didn’t miss much: he was exactly right, this was unsanctioned by the UP. And once it became plain how large scale his plans were, the ramifications would be huge.

“What are we up against?”

“The real problem is the private mercenary armies,” said Cobalt. “The Corporations employ real mercenaries here...the type we usually have fun with. The police force and Earthgov military will eventually be pulled in but when all is said and done, they aren’t bad people. Most of them will remember. They’ve just had everything they know robbed from them, and they can’t seem to find a way to the light to see it.”

Timberwolf had known Cobalt a long time now. He knew Cobalt had a very stoic, unemotional personality. Some of his friends sometimes wondered in private if deep down, Cobie was really that cold. Yet, Timberwolf’s heightened senses could pick up on emotions in people—and he was very surprised that Cobalt was actually incredibly angry right now, though he was hiding it well. He hadn’t seen him this angry in years.

“We also have to be careful around slaves,” said Cobalt, adding a comment that obviously disgusted him. “Slavery and serfdom are beginning to come back, only 10 years into the Takeover. Some people have just been left with so little, they’ve entered into obligations they can’t find another way out of.”

“That isn’t good,” said Timberwolf. He knew it was an understatement, but he meant it. “Its still early enough to curb that trend but 20, 30 more years and slavery could take hold for centuries. We’ve seen it before.”

“I know,” said Cobalt. “We’re going to nail these bastards, Lon. No matter what the consequences or how illegal it is.”

Legionnopolis, Legion World

Ram Boy flew across the skyline of Legion World with his flight ring, moving with the determination of someone looking for answers. Down below, at the local comic book shop, he saw the person he was looking for.

The infamous Lash Lad, current Deputy Leader of the LMB, was leaving the comic book shop with a new stack of comics, enjoying his day off. You would be hard-pressed to find a citizen on not only Legion World, but the United Planets in general, that did not know the heroic Lash Lad, most beloved of all LMBers. His prolific tenure in the LMB, from its founding to his latest service as Deputy Leader included numerous heroic acts and a long-standing measure among the galaxies on what was cool.

“Lash!” said Ram Boy flying down, “we need to talk!”

“Hey Ram,” said Lash, glad to see the Leader he was currently working under. “Did I forget if I had to work today or something?”

“No, no,” said Ram Boy, trying to suppress his current anxiety and maintain his normal pleasantness. “I need to ask you about something. Something else else you can help me with, that was before my time…”

“No prob,” said Lash, nodding to a park bench nearby to sit, “shoot.”

“What do you know about the Odysseus Corp?”

Lash’s face said it all: he had never heard of it before. “Er, nothing?”

“Lash, you’ve been friends with Cobie a long time, right?” Lash replied ‘yes’. “Like with Eryk Davis Ester as well, throughout the whole time they were both two of the Triumvirs of Legion World?”

“Of course,” said Lash. “Are they in trouble?”

“I’m not sure. Lash, look, I just got through with a long conversation with Prime Minister Maya adi Lva. She could barely contain her anxiety about some covert black ops mission by Cobie on Earth of all places. And even more alarming (to her) was some sort of corporate espionage Cobie is involved in.” Ram Boy obviously knew he was being a little nonsensical but he knew if anyone could help stare him in the right direction, it was Lash. “I’ve been an LMBer for a few years now but there is a lot from the early days I just don’t know. As LMB Leader, is there something I need to be informed of?”

Lash didn’t say anything for a moment. Over the years, he’d seen many members join the LMB, unaware of the immense history and many old secrets. It was a topic he seldom navigated and purposely so. “Rammy,” he said, “I’m sorry this has become your problem as LMB Leader. The truth is, of course I know Cobie & Eryk, they are two of my best friends, but I honestly don’t all that much about what you’re asking about. It certainly sounds more like Cobie than Eryk.”

Ram Boy suddenly looked really disappointed. “I’ve always heard the rumors about what Cobie does intergalactically, but I never knew how serious it was…”

“None of us do,” said Lash. “The truth is, almost anyone you ask, even me, just doesn’t know the whole story about what Cobie is up to. He has some dark secrets…bad things that have happened to him and bad things he’s been involved in. From his days as Security Chief and Triumvir to…whatever it is he’s doing now,” he finished.

“She mentioned Earth and I almost fell off my chair. What in the world could he be doing on Earth? Some of the things she was saying…”

“Earth means a lot to a lot of us from the old days,” said Lash. “It was our home for a long time. That was a tough betrayal to take and it still stings. So I can definitely see any of the early LMBers being extreme in things relating to Earth.”

“The Prime Minister thinks some sort of major covert action is going on right now on Earth. With a corporation called the Odysseus Corp.”

“Rammy, you know, the only person I can think of that might be able to help you,” said Lash, suddenly getting a thought, “is Jailbait Lass.”

“Cobalt’s old assistant? Didn’t they break up or something?”

“Something else else complicated like that,” said Lash, “and I think she hates Cobalt right now,” he added, “but you know, it might be the only way to get some real information. She used to help Cobie plan everything he did—Office of Security stuff, Triumvir stuff, his business stuff…everything really.”

Ram Boy nodded, thinking it over. “You might be right. Those two were like two peas in a pod. And you think she might have helped him make a lot of those plans…”

“Ram, I think she planned a lot of those plans!”

“Well, then, I’m off to see Lolita!”

The Earthgov Pentagon, Earth

“I’m in,” said Timberwolf quietly into his com-link, as he moved through the halls of the Pentagon, what was once the single most important Earthgov building on the planet prior to the Corporate Takeover. Years earlier, breaking in would have been unthinkable; today, breaking in was still next to impossible, but that slim window of lax security was all that it took for a master of espionage like Timberwolf to break in.

“What was once stored in the Hall of Records has been moved to a room on the lowest level,” said Cobalt Kid into the omni-com, hovering mid-flight outside a window on one of the high floors. Suddenly, the window cracked open, and Timberwolf was there, letting him in. Cobalt joined him, trying to use his magnetism to hover mid-air, not touching any walls or floors or anything at all. “Lead on,” he said to Timberwolf, letting his top agent run the show—after all, that was why he was his top agent.

“I’m surprised the documents still exist at all,” said Timberwolf.

“That’s why this op is happening right now,” said Cobalt. “All of the documents are scheduled to be destroyed—tomorrow morning.” They spoke quietly as they continued to move and the sound dampeners each one had as part of their numerous espionage technologies, made sure the sound traveled no further than between them. “One of the pirate ships working for me came across this intel. Its what made this long time strategy I’ve had in place finally come to fruition. If we’re going to do this, it had to be today.”

“Way to give us a window of opportunity,” said Timberwolf sarcastically. “These documents contain all of the legal and corporate actions taken then, during the Takeover?”

“Yes,” said Cobalt. “These are the signed contracts and agreements between the various corporations when they took Earthgov public.” Suddenly, Cobalt stopped talking. “Up ahead. Looks like two Earthgov cops.”

Timberwolf nodded and moved forward. He knew that meant non-lethal force. They might be working for the enemy but Cobalt hadn’t given up on them yet. He snuck up behind them and in a flash, with his speed, strength and skill, he based their heads together and put them down for a long night’s sleep.

“I don’t smell any others,” said Timberwolf. “Let’s move. On the way, try to explain to me how in the world the Corporations took over Earth.”

Cobalt took a deep breath. “For something of this magnitude to happen, we have to first state the obvious that it was completely illegal and a breach of everything Earthgov was about. But in order to legitimize the Takeover, to justify what happened, they did everything possible to make the Takeover to appear to be completely legal. They’ve documented the Takeover of Earthgov as being business as usual.”

Timberwolf smiled. “And now, they figure everyone who bought it into already has and everyone else doesn’t, so time to shred all the evidence.”

“Exactly,” said Cobalt. “What they did, essentially is privatize the most public entity on the planet—the Government itself. By strategically placing their agents in the Government over a series of decades, the Corporations had effectively rendered Earthgov useless anyway. The final Earthgov President, Tayla Wellington, actually served on the Board of Directors of Gold Capital Holdings.”

“Gold Capital Holdings?”

“I’ll get to them in a minute,” replied Cobalt. “The gist of it is Earthgov was ineffective and essentially doing nothing. They were taking orders from the various major Corporations. Which incidentally, had spent the previous decades going from a vast array of competitors into a small group of conglomerates through a never-ending series of mergers & acquisitions. What was once a vibrant community of corporations was an oligarchy of monopolistic entities. Their major competition, therefore, was the corporations in the rest of the United Planets.”

“Okay,” said Timberwolf, “so we have a handful of super-huge conglomerates emerging at the same time they’ve rendered the Government ineffectual.”

“Enter Gold Capital Holdings,” said Cobalt, “the premiere investment bank in the known galaxies. Throughout the last 100 yeas, Gold Capital has basically put all their competitors out of business. What separates them from the pack is they helped create all of these entities over the last few decades: when a company buys another company or merges with another company, they call in Gold Capital as the investment bank who sets it up. What Gold Capital gets in return, is a piece of the pie. They’re paid in shares of the companies they help create.”

