Legion World Forums LEGION OUTPOST Bits o' Legionnaire Business LMB Twovision: Time Is on My Side

Exnihil placed his left hand on the left wall of the tunnel as he navigated the chambers of the underground Legion World Tesseract system.

"Two to the left... then four down..."

He spoke aloud to himself, as much to keep track of his progress as to offset the slightly disorienting effect the seemingly shifting walls had on one's perception. The Tesseracts were a labyrinthine network of twists and turns and - if you weren't careful - you could lose your way down here forever.

When his friend had first suggested this place as a safe meeting place last April, Ex had his doubts but, so far, it had proven to be sound. They had taken care to have all of their conversations deep in the system, and not a word had gotten out.

The LMB was safe.

"...and seven to the right."

Ex turned the last corner and saw his friend there waiting.

"You're late."

"Sorry, man," Ex said, leaning against the wall. "I still feel really ill. I had to stop a couple of times on the way over."

"Yeah, I'd imagine so... from what I heard, you just spent a week under the influence of the black diamond. So... was it worth it?"

"I guess it depends on what your definition of 'worth it' is. I know you think it was a risk letting that side of myself come back to the forefront."

"Well, you don't have the best track record when it come to handling external influences like that."

"I had to be sure."

"I know, I know... and... are you?"

"Yeah. It's him."

Ex's friend sighed wearily. "Grife. Are you sure? My own intel suggests..."

"Listen... I would know his influence anywhere. I know this whole black diamond ploy isn't his style, but who knows how he's changed after all this time. It's been almost four years since we... since he was stranded there."

"So... your vision was right."

"Was it? When I first came to you last April with the idea, I know you had your doubts. I mean, who would ever believe that the Leader of the LMB would be responsible for their destruction? But that's what I saw. I know my powers are a tricky thing - I see these possible future timeslines and I just have to try to figure out which events will collapse them into a single thread. It's an inexact science, I know, but I swear, any timeline I saw where either you or I had been elected would have resulted in the LMB's final defeat."

"Yeah... it was a hard sell, Ex... but I trusted your powers then and - after what I've found out recently - I trust them more then ever. Both of us have our past demons... people in our lives that are blindspots... weaknesses. If we had to lead a team against someone like that, I could very easily see how our ability to face them would be a liability. That's why I agreed to run such a self-destructive campaign. I lost a little face on that one, I don't mind telling you... but it worked... Power Boy and Jerry were elected."

"And we bought another year to try to figure this out. I had hoped putting our faces out there as candidates during the election would act as bait... drawing out this 'mystery' nemesis, but it didn't work like that. I guess when you're dealing with a guy like that, time isn't an issue. I think he's toying with me. Like I said, that whole 'black diamond' thing was sloppy. As soon as I let the dark power enter into me, I knew it was him. I could feel him. But - this is the weird thing, and why I had to meet you now - I could also feel that, whereever he is... he isn't alone, Cobie."

Cobalt Kid stepped out of the shadow. "I know, Ex... that's what I was trying tell you. You think that your 'blindspot' is the one who's been lurking out there, but... trust me... I've got a blindspot of my own."

Cobalt Kid looked grim—even grimmer than usual. Of all the historical Legionnaires, only a few had on their resume the history of espionage and secrets that Cobalt Kid did. It was a dirty business and just when you thought you could handle anything…something else came along like a bucket of cold water.

Exnihil was quiet for a moment, not saying anything. He was thankful for being able to stand still and let the nauseas subside…a side effect of his recent ordeal.

“This blindspot I have…I’m sure he’s involved in this too. I’ve had Time Boy trailing him throughout history. I’ve even had my colleagues in the 41st Century, the Legion of Instant Messengers, on guard, as we know he enjoys battling them. He’s always been fickle like that. They both report what I suspected…he’s on the move.”

Ex put into words finally what Cobalt did not at first want to say: “Your son.”

“Yes,” said Cobalt, allowing the disgust…and pain…show on his face. “My son. The Archduke of Time. A true villain if there ever was one…self-entitled and arrogant enough to think he can truly bend the timestream to his will. The Instant Messengers and Time Boy have seen him. He’s good at being subtle for a little while…but he always plays his hand in a big way.”

Exnihil did not want to think at the moment what that meant. “But I’m telling you, the black diamond…it was him. The other him. The real scary one. If the Archduke of Time is involved in this, then that must be who I sensed was with him.”

