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

Unfortunately there were a few characters I didn't get a chance to follow up with due to not wanting to write 40,000 extra words and poor Variable Lad was one of them. );

We'll definitely get an update on him in the next instalment though as well as a few other characters I missed out on this time around! Glad peeps are enjoying it!

Peeps are loving it Raz - no worries about the VL subplot, I know what it's like trying to give everyone room in a story (and to my mind you wouldn't write 40,000 extra words you would write 40,000 magnificent words! ).

TITAN
Titanopolis Holistic Health Institute
Oaa Tseldor gasped a sharp intake of air. Lying on his belly as was customary for the three-armed natives of the planet Jaquaa, he lifted his head and glanced from side to side. "Saturn Girl..? Lightning Lad? Anybody? Where am I?"

"Variable Lad! You're awake!" Oaa shifted till he was upright, supported by the arm sprouting from his back. The purple boy was clothed only in his underwear and the pale blue walls were not those of his room at Legion Academy. Oaa's fellow students Gravity Kid and Lullabye Lad sat at the foot of his bed obviously happy to see him conscious again.

"This is a hospital," the young hero noted. "Are we on Medicus One? What happened after the fight?"

"After you saved Saturn Girl's life you mean?" Gravity Kid grinned. "That'll score you points for sure. We're on Titan, our teachers didn't want to risk exposing Medicus One to attack by taking us there. How are you feeling now anyway? You've been asleep nearly a whole day!"

"Oh no!" Oaa scrambled out of bed, looking for his costume. "I'm fine now, really! I don't even remember what happened to be honest...I just couldn't let Earth-Man hurt Saturn Girl and Polecat, everything's kind of a blur after that. I remember feeling really...hollow? Cold? I don't know how to explain it. Where are my clothes?"

"Relax," Lullabye Kid laughed. "We've been grounded anyway. The Legion of Superheroes are back, Variable Lad! All of them!"

"Where are they now?" Oaa asked.

Gravity Kid clasped Lullabye Lad's hand and looked at the starry sky outside the hospital window. "Right about now..? Handing those Justice League jerks their butts, I hope!"

**********
EARTH
Metropolis, Weisinger Plaza
Brainiac 5 and Saturn Girl floated safely within an impenetrable forcefield while chaos filled the plaza a hundred feet below them. Thanks to Color Kid's power the two heroes were camouflaged against the surrounding towers, effectively invisible to the casual observer as long as they stayed still. Neither of them liked having to watch the pitched battle without being able to more actively join in, but they knew they had their parts to play.

"Are you having any difficulty maintaining your influence on Earth-Man?" Brainiac 5 asked calmly.

"Not at all," Imra replied. "In fact, it's frustrating how easy this is. I don't enjoy using my power this way, but at the same time I wish I could do more." Anticipating Brainiac 5's reaction, she continued quickly. "Don't get me wrong, this was a great idea that Bouncing Boy had. Trying to control Earth-Man overtly would just alert him to my power and he'd absorb it. Subtly steering him away from considering certain plans of attack is much less risky...as long as he doesn't know I'm here he won't even think to question why he's content to let his team handle the lion's share of the battle and not just zap us all to the end of time. I'd still feel better being down there with the others though. There must be dozens of people in his Justice League and I recognise barely any of them!"

"30 including Earth-Man himself," the Coluan answered, eyes downcast. "There are 45 active participants on our side, discounting the two of us, Kid Computo, Infinite Boy and Gas Girl of course...and we have the benefit of years of experience working together for the most part. I predict our victory within 27 minutes at the most."

Saturn Girl examined her friend's expression as he continued watching the fight below them. To anyone else his cool analysis might seem devoid of emotion, but Imra knew better. For all his passionless exterior he hadn't taken his eyes off the battle once. There was one plucky blonde teenager he'd been watching in particular...

**********
Supergirl was finding out the hard way that just because Earth-Man was being swayed not to use his powers to the full, that didn't prevent him from putting up a fight. She shook the cobwebs from her head after the towering villain's backhand. His last strike had really hurt, she wondered if he was absorbing her Kryptonian strength just by being in proximity? If that was the case, maybe she should -- a tingling feeling distracted her from finishing her thought and she looked to the left to see a woman in a skin-tight black and white bodysuit with a stark white beehive hairdo. Her outfit bore some kind of white concentric ring pattern, and an ear-piercing trill accompanied her next beam of energy which struck Supergirl harmlessly. "Sonics," Kara frowned. "Seriously? A for effort, but--"

A black beam of energy now shot at the maid of might from her right-hand side. The beam shone with a bluish-violet glow which would be almost imperceptible to anyone without Kara's enhanced vision. Supergirl turned to see the first woman's twin. This one's beehive was black, the tones on her costume were reversed, and she wore a black starburst across her ample bosom rather than her sister's white rings. "You two realise you can't possibly hurt me, right?" Kara addressed the two women with a bemused expression.

"You underestimate the power of Black Light and White Noise!" the one obviously named White Noise shouted with a thick Russian accent, using both hands to fire again.

"Fall!" Black Light screeched. "Why won't you fall?"

"We can take care of these two, Supergirl!" Lightning Lad and Lightning Lass assailed the women with dual electrical bursts. "Don't waste your time on the little fish!"

"Good advice!" Kara waved as she took to the air again, leaving the Legion's twins to take care of the Justice League's twins.

"Bozhe moi!" This was from a barrel-chested cyborg with a thick beard. "Do not fear, comrades! The Cyberian will exterminate these lightning bugs!" He levelled his left arm at Garth and Ayla, a plasma cannon replacing his hand. The cannon whined to life but before he could discharge, his arm suddenly jerked upwards and he fired into the sky above.

"Not that I doubt you two could handle him," Cosmic Boy explained as his magnetism aimed the Cyberian's cannon more carefully at the airborne Storm boy, "But there are enough of these creeps, why not use them to take one another down?"

"Sneaky!" Ayla smirked. "I like it!" She dodged Black Light's sonic blast and shot the villain with her own power.

Above them, Storm Boy summoned winds to dodge Cyberian's co-opted plasma blasts. Filled with rage and embarrassment, he couldn't focus enough to craft a lightning bolt precisely enough to hit Cosmic Boy without targeting anyone else on the battlefield. Why does it matter? he reasoned. We want the Legion dead anyway, and all these new losers Earth-Man made us recruit would be dead already if we hadn't intervened. Sprock 'em. He threw his arms wide and the sky filled with black clouds while the temperature drastically dropped. Lightning filled Weisinger Plaza, most of it intercepted by Legionnaires with the appropriate powers. One bolt skated across Brainiac 5's forcefield ineffectively, illuminating Brainy and Imra for a fraction of a second though nobody noticed in the ruckus. A stray arc struck Cyberian, causing the burly Soviet relic to convulse once then fell.

"That's enough out of you, Storm Boy."

Storm Boy's heart leaped as suddenly Mon-El was hovering before him, arms folded across his chest. In desperation he unleashed a torrent of lightning against the Daxamite. The display was visually impressive, but predictably useless. Mon-El rendered the villain unconscious with a simple flick of his finger and deposited him on the steps of Science Police Headquarters miles away before flying back to join the fracas seconds later.

**********
Elsewhere in Weisinger Plaza, Comet Queen soared alongside the similarly golden woman Celestine. "Hey, you stole my gleam!" she accused the fire-haired villain. "No fair, starshine!"

"I took nothing of yours," Celestine remarked coolly. "In fact, young one, there is nothing I want from you save your life. Thus my debt to Earth-Man will be paid." Celestine gestured and a gravitic pulse sent Grava flying. Comet Queen bowled over Dragonmage, the impact knocking both heroes out.

"That's not manners," Sun Boy approached the powerhouse villain. "Let's see how you do against someone not so wet behind the ears, huh?" He fired a torrent of flame at Celestine, figuring that her own white-hot corona of fire must give her some degree of resistance to heat. Still, he didn't want to hurt her, just make her back down. After a couple of seconds he let the fiery onslaught subside and was surprised to find Celestine floating before him completely unscathed.

"It seems I do quite well," she retorted. "As should be expected from someone who is your superior in every way." She smashed Sun Boy with the same force with which she'd dispatched Comet Queen, and with similar effect. Dirk Morgna was already unconscious when Supergirl stopped him from slamming into the Legion's headquarters.

Kara lowered Sun Boy into one of the many Duplicate Damsels' waiting arms and rocketed towards Celestine. "Now you," Kara muttered through gritted teeth, "Something else else tells me you're not a little fish!" She charged into Celestine with savage force, slamming her into her enormous teammate Red Giant who was currently slugging it out with an equally huge Colossal Boy.

"Thanks Kara!" Colossal Boy shouted to the girl of steel as her struggle with Celestine took both women far above the city. While Red Giant was still woozy, Gim delivered a fierce uppercut and the titanic villain dropped.

"Colossal Boy!" Phantom Girl scolded him as she emerged through Red Giant's chest intangibly. "Watch out, you could have flattened someone!"

"Phantom Girl's right," one of the Duplicate Damsels snapped. "You have to be careful in these close quarters!" another joined in.

"You take out one of our friends," a lanky white-garbed man taunted, "I take out eight of yours!" He disappeared in a blur, reappearing only long enough to take down eight Duplicate Damsels. Phantom Girl lashed out at him and he vanished for less than a second before re-appearing in a different position. Moving faster than Tinya could imagine he grabbed her hand, the only part of her body phased into this dimension. He snapped it around, instantly breaking her wrist.

Tinya screamed in pain and dropped to her knees, too distracted by her agony to maintain her power. "How--"

"You think I'm a speedster," the villain grinned, slicking black oily hair away from his forehead. "I'm better than a speedster." He blurred again and was standing a few feet away when Colossal Boy's fist crushed the pavement where he'd been standing.

"You are certainly fast," came another voice, "But so am I." A yellow fringed boot struck out at the villain, knocking him for a loop. When he recovered, he saw Dawnstar standing protectively over Phantom Girl.

"You're not listening," he blurred once more, his own fist almost connecting with Dawnstar's jaw before she realised he was there and dodged. "I'm better than fast, I'm Tachyon. I transcend speed." He struck out again and connected this time, though Dawnstar rolled with the blow.

"Hmmm," she breathed through pursed lips. "We shall see." She made her move and both of them were gone from anybody else's field of vision to continue their fight at speeds nobody else could follow.

"Phantom Girl, look out!" Tinya heard Polar Boy's warning just in time to turn as a silent man-shaped silhouette hovered towards her. Seeing that his teammate was still too hurt to turn intangible, Polar Boy erected an ice wall between Tinya and the villain known as the Void. The Void passed straight through a foot of ice as though it weren't even there, and in his passing left an almost cartoonish passage shaped like himself.

Phantom Girl scrambled to her feet and rushed to Polar Boy's side. "He's like a human black hole!" she cried out. "What are we going to do?"

Polar Boy enclosed the villain in ice but again the Void simply passed right through. Desperate, Brek looked around them. Not far away Infectious Lass, Porcupine Pete and Fire Lad were being menaced by some Justice Leaguer shooting fire from his face. Polar Boy projected a sphere of ice around the man's head. The fire-faced man gave a muffled shout and lost his balance, falling in a heap. "Drura!" Polar Boy yelled. "We need your help over here!"

Infectious Lass ran across to them, seeing the threat instantly. "It's no good!" she cried after a second. "There's nothing biological about him at all, I can't infect him with anything! Is he even alive?"

"Maybe I can drive him away!" Porcupine Pete offered bravely. "Go on, get out of here Infectious Lass! I'll protect you!" He stood in front of Drura Sehpt and shot volley after volley of quills into the Void. Drura was horrified for him. Surely Pete must know he wasn't having any effect...she knew he was infatuated with her but she wasn't going to let him sacrifice himself for it!

"This why Substitute Legion Substitutes!" Quislet's mocking voice teased as his obnoxiously loud ship dived down from above. "Can't hurt a dimensional portal by throwing things at it! Lucky Quislet here to save the day as usual!" Ignoring everyone's shouts of protest, Quislet flew his ship straight into the Void. He vanished into the slow-moving silhouette and for a moment the Legionnaires began to think they'd seen the last of their foolhardy teammate. Then the Void stopped moving and seemed to shudder. He doubled over before shrinking into a central point inside himself and vanished altogether, but not before Quislet's microship zoomed back out none the worse for wear.

"Quislet!" Infectious Lass clapped her hands together joyfully. "What did you do?"

"Everyone forget, Quislet from another dimension," the tiny hero explained. "Quislet know how to open and close dimensional portals!" Before anyone could respond, Quislet flew in amongst the ruckus to find somewhere else to make himself known.

Bouncing Boy's spherical form abruptly zipped in front of the microship at high speed, rebounding off of Golden Boy's head and knocking the villain on his backside. "Careful!" Chuck warned as he ricocheted off of another Justice Leaguer's star-shaped shield. "Golden Boy nearly had you there, Quislet!"

"Quislet not scared of Golden Boy!" the Teallian Legionnaire retorted. "Quislet too good for his dumb power!"

"Maybe," the nearby Chlorophyll Kid reasoned, "But let's not put that theory to practice." He threw a handful of seeds at Golden Boy even as the metallic villain charged Quislet a second time. Hyperaccelerated plant growth led to thorny vines surrounding him in less than a second, and he instinctively turned his power on them. Too late, he realised he'd created his own golden prison.