“So Gold Capital basically is co-owner of all the major Corporations on Earth.”

“Exactly,” Cobalt said. “Once it became clear that the monopoly the Earth Corporations had on Earth could never be fully extended to the ever-expanding United Planets, they got greedy. They figured they would shut off communication with the UP and eliminate their competitors once and for all by cutting off the markets once and for all. In terms of the capitalist spirit, it was the exact opposite thing to do. But these Corporations aren’t interested in the ideology of spreading capitalism. They’re interested in enriching themselves—and if it means impoverishing everyone else, all the better for enhancing their superiority even more.”

Timberwolf said nothing now. He’d always wondered how this was done and was fascinated to know. Obviously, Cobalt was summarizing things to get done by the time they reached the basement level, but the overall major points made sense.

“So the Corporations—Google-Facebook, Media Corp, Steelworks, Massive Dynamic, etc.—decided to end the façade once and for all and eliminate the middle man completely. They had the politicians in their pockets vote on the privitazation of Earthgov. Naturally, Gold Capital Holdings handled the sale, including all the legal work…which incidentally, no one has ever seen. The politicians voted and anyone who voted against the action was never seen again. By now, the Corporations were employing private mercenary armies. You see, this occurred while the Barbarian Horde was invading the United Planets, keeping the UP distracted to the Corporations massive influx of mercenaries to Earth. The timing was not a coincidence. Gold Capital Holdings made the sale, and Earthgov was broken down into shares and sold off piecemeal to the corporations.”

“I bet the politicians who voted made out great,” said Timberwolf.

“Of course,” said Cobalt, “they were awarded with shares of the Corporations who owned Earthgov! And the kicker?” said Cobalt, now showing a genuine fury, “almost no sentients on Earth or outside of Earth have ever heard of Gold Capital Holdings.”

Timberwolf smiled. You did, he thought, and we’d make them pay for that.

“Gold Capital Holdings owns no direct shares of Earthgov. They instead own large shares of the Corporations who own Earthgov. Which means the political institutions like the UP and intergalactic corporations in the UP don’t know how to get at the true players behind this Takeover.”

“Given enough time,” said Timberwolf, “whatever was done illegally will just become an example of how to do it again legally. That’s what happens with major regime changes. At the time it’s always against the law, but if it succeeds, it becomes a blueprint.”

Cobalt knew this all too well. “Earthgov was sold and the citizens of Earth didn’t see a single cent. The men who enriched themselves paid nothing and got everything. Well today, we extract our pound of flesh.”

The Pentagon, Earth

“Is this it?” said Timberwolf, picking up two large bundles and putting them into two large, loose-fitting packs that hung on either side of him.

“Yes, those are only the signed documents. Everything else has already been secured electronically. But the signatures make it official.”

“And how you knew where the documents were, or got the electronic items…should I ever ask?”

“Kent,” said Cobalt referring to Kent Shakespeare, their fellow LMBer. “And the Bureau of External Affairs. They made sure to tell me they had no agendas or motivations, just wanted to pass some information along…”

“Naturally,” said Timberwolf sarcastically. Cobalt and Timberwolf often came across, or were outright assisted by, the Bureau of External Affairs in their covert operations. “I’m picking up the smell of leather getting more pungent, Cobie,” he added. The meaning was plain: soldiers were coming.

“We better move,” said Cobalt. The two reacted with almost lightning like speed: Cobalt flew with his magnetism through the hallways, blasting open the door to the stairwell and then upwards through the stairwell. Timberwolf followed with his heightened speed and agility, leaping from stair landing to stair landing, gaining momentum. With his enhanced strength and dexterity, he kept up without a problem or losing any breath.

They reached the ground floor level, and Cobalt waiting in front of the door, not opening it. The two worked so well together neither had to say anything. Timberwolf arrived seconds later and without missing a beat, quietly opened the door peering into the hallway. Cobalt heard a quiet moan and a body easily being laid on the floor; he opened the door and smiled to see while Timberwolf knocked out the guard and laid him down without any sound, he also managed to catch the guard’s gun with his foot. “Now you’re just showing off,” said Cobalt with a grin.

They looked ahead and one of the exits to the Pentagon building was just through a large lobby. “It’s going to be a gamble…” said Timberwolf, and Cobalt nodded. Timberwolf stuck to the shadows along the walls in the dingy building while Cobalt fly strait up the middle towards the doors. As he existed the hallway portion into the huge open lobby he immediately realized just how caught they were. On either side of the lobby there was two dozen guards, all of them armed to the teeth and in tactical position to begin an assault. Right in the middle, Cobalt was caught in the crossfire.

“Freeze right there, terrorist,” said what was obviously the leader of the guards. “Thought you were pretty slick, I bet? Whatever you’re doing here, it ends now. You’re under arrest.”

Cobalt said nothing for a moment, hovering above them. They were Earthgov military police and in Cobalt’s mind, this meant they weren’t truly his enemies, just poor saps and patsies. They had obviously been alerted to his presence but based on their strategy, they didn’t realize who he was.

“Whatever happens, don’t kill them,” he said out loud. “And if I get caught, you know what to do.”

“What?” said the military police commander, thinking Cobalt was talking to him.

“He means me, bub,” said a growl from the shadows and Timberwolf emerged with a huge knife in his hands, at the throat of one of the military guards. “No killing doesn’t mean making you boys look a little less pretty in your spiffy little uniforms,” he added with a wicked grin.

Every soldier turned to look at Timberwolf and in that moment, Cobalt acted: using his magnetism he immediately ripped every single automatic weapon out of the hands of the soldiers, instantly drawing them to the center of the lobby. They hovered there for a moment until Cobalt began crushing them together to form a giant ball of shrapnel.

One lone grenade popped out of the shrapnel ball, and rolled across the floor. Suddenly it stopped as if in the grips of magnetism.

“Remember, remember, the fifth of November…” said Cobalt quietly to himself—and he yanked out the pin.

In less than three seconds several things happened: every soldier ran for an exist; Timberwolf leapt across several soldiers heads and ran out the door, not stopping to look behind them; Cobalt hurled the giant ball of shrapnel through the lobby glass, shattering it everywhere, and flew out the top of it; and the grenade exploded, rendering the lobby a huge mess.



Moments later, Cobalt Kid and Timberwolf met back up several blocks away. “Phase one complete,” said Cobalt.

Weber’s World

Prime Minister Maya adi Lva sorted through a never-ending stream of files on her omni-screen, staying abreast of the day’s affairs and addresses the never-ending series of crisis that constantly were gripping the United Planets. However, despite doing a very capable job of running the largest political system in the history of history, her mind was elsewhere.

Maya adi Lva was thus far the most competent Prime Minister in the history of the United Planets, and history would judge her as such. Her mind was not only incredibly intelligent, but she also had a very clever and cunning sensibility in the way she managed people and situations. She was the consummate politician and every other politician on Weber’s World, whether friend or foe, feared her.

She understood the immediately the gravity of the situation on Earth. And thus, she shut off her omni-screen at last, feeling the need to address the problem once more, any way she could. Traditionally she was neither a huge supporter nor huge detractor of the Legion—she understood they existed and would continue to do so, and therefore, she feelings towards them would depend on the situation she found herself in. Right now, she was feeling a growing anger at them, and in particular, Cobalt Kid.

“Prime Minister,” said a voice on her omni-com suddenly; it was her receptionist. “The Ambassador of Legion World is here to see you, madam,” it continued, “I thought you might like to see him.” Smart girl thought Maya, reaffirming her belief in hiring only the most competent staff.

“Send him in,” she said, and she stood and walked over to the meeting area in her large office, with many couches and chairs, with a table in the middle. She watched as Faraway Lad, the Legionnaire and noble Ambassador, entered. “Welcome, Darden,” she said, “take a seat.”

“A pleasure as always, Prime Minister,” said Faraway Lad, adding, “and thank you for seeing me unannounced. I know its against protocol.”

“Nonsense, Darden,” she smiled at him. In that instance, Faraway Lad felt a shiver go up his spine, as if he sensed a predator preparing to pounce. “I’ve cleared my entire schedule today for your visit. I’ve been expecting you.”

Faraway Lad nodded with a smile. “Of course,” he said. Of all of the numerous LMBers, none were more skilled in the art of diplomacy and politics than Faraway Lad. He was already a skilled and illustrious diplomat when he first met the LMB ten years earlier; unlike his new teammates, he was not a teenager but several years older than them. He quickly took on the role of elder statesman, bailing them out numerous times over the early years and helping tutor many of them who had grown into close friends. He was the first among them to take the measure of the Prime Minister. “Shall we get right into it then?” he said, “though if you wanted to have some tea brought in, I wouldn’t protest.”

Now Maya smiled. Faraway Lad’s charm was well-known. “I had heard you preferred a nice port, instead,” she replied, her temperament showing a more relaxed façade.

