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

yay! more!

ah Tel, but good to see he's working on his issues!

aw Strut! definitely an A+ for emotional intelligence there!

wait whoa, some awesome news here! I love how Nightwind and Slug picked up on these things re: two campuses!

love the way you have various folks reacting to the transmat pad news! and also linking to every world, nice!

you may LIVE on Earth as you wish! I love it!

shift roster! also a great step forward! yay work-life balance!

Wellbeing Squad! loveeeee the idea!

also living the banter. Element Lad, Light Lad, great choices!

and Life Lass, whooo!

also nice having Mwindaji decline because he prefers adventure

and Tellus! excellent! nice quartet you have there!

wait! I'm still curious about the Academy student count, and that the number of enrollees may boom?

and I did count 8: Enigma Lass, Variable Lad, Amp, Key Kid, Dragonwing, Chemical Kid, Lullabye Lad, Sojurn... ok I was wondering if you were slipping someone in, but makes sense Slug might be off with hits count

lol at Garth putting his foot into it, and Imra not being amused

love the Staycation Booth!

LOL at Elastic Lad's monologuing...

interesting that Engima Lass goes "and his wife", and not Saturn Girl. why, I wonder? (and also of course curious about why only these three)

just realized that Ion's real name is a homage to Mark Waid, cool!

whooop of course. Emerald Emperor, Garak of the Glow, brilliant connection that I didn't think of earlier!

Quick off the mark, IB!

re: the transmats - I realised that as fun as it is for me having a mobile base that can zoom around anywhere in the UP, living on essentially a big ol' spaceship is a big adjustment that a lot of characters might not actually want to do long-term...I also wanted to keep the option of having them stuck in particular places sometimes for plot reasons, so fixed teleportation seems like a good way to have my cake and eat it too

I also wanted to get Mwindaji not being in the Wellbeing Squad out of the way upfront, because on paper he would be perfect for it but I don't really see it being something his character would be into and I don't really want him to just be a plot device that roams around healing everyone in the background all the time and removing any dramatic tension (there's a couple other characters with a similar situation who come to mind as well, but that might be something that will come out in the stories some time).

The student count really was just bad memory on Slug's part - you have counted the 8 students correctly! The 8 current students anyway...


This one I can answer straight away! Enigma Lass tries to avoid any words with an "r" sound because even though Variable Lad has talked her into losing her costume's voice modulator, she still hates the way she drags out her rrrrs as a Dominator. It's why her sentence structure is sometimes a little bit weird as well, she has to do some on the spot mental gymnastics to find the right appropriate best way to say things sometimes (also why she only ever calls Oaa by his real name instead of Varriable Lad).

I always try to go back and do a spell check whenever I write Enigma Lass's dialogue to make sure I haven't missed any R words, but now that I've said that I bet I have missed some - she and Slug are more of a pain in the ass than Comet Queen or Quislet have ever been when it comes to getting their dialogue right sometimes hahahaha


Yes! Good pickup! And you also just reminded me that Bioluminescent Lass's real name Jaene Birrun is a play on John Byrne because I originally made her as a stand-in for Aurora from Alpha Flight in the heroes from other worlds thread a million years ago, I had completely forgotten I did that!

More on Garak and/or the Emerald Emperor soon, but next up - Key Kid's adventure with the Cavalry that I ran out of space to throw in this time around!

ah duuuuh! thanks, I had just read Enigma Lass' bio, but the R sound did not come to mind! silly me! nice characterization, raz, and wow, a tough one indeed to implement.

I was thinking about whom BioL-Lass' name was referencing! I kepy reading it over and over, but John Byrne simply didn't put up! nice!

Hey Raz, I don't have as much time as I'd like to review your latest section but I'll try anyway.

Gravity Kid is showing some self awareness - which is a very nice bit of character growth. Even him admitting to himself that it was cowardly to have the conversation so one-sided when Bobb was unconscious is a step up from his usual behaviour. I really like that you are introducing and following up on his emotional growth Raz, he's such a snipey character (in all of our fanfics, poor guy ) that these moments are a sweet counterpoint to the usual.

And while Tel seems lacking in natural empathy, Strut shows his - nice! Evolvo lad's teleportation pads is a great idea, and limiting them to one (or a few anyway) on each world is a great way to use it too - wish I'd thought of that rather than just going straight in with Henry and his anywhere warps tbh. Looking forward to what you are going to add to the academy, it's such a rich mine for story ideas! And, potentially living on their homeworld and just beaming up to HQ when their shift starts - how great is that! That's another idea I wish I'd come up with, and may well appropriate And a Wellbeing team - haha we all seem to have picked up on how appropriate that function would be. I really like he team you've put together for it as well, and was wondering if M'Windaji would be on it as your take as him being a White Lantern of sorts would seem to be he natural fit, though I'm kinda happy that you didn't as it'll make their missions more interesting reading I think.

And speaking of mining the Academy's story potentials, Enigma Lass continues to be intriguing! A super smart immortal Dominator kinda freaks me out the more I think of it, but I'm interested where you'll be taking her storyline. And every appearance of Elastic Lad is golden! I wonder what Garth and Imra are up to?

And your alt Fatal Five are slowly taking shape - I re-read all of your older stories two years ago and the battle of te Fatal Fives was a great and quite scary stryline so I'm really looking forward to this plot!

This was fun Raz, and I'm here waiting for more, more, more!

Hi Harbi, thanks for the R&R!

Gravity Kid will be having some actual character growth from this point on! I am looking forward to writing him not being such a sooky lala all the time to be honest lol

Strut is a hidden treasure! Admittedly it's a bit easier to be empathic when you have senses that can pick up on someone's mood by their biochemical changes, but also he's actually got a bit of depth that will show its head every now and then as much as he might like to pretend otherwise

I get what you mean about the teleportation.....on one hand it makes sense that a thousand years in the future with a Brainiac 5 it's weird that the Legion DON'T have teleportation....on the other hand, it makes a huge difference to what you can do narratively. I thought fixed teleport locations were a nice compromise.

I also kinda stole the idea of a Wellbeing Squad from y'all, I think it is a really good natural extension of a superhero team in a generally utopian future

Garth and Imra's plotting will come to fruition very soon and as far as an alt Fatal Five goes...we may find that it's a bit more than five in the end...

RIMBOR
Devil's Canyon

The rain drove down in icy daggers and Science Police sirens filled the air like the persistent yowling of some nocturnal creature, but the natives of Rimbor were not going to let that ruin a good night out.

With weather this bad, one might think the traffic at least would be more manageable; instead there were just more accidents. One lone woman avoided the congested airways above, taking her chances instead with the more grimy criminal element on the pedestrian walkways below the aircar safety barriers. As only a native Rimborian could pull off so easily, Ray Sah avoided direct interaction with the many other sentients around her while also somehow projecting an air of mildly threatening confidence that stopped the pickpockets and the more violent thugs here from starting trouble with her.

Her yellow raincoat still pulled tight around herself against the elements, she soon arrived at her destination. A line of sentients stretched around the corner of this overcrowded street, all of them waiting with varying degrees of impatience to get into a nightclub which was called Mother's Milk according to the borderline obscene hologram flickering over the door.

Bypassing the queue altogether, the dark-skinned young woman made a beeline for one of the two bouncers; the bouncer was an enormous yellow brute covered in animated tattoos and wearing a latex corset which complimented equally her three breasts and her incredibly muscular physique. The hairless bouncer initially glared intensely at the much more petite woman approaching her, until the visitor came under the shelter of the holoemitter above the door and slipped her hood back over a frizzy mane of black hair to reveal her face more clearly.

"Flare??" Shocked, the bouncer called Ray Sah the codename that she'd once used as a member of the Fatal Five. "I thought you wuz gonna rot on Takron-Galtos forever!"

"Parole for good behaviour," Flare winked at the much larger woman. "I'm a changed girl, Shelli!"

The bouncer named Shelli's jaw dropped momentarily before both women burst into raucous laughter.

"The good behaviour part's true at least," Flare wiped at her eyes as her chuckles subsided. "I was going crazy in that place, I would have become a space nun if it got me out any sooner...I gotta get back in the game though, is Biggie upstairs?"

"Sure thing sweetness, you go on ahead and have a good night!" The huge bouncer leaned down to give Flare a surprisingly wholesome peck on the forehead, one that Flare still had to stand on tiptoe to receive.

"Hey, no way!!" This was from a woman dressed in fishnet and an aqua coloured leotard with matching eye makeup at the front of the queue. "I've been out here an hour in this sprockin' rain and you're just gonna let that skinny fem skip the queue? Who died and let her go in first??"

"Nobody's died yet," Flare looked upon the woman menacingly. "But it can be arranged..." With the barest of effort, a sheath of flame came to life around Flare; her raincoat was instantly incinerated, revealing a skimpy golden outfit beneath. Her skin instantly turned a vivid red color, and her hair was replaced by a mane of fire. The first handful of people in the queue gasped and staggered back.

"Now why'd ya have ta go and piss her off..?" Shelli shook her head regretfully.

Before Flare could make good on her threat, the once and former Fatal Five member suddenly vanished in a dramatic flash of emerald light. Her would-be victim stammered half a word, and then her eyes rolled back in her head and she fainted right on the spot.

Sighing, Shelli nudged the unconscious woman into the gutter with one huge studded boot. "You!" she barked at the terrified Caladosian standing next in line. "Your lucky night, hot stuff! Get in there before I change my mind!"

As the quaking purple woman rushed past her and into the club, Shelli spared a thought for Flare before she shrugged and turned her attention back to her job. Whatever Ray Sah had gotten herself into now, she was certainly cunning and dangerous enough to get herself back out of it again...

**********

THE LEGION OF SUPERHEROES MOBILE BASE
The team leader's office

ROLL CALL
Blok: team leader; magically enhanced strength, invulnerability, speed, flight, stamina, wisdom and courage
Element Lad aka Jan Arrah: elemental transmutation
Life Lass aka Somi Gan: matter animation
Light Lad aka Darvan Locke: gravity negation
Tellus aka Ganglios: telepathy and telekinesis

While Blok sat comfortably in an oversize chair with his hands steepled before him, Tellus was perched as ever on his hindquarters in one of the few areas of the room not filled with plants; the other three members of the newly established Wellbeing Squad sat around the office in individual memory foam seats.

"Thanks for making time to speak with us so quickly, Blok." This was Element Lad, whom the group had just informed Blok was the Wellbeing Squad's leader.

"Of course," Blok nodded slightly. "And thank you all for coming together so quickly...I am pleased to hear that already you have elected a leader amongst yourselves."

"Element Lad has more experience than most of us when it comes to using his abilities to help others," Tellus noted diplomatically, "And certainly more experience leading others as a Legionnaire. It seemed only logical that he should be the leader of the Wellbeing Squad."

"What Tellus said," Light Lad agreed. "I think I speak for both Life Lass and myself when I say Element Lad's the obvious choice for the role. We're just happy to be in a position to help...right, Life Lass?" He gave her an encouraging smile.

Life Lass nodded awkwardly and muttered something in agreement that was barely above a squeak.

"So, we've narrowed down a dozen or so options for our first mission," Element Lad took the reins of conversation again, "But it occurred to us...should we involve our Manager of Diplomacy in this? It's honestly difficult to choose one world that needs us more than any other, maybe Marte could suggest something that might help the Legion or even the wider UP diplomatically at the same time?"

An electronic breep sounded before Blok could respond, and a tiny holographic represenation of the Legion's Communications Officer Trava Coruu appeared over Blok's desk. "Uhh...Blok? Please pardon me, I'm terribly sorry to interrupt you like this...I know you're in the middle of an important meeting, but I just received the strangest comms packet addressed to the...the Wellbeing Squad..?"

It was clear to everybody that this was the more timid of Trava's three selves, but as insecure as she might be she was just as good at her job as her other two "sisters". They knew that she wouldn't have made a mistake, and were just as baffled by this message as she seemed to be.

"But...we haven't announced that the Wellbeing Squad even exists yet?" Life Lass voiced what they were all thinking, sounding as timorous as Trava while she looked from one Legionnaire to the other. "...Have we..?"

"We have not," Blok confirmed. "Thank you, Trava...send through the comms packet please."

Trava's face soon disappeared from view, replaced by that of a much older pale-skinned man with a long white beard protruding from his plain khaki hooded robe. Blok and Element Lad recognised him immediately, and at the same time realised how he'd known about the Wellbeing Squad. This also became apparent to the others in the room as he delivered his message in a stately baritone. "Greetings, Wellbeing Squad, from the Seat of the High Seer of Naltor. I wish to congratulate you on your new endeavour, and confirm that my schedule has been cleared for us to meet in three standard days from now. Specific date and time coordinates have been beamed along with this verbal message...in the past, I would perhaps have sent this message to Nura Nal but we all must adapt to new circumstances and I have every confidence that you youngsters will be able to help Naltor with great courage and skill in its time of need."

"That was Beren Kah..?" Light Lad raised his eyebrows. "No offence, but...I didn't expect the planetary leader of a super science world like Naltor to be so...wizardy..?"

"Naltor gave us Dream Girl, but let us not forget that at one time it also gave us the White Witch," Tellus remarked thoughtfully. "The longer I spend away from Great Mother Ocean, the more I learn that the sentients of the United Planets come in many variations, Light Lad."

"True," Element Lad agreed, "And Naltor exemplifies that as well as any planet...at any rate, team; it seems like we've found our first mission!"

**********

EARTH
Oceania, Earthgov's Refugee Orientation Camp

ROLL CALL
Key Kid aka Miqui Ver: Legion Academy student; ability to bypass any man-made lock or barrier

The Cavalry
Antennae Lad aka Khfeurb Chee Bez: can broadcast radio transmissions from different spatiotemporal loci
Bouncing Boy aka Charles Foster Taine: super-bouncing
Polecat aka Dafe Meron: odor generation
Porcupine Pete aka Peter Dursin: projectile quills
Rainbow Girl aka Dori Aandraison: rainbow powers
Una aka Luornu Durgo Taine: forcefield generation

When their aircraft descended over the artificial chain of islands named Oceania, Key Kid's initial reaction had been one of wide-eyed awe. Like some large-scale representation of a molecule, dozens of articifial hexagonal islands stretched out across Earth's Pacific Ocean joined by impossibly long transit tubes. It was a truly epic feat of engineering, seeming even more so when there was nothing else but miles of deep blue water all around the islands.

It was only when Polecat explained the history behind the artificial network of countrystates that Key Kid realised the true tragedy behind this amazing feat of science. Dafe Meron explained soberly that naturally formed islands had once populated this area of the ocean until the dual burdens of environmental damage and warfare took their toll. Australia, New Zealand, Luthor Island and Easter Island were some of the few places to have survived intact, but many other countries existed nowhere outside of history holos anymore. Oceania was Earthgov's solution to the displacement of untold millions of refugees from these former island countries.

In fitting synchronicity, the Oceania Refugee Orientation Camp served as a temporary home, education and acclimation centre for non-Terran refugees who found themselves on Earth. Some of these refugees hailed from war-torn worlds, some were cultural outcasts from their home planets; a depressing number of them had lived happy lives on Earth until Earth-Man stoked the flames of xenophobia which led to these aliens being treated like criminals just for wanting to build a better life for themselves and their families. This very facility had in fact not so long ago been more of a jail and deportation centre than anything else. It was only after the Legion of Superheroes defeated Earth-Man's Judgement League and revealed the presence of the Dominion behind the rise in Terran xenophobia that clearer minds had prevailed on Earth. Where this place had once represented the worst of humanity's prejudices, it now served as a place of hope for those who sorely needed it.

