Legion World Forums LEGION OUTPOST Bits o' Legionnaire Business Postlo3w stories *LATEST UPDATE 7 APRIL*

Oh yeah, that works! Now in the tradition of comic book writers everywhere I can just retroactively say that was my intention all along

Do I get a No-Prize?

wrong company, but I could probably dig up a talking gorilla or jimmy olsen in a dress for you

on a side note, I was DESPERATE for a no-prize when I was a kid....even after I found out it was just an empty envelope hahahaha

MEDICUS ONE
Earth orbit

ROLL CALL
Phantom Girl aka Tinya Wazzo: leader; intangibility

Casting idle smiles at the various sentients around her, Phantom Girl made her way through the crowded corridors of Medicus One to the special room which had been prepared and outfitted for her teammate Tellus after Alek Arcane's assault upon him. In order to assist with the Hykraian's recovery the room had been hermetically sealed, reinforced and filled with a liquid methane solution to replicate the conditions on his homeworld. Highly dexterous medical droids with full spectrum sensory capabilities acted as Tellus's on-call nursing staff, and those same droids could be remotely commandeered by Tellus's attending physicians as necessary. The whole enterprise was breathtakingly expensive, and not for the first time since taking on leadership of the Legion of Superheroes Tinya Wazzo was grateful for the very deep pockets of Chameleon Boy and through him Brande Industries.

Tinya was just approaching the doorway to the visitors' alcove which would allow her to communicate with Tellus through molded plastiglass when she saw Color Kid walk out. "Ulu!" she exclaimed. "What a nice surprise to see you here, I didn't realise you and Tellus were close!"

"Oh, hi Phantom Girl." Color Kid returned her welcome. "Since I joined the Legion, Tellus has been kind enough to start teaching me Hykraian color communication. I can't help but notice he doesn't really socialise with the rest of the team a whole lot, and I didn't want him to feel like he had to be all alone while he's recovering here away from base."

"Ulu, that's so sweet!" Phantom Girl gave his arm an appreciative squeeze. "How's he feeling? We're not allowed to bring Mwindaji here anymore, the Chief Administrator said something about how his healing power hasn't been tested to Medicus One standards...personally I think they just don't like being upstaged, but to be honest it probably avoids some uncomfortable situations anyway. If Tellus is well enough to travel though, we can take him back to Mars with us and he'll be back to normal in no time!"

"That's great news!" Color Kid grinned. Before either of the two could continue, a loud and insistent repeating chime sounded from one of the rooms down the corridor.

Phantom Girl and Color Kid immediately made their way toward the source of the alert, she phasing through any doctors and patients in her way while he used his flight ring to pass overhead. "Please remain calm," Tinya announced to those around her. "I'm Phantom Girl of the Legion of Superheroes and I'm here with my teammate Color Kid. We'll get to the bottom of this in no time."

"The whole Legion of Superheroes must be here!" A little yellow-skinned girl with bright copper ringlets of hair stared wide-eyed past Phantom Girl and Color Kid. "Look!" The two heroes followed her excited gaze to see that Light Lad had just stepped out of a maglift accompanied by his boyfriend Kent Shakespeare.

"Phantom Girl, Color Kid...do you two know what's going on?" Light Lad asked. Following Color Kid's example, Darvan grabbed Kent's hand and levitated them both above the buzzing crowd.

"This isn't any standard Medicus One alert," Kent volunteered, trying and failing to look as normal as he could while bobbing about in the air like a balloon packed with muscle. "We were just passing by when we heard it."

"I tried to leave him behind but he wouldn't let me," Light Lad added sheepishly.

"Well, how else do you expect to be able to get past security barriers if you need to?" Kent challenged him. "There are places that staff can access here where even your Legion status won't help, Darvan. I'm not doing this to play hero, it's just practical."

"I'm not gonna lie," Tinya smirked, "The bickering is kinda cute but it's not really the right time or place, boys. Ulu, could you mark out a safety zone please? Maybe three or four meters? Nothing drastic seems to be happening and that alarm seems more pay attention to me than get out of here, but we'd better not take any chances."

"Sure thing, Phantom Girl." Color Kid descended to stand by his leader's side and splayed his arms out with deliberate melodrama to get everyone's attention. Subtly altering the tones of everything around him to make sure he remained the crowd's focus, he then rendered every surface of the satellite a vivid green color for several meters around with himself as its central point. "Folks, please help us help you by staying on the other side of the area which is marked green!" Security droids and staff quickly picked up on Ulu's message and helped usher curious patients away from the Legionnaires.

"Wait a nano," Light Lad ventured as he and Kent touched down next to Tinya and Ulu. "Isn't this..?"

"...Elastic Lad's room?" Phantom Girl completed his query. "Yeah, I just noticed that too. I'm going to sneak in and see what's going on in there, you boys make sure nobody gets too worked up out here."

Before Phantom Girl could enter, the alarm abruptly stopped. The doorway's speckled blue hygiene field shimmered, and Dr Gym'll came storming out through it. The three-armed doctor was swearing under his breath and so flustered that he didn't even notice the heroes until he almost walked straight into Color Kid. "You!" He sputtered. "You Legionnaires! You can never make things easy, can you?" Each of his arms was wagging an accusing finger at Color Kid, Light Lad and Phantom Girl.

Phantom Girl crouched down so as not to be standing over the diminutive Jacquaan. "Dr Gym'll, is everything under control in there..?"

"Oh, why don't you go find out for yourselves!" he muttered, then pushed past them all to stomp away. The purple doctor's temper was so legendary that the crowd parted before him without question.

Of all the myriad ways she could imagine that interacting with Elastic Lad might result in alarms and tantrums, Tinya had no doubt that the truth would be so much more insane.

Putting on her business face, Phantom Girl turned to the others. "You heard the man, Legionnaires....let's go!"

**********

LALLOR
18,000 feet above sea level

ROLL CALL
Heroes of Lallor
Amp aka Ming Sul: amplification of any power or characteristic
Brittle aka Bo Marcu: ability to segregate into smaller independent bodies upon physical impact
Duplicate Boy II aka Stev Cohn: ability to duplicate any superhuman power in his immediate vicinity
Evolvo Lad aka Sev Tcheru: hyperevolution/devolution
Key Kid aka Miqui Ver: ability to bypass any man-made lock
Life Lass aka Somi Gan: matter animation
Rain Girl aka Jes Teev: rain generation

Legion of Superheroes
Chameleon Boy aka Reep Daggle: Durlan shapeshifter
Dawnstar: translightspeed flight, interstellar tracking
Gas Girl aka Tal Nahii: can transform into any gas
Shrinking Violet aka Salu Digby: shrinking

In a cloaked Dominator bio-ship floating high above the planet's surface, Legionnaires and Heroes of Lallor alike gazed in astonishment as the second hero to call himself Duplicate Boy stared them down with a sinister gleam in his eye the like of which none of them had seen before.

