Legion World Forums LEGION OUTPOST Bits o' Legionnaire Business A Few Who's Who? In My Earth-K2 Intrapersonal Paracosm

So I was considering that there may be some here interested in what is happening my ‘Young Legion’ series, but who do not want to slog through more than a hundred ‘chapters’.

Or not.

Here’s a summary.

Earth-K2 takes place some thirty years in the future, following Issue #23 when the Legion was disbanded.

The past is the history Retroboot Legion. Except that Legion of Three Worlds is somewhat problematic, due to time paradoxes. But most of what happened there happened.

Everyone who was dead or missing at the end of Issue #23, stayed dead or missing.

In addition, since then, Reep Daggle, Lluornu Durgo, and Blok have died.

5YG / 5YL did not take place, but there are echoes in this reality.

The Legion was never re-formed.

Until now.

THE SUPER-HERO CLUB
The Super-Hero Club was organized to revive the Legend of the Legion. It has been difficult, to say the least.
Currently, mostly between the ages of fourteen and seventeen.




Top Row, Left to Right:

(1) Dorrit Ardeen Ranzz of Winath (Amartan System), ‘Saturn Girl’
Daughter of Garth and Imra Ardeen-Ranzz, she is about fifteen years younger than her older brothers, Garridan and Graym. She has inherited her mother’s telepathic prowess.
Dorrit wears the green-and-yellow outfit her mother popularized in Adventure #247.
Her only concession to current fashion is a pair of yellow leggings, and she has removed the ‘Saturn Girl’ code-name emblazoned on the blouse.

(2) Dacey Ranzz of Winath, Lightning Lass’
Dorrit’s twin, and technically the eldest Ranzz daughter, she has inherited her father’s lightning powers. Her Aunt Ayla and (reformed) Uncle Mekt have similar abilities.
Dacey and Dorrit also share a psionic link which is perfectly imperceptible to other telepaths, either human or machine.
Also a typical ginger, Dacey wears the original red lightning-emblazoned jersey and khaki jodhpurs her father wore as ‘Lightning Boy’ in Adventure #247. In a concession to current fashion, she has removed the code-name emblazoned across the chest.

(3) Pol Hu Krinn of Winath (mixed Braalien / Kathooni heritage), ‘Cosmic Boy’
Only son of Rokk and Lydda Krinn, he is around two years younger than the Ranzz girls. Like all Braaliens, he possesses magnetokinetic powers and quantum magno-vision. Like all Kathooni, he possesses infrared vision which allows him to see in pitch blackness. Like all Kathooni, he can also see vague outlines of warm objects-- like people-- on the other side of walls, making his infrared vision a kind of limited x-ray vision.
Pol very strongly resembles both his uncle and father when they were his age. He wears the original, half-armored ‘Cosmic Boy’ outfit his father wore in Adventure #247-- without the helmet, or code-name emblazoned on the chestplate.
He does, however have the shirts in three colors: the original ‘pale scarlet’ (or ‘dusky rose’), a second in teal, and a third in lavender.

(4) ‘Chameleon’ of Durla
His race on Durla have no names, but his United Planets Universal Alphanumeric Designation (UPUAD) is #U0373-WV451
He has the typical appearance of the registered United Planets Durlan Default Form.
Originally presenting without clothing, (although ‘smooth’, with no evident primary or secondary sexual characteristics) he has now taken to ‘wearing’ a Martian Zo’Ok flower in the form of Reep Daggle’s blue-and-white chainmail-shirt outfit.

(5) Eluia Puira M’Kord of Orzde (Irulan System), ‘Shrinking Violet’
She is a big, strapping farmgirl, easily the tallest and widest of the Super Hero Club.
If anyone were to draw her, I would expect her to appear pseudo-Polynesian: Samoan, perhaps, or Maori.
She is a fan of 29th- and 30th- century detective novels, and fancies herself something of a detective.
She wears an outfit similar to Salu Digby’s original short-dress-with-wide-lapels, but in sky-blue, rather than Salu's chartreuse. In a concession to current fashion, she has added blue leggings.

(6) Hillarie Kan Norjay of Bismoll, ‘Matter-Eater Lad Two’
Were you to take a time machine, and bring young Tenzil Kem and Hillarie Norjay together, they would seem virtually identical, both in costume and countenance, with the exception that Hillarie would be about six inches taller, and proportionally more slim.
As Hillarie is about a foot taller than Kylda, they make quite a couple.

Bottom Row, Left to Right:
(1) Irinia Iwin Apero of Bgztl, ‘Phantom Girl’
(2 - 4) Ffiona, Ffarrah & Ffey Ffarr of Carggg, ‘the Triplicate Girls’
The Ffarr girls are from an area of Carggg originally colonized primarily by settlers of Japanese descent. Physically, the three are virtually indistinguishable, except each has a small tattoo at the base of the neck, just below the left jugular vein. Ffiona has an interlac ‘i’, Ffarrah an ‘a’, and Ffey an ‘e’. When they merge, these tattoos form a symbol similar to the astrological sign ‘Libra’.
The Triplicates suffer from a condition which makes it almost unbearable to live in merged form.
Actually aged ll ½, due to the accelerated aging caused by remaining separated, they physically appear to be about 17.
In another year Earth-standard, they will look twenty.
The girls wear outfits almost identical to Lluornu Durgo’s original purple-and-orange caped outfit. In a concession to current fashion, they have added orange leggings. Their outfits are slightly different hues: Ffarrah’s is more violet and gold, while Ffey wears lavender and peach.

(5) Kylda Sky Zimm of Tharr, ‘Polar Lass’
She is slender, blonde and blue-eyed, a Terran of evidently Scandinavian descent. Like all Tharrans, she is small in stature; at age 14, she is not even five feet tall. She wears the traditional mauve-and-white, fur-trimmed costume of her people.
Kylda herself is rather quiet, and perhaps that is why she was attracted to Matter-Eater Lad Two’s naturally outgoing personality and effortless eccentricity.
The two face one insurmountable obstacle. Their metabolisms are wholly incompatible. Kylda is almost certain to one day have her heart broken, and wind up marrying some perfectly ordinary Tharran boy.

(6) Txarlz Luz 4523 of Colu (Yod System), ‘Ten’
A level-ten Coluan intellect, age 7½, Earth Standard. He is on Mars at the sufferance of his parents and Adult Guardian, Renlo Tagor.
If you were to ask him, he would happily tell you his UPUAD is 101011010110111000001101010010011011011101100110110101111011101.
Ten wears a simple violet-and-lavender one-piece jumpsuit, with a stylized ten of diamonds playing card emblazoned over the left breast pocket.
Aside from his coloring: green skin (actually chartreuse with many teal freckles), yellow sclera, and bald head, he looks like an ordinary Terran second-grader.
(He shaves his head. His hair is naturally pea-green.)
He is always accompanied by his robo-nanny, which has the appearance of a featureless silver sphere. His first nanny was named ‘Mr. Andrews’, but was destroyed by Mordru. His second, and current nanny, is named ‘Vesta’.




Newer members:

Star-Woman
Kallor Nal, Planetary Champion of Naltor and New Titan
Her father, Thom Kallor, died before she was born, when the Legion HQ collapsed in Legion#18. Her mother, Nura Nal, has always doted on her, and as far as in her power, has given her whatever she wanted. As Nura has ascended to the High Seership, that new includes pretty much anything.
Kallor has all the power of precognition, plus all the ‘electro-cometary’ abilities of any Star Boy in any continuity: the Superboy suite, gravity control powers, lightning vision, flame breath, and so on. She has not yet displayed the ability to travel between alternate universes, but she is not yet thirty years old.
She also recently came into the possession of a star-rod, like the one used by the 20th-century Starman. (Ted Knight)



Korvea Mallor
Planetary Champion-in-Training of Talok VIII
A cousin of Tasmia and Grev Mallor, she is also a descendant of the patriarch Sarven Mallor.
Stereotypical blue Talokan appearance, but with a shock of cherry-red hair. (This is not too uncommon.)
As Mallorites are always trying to ‘improve the stock’, her father married a Shelbonite.
Korvea was one ‘chosen’ by the Shadow Cave, endowed with the Shadow Power.
She was sent to Mars, to join the Super-Hero Club, as part of her training as the future Shadow Champion. She was personally somewhat insulted by this, but has begun to feel more at home with the team.
Due to her alien heritage, Korvea is also able to assume the alternate form of a large black bird with a red crest. In addition, she is able to assume any number of intermediate forms, manifesting beak, claws, feathers, or wings, for example, independently.
Korvea frequently manifests her natural form with large, black wings.

