<Cobalt Kid appears, sent by the LMBP Spectre through time and space to the very vague ‘place that you will be needed’>

Eh? Now where am I? I was hoping I’d end up with the Emerald Empress.

EDE, is that you over there? Is this where your luck lord sent you?

By the Fire Rings of Yod! Cobie!

Leapin' Jeepers!

So how do you reckon we ended up here? Our great knowledge of other Earths and timelines? Or our own dumb luck (re: your own with me somehow suckered into it).

And why does it look like exploding stars on the ceiling? Cool effect.

You should see the wallpaper in the bathrooms!

I'm not sure what we're doing here, but I assume it must somehow be connected to the disappearance of Vee and Abin.

Oh, and I think the Red Bee is planning on attacking my millenary shop.

Bastard! I just ending up having to fight him for a little bit. I don’t think he’s escaping anytime soon.

Our last communications indicated Abin was with Vu and Disaster Boy on Qward, but still no word on Vee.

So, anyone else on this ship? Can’t you get your Luck Lord to wish Dr. Mayavale here or something?

And you think that big guy in the large chair at the windows is just waiting for us to approach him. The nerve…can’t he see we’re in a posts-long dialogue?

You know you're in trouble when the Monitor makes an appearance in a storyline...

Gee, I wonder if Harbinger will show up here...?

(I've been waiting for that )

I haven't seen anything else. The guy in the chair seems to be protected by some sort of force shield that prevents anyone from approaching. I get the feeling that he's waiting for something. Or someone...

There's lots of monitors and stuff that we can look at. See, there's Emerald Empress. And the Super-Pets--hey, is it just me or is Calamity Monkey smitten with Jinx?

There's the girls shower. And cool--the girls shower on Earth-4! Atypical Lass is in there!

Not sure what that big planet with the keyhole is though.

Some of these monitors show the past, and even the future! See... there's the LMB's epic battle with the Emerald Ass of Ekkron... and there's us fighting Starfinger XI! Who knew Tamper Lad would go bald so quickly?

Hey, look at this one...'5 years after the end of the LMB'...is that Lardy?

<looks away>

I can't believe--holy! Look at this one! Kid Prime is the child of_________?!!!

<marquee behavior=alternate><span style="font-size: 9px;">No! Not..like...this! Not....yet! Haven't.....found.......Ve.... </span> </marquee>

Suddenly!!!

ERYK!!!!

Look at the view screen!

It’s the Empress! What’s happening? She’s being attacked!

NOOO!

SARYA!

……………..

Sh-she’s gone…

<looks down>

She wanted to make her time with the LMB mean something—to make up for past mistakes. Well, she certainly did that.

She’ll be missed. Empress of Venegar. Fiery spirit. Royal and a true lady.

Hero.

LMBer.

EDE?

(He's apparently too grief-ridden)

<wipes away watery eyes. begins looking at equipment>

Far too complex for me. But suddenly I feel like Eryk and I are here for a reason.

<places hands on controls>

Bring me Spellbinder or Crusader...one or both the twins of the House of Jectra. We need them now...

<ZAPPP!!!>

Ouch! I won’t be doing that again. I feel like someone was speaking through me suddenly, as if…I wasn’t acting on my own.

The Empress is dead, Vee’s missing…and EDE and I might be losing our minds…

I... I... don't know what to say. I can't believe we're just stuck here. Watching... while our friends are dying. Suddenly I feel so helpless...

<Puts hand on EDE’s shoulder>

I don’t know how we end up in these situations, Eryk, but we’ll do what we’ll always do. And maybe this is our time finally…but no matter what, we’ll win.

Turns to the monitors. Long live the Emerald Empress.

We’ll continue where you left off—we always will.

<turns back to the Monitor>

(Now what?)

<Suddenly, about halfway between the heroes and the Monitor, there is a flash of light. With a dainty thud, Spellbinder and the Crusader drop out of nowhere and land in a heap on the floor>

OUCH!

You would think by the 31st Century we would have perfected teleportation enough that we could arrive on the ground, rather than 10 feet above it.

<Looks around>

Cobie? Eryk? What is this place? The last thing I remember is being in my penthouse. There was a psychic cry of pain and anger... it tore through my mind... knocked me out.

*Reboot's voice comes over the speakers*

You losing your mind Cobalt? How will we tell the difference?

I can't get in right now - I traced Spellbinder's teleportation path, but landed outside and damn' near suffocated before I Rebooted myself a spacesuit.

