Legion World Forums LEGION OUTPOST Bits o' Legionnaire Business 21st Century Legion (vol. 1): Remastered

The instant the Eye touched her, Sara Romanescu knew. She knew about the history of her family and their mystical connection to the Emerald power. And she knew about the Moldavian royal family and their role in keeping the Romanescus as servants over centuries.

The reaction was furious. With a single blast, the Emerald Empress (because that is what she was now) blew up the Royal Castle of Moldavia. She was not giving any quarters. She then proceeded to systematically annihilate anybody and everybody from the castle that had survived the blast. And then she found what she was looking for: the king of Moldavia, Voxv the Fifth, and his daughter, Proiectra.

The battle was fierce, Voxv and Proiectra had trained for this moment all of their lives. Voxv's powers were offensive in nature, he shot out blasts designed to hurt the Eye. And they did, in the beginning. Proiectra was one of very few sentients who could actually confuse the Eye, she worked incessantly in hiding herself and her father from it. She also concentrated on Sara, hoping to somehow be able to sever the symbiotic relationship between her and the Eye. But while Proiectra fought rationally, Sara fought visciously, consumed in an all-encompassing fury. And that made all the difference. When the Eye finally hit her father, Proiectra knew that everything was lost.

A mile away, Dirk Morgna was flying through the air, propelled by the woman in white at his side. A green glow filled the horizon at the place where the Moldavian Royal Palace should have been. "We're too late." Maizah Al-Nayal was frowning.

Below, a stony figure seemed to melt down, back into the Earth.

“Thank you again for the help, Andy. Dios lo guarde,” said the shopkeeper in that thick Puertorrican accent she had not managed to get rid of, even after twenty years in the states.

“No problem, mami. See you tomorrow!” Andrew said, as he exited the store. True, Angela Pérez wasn’t his mother, but he wouldn’t call her any other way, nor would she accept any other name. She was one of the very few people he knew in Suicide Slum who wasn’t uncomfortable at the sight of his deformed face, and she eagerly gave him a job when he asked for one. As far as Andy was concerned, he had no mother but her.

Andy walked home, as always trying not to draw much attention to himself, and after twenty minutes arrive at the apartment building he shared with Conal (or Kon, the nickname he gave himself for some reason unknown to Andy) and Douglas. Before he entered, he noticed a black sports car, which no one in the apartment could possibly afford, parked in the lot. With a watchful eye out for everything out of the ordinary, he began climbing the stairs to the fifth floor, where their apartment was located. As he did so, his body began to change. His skin began to change, turning a dullish gray. His steps became heavier, and were now impossibly (for human feet, anyway) loud. Once at his apartment door, he began hearing unknown voices emanating from the other side. Expecting the worst, Andrew entered. Inside, he found his two roommates, along with two men in black carrying guns and a black woman.

“Hello, Andrew”, said the short female, who could only be described as heavy. “We’ve been expecting you. Amanda Waller, Department of Extranormal Operations.”

On the table in front of him sat the morning newspaper, open to an article recounting the story of RJ Brande's new group of teenage wonderkids and another, more ominous in nature, on the same page; a ceremonial tea set with the tea slowly chilling; a writing tablet and pen; and an old faded photograph.

The old man was purposefully writing a long letter of introduction to an old, dear friend for his young charge. As soon as he was done and he had made the final arrangements, he would send for the young man. But first he had to finish his letter and await confirmation from the agency that all the travel arrangements were completed.

He hated that this had to be so abrupt but he knew in his heart that this had to be done today. He could not risk the Evil One discovering the boy's existence. The fortuitous pairing of the two articles on the same page in the Times of Tokyo morning edition was an omen.

The one about the emergence of the Black Dragon as preeminent in the recent crimelord wars that had rocked Japan's society portended evil coming Sensei's way. This new Black Dragon would seek to exact revenge for the damage Sensei had caused him and his organization in the past.

The other article, the one abut RJ's newest endeavor, provided the counterpoint that always existed in this world. The rise of evil in power was always balanced by the rise of good to combat it. This is Ying and Yang. This was the bedrock of Sensei's lifelong beliefs.

It had been many years since he last contacted RJ but he knew that his friend would provide whatever help was in his power to give. RJ was altruistic to a fault and he would not turn away from the needs of a young orphan.

The phone rang and moments later the endgame had begun.

"Have young Vance come to me immediately," he instructed one of his servants. "Say nothing to him other than that I require his presence immediately. While I am speaking with him you are to have his belongings packed and brought out to the car. He will be going to the airport to catch a plane as soon as I am finished speaking with him."

"Yes, Sensei," the servant replied and hurried off to do the old man's bidding.

Two hours later, Vance was on a plane to Metropolis in the United States, country of birth of his long dead mother. "Not Vance," the boy reminded himself as he struggled to fight down the tears, the fear, and the confusion as he remembered the end of the conversation. "You are Vance Armstrong no longer. From this moment forward I give you a new name. You are now Val Armor, derived from Valiant One, for this is what I have trained you and taught you to be all these years, valiant armor in defense of mankind. You go now because it is time. Time for you to join with other valiant youth in the battle against evil. Make me proud, my son! He called me 'son' SON He never called me that before! I promise Sensei, I will make you proud!"

When the eye finally hit her, Projectra knew that everything was lost. She closed her eyes, and her final thoughts were that she'd be with her parents soon anyway...

...and suddenly, she opened them and realized that she was being carried through the air. She looked up and saw the young man holding her, and wondered how he could be flying and be able to hold her so lightly in one arm. "Ugh..." was all she was able to whisper, and when she asked who he was, he did not seem to understand.

"Monius Elysius," he said, with a nod, seemingly able to tell that the language barrier was too great and that his name would suffice.

Minutes earlier, Monius awakened after a pain in his head that was so intense that it seemed to fry his brain. The pain caused him to ignite two beams of fire from his eyes, destroying the cave entrance that trapped him. He had no idea how long he was asleep, only remembering that he was in Persia and had contracted a fatal lead disease some time ago.

But the Emerald Eye had awakened him, that much he knew, and he sensed it. He remembered it well, and the legends of it from hallowed antiquity. Able to sense it in his head still, he quickly flew at top-speed across the mountain scape through ancient Antioch into the rugged country-side only to see this young girl about to be destroyed by the Eye and the girl it had possessed.