Some questions that come to mind:

Do Dacey and Dorritt, having grown up on Winath with the whole "twins must be identical as much as possible" theme, have issues with their having different powers? Although, the whole twin-ness thing seemed milder in the Retroboot compared to the Reboot, so maybe not.

I didn't know Kathoonis had such good vision! I knew they could see in the dark, but the expanded applications are interesting.

Nice to see more representation of other real-life, modern-day ethnicities. Samoan, Japanese...

Also glad that not everyone is the descendant of a former Legionnaire.

Your Carggites are probably the only ones in the universe who can survive triplicated indefinitely. Unless, they still need to merge from time to time to survive? The tattoo is a nice touch

I think you missed adding a mini-bio for Phantom Girl?

Alas, the ME-Lad / Polar Lass romance is doomed to fail. That whole pesky incompatible body systems thing was bound to become a problem for someone eventually.

Star-Woman is incredibly formidable.

Korvea's initial resentment at joining this club mirrors Reboot Tasmia. Glad she's dealing with it better though.

Always good to see Dacey and Dorrit get a mention.

Well, the Ranzzes have always been a little outré on Winath. And the Ranzz kids are mestizo anyway, being half-Titan. So although Winathans may look at them a little askance, they have learned to live with it. And Lightning Ring Farms itself is a sort of an isolated little community of its own, what with Garth and Imra, Graym and Yves, Garridan, Dacey, Dorrit, Mekt, Rokk, Lydda, Pol, Salu and Ayla and their little daughter Violet, various itinerant off-planet farmworkers, the occasional Antarean Protean, Zuunian androids, and pairs of Dxaundian Wingfish.



Well, if you can see into the infrared, you are sure to see something more than usual.





But they are not exactly thriving. As alluded to, Cargggans age three times as fast when separated; the girls are aging to death. And there are other problems with being apart: notice that they are all together, not separated across the U.P. No doubt they need to merge occasionally in order to prevent more serious illness or disability. They can’t live together, and they can’t live apart.



I can’t believe I left out Irinia! One of my favorite characters! I will fix that shortly.



Well, with Humanity spread out and colonizing the stars, including some really odd ecosystems, it would be reasonable to expect that Terrans would begin to speciate.



Kallor didn’t show up until Chapter Seventy-Seven, but I found I needed some way to get the Club off Mars. The choices were:

An RJ Brande-like financier
An overwhelmingly powerful Superboy-like character

I almost went with a time-travelling teenaged Ariella Kent.



This is not the same Dacey and Dorrit as seen in 5YL… because in the Earth-K2 Universe, 5YG and 5YL never happened. These two are perhaps ten years younger than their 5YL counterparts. Garridan and Graym are full-grown men, graduates of Agricultural College, and Graym is already married.

Well, i was going to edit the original post, but decided instead to admit to a senior moment and post here:

Phantom Girl (Irinia Apero of Bgztl)
Bgztlrs are humanoid, but not exactly human-- that is, not Terran.
There is a race of Bgztlrs with skin is deep, indigo blue, almost black, with tightly curled, golden-yellow hair. Irinia wears her cut short.
As recently as two hundred years ago, these Pbazo were violently discriminated against. To be called Pbazo is considered an insult: there is no way of referring to racial differences in positive terms on Bgztl. The mere suggestion that the physical appearance of an individual might be related to intrinsic or social characteristics is considered insulting and vulgar. (Nevertheless some few Bgztlrs still harbor this opinion.)
There is also a third ‘race’ on Bgztl with pale blue skin. (The Hyalt. Now you know two Bgztlr curse words.)
Irinia’s parents are devout followers of a religious philosophy known as Quotidianism. Its fundamental tenet is that the ordinary, mundane activities of life, performed with appropriate mindfulness, gives life transcendent meaning. However, it is actually extremely strict and authoritarian in practive. Dating, dancing, singing, all games and most books are banned. Manual labor (without machines), especially housework, is elevated to a sacrament.
All this was at odds with Irinia’s naturally outgoing, gregarious, and inquisitive personality. When she was fourteen, she walked away from her family, and did not look back.
She wears the original ‘Phantom Girl’ costume, all-white, with boots and short cape, and the Interlac ‘P’ (a mirror-reversed ‘D|”) as a chest emblem.
She is something of a big sister to Ten, and is currently dating Ronin Nah, the son of Jo and Tinya. Their family lives on Gzbk, the Bgztlrside equivalent of Mars.

Ah, leaves her parents because of her beliefs. I like her very much already

I like that, as a Pbazo, Irinia is almost like a photo-negative of Tinya (who traditionally has black hair and, usually, if not always, pale skin). Dark skin and lighter colored hair makes for a cool contrast, particularly with her wearing Tinya's traditional white costume.

The world building on Bgtzl (such as there being a Mars analogue in 'Bgtzl-space') is awesome. It's odd that the Legion in it's many decades of history, has explored Bgtzl so rarely, compared to worlds of 'newer' Legionnaires like Teall or Orando or Starhaven.

I've toyed with Bgtzlns being the remnants of a human society that warrred with Atlantis, back in the (pre-antediluvian days), perhaps the ancestors of the Aymara people of South America, and was scourged from the face of the Earth by a force that trapped them in this phantom realm (and that, by the 20th century, was known as 'the Meta-Zone,' home universe of Shade, the Changing Man).

I've also toyed with an even more out-there version of Bgtzl in which the denizens of that 'dimension' lie about their true nature, because they don't think that the citizens of the UP are quite ready to accept that they are *the literal spirits of the dead,* and that 'Bgtzl' is the afterlife... ('Tinya Wazoo' is, like all Bgtzln names, a made up nonsense name, to prevent anyone from recognizing her from historical records.) It would be funny for one of the 'liveliest' Legionnaires to be, yanno, dead.

I like the different races of Bgtzl, it's a nice change from all the conveniently homogenous worlds that exist in the rest of all of fiction ever (which I am guilty of doing as well)

Also, the phantoms as actual phantoms is an awesome idea, Set! I dunno if I love it for original recipe Legion so much, but it would have been a lot cooler than space cadet Phantom Girl we got in the threeboot constantly interacting with people in two worlds (in that one spotlight story which was then never mentioned again because I guess the writers realised it would make her a nightmare to write)

Yeah, that version seemed like a headache waiting to happen, to me. What if she attempts to 'phase' through a building, only to find that there's *also* a building there in Bgtzl? Boom, she's stuck, since she doesn't actually 'walk through things' so much as transfer to her alternate world, where, oh-so-terribly conveniently, there's never a wall (or car, or person, or radioactive dump, or blast furnace, or ocean, or empty vacuum) occupying that space! Ugh!

The notion of other races on Bgtzl, as Klar has posited, is also super-cool because it makes the world less monolithic than is the sci-fi standard. Too often sci-fi worlds are all the same. This one is the ice planet. This one's all oceans. That one's all desert. Dagobah is a giant swamp. And, obviously, all Klingons, Wookies, Talokkians, etc. speak the same language, over their entire planet, even though we have *all* the climate zones, and 250 plus languages on this one boring old Earth... (Not to mention most alien worlds seeming to have one dominant planetary government, a single religion, etc.)

I fell into the same trap with my 'future Metazone/Aymara' version of Bgtzl, since it would still be kind of mono-cultural and mono-linguistic and mono-racial. Klar has wonderfully taken it a step further, with three distinct ethnicities. That makes for a lot more room for different Bgtzln related stories than if everyone looked and acted and spoke and dressed exactly like Tinya, Phantom Lad, that pirate captain with the phasing ship, etc. (Who, IIRC, have all been caucasian with blue eyes, black hair and white jumpsuits, like they came out of a clone factory...)

It is not that unusual for alien races to have differing appearances.

