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

[Looks like my turn for a long post ]

The chatter was low-level and non-stop when they entered, and would slowly grow louder and louder as the night when on, and then die down again and restart the cycle. The café gave the sense of a lot of room with high ceilings and mini-hallways everywhere connecting a maze of rooms together, each one slightly above or below the others, so no one forgot the fact that the café was brilliantly placed to fit in with the mountainside. The air was warm and breezy but every so often a cool wind would cut through the café and send a shiver down everyone’s spine.

The place was packed. There were businessman, there were professors and academics. There were young college kids, enjoying the atmosphere and discussing important topics that ranged from economic problems of the European Union to the importance of Blondie in terms of the punk movement of the late 1970’s. There were people dressed casually and some dressed nicely, and then there were people dressed like they were directly out of an old movie from the nineteen forties, in formal dinner attire and classic dresses.

Jazz music played throughout the café and permeated into every room, although it became harder to tell what direction it was coming from. Drinks were being constantly served and it was no problem for the traveling band of youths to get them if they desired. Different smoky aromas passed them by, as various tobaccos and other products were readily available. The mountain air seemed to blend nicely with them, as did the incredible array of food being served in certain sections of the café.

Some rooms gave the sense that important deals were being made. Some rooms had outright gambling, with roulette and craps tables and other things.

“Amazing,” said Mon staring ahead.

“Tell me about it,” said Dirk. “I’ve never been anywhere like this in my life, and I’ve been all over. I don’t know whether to sit and relax or explore.”

“Mm?” said Mon, not listening. He was looking ahead. Tatiana was standing with Maziah, neither aware Mon was looking in their direction. She had on a dark blue/black dress that revealed her shoulders and fit her slender, young figure, running down to her knees then slitting on the side. Maziah looked equally as beautiful in a white dress with arm length sleeves, which was not as tight fitting as Tatiana’s, and flowed below her waste.

“I see what you mean,” said Dirk with a wolf-ish grin, to which Tenz shook his head.

“It’ll never stop with you, will?” he replied

“I hope not…” smiled Dirk, and they continued on. Dirk was in a red corduroy jacket with a yellow button down shirt underneath that plainly told everyone that he was a kid who knew how to dress and knew how to look good. Tenz was in a green silk but in the fashion of traditional Vietnamese attire. Amarjeet had given them credit to buy clothes for tonight, once again showing great generosity.

A bit off, Jacquie felt herself relaxing despite herself, and drank up the energetic atmosphere of the infamous Sky Café. She smiled, and turned to see Hasim joining her. “I love it here!” she couldn’t help but say.

“I think we all do,” he replied. “it certainly is a popular place to be. Every room is as crowded as this one.” He moved a little closer to her, but she didn’t seem to notice.

“Are the rumors true?” they suddenly heard a voice say. “Has a Royal Princess paid the Sky Café a visit tonight? We are greatly honored!”

“Are you the owner of this Café, sir?” said Jacquie, suddenly quite hesitant. This man was booming with confidence. Most likely in his early forties, tall, thin and fiilled with energy.

“I am. I am Khat Dharampal, and I bid you welcome to our fine Café. I can say, without any arrogance, that it is one of the finest cafes you will ever visit.”

”Thank you sir,” said Jacquie.

“Please, it’s Dharampal,” he replied, “and please, enjoy a drink for yourselves courtesy of the house.”

“Thank you,” said Hasim, “but we won’t need any special treatment,” he added.

Dharampal smiled. “I am glad, because you would not receive any. We treat any number of wealthy patrons, but to us, they are simply patrons. The less we know of them, the better. Please, enjoy,” he finished, moving on.

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

“Come here,” said Tatiana to Mon and Tenz suddenly, pulling Mon along by the hand. Mon and Tenz could sense a surge of energy coming from the room Tatiana was pulling them in. “This is exciting!” she yelled back, and both the young men were glad that she was feeling better.

“This boy, they say he has extraordinary abilities,” she started, “but I’m not sure if its just parlor tricks. Backsheesh is his name.” The moved to the front of the crow and saw a boy with his legs crossed, who had a turban on his head that appeared to be hiding the fact that he had a larger than average sized head. “He says he can block any type of force thrown his way, without moving a muscle. It won’t even hit his body.”

“Is it a trick, Tatiana? Or can he do things? You know, like…”

“Like us?” said Mon. “Want me to test it?” he smiled.

“Well, sure, I mean, if you want to,” she smiled back, obviously nudging him along. Mon stepped forward, and the crowd cheered. He walked up to the boy, who looked at him strangely. The boy, it seemed could sense there was more to him. “Hello,” said Mon.

“Greetings. I’m Backsheesh,” said the boy, who Mon estimated to be around thirteen.

“You can call me Mon. Shall I test it?”

“Go ahead,” said Backsheesh. With that, Mon cocked his arm back and lightly punched into the air in front of him Backsheesh, and surprisingly felt a strong force bounce his hand back! It felt like hard concrete. Mon focused his eyes on the area. His vision was legendary in Ancient Rome—he could pinpoint things far away, and seemed to be able to see directly through stone at times. He did this now, and saw a distinct difference in the air he was looking at and the air to the sides.

“A shield of some sort…” whispered Mon to himself. “A shield of solid air…” Now, Backsheesh seemed to take notice, and actually seemed very surprised. Mon cocked his fist back again, and this time punched HARD.

*BOOM*

The noise echoed and people screamed. Backsheesh felt his body fall back a little, although the shield held up. He was more shocked than anything. Mon was smiling and laughed a little. He extended his hand and pulled the little boy up.

“How on Earth?” said the boy. “No one has ever done that…”

“I’m not like everyone else, just as you are,” said Mon. “You can call me Mon-El.”

“I’m Backsheesh, as I said,” replied the boy. “But when I perform this act, they sometimes call me ‘Kid Psycho’.”
--------------------

“Looks like it’s just you and me,” said Dirk smiling to Maziah, as he took a puff from the pipe in front of him. He offered it to Maziah. She shook her head a little.

“I thought you had a thing for Jacquie?” said Maziah.

“No, not really. Jacquie is beautiful and she’s great, but I don’t think I’m ready for a girlfriend. I’m only kidding with you anyway,” he smiled. “You know, you’d think I’d be more nervous around you now that I know about your dad, but to be honest, now I feel more at ease,” he added, flashing that smile one more time, which seemed to have the effect he wanted whenever he did so. He put his arm around her for a quick half-hug.

Now she smiled, widely. “Thanks,” she said. Then she followed, “oh, what the hell. I’ll take a puff.”

“Tell me,” he said. “what do you think about Hasim?”

“Hasim? Why do you ask? He seems rough around the edges, but nice enough”

“It’s just, we know so little about him,” replied Dirk. “I don’t know…I can’t quite say what I mean.”

“I wonder if Blok is outside like he said?” she then asked, taking another puff while Dirk sipped a martini. “Lets check!”

“Blok? You’re ditching this chill session for gloom and doom?” he laughed. “Fine, fine…” he replied as she gave him a look.

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

“Kid Psycho?” said Mon. “You like that name? Anyway, this is Tenz, and this is Tatiana. This is Backsheesh, although I think you can call him Kid Psycho too.”

“How do you do,” said Tatiana, adding, “so how do you do it?”

“My theory is telekinetic forcefields that you can project, which are impenetrable. A mind over matter thing.”

“…um, that’s exactly what I believe it is,” said Backsheesh.

Tatiana and Mon looked at Tenz with a half-grin, eye-brow raised look

“What? That seemed like a cool super-power…”

“What are you all doing in Sakkim?” asked the boy.

“Just passing through mainly,” said Tatiana, who admist talking to Backsheesh realized she had gotten incredibly close to Mon. She could feel his breath over neck and realized she was close in on his chest. Suddenly she became anxious and nervous, and thought about the blue pigment in her skin for the first time that night. “Why are-are you here?” she got out, kicking herself for being so hopeless.

“I live here,” he smiled. “With my father, who—ah…here he is,” finished Backsheesh, as Khat Dharampal walked by.

“More of the Princess’s friends? Great, great. I see you’ve met my son. He also appears to be different from most people,” smiled the Café-owner, obviously taking pride in this.

“I’m not sure what you mean?” said Ten Zil, trying to play that comment off.

“Sure you’re not,” replied Dharampal with a smile. “Enjoy your night Backsheesh,” he finished, moving on with vigor and energy.

“Your father knows about us?” said Tatiana.

“I’m not sure,” replied Backsheesh, oblivious to that. “He’s never mentioned it before…”

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

Hasim and Jacquie turned the corner, to see Maziah and Dirk on their way out to see if Blok was outside.

“There you guys are,” said Jacquie, “you can lost in this place!”

“Care for a drink Maziah?” said Hasim.

“Jacquie, I think these boys are trying to get us drunk,” said Maziah smiling.

“Get you drunk?” said Dirk. “Just ourselves really…”

“Is Blok out there—“ Jacquie suddenly cut her words off and looked ahead.

A crowd was dispersing as crowds tend to do, revealing a man standing to the side of the room they were in, sipping a cocktail of some kind, dressed in a full black business suit. He was Japanese, older and looked very serious and determined. They had seen him before.

“Hello children,” he said. “I had wondered where you’d gotten off to.”

It was the leader of those men in Japan. The Dark Circle.

*beep* *beep* *beep*

Andromeda heat-visioned her alarm clock into oblivion, then looked at her watch to check the time. Reluctantly pulling herself out of bed (for someone who technically didn't need to sleep, she liked her eight hours a bit too much), she yawned, got another alarm clock from the bottom of her wardrobe and set the time and alarm, then went for a shower. As she was testing the water's temperature for comfort - she preferred it somewhat hotter than a "normal" person could stand - she thought about the significance of the date for her. The years had seemed a blur to her, since her parents died. She'd actually managed to get permission to visit the site herself later in the day, after the new member had turned up and been introduced. Her head drooped into the water.

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

*beepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeep...

Spark fried her alarm clock into oblivion, then looked at her watch to check the time. Jumping out of bed, she quickly swapped her nightshirt for T-shirt and shorts, and headed to the gym for her early morning excercise before a shower and breakfast. As she was leaving her room, she checked the date again. It was a week since Ultraboy's injuries, and he remained in a coma, and probably would for some time. They were due to be introduced to his replacement later in the day. She wondered idly what they would be like.

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

"Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far a..."

Polarity slapped his radio-alarm off, and blinked at it as he tried to check the time. Great, he thought, and stumbled across to his bathroom to splash some water in his face, stared himself in the mirror and tried to tell himself it would be a good day, didn't believe it as he hadn't for the past week and a half, and pushed himself into the shower.

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

*Cock-a-doodle-do!* *Cock-a-doodle-do!* *Cock-a-doodle-do!*...

Reflecto slept right through his alarm call, as usual, woke ten minutes before he needed to be moving and had to use an electric shaver in each hand to get his face and head clean, set the shower to "Scald" and "Painfully fierce flow" to sandblast the sweat off his body, got dressed quickly and was out the door in 9 minutes 59 seconds as usual.

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

""

Dragonmage woke precisely on time without the need for an alarm, stared at the perfect visage in the mirror for a few moments, muttered a few words and was clean and dressed without the need for a shower before heading out the door.

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

"dum-dum-ih-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-dum-dum-dum..."

