quote:

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Originally posted by Tempest:
You wouldn't be upset if I was using you, would you? The week has been a bit rough for me, I could use the relief.

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"It's not like she ever deceived you, Lardy," he said to himself. "It was always you who were deceiving yourself! What a pathetic chump you are, fatso!" He lifted up the Scotch. "Bottoms up!"

Just as he was about to drain his glass, the hairs on the back of neck began to stand up. Startled, he drew the glass away from him and let the light reflect off of it. In the glass he saw the area of the bar behind him in the reflection. He then noticed a figure dressed in a dark hooded cloak sitting at a table alone. As if the figure realized Lardy was looking at him, he suddenly averted his gaze, which had been fixed squarely on Lardy, toward the bar door to watch more patrons come in.

Lardy then put down his still-full glass, left some credits on the counter and exited the bar. As Lardy expected, the mysterious cloaked figure suddenly decided to leave as well. Lardy decided to take the most circuitous route imaginable around this section of Weber's World, but wherever he went, he saw the cloaked figure out of the corner of his eye, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible.

Maybe someone less adept at this game than Lardy was wouldn't have been able to spot him, but Lardy was experienced at this indeed. Lardy took out his Omnicom and created a quick message and sent it. It said: Des, I'm being followed. Haven't identified yet. Will try to get a good look, then will lose him at the market.

"Oh well," he whispered with a smile, "I guess that drink will have to wait!"

[ April 08, 2011, 12:59 AM: Message edited by: Exo-Lardy ]
 

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Posted by Tempest on :
 
Weber’s World

Tempest’s craft was approaching Weber’s World. She was just finishing putting on her black and white uniform, she would wait to land before putting on the purple robe. She looked down on the world as she got to the landing port.

“I have never been to this world,” she thought to herself, “I don’t sense much in the ways of magic here.”

Tempest ship was about to land, she didn’t take the controls, she let auto pilot do the work. She loved this spacecraft. It didn’t have anything special about it really, but the way a person earns something is what can make an ordinary item so meaningful. This craft represented her hard work. All those years of study and practice, all those years of hopping from planet to planet picking up the best tricks of the trade, they were all represented in this craft. For you see, she stole it. Not that anyone would notice it was missing.

Before she had left Earth, after her visit with Leota, she decided that the best way to get to Weber’s World would be by spacecraft. Opening a tesseract that far can use a bit of magic, and with Cobalt Kid and Lardy’s warning of danger, she thought it better to fly in via mortal tech. So she went into a one of the hangers while on Earth near Leota’s home, enchanted numerous people and cloaked herself from allowing her image from being captured or recorded.

Her craft descends, she gets out and stands on her toes and stretches her body, raising her arms to the air. She goes back into the craft, grabs her robe and puts it on. She leaves the craft and heads out of the port station, she notices that many eyes are on her. When she gets to the end of her walk, she turns around, the workers are all staring at her, they fumble and try to look busy and casual. She turns around and laughs. She then notices that there are news reports of LMBPers that are on Weber’s World.

“I won’t be drawing any press.” She thought, “Nobody knows of me really. Not that it bothers me.”

She pauses and looks into her reflection in some glass.

“I’m just as regal as my High Priestess,” she thinks, “ just as youthful in looks as Opal. I am much more curvy than Kinetix. I got them all beat in the beauty department. I‘ve got no reason to feel envious of my past shades notoriety.”

She starts to laugh out loud, some people look at her, but she smiles at them and they just smile back. She walks on while continuing with her thoughts.

“I suppose I am really at an advantage. I know these people, they exposed who they really were to my shades. Their good sides, their bad sides, we became close friends and they even fought me a couple of times. I kind of have the inside peek. But I’m still an unknown to them.”

She sees a clip of Cobalt Kid and Spellbinder.

“Cobalt. We settled things with out little chat. Perhaps not everything, but at least we have a stepping stone now to take off from.”

She looks more intensely at Spellbinder’s image.

“Something about him makes my heart beat a bit faster, but…Spellbinder, Space Tart, Lolita, Viviane…how long is the list. As long as mine? But that’s different, he did that for fun. I did it for business.

When this is over and done, and if I‘m alive, I need to tell Dev that I want nothing more than friendship…but can I say the same for Lardy? I wonder if he’s here yet? I sure would like to see a familiar face.”
 

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Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
 
Weber’s World

Ambassador Hranzer of the Gil’disphan led Shark Lad, Helena Handbasket and Hrun the Barbarian through a secluded corridor, sensing their frustration in the cloak and dagger mentality. He sympathized but understand based on his many conversations with both Faraway Lad and Spellbinder that it was necessary.

“At last,” said Shark Lad as they looked up ahead and saw fellow LMBer Kent Shakespeare standing in the hallway.

“In here,” said Kent, nodding towards a room, “most of the others have arrived on Weber’s World and are en route.” Kent Shakespeare, like a select few other LMBers, was very important in the intergalactic affairs of the galaxies. As part of the mysterious Bureau of External Affairs, he often played a crucial roll in important game-changing events on the cosmic scale. It was no surprise he was here, though none of the LMBers knew how it came to be so.

“I grow bored,” said Hrun, “it would be very good indeed if there was mead and dancing girls within.”

“Unfortunately no,” smiled Kent, “but the time for action is near. Within you’ll find all the supplies you might possibly need and then a selection of others things to choose from to bring on your journey. Consider it a contribution from the Bureau.”

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

“Last one,” said Cobalt Kid reassuringly to Lolita as they entered an official military governmental building. His reference was to what they hoped was the final meeting before they could join their LMB brethren. “But this one will be vital as well.”

“Aren’t they all?” said Lolita sarcastically though she understood that yes, they all were vital.

Within the building were the top brass of the United Planets Naval Fleets. The military basis of the United Planets was the navy, since space-travel was so essential to military action. The infantry and army divisions had centuries before been reorganized under the umbrella that was the UP Navy. It was a gigantic bureaucratic organization side by side with a gigantic military organization. War was traditionally uncommon in the 31st century, yet within the last 10 years there had been an almost constant state of warfare.

Cobalt Kid and Lolita approached directly to the offices of Bellassarius, General Maximus of all of the United Planets Naval Fleets; which meant he was the number one acting army official who answered directly to the Prime Minister of the UP. He recently received this commission from the UP. Cobalt Kid knew him from prior years.

“Tell me again why he doesn’t like you…?” said Lolita as they kept walking, half-joking and half-wanting to know why she could sense so much tension building.

“He thinks I robbed him of his chance at glory,” said Cobalt, trying to sum up a very complicated situation in as few words as he could. “He’s a good man and he’s honorable, but he’s a military person—you know how rough around the edges they are.”

Lolita didn’t comment on the fact that Cobalt was renowned as being one of Legion World’s Triumvirs as suddenly they found themselves at his office. One of the administrative assistants looked up. “This is very unusual, Mr, er, Cobaltus. To get a meeting this quick, I mean.” She looked flustered, as if she’d just been yelled at for telling Bellassarius the meeting was about to happen. “But Ambassador Helene—“

“Yes, I know its out of the ordinary. The General and I are old friends, though. I’m sure he won’t mind. Shall I see myself in?” Now she looked very annoyed but simply nodded to follow her and they did so.

Within a very spartan office stood General Bellassarius, and Lolita was immediately surprised at how young he was. He was in his early 30’s and not much older than Cobalt Kid and some of the original LMBers themselves. The way the media and official reports referred to him, it sounded like he was an old man; evidently, he was quite the prodigal son in military matters. He wasn’t quite handsome, but had an attractive way of ruggedly maintaining his posture. He was tall, muscular and with short brown hair. He was clean shaven and had the look of always being so.

“Cobaltus,” said Bellassarius, “this is rather unexpected. Please, have a seat.” He then turned to Lolita and at first was surprised by her presence. “My apologies miss, I didn’t realize he was bringing a guest. General Bellassarius, at your service.” As he extended his hand, his gaze lingered on her for a moment. She took his hand and smiled.

Cobalt Kid, renowned in all the known galaxies for his romantic dalliances, did not miss anything when it came to these matters. Lolita was a stunning beauty to behold and it was not uncommon for heads to turn as she walked by as sentients measured every inch of her beauty. Like many females, she was a contradiction: she was painfully shy, almost never going out of her way to interact with people she didn’t already know, and yet, her LMB costume was very revealing, being a micro-skirt, tube top, with boots & gloves. She was slender and petite but tall; her long hair flowed down her back with ease. Bellassarius was certainly caught off-guard by expecting only a showdown with Cobalt Kid.

“Allow me to introduce my business partner, Lolita Hypatia. She assists me in all matters, including all military and security. I don’t believe you’ve met.”

Lolita simply smiled, adding “a pleasure.”

Bellassarius flashed an awkward smile and said “Nice to make your acquaintance, and welcome to my office.” Now he turned back to Cobalt Kid, still a bit caught off guard as if what he originally intended to say was going to be much more vulgar but he now felt the need to hold back his venom. “Whatever you’re here for, Cobaltus, it…gives me great anxiety,” he finally said, measuring his words. “I know something big is cooking here at Weber’s World and it somehow has to do directly with you and your LMB friends. But there is something you should know. I am the General Maximus of the United Planets Fleets now, not you. I won’t allow you to usurp my authority like during your last war with the Dark Oval. Your old ally Admiral Cornwallis is not here to pull strings for you.”

The last statement was a bit of a blow as Admiral Corwallis was a longtime supporter of the Legion World Triumvirate who for many years encouraged their leadership roll in UP matters. A few years earlier, he had been murdered by LMB enemy, the Trumpeter.

“Bellassarius, my friend,” Cobalt said, adding the familiarity in a way he knew would frustrate Bellassarius, “you misunderstand my intentions. I haven’t come here to trade barbs or undercut you’re authority. I’ve come here for your help.” Cobalt let a brief silence hammer home the last part. “I’ve never usurped your authority and do not intend to ever do so. I know you feel when I was given the commission of General Maximus several years earlier it was a slight against you, but you must realize it was extenuating circumstances; my very home was attacked. Not long after, I stepped down from the position and allowed things to take their course.”

“Some might argue that you simply took the authority and your allies here on Weber’s World made sure it was official after the fact,” said Bellassarius.

Cobalt smiled. “Some might indeed. It matters little right now. I have no intentions of leading the UP Fleets. You know very well my expertise lies in more…subtle tactics.”

“Spy games,” said Bellassarius, partially in contempt.

“Yes,” said Cobalt, ignoring the tone. “That is where my focus will be. And with good reason: the UP Fleets will need the most proficient military mind at their helm for what is to come. And that is you.”

Bellassarius nodded slowly, accepting the compliment but noting there was a leading sentence in there. Finally, he gave in. “…what is to come…?”

Cobalt sat back. “The war between the UP and the Dark Oval,” he said with a smile. “With the Dominators at the very least.”

Bellassarius sat backwards now with an incredulous look on his face, taking in that statement.

“Is that scotch over in there,” said Cobalt, noticing a bottle of expensive scotch and some glasses. “Would you mind if I had a glass? I figured you were distracted in your show of force to offer me a glass. Lolita, would you mind?”

Lolita smiled, and walked across the room, leaning over to open the bottle and poor three glasses. “Splash of water, General?”

Bellassarius just watched her from across the room, at last adding, “yes, please.” He turned to Cobalt. “War with the Dark Oval? I’ve heard nothing of the sort.”

“And you won’t yet, but eventually you will. Or at least by some other more politically correct term.” Cobalt knew in Bellassarius’ heart it was what he wanted: a chance to both show how brilliant a military man he was and even more, to use his skills to do some good in the universe. Bellassarius was a firm believer that the Dominion was a blight on the galaxies and all of their empire should be liberated. “The time is coming at long last to fix the problem of the Dominion. And I need to know that when it comes down to it—can I count on you?”

Lolita now walked back over with three scotches, sipping her own with them. She sat and crossed her legs, setting down her scotch on the table and going through her papers. She handed a file to Bellassarius and then an omni-drive. “On here you’ll find everything you need to know about the plans. It’s top secret, of course. We’ll pave the way for you and when the time comes, you’ll take over.”

“Let me get this strait,” said Bellassarius, focusing on the ‘pave the way’ comment. “The naval fleets are coming in after what?”

“Spy games,” said Cobalt, repeating Bellassarius earlier comment. “Which no one will ever know about. As far as the UP is concerned, you’ll have spear-headed the single greatest liberation of sentients in five hundred years. Or at least, they will, if we can get past this perceived slight of years earlier and work together.”

Lolita spoke up again. “We all have the same goals in mind here. The UP needs its greatest General. So consider all past skirmishes with the Dark Oval a warm up for what’s to come.”

Bellassarius now took a long sip from his scotch glass. It occurred to him that he had been saving that bottle for a special occasion for several years; it had been a gift from his home planet upon his first promotion to General. He looked at the glass he just drained. “Appropriate, then,” he said out loud to himself. “This is a special occasion.”

Lolita looked at Cobalt as if to say ‘what is he talking about?’’; Cobalt just grinned at her and looked back at Bellassarius.

“Okay,” he said, looking through the papers. “Walk me through this part about the signal. And that better not be a reference to Khundian involvement…”

Cobalt Kid and Lolita leaned forward and began discussing specifics with Bellassarius and soon 15 minutes turned into several more hours.
 

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Posted by Dev Em on :
 
Colmet One

Loser Lad was on ColMet One. He had gotten an alert a few hours ago from Cobalt Kid and headed there immediately. It wasn't often that his friends called with this urgent of a situation, and he was more than happy to help safeguard one of his oldest friends family.

So far there had been no trouble, and he had debated just trying to get them off planet himself when he spotted another LMBP Cruiser coming in for a landing. More people to help get Helen and the kids to safety was a good thing.

He turned his head slightly and called out, "Helen, get the things together, another ship is going to land...just about in the frint yard by the looks of it."

Helen walked up and peered past him and then turned and shooed the kids away from the windows again. They had been so excited to meet Loser Lad, one of their dad's best friends from the early days of the LMBP, that the thought of meeting more was making them even more antsy than usual.

"C'mon kids, get your bags ready."

Loser Lad had an uneasy feeling about this whole situation, but was releived to see that it was Dev Em that exited the craft. "Thank you Cobie...some power, and invulnerability to help out."

Dev noticed him in the window and made a hand gesture to stay back for a minute.

Dev seemed to be listening for something and turned just in time to catch a glimpse of someone moving at a short distance away. Loser saw another figure moving in the other direction and focused his attention that way. Seconds later the man fell out of a tree that he had been hiding in. He was dressed in Black with no visable marking on the outfit.

Dev was there in a second grabbing him and dragging them back towards the cruiser when he let the person drop to the ground. The body hit the ground limply and was obviously dead.

"What the hell?" Loser said.

Dev shook his head a shrugged a little, then looked around and held up 3 fingers on each hand.

"Great...six more," Loser said and heard a window break in the back of the house.

He ran as fast as he could through the house and found another dead body in the kitchen. This ones neck looked like someone had tried to screw his head off. "What in the hell is Dev doing? Killing isn't his style..." he said as he shoved the body out the back door and shut it.

Loser gathered Helen, Helena and Hugh together at the front door and cracked it open. He saw three more bodies outside, all of them were the worse for wear. One looked like he had had two holes burned through his head, and another looked like he had been bent over...the wrong way. He also sounded like Dev was arguing with himself. He was really moving too fast for Loser Lad to see, but the voices sounded similiar, but different...

"We don't kill." he heard Devs voice say.

"Wrong, you don't, but I do," said a voice that sounded slightly older than Dev...but the same.

"Great...Dev is going nuts. Thanks Cobie..." Loser muttered to himself, "I'm gonna die here, and nobody will ever know what happened,"

Dev spoke again, "we need one alive...stop killing them!"

"Fine, the last one will not die by my hands...but die he will before you can get any answers out of him," the other voice said.

Loser saw the other bodies vanish from the yard, and he caught a glimpse of Dev stowing them in a storage unit on the cruiser. Then he noticed another figure holding the last body of the assassins that had been sent to ColMet One to kill Helen and the kids. He was an older man, hovering about five feet off the ground. He had greying hair, and an air of confidence about him that Loser could feel even from the distance.

"Who the..."

Dev emerged from the other side of the cruiser. "Killing yourself to not be questioned is so cliche."

The older man laughed, "...and some might say your moral code is as well."

Dev grabbed the body of the last assassin and headed around to the storage unit again. "Yeah...you and my brother to name two..."

"Your brother is his own person, a bit too much like me in some respects. But he;s not afraid to do what needs to be done." The man said as he landed and walked toward Dev.

"Killing is an easy way out."

"Killing is never an easy option. Look Dev, I respect your stance, even if I do not subscribe to it. You may very well be a far better person than I am given the lengths you go to trying to avoid using lethal force."

"I'm not looking for your approval...I gave up trying for that a long time ago."

Loser cleared his throat. "Is it safe for them to come out now?"

Dev looked around at him. "Sorry Loser, yeah, get them into the ship fast though. Kar and I will take a sweep around...right sir." he said.

Loser Lad got the three of them into the cruiser and came back down the ramp.

Dev and his father were in an obviously heated disagreement over the handling of the assassins.

"...don't care about your Legion code...I'm not part of your little group. I got a call from a very dear friend to come help out this family. I try not to get my hands dirty nowadays, but when she calls...well, you cannot say no to her."

"Look, I appreciate you trying to help, but I might have been able to..."

"You would have gotten nothing from them. As amaturish as they were, they knew enough to take themselves out if caught...so I figured I would help them along and provide a bit more pain to the process.

Loser walked a little closer, "Um...might we be going now...the kids are a little antsy."

Dev turned and put his hand on Losers shoulder, "Sorry Lou, yeah, lets get going...is that okay dad?" he said over his shoulder.

"Dad?" Loser said looking back at the older gentleman standing behind them now.

"Yes. I am Dev and Lons' father. Name is Kar Em," he said as he followed them into the ship.

Loser looked at Dev, "who's Lon?"

"Furball, but he goes by Timberwolf now."

"I leave for a little bit...wait...you and Furball are brothers. He's a walking carpet for grife's sake, and you like have no visable hair whatsoever."

Kar was laughing a deep booming laugh.

"...and Mr. Tough as nails here is your dad?"

They entered the ship and Helena and Hugh came running up to them. "Do you work with my daddy too?" Helena asked Dev.

Dev knelt down in front of her, "yes sweetie, I do. I'm Dev Em, and we're going to take you someplace where you'll be safe from the bad men."

All Hugh could do was look up at him and say, "cool."

Dev walked over to Helen. "Sorry we were late getting here Helen, but you won't have to worry about men like that again. Where I'm taking you and the kids is very well protected...right dad?"

Kar Em smiled. "Very well protected indeed."

The ship lifted off and left Colmet One.
 

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Posted by Timber Wolf on :
 
Furball left the confines of his assigned quarters. Kalla had stayed behind, and was making her own way to the meeting soon. Her presence here was one of courtesy to the LMBP. her official capacity here was as his 'translator' for lack of a better term. Lon hated this part of the game, but it was necessary. After this, he had been given the green light to abandon the Furball persona once and for all. He had been using his real face on Legion World for a while, and had adopted his Black Ops codename for his standard activities as well, but he knew that the minor things he had done in the last month or so on Legion World would be largely ignored because nobody really knew his face...and those that had seen it were either dead, his ally or too far away to notice.

As he walked he was constantly approached and asked to growl or let oput his infamous Furbal war cry that he used when entering battle. He used to like this and found it almost fun, but his mind was way too preoccupied at this point to really enjoy himself. It was time to make the change and make his one stop before going to the meeting.

He ducked down an alley and climbed the back wall. On top of the building was a bag with his clothes in it. They were standard fare for his travels around Weber's World. He would blend in and nobody would know who he was...save a select few. He shifted his form, and put on his outfit. There was a set of identification located in the bag as well. He grinned and mumbled a thanks to the person that had provided it for him. Ambassador Mirenna Helen of the Langley Galaxy, she had known him now for most of his life. He wondered if Cobalt Kid knew how long he had actually known her.

She and Lons father had shared a few adventures that he talked about whenyou got enough in him, nothing that wasn't public record if you knew where to look and the right questions to ask. He had once said something about there being something more between them, but he had never pressed the situation. He did jump when she contacted him though...that was always true. When she had asked his father to send him to Legion World...he did just that. When she asked for Lon to ally himself with Cobalt Kid, it was already several months into their partnership anyway.

Lon took the stairs down to the street level and emerged from a busy nightclub. The patrons had taken no real notice of him.

This...this he liked. Not being noticed by 99% of the population. Walking around unnoticed was a wonderful feeling.

He stopped and grabbed a bite to eat at a storefront deli. Not going to plan on eating anything this good for a while. Total overindulgence, but I'll take what I can get now.

He wandered through the city for a while longer, and finally looked at his Omnicom.

Message from his brother that things were in hand and they were on their way to the final destination. No specifics, but he knew wheere he was headed with Helen and Lardy's kids. It was an odd thing to him, and he wondered if Lardy and Dev had any inclination how similiar their stories were now. They were at such odds with everything that happened, but they had been through things that were so close...sure the specifics were different, but they had both lost wives, had two children and both had had those children under very strange situations. Those children were now living seperate form them and they could only see them by travelling several days. Of course they had handled things differently, but not everyone was wired like his brother. He was a hero in the old school sense.. Always trying to do the right thing no matter what.The rest of them had more obvious faults, most of them had secrets. Dev had his own as well. but not like them...not like him, Cobie or Lardy.

Lon turned another corner to a quieter part of town. He was not being followed, of that he was sure...nobody was that good...not here.

He walked towards a dead end alley. This was it. Furball would be no more, except as a tool to use in combat. From this day until he died, he was officially Timberwolf. Not a member of the LMBP, but a close ally. He never saddled with the moral code of the LMBP...but as Furball, was an honarary member. That had changed when he left Legion World. he had resigned his status, not knowing if he would ever get back there to ever officially join as himself or not.

If I make it through this...what do I do? Do I stay with Kalla? Does that mean I help rule what's left when we're done here? Does that mean I'm just there for her to talk to and love...is that enough? For her...for me? Is this the beginning of finally doing things for myself?

He entered a door that wasn't there. Kent was there waiting for him. "This way," he said to Timberwolf.

Lon was lead to a room where several of the individuals that were going on this journey were already milling about.

He looked around and saw saw that Kalla had not made it there yet. He saw Sharklad and walked over to him, "Hey fish lips..."
 

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Posted by Exo-Lardy on :
 
Note: This post was co-written with Tempest!

Weber's World

Lardy entered into the busy, bustling Weber's World Central Market, one of the busiest of its kind in the known galaxy and certainly the area with the most sentient traffic on this artificial world.

Lardy had had virtually no opportunity to get a good look at his pursuer, much less a positive I.D. All he'd really ascertained at this point was that the pursuer was humanoid, was most likely male, that his cloak was a deep purple (rather than what he first thought was black) and that said cloak featured a symbol that didn't ring any bells for him--a single, open humanoid eye.

He couldn't risk a confrontation in this crowded area rife with innocent civilians. Nor did he think it well-advised with the LMBers here trying to keep a relatively low profile. A knockdown-dragout in the middle of Central Market would kiss that one goodbye! No, he'd just need to lose the creep right then and get to where he needed to be as quickly as possible after he had lost him.

Lardy glanced over his shoulder as he rounded the corner and---OOF! He'd bumped into a lady and knocked her bags on the ground.

"Oh!" Chivalrously he bent over to pick up the lady's bags. He smiled shyly while looking up and said, "sorry, miss. I--!" He stopped dead as he realized he knew this woman, one who'd inhabited his thoughts constantly these days.

"Temp!" Somehow, he said her name with a mixture of surprise, embarassment, delight and mortification. "Fancy bumping into you here! I was..." He looked around. Suddenly, there was absolutely no sign of the man who'd been following him. He used the special modification to his lenses to enhance his vision and saw no sign. I guess he's seen enough? Lardy thought.

Lardy motioned to a nearby coffee shop in such a way that Tempest understood the need for stealth and for a quieter place to talk. Once situated, he explained to her that he had been tailed when he bumped into her and that the tail had apparently bailed. They discussed that for a few moments and some options about what they'd do when they left the coffee shop. They agreed that a cloaking spell she knew would do the trick, just in case.

With business out of the way, Lardy said, "it's really good to see you again, Temp!" He smiled and placed his hand briefly on her shoulder. She smiled back and patted his hand.

"Theresa, you asked me once what my name was. Theresa, and it’s good to see you again, as well, Anthony,” she said as she slightly gripped his index finger and a slight grin curved up the left side of her mouth.

Removing his hand, he said, "look, I'm really sorry about how I acted at Cobie's Lounge and the Villa the night after we...the night after we were at my place. I...kinda fell off the wagon. And I know I made a fool of myself in front of you. Anyway, I'm really sorry. You deserved better than that."

"It’s all right,” she replied automatically. Then her mind quickly shuffled, and she fired back, “what do you mean, ‘off the wagon'? Alcohol? You’ve had trouble with alcohol?”

"Yeah," he answered thoughtfully, "I...had some really hard times dealing with some shit starting in the early days of the LMB. There was this girl I fell in love with, Leelee. Believe it or not, I was shy and introverted when I came into the LMB..."

“I suppose that is hard to believe,” she sneered at him with a grin, “but I relate to that. A lot of people in the LMB and a lot of them with big personalities...being introverted can be comforting in a situation like that. Though it‘s still hard to think of you as anything but rowdy.” She shot him a wink.

"Yeah, I know..." He blushed a little. "Anyway, this crazy woman named Mordra came along. Have you heard of her?"

“I’ve read a lot about LW and the LMB, including many of your files.” She hated the way that sounded, as if she was looking into his past. “You eventually married her sister and their mother is part of the Oval in some way, if I am not mistaken. But beyond that I haven‘t had much time to read up on Mordra, specifically.”

"Oh?" he said and took a deep breath, wishing he didn't have to drudge this next part up. "Well...she killed Leelee, impersonated her for a while, slept with all the other LMBers as 'Leelee' and basically tore my heart to shreds in the process." God, he thought, why am I telling her all of this? "And after that, I dealt with my emotions...poorly. You guessed it--that good ol' bottle was my outlet for drowning my pain. Flashforward a few years--Mordra returns and takes advantage of me while I'm drunk, steals my powers and, well, that was pretty much the last time I took a drink. Until the other week, anyway..."

He let his words drift and averted his gaze from hers. It wasn't easy at all for him to talk about being an alcoholic to people. Only a very select few, really--Des, Rocky, Dru, Helen...and now Temp? What did this mean? Suddenly, he was overcome by the need to change the subject...

"So anyway," he segued rather unnaturally, "a week or so ago, I get flashed by some green light, and--POOF! Suddenly, I'm remembering things about you that I'd forgotten. Was that you that did that?"

“Yes. That was me. I didn’t cast the spell...I couldn’t cast that spell. Those women have so much power. It’s scary to think of what they can do by themselves, let alone together. They gave me the ability to release the memory block. After a while of seeing you all, knowing that I was hiding this from you...it made it hard to focus on my tasks at hand, so I undid it.”

He saw the guilt burning in her eyes and took her hand. Looking her square into those eyes he found so beautiful, he said, "I've given this some thought, Temp. You were in a coma in some cocoon. You had no idea that you were interacting with real people and that your actions had consequences. You weren't in control. Maybe covering it up wasn't such a bright idea, but you came clean. That's gotta mean something."

He let go of her hands. "I've been where you are. I eventually killed Mordra for what she did to me. And my actions had really dire consequences. The Dark Oval invaded Legion World because of it! Lots and lots of people died, Temp. All because of something I did and because I wouldn't come clean about my guilt." He bowed his head. "I never did, Temp." He looked back up at her, his eyes now red. "You never meant to hurt anybody, and you came clean. I meant to do what I did--and I never took the blame. I'd be a big stupid hypocrite to point an accusing finger at you."

“Anthony, we all have our dark pasts. Look at me.” She put her hand to his chin and tilted his head to meet her eyes. “I didn’t get to where I am today being a saint. Yes, I was a good little student, but when I graduated I took the stars. I went to every world I could to learn magic. I whored myself out to any man or woman. I seduced them, enchanted them. I broke families and left without a second care. It takes all kinds...I know that I will let all my guilt go eventually. I have to, unless I drive myself insane. Sometimes that makes me cold hearted. I’m fine with that. But, truthfully Lardy, in my eyes, you are not a bad man and I see no blame.”

He looked at her for a moment. In those few seconds she'd told him as much about herself as she had in all the recent time they'd spent together. Part of him wanted to embrace her as a kindred spirit and was falling even harder for her. Another part of him, though, was screaming to him that she just told him her modus operandi. How could he know that she wasn't manipulating him the way she had all those others?

After a pause, he said, as evenly as possible, "thanks, Tem---Theresa. I wish I was always so sure I wasn't such a bad guy. My moral compass isn't as focused on what's right as, say, Dev's..."

Oh, dammit, Lardy! He mentally chastised himself as soon as he said those words. Why did you go there?

“Things have been hard on you with Dev, as well. I have caused some problems between you two, I know. To be honest, I don’t care. You two boys are old enough to get over some fling. But, Dev is a friend, that’s all he will ever be.” She got her point out, delivered it cold on purpose--not wanting to really let Lardy know that she wanted to see his face light up at the news that Dev Em is no longer competition for her.

Lardy's jaw dropped slightly. He wanted to take her in his arms and say something like, 'so you wanna be my girl?' Instead, he broke eye contact and with all the restraint he could muster, he said, "really? Does...Dev know?"

“I hope so...at least, I would hope that somewhere inside he has figured it out. But I haven’t talked to him, avoidance right now seems best for both of us.”

The conflicting emotions continued in him as her words hung in the air. He wanted to talk about their night together, how great it was, how she fell asleep afterward instead of leaving, how they spooned....but what was the point? She wasn't exactly declaring her love for him, was she? Did she care or didn't she? Or was she manipulating him like she admitted she had all those other people?

He wanted to grill her and make her say something...anything! About the two of them. Did she just want to be friends as well? Did she want to be something more? Or something...less? Gods, she was driving him crazy!

Finally, he looked at his watch and said, "it's about time for the meeting. Dev's not coming along, so I guess you don't have to worry about avoiding him. Would you like to... kiss me madly? ...walk with me to the meeting site?"

"That would be nice, I don't know my way around here very well."

There were many things she would like to tell him, but this was the last she would allow herself to delve into any emotions for a while. They were going on a very dangerous mission, and for her, a very dark one as well.

He smiled at her, got up and pulled her chair out for her. He caught himself reaching for her hand after she got up but stopped himself. He opened the door for her, and she weaved the cloaking spell they had discussed earlier as they exited.

They walked out of the Central Market and into an uncertain future. Not only for the two of them, but for the galaxy.

[ April 10, 2011, 09:59 PM: Message edited by: Exo-Lardy ]
 

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Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
 
“At last,” said Lolita as she saw now in the near distance the secluded building on Weber’s World in the non-descript Zoning District. Within the building would be an even more secluded corridor leading to the secret meeting room of the LMBers. “I hope we’re the last to arrive,” she added, “after so many delays.”

Cobalt Kid landed, setting Lolita down from his arms, also eager to begin. He felt confident now he had not only the full backing on Weber’s World to sanction what was about to happen, but the proper military follow-up to make sure whatever was gained was not subsequently lost. He and Lolita walked side by side and even though there was no real need to rush, the anxiety of the moment had them moving at a very brisk pace. It was because of this that Cobalt’s sudden stop caught Lolita completely by surprise.

She turned back to Cobalt and witnessed his face slowly change from being stoic and all business to a small smile that widened into a large grin. She turned her head back and immediately saw why. “Oh,” she said, as before them was the LMBer who had come to greet them: The Royal Princess of Psyonia, Crujectra, known as the famous Spellbinder of the LMB. Once more Lolita turned to look at Cobalt’s reaction and suddenly realized why neither said something—they were communicating telepathically.

Crujectra was the true love of Cobalt Kid’s life and their love affair was infamous among the multiple universes. After years of building a strong love, the two had grown closer to one another than either had ever experienced before; yet the two had not actually seen one another in almost two entire years. Crujectra’s charitable causes had kept her from Legion World, as she traveled around the poor planets recently liberated and oversaw the social and economic assistance provided by the UP. Cobalt insisted to his friends that the relationship was as strong as ever but most of them, and the populace of Legion World in general, had begun to doubt it.

“Lolita,” said Cobalt, “I’ll meet you in there.” For an instant he felt guilty, since over a year earlier he broke Lolita’s heart by rejecting her for Crujectra. The two had recently rekindled their years long friendship and Lolita was now in a budding romance with Shark Lad, but the feelings may still be raw. Still, he was too distracted by the majesty before him.

«I’d almost forgotten,» he said telepathically to her, «just how beautiful you truly are. Almost.»

«Two years is a long time, » she replied, «I’m glad to see you haven’t forgotten me at all.» She was also smiling now as they walked towards each other. She looked magnificent, the epitome of regal authority combined with a stunning, breath-taking beauty. Both she and Cobalt were renowned for keeping their composure but neither maintained it now in this private moment.

«I never will», he said and suddenly she was in his arms and he was kissing her deeply. Neither had doubted their love for one another throughout all of the time apart but even that strength of belief cannot defeat the loneliness that sets in. All at once the loneliness was gone.

At last the kiss ended though they did not release one another. She looked into his eyes, “dark times are ahead for you,” she said out loud now, concerned. By not utilizing the telepathic link they shared—a bound some Psynonians believed was stronger than marriage—it underscored the seriousness of her words. “You better know what you’re doing, Cobie.”

“You know I do,” he said inhaling the smell of her hair and kissing her again on the cheek.

“It doesn’t make it any less dangerous,” she replied, “or controversial. You’re intending to bring down an entire political system…something that has only been accomplished a miniscule number of times in history.”

“Never let it be said I don’t think on a grandiose scale,” he joked. She smiled but jokingly hit him in the arm. They broke apart and now began to walk in to where the other LMBers were gathering. “I won’t be here long but you’ll be able to stay to see us off?” he asked, making sure it was the case.

“I wouldn’t miss a second to spend with you,” she replied, “and Kent, Darden and I will make sure you have everything you need.” As they walked they slowed down and she made sure to add her next thought telepathically: «I worry about this group assembling. Assassins, unknowns, and people with temper problems. The Barbarian. And Lard Lad…who from what I’ve heard is more unstable than ever. And then there is the murderess, whom I can’t believe is an accomplice in this.»

«You don’t know everyone yet—I have some surprises», he replied, «but you’ll have to trust me in that I trust them. I think they’re the right group for the job. All except Kalla Hrykos, of course…and I’ll be keeping an eye on her in my own way.»

She smiled now, deciding not to continue the conversation much farther as they were getting closer to the rest of the LMB now. “For someone with so much trust issues, Cobie-cakes, you have a tendency to hand out second chances a bit too easily. I worry, and will continue to worry throughout.” She held his hand now as they walked in. “As for your vague, overly dramatic references, you know I find that habit a little annoying so I won’t dignify it with a response”.

Cobalt smiled back but his face then grew slightly serious. “Having this chance to see you again before we go off…it’s what I needed.”

She looked deep into his eyes. “I know.”

The two walked into the room, to see gathered LMBers and soon the meeting would officially begin.
 

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Posted by Rockhopper Lad on :
 
Rockhopper Lad sat waiting for this meeting to begin. His mind recalled a couple days earlier, as he was trying to sneak out of the Rookery. He got about as far as the front hall when he heard a voice "And just where do you think you're going?" It was Time-Teller Lad, standing there with Hyvvie the Wonder Beagle.

"Tim! Hyvvie! I--that is---"

"Did you really think we would let you go away on this mission without us?"

"How do you even know about it?" Rocky asked.

"Hyvvie's main power might be his Nose of Wonder, but he does have pretty good ears, too!"

"This is a dangerous mission, fellas! Very dangerous!"

"We know," Tim nodded. Hyvvie wagged his tail and nodded.

He was glad of their assistance, knowing that his evil double, known as Evil Emperor Pyngwyn was involved. He always wondered: What was it that was different in the life of the Eudyptes of that other world that made him into the monster that he was? How could he possibly be the same individual, albeit from a parallel universe? There were no differences that Rocky could fathom in their parents or upbringing. Somehow this other version of him had become a tyrant the like of which no one had ever seen. And his embracing of magic? Was that what drove him to insanity? The Evil Emperor Pyngwyn was what they called him, though he knew the his double did not like that name. And, of course, where the other Eudyptes was, there would be the Blaine Fey who was born in Rocky's own universe. The other dimensional-double of Rocky's first true love, Openly Gay Lad of Earth-4. Again, what was it that made this one so different? He could ask those questions all he wanted, but it didn't change the simple facts. They were dangerous!

And Adelie? What about Rockhopper Lass? There seemed much less difference between the Adelie of that other world and Rocky's own sister. Still Rockhopper Lass had been gone for so long now, Rocky sometimes thought he dreamed her up. She was in this somehow. He knew it. There was so much going on! Rocky shook his head as his reverie broke and he looked at his two closest friends, one human and one canine, on each side. Whatever he was going to face, Time-Teller Lad and Hyvvie the Wonder Beagle would face it with him.

[ April 11, 2011, 11:17 PM: Message edited by: Rockhopper Lad ]
 

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Posted by Hot Chick on :
 
Kalla Hrykos was in her and Timber Wolf's quarters by herself. Lon had gone ahead to be at the meeting place early. She told him she needed to meditate a while to gain her focus for the task ahead.

She lied.

It was something she was loathe to do to him, but in this case she felt it was necessary. For the first time since going under deep cover, Kalla was contacting her two closest allies in Hrykosia and the Dominion.

It had been too risky to try on Legion World with so many eyes on her and no secure Oval communications hub located there for her to use. But here on Weber's World, Hrykosian spies had a secure hub built in during the time when Hrykosia had invaded Legion World and part of the U.P. Hrykosian ambassadors had been invited to Weber's World for peace talks, and their entourage consisted of tech experts who secretly put in the most advanced, nearly impossible to detect communications programs known to modern technology.

It was still in place and still secure, Kalla discovered, and within moments she was in contact with Phe'Be Kyeatz and Juj Rinold.

Phe'Be was the mage whose image Kalla bore when diguised as "Hot Chick". She wove the complex spell that effectively turned Kalla into a sleeper agent in her mission to find Lard Lad and ensure that Lardy followed through in their plans to take down the other Oval powers. In turn Phe'Be played the part of Kalla, so none of the other Oval Elite would know Kalla was missing.

Juj was a Durlan friend whom Kalla had met during her days as an illegitimate outcast from the Hrykos Clan. Together with other likeminded individuals, Kalla and Juj had fought against the institutionalized racism and classism of Hrykosia. After Kalla had claimed her birthright as leader of Hrykosia, Kalla had dissolved those institutions and made Hrykosia an integrated, equal-opportunity society.

After Lard Lad worked with Kalla over three years ago and assassinated the Dominion's High Caste Leader, Juj took the Dominion leader's place, using his Durlan shape-shifting abilities. Kalla had effective control of two-fifths of the powers that comprise the Dark Oval with that move. This would give the Fellowship a better strategic advantage than they would otherwise have, but the remaining three powers were still the most formidable in the Oval's makeup.

Kalla put all of that aside for a moment and just enjoyed for a moment the sight of her two closest friends and allies on her viewscreen.

"You two are a sight for sore eyes!" Kalla said.

"And you as well, my liege," Phe'Be replied.

"Sprock, Kalla! We were worried sick about you!" Juj exclaimed.

"Yes, I'm sorry", Kalla allowed. "It was a difficult mission, though. We all knew that. But I can report that the mission was a success! Lard Lad is helping us...and bringing many of his friends. We will be going far beyond what Lardy and I had initially planned."

"What do you mean?" Phe'Be asked. "The plan was for Lard Lad to kill and replace Wyandotte, giving us a three-fifths advantage."

"Yes, it was," Kalla nodded, "but we have Cobalt Kid aboard, now, so the goal is much more...ambitious."

"Cobaltus?!? He was the one who launched a full-on war campaign against the Oval after the Invasion! His lust for battle and military strategy is legendary! You cannot trust him!" Juj yelled in exasperation.

Kalla smiled. "You're right...I can't. But I have some checks and balances in place with him. For one thing, there's Lard Lad. Lardy hates me but wants to honor our agreement, especially as he knows Hrykosia is in a much better place under my rule."

"The other is my new lover..."

"Lover?" Phe'Be inquired with great curiosity.

"Yes. I've taken a new lover, who happens to be coming along and who has Cobaltus' ear. We are in love, and he will not allow me to be used or betrayed even by his closest ally."

Juj smiled. "Sounds like you chose wisely when you took on a new lover."

Kalla frowned at him. "Juj, you know me better than that! You knew me when I was with Huldnaf! I do not give my heart lightly or for nefarious gain! Our falling for each other was an accident. That it turned out so well for me strategically made it a particularly happy accident, but one nonetheless. In any case he will protect me and my interests with great ferocity. Cobaltus would be ill-advised to cross him."

"My apologies, Kalla," Juj conceded. "I am very happy that you have found love again. I was afraid you never would after Huldnaf was murdered on your brother's orders."

"I thought I never would, either. But here I am! In any case I leave nothing to chance. I will be securing additional assurances from Cobaltus, solid ones that would make it very difficult for him to renege."

"What about the Omega Sanction, my liege?" Phe'Be asked ominously.

"That, dear friends, is one of the primary reasons for my contacting you," Kalla grinned. "Are the plans proceeding accordingly, Juj?"

"Yes, Kalla. Everything is on schedule. My Durlan espionage squad is entrenched among the Earth-4 rebels...the Losers, they call themselves. Their latest reports is that the Omega Sanction is perhaps two weeks from being made a reality, right under the Losers' noses."

"Excellent, Juj! The Omega Sanction will be my ultimate trump card in this affair. Should Cobaltus step out of line, I will have it to threaten him with. Should our campaign somehow go badly, it will improve the odds drastically."

"But you will still use it even if those other two scenarios don't require it?" Phe'Be prompted.

"Oh, yes," Kalla smiled, "I don't believe in keeping my toys mint in their boxes!"

The two sentients on the screen laughed.

"I have a meeting to get to, my friends," Kalla said as the two stopped. "Stay strong! We will reunite very soon...and our enemies will rue the day! I will be in contact. Kalla out."

Kalla turned off the viewscreen and contemplated what lay ahead. She basked in her expectations for a long moment, then used Phe'Be's spell to change her appearance to mirror Phe'Be's own.

"Very soon," she said, "the need for disguises will be over."

She exited the quarters, and before very long she arrived at the meeting place minutes before it was about to begin. She sat beside Lon, gave him a kiss on the cheek and held his hand.

Lon couldn't help but wonder why Kalla looked for all the worlds like the cat who just ate the canary.

[ April 12, 2011, 12:13 AM: Message edited by: Hot Chick ]
 

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Posted by Dev Em on :
 
Daroon

The trip to Daroon was uneventful for them. Dev Em and Loser Lad took the time to catch up, as they had not seen each other in quite a while. Helen and the kids got a good rest, but only after the kids were told several tales of their father and the LMBP.

Kar was at the controls of the ship and had just gotten clearance to land within the castle walls. The castle was under the watchful eye of King Graftun's elite guard, which had amongst them multiple Daxamite visitors. There was nobody getting into or out of the castle walls without them knowing.

Dev Em tensed as the ramp extended. he had not been back here since his initial visit. Through no fault of his own, one thing after another had kept him from visiting, and it stung him that with everything considered...this was for the best of the children.

He was the first down the ramp, and Princess Alyson was there waiting with Han and jon. They ran towards him and he got down on one knee and embraced them as tight as he dared.

Princess Alyson looked at the scene with a tear forming in her right eye. She hated herself for what they had done, but understood that there was no hope for a relationship with Dev again.

Kar Em and Loser Lad came down the ramp next. Han and Jon ran and gave their grandfather a hug and Jon smiled at Loser lad and said. "Eye Ooser!"

Loser Lad laughed and said hello back. He hadn't seen Jon in over a year, and was surprised he remembered him. He glances at Dev, and Dev mouthed "photographic memory."

Han Em smiled at Loser and said nothing. Hanging her head a little in that shy way girls do.

Helen, Helena and Hugh emerged from the ship and they looked around..

Dev walked to them and escorted them down the ramp. "Everyone, this is Helen, Helena and Hugh. He looked to them and then introduced the King, Queen and Princess Alyson.

Han and Jon looked at the two other children with big smiles on their faces.

Dev bent down again on one knee. He looked at Helena and Hugh, "Those two over there are my kids."

He motioned for Han and Jon to come over, "Han this is Helena, she's 6. Helena, Han is 10 years old."

Han took her hand and said, "I'll show you where you're going to stay." they started to run off, when Helena looked back at her mom. Helen nodded and smiled.

"Hugh, this is Jon...he's three. Jon this is Hugh, he's four."

The two boys stood there smiling and just staring at each other. Helen walked over to Hugh, "Why don't you two run along and play a little." Hugh nodded and the boys ran off.

Helen walked over to Dev and gave him a hug. "Thank you from the bottom of my heart Dev," she said as she wiped a tear away.

Dev looked at her, "thank them," he said as he tilted his head towards the King and his family. "They're the ones opening up their home to you.

King Graftun took the opportunity to walk over and greet Helen. "I hope you find everything to your liking. If there is anything any of my people can do for you, do not hesitate to ask."

He escorted Helen, Dev Em, Loser Lad, the Queen and Princess Alyson into the Castle. Once inside, they could hear the children running around and laughing.

"We have set you up to have your own room, with adjoining rooms for the children. The accomodations can be changed to however you like though. Dev and Kar have explained to me the situation, and my entire ?Kingdom is here to protect you my dear."

Helen tried to saya something, but Helena came running up to her and dragged her off to see the bedroom that they had set up for them.

King Graftun looked at Dev, "I believe we have something to discuss."

Dev looked at Loser Lad, "this is going to take a little bit. If you want, you can stick around. Dinner will be soon, and you're more than welcome to stay for that, and as long as you'd like."

Loser looked from Dev to the rest of the Royal Family. The King nodded his agreement with what Dev Em had said.

"Okay then, I'll stick around for a little while," Loser Lad said.

The Queen smiled and motioned for several attendants to scome over, "Prepare another room and see that Mr. Loser Lad here has anything he should need."

King Graftun and Dev Em retired into the King's study.

Loser Lad went to see where he would be staying.

Helen was being shown around by four excited children.

The Queen looked at her daughter and smiled, "I'm sorry that we ever got you into this whole mess darling." With that, they moved to another part of the castle to find Helen and the children.

[ April 12, 2011, 08:16 PM: Message edited by: Dev Em ]
 

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Posted by Lolita on :
 
The Meeting

Lolita sat in her chair, watching as the rest of the LMBers entered one by one. She filled the glass in front of her with water from one of the many jugs around the room. She made sure to fill Shark Lad’s water as well, to the top, and he grunted a note of thanks. She smiled at the grunt, thankful to be sitting next to him. She took careful note of the LMBers as they entered one by one, from Cobalt Kid and Spellbinder entering arm and arm (which didn’t exactly fill her with happiness) to Lard Lad and Tempest entering overly casual as if there wasn’t anything awkward about their entering together. When the woman known as “Hot Chick”, who was not an LMBer but actually a disguise worn by one of their former enemies Kalla Hrykos, entered, she was the only one of them who did not turn to watch her walk to her seat next to Timberwolf; instead, she made sure to mentally record the reactions of everyone who watched.

“Lardy,” said Cobalt Kid some distance away to Lard Lad who had just entered, “I think everyone is hear so we can begin when you’re ready.” Lolita saw how Lard Lad was able to force his self-doubt from his mind and muster his determination to lead this meeting; she watched as Cobalt Kid grew ever more confident in his plans for the Dark Oval, which meant it would be increasingly more difficult to change his mind should the need come.

She watched every one of them, because that was what she does. She analyzes data, she detects patterns and she makes assumptions on what it all means and what is going to happen next. It was not just that she was highly intelligent, it was the type of intelligence she had.

“Fellow LMBers,” said Lard Lad, directing their attention to the front, “we’ll call this meeting to order. Though what is about to be spoken is highly classified and cannot be made public to even our fellow Legionnaires, Time Teller Lad will be taking the minutes.” With that last sentence, Lolita noticed Lard Lad almost seemed to be taking a deep breath, realizing what was to come would be recorded. Lard Lad now nodded to Cobalt Kid.

Cobalt spoke, as Lolita knew that while Lard Lad was running this meeting, Cobalt would be helping keep it organized. ‘Just like back when we were Leader & Deputy’ Cobalt had said to her on the way over, referring to their infamous friendship from the founding of the LMB to the present. There were some Legionnaires who felt that when Lardy and Cobie were at odds, the LMB was at great risk; a smaller more skeptical number felt exactly the opposite. “Most of you know why we’re here though you likely don’t know the whole story. And for that reason, its proper that before we undertake this extremely dangerous mission, everyone understand exactly how events led us to this and what we are setting out to accomplish.”

Lolita looked around the room and she noticed almost all of them were sitting strait up; there was a tension building throughout the room. The room they were in was a very plane, Spartan-like conference room with tables and seats along the walls so it opened up into a giant upside down “U”. At the front stood Lard Lad with Cobalt Kid to his side. The walls were a metallic yellow, creating a bright, informal atmosphere. On the tables were jugs of water and water glasses but beyond that there was nothing. In the room to the side there was storage facility full of supplies gathered by the Gil’disphan Ambassador Hranzer, but beyond the doorway to that room, there wasn’t much else to look at. Only Time Teller Lad had any recording devices handy to take the minutes.

“For the record, let’s go around the room, officially introducing who is present,” said Cobalt now, further covering the bases to get the meeting official so Lard Lad could get to the heart of the matter.

Tim looked up from his recordings, realizing the onus was now on him as the LMBer closest to the front on the immediate left of the two at the front of the room. “Time Teller Lad present!” he said, and in the back of the room, Lolita knew Rockhopper Lad was smiling. Time-Teller Lad was a longtime colleague of the House of Rockhopper in addition to being an LMBer and every single person in the room knew that he was a good-hearted and loyal person they could count on. His powerset was not the most effective in battle, but Lolita sighed a breath of relief knowing he was present because his true-hearted nature. Additionally, she knew he was a savy detective which could come in handy.

“The mighty Hrun is here!” roared Hrun the Barbarian, next to Time-Teller Lad, almost jumping out of his seat. “And I’ve been promised battle and a chance for glory but all I’ve gotten so far is a long trip at space and now a meeting that grows more and more boring! Let us proceed good warriors and destroy the Dark Oval!” At that, Hrun sat back down pleased with himself, and drank from a leather cask full of mead which he obviously brought with him. Most of the LMB were surprised by the outburst while Cobalt Kid laughed quietly in the corner of the room. Hrun the Barbarian was the Chieftan of a tribe of barbarian warriors who many years earlier had migrated to Legion World from the Barbarian Hordes; he was voracious, loud and destructive but while those were certainly true aspects of his nature, Lolita knew from Cobalt that Hrun was a great leader, a cunning thinker and the perfect ally to have for a war. Years earlier, Hrun and Cobalt worked side by side to battle numerous armies when Cobalt Kid was a Triumvir of Legion World, and Hrun also led his own barbarians into the Dark Oval during the last war so he was familiar with the territory. If war was coming, Hrun was good to have.

“Helena Handbasket,” said the strong looking soldier next to Hrun without anything further to add, a distinct difference between she and Hrun. Helena was only one of two of them that was not an LMBer here, though she had been an ally of the LMB for several years now. Of them all, she was the one with the truest military background; even more important was that background was in the Dark Oval itself—she was once a Dark Oval commanding officer who changed sides during the Invasion of Legion World, realizing she was fighting on the wrong side. What the others did not know was Helena had intel specific to this very mission; Lolita was the only one who was aware of Helena’s “covenant” with other LMB allies years earlier which might just turn the tide.

Lolita noticed next to Helena was a potted plant. For some reason, she hadn’t noticed it before but now it stood out like a sore thumb. Very odd, she thought, and made a note to ask Cobalt about it.

After the plant sat a woman beautiful flowing hair, a stunning gown and upright poise showing she was paying attention to every detail before her as well. “Tempest,” she said calmly as every eye in the room was on her. Since her return to Legion World some months earlier, Tempest had been at the center of multiple storms: she was not only in the middle of a love triangle between Lard Lad and Dev Em, but she revealed that a year earlier she had wiped everyone’s memories of her true nature, which was even more surprising (and to some, alarming). The truth was that several LMB members, allies and enemies over the years had turned out to have been dreams she was experiencing while in a cocoon state. This included, among other things, both the second wife of Cobalt Kid, and even more, an incredibly powerful mage who almost single-handedly destroyed Legion World. Having her along would be crucial during the final stages of the quest because her expertise in magic was unmatched by almost no one. Yet, both the tension between herself and Lard Lad, as well as the distrust many felt towards her for her deception, would further enhance the already simmering tension.

Beyond the mistress of winds, the tables along the left side now ended and the tables in the back of the room began. “Kent Shakespeare,” said the prominent LMBer who was next, “representing both the LMB and Bureau of External Affairs”. Kent was a well-known and well-respected LMBer but his presence here, like Spellbinder’s was notable because he was not going on the mission to come. They were here for a multitude of reasons: first, to help oversee the usage of Weber’s World as a launch point for the operation; and second, to sit-in on this meeting and have their concerns addressed since neither was totally on board with the mission nor understood the full extent of the events that brought them here. Kent had a third reason for being at the meeting: in addition to being an LMBer, Kent was a longtime member of the Bureau of External Affairs, a mysterious, secret organization that spanned throughout (and some wagered, beyond) the United Planets. They were directly involved in intergalactic affairs and this certainly fell within that range. Kent’s presence in that regard underscored how seriously he was taking this.

“Prince Eudyptes Chrysochome of the House of Rockhopper” said the regal man who sat in the middle at the back of the room, “or Rockhopper Lad of the LMB,” he added with a smile. Rockhopper Lad’s presence had helped legitimize the entire operation in the minds of Kent, Crujectra and other LMBers; he was essential to the mission for many more reasons beyond that. Among the grave threats within the Dark Oval, one of the worst was the Evil Emperor Pyngwyn, who was the Rockhopper Lad of Earth-4. If the implications were not obvious enough, to further complicate matters, the Rockhopper Lass of Earth-4, whom Rockhopper Lad considered a sister, was also trapped behind enemies lines; this last bit of information was unknown to most of the rest of the LMB but Helena would make it known soon. Lolita noticed how easy-going and welcoming Rockhopper Lad seemed to be in his posture. It made her wonder if during this mission, his history with Lard Lad, from being in love to breaking his heart, would come into play at all?

By Rockhopper Lad’s feet was Hywie the Wonder Beagle, the loyal companion of Rockhopper Lad who had proven himself several times over on Legion World. Though he had shown the ability to talk previously, he did not say anything here, perhaps showing his wisdom more so by not speaking.

“Princess Crujectra of Psyonia,” said the other regal presence in the room who sat next to the Prince, “Spellbinder of the LMBP.” Spellbinder’s presence in the room added an air of seriousness to the proceedings as she was impossible to read: as a lifelong telepath, she had learned how to completely masque her emotions to anyone other than a telepath. Lolita wished that she somehow planned where she sat much better, not considering both Royals would take the seats in the at the head of the table, which meant she ended up sitting next to the Princess. She wondered if the Princess was aware that two years ago, after many years prior being Cobalt Kid’s partner and friend, Lolita had professed her love for him? Or that when it Cobalt admitted he felt the same, he could not be with her and it effectively ended their friendship until recently?

She realized that while stuck in her own thoughts, the eyes of the room now turned to her. “Oracle present,” she said as firmly as she could but it still came out very quiet. She used her new LMB codename rather than simply ‘Lolita’ which she was known by or ‘Jailbait Lass’, the nickname many knew her by for years which she hated.

“Shark Lad,” said the ferocious LMBer to her left. She put her two slender arms around his and purposely sank into his side a little to let his massive presence distract any wandering eyes. Shark Lad and she had only recently entered into a relationship and thus far it was going really well in her eyes. It was not only playful, but she felt safe with him. She knew though that the reason he was here was because he was one of the most fierce LMBers in battle. When Cobalt invaded the Dark Oval last time, he was present, along with Hrun and Power Boy, so he also knew the Dominion territories as well.

“Timberwolf,” said LMBer next to Shark Lad, in a way that made Lolita think he took some delight in using the new codename—newly official that is, since he was using it in black ops for years—to the surprise of the other LMBers who had not recently been on Legion World. Timberwolf, the LMBer formerly known as Furball, had recently startled the LMB at large with the revelation that he was far more than a furry sidekick, but actually a highly trained assassin who was secretly working with Cobalt for many years. Most did not know the full extent but of course she did, helping Cobalt plan those ops. Timberwolf would be crucial for this mission as it was tailor-made for him. Or more precisely, he for it. Lolita noticed that Timberwolf was sitting right next to Shark Lad which a few years earlier would have seemed ludicrous. But in recent weeks the two had experienced even further revelations about their shared history and though there was obvious tensions when they were so close, they were making an effort to keep working together. She made a mental note to try to keep Sharky in check should the two begin to clash down the road.

“Hot Chick,” said the woman next to Timberwolf, and immediately, the air went out of the room. Most of the people in the room now understood that this was woman was not named “Hot Chick” and the beautiful, stunning figure before them was actually a glamour; her real name & image were that of LMB enemy, Kalla Hrykos. Several years earlier, Kalla Hyrkos planned an assault on Legion World called “the 52 Event” which resulted in numerous deaths and great damage on the LMB’s home. Now through a series of shocking events, she was working with the LMB. In likely a few minutes, her secret would be made plain for all to see.

It complicated matters that during the recent calamity on Legion World in which the Red Bee attacked the LMB, Kalla Hrykos and Timberwolf had seemingly fallen in love. So those who were obviously considering taking Kalla out of the picture completely, like Lardy and Cobalt, now had to consider what the most dangerous man in the LMB might do.

“Quite the collection of individuals,” said Cobalt, trying to lighten the mood of the room. “Cobalt Kid, present, and I now turn the meeting over to Lard Lad so he can begin.” He turned to Lard Lad and his usually stoic face had a look that said ‘well, here we go’. “Lardy?” he said, turning to the LMBer.
 

---

Posted by Exo-Lardy on :
 
"Er...hey, guys," Lardy said with a nervous grin. "My name is Anthony...and I'm an alcoholic!"

His attempt to break the ice was met with cold stares. Even Cobie looked a little embarassed for him.

"Uh, wrong meeting, I guess? Sorry, guys, nerves sometimes cause me to make stupid jokes."

"So here we are...", he continued and took a more businesslike approach. He'd had much experience with this sort of thing as a two-time LMB leader and during his relatively short stint as Chief of Security, so he was finding his voice for this sort of thing again. "...about to risk our lives in what might be the most ambitious and risky mission the LMB and its allies have ever been on. If we are to ask you to possibly give your life, we want you to go in knowing what this is all about. Full disclosure. No blindly following us into battle without knowing the sins of the men who will be leading this thing."

"Look, no one in this room takes me for an angel. I know that. But some of this is about me righting some wrongs that I've perpetrated. If you hear everything I'm about to say and decide its no longer the mission for you, then no one here will think the lesser of you."

He glanced at Tempest for a moment. A short time ago he'd confessed the sins he was about to share with the rest, and she'd assured him that he was still a good man in her eyes. She saw him looking toward him just then, made eye contact with him and nodded slightly. This gave him the strength to continue.

"About five years ago, I had ventured into Dark Oval territory on a mission of revenge. I got my revenge by killing Hrykosia's leader Damyen Hrykos and his wife Mordra. I won't justify my actions in those instances, but I'd venture a guess that many people would have done the same if subjected to everything I went through at the time."

"As many of you know, the Oval had a brutal response and launched a devastating invasion of Legion World that cost us many lives." Lardy's eyes lingered for a moment on Rockhopper Lad, who lost his lover Openly Gay Lad in that conflict. Rocky saw this and gave him a meaningful, sympathetic look back. "Too many," Lardy added. "I helped end that invasion by working with some friends I'd made in Hrykosia to fake a Hrykosian attack on the territories that were then known as the Barbarian Hordes. This was a bold move on my part that I made without any LMB knowledge...no, not even Cobalt. It accomplished what it was meant to accomplish, namely drawing the Oval out of their invasion plans. But it ignited further galactic instability and set more dominoes falling that would be detrimental to the United Planets and Legion World."

"Some of those began to fall very quickly. Cobalt charged into Oval territories immediately and began liberating some of the systems that had been annexed by the Oval. This caused a lot of political hellfire, to say the least. At the same time the Oval began to support terrorist activity on Legion World by backing a doomsday cult known as the Church of the Eternal Void. With much of the LMB preoccupied by the unification of the Barbarian Hordes as the Khanate of Sol Invictus, the Church nearly succeeded in destroying Legion World during what was known as the '52 Affair', among other names. His gaze shifted between Helena and Lolita as he said, "many gave their lives during that one, too. Among them, the great hero Bat-Fem and...and my brother Hugh."

"It didn't end there, my friends. The Dark Oval soon developed an insidious plan to annex an entire crucial sector of United Planets space known as Epsilon Sector. They used a great deal of trickery, some inside men and a one-man weapon of mass destruction to pull it off and claim Naltor, Orando and Zerox among their spoils."

He bowed and shook his head. "My wife Dru was the Oval's sacrificial lamb in that one, along with scores of Zerox's citizens who had been duped by three of their leaders."

Lardy then looked at every single one of those assembled directly in the eyes, one by one, as he told them the next part. "I was in a very bad place after that, guys. I split my time between returning to the LMB...and making an alliance with Hrykosia's new leader, who had also been the key player in helping me fake the Barbarian Horde invasion back when. Coincedentally, she was also the woman who lead the Church of the Eternal Void in their assault on Legion World: Kalla Hryl, now Kalla Hrykos."

Disguised as Hot Chick in the meeting room, Kalla tensed up quite a bit.

"Kalla," Lardy directed, "show yourself."

The members of the Fellowship who didn't already know, gasped as Hot Chick's features transformed into that of the woman many had seen on holo-wanted posters or that some had battled firsthand. Timberwolf tensed up and let out a small snarl as he was prepared to fight off anyone who might make a move. If any were going to, that snarl changed their minds.

"Easy, guys," Lardy said, making 'stop' gestures with his hands extended. "Kalla's our inside man, our guide, for our quest. She's given us valuable intel and will continue to do so. In return I granted her amnesty before being suspended as Security Chief."

At that, there were more grumbles, but they subsided when Lardy resumed speaking.

"Like I said, I aligned with her after Dru's death in order to seek revenge on what I felt were the true controlling powers of the Oval. My soul...was sick at the time, understand. And while aligned with her, I assassinated the Dominion's High Caste Leader and had a Durlan ally of Kalla's take his place, effectively giving Kalla control over two-fifths of the Oval."

More grumbles.

"Yeah, I know. But with her as an ally, we now have a distinct tactical advantage here. Anyway, things were complicated by my dying in the conclusion of the Five Faces of Death affair. I had memory loss when I came back, and Kalla wondered what had happened to our alliance. So she came back and found me under the Hot Chick disguise."

"During this time, we were attacked by the Red Bee. It turns out that the Dark Oval helped him get here. Once again, many lives were lost, this time including our noble warrior...and my friend...Sir Roy."

"In the wake of this attack Kalla disclosed to many of us our best-ever look into the Dark Oval, including its entire makeup for the first time. As I've said, the Oval is made up of five powers:

Hrykosia, a very military-structured power, with some similarities to how it's run to Cobie's destroyed home of Ggrrgg. Again, we have the advantage of having its leader on our side."

"The Dominion is the scientifically super-advanced caste-based culture whose influence has most been felt in the taking of many of the Contested Territories disputed between the U.P., the Oval and the Khanate. It is the Dominators' military influence more than any other in the Oval that has made enemies with the U.P., due to their spear-heading many of the earlier Oval power grabs. With the Durlan loyal to Kalla impersonating their High Caste Leader, we have a big advantage there."

"The Hive is a colony of insectoid aliens who are controlled completely by their Queen. Their armies are overwhelming in their sheer numbers and their viciousness. What's worse is that their Queen, who controls the entire horde, is herself controlled by a man named Harold Ryan Wyandotte. Wyandotte has the ability to control minds." He looked all of them and sighed slightly. "He also happens to be another version of me from another dimension. Kalla's and my plan, before I died, was to somehow kill Wyandotte and get me to replace him...but that's not the plan anymore."

Epsilon Sector is the base of the next power of the Oval. Kalla thinks that its leaders may be the crucial brain trust in the mix. They are Romaltus and Mala, who were the perpetrators and insiders to what happened on Zerox. Romaltus," Lardy said as he glanced at Cobalt, "also happens to be Cobie's uncle. He played us like fools and pulled Epsilon from under our noses. He was also a friend and mentor to Dru, or so we thought."

"It should be noted that Romaltus communes with an unknown god and claims that this god is somehow behind the Dark Oval's power. This could all be religious hooey, but in our business with what we've seen, we can't discount that there may be some truth to this."

"You see, the larger mission here is to take the Dark Oval down! No matter what my sins have wrought, there's no disputing that the Oval is an extremely deadly danger to Legion World, the U.P. and the galaxies at large. In addition to all of the terrorist activity and invasions I've mentioned, the Oval funds itself by perpetrating over half of the crime in the U.P.! The Hive produces addictive, deadly drugs, the Dominion runs weapons to insurgents....it just goes on and on and on. It has to be stopped before they become too powerful! We--!"

Lardy is interrupted by someone clearing his throat. It was Shark Lad. "Aren't you forgetting the fifth power in the Oval?" he reminded Lardy.

"No, Sharky, I'm not. It's how I'm ending my part of the presentation. Because if you don't buy into everything else I've been talking about, the fifth power should be the clincher. You see, the fifth power is run by a guy we melodramatically refer to as the Evil Emperor Pyngwyn and his consort Blaine Fey. This Emperor happens to be our beloved Rockhopper Lad's double from Universe-4."

"That's the kicker, Lardy?" Shark Lad said with some bemusement. "I mean, we have an evil Lardy and an evil Rocky in the mix? Kind of par for the LMB course, isn't it?"

Lardy acknowledged, "yeah, kinda. But that's NOT the kicker, Sharky. The kicker is the Pyngwyn's base planet is...Earth-4!"

Those in the room who were not in the know gasped.

"I know," Lardy assured them, "we thought it was destroyed years ago. In reality it was transported across dimensions and exchanged with the destroyed Black Sun planet, which used to be part of the Oval itself. That's the most crucial intel Kalla shared with us. And, yes, many of our friends in the Society of Message Board Posters are still alive there...and enslaved."

More gasps came at that.

"We are going to liberate our friends in the SMB, my friends. But to tell you more about that, I yield the floor to Ms. Helena Handbasket. Helena?"
 

---

Posted by Helena Handbasket on :
 
Note: This post created with grateful acknowlegement to Quislet, Esq., creator of Helena Handbasket, for his ideas and encouragement!

Helena took a long moment to rise from her seat. She didn't like being blindsided. Not by her being asked to contribute--that she knew about. No, she was among those in the room blindsided by the revelation of Hot Chick as Kalla Hrykos.

Helena was among the many Legion World irregulars who fought on the front lines during the onslaught of the 52. And it was Kalla who lead the 52 under the auspices of the Church of the Eternal Void. Helena witnessed firsthand all the Security Officers, citizens and costumed heroes who lost so much, many among them their lives, fighting the evil that Kalla brought to their home. How could they give someone so absolutely evil amnesty?

Easy, Helena, she thought. The side of her that had an extensive military background kicked in. You're too close to this! If you weren't so personally tied up in what she did, you would do exactly what Cobalt and Lard Lad were doing. The tactical advantage is worth the price they're paying. But, by Elios, it's so hard to look at her sitting among us...

Get it together, Helena. You made a commitment. Not just to this Fellowship...but to your Covenant. At least, this way, you can keep a close eye on what that evil bitch is doing when she inevitably attempts to betray us!

She smiled slightly, then finally walked up in front of the Fellowship.

"Hello, all," she began, "we've been introduced, but I thought I should tell you a little about myself. I was born and raised within the Dark Oval on a planet that had been conquered by Hrykosia generations ago. The planet was named Elysia by the Hrykosians. Its prior name is lost to the ages as our conquerors had all references to it and indeed our entire history prior to its conquest completely stricken. All adults and children who clung to the old ways were killed. So there exists no known historical record or even a verbal record left to existence."

"My people do not mourn this. I suppose it's because they have nothing to mourn. In fact we are the most beloved of Hrykosia's colonies. Though only pureblooded Hrykosians are allowed to serve in the Hrykosian military itself, Elysia's forces serve as the vanguard of the Dark Oval's General Elite Militia. Each of the five powers has its own personal militia, but the G.E.M. serves them all with great honor."

"It was serving with the G.E.M. as a Commander of an entire Company of infantry that I came to Legion World when the Dark Oval launched its Invasion. Something struck me about the place almost immediately after we landed. Maybe it was seeing common citizens rising up to defend something they believed in? Maybe it was Quislet, Esq. inviting my troops to talk with him at a magical dinner table that appeared in the middle of a battlefield? Maybe it was the fact that I never really wanted to join the G.E.M. in the first place, but my mother pushed myself and my brother into it to honor my fallen father?"

"Maybe it was all of those things and more. In any case all of my troops decided to turn on our masters and fight for Legion World that day. And too many of my brethren gave their lives to defend it. Me? I lost my arm fighting the Oval's ambassador/warlord Angra Metternich." She pulled down her sleeve and showed the clearly robotic arm that had replaced the one she lost. "We all gave our lives...and me, my arm...willingly that day and would do so again if asked. To this day, every one of the survivors of my Company proudly live and serve on Legion World. With one exception."

"Her name is Mai Cheronna. She was my Company's tactical expert. She agreed to make a huge sacrifice and return to the Oval in order to keep an eye on things and report to me if anything of interest happened. She loves Legion World as much as any of the rest of us, probably moreso, given her personal sacrifice."

"Flashforward a few months. The 52 Affair happens, and several of us band together to fight off the Church of the Eternal Void." Helena's eyes rested directly on Kalla at this point, not bothering to hide the pure hatred she felt for her. After a long moment, she turned her gaze away and continued. "After our brave sister-in-arms Bat-Fem sacrificed herself to save Legion World, the survivors--mostly non-LMBers--made a Covenant to do whatever it took to protect Legion World from threats that the LMB might be unaware of or otherwise too bound by governmental red tape to look into."

"It wasn't long after that at all that Mai contacted me and told me that something huge was brewing in the Dark Oval. Based on what she told me, I decided I'd call the Covenant together and look into it. This was exactly why it was forged, after all."

"For many reasons too complex to go into, I summoned only a handful of those who had pledged to help. The ones called were myself, the second Bat-Fem, Rockhopper Lass, Clark Marlowe, Seth Gaterra and Grev Mallor. All agreed to honor the Covenant by accepting the mission, but it was decided that one would stay behind to await news or to inform the LMB of the mission if it failed. Lots were drawn, and...and I drew the shortest straw." She bowed her head in silence for a moment. Being the one who had to stay behind was a heavy burden on her soul.

"So," she finally continued, "stay behind I did. I...didn't deal with this role very well for a while." She smiled a half smile toward Lolita who had firsthand knowledge of this. "But I eventually found something to do by becoming a special administrator for the LMB Leadership Office, where I've served proudly now under four administrations to date."

"The Covenant was gone for well over a year, when I finally received an encrypted message from Seth Gaterra. There was only so much detail he could put on a message that would have to piggyback undetected on countless unrelated messages, but what he gave me was very illuminating."

"Seth confirmed Earth-4's continued existence despite all we thought to be true, complete with its actual coordinates within the Dark Oval. He confirmed it was under the rule of the so-called Evil Emperor Pyngwyn. He also told of how Earth-4 has been turned into an ice planet by its new ruler, ravaging its eco-system in the process. He told of how its populace is enslaved and being housed in concentration camps. All of the surviving SMB were imprisoned in a special maximum security facility located in what once was their city of Metropolis."

She paused a moment and smiled as a few rogue tears came from her eyes. She continued, "but he also spoke of hope! The five Covenant members had become a part of a resistance on Earth-4 that had been formed around the nucleus of several former SMB Academy students. Their leader is the son of Earth-4's Loser Lad and its Dru the Sorceress."

Lardy perked up for a moment at the mention of the Earth-4 counterpart of his beloved, departed wife. He knew this version's story from her sister, the original Bat-Fem, telling him about her. He knew Earth-4's Loser and Dru had a tragic end. He didn't know, however, that they'd had a son.

Helena continued, "Louis Banzer honored his parents' memories and founded the resistance, nicknaming them 'The Losers'. When Seth sent the message, The Losers had engineered a prison break of all the SMB and their allies. Though it was still in progress at the time the message was sent from the prison control room, Seth said that some of the prisoners had already been freed at that point and expected the mission to be as close to a complete success at the time as possible!"

"Unfortunately," she said looking down, "at the time he sent it, the control room was being attacked. I...have no idea whether Seth, Louis and the others in there made it out alive. I...I can only hope and pray that they did." She paused as she thought of Seth and their unrequited feelings for one another.

Finally, she said, "it's been months since they sent the message. It took that long to get through. But I have to believe that The Losers fight on and that they will keep doing so as they await the day when we arrive to liberate Earth-4 once and for all! And we will, my friends--we will!"

At that, Hrun was the first to get up and let out a huge war cry and hoisted his flagon of mead high in the air. The others rose up as well. Kalla was more reluctant than the rest but applauded politely. Otherwise, everyone there could feel the electricity in the room as Helena's account ignited their passion for the mission. "We will!" they all repeated.

Helena smiled broadly for a moment, then turned slightly and whispered to herself, "we will, my dear Seth..."

As the others in the room exulted their enthusiasm, Cobalt Kid came back to the front and held Helena's hands. "You did good, Helena," he said with some intimacy and compassion. We'll free Earth-4 and all of our friends. I promise you this."

She nodded and smiled a little, then went to hug Lolita and Rocky.

Cobalt stayed quietly in the front and let the others bond for a while. He knew their bonding would get them through the dark times to come.

Finally, he cleared his throat, signalling to all in the room that the meeting was not quite over. When he had all of their attention, he began to speak.
 

---

Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
 
Cobalt Kid waited until Helena took her seat before speaking. The tension in the room had subsided after Helena’s passionate words, but Cobalt knew many of them were not totally convinced yet; most were feeling mixed emotions. “I understand you all will have some questions,” said Cobalt, “and hopefully I can answer a lot of them right now before you ask.”

He stood in the center of the room and suddenly before him the wall turned into a large omni-screen. On it was a three-dimensional map of a solar system, containing several planets, stars, and other spatial structures. “Behind me is a map of the Dark Oval,” said Cobalt and he pressed a button on his omni-com which honed in on the map ever further. “In order to proceed,” he continued, “it would be useful if everyone understand a general outline of what our strategy is. It will be more complex than what you’re about to hear, but for the sake of brevity and since I fully expect to be adapting to unforeseen circumstances along the way, a general overview will suffice.” What Cobalt did not mention was that he was not ready to share aspects of his strategy with Kalla Hrykos.



“Lardy explained what our mission here is, but I’ll reiterate. Our primary goal is the liberation of Earth-4 and the rescue of our allies in the SMB. This is a noble cause that I think we can all agree must be done. I would be very surprised if anyone doubts this.” Cobalt had a very direct way of speaking; he was confident in his words and spoke with an authority that indicated he was not inviting any debate. Yet, he tried to curb his unyielding message by softening his tone and cradling it with the air of calculation and logic, as if what he was saying wasn’t an opinion, it was the truth. “But Lardy was very clear about our secondary objective: the complete annihilation of the Dark Oval as an entity and political structure.” Before any of the LMBers present could react to the harsh use of the word ‘annihilation’, Cobalt continued: “The key phrase here is political structure; we have no intention of instigating or encouraging a massive loss of life through full scale war. Any way that can be avoided will be taken. But ultimately, the Oval must be destroyed once and for all.”

A silence overtook the room now. Cobalt looked at Lardy and the two shared a private understanding: they were united one hundred percent in their intentions. Cobalt let the silence build to the point of becoming deafening.

At last, it was Spellbinder, the love of his life, who broke it: “Cobie, what you’re suggesting…you realize the implications of this are huge? In the history of the Legion of Message Board Posters, no mission has ever been undertaken with such political and social consequences.” Crujectra knew full well Cobalt, like Lardy, understood these things. But she felt it needed to be said. “You are correct that all of us see the necessity of liberating Earth-4. But I must admit my reluctance to bring down an entire political system, despite knowing full well those who hold the power in that system are truly evil.”

Cobalt nodded without missing a beat. “A feeling, I believe, many of our fellow Legionnaires will also have.”

Spellbinder smiled at him, though she was truly heartsick over the entire matter. “It’s very clear the United Planet’s will eventually be endorsing this entire operation. In that regard, Faraway Lad and yourself have taken your usual measured approach. But among your fellow LMBPers, I fear your upcoming actions will always be questioned.” With that, she seemed to have spoken her peace.

“It’s something that I’m willing to live with, as is Lard Lad,” replied Cobalt.

“Given the obvious support of the newly elected LMB Leader,” said Kent Shakespeare, now speaking up, “what you’re about to do does not seem to violate the charter of the LMB in anyway. Given the founder status of Lard Lad and yourself, I’m sure you know that. But I do truly wonder if you’re violating the spirit of the LMB,” he said. Kent spoke with a quiet authority that caused many LMBers to look to him as a natural leader of the group: this included many who had implied seniority over him, such as Cobalt himself. Kent seemed to have an implicit understanding of the ever hard to define spirit of the LMB. “However, only time will tell if that’s the case,” he added.

He then looked sideways at Spellbinder, then to Rockhopper Lad and around the room. “A more pressing concern is what we’ve now learned about Lard Lad,” he said now and Spellbinder nodded. “We’ve learned he’s not only committed murder, but during the Invasion of Legion World, when we pressed him on the motivations of the Dark Oval, he lied to us.”

“Honesty Lardy,” said Spellbinder now, “its not only disappointing, its very sad.” Both she and Kent seemed to sum up the feelings many LMBers would likely feel: betrayal.

Lard Lad rose to speak up in his own defense and instantly Cobalt also rose, preparing to cut Lardy off. He thought now was not the time to do so.

Ultimately, it was Rockhopper Lad who spoke up. “These dark secrets coming to light,” he began calmly, “are indeed alarming. But I wonder if given the fact that this mission is about to begin, and Lard Lad is a crucial part of it, we should temporarily put on hold any further debate on these actions, and the…consequences of them.” With these words, Rockhopper Lad looked directly at Lard Lad, and the two shared a long moment; Cobalt wondered if there were tears in the eyes of them both. They were in love not that long ago, and it must be a terrible burden for Rockhopper Lad to support Lard Lad and yet stay true to his own interpretation of the LMB.

“Bah!” said Hrun the Barbarian suddenly, causing Time-Teller Lad, by his side, to jump. “Lard Lad did what needed to be done! His execution of the Dominator Caste Leader has given us a great advantage! I say he should be given a triumph for his actions!”

Cobalt Kid himself said nothing. In his mind he was already working on how to make sure Hrun’s point would one day be accepted by all of the LMB membership. But that would have to come later.

“Rockhopper Lad is right,” said Timberwolf matter-of-factly. “Let’s table it for now and move on. It’s time we learn about the strategy here.” Cobalt knew Timberwolf could care less about Lardy’s actions in the Dark Oval.

Crujectra spoke: “We can move on,” she said, “but this discussion is far from over.”

Cobalt watched Lardy’s reaction and knew this would be just one more huge amount of pressure on Lardy, which only enhanced the massive guilt he already felt. Seeing his moment, he re-seized the meeting. “Let me direct you back to the omni-wall,” he began. “Here is the Dark Oval map, which Lolita was able to put together based on Kalla Hrykos’ intel. You will see the five sections of the Dark Oval and their relative proximity to one another, as well as the borders of the United Planets and the Khanate of Sol Invictus.”

On the omni-com the three-dimensional map showed the Dark Oval at last: The three sectors of space made a perpendicular three-way intersection, with the United Planets along the bottom bordering both territories; the Khanate of Sol Invictus along the right side, bordering the UP at its bottom and the Dark Oval along its leftside; and the Dark Oval was on the left side, with the UP at its bottom and the Khanate alongs its right side.

Cobalt now focused in closer to the Dark Oval again. “Along the UP border is the Dominion,” he continued, “which we’ve already known, as the tensions between the Dominators and the UP planets are centuries old. You will see just along the border there is a slim territory known collectively as the Contested Planets. These are the planets we were able to liberate during the last war with the Dark Oval,” he added, masking his pride, “and since then they continue to be battleground between the Dark Oval forces and the UP, in a guerilla war. Our Space Knights Templar are most active there, protecting the liberated citizens from Dominator war fleets.”

“The Dominion is many different planets that have been conquered by the Dominators over the centuries. Elia is their home planet, but most of the administrative work is done off-planet on Hul, which is another planet almost entirely made up of Dominators. Our initial goal and entry point will be through the Dominion. First, it is the closest to the UP and so makes sense logically; second, we already have a huge advantage in the High Caste Leader is actually a Durlan installed by Lardy and Kalla Hrykos a few years earlier. Thus, when things go wrong, we can ensure the leadership will quickly collapse.”

As Cobalt spoke, the various LMBers were now leaning forward. Helena seemed like she was in a dream, to hear someone actually speaking about bringing down the Dark Oval. Timberwolf was having trouble suppressing the growing grin on his face.

“I’ve developed a strategy to bring down the Dominion very quickly with a limited amount of LMBers through organized chaos supplemented by their collapse in leadership. This will be the major initial goal of this quest for us and without doing so, all of our plans are wasted.” Cobalt now turned back to his screen, looking at his own strategy. “Following the collapse of the Dominion, it will effectively serve as our beachhead to enter the Dark Oval. While we, the Fellowship, move on to other territories, we will have allies following us in to maintain our gains and watch our backs. I’ve coordinated with the United Planets Military Fleets who will be sending in an occupying army to overtake the Dominion forces, since it will only be a matter of time before they install new leadership and begin a counter-assault. The Space Knights Templar will also be entering the Dark Oval to oversee the liberation of the conquered planets. Additionally, Hrun the Barbarian’s people and other allies will be joining us.” Cobalt turned back to them. “This should be accomplished in a matter of days.”

“Unbelievable,” said Kent out loud.

On the map, the LMB saw that beyond the Dominion, to the right was the territory of Hrykosia. Hrykosia had a small border with the UP at its bottom, though mostly it bordered the Dominion as well as the Khanate of Sol Invictus. This made sense since the Hrykosians had immigrated from the Khanate territories many decades earlier when it was known as the Barbarian Horde.

Behind Hrykosia was Earth-4, bordering Hrykosia and the Khanate as well (which also was logical, considering Earth-4 now existed in the area of space once occupied by Helio Nocturnos, the home planet of the Black Sun, which had constant interaction with the Barbarian Hordes. It also explained how Earth-4’s existence in Universe-1 had gone so unnoticed—there was no UP border and no possible way for the United Planets to ever see past Hrykosia and the Khanate.

“From there, the Fellowship will part ways, splitting into two groups,” said Cobalt. At this, everyone but Lard Lad and Lolita were surprised as this was new to all of them. “One group is to continue on to Hrykosia and from there, Earth-4, to oversee the planet’s liberation. Kalla Hrykos will be able to provide military and covert assistance while on Earth-4, the Losers will help coordinate the efforts. It is my intention for Rockhopper Lad to ultimately take the lead on the liberation of Earth-4. Eventually, I hope the Society of Message Board Posters will be freed and will join in on the effort.” Cobalt had a way of making it all seem so simple but in his heart he knew what they all did: it would be an incredibly difficult undertaking, almost doomed from the start and likely resulting in mass death.

He continued anyway, refusing to dwell on it. “Meanwhile, a small group of us will move on to the Hive home planet.”

On the map, it showed that beyond the Dominion strait back was the Hive territory, which shared a border with Earth-4 on its right and a border with the Epsilon Sector to its left. Beyond the Hive territory was unexplored space, the furthest reaches of space still not yet seen by the races who had evolved in the present day United Planets.

“Lard Lad and I will lead a group into the Hive,” he said, taking a deep breath as he understood that for him personally, this would be the most dangerous aspect of the quest. “We have only just become aware of the Hive but what we know is truly horrifying. They are beyond dangerous and there sheer numbers are staggering. I highly doubt a coordinated military action would result in victory—either defeat or a never-ending stalemate that would result in a Pyrrhic victory at best. The only way we might have a chance at succeeding is again using a small covert assault to try to cause internal chaos and destroy their leadership, namely the Queen and Wyandotte.” He turned now to look at Hrun the Barbarian. “Who is going in which direction at this point is still up in the air, and I truly think it would be best to decide once we’re further along the quest, but Hrun, I think it would be best if you joined Lardy and I. Can I count on you, brother?”

Hrun smiled widely. “At last you speak a language that brings me joy,” he replied.

“We have somes ideas on the strategy for the Hive but I won’t go into them,” added Cobalt, as he turned back to the map.

To the left of the Dominion and the Hive territory was the Epsilon Sector, which would be the most difficult territory to overcome. “Ideally, we would defeat the Hive and Earth-4 would be liberated and we would coordinate a multi-frontal assault on the Epsilon Sector, with Tempest lending magical support.” Cobalt sighed now. “But I know that won’t happen. At that point, so many steps away, it’s unlikely all will have gone according to plan. Therefore, we’ll adapt and figure it out when the time comes. But if we can somehow keep some communication open between us, and accomplish the goals I’ve laid out, I truly believe we can defeat the Dark Oval once and for all.”

As Cobalt turned to the LMB, he could see the amount of information they’d taken in was all being processed. There were conflicting emotions: the sense of relief that there was a plan, and yet the sense of such an overwhelming undertaking and such immense enemies.

“One other thing,” said Tempest, as they all turned to look at her. “Tell us about this deity they worship in the Dark Oval. And how this could be a problem.”

Cobalt clicked off the map and looked down for a minute collecting his thoughts. Before he could reply, Lard Lad once again spoke: “To be honest Temp, we don’t know much. Not even Kalla Hrykos, a lifelong native of the Dark Oval knows much. Helena?”

“I suspect what I can tell you, you already know.”

“I thought as much,” said Lardy. “As far as we know, the Dark Oval inhabitants worship a dark deity who symbolizes aggression. But not even all of the inhabitants worship it. Certainly not the territories near the Khanate, Hrykosia and Earth-4. But in Epsilon Sector…there, they consider this deity to be a living entity that interacts with them on a normal basis. Their dedication to this Dark God is alarming.”

“Is it real?” she now said more directly.

“The short answer is we don’t know. Most think its like any other deity—real in the sense that if you have faith, you’ll meet it in the afterlife. But Cobalt and I have discussed it and after all we’ve seen throughout these many years, a living deity does not seem so far-fetched. So yes, it may be real. And if so, we have a very real threat to keep in mind throughout this quest.”

Tempest nodded, satisfied with the response.

Cobalt and Lardy nodded at one another, indicating they had said all that needed to be said. “It’s a lot to think on,” said Lardy, “we know. You have tonight to do so and like I said earlier, anyone who decides they no longer want to be part of this quest, we would understand.”

“For our part,” said Kent Shakespeare, speaking for both Spellbinder and himself, “we’re satisfied. Everything we’ve heard here today isn’t necessarily to our liking but we realize this is going to happen…and you’ve got our support. We will provide the necessary distraction to exit Weber’s World. But I urge you,” he said to them all, but turning to Lard Lad specifically, “be careful in your actions and make sure everything you do is measured.”

“When the time comes for the entire LMBP to join you in the Dark Oval,” said Spellbinder, speaking of such an occurrence for the first time, “we will be ready.”

At that, the meeting came to an end and slowly they all began moving to the hallway. They would have one night here on Weber’s World to get a proper sleep, proper meals and then in the morning, the quest would begin.

Cobalt turned to Lard Lad, who stood there waiting for everyone to leave. He could see his friend was carrying a heavy burden. He put his hand on Lardy’s shoulder. “We’ll do this together,” he said to Lardy, “and you don’t carry this burden alone”. Lard Lad nodded at him, and Cobalt left, joining Spellbinder for a night together at long last.

[ April 27, 2011, 08:04 AM: Message edited by: Cobalt Kid ]
 

---

Posted by Faraway Lad on :
 
Aboard the Dragon Ship Devastation
Atmosphere of Weber’s World

Hrun sat in his throne room, deep in thought. What? What were the options? Battle plans flashed though his mind one after the other. Options after option after option and in all he foresaw defeat and ruin it was all to no avail.

Hrun knew more about the power of the Dark Oval than most knew. For decades now he had fought war after war against them. For every victory there were two defeats, thousands of brave warriors left behind on the field of battle for the storm crows to feed on.

Cobaltus knew most of this of course, but did he understand the risk he was taking, to stir the Dark Lord in this way?

It took all of the Barbarian tribes working under his Kingship just to hold the outlying planets against the Hrykosian armies on their own. Once Hrykosia and the Hive joined forces it almost became impossible.

Now his Triumvir was taking them to confront the whole Oval. So far all that the LMB had faced, all that they had endured, was but the mere outstretched finger of one hand of the Dark Lord. Now they would face his full might, and Hrun knew, it will overwhelm them all.

Even with all the UP’s forces, led by that vain but able Bellassarius, General Maximus of the UP military, the Knight’s Templar, the Barbarian horde and any other allies they could gather it would not, could not be a victory. You might as well try to fight a supernova with a jug of beer.

Death! Death is coming ,the only option seems to be when you will meet your doom and how honourable your death will be.


Hrun stood, looking through the view port he raised his drinking horn towards the sun, now rising above the rim of Webers World, and he made a vow.

“To the most noble and puissant Triumvar Cobaltus, Oths I have made, gifts I have taken, now I will honour these oath’s I have made. I shall fight by your side until the end and if the Gods permit, such an end we shall make as to be worthy of song”

Hrun drained his mead and gave a rueful smile. “If any are left to sing such songs”

He looked to his left, at the “gifts” he had taken from his meeting with Kent. At least with these he may win a battle or two, even if he must lose the war.
 

---

Posted by Faraway Lad on :
 
DIPLOMATIC QUARTER
WEBERS WORLD

Music played softly in the background of the darkened room. The sweet smell of lavender and roses wafted through the open window from the garden.

On a table stood a half drunk bottle of wine.

Ambassador Mirenna Helen still in the white ball gown she had worn earlier stood at the open window her figure perfectly illuminated by a shaft of moonlight. In her gloved hand she held aloft a glass of wine. Her face was twisted in concentration as she looked at the moonlight through the soft amber glow of the wine.

In a chair across the room Faraway Lad took the opportunity to study Mirenna as she stood there momentarily transfixed by the beauty of the midnight garden and the music. The moonlight had turned parts of her dress translucent and through it Faraway could see tantalising hints of the slim and fantastically toned body underneath. Faraway smiled, “that’s the sort of body that could make the Pope kick a hole in a stained glass window” he thought to himself.

“Now now my dear” said Mirenna turning to face him “what would your wife say if she could see you looking at me like that?”

“Damnation” thought Faraway, “how does she do that” but aloud he laughed and said, “she’ll probably smack my wrists and tell me I’m a naughty boy. Then tell you that you shouldn’t be doing that”

A cloud crossed Mirenna’s face, “doing what” she started to say, but suddenly she started to laugh, “oh I can’t do this Mata Hari stuff with you Darden, we go too far back together you and I”

Faraway Lad laughed too, it was true they had worked closely together for more years than he cared to remember, ever since Faraway had come to Webers World as LMBP Ambassador in fact. Over time they had become firm friends and Mirenna now allowed Faraway access to many UP and other secrets. Now they had discussed the fellowships plans and both were more worried that they would admit in front of the other.

“Mirenna” said Faraway, “I must go, and you know it”

“I know Far, but I’m worried, worried for you but more importantly for Cobalt Kid, will you keep him safe? Will you keep him secret?”

“I will” said Faraway “But first I must got to Legion World, there is something there they will need”
 

---

Posted by Faraway Lad on :
 
Faraway stood and walked to the table, he turned and filled Mirenna’s glass, she took it in silence and turned once more to the window, her face tranquil and serene

Faraway turned away from her as he filled his own glass, he had seen the small tell tale signs, she was worried, heck she was on her second glass and she never drank, preferring to keep her mind sharp and focused.

With the glass in his hand he turned to face her. “Mirenna” he said as her reached forward and took her hand in his, “we must be as one in this, the game is afoot, the great game, and one wrong move could lead to the destruction of whole planets, enslavement for millions or worse” He stepped a little closer to her, “blast her” he thought as he caught the scent of her perfume, “she knows that smell is my favourite and she knows its distracting” He continued “I need to know if I can trust you, really trust you on this”

Mirenna smiled as she said “of course you can Far” but her head turned away from him. He reached up and gently took her chin in his hand and turned her face towards his own, his eyes looked down into the steel grey eyes of Mirenna, probing, looking for the truth, for a second her eyes flashed defiance, but then they softened and melted, her posture sagged a little and for a second her composure left her and she was as frightened for the future as he was. They lent towards each other as if to kiss, but stopped.

“So, we trust each other” said Faraway as he held her gaze for a few seconds longer.

“With our minds, with our bodies and with our lives Darden. No more secrets” came the reply.

Satisfied Faraway Lad nodded and released her face, that was what he needed to hear although the unspoken words, the may have beens, the what ifs remained and hung thick in the air between them

“Damn you to hell and back Darden” she whispered “not even Cobalt Kid has got that close to the real me”

But then the moment was over, the steel returned to her eyes, the knowing, mocking smile to her face. Ambassador Helen was back in charge.

“When do you leave for Legion World Ambassador” she asked back to her most regal.

“Tonight your Excellency” replied Faraway, “I need to retrieve some bits and pieces, I think the fellowship is going to need them. Once I have them I plan on using Horace to infiltrate .................”

He never managed to finish that sentence, because there was a panicked hammering on the door of the apartment. Next second a security over ride had opened the door and a very flustered aide de camp rushed in quickly followed by members of the Ambassadorial Elite Guard who silently but very efficiently took up close order position to protect the two Ambassadors.

“Major Yuill” said Mirenna in her most icy and officious voice “You’d better have a very good reason for interrupting a private Ambassadorial meeting in this manner, or do you actually think a posting to a listening post on the Gil’Dishpian border is a good career move”

“Your Excellencies” stammered the Major, “please forgive me but the Council needs everyone to attend the Grand Chamber at once, War has broken out”

Faraway strode over to the Aide de Camp, “speak plainly man” he barked “what do you mean war, who’s at war, where is the fighting, and why in the name of all that’s holy are you panicking about war, it happens in this Universe, two sides fight, why are WE in uproar about it”


“Sir” gulped the Major, “that’s just it, it’s not just a border clash or two nations fighting for resources, it’s everyone. Don’t you understand sir; everyone of the major and a fair few of the minor powers have just declared war on the UP. The Khundians, the Kahnate, the Dark Oval, Taltar, even some of the Barbarian Hoard; they are all attacking UP space, all at the same time and from everywhere at once.

Sir” continued the Major, “it’s not a war it’s a massacre, the fleet just can't hold them, and they are spread too thin. The enemy Sir they ......they are pouring in through the gaps, it’s a flood and its heading this way”...

[ April 21, 2011, 12:58 PM: Message edited by: Faraway Lad ]
 

---

Posted by Dev Em on :
 
Daroon

Dev and the King talked for several hours about this plan that they had devised. The paperwork had been signed, and now the next phase could begin.

The King put his seal on the document. "It is done. I am in your debt for this my son."

"It's a temporary thing, and everyone knows that."

"That it may be, but it makes things much easier for us to continue on with what has been begun. I am truly sorry for what we have put you through...and continue to put you through, I only hope that intime you can truly forgive us."

Dev nedded. "This is a step in the right direction, and by helping me with my friends, you have proven yourselves to be much more than what I thought of you just a few months ago. I am sorry as well that things couldn't have worked out differently."

The King smiled, "you could try again, now that you are officially married to my daughter."

Dev closed his eyes and put his head down a little. "I don't think that is really going to work though. I am having a hard time getting pst the circumstances that brought us together in the first place."

The King nedded this time. "We just need a little time to get the paper work in it's proper place and then the divorce proceedings can begin. While you are married though, please see if there is anything that you can find in each other...if for no other reason than for the sake of the children."

Dev Em sighed. He had known that the King was going to use that strategy...and it was one that he had thought of as well.

"We'll see sir, but no promises."

A man entered the room and took the document from them and carried it away.

They stood as he left and turned to leave.

"Let's go find the women and children. It's about time to eat dinner."

Dev agreed and was about to open the outer door when it burst open and Loser Lad ran in followed by several guards. "Dev...we're under attack!" He yelled.

[ April 15, 2011, 03:31 PM: Message edited by: Dev Em ]
 

---

Posted by Helena Handbasket on :
 
Weber's World

Shortly after the meeting concluded, Helena made her way back to the quarters Cobalt had arranged for her to use. As she pulled her pass key out, she wondered if she would get any sleep this last night before their Fellowship would depart Weber's world.

Before she could open the door, Helena heard someone approaching. She turned to her side and noticed it was none other than Kalla Hrykos.

With a thought, Helena's robotic arm rose up, and the shirt sleeve that covered it receded. In a few quick seconds the arm transformed into a formidable-looking rifle-cannon.

"Make one move, bitch," Helena snarled, "and I'll turn you into little more than a red splatter at the other end of the hall!"

"Easy, Helena," Kalla said soothingly, "I'm here to talk, not fight."

"Well, I don't care what fancy light powers you have, you lunatic....because it wouldn't be much of a fight!" The cannon began to whir and hum, and Helena aimed it at Kalla's head. "I lost a lot of good men in my Company to your 52, Hrykos! And countless of Legion World's citizens died as well--and a great heroine named Bat-Fem! You've got lots of blood on your hands...give me an excuse to take it back!"

"I told you...I'm not here to fight," Kalla said, the smile disappearing from her face. She knew very well that Helena would fire that cannon in a heartbeat. "I want to tell you about myself, how I'm not the same woman I was with the Church...and how I've changed Hrykosia...and Elysia...for the better under my leadership."

"I don't want to hear it, Hrykos! Nothing you could say or do will ever erase all those lives you took!"

"You're right," Kalla conceded, "it won't. But you see, like you, I was oppressed by my people. My family wouldn't acknowledge me because my father conceived me with a commoner. My mother was executed, and I was treated as little more than a servant girl while my younger brothers, conceived with my father's proper wife, were royalty."

"Well, boo-hoo!" Helena laughed derisively. "Kalla was a poor widdle rich girl!"

Kalla's eyes glowed with a hint of her power as anger arose within her, but she pushed it back. "It opened my eyes, Helena, to what my people were doing. The racism, the classism, the speciesism, the oppression. I got out into the worlds and saw it for myself. I met aliens, experienced other cultures and revelled in them. I even did the unthinkable and fell in love with an alien named Huldnaf. We...were going to get married. But my brother Damyen had him executed. That's...that's when I went over the edge and became a terrorist for the Church. I...didn't want to live."

Helena held her cannon up for emphasis. "I can fix that."

Ignoring Helena's threat, Kalla continued, "after being set free in the prison break the Trumpeter engineered, I was inspired by my second chance! Lard Lad had already murdered Damyen and his wife. I made some...influential friends...and killed my brother Collus. I claimed my right to Hrykosia's throne. But what is more...I used my position to apply what I've learned and to right the wrongs of our people. Integration is happening and is spreading to all of our colonies...including Elysia! I'm going to restore your history to you!"

"So," Helena responded, unmoved.

"So?!?!" Kalla exclaimed with more than a hint of anger. "I'm freeing your people! And now I'm working with you to free all of us from the larger oppression of the Dark Oval! Doesn't that mean anything to you?!?"

"Yes," Helena said coldly, "it means our power-mad despot is trying to put on a politically-correct face as she works to gain more power than she ever has before. I've got your number, Hrykos, and it's on speed-dial. You're all about power. You'll betray us. And when you do," she points to the cannon, "this will be ready for you."

"Fine!" Kalla yelled. "Think what you will!" And she walked away. She paused at the turbo lift and said, "Lubahæfen."

"Huh?" Helena said, her cannon still pointed at Kalla from across the hallway.

"'Lubahæfen'," Kalla repeated. "It's the true name of your home planet. It means 'haven for love'. Elysia will be Lubahæfen, once again. I promise you."

At that moment, the turbo lift doors opened, and Kalla entered. The doors shut, and she was gone.

"Lubahæfen..." Helena repeated and had a haunted look on her face. Her cannon transformed back into its more armlike, though still obviously mechanical, normal appearance and her sleeve extended and covered all but the mechanical hand.

She finally entered her quarters and eventually lay down in her bed.

She didn't sleep a wink.
 

---

Posted by Timber Wolf on :
 
Weber's World

Lon asked Kalla to meet him back at their quarters after the meeting broke up. He left the meeting room and wandered Weber's Worlds streets. He entered a seemingly random building and went to the top. Minutes later Cobalt Kid landed on the same roof and walked over to him. "Everything alright Lon?"

"Yeah...no...I knew Lardy did some things that the others would find questionable, but I didn;t expect that kind of reaction from them. It worries me that she..."

Cobalt Kid held up his hand for Lon to stop. "You know her better than that Lon. She knows things that we have done...and she also knows the whys of those things as well. Lardy was out for revenge...and not in a good place at the time. We have done everything in the name of the United Planets. It may not make the actions themselves any les ideal for her, but she knows our motivations."

"Okay then Cobie. If you say so. I just can't stand to think that she would be that upset with me...after the entire time I essentially lied to her about who I even was."

Cobalt put his hand on Lons shoulder. "She knew about that the whole time. She understands why you did what you did there, and doesn't hold anything against you for it. the rest of them though..."

"Thank you Cobie, and I noticed that about some of the others as well. Whatever. I could not care any less about what they think of me. I do what I do, because it needs to be done, and the United Planets and your other girlfriend, the Ambassador wants it done."

"Are you going to start that again?"

"Admit it...nobody that has actually met her would blame you."

"Nothing has happened between us Lon, give it a rest."

"Sure....sure..."

"Alright then, you ready for what we need to do, are you confortable with everything?

"I would not be going if I wasn't, and if I didn't trust you."

"Good, that goes both ways, because I don't think I would trust anyone else with that."

They talked for several more minutes cementing certian aspects of what they needed to do.

They finally parted company, and Lon made his way back to his and Kalla's quarters.

She was still awake waiting for him.

"You have a good walk about Fuzzy?" she said from the shower.

Lon smiled and took his jacket off.

"Yeah...you need some help with your back?"

"Of course."

They didn't sleep at all.
 

---

Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
 
Weber’s World, Private Quarters of Princess Crujectra of Psyonia

Cobalt and Crujectra lay in each other’s arms in bed, trading little kisses to one another, enjoying the relaxed glow they each felt after their first private hour together in a long time. Both were smiling at one another, taking deep breaths. Cobalt opened his face into a wide grin and she started to giggle: “You’re so proud of yourself, aren’t you?” she said, rolling over so she had him pinned, as her long blonde hair hung over her shoulders in his face.

“Yes,” he laughed, grabbing her arms and pulling her close to kiss her again. “Now I’ll have something to think about while I’m away,” he added, kissing her again.

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

4 hours later

Cobalt slept soundly by her side, somehow in a deep sleep despite all the heightened tension. Spellbinder laughed to herself at Cobalt’s ability to do that: the man could sleep through the most anxiety-filled times. He also had a knack at finding his appetite too, when no one else was able, she thought, looking at the tray of plates and bowls off the side, where there was once a decadent spread of the finest Psyionian dishes. You’d be hard-pressed to find a single morsel left, she thought smiling again. How is it, all I feel is tremendous anxiety for the mission their about to undertake, worrying that I might never see him again, and he is able to sleep like a baby?

She knew why: when a plan came to fruition, or events long thought about were finally happening, Cobalt Kid was at most relaxed.

Unable to stare at the ceiling any longer, she flipped on her omni-com to look at the news feed and immediately saw dozens and dozens of messages awaiting her. Evidently, when she told her Royal Guard she would not be interrupted, they followed her orders to the letter—perhaps overly so. She looked at the news feed and messages and her eyes lit up with horror.

The United Planets was suddenly in intergalactic war! She could see immediately quite a lot of the “news” was pure panic-stricken hyperbole, but it was clear that the UP was facing a multi-front assault. The Khanate, the Okaarians, Imsk? The Khunds threatening their own action against the UP?

Somehow the Dark Oval knew something was coming for them, and they have struck preemptively. But how? The Dark Oval doesn’t have the political or real power to get so many different territories and nations to act in concert. It was as if a much greater force was controlling these events.

“Cobie, you have to wake up,” she said out loud, not thinking to use her telepathic link.

“I’m up,” he replied, suddenly sitting up in bed. A deep sleeper, yes, but it didn’t take much to wake him up. “You waking me up can’t be a good thing…” he said, seeing that she was looking at her omni-com.

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

“This changes things,” he said, packing the rest of his belongings which he would be bringing on the quest. “The immediacy of it all. The ability of the Dark Oval to coordinate this assault—it leads me to reconsider this talk of a Dark Lord. And it means we’ll have to count on every single one of our allies in the coming days.” He spoke to Crujectra as she was now in her Spellbinder costume and alerting her guards telepathically that she would be joining them momentarily. “It looks like every member of the LMB is going to be involved in this one way or another.”

Suddenly Spellbinder turned and grabbed Cobalt by the shoulders. “When we step outside this door, I’ll have to do my duty as an Ambassador here at Weber’s World, for Psyonia, Legion World and the UP in general. And you need to face this danger head-on. I just want you to know, Cobie, that in your darkest moments on this quest, just think of me. Remember you have a reason to come home and see this through the end. I need to know you’ll be safe.”

He looked back into her eyes deadly serious. “I promise,” he said. In a rare moment of true intimacy, Cobalt spoke further: “Crujeckie…I love you.”

“I love you too,” she said, and they kissed furiously, embracing one another tightly.

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

Cobalt walked down the corridor on his own now, several hours ahead of schedule. His trademark trenchcoat was held over his arm; replacing it was a trusty-old grey cloak, given to him by the Elves as a gift many years ago during another quest. He would need it in the coming days, as he would need the numerous items he’d brought along in his pack, which hung down around his side in a series of pouches, hidden by the cloak.

In two days, the UP media machine would show Spellbinder and Cobalt Kid leaving Weber’s World together on a long good will tour, through the use of illusions and a Durlan actor. It would be reported as tabloid fodder but would be picked up on by their enemies. Given recent news, many might not believe it, but that would be okay. Even if one did, it was enough, and it would throw off their certainty of the timeline.

He’d be careful in the Oval—everything he did was measured. And he knew full well he something to return home to in Crujectra. But he also knew that what he was about to begin in the Dark Oval would be perhaps the most important thing he’d ever been a part of, and he would see it through no matter what the cost.

[ April 15, 2011, 10:28 PM: Message edited by: Cobalt Kid ]
 

---

Posted by Lolita on :
 
Weber’s World, Private Guest Quarters

Lolita tossed around on the little bed within the guest quarters, unable to get any sleep at all. She had calculated and recalculated the strategy several times and knew it was sound. She went over the vast list of items they would need for the quest in her head and reconfirmed they had everything they might need. By her nightstand was a buddle or rope, which she thought of at the very last minute.

She looked over at the tank in her room and saw Shark Lad was inside, though she couldn’t tell if he was awake.

She said a quiet thank you again to Cobie for arranging a room with both a bed and a tank for her and Sharky. When they had gotten back, she joined him in the tank to relax and a bit and spend some time with him. Being the girlfriend of a humanoid shark meant always making sure a part of your superhero costume doubled for a bikini.

Shark Lad was renowned for his ferocity but with her he was very gentle. Lolita was not the kind of girl that could easily be intimate. She needed for things to move at her own pace, and always felt men would not have the patience to do so. With Sharky, he was sweet in that he was patient and made her feel comfortable. For someone who caused criminals around the galaxies to feel a true sense of horror, she was amazed at how gentle and funny he could be.

She smiled to herself at these thoughts but they soon faded and again she felt the anxiety returning for the mission at hand. Would any of them get any sleep? Hrun, probably, she thought, and then started to giggle. And as she did so, looking at the clock by her nightstand, she suddenly heard a code being entered into the door from the outside hallway!

An intruder?! She jumped out of bed, leaning against the wall in an instant as the code was completed. She suddenly heard a loud bang as she inhaled and prepared for an attack. Was the Oval here already?

“Lolita, it’s Cobalt! I’m coming in!” she heard and the door began to open.

“Wha--?” she said out loud to herself as suddenly the door opened and Cobalt was in the doorway. “Cobie! Are you serious? Get out of here?! What do you think you’re doing?! What if--?”

“Looking good kiddo,” he said like a jerk, obviously enjoying teasing her. She realized she was still in her bikini. “Turn on your news feed. Our time-table just got upped by 8 hours. We’re leaving very shortly, so get packing!” He then turned to Shark Lad. “Have some extra chum Sharky, we’re going to need you at your best!” he yelled at the tank.

“Cobie, get out of here, right now,” she said, annoyed. “We’ll see you in 15 minutes.”

“Take 20 if you need it,” he added, and suddenly he threw her his blue trenchcoat. In the past, she had worn it on several occasions when he had not, and it had become another one of her trademarks to wear a trenchcoat. “I won’t be needing this on the journey, and I know you could always use its various functions. If you want to use it, its yours.” With that, he was suddenly out of the room.

She was surprised at the gesture for a moment but then she turned back to yell at him to leave again. By then, he was gone. “Ridiculous…the nerve of him…bursting in here…”

Shark Lad jumped out of the tank. “I’m gonna have words with Cobie, I think,” he said, a small rage beginning to simmer.

“I’ll handle it,” she said, further annoyed. She looked at the trenchcoat. I could use it he thought, and picked it up. “Throw me that rope, Sharky?” she said.
 

---

Posted by Exo-Lardy on :
 
Weber's World

Knowing that he would be unable to get some rest this night, Lard Lad chose instead to hone his combat skills in a holo-gym that Faraway Lad had arranged for him to use in the diplomats' recreation building. He had just completed a round of fight simulations and was resting a little before the next.

As he wiped the sweat from his brow and felt his body ache, Lardy was reminded all-too-well that he was powerless and had been since the Red Bee shot him in the head. True, he had his Mark II exo-armor, but he knew that technology could fail him when he needed it the most. He had to be ready for anything.

He was far from a stranger to unpowered combat, though. As a Lard Knight, he'd been trained extensively in hand-to-hand and was the most decorated swordsman ever to come through the monastery. The only one ever to really best him in a fair sword fight was...himself. He'd once fought a presumed alternate future version of himself who called himself "Dark Lard", and Dark Lard had severed Lardy's hand in the duel.

Lardy looked at his right hand, just then. The artificial flesh made it impossible to distinguish as a cybernetic prosthesis with the naked eye, but Lardy could always feel the difference. He thought of the hand as a reminder of what he could become if he ever truly lost his humanity.

His humanity. He'd done a lot of horrible things the last few years. And now, it was out in the open more than it had ever been before. If he lived through this, he wondered what awaited him out the other side. Would he lose his LMB membership? His Legion World Citizenship? Would he be imprisoned? There was so much uncertainty.

He thought for a moment about his family and how Far had told him about the danger they had been in. He remembered how relieved he felt when Far told him they were under the protection of Loser, Dev and Dev's family. He knew Helena and the kids would be safe, no matter what.

At that moment he felt really alone. Normally, on a night like this, knowing that he was about to go on a dangerous mission, he would surround himself with friends and party the night away. Probably, he'd end up in the arms of one or more lovers.

But not tonight. He wanted to drink tonight more than anything, and that's why he couldn't do it. And there was only one person's bed he wanted to share. He had paused in front of her door on the way here, but he'd lost his nerve. Probably would've been rejected, he thought. She needs her space, anyway.

He thought of his Fellows and wondered how they were spending this final night.

Des, he knew, was at long last reunited with the love of his life, Crujectra--he would make this night count for sure. He smiled at this thought because he always wanted his best friend to be happy. He knew there'd been a deep emptiness inside Des during his and Jeckie's years apart.

Kalla and Lon...yeah, he knew they were probably going at it. The thought made him sick to his stomach. Kalla was pure evil. He knew it very well. He hated that Lon couldn't see that.

He pondered Lolita and Sharklad. He wondered if they were together tonight. Could Lolita truly move on with a man who wasn't Cobalt?

Hrun, he knew had to be living it up right now the way only Hrun could. Lardy grinned as Hrun was kind of like his old debaucherous self...only magnified twenty-fold! If Hrun went to bed with less than twenty wenches tonight, Lardy would be disappointed.

Helena, he didn't know a whole lot about. He got the distinct impression that Helena had a thing for Seth Gaterra from her speech. If so, Lardy knew tonight would be lonesome for her.

Then, he thought of Rockhopper Lad. He knew Rocky well enough to know Rocky was comfortable and content with Hyvvie and Tim in stow. A short time ago, Lardy and Rocky had been very much in love. Then, suddenly, it was just over. Lardy usually wasn't attracted to men as a general rule, but his love for Rocky as a friend had grown into something much more. They'd talked recently and patched up their differences, but Lardy got the distinct impression that friends were all they'd ever be again. It hurt a great deal because for a time the two of them had felt so very right.

He sighed for a moment.

Then, his thoughts turned to Tempest. What was Theresa doing now? Was she sleeping? Was she thinking of him at all? He wanted more than anything to see her tonight, to be with her. Even if all it consisted of was just talking to her and being in the same room. But he didn't know if she wanted anything of the kind. She was that hard to read. He felt often that she cared on some level, but he wasn't entirely sure. Especially after she'd confessed her history of manipulating and using people. What if she was doing that right now--expecting him to come to her to demonstrate her hold over him? Worst of all, what if she didn't even intend to manipulate him but was doing it subconsciously...out of habit?

Lardy shrugged. He was obsessing over Theresa the way he was obsessing about wanting a drink. Was he a Tempaholic now, in addition to being an alcoholic?

"You've gotta stay focused on the task at hand, Lardy!" he yelled aloud to no one in particular. "If she really wants you, she'll have to make the next move. Otherwise..." He stood up and grabbed his sword. "...computer, load Sword Combat Program, Level 10!"

Ten holographic ninjas appeared bearing swords.

Lardy grinned widely and dove into them.

Those holograms wouldn't stand a chance.

[ April 17, 2011, 11:13 PM: Message edited by: Exo-Lardy ]
 

---

Posted by Sir Roy on :
 
Winath, the United Planets

The LMBer known as Space Ranger flew over the skies of Winath at top speed, covering as much ground as possible. “My, give me my coordinates again,” he said, “this damn planet is practically almost all farmland and finding a blasted landscape to use as a marker is next to impossible.”

My Whee Fem, who worked for him as part of his private detective agency, replied from the other end of the omni-com: “I’m uploading them now, Ranger. Tell me again why this is so important?” she asked quizzically. All she knew about this mission is it seemed really strait-forward and simple, and could be accomplished with great ease. Yet Space Ranger acted as if it was the most important job he’d ever been on.

“Cobie asked me to do something really important for him while he’s away,” the Ranger replied abruptly.

“Oh, Cobie said it was important so it must be!” said My Whee Fem sarcastically. “Like everything he ever asks you to do isn’t the most important thing ever.”

“Very subtle,” said Space Ranger. “First, he doesn’t ask me to do it, he pays me to. It’s a detective agency, remember?”

“You’d do it anyway…” she began to say.

“Second, he filled me in on why this is so important. We need to find the designated target here and keep a close eye on him. Once Cobalt clued me in on what he’s about to do in the Dark Oval and why this person is so critically important, it makes sense that not only will assassins be on the way, they are very much already likely here.”

My Whee Fem was silent on the other line. Finally she replied: “Ok, I get it. Even if you’re being purposely vague. But the designated target is a very capable superhero. He can take care of himself…why the needed back-up?”

“He’s that important,” said Space Ranger. “Now feed me the coordinates again, I think I’ve found that backwater town that somehow isn’t on any map in the galaxies.”
 

---

Posted by Tempest on :
 
Weber’s World

Tempest enters her guest chambers, she has just left the meeting, acting as the pillar of calm behavior, that is until she gets into her room. She leans against her door and grins from ear to ear. Then her face turns sour.

“Cobalt Kid’s plan is taxing, I suppose it is in the best interest for all,” she thought, “but not for me, going through Hive and Dominion has little interest for me.”

She looked at room, it only took a second to realize that she was bored in here. She looked around and saw nothing that interested her, until she spotted the bathroom. Within minutes she prepared a hot bath and was in the tub with random items floating above her. She reached up and grabbed a clear vile from the levitating assortment. She opened the lid, which had a brush on it and began to coat her finger nails.

“Can’t have unsightly nails, now can I?”

She stayed in the bath for a while, she washed her hair and scrubbed her skin until she felt clean and refreshed. She got out of the tub and walked over to a full length mirror which had a small sitting stool in front of it, she stood in front of the mirror for a while, admiring herself. She liked her body, she wasn’t so much vain, but proud. She remembered how withered and frail she looked when she first left the cocoon, but now her body with healthy. Her supple curves, her vigor and her confidence had returned. She then sits down on the stool, she looks to her purple robe, various items float to her side. She picks up a brush and begins to take it through her hair, as she thinks to herself.

“Things seem so much more clear now. No more secrets, no more confusion. Not even with the damn men of the Legion. Cobalt is no longer appealing to me. He may have once been my dream man, but that dream was nothing but a lie. Dev, poor, sweet Dev wouldn’t know where to begin with me. But there are still two in question. Anthony. Where to go with Anthony? He’s losing face amongst his peers, not particularly a bad thing. But he wants so much. I can see it, the longing, the need for closeness. Does he deserve it? The way he so easily sleeps around. I’ve had more than my share of affairs, but they all had a reason. He just gives it away. It’s disgusting.

But there is one other that I never noticed before.”

She puts her brush down, pins her hair up and brings out some natural body butter that she has made. It smells of vanilla and nut oil, she dabs her fingers in it and applies it to her skin.

“Timber Wolf. I wouldn’t have given him a thought a month ago, but as I see him, he’s so…callous at times. He’s not bad on the eyes either, a bit rough, but handsome, and great hair. And to think, if I took him from that whore Kalla, her poor heart would just break!”

She laughs out loud unable to hold back her joy.

“Serve her right for thinking she’s so great. Nothing but a tyrant. She’d be so easy to break in two if only someone would let me.”

The lights flicker in her room.

“I know. I know. I have more important matters at hand.”

She gets up and dresses herself in her uniform. She looks at herself in her suit without the robe on, admiring how it traces her figure.

“I tailored this so well.”

She puts on the robe and fastens it around her waist with it’s moon crescent buckle. She walks into the room and sits on her bed.

“There is always this reminder that this mission could be the death of us. But it’s not, not for me, anyways. You have allowed me to go on a quest of justice and vengeance. The path I lead must be beneficial for all for you to let me sate my thirst. For that I thank you, Mother Goddess.

To stay on my path, it is imperative that I stay alive, obviously. So I will. Even at the cost of the others. My purpose is to serve you, first and foremost, if that must cost me the trust and the lives of my colleagues in the Legion, then it cannot be avoided. I must make it to the Epsilon Sector. No matter what.

But I would prefer that all that leave on this mission, return.”

She pulls out a dragon scale, a basilisk tooth, a strand of demon hair, a cockatrice talon and an eye of a Gorgon.

“The crap I had to go through to get this, it better be worth it.”

She closed her eyes, the items swirled around her as she meditated.

[ April 18, 2011, 12:12 AM: Message edited by: Tempest ]
 

---

Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
 
Weber’s World

Lard Lad moved down the halls quickly, carrying with him everything he thought he needed for the quest ahead. He had to pack quickly, but he knew he’d be traveling light already.

“Nice cloak,” said a voice and Lardy turned to see Cobalt wearing an old gray cloak. Lard Lad happened to be wearing the exact same cloak—both had received them as gifts, along with five other Legionnaires, many years earlier during a quest. They were from the Elves, and it was believed the cloaks had some minimal magical abilities.

“Great,” replied Lard Lad, “now I look like the biggest jerk here.” Both smiled.

The two walked together into the designated gathering room and within were most of the LMBers. “Tis true war in the galaxies!” said Hrun the Barbarian upon their entrance, “our quest becomes ever more hopeless, though ever more important!”

“Everyone gathered,” said Tempest to Cobalt and Lardy, “we’re six hours ahead of schedule now. We’re just waiting on—“ she was interrupted as Shark Lad and Lolita entered, “—ah, we’re all here.”

“Excellent,” said Lard Lad. Both he and Cobalt turned to Rockhopper Lad, the newly elected LMB Leader.

“The time is now, then,” said Rockhopper Lad, “and the lives of billions rest on what we are about to attempt.” He nodded at them, and they knew it was time.

“I’ll see you to the port,” said Kent Shakespeare, who was also with them. He looked at the assemblage of Legionnaires and their allies: Rockhopper Lad, Time-Teller Lad, Lard Lad, Tempest, Cobalt Kid, Timberwolf, Shark Lad, Oracle, Helena Handbasket, Hrun the Barbarian and Kalla Hrykos. He began walking and they followed.

“I know we’ve talked about all the different ways to get in contact with the LMB once you’re there,” said Kent, “but we’ll have to assume eventually you’ll be out of contact. Just assume we’re taking care of business here in the UP,” he said assuringly, “and we’re going to assume you’re doing the same.” His face was deadly serious though he hid any sense of worry.

The arrived at a secret space-port on Weber’s World. Docked was a small merchant ship, destined to take them to the edges of the Dark Oval in what was known as the Contested Territories, and from there, to the Space Knights Templar. It would be cramped space with such a large party, but it was necessary.

“You’re new home for the next 48 hours,” said Kent. He turned now faced them all again. “Good luck, all of you. Watch each other’s backs…and stay safe.”

Cobalt leaned forward and grabbed Kent’s hand, pulling him in for a tight hug. “Sweet Ass Sweet,” Cobalt said, echoing the famous LMB rallying cry.

Kent then turned to embrace every LMBer before they left, all in their own custom. To stay behind while your comrades went off on a quest incurred its own form of pain and helplessness. But in their absence, he had his own work to do.

“Let’s board,” said Rockhopper Lad.
 

---

Posted by Power Boy on :
 
Elsewhere : Power Boy's Dream


Power Boy opened his eyes ... and awoke in a field.

He saw in the distance an ancient city of crumbling gold. His eyes hurt from the glare. Everything around him was washed out and pale ... as if color itself was fading from all things.




The city called to him. Begging him come to it.

He began to walk towards the city, lethargic and without flight. Power Boy stumbled along … he noticed a great white wolf pacing him.

PB fell, exhausted.



The Wolf closed ... "Get up young pup"
"We are almost there, and I have one gift to give you before we part"

PB, mouth dry asked "what are you?"

The Wolf replied "Every pantheon has its trickster, its scapegoat, and its stalemate. come, let me carry you while I tell your story"

PB climbs on the back of the Wolf.

“I have looked for you for a long time young pup. And I have barely succeeded as there is little time left. Be still, there is much you must know”

As the Wolf galloped towards the fading castle Power Boy listened.

“We, you and I and many others, called ourselves the ‘New’ gods because we usurped those ‘Old’ gods that came before us. We were not much different from the humans long ago but, we mastered the world around us through science and evolution until we were as gods. In our arrogance and cunning we overthrew ancient primal forces of the universe. We were worshiped as gods by the humans. However, the humans evolved, defining their universe, they grew cunning and arrogant as well, and uninterested in us. Realizing our time in this dimension was over, we decided to leave the universe to the humans, and created a ‘Fourth World’ between dimensions. Here, this desert that you see is all that is left of our once glorious kingdom. We have lived here for ages, fought here, loved here. Apparently, even gods can grow old.

In fact, before you were born to us there had not been a new birth for millennia.”

Power Boy gasps “I’m one of you?”

The Wolf replies, “Yes. Your birth was seen as a great triumph, and filled these old gods with hope. It was a happy time then.”

“But soon, something new came to the ‘Fourth World’, a storm. Darkness covered the golden realm. And when it receded … you were gone.”

“Some of the elders suspected it was the ‘Old’ gods, come to punish us at last. As the craftiest of us, and the one with the most experience with other realms, I was tasked with finding you.”

“I looked for ages, throughout time, and across dimensions. Until finally, I found a dark dimension, that tasted like ancient sorcery.”

PB speaks “Qward”

The Wolf snarls “Yes. Qward. A reverse dimension where evil reigns. A Legion of villainy used foul magics in the name of a Dark Lord to summon you from our bosom.”

“This evil Legion decimated any opposition and ruled with tyranny. I killed many of them between my jaws. I dared not act openly because of this Dark Lord they worshiped, who gave them boons. By the time I found you, you had escaped to another dimension and became part of a good Legion. I thought you safe … until now. The New gods dwindle and disappear. I believe this Dark Lord is one of the old gods come to destroy us. It is hunting us, one by one. We plan to flee to another plane of existence. I brought you here to accompany us … or change our minds.”

PB “My first memories were of Qward, waking up in pain. They tortured me and used me, trying to turn me into a great weapon. They even sent me into the past to someplace called Apokolips …. where I earned my Mega Rod. I was called Disaster Boy because of my great talent for destruction. Eventually I escaped across time and dimensions to find a Legion of heroes, It is only recently I have put my hood away and become Power Boy.”

The pair finally reaches the enormous gates of the ageing castle. finally reaching the enormous gates. Power Boy pushed on them and they crumbled to dust ... washing away in the wind.

End of Part One

[ April 20, 2011, 07:51 PM: Message edited by: Power Boy ]
 

---

Posted by Lucifer Lass on :
 
Weber's World

Rockhopper Lad and the others started anxiously towards the loading ramp of the small merchant ship, their minds on the mammoth task before them. Suddenly, Timberwolf stopped, sniffing the atmosphere around them as if something was wrong. Then the others noticed the small glowing bits in the air, which darted back and forth, circling each of them in turn. Most seemed mesmerized by the lights; only Hrun managed a quick instinctive swing with his battle-ax, but in vain.

Then the heat and the fire began. A column of flame suddenly appeared in the center of the assembled party then slowly shaped itself into various forms. It was at one moment a dragon, another an eagle, then a volcano, then a castle, and at last an old four-poster bed. The flames solidified into a concrete material bed, and Cobalt Kid and Lard Lad both smiled, for they had guessed what was going on.

The bits of a light now swirled around on the bed with increasing speed, until in the center of them, there manifest the form of a masked woman, wearing a cloak not unlike that of Lard Lad and Cobalt Kid, but of a sleek black silk. Most of the glowing bits disappeared inside the depth of her cloak, but two remained, one resting on each of her shoulders. They seemed to take the form of tiny, winged humanoids as she stepped off the bed.

“Lucifer Lass…” Cobie began. “We had hoped to reach you and Eryk in preparation for this mission, but Greg Evigan Island wasn’t accessible from Legion World, and we presumed that you were… wherever it is that you guys go when you aren’t on Legion World.”

“It is unfortunate that I didn't hear of this... adventure you are undertaking sooner. I certainly would've tried to talk you out of it." There was a trembling in Lucifer Lass's voice that was unusual.

"Look, we've got everything prepared..." Cobie began.

"I know. It's no use trying to talk you out of what you have planned. It's just... you are likely to stumble on something far larger than you realize. You know of the multiverse?"

"Of course..."

"There are the infinity of universes placed side by side. But there are also places... above and below. The one you seek... the one you will face if you continue on the present path... is a denizen of these realms. All you love will be endangered if you persist in awakening the darkness."

"It's my understanding that the danger has already begun..."

"It is not too late to pull back."

"No. There is evil to be fought. That's what we do. We are the LMB. We are heroes." Cobalt Kid's confidence was reflected in the faces of the rest of the assembled party.

"Then may your luck be in proportion to your courage."

Lucifer Lass walked over to Lard Lad. "Lard... Anthony," she said. "We've never spoken as much as perhaps we should. I... I have something that you must have." She handed Lard Lad a necklace with a locket attached. "Inside this locket you will find something that will help you. It will open when it is needed."

"Are you coming with us?" Lard Lad asked.

"Not exactly. There are things that must be prepared if you are to succeed. But our paths shall most likely run parallel. Look for me in the Hall of Llilthantra on the planet Sumra. I believe your route should take you there."

Lucifer Lass sat down upon her bed once more.

"Oh, wait, one more thing." She reaches beneath one of the pillows and pulls out a small box, wrapped with a bow. "Give this to Power Boy when you see him." She tosses the box to Cobalt Kid.

As Cobalt Kid catches the box, Lucifer Lass and her bed fade from view. The assembled LMBers look at each other for a moment, and then proceed to board the merchant vessel which will take them into the Contested Territories, their thoughts on the dramatic visit they had just had.

None were aware of the tiny winged humanoid who had stowed away behind some boxes in the cargo hold of the ship.

[ April 20, 2011, 10:11 PM: Message edited by: Lucifer Lass ]
 

---

Posted by Dev Em on :
 
Daroon

Dev looked at Loser Lad in disbelief. Loser Lad had just informed him that they were under attack.

"Who's attacking us?"

"Bugs...big bugs."

Dev's Omnicom went off. "Hold on it's from the Office." He quickly answered Question Lad's inquiry and ran outside with Loser Lad.

There were indeed swarms of various sized bugs advancing on them. Some were on the grounds outside the walls of the castle, and some were flying overhead. The Daxamites that were among the guards had taken to the air and were engaging the flying ones, but it seemed to be a loosing battle...there were just so many of them.

"I'll be right back out Loser, help who you can."

Dev turned and ran back inside searching the halls for the families as Loser Lad ran towards the front line.

Dev found and carried the King to where the women and children were.

"Sorry for the rushed ride Sir, but we are under attack and need to get them to safety," he said as he turned to Helen, the Princess and the children. The children were huddled against their mothers.

"I am not one to run from a fight Dev Em," the King said with the Queen moving to his side and nodding agreement. "We do not rule because we cannot, or will not fight for our people."

"There will be fight enough for everyone, but we need them safe and protected. The attack seems to be focused on the Castle, so that means that they need to be away from here as soon as possible.."

"Very well then," he said as he summoned several guards to accompany them.

Kar Em came flying in. He was a mess, covered in all kinds of gunk, and they could tell that he had been fighting the bugs.

"They need to get somewhere safe your Majesty," he said to the King, "the bugs do seem to be focusing their efforts here, but are attacking the entirety of Daroon. We can hold them here for a while, but even we Daxamites have our limits."

The King looked around and told the ladies and children to follow him. He turned and moved very quickly towards a back wall in one of the rooms they were near. Helen, Helena and Hugh were right behind him. So was the Queen, ushering Han and Jon as she went. Princess Alyson grabbed Dev's arm as he and Kar were turning to go to the fight, "please be safe," she said and kissed him. She then turned and ran to catch up with the others. The Kings Royal Guards moved before and behind them as they entered a secret passageway.

Kar waited patiently for Dev to regain his composure and they flew as fast as they could into the battle.

The wall was holding so far, and the bugs were being taken down. But for every one that the King's men or the Daxamites killed, it seemed that a dozen more came over the horizon.

Kar Em joined the other Daxamites in the skies and started barking orders. They were very powerfull, but they were mostly politicians and not used to front line combat. Kar was furious for Daxam not letting him bring several of his old Troop along with them.

Dev joined Loser Lad on the wall. "Not going so well huh?" He said as he fried a few flying bugs with his heat vision.

"Nice place they have here...open to all sorts of guests," Loser said as he focused his power on a group of bugs trying to get over the wall to their left. The Guards there were able to take the advantage and dispatch them rather quickly.

"Yeah...well, I really appreciate you sticking around," Dev said as he flash fried several more bugs with his heat vision.

"No place else I'd rather be...except just about anyplace else...but then you'd just call me back again and I'd have to come and pull your butt out of the fire anyway."

Dev laughed and took off to take down a bug that was flying over their heads.

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

Kar Em blasted through bug after bug using his strength, speed, heat vision and flying ability. If not for the fact that there were innocent lives in danger, he would be enjoying himself. The fact that there were though made his efforts that much more focused. The fact that his grandchildren were in danger, made his attacks that much more viscious.

Dev Em flew over to him and they formed a back to back circling formation ove the center of the Castle.

Kar said, "look out at the villages and tell me what you see."

Dev used his vision powers and gasped a little, "...by the gods..."

Dev floated up higher above the middle of the Castle grounds. He pulled out his Omnicom. I hope this gets out, and that there's someone around to receive it. he thought as he cleared his throat.

"This is Dev Em of the LMBP. If anyone can hear this message, the moon Daroon is under attack and we need help. We are barely keeping ourselves from being overrun. There are Bugs of all sizes coming at us, and we are loosing men with every wave. Please send help as soon as possible...we are cut off. They are taking the women and children prisoner, I'm going to try to find out where they are holding them."

He pocketed his Omnicom and flew down to where his father was. He said, "I'm going to see if I can find out where they're taking them...I'll be back as soon as I can."

Kar nodded, although he knew what Dev would find would be almost too much for anyone to handle. He had seen attackes like this before, and those men that were not able to defend themselves were usually slaughtered quickly. Those that could, it was just a matter of time before the numbers took them down. "Be careful son, we don't know what else they have out there...and it's going to be messy."

"I know..." Dev said as he flew toward the horizon, a grim determination on his face that nobody had ever seen before.

[ April 22, 2011, 08:30 PM: Message edited by: Dev Em ]
 

---

Posted by Hrun the Barbarian on :
 
Aboard the Dragon Ship Devastation
Atmosphere of Weber’s World
Hrun
8 hours ago

Hrun, he knew had to be living it up right now the way only Hrun could. Lardy grinned as Hrun was kind of like his old debaucherous self...only magnified twenty-fold! If Hrun went to bed with less than twenty wenches tonight, Lardy would be disappointed.


Hrun woke and stretched his arms. As he did so the raven haired slave girl lying across his chest stirred, but did not wake.

Hrun smiled as he looked at Folka, “now” he thought, “If Folka is here in my bed where is her twin Folkvi”, turning his head to the left he was pleased to see Folkvi also deeply asleep next to him. A sound behind Folkvi attracted his attention and craning his neck Hrun saw a blond head on the pillow, “Tis mistress Gisla” he said softly “And Verun” as he noticed the fourth sleeping woman.

Slowly sliding out from underneath the furs without disturbing the women, Hrun walked silently towards a silver bowl in an ornate carved wooden stand. As he stood washing in the cold clear sweet water, he thought about the events of the previous day. Was he wrong? No, now in the cold clear light of morning, (well morning as set by the ships computers which were deliberately set to Home planet time rather than Weber Mean Time) he was sure. The pattern was there, he could see a way to hurt these invaders and at the same time teach those traitors from his own tribes the price of oath breaking.

Looking around Hrun noticed with pride the decoration of his Hall. Rich tapestry’s hung from the wall; the floor was covered with expensive rugs. Gold inlaid tables were full of the remains of last night’s feast. All in all it was a pretty good facsimile of his ‘real’ Hall back home on vagnstjarnafold, or at least where his Hall used to be, until the wars came.

Wiping his hands on a soft cotton towel, Hrun walked over to a sleeping figure. Kicking him softly in the side Hrun roared, “wake up Halmfast you drunken sot, we have work to do”

Halmfast jumped to his feet, although a little bleary eyed he was ready to obey his King. “My Lord” he said, through a haze of rank meat and mead stinking breath, “what is your command”

“We leave for battle immediately, gather in all the warriors, prepare the war shields”

As Halmfast turned to leave, Hrun reached forward and held his shoulder for a moment, “Oh and clean yourself and the rest of the HouseCarls up first, if we are soon to ride into Valhalla then lets us be noble warriors, not drunken peasants”

Halmfast left. Hrun looked around the Hall; already the signs of last night’s debauchery were being erased. House slaves were cleaning and tidying, the rest of the HouseCarls were rising from their slumber, some already cleaning and preparing their weapons. He smiled, to the majority of the LMBP these men were seen as drunken loud buffoons, but he knew the steel underneath the bombast, and he knew that Cobalt Kid understood it too. A lot of the men in this room would not live out the week, and they knew that too, yet still, as they started to sharpen blades, and clean mail they were singing and smiling. Hrun was proud of them. He hoped he would lead them well and do them honour.
 

---

Posted by Faraway Lad on :
 
Faraway Lad
Webers World
Now


Deep in the interior of Webers World, a small control and command centre was now the most busy and important room in the United Planets.

General Maximus Bellasarius was sat in the centre command chair. On banks of screens in front of him the various reports from the various fronts showed a depressingly consistent theme.

“Sir” reported a Comms officer, “Reports from planet New Tudhoe in sector 47. Hive fleets have just entered planetary space. The Local defence fleet, consisting of one cruiser and four escorts have been lost. Sir” he continued after a second “no survivors…. Not one…………the Hive…those bastard bugs………..they actually went after the escape pods and hunted every last one down.” The Sub Lieutenants voice cracked at the thoughts of the thousands of crew men lost, killed in the cold icy darkness of space.