Deciding to grab her and spare her life, he flew in the other direction, only to see two other figures approaching, one woman in white and a man with very feminine features that seemed to be glowing.

Monius was tired, confused and covered only in his Roman armor and red cape. His hair was short, in the traditional Roman style of the Warrior's Crop. In all the confusion, he had forgotten to grab his spear, his gladium and his shield. And suddenly, he remembered that he was dying from lead poisoning. Perhaps the Eye had succeeded in killing him, since he was dying the minute he awoke and left the tomb.

He flew to the other two and looked at the young beautiful princess. He wished he could find someone that spoke Latin...

Proiectra and Maizah recognized each other instantly, even though they had never seen each other in their lives. They were both puzzled about the man in the Roman garb, but they were not going to argue with him, he had just saved Proiectra's life. Monius Ellysius knew that Proiectra was a friend, because she was fighting the Eye when he found her. And the other two, the woman in white and the effeminate boy with the golden hair, seemed to be friends of her.

"Quickly, we must go back, my father is going to get killed!" In her heart, Proiectra knew that it was probably already too late, but she was not ready to give up hope. And with Maizah at her side, there was actually hope that they might defeat the Eye. Monius looked puzzled, he didn't understand Proiectra's Moldavian. Explanations were quickly given in the form of life-like illusions, and the four turned towards the castle.

Surprisingly, the green glow of the Eye could still be seen, the Empress hadn't left.

"Father?"

Proiectra's heart sank the moment she saw her father, he had indeed been killed by the blast that she had witnessed before. But why was the Empress still here? The answer came when she came into view: the Eye was fully occupied fighting what seemed to be an entity made out of rock who appeared to have control over the Earth itself.

Hasim Diyarbakir, son of the Turkish ambassador to Greece, was not one given to obeying orders. He excelled at virtually everything he had ever tried to do. He was an accomplished athlete, a brilliant student, spoke ten languages, and could hack into virtually any computer system anywhere.
He was amazing, and he knew it.

Hasim saw absolutely no reason to listen to his father's order not to wander off on the tour they had taken. He was bored and anything was better than listening to that stupid guide drone on about ancient history. His father had dragged him on more and more of these trips since his mother had died two years ago. He found this to be especially strange since mother had died in an accident travelling to see her relatives in Turkey.
The cave didn't look particularly deep when he first stumbled upon it, but it was cool and dark and far away from the rest of the tour. He sat for a minute, eyes quickly adjusting to the gloom. rising from the rock on which he'd rested, he ventured further into the cave.
After fifteen minutes he was hopelessly lost and completely unwilling to concede this point. Stubbornly he pushed on, feeling his way along the cave walls. At this point only the light from his cell phone display allowed him to see at all.
So it was quite a suprise when he rounded a corner and found her. Leathery wings draped around her scaly body, blood running from her mouth and her hungry yellow eyes.
"Boy", she hissed, "What have you brought me?"
"I..I don't...what do you want?" he stammered.
"Respect. Fear. A new DVD player ", she snapped, "but blood will do".
She sniffed the air around him, her coppery, foul breath so powerful it felt like snakes sliding across his face. "Mmm, yessss", she hissed, "there it issss."
"Boy", she whispered softly, "Did you know your father had your mother killed? She knew too much about his dealings and he knew she'd tell her family. Did you know that boy?"
"No", Hasim answered quietly, "No I didn't know."
"Would you like to avenge her boy? It's kind of a specialty of mine".
"How?" he asked. "I'll give you whatever you need" she replied, "as long as you kill him. Wealth, power, name it. You want to fly? It's done. Bend steel? Done. Just as long as his blood is spilled."
Hasim thought for just a moment before answering.
"I want to be able to do whatever those Legion kids I saw on the news can do, but better. I want to be able to beat each and every one. Can you do that?", he asked coldly.
She glared at him. "Can I borrow your cell phone?" she asked. He stared, uncertain why the horror would ask this.
"Come on kid, hand it over!", she snapped and he did. Dialing deftly with gore spattered claws she placed a call.
"Hey, hi", she said rather cheerfully to the other party, "It's Tisiphone. Yeah, I know, ages. Listen, that favor you owe me? Yeah, well, got a kid here needs your mojo."
Tisiphone paused, and handed Hasim the phone. "She needs to talk to you", she said.
Hesitantly he picked up the bloody phone and put it to his ear.
From the other end a soft voice whispered, "Nemesis", and Hasim began to shake.
Tisiphone took the phone back and made plans for a lunch date. Then she turned to him and said, "There you have it kid. Power from the goddess even Zeus was afraid of. Match and beat any opponent you come across, one at a time. Kill your dad and the deal is sealed. Stiff me and I have you for lunch".
Hasim, already feeling his body begin to mirror her power, just smiled. "Not a problem. First dad, and then those stupid holier than thou Legion kids. Oh yeah, we got a deal."
"Good", replied Tisiphone, last of the Furies as she extended a claw to shake his hand. "Do this right and everyone will know your name".
Hasim turned to leave and then stopped. "Name", he said. "What was that name again?"
"Nemesis, kid" she replied, "Her name is Nemesis".
Hasim nodded silently, walking in what he now knew was the direction of the exit. He couldn't wait to rejoin the tour now.

He had so much to show them.

"You're sure?"

"Again, of COURSE it's gonna work. YOU wanna suggest to the boss he makes sub-standard stuff or somethin'?"

The other man shut up.

He checked the screen again. Their target was still flying at a phenomenal rate, faster than he'd have believed possible. But the computer was designed to allow for that in it's aiming, so he'd been told. In less than 30 seconds, it'd be in range.

"You're..."

"SHUT UP!"

Sick of his partner's incessant whining, the other man concentrated. The aim may be automatic, but the firing was manual, and at the rate it was moving, he had ten seconds at best to push the button. He counted down silently

4... 3... 2... 1...

He fired.

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

Laurel had been flying for hours. She didn't want to go through officialdom to get to the team - that would be begging for a rejection and for someone to try and send her back to the orphanage (heh, like they could), but she didn't know where they were, and even with her speed and sight, she needed some idea of where to look to find them. The announcement hadn't said where their first mission was, only that they were "setting out." She had time though - at this height and speed, no-one could see her, and it wasn't as if she actually needed food anyway.