Ship's got intangibility-proof and teleport-proof shields (which seem oddly similar to my own designs at first glance - I want the specs ASAP), which means the only way in is the teleporter inside the ship. Glitch hacked into the computer for this, but the systems are all over the place. Might take me a while to disable the shields.

Roast me a chicken, though, I'll be in for dinner

Sounds good Reboot

Welcome aboard, Princess. As you can see, we're trying to figure out what's next, and it looks like its going to be important.

<helps her up>

We're...a little...shaken up.

Meeoooww!

* Princess dear, I'm sending you this message telepathically and I hope it is able to reach you. I sense that you are near the place where the Empress was slain. Space Ranger has just left here, I believe on his way to that same place. Keep your eyes open for him, he is in terrible pain and anguish as are we all. You will need to harness his rage. I fear even with that power at your side, this will not be an easy battle. I will try to contact you when possible but it is extremely difficult and draining over such a long distance.

I witnessed first-hand the deep friendship between the two. I have a feeling that nothing we can say will help the Ranger.

Perhaps turning him loose will help us more than anything...

<Cobalt nods at the image of his good friend Space Ranger on the view-screen. He remembers that early commraderrie of the Security Office>

(Get 'em, Ranger...)

Glitch - time projection on shield breach.

Oh boy.

Glitch - Likelihood of success and survival if I...

I'll take those odds.

REBOOT

*Reboot vanishes in a flash. Instantly, the shield is gone, but Reboot is nowhere to be seen*

**Appears inside the ship**

Abin's gone to bring Spacey and Vee back... And since reboot took down the shield I can move back and forth between here and LW easily.

<Looks thoughtfully at the figure behind the force-field>

Do you want to stay here watching him watch us or should we return to the Security Office?

<Opens a portal...>

Faraway Lad arrives.

"now how did i get here, last thing I remember was being with Tamper and Stealth on Qward?"

Looks at figure in the force shield,

"hey he looks like......

Before he can finish a scuttling noise behind he makes him turn. He is horrified to see thousands of insect like creatures running towards Pagan, EDE, Cobalt, Spellbinder and himself.

Scuttling along floor walls and ceiling the white leprous bodies glisten with a fine mucus sheen beneath the light of the moon. Six legs move fast beneath a rounded body, the head is small, with 3 eyes and a large mouth.

One of Ticks leaps at Faraway and fastens onto his mouth. His eyes glaze over, and he is frozen, unable to talk but still aware.

More tick leap for the others, Cobalt finds his magnatism is virtually useless agains the soft white fat bodies.

"Quick EDE, Pagan Lass we have to........

<Suddenly, everyone is knocked to the ground! And finally...THE MONITOR STANDS>

Well? What is it big guy? <ducking Lune-i-ticks>

<The Monitor points towards one of the screens>
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
<span style="font-size: 25px;">BURST OF LIGHT!!!</span>

did anyone else...see it?

<looks at Monitor. He lies murdered on the floor, the last vestiges of his life now downloading themselves telepathically into the mind of Princess Crujectra>

Why does it feel like this ships about to get reeeeeeally unsteady...?

<Spellbinder's eyes snap open wide, her pupils dilated and unfocused>

Walls of white... moving across the universe... no, universes... destroying everything they touch...

<Ticks begin to crawl up Spellbinder's legs. Without moving an inch, she lashes out. Waves of telekinetic force blast outward. Insects and heroes alike are hurled backward, helpless in the grip of the Princess' power. They are all slammed up against the walls, the ticks squishing noisily, the heroes grunting on impact>

I see universes merging... heroes from mutliple Earths uniting as one...

The Flash... dead...

Supergirl... dead...

Creation torn asunder... only the Pariah bearing witness to it all...

<tears stream down her face as images race through her mind... more than any one person was meant to know>

Too much... too much...

<places hands on Princess, letting healing power work>

Here Princess, let my spiritual powers soothe you in anyway I can…

<pains sears>

Aargh! Our mental link is allowing some of it to filter it into me…I can only imagine the pain this information is causing you…

(db walks through the air lock) i'm afraid my already claremontian orgin is going to get power girl-izized by this impending "crisis". and i'm not even from this dimension.

Suddenly there is a burst of multicolored light. As it fades Cobie and the the others see Abin, Ranger, PolarBoy and...

"Vee!" they all exclaim in unison.

<Kneels beside Crujectra, placing a hand on her shoulder>

Here, sis... let me shoulder some of the burden...

<Suddenly, knowledge pours into Crusader's mind>

Pocket Universe...

Superboy... dead...

Universe... rebooted...

Mon-El... Valor... M'Onel...

<He pulls away from his sister and the inpouring of knowledge ends, but he remembers what he has already seen>

C'mon Crujectra... I think between the three of us we can carry this burden.

<helps Crujectra to her feet>

three lune-i-ticks drop on to Crusader instantly freezing him and starting to suck all the knowledge of the alternate universes from him.

"Begone" says Vee and a multicolored blast of energy engulfs the cabin. When it fades the lun-i-ticks fade with it. "Wow" Vee mutters, "How about that?"

Vee! You're back! But...you're different!

You know, for a ship out in the middle of the nexus between worlds, we're really starting to gather here

<memories continue to fade in and out in Cobalt's mind--he's obviously dazed and trying his best to hide it>

B-but the Monitor--he's dead! Murdered! And I can't help but shake the feeling that something terrible is about to happen...

<memories flood in of a sudden horrible threat, but fade away too quickly>

Cobie dear, promise me that you'll help me keep my costume intact during this mission. If I end up in another tye dye outfit from Crazy Lugiama's, I will NOT be happy...

That's asking a lot But I'll keep both eyes on your costume Princess.

Do you feel that?

Like the walls are shaking...how can that be when there's no wind in 'in between space'?

"I sense... something is wrong..."

(Sorry... channelling "Team America: World Police" )

we better act fast then

(DB walks over to the Monitor's body.)

we shoudl figure out who or what killed the Monitor. i mean who even has the power to do this?

(DB grumbles to himself)

"if we let the ANTI-MONITOR out of Qward when we were time traveling and hopping dimensions i will never forgive myself."

Anti-Monitor...but that sounds strangely like--no, no way...

Look, no the viewscreens everyone! What is that emenating from Star 69? Some kind of red energy...

Through the rifts in the walls of reality caused by the destruction of more alternate dimensions pour more lune-i-ticks.

There white moon bodies full and fat they seek new bodies to feast on, new memories and experiences to drain away. The smell from their bodies is sickly sweet and overpowering. It triggers memories in Cobalt Kid, of a happy marriage, children, a house, a dog and a lawn.

Shaking his head Cobalt realises these are not his memories but visions of alternitive realities, of a happy family man who now no longer existed, his memories exhaled as waste gas from these ticks.

Wow that was one hell of a ride. I go from undertaking a routine scientific feild trip to being pulled into this mess.

Cobie!

(IB Yellow flies in and tries to blast the ticks away from Cobie)

Jailbait Lass gave me the coordinates to get here and... Why, hello there, Princess. Miss me? I'm wearing the shorts you gave me last Christmas, and...

Help meeeee...

Spooky

or am i hearing voices again??

<Standing united, the LMBPers lash out: the twins telekinesis, IB's lasers, Vee's variant energies and Cobalt Kid's magnetism make short work of the insects.>

There... that's the last of those nasty pests. Now we can focus on... <looks down at IB's shorts>... this business with the Monitor, and Star 69.

What IS that red energy???

I'm not certain Princess but I can tell you it's been growing stronger and stronger the entire time I've been stranded here. What's really odd is that it was blue until the Empress was killed and you all arrived. Now it's an angry red.

Whatever it is, who ever is responsible for it, is responsible for killing a very good friend of ours. And I intend to make sure they pay a hefty price for that!

<walks into the room with his multiple bodies behind him covered in some strange goo-like substance.>

GUYS!!!! you are not going to believe how big this place is.

<all his bodies begin to reconverge and starts whiping off the lune-i-tick goo off of him>

Ewww! i hate bugs,... and guys, i think this place is hunted.

<looks around the room>

impressive!,..ummm,..IB,....nice shorts!?!?!?!

uh guys i hate to break it to you but my powers are gone...i've been trying to use them to fight the Ticks and ....nada. no juice. ...i think i will return to the temporary command center. via flight ring.

how weird I just created a prisom out of ice and unless im very much mistaken there appear to be holes in the colour spectrum. I wounder what Brainy would make of this.

Hm... The color-changing energy, and now the holes in the color spectrum... This is strange, all right. It's possible that our enemy has powers related to light, or may even be an energy being itself.

Or... there is one another possibility. The LMBP once fought a powerful being called the Rainbow Man of Ekron. (winks at the Princess) Ah, those were good times, weren't they? One of our- and my- greatest battles. Anyway, whoever our new opponent is, he or she may be trying to draw the Rainbow Man's powers and may even possess some of his, or more correctly, its, body parts. This could also explain why the Empress was killed; whoever that was was could have been after the Eye!

Or whoever is behind this may have no connection to the Rainbow man whatsoever. (shrug)

<looks at Space Ranger>

You OK, Ranger? I know this must be tough for you...

<as Cobalt asks, the shadows around the room begin to stir...>

HALT! ME AM MAJOR DOORMAT OF SHIP! ME AM COMPUTE THAT MASTER AM DEAD!

Bloody Liberty! What the heck is that thing?

ME AM BIZARRO COMPUTO. GREATEST INVENTION OF BIZARRO PEOPLE. EVERYONE ON BIZARRO WORLD LIKE ME SO MUCH THAT THEY SEND ME HERE TO LEGION WORLD AS FIRST WAVE OF INVASION. THEN THEY FORGET TO INVADE. SO ME WORK FOR MONITOR. ME AM THINK YOU KILLED HIM.

<looks at everyone else>

Er...what can you tell us about the red skies then Biz-Comp? Not sure if I get your lingo, but I can assure you we had nothing to do with his death...

*large Reboot symbol appears in mid air with "tap and say 'Reboot'" written underneath.

Yeah, I'll be OK... It's just... <the shadows around the room begin to stir...>

Stay sharp people... We dont know what's happening here...

Truth and Justice shall Prevail!
(Taps the symbol and says "Reboot")

*gasps for air*

Okay, lungs, arms, legs, Glitch, new costume (weird... blame that on whoever triggered me pulling myself back together), Reboot hologram (wrong side?)... I seem to be intact.

Glitch - mirror.



Okay, I think I made it through okay, and the costume's all right. That is NOT a trick I will be trying again in a hurry though.

How long was I dispersed?

boobies

Sharky! We're starting to amass some serious firepower now. Let's figure out what the hell this Biz-Comp thing is and what happened to the Monitor.

I've spoken to IB and we're starting to pull together a little now.

<Cobalt struggles to hide the nervousness he feels. The knowledge he gained from the mental link with the Princess is still all to powerful...how can he even begin to describe it?>

U AM NOT FAMILIAR WITH SAYING FROM HTRAE?

"RED SKIES AT NIGHT, SAILORS RUN SCREAMING IN TERROR!"

HA! US HAVE WITTY SAYINGS! ME AM APOLOGIZE FOR THINKING YOU KILT MONITOR. YOU LOOK MUCH TOO CROOKED FOR THAT.

I threw a snowball at Bizzarro computer that will show him!

ME AM KNEW PolarBoy WAS ME FRIEND.

WHAT U WANT 2 KNOW NOW?

heres another snowball and this one isnt white!!

<Crujectra watches the shadows stirring in the corners of the room... around the ceiling... something is wrong, but...>

Shadow beings attack the Earth...

Huntress... dead...

Robin... dead...

Their touch... disintegrates...

Dove... dead...

<Crujectra's eyes widen in terror as the shadows pull from the wall, taking a humanoid appearance.>

My god... watch out for the shadows! Whatever you do, don't let them touch you!

Bloody Liberty!! Shadow demons attacking all around!

Everyone that's distracted* is getting burnt by their terrible, burning touch!

<turns to Computo-Bizarro. pulls it closer magnetically>

Now tell me robot! What the hell is going on around here?


*those not posting right now!

I'm not distracted, I'm just lying intangibly in the 'Frame recovering from what happened to me recently

******Interlude******

I would be posting if I wasn't busy reminding you to buy the damn ticket!

******End Interlude******

<telekinetically pulls machinery between herself and shadow demons>

Abin... IB... perhaps your powers might be effective against these shadows...

Reacting to Crujectra's warning, Vee begins blasting away at the shadowy figures. Each blast takes out one shadow demon and the others seeem to shy away from contact with the irridescant energy, turning instead to attack the others.

"Where are they coming from?" Vee shouts as he continues to blast away.

U AM UNDER ATTACK BY SHADOW DEMONS! ME AM CALCULATE BEST STRATEGY TO WIN...

0010010010010001000100100000

boo yah! you suckers are going to die soon!

0100111100101111000010011001

ME AM CALCULATE THAT BEST STRATEGY AM TO GIVE BIRTHDAY CAKE TO SHADOW DEMON! IT BE SO DISTRACTED BY BIRTHDAY, YOU CAN RUN AWAY!

(Waitaminute...that certainly didn't sound like a bizarro or a computer right there...)

WARNING! ME AM DETECT STRANGE ERROR IN IMPERFECT PROGRAMMING! MAYBE ME BECOME LIKE HUMAN LOUTS...?

