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

Interlude 1:

Laurel galloped along on horseback, just her and Swiftwind to enjoy the setting sun. She adjusted her hat and pulled him up just as they reached the brook so he could have a drink and she could take it in more fully. She pushed her long braid back over her shoulder and sighed in contentment.

Then, though, a pair of clouds appeared from nowhere to cover the sun. Then the oddly-round clouds got bigger, and bigger. She tried to pull Swifty away, but he vanished and she landed on the ground with a thud. Blue-and-black clad hands reached out, pulling her to the ground as the pair of horn-rimmed glasses the clouds had become decended, from the sky growing bigger and bigger, falling on her, crushing her. She gasped out for help, but none came, and as the last of her breath was forced from her... she opened her eyes.
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Interlude 2:
"You really couldn't have waited a minute, or teleported behind him?" Sul sighed loudly.

"Ptui," Tik spat as Nori ran up to the red figure, who was still hovering there immobile, and clicked her fingers - letting off a bright flash and a loud crack in front of his face. That got his attention, and he seemed to stir as if waking from a deep sleep.

He seemed to be dressed like a racing driver, in what looked like fireproof overalls and crash helmet - but there was something odd about the way the suit was filled out, Sul thought.

<font face="Lucida Console,mono,Verdana">"Wha..."</font f>

"It's okay," Tom hastily put in, "we're not going to hurt you or anything. We were just being,... well.. nosy about what you were doing flashing along the sky like that then hovering up here."

<font face="Lucida Console,mono,Verdana">"Was watching TV. That a problem?"</font f> The voice, they noticed now, had a distractingly metallic edge - and sounded oddly deep despite that, with the metallic fizz taking the edge off it. Also, the intonation on one or two of the syllables were out-of-place.

"No, it's nothing - we were just killing time. Besides, it's not as if there are many others who can fly."

A noise almost, but not quite, like a sigh came from the stranger. <font face="Lucida Console,mono,Verdana">"Sorry, w-- I get like that sometimes. I'm Drake. So, what are you up to, seriously?"</font f>

Tom instictively turned to Tik, who explained briefly.

<font face="Lucida Console,mono,Verdana">"McCauley?"</font f>, and he chortled, <font face="Lucida Console,mono,Verdana">You should see this. It's what I was just watching."</font f>

With that, "Drake" turned to face the wall, and started projecting what looked like a news report onto it.

A large 'BREAKING NEWS' caption was at the bottom of the screen, and as the report flashed around various pictures, text appeared to go with the caption. It read "EXPLOSION AT HQ OF MCCAULEY INDUSTRIES WORKFORCE. MORE DETAILS TO COME..."

A green portal opened in front of them, and Tikhik started walking towards it, no sound, no turning round. The others followed quickly in case he shut the portal on them - including the curious Drake.
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Interlude 3

Andromeda woke up groggily. "Wha...?" Pushing the dream out of her mind, she thought back - she'd sat down for a few moments because she'd felt... tired? She didn't get tired - certainly not THAT tired. Then she remembered where she was and she sat up, blinking, and turned the TV in her room on.

A news channel came on with the TV, and she listened to it as she went to rinse her face, "...at his inauguration ceremony tomorrow. *jingle* There's been an explosion at Workforce Headquarters. Details are sketchy at present, but there are no reports of fatalities as of..."

It took a second for that item to sink into Andromeda's head, and a further second for her to realise the likely cause.

"OH NO YOU DON'T!" she exclaimed as she burst out of the building at super-speed. It was her life that had been toyed with for months. They weren't going to deal with him without her.

FLASHBACK

These events take place around the time of the Halloween Party.

The story: Legionnaires Flash and Kid Quantum have headed to Norway to confront Jeane Chu, whom they believe responsible for ordering the scientific experiments that claimed the lives of Flash's mother and uncle and Kid Q's brother.

Following them are Legionnaires Live Wire, Kinetix, Rebound and Blizzard. Following THEM is Berta Herrera, who calls herself Nightwind and wants to join the Legion.

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

Kinetix marveled at the clearness of the cool crisp air, and how clearly she could see her two teammates. She'd been tailing them for nearly an hour, but just a few mintues ago Flash had kicked up a cloud of dust to hide herself and Kid Quantum from prying eyes. She knew they couldn't have gotten far, since Jenni wouldn't leave the slower Jazmin behind, but the only way she could have seen them would be to telekinetically sweep the dust away - and that would have given her presence away.

She'd been about to give up and wait for Garth and the others, but suddenly wind had cleared the dustclouds away. What luck! And now she could see exactly where they were heading.

"Garth, you guys need to hurry up. I know exactly where they're going and we have to stop them right now!"

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

"I've scouted the area. I don't see any guards outside, but I'm sure there's some surveillance. You'll have to take care of that." Jenni said.

"Fine," Jazmin's eyes glowed as she prepared herself. "I'm ready."

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

"Took you long enough."

"Sorry, Ma'am. Not everyone is capable of flight, you know. You're just lucky Irma's had enough power left to link us up to here. Now we're on our own until she can get some rest. Now where-"

"You are not hurt?" Brock jumped in, not even noticing that he'd interrupted Garth.

"Brock, I--"

"That's sweet of you, but no. All I did was fly, Brock. But let's focus on helping Jenni and Jaz, okay?" Zoe turned to face Garth again.

"They're over there, on the other side of that building. Jenni must have scouted the entrance, and-" Chuck cut her off with a gesture.

"There's someone following us." He whispered. "Listen."

They all stopped, and heard the unmistakable sound of footsteps.

Brock raised a quizical eyebrow, and Garth nodded.

They all heard the loud gasp as a flurry of snow descended in the direction of the footsteps.

"Who are you?" Garth demanded to the figured bured neck-deep in snow.

"My name is Berta Herrera, but you may call me Nightwind. You are Legionnaires, right?"

The four Legionnaires exchanged looks at the calmness of the reply. Chuck shrugged his shoulders. "No sense in lying, she's pretty sure of herself. You okay?"

"Yes. I apologize for following you, but I was hoping you could help me. I want to join the Legion."

"Somehow I knew you were going to say that. You were the one who cleared the dust away for Kinetix? And I suppose you were responsible for the wind that helped push me along while I was bouncing?"

Chuck barely waited for her nod before turning to his three still-surprised teammates. He shrugged again. "I was a quiet kid. I'm used to observing the environment. She'd good, though; it took me a while to notice that the wind seemed to be concentrated in one area. Should we take her along with us? I think she'd be an asset. She's definitely Legion material."

Barely waiting for their nods, Chuck turned towards Berta. "Welcome aboard, Berta. Good work following us. Lucky for you, the UN's still squabbling over the Legion membership protocols. Most of the others wouldn't turn down a new member either. Now, let's get that snow off you."

"Thank you!" Though her voice was controlled, Berta's grin spoke volumes. "I can blow it away."

As they watched Berta do just that, Brock whispered. "That IS Chuck, right?"

Zoe frowned. "He mentioned being class president in high school, but I never thought he was like that."

"Just goes to show you-"

Garth's next words were drowned out in a sudden explosion.

Five Hours Ago:

McCauley exhaled as he landed on his chaise - he didn't have long. The machine and potion worked on a combination of science and magic, but only rudimentary tests had been completed - enough to know it wouldn't kill him, but he couldn't be sure of the results, and it would normally have been some time before he used it on himself as he had planned.

With Andromeda free, however - and looking to kill him on the face of it - time was exactly what he did not have. He needed power and he needed it immediately, whatever the risk.

He sat in the chair and directed Enrapture to press the button...
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"Now..." the two McCauleys' voices each echoed the other. They stamped their feet, and suddenly four McCauleys stood before the three Trinities, eyes beginning to glow. "...where were we?"

The Trinities stood their ground, stern-faced and determined not to let him win.
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As the Hulk had almost reached the team, Cos and Garth setting their chins for another attempt at blasting him away, he felt something on the back of his neck. As he reached round to rip it away, however, it suddenly let out a deafening high-pitched squeal, while Lyle materialised briefly behind him and gestured for them to move. They were barely out of its' way when he pulled it off and crushed it in his hand, but then Shifter, not bothering with subtlety now and bulked up into a huge, lumpy, orange form grabbed the Hulk from behind and managed to toss him across the room away from the team.

Dreamer took that moment to tell Cos, Garth and Irma that help was coming, and if they wanted to save their siblings, now would be a good time to take the door behind them. "Don't worry about us," she forced a smile, "we should be getting help any moment now..."
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Tikhik stepped into the building he'd barely escaped from, on the verge of being brainwashed, for the first time since and shivered.

"Be strong, Tik," Tom muttered behind him as they walked along the corridor, then louder as they entered the first gym, "Nori, Sul, stay close. We don't know what's going to..."

"McCauley..." Even from such a great distance, Tikhik saw a Leonard McCauley through the same window Trinity had earlier, and vanished.

"Good luck Tik," Tom thought, then said aloud, "Come on, he can't have gone far, let's see..."

For the second time in as many sentences, he was interrupted as Shifter came flying through the wall toward them, shrinking to normal size as he went.

"I've got him!" Sul shouted, and jumped high and forward, gauging her momentum so that she wasn't forced backward when Shifter flew into her arms.

"Who...?" Shifter said, slightly weakly, as they landed.

"We're friends," Tom said, recognising the Legionnaire, "and let me guess," spotting the Hulk through the huge hole now blasted through the wall, "he's the bad guy?"

"Looks that way, doesn't it?" Shifter coughed and stood, focusing on healing his bruises as Nura stood directly in front of the Hulk, staring him down, "Normally I wouldn't ask, but most of my teammates are down or elsewhere, and any help you can provide..."
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Three of those teammates, the three founders of the Legion of Super-Heroes, were walking down a corridor at that moment.

Cosmic Boy was tense, but was pushing it down, taking care to play the leader, trying not to think about his brother. If only he hadn't dropped him off here, at Workforce HQ, that very morning...

Tela was thinking hard about the "surgery" she'd done on Trinity to remove her programming, and thinking how to replicate it quickly, or whether she should just try and keep them out cold and do it later. She also had a mental link with Dreamer, and the picture of the Hulk's face wasn't helping.

Live Wire was in chaos. The last time he'd seen his sister had been at Hallowe'en, where she'd blown him off. The previous time nearly had them blowing each other up. Now, with the knowledge that she'd been brainwashed, he didn't know what to think.

His sister - Ella Raines, Spark - herself was lying in wait ahead with the other four remaining members of the Workforce. When the three Legion founders had broken off from the fight against the Hulk, they'd been ordered into the ambush position. She wasn't happy.

She looked across at Polarity, who was equally unhappy. Neither of them wanted to fight.

They heard them coming, and Dragonmage, hovering above, signalled. Inferno's hand started to glow, and Reflecto drew his swords. Spark and Polarity also powered up, more reluctantly.

"GO!" They leapt out.

Ella, on point, took a moment to think which one she would do least damage to with an attack, and started to zap Cos, expecting the same result as an assault on Polarity - namely his powers going momentarily haywire but no great damage. However, Cos was better-trained than his brother and managed to deflect the beam so it hit the floor, scorching it but causing little damage.

Garth then grabbed her arms, "Ella, what the hell are you d..."

She cut him off, "Garth, knock me out."

"Wha...?"

"You're the only one I've been told not to attack. I can't stop myself. KNOCK ME OUT."

"Why... why...?"

"He pushed Laurel too far, she broke free. I think that was the reason. Now please... think of all the times I've been a witch at you over the past few months... whatever. Just do it. I'd rather wake up with a bad headache than kill someone."

They heard a thump to their side and turned to see Cos lowering Polarity's body gently to the ground as Tela fought to keep Reflecto and Inferno at bay. "Do it Garth. That's an order."

Meanwhile, Dragonmage hovered above the battleground, looking on silently...
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There were no words now, only action. Trinity was young, fit, an expert hand-to-hand fighter and used to co-ordinating three bodies to work better as a team than three individual fighters. McCauley was none of these things, but every blow rained on him meant another McCauley appeared. There were already six of him, and with no obvious limit his numbers were threatening to overwhelm her, even as she thought hard for ways to incapacitate them that wouldn't spawn more. She twisted, turned, merged and demerged expertly to dodge without striking him, but still four became six, seven, eight, and their eyes glowed with energy if they tired of a physical fight. But just as Orange tripped from the increasingly frantic pace demanded of her, their enemies' eyes were suddenly elsewhere.

"Hello McCauley." Tikhik's voice dripped with ice as he exited the portal, seemingly unsurprised to see ten Leonard McCauleys turn their eyes toward him.

Things happened quickly then.

Twenty white-hot beams of energy lanced towards Tik, as Trinity took the moments' respite to remerge behind the McCauleys.

The energy beams hit not black exoskeleton, but green portal.

Trinity demerged again and swept three McCauleys from their feet.

Their eyebeams met the others returning through a portal from the ceiling.

Beams from above and in front met two of the McCauleys and sliced each in half.
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"Ten, nine..." Dreamer counted internally while she stood under the Hulk as it looked uncertainly at her, internal conflict raging through its dull brain as it decided what to do with this girl who was staring him straight in the eye. "Eight, seven, six..." As it began to lower its fists, however, it lurched as if in pain and roared, "Hulk SMASH," looking at her as if responsible for it, "Five, four, three," it raised its' fist, "Two, one,..." it began to bring it down, almost as if in slow motion... "Zer-Ouph..."

The "Ouph" she let out wasn't because of the Hulk's fist, but because of Nori slamming into her, winding her as she stole her away from imminent death.

"You were a second late," she panted as Nori set her down beside the others. Nori just raised an eyebrow at that.
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"I-- I--" Live Wire looked into his sister's eyes, when, suddenly, they rolled back in her head and she collapsed into his arms. After checking she was breathing, he looked around at Tela, sweat pouring off her head. «Thanks.»

«Don't thank me - HELP ME!» Tela 'yelled.' Cos had taken over fighting Inferno now, but Reflecto was obviously giving her trouble, and she couldn't just zap him into unconsciousness. It was taking everything she had to hold him back, but with a level of willpower possessed only by the truly innocent or the truly ignorant, he was getting closer, one slow, painful step at a time.

Unthinkingly, holding Spark against himself with his right arm, Garth let off a blast with his left in Reflecto's direction without thinking what Reflecto's power was.

However, unlike the normal "reflective," results of his power, which would have sent the bolt straight back at Live Wire, the mental-lightning combination created an explosion of sorts, knocking all three to the ground.

At that moment, a singing voice rang out, "# Here I come to save the day! #". And, on hearing Quislet's voice, Reflecto pulled himself up. "You..."
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The rest of the McCauleys doubled over in seeming pain, and Tikhik and Trinity-Orange took the chance to inspect the two fallen ones.

Much to their surprise, they found no blood. On closer inspection, they were solid all the way through - like flesh-coloured rubber.

While they were digesting this, however, T-Orange was hit on the head by another McCauley, and T-Neutral and T-Purple winced in sympathy pain. Another McCauley looked to take advantage of their momentary weakness, but instead found himself knocked across the room by a combination-punch from the both of them, splitting into two on landing.

"THIS ISN'T GETTING US ANYWHERE!" T-Purple yelled aloud. "I DON'T THINK ANY OF THESE ARE THE REAL ONE!"

At that, something caught T-Neutral's eye. An ill-fitted wall panel behind the desk...
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Cos stood his ground behind a magnetic shield and thought. Inferno was either untrained or poorly-trained, and was resorting to brute-force attacks, seeking to simply burn him severely. On the other hand, while he could keep the flame out, he was sweating badly under the heat - and even if she wasn't going to beat him without a big change of tactics or a few hours to wear him down, she was keeping him pinned. And with Tela and Live Wire - not to mention Polarity and Spark - out cold; Quislet less than reliable; and Dragonmage hovering there, threatening to intervene at any moment, he needed to get this over with.

As for Quislet, every time he entered something, he found it immediately ripped, slashed or smashed by Reflecto and it was beginning to hurt. "Hey, friend, why..."

He was interrupted by Reflecto grabbing his ship, bouncing it like a basketball and throwing it into the corner of the room. He dropped, out cold.

Reflecto then looked around with the pest finally silenced. Something else else had shifted in his head with the telepathic explosion, and he no longer felt the need to hang around.

"Later" he shouted at Cos & walked out.

Cos was barely cognisant of this though, as he concentrated on pushing Inferno's flame back magnetically. He didn't have the time to "play" with her any more, and he noted her shock at the fact that he COULD force her back.

"Come on, give in..." he muttered, hoping that the shock would make her drop the flame. When she finally did, he was almost on top of her and he almost ran straight by her as the heat holding him back suddenly dissipated. The surface hadn't been burning, just the pure jet of flame, and he just managed to catch her and knock her out in one move rather than present an unprotected back to her.

He sighed as he lowered her down and looked up, expecting Dragonmage to promptly turn him into a hamster. But, instead, he was gone; and one of his dragons floated down, vanishing as he touched it.
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The fight had been raging for over an hour now. Initially, Tom had held the Hulk off the ground to keep him from hitting anyone, but as he got angrier, he'd seemed to get heavier, and the strain had got too much.

After that, Nori and Drake had kept him busy by speeding past and catching him with a blast from an angle, annoying him and stopping him from actually hitting them, while Shifter and Sul had climbed over him to much the same effect. None of them could seemingly make a dent, however, and as they tired and the Hulk got angrier, their position got ever worse, while Lyle, Igor and, after his earlier exertions, Tom, felt useless. Only Dreamer seemed to remain calm, possessed of a manic certainty that something would come along just in time.
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T-Neutral made it over to the wall and pulled the panel open - a small escape chute was there. She signalled to her sisters and they remerged at her location rather than fight their way over through the ever-increasing mass of bodies. Before she could make it down the chute, however, Tikhik beat her too it, teleporting to the entrance and straight down. She followed a moment later.

As soon as she hit the bottom and saw the McCauley standing there, she knew it was the real one.

"Fragments. Useful, but not quite as I intended. Ah well..." she saw his eyes start to glow, and began to move, but too slow, just too slow... "...no matter," he said as he knocked her out.

"Now, you..."

"One step and I cut your hand off." Tikhik said, his eyes piercing in their blankness.

"Why, my dear insect, you forget, I know what you are capable of." McCauley took a measured step forward. "You were tested and retested psychologically. You really caused me no end of worry, escaping as you did, and I studied those reports. You're not capable of such a thing. I know it, and you know it."

Suddenly, he applied a burst of speed Tikhik hadn't known he possessed and had his hand around Tikhik's throat."

"No teleporting now. No worrying over who you might tell. It's done. YOU are done."

Then, there was an explosion of rubble.

And Andromeda stood there, silent as death, eyes glowing through the rubble.

McCauley panicked, dropped Tikhik and let loose his eyebeams. When they had no effect, he stamped and more "fragments" were created, adding their force to his. More and more and still no effect as she walked, at normal speed toward him and grabbed his throat the way he had held Tikhik only moments before.

Tikhik coughed and looked up. McCauley - his torturer, the man who had almost killed him seconds before - was himself seconds away from dying even as tears and energy streaked from his executioner's eyes. All he had to do was stand by and let it happen. Trinity was unconscious, no-one else was there, all he had to was... All he had to... stand by and let... tears. Tears and death. No...

"Stop."

Andromeda, caught off-guard by the presence of another, looked around; "Why should I?" she yelled at him, keeping a tight grip on McCauley's throat even as her tears flowed yet more freely. "He played with my head, treated me like a toy, made me do... things I didn't want to do. I even KILLED because of him. Because of him I'm a murderer. Why shouldn't I add one to my total, when he deserves it?"

"Because," Gates said, "you sound as if you can barely live with yourself after killing once, and then to save your teammate. How will you live with yourself tomorrow, and the next day, and the next, if you killed like this, in vengeance? I've been there - I wished I was dead when I awoke like this, with everyone I knew dead, and for a long time only the thought of exposing him kept me going, then a good friend pulled me back from the edge. You don't want to feel like you have nothing to live for."

He didn't know what he was talking about, she thought as she raised her fist. How could he know. What was one little insect? One punch and that would be it. Just like the guy before. Just like... so much blood... so much blood.... He deserved to die...

Her fist connected with McCauley's head.
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It was done, Cos reflected. He should go after Reflecto, he knew, but with three teammates and the same number of Workforce members out cold, he couldn't leave them. What if Paul woke up and killed Garth under his programming? No, he couldn't risk a death on either side. For the sake of both sides.
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From the diary of Laurel Gander:

I couldn't do it.

I had him there, nothing and no-one could have stopped me if I'd hit him hard enough to kill him. If I hadn't been teleported out the day before I would have. But Gates was right, and I knew it. If I had, I'd probably have ended up killing myself. Even after I found out the full extent of what McCauley had done.

So, I pulled my punch, and he dropped, and his "fragments" disappeared as he did. I didn't know what to do. Probably a good thing that, as my focus slipped, my super-hearing kicked in and I heard what I did though...
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It had had to happen eventually, as they tired and the Hulk did not. While Drake and Nori lined up for another pass, they were too slow just that once, and the Hulk's hands met over his head, generating a devastating shockwave that knocked everyone else off their feet.

As Drake began to pick himself up, the Hulk stood on him, to no apparent harm, but keeping him pinned face-down. He then raised his foot to stomp on Nori. "Stupid blue girl. Kept running past Hulk, stinging Hulk, annoying Hulk. Now Hulk will sting blue girl. Hulk will smash blue girl..."

Before he could make good on his threat though, a streak came through the floor and hit the Hulk, who crashed through the ceiling and on for miles.

Nori, still winded, then looked up and saw Andromeda sitting on the edge of the crater, head in her hands. Picking herself up and checking to see that everyone else was doing the same, she put her hand around Laurel's shoulder and squeezed.

Laurel sat in a chair in front of the mirror in her room straightening her hair.

So that was it. Over. Bad guy beaten, the place on the Legion she'd been aiming for when the whole mess started was open for her, the good guys won, All Was Right With The World.

Except, of course, it wasn't.
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He knocked on the door.

"Ella, you there?"

Spark gave a loud grunt.

Live Wire took that as a yes, opened the door, and walked in to find her on the floor, in T-shirt and shorts, doing push-ups. She looked absolutely spent.

"How long?"

"Push-ups-or-over-all?" she asked, pronouncing each syllable as she reached the top of a push.

"Both."

"’Bout fifteen minutes for the push-ups, three hours total," she said, in the same gasping voice.

"You’re exhausted."

"You asking or saying?"

"Saying. Look at yourself." He put his hand on her back and pushed her to the floor to stop her. Annoyed, she turned around and sat up, sweat dripping from her forehead. "You need a rest - you need sleep."

Instead of replying straight away, Ella stood up and walked over to a punching bag in the corner. Garth preferred to just blame Kinetix for all the exercise equipment scattered around the room rather than asking where she got it all.

Ella started giving the ’bag huge whacks. "Do you know what I see when I stop?"

Garth had a treble-sized suspicion. "No."

"I see me, trying to kill people I counted as friends, while begging them to stop me. I see months of my life I spent mind-controlled, I..." at that moment, Ella punched the bag so hard, she split the skin over her knuckle. Blood and electricity spurting from the cut, she finally collapsed in a heap.