“Steady son” came the calming voice of Bellasarius “just do your job. I’ll make sure they are avenged, now give me the numbers, starting with ETA for planet fall”

“Yes sir” came back the reply, the voice stronger now, more efficient. “Hive fleet will make planet fall in 30 standard minutes. Estimated time until the entire fleet disembarks, 6 standard hours.

“Holy fathers” thought Bellasarius, “just 6 hours to disembark hundreds of thousands of Bugs. No wonder the Planets fell silent so quickly, it was if a Tsunami just washed away all life from the surface. It was the same all over, huge numbers of troops would land, take the planet and….well then, silence, no one escaped, no messages came out, not even demands from the enemy”

“Thank you Sub” said the General in a more kindly voice, “now take a break go and get freshened up, have a sleep you’ve been on duty 12 hours straight”

“As have you General” said a voice from behind him, “and as our best military mind, we do need you at your best for the struggle ahead don’t you think”

Bellasarius turned to see Ambassadors Helen, Faraway and Crujectra standing in the doorway.

“You should get some sleep General, your team here will be able to monitor things, and if another planet is attacked we promise, we’ll wake you instantly” continued Cru.

“Perhaps your highness is correct” replied Bellasarius, “I will sleep in the ready room if you give me my word that you will wake me”

Mirenna Helen answered for all three, “Yes General we will wake you when the next planet is attacked”

Starting to yawn the General stepped down and headed towards the ready room. “Thank you your excellencies, a few hours will help me to think more clearly” and with that the door closed and he was gone.

Faraway turned to Crujecktra, “Cru” he started “did you use your powers to….…”

He stopped as the Princess placed two delicate fingers in his lips “hush” she said coquettishly “As if I would do that”

“Enough” said Lady Helen, “we have the time and space we need, Faraway can you do what needs to be done”

Sitting down in the command chair, Faraway Lad smiled and gave a simple “yes” as his answer. Internally he thought, “I can if Hrun is right about this
 

---

Posted by Hrun the Barbarian on :
 
Hrun
Dragonship Devastation
Low orbit, Webers world
Four hours ago


On the command deck of the Devastation, Hrun studied the large holomap of the United Planets hovering on top of the plotting table in front of him. Large swaths of it were already in darkness, fallen under the heel of the Dark Oval.

There, Psyonia hung as a bright beacon in Space undaunted, and unconquered, yet all around it the darkness swallowed planet after planet.

But there seemed to be no strategy to all this, Planetary systems that were strategically vital were being ignored whilst small unimportant systems were being wiped out. What was the Oval doing? Was fear and panic all that they wanted? And then even as he thought it Hrun realised that he had the answer. This was no war for resources, no war for territory. The enemy did not want slaves, riches or even glory. It simply wanted to destroy, to cow, to awe to induce panic and fear into all.

But now, Hrun realised, now he could see this truth he could see the pattern. He could start to fight back, start to give a small beacon of light in the darkness, perhaps enough to give the peoples of the United Planets hope. Hope that they could fight back, that they could win.

“Helmsman” said Hrun looking up from the holomap, “is the course laid in?”

“aye aye lord” replied the Helmsman.

“Marshal of the Northfold” said Hrun turning to the tall blond haired man standing by the Plotting table “did any of the Varangian Guard answer our call?”

Marshal Thorribald looked up and smiled, “aye my lord” he replied, “more than we hoped for, we have almost a full Legion of Varangians on board”

“Excellent news Thorribald” said Hrun, “still tis only 5,000 spears to add to our own 2,000. I could wish for more”

“You do have more sire” said a strange voice “if you will have us that is”
Stepping out from behind Thorribald a small brown haired man came over to Hrun and saluted. “I am Strategos Manuel Comnenos of the Opsician Theme. Our Holy Empire was destroyed by the Khanate many many years ago. Though our Emperor struggles to maintain his lands and wishes to re unite the Empire, it seems a hopeless task. Some remnants of Empire cling on, the Despotate of Eprius and the Opsician Theme are two of the largest. Yet for many years now we have had no strength of our own and we have had to rely on the Varangian Guard to patrol our borders and to protect our planets from harm. They have shown great loyalty to our Emperor when all others deserted him and so now when their need is great, now when all free lands have heard the trumpets and the call to arms, we have raised another Legion to fight alongside your army. I lay before you another 5,000 spears of the 1st Opsician Legion (Victrix). Will you accept?”

Hrun looked at Manuel closely; he looked like nothing more than a soft, effeminate city dweller. The sort he has scorned in the past, the sort his forefathers had burned out of hearth and home, but was this offer real or was it some sort of trap of the enemy? Time was against him, he needed the spears this man could bring, but he also to move and move quickly.

He looked up at Akolouthos Grimbolf, commander of the Varangians, “well” he asked.

Grimbolf nodded “I have served with Strategos Comnenos for many years, my Lord, He is loyal and what is more his troops will fight for us”

“Then on the honor of the Akolouthos I will accept your Legion” and cheers echoed around the command deck.

Hrun smiled, already and without his next act, the free peoples of the Galaxy were answering the call. Everywhere reports were coming in of planets who a few scant weeks ago could hardly bare to be in the same room together starting to realize that against this enemy, they needed to work together, else they all fall to the darkness one by one and alone.

Hrun looked forward, “Helmsman, you have your course, cast off, Tis time the Devastation tasted blood.

As the Dragon ship warped out of orbit, Hrun sent a coded message via his LMB secure comm. link
 

---

Posted by Faraway Lad on :
 
Faraway Lad
Four hours ago.
In the Debating Chamber on Webers world.

The council chamber was in uproar. Ambassadors were all shouting to make themselves heard above each other.

Some were shouting at the raised Dias demanding to know what the UP government was doing, some pointing the finger of blame at the UP itself.
Even more had started to accuse Ambassadors from other sectors of being in league with the Invaders.

Into this maelstrom of noise walked Ambassadors Faraway, Helen and Crujectra.

“there, there”, shouted the Ambassador for Aldebaran III pointing at Faraway and Crujectra “it’s that damnable LMBP that’s to blame, if they had not invaded Dark Oval space this would not have happened.

“No! No!” retorted the Ambassador from New Jaiapur “The LMBP are the ones who protect us, they are our shield.

“Silence, Silence” called the Speaker of the Assembly “Unless we allow all to speak no one will be heard”

Slowly the noise subsided as the agitated and frightened Ambassadors retook their seats.

“Now called the Speaker, “let the assembly recognise the Ambassador from Illiad”.

A heavy set woman rose and began, “Excellencies, as we know the United Planets is under attack, on all fronts it is in retreat, it is failing to honour its commitments to protect and preserve the safety of the outer worlds. Illiad has but one demand; Send us a fleet strong enough to save us”

As she sat down, a chorus of agreement rippled around the room.

A UP general stood up, “spreading our forces that thinly will not help, we need to concentrate the fleet and attack in force that is the only way to drive the invaders back”

“so” shouted the Ambassador from Phlon, “we see the truth behind the Earthers promise, they let us bleed and die, whilst they hide here, and when we have weakened the enemy enough they will destroy them and take our lands for themselves”.

A tall strikingly handsome man stood next, his voice was sweetly smooth, and seemed the very pinnacle of reasonableness.
“Noble Lords” he said “all this talk of spreading the fleet or concentrating it is pointless, no one knows where the enemy will strike next or when.” His hand manipulated the controls at his seat and in the centre of the chamber a huge 3 D map of known space appeared. As his hands flew over the controls huge sections of the map turned dark, the very stars seeming to blink out of existence as his voice continued.

“Look at how the Dark Oval forces move, there are no rules to it, no logic, no one is safe, how do we fight such a thing? No my Lords we are defeated our only hope now is surrender.”

His hands moved again and new parts of the Holomap were illuminated.

“My lords, the Dominion now controls ten sectors in the beta quadrant, Hrykosia is attacking its neighbours. The Khanate seems to be on the move. Barbarian Allanii, Macromanii and Skirrian tribes have broken the treaties and swarm forward into civilized Space. No we must sue for peace before the UP is shattered into a thousand pieces”

A new voice entered the fray.

“The United Planets is already broken” it said “it has failed to protect us, it has taken our taxes, imposed false laws and values, and when it is needed it has failed”

This was the Imskian Ambassador speaking now

“and because of those reasons Imsk and its allies now announce that with immediate effect they leaving the UP and will become free independent nations once more. We have been promised by Dominion representatives that a free Imsk has nothing to fear from these armies, and that they have no conflict with those who stand aside and do not get in the way of their defensive strikes against the UP. ..

The Ambassadorial Chamber erupted in noise at this unexpected announcement, cries of “traitors” and “backstabbers” were hurled at the delegate from Imsk, but there were also cries of “hear hear” and “yes! We will be next” from parts of the auditorium Faraway was saddened to hear.

“The free peoples on Imsk will be heard” the Ambassador shouted over the noise caused by his announcement that Imsk and four other planetary systems were seceding from the UP with immediate effect. He continued, “as of today, the corrupt and dictatorial government of First Minister Digby has been overthrown. It has been replaced by a special people’s safety committee chaired by Leader Muldron of the Imskian Iron Oval. Special security arrangements to protect the people are being put in place with known terrorists being rounded up and arrested, whilst high profile supporters of the corrupt Minister Digby have been detained in special camps for their own protection. Further more in order to protect the people of Imsk from imperialistic aggression from Braal and internal counter revolutionary crimes, the people of Imsk have petitioned the Regent, Admiral Muldron to form an alliance with the freedom loving forces of the Dark Oval. Together with the Oval, Imsk will march forward to a new, bright, sunlit future. For our protection our allies troops have been moved forward to prevent any pre emptive strikes from Braal and have occupied strategic points along the border. Once assurances of non aggression have been received from Braal these troops can of course be removed”

Next the Ambassador for Hazor stood up. “as you all know, for many years Braal has illegally occupied Hazorian territory in the Vespaisian asteroid belt. An ultimatum has been sent to the Government of Braal to demand the return of the whole belt to Hazor. Rest assured we will not take sides in the coming conflict between the UP and the Dark Oval, all we want is to be left alone, a demand agreed by the Hrykosian Ambassador just today. Rest assured once our legitimate grievances are met we will have no more demands on our neighbours

The Ambassador for Preztor then stood. “Following the last Great War, the victorious powers dismembered the Preztorian Hegemony. When they did so they left many native Preztorians outside the new boundaries of Preztor, all of whom cry out for reunification with the fatherland. We will now help those people return to the bosom of their land, The Krebble Ribbon will be retuned to Preztor within one week or our troops will take it back.

“But that will leave us with no defences and will cost us many of our advanced manufacturing facilities,” cried the delegate from Aarok, “it will turn us into a backward society”

“No more that you deserve” sneered the Ambassador from Darzyl. “We also announce a change of government, following help from our friends in the Dominion, a new government under His Majesty, consisting of a Grand Council of the Nobles and Commons united under the leadership of Grand Master Dulce, of the Darzyl Oval Order of Men has been formed to protect Darzyl and all who ask for our protection shall receive it. We too remain neutral; we ask only that the UP investigate the curious fact that Psyonia has somehow remained immune to attack though all around it fall victim. Perhaps the Psyonians have some……secret agreement with the Oval that protects them, or is it that the connection to the LMBP must also be looked at.


Finally the speaker said

“the chair recognizes the Ambassador for Taltar”

Lady Tal’shok was small and jolly looking, a classic example of not judging a book by its cover, as she had an unenviable reputation for cruelty.

“Taltar will restrain its fleet, and will return to a state of neutrality until this current conflict is over. Once it is over and if” and there was an unmistakable emphasis on the word if “the UP is victorious then Taltar will consider re opening negotiations to join the UP. Lady Tal’shok looked directly at Faraway and Crujectra and continued. “as we are so constantly reminded, the LMBP is not an executive arm of the UP and as such we expect the LMBP to continue with its normal protective duties through out the Galaxy during this current crisis”

Faraway tensed, “she’s heard something, she knows how thinly we are stretched” he thought, “Does she know what Des is planning?” He felt the stirrings of the old diplomat’s disease, paranoia and a fear that people know all your secrets and were just playing with you.

He felt a hand laid soothingly on his arm, “let me answer this one Far” said Crujectra. Slowly she stood up and now the Princess seemed to glow from within, her beauty seemingly magnified by the occasion, as she held the audience silent and spellbound just by standing there.

“Your excellencies” she said “ I give you my absolute word that no matter what the course of this war, the LMBP will do what it has always done and will protect to the full extent of its might, the weak the poor and the oppressed. No matter who they are and no matter where or under what form of government they are”.

She sat down and whispered in to Far’s ear, “and if at the end that’s just you and I left alive, well it might not be very much but it’s still to the full extent of our powers, so before you start I am not lying”
 

---

Posted by Faraway Lad on :
 
Faraway Lad
Webers world
Two hours ago


Faraway, Crujectra and Helen had left the chamber and were now leaving the arguments still going on behind them. They turned and in silence headed down a corridor to a turbo lift, as they did so they heard a voice behind them. It was the Taltarian Ambassador. “I am leaving Webers world” she announced “I must consult with my government” she smiled evilly “I will just remind you of a fact that will have to be settled and soon. The G’ibral Tor is ours, has always been ours and must be returned to Taltar immediately”

Faraway Lad placed his head against the cool wall of the corridor and groaned, this was just going around in circles. Sometimes he though the Gods of History must just be conspiring against him.

The Tor of G’ibral was one of nature’s freaks, a naturally occurring strong point situated as it was in a narrow space lane between a gigantic null grav hole called the Nekron Expanse and the flaming deadly gases of the Horath Nebula it effectively controlled transit in the densely populated alpha sector. Stopping ships passing the Tor was easy and would, if done, half the amount of trade in the UP overnight, causing huge economic upheaval. Captured from Taltar by the Kingdom of Deria some 300 years ago it had passed into UP ownership once Deria joined the UP 150 years ago But Taltar had never given up on her claims to the Tor.

Now, G’ibral Tor was essential to the safety of Earth, if the Oval captured that stronghold then the space lanes would be open. The enemy would be able to flood in behind almost all of the UP’s outward facing defences. The UP would be attacked in the flanks and those carefully constructed defence positions would be rolled up one by one leading to total defeat. Keeping it as a bulwark against invasion was now more essential than ever.

“Ambassador” he started but too late, she had swept on past them down the corridor and into a private ground car, heading for the space port.
 

---

Posted by Faraway Lad on :
 
Faraway Lad
Control Bunker
Webers World.
Now


Faraway Lad started giving orders in a fast, quiet staccato fashion.

“fleet in sector 901 remain in position”

“Message to Admiral Darlton in Proxima Centari , we need to move three fast attack carriers from Proxima to support the colony worlds around Alpha Centari, there is going to be a major raid by Hrykosian destroyers”

“Ask General McChinon how many troops he can spare for Brigadier Stuarts coming raid on El Whadi Halfa”

“move the 3rd battle fleet to co ordinates 9087.4 by 678 by 22.113 and tell them to hold awaiting reinforcements, then to be ready to attack”

“Inform Hrun, his battle plan is go”

By his side Crujectra and Helen were both locked in their own furious conversations via omni comm. link with government representatives across known space.

Finally a lull in activity gave Faraway a chance to relax and look up.

“Well?” he asked.

“Its done” replied the Princess, “those planet’s that are going to fight for us are firmly on board, the scared and the lost and the ones who want to wait to see who is on the winning side have agreed to neutrality, at least for now”

“Well that’s all the strategic moves in place, now we just have to wait and see” said Faraway. “I have got as much of the commissariat moving as I can, at least the troops will have enough ammunition, fuel and food to fight. Now it’s up to the Generals on the ground to actually fight them well enough” he sighed, “I hope I have done enough”

Instinctively, and without thinking both women reached forward and each took hold of one of Faraway’s hands, “you’ve done all that’s humanly possible my dear” said Mirenna softly, “no one in the LMBP or the UP could have done better”. The Princess smiled, “you have done everything Cobalt could have wanted Far, with all this going on his small fellowship should be able to sneak into the Oval unseen and unnoticed. You’ve given him a chance to do this and do this right. Thank you I think you may have saved my lov….” She hesitated, an almost embarrassed smile on her face “I mean Cobalts life, for that I and the Royal house of Psyonia will always be in your debt”

This small vignette was rudely interrupted by a consol alarm sounding.

“Sir, it’s the Taltarian Fleet” said a comms officer, “it’s moving fast and I think it’s on an attack vector towards G’ibral Tor”

Faraway’s heart sank, He had gambled and removed most of the defences from around that strongpoint to reinforce other sectors of the front, were the Taltarians taking advantage of this to press their ancient claims after all?

A comm. screen buzzed to life near Faraway, on it the face of Lady Tal’shok appeared. She smiled as she saw who was sitting in the command seat.

“Well it seems the LMBP are closer to the high command of the UP than the Princess claims. I think that will have to be discussed in council later. Never mind” she continued, “my message remains the same whomsoever receives it. The fleet of Taltar will maintain and protect its claim to the G’ibral Tor. No war ships of the Dark Oval will be allowed to enter Taltarian space without meeting extreme prejudice. We will protect this base, now you go and fight your war Earthlings”

“Sir” called a bunker comms officer, “communiqué coming through from Governor General Wolfe, confirmed by our own long range scanners, the Taltarian Fleet is not attacking, repeat not attacking. It true sir they are turning they are taking up, yes they are taking up defensive positions around G’ibral Tor they seem to be telling the truth sir”

Well thought Faraway, there’s going to be some problems ahead over this but at least that’s one worry off my shoulders, now I can relax for a while.


“Sir” said another officer, “emergency message coming in from Daroon”…………..
 

---

Posted by Exo-Lardy on :
 
in transit between Weber's World and the Contested Territories

There was precious little living space aboard the small merchant vessel. More than Lardy had thought, though, as Hrun wasn't making the trip with them. Lardy had thought that Hrun would be among them, but apparently he had been present to both bond with the Fellows and to glean what the broad strokes of the quest would be.

The men had left what scant quarters were available for the women while the men made themselves as comfortable as possible in the cargo hold.

Lardy was exhausted. He'd spent all of the previous night training and had taken himself to the limits of his endurance in that holo-gym. Though he couldn't make himself comfortable in the comparative luxury of his suite at Weber's World, he had drifted off in his makeshift bed in the cargo hold within an hour of their departure.

But his sleep was far from restful, for as soon as he closed his eyes...

...Lardy opened them to a world of pitch blackness that was barely illuminated in the distance by a faint, flickering light. Lardy stumbled as he tried to make his way to the light, unable to see anything. He tried to activate his exo-armor that he might fly to his destination, but it wouldn't respond. Lardy concluded that his armor was gone. He accepted its absence and continued on.

He didn't know how long it took to get there. Hours? Days? Longer? He kept struggling harder and harder to get there, frequently taking falls as he tripped on unseen barriers. Frequently, he yelled out as brambles scraped his skin. Worse, he could hear hissing, growling...laughing? By unseen beasts.

Finally, battered and in pain, he reached the source of the light. It was a path made of stone illuminated on both sides by torches. On either side, there was still the encompassing darkness. The path itself seemed endless and its destination completely unseeable.

Lardy stopped at the beginning of the path. He held out his hands and saw in the shimmering light that he was clothed in his elven cloak. He saw in his pockets that he had meager rations. On his belt he saw that his sword was in its sheath. He wondered where all of his friends had gone. Cobalt? Rocky? Temp?

Shrugging and seeing no alternative, he began to walk along the path. It was very difficult for him with all his bruises and scratches. Very painful. Even worse, his left ankle was throbbing in pain. He'd twisted it in his journey through darkness, misstepping into an unseen hole. He unsheathed his sword and used it as a cane to take the pressure off of that leg. He saw nothing else available he could use.

Eventually, after an unfathomable time on the path without rest, he began to see things in the darkness beyond the bounds of the path.

To the left, he saw Helen and his children...and others...beset by creatures more vile than he could imagine. He heard Helen scream. He tried to run to their aid but couldn't step out of the path's bounds, no matter how hard he tried. And then they disappeared.

He realized that they were never really there. They were visions. Were they happening then? Were they to come? Or was he being taunted by the darkness?

Further down and to his right, Lardy saw himself and two others. Lucifer Lass. Eryk Davis Ester. They were talking about something. Sharing a dinner together. At the end they put their hands together. Making a pact? These were two people who might be his brother and sister. He had just seen Lucy before they left in the merchant vessel. There was so much he wanted to ask her, to say to her. But she was gone before he could really register the implications. Eryk, he had barely seen in years. He wanted to reach into the vision and learn more, but suddenly, the vision faded.

The locket! He remembered the locket Lucy gave him. He paused on the path and saw it was still around his neck. He knew somehow that there was still hope.

He continued along the path with renewed vigor. As he went along the visions came faster and were less detailed. He saw a flash of Wyandotte with his hands around Lardy's neck. He saw Cobalt locked in combat with Romaltus. He saw images of foes powerful but unfamiliar. One, he was certain was the cloaked figure that had followed him in Weber's World.

He saw someone who he thought was a foe long vanquished battling...Faraway Lad? He couldn't put his finger on exactly who it was, only that Far's foe felt so very familiar.

Then he saw...Dev-Em? No, it couldn't be! He was wild and plowing into the SMB. Killing them. No...it couldn't be!

Then, images of war, images of suffering, images of pure annihilation and death and misery. Lardy found himself overwhelmed and dropped to his kness. He let out some bile onto the path as he felt suddenly indescribably guilty. Somehow, he felt like all the horror he was seeing was his fault. Beyond even how he'd instigated the conflict with the Oval, there was a deeper connection that sickened him but that he could not name.

After he got all the bile out that he could, he looked around. Suddenly, he realized he was at the end of the path. He looked up and saw a terrible light coming toward him from the distance. As it got closer and closer, Lardy realized, to his terror, that it was a single, fiery eye. And it was coming to claim him.

Lardy screamed and did what any reasonable person would do in the situation. He ran. As fast as he could with a hobbled ankle, he ran back down the opposite end of the path that he had struggled so hard to travel. In his peripheral vision he saw the images playing out just as they did before. He closed his eyes and ran as hard as he could.

Then he fell. As he struggled to get back up, he felt the heat of a thousand suns bearing on him. He turned around and faced the flaming red eye.

Lardy faced it, stood his ground and fighting his quivering jaw, he said, "wh-what do you want?"

A horrible laughter seemed to come through the eye, then it said, "At last! I SEE you!"

Suddenly, Lardy screamed. He was on fire! The pain! He was dying and then...

...he woke up.

Lardy looked around, startled. Around him, he could see the cargo hold and that Cobalt and the others were there, too, asleep.

"J-just a dream?" he whispered.

But Lardy knew better. He'd had prophetic dreams before...when he had the Lard Force. And this felt just like one of those.

He tested his theory be trying to summon some Lard Force energy from his hand. Nothing. Everything he could think of, he tried, but the Lard Force did not respond, just as it hadn't in the year since he lost it.

What did this mean? He had no clue.

Lardy was haunted by what he'd seen. He knew he wouldn't be getting any more sleep any time soon.

More, he knew he didn't want to.

[ April 21, 2011, 04:58 PM: Message edited by: Exo-Lardy ]
 

---

Posted by Power Boy on :
 
Power Boy's Dream Part 2: An Ancient Evil

Power Boy climbs step after dusty step, the Wolf only a few paces behind.

He felt a sense of urgency, afraid this Evil Lord that was hunting the ‘New’ gods to extinction had something to do with the troubles of the LMB.


Finally at the top, a great plaza opens up before him. Across the plaza he sees a gateway and shadowy figures moving through it. One figure stands apart, watching the rest.

In the next moment, the watcher is next to Power Boy.

A tall female figure takes shape. “After all this time Wolf, you found him, you found my son.”

The Wolf smiles proudly. “I fear too late. So many of us are missing or … (he looks to the portal) .. leaving”

She replies “It was inevitable. Our time is over, it is time to move to the next existence. We move along to the abstract.”

The Goddess looks into Power Boy “Will you come with us, my son.”


PB felt himself waver, he didn’t know if it was the heat of the place or the stare of the Goddess. He wanted to go, more than anything. That moment lasted for what seemed like a lifetime, as if the decision was a great contest, taking place across time.


The Goddess spoke again “Come home with us my son”

PB mutters as if poisoned “ … home?” “my home, my friends …”
PB shakes his head “ … the LMB, my home, …”

PB snaps to “ Stay. Help us. Fight with us!”

The Goddess releases her hold, sighing sadly, “You have spent too much time with the humans ... the battles of this dimension are not for us to interfere with.”


The Wolf BARKS! “The Dark Lord threatens all reality, what happens in this place will affect the others. An ‘Old’ god of evil reborn will not be content with one dimension … he will devour dimension after dimension ….”

A glare from the Goddess withers the Wolf. “I see, you have not brought my son to me but, I to my son.”

“maybe … dear Wolf, maybe you are right.”


SHHHRREEEIIIKKKKK!!!!

Her contemplation is broken by a powerful blast of darkness that shatters the portal, striking down several ‘New’ gods trying to pass through the portal.

A horrific wailing booms from all around as insectoid tendrils of darkness smash and pollute the city. Power Boy is crushed to his knees.


The Goddess howls "NOOOO!" and faces the enormous darkness. Power Boy‘s mind reels when he tries to focus on the darkness. A golden music begins to oppose the infinite darkness as the Goddess stands proudly. Even in its glory the music is small in comparison with the screaming darkness.

Only a handful of the ‘New’ Gods remain, the ones not fast enough to gain passage through the now shattered portal. A few become blurs as they speed away, others wink out as the teleport or become invisible, and a smaller few turn and raise their battle rods … joining the Goddess in fight.

It will not be enough. The ground shakes and walls tumble.

The Goddesses head swings toward Power Boy.

“FLY!”

The Wolf deftly snatches Power Boy up from the neck of his costume, and pounces away. As the Wolf transports them through dimensions … Power Boy looks back and sees the kingdom of the ‘New’ Gods shatter like glass, and after, only oily darkness.


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

Power Boy wakes, floating in space, the Wolf licking his face.

“We made it, but the gods …”

The Wolf smiles “Gods are not so easy to kill young one”

“I must find the LMB, the chaos happening must be related to this.”

The Wolf nods "They are here, near Webber's World, I brought you to them." (The Wolf has obvious difficulty pronouncing Webber)


"You are dependable, for trickster"

The Wolf laughs "Few can understand my intelligent ways ... so they say I trick them, to me it is easy hahaha"


“Wolf ... one more favor, assemble the ‘New’ Gods … there must be some alive, that did not answer the call to flee, that the shadow has not yet got.”

“I will … try … young god of power.” And with that the Wolf fades away.


Power Boy floats for a moment sick to his stomach overwhelmed by the events.

Then he heads for the LMB.

[ April 21, 2011, 04:23 PM: Message edited by: Power Boy ]
 

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Posted by Lolita on :
 
The merchant ship sailed through space, as the rest of the universe reacted with anxiety and paranoia to the grandiose events. The ship went mostly unnoticed, as the Legionnaires intended, and for the next (48) hours gradually left the United Planets, coming ever closer to its boundaries.

There was one who followed, undeterred by the deception. Wearing a hoodless cloak of the most vibrant purple, he was overwhelmingly beautiful to behold, causing some to turn their eyes, less shimmer of his radiance burn out their eyes. Around his head he wore a simple golden crown in the shape of a thin band with a fig leaf on either side. A sword hung by his belt and a spear over his shoulder.

Though he was the ideal model of beauty, his penetrating blue eyes and wolfish smile quickly made evident he was the epitome of cruelty. Yet those who simply looked at him could not fathom the extremes of that cruelty.

Though a millennia earlier he was the Emperor of a vast Empire, who lived a long life where his authority exceeded all others—and made sure he tested those boundaries on every occasion he could—it was in this secondary existence where he submitted to the authority of one greater that he truly felt alive.

His name was Titus. He was the Dark Lord’s most favored servant. There were three things he held as his sacred right to do in the Dark Lord’s service: Robbery. Rape. Murder. And he followed the Legionnaires, watching…and waiting…

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

The Contested Territories – Once former conquered planets by the Dominion, the planets making up the contested territories have a very recent history of exploitation and abuse. Their poor fortunes changed in 3006 when Legion World Triumvir Cobalt Kid led his army into the Dark Oval and liberated the planets. Additionally supported by the United Planets Naval Fleets, the planets formally rejected their Dominion overlords and applied for membership to the United Planets, which they were quickly granted. Though now free and under the protection of the Space Knights Templar, the Contested Territories remain a center of violence, terrorism and war between the Dark Oval and the United Planets.[/i]

“At last,” said Lolita, piloting the merchant ship alongside Time-Teller Lad, who also made a surprisingly excellent pilot. “We’re entering the very borders of the UP now. Soon we’ll be at Antioch, where we’ll be able to get rid of this ship.”

“It will be quite a relief,” said Time-Teller Lad with a smile, “as I feel like I’m getting to know everyone a bit too well!”

Lolita couldn’t help but smile at Tim’s good-heartedness and leaned forward to pet Hywvie. “Antioch is the most dangerous of all the contested territories, because it contains sections held by both the UP and the Dominion. And therefore it makes the perfect entry point,” she said to Tim, but then looking at her omni-com again.

“Any updates?” he said, “it’s only been 131.3 seconds since you last looked at it, after all.”

“No,” she said, realizing he was right that she was checking it constantly. The news from the UP was too engrossing—it was an incredibly complex series of planets flexing their political muscle, but she was beginning to sense a pattern developing. Alas, it wouldn’t matter much longer. Once they got far enough into the Dark Oval, their communications would gradually fade out and then cease all together. Dark Oval technology prevented communication out of the territory.

Hywvie lifted his head up, sensing someone was coming and the door opened as Shark Lad joined them. “I’m getting stir crazy,” he said plainly, with a gravel in his voice that made Hywvie back up a little near Lolita’s legs. “I don’t care if it doesn’t sound possible but I think the ship is getting smaller,” he added. Time-Teller Lad couldn’t tell if he was kidding or serious, though Lolita smiled.

“The sexual tension back there is annoying enough,” she said, “come join me up here and we’ll make our own,” she added and Shark Lad finally smiled.

“Er, maybe I should see how everyone is doing” said Time-Teller Lad about to get up when he suddenly looked out the view-screen and saw an approaching presence! “Wait! What’s that?!”

Lolita turned and instantly felt a wave of panic, thinking they were under attack. She moved to stand but suddenly felt Shark Lad’s large, clawed hand push her back down. “Funny I’m telling you to calm down,” he said. “But no worries. That’s Power Boy.”

“Power Boy?” said Lolita suddenly feeling upbeat. She, like Lard Lad, was very disappointed to learn that Hrun was not joining them. But if Power Boy was—that would be a huge power boost! As they got closer they saw the seriousness on his face. “He looks grim,” she said.
 

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Posted by Timber Wolf on :
 
Timberwolf sat in a corner of the cargo hold and meditated. It was a better thing for him to do to pass the time than sleeping was for the others. Everyone else seemed to be antsy, or plagued with restless attempts at sleep. Meditating for him was a way to rest his body and excercise his mind at the same time.

He was going over the plans in his head. Over and over he went through them. Trying to imagine anything that would go wrong, going wrong in the most horrid way possible...and then coming to a satisfactory way to deal with that situation. For him, it was the ultimate form of relaxation.

After a few hours he heard his Omnicom beep. He blinked and was wide awake without making a sound. He grabbed his Omnicom before it went off again and disturbed anyone else. They were getting close to where they would stop being able to receive any basic transmissions, even ones on open channels of the United Planets. THe fact was, that this transmission was probably close to a half hour old and bounced off of numerous random satellites before it got to them. He had set his to alert him of any that conatained only a few specific names. His brother, Dev Em, was among the few names on the list.

He listened to the transmission from his brother several times before finally shutting the Omnicom off.

He removed his earpiece, hung his head and wished for a brief moment that he had some god to pray to. But he just grinned and thought, I could hear it in his voice...he's on the verge of becoming very dangerous to whomever it is that is attacking Daroon. I'd hate to see him pushed past his limits, although...whoever it is would most definitely deserve it if it happened.

He thought about the implications of who was on Daroon with him, and that worried him and made his worries fade just as fast. Sure, Lardy's kids were there, but so was Kar. Lon and Dev's father. God help the poor bastiches that messed with the old man.

He turned and looked at Lard Lad, who had just awoken with a start. He was around some boxes from him, so Lard Lad could not really see that he was also awake. He watched him for a short time and finally went back to meditating.
 

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Posted by Power Boy on :
 
Power Boy stepped across the threshold of the airlock the same moment Lard Lad woke with a start. As if he brought a great darkness to them.

Lolita, Shark Lad, and Time-Teller Lad were there to greet him. This Power Boy looked stoic. Usually Power Boy was nonchalant ... even in battle, so used to battle and confident in his prowess. This Power Boy looked as if a great weight were on his shoulders. and more surprisingly ... he looked .... hunted?


'Gather everyone. We need to talk. The Dark Lord lives.'
 

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Posted by SharkLad on :
 
Inside the mind of SharkLad

It’s times like this when I think, ‘I shoulda been a lawyer.’ I mean, sprock, now we gotta deal with the Dark Lord?

I look at Lolita. She’s trying hard not to react. The kid likes to act like nothing gets to her, but even she doesn’t like the sound of what Power Boy is saying.

Well, at least now maybe I’ll get to see some action. I’ve been dying to sharpen my teeth on something ever since Hrun let me spar with a couple of his men before we got loaded onto this tin can of a ship. That was fun. Lolita thought I should be saving up my strength, but I feel like I’ve got energy to spare.

Lolita’s a good kid. She’s giving something I needed, but… there’s still something in the way she looks at Cobie. She definitely didn’t like seeing him with the Princess. When this is all over, Lolita and I are gonna have to have a long talk.

Anyway, I guess I should be paying attention to Power Boy…

[ April 24, 2011, 02:11 PM: Message edited by: SharkLad ]
 

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Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
 
Antioch,
The Contested Territories

At long last, after two full days in cramped cargo space on a non-descript merchant space ship, the Fellowship arrived at their destination. They were now in the Contested Territories, renowned for its danger and violence, and specifically were on Antioch, one of the most devastated of all the Contested Territory planets. Antioch was once a thriving center of commerce and culture but centuries under the Dominion yoke, several civil wars and at last the war of liberation, had devastated the planet. There were still several oasis cities where the citizenry tried to regain a semblance of civilization but the vast majority of Antioch was now a barren wasteland.

“At last,” said Helena to herself, though nearby, Cobalt Kid heard her. Her words echoed what everyone was thinking: they could finally get out of that damn ship and stretch their legs.

“You’ll all have plenty of time to stretch your legs,” he said to them all, “since we have quite a journey ahead of us…on foot,” he added.

“This gets more fun by the minute,” said Timberwolf sarcastically to Cobalt.

“The planetside has been devastated to the point where journey by automated tech won’t work. And there are no fueling stations for miles, much less any navigational coordinates to move through the various sectors filled with poisonous gases. So flight travel is also out,” said Lolita to them, reviewing her own notes on their journey which she kept.

“Lovely,” said Shark Lad to her.

“What about the merchant vessel?” said Time-Teller Lad to them, considering something none of the others had.

Lard Lad shrugged. “Leave it. Maybe one of us will need it on the way back,” he added, thinking that was highly unlikely.

They all stretched their legs and unpacked the items they were bringing on the quest. Each one of them had different packs and pouches containing various items, including rations of food. The packs were heavy now, but Cobalt knew it would be really disheartening when they became very light…and the rations were almost gone.

“Here comes our escort,” Cobalt said with a smile, looking out in the distant barren wasteland. The others turned and saw five figures approaching in the distance. Though hard to make out at first, it was clear all five had various weaponry in their hands, either swords or spears, and were wearing some type of armor.

“The Space Knights Templar,” said Kalla Hrykos, though whether she said it with disgust or curiosity was well hidden. The Space Knights Templar had been formed out of the remnants of the Legion World Triumvirate Armies in 3007 following the war between the Dark Oval and the United Planets. By that time, of the three Triumvirs, only Cobalt Kid still kept his army active; Grey Birdboy had long since retired with his army to Starhaven, and Eryk Davis Ester retired with his army—made up of his native Toustonians and former citizens of Legion World—on Greg Evignan Island, embracing a life of peace and spiritual self-actualization. Eryk Davis Ester’s army effectively became monks. On the opposite end, Cobalt Kid’s army was the leading force in the war against the Dark Oval and was responsible for liberating all of the planets in the Contested Territories from the Dominion. In 3007, Cobalt Kid and Eryk Davis Ester held a secret meeting in which they decided to formally disband the Triumvirate armies once and for all, ending the institution completely; because the Triumvirate armies were loyal to them, their generals, and not Legion World, the two former Triumvirs then set about transforming the armies into something much more. Combining the spiritual mentality of the monks on Greg Evignan Island and the warrior prowess of Cobalt’s soldiers, the two melded into a form of warrior-monks, or using the old term reclaims by Cobalt and Eryk, knights. The Space Knights Templar arose out of the old Triumvirate under the direction of co-founders and leaders Cobalt Kid and Eryk Davis Ester. Their mission was one of peace, prosperity and justice and they sought to bring these things to planets everywhere, specifically planets once devastated by dictatorial nations or suffering great times of troubles.

The Space Knights spent most of their time on the borders with the Khanate and Dark Oval, often assisting the UP army not as a military force but as a force of peace & order, protecting the liberated peoples from the great armies looking to reclaim them. Their number one mission was to protect the Contested Territories, and thus, that is where the majority of the Knights spent most of their time. They acted as a military and police force, protecting pilgrims to the Contested Territories and the liberated peoples there.

There were, however, some rumors that spoke of a secondary, more secret mission of the Space Knights. According to legend, when the Triumvirate Army of Cobalt Kid liberated the Contested Territories, they uncovered ancient ruins and temples, and within these ancient structures they found a vast treasure—what it was, exactly, remains a mystery. But the treasure was so great and of such importance, that Cobalt Kid called off the war, dissembled the Triumvirate and immediately met with Eryk Davis Ester in a secret meeting. He was able to convince Ester to agree to the end of the Triumvirate and to ordering his monks to take up a new life as Knights. Thereafter, the Contested Territories remained essentially a territory under the control of the Knights. No one other than Cobalt Kid or Eryk Davis Ester understood why such drastic action was needed, or what secrets and treasure were found, though one phrase did somehow manage to escape into rumor: holy grail.

“I thought there was five of them?” said Power Boy as the Knights now came more clearly into view. They now saw them in their full glory: the first, a fierce looking yet pretty female warrior; the second, a smiling, incredibly dashing looking raven-haired man; and the third, an Xundarian warrior of a grim disposition.

“Hile, Cobalt Kid!” said Xundarian. “It gives us great honor to great you and your Fellows, and we bid you welcome to Antioch, as grim as it is.” Xundarians were an orange-colored race notable for their fins on their heads and large eyes. They had a history of many noble galactic noble heroes, such as Tomar-Re, the Green Lantern 1,000 years earlier.

“Hile Space Knights,” said Cobalt Kid formally, “and we thank you for your welcome. Do not feel you need to maintain rigid discipline in my presence. We have a long journey ahead of us and a degree of informality is needed.” At those words, the three of them eased their stance but still maintained a very disciplined formation. “Allow me to introduce our fellowship,” he said, and then began making formal introductions. For most of them they were very courteous, though they showed a special degree of courtesy to Rockhopper Lad due to his royal status as a Prince. They seemed to know both Lolita and Timberwolf already. And finally, it was plainly obvious they could not hide their contempt for Kalla Hrykos.

“Thank you, General,” said the female, “for allowing we three to take on a mission of such importance.” She had a very tough sensibility to her voice, noticed Rockhopper Lad, but yet her words were very genuine. She was a lot like Helena Handbasket.

Cobalt turned to his friends. “Allow me to introduce three of our finest Knights, who obviously are among the most trusted and honored for Eryk and I to have chosen them for this mission.” He spoke of each knight in the order of their stance: “The first is Lady Winterhawk, though we commonly call her Knightress, because she is the most decorated female in the entire Space Knights, as well as the Triumvirate before them.” At the usage of “Knightress”, many of the LMBers such as Shark Lad and Lard Lad suddenly realized who she was, since they had heard of her numerous times before. Not only was she a Legion World War hero, receiving the Legion World Medal of Honor years earlier, but she was actually a bit notorious among the LMB. This was because it was widely known that she was in love with the LMBer known as Reboot, whose often abrasive and cold, calculating outlook on life made him a person many Legionnaires did not see easily falling in love. Cobalt once explained to Lard Lad that she “had the cruel fate of loving the man known as Reboot”. To look at her now, however, you’d think she’d love a good fight, with two electro-magnetic swords hanging by her side.

“’Tis an honor,” she said.

“This is Sir John the Carggite,” said Cobalt, and then turning to him said, “it’s alright John, all three of yourselves can join us.” At that, Sir John triplicated and two other of him appeared, explaining how the approaching Knights went from five to three. Sir John was one of those rare Carggites where each body had a separate personality. He was incredibly handsome and very dashing to look at, with raven black hair and a moustache and small beard on his chin. Of the three, one body indulged in a love of the female form; one body indulged in a love of the male form; and the third body was ironically chaste, taking a vow of celibacy. The three of them were known to be highly amusing when they shared drinks with others.

“Greetings,” said Sir John Prime, flashing a smile.

“And lastly, this is Tomar-Te, one of our high-ranking commanders,” said Cobalt. Tomar-Te nodded and did not say anything. He was not as widely known to the LMBers but amongst the Knights themselves he was considered a hero of great magnitude.

Tomar-Te spoke now. “Will you need to rest first, or shall we begin our journey?”

“I think its safe to say we’re ready to move,” said Lard Lad. “The exercise will refresh us and we’re all feeling very anxious.”

“Very well,” said Tomar, “it’s a long way but the path will be safe and far away from the poisoned areas. Knightress will lead the way,” he added, and at that, Knightress turned and began walking into the distance.

Lolita noticed the Knights did not even take some time to rest themselves after what must have been a significant journey over. She began walking by Shark Lad, hoping the lack of water for some time would not be a problem. She noticed Tomar-Te waited at the back for Cobalt Kid, who also went last, so the two could talk about various matters.

“Have the Dominion made a move yet?” said Cobalt.

“No General, its been very quiet. Too quiet,” said Tomar-Te. “Some battles here and there, but no outright war in the Contested Territories,” he added.

“I suspect they hope to flank us,” said Cobalt, “using the routes the rest of the Oval have established. Meaning they’re stretching their resources too far.”

“They’ll regret that mistake then,” smiled Tomar-Te.
 

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Posted by Dev Em on :
 
Daroon


Dev raced over the surface of Daroon. He flew over wave after wave of bugs. he was using his heat vision to destroy as many as he could. He had made one stop before leaving though. His LMB Cruiser. Aboard, there had been a duffle bag left with all sorts of 'presents' left for him bt his brother, Timberwolf. Weapons of all kinds that could do some damage to the type of attack they werre experiencing...not enough to turn the tide by any stretch of the imagination, but enough to make at least a dent in the numbers they were facing. The only other thing that he found with it was a note the said,

Dev,

Just in case you need them. I know it's not your style, but use them anyway.

Lon.

His mind reeled at the devistation that he saw as he passed the towns and villages. The people of Daroon lived a relatively simple existance. They were mostly raised crops and herds. They supplied most of the food for Xyler 7, by request of Queen Ayva. She had been very fair with them and relations had been at an all time high since she had taken power.

Dev saw another village under attack, and banked hard in front of the advancing army of bugs. His heat vision tore a trench in the ground that he made larger with his strength and speed. The bugs had to stop advancing for a moment and that gave the villagers enough time to actually launch their weapons.

Dev flew back and joined them in the fight, and combined, they beat this wave of bugs to a standstill. There was no slaughter here, and the villagers fell back to join forces with the next village. Dev led them through some hostile terrain, and when they arrived at the next village, they came up behind the attacking wave of bugs. The two sided approach threw off the bugs and they were victorious again. They broke into units and ran as fast as they could to the nearest villages. Some were successful, others suffered devestating losses.

Dev went from village to village helping stave off devestation where he could. Vowing to the people of Daroon that he met that he would fight to his last breath to save as many of them as he could. The people were thrilled to have a hero of the LMBP amongst their Royal Family. There were cheers for him everywhere he went.

Dev was exhausted and revitalized with every battle he entered. There was a plan to his travels though. He knew where his family, and that of his teammates were going to end up and he was fighting his way there. Another part of the plan was working too. As he went on, the bugs began to scatter when he appeared. Skittering away to fight other areas where he was not.

He encouraged people to go help out others. The more of a stand they could make together, the better thier odds. he also encouraged them to head for the Castle to help with the battle there. he could see inthe distance, using his vision powers, that the Castle was barely keeping from being overrun at any moment.

All at once, his head shrieked with a sound that he had never heard before...at least not in his head. It was his daughter screaming to him that they needed help now.

I'm coming sweetheart. He thought back to her and powred on the speed to get to where they were.

He hit the ground in a seemingly randon spot and burrowed underground. He emerged in a tunnel behind a group of bugs that were quickly dispatched. The King was holding his left arm, and Dev could see a huge gash on his bicep. One of the bugs had taken a bite out of his arm. Several of his Royal Guard lay dead on the ground around them. Dev quickly glanced back and saw a trail of dead bugs and guards . the battle down here had beeen fierce, and deadly for both sides.

Dev moved to him and said, "this is going to hurt...a lot."

The King nodded and the women moved the children back, around a corner and out of sight. the few guards that remained escorted them and blocked any view from what was happening from the children.

The King screamed in pain as Dev cauterized his wound with his heat vision.

Dev was impressed that the man was still conscious, let alone standing after he was finished. "That stopped the bleeding," he said looking at the wound.

"Thank you son." The King said in short rapid bursts of speach, in between breaths as he regained his composure, "I thought we were done for."

Not while I am able to stand and fight sir," Dev said. "The bugs are all over Daroon, and they are taking women and children hostage. To be honest, we really do not stand a chance here. There are just too many of them. Our only hope is that help arrives soon."

We need to keep them safe," the King said jerking his head towards where their loved ones were.

"Agreed," but we may want to think about trying to get them off planet as soon as we can. I'm sure I can get a few Daxamites to help out.

"A good a plan as an..." he started to say before he was but off by a new batch of bugs burrowing in above them.

Dev pushed the King back as the bugs fell right on top of him. "GET THEM OUT OF HERE!" he yelled as he tore into the bugs to keep them from advancing on his family.

The King stabbed the one that got past Dev with his sword, killing it. He turned and gathered those that remained down here in the tunnels and led them away from the sounds of Dev fighting the bugs.

Dev Finally was able to position himself between the advancing bugs and the group and continued to fight with everything he had...knowing that being cut off from the sun for too long would be a dangerous thing.
 

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Posted by Power Boy on :
 
This is Titus trailing the LMB, and PB meeting Sharky, Lolita, and Time Teller


It's on newsprint which turned out dark ... also my scanner is being lazy so i had to take a photo.


 

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Posted by Tempest on :
 
Antioch,
The Contested Territories

Tempest had basically just been going through the motions since her time on Weber’s World. She was being their good little solider, following orders and focusing with the tasks at hand. But as often, she has found herself bored. Tempest detested the horrid ship she had to travel on and now she finds herself on a wasteland of a planet. She met and smiled at the Fellowship’s guides and walked the same path as her group.

She observed her group, all of them prepared as possible for what lie ahead. She was the only one not carrying tons of gear, well, none that they could see. She has everything condensed into her robe so that it would not weigh her down. She kept her mind as open as possible, though this place was not the easiest place to use magic for sensing her surroundings. A planet this far gone has more issues than the human eye can detect. Still, being who she was, she was good at multi-tasking, and she saw one task the really needed some attending to.

Prissy princess, Kalla…hmm…well, I can do my job and hold on a conversation.

Tempest walked over to Timber Wolf.

“Hello, Lon.” She touches his back for a quick second to grab his attention. “You don’t mind me calling you Lon, do you? We are friends, right?” She smiled at him and tilted her head.

Lon turned his head towards her, and had a slight confused look onhis face for a fraction of a second. "Yeah, Lon is fine. Something on your mind Tempest?"

“Nothing much I suppose. There isn’t really a lot going on this dead planet. I really can’t recall to ever being to such a devastated place. What about you, you’ve traveled?”

Before Timber Wolf had a chance to respond, Tempest’s eyes widen. She put her hand up to him so he would know that she was all right. But in reality, Tempest’s mind was on fire. Her mind was put through a small hurricane of mental pains and visions. She saw five glowing lights being shrouded in darkness, then a hand grabbing the lights, hiding them from her view. The hand swirled and waved until it took the form of a large eye.

It was only a flash but the pain was strong and message vivid. She knew that those lights were important and that the eye was…doom.

Goddess! What was that? Whatever it was, it will lead me to what I was destined to do here.

Tempest composed herself, her face stern and focused, her playtime with Timber Wolf and Kalla would have to wait for now.

[ April 25, 2011, 05:48 PM: Message edited by: Tempest ]
 

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Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
 
The Fellowship continued their journey on foot through the once proud planet Antioch, as minutes became hours and the hours soon became numerous enough to hold little meaning. Many of them had been itching for a chance to flex their muscles and work out some of their anxieties. Hours later, they regretted ever feeling such foolishness.

As members of the Legion, most of their number was in the finest physical condition one could achieve. But even the finest specimen not used to non-stop walking would feel the initial weariness of the road set in. At first there is elation, feeling the muscles work and exert themselves. Eventually that gives way to a numbing tiredness, until that becomes overwhelming as to reach the point of pain—at first large pockets of pain and later sharp pinches. But even the pain eventually fades and a constant, road fatigue sets in that is manageable yet ever-present. And if one travels the road long enough, even that fades.

For the Legionnaires, they dealt with the tiredness as best they could and without complaint but it was compounded by the realization of the sheer scope of their coming quest. There would be many more roads of all sorts to come. If any of them were on their own, they would be at risk for overwhelmed by it; but through the sense of brotherhood that comes with being in battle together, they quietly leaned on one another for support and could therefore bare the weight of the quest.

At the front, Knightress led the way, with Helena Handbasket quietly taking up by her side. They spoke little to one another but sensed a kinship and thus enjoyed each other’s quiet company. The rest of the Fellowship walked either single file or in pairs and at the very back, Cobalt Kid walked with Tomar Te. Lard Lad had slipped back to speak to Cobalt.

“I can’t believe we’re finally doing it,” he said firmly at one point.

Cobalt nodded. He shared the feeling. It was the great weight of the quest, though tempered by the relief of at last taking action to address a great problem. “We’re making good time,” he replied. “In a way, it’s good that we come here first—so everyone can see firsthand what happens to planets that fall under the Dominator yoke.”

Lard Lad agreed with a somber nod as the two looked at what they saw. Antioch had once been a vibrant bastion of culture and commerce. Now, while some sections held onto this fading glory, vast portions of the planet had turned into a barren wasteland. Only the cities had any sense of civilization anymore, while the countryside had been abandoned. The citizens had little choice in the matter: biological weapons used by the Dominators two hundred years earlier had rendered huge portions of the planet uninhabitable, with the very air poison. This eventually polluted many lakes—and thus rivers—which ravaged the botanical life on the planet, and eventually, ravaged the gene pool of many of the inhabitants. Those who chose to remain behind, not going to the cities, had gradually been mutated into monstrosities over the decades. These Bio-Mutants now roamed the countryside, hideous in appearance and in mind, as the mutation had infected their very souls.

The Space Knights Templar knew how to navigate beyond the reach of the Bio-Mutants, and beyond the Poison Zones. But the danger was ever-present.

Up ahead, Knightress came to a stop as the rest of the Fellowship caught up. “We’ll break here,” she said, opening up her water canister, taking a small sip and handing it to Helena. The others walked into the clearing and put down their backs, some finding a place to sit, others squatting to stretch their legs.

They were in a large clearing now with heavy growth of trees and weeds all around, though the middle remained open. A further look along the perimeter revealed a cement foundation, though the cement was very, very old. Curious, Lolita looked at them further, and then followed it to a pair of trees with a heavy growth of leaves and branches. She pushed the branches aside and revealed beyond the trees there was a much more complete structure of the same primordial cement.

Shark Lad and Power Boy followed her and Shark Lad asked “what is this place?”

“I feel a power here,” said Tempest, calmly concentrating in the middle of the clearing.

“As do I,” said Power Boy.

“You’re in the ruins of an Ancient Temple,” said Sir John the Carrggite. “The civilization is long gone,” he added, “this is a little over a thousand years old.”

“Fascinating,” said Lolita. She had heard of these ancient ruins in the Contested Territories but had never seen any.

“We’ve found many places like this,” said Sir John. Suddenly Sir John looked up and caught the gaze of Tomar Te who was staring at him. Evidently, he was speaking out of turn and said nothing further.

“General, lets talk,” said Knightress to Cobalt Kid. Cobalt nodded and moved to the side, and without any one inviting him to, Timberwolf joined them.

Knightress looked at Timberwolf and then at Cobalt, waiting for his go-ahead to proceed in front of the master of espionage.

Timberwolf saved her the time. “I think she’s going to tell you what I have to tell you,” he said. Knightress looked at him in surprise. “We’re being followed,” he added. He then looked at the female knight.

“Indeed,” said Knightress, impressed. “For the last several miles now its become more evident. But he must have sensed we were on to him.”

“He did?” said Cobalt, surprised. It was hard enough realizing you were being followed, but realizing someone knew you were following them was impressive.

“Yup,” said Timberwolf, answering for her again. “I think he’s going around us. Trying to get in front of us and cut us off.”

“Which means he can move pretty quickly,” said Cobalt, and Timberwolf nodded.

“It means more than that,” said Knightress gravely. “It means he can somehow wander through a mountain pass where the air is poisonous. No one goes in and ever comes out again, not even the Bio-Mutants. Whatever is following us, its no ordinary man.”

Cobalt nodded. Someone of that power level was not unknown to him. But to be followed by one like that so early in the quest? That was a bad sign. “By the way you’re both talking, it’s just the one then, and it’s a male?”

“Yes,” said Knightress. “Male, though I doubt it’s a man considering what he’s walking through. Beyond that mountain pass are mutants and plant life that would gladly swallow up anything resembling a living creature. When ‘he’ emerges along our path, we should be ready for him.”

“We will be,” Cobalt replied, then adding, “we’ll move out in ten minutes, then.”

Knightress nodded and rejoined the others as Cobalt sighed and looked at Timberwolf. “I’ll keep an eye out,” said Timberwolf, anticipating Cobalt’s next words.

Some distance away, Tempest had joined the group looking at the ruins, also curious. “The eye seems to be the recurring theme,” she said.

“Yes,” said Lolita, “I’ve noticed it too. Tim has been counting for me the number of times we’ve seen it. Tim?”

“Six,” said Time-Teller Lad, nodding.

“Seven,” corrected Tempest, pointing to the clearing they were just in. Now alerted to it, it became clear to them that the clearing, when viewed solely with the concrete foundation, was in the shape of an eye.

None said it out loud, but all wondered if this was a temple to the rumored Dark Deity that was worshipped by the leaders of the Dark Oval.

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

The LMBers did not loiter too long at the ruins, planning to use as much of the daylight as they could. Cobalt Kid did not tell any of the others about the mysterious figure trailing them but it was clear a sense of urgency existed that previously did not. Already quiet, the Legionnaires became even more silent as a gradual foreboding overtook them.

As the long day transitioned to dusk, the foreboding became increasingly intense until at long last at the forefront of the column, Knightress and Helena Handbasket again came to a stop. As Rockhopper Lad and Time-Teller Lad came up behind her, Helena said sharply, in her command voice: “everyone halt!”

Immediately, Rockhopper Lad was alarmed. Helena had never been anything but courteous to him, and to address him to vehemently meant something was wrong. As LMB Leader, he quickly moved to the front of the column. “What is it?” he said firmly.

“It’s not good,” said Knightress, a look of pure horror and disgust on her face.

Rockhopper Lad moved forward and saw what had stopped them. “Merciful Dwyh…” he said, horrified of the sight ahead of them. “Tim, come no further. Take Hwyvie and go get Cobie and Lardy. Best the others don’t see this,” he added, wishing he did not.

Soon, as the commotion moved through the Fellowship, the rest of the Legionnaires came forward, deciding they could handle it, no matter how grim it was. Shark Lad, Timberwolf and Kalla Hrykos came forward and Shark Lad immediately came back, to ask Lolita to please not go any further, a genuine sincerity in his voice. She nodded and did not.

Cobalt Kid and Lard Lad joined the front of the column and soon saw the horror. All those who saw it would forever regret laying eyes upon it. Before them were five bodies, laid out wickedly in a ceremonial fashion, while off to the side a wagon once full of their belongings was now reduced to embers, engulfed by flames. Each body had been ravished beyond understanding.

The Legionnaires would eventually deduce that these five sentients were travelers trying to make their way from one city to another, bringing with them all of the belongings they had. They were all adults. Somewhere along the way, they meant another traveler, who recognized them as an opportunity to give the approaching Fellowship a sign of what awaited them.

The five bodies were gruesomely displayed, all murdered in a brutal way. The first had his entrails spilled out over the middle of the pentagram in a way that suggested they were carefully placed. The next, a woman, had been brutalized sexually, and the next, a man, had also been done so. Both were decapitated and their heads were missing. The next was crucified to a large tree, and not far from him, the last, was hung, the killer purposely making these two witness the horrors performed on the others. The horror was enhanced by the ceremonial nature of it all, as it was obviously done with a very measured approach.

“Bury them?” said Timberwolf at last, breaking the silence.

“Conflagration,” said Cobalt Kid in reply before anyone else. Cobalt knew burying the would not only take too long, it would also make it all the more difficult for the Fellowship to deal with what they’ve seen.

“I might be sick,” said Sir John the Carrggite, at last saying what the all felt.

Shark Lad and Timberwolf took care of the bodies while Helena built the pyre. “Where are the two heads?” said Shark Lad to Timberwolf under his breath so no one else could hear.

After the bodies were put in the fire, they began again, but this time with some deliberation. Tomar Te spoke for the other two knights when he approached Cobalt Kid. “We can’t continue on this path,” he said firmly. “Whatever did that to those people is waiting for us. Even with all our numbers, it isn’t wise.”

“But won’t going off the path create all kinds of other dangers? Killer fauna? Bio-Mutants?”

“Yes,” said Tomar Te. “But nothing like that.”

Cobalt took a deep breath. “This is about to get a lot more difficult.”

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

Up ahead, Titus waited for them, though he suspected they would not come. He had carefully deliberated how to send his message and ultimately chose a very old method of sacrifice he had practiced many, many times before. Robbery. Rape. Murder. With this act, he had performed a ceremonial prayer to his Deity, asking for a blessing on the quest to come.
 

---

Posted by Lard Lad on :
 
As the Fellowship moved along their altered path, they came along another set of ruins. The centerpiece of this one was a single raised platform. Lardy examined it and saw that there were many red stains on it. Dried blood, he knew. Some of it relatively fresh.

"A sacrificial alter," Tempest said from his side, startling him slightly but echoing his own thoughts. She shook her head and moved on.

At the base of the altar was an engraving of yet another eye symbol. Lardy couldn't help but recall his vivid, prophetic-feeling dream he had had aboard the merchant vessel. He thought of that burning single eye that seemed to sear his soul.

Seemingly unable to help himself, he reached his flesh and blood left hand out and touched the engraving. As he did so, his hand glowed purple. Startled, he jerked his hand away. The purple glow was gone as quickly as it had appeared.

Gods, he thought. My Lard Force manifested itself as a purple or blue glow whenever I used it...

Concentrating, he tried once again, as he had after having the dream, to express his longlost power. Again, nothing happened.

His hand shaking, Lardy reached out and touched the engraving again...

...In an instant he was back. Back on the torchlit stone path in the realm of absolute darkness from the dream. He looked around. He was alone again. The Fellowship had disappeared. But the altar had appeared with him. And there was someone on the altar now, unmoving. A woman. Lardy recognized her.

"L-Lucy?" he stammered. It was indeed Lucifer Lass, the same woman who had given him the necklace he was wearing. She also was someone he'd long come to believe was his sister.

He walked up and looked at her. Nothing was binding her to the altar. Her eyes were blank as if she were in some sort of trance. This was keeping her docile for an apparent sacrifice.

Before he could even think about getting her out of there, he saw the Eye hovering above her. It looked at him and, somehow, it spoke.

"Do it! KILL HER!"

To his horror, Lardy suddenly realized he had his sword raised, ready to deliver a killing blow to Lucifer Lass. Looking down, he saw he was wearing a brown robe with that Eye symbol emblazoned upon it.

"KILL HER!," the Eye insisted again.

"NO!" Lardy screamed and dropped the sword. "I won't do it!" With all of the courage he could muster, Lardy defiantly yelled, "You cowardly bastard! If you want her dead, you'll have to go through me! Who the hell ARE you, anyway?!?!"

A horrible laughter boomed through the void, so loud that Lucifer Lass roused from her trance. Lardy rushed to her side and started to pick her up.

Before he could, the Eye descended and blasted Lardy back from the altar. As Lardy watched helplessly, the Eye burned Lucy on the altar as she screamed.

Lardy screamed as well, but the sound was drowned by Lucy's dying cries and the Eye's booming, deafening laughter.

As it finished her off, the Eye approached Lardy.

"Who am I?!?! I am Death! I am Carnage! I am...YOU!"

Lardy screamed as the Eye turned into a fiery image of himself and resumed the booming laughter...

...Back on Antioch, Lardy withdrew his hand from the engraving and watched a purple glow again recede from it.

He stared at his hand for a long moment until suddenly a voiced roused him.

"Lardy?" said Cobalt. "Buddy, you're lagging behind here. Something wrong?"

Lardy considered not telling his friend for a moment. Considered pretending nothing was wrong.

No, he thought. No more secrets from him!

So Lardy told him about what just happened and about the dream he had aboard the merchant vessel.

When he finished, Lardy said, "Des, I think this Dark Lord is real, just like Power Boy said. Gods help me, Des--what if it somehow really is ME?"

Cobalt consoled his friend. Eventually, they caught up with the group.

They both had a lot to mull about as they awaited the dangers lurking in the dark wilds of Antioch.

[ April 25, 2011, 08:12 PM: Message edited by: Lard Lad ]
 

---

Posted by Faraway Lad on :
 
Webers World
Command Centre
1 day ago


“hold on” snapped Faraway Lad “what was that that about an attack on Daroon”

He rushed over to the small computer bank where a flustered comms officer was trying to keep pace with a host of messages coming in from the various parts of the UP.

“Play that message again” said Faraway

This is Dev Em of the LMBP. If anyone can hear this message, the moon Daroon is under attack and we need help. We are barely keeping ourselves from being overrun. There are Bugs of all sizes coming at us, and we are losing men with every wave. Please send help as soon as possible...we are cut off. They are taking the women and children prisoner, I'm going to try to find out where they are holding them."

“What is it Far” asked Crujectra moving to his side.

“Daroon, it’s under attack, I need to know how serious it is”

“But Daroon will fight them off. Dev Em is there and last we heard he had a pretty impressive guard of Daxamites on Daroon as well.” said Crujectra.

“I know” said Faraway, “but Dev’s kids and Lardy’s are on Daroon and I want to make sure they are OK. We’ve already had one attack on Helen, Helena and Hugh..

His hands flew over the computers, pulling information from various reports, at first they seemed unconnected but pretty quickly they started to bring a co-ordinated picture into existence.

“Well it looks bad” said Faraway pointing to the information he had recovered. Daroon is suffering heavy attacks but they appear to be fighting back” I don’t understand why they are attacking this small moon and leaving Xylar 7 alone though” He straightened up, his face grim, “I don’t think the UP has any more reserves left to go help them though, they may have to hold out for a while longer”

Across the room Mirenna had caught a look on Faraway’s face, and was worried.

“Well” continued Far, “we’d better go and wake the General, after all we promised we would let him know when the next attack went in” Mirenna gestured and an orderly ran off to fetch the General.

Crujectra turned to Faraway, “I’m worried about Cobalt and the rest Darden, do you think they are ok?”

“I’m not sure Princess” came the reply “I have all of my best men looking out for them, and if they can help them along the way they will.”

“As do I, your Highness” said Mirenna, “We who are left behind can only do what we have always done. We shall fight our battles as and where we can, and if by our small efforts we can distract the enemy and help our fellows then we will have done all that is needed”

“Sir” said the comms officer’s voice, “you wanted to know if any there had been any communication transmissions in the sub isengaurdian field, well I don’t know how you knew to look all the way down there, but we have found this”

A strange noise filled the command room, although hissing and distorted by the ultra low frequency of the isengaurdian field, they could all hear the series of clicking, chirruping and hissing that made up the Hive language.

Mirenna looked at Faraway, they had discovered messages hidden in this way before. It was a long time ago but the memories were etched in to both of their minds, and would never be forgotten. “Far” she said quietly so the others could not hear, “it’s not going to be the same, they wouldn’t I’m sure”

But Faraway’s face was now a set mask, barely concealed anger burned behind his eyes. “If it is, I swear to all the gods and devils that ever were that I’ll……..”

His words were interrupted by the arrival of General Maximus Bellasarius. “Gentlemen” he said as he took up his seat, “thank you for your help, but now I am back I need to know what is happening”

As the officers started to report to their general, Faraway turned back to the Comms officer, “I need those broadcasts translated” he said “and quickly”

“I cant sir, they are using a rotating genomic matrix to change the coding every 0.3 seconds, it’s almost unbreakable”

“Well try” said Faraway “I need to know what’s going on on Daroon”.

After minutes of work the comms officer looked up, “I’m still trying sir” but not a lot is translating”

“Well just tell us what you have got son” said Crujectra soothingly, “a little information is better than non”

“Sir, there are only two things I can say for definite” continued the officer, “one is that Daroon is under attack from two Hiveworld ships, the other is that Khanate, Hierarch ships are expected to make planet fall soon”

At this news Faraway staggered back a little. Mirenna reached forward to steady him, “its happening again Mirenna, you know what these Exarchs are going to do. It explains Dev’s message about the women and children”.

Faraways hands shook slightly as he steadied himself, and then turned to Bellasarius.

“General” he said, “I am afraid I am going to have to leave now, I have pressing business elsewhere, I’m sure Ambassadors Helen and Crujectra will be of great assistance to you in the next few weeks”

As he turned and activated the Faraway force he felt someone grab onto his neck, then he was gone.
 

---

Posted by Faraway Lad on :
 
Space
Leaving Webers World
Fast


Instantaneously Faraway was somewhere else. A large comfortable wooden panelled room, with rich tapestry hangings, good solid wood dressers, and bookcases ranged along the walls, in the centre of the room, fine leather chairs were flanked by small tables.

Unbalanced by the extra weight around his neck Faraway fell to the ground, for a second he was disoriented but quickly recovered and rolled away, was this an attack by the enemy.

But no, he looked over as Mirenna slowly got to her feet.

“Mirenna” said Far, “what, …Why did you do that”

“Because we need to,………Because I need to talk to you” Mirenna had stood back up by now and was getting her dress smoothed down and had started to brush her hair, already turning her self back to that poised, immaculate persona she showed on Webbers World.

As she did this Faraway thought back some 30 years to the last time he has seen her brush her hair like that. He thought back to a perfect moment, a moment when he had looked up from the bed they had so recently shared, and, as she had stood in the window of the small hotel room they had lived in for the past week he had looked at her naked body silhouetted in the morning sunshine and thought his life was perfect. They were both career diplomats, both high flyers and both so very much in love with each other. Faraway grimaced as he also remembered the rest of that day, and the long lasting fall out from the events he and Mirenna had seen and endured.

“Penny for them” asked Mirenna as she turned from fixing her self up, and looked at Faraway.

Faraways face hardened again, his voice took on a low modulation, calculated and clam, “you know exactly what I’m thinking Aphri” he said,

Mirenna blushed slightly as she heard him using his old nickname for her. “you haven’t called me that in a long long time Darden”

She looked around and noticed the surroundings almost for the first time, “so this is the infamous study?, where are we, on a pod on the outside?”

Faraway shook his head, “nope Aphri, we are travelling inside a dimensional warp space held in place by the biological excretions of the ambergris of the Dragonus Galaxian Supremisis. The same ambergris that allows this particular space whale to travel many many times the speed of light”

“So you’re going to Daroon then” said Mirenna, “despite the fact that we need you with us on Webers World”

Bellasarius is a good general” replied Faraway “I won’t be missed. Anyway, My friends are in trouble, and as I am no longer working for the UP I can go help them if I want to” even to himself it sounded petulant, Faraway hadn’t wanted Mirenna here, and now she was she was stirring up so many memories he had hidden away for nearly 30 years. “Anyway, you said you wanted to talk to me, well here’s your chance”

Before she started Mirenna moved to look at the books lining the walls, she wanted some time, she knew that she would only have a slim chance; she had to choose her words carefully.

“Darden” she began slowly, not turning to face him, not yet. “Daroon is well protected, it has Daxamites and it has Dev Em to add to the Kings own forces. There are other planets, other sectors that need help; that will need a hero to inspire them to fight back against the darkness”

She turned and took a step towards him.

“What happened all those years ago in Corycus Darden, we’ve learnt from that, it won’t happen again”

It was the wrong thing to say, it was too soon and she knew it, she saw his face harden again, the anger back behind his eyes. “Your right in one respect Aphri, it won’t happen again. I’ll make sure it never happens again, no matter what it takes, no matter what I have to do”

As they stood looking at each other a message came in from Webers World.

“Sir” said the comms officer “ I have managed to break a bit more of the code, just a bit. It’s coming in from off planet”

“Let me have what you’ve got” snapped Faraway.

Sir” the officer continued, “we know its addressed to Exarch Phillipus, and it has a lot around it that we cant crack but the message seems to say, ‘instigate the Mameluke Protocol’ I’m sorry sir, that’s all sir”

The study was silent, Mirenna knew she’d lost.

Faraway looked at her, “so they wont do a Corycus will they” he smiled but it was not a pleasant smile. “well you were wrong, just as you were back then”

Mirenna stepped forward again; taking his hands in hers she knew she had just one more chance to change his mind, she moved closer towards him, she held him closely and without thinking his arms wrapped around her slim waist. Her hand reached up and tenderly stroked his cheek, tears formed in her eyes. No more dissemination, no more half truths, just tell him. ‘Tell him’ she thought ‘just tell him why you don’t want him to fight this particular fight’.

“Darden please don’t do this, it is so obviously a trap. The only passage in the whole message we can translate and it just happens to be the phrase guaranteed to get you to drop everything and go there”

“Of course it’s a trap” say Far, “but the Khanate is going to learn a very special lesson soon, and one it won’t forget in a hurry. I won’t be trapped on Daroon with them; they are going to be trapped on Daroon with me”

Mirenna continued, holding on to him even more tightly, “Please Darden, don’t walk into this trap, please don’t, this is more dangerous that you can imagine you could die, I cant,……..I cant bear the thoughts of loosing you”

Faraway Lad gently disengaged her arms from around his neck, kissing her tenderly on the forehead, he stepped back. “you lost me a long time ago Aphri remember, after Corycus. You and I have moved on, heck I’m very happily married now and you have got what you wanted. Head of the UP Central Security Committee, chief of the Diplomatic Corps, you got what you wanted didn’t you and back then, well I guess I wasn’t what you wanted then, was I.”

“Now” he continued, “I have a job to do on Daroon and I think it would be best for all if you let me get on with it”

Turning to a computer terminal, he smiled, “Ah good in a few seconds we’ll be in range of Legion world you can get off here and return to Webers World”

“And how am I supposed to leave the study on my own” said Mirenna already recovering her composure and becoming the consummate diplomat again, a face as serene and unreadable as a marble statue

Faraway gestured with his hand to a door in the far corner, “go through that” he said, it connects to the tesseract system of legion world, you can easy get from there to the space port”.


Stopping as her hands rested on the simple round brass door handle Ambassador Mirenna Helen, looked back at Faraway, “Darden” she said, “please be careful, I have a bad feeling about this, we don’t know who has set this trap, nor what they really want”

Far looked up, seeing the genuine concern on her face he softened, just a little, “I will Aphri, I promise, and when I get back you will come and visit us as old friends should” he hesitated, “and Aphri, if,….if I don’t come back, please, remember the way we were, remember the good times we had together, not the arguments, not………” his voice trailed away.

“I will, I promise” she said, then she walked thorough the door and was gone.

Faraway sat down at the large leather covered desk and started to work on the terminal in front of him.

Telepathically he sent a message. “Horace old bean, full speed for Daroon”
 

---

Posted by Faraway Lad on :
 
Daroon
Now

In a few short hours the Dragonus Galaxian Supremisis had flashed across the dark deep wastes of interstellar space. As it entered the orbit of Daroon it came under attack from small Hive patrol ships. Although their small guns could not harm the majestic beast, they could sting and irritate it. Faraway could sense its pain and prepared himself as quickly as he could.

“Horace, old friend” he called telepathically “once I am gone leave as quickly as possible, they are going to bring up bigger ships soon and you could get hurt”

“No” came a vast ancient booming voice in his head “Friend Faraway needs help to go home”

“Not this time” thought Faraway, “on the surface below I either succeed or die, I am not leaving until the kids are safe. Now please go, I don’t want to have your suffering on my shoulders as well”

“I go” came the booming voice in his head, “you need me call I come”

Gulping deeply Faraway activated the force and landed on Daroon.

Looking around him he thought to himself “damable stupid powers, this is not the Kings Palace its miles away from it”

Then his next thoughts as you look around trying to figure out exactly where he had landed was

“Bugs!!, hundreds of them and they all seem to be coming this way”
 

---

Posted by Dev Em on :
 
Dev was tired. t was a different kind of tired than what happened to himduring the battle against the Red Bee. Then, he was nearly suicidal, although he had had a plan to survive...and by some miracle, it had worked. This was something that tore at his very soul. It was a mental tiredness from fighting wave after wave of bugs.

He continued to fight though. His family, along with Helen and her children were safe for the moment. The attacks had tapered off. Dev know that this was both a good and bad thing. They had lost all but one of the Royal Guards that had come with them, and he was injured rather badly. He would survive...if they could get him to help in time. The King was barely conscious, and the Queen was doing everything in her power to comfort her husband.

Helena was being kept occupied by Han Em. She was telling her stories of what animals really think about. She knew this because of her powers that were growing as she aged towards adulthood. Jon slept in the Princesses arms, and she simply gazed at Dev, worrying about him pushing himself to far, yet again. Helen held Hugh, as he slept as well.

Dev was at the opening of the cavern that they had found. There was a small pool of water that gathered from an underground stream that ran through it. He was listening. Listening to the chattering of the bugs. They were avoiding them at the moment...but Dev worried for how long.

Dev was also looking for a way out of the underground. They were sitting ducks down here, and he could only hold off so many of the bugs. Daxamite or not, he needed rest...and sunlight. Neither was available to him at the moment. He finally saw something that looked promising. A tunnel that lead up and out. It was blocked in a few spots, but he would be able to manage through that without too much of a problem.

He pulled out his Omnicom and tried to get a signal. Nothing. He slipped it back into it's pocket and walked over to the King.

The King eyes opened a bit wider as Dev knelt next to him. "It's bad. Isn''t it."

"That would be one way of looking at it."

The King coughed. "Can you get them to safety?" He said as he looked to Helen, the Princess and the children.

"I won't leave you here."

The Queen smiled a shallow smile. "It's not your decision Dev Em," she said and looked at her husband. "He isn't going to make it long enough to get the proper treamtment. His wound is already infected, and whatever those bugs have in their bites is working faster than anything than I have ever seen."

"I can take you as well though..."

She shook her head. "I won't leave him like this alone...not to face what he will do. Not when I can be by his side until the end. Besides, I got bit by several of the smaller nastier ones along the way." She lifted her dress enough for him to see several welts on her legs that were showing very bad colorings to them.

Dev looked away from her for a moment. "I can get them out of here, but I don't think there is a safe place to take them on all of Daroon. Plus, if I leave you here..."

The Queen lifted her right index finger to his mouth and placed it over his lips, like she was quieting a child. "We know full well what it means my son. It is our decision to make, and we can buy you some time."

"How? What can you possibly do against them?"

The King smiled. "I know...what you're carrying with you...in that pack."

Dev had almost forgotten about the 'gifts' that his brother had left him. He reached behind his back and fingered the explosives in it.

"I..."

"Take care of them. Protect them. She will need you more than she ever has before. Daroon will need you. To rebuild from this," the Queen said to him in something just barely above a whisper.

"What about her? How will you tell..."

The King stood himself up. "She knows already," he said and motioned towards her.

Princess Alyson was looking at them. Tears rolling down her cheeks. She forced a smile to her parents, and clutched her son a little tighter.

The last remaining member of the Royal Guard stood as well. "They will not be alone." He stumbled ever so slightly as he walked toward them.

Dev sighed. "Alright then. Here's what we're going to do..." he said, and proceeded to lay out his plan.

[ April 26, 2011, 05:57 PM: Message edited by: Dev Em ]
 

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Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
 
As the days drew on and the Legionnaires walked deeper and deeper in the untamed wilderness of Antioch—long ago poisoned by biological and chemical weapons and then mutated overtime—they fell into a routine of vigilance and road weariness. They had done their best to avoid battles with either the horrific Bio-Mutants who now roamed the countryside or the tainted fauna which had become predatory over the decades. But they could not avoid it forever, and so every day saw at least one minor skirmish. It seemed as if they were battling Antioch itself.

At last, three days into their journey after traveling along the path, they came upon an open clearing, where a small caravan of people were making camp. These Antiochan travelers were 'in between cities', and though at first they were worried and suspicious of the newcomers, upon seeing the standard of the Space Knights Templar they immediately welcomed them to the camp, delighted to feel a sense of safety and security, however briefly.

“We can rest and feast with these people tonight,” said Lard Lad to Cobalt Kid, who nodded back to him in agreement.

“It will be good to be around people who are not going off on a suicidal quest,” said Rockhopper Lad.

The LMBers all put their packs down and found a place to sit, resting their tired legs, though at first they were hesitant to join the group of people. Rockhopper Lad’s words were true—there was a solemn air between them because of the enormity of their quest, and they really hadn’t been good company thus far.

Finally, a young girl walked over to Timberwolf, holding a plate of food. “Excuse me sir,” she said, “but we were wondering if you were hungry?” She was smiling very widely.

Kalla Hrykos, by his side, seemed unsure of how Timberwolf would respond. Indeed most of them were. Timberwolf smiled widely. “I’m starving,” he said and he grabbed the chicken leg in a flash, and put it in his mouth and ripped off a huge piece. The girl laughed hysterically at this and Timberwolf soon devoured the piece in an even more animated fashion, also laughing.

And at last, they could relax.

They soon joined the others by the camp fire, taking in its warmth. The people were more than happy to share their food with them, though the Legionnaires felt bad about taking it—at first. Ultimately, they were starving for things other than rations, which was mainly dried meat, dried fruit and bread which quickly went stale. The feast was modest but to the LMB, it was pure bliss.

Rockhopper Lad approached the people and spoke on the Fellowship’s behalf: “Noble sentients,” he began, “we thank you for your kind offering for a band of road-weary travelers. I hope one day, we can repay you.”

The elder among them replied, falling to one knee. “It is you who honor us, Great Prince, for partaking in our supper,” he said, then adding, “and your presence here gives us hope that perhaps better times are on the horizon.”

Rockhopper Lad walked forward and put a hand on the elder’s shoulder. “Rise,” he said, and the man did so. “We share that same hope,” he said, and then released his hold on the man’s shoulder. The man was truly in awe of such an act. A small tear ran down his face.

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

The Fellowship partook in the feast and soon intermingled among the sentients there. They were in high spirits for the first time since they’d all gotten together at Weber’s World, and soon wines and other drinks were being passed around.

“Smoke?” said a young man named Bram to Cobalt Kid, holding out a basket of fresh tobacco.

“I will,” said Cobalt, adding, “but I have no pipe.” Bram handed him a small, modest clay pipe.

“Please keep it,” said Bram.

Cobalt felt very gratious. “I will,” he said, and then he handed Bram something from his cloak: a Nura Nal barette, which were standard items given to all LMBers. They were largely harmless but many of the LMB carried them as clasps since they were made of platinum. Now Bram felt honored.

“Since when do you smoke?” said Lard Lad with a laugh.

“Starting today,” said Cobalt and the two of them laughed.

Around the campfire, Power Boy was telling stories of great battles he had been engaged in, and he captured the total attention of Sir John the Carggitte and Tomar Te.

Not far from them, Helena Handbasket and Knightress were talking though it was difficult to hear what they were saying. Bye Helena's side was the plant she had brought all the way from Legion World.

“Helena,” said Lolita, across the campfire interrupting, “what’s with the plant?” she asked, not being able to hold back the question any longer.

“Ask your boss,” she replied with a shrug.

Lolita realized she wasn’t ever going to get a strait answer until the plant actually came into play. She turned to Shark Lad, who sat by her side, but away from the fire.

“So that’s the girl that loves Reboot?” he said, nodding to Knightress. “Wonder if he knows?”

“Aw, going soft on us, fishlips?” said Timberwolf suddenly from the side, “Or just thrilled that scary LMBers people can still be loved?”

“You know fleabag...” said Shark Lad, his voice growing louder, “just when I thought you couldn’t be anymore ugly…”

Lolita held Shark Lad’s arm to stop him from standing up. “Let him be,” she smiled, “and have some of this.” She handed him a cup full of a makeshift chum she put together for him.

Kalla Hrykos put her hand on Timberwolf’s as well, out of habit as this happened. Across the campfire, Tempest watched as it played out. She then turned, at first alerted by loud noise, but then rolling her eyes at loud laughter coming from Cobalt Kid and Lard Lad.

Rockhopper Lad and Time-Teller Lad had joined the two, as did several other sentients camping there. They were telling stories.

“It was the first time I meant him,” said Rockhopper Lad, “and I’d just joined the LMB. And he says to me: so many of us are joining at once, we’ll infiltrate them from the inside and they’ll never know it! I thought he was kidding,” he said with a laugh, “and the next thing I know, he’s leading a riot down Statue Way!”

Cobalt Kid let out a loud laugh. They were talking about Tamper Lad and the riots of 3006. “I miss Tamper,” said Cobalt, “above all else, he kept things interesting.” Cobalt took a drag off of his pipe. “He really hasn’t been an active LMBer, since…what? The Five Faces of Death?”

“Yeah,” said Lard Lad, “I remember he was there when I left the castle…and died,” said Lardy, but then trying to change the subject said, “I think he was with Roy when he regained his face.” Lard Lad stopped though, realizing he changed the subject to Sir Roy, who had just recently died on Legion World. It was a very harsh memory and still fresh.

“I miss him too,” said Rockhopper Lad to Lardy, and his words were sincere. “He gave me hope.” Rockhopper Lad and Lard Lad were once deeply in love, and even though they were no longer together, they had a deep bond.

“You haven’t really had a moment to grieve Lardy,” said Cobalt to his friend. “You should take that moment for yourself. I know he was your friend.”

“A fallen warrior?” asked Bram to Cobalt.

Cobalt nodded. “Yes,” he said in reply. “We’ve had many friends along the way who have passed. Some we barely got to know, like Frankie, and some who became great friends, like Sarya, the Emerald Empress. Some were just our allies, like Scipio or Danger Damsel…or even Roy…but it still hurt.” Cobalt now felt a stirring of melancholy himself, and he picked up the wine jug and took a long sip.

“I’m going to miss him,” said Lard Lad. “I always felt like he not only had made amends for his crimes, but he was constantly outdoing himself. Like one day he’d be a full-fledged LMBer.” Lard looked into the fire, but suddenly he smiled. “You know what I really liked about him? He had no sense of humor.” He started to laugh. “Honestly, he didn’t get any jokes…and then you’d explain it to him and he’d laugh—not at the joke but at the fact that he didn’t get it.”

Rocky smiled widely, “you’re right! He turned out to be such a sweet man…but he really had no idea what sarcasm was.”

Time-Teller Lad spoke up, smiling, “someone with a wicked sense of humor was Yellow Kid,” he said. “I always wanted to visit Earth for years and years and I remember when I was carefully planning my itinerary, Yellow Kid kept telling me I had to see the original headquarters of the LMB. That it was magnificent!” At this, both Lard Lad and Cobalt Kid both started laughing hysterically, knowing where this was going. “So when I finally got there, I did, and all I saw was this huge pile of rubble. I thought for sure, I was lost!”, he said, laughing as he was telling the story. “And then I see a small sign that reads Original Headquarters of the Legion of Message Board Posters—reduced to rubble by an attack by Yellow Kid and the Primary Colors Gang!”

At this, they all roared with laughter. “For someone who changed so much, you never once doubted he was pretty proud of blowing up our first headquarters,” said Lardy laughing.

A crowd was gathering as they all moved closer to the laughter. They were all in high spirits but could tell this was a cathartic experience for some of the LMBers.

“Looks that Kill Lad was another one,” said Shark Lad, walking over. “When I joined the LMB, being a massive half-shark, the media went crazy for a few days saying I was a crazed killer and couldn’t be trusted. So Seahorse, Crusader and others had to vouch for me in the media, saying they had vetted me and I’d proven myself. And then one night when we were all leaving the club, a reporter corners Looks that Kill Lad while he’s trying to sneak away and he yells back “I’m with you guys! I mean, really, a shark? Think of the kids!” They all laughed hysterically at this. “And then a few months later, when I ‘went evil’ for a time, they called up Paul to interview him and the first thing he says is “of course I predicted it!”

“You’ve got to admit the guy who recruited Britney Spears as a member of the LMB was a funny one,” said Lard Lad and they all kept laughing.

Cobalt sighed deeply—a happy sigh, yet he couldn’t help but fight a tinge of melancholy. So many friends gone. He turned to see an elder gentlemen, a bit away from the fire, who was holding a mandolin. “You sir,” he said to the man, and the crowd around them turned, “do you play?”

“Yes, song is needed!” said Power Boy.

“Unfortunately no,” said the man and the crowd let out a sigh of disappointment, “it was my wife’s.”

Cobalt nodded. “May I?” he said, walking over and picking it up when the man nodded yes. “Lolita?” he said, turning to her, as everyone watched him and now swung their glance to her. “Will you play for us?”

“Cobie, I’d rather…I’d rather not,” she said, suddenly feeling a little shy.

“You play the mandolin?” said Shark Lad surprised.

“She plays many instruments,” said Cobalt Kid walking to her, “and she does more than just play them. Please Lolita,” he said with a smile, “let these good people hear you play.”

She took the mandolin from him, cursing him under her breath so only he could hear. She sat over by the fire as everyone found a comfortable place to sit. Shark Lad sat next to her, while Cobalt Kid returned to his seat by Lard Lad, and smoked his pipe. She strummed a few chords, getting a feel for it. Her mind was the perfect machine for analysis and in a way, this transferred very smoothly to music. She had a natural gift for many musical instruments though this was something that none save Cobalt Kid knew about her.

She began to play and at once, every one of them were amazed by the beauty of her song, and overwhelmed by its complexity. At first they watched her in awe and eventually looked up into the night sky, or into the fire, or even at some of the others around the fire who they longed for. It was very beautiful and made them forget about their anxieties.

It went on for several minutes, and the conversation earlier about their fallen friends hung in the air still, though in a happier way as they thought about them. As Lolita reached a crescendo, she suddenly stopped.

She looked up and all eyes turned to her. “The next part requires someone to sing,” she said. Everyone knew Rockhopper Lad had the best voice among them, and so they expected her to ask him, but she surprised them. “Cobie,” she said, now taking the opportunity to put him on the spot, “will you let them hear your voice?”

They all turned to him and saw he was also genuinely surprised. He shrugged, obviously having no real desire to sing, but then said, “okay.”

“Can you actually sing?” said Timberwolf with a laugh.

“He can sing very beautifully,” said Lolita, as she started to play again.

And very quietly at first, then rising in volume, Cobalt sang a song in the ancient tongue of Antioch, a language he had learned years earlier. The citizens of Antioch were at first shocked and then overcome with emotion. He sang it beautifully, a song about lost loves and fallen friends, and a lifetime of loss tempered by a lifetime of good memories. He looked into the fire as he sung, making eye contact with some unseen force.

Lard Lad realized that in conversation, Cobalt Kid rarely showed a large degree of emotion, and normally took a very stoic demeanor. But when he sung, all of those emotions long held in check came out through his voice. Lardy thought of Sir Roy and other fallen friends. And he thought of his dead wife Dru, and even of Helen. And he thought of his kids and a tear rolled down his cheek.

They all felt the emotion of the moment; they all had similar thoughts.

Cobalt turned to Rockhopper Lad during a break in the song and nodded, and Rockhopper Lad then added his own voice, harmonizing for Cobalt, and immediately it lifted their spirits. It was beautiful and flowing and gave the song depth. Cobalt changed the lyrics accordingly, and the song became about adapting to an ever-changing world.

And at last, it was over.

They all sat there, silent, amazed at the moment they had just witnessed. Lolita was in state of half-shock, amazed herself, and Shark Lad noticed she couldn’t help but stare at Cobalt.

Cobalt was overcome with emotion but sat back down and lifted up the wine jug, drinking it deeply. When he was done, his former self reappeared. Lardy, to his right, and Bram, to his left looked at him.

“You shouldn’t hold that back, Des,” said Lard Lad, seriously.

“I know,” was all he said, and then he resumed puffing on his pipe and growing silent.

The night wore on, and afterwards most grew exhausted, making the way to their sleeping bags one by one. The Knights prepared to stand guard but Power Boy dismissed them, taking the shift himself.

And that night they had their first real good night's sleep since the quest had begun.

[ April 28, 2011, 08:38 AM: Message edited by: Cobalt Kid ]
 

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Posted by Faraway Lad on :
 
Daroon


Faraway ducked down behind some rocks, hoping the Hive soldiers had not seen him. He watched from a low hillside for a while with increasing horror as the army moved through a small wooded valley which contained little more that a single farm.

At the front and edges of the column strode large, vaguely mantoid like bugs. Large compound eyes on small triangular heads were constantly moving from side to side, scanning for danger. Three large powerful and viciously barbed ‘arms’ moved and twitched. As these soldiers approached obstacles the ‘arms’ simply moved on three hinge like joints and with a strength no human could match they would pull up the obstacle and rend it into small pieces. Faraway’s heart sank even more, if that were possible. He now accepted, despite his last vain remaining hopes, that this was not a conquest, this was a cleansing. The Mameluke protocol had indeed been activated. The Hive had been told to remove anything and everything that would keep this planet alive, the next steps would be a complete stripping of every plant, animal and mineral of value on Daroon, then the Hive would move on leaving nothing behind but a hollow empty husk. Empty that is, except for a new colony of the Hive. Hidden deep within the mining chambers left on Daroon would be the Hives last and most hideous ‘gift’

Now that he knew what to look for, it became easier to see detail amongst the seething mass of the Hive column and pick out what he knew would be there. In the centre, moving across ordered fields full of rich ripe crops he saw large, about two foot long, maggot like creatures, a foul leprous white in colour, the maggots were moving slowly across the fields, eating everything, plant or animal that came across their path. Although they were slow moving, these maggots were implacable and nothing seemed to turn them from their path. Around the maggots, rose a thick dank brown cloud, although Far knew this was no cloud of dust much as it looked like it. Rather these were more Hive drones. Small, only around three inches long, these locust type flying bugs, were following up the maggots, eating the plants the maggots had missed, and if a small mammal made a run for it, suddenly swarming on to the poor creature and devouring it until only the bones are left.
Lastly came a huge (almost twenty feet long and ten feet tall) beetle like creature, a luminescent green sheen on its carapace a surprisingly bright contrast to the jet black chitinous legs and the large ram like snout. The bug was busy digging its snout into the soil and ripping it up, piling it up in large mounds and leaving nothing but bedrock behind. Around it smaller beetle like creatures moved into position, hoisting their backs they sprayed the soil mounds with a white phosphorescent jelly, poisoning the soil making it useless. Making it ready for mining.

A scream attracted his attention, looking across to his right he saw two of the mantoid soldiers. They were detached from the main column to act as scouts no doubt. They had discovered a low building, a hide built from rough boulders. Quickly Faraway ran across the hillside towards the bugs, as he closed he realised that this must be the farmer and his family. A swarthy stocky man now stood, protecting as best he could a woman and a child of about 3, as Faraway ran to get closer he saw the man raise an old fashioned weapon and fire at one of the bugs. A loud boom sounded across the valley as the ancient projectile weapon discharged and one of the bugs heads vanished as the buckshot hit it.

“Damn” thought Far, realising the noise would attract other bugs down in the Valley.

The farmer had now turned his gun on the other bug, but it had been too quick for him, using two arms it had grabbed the Farmers gun and was trying to pry it from his hands, the farmer to his credit was hanging on, but he had forgotten the third bug arm. It swung against the farmer’s side, the sharp barbs cutting deep into his ribs.

Skidding to a halt, Faraway took a deep breath, he had to aim this just right or………

Pointing his arm, he pushed with the faraway force, once twice and a third time. On the first the bug’s two arms and the farmer’s gun vanished, on the second, the third arm disappeared, and finally the head of the bug went Faraway. Released from the grip of the bug the farmer collapsed in agony as thin green liquid sprayed out from the dead bug’s thorax.

A second scream rent the valley, turning to the wife Faraway was dismayed to see the first bug still standing, its three arms flailing rather aimlessly as its body struggled to accept the idea that its head was no longer there, in its struggles one of the barbed arms had caught the clothing of the child and she was being swung around in the air in the midst of the bugs death throws. Faraway threw himself into a rolling dive that took him right under the legs of the bug, firing upwards; he made the arms of the bug go away, dropping the child into his arms, he then fired again and half of the creatures thorax also disappeared, dropping the creature instantly.

Gently standing Far handed the crying child back to its mother then turned to the Father. He was bleeding badly and needed a hospital. Quickly reaching for his first aid kit Faraway started bandaging the man up as he did so the farmer reached up and gripped his arm.

Weak from loss of blood the Farmer said “thank you sir……….please if you can….. please save my wife and daughter, even” he coughed violently and warm red blood speckled his lips, “leave me and save them” he urged.

Saying nothing Faraway finished bandaging the wounds as best he could, then gave the man a strong sedative. As he stood he heard noises from the trees, what could he do? The man was not strong enough to live through a jump, the woman and child were now kneeling by his side, and he would be hard pressed to get them to move anywhere without the husband and father.

The noise grew louder then out in to the clearing came 6 more bug soldiers. They saw the family group and instantly ran to attack, barbed arms scything through the air in anticipation. Faraway attacked, two of the Bugs vanished, gone faraway. “Bad choice” thought Faraway “I hope they don’t materialise somewhere inhabited” realising that this time and with this enemy he could not simple move the problem to another location

The bugs were half way to them now, and Faraway knew that removing the head would kill them but might not actually stop them as these soldiers had very little brain and a lot of killing frenzy to maintain the body. He fired again, and this time two of the soldiers found themselves with out any legs. They lay there on the ground, their life juices streaming out of the holes where there legs used to be. But still they came on, crawling along, using the barbs on their arms to gain purchase and moving closer to attack. Faraway gestured again, and this time the heads and arms disappeared. The bodies lay on the ground, shivering and rippling but at least they could no longer move, they could no longer kill, rend, crush.

But this had given time for the last two bugs to reach him. The first swung a sharp killing blow aimed at Far’s head. Faraway ducked and jumped forward, rolling under the bug as before. Again he reached up and fired this time he sent all the bugs arms away at once, followed by its legs, as the creature fell to the ground Faraway was up and running this time to place him self between the last remaining bug and the family.

Arriving between the bug and the family he planted his feet firmly on the ground and looked at it. Grinning evilly Faraway said “well greenie, you’re all alone now, and I’m guessing a hive mind like yours won’t like that will you”

The bug had stopped moving now. High up in its triangular head the large compound eyes swivelled independently. One kept a steady focus on Faraway, the other looked across at the bodies of its swarm mates. It seemed to be considering options. Faraway stood tense, waiting. It was impossible to read any emotion any thoughts on that alien face.

Suddenly the bug stuck, two huge barbed arms swung in a pincer movement at Faraway’s head. Faraway dived forward intending, as before, to roll under the weak underbelly of the bug, too late he remembered the third arm, he saw it crashing down towards his head and actually felt it cutting deep into his shoulder and arm and then….the Faraway force automatically kicked in to protect him, it sent him 10 foot away across the glade

Standing across the glade dizzy with a loss of blood and an unexpected jump, Faraway tensed himself to attack the bug again. He staggered and fell to one knee, pain coursing through his shoulder; it felt like the whole side of his body was on fire. Through a haze of pain he saw the bug reach the still kneeling woman and child; he saw it raise all three arms ready to strike.

Forcing himself to stand Far gritted his teeth and shouting, hoping to distract the creature, Far raised his good arm.

Suddenly a blurred figure shot down from out of the sky, it caught the bug squarely in the centre of its thorax and pushed back away from the Family. As the creature righted itself twin beams of high energy shot out from the eyes of the newcomer and incinerated the bug As he did so another Daxamite landed beside Dev Em

“I have news from Kar Em” he said to Dev.

“Later” said Dev and turning to the family said “Hi, don’t worry, my name is Dev Em and I’m here to help”

“Dev” said Faraway “boy am I glad to see you”

Dev turned to look at Faraway, “so you finally decided to come join in the fun eh” he grinned “well welcome to Daroon” turning back to the family he said “don’t worry, we are going to take you somewhere where your husband can get help”

He walked over to Faraway and lowered his voice “Far, I’m glad you’re here, I don’t know what is going on or why the Hive is attacking us with such ferocity, but, to be honest, we are getting our butts handed to us on a plate, and some. When is the rest of the UP fleet getting here to help us kick these bugs off planet?”

Faraway grasped Dev’s hand “Dev, I have a lot to tell you, but not here, can you get us all away from this valley?”

“He can now that we are here Ambassador” said Kar Em landing silently beside them, “I too am pleased you are here, we may have need of you. But you’re right we need to get all of you out of here for I can see a few dozen more of those bugs coming up the hill towards us”


And saying that, Dev, Kar and the other Daxamites scooped up the family and Far and flew up into a bright blue sky heading towards…..the ground.

Faraway shut his eyes; he hated it when Dev burrowed underground like this.

When he opened them again they were in a cavern. Around the walls were a number of wounded people. A few of the less heavily wounded were cleaning weapons.

“Dev” said Far, “We need to talk”
 

---

Posted by SharkLad on :
 
SharkLad found it hard to sleep. For all the laughter the group had produced swapping stories of times past, he felt overcome by something else. Was is sadness? No. Regret? Perhaps. Jealousy?

He looked over at Lolita. She was even more beautiful in her sleep. SharkLad wished he could get past his suspicions of there still being something between Lolita and Cobalt Kid.

"Bah," SharkLad muttered as he got to his feet.

Grabbing a torch, SharkLad starting walking away from the camp, eventually entering the woods. He continued walking until he felt he was far enough away so as not to be heard.

SharkLad opened his mouth and let out a ferocious roar. He let loose a barrage of projectile teeth hitting trees and plants alike. He stood in the midst of the woods, his breathing heavy.

"Don't think I could have kept that in much longer," he said between breaths.

Suddenly, SharkLad was struck in the shoulder.

"What the sprock?" he said as he pulled from his shoulder one of his own teeth. "Who's out there?"

Another teeth came flying in his direction, but he ducked and it pierced the tree behind him letting out a fountain of orange sap.

"That's it," SharkLad growled, "You better come out here now before I start slashing everything in sight."

Another tooth came his way and then another. SharkLad dodged and ducked before finally letting out another barrage of teeth effectively hitting those teeth still coming his way.

"You got anything else?" SharkLad grumbled.

The orange sap continued to flow out of the tree behind him. Soon it reached SharkLad's feet. As soon as it touched him, the sap began to crawl up his legs.

"Now what?"

Frantically, he tried to free himself from the sap but it was moving quickly up his legs. He twisted around and thought for a moment that the tree was grinning at him.

"Here! Smile at this," SharkLad bellowed as he jammed the torch into the tree. It seemed to let out a howl. The orange sap stopped flowing, and SharkLad was able to free himself. He looked around. The trees and plants all seemed to be vibrating violently.

"Alright, I get the message. I'm outta here."

SharkLad used his sense of smell to find his way back to the camp -- he could never mistake Lolita's perfume.

SharkLad entered the campgrounds and made his way over to Lolita. She stirred.

"What are you doing?" she asked ever so gently.

"Nothing, sweetie. Go back to sleep."

Lolita rolled over and wrapped her arms around SharkLad.

"Just do me a favor, though," he said.

"What's that?"

"Don't piss off the trees."
 

---

Posted by Dev Em on :
 
Dev Em held up his hand for a second. "Wait a second Far, you need some help first. They are staying back for the moment, so we have a few minutes to get you patched up."

Two of the Kings physicians had been brought here by Kar Em and the four other Daxamites that had been with him. The King motioned for them to attend to Faraway Lad.

Kar Em held out his hand so that Far could shake it with his good arm. "It's good to see you again Darden. It's been too long."

"That it has Kar."

They shared a smile, thinking of the last time they had talked. It had been over dinner with Mirenna Helen and Faraways wife. Talk of past adventures had ruled the conversation.

Faraway winced as the Doctor cleaned his wound. "Wish this had been under better circumstances."

"Well, most of our get togethers have been under similiar circumstances..."

They continued to talk, Kar Em keeping Faraway distracted as the Doctors poked and prodded his wounded shouler.

Dev had wandered over to where his family was. "How are they doing? he asked Princess Alyson as he looked at the King and Queen.

"Daddy is not doing well at all. He is being strong, but everyone can tell he is loosing strength every minute. Mom is okay, but fading as well...it's just slower. The Doctors have nothing to curb the amount of venom that they have been exposed to."

Dev put his arms around her and gave her a hug, drawing her in close. She laid her head on his chest and breathed deep.

He kissed the top of her head, "I'm so sorry Alyson, I wish things had been different with us."

She looked up at him, "they still can be...it's not too late."

He looked at her and smiled. He looked over at their children, both now asleep with Helena and Hugh, despite all the noise and bustle going on around them.

"Maybe it's not at that," he said and hugged her tight again.

They were interupted by Loser Lad clearing his throat behind them. "sorry to interupt, but Big Daddy and his buddy want a word with you Dev.

Dev laughed a little. He turned and slapped his hand on Losers Shoulder as they walked towards Kar Em and Faraway Lad.

"I hate it when you do that..." Loser said rubbing hos shoulder.
 

---

Posted by Sir Roy on :
 
Winath, United Planets

“So why didn’t Lightning Lad go on this mission?” asked CJ Taylor, the LMBer known as Enigma, as they walked through massive grain fields that towered above their heads. He was hot, dirty and annoyed they’d been out there all day for the fifth day in row.

“Man’s got his own troubles on Legion World, ‘pard,” said Raging Bull, his companion. “I don’t like it none either, but it’s a job that’s got to be done,” he finished, tipping his cowboy hat forward to block out the hot sun.

The two walked through the Winathian wheat fields towards their destination, a remote farm in the middle of nowhwere. Winath was a longtime founding planet of the United Planets and was renowned for its vast farming resources, which often fed a huge majority of the United Planets and was essential to the UP economy. Because of this farming culture, it was not quite as advanced as some civilizations from a technology standpoint and did not have many cities. But the planet was of critical importance. Enigma and Raging Bull had been deployed by the LMB to investigate rumors of farm land being destroyed recklessly.

“Up ahead,” said CJ suddenly, stopping. “Something is definitely going on up ahead.”

“You ever gonna tell me your powers, pard?” said Raging Bull with a smile and a whisper. CJ just smiled. Known as ‘Enigma’, CJ Taylor’s powers had remained a mystery for many years now, though the LMB kept him on without ever asking, which dumbfounded a huge portion of the membership. Rumors from years earlier suggested he was a clone or alt ID of Eryk Davis Ester but that had largely been disproven and dismissed.

They crept up slowly, Raging Bull pulling out his lasso from his large belt. CJ cleared some of the wheat and in the distance they saw a large red house and barn. And to their shock, among two dead bodies and several slaughtered animals, were two Dominators and a small space ship. One Dominator was looking at an omni-com, while the other was spraying fire into the wheat, obviously preparing to destroy the entire large crop.

“Dominators? Here?” said CJ in shock. “They’ve never gotten so far into the UP, not even when they invaded Legion World!”

“It’s an act of war is what it is,” said Raging Bull. “This ain’t no typical farm vandalism,” he said, the implications clear.

CJ nodded, without saying the obvious: the Dominators were using home grown terrorists to destroy the Winathian grain supply, little by little. The effects, if unchecked, could potentially starve the UP and ruin the economy. “It ends here and now, then,” said CJ, and the two LMBers began to move forward.

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

Five minutes later, the two Dominators were tied in Raging Bull’s lasso, beaten and bruised. Their weaponry had been destroyed but their space ship remained.

“Dominator scum,” said CJ, moving the two dead bodies. “You made a gross error today though, when you let yourselves get caught.” As members of the Dark Oval, the Dominators would have critical knowledge the UP would find useful.

“Don’t even bother with ‘em, CJ,” said Raging Bull. “Sci-cops will be here to get ‘em shortly.” He turned back to putting out the fire, using an old hose. “Just about put out the flames…this farm should be okay if someone from Winath will come here and run it.”

“CJ?” said a Dominator suddenly, his eyes going wide. “CJ Taylor? By the Caste, imagine our luck,” he said to the other Dominator.

CJ looked perplexed. “Luck? Luck you got caught by Bull and myself? Yeah, sounds real lucky,” he added sarcastically.

The Dominator laughed a deep, throaty laugh that sounded disgusting. “Oh luck will be on our side,” he said. “You’re highly valuable in the Dark Oval, and out here, you’re largely unprotected. Our disk will grow to immense size when we bring back…”CJ looked at him oddly, realizing something wasn’t right, but Raging Bull had moved too far away for him to hear what the Dominator was saying. “…especially since you didn’t catch the third of us,” he added with a smile.

Suddenly a blaster fired at them all, and CJ ducked immediately, as it hit the barn behind them, causing it to explode in a mass of fire and debris. CJ rolled toward the wheat, cursing himself for the rookie mistake of not finding a third member. He pulled out his own LMB blaster, and looked around for Raging Bull who was nowhere in sight.

“Hahahahahahaha!” said the Dominator who was speaking before. “You foolish LMBers! We’ll be rewarded greatly—“ suddenly his voice was cut off, as the blaster hit him right in the face, causing it to explode. The other Dominator, who had been silent, felt immense panic as suddenly he too was shot. Evidently, the third Dominator didn’t want to share in the reward, and that made CJ nervous.

CJ suddenly felt something approaching from behind and rolled to his left, standing, as he saw the third Dominator moving at super-speed. This was not a typical Dominator like the others, but rather, an Unkillable, he thought, realizing he didn’t have enough time to fire. Suddenly from the side, Raging Bull emerged, tackling the Unkillable to the ground, and throwing his lasso on it. They rolled around, as the super-strength of the Unkillable began to get the upper-hand. “…lil help here, Ceej…” he uttered.

CJ jumped onto the Unkilalble’s back to pull him off, freeing Raging Bull, but causing the Unkillable to turn and grab him by the throat. Based on the its demeanor, CJ realized that even though the Dark Oval seemed to want him, some of its citizens were taking it to mean ‘Dead or Alive’. As the air was choked out of him and he looked to see Raging Bull still getting up from his feet, he began wondering if perhaps it was going to be end up being dead after all…?

And then suddenly two small beams of pure heat vision ripped into the back of the Unkillable, causing it to drop CJ and scream and in pain. In a flash, a blur of red and blue was seen by both LMBers and the Unkillable was picked up in the air and held by its own throat and the LMBer known as Space Ranger was above him.

Space Ranger looked grim, but dropped the Unkillable to the ground. Raging Bull and CJ dusted themselves off, both coughing and looked to see the Unkillable was dead. “Ranger, did you…?” began CJ.

“Poison capsule,” said Space Ranger, “he killed himself. Either he couldn’t face the dishonor of being captured or knew the punishment for having his mind read if he was,” he added. He flew down to them, his large cape bustling in the wind, as he looked at his most heroic in a the vast farm lands. “Are you okay?”

“We had ‘em,” said Raging Bull, a bit annoyed at Space Ranger’s quick entry and victory.

“I believe you,” said Space Ranger, reassuring him, “but I’m not here to back you up.” He turned to CJ. “I’m here for you,” he said.

“Me?” said CJ surprised.

“Yeah, what’s with everyone wanting CJ all of a sudden?” said Raging Bull.

“All of a sudden…?” said CJ in mocking taking offense. “I’ll have you know…” he trailed off with a smile.

“Cobalt sent me,” said Space Ranger, “and he said you’d need protection. Guess he was right. Those Dominators weren’t expecting you but they sure jumped at the chance to take you out.” They looked at him a bit surprised. “I know you two have been on this mission for a few days but I assume you’re up to date on UP News? Well, there’s some more LMB-centric news on the QT you need to know, involving the Dark Oval, and a select group of LMBers…”

“Why do I have the feeling,” said CJ, “that we’re not going back to Legion World right away?”
 

---

Posted by Lard Lad on :
 
somewhere in the wilderness of Antioch, the Contested Territories

As the Fellowship had again made camp after another long day's journey, Lard Lad volunteered for first watch, along with Helena Handbasket. After encountering various mutants along the way, the two were surprised to find this camp so peaceful. They took a moment to become acquainted.

"So," Lardy began awkwardly, "Commander Handbasket. Our paths haven't crossed all that often."

"I suppose not," Helena admitted, "even though I served as Chief Administrator during your recent leadership term, as I have in every administration since Caliente's."

"True. I left much of that stuff up to Cleome as my deputy. I spent most of my term after we defeated Phineas B. Fuddle cleaning up the streets with Cobalt."

"Mmmm-hmm," she smiled, "I coordinated the schedules with the Security Office details that served as the backup to you two."

Lardy blushed slightly. "Sorry, there. I mean no disrespect. I tend to be pretty...singleminded...in my goals. I'm trying to...do better."

"No need to apologize, sir. I do greatly admire your initiative as leader. I'm sorry that didn't cross over too well with the Security Chief job."

"Yeah, well..." He suddenly wanted to change the subject. "So...I read your file at some point. I see you defected from the Dark Oval during the Invasion..."

"Yes," she said abruptly, cutting him off. She didn't wish to rehash what she'd said during the briefing on Weber's World. "You really stirred things up with the Oval, didn't you? Beheaded Damyen Hrykos? Took some balls. No matter how his brother Collus and the Hrykosian political machine tried to spin things, many of us in the G.E.M. kind of admired you."

"Really?" he said, flabbergasted.

"Oh, yes," Helena smiled. "No one in the G.E.M. really cared for Damyen or Collus. Previous generations of Hrykos men had served with the G.E.M. as part of their military leadership cultivation. But not those two. They felt we were beneath them, and it showed in how they used us as little more than cannon fodder. No G.E.M. shed a tear when you killed him."

"Well," Lardy said, "it was an ill-advised thing for me to do. The consequences alone..."

"Don't be too hard on yourself. Your acts hastened the Oval's plans. Had the Oval not been forced to retaliate, the United Planets would have not been alerted to its threat level. It may not stand a chance as it is, but if it does, it will be because you made them show some of their cards."

"That's...a perspective I hadn't heard before," Lardy said, grinning slightly.

"It was said among the G.E.M. that you took Hrykos's sword?"

"Yep," Lardy smiled. "And I still have it!" He withdrew the sword from its sheath and showed it to her.

She looked haunted for a moment and said, "may I hold it?" He nodded and handed it to her.

As she admired it, Helena said, "legend has it that this sword was forged in pre-historic Elysia."

Lardy thought for a moment and said, "Elysia...your home planet, right?"

"Yes, that was its slave name, given by the conquering Hrykosians. With the new name they also took our history...our heritage. I've recently learned that my homeworld, before it was conquered, had been peaceful for nearly a millenium. Its people had long been at war, but they finally found their peace...until the Hrykosians came."

Helena paused and continued. "Once while serving with the G.E.M., I came across some drunk Hrykosian soldiers in a bar. Their tongues loosened and not realizing I was from Elysia, they told me the legend of the sword, how it was forged by all the nations of the planet to symbolize the peace they had achieved after millenia of endless war. When the Hrykosians conquered the planet, the Hrykos family seized the sword and kept it as a family heirloom to symbolize their crushing and repurposing of the colony they came to call Elysia."

"I killed Damyen Hrykos with that sword," Lardy said. "It was a clean, true cut. Poetic justice, I suppose." He nodded. "It should be yours. Take it."

"I...I couldn't. You...."

"I'm not worthy of it. You are. Take it with my blessing. Besides, I have another that I need to wield honorably, as its previous owner did." He reached into his bag and unsheathed another sword.

"It's beautiful," she said. "Whose was it?"

"It belonged to Sir Roy, one of the best men I've ever known. He willed it to me, and I received it soon after he died saving the Legion World Orphanage from the Red Bee. The last thing he ever did with it was to stick the Red Bee in his gut!" Lardy smiled for a moment, then bowed his head. "I've been afraid to take it out until this moment."

He looked up to the stars. "This moment was meant to happen, Helena. You were meant to tell me the meaning of that sword. I was meant to pass it on to you, so that you could bring honor back to it. And I was meant to honor my good friend by wielding his sword on this, the greatest of all quests!"

"You honor me, Sir Knight."

They bowed before each other and touched swords, symbolizing their kinship. They spent the rest of their guard shift with him sharing tales of the fallen Sir Roy and she with stories of various members of the Company she'd commanded who had died in battle.

Somewhere beyond the veil, the ghosts of those fallen approved.
 

---

Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
 
Weber’s World

Maya adi Lva, Prime Minister of the United Planets, was an extremely competent and capable politician, and even moreso, an excellent leader. Should the events of the last few days struck during a time when the UP had a weak chief executive in place, it very well could have spelled the end of the United Planets itself. Such was not the case now.

Maya adi Lva on a parallel world was an evil genius the like of which was seldom seen. Here, she assumed command of the largest institution in the history of history with a calculating measured approach and a calm, logical attitude.

“Madame,” said one of her attendants, “the planet Rimbor continues to ignore our summons. It’s likely as you suggested…” he began to say.

“…they’re holding out for the best offer,” she nodded, unsurprised. “Inform Ambassador Hranzer he’s going to Rimbor to sort out the situation there. I’m willing to put a 5 year blockade around the planet if they don’t cooperate and I know the gang leaders there won’t allow their export business to be disrupted. They’ll force the President to cooperate.”

“Yes ma’am,” nodded the attendant, as another attendant—yet another of the most brilliant minds in the galaxy whose merit had given them this internship—approached. “Madame, Ambassador Relnic sent in his latest report on the Braal situation. It remains distressing.”

“Noted,” she said, “tell him to maintain his efforts and give us an update in 6 hours. Any word on Khundia?” she asked.

“No Madame Prime Minister,” said the attendant, a genuine tone of worry in her young voice. “We will let you know immediately.”

Maya adi Lva nodded and looked at a wide screen of the United Planets. “What are they up to?” she thought. “I know with certainty that prior to their journey, Cobalt Kid met with the Khunds. Yet now they posture as if to join the Dark Oval. What game are they playing?”

“Madame Prime Minister,” said yet another attendant. “Princess Crujectra of Psyonia reported that Ambassador Helene is en route to rejoin her shortly. Still no word on Ambassador Coulthard.”

She shook her head. “Faraway Lad is an LMBer, Mikaal,” she said, “I expected he wouldn’t last long on the sidelines. Crujectra is needed to keep the arguing Senators at bay while we address the situation. Ambassador Helene has her own methods to servicing this crisis I’m sure. Just make sure they both get whatever support they desire.”

“Yes Madame,” said the Attendant. “Anything else?”

“Yes,” she replied, “where is General Bellassarius? I haven’t spoken to him in hours.”

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

United Planets Space

Bellassarius, General Maximus of the United Planets Naval Fleets, looked at his own series of monitors aboard the central spaceship in the Naval Fleet, The Argonaut. He looked grim, but calm. Like the Prime Minister, he was also a very capable and competent leader, albeit with his own flaws.

“Sir,” said one of his own attendants. “The Prime Minister is on the line.”

“Tell her I will call her back shortly,” he replied. “you can say I’m deploying another legion to Braal, but its all I can spare right now. I’ve informed the Captains that if Hazor reveals its true colors as the Dark Oval protectorate that I know it is, they have permission to engage.”

“Yes sir,” said the attendant, who then walked off.

The other navy men continued about their duties while Bellasarius’ second in command, an elder man named Kilrain, eyed his Commander. “Sir,” he said at last, “d’ya mind if I speak plainly?”

Bellassarius did not turn to face him, but smiled. “Of course,” he replied, “and you don’t have to ask me again throughout this crisis. What’s on your mind?”

“Sir,” said Kilrain, “you’ve taken a very careful and measured approach to issuing forth the various legions, and I think that is a good strategy. But I do think perhaps yer bein’ a bit to stingy with ‘em. You’ve still got a dozen legions simply just waiting in the wings. Why not use ‘em?”

Bellassarius now turned, his smile even wider. “Because I’m saving them,” he said firmly.

Kilrain’s eyebrows raised but he did not bite and ask.

Bellassarius continued: “I’m saving them for the Dark Oval—for when we invade. I’m waiting on Cobalt Kid’s signal, which should be coming within the next few days.”

Kilrain was genuinely shocked. “Sir…I-I…I don’t know what to say. Are you sure you can count on that? Is it really going to come?”

“Oh yes,” said Bellassarius confident.

“Well,” said Kilrain, considering his thoughts, “I can see how a counterattack directly at the Oval could turn the tide. But with all those men simply just waiting around, shouldn’t we put them to use now?”

Bellassarius looked up. “And once they’re deployed here it will be impossible to recall them—at least until their finished here. No, I need them ready for the Oval. Because once that signal comes in, we’re hitting the Dominators hard—and the all the galaxies will know it was me who finally crushed those disk-heads.”

Kilrain did not say anything in response and stepped back to his former position. But silently, he hoped to his God that Bellassarius knew what he was doing…and wasn’t allowing hubris to get the best of him.

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

Antioch, the Contest Territories

The Fellowship continued to move through Antioch, as the days dragged on and they grew colder, hungrier and lonelier while they moved further and further away from the United Planets proper.

“We’re back on the road now,” said Knightress to the others, “it won’t be too much longer now…I expect we’ll arrive at the space port by the end of the day. From there, we can travel off the other side of Antioch and move on to Sumra, where our headquarters is.”

“I can say with all honesty, I can’t wait to get off this mudball,” said Shark Lad.

“So our ‘long cut’ roundabout way has brought us back to the main road at last,” said Cobalt Kid to Sir John the Carrggite. “I hope it was worth it,” he added, noting silently that it extended their time on Antioch by at least two days.

“So do I,” he said, “bio-mutants and killer fauna has its charm, but it can only go so far.”

“Something isn’t right,” said Tempest suddenly. “I’m sensing some danger approaching…directed at us by an unseen force. Everyone prepare yourselves…”

And suddenly a loud horn was heard in the distance.

They heard a low thumping noise and only after several seconds did they realize it was the sound of multiple sets of feet approaching.

“It’s at least…300…no, 350 sentients approaching…” said Time-Teller Lad, counting the footsteps.

Cobalt Kid and Power Boy rose up in the air simultaneously and looked in the distance from the height. “Bio-Mutants,” said Power Boy. “But hundreds of them. I did not realize they organized like this…?”

“They don’t,” said Cobalt Kid. “Something is causing them to do this. Their mutated minds can’t even follow orders—they’re being influenced somehow. This isn’t good.”

The two of them rejoined the others below as Lard Lad saw Cobalt’s expression. He nodded. “We’re going to have to fight.”

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

Some distance away, Titus watched in eager anticipation, forcing his will upon the Bio-Mutants and causing them to stampede forward. At first the anticipation was part of the fun but it had gone on too long. Now he was ready for action, and the Bio-Mutants would do the job nicely.

He would not reveal himself to them yet…but hereafter, they would feel his presence. If they survived, they would understand what followed that feeling.
 

---

Posted by Power Boy on :
 
Antioch, the Contest Territories


The fellowship ran uphill. Moments ago, Cobalt Kid ordered the Knightress to lead them to a more defensible position. They made their way quickly through hills via a barely discernable path. Bushes and vines slowing them down.

Behind them, the Bio Mutants howled. As the fellowship ran, the howls came closer. At first they thought that a small group could easily outrun a large troop formation but, the Bio Mutants ran wildly, the swifter ones gaining on the fellowship.

Now the howls came from all sides. Trees and bushes surrounded the fellowship, making it impossible to know how many Bio Mutants were in the woods.

Lolita looked into the woods in the direction of a howl.

She peered into the bushes and saw, through the dark, a scarred and painted face, and eyes looking back at her. To her credit she didn’t start, she simply moved back and raised her gun.

The fellowship froze … as the leaves all around them shook. Timber Wolf drew his knives. Helena Handbasket waved her laser rifle at the woods.

At once the bushes all around erupted with Bio Mutants, screeching and howling as they lunged for the fellowship.

The next few moments were a blur of strikes, laser blasts, and parries.

It took three minutes for every Bio Mutant to end up on the ground.

‘Thirty Two’ Time Teller Lad reported.

‘Scouts!’ Timber Wolf barked ‘More will be on us soon.’

Cobalt Kid looked at Timber Wolf and gave a shake of his head in the direction of the woods. Timber Wolf nodded and deftly left the group moving quickly through the foliage.

Lard Lad looked stressed, he had been sleeping even worse than the others. He snapped ‘We fight as we go, they can’t cut us off!’

And they fought as they went. Racing to stay out of reach of the horde, hacking down whatever got in their way, Bio Mutant or plant.
 

---

Posted by Faraway Lad on :
 
Daroon

The Cavern


As Dev and Loser joined Far and Kar Em they could see the two of them deep in conversation.

“Dev, Loser,” said Faraway a warm smile lighting up his face as he saw his two friends

“How’s the arm Darden” asked Loser pointing to the heavily bandage arm swept up in a sling

“Sore as buggery” to be honest replied Faraway, “Still it could be worse, the doc has told me it’s not infected or poisoned”. His face was now serious as he turned to Dev “I hear the King and Queen are in a bad way?”

Dev stood silent for a moment, looking more at Kar Em and making sure he could not be overheard he said slowly, “I’m not sure, a lot depends on how strong they are, we don’t know what the venom is so, with the facilities we have here, we can’t manufacture an antidote. Without better medical treatment they could die”

Faraway reached up, his good hand rested lightly on Dev’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, I know you have had some issues with them in the past but I hope they make it through”

“Look guys” said Loser, “does anyone know what’s going on? I mean all we know before communications with the outside world were cut off is that someone tried to kill Lardy’s kids, then when we got them here for safety, all of a sudden all hell broke out and we find ourselves in some cheap horror holo surrounded by maddened death dealing bugs”

Quickly Faraway and Kar Em filled them in on what was happening in the UP and beyond. Faraway held back the information about the fellowship not wanting to worry Loser and Dev Em even more.

“So” said Kar Em, “do we continue to hole up here like frightened rats or do we go over to the attack and kick the Bugs and the Khanate off this rock”

Faraway smiled, “Still the fighter eh Kar?, he jested “I always wondered why you got into the diplomatic game”

Wincing with pain as he turned, Faraway took hold of a piece of wood and started drawing a rough map on the dirt of the cavern floor.

“We will attack” he said, “but” he continued “we will attack the brains controlling this invasion the real reason why this attack is so massive. We are going after the Exarch!”


“You’ll never get to him through all those bugs he has milling around” said Loser aghast.

“We will” said Faraway with a cold hard edge to his voice that Loser had never heard before, “and if the Khanate is doing what I think it is doing, well getting through the bugs is going to be the easy part of the whole event”

Loser looked over at Dev who shrugged his shoulders as if to say I’m as much in the dark here as you. Loser muttered under his breath, “if getting our assess handed to us every time we fight the bugs is easy I am so not looking forward to the hard bit”

“Look” said Faraway “The Hive is fighting as if it has all the Devils in Hell driving it forward with whips, I need to know why! I need to know who is controlling things, who is responsible for this”. He pointed at the map with his stick, “the only way to do that is to ask the Exarch and that is exactly what I am going to do, with or without your help”

“And I suppose you have a cunning plan to sneak us in to this Exarch’s compound unnoticed?” asked Loser, already bracing himself for the answer.

“Sorry Bill” replied Faraway, “We don’t have time for anything subtle. If we are going to stop them doing it again” and with this he shot Kar Em an enigmatic look, “we just have to use blunt, bludgeon force”

Dev Em alone had noticed that look and he was surprised and a little concerned to see Kar Em’s face blanch and the colour fade a little.

Kar Em looked at Faraway and said one word “Corycus?”

“Yes” replied Faraway, “that’s why they are taking the mothers and children”

“Then” said Kar stepping forward and gripping Faraway good hand, “You have as much support as I can give. All my Daxamites are at your disposal, just tell us when and where” following this he whispered in Faraway’s ear, “How many will we face?”

I don’t know” replied Far, “given the time scales since the first prisoners were taken, maybe a third, possibly half a regiment?”

“Gods have mercy on our souls” replied Kar, “that many?”

“Father” Said Dev. And too late Faraway remembered you can never whisper a secret in front of a Daxamite, “what is we are facing, you look scared”

Before Kar Em could answer, a scream echoed around the chamber. The four spun around to see pouring out of a small crack in the caverns walls, thousands on thousands of small spider like bugs, they swirled around the wall of the cavern like an inky black liquid. The survivors were already firing blasters at the creatures who died by the hundreds, but hundreds more flowed into the cavern to take their place.

“Protect the King and Queen” cried the remaining soldiers as they split and one group formed a defensive circle around the Royal Couple whilst another formed spontaneously around the kids.

Without thinking, Dev and Kar Em flew to the protection of the children as they did so other Daxamites joined them, soon the spider like bugs were being fried by heat vision, or simple squashed underfoot.

Faraway and Loser had joined the group defending the King and Queen. Faraway was grimly and methodically blasting huge swathes through the spider ranks, sending them faraway. Loser gestured and a large spider tripped up and the dozen or so behind fell over it. As they struggled to right themselves a guard blasted them to a charred mess.

“Far” gasped Loser, “where are these things going when you send them away?”

“Well if I’m right, they are materialising about 30 yards up, in the middle of solid rock” said Far blasting another large group.

“And if your wrong” said Loser

“Well they are on the surface looking for a way to get back down here to us”

“Great” said Loser gloomily.


Later


After the battle the survivors were slowly sweeping up the remains of the spiders and pushing the bodies down into a deep chasm at the rear of the cavern.

The king had managed to sit himself up and was talking to Dev and Kar.

“Were any of my people hurt in this attack?” he asked.

“No your majesty, not this time” replied Kar, but all of my Daxamites are weakening, without exposure to Sunlight we will soon be of no more use to you than any other of your subjects”

It was true thought Faraway, he could see Dev was physically swaying with the effort of just standing unless he got rest soon he would pass out. Across the cavern floor he could see Daxamites sitting, kneeling, absolutely exhausted. Even more worryingly he could see that Kar Em had received a cut to the forehead and was bleeding. Without sunlight they were loosing their power and without Daxamite power he would never get through to the Exarch.
 

---

Posted by Power Boy on :
 
Antioch, the Contest Territories

Tempest looked over the bodies of the Bio-Mutants from the latest raid. She sighed, tired. As the fellowship marched, the raids became more intense. First, the Bio-Mutants were easy to shrug off. But, with each raid more and more came, and they were stronger with each raid. This horde of Bio-Mutants was made of the misshapen, marked with strange colors, some with horns, some with beaks, others with wings like bats. They carried weapons, used claws or fists. The horde of Bio-Mutants threw themselves at the fellowship with some sort of disturbing vigor. Tempest couldn’t place it …

“I’m NOT scared” Lolita nearly shouted at Shark Lad.

“Lolita, your hands are shaking” He replied.

“That’s it” Tempest spoke loudly.

“That’s what?” Lolita replied.

“They’re scared, the look in their eyes, the way they throw themselves at us, they’re not mad, they’re terrified. It’s like they’re running from something.”

“I’d really like to meet whoever it is a horde of Bio-Mutants is afraid of.” Power Boy’s voice cut through the conversation.

Time Teller Lad looked uncomfortable “Well I certainly wouldn’t” He couldn’t tell if Power Boy was being serious or not.

“Tempest is right, something is driving them”, Lard Lad agreed. Tempest and Lard Lad shared a long look.

The Knights cleaned their weapons, and Knightress stepped over a moaning Bio-Mutant. “We are almost to the fort”, she pointed to a nearby hill.

Kalla’s voice was biting “About time, I’m tired of getting Bio-Mutant all over me”

Timber Wolf helped up Tomar Te, After a wince Tomar Te said “There will be supplies there, weapons, food, and bandages for those that need them.”

Timber Wolf had recently rejoined the group, Cobalt Kid had tasked him with hunting Bio-Mutants. The horde came at the fellowship, and Timber Wolf came from behind the horde, picking them off efficiently, then he would slip back into the forest to await the next raid.

“Quickly then, to the fort” Cobalt said as he strode toward the fort.

Tempest wrapped her cloak around her and followed.

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


The fellowship rushed toward the fort, muck and vines tripping them as they climbed. Another volley of Bio-Mutants raced after them.

Fwoot!! An arrow struck Shark Lad’s shoulder. “Seriously? An arrow?” He plucked it out of his thick hide, more annoyed than injured.

More arrows came at the fellowship. Then, a few blasts of energy whizzed by. The fellowship came to an abrupt halt, from sprinting to bumping into each other as they reached the gates of the fort.

“We’ll need a moment to unlock the gate!” Shouted Sir John the Carggitte.

“Would you like some tea as well??” Kalla laughed, surprise in her eyes. “We are in a bit of a hurry here.”

The horde of Bio Mutants paused, and stepped no further, a stray arrow or energy blast still came at the fellowship but was easy to dodge.

Helena’s voice came out raspy “They’ve stopped? Stopped?” She looked at Lard Lad who merely stared at the horde.

They watched as the horde began to part. Hoots and hollars came from the crowd. A huge lumbering shadow moved forward. As it got closer, the fellowship could make out a massive figure underneath a cloak. It had cleared the horde now and continued up the path. Hoofed feet struck the ground, the tips of horns became visible from underneath the hood of it's cloak.

“A little bit faster Sir John!” Helena said without taking her gaze away from the monster.


Cobalt Kid said “Power Boy”

Power Boy stood, stoic for a moment … and then blurred … towards the creature.

The next thing the fellowship could make out was Power Boy against the creature … in struggle. Power Boy grunted “hmmph ... quite strong”

Rockhopper Lad spoke from the group, “Tempest may I borrow you for a moment, let’s keep the rest of those bad men off of Power Boy”. Tempest held out her hand and Rockhopper Lad took it in his. Then the air changed.

It was hard to notice at first, and then above the fellowship … enormous clouds of white congregated. The huge mass of clouds moved towards the assembled horde, from above the fellowship, it moved to above Power Boy who was locked in combat, and then on, the massive white storm clouds finally reached the horde of Bio-Mutants.

And the Bio-Mutants screamed. Wind and ice thundered as it threw the crowds away from the fellowship. Bio-Mutants went flying or were frozen where the stood. The storm raged, as Rockhopper Lad and Tempest hurled the fury of the elements at the horde, they tumbled away like toys.

Helena watched Power Boy’s struggle. She nearly raised her laser cannon and then she laughed quietly to herself …. “He’s just playing around” she realized.

CRACK! Went the large creature’s knee. SNAP! Came a sound awkwardly from the large creatures neck as Power Boy landed carefully placed blows. Power Boy’s movements came more elegantly than before until finally he let the enormous beast man drop to the floor.

“Clear” Announced Sir John the Carggitte as the gates flew open.


Cobalt Kid saw the others faces as they entered, visibly relieved and proud of themselves, after being chased for so long, a victory felt good. However, He also saw the grime, this fellowship was tired, frayed around the edges.

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

An hour later, everyone sat around a large table in the common room. The fort turned out to be quite small, about the size of an inn. There was a large common room and a kitchen on the ground floor. A few bedrooms upstairs, and a storage basement filled with weapons downstairs. Tomar Te and Knightress had just returned from the basement, arms full of flash grenades, laser riffles, and various gadgets.

Lard Lad and Cobalt Kid stood at the head of the table. They studied a map laid across the table. Cobalt finally spoke

“Allright, now that everyone has had a chance to catch their breath, here’s what we’ll do.” “There’s a series of tunnels that run from the basement to the other side of the hill, from there it’s a straight run to the space port. We’ll rest and then move out via the tunnels, leaving the remaining Bio-Mutants sitting outside the fort.”

Meeting adjourned, everyone got up from the table.

Cobalt admired the group and put a hand on Lardy’s shoulder. Lardy said quietly “They work well together, despite all the drama, the romances, the old conflicts .... they make a hell of a team. All business when it comes to fighting Bio-Mutants." He chuckled and then looked sad

"It’s a shame we have to use them so hard.”

Cobalt Kid shook his head “We’ve no other choice.”

[ May 06, 2011, 02:00 AM: Message edited by: Power Boy ]
 

---

Posted by Faraway Lad on :
 
Daroon

The Cavern

Hours later. The cavern has just fought off its 4th wave of attacking spiders.


However, now they have a breather, and there have been no attacks for at least half an hour, giving the defenders time to once again sweep up the mangled squashed remains of the bugs and deposit them into a deep canyon at the back of the cavern.

The walking wounded have been treated for minor bites and cuts and fortunately none of these appear to be poisoned. Yet all and especially the Daxamites were exhausted.
Around the walls teams were busy sealing off various cracks and crevices. Sets of listening and seismic monitoring equipment had been set up to try to give early warning of a future attack.

Faraway and Loser stood in a corner watching the activity around them. Across the way a little Dev was resting with his children, playing with them and Princess Alyson and seeming for all the world like a normal family on a picnic.

“Here they come again” shouted one of the listening teams.

“Persistent little buggers, aren’t they” said Loser as he braced himself for the attack.

“Listen” said Faraway, “this sounds different”

Now they could hear clearly and without the sophisticated listening equipment a low rumbling noise something was coming through the walls and it was big. In fact the cavern was shaking, pieces of rock breaking free and falling to the ground causing swirls of dust to fill the room.

With a mighty crash a huge section of cavern wall collapsed leaving a hole some 30 foot in circumference, Loser could briefly see through the clouds of dust a large beetle like creature retreating back through the tunnel it had made. Then large solider bugs burst through and started to attack.

As Faraway and Loser started to attack Far just had time to notice large, dog sized, scorpion like creatures mixed in with the Mantoid Bugs. Worryingly he also saw that these scorpions were ignoring all but the Daxamites and were attacking them in increasing numbers.

The numbers attacking them were immense, Faraway was desperately defending himself, he had lost sight of Loser, and could not see the King or Dev and the Children, all sense of order had been lost, it literally was every man for himself, and the bugs were winning. From all over the cavern Far could hear the screams as Daroon soldiers, and civilians fell under the onslaught.

Far could sense rather than see that this attack was being very cleverly coordinated, he saw through the thick of battle that he, Loser and most of the Daxamites were being moved to one side. The bugs were trying to get to the King!!

“Rally to the King” he shouted, “Rally to the King”

Powerful heat beams flashed from the Daxamites eyes and a path was cleared for a few seconds.

“Follow me” shouted Non Gand as he rushed forward,

“Wait” shouted Kar Em.

But it was too late. And then Faraway saw it, he saw just how weakened the Daxamites had become, how much they needed to get back into the sunlight.

Three Mantoids lunged at and caught Non. Shocked Far realised he could see blood under the barbs of their arms as they held him motionless for a second, then one of the scorpions scuttled forward and stabbed at Non with its stinger. Incredibly the stinger plunged deep into the Daxamite, breaking what was supposed to be invulnerable skin, the tail pumping venom into Non.

Non Gand cried out in pure agony as liquid lead was injected into him. In seconds it was over and the Mantoids dropped his dead body onto the cavern floor.

“Nooooo” shouted Kar Em and he charged straight towards the bugs, he was running on pure adrenalin now and hundreds of the creatures were being dispatched by blows, kicks and short sharp heat vision blasts.

Faraway and Loser had also charged forward, “Go for the scorpions first Bill protect the Daxamites” shouted Faraway as he blasted huge gaps in the bugs line, sending them deep into hard crushing bedrock.

Slowly, almost unbelievably the Hive soldiers started to be beaten back. The attacks became less ferocious.

“We are doing it Far” shouted Loser “we’ve scared them off they are retreating”

“Impossible” snarled Kar Em as he despatched another bug. “These drones have no self will, if the Hive mother tells them to attack to the last one they will do it”

But now there was no doubt, the bugs were returning down the tunnel, leaving the cavern. As the LMB’ers continuing pushing them further back Faraway suddenly saw standing in the entrance to the tunnel a small, slender and no more than three foot tall figure.