As Bouncing Boy criss-crossed the plaza he saw that the Legion were finding victories, but so were Earth-Man's Justice League. Earth-Man was the deciding factor here. Even without using the Infinite Man's powers to exile the Legionnaires or to summon more reinforcements he was currently 25 feet tall with all the strength that entailed, he still had his chronal blasts and it was only his overconfidence in his stolen power that prevented him from absorbing the abilities of anyone else who came near him.

Chuck hoped that the Infinite Boy would make his move soon because ironically it was only a matter of time until their time-empowered foe gained the upper hand.

**********
Kid Computo paused outside the entrance to the Legion of Superheroes' medbay, the Infinite Boy by her side and Gas Girl a formless hazy mist above them. "I can't believe we came all this way without encountering a single Justice Leaguer," Kid Computo announced in a low voice. "Antennae Lad was right though, Eyeful Ethel's in there with the Infinite Man. He's hooked up to a machine which is letting Earth-Man absorb his powers at range but now that I'm close enough I can switch it off without us even needing to enter the room!"

"No, don't." The Infinite Boy shook his head. "As soon as he feels the connection disrupted he'll teleport down here before his stolen power fades. If he absorbs power from me and the Infinite Man, I don't want to think about how we'll stop him."

Danielle Foccart shrugged. "If you've got a better idea, I'm all for it. We're going to need to do something about his watchdog though...given the one power she's got, she's going to be impossible to surprise."

"Only if she sees an attack coming," Gas Girl countered. "Leave this to me." Though Danielle had seen some weird things in her brief time as a Legionnaire, a talking cloud of vapor certainly took the trophy. Already barely visible, Gas Girl faded from view altogether and drifted into the room. A second later Eyeful Ethel coughed once then dropped like a sack of meat. Gas Girl resumed her normal form to call the others in, but between the Infinite Boy's far-reaching perceptions and Kid Computo's rapport with computers they'd already seen Ethel drop and were on their way in.

"Good job, Gas Girl!" Danielle considered hoisting Eyeful Ethel herself but saw the many sleeping eyes which inspired her codename and quivered in revulsion. Instead she co-opted the tractor beam which was normally used to delicately move injured patients and deposited Ethel in a sens-tank. "That should keep her out of our way for now. What are we gonna do about this guy though?"

Even insensate as he was, the Infinite Man had a commanding presence. The three heroes felt as though they were in the lair of some sleeping predator. He'd obviously taken a larger stature to fight the Justice League, his 12 foot frame was resting on a bed specially designed for Tellus' bulky Hykraian form. From a metal band around his forehead, wires fed into what looked like a primitive iron lung and holoscreens kept a constantly updating tally on both the power levels of both the Infinite Man and the transference booster unit. "Poor Rugarth," the Infinite Boy lamented, peering into the placid features of his older doppelgänger. "The most powerful of all of us, and the only one who never wanted the power." He turned to the two girls. "Whether this works or not, it's going to tip Earth-Man off. You two had better leave here while you can, I can't imagine he'll take too kindly to what we're attempting down here and you both have great things in your future."

"I'm not leaving you here," Danielle placed her hands on her hips. "If this doesn't work, it's not like there's anywhere we'll be safe from him."

"Or anywhen for that matter," Gas Girl added. "The Infinite Man already sent some of us hundreds of centuries into the future and you brought us back. I don't see how Earth-Man would be any less powerful than either of you two. If you don't mind me asking though, what are you going to do? You're not going to kill him, are you?"

"On the contrary," the Infinite Boy replied. "If this works, I'm going to give Jaxon Rugarth back his life." He placed a hand on the Infinite Man's arm with surprising tenderness. To Gas Girl and Kid Computo it seemed as though the two men almost joined at the Infinite Boy's touch, their starfields meshing to form one perfect cosmic tapestry. The Infinite Boy closed his eyes and honed his focus. This would definitely cost him any chance to return home, it might even paradoxically cost the Infinite Boy a chance at life. He couldn't think of that now though. He was going to save the lives of his future friends and present allies, and the life of one of the scientific heroes of his past. That was worth any personal cost to himself. "Power over time and space doesn't belong to you," he spoke to the comatose Infinite Man. "It doesn't belong to any one of us. It belongs to infinity...so let's send it back." For a period of time nobody could define, the stuff of space itself seemed to grow beyond the bodily confines of the two men in the room. Everyone in the medbay found themselves swimming in endless dimensions of space and time, the entirety of human history less than a blink in the grand scheme of it all. Then just as quickly, they were back. Gas Girl and Kid Computo stared slack-jawed and wide-eyed at one another before turning to the Infinite Boy. Where once had stood a younger version of the Infinite Man now there was a slim teenage boy with short platinum blond hair and dark blue eyes. They fancied that they could see stars in the shadows of his body and the folds of his casual clothes, but only where they weren't directly looking.

An older man with darker blond hair and old-fashioned spectacles groaned as his eyes fluttered open. The equipment which had kept a 12 foot tall Infinite Man docile dwarfed this man who had taken his place. "Where am I..?" he asked. "You're not Rond Vidar..?"

"No I'm not," Kando Vyr smiled. "You've had a very long and very strange journey, Professor Rugarth, but it's over now.

Welcome home."

**********
Earth-Man surveyed the battle with sadistic pleasure. Since they'd realised he was copying their abilities, the most powerful Legionnaires had been avoiding active confrontation with him. He'd soon lost access to Supergirl and Ultra Boy's inhuman strength when they took on other foes, but it didn't bother him. Now that he had the abilities of the Infinite Man at his disposal, he could take the others whenever he wanted. Besides which, his team was doing fine without him. As he watched Bouncing Betty demolish one of Crystal Kid's barriers with a powerful explosion, Kirt Niedrigh congratulated himself on his vision. Recruiting metahumans on the verge of death from other eras was a stroke of genius. Knowing that Earth-Man could return them to the end of their lives with a wave of his hand, they fought harder than the Legion rejects who'd initially formed his Justice League. This would be the start of something much grander, he knew it.

At the giant-sized Earth-Man's feet, Star Boy seemed to be overloading White Dwarf's ability to increase his own density. That didn't matter either. Any of these recruits who failed him could easily be replaced. The important thing was that Earth-Man was going to win. Dream Girl stood by her partner's side, and for a moment she locked eyes with Earth-Man. She didn't look the least bit frightened. In fact, she looked downright smug. Earth-Man narrowed his gaze in suspicion. Anything her alien precognition told her, the Infinite Man's stolen power could tell him. He cast his senses into the future, then abruptly shouted in protest as he saw what Nura Nal had seen. "How?!" He fired a blast of focused chronal energy which scattered Star Boy, White Dwarf and nearly a dozen other nearby heroes and villains. He left Dream Girl untouched though. "How do any of you have the power to do this?!"

"Brainy, now!" Dream Girl shouted. The forcefield enclosing Brainiac 5 and Saturn Girl vanished, a much larger one taking its place to enclose Earth-Man and Dream Girl together.

"I'll kill you!" Earth-Man roared, advancing on Dream Girl. Before his enormous fist could reach her, he felt a lurching sensation and stumbled over. He was completely normal once again. Somehow they'd managed to steal the Infinite Man's power from him, and with this interminable forcefield between him and almost everyone else in the plaza the only powers left for him to steal were hers.

Dream Girl made a show of checking her hair for split ends. "Go ahead, mimic my power," she said in a vaguely disinterested tone of voice. "The sooner you're asleep the sooner I can get that lovely Tamaranean hairstylist to fix this hot mess. Time travel really does interfere with a girl's beauty regime, you know."

"You've made a big mistake," Earth-Man snarled as he clambered to his feet. "I don't need your powers or anybody else's to beat you to a pulp, alien. And all your friends are gonna have front row seats."

Nura stopped examining her hair and gave Earth-Man a patronising smirk while he charged her. "Oh Kirt. You're just precious." She blocked his fist and countered with a punch of her own, cracking his nose. Enraged, Earth-Man came at her again. This time she neatly side-stepped him and gave him a shove as he ran by. He rolled painfully into the forcefield holding them in.

"Give it up, Niedrigh." Bouncing Boy stood on the other side of the forcefield, his arms folded across his chest. "We're not letting you out of there conscious, but unlike you we're not savages. Let Dream Girl sedate you and she won't need to bash you into submission."

Earth-Man stood up and looked around the plaza. His whole team was defeated. All of them were either knocked out themselves, helplessly ensnared, or had surrendered. It was over. The Legion of Superheroes had won again. He pounded his fists against the forcefield in impotent fury, Chuck Taine watching with disdain only inches away. But maybe it wasn't over after all...he peered past Bouncing Boy and the other Legionnaires to the Science Police vehicles now hovering overhead and laughed almost manically. "Not this time, Legion. Not this time."

"Bouncing Boy!" Shvaughn Erin ran through the costumed people filling Weisinger Plaza breathlessly. "I'm so sorry, I told them I had to be the one to break the news!" She handed Chuck a datascroll.

"What news?" Element Lad came to join his lover, saw the anxiety in her features and then the growing darkness that fell over Bouncing Boy as he read the datascroll. "Chuck, what is it? What's happened?"

Chuck handed the datascroll to Jan so he could read it himself. "According to this, the Justice League of Earth has received a full pardon for their crimes thanks to their defeat of the Infinite Man."

Wildfire descended from above, carrying Radiation Roy's slumped form. "That's nuts!" Wildfire complained. "So what, we just let them all go free? They're a pack of xenophobic murderers!"

"That's not the worst of it," Element Lad said grimly. "They're also Earthgov's new representative superhero team."

"What does that mean?" Wildfire asked, though he was afraid he knew exactly what it meant.

"Legion, I'm so sorry!" Shvaughn blurted. "I fought against this so hard!"

"It's not your fault," Bouncing Boy sighed. "Wildfire, what it means...what it means is that effective immediately...

...the Legion of Superheroes is no longer welcome on Earth."



**********
WOOH! Last chapter! This would be a double-sized conclusion for sure if it was a comic! I would have liked to include a bit for every hero/villain but I think it would have needed a whole extra chapter just for the fight scenes! Someone asked me if Earth-Man's recruits were actual DC characters or homemade, they are all homemade (bar one who we didn't get to see mentioned yet, but we have definitely not seen the last of the JLE so she'll no doubt pop up sooner or later).

So the Legion are home, but they are in a jam still...next up: we see what happens when everyone gets a chance to breathe, and start dealing with some of the angst the Legion have picked up in recent adventures!

Brilliant use of Imra's telepathy and Brainy with his forcefield, raz! The way you explained it was similarly brilliant!

I love how you gave the Infinite Man back his "life" as part of it. What does this mean for Infinite Boy though?

I see a flight ring in Gas Girl's future!

Loved the parts for Bouncing Boy, Kid Computo and Dream Girl too. Kudos to you for not forgetting how fast Dawnstar is as well.

Some of your homdemade villains are very interesting...

and whoa, where the heck did that Earthgov order come from?

More, more, more!

Thanks IB! We are gonna find out the Infinite Boy's fate sooner rather than later (I just realised you two have the same initials! Ha!)...and we'll find out what's going on with Earthgov soon enough too! Some hopefully interesting developments coming up for the Legion as a whole and individually over the next few instalments, as well as their supporting cast!

Yeah, I'm loving your continued use of supporting characters like the Academy Students, Subs, Calorie Queen and Shvaughn Erin.

Heh, maybe Invisible Brainiac and Infinite Boy should meet up someday... Nah...

Raz as always i'm loving everything your doing. i wish you were writing the series since LO3W. You've done a great job bringing things full circle.

i can't wait to see whose really behind Earthgrov's decision.

and I agree with IB, that Gas Lass has a flight ring in her future. Has there ever been a Legionnaire from Lallor before?? if not i think she should be the first!

Chameleon Girl's story was heart breaking!

Im glade Supergirl stayed with the team!

wow that Blok, Diamond Damsel, Tinya and Chuck ended up on Dryad. I love seeing how you tie things back to things we've seen before. I do wonder what DD, gave Khor though...

Seeing Saturn Girl and Lighting Lad come to the rescue with the subs and acedmey students was awesome.

Keep going or as everyone else has said MORE! More! More!

HMM GAS GIRL SEEMS POPULAR....maybe she will be Lallor's first Legionnaire after all! Guess we'll find out when the roster settles over the next few instalments...

I think the Legion's support cast is one of the best things about them! It's fun being able to give the Subs or the students some spotlight every now and then! Speaking of which, Shvaughn is about to find herself in an awkward but interesting position...

Thanks as usual for the comments, glad people did it!

MARS
Husband Hill, Inorganic Molecular Gastronomy Research Centre (defunct)
Chameleon Boy, Duplicate Damsel and Matter-Eater Lad wandered through dusty corridors, past rooms full of aged equipment and dilapidated computer consoles. "Well?" Matter-Eater Lad asked. "What do you think? It's a fixer-upper, and a lot of the equipment was old when we were kids, but the infrastructure's all sound."

"Tenzil, how did you even find this place?" Luornu asked.

"There's gotta be some benefit to being drafted into the senate, right?" He lowered his sunglasses and winked at her. "When Earth handed us our eviction notice I made some calls and it turns out this facility's been sitting around waiting for new tenants for years. Bismoll stopped funneling so many credits into food R&D when Tubby Arbux lost his presidency way back in the day. We still own the property, we just haven't done anything with it for nearly a decade! There are installations like this halfway across the UP, good ol' Tubby always let his phosphor tooth make his decisions for him...bless that crazy fat man."

"I still can't believe this whole facility was used just for food research!" Chameleon Boy shook his head. "I mean seven levels, multiple reinforced labs and workshops...it's a little excessive!"