“Indeed,” he replied. She pressed a button on her cough and a compartment opened along the wall. She nodded for him to pour himself a drink. He got up to do so and began talking: “you’ve no doubt heard what Cobalt Kid is up to, or at least, figured it out on your own. Likely the latter, since its not all over the holo-news. I bet that left you quite a bit angry, at first.” He poured himself a drink and turned to sit back down.

“At first?” she said almost laughing. “Yes, you can say that was my initial reaction. I’ve yet to move past it, honestly,” she said, masking her impatience.

“Ah,” he said, sitting down. “Allow me to expedite the process. You see madam Prime Minister, what we have planned for Earth benefits not only the United Planets at large, but you personally,” he added, sipping his port. His face opened up as if to say excellent stuff regarding the port and then he spoke again: “at long last, we are addressing the longstanding issue of Earthgov and the citizens of the mother-planet.”

“You’re attempting a complete hostile takeover of the Corporations of Earth, and therefore, Earthgov,” she said vehemently now. “And in the process, breaking every international law possible by having the hero Cobalt Kid—commonly referred to as the terrorist Cobalt Kid in places out side the UP, stealing documents, and I suspect shortly, committing violent acts.”

“Now that sounds quite dramatic,” said Faraway calmly, “even though its not too far off. Madam Prime Minister, we are not attempting a hostile takeover of Earth,” he said, pausing to take another sip, “but rather, we’re attempting to make it a fair fight. For the people of Earth.”

Maya said nothing, waiting for what else Faraway Lad had to say.

“Eventually, Prime Minister, you’re going to have to trust us. The Legion, I mean. Our goals for the United Planets are good ones: peace, justice, prosperity. Its long past time those same goals be applied to Earth. And so I’m going to tell you exactly what we’re going to do, and when I’m done, you’re going to realize its exactly what you’ve always wanted.”

“Convincing me will not be easy,” she said.

“I’m aware,” replied Faraway, “so please don’t take my confidence lightly. When all is said and done, and the people of Earth are free again, with trade resuming between Earth and the UP, giving a tremendous boost to the economy, you’ll be hailed as a conquering hero. And if you allow us to do this—you will be.”

She said nothing for a moment and at last let out a half-laugh. She got up and poured herself a glass of port. “Okay Darden,” she replied, “make your case.”



Forty-five minutes later, a call went out from Weber’s World to Legion World, from the leader of the United Planets to the leader of the LMB. Maya adi Lva was apologetic and her kind words were sincere. There had been quite a misunderstanding and she had spoken out of turn to Ram Boy. Ram Boy, of course, understood, and graciously accepted the apology.

But when the call was over, Ram Boy was more perplexed than ever. What in the world had happened to change her mind so completely? Either she was convinced the LMBers on Earth were not doing anything wrong—which he now knew would have been a mistake on her part, which didn’t make sense—or somehow she was suddenly in on it.

It was time for answers.

Metropolis, Earth

Cornelius Ricimer took a long drag off of his cigar, as his servants anxiously awaited on their orders. “Crepes,” he said at last, and they all scurried out of his office, moving as quickly as they could to get his mid-morning snack.

“Elena,” he said on the inter-com, “have you heard about what happened this morning at the Pentagon?” He spoke in a very nonchalant, almost lackadaisical manner.

“I did,” replied the voice on the other end, “and to be honest, I was surprised the Pentagon still even existed,” she added knowing it would make Ricimer laugh. It did. Elena St. Clair was Cornelius’ #2 in all matters. His various business commitments were vast and he relied on her to keep up his schedule, run the day to day operations of his affairs and maintain the status quo on all things. It was impossible to see Cornelius Ricimer without first having a meeting with Elena St. Clair. “I’ve asked our private detectives to find out what happened,” she added.

“I’ve already taken care of it,” said Ricimer as he stared at the beauty of his Gold Watch. “My security force will follow up and I’ve ordered Earthgov to let my men take the lead.” In the post-Takeover days of Earth, corporate mercenary armies had seniority over the United Planets Military & Police forces. “How’s the market today?” he asked.

“Basically flat,” she said. “Google-Facebook up 2 points, Massive Dynamic down 10 points, MediaCorp up 30 points.”

“Not bad,” he said, “not great but better than yesterday. Thank you Elena, we’ll talk in an hour.” He signed off the omni-com and went back to smoking his cigar. Elena gave him an hourly update on everything happening on-planet.

Cornielius Ricimer was not the President of Earthgov. He was not the President of Google-Facebook, MediaCorp or Massive Dynamic. Much more important than those positions, he was the Chairman of the Board of Gold Capital Holdings. He was the man who ran Earth.

“Where are those blasted crepes?!” he shouted suddenly at the top of his lungs.

Metropolis, Earth

Cobalt Kid, holding Timberwolf by his side, flew up the coast using his magnetism as a burst for speed, at last arriving at their destination. “Up ahead,” said Timberwolf, “the Old New York Area. We’re here.”

The two landed along the bottom of island of Manhattan, part of the vast city of Metropolis, which stretched from what was once Washington D.C. all the way to Boston. Here in the Old New York area was the central hub of business, and thus, the true home of power on Earth. However, while the rich lived lives of luxury in their vast towers, below on the streets was a plethora of homeless vagrants and the very poor.

It had been raining all morning but now as it approached noon the sun seemed to be coming out. The sidewalks were wet and the tide was very high on the Hudson River, but the day was warming up.

“Look,” said Cobalt to Timberwolf nodding towards the Bay. What was once the Statue of Liberty was now rubble. In its place, the island had been turned into a Coliseum with holocameras all around it. Here, they held Gladiatorial Games. “If I couldn’t already be more disgusted…” he said.

The two walked through the streets, doing their best to move quickly and not get noticed. They were feeling good—the first phase of the mission was seamless and went off without a hitch. There was only one more task to accomplish; harder yes, but the mission was going well.

“It’s going too well,” said Cobalt out loud to Timberwolf.

Timberwolf nodded and at that very moment, all the hairs on his body stood strait up. They were in immediate danger. “Cobie wait—“ he began to say as they turned a corner…but it was too late.

As Cobalt turned the corner, he saw laid out before him at no fewer than four dozen mercenaries with heavy artillery aimed right at them. He braced himself immediately, preparing to use his magnetism to disarm them, and then his eyes focused on who was at the center of them.

His name was Pillum, and Cobalt Kid knew him well. Pillum, like Cobalt, was a former citizen of Ggrrgg before their home planet was destroyed. He was an expert military man and strategist and following the destruction their planet, Pillum had become a mercenary for only the highest bidders. On Pillum’s back was a quiver of spears, each one with their own technological powers—gifts of the super-genius the Trumpeter, who Pillum has served with. Pillum claimed he was the greatest spearman in the entire galaxies. Almost all on Ggrrgg had agreed with him, however, there technically was one better spearman: Cobalt Kid. Pillum hated Cobalt Kid more than anything in the world.

“You rotten bastard,” said Cobalt and immediately he used his magnetism to pull the various rifles towards him as he rose up in the spy—but he didn’t have enough time. Pillum unleashed a blast of electricity from the spear in his hands, which sent a complete shock to his nervous system, knocking him down to the ground immediately.

Timberwolf assessed the situation and knew right away it was hopeless. He turned around and ran at top speed, using his heightened speed, agility and strength to run through the crowd. They were on his tail. Above all else, he knew, he had to get those files somewhere safe—Cobie was on his own.

As Timberwolf ran, Cobalt Kid fell to the ground, temporarily losing control over his body. He quickly tried to roll over and sort himself out, but it was too late. “On him!” yelled Pillum, “don’t give him a second to recover!” Pillum ran towards him and kicked Cobalt as hard as he could in the ribs, breaking at least one of them. Suddenly the mercenaries were all over him, kicking him in the shoulder, legs, arms and face. Cobalt tried to raise his arms to cover his face but had no control over them. He took another kick in the face as the soldiers pounded on him and at last the brutal beating came to an end when one soldier took the butt end of his rifle and cracked it over Cobalt’s skull, knocking him out.

“This is better than I could have ever hoped,” said Pillum. “Put these chains on him to dampen his powers and bring him to the Gold Capital building. We’ll lock him up and I have enough time to have a few hours with him before Ricimer decides to take a look.”



Timberwolf waited in an alley when at last the mercs still chasing him came by. He was on in them in a flash, cracking two of their skulls together, delivering a roundhouse kick to another, and then elbowing a fourth, knocking them all out. One last fifth mercenary stared at Timberwolf, unable to say anything because he was paralyzed by fear.

“Mercenaries, right?” said Timberwolf pulling him into the alley, “Not innocent like the UP soldiers? That makes you fear game.” Timberwolf leapt at the fifth mercenary with his claws out, as the alley walls echoed with a scream.

Legion World

The Legion Worlder known as Lolita sat in a booth at Café Cramer sipping her caramel macchiato, enjoying the savory heat of it. She spent so much time at Café Cramer, in this particular booth, that it was starting to become known as her booth. Several young men sat in a booth a bit further down and couldn’t help but stare. Lolita was incredibly beautiful, and her slender, flawless figure was known to draw stares from both men and women of all ages. But she paid these boys no attention because even though she had the body of a 16 year old, she had the mind of a 25 year old. Many people had told her to consider it as a blessing but she certainly didn’t feel that way.

