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Weber's World
The Senate Hall

"Madame Prime Minister, I must protest!" The normally cool and calm ambassador from Colu was actually perspiring. Passions were running high, fueled by fear and uncertainty. "Are you telling us that the great strategy of the LMB involves us using ourselves as one big target?"

The LMB had tried to explain its plan in stages, but hadn't anticipated that the anxiety in the room would cut them off after the first stage of their plan - though Weber's World had been spared from battle, many surrounding worlds had not. The LMB would send squads led by Kar-Em, Space Ranger and the newly-powered up Invisible Brainiac to scour these worlds clean of the Dark forces. They would make sure to mention that Weber's World was preparing some sort of secret weapon that would end the war cleanly, ensuring that Weber's World would be the target of the amassing Dark Army.

There was another round of angry buzzing, though it silenced at once when the Prime Minister spoke. Well, there remained some whispers, but that was understandable.

"I have not had the chance to review this plan carefully, but I urge the Senate to allow the LMB to answer our queries in order to fully evaluate their proposal. There may be an explanation for their admittedly bold move."

This was misleading, and the LMBers knew it. The Prime Minister had not only been informed of the plan, but had contributed input to it. Yet part of their agreement had been that they obscure her involvement - it would benefit the LMB, as the ambassadors would not believe they were acting as the Prime Minister's pawns, and it would give her room to maneuver as well. And it was true that she had not truly reviewed the final plan. She knew better than to give an outright lie.

Invisible Brainiac turned to look at the others beside him. Nightcrawler, Princess Crujectra, Kar-Em and Petty Officer Marvin. Thankfully, the Princess was a well-known LMBer and could freely speak without worrying about political appearances.

"Our proposal is to make us a target, in the sense that we want to draw the Dark Army's attention to ourselves. We have already confirmed from multiple sources that they are amassing. If they strike at multiple targets, we have no chance of defending against them, especially with the UP Militia currently unavailable. As of now, it is taking us too much time and too many resources to shuttle our forces from world to world."

Kar-Em spoke up next, though the set of his jaw indicated he was still continuously scanning for danger. "Since they are going to attack anyway, we feel it is sound strategy to control the battlefield by encouraging them all to pursue the same target - Weber's World. We can marshal whatever forces we have to defend ourselves here."

"And who is to say that we can withstand such a force?" growled the Ambassador from Braal.

"Even if their forces are scattered, and we defeat the first army they send to us, their other forces will soon consolidate and attack us anyway. By drawing them to us first, we can deal with them together."

The ambassador from Aleph leaned forward. "And how do you propose to actually defeat them, if as you say the UP Militia is unavailable? What forces do we actually have here - a few dozen members of the LMBP, forces led by yourself, a few Lard Knight volunteers... Would it not be wiser to wait for us to regain control of the UP Militia?"

Petty Officer Marvin stepped forward. "If I may, I have proof that the Dark Oval is able to somehow send their forces great distances in a short amount of time. Whether it is via teleportation or hyper-speed travel I do not know, but they have a way."

The screen above the podium flashed to a dark planet. Dark not just because it was covered all in shadow. Dark because it was unmistakably the homeworld of the Brood. Their fierce race was feared across the galaxy - not just for their prowess in battle, but because they implanted their foes with Brood eggs which would hatch and consume the host. An unlucky sentient could harbor an egg without knowing.

The recording showed what seemed to be a public celebration, with what seemed to be an address by the Brood Queen. Things appeared to be peaceful.

Suddenly, out of seemingly nowhere, a large force appeared in the skies above. This force consisted of ships, yes, but also included ghouls and monsters of various sizes. The ghouls proceeded to attack and rip apart all armed resistance.

But that was not the fate of the unarmed. They were treated to something far more frightening - the large, black, inky shadow which seemed to absorb life itself.

The screen went black for a second, then shifted to show Marvin, Disaster Boy and Invisible Brainiac standing grimly over the remains of the Brood city. There were many who were obvious victims of violence - but there were also many of the Brood who looked like they had died peacefully in their sleep. Then the video ended.

Marvin spoke again. "As you know, the Brood military was highly feared and equipped with technology capable of sensing any movement around its territory. For this force to be able to take the Brood by surprise, they must have had some means of either evading that technology... or of teleporting."

The representative from Silvan spoke up. "What was that black cloud?" Marvin briefly explained how it somehow lulled absorbed its victims into a deep sleep and ate away at their very life force. Very few sentients had managed to survive.

"And how did you obtain this recording? The only persons who appear in it are you, this "Disaster Boy" whom we all know was possessed by the Dark Lord, and Invisible Brainiac - a young prankster and untested LMBer," spat the representative from Talok VIII.

Invisible Brainiac rolled his eyes. He was hoping things would not degenerate to a question of character. "Despite my relatively young age, I am a full-fledged member of the LMB. You should know by now that I was in Dark Oval space at the time, and have managed to return. I brought news that the Hive would no longer be a threat. I have seen the horrors perpetrated by the Dark Oval by my own eyes, and would not consider this a joking matter for our very survival is at stake." He paused to let his words take effect, then continued before the ambassadors had a chance to ask about his possible involvement in bringing down the Dominion. Many were still incensed at the LMBers initiative in this regard. "If you need further proof, all three of us have submitted to mind scans and medical examinations. We can prove that we were not telepathically influenced, nor were we drugged, from a few days before this recording was taken up to the present. As for Marvin..."

Marvin spoke. "I used to look like this." The screen flashed again, and the audience gasped. "I was born a Brood soldier. Yet although I always loved my people, I know right from wrong. And in our past conflicts, they were clearly wrong, and the LMB was clearly right. And before you suspect me of anything, I’d like to point out that if I were up to something, I would not have revealed this to you."

Silence, and then the representative from Naltor spoke up. "I have not been able to contact my world in some time. Could they have fallen prey to those forces as well?"

IB was sober. "I do not know. We have not yet been able to contact our allies in that part of space. I do promise you, and the representatives of Orando and Zerox, that we shall relay word as soon as we get it."

"And how would we defeat that force if it attacked Weber's World en masse? By all reports, what we face would be much larger than that," said the ambassador from Imsk. Although their world had threatened to leave the UP, it seemed there was a split among the Imskites themselves.

Princess Crujectra spoke now. "We have received word from our LMBers who liberated Earth-4. They are en route, as well as large portions of the General Elite Militia and the Hrykosian Army. These allies have suffered under the Dark Oval as well, and are prepared to fight by our side to put an end to their tyranny. Invisible Brainiac's light powers were also able to defeat the black shadow that we saw in this video. We believe that with our current forces and the reinforcements headed our way, we can win. We just need to hold out until they arrive. Also, we have a plan to limit the size of the Dark forces."

"We have the Thanagarian Angdar Fel as our ally now," IB added. "With his knowledge of nth metal added to the expertise of the LMB, we believe we can identify the method the Dark Army uses to arrive. We believe it isn't hyperspeed, but rather some form of teleportation similar to a Boom Tube. One of the foes we encountered, Titus, was revealed to be of a race of ancient gods who had this technology. Unfortunately, we cannot begin to search for it until the enemy uses it again - hence our plan to draw them here. The nearer said boom tube is to us, the easier it will be for us to find it and hopefully take control of it - or destroy it if need be."

There was a large clamor once more in the hall. Several ambassadors stood up at once, several shouting.

"You would gamble our lives on this?"

"Let us take control of the militia!"

"We demand you force all nearby worlds to send their armies here!"

Prime Minister Maya adi Lva waved her hand yet again. "Please, ambassadors! You know that we cannot leave these worlds undefended, as several are still fighting remnants of the Dark forces that have attacked them! Even after we defeat said forces, their armies and resources would be too depleted to send any additional aid our way."

The ambassador of Aldebain III now spoke up. The audience quieted now, regarding him with interest - he was not a supporter of the LMB by any stretch of that definition, but he was a respected statesman with an impressive track record. Whenever he did agree with the LMB, everyone was convinced that it was the right course of action to take. "How sure are you LMBers that your plan will work?"

Princess Crujectra made as if to reply, but IB stepped forward.

"If power is the question, we have more than enough here - A godlike elemental. Some of the most powerful telepaths in the galaxy. At least 2 Daxamites. A man with a Green Lantern ring. A mysterious ghost with powers I don’t even understand. Nearly all of the Legion World founders. And more than a dozen other LMBers with various abilities, all of whom I’d trust to watch my back in combat against even the Dark Lord himself."

"If you question our dedication to defend Weber's World and defeat the evil Dark Army, we have the heart, passion and spirit to do so. What, you think we joined the LMB for the perks? Perhaps some of us do make the news for our fun-loving ways, but every single one truly believes in what we do. Lance nearly lost an arm saving 331 school children. Beagle Boy nearly drowned saving sentient's during Winath’s Hurricane Winema. Disaster Boy had his mind violated when he tried to liberate his home - yet you see him standing here before you, ready to fight again. Marvin defected from his home because he believed in our ideals. And you all know what happened to Lumber Fox when he fought too."

IB took a step forward at this. His voice trembled, not with fear, but with conviction and passion. All murmurs in the audience had died down.

"Yet none of us have rolled over and given up. We’re all still here. All still ready to fight, knowing that to any other force this would be a gamble. That we have predicted our enemy's actions correctly. That our allies will arrive in time. That we can identify their strategy and have the resources and strength to counter it. It's a gamble, but we are risking our own lives as well - and if it fails, we will be the first to fall, since we will be in the front lines. But we trust each other to do our parts and make our strategy bear fruit. We know we can win, even though we may suffer massive losses along the way. Now, if your question is why we would still risk ourselves when we could easily save ourselves with all our power? When we could save our own home, Legion World, and to hell with everyone else?"

"Because it is the right thing to do."

The Senate Hall was quiet now. The Ambassador of Aldebain III bowed slightly. He had hardly ever done that to an LMBer before. "I would have called you lad, but you have clearly experienced much more than most adults. Thank you."

"No, thank you, sir, for giving us a chance to speak," IB continued before anyone else could. He turned to the rest of the Senate. "I believe you all became politicians because you wanted to serve your people. Now is your chance. Should our plan succeed, you will all go down in history as having been part of the effort to end the Dark Oval once and for all. And should we fail - you will still be remembered as the beings who took a last stand for good and for freedom."

He lowered his voice now, and to all in the audience it seemed as if he was looking right at them - a function of his light powers. "But I promise you - we will not fail."

There was silence, then Prime Minister Maya adi Lva stood up once more. Even she looked like she had been caught up in the moment. "Let the assembly vote on this plan. All those in favor?"

Silence. IB could feel his heart pounding in his chest. Beside him, Kar-Em looked straight ahead, but his stance showed his anxiety.

Then, one by one, then in a huge wave, the ambassadors stood up. IB's breath caught as he scanned the room - each and every ambassador was standing. He and the Princess traded looks of disbelief. They had won!

The Prime Minister smiled and turned to them. "I believe we have the approval you need to proceed. What would you have us do?"

IB stood for a while, waiting for the Princess or Kar-Em to answer. He gave a start when she messaged him telepathically - "I believe it is your turn." He gave her a surprised look, which she returned with a motion to move forward. He took a deep breath. He still couldn't believe he had just addressed the UP Council like that. Already, his stomach was hurting.

"We need to ensure we’re as juicy a target as possible. We’d like to request all ambassadors and world leaders currently on-planet send messages home to their people to say they will stay here. We will announce that the UP Council will hold a monumental planning session, where a secret strategy will be discussed that can end this war. At the same time, the LMB will depart immediately to cleanse the nearby worlds. We will put on a show, so to speak, to convince the enemy that we mean business. Rest assured we've taken steps to make sure none of what we speak has exited this hall. Since we are agreed, Kid Prime will lift the firewalls around the hall in an hour so you can begin sending your messages."

There was a murmur of assent as the ambassadors began their work. IB and the others turned to join the LMBers in the room off the stage. As they opened the door, they saw everyone was grinning, high-fiving one another, and giving him thumbs-up signs.

All but Kid Vudoo, who was staring at space in shock.

"Are you okay?" Kent asked him. He appeared not to hear.

Then he turned, slowly, and looked at them.

His next words chilled them all to the core.

"They're here."

Three Days Before

Weber's World

Kar-Em and Space Ranger quickly confirmed Kid Vudoo's alarm. The Dark Army had appeared suddenly in space, about three days' travel from Weber's World. The fact that their approach had not been detected at all lent support to the theory that they had teleported.

The LMB and the UP forces moved like well-oiled machinery. It was confirmed that there was only one such force. A list of worlds in between their current position and Weber's World had been drawn up, and the LMB quickly dispatched forces there.

The Prime Minister prepared to give an address that would be beamed across the UP. It had been carefully written and planned. She faced it with true strength - she knew she was gambling her career and her life on the outcome of the battle, but she had calculated all possibilities and this still seemed the best course of action.

Besides, the last few days with the LMB had almost allowed her to believe in something again.

She began to speak, and her message went loud and clear across the galaxy.

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

Phlon

This medium-sized planet is near the galactic average for most things - population, size, and resources. What sets it apart is its great investment in chemistry, making it a vital link in the galactic supply chain.

"Dear Sentients of the United Planets. I bring news of the war with the Dark Oval. Our forces have confirmed that the main body of the Dark Army has appeared in UP Space. By all accounts, this army is larger than any that have been sent to our UP member worlds since the beginning of our war."

Space Ranger quickly punched the zombie giant that had picked up the transport full of survivors. As the squid reeled back, Mattropolis used his gravity powers to pull the ship away and lower it gently.

Space Ranger turned to address the crowd. "Sentiens of Phlon! I promise you that the UP and the LMB shall not let vermin such as this despoil your planet yet again! We are now formulating a plan which shall end this war once and for all. For justice has might on its end, and though the enemy be mighty, we shall find a way to prevail!"

Mattropolis, once the Legionnaire known as Danny Blaine, landed beside him. "Aren't you hamming it up a tad?"

Space Ranger looked confused. "Why, don't you think it gets my point across better?"

Mattropolis wisely decided not to comment any further, and instead lifted the other ship full of supplies donated by Phlon. "Um, I'll take this ship back to ours while you finish off that squid. See ya!"

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

Rann

Of the UP worlds, Rann is known as one of the most similar to Earth. It boasts a diverse geography and an even more diverse set of natives. Rann is one of the most tolerant planets in the UP system - a great feat in an era known for its embrace of diversity.

"Yet we must take heart and stand fast with our courage. Even now, the UP forces and the LMB have joined together to wipe clean the remaining Dark forces from the first wave of attack. And your UP Council has committed to support the war effort by remaining here on Weber's World as we work on a weapon that can end this war once and for all."

Saturn Girl pointed to what looked like a flat plain littered with debris. There was nothing in it. Lumborg Fox raised an eyebrow. "Trust me," came the telepathic reply.

Lumborg Fox shrugged and began to sprint at top speed, claws outstretched. "Punch now!" came Saturn Girl's telepathic cry.

He complied, and suddenly his fist connected with flesh. The surroundings faded and were replaced by the sight of a large ghoul that looked like a giant snake flying through the air.

Lumborg Fox turned to Saturn Girl, who smiled. "Told you."

"Never doubted you for a second," came the gleeful reply as the cyborg LMBer sprinted after the snake to finish what he had started.


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

Talok VIII

The 12 tribes of Talok VIII each contribute something different to their unified culture - one is a tribe of warriors, another of hunters, yet another of craftsmen. Because Talok VIII has only recently joined the United Planets, they do not as yet have a tribe solely devoted to exploring and traversing the spaceways.

"We understand that all your worlds have been touched by war in some measure. Yet we must ask your cooperation in this manner. If you have any resources to spare, any super-powered beings, any armed citizens, we urge you to make your way to Weber's World as soon as you have determined that your world is in no immediate danger from the Dark Army."