There were African-looking Kryptonians on Vathlo Island.

J’Onn J’Onzz’s Mars had green, white, and yellow Martians.

(Edgar Rice Burrough’s Barsoom had even greater diversity.)

The Bokkite Saturnians came in red and white.

Dominators have been depicted as both yellow-skinned and pale blue.

The Khunds come in pink, peach, and gold.

Talokans come in at least two colors: pale turquoise and aquamarine.

Tartarus has at two races: one diabolic in appearance, the other more like zombies.

Marvels Kree come in pink and blue.

Star Trek’s Klingons have been all over the place in appearance over the years. For some reason, this has been a problem for unimaginative fanboys. The writers have come up with increasingly convoluted (and unnecessary, IMHO) explanations for this.The Federation has humans, Ferengi, Tellarites, Andorians, and black and gold Vulcans. Why shouldn’t the Klingon Empire be just as diverse?

Interestingly, if present trends of travel and association continue, by the 31st century, humans will be of a far less diverse appearance. They will all look mostly Filipino, with recessive traits such as blue eyes, red hair, and albinism showing up occasionally. Not that there will be less genetic diversity: West Africans may all look African, but have greater genotypical variation than anywhere else in the world. Specifically, any two random West Africans are more genetically diverse than any two random individuals from anywhere else in the world. An Eskimo vs. an Afghani, or a Venezuelan vs. a Norwegian for example.

Flash Fact: My wife used to say, “The interesting thing about you is, you find boring things interesting.”

THE SUPER-VILLAIN CLUB

The Super-Villain Club was an official registered Student Organization at Metropolis University, consisting of five members.
The declared purpose of the club was raising political awareness among the Student Body.
The name was chosen for its irony. First, three of the members are actual children of reformed so-called ‘super-villains’, a fourth has metahuman abilities. Second, the group opposes the resurgent xenophobia within EarthGov, so they are theoretically fighting the ‘good’ guys, including EarthGov’s representatives, the Justice League of Earth.
Justice League Earth - 3O19

A peaceful protest briefly turned violent, and the members of the Super-Villain Club were held accountable. Star-Woman and Ten came to their defense (Star-Woman bears a grudge against the JLE’s leader, Dr. Shakespeare.)
In a bizarre ruling, while awaiting trial, Menaleas was deported back to Talok VIII, and the remaining four ‘villains’ were remanded to the custody and guardianship of the Super-Hero Club on Mars. Since the majority of the Super-Hero Club is five to seven years younger than the Super-Villain Club, this has been a rather uncomfortable arrangement.
(They were also suspended from the University until the matter could be resolved in court. It has been taking a suspiciously long time.)
The SVC has no interest in going adventuring with the SHC. They stay behind and take care of the Clubhouse.

Kimota Grezz of Earth (Black Flame)
Daughter of Kort Grezz (Magno Lad) and Meta Ulnoor (Esper Lass)
Her parents run K&M Fashion & Flower Boutique, located near the Confederation Bridge in northern Metropolis.
Her telepathic and telekinetic powers are so feeble she would have a hard time qualifying for the Legion of Substitute Heroes Auxiliary.
She bears a fairly strong resemblance to the 2Oth-century Zora Vi-Lar, and has replicated her indigo-and-red costume.
She was a Business and Economics major at Metropolis University.

Menaleas Mallor of Talok VIII (b]Prince Talok[/b])
Son of Tasmia Mallor.
He was rejected by the Cave of Shadows, so despite having two parents who were Legionnaires, he has no remarkable powers or abilities. His Uncle Grev is First Champion Emeritus of Talok, the Chief Executive of the Planetary Government.
Menaleas was majoring in Agriculture at MU before his expulsion, with a focus on hydroponics.

Atta-Karr of Earth (Razor)
Son of Ron-Karr and Ki-Lan (the Silver Slasher).
He has the combined abilities of both his parents, able to ‘flatten’ any part of his body into a hard, silvery knife-like edge.
He bears a strong resemblance to his father, but has prematurely silvery-gray hair.
Before his exile, he was a theological student at Metropolis University.
His parents currently serve as Night Pastors at the First Church of Neptune on Earth, in the Maldives.
(The First Churches of Neptune is are open twenty-four hours a day, providing counsel, comfort, solace, food and drink, sobering-up services, and even sleeping quarters to those in need.)

Anne Foxmoor of Earth (Evil-Eye Annie)
Daughter of Rob and May Foxmoor, her ancestors have lived on Earth-- and nowhere else-- since the first Earth creature emerged from the slime of the primordial ooze. No one in her family before her has ever displayed the least metahuman tendencies. The strength of her power to ‘curse’ others is a function of her emotional state. A nonchalant curse might cause you to lose your keys, a curse delivered in the full flush of rage might cause you to be hit by a falling piano. Not that that has ever happened.
She is cheerful, zaftig, blonde-and-blue-eyed, with a wide face, prominent cheeks and a ready smile.
She has been taking the Pre-Med (Terran) course at Metropolis University, but is beginning to doubt her passion for becoming a doctor.

‘Bungle Spelling’ of Earth (Villian the Sorcerer)
Another Pure Terran, Bungle traveled to Tharn, the Sorcerer’s World, to study Magic-- completely contrary to his devout parent’s wishes, who believe Magic to the the Work of Demons. They are not entirely wrong.
Bungle, however, proved entirely inept at his studies, failing even at consistently performing simple candle-lighting spells. Expelled from University, he returned to Earth, where he is a History major at Metropolis University. He has also become interested in stage magic, specializing in close-up sleight-of-hand (prestidigitation) and has become quite accomplished. He sometimes entertains (for pay) at parties.
Bungle is dark, slender and somewhat awkward-looking, with large elbows and knees. His hair is long and often unkempt, and he is usually incompletely shaved, although he has never grown a full-on beard or mustaches. His only attempt as a costume is an old burgundy magician’s cape with a smattering of yellow five-pointed stars..
‘Bungle Spelling’ is actually a magical alias. Although it has not yet been revealed in-story, his ‘true’ name (the one given to him by his parents) is Bandar Samad. (His parents are Mehmed and Maryam Samad.)

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

I have a sincere fondness for the "Villains" as inoffensive underachievers. It's a rare attribute in super-hero stories.

METROPOLIS IN THE EARTH-K PARACOSM

The City of Metropolis on the northwestern continent of Earth is bounded by the Missouri River on the West, the Atlantic Ocean on the East, the Gulf of Mexico on the South, and extends partway into what was once Canada on the North. (It excludes Florida, which is underwater.)

It is one of the three largest cities on Earth, (the other two being Greater Beijing in China, and the Hyperbad-Mumbai Urban Corridor in India)

Metropolis has a population of approximately ten billion individuals (nearly one-half of which are non-Terran aliens), about one-tenth the population of Earth. The precise population fluctuates wildly, as there are, on average, two hundred thousand birth and deaths each day, and ten times that amount of immigration and emigration.

The town of New Metropolis on Mars was the first city built near the Hellas Planitia region, now the New Hellespont Sea. Built on the western coast, it was expected to attract large numbers of immigrants to Mars, as well as substantial corporate investment. Sadly, it was Rabe City on the eastern seacoast, over one thousand miles away, which experienced that rapid and sustained growth.

At the present time, New Metropolis has a population of just under 65,000, about half of which are over the age of seventy-five. There are four small Elementary Schools, and a single Middle School. (As in much of the UP, attendance at High School is voluntary, and usually through electronic media.)

Popular tourist attractions include the Superman Museum (a scaled-down version of the one on Earth, mostly consisting of holographic booths) and the J’Onn J’Onzz Memorial Gardens near the public library.

The Super Hero Clubhouse is a converted Legion Cruiser Mark II, lying horizontally on on a small cliff no more than five meters high, about two miles east, beyond the city limits of New Metropolis, overlooking a glass beach on the shore of the New Hellespont. A fully contained environment, with most of its batteries still producing power, it makes a neat little two-story apartment complex with a couple of dozen staterooms. Ten’s room has an ocean view.

To the west lies a brief expanse of sandy soil, scrub grasslands, and a small wooded area, before the road proper back to New Metropolis begins.