Although obviously insectoid, this was also obviously female.

“is that” whispered Kar Em “is that really...”

“A Princess? Yes” replied Faraway. “Many years ago when humanity first encountered the Hive, there was almost no way to communicate with them, after all how do individuals cope with concepts that only apply to hive minds. After a few incidents though these Princesses appeared. They seem to be a sort of conduit for the Hive Mother to negotiate with the UP, and they seem to act as generals as well. It not often we see them in the flesh though”

The Princess seemed agitated, looking around as it expected to be attacked, it gestured toward Faraway and Kar Em, who slowly walked closer.

“Careful” hissed Loser “it could be a trap”

Looking up at the two the Princesses mandibles moved and from a small translation box on her neck came a pleasing soft female voice.

“I take Hive away” she said “Hive mother.........wrong. Dark Lord drives her”

And then with that, soft delicate gossamer wings appeared and she flew away down the tunnel, leaving..........silence.

“Well” said Kar “how can that be? How can part of a Hive mind show independence like that?”

“More worryingly” said Far “what power can force a Hive Mother to do its bidding, and who or what is this Dark Lord?”


Dev Em moved next to Faraway

“Far, let’s get up this tunnel to sunlight whilst we can, you saw how weak we are, what happened to poor Non, We need to build our strength up if we are to help you and get the King and Queen to a working hospital.

Slowly at first the survivors walked up the tunnel, expecting an attack at any moment. But nothing came.

At last they emerged into a bright sunlit day. Many of the Daxamite threw themselves down on the charred grass, enjoying the feeling of sunlight, feeling the strength and power returning to them. Dev turned to see how the King was doing.

Faraway stood to survey the surroundings. Just a few scant miles away he could see a large mass of bugs surrounding a landed space shuttle and a large industrial looking building. It was the Exarchs ship. So close.

Suddenly there was a buzzing from the sky, down swooped a swarm of large bee like things, these though were a misshapen mockery of a bee, they reeked of evil, on the back of each a small patch seemed to give the impression of an oval, or an eye perhaps. The swarm settled on Hugh and Helena and carried them up, the children crying in fear, up into the sky before heading straight towards the Exarchs ships.

A Daxamite stood and started to fire heat vision at the swarm already half way to the shuttle.

Quickly Dev Em moved across and hit him “don’t” he shouted, “the children will be killed if they fall from that height”

“Don’t be too hard on Eltro” said Kar Em “before he came to this hell hole with me he was a trade clerk not a military strategist”.

“Sorry guys” interrupted Faraway “we need to move and move now. Based on my estimates they could have Lardy’s kids in the conversion facility in Ten minutes we have to stop that at all costs”
 

---

Posted by Faraway Lad on :
 
Instantly Dev Em Loser and Kar Em were by his side. Half a dozen of Kar’s Daxamites were also ready.

But before they could leave.


“No!!” came a frantic voice from the tunnel entrance. Helen had hobbled forward and was looking over at the disappearing swarm.

She turned on Faraway her hands beating wildly, frantically on his chest, clawing at his face in terror and frustration. “You said you would look after them, you promised me, you told Anthony they would be safe” with each word her hands beat at Faraway. Eventually almost as soon as it had started Helens rage subsided. She buried her head into Faraways chest and started to sob loudly. Softer now, she repeated “you promised, you promised, and now they’ve gone you....you liar” Having no words, because what she said was true, he had failed, failed to keep them safe, Faraway said nothing, his good arm held Helen tight until the sobbing eased off.

Dev reached tenderly across and slowly disentangled her from Faraway, “Helen” he said gently “we are going to go and get them back, I promise we won’t come back without them” Dev beckoned over to Princess Alyson, “please take her, look after her until we return”.

Alyson took the weeping mother over to where her own children sat and helped Helen sit down.

Dev looked at Faraway and his father, he knew them well enough, especially Faraway to know that a little piece of this jigsaw was missing, somebody was not telling him everything and the security officer in him hated secrets.

Looking around at the gathered rescue party he said nothing other than “ready?”

Ready came the reply

“Then let’s go get those kids” and with that the party took off chasing the swarm as swiftly as they could in their weakened state.

[ May 06, 2011, 01:19 PM: Message edited by: Faraway Lad ]
 

---

Posted by Faraway Lad on :
 
Flying as quickly as only Daxamites could, they had almost caught up with the swarm.

Unfortunatly it was just a fraction to slow and too late, the swarm had disappeared into the factory building.

Swooping low to try to gain entry into the building the Daxamites flew too low, Khanate ground artillery opened up, and they were knocked out of the sky. As Khanate troop started to fire blasters at them from behind defensive Zareba’s the hive bugs jumped up and onto them dragging them all down to the ground.

Rolling away Kar Em quickly regained his feet and started to fight. Next to him stood Faraway and Loser.

“We have to get to that building” shouted Faraway, “and quickly”

But it was taking too long, even with all of the Daxamites they were only moving forward at a very slow pace.

“Watch out” shouted Loser “here come those Scorpion things again”

But this time under the power of the sun those stingers could not penetrate the toughened skin of the Daxamites. Of course Far and Loser were not invulnerable so had to be on guard to avoid a sting.

Behind the Bugs Faraway could see troops of the Khanate setting up heavy duty field blasters and rocket batteries as a second line of defence should they break through.

Fighting with all their might the Daxamites struggled forward against the bugs and now shots from the Khanate.

It was useless, sheer weight of numbers was delaying the rescue squad.

“Far” called Kar almost covered from head to toes in bugs “we’re not going to make it, Lardy’s Kids are going to be converted”

“Never” thought Faraway “I’m not putting Anthony through that after all he’s faced, not as long as I have breath in my body”

Even as he thought of his friend, a strange strength seemed to flow through his tired body. Just for a second Far thought he saw a faint purple glow run fleetingly along the back of his hand. Then all around him seemed to turn to slow motion, all sound ended. As he turned he could see his friends, starting to falter under the onslaught. A huge power built up inside of him and rather than try to control it in anger and frustration and because he could sense he was failing he lashed out with all of it, all at once. There was a momentary sensation as if the world had turned upside down and inside out at the same time. For a second everything all light even gravity ceased to exist. Then with a large whooshing sound it all came rushing back in, knocking Faraway and the rest to the ground.

“Wow” said Loser, rubbing a bruise on his head, “what did you do?”

“Never mind that” said Dev in awed tones, “where have all the bugs gone?”

As they looked around they could see.....

Well nothing but bare rock for miles around, except the rescue squad slowly getting back to their feet

“Later” shouted Faraway already running as fast as he could into the factory. Swiftly followed by the others.


Hundreds of light years away, in the deep dark silence of space a space ship moved slowly forward heading towards a small blue sun system. As it did so it nudged aside a huge field of dead Bugs and Khanate troops. The thousands and thousands of bodies danced a strange, silent, macabre minuet with the ship’s hull, hitting it and bouncing off and floating away in various directions.


As they all ran into the factory Faraway was relieved to see Helena and Hugh still standing there, all alone, staring at a large hole where machinery had obviously until recently had stood.

Loser ran over to them and quickly scooped them up into his arms “Their OK Far” he said “A bit cold but ok”

“He right” confirmed Kar Em, after giving them a check over with his x ray vision, there’s no signs of any........” he gulped a sigh of relief “No implants of any sort, they should be OK”

Hugh looked across at Dev “Uncle Dev” he said “We don’t like it here, those bugs are horrid, can we go home now”

Swaying, hardly able to stand after his exertions Faraway looked across to Loser “Bill, Dev take an escort of a couple of Daxamites and get these two back to Helen as fast as you can ” reaching out to grab hold of Losers arm he said with urgency “Don’t let anything happen to them Bill, not after this”

“We’ll be ok Far” smiled Loser, “Trust me Darden” said Dev “OK guys lets go” and with that they set off back to the base camp.
 

---

Posted by Power Boy on :
 
Antioch
Contested Territories

The mountain was quiet, Ice still covered the western slope where the battle took place. The stone walls of the small fort sheltered the heroes. Rockhopper Lad, Time Teller Lad, Tempest, and Kalla went to sleep in the upstairs bedrooms. Across the hall, Cobalt Kid and Lard Lad stayed awake planning for the journey ahead. Below, Helena and the Knights were in the common room, spreading supplies across the table, organizing for the next day. They worked by candlelight, technology was unreliable on Antioch due to the pollution in the atmosphere. Shark Lad and Lolita whispered in the Kitchen. Power Boy left the table in the common room to do an interior security sweep, again, and to report the state of their supplies to Lard Lad and Cobalt upstairs. Outside, somewhere in the woods, Timber Wolf patrolled.

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

Timber Wolf moved silently through the foliage surrounding the fort. He observed the candlelight shining from the fort. He noticed Power Boy moving up the stairs, leaving Helena and the Knights with their weapons on the table. From the bushes, Timber Wolf spied some figures walking up the path towards the fort. Timber Wolf froze, crouching. They varied in height, all with cloaks. A tall spare figure walked at the head, with a child sized figure by its side. 7 followed them like monks. Timber Wolf watched for a moment. The figures seemed to just BE closer with every passing minute. Not exactly walking but just appearing closer and closer. Timber Wolf’s instincts reeled but, he was transfixed, he wanted, needed to see the face of the leader.

At that moment from 50 yards away, the leader’s head snapped to look Timber Wolf in the eyes, through the bushes Timber Wolf crouched behind. Timber Wolf stumbled, clearly discovered in the bushes … He attempted to sound the call but fell, seeing only darkness.

As the ominous party passed, approaching the fort, the candles went out, plunging the fort into darkness.

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

In the next moment, the door to the fort crumbled, decaying rapidly to rotted wood and then dust. The Robbed figures crossed the threshold. The large burly one that looked like the one Power Boy fought before waited outside on the path.

Power Boy woke, on the floor of the upstairs hall floor. He was momentarily confused. The entire hall was dark and he could not see any light coming from downstairs. He got up from the floor quietly. He hoped the Knights downstairs were not already dead.

He reached the stairwell and peered around the corner, where he could see 8 inside then, maybe more outside. He scanned for the knights, Sir John on the floor, sleeping, he could hear his heartbeat from the stairs. Tomar Te in a chair at the head of the table, head lolling back, also asleep. Helena Handbasket and Knightress’ were face down on the tabletop, both asleep. Good PB thought. A medium sized cloaked form ran his long white fingers over Helena’s hair.

Power Boy saw all this, and hesitated. In that moment he was undone.

The tall leader snapped his eyes directly at Power Boy. The face underneath the cloak was colorless, paper like skin stretched over a skull, with sunken eyes and a wide smile of sharp teeth. The next moment every ghoul’s eyes were on Power Boy. In unison, they snapped their heads towards the roof and opened their mouths wide, all filled with teeth. A deafening high-pitched whine rose in a chorus of evil. The fellowship woke startled from their unnatural slumber in alarm.

Power Boy launched himself with a roar, diving from the stairs, intending to barrel into the leader. The leader faded away in shadow effortlessly as Power Boy smashed into the floor. In the next moment a secondary cloaked figure was in front of Power Boy.

Power Boy couldn’t move, the figure stared into him. He felt the strength draining from his body. He was entranced, cold and frozen. As the world dimmed around him, his strength faded, he lashed out with his telepathy, delving into the creature, looking for weakness, information, anything. As the creature drained Power Boy, PB delved further, like a drowning man swimming deeper, searching for an intelligence to strike at. He found only depths.

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

Helena woke with a start, kicking back from the table, falling across the floor away from the creature, who had ripped some of her hair away in it’s hand. It lunged for her, cloak billowing wide … and found her sword through its heart with a THUNK!

The creature froze, petrifying in degrading consistency from stone, to paper, to ashes. The creature’s ashen form broke, shattering in dust over Helena. Her eyes wide in surprise, only alive because of her training, acting automatically before she even had time to think.

Meanwhile, the smallest form, the childlike ghoul slowly passed the entranced Power Boy, oblivious to the Knights waking, single mindedly moving for Cobalt Kid and Lard Lad’s room. It reached the room, put it’s slender hand on the knob, stepped through, and closed it behind her.

Across the hall upstairs, the fellowship was in various states of waking. Time Teller Lad left the rooms first, followed by a stern looking Kalla, Tempest, and Rockhopper Lad. Time Teller Lad made it down the stairs to the common room first.

No one noticed the child ghoul pass them in the halls.

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

Downstairs, Sir John stabbed at nearby ghoul. He kept stabbing, daggers in both hands, to no avail. Thunk. Thunk! Thunk! He stabbed at the ghoul that was stunned but still standing, unmoved. Helena’s sword had worked almost magically against the other ghoul. Sir John triplicated! Six sets of daggers stabbed the ghoul, stunning it, and then it raised it white arms and backhanded the two duplicates away. That left Sir John 1 in front of the ghoul, that opened its mouth wide. Green venom splattered from the ghoul’s mouth violently hitting Sir John’s breastplate. The venom hissed and steamed like acid, as Sir John 1 back peddled in pain … “AH ah AH … get it off, get it off!!” He fell back over a chair in a useless attempt to get away from the ghoul and the acid.

A moment later, Tomar Te’s shoulder collided with the acid-spitting ghoul shoving it into the wall. Tomar Te then rolled towards Sir John 1 vainly trying to pull the breastplate free.

“The hinges are melted! I can’t get it off!”

Lolita and Shark Lad rounded the corner downstairs, melee coming into view. Lolita’s hand went to her hip to find no weapon there, she had left her gun upstairs. She quickly grabbed one from the common table, spinning to stun a nearby ghoul. It paused as if just noticing her. She fired again, and again to no effect, as it moved towards her. It raised a finger and maggots formed in the air, unnaturally flying towards Lolita. Maggots appeared from the air covering her, and she collapsed under the maggots into a fetal position, trying to cover her face. Shark Lad attacked, grabbing the maggot-casting ghoul in a bear hug. Shark Lad pulled his head back and opened his mouth wide, biting the ghoul’s whole head off in a messy CRUNCH!

Ash exploded between Shark Lad’s arms and in his mouth “Pthwtt ! EW!! Pthwat!! Disgusting!” He glanced back at Lolita, fortunately the maggots had disappeared. She was shaken, stunned, but otherwise looked ok.

Timber Wolf awoke on the ground outside the fort. He came to and realized this big cloaked figure must have dragged him here. He saw no others and this one's back was to him, as it watched the battle in the fort. Timber Wolf played possum, letting his ears and nose tell him the story of what was happening. The cloaked figures reeked of rotting flesh. He heard the sounds of the scuffle, his keen ears telling him exactly where everyone was and what they were doing. He needed to move fast to turn the tide of the battle, at least 7 of these hard to kill creatures remained. He’d have to get Power Boy back in the game.

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

Within the trance, Power Boy probed the ghoul. He found only the remains of a sentience, animated by a powerful third party. The creatures mind was a mess, he couldn’t tell how this creature had come to life, whether it was undead created by sorcery, or a mutant grown and spliced. However, there was no real sentience left. He shoved away the mindless remains of the automaton, and focused on the puppet master. He probed past this undead avatar, trying to get at the animator but, there was an enormous wall. He felt like a fly He pushed and pushed at the wall with all his mental strength as his physical strength continued to drain out of his body.

Power Boy wasn’t the most sophisticated telepath but, in his urgency he surprised himself, the thick psychic wall was becoming more transparent. He could make out a figure on the other side of the shield. Tall, with a muscular build, purple robes, intensely solid in this astral place. Everything here, including Power Boy seemed like a wisp compared to this man’s psychic presence.

Power Boy pushed through the wall that, eventually parted like molasses, before he was even through he was noticed. The imposing man didn’t turn his head fully, he merely looked at PB out of the corner of his eye, and spoke. “The little one comes for Titus. Hahaha” “What a trophy you would make” Titus then turned and placed his greedy hands on Power Boy’s astral form. “Yes, a special trophy”.

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

The window shattered as Timber Wolf dove through, pummeling the ghoul that held power Boy enthrall. He drove his knives into its neck, twisting, and pulling, trying to behead it like Shark Lad had done. The undead ghoul struggled against Timber Wolf, until finally! Poof !!! the Ghoul shattered to ash underneath him.

Power Boy was jarred from mental battle, Titus’ slippery hands sliding off his mental form. Timber Wolf’s knives turning the ghoul to dust, was like flipping a switch. One second Power Boy was desiccated and thin, the next he regained his former strength filled stature. He said three words. “Don’t hold back”

And then he went to work. A karate chop through the neck of a nearby ghoul ended in ash. He landed a vicious kick to the one menacing Sir John, sending it flying across the room with such force, it shattered into papery dust.

The leader emanating darkness reached to confront Power Boy. From the top of the stairs Kalla knew a dark force manipulator when she saw one. 'How dare they she thought, sneaking in here like thieves to kill them while they slept.' She glowered in anger and raised her own hand hurling white-hot light at the leader. “Don’t hold back” she heard. The beam of light struck the darkness, staggering the leader back. A battle of white-hot light and darkness erupted in the common room. She raised her other hand, blasting even more white-hot light. She said to herself “don’t hold back”.

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

Upstairs, Cobalt woke, his head on the table where Lardy and he had been discussing plans. Groggily he saw Lardy sprawled out on the floor, snoring. “What the hell” confused, and then he heard the muffled sounds of a battle downstairs. He bolted upright, knocking the chair over.

“Hello Cobalt Kid” came from a tiny cloaked figure within the room. She was menace personified.

“Who are you?” He asked, throat dry. He heard Lardy get up from the floor but, he dared not take his attention off this … creature.

“The Lord of Murder is coming for you” It’s tiny finger pointed at Cobalt, and then it’s head turned towards Lardy as if noticing him for the first time. “And especially YOU” she pointed at Lardy.

The child was growing, it’s skin peeling back as a larger form underneath outgrew this child sized skin. Lardy and Cobalt saw teeth emerge and reptilian skin rise out of the shell of the child until a 7’ tall reptilian demon stood before them, it seemed as if fire was trying to break out of it. Flames sputtering from it’s mouth and eyes.

“Cobie..” Lardy placed himself in front of Cobalt as the demon literally fumed. Lardy hoped his exo armor could protect them.

It glowed hotter and hotter until finally Lard Lad grabbed Cobalt and threw both of them out through the window, shielding Cobalt, as the demon exploded in an enormous blast of hellfire! BOOM!

They rocketed away from the exploding building, flames at their back. The demon roared, furious at their escape, it swung its long arms, smashing the burning room. It grew larger, and jumped after Cobalt and Lardy.

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

The two blasts occurred at once, deafening the combatants. As Lardy and Cobalt flew like a projectile from the exploding second story, Kalla blasted the evil leader through the front wall. The villain was thrown with force out onto the lawn before the fort. The large ghoul bruiser out front bent down to check its leader. Finally winning her war with the darkness, she quipped “and stay out”.

The tide had been turned. Tomar Te had overturned the common table to shield himself and some of the others from the magnitude of Kalla’s blasts. Rockhopper Lad and Tempest shielded themselves behind Kalla.

Kalla slouched at the exertion, and Rockhopper Lad grabbed her.

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

Lard Lad fired blast after blast as he and Cobalt retreated into the woods. It was hard to get a clear shot as you ran the other direction. The beast dogged them.

Cobalt Kid mentally searched for iron ore in the rocks, anything metal he could use against the now 12’ tall demon spitting fire at them. Lard Lad turned and fired both blasts at the ground beneath the monster’s feet creating a huge hole. The monster tumbled in.

Unexpectedly, Lard Lad rushed the hole and jumped in. He began pummeling the beast with exo armor enhanced punches.

As Lardy reigned down punches, the beast struggled underneath, lardy was shouting and grunting, some of it not even intelligible to Cobalt Kid.

“You won’t have me!! I Hate your Dark Lord!!”
“DIE!! Never!! Tell your Dark Lord to ….. !!”
“You like burning you Skunge, you can burn in …”
“I have had enough!!”

The beast jumped out of the hole, limping and beaten, it rolled away, and stumbled to run off, away from Lard Lad.

Cobalt Kid looked down into the pit, to see a very dirty Lard Lad, huffing and puffing.

“Uh … are you ok?”

Lardy wiped his brow “much better, much better. Heh.”

Cobalt Kid helped him out of the ditch and then turned toward the fort. He hoped everyone was still alive.

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

After a long pause in the battle, Helena leaped over the common table, sword in her hands. “HAAAAAA!!!”

The remaining ghoul hissed and fled out front to where its leader and the bruiser were retreating into the woods.

A ripping sounded as Power Boy pulled off Sir John 1’s breastplate, it dripped with acid, he chucked it through the hole in the front wall. “Are you allright?” Sir John 1 sighed, “yes, singed but alive.”

Rockhopper Lad surveyed the scene. “None dead?” Time Teller Lad replied, “Two more, who’s missing … ” Everyone’s heads looked towards the upstairs where the second explosion had taken place, now burning with smoke and flames.

“Oh Lardy” Tempest said. “Cobalt”

Sadness came over the fellowship as no one spoke, all looking up at the flames and smoke.

--

Crunch!! Came a sound from where the front door used to be. Everyone pivoted raising weapons.

“Whoah!! That happy to see us?? ” Lard Lad joked. Cobalt Kid leaned on Lard Lad, both covered in black soot. Lard Lad’s cape was still on fire, putting up small puffs of black smoke. They looked like hell. As a matter of fact, everyone looked like hell.

As they looked around, the front wall had a huge hole in it, every window was smashed, furniture was overturned and broken, and the second story was in flames. But everyone was alive.

No one remembers who started laughing but soon they all were.
 

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Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
 
Sumra,
The Contested Territories

The battle at the Fort of the Mountain Top brought the danger on Antioch to a climax, and thereafter, the Fellowship continued to the small space port beyond with little obstruction. Though they spoke little, it felt as if a weight had been lifted off their collective chests.

The space port was modest and very spartan-like, only existing for the Space Knights to move between Antioch and Sumra. It was a very fitting end to the time spent on Antioch, and the Fellowship did not feel any longing to remain on the planet.

After the long days and nights on Antioch battling the bio-mutants and killer fauna, the quiet, albeit brief, space journey from Antioch to Sumra was a welcome change of pace. There was not enough time to sleep, but each of the Fellowship was able to find a few moments to close their eyes and embrace their exhaustion.

The contested territories were a section of the universe with a very odd and difficult geography to navigate. It was next to impossible to go around Antioch, and therefore, one must pass through the planet. Beyond Antioch, however, was a much better situated planet to strategically monitor the rest of the Contested Territories, and Dominion space beyond in the Dark Oval. This planet was Sumra, home of another ancient civilization that was once the Mecca of trade in this portion of the galaxies one thousand years earlier. Like Antioch, centuries of being under the Dominion yoke had crushed much of its civilization, but it had not suffered the same nuclear and biological attacks as its neighbor.

Thus, Sumra had remained a center of commerce and culture despite the Dominion yoke—though it clearly was a planet that had seen its people and cities crushed numerous times over the centuries. Yet it had held on, somewhat dilapidated, and at the onset of its liberation, it was the first to rise up and regain a sense of its former self. This encouraged the Space Knights Templar to make Sumra their headquarters—which was welcomed by the citizenry.

The Order of the Space Knights Templar’s massive headquarters was the size of an ancient city, and was a combination of a military base, monastery and bureaucratic business center. For the first time, the Fellowship could see the full scope of the Space Knights, whose number now exceeded five hundred thousand members of its order. Here, where at least one-third were always on active duty, they could see the Space Knights engaging in downtime in between patrols along the contested territories.

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

The ancient planet of Sumra was a wonder to behold with monuments and temples over a thousand years old still in use in modern times. Yet, with the Space Knights Templar present, the most sophisticated technology worked seamlessly into the landscape to make their Space Knight’s headquarters an effective center for their goals in the contested territories.

“Hile, General Cobaltus!” said a regiment of Knights who came to greet them. “This way, Sir,” said a young knight, far too young to have been in the Triumvirate military several years earlier Lolita noticed as they followed.

“Gentlemen,” said Cobalt, “I don’t want our Fellowship to receive any special treatment,” he said clearly, “we’ll live by the same standards as you all do.” They nodded and said nothing, though Cobalt knew they likely prepared a small feast for the Fellowship and would have the very best lodgings available for them. To many of them, the generals Cobalt Kid and Eryk Davis Ester were great heroes—either through leading the older veterans to many victories in earlier years or being part of numerous famous tales to the rookies.

As they walked down the streets, the Knights all parted, allowing Cobalt Kid and the Fellowship to pass unimpeded.

“This clearly isn’t good for your ego,” said Timberwolf to Cobalt.

“It explains a lot,” said Lard Lad with a smile.

“Once we get to the private quarters everyone can have some downtime,” said Cobalt, adding, “I’ll have much to discuss with the Knights. I was hoping Eryk might be here too, but I don’t know if that’s the case or not.” At this, Lard Lad’s ears perked up. He had not seen Eryk Davis Ester in quite a long time.

“Tonight we’ll all sleep in a normal bed once again,” said Cobalt Kid to the Fellowship as they got off the ship, “and this is likely the last normal bed you’ll get to sleep in for a long, long time. So enjoy,” he said with a wicked grin, embracing the rough days ahead of them as best he could with some gallows humor.

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

Soon, the Fellowship was brought to the private barracks set aside for them, after taking in the busy military headquarters on the walk over. As they realized their journey had a moment’s respite, it dawned on them that now they would part from the three Knights who had spent several days in battle with them. Even though it was a brief time, any experience of life and death spent with a comrade at arms invoked a strong bond between warriors. Real friendships had been forged in the preceding days and they would not be forgotten.

“Power Boy,” said Tomar Te, “it’s been an honor hearing your tales. It’s here that we’ll depart for a time, though I do hope to see you again…perhaps in the Oval itself,” he added, giving a hint of Cobalt’s plans for the Space Knights in the coming weeks.

Power Boy nodded. “Til next we meet as allies on the battlefield.”

Sir John the Carrggite also spent some time exchanging parting words with the LMBers, while Knightress grasped Helena Handbasket’s hand tightly and whispered some words to her; the two had shared a bond these last few days and had obviously begun a friendship.

Sir John and Tomar Te began to walk into the crowded streets, off to report for their next duty but Knightress hung back, not leaving. “A moment, General,” she said to Cobalt Kid.

Cobalt nodded and moved away from the others with her. “Yes, Lady Winterhawk?” he said, curious if she had some additional intelligence to give him.

“You’ve assembled a mighty band of warriors,” she said, “and they are working well together.” Cobalt nodded, agreeing with her. “And they’ve put quite a bit of trust in you,” she added, “as well as Lard Lad and Rockhopper Lad, the LMB leader.”

“Yes,” said Cobalt, “I know that. I hope to validate that trust.”

“Do you, sir?” she said, trying very hard not to speak out of line to her superior. Cobalt knew that she loved Reboot, who notoriously would call out Cobalt publicly when he thought Cobalt was in the wrong. He wondered how far that stretched to Knightress. “Not one of them realize that you’re keeping quite a bit secret from them. My abilities allowed me to sense him.”

Cobalt smiled, but did not respond. “I’m waiting for the right moment,” he said after a few moments of silence. “My goal is unleash him when the time is right and hope they might gain some comfort knowing I have several plans in place which have accounted for many problems.”

Knightress nodded. “I see your point,” she said, “but some might be more prone to anger that you’re keeping a secret from them. Your fellows believe the Fellowship has eleven members—but in truth, it has twelve.”

Cobalt smiled. “They’ll have to just trust me,” he paused, “as you do, Knightress.”
 

---

Posted by Faraway Lad on :
 
Daroon


Turning to Kar Em, Faraway said grimly, “OK Kar, let’s go see if we can get that appointment with the Exarch”

Kar Em looked at Faraway Lad with a new respect, “OK Far” he replied, “You know I had no idea you were that powerful or could do that” he continued.

“Neither did I” said Faraway, “Guess you never know what you will do if you are pushed hard enough”

Leaning on Kar Em’s arm for support Far and the few remaining Daxamites started to walk across the dusty courtyard towards the Exarchs ship

Half way across the Ground started to shake violently.

Looking down Kar Em shouted, “More Bugs”

As he did so the ground erupted as more of the burrowing bugs burst through followed as always by more soldiers and more of the scorpions, yet they did not attack immediately they seemed to be waiting for something. Then a noise at the back of the factory caused Far to turn around. Large Beetle like bugs had appeared there. Turning so that their backs pointed up at the Sky these bugs abdomens pulsated, and a red plasma bolt fired high up into the sky.

“Ha” said Laurel Kor “they are pretty poor shots those things will never hit us like that”

“I’m not sure they were trying to hit us” say Kar in a puzzled voice.

“Keep heading for the ship and hurry” said Far

“Why aren’t the bugs attacking Far” asked Kar, “do you think it’s that Princess again holding them back”.

“I don’t think so Kar” replied Far, “but whatever is planned you can bet it’s not going to be nice”

As he said that high overhead a boom was heard followed in quick succession by others.

“Kar?” asked Faraway

“Not sure Faraway “said Kar Em slowly looking up, “it looks like those plasma bolts are exploding and spreading in the low atmosphere, they...........oh no!”

Looking upwards Faraway saw the blue sky of Daroon turning a deep dark blood red.

Grasping Kars arm tightly, “Kar” said Faraway “Does that mean what I think it does”

“Red sunlight” said Kar Em almost in a daze, “they’ve found a way to turn it into red sunlight” All of the Daxamites were looking up at the sky, the surrounding bugs for the moment forgotten.

Already Kar Em could feel his body’s powers fading, quickly far too quickly, he could feel himself turning into a ‘normal’ man.

“Quick” shouted Far, pushing Kar Em in front of him, “the ship, run for the ship, get inside”

As soon as he voice was heard the spell was broken. As they sprang forward running for the space shuttle, the bugs also sprang forward to the attack.

Desperately Faraway fought back, but he was so weakened he was struggling to do more that clear a path to the shuttle. As he and Kar reached the shelter of the shuttle they turned, Far sent bugs faraway, Kar fried Bugs, but already his powers were fading. As they watched, the bugs overwhelmed the following Daxamites. Mantoids caught at them, many bugs fell destroyed as the Daxamites fought on with a strength driven by desperation. But many more took their place, and as each Daxamite tired, as they were caught and held, a scorpion scuttled forward and thrust its stinger into the now vulnerable skin.

Soon there was only one left standing and fighting.

“Laurel” called Kar, “over here, come on girl, run to us”

Still fighting, Laurel looked over, “You two go on, get into the ship I’ll follow”

Faraway turned to Kar “I have the door open Kar, come on”

“No” said Kar Em, “I can’t leave her”

Overhearing Kar, Laurel turned “Get inside you fools” she shouted. But she had turned away from the bugs and in that few seconds a scorpion had scuttled forward and stabbed into her as she was held on its sting, bugs swarmed all over her and she was lost to sight.

Pulling his friend into the Shuttle, Faraway quickly closed the door.

“I’m sorry Kar. But we will honour them later, now let’s do what their sacrifice has allowed us to do”

Moving deeper into the Shuttle, Far and a grimly silent Kar set off for the Exarchs audience chamber.


As they entered the audience chamber blaster shots rang out. Diving to one side Faraway saw a guard, gesturing he sent the guard outside, where the bugs mistaking him for an enemy ripped him to pieces in an instant. Looking around he saw that Kar Em had not needed Daxamite power to dispatch the two guards he had found.

“Exarch Phillipus” called Faraway, “Show yourself, face us”

Slowly a chair on a dais at the end of the room turned. On it sat a fat man, richly dressed, his robe emblazoned with the hated symbols of Sol Invictus. He was sweating, and in his hand he held a strange black globe, its deep dark surface swirled with vivid yellows and reds.

“Yes, Yesssss, No No Yesss Master” he said, but he seemed to be talking to the globe and not to Faraway. Then slowly, almost as seeing them for the first time, he looked up and spoke.
“So the weaklings show some fight eh” he sneered, “well as Exarch of Sol I will grant you an audience. On your knees to approach the dark light”

“Far be careful” said Kar Em, “who knows what traps are in here”

I want to know who’s driving this Kar and this, this,........person is going to tell me”


Faraway walked forward, as he did so automated blasters fired, almost dismissively Faraway waved them faraway, poisoned knives sprang out of the tiled floor but the blades were Faraway before they even reached him

“Impossible” said Phillipus

After a few seconds Faraway stood closed to the Exarch. Slowly reaching out he took the black globe out of the Exarchs unresisting hand.

Leaning forward Faraway spoke slowly coldly and menacingly “Now tell me two things and we will leave, firstly who is giving you these orders and secondly where is the mameluke regiment”

“Never” cried the Exarch, “You must treat me as a prisoner, I know my rights. As Exarch of the religion of a sovereign nation I have diplomatic immunity”

“Immunity” exploded Faraway “After Corycus you try to claim immunity” he reached forward with his hands, “There is no immunity for a war criminal Exarch, you will tell me what I need to know”

“No” said Phillipus “You.......” suddenly he started to choke, to gasp for air, clawing at his throat. His hand grasped at Faraway jacket front, his eyes started to bulge.

Faraway knocked his hand away. “So” he said “now that the air in your mouth is going faraway before it gets to your lungs, I reckon you have about 30 seconds left to tell me what I need to know before you pass out. What’s it to be?”

Phillipus nodded, his face turning blue as he gasped for breath, feeling as if he was drowning. Suddenly released he collapsed back into his chair greedily gulping air down into his lungs, his body shuddering with the relief of being able to breathe.

Panic on his face he looked at Kar Em “are you going to let him do this” he asked.

“Do what” shrugged Kar, “I can’t see anything”

Phillipus looked at Faraway, but now a sneer appeared on his face, “You” he spat, “you’re a hero, a so called good guy, you won’t do this, why that would make you no better than the inquisitors of the Khanate”

Faraway gestured and a scream filled the room, Phillipus looked down at the space where his hand used to be, as blood gushed out of the wound spilling down the front of his robes.

“are you sure” asked Faraway.

Turning to Kar Em he said “You might want to leave now Kar. After all if you are not here you can’t be put on trial for what happens”

Kar Em looked at Faraway, “after what’s just happened to my people I’m with you old friend” he said.

Turning back to Phillipus, Faraway said “Answer the questions”

“never” came the reply

Followed by another scream as part of his chest wall disappeared exposing ribs and a beating heart.

“sure” asked Faraway. “I understand that a blood eagle is pretty painful, want to try some more?”

“You unbelievers” gasped the Exarch, sweat running down his face and dripping from his fat jowls, mixing with the blood and staining the exquisitely embroidered robes still more. “My master sees all, he knows, he knows, .... no I will not tell”

“I need you tell me Exarch” said Faraway “and I don’t have time to play by the rules”.

The Exarch screamed in pain again. Faraway Lad had sent the tips of his fingers faraway and left behind the raw exposed nerve endings, which he was pressing on one by one.

“Talk damn you”

Kar Em, worried for his friend concerned for the steps he was taking, took a step forward. “Far” he began “perhaps he really does not know...”

“Oh I know”, said the Exarch delirious with pain, “I know your families back at the ridge are doomed as the Mamelukes are about to attack, I know about your friends in Antioch, I know they are walking into a trap, my master encourages them on, then, then he will spring the trap and your fellowship will be no more. It will happen on .........”


“Be silent fool” boomed a evil voice from the Black Globe at the Exarchs feet. “Twas a noble jest and a chance to cause some suffering to the LMBP, but if I cannot have the children converted, and the oh so joyous ecstasy of seeing the child kill the father or the father the child, then at least I had the joy of seeing you turn away from you beloved LMBP and become the same as those you claim to despise”

Faraway’s blood ran cold as he recognized that voice

“Metternich” he said, “impossible I saw you imprisoned, Hell I imprisoned you myself, I know you could never get out of that place”

“And for long eons I floated alone in the place. Time flows differently there and for each second here in this Universe I spent hundreds alone, No one to talk to nothing to see, can you imagine that Earther can you imagine the loneliness” the venomous voice spat out. “I spent centuries panning my revenge on you and your pathetic LMB, planning to torment them as you tormented me. And then he found me, he gave me succour, he rescued me. The power of the Dark Lord is great Faraway Lad, he gave me this chance to torment you in return for my rescue and my willing service”

“Master” groaned Phillipus “I’m sorry Master, I .I...” fear, not of Faraway, but of the voice from the Globe filled every pore of the waxy fat face of the Exarch.

“Oh shut up” said Metternich and a blast of yellow energy fired out of the globe, killing Phillipus who slowly toppled forward off the chair onto the floor.

“His use to me was over” said the voice from the Globe. I have risen high in my masters favour Faraway Lad and now I trap you here faraway from your friends just when they need you most, A delightful irony do you not think”

Around the room a hideous laughter echoed.

“And now I will release the Mameluke’s on that brigand King and watch them slit their gizzards whilst you are shut up powerless in that prison hulk”. Laughter continued, “and you” it sneered “you so called hero, champion of the law I have led you on I have made you a despicable and lowly torturer as culpable as any of those you claim to fight against, and that is my ultimate revenge. You have become that which you hate most, you are as cruel as I”

Disgusted and unable to take any more Faraway threw a cover over the Globe cutting off the voice before collapsing defeated onto the empty throne. “I’ve failed them Kar” he said, “after all this, I led you here to a prison, we’ll never make it through the Hive army outside. Your family, your grandchildren....Helen. All this” he pushed at the dead body lying in front of him with his foot “all I’ve done, it would only have been justified if we could have saved them. But now.........”
 

---

Posted by Lard Lad on :
 
Sumra, the Contested Territories

Lardy was hanging out in the quarters the Space Knights Templar had provided for him. Hanging out. Not sleeping. Avoiding sleep at all costs.

He was afraid--no, terrified--of where his dreams might take him if he allowed his mind to sleep again.

The time aboard the cruiser on the way to Antioch, he had dreamed of the Eye and all of those horrible portents. He burned and felt his skin get seared.

Then, on Antioch, he touched the altar and was back in the same place again. This time, the Eye challenged him to sacrifice Lucifer Lass. He fought its influence, but it claimed he and the Eye were one and the same.

Finally, at the Fort of the Mountain Top, he had been forced into an unnatural sleep by one of the ghouls and experienced something different, but possibly far worse. Lardy was on a strange planet he'd never been to before. The planet was being overrun by deadly killer bugs. The bugs had kidnapped his son and daughter and taken them to a strange factory for purposes unknown but most assuredly dire. Faraway Lad was there, and so were Dev, Loser Lad and a man that Lardy didn't recognize but whom he thought might be a relative of Dev. There were too many bugs...they couldn't get to Hugh and Helena in time...they feared the kids would be...converted? Lardy didn't know what that meant, but he could tell it was a horror beyond comprehension. Unseen by his friends in his dream, Lardy instinctively reached out to Faraway's hand and touched it without touching it. Letting the Lard Force flow into his friend, Lardy guided Far interweaving both of their powers and made all the bugs go away. Then, he suddenly woke up and was embroiled in the Battle of the Fort of the Mountain Top with Cobalt.

The more he went over the dream in his head, the more Lardy came to believe that this was no dream. But how was this possible? He'd had a few flashes of Lard Force seemingly flaring up all over the place, but as hard as he tried, he couldn't consciously will even the simplest expression of Lard Force energy to manifest. Could he only do so through his subconscious...or was he finally just losing it?

Even worse, if his dream was true, then his kids were in terrible danger. Even though he felt like what he thought he did with Faraway succeeded in their rescue, he couldn't escape the fact that they were in the middle of a war zone and possibly of particular interest to the enemy.

What should he do? These were his own flesh and blood! He should be by their sides, laying his life down for them if necessary. And yet, some of the truest friends he had ever made were there protecting them. They wouldn't fail the kids...would they?

Gods! he thought. What I wouldn't give to know they're safe!

In frustration Lardy put his clothes on and left his room to seek some diversion. Knowing a facility like this would have extensive training areas, Lardy was pleased to find a Swordsmanship class taking place. The class was awed to see such a legendary swordsman as Lard Lad, and he indulged their wishes by giving them some pointers on their techniques and then sparring with their instructor. Lardy won the contest, of course, but held back from totally dominating it so as not to make the instructor look bad in front of his students.

After the class was over, Lardy indulged the instructor's offer of the use of the Templar sauna in exchange for his help with the class. He was alone in there for a long while before a surprising visitor entered.

"Tony!" the visitor exclaimed.

Very few people called him by that name, but Lardy couldn't place the voice immediately. It didn't help that Lardy's oculars were all fogged up. "Who?" Lardy said in confusion.

"Well, damn, Tony--I know it's been a while since you visited the Lard Monastery, but--?"

Suddenly, it clicked. "Serj? Oh my freaking Gods!"

The two laughed and embraced, though a little awkwardly as both wore only towels.

Serj Ontronik was a fellow Knight in the Order of Lard Knights who entered the monastery around the same time as Lardy. Along with Chuck Taine, Serj was one of the closest friends Lardy had ever made within the Order. Lardy hadn't visited the Lard Monastery in nearly eight years, after the first time Lardy had lost his powers. They had no answers for him back then, and he doubted they would when the Red Bee's bullet took them away this time. So he hadn't bothered.

"Serj! What the Hells are you doing here?" Lardy said with a laugh as he regarded the man he hadn't seen in so long. The tan skin, characteristic of his middle-eastern Earth descent. The familiarly wild, frizzy, crazy- curly black hair. The trademark pointy, angular chin accented with perfectly-groomed chin beard. The long, lanky arms and legs and thin torso that maked him look like a marionette. "You haven't changed a bit!"

Serj laughed, "You neither! Anyway, I eventually followed your example and left the Lard Monastery, Tony. Meditating constantly eventually just got old! I came to see the war for the Contested Territories as my 'Crusade' and eventually joined up with the Space Knights Templar!"

"So you traded in being one kind of Knight for another?"

"Yeah, man, we do a lot of good out here." Then Serj leaned in, as if sharing a secret. "...and we hope to do a lot more pretty soon..."

"Yeah, I know what you mean..."

Sensing there was a certain line his friend didn't want to cross in that area of the conversation, Serj changed the subject. "So...I heard you lost the 'Force again?"

"Yeah, been about a year now. Got shot in the head and all. Been having some weird experiences lately, like it's trying to come back. Dreams and stuff. But I can't make anything manifest at all."

Serj's hand glowed blue. "May I?" he asked.

Lardy knew what Serj wanted to do. "Yeah, go ahead."

Serj nodded and put his hand on Lardy's head. Both closed their eyes. "There's something there, Tony," Serj said, his eyes still closed. "But it's buried deep, like it's way down in your--"

"--subconscious?" Lardy completed for him.

"Yeah! It's like it's in this part of your brain that you can't unlock. I can't reach it, either, Tony." Serj shrugged, then disengaged.

"How do I get to it, Serj?"

"I dunno, Tony...but I don't think it's any injury keeping you away from it." Serj looks Lardy square in the eyes. "It's you, Tony. I think it's you who's keeping it away from yourself...subconsciously."

Lardy shook his head. "But the dreams..?"

"I'm no shrink, Tony, but I think it's you letting it out a little at a time. Plus..." Serj's face looked a little haunted. "...well, something about the Contested Territories and the border with the Oval..."

"What? What is it, Serj?"

"I dunno. There's something that heightens the Lard Force senses out here. Plays tricks on you, sometimes."

"Really? Why is that?"

"Again, I dunno. In the last few years I was at the monastery after you left, the Order became very fearful of the Dark Oval. 'A disturbance in the Lard Force makes its home there', the Lard Masters would warn. Of course that just made me curious to come out here and see myself."

"Do you have weird, prophetic dreams, too, Serj?" Lardy gulped. "About...an Eye?"

"Yeah, I do. And you're in them, too. It's as if the Eye is always after you. They've been more frequent and more intense lately."

Lardy trembled slightly and said, "just as I'm about to go into the Dark Oval..."

"Look, Tony," Serj implored, "I know it's scary as hell, but I know in my gut that this is a Quest you're meant to fulfill. That's 'Quest' with a capital 'Q'! You've gotta face this Eye or whatever and show it what you're made of! I don't think you'll ever be complete without this happening in your life. Don't ask me how because I don't have the answer--but this is, well, this is your Destiny, man...with a capital 'D'!"

Lardy smiled a little. "Yeah, I know it is. But there's something you could do for me that would put my mind at ease..."

Serj leaned in, and after Lardy spoke his request, Serj vowed to do as his friend asked.


Much later, Lardy returned to his quarters. As afraid as he was of what his dreams might bring, Lardy was determined to give sleep another shot at him. He was that exhausted.

As he opened the door, Lardy was surprised to find a note had been passed under it at some point.

It read:

Lardy,

Eryk and I are here on Sumra to see you. After you read this, simply get on your bed, and I will bring you to us at the Hall of Llilthantra!

-Lucy

"Crap!" he exclaimed as he finished the brief note. "I forgot all about that!" He remembered Lucifer Lass's visit before the Fellowship had left Weber's World. All tiredness suddenly disappearing, Lardy dropped the note, grinned, took a running header onto the bed---and vanished!

[ May 11, 2011, 12:35 AM: Message edited by: Lard Lad ]
 

---

Posted by Dev Em on :
 
Dev Em flew in for a landing. From high above he could see that the perimiter that they had set up was holding for the moment.

He was carrying Helena and Hugh, and they were grinning ever so slightly despite everything that they had just been through. Being flown around was a treat for them, and they were intent on enjoying the moment.

Another Daxamite, Juf Un, landed with Loser Lad. The last Daxamite flew past them and scouted the area further to the west.

Helen ran to the children and threw her arms around them. "Thank you so much for returning them..." she said between sobs of happiness. She looked around after a few moments and gasped. "Where is Darden? I said such..."

Dev cut her off in the nicest tone he could. "Helen...he is fine. He, my father and most of the Daxamites are taking the fight to them..."

Princess Alyson and Dev's children ran to him and he embraced all of them. "How are they?" he asked Alyson, his eyes darting to her parents.

"They're not doing well. I do not think Daddy's going to make it, and mother is starting to break into a fever."

"I'm so sorry..."

"Um...Dev, you might want to take a look at this..." Loser Lad said while physically turning Dev's face to, and pointing at, the direction that they had come from.

Off in the distance, the sky was turning red.

"By the gods..." Dev said, and Loser could tell that he was trying to see something with his vision powers.

"What the hell is happening Dev?" Loser said, really wishing that he had the ability to see at the distance Dev Em did.

"This is really bad..." Dev said as he turned to Juf Un and Fes Te, who had just landed. "We need to get these people to my ship at the castle...or better yet, go get the ship and bring it here. Do not look in that direction though...that is an order from Kar Em himself."

They looked at him puzzled.

"Listen to me, there is no time to waste here," he leaned in and whispered something to them. Their faces went white and they immediately took off for the castle.

Loser looked at Dev and shook his head. "Are they all..."

"No, not all. Far and my father are still alive. But they need help, and we're going to give it to them."
 

---

Posted by Abin Quank on :
 
72 Hours Ago – Founders Park

“Nighty, you have to know that this is a mistake,” Lightning Lad almost whispered as he stared at the statues across the reflecting pool from the ornate bench he'd chosen. “If you do this, it will split the LMBP right down the middle. We'll wind up at war with ourselves. Is that what you want?”

“I doubt it will come to that... but if it does, it might be fun.” Nightcrawler's voice rasped out of the shadows of a nearby tree where he sat with only his eyes and smile clearly visible. “Calm down, Scott, I promise not to chop up any of my friends, Okay?”

“Do you have any real friends in that bunch, Bal? Seems to me most of them are so in awe of us that they practically wet their pants if we so much as notice them.”

“Some of them, yes. But not many and definitely not the two who started this mess. That pair would spit in the devil's eye just to see if he's right or left handed. So yes, I have a friend or two in that bunch.”

“So there's no way I can talk you out of this... No way to change your mind?”

“You don't need to change my mind, old friend, you need to change Her mind. She's pushing this. And she makes good sense when she lays out her case for why we should do this. Change her mind and Kippers and I will go along with it. Although Lard Lad claiming to be a better swordsman than I am... Two minutes and he'd be on the ground... Nah... Not worth it... Change her mind or change your's and go with us.”

“Hrrumph... Go with you? Not likely, One of us needs to be here, you know why,” He turned slightly to look at Zardi's Castle floating above Mount Future. “And the odds of my changing her mind about anything are slim to none, with Slim on a bus out of town.”

“Have you spoken to Kippers?”

“Yeah, he's in the same boat you are, change her mind... change her mind...” A rueful smile crossed his face, “So who's the choice to take my place?”

It was Nighty's turn to snort at that question. “You don't want to know.”

“Of course I do.”

“Trust me, you don't.”

“Out with it...”

“Quank.”

“QUANK!?!?”

“Told you you didn't want to know...”

“Quank... Jebus H. Christ on a stick! Quank! Does he know yet?”

“Tomorrow.”
 

---

Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
 
Sumra,
The Contested Territories

Hours earlier…

A tired and road-weary Cobalt Kid entered a small, modest sized tent, wiping the mud off his boots and dusting off the dirt from his cloak. He was tired, filthy and starving, but he knew there were important matters to attend to.

“You look grim,” said a voice, “you must have forgotten how difficult it is to get here from the UP.” Cobalt looked to see a half-smile on the face of his long time partner and friend, Eryk Davis Ester. Cobalt couldn’t help but smile back.

Eryk Davis Ester was a prolific and beloved Legionnaire for many years now, and a major voice among the Legion World community. Even though he retired to reservist status among the LMB years earlier, he remained prolific in the United Planets because he was co-founder and leader of the Space Knights Templar with Cobalt. He was equally as famous for his green nelly cap, which now adorned his head.

“You seem in good spirits,” said Cobalt, still smiling. “Years of our hard work are finally paying off,” he added, sitting down as Eryk did. “I’m glad I caught you before you left Sumra. I know you’re in a hurry and I pushed the fellowship extra hard just to try to get a few moments with you, Eryk.”

“I wish you didn’t have to, but unfortunately I don’t have much time,” Eryk nodded. He pushed an omni-database towards Cobalt. “The Knights will update you in full, but I can tell you everything has been prepared and is in place. Once things start to really move, the Knights will be ready.”

“Excellent,” said Cobalt nodding.

“I also have arranged for several parties of Knights to leave Sumra at the exact moment you do, to confuse the enemy. I’m not sure if it will make much of a difference but based on some resistance you’ve already encountered, The Dark Lord is on to you. Maybe this will help you retake some of the advantage of surprise.”

“Thanks, Eryk,” said Cobalt. He hadn’t seen his friend in months but it was if their last conversation had never stopped, with only a brief pause in between. He hoped they’d have a chance to sit down and enjoy each other’s company when this was all done, after all these years of work and little relaxation. “I brought you something,” said added Cobalt.

Eryk looked at him as Cobalt took a moment to build suspense. “Jeepers, Cobie, spill it!” he smiled.

“This,” said Cobalt, handing him a wrapped bundle, which he had kept in his cloak. “This should help you in your own quest to come. I know its what you’ve been searching for…”

Eryk began to unwrap the bundle, pausing to make sure no one was looking but realized his pet Luck Lord was taking care of that, after he accidently uttered jeepers.

“A Sumrese falcon!” he said, surprised and excited. “You found one!”

“Indeed,” he smiled, “and you don’t even want to know how I did,” he added. “This should be very valuable to you for what you’ve got planned.”

Eryk nodded and wrapped the bundle back up. He looked up, and for a brief moment, a wave of melancholy passed him. “I wish I had time, but I’ve got to go…”

Cobalt nodded. “I know,” he said, “so do I…”

They stood up and embraced each other by the forearms, pulling one another in for a hug, as per the tradition on how the Space Knights exchanged an affectionate hello or goodbye. “Good luck…” they both said, and then left from opposite sides of the tent.

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

Now…

Cobalt stood leaning against a tree on the far outer rim of the city, enjoying a flash of ice cold water and basking in how refreshing it felt. He was waiting and at last saw approaching the person he needed: Tempest.

He stood up strait, and walked forward, putting his flask of water away. “Tempest, thank you for coming,” he said. “I know you’re as anxious as I am to enjoy some time off the road, but this is something only you can help me with.”

She held up her hand as if to say ‘say no more’, and nodded. “Desmond, I understand. You’re wise to come to me and not handle this yourself. There are powers at work that are beyond the reckoning of normal men.”

Cobalt nodded, appreciating her bluntness. “Shall we?”

“Yes,” she said, “let’s.”

The two then rose up in the air, using their flight rings, and began to fly deep into the wooded area beyond the military city of the Space Knights. Immediately upon entering the woods, they felt a great darkness upon them, almost repressive. As if just beyond the lights of the city, there was only despair.

“The Knights alerted me to a presence here…” said Cobalt, “and I suspected who it was, even if I don’t understand.”

“Power Boy and I have discussed it,” said Tempest. “The bio-mutants on Antioch, and indeed, all of the manner of creatures that attacked us, were under the direct command of one massively powerful sentient. A being of supreme evil.”

Cobalt watched as Tempest spoke and flew through the skies, looking strait ahead. She was magnificent to behold, a pinnacle of beauty and power. “I thought about bringing Power Boy,” he said, “but I feared he’d just attack him.” He paused and then added “were you able to see this being?” he asked.

She paused for a moment. “Yes,” she said at last, “using my scrying abilities I was able to gaze up on him, and in doing so, he gazed upon me.” She was silent for a moment and Cobalt could feel this had been a burden she had been carrying since the battle at the Fort of the Mountain Top. She spoke again: “He is here, in the woods. Waiting.”

At last they came to a clearing and all was totally dark. Cobalt and Tempest used their LMB flight rings to create lights to guide them. The clearing was very wide and the light stretched all the way to the edges. As Cobalt moved the light along the perimeter of the clearing, he at last came upon two feet in scandals.

In the less than a second, suddenly an enormous fire lit up, surprising the two LMBers, but they soon realized it was not an attack, but rather a campfire along the perimeter where the scandaled feet were. He had been waiting, using the fire for a dramatic entrance. They now saw as the light subsided into a calmer campfire, the visage of the unseen menace who had been tracking him; the one who had ravished the group of passerbys in Antioch in such an appalling manner; the demi-God of violation: Titus.

“Greetings,” said Titus, with a smile, a sense of genuine delight to see them. “I had hoped we could parlay.”

Tempest said nothing and turned to Cobalt to tell him not to speak but it was too late. She cursed Cobalt under his breath for his lack of knowledge of magic.

“This game of cat and mouse grows boring,” said Cobalt Kid. “Are you going to follow us the whole way, always at a distance?”

Titus smiled, and in doing so, they came to see that his teeth, though not fangs or anything supernatural, were all sharpened like a shark’s. He was very beautiful to behold, almost too beautiful, making one need to turn. He wore a beautiful white toga, with a purple covering along the shoulders and chest; the purple had once proclaimed him as the Emperor of the Ancient Priapolian Empire. Around his head was a slim, yet ornate crown. On his feet were two scandals made of gold.

“What delight is there in the kill, if the hunt has not aroused the predator beforehand?” he said calmly.

His words pierced into the two of their minds and they quickly remembered the manner in which he murdered the group of travelers on Antioch. They both shook of those memories silently. “Foul being,” said Tempest, “the very smell of you burns at the senses. You are an abomination and should not exist on this plane.”

“And a day will come where neither of you are even a memory, yet, here I’ll be, still existing on this plane,” he said, still smiling.

He was obviously trying to bait her, but she would not bite.

“We are here, monstrosity,” said Cobalt, “say your peace.”

“I am addressed as Titus,” said the demi-God, not rising from his seat but leaning backwards. “Emperor Titus of the Glorious Prianopolis, whose beauty has long since faded. And I parlay with you now, to let you know the Dark Lord rewards all of his subjects, much like he has rewarded me with eternal life. Those who do him the greatest service receive the greatest honors.”

“This is a business offer, then?” said Cobalt unimpressed.

Tempest again regretted not telling Cobalt beforehand not to speak to this being.

“Eleven of you hold no meaning to the Dark Lord,” said Titus, “and whether you live or die carries no weight. But one of you is very dear to his heart and his intentions. You know of whom I speak. Give him to us, and you will be rewarded beyond your wildest dreams.”

With his words, the campfire in front of Titus began to change shape and color, the flames becoming a vibrant blue and then clear. Within, the two could see themselves as King and Queen of a grand empire, the greatest richest at their feet. Concubines as far as the eye could see. Worshipped as deities. Every desire satisfied immediately.

Cobalt closed his eyes and suddenly he felt Tempest holding his hand, and then squeeze his fingers. It was enough to break whatever spell Titus was weaving.

“I will not entertain this offer again,” said Cobalt clearly and slowly, measuring every word. “My reply is simply this: I will never, ever, hand him over. Come get him.”

Titus stopped smiling now and rose from his seat and the two backed away. “In my heart, I hoped your answer would be thus, though I never imagined you’d be so reckless as to offer up such a challenge.” His soul-less eyes stared directly at them both. “Accepted,” he said, growing angry, and stepping forward.

In an instant, Tempest grabbed hold of Cobalt Kid and immediately cast two spells: one of protection and one to teleport them away.

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

“You take great delight in putting us at risk,” said Tempest annoyed at Cobalt, as they reappeared in the city.

Cobalt found himself slightly out of breath, and looked around. “Is he attacking…?” he wondered.

“No, and I suspect he won’t. You angered him and almost caused him to lash out. Which would have destroyed you, by the way. But now he’ll calm down and remember his love of the hunt. I suspect he won’t be attacking the city.” As she spoke, she took Cobalt’s water jug and took a sip.

“Thank you,” said Cobalt. “Whatever he was doing with the fire…it was intoxicating. I needed to be snapped out of it.”

She nodded and said nothing.

“I’m glad you’re on this mission,” he said at last. “There will be a reckoning with Titus…and I’ll need you with me.”

She smiled at his bravado. “More like the other way around,” she said. “But yes, I’m glad I’m on the mission to.”

The two walked back to the barracks where the group was staying, saying nothing of the confrontation to anyone. There was still an odd tension between them due to their complicated history but the two seemed to be getting a better understanding of one another, and possibly, even growing to like one another as comrades at arms.
 

---

Posted by Dev Em on :
 
Sumra, the Contested Territories


Lon and Kalla walked hand in hand. They were both intensely aware of their surroundings, but were more simply just enjoying being alone for the first time in a while. As they walked, they saw Cobalt Kid and Tempest heading back towards the others. "That's odd..." Lon said under his breath, "he wouldn't of gone to see..." Lon shook his head and kept walking.

Lon was carrying a backpack and Kalla was carrying a water flask and another pack. They were some ways from where they were staying with the others. Lon looked at her and smiled. "This is good," he said and started towards some ruins just off the trail they were on. It had intact walls on three wides and no ceiling of any kind.

She smiled at him and followed. "You know all the romantic spots..." she said as she stepped past fallen gates outside the building that he was walking towards.

He sighed and took off his pack. "You want to go back and eat with the others..." he said with a snicker.

"I would much rather be anywhere with you alone, and you know that."

"Same here. It's nice to not have to have you wearing that false image anymore. No more hiding who either of us are anymore."

She set down her packs and put her arms around his neck. "Yes...no more hiding."

They kissed and then went about unpacking. Soon, they were eating a meal prepared for them.

"I'll say this for our hosts," she said, "they do know how to make a good meal out of the bare minimum of ingredients."

They ate the rest of their meal in relative quiet. Just enjoying being alone and not having to withstand the stares that most all of the others gave them.

They finished and packed the remains in one pack. Lon unpacked a blanket and spread it out on the ground. They layed down on it and stared at the sky, which was turning darker by the minute.

"we should be getting back soon," she said looking at him in the fading light.

"Why? You afraid to be out here alone at night with me?" he said with a huge smile forming on his face.

She rolled over onto her side and grinned. "Me alone with the big bad wolf?" She put her hand to his cheek, "he'd never stand a chance."

She leaned in to kiss him, but he shot up from the blanket and almost knocked her over, if not for his agility in avoiding her. He was looking around, almost frantically.

"What's the matter Lon?" Kalla said as she moved next to him.

"Someone is out there...watching us. Watching all of us."

"We know we're being followed," she said trying to see through the darkness that was falling around them.

"Not him...this is someone else. Someone that wants me to know that he is out there, but not getting close enough to reveal anything about who or what he is." Lon finished his sentence and was looking up into the night sky.

"Let's go rejoin the others," Kalla said and put her hands on his arm.

He whipped his head towards her and then breathed in deeply. "Yeah. Let's head back." He said and gathered up their things.

She watched him and wondered what in the universe would make Timberwolf act like this. He almost seemed spooked, it was the closest she had ever seen him come to looking worried. He always seemed calm and in control, but whoever was out there, had shaken him up somehow, and that sent a shiver up her spine.

They were quiet on the way back to the others. They walked holding hands, but said nothing.

[ May 13, 2011, 04:36 PM: Message edited by: Dev Em ]
 

---

Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
 
United Planet’s Space

The LMBers Space Ranger, Raging Bull and Enigma looked out into space, as My Whee Fem piloted the space cruiser through United Planets space. As they rode in silence, holo-news was being broadcasted, keeping the LMBers up to date on the many complicated facets of the Dark Oval attack on the United Planets.

“This ain’t right, y’all,” said Raging Bull. “We should be doin’ something about it, somewhere.”

CJ Taylor, the LMBer known as Engima, turned to Space Ranger. “Why aren’t we helping, Space Ranger? What’s going on here, exactly, that is so important we aren’t being utilized in the field somewhere.”

Space Ranger gave him the honest answer. “You know about as much as I know now, CJ,” he said. “For some reason, the Dark Oval is very interested in you and they’ve promised their thugs and mercenaries a great reward for your capture. Somehow, Cobie knew this was going to happen before it did, so he enlisted my help in securing you. Luckily, My and I were able to find you before they really started looking.”

“Okay…” said CJ looking at Raging Bull with a confused look, but Raging Bull just shrugged. “But why me? What do I have to do with the Dark Oval? I’ve never even been there and I wasn’t on Legion World years ago during the Invasion.”

“Good question,” said Space Ranger, “but I don’t have an answer for you.” What Space Ranger didn’t say, and My Whee Fem knew it, was that he had his own theories, after being such a close friend and confidante to Cobie for many years. “What I do know is we have instructions to take you somewhere safe, where hopefully you’ll get some more answers.”

“And then we can go off and offer up our own brand of justice!” said My, feeling impatient about having to be on this side mission.

Raging Bull said at last what they were all thinking. “C’mon pard, all these years, joking about being EDE’s clone, or alt ID or somethin’. We all always knew there was somethin’ mysterious about ya. That must be it, right?”

Space Ranger looked at CJ and even My Whee Fem turned back. CJ looked at them all and then looked at the ground. “Yeah…I guess you’re right…” he said, not saying anything further.

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

Weber’s World

Spellbinder sat among the other Senators and Ambassadors on Weber’s World as Prime Minister Maya adi Lva finished her latest meeting. She appreciated the Prime Minister’s brevity and focus—she wasn’t someone who wasted lots and lots of time on meetings and formalities. As Maya adi Lva finished her final words, Spellbinder noted the room seemed awfully empty. Many of the Ambassadors and Senators had been deployed throughout the United Planets to aid in diplomacy and peace efforts; both Relnic and Hranzer, best known to the LMB for being their two biggest supporters on Weber’s World, were elsewhere.

The Prime Minister finished her words and the other Ambassadors and Senators stood up. Crujectra appreciated that the in-fighting and debating that was paramount in the first few days had decreased quite a bit. There were two reasons for this: the Ambassadors threatening to secede from the UP had already left, such as the Ambassador of Imsk, and many of the other politicians had been deployed. It was an ages old strategy—take the disruptive voices and put them to work elsewhere.

“Princess Crujectra,” said the Prime Minister, “may I have a word?

“Of course,” said Spellbinder.

“Has Ambassador Helene rejoined you yet?” asked Maya.

“She has,” replied Crujectra, “she’s in the Command Center now, lending a hand to Bellassarius. The situation hasn’t improved too much but I do feel positive that we are doing everything that can be done.”

“I’m glad you feel that way,” said Maya, and as she replied, she looked around the room to make sure none of her political enemies were present. “Have you heard further word from your friends on their journey?”

Spellbinder was tempted to telepathically read Maya’s thoughts right then and there, as she was surprised at how frank the Prime Minister was in revealing that she too knew about the Fellowship. But then again, she did know Prime Minister adi Lva was a shrewd and smart politician who tended to know everything. “No, Prime Minister,” said Crujectra. “I have not. But I can tell you that I’m confident so far all is going well.”

What Crujectra did not reveal was that she had a telepathic link with Cobalt Kid, which had been in place for many years. In some cultures, it was the equivalent of being married. It allowed Crujectra and Cobalt to stay in contact, though with such a distance growing between them, sharing actual thoughts was no longer an option. But she could still feel his presence and his emotions. And thus far, she felt through their link that Cobie has not been hurt in any way.

“I’m glad to hear it,” said Maya. “What they do will be of tremendous importance. I’d like to be kept updated, if at all possible.”

Spellbinder nodded, “of course,” she said, but not over-promising. Those updates would come at her discretion.

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

Legion World

While the universe was at war, the citizens of Legion World continued about their daily business—somewhat nervous, and somewhat scared, but not willing to disrupt their lives. There was a sense of courageousness about it; they showed support to the United Planets and did what they could; but they knew the Dark Oval’s greatest desire was to shatter their sense of self, and they would not let that happen.

Something that was noticeable was the lack of flying superheroes in the airways. A large contingent of the Legion of Message Board Posters, and many of their allies, were now absent on Legion World. The Fellowship, the LMBers deployed all across the United Planets and the Legion World Founders all had urgent business elsewhere. It could almost be cause for alarm…which is why those LMBers still on Legion World, purposely made sure they were seen.

“Look! Up in the Sky! It’s Lash Lad!” said one of the young children on the streets of Legion World, as Lash Lad flew past them, waving to the crowd. The most beloved of all posters was a reassuring sight for these tension-filled times.

Lash Lad landed on a nearby rooftop and scoped out the cityscape. He was by the fashion district in downtown Legionnopolis, a section of the city that encompassed nearly 60 city blocks. “Ah,” he said, seeing who he was looking for below. “Teed’s anagrams indicated she was some sort of danger...” he leapt down to the city streets and began to walk among the crowds, who all turned to look at him as he passed.

Below in the streets, dressed in the most trendy and current fashions, was an absolutely beautiful young woman, who turned heads everywhere she went. And those who didn’t see her, knew she was close when they heard her trademark giggling as she saw designs that were in her mind, terrible. She was not the kind of person to keep those thoughts a secret. She was well known to the LMB and the citizens of Legion World as Umber, the raven-haired beauty who came to Legion World with the LMB, though why she hung around them was never quite clear to the every day people.

“I know, as do most of us,” thought Lash Lad, “that Umber is Cobalt’s daughter, even if she doesn’t seem to get it through her head after he’s told her all these times. Crazy Cobie! Hah! But apparently that puts her in danger…”

As Lash Lad followed her, taking pictures with everyday citizens as he walked through the crowds, he did not notice someone else was following Umber as well, undetected by normal eyes.

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

Legion World, Rockhopper’s Rookery

Fanfic Lady looked at the Mission Monitor Board once again, making sure all of the LMBers on active duty were in place, while keeping an watchful eye on how many were still on Legion World. Only a few weeks into her term as Deputy Leader and she was thrust into the most dreadful situation a Deputy could face: the entire galaxies at war, and the LMB Leader on an even more important quest in a far off galaxy. That meant she was left in charge, and it was a non-stop, exhausting position.

“The servants will bring some more tea,” said a voice, “and we both could use it.” It was Ram Boy, the prior LMB Leader before Rockhopper Lad and Fanfic Lady’s election. With Rockhopper Lad among the Fellowship, Fanfic Lady had recruited him to help her manage the vast roster of LMBers and coordinate the missions, as a de facto deputy-deputy. He gladly accepted, having just been in the leadership role.

“I think we’re doing everything we can,” she said, “but we’re spread awful thin. I’ve called in the Reservists and they’re responding as best they can. Most of them aren’t coming back to Legion World, as I’ve had to deploy them elsewhere,” she said, nodding at the screen, which showed Arachne and Walk with Crowds heading to Imsk.

“Fat Cramer, Lash and Matlock are still here on Legion World,” said Ram Boy, “as are many others. Legion World is well-guarded, for the moment.”

She nodded, and then turned to take some more tea being brought to them by Rockhopper Lad’s staff in the Rookery.

“The entire world in great danger,” she said at last, “and it all hinges on a small band accomplishing a near impossible feat.”
 

---

Posted by Dev Em on :
 
Daroon

Groaning out loud and pushing the lifeless corpse of the Exarch, from the chair, Faraway slumped down into it, his hand going up to cover his eyes, “we’ve failed Kar, We’ll never get back to them through all those bugs, Metternich is right, he’s beaten me.”

“I’m not so sure Far” said Kar Em looking thoughtfully out of a view port. “I can see the the red sky starting to dissapate from here, it may take a while, but something finally seems to be going our way for once. There must be some powerful winds up there, the red sky’s are starting to slowly fade away, once they do, if I can get outside for just a few seconds I can recharge enough so I should be able to get you back to the King in double quick time. As long as the hull of this place holds out.”

Faraway looked up, hope beginning to grow once more in his breast. He remembered that purple glow and the sense that he had felt of not standing alone of being connected somehow to a force that sustained and nourished.

Stooping and picking up the black globe Faraway stood and moved next to Kar Em, “well, we’ve risked so much so far, What’s one last throw of the dice, Once you think it's time, I’ll hold them off long enough for you to get us back.”

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

Juf Un and Fes Te returned with the ship that had brought Dev Em, Loser and the others to Daroon.

Juf floated over to Dev Em. "I'm not sure I understand the need for this ship."

Dev smiled at him. he motioned for Fes and Loser to come over to him. "This is what we're going to do..."

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

The two silently retraced their steps to the entrance door. Pausing they looked at each other, looking outside, the sky was still red, but it was lessening in intensity by the minute. They could hear the bugs skittering against the door, the top of the ship, and the hull below them. Faraway looked at Kar, "do you think we have enough time?"

Kar shook his head. "They're nearly through old friend. This may be it, but I'll be damned if I go down without a fight." He pulled two guns from his belt. Far looked at him, he hadn't even realized he had had them on his person. Kar smiled, "I'm always prepared..."

Kar stopped talking and cocked his head a little. "Do you hear that?"

Darden strained to hear what Kar was talking about. "It sounds like..."

A sudden blast of heat vision decimated a large swathe of bugs in front of the door.

Faraway smiled, “I guess that means we are ready then” he said.

Juf Un whizzed past them at a good rate of speed, but obviously not at full power, in fact, he seemed to be slowing down as he circled around for another run at the bugs. His second blast was obviously lessened in intensity. but still deadly to a large group of bugs.

Turning to the noise of the door opening the bugs realised they were not alone and started to swarm towards them, Faraway wasted no time on subtleties and simply sent as many of them as faraway as he could as quickly as he could. Next to him Kar Em was firing his guns as fastas he could. He grabbed Faraways good arm and yanked him upwards. Faraway turned and realized that Far was climbing the ship. "What are you..."

"Get yourself up here quick. We only have a few..." he turned and fired at several bugs trying to come at them from the top of the ship. "We have to get to the high ground. He should be here any second..."

Without a further word Kar Em and Faraway climbed to the top of the ship. Faraway folloowed Kar Em's lead as they ranas fastasa they tired bones would let them to the far end of the ship. Kar had fallen behind faraway, yelling for him to keep running no matter what, including the fact that they were running out of ship and were heading towardsa sea of bugs that would try to rip them apart at the first chance provided to them.

they quickly ran out of room and Faraway hesitated for a split second. Kar Em slammed into him and grabbed him around the chest as he jumped with what little strengthhe retained. They sailed out several feet over a huge sea of chittering bugs, and started to fall towards them.

Faraways feet were about three feet from the bugs when he realized that they were rising again.

Dev Em was carrying Kar Em, who in turn was holding onto Faraway. They were rising up into the air above the bugs.

Juf Un passed them going the other way and he smiled at them. "Good luck..." he said as he dove into the bugs and detonated a large pack of explosives. once the blast cleared, he stood on shakey legs and took off again. Flying very low and slow above the bugs.

Dev carried Faraway and Kar Em to a ship that he paced and they entered through an open hatch.

Kar Em stood in the doorway, trying to find a glimpse of Juf Un. he saw the young Dazxamite heading towards the ship again.

As he watxched Juf, he glanced toward the ship to see where he was going. He saw a column of women being forced into underground tunnels beneath the shuttle. Quickly turning his face away, he said “Far, the hatchery, it’s under the Shuttle”

"There's nothing we can do for them now Kar. The sky is still to red there for you two to be any good to them. We have to head back to the king and the rest."

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

A short while later, they landedback at the encampment they had established. Dev stepped from the ship first and Fes Te was there to meet him. "Is he coming..."

Dev looked away. "I'm so sorry...Juf went back to try and save some others...there's noway he survived."

Fes closed his eyes, "He always wanted to be a hero...to be like you and your family..."

Dev put his hand on Fes' shoulder. "He will never be forgotten my friend.

The others started to come down the ramp, and Dev started towards where the children were.

"Where is he, where is he” called a female voice, pushing past Dev Em, Helen flung her arms around Faraway’s neck, “thank you, thank you for getting them back to me”

She turned her head to Kar Em, he smiled and nodded, acknowledging the thanks in her eyes.

Slowly lowering her arms Helen realised that Faraway’s arm had started to bleed again. “Let me look at that” she said pushing an unresisting Faraway down into a chair, and swiftly unbandaging the wound. Tut ‘tut’ing to herself under her breath she quickly set to work cleaning the wound.

From the ramparts came a cry, “banners approaching.”

Dev and Kar ran to see what was happening. Faraway waited whilst Helen finished bandaging his wounded shoulder. He looked at her. There was fear in her eyes but her hands did not tremble and she looked calm. As she finished Far took one of her hands in his and gently kissed it. “I’m sorry Helen” he said “truly sorry that you and your family were dragged into all this. I failed you, I failed Anthony” She raised her hand and put her fingers to his lips, “Hush” she said “I was upset about my children. You have protected us from everything Darden, Anthony was right to choose you as Lord Protector to Hugh and Helena. I know how you have watched over us from afar whilst we were on Col Met One. We might have been assassinated long before now, and we are all more grateful to you than you will ever know” She looked at him “Who is it Far? who’s doing all this?” she asked.

“Metternich” spat Faraway, “I don’t know how he escaped from his dimensional prison, but I have spoken to him and he’s more, well more overt now, almost as if he no longer needs to hide in the shadows anymore”

Fire flashed in Helens eyes, “this is not all just some scheme to get at you is it”

“No I sure it’s more than that” said Faraway quickly, “Metternich admitted as much to me, he told me that he is working for someone or something, A Dark Lord I think he called it”

Helen thought for a moment, “How did you talk to him Far” she asked cautiously.

“Through this” replied Faraway unwrapping the Black Globe, and showing its deep polished beauty “some fancy pants communicator, though I’ve never seen its like before”

Helen gasped as she saw the globe “a Pallantrope” she whispered “I thought they were just a legend” Quickly and with a shudder she threw a rough sacking cloth over the Globe. “Put it away don’t use it” she said intensely, “Don’t ever use it” She stood, “I thought the stories of the Dark Lord were just that, stories. But if the Pallantrope exists, maybe they are more than just children’s tales to scare people around the camp fire at night” She wrapped her cloak around her shoulders as if cold.

Before Faraway could ask more questions a loud booming nose echoed out.

Helen looked at him “Go” she said, “Fight well, I’ll go to the children.”
 

---

Posted by Abin Quank on :
 
48 Hours Ago – Lightning Lad's Office

Question Lad had been waiting for almost an hour for this meeting. At first he watched the media, but every channel had minimum coverage of the war. Clearly, there was government censorship of what the public was going to see of this war. The news anchor quickly transitioned from a brief newsclip of the war to a segment about the economy. Question Lad was surprised at how well the stock market was doing. Sivana Technology and Knight Industries stock had been soaring for the past two days. The only people that seemed to be bitter were bankers like his friend Miguel, who rely on long-term investments rather than short-term profits. After this news segment was over, Question Lad played Greedy Toads on his phone for twenty minutes.

"Lightning Lad is ready to see you," The secretary finally said.

Question Lad walked into a pristine office that reflected the Founder's Winathian roots. Lightning Lad gestured for him to take a seat, and the young man did. Lightning Lad shuffled through some papers until he found the correct files.

"We are pleased with your commitment to the Security Office. However, there are procedures that must be followed that Dev-em willfully ignored. It was not his place to abandon his position here and go off to war. While it is important to protect the United Planets, he made a commitment to the citizens of Legion World. We cannot honor his appointment of you as head of the Security Office," He said.

"Sir, did my performance have any impact on your decision?" Question Lad asked.

"No, I mean yes, I mean...this is not a black and white issue. You will keep the rank you held previously to Dev-em's bad decision. We do not expect old heads on young shoulders, but we are aware of the risks of giving young officers such important positions," Lightning Lad said. He did not want these young men and women to make a decision that would hurt themselves and others.

"But sir, all you have is young officers. It is us who have been the most active in recent days," Question Lad pointed out. He thought this talk about youth was ridiculous in light of all the work he had done, day and night for the office.

"That is correct. I want to work closely with all of you and make sure the Security office is working for all of Legion World's citizens. That is why I have invited your colleagues to discuss this matter with us," Lightning Lad pushed a button on his phone.

Red Arrow entered the office. She was escorted in by two armed reptilian humanoids. They were mercenaries from the planet Punkus. Lightning Lad raised an eye-brow. Private armies are not allowed on Legion World.

"When I refused to leave the planet, Uncle Lex sent these two as bodyguards. I'm thinking of assigning them to guard the outside of the Security Office," She said.

"Anythinng for Misss Sivana," One of the guards said. Lightning Lad told Red Arrow to send the guards outside the room, which she promptly did. She sat down in a chair to the right of Question Lad.

"Emily, the United Planets is grateful for Sivana Technologies' and Knight Industries' exclusive contracts during these difficult times. That in combination with your performance on Legion World has swayed me into thinking..." Lightning Lad was interrupted by the opening of the door. Question Lad turned his head to see Everyday Girl and Sam Pureheart in the doorway.

"Omygod! I'm like so sorry we're like late," Everyday Girl said, half dragging an obviously reluctant Sam Pureheart through the doorway behind her, “but we're here... So what'd we miss, Mr Lightning Laddie?” She continued pulling Sam, ignoring the chairs set in front of LL's desk, across the room to a large leather couch near the window overlooking Founders Park. “I've always liked this couch. I found fifty credits in the seat cushions the first time I sat on it.” She plopped down on one end, curled her feet under her and patted the cushions next to her while smiling sweetly up at a completely bewildered Sam.

“Every... Brit... We're trying to have a meeting here...” Scott motioned to the chairs set in front of his desk as he tried to keep the exasperation out of his voice. “so if you and Sam could join us...”

As Sam started to rise from the couch Brit put her hand on his arm. He stopped and relaxed back onto the couch.

“Ohmygod! A Meeting! So like who's representing what at this like meeting?”

“I believe Lightning Lad wants to discuss our positions in the Security Office,” Question Lad said quietly.

“Ohmygod! That's like Great! So you're like coming out of retirement?” Lightning Lad's face reddened slightly as Brit jumped off the couch, crossed the room in two steps, and bent to kiss his cheek. “So when's the like big announcement?”

“Please sit down Everyday Girl, PLEASE?” LL gestured again to the chairs arrayed in front of his desk. “I'm not coming out of retirement... There's not going to be a big announcement... I just want to make sure that...”

“Ohmygod!” Brit looked at the shocked faces of Question Lad and Red Arrow, winked, and turned back to L.L., “Where's Fanfic Lady? If this is an official MEETING and you're still retired and Mr Rockyhopper is off-planet, shouldn't Fanfic Lady be here to represent...”

“That's ENOUGH Britany!” The smell of ozone filled the office as small arcs of electricity began jumping between Lightning Lad's fingertips. “Okay...” He clenched his hands into fists then opened them again, the smell of ozone dissapated and the feeling of tension disolved. “Question Lad, Red Arrow, I'm sorry... I have no official standing in the government of Legion World. But!” He looked sideways at Everyday Girl.

“Ohmygod! He just like owns the planet... Well, him, Mr. Nightlycrawler, Miss Saturn Girl, Mr. Kippers, and I think Princess Crujeckie all own the planet together. They just lease it to the LMBP and there's a Constitution and Junk that sets out the division of powers and responsibilities between the Founder's and the elected government.” She stopped for a second and smiled at Lightning Lad. “But Mr Lightning Laddie is almost as good at following the rules as Mr Cobie-Poo is. Which means that whatever he wants to talk to us about is probably against every law on the books and is almost certainly the right thing to do...”

At that sentence, Emily said. "My family has become concerned that my activities could harm the family name..."

"Is that possible?" Sam Pureheart rolled his eyes. The Sivana family name was known for only for it's achievements in business and science. However, it was feared because of the number of family members that have been criminals throughout the millenia.

"The Sivana family has interests on over 247 worlds. Regardless of whether or not there is a war we will survive," Emily Sivana stated plainly.

"Tell me Emily, how would your family feel if Zardi used this opportunity to invade?" Lightning Lad asked.

Emily laughed, "That big piece of cheese! The Sivana Family has stood toe-to-toe with Shazam himself. We can hold our own."

At that moment Question Lad's phone went off. He swore he had put it on vibrate. Question Lad answered the phone to find he had over 2000 text messages. All of them were from Urraca Silva. Not this woman. Her father desperately wants a marriage contract with me. You know when I was eating rice in the slums of Cabral I thought money would make me happy. But I'm not happy, I wonder why that...

He then heard a a cackling noise, and before he knew it the Susanno 3000 had overheated and shut down. Question Lad looked up at Lightning Lad with a pained expression. Red Arrow put a hand on his shouldar in sympathy, and with the other hand she turned off her Amaterasu 2000.

"Sebastian, I know this will be hard but you have to learn noncompetitive teamwork. This means having your full attention at these meetings and face-to-face communication. That means turning off your phone," Lightning Lad said firmly but calmly. He spoke like a father would to his son.

"Yes Sebbie, you have to let go of your Cracknno," Britany affirmed.

"Hey! Sivana products are top of the line!" Emily said defensively. The girls began arguing about cell phones, clothes, and pretty much everything. The boys looked at eachother and then back at the girls, unsure of what to do.

Lightning Lad sent a spark of lightning down into the ground between the two girls. He said, "Enough! Now, I am assembling a team of the brightest in order to keep order on Legion World during these difficult times. The rise in crime in recent days is disturbing, and even more disturbing given that all the crime seems to point to one location in Britonopolis."

"I...have heard rumors about a kingpin of crime. There has been an increase in the amount of soma on the streets," Question Lad said.

"You are such a tool. That is a totally legal substance," Sam Pureheart commented.

"By the eyes of Hal Jordan, soma is a hallucinagen! Granted it is used to treat severe cases of depression, but it should not be used as a toy. Or is that how you got Everyday Girl?" Question Lad replied.

"You're just jealous because you can't have any. Hmm, maybe I should write you a soma prescription," Sam Pureheart rapidly shot back.

Lightning Lad sighed, "Once you stop insulting eachother take a look at the screen."

On Lightning Lad's computer screen there was a message written in orange and green on a wall in Britonopolis. The writing was: End the war, end the imperialism, end the isolationism. Follow the Eraser into a Brave New World.
 

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Posted by Abin Quank on :
 
24 Hours Ago – The Security Office

“Em, there's some things you should know about me before we like get any deeper into this,” Everyday Girl swiveled her chair away from the monitor board, where she and Emily Sivana had spent the last 4 hours reviewing surveillance tapes from around the area where the Eraser's message appeared. “Look, I was Assistant Security Chief for over two years. Most people thought it was just Mr Cobalt's way of honoring my uncle, Space Ranger, who everybody thought was dead and the title was honorary. But, it wasn't. I did the job... pulled my weight...”

Emily turned away from the screen she was studying and silently faced Brit, waiting for her to continue.

“I've been in training to be a cop, security officer, hero, whatever the correct term is, since I was like two years old. My family history is weird. Almost as weird as yours. Maybe wierder. My father is Hrun the Barbarian, my mother, Princess Diana of Vallhalia, is Pagan Lass's seventh daughter from a previous marrage, I think from before Gramps... Abin Quank, was even born. And Gram, Pagan Lass, was the seventh daughter of Bast and her human concubine, Master Sorcerer Numbnuts the Semi-Incomprehensible. I'm the seventh daughter, of the seventh daughter, of the seventh daughter of a Goddess and a Master Sorcerer.”

“I don't know much about magic,” Emily whispered, “But isn't there some sort of connection between being the seventh squared (or is it cubed as in your case?) in a direct line of descent and magical prowess?”

“Ohmygod No! At least not for me... I think my mom got that. But I don't really know. I haven't seen her since I was a baby. Vallhalia was invaded by the Dark Oval and she and daddy Hrun decided it was too dangerous for me to stay there so they sent me to live here on Legion World with Gram & Gramps. I don't even know if she's still alive, Hrun doesn't say much when I ask about her. He just goes on about how much she loved me and how I 'favor her.' She and Hrun weren't officially married, her father wouldn't allow it, something about Hrun's father, Gramps matlock, being a commoner and Hrun winning his King of Kings title through combat rather than royal birth... But anyway, most of what Gram told me was about how she knew about my birth the moment I was born, even though she hadn't seen or spoken to my mom in years, and that I had a destiny to fulfill.”

“Did she tell you what it is?” Emily asked, then continued. “Uncle Lex always says that our family is destined to rule the galaxy. But he always gets vague when I ask which generation.”

No... She always said that things would become clear to me in their own time, whatever that like means...”

“Yeah, Uncle Lex is always spouting nonsense like that. He has been determined since I was nine that I should marry Leonard Thawne," She said.

"Ohmygod! That's like totally lame!" Brit laughed.

An Alarm Horn cut off further conversation.


24 Hours Ago – In Orbit Over Legion World

A green energy bubble containing Abin Quank, Nightcrawler, Saturn Girl, and Kid Prime approaches what appears to be a large 'captured' asteroid.

“There you are Kippers,” Saturn Girl said in a low voice. “How close can we get before... I mean is it defended?”

“You wouldn't even see it if I wasn't here.” Kid Prime's voice sounded odd, almost mechanical. “I've been in full contact for about 30 seconds. I'm uploading the necessary information as we speak.”

“Is it necessary for you to completely re-integrate yourself into the matrix?” Nightcrawler asked quietly. “I've gotten used to you being... you... I mean... this version of you.” He clasped his hand on K.P.'s shoulder. “I don't want to lose one of my friends. Even if it means bringing back an even older friend.”

Abin, feeling like an eavesdropping child, tried to ignore the conversation and kept his focus on the 20 mile long, five mile thick and wide chunk of rock that was their destination. He knew it was something from the Founder's past, something that predated the current LMBP. But all of his questions had been met with a curt, “Wait and you'll see” answer from either Nightcrawler or K.P. Both of whom had been treating him like a child, a slow child, ever since they'd burst into his office and told him they needed him for a 'special mission.'

“You don't need to do this Kippers,” Saturn Girl said quietly. “I can shield your mind from the matrix.”

“Do you just want a ship or do you want Prime?” He replied. “That's the choice. I'm only a shadow of what I was as long as I stay out of the matrix. From the reports we've received, one ship, even that ship,” he pointed at the huge space rock, “won't help anybody much. But Prime, Prime is a different story.” He clenched his fists and looked down at Legion World below them. “We've built something great here. Something Fantastic. But It's in danger. We were, no, we ARE 'The Protectors.' I can't put myself above our sworn duty.” He reached out and pulled both Nightcrawler and Saturn Girl into a three way hug. “When this is over I'll be able to pull myself out of the matrix, again. I know how... it will be easier since I've done it before. Don't worry! It'll be like I never left. Abin, set us down on that spot.” He pointed to a flat circle approximately centered on the asteroid.

Abin guided them in and brought the energy bupple to rest on the indicated spot.

“I need to make contact,” Kippers voice lost all emotion, “Open your field here.” He pointed straight down. Again Abin did as instructed without question. Kippers bent over and placed his hand against the asteroid's surface, said, “See you guys inside,” and vanished...


24 Hours Ago – Charltonburg


Forty miles away from Legionopolis, Charltonburg's high society nightlife was getting underway. The skies glowed an eerie pink as the rich and famous of the non-super-powered elite viewed the sunset through glass walls of the Royal Charletonburg Hotel. Sebastian Sage wandered, apparently aimlessly among the guests. Lightning Lad insisted that they go on with their lives as normally as possible in order to avoid suspicion. “It's more suspiscious that I showed up,” Sebastian thought, “This is the first time I've attended one of these parties since I came to Legion World.” The grand ballroom was almost circular, “No corners to hide in, so I guess I just keep moving until someone corners me.” He moved silently among the party-goers, eating the odd cracker and catching bits and pieces of various conversations. The host, a local politician, had a captive audience at one end of the lavish buffet table. Several men and women seemed to be hanging on his every word. "This war won't last long," He opined in cultured tones as he gestured with a sandwich.

*"Hmm. That is what they say about every war, and almost every war is longer than the last one," A man answered. He was a middle-aged man with brown hair and green eyes.

"And is war always a great evil? You sound almost as sad as the bankers," The host shook his head. He noticed Sebastian and beckoned the young man forward.

"I would like to introduce Sebastian Sage, he owns a mineral company," The host said. "Sebastian, this is Cian Grianna. He owns a logging company." The two exchanged pleasantries and then chatted for a little bit about politics; the host was grateful to excuse himself from further discussion.

"When I immigrated from Earth, I heard all these stories about a utopian society," Cian smiles. "This is not a utopia, there is clearly still war and corruption."

"There will always be war and corruption," Sebastian said. "I would rather be free than live in a utopa."

"I would rather live in a utopia than in this uncertainty. Why, I sent a man to do business last week to Tezukaville and got his head back through the mail!" Cian explained.

Before Sebastian could reply, two Gordanian bodyguards were dragging a young man out of the building. The few that turned their heads were surprised that there were no bruises on this young men, Gordanians were not known for their mercy. He looked closely to see it was Sam Pureheart. Sebastian did not like Sam at all, but he was curious as to what was going on.

"What did he do?" He asked one of the Gordanians.

"He tried to get in using this invitation," The Gordanian held up an invitation addressed to Brittany Quank. Sebastian Sage couldn't help smirking at the decision.