"...Duplicate Boy?" Life Lass asked timidly, picking herself up from where she and Amp had been unceremoniously thrown only seconds before. Extending Amp a hand, Somi continued. "That Dominator...he's lying, right? You...you're our friend, aren't you..?"

"Of course he is," Amp brushed off Life Lass's concerns. "I don't know what that diskhead's done to him, but--"

"Kill them, B.I.O.N." One simple command from the Dominator cowering behind Duplicate Boy threw the ship into immediate chaos. Mimicking the powers of Evolvo Lad and Amp, Duplicate Boy became an enormous hulking caveman and threw himself at the gathered heroes. Gas Girl evaded his swiping paw by dispersing into a cloud of vapor, and Chameleon Boy and Shrinking Violet both shrunk down to smaller forms to dodge his attack while also giving the others more room to move in this crowded vessel. Acting on impulse, Rain Girl stretched both arms out before her and a monsoon-force rain came out of nowhere to drive Duplicate Boy past the Dominator and through the thin internal membrane which separated this communications alcove from the ship's two-seater cockpit. The force with which he was staggered back combined with water damage from Rain Girl's assault caused electrical systems to spark and sputter. The ship shuddered dramatically and for a split second they were all engulfed in darkness before emergency bioflourescent lighting activated in streamers throughout the hull of the ship.

While everyone struggled to regain their footing, Evolvo Lad's advanced mind was already several steps ahead. "Dawnstar!" he raised his voice dispassionately. "You must leave this vessel! We cannot allow--"

"With all due respect," the winged Legionnaire interrupted, "You are not my leader, and I will not abandon the rest of you."

"Dawnstar, do as he says!" Chameleon Boy had taken the form of an Earth hummingbird, and hovered before his teammate's face. "We can take anything else that Duplicate Boy can throw at us, but none of us can counter your speed. Get that Dominator far away from here, we'll--"

"You're right," a drenched Duplicate Boy snarled. "None of you can do anything about her speed, can you?" His skin lost all color, becoming stark white and criss-crossed with jagged cracks. At the same time, enormous white wings spread forth from his back. Where his new wings slammed against the interior of the vessel they crumbled and shattered with a tinkling sound, and miniature versions of him floated there instead.

Evolvo Lad immediately deduced what Duplicate Boy was planning to do, and he reached out telepathically to Life Lass with a familiarity borne of their lifelong friendship. Somi reacted as quickly as anybody could have asked, ripping up consoles and internal plating to shield them all from what was coming. She did her best, and her quick actions helped some of the gathered heroes avoid much more serious injuries as Duplicate Boy this time combined Brittle and Dawnstar's powers to explode into dozens and dozens of tiny winged men who ripped through the vessel like a barrage of bullets.

Chameleon Boy and Shrinking Violet were small enough that they were easily defended, and Gas Girl's insubstantial mass saved her. Brittle himself burst harmlessly into nearly a hundred tiny duplicates upon impact. Evolvo Lad, Dawnstar and Amp all sustained surface wounds though and Key Kid, Life Lass and Rain Girl had time only to cry out in the recognition of pain before they lay unmoving on the vessel's floor covered in bleeding wounds.

Dawnstar stared wide-eyed at the carnage, realising in horror that this could have been avoided if she'd acted only a moment sooner. Her cheeks flushed with rage, and without a single word she collected the Dominator under one arm and fled straight through the cockpit windshield. The shattering of the reinforced glass cut her up even more, but she considered it a small price to pay for what her arrogance had wrought; in as much time as it took the others to react to her departure, she was no longer visible.

Dawnstar's rapid exit created a new problem though. This ship was many thousands of feet above the surface of Lallor, and the gaping hole in the cockpit now led to explosive decompression. Gas Girl was the first victim; recognising that she was one of the only people here capable of affecting Duplicate Boy in his current form, Gas Girl had begun to surround him in a sedative cloud. Her quick thinking prevented another onslaught of speeding sentient projectiles throughout the vessel, but she'd only rendered him mildly groggy when monstrous winds ripped her from the craft.

The sudden shock also rejuvenated the many tiny bodies which had moments ago been one normal size Duplicate Boy. Duplicate Boy felt the wings he'd copied from Dawnstar melting back into him with her absence, and without her native ability to fly he was forced to swap Brittle's power for someone else's before he too was jettisoned from the vessel. He took his cue from Evolvo Lad, who'd switched to his physically stronger devolved form.

While one of Evolvo Lad's powerful arms wrapped around a support beam, his other arm reached out to grab Life Lass and Rain Girl before they could follow Gas Girl and Dawnstar outside. Evolvo Lad ululated in wordless despair as he failed to grasp Key Kid. Amp (whose own amplified strength kept her safely gripping onto another part of the vessel) screamed her youngest teammate's name as she envisioned him disappearing out of that hole forever.

"I think this has gone badly enough," Chameleon Boy announced while he swiftly took on Elastic Lad's form. An elongated arm wrapped around Key Kid's torso and dragged him back toward them inch by inch. "Time for us to start winning!"

The devolved Duplicate Boy looked Cham over hatefully. "You no win!" He roared. "Only B.I.O.N. win!!" He launched himself at the Durlan, tumbling painfully off course as Shrinking Violet's much tinier fists pummelled at his ear drum.

Shrinking Violet's success was short-lived; operating more on instinct than rational thought, Duplicate Boy swapped Evolvo Lad's power for Violet's own. He shrunk down out of sight of the others, forcing Vi to evacuate his ear canal before she was crushed. Only centimetres high and hidden behind one of the panels Life Lass had warped, Vi and the so-called B.I.O.N. circled one another warily. They were both aware that the monstrous winds had ceased somehow, but put that to the back of their minds for now.

"If you think this puts me at a disadvantage you're sorely mistaken," Vi taunted as she bloodied his nose with a quick jab. "Power doesn't equal skill, pal." She shrunk beneath a punch of his own, then grew a couple millimetres taller than her opponent and used the momentum of her growth to deliver an uppercut which knocked Duplicate Boy on his rear.

"Enough!" Duplicate Boy sneered. "You won't be so cocky when Amp's power gives me the speed and strength I need to tear you limb from limb!" He climbed to his feet, then looked down at his open palms in confusion. "Wha...I can't copy her power? Why can't I copy anyone else's powers?!"

