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MARS
Husband Hill, Legion of Superhero Headquarters
Luornu Durgo Taine stood behind her husband, her arms draped around his shoulders while he sat brooding at the mission monitor board.

"Are you sure you don't want me to stay here with you?" the athletic young woman asked. "Kid Computo, Tellus and I are about to head out but I know you're under a lot of stress lately, and there's no reason I can't go with them and stay here." To illustrate her point she showcased the power that had earned her the name Duplicate Damsel and split into two identical bodies.

Chuck squeezed her hand appreciatively. "Thanks Lu. But I'll be fine, and your mission is too important for your concentration to be divided."

Luornu considered arguing the point. Her power didn't work that way and Chuck knew it. She decided to let it go though. Chuck had been more distant than usual since their recent exile through time and space, but maybe he just needed to work through this on his own. As difficult as it had been for Luornu to integrate five different sets of experiences when she'd recombined after that adventure, she'd only been separated from herself for days. Bouncing Boy, along with Phantom Girl, Blok and Diamond Damsel had been trapped in the past of a now dead world for months. None of them had been particularly forthcoming about what they'd been through there, but Duplicate Damsel supposed she was the last person to judge someone for internalising their trauma. All she could really do was be ready for when Chuck needed her. One of Luornu's bodies kissed her husband on the cheek while the other hugged him from behind. "You're the boss. See you soon, Chuck." She merged her two bodies to become one woman again, and left the room.

Bouncing Boy didn't turn his attention from the mission monitor board, and was taken aback when the next voice he heard was decidedly masculine. "Bouncing Boy, you keep obsessing over those holos like that and people are gonna start confusing you for Cos."

Bouncing Boy turned in his seat to see Sun Boy leaning against the wall by the doorway, his arms folded across his chest. "Hello Sun Boy," Chuck greeted him. "What are you doing here? You're not due for your shift for another hour yet."

"Consider this my good deed for the day." He pulled Chuck's seat away from the board and faced Bouncing Boy toward the door. "Go on, get out of here."

"What? No, I can't." Chuck turned back round again. "I need to make sure I'm on top of everything. Star Boy's team is still in the Corvan system, Nightwind and Dragonmage just left for Cryogeyser City, I need to find some way to help what's left of the Subs and keep an eye on Earth-Man--"

"Chuck, stop." Sun Boy held up a hand. "Look, the truth is I was meant to be finishing an amazing date with a Rimborian Zero-G gymnast about now, but she came down with a bad case of flu and had to cancel at the last minute. I came in here to find out what Brek was up to and I couldn't help overhear you sending your very attractive wife away after she offered to stay with you. If that's not the sign of a man who's overworked, I don't know what is. Go for a walk or a bounce or whatever, forget about the Legion for one night."

"I can't," Bouncing Boy barrelled on. "I need to organise meetings with--"

Sun Boy placed a hand on each arm of Bouncing Boy's chair and turned him around again till the two men were face to face. "Chuck." Dirk Morgna's tone was far more authoritative than Bouncing Boy was used to hearing, and it startled him into actually paying heed. "Humor me. I know what happens when you work yourself too hard in this team. Trust me, you don't want that."

Bouncing Boy reluctantly gave his seat up to his teammate. "I guess I could go see how Fire Lad and the others are settling in..."

"Sure, knock yourself out." Dirk flopped into the vacant seat, his serious tone already dispelled. He waved a hand over a remote channelpad and the room filled with the latest charting pop tune. "Just don't do any work for the rest of the night! Doc Morgna's orders!"

Bouncing Boy meandered through the Legion's new home, noticing how empty it seemed at this time of night. It was almost midnight here over the Gusev Crater and the rest of the Legion were already tucked in their beds, away on their own missions, or sampling the nightlife of neighbouring McCool Hill. Chuck walked past one of the building's rec rooms where he heard laughter. Fire Lad, Chlorophyll Kid, Infectious Lass and Invisible Kid were watching a comedy holo together. Chuck briefly considered joining them, but it occurred to him that he was actually enjoying the solitude. It was the first time in 14 hours he hadn't been utterly preoccupied with Legion business, he couldn't deny that the break was indeed nice.

Just as he decided to head up to his room, Chuck noticed movement at the end of a darkened corridor. He approached the silhouetted person sitting by a large picture window, motion sensors activating lighting around him with each footfall. "Tinya?" Chuck asked once he was close enough to recognise her. "What are you doing out here on your own?"

She'd been watching the Martian moon Phobos crawl across the night sky, and turned now to face Bouncing Boy. "Hi," she greeted without enthusiasm. "Jo said something about needing to speak with Elastic Lad about half an hour ago. I couldn't get to sleep without him so I thought I'd come out and look at the view."

"Takes some getting used to, huh?" Chuck came closer and looked out over the red plains, spires twinkling under the gently shifting moonlight. "A lot different to Metropolis, that's for sure."

"It all takes some getting used to," she replied glumly. "I thought it'd be better by now, you know? We've been back for weeks now...we even got Shady back. I'm with Jo again, the team's reunited...the rest of the Legion have bounced back from everything the Infinite Man put us through, but me...I can't bounce back." She gave Chuck an imploring look. "Why can't I bounce back, Chuck? I feel like something was lost back on Dryad, and I don't know if I'll ever get it back. And I feel terrible and self-indulgent even saying that out loud. Sweet Mistress, Blok lost his world and his people again. But I'm the one who can't get over it."

"Oh Tinya..." Chuck stood by her side and placed a comforting arm around her shoulder. "It'll get better. It really will." They watched Phobos climb overhead, and Chuck couldn't help but realise he sounded far more exhausted than optimistic.

**********
Element Lad stood at his bedroom window two floors above, watching the same moon. While some of the Legion had groused about their relocation to Mars, Jan Arrah had tried to embrace the change. One thing he was quietly grateful for was that for the first time in years he had a bedroom that looked out to the world. He remembered the first time he'd seen the cramped windowless buildings of Earth he'd felt a sick claustrophobia at the sight. He'd long since overcome that nausea, but he could never prefer the sterile hyper-efficient cities of many United Planets worlds to the more aesthetic and open structures he remembered from a childhood on Trom. Mars was no Trom, but at least here he could watch the stars from his bed.

"Jan?"

He turned at the throaty voice which carried now over the delicate tinkle of crystalline chimes suspended from his ceiling. Shvaughn Erin sat before him, or at least a full-body holographic representation of her. Straddling a chair, her copper hair was unkempt and she had dark bags under normally vivid green eyes. Jan smiled warmly at the sight. He remembered a time when she would never have appeared before him without first grooming herself to a level she deemed acceptable. It made him happy that their relationship had progressed to the stage where she felt comfortable in front of him as herself.

"Thanks for calling," he greeted his absent lover. "I know it's late in Metropolis, you look exhausted."

She stifled a yawn. "The crime rate's increased on Earth since the Legion left, but that shouldn't come as a surprise to anybody. All the Science Police have our hands full these days, though I have to admit Earth-Man and his goons are doing a better job of keeping the peace than I'd have given them credit for. They're no Legion of Superheroes though. They're not even a Legion of Substitute Heroes."

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about actually." Jan sat on the edge of his bed so that he could meet Shvaughn at her eye level. "Is this a secure channel?"

"Sure," Shvaugn's tone was casual, but her posture instantly stiffened. "Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine with me," he answered, choosing his words carefully. "I'm more concerned about you."

Shvaughn frowned slightly. "Jan, that's sweet but--"

"I know you were the one who alerted us when Earth-Man and Celestine attacked the Legion of Substitute Heroes, Shvaughn." His voice was soft, but carried a tone that Shvaughn was annoyed to recognise as disapproval. "When the distress signal came in, everybody assumed that another Legionnaire had sent it. It's not entirely unbelievable that Wildfire and Mon-El could fly fast enough to have reached Earth orbit if that call had come in after the attack began, but it's much more believable that they'd have had time to react if they were called earlier...say just after the Justice League's Science Police liaison found out Earth-Man and Celestine had left to dismantle the Subs' satellite?"

Shvaughn sat up straight and folded her arms defensively across her chest. "I'm not going to apologise for trying to save your friends' lives," she scowled. "I know Cosmic Boy and the others held them off without help, but Celestine only surrendered because reinforcements arrived. If she'd had time to recover, she would have killed them all."

"I know that," Jan replied calmly. "And believe me Shvaughn, I'm grateful. But if I figured it out, they'll figure it out. I don't doubt your ability to do your job as a Science Police Officer for a nanosecond, but the Justice League are...well, they're in a different league. Some of them are almost on par with the most powerful Legionnaires and the Legion are another world away. We can't protect you."

"You don't need to protect me, lover." Shvaughn breathed out and hung her weary head over the back of the chair. "They are in a different league than me. I'm not even on their radar, they find me an annoying beaureaucratic necessity more than anything else. But they're also making life more and more difficult for non-Terrans, for heroes like the Legion and the Subs, for everyone around them. Your hands may be tied thanks to Earthgov but I can't sit idly by and watch these monsters destroy my friends and the world I love. I can't do it Jan, and I won't. My ideals mean as much to me as yours do to you."

Jan leaned towards her, shoulders slumped in defeat. "I know that," he smiled. "And that's why I love you." The two sat in mutual silence gazing into one another's eyes as the tension in the room dissipated. He wished more than ever that he could take her in his arms and just hold her. "Just promise me you'll be careful," he finally spoke.

Before Shvaughn could answer, Element Lad's flight ring beeped at him. "Element Lad, this is Sun Boy. Need you to report to the hangar for a mission, sorry to interrupt your beauty sleep pal!"

Jan frowned and gave Shvaughn an apologetic look. "Sun Boy, is anybody else available? I'm kind of busy at the moment."

"Not any more," Sun Boy replied abruptly.

"Star Boy's team needs a rescue and you were the first person they asked for."

**********
CORVAN SYSTEM
Main Asteroid Belt
Light Lad wondered how everything had fallen apart so quickly.

When he, Star Boy and Blok had lost contact with Gas Girl they'd rushed to her location, a sleek black ship belonging to the pirate called the Alchemist. Now Blok was a lifeless golden statue, frozen in the midst of tearing a hole through the ship's internal wall to face its captain on the bridge. Star Boy lay unconscious on the floor at the captain's feet, and all that was left of Gas Girl was a puddle of water on the other side of the room. The two members of the ship's crew who remained uninjured had their weapons trained on Light Lad. They weren't what worried him at the moment though. Some months ago he might have been terrified at the prospect of facing ruthless armed bandits, but even in the short time he'd been a Legionnaire he'd learned there were far more frightening things in the universe than guns. No, what really made the hair on the back of Darvan Locke's neck prickle was the Alchemist herself. She carried no weapons herself, but she didn't need to. As far as LIght Lad knew she'd killed Blok and Gas Girl, and the only reason Star Boy and Darvan himself remained alive was because the sight of Light Lad had sparked some dark plot in her.

"I did as you asked," Light Lad asked, focusing on keeping his voice from shaking. "Now are you going to tell me why you made me call for Element Lad? Why did you change your mind about killing us?"

"Killing is too easy," the pirate woman answered with barely restrained contempt from beneath a dark crimson hooded cloak keeping her face in shadow. "For you and for him, killing is too easy. I make you suffer first, and then I get my revenge on the others."

"The other who?" Light Lad asked. "The other Legionnaires? I don't even know you! You've made a huge mistake, I only agreed to call Element Lad because I know the Legion will stop you. You'll pay for what you've done today, Alchemist."

"Evil never pays, Light Lad. You've certainly never paid for what you did, have you now?"

Darvan knew that bile in her tone, the manic edge. He'd heard it from his own sister. This woman was clearly unwell. "Alchemist, please listen to me." He tried to remain as soothing as he could, to remember the lessons of his life as an orderly at the Wellness Institute back home on Winath. "I haven't wronged you, no Legionnaire has wronged you. We've never met before today, you must know that."

"Haven't we?" she snapped back at him. She ripped her hood back from her head, revealing scarred features and a head of honey-coloured hair streaked with white. "Can you deny your crime now that it stares you in the face?"

"I don't know you!" Darvan struggled to maintain his composure. "I swear to you, I don't know what I'm supposed to have done to you!"

She advanced on him, her crew members certain to make sure Light Lad knew their weapons were primed to shoot. The Alchemist grabbed Light Lad's jaw in her hand, and Darvan saw now that her hands and forearms wore old scars too. The woman looked as though she'd been through a war. The Alchemist glared at him, and Darvan was struck with the depths of hatred and anger in her wild hazel eyes. "You stole from me my family. You stole from me my world. All so he could be the only one left. Except he's not. He's not the only one left, is he? I should thank you, Light Lad. For so many years I've avoided the Legion of Superheroes, I never knew if I'd have the will to overcome my grief when I finally laid eyes upon you. And now that you're here in front of me, I find that I do. I have the will to render all of you ashes on the wind."