It was because of this slow-aging biological process that the LMBers had once named her Jailbait Lass, much to her chagrin. Though she wasn’t an LMBer officially at the moment, she had spent numerous years as Cobalt Kid’s administrative assistant and therefore interacted with them quite a bit. While Cobalt was a Triumvir, Chief of Security and all around prolific member of the Legion, she was always by his side. She was his chief confidante and not only did she assist him in his various endeavors, she actually helped plan most of them.

Lolita was quite different from even the other members of her home planet. For her mind was a 9th level intelligence: it worked in a very different way. She excelled at pattern recognition, data analysis and being able to make assumptions on what the future would hold based on historical trends in data—and was almost always right. She had a computer mind.

When she was by Cobalt’s side, she was perhaps his most formidable weapon. But that all ended a year and a half earlier—when she opened her heart to him and at last told him how much she loved him…and he broke her heart. It hurt more than anything she could have ever imagined and she not only broke off their partnership, she ended their friendship too.



Ram Boy walked into Café Cramer. As LMB Leader, he had a certain amount of celebrity so his entering any public or commercial building caused notice. As everyone turned to stare, he picked out the one who didn’t, as she was glued to her omni-com, no doubt analyzing some form of data.

He sat in Lolita’s booth across from her. “Hello, Oracle,” he said, using her Legion codename. Prior to her breaking off her friendship with Cobalt, she had finally joined the LMB officially, taking the codename Oracle. “I need your help.”

“Ram Boy!” said Lolita surprised, and suddenly sitting back, closing her omni-screen. “What can I do for you?” Since her return to Legion World she had not rejoined the LMB or helped on any LMB missions. Still, she felt a sense of obligation to help the organization that had been so good to her, and plus, she always liked Ram Boy quite a lot.

“I was hoping you’d say that,” he said. “You can help me by maybe filling me in on some pretty shady business dealings by your old partner.”

Lolita’s shoulders dropped and her face said it all: she felt a sting of disappointment. “Cobie.”

“Yup. Cobie,” said Ram Boy. “I know you and he are on the outs, and I know it’s the last thing you want to talk about Lolita. So for that, I genuinely am sorry.” She sensed sincerity in his words. “But something really odd is going on and as LMB Leader, I feel like I have a right to know. It involves Earth, the former Triumvirate, and what appears to be some far-reaching political ramifications about what he is planning not only right now, but today.”

“Earth…” she said, considering his words, though she immediately knew what he was talking about. “He’s finally doing it,” she said, somewhat amazed. She suddenly caught herself thinking about Cobalt as a new story of how she real felt towards him: the focus of insurmountable rage.

“Doing what?” said Ram Boy, at last feeling like he was getting somewhere.

“Ram Boy,” she said, now composing herself, “I-I wish I could help. But really, it’s not my place. I’m sure many LMBers have secrets,” she added, “…and likely will continue to have them for many more leaders…” she was very uncomfortable. She went to reopen her omni-screen.

Ram Boy smiled and put his hand on her omni-screen and re-closed it. “Lolita,” he said slowly. “I know these secrets go back many years and there have been many leaders who never knew about them and did suffer any harm for their ignorance. But the fact is, I now am aware of something happening. Something else else so big that the Prime Minister of the United Planets contacted me today in a fury and then hours later, dismissed it as it was simple misunderstanding. And now that I know a little, I need to know it all.” He looked strait into her eyes, not breaking the gaze. “I am the Legion Leader and with that goes certain responsibilities. In order to meet those responsibilities, I need to know the story here. So I’m asking you, and I’m also ordering you: please tell me.”

Lolita was quiet for a moment and looked down into her coffee. Part of her felt Ram Boy made a good case. Part of her was still so angry at Cobalt she wanted to do something that would annoy him. “Okay,” she said, “I’ll tell you.”

The Gold Capital Holdings Headquarters
Metropolis, Earth

Down in the basement of the largest, most prestigious investment firm in the entire known galaxies, a new room had been installed several years earlier: half-prison, half-torture chamber. Once the investment firm became the organization truly running Earth, it needed to have facilities for its mercenaries to do their business.

Cobalt Kid awoke now, realizing he was vertically positioned, yet not standing up. He quickly realized he was in chains; but not metallic chains, rather rock-solid super-plastic chains with an electrical current running through them. In an instant, after attempting to use his powers, Cobalt realized they were blocking their usage. He had made the number one mistake a spy should never, ever make: do not get caught. He knew he was in for a very tough time ahead.

He looked up and his inability to open his left eye all the way told him the severe beating he took at the hands of the mercenaries had lumped up his face pretty badly. He felt bruises all along his arms, legs and torso and knew immediately he had at least two broken ribs. He felt like shit.

But he did not react in anyway, simply just looked around and showed no emotion. For the briefest instant, his mind drifted back to 8 years earlier, when he had been brutally tortured for an entire year in captivity by his tormentors Dr. Albert Hoffman and Dark Conan. He pushed those memories away immediately, reminding himself he would never think of those days. He had been tortured earlier in his life and he had been broken. He would never allow it again.

His eyes at last focused and he saw Pillum was in front of him, with two mercenaries by his side. “Wakey, wakey,” said Pillum, with a venom in his voice. Pillum was competent and intelligent but he had one major problem: he let his emotions get the best of him. “Seems like you’ve been up to no good, my friend,” said Pillum, “Mr. Ricimer will be down to see you eventually. In the meantime, I’m sure he won’t mind if we get reacquainted.” Pillum immediately punched Cobalt square in the face, knocking backwards.

The two mercs spread Cobalt’s arms so he was in the shape of a cross, with his torso exposed. Pillum punched Cobalt where his ribs were broken, causing immense pain. “That’s for that time on Ggrrgg,” he said, and then he punched him again, “and that’s for when I was with the Trumpeter.”

Cobalt looked up and Pillum was grinning at him wickedly. Cobalt stared at him and then his face widened in a big smile. He still said nothing. Pillum fumed.

Pillum walked over and grabbed a large knife from a table. Cobalt now saw it had various tools on it: vice-grip, screwdrivers, knives, pliers, a blowtorch, etc. All of these things Cobalt knew very well from years ago. He pushed any fear out of his mind and tried to use the tactics he had developed years earlier to live outside the moment.

Pillum took the knife and cut the cloth down Cobalt’s shirt, ripping it off. Cobalt’s torso showed numerous battle wounds: two bullet holes from the Red Bee years earlier drew the immediate attention but that soon fell out of focus when one focused on a series of sharp scar across his chest—obviously old knife wounds. “What is this?” said Pillum incredulous. “Someone beat me to it? The great Cobalt Kid has been caught before?” he said laughing. He suddenly took the knife and cut right down his torso going very slow, drawing a deep stream a blood that ran down his chest and causing immense pain. Cobalt gasped in tremendous pain.

“I hate, Cobaltus, you know that. And I want to do this all day. But if I get the information out of you before Ricimer does, my pay day will be through the roof. So I can do this all day long—in fact, I want to do this all day long! But if you tell me what I want, I’ll stop.” He was inches away from Cobalt’s face now, his hot, stinky breath hitting Cobalt’s nose. “So what will it be, Cobaltus? Give me what I want and you won’t suffer, or drag it out and take it nice and slow, all day long?”

Cobalt said nothing for a moment, staring at Pillum. At last, he spoke. “I think I want it nice and slow,” said Cobalt calmly. “Take your time, take all day long. You little cunt.”

Pillum could hardly contain his anger and leapt at Cobalt with the knife out, looking as if he’d stab him, causing both mercenaries to grab him! “He wants him alive, Pillum,” said one merc.

“Slow it is, you bastard,” said Pillum, throwing the knife down and grabbing the blowtorch.

Lloyds of London, London, Earth

Princess Crujectra of Psyonia, the LMBer known as Spellbinder, walked through the ancient halls of Lloyds of London with great awe. It was over 1,300 years old and in these very corridors, where the concept of insurance really took hold. After all these centuries, Lloyds of London remained the insurance center of the galaxies and it was something the underwriting syndicates there felt a great deal of pride.

“I’m quite impressed gentlemen,” she said to them with a smile and they all immediately broke into smiles. These were men who respected prestige and high breeding and to have a Princess walk these halls was a great honor.

“Your Highness,” one of the brokers said, “you do us a great honor to visit and we are pleased to show you the history within the halls. We’ve prepared a luncheon with the top underwriting syndicates and if you had the time in your busy schedule, we would be honored if you joined us.”

“The honor would be all mine,” she said, and again, they gushed with pride.



At the luncheon, numerous tables were spread out as dozens of important London men and women enjoyed the company of the Princess of Psyonia. For any visit of someone of this stature there would be quite a buzz, but this was especially exceptional since in recent years, Lloyds did not get many visits from denizens beyond Earth.