"Ugh, I haaaaaaate all this sand!" Abin Quank groaned as his ring formed a shield around him. He'd just come back from shuttling a particular awful ghoul - a living pile of black sludge - into the nearest star, and was helping salvage some starcruisers which had been buried in the desert sand.

"Why are we doing this again, Mister Tribal Chief, sir?" he turned to the chief beside him.

"Because we are pledged to aid the UP with our efforts. Although we are loathe to weaken our own world's defenses, we can send some of our own to aid you."

"Awesome!" Abin Quank grinned. "The gang will be happy to hear this!"

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

Deep Space

"Although doing so may weaken your worlds momentarily, we must stand together if we are to succeed. The Dark Oval has long been a thorn in our side, but their recent attempts at aggression cannot, and will not, go unchallenged!"

Rockhopper Lad looked at the screen. "We must hurry, Helena. We only have three days before the Dark Army arrives at Weber's World."

"We can make it. Our engineers think we can sustain our current speeds for that long."

"We must. I'll address our combined forces in half an hour."

As the screen popped out, Rockhopper Lass put an arm on her brother's shoulder. "We won't let the Dark Oval continue their depravities any more."

Rocky's voice was as determined as it had ever sounded. "No, we will not."

Legion World

(this vignette takes place prior to the Battle of Legion World)

"We stand together, or fall individually. Let us raise the banner of the United Planets and all it represents - unity, cooperation, tolerance, and peace."

"I don't get it," Ram Boy mused. "Isn't Weber's World a big enough target without them gathering all this attention?"

"Weber's World IS a target," Fanfic Lady replied as she sipped her coffee, "but we have no guarantee it'll be the ONLY target. There are a lot of other populated worlds in that sector of space."

"The point is to make sure the Dark Army heads straight to Weber's World and ignores the other worlds. Besides Legion World, Weber's World is now the biggest threat," Lightning Lad added as he closed his eyes for a second.

"Hmm, wise," Red Arrow pondered. "Risky, but wise."

"The plans with the greatest rewards usually are," Question Lad replied matter-of-factly.


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

Bismoll

The natives of the planet Bismoll evolved the ability to ingest anything. As such, they have little need to consume normal "Earth" food - leading to some surprising uses for said food.

"Of the worlds of the Dark Oval, our allies have confirmed that Hrykosia, The Hive Homeworld, the Dominion and the Planet of the Black Sun are no longer threats. Only the Epsilon Sector and their as yet unknown seat of power remain."

"You know, I always did want to visit Bismoll," My Whee Fem muttered as she dodged a dark knight's blade. The blade embedded itself in a cheddar cheese sculpture just behind her. "You'd think now that I was on it, I'd get a chance to actually enjoy it?"

Her enemy turned around to charge her, then shook as if electrified. It collapsed, twitching, into a pile of hollowed out coconuts ready to be turned into buoys for the Bismollian sea. Behind it stood Knightress. "Perhaps we still can, if we are more careful," she replied calmly.

"Yeah, or if maybe our squad-mates help us out? Helloooooo, Sketch Lad?" My Whee called. "Heat got to you?" My Whee called as she slashed at the hamstrings of another dark knight's horse. "There's too many of them..."

Both heroes now stood back to back. They were surrounded by a dozen knights. "I suggest we wait for one of them to make the first move," Knightress whispered. "Then we try to exit from the space that one has opened up."

"Sounds like a plan. And if it fails... nice to have worked with you."

Before Knightress could reply, an ice cream truck appeared out of nowhere, barreling into the knights on her left and opening space for them to run. Knightress reacted quickly, downing the two knights closest to her. She swung up onto the riderless horse. My Whee quickly climbed on, and as Knightress rode, My Whee downed another two knights.

They galloped a short distance towards where Sketch Lad waited with a grin on his face, brush still wet. "That was your doing?" My Whee asked curiously.

"Mine and Lindsay Lohan's. And now," Sketch Lad said as he finished his next drawing, "meet Janis Joplin, Amy Winehouse and Britney Spears."

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

Starhaven

Although Starhaven is a planet of beautiful terrain, its winged inhabitants will tell you that its greatest natural wonder is its sky and the jagged mountains that scrape it. Since its induction to the UP, Starhaven has set a portion of its airspace as a training ground for UP pilots.

"If you would like to volunteer, we are in need of soldiers, medics, engineers, scientists, navigators and super-powered agents. Contact your world's embassy on Weber's World if you would like to volunteer."

"Yaaaaaaaaahooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo," Spelling Bee screamed as she flew through the moonlight sky on her mechanical bees. Beside her, Sara, who had taken the name Danger Damsel, piloted a small craft. Few of the LMBers had the skill to pilot any craft through the sloping mountains and deep valleys of Starhaven.

"Don't you think we should be quiet?" came Sara's voice over the comlink.

"Why? We are trying to find the bad guys, right?" Spelling Bee replied. "Why not make them come to us?"

"If we were invulnerable, maybe. But I'd rather not die today," Sara replied.

"Well, good point. H-O-V-E-R, bees." At her command, the bees stopped propelling themselves forward. "I still have to win my precious IB back! He's such a cutie, isn't he?"

"I'd rather not talk about him, thanks. As far as I'm concerned, you can have him as long as you promise to let me ask him a few questions. And... Don't you think having to spell your commands makes your reaction time too slow?"

Spelling Bee gave a little laugh. "S-P-A-R-K-L-E, little bees!" At that, each bee began shimmering in a different color. "I only made them this way so IB would notice me. He was always winning all the spelling bees back then. They can work even if I don't spell. Anyway, you should see this trick I have-"

Sara cut her off, not impolitely. "I'm detecting a signal down below. Three large creatures. Winged, probably dragons."

Spelling Bee grinned. "Bees, S-T-I-N-G! Shield formation!" Her smaller bees immediately zipped downwards, while she clung to her Queen Bee, which was about the size of an earth albatross. "Let's go!"

Sara closed her eyes in exasperation. She almost felt sorry for IB, being chased by this crazy cuckoo. Almost. She turned her craft sharply and zipped down. Three dragons were waiting in front of her. She quickly opened fire, downing one, then turned around to attack the next. As it turned on her, she swore to herself, "Not today, monster. I still have my answers to get."

*************************************************
Aleph

The Treasure Planet is known for being a storehouse of ancient temples and relics that are evidence of a glorious magical civilization. Its former inhabitants are thought to have largely moved to Zerox. However, the descendants and artifacts they left behind have been known to create the occasional metahuman.

"I am confident we can win this war, with all the resources at our disposal and the spirit and commitment of all our allies. We can, we must, and we will!"

"Your speech was really hot, baby. And you gave it in that sexy voice that always turns me on," Blaze said as he incinerated an arrow aimed at him.

"You mean this one?" IB grinned as he lowered his voice, making it even huskier than normal. "Watch your back, baby. I can't do all the watching for you."

"You won't have to," Marvin replied. "We've been working on some new combat maneuvers using my resistance to flame and my advanced healing. Ready, Blaze?"

"Ready as ever!"

"Okay, remember to wait until I'm in the midst of the enemy. And both of you, cover me while I get there." With that, Marvin took off. Blaze and IB stood side by side, their backs against a wall, blasting away on both sides of the battlefield, burning a swath through the enemy that Marvin could run between. Truth was, IB could normally power through them himself, but he needed to conserve his strength.

As Marvin reached the midst of the enemy, Blaze closed his eyes and concentrated. A ball of flame erupted right where Marvin was, creating a big hole in the enemy ranks.

"Whoa," IB exclaimed. "You set fire to the bomb Marvin was carrying, didn't you? That's great, I can't believe you have so much control now!"

Blaze panted and leaned forward, hands on his knees. "Yeah, it takes a lot out of me but we did take out a large number of the enemy," he smiled.

IB grinned. "You keep at it, and you'll be in the LMB in no time. Now, let's play clean-up..." He paused as a shadow loomed over them. A golem, thirty storeys tall, with six large arms and a wicked looking chest with spikes all over. "Oh, this'll be good. Be back soon," he said as he flew straight for its knees. "If I can topple it over..."

"Can I help?" came a voice beside him. He turned to see a flying redhead dressed in green, her long hair flowing out behind her. She glowed in a green aura, and he noted with some surprise that it encompassed a burned and blackened Marvin too. Marvin gave him a wink.

"I see you've already met my friend. And you are?" IB asked, trying hard not to look at the girl's skirt as it billowed in the wind. It was a very short skirt.

"I am the newest champion of Aleph. I go by the name Kinetix," she smiled. "And it's an honor to meet a big hero such as yourself."

"Oh, trust me, you haven't seen big yet," IB winked. "Like this guy, for instance. What can you do, and any ideas how to take him down?"

"First, let's duck," Kinetix replied as the golem swung at them. IB banked left, while Kinetix turned right, causing its blow to miss and hit the ground below. Kinetix's hand glowed, causing debris on the ground to form into shackles which she fixed around the golem's legs. "Now, push!"

IB complied, ramming a hard light beam into the golem's chest. Unable to regain its footing, it fell backwards into the ground with a mighty thud. IB rained lasers down on it, severing its arms, while Kinetix used her powers to rip open its chest.

From below, Blaze joined in - IB could see the golem's feet melting. In seconds, the golem was no more than a pile of scrap metal.

Kinetix and IB rejoined Blaze on the ground. "That was great," IB laughed as he held out both hands. "High fives all around!"

Blaze tilted his head as Kinetix returned IB's gesture. "And you are...?"

"Oh, sorry. Kinetix, meet Blaze. If you can bring things to life, he can make things real hot," IB said with a wink. "And I see you've met Marvin already. Guys, Kinetix is Aleph's planetary champion."

"And I want to join you. I hear you're gathering on Weber's World. Please, I want to fight too," Kinetix said determinedly. "Aleph is safe for now, but I do not want the Dark Oval to ruin my world again."

"Kinetix," IB said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Anyone who can do what you did, and with such expertise, is more than welcome to join us. What say you, guys?"

"Hey, she picked me up from the battlefield when I thought I'd have to dig my way out. She so has my vote," Marvin smiled.

"Fine," Blaze replied. IB eyed him worriedly. His hair had flared up again.

Marvin appeared not to notice. "Welcome to Weber's World, Kinetix," he said with the biggest smile IB had ever seen him flash. "You're in for one heck of a ride!"

Zerox,
Epsilon Sector,
Dark Oval Space

High above the desolate wasteland that Zerox now was soared a great green dragon with two passengers riding bareback. The dragon's riders were LMBer Lard Lad and his Durlan ally Juj Rinold.

The two peered down from their vantage point and saw the planet below them was teeming with thousands, perhaps millions, of zombie-like ghouls. Flyers attempting to harm the trio were continuously dissuaded by the dragon's raging fire immolating them.

"Anything alive down there?" Juj asked his companion.

Lardy closed his eyes and reached out with his enhanced senses. He opened his eyes and shook his head. "Nothing, Juj. This planet has been drained dry of all its life. I can't sense anything alive here."

"Nothing?" Juj probed. "But what about--?"

"Don't even think it, Juj! Des and Temp are alive here somewhere, godamnit! Those bastards Romaltus and Mala must be fucking around with spells or something to fool my senses." He turned around and glared at Juj for emphasis. "They're NOT dead! They...they can't be..."

Juj hid the doubt he was feeling. "I'm sure they're alright, Lardy." He fiddled with his communicator for the upteenth time. "Can't hail anyone, though--not even Peebz...or Ameratsu at the ship...maybe I can--"

Juj's words were interrupted as both men heard a cry in their minds:

HELP!

"What the hell was that?" Juj cried in confusion.

"Temp!" Lardy exclaimed with unbridled relief. Somehow, Lardy knew exactly where Temp was at that moment. "Zee," Lardy said to their dragon friend, "that way!" And the great dragon knew exactly where he meant and veered off.

"'Zee'?" Juj said curiously.

Lardy shrugged and smiled. "Short for 'Zhornian', her species."

"Suits her!" Juj said with a grin.


Moments later, Zee and her passengers arrived at the ruins of Mala's palace. Lardy leapt off the dragon's back and rushed toward a figure that was spawled out on the floor.

"No, no, NOOOOOO!" Lardy yelled as his fears got the better of him. He arrived at her side in a blink and was relieved to see that Tempest was still breathing. "Thank the gods," he sighed.

A moment later, she awoke. She looked around, at first confused and then ready to strike.

"It's okay, Temp...it's Lardy."

She looked up at him and vaguely realized it was indeed Lardy. Then, she looked around. No Mala to be seen. Just a conspicuous pile of dust several feet away.

Temp had a feeling about that pile of dust. She lifted her hand in the pile's direction and muttered an incantation. "Mala's...no more," Temp whispered. Then, she wove another spell to ensure this wasn't a trick. A moment later, she was satisfied it wasn't.

"Did you kill her?" Lardy asked.

Temp, still dazed and in his arms, looked at the source of the question. Oh yeah...Lardy! she thought. Dunno, DID I kill her? Temp reached out with her spells and realized that a third party had intervened. She wasn't certain who had done so, but the signature was familiar...

"No, I didn't," Temp finally muttered. Then, she remembered something else and hastily stumbled to her feet. She lost her balance, and Lardy had to catch her.

"Easy," he said gently.

Her legs were shaking, as much from anger as from fatigue. My ring--it's gone! she thought as her mind raced. I came all this damned way through this godsforsaken kingdom! I was even inside a giant, rotting CORPSE for days on end, all for nothing! I oughtta--!

Before she could let loose her rage and live up to her name, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned, ready to strike whomever dared to interrupt her fury, only to see Lardy again, smiling.

"You're safe," he said.

Even though he had a false idea of why she was upset, Temp found herself smiling back. He was goofy. He was a flawed child like all men. He had little or no idea what she or any other woman was feeling. But damn if she wasn't happy to see his face again!

Lardy saw a look in her eyes that scared him. Was she about to deck him one?

The next instant, Temp grabbed Lardy's face and pulled it down toward her, then kissed him with a passion that had been building up for months. Lardy was shocked at first but quickly wrapped his arms around her and gave her as good as he'd got.

A few feet away, Juj grinned and blushed. Behind him, Zee snorted and grunted her disapproval.

The moment seemed to last forever, but Temp and Lardy finally paused and looked one another in the eyes. Their eyes were bewildered, excited and a little scared as they contemplated what this moment meant and what the future held for them.

Just then, all were shocked from their reveries by the deafening sound of a Boom Tube. Power Boy, barely recognizable, stumbled through the portal and was caught by Juj who'd morphed into a makeshift mattress just in time.

"Fuck, Peebz! You look like shit!" Lardy yelled as he went to Power Boy's side.

Peebz managed a wry grin. "Y-you sh-should see the oth-other guys..." Weakly, Peebz looked around and was pleased to note that Tempest was fine. The mental cry had lead him here as well.

"He'll be okay," Temp said after she made an incantation. "The magical nature of this Sector is blocking his ability to fully absorb the stellar energy he needs to recharge. He's still got more than enough to survive, but he won't be at peak power for awhile."

Juj interrupted, "I'm getting a signal from Cobie--he's alright!"

Lardy grinned, another huge weight now off his back. "You got his coordinates?"

"Sure do!"

"Then, let's go meet up in style!"

Moments later, after Lardy convinced his new dragon companion to allow Temp to climb aboard with him and the others, the great Zhornian Green dragon soared toward Cobalt's coordinates.

Sitting on top of a giant pile or rubble, Cobalt Kid stretched his legs and tried to get into a comfortable position. He was beyond exhausted. The wear and tear of the journey had beaten up his body in ways he never dreamed of, and he was still covered in bruises and cuts, not to mention ugly scratches across his own face that had turned a sickly red color. But none of that was why he felt so dead tired. The truth of it was that over the last day he had experienced wave after wave of emotion, as if all the pain he’d bottled up over the last decade exploded out of him.

