Legion World Forums LEGION OUTPOST Bits o' Legionnaire Business 21st Century Legion - Original Draft Version

Rex tried to gather his wits together as the plane carrying him and his twelve teammates fell out of the sky. Hoping that he didn't toss his cookies, he quickly mind-linked with Irma.

"Irma, tell Garth and Lyle to grab the pilot! Then tell Zoe to head for the plane's door! We're going to create an opening. Make sure everyone is ready with the "flight rings" Quentin made!"

Rex used his magnetic powers to steady himself as he made his way to the plane door. He reflected on how lucky they were to have met all those new members in Colombia; without Jenni, they never would have known about the shady machinations in the government; without Condo and his chemical powers, Lyle and Quentin wouldn't have been able to trigger the right reaction to create their new flight metal; and without Zoe, he doubted he would be able to rip a hole open in time.

Bracing himself, he caught Zoe's eye and nodded. As soon as she nodded back, he turned his magnetic powers on at full force, and Zoe did the same with her telekinetic abilities. He watched as the side of the plane slowly bent outward. Slowly... slowly...

He was so focused on his task that he wasn't able to react in time when the plane suddenly shuddered. Losing his balance, he hit his head against the side of the plane and found himself sinking into unconsciousness...

"Rex!" Irma screamed as she watched him slump to the floor of the plane. Jenni sped over to him. "He's fine, he just has a little bump on the head."

"That's great news, but what about us? We still have to get off this plane, ya know." Condo said with a bit of a sneer.

"Zoe, do you think you can get us out of here in time?" Irma asked the struggling girl.

"I-I don't know! These powers are still new to me... I don't think I can do it in time!"

"Stand back! I'll blast our way out!" Garth said.

"This plane is made of metal. You will end up killing us all." Quentin pointed out.

"Damn! I knew we shouldn't have used that star-gate thingie!" Garth yelled. "Now we won;t even be able to save Mr. Brande!"

"I have an idea." Chuck spoke up. "If I bounce aganist the door while Zoe aims a blast at it, the combined force of our powers might be enough to open it."

"Go for it." Irma said. "The rest of you, get ready to use your flight rings. Quentin, use your forcefield to protect Rex and the pilot, and get them medical attention as soon as you reach the ground. Zoe, Condo, I need you to stand by to make sure the plane doesn't crash into anything once we're outside. Tina, Sally, as soon as we're clear look for Nura and the bomb. Lorna, you look for Mr. Brande and make sure he's safe. The rest of you, stay with me. We're going after the guys who planted the bomb on Nura's plane and tried to kill us in Colombia."

"Are you sure these things will work?" Lorna asked, pointing nervously at her flight ring. "You guys just finished them on the way here!"

"They should be." Lyle said. "Condo's powers were able to accelerate the reaction Quentin and I hypothesized would occur if ordinary iron were xposed to certain forces. And we tested it already. It should hold up."

"Then that's settled." Irma said, before anyone else could complain. "Everyone, gather at the door and be careful. We;re going out."

Irma watched nervously as Chuck and Zoe got ready. Reed has shifted to the form of an ape and was holding Rex and the pilot steady while Quentin, or Brainy, as they preferred to call him, encased the four of them in his forcefield. She hoped everything would be okay...

"I'm sure we'll be okay. You're doing a great job." Garth said behind her. She gave a start. It was almost as if he had read her mind.

"I... thanks." She smiled at him. He smiled back. "I guess you're more mature than I thought you were," she said. He just shrugged his shoulders. "My sister says that a lot, too."

"I hope I can meet her someday, after we get out of this." she replied, before putting her business manner on again. "But right now, we need to get out of here and do our job. Everybody ready?" Eleven heads nodded. "Good. Let's do it.

She watched as Chuck inflated himself, then jumped and bounced off the far wall. He hit the door right where the lock was. At the same time, Zoe used the full limits of her power to "push" against it. The door wavered for a while, and, as they all held their breath, it swung open. Irma closed her eyes as she felt herself being sucked out of the plane.

Brock watched in horror as the plane plummeted out of the sky. Suddenly, a grren glow appeared near the door, and what looked like a large ball bounced out of the door, followed by a bunch of teenagers. The Legion! It must be them! He watched as they gathered their bearings and flew to different parts of the airport. One of them, a girl dressed in green, flew after the plane. He watched as a green aura surrounded the plane, and it's descent started to slow. But it wasn't enough; the girl ppeared tired and the plane was far too large for her. He quickly made his way to the runway, and using his powers, created a large pile of snow. He hoped it would be enough.

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

Zoe closed her eyes as she strained her powers to their limit. She hoped she could do this; she hoped she would be strong enough. This was finally her chance to shine, to beat those girls who had snubbed her because she didn't have any pretty dresses to wear or any nice toys to play with. She concentrated, focusing on the staisfaction she would feel if they could see her now. She felt the plane slow down as she put all her powers into it. And then she felt it hit something. She opened her eyes, but not in time to stop herself from being buried in... snow?

She felt a hand pull her up. "Hi. My name is Brock. Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine, even though my clothes aren't. Let me clean myself up first." She quickly used her powers to wring the wetness from her outfit. "Hi, my name is Zoe, and I'm a Legionnaire. Did you do this-"

Brock practically jumped at that. "You're a Legionnaire? Praise the North Wind! I want to join you!"

"Whoa, easy there, Brock. No need to get so excited. Besides, if you're as cool as your power is, then I don't think you have to worry about it. Come on, let's go find the others."

Nura wiped the tears from her eyes as she tried to compose herself. It had been almost an hour since she had last "talked" to Irma; the Legionnaires must be on their way by now. She closed her eyes again and tried to find Irma.