"You forgot how small we are," Vi explained as she swept his legs out from beneath him. "At this size, the others might as well be half a mile away." She stood over him, the sole of her boot putting just enough pressure on his throat to convince him she meant business. "Now the way I see it, you can either grow bigger than me and hope my foot doesn't go through your neck in the process or you can shrink down to subatomic size and then see what happens when I'm out of range of your power...unless you want to surrender so we can get to work on fixing whatever that Dominator did to you?"

"He doesn't get to surrender!" a mob of voices which was one voice sounded. A gang of Brittles dropped from above, each of them almost twice the size of Vi and Duplicate Boy. "That traitor isn't getting out of here alive!"

"Brittle, no!" Violet shouted a warning, but it came too late. Already, Duplicate Boy's skin was growing white once more and became lined with cracks. He pounded the floor with both fists and split into four smaller copies, escaping Vi's boot that way. The Imskian Legionnaire considered her options. Working together, she and Brittle still might be able to subdue him but Brittle didn't look like he was in any state to consider teamwork...and if it occurred to Duplicate Boy to combine their powers, they could be faced with an army of microscopic B.I.O.N.s. Shrinking Violet was well aware of the damage even one shrunken person could do to someone's body from the inside, let alone a horde of them. Cursing and not bothering to hide it, she used her flight ring to dart up above the panelling which had formed the perimeter of their personal battlefield and across to the other side of the ship where she knew she'd be out of Duplicate Boy's reduced range. She grew to a height of about six inches so the others could see her more easily, and began to berate Brittle for his impulsive rage. The scene that greeted her however stopped Vi's tirade before it had really even started.

A severely wounded Life Lass was on her hands and knees toward the front of the vessel, trembling almost to the point of collapse. In his hyperevolved form, Evolvo Lad sat cross-legged at her side with his fingers at his temples. Chameleon Boy had taken the form of a Vavallan cephaloslug, each one of his twelve eyestalks peering about the vessel. The trio of heroes were utterly silent, which made the sound of a girl's frail sobbing even more heartbreaking. Toward the back of the gutted thing which had once been a functioning Dominion bio-ship, Amp was crying as she stroked Key Kid's hair. He lay insensate in her lap, but Amp wasn't looking at her youngest teammate. Amp's eyes were firmly trained on Rain Girl's corpse laying awkwardly before them all.

Just as Vi was taking all of this in, she suddenly realised...Amp's sobbing was all she could hear. The background hum of the ship's engines was completely absent. "Cham!" Vi turned to her longtime colleague. "What's going on, the ship--"

"The ship might as well be a bale of whipwheat!" Chameleon Boy's voice came forth from the pea green amphibian in their midst. "With all the damage it's taken we'd be coming apart right now if Life Lass weren't holding it together, and the only reason she's even conscious is that Evolvo Lad's keeping her conscious telepathically! But none of that matters if Duplicate Boy kills the rest of us too! Do you know where he is?"

Duplicate Boy answered the question himself by growing rapidly to full size in front of them all. His fists were full of miniature versions of Brittle and more of them were underfoot. The panelling which had obscured their struggle flew across the ship with the force of Duplicate Boy's growth, coming perilously close to slicing Violet in two as it wedged into the wall by her side. "How many pieces do you think he can break into before he just dies?" Duplicate Boy asked, contracting each fist until a fine white dust accompanied the miniscule bodies which fell from his grip to the vessel's floor.

"Why are you doing this?!" Amp wailed. "You're like my brother, Stev! Why are you hurting us like this??"

"The Dominion saw no value in the rest of you," he explained coldly, "But me? I was a success. They implanted the B.I.O.N. imperative within me, but you only have yourselves to blame for this mess." He waved his arm over the chaos he'd caused. "The Dominion wouldn't have chosen to activate me for weeks yet, it was only your interference which caused this premature awakening. Don't worry though, it'll all be over soon." Cham and Vi both leaped to defend Amp while the almost hysterical young girl huddled over Key Kid in tears, but Chameleon Boy abruptly flung himself into violent convulsions. Helpless, Reep Daggle shifted through myriad forms while he uttered some guttural wordless expression of pain. Bone and flesh grew and subsided within him, limbs and mouths extending outwards and collapsing in on themselves. One of Cham's thrashing tentacles slapped Violet into the side of a console, the ship's unforgiving surface immediately knocking the small woman out.

With much effort, Evolvo Lad turned from Life Lass to face the others. "Amp," he spoke with quiet purpose, "He's using your power...he's amplifying the electrical activity in Chameleon Boy's brain to cause these seizures, I can sense it. It's taking everything I have to keep Somi in a functional state...you have to stop him, Amp."

Duplicate Boy combined Amp and Life Lass's powers to have the bio-ship simply melt around Cham and Vi, ejecting both of them while keeping everyone else safely on board. The telekinetic manipulation was the final straw for Life Lass's precarious state, and she issued a small hurt gasp before finally slumping to the floor.

"I...I can't stop him!" Amp looked up at Duplicate Boy in wide-eyed terror as he began to advance toward her. "Jes is dead, Bo's dead, he just killed Chameleon Boy and Shrinking Violet...what can I do?!"

"You can't do a thing," Duplicate Boy gripped Amp's throat and lifted her till her feet were kicking helplessly at the air. Key Kid's limp form rolled indelicately to one side, and the ship began to shake itself apart once more now that nobody was holding it together. "I only need Life Lass alive to get me out of here alive, Amp. I do thank you, however...your power has been invaluable till now. Why, I wouldn't even be strong enough to choke the life out of you like this on my own."

Evolvo Lad stared impotently. He hadn't exaggerated earlier, it really had taken everything he'd had to keep Life Lass awake for as long as he'd been able. His hyperevolved form had some telepathic talent, but he wasn't Saturn Girl; exerting control over another sentient being was supremely taxing for him. He was the leader of this team though and if he didn't step up now, one of his friends was going to kill every other friend that Sev Tcheru had ever known. Summoning reserves he didn't know he had, Evolvo Lad launched himself across the lurching vessel toward Duplicate Boy and Amp with a purposeful grunt that would seem more at home coming from his devolved form.

The three of them tumbled off-balance and as soon as Duplicate Boy lost his vice-like grip on her, Amp sucked in a lungful of air. He easily overpowered her again though, and was soon kneeling over Evolvo Lad and Amp with his hands round both their throats. "Attacking me physically?" Duplicate Boy mocked Evolvo Lad. "In that form? You must be desperate, you're weaker than any of us like this, Tcheru."