Once the Cavalry had landed their vehicle and registered their presence with the local authorities, they made their way on foot to their final destination. Key Kid had to admit to himself, when he heard they were coming to a refugee camp he'd pictured somewhere grey and despairing; this place was like an oversized university campus though, with neatly maintained parks and white-walled buildings that stood anywhere from three to ten stories high. The refugees who lived and worked here roamed freely, with the mostly robotic security detail so subtly present that it was easy to forget there even was a security presence here. Sentients everywhere seemed to recognise the Cavalry members, and gave them a nod and a smile as they walked past or in some cases even exchanged greetings with some of them.

"You guys sure are popular here, Bouncing Boy!" Key Kid remarked as a small girl with pink skin and large multi-faceted eyes shyly waved at Rainbow Girl from behind her mother's leg.

"Lu and I are nearly as new to all this as you are actually," Chuck Taine clarified. "It's the others who really earned all this goodwill."

"Oh please," Rainbow Girl ribbed Bouncing Boy. "I'm fairly confident you two have done slightly enough as Legionnaires to be as beloved as a bunch of ex-Substitute Heroes."

"When these people really needed heroes though, it was you ex-Substitute Heroes who stood up," Una replied. "People don't forget who was there for them in their time of need, Dori."

"I think maybe I'm missing something..?" Key Kid pondered, clearly mystified.

"Back when Earth-Man was on the loose," Antennae Lad explained, "Before we became the Cavalry....the Legion of Superheroes had been banned from Earth and Earth-Man destroyed the Legion of Substitute Heroes' base and thought that would take care of us, but we couldn't just sit on our hands and watch people being hurt all around us. So we did what we could and helped who we could until the Legion of Superheroes were able to finally beat the Judgement League and expose the Dominion."

"You're underplaying your part in all of that, Chee," Bouncing Boy added. "The Legion needed all the help we could get in the end, and the Subs came to our rescue just like they always had."

"What I don't get," Key Kid sourly changed topic, "Is why I'm meant to be all chummy with that Diskhead Enigma Lass...I mean you guys know how bad the Dominators are, you had to fight them on this planet too!"

Some of the Cavalry exchanged perturbed glances with one another, but it was Bouncing Boy who was the first to find his voice. "Key Kid...Miqui...the Dominion as a political force was an enemy of the United Planets, that's true. But individual Dominators aren't evil because of the actions of their former government."

"And we won't be using derogatory terms like that again." Una gave Miqui a cold stare that easily matched anything he'd seen from Saturn Girl. "Especially not here of all places, Key Kid. These sentients have experienced enough discrimination, they don't need to hear more of the same from us. Are we clear?"

Key Kid gulped and found himself unable to meet Luornu's gaze for more than a very uncomfortable moment.

"...Yes, Ma'am."

Though they'd had a less than spectacular start to their mission of mercy, the Cavalry and Key Kid both slipped into a more relaxed cooperative spirit as the day wore on. Bouncing Boy, Antennae Lad and Rainbow Girl entertained dozens of alien children with their quirky abilities and gave grateful parents some rare time to themselves; Dori had been practicing control of her weird multiversal rainbow powers, and while she was far from being able to choose from her multitude of abilities at will she found that with an hour of focused meditation she could generally hone in on whatever ability most suited her need at that time...or as Key Kid described it, she was "like a not as good Variable Lad (no offence)". Today, Rainbow Girl had desired a form capable of assisting as many people at once, and she found herself able to split into seven independent light forms which of course were every color of the rainbow. She was as immaterial as light but she was also as fast as light. With such a small team helping so many people, it was an ability that came in handy.

Porcupine Pete, Una, Polecat and Key Kid were all more useful for their ability to carry and distribute grocery packages to the waiting families than they were for any powers they possessed right now, but Miqui was surprisingly okay with that. Back at the Academy he always felt like he had so much to prove; he'd been in the Heroes of Lallor, but that meant nothing when every other student at the Legion Academy outclassed him by light years power-wise. Here with the Cavalry, carrying containers of food and personal hygiene products to families in need, his power made him no more or less effective than anyone else around him.

Now that he was here on Earth, Miqui also understood why that Durlan counsellor had recommended Key Kid spend some time with the Cavalry. Miqui figured it wasn't an accident that almost as soon as he got here they'd brought him to a place so full of alien life. Obviously this was supposed to open Miqui's eyes to the fact that all sentients were equal, that he couldn't judge a Khund or a Psion because their people had generally had friction with the United Planets. Nobody else seemed to get it though....Key Kid didn't hate all aliens, he only hated Dominators. It was in their name for sprock's sake, the only thing they cared about was dominating everyone else around them and Miqui would never forgive or forget that. All of that aside though...he had to admit he was enjoying himself here today.

Quite out of nowhere, a couple of explosions sounded from blocks away and panicked screams soon followed. The security forces became so much more overt all of a sudden as a handful of droids zipped off to investigate, and the gathered heroes all exchanged concerned glances. Bouncing Boy opened his mouth to utter a command, but Rainbow Girl interrupted him while keeping her tone light for the many children gathered around them. "Indigo's already on it, Chuck," a yellow Dori Aandraison said cheerily, "Maybe we should get these little knee-highs indoors somewhere though, huh?"

"Good thinking, Rainbow Girl. I--"

"Cavalry, look out!!" This too was Dori's voice, though it didn't come from the yellow woman who'd just spoken. The rest of the team were a little discombobulated until the indigo Rainbow Girl called out again from high overhead. "We couldn't stop her, get out of here!!"

A rotund woman with her blonde hair braided into two tight buns on each side of her head was hurtling through the sky above like some kind of human cannonball. She passed right through two of the security droids in her flight path, both of the automatons exploding at her touch. The blonde woman slammed into a four storey building and another explosion sounded forth, this one raining debris down onto the crowd of hundreds who'd gathered in this open plaza for their care packages.

"Chuck! Do you see?!" Una shouted as she flung her hands up at the crumbling edifice; using the forcefield that Brainiac 5 gave her would never come as naturally to Luornu as her old duplication powers, but she'd practiced enough that it was almost second nature by now. The forcefield prevented rubble from crushing the many innocent refugees below, and other copies of Rainbow Girl worked alongside her teammates to try and shepherd the people away to safety in as orderly a manner as possible.

"I see," Bouncing Boy frowned as the woman careened off of the building and down toward the crowd. "She's not flying, she's bouncing...and she's bouncing straight at us!" Without giving a thought to his own safety, Bouncing Boy zoomed straight at the leather-clad blonde woman in his own inflated form. The two slammed into each other, and yet another explosion sent Bouncing Boy veering off at an acute angle where he clipped the roof of a second building and soon ricocheted out of sight.

Bouncing Boy had done what he'd set out to do though; their collision sent the blonde woman hurtling away from the panicked crowd and into another building, this time smashing through a window and coming to a chaotic halt indoors.

"Who is this nutty lady??" Key Kid hollered at anyone who would answer. "One of the refugees..?"

"Hardly!" The blonde woman blew out the wall around the window through which she'd crashed, and now that she was standing still for a moment the gathered heroes could swear she was almost glowing with incandescent light. "You fools may call me Bouncing Betty...I am seeing my last days of this life, and I intend on using that time to slay this subhuman filth! Do not stand in my way, aliens!"

A blue version of Rainbow Girl hovered near Una. "Luornu, can you--"

"I doubt very much she could bust through my forcefield," the woman called Una assessed the situation, "But I can't spare one for her, Dori. It's taking everything I can to keep these people safe from Betty's collateral damage! And I'm worried about Chuck, he should have bounced back by now--"

"--I'm sure he's fine, but Orange has gone to check on him."

"We need to stop this woman before she really hurts somebody!" Antennae Lad exclaimed.

"We need to get these people to safety," Polecat rejoined. "Most of us are no match for a bouncing explosion woman!"

"Most of us isn't all of us," Porcupine Pete hovered just above the crowd, asserting himself without really even meaning to. "Look at her, I don't think she has the control of her power that Bouncing Boy does; we can use that. Dori, I need a couple of your selves to find the safest place here and something she can't bounce out of like...like I don't know what, maybe an anti-grav training room or something?"

"I think I've found something more low-tech, but it should do the job!" A beam of green light zigzagged through the buildings to coalesce into an emerald hued Rainbow Girl. "Polecat, you might come in handy; can you follow me? How are we gonna get her to follow us though?"

"Leave that to me," the homely Porcupine Pete gave his friends a lopsided smile. "Una, you just focus on keeping these poor folks out of danger if you can please?"

"You can rely on me," Luornu nodded. Though part of her was concerned about her husband, she knew that wherever he'd ended up, Chuck was more likely just a little dazed rather than hurt...more in the front of her mind was a pleasant sense of surprise that Porcupine Pete of all people seemed to have developed into something of a real life superhero while everyone else was looking the other way. The Cavalry were certainly an odd bunch, but the more time she spent with this team the more she'd come to see that they were a brave and resourceful bunch too.

Porcupine Pete could see that Bouncing Betty was getting ready to leap from her vantage point again, and he timed his own flight perfectly. As the corpulent woman launched herself at a crowd of screaming sentients below, Pete darted beneath her and shot an armful of quills at her. Just as Bouncing Boy had been able to redirect her trajectory before, Pete's assault caused another more minor explosive outburst and flung her back away from the crowd and bounding across a couple of flat rooftops like a pebble skimming across water. More importantly, some of the quills had pierced her like a pin-cushion, and the volatile woman turned her attention from the other aliens to Pete personally.

"You can fly!" Bouncing Betty railed as she charged straight at Pete and found herself bouncing astray once more thanks to another volley of quills. "Why do you not flee while you can, alien? Are there lives worth your own?"

"You know, I actually remember you now!" Pete swung one leg out as though he were doing a sidekick, and another rain of razor-sharp projectiles came down on Betty. "You were with the Judgement League, right? Here's the thing, Betty....I know I'm no Dirk Morgna in the looks department but I'm human too...and some of us don't see aliens as being inferior to the rest of us. Some of us are willing to stand up and fight xenophobic bullies like you."

Bouncing Betty growled an unintelligible but no doubt very rude response, and suitably enraged she gave chase to Porcupine Pete while he followed Rainbow Girl's green form through the Orientation Camp.

Watching half of the Cavalry rush off through the camp, Key Kid wished that he could figure out a way his power could be useful. Rainbow Girl's light forms were darting this way and that as they tried to find the safest place to ferry the refugees, Una's forcefields were keeping everyone safe...a flash of red made him flinch, and he saw yet another of Dori Aandraison's seven selves floating before him.

"Key Kid, could you come with me please? I've found an underground bunker, I think it's meant to be used in case of natural disasters."

"Sure, I get it." Key Kid's shoulders slumped. "My power's useless in combat, I suppose I'd better not get in anybody's way, huh?"

"What?" Dori was taken aback. "Miqui, no...we need you. With all the chaos Bouncing Betty's caused, we haven't been able to find anyone with the clearance to gain entry! We're gonna need your power to get all these people somewhere they'll be safe!"

"Oh..." Miqui Ver looked over the faces of sentients from more worlds than he recognised, each of them gazing expectantly at him and Rainbow Girl's red form. "Oh! Yeah, yeah of course...let's go!" With new purpose, he followed the intangible heroine while Antennae Lad and some of Dori's other selves guided the crowd to follow them.

...Meanwhile, Porcupine Pete had successfully led Bouncing Betty on a merry chase across the Earthgov Refugee Orientation Camp. A quick glance into the expansive skylight of the building that Polecat had run into gave Pete some idea just why he'd been instructed to lead Betty here...Pete had run through an awful lot of quills getting this far though, and he was down to a half scalp full and the odd spiny quill poking out of each cheek.

Bouncing Betty, in her less than graceful way, had come to a stop by shattering a massive air vent which emerged from the building's rooftop. She stalked across the roof toward Pete now, noticeably dripping sweat. At First Pete had assumed that she was sweating from simple exertion; she didn't look like a woman for whom regular exercise was a priority. But the closer she came to him, the more it seemed that she really was glowing, and brighter than before.

"Betty, are you...okay?" Pete asked, strangely a little concerned for the villain. "You said something before about seeing your last days, are you sick or something..?"

"It is my power," she explained through gritted teeth. "It would have claimed my life much sooner if I had never come to this time, but even 31st Century science is not magic...my days are numbered, porcupine fellow...but before this energy swallows me whole with its unholy appetite for destruction, I will at least take you with me!"

She launched herself at Porcupine Pete one final time, and Pete dived across the rooftop to evade her. At the same time, Bouncing Boy's perfectly spherical form descended at just the right moment to slam Betty down through the skylight of the building. Once again, explosive force sent Chuck Taine veering off at great speed as soon as he made contact with his less skilled counterpart, but this time he was prepared for it and his flight ring slowed him down where his own power would have had him ricocheting wildly around the camp for a while.

Bouncing Boy and Porcupine Pete heard a splash from somewhere inside the building, and as they approached to take a closer look they were suddenly confronted by Rainbow Girl's green form. "Oh, boys...I'd stand downwind if I were you. Polecat's had a good three or four minutes to really unleash in there...it's not like I can smell anything in this form but you two..." Pete and Chuck took the hint and wisely decided to stand a respectable distance away from the broken skylight.

Three stories below them, Polecat stood beaming beside the Olympic-sized swimming pool that Rainbow Girl had located earlier when looking for somewhere to hold Bouncing Betty. The villain herself bobbed helplessly in the middle of the pool, with nothing to bounce against and the worst odor she could ever have imagined taking away any will she had to fight another moment.

"And that, Madam..." Polecat boasted proudly while Bouncing Betty retched in the centre of the pool, "....is the stench of victory!"

**********

Countless miles away, an enormous grey-skinned man sat hunched down so that his head didn't brush against the ceiling of this cheap motel room he found himself in. One woman sat on a bed, tiny arcs of electricity dancing between her outstretched fingers. Another woman stood facing a featureless wall, her arms folded across her humble breasts as she watched events unfold on Oceania using senses far beyond those anyone else on this planet could claim.

The standing woman muttered a frustrated sigh. "I told Betty she should have bided her time...if she was going to throw herself into one last suicide mission, it might as well have been something a little more important than just trying to kill some stupid alien queue jumpers!"

"Trying to kill?" the other woman repeated with a questioning inflection. "So she didn't even actually kill any of them after going off on her own like that? What a waste of sprocking energy!"

"Maybe..." the first woman replied thoughtfully. Every exposed surface of the standing woman's skin was covered in eyes of different colors, each one blinking at its own rate. One of those eyes now focused on a different part of the Earthgov Refugee Orientation Camp, an underground bunker where a teenage Lalloran boy stood arms wide before two massive vault doors that only his power could have opened.

"....Then again, Bouncing Betty might have just led the Judgement League to exactly the snot-nosed little alien punk we need to get back on top again..."

**********

yay, more!

ah, Flare! always found her an interesting character.

I love how Shelli is just, eh, Flare will be fine. (and that lucky would-be victim!)

memory foam!

love the Wellbeing Squad getting to planning!

oh yeah, Jan is the natural leader for this quartet

love that Trava's selves have different personalities too!

Naltor! nice hook there!