*ugh*

She'd been so focused on scanning the horizon, she hadn't noticed the van beneath, and she'd been hit. Disorientated, she'd fallen halfway to the ground before she recovered and levelled off. Eyes glowing red, she looked around for what had hit her, when another ruby pulse from the laser cannon hit her. She barely managed to recover from that one, but as she did and saw the van, a third pulse hit her skull, and she fell, already unconscious by the time she landed with a "thump."

---------

The two men hurried to pick her up.

"Sheesh, it's a lot heavier than it..."

"What did I tell you about shutting up?"

They bundled her into the van, and into the last unoccupied statis tube, closing and activating it quickly as she joined the several others who suffered a similar fate in the tubes beside.

The second man pushed a button, to make the obligatory report to his control freak of a boss - "Sir - we got the flier. It's a female."

"Excellent. Get them to the programming centre quickly."

As the man in the van signed off, Leonard McCauley sat back in his chair, adjusted his glasses and thought that if Brande thought he was going to have a monopoly on little pet freaks to do his bidding, he had another thing coming.

Brian Landon couldn't believe what he had just seen! There had been someone flying above his perch on the side of the sheer cliff. Flying! He could barely believe his eyes! But then some type of light ray had burst from a van on the road below and hit the flying man. Not once, or twice, but three times before he was knocked out of the sky!

As Brian rushed to descend from the heights, he kept watch and saw two men exit the van, collect the body of the flyer and carry it into the van.

He had to get down there to help whoever that was!

In his reckless rush, he almost lost his grip a few times but managed to save himself each time by sheer strength of will. Unfortunately the slips cost him time. Just as he reached the ground and prepared to spring at the van, it took off.

Heedless of the danger he tried running after it but even his enhanced speed wasn't enough and Brian soon fell far enough behind that he knew he would be unable to catch up. He had, however, gotten a good look at the van and had memorized the license tag number. MC244.

Of course, the side of the van also read McCauley Industries so he had a pretty good idea of who was responsible. There was a McCauley Industries facility about 20 miles from the Army base on which Brian currently lived. Since the van was headed in that direction, it was a good bet that facility was its destination.

20 miles was a bit longer than his normal daily run but what the hell. He had nothing better to do!

“We were just talking about you, your friends and I,” said the woman named Amanda Waller.

“What do you want?” asked Andy, barely keeping his sudden anger in check.

“They boys upstairs need help. Superhuman help. We need you to provide it.”

“Superhuman?” asked Douglas. “You mean like superpowers? What makes you think we have them?”

Without warning, one of the men in black took out a handgun and shot Kon three times. The shots were perfectly aimed, but while Kon’s t-shirt had three new holes in it, he himself was intact. He opened the fist he had made, and out fell three disfigured bullets.

“Tactile Telekinesis,” Amanda said. “The closest thing the people at Cadmus came to replicating the alien’s powers.” She looked at Kon and the eyes. “You’re the spitting image of him, you know. You’re not his clone, but the resemblance is incredible."

“Waitwaitwait,” said Kon. “I’m a clone?”

“Yes,” answered Amanda. “ Starting about a year ago, Cadmus has been trying to create supersoldiers, based on the genetic template of an alien that arrived on Earth about 17 years ago. Unfortunately, Cadmus couldn’t crack the genetic code, and every attempt to clone him resulted in subhuman bizarre aliens. Later on, after twelve attempts, they decided on another approach; instead of cloning the alien, they would clone a human, but with the genetic code altered to resemble the alien’s as much as possible. This procedure met with more success, and you were born. Had everything gone normally, you would have been artificially grown to adulthood, and your mind would have been programmed, with slavery protocols, making you nothing more than a puppet. Fortunately for you, though, Douglas here, who was at the time escaping from the Project, freed you before either of those things could happen."


Kon attempted to remain calm while he absorbed all that new information. While he didn’t have any memories of a life before Cadmus, he had always assumed that he was some kind of experiment in genetic manipulation. He didn’t think he’d actually been born last year, at age fifteen, and that all his memories of a time before that were fake.
“Fine, so we have powers. But what if we don’t want to help you?” asked Kon.

“Oh, you’ll want to. You see, we know all about your criminal activities since you were all freed, and it would be the easiest thing in the world to send you to prison, or worse, all the way back to Cadmus. We know you don’t want that.”

“You’re bluffing,” said Douglas, as he lit up a cigarette and started smoking through his helmet. “You don’t have the power to take us down. If you did, you wouldn’t need us at all.”

“Touché,” said Amanda, still confident despite this apparent flaw on her plan.

“And what if we do agree?” asked Kon.

“Well, if you agree to being drafted, we’ll forget all of your past indiscretions. Plus, we’ll erase all of your records from your captors’ databases, and we’ll give you the standard hundred thousand dollars per mission. Oh, and you’ll also have access to our state of the art medical facilities, should you ever need them.” She looked at Andrew and Douglas as she said that last part.

“Would you give us a minute?” Kon asked. “We need to talk about this.”

“Of course.”

“So, what do you think?” asked Kon, once the three were all settled in Andrew’s room. “Think she’s for real?”

“I don’t know,” said Andrew. “I’ve heard of the D.E.O, but nothing about any Amanda Waller. Could go either way, really.”

“I agree. I think we should do it, though. Potential high reward for little potential risk.”

“Yeah, I agree. Wish we knew if they’re telling the truth. What do you think, Doug?”

“I think,” Douglas said, with some hesitation. “I think I may have a plan.”

It had been ten minutes since the three teens had disappeared to discuss their plans, and Amanda was getting impatient. She was just about to go check on them when they returned.

“Okay, Waller, here’s the deal,” started Kon, with an air of authority in his voice. “Me and Douglas are interested. Andrew, not so much, so he’ll be staying here. You have a problem with that?”

“None at all,” responded Amanda, not at all surprised at their demands. “I expected that much.” She then sat up and began to leave. “Well, boys, I’ll come by and pick you up tomorrow for your briefing. Do not even think of moving someplace else, because I will find you, and, make no mistake, there will be consequences. Oh, and welcome to the Suicide Squad.”

As Brian ran, the metahuman detector in the van went wild.

"You IDIOT!"