"Oh come on! She told me take her place!" Sam Pureheart said. He then noticed Sebastian, "You believe me, right?" Before Sebastian could reply, the lights dimmed and then shut off suddenly. A servant ran in asking if anyone could fix circuits, and Sebastian volunteered. He fixed the circuit-breaker in a matter of minutes. The guests went back to their dancing, when the circuit broke yet again. Sebastian took out his Susanno 3000 to find reports of blackouts in every city but Britonopolis and Tezukaville. Britonopolis!?

~~~~

Sam Pureheart was walking the streets of Charltonburg. It was still a bit early, but there were a couple of suspicious characters around. They were talking about narcotics and money. Sam couldn't understand why anyone would want to live in Charltonburg. He was about to consider his options for returning back to Legionopolis, when a slick new car pulled up to the curb. The window rolled down and Sam was surprised to see this person.

"Get in the car," Sebastian said. Sam just looked at him and silently slid into the front passenger seat. For a few seconds his head swiveled in every direction. He seemed to be trying to look at every inch of the luxury car's interior. He reached out to open the glove compartment, but Sebastian told him not to.

"Cool! Does this car have special devices?" Sam asked excitedly.

"No, it's just a new car," Sebastian replied.

“Okay, so it's just a new car,” Sam reached over and playfully touseled Sebastian's hair, “to you... but I've never been in a Bently-Royce before. I didn't even know... why are you looking at me like that?”

“You touched me!”

'Yeah, so?”

“Nothing happened.”

“Yeah? ...OH!” The realization hit Sam as he spoke. “Does it always happen? Do you always absorb people's powers and memories if you touch them?”

Seabastian just stared at him for a few seconds then started removing the gloves he habitually wore. “Always... Until today.” He extended a bare hand in Sam's direction.

Without hesitation Sam reached out and took Sebastion's hand in his and gave him a firm handshake, “Anything?”

“Nothing... weird, it feels weird.” Sebastion stared at his hand still clasped in Sam's, “I've never done this before... never shaken someone's hand without gloves on, or...”

At that moment both of their Omnicoms started blaring the Security Office Emergency Recall Alarm.


24 Hours Ago – LMBP Headquarters, FanFic Lady's Office

“Would you like something to drink, Li... Scott? Sorry, it'll take me a little bit to get used to calling you by your first name. I don't think we've even spoken 10 words to each other before.” FanFic shuffled some papers around her desk for a second, looking everywhere in the room except at Lightning Lad. “So why now? What do you need?” She pressed a button on her desk, “If I remember my Legion World Lore correctly, you have a fondness for silverale.”

“A silverale would go down nice right now,” Scott smiled as he reached into the large portfolio next to his chair. “I'm looking for a job.” He reached out and placed a large folder on Fanfie's desk. “And I'm hoping you'll want to hire me.”

The door buzzed and a petite, but muscular, young woman entered with a tray. Scott turned and gave the girl a quick glance before returning his attention to Fanfie. The girl moved briskly to the desk and set down the tray. On it were a bottle of silverale, a teapot, a glass, and a cup. “Would you like me to pour M'am?” she asked in a heavy Taltarian accent.

“Miss Dickenson is a recent emigrant from Taltar,” Fanfie spoke without taking her eyes off of the contents of the folder in front of her. “When I saw her name, Emily Dickinson, I had to hire her.” Fanfie looked up and smiled at the girl who was openly staring at Lightning Lad. “Were you going to pour, Emily?”

Flustered and embarrassed, the girl turned a bright scarlet as she reached for the teapot and with shaking hands began filling Fanfie's cup. It took two tries for her to set the cup in front of Fanfie without spilling anything. Scott watched her for a second than with a bemused look on his face looked down into his portfolio and reached for a second folder. As Scott looked down, Emily flipped the silverale bottle in her hand and swung it at his head...

[ May 18, 2011, 08:35 PM: Message edited by: Abin Quank ]
 

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Posted by Abin Quank on :
 
23 Hours & 45 Minutes Ago – on the street outside LMBP Headquarters

Everyday Girl and Red Arrow arrived with a Security Office Tactical Squad led by Lt. Hutch Starsky in tow. The scene was chaotic, a demonstration, led by a very short bald man wearing opaque glasses and a traditional lab coat, was in progress on the steps leading up to the main entrance. The small man was flanked by six massive roughly humanoid uglies, each over 7 foot tall and massing at least 500 lbs of muscle, arrayed in a circle facing outward. They stood impassively, their four massive arms crossed and their four eyes constantly scanning the crowd for potential trouble.

“Relative of yours, Em?” Brit asked as she waived the tactical squad into position. A buzz sounded in her ear, telling her that the second half of her forces were in position. “Lt. Starsky, clear us a path to the front,” she shouted, and the crowd in front of them, who were mostly either watching impassively or jeering at the small man, began to melt away, opening a clear path to the front of the building.

“He's nobody I know... But he does look a lot like the Historical Holo-Vids of Great Grampa Ted.” Em drew an arrow as she walked, “you want me to pin him?” Off to the side several members of the crowd began to murmur excitedly. “That new girl, Pink Arrowette or whatever her name is, looks tough. And the Quank kid is a major nass kicker. This is gonna get fun.” one man said excitedly.

“Not yet Em, but be ready, and shoot to disable if you have to shoot at all.”

“Disable? Yeah Right.” Em snorted, “and just how do I disable those... what are those things?”

“Ohmygod! How am I supposed to know? But they're big and heavy and they have knees. Put a shaft in a kneecap and they'll go down.”

“I put a shaft in an eyesocket, they'll go down faster... AND they won't get back up.”

“Em...”

The girls reached the front of the crowd and began walking to the steps. Emily ended their conversation by shrugging and muttering “You're paying my health insurance this month, Brit.”

“See! They send children to fight their battles, CHILDREN! They must be stopped,” the small man shouted at the crowd using a small voice amplifier. “You! Must! Stop! Them!”

“You got a permit for this demonstration, Sir?” Everyday Girl shouted and started up the steps. Red Arrow flanked her and scanned the crowd as they moved. More and more familiar faces were appearing in the front ranks.

“Stop!” The man almost screached into the amplifier. “Stop... or I turn the Maddroxes loose on the crowd!” Two of the big uglies shifted position to place themselves directly between the girls and the small man.

“Maddroxes? Sprock! Forget what I said Em, Take'em down.” Everyday Girl's specially modified Baretta VLK pistols appeared in her hands. “Nobody! No-One! Visible mode! Bag'em and Tag'em!”

Floating in the air on either side of the small man two 18” tall figures appeared, they were miniature duplicates of Cobalt Kid and Eryk Davis Esther. The Cobalt Figure kicked the voice amplifier out of the man's hand while the EDE figure scooped the man into a large canvas bag. The two Maddroxes facing EDG abd RA raised their arms menancingly but dropped instantly to the ground, each with an arrow protruding from it's left eye socket. The other four quickly met similar fates, one burst into flames, a second was incased in a block of ice, the annoying whine of Tamper Lad's Britishizer caused the entire crowd to wince as a third turned into a rancid kidney pie. The fourth simply vanished.

The action apparently over the crowd quickly began to disperse while Caliente, Frio, Tamper Lad, and Outdoor Miner bounded quickly up the steps to Join EDG, RA and the Security Office Tactical Team. Brit looked at her unfired pistols and commented to nobody in particular, “Ohmygod! I must be slowing down, I need to spend more time on the combat range.”

Emily just laughed, and Cali and Frio broke into big grins. Tamper looked at the girls with his usual distain. “Or you could be getting smarter as you get older, as unlikely as that sounds... Calling us in was simply the correct thing to do.”

“Ohmygod, Like Thanks... Mr Tamper-Puss.”

Nova Girl landed next to them with a worried look on her face. “Fanfic's office is sealed. It looks like some form of Chronal Energy Barrier...Lash and Ram Boy are up there trying to break thru... but...” She looked at Miner.

“Yeah, Yeah, send the bug... I know this drill...” He vanished.

[ May 30, 2011, 10:29 AM: Message edited by: Abin Quank ]
 

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Posted by Lucifer Lass on :
 
Hall of Llilthantra, Sumra

The Hall of Llilthantra stood in the center of an ancient abandoned city on the opposite side of Sumra from the base of the Knights Templar. It was remarkably well-preserved amidst the ruins, and, though the Knights had made note of it during their explorations of the planet, they had never managed to crack the secret of how to gain entry to the mysterious Hall.

Lard Lad, Lucifer Lass, and Eryk Davis Ester sat together at a large round table in one of the hall's several dining rooms. As they sat and talked, at least a half dozen distinct Luck Lords entered and exited the room, continuously keeping them supplied with food and drink and attending their every need. Lardy had grown used to seeing Eryk's Luck Lord appear periodically and fulfill his wishes, but seeing a group of them, each with a giant eyeball where a head and face would be on most humanoids, was kind of creepy to him. The glowing, tiny winged humanoids that had accompanied Lucifer Lass when she met them earlier also flitted in and out of the chamber in a seemingly random fashion.

The three had settled into their positions around the table after an awkward start. Lardy had appeared here, via the enchanted bed Lucy had provided as transport, then promptly embraced the other two in a huge bear hug and lifted them off the ground. Lardy had been raised in an orphanage, so meeting with the two people that have been identified as his siblings just brought so much emotion out of him, especially after all he'd been through recently.

It was awkward for Eryk and Lucy, but they indulged him, even as he openly wept. Eventually, they had eased Lardy into disengaging, and they ushered him to the table to begin their business.

"My friend Ilith has been keeping an eye on your adventures since I last saw you," Lucy said, indicating one of the winged humanoids. "Her people, the sill-folk, have a particular interest in your mission, having once been imprisoned by the Dark Lord."

While the Luck Lords and their creepy giant eyeball heads were unnerving, maybe even stranger for Lard Lad was seeing Lucy sitting before him unmasked. It occurred to him that he had never before seen her without her face being covered by her characteristic black mask. It was incredible just how much she resembled Eryk. Though it had long been believed, in part due to information from Lucy, that Lardy and Eryk were twin brothers, they really seemed to have little in common. But looking at Lucy was like looking at Eryk with boobs. Girlie-boobs, that is...not man-boobs.

"So, uh, what can you tell me about this Dark Lord?" Lardy asked.

"It's a long story," Lucy began. "Perhaps some things you'd be better not knowing." She looked at Eryk.

"You might as well tell him," Eryk said. "At least the basics. The Valsinar and all that."

She nodded and began. "So, there's this war that's been going on for longer than the universe has existed. It's a civil war amongst the Valsinar, a race of cosmic entities...gods, some call them. For as long as anyone seems to remember, they've been split into two major factions. On the one side, there are the forces of Llilthantra, who are sometimes identified as "Lords of Order". On the other side, there are the "Lords of Chaos", led by Lord Xxxauron. Most of this war takes place on other planes of existence, but it occasionally spills over into this physical universe."

"As a result of these spillovers, beings of this universe who encounter the Valsinar often end up worshiping them as deities. This particular building, as you might have guessed, was constructed by worshipers of Llilthantra, and still has various benefits of her protection. Incidentally, if you are looking for a place to get a good night's rest, you should be safe from any unwanted dreams while in these walls."

Lardy shivered slightly and said, "I've...had some very bad dreams lately." And then, a thought occurred to him. "In fact, they started right after you gave me this necklace!" He fingered the necklace Lucifer Lass had given him before the Fellowship left for Weber's World.

“That’s not…unexpected,” Lucy replied. “The necklace contains a link to the power of XXXauron.”

Lard Lad noticed Eryk squirming a bit as the necklace was discussed. “‘Sup, bro?”, he asked.

“This part just really grosses me out,” Eryk said.

“Eons ago,” Lucy said, continuing her story, “the followers of Llithandra were able to deal a devastating blow to XXXauron. During a major battle, Llithandra’s daughter Hypatia was able to get close to XXXauron and slice out his left eye. Hypatia suffered fatal injuries in the process, but the eye was brought back as a prize. The eye eventually fell into the possession of Hypatia’s own daughter Una. It was eventually discovered that the eye itself could be used as a weapon against XXXauron, given the right conditions. And so it was put into the locket that is now in your possession until those conditions obtain.”

“So, this necklace contains the eyeball of this XXXauron character?” Lardy asked. Noticing Eryk was kind of pushing his food away, Lardy turned to him and asked, “So, wait… you hang around all the time with these guys with giant eyeballs for heads, but this eyeball in the necklace creeps you out?”

“Well, I’m used to the Luck Lords, and their heads are at least attached to them…” Eryk explained. Few things frightened Eryk Davis Ester, but detached eyeballs and sharks were near the top of his list of phobias.

Lard Lad did not completely understand why that should make a difference, because the Luck Lords still seemed really creepy to him, but did not want to press the issue farther. “So, what I don’t get is why this eyeball of XXXauron would cause these bad dreams?”

“It is affecting you in particular because you already have a strong connection to the power of XXXauron in several ways,” Lucy explained. “When XXXauron was injured by Hypatia, a certain amount of his power leaked out into our universe. Over the millenia, certain mortals have gained the ability to access this power, which manifests at a number of different frequencies, at least seven that have been identified.”

“This is cool, because they correspond to what they used to call ‘The Seven Deadly Sins’ on Earth!” Eryk piped in, his earlier discomfort with the other part of the story seemingly dissipated.

“Yes,” Lucy confirmed. “One of these frequencies corresponds to the “sin” of gluttony. What you know as the Lard Force is actually a manifestation of the power of XXXauron.”

"Well," Lardy shrugged, "guess it had to come from somewhere. The 'Secret Origin of the Lard Force', I guess. So what does this 'XXXauron' have to do with anything?" Then a thought popped into his head. "Are you saying he's--?"

“--The Dark Lord of the Oval!” Eryk exclaimed.

“Much as Llilthantra was worshipped in this place,” Lucy expanded, “the area of space known as the Dark Oval centers around an ancient site of XXXauron’s worship. In recent times, he himself has increasingly manifested upon the physical plane, resulting in the Oval’s particular brazenness in recent years.”

“Okay, so how’s this eyeball supposed to help me against XXXauron?” Lardy asked.

“*Gulp*”, gulped Eryk. “Now we’re back to the part I don’t like.”

“It was discovered several centuries ago that the eyeball could be used as a weapon against XXXauron, and could possibly be used to destroy him completely. There is a prophecy which says that XXXauron can be defeated if the eye is destroyed,” Lucy said.

“Okay, so why not just squish the eyeball and be done with it?” Lardy said as he feigned flattening something in the palm of his hand with his fist. Lardy chuckled as he thought his brother might faint at the implication for a moment.

“It’s not so easy,” Lucy explained. “There are a couple of caveats. First, in order to be effective, the eyeball can only be destroyed by a weapon freshly dipped in the water of the Moat of Doom outside the palace of the Dark Lord. Second, the blow can only be administered by one who is of the House of XXXauron. In other words, a descendant of XXXauron.”

“So, let me get this straight…” said Lardy. “To beat this XXXauron guy, we’ve got to find his palace, find someone who is descended from him, and convince them to destroy this eyeball using some sort of weapon that’s been dipped in the palace moat?" He grinned. "Sounds easy enough! Any idea where we should look for the where and the who of it?”

“As far as looking for the palace, I am afraid I can’t help you. All I know for certain is that it is located somewhere deep with Oval space,” Lucy added. “As far as finding a member of the House of XXXauron, that is… a bit easier.”

“I can tell this part of the story, if you like…” Eryk offered.

“Go ahead,” Lucy replied.

“So, you know that theory that you and I are the twin children of Pornis and the One Called the One?” Eryk began. “Well, the One is none other than that Una chick that Lucy mentioned a few minutes ago, and Pornis is the son of XXXauron!”

"So you're saying this XXXauron...the Dark Lord, who is the Ultimate Evil in the universe, is...our pawpaw?" Lardy asked.

“Yep! That’s basically the gist of it!” Eryk answered.

“Okay, so if the One and Pornis are from these completely opposed and warring clans of gods, how exactly did they get to the point where Pornis got his ectoplasm into her haunted house?” Lardy asked with a wry grin.

“Over the years,” Lucy explained, “Mother… The One became obsessed with ending the war. She believed that a marriage between herself and the son of XXXauron could begin to heal the wounds. She very quickly discovered that this was a huge mistake, and that the evil of Pornis was greater than she had imagined. But by that time she was already pregnant. She managed to keep the pregnancy a secret and tried to hide her twin sons by depositing them in the physical universe. Because of the relationship between the different realms, you two actually ended up in orphanages on different planets several years apart.”

“That explains why EDE is younger than me, and has a different birthday!” Lard Lad stated. “But how do you fit in?”

“Like you, I am also a child of the One, but not the result of her union with Pornis,” Lucy explained.

"So," Lardy grinned, "who's your daddy?"

“That…is not important at the moment,” Lucy responded.

“Er… you’ve hit upon a bit of a touchy subject, Lardy,” Eryk informed his brother.

“Oh-kay, then! So you're our half-sister, eh?" Then Lardy thinks of something. "So that leaves either Eryk or myself to smush gramps' eyeball..." Lardy mimed grinding something as if with a mortar and pestle and for a moment thought Eryk would puke. "...well, either one of us or Pornis, that is."

“Well, given Eryk’s… aversion to damaging eyeballs and the fact that Pornis is dead, it will probably have to be you,” Lucy responded.

“That makes sense… wait! Pornis is dead?!?” Lardy replied with surprise.

“Yes. The One and her forces managed to hunt him down and destroy him and his forces a few years back,” Lucy responded.

“It was an epic fight! You should’ve seen when Khan E. Lingus and Felice Acio went down!” Eryk exclaimed. Lardy chuckled, unsure whether the pun was intentional or not.

“Eryk was certainly invaluable in the battle,” Lucy commented.

“Thanks, Lucy!” Eryk smiled. “So, that just about covers everything, doesn’t it?”

“Unless we tell him about… the other prophecy, and the One‘s long term plans…” Lucy said, cryptically.

“I… I’d rather not,” Eryk responded, looking worried. “Not anything that involves her.”

“Look, if it’s anything I need to know…” Lardy pushed.

“No. It’s not relevant to your present quest,” Lucy responded.

“It’s something personal,” Eryk added.

“A…touchy subject for Eryk, you might say,” Lucy added.

"Yeah...touchy..." Eryk repeated as he got a distant look in his eyes.

Lucy put her hand on Eryk's shoulder and looked to Lardy, "I am afraid Eryk and I must attend to some other business. But you will see us again, my brother, when you need us the most."

Lardy thought about begging them to stay but knew it would be futile. Instead, he said, "Lucy...Eryk...if I don't make it out of this alive, please look after your niece and nephew for me."

"We will, Lardy," Eryk spoke up.

"Yes," Lucy agreed, "we will. For tonight, though, we leave you with the gift of rest. Sleep well this night in this great Hall, free of the horrors that haunt your dreams. Lie in the bed, and you will sleep through the night. My enchantment will take you and the bed back whence you came, only after you've slept all you desire. And then, your Quest will begin in earnest."

"Thank you, guys, for everything," Lardy said tearily. "For the first time in my life...I feel like I have a family."

"We'll always be here for you, Lardy," Eryk replied.

The three embraced for a moment. Then Lucy and Eryk vanished.

And Lardy lay down and enjoyed the last good night's sleep he would have for a long, long time.

[ May 22, 2011, 06:07 PM: Message edited by: Lucifer Lass ]
 

---

Posted by Abin Quank on :
 
"New Xundarians? Wow, you really are a tool," Sam commented on the music playing in Sebastian's car. They were making their way to LMB Headquarters and city-driving was pretty bad for a Thursday night. There apparently was some sort of demonstration.

"Keep this up and you can join my tennis racket in the back seat," Sebastian threatened. Sam glanced in the back, and sure enough a tennis racket sat there, along with a brief case and some lose folders. One of the folders was labeled V for Vanessa, and another listed all of Sage Mineral's CEOs, including Exnihil.

"Since when did you play tennis?" Sam asked.

Sebastian answered, "Since when were you interested in my life?"

"I didn't know you had a life," Sam replied. They arrived at LMBP HQ where Sam's Paramedic Unit was parked waiting for his arrival. Tony Broadneck, Sam's partner was waiting to give the pair a quick briefing.

“Situation stable but status unknown,” He yelled as he tossed Sam his Medicus One Rescue Unit Coveralls, “there's some type of Chronal Energy Barrier around Fanfic Lady's office. Cause unknown, victims unknown, but Brit wants us on stand-by until she gets some answers. Gladys checked the monitors. She thinks Fanfic, Lightning Lad, and a staffer named Emily Dickinson are inside. So far Lash, Ram Boy and Tamper Lad have tried to crack the barrier but all of them bounced. Brit tried sending her demons thru but no dice. Outdoor Miner said he could get in and vanished, that was twenty minutes ago, no sign of him since. What the hell took you so long?”

“Rich Boy's luxury car doesn't have a flight mode.” Sam snorted as he pulled on his harness.

Sebastian stifled his reply and raced to the fifth floor to find a host of LMBers trying to get inside. He volunteered his skills, but the equations were beyond a simple door hack. "There have been blackouts periodically throughout Legion World for about forty minutes. That means the barrier is fueled by an outside source. But I think if someone can disrupt the quantum mechanics long enough I can hack through." He said.

"Do you have anyone in mind?" Lash Lad asked.

"There are few that surpass the Sivana's in the realm of science. Get Red Arrow," He said.

“I'm about three feet behind you, Sebby.” She walked up and pressed a complicated probe up against the barrier. “Any change, Tamper?”

“No! Dammit!” Tamper growled. “This doesn't make any sense!” He, Ram Boy, and Nova Girl were gathered around a portable monitor screen.

“It does if the generation source is inside the office.” Emily replied.

Outdoor Miner tumbled through the Chronal Energy Barrier, “Has anybody here read the Xanth Novels?”


In Orbit Above Legion World

“Abin, come to the Bridge. Abin to the Bridge!” Saturn Girl's voice echoed through the corridors of the incredibly massive spaceship.

“I'd be there already if I knew where it was,” Abin muttered to himself as he looked dubiously down yet another corridor. When the hatch Kid Prime directed him to land on opened, it's installed lift whisked Nightcrawler, Saturn Girl and himself deep into the bowels of PRIME, both of the Founders had been quick to warn him not to let himself become separated from them. Less than five minutes later he found himself alone, staring at yet another technological marvel and the ships P. A. system had begun blaring the report to the bridge message.

He looked down at his right hand, “Ring, find the bridge, take me there by the shortest feasible route.”

The location of the “Bridge” has changed three times in the last 20 seconds. The PRIME starship appears to be infinitely mutable, able to reconfigure itself to meet whatever challenge is presented to it. And it appears to be upgrading it's systems. I am attempting to establish contact with the governing intelligence but it does not appear to be fully on line at present.”

“Can you get a fix on the location of Nightcrawler's Flight Ring?”

Yes.

“Take me to him.” Abin realized (yet again) as he felt himself go immaterial and float through the decks in a straight line, that he'd been trying to exert too much control over the Faux Power Ring. Things seemed to work best when he just told the ring what to do. When he gave the ring detailed instructions... he results were spotty... at best. Twenty seconds later he was standing next to Nightcrawler on the Bridge.

“Abin,” Nighty looked slightly shocked when Abin floated down out of the overhead, but recovered his composure quickly, “I thought we told you to stay with us?”

“I tried... but... I hesitated once and the corridor you turned down vanished.”

“It's not his fault, Balshazzar, he doesn't have a contact chip.” Kid prime's voice seemed to come from everywhere at once, “so I had to reconfigure my internal sensors to track him. And I don't want to alert Crujectra and Cobalt Kid that I'm back at full strength before we find out what Lard Lad and Cobalt Kid are planning, so... Abin if you'll put this on.” A silver wrist band appeared on a floating tray. “I'll be able to track your location on the ship and guide you as necessary.”
 

---

Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
 
The Dominion,
The Dark Oval

Cobalt Kid looked out the front of the space cruiser, his face as stoic as ever, though he privately was suppressing a grin. “Status?” he said.

“So far we’re clear,” said Time-Teller Lad, who was co-piloting the cruiser.

“The others are beginning to break apart…most of the Dominator ships took off after the initial group,” said Lolita, who was the other co-pilot. “I think we’re going to pull this one off.”

“Excellent,” said Cobalt, “a little bit of luck early on is welcome,” he added, though he thought let’s just not use it all up now..

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

Earlier…

After perhaps the last decent bed and meal any of them would receive for many weeks—perhaps months—the Fellowship awoke and the pleasantries of Sumra were a thing of the past. Immediately the focus was on the next step of the journey, and the long awaited transition from United Planets space to the Dark Oval at long last.

Sumra was within the Contested Territories, perfectly placed as the entry point into the Dominion, which is why it was held by the Dominators for so many centuries. In the space between Sumra and the Dominion, a blockade of Dominator ships made up a large wall; however, it was not entirely out of the ordinary for ships to get through either side, with almost an ambiguous zone existing within both territories that allowed pilots who make overzealous errors a chance to turn around.

The Fellowship gathered but by morning Eryk Davis Ester and Lucifer Lass were long gone. Cobalt knew Lard Lad had spoken to them but did not know who else among the Fellowship knew Eryk had been close by; he choose not to speak of it. The Space Knights Templar were also off to focus on their own part to play in the coming conflict, with direct orders from Cobalt Kid on what to do when the time was right. Unknown to the Fellowship, the Knights were suffering from immense hangovers after a night drinking with Power Boy listening to his war stories.

This was their final chance to re-supply on rations, tools, sleeping material and other items. After Sumra they would have to live off the Dark Oval itself.

“You look better than usual,” said Cobalt to Lard Lad, noting that for the first time Lardy looked like he’d actually slept.

Lard Lad didn’t go into details, trying to focus on making sure he had everything he needed before he departed. “I think we’re all glad to finally get into the Oval.”

It was true. Most of them did indeed feel good about finally moving into the territory. They worked diligently all morning and soon were brought to their space cruiser. It was a standard military cruiser, very non-descript and one of dozens. It was bigger than the previous merchant ship they used but not by much.

“More reliance on technology…” said Tempest, not looking forward to another long trip in a space cruiser.

“Tell me about it,” said Shark Lad, feeling the same.

Beyond small talk there wasn’t much discussion. They all knew the mission. At exactly the same moment, two dozen cruisers would depart from Sumra into the Dark Oval. Each cruiser looked exactly alike the others. The Knights had counted before hand and there were precisely ten Dominator ships in the blockage—all much larger than the UP ships but not as fast. They were there to intimidate but not engage.

The initial dozen would take off far into the Oval and then circle back around to Sumra all in one motion. From there, another six would penetrate into the Oval but then turn east or west and take a much longer route getting back; however, the Fellowship’s ship would be among them and not make the trip back. Finally, six additional ships would enter the Oval but each pilot would have the decision on how to proceed: they could penetrate far into the Oval, do a short route, or go east or west; this last group’s goal would be to confuse and try to lure specific Dominator cruisers, drawing them away from the Fellowship individually. The ultimate goal was most would be distracted immediately while some would stay; the second wave would do the same and confuse them, with the possibility of the Fellowship making it through; and the final wave would then purposely, yet subtly, draw away any others form the Fellowship.

23 ships would return to Sumra and a diplomatic incident would ensue, but in this era of war it would mean very little. As of yet, the United Planets had not used the Sumra pass to invade the Dominion and vice versa. The Dominators were not going to look a gift horse in the mouth and press the issue. 23 ships would return to Sumra but 1 would not: one would continue on into the Dominion territory of the Dark Oval, onwards in its quest.

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

“If we’re followed?” said Rockhopper Lad to Cobalt Kid, standing by his side. “Surely secrecy is of the utmost importance here. So much so that everything hinges on it. So what if we’re followed?”

“Then we’d have to eliminate our followers before they could radio in our presence,” said Cobalt coldly, though he knew it was not the answer Rocky wanted to hear.

Rockhopper Lad said nothing. He looked at the screen, considering what his orders would be to the Legionnaires loyal to his commands if they were followed.

Lolita and Time-Teller Lad felt the tension building in the cruiser, as they continued piloting into the Dark Oval and checking the radar to see if they were being followed. A strong silence permeated the room.

Finally, Lolita sighed deeply. “I think we can call it,” she said. “We haven’t been followed. We’re in.”

Cobalt Kid turned to Rockhopper Lad with a big smile and saw Rocky looked relieved but wasn’t thrilled. He put his hand on Rocky’s arm and nodded, and then turned to the back of the cruiser where the others were. “Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the Dark Oval”
 

---

Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
 
Hours went by quickly, as the excitement and optimism of entering the Dark Oval helped raise the Fellowship’s spirits. Though there was more room in the back of the cruiser, most of the Fellowship moved to the front to take in the sight of the Oval and share the minor elation they were feeling.

”Let me take over for you, Lolita,” said Helena Handbasket, sitting in as co-pilot for the tired LMBer known as Oracle.

“You too Tim,” said Timberwolf to Time-Teller Lad. “You’ve been at this quite awhile.”

“Eleven hours, ten minutes, forty-two seconds, sir,” said Time-Teller Lad, glad to be relieved. “I didn’t realize you were a pilot.”

Timberwolf smiled. “I remember the Khunds making that same mistake once.” Cobalt Kid laughed in the background, sharing a private joke with Timberwolf.

Kalla Hrykos sat up front near Timberwolf, taking in the sites. “Feel good to be home?” said Timberwolf to her.

“Yes,” said Kalla Hrykos quietly, taking in the sights. “I’ve been gone far longer than I ever thought I’d be…” She was obviously thinking very deeply about her responsibilities and plans and so Timberwolf said nothing further.

As the others engaged in some small talk, all it took was one Dark Oval saying to get them to quiet immediately: “Piss and Blood.” They all looked to see Helena Handbasket mutter it. “Figures as soon as I take over.”

“What is it, Helena?” said Rockhopper Lad.

“A Dominator ship. It’s spotted us as it was leaving that nearby blue planet,” she said. “It’s following now, and I expect it will try to communicate shortly. We’re still somewhat close to the Contested Territories, perhaps the mistake angle…?”

“No,” said Cobalt, “we’re far too deep into the Dominion. They’ll know this is intentional. We have seconds before they engage and then mere minutes after that before they get on the wire and tell the whole blasted Dominion.”

“Then I’ll handle this,” said Power Boy, holding up scepter and tensing up, as he prepared to battle.

“I’ll go with you,” said Lard Lad, preparing to fire up his exo-armor. “It’s the only way,” he nodded to Power Boy and the two turned back to Rockhopper Lad and Cobalt Kid.

“Once you engage, they might tell the rest of the Dominion before you can finish them off,” said Rockhopper Lad, considering that Power Boy and Lard Lad may not leave any survivors.

“They’re trying to get through to us!” said Timberwolf suddenly. “Make a decision!”

“I have another solution,” said Cobalt Kid suddenly very loudly. They all turned to him. You’re all right. But we’ve planned for something like this.” He then turned to the corner of the cruiser where no one was standing, and then said very directly: “Engage them.”

Everyone looked at him with eyebrows raised, and immediately Lard Lad knew Cobalt had kept something very important from them.

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

As far as the LMB was concerned there were 11 members within this Fellowship; even the rest of the group believed otherwise, except for Tempest, who had discovered the secret earlier but said nothing. In addition to the 11, Cobalt Kid had recruited a 12th.

Invisible Brainiac was the youngest member of the LMBP for the longest time; he was one of their best and brightest, and one of their most pure in terms of morals and heroism. He was also one of their most powerful. For many years, since joining at the young age of 15 years old, he had been considered the “kid brother of the LMB” and usually was protected by the older members. Cobalt Kid, who once was seen in that same way, treated him differently, however; he encouraged Invisible Brainiac to push himself and take risks, and often gave him more responsibility than many of his colleagues felt comfortable with. Everytime he did so, Invisible Brainiac proved him right.

“Invisible Brainiac” was a misnomer; originally it was believed he had powers of invisibility and this combined with his genius level IQ led the others to give him that name. It was later revealed that his true powers were the complete mastery of light and he in fact wore special earrings that partially blocked his immense power because it was so difficult to keep under control.

Prior to the quest, Cobalt recruited him as a secret member. As a member for his power and because he wanted another LMBer on board whose loyalty and purity was beyond reproach. Secret because he wanted a secret weapon, and because Invisible Brainiac’s light powers countered Kalla Hrykos’ same powerset. Invisible Brainiac had one secretly stowed away on a quest with the LMB years earlier against Cobalt’s orders. This time, Cobalt had him do it as part of his orders.

He was young still—one of the youngest of them all. But he was capable, intelligent and powerful. And above all, he was pure.

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

Invisible Brainiac approached the ship at incredible speed while invisible. Using his vast powerset, he phased into the cruiser and took a quick sitrep of the Dominators on board. They had not yet made any communication with the rest of the Dark Oval. Luck, apparently, was still on their side.

He made his way invisible to the back of the cruiser where the power generators were. Using his light powers, he used two quick blasts to short the power immediately, and using the schematics Cobalt had given him earlier that he committed to memory, he took out the communications as well.

As the Dominators began to realize what had been done and panic, he flew to the front of the ship and then with one large blast, he ripped a giant hole into the bottom of the ship, and then he exited.

Quietly, he flew back to the Fellowship. He had made sure the damage done did not destroy the ship immediately or suck all the air out of the ship either; there would be enough time for the Dominators to find a method of escape. He was no killer—they’d be alive; but their communications would be down. At least, for the amount of time they needed.

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

Invisible Brainiac re-entered the ship using his light powers and decided to reveal himself fully. He had a smile on his face.

“The perfect stealth assassin,” said Cobalt to him, and walked over to IB, turning to the others. “I believe you all know Invisible Brainiac.”

“Nice one IB,” said Shark Lad, adding, “though, thanks for keeping us all in the dark Cobie.”

“We thought it would be best to keep me as a secret weapon,” said Invisible Brainiac, honestly feeling this was a good strategy and hoping they’d understand.

“I’m sure they’re all glad you’re here,” said Cobalt, interjecting. He didn’t want Invisible Brainiac to make excuses for him. “I know I am.”

Lolita spoke up: “trust issues, Cobie? I thought we were trying to stop with secrets.”

“I never said that,” said Cobalt matter of factly and sat down.

Rockhopper Lad didn’t seem too pleased and Lard Lad was also surprised. Lardy said nothing yet as Lolita looked to him for a reaction. She seemed annoyed. Timberwolf smiled at the scenario, fully expecting things like this to happen along the trip.

Kalla Hrykos was not pleased. “I don’t know why the girl is so annoyed,” she said to Timberwolf, “I’m the one he obviously doesn’t trust.”

Cobalt looked at Lolita and the others and spoke: “what matters is we’re still under the radar, which is critical. I expected some more resistance and it needed to be dealt with in a way that didn’t reveal us. Invisible Brainiac accomplished exactly that. I’m sure you knew I had some tricks up my sleeves.”

“What’s it matter?” said Helena, focusing on flying through the Dark Oval. “He’s here, and we can use him since Hrun never made it on the trip.”

Lard Lad sat next to Cobalt Kid. “I hope this isn’t going to be a recurring thing…” he said to his friend.

Invisible Brainiac felt a little awkward and took a seat next to Tempest. “Welcome aboard,” she said, “the awkwardness comes and goes.”
 

---

Posted by Dev Em on :
 
Timberwolf had been piloting the cruiser for several hours. Helena Handbasket had stayed alongside him the entire time. He glanced at her every once in a while and was impressed by her concentration to the task at hand. He was also acutely aware of Kalla, who was still behind him watching as they progressed along their journey.

The problem was, her breathing had altered and stayed altered ever since Cobalt Kid had revealed that Invisible Brainiac was with them on the journey. His power set disturbed Kalla, and really...she had a point. his powers were the perfect mirror of her own, and showed that Cobalt Kid had planned for the possibility of Kalla not falling into line and wanted to have someone along that would follow his orders without question. Timberwolf also knew that she was not only sitting there trying to take in the sights of "home", she was trying to figure out what he himself had known about Invisible Brainiacs presence.

Lon sighed to himself and glanced back at the rest of the passengers. Most of them were sitting quietly contemplating their next destination, or talking to one another about their current situation. he shifted his eyes to Kalla and she smiled at him. It was a genuine smile, but there was a touch of real hurt in her eyes.

He glanced quickly at the controls and unbuckled himself from the chair. "I'll be back in a few minutes," he said to Helena. She looked at him and nodded.

He stood and looked at Kalla, "c'mon, let's talk," he said and glanced towards one of the few rooms off the main cabin that they could have at least a little privacy. She stood and followed him.

Once he closed the door, she looked at him and bluntly asked, "you knew...didn't you?"

Lon looked her dead in the eye and said, "yeah, I did. He didn't tell me, but it's not like I cannot tell if there is another person on board, or with us as we moved along. Things like the drag of a ship taking off being off by just a minute bit. The angle of ascent was off just enough to tell me that there was extra weight on board."

She looked at him with a sense of awe that she had not felt for any man in years.

He continued, "when we were on Antiach, the dust trail that we left lasting longer than it should have. We were kicking up more particles than we should have, and the only way that was possible was if there was someone else with us at times." He breathed deep as he shut his eyes and then smiled at her. "I also know tht there have been others following us, or sticking close enough to us to keep a track on where we are. Some of them are allies of some sort, and others, as you know, do not have our best interest in mind."

"But this Invisible Brainiac is your friends way of insuring that he has someone with my power set under his control at all times. It just shows me again how much these people do not trust me." She turned away from him, "and since you didn't feel it necessary to tell me, that means that you..."

He grabbed her arms and turned her towards him. "Do not finish that sentence," he said with an almost angry look forming on his face. "I love you and trust you..." he glanced down for a second and then looked her square in the eye, "...and it's not like you don't have things that you have not told me."

Anyone else may have flinched a little with the accusation, but for Kalla, the only thing that Lon noticed was the slightest raise in her left eyebrow to tell him that she did indeed have more secrets than even he knew about.

"We are the same type of person Lon...slow to fully trust...if ever."

"You should be careful about who you trust fully though. There is intel that I have come across to show that one of your most trusted is not operating with your best interest at heart."

Her eyes narrowed. Who would dare betray me...or is he testing me, trying to get more information from me to give to Cobalt.

Kalla gathered herself and drew upon every fiber of her willpower to measure her tone and reign in her emotions. She would not break down or fly into a rage, no matter what.

"If you truly know something along those lines and are holding back information from me, then you justify my reluctance to trust you completely, Lon. Yes, I have secrets I'm keeping from you. Cobalt has far from my best interests in mind. You damn well know that! I have to protect my interests because he has every intention of turning on me as soon as he gets a chance!"

She was losing her grip on herself. Her eyes were tearing up. Her voice was breaking. She loved this man with all of her heart, and there was no separating her passion from her reason here.

"You have been his operative and his confidante for a long, long time, Lon. I want more than anything to trust you with all of my secrets--look in my eyes! You know I want to! I'm in an impossible position! What would you do if you were me?!?"

He grinned just a little. "I know exactly what I would do sweetheart. I know that we both have secrets, and so do you. What I got though...I just received within the last few minutes before bringing you back here. Cobie does not even know about this..."

He handed her his Omnicom, and on it was a very recent communication sent between one of the resistance and Juj. It spoke of the backup plan that was underway on Earth 4, and how it needed to be completed sooner than expected because she was closer than they had initially thought.

He waited until she completed reading it. "I don't know what is going on, but it sounds like Juj has people on Earth 4 and that they have something planned...something that I do not believe is in our best interest." He took the Omnicom back and deleted the message. "This goes no further than us unless you tell me that you want him to know. There's nothing concrete here, but it gives me a bad feeling. I have some of my agents working their way through various organizations trying to find out what is happening...but it is a slow process. I don't think that we'll get much more info before we get to Earth 4. Infiltration takes time...and time is something we do not have a lot of."

Kalla listened to him, and was weighing his words carefully. "Don't you mean Cobie and your people are being sent in?"

Lon bit his bottom lip a little and then continued, "No. I mean mine. We operate together, but we both have our own networks. The only way to guarantee that we get as much intel as we can. There are at least two agents that we share...not sure if he knows that though, probably does." He smiled and laughed a little. "Look, Cobalt really trusts very few people. He gives people things that make them think he trusts them...but he is trying to cover anything that he can think of with several backup plans. Usually, I am those backup plans...but this time, I am too close to the issue for him to rely on me being that option. He hasn't even addressed it with me, because he knows my answer. He also knows that he has to plan carefully, because I can see through just about everything that he comes up with. He's good...but, you know."

She grinned. "You two are an interesting team."

"You have no idea. I trust him with my life...I also trust you with my life as well. If you tell me that this is nothing...or that..." he paused and gazed directly into her eyes, "...or that you know what this is about...than we proceed with no concern. Think about it, and tell me when you're ready. I'll know what you're talking about."

He leaned in and gave her a kiss. "I really do love you Kalla, and I trust you."

He turned, opened the door and went back to the copilot seat.

[ May 29, 2011, 10:01 PM: Message edited by: Dev Em ]
 

---

Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
 
The Dominion,
The Dark Oval

Once again, the sheer scope of the journey began to overtake the Fellowship as the hours aboard the space cruiser became days; the Fellowship drifted into silence, concentrating on moving forward and fighting exhaustion and weariness.

“Up ahead,” said Lard Lad, glad to be the one to break the monotony, “that is where the fuel station will be. We’re just about out and we can refuel there; we can acquire enough to see us all the way Hul.”

“Is it some sort of fueling station?” asked Shark Lad.

Lard Lad nodded. “More like a space-harbor. An otherwise desolate planet that over the centuries has become a center for passing merchant and military ships, providing fuel, tools, food and other retail items. It’s very useful though exactly the kind of dangerous place we need to be extra careful. The Dominators call it Xom.”

Kalla Hrykos gave some more detail, since she was the only one of the Fellowship to have visited the destination before. “You’ll find mainly Dominators there though there are also other Dark Oval races passing through if they pay the Dominators a toll. You’ll also find the various races the Dominators have conquered but have now been enlisted on their front lines and there receive some additional privileges in traveling around the Dominion.”

“The bottom line is,” said Cobalt Kid cutting in, “we cannot be scene there. We need to refuel and then get out. So most of us, unfortunately, have to stay on the ship.”

At those words, just about everyone of them moaned a little, annoyed that they’d be stuck on board for even longer.

“I know,” said Cobalt, “but that’s the way it is. Timberwolf and Tempest can handle this, and Invisible Brainiac can be by their side in secret.”

“I think I’d be of some use here,” said Kalla Hrykos to Cobalt Kid directly. Her tone was not harsh but it was definitely forceful. “My glamour kept me hidden on Legion World for months undetected—it certainly should do the trick for half an hour on Xom. With another form, I think I’d be more useful than some others,” she said.

The Fellowship looked at Cobalt, wondering if this would turn into some sort of power struggle. Cobalt preferred to save that battle for later if need be, and acquiesced. “Certainly, that makes sense. You can join Tempest and IB then.” He quickly decided that if she was to go, he’d make sure it was not with Timberwolf, so she was forced to interact with the others.

She smiled and nodded. “Excellent.”

Lolita looked at Tempest to see what her reaction was to be spending time with Kalla, thinking the two did not get along. But despite her gift for analysis, Tempest did not let one her feelings one way or another.

Lard Lad turned to Timberwolf and noticed he looked a little annoyed. Cobalt evidently did not notice.

Timberwolf spoke now: “Cobie, why don’t the two of us back them up? We’ll linger behind, let them do their business but keep them in our line of sight. A few espionage veterans like ourselves can stay undetected.” Timberwolf’s tone implied this was something he really wanted Cobalt to do and Cobalt picked up on it right away.

“Good idea. Let’s prepare to dock then.”

Power Boy looked at Lard Lad and shook his head. “You mortals are amusing…” he said.

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

Xom, the Dominion

The space cruiser docked and the others remained inside, as Tempest, Kalla Hrykos and Invisible Brainiac—the latter invisible—journeyed outwards to the refueling station. Neither woman said a word though once outside of earshot, the others could see them conversing.

“I’d give more than a few credits to hear that conversation,” said Time-Teller Lad to Rockhopper Lad.

Timberwolf and Cobalt Kid also left the ship behind them, keeping their distance and subtly drifting into the crowd, and eventually the shadows. Cobalt wore his gray cloak and covered his face.

“Cobie,” said Timberwolf after some silence. “We really need to talk.”

Cobalt nodded in the dark. “I know,” he said. Silence followed for several moments. Finally Cobalt spoke: “I assume you knew about Invisible Brainiac?”

“Pretty much immediately,” said Timberwolf, suppressing a grin. “I assume you knew I knew?” he said back to Cobalt.

“Of course,” replied Cobalt with his own smile. Neither said it but both were amused by the exchange of dialogue because it summed up their professional relationship perfectly. For years now, the two acted in secret, involved in espionage and spy games around the galaxies. They trusted one another implicitly—and for each one, that was a major, major thing because trust did not come easy, if at all, for them.

Yet, just because they trusted one another did not mean their conversations were frank and full of explanations. Cobalt was man who lived in secrets and often he would forego explaining things to people, including his own trusted agent, Lon. He left things out, he didn’t confirm and he didn’t offer up truths. But he knew Timberwolf would learn these things on his own, and he trusted Timberwolf completely would do exactly the right thing when he gained that knowledge. Right thing meaning, what Cobalt would do.

Likewise, Timberwolf fully expected Cobalt to keep secrets, maintain facades and offer little in terms of explanations. But he trusted him completely and knew their motivations were squarely in line. He also knew he would use his skills to learn what he needed to—or what he wanted to—and Cobalt would understand and expect that.

It wasn’t a game and it wasn’t fun. It was how they were and it worked.

And then came Kalla Hrykos.

Somewhere along the way Timberwolf and Kalla Hrykos had fallen in love and those feelings were genuine. Love was an unexpected, illogical and uncompromising thing.

Cobalt hated Kalla Hrykos and saw her as nothing but a killer and nemesis to the LMB and Legion World. If it were up to him, he would use her for all she was worth and then destroy her. His LMB brethren only knew Cobalt’s true feelings to his enemies to a certain extent, not realizing how far he would actually go. But Timberwolf knew. He knew exactly how far he’d go.

Timberwolf had two loyalties now: to the love of his life, Kalla Hrykos, and to the ideals he shared with Cobalt. And the two appeared to be in conflict.

“Invisible Brainiac was a good play,” said Timberwolf. “Powerful, loyal and one of the few truly pure of heart.” Cobalt nodded. “And his powerset is exactly what you need to counter Kalla.”

“Exactly,” said Cobalt, not hiding anything. “I couldn’t trust her, afterall.”

Cobalt’s frankness with Timberwolf was welcome yet Timberwolf couldn’t help but be annoyed at his friend talking about the love of his life like that. “Cobie,” he said, “what are you intentions with Kalla?” It was the question of all questions and it had come out at last.

Cobalt looked strait ahead and considered his reply. “I certainly don’t intend for her to rule the Dark Oval once we take it down,” he said at first. “Not Earth-4, not the Dominion, not any of the other powers.” He knew that was only a partial answer, but he asked a question back. “What are yours?” he said, offering a loaded question.

Timberwolf felt annoyed by the lack of an answer and as one of the most dangerous men in the galaxy, his mood changing would mean Cobalt was entering very dangerous territory. “Cobie…” he said, considering his next words, “…I’m with you all the way on this…but if you think I’ll let her be killed…”

Cobalt felt the tension rising but suddenly, something caught his eye. His focus suddenly shifted; he was a man who was not surprised easily yet now his jaw dropped. And red fury filled his face.

Timberwolf noticed immediately and looked forward. He recognized the Dominator in their sight from the shadows. “Outcaste,” he said quietly.

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

From his earliest days in the LMB, one of Cobalt Kid’s most well-known girlfriends was known as Debauchery Damsel. She was Erika Kr’n, a famous socialite who partied hard with the early LMB and by helping Cobalt gain his “lady’s man” reputation, ruined her own. After the first year of partying with the Legionnaires, she eventually left Earth, her reputation in tatters, and journeyed elsewhere in the United Planets. She eventually drifted to Ventura, where she became immersed in gambling debts, and soon after, became hooked on lotus fruit. Hers was not a pleasant story.

In the LMB’s second year, Erika got herself involved in an even worse predicament. To get herself out of debt, she became involved in selling UP secrets on the black market, and eventually, the buyers turned out to be the Dominators.

At her lowest point, she turned to her one time boyfriend, Cobalt Kid. He stepped in to help her but ultimately, failed and was caught instead. It was then that after a year of gambling, drugs and betrayal, Debauchery Damsel regained her composure and did something heroic: she saved him from the Dominators. But it cost her a great price: her life.

The Dominator who killed her was a scientist who hated humanoid aliens. Using his experimental brain-defiler, he blasted her and rendered her brain dead, and took great pleasure in it. Later, he would experiment on himself to become an Unkillable, but in doing so, brought on great consternation from his Dominator peers. He thought he was on the cutting edge of science; they thought he had crossed a line and become unpure. They stripped him of his rank and citizenship and proclaimed him to no longer be a member of the Caste. Hereafter, he was known as “Outcaste”.

Outcaste had not seen Cobalt Kid and the LMB since murdering Erika Kr’n in the year 3001. He never knew that in Cobalt Kid’s heart, there was a burning hatred for him and that one day, Cobalt Kid swore he would get his revenge. Outcaste did not know that because of his actions, Cobalt Kid has a personal hatred for the Dominators; it was a hatred that influenced all of his decisions when it came to the Dark Oval, for Cobalt felt he was duty bound to gain vengeance on them. These were things no one knew.

And now, Cobalt Kid saw Outcaste for the first time and recognized him immediately despite the similarity to the other Dominators.

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

“At last,” said Cobalt under his breath. When Cobalt was overcome with fury, he had an odd tendency to become very cold and unemotional. He did not scream with rage or act uncontrollably. He became very measured. It was his most disconcerting temperament.

“Cobie,” said Timberwolf immediately. “You can’t. I know you want to, but you simply can’t. Too much relies on it now.”

Cobalt stared forward. “We could probably take him out if we followed him to where he was going,” said Cobalt. “The two of us have unfinished business.”

Timberwolf knew he had mere moments to sort this out and took a different approach. “It comes down to this then, doesn’t it?” he said angrily. “Do you practice what you preach?”

Cobalt turned to him, his face cold and angry. “What do you mean?”

“You expect us all to sacrifice everything, even love. You claim its for the greater good and you convince us to believe in it. But do you actually believe it? Would you sacrifice our safety—the entire quest—for a moment of revenge?”

Cobalt said nothing.

“Well?” Timberwolf pushed. He was no longer just feigning anger—he was really feeling it.

Cobalt exhaled, taking control of himself. “No,” he said at last. “No, I wouldn’t.”

Neither said nothing now as Cobalt regained his composure. Outcaste soon went out of view. At last the silence broke. “My intentions with Kalla…” said Cobalt, as if the conversation was never interrupted, “…are at this point, unclear,” he said at last. “I know what I can’t let happen—won’t let happen—but I don’t know what must happen.”

Timberwolf nodded. “Okay,” he said at last.

“What I don’t want,” said Cobalt directly to him now, looking eye to eye, “is for us to be at odds.”

Timberwolf looked back. “I hope it never comes to that.”

As they looked ahead, they saw Tempest and Kalla Hrykos beginning to return. Without a word, the two began to move back to the space cruiser.

“Lon,” said Cobalt, as Timberwolf turned back. “Thank you,” he said.

Timberwolf grinned and turned back.
 

---

Posted by Lard Lad on :
 
Dominion Space, The Dark Oval

Soon after Cobalt Kid and the others had returned to the cruiser and the Fellowship had resumed their course toward the Dominion, Lard Lad had finally taken his friend aside and filled him in on everything that Lucifer Lass and Eryk Davis Ester had told him on Sumra.

After he’d finished, Lardy saw a look on Cobalt’s face he never expected to see: one of doubt and uncertainty. It was a look that very few who knew Cobalt had ever seen him have. Not only was there a kind of haze in his eyes, but his posture was different, with his shoulders slightly slumped. What Lardy had said was totally unexpected for him. Cobalt Kid simply did not do ‘unexpected‘.

“Look, Des,” Lardy spoke up after a long pause, “it’s no big deal. We’ve got grand-pappy’s eyeball, and we know what we need to do at least.” Lardy held up his locket for emphasis.

“I know, Lardy,” Cobalt replied, “but I was so sure I knew who the Dark Lord was…”

“You thought it was Pornis, didn’t you,” Lardy asserted as the realization dawned on him. “When were you gonna share your suspicion with me?”

“When I was absolutely sure, Lardy. I didn’t want to put you through that for nothing.”

“Des, I’m a big boy, okay? I’m also your best friend! You know you can trust me, right? I…even told you about those dreams…”

“You’re right again, of course. I…I need to tell you about C.J. Did Lucy or Eryk mention him?”

Lardy was confused. “C.J. Taylor?” Cobalt nodded. “No, they didn’t.” Lardy thought for a moment about C.J., the mysterious LMBer known as Enigma. “What about him?”

“I’m pretty certain he’s your and Eryk’s half-brother, Lardy. I’ve suspected for a long time that he was another son of Pornis, and I’ve been collecting evidence over the past few years.”

Lardy was aghast. “Well, damn, Des--my family tree just keeps getting bigger and more complicated! Next thing you know, I’ll have cousins, twice removed, showing up and looking to squat in the Lair!" He chuckled nervously and asked the obvious follow-up question. "So...if Pornis is the dad, then who’s C.J.'s mom?”

“I suspect it’s Mala.”

“Mala?!?” Lardy was taken aback. Mala was the mother of two women who’d each had a great impact on his life. Dru was his wife and perhaps his greatest love. Mordra was the worst enemy he’d ever had. Mordra had driven Lardy to kill her, and Mala bore part of the responsibility for Dru’s murder. Another person Lardy had killed was Mala’s ex-husband (and Dru and Morda’s father) Mordru in the aftermath of Dru’s death. Mala’s current husband was Romaltus, Cobalt’s uncle and betrayer of Epsilon Sector. Finally, Lardy said bluntly, “I guess she gets around.”

“Definitely!” Cobalt agreed with a slight grin. “We’ll get to her and my uncle before all is said and done. Meanwhile, I‘ve got people protecting C.J. Your revelation of who the Dark Lord is doesn‘t lessen the potential danger to him or to the rest of your family.”

“Yeah, I’m glad that Helen and the kids are with Dev’s family and Darden.” Lardy remembered his 'dream' about them and hoped all were safe.

He noticed that Cobalt was beginning to normalize some. His eyes were more confident and his posture had resumed its normal state. But Lardy noted what he’d observed. It was subtle but scary for him because Lardy had had to lean on his friend as a pillar of strength through all of Lardy’s seemingly endless travails. He knew Cobalt desired control over all things and that there was no way a mission as dangerous and complex as this one would go according to plan. Cobalt might need him this time. Lardy hoped he wouldn’t let his friend down if it came to that.

Cobalt broke the silence. “Lardy, I just wanted you to know that I’m happy that you’ve had a chance to connect with Lucy and Eryk. I know that means a lot to you.”

“Yeah,” Lardy replied, “I’m feeling pretty lucky, these days. Two great kids, long lost siblings poppin' up left and right…and I've got the best friend in the universe, bar none.” He put his hand on Cobalt’s shoulder for a moment. “Now, let’s get back to the others before they suspect we’re making out!”

Both laughed, and Lardy was the first to exit. Cobalt lingered for an extra moment. His grin turned into a frown, and the uncertain look his friend had observed returned again. He shook his head, composed himself and followed his friend into the main passenger area.

[ June 04, 2011, 06:12 PM: Message edited by: Lard Lad ]
 

---

Posted by Kalla Hrykos on :
 
Timber Wolf was dozing lightly aboard the cruiser when he felt a hand brushing gently against his cheek.

“Whuh?” he said wearily and opened his eyes. He already knew whose touch had roused him from her scent. But even without enhanced senses, a man knows the touch of his lady.

“It’s time, Lon,” said Kalla Hrykos.

He nodded, and the couple adjourned to the relative privacy of the small room they’d used to discuss their trust issues the previous day.

As he closed the door, Kalla embraced him tightly, and he reciprocated. I hope this isn’t the last time he welcomes my touch after what I have to tell him, she thought.

She reluctantly broke their embrace and looked around furtively. “Lon...do you think this room is secure?”

“Give me some credit, Kalla. If there were any bugs in here, I’d sense its minute workings. This room is clean!”

“Even Cobalt...?”

“...doesn’t have any tech or tricks that could fool me!” he laughed. “I’m the best there is at what I d--”

“Oh, hush, Fuzzy--your bragging is insufferable!” She giggled as she teased him. In actuality, his bragging kind of turned her on...and he knew it! Her smile faded quickly, though, as she struggled with the weight and possible consequences of what she was about to say.

Lon sensed Kalla’s tension. Again, it didn’t take superhuman senses for him to notice this. If you’re part of a couple long enough, it comes easily. He didn’t want her to suffer working up her nerve, so he took her hands into his and said, “just tell me, Kalla.”

“Oh, Fuzzy, it’s hard for me. I’m on the edge of a cliff, and I’m about to either jump off--or you’ll want to push me off!”

“Either way, I’ll catch you,” he assured her while looking her right in the eyes. “I promise.”

She nodded, took a deep breath and began. “First of all, Lon. That thing you intercepted--it wasn’t a betrayal. Juj is following my orders to the letter. I have operatives among the resistance on Earth-4, and they are executing a secret mission on my behalf.” She paused and hesitated before continuing.

“What’s the nature of the mission?” he urged her to continue.

“It’s a contingency mission, Lon...one I’d planned before I ever came to Legion World to find Lard Lad. The contingency was originally designed to take out another member of the Dark Oval Elite. Lard Lad had already taken out Dominion’s Pinnacle Command and replaced him with Juj, as you know. The next step was for him to replace Wyandotte in the Hive. Then, Lard Lad ‘died‘, and that portion of the plan was put on hold indefinitely.”

“When the existence of a rebellion on Earth-4 came to our attention, Juj, Phe’Be and I saw an opportunity to move against the Emperor Pyngwyn and supported their insurgency with intel, weapons and funding. With that ’in’ to their rebellion, it was simplicity for Juj to insert some of his fellow Durlans and have them blend in. Eventually, we were able to get in the components of a very powerful weapon to Earth-4, with the goal to eventually assemble and position it so it could be used...most effectively.”

“What kind of weapon are we talking here, Kalla? Some kind of biological agent? A dirty bomb? Chemical? What is it?”

Kalla broke eye contact and shook her head. “You know what a nega-bomb is, I trust?”

Lon’s jaw dropped just a little, and his eyes couldn’t help but widen ever so slightly. Despite his training, he could not help but react just a little. “Nega-bombs? Caracalla used those to destroy the old Black Sun planet before he founded the Khanate! You didn’t--!”

“Yes, Lon,” she said quietly, “we got a hold of an especially powerful one. My operatives are placing it near Earth-4’s core. If set off...it would likely destroy Earth-4.”

Lon shut his eyes for a moment. His mind was racing through the possibilities. There was a nega-bomb at the center of the planet that they were eventually going to. This was not something that he would have anticipated, and that bothered him almost more than the gravity of the situation.

When he finally opened his eyes a few seconds later, Kalla could have sworn it had been hours.

"Well," he said finally, "guess you weren't planning on keeping Earth-4 as a vacation spot, huh." He managed a half grin.

Her eyes widened, and she felt a wave of relief, but not a fully realized sense of relief because his face showed concern as well.

"I cannot say that this wrinkle thrills me darling, but it is what it is. Obviously, Cobalt cannot know about this...under any circumstances...not that you were going to run an tell him. This would put him over the edge with you."

Kalla started relaxing a bit more at the implications of what he was saying. He was taking this extremely well!

"What is the trigger system, and who has it?" Lon asked.

"The leader of the infiltration squad carries a subspace transmitter. It can only be activated if myself, Juj or Phe'Be transmit the code to him. No one else knows the code."

She looked down for a moment. "Lon, our intent was always to use it. But more and more, I'm thinking I don't really want to." She looked into his eyes. "I would rather use it as a deterrant...and as leverage should Cobalt think about stabbing me in the back. Lon, I can't lose Hrykosia! It's my birthright...and my home."

"I know honey. I haven't figured out how yet, but don't worry about that end of this whole thing right now. Cobie does not want you in power...but there may be ways around that. Leave that to me...okay?"

He reached out and took her hand.

"Trust me. You'll not lose Hrykosia. I promise you that. There may be a way to pull this off that is beneficial to everyone," he said as he drew her in and kissed her.

After a moment, they embraced and Kalla lay her head on his shoulder. She felt happy and content having shared her burden with the man she loved. Whatever would happen, from this point she would always be honest with Lon. She whispered to him softly, "no more secrets."

And she meant it.
 

---

Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
 
As the journey continued on, much of the tension slowly had left the room, and even a sense of boredom settled in with some of the Fellowship. Until at long last, the words they were waiting for had been spoke. It was Helena Handbasket who spoke them: “We’re now approaching Hul.”

Lard Lad sat up strait from the back, as Rockhopper Lad shook off some of his sleepiness. Cobalt Kid, who had been going over mission details with Lolita, looked forward and stood up.

“It begins shortly,” said Cobalt. “Everything we do must be timed perfectly; we have to be surgical and totally proficient. We get one shot at this, and if we fail, then its time to pack up and go home because the entire quest relies on us achieving this goal.”

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

The Dominion was one-fifth of the Dark Oval, and it was the largest fifth. Over the centuries, the Dominators had carved out a vast empire of planets which they controlled, many which were completely subservient to them, and others that acted as vassal-states with their own subservient planets. The Dominators themselves, other than delegates and overseers on those controlled planets; while there was almost three dozen planets within the territory, the Dominators only lived on three of them.

The capital of the Dominion was Elia, the home-planet of the Dominators, which was still the cultural and social center. Elia was where the High Caste Leader kept his residence, and where all the high born castes were. However, decades earlier, Elia had become more of a symbol than an actual base of operations.

The real political, administrative and military capital was Hul, which was positioned much closer to the United Planets and the Contested Territories. Hul was where all of the military brass lived and worked, and was where the vast Dominator empire was administered. Communications and orders came top-down from Elia, but they were acted on and put into effect on Hul. If one could control Hul, one could gain the Dominion.

The Dominators were ruthless, logical and beyond all else, efficient. While they were not the greatest warriors on the battlefield, they were certainly the greatest strategists in waging war. To overtake them relied completely on surprise; you would have to outflank them rather than meet them on the battlefield.

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

“Hul is a vast planet,” said Lolita to the Fellowship, “but its mostly wasteland. The majority of the population lives in a large military center, which is where we’ll be going. The barracks, which houses the majority of their foot soldiers, is several miles away from the Command Center, where we’ll be engaging in our mission. So initially, we won’t have much resistance; the longer it takes to complete our mission, the more danger we are in, as hundreds of soldiers—possibly thousands—we’ll be on route. So time is not on our side.”

“We will split into two groups,” said Cobalt Kid. “The first group is a ‘shock and awe’ group with the intentions of providing a decoy distraction; this is where our heavy hitters will do some damage. Rockhopper Lad and Lard Lad will lead Shark Lad, Power Boy, Tempest and Invisible Brainiac”. He looked at them all. “I suspect after the initial surprise and damage is done, they’ll come at you hard with their own brand of weaponry. We know their major assets are (A) technology and (B) their super-army of Unkillables, mutated super-soldiers with advanced strength, speed and endurance. How many are actually on Hul is information that we have been unable to collect.”

As Cobalt spoke, the “heavy hitters” looked around and nodded at one another. Power Boy smiled at Lard Lad, ready for battle, and Lard Lad couldn’t help but return the smile feeling his enthusiasm. Tempest said nothing, considering in her mind what her own plan of attack would be. Shark Lad, who had been couped up for what felt like weeks, couldn’t wait to unleash. Invisible Brainiac looked to Rockhopper Lad, LMB Leader, and followed his lead; Rockhopper Lad stood strait up and said nothing, waiting for Cobalt to finish his report to them.

“The second group will be about stealth; infiltrating the Command Center and bringing down the Dominion. With me will be Time-Teller Lad, Lolita, Helena Handbasket, Timberwolf and Kalla Hrykos.” Cobalt finished, but the Fellowship waited and said nothing. Cobalt had referred to his plan several times but until now, he had not revealed it in full. Lolita suspected it was because he didn’t trust Kalla Hrykos; Timberwolf knew it was because he didn’t trust anyone.

He continued. “Our mission is three-fold,” he said. “First, bring down their technology; second, break down their communication and chain of command; and last, we open up the Dominion to outside invaders, giving them entry all the way to Hul for the first time in one thousand years. General Bellassarius of the UP and other allies are on standby to begin the invasion at our signal.”

Lolita spoke up now, supplementing Cobalt’s explanation. “The Dominators will fall but it won’t take them long to regroup. As the UP forces begin their invasion and the Dark Oval now is fighting a war within their own territory, we will exit the Dominion and move forward. But this blitzkrieg strategy will effectively take the Dominion out of the game.”

Kalla Hrykos, who over the course of the last few weeks felt the tension between herself and Cobalt Kid growing, couldn’t help but admire the strategy. When engaged in these military and espionage matters, Cobalt Kid was cold, calculating and almost heartless in his logic. He was creating a second front for the war, putting trillions of lives in peril. Perhaps they were not so different after all?

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

On Hul, in the barren wasteland beyond the Dominator military city, were numerous quarries of rocks, creating a jagged terrain that was uninviting and cruel. Life could not survive in this vast sector of Hul. Yet, one living being spent time there now.

Titus sat in quiet contemplation, patiently waiting for events to progress. He looked at the many stars and could not help but suppress a smile to his lips. Great, awful violence was coming. The titillation caused by the waiting was arousing.

The Legionnaires were an intelligent, brave and lucky bunch. But they had not counted on him.
 

---

Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
 
Weber’s World,
The United Planets

Spellbinder walked through the hallways of Weber’s World, en route to the Senate to once again give an update on the state of the Universe and discuss / debate the next steps. There was progress on many fronts, while in other places, such as Imsk, there was the opposite. With so many Ambassadors away on business, she was amazed at how empty the halls were.

“Damn you Princess,” said a voice, causing her to turn and see the magnificent looking Ambassador Mirenna Helene. “Going on no sleep for three days and still looking positively divine.”

Princess Crujectra bowed, as was polite, but did not say anything. She liked Mirenna quite a bit, but was always cautious around someone so dangerous. “I’m glad you’re back Ambassador,” she said at last. “Things are still very touch and go, and at this time, Bellisarius continues to hold a large portion of his troops in reserve.”

“I’m aware,” said Mirenna. “I believe our suspicions are correct.”

Spellbinder replied, knowing what she meant immediately: “he’s waiting from a signal from Cobie to begin the invasion. He’s willing to sacrifice the UP’s safety to gain his glory in the Dark Oval at long last.”

“Let’s just hope he’s successful then,” said Mirenna.

Crujectra watched as Mirenna walked away, again surprised by her calculating way. She wondered if her influence on Cobie was more than she originally thought.

Ducking down a hallway that was empty, Princess Crujectra took a moment to do her own check on the progress of events in the Dark Oval. She concentrated very deeply, searching out with her telepathy across the galaxies to find the one person she was most connected to.

Cobalt Kid and Spellbinder shared a telepathic link—something so strong that many believed it was the equivalent of spiritual marriage. With a super-powerful telepath like Crujectra, it meant the link extended even beyond planets, though the distance between Weber’s World and the Dark Oval was so far that it was close to breaking. Still, she could feel the faintest hints of the link and it gave her some relief. He was alive, and he was well. She could detect his adrenaline was up, which could mean a number of things; but she was sure it was likely danger.

She was already very worried for him, and their other LMB allies, but this reinforced the worry. She could only hope the danger was his own doing and his plan was working. In the meantime, all she could do was help the United Planets.

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

United Planets Space – Gathering of the UP Fleets

General Bellasarius waited patiently, his crew knowing by now not to disturb him. He overlooked the monitors which pointed outwards, beyond the United Planets and the Contested Territories and the Dark Oval. It was almost time now and he was as ready as ever.

The wait was killing him. He was a patient man but had his limits. Soon, he told himself. Soon. The signal would be given and the counter-invasion would begin. The war would gain a second front, this one right where the Dark Oval least desired it, in their homes.

It was a gamble, holding many of his fleets in reserve for this opportunity, while the citizens of the UP suffered from invasion. But if they could bring the fight to the Dominators and the rest of the Oval, and cause some real damage, it would be worth it. And then his name would be held in the highest esteem and the glory of the fall of the Dark Oval would be his.

Outside of the office, the elder soldier known as Kilrain checked in on the General but said nothing. He was his subordinate but also his friend. And he worried about the gamble the General was taking.

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

United Planets Space – LMBP Cruiser

“Things look grim,” said Dedman, looking at the monitor screens. “Daroon appears to be the epicenter of the worst of it. But the fighting is all over.”

“Legion World seems to be okay,” said Maxx, “for now. No real disturbances yet. We’re all spread so thin, I’ll take that as good news.”

Four LMBers were on board a ship, off on a mission only the LMB Leader, Rockhopper Lad, Deputy Leader Fanfic Lady, and Cobalt Kid knew about. They were Crusader, LMB Founder, Maxx, his sorcerer lover, Dedman, and Kid Vudoo.

“Legion World still has several LMBers present,” said Crusader, who was piloting the ship, “and the citizens there have proved tougher than we’ve given them credit there before. But what really worries me is the rest of the UP. Something needs to happen, and soon. I hope this gamble Cobalt Kid has taken pays off.”

They all nodded and Dedman replies. “I hate sitting here waiting, but I know it will be important. When the signal comes, we’ll enter the Oval and retrieve her,” he said. “And then we can be go help the UP wherever we’re needed.”

“Exactly,” said Crusader. “We need to ensure the safety of one of our own first.” He turned to the fourth member of their crew. “See anything Vu?”

“Not yet,” said Kid Vudoo, using his vision abilities to see far into the Dark Oval, beyond the planets and stars, meteor swarms and other debris. “The battle on Hul has not yet begun.”

“Then we wait longer,” said Crusader.

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

Café Carmer,
Legion World

“Caramel Macchiato coming right up,” said the girl at the counter at Café Cramer, turning to make the drink the patron had ordered.

Standing in line was the infamous Umber, Legion World socialite and perhaps its greatest shopper.

“Your usual, Umber?” said Fat Cramer, leaping onto the counter in her cat form. In this form she was small in size, but her reputation and the respect she from the citizens of Legion World was still immense. She was the owner of this establishment, one of the most famous on Legion World.

“Lulz, of course!” she said, with a giggle.

Fat Cramer found it amusing but did not reply, continuing to walk across the counter and then jumping down into the Café, walking across to another famous patron, seated at a booth. “Good morning, Lash,” she said.

“Hey FC,” he said back with a smile. He was trying to blend in but it was difficult as people were staring.

“Still watching her, then?” she asked him.

“Yup,” he said. “And I’m beginning to suspect I’m not the only one…”

Lash Lad didn’t continue but Fat Cramer took the hint. Umber was being followed by someone dangerous.

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

United Planets Space – Aboard a UP Cruiser

The four LMBers on board had been silent for some time, each thinking their own thoughts on why CJ Taylor was so important to the Dominators. They had their own theories—like many other LMBers had their own theories on CJ’s origins—but they did not voice them. At last, the silence was broke.

“Where exactly are we going, Space Ranger?” said CJ Taylor to mighty LMBer, who was standing by My Whee Fem, the pilot of the cruiser. “You said ‘somewhere safe’, but what does that mean exactly?”

“Yea Pard,” said Raging Bull, “we been with ya for a few days now and we still have no clue. Mind letting us know what the big plan is?”

Space Ranger replied: “we’re off to see a friend of ours,” he said. “And then, I’m afraid your journey continues alone, CJ.”

Raging Bull and CJ Taylor looked at each other with their eyebrows raised. “Don’t like the sound of that…” said Raging Bull, but CJ said nothing.
 

---

Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
 
Hul, the Dominion
The Dark Oval

Hul was a vast network of command centers and military bases, housing a never-ending series of Dominators who worked efficiently at their jobs of maintaining and expanding their vast empire of subservient and brutalized races. The Dominators were so focused and proficient at their tasks that it was difficult for them to be distracted. And for the first time, this proved invaluable to agents of the United Planets.

Timberwolf, one of the greatest espionage agents in the known and unknown space, led half of the Fellowship forward through the shadows and out of sight. Behind him followed the others: Kalla Hrykos, Cobalt Kid, Lolita, Time-Teller Lad and Helena Handbasket. The two groups of the Fellowship had parted ways hours earlier and the other half of the group lie in wait. At the predetermined time, they would ‘unleash hell’ on the military structure of Hul and set a series of events into motion.

“Eighteen minutes, forty-two seconds,” said Time-Teller Lad in a whisper to Cobalt Kid, alerting him to the time before the coordinated strike began.

Cobalt nodded. They were slightly ahead of schedule which was good. He turned to Helena Handbasket, who was also by his side. “Plant not slowing you down?”

She grinned, which told him ‘no’. “I hope you don’t expect me to carry this throughout the entire Dark Oval,” she replied, “especially since I don’t know why we’re bringing the Dominators a house-warming gift.”

Cobalt smiled back. “You won’t be carrying it much longer,” he said. “And the only gifts I ever bring anyone are Trojan Horses,” he added.

Up ahead, Lolita noticed two Dominator guards blocking the path. To go around them meant risking exposure in the light and being picked up by cameras or motion detectors. Up until now they hadn’t had that problem—now they would have to confront them. “How should we…” she began to Kalla Hrykos, who was near her.

“Shh, child,” said Kalla Hrykos, not looking back but holding her hand to cut off her words. “Just watch.”

Ahead, Timberwolf took out the took guards in one fluid motion that was so fast, Lolita wasn’t completely sure how he did it. She was also unsure if he rendered them unconscious of killed them. With Timberwolf, you never knew.

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

Fifteen minutes later, the Fellowship reached a critical intersection in the thoroughfare. “It’s about time to make our move,” said Cobalt Kid to them.

Lolita explained for Cobalt. “Up ahead is the key command center and control room, which directs and supervises control of all Dominator fleets, flight plans and communication. It also is the key point in the chain of command from Elia to the troops. Our goal will be to take it completely, and from there, Cobie has something he will do.”

“How do you have this intel?” asked Helena.

Lolita answered: “our new ally helped us in this regard.” Lolita blatantly giving Kalla Hyrkos the credit made her feel good. Until now, Cobalt Kid had not openly disclosed exactly how valuable her intel had been in the Dark Oval.

“So we’ll be going in a matter of minutes,” said Helena.

“Seconds actually,” said Time-Teller Lad.

“Not everyone,” said Cobalt Kid, surprising them. “Timberwolf has his own mission while we accomplish this. A critical element has to be taken off the board.”

“What?” said Lolita, surprised. “You didn’t mention…”

She looked over and by now, Timberwolf was already gone.

“Fifteen seconds,” said Time-Teller Lad.

“But where…?”

“Timberwolf’s job is Pinnacle Command now,” said Cobalt. “We’ll have to bring down the Command Center without him. Don’t worry though, I’m sure we’ll have plenty of fun,” he smiled and then turned to Time-Teller Lad.

“Now,” said Time-Teller Lad in almost a whisper.
 

---

Posted by SharkLad on :
 
With the assault on the military base about to commence, SharkLad found his thoughts wandering back to his last moments with Lolita. After Cobalt Kid had announced the division in the groups, SharkLad had pulled Lolita aside to talk.

“Say, what’s wrong? I thought you’d be itching to fight,” Lolita said.

“I am, I just didn’t count on us getting separated.”

“Aw, ya big lug, are you actually worried about me? Look, I can take care of myself. I did for a long time before you were ever in the picture,” Lolita said teasingly. “Besides, I’ll be with—”

“Cobalt. Exactly. Convenient that you ended up with him.”

“Now, wait a minute. You go from being concerned about my safety to being jealous about me and Cobalt? You’re being ridiculous!”

“Am I? Then why don’t you join my team?” SharkLad asked.

“Your team? I don’t fit in there. I’m better suited to the other mission.”

“Yeah, with Cobalt.”

“Is this really how you want things to go down between us before you head out? You’re about to get into something pretty heavy, and you need to keep your head in the game.”

“Sounds like you care more about the mission than you do about us.”

“Ya know what? I’m done. You can think whatever you want. When this is all over, you’ll see just how ridiculous you’re being!” Lolita said angrily.

Lolita then stormed off, and now, as SharkLad and the others prepared for their assault on the military base, he couldn’t help but wonder how he let himself get so worked up.

"Something ain't right with me lately," SharkLad said to himself with a low growl.

“Hey, Sharky! You ready?” called Lard Lad suddenly.

“Yeah, I’m ready,” SharkLad answered, glad for the distraction from his thoughts.

SharkLad lumbered towards the others.

“Gotta keep my head clear,” he mumbled to himself.

Power Boy punched SharkLad in the shoulder.

“This is it, man. Are we going to see you go all 'frenzy' out there?”

“You know it," SharkLad answered. "Just say ‘go.’”
 

---

Posted by Abin Quank on :
 
LMBP Headquarters...


“Ohmygod! What's like happening in there?” Everyday Girl reached Outdoor Miner's side a split second ahead of Lash, “and what do the Xanth Books have to do with it?”

“Nothing is happening right now, time is 'frozen' in there. But it's bad, real bad.” OM looked around the assembled group, his compound eyes glazed from the effort required to negate the distance between the hallway and the office and pass through the Chronal Energy Barrier. “We only get one shot to fix this people, It'll take all I've got to get in there again.”

Lash looked down at the obviously shaken Miner, “We need more info here pal, Xanth? Real Bad? Those things don't tell me much.”

“The staffer was a plant, an assassin, a good one. Lightning Lad is down, looks dead, crushed skull. Fanfic has a stiletto in her throat, still upright. Looks like she called up this kid, calls himself 'The Dastaro' or something like that, at the last second. Problem is; he thinks I'm some kind of 'monster' and is demanding to see the 'princesses' before he'll do anything more than he has.”

Lash, Ram Boy, and OM all turned to look at Brit & Emily. “I've read most of the Xanth Books,” Ram Boy started “this guy could be 'The Dastard.' If he is; you two are our best shot at getting him to help.”

“Selfish, arrogant, little punk that can rewind time and change the outcome of things that have recently happened? That was the only Xanth book I hated.” Emily spat, “And we need to vamp the little creep? Get him to rewind whatever happened in there... And... then what?”

“Ohmygod, Fanfie like sends him back to wherever and we get on with like figuring out who's pulling the strings on all this junk.” Brit turned back to Miner, “Whenever you're like ready OM.”

Miner nodded and a transport circle opened on the wall, “Push yourselves through. The Chronal Energy Barrier makes it difficult but as long as you don't stop you'll make it. If nothing happens in the next ten minutes I'll send in help.”

Everyday Girl stepped onto the circle. Normally the transition through one of Outdoor Miner's circles was as effortless as walking through a doorway, simply step over the threshhold and enter the next room, no matter how far away that room was in the real universe. But this time it felt as if someone had 'saran wrapped' the doorway. Brit could see into Fanfic Lady's office but something invisible, but pliable, impeded her progress with a clinging softness that slowed her movements and prevented her from exiting the 'doorway.' She could feel Red Arrow behind her pushing against the same soft resistence. “How much further?” Emily's voice sounded tired, “Just a little bit, keep pushing!”

They broke through with a little pop sound effect just as Miner's transport circle faded away. “What would happen to us if we were still inside?” Emily asked quietly as she automatically took a defensive stance on Brit's right side. Both girls scanned the frozen scene in the room quickly. Lightning Lad lay face down in front of Fanfic Lady's desk. The right side of his head was a caved in, bloody mess. A petite but muscular girl was in the process of thrusting a slender knife into Fanfic Lady's throat. And behind that eerie still scene; an oddly dressed, dark eyed, young man stood quietly watching them.

“Who are you?” He asked quietly. “Where did the bug monster go?”

“Ohmygod! He's like not a monster...” Everyday Girl began only to be cut off by Red Arrow.

“You're a Magician. You can rewind time to control events. You can undo what's happened here,” Emily made a sweeping motion with her bow to indicate the scene at Fanfic Lady's desk. “Rewind it to before the girl attacks them. We'll take care of things from there.”

“What's in it for me?” His dark eyes flashed as he shot the question back at Red Arrow. “Why should I do anything? All I have to do is release my time freeze and walk out of here. I doubt you two girls could stop me.”

“You let Fanfie die... You'll probably die right with her,” Red Arrow replied. “She brought you here. Her power is what sustains you. She dies you go... POOF!”

An odd look crossed the young man's face. He turned slightly and studied Fanfic Lady's face for a second. Then he traced something neither Red Arrow nor Everyday Girl could see in the air between him and Fanfie. “You might be right.” He muttered at Red Arrow, “There is a magic line running from her to me. I can't take the chance.” He made an odd gesture and stepped back away from Fanfic's desk. “Stay Clear of the magic. Tell me when things have gone far enough backwards.”

The scene began to move slowly. The muscular girl pulled the knife out of Fanfie's throat and the wound closed behind the motion. Fanfie moved back into her chair as it came up from the floor to meet her. A silverale bottle filled with lead shot reassembled itself as Lightning Lad levitated in reverse from the floor to a chair. The bottle finished reassembling as LL head intersected it's arc in reverse and his crushed skull repaired itself. The bottle flipped through the muscular girl's hand and back onto a tray on Fanfie's desk. Lightning Lad watched with a slightly bemused look on his face as a cup of tea went back into the teapot.

“Stop!” Everyday Girl's voice rang loud and clear. “Nobody! No One! Take her down! Hard!”

The 18 inch tall versions of Cobalt Kid and Eryk Davis Ester appeared and swept the assasin's feet out from under her. Surprisingly she twisted and took the fall on her shoulder instead of hitting face first and kicked both of the figures away from her. She rolled and came up with the knife in one hand and leaped at Lightning Lad, slashing at his throat, only to be met by enough voltage to stun an elephant.

A half a second later the room was filled with LMBPers. Nobody noticed the oddly dressed dark eyed young man slipping out the back door...
 

---

Posted by Abin Quank on :
 
Lash reached Fanfic's side as the Assassin hit the floor. His whip at the ready. His eyes scanning the room for anything out of place anything that might present a further threat. A half second behind him Sam Pureheart and Tony Broadneck began to set up their portable Med-Lab next to Fanfic's desk while Ram Boy and Caliente both rushed to Lightning Lad's side. Lightning Lad, however, was in no mood to be coddled, he brushed past Cali and Ram Boy and went down on one knee next to the unconscious assassin. He rolled her onto her back and began examining her.

“Sebastian,” He he motioned for Question Lad to join him, “if you read her will you absorb any compulsions she's under?”

Question Lad hesitates slightly, "Possibly, but I doubt it."

“Are you willing to take that risk?” L.L. Pointed to a dead man switch laying on the carpet next to 'Emily Dickenson's' open hand. “We need to know who sent her and what backup she has in place. Because something is on it's way.”

Sebastian glanced at the switch then removed the glove from his right hand and took the unconscious woman's hand in his. As he made full skin to skin contact his head bowed, his eyes closed and everyone in the room collectively held their breath. He stayed frozen in that pose for almost a full minute before shaking his head slowly and looking away from the woman. “We should kill her now, before she recovers from the shock.” He reached for the knife laying on the floor a few inches away from the body. But before he could grab it a gossamer energy web covered it and Sam's hand closed on his wrist. “Nuh-huh, Rich Boy, no sharp objects for you.”

“Yo, Baby Chief, you bring an evidence bag with you?” Arachne's rich contralto voice erupted as a small spider expanded into a dark haired beauty. Her energy web contracted lifting the knife from the floor. “Don't touch the blade, it's got sixteen different kinds of nasty smeared on it.”

Everyday Girl practically bounced to Arachne's side. “Ohmygod! Miss Bug Lady! I thought you were like on leave hunting giant flies or some junk like that.” She held out the requested evidence bag and Arachne carefully placed the knife into it.

“Let me go! You imbecile!” Sebastian struggled trying to pull his hand free from Sam's grip. “You don't understand how dangerous she is... We can't let her live!”

Lightning Lad watched Sebastian's struggles for a moment then turned to Arachne “'Rache could you web up our friend there?” He pointed to Emily Dickenson's prone figure. “I've got a feeling she's a suicide risk.” He then walked over to where Sam was holding Question Lad. “Sea Bass! Get a hold of yourself!” He extended a finger and a bright spark jumped from it to Sebastian's chest. He convulsed for a second then went limp in Sam's grasp. “It's okay, I can control it.”

“Sebbie? You okay?” Red Arrow asked while quietly glaring at Lightning Lad.

“I'm alright, Em. He just jolted me enough to let me regain control.” He looked up at L.L.. “Thanks, I would have killed her. Just a scratch from that knife would have been enough.”

“What can you tell us about her?” Fanfic Lady asked. “And more importantly, who hired her?”

“Yeah, I want to have a little talk with that dude,” Lash cracked his whip.

“Her name is Tannis Bourne and she really is from Taltar. But her mother had a falling out with Thora years ago so her family moved to Rimbor where she was recruited by Dark Oval operatives. She's a member of one of their top assassination for hire squads, code named Silent Death. They were hired by someone here on Legion World - she doesn't know who - to kill several specific members of the LMBP. She was assigned to Fanfic Lady, other members of the squad were assigned other targets. Interestingly, each target has a bounty. Fanfic is worth 500 Million Credits. Lightning Lad is worth a Billion Credits.”

“Who Else is on the list and how much are they worth?”

“Rockhopper Lad, 500 Million; Cobalt Kid, 500 Million; Lard Lad, 500 Million; Nightcrawler, a Billion, Saturn Girl, a Billion; Princess Crujectra, a Billion; Umber, Two Billion; and Kid Prime, a Trillion Credits.”

“How many assassins in the squad?”

“Ten, all with different abilities.”

“Did you say UMBER?” Lash's voice was incredulous. “Why would Umber be on that list? Who hired these assassins?”

“She doesn't know. She met him along with the others in her squad but somehow he erased specific memories of that meeting. She knows who the targets are and what they are worth, but not much else.”

“What about backups? Henchmen?”

“Maddrox Clones, somewhere between 7 and 10 thousand of them.”
 

---

Posted by Dev Em on :
 
Hul, the Dominion

Lolita was talking, “Up ahead is the key command center and control room, which directs and supervises control of all Dominator fleets, flight plans and communication. It also is the key point in the chain of command from Elia to the troops. Our goal will be to take it completely, and from there, Cobie has something he will do.”

Timberwolf saw an oopening in the ventaation system and jumped up to it. He made no noise as he lifted himself into the opening.

“How do you have this intel?” asked Helena.

Timberwolf quietly placed the grating back in place. He noticed that Kalla had turned around to ask him something...or maybe just smile at him, but he was gone. A smile crept onto his face. he had been standing less than three feet from her, and she had detected no movement, now heard anything as he left them.

Lolita answered: “our new ally helped us in this regard.” Lolita blatantly giving Kalla Hyrkos the credit made her feel good. Until now, Cobalt Kid had not openly disclosed exactly how valuable her intel had been in the Dark Oval.

“So we’ll be going in a matter of minutes,” said Helena.

“Seconds actually,” said Time-Teller Lad.

“Not everyone,” said Cobalt Kid, surprising them. “Timberwolf has his own mission while we accomplish this. A critical element has to be taken off the board.”

“What?” said Lolita, surprised. “You didn’t mention…”

She looked over and by now, Timberwolf was already gone.

“Fifteen seconds,” said Time-Teller Lad.

“But where…?”

“Timberwolf’s job is Pinnacle Command now,” said Cobalt. “We’ll have to bring down the Command Center without him. Don’t worry though, I’m sure we’ll have plenty of fun,” he smiled and then turned to Time-Teller Lad.

“Now,” said Time-Teller Lad in almost a whisper.

With that, Timberwolf was off. he moved through the system to a spot that was out of the way. He checked the room below him and there were three Dominators working on something. He couldn't tell quite what it was, but it looked like they were cooking something...something that smelled pretty nasty. He lowered himself to the ground after replacing the grate, placing himself in the middle of the three. All three had their backs to him and were jabbering about in Dominion.

He understood enough of it to know that they were chefs for the base and that this was indeed a food prep area for the kitchen, which was north of him at this point...if he was remembering correctly.

He glanced around the room and decided to just clear his throat and get this over with. The three turned around quickly with surprised looks on their faces.

He grabbed the nearest one and snapped his nexk and used his body to shield the knifethat the one to his left had thrown at him. He pulled the knife free and let it fly at the Dominator to his right and it stuck into his head, wight through his disk.

The one that had thrown the knide was trying to get something from his robe. A communicator no doubt. Lon let the lifeless body of his first kill fall and started walking towards the last remaining cook. "Wrong shift to be working buddy."

The Dominator raised his hands as if to plead for his life, but Lon was already moving his right hand un an upward motion towards the spot right between the eyes. His hand hit and there was a sickening sound as a shard of the Dominators skull caved in. There was no sound that escaped from any of the victims. They had all died without making a sound.

He stashed the bodies in a side room. A freezer of sorts. Not as cold as the freezers that he was used to, but cold and sealed enough to keep any smell from escaping.

He moved to the main door that led to the back hallway. He glanced out the doorway to get his bearings.

He had studied the building plans with Kalla during the course of the trip. It took him a few seconds, but he soon got a sense to where he was. He was right where he wanted to be. Now he just had to wait for the right moment...
 

---

Posted by Power Boy on :
 
HUL, THE DOMINION
------------------------------------------------

Rockhopper Lad’s team stood on a rocky promontory on the edge of the city and the wastes. From this high point the team could see the majority of the city.

Power Boy thought over Cobalt Kid’s words. ‘bring down their technology, break down their communication and chain of command, open up the Dominion to outside invaders’

He spoke to Shark Lad by his side “It is good we demolish their communications network second …. That way their allies can hear the scream for help and beg for mercy.” He flashed a wide grin and Shark Lad laughed. The two had been joking more and more over the trip, they shared a similar dark humor. This unnerved some people.

Invisible Brainiac gave them an odd look.

Just then Rockhopper began laying out the plan again. “ … After Power Boy strikes, then Tempest will …. While Shark Lad, Invisible Brainiac, myself, and Lard Lad make an overt charge at central command … and from there begin to …. ”

They paused, it was one thing to hear the plan, and another to begin the strike.

A 'breeeep!' came from Rockhopper Lad's wrist. "It's time."

Lard Lad nodded to Power Boy “Make it rain.”

Power Boy slapped Shark Lad on the back one more time and rocketed into the air, loudly, taking a wide arc that brought him towards the city from the opposite side as the team. Once in the air, he felt exhilarated, he took time to suck in ambient energy. From high above he spied the enemies military air strip …. And dove for the ships.

The enemy’s fighters exploded as Power Boy slew them with energy vision or merely flew through them. He spared a final glance for the control tower … it erupted in thunder and flames. There went their air force.

Somewhere Titus licked his lips expectantly.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Back on the promontory Rockhopper Lad commanded “Minimum loss of life!” He knew Power Boy could hear him.

Rockhopper Lad turned to the others “Tempest, you might as well get started.”

Tempest sat cross-legged, levitating a foot above the ground, wind rushing through her hair “What do you think I’ve been doing?”

Then she threw her head back, and the air around them began to coalesce into an immense figure. High above them a huge giant took form, made solely of focused air … and it looked like Tempest.

THUD! THUD! THUD! The Titan stomped toward the city. Once it reached the buildings, it began swinging it’s arms smashing everything. Buildings, cruisers, and roads shattered as if a demonic child suddenly decided to smash all her toys. Citizens of the dominion ran and screamed, scattering like ants before the giant.

The real Tempest was locked in a trance.

Rockhopper Lad waved an arm for the others to follow him, they would march quite visibly on the main boulevard to central command. Lard Lad, Invisible Brainiac, and Shark Lad steeled themselves.

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

Explosions rocked Hull as Power Boy smashed single-mindedly through the city to his destination. Hull had yet to mount any kind of resistance, so far the Dominion occupied itself with screaming and running.

Finally, Power Boy stood before an immense concrete structure. It was the power source of Hull. He looked at the chemicals and smoke rising from the gigantic pipes.

‘Disgusting, they haven’t even bothered to update to fusion power sphere technology.’

He ripped open the outer gates like paper and walked towards the main generators. He telepathically put any technicians he encountered to sleep. ‘Rocky will like that’ he quipped.

Power Boy had used up a lot of energy in the strike on Hul so far, and as he approached the toxic core that supplied most of Hul’s electricity he soaked in as much energy as he could.

Outside, all over Hul, lights flickered and went dark.

Lard Lad whispered ‘right on time Peebs’.

As the city went dark, Rockhopper’s team finally encountered a mass of soldiers on the main boulevard. They looked scared.

Rockhopper Lad breathed and the soldier’s world went white.

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

Back at the power plant, Power Boy heard foot steps running up behind him. He glowed from all the energy he was absorbing. Light leaking out of his eyes and mouth.

He turned around to see several shapes materialize from the shadows.

‘Unkillables? We shall see.’
 

---

Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
 
Hul, The Dominion
The Dark Oval

Far off, miles away in the city, they could hear explosions and screams. Every so often the ground itself would shake. There was no doubt the strike had begun by the other squad.

Lolita was thankful for that, as they had moved forward anyone on the presumption their allies would come through. For someone who didn’t often take risks, Cobalt Kid had a penchant for letting bravado take over when it came to relying on the rest of the LMB. She kept a steady pace next to Time-Teller Lad, as the two hung back slightly while the others were up ahead.

“Aaaaaaaargh!” came a scream as a huge two foot thick steel door came off the hinges magnetically and sent a cadre of Dominators flying outside of the command center. They fell limp to the ground, with only one having any semblance of consciousness; unfortunately for him, Kalla Hrykos walked by and cracked him across the skull with the butt-end of a laser-canon.

“Very subtle,” she said to Cobalt Kid, who had used his magnetism to get inside the building.

He said nothing and continued forward, Helena Handbasket by his side; Kalla joined them as the three led the charge.

Lolita watched as Cobalt Kid changed his demeanor yet again. When on-camera, he was the epitome of a superhero: all flash with a big dash of arrogance. Shiny teeth, waving to the crowds, kissing the lady he’d just saved. Off-camera he was cold, calculating and humorous. She wondered at what point Cobalt Kid actually became this way? As a teenager he’d severed all ties with his home-planet Ggrrgg to renounce their warlike ways. He now ironically was master in all things war.

“Up ahead,” said Helena Handbasket. Cobalt Kid nodded to her, and she let out a brief smile. She also had a laser-canon but she threw it over her shoulder. Instead, she pulled out the sword given to her by Lard Lad earlier in the quest. For a moment she considered saving its use for something more important. But those thoughts quickly faded—this was all important.

Helena advanced and Kalla Hrykos followed as Cobalt Kid stood behind waiting. Up ahead was a long corridor that led perpendicular into a cross-section that went both right and left. At the intersection, Helena went one way and Kalla the other.

As Lolita and Time-Teller Lad caught up to Cobalt Kid, they could hear thumps and yelps.

Helena Handbasket moved in a flash, using her superior fighting skills with an assist by her incredible weapon and bionic arm.

Kalla Hrykos used a quick flash of light to blind the Dominators in her path and then ruthlessly took out the rest with the butt-end of her laser-canon.

They were going down fast.

“Clear.”

“Clear.”

“Lolita, where to next?”

“90 seconds until shut down in the Command Center,” said Time-Teller Lad, using the point of Cobalt ripping off the doors as his benchmark. In his hands he held the plant.

“Right,” said Lolita, adding “and then we’ll be moving through a large open space.”

They all moved without saying anything, again with Helena and Kalla Hrykos in the lead. Kalla kicked open the door leading to another room full of Dominators and very quickly once more they fell before the LMBers. Beyond was yet another door.

Helena moved to the door and opened it and beyond was at last the resistance they were expecting: Unkillables.

“You two follow Helena and keep going!” said Cobalt with his voice raising. “Kalla, I’m right by your side,” he added and using his magnetism he suddenly moved faster than their eyes could keep up.

The Unkillables charged, some on the ground, some leaping and some firing weapons from a distance. Kalla Hyrkos responded immediately, blasting light in different directions to both knock them down and blind them.

Cobalt Kid was in the room immediately and using his magnetism he was grabbing as many as he could by the metal in their uniforms and hurling them around at the others.

In three seconds pure chaos had erupted in the room and all that could be heard were screams and crashing.

Helena ran through the room, this time using her laser-canon to blast them as Time-Teller Lad and Lolita followed.

Cobalt Kid felt a slash across his back as an Unkillable charged and before he could respond, Kalla Hrykos blasted the Unkillable into ash.

Cobalt turned, not surprised but aware this was an awkward moment; he met Kalla’s eyes and just as it was happening, two Unkillables emerged from a pile of bodies to spring a trap on Kalla. Using his magnetism on instinct he accelerated their trajectory and they came crashing into one another five feet behind her.

And just like that two sworn enemies owed each other their lives. She moved forward and he backed up so they were side by side to get a sense of the remaining Unkillables and saw it was only about half a dozen. “They are ugly, aren’t they?” said Cobalt.

“It’s their smell I really can’t stand,” she replied as the two finished them off.

Up ahead, Helena finished off the resistance in the rooms ahead. Evidently the Unkillables gathered in one room when they were alerted to their presence. “well?” she said.

“The communications hub is up ahead,” said Lolita, “and the room adjoining is where their ‘servers’ are kept” she added.

“Three seconds,” said Time-Teller Lad as he kicked in the communications room, then adding “and just in time.” Inside the room, three Dominators fired at him and he ducked out of the way. “Whoa!” he said, not expecting that.

Helena smiled at his sudden gusto and entered the room. Behind them Cobalt Kid and Kalla Hrykos followed. Helena took them out but Lolita knew the real test was whether the Dominators had sent out word yet of the attack. That was the artificial countdown Time-Teller Lad was counting down to, as they theorized it would take 90 seconds for the Dominators to alert the rest of the military. Lolita looked through the monitors and breathed a sigh of relief. They hadn’t done so yet. “We’re good,” she said.

Cobalt Kid grinned. “Then we’re in control now,” she said. “Helena, you’re in charge of guarding the hallways. They’ll be coming en masse once they figure out what’s happening.”

“Kalla, we’ll be getting word to your man Juj on Elia very shortly,” said Cobalt, “once we get a better sense of how complete our takeover of Hul is.”

“Cobalt,” said Time-Teller Lad curiously, “surely we’re not just taking over their communications?”

Cobalt Kid grinned. “Of course not. We’re going to completely destroy their technology.”
 

---

Posted by Timber Wolf on :
 
Lon looked at his wrist. The timepiece that he wore had been a gift from Cobalt Kid shortly before they had left for this mission. It had come as a surprise to Lon, but it was a replica of the watch that Cobalt had retrieved from Earth a few months earlier. According to the timetable they had set up, there should be a big boom right now...

The entire building shook for a second, and alarms started sounding from various places within the building. He saw Dominators begin running around the hallways on their way to wherever it was that was going to be their last stand. He waired and watched his watch.

A loud sound of metal being torn apart caught his attention. Very subtle..., he thought as he shook his head.

He peeked out if the doorway again, and smiled. He walked out into the Hall and began walking calmly towards the command center of the building. Not that far away from the room he had been in. The Dominators set this building up to minimize the lag time for their leadership to get their dinner.

As he walked through the halls, several Dominators took notice of him, but just kept on scuttling about. They all had small disks on their heads and were not used to having to make life or death decisions. That fact saved their lives.

He had about three more turns to reach the entrance to the central command center of Hul.

He pulled two knives from his belt and rounded the second to the last corner. There were three Unkillables. He let the knives fly before the three even noticed that he was in the hallway with his, Their attention had been drawn to the screams coming from the other direction.

"Hey uglies!" :on yelled to get their attention. As they turned, the two knives took out the two Unkillables closest to him. The knives had hit them in one of their eyes and killed them instantly.

"Whaaaat?!?!?" The third one cried as Lon rushed him. Lon dove at him and the Unkillable pivoted and threw him past him and into the wall on the far side of the corridor. Lon grinned as he got up. "Not bad for a yellow skinned freak..."

The Unkillable reached down and took out his gun. He was fast, but Lon was faster. Lon was on him with a short sword drawn before the Unkillable could take aim. The gun hit the ground with the Dominators forearm and hand still attached.

The Dominator tried to scream, but Lon had already cut out most of his throat. The Dominators eyes went wide as he watched Lon turn and run towards the command center. He reached his hand towards the alert button on the communications plate on the wall. When his hand hit it, it exploded and took the Dominators other hand off at the wrist. He tried to stumble forward and fell, dead before he hit the ground.

There was no further resistance between him and the door to the command center. That meant tha the others had been pulled into the command center itself to help guard Pinnacle Command. That suited him just fine.

He waited outside the door and checked his watch. He had a few seconds to spare.

He pulled out two guns. These were not lasers. They were not anything fancy. They were old Earth bullet firing guns. He had several clips of ammunition for them ready to go...not that he was going to need them for this. He just liked to be ready. Unkillables were tough as anything. Truly hard to kill. But as with all the most advanced of soldiers, they had their downfalls as well. The eyes were the secret. They were strong to be sure, but a direct hit in them would be like shooting anyone else in the eye with a gun. Instant death.

He chambered a round in each gun, took a deep breath and hit the button to open the door to the command center.
 

---

Posted by SharkLad on :
 
Hul, The Dominion
------------------------------------------------

SharkLad licked his lips. He was envious of Power Boy.

"Is the word given, Rocky?" he asked eagerly.

"The word is given. Remember -- minimal loss of life."

"Shouldn't be a problem. They're 'unkillable,' remember?" SharkLad said with a wry smile.

With that, SharkLad jumped into the fray, followed quickly by Lard Lad and Invisible Brainiac.

"I'm going in low. Have fun, boys," SharkLad cried.

Above, Lard Lad let loose a devastating barrage of energy blasts, destroying everything in his path.

"Alright," SharkLad said to himself. "We got a mother-sprocking party!"

SharkLad dove into a swarm of Unkillables, his claws and teeth ripping through them like paper bags.

"Seem pretty 'killable' to me."

Power Boy, Lard Lad, and Invisible Brainiac continued to advance, while SharkLad found himself surrounded by more and more Unkillables. He fired off teeth in every direction, felling the Unkillables where they stood. Those that got closer felt the sharpness of his claws, crying out in pain. Despite his best efforts, they continued to surround SharkLad, and soon he found himself covered. The Unkillables continued to pile on top of him until he could no longer be seen from above.

"I think Sharky is in trouble, Lard Lad," called Power Boy.

"Nah, give him a second."

"INYUK CHUK!" came bellowing suddenly, as SharkLad grew to a towering 50 feet, tossing Unkillables left and right.

"I WAS WRONG. NOW, WE GOT A MOTHER-SPROCKING PARTY!"

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

---

Posted by Abin Quank on :
 
Hyper-Space 1 Light-Year from Webber's World

“Abin, would you bring us to a stop just inside the detection range of the Webber's World Jump Gate?” Kid Prime's voice came from the silver bracelet on Abin's right wrist. He briefly considered saying “No” but discarded the idea quickly. The three founders were ten miles away, on the Bridge or Control Room of the massive ship while he was in the engineering spaces, using his ring to power the massive engines.

For reasons that weren't entirely clear to Abin, Kid Prime didn't want to fully integrate himself into the “Prime Matrix” and become one with the massive ship until just before their arrival at Webber's World. Which meant that the ship's systems, including the engines and navigation systems, couldn't be brought fully “On Line” so Abin had spent the last 48 hours taking their place. The reason the founders had insisted he was the only LMBPer for the job were fully clear to him now.

Ring, bring the ship to a stop and hold it motionless in space relative to the Webber's World Jump Gate, at a distance of 1AU.

The ship slowed to a stop at the requested point in space. When it stopped Abin's bracelet began to glow. He looked for a matching glow on the ship's corridor lights and began following it to the Bridge. He arrived on the bridge quickly and found a semi-heated discussion already in progress.

“They're linked telepathicly,” Saturn Girl said heatedly. “What she knows, he knows.”

“Good! Then she knows where to find him.” Nightcrawler commented quietly.

“I doubt it works that way. That Son of a Bitch doesn't let any of his fingers know what the ones next to them are doing, unless he's making a fist.”

Abin flew to the far side of the control room and landed next to the glass tube containing Kid Prime's human body. The body floated in a nutrient solution with a breathing mask over it's face. Next to the tube, seated in the command chair, was the massive mechanical body that currently housed Kid Prime's consciousness. The Prime Symbol in the middle of his head lit up as Abin landed and the massive head swiveled to acknowledge his presence.

“They been going at it for long?” Abin asked quietly.

“Ever since we discovered the Dark Oval ships hiding in the asteroid belt,” K.P. Reached out and touched a control. The six view-screens in front of the command chair lit up. The center screen showed six starships in tow behind Prime, each encased in a green energy bubble. “You having any trouble holding the stasis?”

“No, It's easier in space. It's like the ring has more power when we lift off of a planetary surface,” Abin raised his hand and looked at the plastic power ring. No one knew how or why the Faux Power Ring that Cobalt Kid had given him years ago worked. “Hell, I expected it to stop working when Pagan died. I always thought that she was powering it with her magic. But it still works, better than ever.”

“Could it be residual magic? Could some of her spells carry on past her death?”

“I don't think so, but... who knows? Still, I remember her and STU having an argument once; something about her linking a mortal to something called the Star-Fart and how badly that idea stunk. I think they were talking about me. But they're both gone now so I'll probably never know.”

Kid Prime just looked at Abin for a moment and then began to slowly shake his massive metal head. “Honestly Abin, I never know if or when you're being serious. The Star-Fart? You're kidding, Right?”

“K.P. I'm telling you what I know, which admittedly isn't much, but that's what they said.”

“Abin, I've got a question for you,” Saturn Girl came up behind him. “And I want a straight answer for once.”

“Okay, what's the question?”

“Do you trust Cobalt Kid?”

“Caroline, you guys have known Cobaltus for a lot longer than I have. Wasn't he only 8 or 9 years old when you first met him? Do you trust him?”

“Abin...”

“Yes Caroline, I trust him. I trust him with my life. More importantly I trust him with my Grand-Daughter's life.”

“Your Grand-Daughter can take care of herself. I've seen her in action.”

“Yeah, in her weight class she's at the top, but she's not smart enough to stay in her weight class. Cobie's always been there for her, just like he's always been there for Legion World. I don't always like the way he does things but he's always been right before.”

“Right? Was he right to start this? Millions of people could wind up dead because of what he's doing!”

“The only thing I can say is he must think that Billions will die if he doesn't do this.”

“Did he tell you that?”

“No, but that's how he thinks.”

“I'm not convinced he thinks at all...” She turned away from Abin and looked at Nightcrawler. “Okay, Bal we'll do it your way. Bring Prime fully on line, announce to the galaxy that we're out of retirement.”

Nightcrawler smiled and nodded to Kid Prime.

Weber’s World, The United Planets

Spellbinder walked through the hallways of Weber’s World, en route to the Senate where she expected to receive an updated briefing on the state of readiness throughout the United Planets. Many of the member worlds were becoming irate over General Bellisarius' refusal to deploy more of his forces to the borders, and she knew that some very delicate negotiations would be necessary to keep the U.P. United.

She had just reached the Senate Chambers and was about to enter when she felt the call. At first she could only stare at the plain silver bracelet on her right wrist but after a few seconds a single word formed on her lips, “Prime!”

She entered the Senate Chamber with a smile on her face.
 

---

Posted by Lard Lad on :
 
Hul, Dominion Space

Lardy smiled as he watched 50-foot Shark Lad mowing into Unkillables. "I'm glad he's own our side!" he said and smiled at Power Boy. "Now, it's time to get my target, Peebs!"

Lard Lad flew off from the others using the rocket boots on his exo-armor for full speed. His target appeared to be a desolate butte but was actually a huge silo with about a thousand nuclear warheads, some ready for instant deployment, others for arming many of the Dominators' various warships.

While on Sumra, the Space Knights Templar had armed Lardy's exo-armor with a trick that was especially designed for this mission: an electro-magnetic pulse generator. Lardy would need the EMP to fire at the silo before destroying it. This would disarm the denators in the nukes so that they would not ignite when he destroyed the silo. They really didn't want to cause that much collateral damage to Hul and its people by creating such a blast and its ensuing fall-out.

As Lardy approached, though, he recalled a crucial moment in which he saw in Cobalt's eyes that he wouldn't mind that massive collateral damage at all. Cobalt hated the Dominion like he did no other foreign power, so Lardy wasn't surprised. Lardy headed off that strategy by reminding his friend that such a blast would probably take much of the Fellowship with it. Cobalt smiled in response as if to imply he'd never given it a serious thought. Lardy knew better.

As Lardy approached the butte, he was approached by three Unkillables. Lardy smiled as he blasted them. If not for Sharky's massive distraction, I woulda had a lot more than three on my ass! Lardy was impressed as the three fell one by one in short order. The Mark II was a huge improvement over the Mark I, he noted. Still, a part of him felt so confined, even with the Mark II's relative sleekness. In the old days Lard Lad needed no accessories to kick ass and take names.

Lardy flew up at what he determined was a perfect angle and unleashed the powerful EMP. He saw the cascading waves emerge from his gauntlets silently engulf the butte. Then, his armor seemed to quaver.

System Failure, said a tinny automated voice from his armor, and suddenly Lardy found himself falling down to the butte.

"OOF!" he yelled as he fell to the top. Though the armor was malfunctioning, its shielding padded his fall. Still hurt like a bitch, though!

"Damn!" he cursed. "The Knights told me there was only a ten percent chance this would happen!" He thought back for a moment and remembered. "Shit! The armor's gonna be down for ten minutes! I'll be a sitting duck, and I won't be able to destroy the freakin' silo before they get here and take me out! If only--"

Suddenly, his exo-armor glowed red, and he could move again. "Well, that was quicker than expected! Thank the gods for givin' me a break for once!"

He rose up into the sky and fired at the butte with everything he had. A moment later, a cloud of fire stripped the butte of its camoflage, and Lardy could see the synthetic interior exposed beneath the flames. It was a huge, fiery explosion but nothing nuclear, he noted as he thanked the gods.

Suddenly, he dropped from the sky and fell hard on the barren land.

"Ugh!" he groaned, as he lay limp on the ground. "Guess my reboot was short-lived. Not complainin', though..."

A moment later, he heard a humming noise accompanied by the computer voice saying, System Restored.

As he was able to rise to his feet, Lardy thought, That's...odd. He looked at his chronometer and noticed that just over ten minutes had passed since the initial power loss. As he looked at the computer log, he saw no notation of the prior reboot of his exo-armor.

For a moment he assumed the computer was in error. Then he remembered the red glow.

"It wasn't the armor," he realized. "It was the Lard Force!"

In that moment when he was helpless and faced death, he had begun a thought, wishing he had his power back. He now realized he had gotten his wish. In the heat of the moment he'd reacted instinctively and activated his locked-away power. But now, try as he might, he couldn't cause it to manifest.

And why was it red? he thought. In the past it always appeared purple...or blue? Never red!

He had no time to contemplate this further as he saw more Unkillables approaching. Now was the time for battle, he knew. So he fired up his exo-armor and dove right into them.

He would leave their limp, unconscious bodies in the sand.
 

---

Posted by Timber Wolf on :
 
The door to the Command Center opened and Lon sent a smoke grenade into the room. Shots rang out from several areas of the room and through the door. He ducked low and moved into the room.

He thanked Kalla under his breath for the layout of this place. He knew the most reasonable spots for the Dominators to hide. Killing them wasn't his first action though. He moved quickly to the communications bank and hit a few buttons. The Dominator assigned to the station was coughing and sputtering something in his native Dominion language. Lon stood, and fired one gun into the side of the Communications officers head, and the other into the panel itself. A shower of sparks flew everywhere and Lon positioned himself behind the dead Dominators body and began the process of killing or disabling the others in the room.

There were only two Unkillables in here and they were quickly dispatched. The rest of the disk heads were either hiding or runnning for thier lives.

He knew that Pinnacle Command would be calm through all of this. At least as calm as one can be with th e knowledge that he was about to die.

Lon stood and pushed the torn apart body of the communications officer out of the chair. One fleeing Dominator tripped over the body as it landed in front of him and Lon put a bullet into the back of his head.

"Kill all of ussss that you wannt huuuman. We willl crush youuu beofre thisss iss over..."

The translator unit that Lon had in his ear was drawing out the Dominators speech pattern. Making Pinnacle Command sound like an extremely creepy middle aged man.

"I don't know what you think we're trying to accomplish here...but I guarentee you, it's bigger than even you grasp."

Pinnacle Command looked out the wondow that was along the far end of the room. Outside of it was a drop off of several hundred feet.


Lon turned toward the window as well. He immediately dropped to one knee and shot the Dominator that had emerged to his left, just behind him.

"Tell your...whatever it is they are...to stop trying to kill me. You all make far to much noise to sneak up on me. All they are going to do is get themselves killed."

Pinnacle Command laughed. "You inssssult the bessst offff the Dominion?"

Lon laughed. "Oh my. I'm sorry," he said as he rolled from the kneeloing position he was in towards Pinnacle Command. Avoiding the two shots that hit right where he had been less than a second before.

He shot his arms out and fired twice. Two loud thuds wee heard as the two Dominators fell dead.

Lon stood and reloaded. He fired through the two clips and every single Dominator in the room except Pinnacle Command was dead by the time he was done. Including those that were hiding behind various pieces of furniture.

"Too loud. You all breathe too loud. You can be quiet as anything while you move about...but the air whistles through those damned teeth of yours something awful."

"Arrre you to leave meeee alllllive then...to ssspread word of your power? To make the ressst of the Dominion quake with fearrrr? We will crush you...you knoowww thisss."

"No. You die. The real question is how."

"Evennnn nnowww, my Unkilllllablessss are getting rrready to ssstorm in heeerrreee..."

A loud explosion was heard through the shot out window.

"Nope. That would be my friends taking out whatever Unkillables are still alive, as well as your munitions. Your communications has been down for a while, and no warnings went out...unless he wanted them to."

"Whoooo isss thiss heeee youuu ssspeak offf? Someonnne that will scare mmmeeee? Pleassse, Timberwolf...yessss I knowww of youuu and yourrr exploitssss, we alll do...telll me whooo is herre that woulld frightennn me if youuu do not?"

Lon smiled for several reasons. First was that this Dominator, Pinnacle Command or not was scared diskless right now...even though he wouldn't admit it. Second, his reputation had gotten this far into the Dominion, and that was a good thing. Third, he couldn't wait to see his face when he said, "Cobaltus sends his regards."

Pinnacle Commands eyes widened.

Lon lifted Pinnacle Command out of his chair and threw him towards the window. The Dominator stood and snarled at Timberwolf. "Dieeee!!!" He screached as he reached for something on his forearm. Lon emptied two clips into PPinnacle Command before this hand could reach his left wrist. His body fell through the open window and towards the bottom of the cavern below. Lon leaned out the window and shot once more and dove back in as fast as he could.

The bullet ripped into the left wrist of Pinnacle Commands body, and a huge explosion rocked the buildings foundation, and a giant fireball shot past the open window.

"Hell of a lot of punch for not a lot of material," Lon said as he stood and holstered his guns. He was actually impressed by the fail-safe device they had implanted in Pinnacle Command. It would have definitely killed him and possibly the others if it had gone off in the building itself.

HE looked around, and made sure that they were all dead. He realized that his right arm hurt and he looked at his forearm. Damn, got hit, he thought as he looked at a decent sized hole in his arm. Now that he saw it, it started to hurt more. Nothing vital hit...not bleeding too much...

He tore some cloth off of one of the Dominators robes and wrapped it around his arm. Timberwolf smirked to himself and ran off to find the others. Hoping he ran into some more of these Unkillables along the way.
 

---

Posted by Rockhopper Lad on :
 
Hul, The Dominion

Rockhopper Lad took advantage of a momentary lull in the action to catch his breath. He looked around at the others on his team. Power Boy was flying above. Shark Lad was towering above them in his giant form. Tempest, likewise, projected into her air form, was towering overheard. And Lardy. Where was Lardy? Rocky looked round, but couldn't see his former lover. He said a silent prayer to Dywh for Lardy's safety. And, for that matter, Tim and Hyvvie, both of whom were with Cobalt Kid in the other group.

“Rocky!” Invisible Brainiac sounded out of breath.

“I'm sorry, Ibby. I was distracted a moment.”

“I think the tide is turning. It will take a few minutes for them to regroup.”

The Pyngwyn Prince smiled. He and Invisible Brainiac weren't really close, but he respected the younger hero quite a bit. Like Rocky, Ibby was not given to violence, preferring to use his light powers rather than hand-to-hand combat. Rocky thought again for a moment about what brought him to this place. He was the LMB's Leader, of course, and he hoped that he would be able to find Rockhopper Lass and bring her brother, Rocky's own double from another world to justice. But how did he even get to this?

He could have stayed in the Pyngwyn Colonies. He was heir to the throne after all. It never would have occurred to his father, the Emperor, to have joined a group like the LMB. But he had. And now he was not only one of its most respected—and, though people often forgot—powerful members, he was their Leader. And he must not let his people down.

“Rocky! Here they come!” Ibby shouted.

“And we're ready for them!” Rocky nodded.

A phalanx of twelve soldiers charged at them. A wave of Rocky's hand and they were all encased in ice.

Another ten charged from another direction. Rocky puffed a breath and they all were blown into a nearby pit.

Then a number too large to count appeared on the horizon. How many? A hundred? Two hundred? The “Unkillables” they were called, but Rocky never wanted to kill anyone, anyway. “I'm really getting tired of this foolishness!” Rocky shouted.

He drew a breath.

In the next instant, Rocky exhaled a gust at the soldiers such as they had never seen. A white vapour flowed from his mouth. The sound wasn't merely the sound of wind and storm that Rocky usually made when using his breath and ice powers. It was more. It didn't merely freeze them in place. It changed them. They were no longer flesh and bone. The had all become statues of solid ice.

Shark Lad looked down at what Rocky had done. “Rocky! I didn't know you could do that.”

“I don't do it very often. It takes a great deal of effort.”

“Will they stay that way? Will they just--melt?” Sharky asked.

“No. You know how I feel about that kind of thing. They'll return to their normal state.” Rocky winked. “When I want them to. Enough of that for now. Onward!”

[ June 13, 2011, 03:55 PM: Message edited by: Rockhopper Lad ]
 

---

Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
 
Hul, The Dominion
The Dark Oval

“We’re going to take down their technology?” said Lolita to Cobalt Kid, her tone more than a little incredulous.

Kalla Hrykos sensed Lolita’s doubts and that made her slightly annoyed. She looked back at Cobalt Kid with a stare that had clear implications: hurry up. They were in the control room of the main communications command center, and though they had been successful getting in, it wouldn’t be long now before more Unkillables were on their way. They had just barely taken the communications hub before word could get out to the rest of the Dominion military, which was scattered across the vast realm.

“Absolutely,” said Cobalt Kid, now turning to Time-Teller Lad. “Tim, if you don’t mind, its time we put that plant into play,” he said.

By the door, Helena Handbasket was guarding the entryway from the onslaught they knew would be coming shortly. But she was too interested to not take a look, since she too had carried that plant from Weber’s World all the way here. Until now, no one had a clue what its purpose was besides Cobalt.

“Dominator technology is one of the most unusual things about them,” said Cobalt Kid, taking the plant from Time-Teller Lad. “Its entirely organic, with plant-life being a much more important aspect of it than the mechanics infused within. For centuries its confused the other races the Dominators have known.”

Lolita was in no mood to play Cobalt’s guessing games. “AND?” she said.

“And so, why bring a scientist or engineer to figure out how its done, than someone whose innate abilities let her maintain complete control over organic plant-life? Who better than our LMB sister, the incredible Cleome?”

At Cobalt’s words, all four of his companions let out a small gasp as the plant began to stir and grow, getting larger and larger until it started to take a more humanoid shape. “Bloody liberty…” said Helena Handbasket. Where the plant had been set on the floor now stood a very recognizable form: the LMBer known as Cleome.

Cleome stepped out of the pot and onto the floor, rich soil spilling across the Dominator control room. “Cobie, you never once mentioned it was going to take over a month!” she said half-kidding, half-serious in her complaints. “Do you realize how crazy I was driving myself, not interacting with anyone?”

Cobalt suppressed a grin. “Your sacrifice means a great deal,” he said. He turned his head toward the control room. “Beyond those doors lie their servers and main generators. This is the communications hub of Hul, and it extends outwards into the technology used by the Dominators across the entire Dominion. Once you take it over, you should have access to all of their tech—all over the entire Dominion.”

As Cobalt and Cleome spoke, the others still weren’t saying anything. They were surprised and some, like Lolita and Kalla, were annoyed.

Kalla Hrykos broke the silence. “Another secret member of our Fellowship? As if one wasn’t enough? Or was the one secret member just a decoy after all to cover the real secret? You’re a real piece of work, Cobalt. Secret for my sake, I presume?”

Cobalt spoke plainly, not wanting to waste time. “Of course. But not just you, anyone could be spying on us. Like our friend Titus, who we haven’t seen the last of. We had to trick people like him too, and Invisible Brainiac was well-hidden but still detectable. Thus, the perfect decoy.”

Lolita was slightly angry, though she wasn’t sure why since this wasn’t surprising. “You didn’t think to clue any of us in?”

“No, not really,” said Cobalt matter-of-factly. “You all trusted me when I said we’d take down their communications and technology, didn’t you? Well, when I didn’t say how, I figured that was everyone acquiescing to my plan.” He turned now to Time-Teller Lad. “Tim, Cleome is going to need you. You too, Lolita. Once she figures out how to take down their tech, she’s going to bring down the entire planet Hul. Then you two, with your calculating and computing abilities, are going to help her figure out how to take down the rest of the Dominion.”

“Everything but the mechanisms allowing them to breath in these atmospheres,” said Lolita, making sure he knew she wasn’t going to kill every Dominator on Hul.

“Kalla, that leaves you and I to begin our communications with the rest of the galaxies and formally begin the Invasion of the Dominion.”

She smiled. “Love to,” she said.

Helena Handbasket watched as Cleome, Lolita and Time-Teller Lad went into the next room. “So 13 of us in the Fellowship after all. You’ve got some brass ones,” she said to Cobalt.

“As I’ve told my friend Eryk a million times,” said Cobalt, “I make my own luck.”

“Or maybe you like to push things as far as they can go,” said Kalla. “Very cavalier, and very dangerous.” Kalla and Cobalt sat in the two communications chairs.

In the other room, Cleome was now interfacing with the Dominator technology. “So how’s the journey been, kids?” she said to Lolita and Time-Teller Lad. “The hard part about being a secret weapon is no one to talk to…”

Lolita and Tim were still a bit in shock. They almost missed it—the moment Cleome brought down the entire Dominion.
 

---

Posted by Power Boy on :
 
HUL, THE DOMINION
-------------------------------------------------

"INYUK CHUK!"

Nope. Still regular sized Power Boy. Power Boy would have to learn how to grow to super size some other time. Well, except that one part.

He surveyed the scene, Giant Shark Lad seemed to be having a great time, mowing through the Unkillables like some old monster movie.

Lard Lad and Rockhopper Lad were playing their parts in the streets.

While .... Tempest's air giant seemed to be taking a beating. The two giants were attracting a lot of fire from what remained of the Dominion forces but, Tempest's air avatar wasn't giving back as good as Shark Lad was.

Pb wondered how that would affect the sorceress spiritually.

This battle had gone from Rockhopper's team overwhelming a surprised Dominion to a messy battle in the streets over the last hour.


Over the com Lard Lad shouted "AIR SUPPORT NOW!!!"

Pb blurred away at super speed.

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

On the Cliffs above Hull ... Tempest groaned with the psychic effort of manipulating the giant air creature.

She was lost in her trance fully concentrating on projecting her consciousness into the giant, to fight the Unkillables.

She didn't hear the boots crunch on the sand as Titus approached.

He brushed the sweat from her brow gently. Tempest oblivious to her own danger, her mind far away in the air giant.

Titus petted Tempest's hair and smiled.

"Little sorceress you have your secrets don't you"

---------------------------------------------------
HUL, THE DOMINION

suddenly Tempest felt intense terror. Her perceptions skewed by being projected in the trance she merely felt a crushing terror and darkness occluded her vision while she fought the Unkillables.

"What's happening ..... my body ...... must return to my body!"

Tempest scrambled to reverse the spell and return to her body but, the terror and the weakness from managing such a powerful spell had left her slow.


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

Titus rummaged through Tempest's mind. Some doors were locked, others were easily opened.

What he could do with this one!

He became excited, and licked Tempest's face from chin to brow

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

"EEEEEEEEEEE !!!!"

Tempest awoke in terror in her own body. She was physically wasted from her intense use of magic but, terror gave her speed, she floundered away from Titus.

Titus looked at her with the malicious eyes of a man that had perpetuated countless torments on others.

Tempest tried to stumble away but Titus' eyes held her.

Suddenly, a light appeared between Tempest and Titus, visible at first but then it grew .... and it grew blindingly ... striking Titus.


"You didn't think we'd leave her completely unprotected did you?" Invisible Brainiac said.

IB blasted Titus again and again but, while Titus was obviously pained by the light he was not driven away.

IB quickly grabbed Tempest and flew away into the city to join the others.

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

Titus hissed, burned by the light of the youth. He bit down with a CHOMP like a wolf grinding his teeth together.

"G h o u l s " his voice slithered. "Bring them to me"

Out of the air the four remaining ghouls appeared, first as puffs of smoke that then grew until they were in their previous forms. These were the creatures that nearly killed the full fellowship at the fort. The large bruiser, the fire demon, the leader, and an unknown stood at attention for Titus.

and then a moment later their darkness streaked across the sky following Invisible Brainiac and Tempest.

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

"That's the last of them" PB said over the comm.

"About time" Lardy retorted, "We're moving on to the next quadrant"

at that moment, PB saw out of the corner of his eye, A streak of light carrying a woman through the air, ... very very quickly, as if they're were being chased.

PB focused his vision and saw "Invisible Brainiac and Tempest" of course, heading straight for Lard Lad's team.

Behind them, and gaining on them, he saw four streaks of darkness. Power Boy knew them for what they were ... the Ghouls from the fort.

"INCOMING!" He shouted over the comm and bulleted to intercept.

[ June 16, 2011, 12:10 PM: Message edited by: Power Boy ]
 

---

Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
 
Hul, the Dominion
The Dark Oval

In the side room off from the main control room, Cleome had now sent her plant vines and tentacles deep into the Dominon servers, whose organic plant-life welcomed her gladly. She stared at the walls, concentrating as Lolita and Time-Teller Lad looked on.

“Are you able to communicate with them?” asked Time-Teller Lad.

“Oh yes,” said Cleome with a smile. “It’s not taking much to convince them as I suspected. They’re going to begin rebelling shortly on Hul and spreading the word so forth.”

“Rebelling?” asked Lolita.

Cleome smiled. “Lolita, if you know anything about me, you would know I wouldn’t be party to an invasion or a war or anything of that nature. But one thing I would gladly do is liberate a sentient race enslaved by the Dominators. And that is exactly what the Cotati are—an enslaved race of organic plant-life, subject to the Dominator yoke for many centuries.”

Lolita couldn’t help but smile. Hearing Cleome’s motivation reminded her that most members of the LMB did indeed have pure motivations. “So we aren’t really shutting down their technology after all,” she said. “We’re freeing their captors and workforce.”

“Exactly,” said Cleome, and at that point she widened her eyes. “Hul’s technology is in the process of rebelling right now. Other than the communication center Cobie is using, Hul is about to go dark.”

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

Cobalt Kid and Kalla Hrykos sat side by side at the main communications center and geared up for the next several steps. By the door, Helena Handbasket stood guard, though she was growing increasingly anxious. “Let me encourage you to hurry up,” she began, “because I’m hearing voices.”

“Is your man ready?” said Cobalt to Kalla. The two had an obviously dislike for one another, yet just saved each other’s lives. On top of that, they were beginning to see how similar they were with their clever ruses.

“Of course,” she replied, “but he’s no man,” she added, smiling. She made the first communications outward, to the Dominion homeworld of Elia. The call was directly to the High Caste Leader, the supreme leader of all of the Dominion, who was both the chief executive, but also a social and religious symbol in the society. Kalla Hrykos sent the communications under the guise of Pinnacle Command, which was a fitting ruse because the High Caste Leader receiving it was a Durlan spy working for Kalla named Juj. Years earlier the High Caste Leader had been assassinated by Lard Lad and replaced by the Durlan.

They spoke in code and Cobalt didn’t try to break it. They were too far along now and he had to extend some trust. But the gist of it was clear: they’d taken over Hul and now it as Juj’s turn to act. As High Caste Leader he would issue a series of orders that his Captains would secretly question and speculate over, but ultimately would obey. Juj would over-extend the remaining Dominator fleets across their borders, weakening them into smaller forces that were easily defeated. He would replace some of the most capable commanders and promote some of the most incompetent ones. This would all happen in a matter of hours and the ultimate goal would be a mass of confusion and a total breakdown of the chain of command and order—two things greatly needed in war.

Cobalt watched her as she finished and picked up a comm-link to begin his own first communication. It was to one of his oldest friends, the Prince of Psyionia, Crusader. “Cru, come in. I’m now breaking radio silence. She hates strawberries”

For a full minute there was no reply. And then a voice: “That she does,” said Crusader on the other line. ‘She hates strawberries’, a reference to Crujectra, Crusader’s sister and the love of Cobalt’s life, told Crusader that this was indeed Cobalt Kid. “Vu can see the chaos on Hul from here. Well done.” He referred to Kid Vudoo, whose immense vision powers allowed him to see across distances as great as planets.

“We’re in the final stages,” said Cobalt. “You can begin the rescue mission for Cleome.”

“Will do,” said Crusader, keeping it brief. “Good luck.” And with that the communication ended.

“Not only did you have a second secret member,” said Kalla, “you had an extraction plan for her. Well done,” she added. “I’m relieved. Now we can escape while she stays behind keeping their tech down. I figured you were just going to leave her.”

Cobalt replied. “I’m not that cold-blooded,” he said, “you can rest easy that you’ve still got me there. But yes, I’ve made sure Cleome is taken care of.” He thought back to many weeks ago, before he’d even made it to Weber’s World, when he presented Cleome the intel on the Cotati race and how the Dominion maintained their plant-life technology. It was one of the greatest Dominator secrets of all; and the truth of it, provided by Kalla Hrykos, gave Cobalt the knowledge that he could convince the pacifist Cleome to help. Immediately after, he began working on a way to ensure her safety while they moved on and so enlisted part-time member Crusader, former LMB Leader and one of the earliest members, to oversee the mission. Crusader enlisted Maxx, his lover and a great sorcerer and renowned LMBers Kid Vudoo and Dedman.

“Hurry up,” said Helena Handbasket from the doorway. They voices were getting closer.

Cobalt turned to Kalla Hrykos. “Well Kalla,” he said, feeling the adrenaline high coming through his body. “Shall we begin the counter-invasion of the Dark Oval?”

She felt the adrenaline too. “Let’s.”

Cobalt Kid made his next communication to Bellassarius, the General Maximus of the United Planets Fleets. The signal was given and Cobalt knew that Bellassarius would waste no time—the invasion would begin in minutes, not hours. The Dominator defenses were down, their fleets scattered and their technology useless. They were sitting ducks.

The response came back from Bellassarius in code. Cobalt suspected his top confidant Kilrain was the one sending it. They were beginning. At long last Bellassarius would get the glory he so desperately wanted and believed was his by right. Only someone with that much of a lust for glory would hold back entire fleets from helping the UP; Cobalt knew that and played right into Bellassarius’ greatest desires.

“Incoming!” said Helena from the door.

Kalla rose to help her.

“Wait,” said Cobalt, turning to her. “I still need you here.” He yelled suddenly into the other room. “Lolita! Tim! Grab some blasters and help Helena!”

Kalla looked at him quizzically, believing her part was done.

“One more moment,” he said. His next communication was to the Space Knights Templar, specifically to Tomar Te. He did not bother coding this one, but kept it brief. “Tomar, its Cobaltus. The time has come. The UP is beginning its invading force, but the general is more concerned with destroying Dominators than anything else. Begin the Knights advance.” For a moment there was no reply and then suddenly: “Strength and Honor”.

Kalla spoke up: “And the Knights are in on this too? Their purpose?”

“To protect the civilians,” said Cobalt. “I don’t know the men under Bellassarius rule and I won’t have soldiers exploiting citizens on my conscious. Most of these planets under the Dominator yoke only need some encouragement to begin rebelling. That’s what the Knights are for: to protect them and encourage their own mutiny. Help them organize and give them the tools and weapons they need. Bellassarius is going to push the Dominators back to Elia, but the Knights will make sure the people being liberated have their own militia forces to counter the next Dominator wave when it assuredly comes.”

Kalla nodded. She was glad to hear Cobalt had thought of the common people conquered by the Dominators. Every action she’d taken thus far stemmed from a similar motivation for the people of Hrykosia. “And why do you need me?” she asked.

And suddenly Cobalt stopped. He took a deep breath. Evidently, this was the most important decision of them all, and she realized she expected all the other communications but did not have a clue what the next one would be. Obviously, this was a heavy decision Cobalt was not entirely 100% sure about. Finally he spoke. “You need to communicate with your man Juj again,” he said. She looked at him oddly. “You need to tell him to get off Elia.”

“Why?” she said. “Think of the damage he could do if he stays there giving bad orders for days. Weeks even.”

“Yes, I know,” said Cobalt. “But we don’t have weeks, or even days. You need to get him off because if he stays there, he’s going to be in tremendous danger.”

“What are you talking…” she began but didn’t finish. She realized she was about to find out as Cobalt lifted his comm-link device.

“General Gharlak,” he said over the communicator. “This is Cobaltus Primus Julianus; I have accomplished my end of the bargain, now you must accomplish yours. You are now clear to send in the Khundian Fleets.”

Kalla Hrykos looked at him in total shock. This was entirely unexpected. Silence hung between them while outside, Helena Handbasket, Time-Teller Lad and Lolita battled Dominators. At last the silence was broke.

“Correspondence received Ggrrggian. Do not doubt Khundia. We now play our part.”

Cobalt turned to Kalla. “We’re done,” he said.

She grabbed him by the arm. “What have you done?” she asked. “You can barely stomach it, whatever it was. What did you just do?”

Cobalt didn’t speak for a moment. He knew they would all be angry about this. Lolita would be furious. His fellow LMBers, including Rocky their leader and the Legion World Founders. Crujectra would be so upset. Bellassarius himself would be beyond furious. Only Mirenna Helene knew about this deal he struck with the Khunds.

He spoke at last: “I made a deal with the Khunds. Until now, they’ve stayed out of the conflict, appearing to be neutral to take advantage of the war either way. This was a lie; they’ve been our allies the whole time, waiting for the right moment. I promised them Elia. They hate the Dominators with all of their barbarian hearts. I’ve enlisted them as a military force to go into the Dominion and sack Elia.”

Kalla Hrykos couldn’t believe it. “You are as ruthless as I am then,” she said, knowing full well the savagery of the Khunds was unequaled in the universe.

“I know,” was all he said, hating himself. “Let’s go—we need to make sure Cleome is safe and then find Timberwolf.”
 

---

Posted by Power Boy on :
 
HUL, THE DOMINION

The wind rushed past Power Boy as he closed on the four black wraiths trailing Invisible Brainiac. Invisible Brainiac flew around and in between buildings.


From high above the chase, Power Boy fired his energy vision, clipping one Ghoul ....

the black form burned when it was struck, The ghoul lost control of it’s flight, tumbling erratically like a popped balloon from the sky, finally crashing into a building. As it struck through the building it shattered columns and floors, destabilizing the structure of the buildings. The floors of the building collapsed upon the superhuman ghoul, burying it under a mountain of dust.

'That should keep it occupied' PB grinned. 'Now for the rest' He flew faster.

Suddenly, the large Ghoul leading the pack chasing IB, turned in midair. It waited for Power Boy. It stood in the air, it’s black cape surreally not moving at all, the wind did not touch this other worldly creature. It stared straight into Power Boy.

As Power Boy approached, he recognized a black crown on it’s head, and something he did not realize in the shadows of the fight at the fort, the leader was female. It was hard even to make out even now, as shadows surrounded her even in the light of the city.

It spoke to Power Boy's mind, cold and terror emanating from this mass of darkness.

'I am Tamor. First slave of Titus. I was his greatest opponent. We warred for centuries until Titus the inevitable, defeated my armies. He took my family one at a time. I used to wield the light and fire, they called me a goddess of the sun, until Titus took me. He changed me, I died, and was reborn, now I am mistress of shadows, cold, and terror.’

Power Boy felt odd, as if the remnants of the humanity of this warrior queen was trying to communicate with him somehow by telling this story.

‘Now Titus honors me as the chief of his greatest warriors. Each one was an opponent of Titus in their time, none so great as me but, each earned distinction out of the countless that Titus has destroyed. Titus honors his greatest foes by recreating them out of the dark and death to do his bidding. You think you destroyed some of us. You are strong. But Titus is a servant to death, and death grants him boons. Titus can restore any of his slaves that fall in battle. And there are always new warriors for Titus.’

‘Titus is beloved by the Dark Lord.’

No, Power Boy thought, this creature is quite mad. He probed it with his telepathy, he saw only the after images of a personality, vague memories, this was just a husk, animated by another party …. this Titus.

Whatever remains of the warrior that opposed Titus, it would be a mercy to put it out of it’s misery.

A few last words slithered from the ghoul, PB heard them in his mind and felt as if bugs were crawling all over his skin.

'You are strong. You will be one of us' It moaned.

Power Boy paused, wavering, under this intoxication, and pressed his upper right arm.

BOOM!!!!!

A boom tube portal opened behind Tamor, the vaccum sucking her in. Tamor resisted the pull and conjured darkness to hurl at Power Boy.

Power Boy was quicker, raising his Mega Rod and blasting the Ghoul through the portal.

The boom tube hole closed with the sound of sucking air. 'sssssssssssssssssss' and an audible silence.

Power Boy said to the Mother Box circuitry on his arm. 'Mother Box, where did you send her?'

A robotic voice chirped

'UNKNOWN. INSUFFICIENT TIME TO CALCULATE'

'I hope she reappears in the heart of a star, or the center of a planet, or ...... at least in front of a bus.'

Poor bastard he thought.

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

Invisible Brainiac raced ahead of the two remaining Ghouls, leaving a trail of light. He hadn't quite seen what happened to the other two but he suspected 'big brother' Power Boy had something to do with it.

The two that trailed him weren't the best flyers of the four but, they were keeping up. A large ram like man, and a large flaming one were still in pursuit. The flaming one burned like black charcoal lined with red fire.

IB couldn't really let loose with Tempest in his arms. She seemed confused, mumbling about a Dark Lord, and his 'hand of death' ...

Finally, he weaved through buildings and reached Rockhopper Lad and Lard Lad on the ground. They stood back to back and appeared to just be polishing off another group of Unkillables.

As IB zoomed in, glowing with light Lard Lad saw Tempest in his arms looking pale and sickly. ‘T E M P . . .”

Lard Lad moved to take her from IB but IB said “No, I’m being followed …”

WHAM!!!

A large ram like man plummeted from the sky into Lard Lad, knocking him down. Lardy rolled, his Exo Armor straining to resist the super humanly strong hit.

Seconds later a second ghoul, this one 12 foot tall and on fire touched down with a ‘thump’ a few feet from Rockhopper Lad. It smouldered, emitting heat and fire but, it smoked like charcoal, black rather than bright.

Rockhopper Lad instinctively let out a cold breath that struck the burning ghoul. The ghoul staggered for a moment and grew even larger to 15 feet and the intensity of it’s flame grew in opposition to Rockhopper’s cold breath. It soon became a contest with Rockhopper Lad’s cold versus the heat of this burning demon.

IB put Tempest down behind them, with Lard Lad and Rockhopper facing the two monsters. ‘Wake up Tempest, we need you’ IB shook her.


In the background Lard Lad blasted the Ram like ghoul with Exo blast after Exo blast.


PB flew towards the battle. Each ghoul was a match for one of the fellowship. In fact, they’d took out PB himself at the fort, and if it wasn’t for some quick thinking by Timber Wolf and luck, the entire fellowship would be dead, killed in their sleep.

Whoever this Titus was he’d conquered his opponents and twisted them into his slaves through sorcery or science.

PB didn’t relish the thought of meeting Titus unprepared, or ending up as one of his special ‘slaves’.

He heard the sounds of Exo blasts as he approached the battle.

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

The unkillables shied away from the battle, backing away from fire and ice and Exo blasts.

Power Boy walked towards the battle, and focused his telekinesis, firing a blot of force at the, now enormous, flaming demon. The TK bolt struck the demon hard in the chest, pushing it away from Rocky, and knocking it into a nearby building. The building shattered under it’s weight.

Rockhopper Lad stopped emitting cold, sighing with relief.

‘We may have a problem’ Power Boy said.

Power Boy tried to quickly relay his meeting with the ghoul leader telepathically. In his haste Power Boy flooded Rocky with images, too quickly, causing Rockhopper Lad to feel sick.

Rockhopper Lad raised a hand … ‘Enough’ ‘Dywh. I have heard rumors of just such a dark general through the political intelligence sources of the Pyngwyn Colonies’


‘Most of what I’ve heard is rumor and speculation, of far off planets that go dark, whole populations disappearing. All that remains of the planets are desicated husks. Never close enough to the UP to get accurate information yet, a name has been whispered in association …. Titus.’

[ June 20, 2011, 06:17 PM: Message edited by: Power Boy ]
 

---

Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
 
The United Planets – Border with the Dark Oval

After weeks of build-up and patience, in which the soldiers bitterly joked about the “hurry up and wait” attitude, they suddenly felt their stomachs turn cold as a new attitude became prevalent: simply “hurry up”. The counter-Invasion to the Dark Oval began, and Belisarius has been ready. Along the border between the Dark Oval and the United Planets, away from the Contested Territories where the Dark Oval had sent their own invading fleets, Belisarius launched his counter-attack. Thousands of war ships moved across the border, with small units invading the vassal planets, while the main force pushed forward deep into the Dominion to engage the main Dominator fleets.

At long last, Belisarius would have his chance for glory.

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

The Contested Territories

The Knights Templar had also been prepared; they now moved with lightning speed to move through the Contested Territories and spill into the planets conquered by the Dominators and the aggressive vassal races who served them. Their race against time was not only because they had a small window of opportunity while Dominator technology was shut down and the chain of command had been broken. The Knights also knew they needed to reach the conquered planets before the UP Fleets, to ensure the people were protected from possible over-zealous military action. They would help organize resistance and rebellion to make sure the conquered sentients won their planets back on their own terms.

Knightress looked at Sir John the Carrggite and smiled. This was the work she had wanted when she joined the Knights.

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

Weber’s World

Prime Minister Maya adi Lva joined the huge crowds of Senators, Ambassadors and Bureaucrats who had gathered around the large monitors. They continued to work, by putting out fires and issuing policy when needed, but they could not help but watch as the counter-invasion has begun.

“And now we see if the big gamble pays off,” said Ambassador Mirenna Helene to the Prime Minister. She was referring to Belisarius holding back troops for the invasion, which was a plan developed by her protégé, Cobalt Kid, and herself.

“It will,” said the Prime Minister confidently. Once the plan had been presented to her, albeit already in motion, Maya was quick to sign off on it and make it her own.

Many of the Ambassadors were now off-planet, dealing with various problems on Imsk, Daroon and other places, but there was still a large crowd. Among them were Princess Crujectra of Psionia, the famous LMBer, who looked on saying nothing.

“Madame Prime Minister,” said an adjunct, suddenly running into the crowd towards her. He was one of her top aids and he was out of breath. “You’ll…never…believe it…”

All the faces in the crowd turned to the adjunct and then the Prime Minister to see her reaction. “Slow down Wyat,” she said calmly, “and catch your breath.” He did exactly as she commanded and she looked at him deadly serious. “Now what is it?”

“It’s the Khunds,” he said, almost yelling. “They’ve begun their own invasion as well!”

A huge gasp was let out in the crowd as immediately they all assumed the worst. The Khunds had betrayed them at last.”

All but one: Ambassador Mirenna Helene. She smiled devilishly, knowing the plan her protégé developed was coming into effect.

“Where are they invading?” said the Prime Minister, her voice also growing louder.

“The Dark Oval!” he proclaimed and more shock came out from the Ambassadors.

“Look, on the screens!” said one Ambassador. “There they are!” They turned as one of the Weber’s World Techs had used the omni-imagery to find the Khunds movement along the maps, tracing their fleets.

“They’re going after Elia,” said Mirenna calmly. “They’re going to sack the Dominator capital.”

At this, Princess Crujectra broke her silence and there was genuine anguish on her face. She spoke directly to Mirenna: “They didn’t plan this on their own, did they?” The words came out more angry than she intended. But she knew what the Khunds were capable of, and the destruction and violation they could cause. She thought immediately he wouldn’t have; he couldn’t!. But she knew better. He did.

“Of course not,” said Mirenna with a smile. “But do not look to me, Princess,” she said, knowing Crujectra would blame her initially. “All I did was tell him what an excellent plan it was.”

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

Hul, the Dominion
The Dark Oval

The espionage half of the Fellowship moved through the hallways, taking out any Dominator they saw and trying to find their way out of the immense building and back on the streets. They were in a rush and so much was happening at once.

“Will she be okay back there?” asked Time-Teller Lad, using a blaster to shoot at some Dominators down a hallway.

“She’ll be okay,” said Helena Handbasket, referring to Cleome. “She’s locked herself in and the Dominators won’t get her. A rescue squad is on its way as we speak. We need to move on from Hul, though.”

“She is one tough cookie…” said Time-Teller Lad thoughtfully, as Hwyvie jumped on him, pushing out of the way of oncoming blasts.

“Juj will be alright,” said Kalla Hrykos to Cobalt Kid, “but just barely. He didn’t exactly have any escape planned, you know.” She had an edge to her words. On the one hand, she felt her annoyance and anger at Cobalt Kid was more justified than ever by his never-ending parade of deception and lies; on the other hand, she found those qualities to be admirable.

“I’m sure he’s resourceful,” said Cobalt matter-of-factly. He knew full well that a top lieutenant of Kalla Hrykos would take care of himself.

They turned the corner and Cobalt and Kalla used their powers to pave the way, knocking out dozens of Dominator troops. The Unkillables were all deployed elsewhere now, and it was a matter of getting through their numbers and back to the others.

Behind them, Lolita now spoke. Cobalt Kid did not turn around and did not see her: her face was red and her eyes were blurry with tears. She was furious and it was all directed at him. “Cobie,” she began and Kalla Hrykos immediately noticed the edge in her voice. “How could you?” she said at last.

“Lolita, now isn’t the time,” he said, using his magnetism to knock back more Dominators.

Lolita didn’t care and didn’t even bother using her blaster to fire back at their enemies. Her fury was directed at him. “Then when is the time? When is it ever? How could you?! These are the Khunds! They’re monsters! How could you work with them? Give them a chance to use their barbaric ways? Don’t you know what they’ll do?!! How could you unleash them?!!”

Kalla Hrykos smiled widely as she heard the words. “It is pretty damn cold, I’ll give you that,” she said, adding more fuel to the fire.

“I did what I had to in order to destroy the Dominion,” said Cobalt. His voice was cold and calculating but Lolita knew him well and could hear just the smallest tint of emotion. Cobalt was also getting very angry. “Khundia is a member of the UP now,” he said, “and I’ve let them contribute to the UP’s safety in the way they know best.” He sounded like a robot in his logic.

Lolita reached forward and grabbed his arm, trying to spin him around—right in the middle of a firefight. “These are the Khunds, Cobie! Don’t you remember what they do?! What they did?!! What they did to me?!!” And suddenly, she slapped him right across the face.

Now Cobalt Kid stopped fighting back to the Dominators. He stared at her, stung more by the action of the slap than the slap itself. “Of course I do,” he said quietly. He saw she was crying. “But we needed them!” he then said loudly.

As they were arguing, the Dominators were closing in. “Hate to break up your little spat…” said Kalla, as she saw two Unkillables joining the Dominators.

Suddenly, in a blur, the two Unkillables were knocked off their feet and pushed to Kalla’s right. Two blades swung in a flash and the Unkillable’s heads rolled forward to them. “Lon!” she yelled.