Darvan's mind reeled. The pieces fell into place, each piece working with its neighbour to draw a picture too awful to contemplate. His eyes grew large and his blood froze as he spoke the realisation. "You...you're that girl from Trom...

...You're Uma Garan."

TO BE TROMTINUED!!!!

Wow! Nice curveball there raz. And nice way to work in the personal moments between Shvaughn/Jan into the Alchemist plotline.

I wonder, did the magic on Dryad affect Chuck and Tinya in any way? Or was it just the stress of being stranded for so long?

Sun boy telling Chuck to watch out for (space) fatigue was a cute touch, and I wonder what Lu is getting up to? Hmmmm...

Great stuff as always Raz, love how you are tying in the recent Lost storyline to the current adventures. Interesting to see what will happen on Earth now Earth Mans team are not providing the security results that the Legion used to and also what the Alchemist will do once she get hers hands on Jan.

More, more, more!

Thanks peeps! Chuck and Tinya are gonna be a bit of a slow burn for a while but should lead to some interesting places before they're finished...Lu should lead to somewhere interesting much sooner with any luck!

Sun Boy was a happy accident....I threw him in that scene because I felt like it's been a while since he did anything meaningful and it was only in the middle of writing it that I realised he's the perfect Legionnaire to give warnings about (space) fatigue so I'm glad you made the connection as well Harbinger

Hopefully I will get a chance to sit down and put up the next instalment this week! I have been patiently waiting to use Uma again since I introduced her a zillion months ago so I'm looking forward to the coming confrontation!

MARS
North Pole, McCoy Randall Exogenetics Research Facility
"So let me get this straight," Chameleon Boy asked as he took on the form of a Davisian Bodybag, "These scientists combined two of the most prolific breeders in the system to create a hybrid species...as a pet??"

The Davisian Bodybag vaguely resembled an Earth frog, albeit one which was fourteen feet long from its front to its rear. Where it differed from the much smaller amphibian was in the numerous translucent sacs lining its form. As Cham flew through the cold skies above the North Pole, a three-pronged prehensile tongue extended from his open maw and drew in dozens of tiny winged crustaceans at a time. He swallowed the flying crabs, keeping them safely sedated in the bulging sacs lining his body.

"They definitely should have better control methods to stop them from escaping and breeding like Tartarus Hares," Elastic Lad replied, lassoing swarms of the orange-reddish creatures in his elongated arms. "But gosh, they're awfully cute little critters, don't you think?"

"Cute and numerous," Cham replied. The Bodybag had a separate cavity for its vocal cords so he could continue shovelling the tiny creatures into his gullet while talking. The sky all around them was a dense cloud of flying crabs. For every dozen of them that either of the Legionnaires grabbed there were a hundred more. "Maybe we should have brought Duplicate Damsel," Cham continued. "We're going to have our hands full getting these fellows back where they belong."

A green blur suddenly appeared out of nowhere, zipping through the cloud of creatures too fast to be recognised. "Gee whiz!" Elastic Lad exclaimed. "It's some kind of predator! Chameleon Boy, we need to do something!"

"It's okay Elastic Lad," Cham responded calmly. "If that's who I think it is our job here just became a lot easier."

Proving Chameleon Boy right, the cloud thinned dramatically in seconds. Soon Ultra Boy was hovering before his teammates with the last half a dozen flying crabs squirming around in his arms. "Hope I didn't steal anyone's thunder," Jo greeted his friends. He raised an eyebrow comically. "Cham, what animal is that? Are you eating these things alive?"

"It's a Davisian Bodybag," the Durlan responded. "And I'm not eating them, I'm storing them temporarily. Speaking of which, I'd better get them back to their habitat." Chameleon Boy descended towards the unassuming building below, Elastic Lad following close behind.

"Jeepers, it's a lucky break for us you happened to be in the area!" Elastic Lad chattered, his neck twisting like a corkscrew to talk to Ultra Boy behind him while his body followed Cham down. "What brings you to the North Pole, Ultra Boy? It's really pretty here, isn't it? My homeworld Cadmu was built with full weather control, we don't have snow. I really like it, do they have snow on Rimbor like they do here on Mars?"

"Actually," Jo sidestepped Elastic Lad's manic line of questioning, "I came here to speak to you. After this is all wrapped up, I was hoping you'd have some time for me to pick your brain?"

"Well gosh, sure I do!" the ginger-haired boy beamed. "I've always got time for any of my Legion pals! What is it you want my help with?"

"I just wanted to ask you some questions about your people," Jo answered, wincing slightly as one of the crabs pinched his finger. "One of them in particular....Leeta-87."

**********
WEBER'S WORLD
The Red Tapeworm
Tari Wahlmunn took her stimbev and velvet muffin from the servodroid and sat at one of the popular cafe's few spare tables. The Red Tapeworm was kind of a disgusting name, but they made the most amazing muffins here of anywhere she'd found on Weber's World. As the seat of beaureaucracy for the United Planets, most businesses on Weber's World were constructed with an eye for efficiency over style or taste. When you found a good cafe on Weber's World it was worth ignoring how terrible its name might be. She opened a holoscroll and lazily flicked through the day's news. It was funny, Tari mused. When she'd graduated from the Legion Academy and been recruited to join the Oversight Watch she had been a little disappointed. Tari had always dreamed that as Mandalla she would one day serve as a member of the Legion of Superheroes or that she'd at least carve a name for herself as a well-regarded hero on some planet or another. Instead, she had been recruited to join a group who were completely unknown to the vast majority of the United Planets. She'd come to appreciate her role with the Oversight Watch since then however, and she now felt a quiet pride at her place with the team. The Oversight Watch had stopped assassinations, military coups, terrorist attacks and much more. The work they did was good and necessary and she felt like she was really making a difference in the galaxy even if nobdy else outside the team knew about it. If she had one regret, it was that she'd never be able to share her achievements with the Legion of Superheroes. It wasn't glory she wanted, it was simply that the Legion had been her role models for so long that she couldn't help but feel bothered at having to hide away from them.

"Hello Tari."

The bronze young woman's heart skipped a beat. Turning slowly to her left, she saw two new women sitting at the table by her side. Like herself, they were in civilian garb but she recognised them both very well. One of them had taught Mandalla much of what she knew about heroism long before she'd ever even heard of the Oversight Watch. It was Luornu Durgo Taine and Danielle Foccart, the Legionnaires better known as Duplicate Damsel and Kid Computo.

"What are you doing here?" Tari almost whispered. "How did you find me?"

"Come now," Luornu gave her former student a disapproving look. "I taught you better than that, didn't I?"

Danielle raised her hand and smiled sarcastically. "Hi. This whole planet's basically one big computer. Fun for me, not so much for anyone trying to hide from me. Oh, and don't bother using that subcutaneous comms implant you've got there. It doesn't want to play at the moment. Even if it did, your pal Dev-Em is busy dealing with an awfully convenient coolant leak eight miles underground so he can't come fly to your rescue this time around...all the rest of your loser buddies are too far away to get here before we leave."

Mandalla's eyes narrowed. They'd surprised her, but neither of them had any defence against her thoughtspheres. Before she could focus her power, Luornu interjected. "I wouldn't try that if I were you. I taught you long enough to know how you think Tari, but I also taught Tellus...and we both know that he's got a much more developed skillset than you do when it comes to telepathy." Luornu had purchased a stimbev herself and she took a sip from it now, meeting Tari's anxious gaze over the rim of her cup as she drank. "He's waiting on board our ship by the way, with another of my duplicates. When we head back to meet up with him, the first thing I've asked him to do is compare my two psyches to help him see if you've used your power against us."

"Like you did last time the Legion found you," Danielle added.

"Alright," Tari sighed in defeat. "What do you want with me? If you're going to ask me to leave my team--"

"Oh no," Lu shook her head casually. "Not at all. We don't want you to leave the Oversight Watch, Mandalla. We very much want you to stay with them. But there are going to be some....adjustments."

Mandalla gulped.

**********
CORVAN SYSTEM
Main Asteroid Belt
Star Boy roared in pain as a tall muscular yellow-skinned woman plunged a dagger deep into his thigh. The woman was the Sklarian mercenary Atta. She'd faced the Legion of Superheroes before as part of the Persuader's short-lived Fatal Five, but since then had found more stable employment as part of the Alchemist's pirate crew.

"Don't kill him just yet," the crimson-hooded Alchemist cautioned. "I want to drag this out as much as I can, to torture these so-called heroes even a fraction as much as their actions have tortured me."

"Stop it!" Light Lad cried out. Both he and Star Boy had been blindfolded and bound on the floor of the Alchemist's brig. Neither of them could afford to lash out with their powers for fear of hurting the other, and they'd already seen that the Alchemist was more than willing to kill them if provoked. Gas Girl and Blok were both sad proof of that.

"Relax," Atta crossed the room to where Light Lad was bound and crouched down by his side. "Nobody's better with knives than me. If I want someone dead, they die." She ran the cold tip of her blade along the inside of Light Lad's leg. "And if I want someone to suffer, he suffers...for as long as I decide."

"H-how did you survive anyway?" Light Lad stammered nervously, turning back to where he'd heard the Alchemist's voice. "When we were taken from Trom--"

"When you left me to die, you mean?" the Alchemist interrupted. "My ship crashed. We landed in a natural cavern outside the mountain range which had always protected my people from our world's high levels of radiation. My father died on impact and the rest of us were protected from the brunt of Roxxas' attack by those same mountains, but we were severely injured in the crash. My mother knew that Roxxas' men would die of radiation poisoning before too long, but we wouldn't be far behind. We had no choice but to work with them to repair the ship, but by the time we'd done that the rest of their fleet had already moved on. Roxxas' men knew that their leader had gone too far. They knew the Science Police would see them imprisoned for the rest of their natural lives if they rejoined him, and so they left their fleet of murderers and cut-throats behind to find a new destiny for themselves among the border worlds. And they took me with them."

"Your mother..?" Light Lad asked warily.

"She exhausted herself creating rare elements necessary to power their craft," the Alchemist answered, the hood hiding any emotion in her scarred face. "I was too young for that kind of complex transmutation back then, all I was good for was providing raw materials to fix the shuttle's cosmetic damage. My mother died before we left our system."

"Uma..." Light Lad said softly, "I'm so sorry. All these years, you've been out here in the border worlds, raised among the pirates who killed your world?"

"You killed my world!" she spat vehemently. "If you Legionnaires hadn't been there, Roxxas would never have done what he did! You said so yourselves! He only destroyed Trom to kill the Legion of Superheroes!"

Darvan hung his head in shame and Star Boy spoke up now. "Alchemist..." Thom's breath was ragged. "Uma, right? I don't know what's happened between you two or what any of this has to do with Roxxas the Butcher but you have to know that the Legion of Superheroes would never intentionally--"

"Shut up!" she screamed at them both. "Atta, remove their--" Before she could continue her morbid command, a red light flashed above. The Alchemist forced herself to take a deep breath and then called her first mate over the ship's intercom. "Oto, what's that alert?" she asked. "We've got a hull breach?"

"I don't get it," the Braalian's voice came back. "Diagnostics say there's been some minor damage just near the airlock, but I can't find anything to explain it. We haven't been attacked and there's nothing else within visual range."

"So don't just sit there wondering what caused it!" the Alchemist yelled back. "We're in the middle of a damn asteroid belt, it's probably a sprocking stray asteroid! Get out there and use your magnetism to fix it!"

"But I just said--" Oto stopped himself mid-sentence. Normally the Alchemist wasn't entirely unreasonable, but she'd been on edge ever since these Legionnaires had boarded the ship. He'd seen her angry before, the last thing he wanted was that anger directed at him. "Yes Cap'n." He shut off the communication, told one of the other crewmen to take the bridge and made his way to the airlock in question. After donning his transuit, Oto made his way outside. There was indeed damage to the hull, he could see the scorched metal himself. There was nothing out here in the middle of this graveyard of space rocks to explain what could have caused it though. Shrugging, he used his native Braalian power to bend the warped panel back into place. At least there hadn't been any penetrative damage. His repair wouldn't hold for long, but it would be good enough to keep the ship in one place until they could reach a repair yard. Oto made his way back through the dual doors of the airlock and once it was safely closed behind him he removed his clunky old transuit. Once he'd finished changing garb, he looked up completely stunned to see two men shimmer into view before him. One of the men was tall and thin, with a flaming crest in place of hair. The almost emaciated man looked up towards the ceiling-mounted recording device and exhaled a plume of flame that reduced it to slag. The other man was immediately recognisable as the Legionnaire Invisible Kid. Oto didn't get more than the first syllable of his curse out before Invisible Kid planted a fist smack in the centre of the pirate's face.

"That was way easier than fighting our way in," Fire Lad commented as Oto hit the deck. "Nice work keeping us both invisible long enough to follow that jerk aboard!"

"Merci," Invisible Kid wiped his brow with the back of his hand. "It is not so easy as it may look. You are sure to have as much fighting as you could wish for very soon however. I am sorry that I cannot stay to help."

