Birds of dissimilar feather (concluded) - 04/07/06 07:58 PM
It should have been a perfect landing.
Dawnstar angled her body to take full advantage of the wind resistance. She spread her wings to their full extent on her approach toward the top of Legion headquarters, using them like brakes to slow her down. A moment before landing, she noticed that the smooth roof was all agleam.
'So help me, if Element Lad has been waxing the roof again ...!'
Her touchdown came when she was barely moving. Her booted feet settled on the surface - and almost slipped out from under her.
The entire roof was covered with ice. She kept her wings unfurled like a drogue chute, flapping them furiously to keep from skidding right off the edge. She almost made it too. For a moment she was in freefall, then she caught enough of the air to take flight once again.
Her landing this time was greeted with the opening of a nearby hatch. The person who emerged was a short boy clad in a blue-and-white outfit. He had a white cap which appeared to be lined with fur, with the same on his arms from elbows to wrists, and on his legs from the knees downward.
"Oh. I forgot to see about getting someone to melt this off. I'm Polar Boy; my super-power is to make things cold."
"I'm Dawnstar, and I'd never have guessed," she replied. "What are you doing at Legion headquarters anyway?"
"Yeah, I know about you. It's application day. At least that's what I understood. So I came to try out, along with some other Legion wannabees."
"By making the roof a skating rink? I'm lucky I had wings when I slid right off."
"Um, well, I'll be more careful next time."
"Can you walk on this? Good. Please come over here."
He approached cautiously. She noted that even he had to walk with great care on the ice.
"You mentioned other applicants. Who are they?"
"Let me see; there's Comet Queen. She can fly, but only in a straight line, and can emit noxious gasses."
"You mean she ... what's the word? - 'farts' to be able to fly."
"Not ... exactly. The gasses can also put a person to sleep, or they can form into a thick fog. Funny, she claims she gained her power from crossing close behind a tail of a comet."
"Ah. Now I remember her. Orange as a carrot."
"Then there's Jed Rikane. He hasn't yet chosen another name for himself. He's the muscular type; a girl named Lamprey, another named Nightwind ..."
"I know both of them very well. We were roommates back at the Legion Academy. Lamprey collects various types of energy and converts them into electrical currents. Nightwind controls winds."
"After that, there's Tellus - who I think resembles a space walrus ..."
She had no idea what a walrus was, but simply nodded as he talked.
"His power is telepathy of a sort. I'm not quite sure what that includes. Umm, there's Quislet, some type of ... I don't know what. He/it lives in a miniature spacecraft. Finally, there's Shikari. She, well, she's a flier; her power is to ... to ... well, I don't think you'd be interested."
His reluctance to talk about this particular applicant made Dawnstar uneasy. He was now close to her, about an arm's-length away, and speaking in hushed, hesitant tones.
She flexed her wings into a half-spread position, then leapt at him just hard enough to knock him onto his back. Before he could sit up, she spun him halfway around so that his feet were nearest the hatchway, then gave a shove to slide him toward it.
A second or so later she was gratified to hear a thump! "Ow!" thump! "Ow!" thump! "Ow!"
By the time she reached the stairwell, Polar Boy was sitting at the base of the stairs, enthusiastically rubbing a very sore rear end.
"What was that for?" he demanded.
"That's because you never once apologized to me for causing me to slip off the roof. I could have been seriously injured in such a fall."
He looked sheepish. "Don't worry. I'll make sure not to do that again. Right now I've got to get downstairs for the tryouts."
As he walked away very gingerly, she realized he still hadn't said he was sorry. 'This one applicant, Shikari ... he didn't say much about her other than that she can fly. I wonder ...'
The possibility chilled her. 'No,' she told herself, 'the Legion wouldn't replace me with her. Would they?'
'Would they?'
The anti-grav lift took Dawnstar quickly to the gymnasium where the applicant trials were taking place. It was a huge chamber encompassed by an elevated half-mile running track, and held a large swimming pool, currently covered to provide additional space.
The first applicant Dawnstar saw was Comet Queen; the girl was displaying her ability of creating an obscuring gas, like a smoke screen, while in flight, all the while jabbering in barely understandable terms.
"Parse me to the max! This is so totally sun-dust that I'm even here. I'm absolutely gratified to be trying out!"
'Now I know how she flies; it's because of all that hot air trapped between her ears,' Dawnstar thought, turning her attention to the next person, Tellus.