"Bismollian food research," Tenzil corrected him. "Really good Bismollian food techs can find their way around any lab you throw them in...and you'd be surprised how many credits we save on not having to have entire industries devoted to making sure we don't starve to death. All the money your worlds spend just on necessary food staples, we can afford to put into finding out exactly what point of radioactive decay makes for the best uranium pie."

"Durla never spent anything to help us survive," Cham replied, "But I see your point. What do you think, Luornu?"

"We could triple the team's size and there would be enough room for all of us, Brainiac 5 will complain endlessly about the antiquated facilities while secretly relishing the opportunity to improve everything, there's excellent potential for training areas, we're closer to Science Police Headquarters here than on Earth...I hope Chuck can talk Earthgov around, but this is definitely a viable option if he can't."

"Good," Chameleon Boy grinned.

"Because I bought the place thirty minutes ago."

**********
COLU
Locus 276.1961
Brainiac 5 frowned as he examined Kando Vyr's readings, while the once and future Infinite Boy lay unmoving on a hard plasteel bench in Brainiac's rarely used homeworld multilab. Behind them, Dream Girl stood in her lover's embrace. "What's the verdict, Brainy?" Dream Girl asked. "And did we really have to come all the way to Colu for this? No offence but your world is so sterile!" She screwed up her nose in distaste.

"That was all me," Kando replied while remaining as still as possible. "Sorry Dream Girl. It's best for everyone if I steer well clear of the Time Institute while I don't have the Infinite Boy's face to hide behind, and until Brainiac 5 moves his equipment out of your headquarters, Colu is the next best option for the kind of detailed analysis I need."

"Why can't you go to the Time Institute?" Star Boy asked before answering his own question. "Wait, don't tell me...sensitive information that would jeopardise the timeline, right?"

Dream Girl clucked impatiently and folded her arms. "Kando Vyr, for a Naltorian you're awfully guarded about the future!"

Kando did a double-take, much to the annoyance of Brainiac 5 who had to quickly recalibrate his instruments. "How did you know I'm from Naltor?" the young teen exclaimed.

"Oh please," Nura rolled her eyes. "I'm not just a devastatingly beautiful face, you know. I saw your initial bioscans, I'd recognise Naltorian alpha wave activity anywhere."

"I much preferred it when my lab work bored the rest of the Legion enough that you all left me alone to it," Brainy grumbled. "If we're finished with idle gossip however, I have some results." He swiped a few controls and walked around his console to join the others. "You may get up now, Mr Vyr. It seems that in releasing the Infinite Man's power back where it came from, you restored Jaxton Rugarth to utter normalcy. It's almost as though he never were the Infinite Man. He holds no extranormal energies within himself at all, and no recollection of any time passed since that fateful day Rond's experiment changed him. We all saw the immediate effect this had on Earth-Man. While I obviously haven't been able to analyse him to confirm this, to put it in simple terms it seems Earth-Man's powers subscribe to the idea that Rugarth was never the Infinite Man as well. You on the other hand...I don't know if it's because you were the catalyst or if you're somehow tethered to the future you came from, or if it was even a subconscious desire on your own part to retain your powers but whatever the explanation, you do still possess some of the energies that once made you the Infinite Boy."

"That explains why I keep seeing stars when I look at you out the corner of my eye," Star Boy noted. "I thought I was going to have to see Dr Gym'll!"

"I can't travel through time though," Kando objected, "I've tried! And my perception's no more enhanced than any other Naltorian!"

Brainiac 5 touched his chin while he mulled it over. "Still, you undeniably possess a lesser amount of the same energies, my equipment doesn't lie...let's try something more empirical." He walked across the room and opened a drawer full of mechanical instruments then flung one at Kando, barely missing the boy.

"Hey!" Kando threw his arms up in defence as a wrench came flying at him next. "What are you doing?"

Star Boy and Dream Girl watched bemused as Kando crouched behind the examination bench while Brainiac threw one thing after another. They sobered quickly when their resident super-genius produced a laser welder and fired it, burning through the bench quickly. "Uh Brainy...you don't think you're taking this a little far?" Star Boy cautioned.

They could all smell the plasteel burning as the intense beam came closer to its target. Kando yelled at Brainiac to stop again and again, each time more urgent than the last. Finally, for a split second he seemed to be overcome with the visage of the Infinite Boy once more and in a burst of light a high-tech knight appeared out of nowhere, sliced Brainiac 5's makeshift weapon in half with a photon sword, and held the tip of the blazing hot sword an inch from the Coluan's throat.

"There we go," Brainiac smiled. "That wasn't so difficult, was it?"

**********
EARTH
Metropolis, Weisinger Plaza
An even dozen Legionnaires sat at an outdoor balcony bar overlooking Weisinger Plaza while Computo oversaw the removal of their personal belongings from the building that until the past week had been their headquarters. Normally these men and women were instantly recognisable as Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, Cosmic Boy, Night Girl, Phantom Girl, Ultra Boy, Polar Boy, Sun Boy, Invisible Kid, Kid Computo, Lightning Lass and Shrinking Violet but in civilian garb they were no more conspicuous than any other group of workmates sharing a late afternoon lunch. The only non-Legionnaire at the table was Taryn Loy, the part-time heroine Calorie Queen.

"Look at those jerks!" Ayla sneered, looking down upon members of Earth-Man's Justice League watching the removal droids. "They're lapping this up!"

"I don't even want to think about how much of our stuff they've stolen or trashed," Danielle Foccart sighed glumly. "At least they haven't touched any of the dangerous items we had in storage, but after hacking in and checking out my own quarters I was too depressed to want to know any more. I got Computo to compile a full inventory and sent it to Brainiac."

"It is a shame none of our other friends could be here today," Danielle's older brother Jacques added. "This may be our last chance to be together on my homeworld."

"Mon-El's gone to Talok VIII to check on Shady," Jo volunteered, "We still haven't heard from her since we got back. I asked Colossal Boy to come but I think he wanted to say goodbye to his folks and he said Yera's been really weird since she returned too. I guess all of us have got some stuff to deal with." He squeezed Tinya's hand as he spoke, obvious concern in his expression. A million miles away, she flinched at the contact and gave him a weary half-smile.

"Some of us got off lucky," Dirk Morgna spoke to the group at large but made eye contact with Brek Bannin more than the others. "We only remember really broad strokes of our adventure with the future Legion. Their telepath Saturn Empress had to wipe our memories before she sent us home, like we used to do with Kal and Kara. Maybe Chameleon Girl just needs time to adjust, she's not as experienced as the rest of us."

"Is there room at the table for two more?" a new voice asked. The heroes turned to see Jan Arrah, the Legionnaire otherwise known as Element lad, along with his girlfriend Shvaughn Erin.

"Here, we'll move over!" Taryn offered, shuffling along the bench closer to her girlfriend Shrinking Violet. Vi awkwardly followed suit, along with the other Legionnaires on their side of the table.

"Don't worry," Shvaughn held up her hands in a gesture of peace, "I'm not here to spy on anyone. I think this whole situation is disgusting. The Legion of Superheroes have saved Earth more times than I can count."

"Why would you be spying on us?" Sun Boy laughed. "You're our liaison officer!"

"Grife." Shvaughn slapped her forehead. "You haven't heard yet." She looked at her lover for help.

Jan clasped his hand in hers and gave a gentle squeeze. "Shvaughn's not our liaison anymore," he explained to the table. "With Earth-Man's Justice League taking our place in Earthgov's good graces, the Science Police have reassigned her to fulfill the same role with them."

The table exploded with chatter, and Vi took the opportunity to stand up. "Sorry everyone," she excused herself weakly, "I-I just remembered I've got something to do. I need to go." She gave Calorie Queen a peck on the cheek and left before anyone could react.

"I'm sorry," Shvaughn was flushed with embarrassment. "I really should have dropped that bomb easier on you all. Should I go after her?"

"Shvaughn, no." Ayla reached across the table to touch her shoulder. "Trust me, it's not you. It's just..." She remembered Jo's words earlier. "...Some of us have got some stuff to deal with."

I'm sure you do, Calorie Queen thought, noticing the way Ayla couldn't quite look Jan in the eye. But only two of you got so uncomfortable when he came to the table. "Salu might be a great Legionnaire," the blonde Bismollian announced as she dabbed at her lips with a napkin. "But she's a terrible liar. I'm going to go make sure she's okay. Thanks for lunch everybody, I wish it could have been under better circumstances." Then she left the Legionnaires to watch their history dismantled before their eyes.

**********
EARTH
Earthgov Council Chambers
Bouncing Boy stood before 12 representatives of Earth's leaders. There were men and women of many ages and racial backgrounds sitting at elevated podiums above him, all of them looking down upon him with the same expression of derision and condescension. "It has not escaped this council's attention," President Luthnor addressed the lone superhero, "That it took such drastic action to obtain a meeting with you, Mr Taine."

Chuck was visibly dumbfounded. "With all due respect Mr President...are you kidding me? Since Duplicate Boy's death I haven't had a chance to rest! The Legion hadn't even reconvened before the Infinite Man trapped us all in different eras!"

"Let's talk about that, shall we?" one of the other councillors interrogated him. "According to the Dominion, the Legion of Superheroes were inexorably linked to the tragic destruction of their homeworld. Is this correct?"

"What? No!" Chuck glared at the woman, forcing himself to keep his calm. "The Legion were there, certainly! Only because we were assisting the Heroes of Lallor when the Dominators kidnapped two of their group! It was Duplicate Boy who blew up Elia, the Legion have a strict code against killing...you know we'd never have destroyed the Dominators' homeworld ourselves!"

"Yet, you were there. You didn't prevent Duplicate Boy from committing genocide, and our sources tell us that one of those same Heroes of Lallor has associated herself quite closely with your team since."

"You do realise," Chuck asked, his voice trembling with emotion, "That Duplicate Boy sacrificed himself to save the United Planets from the Dominion's bioweaponry? The UP themselves have cleared us of any criminal charges related to that case, why is this an issue for Earthgov?"

"Perhaps if it were an isolated incident it would not be," an elderly pale-skinned councillor continued the verbal attack. "But it seems your Legion of Superheroes have a habit of bringing this kind of chaos upon yourselves. It was one of your own team who reconstituted the Infinite Man, correct?"

"Brainy--"

"And it was your team who subsequently caused millions of credits worth of damage in a spiteful assault on Kirt Niedrigh after his team had cleaned up the mess you created?"

"What?!" Chuck was growing visibly flustered. "Mr President, please!" He ignored the rest of the council and faced President Luthnor directly. "Earth-Man is a xenophobic psychopath! Please, listen to reason! If you won't let the Legion operate on Earth, that's one thing...but don't replace us with him! You don't know the mistake you're making! For God's sake, the man jeopardised the timestream just to shore up his own team's ranks!"

"How is Supergirl finding our time?" the female councillor who'd addressed Chuck earlier asked with saccharine sweetness. Bouncing Boy fumed, his red flushed face bowed in quiet frustration.

"The council sees your point," an older woman continued, "But thanks to your own team's attack on Earth-Man and his allies, he's not going to be able to do that again, is he? And we can hardly fault Mr Niedrigh for allowing his patriotism for this planet to perhaps overcome his common sense this one time. At least we know his group will all be loyal to Earth's interests before those of other worlds."

Bouncing Boy stared open-mouthed as the truth dawned on him. "This whole thing...this has nothing to do with any lack of trust in the Legion, this is all just thinly veiled xenophobia! We wouldn't be having this discussion if the Legion were all Earthborn, would we?"

"That's enough, Mr Taine," the President said firmly. "The United Planets may be willing to overlook the recent indiscretions of your group, Earth most certainly is not. The Legion of Superheroes is no longer welcome on this planet. Yourself and the other Earth natives in your group are welcome to apply for membership in the Justice League of Earth, or to give up your careers as adventurers and live on Earth as civilians. Furthermore--"

Bouncing Boy's flight ring beeped and he held up a finger to interrupt the President. "Bouncing Boy here," he said, ignoring the scandalised mutterings of the council. "What's up?" As important as this meeting was, Chuck knew the Legion wouldn't call him if it wasn't literally a life or death situation.

"Bouncing Boy." It was Mon-El, but he sounded more haggard than Chuck had ever heard from him. "It...it's Talok, I'm at an outpost--" His voice faded to a whisper and static filled the line.

"Mon, what is it?" Bouncing Boy asked urgently. "Is Shadow Lass okay?"

"You haven't heard the news?" Mon-El's normally strong voice quivered. "Chuck, Shady's gone...Talok's gone. The whole solar system, Chuck...

...He's killed the whole Talok system."

NEXT: Whatever Happened To Tasmia Mallor?

TALOK VIII
2.5K outside Curster Satellite Encampment
Tasmia Mallor looked out over the trail of hoverpads carrying her tribesmen single-file back to their city with fresh supplies. From her hilltop vantage point she could see for miles around. The Talokkian landscape was arid, dry and hot, but it was also relatively unmolested compared to many of the other worlds she'd visited. She felt a surge of pride that her people had come this far without compromising their harmony with nature any more than necessary.