Crujetra looked at a portrait on the wall, of a Queen many centuries earlier addressing the Lloyds underwriters in this very room. She was Queen Elizabeth II of England, and it was 1,100 years earlier. Just as they did then, she knew they were all watching her every move with great delight. She knew she had them before she set foot in the premises.

“Gentlmen,” she said, last, pushing away her soup, “I know it may be a bit improper to discuss business matters at lunch, but there is something I want to talk to you about. That is, if you do not object?”

“By all means, your majesty,” said one of the top underwriters, “we would be delighted. Your fierce intellect is the second most renowned thing about you and we are all eager to engage it!” She looked at him curiously as if to ask and the first?. “Beyond your beauty, that is,” he added charmingly.

“Very bold, sir,” she said with a smile, “and very effective,” she added, charming him even more. “What I would like to discuss, actually,” she said, now pausing for dramatic purposes, “…is Earthgov.”

Immediately, every person in the room stopped speaking and the sound of forks and knives hitting plates ceased. One could hear a pin drop.

The Gold Capital Holdings Headquarters
Metropolis, Earth

Cornelius Ricimer looked out the window at the landscape of Metropolis again taking in the view. He knew the prisoner Cobalt Kid was down below but did not feel like being bothered with it just now. He checked his monitors again to see what the price of gold was doing in today’s market. Ah, to have lived in the centuries when gold was something people desired. Now that was real trading!

“Sir,” said his omni-com.

He waited a minute before responding, drawing it out. The voice did not repeat itself. At last he answered. “What is it?” he said, annoyed to be bothered.

“Sir,” it repeated, “there is a report here sent up by one of your many analysts. It looks like something you should see.”

“What?” he said suddenly incredibly annoyed. “All reports are to be sent to Elena! What in the world was this analyst doing sending it directly to me?! Who sent it?!! Who would dare?! Find out who they are, right now, and I want their ass fired immediately!!!”

The voice was silent. “Sir, it came here because apparently its been sent to Ms. St. Clair numerous times and she has not acted on it. Dating back some…18 months, in fact. The analyst thought it should be sent to you. He’s right here outside your office.”

Ricimer’s face went dark red and he was beside himself with anger. “SEND HIM IN.” he said almost not controlling it.

The analyst came in, a short, portly man with large glasses who was shaking in his shoes at the sight of the most powerful man on Earth. He immediately regretted ever coming. Ricimer reamed him out for close to twenty minutes strait, even threatening to kill the man right there and throw him out the window.

At last, curiosity got the best of him, and Ricimer picked up the report to browse through it and see what all of this was about. As he read the first page, he started to flip through, looking at charts and graphs. At last, the gist of it sank in and while he was reading, Cornelius had no idea he dropped his lit cigar onto the lavishly expensive carpet in his office, ruining it. His mouth opened wide and his face went into shock.

He tried to speak but the words wouldn’t come. He felt his body tensing up and he thought he was about to have a heart attack right there. At last, he forced himself to regain his composure—after all, though he had gotten sloppy in his successes, he was once the most cunning of all the corporate men on Earth. He felt a bead of sweat on his forehead and his heart was racing. But he was processing what was happening.

“How in the world has this happened?” he said at last. He knew he had mere hours to fix this or everything he worked for could be destroyed.

Ram Boy’s Office
Legion World

Ram Boy sat as his desk, watching as Lolita Hypatia reformatted his omni-screen, adding her own portable omni-screen to its side so the two could provide a backdrop for whatever she was about to tell him. There was a silent determination to ever effort and he couldn’t help but admire the focus.

Since his call with the Prime Minister early that morning, his anger had since subsided quite a bit. It was now replaced by both a strong curiosity as well as a belief that it was his responsibility as LMB Leader to know these things.

Once Lolita had decided earlier to tell Ram Boy the truth—and the whole truth—she knew she would go all the way through with it. He had convinced her with his reasoning and being able to discuss it with him, a secret she had kept for so many years, felt very liberating. She felt stress she didn’t even know existed being relieved.

Ram Boy broke the silence: “so you explained to me earlier how Earth was taken over by Corporations in the first place, which pretty tough to understand. If you need this much technology to explain the rest…” he inhaled, “…oh boy…”

“It’s complex, there’s no doubt,” she said. “To keep it all strait, its not enough that I tell you—I have to show you. Now look at the screen.”

Ram Boy looked at what she brought up on the duel omni-screens. There were several names, of what looked like companies, and then several figures, both percentages and dollar amounts. “What am I looking at?” he asked.

“That, Mr. Leader, is Earthgov,” she replied. “You’re looking at Earth. Or more precisely, the Corporations that now control Earthgov.” They looked a t the screens, which read:

35%...Google-Facebook
15%...MediaCorp
15%...General Electric
10%...Massive Dynamic
10%...Terran Steel Corp
5%.....Steelworks
2.5%..Lloyds of London (various Syndicates)
7.5%..Other

“There are several additional owners within the ”Other” category but it won’t be necessary for me to further break them down,” she added. Ram Boy couldn’t help but stare at the screen, since he had never seen the ownership of Earthgov broken down like that.

“These Corporations run Earth,” she continued, “but you have to remember that these Corporations have their own ownership. And its in that notion, that we can help piece together who is really calling the shots. Here are some of the many holdings of Gold Capital Holdings, the most prestigious investment bank on Earth.” Ram Boy looked at the screen and a pattern developed quickly: Gold Capital Holdings owned major shares of each of the corporations. 10% of Massive Dynamic; 10% of Steelworks; 15% of MediaCorp; 15% of General Electric. The list went on and on. Many of the players within the “7.5% Other” category where almost wholly owned by Gold Capital.

But of all of these, the most alarming was Google-Facebook, which owned 35% of Earthgov. Gold Capital owned 51% of Google-Facebook, effectively making them chief owner of the company and effectively their parent company. “For Google-Facebook,” said Lolita, “Gold Capital took no chances. They firmly control that company and the implication is symbolized by the fact that Earthgov President Tayla Wellington is the President of Google-Facebook. And in both roles, she answers to Gold Capital Holdings.”

Ram Boy nodded. “So Gold Capital Holdings is the true enemy here…” he said, shaking his head, “…its weird to put a name to the enemy after all this time.” He sat back and turned to Lolita. “So that is where we are,” he said. “Now what does this have to do with Legion World?”

Lolita sat back now and thought about how to begin explaining. She decided to start with the motivations. “When the LMB first started,” she said, “before my time or yours, Earth was their home. And for many of them, it was their first true home. Of course, by ‘home’, it really was the LMB itself, the institution, that gave them this feeling, but its difficult for some of them to not also attribute a lot of that early comfort to Earth itself.”

Ram Boy nodded. “Lash Lad has already explained that to me, Lolita,” he said nicely, “and I understand. I get that Earth means a lot to them. Hell, it means a lot to most of the universe as the mother-planet.”

Lolita nodded. “When the Legion World Triumvirate first formed to combat the danger of the Naturals, they succeeded beyond their wildest imaginations. But even though they were successful and Legion World was safe, there was still so much awfulness in the universe. Barbarian Hordes had pushed so far into the UP and sacked so many planets. So the Triumvirs kept the armies and helped the UP turn the tide, eventually pushing back the Barbarians and restoring order.”

“This is common knowledge,” said Ram Boy, nodding.

“As you are also aware,” she said, “in their pursuits, they recovered innumerable valuables and immense fortunes. But so many of these fortunes were not able to be returned to their original owners. It was simply not feasible since so many had been murdered and so many families destroyed. So they were held in trust by the Triumvirate.”

Ram Boy nodded. He had already known a little of this but it was an awkward topic. Lolita continued. “Additionally, as you are aware,” she said, deciding to just say what she meant and move on, “war turns out to be very profitable sometimes. And in this case, it was no exception.” Ram Boy nodded, understanding.

“By the time the barbarians were pushed back fully, the Triumvirate had become incredibly wealthy individuals. They began trying to use those excess funds to help build the infrastructure of Legion World and in that regard, they were very successful. Roads, aqueducts, buildings, orphanages, playgrounds, and other more aesthetic structures such as statues were built all around Legion World. Legionnpolis, as we know it, is partially build on Triumvir currency.”

Ram Boy kept listening, not saying anything. All of this was common knowledge but he’d never heard it put so succinctly before.

“The Triumvirate needed to find new ways to direct their funds and therefore, they teamed up with the House of Jectra and the Spiffany family to create the Real-Estate Offices of Ester, Spiffany, Cobaltus, Jectra and Greybird and they then bought up all the available land for residential homebuilding on Legion World, with the intent to sell it to the populace. To build up those areas with homes, they used Eryk Davis Ester’s construction company, the Statues, Buildings, and Wondrous Architecture Construction Company; to help citizens finance their purchases of these homes and land, they pointed them to the First National Bank of Legion World, which had been created by Cobalt Kid and Spellbinder, using Triumvirate and House of Jectra fortunes. Do you understand what I’m getting at?”

Ram Boy’s face had turned into a half-frown with his eye brows creased. “So they enormous money, armies, the land, and the banks?” he said.