Enrapture awoke, left the music on, walked to the bathroom and poured a hot bath, which she added various oils to before slipping in. Once in, she thought about a replacement for Ultraboy... damn the rabbitman. Still, she had a replacement in mind....
_________________________________

Trinity awoke with a groan to a pounding headache, which her reflexive splitting only made three times worse. T-Neutral blinked at the clock - she should have been up hours before, and she remerged to take an asprin before splitting again to take showers. Bad start to the day.
_________________________________

"So team, today we begin 'Operation: Animal Rights,'" Mano opened

"So team, today we begin 'Operation: Gut the fuzzylovers'!" Micro parroted. In response to Mano's blank stare - did he have any other expression? - he added, "Come on - you know that's exactly what it is, so why bother with the straight back and pointy stick?" Then he had a thought, "No offence Wolf." Wolf just sighed.

"As you may know," Mano continued, "last week a member of our sister team, Ultraboy, was shot on their training ground by a member of the group in question. Our Overlord, knowing the bullets were originally intended for himself,..." Mano paused for a moment to savour the idea, "has thus ordered us to wipe the group from the face of the Earth. Any questions?"

"Yeah, can I kill them with a walk in their brain this time? You never let me do that!"

"Any other questions before I continue?"

"Just one," Wolf's gruff voice piped up, "Four of us against how many?"

"I will be coming to that. Tellus, do you have anything to add?"

"Why would I at this point?" Tellus didn't speak, but his words rang through their heads.

"Very well, then...."
_________________________________

More routine training, Spark sighed as she looked at the schedule over. Ever since Ultraboy had been shot, their public appearances had been cut down, partially in an attempt to cut speculation on José's whereabouts.

The first to arrive, she saw the others come down one-by-one, with Polarity second-last.

Talking to Enrapture.

Spark blinked. Enrapture had never spoken more than two words to Paul before now. What the hell...?
_________________________________

Trinity sat eating alone. Cos had left a note saying the group had been called to something somewhere or other, and they'd tried to wake her but couldn't. Since Cos had written it, it was probably true. It still hurt though - surely they could have tried harder?
_________________________________

Spark was trying to have a word with Polarity as they waited in the rec room for their new teammate to arrive, but he seemed to be avoiding her. Granted, the two had been a bit... awkward... around each other since Hallowe'en, but even now this wasn't like him. Was something going on with him and Enra...

McCauley himself walked in and called them to attention at that moment.

"As you know," he began, "since the... unfortunate incident with Ultraboy last week, we have been searching the lists of those previously considered in the event a replacement was needed. Given that there appears to be no chance of recovery within a reasonable timeframe, I have therefore decided to activate a replacement. I therefore introduce Inferno."

A girl, about Spark's height and age, with short blonde hair and dressed in a Workforce uniform with outlined white flame logo walked in on cue.

"Hi." From her pose and tone, Spark almost felt she had a sort of... nervous arrogance... to her, if that made any sense.

"I shall leave you to get aquainted for now," McCauley said, "the press confrence is scheduled to begin in one hour." So they had half an hour, Spark thought, as Andromeda was the first to walk up and say hello to her new teammate.
_________________________________

Tikhik woke up and groaned, lying on his bed. He had to be gone that morning, he knew. He'd decided a week before that This Was The Day, although he still had to break it to the Kallors, including Tom. Grateful as he was for the hospitality, especially when so few would have extended it, he had to be gone sometime if he was to ever expose McCauley, and today was his deadline. He knew he couldn't do it in one leap, what he didn't know was exactly how many leaps he would need and how long he'd need between each leap to recover. He walked through a gate into the hall and headed for the kitchen.
_________________________________

"And finally, the McCauley Industries Workforce group today unveiled a new member. Martin Gray reports;"

----

"All smiles today at Workforce HQ, but rumours over the fate of José Rimbaud, known as Ultraboy, are unlikely to be settled by the announcement today that he was being replaced 'on a temporary basis' in the team."

(Caption - Graham Adams | McCauley Industries Spokesman) "I want to take this opportunity to deny that Ultraboy has been sacked for any reason whatsoever, and to say that the baseless reporting to that effect by several disreputable newspapers is completely without foundation."

(question from the floor) "Can you confirm what actually happened then?"

"All I can say for the moment is that he is still under contract to the Workforce. I have no further comment on this matter at this time."

"And indeed he did not. The replacement, 'Inferno', (picture on-screen) is joining the team with immediate effect, and it remains to be seen whether we will be given any more information on 'Ultraboy's' current situation. Martin Gray, ITV News."
_________________________________

Trinity was sitting playing a three-player Mario Kart game in the rec room when the others returned, and continued playing even as many of them filed in.

Cos walked over to her, "Hi."

Keeping her eyes on the screen, T-Neutral said, "Anything interesting?"

"Not really - landslide. We were asked to help shore it up and search for survivors."

"Ah."

"Okay, what is it?"

"Don't know what you mean," T-Purple said that, so any lingering doubt vanished.

"It's about not getting you up, isn't it?"

"I was sleeping," T-Orange shrugged.

"You're annoyed I didn't break your door down and drag you out with us, right?"

"Yes." T-Neutral left it at the single word.

"Come on - what could I do? Everyone else was up and most were in costume. I went up and banged your door as loud as I could, but even then you'd have been fifteen minutes at least getting ready. I couldn't wait Lu - I wanted to, but lives might have been on the line."

Trinity hated when he had a valid point like that.
_________________________________

"You're going?" Tom sounded shocked.

"Tom, you've known for ages I needed to go, and I've waited too long as it is. I'm more grateful than you could know for what you and your family have done for me, but if I don't go soon it'll be too late to save everyone else who didn't escape McCauley's clutches."

Tom swallowed, "Then I'm coming with you."

Tikhik's beak dropped open, "You don't mean that. You're just saying that because I'm saying I'm going. If you come, you'll wish you hadn't. Besides, your mother will never allow it."

"Maybe. But if I don't come, I'll worry about you the whole time." He forced a grin, "Damned if I do and damned if I don't."

"Tom, think about it. I might be on the move for a day or a month. I don't know how far I can reliably leap or how long I'll need to rest for before making another long leap. If I need to wait, I don't know where I'll sleep, whether I'll even be able to speak to anyone - indeed, I might be killed on the way by people scared of a giant insect."

"And more guilt for me. I can't let you go on your own... it... it just wouldn't be right."

Tikhik paused. "Let's speak to your parents about this."
_________________________________

Trinity slipped into her oversized bath, trying to relax. She knew her place on the team would have to be under threat if this kept up. She looked at each other, thinking that they would have to do something soon. Something else else felt wrong in her mind, something was there that she couldn't see but could feel.

What was she going to do, she wondered?
_________________________________

Andromeda, dressed all in black against the night sky, approached Rock Reef Point. She looked around the site. It was her first visit since That Day - she saw how it had been fixed up since she'd hit the self-destruct to stop the White Triangle, when new goverment contractors had come back to keep trying for the ore used in intertron-making. It galled her to think how her parents had died for nothing - there was none of the ore here after all, and never had been.

She floated over to one specific corner of the outpost, and laid flowers on her parents' graves. At that moment, she felt alone in the world.
_________________________________

Elsewhere:

In Hong Kong, someone was going about her daily grind, trying hard not to scream at her boring life, when she could do so much more.

In Japan, someone was trying to think through her power enough to eat.

In Venezula, someone heard from afar the death of her parent, and kept the children's kites aloft through her tears.

In Canada, someone was enjoying himself, tinkering.

In England, someone exploded

In Massachusetts, someones exploded through the air, trying to focus himselves together

In India, someone showed off his forcefield to tourists

In Madagascar, someone crawled through the undergrowth at speed, laughing

In the US, below a desert, many could do nothing at all.

And so it went on, all around the world, few, scattered, isolated, untutored, never meeting others like themselves...

Inferno flopped down on her bed and juggled a few fireballs. God, not having control of her powers had sucked. She didn't remember too much of that period, but why would she want to? All that time in a dark, cold room just to avoid burning the place down... sure as hell she never wanted to go through that again. Anyway, it was all a blur and all in the past now, and that was where it was going to stay.

There was a knock at her door, "Yeah?" she called.

Spark poked her head around the door. "Me and you are due to leave for something in Texas in five minutes. Makeup en route. Are you ready?"

"Sure." Inferno sighed. Downside of fame, she supposed.

Polarity's hands slid over the metal. Working it, shaping it with his power. He didn't know what it was going to look like yet, but his shelves were littered with beautiful, yet abstract works.

"Hey." Spark knocked at his open door. "How are you? Haven't seen you around today."

"I'm okay. I just felt like some time alone."

"Well, I was going to go ice-skating and I wondered if you wanted to..."

"No. I'm okay."

"Is this about Hallowe'en?"

"No, no, honest. I just... don't feel like going out today."

Spark didn't believe him for a second. "Okaaay. If you change your mind, you've got ten minutes before I'm off."

"See ya."

---

The blades on Spark's feet slid across the ice smoothly, but for the girl above them, things felt less smooth. She still hadn't really talked to Garth since the incident over a month before, and the only time he'd tried to talk to her was late on at the party when she was completely wiped for other reasons. Ever since she'd said no to Paul at the same party, he'd been weird around her, and Enrapture had taken to hanging around him since Ultraboy got shot, and she'd already seen Meta eat him alive before that. And of course she'd seen Ultraboy get shot four times and fall twenty feet with a crack. And now, on top of all that, she'd heard her parents might be splitting up and she had. no. one. to. talk. to.

At that moment, she thrust too hard in the wrong way on the ice and fell. Great. She usually had perfect balance on the ice.

She really needed to talk to someone at that moment.

---

Spark was tired and bruised when she walked into the canteen, and her mood wasn't improved when she saw Enrapture with her arm around Paul.


Physically, she could see what could attract people to Meta, but she couldn't believe that anyone who'd spent months on the same team as her would want to stick their neck out for her to drain dry. Was she playing with his mind, she wondered?

---

"Paul - you're nuts. META?!"

Polarity sighed. "And what's wrong with Meta?"

"Something else else that rhymes with 'Scartless titch' maybe? You saw what she did to José."

"Funny, I thought that was an animal rights lunatic."

"Not... you know what I mean. José was a toy to her, a bit of gum to chew the heck out of until all his flavour was gone. And you could see him getting more clingy, less interested in other stuff as time went by."

"Maybe it's called 'love.' You should try it some time."

"Paul..."

"Ella. I wanted you. Okay, you don't want me, that's fine..."

"That's not fair."

"...but that doesn't give you a veto over anyone else I see. Now excuse me, please."

He half-walked, half-ran out of the room. Spark just slumped down. Great, another perfect day in Perfectland.

"A couple of obvious questions first - your suit is fully flame-proofed, isn't it?"

"Obviously."

"And have you done any flying before?"

"Never."

"Right..." Andromeda paused for a moment.

"What's flying like?" Inferno asked before Andromeda could continue.

"For me, flying feels like..." Laurel struggled to find the words... "you know when you're in the water, and you're bobbing on the surface?"

"Yeah."

"Well, when I'm just hovering like this, it's like that. And when I'm flying, properly, it's like swimming with little jets all over my body. But it's different for everyone - Dragonmage says he feels like he's riding some great beast. You'll see in a moment what it's like for you"

"Okaay," Inferno was nervous, tried not to show it, and utterly failed.

"Anyway, as I was about to say, just try taking off now and we'll see how it goes."

"Just like that?!"

"Just like that," Andromeda smiled. "If you get too high and fall, I'll catch you. Now, come on..."

Inferno concentrated. She knew what she had to do roughly - just create a big jet of flame underneath herself, but...

Andromeda saw her nerves, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Inferno answered too quickly.

Laurel sighed, and thought for a moment. "Okay, hands in front of you, make a ball of flame about the size of a football."

Inferno did so, a slightly puzzled look on her face.

"Now, keep it going, and trap it between your legs." When Inferno obeyed, she continued, "Now, expand it all around your legs, from your knees to your waist - not down to your feet, you'll have no stability and won't be able to turn." Inferno began to get it and shut her eyes. "Now, turn the flame up and push until your feet feel like they're almost, but not quite, pulling away from the ground. Ready?" Inferno nodded. "Now push!"