It had been hours since Romaltus had passed, and during that time Cobie continued to weep and oddly enough, as he did so he continued to feel better and better. Finally, he found himself all alone, laughing at himself. As traumatic as it had been, whatever Romaltus had done was strangely cathartic. Now, having calmed down for some time, he felt the exhaustion in every fiber of his being.

Down below, scores of zombies struggled to climb up the pile or rubble and get to him, hoping to eat his flesh. It had become clear the jagged structure was impossible to climb without super-powers or a fully formed, non-decaying body, so Cobalt was totally safe. As dozens and dozens of more zombies joined the herd, the noise turned into a non-stop pattern of moaning. It almost sounds like a song, thought Cobalt. The Eulogy for the Sorcerer’s World.

Cobalt Kid sat there, exhausted, as he began to make out a large shape in the sky coming towards them. He could see large outstretched wings and a giant tail. Considering where he was, he knew it was a dragon. Too tired to even lift himself to a standing position, he waited to see what the ancient being intended. In a few moments, it was upon him with a speed that Cobalt had not counted on. A giant shadow encompassed his pile of rubble and the moan of the zombies stopped. Starting to look like I’m fucked… thought Cobalt, trying to find the effort to smile.

“Jeez Cobie, you look like total shit!” he heard a voice yell with a hearty laugh, and instantly, he knew it was Lard Lad.

“Seems like that’s you’re favorite way to great people these days,” said Power Boy, who despite looking emaciated and beat up, steadfastly offered his hand below to Cobalt.

Cobalt’s face broke into a wide smile as he saw them. All of them—alive. They had somehow done it again. “Mala’s is dead,” said Tempest. She had her arms wrapped around Lardy, holding him tightly.

“So is Romaltus,” replied Cobalt. He did not go into the details, as he stretched out to grab Power Boy’s hands with one arm and Juj’s with the others. “You guys are a sight for soar eyes, I’ll tell you that.”

Lard Lad noticed it immediately: there was something different about Cobie. He seemed genuinely…happy. Like his guard was down. “Grab a seat wherever you can find one,” he said, “we’re a little low on beverages so you’ll just have to enjoy the flight.”

Cobalt laughed at those words, not once forgetting he was climbing aboard a dragon—a first in his superhero career. “You love to make your entrances…” he said to Lardy. He looked around at them all. Everyone worse for wear but okay. “I’m glad to see we all made it in one piece,” he said, his eyes lingering on Peebz for a moment. The two of them had left things pretty tense before they arrived on Zerox. Peebz nodded, understanding the gesture. “Now let’s get the fuck out of here and never come back.”

Lard Lad laughed loudly. Tempest smiled and gripped Lardy tightly. Peebz smiled too, while Juj held his arms out to hold up Cobie, who nodded his thanks to the Durlan. Lardy suddenly yelled out to the dragon. “Zee, you heard the man! Sweet Ass Sweet!”

Two Days Before

Weber's World

Space seemed to shimmer for a moment as Serj used his Lard Force powers to teleport into the LMB's "central command". "Got a bunch of new volunteers from Winath," Serj told Commander Bond. "Bet they've never held any weapon more dangerous than a pitchfork in their lives, though."

The Commander gave a shrug. "We have 48 hours to teach them. I'm betting they can learn enough to defend themselves."

Serj sat down with a sigh. "Hope it works. We don't need any more families torn apart by this war." His thoughts returned to Helen and the kids. He was just glad they weren't on Weber's World now.

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

Kathoon

The world of darkness is, not surprisingly, known for its nightlife. Tourists are advised to to maintain caution, though; all of Kathoon's inhabitants, "human" or otherwise, are able to see perfectly in the dark. Travel outside of Kathoon's cities is strongly discouraged.

"You'd think the enemy would know better," Blacula smirked as he stared down a hellish unicorn. As it charged towards him, he transformed into a bat and flew for its throat. In a flash, he'd decapitated it and watched it fade into mist.

"They're zombies. They're meant to be dumb," Pov grinned as he phased out of a zombie octopus' tentacles. He quickly turned solid again, tying it up into knots and punting it into the wall.

Arms crossed over his chest, Pov turned around to survey their handiwork. "Looks like Kathoon is clear."

"Don't count your chickens too soon, pardner!" came a whoop as Raging Bull came racing into view, followed close behind by Lance. And behind Lance was a pack of wolves, wicked fangs gleaming in the moonlight.

"Need a hand?" Blacula asked as he swooped down in front of the pack leader, distracting it from the chase.

"Your assistance is much appreciated, Blacula," Lance replied as he thrust his lance into the ground, "but we can handle it from here." Most fighters would have been at a disadvantage on this perpetually dark world, but Lance's and Raging Bull's weapons glowed in the dark. These highly trained fighters also could make do with just the barest amount of light.

Lance quickly used his momentum to pivot himself and swung feet-first into the next wolf, knocking it out.

"Yahoo! We may not be powered like you, but we can hold our own!" Raging Bull added as lassoed another wolf and muzzled it. Within seconds, the two had downed the pack.

With a whoop, they high-fived one another. "I think you can consider Kathoon clear NOW," Lance said with a grin.

"Good," Blacula replied. "Now Pov and I can get on with our next mission, while you two head for the next planet."

"I know ya don't need it, but good luck!" Raging Bull waved as Blacula, in mist form, and Pov, turning invisible, took to the skies. They had a hunt to go on, and they could not fail.

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

Weber's World

Loser Lad teleported into the hangar where Angdar Fel was working. He wiped the sweat from his eyes and asked, "This what you need?"

Angdar lifted his head up and nodded. "Thank you for fetching that." Then he went back to his work.

Jerry knelt beside Angdar, his Durlan form shifted into a giant screwdriver. "You sure know how to grip a tool, Angdar," he quipped.

"I was trained well in mechanics and repair," Angdar replied calmly. Jerry bit back a retort and sighed. These Thanagarians could be so serious. He shared a knowing look with Beagle Boy, who just shrugged his shoulders. Nearly all of the single LMBers on Weber's World, male or female, had tried to flirt with Angdar at one point or another. None had gotten anywhere.

"Andgar, do you need anything else? If not, I'll go see if I can help out elsewhere," Beagle Boy asked. He hadn't minded gazing at Angdar's fit body as he sweated over the ship, but he was starting to feel he could be much more useful elsewhere.

"I believe I will manage without your assistance, thank you, Beagle Boy," Angdar answered. Beagz sighed. Angdar was just so absorbed in his work, as though he were driving himself to prove something. With a quick "bye", Beagz dashed off. There was still lots to be done to prepare.

36 hours before

Aarok

The rugged outpost planet of Aarok is home to several colonies searching for valuable resources. The planet's potential is so great that Aarok was granted independence and its own United Planets seat.

Disaster Boy trudged along the rugged terrain of the outpost planet known as Aarok. He somewhat enjoyed the solitude, though his time with the Fellowship had taught him that there was strength in numbers too - or at least strength in dependable comrades.

He paused and checked the time. Nightcrawler said to meet him around here in 2 minutes...

He rounded a bend in the road and stopped in his tracks. Nightcrawler was teleporting from rock to rock, staying just ahead of what looked to be a pack of gigantic mountain lions.

Time was, Disaster Boy would have continued along his way, but... this was his comrade now. "Nightcrawler, over here!"

With a *BAMF*!, Nightcrawler teleported himself beside Disaster Boy. "You're a bit early. Not that I'm complaining, mind you."

Disaster Boy spared him a smirk, then raised his hand. "I didn't want to risk you becoming cat food. I don't think those lions would find you tasty." The ground erupted, looking like a handful of nuts tossed up by a child. The fierce roars of the lions were drowned in the flood of rock.

As the dirt subsided, the two went to check their handiwork. All motionless. Nightcrawler patted Disaster Boy on the shoulder. "Great job."

"You too. After all, you did the hard part - drawing those lions out. We make a good team."

Nightcrawler paused and looked curiously for a while. This wasn't the old Disaster Boy, all right. Maybe his time with IB and the others had rubbed off on him. Grinning, he held out his hand. "Come on, let's take one last look around Aarok then head back home. We have to be getting ready."

Disaster Boy nodded, and the two *BAMF*ed away.

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

32 hours before

Weber's World

"All recruits outfitted and through the cram classes," Beagle Boy announced as he ran into the room. Kid Prime looked up from his systems check. "And the supplies?" asked the Founder.

"Loaded into the ships," came the reply.

"Weapons?"

"Prepared and loaded."

"Medical team?"

"Kent's briefing them as we speak."

"Ambassadors?"

"All accounted for in their quarters. The staff have instructions to move them to the safehouse in 5 hours."

Kid Prime paused and thought for a second. Beagle Boy was being much more efficient than he'd anticipated. He consulted the LMB monitor board and the UP maps of the sector, then nodded.

"Vyrga is only a half hour's flight away. You may go there if you wish, but be back here in no more than 8 hours."

With a grin, Beagle Boy dashed off.

Kid Prime shook his head, then returned to his checks. Even though so much had been accomplished, so much more seemed to need doing.

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

30 hours before

Vyrga

The insectoid race of the planet Vyrga are proud to be the first insectoids to be recognized as sentients. Since then, they have striven to be recognized as great contributors to the United Planets as well.

Beagle Boy grinned as he dashed through the hot jungles of Vyrga. He'd already paid his respects to the matriarch, who had pointed him to where the remnants of the first wave of the Dark Army had encamped.

"Eat it, suckers!" he yelled as he came across their camp. Thirty-three seconds later, all remaining stragglers lay flat on the ground.

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

24 hours before

Weber's World

Jerry looked at his watch in annoyance. He didn't mind not being in the thick of battle, but he did mind being asked to take up guard duty at the supply room. There were many other things he could be doing. He...

He stopped. Was he hearing movement?

He quickly shifted form and peeked under the door. There was someone using a laser to try and open it. Acting quickly, he wrapped himself around the assailant, who gave a strangled cry. "Too hungry to wait until breakfast, hmmm?"

"I... I... I'm sorry! I was just so hungry, and so scared... I have four younger siblings, and with supplies now being rationed, I... I..."

Jerry paused. Now that he saw the figure clearly, he looked just like a kid. Much younger than Blaze or IB or even Angdar. He sighed and let him go. "All right, you know stealing isn't a good thing. But since you were doing it for your family... Wait here." Jerry opened the door and vanished inside. Moments later, he appeared again, handing a small pouch to the kid. "I'm Durlan anyway. I don't need to eat."

The kid accepted the pouch with disbelief, mouth wide open. Jerry raised an eyebrow. "What, you didn't think we LMBers could be generous? Now off you go, and don't tell ANYONE where you got this. If people come and start a riot, I'm going to get in trouble."

The youth stammered his thanks, and ran off. With a sigh, Jerry went back inside. "You old softie, you," he thought to himself. "Better hope Vee gets here on time for his shift, or we'll be out of supplies before the war begins."

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

20 hours before

Plevitz

Named after its first and greatest statesman, the planet Plevitz is a cosmic anomaly - a planet that somehow evolved life almost identical to Earth's. Whether this was somehow done by design is unknown.

Loser Lad watched as his negative energy did its work, causing the ice under their opponent to crumble. The massive bear let out a roar as it slid under the waves.

Beside him, Tomar-Te sheathed his sword. He'd just shattered his own opponent, a large creature which looked like it was made of ice.

Loser Lad bent over, hands on knees. He was tired. "We should call it a day, Tomar-Te. We have to rest up and get ready for the Army's arrival on Weber's World."

"Let us just collect the supplies the population here has pledged us," replied Tomar-Te. "And then we will go."

Loser Lad looked silent for a moment. Then he turned to Tomar-Te. "Do you think we will win? I mean... when we started playing cleanup, everyone was confident. But now that the arrival of the Army is so close... well... I know I'm not the only one getting nervous. And it seems like the first wave stragglers aren't running out. I..."

Tomar-Te turned to Loser Lad. "The enormity of the evil we face lends us despair... but we must remember that we are still here. We must trust in ourselves and in each other. For when we are without hope, is when we are truly defeated."

"Yeah, but..." Loser fell silent as a group of children approached. They were all smiles as they brought baskets laden with goods. The lead one, who also looked the eldest but was no more than 14, perhaps 15, bowed down slightly. "You are the great heroes of the LMB, right? Please... We can't give much, but we wanted to share these with you. And thank you for keeping us safe."

With a gracious bow, Tomar-Te accepted the basket. "I thank you, young ones. I am a Space Knight Templar, not a member of the LMB... But I am honored you would mistake me for one of them. We are allies, and we will fight together to protect all who live."

Loser Lad smiled, and stood up. "That's right. No Dark Army will beat us!"

With a grin, Loser Lad joined Tomar-Te as they walked back to their ship, the children waving at them in awe and respect.

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

16 hours before

Deep Space

"Is that it?" Blacula asked as he traveled through the void. He was in mist form, which should have made him freeze and disperse, but Reboot had rigged up a gadget to keep him safe.

"I believe it is," replied an invisible Pov.

They were floating in front of a large stream of ghouls and ships. The Dark Army.

And the Dark Army was guarding what looked like a tear in space.

They had found the portal. "It was just as Dedman guessed," Blacula said. "Are you...?"

"In telepathic contact with him as we speak. He'll be here in 3... 2... 1... now."

Dedman popped into view as he traversed through the Poltergeist Area. "Took you long enough, we're almost out of time."

"Nice to see you too," said Blacula flatly. "It isn't easy to track through space, you know. The two of us are built for stealth, not tracking."

"I'm sorry. I'm on edge as much as the rest of you, you know."

Blacula waved his hand in dismissal. "No worries. Now... do you know how to close it?"

Dedman studied the portal for a moment, then shook his head. "I have some ideas, but IB, Marvin and Angdar Fel were right. This thing looks like it can't be closed by simple magic. We'll need the Nth metal, and I'm not sure what else. Maybe if I had a chance to..."

"No! Much as I'd like to, we can't," Pov replied. The usually jovial LMBer was dead serious now. "We can't risk them knowing we're here. That's why they sent us, and not Space Ranger or Abin Quank."

Blacula nodded. "It's tempting, but we're in no position to close it now. Let's go back."

"I don't like it, but... Wait. Let me just do this one thing." Dedman waved his hand and a sign appeared. It read, "Dark Oval, You're Going to Lose!"

Blacula smirked. "Funny. But won't they see it?"

"Invisible to all but those I want to let it see. It'll be a good marker for the team that's going to close it."

Pov gave a sly smile. "I like it, but I have one little suggestion before we go home..."

Moments later, the three LMBers departed through the Poltergeist Area for Weber's World. They left behind an invisible spirit sign that looked like a stick man picking a large black nostril, with the words - "DORK OVAL, YOU SUCK!"

*************************************************
12 hours before

Weber's World

Spellbinder closed her eyes. She was powerful, but the last few days had been quite straining. Yet, she had to hold out as long as she could.

"LMBers and allies... We need to gather now. All those not yet on Weber's World, please respond. You had all better be en route now. And just in case... make sure you bid your loved ones farewell."

And the defenders of Weber's World did. Many of the LMBers spoke to friends of theirs who were elsewhere (though many of those were making their way to Weber's World to join the battle!). Serj looked in on Helen, who waited up for him before sleeping peacefully.

Invisible Brainiac surprised Blaze with a nice homecooked meal and a bubble bath. Taking Blaze by the hands, IB gave his love a kiss. "Just like our last date before you left Legion World," Blaze said with a smile.

"But I won't be leaving you behind this time," IB replied with a smile.

The two would spend the night peacefully in each other's arms, relishing the calm before the storm.

All over Weber's World, the gathered allies said their goodbyes, for none knew who would survive. All they had now was trust in one another, the love and compassion for their fellow sentients, the hope they would triumph... and the will to see that it would happen.