"Don't be," Fire Lad brushed his apology aside. "Of the two of us, you're the one that's got the important job. Go find Star Boy and the others, I'm gonna enjoy this." Jacques turned himself invisible once more and ran through the ship as Fire Lad began a rampage that was very much visible.

**********
In the brig, a whooping noise sounded to join the warning light. "Oto," the Alchemist commanded. "Report." There was no response and the pirate captain made eye contact with Atta. "Stay here," she ordered the large Sklarian woman. "Don't leave them under any circumstances. Ideally I want them both alive, but if you have to kill one make it Star Boy. Light Lad is mine." She left Atta to them and marched purposefully out of the cell.

"You hear that?" Atta whispered teasingly into Star Boy's ear. "Ideally she wants you both alive. I've never been much of one for ideals myself." She drew a blade from one of the many holsters lining her body, but before she could take action Thom's blindfold removed itself and hung in the air for a second then fell.

Star Boy and Atta were both equally shocked, but the blue-haired woman recovered first. A blur of movement, she slashed out just above Star Boy's head. A bloody gash appeared in the air and Jacques Foccart's voice cried out in pain. Unable to maintain his power, Jacques turned visible once more and staggered backwards a step. "Dieu!" Jacques uttered. "How did you--"

"Like I told your friends a little while ago," Atta snarled, "Nobody's better with knives than me. And the Alchemist didn't say anything about keeping you alive, white-stripe!" She drew three throwing daggers, one between each finger. Before she could fling them however, the Sklarian woman collapsed in a heap.

"Yeah well, I can see now," Star Boy countered. "Doesn't matter how good you are with your little knives when you're too heavy to move, does it?"

"I brought medkits for you all," Jacques explained while Atta struggled helplessly. He'd only sustained a surface wound, and already it was healing thanks to a restorative bandage wrapped around his arm. "Once you both feel ready to move, we must free Blok and Gas Girl. Fire Lad is distracting the rest of the crew but I do not wish his first official mission as a Legionnaire to be his last so we must hurry."

Light Lad and Star Boy exchanged a worried look. "Blok and Gas Girl..." Light Lad repeated numbly. "Invisible Kid...we have to tell you..."

**********
Fire Lad had managed to make it all the way to the ship's bridge without being shot. He'd quickly knocked out the two crew members he found there and done a makeshift job of welding the door shut behind him before finally stopping to catch his breath. He was pleased that his first mission as a Legionnaire was proceeding so smoothly, it was time to see if Jacques shared his good fortune. "Invisible Kid, have you found Star Boy's squad yet?" he asked into his flight ring. "I don't want to call in the others till we know we're all ready to leave."

"I have located Star Boy and Light Lad," Jacques Foccart answered with a note of despair, "But Fire Lad, I must tell you, Blok and--" The rest of Invisible Kid's announcement was cut off by the sound of plasma blasts hitting the sealed door. It held, but Fire Lad knew it wouldn't hold long.

"Say again?" the flame-haired hero asked. "What was that about...Blok..?" His voice trailed off as he saw for himself what Jacques had to say about Blok. The Legionnaire from Dryad stood motionless beside a patch of iron haphazardly plastered across one of the walls of the bridge. Blok was shimmering gold and utterly devoid of any sign of life. Fire Lad approached him in shocked awe and looked up at the frozen hero. "Oh sprock," he swore under his breath. "What did they do to you..?" Fire Lad accidentally kicked at something and crouched down to pick up a small sealed thermos, liquid sloshing inside. Before he could piece the puzzle together a plasma bolt flew overhead and singed the wall, narrowly missing Blok's golden form. Reacting quickly, Fire Lad spun and breathed a plume of flame at the source of the attack. To his surprise, the fiery cloud dwindled into harmless flickers of orange light then dissipated entirely. "How..?"

"Argon," a woman's voice answered. "Hard to threaten us with fire when half the room's filled with a non-flammable gas." Fire Lad saw a hooded woman enter the room through a neat hole in the wall, five men of different races flanking her on either side. Even without use of his power, the former Substitute Hero was confident he'd be able to take down one of the men. But five armed men and a woman with transmutation abilities...Staq wasn't sure how he was going to get out of this one.

With perfect timing, a huge section of the outer hull vanished and revealed Element Lad, Chlorophyll Kid and Infectious Lass standing beyond. "Hello Fire Lad," Element Lad greeted as he stepped forward from the primitive airlock his powers had created. "Invisible Kid seemed to think you could do with some help so we homed in on your flight ring."

"Don't just stand there!" the Alchemist screamed. "Kill them! Except Jan Arrah! If one of you so much as singes a hair on Element Lad's head you'll answer to me!"

Infectious Lass was the first of the newcomers to notice Blok. "Element Lad!" she pointed. "Look!"

Chlorophyll Kid had to tackle the shocked Somahturian to the ground to protect her from the pirates' plasma blasters. "W-we see him Drura! But we can't help Blok if we join him!" He threw a handful of seeds across the room and three of the men became ensnared in thorned berry bushes. One of them was the Sklarian boy Giff, who shifted his mass to easily slip through the sharp-pointed foliage.

"A Bgltzr with yellow skin?" Infectious Lass queried.

"I'm not a phantom, just your standard Sklarian mass-shifter," Giff quipped as he made his way across the bridge to escape. "I'm not here for fighting Legionnaires though, sorry boss!"

"You don't get out of here that quickly," Drura snapped. "You may have negative mass but as long as you're in this dimension you can get sick as easily as anyone else can." She gestured and Giff became solid once more, retching as he collapsed to his knees.

Element Lad encased the remaining two men in a carbon block with the merest flick of a finger, only leaving enough of their heads free for them to breathe. "I don't like pirates very much," he muttered as he approached the Alchemist. "And if what you've done to Blok is irreversible, I'm going to like you particular pirates even less." He waved his hand once more and the Alchemist too was encased from the neck down in a block of solid black carbon. "Where is Gas Girl? Why did you tell your men to leave me alone?"

His tone barely concealed a deep rage that unsettled everyone else in the room, but the Alchemist simply gritted her teeth and turned Jan's prison into free-floating gas. "Gas Girl is as dead as your golden friend," she snarled as Jan stared in mute shock at her display of power. "And these three will be next." She turned to face Element Lad's fellow Legionnaires, but before she could make a move the Alchemist found herself flung into the ceiling.

"I'm not going to let you hurt my friends," Light Lad said from the same hole the Alchemist had earlier used to enter. Star Boy and Invisible Kid stood at his side. "Uma, surrender. Let us help you, please. We've already defeated your crew, you can't possibly take on all of us."

"I can do more than take you on," she ranted, "I can kill you all! Starting with you!" She glared at Light Lad and his head was enveloped in a green mist. Rasping, he released his hold on the Alchemist and she fell to the floor with a thud. Darvan too fell to the floor, eyes bulging as he clutched at his throat.

Jan ran to Light Lad's side and transmuted the deadly chlorine to harmless oxygen. "How are you doing this?" he demanded of the Alchemist as she climbed to her feet. "Are you in league with Cosmic King?"

"Oh, you'll find out." The Alchemist suddenly was overcome with dizziness and fell to the floor again. Breaking out in a clammy sweat, she gazed at Infectious Lass with a look of pure murderous intent. "But your fellow murderer is right....I can't fight you all, not...not now." She shook her head against the sudden wave of sickness, fighting it off through pure willpower. "Two of your team is enough for now....two of you for my two parents.....the rest of my world will find vengeance soon enough." Before Drura's sneak attack could leave her completely helpless, the Alchemist enclosed herself in a hollow cylinder of inertron which reached from the floor to the ceiling. Element Lad rushed to transmute the cylinder, but by the time he'd done so she had already made herself an exit into the levels below.

"We'll go after her!" Fire Lad volunteered. "We've got her on the run now!"

"No." Element Lad held a hand up. "An animal is most dangerous when it's cornered." He turned to look at the rest of his teammates. Blok immobile, Light Lad drawing pained breaths and Star Boy and Invisible Kid both wearing bandages. They had her crew, they had her ship, and they had more important things to concern them right now. "Infectious Lass, call home," Jan continued. "We'll need the Science Police to secure this vessel and its crew, half of us need medical attention, and we'll need to find out what we can do to help Blok. And we still need to find Gas Girl!"

"Uhh, about that..." Fire Lad held up the cylinder he'd come across earlier. Gas Girl's name was clearly labelled in Interlac. The assembled Legionnaires fell silent, only Light Lad's harsh breaths breaking the pall that had fallen over the room.

Element Lad turned to face his Winathian teammate. "There's one more thing," Jan said with an unexpected coldness to his voice. "I understand this is not the time or place for this discussion, but when this is all over...

...I think you and I need to have a talk about Uma, Light Lad."

Leave it to Jan to figure out something's wrong, whew.

I hope the cylinder means that Gas Girl is still alive, although Uma clearly thinks she's dead (can't imagine her dying so soon after joining!)... I'm more confident that Blok will make it through somehow.

Intrigued to see what Lu and Danielle made Mandalla do, and what Jo wants to know about Leeta 87!

Great stuff Raz, I like how you mix up your stories from the low key catching escaped pets to the fore shadowing with Lu and Danielle talking to Mandalla through to the full on action pnboatd the Alchemists ship. Nice characterisation for Fire Lad too, along with practical Jacques and smart Jan. Really enjoyable to read, more, more, more!

MARS
Legion of Superheroes Headquarters
Inside one of Brainiac 5's forcefields, Jan Arrah stood over a puddle of water. This was all that remained of the Legion's newest member Gas Girl, and Jan had been tasked with restoring her to life. Brainiac 5 stood alongside half a dozen other Legionnaires outside of the domed field, surrounded by the exotic machinery of his multi-lab. The hero named Element Lad turned to his Coluan teammate hesitantly. "Brainiac, are you sure this is going to work?"

"Her Psikirlian readings indicate there is a consciousness present," Brainiac explained patiently. "I've also conferred with Evolvo Lad as he is far more accustomed to dealing with Gas Girl's unique phsyiology than any of us, and he agrees with my assessment -- Tal Nahii is alive, she simply lacks the ability to extricate herself from her current predicament. Once you turn her into a gas, she should be able to restore herself to her normal Lallorian form using her own power. The risk is negligible."

"Easy for you to say," Element Lad grumbled under his breath, "Her life isn't resting on your shoulders." He looked at the vaguely shimmering dome around him. At least if this transmutation didn't help her Jan wouldn't have to worry about Gas Girl dissipating into the wider atmosphere, Brainiac 5's forcefield was completely airtight.

Jan waved his hand cautiously over the shallow pool of water and it instantly changed into a misty vapor. They could easily have achieved the same effect by simply boiling the water, but nobody knew if that would hurt the heroine. The mist hung in the air for a few seconds, everybody watching in rapt attention. It concentrated into a vaguely humanoid form, and the Legionnaires allowed themselves to exhale once more as the mist was replaced by Gas Girl's physical form.

"Element Lad, thank you so much!" She rushed to hug the relieved Trommite, none the worse for wear. "Oh my gawf, I thought I was a goner! I couldn't really think properly in that form, I didn't know what was happening!" She turned to Bouncing Boy and Star Boy, both of whom were gathered in the multi-lab on the other side of Brainiac 5's forcefield. "Legion, I'm so sorry! I -- Blok! Oh my gawf, what about poor Blok?!"

"Don't apologise," Star Boy shook his head. "That Alchemist woman got all of us."

"As for Blok," Brainiac switched off the forcefield and turned to their formerly stone teammate who was now a golden statue standing on a pedestal covered in wires and sensory equipment.

"I'm afraid Blok is going to be a more difficult case altogether."

**********
TRITON
Cryogeyser City
Nightwind and Dragonmage looked out through the transparent walls of their gravlift to the snowy peaks of Triton beyond. "Thanks for tagging along," Nightwind smiled at the slightly shorter sorceror. "I appreciate the company."

"Thank you for inviting me!" Dragonmage nodded respectfully. "I'm quite fascinated at the prospect of meeting another of your so-called sisters. It was amazing how Brainiac 5 was able to complete our search so quickly!"

"You're telling me," the bald young woman remarked as she stepped out on to the 19th floor of the Pendleton Residential Estate. There were no windows, and flourescent lighting flickered occasionally as the two walked down the dirty corridor. "It would have taken us forever to map those bloodlines from the 21st century through till now! I hope he's right though, this isn't exactly the classiest building I've ever set foot in." A small automaton was busy at work removing graffiti as Nightwind and Dragonmage walked on past.

"Well we're here," Dragonmage announced, stopping at a door labelled 1995. Two doors down, one of the building's other inhabitants opened their own door a crack then shut it quickly as soon as they were noticed.

Nightwind shrugged. "Here goes nothing, right?" She pressed a small panel by the door, quietly grateful that her costume included gloves when she noticed the dark stain splashed on the greeting panel. A second later the panel emitted an odd squawking noise which continued for a couple of seconds before it cut out. Nightwind and Dragonmage traded a quizzical expression until the door flung open and startled them both.

"Sprocking thing's busted," a woman with short blonde hair muttered as she opened the door. She was wearing an orange midriff top with matching skirt, a red puffy vest over the top. She looked Nightwind and Dragonmage over with a mixture of suspicion and contempt. "What do you want? You're not from around here."

"Neither are you," Nightwind answered, trying not to let her annoyance at the woman's abrupt demeanour show. "You're from Earth, right?" The natives of Triton had been long ago genetically engineered to thrive on the icy moon, and were recognisable by their blue tinted skin, elongated features and glistening black eyes. By contrast, the blue-eyed tanned girl before them looked more human than Nightwind herself.

"Yeah, I'm from Earth." The girl's eyes narrowed. "So what?"

"We don't mean any offence," Dragonmage said diplomatically. "We're looking for a woman named Sandra Anderson and we thought--"

"It's you." Nightwind interjected. Taking an omnicom from a pocket hidden in one of her belts she projected a small hologram of a blonde teenager with longer hair. "This is a couple of years old but it is you?"

"Who are you people?" the woman demanded.

"Wow." Nightwind sucked in air between her teeth. "Talk about a blow to the ego. Look, we're the Legion of Superheroes." She held up her hand to show the girl her flight ring. "I'm Nightwind and this is Dragonmage. We--"

The woman was visibly shocked. "The Legion of Superheroes? Sprock that!" An intense but short-lived burst of flame appeared between them, staggering the two heroes. The young woman fled into her apartment while they were distracted.

"I guess it's safe to say Brainy found our Daughter of the Night Flame," Nightwind quipped. She and Dragonmage followed her into the small apartment. "Sandra, listen to me!" Nightwind called out. "You're not in any trouble!" The apartment was filthy and cluttered with clothes and take-away food containers. It only took the heroes a moment to realise which of the few small rooms she'd run into and when they found her she was standing with her back against the far wall of a bedroom.

"I don't know how you found me!" the woman snarled. "But finding me and taking me are two different things!" She threw her arms wide and the room was engulfed in fire. Nightwind instinctively tried to blow the flames out but this space was far too confined for her own power to be of any use. It was only Dragonmage's quick thinking that saved them from severe burns as a translucent jade dragonform swerved before them to intercept the blaze.

Once she'd gathered her senses about her, Nightwind saw a massive hole which Sandra had melted through the external wall of the building. "She's crazy!" Berta complained. "We need to get after her before someone gets hurt but we can't just let this place burn down! This estate's so decrepit it doesn't even have fire suppression equipment!"

"I can take care of the fire here," Dragonmage offered. "You make sure we don't lose her and I'll catch up."

"Good idea." Berta pulled her hood down over her face and rocketed through the inferno in the pyrokinetic girl's wake. While she wouldn't want to have to stand in a burning room for too long, Nightwind's costume was insulated enough to protect her from the worst of the heat as long as she moved quickly. As she left the room, small indigo dragons were already beginning to appear and smother the blaze with a mystic smoke.

Nightwind gasped as the icy cold air outside the building hit her. She wondered briefly how her 'sister' was going to escape 19 floors up until she saw a trail of fire disappearing behind a neighbouring building. Clever, Berta thought. Creating your own thermal updrafts. Let's see what makes you so eager to fly away, Sandy!

Remembering Chameleon Boy's occasional lessons from her time at the Legion Academy, Nightwind flew half a dozen stories higher and sped through the clear skies of Triton until she was directly above her quarry. Nightwind knew she'd be highly unlikely to be spotted here even though she was flying in plain sight. Sure enough, Sandra cast several glances behind herself but never once thought to look straight up. Before too long, the flaming blonde began her descent over an area of the city far from the bustling tourist districts. Nightwind was glad. Her costume's insulation was proof against both heat and cold, but even so it was freezing this high above the city. They had also flown far enough from the most densely populated areas of Cryogeyser City that Berta was less concerned about innocents getting hurt if a fight broke out.

Dragonmage caught up with Nightwind just as their target landed in a back alley and entered a door leading into an inconspicuous square-shaped building. "What do you think that's all about?" Nightwind asked as the two Legionnaires perched on a higher rooftop across the street.

"I really couldn't guess," Dragonmage replied. "But it seems Ms Anderson definitely has something to hide. She said something back at her apartment about us taking her in, do you remember?"

"I do," Berta frowned. "Can you magic up some way for us to see what's going on in there?"

"Of course, a monitor dragon should fit the task." He focused for a moment and a tiny white serpentine form coiled around his outstretched arm until a tiny frilled dragon rested in the palm of his hand. Dragonmage blew, and the miniscule dragonform slithered through the air eel-like, passing intangibly through the same door Sandra had used seconds ago.

Nightwind slapped Dragonmage playfully on the shoulder. "Xao Jin, that is the cutest thing I have ever seen!"

"Yes, well..." He cleared his throat self-consciously and blushed a furious red. "I need to concentrate now." His cheeks still warm with embarassment, a milky film coated his eyes. "I can sense what the dragonform senses, but if anybody tries to eject it the spell will be broken. I must make sure it remains hidden from view. Hmmm..."

"What is it?" Nightwind asked. "What's going on?"

"She's gone upstairs to the third floor," he reported. "I believe it's some kind of skijet manufacturing plant...definitely something of that nature, though it seems to have been unused for some time. There's a man and another woman in there...he looks familiar, but I can't quite place where I've seen him before. I don't recognise the other lady at all. She looks like a native Tritonian, except her skin is tinted red rather than blue. Wait! She just called them Bile and Gazelle! I remember now, he was at the Legion Tryouts the same day I joined the Legion! He's from Bismoll I think...he just called Ms Anderson Inferno, he's saying something about a Legion of Substitute Villains..uh-oh." He jumped back with a start and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"What happened?" Nightwind fussed. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Xao replied, blinking once or twice. "Ms Anderson -- I mean Inferno -- she spotted my dragonform and blasted it with fire. I'm afraid we've lost the element of surprise."

"In that case," Nightwind gave him a cheeky smile, "Enough with the sneaking around, let's make our grand entrance! Sister or no sister, that girl needs to learn some manners!"

Inside the long-defunct Crogeyser City Skijet Repair and Maintenance Company, the leader of the new Legion of Substitute Villains was throwing every swear word he knew at his newest recruit. "I can't believe you sprocking led them straight to us, you florgin' batwitch!" He upended the table he'd been sitting at, holofiles blinking out as their fragile transmitters smashed on the floor. "I haven't even finished reforming the team yet after everyone except Gazelle refused to come back! What are the three of us meant to do against the motherflorgin' Legion of Superheroes?!"

There was a tremendously loud roar that rattled all of their bones and the room's exterior wall shattered inward, showering them all with debris. Floating above the street outside were Nightwind and Dragonmage, an enormous red dragon hovering motionless behind them. Its head was almost as large as the two heroes and hot steam shot out of its angry nostrils. "That's them!" Inferno pointed. "They're the Legionnaires I was telling you about!"

"No kidding!" Bile shouted back so intensely that veins bulged out in his neck. "Don't just stand there, kill them!"

Inferno raised a hand to attack but before she could do any more, Nightwind shook her head. "Twice you got the drop on us, Sandy. You don't get a third time." Berta flung her arms behind herself dramatically, the straps hanging from her sleeves snapping with the motion. A powerful gale filled the room and sucked the Legion of Substitute Villains outside, along with anything else that wasn't bolted down. Nightwind controlled their descent enough that they wouldn't be seriously injured, but it still hurt when Bile and Inferno were dumped unceremoniously in a snowdrift on the other side of the street.

For her part, Gazelle boosted her metabolism into high gear as soon as the wind grabbed hold of her. By the time she'd cleared the street she was almost glowing with energy. She spun around in mid-air and kicked off of the wall across the street, using it as a springboard to launch herself back the way she'd come. She clotheslined the two heroes as she flew past them, finally landing safely back in the room where she'd started. Nightwind and Dragonmage both arrested their fall before they hit the ground, but the impact made Xao's giant dragon dissipate into the cold breeze.

"You!" Bile shouted accusingly at the Asian teenager. "You're the one who took my place in the Legion of Superheroes, you stupid baby magician! I hate you!" Everyone else looked on in disgust as Bile retched once and vomited a stream of corrosive liquid straight at the dazed sorceror.

"No offence," Nightwind said, having recovered from Gazelle's attack already, "But that's really really gross. I don't think your rejection had anything to do with my friend Xao, pal." Bile's projectile vomit was caught by a sudden wind and redirected harmlessly to the ground below where it instantly melted through the sleet to the pavement below.

"Thank you," Nightwind." Dragonmage wiped blood from his lip with the back of his gloved hand. "Allow me to return the favor." Gazelle was in mid-leap towards the hooded heroine when a mass of wriggling snake-like dragons appeared around her. She'd have been agile enough to evade a couple of them but even with her speed and reflexes temporarily enhanced to superhuman levels she couldn't hope to dodge a dozen of them. Completely ensnared, she fell ungraciously from the sky and landed with a thud on the roof of a parked vehicle.

"I haven't even done anything wrong yet!" Inferno complained as she fired streams of flame which Nightwind effortlessly dispelled onto the winds. "This is so not fair!"

"You mean except for spending half the day trying to kill us?" Nightwind summoned a ferocious gust of air which pinned Bile and Inferno to the wall of the nearest building. Bile could barely move his head from one side to the other, he didn't dare risk using his power. Inferno tried to call forth her own flame but it was pointless against Nightwind's greater power and experience. "You know," Nightwind continued, "The irony here is that I only came looking for you today to tell you we've got a shared background. I've never even heard of any Legion of Substitute Villains before you freaked out and revealed yourselves to us. I thought I might have found a sister here today, but we're really nothing alike at all." Sirens sounded and two Science Police droids flew towards the group from the far end of the street. Nightwind released her control of the air currents and the two villains face-planted into the slush at their feet.

As the Science Police led a grumbling Legion of Substitute Villains into custody, Dragonmage approached his teammate. "I'm sorry that today didn't pan out the way you'd hoped it would," he volunteered.

"That's okay," Berta chuckled. "Thanks for your help anyway. You know, after meeting Aspect in the past and this little firecracker today I'm really gaining a new appreciation for being an only child. I think I'll buy my folks something nice when we get home for all the hassle they saved me!"

Dragonmage's flight ring beeped at him and he excused himself with his normal politeness, walking a few feet away to take the call in private while Nightwind finished up with the Science Police. "Pardon me for interrupting," he said after a minute. "We need to go back to Mars immediately, Nightwind."

The two Legionnaires made sure the villains had been secured and flew off. "Sounds serious," Berta remarked. "What's going on?"

Facing Bile had reminded Xao Jin of his introduction to the Legion of Superheroes; it did not escape his notice that this was yet another reminder of that fateful day. "It's Blok," he answered somberly.

"He needs my help."

**********
MARS
Legion of Superheroes Headquarters
The entry to Brainiac 5's multi-lab whooshed open and and Dream Girl entered to find her lover gathered around Blok's still form along with several other Legionnaires. Nura slipped her arm into Thom's and rested her head on his shoulder. "I couldn't sleep without you," she pouted.

"Sorry honey, I know it's nearly morning." Star Boy held her close. "Everyone's been worried sick about Blok. He was turned to gold and Brainy's been trying for hours to fix him...Bouncing Boy's calling Dragonmage back home now, we're hoping magic will be able to do what science can't."

"I know," Dream Girl responded with a hint of sadness as she watched Bouncing Boy at a console. "That's why I couldn't sleep, I had a dream. Dragonmage will do his best, but he won't be able to help."

Standing nearby, Infectious Lass couldn't help but overhear. "But...does that mean there's no hope at all? If the smartest man in the universe can't help Blok and if magic can't help him..."

"I never said magic wouldn't help," Dream Girl corrected her. "Just that Dragonmage won't. We're going to need someone much more powerful than Xao...

...we're going to need the Black Witch."

Nice work bringing Inferno and Gazelle into this version of the Legion! Their troubled pasts in their home realities certainly lent themselves well to their current depiction. That was a very well-written excursion and I loved seeing Nightwind and Dragonmage work so well together.

Also great to see Gas Girl's transformation so easily undone. Whew! Nice touch having Brainy consult with Evolvo Lad.

And I'm looking forward to seeing Mysa return! So that's another reason why it was Blok who was chosen to be transmuted!

Agreed. Love the inclusion of Inferno and Gazelle.

I love that Infernos a magically inclined pyro. So there's wind, and fire. I can't wait for earth and water and what will happen when they all get together.

Dragonmage is really great. I love all the different uses for his dragons and that scene where night wind says its the cutest thing is an adorable moment.

great job again and can't wait for the next installment.

Thanks peeps! Dragonmage & Nightwind are turning out fun to write together

Gazelle has appeared once or twice before with Bile's sad attempts at creating a villain team & I thought tying Inferno to Nightwind like that might make her stand out among the other pyros the Legion universe is littered with so I am glad that went down well. After I wrote this I had a look through my archives and it has been nearly 2 years since I used Mysa! I am looking forward to Blok's story coming up, she will play a pretty significant role!

Your strong sense of internal continuity continues to amaze, raz. Love how you have all these subplots running simultaneously, and how you weave in and out of them so well.

Hey Raz, that's another exciting section above. Gazelle and Inferno are great together - wish I'd thought of that pairing! Nightwind and Dragonmage are also cool. You write their friendship really well, like a couple of mates on a great road trip...of space, learning and helping each other on thé way .

Really looking forward to see Mysa again as you last wrote her and Nura at loggerheads so it:ll be interesting to see if helping Blok together will help their relationship.

More, more , more!

Still waiting...

MARS
Legion of Superheroes Headquarters
Ultra Boy looked around Elastic Lad's personal quarters with a bemused expression. Jo wasn't quite sure what he'd expected the slight redhead's living area to look like, but it certainly wasn't this. Jams-Ols 5's living room was a schizophrenic mix of sterile workspace with a young boy's design sensibilities. A glowing replica of the holo-film monster Apokazil stood seven feet tall in a corner of the room, shedding its light on scientific journals and entertainment discs alike. A form-molding sofa lay littered with comics while the bookcase next to it displayed the many academic awards Jams-Ols 5 had earned on his homeworld Cadmu (as well as the occasional trophy from interplanetary institutions). A large floating desk space had a pile of omnicoms pushed to one side, a complex three-dimensional equation in progress floating as the desk's centrepiece. On the other side of the desk, an empty glass sat next to a plate dotted with crumbs. Motion posters of the heroes of Elastic Lad's own world were mounted alongside portraits of the Legion of Superheroes, including one of Ultra Boy himself, Jo noted with some embarassment.

"Have a seat!" Elastic Lad offered, waving his hand over a sensor in the floor. A levitating armchair shot forth on command from a hidden panel in the floor. "Gosh, this is so exciting! You're my first guest since we moved to our new headquarters on Mars! Actually, you're one of the first Legionnaires to visit my quarters at all! Even back on Earth, only Brainiac 5 and Night Girl had been in to my personal quarters before! Do you want a drink or something to eat? I've got some Martian rock candy, Comet Queen introduced me to it! She found it when she and Quislet were exploring our new neighbourhood, not that Quislet eats food like we do of course but--"

Ultra Boy had been waiting for Elastic Lad to pause for breath so he could get a word in but he was beginning to think that would never happen. Jo cleared his throat as politely as he could and decided to just interrupt him. "Uh, no that's fine, thanks anyway E-Lad. I was just wondering, do you think I could ask you about Leeta-87?"

"Oh, yes of course!" Elastic Lad summoned a second seat from the floor and sat in it cross-legged, leaning forward and beaming like an over-eager child. "What did you want to know about her? Jams-Ols 3 didn't know her for very long, but I'm happy to share anything he knew with you!"

"Well, I guess..." Jo faltered. It hadn't occurred to him till now how awkward bringing up Elastic Lad's slaughtered previous incarnation might be, but he'd already opened that can of space worms now, he might as well just barge ahead. "I guess I'm just confused. When you...I mean when Red Devil died fighting Brimstone...there was a Jams-Ols 4 between Red Devil and you, right?"

"Ladyjams," Elastic Lad nodded without any self-consciousness at all. "Zhe accidentally inhaled some toxic fumes a few years ago and passed away, poor thing. Luckily zhe'd backed up zir consciousness the same morning so I retained most of zir memories when I was gestated. But that doesn't have anything to do with Leeta-87! Golly Ultra Boy, I'm sorry. I do get carried away on a tangent sometimes!"

"No, that's okay. That's fine, I mean it kind of leads into what I wanted to ask you about. I remember when we were in the past you told us that your people, the Neocaste, are a combination of two separate genelines...but if normal Cadmians are just a reincarnation of the same person who came before, and if Leeta-87 continued being a hero right up until she died....why would she disappear into obscurity when she came back? How come we've never heard of a Leeta-88?"

For once, Elastic Lad was stunned into silence. "You know," he finally replied, "That's a really good question and I don't know the answer...but I know where we can find it. How would you like to take a trip to my homeworld?"

**********
Standing in a group with several of her teammates, Gas Girl watched in tense anticipation as the young sorcerer Dragonmage hovered cross-legged before Blok’s imposing golden form. A translucent red-yellow dragonform circled Blok, almost as though it were searching the unmoving Legionnaire for some flaw to exploit. Where the dragonform skimmed close to him, Blok’s surface reflected a warm glow which belied his current predicament. Gas Girl leaned across to Bouncing Boy. “I don’t understand,” she confided quietly. “If Dream Girl already foresaw that we’re going to need to take Blok to the Black Witch, isn’t this just wasting time?”

“Not at all,” Chuck answered without removing his eyes from the display of magical energy. “It may be that Dragonmage does something here necessary to Blok’s recovery even if he can’t fully fix this himself. Xao’s magic helped Blok once before when things seemed desperate, he’s got more chance of helping now than the rest of us do.”

The illusory dragon disappeared into wisps of gold-tinged air and Dragonmage stood, tottering on his feet for a moment. “I’m sorry Bouncing Boy,” Xao turned to his leader with a dejected slump. “I really did try as hard as I could but it’s beyond my power. I’ve failed.”

“I know you tried,” Bouncing Boy clapped a hand on the teen’s shoulder. “That’s all any of us can ask…and to be fair, it was a long shot Xao. Don’t feel too bad.” Chuck Taine turned to Dream Girl and Star Boy standing to one side of the room. “I guess we’d better get Blok to the Sorceror’s World, huh Dreamy?”

“Not we,” Nura Nal shook her head. “My sister has made it very clear to me that I’m not welcome on Xerox anymore.” She bowed her head sadly, allowing Thom to hold her closer.

“I’d like to come with you please, Bouncing Boy.” Diamond Damsel stepped close to Blok’s golden form and brushed his outstretched arm with her fingers. “Blok hasn’t had a lot to say to me since we came back from Dryad, but I’d still like to be there for him.”

Timber Wolf leaped down from the top of a console where he’d been crouched. He’d been silently watching for so long that his teammates had almost forgotten he was in the room. “I’m in too,” he added abruptly, taking an almost protective posture in front of his transformed friend.

“Of course,” Chuck nodded. “Anybody else who wants to join us is more than welcome. Blok means a lot to all of us. Dreamy, are you sure you won’t reconsider? You said it yourself, Mysa’s your sister. I’m sure she—“

“No,” Dream Girl interrupted. “My presence can only make things worse, Bouncing Boy.” She looked up now and met Chuck’s gaze with steely blue eyes. “I think you should take Dragonmage with you though.”

“Xao already said he tried his best,” Nightwind defended her friend. “He’s exhausted, we came straight from dealing with that stupid Legion of Substitute Villains so he could help here.”

“I’m inclined to agree with Berta.” Chuck looked over the weary sorcerer. “No offence pal, but you do look like you could use some rest.”

“I’d feel more comfortable if you’d take Xao with you,” Dream Girl continued. “I really think you should have someone familiar with magic with you. Just in case.”

“Just in case of what?” Bouncing Boy asked. “Surely you’re not expecting the White Witch of all people to give us any grief?”

“She’s not the White Witch anymore,” Dream Girl countered stubbornly.

“If I may…it’s fine, everybody.” Dragonmage held up a hand to join the conversation. “I can rest on the way to the Sorceror’s World. I think Dream Girl is right, I may not be able to contribute a great deal to this team all the time but this is an area where I can help. I should be there.” His tone was casual but he shared a silent look with Dream Girl that spoke of some secret between them. Bouncing Boy didn’t have time to ponder it any longer though as a new voice sounded.

“I’d like to come.” Everyone turned to see Phantom Girl rise up through the floor. “I know I’ve found it hard to get back into the swing of things, but Blok didn’t give up on us when we were on Dryad. I’m not giving up on him now.” Diamond Damsel felt her gut clench, remembering her near abandonment of Tinya and Chuck of which they were still unaware.

“If you’re up for it I’m sure Blok would be happy to have you along, PG.” Bouncing Boy gave her a gentle smile. “Okay, let’s get going. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can hopefully get this guy back to normal. Tinya, can you go ahead and prep a shuttle? Timber Wolf, could you carry Blok please? Diamond Damsel, Dragonmage, let’s move.”

The other Legionnaires wished their comrades good luck and everyone went their separate ways. Some of them had been up all night and were exhausted, others had been just starting their day when they’d found out about Blok’s transformation. Light Lad wondered if Ayla was awake yet as he left the multi-lab. He could definitely use some quality time with her after the events of the past several hours. He heard his own name said aloud and froze in his tracks. The lanky Winathian turned on his heel and looked down at the blond man standing before him. “…Hello Element Lad.”

“We need to talk,” Jan Arrah declared simply. “About the Alchemist.”

Darvan released a long defeated sigh.

“Yeah…yeah, we do.”

**********
Many hours later, Timber Wolf brooded alone at the bridge of a Legion shuttle. Bouncing Boy and Dragonmage slept in individual berths, though Chuck had only agreed to sleep after much insistence from Tinya and an assurance that the others would wake him at the first sign of trouble. Phantom Girl and Diamond Damsel sat in shared silence watching Blok in the shuttle’s cargo bay. “Do you think he’s…beyond help?” Diamond Damsel asked with uncommon timidity.

“I don’t know,” Phantom Girl admitted. She was sitting against the bulkhead, one knee pulled up close to her chest as her other leg dangled intangibly through the floor. “If anybody can reverse the transformation though, it’s Mysa. She was powerful even before she absorbed Mordru and a whole universe full of magic into herself. Who knows what she’s capable of now?” Some time passed before Tinya spoke up again. “...Diamond Damsel? Before we left, you said Blok hasn’t had a lot to say to you lately…did you two have a fight?”

“No, no…nothing like that.” The diamond woman was deeply grateful that her cold angular features betrayed no emotion.
“Blok…disagreed with what I had to do to get us off Dryad and back home when we were trapped in the past.”

“What did you do?” Phantom Girl enquired. “We were too happy to question it at the time and it’s never really come up since but how did you get Khor to help you anyway? And how did you even come across him? Blok never did tell us.”

Diamond Damsel stared intensely at Blok as though her will would restore him to life to take this burden from her. “We…no, that’s not fair. I wanted to leave you behind.” As she spoke, she found herself unable to look at Tinya and kept staring straight ahead at Blok’s unmoving form. “I didn’t think we were ever going to find a way home and I couldn’t bear to watch you and Chuck grow old and die. Blok came with me because he’s the kind of person who would do anything for…for a friend. But his heart wasn’t in it. He couldn’t bring himself to abandon you because he’s a better person than I could ever hope to be, even after a thousand years to learn from my mistakes.”

“…Oh.” Tinya’s voice was a tiny thing in the suddenly cavernous space of the cargo bay. She considered her response for some time before she finally stood up and walked across to where Diamond Damsel sat on a crate. Standing with her back to Diamond Damsel, Tinya looked over Blok from top to bottom. “I think I knew,” she finally said. “When I woke up that morning, Blok had your flight ring. I didn’t really consciously realise it but I think I knew on some level that you’d left us. I can’t be mad at you for that, Diamond Damsel. Sometimes I still feel like a part of me did die on that world, I wake up in the middle of the night terrified that Jo won’t be there, that I'll lose everyone I love again. I can’t fault you for not wanting to be there to watch me and Chuck waste away when you’d have to live with that forever.” She turned now to face the diamond woman. “But if you hadn’t left….if you hadn’t made that mistake…we wouldn’t be here now to talk about it. I don’t know what you gave Khor to save us, but you did save us. That’s all that matters, you have to believe that Blok knows that.”

Diamond Damsel found herself at a loss for words. Timber Wolf’s voice cut through the awkward quiet, announcing that they were approaching the Sorceror’s World. “I’ll go make sure Chuck wakes up,” Phantom Girl announced as she slipped through a wall.

Diamond Damsel watched her go, alone in her contemplation.

**********
Light years away on Mars, Nura Nal stirred in her sleep. She groaned once, twice, kicked out at her hapless lover and then finally woke up with a sharp gasp that also woke Thom Kallor lying beside her. He grumbled and forced himself to stir. "Dreamy, what is it..? You have a vision..?"

Nura held her head in her hands, centred her thoughts. "Oh Thom...I saw...I saw the Legion go to Xerox..."

Thom yawned and pulled her in close to rest her head on his hairy chest. "We already know that," he half-mumbled. "That's not the future, we saw them off before...come back to sleep, Nura."

"No Thom, you don't understand." He could feel her heart hammering in her breast, feel the panic in her hurried breaths. "It was horrible....I was so so wrong, Mysa's not going to help Blok. I saw her cut him open, shred Diamond Damsel and blast Phantom Girl into nothingness...

...Thom, my sister is going to tear the Legion apart."

TO BE CONTINUED!!!

Well, that certainly ups the ante! Now I'm on the edge of my seat!

hmmmmm...what did Diamond Damsel give him....

loved the concern for Blok scene!

Ultra Boy and Elastic Lad make a hysterical pair, can't wait to see if they find Leeta or her reincarnated self or something totally unexpected.

The team taking Blok to Xerox are a great mix of characters from Chucks eternal optimism to Wolf's loner-ism and DD's intensity they should be fun to see - though I'd rather Tinya didn't get killed - I'm making her life hell in my fanfic Raz and she really doesn't deserve such a hard time. You beautifully showed her deal with DD's painful admission.

Also, Element Lad and Light Lad finally talking about the Alchemist - that'll be interesting as Jan's world view (galaxy view?) as the last survivor of Trom will get kicked into touch.

Finally Nura - I love her both as a character and as a plot device... and you have definitely done both well in that last part. Can't wait to see what's coming next.

More, more, more!

Thanks for the comments folks! I think fans of Diamond Damsel and Tinya might be happy with the next couple of instalments....after that we'll have to wait and see

MARS
Husband Hill, Legion of Superheroes Headquarters
Element Lad sat silently at the giant L-shaped table the Legion used for their team meetings. This meeting room was big enough to comfortably seat 40 people, and seemed oppressively vacant with only four of the team present.

Lightning Lass, Shrinking Violet and Light Lad traded furtive glances between themselves when they weren't watching Jan with obvious concern. "Say something," Shrinking Violet finally demanded, her voice shaking with emotion. "I know you must hate us, I can deal with that but I can't deal with this."

"Vi..." Ayla soothed.

"I don't..." Element Lad took a deep breath and continued. "I don't hate you, Violet. I don't hate any of you. But what you just told me....that you were there when my world died. That...that Roxxas destroyed Trom because..." He couldn't bring himself to continue, and clenched his jaw as he stared with wet eyes at the tabletop.

"Jan," Ayla reached across to touch his arm. "There aren't words to say how sorry we are. We thought we were helping, If we'd known what would happen, we would never have--"

"The first rule of time travel," Element Lad interrupted her, yanking his arm back. There was a numbness to his voice that said more about his pain than any amount of screaming could. He looked Ayla dead in the eye. "The first rule of time travel is that you don't interfere with the past, Lightning Lass. You don't interfere."

Light Lad felt horribly out of place. He'd been a member of the team long enough now that he was starting to feel like a peer professionally, but these people had been saving each other's lives since they were teenagers. He could never share that connection with them. He felt like he had to say something though, he needed to help in some way. "Maybe...maybe our interference saved that girl Uma. I know she's not well and I can't imagine what she's gone through, but before I joined the Legion I helped unwell people all the time on Winath. There's hope for her....you don't have to be the last survivor of your race any more, Element Lad."

For a split second, Element Lad's face became a mask of rage and he glared at Light Lad so intensely that Darvan actually flinched. It was only for the briefest of moments though, then Jan's calm exterior returned once more. "Light Lad, that woman tried to kill Gas Girl. She probably did kill Blok. She and I could be the last two people in the universe and I wouldn't consider her kin. My people strived for peaceful coexistence with every living thing around them and I have tried to carry that belief with me since the day they died. She's a disgrace to the memory of Trom." He slid back a panel in the meeting table, revealing a console.

"Jan..?" Ayla asked uneasily as he gave the console his full attention and tapped in commands. "...What are you doing?"

"Locating Dawnstar and reserving a shuttle," he answered coldly before turning to face the three of them again.

"And then we're going to find the Alchemist."

**********
In the hangar, Tellus disembarked from one of the Legion's smaller vehicles alongside Kid Computo and Duplicate Damsel. "Do you believe Mandalla can be trusted with the task she has been given?" his voice modulator sounded.

"Not at all," Duplicate Damsel answered plainly. "We don't need to trust her when she knows we're watching her now though. With her reporting to us on the Oversight Watch's every move, we can shut them down the second they step out of line."

"I still don't understand why I don't just keep a backdoor open into their files," Kid Computo shrugged. "Now that I know where they are, it wouldn't be difficult at all."

"Psychological advantage," Luornu smiled. "Your way would be easier, but now Mandalla knows there are consequences to messing with the Legion of Superheroes." She stopped walking and looked around the spacious hangar curiously. "Strange, there are a few ships missing...I wonder if something big's brewing somewhere?"

It took Kid Computo only the slightest conscious effort to access base logs. "Ultra Boy and Elastic Lad took a shuttle to Cadmu, Bouncing Boy took a team to the Sorceror's World a few hours ago....huh, that's weird, maybe there is something going on. Dream Girl left a little while ago with a bunch of Legionnaires on the same course to the Sorceror's World."

Duplicate Damsel put her hands on her hips and bit her lip while she considered the situation. "If there's trouble on the Sorceror's World big enough that they need two cruisers full of Legionnaires, why didn't Chuck call me?" she wondered out loud. She called her husband's flight ring, but no answer came. Splitting into two women, one of the Duplicate Damsels ran through the base while the other remained with Kid Computo and Tellus. "Danielle, prep our ship for take-off again and see if you can get through to Bouncing Boy or Dream Girl. I'm going to leave one of me here to find out exactly what we've missed.

The rest of us are going to Xerox."

**********
THE SORCEROR'S WORLD
Mysa Nal watched from the top of a flower-covered hill as a Legion of Superheroes cruiser came to a hovering halt some fifty feet above the living landscape of Xerox. Harlak the Khund stood at the base of the hill, watching his mistress closer than the ship of the visiting heroes. Her expression was utterly unreadable, as it was more often than not these days. Dark clouds blotting out the sun spoke more to the Black Witch's mood than she did herself lately.

"Mysa, thanks so much for seeing us," Bouncing Boy led Phantom Girl, Diamond Damsel, Dragonmage and Timber Wolf in their descent. Blok was slung ungraciously over Timber Wolf's shoulder and when the Legionnaires landed, Brin stood the golden hero on the grassy knoll.

"I see why you have requested my aid," Mysa answered coolly as she ignored the other Legionnaires and walked around Blok in a circle. She reached out with a bony hand and brushed his golden surface with one long black nail. "Poor creature, what have they done to you?"

"He's not a creature," Diamond Damsel bristled.

"We are all of us creatures of some description," the Black Witch answered, fixing inhuman eyes on the diamond woman. "Some of us simply have a greater awareness of our true nature." She turned and walked away from the gathered heroes, waving a hand behind her as she walked. The air gleamed between her chalk-white fingers and Blok became surrounded in the same twinkling aura. He levitated and followed the former Legionnaire. "Come," she declared without casting so much as a peek behind her. "Let us continue this discussion inside, storm clouds approach." As if on cue, thunder tore the sky overhead. "You too, Harlak. You will have a role to play in this."

As the Legionnaires followed Mysa toward an imposing bluestone castle they weren't sure if they'd seen when they arrived, Diamond Damsel crouched down to whisper at Phantom Girl. "That's the woman who Blok considered his best friend? She's not exactly bursting with warmth."

"Mysa used to be different," Tinya explained. "Not long before you joined the team she absorbed one of our greatest enemies into herself and it changed her. I don't have any idea what it must be like for her having to contain Mordru's evil...but she's still our friend. She wouldn't be helping us if she wasn't our friend."

Dragonmage heard the exchange but said nothing. He stole a sideways glance at Harlak. The Khund's face was grim, but his eyes watched Mysa with hidden concern. Dragonmage wasn't so certain that Phantom Girl was right.

As they walked through the torch-lit corridors of Mysa's castle, the Legionnaires heard and saw things that set them on edge the deeper they journeyed. A great many of these things existed only on the periphery of their awareness, hissing breezes that sounded almost like a name being called or a surface catching light in a way that it shouldn't. Some of them were overtly supernatural however. A swarm of tiny winged nymphs accompanied them at one stage, giggling mischievously as they darted in and out between the Legionnaires. A shimmering wyvern cooed at Dragonmage from a windowsill, earning an affectionate scratch under the chin for its efforts.

"I've heard of you," Harlak addressed the Asian teen. "Your name is respected here, Xao Jin."

"Thank you," Dragonmage nodded. "I've heard of you as well. I think every mage in the galaxy knows about the Khund sorceror Harlak. It must have been difficult for you to find your path here from Khundia."

"Murderous," Harlak answered, tight-lipped. "Sorcery is not tolerated among my people. All magic to them is an affront to the Demon Mother, a supreme act of arrogance. I was fortunate to reach Xerox with my life, and I had to give up any hope of returning to Khundia to be here but I don't regret a moment of it. I would rather die a proud heretic than one more soulless beast half-full of metal in the Challenge Courts."

"Some of these doorways," Bouncing Boy asked, "They're not doorways to other rooms, are they?" He squinted at a hellish red glow emanating from one of the open arches, formless shadows in the crimson light making the hair on his neck stand on end.

"The Sorceror's World is necessarily a nexus for many realities," Harlak answered. "This entrance leads to the Rotworld for example." He gestured at another open doorway, a shimmying landscape of dead skin and mold beyond that was like some sick reflection of Xerox itself.

"What's the Rotworld?" Timber Wolf asked, looking away from Blok for the first time since they'd entered the castle. He screwed up his face at the putrefying bio-masses writhing beyond.

"Home to the Rot," the Black Witch answered, startling some of them. "It is the embodiment of all decay. It hungers for life but it cannot hurt you as long as you stay true to this path, Brin Londo."

"Right," Brin shuddered. "Sprocking magic," he grumbled under his breath and kept walking.

They rounded one more corner and Mysa led them into an arcane workspace. Shelves full of books lined the walls and potions bubbled in different-sized cauldrons. A table which looked uncomfortably like an altar was smeared in thick foul-smelling ichor that oozed with glacial inevitability to the stone floor below. Mysa gestured and the floating Blok completed his journey to lie on the table. He'd been frozen by the Alchemist while bursting through a wall and the pose was almost comical as he faced the ceiling now in mid-strike.

"Do you need us to do anything?" Bouncing Boy asked. "We don't want to get in your way."

"You presume too much, Charles Foster Taine," the Black Witch answered, taking a stand before Blok's inert form. "I agreed to see you...I have not yet agreed to help you."

The Legionnaires looked around at each other confused. "Now wait a minute!" Timber Wolf began, approaching Mysa angrily.

"Blok's supposed to be your friend!" Diamond Damsel snapped, backing Brin up. "These people are supposed to be your friends! If you have the power to help him--"

"I have not said I would not help you either," Mysa interjected, staring both Diamond Damsel and Timber Wolf down. "But what you ask of me...this is no easy task, Legionnaires. Blok's spirit yet resides on this plane but his presence here is tenuous at best. I can help, but the effort will cost me greatly. So yes, I do need you to do something."

"Just tell us," Bouncing Boy stood beside Diamond Damsel and Timber Wolf, hoping he could defuse the ugly tension that was beginning to build. "Mysa, you know we'll do anything if it will help save him."

"I am pleased to hear you say that." She smiled now for the first time since they'd arrived. Her lips curled up almost imperceptibly, but it was enough to send chills through even Harlak. "There is an artifact my research has recently uncovered. It is a threat in its current location and I can put its power to great use, but I cannot leave Xerox for fear of unleashing Mordru's power."

Chuck felt horrible for what he was about to ask, but he knew he had to ask the question. "You're not...Mysa, you're not going to hurt anybody, are you?"

"Whatever I have become Legionnaire, I have not fallen so low." Mysa looked across to Harlak. "Harlak, you must be the only guardian of this knowledge." The white pinpricks of her pupils blazed intensely bright and Harlak grunted as information painfully flooded his mind. Dragonmage offered him a steadying hand as he staggered under the psychic onslaught but the Khund forced himself to stand unaided. The Black Witch turned back to her former teammates. "I will tell the rest of you that you are not to make contact with the artifact. You will accompany Harlak and you will bring it back, but Harlak and your Dragonmage are to transport the rock magically if any of you value the sanctity of your eternal souls."

"Chuck," Phantom Girl approached her friend, "I don't know about this..."

"Me either," Bouncing Boy agreed. "Mysa, if you could hear how you sound right now--"

"Let's just get this over with," Timber Wolf growled. "It's a sprocking rock. We bring it back here, she fixes Blok, we're done."

"I'm with him," Diamond Damsel glared at the witch. "If this is what we need to do, I say we do it."

Chuck wished Luornu were here. He needed her common sense, her pragmatism. Everything about this said it was wrong, from Mysa's ominous speech to the anxiety in Dragonmage and even Harlak's faces. If the two other magic users in the room were concerned about this, Chuck knew it was a bad idea. But he also knew that while Phantom Girl and Dragonmage would support his decision, Timber Wolf and Diamond Damsel would follow their own impulse. And then there was Blok. What if this really was his only chance? He sighed, defeated. "I want you to promise me," he said to Mysa grimly. "I want you to promise me that whatever it is we're getting for you, you're not going to use it to hurt a single person. Damn it Mysa, I shouldn't even have to demand this."

"The world is full of things we shouldn't have to do which are nonetheless required," the Black Witch answered, her voice like ice. "But you have your promise, Charles Foster Taine. I will not harm a living being and this will save your friend."

"Fine," Chuck continued. "We'll do it. Where are we going? How do we even know what we're looking for?"

"I know," Harlak answered. The others noticed his eyes were bloodshot. "It's a rock, like a large misshapen boulder. It looks unremarkable, but its magic will stand out to me like a beacon once we're near it as well as to your more trustworthy comrade Xao Jin."

"You're not the one we don't trust," Diamond Damsel sniped. "Like Timber Wolf said, let's get this over with."

Harlak looked across to the Black Witch. "Mistress, I am ready."

The Black Witch raised her hands and spoke words that weren't words, and the Legionnaires only realised anything at all had happened when they noticed that Mysa and Blok were no longer in the room. They they realised that it was in fact they who were no longer in the room. They looked around themselves to find they were still in a stone castle, but the torches blazed brighter and the room was empty, somewhat smaller than the one they'd left behind.

"Where are we?" Phantom Girl asked.

"Well, they were right," a familiarly haughty voice remarked. The group spun to find the object of their quest. As Harlak had described, it was a large misshapen chunk of stone which appeared in every way ordinary. Still, it seemed to emanate an aura of power even to those untrained in the mystic arts. More interesting to the Legion was the woman standing before the rock. In an elaborate gown, her white hair high in a regal bouffant, Queen Projectra of Orando faced her friends.

"Jeckie?" Timber Wolf approached her. "We're on Orando? The Witch sent us all the way to Orando?"

"And I know why she sent you," Projectra smiled but it had no warmth to it at all. She reached out and touched Timber Wolf's forearm. He shivered and then stood beside her, nuzzling her bare throat while he leered at Phantom Girl.

"You have come for the Rock of Eternity," Projectra continued, seeming almost amused by Brin's bizarre turn. "Just as they said you would.

Well, let's take it to her, shall we?"

TO BE WITCHTINUED!!!

Whoa. What just happened? What happened to Brin, and why is Jeckie acting that way? And Nura takes a team after Chuck (as expected), and now Lu and company are in tow... well, color me intrigued!

Fabulous, you turned Jeckie into Shooters 3boot id manipulator! Splendid stuff yet again. So are Nuras visions real or has our fave fainting princess being playing head games?

There's going to be a throwdown on Xerox by the looks of it - can't wait!

And the Rock of Eternity...? Nope, can't say I recognise it, has it appeared anywhere recently

Thoroughly enjoying your work Raz, more, more, more!

ORANDO
The Royal Palace of Queen Projectra Armorr
Bouncing Boy, Phantom Girl, Diamond Damsel, Dragonmage and Harlak stared in shock as Timber Wolf grabbed Queen Projectra around the waist and drew her close to him. She slapped at his hand and stepped away from him. “There will be time for your urges later,” Projectra decreed. “We have to introduce our friends to their new roles first. So nice of you to bring the perfect number, Legionnaires. The seven of us are going to send this universe descending into chaos and rule over it forever.” She circled the heroes as she spoke, Timber Wolf following close behind as he eyed his teammates off one by one in a way that made them all very uncomfortable.

“Projectra, I need you to listen to me.” Bouncing Boy’s voice was calm, deliberately non-aggressive. “I think that rock has done something to you. I want you to let Dragonmage examine you both.”

Timber Wolf made a fake lunge at Dragonmage and laughed as the young sorcerer jumped back with a start. Harlak stepped between them, meeting Timber Wolf’s gaze without fear despite the Legionnaire’s far greater speed and strength. “This is why the Black Witch told us not to touch the Rock of Eternity,” the Khund explained. “There are monsters trapped inside just waiting for a human host to claim.”

“Where did you find this thing anyway, Jeckie?” Phantom Girl tried to ignore Timber Wolf’s predatory leering and traded an anxious glance with Chuck. The way Projectra and Brin were walking around the group, hemming them in, it was almost as though they were leading them somewhere. Chuck saw it too. They weren’t going near the rock though, and there was nothing else in this room. Instinctively, Tinya turned intangible.

Projectra gave a sinister smile. “The Rock of Eternity has been spiralling through time and space since it was shattered by Black Lazarus in 2376. The fragments land in one time or place where they remain until the eddies of the multiverse sweep them on again, and this is the largest and most portentous of all the pieces which remain. Fitting that it should land in the House of the Ruling Blood of Orando, don’t you agree? Whomever else could be worthy of such a gift?”

“It’s not a gift,” Diamond Damsel stepped forward angrily. “You’re being controlled, can’t you feel it?”

Projectra stood before the diamond woman and examined her from head to toe as she would any other fine jewel to be owned. The white-haired regent turned to Brin. “I think I know exactly who’s going to like this little firecracker, don’t you?”

Timber Wolf laughed again and leaped at Diamond Damsel. “Come on over to the dark side, DD. Not like you haven’t been here before.” She tried to shove him away, but he was too fast for her and the two were soon wrestling on the floor.

Bouncing Boy inflated himself as he barked orders. “Dragonmage, help Diamond Damsel! Everyone else, stay away from that rock! Jeckie, I hate to do this but you’re not in your right mind and we can’t give you the chance to use your illusions on us.” He launched himself at the queen and was momentarily confused as he passed right through her. Just before he hit the Rock of Eternity, Chuck realised it was too late…Projectra had been herding them with illusion since the moment they arrived.

Chuck shuddered as he bounced off the rock and felt the grip of ancient evil.

**********
XEROX
The Sorcerers' World
The Black Witch Mysa Nal stood back, panting from the efforts of her exertion. She held a blood red curved knife in her hand, the blade easily as long as her forearm. Before her, the golden form of Blok lay in his awkward mid-combat pose. A lightning bolt symbol had been carved out in his chest, and sigils engraved upon the length of his body with the utmost care. She had done all that she could do for now, she would need to wait for Harlak and the others to return before she could continue. In truth, she was glad for the rest. It had required intense focus to ensure she wasn’t harming Blok any more than he had been already with these preparations.

The very thought of relaxation led to the spontaneous creation of a plush daybed behind her. It was lined with silky soft cushions, and brass posts were topped with bejewelled gargoyle heads. Mysa reclined, but she felt a pang of disquiet. Nobody knew the burden she bore now, not even Harlak who saw it every day. Everyone around her assumed the only challenge Mysa faced was reigning in Mordru’s evil. It was true that this was her greatest challenge, but it was not her only one. As the Black Witch she contained every last remnant of magic from a dead universe. The temptation to wield that power was immense, but she knew that with even the best of intentions it was too much for any one being to use wisely. With Mordru whispering in her ear day and night she didn’t dare to consider it. When she was exhausted as she was now however, sometimes that power made itself known in small ways. But evil always begins as the tiniest deviation, doesn’t it Mysa? Annoyed at her lack of discipline, she stood up once more and waved the daybed away.

Mysa fetched a restorative cup of herbal tea and came back to Blok. Watching over him, her thoughts drifted to happier days. Days when she had friends, a sister. She’d exiled Nura from this world in a fit of rage when last they spoke. Nura had been angry at her, and for good reason. But Mysa’s sister had never tried to understand her perspective either, not in any matter. When the two were children, Nura was always the special one. The pretty one, the clever one, the talented one. The one who wasn’t broken. Mysa had been nothing till she came to the Sorceror’s World, and even then her older sister treated her with bemused detachment at best. Blok on the other hand…Blok had always been so sweet, so genuine in his affections. Mysa had truly loved him - perhaps not romantically, not in the way she could see that Diamond Damsel loved him, but Mysa had loved him nonetheless. In memory of that love she wondered if there was any line she would not cross if it would help him.

The closed wooden doors to the room sprung open and Harlak and the Legionnaires burst in. They had the Rock of Eternity with them, carried in the jaws of a giant shimmering dragonform as she had instructed. They also had Projectra of Orando with them. Mysa placed her tea on a small wooden table and faced the returning heroes, her arms hidden in voluminous black sleeves. Dragonmage dumped the Rock of Eternity by Blok’s inert form with a flourish. Mysa could tell immediately that something was wrong. Even if Projectra hadn’t come back with them she would see it. There was something different in the demeanour of each of her allies, something dark hanging over them.

“You sent us to steal from another Legionnaire and didn’t even tell us?” Diamond Damsel approached the Black Witch with an accusing finger. “Who the hell do you think you are, lady?”

Mysa regarded her coldly. Diamond Damsel was all barely contained fury. Timber Wolf was literally breathing down Phantom Girl’s neck and Tinya Wazzo seemed completely apathetic. None of them were themselves, Mysa hoped this didn’t mean what she knew it must. “There was no time for niceties,” Mysa answered n a calculating tone. “Not if I was to help your friend.”

Diamond Damsel looked across at Blok for the first time and her eyes grew wide. “What have you done to him?” she bellowed. She grabbed Mysa by the throat and held her dangling in the air.

“Don’t kill her,” Projectra warned. “We still need her to bind us to this time and place.”

“I won’t kill her,” Diamond Damsel ranted, “but damned if I’m not gonna rough up this skank some!” She flung the Black Witch across the room and Mysa slammed into a bookcase, knocking ancient grimoires down all around her. She clawed her way out of the pile of books, grimacing from the pain. There was no doubt in her mind now. She faced the Seven Deadly Enemies of Man, and judging from the way Diamond Damsel’s face was distorted with rage Mysa guessed that she’d been possessed by Anger.

Mysa threw up a hasty shield, but she was still too weak from helping Blok. She knew it wouldn’t hold long. “Harlak!” she cried desperately. “Come to your senses, help me!”

“I don’t think I will,” Harlak remarked off-hand as he started gathering the room’s precious artifacts in a pile. “Everyone’s just been living in your world, haven’t they Mistress? It’s time I got some reward for my devotion.”

“He’s right,” Dragonmage added bitterly. “Why should you have all the power? It’s not fair, Witch.”

The others simply watched in amusement as Diamond Damsel pounded on Mysa’s mystic shield. Anger, Lust, Pride, Greed, Envy, Sloth, Gluttony, they were all in control now. As if to bring the point home, Bouncing Boy’s flight ring beeped and he took one look at it before turning back to the spectacle of Mysa and Diamond Damsel’s battle. Mysa was completely on her own.

“I am not strong enough right now to fight you on your own level,” Mysa grunted, “But some spells are far easier than others…and nobody ever dispelled anger with force.” She dissipated her shield and Diamond Damsel stalked across to the white-skinned witch.

“You better fix Blok,” Diamond Damsel threatened Mysa, “or I’ll - “

“You’ll do nothing,” the Black Witch’s eyes blazed with a prismatic display of light, “Except revert.”

Tiny hairline cracks appeared in Diamond Damsel’s surface, the same rainbow light gleaming out from each one. The cracks grew and multiplied, and an instant later there was an explosion of brightness as diamond shards exploded outwards and disintegrated into a fine powder. In their wake, a much smaller red-haired woman quivered. She held her oversized costume up with one hand while staring disbelieving at her other hand. “You…you made me human again?”

“I gambled that Anger’s hold was on Diamond Damsel, not the human woman you once were.” Mysa knew she’d been right. Anger’s influence was no longer surrounding the confused woman, he’d been banished once more into the Rock of Eternity. She also knew that this would spur the others into action. As difficult as it had been to defend herself from Diamond Damsel, six possessed heroes would require all of her wit and luck.

True to form, Bouncing Boy inflated and let the attack. “Projectra’s right,” he commanded. “Don’t kill the witch, we need her. Now the other one’s lost her power she’s expendable, I’ll take care of her.” He rocketed towards the now very vulnerable Iris Jacobs, who yelped as she leaped out of the way just in time.

“You need to turn me back!” Iris screamed at Mysa. “I can’t do anything in this stupid body!”

“The power is within you!” Mysa retorted as she lifted the stones from the floor to form a barrier between the others and herself. “I simply forced what you could have done at any time, Diamond Damsel!” Phantom Girl came through the makeshift stone wall and Mysa had to trust that Iris could help herself.

Iris was stunned. Was the witch saying that she could have done this herself at any time over the past thousand years? That she hadn’t had to exist as a creature of diamond for so long? Bouncing Boy slammed into her, and Iris tumbled outside of the open doorway and into the corridor. She smashed her head against one of the castle’s bluestone walls and cried out in pain. “Bouncing Boy…Chuck, don’t…” He was bouncing down the corridor towards her, an absurd ball of destruction. What am I supposed to do? Iris asked herself. Even if I can become Diamond Damsel again, he’s still possessed…how do I stop him without hurting him? She used her flight ring to try and evade his next assault, but he still clipped her and sent her flying further down the corridor.