Garth walked over and sat on the floor beside her, close enough for him to hug his twin sister if she wanted, far enough that he wasn’t impinging if she didn’t. "Ella, it wasn’t your fault. Whatever happens, remember that."

"No, it’s yours."

Garth winced. He’d expected this at first, but let his guard down after the way the conversation started.

"I know it’s not my fault Garth", she said, sounding tired but no longer gasping for breath, "If I’m honest it’s probably not yours either. But if you’d taken me with you, I wouldn’t have been there to get caught the way I did. It doesn’t matter now though. It just leaves me feeling so..." the cut on her knuckle stopped sparking, "so drained."

Garth took her hand and started feeding her power. He forced a smile. "Puts you in the better half so far. One guy went insane when Irma woke him up once she was done - started spinning like mad and destroying everything in sight. Real devil. Then there’s this purple girl..."

"Clarice."

"Huh?"

"Her name’s Clarice. Elf ears, pink marks on her face, blank eyes, Scottish accent?"

"Yeah."

"I met her a couple of times - not often, just, y’know, she was a teleporter and when we needed to be somewhere really quick she got called, and I never got much of a chance to talk. She was nice. Really shy though."

"She’s worse now. According to Irma she’d figured out about the mind-control when she was teleporting Lorna around, and she couldn’t let her go even when Lorna begged her. Knowing about it but not being able to break free’s been tearing her up ever since, and she’s practically shut down."

"I should probably go and see her... How’s Paul and Laurel?"

"Paul’s... adjusting. Apparently, Laurel’s not sticking around."

Spark looked up at him. "Huh - why not?"

"I don’t know, I just overheard someone on the way up here."

Spark tried to stand up. Garth stopped her "Not until you’ve had some..."

"Garth, cut the overprotective brother crap - that’s what got me into the mess in the first place. She’s three rooms down the corridor, not a million miles by land sea and air, which she probably will be by tomorrow if she’s going."
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Blink. The Taj Mahal.

Blink. The Eiffel Tower.

Blink. The Statue of Liberty.

Blink. A tiny island in the middle of the ocean.

Blink, blink, blink. Clarice could go anywhere. Via a spear, a portal, even a simple blink.

And yet she lay there, in bed, unmoving.

"They won't let me, and unless I'm told to…". The words lancing through her mind made her sit up, hugging her legs for something to do with her arms.

'Only following orders' was no excuse, and she knew it. If you realise you've been brainwashed, she reasoned, you should be able to break free. Andromeda had. Why couldn't she? And the screams she'd heard Trinity give later... she couldn't face her. She wanted to say sorry, but it was such a small word for so much pain... all the pain she'd caused...
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"Come in." Spark heard Andromeda call - before she'd knocked. She shrugged and entered.

"You look... different." were the first words she said on entering.

"I'm not done yet - I need to look different, and changing colour's out of the question."

"You can straighten but not dye?"

"They work differently." Laurel shrugged. "Can you plait hair?"

"I think so - haven't done it for years. I'll give it a shot if you want."

"Please."

"Kay."

Ella pulled up a chair behind Laurel's at the mirror, and started to bunch her hair up.

"Garth said he heard you're leaving. Is it true?"

"Early tomorrow."

"Where to?"

"Away. Just... away. Possibly up."

"Space?!"

"I don't know if I can do it, but I don't need to eat, or breathe much, since I just... soak up light. I want to.. I don't want to be around people for a while, after... that."

"I know the feeling."

"What are you doing? Are you going to stay here?"

"Yeah and no. I've kind of taken up their membership offer."

"Now in English, please."

"Long-term, I'll probably be here. Garth's not leaving any time soon, and I want to feel like a twin again. Right now, I need to see my mum and dad - I haven't spoken to them since I was... uh... taken, and I don't want to know what they think of me vanishing."

"And between 'right now' and 'long-term'?"

"Remember me moaning about Mark?"

"It's not as if I could forget."

"Garth left me behind in the first place, while I was still weak, to go looking for him. Then he ended up here, and I got stuffed in a glass tube and brainwashed into signing a long-term contract - which, at least, they've realised it would be a waste of time and more bad PR to go to court over. SO nice of them... anyway, he doesn't know it yet, but we're going to finish the job."

Laurel just raised an eyebrow in the mirror.

"Yeah, I know. He's still guilty about the whole mess though - and so he should be. So, now I'm free - literally - and it couldn't wait a week six months ago - and he DID have a point about Mark, I never trusted him either, that's how we ended up as the electric twins, because we followed him so the three of us got zapped - we're going to finish the job the way we should have started it," Ella said just as she finished the last twist, securing it with a band. She stood back, and Laurel shook her head to make sure it was in firmly.

"Well," she turned round to face Spark, Good luck."

"You too," then the two hugged.

"One thing if you're going to be out," Laurel said.

"Yeah?"

"Have they mentioned about the big green monster they were fighting."

"The 'Hulk'? Yeah, just in passing though, why.

"After Gates talked me out of killing you-know-who, I heard the fight, and just let loose, knocking him what must have been miles - but once things were vaguely under control there, someone went out and found where he landed. And he wasn't there."

"Weird. Still, big country."

"True, but I still wouldn't like a proper fight with him if he could get up and walk away after that hit I gave him, so just be careful if it's just you and Garth, especially if he knows Garth, okay?"

"Since when am I ever careful?" Ella actually managed a smile, a real smile, at that, before walking out.
____________

One week earlier:

"Wha... huh?"

The man found himself in ripped trousers, lying in a lopsided crater in the hardbaked soil, and briefly wondered how he'd got there. Then he realised what the rumbling that had woken him up was and stood up, waving.

Fortunately, the truck driver hadn't yet passed, and even more fortunately, he stopped.

"Geez man, what the hell is up with you."

"Please, I was stopped, mugged - and they stole my car. Could you give me a lift to the nearest town."

The truck driver's slow, amphetamine-stacked brain rolled around for a few minutes, then said, "Sure, what the hell."

He climbed up and into the cab, wincing at the smell.

"What's yer name anyway, boy?"

"Uh... Banner, Bruce Banner."

In the pink light of early morning, Andromeda lifted off, leaving Legions, Workforces... and perhaps Earth for a while... behind. She didn't regret it, and didn't expect to.

More fighting was the last thing she wanted or needed now, or ever again.
____________

Paul reached the roof of the Legion skyscraper to take in the mid-morning view of NYC. He'd never been there before - save Hallowe'en night, and it had been dark before they arrived then. As he pushed the door open at the top of the stairs though, he got a surprise - Ella was standing at the edge, in an uncharacteristic, flowing white dress.

He stood there frozen for a moment, then felt an urge to turn back before he looked at her any longer. But she chose that moment to turn around, see him, and wave, whereupon he found himself instead walking over towards her.

"Hi", she greeted him.

"Uh, hi," was his awkward reply, followed by "nice dress."

"Oh - this? Zoë set me up with it, since most of my clothes are still tied up in that mess. And I mean 'set me up' - I didn't know what I was getting until she was already flying away, giggling."

"You look... great."

"Paul,..."

"I know, I know, you..."

"No, wait. You've been mostly avoiding me since Hallowe'en, apart from that fight about Meta and you crying about your gran's illness - until Meta turned up - and I don't want to leave while things are like that between us, and you're here..."

"Leave?"

"I'm going home for a while, then me and Garth have a family thing to take care of. I'll tell you later if you want, but that's not the point right now. Just stand and listen for a moment, I'll keep it short - I miss having you as a friend. Up until Hallowe'en, you were my best friend, and I wasn't trying to hurt you, I was being honest - if I'd lied, it would have been worse, you know it would have. I *do* love you - but AS a friend. And when I said you were nuts to see Meta, I said it because I was worried about you. I knew her, and I thought you did, and after seeing what she did to José, I didn't want her within a million miles of any friend of mine, especially you." She took a deep breath. "You can talk now."

He opened his mouth to say something, nothing came out, and he shut it again. As far as he could tell, she hadn't said anything new. But he didn't want to leave things on bad terms any more than she did. He wanted her as a friend, but... But she...

He sighed, accepting - as best he could, at any rate - that friendship was all he could ever have with her, putting his arms around her, and giving her the same type of platonic hug she'd given him on Hallowe'en. She gratefully replied in kind - but couldn't see the single tear running out of his right eye.
______________

Tom had just sat down to lunch in the Legion's cafeteria when a familiar green portal opened beside him.

"Hi Tik."

Tikhik's beak was twisted in annoyance, however. "I've been called 'Gates' by at least five different people in the past hour. Do you know anything about this?"

"Sure," Tom shrugged and swallowed his bite of sausage, "everybody and their dog's got a codename around here, and if you're going to be sticking around..."

"I'm not."

At that, Tom nearly choked on his orange juice. Once he'd finished coughing, he spluttered "Wha... weren't you offered a shot with the Legion? Me and Igor are taking ours up, I don't know about the girls yet - I haven't seen them, and I think Nori's got some tests about her powers so she might not have been, but I'm sure Sul'll have an invite. Why not?"

"Yes, Nori's to see the [English-Russian: scientists] at three pm. But as for me, Tom, I've told you I don't know how many times, I'm not interested in fighting others so the streets run red. I stopped Laurel from killing McCauley, and you know how I feel about him. I couldn't even stand by, let alone physically injure him - any of him - myself."

"But... its' not as if they just go round beating people up. Besides, if you don't, what are you going to do?"

"I'm not sure. I won't leave immediately, and there's talk of a school linked to this, dedicated to teaching safety of powers rather than fighting. I may see if I can become involved with that. I can't... you know what, though."

"Well, I guess... I mean, I'm going to miss you."

"I doubt I'll be so far away. But, "Tom. Good luck with the Legion - I mean it."

"Yeah - same to you."
____________

Irma pulled her white coat back on after lunch and let out a huge sigh before rubbing her eyes. As the only telepath for a hundred miles, and quite literally the only officially-sanctioned telepath in the world as far as she knew, she was the one who had to deep-scan somewhere just south of a hundred brains - that they knew of at that moment - and attempt to unpick any brainwashing-damage she found.

It was absolutely exhausting. After being holed up in the McCauley building which incorporated the now-former Workforce HQ for a week, she'd found she could do the 'virus scan' in about an hour, but if she found anything, then she could write off at least half a day. Then again, after doing Spark (with Live Wire watching closely the whole time) for the whole first day, and Polarity (with Cos looking on) the second, half a day was still an improvement, she reflected as she walked down the makeshift ward.

The afternoon's batch of stasis pods were coming out of the elevator as she reached the far end of the ward. She'd only started on them late the previous day, but at least most of them so far seemed 'clean' - which was a good sign, since it meant she might be able to get through them in a week or so if it meant all of them hadn't been through it yet. They hadn't opened the pods en masse, since, even 'clean', it might have caused a mad panic, and if they hadn't been,... it didn't bear thinking about.

She sat at the bedside of the first girl of the afternoon - around 14-15, with glowing yellow wings, dark hair, a black tattoo over her right eye and skin a similar colour to Nura's, she took in quickly - put her hands on her head - not strictly necessary, but it helped the connection a bit - and began scanning...
____________

Nori's nose was twitching, Igor noted. Not a good sign.

Then again, she WAS strung up, spread-eagled, in what bore a distinct resemblance to a fairground ride-in gyroscope, so her being annoyed wasn't surprising.

He'd been brought in for questioning, since it was his tech-collar that had allowed him to function, but now they seemed to have turned him out. He asked Dox what that was about and received a mumbled answer in which he could just about make out the words "sphere" "equidistant" and "electric field". Gave him some idea of what was going on, at least, he thought, as he decided he'd rather be somewhere else, and went to find out where that was...
____________

For Nori, however, that was just the start of a long day of testing. Once they'd finished with scanning her standing, or being held, still; they moved on to testing her ability to deliver controlled charges, and her ultimate speed in various tests of dexterity, bringing in Live Wire and Flash to provide baselines.

Several hours later, having run the last of the scheduled tests and collated the data, Dox declared "Essentially, we have to agree with Igor's earlier diagnosis - there are no fundamental problems with the way Noriko's power works, so the only factor which can be at play is inexperience."

"So you've had me strung up, spun around, poked and prodded for four hours so you could tell me something I already knew. Great." She picked at her collar, "This thing's use-by date is a month away, and when it gives out thinking straight won't be an option. So what you're saying is I've got a month to learn or live in a cave for the rest of my life?"

"Well... yes and no," Invisible Kid said.

"Meaning?"

Lyle sighed and continued, "We might be able to create something to slow the rate you "drink" electricity, so you'd be able to discharge and stay at a safe level of charge, and also not knock out power systems..."

"You asked for a big discharge...." Nori mumbled under her breath.

"...but if we could, they'd probably be heavy and uncomfortable - even if Igor didn't think it might cause too much scarring, we don't have the technology to link to your brain the way his collar does. If you can, your best bet is to learn before it gives out, enough to hold back the absorption anyway."

Nori muttered "Great" in Japanese and walked out.
_____________

"How'd it go?" Sul looked up from the book she was reading as Nori walked into their shared room an hour and a half later.

"Perfect - they say there's nothing they can do, except give me big and heavy versions of this." Nori picked at her collar again.

"Ah," Sul sighed, and before she could say anything more, she saw Nori was on the move and shut her eyes as she zipped to the fridge, got a glass of milk, got changed into the pink T-shirt and boxers she wore at night, brushed her teeth and ruffled her hands through her hair before refilling her glass of milk and slumping onto her bed. Watching her move that fast was... disorientating.

"What are you reading?" Nori said, more of idle curiosity than anything else as she sipped at the second glass of milk.

Sul held up the book, entitled 'Complete Mathematics IV'.

"Light reading, huh?"

"Didn't you hear President Luthor's announcement this afternoon?"

"Four and a half hours getting poked, prodded and generally being treated like a lab rat, remember?"

"I still thought you might have heard, no need to bite my head off. Basically, they're setting up an Academy linked to the Legion, mostly to deal with all the unclaimed kids in the tubes, and I'm enrolling."

"I heard the rumours, none of the Legion-people seem too happy about it - and how come you're enrolling anyway? You're as in-control as anyone on the Legion."

"Ta, but it's not about that. When my parents died, I had to get a job quick if I didn't want to end up on the streets or worse, and that didn't leave any time for school. They're doing normal classes too, and I want to finish school while I've got the chance."

Nori lay back and thought for a few moments. She HAD lived on the streets - for years, in an electric stupor. And if she didn't want to end up back in that stupor, she apparently needed heavy training. And, of course, that hadn't left any time for school for her either...

She sighed and asked Sul what she knew about signing up.

Leviathan fumed quietly across the desk from Cos. He'd opened his mouth to speak at least three times now and bitten it off every time.

It was tough on him, Cos reflected. If there had been nothing, Cos and his team would have been in a level of super-powered doo-doo unheard of in the history of doo-doo. But with the sheer evidence of well over fifty falsely imprisoned metahumans - mostly teens, some really quite young - even if Tela's testimony was ruled inadmissible in the end there was little possibility of anything worse than an admonishment for them. And that bit, especially since they'd dropped Gene off on the way there.

So Cos sat and enjoyed the unintentional comedy show that the weekly "strategy meeting" Gene had implemented between the co-leaders had become. Heaven knew, between Lorna and Paul in particular and the whole mess in general - not to mention the still-recent problems of his and Paul's gran - he needed something to help him relax.
____________

At that moment, Trinity was lying silently, split into three, on her king-size bed in her room - but this didn't last long, before she picked herselves up and looked at each other. Something else else had been preying on her mind for days now, and she had to confront it sometime. T-Orange was the first to break the silence.

"We promised Cos we would stick together."

T-Purple was the one who responded; "We didn't - we said no-one would ever catch us out again. And are you saying we weren't up to it? And what if Enrapture had gone down and picked someone off from a distance while the Hulk was about to cave their heads in?"

"But we didn't know that, and that wasn't why you ran away. We saw him and you ran after him without thinking. As usual."

"As if she couldn't have grabbed us back if you two were that strongly opposed. You wanted to do the same thing - you are me. It's not as if I say black and you say white. You want to say black, I'm just the one who actually does it."

"Why...."

T-Neutral broke in. "Just... just shut up for a minute." She was getting a headache and feeling the headaches the other two were developing on top of that.

«Look, » T-Purple started 'talking' through their link rather than aloud; «Let's break this down:

One - Yeah, we pushed our luck. But if we hadn't, besides the Enrapture thing, would Gates have cottoned onto the fact that they weren't the real McCauleys on his own, and found the way down? No. So Andromeda would have just massacred McCauley and probably lopped her own head off or something. And can you imagine what would have happened if that had happened while we were on the premises, against orders?

Two - "betraying" Cos. Maybe, but I don't think we did and that means neither do you. And you know how he feels about us, and we know how we feel about him. He won't hold it against us, and obsessing and avoiding him worrying how he'll take it will just make all of us lose sleep, him included.

Three - We need a break. Even if we don't get suspended - and I don't think Gene can since it wasn't an official mission and he's not suspending all of us since it was a success - we need out of here for a while or we'll spend months trying to avoid dealing with all this crap. Again. Disagree?»

T-Orange and T-Neutral just looked at each other.
____________

Cos was sitting in his office when the door was knocked. He called to whoever it was to come in, leaned back and closed his eyes for a moment.

"Hi Cos."

Cos opened his eyes with a start on hearing Trinity's voice. She kept on standing, and he almost swore he saw her purple eye flash orange for a moment. His bewilderment only lasted seconds, however, before he calmed himself, said "Hi Lu" and gestured for her to sit down.

"Listen Cos - about running off..." her voice tailed off as she realised she wasn't quite sure what to say.

"It hurt Lu. When I turned round and saw you weren't there, I wasn't sure if you'd gone off or been captured again, and I nearly turned the whole group around to look for you, until Lyle talked me down. And I know we weren't 'official', so I couldn't exactly order you about, but you said..."

"I know what I said..." Trinity said in a quiet voice, "but I only had a split second. If I'd left him, he might have teleported at any minute. If I'd stopped to tell you, either we'd have had a debate and he might have got away, or you'd have said no, and he would have got away, and either way what Lyle had found was important as well." She spoke up a bit more, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but if I'd known then what I know now about Enrapture, Andromeda, Hulk, etcetera, I'd have done exactly the same thing."

At that, Cos broke out in a broad grin, catching Lorna off-guard, which showed on her face and led to a "Wha...?" of confusion on her part.

"Nothing - no, that's not true. I'm just glad that you're starting to sound more like yourself again. Lying in bed all day, scared to face the world - that wasn't you, that was McCauley and Enrapture."

Lorna raised a "you know?" eyebrow at the second part, but before he could reply in any sense, Cos' watch started bleeping an alarm. "What is it?" she asked as he hit a button on it to stop the bleeping.

"Something else else Brainy rigged up for me - If the team's in the news during the day, I get a signal telling me to tune in. " he looked at the watch again, "and it looks like we're on all the news channels. I'll try CNN..." He pressed another button on his watch, and the screensaver on his computer was replaced by a picture of President Luthor speaking in front of the UN, with General Secretary Chu and various other world leaders around him. The scrolling text at the bottom read "...NOUNCES PLAN FOR SUPER-POWERS ACADEMY TIED TO LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES IN NEW YORK STATE..."

Trinity looked a 'did you know' question at Cos and got a shake of the head and a frown in return. Luthor was clearly nearing the end of his speech, and was talking about the need for 'all moderate peoples' to 'welcome the chance for all super-powered children everywhere to have a place where they can learn safety and control."

"Bet it ends up being 90% American," Trinity snorted, and in response to Cos' look said, "what - it's not as if THIS team isn't!"

Cos just sighed and rubbed his eyes, then said, "I knew Luthor was going to be trouble - I know he 'exonerated' himself of the Putumayo thing, but that's worth as much as a pair of dingo's kidneys and we know it. Keeping us out of the loop when they stick our name on something though... even if we're not tied up in it directly. This is going to be stressful..."

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure Irma can wangle some sort of veto on the teachers by hook or by crook. Hell, all those kids she's driving herself nuts scanning now are probably intended to be the pupil. And they'll want to make sure the teachers and pupils are all 'part of the solution, not the problem' in the whole 'War on Terror' crap, and there's the hook. Like I say, it'll work out."

"Hope you're right. I'm going to have to go and check on all this fershenlugger crap with Gene now though."

"Before you got then, I had something else I wanted to ask you about - I'm feeling better, but I'm still not really fit for duty if I'm going to be honest, and I should have taken your advice about a break ages back. So I was going to take a break now, if that's okay with you and I don't have to admit what I just said to Mr Big Man."

"You're not still... I mean, I know what I said, but..."

"Irma's scanned me at least three times now. I'm clean."

"Promise?"

"Don't worry Cos - we... sorry, I just need some time alone after everything. The surgery went well, but I need some proper post-op recovery," she smiled, albeit slightly hollowly, "I'll be back in a month or so."

"Where will you go?"

"My gran's old house - technically, I own it, since R.J. paid off the mortgage for me, and someone's looked in on it every now and then to make sure it's intact, etc."

"You'll be okay?"

"Don't worry about us Cos -" she split and T-Purple finished the sentence, "- we're tougher than we look right now," as the three of them put their arms around their shoulders.

"Well... take care, alright. I'll clear it with Gene for you."

"We will," and with that, T-Purple grabbed him and planted a huge kiss on his lips, while T-Neutral whispered in his ear, "Just don't forget us while we're gone" with a smile.

After the kiss was broken, T-Purple maintained eye contact for a moment, before vanishing. Trinity then took his hand to walk out the door, where they kissed again, more tenderly, before heading in opposite directions.

An hour later, she threw her bag over her shoulder, put a pair of sunglasses on, waved to Cos and got in the elevator. As soon as the doors closed though, she slumped against the back of the lift, suddenly tired at leaving, even if only for a few weeks, after holding herself there so long through everything.
__________________

Half an hour in the helicopter was all it took from Legion HQ to her home town of Carrigan, so less than two hours after leaving Cos Lorna was walking down her old street, nearly four years to the day since she'd left, crying and panicking on hearing of her gran's death. The young woman walking down the street was very different from the girl who'd left, but while the reasons changed, the past three months had taken a huge toll on her - after the three months before that had been the happiest of her life.

She noted as she went how nothing had seemingly changed, the same peeling paintwork on the town hall, the same charity appeals stuck in the same places. No-one noticed her as she walked - while her identity was not strictly secret, the Legion's promotional material tended to only use their codenames, and in any event, out of costume and with her differently-coloured eyes concealed behind shades, she didn't draw much attention with her brown pageboy's hair and casual clothes.

Finally, she reached 12 Vermont Street and took a moment to look. The garden was the sort of overgrown that you could just about get away with - the grass was scruffy, and there were a few weeds, but it clearly hadn't gone completely unattended the past few years - presumably, R.J. had arranged for this to be done while people checked the house and stayed in it for a few days every now and then to make it clear it hadn't been completely abandoned. The door was different too - the dark blue paint had given way to bare wood and varnish, presumably as something else requiring less maintenance. The same key fitted the lock, however, and she went inside.