Weber’s World

5 hours before

Spellbinder, exhausted physically and mentally, took a moment to rub her eyes and fix her hair, as she gazed out over Weber’s World—perhaps quiet for the final time. The LMB had received a direct order to spend at least 8 hours trying to get some rest prior to the upcoming battle. She knew many of them would be ignoring those orders like her, unable to sleep. She thought of Cobie for a moment and his uncanny ability to sleep like a baby in the most dreadful of situations, and it made her laugh. But the thoughts of Cobie quickly turned to the awful feeling in her stomach over his actions with the Khunds and how gruesome this war had become.

“Coffee?” said a voice behind her.

She smiled at the familiar voice of Kent Shakespeare. “Tea, please, if you have it.” Her telepathy didn’t need to tell her he did. He always knew to bring tea for their talks. “I’m not surprised you can’t sleep either.”

“I haven’t even tried,” he said. “So much to be done. Still no word on Legion World,” he added. Legion World had been incommunicado for several days now. There was no telling what was going on at home with the planet so largely undefended.

“It hasn’t left my mind for a second,” Crujectra said honestly. “At least the fighting will take our minds off that.”

“Yes,” said Kent, matter-of-factly. “And it’s coming soon. We already had a few rogue wyverns attack. They must be out ahead of the army as scouts and decided on their own to take a shot at us.”

Spellbinder nodded. She recalled the brief hysteria 45 minutes earlier when a draconian monster unleashed a cascade of fire upon several ships. The melee lasted a matter of minutes but the effect lasted longer. “They’re testing our defenses, I think.”

Kent nodded. “I think you’re right.” He sipped his coffee as they looked over the capital planet. “Mirenna thinks she has a solution to the Belisarius problem,” he added, changing subjects.

“I don’t even want to know about it,” said Crujectra with more than a hint of disgust in her voice. The anger she felt towards Cobalt Kid found another home: Ambassador Mirenna Helene. “Likely some assassination or worse. At least this time it won’t be Cobie doing her dirty work. Hopefully not another Legionnaire…” she added, suddenly thinking about Lon for the first time. There was much unsaid between her, Cobalt and Lon over the years regarding “Codename: Timberwolf”. She still thought very highly of Lon though she purposely avoided thinking about what he might have done over the years.

“War is an ugly, ugly thing,” said Kent. “And soon enough, we’ll see its face firsthand.”

Crujectra offered him a smile. A tired smile, but full of strength. It made her look more beautiful than ever—perhaps the most beautiful smile in all the galaxies. “All we have to fear, is fear itself,” she said, clinking her cup of tea to his cup of coffee.



In orbit around Weber’s World, they came in smaller groups now: 6 or 7 here. A handful there. Even a dozen together upon occasion. And each time, they stood there waiting, the first line of defense: Abin Quank, Green Lantern. Space Ranger, his half-brother. And dwarfing the two of them with his massive frame, Kid Prime.

Kid Prime could, when needed, transfer his consciousness into a smaller human-sized body to more easily interact with his colleagues. But more often than not these days, he let his intelligence house within the giant spacecraft known as “PRIME”; it was the size of a small country, and was fully automated to be the single most deadly starship in the cosmos.

As the enemy approached in the small scouting numbers, Prime blew the out of the sky. Most of the rest, Abin and Space Ranger could mop up.

“Maybe if they keep sending them in small increments, the three of us can just win this thing?” said Abin sarcastically.

Space Ranger, all business, made no reply.

“This is likely the excess parts of the army,” said Kid Prime coldly. “Worthless combatants and useless bits of tech. The real danger is yet to come.”

Abin rolled his eyes at the two. “Lot of fun you guys are.”



“Didn’t expect to see you joining us,” said Serj, as both he and Lumborg Fox turned to see two approaching familiar faces.

“Indeed,” said Lumborg Fox. “How are you feeling?”

“Terrible,” said Sir John Purple, as he approached his fellow Space Knights. “But I wouldn’t miss this for the world.” Sir John—the two of him that were left—did indeed look terrible. Emaciated and bruised, they looked like they aged 15 years in the last 15 days. But they were still alive and that is what counted. Usually when a Carrggite loses a body, the other two die. But somehow Sir John had lost “Blue”, while “Purple” and “Red” lived on.

“The Dark Lord has much to answer for,” said Sir John Red. Of the three, he was known mostly for being chaste and spiritual. “The death of our brother is among those crimes.”

Serj offered them a welcoming smile to raise their spirits. “Welcome back to the fight.”



“Get the fuck back! You stupid bastards! Get your bloody selves out of the way!” A science police officer whose name tag simply read “Dugan” was shouting towards several Ambassadors and their staff. Up ahead, two small sized cruisers were descending down on Weber’s World, having made it past for the first line of defense. “Are you fucking deaf?”

“Charming isn’t he?” said Knightress to Tomar Te as they watched the cruisers approach. “Tell me, how in the world are those being piloted by skeletons and zombies?”

Tomar Te laughed at the question. “Some stronger type of undead? Ghoul? Wight? Poltergeist? Red sands of Mars, how would I know?”

The citizens scattered to the side, as the cruisers now hobbled towards the center of town. As they got lower, piles of skeletons jumped out of the cruisers onto the streets. Each one welded swords that were made of fire, and somehow, they seemed to be screaming.

The first cruiser suddenly crashed into a building, its pilot abandoning it to join into the physical confrontation. The second faired little better: Tomar Te held up a giant cosmic staff and blasted it out of the sky, sending debris everywhere.

“Follow me, cadets!” yelled Knightress, running into the fray, as behind her came a dozen raw recruits. They were volunteers from other planets who decided they would fight and die for freedom if need be. They were armed with blasters and told to keep a distance, but soon the skeletons were upon them, and the real fighting began.

One cadet fell backwards, the fall causing him to lose his blaster. He was done for…until Knightress decapitated the skeletons arms with her brilliant swordplay. “Don’t bother with their heads!” she said. “Blast off their arms and legs! They’re already dead!”

The melee was over almost as quickly as it began, but suddenly a blood-curdling scream let them know a battle wasn’t over until it was over. The science police offer Dugan, while saving a shell-shocked intern, was cut down from behind, killed instantly on the spot. Two skeletons remained, and now turned towards the poor intern, who could not move.

<span style="font-size: 22px;">BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!</span>

The echo from the shotgun blast made almost everyone jump. The skeletons were immediately reduced to bone and ash, scattered all along the pavements. Smoke drifted into the air from the device which let loose the final shots in the conflict: an old-fashioned 20th century Earth shotgun. And holding it, with a toothpick in his mouth and one button of his overalls undone to show off his underarmor, was the LMBer known as Rickshaw.

“Get the hell off my lawn”.

4 Hours Before

Angdar Fel stood atop a tall building. He was dressed not in the traditional Thanagarian Wingman armor, but a tighter fitting mesh armor that did not inhibit his movement as much.

He was carrying a short sword, daggers, and his mace with him. Never can tell what would be necessary as the fight want on. He had a few other surprises hidden in pouches as well, but those were in case of emergency only.

He glanced around and saw a ship careening out of control towards a less populated area.

“No way you get to land unwelcome,” he said as he jumped off the building.

He let himself freefall for a dozen or so stories and then unfurled his wings. He shot upward, gaining momentum. As he darted through the buildings, ha could see citizens moving about quickly below. Preparing for what was to come.

He came upon the ship as it hit the streets and its undead crew of five skeletons shambled out.

“Hyyyyaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiii” He screamed, drawing their attention as he sliced the first two in half. The others hissed as they watched him fly off.

He sheathed his sword and grabbed his mace as he landed in the middle of the remaining three. He swung his mace and turned, using his wings to pick up speed as he did. The three skeletons marched right into the mace and they screamed in pain as the mace hit them.

What was that? he thought as the creatures slowly gathered themselves to mount another attack.

He threw his mace at the chest of one and drew his sword and sliced another in half before it could register that it had been hit.

The last of the skeletons made its advance. Angdar clenched his fists, revealing spikes coming from his knuckles. He screamed again, with the rage that had been building in him with everything that had been happening to him. The manipulations. The attempt on his life. His family being held, being kept safe, to get him to do what they wanted.

The last skeleton lay in pieces before he knew that he was just pounding the street with his fists.

Sweat dripped from his forehead as he stood. He looked at the sky. It was almost time to go.

He took off to the cheers of some of the inhabitants of this sector. They who had come to finish off what was left of this first testing wave of skeletons.

3 Hours Before

A ship hopped along through space as if limping.

It was burned and scarred … and looked to be a freight ship from the last century.

It didn’t land so much as crash into a loading dock on Weber’s World.

Bits and pieces fell off the hull as smoke began to stream from the rear. The crew in the loading dock scattered as … “BOOM!” “boom!” came from the thrusters of the ship.

A squad of Science Police ran into the loading dock weapons drawn. Everyone was understandably very on edge. Small groups of zombies, ghouls, skeletons, and numerous monsters had been attacking in larger and larger groups and with more frequency. It seemed like there were fires everywhere to put out.

The squad circled the death trap of a ship cautiously, who knew how many monsters were waiting inside.

“Why don’t they just shoot these down from space” a young officer quipped.

“Refugees and reinforcements are still coming in, you know that.” The commanding officer admonished. She was a cool one. Long blond hair but everyone could tell there was a hardness to her.

“yes, Circe.” The young officer replied.

“You there …” she pointed at another young officer with black hair and light skin.

She thought to herself ‘I Haven’t even had time to ask their names in the chaos of this place. I wonder if I will get the chance to learn the names of the boys I’m sending to their deaths. They look like they turned of age yesterday and signed up today. ’

‘War certainly is good for the career’ she thought darkly. Two of her commanding officers had already died on Webber’s World. That was the only reason she was leading this crop of green boys. “At this rate I’ll be commander of the S.P. in five years!” She said out loud, gaining some odd looks in the process.

The young man she pointed at reported to her. “You go in first. I hear you’re half-daxamite?”

“Super strength and some invulnerability, that’s all ma’am”.

“Well its better than the rest of us have, that’s for damn sure! Get that door open, we’ll cover you.” She said harshly, and then she saw the look on his face. He was scared. “Don’t worry son, we’ll cover you.”

“Yes ma’am!” The half-daxamite crouched as he approached the airlock of the shuttle from the side.

Circe thought to herself ‘Son? What the hell am I thinking, I can’t be more than 5 years older than that kid.’ She raised her cannon and stepped forward silently, motioning the others to move into places with hand gestures.

They all crept forward towards the air lock … surrounding it … riffles raised …. Just as the young half-daxamite slid next to the air lock of the shuttle.

BAM! WOOOOOSHHHHHHHHHH!

The airlock door of the shuttle ripped off the hinges and flew across the loading dock!


CRASHHHH!! It banged as it bounced along the floor. The Science Police scattered and took up positions.

In the doorway of the shuttle, a large monstrous shadow appeared enormous horns and an axe could be made out as the hulking figure came into view. The shadow looked cramped in the enormous doorway of the freight ship.




“GAHHHH!” One of the younger S.P.s shouted and fired. ZAP, ZAP, ZAP!

And then the monster was across the loading dock holding the S.P. in the air by his collar. “STOP THAT!” The great big voice of a bull echoed through the loading dock.



An enormous minotaur stood in the loading dock. His nostrils breathed steam on the young S.P.’s face that he held off the ground.

“DROP HIM! DROP HIM OR I DROP YOU! NOW!” Circe, the commanding officer demanded as she aimed at the minotaur.

‘That’s a fracking minotaur isn’t it? What’s a minotaur?’ Her thoughts raced through her head as she took steps toward the behemoth.


“Whoah! Whoah!” A voice came from the ship.

More figures stepped out of the clunky ship, all of them large but more or less humanoid.

An attractive young man dressed in black held up his hands in surrender. “We’re here to help. Trust me, you don’t want to fight us. I’m Kid Gravity! You know … Kid Gravity. You don’t know who I am?” Kid Gravity’s face turned to a scowl.



And then Circe’s weapon began to feel heavy, she couldn’t hold it up anymore, it dropped to the ground. KLANG! All around the S.P.’s weapons dropped to the ground.

The young man that called himself Kid Gravity smiled, as if it was his doing.

POW! The half-daxamite officer jumped out from the side where he crouched punching Kid Gravity in the face. Kid Gravity stumbled back, obviously able to withstand a super strength punch.

“You shouldn’t have done that.” A deep voice said from a tall muscular man with a red mohawk. He stepped right up to the young half-daxamite and his muscles bulged in his skin-tight white costume. He towered over the S.P. officer.



Circe recognized him for certain, Atmos! “Any LMB to loading dock four! We have a situation! Repeat any LMB to loading dock four.” She said hurridly into her communications device on her collar.

Just then another huge figure stepped out of the shuttle.

“NAM-LOR!” “NAM-LOR COME TO SAVE THE DAY!!!”




------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Several long and tiresome minutes later:

“We don’t have time for this.” Spellbinder said in a regal tone.

Abin Quank put his hand to his temple.

Before them in the loading dock stood Kid Gravity, (notable so far only for being photographed with Power Boy in the press), Atmos (of dubious character), Nam-Lor (Always a problem and of questionable mental faculty), who held a very large grey wolf on a leash for some reason, a Minotaur who’s exploits until this point involved giving Porn Queen a good work out, and a statuesque woman … no actually a living statue, complete with stone wings and sword.



Disaster Boy and several other members of the LMB filed in. Disaster Boy chuckled involuntarily and hit I.B. on the shoulder. Invisible Brainiac had been one of the first to arrive and still couldn’t puzzle out the collection of characters in front of him.

‘What did these people have in common with each other?’ I.B. thought.

“WE AM DRINKING BUDDIES OF POWER BOY COME TO SAY THE DAY!” Nam-Lor shouted.

"What he means to say is ..." Kid Gravity continued with smugness "... is we are all very powerful, and you need the help ... oh come ON ... It's our universe too! We dont want to be eaten by zombies or ghouls or whatever they are that is coming to eat or disembowel us!"


The gathering group of the LMB looked at each other with blank stares.


Invisible Brainiac was still stymied ... he was thinking 'but what could have brought them together to join Weber's World at the last minute' when the enormous grey wolf at Nam-Lor's heel ... winked!




After a moment of shock, Invisible Brainiac said … “Well … Nam-Lor and Atmos are nearly at daxamite level power and we know the minotaur has stamina …”

“They are genuine, for what its worth.” Saturn Girl spoke softly.

“I’ll be in charge of them.” Disaster Boy said abruptly.

“You will?” Invisible Brainiac said.

“Oh very well, I suppose we need all the help we can get.” Spellbinder waved a hand and walked out of the loading dock. Several other members of the LMB followed her out, clearly with more important things to attend to.

As he left, Nightcrawler could be heard saying … “were they drunk?”

2 Hours Before


The being formally known as Titus rode at the head the horde. The masses of zombies, super powered ghouls, and other monstrosities grey bodies only looked like an immense tidal wave of darkness. As it moved through space more and more of the light from distant stars were shut off from Weber’s World. The mass of the horde was so large it disrupted the path of other heavenly bodies. The stars themselves strained to hold their positions as the army crashed through space like an avalanche.

The darkness rolled through space like a tide, devouring any ship unfortunate enough to be slow moving or late to Weber’s World.