Lolita knew where this was going. “It caused a problem, to say the least. Claims of oligarchy were made and the Legion World Civil War almost brought down the entire planet. But ultimately war was averted and eventually the land was sold to Legion World citizens. But the end result, all these years later, is that the Triumvirate used all this massive wealth they had collected and essentially multiplied it 100 fold. When all was said and done, there was more money than they ever knew what to do with.”

“Explaining how Eryk Davis Ester bought Greg Evignan Island,” said Ram Boy and Lolita thought and how Cobie runs all those black ops.

“So eventually they set their eyes on bigger fish to fry, and created Triumvirate Holdings Company for their excess funds.” Ram Boy suddenly perked up. At last, they were getting somewhere. “It was just three shareholders, and Cobie was effectively Chairman of the Board. There was one employee: me,” she finished. Ram Boy realized now that he could not have picked a better person to talk to.

“Still, with even that immense wealth, they couldn’t accomplish what they wanted,” she said.

“Which was what?” said Ram Boy.

“I think you know,” she said. “They wanted Earth. Like I told you, the sting of Earth’s takeover and secession has never left them, and likely never will. It’s a betrayal they see as unforgivable.”

“Bloody liberty…” said Ram Boy, as she had put into words what he suspected all along but didn’t fully believe because it just sounded so ridiculous.

“So they gained additional investors, and formed The Odysseus Corporation, under the guise of an entrepreneurial entity looking to make investments into companies in need of capital. Again, there were no employees, save one: me.”

Ram Boy was looking at Lolita but felt like he was seeing her in a new light. For the first time, he was really seeing her. “This all must have taken years of planning to even set-up, let alone do whatever it is they are doing…”

“Indeed. It all began roughly after I joined Cobie here on Legion World in 3004 but picked up steam in 3005,” she said, not caring if he was shocked or appalled. When it came to the truth, she would not sugarcoat it.

“Who were the additional investors?” said Ram Boy seriously, though he knew he would not like the answer.

“The House of Jectra,” began Lolita, “The Spiffany family. Faraway Lad. Varalent. Iron Rat. Yellow Kid & the Primary Color Gang.” Lolita looked at Ram Boy seeing his face grow weary. “Don’t feel hurt by this,” she said, “this was all before your time. Some of us, mainly Cobalt’s friends who he felt had a personal stake in this, were given a small ownership of shares, like Lard Lad and myself, like my 1.5%.”

Ram Boy shook his head. “I think I understand. But now, you need to tell me where Cobalt is…and what is happening right now.”

Lolita nodded. “Beginning in 3007, the Odysseus Corp has initiated a program where it buys all Treasury Bonds issued by Earthgov. They did this by domiciling the company on Earth and then buying up several smaller investment firms to do this. It was a complicated web but I was able to make it seamless. From 3007 to the present, in 3011, the Odysseus Corp owns all of Earth’s debt. We’ve also bought the debt from other third parties.”

She continued. “The Odysseus Corp has also secretly bought 90% of MediaCorp, though at this time, the employees of the Company itself are unaware, since Gold Capital Holdings runs the Board.”

“But that means—“

“Yes, there are only two investors of MediaCorp now: Odyssues and Gold Capital. At the right moment, the Board will be voted out and MediaCorp will be taken. In the meantime, the rubbish they produce will continue but once its needed, the media will be utilized for our—well, their—purposes.”

“MediaCorp owns 15% of Earthgov,” Ram Boy said, remembering from earlier.

“Yes,” replied Lolita. She was silent for a moment. “You have to remember, I don’t work for Cobie anymore. So what I’ll next tell you is all speculation. But the truth is, I’m confident its true because I designed it, and I know Cobie has faith in my plans.”

“I can see why,” said Ram Boy.

“Check the monitor board for where various LMBers are today, including reservists. You will notice that Spellbinder has been on Earth for several days. If you check her itinerary, she is in the ancient city of London, no doubt visiting Lloyds of London today. Where I have no doubt with her diplomatic skills…and charm…she will convince them to join the Odysseus Corp.”

“How?” said Ram Boy, expecting to here about a hostile takeover of some sort.

“By giving them an opportunity,” she said. “You have to remember, Ram Boy, that not everyone on Earth, even those with wealth and power are happy. The irony of the takeover is that capitalism was used to essentially destroy capitalism, much like they used technology to destroy Earthgov, and we’re using it to restore it. By forcibly creating monopolies and eliminating all restraints, the Corporations have destroyed any sense of genuine capitalism. And without capitalism, Earth has lost all competition…and without that, its lost all its creativity. It’s made business a pretty boring, miserable life. Gold Capital claim they wanted business to be unimpeded but they truly wanted the power of controlling a planet and exploiting its citizenry. It was a lie they told themselves. But not all businessmen are evil. Some truly do believe in capitalism and democracy. And that’s what we’re banking on. That’s how Crujectra will get Lloyds of London and their 2.5% of Earthgov.”

Ram Boy nodded. “That’s nice to hear,” he said, “maybe a little optimistic, but I hope you’re right. So that’s 17.5% of Earthgov.”

“Correct. What Odysseus needs is 51% of greater. There is one fast way to get it.”

“Google-Facebook,” said Ram Boy solemnly. “He’s going for it, after all,” he added. As the conversation had gone on, he was thinking of it from Cobalt’s point of view and realized the danger of the move. “It’s too risky. After so much careful planning, why go for the one major play? Going after the most protected of them all?”

“Because…” said Lolita, “…I’m not with him. And without anyone to curb his willingness to force dangerous situations, he tends to do this. He will be going for Goolge-Facebook. Of this I have no doubt.”

“He’ll only succeed with violence then,” said Ram Boy, shaking his head. “And die, get caught, or…”

“…or the Odysseus Corp will control Earthgov,” finished Lolita, saying what Ram Boy was thinking.

“Their taking over Earth then,” said Ram Boy. “And Prime Minister Maya adi Lva is in on it. Likely through Faraway Lad himself,” he finished.

“Naturally,” she said, “Faraway Lad is in on all of Cobalt’s plan. Of course the Prime Minister is on it—she has everything to gain. Earth is opened up to trade again and it will give a huge boost to the economy. And the mother-planet will at last rejoin the UP. That is, if Earth is taken over.”

“If they get Earth,” said Ram Boy, “what will Cobie do with it? Will the Triumvirs…keep it?”

“There are no Triumvirs, Ram Boy,” said Lolita, “Grey Birdboy and Eryk Davis Ester have retired. There is only Cobie now.”

Ram Boy didn’t like the sound of that. He put his fingers up to the bridge of his nose and rubbed them. “Lolita, what I’m about to ask you is the most important thing of all. And I pray you give me the answer I want to hear: if Cobalt is successful in taking over 52.5% of Earthgov…what does he intend to do about it? How do the common people benefit?”

INTERLUDE
Ten Years Ago: 3001
Earth

There were many inspirations to the Legion of Message Board Posters throughout history. Foremost of them all was the great hero of the 21st Century, the mighty Engine Joe. Protector of the weak & frail, purveyor of truth and justice, and an oasis of hope during a turbulent era, Engine Joe was the prime example of what a true hero was in history.

Though he inspired the Legion and was made an honorary member with its founding, he was not among its membership. However, towards the end of their first year, that finally changed when Engine Joe journeyed to the 31st Century and became a temporary member of the team, fighting alongside the institution he inspired as “the Son of the Eagle”. It was a turning point in the LMB, where they realized that no matter what, they must go on and be so much more than what they had been up until that point.

Cobalt Kid was not among the LMB when the Son of the Eagle first became a member. By the time of Cobalt’s return to the team, Engine Joe was gone, back to the 21st Century. Yet, he did return a few more times…

“You’re over-thinking it,” said the Son of the Eagle, suddenly using his heat vision to blast the hundreds of small metal ball-bearings. “It has to be instinct, as odd as that sounds.”

“No, I know,” said Cobalt Kid, trying to regain his composure. “Let’s try it again.”

Once more, a series of small metal ball-bearings were fired directly at the two heroes. They came at lightning like speed, each the size of a marble, all almost impossible to see. There were three colors: red, white and blue.

“The whites,” said Engine Joe. Cobalt concentrated and all of the whites were thrown to the right magnetically.

“Reds,” he added. Cobalt threw the reds to the left, as they were now within a few feet of them and approaching.

“Blues,” he said at last. Cobalt inhaled deeply and held them all, just inches from his face. Suddenly, one bounced forward, and dribbled to the floor.

“Very good,” said Engine Joe, holding it up. It was green. “Did you see it?”

“I figured there was some kind of trick,” Cobalt smiled, “it just took me a few tries to figure it out.”

Engine Joe smiled. He had come to really enjoy these trips to the 31st Century and enjoyed meeting all of the various LMBers. He had only just recently met this one, one of the youngest of them all, and often referred to as ‘our kid brother’.

“Are you sticking around much longer?” asked Cobalt. “I think we’re all going out tonight together. I wasn’t going to go, but…”

Engine Joe thought about it for a moment. He had intended to go home right after this. But the offer made him stop and think. Prior to this exercise, Joe had been told that Cobalt was one of the LMBers most full of life and the epitome of their hard partying reputation—yet, just after his return to the LMB, he had often been subject to bouts of depression. He would not speak about it, but every few days he would become sullen and melancholy. Something else else had happened during his absence, and they were worried.