The SHC has constructed a small parking lot nearby, large enough to accommodate a few mid-sized vehicles. The Ranzz's interstellar runabout is parked there, as well as Star-Womans space-van.

THE NEW LEGION OF SUPER-PETS

The various Members of the Super-Hero Club left some pets left when they came to Mars.

Molly, Irinia’s Bgztlr Ghost Dove

Spike, (aka Ellis Dee) an Orzdean Hallucigenius, the M’Kord family pet
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5LMG0fEBb8

Kappa-Omicron, which he built as a pre-school assignment at age 3, was Ten’s robot monkey.
(He has been working on-and-off on its successor, Kappa-Omicron-Two, but it isn’t a very high priority.)

Ricky and Lucy were Dacey’s Dxaundii Wingfish

Kylda’s family was occasionally visited by a feral Tharrite Fire-Cat from the surface. You know how it is with cats.

Chameleon has bonded with a Martian Zo’Ok, which now serves as his costume.

THE APPRENTICES OF THARN

In Part One, the Members of the Super-Hero Club were kidnapped by Mordru, and trapped in an alternate Universe on Tharn, the second Sorcerer’s World. They were peripherally involved in the collapse of his government, although most of the credit goes to Mysa Nal and Glorith II (now known as Moonflower), who had been kidnapped from the other-dimensional world of Zerox, the first Sorcerer’s World.

Whew.

The First Coventry, in gratitude, or possibly out of a sense of guilt, sent their Apprentices to befriend and entertain the Super-Hero Club Members.
They also placed a powerful magical shield which repels mana from an area of about ten thousand square around the SHC clubhouse.

1) Princess Pollita, the Apprentice of Madam Capella, is the current custodian of Chanticleer, a magical green rooster who is able to teleport himself and other whenever he crows.

2) Jonathan Falstaff, Apprentice to Falco Columbarius.
Falco is a specialist in all sorts of useful household magicks. Jon he has been instructed in Food magicks, also called Victuamancy, or Shi Xue Mó Shù.
Essentially, he can conjure food of virtually any size and amount, and at any reasonable temperature.

3) The girl called Zauberlein is a dark-haired and dark-eyed girl with a greenish cast to her skin. She dresses in stereotypical witch’s black, complete with pointed hat and witch’s shawl. She has a rather mysterious and somewhat spooky air about her.
She has been studying Broom Magic, with Doctor Leitseid.

4) La Bruja Amarilla is a young blonde-haired girl who dresses in a costume of yellow and gold. She has a golden ‘dia de los muertos’-like skull painted-- or possibly tattooed-- on her face.
She is the apprentice of Mariam Abraxas, but is commonly called Amy. She has been studying mental magic: telepathy, clairvoyance, psychokinesis, and illusion.

5) Dressed in colorful Romani garb, the girl called ‘The Occultress’ may or may not be of that heritage.
(It is a common aphorism that all magicians are liars, and their appearance is meant to misdirect.)
She has been receiving instruction from Counselor Rincewind. Her specialty is Soothsaying, Divination and Fortune-Telling.

6) Sohai Haydn is training to become a master of Magical Martial Arts, apprenticed under The Sensei.
Each time a new art is mastered, he able to manifest his scholarship as a ‘Qi Spirit Warrior.

7) Once upon a time, a young Branx warrior who stole a Euphorixan Spellbook in an attempt to learn Magic. Unfortunately, he was unaware of the forces he was dealing with, and exchanged minds-- and possibly souls-- with a 21st-century seventy-five-year old Earthman.
Exiled from Emana Branx, the Earthman-in-a-young-Branx-Warrior body traveled to the Sorcerer’s world, in an attempt to undo the spell, and return to his own time and body. This has, so far, proven impossible. In the meantime, he studying Bushido, the ‘Way of the Warrior’ with the Sensei, in an attempt to learn control over his strange, violent Branx body. He really has no special abilities to display other than being big and strong with talons, fangs, and four arms.
The original young Branx was called Lodarthon Ogreich, but the amalgam calls himself Strebor.

SHC Rejects:

Just as with the original Legion, there are try-outs, and and there are rejects.

Rejects Part One

(1) Phrenologiax-2 (Frenq Goll, Jr. of Xanthu)

(2) Blue Beetle 3OOO (Gregor Samsa of Planet Kafko)

(3) The New Stone Boy (Pierre Kern of Zwen)

(4) Frankenstein-Eleven (Keturah of Tartarus)

(5) Lambda Lass: Ojina Einstein of Mondeaux
(Her power of warping space was actually pretty impressive. Unfortunately, she is kind of a psychopathic sociopath.)

(6) Variable Lad 2 (Ghurwil Tanr’r of Jaquaa)

(6 ½) Super-Cutification-Of-Animals Lass (Jenifer Jahnson of Jahnson’s Planet) appeared only in an "imaginary story".

(7) Mass Master (Ted Rivolkane of Weber’s World)
(He is the chimaeric son of Jed Rikane (Power Boy) and Tel Vole (Gravity Kid).)
(Ted probably would have been admitted to the SHC, had they not suddenly been kidnapped by Mordru in the middle of his tryout, leaving him standing all alone on the Martian sands. He has since moved on.)

Rejects Part Two

(8) “Al Gimnon, Colossal Boy of Earth”
(9) “Mork Dirgna, Sun Boy of Earth”
(10) “Orr Vellum, Karate Kid of Earth”
(11) “Tuck Chain, Bouncing Boy of Earth”
(12) “Niles Lord, Invisible Kid of Earth”
(13) “Nandru Olson, Ferro Lad of Earth”
All magical creations of a 5th-dimensional Zrfffn imp named (14) Trblmkyr. They ceased to exist when he returned to the 5th dimension.

Special Mention
(15) Jaan Rehtu of Pretzor, “Aqua Boy”
Actually admitted into the SHC. Left after two weeks because he found it too boring.

Rejects Part Three

(16) Antenna Girl: (Thalassa of Andor)

(17) Three-Eyed Girl: (Samantha Trinayana of Wham)
(aka Three-Eyed Sam from the Planet Wham!)

(18) The Color Twins: (Tianna and Dynn Gozo of Exxor)

(19)The Indefatigable Girl: (Sable Incán of Earth)

(20) Loris Lad: (name not given) of Strepsirrhinagar

(21) Ms. Serious: (name not given) of Mars

MORE TRYOUTS (AND REJECTS)

Dorrit: Allow me to share a FAQ from our site: “When will you be holding tryouts again?”

Fiona: Are we sure we need to expand the membership further? The clubhouse is already getting a little crowded.

Korvea: Especially since you are reluctant to let anyone use the rooms next to and across from Ten’s laboratory.

Ten: It is a wise precaution.

Korvea: You haven’t actually blown anything up here, have you?

Hillarie: Me. Once. Almost.

Irinia: I think we are all happy to let you have all four staterooms, Ten.

Dorrit: The point is, Membership Applications are a beloved tradition. The Legion was famed for its tryouts, and even many of those who were rejected went on to become somewhat famous. Or infamous.

Ffiona: Couldn’t we just… I don’t know… accept written applications?

Dacey: It wouldn’t be the same. In person...

Kallor: How many applicants are we talking about?

Eulia: Well, over a million visitors to the site have asked the question, in one form or another. Of those, some have expressed a positive interest in actually applying themselves… around five hundred, last time I checked.

Kallor: So, we are talking about a long-term project? Regularly scheduled sessions, every couple of weeks or so?

Dorrit: I was thinking, if we split into small groups, and worked spent some time on it, we might be able to do it all in one day. That’s why I invited the ‘Super-Villain’ Club to this meeting. With their help, we would be eighteen… six groups of three.

Villian: You want us to help select your membership?

Eulia: We’re not a military organization. This is a Club-- we see ant interact with each other every day. And you live here, too. And if we spend, say, five minutes per applicant, we could process seventy an hour. In a full day-- seven or eight hours-- we could audition all five hundred. Then report back to the group which might be most promising.

Kallor: This sounds like a chore you would prefer to get out of the way, rather than an honored tradition.

Dorrit: I’ll admit, for me, it’s a little bit of both. Maybe a little more of the former than the latter.