Polar Boy's description hadn't been far off the mark. The ... being had a pair of stumpish legs, heavy tail fins, an elongated, yellowish barrel-like body, and bizarrely-shaped head with an encircling helmet. What the helmet contained she couldn't tell.
It galumphed toward the other Legion hopefuls, coming to an awkward halt just before running into any of them.
Lamprey and Nightwind waved at her from where they stood together. She returned their greeting before gazing at the next man, Jed Rikane, as he effortlessly hoisted a 500 lb.+ barbell with one hand.
A slight gleam of silvery metal focused Dawnstar's attention on a decidedly miniature spacecraft that streaked constantly from person to person.
'Quislet. That has to be ... him? I wonder what kind of power he has.'
She saw Shikari then. The girl was grey-skinned, with streaming chartreuse hair and a double pair of dragonfly-type wings. She was currently hovering in front of, and slightly over, Ultra Boy. But she was also upside-down as well, something Dawnstar was completely incapable of doing.
'They wouldn't.' The words came back.
The two appeared to be talking freely, in a relaxed manner. Ultra Boy grinned, then leapt for her, only to have Shikari easily evade him with a half-somersault in mid-air, which brought her feet down on his back to shove him away.
He swung around while in flight to come at her again; she darted straight upward out of his way, sped after him, closed her legs around his waist, and steered toward a nearby wall. When he switched from flight power to invulnerability, Shikari drew her wings up, seemingly into a back cavity, and used her weight to force him to the ground face-first.
'She's outfighting him. I was never all that good a fighter, while she ...'
Wildfire came up beside Dawnstar. "Isn't she amazing? She has about the same flight powers that you have, along with the ability to sense the most direct route to wherever it is she wants to go - kinda like your talent of locating a person regardless of where he is. She's really friendly too. A lot of Legionnaires really like her."
Dawnstar barely bit back a reply. A feeling like the tightening of an already overwound spring settled into her stomach. 'So THAT'S why Polar Boy was so evasive about her power. It actually ISN'T all that different from mine.'
'They WOULDN'T!'
But the words were completely hollow now. Dawnstar pivoted and plodded toward the nearest gym exit, clenching her hands when Wildfire called after her.
"Where are you going, Dawny? Don't you want to se what else she's capable of? She's incredible!"
His praise of Shikari was like a brutal slap across Dawnstar's face. She faced him once more; any other words he meant to add faded instantly away.
There was no humor in her brown eyes.
Shikari was hovering near Cosmic Boy, laughing at some remark of his, when Dawnstar rocketed into her from behind and a bit below like a large stone hurled from a catapult. The dragonfly-winged heroine squirmed easily away, and the two of them began exchanging punches.
Shikari was the better at close-quarter combat; Dawnstar had a faster reaction time, so the fight was fairly even. Both were entirely in their natural element; neither was disadvantaged at being airborne. The one major difference for Dawnstar was that she could hit her opponent more often, hitting time after time after time until she'd forced Shikari almost to the ground.
That brought them within reach of several Legionnaires. Cosmic Boy wrenched Dawnstar away from Shikari, while Mon-El restrained the grey-skinned girl.
"I don't understand this, Dawny. I really don't."
She'd been restricted to her room following the battle, and now sat numbly. It didn't help to see Shikari standing just inside the doorway.
"It's simple," Wildfire continued. "In the case of duplication of powers, there's a series of tests to determine who is better. The winner gets to join the Legion; the loser returns to the Academy."
"Did you hear what you just said? DID YOU HEAR WHAT YOU JUST SAID? The winner JOINS the Legion! I've been with the LSH for years now. I can't very well join a group I'm already a part of.
"The loser returns to the Academy! Shikari never served at the Academy. I HAVE!"
She charged at Wildfire, beating at his faceplate with both hands. Rage fed her frustration at knowing she actually was incapable of physically harming him; frustration fed upon rage, which again fed frustration, until she couldn't withstand the hideous spiral. She passed out, nearly comatose before she even hit the floor.
"Dawny, I didn't ..."
Shikari then follwed her attack example. Though her assault lacked Dawnstar's raw emotional fury, it was, at least in appearance, visually more impressive. A double-handed strike into Wildfire's midsection made him reflexively bend over.
"Come with me," Shikari offered, reaching for the motionless Dawnstar. "It's quite clear these people don't need, don't DESERVE EITHER of us here. Not any more."