"Nura? Is that you?"

"Irma? Your voice sounds different. Where are you?"

"I'm not Irma. My name is Tina. And you can open your eyes now."

Nura did, and nearly screamed at the sight of the brunette in white who was standing in front of her. "How... how did you...?"

"Easy. My name is Tina Wazzo, code name Apparition. Pardon me for just walking in." Tina said, demonstrating her ability to phase through objects by walking through the sink. "That must be the bomb you told Irma about. Come on, lets get out of here. Take my hand."

Tina quickly phased Nura, herself and the bomb out of the plane, and they flew down to where Irma and the others were waiting.

As Tina set the bomb down gently, Sally shrunk down and unscrewed the bombs outer casing. She then grew again and and made way for Lyle, who studied the bomb'b interior. Then he beckoned for Condo to come over. Oddly enough, Condo blushed before taking his place beside Lyle. Tina shook her head. Boys sure could be weird, sometimes.

Beside her, Nura and Irma were having a heartfelt reunion.

"Nura! It's great to finally meet you face-to-face!" Irma said as the two girls hugged. "Where's Maizah? She isn't back yet?"

"No, but she... Oh!" Nura said as she felt a vision coming. She held her head between her hands; it was so vivid!

"Is she okay?" Jenni asked. "Should I bring her to the clinic where Rex and the pilot are?"

"No, she'll be fine. She's just having a vision." Irma said. "It happens all the time."

"Looks like we've found our fourteenth member." Sally said, coming up to them.

"Sally? I thought you guys were going to defuse the bomb?" Chuck asked, the surprise evident in his voice.

"Oh, Condo and Lyle are taking care of that. Lyle said they didn't need me anymore, anyway."

"So, is that it? What do the rest of us do?" Garth said.

"I suggest you keep the crowd from panicking." Irma said. "Take Chuck with you; I'm sure he'll be able to think of something to say. I'll see to Nura."

"Fine. Come on, Chuck."

"Nura? You okay, honey?" Irma asked as Nura gathered herself.

"Irma! There's another bomb over in Brande's office! It's set to go off in fifteen minutes!"

"Not again..." Irma sighed. "Lyle? Are you done over there?"

"Not yet!" Lyle replied. "It'll take us at least seven more minutes."

"We don;t have enough time for that!" Irma said. "Jenni, take Reed and Sally with you. I'll contact Lorna and transmit the location to you." Jenni nodded, and sped off with a shrunken Sally and a transformed Reed in tow. Irma just shook her head. "This just gets better and better..."

Lorna tried to keep calm as she punched in the security code to Mr. Brande's office. She hoped everything would be all right outside. She hadn't even bothered to look and see if the others were okay; as soon as she had gotten clear of the plane she had made her way to the main offices. It wasn't that she didn't care for her new friends; it was that she cared for her adoptive father even more. He had rescued her all those years ago, and she was eternally grateful for that.

As she opened the door, she felt a gun press against the back of her head. Raising her arms, she turned around slowly, to find a masked gunman.

"I know you, girlie. You're one of them Legionnaires! Well, I can't let ya warn him about the bomb right now. Sorry, girlie, but you're not gonna get a bullet from me."

Lorna's impatience to get to Mr. Brande almost made her forget to be careful. Thinking quickly, she said, "Well, if you know so much about us, then I'm sure you already know about my invisible friend behind you."

"What? Where?" the gunman turned around. Fatal mistake. Lorna quickly triplicated, and using her jujitsu skills, had one of her "selves" grab the gun while another tripped him and the third gave him a sock to the jaw.

"Oh... Damn that invisible brat..." he said as he slumped down.

"Geez, what an idiot." Her "purple" self said as she hit him one last time to make sure.

"But what was that he said about the bomb?" her "orange" self asked. "What can we do?"

"If what that idiot said is true, then we'll have to call the others." Her "neutral" self said. "You two go get Mr. Brande out of here while I call Irma. Hurry!" She watched as her two selves ran down the hall. "Come on, Irma, come on..."

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

Jan Arrah looked around the office in awe. He knew that this RJ Brande was rich, but the office was simple, though with high quality furnishings. Not at all gaudy, like some others would be. He was so fascinated by the pictures of the Legionnaires on the walls that he didn't bother listening to the exchange going on in front of him.

"Mr. Brande, I need you to find my daughter!" Azura said, encouraged by the kindly interest Brande showed. She had only had to wait a few minutes before being shown into his office, and he had been very hospitable. "Please, I know your Legionnaires can find her! She's a redhead, and she has these telekinetic powers..."

"Telekinetic powers, you say? Her name wouldn;t be Zoe, by any chance, would it?"

"Oh, yes! How did you know?"

"Why, I've just gotten word that young Zoe is one of our newest Legionnaires! She just joined the team over in their mission in Colombia!"

"Colombia? How did she... Well, I'm just glad she's safe for now! But she and the rest of the Legion may be in terrible danger! Young Jan here can explain it better than I can. I met him over in Europe, and he's been through a terrible ordeal." She turned to him. "Jan?" She said gently. "Jan, are you ready to tell Mr. Brande all about the Eye?"

Jan jerked out of his reverie. "Oh, yes, ma'am. The Emerald Eye is a mystical artifact that my people were supposed to protect. But when they were all slaughtered..."

Jan recounted his story as both RJ and Azura looked on, Azura's face grim, RJ's becoming grimmer as the full horror of Jan's story dawned on him.

"By damn!" he said, when Jan had finished. "You're a brave young man indeed, Jan. Not many could deal with that ordeal as well as you could have! As soon as the Legionnaires return, I'll tell them about your story. Then we'll..."

He was cut off as the door opened and Lorna rushed in... Or at least, two-thirds of her did.
"Lorna!"

"Dad! We have to get out of here! There's a bomb!"

"What?" RJ said. "What are you talking about? Who could've..."

"I don't know, but I'm sure it's the same one who planted the bomb on the plane. Come on, let's get out of here!"

Just then, Jenni ran in with Reed, Sally and Lorna's third body. Jenni quickly headed for the corner of Brande's office, where the air vent was. Reed hopped off and, transforming into an ape, ripped off the vent. Sally then shrank down and tried to defuse it. Lorna quickly gathered RJ, Azura and Jan and tried to lead them out of the office.

"What's the matter?" Jenni asked as Sally grew. "Have you defused it already?"

"This bomb is slightly different from the other one. I can't defuse it!"

"What do we do now?" Reed asked. "Should we get Lyle to come over here?"

"There's no time!" Jenni said. "I'll just run out to the coast and drop the bomb in the ocean."

"But can you make it in time?" Sally said. "Even if you do get out of the city, you'll be killed!"

"I... I..." Jenni's resolve wavered. She had to avenge her mother. But then... she couldn't let them all die... She...

"Maybe I can help." Jan said, saving Jenni from a difficult choice. "I can use my powers to encase the bomb in titanium." Without waiting for an answer, he concentrated. Everyone else in the room just stared as a glow emanated from the bomb. "It's done. I regret that I can't change the bomb itself into something harmless, but I don't want to risk it going off." He turned to Jenni. "The extra weight might slow you down, but at least it will give us a better chance of survival in case the bomb does go off."

"Thanks. All right, wish me luck!" Jenni said as she sped off.

Jenni found herself running for her life once more. Amazing, she reflected. She had first used her superspeed only a couple of months ago, and now it had become such a major part of her life. It had brought her into the Legion, and she could tell that they were special people who would make great friends. And she finally had a chance to find the true reason for her mother's death. She just hoped that she would survive this mission...

"Snap out of it, girl!" She told herself. "This isn't the time to let my mind wander..."

She quickly sped through the streets of New York, glancing at the bomb. Seven minutes left... six minutes... She pushed herself to go faster. Faster than ever before. She had reached her limit, and she was starting to tire. She dodged cars and people, who were moving so slowly that it looked like they were standing still. She was so close now...

"Jenni?" Hearing Irma's voice in her head nearly made her lose her balance. "Jenni, are you all right? You can stop now, honey."

"Whatareyoutalking aboutIrma?" she thought back. "I'm not far away enough yet! I have to go faster!"

"Jenni, listen to me! Rex is awake, and he can deal with the bomb safely!"

"There's no way he can get here in time!"

"Yes, there is! He-"

"I'm sorry, Irma. Please... if I don't come back, make sure you get whoever did this. Make sure my mother can rest in peace." Severing the link, Jenni ran like the wind, faster than ever before, not knowing where she would go next.

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

"She won't listen, Rex." Irma said, feeling the telepathic link being broken. "She's running too fast now."

"Then I'm going after her. Show me where she last was." Rex steeled himself as he "saw" the images Jenni did, courtesy of Irma's telepathy. Then he closed his eyes, and dove through the "stargate" RJ Brande had in the airport. Last time, it had nearly killed the whole team. This time, it might just kill him again. But this time, he felt lucky.

************************************************
Rex swooped down out of the sky, probing magnetically for Jenni and the bomb. He only had five minutes left before it went off. As he felt the tendrils of magnetic pull sweep the ground, he concentrated hard on anything that was shaped like a small cylindrical object... or a tiny ring.

"Come on, come on...There!" Rex quickly but gently pulled Jenni's unconscious form up to him. "Poor kid... she must have tired herself out. Well, time to finish what she started."

Rex hurled the bomb out over the sea, where he watched it explode harmlessly over the waves, the explosion too contained and the debris too small to harm anyone. Rex heaved a sigh as he headed back. Maybe now he could sleep as peacefully as Jenni was sleeping right now.

Val had watched in stunned disbelief at all the incredible activity that had taken place on the runway at the airport. Those had to be some of the members of the Legion that Sensei had told him about, of that he was sure, he told himself. What other teenagers could there be that demonstrated such incredible abilities!

Not knowing what exactly was going on, Val had watched from a distance but when Mr. Brande had arrived with another group of youths, a woman and a giant kid, he had decided to try to reach him. They had all gathered in one group and seemed to be having some kind of excited exchange out on the runway.

As he tried to find a way to get out there from the terminal, Val kept an eye on the group, even noticing when one of those in the newspaper picture, Cosmic Boy they called him, appeared out of nowhere with a young girl next to him. RJ had pulled Cosmic Boy aside and began speaking to him in private while the other milled around and talked amongst themselves.

Just as Cosmic Boy turned to the giant kid and extended his hand, Val spotted someone hiding behind some of the runway equipment raise what appeared to be a rifle of some sort and aim it at the group.

Wasting no more time, Val kicked open one of the emergency access doors to the runway and launched himself out the door and down to the tarmac. As the security alarm began shreiking, he landed, rolled to his feet and bounded towards the marksman, shouting a warning.

"Look out! He's going to shoot!"

With that he jumped at the shooter and quickly seperated him from the gun with a well placed kick. Then with just a minor flip of his wrist, Val rendered the gunman unconcious, catching him by his collar as he slumped to the ground.

As he looked up, he saw the others running towards him...

The woman looked at the television screen angrily. Despite her plans, RJ Brande and the girl who could foresee the future had both survived! That girl was a major threat to her plans, one which she didn't intend to ignore.

Still, it was far from a total loss. She had been able to gauge the abilities of the Legionnaires, and she had set the seeds for Luthor's downfall. Using the talents of Universo, she had been able to plant damning evidence in the minds if the hired thugs who had been caught by the Legion. Chu smiled. With Luthor out of the way, things would go so much easier.

She turned on the computer and accessed the files she kept hidden away amidst all the codes. Aside from Universo, she could contact the hitman known only as the Persuader and the exiled Prince Oswald. Her agents were now working on gathering information on the mysterious "Emerald Eye", and her scientists had given the go-signal on the cyborg Tharok and promised that the creature Validus would be ready within the month. Plus more reports of metahumans were coming in every day, metahumans whom she could trick, pressure or force into joining her army. Originally, she had planned on using only the first five; she had even thought of a name for them, the Fatal Five; but after today's events she decided that she would need many more. No, she needed a Legion of her own. A Legion of Super-Villains. And with this Legion, she could manipulate the whole world into accepting her as their leader, without question. Oh, yes, soon, very soon, it would all come true. And she would have the pleasure of destroying Brande and manipulating those brats of his as her own.

As Val Looked up, he saw the others running towards him and he was soon surrounded.

"Who are you?"
"Great job! I've never seen anyone fight so well!"
"Irma, can you get anything from this guy's mind when he's out cold?"
"Thank you son."

That last came from RJ Brande who had just been able to reach the others in the group.

"That's twice in just a few days that a youngster has saved my life at this airport. I don't know who is trying to kill me, but they sure are persistent! Now, who might you be so I can thank you properly?"

"Sir, my name is Va..Val, Val Armor. Sensei said I should find you and give you this letter."

"Sensei! My dear friend sent you?" RJ gasped "By damn, it's been years since I heard from him!"

"Here you are sir," Val said as he extended the envelope. RJ took it, opened it, and pulled out the letter. He recognized Sensei's beautiful handwriting immediately and he quickly read through the missive. Folding it up, he slipped it into his coat pocket and looked back at Val.

"Sensei writes that he has trained you in all manner of combat and requested that I let you become a part of my Legion. Having seen your skill and courage with my own eyes, I would have made the offer myself. But Sensei asks for something more. He asks that I treat you as if you were my own child. That is a great request he has made of me. One that few would dare. Yet Sensei knows that were he to ask me for my life I would gladly give it to him. So he knows what my answer to this request would be."

"Welcome Val Armor, welcome to the Legion," RJ said as he clasped Val's shoulder. "And welcome, my son. Welcome to my family and your new home!"

"Sir, we should get you inside and out of the line of fire, now!" Leviathan offered. "No need to give anyone another shot at you."

"Yes, I sup-..." Brande started to say but Val interupted him.

"But it wasn't Mr. Brande the gunman was aiming at!"

"It wasn't?" RJ said at the same moment as Leviathan and Cos.

"No, he was aiming at her," Val said as he indicated someone else in their group. Everyone slowly turned to see that he was pointing at...

...Lorna!

McCauley looked down the table. None of the men sitting there had his respect. They were there only because it wasn't possible for him to run everything himself. He cursed his limits, that he had to endure these shams of board meetings.

He asked for an update on the Workforce project. Specifically, the public team.

The first of his subordinates spoke up. "Well, we have, between experimentation and *ahem* recruitment, 32 metahumans at present in our possession, none of which have yet been programmed. There are 8 surviving experiments, held in the cells in the basement of the complex. Of these only two - the fire girl and the boy who "reflects" attacks - still appear completely human. Another two are humanoid, and four are misshapen to various degrees. The recruits are kept in stasis tubes in the main laboratory, and presently number 24. All your instructions so far have been followed faithfully sir.

He sighed. It was going to be a long meeting.

"What thoughts have been given to publicity?"

His PR man spoke up. "We were thinking that the tall, blonde female - the one with the Superman-style powers - would make for an ideal front person. You know - have her open buildings, be the one at the front of the publicity shots, pose for a magazine, like FHM or Maxim..."

The lawyer interjected. "Pose for a shoot in a magazine like that? The girl's a minor!"

The tediousness of it. One of his underlings actually had the germ of a good idea for once and another attempted to shoot it down...

"I am to understand that this girl appears to be somewhat older than she is."
"Yes sir" (the PR man passed him a picture) - "I doubt anyone who saw her would realise her actual age unless they knew it already. It appears that her powers caused her to physically mature more quickly."
"And who does know?"
"From the information we have, she ran away from an orphanage, and hasn't had contact outside there in at least five years."
"Right, well arrange to have the fire girl adopted by the same orphanage. And have some people there to pick off any survivors and retrieve her. As for this 'Supergirl'..."

The lawyer at the table spoke up - "Ummm... sir... all the names that start with "Super" are trademarked. We can't use them."

"Have the PR people draw up a shortlist of names then, then empty your desk for interrupting me. As I was saying, as for this 'Supergirl', this magazine shot idea is expected to attract considerable attention to the Workforce project, correct? Put out some feelers to be ready to close a deal as soon as the Workforce team goes public. And play up the 'Supergirl' angle even if we can't call her that - it should attract more attention that way. Arrange new documentation for her with a slightly different name and an age of 19, and adjust her memory of her age with the rest of the programming if need be."

"Sir?" - yet another underling interrupted, holding his hand up like a frightened schoolboy.
"Yes?"
"Y-Y-you do realise that the more changes are made, the less likely they all are to hold up? A-and we're already making some fairly significant..."
"I was given to understand that provided the basic personality was left intact, then the mind could accept such things as a change of loyalties."
"I-it's not that sir, i-it's the way you've included a requirement for a subservience to y-you in all the programming. In most of the cases, t-that's s-s-signific-cant enough to significantly increase the risk of r-reject..."
"From point-1 of one percent to one percent, correct? That's low enough. If I may continue? Are there any other potential female candidates that would get significant publicity from a similar stunt? Either in support or separately?"
"Perhaps the winged girl? The controversy alone would keep the Workforce in the headlines for weeks."
"Possibly, but I'm given to understand that she doesn't quite fit the classical mould. And that she isn't even a Christian, which would lessen the impact enough that I'd rather hold her in reserve for a Phase 2, rather than put her in the initial lineup. If we find a girl to conform to the template more in the meantime, we'll go with her instead. Any others?"
"Most are fairly young unfortunately - the metagene appears to be a recent enough development that there are very few active holders above the age of 18. The vast majority of them look good & have potential, but they're too obviously young to add them to the list with this 'Supergirl.'"
"At present then, who do we have? I am given to understand that we have an inventory of 32 at present, and I asked for a shortlist of twelve for a team of 6-8."

He was handed a dossier containing twelve sheets of double-sided A4 paper, each with pictures, proposed costumes, power information, a brief biography and short personality analyses of each of the subjects. He read them leisurely, ignoring the men around the table. He'd already discounted the winged girl for now and confirmed the girl with the Superman-type powers. To them he added the boy with the more limited version of the same powers, the electro-girl and magneto boy (having the siblings of a pair of Legionnaires on the team could give a helpful psychological advantage if the teams ever came to blows), the insect (the team needed a mascot, and a teleporter could prove handy - it's political views would be no object once it's voicebox had been removed), the boy who could reverse attacks, the female telepath, and the magic-user. He directed that they should be taken for programming as soon as the meeting was over. Before adjourning, he made one final stipulation:

"And, once the Workforce is public, I want a concerted effort to recruit the Legionnaire who can split into three. By persuasion if possible, given her high profile, by force if you must."

He envied Lorna's ability to be in more than one place at one time. And he would have it.


[For iB's list, the initial Workforce lineup is Andromeda, Ultra Boy, Spark, Magnetic Kid, Gates, Reflecto, Esper Lass and Dragonmage, although they won't all keep those codenames. And could someone please get round to giving the Legionnaires codenames as well? I had to change "Triad" ro "Lorna" there. Leviathan's entry provides the perfect chance.]

[INTERLUDE]

I'll put together a section that formally names each of them with their codenames. If you're the "creator" of one of the Legionnaires please PM me with your codename of choice for your Legionnaire. If you introduced more than one, please give me a codename for each of your creations. I'm going to try to get this "chapter" done by this time tomorrow so we can start refering to them by codenames so I may prompt you with a PM asking for your input in the meantime. Thanks!

[END INTERLUDE]

At Metropolis University university students Randal Burroughs and John Drake-Nagale were putting the finishing touches on their experiment to recieve their degrees in Quantum Physics. Together they built a machine that was supposed to cheaply create antimatter and with the help of their supervisor Professor Vartan where able complete the machine and tonight were able to go test it.

"...and if this machine works there. Energy shortages will be a thing of the past. Is the machine ready?" Randal asked

John was performing the last minute checks, checking the shielding on the antimatter tank, "As ready as it'll ever be. Shall we start now?"

"The sooner we have some results, the better John."

"All righty then," John said flipping the switch that started the conversion that reverses the subatomic charge of the hyrodgen atoms turning them into anti-hydrogen, "All is going well matter/antimatter conversion at 1%... 5%... 10%"

"Yes! It's working, it's actually working."

"Matter/antimatter conversion at 15%"

The machine seemed to work perfectly until conversion was hovering aroun 18%. John saw this on the readouts.

"Randal, we have a problem."

"What is it?"

"We're losing matter/antimatter containment." John reported.

"Do something. Try the back up measures!" Randal told him.

"I am they seem to be failing, I told you we should've ran a simulation first."

Then the screen started to read "DANGER" as the power for containment failed. What what backups they had were going to going to fail in one minute maybe less. Thankfully for experiments as dangerous as this the walls were reinforced with interon.

"Secturity Systems Error..." the computer chirped

"We have to get out of here!" John told his partner getting up from his seat and running for the exits with Randal following him. As soon as they reached the door the blast door slammed down and the two where trapped in the lab.

"Backup containment fields failing. Matter/antimatter reaction immenient."

In approximately 15 seconds the machine lost containment and it exploded seemingly taking the lives of Randal Burroughs and John Drake-Nagale.

[Interlude] If you go through with it, you DO realise someone's going to kill you for using the post-boot Wildfire origin, right? [/Interlude]

Ella awoke to find herself strapped down tightly to a metal table in the middle of a brightly-lit room, the brightest of these lights shining directly down on her. What had happened? The last thing she remembered was finishing her packing, and going out for one last look around the farm. Her parents had tried to discourage her, but she was firm - twins were meant to stick together, and she had to join up with Garth. And then... she remembered it felt like something had hit her, then darkness. Until now.

She tried to blast her way out of the straps, but couldn't generate any voltage. Worried, she twisted her head and saw two old guys in white coats talking to each other, while looking at a woman who looked a few years older than her and a boy a year or two younger, both of whom were standing like statues. Straining, she tried to hear what they were saying.

"...not meant to be zombies surely."
"No, the process is very traumatic to the mind, as you can imagine. It enters a sort of state of shock for a time, while assimilating the new data. One of the big mistakes in the early days was to try it on unconscious subjects - the idea being that it would lessen the trauma. Complete failures, every one - the subject needs to be conscious, or at best it won't stick, but more often than not their minds shut down completely, leaving them effictively brain-dead. No, they need to be kept conscious during the alterations, and they stay in this sort of trance-state while they recover, then their minds absorb the changes and they reemerge as their old selves, barring the intentional changes obviously. It's quite subtle you see..."

The guy who was talking took a step forward, to just out of earshot. This was bad, very bad. She looked around and saw dark-suited guards at every exit, with about four "spare" guards all looking directly at her. There was also a group of eight plastic armchairs, four of which held an unconscious person, and one a giant insect. She couldn't see any way out of this, and from what she'd overheard, this was a brainwashing clinic or something. She needed to find a way out of this, somehow. She knew the chances were near-zero, but still a «Garth, I know you can't hear me, but I hope you're on your way to help your sister» somehow ran through her head.

It wasn't to be though. One of the old doctors turned round and finally noticed she was awake. Ignoring her pleas for mercy, they took a new set of electrodes from a plastic bag, plugged them into a machine behind her head she couldn't see, then smeared electrolyte jelly on her temples before placing the electrodes on top of this surface and taping them in place. One last "no" escaped her lips before the large, overly-dramatic switch was pulled.

She screamed.

-----------

Tikhik awoke to find himself in what looked like a large operating theatre. A red haired girl was lying, strapped to the table, with electrodes attached to the side of her head, screaming in agony. Beyond, he saw a blond woman and a dark haired boy, standing, staring straight ahead, oddly passive. Several others were arranged beside him, unconscious.

So this was it - they'd started lobotomising them into perfect little soldiers. Well, he wasn't going to be part of it - he'd rather die first. Dampening field or no, he had to go - now.

He strained for several minutes - long enough that it would have been noticed that he was awake, but for Ella's protesting screams at the painful violation of her mind. He strained & he strained, but refused to give up hope - otherwise he was lost, doomed to suffer her fate. Then, a small green disk began to glow beneath him. This caused him to finally be noticed, but it was too late. Tikhik wasn't sure he could hold it long enough to make it through, but better death than that he thought, and twisted his short black body into the glowing gate, the tip of his tail barely making it through before it spluttered out. The guards looked at each other, oblivious to the diminishing sobs of the girl on the table. They were in big trouble.

----------

Ella Raines wasn't thinking of very much at all now. As she was led to join Laurel and Paul, the unconscious Jose was laid where she had been, about to recieve the same soul-shredding treatment as soon as he was stimulated into wakefulness.

Qwyzlyt was bored. The little imp was tired of everything the fifth dimension had to offer. He was also more than a little upset that he was so much smaller than all the rest of the kids his age there, measuring in at 2 inches in height! Not that any of them were much taller. Kids his age (roughly 16 in human terms) were normally only about three to four inches tall. When, oh when was his growth spurt going to finally kick in?

Because he was so small, all the guys made fun of him and said he would never amount to anything cool! Well he would show them! But how?

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

At dinner that night his parents were talking about mom's wayward brother, Mxyzptkl. Uncle Mxyz was always in the news because of his adventures in the human dimension. Of course, he was able to do that because he could use magic!

God, how Qwyzlyt wished he had been born with Uncle Mxyz's magic talent, but no! All he had gotten was his dad's talent...to a lesser degree of course...to be able to "jump" into other objects and animate or "drive" them as he liked to call it.

It was fun, no question, but compared to some of the magical skills some of his friends had developed he was starting to fear that he WOULD never amount to anything cool!

The only thing he was really good at was building things that worked. But what good was that when you could walk into just about any Magician's store and have him create whatever you wanted on the spot!

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

"That's it!" he thought so loud that he woke himself up at 3:00 in the morning. He knew exactly what he was going to do! "What fun!" he thought as he snuggled back into his bed to dream sweet dreams about the adventures he was going to have. Let them make fun of him then!

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

The little metal ship popped out of the dimesional vortex right above the city of Metropolis. It look something like a minature, comic book version of the Beatle's "Yellow Submarine" only it was a bright, shiny silver color. On it's side was written in tiny bright red letters "QUISLET" (which, of course, stood for "Quintuple Universal Interfacing Sentinent Long-Range Environmental Transporter")

Qwyzlyt had arrived!

What fun!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lieutenant Shvaughn Erin looked with interest at the young blonde telepath beside her. She had seen these Legionnaires many times before on the news, but she never dreamed that she would be working closely with them! But she and her friend Gigi Cusimano had been drafted by the powers on high to be the Legion's security advisers, or something like that. She couldn't remember the exact title, but she had never cared much for all that official-sounding nonsense, anyway.

"So, what do you think about this appointment?" she asked Gigi.

"Well, my partner Ron thought it was "totally cool!"," Gigi replied with a grin, "but then he's still young. I don't think he suspects what I do, and what you probably do too."

"That this appointment is just a fancy and none too subtle way of keeping us away from our little campaign?"

"Exactly. But this move has just made us even more certain than ever that something is up, and now it looks like we'll finally get some answers. I'm sure our dear president would feel like ripping all his hair out when he realizes this. If he still had hair, anyway."

Shvaughn and Gigi shared a hearty laugh at that, before the enormity of the idea sobered them both up. It had been a long struggle, finding others who had been willing to help them piece the puzzle together. Someone had helped ex-UN Secretary Thawne abduct those metahumans all those years back. The Allen twins, the Cullen boy... She was sure there had been others, but those three were the only ones whose bodies had been found.

The UN connection had been severed by Thawne's arrest, but nobody had ever found the mole in the American government, though they had suspected then-Senator Lex Luthor. There had been some shady evidence, but nothing concrete.

But now, by working with the Legionnaires, they had finally gathered enough evidence to at least have Luthor removed from office and have an official investigation started. For the past week, the Legion's "espionage squad" had worked quietly, gathering evidence in the White House. Jenni Ognats had led a small team back to Colombia, and their efforts had been successful. The thug Lorna had caught had confessed to being hired by Luthor, as had his accomplices who had been rounded up at the airport. They had even tracked down the sister of the Cullen boy, Jazmin, who had sworn that the last time James had been seen was on a tour to the White House! While few of the pieces of evidence they had were conclusive, togther they formed a chain linking Luthor to not only the abductions of the past, but also the attempted murders of RJ Brande and the girl Nura. Nobody could connect him to the attempt on Lorna's life, but it must have been linked to the other crimes.

"I'm just glad that it's finally over. Once we arrest Luthor, that is."

"Yeah... but I just hope America can handle the shock."

Shvaughn had to agree to that. Such a scandal hadn't been seen in years. But better a scandal than to have such an obviously corrupt figure in power.

The woman smiled to herself as she watched Luthor's trial unfold. The normally calm, smug man had lost a lot of his reserve when presented with the carefully doctored video clips, the telepathically induced testimony of various expendable underlings and all the rest of it. The best part was that she had been behind everything that Luthor was now being blamed for! And she had her hooks deeply into the man who was poised to take Luthor's position as president. All of this easily made her forget about Brande's failed assassination.

She returned to the television screen as she drank in every detail of Luthor's trial. Some of her favorite moments had been when Jenni Ognats had appeared on the stand, followed by Jazmin Cullen and the boy who insisted on being called Condo. The international community had been greatly impressed by their honesty.

She couldn't help but congratulate herself for conjuring up such a win-win situation. With a little more work, she could have RJ Brande and the more dangerous Legionnaires assassinated by the agents she would soon form into the Legion of Super Villains, and even agents whom she could plant as Legionnaires themselves. She had already drawn up a list. The telepath and the dreamer would both have to go, as she couldn't risk them finding out about her plans and exposing her. She had added the girl Lorna to the list because of her connections to Brande.

Considering carefully, she had also drawn up a second list of Legionnaires who could be possible threats. The boy genius, the invisible boy, the shrinking girl and the shapeshifter had all proven very dangerous. The Ognats girl too, and the Cullen girl. The charismatic "Cosmic Boy" and the rebellious Condo were possibly dangerous as well, but she could safely ignore the rest. Although she would have to find a way to put Tina Wazzo under her control, since the girl would give her a clear path to manipulating most of Western Europe.

She turned her attention to her agents. The Persuader, Validus and Tharok would definitely go into her team of villains, as would Prince Oswald, who still insisted that he was the rightful ruler of his little kingdom. His chosen codename, "Ice King", was indicative of that. Which reminded her that she would soon have to deal with his sister, the Princess Tora. She was a shrewd ruler, that one, and her emergence could alter the balance of power in Europe. She would have to find a way to keep her under control.

Returning to her underlings' reports, she decided to keep Universo's presence hidden for now. He was so much more of an asset to her that way. She made plans to approach the woman in Moldovia, the one calling herself the Emerald Empress. News about the chaos in the royal palace of Moldovia had been hushed up, but she was sure the Legion would be called in soon. No matter; she would have an easier time recruiting the Empress if she was incarcerated. Doctor Regulus and the master of disguise known as the Chameleon Chief would make fine additions as well.

Finally, there was Validus' and Tharok's fellow experiment, still sleeping peacefully in a test tube. The genetic material had been kept for nearly three years now, but it was still as fresh as it had been then. Her scientists would grow it to adulthood, thus removing any possible awkward questions. And the world would never know that this was James Cullen II. She smiled. Poor Jazmin Cullen would not be happy at all.

Jazmin was not happy. "But I want to join the Legion!" She had said for the eighth time. And for the eighth time, that big jerk had rebuffed her.

"Calm down, girlie, and listen carefully. This is the Legion of Super Heroes. "Super" means that you have to have SUPER powers. The ability to slow someone down is NOT super enough for the Legion! Heck, bouncing boob and the triple girl over there are barely powerful enough as it is, but Mr. Brande won't let me thin the ranks. Still, at least I can prevent any other weaklings fro joining up."

"And I've told you, my power is way stronger than my brother's was! I can do things he never could do!"

"Yeah, right. Look, why don't you go on home and work on your powers first? Then when you can accomplish something better, you can-"

Leviathan stopped. Had he heard something cracking? Could it be the floor they were standing on? "What was tha- aaah!"

Gene yelled as the floor beneath him collapsed and he fell through into the storage area below. It was a pretty long fall, and he quickly grew- enough to minimize the chances of a serious injury but not enough to wreck the place. Suddenly, though, he felt his descent slow down. And then he saw an angry Jazmin hover in front of him, her hands glowing.

"Not strong enough, huh? How do you like this?"

Gene watched as the glow disappeared from her hands, and his fall speeded up once more. Then, at the last possible second, the glow reappeared and he slowed down yet again, falling gently to the ground like a feather. He scrambled up and turned to face her.

"So... I guess that was your doing?"

"Yeah, big man. As you can see, I can slow time down, like how I stopped your fall, speed it up, like how I aged the floor to make it collapse, and almost stop it entirely. Now what were you saying about my not being strong enough?"

"All right, all right... Repair that hole you made and I'll let you join."

He watched as Jazmin's expression quickly turned into one of worry. "Um... Can't we just get Zoe to do it?"

Gene sighed. "Okay, okay, fine. I owe you for not believing you. You're certainly stronger than your brother was. And I know you want to join in his honor... Jazmin Cullen, welcome to the Legion."

The storm was raging outside of Tatiana Mallor's house in northern England. Three women and one red-haired man were drinking tea in the living room, while a second man lied heavily injured upstairs. Outside, braving the storm, a humanoid being made out of rock stood looking towards the ocean, watching.

Monius Ellysius had been impressed by the 'golden boy', he certainly could put up a fight. But the sheer power of the two women fighting beside him had stunned him, he would have never thought that there could be women warriors this strong. The witch in white was particularly impressive, she was surely one of the most powerful sorcerers the world had ever seen. And the other woman, the princess, had actually managed to confuse the Eye! He hadn't thought that that was possible.

He himself had done very poorly. The Eye's awakening had forced him to leave the Zone of Phantoms in Iran, but he had not been cured, and although the long years of dormancy had allowed him to function for a little while, the effects of the lead poisoning had soon reappeared. He had been easily defeated by the Eye, and soon laid heavily injured on the floor, merely a spectator to the events unfolding.

The rocky entity had fallen soon after their arrival, it had been fighting on its own for quite some time. And so the princess, the white witch and the golden boy had had to deal with the Eye on their own. That they had managed to fight it to a draw was a statement to their power. After hours of incessant fighting (Monius Ellysius had lost consciousness by then), the Emerald Empress just stopped, saying that she had better things to do, and simply left. The other three, unable to stop her, could only stare in disbelief, amazed that they had actually managed to survive.

Events unfolded quickly afterwards. Proiectra buried her father and turned her back on her throne. Moldavians were ready for a republican government, she said, and since the only purpose of the Moldavian monarchy had been to contain the Romanescu clan, now that that mission had failed there was no purpose for the monarchy itself. Maizah tried to help Monius Ellysius, but not understanding what ailed him, she was not able to do much more than stabilize his condition. She had an even tougher time with the rocky entity, she understood nothing of his physiology (was it magical in origin? she didn't think so, it certainly seemed to have a consciousness of its own...). But the 'Blok', as they were now calling it, seemed to get better on its own. It still talked very little, though.

The 'golden boy' had decided to follow them; life as a model was boring, and he was ready for new experiences. Having witnessed his power, and aware that the fight against the Eye had just begun, Proiectra and Maizah were not adverse to letting him join them.

And then they left for England. The choice was obvious, Tatiana Mallor was the fourth member of Irma Ardeen's circle of telepathic friends, and bot Maizah and Proiectra had known her for years. Maizah had been concerned about having to transport Blok, but he said that he didn't need to fly, and then simply merged with the ground and reappeared in England.

[interlude]

iB - cast listing really needed here

[/interlude]

[interlude]

Maybe also a recap/summary of the story

[/interlude]

(Interlude)
I hope you guys and gals don't mind if I play in your nice little sandbox here. I've not done much creative writing, but I thought I would take a stab at a character not yet reintroduced in this thread (as much as I have read so far at least). I hope I can write upto the standards that have come before me.
(End Interlude)

He had done stupid things before. “Tagging” walls and assault and battery had landed him in juvy three times before his 13th birthday. He didn’t know why he did those things, and they certainly weren’t venting his rage like the “juvy” therapist had suggested. “Rage venting…” he chuckled to himself as he lay in the hospital bed. T-Rock knew better than to trust the words of a prison therapist, and a white one at that. Besides he felt just as angry after he did those things as he did before they happened. For it to have been “rage venting” the rage would have had to have left his body, he thought.

He picked up the remote and pointed it at the TV… (click) the set lit up the dark room. He immediately searched for the volume as the TV whined it’s “OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO” sound. “Damn sign-off screen”, he thought to himself. His eyes adjusted to the bright, static colors that illuminated the tv screen as well as his room. A quick glance at the hands of the clock showed that it was about a quarter ‘til four. (click) “…and that’s not all you get.” (click) He quickly changed the channel. After ten straight channels of informercials he could feel his anger starting to work on him.

(Click) He shut the TV off. Realizing that his legs were feeling very stiff, he sat up in his bed. “How long have I been here? I don’t remember being in the hospital.” He thought to himself. He could see light shining through the crack the door made with the floor. Just beyond he could see shadows rustling. “Nurse?” T-Rock shouted. His lips formed the word and his mind said it, but his ears heard nothing. He tried again, only louder and more determined. “Nurse!” Again his ears did not register the sound. Now he was not only angry, but this was down right confusing. He had heard the TV’s sound?

Rotating his body 90 degrees, he let his legs hang over the side of his bed. The floor was cold and smooth. T-Rock stood up and immediately wished that he hadn’t. The room started spinning without mercy. He hit the floor face first.

(more to come...)

[interlude] Is there really one story here? Right now, I see at least three and a half distinct threads - the Legion (team) thread, the Chu/LSV thread (these two blur - I'm not 100% sure whether to count them as seperate or not), the Eye thread and my Workforce thread. Not counting the origin posts, which are generally standalone.

[/interlude]

[Interlude]

Ahhh, the joys of tagteam threads!

For what it's worth I'll be posting a cast list later today, once I get a response from all the character "creators" (AHEM...SoM!!!!)

[End Interlude]

Maria Gambi put the last stitch in the pink and white costume. It had taken a bit of time, but all the costumes Brande Industries had ordered were now complete. Most had been easily made using a spandex blend. Others were simple cotton. But this last one was a special order. It seemed the young lady was allergic to almost all types of fabrics.

Maria folded the costume and put it in the shipping box. With a twinkle in her eye, she grabbed the marker and addressed the box "To: Irma Ardeen, the Satin Girl"