Ffiona: But where would a group like that stay during the day? I don’t think there are five hundred empty rooms in New Metropolis. And they would overwhelm the eateries.

{Author’s Note: Ffiona is actually wrong about this. The Marshall Grand Hotel is terribly overbuilt, dating from a time when it was thought that New Metropolis was destined to become a center of commerce, industry, and tourism. It could, by itself, easily house five hundred guests, double-occupancy. It has so much excess capacity that the Marshall family and their descendants, as well as some of the staff, have long used the top two floors as their personal living quarters.}

Hillarie: You know, there may be an easy solution. We could invite the Tharnan Apprentices to help out-- Zauberlein is skilled in domestic magic, Jon Falstaff can provide all the food we could possibly need, and Strebor used to be an accountant-- I’m sure he could handle the logistics-- queueing people up, and so on. They could set up a tent camp over on that flat stretch of ground to the northeast.

Pol: We should probably alert the New Metropolis SPs, in case things get out of hand with so many offworld visitors. Maybe they could provide a couple of officers as security? Things can get pretty weird at tryouts. My mother told me about one applicant who showed up wearing thigh-high leather boots.

Eulia: OK, bad fashion sense, but is that all?

Pol: Yes, that’s all. He showed up wearing only thigh-high leather boots.

Ffiona: Did he have any-- er-- unique qualifications?

Pol: My mom says he thought he did. Objectively, it turned out not, though.

Villian: Well, I’m on board, especially if some old friends from Tharn will be here.

Kimota: I’ll help out, too. I’m known for my frank opinions.

Atta: (nods)

Annie: Why not?

Kylda: Hillarie and I will make the arrangements and set things up. Sometime this month, do you think?

Judges: Group 01: Saturn Girl, Lightning Lass, and Cosmic Boy

Dorrit: We had eighty auditions total. We reviewed applicants from Fwang, Geeqou, Amadus, Kralluk, and AB-123. We saw a Gothriktrite and a Canopun Myrmidon. There was one kid who claimed to get his powers from Ardemonine mushrooms. The others were even less impressive.

Pol: There was one Cintosian who looked promising-- Cintosians are a sort of living hard-light construct. But she was offended by the accommodations available in our clubhouse. I think she must have been expecting something like the old Legion HQ on Earth, or some luxurious palace. She left in a huff before we even had a chance to say more than hello-goodbye.

Judges: Group 02: Chameleon, Ffey, and Razor

Razor: Bartolomeo Stefanacci, the new curator of The Museum of Mystic Arts. He said he had tracked traces of the mystic energies of the sword Excalibur here. But we didn’t know what he was talking about.

Dacey: Our mother used to have it hanging on her bedroom wall when our brothers were little. But she donated it to the Stefanacci Museum before we were born. Does this mean they lost it?

Razor: I don’t know. I’m not sure why he showed up today, during Tryouts. You think someone here had it?

Dacey: It’s a pretty powerful magical artifact. I think the Tharnan antimana shield the First Coventry provided us would have repelled it… in a way we would have noticed.

Ffey: There were two interesting applicants, I thought. A duo from Jenetikus. One calls himself Chimaera, two-headed, one a goat, and one a lion. Plus as tail with a snake’s head. And wings. Flies. Breathes fire. His friend calls himself Moostafa. He’s a big minotaur-like guy. Strong and super-durable. It seems that human genetic modification is legal on Jenetikus. All the children there are unique types. From what they said, though, there aren’t many.

Dacey: That kind of experimentation is still frowned on in most of the U.P. I’m not sure we want to be associated with it. Ten, who was that big fish-creature you were talking to?

Judges: Group 03: Phantom Girl, Ten, and Ffiona

Fiona: He calls himself Whaler. From some place called Lambda Cetus Five. Six meters tall, a hundred tonnes. Ten used Vesta’s shrink-ray to bring him down to a more reasonable size for conversation. He can stay on land from an hour or two every day, but he says there are caverns nearby in the New Hellespont where he could set up housekeeping. But he’s also a methane-breather, so he would have to import that. He’s big and strong, and seems pretty intelligent, but I think he would have a hard time socializing much.

Irinia: I personally invited Yzopok Girl to try out, but she never showed. I think she would have been a good candidate.

Dorrit: I’m sorry-- have you mentioned her before?

Ten: Yzopok is the Bgztlrside analog of Saturn. It was colonized only recently. Yzopok Girl was the first Bgztlr child born there. She has telepathic and telekinetic abilities, as well as ordinary Bgztlr intangibility powers. I understand she is rather well-known Bgztlrside.

Irinia: We did meet an applicant today who calls herself ‘The Traveller of Avalon’. Her powers are strange: she doesn’t travel, exactly. She can ‘walk into’ books and holo-vids. It’s different from virtual reality. As I understand it, she creates temporary pocket universes which reflect the stories she ‘walks into’. Her powers appear to be magical in nature. We had to get her away from the Clubhouse for her powers to work. Impressive, but not particularly effective, I think. Do you agree?
We also met a kid who calls himself ‘Yob Drawckab’-- I think that’s how he said it. He has ’Merlin’s Sickness`. He ages backwards, and remembers the future, but not the past. Evidently we will meet him again sometime in the future-- he came here to say goodbye today. He’s kind of hard to talk to, but Ten was a lot of help… I suggested Yob talk to Kallor, because she is a precognitive, you know, but he said there was a danger of a paradox.

Ten: I found interesting the number of applicants who only came to show off their inventions to us. Many of them are based on extant technology, and have already been dismissed as either dangerous or ineffectual for various reasons. One brought another Micro-Concentrator, for example. Another used a Chameleon Ray of his own design to transform a bird into a squirrel, but the squirrel seemed both disoriented and exhausted afterwards. I’m not sure it would be useful, or even safe, if used on an intelligent being. I found ‘Coat-Pocket Pete’ interesting. He wears a coat with twenty-four pockets, filled with various small, useful sorts of things. String, tape, glue, and so on. Most interesting to me was ‘Grabber Guy’, who has created a set of gauntlets that allow him to reach into other dimensions, and retrieve things. Each dimension seem to be a closed deSitter space, filled with various small, biological organic materials. Eggs of various kinds, flowers, acorns, small worms or eels, for example. I took some samples from him for study.

Irinia: He certainly did. I went back to his lab twice to get empty containers.

Judges: Group 04: Matter-Eater Lad Two, Polar Lass, Ffarrah

Hillarie: I’m still not sure why the rest of you were not impressed with Arandor Meron. He’s a half-Daxamite, after all. His powers are not on the same level with Star-Woman, but still pretty impressive.

Ffarrah: It’s his Polecat Power, Hillarie. It doesn’t seem to bother you, but the two of us couldn’t take it at all.

Hillarie: Yeah, you mentioned that. I’m still not sure what this ‘Polecat Power’ actually is.

Ffarrah: The smell, Hillarie! It was nauseating! Disgusting. I-- We can’t stand to be around him!

Hillarie: Oh. OK. Oh, wait… those sulphur alcohols he constantly emits. Those are uncomfortable for most Terrans, right?

Ffarrah: That’s an understatement. Terrans, yes, and almost every other organic lifeform.

Hillarie: Hm. I remember now one of our teachers on Bismoll mentioned something about that. Of course, since Bismollians can eat anything, disgust would be a wasted sensation, wouldn’t it? Not really a part of our makeup.

Kylda: I need to tell you all about one applicant called ‘Anathema’. Several years ago, he died on his Homeworld. Upon his death, he released biological and energetic entities which infected the rest of his planet, rendering the entire population effectively immortal. Injure a Vitoan, and they will rapidly regenerate. They cannot suffocate, or drown, or starve to death, although they can grow quite thin if they don’t eat. Kill one, and they will eventually return to life. Even Anathema himself returned to life after a few days. Unfortunately, it has not gone well. Homicide and suicide are now popular entertainments there. Crime is rampant among a certain sector of the population, as punishment extremely difficult. You can hurt a Vitoan, but you can’t kill them, and permanent imprisonment is difficult without that threat. If you’re going to live forever, anything can be seen as just a challenge. The planet Vitos is now a world quarantined by UP statute, and Anathema has been banished.
What Anathema wants is for someone to kill him again, on some other world, and see if the same thing happens to the population there, with a better final result. I told him Mars was probably not a good candidate for his experiment.