Timberwolf had rejoined them. He was beat-up and cut-up, but he didn’t let on if he felt any pain. “Time to go, I take it?” he said with a smile, scooping up Kalla in his arms to kiss her.

“Yes,” said Cobalt Kid, still staring at Lolita.

By now Helena and Time-Teller Lad caught up, holding up their flank. They were at the exit of the Command Center. “Let’s rejoin the others then,” said Timberwolf. “They don’t look to be in any better shape.”

Cobalt Kid turned back to Lolita. “I know they’re monsters,” he said, “but we needed monsters. We needed to crush the Dominators on their mother-planet in addition to everything else. You have to understand, Lo…” he said putting his hand on her shoulder.

She yanked her shoulder away. “No, I don’t. The Khunds are going to go on a rampage on Elia and you know it. And you don’t care. I don’t understand it, and neither will a lot of other people. Like most of the rest of the LMB, including Crujectra. I hope you’re happy with yourself, Cobie.”

At those words, she turned to join Helena Handbasket and Time-Teller Lad, as they ran off through the streets to get to the others. Timberwolf and Kalla Hrykos had already moved off on their own.

Cobalt Kid looked around at the carnage on Hul, knowing full well the carnage spread out throughout known space. He took a moment to take it all in. Thinking he was alone for a brief second, he sighed and let his shoulder’s slump, putting his thumb and index finger to the bridge of his nose, letting it all sink in.

Suddenly he felt a nudge at his leg and saw Hwyvie waiting by his side. Hwyvie was not ready to leave him behind. Cobalt smiled and scooped him up in his arms, using his magnetism to rise in the air. He smiled at the dog. “When all is said and done,” he said, “you may just be my only friend…”
 

---

Posted by Power Boy on :
 
HUL, THE DOMINION

Titus waited. He controlled these Unkillables of Hull. His chosen elite had also entered the battle with this … fellowship. < he spat > They were almost here, unaware that the route their battle had taken was carefully chosen, by Titus. He had set his dogs on them, to herd them to their new master.

So many delicacies, this diverse group, he couldn’t have asked for a more perfect collection of souls than this fellowship.


he had already tasted the minds of two. He wondered what would break the others to his will.

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

Rockhopper Lad received a message that Cobalt Kid’s team was finished and would proceed to the redezevous point shortly.

Good, he thought, this shock and awe strategy had quickly gone to a crippled Hull that would take decades for the Dominion to rebuild, if not reduce them to barbarism. He didn’t like it, to crush a people, even the Dominion so viciously. The battle had also gone out of their favor, they found themselves scattered amid the ruins of burning buildings fighting off Unkillables street by street.

Now, these shadow ghouls have returned, superhuman zombies of varying abilities and strength, with the fellowship split in half. Not to mention this Titus, who has the power to check both Power Boy and Tempest.

Rockhopper Lad had to get control of this situation immediately.

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

The fellowship found themselves in large plaza in the center of Hull. Several streets ran into this large clearing, obviously a place for political gatherings of the Dominion. Lard Lard recognized it from Dominion propaganda, as a place where the armies trained and paraded in the center of Hul.

The fire ghoul, the ram ghoul, and a few other ghouls followed them and stayed on the perimeter blocking the way they came.

The other streets on the sides of the plaza soon were filled with unkillables. They kept their distance though, merely blocking of the side streets as an exit.

The fellowship stood alone in the center of the vast clearing, exit routes cut off by ghouls and Unkillables. They felt like trapped mice.

in the distance, at the other end of the plaza, walking up the main boulevard towards the fellowship, a large figure, robed in inky purple walked towards them.

Rockhopper Lad felt a tinge of panic, quickly suppressed by his impeccable manners. Lard Lad spotted the warrior walking towards them and raised one of his gauntlets to blast him.

Rockhopper Lad held up a hand, waving caution to Lardy. “Hold, look how he moves” he whispered.

“Like Power Boy” Lardy whispered back.

Titus’ gate was that of an increased metabolism, he moved like a cheetah, fast and methodical, he seemed to just be nearer and nearer. Menace hung around him.

Power Boy stepped in between the fellowship and the approaching Titus.

He raised his Mega Rod to blast Titus.

And just like that, Titus was across the expansive plaza, holding Power Boy up by the neck, lifting him off the ground.

The sound of Titus’ fingers on Power Boy’s throat was like Iron crushing Marble.

‘Not just yet, little god.’ Titus said with great intensity … and promptly hurled Power Boy across the plaza.

Power Boy struck the ground hard and rolled with the force. The ground shattering with the impact.

Titus turned to Rockhopper Lad, Tempest, Lard Lad, and Invisible Brainiac. Titus winced almost imperceptibly when assessing Invisible Brainiac.

Tempest noticed everything, she had recovered some in the moments between the cliffs and now. She steeled herself under Titus' gaze, she felt as if she was being dissected with his eyes.


Rockhopper Lad stepped forward, chin up and regal. “Titus. I presume.”
 

---

Posted by Power Boy on :
 
HUL, THE DOMINION


Lard Lad inched towards Power Boy, Titus and Rockhopper Lad had been talking for some time.

Titus seemed to be one of Power Boy's race but, an elder, and it sounds like a vicious betrayer. Titus called himself a general and he certainly had the power to take over the minds of all of these Unkillables, and it was pretty clear Titus had been giving them problems on Antioch.

Lardy finally near Power Boy, the kid was awake and looked ok. He was playing possum. How come he didn't use his telepathy to say so? oh yeah, Titus was a super telepath and super strong, wonder what else he had up his sleeves.

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

Rockhopper Lad noticed Titus' arms and hands as they talked, they were covered with blood red tatoos.


Rockhopper Lad continued " ... Even now UP ships are in orbit around Hul. On my command they will burn the surface of Hul to ash. The defenses of this planet are no more. It's armies scattered and defeated. It's technology null, and it's communication systems void. Surely one as brilliant as your self can see that a contest between us can benefit neither of us."

Titus retorted "I see that you are 5 against myself, (he paused) and my ghouls (he paused), and a hundred unkillables."

"You speak well but, you have nothing to bargain with"

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

Power Boy would be quicker this time, To his eyes Titus reached in slow motion for Rockhopper's throat.

Before anyone else could register what happened Rockhopper Lad was across the plaza in PB's arms, and Titus was left standing exposed, reaching for empty air.

It took a moment but then Tempest shouted "Now IB, NOW!"

Invisible Brainiac focused his brightest and purest light at Titus. The light from IB blazed like the sun.

Searing white light flooded Titus.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAPPPPPPPPP!!!

Titus disappeared under the wave of light.

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

Rockhopper Lad spun into action, his arms pointing two different directions, it appeared he pointed at the ghouls, and another street where the Unkillables were starting to rush into.

Rocky cast ice along the wide plaza. Ice walls formed in beween the plaza and the ghouls, blocking them off. His other hand pointed to another street, filling it with ice, separating the largest body of Unkillables from the fellowship.

The ground began to thump . .. thump ... THUMP ....

THUMP

a shadow fell across the plaza.

the shadow of a shark.

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

K O W A B U N G A MUTHER SPROCKER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Shark Lad's titanic hands came pounding down on Titus!!!

WHAM!!!!

Titus was crushed under the fists, the plaza floor buckling.

Shark Lad continued pounding Titus over and over again, smashing him deeper and deeper into the ground. The plaza shook with the impacts.

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

"We leave NOW!" Rockhopper Lad shouted as his ice walls began to crack and shake.

Tempest nodded, and began to summon her winds around them.

Shark Lad was knocked back from Titus, as he stumbled back across the plaza, he shrank back to normal size, this battle was even draining him.

Shark Lad smiled wide, showing all his teeth and prepared to charge.

Someone put a hand on his shoulder, a very dangerous thing to do while Shark Lad was in battle.

"Allow me" said PB, as he raised his Mega Rod and fired into the pit Titus was crawling out of. ZAAPPPFF!!!

Tempests winds picked them all off the ground and this half of the fellowship rose into the air.

Just in time, as Unkillables and Ghouls swarmed the plaza.

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

The fellowship rose away, piloted by Tempest.

Lardy shouted "Fire at the floor"

IB, PB, and Lardy fired as one cutting through the plaza floor which crumbled under the energy blasts. Shark Lad's violent attack on Titus had weakened the entire structure of the plaza. Like many places on Hull, the plaza was built above many basement levels of technology and infrastructure.


Unkillables and Ghouls alike were crushed under the collapsing stone floor. The mad mob was lost in the chaos of dust and destruction.

Tempest floated them higher and higher into the air, the plaza lost in a dust cloud.

Rockhopper Lad said to Tempest "Let's move to the rendezvous point with Cobalt, We've done what we needed to do on Hul"


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

Somewhere, down below, in the dust and chaos of the collapsing city .....


Titus snarled.

[ June 23, 2011, 03:17 PM: Message edited by: Power Boy ]
 

---

Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
 
Hul, The Dominion

“Cleome, we’ve found our crusier,” said Helena Handbasket over an omni-com to the LMBer, who was still deep within the city. By Helena’s side was Lolita and Time-Teller Lad as the three crammed into a cruiser that was made for two Dominators.

“You’re clear,” said Cleome’s voice and suddenly the cruiser powered on. It was powered by the same slave-vegetation all Dominator tech was based on.

“Let’s go then,” said Lolita, “and get off of this hellhole.” And the three suddenly took off into space, leaving Hul behind.

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

Cobalt Kid looked up to the sky as he flew down to the cruisers with Hywvie. She is beyond angry he thought, noting that Lolita didn’t even wait for him. That was the plan though, after all. The rendezvous point was actually not on Hul, but off into space; the plan had always been for everyone to get off of Hul anyway possible and meet off-planet following this assault.

The rendezvous point was a relatively quick journey—6 hours at best in a high-powered space cruiser—that had become known as the Gordian Pass. It was a lifeless, immense asteroid that was strategically located between the Lin-Drak Nebula, where Hrykosia was, the Dominion and the Hive. It was essentially a gate into the Dark Oval after passing through the Hive, with two paths to take further inward, each bringing you to a separate and equally important part of the Oval. It was there the Fellowship would be forced to break.

Cobalt looked for a cruiser of his own with Hwyvie, while also surveying the damage done to the Dominion. The plan had been a tremendous success and the Dominion was indeed falling. His omni-com, still barely working this far into the Oval (which would not last much longer) was giving him news updates and reactions and he knew Belisarius, the Knights and the Khunds were holding up their ends. But he wondered about the other squad—Lardy, Rocky, Sharky, Temp, PB and IB and if they were okay. They were the ones in real danger. He hoped for the best.

“Hey Cobie, looking for a ride?” he heard. Turning he could see Timberwolf and Kalla Hrykos in a cruiser. He felt momentary relief and then surprise set in; surprise they would wait for him when the cruiser was made for two and he would be putting them out.

“If you’re going anywhere but here…” he said with a faux grin. He was too exhausted to put too much effort into the charade of being devil-may-care, and besides, Lon could see through it anyway and Kalla would pick up on Lon’s feelings.

“You’re girl Friday left in a huff,” said Kalla. Cobalt felt like she was almost trying to hold that comment back but couldn’t help herself.

“She’ll get over it,” he replied. He looked down at Hul as they were leaving and from the air it really looked like true chaos. “If this is the last time I’m ever on Hul,” he said, “I won’t be too disappointed.” Hwyvie gave him a big lick across the face in agreement.

“You and me both,” said Timberwolf, piloting them off-planet.

-----------------------
 

---

Posted by Power Boy on :
 
HUL, THE DOMINION

Rockhopper Lad, Tempest, Lard Lad, Invisible Brainiac, Power Boy, and Shark Lad moved quickly to a nondescript area of Hull.

They only encountered a few Dominion soldiers on their escape from Hul. They were dealt with efficiently.

There was an anxiety that walked with the group. Titus would recover, and when he did, he could catch them with his obvious super speed in minutes.

Finally, they turned a corner to a small alley. Lard Lad pressed a button on his armor and a small cruiser de cloaked. It had been chosen for stealth and speed.

The group climbed aboard with an exaggerated swiftness.

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

Space outside of HULL

After leaving the atmosphere of Hull, the fellowship began to relax a little.

The cruiser was compact, with Rocky and Lardy in the cockpit, Tempest and IB in the middle seats, and Sharky and PB in the back. It also had a small cargo space in the rear.

Now that people had settled in, Lardy moved back to speak to Power Boy.

"You allright kid?"

"Yes" PB replied shortly.

"Ok. Well, it's a lot to take in, everything that's happened lately, If you want to talk ... " Lardy trailed off as PB turned his head to stare straight at Lardy.

"If I want to talk about my feelings ... you will know I have been replaced by an impostor and have my permission to chuck the impostor out the air lock"

overhearing, Shark Lad tried to quiet a chuckle.
"He'll be fine"

Lard Lad smiled "Good" and walked back up to the cock pit.
 

---

Posted by Lard Lad on :
 
The Gordian Pass, Dark Oval Space

Lard Lad and Rockhopper Lad sat in the cockpit of their group's cruiser.

"Approaching the Gordian Pass, Lardy," said Rocky.

"Good," Lardy responded. "Prepare to de-cloak and transmit the code to the asteroid."

Silently, they both hoped that the Space Knights Templar had successfully completed their assigned task to secure an outpost on the asteroid. Otherwise, they would have a tough time of it, to say the least.

"De-cloaking..." Rocky said softly, his eyes wide and ready for trouble. The small cruiser shimmered and became visible to the naked eye. "...and transmitting code..." Rocky pressed a button, and the two tensed up considerably as they awaited a response.

For a long, electric moment there was nothing but an awful silence. Then, a response finally came. Code acknowledged. You are cleared for landing. Transmitting coordinates...

"Coordinates received," Lardy acknowledged with a grin. "That you, Serj?"

Tony! responded Serj Ontronik, the former Lard Knight/current Space Knight Templar whom Lardy had reconnected with on Sumra. Good to hear you're still amongst the living! I'm in command of our new Gordian base for this leg of the mission. Can't wait to see ya when ya get down here!

"Back atcha, Serj! Did Cobalt and the others arrive yet?"

Neg, Tony. You guys are the first to check in. I'm sure they'll be along shortly, though.

Lardy looked at Rocky meaningfully, a hint of concern in their eyes. Lardy finally responded, "acknowledged. Proceeding to coordinates. Lard Lad out." Turning off the comm, Lardy turned to the man who was his former lover but still one of his greatest friends. "I'm sure they'll be along shortly, Eudyptes. I'd feel it in my bones if Des had died, and I know you asked Hyvvie to stick close to him. They and Tim and the rest will be here in no time flat."

"By Dywh, I pray you are right, Anthony."

Silently, the two worked in tandem to bring the cruiser along its course safely. This close to the outskirts of the Lin-Dak Nebula, the Gordian asteroid had an especially electron-charged atmosphere that caused constant lightning strikes. There was no avoiding them, so pilot and co-pilot had to carefully modulate the craft's shields and constantly manually course-correct. Auto-pilot was useless under such conditions.

As they approached the coordinates, Lardy and Rocky could make out the modest base camp. At first it appeared as if it were wedged between two tall, thin mountains, but it soon became obvious that these were in fact two massive statues. Both appeared to have been of two great humanoid warriors cowering on their knees with their hands up as if shielding their eyes from some great, terrible light. Looking closer at the faces, the two LMBers noticed the statues' faces were actually missing their eyes.

Rocky found himself distracted for a moment as he tried to figure out whether the eyes had been present but defaced by unknown vandals...or if the statues' sculptors had carved them with those injuries already in place. The strobe-like effect of the lightning strikes made it difficult to tell. In any case he had little time to examine them until a hard lightning strike nearly ended their flight prematurely. But Rocky adjusted the controls and compensated in time.

Lardy gave him a quick wink and said, "stay focused, Rocky. Almost there..."

And within moments, the cruiser landed safely in the hanger. The hatch opened, and Power Boy, Tempest, Invisible Brainiac and Shark Lad quickly exited. Lardy and Rocky paused at the hatch's threshold and regarded their teammates as they went their separate ways, each attending whatever priorities they had.

"It is hard to believe, my friend," Rocky said, "that this mission has barely begun."

"Dywh have mercy on us all," Lardy responded.

Rocky looked at his friend in astonishment that he would invoke his people's deity. Lardy caught his eye and met it with all the seriousness he could muster before bursting out with a hardy, booming laugh. Rocky laughed in kind as realization of the jest dawned.

"C'mon, Rocky," Lardy said, still grinning. "Let's get out of this tin can and see what these Space Knights have for grub!"

"If they don't have any seafood, there will be hell to pay, my friend!" Rocky laughed. And the two headed toward some Space Knights who awaited them.

Beneath their bravado, Rocky and Lardy desperately hoped their missing friends would be along shortly to join them. Only then would they have any real appetite.
 

---

Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
 
As a small cruiser became more in view, Lard Lad, Rockhopper Lad and others breathed a sigh of relief, though that was unknown to those on board. Exhausted and now having lost all the adrenaline that had kept them going, the trio of Lolita, Helena Handbasket and Time-Teller Lad approach the Gordian Pass.

“We will land in 5 minutes, 34 seconds,” said Time-Teller Lad, piloting the ship. “Since this is the last time we’ll be seeing our Space Knight friends, I’m anxious to enjoy some of the delectable food they’ve brought!” Tim’s enjoyment of the Space Knight’s cuisine was genuine, but he wasn’t being very subtly in his attempts to lighten the mood.

Helena didn’t respond. Instead, she looked at Lolita, he stared off into space, still furious. She had grown to like Lolita, even though she considered her to be a bit too emotional. But after several instances where the two had fought side by side, she took a ‘big sister’ stance, and Lolita’s anger towards Cobalt Kid was becoming slightly infectious.

“When we split,” said Lolita at last, “I’ll be joining you both for the trip to Earth-4.” Apparently she had been giving it some thought and had at last reached a decision.

Helena understood what it really meant. She wanted to be far away from Cobalt Kid. His actions with the Khunds—unleashing them upon the Dominator homeworld of Elia—had crossed a line. Helena understood the strategy, being a military woman herself, but she did consider it to be a little too ruthless for a Legionnaire to have planned. These Legionnaires were a complex bunch, she though to herself amusingly.

“The Holo-News feeds are coming in and out,” said Time-Teller Lad. “It won’t be much longer now before all our communication with the United Planets shuts down entirely. We’ll be too far and the technology will be too corrupted by the Dark Oval.”

Lolita and Helena looked to see some of the News Feed; it was a plethora of news regarding the counter-attack of the United Planets into the Dark Oval. General Belisarius was being interviewed and had a very calm, calculating posture. Lolita knew Belisarius was far from calm; the Khunds were stealing away his glory and he would be furious. She had no doubts he had put out a private warrant for Cobalt Kid’s arrest should the UP military troops find him; even now Ambassador Mirenna Helene was working to ensure that did not happen behind the scenes.

“Great news!” said Time-Teller Lad excitedly “Rockhopper Lad is at the Gordian Pass! He’s alright! And so are the others!”

Even Lolita had to smile at that. It was a huge relief—until now, every one of the “espionage half” of the team had a knot in their stomachs, fearing for their friends safety.

“You damn Legionnaires,” said Helena Handbasket to Time-Teller Lad, “the Luck Lords favor you more than any I’ve ever encountered.”
 

---

Posted by Lard Lad on :
 
"You're saying your energy signature was red, Tony?" Serj asked his fellow erstwhile Lard Knight.

"Yeah, definitely red," the man most of the galaxy knew as Lard Lad responded. "What does it mean?"

Serj regarded his friend thoughtfully. "Not sure," he finally said. "Lard Knights generally manifest blue energy, as you know. You say it's been purple for you before?"

"Yes," Lardy hesitated, "it was purple after I got my power back the first time...from Damyen Hrykos."

"When you killed 'im, you mean?"

Lardy bowed his head slightly. "Yeah. It was purple after that until I died saving Legion World."

"And after you came back?"

"It was blue again all the way until I got shot in the head by the Red Bee and lost my power again."

"And since you've had these flashes?"

"Purple. Until the battle on Hul. It was red, then."

Serj looked deep into his friend's eyes with his own penetrating dark eyes. "You've seen the Lard Force manifest red before, haven't you?"

Serj was very perceptive, Lardy thought. Serj could tell his friend was holding something back...something that bothered Lardy immensely.

Reluctantly Lardy admitted, "yes, I have, Serj. A coupla years ago a guy named Phineas B. Fuddle attacked Legion World. And he had an ally...a futuristic version of me who called himself 'Dark Lard'. His energy manifested red." Lardy held up his right hand. "This is a prosthesis. He took my hand in a sword fight."

"'Dark Lard', eh? Evil dude, I take it?"

"Definitely. Claimed he was my future. I defeated him by apparently doing something he never did. He faded from existence, but my hand was still gone and everyone remembers him."

"Tony, I'm sure it's occurred to you that the red manifestation could signify corruption of the Lard Force--and its user--right?"

"Yeah...it has. I'm thinking I might've manifested purple before as the power--and me--were darkening...."

"It would make sense, pal. Especially considering you killed a guy to get it back."

"...and I killed others, too. That time until I died was the darkest time of my life, Serj. But, damnit! I feel like I'm on the right path, now! Why would I be so over the--!"

"Maybe you're not, Tony. Maybe, like I told you before, it's because you're getting so close to the Oval's Dark Lord. You told me you learned his name is...Zauron?"

"XXXauron, actually. My grandfather."

"Well, you're getting closer to him by the day. He's not only your grandfather, but this 'Lucifer Lass' told you he's also the very source of the Lard Force! That's why it's ripping away from its cell in your subconscious and manifesting the way it is, Tony!"

"I...hope you're right, Serj. I've seen the darkness in me. And it scares me."

"That's why you're gonna be okay, man--you recognize it, and you don't want it to consume you! This Quest-with-a-capital-Q is your redemption, Tony! Take him down, and you're golden!"

Lardy smiled. "If you say so, my friend. You always cheer me up...but I thought you were gonna do that favor for me? Why are you here on the Gordian Pass instead?"

"The Space Templars approved my request to go to Daroon, but they needed me to man this support op first. I'll be off as soon as you guys leave. Don't worry, Tony, I'll be at Daroon within a couple days. I'll make sure Helen and your kids are safe!"

A moment later Serj excused himself. Lardy was left alone with his thoughts. Lardy hoped Serj was right about the red energy. He also desperately hoped that redemption was indeed in the stars for him.

Lardy then checked the manifests and saw that Cobalt's ship had yet to arrive at the Pass. He hoped he would arrive safely soon. As daunting as the Quest ahead was, it would be much more so without his best friend by his side.

Come on, Des... he thought. I can't do this without you!

Lardy closed his eyes and prayed to whatever deity might care to listen to one who was screwed up and worthless as he felt at that moment.

[ August 10, 2011, 12:38 AM: Message edited by: Lard Lad ]
 

---

Posted by Timber Wolf on :
 
Dark Oval Space, near The Gordian Pass


They had been flying in relative quiet for some time now. Only the sound of Hywvie breathing was breaking the silence.

Cobie sat behind Kalla and Lon, who were at the controls of the ship. Lon had entered their flight path without even looking down at the controls. Cobalt knew his friend too well, and knew that something was bothering him. There was no outward sign that anybody would be able to discern, but it was a feeling that Lon gave off that very few people would ever pick up on.

Cobalt finally decided to say something, but as he thought of the right way to ask his friend what was wrong, Kalla spoke.

"Lon...what's bothering you?" She said as she touched his arm gently.

Cobalt grinned to himself. "You knew what I had to do, so I know that that isn't what's bothering you."

Lon laughed, and it startled both Kalla and Cobalt. Hywvie looked at Timberwolf and breathed out of his nose pretty hard, and it sounded like a laugh.

"No, I knew that was coming Cobie, and you know I knew...whether or not I knew when you were going to call in that marker. That one had to have peeved Lolita off though."

Kalla looked at Cobalt and grinned a little.

Lon continued, "No, I can't put my finger on what it is, but I feel like something terrible is going to happen to someone I care about...and that list is pretty frakkin short...that and I still know that someone is following us."

Cobie's eyes closed just a little. He had learned to trust Lon's instincts over the years, and it had saved their lives more times than either of them cared to think about.

"Well Lon, we know that Titus is following us, and unless the others took him down..."

"Not him. Someone else. Taunting me. Sorry, maybe I'm just being a little too cautious."

“Impossible,” said Cobalt, glad to have a momentary distraction from thinking heavily on his actions hours earlier. “Your instincts are almost always right. But at this point, with Titus following us and the Dark Lord looking for ways to destroy us, our enemies will be coming at us from all angles. We have to expect we’re not only being followed, but that wherever we’re going, they’re waiting for us.”

None of them said anything for a moment but Kalla Hrykos broke the silence at last. “I hadn’t taken the full measure of you until now,” she said to Cobalt Kid. Her tone suggested the tension between them, which had simmered for weeks and recently began boiling, was coming to a head. “The truth is, Cobaltus, you’re a lot like I am. You’ll do anything to protect the United Planets and destroy your enemies. You’ve got gravel in your stomach.”

Cobalt said nothing, as Timberwolf looked on. Kalla spoke in a way that wasn’t insulting nor intending harm. She was simply stating the truth.

“Except I’m fighting to find something more out of life,” she said, looking at Lon, “and you’ve stopped doing that.”

“Kalla,” said Lon, hoping to stop her from continuing. He had been in situations with Cobalt before that should have broken him immediately but did not. For some reason, Cobalt looked closer to being broken than ever before.

He spoke. “You’re right,” he said. “For the UP I’m willing to lose everything…even myself.” He sat back now and looked out the window. Hywvie leaned forward on his lap and licked his face in an attempt to cheer him up.

It was quiet for a moment but Timberwolf saw an opportunity. “We’ll be splitting up soon,” he said. “Cobie, you’ll go your way, and we’ll go ours. But if one of our groups is not successful, that means that eventually the other will is going to fall. So we both need to succeed here, and in my experience, it’s an awful lot easier to find hope in these situations when you actually can trust your partners. Very shortly, we’re going to joining the others but we have a few minutes now to clear the air. You two dislike one another and distrust one another, which was fine. But its not fine anymore.”

Kalla was surprised to hear Lon speak so bluntly and commanding to them both; she turned and saw Cobalt was equally surprised.

Cobalt spoke now, before Kalla could. “On Legion World you murdered citizens I was sworn to protect. In my heart, I know you have a clear vision for the Dark Oval when all is said and done that does not match my own. Yes, I dislike you.” He paused for a moment, and Lon considered looking at him to say ‘is that it?’, but Cobalt began again. “But for whatever reason, you’re the only person on this quest that is like me. And in order to succeed we need each other. Our victory over the Dominators came at a great cost, to me personally and to the UP in general. And it will be by far our easiest victory during this quest. Things are only going to get harder; sacrifices greater; enemies more terrifying.”

“What I’m saying, Kalla, is that you’ve been right all along. I do need you. Just like you need us.”

Kalla felt conflicting emotions. First, a sense of pride and victory, that Cobalt had changed his viewpoint somewhat and was reaching out to her. But also a sense of alarm, that something had changed in his perception of the quest, and it was becoming more burdensome. He knew his words were true and any impulse to gloat wouldn’t feel right. She reached back and extended her hand. “Let’s bring down the Dark Oval then, once and for all.”

Cobalt looked at her strait ahead, his face showing little emotion. He extended his own hand as well. “There is no more glorious cause.”

As they shook hands, Timberwolf grinned, feeling a brief sense of relief; but that quickly faded as he felt again the sense that he was being pursued by his enemies. An almost worse feeling washed over him at the same time, but his face and posture did not betray him. He was betraying the trust of the one person that he trusted his life with outside of his brother. He knew of Kalla's Nega-bomb on Earth-4, and what her plans had been for it. If it were brought out in the open now, it would destroy their chances before they even really got started. He stared out of the cruisers window and fought sighing...something he had not even thought about doing in years. He had not doubted himself in anything for quite a long time. If he had, it would have spelled death for him, and more often than not, others. He was a person that acted on instinct. He relied on that to get him through when rational thought may fail and freeze most normal sentient beings. But hiding this from his best friend, and he realized that he was not Cobalt's best friend...that distinction belonged to Anthony, Lard Lad...but he knew that Cobalt Kid probably trusted him more than Lardy, or anyone else they knew and worked with.

He reached across the narrow gap and took Kalla's hand and gave it a small squeeze and winked at her when she glanced at him. A small grin flashed on his face...against all odds, he had met and fallen in love with the one person in the galaxy that he should not have. There was more to her than anyone had ever thought, and it had taken him falling into her life to slowly reveal those layers...even if most of them were revealed to him and him alone. What had started as nothing more to him than a fling and then a possible strategic move in getting into her head had given him something more than he had ever thought possible for himself. The act of loving someone again...and then wholly falling in love with one of the people that Cobalt Kid hated most in this life.

Yet here they sat, along with Hywvie, in a ship that was really only built to sit two comfortably, learning to trust each other...and even if Cobalt knew it or not, Lon was setting a wedge between the two of them that could explode at any moment...if things went wrong. He was literally between two impossible choices, playing everything closer to the vest than he had ever done before. He needed Kalla, needed her love. He also needed Cobalt and his friendship...as he had been the one that had been there for him when no others even really knew he existed.

"We'll be there shortly," Kalla said and hit the manual over-ride on the controls. Lon grabbed the controls and was glad to have something to take his mind off of what was really bothering him. In the distance, a small dot in the bleakness in front of them was their destination. The Gordian Pass was coming up. Lon pressed the ship a little faster to get there as soon as they could, so they could prepare for the next stage of their journey. He also wanted to get to a point where transmissions from U.P. space were no longer available, even in small doses. He was receiving spotty reports about Daroon, and was worried about his brother and his family there...Daroon was in trouble, and although his brother could havdle himself, there were a lot of others there that he cared about that were in danger. This mission was becoming too personal, but it was out of his control.
 

---

Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
 
Hul, the Dominion

Cleome stayed hidden among the debris of Hul, as Dominators still scurried about, trying to reorganize themselves. But it was an uphill battle and would not happen. Cleome ignored them and instead, offered advice and empathy to the Cotati as they mounted their rebellion against the Dominators and fled to somewhere safe.

“Cleome, can you hear me,” came a voice telepathically to her and she felt a sense of relief. The rescue team was close. “I can,” she said, “and I gotta tell you, I could sure use a beer if you’ve got one on the ship.”

She could feel the laughter coming from Crusader telepathically. “We do, and we’ve got it on ice for you. Kid Vudoo can see you now from the ship, so I’m going to fly in and rescue you when you give me the word. Are you ready?”

Cleome waited a moment, saying some final farewells to the Cotati, who viewed her as their guardian and savior. At last she was finished. “I’m ready now, Crusader.”

Up in the atmosphere, cloaked from others via Maxx’s spells, the LMBers nodded at one another, as Crusader left to go and get her. Behind, Kid Vudoo, Dedman and Maxx waited quietly, aware that they were right in the middle of a war zone and at any moment something could go wrong. “Are we going any further?” asked Dedman, looking out into the Dark Oval space. “To help Lardy and the others, I mean?”

“No,” said Kid Vudoo, “we’re going back to the UP, to be reassigned to one of the planets in trouble. There are still many undefended planets suffering right now. I’m afraid, Lardy and the rest are on their own.”

The Dominion

Belisarius watched his view screen as his top commanders stood by his side. His visage was cold and calculating, though it masked a feeling of elation within that the counter-invasion was going so well. Bit by bit, the Dominion was falling and the United Planets fleets were slowly taking over the entire Empire, which had existed for millions of years, long before most UP planets had even seen life.

“Korvic-2 has now fallen to the UP,” said Kilrain, his top lieutenant and trusted advisor. “A revolutionary Government is up and running and the Dominators have been outlawed. We’re chasing their forces now,” he finished.

A cheer went up among the Commanders—one of many over the last 48 hours—but Belisarius said nothing. He knew better than to celebrate yet. The Dominion would fall completely, he was sure of it, but there would still be work to do.

“Cobalt Kid did his job,” said Kilrain to Belisarius so the others would not hear. He was right: the Fellowship had put the pieces in place to bring down the Dominion. Their technology and arsenal were crippled, the chain of command in such disarray that they could not mount a sustainable defense, and they had suffered immediate losses so devastating that they were on the run. The “Spy Games” had set the table and Belisarius and his Fleets were enjoying the dinner to follow.

“Don’t mention his name to me,” said Belisarius suddenly, in a fit of anger. “He betrayed me is what he did. Without my knowledge or permission, he sent those Khundish sons of whores on a warpath and they’ve gotten to Elia before we could. Now we’ll never know if we could have taken their capital.”

“But General,” said a Commander, “we still have our victory. The Dominators are falling. The attack on the UP will surely be at half-strength now—think of all the lives we’re saving!”

“We still have our victory?” replied Belisarius. “A tainted victory. Achieved only through the help of the Khunds, the most evil menace in history. Cobalt Kid arranged this, I’m sure of it, and for that, I wanted him captured and brought to me. From this point on, Cobalt Kid and his band of Legionnaires are wanted for arrest, to be tried for crimes. I want them brought before me immediately if they are found.”

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

Weber’s World

Prime Minister Maya adi Lva looked at the screens in her private offices, getting the latest update on the counter-invasion. The results were very good. “Word has come in from the Khunds, Prime Minister,” said her adjunct. “Elia has fallen. The Khunds have their capital cities and will soon have the entire planet.”

“Thank you Marissa,” replied Maya, adding, “that is all.” Marissa left as Maya turned to her guest, Ambassador Mirrena Helene. “It turns out, it was an excellent plan,” she said after a moment.

“We’ve served many Prime Minister’s over the decades, my dear,” said Mirrena, “and have always done an excellent job. As you can see, that record continues.”

Maya nodded, pouring them both a glass of wine. “Still, Ambassador, I’d have liked to have been informed prior to its execution.”

Mirrena nodded. “I know, but alas, sometimes these plans move in their own way. My young colleague and I had to work in secret so certain members of your cabinet, and other important…dignitaries…did not object.” Her use of the word ‘dignitaries’ suggested she found it amusing.

“What’s been done then by Cobalt Kid, and yourself by proxy, is illegal,” said the Prime Minister. “It is the second time I’ve been uninformed of a major game-changing stratagem that alters the entire global political spectrum. I am not pleased by that.”

“But are you pleased by the results?” said Mirrena with a smile.

Maya paused. At last she replied with her own smile. “Yes. Yes, I am very pleased. In fact, I’m quite pleased with how your apprentice and you conduct business. I only ask from now on, I remain ‘in the loop’ when these decisions are being made.”

“Certainly. From now on, you will. The Security Council is yours to command, of course,” she said with a smile, “but the real decision-makers will offer you that same courtesy.” She stood up, ready to leave. “And Cobaltus? And his Fellowship?”

“All their actions will be made legal, retroactively per the orders of the Prime Minister of the United Planets. That means I’ll be getting the credit, though,” she said matter-of-factly.

“It’s usually the best currency,” said Mirrena. She began to walk out. “You can relax a little now, my dear. Now the UP actually has a fighting chance of surviving this.”

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

Weber’s World

Princess Crujectra, the LMBer known as Spellbinder, sat alone in her quarters, still stunned by the news. She now had time to process it all, and knew in her heart exactly how the counter-invasion of the United Planets had come to pass. She knew it was Cobalt Kid who recruited the Khunds, and she knew the only way they’d agree would be if they had the right to sack the Dominator capital. Cobalt had agreed to it. She further knew none of their fellow LMBers save Timberwolf would agree to it, meaning, he must have kept it a secret which further meant, he knew in his heart what he was doing might be wrong. Yet he did it anyway.

She loved him; she had loved him for many years, and she knew he loved her. But right now, for the first time ever, she did not want to see him again. Her fury with him was all-encompassing.

He was changing, growing more distant. She would not sugar-coat it for herself: his disregard for life and the consequences for others was lessening, as his plans became more and more grandiose. He was in pain, but now was to share that pain with the entire world if it meant accomplishing his goals. She didn’t know when it began to happen, but it was happening now. And she could not be with him any longer if it was to continue.

The physical distance between them was so great right now that it pushed their telepathic link to the limit. They no longer send telepathic thoughts to one another, but they could still send emotions. She sent her anger and hurt to him so he knew what his actions had caused. So he knew her sense of betrayal mirrored so many of his friends. She knew it would break his heart but she had to. Just like he had broken hers.
 

---

Posted by Lolita on :
 
Lolita embraced Shark Lad tightly and said nothing for several moments. She just held him and buried her head into his chest, enjoying the feel of his powerful muscles holding her and his distinct scent. Moments earlier she had seen him at last. Even though she knew from the comm-links he was safe, it wasn’t until she actually saw him that she breathed a sigh of relief. She didn’t realize just how worried she was about him.

“Hey gorgeous, you okay?” he asked with a smile. Lolita was an emotional person but she seemed to be more so than usual and Shark Lad’s keen instincts picked up on it.

“Just glad you’re safe,” she said. “And glad we have a night of rest, albeit briefly, before moving on.”

They let go and she picked her pack of equipment back up, and the two started to walk. Shark Lad broke the momentary silence. “When we move on,” he said at last, “it’s when we split up.” There was a hint of worry in his voice. He didn’t like the fact that they were splitting up into two groups, which he had expressed to Lolita previously in private. “I know this group has survived ever danger possible, but the odds are pretty overwhelming. I’m dreading the Breaking of our Fellowship.”

Lolita said nothing for a moment. She didn’t know how to express the fact that she felt exactly the opposite without seeming cold. “I’m just glad we’re staying together,” she said at last.

She had tentatively suggested she would go with Shark Lad to Earth-4 previously but this was her way of letting him know it was official. “You’re coming with my group, then?” he asked, a little surprised. He had expected her to go with her usual partner, Cobalt Kid.

“Yes,” she said, but gave no further explanation. As they walked, she leaned into his side and he put his arm around her petite frame.

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

Hours later, the final escape cruiser arrived at last, carrying the final members of the Fellowship: Timberwolf, Kalla Hrykos and Cobalt Kid. All of the LMBers had assembled outside to await their arrival and the air was positive between them. Even though they were dreading the Breaking of the Fellowship, the fact that every one of them survived the assault on Hul had them in high spirits. No one had said it out loud, but they all thought it was a suicide mission.

Rockhopper Lad looked at Lolita for a moment but didn’t say anything. She knew why: he was thinking what she was. Even though they were in high spirits, Cobalt’s secret pact with the Khunds hung in the backs of many of their minds. Some of them were choosing not to think about it right now but she knew it was bothering Rocky almost as much as it was her. He would not think the rampant destruction and vandalism of an entire planet was justified for any reason.

The three began to exit the cruiser and Power Boy let out a loud warrior’s cheer which caused many of them to also cheer, including the Knights Templar, who as a whole, seemed to love the macho powerhouse. Timberwolf and Kalla Hrykos were surprised by the reaction, not used to receiving it, but Cobalt took it in stride. Lolita knew there was plenty of business to discuss but it would wait an hour or two while they all got settled in for the night. Lard Lad greeted Cobalt with a hug as Shark Lad went over and jokingly told Timberwolf he thought for sure he wouldn’t make it. Even Helena Handbasket and Kalla Hrykos exchanged some words that looked like camaraderie.

Lolita hung in the background and said nothing.

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

As they all broke up momentarily before they would reassemble in short order, Lolita watched as Cobalt Kid went off to the quarters prepared for him by the Knights Templar. She followed.

Soon they were out of view and he turned, evidently knowing she was following. He prepared to speak but she cut him off. “I want you to know I’m going with Rockhopper Lad’s group to Earth-4,” she said at last.

Cobalt was quiet for a moment and then spoke. “Okay. You’ll be of great value there. And Sharky will protect you.” His words seemed to just make her madder, so he decided to address the tension immediately. “Lolita,” he said calmly, “we needed the Khunds. We needed to crush the Dominators immediately; otherwise they’d be a thorn in our side while we were dealing with the Hive and the Evil Emperor Penguin. Strategically, it was a move we needed to make.”

“Strategically…” she said sarcastically with a huff. “Yes, logically it all makes sense, Cobie. Unleash a race of killers and rapists on an entire planet so we can win our war. A perfect strategy. Are you listening to yourself?”

Cobalt again showed no emotion but she knew him too well. He was angry now too. “What would you have me do, then? Fight this war half-heartedly so we get slaughtered? So the UP is reduced to ash and rubble like Ggrrgg now is? You can’t have it both ways, Lolita!”

“You know, Cobie, I tried. I tried for us to be partners and friends again. But it’s like I don’t recognize you anymore. I know its been happening for awhile: what happened to Ggrrgg, and your father. And the guilt over Elagabolus. You couldn’t even mourn for Lardy when we thought he was dead. I know you’re screwed up because of what happened to you when you were younger, but so are a lot of us. Somewhere along the way these last few years you’ve gotten so cold and calculating. You aren’t even trying to hide it anymore like you used to, under your devil-may-care persona. Something is broken inside of you, and I can’t fix it.”

Her words stung but they had angered him to the point where he wasn’t listening. “I know you hate the Khunds like I hate the Dominators!” he yelled. “I know what they did and I know what they were going to do to you because I was there—that’s when we met. I’m sorry I went to them, but I had no other options I could think of!”

“You don’t get it, Cobie,” she said. “You did have other options. A few years ago, you would have never made a deal with the Khunds. I…” she was about to start yelling but suddenly stopped. She caught herself. She knew it was pointless. “Cobie, I can’t do this anymore. I…I wish you the best of luck. I’m going with the other team. I want you all to be safe. But I can’t do this with you.”

The momentary anger subsided and his face betrayed no hint of emotion, though he was furious inside. “Fine,” he said, at last. “You know I wish you all the best. I hope we see each other again when this is all over,” he said, “and you see me differently than you do now.” He turned around and walked off, too angry and exhausted to continue any longer.

“Me too…” she said to herself, and when he was out of view, she let the tears flow down her cheeks.
 

---

Posted by Dev - Em on :
 
Daroon


Dev Em sat quietly. His shoulders were slumped, and his head hung down to his chest. He had been in this position for hours, and Princess Alyson knew he was finally asleep.

She worried about him. More than she ever thought she would. Theirs had not been an easy relationship, even when she was someone else. He had always put his Legion ahead of them...no, that isn't fair, she thought. He was always there for the children...just not for me. As if he knew all along that something wasn't right.

She felt a hand touch her shoulder. She turned expecting to see her mother standing there, but it was Kar Em. Dev's father and Daxamite liaison to Daroon. She smiled. Thanks to him and his people, there were more of her people alive right now.

"You need to come with me...Princess," Kar Em said quietly.

She nodded, and rose. Then she noticed that Jon Em had nestled himself in the crook of Dev's left arm and fallen asleep himself.

"What is it?" she asked as Kar led her away from the others.

"Princess, you need to be with your parents right now," he said somberly.

She let her head lower and fought the tears coming to her eyes. "I understand..." she said almost inaudibly.

Kar led her to where the King and Queen lay. He motioned and everyone stopped what they were doing and moved back.

Faraway walked over to Kar and put his hand on Kar's shoulder. "Is there anything we can do old friend?"

"Nothing except hope beyond hope that the lull we now have lasts a little bit longer."

They both turned to the East where legions of bugs were amassed, but did not advance. Something was happening, and these two among them knew what was coming...this was the quiet before the storm.

"I'll keep a watch," Faraway said. "Loser Lad, c'mon. Let's see what they're up to."

Loser snapped his head around and shook his head a little. "Right with you Far," he said as they walked with some guards towards the front line.

Han Em was with Helena and Hugh. They in turn were being told stories by several of the Kings guards. Stories of grand adventures and slaying dragons. Han wasn't so sure about the facts, but the other two were enthralled, and that made any doubt she may have had a non issue for her.

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

After a short while, Princess Alyson stood. She turned to face the crowds that was at a short distance away, and saw Dev, carrying a sleeping Jon walking towards her. Dev handed Jon to his father and went to her side. He embraced her as she composed herself. He motioned for the Captain of the Guard to come over. He nodded and came, bringing with him a small box.

"Are you ready for this Alyson?" Dev asked quietly.

"I never would be ready for this...but I owe it to all still living this night to take up this burden."

Dev nodded to the Captain of the Guard, and he opened the box.

Dev lifted a small Crown from the box and the Captain of the Guard said in the loudest voice that most of those present had ever heard. "This night has brought us great sorrow, and a new hope. The King and Queen are dead...Ling live the Queen!"

Cheers arose through the tears of the people of Daroon that were assembled.

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

They had barely gotten through the throngs of people lending their support for Queen Alyson when Loser Lad ran around several guards and into Dev at full speed almost knocking himself onto the ground in the process.

"What's the matter Loser?" Dev asked.

"They're moving..." Loser said.

Dev looked at Kar Em and watched his face go white.

"Go defend my people," Queen Alyson said to them picking up her fathers sword, "by my side."

The assembled group picked up arms and followed them to the front line.

[ August 15, 2011, 09:21 PM: Message edited by: Dev - Em ]
 

---

Posted by Timber Wolf on :
 
Timberwolf kissed Kalla on the cheek. "I'll be right back," he said in her ear.

He walked past several of the Legionnaires present and towards Lard Lad. Lardy was moving towards Cobalt Kid, but Lon grabbed his arm and said, ",,,follow me."

Lard Lad got a quizzical look on his face, and followed. Once they had moved a good distance from the rest of the group Lon stopped.

"Look Timberwolf, I don’t want..."

"Quiet Anthony."

Lard Lad stopped short. Lon did not usually use his real name...if he had ever at all. He had only really known this aspect of him for a short while, and most of that was while Timberwolf had been involved with Kalla.

"Okay then...Lon. What's up?"

"I just wanted to tell you a couple things."

Lard Lad's eyes darted around a little here and there. "Okay..."

Lon sighed. "Kalla has told me all about the things that you guys planned, and what parts of it you carried out. Just know that I am thankful that you did us all a huge favor then. This would have been all but impossible right now if not for what you had done. Not everyone is going to see it that way, but it's true. The United Planets owes you it's very existence if we pull this off...cause without what you did, this never happens and they would have crushed us eventually…not that they’ll ever admit it."

Lard Lad just looked at him.

"Also, I know that people are going to be very upset with Cobalt for what he did...but know that if he had not done it, I was prepared to. I had the transmission code as well. If he was incapacitated or refused to pull the trigger, I was set to."

Lardy tilted his head a little.

"I would have done it sooner, but he needed the chance to make the decision for himself. But know that it was going to happen whether he wanted to do it or not. I had no problem making that call.”

"Look, you don't need to defend him to me," Lardy said.

"I'm not defending him or his actions. I’m just telling you that it was always going to happen. I was there when the deal was struck."

"There's a lot we don't know about you..."

"There’s a lot you'll never find out either," Lon said with a grin, "it's beyond classified."

Lard Lad laughed a little, not sure if he was joking or not.

"The other thing is this. Take care of him and watch his back. You have to be there for him, even if everyone else isn’t."

"Of course..."

"No, I mean there are going to be really heavy decisions that he has to make coming up that he is going to need you to be there for him as his best friend."

"Look Lon, I'm sure that you..."

"Stop. He may be my best friend, but you are his...and he cares about you more than even you know."

Lon patted Lard Lad on the shoulder as he walked past him towards the others. "Just promise me you'll watch his back," he said, but didn't wait for the answer.
 

---

Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
 
The Gordian Pass,
The Dark Oval

At long last, the time had come. For weeks they had been dreading, knowing full well it was an intricate part of the overall strategy. Yet, most of them kept pushing those thoughts away, not thinking about losing half of their Fellowship. There was strength in numbers, and with overwhelming odds and far deep into enemy territory, that strength helped carry them through their darkest moments. Now that strength was being lessoned.

The Knights Templar gave them space, standing apart some distance away to let this intimate farewell proceed with privacy. Among them in command was the Lard Knight Serj, and he could see through their body language how bittersweet this moment was to the Legionnaires. The Space Knights would not be going with either group; from here on out, they were almost entirely on their own.

The 12 members of the Fellowship gathered together, and unintentional began to separate into the two groups. On one side stood the Legionnaires who would head off to Hrykosia and then Earth-4, attempting to liberate an entire planet. Rockhopper Lad, the LMB Leader, stood first among them, and behind him was Shark Lad, Lolita, Time-Teller Lad with Hyvvie by his feet, Helena Handbasket, Timber Wolf and Kalla Hrykos. On the other side was the smaller group who would head into the area of space unknown to explorers in living memory and known only as the Hive. Standing side by side was Lard Lad, Power Boy, Tempest, Cobalt Kid and Invisible Brainiac. The feeling was bittersweet: that they got this far was nothing short of a miracle. Now they were going off to an even more dangerous phase of the quest, and they would not all be going together.

The silence was so loud it was deafening. Rockhopper Lad smiled a very sad smile to Lard Lad and Lardy returned it; soon they were all smiling a little, some of them even a little teary-eyed. Cobalt Kid was the first to break the silence, walking across to his friend, Timberwolf, and extending his hand.

Timberwolf grinned widely and took it with his own, and then pulled Cobalt in for a tight hug. As the two hugged, Cobalt said to him “I know you’ll be careful, and I trust that you’ll take care of things on this end. Just watch for them all too, okay? Lolita, and Tim, and even the SMBers.”

Timberwolf patted him on the back as the hug was ending and replied “I will,” though what he didn’t say spoke volumes, as his thoughts immediately turned to the nega-bomb. “I know things on your end will work out; fortunes smiles on your plans, you bastard.” With that they both let out a laugh.

“I’m glad somebody does,” replied Cobalt with a smile.

“Take care of yourself, Cobie,” said Lon seriously. “What we’re doing is too grandiose for words, but we both know it’s the right thing.”

Cobalt nodded, and no more words needed to be spoken between them.

Next to them, the other LMBers also embraced one another to say farewell.

Lolita held onto Shark Lad tightly, not moving forward to say goodbye. She knew some of them would come over to her, but she did not know Power Boy or Tempest and she did not want to speak to Cobalt Kid. Power Boy was the first to come over to embrace them all by the arm, and he did so with Shark Lad, whose rugged demeanor he had always liked. He nodded towards Lolita and she nodded back, not really having the words.

Invisible Brainiac came to them next, and he smiled at them both with his heroic, kind disposition. He had been friends with Lolita over the years, as he was with most of his fellow Legionnaires. Lolita at last let go of Shark Lad and embraced him in a tight hug, telling him to be careful and he told her the same.

Shark Lad turned to Timberwolf who was by his side and growled “Too bad we don’t have to say good bye yet…”

Timberwolf grinned and replied “yeah yeah, laugh it up fishlips…” which made Invisible Brainiac laugh as he came by them to say farewell.

Lardy made his way among Rockyhopper Lad's team.

First he approached Lolita and Shark Lad who stood very close together. Lardy gave her a tight hug and messed her hair up a little. He knew that Lolita was much older than she appeared, but he'd come to think of her as a kid sister over the last few years. She smiled a genuine smile that made him think she reciprocated. But now, as always, he still wasn't sure if she really did.

As they embraced, he whispered to her, "I know you may never feel the same about him again, but just know...I'll be keeping him safe."

He pulled back and looked into her eyes. Her expression was stoic, but he could swear that what he said to her was of some comfort to her, hard as she tried to hide it.

He gave Sharky a strong pat on the shoulder. Lardy had served as a Legionnaire with him almost since the beginning. Though they weren't extremely close, he thought of Sharky as a friend. Lardy remembered many incidents where Sharky followed him into the breach, either trusting in Lardy's wisdom...or showing a similar penchant for wrecklessness!

"Give 'em hell, Sharky," Lardy said to him. He added with a whisper, "and take care of little sis, 'kay" Shark Lad nodded and flashed him that characteristically disturbing toothy grin.

Lardy moved on to Lon and Kalla, who were mostly unattended. He considered his options for a moment, then made up his mind. "Kalla, you've fought the good fight against the Red Bee and on Hul. Maybe both of us deserve a second chance, eh?"

Kalla smiled at him in a way that struck Lardy as genuine. "Maybe we do," she answered.

Lardy gave her a light hug and then shared a firm handshake with Lon. A wink told Lon that Lardy hadn't forgotten their recent conversation.

"Give that evil Pyngwyn bastard and his consort one for me, okay?" Lardy said with a smile and then moved on.

He then approached Helena. Wordlessly and without prompting, both drew their swords, held them in front of themselves parallel and in front of their faces, then lightly touched swords. Both were warriors, and that was all that needed to be expressed between them. Silently, he moved on.

Tempest stood apart from them, still very distant and unaccustomed to this emotional display. She turned, however, to see Helena Handbasket now approaching her with her arm extending. Tempest found herself meeting the embrace and Helena pulled her in for a tight, brief hug. “Good luck, Tempest,” she said firmly, and Tempest returned the well wishes with a nod. Both were strong, tough women who had a mutual respect for one another. Helena’s going out of her way to say farewell to Tempest was a small act which meant a great deal to the mage.

Cobalt Kid embraced Rockhopper Lad tightly for a hug to say farewell and wish each other good luck. Though Rockhopper Lad was not pleased with Cobalt’s recent actions, he wished for his friend’s safe return more than anything. “Be careful out there,” he said. “We’re hoping to find allies waiting for us, but you’ll be all alone in a hostile land.”

“We will be,” said Cobalt Kid with a half smile. He then looked him in the eye and said, “you are a great leader for the LMB, Rocky,” meaning every word. “I know you’re going to succeed.”

Cobalt then turned to Time-Teller Lad, who he had always liked a lot and gave him a tight hug. “Try not to be so blood-thirsty,” he said jokingly and Tim laughed at the obvious attempt to cut through some of the tension.

Cobalt then lowered to pet Hyvvie and scratch behind his ears. “Well, of everyone, I wish you were coming with me the most,” he said with a sigh. “When the times get tough, keep them smiling.”

Lon walked to The Knights Templar and shared a moment with each. Talking about where they were headed, and giving them what information he thought would help. He purposely talked to Serj last. He put his hand on his shoulder and ealked opast him, turning hom in the process. He reached down into his vest and pulled out his Omnicom. "I know where you are going. I need you to deliver this to my brother."

Serj took the item and oput it in a safe place in his armor. "I would be honored to deliver this to Dev Em."

"Thank you Serj."

"You're welcome."

Timberwolf gave Serj a light hug and walked back to Kalla's side. "You alright?" she asked.

"Yeah, I am. I'm going with you to our destiny," he said as he hugged her tight.

Power Boy also moved towards the Knights to say farewell to them. He had been impressed by their lifestyle and thought it suited him very well; almost immediately he was instant friends with all of the various Knights they’d met along the journey thus far. They viewed him in a bit of awe most of the time, seeing him a legend come to life, so his kind words to them as he wished them well on their part of the coming troubles were deeply felt.

Cobalt Kid at last arrived at Shark Lad and Lolita. She clutched Shark Lad tightly and made no effort to move forward. Cobalt did his usual best to hide any emotion but there was a clear pain in his eyes. He extended his hand to Shark Lad, realizing there was a tension between them now despite many years being allies and friends, and Shark Lad accepted it. “Be safe out there, Cobie,” said Sharky, genuinely meaning it.

“You too,” he replied, “and give ‘em hell.”

He then turned to Lolita, who met his gaze. “You be safe too, Lolita,” he added, no longer hiding the sadness in his voice. “See you back on Legion World.”

For a moment he lingered as she didn’t say anything, and he turned to walk away. She at last spoke but it was a whisper he didn’t hear: “you too,” she said.

“That was a little cold, Lolita,” said Shark Lad to her.

Finally, Lard Lad approached three sentients who had been his surrogate family for a time: Time-Teller Lad, Hyvvie the Wonder Beagle....and Rockhopper Lad.

"Hyvvie", Lardy said, as he kneeled down and gave the beagle a scratch behind the ears, "I know you'll keep watch over everybody, won't ya, boy?"

Lardy grinned as Hyvvie gave an unmistakably affirmative bark and licked Lardy all over his face.

Standing back up and turning to Time-Teller Lad, Lardy said, "Tim, I know you'll keep 'em all on schedule, right?"

Tim resisted the obvious baiting by Lardy to give him some exact time measurement and instead fought back tears as he spontaneously embraced Lardy tightly. Lardy returned Tim's embrace and smiled at him tenderly. Lardy knew that Tim was thinking of Clive as much as him at that moment.

As he broke from Tim, Lardy turned to the one he knew it would be hardest to say goodbye to. He tried to be cheerful, but as soon as he looked into Rocky's big, soulful eyes, he broke down. "Oh....E-Eudyptes..."

Rockhopper Lad approached his ex-lover and wrapped his arms around Lardy's quavering form. "There, there, Anthony," Rocky said calmly, "we each have our duty to attend to. And I am certain this won't be the last time we enjoy one another's company."

Lardy broke the embrace for a moment. His eyes red and tears styreaming down his face, Lardy looked Rocky in the eyes and, wordlessly, kissed him. It was the kiss between two ex-lovers who were still close friends foremost. Whatever it meant in all its nuiances, it was returned fully by the Pyngwyny Prince.

After the kiss was finished, they continued to embrace for a long time as Rocky whispered assurances to the other, all the while keeping as calm and collected as someone who has blossomed fully into his leadership role. As a former LMB leader himself, Lardy recognized this and admired his dear friend all the more for it. At one point, Lardy managed to say, "Rocky, I know you'll find Adelie...she'll be fine..." Eventually and reluctantly, Lardy broke the embrace and said his goodbyes. He then found Serj among the Space Knights and received his friend's assurance that he'd proceed with haste to Daroon. Then, Lardy made his way back to the other four who would comprise the Hive mission.

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

At last, the farewells had been made and the two groups split once again. The ships prepared by the Knights Templar were now ready to be boarded and on opposite sides of the space-dock. For a brief moment they lingered, staring at one another, wondering if this was the last time they would see each other—for surely, there would be casualties. At last, Rockhopper Lad gave the signal and his group began to depart towards the ship. Some of them let the tears fall down openly, and others did their best to hide it. Rockhopper Lad stood there a moment and smiled at them, his smile filling everyone with warmth and confidence.

And then he too turned to leave.

The remaining five Legionnaires lingered a moment longer before Power Boy at last turned. Tempest quickly followed. Invisible Brainiac looked at Cobalt Kid and Lard Lad, who both seemed very sad and said only “And so the fellowship is broken…”
 

---

Posted by Lard Lad on :
 
Dark Oval Space

An hour after their group departed, Lardy made his way out of their spacecraft's cockpit, where he, Invisible Brainiac and Power Boy had been figuring out the controls to the unfamiliar vessel. Satisfied the other two had things well in hand for the first shift, Lardy had decided to check in on Cobalt.

He glanced toward the closed compartment where Tempest was as he passed it. She had told them all that she would be inside meditating and should not be disturbed. He and Temp, he realized, hadn't spoken in weeks. He wondered in passing how he felt about that and whether his feelings for her had changed.

A moment later, he found his best friend sitting alone in the common area. Cobalt's head was bowed down, and he was seemingly deeply lost in thought. So deeply, in fact, that he didn't appear to notice Lardy's arrival. But just as Lardy was working out how best to intrude, his friend looked up with a weak smile.

"Gonna lecture me now like everybody else?" Cobalt said, his tone half-serious.

"Des," Lardy answered with a grin, "I've no room to do that after all I've put you through over the years!" He then sat next to him on the couch. "You having regrets?"

"No...no, I did what I had to, Lardy. The Dominion had to be absolutely crushed to achieve the advantage we needed, and the Khunds provided the quickest, most efficient solution."

"So...why the long face?"

"The collateral damage to my relationships, that's why. I...I may have lost some of the people I care about the most by doing this."

"Maybe, Des...but maybe they would've lost their lives if you hadn't. I don't think I could've done what you did...well, not anymore. But there's little doubt you gave the U.P....and the ones you love...a fighting chance in this war that they may not have had with the Dominion in the mix."

"I know that, Lardy. Obviously. But if you could've felt Crujeckie's hurt, her anger over our psychic link...and Lolita's face...."

"Des...I've been there, man. And I'll be with you...'til the end."

The two friends embraced for a moment and then distracted themselves by studying space charts Kalla had provided of the Dark Oval territory they were entering.

Silently, though, Lardy was worried about his friend. As he glanced over at Cobalt occasionally, Lardy couldn't help thinking: Is this how I was after I killed Damyen Hrykos and Mordra--and after I lost Dru? Is Des heading for the dark places I went to?

Lardy gave him another lingering glance.

Well, I'll just have to be there for him like I never have before if that's the case...

Lardy gave him a firm pat on the shoulder as if for emphasis. Cobalt look puzzled for a moment but grinned a little before returning to the charts.
 

---

Posted by Lard Lad on :
 
And in the cold vacuum, two ships light years apart, each prepared to enter space's deepest, darkest bowels on two separate fronts. Whatever the outcome of their crusades, the Fellowship, though cloven in two, would fight as one against the greatest evils in the galaxy......

End of Part I

[ February 23, 2012, 06:49 PM: Message edited by: Lard Lad ]
 

---

Posted by Lard Lad on :
 
In one’s life, we all must face Two Terrors--that of the KNOWN...and that of the UNKNOWN.

The KNOWN is right outside your window. It is all-too real. It can not be escaped. It is true Evil, within and without.

On the holo-news: The Terror of seeing live pictures of an entire planet being consumed by monstrous, ravenous insects. Will your home, your children, your very life be next? Will all the foundations of what you have come to know as civilization follow?

In your mirror: The Terror of what you’ve done and what you know you still are capable of doing. How can you live with the decisions you’ve made and may still have to make? If you can, will your loved ones, whom you do all of this for, still be able to look you in the eye?

The UNKNOWN is more nebulous but no less terrifying. It is the future. It brings with it the uncertainty of Tomorrow‘s very existence.

A Planet of Ice: The Terror of repression, of freedom seemingly unattainable. Can a rebellion of Losers overcome the cold heel of tyranny that freezes its very breath? If so, what price will have to be paid?

A Hive of Horrors: The Terror of an overwhelming, endless army of soldiers all unswervingly devoted to their cause. Can a handful of dedicated heroes overcome the biting, hungry, voracious mandibles of Death incarnate? If you survive, will there be anything left of you?


This is the time when heroes are tested. You must face your Terrors, Known and Unknown, or succumb to the darkness within. If you pass the test, your reward will be to graduate to one even more tough...and even more Terrifying.

Good luck. You will need it....


The Lord of the Oval
Part II: The Two Terrors
 

---

Posted by Lard Lad on :
 
Wyandotte, the Insect King


I was born Harold Ryan Wyandotte on an Earth in a parallel universe not dissimilar to this one. My earliest memories are of plotting my adoptive parents’ deaths. I was four years old.

For as long as I can remember, that has been my primary desire...the desire to kill. Why was I born that way? I have no idea, but I have no regrets. I have a purpose, and it is one I relish.

After I killed my parents, I was placed in a special facility for 'disturbed' juveniles. Over time, I learned to conceal my intentions from those who were studying me. I continued to kill other patients in the facility and even a few staff members...but I learned to make their deaths either look like accidents or to frame others to take the blame. But little Harold was a model patient as far as anyone was concerned.

When I reached puberty, I discovered I had a gift. Somehow, I could mentally dominate any one sentient being at a time. With tremendous effort I could dominate many more. I celebrated by forcing everyone in the facility to slaughter each other. It was my coming out party, and I left to explore the world outside as my killing field.

Within ten years I had manipulated my way to causing the extermination of all life on my Earth. The problem was that it was almost too easy. In my ascent I encountered no resistance. On my world I was apparently unique. No one else had any special abilities. They were all painfully ordinary.

So I traveled off planet. Some of the cultures I encountered presented minor challenges, but the end result was the same.

Then something extraordinary happened. I had stopped for a diversion in a bar of ill repute on a tiny remote planetoid. I practiced my bloody wares in a back room when some extraordinary visitors arrived via an unexplained convergence with other-dimensional equivalents of this same bar. Strangely enough, most of these other beings were parallel universe versions of myself. All seemed to share a lust for death and control, save one: a self-proclaimed hero who audaciously called himself "Lard Lad". Even more enticingly, he had with him a group of fellow heroes he belonged to who called themselves the LMB.

This LMB opposed the rest of us, who formed a kind of loose coalition against these heroes. But I decided early on to follow the LMB to their home because they looked to provide something I craved desperately: a challenge. I did so by altering their memories of what transpired even as I travelled back with them.

I took my time in this fascinating new universe to learn all about it, so that I could bring about its eventual death most effectively. This LMB would be a worthy foe as it grew more and more formidable a force by the year. I would need considerable resources to overcome them.

As I traveled far and wide, I finally found what I needed within the territory known as the Dark Oval. I encountered a huge, grotesque insect creature which intended to devour me. I easily dominated it with my powers and in the process found it was part of a vast collective hive mind. I used the creature to take me to its Queen. Within moments I controlled the Queen and by extension her entire Hive of endless death-dealing drones. Suddenly, I was one of the greatest powers in this new universe and instantly inherited access to the Oval Elite itself. While I was unable to dominate the other Elite as well, they had no choice but to accept me as their equal.

But I have learned patience. I’ve observed my foes and my fellows alike and have attempted a few dress rehearsals on Legion World to better get their measure.

And now, the time at last is here! Already I have at long last begun to unleash my endless army of death on the nearby sectors of the United Planets with more to come as each day passes. And through my psychic link, I have been able to experience every single kill as if it were delivered by my own thrashing, hungering mandibles!

So many deaths...and so many more to come! The end is nigh for the United Planets, the LMB and Legion World...and eventually, all else.

It is indeed good to be King!

[ September 09, 2011, 09:36 PM: Message edited by: Lard Lad ]
 

---

Posted by Rockhopper Lad on :
 
The Emperor

Eudyptes XXIX, Emperor of the Earth and of the Pyngwyn Colonies stood on the balcony of the Imperial Palace and gazed at the bleak, frozen landscape.

He had built the palace in a Terran city whose name resembled that of his home planet, a city whose climate had never been known for its cold weather, but that was before the Emperor's arrival. It was he who made the Earth into a frozen world, for, although he had mastered many kinds of magic over the years, it was still the Ice Magic that was his greatest power. There was no one on his world who had such mastery of the Ice Magic as he. There was only one he'd ever met who had: his double from that other universe, the one who called himself Rockhopper Lad. “What a juvenile notion!” the Emperor thought. Using the name of the Imperial House as a code name to run around with a bunch of humans in spandex.

Not that there weren't some humans with merit. There was his beloved consort, Blaine, a native of the universe from which his silly double hailed. And there was Tempus, Tim Temp, who betrayed the SMB and the Earth into his hands.

The Emperor chuckled as he thought of the planet he now ruled. The Pyngwyn Colonies has a population of about four million. He now reigned over a world of many billions and his rule was absolute. There were occasional rumors and whispers of a group that were plotting against the Emperor. They would come to no good end. How apt that they should call themselves “The Losers”. A self-fulfilling prophecy, he thought.

Still, the idea of being overthrown again, gave the Emperor pause, remembering his double's costing him his throne in the Pyngwyn Colonies (though the Emperor kept the title in pretense). The so-called Rockhopper Lad had already given him so much grief. And the influence he had over Adelie! Surely she wouldn't have called herself “Rockhopper Lass” and committed herself to such silly notions but for him!

The Emperor pondered how someone so like him could at the same time be so unlike. He and Rockhopper Lad were physically identical. There seemed little, if any difference in their families and upbringings. Why was his double so weak and tender-hearted? Why did he adhere to the traditions of the Pyngwyn Colonies and Pyngwypalia so that he forsook the magic at which he was equally adept, save for the Ice Magic. Did something happen in his life that made him so different?

“My Lord!”

The Emperor shook from his reverie. “Yes, Tempus, what did you need?”

“My Lord,” said Tempus, whose double in the other world had the ludicrous name “Time Teller Lad”.“The former ambassador from Earth to the Pyngwyn Colonies is here, at your request.”

“By all means, show her in.”

Anna Lee Merrison was brought onto the balcony, shackled and chained.

“Ah, Ms. Merrison! It's been a very long time. I'm been waiting for this reunion.”

“My Lord!” she begged. “It has been so very long! Please, have mercy!”

“Silence, human! Your planet has so many riches. Or had. I have taken them away. Not that there was anything of Earth you thought I should have.”

“My Lord,” she began. “That was long, long ago.”

“Yes, you have had many years to think about it. Too long. I, too, have had a long time. And I have decided that time is something you need no more of.” And with that he drew a breath and began to blow a white vapor at the former Ambassador. Within a minute, her body had changed into an ice statue. At a nod from the Emperor, one of his guard took a sledge hammer and reduced the statue to ice chips.

“Tempus,” the Emperor called as he re-entered the palace, “Please send for the cleaning woman. My balcony needs to be swept!”

The Emperor walked over the pieces of ice that had once been the ambassador as he returned to his quarters.
 

---

Posted by Power Boy on :
 
TITUS . THE CONQUEROR


OVER 1000 YEARS AGO


Titus marched across the grand bridge to the senate palace. The dark spots of blood marked his gleaming armor and face. Several similar looking soldiers followed him, their long hair slightly grey compared to Titus’ rich black.

As the armored men strode to the wide steps of the palace entrance, Titus paused and nodded to three young women who stood to the side, each robed in different colors.

He smiled to himself and continued walking through the palace doors.

Titus strode to the senate floor, fresh from battle. He looked around, disgusted at the remains of his assembled people. His people were old and reclusive. They were scholars and scientists. They were weak. Immortals that had chosen to fade away and die. There were less of them each century and less young gods born each century. There were only a handful of gods Titus’ age scattered throughout the crowd. ‘We should be ruling the galaxy, not dwindling away on the edge of the galaxy’ he thought.

Titus spat his words as he spoke once more of returning the gods to glory, through force. He appealed to them to return to the affairs of the galaxy, to rule as gods should. He thrust his helmet high as he finished his speech. A single quiet moment existed and then …… deafening cheers were met with deafening shouts of outrage.

The hall was divided in chaos.

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

THE RUINS OF HUL

Titus woke from his reverie. He looked different now, larger and dimmer somehow. Unsettled, he remembered that moment. He remembered the peculiar sound of god shouting at god.

He meant to unite them but he had underestimated the handful of other young gods that opposed him. They had been working behind the scenes to ferment opposition against Titus, the young and powerful general of the gods, taking over the senate as monarch. A slight majority of the older gods supported Titus and his promises of returning to glory and dominance through conquest.


He remembers that moment while looking around at the devastation of Hull. He underestimated his opponents then, and now he had underestimated this LMB, and Power Boy, one of his kin among them.

Titus looked around again, his 40 were assembled around him covered in dust. They were his 40 greatest opponents, perverted through the power granted him by his dark lord into super powered wraiths imprisoned somewhere between life and death. That’s what happened to people that disagreed with Titus.

Titus calls forth one of his wraiths, a special present for this LMB.

‘Disaster Boy’

[ September 12, 2011, 12:05 AM: Message edited by: Power Boy ]
 

---

Posted by Dev - Em on :
 
The Dark Emissary

A Message to The Emperor

I have followed these sad creatures as per your request. They are an interesting group. They seem to ba as much at odds with each other as they are with the thought of your reign expanding as it will, to their pathetic worlds. Only then will they see from under your heel that it was the only way.

A strange thing has happened though. They were able to stop Titus for a time. I suspect that his anger will be great, though he will no doubt not be any concern of ours at this time, as the group has split into two. One group heading for you, and the other heading for the Hive. He is sure to follow the others as they are chiefly the ones that thwarted him.

They were also able to throiw the Dominion fools into disarray. Not that it is exactly a difficult task, but they did so with an impressive ease that would give me pause, if not for the fact that we know they are coming.

There is one among them that has somehow sensed my presence...even from the distance I gave myself. It is not my other self...oh how I wish that the pathetic fool had come with them. Ever since I learned of his existance, I have waited for you to give me the chance to destroy everything he holds dear and grind his bones into powder. He knows not the power he could have had if he had siezed the opportunities presented to him, too afraid to do what must be done. Perhaps the poor fool never had the support of a friend like I had in you when things went wrong for me. You know that I owe you everything because you were the only one that stood by me when I hunted the ones down that took my life from me. You were the only one who understood and comforted me in those dark days, and I in turn stood by you as your Dark Emissary to those that feel that they may oppose you without consequence. As to who this one is that has sensed me, I know not of his origins, just that there is something about him that seems familiar.

As always, I await your command, and your command alone. I will continue to follow those headed for our home, and rejpoin you when they are close enough. If you give the word though. I will destroy them in the deep dark coldness of space...or on our beloved planet where you can watch as they beg for mercy that will never come. The command is but yours to give. You have but to say it and it will be done.

Long Live The Emperor!

Your Friend and Weapon forever...

Dev Em, The Dark Emissary

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

The twisted version of Dev Em hit send on his communication device and pocketed it. He smiled and turned to follow after the Legion members headed to Earth 4.

"Soon, I will have justice..."
 

---

Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
 
Romaltus

The Great Basilica of the Epsilon Sector was one of the true triumphs in sentient history; a marvel whose majesty caused those who gazed upon to feel both awe and pride that such a structure could even exist. It was the only remaining structure of a lost architectural style from thousands of years earlier, and its complexity could cause even the most learned individual to grow weary and overwhelmed. Its ceiling reached far into the sky and majestic banners of purple hung from the walls with ornate tapestries upon them. The roof of the Basilica was a perfect oval with a deep black circle in the middle as if it was a great lidless eye.

This was an ancient place of worship. It remained so today, though now its Priests worhipped a great, Dark Lord. The co-ruler of the Epsilon Sector, and High Priest to the Dark Lord, knelt at the great altar and quietly prayed. His concentration was so great he could block out all sound, all smell, all everything around him. For he communed directly with the Dark Lord. He was Romatlus, and none were more devout than he.

While his allies and colleagues felt elation or fear at the recent events, Romatlus and his wife Mala felt no such exhilaration. The recent events, both good and bad, were how things were supposed to occur. All paths led to the Lord of the Dark Oval. This was the way history progressed. He found comfort in his duty to the bringing his universe this gift; he found comfort in his service to his Deity.

Yet, in his heart, Romaltus knew there still some unfinished he needed to attend. There were those he cared for that had been blinded and not yet see with the Eye. Mala would prefer they simply rot; but he expressed his concern to the Lord of the Dark Oval and felt understanding. He would try to save their souls. His nephew Cobalt Kid, and those closest to him. He could make them believe; he could make them see.

It was difficult to accept good fortune when it came to you. To let go of your base emotions and submit. But if they could shed their rudimentary beliefs and accept truly great, they could be Regents of Paradise. They could reign for a thousand years of peace and prosperity. The Dark Lord would change the universe for the better and all those elements of society that caused only pain and hurt would be utterly destroyed. It would be beautiful.

As he communed silently with his Deity, he spoke aloud to the chamber, feeling the power of the Great Basilica enhances his prayer: “Lord, grant me the strength to do your will. Grant me the strength to save those who have not accepted the good news. Help me make my nephew see! See that if he lays aside his worry and his guilt, that he can live in beauty and in peace!”

Romaltus finished his prayer in silence and a deep sense of satisfaction came over him, as he knew the Dark Lord heard his thoughts and would grant him his wish.

Turning, he found his wife and companion, Mala waiting. She smiled a loving smile, anxious to share her good news. “The Dark Lord answers your prayers, my love,” she said. “Your nephew comes ever closer to the Epsilon Sector, and brings with him a righteous fellowship. He rewards me as well, bringing a young Goddess whose power will invigorate me in the same manner healing your nephew will invigorate you.”

Romaltus smiled at her, feeling pride that his faith in the Dark Lord once again was justified. “We will heal them all, my love,” he said. “All those faithful.”
 

---

Posted by Abin Quank on :
 
Zardi

A mirror in a dark room begins to glow ominously and a man steps out of it. Instantly the room is a buzz of furious activity. Three dark fae detach themselves from ornamental hangings and streak out to alert the castle. A single wraith rises from the floor and faces the lone arrival then bows low and steps aside.

Zardi has returned to the Castle in the Sky.

“Master...” A confused Carrie is the first of his four lieutenants to arrive, her black bat-wings carrying her to the customary perch to the left of his chair, “We were not aware of your intentions. There was no time to prepare the feast or to alert the...” A wave of his hand silenced the eldest daughter of the Queen of Darkness.

Barley Horn arrived next clad in full battle armor. The minotaur silently bowed his head to his master and took his place at the table, two chairs to Zardi's right.

The Eldest of Zardi's Dragons, Brightbody Blackheart, entered in his human form. He alone showed no awe of the master magician. “I hope young Dmitri is up to the task of maintaining your masquerade for the next few weeks, Master. It would be a shame to lose the advantages we've gained thru this ploy.”

“You trained him yourself, did you not Dragon-Sire?” Zardi Replied “Dmitri will be passable as Jose Jiminininez for the foreseeable future. The spells I've laid on the Security Office personnel will hold. Now be seated. We have serious decisions to make.”

“My counsel has not changed. Rip the Cackle Tree out of the ground and replant it inside the castle while you have the opportunity. I'll take a wing of Dragons and raze Legionopolis. Let the so called heroes of the LMBP return to find their precious world a ball of ASHES!!!” Flames snorted from the human appearing nostrils of the dragon as he spoke and smoke curled from his mouth with every word.

“And when Candle appears in your path of destruction flanked by her dragons what will you do?” the Queen of Darkness's voice came from a shadow just beyond the doorway of the room.

“There will be no path of destruction.” The edge in Zardi's voice cut off the impending argument. “I have given my word to Mearl Dox on this matter. With respect to the Cackles and Legion World the original plan holds. The Cackles must decide of their own free will to join us. And they will make the choice to join us. When they do, Blackheart, You will be free to ensure that there is no Legion World for them to return to...”

“But until then we must ensure that the status quo is maintained.”
 

---

Posted by Lard Lad on :
 
The Dark Lord

Elsewhere, in a dark torchlit sanctum that few have ever visited (save in their nightmares), the Dark Lord peers into His all-seeing Orb.

Across its surface flash the faces of His pawns, some knowing and most unwitting.

He sees Romaltus, Mala and Titus. His closest operatives and the only three sentients aware of His true nature. They know what is expected of them and are prepared to lay down their lives in His service. They are precious to Him.

He sees the Bird Emperor and his spouse. They are very useful in their own way but ultimately little more than a means to His end. They and their Emissary will serve their purpose very, very shortly.

He sees the Insect King. This one is of the same blood as Him, but is ultimately too petty and too shortsighted to be the Chosen. But he will have a chance to prove his worthiness against his brother very soon.

He sees Zardi. Zardi is an Old One such as He is. The Dark Lord will test this Zardi very shortly when His forces reach Legion World. He will see then if this Zardi is truly a force to be reckoned with.

He sees Lucifer Lass. He smiles. This daughter of Una has misread the portents as He intended and passed on false information to the Fellowship. She has unwittingly doomed her mother as the balance of ultimate power will soon topple, once and for all, in His favor!

Finally, He sees the Fellowship. Everything they have done, and will do, is exactly as He has foreseen. They do His work...and they always will. He touches the Orb where the image of Lard Lad lies.

My Blood approaches, ever nearer! Come to me...and prove yourself worthy of your Birthright!

The Dark Lord laughs and toasts His inevitable triumph with the sweet blood of the innocent.
 

---

Posted by Abin Quank on :
 
Two Assassins

The recycled atmosphere in the back corridors of Webber's World stank of deceit, lies, and back room deals, the lighting was dim, casting shadows deep enough to hide the sins of thousands of politicians, and the decor of those out of the way places in the political center of the United Planets reminded her of Rimbor at it's seedy worst. In short, it was her kind of place. A place where lives were routinely destroyed.

Of course those lives were usually (but not always) ended in a figurative rather than factual manner. The victims, often rising young stars on the U.P. Political scene, lived on in obscurity, their once promising political careers brought to an abrupt end by scandal, a deal gone horribly wrong, or the back room machinations of their political enemies.

But Today would be different. Today one of the longest burning, brightest stars on the U.P. Political scene would burn out in a pool of blood and the galaxy would be thrown head first into the maelstrom of terror. She would succeed where her brethren had failed.

The young woman pacing the corridor outside the Earth ambassador’s private quarters looked unremarkable. She was a little over five foot tall with mousey brown hair and a slim build. She wore a military attache’ uniform that identified her as an official U.P. Currier. Attached to her left wrist was a small briefcase and on her right hip was a standard issue low energy plasma pistol, the type that could fry most life forms without breaching the hull of a spacecraft. She also wore what appeared to be standard issue protective goggles designed to shield her eyes from the debilitating effects of the handgun’s discharge. They were currently flipped up in the standby position. She looked every inch the model of a junior staff officer waiting semi-patiently for her next Currier mission.

In reality she was an assassin. The true owner of the uniform and equipment she wore lay in the darkness of a supply locker two decks below staring lifelessly at cartons of dehydrated N’soy milk and reconstituted Banth eggs. It amused the assassin to think that it was even odds as to whether the cooks for the T’Jar delegation were more likely to serve the luckless junior officer’s corpse as a special dinner for their ambassador than report finding it to the Webber’s World Security Force.

Despite her relaxed appearance her enhanced senses were keyed up, hunting for anything out of the ordinary, anything that might indicate she or her mission had been compromised. A veteran of more than two dozen such missions she knew well the price of failure. Her superiors didn’t care how many extra bodies she left in her wake but the punishment for leaving even one of her team’s designated targets alive would be severe. Conversely should her team successfully complete it’s murderous mission her reward would be extravagant by Dark Oval standards.

She heard a soft bamf of displaced air. Without thinking she stepped to her right into an alcove she’d verified a few moments earlier and drew the plasma pistol. Flipping down her glasses she began an infra-red scan of the passageway. When her results turned up nothing out of the ordinary she cursed softly and stepped out into the passageway her weapon still raised in the ready position.

“You’re facing the wrong way, Missy.” The hissing, guttural, voice came from behind her, where it should have been impossible for anyone to be. “Keep your weapon where I can see it and turn around.”

She turned toward the voice and made a show of lowering her weapon. As her right arm came down she tensed a muscle and a six inch long sliver of razor sharp iridium steel alloy erupted from the launcher implanted in her forearm. Even as her blood splattered the bulkhead next to her she was hurtling forward in a tuck and roll maneuver designed to give her a clear shot at the blue furred figure who had called her out. She never completed the action.

Two more muffled bamfs of displaced air sounded so close together as to almost be one noise and the blade she had launched at her target sliced into the back of her left thigh. Hamstrung, the maneuver designed to bring her up with a clear shot at her target became a face first slide across the deck to the far bulkhead. She twisted in mid-slide attempting to bring her weapon on target but another bamf sounded, this one much louder and closer, and a purplish silver cutlass clove her plasma pistol in twain, barely missing her fingers. “An Inertron Blade,” she whispered the thought aloud, as she tried to roll away, only to find her bleeding arm pinned to the deck by a claw-like, three-toed foot wearing what appeared to be a glove of white leather.

“Just be glad I missed on the first cut, Missy, “ the hissing, guttural voice came again. “I wanted to take your hand off and save that nice pistol as a souvenir.”

She twisted slightly in an attempt to get a better look at her opponent but her world turned first green, then black.

“How many is that? I’ve lost count.” Nightcrawler asked Abin as they walked towards the Earth Ambassador’s quarters with the assassin floating behind them encased in solidified green energy, like a fly in amber.

“Twenty-six, only fourteen left if Ambassador Mirenna Helene's Intel is accurate.”

“Nightcrawler, Abin, we’ve go a situation outside the Pysonian embassy.” Saturn Girl’s voice erupted from both men’s Omnicoms.

“Now what?” Nightcrawler and Abin replied in unison.

“Reporters, dozens of them, with more arriving by the second. Somebody in Earth-Gov let it slip that we’re here providing security to the U.P. Council and they all want interviews. The focus seems to be our reaction to Cobalt’s “alliance” with the Khunds.”

“Great!,” Nightcrawler let out a disgusted snort. “Tell Crujecki to give me Cobalt’s location and I’ll bamf them right to him. Let him answer for the mess he’s created.”

“She says he’s out of the range of their telepathic bond. And from the number of holo’s of him she’s destroyed… “

“QX, We’ll be there in five. Have the embassy staff set up a podium at the edge of the secure zone. Tell them to ensure that the reporters stay out of the secure area. You, me, and Abin will address the press. Put out the word that the Princess has the vapors or some such nonsense like that, then leave a few holo’s of the carnage in her quarters where some reporter will just happen to stumble over them.”

“You’re going to put Abin in front of the holo-vids?”

“Yep!” Nightcrawler answered with an evil chuckle that sent chills up and down Abin's spine as he pictured himself completely nonplussed by even the simplest of questions.

“Is that a smart idea, Bal?” SG asked in a bemused tone.

“Maybe not... But I'll get a chuckle out of it.”

“Hey! I’m right here you two!”

Prime Minister Maya adi Lva and Ambassador Mirenna Helene both jumped when a loud BAMF sounded in the Pysonian Embassy Reception Area and Nightcrawler appeared. The two women instinctively ducked behind their Secret Service Bodyguards, a mixed quartet of massively muscled men and heavily armed women wearing the black & silver jumpsuits of Kent Shakespheare's A.S.T.R.A. Corps. The smaller of the two women stepped to the front of the group and leveled a lethal looking hand weapon at Nighty's chest.

“Miss Bond, your charges are in no danger,” Nightcrawler smiled at the dark haired beauty. “but to be honest, we weren't expecting company.”

“We?” She replied without turning, “And I believe I've asked you to address me as Commander Bond at least a dozen times.”

“We.” Abin's voice came from behind the group. “My ring detected your presence but could only identify you. And since we didn't know the identity of your companions...”

“You set up a crossfire.” She finished for him. “Sweet Ass Sweet, as my boss likes to say. But not for us. Stand down lady and gents, I've verified these two.”

The three remaining agents stepped away from the President and Ambassador.

“What can we do for you Madame President?” Nightcrawler asked in his most guttural tone. He and Prime Minister Maya adi Lva had known and (despite the fact that they shared a mutual but unspoken respect) disliked each other for many years.

“You can start by explaining why you felt that little charade to be necessary, when the Ambassador and I are here to keep you from making a fool of yourself on the Galactic Newscasts.” She snapped. “And why in space do you refuse to simply address me as Maya, instead of constantly mangling my title?”

“Why would you be concerned with me making a fool of myself? I suspect you'd enjoy it immensely if I did.”

“Bal, please... Nothing could be further from the truth. You and I rarely see eye to eye on anything. But, right now I need you as much as you need me. And even you will admit that I have always had Legion World's best interests at heart.” She looked over at Abin, “Mr. Quank, I'm very pleased to finally meet you. Cobaltus always speaks very highly of you. Perhaps you can help me make this hard headed fool see the opportunities we have sitting right in front of us.”

“The opportunities?” Saturn Girl's voice cut off any possible reply from Abin. “The opportunities to do what? Watch a few million sentients die? To lay waste to a hundred planets? What opportunities are you speaking of Prime Minister?” Saturn Girl strode into the room with Princess Crujectra following silently in her wake.

“No Caroline, The opportunity to bring lasting peace to the Galaxy by ending the threat of the Dark Oval.” Maya replied wearily, “Really, peace and prosperity for the United Planets is a worthy goal, wouldn't you agree?”

As the argument raged in the antechamber a pair of assassins made their way through the ventilation ducts and electrical conduits feeding the Pysonian Embassy. C'LAC'Nal, a marmoset -like being from the planet Ichoria flexed his venom tipped claws as he watched the humans in the room below. His target, the Pysonian Princess, remained on the edges of the group, too far from his planned entry point for him to be certain of reaching her before the seasoned veteran warriors in the group could react to his attack.

His plan was simple, the thought shield he wore would keep him from being discovered by either of the telepaths before his precision strike incapacitated Princess Crujectra and LAR Rall's arrival would cover his escape. LAR Rall would of course be lost in the process but the vat which had produced LAR Rall would soon birth MAR Rall.

In the electrical conduits feeding the Pysonian Embassy the gelatinous blob called LAR Rall waited patiently for C'LAC'Nal's strike. It knew nothing about the war or galactic politics or even who the life forms it sensed in the adjacent chamber were. It only knew it was HUNGRY! And that it's master would only allow it to feed after he had taken his prize.

In the room below the two assassins Commander Jamelle Bond, agent 007 of the Legion World Office of External Affairs elite A.S.T.R.A. Corps was doing her best to ignore the argument raging between the Founders and the Prime Minister of Earth as she watched her three agents move surreptitiously to maintain a protective triangle around the two women they were charged with protecting. Satisfied that her team was doing their job efficiently she turned her attention to their surroundings. The Pysonian Embassy was luxuriously furnished and designed to give the illusion that it was a palace rather than a chamber in a massive space station. She looked around, noting the lavish detail and the indirect lighting which gave the impression of sunlight filtered through the ornamental windows. Flickering Sunlight...

“Solo! Kuryakin! Shields Up!” The order barely escaped her lips before the two male agents looked each other lovingly in the eye and raised their arms. Instantly a lavender sphere of energy appeared encasing the entire group with the exception of her and Abin. As the energy sphere appeared a small furry humanoid burst out of a ventilation duct in the ceiling and launched himself claws extended at Princess Crujectra.
 

---

Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
 
Even the tiniest glow can be a blazing sun, given time.

Invisible Brainiac watched the silent starscape streak past as the ship he was on made its way deeper into Hive space.

Had this taken place a year ago, he would have been shaking in his boots. The enormity of the mission didn't escape him, nor did the odds stacked against them.

A year ago, he would have questioned his place in the Fellowship, too.

Yet here he was, standing alongside luminaries Cobalt Kid, Lard Lad, Tempest and Power Boy. And he was calm. He was ready. And he would make sure he had plenty of fun.

A mischievous smile crossed his lips as he remembered the looks on the Dominator's faces when he'd blasted through their ship. That was one thing he liked about his "big bro" Cobalt Kid - their cavalier personalities got along perfectly well, and they could see humor in even the darkest of situations.

"If only to mask the pain and the burden of responsibility," a small voice echoed in his head.

Frowning, IB glanced up and around. Lard Lad and Cobalt Kid were manning the controls, though they didn't really need to. Precautions were always wise, though, and he knew Lardy and Cobie were likely planning their next move while they were piloting the craft. Power Boy was resting, though IB wondered if gods really needed to. From the smile on his lips, IB thought Power Boy was reliving some of his greatest battles instead. Tempest was nowhere to be seen; she had probably retired to the small quarters on the ship reserved for her.

Satisfied that he wouldn't be missed, IB turned himself into light and phased through the craft's window.

Settling himself in space near the energy backwash from the ship so he wouldn't get lost, IB focused himself through the prism on his neck. A rainbow of light shot through space and coalesced into seven identical figures, save for their colors.

"I don't see how you can find this funny," said Blue. "Des had to betray the trust of the Fellowship to bring us along. You know it's eating him up inside."

Yellow settled back, arms behind his head. "Whatever. They understood the need to keep us and Cleome secret. Besides, he did worse by bringing the Khunds in."

"I'm more worried about our own reaction to this." Indigo folded his arms, right hand cupping his chin. "We should be more concerned about the implications of our mission, rather than just having fun."

Orange snorted, punching his "brother" in the arm. "We agreed to this long ago. And we're helping the universe. If there's any time to have fun, it's while doing good, right?"

"But... everyone else here is so powerful, so experienced. How can we..." started Purple, before being cut off by Red. "We can stand toe to toe with them, Purple. Just let anyone try to tell us we can't hack it."

"That's not what I mean," said Purple. "We're as powerful as they are, but are we really warriors? We're not killers. And we may have to do that while we're here!"

Green sighed, and settled himself for a long talk.

It wasn't often his selves disagreed; not lately, anyway. His experiences with the LMB had made him comfortable and confident in himself. His seven selves' personalities had slowly pieced together. Crujectra had told him that his personalities were probably borne out of inner conflict. They were a way for him to sort out his thoughts in real time, by pretending he could separate them. He was better at dealing with mixed feelings now, like his old crush on Lolita, which had thankfully faded; or his old fear and awe of Shark Lad, who he now saw as a good, respected friend and ally.

But then, things like this didn't happen every day.

Green spoke, causing the other six to shush. When Green spoke, it was known he was speaking for all. They shared one mind, after all; just divided into seven light constructs.

"This Dark Oval mission is many things. A chance to prove ourselves; a chance to have a rocking good time with the members of the Fellowship; a chance to repay Cobie and the others for their trust; and a chance to do a lot of good for the universe."

"It also means putting ourselves into danger, questioning our values, and facing all our fears about ourselves and about the unknown."

"Right now all our opinions are valid. But, we all agreed to go through with this when Cobie brought us in. Now... let's just enjoy the emptiness of space. It won't be long before we'll be in the thick of things. Catch a break while we can."

All six of him nodded, and space was quiet once more, punctuated only by seven floating figures and the dim glow of the nearby ship.

Green stared into the distance at the Hive homeworld. His powers allowed him to magnify the light coming off it, and what he saw made him shudder. He steeled himself for the task at hand.

He was ready.

There is little a man can control, but one thing he can is his spirit.
 

---

Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
 
The Spaces In-Between

In a place where few can roam freely, a door opens and what comes through is beauty beyond words. In his true form, any who--beyond these others--viewed him now would blinded by the Glamour. He sees he is the last to arrive and it amuses him. “Or perhaps not,” he says out loud, noticing at least one of their number is missing. “And here I thought I was making the most dramatic entrance,” says Lucien Lad, the Legionnaire whose level of cosmic comprehension surpasses all others.

“You are indeed, Lucien Lad,” replied the Phantom Stranger, “for the other is not coming. It is only we, three.” The Phantom Stranger, as ever, remained hidden from those who could not see, though his true power was his ability to grant, for the briefest moments, looks. Only Lucien Lad knew the true secret of the Phantom Stranger.

The two turned to the third presence. “Then we’ll get right to the point, I suppose,” said Lucien Lad. “Why have you summoned us, Mearl?”

Before them stood Mearl Dox, the Supreme Ruler of the Universe. Though a longtime friend and even once member of the LMB, most dared not think too abstractly about her nature. For she was the structure that held together all that is. “I summoned you here, friends, because the Legion of Message Board Posters has reached a turning point. What happens now, and plays out in the coming days, will shape the future of the LMB for all time.”

“Yes,” said the Phantom Stranger, “I’ve gazed far into the future and it remains suddenly vague and unclear. These coming events will change what lies ahead. The LMB will need every ally.”

“They will indeed,” said Mearl, “but I’m afraid they won’t have them.”

Lucien Lad looked annoyed at the comment because of its vagueness but the Stranger understood immediately. “You would forbid our participation in this event?”

“I must, dear friend,” she replied. “We cosmic powers cannot solve all the problems for the LMB when things are at their hardest. What comes now must be addressed by those who do not see the true structure of the world, for only then do their actions have true meaning and true consequences. I know you both love them, but you must let them handle this on their own. Both the glory and the suffering.”

The Phantom Stranger bowed his head, accepting, but Lucien Lad was displeased. “Mearl, dear,” he began, “I appreciate your grandiose manner and find it terribly amusing, but I will not stand by and let these sentients, whom I’ve grown quite attached to, suffer.” As always, his wicked smile proclaimed his charm for all the world to see, but Mearl Dox did not smile back.

They stared at one another for some time, and in the space in-between, Mearl Dox showed Lucien Lad the truth. At last, the silence was broken, and Bevis relented. “Alright then,” he said sadly, “I will observe.”

The three turned their far-seeing gaze back upon the United Planets and Dark Oval; however, the Phantom Stranger spoke once more. “Mearl, what of our intended fourth? What of the LMBP Spectre who did not answer your summons?”

Mearl replied casually. “She saw through the deception and made her decision to carry on among her brethren. Even now, her actions go unnoticed among her allies and enemies, though they will have far-reaching effects on the outcome of this war.”
 

---

Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
 
Haven,
The Dark Oval

Power Boy walked forward in the cruiser, joining Lard Lad and Cobalt Kid, who were co-piloting it. He was growing bored and his warrior spirit yearned for more battle. “What is that ahead? It doesn’t look like a Hive planet.” Ahead of them was an obvious conversion point of activity. Thousands of manned cruisers were flying in and out and from space you could see a vast technological city planet-side.

“That’s Haven,” said Lard Lad, “the last known area of the Dark Oval we’ll be going to before we’re really on our own.”

Cobalt Kid added to the description: “Haven is a planet conquered by the Hive centuries ago; however, its been designated as a common area among the five powers of the Dark Oval. Technically its between the borders of all the five powers. I’m not sure what’s its called but Lardy and I are referring to it as the “common area”. It’s like an outpost where traders, bureaucrats and military personnel touch base with one another. It’s a good place to restock up on supplies and such and switch cruisers. Probably our last opportunity to do so.”

“Military personnel?” said Power Boy, focusing on what he really wanted to hear.

“Subtly is the key here,” said Lard Lad with a smile. That made Cobalt smile too and Lardy was glad. For hours he had been trying to comfort his friend with some encouraging words and getting him to focus on the mission at hand, since he knew that was a good way to ease Cobalt’s angst. “The General Elite Militia, which is the military arm of the Dark Oval that answers to no one power has a major headquarters here. We don’t intend to disturb them and have to be careful.”

“General Elite Militia?” said Power Boy. “Isn’t that what Helena Handbasket served in?”

“Yes,” said Cobalt. “What we know about it comes directly from here. We assume the GEM answers to a higher power though how they do so remains a mystery.”

By now, Invisible Brainiac and Tempest had joined them. They had not see Tempest for some time and wondered where she’d gone off to. “Seems risky to go there, then,” she said.

“It is,” said Cobalt. “We’re not only restocking, but we’re meeting someone there. Our contact who will hopefully have some intel on how to proceed into the Hive, because we’re going to need it. I suspect he’ll join us for awhile too.”

“He?” said Lard Lad. “A hint, at last? Honestly Cobie, you can tell us who it is.”

Cobalt smiled again. “It’s a surprise, and a good one,” he said. Faraway Lad and I have utilized this ‘spy’ for many years now but you’ll recognize him from the old days.”

The five of them looked out the cruiser window as Lard Lad gained authorization to land using secret codes provided by Kalla Hrykos. They could see from the banners that the cruisers included fleets of GEM cruisers, as well as Hrykosian ships and even ships from the Epilson sector. “No Dominator ships,” said Power Boy with a laugh. “Deployed elsewhere, I suppose,” he added.

“No Hive ships either,” said Invisible Brainiac, wondering why.

“They don’t play nice with others,” said Lard Lad seriously.

They soon landed as the next stage of their journey began.
 

---

Posted by Kalla Hrykos on :
 
Hrykosia,
The Dark Oval

The modest cruiser carrying the half of the Fellowship bound for Earth-4 navigated its way unimpeded deep into the Lin-Dak Nebula and to the center of the Hrykosian Empire, the homeworld of Hrykosia. With the leader of Clan Hrykos, the ruling family of Hrykosia, aboard and her complete access to all security codes, the act was pure simplicity.

As the majesty of her homeworld filled the viewer, Kalla Hrykos was overcome with emotion. It had been well over a year since she had last seen it. She was unsure if it had become more beautiful in her absence or if it was just her missing it so much. She didn't care. She was home and it was still the most beautiful sight she'd ever seen. As tears filled her eyes, she grasped Lon's hand very tightly into her own.

After Kalla transmitted the landing codes, their cruiser was escorted by a pair of Honor Guard fighters directly on to the landing pad of Castle Hrykos. As the occupants prepared to debark, Kalla paused for a moment and reverted to her "Hot Chick" glamour. Lon was about to ask why, but she gently placed a finger on his lips and squeezed his hand as they descended down the ramp.

Lon's answer came almost immediately as the group was welcomed by none other than...Kalla Hrykos! After being momentarily startled, he remembered that "Kalla Hrykos" had never left Hrykosia for Legion World. Kalla's close advisor Phe'Be Kyeatz had stayed behind and woven a complex spell that enabled them to trade appearances and even personality traits. Kalla's half of the spell made her semi-amnesiac for a period of time until she had accomplished her mission to contact Lard Lad.

For a moment the two groups regarded each other. In the foreground of the visitors were two who weren't whom they appeared to be. Kalla, the Honor Guard recognized as long-unseen Phe'Be. The other was an unknown caucasian humanoid who was actually Rockhopper Lad in holographic disguise. This was a pure necessity as he would easily be mistaken for his otherdimensional twin and despot of fellow Oval power Earth-4. Behind them, all heavily cloaked to avoid recognition, were Shark Lad, Lolita, Time-Teller Lad, Hyvvie the Wonder Beagle, Helena Handbasket and Timber Wolf. Lon had decided to fall back with the other five to avoid any confusion if "Phe'Be" had any relationship peculiarities that his presence might contradict.

"Welcome, my friends!" said the feaux Kalla. "Join me in the Castle's great banquet hall for a feast!"

She turned and the Honor Guard accompanied them all to the great door just beyond the landing pad. As they all arrived in the great banquet hall, the woman they all recognized as their leader dismissed the Honor Guard from the hall. As the last of them departed and the great door closed behind him, the two women wearing faces not their own smiled and embraced. Before the eyes of all that were gathered, the appearances of the two shimmered, and they seemed to switch sides but with different clothing. At that point, the spell was ended, and neither would be able to appear as the other again.

"Oh, I've missed you so, Phe'Be!" said Kalla as fresh tears formed.

"And I you, my liege," Phe'Be replied and hugged her friend tightly.

They embraced for a good minute until Kalla broke it. "What about Juj? Has he made it yet?" Kalla suddenly noticed their Durlan co-conspirator and mutual close friend Juj Rinold was absent. He had impersonated the Dominion's Pinnacle Commander on Hul, his subterfuge being a key to their successful operation there before the Breaking of the Fellowship.

"My liege, he escaped successfully but found that the Khund invasion of Hul had cut off his escape route toward Hrykosia. On his last transmission, he informed me that he would head for Haven instead. He will try to contact us if he can get a secure channel there."

"If anyone can...it's Juj," Kalla said with a smile. Underneath it, though, she was worried about him. Phe'Be was as well, Kalla noted from her eyes.

Kalla then introduced all of the Fellows she had accompanying her. Rockhopper Lad turned off his imager and introduced himself. Phe'Be was startled for a moment before Kalla explained he was not exactly the despot of Earth-4.

Kalla saved introducing Lon for last. Phe'Be had heard of this great new love of Kalla's life and was struck by how different he was from Kalla's deceased lover Huldnaf. But when she saw how Kalla beamed in Lon's presence and how he looked at her with such devotion, Phe'Be knew that they were meant for one another.

"Let's eat before it gets cold, my friends!" Kalla finally announced. "I think you'll find Hrykosian cooking well beyond field rations and anything the Space Knights Templar served us in their mess hall!"

After a long, satisfying feast (though Hyvvie was enjoying gnawing on the bones of his leftovers), the LMB leader stood up and spoke. "This was indeed a fine repast, and you are gracious hosts," Rocky said as he raised a glass. "But I fear we must get down to business. May I suggest we adjourn to discuss our plan of action?"

"Most definitely," Kalla agreed. "Phe'Be?"

Phe'Be rose. "This way my liege and honored guests..." She gestured as a door opened on the far side of the hall, and all nine satisfied diners went in. (Hyvvie took his bone with him, though.)

[ October 05, 2011, 01:25 AM: Message edited by: Kalla Hrykos ]
 

---

Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
 
The events depicted here take place before the Fellowship members land on Haven.

You can't face certain death with a group of people, and end up neither loving nor hating them.

A sweaty Invisible Brainiac stumbled out of the cargo room. His chest heaving, he thought about how thoroughly Power Boy had tired him out. And in the cargo hold where they kept their supplies too!

Truthfully, he'd been surprised when Power Boy had approached him. He didn't think the young god was the type to offer a helping hand. Still, at least the workout would let him sleep soundly later. He headed for the showers to freshen up.

He was mentally reviewing the things he'd learned from Power Boy when he almost bumped into...

"Tempest!" IB stuttered as he jumped back. "Sorry, I..." he cut off, annoyed at how jumpy he sounded, and at the amused look on the Sorceress' face. He stood up proudly, trying not to think about his shirtless chest, or the revealing evening gown barely hiding Tempest's striking figure.

"It looks like you've been busy," Tempest said with a knowing smile. "With Power Boy, I presume?"

"He offered it."

"And you took it. I may have to rethink my opinion of you." Tempest reached out and ran a finger down IB's chest.

"Which is?" IB tried to keep his voice steady, though he doubted it would make a difference. Tempest had a way of making him feel naked all the time. He tried to remember her lying helpless in his arms while they were fleeing from Titus, which only made him even more nervous.

"That you are such a young innocent boy. Yet, looking at you now, I can see you are entering your prime." She looked him up and down. "I would have wanted Lard Lad, Cobalt Kid or Power Boy, but you'll do for now. Come." And without another word, she turned around and walked into her room.

IB gulped, and followed her in.

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

"You'll have to do better than that."

"I'm trying!" IB could barely get the words out. He was sweating all over, and Tempest was only tiring him out more.

"Anthony would not have given up so easily."

"YOU would know that!" IB tried to keep from snapping, but it wasn't easy. "It's hard to concentrate, alright? Plus, I'm tired out."

He shifted his position to keep his balance, and pushed harder and harder.

Tempest smiled once more.

[ October 05, 2011, 05:40 AM: Message edited by: Invisible Brainiac ]
 

---

Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
 
The events depicted here take place before the Fellowship members land on Haven.

IB leaned back and admired his handiwork. "There, your room's as good as new."

Tempest smiled approvingly. "Nobody would know that I had just been conjuring some items we would need later on. Since I have no idea what will become of this ship, it seemed like a wise precaution."

"So why did you have me push all your cauldrons and stuff into a portal, anyway? Couldn't you just have magicked them?"

"I was tired. Divining takes quite a bit of energy, and I need to conserve it for what we'll face in the Hive."

IB nodded, but he didn't really believe it. Someone as powerful as Tempest not being able to levitate a few cauldrons? Didn't sound right.

Tempest smiled again. "Magical implements are enchanted against most common spells, so I could not have simply levitated or teleported them away. And I also wanted to get to know you a little more." IB gulped again. Talk about feeling naked - Tempest seemed to be able to read his mind.

Her tone turned serious. "I need to have a sense of who all of you are, so I can cast my spells much more quickly on the battlefield. In the Hive, we five only have each other to depend on. And I would not want to lose an ally."

IB nodded slowly. He knew Tempest had feelings for Lardy, but he was touched that she also cared for the rest of them. He hadn't really thought she was capable of doing so.

"Thanks."

Tempest smiled again, a much warmer one this time.


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

A thoroughly exhausted IB came out of Tempest's room. His hand fingered the pendant around his neck, newly enchanted by the sorceress. It was a prism shaped in a crescent moon, with a smaller globe inside the curve. Tempest had laid a small protection charm on it, in thanks for his help.

On his way to the showers, he ran into Cobalt Kid. The older LMBPer raised an eyebrow. "Ordinarily, I'd say you'd been having some naughty fun, but with only 5 of us on board this ship, I kind of doubt that's it."

IB grinned. "You know me too well. Nah, Power Boy offered me a training session. Said he liked my moves on Hul, but I needed to loosen up a bit. So he put me through one of his "god of war" type sessions." IB winced as he fingered the bruise on his side. "He hits hard. But he taught me a lot about knowing when to hold back, and when to let loose. Didn't burn any holes in the side of the ship though, don't worry."

"Then after that, Tempest asked me to help her with her cauldrons and stuff. She's been working hard, preparing some magical mumbo that should help us out later."

Cobie nodded. "I wondered what she'd been doing..." A momentary frown crossed his face, and vanished in a flash. Clapping IB on the back, he said, "You're preparing hard! Good, we're going to need you at your best when we enter the Hive."

"I wouldn't want to let you down in there. Not after you specifically asked me along on this mission." He paused for a moment, then continued. "I know you're a bit worried about what else we'll have to do to succeed - but I know everyone will understand. They may not agree, but they'll know you had the right intentions. Even Lolita. And the Princess."

Cobalt still smiled, but his eyes were serious. "I hope so. And you feel the same way?"

"Well... part of me's conflicted about it. But I completely agree that our actions will ultimately lead to the greater good."

"That's good enough for me. Thanks, IB." His frown turned into a grin. "And after all this is done, let's toast a job well done with lots of silverale."

"And scantily-clad women dancers, of course." IB winked. "No more sneaking me into the clubs invisibly, like when I first came to Legion World!"

With a laugh and a high five, the two parted. It was moments like this that made the long journeys through space, and towards an uncertain future, a little less lonely.

It takes inner strength to laugh out loud while leaping into the jaws of danger.

[ October 06, 2011, 04:22 AM: Message edited by: Invisible Brainiac ]
 

---

Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
 
The events depicted here take place before the Fellowship members land on Haven.

"Lardy?" IB laid a hand on the shoulder of his sleeping teammate. "Don't you want to head off to bed?"

Lard Lad woke up with a start, arms flexed and combat ready. He only relaxed after he'd scanned the area.

"Sorry, IB. Force of habit. Hope I didn't startle you." Lardy looked exhausted, and IB could tell he felt the same way. He tried his to hide it with a grin. "I'm usually very lovable when I'm asleep, as many women would attest to."

"I must be talking to the wrong women, then." IB's grin was quickly replaced by a look of concern. "Are you alright, though? I know you haven't been sleeping much lately..."

"Thanks for worrying, but I'm used to it." Lard Lad paused, emphasizing those last words. "But seriously, thanks. Don't worry, I need to keep awake so... so I can fine-tune our plans."

IB decided not to press Lard Lad on his real reasons. He didn't really know the older LMBPer all that well, but he and Cobalt Kid were best friends, and that was good enough for him. Sure, Lard Lad had made some questionable decisions in the past, but he'd owned up to them at the start of the mission.

Now was not the time to start doubting his teammates.

"Well, I'm sure you're doing a great job making it idiot- and evil counterpart- proof, but you know us LMBpers love to improvise. Besides, you'll do better when you're fresh, right?" Lardy's mouth opened, but IB continued on firmly. "Look, why don't you take a nap? My grandma taught me this awesome cream soup recipe that'll have you sleeping like a baby."

Lard Lad paused for a moment, taking in IB as if seeing him for the first time.

"I didn't know you knew how to cook. Guess that's why all the ladies love you, like Des says."

"And the men too. I found that out the hard way when I wore my "Kiss the cook" apron to a barbecue."

Lardy laughed, a sound IB hadn't heard in a while. "I bet you wore that on purpose, huh? Nice tactics there."

IB put a finger to his lips in a ssshing motion, and gave Lardy a wink. "Hey, don't give me away! So, wanna help me chop up the veggies?"

Lard Lad nodded, and the two began rummaging through their supplies.

Later on, when the others woke up, they would find a large pot of steaming soup, and two Legionnaires sleeping peacefully beside the potatoes and squash they'd brought along.

A burst of light in a gloomy day can go a long way.
 

---

Posted by Kalla Hrykos on :
 
Hrykosia,
The Dark Oval

After the planning meeting had adjourned, Kalla and Lon walked together in the courtyard located in the center of Castle Hrykos.

As the two took in the sights and smells of the courtyard's luscious garden, Kalla asked, "do you like it, Lon?"

"Well, hon," he said thoughtfully, "I'm not much for gardens and such, but I've got to admit that this is pretty beautiful. The scent from the flowers is really pleasant to my sensitive nose, too. Sometimes, they irritate me, but not here. I'm also intrigued by how all of the foliage here and all over Hrykosia is purple. I haven't seen its like in all of my travels."

"Hrykosian botanists say it's because of how the light from our binary star interacts with the Lin-Dak Nebula and, in turn, our atmosphere."

"Hm. I hope when all this is said and done that I can return and explore the wilderness here. The things I sense out there have me really curious."

Kalla went into his arms and said, "I certainly plan to spend much more time here with you when we complete the mission." Then, they kissed.

Lon broke the embrace after a moment. "Yeah, about the mission..."

"You don't like our infiltration plan, do you?"

"Well, on the contrary it seems like our best option--except for one part."

"It's about me going to see the Emperor without you in tow," she asserted.

"Well, yeah, obviously! That is one sick, sadistic bastard! The thought of you going in with just you and your Honor Guard is--!"

"--the only safe thing to do, Lon," she interrupted. "This is a routine, scheduled visit between two ruling Oval powers. I've done these many, many times...one of which was the occasion when I met the Earth-4 resistance. The visits went fine and without incident. The opportunity is golden for my ship to drop the cloaked escape pod with you, Rockhopper Lad and the rest of the team over the site the resistance will be expecting you as it approaches the imperial palace."

"I know, damnit, I KNOW!" he yelled, "but I should be among your security detail!"

Kalla smiled a little and rubbed his cheek to calm him. She loved how protective of her he is. "Lon, the Oval knows who you are. The Emperor is a sorceror. And I know for a fact that he has spells woven throughout his palace to detect any deception. Holograms, disguises and such won't fool them. In any case we've worked damned hard to conceal my treachery from the other Oval powers! They have no reason to suspect anything. I'll be in and out in NO time!"

"And besides..." She willed her hands to glow. "...I can take care of myself!"

"I...I know you can, Kalla. I just--okay, I'm not going to argue, any more. I trust you."

"Thanks, Fuzzy," she said affectionately. "Oh," she said looking up, "looks like the suns are going down, and we're leaving first thing in the morning. We'll need to get our rest. Why don't we go upstairs, so I can show you my--our--bedroom..." She winked with a wry smile.

He grinned back at her. "Sounds good--I could go for some...sleep."

"Well big boy, I think I'll change into something a little more comfortable. I've got some numbers in my wardrobe that I've been dying to wear for you! Wait about ten minutes and have a guard show you where my room is."

He sniffed loudly for emphasis, "no need, babe...I can find you anywhere." He knew her scent was one that he would know anywhere and would never have trouble following.

"See you soon, then, stud!" She giggled and half-ran toward the courtyard's exit.

He laughed loudly for a moment but frowned as she disappeared from sight.

"I trust you, babe," he said softly to himself, "but I don't trust that maniac. I'm going to follow you to that palace after the drop. I'll make damned sure you're safe..."

A few minutes later, he took in the sights and smells of the garden one last time and joined his lover for a memorable evening.
 

---

Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
 
The Dominion,
The Dark Oval

“Even with all our advantages,” said Kilrain, “it’s still some damn bloody fighting.”

“It’s glorious,” said General Belisarius, looking at the holo-vids at the battling raging across Dominion space. United Planets naval fleets were continuing their progress through the Dominion, slowly but surely overtaking the Dominators. Ever since they’d gotten the signal to move in, the UP had been able to overtake any resistance they’d come across and push forth the boundaries of UP space. The Dominators were simply too out of sorts and had been unable to mount any type of coordinated counter-resistance. They were an arrogant, malicious Empire and would continue to try subverting the UP’s efforts, but Belisarius was growing increasingly confident the Dominators would keep failing. The grand ole’ Dominion was falling at long last after so many millennia. “We’re finally doing it,” added the General. “We’re finally paying back these disk-heads for all the harm they’ve done.”

“Aye General,” said Kilrain, “that we are. But no victory is total,” he added, knowing the General wasn’t listening. Kilrain was growing older now and he couldn’t help but consider all those that were dying for the UP to make sure this victory was won.

For a moment silence overtook them as Belisarius concentrated on the different theaters of war ongoing, which were still largely confined to open space. Kilrain watched him, taking his measure very closely. The General was a good man, who clearly believed that what he was doing was right for the United Planets—indeed, the whole galaxy. He did not take the loss of life for granted. But despite his best efforts at hiding it, Belisarius was consumed by the idea of achieving eternal glory. And Kilrain knew that was dangerous.

“Have you any word on that other matter?” asked Belisarius without turning back to look at Kilrain.

“Nothing yet, General,” replied his lieutenant. Belisarius had ordered the capture of the LMBers in Dark Oval space if they were found. Specifically, he wanted Cobalt Kid arrested—and his notorious cohort Lard Lad—but the arrest warrant extended to all of them. General Belisarius remained furious about Cobalt Kid’s side deal with the Khunds and felt he’d had his glory robbed from him. Now he intended to make the LMBer pay, by putting him on trail. Kilrain knew this was nonsense because Prime Minister Maya adi Lva had already condoned the actions of Cobalt Kid, claiming they were her own plan. These arrest warrants were illegal. But in times of war, the law held little sway; the law was what the conquering General wished it to be.

Kilrain had met Cobalt Kid and several other LMBers over the years, although only briefly. Regardless, he liked what the LMB stood for. He hoped the UP military would not find them and would focus on the real enemy: the Dominators.

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

Korvic-2, formerly part of the Dominion,
The Dark Oval

“What is that fascinating noise?” asked Kid Vudoo, no longer able to hold back the question. It had been bugging him for over ten minutes. Everywhere they went, they heard the same buzzing sound in the background, as if it was occurring all at once throughout the planet.

A wide smile erupted across the face of Knightress. “Those are horns,” she said, feeling immense pride. “Tutulo horns; its their ancestral form of music here on Korvic,” she added. “For decades the Dominators had outlawed them, believing the noise was a subversive form of revolt. One of the first things that happened after we kicked those bony yellow asses out of here was the horns starting sounding again. And it was beautiful.”

“Yes,” said Crusader, as majestic as ever. “It is beautiful.” He stood upright and soaked it all in, feel his eyes well up a little with tears. His longtime consort, Maxx the Sorcerer, knew him too well and put his hand inside Crusader’s. Crusader was one of the most powerful telepaths in the galaxy and what he felt right now was so overwhelming that it was perhaps the most beautiful moment of his whole life. An entire planet full of people so happy, so full of joy and so full of love. Every single one of them was now experiencing for the first time in their lives the feeling of no longer being under the Dominion yoke. They had been set free—and the last generation free of the Dominators was long dead. Crusader felt every emotion telepathically and it flooded his senses. It was beautiful.

“This was one of the first ones we came to,” said Knightress. She was a member of the Space Knights Templar, the warrior-monk organization headed by LMBers Eryk Davis Ester and Cobalt Kid. Their role in these galactic events was to infiltrate the planets within the Dominion that had been crushed by the Dominators tyranny and to help augment the rebellions on those planets. The sentients themselves would win the victory, but the Knights would make sure they had the tools needed to do so: supplies, strategy…hope.

“Where are you off to next?” asked Dedman to Knightress.

“Not sure yet but I’ll know by the end of the day. Karic-2 had been officially liberated. So the Knights here are off to the next planet to try to do the same. And I, for one, can’t wait.” Knightress had a conviction about her that was very endearing. Dedman couldn’t help but smile.

While they talked, Crusader looked over at Cleome, whom he had recently helped rescue from Dominator clutches, and smiled to see she was enjoying exactly the same thing he was. Her connection with the sentient fauna in the Dominion—previously used as slave-technology and liberated—was giving her the same exact vibes.

“I’m glad we stopped here,” said Crusader. They were under orders to return to the United Planets and then get new orders from there—likely to split up and be sent throughout the UP to assist in any way they could. This global war was causing all kinds of problems basically everywhere imaginable and there would be no lack of things to do. But Crusader suggested they resupply on Karic-2 although they all clearly knew he wanted to get a situation report on what was occurring. He was a Prince of Psynoia and experienced diplomat. The politics of the world were his concern. “I feel better about what’s going on.”

Cleome looked up, still smiling from her conversation with the vegetation. Suddenly, the words came out before she could think about them. “I’m considering staying in the Dark Oval,” she said.

This caught Crusader by surprise.

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

United Planets Space

“Where in tarnation are we going?” said Raging Bull. He was getting bored looking at stars.

CJ Taylor piped in, so make the question more gentle. “It has been a bit long to be on the road without knowing our destination. You guys have already explained why you came to get us, so why the secrecy in our destination?”

My Whee Fem looked at Space Ranger as if to see if she had permission to answer the question. Space Ranger didn’t make a motion one way or another but somehow My seemed to get a read off of him. “Because we really don’t know ourselves,” she said matter of factly. “Otherwise we would have told you already. Obvi,” she added.

“Yessir, ‘cuz that makes a lot of sense…” said Raging Bull in annoyance, turning back towards the stars.

“What she means,” said Space Ranger, “is that we don’t know where you’re going ultimately. But we’re bringing you towards someone who does. The man who is going to take you there.”

Now CJ Taylor raised his eyebrow. He knew already that his possible pedigree—being of the same bloodline of Lard Lad and Eryk Davis Ester—was causing him to be an important player here. Somehow this was important to these galactic events. But up until now he was not aware he’d have to actually be going somewhere. “So we’re going to somebody in particular,” said CJ. “A man. Well, where is he? I mean, he must be somewhere and if we’re going there, then where is it….?”

“I told you, we don’t know…” said My Whee Fem frustrated by the question.

“ENOUGH,” said Space Ranger suddenly in a loud voice. “Look ahead. That answers all questions. We don’t know because we’ve been going in a single direction waiting to be picked up. Until now, we’ve been waiting to hear those infamous dragon war drums that people dread on Legion World.”

“But there is no sound is space…?” said CJ quietly.

“Not true pard,” said Raging Bull right back.

“What I mean is,” said Space Ranger as suddenly a gigantic warship came into view, “is that I’m taking you to Hrun the Barbarian. And then, I’m afraid, I have no idea where he’s taking you next.”
 

---

Posted by Lolita on :
 
As the sun started to go down, Lolita realized she better take in the sights and smells of this amazing land as much as possible because soon their brief stay here will have come to an abrupt end. It was a shame really; she had expected Hrykosia to be barren and almost a wasteland—probably because of her feelings towards Kalla Hrykos. She was pleasantly shocked at how beautiful the planet was. The Hrykosians had a deep respect for nature and its power and had done an amazing job preserving it. Very few planets had ever done such a good job preserving their natural beauty (Legion World, the relative newcomer was one). It just smelled so fresh.

Suddenly she felt a huge splash of water hit her feet. It was deliberately placed. In the pond below her with a wry smile was Shark Lad. “Stop thinking so hard,” he said with a laugh, “you’re giving me a headache.”

“Oh, so sorry,” she said sarcastically, “sorry to cause you any discomfort!” she added, kicking water at him.

He let it hit him with a smile. Shark Lad couldn’t wait to enjoy the lush ponds nearby and she was glad to get away with him and take in the beautiful scenery.

She dived into the water neatly. She was amazed at how much time she spent in a bathing suit now that she was dating a shark hybrid. She emerged from the water and looked around and Shark Lad was nowhere to be found. She immediately knew what was coming.

Shark Lad all at once grabbed her in his arms and breached the surface, causing everything remotely close by to get soaking wet. It was so much chaos all at once, even though she knew it was coming, that she couldn’t help breaking out into laughter at the top of her lungs.

Her genuine, innocent laughter caused Shark Lad to laugh right back. There was something very fragile about the laugh.

The laughter began to subside and she put her arms around him and kissed him deeply. She then hugged him against his chest and sank into a comfortable position there in the water leaning against him. She had no idea what else might be in this pond but knew it would be nowhere close to them—when an apex predator like Shark Lad entered the waters, everything else went running. Except her.

“You’re finally relaxing,” he said, picking up on it.

“Thanks to you,” she said with a smile. It was true. Following her uneasy parting with Cobalt Kid at the breaking of the fellowship, she had remained uneasy thereafter. She didn’t trust Kalla Hrykos and worried that splitting up the group would remove all the possible impediments against her doing whatever she wanted. Timberwolf was, in her mind, obviously going along with what Kalla wanted. She would have to trust Rockhopper Lad would know what to do if Kalla showed her true colors.

But there was something else. Until now, every part of this plan had partially been crafted by her. Cobie always included her in the planning, listened to her counsel and adapted his plan to work in her ideas. Now that he was no longer here, this was basically Kalla and Rocky’s show. And they didn’t know her that well, and were not going to include her in the important planning stages. The data analysis, strategic assumptions and planning element were what she did; that was how her powerset worked. If they didn’t include her in the plans, what good was she? What role did she really have to play? And all of those doubts she always harbored once again felt like they were bubbling towards the surface.

Sharky finally gave her some perspective. “Everything you’re feeling…is what every one of us is feeling,” he said. “You think I’m not concerned I’m out of place here? Or Helena? Or Time-Teller Lad? Everyone one of us had doubts about even coming here. What we can offer. If our usual skills on Legion World will be any use. All you can do about it is face these things head on and see what happens. Maybe you’ll use those skills or maybe you’ll find yourself in a situation where a whole new set of skills you barely ever use will save the day. But don’t think so little of yourself that just because you’re stuck in an undefined situation that you won’t be fantastic.”

The thought of those words, spoken to her a few hours earlier, made her want to kiss him even more. His protection of her extended to even her own securities.

“It is so serene right now,” she said as a brisk gust of wind swept past them giving her goosebumps on her bare skin. “Maybe we can return on the way home.”

“Sure,” said Shark Lad, trying to make his words convincing. He still wasn’t convinced they’d ever see this place again.
 

---

Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
 
Never lose your sense of wonder. For when you lose your ability to be amazed, the world also loses its ability to become interesting.

Invisible Brainiac soared up through the clouds above Haven, taking care not to change out of his light form.

The fumes around him were thick, and decidedly unhealthy. IB couldn't remember ever being on a more ironically-named world before.

He zipped around the spaceport, taking mental notes of the numbers and types of spacecraft present. Nothing unusual; still no Hive or Dominion ships, as it had been when they first arrived.

Glancing around, IB decided to hover for a while. He knew it was important he report right away, even if his observations were routine. But he wanted to take a small souvenir of Haven while he was here. Who knows when he might come back, right?

Shielding his eyes, he looked towards the clouds. Dirty though they may be, they were still amazingly beautiful. The pollutants of different types of craft mingled with each other, and with the smokestacks of the planet below, to create a multi-colored swirling fog above the planet. Particles of different kinds of trace metals glinted in the that cloud. When the sunlight hit it just right, it reminded him of colorful bubbles trapped in crystal.

Taking a piece of film out of his pocket, IB focused his light powers. An instant later, a picture formed. He smiled, satisfied. This would make for a great story back home. He couldn't wait, he already missed M...

He barely had time to finish his thought as he heard a whistling sound behind him.

Instinctively, he turned back to light as a fist punched the air where he had hung just a millisecond ago.

"Who...?!" IB yelled as he fired a burst of light where he had been. It was intended as a warning, though whoever was fast enough to sneak up on him was probably powerful enough to take a hit.

"Excellent dodging." Power Boy said calmly, arms crossed over his chest as he sidestepped the blast.

IB relaxed a bit, but not much. "Aw man, I thought we were done training for now. You wiped me out on the way here."

"Better me than one of our enemies, right?" Power Boy smiled, and added, "Besides, aren't you getting bored? I thought you'd like a little fun."

"If you think getting injured is fun," IB retorted. "The only injuries I enjoy getting are hickeys on my neck."

Power Boy laughed. "I keep forgetting, you're no longer the innocent "youngest LMBPer ever". Not innocent, anyway." He flew closer to IB. "I'm serious, though. Even in the best of times, we make tantalizing targets. And here, in Dark Oval territory, we are as tempting as a golden goose left unguarded. You have to watch your back. You won't be able to enjoy your hickeys if your head is separate from your body."

IB sighed. Power Boy was right, and there was no getting around that. He had to take care of himself, since someone was waiting for him back home. "All right, all right, you win. I have to keep my head in the game. So... Are you done scouting your part of the terrain? You still have some time before Tempest's concealment spell fades."

Power Boy grinned. "I'm very efficient."

"I can tell - it only took you a couple of hits to bruise my entire left side."

"And since we're not supposed to engage the GEM while we're here - so you're the only chance I have to spar."

"Great. Just great." IB hung his head a bit, before turning away from Power Boy. "I don't suppose I could have a little bit of peace first? The sky just looks so wonderful."

Power Boy floated beside him. "It does, at that. I knew a new god once who..."

The words never left his mouth, as a fist came smashing into his kidney. Power Boy doubled over, more in surprise than in pain.

"Gotcha! Now, catch me if you can!"

Power Boy looked up to see a trail of sparkles where IB was.

With a grin (and while rubbing his side), Power Boy set off after his younger ally.

15 minutes later, they would both arrive back at the ship with several new bruises on their arms and backs, and several useful estimates of the Dark Oval's military strength.

And lungfuls of polluted air from laughing and taunting each other all the way back to the ship.

[ October 16, 2011, 06:53 AM: Message edited by: Invisible Brainiac ]
 

---

Posted by Lard Lad on :
 
Elsewhere on Haven

"I've been here before, you know," Lardy said as he and Cobalt walked amidst the expansive commerce area of Haven's major city. Both were dressed in their elven cloaks, which both had received as gifts on an adventure several years ago, to walk among the masses unnoticed.

"Yeah, you've alluded to this before, Lardy. I assumed it was when you were after Mordra a while back."

Lardy frowned a moment at the memory. "Yes, it was," he replied. "Back in our first year, after Mordra killed LeeLee and escaped from custody, I hung out in disguise in a lot of dives all over the U.P. and established underworld contacts in hope of finding out where she'd disappeared her. Years passed with nothing ever turning up, but I kept touch with all those contacts."

"Then, years later, as you know, Mordra popped back up and stole my powers before nearly destroying Legion World. She escaped capture again, but this time my contacts were able to follow some breadcrumbs that suggested she was in the Dark Oval, as I'd long suspected."

"That's when you left us," Cobalt pointed out.

"Yes, it was," Lardy admitted.

"You know something, Lardy?" Cobalt said in exasperation at the memory of the pain he felt when he found Lardy's letter explaining he had gone after Mordra. "I would have gladly gone with you! It really hurt that you didn't let me come along!"

Lardy shook his head. "I know...I know, Des. But she had hurt me in a very personal way--twice. I was in a bad way. I knew, even then, that I was gonna kill her. I couldn't make you an accomplice to that..."

"Well, that happened anyway, didn't it?" Cobalt asserted.

"Yeah, it did. But that was never my intention."

"I was determined to find you, Lardy, and I did. But there's no sense in rehashing that crap. We're way past that."

"Yeah, we've moved on to a whole 'nother level of war crimes since then."

Both chuckled, though Cobalt's was more uneasy with the Dominion affair still weighing on him.

"Anyway," Lardy said continuing his original thought, "after I left Legion World, I got one of my contacts to get me a job aboard a smuggling vessel as a laborer. They were actually smuggling some fissionable material for nega-bombs."

"Nega-bombs?!?!" Cobalt gasped. "You should have busted them and found some other way!"

"Shhh!" Lardy said looking around sheepishly. "It's okay...I secretly rendered the material inert with some of the ship's safety protocols. It all ended up being useless for them. I was never that far-gone!"

"That's a relief," Cobalt sighed.

"Anyhow, the ship brought me here on Haven. Once off the ship, I spent months blending in with the local scum finding out all I could about where Mordra was. Eventually, I traced her to Hrykosia, hitched a ride with a group of mercs to one of the Hrykosian outposts and eventually met up with Huldnaf, an underboss with Hrykosia's government-sponsored organized crime cartels."

"Huldnaf. That was Kalla's old lover," Cobalt recalled from the files.

"Yes," Lardy affirmed, "he was a good, trusting guy, actually. By then, Morda and Damyen Hrykos knew what I was up to and manipulated Huldnaf to bring me closer. They killed him for his service." He paused for a moment in reflection of all the mistakes he made.

Finally, he continued. "But while I was on Haven, I met a lot of G.E.M. They're good people, Des. Conquered peoples of all the five powers conscripted to fight on the front lines, so that their worlds will be spared from total destruction. You know what they do to subjected worlds that rebel or refuse to fall in line?"

Cobalt shuddered, hoping that his hunch wasn't right. "What happens to them, Lardy?"

"They feed those worlds to the Hive, Des."

Both of their faces darkened as the enormity of the task in front of them weighed heavily.

"Come on, Lardy," Cobalt finally said. "Let's find those supplies we're going to need."

"Over there," Lardy said, pointing. "That's our best bet."

The two entered the shop and did their best to not look as if the weight of the galaxy were on their shoulders.

[ October 15, 2011, 05:19 PM: Message edited by: Lard Lad ]
 

---

Posted by Helena Handbasket on :
 
Elysia,
The Dark Oval

The eight members of the Fellowship bound for Earth-4 had departed Hrykosia aboard Kalla Hrykos’s royal yacht three days prior but had a stop to Hrykosia’s most favored colony as part of its diplomatic tour.

Helena Handbasket was nearly overcome with emotion at the sight of this, her home planet, which her people had always known as "Elysia" over their official recorded history. She now looked at it with new eyes as Kalla had enlightened her of the history that had been erased by their conquerors. On Hrykosia she immersed herself in files Kalla had provided her as much as possible, barely getting any sleep because she couldn’t bear to stop looking over them.

When the yacht landed, all of the Fellowship debarked disguised in Hrykosian diplomatic robes with a few needing more extensive holographic disguises. Helena lingered for a moment with Kalla inside as Lon waited patiently for Kalla at the foot of the ramp.

Kalla held out some credentials to her. "You will need these to gain access to where you want to go." After Helena took them, Kalla handed her an Omnicom. "This has everything else you’ll need in it. Good luck to you."

"Trust me...I’ll need it," Helena replied. Despite herself, Helena had found herself softening her attitude toward this woman she had hated so completely. She didn’t entirely trust her yet, but Kalla had undeniably given Helena a priceless gift that no one else could have given her. Kalla smiled and started down the ramp. As she descended, Helena yelled, "Kalla...thank you."

Kalla turned, smiled again, then winked at Helena before joining her lover.

Helena lingered for a moment. "Well," she said quietly to herself, "here goes nothing." And she exited the yacht.


An hour later, Corporal Horatio Handbasket sat in his quarters going over G.E.M. orders for the Elysian contingent’s incursion into its designated United Planets sector. Try as he might, the Corporal felt their orders were simply bad strategy. What is the purpose of blockading that particular sector’s border with the Khunds? he thought. Do they think the Khunds are going to help the U.P. there? The Khunds have committed so many resources toward occupying Dominion space and defending any potential Oval retaliation that I hardly think so! It’s almost as if the Hrykosians WANT us to be ineffective! Is it--

Suddenly, his contemplations are halted by a large knife being pressed against his throat by an unseen assailant grappling his head from behind.

"Don’t try anything, Hor, or I’ll sever your windpipe," his assailant ordered in a whispered voice uttered directly and heatedly into his ear. "Nod if you understand."

Horatio barely managed a slight nod with his head grasped so firmly.

"Good," the voice urged, "now, disarm yourself and toss your weapons across the room."

Horatio, hands shaking, removed his sidearm.

"Stop playing games, Hor. ALL of them!"

Slowly and methodically, Horatio removed various hidden blades and sidearms from their hiding places in his fatigues and then removed the weapons from his desk at his assailant’s urging and tossed all to the far side of the room.

Satisfied, the assailant loosened the grip slightly and said, "I’m here to talk, Hor, but I knew you would try to kill me on sight." Horatio heard a humming. "That’s the sound of a powerful weapon built into my arm that can spray you all over these quarters, so I wouldn’t try anything funny. I’m about to let you go, so we can have that talk."

A moment later the knife and the vice-like arms were released from his throat and head. Horatio spun around and saw..."Hel?"

"That’s right, Hor," answered Helena Handbasket, "it’s your dear sister."

"Traitor!" Horatio yelled and nearly charged her before the sight of her cannon arm reminded him of her threat. Face red and expression seething with rage, he shouted, "the dishonor you have brought to our family by turning against Hrykosia and the General Elite Militia is unfathomable! How dare you return here!"

"I return, Hor, as a guest of our sovereign ruler, Kalla Hrykos!"

Horatio flinched slightly as she tossed him the credentials Kalla had given her. He examined them and knew immediately that these were not fakes. All of the security protocols were completely up-to-date. "You...must have deceived her!"

"No, I did not. I’m a member of her honored entourage, and she is here to grant me amnesty as a small addition to a much more significant agenda." Her faced lost none of its hardness as she asked, "How’s mother?"

"How do you THINK she is, Hel? Her daughter sided with the enemy in our great holy war with the Legion World Dragon! You dishonored our family’s proud history of military service and specifically our beloved father who gave his life for same when we were just children!"

"I never wanted to be a soldier, Hor! Our mother was so in love with the idea of being part of a great military tradition that she was obsessed with making us follow in father’s footsteps, so she could reclaim the glory she lost when he died!"

"And what did you do?" he bellowed. "You threw it all away! And not only for yourself--I was a Commander just as you were--then they busted me all the way down to private because of what you did! And that was only after they interrogated and tortured me so much that they were satisfied that I wasn’t also a traitor! I had to scratch and claw my way back up these past several years and have still only made it to the rank of Corporal!"

She bowed her head slightly. "I don’t regret what I did, Hor, but I never meant to get you hurt in the process."

"Well, you most certainly did! Mother lost our family house and has been doing work as a seamstress to keep a roof over her head! She--!"

"Horatio, stop! My sympathy for her is nonexistent. Have you forgotten how viciously she beat us as children over the years after father died?"

"She did what she had to to mould us into adults worthy of the family tradition without our father around."

"Father was a kind man," Helena said in exasperation. "He told us over and over again that he wanted something better for his children than death or injury on a battlefield. Surely, you remember this?"

"I..." Horatio couldn’t continue and just bowed his head.

Helena drew closer and put each of her arms on Horatio’s shoulders, retracting the cannon arm back into its regular state. "Listen, I know there’s no way to hash things out in the short time I have here with you, but I’ve learned many things about our heritage that I want to share with you. Our planet is about to be freed, Horatio!"

"Freed?" Horatio said as if he’d never heard the word before. "Why would Elysia ever want to be apart from Mother Hrykosia?"

Helena wept a few tears. "Because 'Elysia' didn’t exist until about three hundred years ago, Hor! This planet of ours was known as 'Lubahæfen' before the Hrykosians conquered it. Our people had abolished all war for over a millenium prior to that! 'Mother Hrykosia' wiped out everything that was unique in our culture, all of our history, our surnames, our language, all of our art..." She pulled out the Omnicom she’d brought with her and handed it to him.

"What are these pictures? I’ve never seen them before."

"These are paintings by one of Lubahæfen’s most renowned artists, Rafatæl! Many of them hang in Hrykosia’s museums and government buildings as evidence of their spoils. But no one from Elysia knows they exist or has even been allowed to see them! That Omnicom contains comprehensive data on our true history, our art, our music...everything they erased from us!" She wept openly just thinking of all she'd seen already and how deeply it affected her.

Not knowing how to comprehend all of this, Horatio simply managed, "how...?"

"Kalla Hrykos gave it to me, Hor. She’s giving this to ALL of our people--it’s why she’s here! We may never truly be the people we were again, but at least we will finally know!" She embraced him as he stood limply in shock. "I...I just wanted to give you this, so you would be among the first. No matter what else happens or has happened, I will always love you, my brother." She broke the embrace. "If I never see you again, then this is goodbye."

She turned around and headed for the door.

"Wait!" he yelled behind her. "Where are you going?"

She turned for a moment, the door ajar, and smiled at him lightly. "I’m going to fight one more time, so that Lubahæfen’s freedom will not be short-lived."

Then, Helena exited and closed the door.

Horatio stared at the closed door for a long, long moment. Then, his eyes looked down at the Omnicom and all the wonders it contained.
 

---

Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
 
Haven,
The Dark Oval

“That will about do it,” said Lard Lad to Cobalt, as he reached into his cloak to grab several copper pieces and then pay the clerk. The clerk hungrily accepted the coins and handed Lard Lad a bundle of supplies that Lard Lad and Cobalt Kid had picked up at this tent. Lard Lad had previously told Cobalt that on Haven there were traditional super-stores as in the United Planets, but there were also many neighborhoods full of street merchants with supplies just as good and at half the price. They also enjoyed being paid in actual coinage rather than credits, which meant no paper trail for either seller or buyer.

“That was a smart call on the rope,” said Cobalt nodding. “You never know when you might need some.”

“So back to the ship? I know Tempest is still around here somewhere, but Ibby and Peebs are probably back by now.” Lardy’s thoughts lingered on Tempest for a moment and how much still remained unsaid between them.

“No,” said Cobalt. “Now I can give you probably the only real surprise I have left.” He had a wicked smile that showed Lardy that for these few moments he was actually happy. As much as Lardy was weary of being left out of the loop on anything further, he did like that his friend was happy for a moment. “Follow me,” added Cobalt, and they started walking through several small streets and alleyways.

Since the Breaking of the Fellowship, Cobalt had a heavy heart. He did not say it, but he was torn inside and questioning whether he’d done the right thing. Truthfully he believed he had, and that it was necessary. But that didn’t lessen the guilt. His bitter farewell with Lolita hurt, as did the angry vibes he felt from Princess Crujectra via their telepathic link.

Lard Lad had picked up on it immediately and the two had basically been together the entire time since. Cobalt was leaning on Lard Lad, and he knew it—and he was thankful for it. The two had famously been at odds a few times before but there was no doubt they were best friends. Cobalt knew Lardy would understand without having to discuss the details of it, and Lardy lent Cobalt a quiet strength that helped ease is inner turmoil so they could focus on the task at hand. After all these years a lot was no longer vocalized between them but that didn’t mean it was unsaid.

“Here,” said Cobalt, as they found a small café that looked somewhat dilapidated.

“You take me to the finest places,” said Lard Lad jokingly, glimpsing a stray cat walking among the tables with muzzled hair and one eye missing. The tables had a small layer of dust on them and the place smelled like gasoline.

“Two coffees,” said Cobalt to the waitress, a gangly woman that was probably around 30 years old but looked 50 years old. Cobalt sat at a table, and Lard Lad did too. They waited for a moment in silence, taking in the view of the little tucked away street corner. It was clear that not just the café but the whole neighborhood was derelict.

“Two coffees,” said the waitress, setting them down and then holding out her hand for coin.

Cobalt paid her and gave Lardy a look that almost made them both laugh. “Dibs,” joked Cobalt when she was out of earshot. Now they both really did laugh.

“Some things never change,” said a voice suddenly behind them. Cobalt smiled immediately as Lardy went to turn around. Lard Lad recognized the voice but couldn’t quite place it. He then saw who said the words and a huge smile went across his face. “Of all the gin joints in all the worlds…” said the voice.

Lard Lad got up and walked over and gave the man a tight hug. Cobalt came over and also hugged him. Lard Lad had not seen him in almost 10 whole years. It was a former member of the LMBP, oft-forgotten in a bit of irony. With them now in the middle of Haven was Goon Boy, the LMBer.
 

---

Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
 
The Tragic Tale of Goon Boy

In the year 3000, as if to christen a new millennia, an organization was formed that exemplified the highest ideals of civilization: the Legion of Message Board Posters. After the founding, the call went out and many answered. Among them in those earliest months was hero known as Goon Boy, the 8th member of the LMBP. In that first year he was a stalwart member that proved to be courageous, loyal and light-hearted. And then one day he was gone.

Good Boy hailed from Suburbia, a planet that had hopes and aspirations to join the United Planets one day except for one small problem: the planet had been long conquered by the Dominion. Yet, when the call went out from the LMBP, his location did not stop him from joining. During the days of his youth, amidst the harsh reality of the Dominion yoke, the Dominators frequently experimented on his children on his planet, and he was among them. As he grew older, it became clear that the Dominators experiments had many side effects. His shoulders, arms, forearms and fists had become enlarged; their use was amplified a thousand fold by a surge of power deep within Goon Boy’s nervous system. He had immense strength and it was soon proven as he could knock out a sentient twice his size with one punch. Yet, there were other side effects: chief among them was due to the experiments, Goon Boy’s brain lost its ability to make new memories. His short-term memory function was irrevocably damaged—this “ability” meant he could totally forget something told him within 10 minutes. Occasionally he did remember things with no rhyme or reason to explain why that was; his memory abilities remained a mystery to all and he could never remember to do something about.

Something must have stirred deep within him when new of the Legion reached the Dominion, however, because somehow someway he was able to leave the confines of the great empire and journey through the United Planets to Earth and join the Legionnaires. In his youth he strength was the envy of his peers and so they called him ‘Goon Boy’ as a slur to insult his ability to make new memories, believing it left as an utter dolt. He had forgotten that torment but not the name, and so when he was asked to chose a codename, that’s what he chose. Immediately, his brethren in the LMB loved him.

In those earliest days of the Legion, it was full of great adventures and one long party. Friendships and camaraderie were the most important thing, and they all thought Goon Boy, like all the rest of them, would be a major part of the group for all of its days. Goon Boy was the campaign manager for Lard Lad when he was elected the first leader of the LMBP. He was always among those first to compliment Beagle Boy for the many meals he’d cook for them during the meetings. And like so many of them, he loved to laugh at jokes and tell his own.

Beyond that, in secret, he also helped found an important part of the LMB: with Cobalt Kid and Lash Lad, he helped form the Espionage Squad. The first mission on Planet Cancun is well known with the three emerging to make the Espionage Squad an official part of the LMB and Cobalt the leader of the Espionage Squad for life. But the many subsequent missions remain a mystery in Legion lore, stricken from the record books. When the noble Faraway Lad joined the LMB at the close of its first year and took an interest in officially training the espionage squad in how to truly be experts in spy games, Goon Boy was one of the many students he took on.

Throughout this time, however, Goon Boy often forgot things. He forgot where he was, or what the mission was, or why they were being attacked. It had become a recurring scenario that at first was alarming but then became amusing. When it happened mid-battle, the LMBers would laugh heartily and sometimes it would actually ease the tension they felt. Never did they suspect that everything could be forgotten. And so when the day came that everything was, it stung bitterly.

One day, at the start of the LMB’s second year, Goon Boy forgot it all. He forgot the LMB, he forgot the United Planets and he forgot all the missions, and adventures, and laughs, and friendships he’d created. His memory once more betrayed him—and he was lost.