The second man inside the van saw the blip on the screen, moving faster than any human could, making a beeline straight for the McCauley Ind. complex. Then noticed that the "Hide identifiers" switch had not been activated. Activating it with an angry growl, he looked at his crewmate.

"If that guy gets in, it's both our heads. Literally - remember what happened to Rick and Bruce last year?"

The first man shuddered uncomfortably at the memory, and turned the van off-road, heading straight for the blip on the monitor, which though still far from the complex, was easily moving at 30 mph, as the second man moved to prime the laser cannon.

---------

Brian was making good time now, having covered at least 10 miles in 20 mins. He marvelled at just how fast he could move since that venom. Suddenly, he felt the ground beneath him crumble. He jumped, flipped and looked back at what had happened.

The same van which had shot the guy outta the sky earlier was now shooting at HIM!

He jumped, hopped, skipped and flipped, trying to avoid the laser cannon. But it was relentless, and he wasn't as tough as Laurel - eventually it hit him, and one blast was enough.

----------

The men argued for a few moments over what to do. The first man argued that they had no free statis pods, they should just kill him and be done with it, but eventually the second man prevailed. Taking a pair of tranq guns, they went out and, before approaching him, shot at least three darts into him to ensure he wasn't feigning unconciousness. Then two more to make sure he stayed out until they could get him back to base. They bundled him into the back of the van, and the second man reported back the reason for the delay, and to have an extra statis pod ready. Then they drove off, unobserved, leaving no trace but for a few already-vanishing marks in the dust...

Tikhik looked around, at the monsterous creature on his left with shrunken legs and a large, heavy tail, to the man who never moved from his spot in his silver cell, jet black skin showing through the only window in his silver suit, at the front of his helmet - both seemingly needed helmets to breathe. Another means of control - he supposed he should be thankful that, however misshapen his own body had become, he could still breathe normal air. In his cell block of four, only the girl who periodically set off jets of flame (useless against their bare cells and heat-proof walls and bars) could still pass as normal to even a cursory inspection. He swore yet again that he would let the world know what had been going on here...

Meanwhile, several floors above, the van had entered the complex through a hidden entrance, Brian was bundled into a statis tube, and all six of the tubes were moved to join a bank of as many as twenty pre-existing metahumans in a "statis bank" who had been "recruited" already. Making their own had proved problematic, with too low a success rate, and too many severely mutated examples to use as part of the PR team. Not that that was the only one planned, of course...
_________________

The Legion, new members in tow, flew back from their partially sucessful first mission. They had routed the complex, but had found no trace of Luthor's direct involvement, frustrating though it was. As Docks examined the protoplasmic orange lifeform that Reed had become, Imra aided by testing for how much of Reed's mind remained, but suddenly she became distracted by a familiar telepathic call...

Jenni drummed her fingers impatiently as the plane made its way back to New York. Since they couldn't find any evidence of Luthor's involvement, they had decided to lookfor the source of the phone call she had heard earlier. If they could find the man she had heard talking... She was sure she and her newfound allies would see justice done.

Five minutes ago, Nura had been asleep, tired out from the multiple delays which had set her plans back nearly 24 hours.

Three minutes ago, she had started to dream of hazy images, tantalizing hints of the future. A red-haired woman desperately tying to reach out to a young girl, before a green orb and a powerful gigantic demon came. A jolly old man, trying to catch thirteen seeds before they fell into a deep hole. There was a boy, trying to find a path in a raging blizzard. And there was a small canister sitting on a plane, ticking ever so slowly...

One minute ago, Nura had woken up with a start. Her dream had confirmed many of her earlier visions and had filled in the blanks in her mind. Azura Saunders was coming to warn her daughter Zoe about Mordru and the mysterious Eye. The young Brock Bannon was coming to join the Legion. And they would arrive at the same time as she, all at the airport which Brande Industries had turned into the "forerunner of the future". Except that the future would never come if the bomb, which had been planted on her plane by the same people who had tried to kill the thirteen young Legionnaires, went off.

Thirty seconds ago, Nura had started desperately trying to make contact with Irma while she had started looking for the bomb.

Five seconds ago, she found the bomb right where she had seen it in her dream.

One second ago, she had succeeded in making contact with Irma.

Thirty minuites in the future, her plane, as well as Azura's plane and Brock's plane, would all reach the airport where Brande was now waiting expectantly for the Legion to arrive. And then, if the Legionnaires didn't arrive in time, they would all die.

Rex closed his eyes for a second, trying to get a minute's rest. He also tried to keep track of everything he had just learned about his new teammates. Zoe's power was telekinesis, Jenni wanted to avenge her mother's murder, Lyle had invented three new ice cream flavors, Sally could contact the Atom if she wanted... Plenty of seemingly useless information along with the useful, but Rex knew that a good leader shpuld know all his teammates. He was glad that Garth, Lorna and company had followed his lead and had started to get to know their new friends. True unity would be the only way they would last as a team.

He was planning a little trip for the twelve of them, thirteen if Reed felt up to it, to take as a way to bond when he heard Irma's voice. "Rex, we have a problem..."

Rex listened to her explanation, and his blood froze. Mr. Brande was in trouble, and so were two future Legionnaires, assuming this "Nura" really had foretelling abilities. But he couldn't take the chance. He had to decide fast; but things were risky. They were still too far away. There was a way they could reach New York in time, but if things didn't work right only their ashes would get there. Great. Just his first week as a leader and already he had to gamble the lives of the whole team.

"Irma, brief the others telepathically. Be careful not to alarm them, especially the new guys. I'll go convince the pilot to use Mr. Brande's new star-drive to get us to..."

"But isn't it still in the experimental stage? We didn't even use it on the way to Colombia!"

"We have no choice. We just have to pray that we make it. Besides, if this Nura says she's our newest Legionnaire, then the rest of us have to be around to accept her, right?"

Imra smiled at him, and got to work. Rex smiled back, then steeled himself. He headed for the cockpit, hoping that the pilot would have enough faith in them to risk his own life.

Rex Kline couldn't believe his ears. He was being replaced as Legion leader?

"It's true, lad," R.J. Brande explained once the team had landed in New York. "It comes directly from the UN Secretary General." Brande's voice could barely contain his anger.

Rex was almost speechless. All he could manage to say was "By who?"