"Not...you..." Evolvo Lad rasped as he struggled to resist the darkness closing in on him. "...Her..." One pale slender finger extended toward the raven-haired girl beside him, and the last conscious action Evolvo Lad took was to turn Amp's power against Duplicate Boy to its fullest extent.

Duplicate Boy immediately doubled over, releasing them involuntarily. His skin turned orange, then chalk-white, then took on a translucency which hinted at the dark veins beneath. Enormous wings unfolded from his back and twin antennae emerged from a cranium which was currently elongating to three times its original size. Eyes wide and overwhelmed by the changes erupting throughout him, Stev Cohn uttered a simple "oh".

...and then the ship finally came apart.

**********

EPILOGUE

Dawnstar stood before a large rounded viewing pane, her expression inscrutable. On the other side of the plexiglass Chameleon Boy, Life Lass, Amp and Key Kid slept peacefully in the Heroes of Lallor's medical facility at Homebase.

"You know, you don't have to stand guard there forever." Shrinking Violet casually approached. "They'll be fine, Dawnstar. Why don't you come join the rest of us outside?"

"This is my fault," Dawnstar replied, not shifting from her injured allies. "If I had listened to Evolvo Lad--"

"Hey." Shrinking Violet stood in front of her, blocking her view of the others. "Don't start with that nonsense. You've been a Legionnaire long enough to know that we don't win every battle, and in a very real sense you and Gas Girl achieved more than any of the rest of us. You should be proud of yourself, you're still on every holochannel." Vi gestured at the news broadcast which had been playing the whole time in a lounge area behind them.
After being evicted from the Dominator's bio-ship during their fight with Duplicate Boy, Gas Girl had quickly reconstituted herself and caught up with Dawnstar. A little trial and error had given Gas Girl the ability to approximate a kind of Dominator truth serum, and then the two heroines had arranged a very public confession. Lalloran media hadn't let the story go for three days now.

"Yes, we brought a villain to justice," Dawnstar looked down at the shorter woman, "But Rain Girl died as a direct result of my pride. Brittle and Duplicate Boy may be lost to us as well, my power has failed to locate either of them. You could all have died because of me, Violet."

"Dawnstar, we could all die every time we get out of bed. This is the life, we all know the risks." Vi leaned back against the plexiglass, her arms folded. "The truth is, we botched this. All of us. Mistakes were made and there are things that any one of us could have done differently, and I know we'll all try to do better next time. But that doesn't make what happened to those kids your fault any more than it's mine. The only one who's responsible is that damn diskhead, and if there's any justice he'll rot in jail for the rest of his life for this. Making poor Duplicate Boy a sleeper agent like that...there's nothing creepier than not being able to trust someone you thought had your back." She shook the thought out of her mind, then lay a hand on Dawnstar's shoulder. "Now come on, let's go. Ayla's way better at this pep talk thing than me, I'm all tapped out."

Dawnstar paused, trying to find the strength to say what she knew she'd come to Lallor in the first place to say. She placed her own hand over Vi's on her shoulder and met her eye. "Violet, I...I want to apologise to you."

"I keep telling you--" Vi began, exasperation sneaking into her tone.

"No, please...let me finish." Dawnstar held Vi's hand in both of her own now, and couldn't seem to raise her large brown eyes from those hands. "When Chameleon Girl took your place in the Legion...my power should have alerted me that she wasn't you. I failed you, Violet." She did look up now, and her eyes were wet.

For the briefest of instants, Vi looked as though she'd just been slapped. That passed though, and she released a loud guffaw. "Oh Dawnstar, honey..." She squeezed the tracker's hand before letting her go. "Of all the people I was angry at over that, believe me...you were nowhere near that list. I mean no offence Dawny, but we're not exactly best buddies. If I'm gonna be mad at you, then I have to be mad at Mon-El and Ultra Boy and anyone else who could conceivably have picked that Yera wasn't me. Anyway, that was years ago...have you been sitting on that this whole time?"

"No, I..." Dawnstar took a deep breath and just decided to come out with it. "...I learned recently that in the future, some kind of psychic entity is going to possess me, exploit me...hurt me. And he told me that when it happened, nobody even noticed. Nobody even noticed when I wasn't me." The last sentence came out in a much smaller voice than Violet had ever heard from Dawnstar's lips.

Vi released a long sigh, heavy with the weight of things she'd learned long ago not to carry openly. "Dawnstar, listen to me." She held the young woman's shoulders firmly and her voice was steel. "Women like us, we're not...we're not Phantom Girl or Laurel Kent or whoever, we're never going to be popular or the centre of a clique. We keep to ourselves and we do our job and we respect our colleagues but it takes a lot for us to really consider ourselves one of them. I know you and I are not really anything alike, but I see that same quality in you. We're strong, but we isolate ourselves. I had to learn that about myself when I was dealing with what Yera did to me, it was the only way I could move on. If I had been Dream Girl, someone probably would have known it wasn't me in a day...but I wasn't Dream Girl, I was the shy kid who never started a conversation in her life, and how could I possibly blame you or Mon-El or Superboy or any other number of people for not noticing me when all I'd ever done was try to escape notice? I was the one who had to change if I wanted people to see me for who I was, and so I did. Does that make sense?"

"I...think so," Dawnstar admitted. "But Violet...I don't know if I know how to do that." She wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Well then...it's a good thing you've got someone here who's already been through it to teach you, huh?" Vi cleared her throat and both women laughed awkwardly at the emotional state they'd talked themselves into. "For now, you can start by not being so sprocking stoic...get out in that garden and take your damn moment of relaxation, woman."

"Thank you, Violet." A genuinely warm smile crossed Dawnstar's face. Following the impulse before she chickened out, she hugged Vi and then backed away blushing. Vi smiled back and the two of them walked through Homebase to meet up with Gas Girl and Evolvo Lad outside.

When they arrived in the lush outdoor space, Vi instantly sensed that the atmosphere had changed. "Everything okay out here?" she asked as she sat on a bench seat next to Gas Girl.

"Remember how I was talking about maybe leaving the Legion to come back to Lallor?" Gas Girl asked, crestfallen. "That's not gonna happen."

"They're keeping you in exile?" Vi was outraged. "Even after you exposed that diskhead's plans?? That's insane! The Legion have a lot of political connections, Gas Girl...don't worry, we'll fight this!"

"It's not just Gas Girl," Evolvo Lad joined in. In his regular human form, the shock on his face was apparent to all of them. "The Defence Minister himself just called...Lallor is passing legislation to ban metahumans from the planet altogether. It'll take a while to be enshrined as law, but when that happens...

...all of the Heroes of Lallor will be in exile."

Good heavens!