He was truly lost too; he disappeared from Earth and though the LMB searched for him for many long months—he never turned up. Some suspected he went back to the Dominion where they could never find him and some suspected maybe it was a secret espionage mission and he’d turn up. No one dared to assume the worst. After months the search began to fade and concern turned into grief and grief turned into nostalgia. By then it was a different LMB.

In the LMB’s third year, something odd happened: Goon Boy returned! For the briefest of moments, all his memories had returned. No one know how or why but it happened. He journeyed to the LMB and was reunited his friends. They were overjoyed and above all else, just glad he was alive and okay. They had a mission together like old times, laughing and smiling while fittingly, Goon Boy saved the day. And at the mission’s end, Goon Boy told them he feared it would happen again and that this would have to be their parting. That he loved them and would miss them and when he could remember things, it would be of them.

And they didn’t see him again for many, many years.

Time went on, and things changed. The LMB went to Legion World and grew and changed and many new faces came and many of those new faces went. Yet the LMB continued prosper even when the United Planets did not. Many LMBers never met Goon Boy and many even forgot.

…But the true story of those years was quite different.

Upon the creation of the Office of Security by Cobalt Kid and Space Ranger, Cobalt Kid transitioned his old role of Espionage Leader of the LMB to Security Chief of Legion World. He had not yet grown cold or calculating though he was on that road. Faraway Lad stepped in as Ambassador of Legion World, and the two worked with Cobalt’s other Triumvirs to support the United Planets military machine. Between them all, Legion World grew in increasing importance in the United Planets. Cobalt and Faraway knew it was time to extend the LMB’s reach beyond Legion World and into the United Planets political machine. But not overtly, as they many doing that already such as Princess Crujectra. They would do subvertly by extending their agents reach throughout known space.

Among the very first Cobalt turned to was his old friend and colleague, Goon Boy. Legion World had many geniuses in its capital city by then and he asked for their help and received it. A device was created that solved Goon Boy’s memory problem and restored it once and for all. It was mechanical and so Goon Boy had to rely on it, but at least his memories were returned. When Cobalt found him in the Dominion and restored his memories, he was forced to make an awful decision: invite Goon Boy back to Legion World as a member of the LMB which he knew was what his friend wanted most, or ask of him a great sacrifice: to work in the shadows as his agent in the Dark Oval.

Cobalt counted on something else too: the device restored all his memories, even the bad ones. The ones from his youth when the Dominators tortured and abused his kin and countrymen. Cobalt hated the Dominators; Goon Boy hated them more than even Cobalt. With a heavy heart, Goon Boy accepted the offer, and once more became a secret member of the LMB’s Espionage Sqaud.

For seven long years, Goon Boy has served as a spy in the Dark Oval for Cobalt Kid and Faraway Lad. He served the Office of Security, and when Cobalt left, he served Cobalt and Faraway as part of the Espionage Squad clause of the LMB. No one knew of his service beyond those two; no one had ever thanked him; no one had ever known what he’d given up.

But at least he remembered. And to him, that meant something.
 

---

Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
 
The worst thing about waiting is not knowing whether there really is something to wait for.

Life on Legion World continued as it always had. Yet, for a very few people, the clouds of doubt were starting to creep in.

One could be forgiven for thinking that the biggest burdens of war are placed on those who man the front lines. Those who slip into enemy territory and risk their lives in combat.

Yet it is equally hard on those left behind.

That's what Invisible Brainiac's lover was thinking right now.

The night before he'd left, he hadn't been his usual impish, flirtatious self. It should have been a warning; IB couldn't resist making puns and quips. The first time they'd met, IB had knocked a glass of water right into his lover's lap. Whipping out a towel, he'd immediately started mopping up. With a straight face, he'd said, "Whoa. I'm sorry for making you so wet."

Ordinarily, that would have been met with a slap. Yet IB said it with just the right mix of innocence and slyness that one couldn't tell which interpretation to use.

It had been too, too long. "I should have asked him," IB's lover thought. But no. They'd gone out a few times, but it was too soon to ask whether it was something more.

Which was worse? That IB was risking his life in an unexplored place, with only a handful of allies and an unknown enemy whose capabilities were unknown even to him. Or was it the not knowing.

Oh, he hadn't said he was going to the Dominion... but it was obvious now, knowing the events the LMBP was involved in.

It had been weeks since IB's last transmission. He would use his fascinating light powers to send a message straight to the intended recipient. Purely visual, of course - IB would write his message down, "capture" an image of him holding the note, and send it as a hologram. Like one of those ancient stories where Daxamites could photograph light rays.

He was probably out of range by now. Or he didn't dare risk sending anything, both to protect the secrecy of the mission and to protect his loved ones. The less they knew, the better.

"I just wished I knew..." with a pang of guilt, IB's lover realized - what was more important? Knowing how IB was... or knowing whether IB felt the same way?

Up ahead, a shooting star streaked across the night sky.

IB's lover stared wistfully, remembering that IB had looked just like that when he'd flown off to who knows where. His last words were, accompanied by a wink, were, "Don't worry, doll. I'll be fine. I know you'd miss me too much."

He was right, of course.

Damn him.

[ October 19, 2011, 10:49 PM: Message edited by: Invisible Brainiac ]
 

---

Posted by Dev - Em on :
 
Daroon

Dev screamed again as he hit the ground. He had felt something crack in his left thigh. The red skies had pretty much dissipated again, but his strength was not back to full again.

Loser smiled wearily as he helped him up. "You okay?"

"I'm not sure anymore," Dev said so only Loser could hear him. "I should be stronger by now, but this pace is taking it's toll."

Loser nodded. He too had not slept in the three days since the King and Queen had died and the Hive made another surge towards where they had made their camp. "We're all a bit thin right now Dev," he said as they looked back toward where the others were.

Dev laughed a little. "I just hope what we did helped them."

Loser shrugged, and they both headed back to the ship that had brought Loser to the far side of the Hive army.

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

Kar Em flew in a tight arc and grabbed Faraway with about half a second to spare as the ground went out from underneath him.

A smile formed on Kar Em's face as the bugs were swallowed up in a huge cave in.

Faraway let a small smile cross his face as well. "The boys did it."

"That they did," Kar said, "are you ready?"

"I hope so."

Kar flew as fast as we could. He had recovered a bit better than his son due to his full Daxamite background.

They headed towards a decent sized hill. It was big enough that some of the locals called it a mountain.

Faraway concentrated and a portion of it vanished and appeared above the area that had just caved in.

There were screeches coming from the bugs that were crushed by the falling debris, as the portion of dirt and rock that Faraway was able to move came crashing down on top of them.

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

A loud cheer went up through the ranks of Queen Alyson's guard.

"Be prepared for their arrival," she said firmly.

Loser Lad set the ship down and he helped Dev Em walk out.

"He needs rest," he mouthed to the Queen as he helped Dev over to her.

"Thank you Bill," she said and smiled, "but so do you."

They were both handed flasks of water, which they drank.

Loser noticed it right away. The tired feeling was worse than ever. He grinned a little as two guards caught him and Dev and placed them on stretchers to be taken to the medical tent for observation.

Kar Em landed with Faraway and nodded approvingly. "They're of no use to anyone in their current state."

Faraway looked at him, and lifted his left eyebrow.

"Don't worry old friend, none for you...wouldn't do any good anyway. Too sprockin stubborn."

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

The next morning, Fes Te walked over to Kar Em, who was getting reports of the bugs movements throughout the night.

Kar Em looked up at him and motioned for him to come forward.

"I'm sorry sir, I just wish to know why you have had me sitting doing nothing while the rest of you push yourselves to unnatural limits."

Kar laughed his biggest booming laugh. "Fes, my young friend," he said getting up and putting his arm around Fes' shoulder, "your time is almost here."

"I don't understand? My time for what?"

"To save them," he said and waved his hand towards the cruiser that Loser had been flying around. Entering the cruiser were the the most gravely wounded of the Daroon people, as well as several children that they had managed to find.

"You want me to fly a ship?"

Loser Lad walked up to them, "No, that's my job. You get to protect us."

"Where are we going?"

"Xyler 7, the planet that we are orbiting," Kar Em said. "We're hoping that they will be able to help us once Loser and yourself are able to get word to them about what is happening here. We believe they know something has happened...just not the extent of what is transpiring."

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

A few hours later, Loser poloted the ship into the atmosphere, and Fes Te flew next to him.

Dev Em and Kar Em took to the skies as well and engaged any bugs that tried to attack from below.

A short while later, they returned to the encampment and verified that the cruiser had gotten off safely and was on its way.
 

---

Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
 
Haven,
The Dark Oval

In the midst of a planet filled with despair, three old friends enjoyed each other’s company and some laughs, soaking up the chance to be together again after many, many years. “I still can’t believe it’s you,” said Lard Lad with a big smile. “I mean, I know Cobie has spies throughout the Dark Oval, but I also have my own set of contacts too. I thought if we ended up meeting someone I knew, or even knew of, I wouldn’t be too surprised.”

“Glad to hear it, Lardy,” said Goon Boy with a smile. He picked up the large coffee cup in front of him and took a deep gulp of boiling hot coffee. His massive forearm covered his entire face as he did so. Setting it down, he looked up from his trademark cap. “Surprised we aren’t somewhere drinking something stronger,” he said with a grin. Clearly, he remembered the hard partying days of the early LMB.

Cobalt looked at Lardy, perhaps a bit too quickly, he realized, but Lardy took the comment in stride. “I don’t drink alcohol anymore, Goonie,” he said softly but matter-of-factly.

Goon Boy took the hint. “Got it. Probably would taste as watered down as this coffee does anyway,” he added, looking around at the dilapidated café they were sitting in. And trust me, this café is splendid compared to what we’re going to be seeing soon enough. If you two have never been to the Hive before…consider yourselves lucky.”

For a moment, the enormity of what was in store for the three of them hung over their heads. Goon Boy broke the tension: “So tell me about Lash. And Cru. And Beagz. And Seahorse. All of them!” he said with a laugh.

“Lash is Lash,” said Lardy with a smile, as he began to tell his friends.

Cobalt also smiled but stood up. “I’ve had the luxury of talking to Goonie a bunch of times over the years, but you two old friends have not. I’m going to give you a moment to catch up, while I take care of any loose ends we’ve got so we can get the hell out of here.”

“Sounds good,” said Goon Boy.

“Just be careful,” said Lard Lad, momentarily concerned that Cobalt was still not quite in the right mindset to be wandering off on his own. “We’ll see you back at the ship.”

Cobalt nodded and patted them both on the shoulder. Seeing Goon Boy and Lard Lad laughing together made him feel good and after he walked a few paces he could hear them both roaring with laughter again. It sounded like they were reminiscing about when Lard Lad was elected the very first LMB leader, and Goon Boy acted as his campaign manager.

Once out of earshot, Cobalt turned down an alley way. Alone, he stopped walking and leaned his hand against the stone building to his side and put his other hand to his face, rubbing the bridge of his nose and his eyes. He felt so weary…so heavy right now. He didn’t want to spoil the chance for Lardy to see Goon Boy again and figured he wasn’t good company at the moment. He tried to focus on the mission at hand but that made things all the more overwhelming. Lolita’s words at their parting rung in his ears still and he tried to block them out. He tried once more to reach out with his telepathic link to find Princess Crujectra, hoping for some kind of reassurance but all he received was a negative vibe from her—anger at his recent actions. And anger he deserved.

He sighed deeply and turned to keep walking. And suddenly all of those emotions slipped away and his heart turned cold. Before him was a lone Dominator with a big, wicked toothy smile, waiting for him to make eye contact. “The second your magnetism makes even the briefest of movements in the metals around me, Cobaltus, I will fry your brains just like I did your girlfriend all those years ago.” His words were clear and did not have the typical Dominator slither sound to it. And they also contained a smugness to it.

Outcaste. The mad Dominator genius who turned himself into an Unkillable and in the process had his rank and privileges stripped from him because he was no longer pure. And more specifically, the Dominator who essentially killed Cobalt Kid’s girlfriend Debauchery Damsel many years ago. In his hand was the “Brain Defiler” the not so subtly named device that could strip a brain of all thought and life while leaving the body completely intact for experimentation. It was aimed directly at Cobalt Kid.

Anger flared up deep within Cobalt Kid and his usual self-control over his emotions seemed to be slipping away—he was already too emotionally battered to stop them. He hated the Dominators with all his heart but out of them all, he hated Outcaste the most. He tried to smile but it came off as a vicious, ugly look. “I told you all I’d have my revenge one day, and look at your Dominion now,” said Cobalt, knowing full well Outcaste had him dead to rights.

“Not my Dominion Cobaltus,” said the Dominator. “When they broke that bond, they broke it forever. I say let them all burn under the Khundish torch.” Outcaste was very tall for a Domanitor now, standing eight and half feet. His body was well muscled and lean showcasing the Unkillable within. But his face still had that inquisitive, scientist look, like a shark biting something to see how it tastes rather than killing it at once. Where once there was a large red disk on his forehead, there was only now a large red “X” branded on. “It’s been over 10 years but I always knew I’d see you again.”

“I saw you not that long ago, on Xom,” said Cobalt. “I decided you weren’t worth my time. Not even worth killing.”

Outcaste continued to look at Cobalt, analyzing him. “Your mistake, then. You’re awfully far into the Dark Oval, I’ll give you that. I wonder who even knows you’re here? Certainly not alone…you Legionnaires always travel in packs. Quite a prize for your heads, I’m sure.”

Cobalt was using his magnetism to search for the metals on Outcaste’s person, subtly making sure Outcaste could not sense him doing so. One twitch of the finger and he was done for. He found them in his boots and among the pouches on his belt but not elsewhere. Even his legendary brain-defiler was made of plants somehow, which puzzled Cobalt, though he didn’t have time to think about it.

“What was her name?” asked Outcaste cruelly. “I know your United Planets media animals called her some kind of space slut or something like that, but surely you called her something a little sweeter? She was dear to you, wasn’t sure? She died for you, so I certainly hope so.”

“Her name was Erika,” said Cobalt, who seething anger was now turning into a cold calm. Cobalt could feel a thirst deep within him for blood—everything else was fading from view and all he knew was he wanted to kill Outcaste right here. He was silent for a moment, and then spoke. “You and I have unfinished business.”

Several things happened next, so quickly that a sentient eye would be unable to tell: Outcaste fired, knowing Cobalt was planning an attack and it was coming now. Cobalt pulled metal from the trash along the alleyways towards him and shaped it into a makeshift shield, knowing his only way out of this alive was a defensive position; the brain-defiler ripped into the makeshift shield destroying it and moving on, but it redirected just slightly into the alley wall, where it dissipated. Cobalt rolled to the side, ready to rise up and fight to the death, as Outcaste recovered from the shock of his miss and reloaded his gun. Yet while all this happened, from the shadows came a bolt of lightning and electricity with incredible force, ripping into Outcaste’s back to knock him forward into the wall, the brain-defiler out of his hand and sear his uniform and unkillable flesh along his back, ass and legs. The pain was immediate and horrific and he passed out. Right after, his unkillable healing factor kicked in and he began to recover, albeit, unconscious.

Tempest stood revealed in the shadows, stepping forward majestically, her robes blowing in the wind and her hair falling over her shoulders. Cobalt looked up, processing what happened and just like he had many years earlier when he first saw the High Priestess Viviane, he thought to himself she’s a goddess. “Someone has to watch your back,” she said, “since you readily opened it up to attack,” she added, raising an eyebrow.

He tried to smile but again couldn’t force to façade; instead he was just genuine in his thanks. “Thank you,” he breathed deep. The realization that he was saved seemed to take the anger out of him for the moment but he turned back to Outcaste, he laid their unconscious. He walked over, first to the body and then to the gun. He picked it up and stared at it for a second as Tempest watched him, wondering what he thought about as he stared at it. He suddenly ripped it to pieces, using his magnetism to pull little debris into sharpened edges and cut it up. It fell across the alleyway, and its powersource rolled into a gutter.

He now turned to Outcaste and saw Tempest casting another spell on him. “Don’t,” he said, his thirst for his own revenge taking over.

“Do not presume to give me orders, Cobaltus,” she said. “I know what you intend. You want to kill this vile monster and I cannot blame you for that. But to do so now would be murder—for surely he can offer no resistance.”

Cobalt motioned to speak but held his tongue.

“My spell will erase his memory of these past minutes and he’ll be left wonder what happened. He must not be able to disrupt our quest. But I cannot let you kill him; not because I care what happens to him, or even because of the standards of the LMB. But because if we’re going to be on this quest together and have many light years to travel still, I cannot let you destroy yourself yet.”

In an instant, the spell was cast and a red aura encompassed Outcaste and then faded. Cobalt stood there, staring at the unconscious unkillable body. He felt different emotions twisting up inside of him as he wondered what to do next. He ached to destroy this monster once and for all—what if he did not see him again for ten more years? But he knew he had to focus on the quest and his friends. And more, he knew in his heart he wouldn’t have thought about murder in the old days.

“Take my hand and come,” said Tempest, offering out a beautiful gloved hand to him. She spoke firmly but there was a softness to it.

He nodded and took it, and they began to walk back to the ship. Cobalt said nothing, as if in a daze, only glad Tempest was by his side.
 

---

Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
 
Fools anticipate the heat of battle; the wise anticipate surviving one.

"Yeow!"

IB's yell sounded in the cabin of their ship. Power Boy had gotten another shot in, and his side was smarting.

He grit his teeth and crouched down, watching warily as Power Boy circled him, his face blank.

Power Boy usually wore a small half-smile, like he was remembering something amusing. In battle, that smile sometimes turned into a grin.

Power Boy was taking their training seriously, though. IB supposed he should be proud; he had landed his share of blows on Power Boy and had even ripped a hole in his shirt. But the blows he was taking sure made it hard to appreciate his improvement.

IB stood up so that he could shift his position more easily. He held out the quarterstaff he was training with in a defensive posture. Power Boy was fast, and...

Power Boy leaped forward.

IB quickly threw himself backward while he swung his staff with his left hand. As expected, Power Boy dodged it easily. But IB was prepared; he brought up his right hand and let out a burst of light.

Power Boy was prepared too; he simply closed his eyes and swung again.

IB cursed and bent his knees so Power Boy's punch would miss. He brought up his staff again and used it to trip Power Boy. The young god caught his balance right away though, and pivoted to keep his momentum going.

His punch connected with IB's rib cage, and the young LMBer shattered.

"What..." Power Boy uttered, before collecting himself. Of course. IB's light powers allowed him to create holograms. Cursing, he quickly spun around.

Too late though. IB, moving at light speed, quickly brought his knee up into Power Boy's stomach. Using the momentum from the blow, he tossed Power Boy over his shoulder, causing the older man to land in a corner.

Power Boy was unhurt, of course, but that was enough of a victory for IB. Panting, he sank to his knees. "I... *huff* *huff* finally... got you." He wiped the sweat from his brow. "Man! It's been a while since I had to work so hard to evade an opponent."

Power Boy held out his hand, and IB took it, pulling himself up. "You are getting much better. I used to look down on those who specialized in evasion, but I can see its benefits." Power Boy paused to drink some water. "You actually made me break a sweat. Few can claim that."

IB smiled, leaning on his staff. "Thank grife I'm a decently fast learner, huh?"

"More than fast. Great going, IB!"

The two turned to see Cobalt Kid, Lard Lad, Tempest and another man stride into the room. IB's eyebrow raised. Lardy had a big grin, his arm around the newcomer; that guy also had an arm around Lardy's shoulder. He looked familiar somehow... Tempest looked calm and regal, as always. Cobie... he was smiling, but there was something. His smile wasn't quite as wide as it usually would be.

That was rare.

"Man, you've really gotten better, huh kid?" Lardy clapped him on the shoulder. His companion nodded, "Those were some good moves, alright." He reached out a hand to shake IB's. "Name's Goon Boy. I'm an old member of the LMB."

IB's mouth dropped open in recognition. "I've heard of you from the files! Wow... it's good to meet you, sir."

Goon Boy and Lardy both raised eyebrows. IB blushed a bit. "I know you were one of the early LMBers. It's always a rush meeting one of you for the first time. And besides, I haven't known you as long as Lardy and Cobie here - so I haven't lost any respect for you yet."

Both Lardy and Goon Boy laughed at that, and Goon Boy gave IB a high five. "You and I are gonna get along, kid."

"Well, perhaps we can catch up over dinner then?" said Tempest. "We leave Haven tomorrow, so I think we should prepare ourselves well. Besides, we have much to talk about." Everyone nodded; you didn't argue with that logic. Or with someone like Tempest, for that matter.

As Power Boy came forward to introduce himself, IB ducked to the side, towards Cobie. "Des? Are you okay? Did you lose a bet with Lardy as to who'd get more phone numbers at the bar?"

Cobie smiled, but it was slower than usual in coming. "I actually did - I told him I'd only win by 10 numbers, and got 23 more. I didn't want him to feel bad, though."

IB paused. Cobie probably didn't want to worry the rest of them, but he could use a friend. "Glad you're not letting the mission affect your mojo then. But... if you ever feel like venting, you know I'll listen."

"Thanks, pal. But don't worry about it. I can stay strong until we bring the Dark Oval down, at least."

"All right, as long as you remember that we'll all follow you even if you do feel like you need to stop being a leader for a while."

Cobie smiled in understanding, and IB smiled back.

"Let's head over to dinner, why don't we?" The two walked to the dining area to join in the booming laughter that was ringing.
 

---

Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
 
"We all set?" Lardy called out.

One by one, the LMBers yelled assent as they finished their tasks. One by one, they gathered near the cockpit for takeoff.

"Man, I can't wait to get off this place." IB yawned . "It's way too industrial. Give me beautiful reefs or mountains any day." He broke off as a fly buzzed around his ear. "Ugh, and the only wildlife here are pests like flies and rats!" He muttered as he swatted the air.

Missed. Hmph.

"You might like the Hive then. Caves and valleys galore, and plenty of exotic bugs who want to have you for dinner," said Cobie. "Speaking of which, let me brief you guys on the next phase..."

IB tried to listen, but he wasn't used to waking up so early. He couldn't keep from yawning again, the sound drowning out Cobie's voice. He shook his head. "Keep your head in the game, man," he thought. "The stakes just got higher."

He leaned forward and forced himself to listen intently. When the stakes were this high, you didn't goof around.

He muttered as the fly buzzed around him again. It would be nice to get off this world, but given where they were going...

He'd take the flies and the smoke any day.

A few minutes later, the Fellowship members were strapped in their seats as their ship strained to break free of Haven's gravity.

IB looked out the window, taking one last look (and one last photograph) of the swirling mist around the planet.

Sometimes the most deceptively beautiful places were also the most dangerous.

He shuddered. There was much more to come when they reached the Hive.

Beauty is one of the best disguises danger can wear.
 

---

Posted by Kalla Hrykos on :
 
Earth-4,
The Dark Oval

"Approaching orbit of Earth-4, your Majesty," Kalla’s pilot informed his liege. "We’ve received confirmation to land."

"Very good, pilot," Kalla responded, "make sure you take the exact trajectory I specified."

"Yes, your Majesty."

As the royal yacht approached the planet, Kalla marveled as it became larger on her view screen. She’s been her several times previously, but the sight of a nearly-exact duplicate of Earth but with no green visible on its land masses was simultaneously breathtaking and horrifying.

She spoke into a short range comlink that connected her to the occupants of a lone escape pod located toward the far rear of the yacht. "Alright, Rockhopper Lad, we are moments away from jettisoning your pod as we fly over the designated coordinates. Your cloaking device should activate automatically. Gods willing, you should be undetected."

In the cramped vehicle, Rocky looked around at his companions, Helena Handbasket, Shark Lad, Lolita, Time Teller Lad, Hyvvie the Wonder Beagle and Timber Wolf, and smiled. "We are as ready as we are likely to be, Madame Hrykos!"

"Then, good luck to you all." She thought of her Lon for a moment, but they’d already said their goodbyes.

"We’ve entered the atmosphere, majesty," said the pilot. "Approaching drop zone!"

Kalla watched the instruments aligning with the coordinates and spoke into the comlink, "prepare yourselves, pod crew, in...3...2...1...escape pod launching!"

From outside the aft of the yacht a hatch could be seen opening for a moment. Then, a pod was visible for a split-second before seemingly disappearing from existence. Then, the hatch closed again.

"Pod launched and cloaked successfully, Majesty!"

"Very good, pilot. Now, wipe the launch completely from the ship’s log."

"Done! And the crew report that the replacement pod has been put in place, Majesty."

Kalla smiled, "yes, it’s best to not have to explain why there’s no escape pod if the Emperor has us inspected." Her smile faded as she thought of her lover. Be careful out there, Lon… she thought.


On the planet the escape pod landed very hard. They had to use a minimum of guidance and inertial controls so as not to leave a trail. All occupants were fine but each had moderate to heavy bruises all over them. But they landed exactly where they needed to: a desolate, icy desert near a known Loser contact point.

After they all exited, Rocky activated the pod’s imploding self-destruct. Then, he activated the GPS Kalla had downloaded into his Omnicom. Getting his bearings, Rocky told the others, "quickly--this way!"

As the others scurried after their leader, Timber Wolf paused as he watched the running lights of Kalla’s yacht disappear over the horizon. "I’ll be right behind you, babe," he said to himself, "after I make sure the rest of them make contact with the resistance."

Then, he turned and caught up with the others.



Moments later, Kalla’s yacht landed in the visitors pad at the Emperor’s palace. The palace was a beautiful, towering structure seemingly made entirely of ice. Though not the first time she’d seen it, Kalla never ceased to be impressed by its beauty.

Soon, Kalla and her royal entourage were escorted to the Emperor’s great reception and dining hall where they were greeted by the Emperor and his consort Blaine Fey. Kalla and her contingent bowed, as per etiquette.

Having spent so much time recently with Rockhopper Lad, Kalla was struck by both how much Rocky and his other-dimensional double the Emperor looked alike and by how an identical being could somehow radiate as much malevolence as Rocky radiated kindness.

"Greetings, your Highness," Kalla said as she approached the royal couple, "it is good to see you again."

"Yes, it is!" the Emperor said with a laugh. "I would like you to meet someone...enter, loyal one!"

Suddenly a blur flashed past Kalla’s entourage and finally took form next to the Emperor and Blaine.

Kalla looked shocked as she recognized the man. "Dev-Em?" she said in confusion.

"Yes," the Emperor confirmed, "but not the one from this universe. He originates from the dimension from which this Earth came. In fact he helped me subjugate this planet before it was swapped to your dimension to its current place in the Dark Oval. He is my most loyal agent, and..." The Emperor grinned a sickening, scary grin. "...he has been following you for some time!"

Shocked, Kalla yelled, "What is the meaning of--!"

"The 'meaning' is that you are a traitor to the Dark Oval, Kalla Hrykos!" Blaine laughed.

Kalla’s hands started to glow with her power, but the twisted version of Dev-Em struck her sharply on the head before she could even think. She fought to stay conscious as she heard her entourage screaming.

"You’ve made a grave mistake," said the Emperor, as he leaned down over her. He turned to her assailant and said, "go! Find her friends--and kill them!" And 'Dark Dev' flew off.

The last thing Kalla heard before she finally passed out was the Emperor’s booming, hateful laughter.
 

---

Posted by Power Boy on :
 
TITUS . THE CONQUEROR
An Unknown Planet

Titus stood in a spherical room, inky violet robes hung from his shoulders. He stared out of the glass-like walls, out towards space. In the distance, a once opulent city could be seen under centuries of dust. It smelled like blood and fire.

Titus’ mind was out across space, peering into a small ship on a course for the HIVE. Not all of the ones he wanted were in this vessel. He wanted the ones who had humiliated him on HUL. These would do though. He ground his teeth as he thought of torturing them, breaking them, and either using them as his slaves or offering them to the Dark Lord.

A golden metallic android stood behind Titus. It finally spoke. ‘My Lord, everything is ready. The Top 40 of your servants are in place. ’

Titus’ mind returned to his body, and looked upon the android’s shining artificial body.

‘Thank you, Ameratsu’

Whenever he looked on the android, Titus smiled. Ameratsu had once been one of his most bitter opponents; A particularly troublesome one, because Titus was unable to dominate his artificial intelligence with telepathy. Ages ago he smashed the rest of Ameratsu’s artificial kind but, Ameratsu proved cunning and tenacious. Unable to turn Ameratsu into one of his ghouls – warrior slaves for eternity – Titus eventually developed a computer virus by using New God technology to force Ameratsu into servitude. Ameratsu retained much more of it’s personality than his ghoul slaves but, it had acted as a major domo for Titus ever since.

Ameratsu’s armored body had kept it’s shine after all these years as a slave, Titus never liked that. The light bothered his eyes but, control over one of his most implacable enemies pleased him.

Titus had to take what small pleasures he could lately. This modern era was so unlike times past. Change happened so quickly now, It was … unsettling for an immortal.

For centuries Titus had been the Dark Lord’s hand of fury. It was a beautiful relationship, the more he conquered, the more he killed, tortured, and maimed, the more power he gave to the Dark Lord and subsequently the more power the Dark Lord gave to him in return.

But in recent decades, there were many others who had grown in power … An Insect King, the Ice Emperor, and others who furthered the Dark Lord’s ends. Titus was now suddenly one of several servants. His centuries long war with the New Gods had also exhausted his resources. Titus had hoped to offer a race of immortal warriors to his Dark Lord's service but, they resisted too strongly. He was forced to hunt them to extinction.

Titus must find a way to become the Dark lord’s favored servant again, If it meant killing all of these other competitors to do it.

It was time for Titus to return to his former glory, as the Dark Lord’s general, with the universe under his boot. He would begin with this LMB.

“Ameratsu, bring me my armor, my sword, and my spear. There is blood to be spilt.”

[ October 25, 2011, 12:03 AM: Message edited by: Power Boy ]
 

---

Posted by Power Boy on :
 
SPACE BETWEEN HAVEN AND THE HIVE


Disaster Boy


Disaster Boy flew through space. He was pulled, unable to stop himself. He looked out at the stars as if behind a grey film, a passenger in his own body.

He couldn’t remember how long he had been like this. His old life becoming more of a distant memory as time passed.

Foggy images came to him as he grasped for consciousness. Leaving Legion World, getting into his time machine to travel to the future timeline where he is from, to fight the evil dictators there, which included his parents.

There was a portal as the time travel drive kicked in and … then … muscular arms reaching for him … the arms were covered with blood, no they were tattoos, that twisted and turned until the lines of the tattoos reached for him, slimy tendrils reaching into his mouth, eyes, and mind. And then a smile … Titus’ smile.

How long ago was that? What has Titus done, what has Titus made him do?

He’d been used before by villains, controlled, manipulated. In fact, it seemed like he was always being used by somebody.

One disaster after another.

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

Disaster Boy reached his destination, a forgotten planet, of a forgotten civilization. Ancient ceramic buildings stretched in every direction with winding streets.

The perfect place for an ambush.

Disaster Boy pressed a button, as tears streamed down his face.
 

---

Posted by Lolita on :
 
Earth-4,
The Dark Oval

“Bloody Liberty, it’s cold,” said Lolita as she put wrapped her arms around her chest looked off in the distance only to see nothing but flat icey desert. No matter what though, she kept moving.

“Probably should have dressed a little warmer,” said Shark Lad jokingly. She made a face at him. After all, he was used to the temperatures of the deep ocean and the cold did not bother him at all. She was in her trade mark tube top and micro-skirt with boots and while it showed off her incredibly physique, it didn’t exactly keep her warm. At least she had the trench coat on over it and that had built in microscopic fibers that kept it relatively warm.

All around them was a vast desert made of ice and snow, totally barren of life. It had made hills but even when climbing the highest; it was difficult to find anything worth seeing. Far, far ahead of them lay a great mountain path that they knew would lead to the Evil Emperor Penguin’s Palace in the Terran land known as Siberia. Back behind them was a vast desert plain that stretched further than the eye could see. The Evil Emperor Penguin had turned the once diverse and lush landscape of planet Earth, albeit in the ‘4th Universe’, into a cold tundra planet-wide.

“Keep quiet,” said a voice ahead of them. “Our voices travel far along the great plains.” Helena Handbasket led them through the ice desert, using her military tactical skills to find the best path that kept them hidden from view. They had on white clothing to blend in but on a planet full of super-beings it would not be too difficult to find them.

Their leader, Rockhopper Lad followed her with Hyvvie happily walking by his side. Time-Teller Lad also stayed close, constantly updating Rockhopper on their time table and where & when they should be to encounter the resitance. Lolita and Shark Lad followed and behind them lurked Timberwolf. Lolita checked behind them occasionally to make sure he was still there; she half expected him to take off and make sure Kalla Hrykos was alright.

They knew roughly that the Losers, the resistance force on Earth-4 had a contact point near here. Not an actual base, but some sort of bunker or hidden place to escape the cold and meet in secret. Given the proximity to the Evil Emperor Penguin, Lolita suspected this was probably the last contact point they had before reaching the Palace, unless they had one there as well. She had no idea what kind of progress they had made but she hoped they had some sort of access to the Palace already. That thought suddenly froze her with the sheer scope of what they were trying to do—liberate an entire planet—but she pushed those doubts out of her mind. She looked forward at the noble Rockhopper Lad, a prince and true hero, who walked calmly forward as if this was exactly what he was created to do. It gave her some comfort.

From what Kalla Hrykos told them, the resistance was called “The Losers”. One might think the moniker had a self-depreciating intent but that was not the case; it sprung out of a tribute to the great hero Loser Lad among Earth-4’s Society of Message Board Posters, who had passed away in earlier years. His son, Louie Banzer, had taken up the charge to lead the resistance and that further caused the name to stick. She wondered if she’d have the chance to meet this Louie. She was curious how Loser Lad could have a son that was almost Lolita’s age. Likely one of those Earth-4 anomalies. Earth-4 was the closest analogue to Earth-1 among all the parallel Earths, containing a multitude of similarities, such as each Earth having its own Loser Lad. Yet there were major differences too—the most major of them all being the Rockhopper Lad on this Earth was a horrific tyrant bent on killing them all.

They continued to walk through the snow and ice, their breaths growing hot and showing in the cold air. Their legs grew tired but the only thing to keep the cold at bay was their movement. Lolita suddenly noticed Shark Lad stop. It was almost impossible to see, but she could tell he was sniffing.

“Smell that, Furball?” he said out loud as Timberwolf moved forward.

“Yup. We ain’t alone.”

Up ahead Helena turned back to see why the line had stopped following. In that instant she realized something was wrong but by then it was too late. She rolled to her side, pulling out her sword and arming her gun-arm. A bolt of lightning flashed where she was a moment earlier. She fired a round to where the lightning came from, but suddenly another attacker came from her side.

This time, she went down fast, as Lolita looked on in shock. Her attacker moved with incredible speed but did not appear super—just proficient. He had no weapons. His costume was a mix of browns and tans and he appeared to be using some form of super kung-fu. None of his blows were lethal but he was disarming her.

More lightning blasted towards Rockhopper Lad and Time-Teller Lad as their attacker came into view: a woman who looked startlingly like the LMBer Lightning Lad. Rocky returned the volley with a blast of frozen breath as Time Teller Lad stumbled for his blaster.

Lolita turned to see Shark Lad and Timberwolf both taking off to either side of the conflict, hoping to outflank their enemies. Timberwolf disappeared from view but she hoped he was going to take out that karate kid, whoever he was. She followed Shark Lad, who ran up the side. Suddenly he was knocked back off his feet into the snow, as a huge bouncing ball came out of nowhere and was deflected backwards. She watched as the ball seemed to deflate and then amazingly turn into a person. “Stay down!” he yelled, and Lolita could see he was a young man.

Lolita struggled for her blaster, trying to move as quick as possible. From beyond their line of sight she could see several dots on Shark Lad’s chest as he rose back up, growling at the top of his lungs. She knew immediately it was the dots of a sniper-rifle. In all of the confusion, though, she could swear they were actually polka-dots. “You either miss, don’t move!” yelled the young man.

Lolita tried to fumble for her blaster but suddenly she felt a sharp blade at her throat. She didn’t even sense her attacker was on her. A hand reached over her mouth to cup it if screamed but Lolita was not screaming. The attacker’s hand was smooth and Lolita immediately knew it was a woman’s. She could tell the blade was not a sword or knife but rather a sai, one of the ancient Japanese weapons. The woman was light as a feather, and Lolita realized she was actually on her back, holding the sai to her throat; yet her grip was firm and deadly. “Tell the shark to calm down,” she said quietly, “or I’ll slit your throat.”

“Zhiya, no!” said the young man who had done all the talking. Behind him, the sniper came into view. He was dressed in full army gear with the odd mix of it all being polka-dot colored. They could hear fighting in the distance where Rockhopper Lad, Time Teller Lad, Helena and Timberwolf were. Shark Lad was breathing heavy now, on the verge of going into a rage, and they could all sense it. “Shark Lad, stop!” said the young man. “Everyone, stop! This is Shark Lad! He’s just like our own Sharky!”

“They can’t hear you, Hugh,” said the polka-dotted young man.

Shark Lad turned to them both, ready to lunge for their throats.

“Take one step,” said the woman holding the sai at Lolita’s throat, “and she dies right now.”

“Everyone stop!” yelled Hugh at the top of his lungs. “This is the LMB! They’ve come here to help us!”

Hugh’s words, though drowned out by noise all over, seemed to have a gradual calming effect. All of them, trained as they were to listen even in the heart of battle, realized what he was saying.

Shark Lad seemed to be calming down, though Lolita knew better. No one should get close less they risk being eviscerated. “Are you the Society of Message Board Posters?” said the massive LMBer at last.

Hugh’s face went into a wide smile. “We’re the Losers,” he said, putting his hand to his head in the shape of an “L”.
 

---

Posted by Lolita on :
 
After the initial confusion, Fellowship members and Losers began to move towards the center of their now ended conflict. “Hell of a way to make an introduction, kid,” said Shark Lad, still feeling the adrenaline of battle.

“I know,” said Hugh, “and I’m sorry for that. We have to be careful…we’ve been tricked before.” Hugh’s words carried a certain weight to them that told Shark Lad he’d seen some horrors that only war could bring.

“How’d you know this ain’t a trick then?” said Shark Lad.

“Because of you,” said Hugh. “The SMB have our own version of Shark Lad and from our past meetings, it’s become clear that the two Shark Lads are one of those rare occurrences where the alternate Earths match up almost exactly the same. The Faraway Lads and Cobalt Kids were the same thing. You almost can’t tell the difference, though there are some small differences. You’re so similar to him that I knew it had to be you, the LMBer.”

Lolita rubbed her throat, now feeling anger flood her face now that the adrenaline was wearing off. She was not happy at all. “I’m glad you realized that then,” she said, perhaps a bit too feisty, “since I happen to like having my head attached.”

Hugh felt embarrassed. “Sorry about that. Like I said, we can’t take any chances. I’m Hugh Taylor, by the way. Former SMB Academy member that helped form the Losers. With me is Polka-Dot Kid, a bonafide SMBer and that was Zhiya you had the pleasure to meet miss.” Lolita looked back at the other two SMBers, to take their measure. Polka-Dot Kid was dressed in full military gear with a two-handed big laser-canon in his arms and vest full of pouches and grenades; yet his entire uniform and even skin were covered in polka-dots. Beside him dressed entirely in black was a petite Asian woman, who was beautiful as she was quiet. It took Lolita a minute to realize that the woman was blind.

Before she could say anything further, they came upon the others. Evidently, they were not so willing to accept one another yet. On one side was Rockhopper Lad, Hyvvie the Wonder Beagle and Helena Handbasket, all poised for an attack. Apparently, Helena got that sword back. On the other side was the lightning-caster who looked like Lightning Lad and the super kung-fu master. In front of the lightning caster on his knees was Time Teller Lad, who was obviously a captive.

Hugh spoke up immediately and stepped between the two groups. “Val, it’s okay!” he said. “They’re here to help! This is the LMB!”

The man known as Val considered, while the girl spoke up. “Hugh, honey, I appreciate your attempts at a peaceful solution but take a look over there and tell me didn’t just find the actual Evil Emperor Penguin on a secret trip to or from his Palace? Tell me we didn’t just stumble into a chance to end this for once and all? Because I’m feeling today is my lucky day.”

“Ayla…” said Hugh, inhaling deeply as if he was about to make an argument.

“Notice someone missing?” said Lolita to Shark Lad.

“Oh shit,” said Shark Lad suddenly. Timberwolf was nowhere to be seen. That was not good.

“Furball! Er, Timberwolf—screw it, Lon! Lon! Come on out, man! Don’t do it! These guys are okay! They’re our friends!” Shark Lad had a desperation in his voice as if he knew something terrible was about to happen.

The one known as Val sensed it immediately. “Ayla, back off. Stop pointing your hands at the clock watcher. Something isn’t right.”

As chaos began to overtake them again, it was suddenly Rockhopper Lad who spoke up at last and his voice boomed out loudly. “My name is Prince Eudyptes Chrysochome of the House of Rockhopper, heir to the throne of the Pyngwyn Colonies of Planet Hyustyn. I hail from this Universe, what we call Earth-1, and you are doing me a grave disservice by confusing me with my counterpart from your universe. We have come here across many light years and through many perils to lend you aid and assistance in overthrowing my evil counterpart. And dare I hope, to also give me the chance to see the one I’ve come to love as a sister once more.”

They were all silent for a moment, and Lolita was reminded again that Rockhopper Lad was truly a Prince. When he needed to, he could speak with authority that made sentients stop and take notice.

Hugh spoke to them now. “It’s true,” he said, “Adelie told us they’d come. Some of us never believed her and some of us lost hope but she said he’d come to help. And now he’s hear.”

The woman known as Ayla lowered her hand and nodded. A half smile came to her face and she moved in front of Time Teller Lad and extended her hand. “My apologies then,” she said. “welcome to Earth, or as you call it, Earth-4. We tend to call it Hell nowadays.”

Val looked backwards to where a large hill made it hard to see. “I do hope your friend will join us, now,” he said.

Lolita looked at Shark Lad and they both prepared to yell again but they saw slowly a figure emerge. Timberwolf walked calmly towards the group and flashed a wicked smile at Val and Ayla. “Sure glad you didn’t zap my friend there again,” he said to Ayla. “I’d hate to do what I intended if you did…”

Ayla thankfully dismissed the comment.

Hugh spoke up again: “Before you are two more of number: Lightning Lass, one of the SMBers we were able to free, and Karate Kid, who is actually from your universe, which you arrogantly call Earth-1.” The last part he added with a smile to try to break the tension, and it worked, as both Shark Lad and Timberwolf flashed a grin.

“You are all from my universe?” said Val, repeating what he just learned. “Tell me, if you are Legionnaires, how is my old friend Lard Lad? Well, I hope?”

“We hope too,” said Helena, answering for the others. “He’s playing his part in all of this as we speak. We’d be glad to tell you more about it. But before we do, I have to ask. Where is Rockhopper Lass? Bat-Fem? Where is Seth?” she asked the last one the loudest, as if it was the most important.

Hugh smiled. “They are all well. Or, as well as could be on this cold, frozen hell. Come on, you’ve come a long way and could use a warm rest. And after that, we’ll take you to the others.”

They began to walk, with Hugh leading the way as the adrenaline now began to subside in them all. “The signal you did with your hands,” said Lolita, “what was that? Some sort of symbol?”

Hugh smiled again. “That’s our signal for the resistance,” he said proudly. “Welcome to the Losers.”
 

---

Posted by Timber Wolf on :
 
Lon watched the group as they traded questions, and shared quick stories. He smiled a little bit.

"What's going on in the pea brain of yours?" Sharklad asked as he wandered over to Timberwolf.

"Well, if I have to tell you...then you are dumber than I thought," he said in a tone of voice that told Sharklad all he needed to know.

"If it was Lolita...I'd do the same thing. Don't understand what you see in her, but you gotta do what you gotta do. This whole sprockin planet scream trap."

Lon took his coat off and handed it to Sharklad.

"What the hell..."

"I'll be fine...you'll know who to give it to soon," he said and shifted his eyes to the Losers.

"How the hell am I going to..."

"It'll be really obvious in about ten minutes."

"Grife. You drive me nuts. You'll freeze without..."

Lon laughed a little. "I need my core temperature to drop to do what I need to."

Lon grabbed his backpack and threw it out of site of the others. "Be well Bruce. Fight hard. Take care of her."

Sharklad looked at him and grinned. "You got it."

Lon walked over to Karate Kid. "Val Armor?"

Val looked at him with a slight bemused look on his face.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. I've admired you for years, glad to know that you're still alive and fighting."

Val stood and bowed to Lon. Lon returned the favor.

Lon mingled for a while longer and silently slipped away at some point. It may have been five minutes or an hour before anyone really noticed he was gone.
 

---

Posted by Power Boy on :
 
Space Between Haven and the HIVE.

“A distress signal? Power Boy please talk some sense into them, I can’t be the only one that sees this for what it is.” Tempest stood in the center of the small gathering in the ship.

Power Boy crossed his arms and gave Cobalt Kid and Lard Lad a stern look. “I don’t have to say that this is a trap, do I?”

Cobalt Kid shrugged “You can say it, it won’t change anything. We have to investigate. It’s one of US.”

Lard Lad, raised his hands and interjected “I’ve checked the signal three times through various encryption softwares, the signal is authentic. It IS an LMBP signal device.”

“It could be anyone!” Tempest continued, “We are at war with countless enemies, on a mission of vital importance, so vital I have allowed myself to follow your leadership in this metal canister across light years. Even if this isn’t a trap, why not leave them on their own, let someone else rescue them. This will take us hours from our course.”

Power Boy raised his hand, “I could investigate on my own and meet up with you later. I am capable of near light speeds.”

Cobalt Kid obviously weary, nearly shouted “NO, no, no, … We stick together, If it is a trap we can’t afford to lose anyone. We’ll figure this out together, whether it’s a trap or an ally it’s too suspicious to be coincidence." He made a short sigh "If it is a trap I want us ready to surprise anyone who thinks we’ll be easy to ambush.”

The matter at rest, Invisible Brainiac watched his companions turn back to their various stations. Tempest and Power Boy were unused to being penned in for so long, while Cobalt Kid and Lard Lad were sustaining heavy burdens. Finally he said rather lightly …

“It might be good to stretch our legs”.

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


“At least let me go first.” Power Boy joked dryly, breaking the silence that had fallen over the group as they neared the small grey planet.

Until now, the flight to the mysterious planetoid was uneventful, besides the growing sense of paranoia the closer the group got to this unremarkable planet in the middle of an asteroid belt near HIVE space. The closer they got the more questions they had. A large fog even obscured the long-range sensors from examining anything on the surface. Small peaks of ruined ceramic towers could barely be seen jutting through the mist sporadically.

The ship touched down in an opening in the south west of the ruins that seemed to cover most of the surface. The bay doors to the ship opened with a <gasp> shining a sickly foggy light onto the group of heroes.

Power Boy stepped out into the clearing through the mist, feet not touching the ground, eyes and ears out as far as his superhuman senses allowed. After several minutes … He shook his head. With a flick of his wrist his mega rod grew to a baton length for fighting.

To Cobalt Kid’s eyes, that was all he needed to know. This was indeed a trap.

A moment later Power Boy communicated telepathically:
‘Be wary, this fog plays with my senses, sounds and lights are distorted making navigation … frustrating.’

The others filed out of the ship, forming a loose circle. “Temp, can’t you do anything about this fog?” Lard Lad asked.

“I am. It is only because of my powers that we are even able to see each other. (she paused and hugged herself as if to keep herself warm) This fog is unnatural ... I may be able to do more but, it will attract considerable attention.”

“Let’s be about our business then” Lard Lad commanded and struck off in the direction of the distress signal. He had adapted his armor to track the distress signal via a screen on his wrist that showed a positioning system formed from a series of lights. “At least my technology seems to be working properly.”

The group gathered themselves and left their ship behind. Invisible Brainiac watched the shuttle doors close as the ship sealed. He couldn’t help but shine a little bit brighter than normal in this oppressive grey fog.

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

Even Power Boy felt a chill by the time the small procession met with a plaza and what appeared to be the remains of large domed municipal building.

Goon Boy went over to a crusted plaque that remained on the building. He read “Ecumanopolis IX, Colony of Prianopolis.”

[ October 25, 2011, 07:15 PM: Message edited by: Power Boy ]
 

---

Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
 
"Is this where the distress signal is coming from?" IB asked, scanning the area intently. "We haven't seen any living being yet, nor even any sign of life."

"A little bit over here," Lardy said, pointing to the side.

Suddenly, IB gave a little jump. The rest of the fellowship quickly flowed into combat stances, looking around warily.

"Sorry," IB said sheepishly. "Thought something was crawling on my arm. Must be my imagination - I don't think there are any flies or bugs around here."

"It's okay, pal. This is the kind of place that could give anyone the creeps." Goon Boy said.

"You sure you didn't actually feel anything?" Cobie asked.

"If I did, it's probably been fried by my light powers now."

Power Boy walked towards the plaque, a curious expression on his face. He quickly turned to the others. "Do any of you know anything about Ecumaopolis or Prianopolis?"

"I think this is hardly the time for a history lesson," Tempest said. "Let us stop tarrying and be on our way, and we can discuss these places later."

"I feel it's important, somehow." Power Boy said.

"Important and urgent are two different things," Tempest replied, not unkindly. "If this is indeed a trap, let us not increase its chances of claiming us."

Before Power Boy could speak again, Lardy cut in. "My armor's having trouble reading the signal. I think I can fix it, but it'll take a few minutes. We do have some time to at least share any information you might have."

Everyone looked at each other, as if to see if anyone in the group knew anything.
 

---

Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
 
As Cobalt Kid prepared to say something, he suddenly felt an immense pain shoot up through his head and explode out of his eyes and sinuses. He’d had headaches before but not quite like this. A stopped for a moment and then cleared the cobwebs, trying to ignore the pain. For a second he thought he might vomit, and he realized he’d broken out into a cold sweat. Am I getting sick?, he thought. Now would not be the time to get feverish. A second, more likely and more deadly reasoning also flashed through his mind. He turned to Goon Boy and said “Goonie, tell them about Prianopolis.”

Goon Boy nodded, though he realized it was odd for Cobalt not to take this opportunity to discuss the history of the Empire. Perhaps he realized Goon Boy knew it much better—still, Cobalt loved to talk history. “The Dark Oval is now five territories as you all know, with one additional ‘common territory’ in the middle for the General Elite Militia and other bureaucratic functions. There’s also always been rumors of yet another secret territory where the Dark Lord himself is, but I don’t know anything about that.” At that comment, they all looked to him with interest. “But it wasn’t always this way. The Dark Lord’s presence in this area of space has been a recurring part of its history, but before it was “The Dark Oval”, it was other things. About a thousand years ago, there was a great Empire here called Prianopolis. As the name suggests, it was based out of one specific city on one specific planet. I’ve luckily never had the luxury of going there, since most of the former empire is now overrun with bugs.”

“Prianopolis,” repeated Invisible Brainiac. “Then this planet we’re on, Ecumanopolis IX, was one of its conquered planets, a colony.” IB didn’t mind stating the obvious since it would get Goon Boy to continue.

“Correct,” said Goon Boy. “This whole area of space was colonized by Prianopolis. The borders aren’t exactly the same as the Dark Oval; for example, the Dominion was never conquered by Prianopolis, and as we know, its existed for tens of thousands of years, if not hundreds of thousands. But I suspect most the rest, before the Hyrkosians migrated here and such.”

Lard Lad smiled. “Goonie, you’re quite the history buff,” he said, surprised.

“Gotta find out something while I’m deep undercover here,” he replied matter-of-factly. “Prianopolis began as a shining beacon of civilization and progress but I’ve wondered if that is just propaganda. Ultimately it was known to be incredibly cruel and ruthless to not only the planets it colonized but its own citizenry. They had an Emperor who was supposedly an immortal but whether that’s true or just myth, I don’t know. He would delight in building up the city-state and then delight even more in tearing it down. Great heroes would be made Senators and then become corrupt, devious sloths who ultimately would meet some horrible end at the hands of the Emperor, who also made sure to punish their wives, children and slaves. It’s a common theme among the Prianopolis myths.”

“Why the name Prianopolis?” asked Cobalt, curious. Tempest scoffed a little at the question, growing impatient.

“The city, and planet, which also took the name, worshipped one Dark Deity known as Priapus. They built great monuments in his honor. He was something of a mixture of a fertility deity and war deity. Supposedly he had a giant penis that he could wield like a club or hammer and kill people.”

Cobalt laughed. It was funny but given the seriousness of the situation, Power Boy looked at him surprised. “Is that amusing to you, my friend?” he said with a bemused look on his face.

“No, not really,” replied Cobalt. “It’s just that on my home planet of Ggrrgg, the Ggrrggians used to worship the same exact deity.” He shook his head. “All this time I’ve considered the scope of this thing but it’s hard to wrap my head around how far it extends into space and how far backward into time.”

“You think this deity might have actually been a person?” said Goon Boy.

Cobalt did not smile when he replied this time. “I think it’s the Dark Lord.”

“Makes sense,” said Lard Lad. “You’re home planet was consumed with aggression and war, and it appears so Prianopolis was too. Before the Black Sun, many of the Barbarians worshipped a deity known as Mutunos Tutunos, who also sounds similar.”

“Mutunos Tutunos is also the patron saint of pirates,” replied Cobalt Kid. “He absolves them of any sin they commit when they overtake another ship. Any raping and pillaging they do,” he added with disgust.

“I’ve noticed some other things,” said Lard Lad. “Look at the statues.”

It was hard to see through the fog but around the municipal building they could see lots of statuary. Even on the buildings there were murals carved in stone. They had many familiar themes. Paramount among them was the theme of gardens, with trees, grass and leaves, of with fruit. “This one has a snake,” said Invisible Brainaic.

“They all do,” said Cobalt, looking at another stone mural. “They appear to be hidden, as if you have to find them. Like the Terran mythology of the Garden of Eden,” he said.

“More phallus symbolism,” said Tempest, somewhat in disgust.

“Exactly,” said Cobalt, nodding as if she said something of intellectual importance.

“There’s something more than just the gardens,” said Lard Lad, standing in front of a weird looking statue.

They all looked at it. “Bees,” said Power Boy. They could see now, it was a honeycomb littered with bees—a very odd thing to carve into a statue.

“They’re everywhere,” said Tempest as they all looked around.

“Even before the Hive,” said Cobalt, “it appears the Dark Lord had a thing for bees.”

“Don’t forget about our friend on Legion World who recently put us through our paces,” said Power Boy. He was referring of course, to the Red Bee, who recently terrorized their entire home planet and in the process killed several innocents and one ally of the LMB, Sir Roy.

“We suspected he was sent by the Dark Oval,” said Lard Lad to Power Boy. “This may not prove it, but it certainly helps the theory.” Suddenly he stopped. “Bloody Liberty, look at this…” he said, nodding towards a poem in front of them. It was an ancient language, but the universal translators they had was able to translate it.

“Disgusting,” said Tempest.

The poem read:
I warn you, boy, you will be screwed; girl, you will be fucked;
a third penalty awaits the bearded thief.
If a woman steals from me, or a man, or a boy,
let the first give me her cunt, the second his head, the third his buttocks.
My dick will go through the middle of boys and the middle of girls,
but with bearded men it will aim only for the top.*

“This is getting creepy,” said Goon Boy. “Maybe its time to focus on the task at hand.”

“Agreed,” said Tempest.

“Have we zeroed in on whose homing device it is?” said Cobalt Kid.

“I believe we have…” said Power Boy as once again, with a flick of wrist, his mega rod grew to baton length and he tensed up ready for a fight.


*Note – this poem is a real historical poem about Priapus, who may not only be the Dark Lord in fiction!
 

---

Posted by Lolita on :
 
New Wystuv’ryy (formerly Gotham City),
Earth-4, The Dark Oval

“It really does look like a cold hell hole,” said Lolita as she took a moment to view the wide cityscape of the sprawling metropolis once known as Gotham City. “This was once one of the most famous cities on Earth. Both ours and theirs.”

Shark Lad didn’t say anything but motioned her along. Walking through the back alleys of the city was dangerous and they were almost at their destination now. They had traveled for some time, flying on off the radar cruisers decades out of date to get to Gotham. After the long way they’d come, the Fellowship didn’t mind waiting a few more hours.

“You should see Old Metropolis,” said Polka-Dot Kid. “It’s nothing but a vast concentration camp now.” Lolita, and most of the Fellowship, had quickly realized they liked Polka-Dot Kid. He had an agreeable personality. Before all of the war he’d face, there was no doubt he was one of the sillier members of the SMB, much like the LMB had their own members who specialized more in laughs than adventures. Now he’d become battle-hardened and militarized, but he hadn’t lost that light-hearted sensibility.

They hurried along now, following Hugh Taylor who took the lead. At the back of the group were Karate Kid and Zhiya, both experts in espionage and with keen eyes for trouble. Both were quiet types but were clearly different. Karate Kid had a noble quality about him that was apparent from the onset of meeting him; and despite having no superpowers, he clearly could master almost any opponent. Zhiya appeared delicate and petite yet there was an air of deadliness to her—there was no doubt she would cut her opponents down without a moment’s hesitation. For some reason, Zhiya seemed zeroed in on Lolita. Shark Lad told her she was imagining things, but Lolita could swear she thought Zhiya perked her ears up when Lolita talked, and she seemed to always stay close by her. Lolita wondered what she’d done to offend her—hadn’t Zhiya almost slitting her throat been enough? The Asian woman was blind, but it was clear she had some super-abilities. Her other senses had some degree of enhancement by the way she moved and her hearing was incredibly acute. Lolita had begun wondering if she could tune in to their whispers from even a great distance away.

They caught up to the rest, as Helena Handbasket, Rockhopper Lad, Hyvvie the Wonder Beagle and Time-Teller Lad stood with their new allies Hugh Taylor and Lightning Lass. Beyond them appeared to be a dismal looking boiler room in the middle of some abandoned, dilapidated old factory; it was an excellent cover. “Welcome to the Loser Cave,” said Hugh with a smile.

On the way over they’d had plenty of time to talk. Helena had warned them not to say too much about the other half of the Fellowship out of fear that there may be traitors about. Bad enough they could be discovered, but there was no need to risk the other group as well. Still, Rockhopper Lad was glad to assure Karate Kid that his old friend Lard Lad was alright and would hopefully see him again. Apparently the years between their last meeting had been more unkind to Val than they’d been to Lardy.

There was some concern when Timberwolf slipped off but none of the Fellowship besides Time Teller Lad were surprised. They knew he’d be going to make sure his newfound lover was alright. Shark Lad only shook his head but Lolita could see there was some real concern there. The two had gone from years old arch enemies to being almost as close as brothers. She knew sentients like Timberwolf and Shark Lad didn’t make friendships like that easily.

Lolita had asked Hugh if they would be meeting Louie Banzer soon, as she couldn’t quell her curiosity over how Loser Lad could have had a son their age before he’d died years earlier. Immediately, she knew she shouldn’t have brought the topic up. Hugh was caught off guard and his eyes teared up immediately; Rockhopper Lad laid a hand on his shoulder. Hugh explained, almost forcing himself to confront the awful truth again, that his best friend had been killed several months earlier in one of their most important missions. It was a major turning point for the Losers: they’d arranged a massive prison breakout that led to the freedom of a multitude of SMBers, however, it cost them dearly. Over half the SMB membership was freed, and immediately following, joined the Losers resistance. For the first time, the Losers had a real fighting chance. But Louie was a casualty of war; Hugh and Seth Gaterra carried him back to Doc Juan but it was too late. Hugh was there when his friend passed.

What followed was no less tragic. The Evil Emperor Penguin, hoping to crush any spirit of rebellion acted in kind. He first ordered that all prisoners still held would be executed; soon he realized that some of his prisoners were much more special than others and worked better as hostages and slaves. Longtime SMB Leader Seahorse, and SMB Deputy Leader Ratmage were two that would be kept as hostages; another was former UP President, Numf-El. Meanwhile, those he deemed lesser beings, would be put to death.

He had political prisoners, resistance fighters, Earthgov politicians and science policer officers all impaled and they littered the road from his new capital to Old Metropolis. Every 20 paces, another body was seen rotting upon a giant wooden stake firmly in the ground and 15 feet high. Because of the intense cold, the corpses rotted very slowly.

Among those executed, he saved several SMBers to adorn the very the front gates of his new capital. This included Insanity or Madness!, who unlike his Earth-1 counterpart never gained "Glitch", which might have saved him; Sonnie Bloke, the hero credited with stopping piracy near Earth, bringing to justice both the Bronze Buccaneer and the Red Pirate, Renly Fox; Awkward Question Boy, who was beloved at the LMB / SMB meetings for the laughs he'd bring; and Myriad, who not only was a famous hero, but was also the UP Goodwill Ambassador to developing planets. Now all of them adorned the entrance to the capital city now. And set aside with even more distinction was an SMBer who had the gall to scream an obscenity at the Evil Emperor Penguin, named Liberty Monkey. The monkey had been flayed alive, and his skinless corpse remained there for all to see.

These brutalities served to remind the Fellowship just what they were facing, and what the Losers had faced day in and day out. It disheartened Rockhopper Lad to know his counterpart was capable of such atrocities and he could forgive the SMBers for looking at him funny. This was much harder on Time Teller Lad however, who had trouble getting used to the scornful looks pointed towards his way. His own counterpart, an SMBer named Tempus, had been the one to betray them to the Evil Emperor Penguin and set all these events into motion.

These thoughts faded as the sheer majesty of the Loser Cave came into view. Lolita had expected a run-down, dumpy headquarters. Instead she found herself inundated with advanced technology, a plethora of people going about a series of endless tasks and a full on sense of energy, as if the room was a living pulsating thing. The resistance was alive and well here.

Slowly, the room grew quiet and they all turned to see Rockhopper Lad and Time Teller Lad enter. Hugh had radioed ahead in code to let them know they were coming but they all still expected this. Soon the silence became almost deafening. A soft, familiar voice broke the silence. “Welcome dear friends,” he said, “you’re arrival is the most pleasant surprise we’ve had in quite awhile.”

“Hello Darden,” said Rockhopper Lad, walking over to extend his hand. Before them was the Earth-4 Faraway Lad, who was a dead-ringer for his Earth-1 counterpart. The only difference was this one looked much more battle weary and tired; he had deep rings under his eyes and his face and body looked slightly gaunt. But there was no mistaking that charm. The Faraway Lads of the multiple Earths were the most important beings for inter-Earth travel due to their powers; this meant they were also the most well-traveled and so the Earth-4 Faraway Lad had met several of them a few times before. “We’ve come a long way,” said Rockhopper Lad, “and I just hope its not too late.”

“It’s never too late,” said Faraway Lad, “and we’re glad you’re here. Before you ask, your sister is not with us yet. She’s currently on patrol but we expect her back shortly. She doesn’t know you’re here and we’re hoping the smile it brings here will lift all our hearts.”

“What about Seth Gaterra,” said Helena suddenly, interrupting the reunion. “Is he here?” she said, looking around.

“He’s with Adelie,” said a voice as Helena turned. They saw another shape, familiar to Helena and Lolita but not to the others. It was Bat-Fem.

“I thought she was just an urban legend?” said Time Teller Lad.

“Welcome to Earth-4,” said Bat-Fem, whose demeanor was deadly serious. “We feared you’d never come.”

Helena walked towards her, and Lolita watched closely. She was unsure of what their interaction would be. “It took awhile for the message to reach us, but we got it. We’re here now.”

Bat-Fem extended her hand and Helena took into her own, and a small smile crossed over lips. “Yes, you are,” said Bat-Fem softly, enjoying the moment. Lolita couldn’t tell for sure, but she suspected that a lot of sacrifice had been put into getting that message out and Bat-Fem was now realizing it was all worth it.

“Jailbait Lass,” said Bat-Fem to Lolita in a way that was a semi-polite hello.

Lolita hated the name but wasn’t sure if it was a jape or if that was just how Bat-Fem knew her. “Hello Jada,” said Lolita.

Bat-Fem smiled. “You know as well as I do that name was fictitious.”

“A giant shark and a clone of the EEP I can understand,” said a rugged female voice, “but shit, the rest of them don’t look like much. Don’t fucking tell me this is all the UP sent us?” They turned to see perhaps the most feral creature they’d ever seen before. She wore a vest and ripped pants but beyond that, her bristly fur pointed out everywhere else. Her hands and feet had sharp, dangerous looking claws pointing out and her face was curled into a snarl.

“Easy Cramer,” said Faraway Lad. “They’ve only just arrived. Please give them a night or two before you insult them.”

“Cramer?” said Lolita, not able to control herself and suddenly she wished she hadn’t.

“Satan Claws Cramer to you, princess,” she snapped back. “Don’t know why they’d send a little girl unless you’re here to get someone’s prick hard. Here’s some information: the EEP don’t swing that way.”

“Okay Cramer, that’s enough,” said another voice. This was clearly garbed in the pink & white uniform of Saturn’s moon Titan. He was muscular and handsome with a full blond beard. “LMBers, welcome. I’m Saturn Guy, the resident telepath. And you no doubt are curious about the dozens around you. You’ll meet them all eventually, let’s get you settled in.”

They looked around and there were too many present to meet all at once. Lolita recognized some from the LMB files and holos: Outdoor Miner, who looked just like the Earth-1 version; Portfolio Girl, Atypical Lass, Infra-Red Lass, Super-Dense Kid, Danny Blaine and Monkey-Eater Lad she knew as former SMBers. Hummingbird, Safron Lad, CuddlyBeaver and Ghost Girl she knew from Kalla Hrykos’ description of the Losers. Yet all she knew about most of them were codenames and power-sets. Dozens of others she didn’t recognize or know anything about. It was overwhelming and yet it felt good to know there were now many of them.

And yet Satan Claws Cramer’s words hung in the back of her mind. What did she hope to do while here? Her thoughts turned to those the Evil Emperor Penguin so ruthlessly executed. Would she end up among their number soon enough?

[ October 26, 2011, 02:37 PM: Message edited by: Lolita ]
 

---

Posted by Dev - Em on :
 
Sharklad stood there holding Timberwolfs jacket. He had no idea who he was supposed to give it to, and Lon's statement of ten minutes seemed really odd to him.

He set the jacket down on a table and was watching everyone mill about and talk. He looked at the technology around him and thought that it seemed somehow familiar. He shrugged off the thought and moved forward as Lolita led him towards another part of the room.

They had been in the headquarters of the Losers for ten minutes when a door opened behind them and a lone figure entered.

Lolita whipped her head around because Sharklad had sniffed and said, "No sprockin way..."

"You look exactly like him you know," the young man said as he moved forward into the light. There was the sound of gears whirring and buzzing as he walked. Predominately when he stepped with his left leg.

The other LMB members present looked at the strawberry blond hair on the young man, and were amazed at how much he looked like one of their own members, and in turn his son, and that there was only one person that this could be.

"Jon?" Sharklad said almost inaudibly.

Jon Em looked at him and shook his head. "I do not go by that name anymore. I am called Gear now."

As he moved fully into the light, they all saw that he was missing his left leg from mid thigh down. His right arm was also mechanical, and the left side of his face, and most of his head was also mechanical.

"What happened to you?" Sharklad said as he moved forward.

Gear grinned a little. "So much, but thanks to you...or at least the you I know, I am still alive. Our Sharklad was there when we were attacked. He was there when my mother, sister and brother were killed. He was there to save my life by doing the unthinkable for me to save my life," Jon said, and they could all see that he was fighting back a wave of emotion. "He was there as my Aunt and her son were slaughtered so he could get me out of the strike zone that The Emperor had set up. He is the greatest man that I have ever known, and it is an honor to meet his equal from this universe."

Sharklad looked at the young man. "Your Aunt, was she..."

"Yes. My fathers twin sister. One of the greatest fighters our universe had ever known. Aunt Loni was a quiet woman, and my Sharklad was her best friend."

"Sonova..."

"My father was led to believe that we were all killed by his fellow teammates in retaliation for some lie or another. Sharklad saved me and kept me hidden while I recuperated and everything went to hell. We were some of the first casualties, as The Emperor knew that he needed the power of Dev Em, the Daxamite, on his side. In time I was able to craft these enhancements to get me up and about. They run a little rough in the snow and ice like this. I had planned on meeting you all back with the others, but things happened that required my attention and I had to wait until now to see you."

Jon looked over at the table, "is that..."

Sharklad looked at the jacket. "Yeah, he said that I'd know who to give it to, and now I do."

Jon walked over to the table and picked the jacket up and started to cry from his one good eye. "I take it he's off to save the others that dropped you here."

Sharklad nodded.

"Sounds like him," he said as he slipped the jacket on. He paused for a second and tilted his head. He reached into the pocket of the jacked and pulled out a note. He unfolded it and read it.

He smiled a genuine smile and walked over to Sharklad and gave him a hug. "Thank you. It may not seem like much to you, but this is everything I needed to know that what is to come isn't in vain."

Gear walked past most of the rest. He smiled at Lolita, and glanced at Rockhopper Lad for a moment and then walked over to him and shook his hand. "I am very pleased to meet you sir."

Hugh placed his hand on Gears shoulder and whispered something in his ear.

"I know, I'm on my way. I just had to meet their Bruce."

Hugh slapped him on the back, "let us know when it's time."

"I will...and he'll never know what hit him."

Jon Em, Gear, then exited the room. Leaving Sharklad speechless for the first time in quite a while.
 

---

Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
 
Weber’s World,
The United Planets

Ambassador Mirenna Helene slipped away quietly while the newly arrived Legion World Founders argued with the Prime Minister of the United Planets, Maya adi Lva. The Legion World Founders were incredibly important to the welfare of the entire galaxies and they knew it, so Maya had to take them seriously despite her inclination not to do so. Maya was an incredibly capable politician and Prime Minister, but Mirenna was glad there were more individuals around to keep her honest. She perhaps a bit too capable at being a master politician.

Mirenna had far too many matters to concern her now to be caught up in the Prime Minister’s ongoing power struggle to utilize the LMB as an arm of the Executive Branch of the UP. She was desperate to get an update on Darden and the battle on Daroon but knew first she’d better check with her colleagues on the rest of the UP. She entered her quarters, which had become a makeshift battle center and immediately all of her assistants and advisors snapped to attention.

“I need updates, and I need them now,” she said in her clear, calm voice that was firmly authoritative but never offensive. She had been a UP Ambassador for over (50) years, and likely would be one until her dying day. There were two kinds of important positions on Weber’s World in service to the United Planets. There were the Senators, who were elected by their own home planets; every UP member planet was allowed to elect two Senators to the United Planets Government. And then there were the Ambassadors, who were not elected, but rather appointed by the United Planets Prime Minister for a (10) year period. Since the UP Prime Minister was a term of only (4) years, this meant the Ambassadors would end up serving longer than the Prime Ministers who appointed them. They critical element was the UP Prime Minister was in charge of where the Ambassadors would render their services; the PM could send them somewhere where they could be of value, or if the PM had no desire to use them, they’d be stuck on Weber’s World doing almost nothing. Throughout her illustrious carreer, Mirenna never had that problem.

“The Imsk situation continues to worsen, Madame,” said one of her adjuncts. “Ambassador Relnic is there doing what he can but the situation is dire. Imsk and its four allies who have officially seceded from the UP have now officially declared their allegiance to the Dark Oval, and have begun the invasion of Braal. War is fully underway and the UP Military can only deploy a small contingent.”

“Damn those Imskians,” she said. “What about Hazar?”

“Hazar remains a member-planet of the UP but has declared strict neutrality. However, its clear hey are marching to retake the Vespassian asteroid belt from Braal while its defenses are otherwise engaged.”

“So predictable,” she said, adding, “Get me Kent Shakespeare on the line. Do we know if any Legionnaires are present?” she asked.

“They’ve deployed Varalent, Sketch Lad and Poverty Lad,” he said.

“Hm,” she said, pausing. “Very astute, Fanfic Lady,” she said to herself. “I trust you’ve been in communication with the Legionnaires throughout this?” she asked.

“Yes Madame, per your request.”

Mirenna nodded and the adjunct ran to continue his work as another spoke up. “Madame,” this one began, a younger purple colored girl, “The barbarians fleeing from the Khanate remain on the move within UP border-space,” she began. “It’s chiefly three tribes, the Allanii, the Skirrian and the Marcomanii, though we are unsure of the Micromanii are also with them. The three have now split up and are invading various planets. The Allanii attempted to invade Touston but were rebuffed by Touston’s disconater technology. It seems to be holding for a time but we’re unsure if the Allanii will resume their invasion or try elsewhere.”

“And the UP Fleets are too far away to do any good?” asked Mirenna.

“Yes,” she answered. “However, Bismoll, New Japiapur and Psyonia have both pledged to send in support with their own personal navies if the attacks resume.”

“They may be the only totally loyal UP members left that have armies of their own,” said Mirenna rubbing her eyes.

“Ambassador Hranzer sent word form Rimbor,” said another. He was referring to the Gil’Disphan Ambassador that was well liked and some thought a shoe-in for the next UP Prime Minister come election time. “The gang situation is under control and order is being restored on Rimbor. In his personal note to you he mentioned his disgust at using bribery as a way to win over the gangs but recognizes you were absolutely right that it was the only way to make it work.”

“Of course,” said Mirenna, “gangsters are Corporations, they only care about money. Where are with the war?”

“The Alpha Centurai planets are under siege by the Dark Oval forces and we’re now locked in a stalemate. While Belisarius is having victories within the D.O., the UP theatre of war remains locked. The Skirrian and Macromanii barbarians may be getting armed by rogue Dominators who don’t want to return to the their home planet and face the Khunds. Those tribes are continuing to raze Illiad and Phlon.”

Mirenna thought about it for a moment. “What was the name of that pirate Cobalt seems to enjoy so much. The pretty brunette one?”

“Captain Frakes, Madame,” said one of her assistants from a computer screen in the back.

“Harold, I should have known you’d know,” she smiled. “Let’s make contact with her. All of them in fact. The Bronze Buccaneer, the Red Pirate, all of them. Cobalt’s prior offer to them still stands, except instead of stopping trade between Earth and the Khanate, the goal is to destroy the Dark Oval and Barbarian forces in the UP. Full clemency for any supporters and they’ll be made retroactive defenders of the realm. Before we do so, however, make sure any pirate ever accused of rape or harming children is not given the offer; Cobalt takes issue with those two crimes in particular.”

“What about murder, Madame?” asked one of her assistants.

“What about it?” she said sternly. The matter was dropped.

“Some good news Ma’am,” said one of the assistants. “Kent Shakespeare is on the line and he has an update on two of our problems.”

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

Dragon’s Teeth, Viking Ship
Somewhere in United Planets Space

The four Legionnaires stood quietly on the platform of their own smaller cruiser while the tractor beam overtook them and began pulling them upwards to the much larger Battle Cruiser above them. It was the legendary “Dragon’s Teeth”, captained by Hrun the Barbarian and the LMBers had heard of it numerous times but had never seen it.

They arrived and Raging Bull was the first to speak. “At last. Man, its been a long trip.” The other three Legionnaires, Space Ranger, My Whee Fem and CJ Taylor were all in agreement. It had been a long trip. But now at least they might be getting some answers.

“So were are all the barbarians and Vikings?” said My Whee Fem looking around as they arrived. “No one to greet us?” she followed up.

“Someone is,” said Space Ranger, whose Daxamite senses let him know another was with them.

“Indeed,” said the voice as Kent Shakespeare came out of the shadows. “Hrun has told his crew to give me a moment with you before we bring CJ to see him. I’m glad to see you’re all doing well. Ranger & My, you have our thanks for accomplishing this so quietly. CJ, I’m sure you’ve got questions and we’ll try to get you answers…soon.”

Both CJ and My Whee Fem rolled their eyes as Raging Bull laughed. “I’ll never learn what this is about, will I?” said CJ with a half-laugh.

“I agreed with Cobie we’d get you into the Dark Oval when the time was right. That time is quickly approaching,” said Kent.

“Is this official Bureau of External Affairs business, then?” asked My Whee Fem, curious. Kent Shakespeare was a high-ranking member of the Bureau of External Affairs, perhaps the most secret organization in the entire galaxies, even beyond the United Planets.

“We have no official business, as you know,” he said with a rueful grin. “But yes. I’m going to oversee CJ’s journey to the Dark Oval with Hrun. But I’m afraid for the rest of you, this is going to be goodbye.”

“What?” said Raging Bull and My Whee Fem at once.

Space Ranger just nodded. “What are our orders? I assume Fanfic Lady wants us somewhere, since we’re so far out here.”

“Indeed,” said Kent. “She’s working around the clock to utilize the LMB to protect various planets under siege. This is one of those times I’m glad I’m not LMB Leader. We’re spread pretty thin and getting thinner. He handed Raging Bull, My Whee Fem and Space Ranger each a drive to plug into their omni-coms.”

“The Aarokian Krebble Ribbon?” said Raging Bull in annoyance. “That’s waaaaay out in the boonies, man!”

“Preztor thinks for some reason this conflict is a good time to resume its old war with Aarok over the Ribbon,” said Kent. “They are on the cusp of a full-fledged war which is something we just can’t have. Blacula, Mattropolis and Rickshaw are already there, and you’ll join them for support. My colleagues in the Bureau are hoping to prevent war, but you four are there to defend the people of the Ribbon if Preztor starts to invade. They’re officially Aarokian nowadays but they really just want to be left alone. I’m sure they think that because of this giant conflict, everyone has forgotten them. Well, the LMB hasn’t.”

Raging Bull smiled. “Sure Kent, I get it pard.” The words seemed to do the trick. He turned to CJ. “Guess this is goodbye then,” he said, opening his arms to give him a big country hug.

“Guess so,” said CJ with a little bit of reluctance in his voice. Since he found out he was important to these grandiose events, he’d had Raging Bull with him. Losing him now made him temporarily feel like he was completely on his own. “Be careful,” he added.

“You take care now, pal,” said Raging Bull. “Don’t worry about us.” Raging Bull’s words didn’t acknowledge what they were thinking but it was clear: CJ had the real dangerous mission to come.

My Whee Fem looked at Space Ranger. “Are these orders correct?” she said with an eyebrow.

Space Ranger shrugged. “Fanfie wants us there, we go there,” he said. Then he turned to CJ and Kent. “Best of luck Legionnaires. See you at the big party once this is all over,” he said with a smile.

And soon they were all off.

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

Legionopolis, Legion World,
The United Planets

Fanfic Lady was exhausted but yet another wave of adrenaline hit her and she continued on. In the room with her was just Ram Boy now, all the others temporarily dismissed with to either complete their given missions or take a few moments to rest. She found herself again wondering if she ever considered when she was elected Deputy Leader to the LMB that she would be on the hook in one of their greatest crisis to coordinate the entire membership across the entirety of known space. She was just thankful the previous LMB Leader Ram Boy was able to lend her assistance.

“So Raging Bull will join the others at the Krebble Ribbon and try to enhance the diplomacy there,” said Ram Boy. He pressed a few buttons and the monitor screen changed again.

“Vee reported in from Imsk and he’s making some progress. We needed a powerhouse there and luckily we have him,” she said.

“It was a stroke of brilliance,” said Ram Boy. He had been peppering her with compliments when the moment called for it to keep her spirits high. She saw right through it but that made her appreciate it all the more. “What about Alpha Centurai?” he now asked.

“I’ve dispatched Reboot and Actor Lad there,” she said with a sigh. “Reboot wasn’t keen on taking any type of order whatsoever but once I showed him what’s happening to the innocent people there, he rushed off. He’s not a fan of LMB or UP power structures, but he’s passionate about helping the disenfranchised. And he’s powerful enough to do something about it.”

“Good, good,” said Ram Boy. “Another good move. I see Lance, Beagle Boy and Jerry have now departed for Phlon as well, so we can log that in now.” Ram Boy leaned back.

Fanfic Lady smiled. “Whew,” was all she said. They both smiled. “I don’t think I’ve eaten anything since I was almost poisoned she laughed.”

“Me either,” he said, realizing it. “Not many left around here to make us something,” he said bemused. “Not many on Legion World in general.”

“No,” she said, “so I’m hoping Lightning Lad’s usage of the Security Office can do the job short-handed. The youngsters may not be super-experienced but they are skilled.”

“Red Arrow, Question Kid and Everyday Girl,” said Ram Boy, checking the Mission Monitor Board. “And Sam Pureheart is pitching in. Plus Arachne, Caliente and Outdoor Miner are around,” he added.

“And Tamper Lad and Nova Girl, working on something secretive that they think will help us. Plus we’ve got Dr. One ready to address anything that needs him and Fat Cramer is out there keeping the population calm.”

“Lash Lad and Matlock are working on the mission you gave them, tracking down Umber. And that about covers it. That is all the Legionnaires left on Legion World. Talk about short-handed! But we do have our allies if we need them…”

“You do indeed, cretin,” said a familiar voice, though it sounded much friendlier than usual. They turned to see Thora of Taltar.

“Thora?” said Fanfic Lady surprised. “Why are you here?” she asked, wondering what interest Thora may have in these events.

“I, Thora of Taltar, bring you some news that you’ll enjoy and may find surprising! You can relay it to your friend Princess Crujetra and the rest of the UP. I’ve convinced my kin on Taltar that though we now hold the Tor G’ibral, it is paramount to our continued welfare that we support the United Planets. Therefore, we will allowing UP trade to continue while stopping any Dark Oval attempts to lend aid to Imsk and their new found allies. Further, the problem of Darzyl, or should I say the newly created Grand Master Duchy of the Darzyl Oval Order, is being addressed as we speak. Taltar has no intention of allowing a traitor planet utilize the trade routes it controls; so long as Darzyl remains neutral in this conflict, we will create a blockade.”

They were both tired so it took them a minute to understand what was happening. Finally it occurred to them: this was Thora doing what she could to help the LMB. Despite all their animosity, after all these years she had become more than a casual acquaintance…she had become their friend.

“Thank you Thora,” said Fanfic Lady, standing up. “You do us a great honor,” she added. “And we will remember it.”

Thora smiled and nodded. “My pleasure,” she said and left.

“Will wonders never cease…” said Ram Boy.

Fanfic Lady took a seat again. “You know,” she said, “all of this means nothing if Rocky and the others aren’t successful. So let’s hope to whatever deity you might have that things are going their way…”
 

---

Posted by Power Boy on :
 
The Battle of Ecumanopolis IX: Part 1


Power Boy stared straight ahead into the fog as the sound of Lard Lad’s sensor ‘beeped’ louder and louder as the entity responsible for the distress signal came closer and closer.

Beep Beep BEEP … Beep Beep … BEEP BEEP … BEEP BEEP …

PB turned his head inquisitively as the beeping increased. He saw the others behind him huddled in a frantic discussion. They were in a clearing near the steps leading up to what was the remains of a grand civic building.


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


“Two signals. One in front and one behind, both closing in” Lard Lad explained in a hurry.

The thick fog of this deceased planet swirled around the group like massive snakes.

Cobalt Kid turned to Tempest who suddenly stood apart. “Can you sense anything?”

Tempest stared ahead “Someone familiar moves towards us, I know him well … ”


She whispered a name “Disaster Boy”. Recognition lit up Cobalt Kid’s eyes.

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


An explosion hit.
.
.
.
.

Power Boy didn’t feel anything. A moment ago, he dove for the incoming fireball. Now he found himself on the ground, covered in flames, dust, and rubble. The world was silent.

Everything was so quiet. Power Boy rolled over, debris was everywhere, fog replaced with dust from the impact.

'Fool. You should’ve absorbed the energy of the fireball, or used a telekinetic force shield. Not dove in front of it like an amateur.'

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


Invisible Brainiac stood, shocked. He saw the fireball coming right for them, and the next thing he knew was Power Boy in the air in front of them, only a shadow against the bright light of the fireball, and then a huge noise followed by a rush of wind as the clay buildings around him shattered.

Clearly shaken, Invisible Brainiac went into an auto pilot mode. He monotonously recounted everything he knew about Disaster Boy from the LMB files.

“Disaster Boy is an extremely powerful elemental. He is most proficient in Fire and Earth but is able to command all of the classical elements. Fined tuned uses of his powers have thus far escaped him. He has previously shown a basic level of magic use. Disaster Boy was a troubled individual due his origin in a dark future timeline where evil tyrants had exhausted the resources of their universe. In time, He became a valued and heroic member of the LMB. Disaster Boy was last seen returning to his own timeline to fight the despotic tyrants that ruled there.”

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

Cobalt Kid scrambled to his feet. Invisible Brainiac’s ongoing report hung in the air.

'The kid kept it together.' He thought.

Lard Lad made it to his feet first. Looking the worse for wear. He was the first to notice Disaster Boy walking into the clearing. Dust and smoke obscured his vision but he could make out the young man walking toward him. He looked unnaturally grey as if all the color had been sucked out of him.

“He has that damn hood up.” Lard Lad growled.

CK recognized the observation. Way back before Disaster Boy joined the LMB, He played both sides of the fence, working with villains, and falling into their plans. Eventually, he came to be a trustworthy member of the LMB. This honesty was symbolized when he retired his hood and mask. “Blast! Try not to hurt him.”

Lardy paused for a moment to show the shock on his face. “I’m not worried about HIM!” With a shake of his head, Lard Lad was the first to return fire.


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


More fireballs flew through the air overhead. The sound of the flaming orbs burning through the sky alternated with the sound of a volley of exo-blasts from Lard Lad.

Tempest miraculously stood in the middle of the chaos. She called her powers to her. She remembered Disaster Boy well. He was her friend. His loyalty was hard to gain but once you had it he was stalwart. She had to know how he came to be here. Has he fallen so far? Or was something amiss?

She saw Disaster Boy, with her special sight. She saw the friend she knew but pushed aside, in turmoil, struggling. She saw another, who held a curtain of grey over Disaster Boy’s mind. She knew this villain, who manipulated Disaster Boy like a puppet. He barred her way to her friend … and Tempest would not be denied.

Her voice booming like trumpets “TITUS! I KNOW YOUR STENCH!!! RELEASE HIM OR PAY!!!!”

She glowed with blue light as the strange fog cleared and the winds above her coalesced. She stood in the eye of her own hurricane, her cloak and hair supernaturally still.


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


Titus’ reply was a wave of Disaster Boy’s left hand. The Earth shook, the ground rippled and grew in a massive wave sweeping towards ….
.
.
.
.
.
.
.


Lard Lad and Cobalt Kid ?

A tide of earth, increasing like a snowball of rubble from the broken buildings amassed into an immense mound. The wave broke washing away Lard Lad and Cobalt Kid. The earth wave left a wall of earth and debris many storeys tall separating CK and LL from the others.


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

Power Boy was about to shout for Goon Boy to get after CK and LL but, he noticed Goon Boy was already in motion, tossing aside large rocks that were in his way, and hoping up the earth wall to get over to CK and LL as quickly as possible.

'I guess you don’t last very long undercover if you’re not resourceful. ' Peebz thought.

He also saw Tempest locked in combat with Disaster Boy. Her blue winds streamed from the sky and arced towards Disaster Boy. Her winds ended in a wall as they struck Disaster Boy’s flames. The result was a face off between Tempest and Disaster Boy, separated by a wall where wind met fire.

Power Boy calculated as he watched the battle. The planet rumbled as the elementals fought. 'We need a plan. Titus will burn out Disaster Boy and destroy this planet to get at us. '

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

[ October 27, 2011, 06:51 PM: Message edited by: Power Boy ]
 

---

Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
 
Invisible Brainiac took to the skies. It looked like Tempest and Disaster Boy were at a stalemate, so maybe he could help even the odds.

Goon Boy could take care of Lardy and Cobie. He trusted in that.

IB was shaken because he'd met Disaster Boy before. It was always a shock when an LMBer turned against old teammates, but having it be someone you'd met...

Maybe they could shake him out of it.

He zipped around Disaster Boy's back, dodging columns of flame and rock, preparing to strike. Closer, closer...

He never made it. A wall of earth suddenly erupted right in his path, clipping his arm and side. He barely had time to cry out before another slammed into him from behind.

"Stupid," he thought. He quickly turned into light . "That was the first thing I should have done," he cursed.

Flying towards DB again, IB began to weave between the columns spurting from the ground. He had to be careful - he couldn't risk being refracted or absorbed. There was no time.

DB, or whoever was controlling him, seemed to realize what IB was doing. Suddenly, the columns of dirt became a dust storm, engulfing IB's form. He was protected from harm, but he couldn't see, and the storm risked scattering his particles all over.

He paused, hesitating. He had to look for an opening. "Power Boy," he yelled. "I'm fine but I don't know how long it'll take me to get out!"
 

---

Posted by Power Boy on :
 
The Battle of Ecumanopolis IX: Part 2

The world finally stopped moving.

“cough, cough!” “That you CK?” Lardy said after several long moments waiting for the deafening noise of the earth wave to stop, and the dust and dirt to settle.

He could still only see darkness. Dizzy didn’t begin to describe how he felt after bouncing along underneath a mountain of earth. He couldn’t tell yet how far under the rock and rubble they were. He was happy to find himself safe within a bubble structure composed of building wreckage.

Cobalt Kid replied to Lard Lad's unspoken question casually “Yeah, these clay buildings all have a substructure like a web holding them together. Fortunately that net underneath the clay … is ferrous.” Lard Lad could barely make out a grin on his friend’s face.

“It even looks like I’m manipulating the ceramic walls and materials but really it’s the metallic sub structure”

“OK, well done” Lardy said. “Now get us out of here.”

“It'll be slow, We’re buried under a lot of earth and building material.” With that, Cobalt Kid spread his hands and the defensive bubble he had made from the wreckage began to rise up through the mounds of earth and rubble above them.

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

Telepathy has it’s advantages, Power Boy thought. Developing a battle plan covertly in the middle of a firefight is one of them.

The first order of business was to rescue IB.

'Tempest ... be ready' He transmitted to her mind.

Power Boy slid to flank Disaster Boy. Next, Disaster Boy was knocked back as a telekinetic force bolt crashed into his solar plexus.

This ended the rolling stalemate between Tempest and Disaster Boy. Flames and winds both died down.

'We need a moment Tempest. Last time IB met Titus, he was able to hurt him with light. I'm bet he will be able to again.'

Tempest waved her hand towards the dust storm imprisoning IB. Her control of the air reduced the dust storm and it moved slowly across the battlefield towards Disaster Boy.

Temp couldn't help but giggle at the situation, DB trapped in his own dust storm. He'd be scraped and bruised from the dust battering him but should but not seriously injured.

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

A huge pile of rubble began to shake … rocks falling off. Then, pieces of debris began to float away magically as a hole appeared.

Out of this hole, stepped a very dirty Cobalt Kid and Lard Lad.

The two of them looked around at the strange ruins of 5 or 6 story buildings all around them, and had no idea where they were. More importantly, they didn’t know where the others of the fellowship were or how they fared in the battle with Disaster Boy. The earth wave had obviously pushed them across the city and Cobalt Kid had no way to know which way was back to his team when he was digging them out of the rubble.

They looked around bewildered for a moment and Lard Lad said “Maybe my armor can get a read on them.”

Just then, the faint noises of explosions sounded in the distance followed by slight tremors.

“Nevermind, let’s follow that!” Cobalt Kid smacked Lard Lad on the shoulder jovially as the two began to jog towards the sound of the fighting.

It did sound very far away though.

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

Power Boy watched as Invisible Brainiac, the youngest and most innocent member of the LMB, filled himself with purest light. A second later the white light erupted towards Disaster Boy.

Light overwhelmed Disaster Boy, it burst into him, saturating him so much that brilliant light leaked out of his eyes, mouth, and ears.

IB continued pouring pure light into Disaster Boy, exorcising the grey shadow that hung over him and his mind. It looked as if a shadow figure was being pushed out of Disaster Boy by the light.

Just when it looked that the shadow was completely out of Disaster Boy, Power Boy lunged … so fast that he was on top of Disaster Boy before the eye could register he had moved. He grabbed Disaster Boy’s face and clasped a telepathic shield completely around Disaster Boy’s mind, preventing the shadow from reentering.

Invisible Brainiac relaxed his generation of light, as they all looked at the now separate shadow. It took only moments to fade away but everyone recognized it’s silhouette. Titus

[ October 28, 2011, 08:53 PM: Message edited by: Power Boy ]
 

---

Posted by Dev - Em on :
 
Xyler 7

Loser Lad piloted the ship down to the planets surface. he landed it as gently as he could on the hospital roof, and was met by a team of medics.

They were on board even before he could unbuckle himself and move to the back of the cruiser. People were scrambling about yelling back and forth, but somehow not tripping over each other.

Loser took the emergency exit near the cockpit as to not get in anybody's way. Fes Te landed and shook his head. "There was a lot of traffic on the way here, but thankfully we were able to get through.

Loser nodded. "Yeah, there seems to be more ships on their way in as well. They're going to be overwhelmed soon if something doesn't change soon.

Fes looked past Loser Lad and made a slight upward head nod indicating that someone was approaching them from behind Loser.

Loser Lad turned and saw a fully armored Guard walking towards them. "Well, we expected to meet the Queen, and I guess this is our escort."

The Guard stopped several feet from them, and saluted. "Thank you for helping our the people of Daroon. Queen Ayva requests your presence as soon as possible to discuss the situation there."

They looked at each other and nodded. The Guard turned and started moving back the way he had came, heading towards the vehicle that would carry them to the Queen of Xylar 7.

Queen Ayva was reviewing the positions of her armed forces at strategic point around Xylar 7, both on the ground and in orbit. they had been kept busy by the bugs. Not a full out attack upon them, but enough of a threat to keep them from mounting a full response to help Daroon.

The doors to the office opened and Queen Ayva looked up. Loser Lad and Fes Te entered with the Captain of the Guard.

"Your Majesty, Loser Lad of the LMB, and Fes Te of the Daxamite contingent on Daroon," he said in a loud voice.

"Thank you Capt. Jyffry," she responded as she stood and walked around the table.

She stopped them from bowing and simply shook their hands and thanked them for all that they had done to this point.

Loser Lad moved around the room, taking in the layout. There was a large table in the center of the room with a holographic image of the planet hovering over it, with areas where the armies were located. Above the planet were symbols showing the location of the space fleet.

Along one side of the room were shelves with books, scrolls and other writings. there were breaks in the shelves for portraits. Previous Kings and Queens, various Heads of State that had served.

Another wall was composed entirely of windows. Loser Lad could tell that were extremely thick and sturdy.

The wall they had entered through only had a few antiques displayed and a modest sized portrait of someone that Loser could not make out through the image of the planet that was now between he and it.

The last wall had a large desk, that was where the Queen worked on a daily basis. Papers and other items were strewn about her desk.

"We have been trying to contain the threat long enough to be able to send part of our fleet to help Daroon against these monsters, but have not been given any type of break so far.

Loser nodded. They had only really been able to get here due to the power of Fes
Te, and a bit of his own power thrown in for good measure.

"We may be able to help there," Loser said, "how large of a contingent can you send?

"About a third of what we have available. That includes ground forces as well as ships."

Loser nodded again. There would have to be enough, he could tell by the slight strain in her voice that she was struggling to even send that many troops, and risk more of her own planets people...yet knowing that she had to do something.

"That will be a great help to us. We're hoping that some of our transmissions were able to get through to the outside, and that other help may be on the way."

"Not much is coming out of Daroon. We have been monitoring all communications in and out, and received one transmission from a Dev Em, that was pretty garbled, but told of whatwas happening there. We're having enough problem keeping communications up for our own fleet in orbit right now."

Fes paced around the center table looking at the concentrations of the planets fleet, and the position of the bugs ships. He started concentrating on one particular area and squinted his eyes.

Various members of the Queens staff were milling about, bringing her in communications and other things that required her attention.

Loser noticed the Fes was starting to grin a bit. "What is it Fes?" Loser asked as he walked around the table to where the young Daxamite was standing.

Fes motioned to one area. "Look here," he said, "they are creatures of habit. Notice how all the ships make the same moves...even if they go in at different points. Even when they come out, they follow a pattern."

Loser looked at another grouping of bug ships moving towards Daroon, confirmed the same thing. "Can we get one of these areas enlarged?"

The Queen nodded and looked to one of her people standing near the controls. Immediately they image zoomed in and they saw a definite pattern form.

"That can be exploited for a short time," Loser said. They all knew, as he did, that the bugs would adapt quickly...but it would give them a chance to inflict damage and get some ships of their own on the ground as the bugs scrambled to change tactics.

There was more talking about strategy, and distribution of troops once they hit the surface of Daroon. Once they completed the strategy session, Loser Lad and Fes Te thanked the Queen and turned to go.

As they left, Fes noticed a portrait on the wall to the left of the door. "Why does Dev Em's brother have a portrait here?"

Loser looked at the painting closer, below it was a plaque that said that the man 'Mykyl Reyse' had given his life for the betterment of Xylar 7. "Not sure, maybe it's just someone that looks like him."

They both shrugged and left the room, headed for the ship that had brought Loser and the wounded here.

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

A few hours later, they departed Xylar 7, along with hundreds of other ships. Fighters and carriers alike. All the men aboard the ships had volunteered for the mission, in fact men had been turned away due to the overwhelming response from within the ranks of Xylar 7's armed forces.

Loser was at the head of the convoy. Fes was riding shotgun with him inside the ship, ready to leave for quick response if needed.

As they reached the first wave of bug ships the proximity alert want off warning of something else coming in fast from an entirely different direction.

Loser did some quick checks on instruments and let a small grin flash onto his face.

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

The throne room of Xylar 7 was quiet once again as Queen Ayva had finished her speech to her people.

The door at the far end of the room flew open and a young boy ran through the room. "Mama!" he yelled as he jumped into her arms, "are we going to be okay?"

"Yes Mykyl, we are," she said and gave her son a kiss on the forehead. "We're going to be just fine."
 

---

Posted by Power Boy on :
 
The Battle of Ecumanopolis IX: Part 3

“It looks grim doesn’t it” Cobalt Kid said with a short laugh.

Lard Lad looked at him and said wryly “You’ve been hanging around Power Boy too much. His sense of humor is rubbing off on you.”

Lard Lad had to admit though, it was funny. They dig themselves out of a mountain of rubble. Only to pop out of the ground surrounded by Titus’ Top 40 ghouls. Grey cloaked figures of varying, shapes, sizes, and super powers surrounded them in a loose circle. They had faced several of them before, first at the battle of the fort, and then on Hul. Never this many though, never all of them. Titus must have some power to reanimate these zombies since he saw several of them destroyed before.

“What are they waiting for?” Lard Lard whispered to CK, never taking his eyes off the ghouls. Cobalt Kid pivoted around so he was back to back with Lardy.

“I’m not sure I care.” CK said flatly.

Lard Lad drew his sword. Several of the ghouls responded by hissing and showing their teeth.

Cobalt Kid reached out with his power, taking command of the metal substructure of the buildings around them. He caused them to bend and shake as the ghouls rushed for them. The 5 to 6 storey buildings all around them shattered, covering ghouls in dust and rubble.

In the confusion, Lard Lad and CK ran for a weak link in the line of ghouls. Some ghouls gave chase, many were super strong, the collapsed buildings wouldn’t hold them long.

Two stepped in front of Lard Lad … and he cut them down with two efficient slices of his sword. They kept moving, not even time for a bad pun.

They fled through the streets, zig-zagging around corners, cutting down ghouls when they could.

Eventually, they hid in one of the abandoned buildings. “Where the f*c# are the others!” Lard Lad demanded as they huddled below windows that looked out onto the street. They kept watch for more ghouls.

“I don’t know.” Cobalt Kid replied. He had tried to contact the others telepathically but it seemed that no one was listening, likewise with their communications system. There was no way to tell if Titus got them, or if they were just cut off.

Just then, two robed ghouls walked in the street searching for Lard Lad and Cobalt Kid. The two Legionnaires shared a look and Cobalt kid moved some rubble magnetically across the street. When the ghouls turned to look, Lard Lad blasted the two with Exo-blasts. They didn’t go down.

“These are tough ones.” He fired again but with stronger bursts, knocking the ghouls down.

“Out the back.” Cobalt said as he pointed towards the rear with a thumb.

The two went on for some time like this. Leading groups of ghouls into an ambush, sometimes striking them from roof tops. Sometimes Cobalt Kid would spear or bind them with the metal that under laid the ceramic buildings.

Somehow, they managed to make it to the municipal building they were at before. They were in the street behind it. Just around the building was where they left Power Boy and the others. Unfortunately, the building was huge, about two city blocks and 10 stories tall before the crumbled dome sat on the roof. Smoke filled the sky on the other side of the building, the front where the fellowship might still be. On the left side was a huge mound of earth and rubble, the same mound that had sent them across town in a wave. Cobalt and Lardy paused for a second, breathing in deep. They were almost there.

'Through the back or up around the right side? The inside of the building may provide more cover but, it was also an excellent place for an ambush. They would have to run around the side up to the front.'

Just when Cobalt Kid was going to tell Lardy they need to go around the side street.

A huge figure walked out of the rear entrance. He floated off the back porch. His long black hair floated in the desert winds of this planet. He was clothed in an iron-grey armor, blackened in some places. Jagged spikes jutted out of the joint areas at the shoulder, the elbows ended in blades, the knees were padded with spikes. The armor had the effect of a once resplendent armor that had been blackened, twisted and distorted. It almost looked like it was in pain.

“Your friends are dead” A voice spoke from the floating man. It also spoke to their minds and hearts. But, it felt like a lie.

Titus stared into them. “Surrender. Surrender to me. Surrender to the Dark Lord.”

CK and LL both found themselves moved to do so. Fortunately, they both had strong wills and rudimentary psychic defenses. The result of resisting Titus’ mental prompts was a distinct feeling of nausea. CK said a silent thank you to Crujectra for her tutoring in psychic defenses. Cobalt looked over to Lard Lad; He had dropped to his knees and his hands were shaking, sweat dripped from his brow. Lardy was having a harder time resisting, as if Titus’ words were resonating with something within him.

Ghouls draped in their dusty cloaks began to gather around them. They stepped out of all the streets around, and some from behind Titus. Cobalt Kid felt dizzy, the grey capes swirling all around him, closing in.

‘NO!’ He shouted ‘NO!’ His denials became softer and softer as the ghouls overwhelmed them, He looked for his friend Lard Lad in the confusion.

But the blackness came first.

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

Goon Boy had some trouble tracking Cobalt Kid and Lard Lad, they had gotten really good at evasion since he last worked with them. It made it hard for Goon Boy but, Goon was a clever tracker after all his time in the espionage squad. He even took out a few of the ghouls, there were so many though. It had been awhile since he’d last engaged super powered opponents in battle but fortunately, if you snuck up behind them, they fell the same as non powered opponents. He caught up to Cobalt Kid and Lard Lad but, too late, Titus had overwhelmed them, they were surrounded by ghouls. All Goon Boy could do was watch from behind a mound of rubble as Titus and his remaining ghouls flew off with his friends. A black knight surrounded by a dark cloud of ghouls, carrying his friends away.

' I just got them back, You won’t have them for long Titus. ' He thought.

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

Goon Boy trotted up to the others surrounding Disaster Boy, who still sat on the ground. It looked they had subdued Disaster Boy and even freed him of Titus’ control. At least someone was successful. Goon Boy said to himself.

They all turned and looked to him for answers.

“He took them.” He said. A bit of embarrassment and responsibility flashed across his face. Goon Boy obviously thought he should’ve been able to rescue them. No one blamed him, they all knew what they were up against.

“I have an idea where they went though. Prianopolis.” Goon Boy pointed to the plaque that described Ecumanopolis IX as a colony of Prianopolis.

Invisible Brainaic, felt the news like a punch in the gut, He looked around at the others. Tempest seemed removed, even more far away than usual. Closing off her emotions to the news. She cared for both Cobalt Kid and Lard Lad.

Power Boy’s face raged with anger barely held in check, his fists clenched. He had had enough of Titus. That demon had taken one of their members and twisted him into an enemy, violated his free will and beliefs, He’d harried them all across the cosmos, fermented chaos on destruction on an interplanetary scale, and now taken their leaders to no doubt twist them into his evil servants. And all the while, we ran and defended. Power Boy despised being helpless. It was time to stop running.

Disaster Boy finally got up, expression sensitive and caring. He broke the sadness and sense of defeat that oppressed his teammates.

“Let’s go get them.”

Tempest broke from her melancholy. “ We… are not doing anything. you are going back to Legion World.” She pointed at DB.

She softened a bit. “We’ve separated you from Titus’ control but there is no telling what the long term effects of his possession may be. There are still pieces of darkness scattered around your consciousness. On Legion World, Saturn Girl and Crujectra can help you recover. They’re the most skilled telepaths we have. Besides you still look like death, did Titus ever have you eat while he control you?”

Power Boy put a hand on Tempest’s shoulder, she honestly didn’t look like she liked being touched.

“Let him come, he has reason to see Titus destroyed, maybe more than any of us. Let him fight for his spirit.”

It was decided then, in the subtext of Power Boy’s words. Silently, they made a pact as they looked at each other.

They were going to get back Cobalt Kid and Lard Lad.
They were going to make Titus pay for what he did to Disaster Boy.

They were going to destroy Titus.
.
.
.

Invisible Brainiac felt a chill.

[ October 29, 2011, 10:21 PM: Message edited by: Power Boy ]
 

---

Posted by Lard Lad on :
 
Orbit of Daroon

"Permission to dock, Templar-7," Loser Lad asked the Space Knights Templar warship via his ship's communicator.

Granted. Docking bay opening.

Minutes later, Loser and the crew debarked from their ship with Fes Te having followed behind, flying under his own power.

Greeting them was Serj Ontranik, current member of the Space Knights Templar and former member of the Order of Lard Knights. Serj had wild, curly black hair and a long shock of black chin hair.

Serj and Loser quickly introduced themselves.

"It's good to see some Space Knights coming to our aid!" Loser said as he shook Serj's hand.

"A mutual friend sent me!" Serj grinned. "I believe you call him 'Lardy'!"

"Lardy? Shit! How is he?"

"Fine, last I saw about a week ago anyway. They knocked out the Dominion, but he, Cobalt and the others should be in Hive territory at this moment."

"Good luck to them," Loser said grimly. "Those bugs are relentless. If Daroon survives this, it'll never be the same."

"Well," Serj smiled, "we'll concentrate on the positive for the moment. Our Templar warship, its fighters and those Xylarian forces have just granted Daroon some breathing space, time at least to prepare for the next wave. Maybe time for some evacuations?"

"We'll discuss that possibility with Daroon's Queen within the hour," Loser agreed.

"Anyway," Serj continued, "Lardy wanted me here to help you guys and, well, to help protect his kids. Are they well?"

"Yeah...they're safe for the moment with Helen and the surviving royals."

"Good to hear. He'd be pretty cross with me if they weren't! I initially had permission to come along with only a few Knights, but the success of the Dominion campaign freed up a warship. I've a company of Knights and two dozen fighter craft aboard. It's not much, but its all we could spare."

"Certainly better than what we had yesterday," Loser observed. "Plus, we've just freed up more of the Xylarian forces to help, most likely!"

"I also made a side-trip and picked up some old pals of mine." Serj motioned to the far right, and a dozen sentients clad in blue with yellow trim stepped forward and bowed, swords held up.

Loser gasped. "Lard Knights?"

"Yes," Serj smiled, "I paid a visit to the Lard Monastery and convinced the Council that staying out of things, per their usual policy, was ill-advised. They were still hesitant until I mentioned Lardy's kids were here."

"Having their kind of power will certainly help," Loser said.

"Indeed. Let me introduce you to this mission's commander, Sir John..."

Sir John stepped forward and split into three identical men. "...the Carggite," Sir John completed with a wink.

Loser chuckled slightly and shook all three outstretched hands. He figured correctly that the two had premeditated this bit of levity. "Good to meet yous," he said with a grin.

Serj grinned again. "I also have an old friend of yours who's dying to get reacqainted..."

There was a stirring among the rank and file Templars as someone yelled, "LOU!"

It took Loser a moment to figure out who the voice belonged to until a large, furry brownish-red figure emerged. As the reality of whom this was dawned on him, Loser was left speechless.

The figure drew directly opposite Loser and half-growled, "you haven't forgotten ol' Lumber Fox, have ya?"

"Oh my God! Foxy! I haven't seen you in a decade! Where've you been?" Loser hugged the seven-foot tall vulpine man-beast ferociously. He was genuinely awed to see an old-time LMBer like himself, one who had left the team in its first or second year.

Lumber Fox broke the embrace and swatted Loser playfully with his large, fluffy white-tipped tail. "Ha! I just felt a little redundant in the LMB with Shark Lad and Furball hangin' around. I explored the universe for a few years 'til I found my callin' amongst the Templars!"

"Well, it's damn good to see you, Foxy!"

The group talked for a while until Sir John got a call on his communicator, and a grim look fell across his face. John addressed them all. "It looks like our window's starting to close. More bug ships are approaching the system. We have about a day until they get here. The warship will remain in orbit and coordinate the defense with the Xylarians. I'll take Serj, Lumber Fox and the Lard Knights planetside with you and your crew, Loser Lad, to discuss options with the Daroon Queen."

"Damn," Loser muttered, "I was hoping we'd have more time..."

Minutes later, two ships emerged from Templar-7 and entered Daroon's atmosphere.
 

---

Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
 
As Goon Boy, Power Boy, Tempest and Disaster Boy began making their own preparations to leave Ecumanopolis, Invisible Brainiac took a few seconds to sneak off and think.

He needed time to get his bearings a bit.

He was no stranger to battle, but...

This was probably the first time he truly realized that he might not come home.

He didn't know what he'd do if he fell in space, or got turned into a ghoul like Disaster Boy had. Thank grife they were able to free him.

They were so far from home, but...

He made his way to the controls and figured out a way to leave a message. Opening star charts and graphs, he came up with a plan right away.

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

A burst of light streaked away from Ecumanopolis. IB Blue carried the message they had prepared. As soon as he was within range of Legion World, he would release the message as a hologram that would travel straight towards its intended recipient.

IB Yellow waited in the hidey hole they had prepared. Yellow would wait for Blue in case the rest of the Fellowship left Ecumanopolis before Blue could return.

Green and the other four made their way back to the ship. Green shimmered and altered the light around him so he would look normal, while the other four hid themselves. IB didn't feel like explaining much to the others.

He opened his omnicom again and looked at the letter he'd sent off. He wished he really felt that way, but... he didn't want to cause unnecessary worry. If he didn't make it, then he wouldn't. The mourning could start then, not before.

[ October 30, 2011, 12:21 PM: Message edited by: Invisible Brainiac ]
 

---

Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
 
Hey you, how are you holding up? I know you miss me. Don't worry, I miss you too, and I've been behaving on this trip. Not that I've really been in a position to misbehave, but give me some credit right? And one of my teammates here is increeeeedibly hot. But you're hotter

Seriously, though. Things have gotten pretty bad lately, but I trust in my teammates. We'll be fine, I promise.

Well, to be honest, I wish I could feel as confident as I sound. This is the first time I've really felt the danger. I can't go into the details, but some bad nass happened to us a while back. We know where to go, though, and who to find to set things right.

I wish, I really wish, I could tell you more. But I can't. I'll give you a blow-by-blow of everything when I get back though - if you give me a blow-by-blow too. Of what you've been up to, I mean

Don't wait up for me, okay? I'll be home as soon as I can, but I can't say when that will be.

Thanks for putting up with me. You've been the best, always so understanding. We really have a good vibe going.

I haven't said this to anyone in a good long while, but... I love you.

IB
 

---

Posted by Rockhopper Lad on :
 
Reunion
The Loser Cave, New Wystuv’ryy, Earth-4

Rockhopper Lass was exhausted.

She was very glad to see her patrol come to an end. Especially now that the Emperor had returned to the new capital from his summer palace in that city whose name resembled that of their home planet., she had to be so careful. As she and Seth entered the Loser Cave, she heard some commotion.

“What's going on?” the Pyngwyny Princess asked.

Infra-Red Lass ran to her. Adelie, we have some visitors I think you'd like to see. Infra led Adelie to an inner chamber. “What visitors, Infra? What are you talking about?”

Infra smiled the smile identical to her almost-double of Earth-1, Caliente. “Here is one of them.”

“Hello, Adelie!”

Adelie froze. What was Tempus doing here? But wait! This couldn't be Tempus. After he betrayed the SMB to her brother, the extra powers given him added ten centimeters to his height and ten kilos of muscle to his frame. This man was a little shorter and a little slighter.

“Tim? Time-Teller Lad?”

“Yes! It's so good to see you again!” The two embraced. “And here is someone else!”

A very happy dog entered.

“Hyvvie!” She shouted! There was no doubt as to the identity of this canine. There was no Hyvvie in her world. “Good boy! Aren't you happy to see your Aunt Adelie?”

The Wonder Beagle showed all due affection for Adelie. As she stood up from scratching him behind his ear, Adelie turned to see someone else.

“Eudyptes?”

Rockhopper Lad entered. “I'm here, Adelie. I made it!”

The two who were not truly siblings, but, despite hailing from parallel universes, had come to think of each other as such began a tight, tearful embrace.

Rockhopper Lad looked at her. Yes, this was the same Adelie, yet she was different. She looked as if she had aged ten years. There was that much less innocence in her eyes. He knew that her living in secret on this world where his own double—her own brother—reigned had taken so much from her. Rockhopper Lad pondered this double of his again. Seeing with his own eyes what evil had been wrought by someone who was for all intents and purposes his own self, save for something that prevented him from developing a moral compass, was overwhelming. And to know that the double of his own late first love, Blaine Fey, and the double of his best friend, Time-Teller Lad were the Emperor's co-conspirators added fuel to the fire. For perhaps the first time in his entire life, Rockhopper Lad felt hatred for another being.

Adelie spoke and brought her other-dimensional “brother” back from his thoughts. “I was afraid I'd never see you again, Eudyptes!”

“I thought I'd never see you again, but deep down I never gave up. We're here now.”

“Oh, Eupyptes! It's worse than you could imagine!”

“I know,” the Pyngwyn Prince stated grimly. Then, raising his hand, which crackled with ice magic, “But I swear by all Pyngwypalia holds holy, by the Celestial Throne of Merciful Dywh Who Took on Feathers and on the Silver Pyngwyn that I will not leave this world until my double is overthrown and that he, that detestable Blaine Fey and that treacherous Tempus are all in chains!”
 

---

Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
 
The ancient ruins of Prianopolis,
The Dark Oval

At first he heard sounds, as if off in the distance, and then gradually the world began to fade back into view. The light stung his eyes but he quickly grew adjusted to it. It was only after his hearing and sight returned to normal that he felt the enormous headache and stomach-sick feeling pulsating through his body. He was battered and bruised, and for a moment felt as if he might vomit from the pain and sickly, blurry feeling in his mind. Luckily, he hadn’t eaten a proper meal in sometime and had nothing to really vomit anymore. At least I’m still alive…so far…, though Cobalt Kid.

Cobalt to his left and saw his best friend was also waking up. Lard Lad looked terrible: beaten, bruised and bloody and Cobalt realized he probably looked the same. He remembered they’d just taken quite a beating but he wondered if they were beaten while unconscious? Probably. The two of them both waking up at the same time was too coincidental too. They’d been waken up, and probably telepathically. It was then Cobalt recalled they had both been taken. By Titus.

“The young heroes awake,” said the icey, soft voice as if on cue, and the tone of it caused both heroes another wave of nausea. The way Titus said “young heroes” was riddled with sarcasm and amusement. “We’ve come a long a way, esteemed ones, and I’ve been looking forward to you being able to see the magnificent Empire of Prianopolis!”

Cobalt turned to his right and then saw it: a massive, huge city with diverse and great architecture as far as the eye could see. Yes, it was once magnificent, but now it only ruins and rubble. Some of it looked old that it might collapse at any moment. Cobalt could smell the ruins too—an old, musty smell of something that was too old to still exist. He could also smell something else; something more familiar. Salt? Salt water to be precise. They were near an ocean. Titus must have us by a dock or harbor, he thought. But why?

“You okay, Lardy?” said Cobalt softly.

“Yeah,” said Lard Lard. “You?”

“Yeah,” replied Cobalt. Neither spoke more than they had to. They both knew it was time to wait and see what Titus was planning and to get a better sense of the situation. They both sounded worse for wear—hurt, scared and tired, but they knew each other so well that they could tell they weren’t that hurt, scared or tired.

“Isn’t that sweet?” said Titus as he now stepped into view. His magnificent purple cloak flowed in the wind, representing his once royal stature. Behind him, the sun shown brightly into their eyes, so they could barely seen his features. Only his beautiful, sparkling eyes shown and when they looked into them, both felt the urge to smile and be happy. It was sickening.

Titus was soaking up the moment, letting the two of them scramble. Cobalt knew Lardy was trying to tap into his armor and figured Lardy knew what he was doing. He was testing his magnetism—looking for metals on his own person, around him, on Titus, anywhere. But he couldn’t find anything.

“No magnetism for you, I’m afraid,” said Titus, this time with the sweetness totally gone from his voice. “Nor healing. I’m afraid on this occasion, you have no shield to hide behind.” Titus leaned forward and they could see his face now: it was pale white and his lips were a deep, bloody red. When he smiled, they could see his teeth were sharp and like fangs, ready to rip into flesh if need be. Cobalt recalled Titus had telepathic abilities and the realization set in that Titus was strong enough as a telepath to block Cobalt’s ability to use his powers. This was not good.

“You take us to the loveliest places,” said Lardy with a laugh, a show of pure defiance.

Titus didn’t take the bait. “Don’t I? This was once the gem of the universe! A bastion of civilization and power! All those who lived under my rule knew what true glory was when they looked upon me. For one thousand years sentients came from all over to see the glory of the City of Prianopolis.” Titus looked out to the ruins of the ancient city with a longing nostalgia. And again, that evil grin appeared. “And when that grew boring, I let those I’d risen to the highest ranks think they’d thrown me out. It was worth it to see the look on their faces when I returned with another army at my back and sacked this city until the Empire of Prianopolis vanished as if it never existed.”

As Titus talked, Cobalt looked around. He realized both the matching cloaks that Lardy and he had from a mission years ago were gone. They were both in chains—old, rusty chains made of iron that tore at the skin. Cobalt’s shirt was removed exposing his scarred body to the sun, and his boots were also gone. They were in a pile off to his side and Cobalt could see one lone fly buzzing around them, landing on his clothes as if to watch them.

Lardy was not wearing his exo-armor but was still fully dressed. “Your cloaks are on their way to the Dark Lord,” said Titus as if he’d read his mind, which Cobalt realized, he may have done. “Any meager belongings you may have had are gone. Your powers are gone too. You only have yourselves.”

The damn telepathy, though Cobalt, I’ve got to remember what Crujeckie taught me.

“No being without telepathy, no matter how hard they’ve practiced,” said Titus hearing those thoughts, “can withstand me.” Titus peered at Cobalt, as if studying his face. “I sense something odd about your mind,” he said after a few moments, “yes, for a non-telepath, you practice the art quite regularly. How romantic—the love of your life is a telepath.” The mention of love and romance gave Titus’ tone of voice a the sense of utter contempt. “You two share a telepathic link. To a telepath, this is if your soul was bound to another’s in the most honest and true form. Even stronger than marriage. It’s disgusting, and it shows you for the weakling that you are.”

Cobalt looked at Titus with pure anger in his eyes now and Titus stared right back. “Allow me to make you a stronger man, Cobaltus,” he said with a wicked grin and suddenly sharp daggers shot into Cobalt’s skull. The pain was so immense, Cobalt doubled over in pain and blood ran out of his nose and ears; he vomited immediately and tried to cry out but could not find his voice.

“Des!” yelled Lardy. “You son of a bitch!” he yelled to Titus, trying to grab the celestial’s attention.

Cobalt’s mind felt like it was being continually cut and ripped apart, as if a surgeon was performing a brutal procedure on it. And suddenly all at once he realized something was shifting within him; something was being ripped away and he could no longer feel it. The telepathic link he shared with Crujectra was broken. Ripped asunder. He know longer felt her presence even a little, and that realization shocked him as true despair engulfed his visage. He had been tortured before in his lifetime, once so terrible it shattered him; now for the first time since then, he felt the same despair he thought he’d never feel again.

“Noooooo,” he whispered to himself, as the pain began to subside. “Y-you…bastard…”

Lardy struggled with his bonds now, trying to push himself between Cobalt, who still lay on the ground, and Titus, who stood magnificently above them. Titus only smiled.

“The Dark Lord has designs for you, Anthony,” said Titus in his soft voice. “Though I don’t see why. There is little about you I find worth keeping. But for that reason, you remain untouched for the moment. Luckily, we can still make your presence worthwhile,” he said in a vicious grin that showcased those blood red lips and pointed, dagger like teeth.

He turned Lard Lad around so he faced the other way and the sight of what he saw was almost overwhelming. A vast, huge ocean that extended in all direction as far as the eye could see. Huge, foamy crested waves crashed into one another as the water ranged from a deep, dark green to a murky brownish-black.

They were at a harbor, along a dock that stuck out into the ocean. Only one small boat was in view, and in front it, walking forward, was a lone figure. He was a dominator and his height and built gave him away as an Unkillable. With his adrenaline surging, Lardy’s mind instantly figured out who this was: Outcaste, the Dominator with a long-standing grudge with Cobalt Kid. Outcaste walked forward to join them.

“The vast oceans of Prianopolis are what helped our great city first conquer our planet, before reaching out into the stars to conquer the others. Those days of pillage and plunder have always had a warm place in my heart and the salty smell of the sea water gives me a burning feeling in my groin,” said Titus. “But the waters of Prianopolis have something truly amazing living in them. Just watch.”

Lardy looked at his friend, who was still doubling over in pain with blood running down his nose, ears and now he could see his eyes as well. He then looked forward into the water. At first he saw nothing other than the rugged crash of the waves but upon further inspection, he could see something else. Very large fins. Hundreds of them.

“The megalodon sharks of Prianopolis are legendary,” said Titus. “Likely because we kept them so well fed,” he added. “Let me reach out to one so you can at least see their splendor.”

As if on cue, one fin came closer to shore and Lardy began to see the shape of what lied beneath the water. It made him inhale deeply, as he suppressed a gasp. The shape began to rise out of the water, growing larger and larger, revealing it to surpass in size even a standard space cruiser. And at last, it breached the water in a giant leap, crashing upwards into the sky to reveal a giant frame. But most awful of all was its massive set of jaws, with huge sword like teeth as large as a man’s leg. The beast crashed back into the water in a moment and ocean water splashed outwards in every direction as if a rain storm.

Lard Lad realized what was to come. Cobalt was now looking up, into the sea, the despair still fresh on his face. “Cobie,” said Lardy, “hang in there. Fight anyway you can. You’ve still got the magnetism.”

Titus laughed and then Outcaste followed. “No one gets to say goodbye I’m afraid,” said Titus matter-of-factly, and suddenly Outcaste grabbed Cobalt Kid by the chains and began dragging him up the dock.

Cobalt struggled, kicking from side to side and trying to rise to his feet, but Outcaste leaned down and pulled out a dagger from his felt. Suddenly, with unkillable-enhanced ferocity, he came down upon Cobalt, stabbing him again and again and again. A half-dozen blows rained down into Cobalt arms, chest and stomach and Cobalt again cried out in pain. Outcaste laughed and cursed the LMBer.

“You’ll pay for this,” said Lard Lad to Titus. “I have no doubt about it,” he added. “A thousand years you’ve been alive? Well it won’t make one thousand and one.”

Titus said nothing but put his icey-cold hand on Lard Lad’s shoulder. The power Lard Lad felt was immense and it froze him in place for a moment.

Outcaste continued to drag Cobalt over the old wooden dock, as a long slithery snake of blood followed them, fresh from Cobalt’s various wounds. In the distance, dozens of fins swam in the ocean.

Outcaste reached the vessel, and throw Cobalt aboard. He got in his himself and they were off, sailing into the sea. Lard Lad could say nothing, but stare forward in horror, as he struggled to break free.

Aboard the vessel, Outcaste drove farther into the sea, turning back to look at Cobalt Kid. “Your magnetism is still gone. Your healing. Your Princess. You’re all alone, Cobaltus,” he said. He did not laugh and he did not grin. He simply felt nothing but hate. “I destroyed the brain of your slut all those years ago. But this will be so much more fun.”

Cobalt looked at him with hi deep blue eyes. They had gone partially blurry and the pain of the stab wounds was causing him to go into shock. He knew what was happening, but he could hardly feel any emotions reacting to it. Maybe I deserve this, he thought.

Outcaste stopped the boat. He walked over to a container and opened it; he grabbed a large metal scoop and began to shovel something into the water. It was blood and guts and other gore. Chum. He was shoveling chum into the water. “I want you to know,” he said, “that I never once stopped thinking about you. You ruined me, and now you’ve ruined any chance I’ll ever have at redeeming myself with the Dominion. But now I’ve ruined you.”

He throw down the metal scoop and walked over to Cobalt. The dagger still hung from his belt and he made to reach for it, but stopped. Instead he walked over and found a rusty, old machete along the wall of the cabin. “The rust gives it a more poetic meaning,” he said.

He turned to Cobalt and Cobalt suddenly spit a wad of blood and spit into his face. It caught him right in the eyes. Outcaste felt anger flood him but he held back. He wiped it away. “You and I have unfinished business,” said the Dominator. And suddenly he plunged the machete into Cobalt’s stomach and ripped it long and hard across his abdomen sideways so blood spilled everywhere.

He threw the machete into the water. And then he bent over, and scooped up Cobalt by the chains and picked him up into the air. Cobalt felt more nausea as he was carried up high and he suddenly realized that this was probably his end. He was going to die today. He tried to mutter something—something clever or funny or even light-hearted—but all he could do was choke on his own blood.

And suddenly Outcaste hurled him into the ocean and he began to sink. The weight of the chains carried him downwards. Giant, massive megalodon bodies swam around him and he could feel their presence.

His wounds ached and his head pounded. He felt himself quietly dozing off to sleep as he sank.

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

“You fucking bastard,” said Lard Lad on the shore, after being forced to watch Outcaste stab Cobalt and then hurl him over. “You bastard…” he said, as tears ran down his cheeks.
 

---

Posted by Timber Wolf on :
 
Timber Wolf had changed his form to that of Furball for most of his trek across the barren landscape of Earth 4. He needed to drop his internal body temperature to accomplish his plan, but with the temperatures on Earth 4, he wasn't sure if he could survive the full trek with his standard uniform.

He was finally getting close to his target. He stopped and reverted back to his standard humanoid form, and immediately began shivering. he put his uniform back on, and while it was insulated, it really offered no protection against the elements here.

He looked into his bag and smiled. These explosives he picked up on Haven were exactly what he needed to get The Emperor away from he and Kalla long enough to get her out of there. All he needed to do now was stay conscious long enugh to plant the devices.

He could feel his feet and lower legs going numb as he neared the Palace. He was glad that he had picked up some light colored clothes to use at this point, as it gave him a chance to get close. He needed to be able to do this without killing or even alerting any of the guards that were posted anywhere.

We waited and watched the patterns, even the mix up of routines that they thought were static enough to confse their enemies were to predictable for him. He was able to slip into the shadows of the Palace and move to the first point where he wanted to place the explosives.

After about an hour, he had three more explosives left to plant and disguise...which was pathetically easy for him in this environment. When he finished planting the last on, he grabbed a hypo out of his bag. He pulled up his pant leg and exposed his left calf. He gritted his teeth and put the hypo to his calf muscle and squeezed. It was everything he could do to not scream out in pain. The fact that he could barely feel his legs did not mean that it did not hurt, in fact, the shock of the device entering his body was made that much more intense by the cold.

He discarded the hypo and buried it in the debris at the side of the Palace. Snow, dirt and ice mixed to make perfect hiding spots for what he did not want them to find. In fact, aside from the explosives, he had hidden several things around...just in case.

He sat there for a short time and let his temperature drop even further. He waited for the cold to almost take him. With his healing factor, it took a while, and he hoped Kalla was not going through too much...but he knew better than that. The Emperor was not known to treat guests very good under the best of situations...let alone a prisoner. One that he considered a traitor to him and his cause.

When he knew that he could not take any more, he forced himself to his feet and made his way to the front gate.

One of the guards at the gate yelled for him to stop, but he kept on moving. If he stopped now, he was dead. He held his hands up and tried to talk, but no words escaped his mouth.

His arms fell to his sides as the guards started laughing at him and were talking about leaving him in the cold to die. He smiled at this, and lifted his hands again. Two guns popped from his sleeves and into his hands. He opened fire on the guards and actually managed to hit four of the eight with fatal shots before they were able to take him down. He was able to severely injure two and kill one more in the fight itself.

As consciousness left him when the last remaining guard hit him in the head, his last thought was Hold on Kalla, I'll be right there to save you.
 

---

Posted by Power Boy on :
 
Prianopolis: Titus’ Palace

Ameratsu watched from bronze metallic eyes. He heard them approach, the captive, Lard Lad howling with rage and pain.

The old sturdy doors to the inner palace flew open. Titus strode in, armored in charcoal. Several ghouls in ragged cloaks carried Lard Lad in. Ameratsu was impressed, the captive still struggled. Most of Titus’ captives began to fade away into insanity after this much attention.

Titus’ eyes looked hungry as his thick violet cloak billowed behind him. He would need to feed soon.

“Ameratsu, report!” Titus commanded as he threw his cloak over a throne that looked like the bony claw of a prehistoric beast, fashioned palm up into a chair, sharp clawed digits arced up and around the sitter to form the back and arm rests.

“The plan succeeds.” Ameratsu responded with a harmonic robotic voice.

“The plan succeeds MY LORD!!!” Titus spat. “I will not have this THIS day robot!” He shouted at the golden artificial humanoid.

“The plan succeeds my lord.” The android repeated with an ever so slight bow of his head. “The Legion space craft approaches. The trap is sprung. Everything is in readiness and goes according to your plan …” (a pause of several seconds) “my lord.”

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

The ghouls threw Lard Lad on the floor of the open throne room, still wrapped in chains. Even without Titus telepathically obscuring his thinking, he had a hard time understanding what was going on around him. He hurt on the outside from the beatings he received but, that was nothing compared to the hollow ache in his heart that he felt for his friend, murdered in front of him. He didn’t catch much of the exchange between Titus and this irritable robot servant except for the mention of more of his friends falling into Titus’ hands.

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

Ameratsu waved a long elegant hand of tarnished gold for two chained prisoners to come forward. They were young, very young. A filthy boy and girl, wearing only rags. A large bruise covered the boys face. The girl looked barely conscious, her mind having fled long ago. Two humanoid soldiers pushed the slaves forward with short swords. Not members of Titus’ elite ghouls but still two of the many soldiers Titus kept for various tasks.

“What is this?” Titus asked.

“I’m sorry my lord, I thought you wished to feed?” Ameratsu replied smoothly.

“THIS!” Titus pointed at the starved children. “This is not enough! Is there no one stronger or more powerful to feed on? You know I subsist on the life energies of others.” Titus spoke suspiciously.

Ameratsu was grateful for his robotic nature in moments like this. An unreadable facial expression had served him well with Titus over the past hundred years. Still, he did have emotions, he felt fear, and if he had sweat pores they would surely be pouring now.

“These are all that is left my lord.” Ameratsu spoke simply.

A pause lay in the air between Titus and the android.

It was not entirely true. Ameratsu had been working for years to undermine Titus’ power. He fed him less and less powerful creatures, arranging for the super powered to escape or die before Titus could add their energies to his own.

It was a deadly game he played but the stakes were creation itself. He did feel some remorse for feeding the weak and the very young, like these children to Titus but, in a battle against the Dark Lord a conscience was a severe liability. The less powerful he fed to Titus the less power Titus would have to do the Dark Lord’s will.

“You have not taken as many prisoners as usual, and you have needed to feed so much for these battles with this fellowship.” Ameratsu spoke quickly. “You could always feed on a few of your soldiers, they are strong.”

The two humanoid soldiers that brought the slaves in both gulped deeply, obviously terrified.

The android waited and thought to himself. ‘Two less soldiers to fight in Titus’ armies would be a small victory especially if their essence fueled Titus himself.’
Ameratsu had learned to take what small victories he could after so long with Titus.

Titus sat on his throne, fuming, frustrated. He cared not even in the slightest for his soldiers but, this android was becoming … more and more … obstinate … a bearer of bad news.

It may be time to remind his loyal servant who was the master.

“Or…” The android went on “What about this one, he seems strong, despite his current predicament, and he is your enemy.” The robot gestured to Lard Lad.

“You know the Dark lord has plans for him. Would you have me defy the Dark Lord in all his greatness???” Titus leaned forward on his throne.

Ameratsu stared at Titus. ‘Yes’ He thought ‘Anything to topple you. A rift between you and the Dark Lord destroys your power and deprives the Dark Lord of possibly his greatest warrior. And this removes Lard Lad as a potential tool of the Dark Lord. ’

Shock pierced the androids impassive artificial face. Titus mistook it for an appropriate fear response at the prospect of defying the Dark Lord.

The expression was actually that Ameratsu was shocked at his boldness. He could feel it though. The time he had been waiting for was coming. Titus was tripping up. He had slaughtered and killed while the other servants of the Dark Lord amassed great empires. It was a new age with different types of heroes that used cunning and guile to defeat their opponents. Brute force and terror were the games Titus was used to playing, not politics.

Ameratsu continued, unable to stop himself. He even dropped his face, adopting a pleading posture with Titus.

“What greater plan could the Dark Lord have than for you to lead and crush his enemies. Surely, this is the Dark Lord’s plan for Lard Lad.”

Ameratsu would risk anything, risk anyone to see Titus undone, to deprive the Dark Lord of a chief servant, and to see the Dark Lord fail. Besides, death was a mercy for Lard Lad, much better than whatever plans the Dark Lord may have for him.

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

Prianopolis: The City

Power Boy grappled with a ghoul, he held its head at his eye level, staring into its dead eyes.

“Titus, you’re going to need more ghouls.” He spoke bitterly.

Then he ripped the ghouls head from its shoulders. Tossing it to the side.

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

Prianopolis: Titus’ Palace

Titus broke from his conversation with Ameratsu with a start. Jarred by Power Boy’s message

“HERE. They’re here.” He bellowed. “You lie.” He pointed at Ameratsu, Titus was always one to lay the blame at others feet but, this time, he was right, Ameratsu did lie when he said they approached rather than they were already here, past Prianopolis’ defenses, An uncharacteristically foolish misstep for the careful android.

“RAHHHHHRR!!!!” Titus hurled his spear from the throne. The spear took Ameratsu in the chest where his heart would be were he human. The android fell to the stone floor spearhead sticking out through his back. The artificial body limp.

Titus’ chest heaved, furious. It was a waste of a major domo, the android all but ran this planet.

Titus’ eyes looked to Lard Lad, he needed to take his frustration out on someone.

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

Prianopolis: The City

Power Boy turned to Tempest, Invisible Brainiac, Disaster boy, and Goon Boy. They stood in an unremarkable street in the dead city of Prianopolis. Their starship was nowhere in sight. Power Boy hated this place, It was a graveyard. There wasn’t any infrastructure, just bare bones buildings to house Titus’ soldiers and servants.

They spread out, Power Boy taking a direct course for Titus’ palace. Tempest and Disaster Boy moved to either side of Power Boy. They would flank him from safety, using their powers to destroy this place indirectly. Invisible Brainiac and Goon Boy vanished. It was their job to search for and rescue Lard Lad and Cobalt Kid. They would all take paths to converge on Titus. It was risky plan, but it was too late for anything clever.

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

Buildings flew apart and shattered under Power Boy’s telekinetic assault. He walked towards Titus’ palace with the measured steps of a predator. He was really enjoying this. He could be at Titus’ palace in seconds but that wasn’t the plan. The plan was to make himself a target, drawing out more and more ghouls and soldiers, to pick them off in waves rather than face them all at once in Titus’ home. Power Boy was a trap.

On the street to the palace, Power Boy swept his baton straight through the middle of two ghouls. They fell apart, shattering into ashes.

From the sidelines Tempest used her power to remove all the oxygen from the area, felling dozens of soldiers without killing them. The earth shook and raged as Disaster Boy took out another group of soldiers as they closed in on Power Boy.

Soon Titus would run out of lackeys to send, and then Power Boy would be on his doorstep. They all would be.

Power Boy broadcasted three words telepathically, with such force to reach Cobalt Kid and Lard Lad wherever they were.


‘We are coming.’

[ November 01, 2011, 12:05 AM: Message edited by: Power Boy ]
 

---

Posted by Dev - Em on :
 
Dev em was relieved. It was apparent that there was something happening up in orbit above DAroon, and that Loser Lad and Fes Te had at least gotten some help from the Queen of Xylar 7. The bugs had retreated for the time being, and had not been seen for about an hour or two.

"Daddy?" Han Em asked from behind him.

He turned and smiled at his daughter. "Yes sweetheart?"

"Are we going to be alright? The animals on Daroon are really scared of the bugs...and I am too."

He looked from his daughter up to the sky. He had heard the sound of a ship...multiple ships entering the atmosphere.

Han looked up in the sky and squinted her eyes really tight. "I see shiny things up there daddy."

Dev laughed for the first time in days. "You do sweatie? That's great. It looks like there are a lot of ships coming. Loser and Fes are in one, and...no way. Is that..."

"Who daddy?"

"An old friend honey. You're going to really like him. He'll remind you of your Uncle Lon in a way."

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

Loser Lad landed the cruiser and hit the switch to lower the ramp.

The second ship landed right along side of him and their ramp lowered as well.

Loser walked down the ramp and was met by Dev and Han. "Thank the gods you made it back Loser," he said as he gave Loser Lad a hug. "I take it things went well?"

Loser nodded. "There's a good sized fleet up there, and quite a few troops l;anding just the other side of the ridge. I also ran into some other friends..." he said and nodded toward the other ship that had made the landing within their compound.

Dev moved to go meet the others, and Han just stayed by Loser Lad. Jon Em came running up to them with Hugh, both yelling "Loser! Loser! Loser!" over and over again. Han shook her head, "they love saying your name over and over agian."

Loser Lad just smiled and excused himself, heading back into the cruiser to get some supplies.

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

Serj and Lumber Fox came walking down the ramp and Dev was waiting to greet them.

Lumber Fox grinned, "This is like old home week. How are ya Dev?" he said as the two gave a rousing back patting hug.

"It is so good to see you. It's been way to long Foxy."

Lumber Fox gave Dev the abridged version oof where he had been and why he came to help.

Dev was all smiles as he turned to Serj. "You have to be Serj..."

Serj nodded. "I am, and I have something for you," he said as he reached into his pack.

"What..."

He pulled out an OPmnicom and handed it to Dev.

"Your brother wanted me to give this to you. He said you'd know what the information on it meant."

"Lon's still alive then...that's good."

Lunber Fox had a slightly puzzled look on his face. "You have a brother?"

Dev looked up at him as the Omnicom booted up. "Yeah...his name is Lon, but you knew him as Furball."

Lumber Fox shut his eyes and put his index fingers to the corners of his eyes. "Wait, Furball is your brother, and he has a name?"

Dev sighed. "Yeah, he also is one of the single most deadly sentients in the U.P."

"Furball?"

"He goes by Timberwolf now, and he looks...well pretty normal."

"Furball..."

Dev laughed again, "oh yeah, you also know our 'cousin,' in a manner of speaking."

Lumber Fox tilted his head at Dev, "you better not say..."

"I'm serious. Bruce is 'genetically' related to us through our mothers side...they were sisters."

Loser Lad walked up behind Dev and just grinned. "Yeah, things are never simple with the Legion."

Dev turned to Serj. "I'm sorry, we just..."

"It's all right," he said flashing a small grin. I would speak with the Queen and whomever is left of the Royal Cabinet."

"Sure," Dev said, glancing down at the Omnicom, "my wife, Queen Alyson, is right over here," he finished as he turned to lead Serj and the others the Queen."

AS they walked towards where the Queen was meeting with what few Senior Guards that were left, Lumber Fox leaned over to Loser Lad. "Dev is married to a Queen?"

"Yep..." Loser said before breaking out into laughter himself.
 

---

Posted by Lard Lad on :
 
Prianopolis, Titus' Palace

Titus frowned at Lard Lad and considered the advice Ameratsu gave him. Should he feed on this one and go against the Dark Lord's commands?

As if he sensed what Titus was thinking, Lardy yelled, "do it, you sprocking coward--while you have the chance!" And then he spit on one of Titus' sandaled feet.

"You DARE!" Titus screamed and backhanded Lardy across the room. Titus stood over him and prepared to feed on him. Then, he paused and backed away. "Clever ruse, Lard Knight. You were obviously paying attention to the accursed android egging me on earlier. I will not defy the Dark Lord! You live...for now."

Lardy laughed. "So the high and mighty Titus is actually someone's lapdog? Maybe he wants to trade you in for someone with some backbone!" And his laughter rang through the Palace.

Titus' eyes lit up with pure hatred. Lardy had struck a nerve. Maybe he would feed on this one after all.

Suddenly, Power Boy's telepathic message rung in everyone's ears with its power and gave Titus pause. "So," Titus said, "he approaches. Time, I think, to teach the little one a lesson!" He gestured toward Lardy and said, "I will deal with you later!" Titus turned toward the two guards and, as they wailed, drained them of all of their life force. He motioned toward the rest of the guards and commanded, "guard this one, or I'll feed on you next!" Then, Titus flew out the nearby window.

Lardy's smirk faded away, and he tried to figure out how the Hell he'd get out of this mess. Gods, is Des really dead? Is this how it ends for us? he thought.

A moment later, he was aware of a fly buzzing around his head. Strangely curious about it all of a sudden, his eyes followed it as it came to a rest about two feet in front of him on the floor. In a blink a guard's foot came down on the fly, apparently ending its fragile existence. Then, the guard's foot flew in the air as if he'd just slipped on a patch of ice. A closer look showed that something had grown underneath the foot and threw it in the air. In another blink there was suddenly a great dragon in the room, and it lashed out at the guards with its tail. Several fell unconscious, and the remaider had little courage to face such a beast and ran away.

The dragon perused the throne room, confirming that the room was cleared of threats. Then, it faced the chained Lard Lad and shrunk down and shifted to a humanoid form with skin of an orange hue and a pair of distinctive antennae on its head.

Lardy recognized immediately that this was the traditional form taken by Durlans to outsiders. Moreover, he was pretty sure he recognized this particular Durlan.

"Juj?" Lardy asked him in an attempt to confirm his suspicion.

Juj Rinold was one of Kalla Hrykos's top aides. Lardy had worked closely with him years prior to assassinate and replace the Dominion's Pinnacle Command with Juj. This had paid off royally in the recent sacking of Hul they'd pulled off. He'd considered Juj a friend.

"Indeed I am, Lard Lad!" the shapeshifter confirmed jovially as he made his limbs into sharp blades to free Lardy of his bonds.

"How?" Lardy managed as a follow-up as he massaged his now-free wrists.

"I'm afraid I've been stowing away with you since Haven, my friend. I was trapped there after fleeing the Dominion, having finished playing my part. I wasn't sure how you all would take me, so I was literally a fly on the wall! I stayed with you throughout, waiting for my opportunity to help out. I'm...sorry about your friend. But I knew I was no match for Titus."

Lardy tried not to think of his friend or risk falling into despair. "It's...okay, Juj. Let's--"

Before he could say more, Lardy was distracted by a sound like weeping. The two turned and saw the two small children that had been offered up as a sacrifice to Titus cowering in a far corner. Lardy's eyes softened as the two reminded him of his own two precious children. Thoughts of grasping at straws and searching the ocean for Cobie dissipated. "We've gotta get them to safety, Juj."

"There are more downstairs, my friend!" Juj asserted.

Lardy walked toward Titus' throne and found what he was looking for: a marble. He touched it and it turned to liquid and coalesced all over him into his exo-armor. Then, he walked over to the children.

"Come, little ones," Lardy said gently. All fear left the children at his words, and they climbed into his arms. "Let's free the rest!" he yelled to Juj, and the two headed down the stares with Juj taking lead in his dragon form.

Des, I know you'd do the same, given this choice. Lardy thought as tears formed in his eyes. I just hope I can live with myself...

[ November 01, 2011, 12:47 AM: Message edited by: Lard Lad ]
 

---

Posted by Kalla Hrykos on :
 
Earth-4,
The Dungeon of the Emperor's Palace

"AAAAAIIIIIIEEEEEEEE!!!!"

"Your screams are like music to my ears, traitoress!" laughed the Emperor as he tortured Kalla Hrykos with selected usage of his ice powers as her magically-imbued bonds restrained her light powers. "Now, perhaps, you can be persuaded to tell us all you know of your aptly-named 'Losers'?"

"Do your worst--I refuse to give you the satisfaction!" she snarled. "Just know that when I get out of this, I'll feed you to Shark Lad!" The thought made her want to laugh. And she did.

"Listen, you harlot!" the Emperor screamed in anger. "If you don't cooperate, I'll get Wyandotte on the communicator and tell him to unleash his bugs on your beloved Hrykosia!"

This gave her pause. "You wouldn't DARE!" she yelled.

"And why shouldn't I?" He looked toward his consort Blaine. "Get me Wyandotte, beloved!"

"STOP, you filthy water fowl!" she commanded to the Emperor before Blaine could do anything. "Did you think I had no contingency? If you make that call, I will destroy this planet and you and I with it!"

The Emperor and Blaine laughed. "The traitoress grasps at straws, my love," Blaine derided.

She shifted her eyes from one of them to the other, making direct, stony eye-contact with each. "When have either of you known me to bluff?"

The two looked at each other and frowned. They had worked with her enough to know not to take her lightly.

"I'll indulge you," the Emperor finally said. "How would you supposedly carry out this threat?"

She grinned broadly. "A nega-bomb," she said. "A particularly powerful one planted somewhere you'll never find it."

"Ridiculous!" Blaine scoffed. "There's no way, you--"

Kalla interrupted. "I had the opportunity with Hrykosian operatives planted among the Losers during my frequent visits here along with the necessary components for the device. As for the method, I'm sure you know that nega-bomb tech originates on Hrykosia?" She grinned, "and I'm sure you don't doubt the motive?"

The Emperor gasped noticably, the implications washing over him. "If such a thing were true, what would stop me from leaving this planet to die?"

"Well," she said slyly, "such an act would be looked at with disfavour among the other Oval Elite, would it not? A definite sign of weakness? My fate is sealed now, so I have nothing to lose. But you...?"

He knew of what she spoke. Weakness and treason were both punishable by death in the oath they swore. "How would your operatives know to activate it?"

She smiled wider, knowing she had him. "There's a pre-set time frame--could be a minute from now, an hour, a week--in which my operatives know that if they don't hear from me...BOOM!" She laughed loudly.

"My love," Blaine whispered, "surely she can't be telling the truth--!"

The Emperor whispered back, "But I must be sure!" Then, he turned back to Kalla and was about to speak, just as Blaine received a communication over his earpiece.

"Eudyptes!" Blaine yelled all of a sudden and motioned for the Emperor to turn back. Blaine whispered something unintelligible to him. As he heard what his lover had to say, The Emperor got an evilly confident look in his eyes.

"Traitoress," the Emperor finally said with renewed confidence, " I believe I've trumped your trump card!"

Moments later, another prisoner was brought down to the dungeon. Kalla recognized him immediately.

"Lon!" she cried as she saw her lover, also known as Timber Wolf, brought in in chains.

The Emperor grinned as he announced, "we will see how resolute you are as your lover suffers!"

As Blaine and the Emperor laughed, Lon and Kalla made eye contact. Her fear for him turned into hope as he silently mouthed to her, "right where I want 'em!"

Of course, she thought. He always has a plan. Part of why I love him so much!

She winked at him as he winked back, but her facial expression remained horrified for their captors' benefit.

She just hoped they'd be out in time to give her people the signal not to activate the bomb...or it would be a very short reunion! For Kalla Hrykos was not one to bluff...
 

---

Posted by Lolita on :
 
New Wystuv’ryy (formerly Gotham City),
Earth-4, The Dark Oval