"By me," a booming voice sounded. Rex turned to face a belt buckle. That's silly, he thought. Was it something he'd had to eat on the flight? But no, it was a real belt buckle. Then he looked up.

"First Lieutenant Gene Allen, United States Marine Corps, reporting for duty!" came the booming voice again. Rex could barely see the man's face as he was standing right in front of the sun. Rex guessed that this was the man's way of introducing himself, since, so far as he knew, he hadn't been renamed as well as removed as leader.

"He's big!" said Lyle's from a few feet away. Rex grimaced. Leave it to Lyle to state the obvious.

But then, as soon as he spoke, the giant did something no one expected. He got smaller. In an instant, he was just a foot or so taller than the Legionnaires. Only then did the Rex see that the man was barely older than they were. His brown hair was cut in a Marine buzzcut. He looked strong and rigid, but there was also something kind, almost boyish in his eyes.

"That's very impressive," Imra said. "How do you do that?"

"That's classified," Gene responded, curtly.

"You can tell them, lad," Brande said. "I've cleared it with Secretary General Chu."

Gene looked suspiciously at Brande for a moment, as if he wasn't about to trust just anyone. Then he must have realized who he was talking to, Rex thought, for he said, "I apologize, sir. I just flew all the way from Tikrit. It must be jetlag."

"Tikrit?" Garth said, incredulous. "You were in Iraq?"

"I was one of the first people in Saddam's stronghold," was the reply. "We were looking for WMDs. We found a bunker. It was booby-trapped."

"Oh no!" Imra said.

"It was some kind of strange gas," Gene continued. "It nearly killed everyone around me, but me ... it changed me, somehow. Now I can do this." An instant later, Gene stood 20 feet tall. "I was given a battlefield commission and made Lt. Colonel Zendack's personal assistant. Then I get orders to come here and take charge of this wet-behind-the-ears outfit."

"Now just a minute," Garth said. "We've already got a leader -- Rex." There were echoes of agreement from the other Legionnaires.

"Look, I don't have time to argue," Gene said. "I've even been given a codename -- Leviathan."

"Mr. Brande, isn't there anything you can do?" Lorna said.

"I'm sorry," Brande replied. "My hands are tied."

"Well, mine aren't!" Garth said, clenching his fist into an electric battery. "If Big Boy here wants to take over, he's going to have to go through us to do it, right, Rex?"

"Wrong."

"Wrong?"

Rex lowered his head and swallowed, then looked up. "It makes perfect sense. The Secretary General wants someone with experience in charge ... more experience than a high school sports champ has." He stepped toward the giant. Then, with his new teammates looking on in disbelief, Rex offered his hand.

"Gene Allen, Leviathan, welcome to the Legion."

Flashback: three hours ago

Nura clutched the canister to her chest as she sat in the plane's lavatory. She tried to ignore the irate man's fist pounding on the door, which she had locked. Better for him to wet his pants than for him to start a panic on the plane. She mentally cut off her telepathic conversation with Irma. She was far too upset to talk right now, anyway. She had no intentions of escaping from her father, only to die when the bomb she had found exploded. But what else could she do, besides trust in the Legionnaires? She closed her eyes and waited, as the tears fell from her eyes.

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

Brock Bannon shielded his eyes from the glare of the sun as he stepped down from the plane. He had never imagined that it could be so bright and so clear; but then again, he had never imagined that any place could be so warm and so...colorful. Sure, he had seen them on television before, when technology had finally come to his home,(that was how he had learned about the Legion), but the limited dimensions of the screen never prepared him for the vivid variety of shapes and colors. The green leaves swaying on the tall trees; the red flowers that were being waved around by those people at the stall near the entrance; they were a far cry from the cold, frozen kingdom hidden in the mountains.

Using the limited knowledge of English he had learned from Princess Tora, he made his way to the gates. He had to find the office of RJ Brande. He had to join the Legion, as he had been told to do.

His mind went back to the night last week, when he had been summoned to the Royal Family's palace. The Queen had taken his hand as he knelt down, and had pulled him up. That action wasn't unusual; after the failed coup orchestrated by Prince Oswald four years ago, the Royal Family had lost much of its power and had become ceremonial. Nobles and commoners ruled the kingdom side by side, and the Royals had opened their doors to the people.

"Sit, my boy." the King had said as he offered him a chair. His bown eyes had twinkled as he had looked Brock up and down. "It looks like we have chosen well, my dear."

"Yes, husband." The Queen had replied. "Young Brock here will be a worthy guardian of our dear daughter Tora."

"Brock, do you know why you have been called here? Has the Princess told you all about it?" The Queen asked him gently.

"Yes, your Majesty." He had replied. "I am to be our kingdom's representative in the Legion of Super-Heroes, and act as an ambassador of goodwill in preparation for the Princess' mission to petition for membership in the United Nations."

"Indeed. Our kingdom has long been isolated, and only recently have we made contact with our neighboring kingdoms. But we have learned that magic alone is no longer enough to sustain us; especially now that much of it has been lost due to the actions of Prince Oswald. And for that he has been exiled." The King shook his head; whether in dippointment or disgust, Borck did not know. "We need outside aid if our people are to adapt and survive."

"We give you our blessings, young Brock. And we know you will not fail us. Now, go and rest. You leave early tomorrow. But do not fear. You will not be alone for long."

Back at his room, Brock lay on his bed, looking at his parents' picture. They had been killed during Prince Oswald's coup; he still remembered the fear on their faces as they ran from the soldiers. And the more he remembered the love they had shown when they had shielded him from the arrows. He carefully packed the picture away, vowing that he would do them proud.

Brock fingered the necklace around his neck as he remembered what had happened next. He had opened the door to find the Princess waiting outside. Her youth failed to hide the wisdom in her features; she had the wits of a snow fox, the calm strength of a wolf, the crystal serenity of a frozen pond and the beauty of a blooming alpine flower in the middle of the spring. And she was his friend and mentor. Although she was only a year older than him, she had rescued him from the burning deathtrap his house had become, and she had nursed him back to health. She had helped train him in the use of his ice powers, and she had lent him a willing ear and a comforting shoulder when his heart felt like cracking from the sorrow. That had been three years ago, and now both of them had grown.

"I am glad that you will finally get the chance to make all of us proud," she had said, her voice like chimes in the breeze. "Not that you have to prove anything; you are already one of the best student the ice mages have ever seen."