Refugee Orientation camp in Oceania! A reference to modern day Australia and Nauru?

oh, that's said. replacing many of those Pacific Islands. Luthor Island! glad Easter Island made it... and these refugees came from those lost islands! nice references to Earth-Man's time, and glad that the refugee center is now one of hope.

also realy glad that the refugees live in good conditions! definitely a hopeful future the best kind of future

Chuck and Lu make a good pairing. Chuck as the more lenient one, Lu as the sterner one. and they handled it amazingly, with Lu putting her foot down on the slurs, while giving Key Kid some grace re his issues.

love your solution for Rainbow Girl's multivariable power sets, and that all still have to do with the rainbow and light!

also tickled pink that Dori's powerset in your story, is basically my Invisible Brainiac character's powerset (splitting into seven beings, named by the colors of the rainbow!)

hah! of course, Bouncing Betty! she's just the type of racist who would attack a refugee center, and explains her recent bio

is Betty dying? last days of this life?

go Pete! like seeing Pete stepping up!

awesome of Pete to not only show tactics and leadership, but enough power control to steer Betty around!

ah Miqui, so young. as soon as Dori-Red spoke, I knew what she meant!

love how Chuck is better at bouncing than Betty! and nice reappearance, just the right time

hah! love Polecat stenching up the place!

ooh nice hook there. is Eyeful Ethel the one standing? is Tusker the gigantic one? now who is the electric lady?

Thanks for the R&R, IB!

I always thought Flare and Caress had promise, I wish they had appeared outside of that one Fatal Five story back in the day!

The Refugee Orientation Camp was in fact inspired by Australia's Pacific Solution, our treatment of refugees is one of the really shameful things we have done in Australia and I thought it'd be kind of nice to show that attitudes like that don't have longevity in the Legion's future (on a side note, there is a book called Dark Victory by David Marr which talks about the Pacific Solution and how it came about, and it is really thoroughly researched and worth reading...but man it really disgusted me and made me mad when I read it!)

Luthor Island is one of those things I made up on the spot because it sounded fun and I'll probably decide to do something with it in another ten years hahaha

How funny that Rainbow Girl stole your powers!! Great minds think alike I guess

You are pretty much on the mark with Ethel and Tusker, and there will most likely be another bio coming up soonish to cover the electric lady as well!

What a compliment to have the same idea as you, great minds

and yay for more Ethel, I always thought she was so underused in the Retroboot. A bit criminal that they didn't at least slip her into the crowd scenes in 3 Worlds either!

LEGION OF SUPERHEROES MOBILE BASE
Main meeting room

ROLL CALL
Blok: team leader; magically enhanced strength, invulnerability, speed, flight, stamina, wisdom and courage
Chlorophyll Kid aka Ral Benem: chlorokinesis
Color Kid aka Ulu Vakk: color manipulation
Crystal Kid aka Bobb Cohan: crystal construct creation
Diamond Damsel aka Iris Jacobs: living diamond
Firecrest aka Staq Mavlen: weredragon
Elastic Lad aka Jams-Ols 5: super-elongation
Gas Girl aka Tal Nahii: can transform into any gas
Infectious Lass aka Drura Sehpt: disease transmission and immunity
Invisible Kid II aka Jacques Foccart: invisibility
Lightning Lass aka Ayla Ranzz: electricity generation and manipulation
Matter-Eater Lad aka Tenzil Kem: can eat inorganic matter in all its forms
Mon-El aka Lar Gand: Daxamite physiology
Mwindaji: tracker infused with White Lantern energy
Mysa Marvel aka Mysa Nal: magically enhanced strength, invulnerability, speed, flight, stamina, wisdom and courage
Neon aka Zoe Saugin: infused with Green Lantern energy
Night Girl aka Lydda Jath Krinn: photosensitive super-strength
Phantom Girl aka Tinya Wazzo: intangibility
Polar Boy aka Brek Bannin: cryokinesis
Shadow Lass aka Tasmia Mallor: darkness generation
Sheranee Shah: enhanced physical characteristics, night vision, solar-fuelled starbolts, tactile language absorption, animal empathy
Shrinking Violet aka Salu Digby: shrinking
Sizzle aka Teela Spuunvll: energy conversion
Slug aka Kes Mtsto: inertron form and projectiles
Strut: electrochemical perceptions, insectoid physiology
Stone Boy aka Dag Wentim: ability to transmute to living stone
Sun Boy aka Dirk Morgna: heat and light generation
Supergirl II aka Laurel Kent: invulnerability
Timber Wolf aka Brin Londo: super-strength and super-agility
Transposition Lad aka Kappa Snarrk: teleportational transposition
Ultra Boy aka Jo Nah: deputy leader; ultra-energy which can be directed into any one of strength, speed, flight, invulnerability, flash vision, penetra-vision at a time

By the time every other available Legionnaire had settled themselves for Blok's hastily called emergency meeting, the stone giant himself was quite uncommonly late.

Blok heard snippets of speech all around him as he walked into the room, most of the team so engrossed in gossip and conversation that they didn't even register their leader having entered.

"--I'm pleased to see you've recovered so well from your injury, Crystal Kid! Our dear boy Tel visited you every day you were in that horrendously lit medlab, you know--"

"--wait, Tenzil...why are they called the Devil's Dozen if there were only six of them?--"

"--today's his mother's anniversary. Yes, it is awfully sad...I'm heading to Earth to join Rokk and his father later tonight, but I thought they might like some time to themselves--"

Ever patient, Blok took his time setting up the holographic feeds he was going to need for this meeting until the ambient noise level of the room had reduced enough that he realised he could call the team to attention without inconveniencing anyone.

"Legion?" The room soon grew quiet as they all turned their attention to the imposing gold-flecked man in their midst. "Thank you all for attending on such short notice, and I apologise for my own tardiness. I am afraid I had a last minute comms from Superwarden Tsaquin that I could not postpone."

"Superwarden Tsaquin?" One of Sizzle's eyebrows shot up. "As in Takron-Galtos Superwarden Tsaquin??"

"The very same," Blok nodded with a light creaking sound.

"Wow, that's..." Teela leaned back in her chair, her arms folded across her chest. "I only spoke to that guy twice the whole time I was with the Workforce...why the sprock would he be calling the Legion of Superheroes..?"

"Chief Cusimano was kind enough to introduce the two of us," Blok responded. At the mention of Gigi Cusimano's name, now Sun Boy's interest was also piqued. Dirk didn't say anything, but he was as curious as Teela beside him about what Blok was going to share with the team.

"I will come straight to the point," Blok continued. "We have reason to believe that the Emerald Emperor is active again, and until several minutes ago I thought that he was assembling a new Fatal Five; Garak of the Glow, Caress and Flare have all recently been reported vanishing in the same flash of emerald light that freed the Emperor from his incarceration. I asked Superwarden Tsaquin to notify me personally if any of his other prisoners vanished under similar circumstances, and he has just informed me that we can add Sub-Zero and Razorwire to that list."

Her bangles clinking together, Sheranee raised a hand. "I'm sure this makes me a bad Legionnaire, but I must confess...I don't know who most of those people are, Blok! Everybody has heard of the infamous Emerald Empress of course, but I've have never heard of an Emerald Emperor!"

"Slug knows who the Emerald Emperor is!" Sheranee's fellow new recruit Slug volunteered cheerily.

"...Of course Slug does," Sheranee smiled warmly at her gastropod teammate. "I should have turned to you for help immediately, my dear!"

"Don't worry about it, Sherry!" Transposition Lad joined in. "Me and Sluggo will give you the full run down on these creeps! Only..." The absurdly tall green hero counted on his fingers as he spoke. "There's too many for a Fatal Five...the Sinister Six?"

"Nuh-uh," Matter-Eater Lad shook his head vigorously. "Even the Emerald Eye of Ekron's no match for the Trademark Police!"

"More to the point," Shrinking Violet asked bluntly, "How do we know he's stopping at six?"

"That is precisely Chief Cusimano's concern," Blok answered. "...and my own. Legion, I would like us to investigate the locations where each of these villains were last seen and try to find out as much as we can that may be useful in finding and recovering them."

"That's a great idea," Chameleon Boy piped up. He and five other Legionnaires were currently assigned to a diplomatic mission on Earth's moon, but they'd joined the meeting by holographic link. "We should be finished here in another half a day, we'll come straight back to base to help out."

Also joining the meeting remotely were the newly minted Wellbeing Squad who were currently en route to Naltor. "Blok, we can turn back right now if you need us," Element Lad added. "I'm sure the High Seer will understand--"

"That will not be necessary, Element Lad," Blok interrupted. "There will always be activity requiring the Legion's attention, but we have more than enough members available to deal with that without interfering with your own work...I appreciate the offer, as I do yours, Chameleon Boy. But please, feel free to extend your full attention to your current tasks for as long as that may take."

From where she was sitting, Diamond Damsel couldn't help but notice a tight mask of tension cross Mysa Marvel's face as Blok spoke to Element Lad specifically; Iris stored that information away to ask Blok about it later on. Diamond Damsel heard her own name mentioned and realised suddenly that Blok had been assigning missions out to everyone while she was in her own head. Feeling fortunate that diamond couldn't blush, she surreptitiously leaned on her hand in such a way that it hid her face from the room and looked down at the mission rosters on her desktop holoscreen...Ultra Boy leading Mon-El, Color Kid and Supergirl to investigate Flare's disappearance on his homeworld Rimbor made sense, and Diamond Damsel could see that she'd been assigned to look into the Emerald Emperor's disappearance along with Mwindaji, Timber Wolf and Elastic Lad; she spared a bemused glance at Timber Wolf, who she had no doubt was already fantasising about murdering Elastic Lad en route to Mars...

"...Uhh, Blok?" This was Neon, who stood with one hand resting on her hip. "You've got me going to Takron-Galtos with Sizzle, Sun Boy and Gas Girl...I don't think I'm the Workforce's favourite person after the last time we were there*; no offence, Sizzle."

"Oh, no offence taken at all," Sizzle responded with a cheeky cheer. "Abyss and Twine hate you, but that's no big deal; they pretty much hate everyone. Everybody else got over being annoyed with you after you helped us fight those Qwardians though."

"If you say so," Zoe sat back down half-heartedly.

"It'll be fine, Neon." Sun Boy flashed her a winning smile. "You ladies will have the Morgna charm on your side anyway, you can't go wrong with that!" Sizzle openly rolled her eyes and Gas Girl stifled a giggle.

The rest of the meeting proceeded without incident, and as Blok watched his team walk out afterwards he reminded himself that they were all exceptional people and they would no doubt stop whatever the Emerald Emperor was planning before he got very far with it. Still, he couldn't help but keep coming back to Shrinking Violet's words...

...How do we know he's stopping at six?

**********

LUNA
Silver City, Tereshkova House main ballroom

ROLL CALL
Dogstar aka Rufus Remulus: Daxamite-level flight, strength, speed, durability, stamina, senses; solar vision
Truth Girl aka Oliv Hollowai: truth sense, wields the Golden Perfect

Standing just far enough backstage that they were out of sight of the audience which had paid 500 creds or more for their seats here tonight, two of the newest Legionnaires watched over the politician they'd been assigned to protect. Jerron Spiffany was one of two citizens in the running to become Luna's President for the next three years, and he was openly a champion of the wealthy elite that his family name had long been associated with. He'd run on a platform of closer relations Earthgov and tax breaks for the wealthy, two subjects he spoke about with his trademark charisma-bordering-on-smugness here at the most exclusive venue in Luna's capital city.

Only one of the two new Legionnaires had hearing so powerfully enhanced that he could carry on a conversation with Kid Computo via his flight ring and still focus on listening for any potential threats to Spiffany within his immediate vicinity, and Dogstar listened politely while Danielle Foccart finished giving him a mission update from her own squad on the other side of the city. "--Honestly, it was kind of anti-climactic," Kid Computo finished describing her squad's activities. "Whoever thought it would be a good idea to send a drone squadron to take Mindi Queen out of the presidential race obviously didn't count on me being here...I kinda feel bad for Comet Queen and Dragonmage having nothing to do once I just switched the lot of those drones off! Maybe I should send Xao and Grava round to keep you guys company. After all, Marte Allon told us that both of the presidential candidates received those death threats that got the Legion invited here!"

"Thank you for the offer, but we don't know if that will be the extent of trouble Dr Queen faces tonight; best to keep all three of you with her until we are certain that the danger is over."

"Yeah, good point," Danielle agreed. "Maybe I'll scan their memory banks while we're here, see if I can find out where these bad boys came from!"

"A commendable plan," Dogstar replied. "Thank you for the update, Kid Computo; I'll be sure to pass it on to Chameleon Boy."

Once Truth Girl noticed that Dogstar's conversation with Kid Computo had ended, she nodded toward Spiffany. "He's amazing," she admitted with open admiration. "I mean...he's got that perfectly punchable face along with the silver tongue down pat, don't you think?"

"Silver tongue?" Dogstar enquired, his cocked head giving him an almost puppy-like appearance that couldn't help but make Truth Girl smile.

"Sorry," Oliv chuckled. "It's a phrase from Earth...it means someone's kind of charming, a persuasive speaker."

"I believe I understand," Dogstar replied, "On my homeworld Dalma, we have a similar expression, we--" The gently glowing hero's ears pricked up and with lightning speed he turned his attention to Jerron Spiffany. It took Truth Girl barely a second to follow his lead, but in that time their charge had somehow fallen halfway through the stage and a wiry orange-skinned man in white leather pants and a matching harness had leaped onto the stage.

At first glance, the strange man seemed almost Durlan to Dogstar and Truth Girl, but Jerron Spiffany instantly recognised who he truly was. "Holdur--!" the politician exclaimed, and then the orange assassin's three-fingered hands closed around his throat and Spiffany could only make pained choking sounds.

All of a sudden, Jerron Spiffany vanished into thin air and Holdur heard a different man's voice in his place. "I know holding on to people with a death grip is kind of your whole thing, Holdur...but you'll find it hard to do with someone who can change their shape at will!"

"Chameleon Boy--!" Holdur snarled. "Where--ah, there you are!" The assassin reached for a dragonfly flitting about around his calf, and even though Chameleon Boy had seen Holdur in action before he was still a little rattled by the man's great speed.

Fortunately, Dogstar was much faster; now that the Dalman hero had given Chameleon Boy the opportunity to free himself from Holdur's grip, he made his move. Dogstar was at Holdur's side as soon as the villain had even registered his presence, and Dogstar punched Holdur through a wall just as quickly. "I recall viewing your holofile," Dogstar announced as he floated along in Holdur's wake with his bright white cape billowing out behind him. "You have faced the legendary Superboy in combat, so I must assume that you are tougher than you appear. But I must also warn you, Holdur; I am not the inexperienced teen that Superboy no doubt was when you faced him."

"Then you'd know," a sultry female voice sounded from the ballroom floor, "Where Holdur goes, Quicksand is never far behind!" A woman scantily clad in pale yellow and dripping with golden jewellery gestured toward the stage, and the entire ceiling above it melted down like some surrealist painting come to life. Chameleon Boy resumed his normal form before the sinking material reached him but he wasn't fast enough to avoid being buried. Just as quickly as she'd liquidated the ceiling, Quicksand solidified it once more and Dogstar and Chameleon Boy were both trapped inside the malformed pillar that remained.

Truth Girl was almost entirely certain that this wouldn't hurt Dogstar, but she still felt a stab of sympathetic claustrophobia at the idea of him inside that mess...and she had no idea at all how long Cham could survive in there. When Reep Daggle had agreed to the presidential candidate's plan for Cham to take his place on Election Night while Spiffany himself was safely sequestered away elsewhere, Truth Girl didn't think it might lead to facing two metahuman assassins on her own...but here she was, and she would just have to do the best job she could. At least Chameleon Boy's long distance girlfriend Tranquility had been stationed in the crowd ready to use her empathic powers to evacuate the ballroom quickly if necessary; the place was already practically empty.