[Last edited by baycent54 on April 9, 2006, 3:20 pm; a few typos
fixed and the conclusion appended here from a second thread]
Dawnstar angled her body to take full advantage of the wind resistance. She spread her wings to their full extent on her approach toward the top of Legion headquarters, using them like brakes to slow her down. A moment before landing, she noticed that the smooth roof was all agleam.
'So help me, if Element Lad has been waxing the roof again ...!'
Her touchdown came when she was barely moving. Her booted feet settled on the surface - and almost slipped out from under her.
The entire roof was covered with ice. She kept her wings unfurled like a drogue chute, flapping them furiously to keep from skidding right off the edge. She almost made it too. For a moment she was in freefall, then she caught enough of the air to take flight once again.
Her landing this time was greeted with the opening of a nearby hatch. The person who emerged was a short boy clad in a blue-and-white outfit. He had a white cap which appeared to be lined with fur, with the same on his arms from elbows to wrists, and on his legs from the knees downward.
"Oh. I forgot to see about getting someone to melt this off. I'm Polar Boy; my super-power is to make things cold."
"I'm Dawnstar, and I'd never have guessed," she replied. "What are you doing at Legion headquarters anyway?"
"Yeah, I know about you. It's application day. At least that's what I understood. So I came to try out, along with some other Legion wannabees."
"By making the roof a skating rink? I'm lucky I had wings when I slid right off."
"Um, well, I'll be more careful next time."
"Can you walk on this? Good. Please come over here."
He approached cautiously. She noted that even he had to walk with great care on the ice.
"You mentioned other applicants. Who are they?"
"Let me see; there's Comet Queen. She can fly, but only in a straight line, and can emit noxious gasses."
"You mean she ... what's the word? - 'farts' to be able to fly."
"Not ... exactly. The gasses can also put a person to sleep, or they can form into a thick fog. Funny, she claims she gained her power from crossing close behind a tail of a comet."
"Ah. Now I remember her. Orange as a carrot."
"Then there's Jed Rikane. He hasn't yet chosen another name for himself. He's the muscular type; a girl named Lamprey, another named Nightwind ..."
"I know both of them very well. We were roommates back at the Legion Academy. Lamprey collects various types of energy and converts them into electrical currents. Nightwind controls winds."
"After that, there's Tellus - who I think resembles a space walrus ..."
She had no idea what a walrus was, but simply nodded as he talked.
"His power is telepathy of a sort. I'm not quite sure what that includes. Umm, there's Quislet, some type of ... I don't know what. He/it lives in a miniature spacecraft. Finally, there's Shikari. She, well, she's a flier; her power is to ... to ... well, I don't think you'd be interested."
His reluctance to talk about this particular applicant made Dawnstar uneasy. He was now close to her, about an arm's-length away, and speaking in hushed, hesitant tones.
She flexed her wings into a half-spread position, then leapt at him just hard enough to knock him onto his back. Before he could sit up, she spun him halfway around so that his feet were nearest the hatchway, then gave a shove to slide him toward it.
A second or so later she was gratified to hear a thump! "Ow!" thump! "Ow!" thump! "Ow!"
By the time she reached the stairwell, Polar Boy was sitting at the base of the stairs, enthusiastically rubbing a very sore rear end.
"What was that for?" he demanded.
"That's because you never once apologized to me for causing me to slip off the roof. I could have been seriously injured in such a fall."
He looked sheepish. "Don't worry. I'll make sure not to do that again. Right now I've got to get downstairs for the tryouts."
As he walked away very gingerly, she realized he still hadn't said he was sorry. 'This one applicant, Shikari ... he didn't say much about her other than that she can fly. I wonder ...'
The possibility chilled her. 'No,' she told herself, 'the Legion wouldn't replace me with her. Would they?'
'Would they?'
The anti-grav lift took Dawnstar quickly to the gymnasium where the applicant trials were taking place. It was a huge chamber encompassed by an elevated half-mile running track, and held a large swimming pool, currently covered to provide additional space.
The first applicant Dawnstar saw was Comet Queen; the girl was displaying her ability of creating an obscuring gas, like a smoke screen, while in flight, all the while jabbering in barely understandable terms.
"Parse me to the max! This is so totally sun-dust that I'm even here. I'm absolutely gratified to be trying out!"
'Now I know how she flies; it's because of all that hot air trapped between her ears,' Dawnstar thought, turning her attention to the next person, Tellus.