Titus’ eyes looked upon Weber’s World. It wouldn’t be long now. He had been changed. The Dark Lord finally headed his prayers and struck from him his free will, and any humanity he had still retained. Now Titus was the wrath of the Dark Lord personified, a simple force of destruction. His skin had turned grey like many of the ghouls he himself had created. His blood red tattoos that ran up his arms were now pitch black on his charcoal musculature. His corpse like skin stretched and strained to contain his new more powerful frame. This dead Titus remembered the Dark Lord reaching up from the depths after Titus’ defeat at the hands of the LMB. Titus remembered the power of the darkness filling him, the agony, and then the absence of any feeling except rage, hate, and the desire to murder. Titus smiled at his new state, the simplicity of being filled with the Dark Lord’s power, of being a slave. As he smiled his fangs showed, longer and sharper than they had been before.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spellbinder, Kent Shakespere, and Abin Quank went over reports. They and the founders had been occupied in these last hours with delegating teams to fend off the every increasing attacks, as well as medical crews, and repair teams. Besides that, they were preparing for the inevitable attack, shoring up defenses and rationing supplies to prepare for a siege.

Ironically, their one good bit of luck was the arrival of Nam-Lor, Atmos, and Kid Gravity’s motley crew earlier. They always appeared where the fighting was thickest and most dire, and turned the tide. They seemed to relish the danger.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Disaster Boy rushed to the scene of the latest incursion.

He arrived behind an angry Minotaur, a sword fighting statue, Atmos, Nam-Lor, and Kid Gravity. He wasn’t doing a great job of leading them. They simply rushed as soon as possible to any and all attacks with no heed to warnings or calls for preparation.

The Minotaur swung his heavy axe shattering a whole line of skeletons. “HA HA HA HA!” He roared.

D.B. observed the stone female cut through zombie after zombie with fluid motions of her sword. The last one standing received a stone foot to his chest that ended the melee.

Disaster Boy walked up to them, all of them covered in zombie gore. “You fight like Power Boy.” He said to the stone female.

She replied in her gravel voice. “I am the Nike Samothrace. Power Boy fights like me. I trained him when he was but a boy.”

“PUPPY. HERE DOGGY.” Nam-Lor was looking for the wolf. “Disastrous Boy, You seen the puppy?”

D.B. replied. “No, I have not.” Nam-Lor was a bit odd, and the more time DB stayed around Nam-Lor, the more odd he seemed.

Nam-Lor was visibly stressed. “OH NO, NAM-LOR LOST POWER BOY’S DOGGIE!!!!”

“Nam-Lor in big trouble.” he whimpered.

Invisible Brainac and Blaze walked up for the tail end of the conversation. I.B. said to Nam-Lor “I’m sure he’s fine, something about that wolf struck me as … smart.”

Just then, a call from Nightcrawler reported a new attack. Atmos, Nike, Kid Gravity, and Nam-Lor flew off, followed by a lopping Minotaur.

Disaster Boy shrugged to I.B. and Blaze and followed them.


“They’re certainly efficient” I.B. said half to himself.

“Shouldn’t there be stars?” Blaze said.

“What …” I.B. turned confused to the full length window Blaze was staring out.

All he saw was darkness, a large undulating darkness that seemed to be getting nearer and nearer.

“Yes … there should be stars.” I.B. said morosely. “Come on, It won’t be long now. We have to warn the others.”

[B]Dark Oval space]/B]

Dev Em and CJ Taylor were walking through an outer hallway having just finished a meeting with Hrun.

“That went better than I thought it was going to,” CJ said trying to hold a smile back from his face.

“I swear, if it were possible, he’d fly this ship straight into whatever hell he believes in.”

“His crew cheering the whole time.”

They laughed as they approached a side hallway.

“Dev. Are you sure you don’t want to get something to eat?”

“Yeah. I ate this morning, and I’m still too anxious to be trying to get anything else down,” he said as he turned toward CJ who had stepped into the other hallway.

CJ turned and nodded, “I know what you mean. All this anticipation of him returning is making…what in the hell is that…” he said looking past Dev out the viewscreen.

Dev turned around and saw it as well. More like didn’t see what should have been there.

“The stars are fading out in a widening…GRIFE! CEEJ, get to the bridge. We have incoming and they are not going to be...”

CJ looked around. Dev had been there, and then he wasn’t. The view out the window was becoming darker every second. Then he heard the hull breach alarms and started to feel the rush of air past him. There were breaches on both ends of the ship.

CJ turned and ran towards the bridge. That explained where Dev went…or was taken…

------------

Dev Em was in mid sentence when he was hit by a force that would have broken his back if it were not for the Durlan abilities he had. His Daxamite invulnerability would not have been enough.

He twisted, knowing who this was, and struck him as hard as he could on the back.

The two of them went careening wildly out of control towards the outer hull.

“GOING TO KILL YOU ALL!!!!”

Dev tried to control his angle of impact and made the smallest hole he could. His momentum insured that he was going into space, but at least he might not cause someone else’s death by doing so.

Once out, he orientated himself to space battle and was hit again from behind. This time though, the feeling was cold.

He used his flash vision on the creature holding him, and flew free as it screamed a silent scream.

I can almost hear that thing in my head.

He caught sight of the ship as hundreds of black creatures hit it. They were pouring through the holes made by himself and his evil double. Hruns crew charged into battle, and while they destroyed several of the creatures, they were loosing men at a fantastic rate.

Dev’s instincts told him to move, so he did. The Emissary missed him by a mere fraction of an inch. He flew past Dev Em and turned his flash vision on him.

Dev concentrated and opened a hole in his chest, letting the flash vision go past without any damage. As he reformed his chest, The Emissary made another charge.

Grife, no time to react… Dev thought as he was thrown into the ship.

The Emissary kept the attack in full speed, giving Dev Em little to no time to think. He was operating on pure instinct.

Dev found an opening and took it. He hit the Emissary with a double fisted blow across the back of the neck, knocking him into the ship and then careening out of control into space.

Dev pushed his advantage and hit him with blasts of flash vision.

The Emissary stopped. He turned towards Dev Em and withstood the attack. His clothes were being burnt. Pieces of his face were bubbling from the heat. If he could have, he would have taken a deep breath for show. He launched at Dev Em with a speed that caught the Legionnaire off guard.

Dev moved as soon as he could, but the Emissary caught hold of his left arm…and it was gone. Dev screamed with pain as he realized what had happened. He felt almost like he was floating in another realm that he had visited once before after the battle with the Red Bee. The battle that he almost died in.

He calmed his mind and cut off the nerves going to his arm. He quickly cauterized the wound with a combination of his Durlan abilities and his flash vision.

The Emissary held the arm and promptly fried it to a crisp. He then grinned as he turned to put the Legionnaire in his sights again.

Naltor,
Epsilon Sector,
Dark Oval Space

Lard Lad, Cobalt Kid, Power Boy, Tempest, Juj and Ameratsu arrived on the planet of Naltor on dragonback, the lot of them having been conveyed from Zerox by the Starsong. Lard Lad had urged them to Naltor based on instructions from the prophecy of the deceased seer Arun Nal. Nal's scripture stated he'd receive further instruction from a guide somewhere on the planet.

It didn't state who the guide would be nor where she could be found.

Lardy struggled with what to do next until he suddenly felt a pull that he couldn't explain. The dragon Zee felt it too, he soon realized, as she suddenly veered off in the direction Lardy was feeling the pull.

Tempest felt it, too. Her arms wrapped around Lardy, she asked him, "any chance this is a trap?"

Lardy grinned. "Always the most likely scenario, Temp! But I have a relatively good feeling about this."

Moments later, Zee began to descend towards the top of a fair-sized mountain. As they drew closer, the group realized on the mountain's top was a modest open temple with pillars and roof reminiscent of typical ancient Greek architecture. Zee landed beside the structure, and the six humanoids entered. Zee was too large to fit in, but she poked her head between two of the pillars as best she could.

Waiting for them inside, as if she knew they would be there at that precise instant was a tall, gorgeous caucasian female with platinum blonde hair, deep blue eyes and a shape as close to the classic ideal of female humanoid perfection as anyone they'd ever seen. And she was dressed far from modestly. She wore what would best be described as a one-piece bathing suit with a silver, metallic sheen to it with matching high-heel boots and ornate forearm length bracelets. But in those same eyes, one could see that this supposed beauty queen had a keen intellect and a formidable will.

Cobalt Kid and Lard Lad were suddenly keenly aware that it had been quite a while since either had had sex! Tempest, as if reading Lardy's mind, gave him a quick elbow to the gut. Lardy glanced shyly at her in response. Temp grinned.

"Ah, right on time!" the woman finally said. "It's good to finally meet you all. My name is Nura Nal. I am Arun Nal's granddaughter. Shortly before his death, grandad entrusted me with the prophecies that bring you all here today. With that information and my own gifts, I will attempt to send you on your way to your destinies." With those words she seemed to look pointedly at Lard Lad and Cobalt Kid.

"You see," Nura continued, "only two of you can journey to the Realm of Priapus at this time. The Son..." she said pointing at Lardy. "...and one other." She shot Cobie the quickest glance but refrained from pointing at him as well. Who goes with him will be the Son's choice. But one of you absolutely must be among those who stays." Nura approached Tempest, clearly indicating that she was the one she referred to.

Temp's brow furrowed. Why, that little tramp! she thought. How dare she--? Instead, she said, "why should I stay? I--er, I should have the opportunity to go with him! My magic could help--"

Nura smiled, knowing very well all the emotions flowing through Tempest at the moment. "I need you to perform the spell to get them there. You're the only one we have capable of performing it. And the one who does the spell can't go through. She must stay here and ensure it holds up. In addition you will have to keep the spell running for a while for when they will need to contact you, across the dimensions, at a crucial moment."

Cobalt asked, "what would we need to contact Tempest for?" Everyone noticed Cobie saying 'we' as if Lardy's companion being him was a done deal. "How much have you foreseen?"

Nura closed her eyes for a moment. "I'm uncertain, but I know it's of the utmost importance. I've seen very little of what happens on the other side. I know you will meet a guide, of sorts, who will help you navigate your way through the realm."

"A guide?" Power Boy probed. "Will this guide be trustworthy? Who or what is it?"

Nura replied, "I don't know who it is, but I foresee it will be someone exceptionally difficult for either of the travellers to trust . He or she will be of help, though. Whether that help proves altruistic or opportunistic is unknown, but the assistance will be necessary. He or she will not be with you constantly but will appear intermittently." She concentrates harder, trying to see more. "Your guide is....a shade of some sort. I can't see anything more specific. I'm sorry."

"Your grandfather," Lardy interjected, "he said I would have to make a great sacrifice, one that another would have to make with me. Do you know what it is?"

Nura considered her answer, then lied convincingly, "no, I don't know what it might be."

Tempest said, "I 'foresee' one problem, here, 'Dream Girl': I don't know any spells to get Lardy and his plus-one to some forsaken hell dimension."

Nura smiled and removed her left bracelet. "The secret, Tempest, is in here. My sister, before she died, enchanted this bracelet with everything you need to make the spell work. All it needs is a great mage such as yourself to activate and direct it."

"Flatterer," Temp said as she took the bracelet and incanted a probing spell. "Ah, I see. Your sister must have been quite a mage herself. Her work is quite beautiful, really."

"Yes," Nura sighed as a tear came down her cheek, "Mysa was a brave woman. She died only hours ago after weaving a spell that will ensure that Naltor and Orando survive. You see, the ghouls that overrun Epsilon Sector are powered by the magical energy of the Sorceror's World Zerox, where you all have just been. Her spell is destroying Zerox as we speak."

Nura's guests looked around in shock.

"You've all been there," Nura continued. "You know there was nothing left alive there, and trust me when I say that nothing would ever live there again. It's only remaining purpose was to serve as a battery for the evil wraiths in this sector. With it gone, Orando and Naltor may now survive."

Changing the subject after a long pause, Juj said, "well, when do Lardy and whoever have to leave?"

"Immediately," she replied, "while the Eye of Priapus is otherwise occupied."

Ameratsu asked the obvious question. "What do you mean 'otherwise occup-'"

The android was interrupted by a sudden moan from Tempest.

Lardy rushed to her side. "Temp! Are you okay?"

Temp's eyes fluttered for a moment. Finally she managed, "it's Dev--he's---he's in great pain...." Tempest and Dev had bonded psychically during their conflict with the Red Bee. It left them with a rapport of sorts. She hadn't sensed anything from him in a long time, but this sudden spike broke the streak in a rude manner.

"Dev?" Cobie said in a rush of semi-panic. "Shit! I bet he's with C.J.!"

"C.J.?" Lardy said in confusion.

"Yeah, Lardy--C.J. Taylor!" His worry mixed with a kind of embarrassed sheepishness. "Lardy, Eryk and I--we've been setting up Ceej as a decoy for years, going back to when you left the LMB after all that Mordra business years ago. We knew Pornis was after you, so we worked to fool Pornis into thinking Ceej was another one of his kids! When this whole mission went into motion, I worked with Hrun and Dev to move Ceej around in hopes of diverting Pornis' attention!"

Before Lardy could respond, Nura said, "it worked. If it weren't for that distraction, you two wouldn't be able to sneak in with this spell. Plus, it diverted a small portion of Priapus' armies in the effort to find and subdue him. It may seem like a trifle, but millions of lives were saved, nonetheless, because those forces were otherwise occupied."

Cobalt was nervous and sweating at the implications. "We've got to go save them! I won't sacrifice anyone else--!"

Nura shook her head. "We can't delay this spell. If you do so, all your friends will sacrifice will be in vain."

Cobalt looked at Lardy. "Until a moment ago, I was sure I'd go with you, but now--!"

Power Boy placed his hand on Cobie's shoulder, "I'll save them, Cobie. I'll take Juj and Ameratsu, and we'll see to Dev and the others. Lardy needs you. You know it, and so do we all. It has to be you and him."

Nura smiled as she saw things playing out among them as she foresaw.

Cobie looked at the hero before him and suddenly felt a wave of reassurance. "Peebz, I have full confidence in you." He put his hand on Power Boy's shoulder and beamed with pride in his fellow.

Lardy whispered in Cobie's ear, "I'll lay odds he's the LMB's next leader if we all live thru this!"

Cobie grinned and nodded.

"Then let's get on with it," Temp proclaimed as she put the bracelet on and tried to put Dev's screams out of her mind. "But first thing's first." She walked over to Lardy, and they embraced. "Come back to me," she whispered in his ear.

"I will, he whispered back.

Nura turned aside at that moment.

Lardy began to whisper to Temp again, "Temp, I luh-"

"Shush," Temp interrupted and placed her idex finger on his lips, "Save that for later, okay? We'll have lots of time to say it all when this is all over." She looked at him, smiled and stroked his beard. Then she grasped his face and pulled it toward her for what was an even more epic and tender kiss than the one they shared on Zerox.

A long moment later, they parted. Lardy and Cobie shared some parting words and handshakes with the others. Then, Temp started the spell, and suddenly a small ball of energy formed in front of Lardy and Cobalt and gradually started expanding.

As Lardy and Cobie waited for the energy to ripen, Nura said to them, "trust in each other, and you will achieve the impossible!"

Cobie and Lardy nodded and grinned at each other.

"It's ready!" Temp yelled. "Step into it, now!"

"What do you say, old buddy?" Cobalt asked Lardy with a smile. "Once more into the breach?"

"Yep!" Lardy replied. He turned around and winked at Temp. A moment later, both vanished.
The remainder of them stood silently for a long moment afterward.

Then, Peebz turned toward Ameratsu and Juj, "shall we, gentlemen?" Juj smiled and Ameratsu nodded.

As the three turned to exit the temple, Power Boy nodded to Nura and Temp and bowed slightly. "Ladies," he said simply.

Nura waved to them while Temp barely seemed to notice their passing.

As the New God, the android and the Durlan walked outside, they looked around in confusion.

Power Boy stated what they were all thinking. "Now where the Nass did the dragon go?!?"

Weber's World

One Hour Before

Everyone on Weber's World was caught up in a flurry of activity. No matter how well they had prepared, there still seemed more to do.

Besides, with such a large force coming towards them, full of all sorts of powerful creatures... it never seemed like you could prepare too much.