Propelled by her flight ring, Truth Girl charged straight into Quicksand and knocked her through a pile of chairs and tables. Standing over the dazed villainess, she removed her golden lasso from its place at her waist and held it taut between two fists. "Now...you're going to let my teammates out of there, and--"

The sound of sizzling plastic behind her made Truth Girl turn around, and she saw the twin beams of Dogstar's solar vision piercing their way through Quicksand's impromptu prison. More importantly, she also saw Holdur plummeting down toward her in an attempted ambush. Allowing her mystically ingrained combat instincts to take over, Truth Girl rolled to one side and came to a stop in a defensive stance while Holdur smashed into an upended table and Quicksand slowly climbed to her feet.

"Two against one hardly seems fair," Dogstar's voice sounded as he finished melting his way free of Quicksand's impromptu trap. "Let's see if I can help even the odds." He charged into Holdur once again before the villain had a chance to threaten Truth Girl, and this time the two of them hurtled through a wall together.

Left alone with Quicksand, a light bulb went off in Truth Girl's mind. She immediately took to the air, knowing that Quicksand's power would lose most of its efficiency if Oliv were able to simply outmanoeuvre any solid turned to liquid before it affected her.

"A lovely idea," Quicksand struck a pose and extended one arm in Truth Girl's direction, "But you Legionnaires all use those flight rings of yours to fly, yes? I'm sure my power will work on those as well as it does any other inanimate matter."

The villainess turned out to be right, and Oliv watched in helpless shock as the golden band melted down around her finger and dribbled away. With nothing to keep her aloft, Truth Girl crashed down through another tabletop; her Amazonium alloy armour protected her from injury, but by the time she got back up on her feet Quicksand had turned her power on the shattered table surrounding Truth Girl and the very floor she stood upon.

With no leverage and no flight ring, Truth Girl had no choice but to sink into the viscous mess. Wasting not another moment, she whirled her golden lasso overhead in a perfect loop and threw it toward Quicksand. Even thrown off-balance as she was, Truth Girl easily snared her target and then dragged Quicksand painfully across a ballroom floor strewn with broken furniture and glassware. Quicksand struggled at first, but couldn't escape the lasso's hold. She realised that she'd be trapped with Truth Girl in the pool of slag that Quicksand herself had created if she didn't act quickly, and so she allowed the treacly mess to resolidify again.

By the time the floor solidified around her again, Truth Girl had sunk in almost to her armpits. She and Quicksand were stuck in a weird tug of war, with Truth Girl straining to drag her foe within striking distance while Quicksand tried her best to pull away. "What is this thing made of?!" an exasperated Quicksand complained when she couldn't melt the Golden Perfect. "My power doesn't work on it at all!"

"Yeah, somehow I think the gods of antiquity trump a meta-jacked exotic dancer," Truth Girl sniped. "Now stop resisting and I promise I'll make this as painless as possible."

"I'm not scared of you," Quicksand shot back. "As soon as Holdur deals with that dog guy of yours, you won't last a nano against him."

Truth Girl's big round eyes narrowed as she frowned. Bound by the Golden Perfect, Quicksand had no choice but to tell the truth...it was concerning that she was so sure of her partner in crime's ability to stand up against Dogstar. While the statuesque Kenyan heroine wracked her brain for another way out of this mess, a very familiar dragonfly zoomed by Truth Girl's eyeline and landed by Quicksand. There was a pop of displaced air as Chameleon Boy once again took on his regular humanoid form, and before Quicksand could react he put her to sleep with a nerve pinch.

Truth Girl beamed with joy to see her teammate completely unharmed and free. "Thank you, Chameleon Boy! But how did you escape--?"

"I allowed Quicksand to bury me while I was in this form," Cham explained, "And then I switched back to my insect form as soon as I felt the mass solidify around me; at that size it was like being inside a cave, and when Dogstar melted his way out he left a path for me to follow. I had to take on an even smaller form to use the escape route he unwittingly provided, but it all worked out in the end!"

"Oh no, Dogstar!" Truth Girl remembered. "Quicksand was certain that Holdur could beat him, you'd better go make sure he's okay!"

"Thank you for your concern," the Dalman hero responded to Truth Girl as he came floating back through the hole in the wall he'd made earlier with an unconscious Holdur dangling from his grip. "This one put up a better fight than I'm accustomed to, but I was able to prevail in the end. If Chameleon Boy will be so kind as to watch over our captives I will have you free in a moment as well, Truth Girl."

Dogstar dumped Holdur unceremoniously by Quicksand's side, and almost immediately the two villains disappeared in a flash of emerald light.

"Well then..." Chameleon Boy said dryly, "...I suppose you won't be needing me to watch over them after all..!"

**********

EARTH
Metropolis, the United Planets Museum of the Superhero

ROLL CALL
Key Kid aka Miqui Ver: Legion Academy student; ability to bypass any man-made lock or barrier

In the museum that also served as the headquarters of the Cavalry, Key Kid had just finished packing his belongings when he remembered he had a call scheduled with Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl; this was his last night with the Cavalry before returning to the Legion Academy on Mars, and Miqui had to admit he wasn't looking forward to his week on Earth being over already. For one thing, even though working closely with interplanetary refugees here on Earth all week had made him realise he may have judged Enigma Lass too harshly for being a Dominator he still wasn't entirely won over to her side and couldn't bring himself to truly trust or accept her as a classmate. There was another aspect to his visit here which had taken him by surprise though; he wasn't a student here, he was treated like a peer. Sure, he was younger and less experienced than the rest of the Cavalry but they still appreciated his input and respected him more than he felt was the case at Legion Academy. Nobody made him sit out adventures here just because he couldn't corrode steel like Dragonwing or drain a gun's battery like Chemical Kid.

These thoughts were still very much in the forefront of Miqui Ver's mind when he called his teachers on his omnicom and was told the same thing that Garth and Imra had already told Enigma Lass and Sojurn. "You're kicking me out?!" Key Kid looked like he'd just been slapped.

"We're not kicking you out, Key Kid." This was Saturn Girl, always the first of his two teachers to respond with reason. "We're reclassifying the student body based on a range of factors. We'll still be continuing to teach at the Arqiia campus on Mars, and new staff will be joining our efforts to teach another group of students at the Montauk Point campus. You will still be a part of the Legion Academy, it will just be on Earth instead of Mars."

"And that might not be forever," Lightning Lad added. "We just feel like some of you kids might need a little more time, a little more experience--"

"I was in the Heroes of Lallor!" Key Kid cut him off.

"We appreciate that," Lightning Lad responded. "But Key Kid, come on...you have to admit, the Heroes of Lallor rarely faced the same level of threats that the Legion of Superheroes do...and you power is useful but--"

"But it's not destructive, right??" Miqui interrupted again, growing angry. "I can't flash fry someone so I'm useless, is that it??"

"Key Kid, you're not being fair," Saturn Girl spoke calmly. "We both value the contribution your power makes...and the Legion has always accepted those with limited powers. I helped to found the Legion, and my powers are completely ineffective against any opponent without an organic mind."

"Then this is just because I didn't kiss up to Enigma Lass, isn't it?" Key Kid took a new tactic. "You're just punishing me for not falling into line like everyone else did!"

"That's not what this is about, Key Kid." Lightning Lad's own tone now was beginning to grow terse.

"Actually, that is partially what this is about," Saturn Girl contradicted her husband. "Key Kid, one of the key values that the Legion uphold is the idea that everyone deserves to be recognised and celebrated for their individual accomplishments and not because of what they look like or where they come from. Frankly, you're not ready to embody that ideal and we think you would benefit from being placed in a larger group of students where you will become a champion of diversity through your greater exposure to it. And you're not being singled out here....we've already spoken to Sojurn and Enigma Lass, they're also being transferred to our Earth campus. This is not a punishment, we just believe that some of our students are more prepared for potential membership in the Legion of Superheroes than others. Lightning Lad and I will work with that group, and at the Montauk Point campus the Legion Academy will still help you become the best hero that you can be, even if that path doesn't necessarily lead to the Legion of Superheroes--"

"You can keep your help!" Key Kid's voice broke with emotion. "I don't need it and I don't need you!" He flung his omnicom across his bed and stormed out of the room. As he marched through the Cavalry's recreational area Porcupine Pete and Antennae Lad looked up from a game of Dungeons & Dragons, but Key Kid had already left the room before they could ask if he was okay. Miqui wiped angry tears from his eyes as he stomped on out into Weisinger Plaza and beyond; he had no idea where he was going, but his whole life felt like it was crashing down on him and he didn't want the Cavalry to see him like this. He turned a corner and marched straight into a blonde woman with a stylish short haircut and a blue and black bodysuit. "Oh my gawf!" Key Kid blurted. "I'm so sorry, that was so rude of me!"

"It's all good," the woman replied with an unsettling smile. "I can be mighty rude sometimes too."

Now that he'd had a chance to look at this stranger properly, Key Kid took a step back. "Huh...I'm not hitting on you or anything Ma'am, but has anyone ever told you that you look awfully like Lightning Lass?"

"How about that." The woman named White Lightning raised one hand in a deceptively dainty gesture, and electricity leaped forward from her palm to shock Key Kid unconscious.

"You can tell me all about it when you wake up, kid."

EDITOR'S NOTE:
* Neon is talking about this adventure she had on Takron-Galtos from before she actually joined the Legion of Superheroes

yay! more!

always a sucker for your team meeting scenes, raz. you pack a lot of characterization into them, and there's also often a nice twist or two

also find it hilarious how "real" your team are, with all the gossiping, and sometimes acting like kids or at least unruly colleagues

and using the gossip to move a lot of stuff along is brilliant! So like Strut to slip in "hey Bobb, Tel is making amends" LOL at the Devil's Dozen quip!

ooh bless Lydda, and a nice reference to that infamous firebombing story

so considerate of Blok!

love that Gigi is the Chief! she deserves it

yeah! i've been itching to see more Sub-Zero and Razorwire. also love how the Legion is being proactive here. and I always like how Legionnaires self-reference feeling bad about not knowing about this villain or that... if I were a Legionnaire, I'd definitely feel pressure to study up!

hah at Tenzil and the Trademark Police quip! I see what you did there with the Sinister Six quip

good of Vi, she's a sharp one!

also love Slug and T-Lad owning their geekiness!

good on Diamond Damsel for being observant. is Mysa annoyed because the Wellbeing Squad mission is on Naltor? I mean, ok that's part of it, but there must be more for sure. annoyed she's not going there?

loving the interpersonal dynamics you keep slipping in. that is a powerful team going to Rimbor (though I did have to remind myself that Supergirl is Laurel, not Kara). but still.

ah, I forgot why Neon made the Workforce so annoyed, so thanks for sharing the link! Always nice seeing more Workforce though. And I really dig having Sizzle and Neon together, both have that... that... what's the right word. that bite to them

yay! two of your newbies on a small mission. Dogstar and Truth Girl, cool!

a Spiffany! very inspired, raz! he sounds just like many of the wealthy we read about in the news...

ah of course! I should have expected Reep was there! and that shines a new light on Truth Girl's admiration - well done raz! I admit, I thought to myself "wasn't Cham also on Luna?" but you still surprised me a bit with Cham being Spiffany! well done!

yes, love you slipping Tranquility in too - I was just thinking about her the other day. I love all your original characters, but she does stand out to me for her cool concept and personality (but so do Strut, Truth Girl, Slug, T-Lad, etc....)

ooh, kudos for making Quicksand a genuine threat. her power by itself is already scary, but she has smarts to back it up

good of Oliv to do so well too though! amazing fight scene!

I love how the Golden Perfect added a bit of suspense to this. and uh oh. Quicksand and Holdur didn't really have any Fatal Five connection, so Blok/Gigi/Vi had excellent instincts...

yikes! that is quite a bombshell here, with the Academy being split into two. Have to say, Garth could be handling the call with Miqui better. Miqui has a point that he saw real action in the Heroes of Lallor...

I do think Imra handled it a bit better, by acknowledging Miqui's racism towards Enigma Lass as a factor. still, I cringed a bit re the "limited powers" comment earlier. ah well... I bet Imra and Garth were also a bit rattled.

oh crap, White Lightning ...

well, way to up the ante!

I'm really drawn to your Key Kid subplot raz, and hope it ends happily! also, kudos for your great development of it. One week on Earth is definitely not going to fix everything...

super eager to see more!!!

Hey Raz, funally have a spare hour to catch up wih your fic.

Nice set up on Rimbor, very Noir with the rain and unsafe streets. I really liked Shelli the bouncer, though Flare is the surprise here - another villain transported off to who knows were by who knows who to do some no doubt nefarious deed - loving how you are building this up.

Interesting that Naltor wants the Wellbeing Squad - that's unexpected, though a planet of precogs is such an outrageous concept it's bound to be fun having an adventure there. Looking forward to seein what you have in store for the team when they get there.

Refugee Orientation camp in Oceania - As IB mentions, is this a reference to modern day Australia and Nauru? At least it doesn't appear as bleak as the UK's horrific containment units for refugees. And it's a shame that Earth Man's xenophobia is still affecting so many. The Subs being the refugees heroes is really heart warming, the underdog heroes being the superatars for the sociatal underdogs - very nicely thought out there Raz! Also like how majority of the team are carrying groceries to help out - such an everyday, mundane task but it could make all the difference to someone in a vulnerable spot. Nice that Miqui is smart enough to realise why he's been placed with the Cavalry on this task, he's not stupid so hopefully he can learn and open his mind a little to accept Enigma Lass. I'd forgotten that your Lu was Una with force fields and not Duplicate Damsel with a dozen other selves. Bouncing Betty - fantastic! I love the idea of a humanbouncing bomb, it's such a wonderful idea that could only be carried off in a comic. Also, really like Pete stepping up and taking charge of the situation while Lu has to keep where she is to protect the civilians - Porcupine Pete is one of those almost, nearly prime time characters that always seems to miss out of the top spot, so I heartly approve of you giving him the gumption to get on top of it. Dori boosting Miqui's confidence by reminding him how useful he can be was sweet - I can see Key Kid becoming a new member of the Cavalry after this. I totally love Betty's take down, totally lo-tech and subversive - ha, the stench of victory, indeed!

Ah, the Judgement League are making a comeback - that's a serious concern, and I wonder what they want Key Kid for and also if it's connected to the mysterious emerald teleporting of other villains.

Fabbo! Really enjoyed this section Raz, well done with your continuing character growth of the Subs.

Will get onto the next section soon as I'm eager for more, more and more!

Back for more - yay! Am on a lunch break so this may be rushed.

Loving your teams chatting - Devil's Dozen indeed haha. Rokk's mother's death being remembered, nice. And Blok's patience as the team settles down, always a good move. Tsaquin? The warden with the eyestalk that ave Ayla the icks? Slug and TB's fan boy knowledge of all the team's old enemies is cute. The trademark police, haha! Chief Cusimano - great to see she's gotten that far. Wonder what's bunching Mysa's knickers about the team going to Naltor? Ultra Boy and Mon El on the same team - that's a lot of muscle! Abyss and Twine sound like a couple of my work colleagues, hahaha!

Yay, Dogstar! Yay! Oh, and Truth Girl... haha. Nice that you're giving two of your newbies the spotlight. So, the presidential election includes a Spiffany, well they've bought the win already, haven't they? "perfectly punchable face along with the silver tongue" sounds like the majority of politicians really. Holdur and Quicksand - ah, I was planning on using them fairly soon, oh well, there is a limited amount of decent villains to bring into our fics - we keep overlapping, don't we? Great minds, and all that.

Nice that you have included Tranquility, as she's one of my favourite of your background characters. Quicksand melting the flight ring was pretty specific, great to see you thinking of how she could use her abilities rather than jus creating ponds underfoot or dripping a ceiling onto people. I love Truth Girl's attitude " I think the gods of antiquity trump a meta-jacked exotic dancer" haha great line! Clever of Reep to escape like that, being a shape changer would be so handy! And of course Dogstar would beat Holdur - he's such a good boy And the emerald flash takes the two villains away - that's quite a group that appears to be gathered. Am looking forward to seeing what you are planning here.