Following the reunion of Rockhopper Lad and Rockhopper Lass, a true sense of optimism seemed to overtake the Losers, and Lolita found herself smiling more herself. It had lifted their spirits and Lolita and the others felt glad to be around them.

Her initial intention had been to stay with Shark Lad, almost off to the side, her chronic shyness kicking in. But Shark Lad had told them they were here to help and it would be worthwhile to get to know them better. He was right of course, but Lolita couldn’t help but feel the nervousness that set in when you felt like an outsider; it was a feeling she’d had her entire life.

She knew the Earth-1 Faraway Lad very well because of Cobie, so she tried to find the chance to speak with him, but he remained busy with Rockhopper Lass for the planning stages. She had taken on the role of leader among the Losers and Faraway Lad was an important lieutenant to her, offering counsel and advice.

She liked Lightning Lass a lot, who seemed to have a swagger to her that usually was reserved for the boys. Ayla was nice to Lolita and welcoming, but it was obvious she had her own set of close friends and was busy with other things.

The two she really clicked with were Hugh Taylor, who was incredible nice and welcoming and always had a moment to speak with everyone, and Polka Dot Kid, who she met on the way here. The first thing he did, when he learned she didn’t have any offensive powers, was take her to the armory.

“Once you leave this cave,” he said dead serious, not realizing how silly he looked with his polka-dots on his face and costume, “you’re open to attack from just about every way possible. Snipers and bombs are everywhere and that doesn’t even get into the super-powered enemies we’re up against. You know how to use a gun?” he asked.

“Of course,” she said, taken aback. She grabbed a class-A blaster and cocked and loaded it, letting the micro-converter hum while it powered up. “This isn’t my first war,” she said. That was the truth but maybe her words came out a little to abrupt.

“Well excuse me,” he said smiling, handing her several flash-grenades. “Then surely you know what these are and how to use them. What about a knife?”

“I…I’ve never really used a knife or sword before,” she said. The thought made her nervous. Could she ever stab someone if she needed to? Maybe the Red Bee.

“Why don’t you take one just in case,” said Polka-Dot Kid. “Think of it like one of your boyfriend’s big teeth.”

Lolita laughed at the joke but there was something about the way he said boyfriend that made her wonder. Was it a bit of jealousy?

As they were talking, other Losers came and went, many of them people she didn’t know and hadn’t meant. She realized there were a lot of Losers who were not former SMBers or SMB Academy members. They had no powers at all.

Polka-Dot Kid seemed to know what she was thinking. “When you start doubting yourself, just look around you at these folks. Losers, everyone. One bullet kills them, just like you and I. And every one of them helps us just a little more. Just like you and I.”

Lolita nodded, taking his point. As they talked, another Loser she recognized entered the room, and walked over to them near the resupply station. It was Zhiya, the petite Asian woman who seemed to be some kind of super-ninja. Lolita immediately recalled when Zhiya held the sai to her neck and pricked it ever so slightly so her neck bled. It was not something she thought about gladly.

Zhiya walked by them but seemed to hover a minute when she walked by Lolita. She almost appeared ready to say something, but then decided against it and continued on. She walked over, asked for her some flash grenades and left.

Polka-Dot Kid noticed it too. “Zhiya usually doesn’t say much,” he said, “but when she does, it’s pretty direct. I’m surprised to see her unsure like that.”

“Why does she hate me?” asked Lolita. “I keep seeing her give me looks. I mean, I know she’s blind, but it’s like she listening to me when I talk even when she’s across the room. She always seems to be following me if that’s possible.”

Polka-Dot Kid shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe. Aren’t you like your Earth’s version of Cobalt Kid’s sidekick or something?”

Lolita was suddenly taken aback in a big way and her face showed it. He lifted his hands up to apologize but she yelled right back at him. “No! I’m most certainly NOT Cobalt Kid’s sidekick! Where did you hear that? Was it Timberwolf? I’ll kill him! And what does that have to do with anything?!”

“Whoa, whoa, I didn’t mean anything by it,” he said quickly. “It’s just, if you’re close with your Earth’s Cobalt Kid, maybe that’s why Zhiya is interested in you.”

“Why?” she asked, confused.

“You don’t know,” said Polka-Dot Kid as if the answer was obvious. “Zhiya is our Cobalt Kid’s widow. She was his wife before he died.”
 

---

Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
 
The ancient ruins of Prianopolis,
The Dark Oval

As the chains slowly dragged him down ever further into the murky depths of the ocean, Cobalt felt himself drifting into unconsciousness. His body ached from the stab wounds, cutting deep into his organs and arteries and spilling massive amounts of blood into the water. All around him he could sense the presence of massive sea creatures—megalodon sharks, sniffing at the fresh blood and inching ever closer to inspect, and very likely, enjoy a tasty meal. Would he drown, die of the stab wounds or be eaten?, he wondered. It was too bad he couldn’t utter any last words and instead only choked on his own blood.

As he continued to sink, the moments spread out as if they were minutes—no, as if they were hours. Titus did this, with Outcaste, the Dominator he hated so much and twice let go on this quest. But was it really them? Wasn’t it fate he should killed? Didn’t he deserve it after everything he’d done? He loosed the greatest killing race in the entire history of the galaxies, the Khunds, upon a planet and gave them full privileges to sack it. It was monstrous. But in truth, for years he’d been doing things leading up to that moment, pushing things further and further as the years went.

He felt the blood welling up in his throat as he tried to breath and it caused him to choke. He couldn’t help but open his mouth to let it out and all that caused was sea water to rush in. He was fading fast, and he knew it. He tried to think about the good things in his life but in a moment of clarity realized there was only one good thing in his life. The LMB. He tried to think about all the good times, so when he died he could be at peace but he couldn’t focus.

He kept thinking about Dr. Hoffman and Dark Conan torturing him. The Doctor experimenting on him like he was an animal and the barbarian brutalizing him for his own sheer pleasure. He wanted to die so bad then but somehow found a way to survive.

He thought about his father dying in his arms while his entire home planet died around them. He hadn’t even been able to cry at that moment, the trauma from his torture years earlier ruining him for life. My own father, he thought, and I didn’t shed a single tear. Dr. Hoffman made me used goods. Screwed up and unable to be a human being, no matter how hard I tried to feel something.

But even then, he knew that was a lie. A lie he told himself, as if the world had given him an excuse for his actions and he took it. It only made him feel guilty and hate himself all the more. He’d been used goods for a lot longer than that. Ever since the day his own mother stabbed him. He felt the sharp pain hit him in the back just like he did up on the boat when Outcaste stabbed him. But it was only when he looked up from the floor and saw his mother standing there with the knife in her hands that he felt true pain. A pain he’d never stopped feeling. How could she? he thought. Her own son…

A giant mass moved by him suddenly and snapped him back to attention. The megalodon shark had gotten closer and rubbed up against him; its sharp skin scratched as his arm almost knocking it off and caused him to bleed more. Had it only been seconds that he’d been in here? It felt like hours. Why wasn’t he dead yet?

He hadn’t thought about his mother in a long time. He pushed those memories away. Just like he pushed away what the barbarian did to him in that prison cell. What they made him do. Sometimes if you could make yourself forget you could survive.

The world had done him wrong but he was no different than anyone else. People could do terrible things. But not everyone. It was so hard to think, the pain was so great. His lungs were screaming from not being able to breath and his wounds were hurting so bad. Not everyone. You had the right of it before.

Did he? What was he thinking about before? He couldn’t even remember anymore. He was too far gone. This time, there was no coming back. Maybe, just maybe, somewhere beyond this existence there was something else and I could make things right with his parents.

He felt the despair begin to lift away as he felt acceptance. Submit.

And he sank lower and lower into the darkness.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
No.

No, you’ve never given up yet. You have to at least try. Try for them. Try for the only ones who ever showed you any true love before. For your brethren. For the Legionnaires.

In his darkest moments, he believed that people were naturally terrible beings prone to do terrible things. But he’d always had the evidence to counter that argument: the LMB.

He opened his eyes but the darkness this deep was overwhelming. He could not see the shapes of the sharks around him. But he felt he could see. He felt as if someone was giving him a look.

“We’re heroes, Cobie. That’s what we do.” Lash said that to him on their first mission. Always smiling, always laughing.

“As long as we watch each other’s backs, we’ll be okay,” said Lardy to him. And he meant it. He proved it to me again and again.

“It’s okay to get knocked down,” said Dev, “you just have to get back up.” Dev reached down with an outstretched hand and grasped Cobie’s, pulling him to his feet. Those words had always stuck.

“It’s not over, Des,” said Faraway, “until it’s truly over.” Perhaps his greatest teacher of all.

They had taught him so much. They taught him everything. Maybe as he got older he started to forget. But not now. Not anymore.

Okay LMBers…here I come…. He began to kick his feet to try to stop the sinking. It was no use. He didn’t know how much time he had left. Probably not much. It was probably never going to work. But he had to try.

“I know I’ve done terrible things, Cobie. But so long as I’m alive, I still have time. I can redeem myself.” The Emerald Empress said that to him and he believed her. She did exactly that—she redeemed herself. Maybe there was still hope for her, after all?

He cleared his mind and pushed away the thoughts of despair and giving up. He could still redeem himself, he knew it. Crujeckie, Lolita…so many. They might not love him, and they might not be his friends, but he could do right by them.

”The first thing any super villain worth his salt learns,” said Yellow Kid with a half smile, “is that it’s okay to get caught as long as you can escape shortly thereafter. So you’ve got to learn to bust free from any types of chains or shackles. With no powers.” Yellow Kid had an incredible sense of humor, which Cobalt learned full well the day he agreed to let YK teach him how he always broke free after being caught.

“C’mon,” said Cobie. “There’s no one way to break out of any type of restraints.”

“Of course not,” said Yellow Kid. “You’ll need to learn dozens of ways. Luckily, we’ve got lots of chains and shackles.”

Art would get a kick out of this death trap, thought Cobalt. But he’d be pleased to see this rudimentary shackling they put around me. He shifted his body but the water made it difficult. The pain from the stab wounds was immense—he’d lost so much blood already. Maybe it wasn’t so rudimentary after all. He stopped moving and focused. And then he pushed with all his might to move his shoulder around. POP. His shoulder became dislocated; but his arms also came free.

The chains continued to sink to the bottom, but now, Cobalt Kid was free.

“I think we need to put something right in the official charter,” said Looks that Kill Lad. “Something about our outlook on those who are different.”

“Paul, what do you mean?” said Seahorse, confused.

“I mean that just because something is scary and different, doesn’t mean its bad. It doesn’t mean its going to kill you. As heroes, the public will expect things from us—to protect them from things they’re afraid of. But that’s not our job. Even scary aliens or monsters can be living beings. And they deserve our respect.”

“Even if they dine on human flesh?” said Cobalt with a grin. Goon Boy laughed.

“Yes,” said Looks that Kill Lad, spinning around with his finger in the air. “Even then,” he said dead serious. “If you show it respect, it may just leave you alone.”

Cobalt began to push away the pain and swim back towards the top of the ocean. We’ll see if you were right, Paul. The megalodon sharks swam all around him now, the blood almost driving them into a frenzy. But Cobalt felt no fear. If they end it now, it’s over, he thought. But I’ll give them my respect, and we’ll see.

Though they continued to swim around him, they left him alone.

“It’s no use, Joe,” said Cobalt, “I can’t seem to do it. There’s not enough metal in there. I can’t lift it.”

“Cobie,” said Engine Joe Boy, “you have to stop thinking about yourself as a superhero who only uses magnetism on metal. The extent of yours powers are undefined. And you are much more than a simple superhero. You can do so much. If there is element in this rubble that is affected by polarization, you can lift it. It’s not just about science. It’s about willpower. If you push yourself, you’ll find a way to do it. Even if you don’t understand how you did it.”

He was right; he was always right. Cobalt focused. My powers…Lardy yelled out to me as they took me away. He said I still had them, I had to just fight. I could get them back.. It’s all about willpower.

He concentrated as hard as he could and swam up, up and farther up. He choked back the blood and the sea water, and ignored the pain. He thought about the magnetism and the healing and all the other wonderful things he could do so naturally. He pushed himself.

And at long last, he saw the light up ahead. It’s worth it. It’s worth going on. For the LMB.

He broke surface at long last and inhaled deeply. Air went into his lungs and burned all the way down. He spit up blood and water and felt dizziness overtake him. He felt awful.

But he was alive.
 

---

Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
 
From the boat, Outcaste watched in the distance as Titus battled the heroes. He realized, of course, the Legionnaires had arrived to save their friends. Likely Titus would kill them all, but there was always the chance he might not. Thankfully, Outcaste was now long out to see and difficult to reach. Cobalt Kid was dead and Outcaste had to secure his escape from the LMBers and he’d be fine.

He did not like the ocean water at all. The salty smell made him sick and the constant rocking had thrown off his equilibrium. After he’d thrown Cobalt Kid into the water and his adrenaline had died down, he vomited over the side from sea sickness. Years ago he’d made himself into an unkillable, but that never changed the decades of being nothing more than a member of the science caste, where physical duties were frowned upon.

He could hear those retched megalodon sharks breaking up from the water and then diving back down again. It was distracting and unnerving. They were big enough to shatter the little boat he was on.

“You really are stupid,” came a voice suddenly. It sounded tired and distressed but it had a bite to it. He knew immediately who it was.

Outcaste turned in an instant, pulling out both his gun and his dagger and getting into attack position. Anger and shock were overpowering all other emotions and senses. Cobalt Kid was still alive!

Cobalt was leaning over the side of the boat, trying to climb in. He was costume was only his pants, which was in tatters, and he was covered in blood and cuts. He was soaking wet from the ocean and his skin was a pale blue from the cold. He was trying to climb in but couldn’t and fell over the side into the boat and onto his back. Outcaste almost laughed.

“Not quite the dramatic entrance,” he said, letting his guard down and moving forward.

Cobalt suddenly lunged to his feet, grabbing hold of the side to steady himself. He felt the boat rocking back and forth and it took a moment to adjust, but the feel of having something beneath his feet again was like medicine. He tried to focus, to push away the tiredness and pain. He’d gotten too far not to. “You think you’re the first person to beat me, stab me, tie me in chains and throw me into an ocean full of sharks?” he said with a smile.

“Defiant to the end,” said Outcaste, angry and annoyed. “I thought you’d bleed out before any other means of death overtook you, but a blast in the head works fine for me.” He raised his blaster, hoping to end it once and for all.

Cobalt held his own hand up and suddenly the blaster came stumbling out of Outcaste’s hands and into Cobalt’s. Outcaste’s eyes went wide as the realization that his magnetism was back began to set in.

Cobalt smiled. “Yes,” he said and using his magnetism, he turned the blaster into a small pile of scrap iron and threw it over board. “The stab wounds, they’ll heal too,” he continued as Outcaste saw the deep cut he’d made with the machete was no longer leaking blood. The scar would remain forever, but the wound was healing.

The hot sun beat down on Cobalt’s body and it reinvigorated him, burning away the chill in his bones from the depth of the ocean. “There’s a lot I want to say to you, Outcaste, but frankly, I’m too exhausted.” He moved his hand to face the water and it was clear he was using his magnetism. Suddenly, as the machete Outcaste hurled into the water earlier came floating back up to the boat and into his hands, did the Dominator realize why.

Cobalt held the machete in an offensive position. Outcaste held his dagger in the same. Both of them pushed away any exhaustion or nausea as adrenaline began to rush into them both.

The boat rocked and the waves crashed but silence became increasingly deafening.

Cobalt spoke, and his words held an air of finality: “You and I have unfinished business.”

They charged one another at full speed; Outcaste using his enhanced unkillable body to maximize his strength and speed; Cobalt used his magnetism to do the same. In an instant, they were on top of one another.

Outcaste plunged his dagger forward to reach Cobalt’s side but it was a ploy so he could swing his super-powered arm around and carve out Cobalt throat.

But Cobalt was possessed with the fury he’d held back for too many years. His magnetism exploded forward like an explosion, knocking the dagger out of Outcaste’s hand and his body to the floor. The Dominator looked up in shock.

And Cobalt swung the machete down and lopped his off his head, sending it flying into the ocean waves.

The waves continued to crash and Cobalt at once realized he could hear them again. Outcaste’s decapitated body rained blood into the air but Cobalt kicked it aside as it did so none would land on him. He threw the machete over the side, as Outcaste had done before.

“It’s over,” he said aloud to himself. He felt no better about it, but no worse. He looked out into the ocean and felt a calm suddenly. His wounds were beginning to heal but he was in very bad shape. “But I’ll live,” he said out loud. “That much I’m sure of. I haven’t forgotten, old friends,” he said to the sky. “Maybe for a moment…but that moment has passed.”

He rose in the air using his magnetism and below he began to shatter and destroy the boat so it became rubble and sank deep into the ocean. He spied the name of the vessel as it began to sink and read it, expecting it to be something ironic, like ‘revenge’. Instead it simply said “Mother”.

In the distance, he could see fighting and instantly he knew the LMBers had arrived to battle Titus. He wiped the blood off of his face, some his own and some Outcaste’s disgusting yellow variety, and flew off towards the fighting.
 

---

Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
 
Prianopolis
The Dark Oval

"You dumbass," Invisible Brainiac thought to himself as he flew through the streets of Prianopolis.

Or rather, his Green self thought to himself.

It had seemed like a good idea then, splitting up to cover more ground. Blue and Yellow were en route, but hadn't reached Prianopolis yet. Their delivery had taken longer than expected.

That left, Red, Orange, Green, Indigo and Purple. IB had thought 5 of him would be enough.

He'd reconsidered the moment they'd landed.

He cringed as he remembered Titus telepathically invading his thoughts. "You try to resist me?" came the mocking voice. "Your Cobalt Kid was more skilled than you in telepathic techniques, and he's dead now. You will join him soon - after I have my way with you, youth. I haven't forgotten our earlier encounters."

"Few do. Bet you've been thinking of my ass ever since you've seen it. Poor you, guess nobody'll have you so you have to resort to rape?" IB had sent before shutting off the mindlink between his selves. He'd guesses that was what had allowed Titus to locate him so quickly. Crujectra and the other LMB telepaths had done the same to him before.

He wished he'd felt as brave as he'd sounded, though.

He couldn't see Goon Boy anymore.

He was alone.

"Not truly, though." He told himself. "As long as the LMB stands..."

He flew on.

[ November 24, 2011, 10:04 AM: Message edited by: Invisible Brainiac ]
 

---

Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
 
Prianopolis
The Dark Oval

Purple skulked in the shadows of servant's quarters, searching quickly. "Damn, wish I could still talk to the others," he thought. "Shutting of my mindlink also shuts me off from Power Boy's telepathy."

He hovered silently, peering through every room he could. Around him, servants huddled in their quarters. Purple made a mental note to help them when the battle was over. If he still lived, that is. Titus claimed to have already killed Cobalt Kid, who was a better hero than he himself was.

He pushed that thought out of his mind as he went on.

He heard a familiar moan. Heart pounding, he ducked into the room. Relief flooded his heart as he saw the figure lying on the floor, weak but alive.

"Cobie? You're not dead?" He quickly turned the older hero over.

Too late, he noticed the lifeless eyes and the wicked smile. Cobie's form melted away to reveal one of Titus' ghouls.

Purple felt a crushing feeling in his throat.

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

Red yelled as he fired blast after blast at the ghouls around him. "I've already seen myself die once, it ain't gonna happen again!"

He raged at the thought. His Earth-4 counterpart had died as he'd watched helplessly, unable to help. He hated being helpless.

Adrenaline rushing, he ducked a ghoul's clawed hand by crouching, then quickly blew its head off. Another quickly came up behind him; spinning around, he kicked its feet out from under it and used a laser to decapitate it.

He hoped Titus was too busy to quickly reanimate these things - or to create more. He hadn't seemed to particularly care when he'd lost control of Disaster Boy.

He turned to face the wall of ghouls around him. "Come and get it, squajes!" He cut a swath through their ranks as they surged forward.

Suddenly, they stopped. And as one, they parted.

A lone ghoul stood in the middle. This one glowed, capturing the sunlight.

Red paused. This didn't look good.

Deciding to test it, he fired a laser at where its heart would be.

His beam refracted out of its side.

"Crap." It must be made of refractive crystal!

The ghoul didn't hesitate. It held out its arm, sending crystal daggers flying out towards him.

Desperately reaching for his quarterstaff, Red wished that he'd prepared enough for this. He wouldn't go down without a fight.

[ November 24, 2011, 10:05 AM: Message edited by: Invisible Brainiac ]
 

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Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
 
Prianopolis
The Dark Oval

Indigo cursed as he dodged the darkness that snaked around him, trying to engulf him. The ghoul attacking him wore a cape and a skimpy costume; if it were alive he'd probably had taken a closer look.

As it was, he could barely see its features in the dark shadowy clouds surrounding it. And he was too busy fighting for his life, too.

In a moment of panic, he realized that his other selves were also likely fighting ghouls whose powers counteracted his own powerset. Suppressing that panic, he thought carefully.

His previous blasts had been absorbed by the blackness around him. If it touched him, would he be absorbed as well?

He didn't dare risk it. There was only one choice.

He dropped to the floor, turning himself back into flesh and blood. He'd have to take this on without using his powers.

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

Orange's chest heaved as he crawled along the ground. He didn't dare look up.

Above him, a cloud of particles floated in the air. Around him, plants caught in its path withered; the ground was littered with bugs that had fallen from it.

He saw a rat try to scurry out of the cloud's path; it didn't make it.

The source of the cloud was hovering above; a gigantic moth with large eyes and a wingspan wider than he was tall. Its shadow loomed across him, blotting out the sun.

In his light form, he shouldn't be affected by poisons and pollen. But the problem was, the cloud was also absorbing the sunlight, somehow. If he flew through it, he had no idea if he'd be absorbed or refracted.

Orange huddled under the foliage; his only advantage was that the cloud moved slowly. But if he didn't do something fast, he'd be out of time...

[ November 24, 2011, 10:05 AM: Message edited by: Invisible Brainiac ]
 

---

Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
 
Prianopolis
The Dark Oval

Two streaks of light raced through space towards Prianopolis.

"I can't believe you didn't keep in better touch with them!" Blue sent to Yellow. "All you know is they were going to split up?"

"Don't yell at me like that. I was nearly out of range, and it was tough keeping in touch with both you AND them." Yellow glared back. "I'm not the irresponsible one anymore."

"Fine, fine. I'm sorry. You know I'm just worried."

In the time it had taken to make that exchange, the two had already reached the upper atmosphere of Prianopolis.

"No, I don't." Yellow snapped back. "The rest of you always harp on and on about responsibility - that's why we don't enjoy life more!"

Blue's eyebrow raised. This wasn't like Yellow. Red was the most intense one, and even he didn't snap like that when they were arguing. He bit his tongue - know wasn't the time.

"Enjoy life? Like that time you got us in trouble with the husband of that married women? You just don't accept responsibility, do you?" Blue couldn't stop the words. Almost as though someone else were willing it.

His eyes bulged wide. Surely he hadn't meant that. Someone must be influencing them. Titus was a telepath. He had to tell Yellow.

Before he could turn his head, it snapped towards the left. "And I thought you were the empathic one? Why don't any of you understand?" Yellow screamed.

Blue rubbed his cheek. "Stop being a baby and GROW UP!" He flew up to Yellow, kicking him in the stomach.

No, he shouldn't. They were being controlled. STOP IT!

Yellow's eyes were wide too, and tears welled in the corners. Blue could tell over their mindlink that he also knew what was going on. It didn't stop him from backhanding Blue across the face, though.

Nor did it stop Blue from catching Yellow's second punch in his fist, and then elbowing him in the gut.

Neither of them even noticed the ghoul floating just below them, feeding on their violence.

[ November 24, 2011, 10:06 AM: Message edited by: Invisible Brainiac ]
 

---

Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
 
Prianopolis
The Dark Oval

Green was sorely tempted to open up his mindlink again and check on his other selves. He hated not knowing.

He just concentrated on covering as much ground as he had, while making sure he didn't run into Titus.

He ignored the cries ringing out as destruction rained on Prianopolis. He knew his LMB allies wouldn't harm the civilians, so he didn't feel any guilt at moving on.

Invisibly running through the streets, he felled ghouls and soldiers quickly and efficiently. "That's 27 soldiers and 7 ghouls," he thought. That much less for Titus to call upon later.

Up ahead, a ghoul stepped out of a side street into his path. It was like it knew he was there. "I should take this one down fast then," he thought. He raised his hand to strike it down.

Suddenly, space distorted around him. It was almost like the fabric of reality screamed.

Nausea overtook him. Clutching his stomach, he forced himself steady as the warp collapsed. Looking around, he saw he was back in space; he could recognize Prianopolis off in space. It was so far away...

He turned to find the ghoul. Had it been the one that transported him here?

It was floating a short distance away from him.

He fired a blast, not wanting to get any closer than necessary.

Opening its cloak, the figure revealed its body... a swirling, dark, dense mass of nothing. A black hole.

"Oh light," Green thought as his blast was absorbed. Soon, he would be too.

[ November 24, 2011, 10:06 AM: Message edited by: Invisible Brainiac ]
 

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Posted by Power Boy on :
 
Titus' Palace
The ancient ruins of Prianopolis,
The Dark Oval

It began when:

Titus greeted them on the once grand steps leading up to his palace. His arrogance reeked. He talked and talked, making lewd comments about having Disaster Boy return.

Power Boy stood in the center of the street below the steps. Tempest and Disaster Boy stood to either side. They looked fresh, having taken time on the journey to shower, eat, and recover. They said nothing, they looked impassive. They looked deadly.

And suddenly Power Boy made eye contact with Titus, causing the tyrant to trail off.

‘Die.’ Power Boy said in a low voice.

The next thing Titus saw was Power Boy’s boot in his chest …. Violently knocking him back, shattering the palace doors, and hurling him across the floor through the interior rooms.

Titus’ head rung, it took him a moment to focus. His hair was in his eyes as he looked around from his place on the floor. His chest … hurt … his breastplate shattered. He knew he had no time to get it off, he tried to get up. To say that Titus was surprised was a vast understatement. Titus was fighting for his life.

In his madness he felt … relief.

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

Now:

Tempest stalked the battle. She stood in the shadows intently focused on the gods locked in combat. The fight had started with the rings of Power Boy’s baton on Titus’ sword. At first, Power Boy’s superior speed allowed him to get more strikes in with his baton. Over time, This enraged Titus causing him to become more reckless which capitalized on his brute strength.

The battle changed when he grabbed Power Boy by the throat who responded with a vicious blast of energy vision from his eyes, burning a gash across Titus’ face. Now they tumbled through walls, shattered columns, and shook the palace in a savage frenzy.

Titus diminished, bruising and bleeding, skin turning grey with every passing blow struck. Cuts on Power Boy didn’t bleed, they … leaked … light and energy. The result was a sizzling of light and grey as the battle blurred, threatening to bring the castle down on their heads.

From the corner of Tempest’s eye, she saw Disaster Boy dispatch a few soldiers with a blast of flame. Most of the soldiers broke and ran after seeing the battle began. They feared Titus as much as anyone else and took this opportunity to flee. She knew Power Boy had talked with Disaster Boy about a contingency plan. Disaster Boy would bring this entire castle, even this planet, down on them if it looked like they would fail.

She wouldn’t let that happen, she would succeed, at least in her part. She pushed her mental powers into Titus’ mind surreptitiously while he was distracted with Power Boy. She gradually cut him off from his mental powers. She dismantled his psychic defenses while he fought Power Boy. She did more than that, oblivious to the palace crumbling around her, she delved Titus deeper and deeper searching for any clues, weaknesses, any hint of … the Dark Lord.
 

---

Posted by Dev - Em on :
 
Earth 4

Gear was putting the finishing touches on another weapon for the Losers to use in the upcoming battle.

Clark Marlowe was also working with him, as Jon needed help with certain aspects of the weapons that required a gentler touch.

“Here’s another one Clark,” he said as he tossed the weapon behind him without looking.

Clark caught the gun. “A little warning next time Jon."

Gear turned and sighed. “Sorry. I forget sometimes.”

“We all forget things sometimes Jon,” a voice came in from the hall.

Hugh Taylor entered Gears workshop area and shut the door. “Are you okay?”

Jon lifted his head to the right and gave a really unimpressive chuckle. “Yeah, I’m fine. I was kind of hoping he would have been with them…but at least I got to meet their Sharklad, and know that my ‘Uncle’ is here fighting alongside us…even if he did wander off...just like she used to all the time.”

Hugh closed the gap between them and placed his hand on Jons left shoulder. “Maybe…”

“No. I’m sure he is taking care of things back with his family. If my calculations are correct, his family is under attack as well.”

Hugh shut his eyes for a moment. He and Jon had been friends for years, and he hated when he got into these moods. While it usually meant really innovative tech for the Losers, it usually meant that he was drawing further away from everyone.

Clark wanted to say something, or leave the room. But neither option seemed to be the right thing to do, so he just stayed as quiet as possible.

Jon scratched the back of his head. “Stupid thing is itching again. I hate feeling like a cyborg.”

“Look, we don’t even know if he is on planet right now. For all we know, he went and followed the other group.”

“No, he’s here, and it’s about time he learned that I am alive. I don’t think it will make any real difference to him at this point. He’s insane. The Emperor has twisted his mind into something beyond repair.”

“You don’t know…”

Jon shook his head, and Hugh stopped mid-sentence/ “I’m sorry Jon.”

Jon shut his one good eye. “No Hugh, I’m sorry. You’re the best friend I have, and the only one that puts up with my ‘somber’ moments. The rest just walk off when I get like this.”

Clark wanted to say something, but didn’t.

The door burst open and all three of them whipped their heads around and were ready for anything.

Legion Adventure Boy ran in the room, “He’s searching for us, and he’s getting closer…”

[ November 01, 2011, 08:59 PM: Message edited by: Dev - Em ]
 

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Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
 
Prianopolis
The Dark Oval

The gigantic moth hovered slowly, scattering dust particles all around. As its shadow streaked across him, Orange had a desperate idea.

He reached into his pocket and fished out his lighter.

He flicked it open, holding it up in the wind, watching the flame intently and praying that the moth wouldn't see what he was doing.

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

Purple grabbed at the clawed fists around his throat. He couldn't breathe. His lungs were on fire.

Strangling was a horrible way to go any day, but here in this derelict room, with nobody he loved knowing where he was?

He fought down the panic he was feeling. He forced himself to realize he wasn't quite choking yet - he was managing to keep the ghoul from crushing his windpipe.

He had someone to come home to back on Legion World. And he would.

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

Blue and Yellow continued raining blows on each other, desperately trying to stop. Both were bloodied and battered; Yellow had a black eye on the face he always groomed perfectly; Blue was bleeding from his nose and the corner of his mouth. Uniforms torn, they tumbled through the sky.

The ghoul controlling them didn't even bother to hide now. It was taking sadistic glee in watching them slowly kill each other.

Yellow took a chance - he had no choice. He opened his mindlink with Blue. "Okay, so this thing can manipulate our actions, but not our thoughts, since we're both still aware."

"Right," Blue replied. "It also can't seem to fully control us - I was able to pull my last few punches, at least a bit."

"Okay, if I'm right, here's what we do..."

[ November 24, 2011, 10:07 AM: Message edited by: Invisible Brainiac ]
 

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Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
 
Prianopolis
The Dark Oval

Red swung his staff desperately, trying to block as many crystal darts as he could.

"I sprocking should have practiced more," he thought. One out of every four darts was getting through, and that was way too many. Gashes caused blood to run down his arms and legs. He had managed to prevent them from hitting anything vital, but soon blood loss would make that accomplishment useless.

He tried to think. What had Power Boy and the others taught him about weak spots?

Maybe he should change strategy... It would mean taking some hits, but it was a risk he'd have to take.

He fought against the dizziness and the pain as he formulated a plan.
************************************************

Indigo kept his back to a corner of the room, watching as the dark tendrils snaked around him. He'd tried to run through them, but they were so dark... Any light he gave off had been quickly absorbed.

He hated fighting this thing without being able to see.

Those tendrils of blackness were also cold... Every touch seemed to drain not only light, but the very life out of his body.

He drew out some of his throwing knives and tossed them in the general direction the ghoul was last in, trying to buy whatever time he could.

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

Green flew as fast as he could, but the currents from the black hole ghoul were drawing him in.

Ordinarily, he'd just blast it away, but no dice this time.

Smaller space debris was being drawn in, but it looked like the ghoul couldn't expand its black hole too much. Else, Prianopolis and the other worlds around would be affected.

Its small range now was still powerful enough to deal with a 5'9'' young man, though.

Green desperately tried to reach a nearby asteroid . It was his only chance.

[ November 24, 2011, 10:08 AM: Message edited by: Invisible Brainiac ]
 

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Posted by Lolita on :
 
New Wystuv’ryy (formerly Gotham City),
Earth-4, The Dark Oval

Deep into the Loser Cave stretched a damp, dark tunnel that opened up into yet another wider cavern. Within was a cave lake with black, still water; they had set-up several makeshift lighting mechanisms and the lake caused a nice reflection that opened up the room. Within, t
the Losers known as Karate Kid and Zhiya dueled one another, practice fighting to keep each other’s senses honed. Lolita approached and joined several onlookers among them, standing next to Saffron Kid and Portfolio Girl. The young former SMB Academy member Saffron Kid had a look of awe at the level of skill being displayed, while longtime SMBer Portfolio Girl had a smirk on her face, enjoying the high intensity of the spectacle. As always, her mysterious suitcase was in her hands, where she contained all manner of beast to summon in battle.

For all the action, it was relatively silent. Lolita watched as both combatants proved they were among the best fighters Lolita had ever seen. Karate Kid was magnificent to behold; she’s heard the stories about him, even on Legion World years ago, but she could see now they didn’t do him justice. He had perfected martial artistry to the point where it was a super-power. She’d heard how he once beat a Daxamite in single combat and now for the first time gave that story some credence. Meanwhile, Zhiya was equally adept. Her fighting style was totally odd yet equally beautiful; it flowed like music. Lolita had to remind herself Zhiya was blind and in that memory she realized now for the first time that Zhiya undoubtedly had superpowers.

The two fighters danced, parrying and blocking blows, leaping forwards and backwards, punching, kicking, lunging and circling around one another. Both were concentrating deeply but Lolita thought their styles were more due to instinct. She could see now the contest was not a fight—rather, it was a contest to see who could land a clean blow without being blocked.

Finally, the sequence ended, as Karate Kid showcased his reputation as the supreme fighter in existence. He doubled back, and faked his own tripping over a loose stone. For a micro-second Zhiya believed the action was genuine before she realized that could not possibly be true but by then it was over. All he needed was a moment, no matter how brief, and he quickly chopped at her calf and caught her cleanly with a blow, knocking her off her feet.

She landed on her derrière, and a smile went across her face. Lolita could see she was out of breath and so was Karate Kid, who rose to his feet. He extended a hand to help her up and she took it. “Probably the best sparring session I’ve had in years,” he said to her with a smile.

“The best I’ve ever had,” she said matter-of-factly, “but then again, I lost.” She laughed and he did too.

As they walked to the others, Saffron Lad couldn’t help but comment. “That was amazing! When do we get lessons?” he added enthusiastically.

“I’ll think about it,” Karate Kid hesitated. Lolita wondered if it was the idea of taking on new students again that caused him the hesitation. She knew his last students didn’t fare so well in the Epsilon Sector.

Several of them now began leaving the cavern, though Zhiya stopped in front of Lolita, grabbing a towel to dry off the sweat from her face. It was cold in the cavern and her deep breaths showed in the cold air. “You are looking for me,” she said to Lolita, though not as question.

“Well…” said Lolita, hesitating, realizing for the first time that Zhiya was just as petite as she was, “…I thought it was the other way around. You’ve kind of been following me for a few days.”

Zhiya smiled. “If I’d wanted to approach you, I would have. But I’m glad to have the chance to talk to you now, Oracle.” Lolita appreciated the usage of her official new LMB codename. Zhiya faced her but Lolita could see that her eyes were void of color, a side effect of her being blind. Despite the sweat and lack of any make-up, she was very beautiful. She had clear, porcelain skin and jet black hair that extended midway through her back. She had it up in a ponytail during the battle but now let it fall loosely across her shoulders. She wore black as always, this time the pants and jacket in a pseudo-ancient Japanese style with a 31st century twist. Lolita felt that Zhiya had an air of being friendly about her, but buried not far beneath was something very dangerous.

“It took me a little time to figure out why you might be interested in me,” said Lolita, realizing Zhiya just told her she would have approached her if she wanted to but skipping past that, “but I know you were married to your world’s Cobalt Kid. As you probably realize, I’ve been his partner for many years.”

Zhiya’s eyes creased as if she was confused by something. “I hear your words, but your heartbeat has changed slightly. You are distressed by this topic. Has something happened to your Cobalt Kid as well?”

“No,” said Lolita, perhaps too quickly, “we’ve just…we haven’t been seeing eye to eye. We didn’t part on the friendliest of terms. Actually, I was the one who unfriendly.”

Zhiya nodded. “If he is anything like my Cobie, then it’s understandable.” She smiled widely as she spoke. “But there is still time then for you to make things right. I hope you’ll use the time wisely.”

Considering Zhiya’s loss, Lolita felt her words carried more weight. “I never had the chance to meet your Cobalt Kid, though from what I hear they were very similar. They never got to meet each other either.”

“I do not speak of him too often,” she said to Lolita. “Though they were polite never to say, my hearing could detect it makes people uncomfortable to speak of your grief. I was never a member of the Society of Message Board Posters, though before he passed, Cobie would bring me to their meetings more and more. Likely I would have joined at some point since I do have a powerset. But he died and I just remained an Honorary Member. Only after our planet was put in such dire peril did I take up the call and join the Losers. I suspect Louie and Hugh thought one day I just showed up. The truth is I thought about it for a long time before taking the step. Their kindness and genuine sense of good is what convinced me.”

They walked slowly out of the cavern and Lolita noted that Zhiya walked standing very strait, almost regal. “I’ve never met your counterpart on our Earth,” she said, though she thought it was a stupid thing to say the moment she did so.

“Nor have I ever met yours,” said Zhiya. Lolita suddenly realized she didn’t like that—why wasn’t there a version of her among the SMB? She dropped it though and figured she’d return to it another day.

“What are your powers?” she asked, figuring with all of these personal anecdotes, she might as well ask her the question she’d been most curious about.

Zhiya told her without hesitation. “The story of how I came to be blind is a long one and I will not bore you with it. Needless to say, when I was a young girl, I lost my eye sight, but I gained many other gifts in return. All of my other senses are enhanced: hearing, taste, touch and smell. To such a degree that they’ve opened up my mind to other senses I did not know I had. My hearing is proficient enough where I now have a Radar Sense, able to see all around me 360 degrees. I’ve even learned to harness the long unused sense of electroreception that sharks and other animals have.”

Ah, thought Lolita, no wonder she’s such a fantastic fighter. Her balance and knowledge of her surroundings must be second to none.

They were now approaching the end of the cavern where it opened up into one of the big rooms in the Loser Cave where numerous members of the Losers were going about their daily activities. “It was his smell that made me take notice,” she said. “It caught me totally by surprise when I attacked you in the snow bank. Since then, I haven’t been able to not smell it. Whenever you enter the room, I can’t help but feel that’s he suddenly here with me. It’s been many years now, but I miss him all the same.”

Lolita could see the sadness in Zhiya’s face, something she obviously guarded very judiciously. It made her feel something too…she felt her eyes welling up a little with tears. “I’m wearing his jacket,” she said at last. “Sometimes I take it or he gives it to me, since it’s got all kinds of circuitry and gadgets in it. He threw it to me before we began the quest so he could don some old cloak, mainly I think to make Lard Lad laugh. That’s why you smell him so much. The jacket is his.” For some reason, Lolita took the jacket it off and handed it to her. “They say the two of them were almost exactly the same.”

Zhiya held the jacket and lifted it up slightly so she could smell it better. She smiled. “They smell exactly the same,” she said at last.

The stood there for a moment in silence. Zhiya did not sniff or inhale deeply but Lolita knew she was taking the moment to smell him and be reminded of her dead husband.

She handed the jacket back to her. “Thank you, Lolita,” she said, as the two rejoined the others.
 

---

Posted by Timber Wolf on :
 
Earth-4,
The Dungeon of the Emperor's Palace

Lon awoke with a slight start. He hurt everywhere, he hurt in ways he hadn't imagined he could. He was still shivering from the cold, but he felt his body starting to warm up.

He tried to open his eyes, and found that he could barely open his right eye, and his left eye was swollen shut.

He could hear The Emperor ranting at Kalla, who was chained across from him. He could see that she was shaken a bit from whatever had been done to him, but she wasn't breaking. she trusted him and that he had a plan.

"...what I need to know, or I will do even worse things to this beast." The Emperor finished.

Lon laughed as best he could. "I hope you have worse things, because whatever you've done is making me feel better," he said in a barely audible voice.

The Emperor spun and walked over to him. "So the lapdog is awake. You passed out so fast, I was worried I had broken you already."

Lon cleared his throat, and smiled. "You got me when I was barely conscious to start with. Hardly a challenge."

"Oh, don't you worry about it...I'm just getting warmed up with you."

"I would certainly hope so bird boy. I'd hate to think you'd take the easy way in this and use the numbness in my body as an excuse as to why you can't hurt me."

He could see Kalla past The Emperor's shoulder. She looked a cross between worried and awed. He wondered why, but as feeling slowly returned to his body, he realized that he had cuts, stab wounds and other bruises all over his body. he was chained up above the ground with no way to gain any leverage to break free. the effect of all of this was that his body was working overtime to heal itself and spending energy...which in turn was warming him up faster and faster.

The Emperor grabbed a long metallic object. One end of the rod was pointed. It looked almost like a spear to Lon. "Let's see how you do when you have only one lung to breathe with."

Lon cleared his throat again, "I'm gonna shove that through your..."

His comeback was interrupted by a loud scream of pain as The Emperor jammed the spear though his right chest wall.

Lon howled and he felt blood coming up his throat. He aimed carefully, and spewed it out onto The Emperors lower half. That earned him a strong backhand across the temple.

Lon's head swam in bright lights. He could not remember taking this bad of a beating in years...if ever. He would have given The emperor his props for being as sadistic as possible, but that would get him nowhere. He needed this sadistic sprockin maniac as angry as possible.

Blaine actually looked a bit surprised that Lon was still alive, let alone conscious. He moved in close to The Emperor, "My love, please let's go and get you cleaned up. The guards can have a little fun while we're busy, and we can continue this later."

The Emperor looked at Blaine, and then down at himself. His face turned to one of sheer unbridled anger. He turned and struck Kalla as hard as he could and came close to knocking her unconscious. Then he turned back to Timberwolf. "When I get back...she suffers more than you have."

Lon coughed up more blood and laughed. "Wouldn't take much you pompous ass. My daddy used to give harsher whippings when I was a little cub."

The Emperor grabbed the spear sticking through the left side of Lon's chest and ripped it out. That was when Lon became acutely aware that there were serrated edges in it.

"That's a little better," he barely got out due to the blood he was coughing up between gasps of breath.

Blaine led his Emperor away and motioned the guards to him at the door. They were giving them instructions as to what to do while they were gone.

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

Lon lifted his head as much as he could. "Can you summon any power hon?"

Kalla looked at him wide eyed. "Very little, not enough to get us out of here."

"Good." >cough< :I want you to fry my left calf," he said in a low voice. To her surprise, he opened both eyes and gave her a wink.

Her attention went to the doorway. The guards were nodding their heads and laughing with what seemed to be great delight at the prospect to allowed to torture these two.

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

Kalla summoned all the power she had and Lon could feel feeling returning to his left leg.

One of the guards turned around as the other shut the door behind Blaine and the Emperor

"What are you doing?" The first guard said as he saw a faint light coming from Kallas hand.

It was the last thing that he would say.

In a matter of a second, explosions started going off from various parts outside and inside of the Palace.

Lon screamed as the trigger had heated up enough to go off, blowing out a small portion of his left calf.

The guard at the door, ran forward drawing his weapon, but Lon was already changing.

The next thing the guards knew was that there was a large furry creature that had snapped out of the chains that he was in and turned on them.

The first guard tried to draw his weapon but found that his arm was missing, before he saw a large clawed hand grab at his head. The second guard got a shot off that want wild and hit the wall harmlessly.

Kalla, eyes wide, watched as Furball turned and limped over to her. He tore the chains holding her captive off and then fell to the ground, reverting back to the man she loved more than ever.

"LON!" she screamed as she knelt beside him.

She heard him grunt, or laugh...she wasn't sure. She turned his face to hers and kissed him on the forehead. "This was your plan?" she said mustering a smile.

"Yep..." he turned his head and coughed something up, "...and it's working perfectly, go seal the door..." he managed to mutter as he passed out.

[ November 02, 2011, 08:24 PM: Message edited by: Timber Wolf ]
 

---

Posted by Angdar Fel on :
 
Legion World

Angdar Fel had just landed on Legion World.

He was getting ready to leave his Thanagarian Wingman Cruiser when the message alert sounded.

Angdar put his bag down and went to the communications console. It was a priority message coming in on a scrambled channel.

"Who has this channel?" He said to nobody, as he was the only one on the ship.

He ran a few checks and could not trace the signal past the upper atmosphere of Legion World. He stared at the screen for another minute, finally deciding to answer the call.

The screen flashed to life and he was presented with a woman who he could tell was important. Just by the way she looked at him through the screen.

"Angdar Fel," she said, not as a question, but as a gentle statement.

"Yes ma'am."

"Good. I am Ambassador Mirenna Helene of the Langley Galaxy." I am calling you to offer you a chance."

Angdar had heard of the Langley Galaxy, and had heard of Mirenna Helene. He was one of those on Thanagar that had always been interested in the workings of the United Planets. This was an important person talking to him, and he felt a wave of nervousness wash over him.

"I'm...ummm...honored to have you contact me Ambassador Helene," he said, trying to sound as sure of himself as he could.

The Ambassador smiled and continued. "You have more friends than you ever thought on Thanagar young man. Powerful allies that cannot reveal themselves at this point. But mark my word, there is a change coming on you home planet. How soon that change happens, how quickly it starts is dependent on you and your actions though."

"I don't understand," Angdar said, feeling totally at a loss for words. There were government officials that were behind him. Why had none of them done anything? How did she know this?

"I'm sure you have questions. These cannot be answered at this time, but I need you to do something for me. I have to get back to a meeting, but I need you to come to Webber's World as soon as you can. The answers you seek, and your future will start to unfold once you arrive here."

"Okay," he said, not wanting to say anything to upset the Ambassador, especially if she could help him.

"There will someone to greet you when you land. We will see you soon Angdar, have a safe trip."

Angdar thanked her and the transmission ceased.

He walked over to where he had set his bag down and proceeded to unpack. He then did leave the ship long enough to gather a few supplies and take a flight.
 

---

Posted by Helena Handbasket on :
 
The Loser Cave,
Earth-4

Helena passed her time catching up with Bat-Fem and Grev Mallor as both filled her in on the adventures of the Covenant as they travelled through the Dark Oval and of their time here on Earth-4 becoming part of the so-called Losers.

Helena couldn't have been more disinterested. When Rockhopper Lass returned, she had expected Seth Gaterra to be with her. Unfortunately, Seth had been given a side mission and would return indefinitely when the mission was fulfilled.

Sensing where Helena's thoughts were, Bat-Fem said, "he asked me to rig those lots we drew, you know."

Helena was surprised at the sudden turn in the conversation. "Huh? What are you talking about?"

Bat-Fem smiled. "The lots we drew back on Legion World that determined which of the Covenant would stay. Seth asked me to rig them somehow so that you would be the one who stayed. He feared it was a suicide mission, and he couldn't bear anything happening to you."

"How DARE you!" Helena said raising her voice, causing other Losers in the area to gawk. Grev suddenly wished he was anywhere else but couldn't slip away unnoticed. "You had NO right! Seth...had no right..."

"Relax, Helena," Bat-Fem said soothingly but methodically, "I didn't rig it for him. I rigged it for my own purposes."

"What's THAT supposed to mean?!?!"

"We would have never worked well together in such a small group...both too used to being in command. We would have been at one another's throats so much that the mission would have been doomed."

Helena thought for a moment at those words. She recalled the moments before the lots were drawn and thinking the same thing about the mission to come. She shrugged off her anger and irritation. Water under the bridge, she supposed. She just wondered where the hell Seth was and how much longer--

"Helena! Where is she?" came a voice from the far side of the cave that snapped her out of it.

Could it be--? she thought and at once stood up to look for the voice's source. Immediately, she spotted him. "Seth!"

Seth's bright pupil-less eyes flashed as he saw her. Then, the two ran toward each other and crashed together right into a tight embrace.

"Oh, Seth..." she managed while her head was wedged on his shoulder, tears streaming from her eyes. "I thought I'd never see you again...but I never forgot about you! Not a day went by..."

Simultaneously, Seth was saying, "my precious lady...beautiful, beautiful Helena..."

Applause erupted spontaneously around the Loser Cave at the sight of the two. In such bleak times the Losers knew that every shining moment they could get was worthy of recognition and celebration.

Moments later, the two sat at an empty table together.

"Seth, I just realized you're not wearing your containment suit!"

Seth's completely opaque features betrayed a bright smile as his lips parted. "I have been studying with a Loser named Val Armorr who has taught me the mental discipline to control the symbiants within me and, by extension, the destructive nimbus that had to be contained. I only have to wear the suit when I sleep or when I am in battle, now."

"You mean...you can be touched?"

"Why, yes...I can!"

She smiled. "Can I kiss you, Seth?"

He smiled back, and before he could respond to the question, her lips were on his. He was surprised but kissed her back. They embraced and occasionally gasped for air, but they didn't want to stop.

Neither had so much as openly expressed the depths of their feelings for each other in the very short time they had together before the Covenant's mission to the Dark Oval separated them. But they had a deep connection, nonetheless, one that never weakened despite years apart. This kiss was truly worth a thousand words.

Finally, Helena forced her lips from his long enough to ask, "so Seth...you got a room here--or any sprockin' place more private?"

He grinned, nodded and took her hand. They practically ran to their destination.


An hour or two later, the couple lay naked in bed, their clothes and her robotic arm littering the floor. Basking in the afterglow, Seth lay on his back and Helena on her side, snuggled up against his pitch black body with her head on his chest.

"I love you, by the way," he said as he kissed her forehead.

Helena smiled. "I can tell. And I think I loved you the first moment I ever saw you."

"Whatever happens," he said, "I'm never leaving your side again."

"Better not," she retorted, "or I'll kill you."

The two laughed and started kissing and gearing up for another round.

Tomorrow might be a day filled with horrors beyond imagining, but this night, for them, there was nothing or no one but each other.
 

---

Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
 
Prianopolis
The Dark Oval

Indigo was down to his last three throwing knives, and he still couldn't get a bead on his assailant.

Every time he threw one, he listened intently for a sound - any sound - that would give him a clue as to where the ghoul was.

Logic dictated that, with a dozen knives on his person and his back to a corner, there were only so many directions he'd have to throw something at before he got in a lucky shot.

But since when did ghouls and evil gods follow logic?

There was little time... the dark shadows were already crawling up his leg.

He closed his eyes and threw again. Nothing.

He did a quarter turn and threw once more. Still nothing.

The shadows were up to his waist now. It was cold. Very cold.

Desperately, he mentally reviewed where he'd already struck. It didn't make sense. He'd pretty much already done a 360-degree sweep of the area. He'd even thrown a few knives above him to be sure.

Unless...

His body shivering so hard he could barely think, Indigo squeezed his eyes shut again. Think! Think! Perhaps the ghoul was crouching down. Perhaps it was flying above him. Perhaps it kept moving around and changing direction.

If it didn't... There was one direction he hadn't hit. But it didn't make much sense.

Of course, if everything made sense then he wouldn't be stuck in this mess in the first place.

The shadows were up to his chest now. He had to act fast.

Fingers shivering, barely able to close them upon the hilt of his knife, he lunged backwards and stabbed, half expecting to hit stone.

Instead, mercifully, he heard a soft crunch. Flesh.

A scream escaped its lips as the ghoul behind him began crumbling to dust.

Released from the shadows, Indigo slumped down, muscles failing all over.

He was unconscious before he hit the floor.

[ November 24, 2011, 10:08 AM: Message edited by: Invisible Brainiac ]
 

---

Posted by Dev - Em on :
 
Earth 4

Dev Em was flying across the barren landscape of Earth 4. He was searching...searching for the group of rebels called The Losers. In his mind, there was never a more aptly named group of scum.

He slowed and hovered for a while, searching the land with a variety of powers her had. He could hear the sound of a fly's wings at a hundred miles if he wanted.

His communicator want off. He siged and pulled it from his belt. "Yes."

"The Emperor would have you know that he has captured your alternates brother. The man beast Timberwolf."

"Let the Emperor know that that one is dangerous. If he is half as cunning as my sister was, he is a danger as long as he can draw a breath, and possibly for several minutes after he draws his last."

His mind flashed back to his sister being ripped apart by creatures too terrible for words. His mind flashed back to his family being torn apart. His mind flashed back to his former team member Sharklad attacking his son and biting off his leg, and taking him somewhere else to feed on the rest of his body.

He crushed the communicator without even thinking about it, ending the conversation a second before he would have heard a series of explosions ripping through the Palace of The Emperor. He screamed and let loose with a barrage of heat vision at the ground.

The Emperor had helped him understand that the SMB had decided that he was too dangerous to live after he had slipped up a little one day and almost killed one of their enemies. They had also found out about Silverwolfs actions for the government, including assassinations and attacked them using creatures they brought in from another dimension. Only Sharklad had been bold enough to show his face in the attack, striking at Jon, his second youngest child.

"One day I will have my revenge against that..."

HE stopped and looked down at the ground he had scorched with his heat vision. There was something amiss.

He floated down and looked closer. There was the tiniest piece of metal in the dirt. Metal that should not be here.

Dev Em, The Emperor's Dark Emissary smiled as he stood.

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

Inside the Loser main security room, Super-Dense Kid and Legion Adventure Boy stared at the screen and then looked at each other with wide eyes.

Legion Adventure Boy turned and ran for the door, "I'll go try and slow him down, you alert the others."

"Don't go out there alone!" Super-Dense Kid yelled after him and hit the alarm button. He grabbed the intercom and spoke as slowly and clearly as he could, "The Dark Emissary has found us...I repeat, he is here!"
 

---

Posted by Timber Wolf on :
 
Kalla set Lon's head down onto the floor and moved to the door. She could barely hear any commotion outside, which seemed odd. She cracked the door open and the noises rushed in. Individuals yelling for equipment, others running past, not paying any attention to who may be opening the door. She heard someone yell that The Emperor himself was needed at one of the sites, because the fires were not extinguishing.

She shut it again and activated the locking mechanism. The room obviously had some form of sound proofing, which meant that as long as the others thought they were still being tortured, they were safe for the moment.

She moved back around the table that contained all manner of tools that had been used on Lon and herself. As she passed, she grabbed a few towels.

Lon was stirring when she knelt beck down beside him. "Shhhh...easy does it Fuzzy."

Lon smiled at her, and slowly opened his eyes. "We have to...get moving."

"Give yourself a minute, we're alright for right now."

"No. If I calculated it right, we should have about fifteen minutes from when my leg blew out until he comes back here to kill us."

"Why fifteen minutes?" She asked as she helped him to his feet.

"The most dangerous of the devices will need his personal attention to extinguish. Once he get's done with one or two of them, he'll be back...and not with torture in mind."

She grinned to herself. "Where did you get the chemicals to pull this off?"

"Haven. Those and a temperature sensitive trigger, which has unfortunate side effects as well," he said as he got to his feet with Kalla's help.

They moved to the door, and Lon unlocked it. They were looking at each other, knowing that this could very well be their last true quiet moment together if things went wrong.

They both said "I love you." at the same time, and then they both smiled. Lon gave her a gentle kiss, and said, "stay behind me and use me for cover," he said as he handed her the two guns that the guards had. "Use these and save your own power for emergencies only.

He opened the door wide and shifted into Full rampaging Furball mode and charged into the hallway. He took down the guards within reach of him, and Kalla started blasting away at the guards further down the hall.

Furball did not slow at all as he tore through the ranks of guards and others that happened to get in his way on their trip to the outside. Kalla was amazed at the punishment that this form of Lons could take and not slow him down.

They finally hit the outside and were pleased that the guards were still occupied with the various fires raging around the Palace.

Furball stopped and reverted back to human form. Lon ran to the side of a stray building and starte digging into the dirt.

Kalla followed him and watched for any guards that may spot them.

Lon unburied a duffel bag and unzipped it. he handed Kalla a thermal jacket and put his standard uniform on with a little help from Kalla, since there were still parts of his body that were still incredibly messed up.

He looked at her, "can you get us over that rise there?" he asked as he pointed to the north.

She nodded and grabbed him under his arms and they took flight. Staying as low as they could to avoid as much unwanted attention as possible, she was also bending the light around them...rendering them invisible to the naked eye.

Once they reached the ridge and Kalla set down, Lon turned back to see if they were being followed. Amazingly, they were not. "Your cloaking is amazing," he said smiling at her.

Kalla had turned to the west and was concentrating hard. Lon watched her curiously until she at last raised her arms and fired a blast of energy in that direction.

"Signal sent huh?" Lon said as he sat down in the snow and ice.

"With a few minutes to spare," she said with a wink.

"C'mere..." Lon said with a grin.

She moved over to him and he gave her an embrace. She felt him slip his hand under the clothing on her back and that made her grin. She was smiling as he gently massaged her back.

"This is going to hurt," he said suddenly as she leaned in to kiss him.

"What...OWWW!"

He had scratched her...hard, and she thought she felt a little blood dripping down her back. "What are you..."

He slipped his hand out of her clothes and in his palm was a small transmitter. "They do not make it that easy to escape and do not not follow you if you are a prisoner of your stature."

He held the thing in his hand staring at it.

"You could have warned me," she said sharply.

"Yes, and I'm sorry for that," he said and hung his head a little, looking at her from under his brow. "It was just that, well...I started with the best intentions in mind, but then I couldn't sense something that I felt under your skin.

She grabbed him and gave him a kiss. "You know just how to say the sexiest things to a woman." She mumbled as she continued kissing him.

"We have to get moving..." he said as best he could with her lips against his, "they're going to notice that we stopped soon enough.

"No sense of adventure at all," she said with a smile.

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

The Emperor was awaiting the message from Blaine. He had finally attended to all of the fires that the man beast had managed to get started. He wondered how he had triggered them. The one that had not detonated had no timer, nor did any of the others that his people could see. And that meant that it had to have been a remote.

The creature had been stripped down and had no devices on him...his patrols had found no other trace of anyone close enough to detonate the primitive technology used to construct the devices. They would have had to have been within visual range of the Palace, and there was nobody.

They knew that the man beast would try and rescue the traitorous whore, and they allowed it to transpire to a point. The Emperor had not thought that the beast would have actually succeeded in doing the damage he had done though.

Blaine entered the room.

"My Emperor. They have escaped as you allowed, but the tracker has been found with this note," he said and handed The Emperor the paper.

"Really emperor bird brain? Did you really think I could not detect the undetectable?"

He ripped the paper into shreds and threw the tracking device against the very far wall of the room. "Send teams out in every direction...and get Dev Em back here.!"

Blaine nodded and ran out of the room.

Minutes later, a guard entered the room.

The Emperor looked at him, and waited.

"I was sent to inform you that The Dark Emissary has been out of contact for the better part of an hour. Since just before the explosions actually."

The Emperor strode over to the guard, who was visibly nervous.

"Who sent you to inform me of this?" He asked, his voice dripping with anger.

"M-m-m-my Captain..."

The Emperor nodded. "Very well, my new Captain," he said as he placed his arm around the guards shoulders, "let us go talk to your former superior officer."
 

---

Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
 
Prianopolis
The Dark Oval

There are four necessary conditions for a dust explosion to occur. Combustible dust, large concentrations of said dust suspended in the air, an oxidant such as oxygen, and an ignition source.

Coming from a part of Prianopolis without any humans, the moth-like ghoul probably didn't know that.

All it knew was that the human male it had been sent after was standing before it defiantly, shooting light at it with much brilliance.

Orange's lasers had no effect, though; the dust spores being scattered around had light-absorbing properties.

All around it, death was being scattered by the spores. And Orange, protected as he was by the makeshift masks around his face, was starting to get affected.

If the moth could, it would have smiled at this easy task.

Not for long, though.

As it drew closer, Orange acted. In one fluid motion, he flicked open his lighter and threw it on the ground in front of him.

Ground that had been soaked with tree sap and dried twigs.

Ground that was underneath air thick with spores.

Ground underneath the moth that was the source of the dust.

The plains were lit up in a brilliant burst of flame.

[ November 24, 2011, 10:09 AM: Message edited by: Invisible Brainiac ]
 

---

Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
 
Prianopolis
The Dark Oval

The shapeshifter's form wrapped around Purple's legs. And his hands. And his arms. And his neck.

His eyes were blindfolded by a thick tentacle, and another wrapped around his mouth so he couldn't scream.

The ghoul was unnaturally resistant to light. Every time he blasted bits of it, it reformed quickly.

His mind was churning; something was upsetting his concentration. One thought did scream through his mind - "Oh god, I'm being crushed to death. Oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god."

This wouldn't have been a problem if he hadn't been caught by surprise.

It was a mental struggle, but Purple fought to calm himself. He closed his eyes - not to block out his sight, but to help himself concentrate.

Emptying himself of emotion and thought as best he could, he focused.

A blinding purple flash lit the room as Purple emanated light from his whole being.

After a second, the only thing left was a pile of dust and an unconscious figure on the floor.

[ November 24, 2011, 10:09 AM: Message edited by: Invisible Brainiac ]
 

---

Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
 
Daroon,
The United Planets

Faraway Lad walked among the various resistance fighters, nodding at some and smiling at others, but purposely plodding along so he wouldn’t be stopped. There was a momentary lapse in the fighting and Faraway was experienced enough to recognize the proverbial “calm before the storm”. Though it seemed hardly possible, things were about to get even more chaotic. And difficult.

He found a makeshift tent sent aside where someone had been kind enough to find him a table, chair, some papers and an old fashioned pen. It was as close to an office as a commander in this battle was going to get, and having it available to him let him put his thoughts together more coherently. He was exhausted and needed sleep—he could hardly remember the last time he’d even had the chance to close his eyes for a few seconds. He was feeling run down and even running a bit of a temperature; a harsh sounding cough was developing that he hoped sounded much worse than it was. And he was starving. There was no food in sight, but he had a small bottle of port nearby and so he poured himself a drink. He sipped the glass and felt the warmth settle through his body as he sighed deeply.

Metternich. The Dark Oval General had thwarted them at every turn on Daroon. Just when they thought they had an edge, it was only to fall right into Metternich’s trap. The two had animosity preceding Daroon going back several years but never more than now—Faraway hated Metternich now. Truly hated. His words still hung in his ears: “but if I cannot have the children converted, and the oh so joyous ecstasy of seeing the child kill the father or the father the child…”

The Dark Oval General had done the impossible and gotten battalions from the Khanate of Sol Invictus to work side by side with the Hive for this attack, knowing it would weaken and possibly shatter the United Planets. Only someone as cunning in the political realm as he was on the battlefield could do this. Deep in his heart he feared that Metternich being on Daroon was purposely orchestrated so the Durlan could get revenge on Faraway himself. He pushed those thoughts asides—nonsense, surely. In a universe this vast, there was no way that could be the reason they wound up in the same theater of the war. It was coincidence. Wasn’t it?

“Ambassador Coulthard,” said a voice approaching. “Do you have a moment?” Faraway Lad turned to see three men walking over, or rather, three triplets all in similar armor with a different color scheme. They were tall and handsome, with black hair and a strong jawline & chin. By their sides were sheathed swords and it was clear these men were knights.

“I do,” said Faraway, still seated. He nodded towards the port. “A drink lads?”

“No thanks,” said one of the three, who wore a large cross on the front of his armor. Must be the devout one, thought Faraway Lad. “We are Sir John, Ambassador, and as you probably guess, we are a Carrggitte. Dev Em said we could find you here and thought it would prudent to introduce ourselves. We know your colleagues Cobalt Kid and Eryk Davis Ester quite well.”

“The pleasure is mine,” said Darden, “though I don’t take any pleasure in our meeting place. As you can see, the situation remains dire and while your arrival has lifted our spirits, we still have a very hard battle to fight.”

“Indeed,” said one of the Sir Johns, this one in blue & green. “But we’re ready to fight it. When the time comes, we hope it would be alright with you if we led the knights out into the field. I know Kar Em, Dev Em and yourself have all been leading in your own ways…”

Faraway understood immediately and respected their taking the time to make sure the chain of command was not going to be shattered by the recent arrivals. “Of course,” he said, “better your fellows have someone they know leading them out into the chaos. You’ll see the bugs are numerous and each wave has a different species at the head. It will be difficult to coordinate a proper defense since their lines are not uniform. So having a leader with his own special battalion may just be the right way to proceed anyway.”

The last Sir John, a man in blue & purple, with trimmings in pink, now spoke. “We’ll let you rest now, Faraway Lad. I’m sure you must be exhausted, and who knows when they’ll strike next. I just will also let you know that it was many weeks ago when we saw your colleagues in the Dark Oval. But when we did, they were alright. And by all reports, are probably still alright knowing them.”

That brought a smile to his face. “Then all hope is not lost,” he said. “Thank you for remembering to tell me.”

They nodded and turned around to walk away. Sir John the Carrggitte seemed to be a good man, or men actually. So many of them were good people, who stepped up when things were bleak. He considered how many good ones they’d lose tomorrow in the battle. And in the next battle. Rather than dwell on it, he poured himself one more drink before looking through his maps and plans.
 

---

Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
 
Prianopolis
The Dark Oval

Red had just made one of the riskiest decisions of his young life. He strapped his quarterstaff to his back and drew out his throwing knives, hurling them at the crystalline ghoul that was throwing darts at him.

He'd managed to grab a nearby piece of scrap metal to use as a shield, but it wouldn't hold long.

He tensed as he observed the ghoul's reactions to his strikes. Hopefully, he was posing enough of a threat for it to...

There. There was one spot that the ghoul instinctively crossed its arm to protect. He was sure of it - it had happened thrice.

It was time.

With a yell, Red charged at the ghoul, shield held high in his left hand and quarterstaff ready in his right. He would have spun it, but he was losing blood fast.

The crystal spikes came faster and thicker, but he ran on. He was bleeding too heavily to dodge much, so he prayed the shield would hold.

He was closing the gap. Other ghouls farther behind were starting to move forward to stand side by side with his current opponent. With a wave of his hand, lasers felled those others.

"No fair bringing on reinforcements, coward!" he yelled, partly out of fury and partly as a distraction.

The ghoul stopped letting daggers fly and formed a crystal sword, pointing it at Red's chest.

It struck.

Red used his shield to take the brunt of the blow; the sword shattered, sending crystal flying in all directions. He cursed as a couple of shards hit his side, and another his forehead. But he’d already lost so much blood, a little more wouldn’t matter. As the ghoul was getting its bearing, he struck too.

Red spun his quarterstaff around and drove it deep into the point he’d identified – midway between the ghoul’s neck and where its waist would be.

What passed for the ghoul’s eyes widened, and it shattered into a million pieces.

Too many, in fact, for Red’s shield to stop them all.

True to form, the last thing Red uttered before he went down, bloodied and cut, was “Crap!”

[ November 24, 2011, 10:10 AM: Message edited by: Invisible Brainiac ]
 

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Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
 
Prianopolis
The Dark Oval

"Please tell me we're ready," Yellow thought to Blue as he dodged another kick. Yellow retaliated with one of his own, though Blue blocked that one with his arm. He failed to grab Yellow's boot, though, letting him swing back for another pass.

The two were setting up a fine balance between pulling their punches and letting each other gain enough cosmetic injuries. The ghoul controlling them was smart enough, sentient enough to be taking glee in their torture - it would be smart enough to notice if they fought against its influence too much.

Hopefully, though, it would also be enjoying itself too much to see that they were herding it, just as it was herding them.

Thankfully, it didn't seem to notice that they hadn't been speaking in a while. They did keep yelling and snarling to keep up pretense though.

"I think we have to get closer," Blue thought as he blocked another punch. He wasn't fast enough to block the next one, though - a punch to the gut which sent him doubling over in pain.

Yellow winced in sympathy pain - he could register that Blue felt it, but thankfully couldn't feel it himself. The awareness hurt, though. After all, Blue was him. "We're getting beat up pretty bad, and if the others are in as much trouble as we are...I think we're good."

"I can't tell from here." Blue thought.

"I'm the one facing it. Trust me."

Blue hesitated. Damn him, thought Yellow.

"I said TRUST ME!" Yellow screamed into their mindlink. "We don't have time - and even though I'm the irresponsible one, this is a fight dammit!" That last one came out as a scream. Damn. Mustn't lose control.

Blue's face blanked out for a moment, like he was thinking. "Alright," he thought back. "I'm sorry. I trust you." With that, he gave Yellow a kick that sent them hurling away in opposite directions.

"Damn you," Yellow screamed. "You're the part of me I hate most, you hesitant oversensitive sissy!" He barreled forward, with all the speed he could muster.

"Shut up, you vain little boy in a man's body!" Blue yelled back, teeth gritted.

At the last second before Yellow hit him, Blue turned around and brought his arms up.

Yellow tackled him, sending both of them careening straight towards the hooded ghoul below them.

It was a sight to behold - a yellow and blue streak zipping across the sky, colliding with a black figure, cloak billowing all around it.

Blue quickly closed his hands around the ghoul's neck and let loose to the limit of his powers. The last thing he saw before he lost consciousness was the shock on the ghoul's face before it too vanished in a burst of light.

[ November 24, 2011, 10:10 AM: Message edited by: Invisible Brainiac ]
 

---

Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
 
Space near Prianopolis
The Dark Oval

Green was thoroughly exhausted. Making his way to the nearby asteroid should have been a snap - but nothing is against the power of a black hole.

A pseudo black hole, anyway. If it were a real one, space around would have been warped and planetary bodies of all masses would have been affected.

Funny how, in the face of almost certain death, the most minute details sometimes come to mind.

Just like the designs on the ship the Fellowship had parked there.

Green could vividly see the LMB logo, shining like a beacon of hope in the darkness of space.

He paused at the ship's door, trying to use his light powers to see where the ghoul was. Luckily, it moved slowly, glacially. "Probably thinks it can afford to take its time," Green muttered. "And I can't - so open up, you stupid door!"

Bad, bad. Better keep calm.

Composing himself, Green got the door open and entered the ship. They'd only left it there a couple hours earlier, but it seemed like days.

He started the ship, praying that his timing was right.

No more mistakes.

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

The problem with ghouls is they have tunnel vision. They do have some measure of intelligence, but death has a way of dulling their instincts.

If it had been as canny as it were when it was still alive, the ghoul would have wondered why its target had chosen to head to a nearby asteroid where he wouldn't have been able to hide.

The ghoul would have known to watch its back.

Instead, it was still making its way slowly to the asteroid when the ship blinked out of hyperspace.

In seconds, Green had lasered himself out of the ship's window and had decapitated the ghoul with a laser beam.

[ November 24, 2011, 10:11 AM: Message edited by: Invisible Brainiac ]
 

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Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
 
Prianopolis
The Dark Oval

"IB, we need you." Power Boy was reaching out telepathically. "Tempest is blocking Titus' telepathy, but I don't know how long she can hold out."

He got one thought to acknowledge the message, but it was faint. One thought, where there should be seven.

As for the rest... nothing. Just silence. Power Boy feared for the worst.

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

That one thought came from Green, who had entered the atmosphere of Prianopolis. Good. They could safely establish the mindlink, and head to battle.

"Boys? I almost crashed the ship into a black hole. Otherwise, I'm fine. All of you?"

Odd. He could feel his other selves, like knots in the back of his mind. They lived, that much he knew.

But no message came from Red. Nor Purple. Nor Indigo.

Damn.

Orange's message was barely coherent; all Green could sense were visions of... Rockhopper Lad somersaulting over Ram Boy, who was dancing a jig with cleome while Lash Lad threw potpourri and Lash Lad flicked his lighter flirtatiously at Caliente who was massaging banana cream pie on Poverty Lad's bare leg? Oh, and Pov finally had pants on.

"Is anyone conscious? Please, let me know where you are!" Green sounded desperately.

"Blue's down!" Yellow's sending was weak, but urgent. Almost panicking. "Dammit, wake up! I didn't mean what I said, you know that!"

"I know..." came Blue's signal, faint. "I didn't... either..."

Damn. They'd never been in such bad shape before.

"You two, merge yourselves. We need to be conscious - I can't get a read on anyone else. I don't know how bad a shape you're in, Yellow, but it can't be any worse than what Blue is in."

This was risky at best. When two of his selves merged, the integrated self averaged out the level of health and stamina of the two. Knowledge and experiences were kept, but physically they leveled out.

If too many of them were injured, even with Green at full health, the whole IB would be weak as a baby.

[ November 24, 2011, 10:12 AM: Message edited by: Invisible Brainiac ]
 

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Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
 
Prianopolis
The Dark Oval

Whole for the first time in what felt like days, Invisible Brainiac steadied himself with one hand as he took stock.

He had one black eye, bruises on his chest and side, what seemed like a broken wrist, a cut on his lip, a bloody nose, and he shivered while nursing a fever. His throat hurt and so did the gashes on his leg.

Slowly, he stood up. He barely made it, but he did stand up straight.

He'd live.

He stripped of his shirt, trying to see the extent of the damage. Luckily, his internal organs seemed alright, and his reintegration had stemmed the blood loss.

Gritting his teeth, he flew off, ignoring the pain. His friends needed him.

And after that, he'd need them. After the beating he took, and the battle yet to come, he doubted he'd be able to even sit up at the end of the day.

[ November 24, 2011, 10:12 AM: Message edited by: Invisible Brainiac ]
 

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Posted by Power Boy on :
 
Prianopolis
The Bowels of Titus' Palace

FINALE PART 1

Power Boy and Titus tumbled through the lower regions of the palace. They fought, as they smashed through floors and walls, the palace shaking with the violence of their struggle.

Titus thought ‘The boy is much stronger than he let on, on HUL.’

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

Just then Titus found himself transported in time and space to a room, if it could even be called that, of utter darkness and black flame. He knew where he was immediately as the terror washed over him. He prostrated himself.

A voice spoke, all around and through Titus.

“YOU FAIL ME TITUS!”

Titus’ reeled, trying to think of what to say.

“THE WIND WITCH IS IN YOUR MIND, EXPOSING YOU, EXPOSING ME.”

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

Titus was forced back into his body at the moment he left. A glow of darkness in his skin causing Power Boy to pause momentarily … Titus bit down, razor teeth chomping into Power Boy’s arm that held him.

Power Boy recoiled in pain. Titus flew up, towards the wind witch.

He would forget Power Boy for now, he needed a victory to hand to the Dark Lord after so much failure, It was too late for tools, too late to twist and use this fellowship. It was time for bodies, dead bodies.

Power Boy sped after Titus, grabbing his ankle with his good arm, Titus kicked free and rocketed through the ceiling towards Tempest.

… He caught her by surprise, shattering the floor beneath her and grabbing her roughly by the throat. It took her a moment to realize where she was … one moment riffling through Titus’ mind and the next held in is vice like grip, the breath being crushed from her body.

Disaster Boy moved to blast Titus away but was caught first. Titus held him with mental domination and an upraised hand in a claw like shape. Disaster Boy resisted his mental domination, held like a fly in amber. Blood spurted from his nose and mouth as Disaster Boy collapsed beneath the mental struggle. Disaster Boy fell to the ground forcefully.

“Now sorceress, I wish we had more time to be alone but, I can already hear that gnat Power Boy chasing me like a pup.” Titus rubbed his tongue across his razor sharp teeth.

Tempest struggled to summon her powers.

“GAHH!!” Titus grasped his wrist, dropping Tempest, who quickly used a burst of air to push herself away, holding her throat.

Blood splattered from the wrist that held Tempest. Ameratsu stepped from the shadows, his bronze robotic chest bearing a gaping hole where Titus impaled him. In his right hand he clenched Titus’ own spear, the tip bloody from slashing Titus’ wrist.


“It seems an android heart is more resilient than a human heart.”

“… and that your own weapons can do you harm.” “I always wondered that.”

Ameratsu closed on Titus.

[ November 09, 2011, 01:43 PM: Message edited by: Power Boy ]
 

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Posted by Power Boy on :
 
Titus' Palace
The ancient ruins of Prianopolis,
The Dark Oval

FINALE PART 2

Titus fought like a cornered animal, slashing at Ameratsu with a short sword from his belt. He had lost his sword somewhere in the battle with Power Boy.

Ameratsu’s robotically increased reflexes and deft use of the spear did not fend off Titus for long. He blocked with the spear but, as time went on, Titus was slashing more and more of the robot’s metallic skin.

Ameratsu backed away under the onslaught, the short sword clanging against the spear …

… When the stone floor exploded beneath them.
.
.
.

Power Boy erupted violently through the floor, destroying it. Walls tumbled down into the chasm he made. He surged with energy as he floated in the once opulent throne room where Titus fought the android. The impact sent waves through the floor, cracking it, and sending everyone to their knees or worse.

Power Boy sucked in energy from all around him. His senses were amplified by this influx of power.

He surveyed the scene quickly. He saw Tempest, her cape raised in front of her protectively as the palace shuddered. He saw her caress her throat with her other hand. He also saw Disaster Boy lying in a heap, breathing shallow, with dried blood all over his face. Then, he heard the ring of Titus’ blade on metallic flesh as Titus attempted to finish off an artificial humanoid.

There was no sign of Cobalt Kid or Lard Lad. In his already frenzied mind one powerful thought overwhelmed him.

‘We were too late, they are already dead.’

He cocked his head at Titus like a hawk inspecting its prey.

“Titus.” Power Boy said in a quiet voice as he pulled more power into him.

Titus turned, leaving the android to fall to his knees.

“Burn. Burn you.” Power Boy whispered like a cold wind.

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

Light and energy erupted from Power Boy, blinding Tempest. She felt the shockwave of the huge blast of energy as it struck Titus like an avalanche. He disappeared under the bright onslaught and the blast shattered through the walls of the palace. An entire face of the palace wall was obliterated leaving a hole several stories tall, letting in the outside air and light.

But, even the sunlight dimmed as Power Boy called on its energy.

Tempest had clasped her hands over her ears during the blast. Now she looked back at Power Boy, who floated, shining with energy. She looked around, and was surprised the building still stood. Floors and walls randomly disintegrated by the battle. It wouldn’t be long before this shattered building fell in on itself.

On shaky legs, she assessed Power Boy, and felt a chill. She hypothesized he could reach this level of power but she hadn’t thought for many more years, if not centuries. She knew, very well, the temptation of such power. Worse, he looked crazed from the savage battle with Titus. This was not the Power Boy they knew.

‘Who knows what happens when an immortal is faced with death?’ She thought of Titus as well, and his animalistic intensity during this battle.

Well, she was not exactly young herself, though no one knew how old, and she had far more up her sleeve than the winds. If it came to a battle with this young god engorged with power, she would see herself out of this situation.

She clenched her jaw at the thought of facing Power Boy now; had he gone mad, and what it would take to survive a confrontation?

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

Invisible Brainiac flew across the city, a trail of light marking his path across the sky. He flew, towards Titus’ palace. Decayed buildings spread out below him, the ceramic shapes without their roofs looked like hundreds of large shattered bowls covered with dust.

IB flew as fast as possible in his current state, tired from the battles with the ghouls, and saw a brilliant blast of light in the distance. So bright, It lit up the entire horizon. It came from the coordinates of the palace. The battle had already begun.

As he flew closer, he saw the palace come into view, or what was left of it.

The side of the building had been destroyed, giving him a clear view of the ruined battled scene.

“I’m too late, oh no, oh no, no, …” He repeated to himself over and over again, worried for his friends.

From the outside, he could see that a glow still emanated from the palace.

IB floated inside cautiously, what he saw made him pause.

Power Boy filled with light, sucking in the light all around him, even the sky had gone dim. IB could feel the tug of Power Boy on his own energies.

But it was Power Boy’s face that gave him pause. Besides the obvious marks of battle, his face was serene in a cold way. He couldn’t recognize his friend behind that face. Power Boy seemed so alien.

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


Titus vanquished, Power Boy let out a sigh. His rage at Titus had anchored him in this plane but now, so full of the energy of everything around him, he felt like he was fading away. He looked around and noticed his colleagues, as if a great distance separated them. His enhanced senses amplified by the energy that he pulled in from all the sources around him.

The sorceress clenched her jaw, she was like a spring ready to snap. 'Was she scared?'

Goon Boy appeared through a hole in the wall, and helped Disaster Boy to his feet.

Power Boy looked at Invisible Brainiac, who just arrived. He saw himself in his friend’s eyes, and he didn’t like what he saw. IB was confused and a little scared at the amount of destruction Power Boy had caused during his rampage with Titus.

The plan was to keep Titus off balance until they could deal with him, not to actually execute him, of course. In the heat of battle, Power Boy had been forced to fight harder and harder as Titus raised the stakes.

'It even seemed like there was a voice egging him on, playing with the adrenaline of battle, making him more and more bloodthirsty.'

Now, his friends look on him with fear.

Power Boy powered down, releasing the energy he was drawing on, the sunlight returned. He dropped to the cracked floor of the crumbling palace as the sky returned to its natural luminance. He was extremely tired, amping his abilities that way had left him strung out like a drug addict who was coming down from a high. Cuts ran all over his body and glowed as energy leaked from his cosmic anatomy. His costume, which was as durable as body armor, was unrecognizable, and the left side of his hair had been ripped out or burned away.

As the intoxication of energy left his body, Power Boy slumped with the fatigue of the battle ‘Was this how Titus began, drawn to more and more power, distrusted by friends?’

The five of them stood there as the dust settled.

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

MOMENTS EARLIER:

The City Surrounding the Palace
The ancient ruins of Prianopolis,
The Dark Oval

The battle could be heard for miles. A humble procession of Titus slaves, former soldiers, and prisoners walked away from the palace through the old city. Lard Lad looked over his shoulder, “We need to move faster Juj!”

Juj had taken the form of a giant green and gold centipede to carry many of the children and elderly servants on his back as they escaped from Titus’ palace. They wound their way away from the palace. It was a slow pace as the older slave children walked. Fortunately, many of Titus’ own guards chose to defect with them rather than remain with Titus. Most at least, they had been forced to fight some of the more loyal soldiers.

“Juj, How many can you carry if you fly?” Lardy asked hurriedly.

“Not many, 10 maybe 12 children if I took the form of something like a dragon, less adults. It would be strenuous, I’m not sure how many trips I could make.” Juj replied as the implications of Lard Lad’s question settled in on him.

Lardy studied their numbers, about 30 children of varying ages, about 10 more older slaves, a few of Titus’ personal concubines, males and females, and about 10 more guards who escorted them.

‘Damn you for putting me in this situation Titus! Who should I send first?’

Lard Lad ground his teeth and said “Juj, here’s what we do, take the smaller children first, get them out of the way, then come back for the other children on the second trip. We’ll pick up the pace to a trot in the meanwhile. Be quick.” He patted the caterpillar on the back.

Juj pointed with a caterpillar arm, to a few hills in the distance beyond the city’s edge, “I’ll fly them to the valley between those hills, hopefully we can hide there. Make your way through the city on a direct line and I will find you on my return.”

Juj transformed, caterpillar form spreading until wings expanded and a neck elongated, after a few moments a long lean dragon stood before them.

The children on Juj’s back during the transformation squealed while the others watching dropped their mouths in awe. The dirt on their faces, the rags they wore, couldn’t hide the wonder they saw, for a moment they were children again.

After a few moments of reorganization, Juj took flight, he flapped his wings hard at first to gain flight. He insisted that as many children as possible were put on him but, it seemed he was having a hard time with the weight. He flapped harder and harder, burdened by the weight.

Lard Lad watched as Juj, slowly flew higher and higher, eventually in a more stable fashion.

As Juj’s dragon form faded to a shadow in the distance, Lard Lad felt cold.

‘It can’t be sunset already.’ Lardy looked to the sky and saw the sun still high above but, it looked dim, as if it shined less bright, or if less sunlight was reaching the planet.


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


The screeching sound of an explosion knocked Lard Lad face down on the ground. The earth shook as blinding light emanated from the palace. After several moments, his vision returned. Lard Lad saw the slaves and children strewn about the street. Everyone looked fine besides being disoriented. These kids were used to being scared, they took the explosion relatively in stride.

The palace could be seen clearly from this area of the city. Lard Lad’s group hadn’t been able to get very far away from the palace.

Lard Lad saw the palace, cut in half, light streaming from within, as the battle had clearly intensified.

‘They’ll be allright, they have to be, I can’t leave these kids.’

As Lardy gave the orders for the soldiers to carry the children and run to the rendezvous with Juj, he felt like he had the wind knocked out of him from choosing between aiding his friends in battle, and getting these kids to safety.

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


Clearly frustrated, Lard Lad directed his group around yet another building that had collapsed into the street, cutting them off from a direct route to the rendezvous with Juj. They had to make several of these detours since the city was in shambles, and looked like it had been for a century.

'This is taking too long.’ He fumed. He wanted to get back to his friends as soon as possible. He had no idea how the battle was going.

“Hurry Juj.” He said under his breath. Lard Lad decided once Juj got the children to safety, he would double back to the palace. The older slaves could find their own way there.

Lard Lad looked into an alley for a way to circumvent the latest roadblock. He saw two eyes look at him from the shadows. The group of slaves and soldiers waited behind in the street as directed.

Lard Lad moved closer, it wasn’t his imagination, there were eyes … 'Those eyes.’ Lard Lad knew them.

“Come. Come closer.” A voice said, in his mind as much as his ears. Lardy inched closer. Curiosity overtaking Lard Lad, he stared into those eyes. Before he knew it, he was with an arm’s length of the creature in the shadows.

A grey sinewy hand reached out from the shadows, and Lard Lad instantly recognized this creature.

The fingers were long now, like claws, the arm looked like a thin branch of a tree but, it was covered with blood red tattoos … the same that Titus wore. It was too late, Titus grabbed Lardy’s arm and gazed deep into his eyes.

‘I should’ve known, those eyes are the same, cruel, like I’m being dissected.’

Titus was desperate, he held Lard Lad tight, and began to drain his life force. Lardy was entranced by Titus’ mental power. Titus had lost almost all of his power, and his very life in the battle but, possessing others was his first and foremost ability.

Lard Lad failed to struggle, he knew this was IT, ‘I did some good.’ He thought, and he thought about joining his friend Cobalt Kid, they’d have adventures in the afterlife.

Lard Lad tried to resist but, he was so tired from the torture and the long campaign against the Dark Oval. A voice in the back of his mind shouted ’NO, NO’ but his body and mind had no reserves of energy to call upon.

Lard Lad blacked out.

.
.
.
.
.
.

Or so he thought. In actually he found himself in complete darkness. It was as if the entire world had been replaced, with a black nothingness. All around him everything was gone but, he could clearly see HIMSELF. He didn’t like this place, it emanated terror, it took him long moments before he could overcome the paralysis of such palpable fear. Titus? Where was Titus ?

‘Am I dead?’ was his next thought.

Somehow, he knew he wouldn’t have to worry about Titus, Titus was being punished. He didn’t know how he knew this information. All he knew was that there was a seed of awareness growing inside of him. He felt connected to something, powerful. He felt chosen.

Before him in the shadows, he saw an oily shimmer of a body. As he looked for the head, he saw black flames, he could feel their cold from here.


‘Oh shit.’

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


“LARDY!!!” “WAKE UP!!”

Cobalt Kid struck Lard Lad across the face hard with an open hand.

Lard Lad seemed to be gaining some lucidity, finally.

“cobie …” He said in a small voice.

“am I dead?” he asked.

“No.” “Not as far as I can tell.” Cobalt Kid said.

Awareness dawning on Lard Lad “then … that means … your …”

“Alive. Yes” Cobalt replied warmly. He was a bit surprised but, he was glad to be alive.

“HA HA HA HAH !!! HOOOOO HAAAAAAAAAA!!!!” Lardy smacked Cobalt Kid on the back several times and then lifted him in a bear hug that neither of them were prepared for.


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


Seeing if the others were ok, figuring out what to do with all these refugees, finding out where Titus had gone, understanding what just happened to him in the darkness ...

That would all have to wait just a little bit longer.

As Lardy hugged his friend, he was just grateful they were both alive.

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

[ November 12, 2011, 11:59 PM: Message edited by: Power Boy ]
 

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Posted by Lard Lad on :
 
Lardy eased his friend to the ground, realizing that Cobalt, though alive, was in a lot of pain.

Tears welling in his eyes, Lardy said, "gods, I really, truly thought I'd lost you this time! Even when you were missing so long when Dark Conan and the Pious One took you, I never..." Lardy's voice trailed off as he wiped his eyes.

Wincing but managing a wry smile, Cobalt replied, "c'mon, Lardy...didn't think countless stabbings, near-drowning and g-giant sharks...would do me in...d-didja?"

Cobalt staggered a bit and held his chest, as if he were trying to hold his guts in. Lardy caught his friend and put Cobie's arm across his shoulders to hold him up. As beat up as Lardy felt, he could see his friend was pushed to the edge of his ability to self-heal.

"Des," Lardy said softly, "you've got to rest and let your healing powers do their thing, or you might yet be a goner after all."

"N-nonsense...L-lardy...ref-refugees..."

"Titus is defeated, Des. The rest of us can set up a camp for the refugees." He eased Cobalt to the ground and knelt down to look him in the eyes. "You trust me, don't you?"

Cobalt's eyes brightened, and he replied, "with my life, buddy." He looked towards the children off in the background. "And with theirs."

At that moment Lardy knew that Cobalt understood and approved of the choice Lardy had made to save Titus's captives. More tears welled in his eyes.

"Think I'm ready for a cat-nap now, Lardy..."

And, just like that, Cobalt fell into unconsciousness.

Lardy smiled, realizing he and Cobie had come a long way indeed.

"Goony?" Lardy called out to Goon Boy who had been watching nearby.

"I'll get 'im to some shelter and make sure he's undisturbed."

Goon Boy picked Cobalt Kid up and gently carried him off.


As Tempest, Power Boy and Invisible Brainiac worked together to build a large shelter for the refugees, Lardy approached Juj.

"What are we gonna do with these refugees, Juj? We have no means to evac such a large group, and this planet is too inhospitable to leave them here for a long period of time."

Juj smiled. "I still have my transmitter for contacting Phe'Be on Hrykosia. Normally, it wouldn't have the range for this distance, as it didn't have on Haven, but the radiation levels on this planet from its centuries of warfare have created a perfect storm, if you will, to boost the signal. I've already spoken to her--she's sending a G.E.M. rescue unit. It'll be here within two days!"

"Excellent, Juj! I couldn't bear leaving these children to fend for themselves, even with some able-bodied Titus defectors to watch over them. We'll have to leave before they get here. Give Phe'Be my best when you see her..."

Juj shook his head. "I'm not going with the refugees. I want to go with you all."

Lardy was genuinely surprised. "Really? Why?"

"I've been a literal fly on the wall and watched you guys closely. You stand for something...a desire to change the universe for the better, whatever it takes. On Durla we believe, foremost, in change and effecting it in whatever manner yields the best results. I want to be a part of what you are doing."

Lardy grinned and patted Juj on the shoulder. "I'll see what strings I can pull with the others--hell, they may ditch me here in favor of you!"

And the two shared a hearty laugh.


Later, Lardy watched as the children played in and around the makeshift shelter. Juj was transforming into various imaginative shapes to entertain them and give them rides, and Invisible Brainiac dazzled them with a spectacular light show.

Before he realized it, a beautiful woman approached him and said, "bless you, sir knight." Then, out of the blue, she kissed him passionately.

Startled, he enjoyed the kiss for a moment before breaking it up. Looking her over, he realized she was one of Titus' concubines they had freed.

"You are my new Lord, now. How may I please you?"

Lardy stood agape for a moment. He knew what the old Lardy would do in this situation. He smiled, realizing that he'd come a long way since then.

"Sweet lady," he said gently, "as your new Lord, it is my fondest desire that you, and the other ladies and men, be freed to seek your own destinies and your own pleasures."

Confused, she managed, "but...you..."

Gods, he thought, she reminds me so much of Pru... His mind formed an image of Hummer Lass, who he hadn't seen in so long. "I would be deeply honored if you'd abide by my request!" he said, bowing.

She bowed back and ran to the others.

As he watched her and then looked back around at the children playing, Lardy felt pure elation. For the first time in this mission, there was no grey area. These people were free and would have a chance in life they would otherwise have never had.

He beamed. It's really gonna be worth it!
 

---

Posted by Lolita on :
 
Earth-4,
The Dark Oval

As others scurried all around her, Lolita saw Faraway Lad exiting the main cavern of the Loser Cave to go off on his own. She had been keeping an eye on him for several days now and she figured that now was the time to make her move. She watched as he moved slowly, his body almost sagging as if he held up a tremendous weight. The Earth-1 Faraway Lad had been a long time mentor and friend to Cobalt Kid; that meant that she had gotten to know him over the years and in an indirect way, was also one of his students, since Cobalt often took the role of mentor to her.

The Faraway Lad’s of the multiple Earths usually looked almost exactly the same as each other in one of those rare instances of extreme similarity. Their personalities were also similar, and Lolita always wondered if this was by design since the Faraway Lads were the most critical beings in the multiverse when it came to inter-universe travel by the nature of their powerset. Yet this Faraway Lad was different and she knew the reason why was due to recent events: he’d been beaten, imprisoned and malnourished for a long time before he was freed by the Losers. On top of that, his powers had been stripped of him, meaning he lost a connection to the universe that was natural and ever-present; it would be akin to someone losing their sight or hearing. He wasn’t beaten yet, but he was weary and worn out.

As she followed him, she noted he entered a room she hadn’t been in before. It looked to be like a large storage unit with odd items on shelves along the walls and in a grid throughout the room itself. The lights were dim and she instinctively clutched her trenchcoat over his micro-skirt & halter top. A smooth, kind voice to the side of her indicated where he’d gone.

“Can I help you, young lady?” he said quietly. His voice made her relax briefly and she realized this was a technique the Earth-1 Darden had as well; it was something that served him well in his diplomatic missions. “Perhaps a drink?” he added and she saw he’d poured himself a glass of port and was already pouring her one. So much for being sneaky.

“We haven’t had much time to talk,” she said, “though you probably don’t find that odd.”

“Nonsense,” he said. “Darden has told me much about many members of his LMB, including your colleague Cobalt Kid and of course you. I won’t claim I know everything about you, but I know enough to wonder why you hadn’t approached me. I take it you have some sort of plan? And your usual connection to your own Darden means you’re more comfortable telling me than Adelie or Hugh or the others?”

Lolita thought it over and it did make sense. “I would have probably told Rocky,” she said though, indicating a ‘no’ to his question. “But I will take the port,” she added, taking it and sitting. She walked over to a desk and sat on top of it, facing him. “I know its been a tough road for you guys…” she began.

He started laughing. “I don’t look that bad, do I?” he smiled.

The truth was he did. She had to be sure. Sure that he wasn’t already broken. “I’ve noticed you tend to let the others make the major decisions around here, though you occasionally offer counsel,” she began. “I was wondering why? You’re a natural leader on all Earths. I’m partially surprised you’re not leading the Losers.”

His reaction was carefully measured and she was worried he was suddenly taken aback. Instead, he said, “I’ve lost my powers, Lolita. And diplomacy isn’t really an option at this point. But when the time comes, I’ll be there to battle the Evil Emperor Penguin and win back our home. And help pick up the pieces from there.”

“All good points, and I’m glad to hear it,” said Lolita. She realized she was perhaps being too feisty with this iconic member of the SMB but couldn’t help her self. Time was of the essence. “But I think there’s more important work for you to be doing right now.”

This time he did not let his façade continue and she could see he was annoyed. Still, he did not respond right away but took a slow sip of his port and savored it for a moment. At last, he simply said: “go on.”

“If The Evil Emperor Penguin is defeated, and if Earth is liberated, no one has yet to ask what is next. Because there is an assumption regarding the order in which these things may happen. That assumption may be false. Perhaps we’re getting our steps out of order here.” She purposely was not laying it out clearly to make sure he was engaged.

Yet clearly, he was. “Interesting,” he said. “You mean to restore our Earth to our Universe. Which could have many benefits…” he added, thinking on it. “Of course, we’ve all thought this step was something that had to happen but were so caught up in battling the EEP that we haven’t really given it enough thought regarding how it can be done. Have you?”

Lolita smiled. “Yes. From the minute Kalla Hrykos told me Earth-4 was in the Dark Oval that is all I’ve been thinking about. And I think I’ve figured it out. I may need someone with the engineering skill to do it, and I sure as hell need a power source, but I think I’ve come up with a plan. But most importantly, I need you.”

Darden put down the glass of port and began walking around the room a bit, thinking. “We have an expert engineer here that would be able to do what you needed,” he said, “so make sure you introduce yourself to Gear as soon as possible. I’d have to ask the others about a power source. But that leaves me. Except right now, I’m not Faraway Lad. I’m simply Darden with no powers.”

“If we’re going to transport an Earth across a universe, we need the one person who specializes in transporting anything across universes. I fail to see how a Darden without powers is not the famous Faraway Lad,” she said in mock-flattering tone that had elements of truth to it. “So the question is why haven’t you gotten your powers back?”

“Indeed,” he said, starting to lose where she was going with this. “Why haven’t I?”

“Because,” she said, hoping beyond hope that she was right, “while you were imprisoned, they handicapped you with power dampeners preventing you from using them. During that time, they tried to break your spirit and likely came close.” He made to interject but she held her hand up, as her voice now began to rise. She jumped down from the desk so she was standing across from him. “When you were freed, the dampeners were gone, but you still didn’t have your power. In my summation, the only logical explanation is the lack of powers is psychological.”

“Now listen here,” he said, getting angry.

“Clearly you were distraught, disheartened and dismayed at what was done to you, your friends and your home planet. But even then, your experience and fortitude would have caused those powers to gradually come back. Except for one thing: your sense of duty.”

With those words, Darden stopped to listen before he yelled further.

“If there was one thing you didn’t want to do, it was go far away. You were needed here and so you stayed. Your sense of duty meant if Earth and the Society of Message Board Posters were going to die, you were going to die with them. Your powers by their very nature were anathema to your sense of duty in this scenario.”

He stared at her, shocked and silent.

She continued. “At first they took your powers away mentally. Then they didn’t come back because your trauma. But now they aren’t coming back because you aren’t letting them. Its okay, Darden. You don’t have to go far away right now. But you need to use your powers.”

He stood there before her, looking right at her, but not seeing her. In his mind, he comprehended all that she said, and wondered how it could possibly be so. But a small part of him immediately knew she was right the minute he heard it.

“Then all this time…” he started to say, leaning forward as if he might fall.

She ran over and caught him. “All this time you were recovering from your imprisonment,” she said assuring him. “But you’ve recovered now.”

He looked at her, seeing her again for the first time. “I could have helped…”

“We all could have done so much,” she said, “but what matters is what we do now. And we need you, Faraway Lad.”

As he looked at her, he smiled. He put his head down, shaking it, almost laughing. She backed away as he stood up on his own, and walked over to the port. “You are a feisty one,” he said, “and the shy bit helps in bringing down people’s guards.”

She looked on, unsure of what he’d do next.

He refilled his glass and drained it. Turning around, he immediately threw the glass at her. She jumped back and began to yell but then he raised his hand and she could see a beam of light come out. In an instant, the empty glass vanished, as droplets of port landed a few inches from her feet. “By damn, you were right.” He was smiling widely.

“Thank God,” she said with a sigh. “You’ve all been through so much…” she started to say, realizing she was getting a little emotional. Stop that, he’s the one who should be emotional. “You can reclaim all that was yours. I know it.”

He walked over to her, seeing tears in her eyes, and pulled her close for a hug. He kissed her forehead in a gentle, fatherly fashion, as if he was providing comfort to his own daughter. “You’ve done something incredibly special for me today, Lolita. And you’re right. We can—and we will win this war. Now let’s talk to Gear about this plan you have.”
 

---

Posted by Dev - Em on :
 
Earth 4

The Emissary looked into the Losers Cave, he saw more people than he would have thought running towards the entrance to confront him. "COME OUT AND FACE YOUR DEATHS YOU SORRY EXCUSE FOR LIFE!" he bellowed at a loud enough volume to cause a few of those racing towards him to stop and cover their ears.

"Inyuk Chuk!"

Dev Em heard someone behind him say something. He turned and was greeted by a fist attached to a 50 foot Sharklad.

"You..." was all he could say before he flew into a hill from the force of the blow.

"Sprockin jerk gonna look like Dev...he's gonna pay for this one." Sharklad said as he prepared for The Emissary's return.

The Earth 4 Dev Em was stunned. Not so much from the hit he had just taken, but more from the person that had delivered it. "He should have never came into my presence," he muttered. The venom in his words dripping with hate. He stood and took off, picking up speed until he was almost within range...his vision powers were not good for this kill, he wanted to rip Sharklad apart limb from limb.

As he approached, he noticed a lone figure running towards him on the ice. He flew a bit lower and decided to take this one out as well.

Karate Kid stopped and set himself for who was coming at him.

Dev flew in low and was surprised when the man moved at what seemed impossible speeds for a human and used his own velocity against him and sent him spiraling towards Sharklad.

He was then suddenly hit with a sticky webbing like substance and his arc changed yet again. Kid Spider grinned at his accomplishment.

By the time he reached Sharklad, he was totally out of control and trying to regain it when Sharklad hit him with two fists in the back and drove him ten feet into the ground.

A cheer rose from the ranks of those that were now outside and positioning themselves around to be able to take shots at the insane former member of the SMB.

The Emissary was enraged further by the fact that they were cheering against him.

Deja Boy and Copy Cat were running toward the hole where he had gone down. Hoping to confuse him as he emerged from where Sharklad had sent him.

Dev Em erupted from the ground below them though. Copy Cat screamed as he tried to use his powers to mimic Dev Em's Daxamite strength, speed, invulnerability...anything. It was too late however, as he saw his lower half falling to the ground as his torso was sent flying toward the pit that had formed when Dev had emerged fromt he ground.

Deja Boy tried to say something to Dev Em to confuse him, as his ower was to make you think something had already happened. He found however that he could not speak because Dev had his hand over his mouth, and he was about 300 feet in the air.

A tear rolled down his cheek and touched Dev's hand. "How precious. You shed a tear for yourself...but you side with those that slaughter innocents."

Deja Boy's eyes went wide and he tried to understand what was meant by this.

"You don't know what they did...do you. They slaughtered my family!" Dev screamed and Deja Boy felt his eardrums explode. His mind raced, and pain and fear washed through his body.

Dev Whipped his arm back and forth, breaking the neck of the young hero in his hand. He let the body fall and looked down at the specks below him. "Those fools running about screaming and yelling because two idiots had been put out of their misery, he mumbled to himself as he repurposed himself.

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

Inside the Loser Cave, Gear worked feverishly. His hands flying faster than Clark Marlowe's eyes could follow.

Gear stopped and looked up at his friend. "Clark. I need you to go and slow him down."

Clark nodded. As he looked at the young man in front of him, he thought he saw a tear forming in his right eye.

"I can't ask you to though. There are at least a few dead already, and more are about to die. If you go out there, you may die too."

"It's what we do Jon." Clark said as he put his hand on Gears shoulder. He had made sure to place his hand on Jon's flesh and blood shoulder.

"Thank you Clark. Be careful."

Clark nodded and ran out of the room. His mind racing at what was about to happen.

Gear returned to work on the machine he was trying to finish as fast as he could. He had just sent a man that was like a brother to him to what would probably be his death. He shut his eyes and breathed deep. He calmed himself and refocused on his machine. The sooner he finished it, the better chance he had of saving more lives.

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

Dev floated high above the Losers. Laughing. He focused his sights on two of them standing near each other. A sickening grin flashed onto his face as he felt his eyes heating up. "Goodbye..." he whispered.

Down below, the Losers ran about trying to see if there was anything that could be done for their teammates that had been hit hardest. They realized that there was nothing that could actually be done, but they tried anyway.

Legion Adventure Boy was comforting Lunar Lass, when a flash of something went through them.

"Nooooooooo!!!" Kid Spider screamed as the two of them fell over, gaping holes where their chests had been.

They all looked up and saw Dev Em circling getting closer and lower...he was coming in for another kill.

[ November 16, 2011, 11:14 AM: Message edited by: Dev - Em ]
 

---

Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
 
The ancient ruins of Prianopolis,
The Dark Oval

As the Fellowship parted with the newly freed community of former slaves, prisoners and concubines, the uplifting feeling continued. Lard Lad had insisted the Legionnaires leave them as many of their supplies, food rations and technology that they could spare and all agreed that was the right decision.

“On our way back,” said Invisible Brainiac, feeling the moment, “we’ll check in on you.”

“Quite the commitment,” said Goon Boy quietly to the side to Cobalt Kid, who was now able to move about on his feet, albeit slowly.

Cobalt was unsure if Goon Boy meant the actually promise to return to them, or the idea that Invisible Brainiac was so confident that they actually would return. Goon Boy had a very frank, realist point of view.

“Tell me,” said Cobalt to his friend, “were you there when it happened with Power Boy? And how well have you gotten to know him?”

Goon Boy eyed his friend. “Not too well, to be honest. Just the kind of bond you get when you fight in battle. But I like him quite a bit. But to answer your first question, I wasn’t right there for a lot of it. Having any doubts?”

Cobalt shook his head. “No,” he said firmly. He couldn’t afford to doubt his colleague now. “But I want to make sure none of you do. I’m hoping Invisible Brainiac and Tempest feel the same way.”

Cobalt nodded to where Lard Lad had placed all that remained of his things. “Can you pass me my boots?” Since the end of the battle, Lard Lad had not only made sure the captives were taken care of, spent time with Juj to assess whether him joining was a good idea, but he also found some time to go get the remainder of Cobalt’s things from where they were discarded at the harbor. Sometimes I take for granted how much he’s really there for me, he thought. I might have forgotten who I am…but he never did.

“It’s not much,” said Goon Boy, handing him what was left. His boots were the still there, as was a belt and some pouches, but his supplies, food rations, rope and tool kit were all gone. Also gone was his Elven Cloak, as was Lard Lad’s; Titus had proclaimed he sent them as a gift to the Dark Lord to confirm he held them captive. Cobalt looked at himself and was reminded his costume was in tatters too—the transuit, uniform full of unstable molecules, his gloves and other things. In its place was now common clothes given to them by the former prisoners: pants, a cotton tunic and a wool overcoat. All of which was a frayed tan color. Goon Boy could see what Cobalt was thinking. “So much for technology keeping you warm in cold climates or shielding you from attacks.”

Cobalt shrugged and said nothing. He didn’t want to dwell on it. He looked through the pouches. Among the items was the pipe, and some tobacco, that was given to him during the journey through the Contested Territories when they came upon a band of wayfarers. That was a good night, he thought. At least I have this, to remind me of it.

“The big question is, how the hell do we get out of here,” said Cobalt at last.

“I think your sorceress friend is taking care of it…” said Goon Boy

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

Though worn out and preoccupied with various matters, the assembled fellowship began to gather close together in the center of town. At first they walked over what was going on, but soon turned their gaze to where Goon Boy and the rest were looking.

Not far off, Tempest levitated slightly off the ground, her body standing strait up and her arms extended. Her richly colored cloak flapped around her with wind as did her magnificent raven colored hair. She looked like a Goddess. Her concentration was complete and though her eyes were closed, it was clear she was seeing something the others did not.

At last, they began to see it in the distance.

A small ship came floating to the sky towards them. In the distance it was hard to see but as it grew closer they made out its structure and were confused and surprised. This was no space-fairing vessel; rather, this was an old-fashioned pirate ship made out of wood, with tattered sails and even oars hanging from the side. It was clearly made for traveling over oceans, not space. The most technologically advanced piece of it were the ornate glass windows to the Captain’s quarters.

“Someone is going to have to explain this to me…” said Goon Boy. He looked at Invisible Brainiac, who shrugged.

“Clearly, you do not see my friends,” said Power Boy with a large scale. “What else would our wind goddess be acquiring for us other than a magic ship? This vessel is thousands of years old but sturdier than anything your United Planets could produce. I can feel its power from here!”

“A magic ship?” said Cobalt with an eyebrow raised. He looked at Lard Lad, who didn’t seem too against the idea. “I guess it beats the monotony of space cruisers…” he added.

Tempest placed the ship before them in the middle of the ruined city streets, and now turned to them with eyes open and a smile across her face. “Her name is The Star Song and her history would take much too long to explain,” she began, obviously very pleased by this turn of events. “She called out to me to assist us and I’ve gladly accepted the gift. She requires no crew, only a Captain, and she can take through space, where we need to go.”

“We’ll be able to breath in space aboard it, then,” said Juj, getting to the point.

“Indeed,” replied Tempest, “and she has many other amenities on board to meet our requirements. We’ve just been through an incredible battle and yet now we face an even tougher one ahead of us. Trust in the Star Song and trust in me, and we can at least spend the journey between the two battles with some level of comfort.”

“I’m sold,” said Lard Lad with a laugh and they all laughed too. They followed Lardy over to Tempest and soon began the boarding process.

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

The Star Song sailed through Dark Oval space with relative ease, giving the Fellowship a clear view of the stars and planetary systems beyond. It was breath-taking beautiful, to experience space as if on the open ocean.

“I’ve never space-traveled like this before,” said Goon Boy to Power Boy and Juj.

“Few have,” said Power Boy with a nod, as he also spent a moment taking in the wonder. “Tempest says the ship has magical cloaking mechanisms as well. We should be able to approach the Hive mother-planet in relative peace.”

Goon Boy noted the way in which he spoke—as if he was anxiously awaiting the next battle.

Farther along the ship, there was a special place carved into the hull. There were wooden benches for seating and in the middle, there was a firepit. The fire was magical and so did not burn the wood, yet it emanated a warmth from there that was soothing. Many of them had made their way over there during the first several hours before getting up to further explore the ship. Often, they would return, drawn to the comfort it provided. Sitting there now were Lard Lad and Cobalt Kid.

Both were silent for a long while, looking into the flames. Cobalt looked at his friend and considered what he must be thinking. Something had happened on Priapolis in the final moments. A last confrontation with Titus had given Lardy some unease. Cobalt also knew nightmares had been haunting his friend for weeks now. I’ve been so caught up in my own guilt and grief that I haven’t even asked him about it… he thought.

“Lardy,” he said, breaking the silence. “We’re close to the Hive now. To Wyandotte. We’ve both thought about this for quite awhile and it’s almost here. But something I sometimes forget is that Wyandotte is, well, you. I know that must be weighing on your mind.”

Lard Lad nodded slowly, as if he was thinking about it for the first time in a long time. Evidently he had bigger fish to fry at the moment. “It bothers me, of course,” he replied. “In all our years when there is travel between universes, we always end up finding a Lard Lad that just hasn’t gotten his shit together, you know?” Cobalt nodded. Often, Lard Lads in other universes were down right evil. “This has made me think a lot about Lard Lord—Tony from Earth-4. He was bad, all right. But in the end, he redeemed himself and did some good. I remember when I learned about his sacrifice that it gave me some hope.” He was silent for a moment and Cobalt knew so much of what Lardy said reflected his own doubts about himself. “But then I think about Wyandotte…”

“Wyandotte is an extreme,” said Cobalt in an agreeable way. “Just like you are,” he added. “Wyandotte is the worst possible Lard Lad of all. And you’re the best.”

Lardy looked at him, a little surprised at the words. For a moment it was if he viewed Cobalt with new eyes; a lot of time had passed since they began their quest and it showed. Cobalt now had a full beard, no longer even stubble, and its color matched the jetblack hair on his head. Even his hair was growing longer, probably longer than it’d ever been before. He suddenly wondered how he looked. It was Cobalt’s body language that seemed different tonight. The two were best friends and had been for years. To compliment one another in such a way was not too unusual. But Cobalt said it with such firmness that it had finality to it. It meant a lot.

“Lardy,” said Cobalt, his voice growing a little softer. “I’m sorry for what happened during the Red Bee’s last attack on Legion World. For the breakdown in communication between us. I know I’ve never apologized…” he said, trailing off, looking into the fire. There was something different about Cobalt right now, Lardy realized. It wasn’t sadness, or even the guilt. There was a true vulnerability. “I want you to know that I am sorry for how that worked out.”

Lard Lad put his hand on Cobalt’s shoulder. “I always knew you were, Des,” he said firmly. “We both can get a little over-zealous at times. Hell, that probably ensured there was an LMB to begin with.”

Cobalt smiled at him. “I’ve no doubt about that,” he replied. He leaned back a little, more relaxed, as if he was feeling better. “I know you visited Hugh and Helena before this all began. How are they?” he asked, genuinely curious.

Lardy smiled wide a huge cascade of pride came welling forth. He gave Cobalt the full details of his time with the kids before the quest and how much it meant to him. His enthusiasm was so infectious that both were smiling and laughing soon enough. Several minutes stretched out into over an hour.

Both were feeling good as the conversation began to dwindle and Cobalt added one last bit. “When this is all over,” he said, quasi-serious, “and if we both make it. Maybe I can come with you one day and visit your kids. I’d love to meet them…and…well, it would mean a lot to me.”

Lard Lad smiled again, a genuine, subtle smile and looked at his friend curiously. He was really seeing a different side of Cobalt tonight. Or maybe it was the older side coming back to the surface? “Des, that would mean a lot to me.”
 

---

Posted by Lard Lad on :
 
Earth-4

Clark Marlowe raced through the corridors of the Loser Cave toward the commotion that was up ahead.

As he ran, he rubbed the clear crystal embedded in his neck as if it were a magic lamp. What am I going to do? he thought. I'm powerless and have been since the 52 Affair when this crystal granted me the powers of a Kryptonian! Engine Joe Brande told me it may yet reactivate in a time of great crisis--well, now would be a great time...

He was startled from his thoughts as he heard a voice yelling from behind. "Clark!", it said.

Panting, he slowed and turned around. It was several of his fellows from the former Covenant: Grev Mallor, Helena Handbasket and Seth Gaterra.

As he stopped and caught his breath, Helena said, "it's chaos down here! What's the nature of the threat, Clark?"

"It...it's a really twisted version of Dev Em native to Earth-4, Helena. He's the Emperor's Emissary. We've already sustained massive casualties! Gear's working on something--we've got to buy him some time!"

"Have your powers come back, Clark?" she asked.

"No, but I'm going--end of discussion!"

"We're coming with you!" Grev asserted, and all four ran toward the battle.


Moments later, the foursome climbed out of the exposed portion of the Loser Cave's tunnels to see Kid Spider staving off Dev Em as best he could with constant streams of webbing. Behind him, they could see the several injured and dead he was attempting to protect.

Before they could even react, they saw the web shield buckle and a moment later, the Emissary was holding a strange object in his hand. Kid Spider suddenly realized that the object was a human heart and that his own chest had a large hole in it that wasn't there before. A second later, he crumpled to the ground, lifeless.

The Emissary spit on Kid Spider's corpse, and then his eyes began to glow to prepare to finish off those he'd been protecting. Before he could do so, he was hit by a massive energy discharge. It had come from Helena's robotic arm, now in full plasma cannon mode. He was momentarily stunned.

"Now, Grev!" Helena barked.

Grev nodded and focused his shadow power on the Emissary's head. They were gambling on the shadow inhibiting the Emissary's Daxamite enhanced vision powers.

"Aaargh! can't see!!!" bellowed the Emissary. As he did so, Seth was maneuvering himself behind him in hopes of getting close enough to use his power of disintegration to end this quickly. Seth could only do so by touching him directly. Helena kept firing plasma blasts to keep him busy.

Unfortunately, though blinded and distracted, the Emissary was able to detect Seth with his enhanced hearing and used his super-breath to knock Seth about 100 feet away.

Helena gasped but kept firing. She prayed a silent prayer hoping that Seth's armored containment suit would be enough to save him. Her mind raced as she now knew in any case that their plan of attack was now foiled. Their only hope now was for more reinforcements to arrive--and quickly!

Just then, the Emissary snarled and thrashed violently at the ground in front of him. The force of it exposed another portion of the Loser Cave's tunnels right beneath where Clark, Grev and Helena were. All three fell about two stories down into them and were stunned.

With his vision now restored, the Emissary walked to the edge of the hole he'd just made.

"I think I'll do you three reeeal slow!" he laughed evilly. The other two were unconscious, but Clark staggered to his feet. The Emissary regarded him. "Guess I'll start with you, four-eyes! Maybe I'll tear off your right arm and weld it to the lady, so's she can get rid of that metal contraption..."

The Emissary grabbed hold of Clark's arm and pulled--but it didn't budge. Startled, he looked at Clark and saw he was grinning. Clark shook off the Emissary's grip and gave him a powerful right cross that sent him flying through the exposed tunnel into the frosty night.

Clark fingered his crystal and could feel the warmth from it glowing. About fuckin' time! he thought. Clark turned to check on Grev and Helena. He couldn't rouse Grev, but he was breathing. Helena woke as soon as she felt Clark's touch.

"Wh-where?" Helena managed.

"I knocked him for a loop, but he'll be back in a moment. Can you get Grev to safety?"

"B-but...Seth..."

Clark used his Kryptonian vision powers and looked away. "He's alive, Helena. Vitals are strong. I'll keep the Emissary busy--I'm a match for that bastard now!"

Helena understood immediately that Clark's long-dormant powers were now in play. "Understood," she said grimly and picked Grev up with her robotic arm. "I'll be right back and send for more help."

"Negative, soldier," he said. "Evacuate the Cave while I'm distracting him. regardless of whether I take him down or not, the Emperor's forces are on their way. If I fail, Gear should still have his machine ready with the time I give him."

She nodded. "I will do that Clark. But I'm coming back for you."

He smiled and took an Omnicom out of his pocket. "This is my journal. Keep it safe for me."

She secured the Omnicom, nodded and rushed off with Grev over her shoulder.

Clark used his telescopic vision in time to see the Emissary charging toward him from above. Clark grinned and charged in his direction. "WOO-HOOOO!!!"

The two collided with such force that all the trees within about a 50 foot radius of them crashed to the ground. Both were momentarily stunned, but Clark recovered more quickly. Clark flew behind the Emissary and secured him from behind, arms looped across the other's chest.

"What ARE you?!? Another Daxamite?" roared the Emissary.

"Nah, I hail from Kansas, Earth-1--but this bear hug was brought to you by the Krypton Preservation Society!"

"Krypton?" the Emissary shrieked as he struggled in Clark's grasp. "I'll make you as dead as that planet is--deader, if I can!"

Then, in a burst of animal fury, the Emissary shook Clark loose and kicked him away into an abandoned building. He flew after Clark and came straight into a haymaker Clark had waiting for him. Afterwards, both stood their ground and exchanged blow after crushing blow.


About a half hour after the two had first come to blows, Helena made her way back to the surface, having made sure that Grev was cared for and that the evacuation was underway. She quickly found Seth.

"Seth, are you okay?" she said soothingly.

"I...will live, my love," he replied woozily. "Where is the Emissary?"

She listened and heard the loud booms of struggle in the distance. "Clark is keeping him busy. He has his powers back. And at a very opportune time, I might add." Another large boom caught her attention. "Can you move, Seth?"

He steadied himself. He took a shaky step, but it was a step. "Yes, I think I can."

"Good. Go to the escape tunnels, and I'll be right behind you."

"You..."

"I have to help Clark. You may be concussed, Seth. Get out of here while you can." She stroked his armored chest. "I promise I'll be right behind you."

"I will hold you to it. I love you."

"And I love you."

Seth watched her run in the direction of the sounds for a moment and then made his way to his destination.


The abandoned building where Clark and the Emissary fought was now all but disintegrated, but the two continued to exchange blow after blow. Both were visibly nearing total exhaustion, but neither would let up.

In his haze, the Emissary noticed something below the tattered remains of Clark's shirt. A strange crystal embedded in Clark's throat, right on the Adam's apple. Could that be...? he thought.

All at once, the Emissary put his left hand's fingers in Clark's mouth and forced Clark's head up. He zapped Clark's left hand with as strong of a heat vision blast as he could manage to keep that hand away. Then the Emissary grabbed the crystal with his free hand and pulled on it as hard as possible.

Clark felt blood rush in his throat as the Emissary pulled the crystal loose. Gasping, Clark fell to the ground.

"F-found your weakness, m-mongrel!" The Emissary staggered a little and steadied himself against some wreckage. "B-be a pl-pleasure...to watch you ch-choke on your own bluh--!"

His taunt was interrupted by a powerful plasma burst that sent the severely weakened Emissary far across the countryside.

Helena rushed to Clark's side and allowed her plasma cannon to morph back into her normal armlike appearance.

"Clark! My God--I!"

Clark gurgled as blood filled his lungs. "'Sokay..Helna...mishn...acc...comp...lisht..."

He grasped her flash and blood hand as tightly as he could manage. She squeezed back and caressed his face.

"You're the bravest person I've ever known," she said.

Clark smiled. Then, his grip loosened and his eyes went blank.

Tears flowed from Helena's eyes as she checked his pulse and confirmed the worst.

Clark Marlowe was dead.

[ November 16, 2011, 07:23 PM: Message edited by: Lard Lad ]
 

---

Posted by Timber Wolf on :
 
Kalla Hykros flew as fast as she could across the countryside. She was carrying Timberwolf, also known as Lon Talbot Em. They were in love, and if this was any other planet, they would be having the time of their lives.

"Set us down on top of that rise darlin'," Lon said, leaning his head back so she could hear him.

She nodded and set them down.

Below and behind them, they could see tha the Emperor's forces were indeed on the move.

They're not following us," Kalla said, knowing that her ability to bend light around them had made them invisible to any eye they had, and the fact that they had flown low insured that they were not tracked.

Lon was sniffing around the air.

She watched him closely...there was something happening to his features that she had never had the opportunity to see before. In fact, no other sentient aside from Lon's own father had seen him change form at this slow a rate. His normal transition took him milliseconds. He was purposely shifting slowly to retain his full mental faculties and be able to utilize the hyper sensitive senses that his Furball form allowed him.

He shifted back to full human form and hung his head, shaking it gently side to side as he did.

"What's the matter love?" she asked himtaking his face gently in her hands. She could tell that there was something deeply troubling him.

He let her lift his face to her. His hair was hanging in his eyes, and he had a look in his eyes that she had never sen before.

"It's faint on the air...but something terrible has occurred. There's death hanging in the air."

She knew that death was not something that bothered Lon. Death was part of what he did, part of the price he paid for being hwo he was...this was something else.

"What is it Lon...what is wrong."

He looked at her, sighed and shut his eyes. "The presence I felt back on Sumra?"

She nodded, remembering that it was the first time he had ever seemed even remotely worried.

"He's here, and I am getting a distinct read on who he is, and why he was following me, letting me know he was out there...but not letting me know who he was. I smelled him at the Emperor Palace..."

"I'm so sorry Lon. With everything that has happened, I have not had the time to think of the fact that he was not there when I awoke being tortured."

"I'm not upset sweetie...just...we have to get going, I had hoped we could get there before he found them. Maybe we can stop him from slaughtering all of them."

She picked him up and they took off, headed towards where a twisted version of Lon's brother, one of the LMB's most powerful members was ripping through The Losers.
 

---

Posted by Dev - Em on :
 
Gear raced through the corridors towards the battle. He could hear screams, could see the wounded being carried into the corridors away from the fighting.

C'mon Clark...you can do this. We'll grab a Silverale later and you can tell me all about it. He thought as he came upon the opening.

He looked out into the brightness of the day and shut his one human eye. "Activate," he said in a monotone voice. As he relaxed his body, just inside the cave, armor formed around him. Encasing him in a full battle suit.His eye was still closed but he could see that there was massive devastation outside. His internal equipment was picking up life readings, and...

"No. By all that is sacred..."

He ran out of the cave and towards where Helena was cradling Clark Marlowe's lifeless body.

He landed behind her and she turned her head towards him. "He's gone Jon," she mouthed, not wanting to give away his true identity. "He bought you the time you needed with his life...make sure that this wasn't in vain."

He nodded and turned toward where The Emissary, Dev Em was. He had recovered enough and was starting to stand, looking around for another victim.

"I"VE BEATEN YOUR STRONGEST!!! COME ON OUT AND LET ME FINISH YOU ALL WITH WHAT LITTLE DIGNITY YOU HAVE LEFT...DON'T RUN AWAY LIKE THE COWARDS YOU ARE."

Gear raised his left arm and it morphed into a rifle. His internal aiming system locked on and he fired. A beam of red light slammed into Dev Em's right arm and he was knocked off his feet.

Gear looked back at Helena. "It wasn't," he said and took off towards his father.

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

Sharklad had been trying his best to get the others to safety, using whatever he could to deflect The Emissary's heat vision and random things that he had thrown towards the fleeing Losers. He saw Gear flying towards Dev Em and he threw down the part of the roof he was using to shield the others and started heading that way as well. "That kid is not doing this alone," he said as his feet thundered against the ground. He was picking up speed in his 50 foot form and was able to kick Dev Em as he got up from the blast Gear had hit him with.

"Gonna kill you, you spineless shark..." Dev hissed as he turned his attention to Sharklad. "Then I'll kill whoever it is in that little toy suit."

"Sharklad...NOW!!!" Gear screamed as he let loose with a flash of red light.

Sharklad swung as hard as he could and Dev Em went flying further than even Sharklad would have thought possible.

Gear landed next to Sharklad as he shrank down to his standard size.

"What did you hit him with?"

"It took too long...but I finally was able to figure out how to duplicate the power of a red sun and harness it. Only had enough for that shot though...it should have been enough to take the fight out of him for a while. He's still stronger than most of us...but not all of us combined."

Sharklad slapped Gear on the back. "Good show little man."

Inside his helmet, Jon Em smiled a little. "The other you calls me that as well. Thanks."

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

The Emissary stood to his feet. He put his hand to his face and when he drew it away, for the first time in years, there was blood on it. How did they do that? How did they hurt me...?

He frantically looked around and saw the shark and the man in the tin can standing talking. He couldn't hear them though. He tried, but his hearing was not able to pick them up.

He shook his head and started toward them...with one purpose in mind...destruction.

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

Sharklad looked up and saw that Dev Em was headed towards them. "I'll take this..."

Gear placed his hand on Sharklads arm. "No. This is mine."

He walked past Sharklad and towards Dev Em.

Soon they stood about ten feet apart.

"I don't know what you did to me...or how. All I know is I'm going to kill you, and then your friend there. Then I'm going to kill the rest of them. One by..."

He stopped talking as Gear said "helmet, retract."

Sharklad could see that Jon had retracted his helmet, and that Dev Em's eye;s were growing wider than should have been possible, until he remembered that Dev was part Durlan.

"NO." Dev Em said. "It can't be..."

"Yes Father. I am alive. I can and will stop you. I will kill you if I have to. But know that your reign of terror is at an end."

"No..."

"Sharklad...your old teammate saved my life that day. He had to bite my leg off to get me away from the creatures that your Emperor sent to kill us."

"No...no...no...no..."

"I wasn't strong enough until recently to even think about making contact with you, and imagine my surprise when I found out that you have been helping the very creature that slaughtered your family."

"No...no...no...no...no...no...no..."

"You've become the very thing that you set out to protect the innocents against."

"I..."

"Clark died so I could stop you..." Jon screamed at his father and hit him in the face with a fist.

Sharklad saw a slight flash of red energy when he did.

Dev stumbled back.

"So many others have died under your Emperors..."

Dev lashed out and hit Gear back. Parts of his armor flew everywhere and Gear landed on his back and was still.

Dev Em stared at his son.

"GRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" was all any of them heard as the Daxamite flew into the atmosphere and out of site.

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

Sharklad ran over to Gear. "Jon...kid...c'mon..."

Gear was laying motionless on the ground.

Sharklad looked around. "How in the hell do you tell if he has a pulse?" he said to nobody in particular as he felt around for one...the armor Jon was wearing blocked any attempt he made to find one. There was too much death in the air for him to be sure of anything at this point.

He picked him up and carried his body over to where Helena was still holding Clark.

"I can't sense anything from him."

Helena gently put Clark down and moved over to Jon. She looked at him and while she was now in control of her tears, she feared the worst and felt them trying to flow again.

"I know he said..." she felt around under a few pieces of armor.

After what seemed like and eternity to Sharklad, Gear's armor retracted and he suddenly coughed and sat straight up.

"...Clark..." he stammered out as he looked at his friends lifeless body and then went unconscious again.

Sharklad and Helena looked at each other and both sighed.

Sharklad stood and looked around at the devastation and loss of life that one man had inflicted upon them. There were close to a dozen dead, and many more injured.
 

---

Posted by Angra Metternich on :
 
Daroon,
The United Planets

The morale-crushing, brutal assault on Daroon had been a plan of the Dark Lord for a long, long time. To oversee the razing of the planet was a great honor, and the responsibility of it had not been lost on Angra Metternich. The Dark Lord had chosen him, as he had in the past, to do his bidding, and Metternich planned on proving to his master once again why he was long considered one of the Dark Lord’s favorites.

Metternich viewed the mauled planet-side of Daroon. Whatever it was before was gone now; all that was left was long fields of chewed land and collapses structures. It was uplifting for him to see. The planet itself was just about broken; all that was left now was the people.

Angra Metternich was not a citizen of any of the five Dark Oval powers. His long career was a continued rise in the General Elite Militia showcased how deadly and capable he was and soon all five powers coveted the chance to utilize his skills. When the Dominion and Hrykosia embarked on an invasion of Legion World in 3006, it they who approached him to lead the assault. He was a master strategist, a cunning politician and a ruthless enemy.

But it was the Invasion of Legion World that marked his first real defeat and his downfall. The blasted Legionnaires overcame the Dark Oval forces and he personally was beaten in battle. Still, he bided his time, hiding on Legion World in secret and eventually revealed himself to bring Legion World once more to the brink of destruction—initiating the war of the Five Faces of Death. But once more he was beaten in humiliating defeat; this time he was stripped of his Composite Durlan powers—which had given him all the abilities of the LMB—and tricked into being trapped in a never-ending time loop of which there was no escape.

All that remained of him during that time was his hate. His all-consuming, never-ending hate. He prayed to the Dark Lord that one day he would be free to obliterate his enemies and to his great surprise, the Dark Lord answered him. The inescapable trap Faraway Lad had put him in was broken by the mighty power of the Dark Lord. He was raised up once more as the Dark Lord’s dark ambassador and given this great opportunity. Upon his victory, the Dark Lord promised further pleasures: the return of his Composite Durlan powers, and eventually, Legion World itself, where he would be made King.

In his arrogance he felt this was something he deserved. Who else could broker an agreement between the Dark Oval and the Khanate of Sol Invictus, two mighty powers that hated one another? He not only created a perpetual cease-fire, he arranged for the Khanate to supplement the Hive forces—sending their Exarchs into United Planet space and on Daroon. Who else would ensure that the Dark Oval army had an arsenal that could neutralize the power of Daxam?

And who else would ensure that the one he hated the most would be here: Faraway Lad. Metternich had lived a long time and while the United Planets may not have been aware of him, he was aware of them; he knew about the wars of old and Faraway Lad’s horrifying experiences. He knew what would push him to the edge of breaking. He hated Faraway Lad for trapping him in the time loop and exposing him as a failure; now he planned to trap Faraway Lad within himself, in his own guilt, exposing him as a monster.

In one fell swoop, he would eliminate the one he hated most and obliterate Daroon. The Dark Lord would be victorious and Metternich would continue to gain everything he desired. His old powers. The deaths of his enemies. Legion World.

He watched from under his hood with a mounting sense of glee as the Hive army and Exarchs began to march out into Daroon once more. The final assault would begin now.
 

---

Posted by Helena Handbasket on :
 
Earth-4

The Losers had retreated to a backup base suggested by Zhiya: a Security Office annex that this world's Cobalt Kid had built in a cave on the outskirts of Gotham City. It had never been used but was fully equipped, operational and completely off the books and thus unknown to the Emperor's forces who occupied the main site in Metropolis.

After setting up shop, they held a memorial for those lost in the Emissary's brutal attack, twenty in all. An additional eight were missing and presumed dead.

When the service was complete, several lingered behind around one particular coffin. These were the remaining members of the former Covenant who had journeyed from Legion World to help liberate this planet: Helena Handbasket, Seth Gaterra, Rockhopper Lass, Grev Mallor, Bat-Fem and Lolita. Inside the plain, wooden coffin lay Clark Marlowe, who helped save them all by buying Gear the time to perfect his red sun device.

"He was so brave," Rockhopper Lass said. "And very kind. As passionate as he was about his journalism, he was never content to remain professionally detached from what was going on around him. He was determined to make a difference."

"He was also a fierce friend, Adelie," Seth added. "All of us here were touched by him. He was well beloved by the other Losers, as well."

Seth's comment reminded Helena of something. "Gear...I didn't see him at the service. He and Clark were close...he should be here..."

"Gear's dealing with a lot right now," Lolita interjected. "He sent Clark out there, so he's blaming himself. On top of that, he's dealing with the encounter with his father."

"Our Hrykosian eyes have reported that Dev Em has left the planet for parts unknown," Bat-Fem said. "He may have even left the Dark Oval."

"Well, that's a relief," Grev muttered. Grev stood shakily on crutches due to the injuries sustained after taking a bad fall in battle with Dev Em. He could barely manage to walk on them but insisted on doing so for the service. "That psycho really did a number on us..." He began to tear up. "If only I hadn't fallen through, Helena wouldn't have had to carry me off. We could've helped Clark. Maybe..."

"Maybe we'd all be dead," Helena finished for him. "Grev, Clark not only bought time for Gear--do you realize that not a single Loser was killed from the point after Clark engaged Dev Em?"

Grev shook his head. "Other than Clark himself, you mean."

Helena put her hand on Grev's shoulder. "Clark proved himself a true warrior, Grev. He died a hero and had absolutely no regrets in the end. As sad as I was to see him go, I honor what he sacrificed. And so should you!"

Grev nodded and grasped her hand. Helena embraced him as he let his tears flow over.

As the rest regarded the moment, Lolita took a moment to quietly speak to Bat-Fem. "I wish you had faith in me, Jada. I should've been among you on the original mission. I feel like you took something away from me."

Bat-Fem smiled. "That's not my name." Then, she frowned. "But I stand by our decision. It was not made by myself alone. But it was the right call. Cobalt couldn't know until he needed to know, and I don't think you would have left him out of the loop. Correct?"

Lolita frowned. "I guess we'll never know for sure, will we?"

A moment later, Adelie spoke up again. "As you all know, all Losers logged our final wishes as we signed up. Clark's were to have his account of the Loser's efforts published if we are successful and return to the United Planets...and he wishes to be buried in this Earth's Kansas if possible."

"I'll do it," Bat-Fem said. "This cave has a small, cloaked aircraft that can get me there. I won't be caught."

"Fair enough," Adelie agreed. Her face darkened as she said, "and then, there's this..." She held up her hand, opened her palm and revealed a small clear crystal. "This was found at the site."

"Clark's crystal," Seth noted.

"Yes," Adelie continued, "we need to figure out what to do with it."

"Simple. We bury it with Clark." Bat-Fem asserted as if the matter were closed.

Before Adelie could counter, Helena drew close to Bat-Fem. "It's a weapon we could use against the Emperor's forces, Fem, if Gear can figure out how to unlock its secrets."

Bat-Fem got in Helena's face. "Gear examined it while it was on Clark. He couldn't figure it out. Even if he did...even if he could...even if he wanted to--I won't allow it to be with ANYONE other than to whom it belongs!"

"I watched him die, Fem! How dare you presume to speak for Clar--!"

"ENOUGH!" Adelie yelled as she forced herself between the two. Softening her voice, she said, "Fem is right, Helena. It was a part of Clark--it gets buried with him." Adelie turned to Bat-Fem and gently placed the crystal in her hands. She could see more than anything that the gruff, stoic heroine was hurting deeply over their loss and was dealing with it in her own way. Adelie touched Bat-Fem's arm to show her compassion.

Helena, angered at first, suddenly saw things as Adelie had. "Of course...you're right. I apologize," Helena said to both.

Helena turned to the coffin of their fallen friend and placed her left, real hand on it. One by one, the others put their hands on top of hers.

"Farewell, Clark," Helena said, and then the rest repeated.


Hours later, Bat-Fem and Seth Gaterra arrived in a quiet, isolated part of the territory once known as Kansas. Seth had insisted on accompanying her as a way of thanking Clark for saving his life.

Seth used his nimbus to disintegrate a small area of built-up snow and ice. Then, the two worked with simple shovels to dig Clark's grave. After it was dug, they opened the coffin. They silently regarded the body for a moment, noticing how Doctor Juan had worked to stitch up what had been a gaping hole in Clark's throat as best he could. Bat-Fem removed the crystal from her belt and placed it in Clark's hands. Then, she removed his ocular lenses from another compartment and placed them on his nose.

"Rest in peace, Clark," Bat-Fem said and closed the coffin.

After they buried him, Seth planted a special marker that Gear had prepared for the site. It radiated a small forcefield that would keep the site free of snow and ice.

The marker read, Hear Lies Clark Marlowe: Brave Hero, Pulitzer-Winning Journalist and Beloved Friend. 2980-3011. Not in Vain.

Seth and Bat-fem lingered for a while longer, than left in their cloaked aircraft.

The Losers knew Clark wouldn't be the last of them to fall, but they would do everything they could to make sure their lives would buy Earth-4's freedom.

[ November 22, 2011, 01:15 PM: Message edited by: Helena Handbasket ]
 

---

Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
 
The Star Song

A magical ship has many comforts. This one had lounges, saunas, baths, a games room with a pool table, a well-stocked tavern, a library filled to the brim with ancient books, and viewing decks that allowed a passenger to stare off into the beautiful starlit emptiness that hung outside.
Invisible Brainiac cared only for one amenity, though: the training room.

He had asked Tempest to help him set one up, even though she’d said that she ship would respond to his wishes. Magic was one tricky mistress, and he didn’t want to take any chances.

Beams of light pierced figures all around. An attacking troll was pierced by a laser through the chest. Two vampires were reduced to dust by a bright flash. A golem was blinded by a dazzling aurora, then blasted to rubble.

IB danced in and out of hordes of magically generated enemies, bursts of light punctuated by throwing knives and his spinning quarterstaff. A knife blossomed in a minotaur’s throat. Two more punctured a wyvern’s wings, sending it plummeting to the ground.

A large dragon came up behind him. IB ducked as a fireball blasted over his head. He quickly turned around and blinded it with a flash of light; then he launched himself into the air with his staff. His boot connected with its nose, and he let a laser loose through its nostril.

Satisfied that it was defeated, he turned around to face the battlefield. More hordes of enemies appeared. Fireballs and arrows began flying towards him. He charged…

…and ran right into Tempest. The hordes vanished around him.

“Careful now. Do I look like an enemy, to you? What will the others think if we come out of here looking so disheveled?”

“Well, this wouldn’t be the first time you’ve gotten me all sweaty.” IB smirked, even if he didn’t feel like smirking. Force of habit.

Tempest raised an eyebrow, and crossed her arms under her breasts. IB tried not to stare. Tried.

“You are pushing yourself far too hard because of what happened on Prianopolis.” It was a statement, not a question.

IB sighed. “Can I get back to my workout, please? You’re welcome to join me.” He snapped his fingers to run the simulation again. Nothing happened.

“You blame yourself for being inadequate and almost failing us.” Another statement.

IB began rapping on the talisman that generated the images of his opponents. “Why doesn’t this thing work? I’ve only been using it for the last two hours!”

“You wish you had arrived to battle Titus on time. Then, maybe you could have prevented me and Disaster Boy from getting injured. Maybe you could have prevented Power Boy from touching such large amounts of power.“

IB was sweating now, but not from physical exhaustion. “Maybe if I fiddle with the WHY WON’T THIS SPROCKING THING WORK!” He smashed it against the wall, where it cracked and dissolved into mist. He fell to the floor, panting. “Oh grief. I broke it, didn’t I?”

“It was a magical creation by The Star Song, to allow you to channel her magics more easily. It has no power in and of itself. And yes, she isn’t particularly happy with you right now.”

“Light, I’m sorry, I… What you were saying was all true. I can’t stand it. I’m useless.” IB tried to push himself up and winced. Grife, his muscles were sore. He shouldn’t have pushed himself so hard. Or maybe he should have pushed himself harder before. He tried to push himself up, but his legs buckled.

Tempest offered him a hand. “Punishing yourself won’t do any good. Discussing it might.”

Raising himself up, IB stammered. “What do you have in mind?”

“I’m inviting you for tea in my room. We have much to talk about.”

It was IB’s turn to raise an eyebrow. “Should I shower first, or do I go there as is?”

“Shower first, then meet me in an hour. Do not get any ideas.” And with that, Tempest walked away.

“…well, it was worth a shot.” IB muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. Bad idea – the bruises hadn’t quite healed yet. He winced in pain. Maybe he should hit the saunas first.

[ November 24, 2011, 10:00 AM: Message edited by: Invisible Brainiac ]
 

---

Posted by Dev - Em on :
 
Daroon

Loser Lad came out of his tent to find Dev Em walking towards him.

"C'mon Loser," Dev said solemnly.

Loser Lad looked at Dev and opened his mouth to say something witty and then thought better of it. Dev had already turned and was walking towards a group of soldiers from Xylar 7.

They stood at attention as they approached, Loser Lad having finally caught up to his friend. "Could you maybe move a little slower for us non super speed people?"

Dev turned and laughed a little as Loser Lad feigned being out of breath. "Sorry...I just am..."

He was cut short by Loser Lad motioning his eyes towards the troops.

"Right then," Dev said and turned back to the troops. "This is Loser Lad, a valued friend. He's going to be your Commanding Officer for the foreseeable future."

Loser Lad Slapped Dev opn the back and hid the wince of pain from his face as he rubbed his hand. "Thanks Dev. Our job is going to be protecting the Queen. We have the remaining Royal Guard with us," he said looking towards the small contingent of Daroon Honor Guard that were still alive. "Nobody...or no thing get's to the Queen, or those she keeps close to her."

They all knew that they were guarding not only the Queen and her two children, but also the children of another LMB member and their mother.

As they took their positions, they heard an alarm sound...indicating that there was movement in the enemy camp.

Dev looked at Loser. Loser Lad shut his eyes briefly and nodded. "They'll be fine...just take care of yourself, don't push yourself too hard."

Dev smiled and took off.

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

Dev flew up to get a better view of the field of battle. He was met by two others.

Kar Em floated up next to his son. "Fes is going to go take up a post with the Queen."

Dev grabbed Fes Te's hand. "Thank you."

Fes Te flew off to join Loser Lad and the others.

"He wants in on this something fierce," Kar said as they shifted their gaze at the approaching army of insects, "but he realizes that sometimes there are other things that take precedence."

Dev looked at his father and shook his head. "I am where I need to be. We all agreed on this, don't start this with me now."

"Not starting anything son, just making sure you know what really matters."

"What matters is stopping these things before they can ever get to them."

Kar threw his head back and laughed a deep booming laugh.

"You ready old man?" Dev said as they looked at each other.

"In case things go...well..."

"I know dad."

The two of them turned and pushed off of nothing and sped towards the most concentrated parts of the enemies approaching forces.

The troops below let up a loud yell when there were twin sonic booms as the two dove into the bugs.
 

---

Posted by Power Boy on :
 
THE STAR SONG

Power Boy soared through the stars, high above the ship, the Star Song. He flew just outside of it’s magical atmospheric shell that protected the Legionnaires down below.

‘THIS is nice.’ He thought. Space, was one of the few places he felt at ease. Out here, his enhanced senses could reach out as far as he wanted, and there was mostly just quiet, or the low rumbling of a planet’s orbit rolling through the cosmos.

‘This is better than battle.’ He didn’t think anyone knew WHY he enjoyed combat so much. During the speed of battle, his senses were actually occupied.

The slow pace of the everyday could be nerve wracking for someone with his quick metabolism, not to mention that his enhanced senses constantly searched for stimuli. He saw minute and irrelevant details of everything, overheard conversations constantly, and smelled … well let’s just say his sense of smell was powerful too.