“Absolutely,” he replied at last. “I want to see what the nightlife in the 31st Century is all about!”

“Wow, great!” said Cobalt, still a bit awe-struck by Engine Joe’s presence among their number. It had killed him when he learned about the Son of the Eagle first appearing, and then was beyond thrilled when Joe came back for several additional meetings. He knew it wouldn’t last forever and so being a part of any of these interactions meant a lot to him.

“Let me get changed,” said Joe and in a flash he flew out of the room, grabbed his civilan clothes which he’d brought along, changed, and then flew back. He now stood before him in a three piece suit, fedora cap and glasses.

In the 21st Century he looked like a bit of a stiff, but Cobalt had no idea. In fact, Cobalt focused on one item in particular. “What’s that?” he asked.

“This?” said Engine Joe pulling up his sleeve and revealing a beautiful gold watch. “This is a watch,” he said. “Don’t they still have these?”

“No on Ggrrgg or any of the other places I’ve spent a lot of time,” said Cobalt. “But to be honest, I’m still brushing up on Earth culture. I like it,” he added, nodding back to the watch. “Very fashionable,” he said, “and being practical gives it a little something extra.”

Engine Joe smiled at the earnestness of the young LMBer. “C’mon, let’s join the others.”

That night the LMBers had a fantastic night of laughs and partying, with a strong dose of drunken shenanigans. Engine Joe, not much of a partier, hung back with Crusader and Beagle Boy, and Cobalt Kid was glad to do so, because for the first time in weeks, he was truly having fun again. “Usually I just drink as much as I can, tell a few jokes and find the most beautiful woman in the club,” he said to Joe, laughing. “But maybe I should take another approach…” he said.

Engine Joe knew he was struggling. Part of it was simply just growing up, and part of it was overcoming whatever traumas he was dealing with. He considered something he thought about earlier. “Cobalt,” he said, “I wanted to give you something before I go back. Here.”

Engine Joe handed Cobalt Kid the gold watch he was wearing, a product of the 21st Century. To Joe, it did not have much meaning. From here on, to Cobalt, it would mean quite a lot—it was one of his most prized possessions.



In 3003, Cobalt Kid was caught in a political bombing and was presumed dead by his Legion brethren; in truth, he lived, though a prisoner, held against his will for many years. During that time, Earth experienced a Corporate Takeover, and the LMB were exiled from Earth. By the time Cobalt returned to the LMB, the LMB were on Legion World, and Earth has seceded from the United Planets.

During the chaos of Earth’s takeover, most of the LMB were already off planet, dealing with the Barbarian Invasions and other grandiose missions. Those on planet were forced to flee, only able to grab a portion of the LMB’s possessions and belongings; of these, the most important things to take were the advanced technology and some of their historical records.

The personal effects of the various LMBers were lost. Among those were the personal effects of Cobalt Kid, then in storage while he was presumed deceased.

Several of the Board of the Directors, gloating over their coup, secured the LMBer’s personal effects for themselves, as part of a large plunder of prizes they considered the spoils of war. The effects of Cobalt Kid, along with many other LMBers possessions, found their way to Cornelius Ricimer. Ricimer often showed off this private gallery to his close colleagues, of all of these prizes, there were none he loved more than Cobalt’s prized Gold Watch.

END INTERLUDE

Gold Capital Holdings Headquarters
Earth

He hung there, his arms tired to the seeing and his uniform in tatters, with blood dripping down his face, chest and back. Along the sides of his torso and along his arms and hands, there were horrific burn marks, where the torture was most brutal via the usage of an old fashioned blow torch. He was exhausted and he was in immense pain. But what he felt most of all was smug. Because he had endured hours of torture, hours of pain and hours of insults, yet he would not break.

Pillum had given it everything he had: at first sadistic, and eventually enraged. But ultimately with every possible condition in his favor, he still felt like he was being defeated. Pillum stared at Cobalt, equally as exhausted as his captive, and the two guards who earlier were careful Pillum did not overstep himself, now sat down at a table in the corner, both disgusted and disheartened by the ordeal.

Cobalt smiled at his tormentor. He did not say much these last hours but he made sure Pillum knew he was still there. “Let me give you a proposition now, Son of Ggrrgg,” he said through grit teeth. “Walk away now and leave the planet Earth as quickly as you can. Because much like the rest of known space, you will soon be wanted by the authorities here…and they will not be pleasant to you when they catch you.”

Cobalt’s words burned Pillum as harshly as the spearman’s blowtorch had done to Cobalt. “I swear, Cobaltus, you’re arrogance will be your undoing. I no longer care about profit and whatever Ricimer has to offer. All I want now is to feel your life slip away while I choke it out of you…” he began, walking over to him. He looked at the other two guards and just like he thought, they were no longer paying attention. “It ends now,” said Pillum, adding “goodbye, you—“

And suddenly, at long last help had arrived. Cobalt saw them, knowing full well Timberwolf was behind this, but when his eyes met their gaze, his heart swelled ten times larger. Before him stood the Rebel Message Board Posters!!!

Lost in Lust Lad! Dial H for Homo! JWB Boy! And front and center, their leader and once essential member of the LMB, Seahorse!

They burst through the wall with a blast and suddenly were all over the room. Mart (Dial H for Homo) and Terrene (Lost in Lust Lad) which each took out a guard. Pillum tried to regain his composure, running to the wall where his spears were, but Seahorse was on him in a moment. He pulled him back by the shoulder and landed a right hook across Pillum’s face. Pillum was down and before he could recover, Seahorse smiled widely and landed another, quickly knocking him out. Momentum was on their side.

JWB Boy ripped off Cobalt’s shackles. “Can’t believe its you guys…been quite awhile…” he smiled.

“Easy Cobie,” said JWB Boy, who had not seen Cobalt Kid since the year 3000, 11 years earlier. “We’re here now and you’re safe.”

“I’m fine,” he said, being freed, and starting to fall to the floor before he was caught by JWB Boy. “Better than fine actually…knowing its you guys who saved me. Timber—er, Furball?”

“Yup,” said Mart, walking over. “I’d like to say you look great, Cobie, but you know…” he said, trying to smile. The truth was they were all horrified by what they saw but it was clear Cobalt was in incredibly high spirits to see them and none of them wanted to risk losing that.

“Cobie,” said Seahorse, the leader of the RMB, “are you okay?” He was dead serious.

“I am now,” said Cobalt, hobbling over and hugging him. Seahorse was once as prominent in the LMB as Cobalt Kid, Lard Lad and Lash Lad. Losing him was a tough blow for the membership, and after so many of the older LMBers had found their way to Legion World over the years, it still hurt that Seahorse had not. They missed their friend.

After Earth’s secession from the United Planets and the LMB’s exile, a small group of LMBers elected to stay behind and fight among the resistance against the Corporations. For eight long years they had done so, eventually becoming the de facto leaders of the movement, which had now become known as the Rebel Message Board Posters.

“Guys,” said Cobalt. “I’m okay. My healing factor will kick in gradually and get me back to normal. He pushed pretty hard…but I wouldn’t break.” They looked at him with some pride, having known him so many years ago when he was the youngest of them all. “I had his measure pretty well.”

“C’mon,” said Seahorse, “you have a buddy waiting.” They quickly moved through the corridors, with the JWB Boy holding Cobalt while the others took out any of the mercenaries who were in eyesight.

“BBC,” said Cobalt, using an old nickname the early LMBers had for Seahorse, “I have some unfinished business to take care of.”

“I know,” said Seahorse, “we’re bringing you to Lon now.”

Cobalt had not been on Earth in over 8 years and he had not seen any of these LMBers during that time. But for many years now, he had secretly been funding the RMB. Seahorse was the only one who knew and so he also knew about Timberwolf, and about their upcoming plans.

“How’s the war?” smiled Cobalt, his legs beginning to heal now, so he could walk on his own.

“The same,” said Seahorse, “and if something doesn’t change very soon, I fear the opportunity to ever reclaim Earth will have passed.”

“We won’t let that happen,” said Cobalt.

“Up ahead!” said Terrence as they rushed forward and waiting for them at the corner was the LMBer known as Furball. They did not know in a janitorial closet not far away, the victims of Timberwolf’s counter-assault were piled as high as their waists.

“Rere Ri Ram!” said Furball in his faux-voice.

“You’ll be in safe hands,” said Seahorse. The others looked at Seahorse questioningly, previously unaware they were dropping Cobalt off.

Cobalt walked over to Furball, limping slightly. Furball handed him his signature trench coat, and a fresh shirt. He turned around suddenly and they could see genuine emotion on Cobalt’s face. After all that had happened today, the usually stoic Cobalt was feeling an onslaught of different things. “Guys,” he said to them all, pausing, “…thanks.” He nodded at them all. And then he added, “and we all miss you.”

