posted
Author’s Note: This story might be a little confusing at times. Once upon a time, I played around with writing about a group of heroes called the New Crusaders. One of the members of that group was a witch called Spellbinder. As you may know, my two LMBP character names (Spellbinder and Crusader) were inspired by those stories.
To avoid confusion in this story, Spellbinder will be the witch character, and Lady Crujectra will not use her codename at all. Also, the Crusader character is not being used, so any time you see the name Crusader, it’s in reference to the New Crusaders. Hopefully that will keep things clearish
-------------------- Some people are like slinkys: not really good for anything, but they bring a smile to your face when you knock them down a flight of stairs
From: Penthouse atop Levitz Hall, LMBP Plaza, Embassy Row, Legion World | Registered: Jul 2003
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OneVision by the Family Jectra The New Crusaders and the Legion of Message Board Posters: “When The Heck Are We?”
-------------------- Some people are like slinkys: not really good for anything, but they bring a smile to your face when you knock them down a flight of stairs
From: Penthouse atop Levitz Hall, LMBP Plaza, Embassy Row, Legion World | Registered: Jul 2003
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The Black Mage raised his arms above his head, hands moving in tight circles. His fingertips pulsed with eldritch energy as hoops of mystic power formed in the air above him. He then threw his arms forward, and the rings shot in the same direction, spiraling toward the young woman before him. She eyed the rings suspiciously as they dropped toward her. “By the Sacred Halls of… oh, never mind.”
She raised her arms upward, fingers pointed like weapons, and tapped the ley line that she could feel less than a mile away. Drawing magical energy from the line, she channeled it through her. Why waste her own energy when she could just draw from the invisible lines of power that ran all over the planet? Not many witches could draw directly from the ley lines without the use of incantations or magical talismans, but then, Kyra Alexander was not like most witches.
Casting raw eldritch energy upward, Spellbinder destroyed the energy rings about to ensnare her. She stepped to the left to stand behind a stone statue, watching the Black Mage carefully.
The garden around her was filled with similar skirmishes. It was hard to believe that Villains Inc had been brazen enough to launch an attack on Crusaders Citadel, home of the world's foremost group of young super-heroes. It was an uncanny stroke of luck for the villains that so many of the Crusaders were off on missions today. It was an even bigger stroke of luck for the Crusaders that several of their more powerful members were in residence today, having just returned from a mission themselves. There was no way that the Citadel Support Staff could handle an attack like this alone.
Powermax, the strongest member of the New Crusaders, was caught in the grip of a miniature tornado created by the villainous Twister. Muscles straining against the hurricane force winds, he inched across the lawn toward his adversary, his long cape whipping around behind him. He was so focused on reaching Twister that he didn’t see Marionette move closer. Now within range, the telepath reached out with her mind, melding her will with Powermax’s, seeking to gain control of the hero.
Michael Chamberlain’s footsteps faltered as he felt something touch his mind.
Contact!
Marionette pushed forward with her will, her thoughts rifling through Powermax’s mind as she one by one she wrested control of his motor functions from him. He came to a stop, a look of fierce determination on his face, struggling to move forward. It was no use. Like a puppet on a string, he was now Marionette’s to command.
It wouldn’t last.
Unbeknownst to Marionette, Powermax shared a strong psychic rapport with his boyfriend, the psionic Brainstorm. The instant Marionette entered his mind and took control of him, Brainstorm was alerted to her presence. Although barely nineteen, Christian McKenzie Prentiss was one of the strongest telepaths alive, due in part to his being the son of two of the most powerful mutants known: the heroic Psyche and the villainous Mindscape. The blond telepath darted between the two, brows knit in concentration as he joined the mind meld, adding his considerable will to Powermax’s.
“Get… your… filthy… mind… outta… my… man!”
The psychic backlash threw all three of them backward into the bushes.
Brandon Chao, who as Dragonheart was the leader of the New Crusaders, darted down a garden path, somersaulting and leaping with all of the acrobatic prowess at his command. Small explosions followed his path as explosive-tipped arrows sought to find their mark. The villainous Artemis grit her teeth in frustration as the hero managed to stay one heartbeat ahead of her.
Dragonheart swiveled his body around in mid-leap, his hand brushing up against the utility belt around his waist. His arm shot outward, releasing the small object held in his hand. The tiny stylized dragon dart sailed across the garden before sinking into the tree trunk behind which Artemis stood. Within a split second of impact, the dart exploded, forcing Artemis to flee from her hiding place.
Standing back within the relative safety of the garden entrance to Crusaders Citadel, the blind seeress named Cassandra Prentiss stood silent, her mind searching the probabilities. There… that seemed the most likely event. Raising her right hand, she gently touched her temple, her slender fingers activating the biochip implanted in her head. “Oracle to Dragonheart,” she said, knowing that the biochip would transmit her voice to the team’s leader. “There is a 90 percent probability that Twister is going to move behind Spellbinder. She will not be able to break off her fight with Black Mage in time.”
“I’m on it, Oracle,” he replied, and their contact was severed.
Oracle resumed her search of the immediate future. Typically she would not be able to assist her teammates in such a way. Distance would make it more difficult to relay such information to a field team. However, if the battle is happening right on your doorstep, then why not make the most of a seeress?
Interesting, she thought. Could this be possible? Should she warn…? No. This event must happen. To stop it would not be advisable. She considered remaining apart… Oracle did not typically go on missions. Her blindness was too great a hindrance in the field. However, the Fates had decreed that she must be a part of this event. She would, as always, have to trust the Fates.
Stepping away from the safety of the Citadel, Oracle moved into the garden.
Powermax stood in the center of the garden, recovered from the psychic backlash that had sent him reeling into the shrubbery. He looked around him, seeking out his original adversary. There. Twister was fighting against Dragonheart. He started to move forward to assist his teammate when suddenly his head snapped back. It had felt like he had been punched in the face, but no one was there. Another! And another!
Powermax clenched his teeth in frustration. The punches didn’t hurt thanks to his invulnerability, but they were definitely annoying. Eyes narrowed, he began scanning the area around him with superhuman speed. There! And there! Glimpses of the villain known as the Time Thief, bending the time stream around himself to move faster than the human eye could follow. Of course, as the son of Ultrawoman and Captain Victory, Earth’s mightiest mortals, Michael Chamberlain was no ordinary human. Sweeping his arm outward in as wide a stretch as possible, Powermax connected with the startled Time Thief. With just the lightest amount of super-strength possible, the hero sent the villain flying across the garden.
The Black Mage howled in frustration as Spellbinder countered yet another of his mystical attacks. He was not accustomed to battling other sorcerers, and he found the entire stalemate to be deeply irritating. In anger, he reached out and tapped the same ley line that Spellbinder was using, seeking to fight fire with fire. Unfortunately, he wasn’t as gifted with ley line magic as the young heroine. He couldn’t manipulate the raw energy coursing through him, and was forced to expel it all in a single blast of energy. The crackling ball of power flew out wide, missing the witch entirely.
Time Thief was not so lucky.
Powermax’s strike sent the villain soaring right into the path of the oncoming ball of magic, and within seconds the two connected. Screaming in agony, the Time Thief lashed out, twisting the chronal energy all around him. Time and space ripped apart violently, and the garden was caught in the onslaught of the explosion. Within seconds, heroes, villains, statues and foliage all blinked out of sight.
The chronal explosion suddenly reversed direction, and rushed back to fill the void created by the tear. In a single heartbeat, the tear repaired itself, but the damage was done.
The New Crusaders and Villains Inc were gone.
-------------------- Some people are like slinkys: not really good for anything, but they bring a smile to your face when you knock them down a flight of stairs
From: Penthouse atop Levitz Hall, LMBP Plaza, Embassy Row, Legion World | Registered: Jul 2003
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Legion World 3006 The first thing Dragonheart smelled was grass. He felt fairly confident that he would also see grass if he could get his eyes to open. Yep… grass. Hands braced to either side of him, he pushed himself up onto his knees. The grass swirled around for a moment, and then slowed to a stop. So far so good.
“Is everyone okay?” he asked, risking a glance around him. He could see the other four Crusaders around him, also forcing themselves up off the ground.
“Well, except for the whole ‘belly button pulled out of my nose’ feeling, then yeah I’m okay,” Brainstorm said, rubbing his head slowly. He looked slowly about him. There were statues nearby that he recognized from the garden outside the Citadel, but the surroundings were different. He could see buildings nearby that shouldn’t be there. Not if they were still home. “Anybody got any idea where we are?”
“Intruders, stay where you are and don’t make any sudden moves.”
“Maybe we should ask them,” Spellbinder said, jerking her thumb over her shoulder. From seemingly out of nowhere appeared a dozen armed men and women, each one wearing identical blue-and-gray uniforms. The helmets they wore obscured their faces, and a patch featuring a stylized “L” and a starburst emblazoned the chest of each uniform. The rifles they held were pointed at the Crusaders.
“There’s no need to panic, people,” Dragonheart said, his tone calm and even. “We don’t mean any harm. We’re not even sure where we are.”
The nearest uniformed figure lowered his rifle enough that he could speak around it. “You’re trespassing on LMBP property.”
Powermax frowned. “I’m sorry… LMBP?”
“The Legion of Message Board Posters, as if you didn’t know. Everyone has heard of the LMBP.”
Oracle turned her head slightly in the direction of Dragonheart. Her telepathy wasn’t strong like her brother Brainstorm’s, but it would suffice in this close proximity. Dragonheart, these people will take us into custody. We cannot allow that.
Dragonheart didn’t move at all as he softly said, “Spellbinder…”
Kyra Alexander reached out, searching for a ley line. There… but it felt… strange… different… but still she should be able to use it. Tapping into the raw power, she swept her arms upward, triggering the spell forming in her mind. Instantly, a wall of power rose up from the ground, encircling the Crusaders. Something felt wrong… the spell was off… Suddenly the wall burst outward, and the explosion of power threw the guards backward.
“Errr… oops,” Spellbinder said, surprise on her face.
“Oops, indeed, dear,” a regal voice said from above. The Crusaders looked upward to see four figures floating in the air above them: a blonde woman, her voluptuous curves tightly encased in black leather; a brown haired man wearing a costume adorned by lightning bolts and paw prints; a dark haired woman with a spider-inspired costume; and finally a formidable looking man in the front, his costume similar to the uniforms worn by the guards, but featuring small metallic disks on the chest and shoulders.
“I’m afraid you people are going to have to come along with us,” Cobalt Kid said, crossing his arms across his chest.
“That’s really not going to work for us,” Dragonheart replied, arms hanging loosely by his side, his fingers flexing near the utility belt around his waist. “Crusaders… GO!” Fingers brushing against one of the compartments in his utility belt, Dragonheart palmed a handful of small pellets, which he hurled upward at the LMBPers. Lady Crujectra reached outward with one hand, raising a wall of telekinetic force in the path of the pellets. Upon impact, the pellets exploded into a cloud of smoke, which obscured the LMBPers’ vision momentarily.
“Allow me, your Highness,” Beagle Boy said, stretching his arms out before him. He began to move his arms in a circular motion, faster than the eye could follow. The wind generated by his gyrations dispersed the cloud of smoke. Once cleared, the LMBPers were in for a surprise: the New Crusaders were gone!
-------------------- Some people are like slinkys: not really good for anything, but they bring a smile to your face when you knock them down a flight of stairs
From: Penthouse atop Levitz Hall, LMBP Plaza, Embassy Row, Legion World | Registered: Jul 2003
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“Fan out, LMBP! They can’t have gotten far!”
“Cobie dear, for all we know they could be teleporters,” Crujectra said, closing her eyes and raising her hands to her temples. Reaching out with her mind, she psi-scanned the area. Her probe seemed to find something, but then it was brushed aside. “Or maybe another telepath,” she said, scowling. “Cobie, they are still on the grounds, but I’m getting blocked by their telepath.”
“I’m on it, Crujeckie,” the Security Chief of Legion World replied, bringing his right forearm up in front of him. He pressed a hidden button on the right wristband, which caused a concealed control panel to open. Quickly pressing a sequence of buttons, the LW Security Chief activated the Plaza’s security protocols. Suddenly, all across LMBP headquarters, doors closed and security force fields activated, sealing off the secure areas of the complex. Lastly, a force field formed a dome over the Plaza, effectively securing the outer gardens from the city around it.
“All righty then,” he smiled as the compartment closed on his wristband. “Let’s find us some intruders.”
-------------------- Some people are like slinkys: not really good for anything, but they bring a smile to your face when you knock them down a flight of stairs
From: Penthouse atop Levitz Hall, LMBP Plaza, Embassy Row, Legion World | Registered: Jul 2003
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“I don’t know, Brandon,” she replied as the five Crusaders darted down a garden path. “The magical energy here feels wrong somehow. It doesn’t react the same way that magic does back home. I thought that this was Earth, and that we had just been displaced in time, but now…”
“Now we should probably get a move on,” Brainstorm suggested, his arm wrapped around Oracle’s waist as he helped his sister navigate the garden path. “Those Legion-whosies have a telepath with them, and she’s scanning the compound for us. I was able to blanket our thoughts, but from the futuristic look of those buildings around us, I couldn’t begin to guess what sort of scanning technology they have. We really need to get out of this garden.”
Oracle moved along swiftly, her mind scanning the probabilities to alert her to any potential obstacles. Confident that her brother would keep her on her feet, she shifted her focus. “Crusaders, we need to split up… Now!” They had only seconds before the strange super-beings would burst through the trees and overtake them. Separate paths suggested peaceful success.
Trusting the seeress’ judgment, the time-lost heroes shot down different paths as their pursuers caught up to them.
-------------------- Some people are like slinkys: not really good for anything, but they bring a smile to your face when you knock them down a flight of stairs
From: Penthouse atop Levitz Hall, LMBP Plaza, Embassy Row, Legion World | Registered: Jul 2003
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Spellbinder was thrust forward into a nearby bush, pushed from behind by an unseen adversary. Rolling over onto her back, she looked upward to the slim blonde floating in mid-air above her. “Do yourself a favor, dear, and stay down.”
“I would,” Spellbinder replied, “but I’m a little afraid that you’re going to drop those babies on my head if I don’t move. How on earth do you get them off the ground?”
Lady Crujectra smiled in spite of herself. She realized that this girl was an intruder, but she had to admit, the girl had spunk. She admired that. Without a physical gesture to betray her action, the Psyonian Royal reached out with her telekinesis and took command of the bushes around the downed sorceress. At her command, branches reached out to encircle the girl’s arms and legs, holding her tightly with the added telekinetic strength.
Spellbinder automatically reached out for a ley line, but stopped. That probably isn’t a great idea, she thought. At least not until I can get a better understanding of how the magic works around here. Guess I have to do this the old fashioned way. Reaching within herself, the young sorceress tapped her own reserves of magical energy, stored within the cells of her body. Most mystics on her Earth were forced to use their own reserves of mystic energy, and then utilize talismans or spells to release it. Since Spellbinder could channel eldritch energy, she would not need those extra devices to cast her spell. However, she had to use her reserves sparingly. One could only store so much power, and without knowing how long she would need to tap her reserves here, she had to be careful not to exhaust them.
Eldritch energy crackled along her skin, quickly spreading across her entire body. It connected to form a shield around her. With a mental push, the shield expanded, pushing the branches that bound her away. Within moments she got to her feet and looked into the eyes of the telepath above her.
“Your move, Boobzilla.”
-------------------- Some people are like slinkys: not really good for anything, but they bring a smile to your face when you knock them down a flight of stairs
From: Penthouse atop Levitz Hall, LMBP Plaza, Embassy Row, Legion World | Registered: Jul 2003
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The need for stealth over, Brainstorm wrapped Oracle in a telekinetic bubble and the two flew down the garden path, Arachne following closely behind. The LMBPer was forced to weave from side to side and mounds of earth were telekinetically raised upward, creating an obstacle course of rock and dirt.
Tired of dodging, Arachne stopped suddenly, eyes focused tightly on the retreating pair. Webs of psionic force lanced across the distance between them, and they ensnared the blind seeress. Grasping her webbing tightly, the heroine pulled backward, and Brainstorm suddenly found his sister being pulled from his control.
“Cassandra!”
Dropping to the ground, Brainstorm focused his might, and tried to pull his sister from Arachne’s webbing. The resulting tug of war caused the seeress some distress. “Could… the… two… of… you… find… something… else… to… fight… over?”
Brainstorm suddenly released his grip on Oracle, and instead telekinetically ripped a small sapling out of the ground, roots and all. With a surge of psionic power, he hurled the tree at the startled Arachne.
-------------------- Some people are like slinkys: not really good for anything, but they bring a smile to your face when you knock them down a flight of stairs
From: Penthouse atop Levitz Hall, LMBP Plaza, Embassy Row, Legion World | Registered: Jul 2003
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Beagle Boy raced forward toward Dragonheart, who was unaware of his super-speed pursuer. In the blink of an eye, he began running in circles around the Crusader, creating an updraft that lifted Dragonheart upward off the ground. Helplessly suspended in mid-air, the leader of the New Crusaders fought against the whirlwind, his hand inching upward toward his utility belt. Withdrawing a small grappling gun, he fought to aim it toward the ground. Squeezing the trigger, he fired a grappling line into the base of the vortex.
Not seeing the line that was suddenly stretch across his path, Beagle Boy tripped and launched into what would have been an impressive series of tumbling somersaults… if he were running slowly enough to be seen.
Freed from the mini-tornado, Dragonheart dropped to the ground. Lowering into a defensive crouch, he searched the shrubbery around him for his the speedster.
BAM!
The unseen punch snapped Dragonheart’s head to the left.
WHAM!
A second blow whirled him around to the right.
POW!
An uppercut sent him falling backward to the grass beneath him.
-------------------- Some people are like slinkys: not really good for anything, but they bring a smile to your face when you knock them down a flight of stairs
From: Penthouse atop Levitz Hall, LMBP Plaza, Embassy Row, Legion World | Registered: Jul 2003
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Cobalt Kid reached outward, searching the ground around him for every bit of metallic ore that he could detect. Pebbles, rocks, outdoor lighting fixtures, they all rocketed toward the powerhouse moving toward him. Naturally, none of these things appeared to have any effect on Powermax. Sure, Cobalt Kid thought, watching his opponent move closer and closer. I manage to catch up with the invulnerable one.
Wrapping himself in a magnetic cocoon, Cobalt Kid shot upward, seeking to gain a little distance from his foe while he planned his next move. To his dismay, Powermax launched himself into the air right after him. Oh come on! He flies, too? Seeing no immediate alternative, Cobalt Kid focused his power on the wristbands he wore. They began to change shape, the metal moving like liquid to spread down over his hands, forming metallic gloves. With his magnetism reinforcing them, the gloves should be pretty strong.
Hopefully they would be strong enough.
-------------------- Some people are like slinkys: not really good for anything, but they bring a smile to your face when you knock them down a flight of stairs
From: Penthouse atop Levitz Hall, LMBP Plaza, Embassy Row, Legion World | Registered: Jul 2003
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With a sweeping gesture, Lady Crujectra sent a variety of plant life flying toward the sorceress, whose magical prowess seemed to be up to the task of deflecting the attacks. The telepath frowned. Perhaps a psychic attack might be better. Marshalling her thoughts, she fired a psi-probe at the girl, establishing a light connection between their minds. Eyes wide open and heads snapping backward, the two women found themselves sharing memories, the result of psionic protections that Brainstorm had placed in the minds of the Crusaders after they had been recently attacked by his villainous father, Mindscape.
Visions of heroic deeds flowed from one woman to the other, as each began to gain a greater understanding of her adversary. With effort, Crujectra was able to sever the connection, and both women slumped to the ground. Spellbinder looked to the Royal and asked, “Why is it that whenever two foreign teams of super-heroes meet, their first instinct is to have a brawl?”
-------------------- Some people are like slinkys: not really good for anything, but they bring a smile to your face when you knock them down a flight of stairs
From: Penthouse atop Levitz Hall, LMBP Plaza, Embassy Row, Legion World | Registered: Jul 2003
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Cobalt Kid and Powermax rolled over each other on the ground, pitting superhuman physical strength against magnetically enhanced strength in an effort to subdue each other. So far it hadn’t been an outrageously successful endeavor. Although the area around them was impressively wrecked with mounds of upset earth, crushed shrubbery and a few mismatched spots of scorched grass. Suddenly, both men were pulled apart by unseen hands, and were forced to dangle in midair as Crujectra and Spellbinder stepped out into the clearing.
“As deeply entertaining as it may be to watch two buff men wrestle around in the dirt,” Crujectra said, telekinetically lowering the men to the ground, “I’m afraid that we have more pressing matters on our hands.”
-------------------- Some people are like slinkys: not really good for anything, but they bring a smile to your face when you knock them down a flight of stairs
From: Penthouse atop Levitz Hall, LMBP Plaza, Embassy Row, Legion World | Registered: Jul 2003
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Less than twenty minutes later, the New Crusaders and Legion of Message Board Posters sat around the informal conference room table in the heart of the Plaza’s Administrative Tower. A holographic display representing Legion World floated above the center of the table.
“So, let me get this straight,” Cobalt Kid was saying to Dragonheart, who sat next to him. “This Time Thief guy created a time/space portal when he was hit by that mage guy.”
“That’s our best guess, Cobalt Kid,” Dragonheart replied, gently rubbing his temples. He hated time travel, and adding dimension hopping certainly didn’t help.
Beagle Boy sat before a computer terminal, his fingers dancing across the keyboard. A small holographic display floated in the air before his face, and his eyes quickly scanned the words scrolling across it. “Well, according to our database, there is no record of a group of heroes called the New Crusaders in the early 21st Century. Granted, there are some holes in historical records before the Third World War back in the 22nd Century, but since none of the heroes we know of from that time sound familiar to you, it would certainly support the trans-dimensional rift theory.”
At the far end of the table, Arachne and Oracle sat side by side, conversing quietly. “So let me get this straight,” the seeress began, a look of disbelief on her face. “You have actually fought against things called the Emerald Ass and Middlefinger?”
Arachne smiled. “Not exactly the Fatal Five, I guess, but evil comes in a variety of forms.”
Brainstorm leaned over Beagle Boy’s shoulder, watching closely as the speedster tapped into the planetary sensory grids. Back on their own world, Brainstorm was something of a computer whiz, but the technology on Legion World was light years ahead of anything they had back home. “As near as I can tell,” Beagle Boy said as the assembled heroes turned from their conversations, “there were six temporal disturbances detected across Legion World within the last hour.”
He glanced up at the holographic Legion World above the table as six flashing lights appeared in six different locations. “The red light represents LMBP Plaza, where you Crusaders appeared. The other five white lights most likely represent where these Villains Inc people appeared.”
“Of course, they could have moved on since then,” Powermax observed.
Dragonheart’s eyes narrowed as he looked over the map. “If I know Villains Inc, though, they shouldn’t be hard to find. All we need to do is look for the destruction.”
Cobalt Kid stood up, a look of determination on his face. “Let’s split up into teams, then, and find us some villains.”
-------------------- Some people are like slinkys: not really good for anything, but they bring a smile to your face when you knock them down a flight of stairs
From: Penthouse atop Levitz Hall, LMBP Plaza, Embassy Row, Legion World | Registered: Jul 2003
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Cobalt Kid and Powermax soared across the skies above Legionnopolis, their passage causing the pedestrians below to look up in wonder. They were used to seeing the LMBPers, of course, but this caped man was new to them. Conversations started up almost immediately as gossipers speculated as to the man’s identity, wondering if this was a new LMBPer, and why no press release had been issued yet.
People do like to keep track of their celebrities.
The pair was headed toward the waterfront district, where one of the temporal disturbances had registered. Of course, there was no way of telling who they would find there, but at least Powermax was familiar with the villains they were seeking, and he felt confident that between the two of them they could handle whichever villain they encountered. All they had to do now was locate their adversary.
Which turned out to be easier than expected.
There, congregated outside a warehouse at Pier 318, was a large group of people. The crowd stood silent and motionless, their dazed eyes focused on a slim woman standing in the center of the group. She gazed around at them, a smile on her face. Sensing the heroes’ approach, she turned her attention skyward.
One hundred sets of eyes mimicked her.
“Well, that can’t be good,” Cobalt Kid said.
The pair landed before the crowd, looking over the mass of people toward Marionette. “Well, in case you haven’t guessed, Marionette has the power to telepathically take control of a person’s mind,” Powermax said. “I’ll be honest, though. I’ve never seen her control a crowd this size before. That can mean that she’s either more powerful than I gave her credit for, or her control over this crowd isn’t all that strong.”
“Or maybe the crowd is just a distraction, heroes.”
At the sound of the voice above them, the pair of heroes spun around in time to see two enormous bulks dropping down upon them from a warehouse rooftop. The man wore a costume of black and white, and his size and costume choice gave him a killer whale look. The woman was also large, and wore a costume of gray hues. The first thing you noticed on her, though, was her unusually large mouth, which was filled with large, razor-sharp teeth.
“Orca and Great White?” Cobalt Kid said, confused. “What in the world are they doing here?”
“We’re here to take you down, Legionnaire,” Great White replied, moving forward toward him with the graceful gait of a sumo wrestler. Cobalt Kid was legendary for his love of ladies, but he felt that perhaps this was more woman than he cared to handle. Great White leaped forward with a speed belying her great size, and her jaws snapped furiously at Cobalt Kid.
Hovering above the ground, Cobalt Kid flew backward, arms outstretched beside him. His power reached out, tapping into the magnetic fields around him, using them to scan the area for any and all metallic objects nearby that he could use. Latching on to a steel girder, he pulled it from the junk pile where it rested and flexing magnetically as though he were flexing a muscle, he bent the girder in two, forming a tight u-bend. When Great White leaned in to again snap her jaws at him, he sent the girder into her mouth, using it to prop her mouth open wide. The villainess growled in frustration as she tried to remove the metal.
Nearby, Powermax wrestled against Orca, who seemed to be a near match to him physically. Luckily, the Crusader had other powers to fall back on. A super-strength uppercut flung the massive villain up into the air. Powermax flew up after him. Once his momentum had worn off, Orca began to plunge back downward toward the ground. He wouldn’t fall far, however, as he was met in midair by Powermax. Swinging forward with all his might, Powermax struck Orca. The force of the blow sent Orca sailing out across the water and quickly out of sight.