Polar Boy's description hadn't been far off the mark. The ... being had a pair of stumpish legs, heavy tail fins, an elongated, yellowish barrel-like body, and bizarrely-shaped head with an encircling helmet. What the helmet contained she couldn't tell.
It galumphed toward the other Legion hopefuls, coming to an awkward halt just before running into any of them.
Lamprey and Nightwind waved at her from where they stood together. She returned their greeting before gazing at the next man, Jed Rikane, as he effortlessly hoisted a 500 lb.+ barbell with one hand.
A slight gleam of silvery metal focused Dawnstar's attention on a decidedly miniature spacecraft that streaked constantly from person to person.
'Quislet. That has to be ... him? I wonder what kind of power he has.'
She saw Shikari then. The girl was grey-skinned, with streaming chartreuse hair and a double pair of dragonfly-type wings. She was currently hovering in front of, and slightly over, Ultra Boy. But she was also upside-down as well, something Dawnstar was completely incapable of doing.
'They wouldn't.' The words came back.
The two appeared to be talking freely, in a relaxed manner. Ultra Boy grinned, then leapt for her, only to have Shikari easily evade him with a half-somersault in mid-air, which brought her feet down on his back to shove him away.
He swung around while in flight to come at her again; she darted straight upward out of his way, sped after him, closed her legs around his waist, and steered toward a nearby wall. When he switched from flight power to invulnerability, Shikari drew her wings up, seemingly into a back cavity, and used her weight to force him to the ground face-first.
'She's outfighting him. I was never all that good a fighter, while she ...'
Wildfire came up beside Dawnstar. "Isn't she amazing? She has about the same flight powers that you have, along with the ability to sense the most direct route to wherever it is she wants to go - kinda like your talent of locating a person regardless of where he is. She's really friendly too. A lot of Legionnaires really like her."
Dawnstar barely bit back a reply. A feeling like the tightening of an already overwound spring settled into her stomach. 'So THAT'S why Polar Boy was so evasive about her power. It actually ISN'T all that different from mine.'
'They WOULDN'T!'
But the words were completely hollow now. Dawnstar pivoted and plodded toward the nearest gym exit, clenching her hands when Wildfire called after her.
"Where are you going, Dawny? Don't you want to se what else she's capable of? She's incredible!"
His praise of Shikari was like a brutal slap across Dawnstar's face. She faced him once more; any other words he meant to add faded instantly away.
There was no humor in her brown eyes.
Shikari was hovering near Cosmic Boy, laughing at some remark of his, when Dawnstar rocketed into her from behind and a bit below like a large stone hurled from a catapult. The dragonfly-winged heroine squirmed easily away, and the two of them began exchanging punches.
Shikari was the better at close-quarter combat; Dawnstar had a faster reaction time, so the fight was fairly even. Both were entirely in their natural element; neither was disadvantaged at being airborne. The one major difference for Dawnstar was that she could hit her opponent more often, hitting time after time after time until she'd forced Shikari almost to the ground.
That brought them within reach of several Legionnaires. Cosmic Boy wrenched Dawnstar away from Shikari, while Mon-El restrained the grey-skinned girl.
"I don't understand this, Dawny. I really don't."
She'd been restricted to her room following the battle, and now sat numbly. It didn't help to see Shikari standing just inside the doorway.
"It's simple," Wildfire continued. "In the case of duplication of powers, there's a series of tests to determine who is better. The winner gets to join the Legion; the loser returns to the Academy."
"Did you hear what you just said? DID YOU HEAR WHAT YOU JUST SAID? The winner JOINS the Legion! I've been with the LSH for years now. I can't very well join a group I'm already a part of.
"The loser returns to the Academy! Shikari never served at the Academy. I HAVE!"
She charged at Wildfire, beating at his faceplate with both hands. Rage fed her frustration at knowing she actually was incapable of physically harming him; frustration fed upon rage, which again fed frustration, until she couldn't withstand the hideous spiral. She passed out, nearly comatose before she even hit the floor.
"Dawny, I didn't ..."
Shikari then follwed her attack example. Though her assault lacked Dawnstar's raw emotional fury, it was, at least in appearance, visually more impressive. A double-handed strike into Wildfire's midsection made him reflexively bend over.
"Come with me," Shikari offered, reaching for the motionless Dawnstar. "It's quite clear these people don't need, don't DESERVE EITHER of us here. Not any more."
[Last edited by baycent54 on April 9, 2006, 3:20 pm; a few typos
fixed and the conclusion appended here from a second thread]