They all smiled back. “Us too,” said Mart.

And then with silence overtaking them, Seahorse leaned forward and extended his hand, and Cobalt shook it. And their brief reunion was over.

Cobalt Kid and Furball now walked away, through the corridors of the Gold Capital Holdings headquarters. As they got farther from their allies, Furball gradually transformed back into Timberwolf.

Neither said anything. Both were determined and both were furious. When the transformation was complete, Cobalt looked at Timberwolf and nodded and Timberwolf nodded back. It said it all: thanks and you’re welcome. Between these two, the ledger was so full of saves that neither could keep track anymore.

“There they are!” said a voice, and two mercs suddenly ran at them. Within moments, Timberwolf was on them, ripping ones throat out with his claws and then snapping another’s neck.

“Mercs get no mercy,” he said. Cobalt nodded, agreeing.

They kept walking, now reaching a large middle section of the building, re-entering the lobby towards the elevators. “Up ahead,” said Timberwolf. Up ahead was at least a dozen mercenaries, all with weapons pointed at them.

Cobalt didn’t miss a stride as he stuck out his hands to either side and stared at the mercs. He used his magnetism with incredible speed and precision, clapping his hands together. Within that motion, every single one of the mercenaries was suddenly decapitated, their heads falling to the ground.

“I’m tired of fucking around,” said Cobalt.

Timberwolf walked to the elevator and pressed the button.

In his office, Cornelius Ricimer stared out the window, smoking his cigar. He purposely was making his visitor wait, but it was difficult—for Ricimer was beyond furious.

Behind him stood Elena St. Clair, his number two in all things. Elena was not only Vice Chairman of Gold Capital Holdings, she was on the Board of Google-Facebook. In order for anyone to get access to Ricimer, they must first be screened by St. Clair.

And that was where Ricimer truly screwed up.

“How could you have been so utterly stupid?” said Ricimer in a slow voice, almost at a whisper. “You idiotic cow,” he added. “How could this have happened?”

Elena St. Clair said nothing, standing their silently. She was in full business regalia, hiding both her good looks as well as her friendly nature. She took the full brunt of Ricimer’s words.

“Some corporation has been buying up Earth’s Treasury Bonds…for years? How in the world was this not detected?!! And now, this same corporation owns MediaCorp?” He turned now, facing her. You idiot!!! You stupid moron! How could you let this happen?!

He moved very suddenly across the room and Elena took a step back, though she would not cringe. “I trusted that you were competent! I trusted you to handle this! What good are you?!!! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?!!!”.

“To you, sir?” said Elena, emphasizing the phrase purposely.

“You smug bitch,” he said, raising his hand as if he’d slap her. “Of course to me! Haven’t you realized it yet? I am Earth! Earth is me! And as my number two you could have had almost anything! How could you have let this happen?!”

“She didn’t,” said a voice, and Ricimer turned sharply at the sudden intrusion as Elena breathed a sigh of relief. At the door was Cobalt Kid and Timberwolf. “She didn’t let it happen…” he said with a smile, “…she was in on it.”

For the Odysseus Corporation’s plans to truly succeed, they needed a person on the inside. Someone to make sure all of the corporate espionage and hostile takeovers, which was public information, would not make it up the food chain.

In the person of Elena St. Clair, they found that. When Earth was taken over by the Corporations, she was already one of the greatest business minds in the galaxy. And so it was with little surprise to the corporate community when Ricimer named her his number two soon after.

But Elena was not satisfied to live at the top of a crumbling culture. What good was it to live a life of luxury, when everything around you was crumbling into nothingness?

Elena believed in capitalism. She believed in business. She dedicated her whole life to these things. When Earth was overtaken, everything she ever believed in was wiped away. She may have been at the top, but it was the very idea that there was a top—a ceiling that could not be surpassed—was what hurt her the most.

Cobalt Kid approached her in 3005 when she was abroad. She thought about it for two whole years. But it was never really much of a decision.

Because most people on Earth did not want the current world they lived in now. Even those on the top. A stagnant existence. Void of creativity. Void of opportunity.

When she agreed to help Cobalt Kid, it was at that moment that Cobalt realized what they were planning could truly be accomplished. Because people would believe in it.

Ricimer immediately ran to his desk to grab a blaster hidden within the drawers, but Timberwolf was on his immediately. Within seconds, Timberwolf had him pinned against the desk, his claws digging into his back, and the cigar inches from Ricimer’s eye.

“By all means,” said Timberwolf, “make my day.”

“Elena…? How could you?”

“Please Cornelius,” she said, “you can’t even fake it anymore. It should be obvious why. Because it’s the right thing to do.”

Cobalt walked over and put a stack of papers in front of Ricimer’s face, smacking away the cigar. He walked around Ricimer’s desk, and pulled out a felt pen Ricimer kept there. It cost $3,000 credits and Ricimer had been saving it for a special occasion. “Sign them,” said Cobalt.

Timberwolf eased off Ricimer and he stood up. “Please,” said Ricimer, “you can’t be serious. What are they?” He picked them up and looked at them and immediately he knew what they were. They were a buyout of Gold Capital Holding’s stock in Google-Facebook, the 51%. Meaning Odysseus Corporation would control Google-Facebook, giving them 52.5% control over Earthgov. The papers were giving control of Earth to them.

Ricimer looked up in a fury. “Never!” he said defiantly. “My life’s work, thrown away? Extorted by some common thugs, using violence? I’d rather die.”

“That can be arranged,” said Timberwolf, moving towards him. “If anyone ever had it coming, its you.” Every one of them knew he was deadly serious.

“You’ll sign it,” said Cobalt. “What you’ve done here on Earth, is removed any semblance of law or order. You’ve legitimized the kind of thing we’re doing right now. When you tear down a society, you can’t suddenly proclaim others can’t follow suit. Sign.”

Ricimer moved around the desk, to sit in his seat. He was thinking very fast. After all, he was a brilliant businessman. He sat, and picked up the fallen cigar, dusting it off and taking a long drag. “I’ve got a better idea,” he said. “I’ll sell you some shares of Gold Capital Holdings,” he smiled, thinking his words would be the exact thing they wanted to hear. “Both of you. I’ll make you partners. You sit back, let others do all the work, and you’re rich.”

Ricimer put his feet up on the table. He looked incredibly smug at that moment, confident in what he was offering was the greatest thing imaginable. His enormous ability to convince others what he was saying was the truth had somehow begun to work on himself long ago. He no longer believed anything other than what he wanted.

Cobalt walked over and grabbed Ricimer’s feet, throwing them off the table so hard it caused him to spin around in his chair. “I think I’ll pass,” he said so calmly, it caused Elena St. Clair to feel a chill up her spine.

“Y-You…you…you’re out of your mind…” he mumbled, “…do you have any idea what you’re passing up…? How can you not want…? What…what is it you want then…?”

Cobalt Kid leaned forward and suddenly all of the rage he felt—all he had suppressed for so long—was focused on his next words. “I want the Gold Watch".

Manhattan, Metropolis
Earth

“The stock exchange, then?” said Timberwolf as Cobalt carried him by his side while they flew the air at top speed.

“Yes,” said Cobalt. “We have an announcement to make.”

Moments earlier:
Ricimer had no choice—he signed the papers. In those moments, he valued his own self-preservation more than power. 51% of Google-Facebook was purchased by the Odyseuss Corporation.

Cobalt used his magnetism to blast out all of the glass windows in the office, and then turned to Elena, nodding to her so she knew it was time to take the next steps.

“He might jump out the window,” said Timberwolf about Ricimer, who was now curled up in a ball on the floor.

“He won’t,” said Cobalt confidently. Cobalt knew Ricimer valued himself above all else.

“Been practicing this speech for a few years, have you?” grinned Timberwolf.

“To be honest,” said Cobalt, “I haven’t. So many things had to happen in this plan…I was never sure it’d get this far.” He smiled widely. It felt very good.

They arrived at the Earth Stock Exchange, the once preeminent center of commerce in known space. The media was waiting for them: at long last owning MediaCorp was bearing fruit.

Cobalt Kid and Timberwolf landed and a podium was in place. They walked through the crowd, towards the podium and everyone’s eyes followed them. In the crowd was a vast array of media, but also many common citizens as well.

Tiffany Spiffany smiled, watching Cobalt move, thrilled he had made it through the day.

Seahorse and the rest of the RMB also cheers and slapped each other on the back.

And suddenly, the media blockade on Earth came to a halt, as Earth news was broadcast throughout the entire galaxy.

Cobalt leaned in to the podium at the microphone and smiled the charming smile he was known for. But this time it was genuine.

“Ladies and Gentlemen,” he began, “thank you for coming. Today is a day that will live in infamy and in moments you will understand the gravity of these events. But let me begin with this: today Earthgov is being sold back to the people of Earth.”



It was the greatest speech he ever made in the history of his eventual life. He held the entire UP in the grip of his hand with them hanging on his every word. He gradually built up their hope with one proclamation of logic after another, until the people began to expect what he was truly announcing. And when he did so, all across the cosmos people cheered.