Judges: Group 05: Shrinking Violet, Korvea, and Villian

Korvea: Our group had a Lycanthrope, a Renfieldist, a Kanamit, and a Triffid. Obviously unsatisfactory roommates. A pair of Exxoran twins called Flash and Bang entertained us with some amusing fireworks. Laser-Pointer Lass managed to keep Kitten Boy entertained for some time, although we had to keep that applicant from Sirius Station away from them. Then there was that Gorn...

Hillarie: Wait, is Laser-Pointer Lass’ name Rodopha?

Korvea: What? You know her?

Hillarie: Yeah, she was an exchange student at my grammar school on Bismoll. Nice girl. Good sense of humour. Never heard of any Kitten Boy, though.

Villian: We also had an applicant called Cake-Frosting-Hair-Girl-Two, who was just what you would expect her to be. We had a kid named Cobwebber, who made a real mess. Not even super-strong cobwebs. Just ordinary, grimy, dusty, cobwebs everywhere.
Disappointing, all in all. But it was nice to see Greta again.

Dorrit: Greta?

Villian: The Occultress, as she calls herself now. We were in school together on Tharn.

Korvea: We also had a visit from an Actual Imp, from one of the Hell Dimensions. Cloven hoof, goat-horns, cherry-red skin, arrowhead-tipped tale. The whole works. He couldn’t get through the Tharnian Anti-Mana Shield, and we wouldn’t go out to meet him. Villian says you shouldn’t trust imps.

Eulia: There was one impressive applicant. With the native ability to change the direction of gravity’s force, he calls himself Gravitybender. I found him not only powerful, but charming and affable. He demonstrated good control of his powers. The only problem is… he’s only about a hundred microns tall. About twice as tall as the thickness of a human hair. I’m pretty much the only one who could have anything to do with him… well, maybe Ten, if he used Vesta’s shrink-beat. I suggested that if he wanted to visit other worlds, Ozde or Imsk might be a better choice.

Judges: Group 06: Star-Woman, Evil-Eye Annie, and Black Flame

Kimota: We also saw a number of applicants with external devices and weapons. A fair number of Cat-Girls. Not much to report, as far as applicants, for the most part.

Ann: There were those three dwarf Gamorreans. Not exactly impressive, but...

Kimota: Not really applicants. They’re starting up a construction company. They wanted to build us a new clubhouse, at a deep discount. For advertising purposes. But even their deep discounted estimate was more than we could possibly afford.

Kallor: There was one other-- again, not really an applicant, but she showed up with the crowd. Her name is Cassiopeia. She claims her mother is from New Genesis, and her father is… something else. She inherited a ‘Moebius Chair’ from him, which seems to allow her to traverse space and time at will. She is a scholar, and a collector-- of something.I asked if she wanted to meet our resident Coluan, and she laughed, and said she would be officiating at his wedding next century. I asked if she was applying for membership, and wanted to demonstrate her powers for us. She said no, she just wanted to meet the Super-Hero Club before everything changed. Then she warped away into… who knows where.
I found her rather creepy and disturbing.

TO BE CONTINUED (When we return to our originally scheduled program.)

I have vague outlines for the 'Young Legion' for years to come. Some patches of time are better
outlined than others. This is what the membership of the "New Legion of Super-Heroes" - the successor to Dorrit and Dacey's "Super-Hero Club" - will look like in fifteen years:

Fifteen Years Later
O1 Arna Nah: ‘Ultra Lass' (formerly Kid Ultraboy)
Youngest daughter of Tinya Wazzo and Jo Nah, and oldest of the New Legionnaires (she is nearly thirty).
In addition to natural Bgztlr abilities, she has her father's one-at--time ultra-powers as long a she spends most of her time in the Earthside dimension. She wears a all-white costume with her father's green thunderbird (dove?) symbol.

O2 Rob Lang: ' Thing Gamma Bob ' (aka B.F.M.)
Rob Lang is a Terran mutant who absorbs gamma radiation. This stimulates a transformation into a large, furry grey-brown monster. The greater the amount of radiation he is exposed to, the bigger, stronger and more durable his monster form becomes.

O3 Rhonda Travich: ‘Radion-2' (aka Help-Me Ronda
Young Rhonda Travich is the grand-daughter of the late Roy Travich, variously known as "Radiation Roy", "Radioactive Roy", "Radion", and "Radiator". She has naturally a version of the powers her father had artificially. She is able to generate, at will, ionizing radiation-- which is harmless to herself. At present, she uses her power exclusively to "power up" her boyfriend. Gamma Bob.

O4 Beka Perez: 'Chica Lava'
Beka Perez of Hephaestos.
Like all the inhabitants of her world, she has the metagenetic ability to transform herself into superheated molten basalt.

O5 Luto Kabillian of Pantano (Antares-B Two): Sludge
Luto Kabillian is from one of the score of worlds which orbit Antares-A and -B. Many of his people have developed the ability to produce and project a thin greasy slime, and to control its viscosity and frictional coefficient. Luto can make his slime so slick and slippery that it is impossible to stand . on, or so gluey and sticky that one is stuck to the floor (or wall or ceiling).

O6 Ghurwil Tanr’r of Jaquaa ‘Alter Boy’ (‘Variable Lad Two’)
All Jaquaans are limited shape-shifter, able to manifest one or two extra arms when necessary, for instance. Ghurwil is a mutant with far more advanced elasomorphic abilities. By transforming into various bizarre, monstrous forms he is able to manifest close analogues of nearly any super-abilities. Having practiced diligently for many years, he has gained far more control over his power than Oaa Tseldor, or any other Jaquaan “Variable”. He can, for example, replicate any of the original eighteen Legionnaires’ super-powers-- but, for example, only one Kryptonian super-ability at a time.
Ghurwil is the second-oldest of the Legionnaires, only behind Ultra Girl, and has been a New Legion Member the longest.
At one point, he wanted to return to Jaquaa to teach and train the young “Variables” there, but JaquaaGov would not put up with that sort of nonsense. They prefer the mutant sub-population to just learn to behave themselves.

O7 Kimiko Yasaki: 'Tiramisu'
Tiramisu is an Italian dessert whose name literally means 'make me happy'. Kimiko Yasaki is a psychic from New Titan with the ability to project a psionic field which makes those around her happy and satisfied, often described as "as if I had just eaten a large portion of some delicious dessert'.
There appears to be no chemical explanation for her power: for example, the pleasure centers of the brain are not directly affected However, those under her influence tend to be highly suggestible, especially to suggestions of just accepting things the way they are.
Although Terran-Oriental in appearance, she has the often-characteristic Saturnian pink eyes.

O8 Voleidus
A giant rodent from Planet Macrotus, a world of giant rodents. An underground farm of giant worms needed to be created in order to satisfy his enormous appetite.

O9 Vqzga Gzxbp: 'Yzopok Girl'
The Bgztlside has many worlds which correspond to most Earthside planets. Yzopok is the Bgztlside analog of Saturn. Vgzg displays powers of intangibility, telepathy, and telekinesis.

1O Hayata: 'Ultravioletboy'
Able to transform himself into a 50-foot-tall silvery humanoid giant, he also has various energy projection abilities.

11 Nara: ‘Cybergorgo'
Able to transform herself into a 50-foot-tall cyborg-lizard creature, she also has various energy projection abilities.

12 ‘Kelvin', a Snow Dragon of Wondil IX
One of the native Wondilixian Snow Dragons, Kelvin is unusually intelligent for his species. Snow Dragons (also called Ice Dragons) are creatures of living, elasomorphic snow with low-level telepathic ability. They are resemble frostier Antarean Proteans. More than a 'super-pet'.

13 Anet Elwardani of Orando: 'Elementine'
One of the Children of Ra spread throughout the Galaxy, she is has the power to alter her own elemental composition, as well as projectively transmute other objects as well. By force of will, she maintains a ,p 'normal' human form while conscious, but reverts to a 'Metamorpho'-like appearance when she sleeps. An adopted member of the Royal Family, she has been sent to LSHQ to learn to control her powers, and learn to use them for good and useful purposes.