Invisible Brainiac and Kinetix trotted along the hallways. "Think you're up to joining us?" IB asked the pretty redhead.

"Just try and stop me," she replied, touching his shoulder.

"Good. Your powers are just what we need to make things go smoother. And maybe you can make Angdar smile a bit," IB said pointedly. He was regretting his semi-flirtatious attitude to Kinetix on Aleph. As if he didn't have enough problems already! Kinetix was beautiful, sexy, smart, funny and extremely capable... But so was Blaze, and it was Blaze he loved. Ever since they'd gotten together, only the most attractive of sentients had caught IB's eye. And besides some harmless flirting, he'd never strayed.

Unless Blaze agreed to invite a third to play. But that hadn't happened yet, and IB cared too much about their relationship to push it.

Kinetix brushed her auburn hair from her forehead and pressed more tightly on his arm. "It's really great to get to work with you, you know. Ever since the war started, I've been hearing so much about you on the news."

"Well, I'm hardly invisible anymore... And with my powerset, I'm not surprised the news people speculated I was part of the team that hit the Dominion," IB said as he gently pulled his shoulder away. Grife. This was getting too close for comfort...

As the pair rounded the corner, they nearly collided into Angdar. IB eyed him up and down. He was amazing, but IB thought of the slightly younger hero as a little brother - or rather, a junior partner. Blaze found him attractive, but IB had no such feelings.

Angdar was dressed in full battle gear, and... "Grife, Angdar, have you gotten any rest? You look exhausted!"

Angdar blinked a couple of times. "I did sleep for a couple of hours, but couldn't really relax. So I decided to make myself more useful."

"I understand you want to save as many people as possible, but we need you to be fresh for our mission. Can you..."

"I appreciate the concern, but I can handle it. I have much more endurance than the average sentient," Angdar said. He wasn't being defensive. He was just stating a fact.

IB decided not to press it further. "I know you know your limits, Angdar. Sorry, I'm just worried. You never know what will happen. So..." He turned to Kinetix. "This is Kinetix, from Aleph. She's accepted our invitation to join the team." Kinetix smiled and offered her hand, which Angdar shook for a little bit longer than he would anyone else.

IB caught up on that. "Would you two like to study the Nth metal for a bit and see how you can work with it? We only have about an hour before the Dark Army arrives." The two nodded. As Kinetix turned to grab his arm, he quickly added, "I'll catch up. I have to make sure our supplies are in order. Have fun!"

He strode away before Kinetix could say more than "Bye!". Breathing a mental sigh of relief, he headed towards the infirmary. He was supposed to meet Blaze there.

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

Blaze leaned against the infirmary wall, looking at the wounded. Weber's World had suffered several small attacks. Nothing too big, but... If this was just a small sampling of what was to come...

He was scared. For himself, for IB, and for both of them. They would be in physical danger... but he was also worried about all the temptation. So many attractive women and men around. He knew they loved each other, but IB was always so adventurous and...

"Are you just going to stand there, or are you going to help?" came a curt voice.

Blaze looked up and froze.

"Tina?"

"I'm flattered you remembered my name. After I returned you acted like you wished I hadn't."

"I... I... I'm sorry, Tina."

"Whatever. We already spoke about it. Sure, I had to physically track you down and almost had to pry it out of you, but we did."

"I said I was sorry. I'm ashamed of what I did, and I really am sorry I hurt you, but I don't know how I can make it up to you."

"You can't. I'll move on, but I don't know if I'll ever stop being angry at you for what you did or how you did it."

"I..." Blaze couldn't find the words to speak next.

"Anyway, I have work to do. So if you're done here, please keep out of the way. Better yet, go find your boyfriend."

"You called?" IB came strolling in with a big grin. He extended an arm to Tina. "IB, nice to meet you. Are you a friend of Blaze's?"

Blaze quickly spoke up. "IB, this is Tina. I told you about her."

IB froze for a second, but his smile didn't change. "It's really nice to meet you, Tina. I'm glad you're helping out here. Blaze told me you're a gifted nurse."

Tina nodded graciously. "I'm glad he managed to tell you about me. He's told me about you too. Don't worry, I don't blame you for any of what happened," she said pointedly. She handed IB a pack. "Here's one of our metahuman medikits. Good luck."

"Why didn't you..." Blaze asked.

"I knew you were going along, Blaze. But I wanted to see IB for myself. You two make a cute couple. I hope it'll be more than just the physical, though."

As she turned to leave, Blaze called out. "Tina, please stay safe."

She paused in her tracks. "Thanks." Then, she was gone.

IB turned to Blaze. "Grife, honey, I'm sorry. I didn't realize..."

"No, don't be sorry, baby. You couldn't have known. I didn't know either."

IB gave Blaze a reassuring smile. "I foisted Kinetix on Angdar; hopefully he'll keep her busy. And I have a surprise for you." He quickly whipped out his omnicom.

Blaze's eyes went wide. "Oh you, that is so sweet! Have you..."

"I already did. And it's not really that sweet. After all, I really love you."

"Awww..." Blaze smiled back. In moments like these, they didn't need words to express their love. "So, how is my little general doing?"

IB heaved a sigh. "I know I've sort of taken a leadership role lately, but I almost wish I hadn't. I don't like being responsible for all these lives. I'd rather just be taking orders and fighting to the best of my ability."

"Aw, and here I was hearing from some of the guys that you could run for Deputy, or even LMB Leader!"

IB stuck his tongue out in disgust. "No thanks! I have other things in mind after this war is over. You know how much you wanted to see Beijing?" He gave Blaze a wink.

"You mean..." Blaze jumped up and down in excitement. "Let's go win this war, then!"

"We'd better go get ready, then," IB winked back.

As they left the room, Blaze stopped. IB looked curiously. "What..."

He followed Blaze's eyes to see a handsome blonde strolling towards them. He looked quite worked out. "Hey, Blaze."

"Oh, hi Chace."

"So this is the famous IB. I'm Chace, and I'll be fighting alongside you."

"Glad to meet you, Chace," IB held out his hand. Chace grabbed it in a very firm handshake. IB squeezed back, and the two locked gazes, jaws set.

"See you on the battlefield," IB said.

"You bet... and maybe even after," Chace winked at first IB, then Blaze. "I can see why Blaze picked you. I'd rather have him all to myself, but you're tasty enough to share with. See you," Chace said as he walked away.

IB turned to Blaze. "Who was that?"

Blaze stammered. "Just someone I met while you were away. He asked me out to dinner, and I went. Nothing happened, just dinner."

IB raised an eyebrow. "You never mentioned any dates."

"It wasn't a date! We just hung out. I thought he wanted a pal."

"Oh really? So you never got a hint that he was interested?"

"I... not until we had dinner, no..."

"Right, because you don't have that effect on people."

"Well... Okay, okay, I admit, I think he's hot. And remember what we talked about trying? He seems up to it."

"Why didn't you tell me you had someone in mind?"

"I... I wanted to bring it up later."

"Well, I hope later wasn't too long after. Seems like he thinks you've been flirting with him for a while."

"What...! But you've been flirting with Kinetix! And with other girls too!"

IB heaved a sigh. "Haven't we been through that? I'm a flirt. It's my personality. I flirt without thinking or meaning anything. But I've already taken steps to make sure they don't get the wrong idea. And I just hope you do the same."

"I do, but are you sure you do? Kinetix keeps looking at you with goo-goo eyes. At least I told Chace I'd only see him if you were along. Have you done the same?"

"Why are you so anxious about me flirting? I told you I'm a flirt, but I've never cheated on my exes. Unlike you...!"

Both of them gasped at that. Blaze's, as if he'd been punched, and IB's in shock and regret. "Oh baby, I'm so sorry for bringing that up. I know you're not proud of it..."

Blaze closed his eyes. "No, I'm not. But you're right... Maybe it's because I did that, that I'm so anxious about you doing the same. I'm sorry, it's not fair."

"No, no it's okay. At least you acknowledge it. And I understand how you can feel that way. I've had so many escapades... and when Spelling Bee and Sara came, and now Kinetix..." IB lifted Blaze's chin. "Baby, look at me. I understand we're both just jealous because we love each other so much. But at least we can talk about it. Even if we fight a little at first."

Blaze smiled back. "But our fights only last 30 minutes, and then we're good again. And we've only had two of them so far. Besides, can we help feeling jealous? Look at all of the hotties we've been attracting."

"They just can't keep their hands off us... Nor can they keep us apart," IB smiled back. And I bet they all wish they could do this...

The two kissed, right there in the hallway.

It was a beautiful moment in the midst of one of the ugliest wars in history, a shining beacon of hope and love in these times of anger and fear.

The two parted at last. "So does this mean you're good with Chace joining us?" Blaze joked. "Ow!"

IB laughed as Blaze rubbed his shoulder, which IB had punched. "Maybe, but only if I get to invite someone too..."

The two walked off. This moment had been wonderful, but it was only a momentary respite from the coming storm.

Weber's World

One Hour Before

Sara strode purposely into her room. The time for battle was near, and she had to be ready.

Stripping off her gloves, she turned on the light. She didn't have much more time to rest,but she'd already finished her 8 hours. She liked keeping busy. Now was not the time to think.

She paused. A handwritten letter was lying on her desk. She put on her glove; one could never be too careful. Using a pair of tweezers, she lifted it.


"Hi Sara,

I bet you're not using your bare hands to read this, are you?

I know how hard Anne's death was for you. You two were very close, and you always stuck up for each other. I could see how much she meant to you. When she passed, you couldn't stop crying.

I know I sort of explained things to you, but maybe not well enough...

I was fond of you, and I did (and still do) care about you as a friend. But what I can't say for sure is whether I truly did love you. I don't think I did. It might be painful to hear, but I think you need to.

I met Blaze after we broke up. We never officially did, but that's what happened. We just stopped dating. I don't know if you'll agree, but maybe it was for the best at that time. You had somehow dealt with your grief, I had helped you through it, and I think me hanging around would have frustrated you more. That was around the time you'd started your training. I saw you had something else to occupy you, so I just... faded away.

I just couldn't be the boyfriend that you wanted. I guess I just didn't love you enough to be selfless enough for you.

I met Blaze months after we ended. I can't explain it, but I do know that Blaze is the one.

It's not because of anything you did. You were always good to me. I hope I was always good to you. But we just didn't have IT like I do with Blaze now.

As for Anne, I'm really sorry about what happened. But I was totally honest with you. I really don't know exactly what did. I just know what Cobalt Kid asked her to do something before she left Legion World that last time. That's all. Cobie and I were close, but he certainly didn't tell me everything.

I promise you I asked him, but he wouldn't tell me the whole deal. Maybe I should have tried harder, though....

I promise you, when all of this is done, I'll help you get your answers. I owe you that much, at least.

Sara, I hope knowing the truth, whatever it is, will give you peace. You always were, and are, such a beautiful girl. And you were also very sweet, and kind, and when you were happy you always made the rest of us around you feel the same way.

I hope you can be truly happy again.

If you want to still be friends... I'm right here.

I won't be going away this time. I promise.

Sincerely,

Ibby"



Sara looked at the letter for a moment, then crumpled it in her first. She swung her arm as if to throw it, but... she couldn't.

She knelt down on the floor, clutching the letter in her hand. She hadn't cried in a while, and now it seemed that the tears wouldn't stop.

"Damn you," she said between sobs. "You're right. I never really did love you."

Her sobs continued to ring out in her little room.

Weber’s World
One Hour Before

The ‘Drinking Buddies’ name had caught on in the past couple of hours, as the warriors appeared fiercely all over the planet decimating ghouls and zombies. Especially since Nam’Lor kept shouting “Drinking Buddies to save the day!” or “Never fear the Drinking Buddies are here!”

At first most people looked just as scared of them as the zombies and ghouls but, word of their bravery soon circled the planet. It wasn’t just the rescues and their fierce fighting that made them welcome. It was their vibrance and sheer joy at saving people, at fighting impossible fights over and over. It was a kind of hope that spurred the people of Webber’s World on.

Right now though, there was a lull in attacks. Everyone suspected it was the calm before a final storm.

The Drinking Buddies were, unsurprisingly, in a bar. The bar was actually quite full and lively for such dark times.

Each of the drinking buddies were enormous, except for Kid Gravity who was the size of a tall human. The five of them and Disaster Boy huddled around a table in the center of the bar, huge mugs of ale in their hands.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Two Science Police officers peered into the bar to make sure everything was quiet.

“Who drinks before an invasion?” One asked.

The other, an older man with red hair and beard, replied in a thick accent “The dangerous kind, I’ve seen those ones fight!” Then the S.P. s continued down the street on their rounds.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Do you think Porn Queen knows you left by now?” Kid Gravity asked the minotaur with a wicked grin.

“OF COURSE!” The bull faced fellow bellowed. “I only sent her out for more whips and chains. Also, organic peanut butter. I thought that would take some time.” The bull hung his head and his furry cheeks flushed red in shame.

“It was the only way I could sneak away! My lovely flower the Queen of Porn does not understand the heart of a warrior. She believes we should be able to solve all our difference with love.”

“Love making perhaps.” The Nike said in a soft and wry rumble.

The Minotaur’s giant head shook at the ridiculousness of that ideology in their current situation, and steam escaped from his nostrils in a snort.

The bull took a huge gulp of ale.

“So, how is it? Being with just one woman?” Atomik asked like a juvenile.

Atmos had changed his name to Atomik mid battle. frustrated that no one Knew what an Atmos was. Since then he had been making Atomik puns ... to everyone's displeasure.

“We keep each other busy.” The bull replied with a wink.

“But, must be hard to give up all those women." Atomik was asking, presumably in horror.

Nike said in her low gravel voice “I’m sure some women are glad you’re occupied.”

The Minotaur took offense. “Hey! That wasn’t me … that was my crazy great great great uncle on my father's side. We don’t talk about him … tortured soul that one! Gives us all a bad name.”

“I apologize. I knew that, must be this … ‘Silverale’ I’m not used to.” The Nike raised her glass to the Minotaur and his huge mug met her’s in a clink.

“I am used to fighting alone but, I could get used to you all by my side.” The Bull changed the subject and waved for another round of drinks.

The Nike interjected “I am used to flying at the head of a flock of my sisters, swords and spears in hand, cutting armies down from above. Now everyone can fly.” She said with a shrug. She had a cold clumsy way of making conversation. The ancient stone warrior woman couldn’t be expected to have many social graces.

“Aye, Times change and not always for the better.” The bull said and let out a shout as new drinks arrived. “HOH!!!”

The beleaguered bar woman, thick and of middle age, was the only one working tonight. She must be the owner, and have sent the others home to their families.

“It’s on the house.” The woman said in a loud rough voice. “You lot drink free, anytime.” She fiercely patted Nam’Lor on the shoulder and rushed off to serve another thirsty table.

“Nice bar lady remind me of Nam’Lor’s mother.” Nam’Lor said in a croon.

“YOU have a mother?” Disaster Boy blurted out with a shocked look on his face.

There was a brief pause … in which Disaster Boy wasn’t sure if Nam’Lor would leap across the table and throttle him.

Then …

The table erupted in hoots and howls!!! Nam’Lor banged his hand on the table in laughter as everyone guffawed uproariously. Kid Gravity and the Minotaur smacked Disaster Boy on the back in approval of the good joke. Tears streamed down Nam’Lor’s face, as for once, he was speechless.

Disaster Boy blushed at the warmth of these new companions.

Xanthu: Many Hours Ago





A boyish figure flew up out of Xanthu’s orbit. The yellow and gold costume was too big for the small frame.

A closer view revealed a glowing female, with her ginger hair slicked back with gel.

As Xanthu faded behind her, she shined brighter in the darkness of space. She would have plenty of time to think on her space flight from Xanthu to Weber’s World.