Tasmia missed her lover and she missed the excitement of life in the Legion of Superheroes, but it was nice to be back on the planet of her birth too. Still...she wished Mon-El could come visit more often, and she couldn't deny that a full vibrobath treatment would be lovely occasionally. Talok VIII might well be her home, but it was very low on comforts. She chuckled to wonder what Dream Girl would think of living on a world whose natives ate only what they could catch or grow, and whose idea of luxury was a dip in a natural spring. Suddenly she saw movement out the corner of her eye and lazy meanderings took a backseat to her keen warrior senses. She stared intently for a long couple of seconds, careful not to reflect this in her body language. Some ways behind the supplies train, there seemed to be something in the sand. It was far too small a disturbance to be an ambush by the Hill People but she wondered if one of her world's many native predators had become brave or hungry enough to risk a daylight attack.

Gathering her midnight black cape about her, the heroine famed galaxy wide as Shadow Lass began her deliberate descent down to where the sand was being kicked up. Under the blazing afternoon sun, others might think that a woman whose only power was control over darkness would find herself at a disadvantage if she wanted to remain unseen. The dunes and even the few clouds in the sky cast shade enough for her to amplify however, and she continued her hunt.

Shadow Lass was 150 feet from her prey when she realised there was something more sinister afoot. She could see the shuffling trail her quarry left in the sands, but the person responsible was completely invisible. Let's see if we can tip your hand, she plotted silently.

Ensuring that she was still hidden from the unseen entity by a plane of shadow Tasmia caught the sunlight on her golden bracer and signalled the food train, knowing they'd have a lookout on their tail end. Using code that was as old as the Mallor bloodline itself, her message was clear. Get to safety without delay. Your Shadow Champion commands it.

The hovering flatbed train picked up speed, and Shadow Lass leapt into action. She drowned the whole area in darkness, hiding herself and the people under her protection, and removing any hope of escape for her prey. "Identify yourself!" Shadow Lass barked with authority that might shock some of her Legionnaire teammates. "You face the Shadow Champion of Talok VIII!"

"I know exactly who you are," a woman's husky voice retorted. It took Shadow Lass a moment to place the voice; Invisible Queen, one of the so-called Forgotten Four. She'd fought them alongside Mon-El recently on Talok III. Working alongside her teammates Brainmass, Skorpiorr and Red Son, Invisible Queen had been a moderate challenge for the two Legionnaires. If the four of them were here now, Tasmia knew she'd really have her work cut out for her. Though Invisible Queen's radar eyes rendered Tasmia's shadows useless, darkness might be the only defence she had against the more powerful members of the Forgotten Four. She expanded her field to cover twice the area, trusting that the lightless dome would also alert anybody in the wider area to steer clear of here and avoid unnecessary danger.

"And I remember you," Shadow Lass returned while she quickly scoured the surrounds for any sign of the woman's teammates. "Shouldn't you be undergoing rehabilitation on Talok III, Invisible Queen?"

A mocking laugh rang out in the cool oblivion. "They thought they could nullify my power but they don't know what true power is. It was child's play for me to walk out of that joyless cage the instant I felt like it."

"You escaped jail and the first thing you thought of was finding me? I don't know whether I should be flattered or pity you for your small-minded pettiness." Shadow Lass was beginning to feel that there was something more at work here. When she'd faced these people last time, they'd been consumed with misguided revenge on their homeworld and they'd viewed their abilities as a curse. There was something subtly different in Invisible Queen's tone of voice now. Tasmia couldn't quite put her finger on what that was, but it made her very uneasy.

"I am not here to fight, Shadow Champion." Invisible Queen relaxed her power and became very much visible. "I have come to beg asylum. Alone." Shadow Lass was taken aback at the woman's words. She was definitely alone, Tasmia was sure of that much. Tasmia's darkness fields might be impenetrable to anybody else, but they were no barrier to herself. If the rest of the Forgotten Four were within hundreds of feet of them, she'd know it.

Invisible Queen looked almost exactly as Shadow Lass remembered her. She wore the same white bodysuit, white frayed wraps trailing from her arms. Her waist-length cape was similarly frayed, and singed at the edges. Invisible Queen's platinum blonde hair had grown slightly longer during her time in captivity, and wisps of it now flicked about her face from beneath the white hood she'd drawn over her head. Again though, there were subtle changes which Shadow Lass found off-putting for reasons she couldn't define. Natives of Talok III had a darker blue pigmentation than their neighbours on Tasmia's homeworld, but Invisible Queen's skin was unmistakably lighter now. She could pass for one of Tasmia's own people if it were only her skin tone which were different. The more dramatic change came in her facial features though. Her cheekbones seemed more pronounced, her lips thinner. Her overall expression was one of imposing severity, and her eyes...her stark white radar eyes made Tasmia shudder to gaze upon them. Shadow Lass flinched and quickly glanced aside.

"Go ahead," Shadow Lass decreed coldly. "I'm listening."

**********
TALOK III
Maximum Security Rehabilitation Complex
It never ceased to awe Shadow Lass how different the civilisations in her own solar system were from one another. Her own homeworld Talok VIII was relatively primitive compared to the rest of the United Planets and still had very distinct and separate global cultures. Internal tensions were a fact of life on Talok VIII and while there hadn't been a serious war there for many many years, the threat was realistically never that far away. Each of the tribes of Talok VIII was fiercely independent and guarded its traditions and way of life with great vigour. She knew offworlders saw this as a failing, that many people thought it was a sign of an immature world. Shadow Lass could see the reasoning behind that line of thinking. She knew her world's medical and scientific advances fell far behind the planetary average, and she wasn't blind to the fact that some of her people's practices were downright savage. Quietly though, she preferred it to the passionless homogeny of so many other worlds.

Talok III was a perfect case in point. Like its neighbour, Talok III bore many individual tribes. It had been thousands of years since that had meant anything though. All cultural quirks and customs had long since been phased out to enable the large globe's population to live peacefully side by side. Tasmia found this world terribly boring, scientifically advanced though it might be. Even its criminals were dull. As a Legionnaire, Shadow Lass had met the most evil villains the galaxy could offer. The snarling posturing men and women whose cells she passed as she walked through one of the few jails on Talok III's surface were nothing compared to Mordru or the Emerald Empress.

Her robotic companion soon led her to an opaque crystalline wall which turned transparent when the security droid emitted a controlled electrical charge. Behind the wall was the man Shadow Lass had come to see. His pinkish-grey flesh glistening in the artificial light of the jail, Brainmass scowled at Shadow Lass balefully. "You've come to tell me what I already know," he uttered darkly. "And to discover what answers you may for yourself at the same time. Well. This prodigious intellect is at your disposal, Shadow Champion."

Tasmia felt a prickling sensation dance across her scalp and returned a disapproving frown of her own. "You're in my mind?" she asked. "You couldn't do that last time we met."

Brainmass laughed, but the sound was devoid of joy. "We four have become so much more than we were. Had become. Poor Skorpiorr was the first to fall, but I know that the Red Son will come for me next. Why not? Here I am a sitting target with Invisible Queen already free."

"I can help you," Shadow Lass stood before the villain with her arms folded beneath her cape. "But you need to tell me what's going on, Brainmass. Invisible Queen told me Red Son killed Skorpiorr and that he'll come for the rest of you. Why?"

Brainmass laughed again and this time he did seem genuinely entertained. "You can't help me," he countered her. "What we are becoming is so much more than you can ever aspire to be, Tasmia Mallor. If I cannot kill the Red Son myself, your aid will make no difference. I will tell you anyway though, because it amuses me to do so." He shambled towards the crystalline wall separating the two until he was standing barely two feet away from her. Shadow Lass didn't know if it was her imagination, but he seemed somehow more inhuman than he had been when last they'd met. It was the same sensation she'd noticed with Invisible Queen. The tone of his flesh was slightly more grey, his beady eyes seemed to hold less humanity. "You think that we Forgotten Four were hapless explorers empowered in a strange dimension. This is only a partial truth. Ages ago, we four walked the worlds of this system as divine rulers of all we surveyed. The ancestors you revere were enslaved to us, sacrificed one another to our glory, fulfilled our every whim."

"What are you saying?" Shadow Lass scoffed. "I know who you are, Brainmass. I know who all of you are. You're Raed Ricahh, you and your team volunteered for an excursion into extradimensional space and you returned transformed. There's nothing divine about any of you."

"Raed Ricahh did journey into extradimensional space, Tasmia Mallor. He found there an intelligence as old as this world itself. He found Yehoya the Thinker."

Shadow Lass blinked in disbelief. "You...you've gone crazy. You're trying to tell me you met one of the ancient gods of Talok III? And I suppose he was responsible for your transformations?"

"Raed Ricahh did not meet the Thinker," Brainmass continued unfazed, "Raed Ricahh found me. It was a religious epiphany for the lost man. I came upon him with all the power of my own presence, and I have grown within him since. Each day that passes increases my hold over my host until soon Yehoya will be all that is left."

Shadow Lass forced herself to gaze deep into his gleaming round eyes. He was completely sincere, and as much as she knew his story was ludicrous something in her couldn't help but believe it. Before she could question him, Brainmass spun with greater speed than she'd have expected from a man who resembled a humanoid configuration of cerebral tissue.

Their world exploded in brilliance and fury, and Shadow Lass and Brainmass both cried out as they were engulfed in an onslaught of flame. The blazing assault left the cell and the security droid glittering ashes, Shadow Lass and Brainmass laying hurt and singed on the floor together. Shadow Lass raised her head to lay eyes upon their assailant. Where the cell's far wall had been moments ago, Red Son now floated. The man-shaped red fire advanced closer, hateful golden flickers where his eyes should be. Tasmia was sore and her costume burned through in places, but she'd survived an inferno which had decimated the strongest crystal grown in this system. "Brainmass..." she realised. "Your telekinesis...saved us..?"

"Saved you to watch me destroy the Red Son," he answered with sick pride as the prison's alarms screamed around them. "I sensed his arrival and now that he has lost the element of surprise he dies at my grip." Shadow Lass saw Red Son shudder as though held in an invisible fist; Brainmass's telekinesis at work again.

"I do not need the element of surprise to kill you, Yehoya." Red Son's fire grew more intense. "It seems you have forgotten your place in our eternal hierarchy. It seems you have forgotten who I am." Without physically moving, Red Son blasted a massive stream of fire at his teammate. Hoping she could absorb some of its radiance to protect Brainmass, Shadow Lass threw a wall of shadow between the two villains. It made little difference however, and Brainmass screamed in agony as his own power similarly failed. A second later, the charred mass of his corpse was all that remained of the Forgotten Four's one-time leader.

The smell made Shadow Lass retch and she covered her nose and mouth with her cape. "Ancestors!" she exclaimed. "Why?? You're killing your friends one by one! In my ancestors' name, why?!"

"Yehoya the Thinker is no friend of the Red Son," the flaming man answered imperiously. "None of the Forgotten Gods are, and all of them are below me."

"I don't understand!" She drenched the room in the darkest shadow she could summon. It cooled the temperature somewhat and dimmed the overpowering light, but Red Son was still a burning ember in the midst of the blackness. "None of you are gods! You've killed Skorpiorr and you've killed Brainmass, I won't let you murder the last of your team, Red Son! I don't know what's driving you to do this, but I swear on Lydea Mallor's grave that I will stop you!"

"You will not stop me. Not in this or any other matter." He raised a hand almost casually and fired a blast of pure heat at Tasmia.

Her flight ring saved her, but she knew she had to find a way to stop him. In the wreckage of the prison, she found a foot-long shard of crystal. The crystal was no defence against him normally, but maybe with her power dampening his...Shadow Lass made her decision. She clutched it tightly and advanced silently upon him, then with both hands stabbed him in the abdomen. Red Son bellowed, and flared up bright enough to shatter her shadow. Her makeshift weapon pulverised and her hands badly burnt, Shadow Lass fell to the floor at his feet.

"You are indeed resourceful, Shadow Champion, as have all your vaunted ancestors been." He was burning so bright now that the light was causing her physical pain.

Shadow Lass cowered away from him, tears streaming down her face involuntarily as she held her useless hands before her. "What are you people?" she demanded. "How are you powerful enough to do this? Sun Boy himself couldn't penetrate my darkness if I willed it!"

"Ah, but Sun Boy is not the sun now, is he?" Red Son reached down and picked her up by her throat. He'd lowered the temperature of the flames around his hand, but the pain was still brutal. "And the sun always rises, Shadow Champion." He flung her aside as though she were a rag doll, and Tasmia wailed as she landed among the shattered remains of the crystalline room. Additional security droids had finally arrived, and Red Son turned his attention now from Shadow Lass to lazily slag them all.

Shadow Lass was almost lost in panic and excruciating pain. She was burned, beaten and bloody. Her flight ring was a deformed golden mass fused to her fingers, completely useless. She couldn't fly away, she couldn't touch him physically, she couldn't overpower his light to hide. She was going to end up like Brainmass, another corpse at Red Son's feet, and she didn't even know why.

No.

Shadow Lass clenched her teeth and focused through her tears. With supreme effort, she stood and faced Red Son down while he finished off the last of the droids. "I am Tasmia Mallor," she rasped, every word a symphony of pain. "I am the Shadow Champion of Talok VIII and a Legionnaire. Ancestors give me strength, I will not fall like some frightened animal before you, Red Son." She screamed with the effort of it, but summoned a spear of pure oblivion that stabbed into Red Son's gut.

He grunted, staggering back a few inches before marshalling his reserves and tearing the spear to shreds with a return blast of fire from his outstretched hands. The fire encompassed her and Tasmia had never felt such pain in her life as heard her own flesh crackling. She collapsed and immediately went into shock. Shivering uncontrollably, a thin whine escaped her lips and she breathed in short sharp bursts as she looked helplessly upon him.