Inferno shot up into the sky at a tremendous rate. "Oh no," Andromeda whispered and shot up in hot pursuit.

By the time she caught up with Inferno, Sandy was well above the Workforce building, 40 or 50 stories high, and was showing no sign of stopping. "SLOW DOWN!!!" Andromeda yelled though the roaring wind as she saw that Inferno still hadn't opened her eyes. She grabbed Inferno's shoulders and started trying to hold her back a bit. The feeling made Sandy open her eyes.

"DON'T LOOK DOWN!" Andromeda was still struggling to be heard over the wind and flame. "JUST SLOW DOWN!" Unfortunately, Inferno chose that moment to look down, and her flame died. Andromeda caught her before she fell.

"I think we need to work on your control of speed a bit first," she said dryly.

"WHOO-HOO!" Live Wire twisted his jetski in a circle, soaking Tela in the process, and was five metres ahead by the time Irma had stopped spluttering and recovered. In response, she leant down and barrelled after him at top speed.

Ever since the Legion had formed, the jetskiing business, based on an artifical lake built for the purpose some way up the coast from New York City, had seen many of the Legionnaires become frequent customers. Today, however, there were only two of them visiting, but they had certainly been going at it. Rumours had been flying in the press about a relationship between the two, and as they took their jetskis back to the mooring point, the hands that joined did nothing to disprove the tittle-tattle.

And now....

There was silence in the place.

Suddenly, a round, green portal appeared, and from it, there came a cry.

"Wahoo! Step aboard the Gates/Starboy World Tou..." exiting the portal, be stopped abruptly. As did his companion, a large, black insect.

Two human skulls, bullet holes in the centre of their foreheads, were poking through the earth in front of them.
_______________________

"...in the end, I can't stop you going, but please promise me you'll be careful" Myra Kallor's eyes filled with tears as she hugged her son tightly.

"Don't worry mum, I will," Tom said in a hoarse voice, and hugged his dad too after his mum finally broke the hug, then hoisted his rucksack onto his broad shoulders as the green portal opened. "Bye..." his voice trailed off as he stepped through... into Sydney City Centre. "Tik... wha?"

"I think you need some time to compose yourself," he said quite simply, and it was a couple of hours before they set off for real.
_______________________

"My..."

"Tom, what did you expect?" Tikhik sounded calm, but depressed as he continued, "All the time, the whole world over, people are being tortured, raped, killed."

"I-- I know, b-but..."

"...but you didn't expect to come across this, I know."

Tom slumped down on a nearby rock, and Tikhik came and gently clasped his shoulder with his claw, "Tom, this is why I didn't want you to come. I didn't know exactly what I'd find on my way, but my... experience of human nature... said most of it wouldn't be good."

They sat for a few minutes in silence before Tom spoke up, "I wish I could find them... th... the people who did this, and..."

"...and what Tom? Put holes in their heads in revenge? How do you know that wasn't why these two were killed? And if you did that, wouldn't the people who found their bodies have a right to kill you in revenge?"

Tom's shoulders slumped, "Well, what then? Don't tell me you don't want to kill McCauley, or turn him into a bug or something."

"Sometimes," Tikhik's voice dropped, "sometimes, when I'm feeling low and weak, yes, yes I do. That's why I don't want to be the one to judge him Tom - I'd be scared of what I'd do. It's not just me - he killed fifty people I knew, including some good friends of mine, in the same experiments. Plus all the others he's killed, and experimented on, and brainwashed."

"And you don't think he should die?"

"I don't think anyone has the right to condemn another living, thinking person to death. No-one. Maybe some people deserve to die, but if people who deserve to live die in their stead, you can't undo that mistake."

"'Let those who are without sin', huh?"

"In a way. It's moronic how much effort humans put into killing each other, and if I had my way, I'd teleport every missile, every tank, every gun, every bullet, every mould for a bullet, into the sun and be rid of them."

"You know it'd just slow them down?"

"Too well..."

They both sat for some time after that, lost in thought.

Eventually, Tikhik spoke up "Now come on..."

"Eh? I thought you needed rest."

"I left it so I could manage one more jump today if I needed to. This looks unpromising enough to qualify."

Something else else caught the corner of her eye. She looked round and stared with her enhanced vision. A green hole opened in mid air and a man and a bug walked out. Not something you saw every day. She checked to see if anyone else had seen it, but no-one had. She had to know.

Quickly, she jumped high, onto the street lights, leaping from one to one, ending up on the wall above their heads, where she held on tightly and paused...
_____________________

As Tikhik and Tom exited the gate, which quickly closed behind him, Tikhik slumped down

"Are you okay?"

Tikhik looked at Tom for a few moments before answering, "I've just teleported us a massive distance in two jumps, what do you think?"

Tom looked around for a few moments at the dark alley in which they'd landed - "any idea where we are at least?"

"Looks like a city," Tikhik groused.
______________________

She'd heard and seen enough. She dropped to the ground lightly, and said "hi." The big guy instantly headed the other way, tossing and tumbling up ten stories before he caught himself.

Tikhik thought for a moment, shrugged and said, "Hello, I'm Tikhik Miraz and my friend-" he indicated with one of his pincers the guy who was now trying to control his descent "-is Tom Kallor."

"Ming Sul, pleased to meet a couple of fellow warpies."

Tikhik decided to let the 'warpies' bit go, and besides, she had dropped a long way to land as safely as she had... "Could you please tell me where we are?"

"How specific do you want it? District? Street?"

"Just the country will do for now."

"Hong Kong."

Tikhik looked genuinely surprised, as Tom finally landed with a mild thump.

Acting on reflex, Ming said at that, "Look, if you really don't have anywhere to go, you could come to my place if you promise to explain why you're going through green holes so you don't even know what country you're in!"

Tom blushed at the suggestion, and Tikhik, noting this, quickly accepted.
______________________

"It's not much, but it's where I'm stuck for now, so I guess it counts as 'home'," Ming said as she flicked a light switch in the tiny one-bed apartment.

Almost instantly she flopped down on the couch that was the only piece of furniture in the room, muttering something about how she didn't know how waitresses without super-powers coped. Tom gingerly sat beside her while Tikhik leaned back onto the rug that was the only other significant break on the bare floorboards.

"So let me get this straight," she spoke up again after a couple of minutes, "...this guy turned you..." - she gestured at Tikhik - "...into a bug, killed a lot of people and brainwashed another lot and you want everyone to know about it. And you're..." - she looked at Tom - "...going along to help him because you won't let him go alone."

"Essentially," said Tikhik.

"Then I'm coming too."

"Are you mad?" spluttered Tom

"Oh, and why do you do it, huh? Right now, I'm stuck in this craphole of an apartment in the most tightly infested rathole on the planet in a dead-end job with No. Way. Out. When I saw you this afternoon, I was only interested in meeting the first other super-wotsits I've ever seen. Now, I want to help, especially if it means a way out, and if it means I have to do a few things on reflex like risking this McCauley transplanting my head onto my bunghole, it's worth the risk."

"Better pack plenty of warm clothes and blankets," said Tikhik as Tom looked shocked, "we're going to end up in Siberia or Alaska or both before we reach our destination."

Two Days Later:

As Tom awoke, he stretched out as best he could on the small couch to counter the crick in his neck. Looking down at his watch, he saw it said 10am, which meant noon for him. Spinning around into a sitting position, he rubbed his face in his hands and muttered "Brilliant" before standing and heading for the shower room/toilet.

A quarter of an hour later, he had showered and was sitting alone in the small and empty flat wondering where Tikhik and Ming had got to. Ming's flip-down bed was up against the wall, and he was going to get a drink of water when he heard the door unlocking.

Ming walked in, carrying huge bagfuls of stuff. He quickly offered to take some of it, and she assented. It was almost too heavy for him, but even if he didn't have real super-strength like her, he could and did fake it by making the stuff lighter.

"What IS all this?"

"Tent; sleeping bags; couple of big rucksacks; lots of food, mostly tinned; four extra can-openers for obvious reasons; camping stove; gas; emmm... oh, and some warm clothes for me for when we get to Siberia."

"Tik said he thought we'd be another week getting there, not six months!"

"Uh-huh. And we'll live on fresh air and in top hotels in America, huh? You've never lived on your own before, have you?"

"That's not the point..."

"Sure..." and with that she gave a little smirk.

"Why are you coming again? You could just..."

"Grow old in this shoebox? No thank you. 'Sides, it's done. I quit my job last night and handed in my notice for this place this morning and used next month's rent money to get all this."

"Just like that? Come on... at least if this all goes pear-shaped I've got somewhere to go back to."

"IF you can get back. Have you thought what you'll do if this McCauley guy manages to get a bullet through our insect friend before he manages to tell all? Can you fly from Australia to the USA under your own steam? I already got the lecture on not wanting to risk airline security these days by stowing away on a plane - and that's WITH a teleporter."

"Okay, okay. You're right."

"Course I am," she smirked again, "anyway were you going to stand around all morning or help pack this stuff up before our friend gets back."

"Where is he anyway?"

"Dunno, he just said something about needing time alone before we went."

"He'll be at the harbour then. He always likes looking out to sea..."
_____________________

Tikhik had been sitting on top of a skyscraper for hours, watching Victoria harbour as the sky grew brighter under its' blanket of cloud and haze.

He thought he had the measure now. Given perfect direction, he could just about make it in three jumps; but since Hong Kong was quite a bit off the ideal way, he obviously couldn't direct himself accurately over the sort of distances in question. Still, think five he told himself - bear north-east or so, he might even manage to make South-Eastern Russia in one jump. Another jump would hit the eastern edge of Siberia, then though Canada in one jump, then the North-Eastern USA or at worst SE Canada, then a relatively short jump to New York, which all appearances said was where he needed to be to make his voice heard and begin bringing McCauley down. A solid plan, with room for going a bit off-course and still keeping to the general route. And surely, one look at him would be all that would be needed. Surely... it had to work....
_____________________

1pm (HK time):

Tom placed a Jack of Hearts on the pile, "Jack it back, last card, and..." added a Three of Hearts to the pile. Ming made a face and gathered the cards up again.

"How long does he take with these sorts of things."

"Depends," Tom was trying to hide his own nerves and not doing a very good job of it, "but once he stayed out for 10 hours solid - and then I went to get him."

"But he IS coming back for us, right?" Ming asked as she dealt the cards again

"Hey, he could have dumped me back in Australia, and he didn't."

Ming noticed that that wasn't exactly a "no," but left it at that.
_____________________

1:10pm:

As Tikhik opened the portal back, he was almost knocked back by the "FINALLY!" that came from Tom and Ming through it.

"You're ready then?"

"An hour and a half ago," Ming said as she pocketed the cards and her and Tom grabbed their comically-large backpacks and proceeded to strap a plastic-wrapped bedroll to Tikhik's own back.

"Is that strictly necessary?"

"Yes."

"Fine..." all things considered, it wasn't too heavy or limiting. "Ready."

"YES!" both almost shouted.

"Fine then..."

The portal opened.

Jazmin double-checked her knapsack for the third time since leaving her room. She satisfied herself that everything was complete, then headed up to the roof. She didn't want anything going wrong now and ruining her and Jenni's plans.

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

Jenni ran through the streets of New York, enjoying the feel of the wind in her face. Soon, she and Jaz would see their business done. Soon, she'd be free.

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

Zoe bit her lip as she looked at the monitor screen. She could see that the others in the room were a bit worried too. Maybe more than a bit. Sally had been right, but now Sally was off on a mission somewhere. She'd told her as much as she could, which wasn't a whole lot, actally. Not even Sally seemed to know exactly what she'd be doing. She just knew that it was important.

Irma's voice broke through her thoughts. "Jazmin's heading for the roof, and Jenni's headed out the front door. We have no way to track them from here on. I guess they left separately so they wouldn't be noticed."

"Then we'd better leave immediately." Chuck's voice sounded like he could be discussing what plans to make for the weekend. Zoe knew he was nervous too, but she also knew that no matter what his feelings he'd do what needed doing. That's why he was here right now, in fact. Sally hadn't wanted to tell anyone about Jenni and Jaz, but Zoe had convinced her that the matter was too big to keep to themselves.

Gene was never up for consideration. He'd likely have exploded and gone to confront Jenni and Jaz, and Zoe could see no way that would turn out well. Rex had too much on his plate right now; he'd have known what to do but Zoe didn't want to add to his troubles anymore. Chuck, on the other hand, knew how to deal with stuff like this. And Zoe and Sally both felt they could trust him.

They were right. Chuck didn't think approaching Jenni and Jaz about this was a good idea either, so he'd suggested telling Irma. With Irma came Garth, and the five of them had decided on the best course of action. Talking to Jenni or Jaz was out of the question. You couldn't just ask someone if they were planning to go and... Zoe couldn't bring herself to think about it.

Irma had "read" the two to help the decide. She was loathe to enter their minds without permission, of course, but scanning their sirface emotions wasn't a violation of privacy. She said that Jenni had seemed... dreadfully eager was the only phrase for it. Eager to get the task done, but afraid of what might happen. Jaz had seemed more determined, but there was also a touch of anxiety at what exactly they would do. Irma had been sure that they'd been working mostly on emotion, and that they needed to go through with this for their piece of mind. Garth, of course, had agreed, and so had Chuck.

With Irma against entering their minds, they had done a bit of detective work. They already knew about Jenni's mother and Jaz's brother, and it had been only a little dificult to scan the mission monitor board records for the Arctic base. The tickets to Norway linked everything together.

That last was why Brock was here as well. His knowledge of the Artcic north would come in handy for their plan, which was to follow their teammates up north, and... they hadn't gotten that far. Irma was sure neither of the two would do anything that drastic, but you never knew. But she, Chuck, Garth and Brock would follow and watch, and step in if they needed to. Irma would stay and cover for them, and keep the four in telepathic contact while monitoring Jaz's and Jenni's states. It was the best they could hope for. Brock had been hesitant at first, but Chuck had convinced him to help.

"Everything all set?" Chuck had stepped into a leadership role early on, though he was too nice to actually command. He lead out of respect though, and that was more effective. "Okay, you know the drill. Zoe, good luck."

Zoe nodded, and psychokinetically altered her costume and hair. It was important that Jenni and Jaz not recognize her. She hoped all would go well.

Berta did not expect that her plans would lead her to this much trouble. She didn't expect that the UN wouldn't have pu a temporary ban on new recruits for the Legion while they "got things in order". She didn't expect that her mother would be forced to leave her alone in New York for a few days while she went home to take care of business that couldn't wait. She didn't expect that she'd be spending most of her time in the square in front of Legion headquarters, hoping that she'd be able to introduce herself to a Legionnaire.

She sighed. It had been three days since she first had that idea, but it hadn't panned out. Only a few Legionnaires ever left their HQ on foot. She'd seen Jenni Ogants, but she doubted Jenni had seen her. Sometimes Irma Ardeen and Garth Raines would pass by, but one look at the two of them together told her it was best not to disturb them.

She'd debated whether she should fly up to the roof and hopefully intercept one of the Legionnaires. On one hand, it was better than rotting down her. On the other hand, it wouldn't make for a good first impression if she'd be mistaken as a spy or assailant.

She was just about to give up when she saw what could only have been Zoe Saunders fly from the roof. She squinted. The girl looked nothing like Zoe, but she had the same green glow. A disguise, then.

At the same instant, she overheard three voices.

"Is it a good idea to let Zoe go by herself? I do not wish her to come to harm."

"Brock, we've gone over this. We'd be too obvious if we all went on the same flight Jenni and Jaz took. Irma will keep us in telepathic contact, and besides, it's not like they'll attack Zoe."

"Besides, we'll meet up in Norway and follow them together. ome un, let's hustle."

Berta peeked around the corner and recognized the three Legionnaires. It only took her three seconds to decide to follow them.

Jazmin buckled herself into her seat and smiled at Jenni. "This is it."

Jenni nodded, though the beginnings of a frown creased her face. "I'm sure all will go well."

Jaz nodded back. "It will. We'll bring Chu to justice and everything will turn out all right. I bet even Gene will forgive us for sneaking out like that if we succeed."

Jenni closed her eyes and smiled. "I wish I could be that optimistic." Jazmin wanted to ask what exactly she wanted to be more optimistic about, but thought against it. No sense putting more pressure on either of them. She opened her mouth to reassure Jenni, but the other girl spoke first.

"I'm gonna get some shuteye. Wake me when they serve lunch."

Jaz tried to laugh, to ease the tension Jenni was feeling, but she couldn't do it. She was afraid herself. "You got it."

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

Zoe leafed through the pages of the magazine, but the words failed to interest her. She kept glancing at Jenni and Jazmin, who were about four seats in front of her. She wished she could just go over and talk to them, ask them what was wrong, but of course she couldn't.

She sat back with a sigh, checking to see if her wig was straight. Jenni and Jazmin were not as close as Sally was, of course, or even Chuck, but they were still her friends. She hoped that what she was doing was still being a good friend to them.

*************************************************
Chuck frowned to himself as he boarded their plane. They would land only 15 minutes after Zoe's plane would, but it was enough for their plan to go terribly wrong. What if they couldn't find each other in time, or what if Jenni and Jazmin left and they couldn't tail them? He had rehearsed several scenarios in his mind, and planned for them all, but it still worried him. He wasn't a pessimist by nature, but he did worry far too much. He was just glad that Garth and Brock were with him. At least he didn't have to face things alone.
************************************************
Brock grimaced as he thought about Zoe. It wasn't right that she should go alone. he understood the others' reasoning, but he still felt that there was some danger. oe had volunteered, but it still didn't feel right. And he worried for her. He didn't want to think about what might happen.
************************************************
Berta hurriedly went to her seat on the plane. Luckily, she had been able to buy a ticket with the credit card her mom had left her. Her aunt had also been at work so she was able to pack everything she might need up north. She would have missed the plane had she not flown faster and harder than she'd ever flown before.

She clasped her hands and closed her eyes, saying a little prayer for safety. If all worked out well she'd impress the six Legionnaires. And if not... Risks had to be taken, but Berta hoped that this risk was worth taking.

Tazmin looked at her hand and a sword of purest light appeared within it. She wished for Calíburn, her true sword, but it was forbade her until she had a full mastery of the Elén. The lack of mass of the sword of light disturbed her, though she knew it to be stronger than any steel. Nonetheless, she hefted the sword, manifested a shield of the same ether upon her other arm and prepared to strike at her target.

~~~~~~~~~~~

"She will lead us to disaster."

"How so?"

"She is a capable warrior, but her youth and her battle-yearning mean she has not the wisdom to lead."

"Does the Elén not grant wisdom?"

"It contains wisdom, but also folly. It holds all the knowledge of the previous Arrens to carry it within them, but gives only that knowledge that is asked of it. Michael, Allheart take his soul, knew this and balanced what it whispered to him with his own wisdom. Tazmin, thirty seasons younger than Michael when he received it and more desirous of glory on the field, will ask it of great battles and doughty fighters and not seek to check this with thoughts of our present-day capabilities. I tell you most solemnly that I fear she will take us to a battle we cannot win."

"But she is Arra, the wielder of the Elén! Could you gaze upon it when it left Michael?"

"No," his friend admitted, "But the Elén has a will of its' own, and though Tazmin is strong-willed, if its' views align with hers she will follow it - and the Elén would know that."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

She felt the siren cry of battle as she trained, her sweat of liquid light rather than water as she hit every target without fail on the first move, ending with a light dagger shot from her finger to the centre of her final target. The Elén told her she was worthy, and that they could end the corruption of this decadent world as long as she had the strength of mind to do it...

"Help, help, I'm being repressed!"

Andromeda sighed, trying and failing to keep her mind blank as she watched the DVD. It had been a bad day.

Firstly, had been breakfast. Which, with Spark and Polarity not talking, had been a nervous affair. Not through choice, she'd heard their whole argument of a couple of days back and tried to have a word with each of them today to little effect. Spark wasn't showing much of her name, and Laurel could tell she wasn't dealing with her rough patch too well but didn't know how to help her. Polarity, on the other hand, was being very defensive and wholly unlike himself when asked about Spark and his relationship with Enrapture, leaving Laurel wondering how to approach Meta about the subject, something she hadn't had time to see about the rest of the day.

After breakfast and the following attempts to get blood from a pair of stones, it had in theory been a fairly conventional day. Meaning lots of makeup, smiling as if she meant it, breathing in other people's smoke and putting up with Reflecto. Fun.

She tried to settle back again to watch the rest of the film. When the cheesy closing muzak stopped though, she felt nervous for some reason. She took the TV remote and flicked to a news channel,

"...tt I-Mart was devastated today by a what was initially thought to be a tornado. However, in the aftermath of the seeming freak event, the police apprehended Walter Barrett's daught..."

She turned it off again, not wanting to hear more about superhuman this or metahuman that. The bottom line was, she was tired. Tired of being a leader who wasn't allowed to lead but had to pay attention to every little fissure in the team all the same.

Tired of saying "how high" when she was told to jump.

The photoshoot was still preying on her mind too, with publication less than a month away now. She'd been given a picture of the cover mocked up - not for approval or anything of the sort, she wasn't sure why - with one of the two nude poses she'd done to make her feel "better" still, only her crossed legs and long, curly blonde hair sparing her blushes completely. She dug it out and looked herself in the eye. The photog had thought she was just pouting, when she was livid and not allowed to say so.

She threw the picture across the room, turned the light off and got into bed properly. Why the hell had she gotten herself into this mess? HOW the hell had she gotten herself into this mess?

“Hello children,” said the man, “I’d wondered where you’d gotten off to.”

Before Hasim, Dirk, Maziah and Jacquie stood the leader of the Dark Circle, the group of men who had attacked them in Osaka, Japan.

“You won’t be wondering much for long,” said Hasim, stepping forward.

“Hasim, wait—“ said Jacquie, as Dirk broke her off.

“Hasim’s right for once Jacquie,” he said, fury coming across his face. “This guy has it coming and you know it!”

“Such anger, such violence,” replied the man, calm and collected. “You’re doing a fine job of making a scene.”

“And they’ll stop right here,” said a voice and they saw it was Dharampal. “There’s no violence in the café children. If you’ve got political problems, it happens outside the bar. That rule applies to everyone. Even those as unwelcome as Tsuyoshi.”

Jacquie spoke up. “Do as he said,” she said to her friends, “we’re in his house.”

Dharampal nodded to her and she nodded back. An uneasy air existed between Dharampal and the leader of the Dark Circle, whose first name was apparently Tsuyoshi.

“Yes children,” said the older Japanese man, “we’ll see each other soon enough. Some of you,” he continued looking directly at Maziah, “more than others.” She turned away in disgust and Tsuyoshi walked away.

“Great…” said Dirk, “…what are we going to do about this? How’d they know to find us here? I thought we were so secret…”

“We’ll do like we planned,” said Jacquie, “but we need to be more careful. All of us. Maybe we should stay in groups.”

Maziah turned away, obviously displeased. “I’m going to see Blok.”

Jacquie looked tired suddenly, and Dirk saw that being the leader wore her down more than she let on. “I’ll go after her Jacquie,” he whispered, following her outside.

Hasim put his hand on Jacquie’s shoulder. “I’ll stay with you Jac,” he said.

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

“This is a beautiful community you live in,” said Tenz to Backsheeh. “Is it just you and your father?”

“Yes,” replied the boy, “my mother passed away a few years ago.” He did not seem upset at all. Tatiana looked at Mon though, knowing Ten Zil’s father still weighed down on him.

“I recently lost my father,” said Tenz. “I think about him every day.”

Without saying a word, Tatiana put her arms around Tenz’ arm and held him close. “Funny,” thought Mon, “how close we’re all becoming when we’ve only known each other such a short time.”

“I’m more interested in your story,” said Backsheesh. “Such a strange group of people to be traveling together, and even though you’re all older than me, you’re all still young…”

“Exactly the thing I was thinking of!” said a voice and they turned to see Amarjeet, the man who pretty much ran the city. “I’m pleased to see you found it here,” he said to them. “Marla, this is all they were talking about all day when they arrived.”

They turned to see who he was talking to, to see a handsome man with light gray (almost white) hair. He was thin and looked to be very healthy and looked to be American…another foreigner here. “Allow me to introduce Marla Latham, one of Sakkim’s favorite American patrons.”

“The pleasure is all mine,” said Marla with a half smile, extending his hand, which came into contact with Mon’s first. “Amarjeet was just telling me of you when we spotted you. He said you’re traveling with the Moldavian Princess.”

Tenz noticed that as they were talking, Tatiana was moving further away, almost hiding. It took him a second to realize that it was her skin, which he further realized was a very firm light blue. It was making her uncomfortable and uneasy. Strange, he thought, that no one was mentioning it.

“And I see you’ve met the infamous son of the Sky Café,” said Marla Latham, looking down at Backsheesh.

“Hello Mr. Latham,” said the boy, a little shyer in his voice.

“You’re American sir?” said Tenz. “We’re traveling with an American too.”

“I know,” said Marla, “Amarjeet didn’t realize who it was. Famous boy male model, the youngest in the history of the industry. Fascinating that you’re all together. I’m pretty sure he’s Czech though…” There was something about Marla’s interest in them that didn’t seem right to Tatiana, and she could tell Mon felt it too. But there was something innately likeable about the man.

“See! I told you they were interesting. Now let’s get a drink…I think I see Tsuyoshi over there…” Amarjeet, however, was definitively unlikable.

“Come by and see me sometime in the next day or so,” said Marla, looking more at Tenz and Backsheesh. “I’d love to have a chance to talk to you young men and women while you’re around. Unfortunately, boring businessmen are forcing me to spend what should be my quiet time, talking about business as boring as themselves.” The two men walked off.

They were quiet for a minute. “This place definitely has a strange clientele,” said Tatiana.

“Lots of people here don’t seem right, I agree,” said Mon.

“Here we go,” said Tenz to Backsheesh, referring to Tatiana and Mon, “this is where they get all serious and stop enjoying the night…”

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

Maziah walked outside, Dirk still a bit behind her. It was a lovely garden along the mountainside, and she got the sense that it was constructed to make one feel as if they were standing on a diagonal slope. The wind was crisper out here.

“Blok?” she said softly.

“I am here Maziah,” she heard a reply. “Thank you for coming out to see me.” She turned to see him in the shadows long the cliff, blending in with the other rocky terrain.

“The Dark Circle is here,” she said. “But you probably already knew that…”

“I did not,” he replied, “but I suspected they would come. They will always be coming now, child. There is nothing either of us can do about that.”

She was quiet.

“Do you eat or drink, Blok?” she asked suddenly.

For a second, she could almost feel him smile. “No, I do not. I do not sleep either.”

“Do you sing?” she asked.

“Sing? I…I…no, I do not. I have never given it much thought.”

“That is too bad,” she said. “because it is one of the finer things we do.”

“Then Maziah,” replied Blok, “I am glad you have not forgotten it, in light of our enemies arriving at our every location. I would like to hear this singing some day, perhaps.”

“Then it’s a deal. I will continue to enjoy the pleasures of song, as long as you promise to start enjoying them.” She was smiling widely now.

In the doorway, a small distance away, Dirk was watching and smiling.

“I’m scared Blok,” said Maziah after a long silence.

“I know Maziah,” said the large creature, this time much softer than Dirk ever thought possible for Blok.

Dirk turned away, not wanting to create an embarrassing situation. Again he saw the man named Tsuyoshi. He was talking to Amarjeet and a white-haired businessman, who was either Northern European or American. Tsuyoshi broke away and walked towards Dirk.

“What do you want now?” said Dirk rudely.

“I want to be frank with you Mr. Morgna,” said the businessman. “You know who I am and who I work with, though you know very little about either. We have an interest in your little group and in the White Witch you travel with. There does not need to be violence like in Osaka.”

“No? Then why the kidnapping? Why the attack and the games? I know a crook when I see one, and we want nothing to do with you.”

“That’s too bad, I’m afraid. Too bad for you and your friends.” He walked away again.

---------

“Monsieur Amarjeet,” Hasim heard in a French accent suddenly, as he turned to see the prefect talking to what looked to Hasim to be an undercover officer of some sort. “Another guest has arrived and you will have to handle this one personally, sir. He is making his way here now,” finished the man. Amarjeet walked off.

“What is that about?” wondered Hasim, as Mon, Tatiana, Backsheesh and Tenz walked over.

“I believe someone else is arriving,” said Tatiana answering Hasim’s unspoken question. They looked at the doorway, and saw a man dressed in black attire, almost from a century ago. Shadows seemed to cloud his face, when the light should not have created them in such a way.

Terror struck. None of the children knew why, but they felt it. Raw terror. The man had an air about him, something terrible. He was incredibly handsome, with black hair slicked backwards, but loosely done. He shook Amarjeet’s hand. Amarjeet trembled despite himself.

The man looked around. He seemed to look right through Jacquie, and then Tatiana. The whole room seemed captured by his presence.

“Lord Vykros,” said Amarjeet, “I had no idea you were arriving today. You’re early. Would you care for some wine?”

“I’m precisely on time,” said Vykros, not even looking at the prefect. And I’ve brought my own drink.”

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

“Dirk,” said Blok, surprising him so that he jumped. “We need to leave now. A man has just entered the Café, and he is a terrible man.”

Dirk turned around to see Maziah and Blok. Maziah looked like she was shivering.

“Maziah? What’s wrong? Are you cold?”

“I feel him here. Vykros. He’s come for me. Oh no…” she whispered, “…you’re all in terrible danger.”

“Dirk, take her away from here, right now. The others will meet us back home. I will meet you there too.”

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

Dharampal stormed past the chidren. He stopped. “Backsheesh, the night is over. I want you to go to bed. I have to take care of our guests.”

“But father—“

“Don’t argue with me.”

“Well,” said the boy turning to the others, “I guess I have to go.”

“Maybe we should too…” said Mon, looking ahead at Vykros, who was talking to Amarjeet and Dharampal.

“Well, I’m sorry to see you leave then,” said Marla Latham, who they saw had come back over to them. “I have to say I’m intrigued by this little band. Would you care to come and visit me tomorrow for tea? I shall be here for the next few days on business.”

Tatiana snuck a glance at Mon to see he was doing the same to her. Jacquie prepared to talk, when Tenz intertupted her.

“I would like that,” said Ten Zil, “maybe Backsheesh can come too?”

“I’d be delighted,” said Marla, and Backsheesh agreed.

“Stop by sometime tomorrow,” said Marla, and Tenz was obviously happy about his. Marla Latham had something paternal about him—something warming. Jacquie looked taken aback, and Tatiana did too—she obviously didn’t trust him. Hasim and Mon watched the man known as Vyrkos.

“Let’s go,” said Jacquie. They all started to try and slip out the door.

“Good night children,” said Amarjeet who was suddenly on them.

“Yes…goodnight,” said Tsuyoshi. The feeling that they were being closed in by more and more people was becoming more apparent.

“Goodnight.”

The group of teenagers made their way home, the whole time worried they would be attacked in the streets. After what seemed like an eternity, they made it to their rooms. None of them could really sleep. A deep loathing had set in, after a day that started off so nicely with the crisp mountain air.

“We’re going to need to leave Sakkim, and soon” said Jacquie. “We can’t stay here, with the Dark Circle gathering before us.”

“So, we’ll keep going as planned,” said Dirk. “Tenz is going over to see that Marla Latham guy today, and I think Maziah and I are going with him. We can leave tomorrow. You should go with us today Jacquie.”

She was quiet for a minute. “No, I think I’ll stay here and see if anything happens. Hasim said he’d stick around too,” she finished, going back and looking out the window.

“Ooookay,” said Dirk, purposely being sarcastic, and walking out the door. Blok was there.

“He spends an awful lot of time around her, don’t you think?” said the young man.

“Does this bother you?” said Blok.

Dirk gave him a sly look. “You know it does. You know what?” he added, whispering, “I don’t know if I entirely trust him. Something else else seems off about him.”

“Indeed? One might say that about all of us, I suppose…still, it is good you are on your guard.” Blok continued on towards Jacquie.

Dirk walked on. “And yet, I didn’t find out if he agreed with me or not…” he thought, ready to throw his hands into the air.

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

Mon flew up the stairs at top speed, letting loose for a quick moment before having to turn the power back off. He’d felt a bit confined lately, not using his powers to their full potential. Still, zipping around a posh hotel wasn’t exactly the type of practice he was looking for.

“Tatiana,” he said, louder than he wanted to. Her door was closed. “Tatiana, most of the others have left for awhile and I’m getting antsy…” he went to open the door, and it was locked.

“Mon, I’m not feeling well,” he heard through the door. She sounded upset. “I don’t really feel like doing much of anything at all today.”

“Tatiana…” he said, this time softer, “what’s the matter? Are you alright?”

“I’m fine. I just don’t feel up to going out at all. I-I’ll see you later.”

“Tatiana. This is about your skin color. The blue skin. Which, apparently, no one seems to be asking you about. It’s definitely a side effect of your powers…the darkness effecting the pigment of your skin…”

“Please go away.” This time, she sounded more firm.

“I don’t mind it at all,” he said, in a voice that found its footing—soft, but firm too. “You have nothing to be ashamed of.”

“Please Mon, go away. You have no idea what I’m feeling.”

“Tatiana, I’ve been different than everyone all my life. I know exactly what you’re feeling—and yet, here you are with seven companions as equally different as any you’ve ever met face to face. Please open the door.”

“I don’t know who you think you are,” she said suddenly in a rage, “but I can feel whatever I want without you putting in. I’m not opening the door.”

“Fine,” said Mon.

BAM.

Quite easily, the broken door creaked open, wooden shards falling to the ground. She looked at him in utter shock, dry tears around her eyes, sitting in her nightgown. Her skin was a pale light blue, and her raven hair made it only stand out even more.

He could feel it. The rage was about to explode on him. A wide grin forced its way onto his face. She was making her way across the room, and suddenly he felt as if the whole armies of Persia were outflanking him. She opened her mouth to yell…

“I think you’re beautiful. The most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen.”

In one of those rare instances where you often try everything in your power to remember every millisecond of something but can only remember glimpses and half-memories, the next few moments happened.

Her arms around his neck, her body in his arms, and a deep, passionate kiss.

“Now tell me, my young friends,” said Marla as he poured them all tea, “what do you know about worldly events?”

Dirk raised an eyebrow at Maziah, but she was too fascinated by their host. Tenz and Backsheesh seemed to be eating up his every word, and had been that way for the good part of an hour already.

“Only what we hear on the news,” said Tenz.

“Hm. The news. Here in India? Or when you were in Southeast Asia? That hardly seems a good avenue to learn about things happening on a much bigger stage. In my opinion, no real avenue exists for the real ‘big picture’ to be scene as it is. Not here, not even in New York.”

“What is happening in the news, Mr. Latham?” asked Backsheesh.

“Well, and now we get to the point. It’s a question of what’s happening in the news and what is not happening in the news.”

“Ok, now I’m confused,” said Dirk. “You mean what’s not being reported.”

“Correct. Such as your group, traveling through Europe. Surely events are playing out here that directly relate to that much bigger stage I was just referring to.”

“Just how much do you know about us, sir?” said Maziah. She had been relatively quiet until then.

“Not nearly as much as I would like. But in a rather less than subtle way of dodging that question, let me go back to the other side of the coin. Do you know what else is happening on the world stage that is being reported?”

“What, you mean the stuff in Khunda?”

“No, no, Tenz, you’re still only focusing on the obvious. I mean the Legion of Super-Heroes. Have you heard of them yet?”

“Y-yes,” said Maziah, suddenly interesting. “Do you know them?”

“I haven’t met them yet, I’m afraid, but I will. And their importance is almost so obvious that many are missing it. A grand, unifying force for this planet. Young, optimistic and eager. A veritable Legion, in the sense that already they number above a dozen, and super in the sense that each one can do things I can only dream of. I would think that you all would have a much keener interest in such a group.”

“Wow, we really haven’t been that secret at all,” said Dirk.

“No, I’m afraid you haven’t in terms of all the people who have ways of finding things out. But consider what could be accomplished by such a unified force, who so specifically believe in ideals no less than super-heroic.”

“Advocates of peace,” said Tenz. “We could fight things people only dream of fighting.”

“Exactly. And unfortunately, advocates of war,” said Marla, turning to Maziah. “Do not forget your sister, Maziah, and that you have friends you have still yet to meet.”

They were all silent. Marla smiled. He stood up. “And that, my young friends, is the end of my afternoon,” he smiled. “Remember the Legionnaires.”

There are times when events have moved at a steady pace—not slow, but not fast by any means—and then they suddenly quicken to such a fast pace that its hard to process all of the information as it happens. The next hour of Dirk Morgna’s life would always be remembered by him in such a way.

“Come on,” he said to Tenz, Backsheesh and Maziah. “Let’s get back to Jacquie and Hasim. Just to make sure their alright,” he added.

“Dirk, I’m sure they’re alright,” said Maziah.

“I know Hasim’s a jerk,” said Tenz, “but you can cut him a break just a little you know…”

Dirk ignored the comment as Backsheesh looked on in wonder. He saw no reason to tell ‘Kid Psycho’ about his distaste for their Turkish ‘friend’.

“Its hard to tell when Dirk likes a girl,” said Maziah to Backsheesh suddenly, “because we’re not sure if he just flirts a lot or actually likes every girl,” she said smiling. Tenz started to laugh. Dirk shook his head, but couldn’t help but smile.

Suddenly they came to a dead stop.

Up ahead of them, around a bend, stood the man they saw the night before. Hidden in the shadows, almost possible to see. His upper faced was covered in shadow, but they knew it was him. An intense feeling surrounded him, as if all the air around him was hot but the rest of the air was cold. A distorted sense, as if pure negative energy poured from him. Lord Vykros.

“Out for some air?” he said, a slight Eastern European accent noticeable. “Surely you realize that its almost dusk.”

“Vykros…” said Maziah, about to say something, but not finding the courage to continue.

“Lady Maziah,” he said, a smile coming over his face. Only his teeth were visible in the darkness. The street suddenly seemed empty and long on both sides. “It is time for you to come home. It will be my pleasure to escort you there.”

“I-I-I’m not going a-anywhere,” she said, trembling.

“You are,” replied Vykros, opening up his smile wider, so that two teeth became more visible—they appeared to be fangs.

“What the hell--?” said Dirk. “Tenz, Backsheesh, run…run!” he said, and he turned to put his arms on Maziah. The sun seemed to be going down much quicker than it should have been.

“No hurry…” he said, as the four teenagers ran away.

One street over became two, and then five. The four said nothing, dashing around town as quick as possible. Dirk turned. Maziah screamed ‘no!’, and pulled him on. She began to chant and to hymn, and a light began surrounding her hands, as she rubbed them together. She was casting a spell of some sort.

“Let’s just get home,” said Tenz, turning the corner. “We can---“

He had Ten Zil by the throat in mere seconds, and hurled him across the alley. Backsheesh immediately ran to Tenz, as Dirk and Maziah saw that Vykros had cut them off. “It’s too late!” yelled the Vampire, “you must realized I planned for this,” he said softer.

Maziah let out a blast, knocking him backwards, and Dirk realized the Vampire was much stronger than they knew if he could survive that. He survived it, and recovered faster than Maziah had expected. He leapt at them, and now Dirk fired his sun blasts at him, which seemed to have an effect. They scrambled more.

“I’m here,” said a voice, which they realized was Blok. He materialized out of the ground, and ran at Vykros. “Undead abomination,” he roared, “you will terrorize no young girl tonight.” He blows were thunderous and echoed throughout the street. Vykros pounded back, equally as hard.

Dirk ran on, lost in the fray, and realized Tenz was by his side. They were near their hotel now, and burst through the door. They ran up through the lobby, not looking back, into their room, to see Jacquie and Hasim, oblivious, watching the television. “Run!” yelled Tenz, in a panic.

“What--?”

“What’s going on?” said Jacquie.

“We have to leave,” said Dirk. “We were attacked by that Lord Vykros person…Blok is fighting him…where are Mon and Tatiana?...” Dirk was turning around frantic. He was terrified. The Vampire must have some kind of ability to inspire fear, because he could see Tenz obviously felt the same feeling of complete and utter terror.

“Calm down, calm down” said Jacquie. She was suddenly next to him and holding him close, whispering to try and calm him down. He was sweating and his heart was pounding. “We’ll go,” she whispered and then raised her voice to Hasim and Tenz. “Let’s get our stuff. Only the bear essentials like when we came here. Where is Backsheesh and Maziah?” she asked.

“I-I thought they were with us…” whispered Dirk back.

-----------------
Blok and Vykros pounded on one another, as the sun truly was setting now. Blok hurled him into an old wall, which instantly was destroyed by the force applied. Vykros leapt back, landing a horrendous blow across Blok’s chest, causing rubble and dust to fall off the massive creature’s frame.

“You’ve long been a thorn to my master old one,” said Vykros, “and it will give me the greatest pleasure to be the one to finally destroy you,” he smiled. Another terrible blow knocked Blok backwards and when the creature arose, he saw his left arm was no longer there.

“NO!” came a girl’s voice and Blok knew Maziah had not left. “Leave him alone!” she screamed, once more sending a potent blast of pure magical energy at Vykros, which charged threw him, almost destroying him.

-----------------------
Jacquie, Dirk, Hasim and Tenz ran out of the hotel, and Hasim loudly let out a “Thanks Heavens” when Mon and Tatiana were coming up. Jacquie caught them before they could say anything. “We’re being attacked and need to leave immediately. Blok and Maziah are battling him. Its that Vykros man.”

“I’m going,” said Mon, turning.

“Go,” said Jacquie, knowing it was a good move and not worth arguing. Mon was off.

“Where to now?” said Tatiana, obviously confused by the sudden turn of events. “The boats?”

“I…” Jacquie seemed unsure. “Yes, we’ll go to the boats. This way,” she said, leading them on. They saw some people in the streets, who looked at them funny, seeing how much of a rush the kids were in. Then, up ahead, they saw Amarjeet, the essential prefect of the city.

“Mr. Amarjeet!” said Tenz running to him. “Can you help us, please? We…We need to get out of the city.”

Amarjeet looked at them with a scandalized face, but it quickly faded and he nodded. He seemed confused. “Of course, of course. Follow me, and we will have you safely out of here.” He looked around, unsure of what to do next. “It’s very dark right now for such an early hour in the evening” he said out loud quizzically.

Amarjeet led them through an old building in what they thought was the center of town, but apparently was not. “This is one of the many secrets of the city. It’s an old building that leads out into the mountain side in a small pass through a tunnel. It should help you. But, what about the rest of your friends?” he asked.

“We’ll find way to get word,” said Dirk, now regaining his composure.

“Thank you for helping us,” said Tatiana, “but, may I ask, why are you doing it?”

Amarjeet stopped and thought for a minute. “Quite simply children,” he said, “I’m not. I’m helping them.”

Out of the shadows, they suddenly realized they were completely surrounded by members of the Dark Circle.

“Leave him alone!” yelled Maziah, as she blasted Vykros. The creature fell.

“Y-your…m-mother,” he said quietly. She stopped, shocked.

“What? My mother, what do you--?”

It was all the time he needed. He gazed directly into her eyes with his own and his eyes went completely red. His voice was different, edgier, razor sharp. “Do nothing. Follow me. Join me to return to your father. Do as I say, ask no questions.” The words were poison coming from his mouth.

“NO!” said Blok, running forward and pummeling a blow into him. “You will not use your vampiric mind on her. I will not allow it!” Blok’s anger was furious and righteous. Maziah meaned so much to him…so much to the world. It could not end here.”

“But I have!” yelled Vykros back. The Vampire had lost his composure and was now completely caught up in the moment. Savagely he pounded back, each blow gaining more and more power until Blok fell backwards. “We have won old fool, beaten you before you could even begin. It is over.” Blok looked up, as Vykros continued to pound on him repeatedly, blow after blow. At last he walked away. I only regret you have no blood for me to feast on this eve. Quietly, he walked off with Maziah.