Great, just what we need! A malfunctioning bizarro computer! What else can go wrong?

Look out Eryk!

Jeepers! If only I was useful against those shadow demon thingies!

<EDE's Luck Lord appears, and suddenly he turns into shadow demon himself!>

Hey! I can touch them without burning myself now!

<EDE fights uses his LMB training to take down several shadow demons>

Hey, Vee! Yowza, Vee! You almost blasted me by mistake!

Oops, sorry Eryk! Hard to tell you apart from the rest of them when you look just like them. Maybe if you did something so we could tell you apart? Maybe sing? or yodel?

A nelly cap should do the trick

<A monitor lifts from a nearby console and hurtles into a shadow being>

Lucien Lad sneaks into the Monitor's ship (don't ask how, he just does) and...

Seeing the shadow demons attacking he reacts instinctivly to protect himself and instantly turns all the shadow demons into holographic discoball patterened demons instead. Which, you know, doesn't really do anything to help protect anyone from them but does make them rather more interesting to look at.

Lucien Lad sneaks out again hoping no-one noticed his slightly embaressing power hiccup.

Great Scott! That was weird!

<female shadow demon zaps Cobalt on the behind>

Youch!!

That was hot if it wasn't so weird!

<continues to magnetically pull people out of the way, making way to Bizarro-Computo>

C'mon Robot, you're from this ship! What in Samantha Hill is going on here?!

ME AM ALREADY TELLING YOU! SHADOW DEMONS WORK FOR BIG BOSS KAHUNA OF...

00001110110101110101011010011

not so fast! they don't need to know that yet, compadre!

00101010001001111100110011001

MALFUNCTION! ME AM REMEMBER ENCOUNTER WITH BIG ENEMY! HIM DOWNLOAD INTO BIZARRO COMPUTO...

Download?

Compadre?

What in the world...

<Monitor's knoledge flashes before Cobie's eyes, stunning him again>

S-such force...messed everything up for so many great concepts...

<puts magnetic hand on Bizarro-Computo>

I have healing powers and magic powers. Maybe a combination of the two will help you understand what's happening to you...

<starts multiplying himself then each of his bodies pulls out a magnesium flare stick from his LMB fanny pack>

<L.J.prime> "all right guys let's see if we can shine a "little light" on this situation!!"

<L.J. duplicates look at L.J.prime with a "WTF" look>

the with a collective sigh the say "can you sound any lamer?" :rolleyes:

then they proceed to throw the flares at the shadow demons

<Cobalt's power begins to work on Bizarro Computo>

ME AM BEGINNING TO UNDERSTAND... ME POSSESSED BY GREAT VILLAIN... ME KILT MONITOR...

WHAT IS THIS STRANGE SENSATION IN MY CIRCUITS? COULD IT BE AKIN TO THE HUMAN EMOTION OF SADNESS?

0000100101000100100011101010

hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

0101001000101011010101100101

ME DO NOT COMPREHEND...

<suddenly all of the shadow demons begin to draw themselves into Bizarro Computo's form>

*appears on zip board to slap Cobalt on the back of the head before teleporting onward once more*

<knocked backwards by the onslaught of shadow demons pouring into Bizarro-Computo>

ugh…yeah…I’d say this is about time we get the hell outta here…

<Bizarro Computo's own form begins to take on a nebulous shape...>

<suddenly what's left of Bizarro Computo begins to explode! Explosions begin taking place all over the ship!>

you better run, losers!

The explosions shake free the Ticks on Faraway.

Shuddering with the memories of many alternative universes, he runs toward the explosions.

"Cobalt, this place is going to blow, we need to get everyone off the ship. I can do it but I may not have enough power to get them all back to LMB command centre"

Who's on board?

Faraway, there's a large asteroid not too far away. If you can teleport us to that, that should do for now. Vee and Abin can form a shield to protect us once we're there. We can figure out what to do next once we're there.

Faraway Concentrates.

There is a slight ripple in reality and all of the LMBp'ers who were on the monitors ship find themselves on a small loney asteroid.

"Well blow me down" says Faraway, "I did it" and promtly faints with the exertion.

Mysterious Entity...is that--?!!

<EXPLOSIONS EVERYWHERE!>

<Faraway Lad's power works, and suddenly every LMBer is teleported away to here! >

not to alarm anybody but I dont think we managed to take a great deal of breathable atmosphere with us. Does anybody have any transuits?

No need, Vee and I transported enough breathable atmosphere for two months...

And we can always get more if need be.