"Don't feel too badly," the flaming man condescended while her vision blurred. "I'm impressed. You did manage to hurt me, you know. It's more than many of your ancestors managed. But while you may be the Shadow Champion of Talok VIII, I am Talok. I am Talok the Red Son. And the sun always rises." He stepped away from her and flew straight up, leaving a flaming wake behind him that slowly faded into nothing. Tasmia's breathing slowed, and seconds later the pain was blissfully gone. Her taut features finally relaxing, she closed her eyes and lay still.

So it was that Tasmia Mallor was no longer conscious when Talok the Red Son blazed a trail through the atmosphere of this world which bore his name. She lay unmoving while he tore through the void of space toward the golden star which lay at the centre of all life in this system. And when Talok the Red Son flew into that star and a scarlet light expanded to turn all matter within billions of miles to cosmic ash, Tasmia Mallor was no longer in a position to care.

OMG Raz that was Epic! Shadow Lass is a fighter till the end. I don't remember these forgotten four though....was that something covered in the actual series or yours?

You wiped out an entire system and you still did it better than half of the planet destructions i've read about.

That's why they're called the Forgotten Four...

They are home-made, I didn't realise how long ago I'd used them though till I just checked it out so I'm not surprised they haven't been remembered! This is their first and only other appearance where things went much differently for Ms Mallor: http://postlo3w.livejournal.com/16745.html If you haven't read it though, all you really need to know is that they're four minor bad guys who were a riff on the Fantastic Four when Shady fought them last.

I was a bit unsure about destroying the Talok system so soon after destroying the Dominion homeworld because I hate when writers use large-scale death & destruction instead of telling a good story so thanks for your last comment, I am glad it worked!

Two thumbs up for portraying Shady as the warrior she is. IMO, this was something lacking from her during v2 and v3, and is a nice homage to her original Adventure Era appearance. I'm quite curious as to what will happen next, and as to what role Invisible Queen will play.

EARTH
Metropolis
"Salu, wait up!"

The Imskian woman better known as Shrinking Violet stopped in her tracks. It had been years since most people had used her birth name, after all this time it almost felt strange to hear it. She turned to see an attractive blonde Bismollian pushing through the crowded street towards her. "Sorry Taryn!" Vi apologised. "I would have waited for you if I'd realised you wanted to leave with me!"

"We are dating," the part-time heroine Calorie Queen teased. "I'd rather spend time with you than your friends, silly. Mainly I just wanted to make sure you're okay though."

"Why wouldn't I be?" Vi forced a smirk. "I'm fine!"

"I'm not stupid, Salu." The athletic blonde frowned. "I saw the way you and Lightning Lass both reacted when Element Lad and his girlfriend arrived at lunch. Neither of you looked at all comfortable, do you want to talk about it?"

Vi's shoulders slumped. "Not here. I just...I've done something really terrible, Taryn. I need to tell Element Lad but I don't know how he'll ever forgive me."

"That seems overly dramatic," Taryn retorted. "Whatever's happened, I'm sure..." Her voice trailed off, and Vi followed the distracted woman's gaze to a news holocast across the bustling street. The award-winning journalist Marella Tao loomed larger than life over the city, dozens of sentients having interrupted their daily routine to listen to her grim report.

"Reports are still coming in as to the cause and nature of the tragedy," Marella announced with a slight tremor in her voice, "But we do have confirmation that the star Talok has expanded to many times its size and..." She paused for a second, struggling to come to terms with the enormity of what she saying. "...And we've not had any contact from anyone living in the Talok system. At this stage, Science Police are not hopeful that survivors of the star's expansion will be found."

Vi and Taryn faced one another in a mutually stunned silence. Taryn was the first to find her voice.

"Aren't...aren't Shadow Lass and Shadow Lad from one of those worlds?"

**********
THE LEGION OF SUBSTITUTE HEROES SATELLITE BASE
22,300 miles above Earth
Drura Sehpt watched the Earth far below, her hands clasped in a relaxed position behind her back. "Earth is so pretty from up here," she noted. "It really is a beautiful planet. I remember when I first saw my own homeworld from space, all I could think was how drab Somahtur looked. I was so glad to escape back then."

The Substitute Hero named Porcupine Pete watched Infectious Lass' reflection in the satellite's window. "And now you're in the Legion of Superheroes," Pete remarked. "With Invisible Kid."

"Pete..." Drura turned to face him. "I'm sorry, I never meant to hurt you...I know when I was in the Subs we were close. I guess when I joined the Legion and when you went out on your own to master your powers...well, things changed."

"It's okay Drura," Pete gave her a pained smile. "You don't have to explain yourself to me. I just want you to be happy, and let's face it...I'm covered from head to toe in razor-sharp quills, it's not like I could ever...you know, be with someone anyway."

"Pete..." Infectious Lass gave him a look of sympathy.

"Like I said, it's okay." He smiled stoically. "I'd better go, I promised Antennae Lad I'd help him with some meditation techniques I learned on Steeple. It was nice to see you again, I'm glad you got to see our new base."

"Bye." She gave him a little wave and watched him walk away dejected. Drura sighed. When Shadow Lad, Supergirl and Nightwind had mentioned they were coming to visit Crystal Kid and see the Legion of Substitute Heroes' new headquarters Drura had thought it was a perfect opportunity to clear the air with Pete. Now she wondered if she'd just made him feel worse. She gave the Earth one final look and headed glumly through the satellite to find the others. Drura wondered if there would even be a Legion of Superheroes after today. If Bouncing Boy couldn't persuade Earthgov to let the team remain on Earth, where would they go? Even if they could find another base of operations on another world, several of her teammates were from Earth. Would Sun Boy or Colossal Boy choose the Legion over their homeworld? Would Jacques? She couldn't believe the team had struggled their way back from being scattered throughout the timestream just to face defeat by bureaucracy.

Drura entered the recreation room to find the others and she could tell immediately that something was terribly wrong. While most of the Subs were gathered around a news holocast, Supergirl, Nightwind and Crystal Kid stood to one side watching Shadow Lad with obvious concern. "Guys?" Drura asked. "What's happened?"

Nightwind had designed a new costume for herself to replace the one she'd lost fighting Aspect with the ancient Justice League. Slick black latex hugged her pale yellow form, long strips of material hanging from each arm. Infectious Lass didn't even notice her teammate's new look, all she saw was that the heroic girl seemed to be on the verge of tears. "It's so horrible," Nightwind answered in a timid voice. "Bouncing Boy called Grev to tell him, and it came on the news almost at the same time."

"What came on the news?" Infectious Lass asked. "I don't understand what's happening. Did that journalist just mention Shadow Lass?"

"Something else else's happened to the Talok solar system," Stone Boy explained. "They're saying the sun has expanded to fill the entire system."

Infectious Lass sat on the edge of a couch and listened to the holocast. "I don't get it," she said, "Like a supernova..?"

"We don't know yet," Color Kid mumbled. "But seven inhabited worlds, seventeen moons....all those people..!"

Shadow Lad turned to face the others, and Drura realised this whole time he'd been in hushed conversation with Bouncing Boy on his flight ring. "Mon-El was one of the first responders," he told the room. "He said....he said the sun has just devoured the whole system. Vaporised every planet. Someone claiming to be Talok himself is responsible but that hasn't been made public yet. I have to get there, but Earth-Man's Justice League are not going to make it easy for us to get any of our cruisers...I'm going to have to steal one. I won't ask any of you to risk involvement--"

"Nobody's stealing anything," Fire Lad shook his head. "You can use our ship. It's not as big or as modern as you're used to, but it'll get you there."

"And you've got our help of course!" Chlorophyll Kid interjected. "We'll do whatever we can!"

"You don't have to do this for me," Shadow Lad's voice was heavy with emotion. "Aside from Crystal Kid, I don't really even know any of you."

"We're the Legion of Substitute Heroes, right?" Crystal Kid patted Grev on the back. "Seems like you need a Substitute Legion now more than ever!"

"Our ship only fits nine," Stone Boy advised the assembled heroes. "I'll tell Porcupine Pete and Antennae Lad to call Rainbow Girl and Polecat and start organising backup. Something else else tells me we're going to need all the reinforcements we can get."

**********
On board the cramped vessel, Shadow Lad silently prayed to his ancestors that his people had found a way to survive. Was this what Dream Girl had foreseen when she told Grev he had to join the Legion? She'd told him that he would find victory after Shadow Lass fell protecting Talok VIII, but Grev had thought he'd have the whole Legion of Superheroes behind him. Mon-El had told Bouncing Boy that Talok had turned the sun red. That nullified their two most powerful advantages already, Mon-El and Supergirl were both powerless under a red sun. And who else was left? How could Grev possibly fare any better than his cousin? What was Nightwind or Chlorophyll Kid going to do against someone with the power to obliterate an entire star system?

"This is the rendezvous point," Fire Lad announced. "I can't see...oh wait, here come some of the others now." Sure enough Dawnstar, Wildfire and Ultra Boy soon flanked the ship. Among the fastest fliers in the Legion, Bouncing Boy had asked them to join Shadow Lad's motley crew.

Supergirl pressed her hand up against the ship's windscreen. The red sun Talok was still more than a billion miles away, but she could already feel its effect on her Kryptonian physiology. The glass felt cold to the touch, a sensation to which she was not accustomed. "Where's Mon-El?" Kara asked. "Wasn't he meant to meet us here as well?" As if on cue, a much larger ship shimmered into view before them.

Outside the two ships, Ultra Boy regarded the new vessel suspiciously. "That's a Science Police Prisoner Transport Vessel," he muttered. "Why does it have a cloaking device?"

"It is no cloaking device." Dawnstar flew in for a closer look. "Mon-El is aboard that ship, but until it became visible I could not sense him at all. A mere cloaking device could not hide from my power like that."

"Like the kid said, curiouser and curiouser." Wildfire approached the airlock. "Well?" he cocked a thumb at the vessel. "We gonna head down into this rabbit hole?"

The airlock opened to allow the trio entry and the rest of the assembled Legionnaires and Subs soon followed. The Science Police vessel was easily large enough for the dozen combined heroes to join Mon-El and a woman none of them recognised on the bridge. All of them were struck with how terrible Mon-El looked. His eyes were puffy and his hair dishevelled. He stood silently watching the red star on a viewscreen with a haunted expression.

"Hey Mon," Ultra Boy placed a comforting hand on his best friend's shoulder. "You hanging in there, buddy?" Mon-El simply continued brooding, as though the intensity of his desperation could bring his beloved Shadow Lass back.

"Where are the rest of the Legion?" the strange woman asked abruptly. "We need your mage, your telepaths. Even Tyroc would be an improvement on any of you."

"Tyroc is no longer with the Legion of Superheroes," Dawnstar bristled. "As for the rest, any Legionnaire is as capable as another and the Legion of Substitute Heroes have always been valued allies."

The hooded woman laughed bitterly. "Such naïveté. If it weren't bound to result in my own death I'd find it amusing."

"Grife, where'd you find Miss Congeniality here?" Wildfire asked Mon-El sarcastically.

Mon-El spoke without turning his head, his voice torn with grief. "Tell them. Tell them what you told me."

"We don't have time for this," the woman countered. "We need to flee, Daxamite."

"Tell them!" Mon-El bellowed, startling everyone on the bridge.

"You may be content to wait here for blazing death," she said icily. "The Invisible Queen is most certainly not." She drew her hood further over almost white hair and faded from view.

"Stop her!" Mon-El commanded. "Before she gets to a lifepod, we'll never find her again!" Before any of the confused heroes could react, the very world around them faded and was also gone. Too late they realised that Invisible Queen had turned all of them invisible as well, blinding them in the process as light no longer reached their eyes.

"Don't worry," Invisible Queen taunted while the others uttered shocked proclamations, "Once I am out of range my power will cease. You'll become visible once more and your vision will return. You'll still die Legionnaires, though not by my hand."

"Even penetra-vision's useless!" Ultra Boy complained.

"Maybe darkness will help," Shadow Lad offered. He could feel the flow of his power, but he had no visible sense of it. For once, he had an inkling of how others must feel engulfed in his shadow power and he didn't like it at all.

Despite the darkness, Invisible Queen made her way easily through the bridge. "As useless as your cousin," she cruelly mocked Shadow Lad's power.

"That's enough!" Infectious Lass snapped angrily. "Sorry in advance, everybody. I've had enough of this condescending batwitch!" The ship became filled with groans as almost everyone present was hit with a wave of sickening nausea. After a few seconds, Drura's assault had the desired effect. Too queasy to maintain her power, Invisible Queen fell to her knees and was violently ill. Shadow Lad joined her, and the others were forced to take a few moments to compose themselves. Only Wildfire and the petrified Stone Boy along with Infectious Lass herself were unaffected by Drura's viral onslaught. "I really am sorry," Drura apologised again. "Talokkian flu still affects other races, but not as badly as it does Talokkians. If I had more time to plan I would have come up with something more specific to women but it was the only way I could think of to stop her."

"Don't...apologise..." Shadow Lad struggled to stand. "Did...right thing, Infectious Lass..." Supergirl offered a hand and Shadow Lad gratefully took it.

"Now let's do something to keep her here," Chlorophyll Kid added. He threw a couple of seeds at her and instantly Invisible Queen was restrained by tightly clinging vines.

Holding his nose to avoid throwing up, Crystal Kid turned the pools of vomit into odorless crystal. "That's better," he exhaled.