Turning to look down, Powermax saw Cobalt Kid struggling to move through the throng of mind-controlled dockworkers, trying to reach Marionette. Unable to clear a path, it looked as though Cobalt Kid was about to try to take off into the air, but suddenly the crowd leaped on top of him. Within seconds the hero disappeared.
Powermax immediately flew down toward Marionette, figuring that the best idea would be to take out the puppeteer. He landed before the villainess, who instantly tried turning on the charm, hoping to enslave the powerhouse before he could capture her. It was a useless attempt. “Sorry, Marionette,” Powermax said, grabbing the woman firmly by the arms and rising up into the air. “I’m afraid my boyfriend was a little miffed to have you rummaging around in my head earlier, so he took some precautions once we got here.”
Soaring out across the harbor, Powermax dropped the struggling puppeteer onto a harbor buoy, pulling some of the support beams on it around to pin her in place. He wasn’t sure what the exact limits of her powers were, but he felt certain that the crowd on the docks were now beyond her reach. The buoy would hold her until the proper authorities could pick her up.
Flying back to the dock, he saw the crowd breaking up, looks of confusion on their faces. He scanned the crowd, but was surprised to see that Cobalt Kid was missing.
Where on Legion World could he be?
-------------------- Some people are like slinkys: not really good for anything, but they bring a smile to your face when you knock them down a flight of stairs
From: Penthouse atop Levitz Hall, LMBP Plaza, Embassy Row, Legion World | Registered: Jul 2003
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Beagle Boy was fast. Really fast. In fact, at top speed he could circle Legion World in the span of a few heartbeats. Mind you, the sonic booms from his passing would most likely shatter every window on his path, so he usually tried to slow it down a bit. Today, however, he had to slow it down even more so as not to outpace his companions. Under his own power, Brainstorm could certainly cruise along at a good clip, but his flight speed was no match for the Speed Force. And he was also carrying a passenger.
“I still wish you had stayed behind at LMBP headquarters, Cassie,” Brainstorm said to the blind seeress in his arms. They had already been over this, of course, but he could be every bit as stubborn as his sister. Many were the times that the twins’ heated discussions could be heard around Crusaders Citadel.
“Let’s not start this again, Christian,” Oracle sighed, leaning her head upon her brother’s shoulder. “The Fates have decreed that I must be a part of this adventure. I have no choice in this matter.”
Brainstorm rolled his eyes, knowing that she wouldn’t see it, but confident that she would know he had done it. It was a twin thing. “Cassie, you know I believe in your visions, but I think that sometimes you take them too literally. You came with us to this world. Maybe that’s enough.”
Oracle turned her head away, closing her eyes behind the blindfold that she always wore to cover them. “You’re just going to have to trust me on this, Christian.”
Beagle Boy ran onward, racing down mountain paths that wound their way through Swan National Park, a popular tourist area catering to outdoor enthusiasts. Mountain chalets overlooking Lake Amethyst offered rest and pampering for those not taking advantage of the area’s famous mountain climbing areas. The signal for the time disturbance was somewhere in the heart of these mountains.
“Beagle Boy!” Oracle cried. “Look out!”
Between one heartbeat and the next, a tidal wave of water surged up from the lake, rising up to form an aquatic canopy over the mountain pass that the speedster was barreling down. Without hesitation, Beagle Boy continued forward, adjusting his body’s vibrational frequency as he ran. When he came into contact with the wave, he passed harmlessly through it as it came crashing down into the pass.
Above him, the twins arced up higher into the sky to pass over the water. Oracle once again peered into the possibilities. “Oh crap.” Before either twin could react, a funnel of tornado force wind shot up from a nearby cliff, striking the pair in mid-flight. Brainstorm fought to telekinetically hold them in place, but it was too late. Oracle was wrenched from his arms, and while he struggled against the tornado, his sister plummeted toward the ground.
“Oracle, go limp!”
Safely through the tidal wave, Beagle Boy raced across the ground toward the falling seeress. Faster than the eye could follow he began running in a tight circle below her, creating a funnel of his own. The updraft of air slowed the heroine’s fall until she hung suspended in mid-air. Slowing down, Beagle Boy lessened the force of the updraft, and Oracle was gently lowered to him.
Meanwhile, Brainstorm was finally able to get his bearings. Knowing instantly that his sister was safe, he reached out with his mind, wrapping a nearby fallen tree in a cocoon of psionic force. He hurled the tree like a javelin toward the source of the whirlwind assaulting him. The attack was abruptly stopped as Twister was forced to turn his attention to the counter attack being launched on him.
Beagle Boy carried Oracle into the safety of a ring of boulders, hoping that she would be safe enough there while he helped her brother with their attackers. He turned to race back out into the battle when he was thrown from his feet by an explosive blast behind him. Tumbling forward, he regained his feet in a heartbeat and spun around to find the cause of the explosion. He was shocked to see the ground on either side of Oracle burst upward. The rocks and gravel held together as though fused into a single piece, forming two large rocky hands, which grabbed the blind seeress and lifted her from the ground.
From out of the darkness of an overcropping of rock stepped a woman. Once upon a time she might have been considered beautiful; there was evidence of it in the shape of her features. However, she was now nothing but a haggard facsimile of her former self. Wrinkled, excess skin hung limply from her proud cheekbones. Once full lips were now withered and cracked. Her body had lost its tone, and her frame was hunched over and bent.
To the casual observer, one might think this was just some poor old crone who had fallen victim to the ravages of time. Beagle Boy knew who she was, though, and knew that she owed her appearance not to the passing of time, but rather was her punishment for trying to possess a power that was never meant to be held by a mortal being.
“The Shadow Queen?”
“I see my reputation has preceded me, young speedster,” she cackled with glee, clearly pleased to have the hero know her. “The entire universe should know of me.”
Beagle Boy shrugged. “Actually, I just happened to read your file one night while I was on monitor duty. It didn’t take too long, really. After all, you only fought the LMBP once.”
Her thin lips curled up into a snarl. “If not for your LMBP, I would have taken over the universe! I should have become a god, rather than this hag you see before you.” She began to cough, her cackle obviously a little more than her vocal chords were up to. “But no matter. When this is over, I shall have the power that I deserve.”
“Riiiiiiight.”
Beagle Boy rushed forward, thinking to simply subdue the witch before she could react. Halfway to his target, though, he was forced to turn aside as a geyser burst up from the ground, showering the area around it like an open hydrant. He tried angling around it, only to have another sudden geyser bar his way. And then another. And yet another. Finally, tired of running through an obstacle course, Beagle Boy decided to simply vibrate his way through one, the same way that he had gone through the tidal wave earlier.
When the next one appeared, he raced right into it. This time, however, something went wrong. He was unable to keep his vibrations steady, and he began to quickly slow to a stop. And then the water began to harden, turning to ice and imprisoning him. He may have been the fastest man in the thirty-first century, but his speed failed him this time. He was trapped!
Sue Nahmie lowered her arms and then jumped down to stand beside the Shadow Queen. “We make a pretty good team, Queenie. What say I dump those Seven Seas losers and the two of us team up?”
Distaste evident in the look on her face, the Shadow Queen turned to look at the aquatic villainess. “Don’t be ridiculous, mortal. I am destined to be a God, not a sidekick.”
“Tell you what, Your Majesty,” Brainstorm said, hovering above them, the unconscious form of Twister held in a telekinetic cocoon behind him. “You let my friends go and give yourselves up, and I won’t kick your wrinkled old ass all over these mountains.”
Sue Nahmie screamed with glee as she threw her arms forward. From seemingly out of nowhere, twin geysers of water burst from her outstretched hands, surging upward toward the young telepath. Brainstorm reached one arm forward and stretched the other arm out behind him. Telekinetic force surged out in opposite directions: the forward pulse formed a wall of mental power before him, shielding him from the deluge; the backward pulse braced him against the wall of stone several yards behind him. Most people didn’t understand how telekinesis worked. You couldn’t just apply the forward force; otherwise the impact would most likely just hurl him backward. He needed the backward force to use as leverage. It was the same with lifting a heavy object: raising the object without applying equal opposite force would just push him to the ground.
Changing the shape of the invisible wall before him, he pushed a wedge of force forward, cleaving through Sue Nahmie’s water attack. A final surge of power impacted with the villainess, knocking her backward against a nearby boulder, where she crumpled to the ground unconscious. Without her power to supply the water, the deluge stopped instantly.
Brainstorm’s eyes searched the area around him, but it was too late.
The Shadow Queen and Oracle were gone!
-------------------- Some people are like slinkys: not really good for anything, but they bring a smile to your face when you knock them down a flight of stairs
From: Penthouse atop Levitz Hall, LMBP Plaza, Embassy Row, Legion World | Registered: Jul 2003
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