Raz, this was an amazing ending, I am absolutely mind-blown! Excellent writing, the scene just flew so naturally and well and with such high intensity and suspense...

Poor Rain Girl... Brittle, I have a little less sympathy for (Violet almost beat Dupe!), but still am sympathetic. Poor Duplicate Boy, that's the worst though... Are he and Brittle gone? Glad Amp and Key Kid made it, at least...

and really, poor Dupe. After we got a scene from HIS point of view... it's clear he was not himself It's as much a tragedy for him as it is for everyone else.

great use of Dupe's limited range against him. Vi's scene was amazing. Dawny's arrogance BUT realizing her mistake vs. excellent use of Evolvo Lad's intellect. Cham's too. Poor Life Lass...

Lallor BANNING all metahumans! DIdn't see that coming, but seeing what the Lallor gov's been like... I was not too surprised.

Too many Lallorians left for Legion membership I think, but maybe the Academy?

Amp, oh Amp. Great use of her powers to beat Dupe. Also Gas Girl's truth serum simulation.

The intensity of this scene, raz, my hat is off to you. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time.

Great use of Vi as well at the end. Yes she's tough and impatient, but she's also compassionate... and I like Dawny continuing to open up. Hopefully this will be enough to avert the Bounty future?

Thanks IB, it's fun just writing a straight up action scene sometimes and I was happy with how Vi fared so I'm glad you liked it! The scene with Vi and Dawnstar wrote itself in a slightly different direction than I was expecting but I like when characters take the reins so we'll see where that goes

I know I left some open endings with the Lallorans here, there will be some follow-up on that next instalment!

That was fun Raz, a lot more brutal than we're use to in your stories!

Dawny's realisation that she should have acted quicker, as well as opening up to Vi were the stand outs points for me - I find her really hard to rite though you seem to have a good grasp of her character and have made her surprisingly vulnerable.

Vi taking Dupe2 to a smaller sizw so he couldn't mimic the others was a very clever ploy, she's another character you've written well. Her admitting to Dawny that she used to intentionally avoid scrutiny was really poignant.

I hope you're going to somehow integrate the remaining Lallorians into your team, if not as full members than at least regular guests.

The dominators appear to have gotten away with another nasty incurson into the UP, will there be repecussions? And Lallor Gov definitely need some kind of investigation into how this coould happen, it reads to me like there's coruption in high places here.

A very nice end to this storyline though I'm hoping things don't quite end here as there's so many questions left.

Great stuff, you've hooked me in for more, more, more!

Thanks Harbi, glad you liked it! There will be some follow up on this very soon for our favourite Lallorans, and you're right that the Dominion have been getting away with more than they should in recent times...maybe some people with a little less public exposure than the Legion or the Heroes of Lallor could find themselves involved if those Dominators don't watch themselves

NEXT: Hunky waiters! Elastic Lad annoys people! Matter-Eater Lad eats someone's leg! And a very unexpected cameo appearance!

MEDICUS ONE
Earth orbit

ROLL CALL
Color Kid aka Ulu Vakk: color manipulation
Elastic Lad aka Jams-Ols 5: super-elongation
Light Lad aka Darvan Locke: gravity negation
Phantom Girl aka Tinya Wazzo: leader; intangibility

Phantom Girl pinched the bridge of her nose. "Elastic Lad, I'm glad you're feeling back to yourself but please...can you explain this to us again without going off on twelve different tangents?"

Totally oblivious to the undertone of frustration in Phantom Girl's voice, Elastic Lad nodded enthusiastically. Standing before his teammates in his hospital room, Jams-Ols 5 only had one arm thanks to Alek Arcane but the medical expertise of Dr Gym'll had led to his recovery in every other way. "Oh gosh! Absolutely, Phantom Girl! I'm sorry, you must be so busy now what with leading the Legion and everything! I'm super glad that you and Color Kid and Light Lad came to visit me! And Dr Shakespeare, it's so nice to meet you properly! I mean I know we already met - gee, a couple of times actually - but this seems so much more like a casual introduction and not like we're under pressure to fix something or save everyone, or like you just saved everyone and now I'm meeting you for the first time--"

"Is he--" Kent whispered to Light Lad standing next to him as Elastic Lad rabbited on.

"Since the first day we met," Darvan answered before the question had even been asked. "My working theory is he just uses his powers to squish every other internal organ down into his feet so his lungs can fill the rest of the space and that way he never has to take a breath between words."

"Elastic Lad!" Phantom Girl snapped. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to be rude but...I actually am busy, and I'm sure these boys have things they need to do as well. Fifteen minutes ago, an alarm sounded from this room. Do you know what that was for? Yes or no!"

"Oh sure!" the young redhead beamed. "That's the Cadmu Proprietary Genotechnology Alert is all!"

The other four waited for him to continue, but the one-armed hero just stood there uncommonly mute with a helpful grin still plastered across his face.

"The Cadmu what now?" Color Kid finally broke. He knew he'd regret asking, but he just wanted this to be over.

"So you all know I'm from Cadmu, right?" Elastic Lad asked. "It's--"

"We know!" the other three Legionnaires chorused, causing Kent to flinch.

"Well, Cadmu guards its proprietary genotechnology very closely!" Elastic Lad continued. "It's one thing for me to see a doctor over little bumps or bruises - not that I generally get bumps or bruises under normal circumstances because of my physiology - but any really major injury, like say losing an arm," he wagged his stump at them for effect, "That kind of thing needs to go back to Cadmu so my homeworld's not sharing our secrets with the rest of the United Planets. Don't get the wrong idea; we're all for sharing scientific advances, but we're also aware that not everyone would use our work for the good of society and heck, most of the UP doesn't see gene modification and related sciences in a very complimentary light anyway! I'd just hate to be stepping on anyone's toes as far as social mores or boundaries or anything like that are concerned! So any kind of gene harvesting or resequencing or really any number of things along those lines activates a transmission code written into my DNA as a friendly little reminder to medical staff that they're in danger of breaching Cadmu's legal claim!"

"Wait a nano," Light Lad frowned. "Elastic Lad, are you saying...you're the proprietary genotechnology? Dr Gym'll couldn't grow you a new arm because your planet won't let you get medical help off-world?"

"Exactly!" Elastic Lad answered cheerily.

"That...that's monstrous!" Kent exclaimed.

"Elastic Lad?" Phantom Girl cut in before this burgeoning ethical debate could get into full swing. "Am I right in thinking you just need to go back to Cadmu to have your arm restored then?"

"You've got it, Phantom Girl!"

"Great!" Tinya clapped her hands together. "Ulu, Darvan - I want you two to accompany E-Lad back to his homeworld, make sure he comes back to us with all limbs intact please! Good luck, boys!" With that, Tinya gave them all a wave goodbye and walked through the wall. She felt mildly guilty for offloading this on two of her teammates when she very well could have rearranged some things and gone herself, but what was the point of being leader if not delegating tiresome tasks?

Besides which, all they needed to do was escort Elastic Lad to a procedure that would be over and done with in a few days...what could go wrong?

**********

MARS
Marsopolis, Keeping Up With The Jon'zzes theme diner

ROLL CALL
Heroes of Lallor
Evolvo Lad aka Sev Tcheru: hyperevolution/devolution
Life Lass aka Somi Gan: matter animation

Legion of Superheroes
Gas Girl aka Tal Nahii: can transform into any gas
Matter-Eater Lad aka Tenzil Kem: can eat inorganic matter in all its forms
Shrinking Violet aka Salu Digby: shrinking

Calorie Queen aka Taryn Loy: ally, can eat inorganic matter in all its forms and convert to super-strength

Sitting at a round table in high-backed chairs in civilian clothes, none of the six heroes gathered here for lunch seemed at all out of place in this crowded diner. There were even a few sentients here with gaseous plumes around their scalps like Gas Girl. "This place is crazy, Tenzil!" Tal Nahii blurted in an attempt to conquer the awkward silence which kept drifting over the table. "What's with the symbols on the back of these chairs? I recognise Superboy on the back of Taryn's seat but who are all the others meant to be?"

"How do you know it's not Supergirl?" the occasional heroine known as Calorie Queen teased.

"You really don't recognise them?" Vi's eyebrows shot up. "Not even this one?" She spun her own seat around to show off a stylised black bat inside a yellow oval.

"They're the Justice League's icons," Matter-Eater Lad replied as he sipped slick black oil through a bendy straw. "You know, the team Kal-El founded in his own era in honor of his time with the Legion."

"I've heard of the Justice League!" Life Lass spoke up, happy to be part of the conversation. "I didn't know they were inspired by the Legion of Superheroes, Matter-Eater Lad!"

"Matter-Eater Lad's joking, Life Lass." Vi shot Tenzil a look of faux disapproval. "Matter-Eater Lad knows very well that Superboy and Supergirl both suppressed any memories of our time whenever they returned to their home eras...isn't that right, Matter-Eater Lad?"

Tenzil simply shrugged and slurped the last of the oil up noisily. "Hey, who am I to question the resilience of the Kryptonian subconscious?"

"...Oh." Cowed, Life Lass picked up her own more conventional beverage in both hands and shrank back into her seat.

"Don't feel bad, kiddo." Tenzil's tone softened slightly toward Somi. "I probably wouldn't know any of this ancient history if I weren't in the Legion...this place is a homage to the greatest heroes Mars ever made, the Martian Manhunters! See that weird table over there? That's the Teen Titans table, the second Martian Manhunter was one of them when she was a kid...and over there you got...well I don't know what that is, maybe we can bring Cosmic Boy here to talk at us for a couple hours about the great heroes of the last millenium sometime. He's the expert on this stuff!"

Despite Tenzil's best efforts, the conversation petered out again almost immediately and it was only after an extremely muscular waiter wearing little more than a cape, a red harness and a pair of trunks started delivering their meals that Gas Girl broke the tension once more. "Okay, I can't stand it. Matter-Eater Lad, Violet, Calorie Queen, you're all sweet for trying to take our minds off of everything but I need to know - Sev, what's going on back home? When can we go back?"

The very average looking young blond man sitting between Life Lass and Gas Girl took a deep breath in response. "Honestly? I don't think that's going to happen, Tal. Not for a long time. Lallorgov's stance is that the Dominion wouldn't have taken such an interest in Lallor in the first place if it weren't for us. The Heroes of Lallor have more often than not been a boon to Lallor in a public relations sense more than anything else. There aren't a lot of situations we've dealt with that couldn't have been handled by conventional law enforcement or emergency services, albeit not as quickly or as cleanly."

"That's so dumb!" Gas Girl protested. "What about the Zoda Gang? Detector Lad?? Jinx Boy would have destroyed the capital if it weren't for us!"

"I crunched the numbers," Evolvo Lad replied glumly. "Well, the evolved version of me crunched the numbers. In all likelihood, more people would have died but the Science Police would have brought Jinx Boy in eventually. The same is true for most crises we've dealt with. The thing is, Tal...they're politicians. They don't see the world the way we see it, acceptable losses are well...acceptable to them. They know how little control they really have over us though and how volatile we can be, and in their defence I can see where they're coming from. Beast Boy turned on us, the first Duplicate Boy destroyed an entire planet, the second Duplicate Boy nearly killed all of us--"

"That's not fair!" Righteous anger found its way into Gas Girl's voice. "Beast Boy wasn't well, we just didn't have the experience to see it! If Ord hadn't done what he did, the Dominion would have a whole army of B.I.O.Ns at its disposal, and you can't blame poor Stev for what that Dominator turned him into!"

"I don't blame Stev," Sev Tcheru said calmly. "I don't blame any of them, they all may as well have been family and I miss them as much as anyone. But we were there for all of that, Lallorgov weren't. I don't know if I'd be able to see this the way I do if I didn't have the luxury of taking on a form that can literally suppress every emotional response I have, but I do have that luxury and I can see it from their point of view. I don't think their point of view is correct, but I understand it. They think their lives will become a lot simpler and easier to control without the violent unpredicatbility of metahumans getting in the way and I can't fault them for that. They'll learn eventually that they were wrong, but I've tried to convince them and I really think they're just going to have to learn the hard way."

Silence returned again to the table, broken only when their waiter reappeared. "How's everything going here?" he flashed a fake smile. "Anybody need a refill?"

Matter-Eater Lad held up his glass with an artificial grin of his own. "Got any more of that oven grease?" he asked. "The vintage stuff?"

Calorie Queen screwed her face up. "Honestly Tenzil, I don't know how you can drink that rot. Just another detergent for me, thanks."

"Comin' right up, ma'am!" Without missing a beat, the waiter took their empty glasses and waited till he was out of sight before he chuckled. Bismollians might be weird, but at least they tipped well.

Back at the table, the conversation continued. "...So you really don't know what happened after you passed out on that ship?" Calorie Queen was leaning forward on her hand. "Do you think your other teammates could still be out there somewhere?"

"Brittle and Duplicate Boy?" Evolvo Lad shrugged. "I honestly don't know. Triggering Amp's power wiped me out...I blacked out and the next thing I remember Somi and I were back at Homebase with Amp, Key Kid and poor Rain Girl's body. We contacted Chameleon Boy and Shrinking Violet and found out they made it to the surface safely after being evicted from the ship, but they didn't know how we got back home either. It stands to reason that Duplicate Boy must have saved us, but why? And what did he do with Brittle? The whole thing is a mystery for now, I suppose."

"Speaking of Amp and Key Kid, how are they going?" Gas Girl asked. "It must be super hard on them."

"They're doing their best," Evolvo Lad answered. "We're still trying to find out who they really were before that Dominator kidnapped them for his experiments."

"Saturn Girl thought it might be nice for them to join the Legion Academy," Life Lass ventured timidly. "She suggested it when Phantom Girl asked her to mind-scan them to make sure...well, you know...but she thinks it'd be good for them to be around kids their own age and take their minds off...well, everything."

"What do you think?" Violet asked, sure to direct the question at Somi directly. "What do you want to do next, Life Lass?"

Life Lass gave Evolvo Lad a pleading look. "I...I..."

She was interrupted by a crashing sound and panicked screams from outside the diner.

"Well, that saves me the embarassment of having to skip out on the bill!" Tenzil stood up and activated a hidden control on his belt buckle, switching his civilian clothes for his Legion costume. "Let's go, Legion and Legion-adjacent pals!"

When the six of them reached the pedestrian walkway outside, they didn't immediately see the cause of the disturbance though the path was suspiciously devoid of people except for a crowd gathering at some distance. A small explosion sounded above, and they all looked up to see a massively thick chunk of ferrocrete hurtling down from another walkway above them to crush them all.

"I don't think so," Evolvo Lad frowned, his voice deepening and becoming more gutteral as he spoke. By the time those four words had left his mouth, a hirsute caveman stood in Sev Tcheru's place. The primitive man gave an aggressive roar as powerful legs propelled him straight upwards, then two broad fists smashed the foot-thick chunk to smaller pieces. Without instruction, Life Lass had already molded the protective barriers around the edge of their walkway into a makeshift ceiling to shield everyone from the more manageable rain of debris.

Bounding and climbing his way along any stable surface in his path, the devolved Evolvo Lad was already halfway up to whatever was happening above them. In mist form Gas Girl wasn't far behind him, and Vi and Tenzil soon overtook the two of them with their flight rings. "Hey!" Calorie Queen cupped her hands to her mouth and shouted. "Not all of us can fly, you know!"

"Would you like a lift up?" Life Lass asked shyly, offering her hand. Somi Gan stood on a particularly big chunk of debris while the rest of the broken up ferrocrete pieces rolled and hopped toward her like a litter of pups running to their mother.

Slightly bemused and not at all certain this was safe, Calorie Queen nonetheless took Somi's hand and joined her on the cracked stone surface. "Thanks Life Lass, I -- oh!" Taryn looked down behind them as the two women began rising toward the higher walkway. At first the journey was jittery and rough as a tower of debris literally built itself underneath them, but Life Lass soon got the rhythm of it and by the time they joined their friends above it had become a surprisingly smooth ride.

...In the midst of the crowd watching the spectacle, a young woman drew a pale blue hood over her head so that only the hint of grey-streaked black hair poked out. The way Calorie Queen had looked back, had she suspected something, known it was her..? No. No, it couldn't be. Calorie Queen had never met her, how could she possibly recognise her? It's just nerves, the young woman told herself. Calorie Queen isn't even in the Legion of Superheroes, calm yourself.

...Confident that she'd remained undetected, the young woman named Otaki disappeared into the crowd surrounding her.

**********

120 feet above, Life Lass and Calorie Queen arrived to see the local Interplanetary Bank branch with a gaping hole in its front wall. This was obviously where the ferrocrete had come from, and several dented and sparking security and Science Police droids littered about the area supported that observation. Gas Girl was reviving the one organic security guard who'd been on duty, while Evolvo Lad stalked his way into the bank with Matter-Eater Lad hovering above him. They couldn't see Violet, but Calorie Queen at least had no doubt that Vi would have made a beeline straight for the action. As soon as Life Lass's makeshift elevator dropped them off, Calorie Queen reached for the chunk of ferrocrete they'd been standing on. "Go on ahead," Taryn waved. "I'm just fuelling the furnace."

Life Lass passed by Gas Girl and the security guard while Calorie Queen ate the rest of the ferrocrete slab. "How is she, Tal?"

"She probably shouldn't move," Gas Girl had resumed her biological form now that the guard was stirring. "Somi, can you give her a stretcher and get her somewhere out of the way till we figure out what's going on?"

"Wait they're still in there?" The security guard resisted Gas Girl's attempts to subdue her and propped herself up on her elbows. "You're the Legion of Superheroes, right? You need to get in there and stop them, the SP aren't gonna stand a chance!"

Before any of the women could make a move, they heard a wordless outburst from inside the bank and Evolvo Lad came hurtling out. Still in his devolved form, he bounced twice before hitting the walkway's barricade hard enough to crack it. An instant later there was a rush of air and an enormous armoured juggernaut was standing before the lot of them. The newcomer stood almost fifteen feet tall and thick metal plating covered him from head to toe. Eyeslits covered in tinted plexiglass prevented anyone from seeing his eyes, and inside a golden circle on his chest was a simplified symbol of a running man. Every seam of the armour was the same golden color, giving him the appearance of lightning snaking all over his body from the central icon.

"If you hurt Evolvo Lad--" Gas Girl began, already discorporating into a cloud which floated in the devolved hero's direction.

"That wasn't me," a voice modulator croaked from somewhere within the armour. "That was all Shellshock." Taking his cue, an almost identical second armoured villain stomped onto the scene far more slowly than his comrade. His own icon was simply a gigantic lightning bolt which stretched from his left shoulder to his right leg, and this behemoth didn't just have the appearance of lightning; actual electricity arced all over his body from head to toe. Only his right hand was untouched by the thin streams of electricity, the energy field ended where a misshapen chunk some five inches across had been taken out of the plating covering his forearm. Tiny sparks flashed there, trying in vain to connect to wiring on the other side of the hole.

The man responsible for that hole was hanging from Shellshock's outstretched right arm. The villain's hand was big enough that he could close around Matter-Eater Lad's shoulders and beneath his armpits; Tenzil dangled uncomfortably, but he wasn't actually hurt. "You squajes are gonna be sorry you messed with the Legion of Superheroes!" Matter-Eater Lad protested. "And Legion-adjacent pals! You just wait!"

"How did the Legion of Superheroes even get here this quick?" Shellshock asked, his voice similarly filtered through a modulator.