But during the frenzy of combat, he needed all of his senses and speed to be aware of his present, his surroundings. It sounds odd, but it was one of the only times he was able to relax, to focus on the task at hand.

As he took in the beauty of space, ears out far, eyes out wide, basking in the quiet slow pace of the stellar sea, he thought ‘This is better.’

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


Lard Lad waved Power Boy over right after he descended to the deck of the ship.

“I heard about the battle on Prianopolis.” He said.

An awkward moment passed between them, Power Boy a bit embarrassed by the wild furor of that battle.


“Yes.” Power boy said as he thought to himself of the madness with which he fought. The madness that was required of him to fight Titus. Power Boy was strategic and pragmatic in life and battle, wild passions did not suit him. Even love making required him to remain controlled, for most people were more delicate than he.

.
.

“I heard you did well, nearly beat him all by yourself.” Lardy continued.

“I had help.” “IB nearly took out all the ghouls by himself. I was able to focus.”

“HA! You should tell him that, poor kid looks depressed whenever anyone talks about Prianopolis. I think he’s disappointed he missed the final battle.” Lard Lad explained.

“In truth I was surprised he was still alive, he accomplished a great deal. He’s turning into a fine warrior. He uses his wits as well as instincts, that’s rare.” Power Boy continued as he began polishing his power rod.

“You should tell HIM that.” Lardy laughed. “The kid looks up to you, it’ll do him good.”

Power Boy had an uncomfortable look on his face.

“Hey Peebs, It’s been a long time, you up for some practice?” Lard Lad picked up his sword from a nearby bench.

Power boy smiled “If you’ve recovered enough … I wouldn’t want to tax your delicate system.”

Lard Lad didn’t respond to the friendly tease, instead he chopped straight across with his sword for Power Boy’s neck. Instinctively Power Boy hopped back … and raised his power baton. At first he thought it a joke on Lard Lad’s part but as the sparring went on … Lard Lad pushed Power Boy harder and harder.

Power Boy’s baton whirled faster than sight but, Lard Lad was an extremely proficient swordsman. Lardy’s sword came alive as an extension of the man. What’s more, Lardy kept on the offensive, giving Power Boy no time to switch tactics.

A crowd gathered around, marveling at the intensity.

“ah.” Power Boy flinched as Lard Lad’s sword mark his left arm. Power Boy did not bleed but, a faint light emitted from the cut. “ah!” another cut slashed across Power Boy’s forehead. ‘Had I not ducked … enough of this!’

Instead of blocking the next strike of Lardy’s sword, Power Boy knocked it wide and went on the offensive. He bared his teeth and struck for Lardy over and over again, with such strength that Lardy was knocked back further and further until they fought at the edge of the stern. Lardy sweated and struggled visibly under the canny onslaught of the power-house. He felt the rail against his back, he’d fall over soon ….

Power Boy kicked at Lardy’s sword hand, numbing it. Lardy stumbled against the floor.

Lardy thought ‘Oh shit, I hope I gambled right …’


Power Boy raised his baton high as if at the beginning of a vicious strike.


Several tense moments passed between Lardy and Power Boy, the onlookers gasping.


.
.
.


… and his hand came down to lift Lardy up.

Lard Lad visibly relieved smiled broadly and patted PB on the back hard.

“What were you playing at friend? You fought as if for real, harder than any of our previous matches?” Power Boy questioned at the oddity.

“OH, You know, just seeing if I still had it … If I’ve recovered.” Lardy responded, not very convincingly.

“Well, I’d say you still have it and then some, If I didn’t know better I’d think you were trying to provoke me … or test me.” Power Boy said with a sly look. He then grabbed Lard Lad by the shoulder in a comforting gesture and said “I’m off for a shower … thanks friend.”

Lard Lad panted from the intense exercise. ‘Same old Peebs, I shouldn’t have worried, he did what he needed to do on Prianopolis. Sometime’s battles went that way, sometimes they pushed us to new limits of fierceness.’

[ November 22, 2011, 10:46 PM: Message edited by: Power Boy ]
 

---

Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
 
Daroon

Sir John had heard that Daroon was a mass of chaos and hell but for the first time he saw how true that statement was. The Carrggitte was no stranger to war, having joined the Space Knights Templar years earlier, though he was not a holdover from the Triumvirate army days. But this was unlike anything he’d ever seen.

Regardless, he did not let it show. Triplicating into his three selves, the Sir Johns rushed head first into battle, leading the charge of the Daroonian resistance. He was flanked by a confederation of his fellow Knights, Daroon soldiers, UP militia and Daxamites, who flew above with their own strategy on how to battle the bugs. It did not take long for the lines to fold into one another and the chaos to push the fighting in every direction possible.

Sir John the Carggitte was one of the unique Carggittes whose three selves had a distinct personality. “Blue” was the leader of the three: a dashing knight with handsome features whose love of the ladies was legendary. “Purple” was identical but something about him made him even more handsome, and his love was equally as legendary, except it was for men; “Red” was a solemn, quiet one of the three known for his piety and spirituality. Ironically, Sir John “Red” had taken a vow of chastity. All three, however, were capable leaders, courageous fighters and heroic knights looking to make a difference in the world.

Battling the Hive was a complicated, difficult endeavor. Some of the bugs could be brought down by power-swords and blasters while others seemed impervious to the assaults. If there was uniformity among them, it was almost impossible to see. Sir John and the Knights surrounding him appeared to route a phalanx of giant eight-legged creatures with pincers, only to be cut off from their allies by a group of worm-like creatures digging under them through the Earth. Two of his fellow Knights Templar were brought down, one instantly dead and the other bitten through the torso brutally enough that it was obvious the wound was mortal.

Sir John “Purple” ran forward, swinging his power-sword with crackling energy and cutting the worm in two. “Red” and “Blue” flanked either side to back his play.

“Maurice and Gly’pp are down,” said “Red”. “They won’t be getting back up.”

“I’m afraid this battle may be useless,” said “Purple”. “The bugs seem endless and they are attacking from all angles. If we’re going to succeed it will have to be in another way.” He swung his power-sword again, hacking at another worm. “Unless those Daxamites can turn the tide…”

The fighting continued as the three of them made their way forward, continually being pulled apart from their allies. “They’re herding us all,” said Sir John “Blue”. “They want to separate us and neutralize us. Stick together and lets press on. I see a small clearing up ahead with some sort of starship.”

The three moved on, battling everything in their path and indeed, they did see a clearing and starship. The land was a series of muck and mire for as far as the eye could see beyond that. It was impossible to discern what Daroon once looked like before it had been so thoroughly ravaged.

“Up ahead,” said Sir John “Red”. “Is that a…Durlan?” They could see a lone figure watching from the distance with a purple hood. Sticking out of the hood were several tentacle shapes—a common form taken by Durlans.

“Indeed it is,” said Sir John “Blue”. “And I think I know who that is!” he finished, then running forward at full speed. As he raced forward, more Hive drones began to appear, hiding beneath the mud in various places, but “Blue” moved on without hesitation. The other two Sir Johns ran behind him, watching his back and nailing backwards all the various Hive combatants.

“You!” said Sir John “Blue”. “Angra Metternich, I presume?! Then this is a pleasure!” he yelled, moving forward to continue.

But in an instant Metternich was gone. Sir John looked around in confusion and then cursed himself for letting the adrenaline of battle overtake him. He’d stupidly walked into a trap. He looked to see his brothers but they were cut off battling bugs 50 yards away.

“You are a foolish one…but you know that,” said a voice. His voice. “My role is to lead and to watch but every so often I feel its important I participate in the slaughter. Less I lose sight of our goals here…” the voice continued. It was a deep, slithery type voice that felt slimy and evil. Metternich relished in instilling fear and anxiety in his foes.

“Show yourself, coward, and battle me one on one,” said Sir John thinking in his head of ways he might defeat the Durlan and turn the tide of battle.

“No,” said the voice and all at once many things happened. Metternich rose to normal size and turned his hand into a large spike, smashing it through the breastplate of John’s armor and piercing through his body, out the other side. Sir John “Blue” screamed in pain but his screams were cut off almost immediately as blood poured out and he was instantly dead.

50 yards away the other two Sir Johns screamed in pain and fell to their knees. They felt the exact same pain as their brother and though they lived, they felt every second of their brother dying. The Hive bugs were also stunned by the turn of events; they were confused why their prey stopped fighting them. However, they immediately descended on the other two Sir Johns to feed.

But in a flash, the Sir Johns were joined—a contingent of Daxamites descended down and picked up the fallen Space Knight, rescuing him off to safety. He slipped into unconsciousness as the two “Red” and “Purple” formed back into one single entity. His brother was left behind.

“Is he going to make it?” asked one Daxamite.

“Are any of us?” asked the other as they flew back.

Metternich was now a fly again, shrunken and hidden, ensuring his own survival. It felt good to kill one of them. But it wasn’t the one he truly hated. Not yet at least.
 

---

Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
 
The Star Song

"And what have we learned today?" Tempest asked while calmly sipping her tea.

Invisible Brainiac took a tentative sip of his drink, a mango-pineapple-strawberry mixture. His tongue was still slightly burned from when he'd ignited the moth ghoul's dust.

"One: It wasn't my fault that I didn't reach the final battle in time."

"Two: In truth, I accomplished a lot by taking out nearly all the ghouls before Titus could have them attack you."

"Three: Even though I didn't find Cobie and Lardy, which was my main objective, I didn't "fail" because they ended up fine."

"Four: Titus was the one who sent the ghouls after me, because he felt I was the biggest threat among our group. So in a way, I acted as a very useful decoy."

"Five: I've been a strong contributor to the team, and everyone agrees so."

"Six: Power Boy lost control for a moment, but he regained it right away. We saw his fight with Lard Lad, so We don't have to worry."

"Seven: I did nothing wrong, and everyone is just glad that I am alright."

IB grabbed some of the dim sum he'd made on the ship. Eating helped him when he was lost in thought.

"You don't sound particularly convinced." Tempest helped herself to some as well. "You are a good cook, by the way."

"Uh, thanks. I don't know, maybe it's just my insecurities acting up again."

"Or pride," Tempest corrected. "Like most men, you have far too much of that."

IB pointedly ignored that statement. "Look, I should be fine after I get to thrash a few bugs on the Hive homeworld." He took another sip while he reflected. Maybe he was being too testy. "Thanks, Tempest. I mean it - you've been helping me through a lot."

"I did say we were allies. And, unlike with other groupings, I actually like you all."

IB didn't know why, but he blushed at that. "How is your neck healing, by the way?"

Tempest stuck her neck out slightly. The bruises were gone, leaving her pale white skin unblemished. "I am healing faster than you are. Which reminds me; my magics and your powers have repaired most of the damage to your body, but you need to heal. Off you go."

IB made a show of pouting. "And here I thought we were going to spend all night together. Your bed looks big enough for two - we could have a slumber party!"

Tempest smiled an amused smile, then firmly dug a finger into IB's chest. "I suggest you and I conserve our energy for now, you naughty young man. I am serious. Did you not also tell me that you had a lover back home?"

"I wasn't serious, Tempest. And yes, yes I do. I intend to be faithful, as well." He paused, seeing a hint of longing in Tempest's eyes. Must be about Lard Lad - she'd told him about their past. "I hope you get a chance to talk to him soon. He could use a good woman like you." Tempest nodded in thanks at that.

He stood up and gulped down his juice. "Have a good rest." He held out his arms to give Tempest a hug, but the awkwardness hit him. He quickly lowered one hand and stuck the other out to shake.

Tempest surprised him, and perhaps herself, by returning the hug. It was a very loose one, but a hug nonetheless. "Sleep tight, you good man."

"Y-you too," IB stammered. Just when he thought he'd gotten the suave act down. "Now... we should end this here, or we'll be up all night, yes? Good night." With a wink, he slipped out.

As he walked back to his room, he reflected. Sometimes he still felt like such a kid. He wished he could believe everything Tempest had said. He knew she wouldn't lie, but... he wasn't feeling confident right now.

Sighing, he plopped down on the bed, hands behind his head. Maybe he should man up a bit more.

It was only then that he realized - Tempest had called him "man".

He closed his eyes with a big smile. Coming from her, that was quite the endorsement.
 

---

Posted by Timber Wolf on :
 
Lon and Kalla had attended the memorial for Clark Marlowe. They had stayed in back and said nothing and had left as the members of the Covenant gathered together and talked.

As they walked down a corridor, Lon stopped all of a sudden.

"What's wrong Fuzzy?" Kalla asked.

"Can you give me a few minutes?" He said and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "I'll catch up as soon as I can."

"Take as long as you need," she said and gave his hands a squeeze. She knew who was behind the door, and that he had not shown himself at the memorial.

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

Lon tried the door and it opened.

The room was dark except for a light on a workbench on the far wall. Lon looked around and saw Gear sitting on a tattered old couch along the right wall.

"I'm not good company right now, and I already gave them the marker for his grave."

Lon shut the door and walked into the room. "I don't care about none of that Jon."

Gear looked up and opened his one human eye. "Timberwolf?"

"Yeah kiddo. Not quite the one you knew, but feel free to call me Lon."

"I'm glad you made it back..."

"I wish it would have been sooner Jon, but sometimes things happen because there is no other way."

Jon stood, and Lon could see that he was wearing the jacket he had left for him.

"Sharky told me what happened. Told me what you were able to do, and what choices you had to make."

"I should have..." Jon said and sat back down holding his head in his hands.

"Shut up for a minute," Lon said and sat down on a stool, "think for a minute."

Jon looked at him and his right eye formed a squint. "Don't presume to..."

"Was there any other way?"

"There had to be another..."

"Not what I asked kiddo. Was there any other way? Would more people have died if you hadn't sent Clark out there?"

"Well...of course there..."

"Did you do the one thing that you could to help save lives...and do you think that he would have gone if he hadn't agreed?"

"He would have gone anyway...I saw him getting ready to..."

"Then give up this self pity act Gear," Lon said using Jon's code name. "You both did what you knew was the right thing to do."

"There's always another..."

"Grife kid, you sound just like my brother."

Jon's head snapped up again. He of course knew that Lon was the brother of the LMB's Dev Em. This universes version of his father.

"He's always looking for the other way...." Lon stopped and looked down for a minute. "Truth is...I envy him, and you in a way."

Jon cocked his head a little. "Why?"

"Because I see things a certain way...do things a certain way. Consequences be damned."

"You're saying..."

"I've sent people into suicide situations before...hell, I've been sent into them as well."

"But..."

"I'm still here...yeah, but I'm a different case."

"The note you left me...it was almost as if you knew what was going to happen."

"Not really. Just that in a war like this, hard decisions have to be made by the people that are capable of making the. I know you wish that you could have been out there in his place...but that ain't the way things happened. Life is tough, I don't have to tell you that. You sent one of your best friends into a death trap against your father. From everything I have heard and seen, your dad is everything that my brother isn't...and that is a shame. My brother is one of the most noblest people out there, but even that comes at a cost to his relationships as well."

"What do you mean?"

"He tends to focus on the greater good at the expense of his family responsibilities. Not to say that he is a bad dad, but he's not the best husband in the universe."

"What about you? What kind of dad are you?"

"I am not a dad...as far as I can tell I cannot even have children. Part of being a genetically engineered clone."

"Odd. My father and Aunt were twins. I think part of him died when she was torn apart. They were really close. I think the fact that his whole family was destroyed before his eyes really pushed him over the edge."

"Sorry Jon, didn't mean to dredge that stuff up in you again so soon."

"I have to deal with it Uncle Lon. You know, I had a cousin...my best friend. He was killed that day as well, along with my sister and baby brother."

Lon looked toward the door and motioned to it. "You need to be out there. Clark's body is gone, and there's nothing you could have said anyway that the others don't already know. But they need to know that you are alright...believe it or not, they do care about you."

"They all seem to keep me at arms length though. Like they're afraid to get near me."

"You mean Clark did that? Does Hugh?" Lon went through a listing of numerous members of the Losers that considered Jon their friend. "Did Louis?"

Jon let out a something between a laugh and a sigh. "You are so much like her it's scary."

Lon laughed. "I at least hope she was better looking than I am."

"I'm the one doing the pushing aren't I...keeping everyone at arms length because I'm afraid of things like this happening to people I care about."

"It's not a fun way to live kiddo, believe me," Lon said and got up off of his stool and walked over to Jon.

Jon reached his hand up and let Lon lift him off the couch. "Thanks. I'll try to let people in closer...if they'll let me."

"They will...you have to let them. There are very few people that I have gotten close to in my life, and I am glad for all of them. Then someday you'll find someone that will take you for who you are and then everything changes and you'll allow yourself to open up in a way that you never thought possible."

"I can't see anyone ever falling in..."

"Either did I kiddo...but then when it was least likely, it happened. Now, I am not sure where life is going to take me...but I'm actually looking forward to it."

"What about my dad?"

"We'll find him...and deal with him. It's what we do."

"Clark said that same thing..."

"Because it's true and you know it as well. You just need to embrace it and live today to the fullest, because you never know what the next moment will bring."

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

Timberwolf and Gear left the workshop and parted ways.

Lon went to the makeshift quarters that he and Kalla shared to see if she was still awake.

Jon went and found Hugh Taylor and a few others. Hugh got up and gave him a hug and they all started sharing stories about Clark again...some being repeated for Jon's sake as he had missed them the first or second time around.

Jon finally interrupted before someone else could start another story. "Did he ever tell you about the time when he asked me to..."
 

---

Posted by Lolita on :
 
Old Gotham, Earth-4,
The Dark Oval

As everyone got settled in, the tension in the room was high. Lolita leaned back against the wall, clutching her trenchcoat tightly against her body, taking in all the various Losers who were entering. By her side was Zhiya, who was increasingly becoming more than just an ally in wartime; she was actually becoming a true friend.

Zhiya stood next to Lolita as her enhanced senses picked up on the tension within the various Losers as well. She was blind to their faces but could sense things that Lolita could not. She knew Kalla Hrykos and Timberwolf were protective of one another, and through their body language, still saw themselves as entirely separate from the other Losers. She could tell Faraway Lad was equally tense, feeling nervous as he prepared to take a leadership role more actively than he had until now. And surprisingly, she could see Rockhopper Lad was one of the more relaxed among them, as was his “sister” Rockhopper Lass. By having each other by their side, they drew strength from one another.

Zhiya detected all of these things and more: this facility was once a secret base of operations for Cobalt Kid in his Earth SMB Security office days. His presence had long since vanished, even his smell, but there were still elements of him having lived here. He had a great reverence for books—actual printed pages—and stacked them on shelves throughout the facility. While he assuredly had his own cataloguing system, it was incomprehensible to others. She missed him so much…though they only had two years together, she loved him with all her heart and still did. Before meeting her he was known as a great lady’s man among the SMB but during their time together he was monogamous and devoted to her. He was gentle and he was kind, and above all else, he loved to laugh. She had not laughed very much since those days

Lolita was oblivious to Zhiya’s reminiscence; “Lady Daredevil”, as the other Losers sometimes called her, could hide her emotions incredibly well. Instead, Lolita focused on who was in attendance. Rockhopper Lad and Rockhopper Lass stood forth among them as leaders as did the top lieutenants of the Losers: Hugh Taylor, Faraway Lad and Bat-Fem. Also present were some longtime SMBers who she knew were held in high esteem, such as Beagz and Lightning Lass. She was glad Satan Claws Cramer was not among them. She noticed Helena Handbasket had joined them and was glad for it. Helena was a leader and since the breaking of the Fellowship she was showing it more and more. Lolita admired and liked Helena immensely after all these years. And of course, there was Kalla Hrykos and Timberwolf, off to the side. It was clear the others made little effort to extend sense of consortium to them.

“I think that’s everyone, or certainly enough to get started,” said Rockhopper Lass. “What happened with the Evil Emperor Penguin’s Emissary is still weighing on us all, that is clear. Morale is low and more than ever our goal seems impossible. But the truth of it is we have forward.”

Bat-Fem let out a scoff. Lolita suspected she agreed with the sentiment but did not enjoy hearing the way it was phrased.

“My sister is right,” said Rockhopper Lad detecting some of the others might feel the same way. “The Evil Emperor Penguin threw his worst at us and it did immense damage—but we survived it. And now I think its time we returned the favor.”

“Agreed,” said Beagz. “It’s time to hit him back.” There was murmur of agreement among them all.

“We’ve been putting together various scenarios for an assault on his castle for some time,” said Hugh Taylor, taking his cue. Hugh was still very young compared to most of them but he was a natural leader. Lolita could see him one day leading the SMB if they all survived. “A combination of espionage and full-on assault with our powerhouses is the way to go. We also think a direct attack on the EEP himself is absolutely needed. He needs to be taken out of the fight, as does his lover.”

“Leave that element to me,” said Rockhopper Lad. His tone was gentle but with authority.

“And I, brother,” said Rockhopper Lass, whose tone was exactly the same only to Rockhopper Lad. He smiled and nodded, acquiescing.

“Our strength is down,” said Hugh, “so where we place every single Loser will be important. We held off until now hoping to free more of our allies and build our strength. However—“

“—that strategy has only done the opposite,” said Bat-Fem cutting him off before he could say exactly the same thing. “We need to hit him now while there’s still a chance.”

“Yes,” said Kalla Hrykos and they all turned to look at her. “The Evil Emperor Penguin is realizing the full extent of the quandary he’s in now. He’ll be calling the Dark Lord for reinforcements. And they’ll be coming en masse. Before that happens and before his Emissary returns, we have a small window.”

“Ladies and Gentleman,” said a smooth voice that implied intelligence and gravity, “this is all well and good. And I know we will work out the details on how to proceed shortly. But another topic must be broached now before we go any further. What is our ultimate endgame if we succeed in defeating the Evil Emperoro Penguin?” They all turned now to see Faraway Lad, who held the floor with an iron grip. He stepped into the middle of the room and all their eyes followed him. His question was rhetorical. “I know we citizens of Earth do not want to be co-opted by any allies,” he said, eyeing Kalla Hrykos who said nothing though Timberwolf was obviously not amused, “and we do not want free ourselves of one tyrant while another far worse sends an even larger and more grotesque army to finish the job.” By now they had all heard stories of the Hive and the thought of another wave of invaders—worse than before—was almost too hard to bear.

“Darden, we’ve all come to love your counsel,” said Hugh Taylor, whose emotions were plain for all to see. He had an air of alarm to his words. “But I truly hope you’ve got a follow-up solution to the dilemma you just laid out.”

“As it happens, lad,” he said smiling. “I do.” f they weren’t paying attention before, they were now. “Young lady,” he said to Lolita, “if you please.”

For a moment Lolita felt a flood of nervousness hit her like a bucket of cold water. Speaking in front of this many people when the stakes were so high…but no, she had to put that aside. “I’ve developed a plan that I think might be helpful in resolving both the problem Faraway Lad mentioned while also helping us in the assault on the Evil Emperor Penguin.”

“Go on,” said Rockhopper Lad, encouraging her.

“Faraway Lad has helped me put some shape around how it might actually work and we’re almost there.”

“Almost?” asked Lightning Lass. Lolita knew that until now a lot of them were wondering why she was even invited to this gathering. She knew they doubted what she could contribute.

“What we need,” she said, pushing forward through her anxiety, “is a power-source. Something massive—like a giant battery that could operate a satellite headquarters. If we have that, I’m confident we can make our final assault on the Evil Emperor Penguin more grandiose, and much more effective[i] that before.”

There was some murmuring as they all tried to discern where she was going with this. Some of them got it instantly, some did not. Lolita looked to Faraway Lad who nodded to her as if to say [i]Good job. I’ll take it from here. “So there you have it,” he said. “Obviously, we’ll go over the details now and explain what we’re bloody talking about. But that’s the issue at hand. We need some ideas and we need them rather soon.”

As some of them thought out loud about suggestions, in the corner of the room, Timberwolf looked at Kalla Hrykos to see what she was thinking. His look was one of curiosity as he purposely did not want it to be taken as accusatory. He could see she was thinking about it, considering all the possibilities. After all, though no one else knew it, they did indeed have a powersource.
 

---

Posted by Power Boy on :
 
THE STAR SONG

Days ago :

Ameratsu viewed the contest between Power Boy and Lard Lad with interest. His bronze form stood just to the side. His robotic eyes recorded their every move. He could analyze their fight moves for copy and use later. Over the past few days he had observed this fellowship of heroes. They were impressive. He had bargained his knowledge of the Dark Oval for passage on the Star Song. They didn’t quite trust him yet, despite their shared enemies. Lard Lad had been outright hostile to him, blaming him for the conditions of the slave children. Ameratsu had done his best over the years, Lard Lad didn’t know about the many children he had helped escape.

Earlier today, he met with Lard Lad and Cobalt Kid. He explained his abilities, and how he could be of use. He didn’t tell them everything but, he told them of how he could detect weakness from his keen android senses and calculating mind. He also told them of how he could predict outcomes from a mathematical command of probabilities. Basically, he could find the weak points of almost any foe, and any situation, as well as predicting the most likely outcome of situations. They also saw how quickly his android form healed, the puncture Titus made with his spear now fully closed and repaired. Ameratsu still carried Titus’ spear. He could wield that as good as anyone. He hoped his conversation was enough to show them his value in combat and his trustworthiness.

For now, they accepted him for his cartographical knowledge but, Ameratsu would join them in battling the Dark Oval, one way or another. He had waited so long, sabotaging Titus for years. Titus had crushed his small species of artificial intelligence. Ameratsu was the last one standing, Titus was surprised when he showed up at his door surrendering and pledging service. Arrogantly happy to see the android so crushed, he used new god circuitry to enslave the android over the years but, it turns out the new god technology was not inherently evil and bonded to Ameratsu instead of enforcing Titus’ wishes.

As the sparring ended, the android noticed how generously these heroes interacted together, one minute battling at near full strength, and a moment later congratulating each other on their fierceness. Ameratsu had plotted and waited for long years for an opening, a way to eventually defeat Titus. When this fellowship showed up, especially the other immortal, Power Boy, Ameratsu saw a chance and joined with them. It was only a chance though, and he had yet to see Titus’ dead body. Well, these were the best warriors he had seen in a very long time, if anyone could defeat the Dark Lord, It would be them.

Suddenly, Ameratsu realized he still wore the long grey cloak that marked Titus’ elite ghouls. Carefully, he removed it, and retied the spear to his back. Then, he casually tossed the grey cloak over the side of the Star Song. The dark cloak floated and shook like a thing alive as it fell behind the Star Song, disappearing in the vibrant night of space. Ameratsu remained, his bronze form shimmering under the light of the stars.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now: Evening on the Star Song

The dining room was lively at dinnertime. This time, everyone sat around Cobalt Kid, Lard Lad, and Power Boy as they told a particularly outrageous story of adventure.

Ameratsu stood at the edge of the gathering, listening in, and while the android had emotions he was naturally reserved, and unused to interacting with others after his long tenure as Titus’ worst servant.

Power Boy roared mightily, spilling some of his drink, as Lard Lad mentioned something about a “Princess No Protection.” Even the sorceress snickered at that.

Cobalt Kid rolled his eyes and pointed at Lard Lad with a mock threatening finger …

and switched the conversation to a certain Minotaur, a certain Porn Queen, and a certain bacchanalian festival.

At the mention of this Power Boy blushed and quieted, “I brought that minotaur for my OWN amusement … why else does one bring a Minotaur to an orgy!”

This caused the dining room to erupt in laughter.

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

As the room quieted down, Invisible Brainiac announced that dinner was ready. He had overseen this night’s meal through requests to the Star Song. The Star Song magically provided what they wanted almost in an instinctual way, sometimes it needed to be told more detailed requests. Tempest was instrumental in these asking for these specifics.

I.B. and Tempest had decided to cook an especially extravagant feast for tonight. Everyone knew they were approaching the HIVE, they could feel it. It seemed like a great time for a celebration.

Power Boy commented on a particular dish as Tempest and IB placed the food on a large round table in the middle of the dining room “Elva bird breast, my favorite!” Tempest slapped his hand as he reached for a piece.

Cobalt Kid thought to himself about how happy everyone looked in the warm glow of the room. This journey by the Star Song was actually very nice. You would never know they were on their way to battle insurmountable odds and most likely death.

Goon Boy sat to the left of Cobalt Kid, Lard Lad to his right. Juj settled in by Lard Lad. Power Boy sat directly across from them, Disaster Boy sat at his left. Disaster Boy seemed to always be near Power Boy lately. Cobalt Kid supposed it made sense, the wounded boy wanted to be next to the big guard dog all the time. IB and Tempest filed in to PB’s right. Ameratsu sat last, next to Disaster Boy. The bronze of the android’s form shined in the warm light, and Cobalt Kid remarked that this was the first time he saw him without that dirty grey cloak.

Ameratsu raised his hand “Before we begin I would like to say something.”

“By all means” Cobalt Kid replied.

“I want to say how grateful I am, for your existence. Not only for my rescue but also, your camaraderie. You are the greatest fellowship of heroes I, in my long life, have ever seen. A group of heroes like nothing except in the ancient myths. Thank you.”

Even Lard Lad smiled at those words, nodding to the android, and Goon Boy raised a glass. Disaster Boy’s face brightened as everyone held glasses high and shouted “Hear Hear!” and “Long Live the Legion!”

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

The group ate late and talked long into the night. The conversation bubbling, Tempest looked relived that everyone stayed away from the earlier bawdy talk of Porn Queens and Minotaurs. Tempest and IB were the first to retire after the long night of conversation and food. Power Boy and the Star Song made for a speedy clean up. Lard Lad said a few words to Goon Boy before sending him, Juj, and Ameratsu to bed. Power Boy did not need sleep but he appeared to like it very much, Disaster Boy followed … chatting up the immortal.

Finally, CK and Lard Lad remained alone in the dimming light of the dining hall.

Lard Lad smiled “That wouldn’t be the worst pairing … for either of them. Hmmm I always thought Peebs had a thing for Sir John the Carggite though. ”

CK instantly wondered how the Knights were doing and laughed “I think Peebs has a great many things for a great many people. You’re right though, it would be nice if he had a human anchor.”

Cobalt Kid and Lard Lad agreed to let the others sleep in, and enjoy the entirety of this night. They would meet with Goon Boy in the morning to plan their strategy. They should probably include Ameratsu as well, with his particular abilities with probabilities but, could the android be trusted?

Lard Lad returned with the maps they had originally drawn from Power Boy’s interstellar scouting; they now included several colored annotations based off of Goon Boy's and Ameratsu’s intelligence reports.

Cobalt Kid took a long drink of his ale as Lard Lad laid out the maps.

[ December 01, 2011, 09:02 PM: Message edited by: Power Boy ]
 

---

Posted by Dev - Em on :
 
Daroon

Dev Em tore through the lines of bugs for what seemed an eternity.

The problem was, they kept coming. If they were not completely destroyed, they kept flailing about trying to move forward.

Dev saw the technique being utilized by the bugs to divide and destroy. He did his best trying to keep that from happening.

He thanked whatever gods there were that a ship of Daxamites had come to see what had happened to communications. Double thankful that some of these were his dad's former men from Daxam. That meant that they knew how to fight, even if they seemed a little on the older side. The younger ones that had brought them here were also very eager to help, as most of them lost friends that had been stationed here.

After about an hour, he flew towards the castle, which was their main base of operations.

He banked hard and landed where he knew his family would be. He went to his quarters first and washed up enough to be presentable to his wife, the Queen, as well as feeling comfortable enough to hug his children.

He spent some time with each of his kids. Han gave him a necklace she had made him and Jon gave him one of his action figures to take with him for good luck.

After telling them all what was happening, he walked with the Queen and they were finally able to talk.

"Dev, I wish you would stay here with us. The children need you here."

"I'm not having this argument again. I am needed where I can do the most good, and unfortunately that is out there right now."

"Look, I know why you want me here, but the kids actually do understand. I have to go."

Dev took off before she could say anything else.
 

---

Posted by Timber Wolf on :
 
Old Gotham, Earth-4,
The Dark Oval

Shortly after the meeting went into further discussions, Lon started feeling antsy.

He leaned over to Kalla and whispered "come and get me when you make your decision."

She looked up at him and just grinned a little.

He turned and left the meeting room and started wandering around their new temporary base of operations.

He walked past one room after another. The rooms were scattered about and there seemed to be no rhyme or reason to them. As Lon walked around, he felt at home. He smiled to himself and thought that this was exactly how Cobie would have done it...in fact...

There was a loud crash that came from a room to his left. He moved to the door, and smiled again.

Val Armor, Karate Kid was holding a training session for some of the Losers that were more reliant on hand to hand combat than those with ranged powers. In the corner one of the students was dislodging himself from a stack of boxes.

Lon slipped in the back and watched for a while, content to observe a master at work.

Val watched Lon for a while as well and finally stopped the sparring session that was in progress.

"That's enough for now," he said and Lon saw his eyes flash towards him.

Grife... Lon thought as he slipped his jacket off.

Val nodded at him and Lon walked to the front of the room.

Val looked at his students. "This is Timberwolf. He is one of the very few people alive that has trained with several of the masters that taught me."

Lon finished taking his boots off and was in process of taking off his weapons belt.

Val waited as Lon set everything to the side, and then threw him a sparring uniform. Lon slipped it on over his shorts and tank top.

"The rules are basic...best two out of three. One solid strike counts as a hit. No glancing blows. No fabric hits allowed. Trust me, these kids will know when a hit is a hit."

Lon grinned. "Sounds good to me."

Val faced Lon straight on and bowed. Lon returned the bow and they both went into their stances.

Lon moved to his right slowly, and Val moved with him. They kept the space even, and started with firm but testing hits that the other easily blocked.

Lon lunged forward and let loose with a flurry of strikes. Val dodged and moved back, blocking as he went. Strike after strike were blocked and Val started a offensive move of his own. He struck high then low, then with an amazing move had his right foot flash about half of an inch from where Lon's head had been a second earlier.

Lon had dodged the kick and instinctively threw his left hand back and blocked the follow up strike at his midsection.

Val landed and Lon could see s slight grin on his face.

"Haven't seen that move in a long time," Lon said as he flipped back and bounced forward at Val with a speed that most men would have not stood a chance against.

"Not many have ever seen that move..." he said as he twisted his upper body and grabbed Lon to use his momentum against him.

Lon had counted on that and twisted in mid air tying up Val's left hand in tunic. He then attempted a leg sweep that Val went with and they both hit the ground with a loud thud.

Val used the split second he had to push off of Lon with his feet and they both bounced off the ground and resumed their stances.

This pattern continued for close to two hours before an actual strike was scored. Val had pulled a strike short at the last moment and Lon's defensive counterstrike took him off balance just enough for Val to get a strike in on Lon's back.

"Nice feint Val," Lon said as he got up off the ground, "took me just out of the play enough to strike."

They faced each other and bowed again.

This time, the second strike came within the first half hour. Val had gone in for a flurry of strikes, and Lon had let himself fall backwards to the ground. Val stopped himself in time to avoid falling into him, but not long enough to avoid a leg sweep and Lon's rolling strike to Val's chest.

"Nice. Making a fall work to your advantage, and not giving me time to think and taking instinct out of the equation with speed."

"Coming from you, that means a lot," Lon said with a bow.

"Ready for the last one?"

One of the students stood and left the room.

Lon and Val bowed and began their sparring session again. Both were so intent on the other, that they did not notice the room filling in the rear with numerous people, some from the strategy meeting that had taken a break for a moment when they heard of what was happening.

If they came for a show, they were not disappointed. The two struck and deflected blows faster than some could even follow.

Those that knew Val, and the few there that knew Lon could tell that they were both fighting on instinct at this point. There was no real thought process involved for either of them. They were moving and striking with strikes that even those that knew multiple fighting techniques couldn't identify.

After over two hours of a pace that none could imagine being possible, they both made jumops towards each other at the same time and both went flying with the resulting blows.

They both laid still on the ground for several seconds before they lifted their heads and began getting up. They were both drenched and breathing just a little harder than normal.

Kalla went to Lon and helped him up, and Zhiya helped Val to his feet.

Lon and Val both laughed and gave each other a hug. Lon whispered, "you took it easy on me until the last one...didn't you?"

"Did I?" was Val's whispered response.

Val held Lon at arms length. "I have never met anyone that knew how to deflect that last blow."

Lon coughed a little. "Never met anyone that knew how to deliver it. Not exactly something that you learn at your everyday dojo."

Some of the students were looking at them with confused looks on their faces.

Val turned to them and bowed.

They bowed back, still with anxious looks on their faces. In fact most of the people in the room had no idea what had really happened.

Gear, who had been observing the whole thing cleared his throat.

Everyone turned to him.

He pointed to the far wall and they all turned that way. On the wall was a projection of the last second of the match.

Val had two fists hitting Lon in the chest at odd points, and Lon had one fist striking Val in the mid chest area. Both had a pained expressions on their faces.

The scene was paused at the moment of the strikes...in fact all three blows hit at the exact same time.

"So who gets the call?" someone asked.

Lon looked up. "Val does. Two strikes to one...plus, his strikes can be deadly if struck properly. It actually takes more control to not kill an opponent than to kill one."

Val looked humbled. "My friend here speaks truth my students, but also know this...he is still able to move right now because I recognized a form of fighting that is taught by one man. I knew that if he studied with him, that he would be able to defend the strike, whether struck with deadly accuracy or not. Know this as true...he could just as easily have won this session, which I would call a draw."

"Tournament rules state that you win Val."

"Very well."

A cheer went up by the Losers in the room at the win that Karate Kid had garnered, even if it was in a friendly sparring match.

Kalla gave Lon a hug. "We need to talk Fuzzy."

Rockhopper Lad and a few of the others were talking. "We will meet again in the morning to finish the plans. Everyone needs some rest."
 

---

Posted by Lard Lad on :
 
Daroon

Serj Ontranik led his baker's dozen of Lard Knights in an all-out offensive against a flank of giant mantis-like bugs. Accompanying them was erstwhile LMBer Lumber Fox.

The fourteen of them were making a tremendous impact against the mantises' superior numbers. The Knights' swords were charged with Lard Force and cutting down the bugs left and right. For his part, Lumber Fox was a vortex of controlled fury, slicing the bugs with razor-sharp claws which clove one after the other in two.

In the midst of battle, Serj called out, "Foxy--I've got eleven so far!"

"Eleven?" Lumber Fox yelled back. "Pretty impressive! Not as good as my nineteen--" He paused as he slashed another. "--make that twenty! Step it up, Serj! Ha-Ha-HAAA!" And Foxy plowed into another group.

Serj smiled as he glimpsed Foxy disappearing into the mass. His smile faded as he felt a shadow fall over him. Looking up, Serj saw the shadow was being cast by a huge swarm of insect fliers of a species he was unfamiliar with. What caught his eye was their double stingers dripping with green venom. Looking back around him, Serj saw that the mantises were retreating to make room for their brethren.

"Heads UP, Knights!" Serj screamed at the dozen under his command. "Incoming!"

All at once, the fliers descended, stingers first, on the area where the Knights stood. Immediately, one impaled Hurm Shang, who had been down with a leg injury. To his horror, Serj saw Hurm begin to foam at the mouth. Hurm let out a garbled scream just before the acid in the foam liquefied his insides.

One of the fliers came for Serj, but he deftly severed both stingers in a single stroke. Recovering flawlessly to a defensive position, Serj saw that four more of his fellows had fallen to the fliers in that instant.

Serj saw the other seven nearby and yelled, "shield!" In response the seven combined to form a shield of pure Lard Force around them. A dozen fliers crashed right into their shield and met a similar fate as a fly attracted to a bug zapper would.

Serj admired the moment grimly from his vantage point, then surveyed the fliers. He removed a rope from his belt and disappeared in a pop of Lard force.

He reappeared on the back of one of the fliers and used the rope to strap around the flier's neck as a makeshift reins. Using the reins to steer it, Serj flew towards other fliers and lopped off a wing here, a head there, a stinger here and jabbed a set of eyes there.

Serj had been the very best teleporter among all the Knights in the Lard Monastery. None could manage a chaotic 'port like the one he'd just pulled off. Not even Lard Lad, who was otherwise foremost amongst Knights in all other skills.

He took a moment to survey the battlefield below from his vantage point. The seven Knights had maintained their shield but it was buckling under some new species' energy barrage. He couldn't see Lumber Fox but noted there was still a mass of mantis creatures engaged in some tumult.

Serj thought a moment and then guided his 'steed' down into the bombers midst. His flier landed on one of them and quickly took it out with its stingers. Serj, however, had already teleported off and had slashed through the other three bombers within moments.

Serj looked toward his seven charges and was horrified that his rescue had been two late: the shield had fallen, and all seven were either injured or dead. Worse, the mantises who had retreated were coming for them.

"NO!" Serj yelled and then charged at the mantises, firing bursts of Lard force with one hand while slashing at them with his sword with the other hand.

He must have taken out five before, all at once, one mantis knocked his sword off while another stabbed him in the leg. In terrible pain, Serj managed to fight the urge to black out and started blasting the bugs with all the Lard Force he could manage.

He knew it wouldn't be enough. I'll go out fighting, damnit! he thought as a look of grim determination colored his face.

Moments later, his blue power bursts were weakening, and the mantises closed in. This is it, he thought.

Just as one of them was about to deliver a killing blow, Serj heard an animalistic scream fill the air. And then, a red blur could be seen plowing into the mantises. A voice said, "left some more for me, didja?"

"F-Foxy!" Serj yelled with a grin. With renewed vigor, Serj found his sword and rejoined his friend in battle.

The next few moments were a blur. Serj struck blow after blow and just slashed blindly at anything that moved. he was only vaguely aware of Foxy, hearing his friend howl at times and then yelp in pain. Until, suddenly, Serj realized that there was nothing left to fight. Staggering, he look around and saw insect body after insect body strewn and cloven as far as the eye could see.

To his left, he saw some movement. It was his surviving fellow Lard Knights tending to each other. But where was...

"Foxy!" Serj wailed as he suddenly located his friend among the insectoid bodies. He ran toward him.

"F-fifty seven....g-give or t-take a...d-dozen," the vulpine LMBer said weakly.

Serj gasped. Half of his friend's face was missing. Both legs were severed at the knee, and his entire left arm was missing. "My god..." Serj managed.

Quickly, Serj was accompanied by the surviving Knights. They used their powers to render first aid on Lumber Fox as best they could, cauterizing his wounds with their powers.

Lumber Fox howled in pain. Being cauterized was not a pleasant experience.

"He's going into shock! Let's get him to medical!" Serj commanded. And the entire group disappeared in a burst of Lard Force.

They reappeared in a M.A.S.H. unit that was run by three Daxamite surgeons. Daxam was galaxy-reknowned for their superior medical techniques.

"Please save him," Serj pleaded to Dr. Den Zel as they arrived.

Zel looked the patient over grimly. "We'll do our best. He wouldn't have a chance if we weren't here." He motioned for his team, and they took Lumber Fox off to surgery.

Serj said a prayer, then passed out from exhaustion.
 

---

Posted by Lard Lad on :
 
The Star Song,
approaching the Hive

Juj finished using the communicator and turned to Lard Lad. Smiling, he said, "the refugees from Prianopolis have safely arrived in Hrykosian territory!"

Lardy smiled back. "Good! I'm so glad we didn't make a mistake by leaving them before the rescue arrived."

"No, according to the reports, the guards who defected from Titus were as good as their word and protected the women, children and elderly with honor."

"I'll have to recommend them to Cobie for the Space Knights Templar, if they need a job." He looked at his armor's chronometer. "'Bout time for the meeting, Juj--let's go!"


Moments later, the two found themselves the last to arrive on The Star Song's promenade for the Hive mission briefing. Already seated were Cobalt Kid, Tempest, Power Boy, Disaster Boy, Goon Boy and Invisible Brainiac. Standing at the forefront was their newest ally, the android Ameratsu, who would lead the first part of the meeting.

"Good of you two to join us," the android said sarcastically. This elicited a bit of a chuckle from Invisible Brainiac and Goon Boy. The rest had no reaction, either because their minds were gearing up for the upcoming conflict or because they didn't know yet how much they trusted this new ally--or both.

"Sorry," Lardy said as he and Juj sat next to Cobalt. Cobalt smiled as Lardy whispered to him the update they'd received on the refugess.

Ameratsu began, "I was asked to start this briefing because I am one of the very few non-Hive beings to ever set foot on the Hive homeworld. I was there once accompanying Titus as he delivered a message from his Dark Lord."

There were some murmurs within the group at that point.

Sensing the question in the air, Ameratsu said, "no, I've never seen the Dark Lord, nor am I aware where he is quartered. That is one destination Titus ever journeyed without me or any other--not even his wraiths. I also was not privy to the nature of the message, unfortunately."

The android paused for effect, then continued. "The atmosphere of the Hive homeworld is very oxygen-poor. Those of you who require oxygen to breathe will need to wear whatever apparatus is appropriate."

Ameratsu nodded, and Tempest created a holographic 3-D image for all to see. "This is the Hive homeworld."

The image was a strange sight for all those gathered, not at all what they expected. It was very flat and oblong. It was all length with comparatively little width and mostly featureless. At one end it was rounded off with an area slimmer than the end connecting it to the main portion. At the far end there were two upturned portions. As the image rolled around, it looked as if four smaller extensions had once existed but had become fused with the main mass over time.

Cobalt squinted at the image as it revolved around. For a second he almost thought it was--

But his revelries were inturrupted as Ameratsu continued his briefing, highlighting the area slightly left of the center of the mass, closer to the rounded part, where Ameratsu said that Wyandotte and his Queen kept their home. He then highlighted the area where Titus had gained access. Then, Ameratsu's portion was concluded.

Goon Boy stepped up for his part. "In my travels 'round the Oval, I met one've what the Hive calls its 'princesses'. These're the Queen's female offspring, one've which'll someday take 'er place as Queen. Two've these have some kind've mutation which kept 'em free've Wyandotte's mental mumbo-jumbo. They've been lookin' fer a way t'free their mama from 'is control."

"One've 'em is on Daroon, tryin' t'innerfere wit' th' bug invasion. T'other, th' one I met, is helpin' us get inta th' Hive. She's gonna meet us inna coupla hours, jus' outsidda the Hive."

Goony went on to explain that the princess will be guiding them all inside. Her control of the bugs with her pheromones should enable the whole group to get in unscathed. Then, he was finished with his part.

Lardy arose with Cobalt to conclude the briefing.

Cobalt began, "the plan is for us all to go in together all the way, if possible. If things go nuts, Peebz, Ibby, Temp and DB will 'port outside via a spell Temp has prepared and assault the homeworld from without to draw the bugs' attention."

"In other words," Disaster Boy said pointedly, "we'll be a distraction."

Cobalt smiled, "only if necessary. If this princess can do what Goony says she can, this could be a real cakewalk!"

"Yeah," Invisible Brainiac laughed, "because it always works that way, right?"

As they all chuckled, Cobie admitted, "that's why we have a Plan B!"

"Anyhow," Lardy interrupted, "the objective is to get to Wyandotte and break his hold on the Queen. After that...we wing it."

"Wing it?" Tempest repeated.

"Yeah," Lardy answered, "all that depends on how the Queen reacts. We're obligated to the princess to give the Queen a chance to surrender. If she doesn't...well, things could go FUBAR."

"How FUBAR, exactly?" Juj asked.

"Well," Cobie speculated, "both the Queen and the princesses can morph into a humanoid form--that's likely how we'll find the Queen. But her true form is apparently enormous and very, very formidable. She could possibly take us all out."

Tempest thought for a moment and spoke, "I will prepare a holding spell to attempt to restrain her to her humanoid form."

"Sounds good, Temp," Lardy said. "We'll keep you with the invading group, then, if we have to use Plan B."

"And how will you break Wyandotte's hold on her?" Power Boy asked.

"Most likely," Cobalt said grimly, "with extreme prejudice."

"But he won't go down easily," Lardy added. "Wyandotte's ability to dominate the minds of others is incredible. He once erased the memories of a group of LMBers that first encountered him, including myself. We've all had training for that sort of attack, but it still may not be enough. If all else fails, though, Goony is completely immune to mental attacks. Hopefully, he'll be able to finish Wyandotte off if none of the rest of us can."

Goony nodded but looked uncomfortable. he hoped he wouldn't have to kill Wyandotte. Goony had killed when necessary, but he was especially skittish about killing someone who was an otherdimensional duplicate of his friend Lard Lad.

"Well, then," Power Boy exclaimed as he cracked his knuckles, "let's get this thing started!"

"You won't have to wait long, Peebz," Lardy repled. "We'll approach the rendezvous point in about thirty minutes."

"Get ready, gang," Cobie added. "Today, were glorified exterminators!"

And all parted to do whatever they needed to be prepared for the battle ahead.
 

---

Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
 
Weber’s World,
The United Planets

“Solo! Kuryakin! Shields Up!” The order barely escaped her lips before the two male agents looked each other lovingly in the eye and raised their arms. Instantly a lavender sphere of energy appeared encasing the entire group with the exception of her and Abin. As the energy sphere appeared a small furry humanoid burst out of a ventilation duct in the ceiling and launched himself claws extended at Princess Crujectra.

The assassin was C'LAC'Nal, a marmoset -like being from the planet Ichoria. With his poison tipped claws he had one change to take out his target: the famous Princess Crujectra of Psyonia, also known as the LMBer Spellbinder. Crujectra could feel his approach but he was moving too quick for her to do anything about it. He’s got me, she thought as she unleashed a telepathic assault but to no effect. He must be wearing a Dark Oval grade thought shield. She braced herself for the impact but refused to scream or call out.

As C’LAC’Nal came within inches of her senses picked up on two immediate things: the smell of sulfur in the air that was distasteful to others but to the LMBers was a welcome thing indeed; and then the *BAMF* sound that could only mean one thing. “A welcome try, assassin!” yelled Nightcrawler, teleporting between C’LAC’Nal and the Princess and slashing his sword at the assassin. “But better than you have tried!”

With all of their attention now focused on the far side of the room, the other assassin struck—LAR Rall, the gelatinous blob, seeped through the electrical conduits and assaulted two of A.S.T.R.A. Corps soldiers from behind, burning their skin with its hideous touch and snuffing out their lives in an instant.

“No!” yelled Commander Jamelle Bond. As agent 007 of the Legion World Office of External Affairs elite A.S.T.R.A. Corps, she would hold herself responsible for any officers who died in the line of duty. She pulled out her blaster and began firing. It had no effect.

“Get the Prime Minister out of here!” yelled Saturn Girl to the other soldiers. “I’m telepathically scanning for more assassins…nothing. But they could be wearing thought shields…”

“Let’s combine our telepathy, Caroline,” said Spellbinder. It was a tricky move and often ineffective but in the heat of battle they figured it was their only shot at being sure.

“A little help here, Legionnaires…” said Bond as she fired.

“I’ve got it,” said Abin Quank, who focused his power ring on the blob. “It’s consuming everything in its path and it’s a force of pure will…” he said, gritting his teeth. “But if can have my ring wrap around it, and hold it there…we can imprison it…” as he spoke, the ring began to build a makeshift prison around the blob, holding it in place.

To the side, C’LAC’Nal dueled with Nightcrawler, and the battle at first appeared evenly matched. “Not the Founder I’d intended,” the creature said, “but good enough.”

Nightcrawler stepped back and smiled a mischievous smile. “I welcome the attempt,” he taunted.

The creature ran forward and this time Nightcrawler finished it quickly. He teleported to the right of it, then the left, then in back and then to really throw him off, on top of him. Each time he slashed him with his sword until at last the pain and damage was enough to bring him down. He teleported to the side as the A.S.T.R.A. Corps soldiers ran forward to secure the assassin.

The soldiers were still ushering out the Prime Minister in the hallway when it stopped. It was incredibly fast but yet each moment had been like an eternity. She began to walk back in as one of the soldiers attempted to stop her but she held her hand up in an abrupt way as if to say “stay out of my way.” She entered and Nightcrawler was smiling, waiting for her.

“That’s two more,” he said in a guttural, hissing voice.

She felt both annoyed and amused at the same time. “Thank you, Bal,” she said firmly and turned around and walked out.

“Wow, a thank you,” joked Saturn Girl to him.

“Uh, guys…?” said Abin Quank, still holding the gelatinous blob LAR Rall in with his ring. “A little help here?”

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

Much later…

Spellbinder stared out into the stars as Nightcrawler walked over to join her. Since the assassination attempt that was the closest to being successful, the Legion World Founders had sniffed out the remaining assassins on Weber’s World and taken care of them. For now at least—they knew more would be coming. They had barely a moment to rest and yet throughout all that time, events were transpiring throughout the cosmos of equal or even greater importance. It was difficult to keep track of it. Even worse, there was so much that remained unknown.

“I’m glad you’re all here,” Crujectra said to Nightcrawler, breaking the silence. “Most of the UP’s great heroes are scattered across the universes and all that’s left here with me are politicians and spies.”

Nightcrawler smiled at her. Though they were both held with such high esteem—sometimes so much that they were intimidating to those that did not know them—Bal couldn’t help but feel his own awe of Crujectra from time to time. In addition to being an incredible heroine and capable leader, she was an amazing ambassador, purveyor of peace and negotiator. He suspected much of what she did on Weber’s World went unappreciated on Legion World, but in his mind, it was probably the single most important work of all done by any LMBer. “We’re glad to be here. Kid Prime is waiting just beyond the atmosphere. He’s ready to take us into the Dark Oval if need be.”

Spellbinder thought about that for a minute. “Bal…I…” she began to say but stopped. It was very unlike her to be indecisive with her words. “I’ve lost my connection to Cobie,” she said at last. “Our telepathic link is dead. Somehow it’s been broken.”

A wave of angst went over Nightcrawler suddenly but he did not show it. He was angry with Cobie, Lardy and the others, but at the end of the day, they were still his friends a brothers-at-arms and he loved them all. If the telepathic link was broken it could only mean only two things: first, Cobalt had found a way to break it and did so, which was impossible since he not only loved Crujectra dearly but there was no way a non-telepath like he could do that to a master telepath like Crujectra. Or second, and the most likely and devastating possibility, was that Cobalt Kid was dead.

“Cru,” said Nightcrawler softly, which made his voice hiss all he more. “There are hundreds of reasons why you do not sense him…” he said.

“It’s not that I don’t sense him,” she said, as her eyes teared up. “It’s broken. I know that. Totally broken.”

Could Cobalt really be dead? Were they all dead then? “There must be other possibilities…”

“Yes, I know,” she said. “After the Khunds sacked Elia I was so angry with him. He was too far to send actual messages but I was purposely sending him my anger and sadness. Meaning that was the last thing he felt from me…” She couldn’t continue and put her head down, wiping away the tears though fresh ones came.

“He knows you love him,” said Nightcrawler. “You must know that. We don’t know if he’s dead,” he added, deciding it was better to make his words plain instead of hiding them behind pretty phrases. Crujectra would respect that. “You’ve got to believe he is okay. They’ve gotten through worse before…”

“I know,” she replied. “I know.” But the truth was she didn’t know. This was the most perilous quest any of them had ever been on. In all likelihood, he was dead—they all were.

[ December 02, 2011, 08:32 AM: Message edited by: Cobalt Kid ]
 

---

Posted by Angra Metternich on :
 
Daroon,
The United Planets

The last two days had been yet another wave of devastating destruction and chaos that resulted in massive casualties on both sides. Just as it looked like one side might win, the tide was turned. And Faraway Lad had enough. He knew that if they continued down this path, there was a good chance they could hold out and be victorious. But that would mean more massive casualties and he simply could not risk it anymore. It was time. Time to confront Metternich once and for all. Whoever survived would lead their side to victory and whoever didn’t would leave their side without its head, likely causing the body to die.

He said nothing to anyone and gave no goodbyes. The time for words was over. Using his power, he teleported right to the middle of the Hive encampment where the Exarchs’ ships sat arrogantly on the killing fields of Daroon. He knew Metternich was inside. He knew if the bugs descended on him he was dead. So he could only play to one thing: Metternich’s arrogance.

“Vile Ambassador of the Dark Oval!” he called out. “Whose failure to negotiate treaties or prosecute war on Legion World led to his downfall! Whose plebian thirst for revenge led him to concoct a ridiculous plot to destroy the LMB and forego his honorable duties as an ambassador! He who has fallen so far that it embarrasses me to interact with him! Come forward!”

“You say it is I who have fallen so far, Darden,” said a voice, “yet it is you who has degenerated into foul insults. How unlike you. I suspect the war is taking its toll.” All that laid before Faraway Lad was dirt and debris of a bitter, broken land. Yet one small leaf of grass blew in the wind. It grew in size—a larger leaf of grass, then a vine, then a small tree. Soon it revealed a different shape: a cloaked Durlan.

The two looked at one another and silence passed between them. The enmity was so great that they were beyond anger or even exhaustion. A dull, quiet hatred existed between them and both had only the wish that this would be the last time they ever saw one another.

“All the good will the people of Durla have gained over the centuries is abolished by you,” said Faraway Lad slowly. “Durlans like you are what give the race a bad name.”

Metternich laughed. “You truly are at your lowest ebb, Darden! You speak of Durla, now? What next, will you speak of when we first met, long before the Dark Oval and United Planets were a part of our lives? Will you speak of a friendship long lost? I’ve always hated you.”

“And I, you, unfortunately,” said Faraway Lad.

Metternich laughed again but Faraway Lad could tell it was not genuine. He was laughing to cover up his…anger? Shock? Confusion? “You speak of Durla,” he repeated, “as if I cared about that backwards mudball. As if you cared! You only ever cared about Yera, and look what that got you! A dead girlfriend to mourn over! She’s been dead for 20 years and I bet you carry the guilt around like a badge of honor.”

Faraway Lad reflected on memories of a different era that he hadn’t thought about in a long time. For a moment he felt guilty to use Yera’s memory for this cheap ploy. Yet in his heart he knew she would not mind. “Do not speak of her,” he said, playing right into the role Metternich wanted him to play.

“Or what? What can you do to me?” Metternich said loudly. “You are surrounded, sir! And I out power you! Do you really think I’m going to let you leave here?! We’re going to flay you alive!!! You stupid, old fool! Did you think I’d duel you?! How can you fight a Durlan?!”

Metternich was yelling now, almost hysterical. Faraway Lad knew he walked a fine line and any misstep would mean instant death. “Like you killed her, you sick bastard,” he said in almost a whisper.

“YES!!!” yelled Metternich! ”Like I killed her! I’ll DESTROY YOU!!! Suddenly Metternich threw back the hood of his robe and used his Durlan powers to shape-change into the form of a female Durlan. He changed into a commonly seen form in the United Planets, often called “Durlan Prototype 1” because it was so commonly used. It was humanoid in appearance, orange-colored and welcoming; Faraway Lad knew it well. Here, in the form of Yera, a famous long dead Durlan, Metternich had a soft feminine look with thin eyebrows and red, pouty lips. He looked beautiful.

Metternich screamed. “When you die, the last thing you see if your precious Yera tearing you asunder!”

Suddenly Faraway Lad smiled. “You predictable fool,” he said softly and suddenly held out his arms.

It happened at once: Faraway Lad grabbed hold of Metternich by the two antennae on his head and used his powers. Just as he’d done several times on Daroon, he teleported away just a piece of his enemy—the antennae. He sent it somewhere in space far, far away. Faraway Lad was very familiar with the Durlan form. “Prototype 1” was so commonly used that he knew it included two antennae at the top of the skull which housed all of the glands and nerves that controlled the natural biological shape-changing abilities a Durlan had. By removing or locking those antennae, other sentients had learned how to remove a Durlan’s powers. It was akin to castration.

“AAAAAAGH!!!” screamed Metternich, doubling over in pain and falling to his knees. “What have you…?” he yelled holding his hands up to his head. “No! NO! NOOOOOOO!” he screamed.

Metternich had lost the ability to shape-change. His over-confidence and his arrogance was his greatest weakness; Faraway had one shot—trick him into this form. And Metternich played his role perfectly.

Faraway turned to see the Hive bugs descending on him now to crush him. Metternich screamed in pain, rolling around on the ground. “Somehow I think this fate is worse than being flayed alive,” he said to Metternich, who was now stuck in the form of the female Durlan Yera. “Goodbye Angra…”

Faraway Lad used his powers to teleport himself away just as the bugs were arriving.

The Hive bugs were suddenly confused by his disappearance. Yet, they sniffed another prey close by. The smell of Metternich had changed with his loss of shape-changing ability. They bugs did not recognize him. To them, he was simply food.

And they began to dine.
 

---

Posted by Rockhopper Lad on :
 
Old Gotham, Earth - 4
The Dark Oval

Rockhopper Lad and Rockhopper Lass took advantage of a short break in activity and sat for a moment to talk.

Hyvvie approached and sat at Rockhopper Lad's feet.

“Eudyptes,” Rockhopper Lass began, “One thing I've always wondered and I've never been able to ask you is where did Hyvvie come from? You mentioned once that he was a gift, but something interrupted us and I never got to ask again.”

“He was a gift many years ago from Anna Lee Merrison, the Terran Ambassador to the Pyngwyn Colonies, Adelie. Father had just ascended the throne and she was named Amabassador shortly thereafter. She brought us each a gift from Earth: Father received a set of the complete works of Shakespeare, Mother received a string of pearls, you—that is, the Adelie of my world—received a diamond brooch and I got Hyvvie. She actually picked him up on a space station while she was en route, because she had forgotten to get me something. She's the one who named him “Hyfrydol”, after an old Welsh tune her grandmother used to sing to her.”

Adelie stared at her other-dimensional brother and then down at the Wonder Beagle. “Eudyptes, what were you like before you got Hyvvie?”

Rocky shrugged. “I was kind of lonely and a little withdrawn, but he helped me get out of all that, I guess.”

“Eudyptes, on my world, the Ambassador brought gifts for Mother and Father and me, but forgot to get anything for Eudyptes. He was lonely and withdrawn and it only got worse for him!”

Rocky shook his head in disbelief. Is that what it was? The biggest difference in his adolescence was that he had received the precious gift of Hyvvie, while the Pyngwyn who would become the Emperor was slighted. Was it the slight or was it the ongoing companionship of the Wonder Beagle that made the difference? Was it both?

Rocky closed his eyes and sighed. “There, but for the grace of dog, go I.”
 

---

Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
 
The Hive Home Planet,
The Dark Oval

The Fellowship moved quickly but very carefully through the oddly shaped landscape of the Hive Home Planet. Once they were planet-side, they found there were many hills and lumps and weirdly shaped contusions protruding out of the surface of the planet, causing them to work their way through a twisty and winding path. Often they found themselves in valleys that were ripe for ambush, yet they pressed on. None dared fly above and get a better vision of what lay before them out of fear that they would fall outside the Princess’ pheromone range and the bugs would descend en masse.

Every so often they saw the Hive bugs but the bugs paid them no attention. The Fellowship had to forcibly hold back their disgust at the sheer size and grotesque visages of the bugs on the Hive home planet. They had learned there were numerous types of Hive species but it was clear that on the home planet there were hundreds, perhaps thousands, that had not yet been revealed to the rest of the galaxies. “Bloody Liberty they stink,” said Cobalt Kid to Disaster Boy and Invisible Brainiac as they walked. Some of them truly did carry a strange, awful odor that Cobalt thought had to be some sort of weapon or tool to discourage enemies.

Other than the short comments aside, for the most part they were very quiet. That did not stop them from trading looks however, and it was clear what the main topic would be if they were talking. Goon Boy was up at front, leading them through the Hive planet and showing them exactly why he was so vital for this mission. By his side, leading him, was the Hive Princess they had heard about. Though clearly her natural form was that of some sort of insect, she had the ability to transform into a humanoid form like her sister on Daroon and their mother, the Queen. She stood six feet tall with long, sensual legs, a tight stomach and firm, full breasts. Her shoulders were muscular and while her arms were petite, and she had a regal face and cheekbones. Her face was incredibly beautiful with blood red lips and dark yellowish eyes, while her skin tone was a grayish-green. Her hair was almost brunette, though it had hints or purple and a lighter green to it.

She was incredibly beautiful and seductive. Yet there was something terrifying about her. It was her posture and her decisiveness. She was a predator and it made them uneasy. Much like you’d feel if you were walking amongst a tiger or a wolf, you felt that there was something unrestrained and animal about her, that might give her cause to rip your throat out simply because you existed and you were meat.

Yet, Goon Boy seemed not to notice this at all. Because of the nature of his powers his wits were always a little duller, which had its uses. He was almost immune to telepathic attacks. Here, he must either not have senses the danger or perhaps simply did not find it threatening. Whatever the cause, it was clear that Goon Boy and the Princess were more than just allies.

Cobalt again raised his eyebrows at Lardy as the two watched Goon Boy extend his hand to the Princess and help her up a steep hill. Years earlier when Cobalt sent Goon Boy into the Hive territory to scout it, he knew he had made allies. But now he suspected somewhere along the way that Goon Boy and the Princess had fallen in love. It was incredibly convenient now and perhaps was their only hope. But Cobalt wondered whether that was good for Goon Boy in the long run.

Cobalt’s paranoia and sense of danger were too heightened for him to focus on the other things he’d been thinking about. Something about the Hive home planet did not add up. He suspected something that was almost too outrageous to put into words. But maybe it was time to ask Lardy? Beyond that, there was something else eating at him. This journey had been terribly difficult and now that they’ve come this far Cobalt began worrying that perhaps it wasn’t perilous enough? The old spy’s problem, he knew—when things went your way you wanted to know how that could have happened. He knew the Dark Lord was distracted by the rest of the Fellowship on Earth-4, plus the war with the United Planets. But he couldn’t help but feel there was something he was missing. Doesn’t he have more armies than this? he thought. Is he holding something in reserve? Why isn’t he striking directly? He knew it was impossible to get into the mindset of someone like the Dark Lord. Yet something was not adding up. If the Dominion had fallen, wouldn’t the Dark Lord respond in kind? He suddenly worried about his friends in the United Planets.

Lard Lad nudged him and Cobalt was brought back to attention. Up ahead, they could see the landscape was changing. There were more than just hills—there were mountains going up as high as the eye could see, and in front of that there was a huge cavern opening up. Great, thought Cobalt. Either we’re going underground or we’re going up into the mountains. Neither is ideal.
 

---

Posted by Dev - Em on :
 
Daroon


"DADDY!!!"

Dev Em's head whipped toward the direction of the scream. What he saw drained all the color from his face. The western castle wall was collapsing under the weight of the bugs trying to force their way in.

"NO!" he screamed and flew towards the site at once. He arrived at the same time as several guards.he was trying to see through the debris, but the battle had taken so much out of him, he could only see a few feet into the rubble.

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

Miles away, Kar Em was fighting with every ounce of energy he had. He had already lost half the troops that had been cut off with him, but he refused to leave those still alive to a fate worse than death.

He heard a scream of pain from his left and saw another brave soldier from Xyler 7 go down.

"Damn it all," he said and yelled for everyone to get down.

He moved himself to the middle of the group and started spinning slowly at first, then faster. He cut loose with his heat vision and bugs started exploding one by one as their exoskeletons

started overheating.The soldiers on the ground started shooting into the mass of bugs that were still advancing and those started falling as well.

That's then he heard the scream that had sent Dev Em to the castle.

He slowed and reigned in his heat vision. He looked to the scene that his son was upon, and swore under his breath.

Then he heard the distinct sound of Faraway Lad Teleporting. He scanned quickly around, but saw no sign of his friend.

The soldiers stood and cheered. The bugs were running.

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

Dev Em threw another large chunk of the castle wall away from the searchers and on top of some bugs that were still trying to advance.

Someone behind him said something about the bugs suddenly acting confused, afraid or something. The only thing he really got from it was that the bugs were leaving.

Dev returned to digging, listening for heartbeats and searching with his vision as much as possible. There was nothing.

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

Kar Em rose into the air as several ships from Xylar 7 flew by giving chase to the scrambling bugs.

There was a huge explosion from the middle of several bugs about a mile away. Bug remains and dirt was flying everywhere.

Kar flew that way immediately, but there was nothing but a huge crater.

He heard more explosions starting to the west, then some to the east, north and south. Every few miles it seemed, bugs were congregating and setting off explosives of some sort. Destroying everything they could. If they could not have this planet, they were going to make it as uninhabitable as possible for any type of life form.

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

Dev Em finally came across the body of one of the Royal Guard. He had been crushed in the collapse. As help came they could see that most of the southern and northern sides were in shambles as well.

From somewhere below the guard he had found, he heard movement. He went back to digging after handing the guards body to some of the soldiers behind him.

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

Kar Em was flying towards the castle to help as he could when he noticed something at the ship that he and Faraway had encountered the Exarch and Metternich. The ship itself was moving, but there was no sound coming from it, aside from the creaking of the metal it was made of.

"What the..." he said and then he had his answer. Juf Un was standing holding the ship over his head as hundreds of women and children came running out of the cavern below.

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

Dev came across two Daxamites holding a rather large piece of the wall above them.

"Give me a moment to clear the edges," he said as loud as he dared. He saw one of them nod his head slightly in acknowledgment.

When the debris had been cleared, he let the two know to start lifting. He moved to move under it as soon as possible to catch anything that may break off.

They dumped the wall in a clear area and returned to help Dev.

"They went down here," one of the Daxamites said, "that friend of yours somehow caused the floor to give out under all of us with about half a second to spare.

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

Kar flew over and lifted the ship from the top and dropped it harmlessly off to the side.

"By the gods man...how..."

Juf Un just looked at him with an almost blank stare on his face. "I just never stopped killing those things. They kept coming, and I kept killing. There were others that I had to..."

Kar stopped him. "I know what their plans were...say no more. I am so sorry that you had to endure that."

"I saved most of them sir...I saved the ones I could," he said and then broke down in tears.

Kar put his hand on his shoulder and just said, "I know Juf, I know..."

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

Dev got to a small hatch in the floor. He opened it and could finally hear the breathing of his friends and loved ones.

SOmeone handed him a light and he went into the small room.

One by one he handed those that were in the room to the others outside, and they were rushed to the MASH unit that was set up.

A short time later, after insuring that there was nobody else trapped, he joined his father at the Medical tent's main entrance.

"You alright dad?"

"I'm fine. I worry about Juf though, he had to go through quite a bit rescuing those he could. What they had planned for the women and children is horrific beyond words, and..." he just shook his head.

Dev looked at his father, and for the first time in maybe his entire life, he saw a glimpse of something that made him shiver. If whatever was to happen upset his father this badly, then it was bad.

Before he could say anything else, he heard someone walk up behind him.

He turned to see Queen Alyson and Han walking out. Han immediately ran to him and gave him a huge hug.

"Are you okay hon?" Dev asked standing up.

Han nodded and rubbed her neck a little, "just sore. The Doctor said I was alright though."

The Queen walked to him and put her head on his shoulder while giving him a hug. "We're all alive," she said in a low voice.

A Doctor walked out and over to them.

"I have some good news for you," he said taking off surgical gloves.

He proceeded to update him on the condition of the others.

Loser Lad had taken a good blow to the head, but seemed to be alright otherwise. He was apparently trying to flirt with a nurse.

Jon had sustained a broken leg and arm on his left side, but both were clean and would be easily repaired with Daxamite technology that they had.

Hugh and Helena were both alright. A little bruised and knocked around, but fine.

Helen had been bitten by at least on bug, if not more, and was still currently in critical

condition. None of the treatments they had were making much of a difference, and the next several hours were vital.

The Queen cleared her throat. "She was bitten even before the wall collapsed on us. She threw herself between the children and the bugs with several of the guards. She saved their lives. The guards went down, but she was able to use the time they bought her to make all the difference in the world."

"We're doing everything we can Your Highness." The Doctor said as he turned and went back into the tent.

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

The next morning, Dev awoke to the sound of a light rain falling on Daroon.

He got himself some breakfast and then went to check on his son and the others.

Loser Lad met him outside of the Medical tent.

"Thank you for everything," Dev said.

"No problem Dev. Lumber Fox was in a pretty bad way in there, and Serj is still recovering. Not sure if any of the other Knights made it."

Dev shook his head. "So much death and destruction...and for what? Why here of all places?"

"They struck at those closest to you all," Kar Em said as he walked up behind them. The old mans voice back to its booming tone. "They tried it everywhere, and your friends all came through from what I am hearing so far."

He tapped a device in his left ear. Since the departure of the bugs, communication had been possible again, and reports were flooding in from everywhere.

"Still no sign of Faraway?"

Kar shook his head. "Whatever happened, he's not here. I can;t see him not having made it, he's much to resourceful for that...but I have no idea where he's off to. Nobody has seen him anywhere."

The three of them entered the medical tent and Jon hovered over to them in a hover chair. Hugh and Helena were with him. All three looked good, if not a little shaken from the events of the last few weeks.

Dev gave them all a hug. "Go find your mom Jon, and get the three of you something to eat. Some real food."

They moved along to find the Queen and a good hot meal.

Xylar 7 had had ships arriving all night with supplies and makeshift shelters for the survivors.

A Doctor approached them and took them over to an open area in the tent. "Helen is still in critical condition, and we're not sure what else we can do."

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

Later that day, Kar Em left for Weber's World. He had things to do, and that was the best place for him to accomplish them.

Dev and the Queen had been talking for over an hour, and she understood his decision, and for the first time in a long time...agreed with him.

"When will you leave?"

"As soon as I say goodbye to the kids. I have to get moving. Lon let me know a few key points of where to find a ride into the Oval, but I need to go now."

She walked over to him as he stood up. "You are a good man Dev. I'm so sorry things are the way they are, but you need to make sure that Hugh and Helena have their father back. She paused for a moment and continued, "you also need to make sure that our children have their father back as well."

He gave her a hug. "Have I ever not come back?" he said with a grin.

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

A short time later he met with Loser Lad.

"Thanks for agreeing to stick around for a little bit."

"No problem Dev. The kids need someone they know and trust here, and I seem to be that person right now. Now go get our friends back."

Dev floated into the sky. "I'm on it," he said and flew off.

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

Loser Lad turned and looked at the devastated landscape.
 

---

Posted by Power Boy on :
 
The Hive Home Planet,
The Dark Oval

Disaster Boy’s feet were tired, as he trekked on in his parka. He couldn't tell if they were walking up or down, which was strange since his elemental powers usually gave him a sense of … the elements.

Maybe he was just tired, his frame was still thin from his time as Titus’ slave, his legs weak.

The fellowship walked through a chasm, with high shear walls on either side, at some points the path was so narrow they could barely walk two across. After what must have been hours, Disaster Boy could no longer see the sky. Sometimes they walked up, and sometimes they walked downhill but, he couldn’t get an impression of the general direction they were going. All he knew is his mouth tasted like the strange dirt of this planet.

DB chuckled at the lunacy of the situation. 'This is so obviously a trap!’ He thought as Cobalt Kid gave him a strange look.

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

Cobalt Kid really hoped Disaster Boy wasn't cracking up again.

CK and Power Boy followed the insectoid princess closely. Power Boy wore everyone’s frustration plainly. He ground his teeth and looked in every direction several times trying to keep watch. None of them liked travelling this way but Cobalt Kid had to wonder why Peebz had abandoned any effort to be subtle …

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

Tempest walked at the head of the pack with the Princess and Goon Boy. Tempest was the only one other than Goon Boy that the Princess would converse with as they travelled. She thought the Princess must be used to females commanding males. Tempest smirked to herself and spared a glance for the men trailing behind them. ’Could the Princes think these were all HER males?’ and then Tempest thought of the complications ‘Was this a large number of males to own … or … a small number?’

Tempest returned to her conversation with the Princess, her amusement disappeared as she looked at this woman. She was bred to fight her sisters for the title of Queen, physically and to Tempest’s dismay politically. Tempest had intended to learn what she could from the Princess but as the conversation wore on, it became clear that the Princess was only revealing what she wished.

A chill went down Tempest’s spine as she wondered if the Princess was playing her, using their conversation to learn about the fellowship?

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

Power Boy was being driven mad by the sound of scratching all around them. Little ticks, like the scratches of insects ... at first they were soft and he assumed it was his enhanced hearing picking up ants or small beetles. Now he was not so sure, the noises were louder as if made by larger bugs … No, he knew now … it was several large insects … getting closer. He couldn’t tell how many closed in on them because the bugs all had varying amounts of legs. The scratching could be made from a few insect creatures or from a dozen.

The others would be able to hear them soon.

100 meters ahead the chasm opened to a wider clearing. ’That would have to do.’ He thought. ‘For a battle and for an ambush.’ However, he had the very bad feeling it was an ambush for the fellowship.

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

The Princess led the fellowship into the clearing, the android Ameratsu was the last to enter, falling behind for some reason. Power Boy remembered Lard Lad telling him that the android could predict probabilities; it gave him a danger sense and a fairly accurate precognition.

The bronze android filed in tentatively.

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

Tempest started as dark shadows flew down into the chasm all around them!

The world whirled around her as the rest of the fellowship moved into defensive positions.

It took a moment but Tempest realized the shadows didn’t fly down but were insect creatures that hung all around them like spiders from web. She nearly averted her gaze as she saw large half-human half-spider creatures surrounding the fellowship hanging just above the ground like spiders.

They were poised, spider arms tense and ready.

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

Disaster Boy was really too hungry for this. He was wondering if he could eat these spider people’s flesh after he used his fire powers to roast them … when a figure came into view as it walked into the clearing. It was an enormous half-man half-spider. It’s human torso and muscular arms had wet pale skin but its lower half was the body of a spider with eight lower legs covered in platinum white fur.

DB thought it was like some wicked mirror reflection of the centaurs of ancient Earth myths.

Long dark hair covered it’s face, and … multi faceted bug eyes.

“Ew gross!” DB whispered, not as quietly as he thought since Lard Lad gave him an admonishing look.

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

Lard Lad drew his sword, these creatures gave off a smell that enraged him, he wanted to fight, his blood boiled. He saw Power Boy move to intercept the large warrior spider that walked towards them. The spiders obviously gave off a pheromone that caused a battle lust, in theory, such a thing could inspire allies and make enemies fool hardy.

As Power Boy intercepted the creature, Lard Lad thought how much worse it must be for the boy’s enhanced senses.

The huge white man spider looked down on Power Boy from its height advantage. It had a human head but the eyes and mouth pincers of an insect.

In a blindingly fast motion the spider drew two warped blades from its back and slashed at Power Boy. Peebz parried with his baton, face filled with hate for this creature.

They circled each other, the creature hissed loudly, clearly frustrated that it was unable to land it’s slashes on Power Boy’s incredibly fast form. Power Boy sped in striking the spider across the face hard.


It looked like a normal human hitting a brick wall.

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


“ZILA ENOUGH!!”

The Princess clapped her hands loudly.

The giant man spider backed away from Power Boy ... who was trying very hard to pretend his fist didn’t hurt. He stared down the spider as it backed away reluctantly.

Cobalt Kid turned his head as the Princess spoke, apologizing for her guards. She explained that this was where she planned to rendezvous with her elite and most loyal guards. CK assumed the large one must be a praetor of sorts, a champion or leader of the Princess’ faction. These spiders would have been bred for murder, speed, and strength. ’Were their humanoid and insect combined forms a mark of these guards high birth?’ It was a question for another day.

Right now Cobalt Kid couldn’t help but think that they were now outnumbered by their surprise ‘escort’ and that the Princess had failed to tell him about this rendezvous.


… And she let Power Boy and the Praetorian insect’s fight go on … just a bit too long.

[ December 10, 2011, 10:42 PM: Message edited by: Power Boy ]
 

---

Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
 
Invisible Brainiac crept up to Power Boy as the latter recovered from his fight.

"Here, Peebz, let me see your fist." IB brandished a little towel in his hand.

Power Boy drew back. "It's fine, kid. Really. I'll be good."

"If you could just hold still...!"

"You don't need to fawn on me."

"I'm not. Besides, my lover back home would kill me if I went all nurse on you."

Before Power Boy could react, IB grabbed his fist. "I just need that guard's DNA. I know your fist hurts, but I also know you'll probably heal it off in minutes. Spiders don't secrete venom through their faces, and you took care to miss anything resembling fangs."

IB walked off, tinkering with his Omnicom, while Power Boy looked on, bewildered.

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

An invisible IB walked up to Lard Lad and Cobalt Kid. He held up his omnicom with a message typed into it.


"Don't make a sound. My illusions are visual, so the Princess can't see us talking, but I can't block out audio.

DNA analysis of the man-spider guard shows a mix of DNA. On the spider side, there's a mix of seven different species. Four are venomous. One is known for its leaping ability. One is a water spider. The last is the single largest spider in the known galaxy.

On the human side, it's definitely humanoid, though I don't know what particular race yet - or if there's even one. It's all twisted and warped.

There is a distinct possibility that there are traces of various races - including Khundian and Daxamite.

I can't tell you more with the equipment I have now. Sorry to say, I've also been neglecting my scientific studies.

I'd ask Ameratsu for help... but do you think we can trust it?


Lardy and Cobie looked at each other, then shook their heads. Cobie mouthed "No, not yet." Lardy inputted his own message - "Warn everyone except Ameratsu. Keep an eye out on him until we're sure."

IB nodded and vanished. He tried not to dwell on the pounding in his chest that told him to get ready to run.

[ December 11, 2011, 02:03 AM: Message edited by: Invisible Brainiac ]
 

---

Posted by Kalla Hrykos on :
 
Earth-4,
The Dark Oval

In an office in the new Loser Cave just outside Old Gotham, Lolita stood over the blueprints to the device that Gear had designed. Gear was waiting only for the power source Kalla Hrykos had promised to move forward with the construction.

Even after all they'd been through as part of the Fellowship, Lolita still didn't trust Kalla. But if Kalla didn't come through, Lolita's plan was dead in the water. This Earth's Faraway Lad and the device together would not be enough without something that could generate an amount of energy equivalent to a small star.

And time was quickly running out. The Losers were only an hour away from deploying their assault on the Emperor Pyngwyn. It would all be for naught if they couldn't activate the device that would--

Suddenly, Lolita's ponderings were interrupted as the door to the office opened. In walked Kalla herself sporting a big, self-satisfied grin.

"Bring it in, Fuzzy," she said as Timber Wolf lugged in a globe about four feet in diameter. As strong as Lon was, it was apparent that the bulk and mass of the object were considerable enough to be uncomfortable for him to handle. He placed it gently on a reinforced podium that the pair had had Gear prepare for the device.

"Well, I'm as good as my word, Lolita! It wasn't easy extracting this from where it was, but it's here. Now, we need to get Gear and Darden, so we can keep on schedule."

Lolita barely heard what Kalla was saying. She circled around the device, noting its Tromium casing, the size and the peculiarities of the wiring. To her horror, she knew exactly what this was.

"A nega bomb, Kalla?!? How in the hell did you just happen to know where to find one of these?" Lolita said with an edge she didn't bother to hide. She knew very well that this was the core to the single deadliest device known to all sentients, one capable of taking a planet out all by itself.

Kalla's grin turned to a frown. She looked over to Lon who seemed really uncomfortable. Though highly protective of the woman he was in love with, Lon was always very fond of Lolita as they'd worked together for many years.

"Lon," Kalla said simply, "why don't you go find Gear and bring him here. I need a word with Little Miss here."

Lon hesitated for a moment until Kalla rolled her eyes and gave him a look that assured him that she wasn't going to kill Lolita while he was out. He gave Kalla a wink and headed out of the office.

"Well?" Lolita prodded, arms crossed.

Matter-of-factly, Kalla answered, "I knew where to find one...because I had it put here almost two years ago. It was my failsafe plan to take the Emperor out of the picture."

Angered at this, Lolita lashed out. "What?!? At the expense of this entire world?!?"

"If it became necessary, yes."

"You bitch!" Lolita yelled and walked right up to Kalla. Kalla was about five inches taller than her, but Lolita pulled her down to her level by her collar. "You call yourself a freedom fighter, a believer in sentient rights?!? You would sacrifice an entire world to eliminate one of your rivals?!? UNBELIEVABLE!"

Kalla shook her head and pulled Lolita's hands away. "Hands off me, 'Jailbait Lass'!" she barked. Then, she calmed herself down some and continued. "Look, you've barely seen a taste of the atrocities committed by these men in the Oval Elite. From the moment I earned a place within their ranks, I've secretly worked to bring them down through any means necessary, so that they one day couldn't continue slaughtering, enslaving and subjugating all who fell beneath their bootheels. So feeling that the sacrifices of the few would spare the many, I justified potentially using the device here. I couldn't find any way to get to the Emperor more directly, so this was my final solution."

Lolita simply shook her head.

"Until very recently," Kalla continued. "Being among our Fellowship and among the Losers has changed me, Lolita. I've seen that there can be another way as I work with allies who constantly seek the best solution as they work together. That...that's something I've never really had in my life. I've always had to fight alone or with a very small number of like minds...or with people who were using me. I genuinely want to save Earth-4 and what's left of her people, now, above all else. My bringing this bomb here should demonstrate my sincerity."

Lolita shook her head again and muttered, "I am so fucking SICK of people and their Macchiavellian points of view..."

Kalla smiled a little. "Ah. Like your beloved Cobaltus."

Lolita deflected this somewhat. "Exactly! And like his pal Lard Lad and Ambassador Mirenna Helene and too many others lately!"

"Hm," Kalla noted, "and none of them seem to care what you think, right?"

Kalla hit a nerve with Lolita. "I..." Lolita didn't finish, but her silence confirmed she felt that way.

"Well," Kalla affirmed, "I've been there and done that--having been thought of as no more than a pawn by the Oval Elite. Well, you're proving yourself here with your part in this plan. If it works, you certainly will have shown him something!"

"There's got to be a better way than what he did to the Dominion," Lolita said distantly.

"Don't judge us too harshly, dear," Kalla said as she turned Lolita's head back to her and looked directly into her eyes. "Sometimes, people like us have to make ugly, hard decisions for the greater good. Time will tell if we were right or wrong, but until you've been put in that spot yourself, you can never truly sit in judgement."

"I would make a decision I could live with," Lolita affirmed.

"I hope you would, Lolita." Kalla paused as she sized up the short, petite woman whose spirit defied her modest size. "You have much potential. I've always assumed you'd end up crawling back to him when this is all over. Maybe I was wrong."

"If this succeeds," Lolita said, "and assuming I ever see him again....I won't tell him about where we got the bomb."

Kalla smiled. "Though I do not fear him, that would keep things...less complicated."

"The last thing I want to see is Cobie waging war on Hrykosia after all this. But I'll have my eye on you, Kalla Hrykos. It's easy to say you've changed...much more tricky to actually change."

"Indeed. And I'll keep my eye on you as well, Little Miss!" Kalla winked at her.

Lolita allowed Kalla a small, genuine smile.

That same moment, Lon returned with Gear in tow. Gear got straight to work on finishing the device while Kalla and Lon prepared to join in on the coming battle.

"Don't let us down!" Kalla said back to Lolita and Gear as she and Lon headed out.

You either, Lolita thought as she pondered her mixed feelings for the complicated woman and her actions. Then, she went right back to helping Gear with his preparations.

[ December 11, 2011, 11:42 PM: Message edited by: Kalla Hrykos ]
 

---

Posted by Lolita on :
 
Earth-4,
The Dark Oval

Deep within “the New Loser Cave”, the Loser known as Gear worked diligently. He checked, rechecked and then checked once more all the various facets of the machinery in front of him. Lolita had explained her plan and some of the science and logic that went with it, but it was up to Gear to make that science a reality. Luckily, she had secured the power source though how she did that remained a mystery.

Gear said nothing at first, ignoring Lolita hovering over his shoulder. He had hoped she would go away but soon he found her presence comforting—she was actually quite intelligent. Just like him, she was always under-estimated. Not far from them was Earth-4’s Faraway Lad, who poured himself a glass of port to steady his nerves. Lately Faraway Lad had seemed to be revitalized; he worked hard and expected everyone else to do the same. He was giving orders, helping plan and coordinate attacks and finding every little job possible to occupy his time. It was good to see after the noble SMBer had been a ghost of his former self for so long.

“While I do appreciate your keeping an eye on us,” he said to the other two companions, “I think its largely unnecessary. We should be able to take care of ourselves and I’m sure there is much better use to be made for you in the field.”

“Nope,” said Polka Dot Kid matter of factly. He was wearing full military regale with a huge vest full of knives and pouches, a belt of grenades wrapped around torso and a giant-sized gun in his hands. The fact that they were all now polka-dotted was weirdly humorous. “Orders are to stay by your side.”

Zhiya nodded in their direction, her extra senses picking up their every movement despite her blindness. “What you are doing is vitally important. We cannot afford to let anything disrupt it.” Lolita had found out from Faraway Lad that Zhiya had insisted she stay behind to protect them; Faraway Lad suspected it was really to protect Lolita. That had made Lolita smile—they were becoming fast friends, ironically.

Faraway Lad made a face but then moved on. He knew they were right. Unfortunately, he told himself two more Losers will not make much a difference out there. We’re vastly outmanned in every way. We will only be successful through a combination of precision, fearlessness and more than a little luck.

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

Though some distance away from the Evil Emperor Penguin’s Castle in New Wystuv’ryy, Hugh Taylor spent another moment delighting in the fact that they were far closer to the EEP than the tyrant could ever imagine. The Losers always suspected they could get this far undetected but were not yet ready to take the risk until they had a reason absolute worth risking it. “So now we wait,” he said out loud to his companions. “I sure wish there was a signal or something,” he added with some regret in his voice.

“No signals,” said Rockhopper Lad. “Everyone else will be where they need to be,” he said reassuringly. Hugh had been overruled about the use of a signal to alert the others that the plan would be ready. Instead it would be a specific hour of the day and every one of them was required to be in place by that time. It was a risky move but so was everything else they’d be doing.

“I’m sure no one will forget the time either,” smiled Rockhopper Lass. Her smile was infectious to the others and they couldn’t help but follow suit. The time to begin was 12:34, as chosen by Shark Lad, and when they agreed on it Timbewolf laughed so hard that no one dared disagree with it.

“Once it hits, we’ll do our thing,” said Shark Lad of Earth-1, “and you all can get off and do yours. Right, partner?” he added with a smile.

“Right,” said the Shark Lad of Earth-4. He had rejoined the Losers just in time for the big assault on the Evil Emperor Penguin, and the two Shark Lads had been inseparable since. It was difficult to distinguish the two from one another at first, but their personality quirks became more apparent over time.

“17 minutes to go,” said Time Teller Lad with a smile. He was glad his powers were contributing so importantly.

Assembled together were Rockhopper Lad, Rockhopper Lass, Time Teller Lad and Hyvvie the Wonder Beagle, both Shark Lads, Hugh Taylor, Beagz, Portfolio Girl and Hummingbird. Theirs would be the first assault no New Wystuv’ryy with duel intent: The Rockhoppers would sneak off in hopes to confront the Evil Emperor Penguin at long last while the others initiated the ‘shock and awe’ element of the assault. With the Shark Lad’s able to grow in size, Beagz’ super-speed, Portfolio Girl’s “monsters”, Hummingbird’s sound powers and Hugh Taylor’s ability to bounce around the city, they would be the ultimate distraction. Their goal would be to cause confusion, weaken the Emperor’s forces wherever possible and keep the enemy so busy they would not know where the real attack was coming from. Soon after that, additional groups of Losers would begin their own assault so it would come in waves, causing panic and confusion among them.

“Are you up for this?” said Portfolio Girl to Hummingbird. The former was a grizzled SMB veteran who had a wicked streak about her that was sometimes endearing and sometimes annoying. Likely it came from being the zookeeper to an army of monsters within her ‘porfolio attaché case’.

“I am,” replied Hummingbird firmly. She was a former member of the SMB Academy and therefore younger than the SMBers. But she’d been a Loser openly in rebellion for quite awhile now—the term ‘battle hardened’ was an understatement.

“We all are,” said Hugh Taylor equally as firmly. Since their rescue, the SMBers had fallen right in with the Losers and helped fill out their ranks. Despite some of the difference in age and experience, there was no doubt the Losers had the respect of the Society of Message Board Posters. Still, it was something Hugh always kept an eye on.

“Good,” said Portfolio Girl with a smile. “Because this one is for all the marbles.”

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

In the center of New Wystuv’ryy, in Old Gotham, a giant statue stood of a great man from a thousand years earlier. His name had been lost to time but all that was known was he fought for truth and justice in the form of a caped crusader dressed as a bat. The statue had grown old and degenerate, and no one paid it much attention. Which is precisely what the Losers had counted on, as they pushed open the right foot of the statue from within, letting freezing cold air enter the tunnel. “One of these days,” said Lightning Lass with a smile, “you’ll have to tell me how in the world you learned about this old tunnel.” Ayla was a sassy one and knowing the big battle was coming had her in high spirits. Learning about a secret way into the city from an abandoned ravine outside its limits only furthered that feeling.

“Maybe,” said Bat-Fem. “But probably not.”

“You’re not even from our Earth,” said the ever grim Satan Claws Cramer. “I guess you never know when you might need to sneak in here and do some killing.” Lightning Lass laughed; Satan Claws was a gritty as she was grim. She looked forward to the day when the SMB could restore the old ‘no killing rule’, but during war time, such things could not be a concern.

“Something like that,” said Bat-Fem, though she did not smile. She felt it unnecessary to tell them her predecessor, the first Bat-Fem who had been from Earth-4 had told her about this secret tunnel once in passing.

“15 minutes until shock and awe time,” said Cuddly Beaver, also emerging.

“We need to move another few blocks to get into full position,” said Bat-Fem. “Tell them to hurry up,” she added.

Cuddly Beaver turned to do a she asked. Following them were Karate Kid, Grev Mallor and Super Dense Kid. “We’re coming,” said Super Dense Kid in complaint but Bat-Fem and the others ignored it.

“It’s been many months since you broke me out of my own prison,” said Karate Kid, emerging from the tunnel. “It will be a pleasure to give someone else that favor.”

The goal of this group was to free all the remaining prisoners in the Evil Emperor Penguin’s prison. This included a vast array of people from all over Earth-4, including many wealthy businessmen, world leaders and other dignitaries. Most important to the Losers were those that could assist in the battle, particularly the remaining SMBers: the SMB Leader Seahorse, her paramour Ratmage, Twilightcrawler, Stupendous Mountain Lion, Kid Heavyfeathers, Salad Tosser Lad, Eryk Davis Ester and others. Even Earthgov President, Numf-El, himself a former SMBer, would be useful.

The group of Losers moved quietly through the streets with Karate Kid and Bat-Fem at their lead.

“Up there,” said Satan Claws Cramer, nodding in the direction ahead of them. She sniffed deeply and her look indicated her heightened senses told her that was the right way. “I can smell blood.”

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

“There are so many of them I do not know,” said Helena Handbasket, taking a moment to look at the large crowd of Losers behind her. She was referring to the fact that many of their number were not former SMBers or SMB Academy members, or even super-powered for that matter. Just resistance fighters who would not stand by and let their home be consumed by tyranny.

“Same here, and I’ve served with them far longer than you,” said Seth. “I only know they’re heroes. Each and every one.”

She nodded at that. Helena had been a Commander of non-powered soldiers for many years prior to her time on Legion World and she was a natural choice to lead this segment of the rebellion. Once the ‘shock and awe’ began, they would wait until their designated time, and then send out another wave.

Both of them turned as they saw some of their fellow Losers approaching. “We’re going to split off now,” said Danny Blaine. He let out a big sigh. “I guess we’ll see you out there.”

“Indeed,” said Helena, then adding. “Good luck. All of you.”

They nodded, as Danny Blaine, Monkey-Eater Lad, Infra-Red Lass, Atypical Lass, Outdoor Miner and Ghost Girl went off on their own. They were another wave in the ongoing assault and had their own position to get into.

Helena turned to Seth and put her hand in his. Both were ready for the battle to begin. Now was the hardest part—the waiting. The two walked over to the others. They were still some distance away from the city but they had more time than the others as they were coming in different waves. The second assault had just departed, and now the third assault was gathering. Helena and her group were the fourth and final assault.

“Looking a little sparse,” said Seth Gaterra to Saturn Guy, who they moved next to.

“I told you they would never come,” said Saffron Kid. He did not look happy about being right; in fact, he looked pretty disappointed.

Saturn Guy ignored the comment, so Helena asked him her own question. “Any readings on the EEP himself? Or any of the other Captains?” she asked. Saturn Guy was the SMB’s resident telepath so she had wondered why he did not try to make contact with the EEP previously

“I don’t want to risk it,” he said. “I’m convinced they have a telepath among their numbers,” he said. “And a powerful one at that if they’ve been able to hide themselves from me so well for so long. Any move I make might alert the telepath to our presence.”

“As long as they don’t have another emissary on Dev Em’s level…” said Saffron Kid bitterly. He was in pretty bleak spirits, Helena noticed. And then suddenly, as a series of gasps were let out by the soldiers among them, she knew that something might have arrived to change all that.

Saffron Kid turned to see what they were all looking at and his eyes went wide. Silence fell among the crowd of Losers.

Before them were the most famous super-villains of Earth-4: The Primary Colors Gang. Gay Green Giant, a giant green butch lesbian; Big Blue Mean Mutha, Blue Cheese Lad and Bluetooth Kid, all three of the various ‘blue’ incarnations; Red Menace, the scourge of Mars; the infamous Kid Blackout, perhaps the most terrifying and most truly evil of the PCG; and of course, their leader, Yellow Kid.

Yellow Kid had a bemused look on his face at the gathering. “I got your message,” he said with a smile, noting the surprise on all their faces.

“Uncle?” said Saffron Kid. “You’ve come! But…but why…?” he asked. On Earth-1 where the LMB were from, Yellow Kid reformed in the LMB’s third year and joined the superhero team. Here on Earth-4, that had never occurred and the PCG remained arch enemies of the SMB to the present day.

“The Primary Color Gang bows to no one,” he said. “Especially a foreign tyrant,” he added. The others nodded in agreement, except Kid Blackout, who showed no emotion at all.

“The enemy of my enemy is my friend,” said Saturn Guy, extending his hand out to Yellow Kid. “We’re glad for your assistance Art,” he added. After all these years, despite being enemies, there was some familiarity between the SMB and the PCG, Helena could see.

Helena Handbasket had gotten to know Yellow Kid during her early days on Legion World. The Earth-1 Gay Green Giant as well. There was a lot to like. Seeing him suddenly—and so similar—was a shock to her. She stepped forward, to Seth and many other’s surprise. “Yellow Kid,” she said. “It’s an honor to have you at our side. I knew your Earth-1 counterpart.”

Yellow Kid smiled but something in his eyes revealed a hint of sadness. The ‘blues’ and Gay Green Giant shifted uncomfortably. “Alas,” said Yellow Kid, “I did not. But I have heard of his heroic exploits.” He paused for a moment, unsure if he could continue. It became clear he could not hold back what he meant to say. “I regret not meeting the man. Learning of his life on Earth-1…let’s just say it’s made me reevaluate things.”

Helena did not press any further, respecting the notorious villain’s privacy. Perhaps he was looking for redemption—that was something she knew very well.

It was then that Kid Blackout spoke, and his cruel, monstrous voice actually spoke for them all. “We’re ready to begin,” he said. “Let’s crush the Emperor Penguin once and for all.”

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

In the New Loser Cave, Gear stood back from the machinery and seemed to be content in being done with it. “I believe we’re ready for the powersource,” he said.

Lolita nodded. “It’s right over here,” she said, walking it over to him. Doing so made her think about Kalla Hrykos and Timberwolf. Since Kalla had handed over the powersource, something had changed in Lolita’s feelings about her, and even about Lon. She felt closer to them—bonded by battle. For the first time, she felt clearly that she had made the right choice in coming to Earth-4 with this half of the Fellowship. I wonder where they are now? she thought. Knowing them, while the others have their plans of attack coordinated, the two of them have something special planned. She realized her thoughts were not without some admiration.

“Who is the second glass for?” asked Polka Dot Kid suddenly. It was killing him—he had to know. Faraway Lad had poured two glasses of port some time ago but had just let them sit there. Since he hadn’t poured five of them, Polka Dot knew it was not for them.

Faraway Lad grinned. “A very handsome man, actually.” Nearby, Lolita couldn’t help but smile. “He should be here any moment.”

“I’m here now, Darden,” said a still, rough voice several feet away as they all turned. Very slowly emerging from the shadows, they could see a familiar boot, and then a familiar costume.

“Another Faraway Lad?” asked Zhiya. Her senses picked up on his scent immediately.

“From Earth-1,” said Polka Dot Kid, figuring out who he was exactly.

“Welcome Darden…” said Faraway Lad of Earth-4, but he stopped short. Being a master of diplomacy he knew better than to stare but the Polka Dot Kid, Gear and Lolita let their surprise show for a moment.

Faraway Lad of Earth-1, fresh from the atrocities of Daroon, looked gaunt, sick, hurt and exhausted as he moved forward. His skin was pale and there were deep purple bags under his eyes. “Is that port, old friend?” he said with a forced smile, though even he could not hide his pain. “I would love a glass.”

“Here, Darden,” said his counterpart, giving it to him. “Is it rough then in the United Planets?”

“Yes,” said Faraway Lad. “But we were victorious on Daroon. Not without great cost. But here I am, glad to be here. Imagine my surprise when this young lady and yourself showed up at the most unexpected time to request my presence.”

“You said you had some unfinished business to attend to,” said Lolita walking over to him, “I didn’t know it was so serious.” She gave him a tight hug. Lolita considered Faraway Lad as something of a father figure in a way. “I’m sorry.”

“No worries, Lolita. I’m here now. And my powers remain as strong as ever,” he added.

The Earth-4 Faraway Lad nodded. “Then let’s have a glass, old friend, and get started.”

The two clinked their glasses together and drank. Lolita smiled at that, pushing her concern for Faraway Lad out of her mind. Once the Earth-4 Faraway Lad had his powers restored, the first thing she had him do was recruit the Earth-1 Faraway Lad, who would also be needed. Then they made another even more critical stop before returning to put the mechanical and engineering aspect of their plan in place. It just may work… she thought, but her attention turned to Zhiya who suddenly tensed up. “What is it, Zhiya?” she said.

“I can hear them,” replied the blind ninja. “The battle has started. The fight for Earth-4 has begun at last.”
 

---

Posted by Dev - Em on :
 
Somewhere in United Planets Space

Dev Em flew through space at a calculated speed. He had triple checked his calculations and knew when he had to be at a good spot to join some friends on a trip into the Oval.

As he flew, his mind went back to everything that had happened since he had barely begun his stint as Security Chief of Legion World. He had been drawn into an intergalactic war, and was just now finally being proactive…instead of the reactive spot he had found himself in lately.

He had contacted Legion World, only to find that his request for a replacement in light of the situation he had found himself in on Daroon had never made it in to the appropriate authorities, or that they had ignored them and had him dismissed for some reason he couldn’t figure out based on what he was reading. Lightning Lad had never gotten his communications of what was happening, and that he was trapped on Daroon. He also could not grasp where they had thought he had appointed Question Lad as Chief…but that was something he would have to deal with when he got back. He had resent the communications to the appropriate people, in anticipation of questions that would arise. He had followed what protocol he could, and was a little annoyed that things had gotten this messed up.

He grinned a little when he saw his goal in sight. Grife…how does Lon know this stuff? When a ship is going to be where in deep space…to almost an exact location.

He activated his communications mouthpiece that allowed him to communicate with others in space. “This is Dev Em of the LMB requesting permission to come aboard.”

He waited for a moment, and the channel opened in his earpiece, “Permission granted Dev Em of the LMB…we’re glad to see you.”

Dev smiled as he recognized Kent Shakespeare’s voice. He arced toward the Battle Cruiser in front of him, the legendary “Dragon’s Teeth.”

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

Hrun the Barbarian greeted Dev Em as he entered the ship.

“Welcome aboard!” he all but shouted and gave Dev a huge hug. “I remember the last time I saw thee very well, it was a night for the ages!”

Dev smiled as he remembered then night on Legion World. “That it was.”

Kent walked up to him and Dev was surprised to see CJ Taylor with them as well.

He looked at Kent with a quizzical look on his face, and Kent just smiled.

“Thanks for the lift guys. Not sure how I would have made it in if not for you.”

“You would have found a way,” Kent said as he turned to lead Dev and CJ to another room.

[ December 14, 2011, 01:36 PM: Message edited by: Dev - Em ]
 

---

Posted by Angdar Fel on :
 
Weber's World

Angdar Fel’s ship docked on Weber’s World.

He did post landing work and exited the ship where he was met by three very official looking individuals. All had uniforms and all wore blasters. The lead one simply said, “…please come with us.”

They walked for a while and then into a building that seemed very small. Two of the men stayed with Angdar while the third went to meet with another person in the shop.

Seconds later they were moving again. They went through the back room, into a stairwell and then down a long hallway. Angdar felt a bit uncomfortable, as he disliked being underground.

The finally entered a small room and the three motioned for him to get into an elevator.

“When this door opens, you will meet the people that have brought you here.”

The doors closed, and he felt the sensation of moving upwards.
 

---

Posted by Lard Lad on :
 
Hive planet,
The Dark Oval

Lardy walked behind the rest of the group as he took in their surroundings.

squish-squish-squish

They were all dead silent as they followed the Princess, so all he could hear was the wetness of their footsteps. He couldn't help but feel that something just wasn't right about this place. Besides the fact that they were inside the home of untold millions of killer insects, that is.

The whole place just seems so...so...organic! he thought.

He thought that the moistness of the ground and their surroundings might be caused by insectoid secretions and all that, but he wasn't so sure.

Then there was the awful, putrid stench of the place. Even being sealed off within his exo-armor, the smell got in and just made him constantly feel like he was going to vomit!

It just seems like it's worse than any insect droppings or secretions could ever smell! It smells...like death.

Lardy looked up and around him at the hoards of insects seemingly going about their normal business. Everywhere he looked, they were covering the walls and apparently feeding on them. He wondered if this place could actually be alive...or if it had once been.

He shuddered. Never had Lardy thought of himself as being claustrophobic, but the combination of being sealed up in his armor and the sense of being constantly surrounded and enclosed were causing him to sweat profusely.

But even beyond that, there was something--familiar?--about this place that he couldn't define. Perhaps it was some kind of attunement with Wyandotte's brainwaves, he thought. Wyandotte had formidable powers of mental domination, and he was also essentially a twisted alternate universe version of himself.

But, no, Lardy didn't think that was it. It was something about the very nature of this place that he couldn't put his finger on.

"Lardy!" came a familiar voice suddenly, interrupting him from his thoughts. Lardy thought he'd jump out of his armor until he quickly realized it was just Cobalt. "You're falling behind, buddy--and what's with the glowing?"

"Glowing?" Lardy repeated his friend's words absently. For a moment he panicked, thinking the red glow of the corrupted Lard Force had returned, until he noticed the glow was of a yellowish hue.

Remembering something, Lardy pulled out a sealed flask from his pouch. He held it up and saw the faint flicker of light within was as dim as it was when he'd received it.

"What's that?" Cobie asked.

"This? I'd nearly forgotten about it. Kalla Hrykos gave it to me right before the Fellowship broke. She said it contained a small expression of her power that, when opened, would light the way if we ever needed it in total darkness."

"Kalla did that? But you guys hate each other!"

"I dunno, man. I think that all we went through as a Fellowship has changed her."

"You're sure it's not booby-trapped, then?"

Lard grinned. "Not entirely! I've no intention of using it if I don't have to...just in case!"

"Yeah, well, the glow doesn't seem to be coming from that."

"Yeah, it's not. I wonder..."

Lardy thought of something. The necklace Lucifer lass had given him, the locket on which contained the eye of XXXauron they would need to destroy in order to insure that same Dark Lord's defeat.

From another pouch he pulled the necklace out and confirmed to his friend that it was indeed the source of the glow.

"Has it ever done that before?" Cobie said, half amazed and half concerned.

"No, it hasn't." Lardy looked around and something suddenly clicked. "I think I know what this is, Des," he said motioning around their surroundings. "The eye in this locket belonged to Pornis's father. I think this Hive planet that we're inside right now...I think it's what's left of Pornis!"

Cobie looked at his friend for a long moment after those words left his mouth. Finally he said, "shit. I...think you're right."
 

---

Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
 
The Dominion,
The Dark Oval

“Step forward,” said a rude, rough voice that was muffled a blue helmet. The United Planets Soldier speaking was essentially indistinguishable from the other five soldiers with him except that he was the one talking.

“Excuse me?” said Kid Vudoo incredulously. He still could not believe this was happening. “Are you really insisting on taking us prisoner? We’re members of the freaking LMB! We’re all on the same side here! We don’t have time for this.”

“The General will be the judge of that, Legionnaire,” replied the voice with a sarcastic emphasis on the word ‘Legionnaire’.

Knightress, the famous female Space-Knight put her hand on the sword by her side. She looked at Tomar-Tu, her commander to see what his orders might be. “We can end this quickly, Tomar,” she said, as if the soldiers did not exist in the room.

Tomar ignored the implication. “The General has no authority over the Space Knights Templar either,” he said to the solider calmly.

“The General will be the judge of that!” repeated the soldier.

“Let’s just go,” said Dedman, finally. “We might as well see the General and be done with it.”

The four companions were an odd sight to the UP soldiers: two famous members of the legendary Legion of Message Board Posters and two well-known members of the Space Knights Templar. They were traveling back through the Dominion—now occupied by the United Planets Navy under the command of General Belisarius—on their way back to the United Plants. They had expected no complications and figured they would arrive back at Weber’s World quickly. They news they bore with them was frighteningly important. The first shock came when the soldiers responded to them as if they were enemy combatants. Though Knightress was ready to fight them, the other three kept their heads. The second shock followed: when they were placed under arrest.

“You have to admit this is odd,” said Kid Vudoo to a soldier. The soldier shrugged but Kid Vudoo could see underneath his helmet with his super-vision powers. The soldier had a look of distaste and skepticism on his face. He obviously did not like arresting LMBers either. “Can you at least tell us why we are arrested?”

“General Belisarius has issued an order that all members of the LMB and Space Knights Templar are to be arrested on sight,” said another soldier. “For charges of insubordination.”

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

The four were brought to a holding cell though no one dared place shackles on them. “If we need to, we can just break out,” said Dedman.

Tomar Tu nodded. “It should be easy enough. Still, this entire debacle is alarming. Has General Belisarius really turned on us? Why? What charges of insubordination?”

“I’ve heard the General was a hard man,” said Knightress. “But not this hard.”

Kid Vudoo looked out beyond the cell to see his surroundings. His eyes could pick up on the behaviors of the soldiers, especially when they believed they were going unnoticed. “There seems to be a general sense of anxiety around them,” he said. “As if they know something is wrong. While I enjoy thinking we’re all famous and enough to cause that, I wonder if perhaps something else is wrong?”

Suddenly their attention turned as the door opened. Three people entered: the first without a helmet but dressed in more decorative attire; the other two were common soldiers. “Leave us,” said the first and the two soldiers did. He was older, in his late 50’s, with graying hair that was once red, and thick mutton chop sideburns. He had a weathered look about him and his demeanor suggested he was not one for formalities and luxury. “I’m General Kilrain,” he said. “I answer directly to General Belisarius.

“Then perhaps you can tell us what’s going on?” said Dedman immediately. “Not only is this unusual, its downright illegal.”

“I’m afraid out here in occupied territory, the term “legal” means whatever the General wants it to mean,” replied Kilrain with a bit of dark humor in his voice that indicated he did not find it funny. “That is not good for either of your groups.”

“What do you mean?” said Knightress. “The soldiers indicate some sort of grudge Belisarius has against the LMB and the Space Knights.”

“I’m afraid that is accurate, though for you Space Knights its only because your order was founded by two Legionnaires—one being Cobalt Kid, who Belisarius hates most of all.” Kilrain sighed deeply. He realized his next actions would make him cross a line he never imagined he would. “The General is intent on destroying the Dominators once and for all and turning their Empire into UP space. He’s become obsessed with making the victory total. And at some point, he’s become convinced there was some slight done by the LMB against him, trying to undermine him.”

“Ridiculous,” said Kid Vudoo.

“Aye,” said Kilrain, “I know.” Those words said enough and they understood the man was not their enemy. “This war has done something to the man…I’ve known him since he was just a lad…but he’s become someone other than himself.”

“Surely these grudges can be set aside,” said Tomar Tu. “We’re all allies with the same goals.”

“I’m not so sure of that,” said Kilrain. “The General’s goals are known to only him at this point. I can tell you this, though. The General means to hang you.”

The words hit them like a bucket of water. Immediately, rage filled the hearts of Knightress and Dedman; Kid Vudoo was too flabbergasted to speak; only Tomar Tu took the words in stride. “The General goes too far,” he said.

“You have no idea. That is the start of it. Hang you all and all of your brethren. And Rao knows what he intends to do with the Dominion. Listen to me, and listen to me well now,” he added, cutting them off before anything happened. “The General has learned of an army on the march, making its way towards the UP. A huge, massive army. I’ve told him we need to engage. But it remains far away, and we would have to leave our current position. Belisarius has made it clear we will not engage.”

“What are you saying?” said Knightress, her eyes wide and her mouth twisted in anger.

“Belisarius is not going to fight?” said Kid Vudoo. “He’s going to let the Dark Oval army march right into the UP?”

“He doesn’t care where it goes,” said Kilrain. “He only cares about crushing the Dominion and then knowing Rao knows what with it. Including ridding it of the likes of you.”

“This is outrageous!” said Dedman.

“Of all the times,” said Tomar Tu, “we can’t afford for this in-fighting. We have to stay united. If an army marches into the UP. If—“ he stopped, realizing suddenly where an attacking army might go. “Weber’s World?”

“Where I’d bet money if I was a betting man,” said Kilrain.

The seriousness of what they learned overtook them now and all of them fell into silence. “We won’t let ourselves be hanged,” said Knightress at last.

“You won’t have to,” said Kilrain. “I’m freeing you. You need to get to the UP and tell them what’s happening. They think the General is just being difficult. But its far worse than that. He’s digging in here in the Dominion and he means to stay here. Something needs to be done.”

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

Hours later, the four companions were on their way, traveling in secret and silence. Soon, they left the Dominion to enter the Contested Territories, and would make a sharp turn towards Weber’s World.

None of them said anything but knew they shared the same thoughts. If we lose the UP army in the Dominion, thought Kid Vudoo, our offensive forces are a joke and we leave the UP open to attack. The war will be lost.

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

“I have been betrayed many times in my life, Buster,” said General Belisarius, “but none hurt more than this.” He stood right in front of Kilrain, who could still see him through beaten and battered eyes.

“Aye,” said Kilrain, “and the same goes for me. I’ve known you for thirty years, Sir. I’ve seen you grow up. First into a great man, worthy of your parents. And now into this. You speak of betrayal, but its you that’s done the betraying. To me and every soldier in this army.”

General Belisarius laughed. “Every soldier in this army is loyal. Only you have gone against my orders and allowed our enemies to escape.”

Kilrain spat, a combination of blood and phlegm. “Every one of us believes in what we are doing. Protecting the UP. You took that from us. And you’ve turned into something else. Something I want no part of, and I know the lads wouldn’t either. You can lie to them all you want, but they’ll see it. And you can lie to yourself too. But you know its wrong. You have a duty Sir,” he finished.

General Belisarius smiled. “Don’t speak to me of duty, traitor,” he said. He looked at Kilrain, who he had known all his life. The man was like an uncle to him—always some roughspun wisdom; always a kind word. With him by his side, he felt invincible in his decisions. Yet Buster Kilrain could not see they had been undermined every step of the way in this war. They had been robbed of their glory so the shiny Legionnaires could take it once again. They had conquered the great Dominion and could not afford to give it up. He promised to follow Belisarius to the ends of the Earth—and then he reneged.

The two men stared at one another, silence speaking volumes.

“Hang this traitor,” said Belisarius at last, turning around to walk away. “And give me an update on Elia.”

Buster Kilrain tried to remember what Belisarius was like when he was just a lad. But as they tied the rope around his neck, he somehow could not. All he could think about was those two Legionnaires and two knights. If they could get word to Weber’s World, they could save the UP. They could make sure he had done some good.

The choking was painful but did not last long.
 

---

Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
 
Weber's World was abuzz with activity, more so than it had been in a while. Bureaucrats, ambassadors, soldiers, guards and servants all scurried about to keep things running.

The young man stared at the headlines. Several LMBers had been sighted all around the United Planets, keeping order and defending innocents as best they could. Speculation was rampant as to which LMBers WEREN'T being seen, though... and why.

Some LMBers' absences were more notable than others. Rockhopper Lad, the current leader. Cobalt Kid and Lard Lard, because of their famous exploits. The powerful Tempest, who had been seen on Weber's World. Dev-em and Power Boy, who were among the most powerful.

And Invisible Brainiac.

The young man looked at the message IB had sent him. It told him precious little; just that he was safe and very far away.

It also told him so much. That he had taken the time to send an update meant a lot.

So was the message itself. A characteristically cheeky message - "I knew you'd miss me if I didn't write Just wanted to let you know I'm still alive. Don't worry, I haven't made any new playmates!"

And a more serious little verse after:


I'm shivering in the cold of space
If only I could see your face
The thought of you keeps me nice and warm
And makes me feel like I'll come to no harm

Soon we'll see each other again
Hold me tight, I won't complain
We'll go into space to see the view
So I can tell you, that I love you[/i].

The message floated on the table in his room, a beautiful light scuplture frozen in time. Teardrops stained the tabletop. He usually hated poetry, but IB's poems had that effect on him.

A corona of fire enveloped him. With a start, he snuffed it out. IB had helped him learn to control it, but he was still working on it. He did enjoy how warm it felt - but he enjoyed the warmth of IB's arms even more.

He made up his mind. He'd master his powers, and then he'd join the fight for the United Planets. He'd make sure there was a home for when his heart came home.
 

---

Posted by Rockhopper Lad on :
 
Earth-4,
The Dark Oval
The Emperor's Palace

The Emperor stood on the balcony of his palace, flanked by Blaine Fey and Tempus.

“They are on their way, my lord,” Tempus reported. “They will be here in nine minutes and forty-seven seconds.”

“Let them come, Tempus! They will meet with the same end as all who have opposed us!”

“Of course, my love,” Blaine nodded. “We will be victorious, as we ever have been.”

The Emperor smiled in agreement, but inside, hidden even from the two beings he allowed to be closer to him than any others, he thought about the battle to come. He knew who was leading the charge. He had faced his double before with bravado. He never showed anything but contempt for him, dismissing his idealistic notions and devotion to tradition. He never showed his true feelings.

He was frightened. He was more frightened than he had ever been in his life.
 

---

Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
 
Hive planet,
The Dark Oval

Cobalt Kid continued to move with the rest of the Legionnaires as the slushing sound of their footsteps became a repetitive, never-ending pattern of noise. He focused on it entirely, forcing himself to ignore the putrid stench of the cavern they were in. More than that, he ignored the total disgust he now felt after the realization of where they were. Once Lard Lad said it, confirming an inkling he had, it became increasingly obvious that the Hive “Planet” was actually the rotting corpse of a giant, cosmic entity that was being continually fed on by the Hive. All around him was the decaying organs and tissue of the being that may have been Pornis, slowly disintegrating over a process that took years and years. The sheer scope of it—a giant cosmic entity rotting in open space—was too difficult to comprehend in terms of how it was happening; the why was awful enough for now.

All around them the bugs continued to weave in and out of their path, generally ignoring them because of the Princess’ pheromones. Yet he could hear them crunching away and feeding on the carcass, growing ever stronger.

None of them said anything and continued on.

Up ahead, Goon Boy appeared to be in good spirits, happy to see the Princess of the Hive and that made Cobalt all the more alarmed. It all felt like they were walking into a classic trap, though the always present practical side told him that if it was a trap, why not simply alert the Hive to their presence as they would undoubtedly be obliterated in seconds. Despite their powers, they were so out of their league it caused an anxiety that was close to breaking them.

All of it was getting to them. The exhaustion of the journey thus far. The nausea of their surroundings. The claustrophobia of their further decent into the grandiose corpse. The alarming knowledge that they were deep into an alien territory unexplored for a millennia, surrounding by enemies and with one ally whose very nature made her dangerous.

As he moved forward to the squish squish squish he began to feel a buzzing sound in his mind, but it was too low level for him to notice it at first. Always one to feel an obligation to his duty as an LMBer above all else, to a fault even, he pushed on and ignored all the pain and disgust.

The buzzing continued to grow stronger as they grew ever closer.

And soon new feelings began to hit him. I’ve placed all this trust in Goon Boy—how could be seduced? Has he doomed us all?

Invisible Brainiac is much like I was…only without having his spirit crushed and his trust in others vanquished. He’s pure and I’m nothing but used goods, a tool for the betterment of the United Planets until one day I’ll be discarded when its clear my ways no longer have a place in civilized society. It’s always been a great relief to me to see him maintain that innocence…yet it is so unfair…

Tempest deceived me all those years ago! My second wife, Viviane, was nothing but a mockery. I loved her and she’s gone as if she never existed. Tempest did it. SHE KILLED HER!

Power Boy carries on as if this is fun for him. How delightful it must be to not know suffering. There’s an easy remedy for THAT!

They would imprison Lard Lad if they had a chance! I would kill them all before it came to that! But perhaps…Lardy is the one whose existence threatens us all…. The final thought suddenly made him physically cringe as if he was at war with himself. NO! They’ve brainwashed me to think that…! He immediately felt guilty for the thoughts, his sense of self overriding the evil thoughts, but that guilt quickly turned into blame towards the others…

He was growing angrier and angrier. Years and years of bitterness creeping up into his throat, as if it was choking him.

I swore I would raze the entire galaxy if it meant saving Legion World and the LMB. I would mutilate thieves, geld rapists and hang traitors. Am I surrounded by traitors now?

Cobalt’s pace began to slow down. He was unaware the others were feeling similar things. The awful effect of Harold Ryan Wyandotte’s mental domination took over. He only knew that he had to strike first and eliminate these traitorous enemies.
 

---

Posted by Lolita on :
 
Earth-4,
The Dark Oval

"INYUK CHUK!"

The call went out as a rallying cry throughout the city of New Wystuv’ryy, and indeed, planet-wide. Two giant-sized Shark Lads hulked through the city and destroyed everything in their paths as the full defenses of the Evil Emperor Penguin rained down upon them. Spurred on by one another, they grew increasingly more full of rage.

“This is incredible,” said Hugh Taylor, playing his part in directing this aspect of the assault. Nearby, the Loser known as Hummingbird was using her sound powers to full effect, while down below in the streets the super-speedster Beagz was disarming every soldier in sight and dismantling their guns before they could be reclaimed.

“Isn’t it, though?” smiled Portfolio Girl, who watched his side. Her briefcase hung open as the full fury of her monsters had been unleashed upon the city. Horrific, slithering ones next to silly ones and so many more nearby.

Hugh ran down a series of stairs to get into the action himself. “We’re really doing it,” he said to himself with a smile.

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

The city’s west side had a natural border as the suburban area grew into a series of hills, small at first and then turning into a large mountain. It provided beautiful scenery, especially when covered with ice and snow as it was now. But it also provided for an excellent launch point for a cadre of rebels. On skis.

They came flying down the mountain and then hills on skis covered in white camouflage feeling the adrenaline of the assault. Yellow Kid, of the Primary Colors Gang, laughed a deep, hearty laugh and the other PCG members followed suit. Soon, even the other Losers were doing it. The ski assault of New Wystuv’ryy had begun.

Helena Handbasket and Seth Gaterra led the charge as the sheer bravado of the assault took the enemy forces completely by surprise.

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

The cold, barren iron of his cell prevented most noise from ever making its way inside. Being purposely built in a ‘magic dead zone’, even his spells could not extend any awareness of what was happening outside. For many long years, Ratmage has suffered in silence. Any lesser man would be totally broken, but the Ratmage known as Stu was no lesser man. He knew the love of his life, Seahorse, was nearby, and she would be equally as strong.

And so it went, day after day, week after week, month after month.

And it all came to a crashing end with a mighty kick that folded up steel like it was paper, as Karate Kid and Bat-Fem stood before him when the dust began to clear. “Ratmage,” said Bat-Fem firmly, “the War for Earth has begun…and your planet needs you.” She extended a hand to pick him up. He was dazed and confused for a few moments but soon took it, and got to his feet.

Farther down the corridor, the longtime leader of the Society of Message Board Posters herself felt similar emotions. Seahorse’s super-hearing alerted her to new voices in the prison and a subsequent melee. Though at first taken by surprise, she backed away from the door to her cell, hoping beyond hope, that it was what she thought it was.

It was. Lightning ripped apart the door and caused it to explode, revealing Lightning Lass and others.

Far off, Seahorse could hear the familiar, rough voice of Satan Claws Cramer as she took on new guards running forward to stop them. “Come on mother fuckers! Make my fucking day!”

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

“I’m just about finished,” said Gear as he checked every detail another time. There was no doubt he had it right from the onset, but Gear was meticulous. He had to be—everything relied on it. “If you two need to begin powering up, I would suggest doing so now,” he added.

Both Faraway Lads nodded. The ragged, gaunt Faraway Lad of Earth-1 put his glass down with some port left in it, while the Faraway Lad of Earth-4 drained his. “Normally we don’t,” said the latter, “but given all we’ve been through recently, it is probably a good idea…”

“Indeed,” said Faraway Lad of Earth-4.

Lolita said nothing, though the concern was apparent on not only her face but her body movement. Her new friend Zhiya was near her side. “We have all suffered because of the Dark Oval,” she said softly to Lolita. “But there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Focus on that.”

Lolita knew she was right, and she reached out her hand to Zhiya’s and squeezed it. She had found strength in many odd places throughout this journey.

Suddenly Zhiya’s body language tensed up, and as Lolita held her hand, she sensed it. Zhiya steadied herself and Lolita could see her listening with her enhanced sense of hearing and also her sense of smell. “The Emperor has sent another emissary. They are quickly approaching.”

“Dammit,” said Polka Dot Kid, who unslung his laser rifle from his shoulder into his arms. “Gear, keep doing what you’re doing and then protect the Faraway Lads,” he said. He turned to Lolita and Zhiya.

“It’s up to us, then,” said Lolita. She felt the familiar fear of pre-battle jitters but knew she had to shrug them off.

In the distance they could hear banging and explosions. The emissary was ripping apart the new Loser Cave. Suddenly Lolita felt a sharp pain in her head and she leaned forward, putting her hand to her face. A telepath. They knew the Evil Emperor Penguin kept one. Lolita suddenly felt as if she was going to fall to the ground as it dawned on her what was happening.

If the Evil Emperor Penguin’s telepath is here, it must mean that it read the mind of one of the Losers and knows about our plan. He or she rushed over to the Loser Cave to stop us. All of our hard work will go down the drain if we’re not successful! “W-we can’t let them get to Gear and the Dardens,” she said. That was obvious, she realized. She couldn’t find the words to tell the other two that this telepath knew exactly what they were doing.

And suddenly the entrance to the cave ripped open as well. Telekinesis.

And once more realization dawned on Lolita as a familiar looking figure stepped forward. The figure was incredibly beautiful—an image of feminine perfection enhanced by a raw strength. She was covered in purple with white fringe white as if she were a great snow Princess. She had an air of authority about her but it was more than that; she looked as if she was truly a Queen. She was clearly royalty.

Her beautiful blue eyes were clear even from thirty feet away. She had flowing blonde-hair coming down her shoulders, highlighting her strong shoulders and full bosom. Her long legs had her standing almost a full foot taller than even Polka-Dot Kid.

Telepathy. Telekinesis. Blonde-Hair. Royalty.

“Oh no,” said Polka-Dot Kid.

“Cru-Crujectra…?” said Lolita.

And the Earth-4 Princess of the House of Jectra smiled an evil grin as she yanked them all forward with her telekinesis.
 

---

Posted by Power Boy on :
 
The Innards of the Hive planet
The Dark Oval

The group trekked on in silence, slowly walking further apart from each other as time went on. The Insect Princess’ elite guard walked at the front and the rear of the fellowship, hedging them in and pushing them on.

They followed the path as it widened and begin to have insect made branches off of the main path. They were approaching some larger space, they could tell as the chasm became broader and broader.

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

Power Boy felt an oppression as they continued. Like a pressure on his head. 'This must be what the terrans call a headache.' He thought. His vision was dimming.

At first he thought it was the … ‘atmosphere’ … climbing through the planet sized corpse of a cosmic being was troubling in many ways. Now he suspected an external cause of the pressure.

Power Boy reflected on his many adventures, and whatever could lay low a being of this size and power was very deadly. Cosmic level entities did not just die like mortals … and they certainly did not leave their corpses to lay about for the eternity required for a race of insectoid beings to root their civilization into their rotting husk. Cosmic beings carried an enormous amount of the power of the universe within them, they balanced the cosmos between them. If a being this large and powerful was dead, then it’s power had shifted elsewhere or elsewhom in the cosmos.

That being would be very powerful indeed.

Power Boy was broken from his thoughts as three of the smaller insectoid guards closed behind him, chittering at him. He didn’t know what they said but they seemed to be getting more and more irritable. They apparently thought it was there job to keep the fellowship from falling behind.

Power Boy gave them a direct look, and they all backed away on their sharp legs.

Way up at the front of the procession, near the Insect Princess, the enormous white man from the waist up, and spider from the waist down looked back at the minor confrontation.

The spider guards regained their composure. Curiously, the guards near the front, near the lead warrior and the Princess remained orderly as they walked, showing little of the stress the rest of them did. Power Boy looked around, every member of the fellowship walked with heavy feet and hunched shoulders. Disaster Boy was withdrawn, his face barely visible from within the hood of his parka. Lard Lad walked with his sword out.

Something was pushing on them, on their minds, and it was more than the labor of walking in this miserable place.

‘The android?’ He thought and looked around. ‘Where had the android gone? He must have taken one of the turns that we passed and left? How did I not notice, this blasted headache is making me dim.’

Tempest stumbled back into him. “We must away from here” She whispered. Her face was pale as if she were sick.

“I’ll get the others.” Power Boy replied as he held her up.

“No, we must get away from here, it’s too late.” She gripped Power Boy’s bicep as she nearly collapsed, her hand went to her temple.

Whatever had been the cause of Power Boy’s throbbing headache, had been at Tempest as well.

“That’s it.” Power Boy touched his shoulder and his Mother Box teleport device appeared on his arm. “I’m getting us out of here.”

At that moment, Invisible Brainiac, Juj, Lard Lad, and Cobalt Kid turned around to stare at Power Boy and Tempest.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“ARRGH!” A magnetic wave of energy surged through Power Boy. His Mother Box device was disrupted and faded away, as did his power baton on his thigh.

Power Boy stood perfectly still and cocked his head at Cobalt Kid, “I didn’t know you could do that.”

“There’s a lot I can do that you don’t know about!! You think you’re so superior, just because you live longer, and your feet don’t have to touch the ground … Well I have powers too ... ”

“I bet he even uses his telekinesis to keep his clothes clean. Such a pretty boy.” Came from Disaster Boy who had moved behind them.

The rear spider guards had pulled back, intending to stay well clear of the deadly air that had just come over the strange humans. The Princess, Goon Boy, and the guards at the front hadn’t noticed yet, they kept walking up the enormous cavern.

Tempest had weakly regained her feet. She said again “Get yourself out. Get help. You’re faster without me.”

SLASH!

“Gah!” A sword slashed across Power Boy’ back, leaving a trail of light leaking out of his body like a human bleeds blood.

Tempest and Power Boy exchanged startled looks.

“Your boyfriend’s going nowhere! I knew you wanted him Tempest! Well, now you two can be together … forever!!” Lard Lad stood with his sword pointed at Power Boy and Tempest as the fellowship closed in on them.

[ December 27, 2011, 09:14 PM: Message edited by: Power Boy ]
 

---

Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
 
The LMB had often looked fierce before, but there was a nobility to them that clearly separated them from the bad guys.

But what Power Boy and Tempest saw now on their comrades' faces was pure, malevolent hatred.

Fast as thought, a telepathic exchange occurred.

"I can't leave you to that." Power Boy said.

"If you don't leave at all, we're dead."

"I can't get far anyway - IB's too fast and help is too far. We have to stand together." With that, Power Boy picked Tempest up and flew, just dodging a sword thrust from Lard Lad.

Waves of magnetic energy and geysers of rock followed them as Cobalt Kid and Disaster Boy tried to bring their allies down. Power Boy dodged them as best he could. "Don't you have enough strength left to shield us?"

"Not yet. I could barely stand, remember?"

"Do something about Juj or Invisible Brainiac, at least. They can follow us."

Tempest craned her neck to look. "They probably already are, I can't see them down be-"

She was cut off abruptly as something twisted the air. Juj the Durlan appeared, as if out of nowhere, shifting his form into a giant roc. He slammed into Power Boy's side and sent him crashing into a rock wall.

"No!" Power Boy wasn't seriously hurt, but Tempest wasn't invulnerable. Even if she survived the fall, she'd be easy prey for the others. But Juj had shifted into a skitterer; his fangs were stabbing at Power Boy's face.

Bad move - Juj should have attacked from a distance. This form was small. Power Boy wrenched Juj from his face and tossed him to the side. Now where was...

A flash of light blinded him. Damn. Invisible Brainiac.

"Still think I'm just some useless kid who can't take care of himself?" The normally cheery voice was dripping with anger and sarcasm. Power Boy noted that it sounded deeper and fuller, too.

Before he could answer, a laser shot into his side. "Argh!" He usually didn't scream, but the heat! It felt like a hole had been punched through his side. Then another laser shot through his leg. And another through his arm. He hadn't felt this much pain in a long time.

He braced himself against the wall and launched himself at IB in a tackle. But he went right through.

"Bet you think you were letting me off easy during our workouts, huh? But it looks like I was the one going easy on you!" As PB regained his footing, IB let loose with a cascading wave of color. It was like an aurora had gone off in his mind.

PB crouched in pain. IB could finish him off easily now. Only one chance, if he could reach his mind...

Just as his own mind reached out, another wave of color washed over him. Even with his eyes closed, he could see it. "IB, no... I always respected you as a great warrior. Especially after our battle with Titus! Please, a true warrior isn't just about strength, but honor. Control yourself!"

"Too late, Peebz. You should have respected me sooner." IB's eyes began to glow, and a second later his whole body followed. "I'm going to enjoy cooking you to a crisp."
 

---

Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
 
Power Boy closed his eyes. If this was his day to die, so be it. He braced himself for the pain.

It never came, though.

"Bad idea, bro! This is one of the dumbest things we've ever thought of doing!"

Peebz opened his eyes to see... another IB absorbing the light from his attacker?

"You okay, Peebz?" Another IB, this one casting a gentle blue glow, came to support him.

"Just my luck. I finally get my hands on you, and we're in the middle of a firefight!" joked another one, as he gave off a yellow light while cradling Tempest in his arms. She spared him a glare. "We still have to leave quickly. Three of you are free, but the other four are mind-controlled."

"And down for the count. Well, almost!" said the IB shielding Power Boy. He noted that this one was green, and thus the "main" IB.

"Allow me." The blue one zipped off and downed their attacker - who had begun glowing red - with a karate chop. He laid him down gently on the cavern floor and made a face. "We're going to stink when we wake up and recombine."

Then, as if in answer to Power Boy's unasked question, he explained. "We split as soon as we reached the homeworld. When Wyandotte started playing with our minds, three of us were unaffected - Green, Yellow and I. Dunno why, but maybe because we're the three nearest the center on the emotional spectrum."

"We'd try to forcibly recombine them, but with four of us affected, we don't wanna risk a restored IB being controlled. So..."

He was cut off as a blast of lightning struck between them.

"As I've been saying since earlier," Tempest repeated, "we should run. I don't want to die at my allies' hands."
 

---

Posted by Lard Lad on :
 
As Power Boy and the blue, yellow and green Invisible Brainiacs contemplated her words, the rear guard of their insect convoy suddenly attacked them and separated them from one another.

Power Boy fought off the ones that had dragged him away and strained to locate the others. It was nearly impossible in the melee that had developed. He would have to--

He was startled as he was suddenly hit with great force by the blunt end of a sword.

"We have unfinished business, Hrykos!" yelled the man who'd just hit him.

Peebz realized very quickly that he faced the enthralled Lard Lad once again. Moreover, Lardy now glowed with a bright red aura.

It's the Lard Force! Peebz thought. And he thinks I'm a Hrykos....possibly the one he killed back when.

Instinctively, Peebz reached toward his thigh for his power baton until he remembered suddenly that Cobalt had made it disappear, along with his Mother Box, earlier.

"Looking for your sword, Hrykos?" Lardy grinned evilly and pulled the baton from his belt and tossed it to him. "Time to settle this once and for all!"

Peebz caught the baton and grasped it just in time to parry a death blow from his enthalled opponent.

What followed was a flurry of blows from both of them that continued to escalate. Peebz soon found himself revelling in the combat. He'd heard tales of Lardy being considered the most dangerous LMBer back when he was empowered, but he'd never had the opportunity to see for himself, much less engage with him in mortal combat before. He began to wonder if Titus had been a warm-up act in comparison to this!

Don't get carried away, Peebz, he thought to himself. But with every fiber of his being, he absolutely wanted to! And, unlike Lardy, he still retained his free will.

-----

Up ahead of the skirmish developing amongst the LMBers, those at the lead began to take notice.

"By the Great Collective," swore the Insect Princess, "Wyandotte has gotten his hooks into them! And we haven't even reached the heart. He shouldn't have been able to sense us, yet! How could he have....?" Suddenly, her glowing eyes latched onto the hulking half-man/half-spider who served as her Captain. "Traitor!"

"No, Majesty, no! I--!"

But his eyes betrayed the guilt she'd already detected in his mind. He was about to either raise up to attack or flee as the Princess morphed up into her true, terrifying form, lunged at him and devoured him.

Watching nearby, Goon Boy seemed strangely non-plussed by this, distracted almost. The Princess morphed back into her humanoid form and took notice of him. He was now holding his head as if he were trying to remove something from it.

"My love?" she said as she approached him. "What is wrong? Your mind is impervious to any mental attack...even from one such as Wyandotte."

Struggling to even speak, Goony managed, "d-dunno, sweetheart....summ'ow...he's gittin' in! C-can't keep fightin' it!"

Her mind raced. Everything was falling apart. Wyandotte had somehow gotten to her Captain and set her up. Her eyes darted around. The insects surrounding them were starting to stray. She tried to reinforce her control, but something was...blocking her pheromones?

She smelled deeply around this main artery that comprised their path. The walls were tainted with a foreign agent that was masked sufficiently to fool her senses at first. In fact she felt strange now, as if---No! She couldn't transform back into her true form now!

She turned back to Goony. "We must retreat!" she screamed.

But his eyes were now blank, and before she could comprehend what was happening, Goony's hands were on her throat.

-----

Deep within the literal heart of the incredibly huge monolith that had once been a god, Harold Ryan Wyandotte watched the carnage unfold on dozens of monitor screens he had mounted along a wall.

"Oh, yes," he said, savoring every moment of his devious plan unfolding, "I will accomplish what so many have tried to do and destroy the hated LMB! These will be but the first to fall, as the rest will do so soon enough! So, too, shall fall your traitorous daughter...right, my 'love'?"

Wyandotte glanced a few feet over to his wife, the Queen of the Hive, where she lay catatonic in a plexiglass cage like some perverted Snow White.

Wyandotte blew the uncomprehending Queen a mock kiss and laughed fiercely in this, his moment of triumph.
 

---

Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
 
Goon Boy’s eyes were now blank, and before the Princess could comprehend what was happening, Goony's hands were on her throat. She gasped and tried to breath but it was no use; stuck in her humanoid form she needed her respitary functions to survive and he was slowly crushing the life out of her. And then suddenly his eyes went wide, and he looked down at his stomach. His hands opened slowly and the Princess fell to the floor gasping for air, which burned as it went into her lungs. Knowing her survival depended on knowing what was happening, she looked up and saw a makeshift spear of metal and bone pointing threw Goon Boy’s abdomen as blood and other gore leaked out.

Goon Boy held his hands up to his face, looking at the blood and the shock of the assault seemed to snap him back to reality and out of the threshold of Wyandotte’s telepathic dominance. He turned and saw his attacker walk forward: Cobalt Kid.

“I’ve often dreamed of this, barbarian,” said Cobalt. “That I could kill you again, but this time slowly. And just like you taught me, a wound to the stomach is the slowest, albeit most painful way to die.” Cobalt’s voice was chilly but there was something different; something unhinged. He was letting his rage show instead of suppressing it like usual.

Goon Boy fell to his knees and tried to speak though he coughed up blood as he did. “Cobie…don’t do this…you’re…not yourself…”

“Did you ever once feel remorse for what you did to me?!” screamed Cobalt as he grabbed the back of Goon Boy’s hair and yanked his head backwards so they were face to face. In Cobalt’s mind he saw the barbarian he called “Dark Conan” that on three occasions delighted in the slow and violating torture he performed on Cobalt Kid. “Did you like choking her just now? You liked choking me. You took great pleasure in strangling your victims you said! Choking and cutting! Those were your things! And then at the last moment, letting your prey live—otherwise you would lose it.”

Cobalt’s anger was so intense that he was trembling. “Now you can choke on your own blood!” he screamed and he threw Goon Boy down to the ground.

He walked over to the Princess slowly who was still recovering and catching her breath. “This is madness!” she said. “You’re being mind-controlled! You must stop! I’ll kill you if I have to!” she said. The last thing she wanted was to lose another soldier but she would what she had to.

“You can try, mother,” said Cobalt Kid. “You did once,” he added, and now his face was covered in grief. He stopped for a moment and put his hands over his face. For many years he had lost the ability to cry though now it seemed he might. Instead, he ripped some of the hair out of his head and screamed at the top of his lungs. It was a piercing, awful scream, held back for sixteen years. He leaned forward, losing his balance.

The Princess prepared to strike but suddenly she realized she was being slowly pushed forward to Cobalt. There were small traces of magnetism in her armor and clothing. Almost minute. But Cobalt was extremely powerful and had honed his power like a master over the years. “Release me!” she yelled in defiance, but it was no use.

He looked up and his face was fresh scratch marks where he scratched his own face in grief, causing it to bleed. “How could do that to your own son?!” he screamed at her. “What kind of monster tries to kill their own son!!!”

Magnetically, he yanked back the spear out of Goon Boy’s body, which caused the fallen LMBer to lurch and begin bleeding at a much faster pace. He would not have long now until death. He held the spear in an attack position, ready to strike.

”Father, Hoffman, Dark Conan…but you were the worst. YOU RUINED ME! ALL I SEE AROUND ME ARE ENEMIES AND ITS BECAUSE OF YOU! AND NOW WE’LL DIE TOGETHER!”

At those words, Cobalt lunged forward to plunge the spear towards the oncoming Princess when suddenly a bolt of lightning ripped through him.

He fell forward, burnt and crispy, as smoke cleared and Tempest stepped forward. “Forgive me, Cobaltus, but I had no choice...and now we may have lost two LMBers in one battle…”
 

---

Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
 
The Blue IB fell to his knees at what he saw. Lard Lad and Power Boy locked in battle; Cobalt Kid and Goon Boy grievously injured.

This was all coming unglued fast.

Grief, pain, rage, all sort of emotions were washing over him. But he had to maintain control and hope.

He ran forward and helped the Princess up. She thanked him quickly, then ran towards Goon Boy.

Blue turned to face Tempest. "Can you help them? Can you do anything to heal them, or to stop Wyandotte from doing this to us?"

She shook her head sadly. "The strength required to resist Wyandotte's telepathy has tired me out. I am not certain if I have the time or the energy to do much more. And I need concentration..."

Her words were cut off by a large wall of flame, and Yellow IB limply falling to the ground with a thud.

Blue IB and Tempest turned and stared in horror as Disaster Boy and a recovered Juj stepped forward. Juj carried an unconscious Green IB.

Disaster Boy sneered. "You think being able to split yourself into 7 makes you so big, huh? Now you're at only one-seventh of your strength!"

"Tempest, run now! Grab the Princess and run!" Blue pushed Tempest away and began to charge his energy. He hoped this would not turn into a fight to the finish. They'd already lost so much...
 

---

Posted by Rockhopper Lad on :
 
The Emperor's Palace
Earth-4
The Dark Oval

As the Battle for New Wystuv’ryy, raged on, Rockhopper Lad, Rockhopper Lass and Hyvvie the Wonder Beagle went off on their own to take down the Emperor.

They approached the palace and found it almost unguarded. Most of the Emperor's guard were engaged in the battle below. It was relatively easy for the Rockhoppers to put the few guards remaining on ice while Hyvvie tracked down the Emperor with his Nose of Wonder.

Finally, the Wonder Beagle led them to a secure door. The Emperor, Blaine Fey and Tempus were within.

Rockhopper Lad was strangely quiet. He seemed almost like he was meditating. He calmly turned to Rockhopper Lass and said, “Adelie, when I tell you, freeze the door and shatter it. Then, you and Hyvvie find someplace safe and hide till I come and get you.”

“Eudyptes, I haven't come all this way to...”

“Adelie, please. Trust me. If either of you enter that room, you will be killed. That I won't allow.” He placed one hand on Adelie and one on Hyvvie.

Seeing the seriousness in his eyes, Adelie nodded.

Rocky remembered an encounter long ago with Pagan Lass, Abin Quank's late wife: