Legion World Forums LEGION OUTPOST Bits o' Legionnaire Business RAINBOW GIRL: BOOK 25- The Honeymoon is Over

CHAPTER ZERO-A: CHARACTER SILHOUETTES PROFILES OUTLINES: ANIMAL LAD

Ennis Jahnson was born in the Qaryah Colony on Earth, just north of the Arabian Sea, in what is now Pakistan. The Colony had been established by members of the Jesine Firmamentalist Assembly, a strict antireligous sect which held as its goal the genetic and moral perfection of the human race. Ennis was one of a number of metahumans born in his generation, but left the sect at the age of fourteen. The JFA has been long declining in numbers.

While rejecting the tenets of his family, Ennis established his own strict moral code, and wishing to make a positive mark on the world, enrolled in the Metropolis Educational System, intending to study Criminology. (Of course, it was necessary for him to complete what we now think of as High School, then College, then graduate work, but this was his declared intention from the beginning.)

In his early twenties, Ennis applied to the Legion of Super-Heroes during an open call for membership. This was at a time that the Legion’s charter had been usurped by Vorm of the Pirate Planetoid, going under the name of Dynamo Boy. Ennis was rejected in his application as ‘Animal Lad’, as Vorm had a psychic device which revealed Ennis’ strict adherence to his moral code. Vorm eventually recruited a few of the Legion of Super-Villains from a future time; they banished him to a distant future, from which he has evidently never returned.

After this incident, the Legion changed its constitution, made it more difficult to expel members, requiring, among other things, due process before a selection of the membership.

Ennis followed his original plan, becoming an officer with the Science Police. He served with distinction for some fifteen years. During a term on Venus, he met Reina Zenon, and they were married. During their fourteen years together, they had two children, about five years apart: the first a son, Ciardo, and a daughter, Cacia. Cacia would go on to apply to Legion 1.5 as ‘Heck Kitten’.

After some time on the force, Ennis was enrolled in a program at the Legion Academy to train metahuman officers. He was by this time in his mid-thirties. A much younger recruit, Timothy Santoza, known as ‘The Westerner’. Ennis had continued to grow and mature in the decade since his original Legion application. He was still technically enrolled in the Academy as ‘Animal Lad’. However, now nearly two meters tall, with a beard and muscular build, he was known colloquially among his companions as ‘Herculean Boy’. He became good friends with Laurel Kent, Jed Rikane, Grev Mallor (later co-ruler of Talok VIII), Bobb Kohan, Tayla Skott, Berta Haris, Tari Wahlmun, Grava of Extal, and, of course, Chuck and Lluornu Durgo-Taine, and has maintained contact with them all over the years.

After his term at the Academy ended, Ennis returned to policing. As the years passed, however, he became disappointed with the new, more militaristic direction the S.P. was taking, as well as the growing xenophobia on Earth. He was unaware that EarthGov had been infiltrated and manipulated by the Dominion. At around the time Kirt Niedrigh was inducted into the Legion, Ennis left Earth, joining the United Planets Game Preserve Council in their Central Endangered Species Control Division on Weber’s World.

Meanwhile, Ennis and Reina’s relationship began to deteriorate. Perhaps it was due to the travel requirements of his new job, perhaps it was the strangeness of Weber’s World, perhaps it was Reina’s natural restlessness. At any rate, when their Venusian Marriage Contract came up for renewal, Reina chose not to renew, and Reina, Ciardo, and Cacia returned to Venus. (Ennis and Reina had previously renewed seven years before.) When Ciardo and Cacia reached legal maturity, they moved back to Earth.

While in the process of divorcing, Ennis learned of a business opportunity. The United Planets was willing to generously subsidize individuals who would develop otherwise undesirable worlds into exo-colonies, manufacturing or production centers, or other going concerns. Ennis’ plan to convert a world name ‘Basura’ into a series of amusement parks was approved. Designing artificial forests based (mostly) on Earth-habitats, Ennis would use his powers to change ‘guests’ into various animals, and let them run loose in his ‘Parks’.

Of course, supervision and safety in the Parks were important concerns. At the time, telepaths and shape-shifters in the United Planets still suffered from xenophobic discrimination, but Ennis found those particular metahuman abilities precisely what he needed on ‘Jahnson’s World’, especially the telepaths.

Shortly before his marriage to Dori Aandraison, Ennis completed the move of his Forest Parks, buildings, and employees to a small, one-hundred-mile-wide artificial planetoid built by Reep Daggle’s Brande Industries, restoring Basura, now re-named Tesoro, to its pristine condition.

Ennis has the ability to transform most sapient beings into animal forms. He does not himself choose what form his targets assume; Ennis believes there is some semi-mystical influence from ‘The Red’ which determines this, depending on the subject’s physical appearance, personality, and personal history, as well as other unknown factors. The creature is usually from the subject’s homeworld. Once an individual has been transformed, future transformations using Ennis’ power almost invariably result in the same or similar creature appearing.

Ennis’ power does not affect mass, so his transformations result in giant mice or insects and tiny elephants and whales. His power also works in reverse: he is able to transform non-sapient beings into human or semi-human forms. These animals become self-aware and intelligent; the humans or other sapients he transforms also retain their intelligence in their animal forms.

Ennis is also a low-level telepath, able to sense and communicate with the hindbrain. For the most part, his psychic powers are limited to sensing the presence of others, particularly animals, and calming agitated individuals, particularly animals.

Neither of his children has displayed any metahuman abilities.

CHAPTER ZERO-B: CHARACTER SILHOUETTES PROFILES OUTLINES: RAINBOW GIRL

Dori Aandraison was born on Xolnar in the 30th century. Her parents were originally from Thanar, her great-grandparents from Earth. Her father was a pluridium miner.

During her years in what Americans would call ‘Middle School’ and ‘High School’ Dori was heavily involved in the Theater program. She was what we would call today a ‘Drama Nerd’. She particularly enjoyed musical theater.

Her most memorable performance-- at least to her mind-- was as the Evil Djinn in that old chestnut The Year the Dreamers Lost the Pennant.

She entered- and won- the Miss Xolnar Pageant in First City when she was nineteen. One of the prizes was a trip to Metropolis on Earth. She considered this a great opportunity to try her hand as a professional actor.

At the time, Shrinking Violet was on Xolnar, soliciting applicants for the Legion. She suggested that Dori stop by the Legion Clubhouse while she was on Earth. Violet had been impressed by Dori’s ‘super-charisma’. But in her try-out, Dori demonstrated both lack of control and understanding of her more diverse abilities, and was rejected.

Dori spent a couple of years trying to break into live theater, film, or holo-vision. It was while she was working in the chorus of a production of Borlats that she met Irveang Polamar, a member of one of the oldest and wealthiest families on Earth. They quickly fell terribly in love, and were married within a year. As an engagement present, Irv bought Dori the wholly impractical ruins of an 11th-century Spanish Castle. Dori was introduced to Metropolis’ world of high society, power lunches, and social teas.

Opinion over Dori was divided. She was beautiful, personable, intelligent, and charismatic. Many people loved her. On the other hand, she was of ‘low’ birth, the Pluridium Miner’s Daughter, and there were many of the elite from the ‘old’ families that mocked her behind her back.

Irv’s parents, on the other hand, loved her, and the four of them lived together in Iridium House in Metropolis. Of course, the mansion was so large that there was plenty of privacy if desired, even with the standard complement of servants.

Dori also found a sort of mentor in Baroness Rocksalt, whose husband was descended from the 18th-century Rothschilds. The Baroness was about forty years her senior. Well-traveled and cosmopolitan, she took Dori under her wing and helped her navigate the more abstruse aspects of Metropolis Society.

It was only a couple of years before Irv met a sudden, tragic, and unexpected death. His parents left Earth shortly after the funeral, and Dori was left alone at Iridium House.

With the rise of Niedrigh and his political cronies, laws were passed which divested Dori, as a non-native Earthling, from holding property on Earth. Her stipend from the Polamar Trust was halted, and she was deported from the planet. On Mars, she met the Legion of Substitute Heroes, who were fighting a political and literal war against Niedrigh and his “Justice League of Earth”. Once Earth returned to sanity, Dori returned to Iridium House, and her extended social life.

But Dori began to feel uneasy, as remnants of anti-Xeno attitudes remained among some of her peers. When the Substitutes inherited the Citadel of Throon, they called on Dori and Ulu Vakk to serve as go-betweens between their new world and UPGov: members of the Subs who had not participated in the original expedition to Throon. Dori jumped at the chance.

UPGov appointed Dori and Ulu as official emissaries of the diplomatic corps. After the Throonian issues were resolved, the two were utilized in other missions, notably the mission to Blax, the world of no color.

Ulu left the diplomatic service to join the Substitutes in their attempt to reorganize the Legion during the ‘5-Year-Gap’, continuing to work behind the scenes as ‘Freedom Fighters’, eventually exposing the Dominion’s incursion into UPGov.

Dori returned to Xolnar during the Khundish invasion, and joined the paramilitary resistance there. After the exposure of the Dominators, she returned to the diplomatic service.

Always somewhat uneasy with her extended power set, the manifestation of the Black Aura, linked to Death, caused her to pause and reevaluate her life. She returned to her father’s home on Xolnar, in order to catch her breath, examine her past, and, perhaps, gain a greater understanding of her powers. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, her father chose this period of time when they were living together on Xolnar to end his life. Continued life on Xolnar became distracting and uncomfortable, and Dori ventured out again into the Galaxy, seeking… she knew not what.

Dori is a mutagenetic sport, with access to hyper-bio-energy, which may manifest itself in countless ways in metahumans. Or, metabeings. Dori projects an aura at all times which is visible as a faint, shifting kaleidoscope of color. It is more apparent indoors, in darkened rooms, or at night. Psychologically, it has the effect of inducing a sort of ‘super-charisma’, making others perceive her as unusually attractive and likable.

Perhaps because of this charisma, or for other unknown reasons, the Entities of the Emotional Spectrum have developed a bond with Dori, endowing her with additional powers. Theoretically, she has all the abilities of the Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet, White, and Black Lanterns. Practically, she accesses very little of this power: the greater the emotional energy she uses, the more wild her mood swings, and the more her will is subjugated to the ‘desires’ of the Entities themselves. Ganthet and Sayd theorize that the Entities wish to create in Dori another First Lantern.

Many of her ‘powers’ are passive. For instance, in great fear she will generate a nigh-impenetrable golden force-shield around her body. The Entities will rescue her from imminent death, and for some reason have halted her biological aging at around twenty-five, although she is now twice that age.

Because of her link to the Entities, Dori tends to attract the attention of powerful, near-transcendental beings. She finds this annoying.

Having married Ennis Jahnson, she now has access and authority over Jahnson’s World, although she has lost her monthly stipend from the Polamar Trust, as well as a great deal of her property.

CHAPTER ONE: AFTERMATH

The Tesoron Lithochelonians, new owners of Jahnson’s Planet, may not have cared about money, but the United Planets still did. Days after the papers were signed, the little artificial planetoid was swarming with auditors. Ennis was to receive no salary or other compensation as Chief Executive Officer. In addition, there was a clause that Jahnson’s Planet was to be operated as a non-profit organization.

“That means you need to have a cash sink to which you can funnel excess profits,” the Chief Auditor explained.

“I know what a non-profit organization is,” said Ennis. “Perhaps this list of charities to which Jahnson’s Planet subscribes would fill the bill?”

The auditors seemed perturbed to discover that Ennis Jahnson’s project had essentially been operating as a non-profit organization all along, without registering as such, and that Ennis himself had received little to no compensation for the prior fifteen years.

The auditors also seemed appalled by just how expensive it was to run Jahnson’s Planet. The vast majority of the ticket price collected went to Brande Industries Credit Corp., and the Polamar Hotels. The remainder was quickly eaten up by employee salaries, maintenance of the forests, and sundry expenses. The auditors frequently suggested ways in which expenses could be reduced, although that was outside the purview of their responsibilities. Ennis just listened and nodded.

Very little about the structure of Jahnson’s Planet’s finances needed to change. Existing policies and procedures simply needed to be formalized.

‘Bunny’ Chandrasekhar complained. “I didn’t take this job to become a full-time paper-pusher,” she said. “And I hate writing up all those detail reports describing every little incidental detail of what we do around here.”

“What we need to do,” said Ennis, “Is to hire an accounting attorney to create all this paperwork for the United Planets full-time. Perhaps more than one. Can you put one of your staff on it? Hire someone deserving.”

Ennis invited Dori to meet with him and Reep and Juula Daggle of Brande Industries.. The meeting was not in person; it was conducted on the WallScreen over EtherLink.

“I would be interested in changing the nature of our oceans,” said Ennis. “As I understand it, they serve as a heat sink, with some plant life as supplemental oxygen generators. I wonder if you could make them habitable, either for any Hykraian refugees who might wish to settle here, or a few of my Tesoron directors to stay in temporarily.”

“We could do both,” said Juula. “A simple selective force-field could separate the methane-infused waters from the mineral-infused areas. Perhaps a shallow range should be preserved on the top of the waters that replicates Earth’s oceans? It will take some time for us to analyze those environments, and see what it would take to reproduce them. We will also need to determine what sort of range is necessary for individuals of each species, and you will need to figure out how many of each you might expect. We’ll work on getting you an estimate.”

CHAPTER TWO: HAVE FUN STORMING THE CASTLE

Dori was a sociable and gregarious person, but there were times that she did need to be alone. She was therefore grateful to Ennis for the Flower Meadow and Spanish Castle on what she thought of-- for now-- as her own private island.

Jahnson’s Planet was small enough that she was able to easily travel the artificial world using only her Substitutes flight ring. She landed outside the lower polymer shield, at the entrance closest to the castle. It was a ninety-minute walk along a smooth brick road up to the castle; it was just what Dori needed.

Flowers bloomed in a kaleidoscope of colors as far as the eye could see. Ennis had imported about a hundred different species of sunbirds from Earth, to keep the flowers pollinated. The colorful little creatures darted throughout the vast meadow, adding still more flashes of color. It was an environment Dori felt perfectly at home in.

By the time she was in sight of the castle, evening had begun to fall. In this part of Jahnson’s Planet, Tesoro loomed on the horizon, just behind the Spanish Castle. Dori sensed a movement in the air around her. The Aurakles-- great balloons of light-- usually drifting high above, were now low to the ground, rushing past her. Rushing… towards the exit? A sense of foreboding crept over Dori. She looked up, to the Aurakles’ usual place in the sky-- they were all gone, as far as she could see. But she did see a bright green star, falling quickly towards the ground. It passed through the polymer shield that surrounded the planet, and the second shield that surrounded the Flower Meadow island park. Rapidly growing in size, the green aura fell, halting just in front of Dori.

There was a woman within the aura, a redhead in military garb, whose stature could only be called ‘rubenesque’.

“Hello, Dori,” said the stranger. “I’m Elizabeth Teller, of Earth. Also known as X-Bomb Betty.”

Once again, Dori experienced the world turning sideways. Time seemed to nearly come to a halt, as the saw the woman, and the ground beneath her, explode in slow-motion. Intense light and pure darkness co-mingled, disorienting Dori. Suddenly, she found herself a dozen miles away, on the far edge of the island, which was now only a narrow crescent of stone. The flower meadow was gone, replaced by a vast, red-hot crater, at least a half-mile deep, into which the sea was rapidly rushing. Clouds of steam billowed up, as fragments of the polymer shield rained down. Even the distant, upper polymer shield seemed warped and cracked above the island.

The extent of the destruction was beyond Dori’s ability to comprehend. As she gazed, dumbstruck, four more green shooting stars came down from the sky. The also landed on the rocky crescent, and Dori recognized them immediately.

From the wanted posters.

The statuesque green-haired woman, with eye-patterned globes over each shoulder was Cera Kesh of Earth, the New Emerald Empress.

The golden energy-being floating behind her was the creature that called itself ‘The Master’, formerly ‘The Master of Thieves’ World’.

The handsome blonde with the axe was clearly her consort and thrall, Tal Obrin of Geeqou, the New Persuader.

The giant red monster was clearly Mordecai, the anthropophagus.

The New Fatal Five. Less X-Bomb Betty, now.

“She missed?” the Empress hissed. “I can’t believe she missed! I am considering not even re-constituting her this time. I should have recruited Mad Donna instead.”

“I told you, you should have let me bring my Autom-Guards,” crackled The Master. “They would have made short work…”

“Silence, has-been!” commanded the Empress. “Persuader, butcher her for me. Feed the scaps to Mordecai.”

The Geeqouan approached Dori, his axe raised. In the gathering dusk, a golden aura seemed to glimmer around him. Violet became prominent in Dori’s aura. Against her will, she was finding him attractive. She clearly knew he was going to take his atomic axe, slice her into chunks of bloody meat, and feed her to the approaching monster, Mordecai. The prospect seemed somehow romantic. Dori smiled.

A little voice in the back of her head objected. You are feeling the wrong emotion, it seemed to say. The ugly little yellow Demon of Cowardice Dori had seen on the Rock of Eternity floated up into her mind. Her aura changed from violet to yellow. Her primary emotion changed from romance to fear. The New Persuader staggered under the psychic backlash, but quickly recovered.

“Resistant, are you?” he said. “I have met resistance before, but nothing resists the power of the Atomic Axe.” He was nearly on top of her. A massive creature, almost the size of Mordecai, dropped between them from the sky.

Dori awoke as though from a dream. Symbiote the Kurlijon, of the Legion of Super-Heroes, was standing between them, her back to Dori.

Garridan Ranzz, also known as Validus, was facing down Mordecai.

There was a Legion cruiser nearby. The Legionnaires Chip and Spunge were flying from it towards the Emerald Empress and The Master.

“A Jigsaw Beast?” said the New Persuader. “I’ve tangled with your kind before, at the Interplanetary Bank. Seven against one hardly seems fair, does it? But I know this about you creatures: all your various pieces are all female, So… tear to shreds that Xolnaran behind you!”

The monstrous Legionnaire seemed dazed, made a half-turn towards Dori, then the face on its belly spoke. “You know, before we came, we added an eighth member. He’s male, and when he’s male, we’re all male!” During this short speech, the Symbiote reached up with its right arm, detached its left arm, and whirling back around, smacked the New Persuader up the side of the head. Then its tail reached around, and picked up the Atomic Axe lying discarded beside the unconscious Geeqouan. The assemblage turned to Dori.

“That’s a trick I learned from Floyd Belkin,” said the stomach-creature. “Now, let’s head for the Legion Cruiser, and get you to safety. Symbiote picked up Dori in its arms, and loped across the rocky ground towards the cruiser.

Meanwhile, Validus had downed Mordecai with his mental lightning, and had turned his attention to The Master. Chip and Spunge were absorbing the emerald energies from the dual Eyes of Ekron.

“Careful, Spunge,” said Chip. “There’s a lot of energy here. Don’t overdose!”

“I’m OK,” said Spunge. “I haven’t had a drink all week. This is welcome refreshment.”

But Spunge was clearly staggering, becoming reckless and intoxicated with the emerald energy. Chip was occasionally reflecting green bolts of power he had absorbed back at the Empress, but her shields were assimilating them harmlessly.

The Master’s electropsionic blasts were over-matched by Validus’ mental lightning. He crumpled like a deflated balloon. Validus now turned his attention to the Empress, joining Chip and Spunge in a frontal attack. The Empress was holding her own against the three Legionnaires, but was still unable to land an effective blow. Spunge, however, was beginning to flag. The tide of the battle could quickly turn.

As Symbiote and Dori reached the cruiser, Symbiote’s detached tail flew up unseen behind the Empress, landing a crushing blow on the back of her head. The emerald energies vanished, the Empress and her Eyes falling to the ground.

Chip, Spunge, and Validus brought out energy-dampeners prepared for the four fallen villains. The Atomic Axe was placed in a stasis field. Having left Dori at the entrance to the Legion cruiser, Symbiote brought out two boxes, specifically designed to hold the two Emerald Eyes of Ekron.

“Careful, Sym,” called Validus. “The Eyes are always unpredictable!”

As the Jigsaw Beast approached the inert eyes, they suddenly woke, and flew away into space, faster than the eye could follow.

“I hate to think of those things still on the loose,” said Ennis Jahnson, who had just arrived with Bunny. Dori flung herself into his arms.

“I’m so relieved you’re all right,” said Ennis. “Bunny assured me she could hear your mind… but how…?”

Validus approached the trio from Jahnson’s Planet. “I am so sorry,” he said, “That we could not prevent this destruction. We had a tip that the New Fatal Five had been contracted to attack this world, but it came too late.”

Dori looked at the young Legionnaire. He was tall for sixteen, but still, so young. Yet Garridan’s mother had been no older when she had rejected Dori’s application to the first Legion. Dori remembered her nervousness, seeing Imra, Dirk, and Chuck as that day as authority figures. It had seemed a turning point in her life. And perhaps it was.

She looked out over the dark expanse of water that she was beginning to think of as the Gibbous Sea. This was another turning point. Two gifts from two husbands-- the Spanish Castle and the Flower Meadows-- destroyed in an instant. Symbolically, her present and past shattered, leaving only the future.

Who had commissioned the attack on Jahnson’s Planet? Yet Dori knew that the New Fatal Five were assassins-for-hire, and what Validus was not saying was, that this had in all likelihood been a direct attack on her.

Validus and Ennis had been talking, but Dori had not been following the conversation.

“I’m glad they are in custody,” Ennis was saying, “But don’t you think you came against them severely under-powered? Only four young Legionnaires against the Fatal Five?”

“Symbiote counts as eight individuals,” replied Validus. “Don’t underestimate her. Him. Them. Besides, we had a secret weapon on board.”

As if on cue, a small, blonde boy emerged from the Legion cruiser. Dori recognized the youthened Kid Psycho. “I have radioed Labyrinth, and told them we have two prisoners with severe head trauma, most likely concussions.” He turned to Ennis. “With my powers, I could easily make up for any deficiency in the others, but of course, we like to use them sparingly. Due to the recovery time.”

Symbiote loomed over them from within the cruiser hatch. “I, for one, would like to get these four safely locked away on one of the Prison Worlds, and get back to Legion World, and Headquarters. I’d like to kick back with a cold one, watch a little holo-vision, and then send our the male member of our coterie back to Kurlijo.”

“Dori, Ennis and I brought a flyer,” said Bunny. “We’ll escort you home. You must want to rest after this ordeal.”

“Actually, no, I’d like to stay here a little longer,” said Dori. “Now, don’t frown like that. Keep a psychic eye on me if you’re worried. I just… I need some time to come to terms with all this. I can find my way back soon enough.”

Bunny frowned harder. “I don’t like leaving you alone,” she said, the reasons unspoken.

“But we’ll abide by your wishes,” said Ennis. “Just don’t stay up too late.”

“I won’t,” said Dori. “I mean, I’ll be back in a couple of hours at the most.”

The cruiser and the flyer disappeared into the night, going in opposite directions.

========================================

Authors Note:

I came across an old issue of Adventure #350 recently, and it appears I got the Jigsaw Beast wrong.

In fact, she is only composed of four animals.
1) The Head-With-Wings
2) The Torso and Arms
3) The Legs and Crotch
4) The Snake-Tail

Which means the scene where Symbiote imitates Arm-Fall-Off Boy is nicht möglich.

Oh, well.

CHAPTER THREE: AFTERWARDS

Dori had seen a stony mound shaped by the blast into a rough low chair. She sat down to think. Out over the Gibbous Sea, the Aurakles were gradually returning, their eerie light reflecting in the water below. Above her, she could see robotic maintenance machines repairing the damage to the upper polymer shield.

There was another green shooting star.

Enough is enough, though Dori, and prepared to run-- or rather fly, her flight ring fully charged.

She stopped when she recognized the friendly face of Sodam Yat.

The former Last Green Lantern was accompanied by a small alien woman-- three feet tall, at the most. Her wispy white hair looked like feathers. Probably was feathers, in fact. Her skin was almost equally pale, and was as wrinkled as a shriveled apple. She peered at Dori with four small eyes.

“You just sit there, dear,” said the little old woman. “I have work to do that doesn’t involve you, but your aura makes my ring finger itch.”

“This is Bianca, the White Lantern,” said Sodam Yat solemnly. There was an almost reverent tone to his voice that Dori had never heard before. “She may be trusted implicitly.”

The Aurakles seemed to gather curiously around the White Lantern, but did not venture too close. A silvery light reached out from the old woman, expanding outwards and upwards for what was certainly miles in every direction. Then it began to gather in again, becoming a mist, then a fog, then a solid outline.

X-Bomb Betty stood on the ragged rocky crescent.

“Elizabeth Teller of Earth,” said Bianca, in a breathless voice, as though after a long exertion, “You have been foolish. Again. And this time, your companions have abandoned you. Even had she not been defeated by the Legionnaires, your Emerald Mistress had no intention of bringing you back. But I have an irritating streak of mercy, and I foresee that if you will get your act together, you might make something of yourself.”

“Elizabeth Teller of Earth,” said Sodam Yat, “As a representative of the Green Lantern Corps, I place you under arrest, and intend remand you to the nearest prison authority. Resistance is futile.”

“The other four were headed to Labyrinth,” Dori supplied helpfully.

“It would probably be better for the Galaxy if they were kept on separate worlds,” said Sodam Yat. “I believe Takron-Galtos is now a minimum-security facility. Perhaps they would accept her there, as she is now powerless.”

“I would almost allow her to go free,” said Bianca. “That irritating merciful streak, again. But when I think of all those little birdies…”

One of the Aurakles descended from the sky.

“{Bianca of Beladon. Sodam Yat of Oa. It is possible that one of our kind might merge with her, and allow her to begin a new life, free from her old memories}” it said.

“I think not,” said Bianca. “That didn’t work out very well the last time you tried it, now did it?” She turned to Betty. “Now if you can keep off that Yottaserum your father invented, I think you might do alright. But this may be your last chance.”

The redheaded woman had been silent the entire time, her head bowed. She seemed in an attitude of contrition, but Dori thought she saw a spark of malice in her eye. Handcuffed with green light constructs, and accompanied by Sodam Yat, she was marched through a glowing green space portal. The White Lantern disappeared up past the robots, through the polymer shield.

Dori was ready to go home. Then she heard a voice behind her.

“‘How can I live among this gentle, obsolescent breed of heroes, and not weep?’”

It was Jon Apollo.

“They aren’t really gone, you know,” said Jon Apollo. “The Spanish Castle, the Flower Meadow, the Island Park, even all the little birdies. They still exist. In the past, of course, but what is that to such as you and I? You know you could bring them back.”

Dori was rooted to the ground, immovable. Even her flight ring had ceased to function.

“What is it you want, demon?” asked Dori. “That’s what you are, isn’t it? A demon.”

“Reformed demon,” said Jon Apollo. “But yes. An alumnus of Heaven and Hell. Dori, the Entities are willing to teach you how to bring it all back! Imagine! What if the Legion had shown up just a few minutes sooner? What if the New Fatal Five never existed? What if Dr. Teller had never invented that nasty Yottaserum? You have the what-ifs at the tip of your fingers.”

“You did this,” said Dori. “You put out a contract on my life with the Fatal Five. To goad me into using my powers.” The world turned sideways for Dori once again. “But what if you never existed?” she said.

Jon Apollo laughed. “Oh, Dori, the Angels were created long before your Universe. Before Time had any meaning, really.” Dori could see Jon Apollo’s time-trail, reaching back to time before the Entities existed, back to the beginning of the Universe, and beyond. “You have no power over me or my kind.”

“Someone does,” said Dori. “Someone has the power to keep you from interfering in my life. Satan, perhaps? Or God!”

“Poor Lucifer is still playing with his little alehouse-by-the-side-of-the-road, and letting Hell go to hell,” said Jon Apollo. “And Wally is too much of a big-picture guy to pay any attention to the little people, like you or I. I am surprised by your attitude; I have only been trying to help you make the Universe a better place. Still, although your vexation is mis-focused, it has also almost prompted you to action. I shall have to think about this.”

Although Jon Apollo’s disappearance seemed immediate and clean, Dori caught a whiff of sulphur as he vanished. She began to think. An opponent on a first-name basis with God and the Devil. Well, she had powerful friends, too, and humankind had battled demons in the past, and won.

CHAPTER FOUR: THE PRICE OF MAGICK

Lady Mysa’s rooms on the Sorcerer’s World were modest when compared to the palace on Naltor.

There was a middle-aged man in a comfortable chair in one corner. His hair was dark red, greying on the temples. His eyes were blood-red. He neither stood nor waved when Dori entered the room.

“My name is Blood,” he said simply.

The room was large enough to hold a centaur. His human half was clean-shaven, blonde, and appeared in his early twenties. His equine half was pure white, and there was a swirl of hair in his coat, above the left flank, in the shape of a comet. In a human, it would have been a birthmark.

“And I am Biron,” said the centaur.

“Well, if we are going to use our real names,” said the red-eyed man, “I’m Jason Norwich.”

“You and I have something in common, Dori,” said the centaur. “I have also worked with the Legion of Substitute Heroes. In fact, for a short time, I was a member of the Legion proper, under the name of ‘Biron the Bowman’. My Legionnaire status was revoked retroactively, however. I didn’t meet the age requirements, for one thing.”

“‘Biron the Bowman’?” asked Dori. “I’m afraid I’ve never heard of you.”

“It was long ago,” said Biron. “A great deal of water has passed under that bridge.”

“You must be older than you look,” said Dori.

“You have no idea,” said Jason Norwich. “Old Biron here is at least twice times my age, and I am a good deal older than I appear, as well.”

“Like all magicians, they are being evasive,” said Mysa. “They can’t break the habit of misdirection. But we are here to help you with your demon problem.”

Mysa approached one of the many tables in the room, which were carved with complex geometrical figures, and indecipherable mystic runes. She took from her neck a black stone on a silver chain necklace, and placed it in the center of one of the figures. She then picked up a similar necklace from a similar figure; this stone was rainbow colored.

“I keep half of Mordru’s soul in that black opal,” said Mysa. “The demon half. I thought we might do the something similar with Jon Apollo-- you can carry him around your neck, if you like, to make sure you know where he is at all times. There is a price, of course.”

“And what could I pay you?” asked Dori. “You are royalty twice over, with holdings on Naltor worth more than all of Jahnson’s Planet.”

“Oh, it’s not I that demand the payment”, said Mysa. “It’s the magic. My magic-- all of it-- is used to contain the demon Mortrigon. He is a powerful demon-- but it is not just that. It is the magic’s price that I must be left entirely powerless-- not even able to transmute a dewdrop into a teardrop.”
“Your powers are not magic, but are inextricably linked to fundamental forces of the Universe, which amounts to the same thing. My research has convinced me that the sacrifice of the power of a single Entity of the Emotional Spectrum ought to be enough to bind him in this gem. The black aura strikes me as appropriate, do you agree?”

“I would be glad to be rid of it,” said Dori. “Two birds, as it were, with one stone.”

“She is asking your permission to work the spell,” said Biron. “With all its attendant consequences. You would be bound to Jon Apollo as his gaoler; it would not be a responsibility surrendered easily. And you would still be emotionally linked to Nekron.”

“Am I?” said Dori. “I don’t recognize every feeling… morbid?”

“It would be more subtle than that,” said Jason Norwich. “You would be sensitive to the imminent death of those around you. You might even have visions of Death herself from time to time. You would be uncomfortable in the presence of necromancers, and they would be uncomfortable with you. These would remain. But you would be unable to summon the Black Aura and its abilities, however they manifest themselves.”

“I think I understand,” said Dori.

“There is one more thing,” said Mysa. “Even with the assistance of Blood and Comet-- Jason and Biron-- I will need access to my powers. I have prepared a spell which will substitute your connection to the Entities of the Emotional Spectrum for my magic. Your powers-- all of them-- will keep Mortrigon bound, at least temporarily. We will then have enough power to summon and bind Jon Apollo into your new amulet.”

“I can live without the Entities, I think,” said Dori. “I might ask you to rid me of them permanently some day.”

Biron shook his head. Jason Norwich almost gagged. “No,” said Jason. “That would be a terrible idea. The Entities chose you for a reason, and it is dangerous to meddle too much with the fundamental forces of the Universe.”

“But… the Wizard Klavanatus seems to spend his life fighting against them,” said Dori. “Or, I got that impression.”

“Klavanatus observes them, and seeks to keep them under control,” said Jason Norwich. “He is a idealistic young fool, anyway.”

“Idealism is not the sole province of youth,” Biron commented.

It took quite a while to set everything up, even with the pre-carved omnigrams all over. Eventually, Mysa and Dori were each in chairs the middle of geometric carvings, with the table holding Mysa’s amulet at the third point of the triangle. Biron and Jason began a rapid incantation, barely audible…

…the creature had a head like a truncated pyramid, with ears like tattered eagle’s wings, and one baleful eye. Its near-humanoid body appeared to be made of sticks. It was a sickly shade of green.

“How kind of you to come visit me in my loneliness,” said Mortrigon. It climbed down from some sort of throne, apparently made of mouse skulls. It gestured towards shabby colored tinsel hung on the wall above it. “There are your powers, binding me here as effectively as any magic. The experiment is a great success! And your presence here is a wonderful lagniappe.”

Dori was shackled to some sort of cross-shaped device. The demon moved around her slowly, examining her with some care.

“Is that some sort of heroic costume?,” it asked, “It is interesting that your soul would manifest here clothed. Such admirable modesty! However, that is easily remedied.” It approached a nearby workbench, and selected a small knife with an obsidian blade. Each trouser-leg was slashed from the ankle to the knee. Mortrigon stood back to admire his handiwork. “Oh, this will be an endless source of entertainment,” it said happily. “Best not to proceed to quickly.” It looked into Dori’s eyes. “Of course, I may not be able to help myself. Incidentally, the rules of Hell apply in this realm. You can be burned, flayed, every bone broken, even drawn and quartered, and exquisitely alive and conscious the whole time, to enjoy each tweak and twinge of agony...

...Dori awoke on the floor of Mysa Nal’s apartment. Her calves were bleeding profusely.

“Oh, Dori, I am so sorry,” said Mysa. “We had no idea anything like this could possibly happen! If we had known the risk, we would never have tried it!”

Jason Norwich drew his finger along each of Dori’s calves, from the ankle to the knee. The bleeding stopped immediately. Even the blood evaporated without a trace. “A personal talent,” he explained.

“I cannot understand it,” said Biron. “This sort of magic should not have touched your soul. The energies required… should have been far more than Jason and I exercised. As it is, drawing your soul back from the stone has left us magically exhausted… and we had Mysa’s help.”

Dori looked at the centaur and the red-eyed man. They did indeed look haggard and worn, dark circles under their eyes.

“Well, we need to get rid of this,” said Mysa, holding up the rainbow stone she had selected for Dori.

“It took me over a month to put the djinn-bottle spells on that thing,” said Jason Norwich.

“All the more reason to get rid of it,” said Mysa. “We don’t want some wandering thing making its home in there without our knowing.” She tossed the stone to Biron, who crushed it under one hoof. Mysa found a broom, and swept up the fragments, tossing them into a blue fire burning in the grate.

“Are you all right?” Dori asked Mysa. “Relatively speaking, of course?”

“A little shaken,” said Dori. “You pulled me out before things went too far. I believe your demon thought I was going to be there forever.”

“My demon, yes,” said Mysa. “I suppose it is. We may still be able to help you with yours, if you want us to continue. It would require some additional research and preparation. Disaster assessment, before anything else.”

“Yes,” said Dori. “And perhaps you can find a way before he tries to have me assassinated again.”

“Are you sure Dori?” asked Biron. “We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world.”

“He attacked and destroyed the… symbols… of my past and present happiness,” said Dori. “With substantial collateral damage. If I had been in a more public place… it was bad enough. Next time, it could be much worse.”

CHAPTER FIVE: REBUILDING

“I can see rebuilding the island, and the Flower Meadow,” said Dori. “But it isn’t really necessary to duplicate the Spanish Castle. We cannot bring back the real castle anyway.”

Mon-El, Lar Gand, was meeting with Dori and Ennis in his guise as Mr. Cobb.

“I am here representing both your insurer, Vlloyds of Ventura, and their contractor, Brande Industries,” he said. “According to your contract with Vlloyds, any catastrophic damage to Jahnson’s Planet must be rebuilt as close to the original specifications as possible. This disaster certainly qualifies.”

“But how could you rebuild it anyway?” asked Dori. “Anything you constructed would be a rough guess, at best.”

“Super-eidetic memory,” said Lar Gand, tapping his temple with one finger. “I can reproduce every bump and every scar on every stone. Even each of the names in the little graveyard. We could construct it with the original sandstone, or use metamorphic granite, or even superdense basalt, if you want it sturdier. For the island itself, there are a number of small asteroids in the Tesoron system we could import that would be perfectly adequate. We would need the approval of the native Tesorons, of course.”

“I am the Tesoron’s representative in all decisions relating to aesthetic matters,” Ennis Jahnson reminded him.

“Yes, true,” said Lar Gand. “But both Vlloyds of Ventura and UPGov would be more comfortable with explicit approval from the Tesorons themselves.”

“Well, then,” said Dori. “It will take at least two decades for them to come to a decision.”

“Dori, there is a hole in your planet,” said Lar Gand. “I would think you would want it fixed.”

Dori sighed. “It just annoys me that the planet is going to be healed before I am,” she said.

Ennis reached out and took Dori’s hand.

“We could just as easily have Brande Industries zeta-beam in one of their own asteroids,” said Lar Gand. “It would be slightly more expensive, but as a percentage of the project… well, small, really. Vlloyds would be put out if replacing a hundred square miles of surface would take longer than constructing the whole planetoid.”

“Asteroidal material, similar to the island’s base, formed to mimic the sandstone, I think,” said Ennis. “That seems easiest. And I will contact the Tesorons, to see if we can shave off a few dozen kilocredits off the price. Dori is right, though. They are deep thinkers, and do not hurry their decisions.”

“I suppose I must resign myself to the inevitable,” said Dori with a sigh.

“Any further questions?” asked Lar Gand.

“I don’t need to ask questions I already know the answer to,” said Dori. “I’m curious, though. “Why the pseudonym Robert L. Cobb? Where did that come from?”

“The original Bob Cobb was a 2Oth-century Terran,” said Lar Gand. “Invented the Cobb Salad, still one of my favorite dishes.”

“And Cobb’s Brush and Reparo?” said Dori. “You seem to operate more as a construction company. Where do the brushes come in?”

“Oh, we have quite a catalog of all sorts of cleaning items,” said Lar Gand. “Mops, brooms, hairbrushes, clothes brushes, tooth brushes, shaving utensils, soaps and cleaning solutions. Domestic cleaning ‘bots as well. We clean anything, we fix anything, that’s our motto. From broken clocks to damaged reputations.”

“Broken hearts?” asked Dori.

“Perhaps, perhaps,” said Lar Gand. “I haven't tried that yet. Whatever the future holds.”

CHAPTER SIX: “CLAYFACE”

“Do you know Fungul Loy?” ‘Bunny’ Chandrasekhar asked Ennis.

“I’ve heard the name,” said Ennis. “Isn’t he Taryn Loy’s husband?”

“Yes,” said Bunny. “He’s a Bismollian, although his father is an ordinary Terran from Earth. He has an unique biology, as his wife does. His Bismollian cold-fusion metabolism is remarkably efficient. At adulthood, he realized that he could sustain himself on only the energy provided by metabolizing the hydrogen in the air he breathes. Tenzil calls him ‘Nothing-Eater-Lad’.”

“Interesting,” said Ennis.

“He runs a specialized employment agency for legal professionals,” said Bunny. “Taryn referred me to him, and set up a meeting.”

“Now, I presume,” said Ennis. “I noticed the blank space on my calendar.”

Bunny activated the WallScreen. A small, slender, blonde man appeared, wearing Levitating Lenses-- uncommon in the 31st century, but Ennis was familiar with those Kent Shakespeare wore.

“You are seeking an unusual candidate,”
F asserted. “Do you know Planet Hagen?”

“That is the home of the Clayfaces?” said Ennis.

“Actually, they consider that an offensive term,” said Fungul Loy. “The colonists of Hagen are ordinary Terrans, fully human. But there is a sort of radioactive protoplasm native to the planet merges with the colonists to form a sort of mutualistic symbiosis. Yes, in their default form they appear to me made of clay, but they are actually shape-shifters, able to assume any appearance at all.”

“You have a candidate from Hagen for our position as Policies and Procedures Manager?” asked Ennis.

“Yes, his name is Thon Mijoy”, said Fungul Loy. “Graduated from Harvard Law School on Earth, majored in Corporate Law. Top ten percent in his year on the Bar Exam. No practical experience, unfortunately. He hasn’t been able to find a position for the past three years. I’m sure it’s only because of shape-shifter prejudice. He seems even-tempered and congenial. Can’t understand why no one wants to hire him. He’s working construction on Zoon right now.”

“You have a finder’s fee?” said Ennis.

“Yes, but you get a 25% reduction because you are a client of M.E.M. Partners,” said Fungul Loy. “No special treatment: we offer that discount to all our customers. And there is a one-hundred-eighty-day trial period. If a candidate doesn’t work out in that time, we refund 100%. We seldom need to make a refund.”

“To tell you the truth, I have been doing business with a great many former Legionnaires, and friends and relatives of former Legionnaires,” said Ennis. “It all seems rather like unwholesome inbreeding. But I have been very satisfied with all their services, so I suppose I can’t really object to expanding my business dealings with you and your wife. We will give Mr. Mijoy a tryout on Jahnson’s Planet.”

CHAPTER SEVEN: THE NEW FLOWER MEADOW

Even Ennis was surprised at the speed with which Brande Industries and Cobb’s Brush and Reparo finished reconstructing the Island Park. They were able to procure on short notice the many varieties of flowers and sunbirds Ennis had carefully collected, and replant the flower meadows.

In the end, Dori was able to accept the new castle by entirely redecorating the interior, so as to make it unrecognizable. She had discovered a group of older, retired Jahnson’s Planet employees who had started a quilting club. Over the years, Jahnson’s Planet had accumulated quite a supply of lost coats, sweaters, and other clothing. Ennis gave Dori access to the older storage tesseracts, and these provided the raw materials to the Sagano Quilting Club. They, in turn, provided Dori with immense quilts and tapestries which covered the walls and floors of the New Spanish Castle.

There were also furniture-makers among the refugees Ennis was importing into his Liberty Cities, and Jahnson’s Planet proper became a leading consumer.

Of course, this all occurred over a period of years. Eventually, six or seven dozen residents of Jahnson’s Planet made the castles at Flower Meadows their home. Most were specialists in various forms of artisanal handiwork.

Portions of the meadows were eventually cleared for a small farming community. The castle was developed into a sort of artist / retirement community.

Thon Mijoy moved his offices into one of the castle’s rooms; his assistants and their families soon followed. The UPGov auditors found themselves more and more frequently directed to the Flower Meadow Island Park to have their questions answered. They became used to working their way through busy sculptors, glassblowers, carpenters, painters, and all manner of other artisans to get to the Jahnson’s World Compliance Department’s offices.

But, of course, that was all a half-dozen years later.

CHAPTER SEVEN: ONCE MORE INTO THE BREACH, DEAR FRIENDS

“Come in,” said Mysa. “Quickly.”

Biron shut the door behind Dori, and pasted a mystic ward of red wax on the frame. The centaur was wearing a sort of chain-mail-and-leather armor over his human chest and equine barrel.

Jason Norwich was also wearing chain mail beneath his ordinary clothing. They were in his home, rather darker and redder than Mysa’s light and airy apartment.

There were red and waxen wards on the windows and interior doors as well.

“We have completed our research,” said Mysa. “And it appears that the magical catastrophe the last time was no accident. Jon Apollo himself seems to have interfered in our previous spells. Which means he knew what we were doing. In face, he probably has you under surveillance.”

“Do I get armor?” asked Dori.

“You won’t need it,” said Mysa. “In fact, in the case of Jason and Biron, it is a mere precaution. Our approach is going to be less… confrontational.”

“You are just going to politely ask him to leave me alone?” asked Dori.

“We are going to convince him to recuse himself of his own free will,” said Mysa. “Yes.”

“And what do you need me to do?” asked Dori.

“Listen,” said Mysa.

They broke the seals on one of the doors, and moved to a large room paneled in some sort of soft, white wood.

“White cedar,” said Mysa. “Beautiful when polished. This room does not actually exist on the Sorcerer’s World, but in a little pocket dimension outside of Jason’s house.”

There was an pentagram on the floor, of inlaid, welded iron. Mystic symbols had been burned into the wooden floor as well. Biron moved to the center, and removed the red waxen ward at the center.

“Jon Apollo, we know you are listening.” said the centaur.

Jason Norwich opened a large, ornate book, lit a candle, and rang a bell. Jon Apollo appeared in the center of the pentagram.

“Oh, dear,” said the demon, smiling. “You appear to have entrapped me.”

Mysa explained to Dori: “By addressing him by his name, Biron was requesting a response. The center of the pentagram is the only place he can appear in this room. The bell, book, and candle represent time: he was invited to respond between the opening of book, and the ringing of the bell. He must remain as long as the candle burns. But this is weak magic. It depends on his cooperation. We could not have compelled him to appear.”

“Oh, I am happy to converse with you little sorcerers,” said Jon Apollo. “What is it you wish to know? A prophecy of your future, perhaps? A combination against Mordru? I understand he lost the last election.”

“Elachistos! Nos Abdico E Vita In Totum!” shouted Biron, his arms stretched over his head. Mysa rang the bell, and snuffed out the candle. Jon Apollo’s face contorted in rage.

“How did you learn my name?” growled the demon. He regained control of himself. “Mysa, I am afraid you and your friends have made a rather serious error in your banishing spell.”

“Oh, Jon,” said Mysa. “Everyone knows who you are. You’re quite famous in Hell, don’t you know? I only had to ask the real Apollyon, and he was happy to tell me.” She turned to Mysa. “Biron expended a great deal of magical energy in that incantation. Jon Apollo must be experiencing a tremendous compulsion to leave. The bell, book, and candle again represent time: he may leave at the extinguishing of the candle, and must leave between the ringing of the bell, and the closing of the book.”

“But, dear Mysa,” said Jon Apollo, “It was you who rang the bell, and put out the candle, and you are peculiarly unable to perform magic. The spell in incomplete.”

“Indeed it is,” said Mysa. “And yet, who could extinguish the candle now? The flame is gone.”

“You are mocking me,” said Jon Apollo, “With this inferior, incomplete, imitation magic. I will not stand here and put up with it.”

“By all means,” said Mysa. “Walk over here, ring the bell, and close the book yourself.”

“And how am I to do that?” asked Jon Apollo, “With an iron pentagram enclosing me?”

Jason Norwich displayed a chisel and hammer he had been holding. With a single blow, he cracked on edge of the pentagram.

“We are asking him to banish himself,” said Mysa. “And he knows that.”

Jon Apollo broke into a wide grin. Flames shot from his palms, targeting Jason and Biron. They seemed to hit a wall at the edge of the pentagram; it briefly glowed red-hot.

“There is one other thing,” said Mysa. “A demon cannot depart after being summoned, as long as anyone us is looking at it. They must literally vanish in the blink of an eye. So as long as we keep looking at him, the pentagram holds; he is unable to complete the spell, even if he wanted to. So he conjures flames to startle us. Other demons assume horrible shapes, in an effort to make the sorcerer look away.”

“Well, we have done what we can here,” said Jason Norwich. “I suggest we leave.”

“Can’t I tell him?” said Mysa.

“He will discover it for himself, soon enough,” said Jason.

“Allow her her little pleasures,” said Biron. “Dori must be curious, too.”

“Look behind you, Jon,” said Mysa.

In the shadows on the other side of the room, towering up to the high ceiling, stood a huge dog, with massive eyes as big as mill-wheels.

http://hca.gilead.org.il/tinderbx.html

“We procured a Sphinx Hound,” said Mysa. “They sleep for a thousand years at a time, with their eyes open. They never blink. This one has been asleep for a little under a century. Jon Apollo will be perfectly free to leave the pentagram, complete the spell, and banish himself from our lives, once the Sphinx Hound wakes up and looks around.”

“Effectively, he is trapped in this little room for the next nine centuries,” said Jason Norwich. “And as the banishment spell we used was incomplete and corrupt, he can only leave voluntarily; no other magic-worker, demon or sorcerer, can free him.”

“There will be a price to pay,” said Jon Apollo.

“Yes, you can come looking for us,” said Mysa, “Jason and Biron in the World, perhaps. Dori and I in Heaven or Hell, as it may be. But while you are cooling your heels here, remember this: the four of us have made you very uncomfortable. I think after a few centuries, this spell is going to start to itch terribly.”

“And we will only be more adept the next time we meet,” said Biron.

The exited the little white room. Biron placed another red wax ward on the little door; Jason Norwich made some sort of magical pass, and the door itself vanished, leaving a bare wall behind.

Jason held up a small crystal glove, a tiny white cedar box in the center.

“Is he really out of my life now?” asked Dori. "At least for the present?"

“Yes, he really is. Not the full nine centuries, certainly,” said Jason. “I expect he will find a loophole. Demons are, almost by definition, devious.”

“But we may be able to collect allies in the meantime,” said Mysa. “It is astonishing how little anyone cares about minor demons like Jon Apollo. Apollyon, though, once I reminded him, is rather unhappy with Jon stealing his name.”

“Not my favorite sort of ally,” said Jason Norwich.

“It is too bad he has fixated on the Entities of the Emotional Spectrum as a source of increasing his power,” said Biron. “That has never turned out well in the past.”

“At the very least, we have given you some respite for a few decades,” Mysa told Dori.

“The question is,” said Dori, “What other enemies have I made out there that I don’t know about?”

Poor Dori! The Entities are like evil groupies chasing her around. She's living the 31st century's Perils of Pauline.

The Empress seems to be surrounded by lower companions, as usual. But trust her to come up with the idea that X-Bomb Betty could be reconstituted, at her pleasure.

It makes so much sense that an insurance company would be based on Ventura. It's all a gamble.

Nice to have friends like Lar Gand and Brande Industries to call in for the rebuild. Oh, the future!

What a clever trick they used on Jon Apollo!

An interesting Fatal Five, and an interesting Legion. X-Bomb Betty being reconstituted by the Empress, such an impressive tactic! And Symbiote is quite interesting. Good to see Kid Psycho in the big leagues.