Ah, Key Kid, you've given him a lot of focus lately and this is where it pays off - The splitting of the Academy will lead to some unhappiness, though it's understandable. It's good that the Legion still have Montauk Point, I assumed it had been shut down by Earth Man, so good to know it's still going. Miqui's a stroppy git, isn't he - a fairly typical teenager then White Lightning strikes and poor Key Kid is taken. It's nice that the Judgement League aren't using those emerald teleports, so there are two potential groups out there - you obviously have lots planned.

That was fun Raz, thanks, and I'm eager to see where you are taking these plots and I'm here for more, more and more!

Thanks for the R & R, folks!

glad y'all like the general chatter/gossip in the team meeting - with the team as big as it now, it is a sneaky way to make sure more of the team are getting some attention even if they're not in the main spotlight this time around (and good work picking up on the references to the firebombing story and Warden Eyestalk Guy!)

You won't have to wait long to find out what's got Mysa's knickers in a knot, I have a fun scene planned out that should shed some more light on that in the very next instalment!

Sorry for getting in before you with Holdur and Quicksand, Harbi! I say just use them anyway, they are too fun not be seen more often! Also I really raided the Legion Who's Who for the next couple of instalments, so there are gonna be some more obscure faces popping up soon as well!

IB: I am glad Cham being sneaky can still be a proper surprise sometimes...I always like it in the comics when they use his powers more cleverly than just growing a bunch of giant grabby tentacles to grab people in combat or whatever...and in related news, I think Tranquility will have a nice contribution at some point in the next couple of instalments as well!

Harbi - I have a soft spot for Porcupine Pete! I always thought it wouldn't take a lot to make him suitable for the Legion and I find it really endearing that he doesn't have the typical chiselled superhero features. If he had first appeared in the 90s, he'd probably be the team's Wolverine by now with a suitably grim name change ;p

I also agree that Garth and Imra could have handled the conversation with Key Kid better - they both have good intentions, but they're used to dealing with peers rather than students so I don't mind them getting it wrong every now and then. There are some exciting developments for the Academy in general coming up, but Key Kid will have his luck cut out for him surviving this storyline to get to see any of them!

MARS
Argentea, McCauleyCorp Industrial Storage Site 7-B

Samantha Guterres had led a very strange life for someone as young as she was.

In just over two decades of existence, she'd dragged herself up from the poverty of early 22nd Century Brazil to serve in the Armeo de Ameriko as one of thousands of nameless grunts in their endless wars against North American forces. Samantha had proven herself a natural gymnast once she had the resources to develop that skill, and she was also a good fighter. She was also gifted intellectually, and it didn't take long before her superior officers realised her talents were too valuable to waste on a radioactive battlefield somewhere trading fire with normal men and women.

Samantha entered the AdA's elite UltraSoldera program where she was given opportunities to expand her engineering, weapons design and electrical systems knowledge far beyond most of her peers. With the extraordinary budget she was given, she created what was going to be known as the Black Dancer armour to lead her team and her people to victory....and then one moonlit night, a strange man from the future turned her world upside-down when he told Samantha that a Chemo-bomb was going to kill her and everyone else within fifty miles in the next half hour.

The metahuman who called himself Earth-Man brought Samantha Guterres a thousand years forward to a gleaming utopia that surpassed all of the young woman's expectations about what the world could be, and she joined his Judgement League in gratitude. As good a soldier as Samantha Guterres might be however, she mostly paid lip service to Earth-Man's xenophobic ideals. When the Judgement League disbanded, Samantha drifted off-world to explore this amazing future she'd been blessed to experience, and she soon found herself in the employ of one of the true corporate powers of the 31st Century; McCauleyCorp.

So it was that the sleek armoured form of Black Dancer now dived almost silently through the night sky above the South Pole of Mars with sheets of snow occasionally giving away her form when the wind changed direction around her. The alarm which summoned Black Dancer here had cut out while she was still blocks away, but busted and jittering security droids outside a broken window told her exactly where she needed to be.

Her infrared display told her there was only one person in the room on the other side of that window; she didn't know if that person was a thief, an industrial saboteur, or just another one of the snot-nosed homeless punks she'd been sent to evict from here months ago*, but medical staff could figure that out in hospital tomorrow. Aiming for the broken window so as to avoid any more damage to the building itself, Black Dancer crashed on through the shards of glass still hanging in the windowframe and commanded billowing clouds of black smoke to fill the room from ports in her boots while she floated in place.

"I'm sorry," she couldn't help but laugh at the sight before her. "Who are you supposed to be?"

A stocky man in a blue bodysuit with magenta boots, gloves and a short matching skirt jumped backwards at Black Dancer's sudden entrance. He had a wide white belt with V straps that crossed over his shoulders, and a matching white V on his headgear. Alternating magenta and white arches filled the space between the V straps on his chest like some garish rainbow, and he sported a moustache which looked faintly old-fashioned.

The stranger's expression swiftly changed to one of annoyance. "I am Vibrex! Master of vibration! And I've defeated the mighty Mon-El, so you'd best put some respect on that name!" He pointed one solitary finger at her, and Black Dancer felt like she'd been thrown in a blender. Warning lights flashed up on her visor's internal display as she shook relentlessly, and she rudely dropped out of the air when Vibrex's power reset her armour's systems.

Black Dancer's acrobatic training allowed her to land on her feet, and with her smokescreen now filling almost the whole room she was confident she had a couple of seconds to make the next move. As soon as all of her systems came back online, she honed in on Vibrex's infrared signature again and decided it might be best to just clobber him instead of relying on anything too fancy; the last thing she needed was to find out this clown had damaged her weapon systems by having something blow up in her face.

Obscured by her own smokescreen, Black Dancer never actually saw the flash of emerald light that spirited Vibrex away; her suit registered the energy discharge loud and clear though. Activating muffled exhaust fans to clear the smoke from the room, Black Dancer's eyes confirmed what her armour had already told her.

Vibrex was gone, but the crate of dilonthium crystals he'd come to steal was sitting right out in the middle of the room where he'd dragged it from its storage unit.

Feeling like the victim of some weird practical joke, Black Dancer placed her hands on her hips and looked the room over from where she stood.

"...What the hell was that all about?"

**********

LEGION OF SUPERHEROES MOBILE BASE
Fitness Level

As Blok's sweeping strides took him across the Legion base's fitness level, he couldn't help but notice the room was unusually empty; aside from Shadow Lass swimming laps in the pool suspended overhead (in a bathing suit remarkably similar to her original costume), there was precious little activity happening. The Legion had grown so large lately that there were usually at least a handful of Legionnaires down here engaged in some form of combat training or exercise, but with a dozen team members off chasing leads on the Emerald Emperor's recent return, the Wellbeing Squad on Naltor, Evolvo Lad off building his transmat network and Chameleon Boy's team on their way back from Earth's moon, Blok was realising that even a Legion of 47 superheroes could be spread thin at times.

As he approached the person he'd come looking for, Blok realised that the fitness level wasn't quite as empty as he'd originally thought. Chlorophyll Kid, Firecrest, Stone Boy, Infectious Lass, King Canary and Polar Boy were all standing on Blok's side of a translucent yellow force wall transfixed on the person on the other side. Infectious Lass was dressed in casual gym wear, and King Canary as ever wore the customised harness which incorporated the Legion's flight ring technology. The others were all in costume and none of them even registered Blok's passing, too preoccupied they were with staring slack-jawed and wide-eyed at the woman on the other side of the force wall.

King Canary finally pricked his head up as the hero from Dryad issued a command to gain entry into the sectioned off area of the room. "Oh...hey boss man," the gruff little bird muttered distractedly.

On the other side of that forcefield, it looked like one of the Legionnaires had been fighting a private war. Droids and attack machines were torn apart, their shattered remains still occasionally sparking with life everywhere Blok looked. Great gouges had been torn into the floor, and the force cube around them sometimes flickered briefly as it drew on extra power from the base to stay intact. Blok waited a few moments in silence before he realised that just like their teammates outside the force cube, the subject of Blok's search hadn't noticed his presence either.

"Hello, Mysa."

"Hmm?" For all the destruction she'd caused, Mysa Marvel hadn't even broken a sweat. She turned to face Blok, giving her latest artificial opponent just the opportunity it needed to slam an appendage into her cheekbone with enough force that it would have destroyed an average shuttle. Mysa simply screwed her face up in annoyance, turned back to face it and sent it flying into a thousand pieces with one punch.

"You must have have vanquished every possible simulated threat in two galaxies by now," Blok smiled just before he gave a verbal command to shut the combat course off.

"Aww, come on Blok!" Polar Boy jeered from the other side of the force wall.

"I bet Brek a six pack of Silverale she'd cause a blackout before she was done!" Firecrest joined in, wearing a broad grin in his human form.

"My friends," Blok returned with a gentle jab, "Perhaps let us not gamble on the systems failure of the structure that's keeping you all alive out here in the middle of open space?"

"Don't worry Blok, I'll get these reprobates out of your hair." Chlorophyll Kid grew thick green vines from a handful of seeds in his palm and made a show of dragging Polar Boy and Firecrest away while Infectious Lass giggled behind her hands.

"...not as though I need life support..." Stone Boy grumbled as he accompanied them to the other side of the floor.

"You know, my sister is right." Mysa Marvel watched with a gleam in her eye while the male founders of the Legion of Substitute Heroes continued their light-hearted bickering. "Those boys can be so silly when they're together."

"I enjoy it," Blok watched them as well. "It is good to see that the Legion is still capable of mirth after...well, recent events."

"Oh, Blok." Mysa placed a hand on his enormous stone arm. "You're not still feeling guilty about Wildfire, are you..?"

"I regret Wildfire's passing," Blok replied, placing his own hand over Mysa's. "...Just as I regret Dawnstar, Dream Girl and Star Boy leaving the team. But we move on. In truth, Mysa...I was hoping I might be able to help you today."

"Me..?" Mysa removed her hand and took a step back. "Whatever makes you think that I need help?"

"Iris was concerned about you actually," Blok replied. "She noticed that you seemed out of sorts during our last team meeting, and I was certain that it was nothing but I assured her I would speak with you about it. Now, seeing all of this uncharacteristic destruction that you have wrought...well Mysa, I must ask...is there anything I can help you with?"

Mysa seemed honestly perplexed for a moment, looking around as though the field of debris surrounding them both might hold some answers. "Oh!" she finally exclaimed. "I know what this is about now...truly, Blok; it's sweet of both you and Diamond Damsel to worry, but this was just me blowing off steam."

"I...must confess, I do not understand..?" Blok questioned his friend.

"Blok, you're all so accustomed to me being the demure White Witch or the aloof Black Witch, but who I am now...I have this physicality that I've never had before. As Mysa Marvel, I'm discovering parts of myself that I've never explored before. I'm discovering that it's really quite cathartic smashing the sprock out of things when one has some frustrations to work through. I'm discovering that maybe I'm the kind of person who says sprock occasionally." She paused to look over her handiwork once more. "It's very enjoyable to tell you the truth and I promise you that you have nothing to be concerned about, my friend."

"I am pleased to hear it," Blok said. "But Mysa, if I may ask...what are the frustrations that you are working through?"

Mysa took a deep breath and exhaled, obviously slightly embarassed. "...It's so foolish."

She could see that Blok was more than content to stand exactly where he was until she said more, so she continued. "Very well, so...you know that it's standard practice that a Legionnaire leads any mission to their own homeworld..."

"Oh Mysa..." Blok could see where this was going. "Please accept my sincerest apology, it did not even occur to me--"

"No, Blok, you're fine. Really." Mysa shook her head with a forgiving smile. "Beren Kah is the High Seer of Naltor, and he made it clear that he saw himself meeting with the Wellbeing Squad. I know he would have told me if I were a part of his vision. Still, I can't help but feel that if Dream Girl were an active Legionnaire right now he would have called Nura to tell her about his vision regardless of whether she was actually in his vision or not, and she'd be leading a team back on Naltor right now. As Mysa Marvel I'm one of the most powerful women in the galaxy, and Beren never thought for a second that I might be of some use in his time of need. In Naltor's eyes I'm always going to be the pitiful futureblind girl who had to leave my homeworld to find myself. It's just frustrating when people from my homeworld are so obvious about the way they perceive me even after everything I've done, that's all."

"For what it is worth, my apology stands," Blok responded. "You are my friend, and I should have considered your feelings...and as you said, it is standard practice for Legionnaires to lead missions to their own homeworld."

"Thank you, Blok. I accept your apology." Hovering, Mysa planted a chaste kiss on his cheek before she looked around at the mess she'd wrought once more. "My stars...I really let loose here, didn't I?"

"Evolvo Lad will be delighted," Blok said. "He has been asking to upgrade our combat training equipment, this little episode should support his case quite nicely next time we look at the team budget."

Both of them laughed as they left the room.

**********

NALTOR
Aquamarine Harbour

ROLL CALL
Element Lad aka Jan Arrah: elemental transmutation
Life Lass aka Somi Gan: matter animation
Light Lad aka Darvan Locke: gravity negation
Tellus aka Ganglios: telepathy and telekinesis

The seaside city of Aquamarine Harbour was as beautiful as most everywhere else on Naltor. The early morning sun gleamed off of the waters from which it drew its name and imbued its towering spires with a golden warmth. As the four members of the Wellbeing Squad came soaring in from the north on their flight rings, it felt oddly surreal to all of them knowing that this city would soon be a disaster zone.

"You know," Light Lad spoke up, "I'm glad that the High Seer's precognition warned him there was going to be an earthquake here today so everyone could evacuate, but still...it's kind of eerie flying into a big city like this that's completely empty, right?"

"On Hykraius, vast expanses of Great Mother Ocean are free of advanced lifeforms," Tellus considered Light Lad's words. "I miss the community of my people, but equally I miss the privilege of being able to roam free within my world's embrace without the constant background hum of ambient consciousness all about."

"Back home -- on Lallor I mean," Life Lass quickly corrected herself, "There are a lot of cities like this...remnants of the Great Wars. Nowhere near as lovely as anywhere on Naltor I'm sure, but radioactive and empty except for mutated flora and fauna. It always gave me the shivers whenever the Heroes of Lallor had a mission that would take us into one of those cities."

Element Lad related to Life Lass's words perhaps too much; ghost cities for her might be a reminder of her world's dim past, but for Jan Arrah the ghosts that this place evoked were his family, his friends and everyone he'd once known. Before he could dwell on it overly much, Element Lad tactfully changed the focus of conversation. "The fact that Beren foresaw an earthquake here at all today is strange...I was under the impression that Naltor's super-science had dealt with that particular problem years ago!"**

"I wonder if that's why the High Seer thought he'd need superheroes more than a standard emergency response crew?" Light Lad spoke up again. "I mean...the city is already evacuated, but he seemed so certain that the Wellbeing Squad were going to be needed here anyway!"

"You three aren't quite as accustomed to Naltorian foresight as I am," Element Lad responded. "I've been around Dream Girl long enough to know that precogs can sometimes be frustratingly vague. If Beren Kah says we're needed though, I trust that we're needed. Tellus, just so we're sure...is the city fully evacuated? Can you sense any minds here other than ours?"

"I am afraid I do not share Mwindaji's gifts," Tellus explained patiently. "My telepathy is not particularly well suited to tracking other sentients. Still, allow me to--" Tellus stopped mid-sentence. Before he could continue, a surreal rumbling sound emanated from the city below them. The four Legionnaires were insulated from the violence thanks to their flight rings, but Aquamarine Harbour itself shook visibly.