"Not better than you, I'm sure."

She had laughed at that; not a laugh of scorn but one of amusement. "Perhaps. We shall see." She had leaned closer to him then. "You are also the best friend I have ever had, Brock. Promise me you will be careful. Here, take this."

He watched as she placed the necklace in his open hand. It was silver, and worked with a pattern of snowflakes. Inside was a picture of the both of them, their faces somewhat grave as that had been the first time either of them had seen a camera. He chuckled. "Remember how we almost froze the cameraman when the flash went off?"

She laughed hard at that memory. "Oh, yes! He was really angry because his beard cracked and fell off!" She shook her head. "Be careful out there, Brock. I don't think everything out there is as harmful as the camera." He had promised, and then she had left. That was the last time he had seen her before he left.

Brock snapped back to the present, and, clutching the necklace in his hand, he headed for the airport's main office. Above him, a large hole of blue energy appeared in the sky as an airplane flew out of it and came hurtling toward the ground.

Rex tried to gather his wits together as the plane carrying him and his twelve teammates fell out of the sky. Hoping that he didn't toss his cookies, he quickly mind-linked with Irma.

"Irma, tell Garth and Lyle to grab the pilot! Then tell Zoe to head for the plane's door! We're going to create an opening. Make sure everyone is ready with the "flight rings" Quentin made!"

Rex used his magnetic powers to steady himself as he made his way to the plane door. He reflected on how lucky they were to have met all those new members in Colombia; without Jenni, they never would have known about the shady machinations in the government; without Condo and his chemical powers, Lyle and Quentin wouldn't have been able to trigger the right reaction to create their new flight metal; and without Zoe, he doubted he would be able to rip a hole open in time.

Bracing himself, he caught Zoe's eye and nodded. As soon as she nodded back, he turned his magnetic powers on at full force, and Zoe did the same with her telekinetic abilities. He watched as the side of the plane slowly bent outward. Slowly... slowly...

He was so focused on his task that he wasn't able to react in time when the plane suddenly shuddered. Losing his balance, he hit his head against the side of the plane and found himself sinking into unconsciousness...

"Rex!" Irma screamed as she watched him slump to the floor of the plane. Jenni sped over to him. "He's fine, he just has a little bump on the head."

"That's great news, but what about us? We still have to get off this plane, ya know." Condo said with a bit of a sneer.

"Zoe, do you think you can get us out of here in time?" Irma asked the struggling girl.

"I-I don't know! These powers are still new to me... I don't think I can do it in time!"

"Stand back! I'll blast our way out!" Garth said.

"This plane is made of metal. You will end up killing us all." Quentin pointed out.

"Damn! I knew we shouldn't have used that star-gate thingie!" Garth yelled. "Now we won;t even be able to save Mr. Brande!"

"I have an idea." Chuck spoke up. "If I bounce aganist the door while Zoe aims a blast at it, the combined force of our powers might be enough to open it."

"Go for it." Irma said. "The rest of you, get ready to use your flight rings. Quentin, use your forcefield to protect Rex and the pilot, and get them medical attention as soon as you reach the ground. Zoe, Condo, I need you to stand by to make sure the plane doesn't crash into anything once we're outside. Tina, Sally, as soon as we're clear look for Nura and the bomb. Lorna, you look for Mr. Brande and make sure he's safe. The rest of you, stay with me. We're going after the guys who planted the bomb on Nura's plane and tried to kill us in Colombia."

"Are you sure these things will work?" Lorna asked, pointing nervously at her flight ring. "You guys just finished them on the way here!"

"They should be." Lyle said. "Condo's powers were able to accelerate the reaction Quentin and I hypothesized would occur if ordinary iron were xposed to certain forces. And we tested it already. It should hold up."

"Then that's settled." Irma said, before anyone else could complain. "Everyone, gather at the door and be careful. We;re going out."

Irma watched nervously as Chuck and Zoe got ready. Reed has shifted to the form of an ape and was holding Rex and the pilot steady while Quentin, or Brainy, as they preferred to call him, encased the four of them in his forcefield. She hoped everything would be okay...

"I'm sure we'll be okay. You're doing a great job." Garth said behind her. She gave a start. It was almost as if he had read her mind.

"I... thanks." She smiled at him. He smiled back. "I guess you're more mature than I thought you were," she said. He just shrugged his shoulders. "My sister says that a lot, too."

"I hope I can meet her someday, after we get out of this." she replied, before putting her business manner on again. "But right now, we need to get out of here and do our job. Everybody ready?" Eleven heads nodded. "Good. Let's do it.

She watched as Chuck inflated himself, then jumped and bounced off the far wall. He hit the door right where the lock was. At the same time, Zoe used the full limits of her power to "push" against it. The door wavered for a while, and, as they all held their breath, it swung open. Irma closed her eyes as she felt herself being sucked out of the plane.

Brock watched in horror as the plane plummeted out of the sky. Suddenly, a grren glow appeared near the door, and what looked like a large ball bounced out of the door, followed by a bunch of teenagers. The Legion! It must be them! He watched as they gathered their bearings and flew to different parts of the airport. One of them, a girl dressed in green, flew after the plane. He watched as a green aura surrounded the plane, and it's descent started to slow. But it wasn't enough; the girl ppeared tired and the plane was far too large for her. He quickly made his way to the runway, and using his powers, created a large pile of snow. He hoped it would be enough.

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

Zoe closed her eyes as she strained her powers to their limit. She hoped she could do this; she hoped she would be strong enough. This was finally her chance to shine, to beat those girls who had snubbed her because she didn't have any pretty dresses to wear or any nice toys to play with. She concentrated, focusing on the staisfaction she would feel if they could see her now. She felt the plane slow down as she put all her powers into it. And then she felt it hit something. She opened her eyes, but not in time to stop herself from being buried in... snow?

She felt a hand pull her up. "Hi. My name is Brock. Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine, even though my clothes aren't. Let me clean myself up first." She quickly used her powers to wring the wetness from her outfit. "Hi, my name is Zoe, and I'm a Legionnaire. Did you do this-"

Brock practically jumped at that. "You're a Legionnaire? Praise the North Wind! I want to join you!"

"Whoa, easy there, Brock. No need to get so excited. Besides, if you're as cool as your power is, then I don't think you have to worry about it. Come on, let's go find the others."

Nura wiped the tears from her eyes as she tried to compose herself. It had been almost an hour since she had last "talked" to Irma; the Legionnaires must be on their way by now. She closed her eyes again and tried to find Irma.

"Nura? Is that you?"

"Irma? Your voice sounds different. Where are you?"

"I'm not Irma. My name is Tina. And you can open your eyes now."

Nura did, and nearly screamed at the sight of the brunette in white who was standing in front of her. "How... how did you...?"

"Easy. My name is Tina Wazzo, code name Apparition. Pardon me for just walking in." Tina said, demonstrating her ability to phase through objects by walking through the sink. "That must be the bomb you told Irma about. Come on, lets get out of here. Take my hand."

Tina quickly phased Nura, herself and the bomb out of the plane, and they flew down to where Irma and the others were waiting.

As Tina set the bomb down gently, Sally shrunk down and unscrewed the bombs outer casing. She then grew again and and made way for Lyle, who studied the bomb'b interior. Then he beckoned for Condo to come over. Oddly enough, Condo blushed before taking his place beside Lyle. Tina shook her head. Boys sure could be weird, sometimes.

Beside her, Nura and Irma were having a heartfelt reunion.

"Nura! It's great to finally meet you face-to-face!" Irma said as the two girls hugged. "Where's Maizah? She isn't back yet?"

"No, but she... Oh!" Nura said as she felt a vision coming. She held her head between her hands; it was so vivid!

"Is she okay?" Jenni asked. "Should I bring her to the clinic where Rex and the pilot are?"

"No, she'll be fine. She's just having a vision." Irma said. "It happens all the time."

"Looks like we've found our fourteenth member." Sally said, coming up to them.

"Sally? I thought you guys were going to defuse the bomb?" Chuck asked, the surprise evident in his voice.

"Oh, Condo and Lyle are taking care of that. Lyle said they didn't need me anymore, anyway."

"So, is that it? What do the rest of us do?" Garth said.

"I suggest you keep the crowd from panicking." Irma said. "Take Chuck with you; I'm sure he'll be able to think of something to say. I'll see to Nura."

"Fine. Come on, Chuck."

"Nura? You okay, honey?" Irma asked as Nura gathered herself.

"Irma! There's another bomb over in Brande's office! It's set to go off in fifteen minutes!"

"Not again..." Irma sighed. "Lyle? Are you done over there?"

"Not yet!" Lyle replied. "It'll take us at least seven more minutes."

"We don;t have enough time for that!" Irma said. "Jenni, take Reed and Sally with you. I'll contact Lorna and transmit the location to you." Jenni nodded, and sped off with a shrunken Sally and a transformed Reed in tow. Irma just shook her head. "This just gets better and better..."

Lorna tried to keep calm as she punched in the security code to Mr. Brande's office. She hoped everything would be all right outside. She hadn't even bothered to look and see if the others were okay; as soon as she had gotten clear of the plane she had made her way to the main offices. It wasn't that she didn't care for her new friends; it was that she cared for her adoptive father even more. He had rescued her all those years ago, and she was eternally grateful for that.

As she opened the door, she felt a gun press against the back of her head. Raising her arms, she turned around slowly, to find a masked gunman.

"I know you, girlie. You're one of them Legionnaires! Well, I can't let ya warn him about the bomb right now. Sorry, girlie, but you're not gonna get a bullet from me."

Lorna's impatience to get to Mr. Brande almost made her forget to be careful. Thinking quickly, she said, "Well, if you know so much about us, then I'm sure you already know about my invisible friend behind you."

"What? Where?" the gunman turned around. Fatal mistake. Lorna quickly triplicated, and using her jujitsu skills, had one of her "selves" grab the gun while another tripped him and the third gave him a sock to the jaw.

"Oh... Damn that invisible brat..." he said as he slumped down.

"Geez, what an idiot." Her "purple" self said as she hit him one last time to make sure.

"But what was that he said about the bomb?" her "orange" self asked. "What can we do?"

"If what that idiot said is true, then we'll have to call the others." Her "neutral" self said. "You two go get Mr. Brande out of here while I call Irma. Hurry!" She watched as her two selves ran down the hall. "Come on, Irma, come on..."

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

Jan Arrah looked around the office in awe. He knew that this RJ Brande was rich, but the office was simple, though with high quality furnishings. Not at all gaudy, like some others would be. He was so fascinated by the pictures of the Legionnaires on the walls that he didn't bother listening to the exchange going on in front of him.

"Mr. Brande, I need you to find my daughter!" Azura said, encouraged by the kindly interest Brande showed. She had only had to wait a few minutes before being shown into his office, and he had been very hospitable. "Please, I know your Legionnaires can find her! She's a redhead, and she has these telekinetic powers..."

"Telekinetic powers, you say? Her name wouldn;t be Zoe, by any chance, would it?"

"Oh, yes! How did you know?"

"Why, I've just gotten word that young Zoe is one of our newest Legionnaires! She just joined the team over in their mission in Colombia!"

"Colombia? How did she... Well, I'm just glad she's safe for now! But she and the rest of the Legion may be in terrible danger! Young Jan here can explain it better than I can. I met him over in Europe, and he's been through a terrible ordeal." She turned to him. "Jan?" She said gently. "Jan, are you ready to tell Mr. Brande all about the Eye?"

Jan jerked out of his reverie. "Oh, yes, ma'am. The Emerald Eye is a mystical artifact that my people were supposed to protect. But when they were all slaughtered..."

Jan recounted his story as both RJ and Azura looked on, Azura's face grim, RJ's becoming grimmer as the full horror of Jan's story dawned on him.

"By damn!" he said, when Jan had finished. "You're a brave young man indeed, Jan. Not many could deal with that ordeal as well as you could have! As soon as the Legionnaires return, I'll tell them about your story. Then we'll..."

He was cut off as the door opened and Lorna rushed in... Or at least, two-thirds of her did.
"Lorna!"

"Dad! We have to get out of here! There's a bomb!"

"What?" RJ said. "What are you talking about? Who could've..."

"I don't know, but I'm sure it's the same one who planted the bomb on the plane. Come on, let's get out of here!"