"It is better, thanks." Shadow Lad was still feeling poorly, but fuelled by adrenaline he approached Invisible Queen and lifted her chin roughly to meet his gaze. "As for you...you're not going anywhere, so you might as well spill your guts. What happened here?"

Invisible Queen glared hatefully at him. "If I tell you, you have to free me. I'm not staying here to join his death toll."

"Fine," Grev agreed before any of the senior Legionnaires could dissent. "Now talk."

"Thousands of years ago, now forgotten gods roamed these worlds and ruled all we surveyed."

"We?" Wildfire scoffed. "You're no god, lady."

Invisible Queen ignored him and continued. "We went to war...with ourselves, with other pantheons, with those who once worshipped us. And little by little our numbers were whittled down until only four remained. Yehoya the Thinker, the monstrous Skorpiorr, Talok the Red Son and myself, Malias the Invisible Queen. We four remained unopposed for centuries, until Talokkian mages tricked us, exiled us into a lifeless interdimensional limbo where we were reduced to mere ghosts of our former selves...doomed to haunt a universe of nothingness for eternity. Oh certainly, we escaped upon occasion alone or working together...but the effort took so much of our power that we were vastly crippled when we emerged back on the worlds we had once conquered. We were always defeated, by Shadow Champions, Starmen or Cave Clans. Always humiliated. Always exiled once more."

"How did Infectious Lass affect you with a Talokkian sickness if you're a goddess?" Fire Lad asked pointedly.

"Several months ago," Invisible Queen explained, "Four Talokkian mortals entered our dimension of exile. Science ruptured the barrier which had kept us away from our home realm for so long. We came upon a realisation. By making those mortals our avatars, we could empower them to return home without alerting any of the guardians of this realm to our presence. Our power and influence would grow within them a little more each day until we found ourselves powerful enough to destroy any enemy. We are still bound to their forms for now, and still impacted by their vulnerabilities. We Forgotten Four would have turned on one another sooner or later anyway, such is our nature...it seems Talok was the first to embrace that truth."

"I don't get it," Wildfire shrugged. "Why would this Talok wipe out the whole system if he thinks he's a god? Doesn't he want worshippers?"

"Talok is our oldest god," Shadow Lad answered somberly. "And our most feared. My people find comfort in darkness, Wildfire. The sun bakes our land, takes our water and kills our people. It is only in darkness that we thrive. We are more than useless to a deity of the sun, we are his natural enemies. We took his name for our worlds to spit in his eye and now this is our reward. Fuelling his everlasting fires."

Nightwind was aghast. "Grev, what--?"

"You can't possibly believe this fruitcake," Supergirl added. "Shady, come on. What this Talok guy's done is horrific but he's not a god. Neither of them are gods."

Invisible Queen suddenly started thrashing. "He's coming! You said you'd free me, Shadow Champion! Free me!"

Shadow Lad glared at her with murderous intensity. "If you'd stayed where you belonged, my people would still be alive. My family would still be alive. I'll see you in Hell before I see you go free, Malias."

An explosion rocked the ship, and high-pitched alarms sounded as an enormous hole was incinerated in the hull. A standard issue emergency forcefield activated to maintain the internal amosphere, but the heroes knew this wouldn't last long. As they looked outside to see the man responsible for the damage, it occurred to some of them that they might not live long enough for oxygen to be an issue. Talok the Red Son hovered before them all, a blazing spectre of death. "You had the best chance of any of us to evade my attention Invisible Queen, and you still failed. Prepare to join your brothers in oblivion."

Then he raised his hand and filled their world with flame.

TO BE CONTINUED..!

DEEP SPACE
In proximity to the star Talok
The gathered heroes flinched involuntarily, fully expecting to be roasted alive by Talok's fiery attack. Ultra Boy and Stone Boy instinctively leaped to take the brunt of the assault, as did Mon-El and Supergirl though they themselves were powerless before Talok's red solar flames. Chlorophyll Kid looked at his unscorched arms in disbelief. "W-we're alive?"

"Bobb, you saved us!" Nightwind flung her arms around Crystal Kid and hugged him gleefully. Indeed, the combined Legionnaires and Subs along with the bound Invisible Queen were all completely unharmed (though uncomfortably hot) inside a gleaming crystalline sphere, hastily erected by Crystal Kid's power.

"We've still got that flaming nut outside," Wildfire gestured. "Something else else tells me he's not gonna give up that easy!" They dimly heard the ship's environmental alarm reach a fever pitch through the thick crystal wall, and suddenly they were all violently thrown together to one side.

"What's happening?!" Infectious Lass screamed.

"Talok ruptured the hull with his first attack!" Wildfire explained. "The emergency environmental field must have failed, we're being sucked out into space!"

"Subs, activate your transuits!" Fire Lad commanded, knowing that the Legionnaires' more modern equipment included automatically generated personal transuit fields.

"What about me?" Invisible Queen demanded. "I cannot die like this, I am Malias the--" Her words were forever lost as a fine crackling noise travelled the length of her body and she was transformed into a crystal replica of herself. Nightwind gasped in shock.

"It was the only thing I could think of!" Crystal Kid yelled defensively. "How are we meant to protect her otherwise?" His question remained unanswered as one part of the sphere suddenly exploded inwards. Ultra Boy and Stone Boy took the brunt of the flying shards of crystal, but several Legionnaires sustained nasty cuts and Chlorophyll Kid's transuit was torn across his torso. Thinking quickly, the Substitute Hero grew a sticky leech-like bloom which patched the rip.

Once the protective shell of the dome had been breached, the heroes scattered into the silent void of open space. Talok had reduced Invisible Queen's stolen Science Police vessel to slag, and the murderous villain hovered before them all now. "You destroyed my world!" Shadow Lad raged, though the sound was confined to his transuit. "I'll kill you for that!" He enclosed Talok's head in a globe of pure darkness and he and Mon-El charged Talok in mutual fury. Talok's eyes flared, ripping the shadow to shreds. He fired a blast of intense heat at the two men and they were instantly gone. Supergirl cried out in anguish at the idea of Mon-El and Shadow Lad incinerated.

Hundreds of thousands of miles away, enormous white wings slowed their mistress to a stop. Lugging Mon-El and Shadow Lad along with her, the woman named Dawnstar released the men to tumble forward until they arrested their momentum with their own flight rings. "Are you both insane?!" Dawnstar ranted over their rings. "If I hadn't pulled you out of there you'd be ashes now!"

"He killed Tasmia!" Mon-El returned, utterly grief-stricken.

"I know that!" Dawnstar bit back. "She was my friend too! But your suicide is not going to bring her back! Do you think she would want--" Dawnstar stopped mid-sentence, her eyes wide.

"She would want us to avenge her!" Shadow Lad took up where Mon-El had left off. "It's my right as her family and my obligation as Shadow Champion of--"

"Shut up," Dawnstar interrupted him. "And follow me." She gave one mighty pump of her wings and flew towards the giant red sun.

**********
Back at the fight, the remaining heroes had gained some distance from one another so as not to present easy targets to the sun god. Ultra Boy was keeping Talok busy, alternating between speed and invulnerability to prevent him from murdering any more of his friends. Nightwind looked anxiously to Wildfire for help. "How do we win this one?" she asked as he fired bolts of anti-energy at Talok. "Supergirl's powerless, Dawnstar's taken off who knows where, and most of the rest of us are already injured and stuck with powers that are useless in space!"

"Most of us," Wildfire thought out loud, "Not all." He hadn't noticed Dawnstar fly off but he had to trust she had a good reason for doing do. Right now he needed to concentrate on keeping everyone else alive. "Crystal Kid!" Wildfire bellowed. "Get ready!" Wildfire circled around until he was behind Talok. He waited for Jo to charge him one more time, then as soon as the Red Son was off-balance Wildfire blasted him with both gauntlets. Talok's mouth opened wide with shock, hurtling through the void from the force of the blast until he was mere metres away from Crystal Kid. "Now!" Wildfire ordered. "Bobb, turn him to crystal!"

Crystal Kid froze. This monster had already destroyed an entire star system, he'd just murdered Mon-El and Shadow Lad. Talok had already broken through one crystal barrier, what if his power didn't affect the sun god? He didn't want to die...No, Bobb gritted his teeth. There's a job that needs doing, Legionnaire. Do it. He raised trembling hands toward Talok, but his hesitation had already cost him. Talok gazed upon the frightened Sub with hate-filled eyes. The next thing Bobb knew, he was barged out of the way of the Red Son's flaming attack. Dazed from the force of the collision which had saved his life, Crystal Kid turned to find Stone Boy floating insensate in his wake. A large visible crack crossed the petrified hero's entire back, and as Stone Boy circled in the void of space Bobb saw that the crack travelled across his abdomen as well. Ultra Boy sped Stone Boy and Crystal Kid away before Talok's next attack could finish the job. Wildfire blasted Talok again, this time increasing his power output enough that the villain was actually hurt. Talok fired a return blast, almost rupturing Wildfire's containment suit as he sent the hero flying.

In her fury, it hadn't occurred to Supergirl that Talok couldn't hear her in the vacuum of space. She flew before him, raging at him to stop. Without hesitating, Talok bathed the powerless teenager in flame as hot as the surface of the sun. Both of them were stunned to see that the fires washing over Kara Zor-El were not red, but golden. Talok held his own hands in front of his face to see that he was now very much a Yellow Son, while Supergirl felt a familiar but intense rush of power fill her every pore as her Kryptonian cells soaked up his energy onslaught.

"The sun might be too big for me to affect," Color Kid explained over Kara's flight ring, "But I just realised, he's sure not."

Supergirl balled her fists and snarled. Talok still couldn't hear her words, but he was left with no doubt whatsoever as to her intention...

*********
Much closer to the enormous red star, Dawnstar came to a halt. Her physiology was naturally adapted to survive in the inhospitable vacuum of deep space but even she had her limits. Any nearer and she risked serious burns. Shadow Lad and Mon-El came in not far behind. Transuits and a shadow field kept them safe, but neither of them were at all comfortable. "What are we doing here?" Shadow Lad asked. "Talok is going to kill the others if we don't go back there!"

"What would you propose we do that Wildfire and Ultra Boy are incapable of?" Dawnstar snapped. "If anything, we're doing them a favour by giving them three less people they need to protect. Now be quiet and let me concentrate."

"You're right of course," Mon-El agreed. Even with his transuit and a wall of darkness absorbing much of the sun's output, he was still drenched in sweat. The sensation was unfamiliar and very unwelcome. "But there's more to it than that, isn't there? I've seen that look on your face before...you're on the trail of something, what is it?"

"I don't want to raise false hopes," Dawnstar answered. Her eyes were closed, all of her sensory focus dedicated to her tracking power. "But this sun does not feel right. I have flown near many stars in my time and one this large should have a stronger gravitational pull."

Mon-El paused. He'd been so distraught over losing Shadow Lass, so preoccupied with Talok the Red Son that he'd not once thought about it. But she was absolutely correct. The star's transformation should have had almost immediately measurable effects, and not just from the change in mass and size. Stars didn't just change color arbitrarily. For a sun to change from yellow to red, its energy emissions should be vastly different. Still, the tragedy that befell the Talokkian system went unrecognised until people saw the sun with their own eyes. How could that be? What did it mean?

"There is more," the winged Legionnaire continued cautiously. "I know how this must sound and as I said, I do not wish to raise false hopes, but...I believe Shadow Lass is somehow alive in there."

Shadow Lad exchanged a desperate look of longing with Mon-El before he turned to Dawnstar. The normally aloof young woman opened her large brown eyes and Grev saw her sincerity. She absolutely meant it.

There was only one thing to do.

Expanding the shadow field to surround all three of them, Grev Mallor flew straight at the crimson sun. He had to do this quickly. Mon-El was powerless to stop him, but Grev knew that no amount of shadow would long stymie Dawnstar's tracking power out here in the void. He thrust his own power before him, a spear that raced ahead at the speed of darkness. The closer he got to the sun, the more the light and the heat pained him. He wouldn't quit though, he couldn't. If Tasmia were alive in there, Grev Mallor would do anything he could to save her. And if she were already dead, then he would join her and the rest of his people. Better to die fighting a futile struggle than live knowing he hadn't even tried. Ancestors, give me strength, Grev prayed. Tasmia, give me strength. Help me help you. He was dimly aware of Dawnstar and Mon-El calling him over his flight ring, knew that even now Dawnstar's tracking power was narrowing down on him in the dark. Then something amazing happened. Grev felt the touch of his ancestors. Not only the Shadow Champions of the past, but every Talokkian they had devoted their lives to serving. Buoyed by the strength of those who had gone before, Grev Mallor's shadow spear penetrated the outermost corona of the red sun. It was taking every ounce of strength he had to maintain this and even then it was all but invisible when seen across the backdrop of billions of miles of superbright superheated plasma, but it was there. Behind him, Dawnstar gasped at what came next.

Mon-El felt utterly helpless as he wondered what was happening. The shadow around him had dissipated as Grev had flown further away, and Mon-El had found no choice but to retreat to a safe distance. With the sun so intensely bright and large before him, he had no hope of spotting either Shadow Lad or Dawnstar who'd flown to retrieve him. Then he did see something. A tiny black spot that he thought he was imagining until he saw it grow. Like an open wound the blackness bled across the surface of the red sun, and in a surprisingly short time the sun was gone.

**********
"You're lucky Legionnaires don't kill!" Supergirl ranted as she hammered Talok with invulnerable fists. "Rao help me, after what you've done you deserve it!"