“Don’t take it personally,” Chuck said cheerily as he came back for more, “We liked you when you were diamond, but an angry skinny girl like you…what good does that do anyone? Quicker I kill you, quicker we get a new host for our brother and the quicker I can get some food in my belly.”

He came at her again, and this time she did actually dodge successfully. She knew she wasn’t going to be able to keep this up for long though, and it was only luck so far that had kept Chuck from breaking her neck. She’d almost forgotten what it was like to be physically hurt, she found she didn’t like it at all. I suppose I should be lucky I only have to fight Gluttony, Iris consoled herself. Or that he doesn’t want to eat me. A lightbulb went off in her head and she suddenly moved with new purpose. “You want me, fat boy?” she taunted, “Come and get me!”

She flew at manic speed along the castle’s corridor, finally stopping in front of a particular doorway. “Come on!” she goaded, trying to sound tough though every part of her body ached. “Bring it!” Bouncing Boy obliged, banking off the ceiling to shoot straight down at her. At the last possible second she dived out of the way, and his much larger form wedged inside the doorway.

“This is nothing more than an inconvenience,” Bouncing Boy laughed. “All I need to do is deflate and come after you again, girl.”

“I wouldn’t if I were you,” she replied. “Look where that door leads.”

He was jammed in the doorway in such a way that he could only see inside the room at the edge of his peripheral vision but what he saw filled him with an icy fear. “No…” Chuck gasped. “The Rotworld…”

“That’s right,” Iris looked up at him smugly. “What did the Witch call it? The embodiment of decay? Not much for a glutton there I’d imagine, they’d be pretty happy to feast on you though if they can get you all the way through that doorway…you’re only safe while you’re stuck there.”

“Damn you!” Bouncing Boy cursed ineffectually.

“There is a way out,” Iris bargained with him. “Leave him alone, take me. I know I’m not a superhero but I’m not about to get eaten alive by a world full of dead things either.” She offered her hand and shuddered as she felt the presence of Gluttony enter her body. Iris was filled with the desire to eat. It took every ounce of willpower she had not to leave Chuck right now to go find the castle’s kitchen and she was already salivating at the very idea of it. Hoping that the Black Witch had been telling the truth, she focused on transforming back into Diamond Damsel before the urge to consume became overpowering. As had been the case with Anger before him, Gluttony’s possession was limited to the specific body he’d taken. As soon as Iris Jacobs vanished to be replaced by Diamond Damsel, Gluttony too was banished to the Rock of Eternity once more. She grabbed hold of Chuck in both arms and yanked him out of his tight squeeze.

“Diamond Damsel..?” Chuck asked warily.

“It’s okay,” she affirmed. “I’m me. I figured even if turning back to this form didn’t evict Gluttony, he’d be effectively trapped inside me anyway. I don’t need to eat as Diamond Damsel, I’ve never even been hungry.”

“Still, that was quite a risk.” He bounced down the corridor back toward the way they’d come. “Let’s not waste any time. After the way Mysa’s acted since we’ve been here I don’t know if I’m more concerned for her or the others!”

**********
While Bouncing Boy and Iris Jacobs had left the room, Phantom Girl approached the Black Witch through a mystical maelstrom of flying bluestone. The others were forced to hang back while Dragonmage and Harlak prepared a defence but it was no obstacle for an intangible girl. “I’m not happy about you forcing me into action,” Phantom Girl sneered. “I’d much rather watch my brothers face you. You’re lucky we need you alive, witch.”

“On the contrary, you are fortunate that these people were once my friends,” the Black Witch retorted, “And that you have assailed me when I am not at my peak. Still, I do not need to be at the peak of my power to rip your mind asunder.” Mysa released her hold on the stone storm and instead screamed hoarse words that opened a cascade of pain in Tinya’s head. Her intangibility did nothing to protect her, as the attack had no bearing on any physical plane.

“Idiot!” Phantom Girl chided her attacker. “You’ve wasted the last of your power and I can still use mine to save myself. I’ll be back!” Tinya turned transparent, then faded from view altogether. The Black Witch knew she’d completely exited this dimension, returned to her home reality. The Seven Deadly Enemies of Man were tied too closely to the Rock of Eternity though and like a rubber band snapping, Sloth left Tinya to return to entrapment in the Rock. He’d been right about one thing though…Mysa had used the last of any power she could trust herself to unleash. Anything she could release now might lay waste to the Legionnaires, to Xerox, to the universe itself. She slumped to the floor as the world spun around her. Projectra’s doing. She felt strong arms holding her down, hot breath on her pale face. Timber Wolf. Lust.

“Please,” she begged, “You don’t know the forces you prod, you must stop this.”

“Heh.” Brin’s rough stubble brushed against the smooth skin of Mysa’s cheek. “I know all about prodding, Witch.”

“Brin, that’s really gross.” Phantom Girl’s face suddenly emerged from Mysa’s, as though one woman had been wearing the other as a mask. “You might not be very happy about this right now, but you’ll thank me for it in a couple of minutes. Trust me.” Reaching up through Mysa, she grabbed Timber Wolf’s arms and focused her power. She hadn’t done this very often, but she could push her abilities to transport someone else with her back to Bgtzl when she needed to…and right now, she definitely needed to. Phantom Girl and Timber Wolf both disappeared.

“We can still turn this around!” Projectra screeched. “Go find Bouncing Boy and Diamond Damsel, the witch is mine.” The room melted into a phantasmagoria of colours and formless shapes, strange noises piercing the air. Dragonmage and Harlak averted their gaze as they scurried towards the doorway, but Mysa was powerless before it. Completely overwhelmed by the sensory overload, she could feel her very grip on reality slipping away.

“No, no, please,” Mysa was almost in tears. “It’s too much power, I can’t - “

Bouncing Boy yelled a warning to Mysa to stay down as Diamond Damsel threw him with great force into the room. In her chaotic hallucination she had no idea he’d even entered the room but it wouldn’t have mattered anyway. She was in no state to do anything but lie terrified on the floor. Projectra wasn’t so lucky. Chuck couldn’t see where she was in the midst of the illusion, but Diamond Damsel had hurled him so hard that he bounced around like a pinball, slamming into everything that wasn’t bolted down. Inevitably he hit the Queen of Orando and her power was immediately broken. Bouncing Boy himself was mildly dazed from ricocheting so many times around the room, but nonetheless he helped the Black Witch to her feet after making sure Projectra was unconscious. Timber Wolf and Phantom Girl appeared at the same time, Tinya obviously drained from the effort of taking Brin interdimensionally twice in such a short space of time. “Mysa,” Chuck asked, “Can you help the others?”

“Blok…” She was almost incoherent. “Need to get Blok…Rock of Eternity…”

Bouncing Boy gave her a concerned look and turned to Phantom Girl. “Tinya, can you..?”

“I’m gonna need time to recharge,” Tinya shook her head. “Sorry Chuck, taking others with me to Bgtzl space really takes a lot out of me.”

Bouncing Boy looked across the room. Harlak and Diamond Damsel were in a stalemate and Dragonmage had just realised that they were the only two left. He unleashed a swarm of fire-breathing dragons at Chuck, Mysa, Tinya and Brin. “We don’t have time! Wolf, protect Mysa! Make sure she does whatever she needs to do, if she says helping Blok will help the others we have to do it! We’ll keep them busy as long as we can!”

Bouncing Boy rebounded around the large room, barely avoiding streams of fire that were beginning to set the room ablaze. The dragons served another purpose, he couldn’t get close to Dragonmage and Harlak while they filled the room. Phantom Girl was walking through them effortlessly but Chuck could already see she wasn’t going to be in time to stop Harlak from forcing Diamond Damsel into contact with the Rock of Eternity once more.

Timber Wolf picked up Mysa and leaped from one dragon’s back to the next, taking the creatures out of the fight while simultaneously avoiding their fiery attacks. He landed by the altar upon which Blok lay and set Mysa down gently. “Whatever you’re gonna do, you’d better do it Witch.” Harlak propelled Diamond Damsel into the Rock of Eternity and she was once more possessed by Anger. She rushed toward Mysa, but Brin tackled her and the two traded blows as they fell into the swarm of dragons.

Mysa was glad she didn’t need magical discipline for this part, just a steady hand. Using the same blade she’d cut into Blok with earlier she carved the outline of a lightning bolt into the Rock of Eternity. The outline crackled white hot with arcs of magical energy, and she turned now back to Blok. Releasing the blade, Mysa placed one hand inside the hole she’d carved into Blok and the other on the rock itself. The energy began to climb up her arm in tiny streams of lightning, but it didn’t hurt. The spell wanted to be complete. Everything was about to be made right.

Mysa suddenly drew a sharp breath. She looked down to find the red blade piercing her abdomen from behind, her own blood coating it as it dripped to the floor. Holding the blade’s hilt behind her, Harlak leaned close to her ear. “I’m sorry Mistress. We’ll find another magic user to bind us here, but we can’t have you ruining our glorious reign before it’s even started.”

Mysa tried to say something but only got one syllable out before she coughed up blood. “What was that?” Harlak taunted, bringing the blade up against her ribs.

She screamed, then centred herself. She looked from one hand to the other. She was still in position. Part of her was relieved. After all these months of holding in all this pain and all of Mordru’s evil, it was about to be over. She was surprised to find tears rolling down her face. When she spoke again, her voice was barely above a whisper.

“...I said…

…Shazam.”

Mysa’s back arched as a lightning bolt of blinding intensity travelled from the Rock of Eternity, through her and into Blok. The blade inside of her was vaporised instantly and Harlak was flung back several feet from the force of the power behind it. The accompanying thunderbolt deafened everyone in the castle and was heard for miles. The sound even jarred Projectra back to alertness.

Everyone stopped what they were doing to look across to the source of the lightning. The Black Witch lay in a pool of her own blood, though her wound seemed to have been instantly cauterised. Blok was blazing so brightly the others had to shield their eyes to look upon him directly. When the light faded, what they saw left them stunned speechless. Blok had regained his normal stone appearance, but rivulets of gold ran all through him like tiny streams. He sat up and faced the others, and they saw that the lightning bolt carved into him had captured the magic lightning and now held it there burning bright inside his chest.

“Blok!” Phantom Girl beamed. “You’re alive!”

“Indeed I am,” the giant hero intoned calmly. “And empowered now to end this.” He stretched out both arms and the still possessed heroes shook one final time as the Deadly Enemies of Man were once more trapped inside the Rock of Eternity. He stooped and gently picked up the Black Witch.

Harlak rushed to Blok’s side. “Demon Mother, is she—?”

“She is fine,” Queen Projectra approached. “Whatever happened, her wounds have been healed. I can’t see any damage at all. I will want to have words with Mysa when she is healed, but if she had not sent you to Orando I would still be in the grip of Pride. All’s well that ends well, I suppose.”

“Blok, what did she do to you?” Diamond Damsel asked, awestruck at the glowing hole in his chest.

“Mysa used a portion of the Rock of Eternity to house my soul,” Blok explained. “As it has housed the Seven Deadly Enemies of Man for so long. I am bonded with the Rock of Eternity now, I used that bond to imprison their evil once more.”

“You sound…different somehow, my friend.” Projectra noted. “And your form is infused with magic, I can see it permeating every part of you.”

“The Seven Enemies of Man were not the only force contained within the Rock,” Blok explained. “I have been touched by the power of Shazam. I am stronger, faster, gifted in other ways. In truth, I have never felt better.”

Diamond Damsel whistled. “Captain Marvel was as tough as Superman. If you’ve got his power added to your own strength…”

“We can do some tests when we get back to Mars,” Bouncing Boy said. “Once we make sure Mysa’s okay of course, and we’ll take you home too Jeckie. Right now though I’d better call Lu. She tried to contact us earlier, she must be worried sick. I didn’t even think to tell her we were coming before we left.” He brought his flight ring to his lips and called home while the others chatted with Blok and organised somewhere more comfortable for Mysa to rest. Several minutes later, Bouncing Boy came back to the rest of the group.

“Chuck?” Tinya asked. “You look worried, is Luornu okay?”

“Dream Girl had a vision of our fight and brought a team after us…Lu sent Danielle and Tellus to join up with them. They should have been here by now, but Shadow Lass and Kid Computo contacted Lu about half an hour ago to let her know that the rest of the team just disappeared in mid-journey and left their flight rings behind.

Six Legionnaires have just vanished into thin air!"

Wow! The Seven Deadly Sins! So that's what Dream Girl's vision meant. Blok's fine and empowered, Diamond Damsel can (apparently) turn herself human at will, and Mysa's not evil. Amazing!

It occurred to me after I finished this yesterday that if I were still running roleplaying games, this installment would have been the game where heaps of players used the experience points they have been hoarding for ages lol