Stella Ah knew Xanthu would be safe, It had more super powered heroes than most planets. Thanks to the advanced science of creating super heroes that her father was involved in, Xanthu would be relatively untouched by the war, unless Weber’s World fell.

She monitored the reports. Estimates of the enemy army was … astronomical.

Her father always wanted her to be a scientist because of her intelligence but, when the monsters and zombies started raining down on Zanthu, Stella couldn’t hep but dive right in. She had the same powers as her brother, super strength, space flight, and light generation … that worked extremely well against the creatures that attacked Xanthu. Those zombies had all but ran away from her. She giggled.

From a distance, the crowds of Xanthu had cheered the return of Reflekto. They didn’t realize it was his little sister flying high above them. It had been too long since a Reflekto protected the universe.

So Stella Ah flew off to Weber’s World to find the LMB and start her super hero career. If only she could settle on a name:

‘Relfekto II, Lady Reflekto, nah ... Mirror Mistress, Mirror Madame … no ew! Reflection Lass .... ? ’


.
.
.
.

She had no idea what she was getting into.

One Hour Before
Weber’s World
IB and Blaze hurried along the corridors of Weber’s World. There wasn’t much time left. The Prime Minister’s calm voice was blaring everywhere, “Please gather in the square in thirty minutes.”

As he turned a corner, a voice rang out that made him freeze. It couldn’t be…

“I finally caught up to you this time, youngster.”

IB turned to face his old nemesis… “Truant Officer Ralph?!”

“Special Officer Ralph now, youngster.” A middle-aged man in an impeccably pressed uniform and extremely well-shined shoes stepped forward, behind him a young African-American (if she was from Earth, anyway) girl with hoop earrings and big hair. Officer Ralph held out his hand. “It’s good to be on the same side now.”

IB shook his hand with a wink. “And I’m too old now for you to be busting. If that is still your job?”

Officer Ralph (IB just couldn’t bring himself to think of him as “just” Ralph) grinned. “I’m not on the field as much now, since I’m stuck behind the desk. Apparently, my record of bringing in truants was too good. Times like these though, you have to get back on the field. Speaking of which, here’s one of my super-powered charges. Kairos, introduce yourself, why don’t you?”

The girl shrugged her shoulders dismissively. “I’m no goodie goodie, but I did want to help out. I don’t want to be zombie food.”

Blaze cocked his head. “Was it really your idea to come here?”

She shot back a defiant glare. “Yes. It beat community service at the Nursing Home of Space.”

Officer Ralph added, “Ordinarily I wouldn’t put a youngster in danger, but she can take care of herself. A demonstration, Kairos?”

Kairos grinned and held out a sheet of paper. In front of their eyes, it withered to dust in seconds. “Time manipulation,” she said proudly.

IB nodded, impressed. “That’s why you chose the name Kairos, then? It’s Greek for “opportune moment,” he explained to Blaze and Officer Ralph.
“Listen… I have a proposition for you, if you’re up to it…”
***************************************************************

After about 15 minutes of wrangling, IB and Blaze were trotting down the corridors again. “Grife, I didn’t think we’d ever get Officer Ralph to say
Yes,” Blaze complained. “Now I see why you had such a hard time with him back then.

“To be fair, I wasn’t in control of my powers. You have to admire his tenacity for trying to put me back in school. That’s why I took a leave from the LMB to go to college, remember?” IB replied. “But thanks for helping me argue. We just have to make sure nothing happens to Kairos… though I hope nothing will happen to anyone.”

As they entered the square, they saw a whole array of beings gathered. LMBers, Lard Knights, Space Knights Templar, the Drinking Buddies, Kar-Em’s Daxamites, the UP Ambassadors whatever UP Forces remained on Weber’s World or had arrived, and a ragtag assortment of volunteers from worlds all over the UP. Many were beings of immense power; others had never held a weapon before in their lives. All were extremely brave and selfless.

“Just in time, kid,” Nightcrawler BAMFed beside them. “We start in 5 minutes. Everyone’s here, except Quislet and Awkward Pause Boy, who’re wrangling with some rather stubborn ambassadors who don’t want to hit the safehouse after. Hope you’ve said your goodbyes, just in case.”

IB nodded – besides Blaze and Danger Damsel, he’d even written a note to Spelling Bee and had personally wished luck to many of his closest friends in the LMB. There was one more he hadn’t gotten a chance to speak to though… “Give me a couple minutes?”

At Nightcrawler’s nod, IB turned into light…
And reappeared beside Disaster Boy, who was standing in front of the Drinking Buddies in the crowd. He clapped DB on the shoulder. “Hey, how you doing? Sorry I haven’t been able to really look in on you while we’ve been here.” IB sniffed. DB and company had very obviously been drinking.

“Hey, Ibby! Where ya been? Wish you’d joined us. This bar down the street has some of the best silverale I’ve ever tasted,” DB replied with a grin.

IB chuckled. “Unlike you guys, I’m pretty much useless when drunk. Vee even had a special bed for me at the Villa. He gave up on trying to keep me from sneaking in invisibly.” IB held out his hand. “It’s been great working with you. You stay safe now, you hear?”

DB smiled and clapped IB hard on the back. At IB’s yelp, he laughed. “No need to be so formal, pal! Look, we’re going to go get dead drunk after we win this battle, so let’s save the handshakes for then okay? You be safe too. From how you two act, I bet that Blaze will be really heartbroken if you don’t come back with all your limbs.”

“Yeah, he will be. And I couldn’t bear it if he didn’t either. Alright then, I gotta go… but I can’t wait to try that silverale you talked about.” With a last wink and a wave, IB reappeared back on the stage.

It was time.

Thirty Minutes Before

Weber's World

"Let us begin," the Prime Minister said. At her words, the LMB's telepaths sprang into action. Led by Spellbinder, Saturn Girl and the multi-powered Poverty Lad, a telepathic web sprang and connected the minds of every single sentient on Weber's World. Kid Prime was brought into the loop so it touched the "minds" of the androids and other mechanical life forms.

IB shuddered at the sudden invasion, but there was no time for a normal address. The plan (or what parts of it could be sent out for public consumption), needed to be "uploaded" to everyone.

He could "feel" all their voices in his head. Shining Son's thoughts were fiery, somehow, shining like the Sun. Exnihil's was ordered chaos, reflecting his artistic genius alongside his keen mind. Future's thoughts moved at dazzling speed thanks to his timeslip powers. Pariscub's thoughts were positive and reassuring. Ferroboy was calm, cool as iron. Haggard Lad was exhausted and distracted, but still ready to fight. Dave Hackett's were ill-defined, but his determination shone through. Harbinger's thoughts were encouraging; minesurfer's were as fluid as the plastic he controlled; Kid Marvel was eager to dive into battle; and IB was pleasantly surprised to "hear" from Candlelight, a long-time LMBer who signaled that she was on her way to join them. Her warmth radiated through, even though she was still some distance away.

The telepathic network was even strong enough to reach the group with Rockhopper Lad, who were only a few hours away. IB grinned as he felt them all - Rocky's nobility, Helena Handbasket's hatred for the Oval, Timber Wolf's confidence. The distance made their thoughts fainter, but no less genuine.

IB was shocked to see there were so many volunteers on Weber's World - from Tharr, Imsk, Braal, Titan, Vyrga, and many more worlds. They had all come to fight for life.

All of them had one thing in common. They were all caught up in being part of such an enormous event.

As the only one besides Disaster Boy who'd been in Dark Oval territory, and as one of the main architects of the plan, IB was granted the right to speak. He felt unsteady at the sheer scale of the event. He quickly latched onto Blaze's thoughts, which were full of confidence and love. The two traded smiles, before IB began to think.

"Everyone, our plan has worked so far. All reports show that the Dark Army has been ignoring other nearby planets and has focused its attention solely on us. Any remnants of the first wave we haven't cleaned up have departed the planets they're on and are joining the main force. Whatever happens, we have successfully bought enough time to save the other UP Worlds. Congratulations.

A massive cheer rose at that. This was good news; at least everyone could fight knowing their loved ones at home were safe for the moment.

"I caution you, though. When we were in Dark Oval space, we faced genetically engineered Hive drones, undead ghouls with all sorts of powers, heroes who’ve been taken over, living black holes, and shadows that absorb your entire being. I'm not going to lie. The Dark Army will probably have ghouls much stranger and more insidious than those. Be prepared for anything."

The group's excitement faded slightly at that, and a worm of fear grew in the network. IB moved quickly to quash that.

"But so? They might be more powerful, but we have right on our side. They're just mindless husks created to destroy. We, on the other hand, are fighting for our loved ones. For freedom. For survival. For life. That, and our experience and skill, gives us an edge. Assembled here now are the bravest sentients I have ever known. LMBer, Space Knight Templar, UP fleet soldier, Lard Knight, volunteer... we are all together as one. We won't let each other down. We will win! We must!"

Another roar went up at that. IB could feel the surge of emotion in his mind, and it made him giddy.

"Our allies are en route and will join us momentarily. This will be a long and bloody battle, but with our combined powers we can prevail. All we have to do is outlast this wave of invaders, for we have a plan to cut off their transportation routes to us.

All I ask you is to trust in each other. Have faith. Do your best. Although we may die, at least we die free and as heroes.

Because we fight for life!"

The roar this time was deafening. IB stood back, pleased. His stomach didn't hurt this time, unlike how it usually did when he had to speak before an audience.

All around him, his fellow LMBers beamed with pride. It was a warm, satisfying feeling.

The Prime Minister took over. Her tone was calm, yet somehow warm. IB could feel the respect coming from her.

"I believe Invisible Brainiac has said all we need to know. Let us move out."

Zero Hour

The assembled forces moved like clockwork, and within minutes all were in position.

Beagle Boy watched as several cruisers and the spaceworthy super-powered ones took off into space. They would be the front line, while those whose powers functioned better in a planetary environment stayed behind just in case.

"How many do you think we'll lose?" he asked Lance.

"I would not think of that. I prefer to focus on the lives we are saving," came the reply.

"Or on how many we'll bust up," Raging Bull said with a chuckle. "Any of you want to bet on who takes out the most enemies?"

"You're on!" grinned Little Rhino. "A case of silverale to the winner?"

Kent Shakespeare merely chuckled as he looked over the list of medical volunteers he'd be leading. "Only the LMBP could laugh so in the face of such dire odds," he told himself.

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

The assembled ships floated in space, silently, waiting. Some of the most powerful beings in the galaxy floated by them - Abin Quank, Space Ranger, Kid Prime, Mattropolis, Vee, Kar-Em, Blacula, Jerry, Harbinger, Kid Marvel and Spelling Bee among them.

"Everyone ready?" IB asked. At their reassurance, he split himself. A bright rainbow shone out of the prism around his neck, and the seven IBs emerged for the first time since their arrival on Weber's World.

"Whew! It's been too long," grinned IB Yellow as he stretched his muscles.

"Think we're rested enough for the battle ahead?" asked Purple tentatively.

"We should be, we've had 6 Terran days and 12.5 Terran hours combined," reassured Indigo.

"Enough of that, let's just get going, okay?" growled Red.

With a nod, they took their positions. Yellow, Blue, Indigo and Violet formed a ring around Weber's World, causing it to flash briefly. Blue's voice rang over the comlinks. "We're ready. Weber's World and the entire defense force is now invisible to the incoming Dark Army. It's taking some effort, but we're all still visible to each other."

IBs Red and Orange took their positions with the other space heroes. As the most aggressive of the IBs, they were the logical choices. "That is quite a feat, that selective invisibility," Kar-Em complimented them. Orange grinned. "Spellbinder is supplementing our efforts. It's quite a strain, but we'll manage. By the way sir, it's an honor fighting alongside you."

"Call me Kar-Em," came the reply. "You've earned it."

As IB Green zipped off to his position, Kid Vudoo stood on top of the lead ship. If he was scared, he didn't show it. He was staring straight ahead, his vision powers showing him the approaching army.

The countdown was beginning. All around, everyone was saying prayers to their individual deities or wishing luck to their comrades. It was very, very real now.

Kid Vudoo counted aloud, as everyone else waited in silence.

"Five... Four... Three... Two... One..."

As Kid Vudoo screamed "Now!", the sky turned completely black around them. The writhing dark mass appeared alive. All were silent for a second
as the very universe seemed to grow still.

Then, a horrible scream erupted from the dark as the Dark Army began pouring in.

The battle of Weber's World had begun!

Dark Oval Space

Dev Em’s mind raced. His thoughts were everywhere at once.He was bracing for another impact when what seemed like the full ships battery of weapons unloaded on The Emissary.

Seeing an opportunity, Dev flew as fast as he could and reclaimed what was left of his arm, and returned to the ship. CJ Taylor met him at the airlock.

“Dev. Grife man, are you going to be alright?”

Dev nodded. He was holding his scorched arm to where it had been torn off. “This hurts like hell, but it will reintegrate to my body.” He sat himself down on the deck and realized he was sweating heavily.

“Let me get you something.”

“No. I’ll be alright,” he said through a grimace, “just need a second…how are things on board?”

“We’ve taken some heavy losses, and our own dead keep getting back up. We seem to have things under a slim margin of control, but that’s only because of Hrun and his tactics.”

Dev nodded, and started slowly flexing his left hand. CJ could see the arm slowly reforming itself.

“Then, things went insane when Hrun poured all the weapons into a concentrated blast on whoever that is out there. Those things went insane and even started attacking each other.”

“That gives me an idea…” Dev said as he stood up.

“You are not going back…”

“Yeah I am,” he said and shoved CJ back through the airlock into the ship and took off as soon as he could. Flattening his body to get out of the ship before CJ, or anyone else could reverse the doors.

The Emissary was fighting against several of Hruns men who had come out to attack him as a diversion. Those men were paying for their acts with their lives.

As Dev Shifted his bodies coloring to blend in with the nothingness behind him, he thought about the poor men that were dying in front of him. …whatever is out there…please let this work, he thought as he arced himself around to The Emissaries blind side, which also happened to have the one thing he needed.

He poured on all the speed he could muster and tackled the Emissary before the last man was snapped in two.

The Emissary Shifter his face to the back of his head and snarled. His mouth opened wider than any sentient had a right to and he tried to bit Dev Em’s face. Dev countered by having his head sink into his body and he flopped himself around and pushed off from the Emissary. He was also holding something.

The Emissary looked at Dev EM and his face twisted itself into a hideous mask. Dev held the gun he was holding up and fired faster than The Emissary could react. The Emissary opened his mouth to speak, and somehow, Dev heard the words in his head. Only it wasn’t the Emissary speaking at all…”You have beaten this one. But at what cost….your friends on Weber’s World are about to die, you and the people on that ship are about to die…”

Dev Watched as the Emissary went limp. His mind gone. The gun he had used to destroy the minds of the members of the armada they had found had been used against him. Leaving him a mindless husk of a body.

Dev Em crushed the gun into millions of pieces, and flew towards the Emissary to collect his body.

Once he had the Emissary into the airlock, he realized that the ship was vibrating. He quickly hit his communicator and told CJ where to find the body, and that it needed to be taken to the security station.

Dev then flashed his X-Ray vision around the ship. The ghouls were literally trying to shake the ship apart from the inside.

He made to go into the ship when part of the hull exploded outward at him. He was able to raise his arms up to create a shield from the debris…but was swarmed outward into apace by hundreds of ghouls. All clawing and scratching at him.

He tried to break free, but they were able to hold on. He realized that there were wounds from their harder strikes against him, and where they were biting at him. He struggled to break their grip, but there were just too many. he kept fighting as they kept surrounding and clawing at him...finally, he could no longer see anything but ghouls. They had engulfed him totally...

Weber's World

As the darkness erupted around them, IB Green flew into the biggest ship. It was located to the back of the pack for safety. Zipping in through a window, he made his way to the hangar.