“It would make sense…” said Cobalt, “though neither likes playing with others.” Cobalt considered for a moment the original purpose for their little conspiracy. “So if you or I won the election, either one of our two enemies would have stepped forward to vanquish the LMB. It makes sense in an abstract way…though I guess time is too difficult a concept to truly understand.”

“What about the others? The rest of the LMB? I’ve been accustomed to secrets in all the other rackets I’ve been in…but the Legion? How long do we keep them in the dark?”

“As long as it takes,” said Cobalt, whose words had a firm authority on the subject. “They aren’t ready to find out. You know it’ll play our hand, somehow. Events are moving quickly now, though it’s hard to figure out in which way. The recent appearance of Rond Vidar on Legion World can’t be coincidence.”

“I noticed that…” said Ex, as he suddenly put his hands up to protect himself falling forward. He leaned into the wall—HARD.

Cobalt reach out his arms and helped set Ex right. Throughout the past year as they engaged in their so-called “conspiracy”, the two—so different and yet more alike than either would admit—had become friends. “You’re worse off than you’ve let on. There’s no telling how bad your body has been through the ringer while under his power.”

“Oh, I know him all too well…” said Ex, pushing Cobie’s hands away as he steadied himself.

Cobalt looked at his weary friend. “Yes,” he said, grimly. “Yes, I suppose you do.”

Just then Exnihil had a brief coughing fit, as Cobalt eyed him warily. The glance didn't go unnoticed.

"Don't worry," Ex said, "It's just the last dregs of the eclipsing. I'll be fine."

Cobalt narrowed his eyes. His years of espionage training had shown him how to tell when someone was hiding something, and Ex seemed on the level. "Good... so we're agreed then? You know as well as I do that the both of them would like nothing more than to come at us through those we care about. Until we know more... no one in the LMB must be made aware of this."

Ex nodded. "Yeah, agreed.... whoa..." a sudden wave of unbalance passed through him.

"You all right, there?"

"Yeah... whew... that was weird. I just had the oddest feeling...almost like deja vu. Cobie... I don't mean to sound crazy here, but... well, you know his modus operandi... and your son's. You don't think it's possible that... well... what if all of this - the vision, the election, the intel your 41st century friends have gathered, grife... even this meeting - what if they've already been mucking with things? How do we know that this time - the one we're living right now - isn't something that they're engineering?

Cobalt shook his head. "That's not crazy. It would be crazy if you didn't think that given who we're dealing with, but - trust me - you'll just spin yourself in circles trying to second guess it. You just have to knuckle down and realize that in the end... no matter what happens... there will always be an LMB."





"...there will always be an LMB."

"...there will always be an LMB."

"...there will always be an LMB."


The words echoed through the hall as the tall, monocled man peered into his scrying pool.

"Always, father?" The Archduke of Time grinned to himself. "How certain you seem... but 'always' is a very long time, indeed."

He stirred the waters as the image disappeared. From behind him, a handsome blonde man approached. He regarded the Archduke with a slight snort of derision.

"Your father? Again? However often you reassure me, my dear Archduke... I can't help but feel that your interest in these events threatens to become alarmingly personal."

The Archduke scoffed. "Personal? You of all people, dare to speak to me of personal? I assume that sending that crystallized fragment of time disguised as a black diamond to your young friend, 'Exnihil' had no element of personal interest involved?"

The blonde man grinned and shook his finger with a slight humorous twinge at the Archduke. "Touche, my friend. I admit that I do have a bit of a debt to settle with young Exnihil. After all, it was through his mechanisms that I spent the last four years of my life... ah... but the past is past... at least for now."

"What do you hope to accomplish by engaging in these... these trifles?"

"I was merely testing him. I know it seemed foolish, but I had to see if the young man was still as corruptible as he once was. Sadly... it appears that avenue is no longer open to us."

"So I trust you won't be wasting any more of our time on these matters."

"Time?" The blonde man grinned and walked to the scrying pool. "My dear friend, you know as well as I do that we have nothing but 'time'... unlike our friends in the LMB."

He spat in the pool and continued.

"Even as we speak, the threads of history unwind... undoing all of their little efforts. Soon... very soon... the LMB will know what it means to face the combined power of..."