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

Mon flew around the city looking for where they could possibly be. Up ahead, he spotted something, and saw it was Backsheesh. He scooped him up before the boy could say anything. The young boy, only thirteen years old, was frightened beyond all belief. “I ran…” he whispered again and again, “I ran…”

“Its OK Backsheesh,” said Mon, cursing the fact that he had little bedside manner. “But you need to help me now. Where are they? Where is Maziah and Blok. Backsheesh!” he yelled, and the little boy jumped. “Take me there. Please.”

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

The Dirk Circle were all over them, and a mass of hands were grabbing them, choking them, punching them and pushing them to the floor. They felt immediately violated and abused, tricked and betrayed and led strait into an ambush. Jacquie heard the familiar voice of Tsuysoshi, their leader.

“We do not have the White Witch,” he said and she knew he was smiling, “but we have all of you, and that will be enough!” he said with a laugh. “Keep them on the ground and get them all unconscious as soon as possible. We’ll bring them to the trucks and get them out of India into Russia as quickly as we can. Let the icey cold Siberian weather feel good on their backs as we trek them through the hills.”

Jacquie continued to struggle and she could hear Hasim fighting with all his might. His abilities were incredible, but she remembered his one great weakness, that they only worked so well against one, single opponent. She concentrated hard, as hard as she could. She felt a man’s hand whack her in the head, and it stung terribly. She just concentrated on her not being there. That she, herself, was not there, despite everything else happening. Only the floor. No young girl. No regal Princess, young woman of great character and valor. No young leader, friend to these diverse and strange individuals. No scared young lady, lonely and terrified, lost and afraid. A tear rolled down her cheek.

Things moved so fast. The others were being dragged away. There was at least twenty, no twenty-five, members of the Dark Circle there. They had knocked out Dirk, she heard it, and Tatiana and Tenz were captured too. Hasim fell. Tsuyoshi was gone, they all were. They paid Amarjeet.

More minutes passed. NO. NO! NO!!! Get up! She rose. She ran towards the doors. Gone. They were all gone.

Mon-El flew down with Backsheesh, and saw the crumbled remains of Blok scattered in the alley. The wise creature was gone. Destroyed and dead.

Or was he?

“I am here Mon,” said a voice and they could see a flicker in the almost life-less husk. “Things have gone terribly but there is still hope. Lord Vykros has taken Maziah, and if she is returned to Mordru, all of this has been for nothing. You must stop him, and you must do it immediately. That is the most important task.”

“Blok, are you…dying?” asked Mon.

“I am not dying, although Vkros destroyed this shell. I must create another. I am the product of this planet, and I have a mission. My mission is not done, and thus I am not done. But I will need to regain my strength before I join you anew. Join you I shall, but you must not let time eclipse us now. Race against it and save what chance we have. I will join you when I can. Go now, my friend, and be the hero you have always been. Find out why you have re-awoken two thousand years later to be one of the greatest heroes of this age.”

Mon-El stood before him, as Blok’s flicker began to fade away. “I will Blok, and I will see you soon.”

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

Jacquie ran outside into the beautiful town of Gangtok, to see the dark evening sky. People passed through the streets, and it was an epicenter of cultural activity. It felt clean, fresh, and smelt like cinnamon and tea.

Cold sweat ran down her nose, and her anger was suddenly beaten back by a cold, harsh calm. Up ahead, she thought she saw Amarjeet. She ran after him. No use, he was too far ahead. She ran farther. He was surrounded by people. She wanted her revenge so badly. Her father first. Her country. Her best friends.

He seemed to be walking away, turning down a new street.

What he saw down the corner would haunt him for the rest of his life. All her anger. All her frustration. One illusion. One horrifying, terrifying illusion. They would talk about his scream for many years to come in Gangtok.

Moments later, she was figuring out what to do next when Mon-El flew down with Backsheesh. He looked like she felt and vice versa.

“They’ve all been taken. Taken by the damn Dark Circle. We have to go after them.”

He looked bleak. “We will. But we need to get Maziah first. She’s on her way to her father’s. Blok is…gone. But he’ll return. I’ll explain on the way. We need to get Maziah first.”

“Are you sure?” asked Jacquie.

Mon thought about Tatiana. The kiss. The embrace. Dammnit. “Yes, I am.”

She nodded, and turned to Backsheesh. He seemed overwhelmed. She gave him a smile, and shocked herself by doing it. “It’s going to be alright Backsheesh,” she said. “You’ve been a great friend to us. I promise we’ll return some time and visit. Thanks for everything.” She gave him a hug.

“I’m sorry for everything,” he said, shell-shocked. He felt like he should be crying, but he was being strong. “Be careful. I’ll miss you guys.”

“We’ll miss you too,” said Mon-El with nod. He meant it. “Take care of Gangtok for us,” he added.

“I will,” whispered Backsheesh as they flew away, adding “you can always count on Kid Psycho…”

Mon flew off with Jacquie in his arms. They were deadly serious. “Enough is enough” said Jacquie. “First Maziah, then the rest. It’s time to fight back.”

Interlude

"I'm going to kill them!" yelled Gene--no, screamed Gene. "What in the hell were they thinking?!!"

Outside of Rex's office, Nura and Lyle looked at one another with squinted eyes, trying not to cringe any further when Gene yelled.

"I don't know Gene," they heard him say, "and I'm not happy about it either. But maybe we should at least hear them out a little...?"

"No, I don't think we should. They went way beyond protocol and organized a Legion mission, with four Legionnaires now missing from the roster. Who knows what danger they're in? I expect this from Norga, since he obviously has no respect for any kind of authority, but the girl too? I don't even know why she's on this team...what can she even do?"

"Now Gene, I know your mad, but take it easy. The last time you made a statement like that you hurt someone's feelings and I talked to you about it. Besides, you know RJ likes that Nura is on this team and thinks its a good idea."

"He does?" whispered Nura to Lyle outside the office.

Lyle shrugged. "News to me."

They started to giggle. "He's so mad..." whispered Nura.

"Cos, four Legionnaires missing. On some mission in another country. We've been spending weeks, actually months, getting our shit strait--getting UN clearance, US government clearence, Health Inspectors regulating the flight rings, telling us not to use the Star Gate techonology, trying to get special citizenship classes for various Legionnaires..."

"I know. And they'd all go crazy if they found out four of us snuck off somewhere on some secret mission. But maybe that's the point Gene. We've spent too much time 'fixing' this minor buerocratic problems when there are other things going on. Maybe Lyle and Nura taking some iniatitive is a little reminder that the reason we're all doing this is more than just a public show of force and unity. There is an important mission at hand."

Gene looked at him. He wasn't convinced.

"Its her sister Gene. And she's been up front with us now that they're gone. Let's figure something out. We can always point fingers later..."

"Better stop giggling..." whispered Lyle to Nura.

"I like Cos..." she said.

"Cute too, isn't he?" said Lyle back.

End Interlude

This chapter does not occur within a week of the above chapter. We can sort out whether it's before or after later

Punch. Kick. Uppercut. Trinity swirled, her opponent momentarily stunned, giving her time to split without leaving herself vulnerable for the moment it took, then the three of her worked in perfect synchronisation, information on each of their positions and movements travelling instantly between her heads as the three of her moved in perfect synchonisation to finish her opponent off.

"I yield, I YIELD!" Shifter shouted, leading her to stand back.

"Toldya," Purple grinned a moment before she remerged, while Shifter picked himself up and the dents and bruises in his surface rippled and vanished.

"Good sparring," Trinity said as she offered Shifter a hand.

"For you, perhaps," he grumbled - the physical marks of his working-over were gone, but the pains would take a few minutes to fade, "I still can't fight for toffee like this."

"Ah, we'll get you there, even if Val doesn't reappear from wherever he vanished to. This time, I just needed to know where you're at - we'll start properly next time. Now c'mon, I need something to eat and I'd guess you do to."

"You're not wrong," Shifter replied, before adding in an undertone, "although where I put it..."
___________________

"Still not happy then?" Trinity asked before taking a bite of salad.

"Well, hair's hard to do,..."

"You couldn't just be bald? I mean, you've got tentacles on your head!"

"There is no way on Earth, here, now, past, present or future I am ever going to go around with a shiny orange egg for a head."

"Okaaay..."

"And once I'm asleep, I...well, that is,...I turn to gloop," his bright eyes momentarily went black and his expressive face made an expression of disgust. Clearly, he was still adjusting.

"Irma ever tell you about how she found me, the morning after I got my powers?" When Reed shook his head she continued," I was a complete basket case, fit only for a room with rubber wallpaper. My mind had been ripped in three then put back together again - badly - after I made an offhanded wish that there were three of me to do all my work while holding my new oil lamp."

"Oil lamp?"

"You know - Arabian Nights, Aladdin, the type of lamp the genie was kept in? I collect them."

Shifter laughed, making ripples shudder over his whole body, "You found a real genie?"

"Seemed like that - I've still got that lamp, although I haven't actually touched it since..."

"Can I have it?"

"I wouldn't risk giving it to anyone - djinns were malevolent things bound up in lamps to keep them out of mischief in the stories, and I think I got a real mischief maker - one that follows the letter of your command but not the way you wanted, so if you wished yourself back to human form, it'd probably make you a baby or an old man or something. Anyway, can I finish?"

"All right..."

"Anyway, it took Irma hours to piece my mind back together properly, and nearly a week to train me to split without ripping my mind apart again. So don't give up with the training before I've even started.

"Am I right in thinking that if it hadn't been for Irma before, you'd be in an asylum or somesuch?"

"Yes..."

"So why have you not let her help you since you were kidnapped?"

He'd telegraphed the punch, but that didn't mean it hadn't stung all the same - not least since she didn't have an answer as she sat in silence.

Reed decided, after a minute of silence, to drop the subject since he didn't know her well enough to push it - maybe she'd had a falling-out with Irma he didn't know about. But Lorna's problems since her kidnapping were an open secret about the team, and if he could prod her into getting help, so much the better. "Anyway, so how'd you meet Brande? He's not your real dad, is he?"

"Oh no. My real dad was a drunken bastard who made my life hell for ten years until his liver finally gave out."

"Ah. Sorry."

"Don't be, R. J.'s ten times the dad he ever was. The only member of my family I knew and miss is my gran - she was great. Whenever my dad went on one of his tirades, I went and stayed with her, and lived with her after my dad died until..." Reed could see her eyes welling up and went to put his arm around her, but she shooed him off, "No, no, I'm okay. Anyway, I'd just turned fifteen, and I walked home from school to find the house empty and closed, which never happened, and then when I let myself in, there was a note to call the hospital. When I called, I found out she'd had a heart attack while I'd been walking home, managed to call the hospital, but was 'DOA'. That was what the insensitive... person... said, just Dee-Oh-Ay. Then, I just ran. I bundled some clothes and a few other things into my bag and went off before they came back to put me in an orphanage. Long story short, the next day I got sick and collapsed in Brande's stables, and he found me, paid for the hospital treatment, and before I knew it I had a real dad for the first time. What about you, what's your 'Secret Origin'? You sound kind of English, but not quite"

"Not as eventful as yours, I'm afraid. My mum was English and my dad American. When my dad married my mum, he moved to Oxford in England to be with her and I lived the first twelve years of my life there."

"What was it like."

"I liked it, mostly, although I hated prep school even though I didn't have to board..."

"...wait, wait. Prep School? Little Lord Fauntleroy stuff?"

"Well, I can't lie - there were a few of them, but they weren't the majority by any means. Anyway, I finished there when I was twelve, and then they moved here to be close to my dad's family, since my grandmother was ill. My mother opened a costume shop which I became obsessed with and worked in part-time, and used stuff from to stow away with the Legion on your first mission. The rest you know - the odd bomb, and I woke up like this."

"I'll never forget your arms coming out of that goop, pulling yourself out of the bucket and sneezing all over Lyle. You nearly gave him and Sally heart attacks!" she smirked.

"Heh... I don't remember that. I don't remember much from that first week or two after the thing"

"Well, it's true, and I have witnesses who can vouch for me!"

"I shall take your word for it," Shifter grinned for a second more before becoming solemn, "Did you hear about Rex's grandmother?"

"No," Lorna's face fell, "I was wondering why I hadn't seen him today - what happened?"

"He got a call a couple of hours ago. They found her in her house after a fall, and they think she might have had a stroke."

"Poor Cos... I really know what he's going through. Do you know where he is?"

"I think he was trying to get hold of Paul, then he was going to see R.J. for help in getting back to Braydon to see her."

"I'd better go and find him," Trinity said, before draining the remainder of her glass of lemonade. "I'll see you Friday if not before, okay?"

"Of course," Reed said, staying to finish his orange juice as Lorna hurried out.

The feeling was not slow, but gradual. If Blok were to explain it, most people would think it was painful, but it was quite the opposite. As if the time he spent as a 'being' caused all the pain in the world to cease, and his thoughts became purely thoughts again--with no awkwardness or prodding from the outside.

Once more, as he had done countless times, Blok entered the Earthly realm that was the realm known as, well, the Earth. His body destroyed by Vykros (but not destroyed like when he transfers himself to another point on the globe--this was far worse, it was actually destroyed as a part of him was destroyed). Thus, he sank back to where he began, in the center of the Planet, the living, breathing stream of collective life that ensured more life could exist on it.

And he remembered.

The planet lived peacefully and serene for as long as memory could envision, even memory as exponential as that of a Planet itself. Pure, unimbided chaos grow on the surface, which pleased the planet--for chaos such as this caused the chaotic fires of creation, truly nature's (the Planet's) most beloved idea. Out of creation and chaos rose life, and out of life rose creation and chaos, and out of all of this rose civilation. The greatest civilization was the Ancient Kingdom, the era of purity and no limitations, the Empire of Creative Expansion, Ekron.

Ekron, the great Kingdom. Long did it exist, so that it too stretched back beyond the bounds of memory. Surely the chaos of Ekron and the chaos of planetary life somehow ironically formed the positive force known as order.

Then came the day when Mordru sought to put true order on the world and hold it underneath his heel. And by snuffing the chaos of creation and free thought, he thus destoyed the order and the balance.

Civil War.

And Ekron was completely destroyed. Few artificats, less beings and even less histories lived on, and the world changed for the worse. The worst of this worse was that Mordru the Merciless, the destroyer of the Planet's greatest age, was not himself destroyed, and only needed to be reawakened to being anew in his quest to control all that is.

The Planet was almost destroyed itself. A great era of darkness ensued and not only did the natural calamities of such an event hurt the Planet's core, but the consequences on civilization were far worse. The peril it faced then did not abate, and has remained since. For when Mordru betrayed his fellows, he betrayed the sacred order between man and planet, and thus has kept the Planet itself in constant peril ever since.

But the Planet is a living, breathing thing. And it, at that point in time, produced its greatest son to live and die for it, to rise up and carry on its own sacred mission. Nameless, he came into existence to serve the planet and restore the sacred order, by destroying Mordru the most orderly and returning the Planet to a time when it no longer lived in such peril. Nameless, he fought against Mordru for countless Millenia, although often his allies preferred to bestow upon him some moniker. Most recently, they have chosen 'Blok'.

But a name means little to Blok, when his mission is the true definition of what he is. When Civil War broke out in Ekron, it almost destroyed mankind, and most certainly lessened the power that man once had. Gone was the rabid expansin of ideas and creation and the mastery of the limitations of the world. When the Civil War broke out in Ekron, Mordru betrayed the Ekronese and betrayed Mother Terra itself, threatening to destroy its very core, for life cannot live under the boot heel of one man, and without life on the outside of it, there is no life within.

So Mordru must be stopped, somehow, someway. For the Planet and for life. That evening as the Planet revolved around the sun and placed Mordru in the shade, it placed a new creative force in the dawn, and gave the world Blok, a champion for the Planet, and a champion for life.

Once more, Blok returned to the soil, and rose forth into the air. Once more, Blok begins his quest anew.

Mon flew down to the ground at a strong speed, but not so fast as to cause the wind to cut into Jacquie's face. Mon had put on his dark blue cloak/cape and it was billowing in the wind. He held her effortlessly in his arms, and she realized all at once that despite being taller than most girls, she was very small compared to someone of Mon's stature. She held onto all of their stuff--the eight of theirs- that she could carry. She did not want to lose even one item, and she hoped that the Dark Circle had taken the rest of it when they captured her friends. She tried not to think about it. They were here to save Maziah, and that was what was important. The reason Maziah was even there in the first place was because of Jacquie, and the two had a bond that most seldom would ever understand.

"Here. His carriage should be approaching this way, and I've gotten far enough ahead of him. It's still night, so evidently this is when he's strongest."

"Yes, a strigoi. Or Vampire, as the more western of our group would call him. Here we stand, the last remaining force between Mordru and his daughter Maziah, the White Witch."

"The White Witch? I thought only the Dark Circle called her that?"

"She told me awhile ago that people have been calling her that on and off since she was little. She actually doesn't mind it too bad, since its not anything resembling 'the Dark Witch' or the 'Black witch'."

Mon smiled.

Jacquie noticed. "She's simple like that sometimes. She's very aware of who her father is and her and Nura leaving her father was a major step for them. It took fifteen years worth of courage to do that. We can't let her go back."

"We won't Jacquie. I promise."

With that, Mon flew off into the sky, out of Jacquie's sight. As if on cue, a carriage appeared on the dark horizon, the only light letting her see coming from the stars. It was being pulled by two horses and at once she knew they were magical. She concentrated and hoped it would have an effect. Her power was her birthright, but it was magic based. Maybe that would help. She concentrated and thought of serpents and snakes. For some reason, she thought of asps. And if anyone were to view the area around her suddenly, they would see hundreds--perhaps thousands--of asps on the ground. She concentrated hard. She wanted to spook the two horses, magical or not. She, herself, created a massive illusion, and turned into a giant snake. The thought seemed ridiculous and outrageous, a giant snake super-heroine illusionist, but she had to force back inane thoughts at this hour. The pressure of the world was weighing down on her and making her loopy.

She heard a horse buckle back in fear, and it threw the whole cart into dissaray. The harness snapped and the two horses reared in terror at the sight of all the snakes.

Vykros was out of the carriage in an instant, aware that only an enemy could cause the carriage to be disrupted so. He leapt into the sandy terrain and looked around immediately. Jacquie held back a choke. His senses were too strong. Her illusions had no effect on him.

"I see you young princess and I recognize the scent of your kind immediately," he said leaping at her. He was more terrifying than she remebered. His sunglasses were gone and bright red eyes shown, sickly in their lusty color. His white teeth were long and sharp and two larger fangs stood on either side of his mouth. He was on her before she could react, pinning her to the ground. She felt immense, complete fear.

<span style="font-size: 30px;">BAM!!!</span>

Mon-El rained down on him with a blow to the back of the head with all the might he could muster with one punch. He said nothing and was all business. This Vampire came close to destroying the wisest creature he had ever met, the one creature Mon felt he could entrust his life to. Only someone with strength equal to Mon could do that. The Vampire fell backward and Jacquie could see in horror that the blow was so sharp that Vykros' left ear had come flying off. Lord Vykros immediately regained his footing.

On the sandy plains seperating India from Pakistan, cold as the night sky, Jacquie stood in horror and Mon-El and Lord Vykros went blow for blow, hammering away at each other. Like some warrior prince, Mon hammered away defiantly, his cape billowing in the wind. Vykros hit back just as hard. The horror wanted to speak, she could tell, but Mon's blows to its faced destroyed the ability to do so. She understood for some reason that it needed to feast on people like Mon and her, to gain their super-human energies to grow itself back to normal.

She was running to the carriage. She ripped open the back to see Maziah, sitting there with a dazed, terrified look on her face. 'Maziah!' she called to no avail and repeated it. 'MAZIAH!" she yelled again. Nothing. She ran out of options. SMACK! she let loose a slap across her face. That snapped her out of it. "What? How dare you--? Jacqie...oh it was horrible...it was..." She stopped. 'Stand back.'

Mon-El and Lord Vykros hammered away blow after blow. Unbeknown to Mon, the great creature known as Blok had arisen from the dirt and watched, preparing to enter the fray himself. "No Blok," said Jacquie. "Stand back."

"Vykros," said Maziah, stepping forward. "You have followed the orders of my father, your Lord Mordru, with great loyalty. In doing so, you have made an enemy of Maziah, the White Witch and my companions. For that, your time is over."

Vykros gave a howl, unable to talk. It sounded like blood churtling in his throat. He had lost all sense of self at this point. He served Mordru no more. He simply wanted to drink the blood from this young female. He leapt at her. She let loose a cascade of pure white light--energy as pure as the sun's own. It ripped through the Vampire. This Vampire, who was hundreds of years old, who had outlived his enemies for centuries, laughing at their mortality. This Vampire, who was now ash, killed during the middle of the night, at the hour he was strongest.

Maziah stood her ground, her clothes torn and her heart pumping. Blok carried Mon-El over, Jacquie notcing his distinctly different looking new form. Jacquie put her hand on Maziah's shoulder.

"He will know now," said Blok to Maziah. "Mordru will realize this is no common enemy he faces any longer. This is his daughter. This is the one he should fear most."

Most of all, Tenz remembered the cold.

Hauled into the back of big pick-up trucks, he remembers the cold cutting into their backs. It doesn't matter that they had clothes on--they were naked on the freezing trip into Russia. He specifically remembered thinking 'so this must be Siberia'. Dark Circle members sat in the back with them, M-16's in hand, yelling at him if he lifted his head to see where they were. Hasim was bloody, having been beaten viciously for trying to fight back. Dirk and Tatiana were chloroformed, in a ball in the corner of the pick-up, and he felt a sudden great fear for Tatiana and wanted to do nothing more than protect her above all. The ride was long, a hell-frozen journey that he knew gave him frostbite all over his body, in places he never knew could hurt. When they arrived, he couldn't get up. So they hurled him off the truck, and his face hit the rock-hard ice, cutting open his lips. He remembers that was the first warm thing he felt in a long time--his own blood.

Tortured again. They'd come so far, and he'd be tortured again. He knew it. Like the Persuader of Seoul, this was forever going to be his hell.

It was dark and musty, and the concrete was how everything was, very cold. He faded in and out but remembered fighting to stay somewhat conscious, to try and make sure the others ended up somewhere safe. Hasim was hurled into some rat-infested cell, and he remembers there being a large pool of water at the bottom of it. They took both Tatiana and him and put them in the same cell, and once again he was thankful for that--he'd protect her, even if he was so scared right now he just secretly wanted her to protect him. The slapped him around for being awake and kicked Tatiana to the ground hard. He didn't understand a word they said and couldn't tell if it was Japanese, Russian, Chinese, something else or all of those. They worked for awhile on a special cell for Dirk, and he knew it was because they knew about his powers. Up until now Tenz had hoped when Dirk woke up he'd set the whole place on fire and burn them all to hell, but now that didn't look like it was going to happen.

Still, he kept up hope. Because when you're being tortured or imprisoned, that's what they are trying to do to you. Break down your hope, your sense of self. You had to stay hopeful, had to have a plan, no matter how outrageous it was, and if it failed, create a new plan.

Still, it was so cold. All he could think about was the cold.

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

"Tenz?" she whispered, after what seemed like hours.

"Ssh," he whispered back. "I'm here Tatiana." Her face was covered in dirt and some blood. His was too. She could barely stand up.

"Where have they taken us?"

"I don't know. Siberia, I think. It's so cold, it has to be." She was trying to lean forward, but couldn't. He moved next to her and brought her against him in the corner of their grimy cell. She leaned on his shoulder. She was freezing.

"Where are the others?"

"Hasim hasn't said a word. He's in that cell over there. Dirk's in that special one. He hasn't woken up either. They knocked you and him out."

The heard a large door open, creaking in the night. Rusty metal, and then the sound of boots marching along the floor. The voice of Tsuyoshi, the Dark Circle leader, spoke.

"Are they awake?"

"The Vietnamese one is. He won't fall asleep. The others are still out," replied a guard they didn't reailze was there.

"Very well, perhaps they will enjoy meeting their new master."

Anger flushed through Tenz's face. He couldn't control it. How dare they? "You'll never get me to say that, pig!" he yelled, jumping up with energy he didn't realize he had.

Tsuyoshi walked over smiling. "You misunderstand child," he said calmly. "I dont mean myself. I mean the Warden of this great prison. Allow me to introduce you to the KBG's legendary jailer."

A man stepped forward, in a crisp military uniform, complete with striking hat and baton. His face was dark red--he obviously had been burned badly before in his life. His eye was cut deeply from some sort of knife wound in the past--so bad in fact, that it seemed misplaced on his face, more to the center than it should have been.

"Allow me to introduce Nardo," finished Tsuyoshi.

Nardo smiled. In clear, crisp English he said "Get the hoses and wash them down. They stink. Make sure its extra cold," he finished and began putting on black gloves. "The Dark Circle may be less formal than I like," he said with a hint of a Russian accent, "but you can call me Warden," he added, reaching throw the cell towards Tenz with his baton. Whack! He cracked him across the collar bone with it and Tenz fell. "Welcome to your final resting place."