"Okay Legionnaires, just like we discussed on the way over here," Element Lad took charge naturally. "Even if we're not needed to save the people of Aquamarine Harbour, let's do what we can to give them an intact city to return to."

"We won't let you down, Element Lad." Light Lad cast his power over as much of the city as he could manage, negating thousands of tons of mass. At the same time, Tellus and Life Lass brought their own powers to bear; Somi's ability to animate matter would normally be useless over this large an area, and Ganglios's telekinesis even more so. With Darvan making so many of these buildings light as paper though, they were able to stabilise so much more of the city than they would ever have been able to do working alone.

Element Lad realised that his teammates didn't need him to micromanage them, and he left them alone so that he could patrol the perimeter of Light Lad's anti-gravity field (helpfully designated by Darvan's signature blue power effect). Element Lad reinforced those buildings that needed it with carbyne scaffolding, unbelievably strong for how light it was. For those structures he couldn't save from collapsing, he strategically transformed plasteel and ferrocrete into inert gases before they could cause any real damage to the city around them.

Aquamarine Harbour had a population numbering just over half a million; it was hardly the largest city that Jan Arrah had seen since he'd left Trom so many years ago, but it still made him proud that only four Legionnaires working together could have such a positive effect over this large an area. There was nothing particularly flashy about what the quartet of heroes were doing here today, but this work was so much more fulfilling to Jan than sticking Tyr in an inertron block for the eighteenth time.

<Element Lad?> Tellus's telepathy washed smoothly over Jan's mind. <I did not have the opportunity to expand upon this before you left us, but I feel...presences...below the ground here. Many of them. I do not think that I would normally be able to sense them at this distance, but with the city vacated above ground they stand out quite easily.>

<Presences?> Element Lad thought back. <That's strange...I'm sure Beren would have mentioned if there were a substantial underground population here, and I never got the impression from Dream Girl that Naltorians live underground as a general rule.>

The blond Trommite looked out over the gleaming waters outside the city and suddenly realised something else; the sea was perfectly still. These tremors were entirely centralised to the city itself, and any natural earthquake would surely have subsided by now...

<Tellus,> Element Lad thought soberly, <Please tell Light Lad and Life Lass-->

"--Element Lad has asked me to advise you that you will need to work without my aid," Tellus dutifully informed Darvan and Somi, his voice modulator not at all portraying his disappointment at having to withdraw his assistance. "I sincerely apologise, my friends. I have found sentients who may need us."

"We'll be fine, Tellus." Darvan waved a hand dismissively. "Go do what you need to."

Tellus darted off, his flight ring carrying him much faster than his own power ever could, and Light Lad couldn't help but notice the immediate strain visible on Life Lass's face. "Life Lass? Is this too much for you..?"

"I..I..." Somi Gan flushed a beetroot color. "...I'm sorry, Light Lad, but I'm afraid it is. This seems so easy for you, but my power has nowhere near the range that yours does. I'm sorry to let you down." Unable to meet Darvan's eye, she turned away from him slightly.

"Hey...hey, don't feel bad!" He floated around by her side, not making direct eye contact but staying within Somi's periphery so she could face him when she was ready. "My anti-gravity power doesn't really take anything out of me and, yes, I can use it over a massive area but it's not as though that's a personal achievement; it's just how my power works! It doesn't mean you've failed at anything just because your power has different parameters! I mean let's compare the two of us...I just switch off gravity over an area but you need to actually control each individual molecule of whatever you're animating, it makes sense that yours would be more difficult to manage!"

"...I suppose..." Somi gave him a shy sideways glance.

"And at the end of the day...these are just buildings," Darvan continued. "Sure, we should try to avoid as much property damage as we can, but it's not the reason I joined the Legion of Superheroes...and if I'm right, I don't think it's the reason you joined either. We both just want to help people, right?"

"Yes," Life Lass answered more confidently, looking Darvan square in the eye now. "That's exactly right!"

"Then let's try something different...maybe we can't save every building here today, but we can save the one building that matters most." He reported their change in plans to Element Lad, and then Light Lad and Life Lass darted off to focus their attention on the most developed medical facility in the city.

Many hundreds of feet below, Tellus and Element Lad's flight rings had enabled them to drop safely to the mosaic streets of Aquamarine Harbour. It had been an extremely odd sensation to be in the grip of Light Lad's power, their movements unexpectedly bouncy and exaggerated while they got used to the reduced gravity. Without Tellus's telekinesis reinforcing Life Lass's matter animation, many buildings had developed unnerving cracks and some of them had even begun to topple toward the streets below. Jan turned the largest and most dangerous debris into so much free-floating oxygen, but smaller chunks of ferrocrete had floated harmlessly toward the ground like oversized snowflakes until Light Lad switched off his power.

"Here." Tellus hovered just above a wide crack which had swallowed several vehicles already, while Element Lad shielded them from any collateral damage now that normal gravity had returned to the area. The pods on the Hykraian's back gradually shifted to an unflattering reddish brown color which indicated happiness that he'd so easily been able to home in on these strange sentient minds as well as his concern for what that might mean. "Element Lad, I sense that they are far below the city's surface, but also...now that I am closer they seem unlike any of the Naltorians that I have met. Nor do they seem to have particularly complex minds at all."

"They may be subterranean animals," Element Lad pondered. "Maybe they're not actually responsible for these quakes like I originally thought; but if that's true, then they likely need our help. Tellus, if I use my power to tunnel below the surface do you think you can lead us to them?"

"As far as telepathy is concerned, Naltor's crust is no greater an obstacle than its atmosphere," Tellus replied with consideration. "And the closer I come to these beings, the better my telepathy will serve."

"That's all I needed to hear," Jan nodded slightly with satisfaction. To minimise the risk of causing any streets or buildings to collapse behind them, Element Lad and Tellus found the nearest park and began their downward journey there. With their minds superficially linked, it was child's play for Tellus to direct their descent while Element Lad transmuted dirt and then rock into invisible gases.

They soon had travelled far enough below the surface that they left the sun behind them, and Element Lad responded by converting some of the mineral wall to phosphorus. Though both Legionnaires had utter confidence in their powers to keep them safe down here, the glow of the phosphorus along with the din of the rumbling and the occasional tunnel collapse behind them was nonetheless a little creepy.

After nearly a minute of travelling in silence, Element Lad spoke up. "Tellus, I hope you won't take this the wrong way but...you've really come a long way since you joined the Legion. I can't imagine you being so comfortable leading us into the unknown like this when you first joined the team."

Tellus's pods swiftly changed to a bright yellow. "Thank you, Element lad! That means a great deal coming from a Legionnaire with such tenure as yourself -- Element Lad, stop!" This last exclamation was shouted telapathically as well as via the Hykrarian's voice modulator.

"Ow." Element Lad winced and rubbed his temples. "...and after I just commended you on how far you've come--"

"Please forgive my extreme reaction, Element Lad." The bright fuscia of Tellus's pods was as close as Hykraians came to blushing with embarassment. Floating toward the forwardmost edge of the tunnel, the aquatic hero continued. "I believe I can show you the reason for my distress faster than explain it. Do you object to me deepening our mind link, Element Lad?"

"Not if it will help," Jan replied. "Of course I don't object, I -- oh."

Element Lad knew that he was merely interpreting Tellus's telepathy in a way that his brain could safely process; there weren't actually vivid rainbow-hued snakes as wide as a human torso writhing slowly through the rock before them, but they were no less wondrous for simply appearing that way. The snakes were unquestionably living beings though...some kind of not-quite-animal, not-quite-mineral lifeforms that Tellus's gentle probe revealed to have been slumbering here for tens of thousands of years. Now that they'd woken, their movements through Naltor's innards were unintentionally causing chaos to Aquamarine Harbour above.

<Tellus,> Jan thought that he'd spoken out loud until he realised he'd made no noise. <We can't allow these beings to continue as they are...they'll cause untold devastation. But we can't hurt them, they have no idea what they're doing.>

Tellus concentrated on the strange creatures momentarily. Element Lad was right, they weren't evolved enough to comprehend that simply moving about down here was endangering others above; Tellus wasn't sure if they even knew there was life above. What these creatures really needed was a world that they could mold as necessary, without anybody else suffering as a result...a world that would welcome their dramatic interactions.

<Element Lad,> Tellus finally projected to his teammate, <I have an idea...>

**********

ELSEWHERE

Key Kid's eyelids fluttered as he rose from the dull haze of unconsciousness, and then he sat up bolt upright in an unfamiliar bed.

He regretted it almost immediately. Miqui Ver had never been hungover in his young life, but he had heard some of his fellow students at the Legion Academy talk about being hungover and he definitely felt very hungover.

"Here, this will help." Key Kid almost fell out of bed with shock at the sound of the female voice on his left. An attractive woman with honey blonde hair tied into a loose bun was sitting in a comfortable chair, one leg crossed casually over the other. The omnicom she'd been reading lay across her thigh, a meatloaf recipe still visible on its screen.

"Who...who are you..? What happened to me..?" Key Kid asked, looking around at his surroundings uncertainly. Thankfully he was still in his costume, though his boots had been thrown haphazardly by the door. An abstract picture hung on the wall opposite, the kind of colorful but mass-produced thing one might replicate for their first home if they wanted to give the impression that they liked art moreso than they actually liked art. There was a built-in wardrobe and a simple dresser by the bed, and not much else. It seemed like he'd just woken up in someone's guest bedroom.

"My name is Ethel." The woman smiled, but it was a reserved smile that vaguely reminded Miqui of the way Saturn Girl was always sure to maintain some emotional distance between herself and her students. "I'd like to apologise for the way we had to bring you here, but we can't be too careful...now here, these will help with your headache. Trust me."

For the first time, Key Kid noticed that she was holding two small round pills in the palm of her hand. He looked at the pills, then up at her face. He didn't want to offend her, but at the same time...

The woman named Ethel smirked as though she could read his mind. "We already knocked you out, we don't need to drug you...but suit yourself, Key Kid." She placed the pills on top of the dresser, near a jug of sparkling water.

"You said you want to apologise for....how you brought me here?" Key Kid struggled through the fog that had enveloped his brain. Had they drugged him already? "How do you know who I am...why's it hard to...to think properly..?"

"You were elecrocuted a few hours ago," Ethel explained in a matter of fact tone. "And we don't have the fancy medical equipment here that you're probably used to...you'll be feeling it for a while."

"Wait a nano..." It was all coming back to Miqui now. "That woman I bumped into on the street...the one that looked like Lightning Lass...we learned about her in school! That's White Lightning! And you...that must mean you're Eyeful Ethel! Holy gawf, you're the sprocking Judgement League!!" He stumbled awkwardly out of bed, back against the corner of the room while he tried to work out his next move.

"You're smart," Ethel said calmly, almost with a hint of pride. "I knew you would be. Look, Key Kid...I understand your reaction; that's why we had to bring you here the way we did, we know what you think about me and my friends. There's no way you would have come with us willingly, but I just need you to hear me out. If you don't like what I have to say when I'm done...well then, no hard feelings. We'll take you back to that Superhero Museum you've been staying at in Metropolis."

"Why should I believe anything you say?!" he snapped. "Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad told us all about you! The lies you spread about Superman, killing that Substitute Hero guy--"

"We did do all that," Ethel looked downcast. "I won't deny it, and Key Kid...I'll never be able to forgive myself for my part in that, however small it was. But look at me. This is my power." She held both palms out, and eyeballs squelched into existence upon her open hands. "There's nothing I can do to hurt you, and I need your help. We need your help."

"Are you space crazy, lady?" While he yelled at Ethel, he simultaneously shouted for Saturn Girl as loud as he could in his mind. "Why would I do anything to help you creeps?"

"Why?" Eyeful Ethel seemed to be struggling with her next words, as though she had to overcome some deep shame to say them aloud. "...Because...because you know what it's like to have your life ruined by the Dominion. And I think you can help us redeem ourselves for what those diskheads manipulated us into doing."

This was enough to stun Key Kid into silence. He stopped mentally calling for Saturn Girl. And he approached the bed warily.

"...Okay, Ethel. You've got my attention."


TO BE CONTINUED!


EDITOR'S NOTES:
* Black Dancer is of course remembering this story where we first found out that she works for McCauleyCorp now
** Naltor dealt with their earthquake problem all the way back in 1982 in fact, in LSH #285!

Ah, the Black Dancer! always found her code name particularly intriguing, among your Judgment League, raz!

ah yes, you had her show up in McCauleyCorp before, I remember! Glad Black Dancer is one of the "good" guys from that bunch!

Vibrex! hah! oh my gosh, I remember him from that story that explained why/how Brainiac 5 invented the flight rings some time back!

great how Black Dancer's natural acrobatics and intelligence still makes her a threat, even with her armor disabled!


and wow, the Emerald Emperor (or whomever precisely is behind this) sure is digging deep!

hah at the callout to Shady's original bathing suit costume

funny how most of the Legionnaires watching Mysa are former Subs! nice way to showcase their history and friendship

ah! A nice callback indeed to Mysa's origins. I feel for her, as someone who left his home country for somewhat similar reasons, I feel her. nice touch, raz! very well done!

Wellbeing squad, yay! now that I see it, there's a lot of potential synergy between Life Lass' animation, Light Lad's gravity negation, and Tellus' telekinesis!! (of course, all are very much here because of motivations and personality too )

aw at Somi not calling Lallor home anymore. again, I feel her!

also great at using this mission to differentiate Tellus' telepathy, from, say, Mwindaji's tracking! of course, Tellus works more by scanning the area and picking up thoughts... so he would need more time than Mwindaji would

and, called it re combining Darvan/Somi/Tellus powers! great minds and all that

good old Darvan! thinking on the fly re why Somi's powers take more strain . and I like his thinking re prioritizing a medical facility!


you use Jan extremely well. he may not seem flashy, but in my mind he is - definitely both powerful and versatile!

and great callout from Jan, on Tellus having become more confident! I am so stuck on his early appearances, where Tasmia even called him "unsure".

I thought Ethel was brunette - a disguise? did she dye her hair to help her hiding? it's def not for Key Kid's benefit, I think!

is Ethel REALLY sorry? I mean, she's working with White Lightning... and she's smart, so maybe she's a really good actress. TBH, if White Lightning (and her own deep-seated racism) weren't part of the equation, I MIGHT buy Ethel a bit more!

nice going raz, another great installment!

Black Dancer is a holdover from my old roleplaying game actually....one of my players had a character called Yellow Dancer who I repurposed as an NPC after he stopped playing, she is one of those characters that tend to pop up in different ways whenever I do superhero stuff

There are gonna be a couple more deep cut characters from the Emerald Emperor before his plans are complete!

The power similarities with Life Lass/Light Lad/Tellus nearly made me not throw them all together on the Wellbeing Squad actually, but they fit it so well personality-wise I figured I could just work around it - and it's kind of a fun challenge finding ways to accentuate how they're different and how they can work together

Jan is kinda in the same class as Chemical Kid for me (in terms of writing them as characters)...science is not really my strong suit but I usually think of what I want them to do plot-wise and then furiously google how to make it sound like a feasible thing their power could do...

re Ethel: you are correct, she is a natural brunette - she was blonde and much more conventionally attractive in that Geoff Johns Earth-Man story so I figure she just went the hair dye and cosmetic surgery route (which I bet is much less hassle in the Legion's time!)

loving the notes on your thinking, raz. and I appreciate digging out obscure characters to use! eager to see who else you'll throw in

good job challenging yourself! and agree, the personalities between Somi/Darvan/Tellus are very different. plus, while their powers synergize, they're far from identical! (and Tellus has the telepathy)

I am absolutely exactly the same when writing my Chemical Kid (Condo) and Element Lass (Candi!) Though transmutation is easier for me - unless I start looking at chemical compounds lol (on the other hand, there are so many more elements that would have been discovered/synthesized 1000 years later ) The chemical reactions are much tougher though, I have a few "typical" tricks - but I keep needing to Google more

re Ethel, love it, makes sense that she could just be a little vain (maybe Tusker prefers blondes lol), no need to always have a deeper strategy behind cosmetic changes!