14 Violet Ranzz-Digby: ' Lepton Lass '
The daughter of Ayla 'Lightning Lass' Ranzz and Salu 'Shrinking Violet' Digby, she is a Terran-Krill genetic chimera, and the third-oldest of the New legionnaires. With the ability to control both her T- size and mass, she is also able to project electrical energy. One of her favorite tricks is to shrink down in size, then 'ride' a lightning-bolt at her opponent, giving them a massive shock, and an hard uppercut as well.

15 Peter Chest
Unquestionably the most powerful of the New Legionnaires, he is reticent about the origin and extent of his bizarre reality-warping capabilities. The most mysterious of the New Legionnaires, it is believed he may have his own hidden agenda.

16 Juan Constante of Earth: 'Bronze Boy'
He is able to generate around himself a layer of some strange, unearthly metal which has the appearance of polished bronze. In this form, he has enhanced strength, speed, resistance, and endurance.

17 Korath of Colu
Just another Coluan with an ordinary 10-level intellect. Not actually a Legionnaire, he is a resident adult advisor. As of this snapshot, he is one hundred twelve years old, a recent University graduate.
He is the proprietor of a small artificial pocket dimension called The Workshop.
It is perfectly obvious to him who Peter Chest is, but he isn't telling.

18 Sharma Chandra: 'Miss Metropolis’
Another Titan-descended Legionnaire, Sharma was born and raised in Metropolis on Earth. She is the child of Titan telepaths, but has herself telekinetic abilities. Her mental powers physically manifest, as an apparently human (and blonde, and blue-eyed) female super-hero. Dubbed 'Miss Metropolis', it is a personage of pure telekinetic energy. 'Miss Metropolis’ appears to have super-strength, seems able to fly, hover, and teleport, and is invulnerable to harm. Projectiles or energy-beams might bounce off of 'her', or simply pass harmlessly through. 'Miss Metropolis' can be billions of miles away from Sharma, and still be under her psychic complete control, through clairvoyant bonding. If Sharma is rendered unconscious, her 'Miss Metropolis' projection does not necessarily disappear, but rather may begin to behave erratically, as now 'she' becomes a manifestation of Sharma's subconscious (dreaming) mind.

19 Alanna Oest of Rann: 'PDQ Girl'
"Chosen" by the Speed Force to be one of this era's speedsters, she is still exploring the limits of her powers. Currently only able to move at sub-light speeds, she can nevertheless vibrate through walls or into invisibility.

2O 'Anti-Rainbow Girl' / 'Black Rainbow Girl' / 'Dark Rainbow Girl' / 'Invisible Rainbow Girl' / 'Infrared-Ultraviolet Girl' / 'Invisible Spectrum Girl'
A fugitive of the planet Ranlox in the Qwardian Universe, her powers are related to the so-called
"invisible emotional spectrum'. For her protection, her real name is unrevealed, but the other New Legionnaires casually call her "Irod".

21 Mayim of Xebel (and 'Space Fish')
An other-dimensional aguakinetic, also has the power to summon and control sea-creatures. Usually accompanied by her pet Space Fish, who is constantly enclosed in a bubble of water.

22 Lucifer Thirteen'
A super-powered android, thirteenth in the only intermittently successful Lucifer series, it is highly intelligent and super-strong. This version has been embedded with an 'ethics and morality chip' (EMC)

The Tharnites

With very specific magical abilities, they are are less formidable that pure sorcerers. This is an attempt by the Sorcerer's World at public relations, to allay the fear and suspicion with which some in the United Planets view magic-workers.

23 Bethulah, the 'Demon Damsel' '
An actual Fire Imp from one of the actual Hell Dimensions, possibly Oden-Tal. In addition to
pyrokinesis, she is able to fly, or become invisible and/or intangible. She managed to flee from her homeworld to Tharn as a young girl in order to escape the evil which she found unpalatable there. She has been in this Universe less than ten years. As time flows differently in her dimension, she calculates that she has been missing there for about twenty minutes. It is possible that someone may eventually notice, and come looking for her. She has a small semisentient metal golem named 'Furza' in which she stores some of her fiery energy.

24 Daniel Shazzar, 'White Wraith'
A White Demon swept along with Bethulah when she escaped her Hell Dimension, he is from an altogether different plane of existence than she. He also has flight, invisibility and intangibility powers, but is intangible and semi-transparent by default. It requires force of will for him to become tangible and interact with ordinary matter. While technically Demons, his race is relatively kindly and sociable, although at times impishly mischievous.

25 Guenkhyra, the Khundish 'Bloodwitch'
Born on Khundia, trained on Tharn. Her magical specialty is transmutation, particularly the
metamorphoses of common inanimate objects: for example, transforming a ray-gun into a teakettle. As her spells require a great deal of magical energy, she stores some of her power in a small semisentient wooden golem named 'Juniper'.

26 Spark Spriggan of Faerth, 'The Mile-High Kid'
Spriggan is not his name, but his Faerie species. He presents as a slender, green, stick-like creature as tall as your thumb. (Think Newt Scamander's bowtruckle) But he is capable of increasing his size to : nearly two kilometers tall.
His nickname is 'Spark'. His full name in the his people's Faery tongue translates as 1 Sparkling-Little-Silvery-Dew-Drop-Trickling-Down-The-Petal-Of-A-Chrysanthemum-Under-Clear-Pale-Blue-Skies-On-An-Early-Spring-Morning'.
His language has no consistent transliteration into Interlac, and his Faery name has over sixty syllables, any one of which might be used as a nickname.

27 'The Sugarplum Boy' - Another Tharnan Golem
The Sugarplum Boy is a magical construct made out of superhard, varicolored rock candy. If damaged, it (is able to quickly regenerate. Although mute, it is able to understand and carry out complex instructions. Not technically a Legionnaire, it is nevertheless a useful artifact to have around. Also very tasty, but high in calories.
As the golems do not sleep, early mornings at the New Legion Headquarters often find the Sugarplum Boy, Furza, and Juniper “socializing” together.

As a year takes me about a hundred chapters to cover, we are talking some 1500 chapters-- or thirty years-- before I get to this group.

I should live so long.

I see that I have neglected to introduce the Super-Hero Club of Cyranus on this thread.

As the Dorrit's Super-Hero Club has gained more public attention, copycat 'Clubs' have been springing up-- such as the 'Super-Villain Club' listed above.

Another group is the Super-Hero Club of Cyranus (one of the permanent members of the United Planets Inner Council).

01 Balloon Lad
Rikard Tumm of Cyranus
He has the mutant ability to convert excess adipose tissue to helium, allowing him to swell up like a balloon, to a maximum of ten meters in diameter. In this state, his skin and interstitium are extraordinarily durable, so that nothing short of a bursting shell can penetrate his skin. This despite the fact that at maximum inflation, they are less than a millimeter thick.

02 Balloon Lass
Jayn Tumm of Cyranus
Rikard’s identical twin sister, she has identical mutant powers.

03 Hothead
Heiss Gottlieb of Cyranus
A third mutant, he is able to increase his body temperature to hundreds of degrees without harm, as well as breathe fire.

04 Longhorn
Stier Gottlieb of Cyranus
The younger brother of Heiss, he has short horns growing out of his temples, which he is able to grow at will to a width of four meters.

05 Sara Oz of Naltor
Her mother is from Naltor, her father from New Titan. She has not only prognostication abilities, but telepathy and telekinesis as well.

06 Searchlight
Meab Elgeab of Cyranus
The fifth mutant member, she is able to project intense beams of light from her large eyes. She can even emit brief bursts of laser-light.

07 Sigyn Sugynsdotter of Danymede
She has inherited her father’s ability to drink massive quantities of liquid-- and to expel it as well.

08 Polymelios
Suffalo Wapchoop of Cyranus
He has the mutant power to grow extra arms and legs at will.

09 Tusker Two
Rauque Latruie of Cyranus
A distant cousin of the Terran Horace LeFeaugh, he seems to have inherited identical powers. He can elongate his upper canids, and has an unbreakable skeleton.

10 Monster Maid
Violet Zepeda
(Voor Zipplo of Durla - Confidential)
The Zepeda family are expatriate Durlans living as wards of the Chancelleries under assumed identities, due to the animosity towards Durlans among a certain segment of the Cyrano population. When Violet accidentally reveals her shape-shifting abilities in public under stress, it was arranged for her to register as a mutant. As ‘Monster Maid’, with the official ability to transform into a variety of ‘monsters’. She has already distinguished herself in The Super Hero Club.

11 Whippy
Tumot Cherts of Cyranus
Not a mutant, he obtained his elastic and stretching abilities from contact with an experimental elasticizing chemical.

12 Whiptail
Liat Reirret of Cyranus
He has a prehensile, extensible tail emerging from his lower back.

13 True Believer
Vrai Hundueber of Cyranus
A psionic of tremendous power, he seems able to alter local reality, allowing him to accomplish virtually any feat he can confidently believe in. This has been limited, for the most part, to feats of great speed and physical strength, but the full limits of his power have not yet been fully explored.

The above, of course, are humanoid counterparts of the various members of the Space Canine Patrol:

01 Mammoth Mutt
02 Mammoth Miss
03 Hot Dog
04 Bull Dog
05 Prophetic Pup / Brainy Barker (from Krypto the Superdog TV Show)
06 Beam Beagle
07 Drooly (from Krypto the Superdog TV Show)
08 Paw Pooch
09 Tusky Husky
10 Chameleon Collie
11 Stretch-O-Mutt (from Krypto the Superdog TV Show)
12 Tail Terrier
13 Krypto

(Does not include honorary members Streaky the Super-Cat and Ace the Bat-Hound)

AUTHOR’S NOTES
WHO’S WHO IN THE SUPER-VILLAIN CLUB FAMILIES

The Sammad family:
Ali Sammad, father
Khadija Sammad, mother
Bandar Sammad, aka Bungle Spelling, aka Villian the Sorcerer, son
Mo Sammad, younger brother (9)
Hajri Sammad, younger sister (3)
Martin Dhuon, the Sammad family’s giant manny

The Grezz family:
Kort Grezz (formerly Magno Lad), father
Meta Ulnoor Grezz (formerly Esper Lass), mother
Ronal Grezz, older brother (mentioned), currently living on Braal
Kimota Grezz, aka Black Flame, daughter and youngest child

The Karr family:
Ron-Karr, father
Ki-Lan Karr, mother
Qi-Karr, older sister, currently living on Neptune
Atta-Karr, aka Razor, son and youngest child

The Foxmoor family:
Elwood Foxmoor, father
Olivia Bernal Foxmoor, mother
Ann Foxmoor, aka Evil-Eye Annie, daughter and oldest child
Justin (Eldon) Foxmoor, younger brother
In about six months, Ann and Justin will have a new little sister named Leigh.

The Malloreans:
Tasmia Mallor
Menaleas Mallor
Korvea Mallor (not included in the SHC above)
Lombrix, a Mallorean Guard
Kamar, a Mallorean Guard
Professor Gauean Mallor, a Talokan healer, and Professor of Medicine at Metropolis University
Dr. Beltza Mallor, a female Talokan healer, a specialist in Menaleas’ unique physiology
Dr. Iztal Mallor, a male Talokan healer, a specialist in Menaleas’ unique physiology

The symbol of the House of Mallor is a golden barred spiral galaxy.

The symbol of the Church of Maakas is the glass scirocco, a “whirlwind bound in sand crystal”

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

A GLOSSARY OF COMMON OLD TALOKAN WORDS
o Aloof: Duke
o Aloofie: Duchess
o Lok: Home, House
o Lyris: Champion / Hero. Implies royal lineage.
o Maakas: The passage of time generally, or 'years' specifically. A Talokan 'year' is approximately fifty Earth days.
(This is not the time it takes Talok VIII to orbit its primary once. That would be approximately seventy-seven Earth years)
The average Talokan life expectancy is something under two thousand
Maakas.

o Ma'aka: Birthday
o Mallor: Darkness / Shadow
o Marda: A word meaning sheltered, protected, or hidden, but also exile or banishment
o Myrlon: A species of bird-like creature, mostly black
o Nahtahn: History / Memory
o Narazh: Hello / Goodbye / Peace {similar in usage to ‘Aloha’}
o Quarvat : Star Rod / Gravity Rod / Cosmic Rod
o Tomas: Star

THE FORGOTTEN SEVEN (OR TEN)



There can be some dispute as to whether Secret Origins Vol. 2 #46 is canon or not. But according to the rules I have set for myself, the events recorded there must have happened, in one form or another, in the Earth-K paracosms.

There are four unidentified characters in the panel above. Left to right, I identify them as:
Contortionist Kid
The Blue Owl
A Spriggan
An Aressien Sand Octopus

Contortionist Kid
Mareo Torcido of Earth (Western Europe / España Region)
His family have been circus contortionists and acrobats for centuries.
Reason for rejection: Power not considered useful.

The Blue Owl
He is a “Living Hallucination”, and does not always appear the same to everyone who perceives him.
Merriam-Webster: living: adjective
having life, exhibiting the life or motion of nature
hallucination: noun
perception of objects with no reality; the object so perceived; an unfounded or mistaken impression or notion: delusion
Reason for rejection: Powers not considered useful. Also: unreal. Saturn Girl was unable to see. Hear, or otherwise sense him.

Spriggan
(You will notice that when Arm-Fall-Off Boy ‘demonstrates’ his power, (in another panel, in another place) he towers over the young Legionnaires-- perhaps between six and seven feet high, and he is just a boy. The Spriggan, on the other hand is another head-and-shoulders taller, perhaps closing on eight feet high, although quite slender)

While appearing possibly transsexual, transvestite, or hermaphroditic, Spriggans are sylvan-fairies, related to sylphs, dryads and flower-fairies, to whom such concepts simply do not apply.
In their natural state, they are about the size of poppy-seeds, but Spriggans are able to grow and swell to such a size that the tallest redwood tree would only come up to their waist.
One of the few Left Behind after the Great Migration, this particular Spriggan is under an ongoing protective enchantment, so be careful opposing her.
Reason for rejection: Psychopathic. You should really read up on Spriggans.

"The Spriggans are found about the cairns, coits, or cromlechs, burrows, or detached stones, with which it is unlucky for mortals to meddle... This is known, that they were a remarkably mischievous and thievish tribe. If ever a house was robbed, a child stolen, cattle carried away, or a building demolished, it was the work of the Spriggans. Whatever commotion took place in earth, air, or water, it is all put down as the work of these spirits." -- Robert Hunt, Popular Romances of the West of England

Aressian Sand Octopus
The Sand Octopi of Aressia have eight-lobed brains, and all possess super-intelligence, telekinesis and telepathic powers in one degree or another. Sand Octopi do not have names, as their individuality is represented by individualized complex mental geometric patterns. They find the use of names by other sentients amusing, and frequently adopt absurd monikers. This particular own called himself “Johnny Sixarms” when the Legion asked him for a code name.
Reason for rejection: Annoyingly condescending and narcissistic. Incurable superiority complex.

ALSO:



There were three other applicants that appear in this story, whom Fortress Lad calls “The Competition”:

(Right to left)

Kangaroo Kid (Jaru Quinn of Torad): Super-Leaping
Reason for rejection: Power not considered useful.

Giraffe Girl (Tsaphana of Zaraphagar): Like all Zaraphagarans, she is able to “stretch” her height by 25%.
Reason for rejection: Power not considered useful.

Flora the Explorer (Floretta Marquess of Earth (Western Europe / 2Oth c. France Area)): Tracking powers. Environmental adaptation, especially effective in jungle conditions.
Reason for rejection: Power not considered particularly useful. Also, too young.

It is fated that Flora and Mareo eventually get married, and had a bunch of little Flora and Mareos.

Note that the majority of these applicants are very non-human in appearance, whereas for years afterwards, mosty only very Terran-like humanoids applied to the Legion. I expect that the (garbled) reports of this disastrous tryout made it throughout the U.P., and many races were dissuaded from applying.

I have referenced the events of this story before.

In the final panel, the Founders pronounce Mnemonic Kid dead, but I have assumed that she was only in a deep coma from stress, and the overuse of her undeveloped powers.

The Talok Awakening