The enraged sun god gripped Kara's head with both hands and blazed an intense flare into both her eyes. While the yellow solar radiation fuelled her power, the light itself still blinded her temporarily. Taking advantage of her discomfort, Talok turned his attention to the Substitute Hero responsible for his disastrous shift in color.

"You," he sneered at Color Kid, "You're responsible for this trick, we'll see how good your tricks are when you're dead!" Color Kid gulped. He didn't need to hear Talok to see how furious he was. Ultra Boy shielded Color Kid with his own body, the little that was remaining of Jo's shirt burning away.

"You I can't harm," Talok raged at Jo, "But can you defend your friends from a solar flare? While this star is under my power, it is mine to -eh?" He turned to look at the red sun behind them all.

"What's he looking at?" Nightwind asked over her flight ring.

"The sun!" Fire Lad pointed. "Look at the sun!" They all saw the red star fade to nothingness against the blackness of space.

Supergirl's vision had returned and she gaped now at the disappearing sun. "...Shady..?" Her jaw dropped and she vanished in a blur of motion.

"No!" Talok bellowed impotently. "None of you have the power to accomplish this! None of you!" His own flaming aura grew brighter and hotter as he grew angrier, as though he himself were becoming a small sun.

"Wildfire!" Ultra Boy shouted, "I don't know what's going on with that sun or why Supergirl flew off like that but we need to get everyone out of here before this guy goes nova!" By now, Talok himself couldn't be made out in the white-hot corona of pure destructive energy growing ever larger around him.

"That won't be necessary, Ultra Boy." A blanket of shadow coated Talok, encompassing him like a second skin and instantly suppressing his power. Jo looked to its source and was stunned speechless. Before them all floated Shadow Lass, Shadow Lad, Supergirl, Dawnstar and Mon-El.

"Shady!" Jo grinned. "You're alive!"

"Alive and well," Shadow Lass replied. "Talok turned our sun into a system-wide battery, converting my people and our very worlds into a cosmic resource to fuel his own power. We would have remained in a state between life and death forever if not for my cousin here."

"I can't take all the credit," Shadow Lad added. "If it weren't for Dawnstar, I'd never even have known Tasmia could be saved...and if I hadn't already touched my ancestors' power that time we faced the Fhrr Maless, I don't think I'd have known how to reach out to them now. It was only with our ancestors' help that Tasmia and I were able to black out Talok's influence on our sun."

Both Shadow Champions grimaced as a pulse of golden light escaped the shadowskin binding Talok. "Damping the man is more difficult than damping his work," Shadow Lass frowned. "Even together I'm not sure how long Grev and I can hold him."

"Now that you've turned your sun back to normal," Mon-El cracked his knuckles. "Allow me, my love." The Shadow Champions allowed their power to fade, and a disoriented Talok looked from one hero to the other before flaring up bright once more. Before he could do more than that, Mon-El decked him with a punch that sent the villain careening into the void. The Daxamite hero zoomed after him and dragged his unconscious form back by his collar.

"And that's what happens when you mess with the Legion of Superheroes!" Nightwind beamed.

**********
EPILOGUE
On the newly restored Talok VIII, Supergirl watched Shadow Lad unpack his belongings onto a low mattress in a bedroom he hadn't slept in for some time now. "I still don't get it," Kara said, leaning against a wall. "Talok kept this whole system alive inside a giant sun? How is that even possible?"

"I know you still don't believe it but he's a god," Shadow Lad answered with the kind of patient tone he'd use to explain something to a child. "It doesn't have to make scientific sense."

"And your shadows..."

"Removed his light," Grev finished. "That's what shadows do. Once the light's gone, all that's left is what was there before."

"I guess," Kara shrugged. "I'm glad we got a happy ending anyway. I was really scared when I thought you were dead, you know."

Shadow Lad stopped and turned to face her. "I know." He walked across the small sparse room until they were standing close enough to touch. "You know...if things were different..."

"But they're not, are they?" Supergirl gave him a half-smile. "I care about you Shady, but I've got...well, whatever the heck I've got with Brainy, and you..."

"I've got my world." Grev looked down at the floor awkwardly. "Dream Girl foresaw all of this, you know. It's only because of her that I even joined the Legion in the first place. I really think if I hadn't had the experiences I had with the Legion of Superheroes, I would never have been able to help Tasmia fight back against Talok's power...and who knows, Dawnstar might never have been able to sense someone in that sun she didn't know so well. It all worked out for the best, but it's time for me to go home now."

Supergirl impulsively grabbed his hand. "You don't have to. There's no reason you and Shadow Lass can't both be Legionnaires."

Now it was Grev who smiled, his black eyes glinting. "The Legion don't need two shadow casters. And as much as my cousin embraces her responsibilities here she loves the Legion more. I've had fun and I've learned a lot, but Talok VIII is my home. It's where I belong. We all need to be where we belong." He leaned in and gave her a hug which Supergirl returned warmly. "I'll miss you, girl of steel."

"And I'll miss you, Shady. I don't care if that is your cousin's nickname, you're stuck with it buster." She pulled away after a moment and flew into Talok VIII's endless blue skies. Shadow Lad had left the Legion, her cousin had left the Legion, and the Legion had been evicted from Earth. For the first time since returning from Superboy's time it really hit Kara that she was stuck here now. But for all of these changes, Kara was still nothing but optimistic. She looked at her flight ring gleaming in the sun and made a course for the Legion of Superheroes.

It's time for me to go home now.

I love how you use the Subs so effectively, and keep coming up with intelligent ways to use their powers. Crystal Kid and Color Kid were MVPs of this one! Stone Boy and Chlorophyll Kid did well too. I cheered when Supergirl got her powers back!

Drura did a good job too, and I like how Dawnstar's tracking powers were triggered in a not-forced way. Wildfire and Ultra Boy's tactical skills were appreciated too.

Tasmia's back and Grev's gone, I'd grown to like Grev but you write a good Tasmia too!

And having Mon-El deal the finishing blow was wonderful.

Thanks IB! Next installment should bring together a few threads that will make you happy if you like the Subs....hopefully should be able to post it tonight!

METROPOLIS
Lightle Towers Residential Complex, Allon Residence
Yera Allon ever so carefully rolled over to face her husband in the big comfortable bed they shared. Gim's face was illuminated by the light panel set into their ceiling. On its sleep setting the light was so dim as to barely penetrate the darkness at all. Yera had been lying awake for hours though, even if she weren't able to shapeshift night vision at will her long-lashed eyes had been given more than enough time to adapt to the darkness of the Allons' bedroom. She resisted the urge to stroke Gim's face, watching him sleep serenely. She wanted to remember him like this forever, her baby-faced slumbering giant.

Yera slowly climbed out of bed, her husband completely oblivious to her movement. Eyes welling with tears, she centred herself and released a harrowing long exhalation.

You knew this day would come, she chided herself. Stupid girl, you should never have reached for the stars...should have known you'd only get burned.

Yera placed a neatly folded handwritten note on the table. Handwriting was not a commonly found skill on Earth, but Yera had not grown up on Earth. She'd grown up on Durla, where technology was the bogeyman that had sent her people back into the stone age. She'd learned to become comfortable with technology, to integrate it into her life, but she would never trust it. Brainiac 5 or Kid Computo could mine an omnicom. They couldn't mine a piece of paper.

Her lip trembling with emotion, Yera blew her husband a kiss. She removed her Legion flight ring and set it gently next to her goodbye note on the bedside table. She touched her wedding ring to remove that too, then changed her mind. Whatever else she might be giving up, she couldn't surrender that. She gave Gim one final look, then walked naked to the door of their apartment. Before opening the door she took on Gim's form, clothed it in jogging gear. If anybody saw her, they would only see Gim Allon going for an insomnia-driven late night run.

I love you, she thought. I love you more than I could ever have imagined I was capable. Then Yera Allon in her husband's form left his apartment and journeyed into the Metropolis night alone.

**********
MARS
Husband Hill, Legion of Superheroes Headquarters
Bouncing Boy and Gas Girl walked through the corridors of the Legion of Superheroes' brand new headquarters, the din of construction droids filling the air.

"Sorry about the chaos!" Bouncing Boy shouted over the sound of plasteel rending in two. The sound abruptly stopped and Chuck lowered his voice. "Tenzil did good finding this place but it still needs a lot of work. I'm just glad the whole team agreed to move to Mars...and that I finally managed to convince Brainy not to bring Computo. Lord knows Lu will sleep easier without that creepy little glowbug floating around everywhere."

Gas Girl laughed politely, though the reference was lost on her.

"Anyway, have you given any thought to my offer?" the bearded hero continued. "You've been a great help to the Legion recently, in far less than ideal circumstances."

Gas Girl opened her mouth to reply when the two heard raised voices from further along the corridor.

"Ooh, fight!" Quislet's microship zipped overhead towards the racket. "Fun!"

"Every time..." Bouncing Boy muttered under his breath. "...I swear he has cams hidden on all of us waiting for the first sign of a tantrum..!" He bounded down the long hallway, followed closely by Gas Girl in mist form.

They came to one of the building's many open cafeteria areas, where Colossal Boy was in a yelling match with Dawnstar and Wildfire while Quislet gleefully circled the trio. On the level above them Lightning Lass, Light Lad, Matter-Eater Lad, Shrinking Violet and Calorie Queen watched from a large table and Comet Queen poked her head round a corner. Chuck came to a stop near the arguing threesome and deflated while Gas Girl resumed human form and hung back awkwardly. "Everything okay here?" Chuck asked.

"Tell her to find Yera!" Gim demanded, pointing angrily at Dawnstar.

"You'd better mind you don't lose that finger, pal!" Wildfire growled protectively.

"I am sorry your wife left you," Dawnstar snapped at Gim, "But Chameleon Girl is not your pet, Colossal Boy. I am not going to track her down for you like some runaway plains dog!"

"She could be in danger!" Gim bellowed. "Yera wouldn't just leave me!"

"Whoa whoa whoa." Chuck held both arms up. "Start from the beginning. Colossal Boy, what's going on?"

Gim tried to stay calm, trembling with anger. "Yera's gone!" he explained. "When I woke up this morning our apartment back on Earth was empty and I found this." He handed Yera's note to Chuck.

Gim, I love you. Please never doubt that. But if you love me, you must let me go. I can't explain, but I can't stay either. Not with you and not with the Legion. You'll forever be in my heart and I know you'll be happier without me. Love always, Yera.

Bouncing Boy handed the note back to Gim and considered the issue.

"Yera wouldn't leave me!" Colossal Boy repeated. "It must be Universo or - or Saturn Queen! Sprock knows what they're doing to her right now! Dawnstar can find her no matter where they've taken her! Chuck, we have to--"

"She left you a note!" Dawnstar yelled, losing her composure. "Does that sound like the work of a villain to you? Frankly, Colossal Boy, if this is the way you act--"

"Enough!" Bouncing Boy shouted. Everyone in the room stared dumbfounded at him. "Dawnstar, Colossal Boy has a point. It's not unreasonable to assume one of our enemies could be behind this. Go get Tellus, take Wildfire with you for extra muscle and find Chameleon Girl."

"Finally someone in this team has some common sense!" Colossal Boy exclaimed. "Chuck, thanks so much! You have no idea what this means--"

"However," Bouncing Boy interrupted forcefully, "If Tellus is satisfied that Yera is acting of her own free will, I'm sorry Gim...she's allowed to make her own decisions no matter how much you may not like them. If Yera doesn't want you to know where she is, that's her choice and we're going to respect that. Am I clear on this?"

Gim fumed silently for a moment. "Clear," he eventually conceded.

"Good," Bouncing Boy relaxed. "And buddy, you know if you ever want to talk--"

"My marriage is not in trouble, Chuck." Colossal Boy stared down at his leader with barely contained fury. "My wife is. Find her Dawnstar. Bring my wife home to me." He turned on his heel and stormed out, and a few seconds later everyone jumped as they heard a giant-sized fist slam through a wall.

Above the commotion, Shrinking Violet leaned back in her seat and sipped her kono juice. "I'm not going to lie," she said, "I hope Yera's okay but I can't say I'm not enjoying this."

Matter-Eater Lad pointed his half-eaten fork at Calorie Queen. "See what you're missing out on?" he joked. "You sure you don't wanna try out for the Legion again?"

"Ohhh sprock, no." Taryn Loy held her hands up in a gesture of mock surrender. "Calorie Queen is strictly a part-time hero. Vicarious drama is drama enough for this girl!"

The others chuckled and continued their lunch.

**********
ZWEN
Wentim Valley, Wentim Residence
Night Girl, Color Kid, Chlorophyll Kid and Fire Lad watched in mutual silence as Dragonmage wove his dragonform with intense focus around the petrified form of Stone Boy. The Zwennite hero had not regained consciousness since falling in battle to Talok the Red Son a few days ago. On one hand, this greatly concerned his friends. On the other hand, the deep gash snaking around his torso would be almost certainly lethal to Dag Wentim if he resumed his flesh and blood form now.

Dragonmage had felt he had the best chance of healing Stone Boy here on the immobile hero's homeworld. Dag Wentim's parents traded frightened glances on the other side of the room, and his little brother Waiane bit his nails nervously. Waiane's boyfriend Tel stood behind Waiane, holding him in a warm embrace. Together Waiane and Tel were two of the Legion Academy's latest batch of students, Lullabye Lad and Gravity Kid.

"He's going to be normal again, isn't he?" Waiane asked timidly. "I mean, he's not gonna--" His father glared at him and Waiane fell silent.