Reviewing on my phone as laptop is playing up, so I apologise if this is a bit shorter than usual.

I love you giving us a snippet of future history with Black Danvers back story. Always enjoy reading what gappens in the centuries between now and the Legions time. She seems like a moderately decent person so I wouldn't be adverse to her popping up again snd maybe helping the team some more. Vibrex! Wow, that's an obscure little villain, hopefully ge won't get stuck in a space lift this time. I could really picture the almost-fight as Black Dancer swooped in and released her smoke screen - wouldn't object to their having a round two...

"Blok's sweeping strides" fantastic opening, since he received the Shazam power set I bet he's a lot more confident and so this was a very nice way if showing it.

Of course the former Subs would hang out together, they have so much shared history the must be so tight. And, King Canary is always welcome, of course! Mysa destroying the training space was unexpected though I'm digging her reason for wanting to punch something, and also it was interesting to see her vulnerable like that, showing her childhood trauma of being the outsider because of her lack if precognition.

Yay, the Wellbeing Squad on their first mission. Naltorans would be the one people who would all listen to an evacuation order I guess. If you can actually foresee the ground shaking and buildings collapsing they would be far less likely yo stay behind. Also, loving you filling in a bit of information on Tellus' homeworld too.

Very nice scene between Life Lass and Light Lad. Great way to show just how different they each are power wise, and Darvan is such a good egg! And, speaking of good eggs, Jan complimenting Tellus' growth was sweet.

The Quake Snakes are an interesting problem for the team to deal with - loved Jan seeing them through Tellus' interpretation as rainbows was cute. Looking forward to seeing how you resolve this.

Key Kid, ah, poor boy, I just know he's going to be manipulated into doing something really horrible, though hopefully not irredeemable. He has a quirky power that intrigues me so as much as his stroppy xenophobia annoys me I actually enjoy you writing about him. Ethel's a sneaky so-and-so manipulating poor Miqui like that. Still, I'm looking forward to this storyline as well.

Great stuff again Raz, I really enjoyed it and an waiting for more, more, more!

Hi Harbi,

Glad you liked the brief history lesson with Black Dancer, no doubt she will pop up again sooner or later!

It's funny that you called them the Quake Snakes, that is the working title I had for them when I was writing this up haha...I think the resolution will be a nice way to put a lid on things!

Key Kid's story will come to a head in the next instalment as well, so you'll see how redeemable he is if he survives that!

YGGARDIS
The Living Planet

ROLL CALL
Element Lad aka Jan Arrah: elemental transmutation
Life Lass aka Somi Gan: matter animation
Light Lad aka Darvan Locke: gravity negation
Mysa Marvel aka Mysa Nal: magically enhanced strength, invulnerability, speed, flight, stamina, wisdom and courage
Tellus aka Ganglios: telepathy and telekinesis

In the upper troposphere high above the desolate plains of the sickly green-yellow world known as Yggardis, Light Lad couldn't help but marvel once more at how unprepared anything in his life had made him to witness a spectacle of this scale. Light Lad had journeyed to this world once before alongside his teammates,* but he felt as full of awe now as he had that first time. Through the soup of toxic mists which composed the atmosphere here, Darvan saw eerie miles of craters stretching out into the haze that should have been a horizon. The cracked surface of Yggardis was littered with the occasional crashed starship and skeletal lifeforms that might have been present for millenia as far as anyone knew. Somewhere far away in that wasteland, the planet's four tentacles writhed into the void of space itself; colossal towers of rock which had only ever grasped desperately and destructively for companionship until the Legion of Superheroes had helped Yggardis birth a moon to keep the living planet company on its travels.

Today, the Legion of Superheroes were making the social circle of Yggardis just a little bit wider.

"...It's a lot, isn't it..?" Life Lass spoke almost reverently, gazing down at the results of their handiwork. The Lalloran heroine was normally too shy to initiate conversation, but Darvan's obvious wide-eyed wonder encouraged Somi to admit her own.

"It sure is..." Light Lad mouthed slowly. He looked back at Life Lass and the two shared a welcome moment of human connection before they were drawn back to watching the planet below.

Tellus had crafted the initial idea; the Wellbeing Squad all knew that the weird creatures they'd discovered on Naltor (dubbed tremor serpents by Element Lad) couldn't be allowed to remain on Naltor. Though it wasn't their fault, every movement the tremor serpents made caused chaos for the Naltorians above...and the creatures were not intellectually evolved enough that they could be instructed to isolate themselves to the more uninhabited parts of Naltor where only the local flora and fauna would need to adjust to their existence. The tremor serpents needed a less crowded world, a world that could easily survive, adapt and maybe even thrive along with them...and then Tellus had remembered Yggardis.

Though Yggardis was called the Living Planet, it was paradoxically a death sentence for almost any living creature who entered its lethal atmosphere. Even the Legion's state of the art transuits would degrade here before too long. Naltor's tremor serpents were not traditionally alive though; as much mineral as animal, a breathable atmosphere was the least of their concerns. They could snake out their mysterious billion year lifetimes within the embrace of Yggardis, and both the serpents and the world itself would benefit.

Tellus couldn't exactly communicate with the creatures, they were far too simple-minded for that. He could sedate them however, and so the tremor serpents slumbered peacefully while Light Lad and Life Lass took hours of painstaking care to excavate the serpents and a generous portion of crust surrounding them. Element Lad's power ensured that the enormous amounts of missing rock were replaced with similar minerals, keeping Naltor safe from further quakes or sinkholes at least long enough for the Science Police to mount a proper survey of the area for more permanent terraforming, and then the person who'd really made the Wellbeing Squad's plan possible carried it on through to its conclusion.

Responding to Element Lad's call with the speed of Mercury, Mysa Marvel arrived on Naltor by the time the Wellbeing Squad had finished their work. The strength of Hercules then allowed Mysa to carry the tremor serpents in their makeshift nest across the sea of space to their new home, once Element Lad had reinforced the rock with a thin inertron shell and the sophisticated equipment in the Brainstem of the Legion's base had told them where Yggardis was currently roaming. A little spontaneous landscaping later (with Tellus on hand to make sure that Yggardis and the tremor serpents both welcomed their new shared existence), and the tremor serpents were happily winding their way into the interior of a planet which felt more alive now than it ever had.

"Mysa, thank you for your help with this," Element Lad spoke with weary gratitude. "There's no way we could have pulled this off without your assistance today."

"Indeed," Tellus chimed in. "I am very pleased that you were available to heed our call, Mysa."

"Don't be silly," Mysa Marvel waved self-consciously. "I was just the muscle, Blok or Mon-El could have carried a big rock here just as easily as me. The real credit should go to you four; especially you if I understand correctly, Tellus! Element Lad tells me this whole thing was your idea!"

The pods on the Hykraian's pods shifted to a gentle rose color and Mysa gave him a look of mock reprisal. "Don't you dare be embarassed, Ganglios! This is a wonderful thing you've done today, and it just shows we picked the right team for this endeavour!"

"Thank you, Mysa." Tellus's voice modulator carried little expression, but there was no mistaking the warm flow of compassion that poured privately from him to Mysa. Tellus didn't expect his fellow Legionnaires to be able to interpret Hykraian color communication or to use his real name, but he always appreciated when they did.

"Anyway, I should really thank all of you," Mysa addressed the group more generally. "To be honest, it hurt a little knowing that my homeworld didn't think to call on me in their time of need...I'm glad that I was able to help them in the end after all. Now, shall we go home? I may have the stamina of Atlas, but you must be all exhausted!"

"You're not kidding," Light Lad yawned. "I'm glad Evolvo Lad got the transmat teleporter to Earth working because I'm putting that boyfriend of mine on massage duty as soon as we get back!"

The laughter of the Legionnaires was quickly swallowed by Yggardis's thick air as the five heroes left this world a better place for the second time.

**********

EARTH
Somewhere over Antarctica

ROLL CALL
Key Kid aka Miqui Ver: Legion Academy student; ability to bypass any man-made lock or barrier

Judgement League
Eyeful Ethel aka Ethel Lynn Niwtyn: enhanced 360 degree vision
Tusker aka Horace Lafeaugh: enhanced physiology, indestructible skeleton, extendable tusks
White Lightning aka Rosasharn Steinbeck: electricity generation

Key Kid was starting to get a bad feeling about all of this.

Even before he'd joined the Legion Academy, every world in the United Planets knew how Earth-Man and his Judgement League had ousted the Legion of Superheroes from Earth...and after Key Kid became a student at the Legion Academy, Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad had been very clear about the vicious xenophobia that led the Judgement League to strand the Legion throughout the timestream and make life miserable for aliens on Earth.

Then Eyeful Ethel had come along, spun a story about how the Judgement League had been manipulated by the Dominators all along, how they'd only ever wanted the best for the people of Earth and how their mission of peace had been twisted by those diskheads...Key Kid knew how cunning Dominators could be from bitter experience. For that matter, he knew it was true that the Dominators were behind Earthgov choosing the Judgement League to replace the Legion of Superheroes; Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad had taught him that too. It wasn't such a leap to think that the Judgement League, a team founded by those who'd all wanted to be Legionnaires at one point, really were just altruistic people who'd been led down the wrong path...the exact same way Enigma Lass was leading Amp and Key Kid's other classmates down the wrong path.

Key Kid had been only too eager to believe Ethel's story, he'd been only too grateful that someone else finally saw these diskheads for what they were, and somehow that had led him to where he was now; strapped into a dinged up old SP prisoner transport vehicle battling fierce winds over the most lifeless continent on the planet Earth. Ethel's suggestion had seemed completely reasonable at first...Key Kid's unique power would help them liberate Earth-Man from where he was imprisoned in this icy hellhole, then reunited with their leader the Judgement League could redeem their name. Lallorgov had snatched redemption away from the Heroes of Lallor after the Dominators corrupted Duplicate Boy, Miqui wanted to at least be able to give the chance for redemption to someone else.

That all made perfect sense 90 minutes ago, when Ethel was showering Miqui with gratitude for his wary assistance...but now Ethel was in the cockpit behind a reinforced bulkhead doing a less than stellar job of piloting what Miqui had come to realise must be a stolen SP vessel, and Miqui was back here in the prisoner's section where Tusker and White Lightning barely even spoke to one another and only ever flashed Key Kid quick unnerving glances.

Before he could consider his options, the ship came to a shuddering halt that rattled Key Kid's teeth in his skull. Seconds later the door in the side of the vessel slid into its recess, and Ethel stood on the other side of it with nothing but screaming white snow all around her. All four of them were wearing insulated thermal wear but even so, the cold in this place ripped Miqui's breath from his lungs the second he was exposed to it.

"Goddammit, woman!" White Lightning's anachronistic slang betrayed her 21st Century origins. "Where'd you learn to fly? I've had smoother car accidents!"

"Give me a break!" Ethel sniped back. "Watching the SP do it and practicing with gaming simulators is only gonna do so much, you know! Anyway, shut up and do something about those droids...I might have been able to convince them to let me land in the first place with those stolen distress codes but that's going to buy us exactly two more seconds if we're lucky!"

White Lightning stepped out of the transport shuttle and saw a remarkably humble building through the dense snowfall. Two Science Police droids were approaching from the small featureless dome, and White Lightning knew it was only the extreme weather that had baffled their sensors enough to keep herself and the others from being discovered already. While she may not originally be from this era or overly familiar with its technology, she'd practiced this next move to perfection; one wide burst of lightning to temporarily scramble the droids along with any externally mounted sensors on the building. From what Ethel had read up, this would only keep them out of action for at most another handful of seconds but it would be perceived as unusually extreme weather rather than the assault that it was. "You're up, kid!" White Lightning shoved Key Kid toward the building, hard. "Go do your thing!"

Miqui's head was reeling. They were attacking Science Police![i/] Could he really go through with this?? Still, they'd only damaged machines, the Legion did that all the time...and he knew as well as the Judgement League that there was no time to second guess this. Could he really [i]not go through with it? This might be his best chance, his only chance, to finally vindicate himself against those diskheads...

...His mind made up, Key Kid bolted through the snow toward the deceptively small doors of the James Foote Solitary Detention Centre and he hoped he was making the right choice as he used his power to fling those doors wide open. The three Judgement Leaguers were right behind him and then thanks to Key Kid once more, all four of them were in a descending gravlift.

"This is freakin' amazing!" White Lightning whooped. "I can't believe this is actually working!!"

"My Ethel's a genius, ain't that right baby?" Tusker tousled Ethel's hair affectionately.

"Tusker, not the hair!" Eyeful Ethel squirmed away from her husband's giant paw. "Anyway, it's this little champion that should get the credit...you're doing great, Key Kid!" Despite her own protestation a second ago, Ethel now ran her hand through Miqui's unruly mop of red hair.

Caught up in the adrenalin of the situation, Key Kid began to reevaluate his earlier misgivings. They really were doing the right thing, he couldn't wait to see the look on Iron-Butt Imra's face when--

"Honeymoon's over, people." This was Ethel again, and her tone was all business now. "Key Kid's power got us through security to this point, but they must have picked us up on cams...Tusker, my big snookypoo? Get ready to make your baby proud." She stood up on tiptoe, even then only barely able to give Tusker a peck on the cheek.

Grabbing hold of Key Kid's arm, Ethel dragged herself and Miqui behind Tusker's massive grey bulk. Key Kid began to wonder why, but before the thought had fully formed the gravlift doors opened and a volley of energy beams came straight at them from the corridor outside. Key Kid yelped in fright, but his fear was soon overcome by the sight of Tusker charging down the corridor with a deafening roar. Like some wild beast, the massive brute waded into a collection of stun beams and plasma beams and he pulverized every droid before them into so much scrap.

White Lightning stepped out once Tusker had cleared the corridor, and arcs of electricity danced over everything she saw. Any weapons systems that might have followed the droids were now so much smoking junk embedded in the prison walls.

"There," Ethel pointed out a windowless door, one of five on this level. "Earth-Man's in there."

"Why don't I just smash down the door, Ethel?" Tusker asked.

"We discussed this, remember?" Ethel spoke to her husband as though he were one of her students. "It's probably booby-trapped. Key Kid, you've done so well so far but this is the last thing we need you to do for us...can you open this door?"

"Yeah..." Miqui mumbled uncertainly, looking about wide-eyed at the devastation they'd caused. "Yeah, yeah, of course," he committed more confidently to the task. "Alakazabra!" He gave a little flourish, and the ridiculously thick cell door opened noiselessly. Sitting on a small bed inside a small room right there in front of him was someone Key Kid recognised instantly from Legion Academy holos...it was Kirt Niedrigh, Earth-Man.

"What the sprock is this?" Earth-Man stood, glaring hatefully at the thin teenager in front of him before he noticed the other three standing behind Miqui. Key Kid saw that glare, and it chilled him...that was not the greeting of a misunderstood hero.

"Freeze!" A man's voice bellowed from along the corridor. "All of you, down on the ground right--"

Before Key Kid could even fully process that a man in a Science Police uniform had a firearm trained on them, White Lightning had already fried the man. He flew back into the wall with a sick thump, smoke rising from his inert body.

"You said you weren't going to hurt anybody!" Key Kid shouted, his voice cracking. "You said!!"

"We said a lot of stuff, kid." White Lightning sidled up to Earth-Man and draped herself over him. "Kirt, babe? What's this?" She fingered a chunky metallic collar around his neck, small lights blinking regularly along its surface.

"Power dampener," Earth-Man answered, one suspicious eye still on the hysterical teenager in their midst. "We'll need specialist tools to take it off, it's rigged to take out me and anyone else who sabotages it and -- who the sprock is this whiny kid?!"

"Key Kid, calm down." Ethel tried to soothe him, but her patience was fading quickly. "Free Earth-Man and we can all get out of here."

"No! No way!!" Miqui took a step back from them, tears filling his eyes. "You...you lied to me! You said--"

"We don't have time for this." Earth-Man's eyes narrowed as he regarded Miqui coldly. "Tusker, if this kid can help me then don't kill him...but feel free to break something."

"No! No!!" Seeing the monstrous villain lumber toward him was finally enough to snap Miqui out of his mindless panic. Key Kid ducked under Tusker's massive forearm, and then ran down the corridor. Too late, he realized he'd gone the opposite direction to the one gravlift in this stupid building...on the plus side, he was running right toward that SP Officer that White Lightning had shot. The man had thrown his firearm clear when he was electrocuted, and the weapon was undamaged. Even better, Miqui saw a pane of plasteel lining the wall to his left that would have meant nothing to most other people but to him meant he might actually have a chance of getting out of this alive.

Grabbing the gun, Key Kid bypassed the weapon's biolock and brandished it nervously at Tusker stalking down the corridor after him. Miqui knew he needed to look like he was some terrified kid out of his depth if this was going to work, but he was a terrified kid out of his depth so he didn't think that would be a problem. "Stay back!" Miqui almost screamed. "Get away from me!" Earth-Man and White Lightning still hadn't actually come out of Niedrigh's cell, but Key Kid heard their mocking laughter just like he saw Ethel and Tusker laughing at him.

"Go on then kid," Tusker had stopped walking and held his arms out to his sides. "I'll even give you a free shot."

"Thanks," Key Kid breathed quickly. "But it's not for you." Thankful for all the marksmanship lessons his teachers had drilled into him for guns he thought he'd never use, Key Kid focused past Tusker and with his shaky hand he shot Eyeful Ethel square in the gut with the stun beam on its maximum setting. While Tusker roared his wife's name and ran to her side, Key Kid used his power once more to open the secret door he'd found and then promptly tripped over the Science Police officer while running for it. The man groaned, and Miqui realized with horror that he was still alive.

Miqui knew he'd regret this, but he couldn't just leave this poor man down here with these creeps...shuffling as quickly as he could, he dragged the man through the door and hoped with everything he had that it would lead somewhere better than here. The door was expertly hidden from view, Miqui only found it himself because he'd reached out with his power to find an escape. Because of that fact, he had to assume it didn't lead to another cell. For some reason it was also (very uncommonly) a manually operated door, and when Miqui slammed it shut behind himself and his new friend he understood exactly what that reason was. The two of them were in a dimly lit stairwell which stretched up several floors; this must be an emergency exit in case of fire or power outages.

The Science Police Officer was gaining consciousness, and Key Kid slapped a hand over the man's mouth so his pained groans didn't give them away. Ethel's weird vison powers were no longer in the mix and the other three might have been too distracted to see exactly where Key Kid and the SP had gone, but they weren't complete idiots. "Can you walk?" Key Kid hissed into the man's ear. "Ssh...be quiet, would you? Do you want them to find us?"

The man climbed painfully to his feet, using the stair bannister for support. "Give me that!" he snatched his firearm back from Miqui. In truth, Key Kid could have resisted the groggy man easily, but he didn't see the point. "I'm Officer Agnew," the man spoke in a low growl. "Our system ID'd you, you're one of those Legion students...Lock Boy or something? What are you doing with these punks, kid? Did they hurt you?"

"It's Key Kid...and no, but they're gonna hurt us both if we don't get out of here!" Miqui grabbed at Officer Agnew's charred uniform. "Come on! These stairs must lead to the surface, right?"

"You go," Agnew waved him ahead. "I've got a job to do." Both of them jumped as Tusker's fist deformed a nearby wall.

"You can't--" Miqui began, but it was too late for both of them. Tusker's giant fist pounded through the emergency exit door, smashing it into so much debris. At point blank range Agnew couldn't help but hit Tusker, but his stun gun may as well have been a flashlight. Tusker casually backhanded the man, and Agnew slammed into the wall before slumping unconscious.

"You want him alive?" Tusker asked Earth-Man over his shoulder.

"We only need the kid," Niedrigh replied cruelly.

"That's what I love about you," White Lightning flirted with Earth-Man, "We're always on the same wavelength. Outta the way, Tusker. Let me finish what I started before with that piggy."

Key Kid knew he should run; Tusker could barely fit through the doorway, there was no way that lummox was going to be able to follow him up this tight stairwell. By the time the other two squeezed past their oafish teammate, Miqui might have enough of a head start to get out of here. Instead, Key Kid shielded Agnew with his body and closed his eyes tight hoping that this lightning blast wouldn't hurt more than the last one had.

Miqui heard the distinct zap of electricity discharging, but he felt nothing...in fact, he felt nothing at all. Gingerly opening one eye, he was as surprised as the Judgement League to see a translucent forcefield covering the doorway between Key Kid and the villains. "Don't worry, folks!" they all heard a jubilant voice shout from back down the corridor. "The Cavalry is here!"

The Judgement Leaguers turned to face what Key Kid recognized as Bouncing Boy's voice, and then White Lightning and Earth-Man cried out in pain as the corridor was filled with fast-flying quills. The quills took out those two, but simply bounced off of Tusker's thick hide. Even as Tusker turned to face Key Kid's saviors though, Una repositioned her forcefield and slammed Tusker up against the far wall like a fly caught in amber. Key Kid heard the sound of footsteps running, and soon Rainbow Girl and Antennae Lad were at his side.

"Polecat!" Rainbow Girl called out behind her. "We've got an injured police officer in here! Miqui, are you okay? We've been worried sick!!"

"I'm...I'm fine," Key Kid collected his wits about him. "This guy though...Officer Agnew...he's been hurt real bad. Rainbow Girl, how did you all know I was here??"

"Sounds like we've got some stories to trade," Antennae Lad smiled. "But first of all let's get you two out of this dump, huh?"

The Cavalry told their story first; when Key Kid had gone running out of their headquarters and never come back, the team were worried about him. Rainbow Girl had sent her seven selves out at lightspeed crisscrossing all of Metropolis, and when that search was fruitless they'd turned to Antennae Lad. He attuned his power to any broadcast of Key Kid's name from the recent past, which was useless...but when he focused on the upcoming future the Cavalry heard Officer Agnew shout something about a prison break over Science Police comms that identified White Lightning, Tusker, Eyeful Ethel, and weirdly enough a young Legion Academy student named Key Kid. With Bouncing Boy and Una's Legion connections, they'd soon found coordinates for the only Science Police holding facility in all of Antarctica, and the team wished only that they'd been able to arrive sooner.

Back in Metropolis after all four Judgement League members were safely in police custody and with an assurance that Officer Agnew would make a full recovery, Key Kid breathlessly told the Cavalry everything...from his demotion to the Montauk Point Legion Academy campus to his abduction by White Lightning, to the most shameful part of all; how the Judgement League hadn't had to force him to do anything, because he'd been only too happy to go along with them once they'd appealed to his worst nature.

"Oh, Miqui..." Rainbow Girl sighed, the whole team sitting around their recreational area on couches and comfy chairs. Key Kid could hear the sympathy in her voice, but there was also disappointment.

"Am I..." Key Kid struggled to meet any of their eyes and finally settled on Bouncing Boy's. "...Am I gonna go to jail..?"

"You screwed up," Chuck frowned, "Big time. But you also saved that man's life back there. Officer Agnew may not have been conscious when you were going to take a lightning bolt for him, but he does remember that you dragged him into that stairwell when you could have just run and saved yourself. I think we can keep you out of jail."

Standing by her husband's side with her arms crossed, Luornu Durgo Taine was more blunt. "We can't make any promises about your enrolment in the Legion Academy though, Key Kid. Frankly, you should consider yourself very lucky if Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad are willing to continue your studies at all after this."

Key Kid's head hung low. It was hard to believe that less than a day ago, he'd been ready to cut ties with the Legion Academy altogether...now he knew that Saturn Girl had been right when she said that some of Key Kid's classmates were more ready to embody the ideals of the Legion than others. Miqui decided then and there that if Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl gave him another chance, he'd do anything he could to prove he was worth it. Maybe Key Kid wasn't ready for the Legion of Superheroes right now...

...but one day he was going to be.

**********

ELSEWHERE

The man named Rogarth struggled to get his bearings. Seconds ago, he'd been in furious combat with the Avenging Might of Tharn and enjoying every minute of it. Five of that planet's local heroes against one lone thug might not seem like an even match to most sentients, but Rogarth was as strong as Mon-El and fought far more enthusiastically. For him, it had been a pleasant afternoon's diversion.

Then there had come an ungodly flash of green light, something Rogarth assumed to be a trick of one of those damnable heroes. The heroes were no longer here though, or perhaps, Rogarth was beginning to suspect, he was no longer there. "Bah!" the helmeted warrior exploded in frustration. "I hear you bastards around me, and let me promise you....once these thrice-blasted spots leave my eyes--!"

"Relax, big man." The voice was confident, rough-edged. "Your vision will clear in a nano, and nobody wants to fight you."

"Then why am I here?" Rogarth raged, his fists clenched tight and ready to pummel. Just as the strange man had said, Rogarth's vision was beginning to clear...the man who'd spoken was garbed in some form of glowing green...armour?..with a large green weapon of some kind slung over one shoulder. Rogarth's vision was still blurry but he could see others behind the green man, at least a dozen of them. What really grabbed Rogarth's attention however was floating over the strangers in his midst. He figured his eyesight must have been affected more than he thought because if Rogarth wasn't mistaken...the green man was flanked by two Emerald Eyes of Ekron.

"Good question," the Emerald Emperor replied smugly. "You're here because we'd like you to join our crew.

...So what do you say?"



***********


EDITOR'S NOTES

* The Legion of Superheroes introduced their mobile base when they encountered Yggardis in this story

Also, I really went back and forth about how much I want to spoil the next instalment so I decided to err on the side of caution and say nothing...but let's just say I hope y'all like cliffhangers!

yay, more!

loving the budding... friendship? connection? between Somi and Darvan!

Yggardis is such a cool concept of yours,

and I'm glad Mysa got to step in too! and kudos to Tellus for stepping up, you've really had him grow!

ooph. Ethel really is a master manipulator eh, she is playing Key Kid like an instrument! Kudos for taking her teaching skills, and showing how dangerous she is...

aw man! freeing Earth-Man... ugh!
and of course, that's why they want Key Kid...

hah! love how Ethel is dangerous, but also very vain...

and also love how Ethel and Tusker are soooo in love! despite both being very bad people.

ooph, missed that White Lightning and Earth-Man were, uh, more than just teammates. ugh.

aw man, Key Kid is gonna regret this... nice pacing, Raz! Earth-Man's nasty glare at him, White Lightning frying that Sci-Cop... well-placed.

yeah, figured. Key Kid's life is safe for now, but that's all that's safe...

great job balancing Key Kid's fear, with his smarts. that whole "acting like a frightened kid, but also being one" bit is brilliant! and him shooting Ethel was smart, too!

oh! and the Sci-cop is still alive! whew! nice curveball there, raz! also, great way to balance Key Kid being dumb (i.e., falling for Ethel's ploy) while also being heroic! it's a tough balancing act, but you're doing awesome!


whew! the Cavalry got here just in time!

thank goodness White Lightning dropped the act in time for Key Kid NOT to free Earth-Man... things would have been so different if Earth-Man had his powers!

yay! glad Officer Agnew will be fine... I'm already a big fan!



well, hopefully this ordeal is what will finally snap Key Kid out of his hatred for all Dominators!

Rogarth! yeah! more characters from Legion lore, love it!

two Emerald Eyes! whhhoooooo! love it even more!

well done raz, take a bow, another great installment!

Welcome back IB!

Light Lad and Life Lass becoming friendly was not planned at all, but I am liking it! Somi could do with a friend on the team that isn't Gas Girl or Evolvo Lad!

Mysa helping the Wellbeing Squad was a very last minute thing...originally I was gonna have Nightstone be asked to help with transporting the big chunk of rock as an excuse to check in on her, but it occurred to me just before I wrote it that letting Mysa be involved is kind of a nicer way to wrap things up

There was some last minute rewriting to give Key Kid more of a chance to redeem himself too...I actually had a really crazy scene planned for him which didn't really pan out but it's definitely going into the bank so I can pull it out another time!

All the Emerald Eye/s stuff is gonna come to a head very soon - in the next chapter we'll be checking in on all those little teams that Blok sent out to investigate the disappearance of all the different supervillains!

I like the full-circle bit with Mysa But also cool that Nightstone continues to be a part of your team, in her own capacity! I really like her!

Raz, hello! Apologies for the delay ingetting to this - blame hangovers and general elections, most inconsiderate of them, I know, but there you go... anyway, looking forward to diving in so here goes:

And immediately, what are the Wellbeing Team doing on Yggardis? I was thrown a little as I expected Naltor. I had forgotten about your team midwifing a moon for Yggardis so this is a nice call-back. Also, I thought Mysa was staying back at base....? I had to go check I hadn't missed a section, haha, that's an interesting way to check your readers are paying attention I do love how competent you make Tellus, as I find him difficult to write so you are inspiring me. Tremor serpents... nah, they are Quake Snakes! Honest, Jan, get in with the rhyming naming convention! And, in case I forgot to mention it before, the name Brainstem for the Teams computer system - or 31st century equivalent - is brilliant. Mysa complimenting Tellus, and his embarrassment was cute.

Oh Key Kid's up next.... breath is un-baited, finally Ah bless him, he knows it's wrong to help them but he's tying it into his own distrust of the Dominion and especially how Enigma Lass is being accepted by his classmates. Fear and distrust really do twist people away from logical compassion, don't they? The rise of certain politicians is proof of how that can be manipulated. Very sad! Oh god, they are going to release Earth Man! This is looking more and more like it could be his last adventure. His trip in the stolen shuttle across Antarctica sounds incredibility uncomfortable, not just because of the blizzards either. Tusker and Ethel are surprisingly sweet together, aww, nice job humanizing the pair of xenophobic murdering villains Who is James Foote that he has a remote prison named after him? Ah, that'll be the proverbial fan being hit then now an SP officer is down. Glad Miqui had the sense to not take the power dampener off Earth Man. Run Miqui, run! Ouch, gut shot to Ethel! That was brave as Tusker really will tear him apart if he's caught now. Nice move taking the injured officer with him, at least he's thinking like a hero now. And especially brave to shield the officer from White Lightning. And the Cavalry are here! Porcupine Pete and Una take down Earth Man and he Judgement League! Wow! That was superb, if brief. Antennae Lad is a bit of a saviour really, being able to pick up and filter future broadcasts like that, it's a wacky powerset really. Ah, poor Key Kid, though to be honest he should go to jail - just for being a closet xenophobe! That was a joke, honest Nice that this life lesson has given him a better perspective on the Legion Academy group.

Rogarth! Yay, is this another villain to be transported away? The Avenging Might of Tharn - great name and you know we need to meet hem soon, don't you? Both of Ekron's Eyes? Ouch that is not good news for the Legion, or anyone else getting in their way really.

I'm loving the slow burn on that storyline Raz and looking forward to seeing where you take it next. As always, I'm here for more, more, more!