Just then, Jenni ran in with Reed, Sally and Lorna's third body. Jenni quickly headed for the corner of Brande's office, where the air vent was. Reed hopped off and, transforming into an ape, ripped off the vent. Sally then shrank down and tried to defuse it. Lorna quickly gathered RJ, Azura and Jan and tried to lead them out of the office.

"What's the matter?" Jenni asked as Sally grew. "Have you defused it already?"

"This bomb is slightly different from the other one. I can't defuse it!"

"What do we do now?" Reed asked. "Should we get Lyle to come over here?"

"There's no time!" Jenni said. "I'll just run out to the coast and drop the bomb in the ocean."

"But can you make it in time?" Sally said. "Even if you do get out of the city, you'll be killed!"

"I... I..." Jenni's resolve wavered. She had to avenge her mother. But then... she couldn't let them all die... She...

"Maybe I can help." Jan said, saving Jenni from a difficult choice. "I can use my powers to encase the bomb in titanium." Without waiting for an answer, he concentrated. Everyone else in the room just stared as a glow emanated from the bomb. "It's done. I regret that I can't change the bomb itself into something harmless, but I don't want to risk it going off." He turned to Jenni. "The extra weight might slow you down, but at least it will give us a better chance of survival in case the bomb does go off."

"Thanks. All right, wish me luck!" Jenni said as she sped off.

Jenni found herself running for her life once more. Amazing, she reflected. She had first used her superspeed only a couple of months ago, and now it had become such a major part of her life. It had brought her into the Legion, and she could tell that they were special people who would make great friends. And she finally had a chance to find the true reason for her mother's death. She just hoped that she would survive this mission...

"Snap out of it, girl!" She told herself. "This isn't the time to let my mind wander..."

She quickly sped through the streets of New York, glancing at the bomb. Seven minutes left... six minutes... She pushed herself to go faster. Faster than ever before. She had reached her limit, and she was starting to tire. She dodged cars and people, who were moving so slowly that it looked like they were standing still. She was so close now...

"Jenni?" Hearing Irma's voice in her head nearly made her lose her balance. "Jenni, are you all right? You can stop now, honey."

"Whatareyoutalking aboutIrma?" she thought back. "I'm not far away enough yet! I have to go faster!"

"Jenni, listen to me! Rex is awake, and he can deal with the bomb safely!"

"There's no way he can get here in time!"

"Yes, there is! He-"

"I'm sorry, Irma. Please... if I don't come back, make sure you get whoever did this. Make sure my mother can rest in peace." Severing the link, Jenni ran like the wind, faster than ever before, not knowing where she would go next.

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

"She won't listen, Rex." Irma said, feeling the telepathic link being broken. "She's running too fast now."

"Then I'm going after her. Show me where she last was." Rex steeled himself as he "saw" the images Jenni did, courtesy of Irma's telepathy. Then he closed his eyes, and dove through the "stargate" RJ Brande had in the airport. Last time, it had nearly killed the whole team. This time, it might just kill him again. But this time, he felt lucky.

************************************************
Rex swooped down out of the sky, probing magnetically for Jenni and the bomb. He only had five minutes left before it went off. As he felt the tendrils of magnetic pull sweep the ground, he concentrated hard on anything that was shaped like a small cylindrical object... or a tiny ring.

"Come on, come on...There!" Rex quickly but gently pulled Jenni's unconscious form up to him. "Poor kid... she must have tired herself out. Well, time to finish what she started."

Rex hurled the bomb out over the sea, where he watched it explode harmlessly over the waves, the explosion too contained and the debris too small to harm anyone. Rex heaved a sigh as he headed back. Maybe now he could sleep as peacefully as Jenni was sleeping right now.

Val had watched in stunned disbelief at all the incredible activity that had taken place on the runway at the airport. Those had to be some of the members of the Legion that Sensei had told him about, of that he was sure, he told himself. What other teenagers could there be that demonstrated such incredible abilities!

Not knowing what exactly was going on, Val had watched from a distance but when Mr. Brande had arrived with another group of youths, a woman and a giant kid, he had decided to try to reach him. They had all gathered in one group and seemed to be having some kind of excited exchange out on the runway.

As he tried to find a way to get out there from the terminal, Val kept an eye on the group, even noticing when one of those in the newspaper picture, Cosmic Boy they called him, appeared out of nowhere with a young girl next to him. RJ had pulled Cosmic Boy aside and began speaking to him in private while the other milled around and talked amongst themselves.

Just as Cosmic Boy turned to the giant kid and extended his hand, Val spotted someone hiding behind some of the runway equipment raise what appeared to be a rifle of some sort and aim it at the group.

Wasting no more time, Val kicked open one of the emergency access doors to the runway and launched himself out the door and down to the tarmac. As the security alarm began shreiking, he landed, rolled to his feet and bounded towards the marksman, shouting a warning.

"Look out! He's going to shoot!"

With that he jumped at the shooter and quickly seperated him from the gun with a well placed kick. Then with just a minor flip of his wrist, Val rendered the gunman unconcious, catching him by his collar as he slumped to the ground.

As he looked up, he saw the others running towards him...

The woman looked at the television screen angrily. Despite her plans, RJ Brande and the girl who could foresee the future had both survived! That girl was a major threat to her plans, one which she didn't intend to ignore.

Still, it was far from a total loss. She had been able to gauge the abilities of the Legionnaires, and she had set the seeds for Luthor's downfall. Using the talents of Universo, she had been able to plant damning evidence in the minds if the hired thugs who had been caught by the Legion. Chu smiled. With Luthor out of the way, things would go so much easier.

She turned on the computer and accessed the files she kept hidden away amidst all the codes. Aside from Universo, she could contact the hitman known only as the Persuader and the exiled Prince Oswald. Her agents were now working on gathering information on the mysterious "Emerald Eye", and her scientists had given the go-signal on the cyborg Tharok and promised that the creature Validus would be ready within the month. Plus more reports of metahumans were coming in every day, metahumans whom she could trick, pressure or force into joining her army. Originally, she had planned on using only the first five; she had even thought of a name for them, the Fatal Five; but after today's events she decided that she would need many more. No, she needed a Legion of her own. A Legion of Super-Villains. And with this Legion, she could manipulate the whole world into accepting her as their leader, without question. Oh, yes, soon, very soon, it would all come true. And she would have the pleasure of destroying Brande and manipulating those brats of his as her own.