"Please," Dragonmage replied, his tone distracted. "I really need to concentrate. I've only done this once before, when I summoned an Earth elemental to heal Blok. Stone is Blok's permanent form, as difficult as that spell was there's so much more that can go wrong here."

"Sorry," the mousy-haired student shrank back.

Night Girl regarded the two boys. Dragonmage was perhaps only a year older than Lullabye Lad at most, but the Asian sorceror carried himself with such quiet dignity that it was difficult to believe they were so close in age. She had seen Dragonmage do amazing things in the short time she'd known him, and as much as he doubted his own abilities Lydda was certain he could heal Stone Boy.

A translucent grey dragon emerged from the ground at Dragonmage's feet. Night Girl had been present when Xao had healed Blok with this same magic and she was surprised to note subtle differences in this dragonform compared to the last time she'd witnessed this spell cast. As it circled Stone Boy's inert form it seemed more spry, leaner and faster than it had been last time. After a painstakingly long minute, Stone Boy's body began to knit together. The sound of rocks grating against one another filled the air for several minutes more, and finally Dragonmage collapsed exhausted.

"Oh dear!" Stone Boy's mother fretted. The Wentim parents helped Dragonmage to his feet. "Are you well, young man?"

"I'm fine," Dragonmage answered weakly. "Just...took a lot out of me..."

"I'm okay too," another voice sounded.

"Dag!" Lullabye Lad rushed to hug his now fleshy brother.

"Careful," Stone Boy grimaced. "Looks like I've got a souvenir." He lifted his shirt to reveal a nasty scar stretching around his body where he'd earlier been split.

"Oh Dag," Stone Boy'd mother doted on him.

"I'm okay Ma, really." He lowered his shirt again and hugged both his parents. Seeing the look on his father's face, he pre-empted what he knew was coming. "I'll get checked out by a doctor, but I do feel fine. Honest...just a little tender. I take it we won?"

"This guy turned the tables for us!" Fire Lad slapped Color Kid on the back. "You're on a roll, Ulu!" Color Kid looked away, mildly embarassed.

"I would have come out here regardless," Night Girl spoke up, "But if you boys want to continue your winning streak, Bouncing Boy's asked me to pass on an offer..."

Moments later, Lullabye Lad's ecstatic whoop could be heard halfway down the street.

**********
NULLPORT
Traffic Control Tower 3
On the flat rooftop of one of Nullport's many towers, a pale blue rodent leaned out over the busy spaceport. She sniffed the air, looked to and fro, almost as if she were taking stock of her surroundings.

"You'd be less conspicuous as an insect," a woman's voice spoke from above. "A commercial spaceport this large has very good vermin sanitation protocols I'd imagine."

The rat's ears pricked up and she turned. Startled, she saw Dawnstar descending on enormous feathered wings. Behind her, Tellus carried a grumbling Wildfire with his telekinesis. The rat gave a panicked look around, then lowered her head as if resigned to her fate. She grew larger, shifting shape and color until the orange-skinned Chameleon Girl stood before them. "I've been changing forms since I left Earth," Yera said. "I'm going to need some rest before I can become something as small as an insect."

"Don't sound so defensive, kid." Wildfire touched down on the roof but gave Yera some space. "We're not the enemy."

"It's obvious how you found me," Yera glanced at Dawnstar. "How did you sneak up on me though? The whole reason I took on the form of a nightrat was its enhanced senses."

"Tellus carried Wildfire so you wouldn't hear our approach and we made sure to come from downwind," Dawnstar explained. "You're not the first Durlan I've been asked to track."

"Please don't ask me to come back," Yera pleaded. "You don't know what you're asking. You don't know what I saw in the future, what I was forced to do." The others were taken aback by her obvious distress.

"Wildfire is brusque but he tells the truth," the still floating Tellus replied as he came closer. "We are your friends, Yera. We only want to help you and our only concern is that you are not under duress. Will you allow a surface mind scan? You have my word that I will not probe any deeper than necessary. Anything you wish to remain private will remain so."

Yera considered her options. She had no doubt she could give these three the slip, even Dawnstar. The tracker's power worked best in the void of space, it would take time for them to find her again if she fled. They would find her eventually though, Yera knew that too. She'd only be delaying the inevitable, and ultimately it would look worse if she ran.

"Fine," Yera consented. "Do what you need to. But I'm not coming back, Legionnaires. I can't."

She felt Tellus' mind touch hers, and let him cast his judgement.

**********
COLU
Locus 276.1958
Dream Girl leaned against the bulkhead of the Legion cruiser that Bouncing Boy had sent to bring herself, Star Boy and Brainiac 5 to the Legion's new home. "Are you sure you won't come back with us?" she asked the very ordinary looking Kando Vyr. "There's still a place on the roster for you, even after we have our meeting this afternoon."

"I know," the young teen smirked. "I can see the future too, Nura. I can't join the Legion in this time though. There's no record that the Infinite Boy ever existed in this era, and joining the most legendary group of heroes in the galaxy is probably not the best way to make sure it stays that way." Blok walked past them carrying a literal ton of equipment from Brainiac 5's homeworld lab into the cruiser. "Besides," Kando continued, adjusting his collar, "Brainiac 5 proved that I can still access my powers in a stressful situation but I can't control them very well. I'd be more of a liability than an asset at the moment."

"Pfft." Dream Girl waved dismissively. "You call it a liability, I call it fun."

Blok emerged from the cruiser once more. "Excuse me, Dream Girl. Sun Boy has asked me to advise you that we are ready to leave."

"I guess this is goodbye then," Dream Girl shrugged. "You've helped us immensely, Kando Vyr. You gave us all a way home when we could have been lost forever, and you removed the threat of one of our greatest enemies while giving him a second chance at life. We won't forget that." She leaned down to give the shorter Naltorian boy a peck on the cheek. "Wherever or whenever you end up, may Cassandra look out for you."

"Thanks Nura." Kando picked up a backpack containing a few things he'd allowed the Legionnaires to give him to help make his stay in this time easier. "Remember to look surprised when you see the new team roster."

Dream Girl entered the Legion cruiser and rolled her eyes as the door closed between them. "Honestly," she teased, "You're a terrible Naltorian. What's the point of precognition if you can't be a little smug every now and then?"

Kando laughed as he watched the cruiser depart. He'd miss Nura Nal. He'd miss all of them. He'd only just met most of these Legionnaires, but it had been good to put the stories he'd heard from his Legion into context. Still, he really wasn't meant to be here. Whether he liked it or not though, he didn't have the power to return to his own time. Whether he liked it or not, he was stuck here. "Time to find out why," he said to himself. The platinum blond boy slung his backpack over his shoulder and walked off into the unknown.

**********
MARS
Husband Hill, Legion of Superheroes Headquarters
"The Infinite Boy!" Gim Allon hollered. "He'll know! Yera only left after she met that creep in the future!"

He was standing with Bouncing Boy in Chuck's new office. Chuck's belongings still sat in boxes around the sides of the room.

"Without that creep, half the Legion would still be lost in time," Chuck retorted. Including both our wives. Gim, I know you want this to be something sinister, but it's really not. I'm sorry buddy, but Tellus, Dawnstar and Wildfire all vouched for Yera. There's no secret plot here. Whatever's going on is something for Gim Allon to deal with, not Colossal Boy."

"Then Gim Allon will deal with it." Scowling, Gim removed his flight ring.

"What are you--"

"This isn't something the Legion needs to deal with, you say?" Gim slammed his flight ring down on Chuck's bare desk. "Then neither am I. If you're gonna make me choose between the Legion of Superheroes or my wife, I'll pick my wife every time Chuck."

"Gim, I didn't mean--"

"Save it. I quit." He turned his back on Bouncing Boy and stomped out, almost bowling over Duplicate Damsel on the other side of the door.

"That good, huh?" Luornu gave her husband a sympathetic smile.

"That good," Chuck sighed. "Let's get this meeting out of the way before Mordru attacks or something."

**********
Chlorophyll Kid clasped his hands behind his back so nobody could see how much they were trembling. Beside him stood Color Kid, Fire Lad, Stone Boy, Gas Girl, Shadow Lass and Star Boy. Before them, the 32 active members of the Legion of Superheroes. Shadow Lass and Star Boy were both longtime members of the Legion. Chlorophyll Kid could understand why they'd be unfazed by any of this. After all, welcoming them back into the fold was simply a formality. It wasn't like there was ever any doubt that there'd be a place for them on the Legion...and Chlorophyll Kid had only met Gas Girl for the first time this week. He had no idea what she was feeling about all of this. For Chlorophyll Kid though, for all of the Subs, this was the dream which had sustained them for all these years. The dream they'd honestly given up believing would ever become reality. How could the other three Subs remain so calm?

"All of you have a long and proud history of being there for this team," Bouncing Boy finished his speech. "And for some of you, this is very overdue. You've all been of particularly invaluable support in recent days, and I'm happy to report this decision was unanimous. Shadow Lass, Star Boy, welcome back to the Legion of Superheroes." There were some words of encouragement from the assembled Legionnaires, and both of the heroes accepted their places on the team once more.

Bouncing Boy now turned to Gas Girl and the Subs. "Chlorophyll Kid, Fire Lad, Color Kid, Gas Girl, Stone Boy...welcome to the Legion of Superheroes."

Night Girl, Infectious Lass and Polar Boy were the first to stand, and soon the whole room followed suit. The air became filled with applause and cheers. Chlorophyll Kid exchanged looks with his fellow new recruits. What he was about to do was corny as hell, but it felt right. They all pumped their fists in the air and yelled with all their hearts.

"Long live the Legion!"

After all the recent changes, thought a roll call might come in handy so here y'all go!

BLOK
BOUNCING BOY (leader)
BRAINIAC 5
CHAMELEON BOY
CHLOROPHYLL KID
COLOR KID
COMET QUEEN
COSMIC BOY
DAWNSTAR
DIAMOND DAMSEL
DRAGONMAGE
DREAM GIRL
DUPLICATE DAMSEL (deputy leader)
ELASTIC LAD
ELEMENT LAD
FIRE LAD
GAS GIRL
INFECTIOUS LASS
INVISIBLE KID II
KID COMPUTO
LIGHT LAD
LIGHTNING LASS
MATTER-EATER LAD
MON-EL
NIGHT GIRL
NIGHTWIND
PHANTOM GIRL
POLAR BOY
QUISLET
SHADOW LASS
SHRINKING VIOLET
STAR BOY
STONE BOY
SUN BOY
SUPERGIRL
TELLUS
TIMBER WOLF
ULTRA BOY
WILDFIRE

love this chapeter Raz.

So Year leaves....but now i want to know if she's already pregnate or is she trying to prevant becoming pregnate?

poor Gim. I'm sure he'll find her though.


YeS!!! i knew Gas Girl would make it in! She has become a surprising fav of mine.

I'm also happy for the Subs to finally make it into the Legion.

Dream Girl and Infinity Boy's interaction was really cute. i like the line " What's the point of precognition if you can't be a little smug every now and then?" wicked funny.

Is anything coming up for Light lad? haven't heard from him in a while and love to see something with him!

keep up the great work!

Two thumbs up for making the Subs' joining not seem forced, and for not swelling the roster with ALL of them - the "original" Subs have been on a roll but I agree the likes of Rainbow Girl and Porcupine Pete still haven't quite earned their spots.

Gas Girl on the other hand is a seasoned hero

Interested to see where the Yera and Gim subplot will go. Poor Yera...

I also have to say, the lack of sympathy by Violet and company for Gim is very realistic and very Levitz. They're not being mean-spirited or anything, and they are genuinely concerned about Yera, but it shows the Legionnaires aren't all best friends with each other.

It's not my cup of tea, as (in my memory anyway) the Postboot Legionnaires were more "tight" and seemed to have a more solid bedrock of friendship. But this is by no means a criticism of your writing! Levitz paved the way, and I think it does make sense that in a team that large, not everyone is going to be close friends with everyone else.

It's funny you mention that because I did second-guess putting that scene in with Vi and the others...some of Levitz's Legionnaires were really catty with one another though & you're right that I don't think they're trying to be mean, just a bit insensitive every now and then.

Vi also is still really coming to terms with Yera impersonating her and while she doesn't actively hate her anymore I think it's natural that Gim & Yera wouldn't be her favourite people in the galaxy!

Aw, Crystal Kid didn't make it in yet? That's okay, there's always time!

Good stuff. I like the idea behind the Forgotten Four, and of course it was great to see Color Kid become such an integral part of Red Son's defeat!

Chlorophyll Kid needs to find some space-kudzu seeds or something, so he's got material to work with on these sorts of space missions.

I agree Crystal Kid has potential, especially after his quick thinking against Red Son (of course, his later hesitation caused him to miss out for now)! Rainbow Girl too - being able to split into 7 beings is no small thing.



Yes, I do think Vi's reaction is just ok. She doesn't want any harm to come to Yera, but she's enjoying what she thinks is a marital spat because she has some bad history with Gim/Yera.

My reaction probably also stems from my knowledge of what exactly Yera went through. and I read it as (some) of the Legionnaires being a bit too insensitive/wrapped up in themselves to show concern for Gim at least - some of them like Tenzil have been his teammates for years by now - yet Dawnstar and Chuck are the only ones who seem to express any sympathy to Gim.

Levitz was a bit worse though. Whew! Some of the little arguments we saw, like when people thought Brin and Imra were cheating on Garth/Ayla without even getting their side, or the little catty comments Tinya or Tasmia would make...