Dedman waited beside Angdar Fel’s ship, hands glowing as he stood ready. Poverty Lad hovered beside him, x-ray vision through a window. “We don’t have much time.”

“Not much more needed,” IB said as he took his position inside the ship. “Is everybody here?”

“Present!” grinned Blaze. IB was afraid to bring him along, but Blaze had insisted. Besides, his powers were needed, and Blaze would not even think of allowing another pyrokinetic to take his place. Kairos nodded impatiently. “Let’s get this show on the road.” Marvin nodded, “Where is Angdar anyway?”

“I’m fastest, I’ll go find them,” IB said. “Maybe Angdar’s in the room assigned to us.” Curiously, he noted Kinetix wasn’t there either.

As he sped out of the hangar, he spied Sara trotting towards a ship. He opened his mouth to say something, but stopped at the look on her face. She clearly wasn’t interested in talking. He went on.

Scant seconds later, he arrived at Angdar’s room. They’d moved their things in here hours before. He pressed the buzzer. “Open up, Angdar! The war’s begun…” He heard a few muffled sounds, and Angdar replied, “Coming!”

Seconds later the door opened, and IB was stunned to see Kinetix and Angdar coming out together, Angdar dressed in full Nth metal armor. Noticing IB’s gaping mouth, Kinetix smoothly replied, “Thanks for coming to fetch us, IB. And thank you, Angdar, for letting me examine your armor. I have a good feel for the material now.”

“And thank you for helping me put it on,” Angdar replied. “It was much easier with your powers. Now, we should go. Let’s not keep them waiting.” With a flap of his wings, he sped down the hallway.

Kinetix took IB’s arm once more, and such was his surprise that he didn’t resist. “That Thanagarian metal sure is something… Strong, yet surprisingly flexible. I didn’t have much trouble animating it.” She glanced at the prism on his chest. “Your necklace suits you. But there’s something about it…” She furrowed her brows to take a closer look. “It’s made of some very interesting crystal. I can sense an enchantment here.”

“Tempest did something to it. Said it’d protect me,” came the absent-minded reply. IB couldn’t help but notice her smell. “Did you and Angdar…”

“We went over the plan very thoroughly. I’m ready for anything, so let’s go kick some zombie tail!” With a smile, she flew off, skirts billowing as she went, leaving an open-mouthed IB.
*************************************************

Dedman’s voice was firm. “Whatever you do, do not look outside your ship. Angdar, Marvin, that goes for you as well while piloting. Pov will telepathically guide you. Blaze, IB, Kairos, Kinetix, keep using your powers to reinforce the ship. The Poltergeist Area is not a pleasant place.”

“And what happens if we do look outside?” Kairos asked.

Dedman fixed her with a steady gaze. “Do you really want to find out? Let’s just say it will be an extremely unpleasant rest of your life.”

She slumped back down and shrugged. “Just curious. I wasn’t planning on doing so anyway.”

“If we’re all ready, then…” said Marvin impatiently. “I don’t want Weber’s World to end up like the Brood homeworld.”

“We’re off!” IB said. “We probably have the most important role to play in the defense of Weber’s World so… Let’s kick zombie tail! Thanks for the catchphrase, Kinetix.”

“My pleasure,” she winked. IB glanced back at Blaze, who didn’t flame on this time. “Thanks for not being jealous anymore,” he whispered.

“It’s okay, I know you like looking at her, and looking ONLY,” Blaze replied. “Though I can see why you’d want to do more. Maybe we can invite her along with Chace…?”

“I… Let’s see if she’s still up to it,” IB replied. He changed the subject at once. “Hey, you know Catalyst King and Magnetic Kid right? They’ve invited us to double-date. They’re the guys Cobie and I used to hang out at Vee’s villa with. They’re a very cute couple,” he winked. His expression quickly turned to concern. “Are you comfy using your magical flame to protect us? I know your control has gotten a lot better, but I think this’ll be the first time you’ll use it on something this large.”

“I’ll manage. I have you here beside me,” Blaze smiled.

IB smiled back as the ship took off into Dedman’s domain.
*************************************************

The trip through the Poltergeist Area was indescribable, mostly because none of the occupants save Dedman could really sense what was going on outside their ship. Dedman told them it was usually safe to travel around in freely, but the presence of so many zombies and ghouls near Weber’s World had twisted its very fabric. So IB blotted out all light from outside, Kinetix kept reinforcing the ship’s structure and coating it with Nth metal, Kairos slowed down the rate of decay of said metal, and Blaze provided extra protection via his fiery shield. Marvin and Angdar piloted the ship via mindlink with Dedman, courtesy of Pov. The team was very carefully chosen for this mission, and each member had a crucial role to play.

The voyage seemed to take an eternity, but at last Dedman spoke. “We’re here, kids. You can stop now, IB.”

IB’s glow faded as light from outside returned. He glanced at his watch. “We were only there for 3 minutes? It seemed so long.”

“Time travels differently in the Area. Distance is different too, but you knew that already - that's why you asked to use the Area to get to the portal quickly. Now get ready, here’s the spot.”

“How do you know…. Oh,” Blaze suddenly burst out laughing. “That’s a nice sign!”

IB looked at him in confusion. “What do you mean?”
“You can’t see it? It’s right there!” Blaze pointed.

IB shook his head. “My light powers would let me see anything that was there. I can’t.”

Dedman looked at Blaze curiously. “Your powers are interesting. It’s a good thing they didn’t activate in the Area.” With a wave, Dedman made the sign appear - "DORK OVAL, YOU SUCK!". The rest of the team erupted in laughter. “Dork Oval, I like that,” quipped Marvin.

IB didn’t laugh, though. He gripped Blaze tightly. “What power is that? Do you have the power to sense the supernatural?”

“I… Maybe? The guys who gave me my power said it was magical in nature, and I’m supposed to be able to use my flames to protect against magic…”

IB frowned. He liked that Blaze could protect himself, but not knowing the full extent of his powers… He made a mental note to consult with Tempest if… WHEN she and the others came back. For now…

“Shall we proceed, IB?” Angdar was already up and gathering the equipment they’d need. “Yeah, we don’t have much time. We need to deal with this portal now that the Dark Army’s good and distracted.”

“We should have done it earlier,” said Marvin, “but I understand we couldn’t risk it. If we’d gone on this mission before the Army reached Weber’s World, they might have doubled back on us and attacked. We’d never have been able to close the portal, and they’d continue to stream out of it and overwhelm us.” Marvin had been one of those who’d argued against waiting this long, but in the end he’d been convinced too.

“Thanks, Marvin,” IB said, acknowledging his friend’s agreement with their final decision. He looked to the others. “Angdar will orient you more thoroughly on your roles in this plan. Pov and I will go create a distraction in fifteen minutes. And Dedman…”

The spectral LMBer’s hands were already glowing. “I’ll be ready to open the Poltergeist Area up again for your return trip. I’ll do my share of the fighting from there.” With that, Dedman disappeared.

“Okay, so we’re all set… Keep safe, everyone,” IB said with a smile. He quickly zipped to Blaze’s side and gave him a kiss. “Especially you,” he whispered. “We have plenty to do when the war’s over.”

“Same goes for you, my hero,” Blaze smiled.
IB grinned and held Blaze’s hand, then turned to join Pov. The two slipped off into space, ready to raise hell.
*************************************************

Near the Portal, about three days' travel from Weber's World

“What do you mean, we’ll close it?”

Kinetix’s sharp protest caused those at the table to look at one another. Angdar had laid their plan out clearly – Marvin and Angdar had worked together with Kid Prime and some remote help from Reboot to develop an Nth metal bomb with its own propulsion system. All they had to do was launch the bomb into the portal and ignite it for it to close.

Angdar looked at her. “Of course we have to close it. We have to stop the Dark Army from pouring its forces into our space, or from calling for more.”
“Yes, I know that! I mean, why close it when we can control it instead? We have a gate ready to invade the Dark realm!”

“Riiiiiight, because the seven of us are enough to bring it down. Not even the whole LMB could face it head-on, how can we?” Blaze’s impatience was clearly showing now.

“Look, no need to get snippy just because I flirt with IB too,” Kinetix said. Before Blaze could retort, she went on, “I mean, can’t we just control it or temporarily close it for later use? When we’re ready, we can march right on through. If we close it now, we may not be able to reach the Dark realm again later.”

“Girl has a point,” Kairos said. “We don’t finish them off later in the war, they can create a new portal. Just saying.” She shared a smile with Kinetix; given the lopsided male-female ratio in their forces, the girls tended to stick together.

“I… well… you weren’t clear when you said that,” Blaze said grumpily. “But she makes sense, Angdar.”

Angdar blinked a couple of times. “That’s exactly the plan. That’s why we need all of you along. We can close the portal in such a way that we reopen it, but it needs perfect timing. Kinetix, you need to keep pouring Nth metal onto the bomb. Kairos, your time powers will allow us to control the exact moment of detonation. And Blaze, your magical fire means you’re the perfect detonation trigger. The properties of all your powers and all the material we’re using will ensure that the portal collapses, and that only someone with Nth metal can open it.”

“And that means us and NOT the Dark Army,” Marvin added. “Just to be clear, we're only closing the portal temporarily. So there’s really no need to argue further.”

Kinetix settled back with a wide grin, while Blaze tried his best not to look sullen.
Angdar checked the time. “We have seven more minutes. Let’s all make sure we’re ready.”
**************************************************

“You ready?” IB asked Pov. Both LMBers were invisible.

“Any time. You?”

“Hold on… Okay, I just made sure the invisibility’s holding on the ship and on the others. They should be safe. I just hope this whole mission turns out to be straightforward…”

“Hey, they’re ghouls. Don’t worry. Like I told Blacula, they’re meant to be stupid,” Pov save with a reassuring grin.

IB grinned back. “It’s an honor. Maybe they’ll put murals of us in the Trapper washroom when we’re done with this.”

With a nod of respect, both LMBers turned visible and flew towards the portion of the Dark Army guarding the portal. “I count over a hundred. 50 each?”

“No gentlemanly agreements like that in battle! Take out as many as you can!”

IB smiled as he blasted through a ghoul with the head of a lion and the body of a bull (where do they come up with these things, he thought).

“Didn’t hurt to ask.”

Naltor
Epsilon Sector
Dark Oval Space

The three remaining members of the fellowship floated up through Zerox’s atmosphere. Juj looked behind at the planet as they left, Power Boy and Ameratsu did not.

They landed on the deck of the Starsong, which hung in the firmament over Naltor. They would leave the ship for Tempest and, when they returned, if they returned, Lard Lad and Cobalt Kid.

The three: new god, durlan, and robot, gathered supplies quickly in quiet, mostly weapons, nothing too heavy.

After several minutes, the three reconvened on the deck of the Starsong. A pause hung between them as they readied to leave.

When … Power Boy thought his vision was failing …

… as large grey wolf walked across the deck of the Starsong towards them.

Juj cocked his head. “Is that a …”
Ameratsu said “Yes … it appears to be a large grey wolf on the deck of the Starsong, in space.”

“Trickster.” Power Boy said. “You’re real. I thought you might just be a dream.”

Oddly enough the wolf replied:

“You’re friends are in grave danger young Power. I summon thee to their aid to thwart the Dark Lord.”

Power Boy had regained some of his former stature. He held his baton in his left hand.

“Let’s go then.”

The silver wolf flew into the air and circled at super speed until he was a blurry ring of glowing silver. It looked like a Boom tube.


<span style="font-size: 24px;">BOOM!</span>

Dark Oval Space

The teleportation portal deposited the three in open space. None the three needed a transuit to survive but, it was disorienting.

As the portal faded, the silver wolf reassembled behind the trio.

"THERE!" It pointed with its nose.

The scene before them was ghastly. Hundreds of ghouls piled over a ship, that still struggled. Short bursts fired from it, disintegrating a few ghouls amongst the thousands.

And then another pile of ghouls writhed next to an open airlock of the ship. They looked like a hideous hive of ants on a hill.

Power Boy looked intensely at the two objects. His telepathy confirmed what he feared.

"Dev." He said with a teeth grinding.

He pulled a sword from his back so that he had it in one hand and his baton in the other.

He pointed with his sword.

"Get them off him, any way you can."

Ameratsu and Juj both looked shocked.

The android put a hand on Power Boy's left bicep. "It's not possible, you must see that, we will be pulled down with a drowning man."

Power Boy's glare was unfaltering. "You will both fight as you have never fought before."

.
.
.

Power Boy flew down the middle, Ameratsu on his left with Titus' spear in one hand and a short sword in the other, Juj waited a moment ... dropped his weapons and his form liquified ... to return solid in a chimaera of claws, teeth, horned head, and a spiked tail.

Dark Oval Space


From a distance, a huge mass of writhing black was being cut into by a whirling drill. Nearby a ship rocked with multiple fractures and punctures.

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Up close, Power Boy leaped over another ghoul and bashed it on the head with his baton. Ameratsu stabbed the downed ghoul with a spear through its heart. The android wrenched the spear out, shredding the tissue of the ghoul. Nearby, Juj slashed wildly, ripping apart ghouls with his claws.

Power Boy cut into ghouls, zombies, and monstrosities alike. He hadn’t regained his former power but, he did have several hundred years worth of fighting experience. He put it to good use. His speed was still fast enough, and it only took a little telekinesis here and there, to tug or push nearby ghouls off balance enough for him to destroy or stun.

Ameratsu the golden robot followed, efficiently finishing whatever ghouls were left in Power Boy’s wake. Juj was a wild frenzy, slashing and then disappearing in a puddle only to reappear in the middle of confused ghouls, tearing them to pieces with a spiked tail.

Power Boy butchered monstrosities to get to his friend. Ameratsu thought he was dead already, it was just a matter of timing. It gave him an emotionless clarity that made his fighting perfectly efficient. Juj was terrified, shape changing with a fast and savage fury that obliterated enemies all around him.

As fast as they cut through the animated dead, they were only half way to Dev-Em. Power Boy could feel Dev’s consciousness fading. He needed a trick. He needed one fast.

As he swung his baton crippling a nearby ghoul, he searched for what he needed. “There.” He spoke aloud and hurdled over a dozen ghouls to grab one by the face. The ghoul had a flaming mouth, and opened it, bathing Power Boy in flame. It unleashed a torrent of fire. Juj developed a wing that shielded him from the blast, while Ameratsu gazed at the blinding light with unflinching artificial eyes.

The smoke cleared as Ameratsu, Juj, and ghouls alike floated stunned in the silence of space.

‘Was that it then, the end had cought up to them?’ Juj and Ameratsu thought in unison.

As the smoke cleared from the flame blast, Power Boy stood triumphant.

“Thanks. I needed that.”

The flame breathing ghoul in front of him desiccated beyond repair, Power Boy had drained its energy in entirety.

Power Boy’s eyes gleamed. He focused the power he gained from the Ghoul, amplified it, and held out an open hand towards the center of the mound.


<span style="font-size: 36px;">SHAKKKKKKK!!!! </span>


He erupted. The ghouls were scattered and stunned, burning and dismembered.

It was enough to clear them off a dark and broken figure.

A couple ghouls lingered in the confusion, Power Boy grabbed them in a rage and tore them apart with his bare hands. He seethed with fury!

“Power Boy … Power Boy …” A robotic voice called out “We must away from here immediately.” Ameratsu pointed to the nearby airlock of the ship, still open.

Juj made a gesture to lift up the broken and bloody body of Dev-Em. It was unrecognizable. His legs were smashed, an arm was missing, and the side of his face had been ripped off leaving blood covering the rest of his face and torso. It was a horror.

“No, I will.” Power Boy said, and gently lifted the husk of the Daxamite/Durlan into his arms.

They flew in silence toward the ship. Chaos surrounded them.