As soon as she was out of sight, before she could even take notice of the surroundings, she split with a sigh of relief. When she was tense, keeping integrated was tricky, and "tense" was the least of what she felt right then. Three pairs of eyes looked around the dusty, musty front room. It wasn't precisely as she'd left it that day, but it wasn't far off. T-Orange pulled off her sunglasses and began to cry at the thought of her gran dying without her there, and as T-Neutral tried to comfort herself, she started crying too, while T-Purple tried to hold back the tears and succeeded only in giving herself another headache.

They knew they had to deal with their issues, including the one they'd run away from four years earlier, but it still hurt.

Trinity sighed as she sat with her mug of hot cocoa.

It was a few hours after her arrival. Since then - after she'd got over the shock of arrival - she'd dusted the place, unpacked her clothes, ordered pizza (chicken and pineapple) and picked up bread, milk, jam and cocoa powder.

Often it was the little things that having three of you helped with. With one of her, she'd have been lucky to get the pizza in the way she'd been feeling when she got in - a tripartite personality meant a sort of self-competition that had often got her going in the past, until McCauley's tampering had knocked the three of her into a funk. Maybe Cos was right, she thought. Maybe she was getting better after all the help she'd got from Irma, especially, but also Cos and R.J. And getting so confront McCauley.

Maybe, she smiled.
___________

You could have fought. You certainly could have won. But now you realise, too late Jin Xiong ao, that indenturing yourself and your undoubted talents - regardless of whether you leave yourself an "exit" or not as you did against the technological attempt to control you - is pointless.

You did not require the aid you claimed as recompense for the indenturation - and if you wished to learn the minds of such as McCauley, they are not complicated.

So now you fly, "lesson learned", towards the home you can never be permitted to re-enter. You were told this as you begged to be allowed to be allowed to leave on the grounds you were not required to continue the Line. Ever after convincing us of your redundancy, however, you counted on our clemency if you ever wished to return.

You chose... poorly. Even if we had the desire to repeal your exile, to the south and to the west, the Dark Lord Mordru, quiet for Ages, rises at the rejection of his daughters, and we dare not open ourselves to him, for even a moment.

And so you arrive to the appearance that we are not and never have been here, and we watch your frustration from behind our cloak. Yet there is nothing to be done, and what you do from now until the day you die is no concern of ours.

Goodbye "Dragonmage. "
___________

"And how much is the BIG gun?"

"Excuse me buddy, but you still haven't answered whether you have a licence or not."

Reflecto punched him straight in the kisser. Not that he would be doing any kissing for a while.

"Self-service. Huh? Cool."
___________

Mano wanted to punch the air with joy at McCauley's fall, as his teammates watched the TV with barely-disguised shock. However, practical considerations stayed his hand. Firstly and foremostly, his programming was still in place, so he couldn't; and secondly, he had three dangerous fellow-victims in the room with him.

So, instead of punching the air he thought, hard, about what he was going to do. Rescuing McCauley was out of the question, and fortunately, he could see a way to justify that within his programming - he and his team had been ordered to avoid public association with McCauley or McCauley Industries of any sort "at all costs". He could simply take that literally.

Unfortunately, that didn't leave many other options. Towards the goal of secrecy "at all costs", they would move safehouses that night, and they would thus "disappear" for some time. They were well-funded through many accounts with no direct connection with McCauley Industries, as they had each been started by a subordinate under false identities with several suitcases of cash - who Mano had himself killed under orders, leaving no body.

Still, while the prospect of being holed up until a way out appeared didn't appeal to Mano, anything was better than serving the fallen tyrant...
___________

"And there we are. Beautiful, isn't it?"

"Perhaps sir, Mr Reflecto, but just one minor point."

"Yes?"

"If you wish to become a mercenary, perhaps losing the mirrored suit might be an idea, hmmm?"

"...I'll think about it."
___________

"So, let me get this straight. We. Do. Nothing?"

"You have a better idea, Micro?"

"We bust into prison, get the Big Boss out and..."

"And then what?" Mano sighed. "We would have broken Rule One - don't publically associate ourselves with McCauley or his company - and Rule Two - don't go public unless ordered to. Wrong?"

"No..." Micro muttered, "but..."

"Wolf, Tellus - wrong?" Wolf shook his head nervously, Tellus merely shrugged. "So we move, as this safehouse may be compromised, and wait for further instructions."

"And if they never come?"

"We deal with that wh...if it comes up. Now come."

"Something else else stinks about this," Micro muttered as he followed behind...
___________

Leonard McCauley sat in his gaol cell, lined with McCauley Industries-brand power inhibitors. His lawyers had warned him that it would be along and costly fight for his freedom with little chance of success.

He had promptly fired them and hired some competent lawyers.

Still, the outlook was bleak.

Suddenly, a ghostly image of his father appeared before him.

"Father." He acknowledged the apparition without a hint of surprise.

"Leonard" His father, tight-lipped, returned the greeting.

"How did you get to Heather before the police?"

"There are ways. You used to know them."

"Perhaps." He sat back on the thin mattress of the bed.

"You know why I'm here."

"To complain of my 'utter shambles', I suppose?"

"More than that. You have disgraced the family name, the family business and your trial threatens further disgrace."

Leonard sat up straight, but didn't protest. He knew it would be useless.

"Goodbye Leonard." The apparition faded, and the screaming began...

Fin

There was a knock at the door. On hearing it, Dr Ryker sat up and looked at the clock, which showed it was a couple of minutes past the hour. She glanced at her appointment book before walking over and opening the door to reveal a young woman with short red hair in a white T-shirt and blue jeans.

"Hi... Eileen, isn't it?"

"No, Ella. Or Spark, I guess."

"Ella it is, then." Dr Ryker smiled at her, then added, "Come over and sit down," and led her over to two armchairs by the window, with a small table off to the side of them with a box of tissues on it.

They sat there for a minute, time enough for Ryker to note her contradictory body language, which didn't seem sure about whether she wanted to open up or shut down.

"So, why did you come here today then, Ella?"

"I... they insisted on it - the Legion. If I want to join after the stuff that happened, I apparently 'need to get some therapy', and this seemed like the least-bad option. I take it you know what happened?"

"I know the basic outline, but I'd like to hear it from your perspective. One question first though - if I'm the 'least-bad option'," the Doctor smiled, "what were the others?"

"Well, it was really this or see if Tela could help me, telepathically, I guess?"

"I see. So why don't you want to do that?"

She shrugged. "I spent months brainwashed just there, and I still don't know what I did in those months that was 'me' and what was 'it'. Someone poking around in my head, even if they mean well,... it's something it'll take me a while to say 'yes' to, if I ever do."

"But she's already spent time 'poking around in your head', hasn't she - it was her that unpicked the brainwashing program, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, but... that wasn't really something I said 'yes' to, it was something they went ahead and did. And it needed done, I'm glad they did it... but I wasn't in any condition to answer that question. 'It' would probably have stopped me saying yes, whatever I'd have felt about it at the time. And, yeah, I've gone for a couple of checkups, but they're quick and I sit there the whole time thinking 'please be over'. Which apparently makes them last longer, but..."

"But it's not something you enjoy, I understand. So you'd rather just talk about it?"

Ella gave a tight nod, but added "Not right now - not that bit anyway - it's just... just... other stuff sure, but the playing with my head is... it's hard to even think about. I don't think I can talk any more about it just yet, if you understand?"

"It's all right. We can come back to it when you're ready."

Ella sat back in her seat, then rocked forward and put her hands on the back of her head. She stayed there for a moment, then sighed, sat up, rubbed her face and looked at Dr Ryker.

"So," Dr Ryker asked, "what do you want to do with the time we've got today then?"

Ella shrugged.

"What about your parents? Have you seen them since it happened?"

"Yeah..."

"...but?"

"They'd seen the news obviously, and Garth had gone ahead to spell out what really happened when I disappeared to them, but... it was hard. They'd gotten over what they'd thought had happened, but just sitting there, trying to act normal... I wanted to just jump up and run away."

"Why?"

"I don't know."

"Are you sure? Try this - just sit there for a minute, close your eyes, and just let your mind drift back to what you were feeling at the time..."

Ella sighed, but she followed the instructions. After a minute, she brought her hands up to rub her face, and that continued for a minute or so more.

"I was...I don't know, I'd put them through hell - and part of the way, I'd meant it. I was going to leave, even if I was kidnapped before I made it. And there I was, trying to sit there and pretend none of it had happened, that I'm the same person I was before we all got zapped! It was revolting - I felt embarrassed out of my skin.... every time they looked at me, I felt like Mark."

"Mark?"

"My other brother, the older one. The one that caused this in the first place," Ella answered, holding up her hand, sparks dancing between the fingers.

"If you don't mind, how did that happen? You said something about 'getting zapped'?"

Ella sighed, and stayed quiet for a minute before answering, "Sure, might as well - Garth's probably said before anyway."

"We were on holiday on Nevis last year. It had been a good harvest, and mom & dad had got enough money for a holiday for the first time in years, so they booked a holiday for the start of the year. Anyway, me and Garth were going along. I'm can't remember why Mark came, actually - it might have been that my dad didn't trust him, none of us really trusted him; or it might have just been him pushing."

"You say you didn't trust him. What do you mean by that?"

"He's... I don't know if I should say..."

"Ella, none of the details you give me are going to leave this room without your permission if I can help it."

"You're 'assessing' me, aren't you?"

"Yes, but the report I write is based on the conclusions I reach from what you tell me, and the more you tell me the better I know you, and the more accurate the report I write will be. That doesn't mean I'll be telling secrets - you'll see a copy of the report I send before I send it."

Ella sat back in the chair, leaned her head back and exhaled deeply, before running both hands through her hair and scratching her head. After a moment, she clasped her hands behind her head and pulled it forward and gave the doctor a once-over with her eyes. Then sighed again.

"Mark's a f..." she bit her lower lip and started again, "he's a, oh, bad apple, black sheep, troublemaker, choose your own euphemism. What it means is that he's a thief but no-one's ever proved it."

"Who did he steal from?"

"Oh, me, Garth and dad for a start. Beyond that, I don't know and don't know that I ever wanted to know. You should have heard some of the fights him and dad had, while me and Garth weren't meant to be hearing but couldn't help it. Mark barely even hid it - oh, he covered his tracks well enough most of the time; we never caught him in the act anyway and I'm pretty sure no-one else did; but..."

"But what?"

"But he always had money he couldn't explain - he didn't have a job outside the farm and dad cut his allowance off when money started disappearing. If he was stealing from us, it wasn't as much as he had. And we never dared think what else... anyway, if we didn't trust him, he gave us plenty of reason not to and not much reason TO trust him."

At that, Dr Ryker smiled for a moment.

"What's the smile for?"

"It was your accent. Just for a moment there, it came out. Normally, you don't sound like you're from Kansas - not so you'd notice anyway. Neither does Garth, from the little I've heard of his voice, come to think of it. What's going on there?"

Ella blushed at that.

"Are you embarrassed, is that it?"

She ran her right hand through her hair. "A bit. Maybe." She switched hands, "Then again, my mum's not from Kansas and you can certainly tell to listen to her, so it was never really that strong, and it got weaker when I was in the Workforce and no-one else there was talking in an accent like it. I'm not one of those people, like my mom, who holds an accent no matter where I go, and neither's Garth."

"Anyway, you were saying about Nevis..."

"Yeah - where was I?"

"You were just about to leave, and saying why you didn't know why Mark was going."

"Got it. Well, we made it there okay, and spent a couple of days doing touristy stuff, you know. Then, when mom and dad were off on their own for a while, me & Garth found out Mark had hired a speedboat, and we insisted on going 'cause we didn't trust him to go off on his own."

"He was okay with that?"

"Heh - no way. He was shocked enough at us demanding something from him that he was too flustered to stop us though."

"So what happened?"

"Long story short, he went out further than he had fuel for and we ended up rowing to a tiny island near to where we ended up. Actually, we weren't panicking funnily enough. I don't think I even realised we were stranded for real - it was too big to just "get" in one go. Anyway, we ended up on this island - it was, oh, about the size of two, maybe three blocks here in New York, next step up from a lump of sand and a palm tree - which nearly the whole thing seemed covered in, and we dragged the boat up to the treeline. And when we did that, we noticed these weird shapes in the trees. We looked in, and then it all goes black."

"Do you know anything about what happened after that?"

"Not personally. Apparently, our boat was found with me and Garth lying in it back at Nevis, no sign of Mark. The next day, we were airlifted back to the US, and it was a month and a half later before Garth batted an eyelid. No-one knows anything about what happened with Mark."

"What about you?"

"I was out a week longer than Garth was. By the time I woke up, he'd found out about this," for a second, her eyes flashed white, sparking with electricity, "and he'd at least got the idea of how it worked. When I first saw him afterward, he asked if I could do it too. I tried, but I'd been in a coma for two months until about two hours earlier! All I could manage was this -" she held her right hand up, and a few faint sparks jumped, "- enough to say 'yes', but I was weak. I couldn't even stand up yet..."

"You sound bitter..."

"He laughed. Not a loud, ha-ha-ha noise, just a shudder and a smirk, but I knew him. That REALLY hurt. Not quite as much as what I found when I got home a couple of days later though, when I found out he'd packed his bags. Apparently, he'd decided to go off half-cocked after Mark himself, having decided that he 'obviously' had electrical powers too, and it was too dangerous for weak little me..."

"What happened?"

"He went. Somehow, he talked me into not going straight to mum & dad. I don't know how he got anywhere near as far as Metropolis - I think I'd convinced myself he'd get as far as the station and have to turn back."

"And then?"

"Well, it's fairly public what happened then, isn't it? He got lucky with being in the right place at the right time for Brande, and it all fell into place for him..."

"No, I mean you."

"...oh. Well, I worked on building my strength back up. It was really quiet though with those two gone, and I felt different with this -" she waved her arm, with hand flashing white "- running through me. Eventually, I just about cracked and was halfway to trying to follow Garth when, when..."

"Go on..."

"You know what happened."

"I'd like to hear you tell it all the same."

"I got gassed, caged, thrown on ice for, I don't know, a month or two, painfully reprogrammed - and, believe me, you can't even imagine how much that hurt. Apparently, it fires every nerve ending in your body, and I can believe that - and can't this get left for another day? I know this isn't my only session, and I've been sitting in this chair nearly two hours now."

Dr Ryker looked up at the clock. She was right.

Ella smirked at the look of surprise on her face. "And here I thought the first duty of a therapist was to the clock." She paused as she stood. "Thanks though, I think this did help a bit."

"You're welcome. Take care of yourself, okay, and I'll see you next time."

"Bye".

The Nightwatchman, Part 1

Morning:

There was a knock at the door of Shifter's quarters.

"Come in."

"Reed?" Starboy's head poked around the corner of the door.

"I said 'come in' Tom!"

"Just letting you know, we've got to leave in an hour or so. On a mission, I mean, to some place called 'Cathingham'."

"Who's going?" Reed's head flicked up from the book he was leafing through.

"Me, you, Lyle and Igor. Lyle said he was busy 'prepping' and wanted me to let you know."

"Ah. Thanks." Reed went back to flicking through his book.

"What at you looking at, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Not at all. It's just some old photos of mine from before, you know. Back when I was a kid."

"Mind if I look?"

"By all means" Reed held the book out.

Tom looked at a couple, before landing on a group shot. "Who's this?" Reed stretched his head up to look.

"My eleventh birthday party, just me and a few close friends - cousin Ron, Leandra, Lydia, Hugh, Stephen, René, Ralph and Peter."

"What are they all doing now?"

"I don't know much - Ron's the only one I'm still in contact with. I've heard bits and bobs, of course - René joined an advertising agency, Pete was trying to become a vet, Ralph wanted to be a botanist, Lydia's running a charity to do with her skin condition, and there was something else-"

"Skin condition? Did it happen after this was taken?"

"No, all her life - see how pale she is? She couldn't go out in the sun at all - if she did, she got huge blisters all over the exposed area."

"Poor kid...."

"The day that picture was taken, it was the hottest day of the year, and she turned up in a huge coat, gloves, a balaclava and big, black sunglasses..."

"Sheesh..." Tom paused for a moment. "What about the others?"

"Hugh and Stephen I haven't the slightest idea, and Lee - believe it or not - went into the army."

"I know you were kids, but she's TINY. How...?"

"As I said, I really don't know any more. This is all third-hand or worse." He glanced at the clock. "You said an hour?"

Tom looked at his watch "More like three-quarters now."

"I had better get ready then. Excuse me..."
_________

"So, what's wrong then?"

"Huh?" Lyle almost jumped in his seat at Shifter's question. They'd been in the air for an hour, and Lyle had spent most of that time brooding.

"You're worried, but you haven't moved a muscle to brief us on what we're facing. The new bugs at the back won't know that's a problem, but I do. What's wrong?"

Lyle craned his head back to face the ceiling, but didn't deny what Reed had said. Finally, he twisted his headband around and told him, "Intel. We don't have any."

"Wait..." Shifter's eyes boggled, "...you're saying that you know nothing about what we're facing."

"Bits and pieces, very little of it reliable beyond the fact that there's at least one vigilante in black armour in Cathingham going round knocking apparent criminals or would-be criminals out and possibly causing trouble for a gang - that's why I sent Starboy up to let you know about this rather than coming myself, I was desperately searching for more. I was given a few blurred CCTV shots, a couple of interviews with people saved or attacked by him - none of which contain any useful info as their contact with him was *very* short, and the idea that this is political rather than anything to do with our mandate of 'preventing, containing or solving a serious and immediate risk to life'."

"So then, you-"

"I'm saying that, although there might be a problem, legally we shouldn't be involved, and it sets a precedent that makes me livid."

"And Gene had nothing to say about this?"

"Gene said, and I quote, 'Get to it'. None of us have been happy with him - hell, we practically mutinied to get Cos reinstalled as de facto leader, even if Gene has to be the de jure leader - but, with Cos taking his Christmas leave early so he doesn't miss Lorna getting back, it's far too clear that Gene doesn't have a clue. He's a chain-of-command guy, who gets orders and passes them on unquestioned. If Cos had been in charge when that came down - or Irma, or me, or even sprocking Chuck - an order like that, coupled with an almost complete absence of info, would have been bounced right back quoting the bits of our charter that let us say no when it goes against the charter itself. Instead, all I could do was ask Gene for it in writing, let him know exactly why he did the wrong thing, tell him I was going to file a formal complaint, and CC him the e-mail informing them that I was going to do just that."

"I'm surprised you're here, well, we're here, then."

"Another time, I would have done. It'll be at least two months before a standard complaint gets anywhere, if it ever does."

"Then why didn't y... oh."

"What?"

"Condo. You're going through the system because of Condo, aren't you?"

Lyle blinked, then stared at him "What led you to that conclusion? Of course I'm worried about him, since he's been gone a month and I'm human, but I knew they'd probably be a while."

"We didn't even get informal warnings after the Workforce thing. You say we're allowed to say 'no' under the charter. Either you're not the Invisible Kid I know, or you're getting worried about what'll happen when the team you and Nura 'unofficially' sent out get back."

Lyle shot him a look.

"Oh, she sees the future, not the past. I don't think it even occurred to her you wouldn't have told me. She tells Irma everything - well, except for recently, with the work she's had scanning McCauley's victims for programming and everything's had Irma stuck over at WHQ, and the on the verge of exhaustion when she makes it back. Not that I'm not surprised you didn't tell me..."

Lyle sighed, "The less you know, the less you can be fingered for something you didn't have a part in."

"I know what you're like - that's why this seems wrong. And the only conclusion I can come to is that you don't want them angry enough that they start making examples of people. Starting with the group who've been absent without leave for the last month and counting..."

"You choose your fights, Reed." Lyle looked at him, hard. "With no Cos and Gene on the wrong side, this wasn't a fight I could win there and then; and in this situation, a fight delayed is a fight lost. Instead, you hang back, build your strength, build a dossier of wrongdoing & log the egregious examples, make sure everybody you can count on is there. Then - when you have your cards - then you strike."

"And hang on for dear life in the meantime?"

"If you have to."
_________

Afternoon:

Gisbert Vasey, the Mayor of Cathingham, was a short, balding, lightly bearded man on the one hand, and a tough operator who spent two hours every day in the gym, had lost a tooth in a boxing match, had no sign of paunch or age-related withering and had ruled his city for twenty-seven of his fifty-nine years and was by far the favourite win the mayoral election and extend his term to a record-breaking thirty-two years early the following year.

It wasn't any of the above which made the Legionnaires take an instant dislike to him, however. It was his manner, and the arrogance thereof. He barely said a word to them during the photo op they hadn't had mentioned to them in advance, which led to Lyle fading out his hand during the pictures of him hakeing the Mayor's hand. And that was before the speech he gave to them in the police commissioner's office...

"So, you're the Legionnaires, hmm? Well, we have a problem - a disease - in our city, that's been called 'the Nightwatchman'.

Some misguided fools call him a hero!

What I say, is that we have laws in this country. This 'Nightwatchman' thinks he is above the law. This 'Nightwatchman' has no respect for the law. This 'Nightwatchman' flouts the law.

Well, I say that he is not above the law! That he is breaking the law - the codes by which our society abides in order to function. If we were to allow every Tom, Dick and Harry to break the law, where would we be, hmm?

He would have us all be criminals, murdering, and stealing. While wearing masks to hide behind. Only the guilty have something to hide.

Which is why, thanks to my friend, Lex, I have brought you here today. We have a lawbreaker. I expect you to rectify that, and to give me your full co-operation to. that. End."

(beat)

"Oh, and do have a lovely time in Cathingham, thank you"

After which, he left without waiting for a reply. They looked at each other mutely in astonishment, with an additional "I told you so" look from Lyle to Reed.
_________

Night:

Gear's tendrils snaked into the sockets, reshaping themselves to fit. "Gimme a moment... there. Up and running."

"You can see everything?" Shifter asked.

"Everything there is here - CCTV, police radios, the kit, the caboodle..."

"...and commlinks" Gear's voice suddenly came from Shifter's shoulder rather than his mouth, making him jump. The others laughed.

"Right, Shifter, Starboy, let's get going." Invisible Kid pressed. "Gear, you know what to do."

"Tell me about it," Igor muttered as he worked to multitask through the data from 24 CCTV cameras, 104 police radio channels and assorted miscellany simultaneously...
__________

Two-and-a-half hours later, Lyle's "get going" seemed wildly optimistic as they sat in police car playing cards and waiting for some word.

"He heard we were coming, didn't he," Tom moaned. His first official mission as a Legionnaire was turning into a waste of time.

"Could be," Lyle serenely placed another card. "You just have to learn some pat-ie-en..."

"Got a hit!" Gear's voice echoed through the vehicle as their commlinks sparked to life. "Saw him heading north at the crossing of Watson Street and Trefoil Road."

As Lyle, who had already made his way into the front, sparked the engine into life, he smirked at Tom for a fraction of a second.

When they were stopped at a busy junction, Shifter snaked through the grill separating the front seats of the car from the rear. "I caught that smirk. You're feeling more confident then?"

"Not in the slightest."

"Eh?"

"Rule of leadership: don't let the newbies see how nervous you are." He pulled out into a gap in the traffic, turning left.
___________

Reed was alone. Lyle & Tom had both fallen quickly - Lyle to a blow to the head, delivered by the Nightwatchman in what seemed like complete ignorance of Tom trying to pin him gravitationally, and Tom himself to a tranquiliser dart fired from his wrist. One had hit Reed too, but a small area around where it hit had liquified and fallen out with the dart, taking the drug with it.

He'd just managed to heal the resulting wound when a kick to the chest had knocked him on his behind, showing the fight was on.

He hadn't done very well.

His unique physiology stopped his much stronger opponent from knocking him out, but whatever the training he'd received from Valor & Trinity, he simply hadn't been able to make an impression through his opponent's armour. It had almost come as a relief when the Nightwatchman had bolted on hearing sirens, and had very nearly just given into the pan and gone to his 'natural', gelatinous, form to heal.

Nearly.

As a result, he was trying to do so in solid form, while chasing the NWM. The concentration needed nearly led him to miss the NWM dropping down a manhole cover, and then he almost lost him in the gloom of the sewer passageways.

Almost.

Now, the NWM was turning to fight once more, seemingly giving up on losing him. Focusing on this and healing rather than watching his step, Shifter tripped over a loose brick and fell.

With his opponent looming over him, and the knowledge that he couldn't beat him in a straight fight, he made a decision, and
jumped onto his helmet, clamping to it limpet-style and bracing against his opponent's shoulders, trying to forcibly remove it.

If he couldn't beat him, at least he could see his face, find out his identity-

The blows started to rain down upon him, the NWM desperate to be rid of him. He held on, and with the blows failing to prise him off, he grabbed at him.

He clung on to the rim of the helmet for dear life, pulling at it and trying to brace.

Something else else had to give.

He wouldn't.

The NWM wouldn't.

The helmet did.

As it came off, Shifter fell forwards, still stuck to his trophy, trying to stay focused on staring at his opponent's face. The NWM had audibly winced as it happened and was now rubbing the back of their head as... long hair fell down from a topknot? He engorged his eyes more until they took up fully half his face, peering through the dark.

His surprise at registering the "Nightwatchman's" unmistakably female face was as nothing compared to the shock when he recognised her.

"Lydia?!"

The Nightwatchman, Part 2

Shifter was so shocked at recognising the face beneath the helmet that his arms momentarily turned to jelly, and he dropped the helmet. It rolled irregularly on the bricked surface for a couple of turns before stopping. Its' owner picked it up but didn't put it back on.

"Lydia?" His face contracted into a look of sheer bewilderment. "That really you?"

She looked at him for a second, seemingly unsure how to respond. Instead of replying, she walked over and picked up the brick he'd dislodged for a moment, looking down at where it had come from. Then she looked straight at him and answered, "yes."

"But..."

He was cut off by her making a "shush" gesture with her gauntleted finger, whereupon she lifted an irregular circle of bricks, joined from below by a thick plate iron circle, which concealed a hole slightly wider than her armour.

"Now, you've recognised me. I can continue to flee, and you can run back to the Mayor with what you have learned, or we can talk. Down here, now. I'd far prefer to talk."

Shifter looked nervously at her. She sighed.

"I'm not a murderess - all I wanted was to be left alone, and that is hardly an option now. What happens now, is your choice."

Now, it was Reed's turn to sigh. He weighed the options. Given the way she was holding a sizeable chunk of brick and iron, she apparently had a level of strength surpassed amongst those he'd met only by Andromeda & the Hulk. That backed up her claim that she wasn't out to kill him, since with that strength level, she had to have been holding back, however sore he'd become. If he was safe enough, the question then was, was it worth it? And that was answered by the fact that he'd known her once, even if it was years earlier...

"I'll talk."

"Good." She paused and glared at his shoulder. "Leave the radio behind." He hesitated again, but she stared at him and he reluctantly dropped the commlink into the sewer water. She then beckoned him over, and he saw the narrow, deep pipe under the irregular gap in the bricks, and the ladder-like steps embedded in the side of it. Warily, with one eye on her, he stepped down.

As he climbed downward, he heard her place the brick he'd dislodged back into the lid with a "click", and then looked up to see her sitting on the rim of the hole, helmet loosely over her head, looking down to check where he was. As he reached the bottom, she brought it down and the already-oppressive darkness became total.

Completely blind, he pushed himself into the side of the pipe, and wondered what he'd got himself into.

She reached the base far quicker than he had, and he heard a click and the sound of something moving. He felt her reach for his hand, and took it, followed by her guiding him down a short, pitch-black corridor into a small room with a slight draught. She lit a candle and he blinked furiously, suddenly blinded by even the dim light with his huge, dark-adjusted eyes. He shrank them to something more like normal and looked at her.

She had removed the helmet again, and was inspecting the edges of it for signs of damage. Apparently satisfied no serious damage had been done, she set it down on a protruding nail in the rough-stone wall, and pulled two snack bars from a bag which hung on another nail and offered one to him.

"Well, you look... striking... now, Reed."

"And you don't?" A thick, raised eyebrow appeared above Reed's left eye as he reached for the bar. "Been following me or the Legion in general?"

"The latter - I thought this might happen one day, given a certain person's paranoia. Although I must say, I was surprised to see Shifter was 'Reed Daggly', and I could not expect there are many people with that name in this world." A giggle had just about crept into her voice after his name, but she sobered up as she continued, "I don't know whether I should say 'Sorry' or 'Congratulations' at what's happened."

"A bit of both, I expect. And I can't expect there are many Lydia Graths out there, penchant for dressing in black men's armour or no. Nightwatchman? Really?"

"I did not choose the name - I'd prefer not to be known at all in this guise, but I gained enough infamy to be named by the press. And the armour is... a matter of practicality."

"Right, well, you wanted to talk. It sounds like you've heard how I got to this point, what about you? How'd you end up as Superbatgirl?"

Lydia paused a moment. Then she gave a long sigh, sat back against the wall, sighed again and started talking, "I suppose it starts with my father. Almost a year after you left, something triggered a reaction for the first time in some time - perhaps I was careless, or someone else had left some windows open. But regardless of the cause, I had to stay in the 'inside rooms' for weeks, and my father became more worried than ever.

As a result, he made an offer to a pharmaceutical company - he would work for them for them for free, in return for two days a week of research and development time to work at improving my condition and the staff to support him. Knowing my father's expertise, they agreed provided we would move here.

Two years later, he felt he had something which might help - and which had been tested so that, to his satisfaction, it would not harm me, Desperate for some relief, I took it. It didn't do me any harm, but if there was an improvement it was marginal." Her voice dropped a little. "Soon afterward, he had a severe heart attack - he survived, but he was left bedridden and is still very frail. As he could not travel, the arrangement had to be ended.

Shortly after my father's illness began, however, I began to notice changes. People almost seemed to glow. Frightened, but not wanting to burden my father, I said nothing.

Do you remember how, despite my condition, I was always afraid of the dark, and insisted on having some 'safe' light source around?"

"Indeed."

"Well, as a result, it was only when the power was cut during a storm one night that I realised what the glowing was - I could see heat as well as light, which meant I could see in the dark. It was amazing... and it was then that I first began to notice the other change."

"The strength? You mean that's not part of the armour?"

"Only tangentially. Strong light, even when it is not bright enough to burn me, dampens my strength, and even in the pitch-black night then, I was only just stronger. My strength has built though - sometimes, when I wear this, it seems almost limitless. And yet, I'm still as trapped by the sun as I've ever been, like a vampire. If you were to hand me over to the Mayor, or even give him my name, I would be at their mercy." Her eyes had dropped as she mentioned the sun, but as she admitted that she would be at their mercy, she raised her face and stared straight into his eyes.

"But, you're still breaking the law, Lydia - you can't just take the law into your own hands."

"'All that is needed for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.' Edmund Burke is supposed to have said that, do you remember? I believe that it applies to women too. On average, I save two people a night from being mugged, raped or murdered in individual crimes alone.

In addition, there is a human trafficking gang operating in this city, using innocent women and children as prostitutes and slaves." Up until this point, her voice had been soft, but as she continued, it began to build, "As long as I have the power to do something about it, I cannot let that go! In the past month, I have freed fifty women from being forcibly used in brothels across this city, and handed them to one of the charities I run to be helped. I'm sorry, but if obeying the law means leaving people to be raped, tortured and killed then the law is an ass and I want no part of it!"

Shifter was shocked into silence by her sudden anger, and she followed up, softly spoken once more, with "You don't know the Mayor at all, do you?"

"No," he was forced to admit.

"Have you ever heard of him before today?"

"No... all I really know, if I'm going to be honest, is that he Officially Requested our help, and that he gave a long speech about 'the need to adhere to the law' when we arrived."

"Ha." Lydia didn't laugh, she pronounced it as a word. "His order, and his law, as it suits him. His father was the mayor here, and his grandfather before him, and he himself has been mayor for almost thirty years. It seems to be effectively a monarchy, trappings of democracy or no. And he knows it, and he uses it. Was I a 'rogue element' this time?"

"Ah, not exactly..."

"A 'disease' then?"

"Umm... yes."

She looked down and shook her head slowly for a moment, then said, "This gang couldn't operate here without his implicit consent. Indeed, although I wouldn't wage money on it, it would not surprise me in the slightest to find that, ultimately, he ran it himself. Far better to call in an international super-powered task force, who are only meant to deal with immediate and serious threats to life, to deal with someone who is saving lives than to do anything about it."

Reed shifted slightly in his seat as she brought up the charter issue Lyle had pointed out to him earlier in the day. If she noticed, however, she didn't pause as she continued...

"Still, if breaking the law is automatically wrong, let's see, doesn't your official Legion web page say that you were transformed after knocking out and impersonating the Legion's designated co-pilot, an officer in the United States Air Force, on a mission to Cambodia?"

"Yes..."

"Should we attempt to tease out how many laws you admit to breaking in that sentence alone? Or how long you would have been in prison if you had been charged and convicted?"

"I'd rather not..."

There was silence for a few moments, as the candle flickered in the draught.

Eventually, she looked at him again, and her expression softened... "I'm sorry Reed, I'm not trying to just bludgeon you into submission." He snorted, but she continued, "It... I am doing good here, and whatever else happens I can't just... stand by and let murders, rapists and profiteers from misery go without doing everything I can to stop them. It is why I do this.

And now you essentially have it in your power to stop me. I said I could run, but, if I'm honest, that stopped being true when you saw my face. I can't abandon my father, and everything else I do would have to stop.

So I have to continue, unless you give me to the Mayor to be captured. What will you do?"

"For someone who isn't trying to bludgeon me, you, you do a good impression of it." The short tentacles atop Shifter's head moved like sea anemones in the tides. "Can't you, I don't know, do more elsewhere to make up for it?"

"Reed, I don't just fund charities - I run three, personally, and that takes up almost all of my 'day' time. There is a limit on what else I can do, personally, especially when I can't go out in daylight. If I was to stop, or forcibly be stopped, the only differences, other than the Mayor's personal satisfaction, will be that more attacks will be allowed to happen unchallenged, and that more women will continue to be abused without hope of rescue."

Shifter looked down at the floor. He felt like he was in a lose-lose situation. He didn't doubt that what she said was true, but on the other hand the Mayor was right in his way too - people bopped on the head by a vigilante, however well meaning, were hard to get a conviction on. But on the other hand, if she was actually saving people, rather than them dying or being traumatised, that was preferable to that happening even if those at fault were later convicted, surely...

Lydia saw that he was wavering, and decided on a high-risk strategy. "Come with me."

"Huh?"

"When you intercepted me, I was intending to close another forced brothel. Now, time's running short. Come with me, help me save those women."
_________

What convinced Reed to go the extra mile and actually help her wasn't Lydia's words, passionate as they were - though, on her own, she could probably have convinced him to let her be. What led him to do it was the memory of Lyle's words in his head - 'Intel. We don't have any....this is political rather than anything to do with our mandate of 'preventing, containing or solving a serious and immediate risk to life'...legally we shouldn't be involved, and it sets a precedent that makes me livid... If Cos had been in charge when that came down - or Irma, or me, or even sprocking Chuck - an order like that, coupled with an almost complete absence of info, would have been bounced right back.' And it had practically confirmed by the Mayor himself.

They'd been sent on an illegal mission, blind. Success would only encourage them to repeat it.

Well, that was how he rationalised it, anyway, as he followed Lydia in climbing from her bolthole, shifted into a near-copy of her armour.

"Where are we going?" Without an actual opening, his voice was muffled, but she heard him even through her helmet.

"This way." She pointed in a direction, while he jumped at the deep, male voice coming from her.

"It's from a children's toy. It works for the little speaking I do like this. Now shush."
_________

Finding it was simple - clearly, Lydia worked at getting good intel, he thought pointedly, as they stood in a nearby alley, having just come up from through a manhole cover.

"Is there anything I should know?" he mumbled

"Sometimes they shoot at me."

"What?"

"The armour's thick, and I have two bulletproof vests, a steel-plate stab-proof vest and several layers of "stab-proof" fabric. The form's for protection, not to be androgynous."

"I meant, 'why didn't you tell me this?'"

"If you want to leave, then you still can."

Bullets mostly worked by ripping apart internal organs, Shifter thought. For someone who didn't have any... "No, but you should have told me-"

"It's too late for that now. Are you staying, or are you going?"

"Well, I'm staying, but-"

"Come then..." She started moving...
_________

Two hours later (1am):

It had been a rout. With 'protection' from the police and any rival gangs, they hadn't been ready for a super-strong armoured woman and a shapeshifting glob in armoured form and it had all been over in a few minutes. What had taken longer - almost an hour - was for Lydia to gain the trust of the six women enough for them to follow her to the haven she'd had one of her charities set up. Shifter, not speaking their language, just tried to stay inconspicuous as he could - while needing to stay in the form of something which was about as inconspicuous as a tank.

Now, they were back in another of Lydia's boltholes - as she'd explained, she usually hid for a few hours after doing anything major, as it got the Mayor uncommonly excited. She had her helmet off, he had returned to his standard form, and both clutched drinks which had been hot ten minutes earlier. A comfortable silence had descended when he realised the time, and reluctantly spoke up.

"I need to go, you realise - we were due to fly back three hours ago."

"You were confident," she smiled.

"Not in the least, actually - we knew next to nothing about you. But we weren't allowed to have a hand in the planning."

"And do you still know next to nothing about me?" She put her drink down and looked him in the eye. "I need to know Reed." And something about the way she stared made his non-existent stomach leap.

"I won't say anything Lydia. I promise. But I can't promise we won't be dragged out here again, charter or no."

"In my experience, you should promise what you can, and accept what you can't." She smiled. His 'heart' leapt this time. "You should go."

He stood up, "I know about, well, you know; but if you ever make it to New York, contact me."

"I will." She smiled again, and he turned and went quickly.
__________________

He was back on the plane from earlier in the day. He'd been found, "dazed" and lost by a police car and brought in after Gear had spotted him on CCTV. He'd explained that he'd eventually been pounded to the point he couldn't take any more, and had reverted to his gelatinous form, losing his radio at some point. It hadn't been a million miles from the truth.

The Cathingham cops hadn't been happy, but Lyle had already made it *very* clear to them by at that point that they needed to go as soon as they found him.

Now, sat back in the darkened plane, with Gear and Starboy asleep, Lyle suddenly spoke up. "One thing - Gear thought he saw two Nightwatchmen at one point in the night. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

Shifter concentrated as hard as he could on keeping a straight face. "How could I? I was an unconscious blob in the sewer for hours, if you recall."

Lyle raised an eyebrow briefly, but said "I'll leave that mention out of the report then. An unreliable glimpse, it was probably just a shadow," and lay back in his seat to shut his eyes, a grin seeping over the edges of his mouth.
____________________________________

EPILOGUE

Later that day:

Lydia sat back and sighed loudly before checking her watch. Three minutes grace before her next appointment seemed like the most she'd had all day to reflect on the night before. Her secret ID had been compromised, and while she thought she could trust Reed, it was far from out of the question that they could try again, sending someone who could cause her real problems - Kinetix perhaps, or Live Wire. Or, worst, Tela. She would have to be more careful in future to avoid that sort of encounter. Of course, with that in mind, she'd already been searching for help, and...

There was a buzz, and her secretary's voice broke her reverie. "Your three o'clock is here."

She sighed before pressing the intercom's reply button. "Ask her to step in then, please."

A moment later, the door opened, and the interviewee came in, asking "Lady Grath?" While tall, clearly strong and dressed in a smart trouser suit, her whole body language radiated nerves as she flicked at her long braid, and Lydia wondered for a moment how deep rooted they were, with what she knew of her history. Still, one reason to do interviews..."

"It's just 'Ms. Grath' if you have to be so formal, but 'Lydia' would be fine," she said with a broad grin, "I never use the title." She stretched out her hand, and they shook hands firmly. "Please, have a seat Ms. Gander."

Vienna, Austria

Though it was no where near the top speed Monius Elysius could fly at, it was the fastest Spirit has ever moved in her entire life. He flew directly to the building below, traveling across the airspace of numerous countries with an abrupt ease, though his chiseled features let on no hint of a smile. Tina stole away a few glances at him, feeling almost weightless in his arms, and she couldn’t help but stare at his handsome face. He had a sort of rugged handsomeness that was, well, uncommon these days. Truly he was a warrior of two thousand years earlier, hardened by a much harder world. There was something good about him, of course, which was why all of them had been drawn to him immediately. But there was something much more…something dangerous and strong. Despite herself, she felt an attraction, though she hated the thought of coming between Mon and Tatiana, since there was already some sort of unspoken connection there (and Tina was not blind to these types of social behavior—quite the opposite really). “Down below there…” she said in almost a whisper, her slender arms pulling her mouth closer to his ear to make sure he would hear. He would. His hearing was just about better than almost anyone on the planet.

So Monius Elysius descended into Vienna, the capital of Austria, and the home of Princess Tamara Wazzo (Tina to her friends). It also just so happened that as he did so, there was more than enough media to witness his arrival, as rumors about his existence became much less than rumors from here on. Spirit, the Austrian Princess who became one of the original Legionnaires, was a pure celebrity in her home country—and indeed the world—as there was no Austrian girl who did not fantasize about being her at this point, and no boy in all the world who did not fantasize about dating her, given her tremendous beauty and obvious confidence. But she would speak nothing about the young man who carried her back home that afternoon, though every reporter and cameraman in shouting distance called out to her. She had promised him she would not.

“Mother will outraged and scandalized that I’ve arrived like this,” she said, Maziah’s spell of understanding between the twelve of them still working despite her distance away. “So I expect she’ll be screaming at us shortly. She can be quite scary…”

“I don’t scare too easy,” smiled Mon. “The others will hopefully arrive this evening according to Dirk. Then we can all rest for awhile…at last…” he added, thinking about Tenz, Hasim, Tatiana and Dirk, who had suffered greatly in the Gulag of the Dark Circle. It brought back fresh anger, to know they were tortured so badly…simply because they were different.

“I’ll have food and beds prepared,” said Spirit, as they walked into the Castle of the Royal Family of Wazzo, an off-shoot of the ancient Hapsburg family, former rulers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Her mother, the Countess Winema, was a prominent member of the European Union (on the Budgetary Committee), as well as being a member of the United Nations. Some families, of course, knew how to remain in power as customs such as monarchy held less sway over the centuries. Despite her occasional eccentricities (claiming the Austro-Hungarian Empire would one day rise again), she was a political powerhouse with a ferocious intellect that she used as her second greatest weapon—the greatest, of course, being her lack of mercy in the political arena. Above all, what caused the Countess the most distress in her life currently was the fact that her only daughter (and only heir) had decided to join the ridiculous “Legion of Super-Heroes” in New York City. And unfortunately for Tina, her mother was indeed home at the moment, playing host to a large array of global politicians.

Tina would learn all of that shortly, as she and Mon were greeted by the various household servants. Mon pulled off his cloak (his ‘cape’ to the Legionnaires in their company). “Vienna…” he said out loud, “…it didn’t exist during my time, though the Empire was on its way here. I would think there must be some Roman influence in this city?” he asked her.

“Indeed,” she smiled, “the city began as a Roman Army camp. Many European cities did,” she smiled. He smiled in return. Stop it Tina, she thought, but couldn’t help herself. “The media will be camped outside the castle until we leave now, dying to know who you are. Once our ‘friends’ arrive, they definitely won’t be leaving.

“It seems they have other things on their minds as well,” said Mon, nodding toward a television set, a concept which he had only become recently acquainted with.

”The Khund Menace!” yelled the man on the screen. “The biggest threat to our security in our age right now, and not a thing is being done about it! When will the U.N. show some teeth? Maybe this latest gathering of politicians in Austria will present us with something useful…but I doubt it! Once more, it will be up to us and our American allies to deal with the larger global threat. This is Jack Ryder, signing off.”

“I know nothing about this Khund Menace,” said Mon, “but the people of this world have no idea about what a true threat to their security is…as the Dark Lord in the East continues to rise.”

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

Berlin, Germany

An older gentleman, dressed in a fine business suit, clean cut with gray hair and the type of man that grows more attractive as he ages, sat having a glass of scotch, neat, watching the news. Focused on Austria, it showed what looked like a man with a flowing blue cape, flying into Vienna carrying the Legionnaire known as Spirit. The media, it appeared, were in a frenzy attempting to uncover the man’s identity.

Marla Latham knew exactly who he was, and had been concerned about he and his friends since their parting in India. Now he knew where he’d be going to next, it seemed.

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

Yemen

The Dark Lord sat up on his thrown, looking to the West and seeing far with his omniscient eyes. Many of his servants sat in his presence in silence, not daring to look directly upon him. Azmodeus, the feline, curled around his feet. The defeat of Vykros has inspired his wrath in a way not done in two decades. Yet, the power shown by his daughter Maziah was somewhat pleasing to him. Perhaps she had some fire in her after all.

Yet, enough was enough. The time had come to bring her home, and to vanquish her allies too. His ancient foe, Blok, was among them, and he had begun to assemble many who might hold a grudge against him. But there was little they would be able to do the Dark Lord, when they were but a company of children and he had power that had leveled armies and continents many times over. “Bring me the man called Blood.”

His voice echoed in the hallway, and brought fresh tears to the eyes of those weakest among his servants.

Now Mordru was ready to end this charade, bring his daughters home and show her the many forms that torment could take.

While Tina dealt with making preparations and politically avoiding her mother at all costs, Mon became even more unapproachable than ever (as just about everyone began outright avoiding the rooms and hallways he was brooding in), the rest of the Company at last grew closer to Austria, until at last they entered the country and reached Vienna.

Princess Jacquie looked out the window as a light rain began to descend and breathed a heavy sigh. Her platinum bangs fells at her forehead and she felt too tired to brush them away.

“What is it Princess?” said Val, the Legionnaire known as Valor. “You suddenly look sad.”

“We’re close to where my country is…was…I suddenly wish we had stopped there.”

Val knew she was thinking about Sarya and the betrayal she felt when her lifelong friend became “The Emerald Empress”. Such a betrayal was not something you ever got over, no matter how much time had passed.

Hasim seemed to move closer, and once more Dirk noticed that whenever Val approached Jacquie, Hasim would somehow always end up in the space between him. This brought Dirk a secret delight, to know that Hasim was not some emotionless bully, but actually had feelings. Dirk wrapped his arms around Jacquie, and she smiled at his display of affection. “No worries Jacq,” he said, “soon we’ll be living it up like the old days…the Princess treatment for you, the celebrity treatment for me…even Tenz can eat real food again, instead of rocks and chains and all that other stuff…”

“Haha, Sun Boy,” said Tenz, walking over too now, as they all prepared to get off the train. Dirk hated the moniker Sun Boy, which is what the media nicknamed him when he was a young male super-model. He had outgrown it several years ago. “While you were all sleeping on the train, Condo and I started coming up with our new codenames.”

Everyone groaned.

“What?” laughed Condo, “like I said, we Legionnaires have them, and you all are young super-powered teenagers on some obviously benevolent quest…so…you know…”

“Well, except Blok,” added Tenz.

<font face="Impact">“Blok is all you need call me,”</font f> said Blok from the back of the train car, and everyone laughed and giggled. Maziah, who was right next to him, smiled and rested her head on his arm.

“We, uh, got that Blok,” said Tenz. But besides Sun Boy, we have Shadow Lass for Tatiana…”

“I hate it,” said Tatiana, trying to mock anger but laughing despite herself. She had been mad for awhile that Mon had moved on ahead with Spirit, but the constant goofing around by Tenz, Condo and Dirk had put her in a good mood.

Tenz was laughing now at Tatiana. “Oh, still in a great mood, I see. Well, besides Shady and Sun Boy, we have ol’ Nemesis over here, right Hasim?” Hasim snarled at him.

“Better stop while you’re ahead Tenz,” said Dirk with a smile.

Vi walked over to them, pointing at the papers. “Look at the headlines,” she said. “All everyone is talking about is Khundia. Apparently we’re arriving here at the same time many of the world’s politicians are. Maybe we can sneak in unnoticed.”

“That’s doubtful,” said Val, looking at their rag-tag group. While the three Legionnaires among them (Catalyst, Valor and Shrinking Violet) had costumes, the others looked like they had been to hell and back, which wasn’t too far removed from the truth. Not to mention Tatitana’s skin had begun to turn blue, and had now become a deep blue color that was noticeable upon first glance, and Blok was a large rock-type creature that towered above them all.

“Oh ye of little faith,” said Jacquie. “Some of us have abilities more subtle than others…but equally as useful,” she added, as she cast an illusion to cover them.

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

At last, the Company finally arrived at Castle Wazzo, where they would be fed, bathed and given proper sleeping quarters and clothing for the first time in quite a long time. But not before one final series of awkward introductions took place. As the ten friends arrived, Tina phased through the doors to come out to meet them. Before questions of surprise and ‘where’s Mon?’ could be spoken, she embarrassingly informed them that her mother would like to meet them all first before they arrived. “She thinks you’re all Legionnaires, and well, I didn’t feel like getting into the entire explanation. So…this isn’t exactly going to help my cause of getting her to think better of the Legion.”

Condo smiled. “You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you as anything other than uber-confident before. Its part of your charm. So this mother of yours…well, this should be interesting.”

Dread passed over her face. “This is going to be a nightmare,” said Tina, as she opened the doors.

As the doors opened, the caught a glimpse of Mon standing off to the side, dressed in t-shirt, jeans, boots and a blazer, obviously clothes Tina had gotten for him, as he was no fan of the 21st style of dress. His voice was void of any emotion and he was quiet, but those that were beginning to know him well, Tatiana prime among them, knew he was very annoyed. In front of them was a brunette woman, in her early forties, and very attractive. She wore a business suit with a skirt bottom, white-colored so that it matched Spirit’s Legion uniform in an odd way. To both her left and right were a series of others dressed in business suits, each one with an air of importance that spoke volumes: they were either delegate friends of the Countess, or her business associates.

The Legionnaires suddenly felt tawdry in their bright-colored costumes and the others simply felt embarrassed at their ragged appearance, after spending weeks on the road, some of which they had been imprisoned, tortured, or huddled in blankets amongst each other. Dirk, usually brash and ready to step to the forefront of every conversation felt the ambassador’s eyes fall on him like a hammer, and both Tenz and Tatiana felt themselves shrinking backwards. Maziah felt a bold annoyance but was silent and Blok seemed to have not a care in the world to discuss matters with these people. Hasim was close to outright hostility, though he was far enough in the back to go unnoticed. But soon all their eyes focused solely on Jacquie, as it was she who stood first and foremost and her regal manner was shown forth like a shining star. She didn’t draw their attention to her—she demanded it. Perhaps because she realized the others felt like they were pinned between a rock and a hard place, or perhaps because being her among these “Important” people reminded her of her old life. Whatever the reason, she stood up strait and walked forward.

“Madame Countess,” she began without being asked, “forgive our appearances. The road has been long and often unkind, and we are honored by your hospitality and your generosity. Please know that we will not stay long and while we are here, we will do our best to be the least inconvenience possible.” She bowed before the Countess, who was suddenly speechless. She had not expected Jacquie’s diplomacy. Indeed, she expected a more brash and loud entrance characteristic of groups of teenagers; she had expected a group like her own daughter.

“It is no inconvenience at all,” said Countess Winema quickly, recovering. “You’ll understand our shock at your appearance, but I am sure it is a tale you Legionnaires will gladly tell us about over dinner.” Winema eyed Jacquie longer and the silence was deafeningly loud. “I apologize child, but do I know you?” she at last asked.

“Indeed,” said the woman directly to her left. “Winema, this is Princess Jaqueline Projectra of Moldavia.” The woman turned to Jacquie personally. “You have my deepest sympathies Princess.”

“Indeed, all of ours,” said the man directly to this last woman’s left.

“Thank you,” replied Jacquie.

“Forgive me,” said Winema. “Allow me to introduce my own guests. This is Maya Dahanayake, United Nations Ambassador of Sri Lanka,” she said, motioning her hand to the woman who had professed her sympathies to Jacquie. She was younger than Winema, in her mid-thirties, but had a confident look about her. “This is Alton Relnic of Ireland, known among the political world as the Cicero of our time,” she said, oozing sarcasm as she said so. Relnic was an older man, in his fifties, though still somewhat handsome. He had a biting look to him, as if he could cut you to pieces if he chooses to. Jacquie had heard of him before, as had Dirk and Tatiana. He was a very prolific political figure and very well-liked, at least in their parts of the world growing up. “Does that make you Mark Anthony, Winema? Said Relnic with a smile, though Winema ignored it. “George Whittington of the United States, also an Ambassador of the United Nations,” she added, motioning her hand to a hard looking man, slightly overweight with short jet-black hair. “Howdy,” he said with a nod and a smile. “And lastly, this is Gil Deshi of Burma,” she said, motioning to a shorter man with a thick moustache who waved hello to them all. There were others, but apparently, though Dirk, they didn’t warrant an introduction by Winema, so that must mean they’re the assistants and support staff of the various ambassadors.

“The pleasure if all ours,” said Jacquie. “We appreciate your coming to meet us as we arrived.”

“Not a problem,” said George Whittington, “I was hoping to get a look at some of you Legionnaires myself. Making your country…countries proud.”

“That’s debatable George,” said Winema and some of them laughed. “Either way, we will let you all get cleaned up, and look forward to talking with you in the next few days. The Ambassadors will be staying here in Vienna while you are here.”

“Great…” said Tina with her own sarcasm oozing, drawing a look of daggers from her mother.

The delegates walked away, and Mon could hear Parker saying to Relnic “Well, that was a welcome distraction…I guess its back to Khundia?” Mon was surprised when he heard Relnic say “don’t think I don’t realize that to you George, the two are the same topic…” Mon had a pretty strong notion what that meant, even if the Legionnaires had no clue. He had been a soldier for half of his life after all and knew full well how military decisions were made.

“Mon?” said Tatiana realizing he was distracted. He could tell by her face she wasn’t completely thrilled with him at the moment. He had not a clue why. He forced a smiled. “You need rest,” he said, and put his hands on her shoulders. She looked into his eyes, and any anger faded away quickly. What was it about him? He smiled. “I can’t take these types of situations without you,” he whispered to her. “Politicians in any century annoy me beyond belief.” She smiled back.

As the Legionnaires took in the majesty of the castle, a servant approached Tina. “Princess? You have an urgent phone call, and he insisted we not turn him away, as he is well-connected here in Austria. A Mr. Marla Latham?”

Berlin, Germany

Mon-El flew above the streets of Berlin, once more impressing his passengers with his effective mode of travel, though this time there were two: Spirit, once more, and Tatiana Mallor, this time insisting she come along too. In her mind, Ms. Princess Legionnaire Tina Wazzo had spent enough time with Mon. For weeks she had felt a connection with Mon that she soon realized was mutual when he at last kissed her in Sakkim, India. And since then she’d been captured by the Dark Circle, near tortured, huddled for survival with her friends and then recovering, most of the time split from him, and left confused on what that kiss in Sakkim meant.

And just when they finally had a few moments together, Spirit received a call from Marla Latham, of all people, saying he was not that far away. Mr. Latham had been quite friendly to them in Sakkim and a lot of the time it sure felt like they didn’t have many friends. Spirit was more than happy to make a side-trip to Berlin, but when Marla suggested over the phone that with Mon they could see him in pretty quick time through a more expeditious mode of travel, she knew Mon would agree to it. After all, they were all worried about their friend Baksheesh and what happened to him. “Kid Psycho” as he sometimes called himself was also one of their few friends and they felt terrible leaving him behind. But she wasn’t just going to let Mon and Spirit take off without her again.

But to be honest, now she regretted ‘forcing’ herself to come along. She didn’t want to be pushy—that was the last thing she wanted. And Mon was so hard to read. Spirit could feel the tension too, and she didn’t say a word to either of them the entire way over there.

At last, they began to descend. “Mon-El,” said Spirit, quickly adopting the nickname that Tenz had created for Monius Elysius. “…Mr. Latham said to meet him at the Swissotel Berlin in the hotel lobby…we’re close but you’re still a few blocks away.”

“Yes,” said Mon, as they touched down. “But unlike you, I’ve seen Marla Latham before and remember what he looks like. And I found him as we were approaching. He’s not in the hotel lobby. He’s a few blocks away, walking through the streets.”

“But he said he’d meet us?” said Tatiana. She liked Marla Latham a lot when she met him. They all did. There was something fatherly about him. And after weeks on the road with no one but their own age, it felt good to have him around. Not to mention most of them had terrible daddy-issues, she thought, but no need to go into that now.

“Why would he lie?” asked Spirit.

“He might not be intentionally doing it,” said Tatiana, a bit too quickly, as if this could very well turn into an argument. Mon said nothing, choosing to ignore the comment.

“I didn’t mean he was being deceitful…” said Tina

“I know…I’m sorry,” said Tatiana, “…I’m tired…I probably shouldn’t have come…” she added, looking towards Mon, who wasn’t looking at either one of them. What neither realized was he was using his vision to look through three blocks of buildings to scan for Marla.

“Ahead, about three blocks up,” Mon said finally. “Then another two over. He’s in an alley way…he’s just kind of standing there, peering into the shadows. Very odd. But we might as well check it out.”

“Okay,” said Spirit, as she began making her way over to him by phasing through the walls.

“And for the record,” said Mon, “I’m glad you came,” he said to Tatiana, scooping her up and flying over. She tried to hide her smile from him.

Mon made it over there first, putting Tatiana down, surprisingly Marla Latham as they were suddenly right next to him. “Give an old man a heart attack, why don’t you?” he said with a smile. The alley way they were in was very dark.

“What are you doing?” asked Tatiana curiously.

“I’m looking for the blue devil of Berlin,” he said with a laugh. “A young man I believe is in desperate need of some kind words and common sense, since apparently, he’s been made to believe he’s a demon sent by some dark deity to bring hell upon this Earth.”

“Well, Maziah’s spell is finally wearing off,” said Mon. “Because I have no clue what you’re talking about…”

Just then Tina phased through a brick wall, coming out into the alleyway, entering a part completely surrounded in shadow. Though the others couldn’t see into the shadowed corner, Tina suddenly realized she had just phased through an actual person, completely hidden in the shadows. It was one of the young man’s powers, after all. Kurt Wagner could make himself completely invisible to the naked eye when hidden in shadows. Just like he could teleport great distances in a puff of smoke, leaving behind the smell of brimstone and fire. Which is exactly what he did not, teleporting below them into the alleyway, exposing himself to the others.

“Ah!” he yelled. “A ghost has come for me! Truly, I am a devil—that other phantasms and evil creatures would come forth to find me!” Again he teleported quickly, so that Marla, Tatiana and Mon turned behind them to see him again, as Tina joined them.

“Wait!” yelled Marla, “I’m here to help you! You’re the Nightcrawler! I’ve been reading up on you in the papers and the internet!”

“Yes, the Nightcrawler,” said Kurt Wagner, “and the people of Berlin loath me!” he said, teleporting again. Mon-El suddenly flew at super-speed towards, him, wrapping his arms around him.

“Easy, friend,” said Mon-El…”calm down, no one is here to hurt—“ he was cut off as Nightcrawler suddenly swung his feet up and kicked Mon in the face, then teleported out of his arms again, this time towards Tina, who had now become solid, and nailed her and Marla Latham backwards with his blue pointy tail. He was blue-furred and had the features of a demon…pointy ears, a demonic face, and three fingers on each hand, with three toes on each foot.

“The lord is my shepherd…” he began, and then began to mumble a prayer to him, closing his eyes, and teleporting again into the shadows.

“ENOUGH!” said Tatiana suddenly very loudly. She stepped forward into the shadows. “You are scared, and for that, I cannot blame you. I’ve been pretty scared myself lately. But you must calm yourself,” she added, and suddenly she called forth a cascade of darkness, completely enveloping her, so that the entire section of the alleyway was closed off. Both of them were now covered in darkness. “Look at me Nightcrawler,” she said. “Look at my skin. You call yourself a demon…if that’s the case…then what does that make me?” she asked, and the pain in her words was very real. All of the emotion she had kept bottled up revealed itself, and her fears of becoming something less than human showed forth.

Not far off, the others could hear her loudly, and her words broke both Marla and Mon’s hearts. Spirit, who up until now couldn’t help but wonder why Tatiana was being so bitchy towards her, suddenly felt a great deal of empathy for her.

In the shadows, Kurt Wagner could see Tatiana perfectly, and he thought she was absolutely beautiful. He began to calm down, as the shadows always helped him stay calm, and took in her beauty. “You are no demon,” he said in German, though Maziah’s spell allowed the teenagers to understand him perfectly (causing Mon-El to reflect that this was yet another language Marla Latham seemed to speak flawlessly). “And I am sorry for my attack. My interactions with others as of late…have not been pleasant.”

“Mine either,” said Tatiana. “But I hope that will soon change. Come down now and speak with us. We are all different here. We are all like you.” She offered her hand to him, and he took it.

An hour later, the three teenagers and Marla Latham had become acquainted with Kurt Wagner, known as the Nightcrawler according to some popular German blogs. Marla planned to help get him on his feet and perhaps help him figure out a way to make a life for himself. Tina was almost ready to offer him a place among their little group, but Mon-El shook his head not to. Mon understood full well what was ahead of them. To Mon, Spirit’s thoughts of them all joining the Legion were nothing but delusions—it would just endanger more people. There was no use offering admittance to their little club to this young man, when he might just end up another victim of the Dark Lord Mordru. Tatiana felt bad for Kurt, and for the first time, found herself agreeing with Spirit rather than Mon.

“I look forward to our next meeting,” Nightcrawler said to Tatiana.

“As do I,” she replied with a smile. “We’ll come and visit you sometime.”

“I would like that very much,” he replied.

“And I,” said Marla Latham, “will now be coming to visit you. I should be there within two or three days, after I help Kurt here take care of a few things. Will you be in Vienna for the next few days?”

“I believe so,” said Tina. “Notwithstanding some reason for us to leave…”

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

As various politicians, businessmen and aristocrats gathered in Vienna, to unofficially discuss the Khundian Menace under the guise of being Winema Wazzo’s house guests, another Lord made his journey to Vienna as well. This Phantom Lord, however, was under the control of Mordru the Merciless.

Blood was his specialty, and Blood was his name. Jason Blood…though it wasn’t he that would do the dark lord’s bidding. Two men, dressed commonly in t-shirts, jeans and jackets, served their lord Mordru by ensuring that when the time came, they would utter the words to their unfortunate guest that would ensure the true servant of Mordru would arise:

Vienna, Austria

“So when are Mon and Shady getting back?” said Tenz to Maziah and Dirk.

“Shady?” said Maziah with a big smile. “As in…”

“Shadow Lass. The codename I’ve given her,” smiled Tenz.

“You’ve got to give it up,” said Dirk. “I’m not going to be called Sun Boy and she’s not going to be called Shadow Lass.”

“So you’re telling me they’re off doing the hanky panky. Okay, I’m cool with that.”

“Tenz…” said Maziah, poking him. “Spirit is with them.”

“That lucky dog…” laughed Tenz, and they all laughed.

Not too far off, Shrinking Violet, Valor and Catalyst were having a conversation and by the looks of it, a heated one. They were arguing about something, which made it purely Legion business. Blok was nowhere to be found, Hasim was off in the corner doing his own thing, and Jacquie was with all the delegates for the second day in a row. They had at long last slept in real beds, had shows (or baths), and had eaten not one, not two, but three real meals. They even had real clothes on for the first time in ages. Dirk was completely at ease in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, with a pair of moccasins on. His red hair had been cut short again and he was letting a five o’clock shadow grow. He was good looking and he knew it. Maziah, on the other hand, had no idea that she was very pretty, and had on a long white sweater, with black leggings underneath. She let her hair flow naturally. Tenz was in a sweatshirt and jeans, but with black shades on. “I’ve got to look cool too, you know” he’d say.

“Where’s Blok been?” asked Dirk of Maziah. Maziah was obviously the closest one to Blok. The others knew partially why, but it was unspoken. Blok had forever been an enemy of Mordru, battling the dark lord through the centuries as Mordru continued to thrive. And it was Blok’s great hope that perhaps Maziah’s arrival upon this planet signaled a change—perhaps it was Maziah that could one day defeat her father.

“Something else else is bothering him,” she said. “Something else else about all these people. He told me ‘Mordru’s influence is here’, and that’s it.”

“He’s so cheerful,” said Tenz.

At last, Valor, Shrinking Violet and Catalyst emerged from their conversation. Catalyst looked a little red in the face, and Violet a little uncomfortable, which made the others raise their eyebrows. Hasim, too, noticed this, and moved closer. “What’s the matter?” asked Dirk. With Jacquie with the others, he took the role as unofficial de facto deputy leader among them.

Catalyst looked at Val with his eyebrows raised and then looked back. Finally he spoke. “Well, we’ve been avoiding this for a few days, but really, its been more than a few weeks since we left our Legion pals in New York. And to say “There’s going to be hell to pay” is a bit of an understatement.”

“Oh yeah,” said Violet, suddenly looking like the last thing she wanted to do was go home. “Especially now.”

“I’m not sure I get you,” said Dirk at that last comment.

“To put it in Tolkenesque terms,” said Condo, “this is the breaking of our fellowship. The parting of the Company. Its been really great meeting you all, and though we wish you could join our Legion, its obvious you’re not going to. Its time for us to head home.”

Dirk stood up and put out his hand and took Condo’s. “Its been a pleasure for us,” he said.

“Bummer!” said Tenz. “Especially because you just told us it’s the breaking of our fellowship, which was the coolest thing I’ve ever heard someone say out loud!”

“Thought you’d like that,” smiled Condo.

“I’m not sure I get what made you guys get in an argument,” said Hasim, ever the direct one.

At last Val spoke up. “What you’re doing is important work. If what you say is true, and we believe you that it is, the planet is in serious danger. There’s a connection between your group and the Legion, in that Dreamer is Maziah’s sister. But Spirit and I both agree that its not enough. We should be in constant contact with one another. You’re going to need more help than just the eight of you, no matter what your friend Mon-El thinks. So…” he said, stealing another glance at Catalyst and Shrinking Violet, “…both Spirit and I have agreed to stay behind and join your group. We’re taking a temporary leave of absence from the Legion to join you and add whatever we can to help you in your quest against Mordru.”

The four of them were shocked, and the looks on both Condo and Vi’s faces told them that it would be them who would have to face the wrath of the Legion leaders when they learned about this. Indeed, Condo and Vi knew they would be in for it like no other when Gene learned that two Legionnaires stayed behind in Europe to go on some quest with these people.

“That is,” said Val, “if you’ll have us.” It was the right thing to say, and Dirk quickly realized all the perks of having Spirit and Valor with them. They far-outweighed all the negatives, if there were any at all.

“We don’t need you,” said Hasim, and the animosity he felt towards Val was obvious to anyone who could see that. Condo had warned Val about this minutes prior, and Vi had agreed with them. This boy, Hasim, hated Val. For whatever reasons. Whether he felt threatened because of Jacquie, or because Val might take his role as ‘fighter’ or just plain no reason at all, Hasim hated Val.

“Yes, Hasim, we do,” said Tenz suddenly. If Dirk had said it, it’d be expected, but Hasim was surprised when Ten Zil spoke up now. “We need to learn how to fight. Val can train us how. It would help Dirk and me, and Tatiana and everyone else. And Spirit is really good at what she does. Her power is really sneaky, and we need that.”

“I think we’d be honored if you join us,” said Dirk to Val. Condo was shaking his head but now Vi had a smile.

“I wish I could stay too,” she said.

“Me too,” he smiled at her, and it was obvious the two had a mutual like for each other. “But I understand,” he smiled again, his charm fully on.

“Maziah?” said Val to her.

Before she could answer, another voice spoke. <font face="Impact"> “I think it is an excellent idea.” </font f> It was Blok. And that was all the group would ever need. <font face="Impact"> “I’ve told you this war against Mordru would be a tremendous struggle. And I believe your Legion is a sign. This symbol of unity between your Legion and our group is a strong one.” </font f> Blok was now upon them, towering over them all, as his proximity to them made them feel his presence strongly. <font face="Impact"> “Mordru is not one person’s enemy, or one group’s enemy or one nation’s enemy. Mordru is the enemy of all that is.”</font f>

Val nodded at Blok. “Yes…” he replied, “…and you’ll need as much help as possible. I hope this is settled then.”

“Not by a long shot,” smiled Dirk. “But close enough. It’ll take some convincing for Mon, possibly even Jacquie, but we’ll handle it.”

Maziah at last spoke up. She was very hesitant that others would accept the burden of standing in opposition to her father; and therein, lay one of her struggles: to accept that this was not just her own burden to bear. “Welcome to our group then Val,” she said, more following Blok’s lead than anything else.

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

Jacquie sat among the great diplomats, in a formal gown, a scarlet red, with that showed off her beauty immensely: spaghetti straps over the shoulders, low cut, that was ankle length. She had spent much of the last two days conversing with the diplomats, moreso Countess Winema Wazzo and Anton Relnic than the others, though they were pleased when she could join them. Here, her political acumen was proven and she could sense a sort of curious pride in Relnic towards her political skills.

She had surmised the following: “The Khund Menace” was not only the topic of the day, but was being decided in these type of backroom conversations. Khundia was a nation in North East Africa, close to Egypt. It was a military dictatorship, and though there was a large Muslim population, the group in power did not include religion in their ideology. They were ultra-aggressive and very keen on showing displays of power, and has essentially been holding the U.N. at bay by claiming it was a subversive foreign power attempting to strip the nation of its own sovereign rights. However, while this dialogue had gone on in recent years (only becoming a heated topic once more in the most recent weeks), Khundia continued to stock-pile weapons and further attempts to enrich uranium. The leader of Khundia, Zaryan, was known as ‘the Conqueror’ for the Khundish defeat of its neighboring countries a half a decade ago.

Yet, while this was extremely interesting, and provided the backgrounds of Jacquie’s first political education, she felt it had little to do with her. Or did it? Mon had warned her about Relnic’s comment to George Whittington, and she had been begun to see the divisions among the politicians and how it connected to the Legion. Winema Wazzo was strictly anti-war and against the invasion of Khundia by any means, believing the so-called ‘intelligence’ about weapons of mass destruction to be false. But she was also strikingly anti-Legion. Not only was she totally against the Legion as a concept because of her own daughter’s membership, she apparently was appalled at the idea of super-powered teenagers having any type of organized basis.

Her closest political ally, Gil’ Deshi, was also anti-Legion. Jacquie surmised that Deshi feared the Legion one day becoming a global police force…or worse, the start of factions of global super-powered armies batting one another. A wise fear to have, but his solution seemed to be quite the opposite: to lock away all these super-powered teenagers until a means to de-power them could be found. But Deshi was fearful of Khundia and had bought into the hysteria. Though he approached the situation from an honest and what he saw as reasonable standpoint, he believed Khundia has continued to go to far.

Maya, the diplomat from Sri Lanka, was the most charismatic of the group Jacquie thought, and perhaps that was because she was very pro-Legion. She liked the idea of the Legion, and she seemed to truly believe in the spirit of what the group stood for. Above all else, she was adamant that the U.N. maintain control of the group, but with a very hands-off approach. She wanted the Legion to act independently without outside control. She also believed Khundia was a threat that had to be faced immediately. She seemed to think that the hysteria created by “The Khund Menace” had some real legitimacy.

George Whittington, the American, was the most pro-Legion of the entire group. He apparently was a major supporter in the U.N. and could give you dozens of reasons why the group should exist, from ideological to practical to scientific to religious implications. But he was also the most adamant that Khundia should be invaded, and here Jacquie understood why these two subjects were not mutually exclusive. George Whittington firmly believed the Legionnaires should be the ones to march into Khundia and “take care of business”. He saw them as an army; a super-powered teenage army with advantages completely in their favor. And she wasn’t sure if he saw the Legion as a U.N. entity, or an American one.

Last was Relnic, whom she could see was truly the master many proclaimed him to be. He had yet to commit himself to any argument, and merely was taking it all in. She couldn’t read him and was sure no one could. In fact, she thought perhaps the reason this gathering was taking place, or at least the reason so many diplomats were here, was to convince Relnic to take their side. Jacquie had already slipped up to Relnic. In private, when they were discussing wines, he had somehow gotten her to admit that almost none of them were actual Legionnaires. Further, he was able to pull from her that they had crossed paths with a few other super-powered persons the United Nations was completely unaware of. He had a directness to him, abrupt even, but while he came across that way, he was actually subtly extracting information out of you. She couldn’t help but admire him on one hand but wish to avoid him completely on the other.

She couldn’t wait to be done with this. Spirit, indeed all of them, owed her.

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

“Now I wish I was staying too,” said Violet, as she hugged Dirk close and whispered in his ear.

“Until next time,” he whispered back softly and kissed her cheek. There was no doubt about it: she now had a little crush on him.

“Cut it out you two,” said Condo with a laugh. They were all gathered here now, and Condo and Violet were saying their good byes and heading home. Blok and Mon-El stood some distance away, while the others bid farewell.

“Thanks for going along with this,” said Tina to Condo. “Just remember, no matter how much Gene yells, imagine what it’ll be like when he sees me next.”

“Let’s just hope its sooner than later,” said Violet.

“Be careful Val,” said Condo to Valor, the implications completely toward Hasim.

“Always,” replied Val.

“Give my best to Lyle,” said Tina and Condo quickly blushed at Tina’s acute sense of the Legion social scene.

“So Tenz,” asked Condo, changing the subject. “Pick a codename for yourself yet?”

“Yup,” he said with a smile. “Matter-Eater Lad.”

“Best codename ever,” said Condo with a smile and he hugged him goodbye.

Dirk whispered to him. “Matter-Eater Lad? Really? You’ve got to be kidding me…”

“Give my sister my best,” said Maziah and she too hugged Condo and Violet. “Let her know I’m well…and I’ll see her soon.” Maziah was hit by a wave of sadness. She missed Nura a terrible amount. She suddenly longed to go with them; to finally meet Imra; to be far away from her father. But no, she could not.

And so Catalyst and Shrinking Violet departed back to New York City aboard the non-ceremonial coach class of Lufthansa Airlines.

“Man, I don’t know about this,” said the man in the passenger side of the truck.

“Don’t be an idiot,” said the other. “The Dark Lord asked us to escort this phantom lord to Europe, and its worth it do as he asks. We’ll let him wreak his havoc and any of these pups we can bring in ourselves will just be icing on the cake. Be sure to stay out of his way.”

“I don’t need you to tell me that O’Ryan,” said the first man, as he unlatched the truck and opened up the back. There in front of him was the emaciated figure of Jason Blood, who looked at him with a grim look of pure hate.

“Fools…” said Blood. “…you have no idea what you’re doing. He’ll have no need of you. Mordru has power over him, but you don’t. You won’t survive this.”

“Whatever,” said the man, as he suddenly whispered the mantra: “Gone, gone form of man, behold the demon Etrigan!”. The effect was immediate, though this man Jones had no idea that his ‘friend’ O’Ryan the Hunter had run off the minute the truck was parked, and ran at top speed for his life. He knew what was about to happen. Jones was unlucky, as he did not.

The change in Jason Blood was sickening and disgusting to behold. His human flesh burned away and the smell of cooked meat and charred bone filled the air. The man Jones was horrified, and too disgusted to move.

“Stupid little men, Mordru sees wasted;
Your flesh my friend, will be the sweetest in an age I’ve tasted”

And so the Demon Etrigan re-entered the Earthly plane, and feasted on the flesh of Mordru’s henchman, before he could begin his reign of terror.

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

The group all sat in the gardens of the Wazzo Estate, tucked away in a remote corner all the while in the very middle of Vienna. With Valor and Spirit among them, they were even larger now, and Dirk couldn’t help but recall how they all started out in such strange circumstances. Jacquie had rejoined them now and they all together except for Maziah.

“She’s talking to Marla Latham,” said Tatiana. “He arrived in the city yesterday, and she wanted to speak to him about sending a private message to her sister. She’s hoping he can help arrange that.” It had been two days since Condo and Violet departed and Maziah had begun to wish she had asked them to deliver a private letter to Nura; something more than the words she had spoken. Tatiana sipped a cup of the tea they had managed to hold on to from Sakkim. Most of their possessions had been destroyed in Siberia, but Jacquie and Mon had held on to some of them. Chief among them was the tea from Sakkim, Mon’s blue cloak, and “Tenz’s lucky shoelace” which had been with Ten Zil since Korea and which he now believed has some sort of luck to it.

Spirit’s file taken from the Dark Circle was now considered part of this group of personnel items. They hadn’t had an opportunity to discuss it yet, though she was hoping they would soon.

Mon sat next Tatiana silently, as they all relaxed and enjoyed each other’s company. Tina sat on another bench with Jacquie and Hasim. Standing in front of them was Val, who was teaching Tenz and Dirk some fighting moves.

Blok appeared out of the Earth next to them.

“Does that ever get normal?” said Tina.

“No,” said Hasim.

“You look uneasy Blok,” said Jacquie.

<font face="Impact"> “Yes,”</font f> he replied, and then became silent. This unnerved them all, so that Mon sat up more and looked in his direction. He spoke more. <font face="Impact"> “This United Nations…this European Union…these things have the hand of Mordru in them.”</font f>

“Blok, surely you can’t believe that,” said Jacquie. She was actually a bit stunned. “These entities have gone a long way to establishing a new era in the world.”

<font face="Impact"> “There is unity in them, but where you see unity for the common good, I see unity so that when Mordru assumes his throne, it will be all the easier. No, I am sure of it. There is something rotten here. Mordru’s influence is everywhere…”</font f>

“We should be protected here,” said Tina, trying to voice some optimism. It seemed like a fair point.

<font face="Impact"> “I do not believe that is the case,”</font f> said Blok once more. Tina wasn’t sure if she should be offended, which made Hasim snicker.

Mon-El seemed to sense the words stung her. “Blok is usually right about these things, Tina,” he added.

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

Marla Latham sat with Maziah and they drank a strong cup of coffee. “I’m more a coffee man myself,” said Marla with a smile.

“Mr. Latham, have you met the Legionnaires yet?” asked Maziah.

“I have not had the opportunity,” he said, “but I have been traveling for some time now. We do have a mutual acquaintance or two, however, so I think perhaps I can help you out.”

As they spoke, they soaked up the scenery of the coffee bar in the lobby of the hotel Marla was staying at. It was largely empty at this time of day, though a fair amount of staff were working all around them. More than usual it seemed to Maziah. Perhaps they were planning for a big event. She felt more at ease than ever…almost tired. “Is there something important happening at the hotel, Mr. Latham?”

“Indeed,” he said. “A once in a lifetime opportunity is about to occur.”

“What’s that?” she said curiously, although over a loud yawn. She was so tired…all the worrying seemed to be doing a number on her.

“The daughter of the Dark Lord Mordru is about to come into their possession of course,” he said and the words at first did not register. “Its not everyday that Maziah bint Mordru bin Ahmad Al-Nayal walks blindly into a trap without any of her protectors, after all,” he added, and panic suddenly hit Maziah like a bucket of water. Yet, she felt unable to move…incredibly sluggish and tired. “…and the White Witch has been something the Dark Circle has long been after.”

Suddenly Maziah fell over, as if to hit the floor face first. Reacting with amazing speed for his age, Marla was up on his feet in seconds and caught her before she landed. She was out like a light. The coffee had been severely drugged and Maziah was sound asleep. Her magic would be of little help to her now.

The hotel staff swarmed around them, instantly pulling out their Dark Circle symbol and wrapping it as a band around their arms. They picked her up and moved her quickly, aware that either Blok or the others might come at any moment.

One saluted Marla Latham. Marla replied softly: “Long live the Dark Circle…”

Cosmic Boy's office, Legion HQ

Cos' watch bleeped. Wondering what the hell they were in the news for now, he sighed and turned on the TV... to catch the end of pictures of Spirit, one of the four AWOL Legionnaires, in the arms of a flier he didn't recognise. The ticker on the screen told him not only that the building they were gliding down to was her ancestral home, but that it was currently holding a major international conference.

A rare expletive escaped his lips, before he looked down, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his right hand as his left supported his forehead, while he wondered what the hell Tina had just got them into. Disappearing for over a month without word was bad. Them finding out where she was from the TV was worse. Them finding out from the TV that an AWOL Legionnaire had dropped right in the middle of a major diplomatic event... it didn't bear thinking about.

He hoped to Cheese Gene wasn't watching a news channel. He needed time to think.

As so often happens when luck turns sour, however, it stayed sour. Not only did Gene storm in a moment later, but Irma was obviously watching the news as well and telepathed a «Did you see Tina on the news?!» to him at the worst possible moment, completely obliterating whatever Gene said.

«Hang on...» he thought at her, deciding to brush Gene off for a moment and deal with her first - he couldn't get any angrier. "Look Gene, I've got you screaming at my head and Irma screaming in my head. Give me a moment." And he closed his eyes before Gene could reply.

«I wasn't screaming.» He almost saw her pout.

«Sorry. I needed him to shut up until I knew what to say, and you gave me the excuse. Yes, I saw it. This is going to be fun. Have you got any ideas? Who's with you?»

«Just Garth. And no ideas, I just wanted to let you know. I thought you'd be happy knowing she's okay.»

«I am, mostly. I'm just expecting a few tons of brick to land on us because of this and the first one's in the room with me just now.»

«Do you want him to get a headache?»

«Looks like he already has one. If you want to do me a favour, get Lyle and your pal Dreamer in here once he's gone. I want a word. Preferably before Gene gets hold of them...»

«Alright...» He felt her unhappiness at the last bit for a split second before the link dropped. He opened his eyes.

"You saw the news then?" he sighed at Leviathan, who was now eight feet tall, completely red of face and slowly growing further.

"I saw it on Fox," Gene answered through gritted teeth. Cos filed his remark about not seeing the news then under 'not now'. "What did you say when Norga arranged this little party? 'They'd go crazy if they found out four members of this team sneaked off'? HOW DO YOU EXPECT THEM TO TAKE IT WHEN THEY TURN UP ON INTERNATIONAL TELEVISION?!!!!!!"

Cos wiped the spit off his face and sat back in his chair. Generally, there wasn't any point in interrupting Gene when he was in full 'Drill Lt.' mode.

"Don't think I haven't noticed all the favors you've done for your little friends Kline. Especially working to keep little Norga and Little Blonde Arabic Hood on the team, and especially all the favors you've done for your little girlfriend. Your little raid on the Workforce you got lucky on." When he got angry, Cos reflected, Gene's adjectival range deceased markedly. "Do you have ANY concept of discipline? It's MY ass that gets reamed every time YOU cover for your little pals!"

"Gene..."

"No, no 'Geennee...'. I've had it. I'll have Norga's ass - NOW! He spends so much time on his little side projects he can't even manage one simple little mission. What's he go-"

"Shut. Up." Cos' voice wasn't loud, but had just the right edge to it to stop a raging Leviathan in his tracks. "Start from the end - the Cathingham thing. Lyle said he was given next to no information on their target, and he had an under-resourced team, with two low-powered members including himself, a rookie who might one day be a heavyweight, and a rookie who isn't even a rated combatant against what turned out to be a super-strong, semi-invulnerable opponent."

"That's not the point - failure is not an op-"

"Failure is ALWAYS an option. Not a good option, not an option you aim for but in reality - especially when you go in blind - it is an option. Was my summary accurate or not?"

"I gave him his orders and his team."

"So it was accurate?"

Gene paused before straining out a "Yes."

"Good. On top of that, Lyle says - and from looking over what he was given, and what he found himself, I'm inclined to agree - that capturing a vigilante with no record of causing fatalities or serious injuries does not constitute 'preventing, containing or resolving a serious and immediate threat to life'."

"So you're condoning vigilantism now?" Gene folded his arms.

"I'll answer the question for you then - no. Someone breaking the law isn't enough to activate us. Our mandate was deliberately drawn narrowly as part of the horse-trading that got us a mandate. Someone breaking the law somewhere isn't enough. Would you follow an order to hunt someone down to be killed in punishment for stealing a loaf of bread?"

"I am an officer in the United States Marine Corps."

"No. No, you're not. Not now." Gene visibly bristled at this, but Cos continued, "You're Leviathan, a member of the United Nations' Legion of Super-Heroes. The formal field leader. Any member state in good standing has equal right to call upon us - within the terms of our mandate, of course. We're based on US soil out of a quirk of fate, and if SHIELD ever get their "Helicarrier", we'll probably get moved onto that. Our mandate's the way it is partly because no two member states - hell, no two parts of a lot of member states - have exactly the same laws and punishments; and because no-one wants us invading them at the behest of the US or another country. And if the US can draw upon us any time a law gets broken, any member state gets to draw on us every time any of THEIR laws get broken except when it conflicts with other UN resolutions. Do you want to be following the scenario I outlined any time soon?"

"no..."

"Well then. Maybe you should watch how your own decisions affect your 'ass' before you start with other people's. As for Spirit, I'll get back to you later."

Gene, chastened, walked out, presumably back to his own office. Cos flopped back in his chair, overcome with momentary relief that Gene had left an opening to slap him down about something else, rather than keeping to the point at hand. Deciding a moment was enough, he picked up his phone and dialled an extension.

"Irma, did you get them... thanks. Send them up now."

A few minutes later, Invisible Kid and Dreamer walked through the door and shut it behind them.

"I take it you know?" Cos started. He didn't need to say what. They nodded.

"Well, it leaves us with a problem." Nura opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off - "Nura, I don't care if you know every single word I'm about to say. I want you to stand here and hear me say them." He paused.

"Honestly, I don't know what to say, beyond trying to stress how much damage this is going to do to us as a team. So I'll stick with fact. I just had to sit here and convince Gene to not kick you off the team. Again.

I know you're worried about your sister Nura. And I know you both helped with the Workforce thing, which wasn't strictly legal either. And I've defended you both over this before for good reason - besides anything else, you're both valuable members of the team with a lot to contribute. So I want to ask you two questions and I want straight, honest, short answers:

One - did you have any plan, or intention, that Tina would do this?
Two - did you intend, or know, that they would be absent without leave for over a month and counting?

Lyle?"

Lyle thought for a moment and decided to give Cos the straight truth he'd asked for. "No I didn't, and I thought it was possible but not certain."

"Nura?"

"I knew there would be a commotion today, but not what would cause it. I did not, and do not, know when they will return."

"You said 'when' they return. Does that mean you know they will be back safe and sound?"

"No."

"That will be all."

"Cos-" Lyle began.

"All, Lyle."

When they shuffled out a few moments later, Cos slumped back in his seat and sighed loudly. He loved Tina like a sister, and he'd been glad to see her alive and well, but he couldn't save her place on the team, or any of the other AWOL group, if the decision came down to cut them over this, after all their time away and her Very Public Appearance. If it came to that, he'd be as likely to be fighting for the team itself.

The way he felt at that moment, he wasn't even sure he wanted to save them.

In spite of that, though, he thought, he still missed Tina - letting his mind wander back to those early days, too short-lived, when there was just a few of them and there was no Gene or UN to fight with or about. More, he missed Trinity. Not having Lu around was... he'd written her a letter, and she'd written back. But it wasn't the same thing. He knew she needed space after what happened, and he'd taken his Christmas break early to be there when she got back, but... he missed her. He smiled at the circularity of his thoughts and tried to focus on the immediate crisis.

What he didn't know about was the taxi drawing up outside of the building at that moment...

“So, Jacquie, we know you have ‘oh so much important matters to discuss’,” said Tenz sarcastically, “but you really need to pick your codename.” He, the Princess and Spirit turned the corner, as they walked through the halls of Castle Wazzo.

Jacquie smiled despite herself. “Tennnnz…” she said, stressing her annoyance. But she didn’t mind, it was good to have them there. She was tired of having to play diplomat for their group. “I’m not sure why Princess Projectra isn’t good enough…”

“Of course you’re not,” replied Tenz, “that’s why we love you. It’ll be up to me to give you one then.”

“What about ‘Sensor’?” said Spirit. Although they hadn’t really had much of a chance to get to know each other, Tina and Jacquie seemed to get along very well. They were both very similar of course: confident in themselves and willing to speak their mind. It didn’t escape Tenz that they were both Princesses of course. Still, they were remarkably different in that Jacquie was epitome of composure and somewhat aloof while Tina was a ‘social butterfly’.

“Sensor?” she replied. “I guess it works for me…if you really think we need codenames…” Spirit and Valor, considering they both already had codenames, were supporters of Tenz’s idea to give everyone one. “What I really need to do is meet whoever passed along this note to me,” she followed up. About ten minutes earlier, she received a note from one of the servants saying one of the delegates wishes to have a private meeting with her. She was inclined to think it was Relnic. Something else else about the recent day of interaction made her think Relnic had reached his own decisions on both the Legion and Khundia and he seemed to enjoy talking with Jacquie about these heavy political decisions. Dirk said he thought Relnic had a crush on her, which annoyed Hasim and made Val dismiss it outright (“Please!”, she said, “I’m a third his age!”). Tatiana thought maybe he saw her as a sort of political apprentice.

“The hand-writing was female though,” said Tenz. “I have an eye for that sort of thing,” he said, pulling his shades down to his nose and winking at Spirit. It was his attempt to be cool while maintaining his ‘class-clown’ façade. It worked somewhat.

“Oh, I wish you still had the note. I’d be able to recognize Mother’s handwriting pretty easy. I’ve faked it enough times…”

They turned the corner now and entered a large study. There were leather coaches and various shelves full of old books surrounding them, with a little ‘smoking area’ in on the far left side of the room. No one seemed to be in the room. “Hm. I guess we wait then,” said Jacquie. Suddenly she felt an odd sensation, as if her illusion power was working with her directing it. This feeling had happened before on multiple occasions, and usually it meant something wrong was happening. She often wondered what it was…perhaps her ability to create illusions allowed her to see through illusions as well—illusions in all its forms, including lies. “Tina,” she asked, “you don’t think your mother would ever turn against you, do you?”

Spirit turned around ready to offer a quick reply, but hesitated. Of course not, she was prepared to say. But…would she? She sat down suddenly, thinking about it.

“The room feels really hot…” said Tenz, “…and I’m itchy. I don’t feel good…”

“Something else else is wrong,” said Jacquie. “Something else else is wrong with this room…”

“I don’t think I’ve ever been in this room before,” said Tina suddenly, looking around. “I…I can’t seem to phase or use my power…” she said almost panicky, but sluggishly so.

”’Tis I who insist you do not phase,
Though you are not yet ready to place me in your gaze,
Many are you in strength and number,
Fall now you three, to a wretched slumber

As Spirit and Tenz began to drift to sleep, though terrified and suddenly very sweaty, Jacquie looked up and her mastery of illusion allowed her to pierce the glamour put forth by the Demon Etrigan, who stood now a mere feet in front of her. His visage terrified her, as his oily and scary orange skin seemed to ooze forth and his demonic, ugly face was centered by to dark red eyes that seemed to swim with blood, and a crooked, horrible nose. He grinned at her, showing razorsharp teeth, as she soon fell asleep into a world of nightmare.

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

Tatiana and Mon-El walked along the top floors, taking a minute to go out to the various balconies all along the perimeter, giving them an incredible view of Vienna. “Restless again?” asked Tatiana. She wore a black silk button down shirt with a black skirt and heels. The black complimented her new blue skin very nicely.

Mon was dressed in a red t-shirt and blue jeans, with strong leather boots (home made there in a local shop in Vienna). Around him, he still kept his blue military cloak. He seemed to keep it around him constantly, as if the remnant of his ancient days 2,000 years ago provided him some comfort. “Yes,” he said, unable to hold back a smile. “It often feels like things move incredibly fast and then incredibly slow. I’m not sure what we’re supposed to do next. I presume Blok is right and I was wrong, that eventually we will have to meet this Legion of Super-Heroes and join with them against the Dark Lord. I’m ready to bring the fight to him now, I suppose…”

“Of course you are,” she said, putting a hand on his face, which made him look at her directly. “But there’s still so much we don’t know about him. I can’t help but think Blok has a larger plan of action…” Between the two of them, there was suddenly a strong heat. A passionate heat. Tatiana had never felt this way about a boy before, and she felt it throughout her entire body. She wanted him more than anything.

And he wanted her equally as much. 2,000 out of time, and he still held his sanity together; it was because of his mission to destroy Mordru kept him focused; but more, it was because of her. He leaned in to kiss her again, and she replied in kind, furiously kissing him back.

They pulled apart and she giggled a little as he smiled.

And then a shot rang out from 200 meters away, as O’Ryan the Hunter fired his lead-cased bullets, (2) of them, through Mon’s old blue cloak, and into his side, piercing into his gut.

Mon fells in pain, suddenly, the lead strong enough to pierce his super-strong skin, as Tatiana screamed. She held him, as he hunched over in pain, and both concern and fury flooded her emotions. She rose, looking in the distance for him, ready for her shadows to attack. “Stay down Mon,” she said.

But the Hunter approached faster now, and had her in his sights.

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

The gardens they all sat in a day earlier were calm and serene as a late afternoon breeze blew through, crisp though brief. Blok reappeared out of the Earth to take in his the scenery, thinking to himself what the next step should be. It had been some time since his last duel with the Dark Lord and he must be careful with each step he took. Above all, he must ensure the children, Maziah especially, made every step on their own. He could not force them to act—that was his mistake millennia ago and the outcome caused him great suffering.

Blok overlooked the garden in thought and immediately sensed the presence as another entered the garden, above and behind him in a tree.

<font face="Impact"> “And now the great prince demon of hell is reduced to lowly servant on this plane,”</font f> said Blok aloud in his deep, rocky voice.

“ Etrigan is no man’s slave, Mordru will pay for being the slaver;
But to assail one such as you is a task I truly must savor”

Blok turned immediately, as the Demon unleashed hellfire from his mouth, scorching Blok’s crusty shell. Blok swung hard, and his strength was that of the mountains themselves, but Etrigan was not of this Earthly plane, and withstood it, offering a blow equally as hard. Both pounded on one another, as Etrigan continued to let loose hellfire.

“Each blow you strike hits like a hammer,
But while you look left, on your right is my glamour” spoke the Demon, as his magic continued so suck out all traces of water or hydration in Blok’s form, so that his shell became brittle and sandy. Blok’s form continued to weaken, as the Demon pulled open a bag of magic dust and sprinkled it on him.

You are Mordru’s most hated, and he has prepared for your arrival,
I would not put any wagers in favor of your survival he added, as Mordru’s magics worked to incapacitate the giant creature far quicker than he could have imagined.

Unable to speak, Blok only thought to himself “how could I have been taken so easy? Have I come so far after so much time, only to fall so easy now?”

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

“She won’t have anything to do with you, you know,” said Hasim to Val, as he caught Val by surprise in his quarters. Val noted to himself that Hasim, nor anyone, should be able to do that.

“Excuse me?” said Val, though he knew full well what was spoken.

“Princess Jacqueline. She will not be yours.”

“I fail to see how that could be any of your business. Or how you intend to stop her from choosing herself,” Val added. There was no one around this time, and Val had put up with quite enough of Hasim’s back-handed comments.

“In the Gulag, with Nardo and the Dark Circle. I was going easy you know. I had no intentions of really fighting you, only of getting free.”

Val was still unsure if this was the truth. “I’m glad to hear it. Because I certainly don’t see why you and I should be enemies.”

Hasim smiled at him, and the smile was wicked and genuine. “Then you’re just not looking,” he said, but before he replied, Dirk suddenly entered the room.

“Hey guys, have you seen anyone else? I can’t find Jacquie or Tina, or anyone really. Where did they all go?”

And suddenly the room began to darken, more and more, so that Dirk was forced to create a small fire in his hands to let some light in. It was 3:30 in the afternoon, and it should not be that dark. “Something else else is very wrong,” said Val.

A low, grumbling laughter could suddenly be heard, as Etrigan the Demon entered the room through no door known to man. It grew louder and louder. Dirk turned to and frow, using the light to search for him. Etrigan, with a flick of his wrist, suddenly took hold of Dirk’s fire.

“You are no knight, but merely a squire,
Children should know better than play with FIRE!”

Etrigan screamed the last words, and his shriek caused them a tremendous amount of pain, as his hold over Dirk’s power caused the fire to blow up in his own face, knocking him backwards. Etrigan was suddenly on top of Val and Hasim, using his immense Demon strength to bring them down. For the Demon was a prince of hell, summoned long ago to this plane and now under an oath to serve Mordru despite his hate for the Dark Lord. His magic was unrivaled by many of the world’s greatest wizards throughout many an age, and only Blok stood any real chance of defeating him in single combat, but Mordru’s magic saw to that. All three of the young men fell before Etrigan and now all of the Company had been taken.

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

O’Ryan the Hunter loaded the children into the truck, all of them held unconscious by the magic of Mordru, as Jason Blood, drained and unconscious slept in the passenger side of the truck. He was bound and shackled, so a potential escape would not happen. It would not be long before the missing children were discovered missing, but their ally among the diplomats would help ease that transition. There were supposed to be eight in the company and they ended up with nine, so something must have gone right. O’Ryan was not given much information about them individually other than Mon-El, which Mordru provided specific ammunition for. Surely he had accomplished everything he needed to? Surely Mordru would be pleased?

The truck left Austria and soon would be leaving Europe all together. Protected by the magic of the Dark Lord, it would proceed unmolested through Turkey and the Middle East until at last arriving at Yemen, where Mordru himself awaited his new prisoners.

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

As the nine companions slept quietly in the truck, Maziah also slept quietly, not knowing what fate had befallen her friends, and not knowing that O’Ryan had failed in his foremost task of securing the daughter of Mordru (although the Hunter did not know it yet).

Yemen, the Secret City

Hasim awoke suddenly, recalling immediately the last thing he remembered: the Demon Etrigan leaping at himself and Val. He had a large scratch going across his face, from the clawmarks of the Demon, and it burned when he touched it. Infected? Who knew? Scratched by a demon…it was almost too ridiculous to imagine. And here he was again, imprisoned, just as before…

He looked around. He was in a cell…no…a cage? He was in a cage, and there was light at least. He looked around, and some of the others were with him. Valor. Morgna. Kem. Spirit. Good. The last two could easily get out of this cell with their powers. He had lucked out after all. He looked around. The cage (definitely not a cell) was shaped like a birdcage and there wasn’t enough room to stand up. He crawled over to Kem, and slapped his shoulder. “Get up”. Kem began to moan softly. “Get up”. He turned to Spirit. She was extremely beautiful with raven colored hair and pretty clear skin. Very attractive…but he had his eye on one other (where was she? Later…). “Spirit,” he said, a little more gently, “…Spirit, wake up…” He looked out the cage and realized they were suspended up high. In fact, a large rusted chain stretched out above them going high into the ceing.

They were in a giant cavern, not so much a building but almost a cave. And the five of them were suspended in a giant cage, as if they were pet birds. This insult would not be forgotten, Hasim thought, but enough of that juvenile thinking, he needed to focus. They were up high still, so he had to go to the edge of the cage to look down and see below. He did so, and what he saw surprised him. A large army. No, not quite an army, a large gathering of…guards? Soldiers at any rate, with blue and black uniforms, with large guns. They were in formation as if waiting for something. Two sets of formations, parted down the middle, and this parting led to…ah. A throne. A large, golden throne lay ahead of them of, and Hasim immediately knew whose it was. Near the throne, also shackled, he saw two figures: one, a scrawny, emaciated man with brown hair with streaks of white that he could see from even up there. And next to him, it was her. Jacquie. She looked a little worse for wear, but she looked relatively unharmed (so far—no, keep it out of your mind). He was thankful for that, because his rage would be unstoppable if she was not. She looked hurt and exhausted but pretty much unharmed. Her beautiful platinum hair was loosened down her back and shoulders, with her bangs over her forehead. She was staring dead ahead, as if dreading what would be entering the room. Hasim also figured what (you mean who) that would be, but was not ready to move his analysis there yet.

Something else else moving near the throne. A black cat. Nice touch. Clichéd, but nice. The walls were draped with various standards, many of them ancient apparently as he had no idea what they said and they didn’t look like any lettering he’d ever seen or heard of. Also some armor on the walls, and some swords and spears. Good—if he needed to break free, he’d remind the soldiers below why you do not leave weapons around your captors, even for show. Scanning the rest of the room, he saw no sign of Blok, Tatiana, Monius Elysius, or Maziah. Was Maziah with them when they were caught? Too hard to tell…none of them were actually together.

“Those are Khundian soldiers,” said a voice, and it was Valor. Hasim ignored it. “I recognize them from the news. Mordru has ties to Khundia…?” Val was speaking out loud. “Then perhaps it is a menace…”

At last Hasim turned to him. What was it about Valor that he disliked so much? Everything. “Having you brave Legionnaires with us didn’t seem to do much good, eh?” he said. He half wanted to snicker at himself, but the other half regretted it the minute he said it. Hard to be respected and needed when he acted like a juvenile. “Morgna?”

“He’s okay. Apparently he’s relatively immune to fire because of his powers. The Demon’s blast didn’t seem to do much damage to him.”

Hasim almost added ‘pity’ (he wasn’t fond of Morgna either), but decided it wasn’t worth it. “I can’t see the others.”

Though the room was dead quiet, suddenly the silence became deafening. The air felt as if it was sucked out of the room. Down below, Hasim and Val could see Jacquie look ahead with widened eyes as if she felt nothing but pure dread. The man next to her (Jason Blood, though that was unknown to them) only turned away and a single tear ran down his cheek. Mordru entered his entertainment room.

As Mordru walked closer to his throne, Jacquie tried her hardest to stare at him, but at last was forced to turn away, despite herself. Out of fear or magic, she could not say why.

Mordru walked closer and sat on his throne. The Khundian brigade saluted him. He made no reply.

“Asmodeus,” he said at last, and the black cat turned to him. “The Hunter, O’Ryan. Have him brought before me.” The black cat ran off suddenly. Next to Jeckie, Jason Blood simply looked down at his shackles. “We have guests today!” Mordru said out loud and his voice was booming—painful almost, to the normal ear. “Welcome to Zerox, the Secret City.” No one made a reply. Up above, all five heroes were wide awake now. “Children,” he said, turning towards Jacquie so his gaze was upon her. He was extremely tall, and well-built, dressed in an open flowing white vest and robes, with a long flowing white beard. On his head was a crown made of Silver with a leaflet in the middle. To Jacquie, he looked 30 feet tall. “You have been mislead,” he said again. “You have been convinced that it was wise to stand in opposition to me, which truly cannot be your fault. After all, you are only children. But by learning about this whole other world you never knew about before, you have thus entered it and become an active participant. And to enter this world in opposition to Mordru, is to ensure a short and painful existence.”

“Jacqueline Proiectra,” Mordru continued, “I know your family quite well. We are old friends and it pleases me to see their line did not die out quietly. Some of your ancestors once stood before, proud, as you do now.” Jacquie at last could match his gaze and look into his eyes, and in them she saw something she had never truly believed existed in the world before. Evil. Pure, utter, madness with the conviction that his way and his words were truly right. Mordru’s eyes revealed his true intentions, that whatever exists in this world should be susceptible to his every whim, and should be a part of an order of his ruling. He stared at her, and though he smiled kindly, she could feel his wrath in this eyes. Still, she stood in her shackles, straitening out, though it exhausted her to do so. “Tell me Princess…where are my daughters?”

She was silent for a few moments that lasted an eternity. “I do not know,” she replied and she hoped he could not pierce her words and discover if she lied. In fact, he normally could do these things, but Jacquie’s power was that of illusions, and it had been used against Mordru for centuries, as it was being used here—successfully.

“Your family has brought me suffering over the centuries and you do so now. You seek to turn my beloved daughter against me; you seek to come between the bonds of family and destroy a sacred link. Your family once robbed me of my beloved Emerald Empresses. Now you seek to continue your family tradition in robbing me of my most beloved.”

Jacquie was trembling. He appeared to grow taller as he questioned her, and she wondered how the soldiers before them all could possibly be able to remain standing for so long. Above her, her five companions were unable to utter a word. “N-No,” she said at last. “You speak falsely. I have no power over Maziah…her will is her own.”

<span style="font-size: 16px;">”YOU LIE!”</span> he yelled! “Daughter of traitors and whores, you dare lie to the dark lord!” Suddenly, he raised his right hand up to his own chin, and prepared to swat her with his backhand, which surely would have been the end of her, when suddenly, two others entered the cavern.

It was the mercenary, O’Ryan the Hunter, and the black cat, Asmodeus. O’Ryan strutted in with a smirk, looking up at the cage above him with a smile, then at Jacquie, his eyes lingering on her trembling body. In his mind, he was preparing for rewards beyond measure.

Mordru beheld him with the fury still in his eyes, until at last he appeared to return to his normal, smiling state, suddenly appearing to be normal size once more. “You have done well,” he said soothingly to the Hunter. “Very well indeed. How many did I ask you to bring me?”

“Eight,” said O’Ryan with a oozing pride at himself. “You said eight, but I figured, what the hell right, why not nine?” he added smiling a big grin. His red hair was pulled back in a pony-tail and he had a large eye-patch on one of his eyes. His appearance would be comical if the young heroes didn’t hate him so much at that instant.

“You did indeed bring me nine,” said Mordru, as if he was correcting the Hunter. “You, of course, brought me two that I did not require. You should have realized they had only recently joined this group.”

“Yeah?” said O’Ryan, still not quite getting what Mordru was driving at. “Legionnaires too, I think.”

“So you did know,” said Mordru suddenly, and his smile was gone. “You knew they were Legionnaires and only recently joined the group.” O’Ryan motioned to speak again, but Mordru’s eyes pierced him so hard he did not. “Therefore, you brought me seven of the eight I required, plus two I have no use for.” Now, Mordru walked forward to O’Ryan, directly in front of him. “Seven of the eight, thereby leaving one behind; one who is precious to me; one who is my own daughter, my most beloved, and who I truly wanted above all others. You failed the Dark Lord Mordru, and for that, there is no forgiveness.”

And at a speed none could truly catch, Mordru plucked out O’Ryan’s other eye. The man fell to the ground screaming in pain, cursing and gurgling and choking on his own words, realizing his life would now be nothing but darkness.

“Hasim Diyarbikar,” he said out loud. “You will come down here and execute this man in my service, and for that you will be greatly rewarded.” At once, the entire cavern looked up at the cage and all eyes were on Hasim. He said nothing. “Princess Jacqueline Proiectra owes me a great debt. Her ancestors assaulted my will on many occasions and I, of the ancient tradition, hold her responsible for the actions of her forefathers. The House of Proiectra is responsible for the destruction of my beloved concubines and the loss of the Emerald Eye of Ekron. Should I hold her accountable for these crimes, she will undergo the most torturous death imaginable. That is, unless I choose to have her join Lord Jason Blood here permanently as my newest servant and agent. This will all be avoided unless you do my bidding and come down here and execute this worthless excuse for a man.”

“Hasim,” said Spirit, putting a hand on his arm. “Don’t, it’s a trick, and—“ but he waved her off. Val watched him, but Dirk and Tenz knew in their hearts what his response would be.

“I’ll do it,” he said.

Monius Elysius awoke to feel hands all over his body, and prepared to jerk up at top speed and with full strength, only to find he was unable to move. Soon, he realized the hands were not assaulting him, but were working on his side, where his wounds were. They were doctors and nurses, fixing him up. Had he been rescued? He turned to see, and no, he had not been.

The servants of Mordru worked to bring Mon-El back to full health, while magic bonds held him down. Mon looked forward to see he was in some prison cell removed from everything else. Using his super-hearing, he concentrated on voices that he might hear, and suddenly heard the screaming and roaring of soldiers, as well as some crushing blows.

“Monius, after all these years…” he heard.

Immediately he looked up. That voice…? He recognized it. Could it be…? He turned to his left and for a minute he believed he was hallucinating.

“How could it be that two old friends, from an era 2,000 years in the past, could both somehow be able to meet once more?” The soldier was grinning. He was a young man also, though now looked to be about two or three years older than Monius. He was built the same—strong and well cut, a pure warrior’s build. Short hair, in the Roman style, and dressed in the traditional Roman armor, though now a deep purple.

“Dev,” he said, quietly. “Devious Emorius,” he said now. It was amazing. “But how…?”

“I am no mere hallucination, old friend,” said Dev-Em, which was what Mordru called him. “I too still exist in the present day, having lived through all of these hundreds of years.”

It was too much for Mon to take in. “But…Rome? What happened? How?” He stopped asking questions trying to get his brain to process it. “But how could you have lived if you did not survive as I have?”

“I’m sorry the answer still eludes you, Monius,” said Dev-Em, and at last it began to dawn on Monius Elysius. Monius had been the greatest warrior of his age, akin to Hercules and Achilles during the Roman Era of the Emperor Augustus. He was the beloved hero, and a rank and file soldier in the vast armies of Rome. His Centurion was Devious Emorius, who was also his best friend. When the shadow of Mordru began to extend too far, a great unified army was gathered and for the first time, the ancient enemies of the West and East (Rome and Persia), united together to form one great army to combat Mordru. But Mon-El, the great hero, was too much of a threat, and Mordru’s spies poisoned his water with lead, bringing him near death until he could be placed in the Zone of the Phantoms by Augustus himself, and the Persian Diplomat Ralex Jorg. And he thought—Dev also. “But how could you…? How could you serve him…? You saved me…?”

“Saved you? I searched long and far to figure out where Augustus buried you, until I was convinced you were dead. You’re still blinded my friend. I serve Mordru now as I have always served Mordru. As I served Mordru when I poisoned your water and when I believed I had killed you at last. As I shall serve him when it at last becomes my duty to kill you.”

Mon stared at him, and Dev looked back into his eyes. There were no words between these ancient warriors. The ultimate betrayal at last had come out into the open between these once best of friends.

“How will you plan to do that, assassin?” asked Mon-El in contempt. “Attack me now, as I lay helpless in a hospital bed?”

“No, friend. You and I shall fight a duel to the death in front of Lord Mordru and at last we shall know who is superior.”

Mon shook his head. “I don’t believe you.”

Dev-Em smiled. He picked up a steel sword and suddenly crushed it into a ball of scrap metal. “Believe what you want. But I have always been just like you. You and I are the same, old friend, with the same abilities. While you stole the glory, I was simply a spy and friend off to the side. But now, I will show you what these abilities are like when used by someone with twenty centuries of practice.”

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

Tatiana awakened at last, covered in the darkness, separated from the rest of them. Unknown to her, she was placed separately in a darkened prison cell two levels beneath them, deeper in the sub-levels of the cavern. The cavern was hardly Mordru’s castle or even one of his regular buildings. But in Mordru’s mind, to allow his new enemies to set foot into his ‘Holy Palaces’ seemed disgraceful. And he had enjoyed sentencing his enemies to death in this cavern over the centuries.

Next to Tatiana was the figure of Blok, which though on the cold cement, used its sentience to draw up moisture through the cracks in the cement from the Earth below and at last restore its body. Foolish of Mordru to once more not act immediately and destroy him outright. But Blok knew Mordru wanted him to see his new allies die first.

“Blok?” she asked suddenly scared. “Blok, where are the others?” There was real terror in her voice, her recent capture by Nardo and the Dark Circle still fresh in her mind.

“<font face="Impact"> They’ve separated us,”</font f> he said.

“But…” she began then stopped, until finally continuing “…but why would they put me with you?”

<font face="Impact"> “Because Tatiana, your ancestors have long battled the Dark Lord, as long as almost I, and longer than even Jacquie’s family. Mordru’s distaste for your lineage is great enough to keep you completely out of his sight. When at last he has killed our friends, it will give him the greatest pleasure to kill us two. Mordru sees little difference between you, your grandfather, your ancestors hundreds of years ago, or your great ancestor during the time of Monius Elysius’s age.”</font f>

Tatiana was silent at this, and the panic of all that had happened since began to set in. Talking with her friends through their link over the years was amazing: her, Nura, Maziah, Jacquie, Sara and Irma had become a close-knight group of friends. And though she had suspected there was some deeper reason for them all to be connected, she never would have believed it had to do with the Ancient struggle against Mordru. Now all that had happened: from the Emerald Empress, the Persuader, on the run from the Dark Circle, her skin turning blue making her a freak, those bastards hurting her and Tenz, to seeing Mon get shot…it was all so much.

She recalled her recent experience with Nightcrawler and doing the same as she did then, she began to envelope herself in her own darkness. And it soothed her, and calmed her. As she began to relax, she once more heard the whispers…the whispers she had always heard growing up, which once frightened her, and once made her question herself, but now were comforting.

Blok spoke to her: <font face="Impact"> “listen to them Tatiana, listen to what they say…perhaps you are ready for their knowledge and wisdom…perhaps they can help us in our mission, where I have failed us so greatly…”</font f>

And so she listened to them, and they grew louder…

“Tatiana,” one voice said strongly.

“Grandmum,” said Tatiana, as Lydia Mallor emerged from the darkness. “I-I’m afraid. I’m so afraid…”

“Be strong child. You are in the heart of the Dark Lord’s lair, but there is always hope…look to your family, for there is always hope…”

And so among the shadows they all began to emerge. Oldest among them, Nommo the Wizard-King at last emerged. “Mordru’s magic is the magic of Ekron,” he began, “and to defeat him with any other magic, any weaker magic, will do no good. No,” he continued, “he must be defeated by his own magic or by other means, such as the Earth itself. You must look back to Ekron, child…” and so he began Mordru’s tale at long last.

“Ekron?” said Tatiana, to the various shadow ancestors that came forward.

“Hush child,” said her grandmother Lydia Mallor. “He is the oldest among us, and you must respect him as he speaks.”

<font face="Impact"> “She is right Tatiana,” </font f> said Blok.

“You can see them too Blok?” replied the teenage hero. “None have ever been able to…”

“But the brotherless one is not like any other”, said Nommo, first among her ancestors, the once Wizard King of Kor. “And it does me well to see him once more,” he added.

<font face="Impact"> “I too, noble King, though I shall remain silent while you consult with descendent.”</font f>

Nommo continued. “When the Earth was still young, a great kingdom was upon it and it was filled with glory and beauty. All were in good health and the spoken word was like music. Ekron was the great kingdom, and all that dwelled there were blessed with long life, great mastery over the various arts and the wondrous need to explore the boundaries of the universe, both within us and outside of us. Ekron was the Golden Age of humanity, and the Ekronians were a pre-human race that achieved perfection. For they were not human beings, but the first race upon this Earth, a race born of perfection of the mind, spirit and body.

Their mastery of the arts included the great sciences and magics, and the ability to forge items such as rings, helms, scepters and swords. Epic poetry and song that could take control of one’s emotions. Mastery of the ebb and flow of time. Mastery of the hearts of others.

Yet Ekron was destined to fall, because there was one among them who desired not the expansion of science of magic, nor the chaotic glory of creation. Mordru desired the orderly subjection of these notions. He desired a way to catalogue them, to describe them, to understand them and control them. In his heart, Mordru hated the unpredictable beauties of Ekron. Look child, into the darkness, and see:”

Tatiana looked, with Nommo, Lydia, Blok and her other ancestors, and the image of ancient Ekron could be seen in the darkened shadows. A blurry, shadowed version of the past, but enough to make out the figures:



Now Nommo was silent. “And did it?” asked Tatiana. “Did war happen in Ekron?”

“Indeed,” replied Nommo. “A great and horrible Civil War destroyed the great Kingdom of Ekron. What did you see in Mordru child?” asked Nommo.

Tatiana thought about this for a moment before answering. “I saw a man—an entity rather, wishing to instill order, rules and restrictions upon creation. The antithesis of creation. At last, I believe I understand him.”

“Yes, that is true,” said Nommo, and even then his intent was always to conquer and destroy Ekron. And so he tried—but of course, he failed. Civil War ripped Ekron apart, and the Ekronians all died. The Earth was spilt and the wonderful creations of the Ekronians were destroyed. Ro Jath’s continent was sent forth into the oceans, a remnant of what it once was. Mordru’s own Emerald Eyes were split at the Earth was split. One lost in its ancient hiding place, on the other side of the world, while the other remained close to Mordru, and was eventually recovered and used by his concubines, the Emerald Empresses. For Mordru still lived, and still his goals remained the same.” An image of great destruction appears in the shadows, as two large pyramids, each holding an eye, are split apart—one in pyramid moving with South America across the ocean, and another moving in the opposite direction in Eastern Europe. In the middle, a small island remains afloat.

<font face="Impact"> “This is all true, for the destruction of Ekron was disastrous for the Earth, and a second such occurrence would surely destroy the Earth. As I once spoke , the Planet is a living, breathing thing and it was then it produced its greatest son to live and die for it, to rise up and carry on its own sacred mission. I came into existence to serve the planet and restore the sacred order, by destroying Mordru the most orderly and returning the Planet to a time when it no longer lived in such peril, for life cannot live under the boot heel of one man, and without life on the outside of it, there is no life within.”</font f>

“And you, ancestor?” asked Tatiana.

Nommo smiled. “I, child,” he began, “I was King of Tor, a kingdom of men in the earliest ages, and though our people feared the great Spider-Devil, known only as Mordru, I ventured into his lands and found the Ancient Paradise we knew of in our legends. It was then that I drank his waters, perhaps polluted by his darkness, or perhaps blessed by the other Lords of Ekron, and received the gift of the shadows, which have been passed down among my line.” Though a shadow, Nommo’s eyes appeared to twinkle at the mention of other Lords of Ekron. The shadows reveal an Ancient Kingdom in Africa, and a great fertile valley where Nommo once drank.

“Good bye now child,” said Nommo, placing his hand on Tatiana’s shoulder, “and good luck.” Nommo drifted away into nothingness.

Another shadow-wielder joined Lydia Mallor, this one Rostam, the great Persian warrior. Rostam spoke: “Mordru’s wicked scheming has continued over the ages, and the son of the Earth has battled him, often with allies. Your line, Tatiana Mallor, has defended the world against Mordru many times since the days of Nommo. In Egypt, while Mordru uncovered the Eye of Ekron within the Sphinx and began the line of Emerald Empresses, your family helped battle against him. He has known many names: Hades to the Greeks, Pluto to the Romans. It was I who fought alongside these Romans, when the two great Empires of its age, Persia and Rome, gathered together for one time to battle Mordru. It was I who knew Monius Elysius and befriended him, and it was I who intended my daughter marry him one day. She would never have the chance—perhaps you, child, will see to rectifying this ages old problem.”

Though in darkness, Tatiana could feel the heat on her face as she blushed.

“Once Monius Elysius was betrayed, more betrayals were to follow. And so you must take that lesson to heart, Tatiana. There are those among you that will fall victim to Mordru’s honeyed words and plentiful promises. You must be wary of traitors at all times. But you must also stand by your brothers and sisters at arms, and trust and love them. For only in unity can you hope to defeat Mordru. It is this balance between the two that you must contend with in your war against the Dark Lord. The great united armies stand against Mordru but are unable to defeat him.

Now Rostam disappeared and Lydia Mallor became the remaining ancestor in the darkness with Tatiana. Blok too, seemed to disappear. “Grandmum…I’m not sure what to do…” she said.

“There are no great secrets to tell you, dear child,” replied Lydia Mallor. “Other than you come from a long line of fighters and warriors, and you must find the strength to continue on and to battle on. You cannot allow yourself to be placed on the sidelines or to be put under the heel of the Dark Lord. You must battle and you must fight. For many millenia, Mordru has used his power to stop the natural growth of human beings so they could not develop the new skills awarded to them by evolutionary change. Yet, we, your ancestors, have battled Mordru nonetheless, often aidless, often within a small group with little chance of success. All of this has changed, as less than (25) years ago, Mordru’s great spell was broken, and man once more was free to develop as it was designed to do. Now there are numerous among you that can stand against him, and you must be one of their captains.”

Lydia became silent. Tatiana was also silent, but now she was no longer worried. Something else else had changed within her, as she began to understand her true nature better for the first time in her life. She was ready.

“Thank you, ancestors,” she said.

“You are welcome child,” replied Lydia. “Trust in the darkness—when Mordru’s end comes, darkness will be the last thing he sees”

“Remember your cousin Greg,” said Rostam.

“Look to the West,” said Nommo, “your greatest ally remains hidden yet still”

And with that, they disappeared, and Tatiana pulled away the cloak of darkness, and so that once more, she and Blok were alone in the natural darkness of the cell.

“Blok? Can you move now?”

<font face="Impact"> “Yes. I have been waiting for you. It is our time now, lady of the shadow, to go before the Dark Lord.”</font f>

“I’m ready.”

Welcome Back?
<span style="font-size: 10px;">Level 1 - The Return</span>

Lorna sighed as she looked out the window of the taxi. NYC certainly hadn't got any less... crowded in the time she'd been away.

It had only been a few weeks since she'd left Legion HQ, in a haze of helicopter-strewn dust, exhausted at everything which had happened to her, but with the memory of kissing Cos still on her lips. It felt like more than a year had gone by.

Now, it was time to see if she could "go home again", be a Legionnaire again after everything McCauley and Enrapture had put her through. And she was trying to do it quietly - she'd only had one contact with the team in the time she'd been away, a personal (pen & paper) letter to Cos in the middle of her "break" saying (amongst other things) that she wanted to be back before Xmas. He'd written back in turn, basically saying (amongst other things) that that'd be fine, that Gene "understood" that she hadn't wanted to make a scene over her departure, and to get back as soon as she felt up to it.

She didn't want her "return" to be a big thing though. After logging her presence "on-site", she wanted to get to her room before running into anyone. Registering as Active could wait a day - she was in a very "Orange" mood...
________________

Three Days Earlier:

The smell of the stable got her every time, she thought as she saddled her horse, Aladdin. It was about the only thing she could remember of that fateful night three years earlier when, exhausted, hungry and ill, she'd collapsed there and fallen into Raymond John Brande's life. She looked over at her adoptive dad as the old man saddled his own horse, Maria, with the practiced ease that came with so many years of riding. While she struggled to get it right as usual.

Eventually, she made it and they rode out together.

"You've been quiet," he said, breaking the silence.

"I'm just thinking."

"Hah! - lass, I've been around for long enough to know the difference between 'thinking' and 'brooding'. And that's too long to think brooding helps now. What's troubling you?"

"I had... I've been having this dream, this nightmare for the past few nights..."

"And what happens in this 'nightmare'?" R.J. asked, trying to keep his gravelly voice soft.

"I'm, all three of me, lying strapped down to a table. And there's two voices, male and female, who keep saying things over and over, like 'Your will is irrelevant', 'Your hopes are irrelevant', 'Your dreams are irrelevant', 'Who you were is irrelevant'. Just over and over, burning how irrelevant I am as a person into my heads. Then, eventually, they come out of the shadows, and it's McCauley and Enrapture. And then they take two of me - Neutral and Purple - and start doing things to me, and I start screaming, while Orange has to watch. And then it keeps going on, and on, with pain and confusion and... until I can't take any more and wake up."

"Lorna..."

"And it makes me wonder - how much of 'me' is left? Being split in three tore my mind apart, and Irma had to put it back together when she didn't even know me. Then McCauley and his machine came along, 'helped' by Enrapture, to poke holes about in my brain for them to use. Did Irma manage to put everything they broke back together? What if-"

Brande cut her off. "Lorna, lass, listen to me. You're the daughter I found in those stables three years ago. TOO like her - I've seen you find your confidence, and now it's gone again. If I could pull a bottle of it out of the air for you I would. But I'd know if there was a stranger looking back at me from your face, and talking with your mouth. There isn't."

She looked doubtful. "But what should I do?"

"Whatever you want! Go back to your friends in the Legion! Go to college! Get a job - with me, with Brande Industries, somewhere. The only thing I won't let you do is nothing - you've been at that for a month and you're worse off now than when you started! Do you want to go back to the team?"

She thought of Cos for a moment, then Irma and Garth. "Yes...

"Then do it soon. Please."
________________

She would have made it - having signed in via the back way, via the freight elevator and then straight into the Legion accommodation though the "air lock" - a seal-capable booth with thermal, fingerprint & retina scanners to verify IDs - if it hadn't been for a small, silver ship, whose lack of a mouth never stopped him from running it off...

"HEY, EVERYBODY, LORNA'S BACK!!!"

She split, and Neutral made frantic "sssh"ing motions while Purple actually tried attacking the pest, who stayed maddeningly out of reach as it broadcast her arrival far and wide. She gave up as she heard footsteps approaching, and several Legionnaires appeared on the scene. Lyle was first, as always, then Gene, Shifter & Gear. After giving up, Purple stayed where she was, some paces in front of the other two, while Neutral clasped the handle of their shoulder bag tightly and looked embarrassed and Orange tried to slip surreptitiously behind her. None were quite sure how to react.

After a moment, Leviathan was the one to break the silence, and began spouting off about how she should have called, filled in forms, etc. Just as he started however, any thought of listening to his yammering stopped, as she locked eyes with the entering Cosmic Boy. His gauntlets were off, and his face and hands were wet, but that barely registered as she ran forward, merging as she went, and hugged him tightly.

Lyle placing his hand over Gene's mouth and saying "Look guys, it's obvious she didn't want a scene even if Quislet caused one. Let's give them some privacy, huh?" before filing them out didn't register at all.

Eventually, simultaneously, the two released one another.

Cos broke the silence. "I missed you," he said gently, brushing a strand of her hair back.

"I missed you too," she smiled. "I was going to stop by later - well, maybe Purple," she smiled more broadly, "but I didn't want Mr. Telsiuq to get the chance to announce me like that."

"Done's done," he said. "Here..." Cos grabbed her discarded bag by the metal handle, and they walked to her room.
__________________

Approaching her room, Lorna split again, with Orange hurrying in, and Purple looking around cautiously as Neutral focused on Cos.

"So,... how have things been around here since you wrote?"

"Hectic apparently. I only got back myself from a week at home yesterday. Since then, there's been a few more bits of fallout from a mission Lyle apparently blew in-"

"Wait - LYLE blew a mission?"

"According to Lyle, Gene set him up."

"That, I can believe." Purple finally entered the room.

"Thought you might, and he might just have a point from what I've seen. It's mostly been that until..." he checked his watch, "...just over an hour ago, when Tina showed up on TV."

"Is she okay? What-" Orange spoke up.

"She looked fine - some guy flew her into the middle of a big conference at her mother's castle." The three Lornas winced - Orange thinking of how Tina had described the Countess Winona's reactions to various things she'd done as a kid; and Neutral & Purple at the potential, political, knock-ons for Cos & the team.

"Gene found out?" Purple asked.

"About thirty seconds after I did. He took it about as well as you'd expect."

"No wonder he was so glad to see me..." Purple replied.

"What about the others?" Orange interjected.

"Nothing. At the same time, Tina didn't look beaten up or unhappy-"

"Tina would look happy after she'd been left to starve in prison for a week." Purple snorted.

"She DOES tend to hide when she's not feeling so happy, and do it well..." Neutral broke in to clarify quickly.

"True, but..." Cos shrugged. "You know as much about it as I do now.

They stood, suddenly, ever-so-slightly, awkward around each other all of a sudden, unsure what to say next, until Neutral noticed a strange greenish blob sticking out of Cos' pocket. "What's that?" she asked, pointing at it.

"This?" He took it out, revealing the green blob to be one of three small blobs - the other two red & blue, respectively - around a larger yellow-white blob. "Stress ball thing. Apparently, it was sent to me a couple of months back, but it only filtered down through the parcel-checking systems not long after you left. I was using it earlier, not long before Quislet went nuts."

"Can I see it?" Neutral asked.

"Sure."

He moved to hand it to her, but as it came in contact with her hand, before he released it, something happened...

He felt a wave of dizziness hit him...

She felt her 'sisters' rushing towards her in a forced merger...

<span style="font-size: 16px;">------------------INTERLUDE----------------</span>

New York City, Legion Headquarters

“The minute they get here, I want them in this office. They don’t even get to go to their quarters,” said Gene at the top of his lungs. “The nerve! To just call us up on the phone and say ‘we’re at the airport and could you send over a car and pick us up because we can’t afford cab fair’!” Gene was screaming at the top of his lungs, which wasn’t unusual, but the subject matter was creating quite a bit of excitement. Apparently, the Legionnaires missing for the last few weeks were returning within the next thirty minutes and it would be quite the sight to see.

“Where’s Cos?” asked Live Wire. “Or Lyle?”

“Don’t even get me started about Lyle,” said Gene. “Where’s Dreamer—let’s get her in here right now, since she’s as much to blame as them.”

Dreamer cringed. “You’re in trouble…” whispered Element Lad, as they were standing around the corner from the leader’s office, listening to Gene’s latest rant. “What are you--?” But before, Element Lad could finish, both were surprised to see R.J. Brande, of all people, turn the corner.

“Nura?” he said. “Can I have a minute with you?”

Nura almost choked on her words, as suddenly the idea of being in trouble with R.J. Brande was something she couldn’t just smile and laugh away. “Uh, sir, I think Gene is going to want to see me in a few minutes…” she said, and Element Lad couldn’t help but laugh.

“He can wait,” said R.J. Now everyone was surprised.

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

Nura sat uncomfortably in a nice chair in a room she had never been in before. Apparently, R.J. Brande had a nice office on one of the top floors in the Legion’s headquarters, though none of them had ever checked it out (which was odd, because with this group, every inch of the place should have been checked out). “Can I help you with anything, sir?” she asked. Nura was strikingly beautiful, and normally her nonchalant confidence intimidating the others more than a little. Right now, that confidence was uncharacteristically shaky.

“Indeed,” said Mr. Brande, as he sat in another chair, so that they were facing each other. “This will seem odd, my dear. You see, I’ve been having these weird dreams lately, and I although I thought they were at first just anxiety, I’m wondering if there’s something more to them.”

“Oh!” said Nura, suddenly more at ease. “Well, I’m not sure how much help I’ll be sir, since, well, I don’t really have anything to do with other people’s dreams. Its just my own that help me see into the future on occasion.”

“Right, right,” he said, obviously having heard this from someone else a few times. “Still, I thought it was worth taking a few minutes to explain it to you and see if it helps. Either way, it gives you an excuse to avoid Leviathan,” he added, and she smiled at that. All of the Legionnaires who had been around the longest loved Mr. Brande and she could see why.

“What are your dreams about sir,” she said at last, deciding to just play along if it meant she didn’t need to get the riot act read to her yet again for their little secret mission.

“They’re quite odd,” said R.J. Brande, as he talked very low and very slow, making sure each word came out just right so he got across the image he was picturing. He had a very pleasant way of talking, Nura thought, and when he was relaxed like this, it was infectious—you couldn’t help but relax yourself. “Its of a garden, you see…I’ve had various gardens in my homes over the globe, so I’m not sure which garden it is…but it smells beautiful. You can really smell the tomatoes ripening and each time the wind picks up, another wave of the fresh smell comes forth. The insects are buzzing, and although its not a hot day, the sun is beating down just enough to make a nice light sweat come on you. When the wind picks up again, it hits the sweat in a way that feels like you’re truly alive.” Nura could picture it perfectly. When she and Maziah were girls, they often loved to escape to the outdoors to get away from their father. She could almost see herself running around the garden with R.J. Brande. No—not R.J. Brande, with Maziah.

“There’s a wood groove not far off on the side of the garden,” said R.J. softly, “and I can’t help feel compelled to go to it,” he added. Nura felt the compulsion too. She and Maziah walked over, and she turned to see their longtime friends Jacqueline, Tatiana and Irma with them (oddly though, no Sara). “But in the garden…there’s a snake…” said R.J., but Nura could hardly hear him anymore. She was picturing it herself, and R.J.’s soothing voice seemed to take her away to another place completely. They were all laughing in the garden, but that groove was drawing them over there. Maziah and Irma were no longer there, but she was having fun with Tatiana and Jacquie. She was delighted to see how beautiful they both were, as they had never met in person, and she found Tatiana’s blue skin to be very pretty indeed. As they approached the groove, though, a tremendous sense of danger washed over here. There was something awful in there, but Tatiana and Jacquie were still walking towards it.

And she saw it, in the grass: a large, venomous snake, waiting for them to get closer. Waiting, so it could pounce on them and devour them. The snake looked at her, with its little eyes, small black slits on either side, and she realized upon seeing its eyes that the snake was her father.

She shrieked at the top of her lungs, screaming and screaming as tears rolled down her cheeks! The screaming woke herself out of the dream, and she realized she was crying; her heart was pounding, even her head was pounding as a vicious migraine headache set in. R.J. Brande kneeled in front of her and held her tight, hugging her and she hugged him back fiercely. “It’s alright child,” he said softly, “you’re safe, it was just a dream. You’re safe now,” and she realized she was trembling.

“No…no, it wasn’t just a dream…” she whispered. Mr. Brande’s warmth calmed her down some, and as the unfamiliar feel of a fatherly hug seemed to knock her back into the present, as the dream faded away. “I don’t think it was just a dream…” she said.

“Everything is going to be alright,” said R.J. and the firmness and strength in his voice brought her comfort. He seemed sure of it.

<span style="font-size: 16px;">------------------END INTERLUDE---------------- </span>

Yemen, the Secret City of Zerox

In their cage, the heroes sat without speaking. Their powers would not work, and so Spirit, Dirk and Tenz quietly waited until they could think of something to do. Valor also waited, trying to peace together the best method of escape if he could somehow destroy these bars. But what good could it do, if Mordru was down below?

And he remained down below. Hasim had been freed, and to their horror, had performed what Mordru asked, killing O’Ryan the Hunter with one crushing blow. It was a mercy killing, for sure, but it was still murder. When he was done, Hasim looked up at Jacquie as if to tell her this was for her. It broke her heart. She sank to her knees after that, and seemed distant, as if what was happening hardly mattered. She now looked as distant as Jason Blood.

Mordru was pleased with this, and Val surmised it was the outcome Mordru most desired. Mordru sat quietly for awhile now, and Val wondered if he was contemplating what to do with them. Hasim had been taken away from them afterwards to who knows where? At last, he motioned for his feline, Asmodeus to come forth. “The games will continue,” he said, “bring forth the Daxamites.” Val had no idea what a Daxamite was, but he didn’t like the sound of that.

Soon, he realized what they were talking about. “Dev-Em!” yelled Mordru triumphantly, as a warrior clad in purple armor with a long spear, short sword and shield walked into the chamber, strutting forward as if a conquering hero. “Are you at last ready to prove you are the greatest warrior of your era?” Mordru asked, as if having a private joke with himself.

“I am,” said Dev-Em.

“Very well,” he continued. “Bring forth the great Monius Elysius!” Now the heroes all moved to the edge of their cage, in order to see Mon-El walk forward. He still had his torn jeans and boots, but his shirt was long torn off. They draped his blue cloak over his back, and they could see fresh stitches and bruises from where he was shot. He had a very subtle limp, but each Khundian soldier could notice it, so Dev-Em most assuredly did as well. They had given him a spear, but no shield or sword. “And you, Monius Elysius? Are you read to destroy the one who betrayed you two millennia ago? Who betrayed the greatness of Rome?” he added, sarcastically.

Mon-El stood before him, looking up, as Mordru’s glamour caused him to see 30 feet high to the ancient warrior. Mon, took the spear and threw it on the ground. “For you, I offer nothing, not my bood…not even his” he said, looking at Dev-Em.

“Coward!” said Dev-Em, as Mordru suddenly grew in fury, but then calmed himself.

“Go ahead, friend” said Mon-El to Dev-Em. “Cower before your master. Beg for his scraps.”

Before anyone could react, Dev-Em flew at him with super-speed and landed a mighty blow with his super-strength, knocking him into scores of soldiers like a bowling ball into a series of pins. As the Khundian soldiers scrambled, they all picked and punched at Mon-El, more a bother than anything else. Above, the heroes were shocked to learn that Dev-Em was indeed as powerful as Mon-El. Mon rose to his feet, rubbing his jaw, as Dev-Em positioned his spear so that it would stab right through Mon. “I’ve tipped it with lead, Monius,” he said.

“You would,” said Mon-El, suddenly snatching it out of his hand and ripping it to a thousand pieces. He was back on Dev-Em in seconds and the two hammered at each other with super-strength, so that the very walls rumbled, and the cage of heroes above began to swing wildly. The armor and weapons along the walls began to fall off to the floor. Mordru watched clinically with curiosity. Dev-Em then pulled out his sword, and went to stab at Mon-El, but Mon was waiting for it, and pulled the weapon forth, ripping it out of his hands, and hammering a blow on the back of his neck.

Then, in a suddenly display of wrath, Mon-El took the sword and hauled it at Mordru himself! Mordru quickly pointed his hand, and blasted it, turning it to dust, but now his ire was raised. “Insolent whelp!” he cried, “Dev-Em, it falls on you to make him pay for that!”

Mordru’s attention was purely on the battle now, as Jacquie looked up at last, the rumbling shaking her back to normal. Hasim’s actions hurt her more than she could say. But now something was happening. Mordru was no longer looking directly at her, and she felt a degree of freedom. She looked at Jason Blood, next to her, who seemed to be aware of her gaze. “Its useless,” he whispered. “Once he has you, he never lets go…”

Jacquie said nothing but looked into him, and realized what he was. Her power over illusion stripped away the glamour and she knew that he was a vessel the demon Etrigan shared, and at last she realized Etrigan was a prisoner of Mordru just as she was. Using her illusion powers, she placed a hand on Blood’s own hand, extending her shackles the farthest they would move to do so.

“What?” he said suddenly surprised.

And she spoke aloud: “Gone, gone form of man, live the Demon, Etrigan”