"It doesn't matter," his partner responded. "Nobody's quicker than Leadfoot!" A blur of motion, he ran straight for Gas Girl and a still recovering Evolvo Lad. Barely in time to save them, Life Lass brought the walkway safety barrier down to shield them so the enormous speedster was forced to divert at the last instant. He came to a halt only feet away from Calorie Queen, then picked her up and slung her over his shoulder before she could react. "We can't risk taking them all on!" Leadfoot called to his partner in crime. "Let's keep these two as hostages and clear out of here, Shellshock!"

Gas Girl's voice sounded quietly in Calorie Queen's ear. "I'm so sorry, Taryn...I'm trying to infiltrate his armour and get you out of here but he's sealed up from head to toe!"

"You need a chink in his armour?" The way Calorie Queen was being carried, her mane of blonde hair fell over one whole side of her face and revealed only half of a wicked smile. "I can give you a chink in his armour." Digging in to the villain's back she effortlessly tore a huge piece of plating off, ate a piece of it for added strength and flung the rest aside. "How's that?"

"You'll regret that, Legionnaire!" Leadfoot threw Calorie Queen to the ground with enough force to knock the wind out of her, then began laying into her with superspeed punches.

Realising she had to act quickly, Gas Girl disappeared into the opening Taryn had made for her...then she saw something which would very much have made her eyes bulge in shock if she weren't currently a formless cloud of sedative gas.

Meanwhile, Shellshock had heard his friend cry out and immediately forgot his instruction to take hostages. Hurling Matter-Eater Lad to one side, the giant villain stamped his way across toward Leadfoot. Before Tenzil could hit anything harder than himself, he used his flight ring to change his path through the air and came straight back at Shellshock again. Tenzil wracked his brain to think of a way he could get around Shellshock's electrical field before trying to bite him again; it had only been sheer luck earlier that the villain had switched the field off while he was gathering loot from the bank break-in.

As if Tenzil's own willpower had caused it, the electricity running across Shellshock's surface suddenly and anti-climactically just wasn't there anymore. A couple of seconds later, a miniscule Shrinking Violet was beside Matter-Eater Lad's ear. "I couldn't find the motor controls but I disconnected the power battery for his field," she explained hurriedly. "But Tenzil, you're not gonna believe this--"

"--They're Hykraians!" Evolvo Lad announced to everyone present.

Sev Tcheru's devolved form having reached the limit of its usefulness, he'd switched to his hyperevolved form. His highly advanced intellect combined with his telepathy had shown him the truth about their foes almost immediately. "Life Lass, if you'd be so kind?" Sev made brief telepathic contact with Somi, and now that she knew Leadfoot's legs were filled only with circuitry she simply popped them off of his torso like a child destroying an action figure.

"That takes care of that one--" Life Lass began.

"Not quite," a groggy Calorie Queen stood up while Leadfoot used his native telekinesis to lift himself back up to a fighting position. Cal socked him right in his chest emblem hard enough to send him tumbling backwards into unconsciousness. "Now he's taken care of."

"Let me help you with Shellshock," Life Lass turned to Matter-Eater Lad where her hand darted to her mouth in surprise. "Oh--!"

Matter-Eater Lad had already chewed off Shellshock's arms and legs, and was currently sitting on the ground cradling one of them while he took bites out of it like a giant drumstick. "What..?" Tenzil asked, his mouth full of metal. "Was I not meant to do that..?"

Fifteen minutes later the two Hykraians had been divested of their respective suits of armour and taken into Science Police custody, anybody hurt in their attack had been taken to hospital and Matter-Eater Lad and Calorie Queen were both feeling rather bloated as they finished munching on the last of the villains' battlesuits.

"So strange to think those two were Hykraian!" Gas Girl shook her head. "They were nothing like Tellus!"

"Their telepathic and telekinetic talents were not as well developed as those of Tellus," Evolvo Lad explained, still in his hyperevolved form. "But the fact that they had telepathic talents at all opened a pathway for me to access their minds. Leadfoot very clearly recalls obtaining his superspeed powers from a glowing meteor he found on the ocean floor, I've alerted the Science Police so they can have a local team investigate...and Shellshock has an affinity with technology which is quite uncommon on Hykraius. It was he who developed the armours they both wore to hide their heritage. It is a shame that such gifts should be put to criminal use, imagine the difference they could make as heroes. Ah well, such imaginings are fruitless I suppose..."

"For them maybe," Matter-Eater Lad inserted.

"What do you mean?" Life Lass asked uncertainly.

"Just that we worked well together today!" Tenzil continued. "I know it's still gonna take a while to wear Cal down till she gives in but Life Lass, Evolvo Lad...

...why don't you two join the Legion of Superheroes?"

**********

DEEP SPACE
Inside a two-seater space shuttle

ROLL CALL
Dawnstar: translightspeed flight, interstellar tracking
Wildfire aka Drake Burroughs: anti-energy being

"Just so you know, Dawny...this is really weird." Wildfire leaned back in his seat, using every ounce of self-control he had not to consult the ship's navigation systems. "I have no idea where we're going. Or why. And why are we taking a shuttle anyway? Where are we going that we can't fly to under our own power?"

"Sometimes the journey matters more than the destination, Drake." Though she sat in the pilot's seat beside Wildfire, Dawnstar's wings took up most of the room behind them in the cramped cockpit.

Wildfire sat silently and watched her for nearly a minute. "Do you even know how to fly this thing?" His suit's voice modulator didn't always make it easy for him to convey nuance and as soon as he said it he mentally kicked himself knowing that she'd take offence at what he'd intended to be a lighthearted comment.

Dawnstar gave him an imperious look and Wildfire steeled himself for the fight that was coming. "...I am very bad at it," she finally admitted, and the two of them roared with laughter.

When they'd finally composed themselves again, Dawnstar rested her hand on his leg. "Drake, I want to apologise to you."

"Aww, don't sweat it," Wildfire dismissed her. "If this is about you running off to Lallor, you're back now and that's the most important thing."

"It is," Dawnstar continued, "But it's more than that." She took a moment to mentally compose what she wanted to say. "The last time we had a real conversation you tried to be open and supportive and I didn't give you that chance. I isolated myself from you because it's what I know to do. I avoid uncomfortable discussions by ensuring I never need to have them. I keep you at arm's length because I can't be hurt that way, but then..." she remembered her conversation with Shrinking Violet, "...I can scarcely blame you for not being there for me if I don't allow you to be there for me, can I?"

"Dawny, whatever happened in that sprocking future you found out about...I'm gonna do my best to make sure that never happens. You know that, right?" He held her hands tight in his own.

"I do." She squeezed back. An alert sounded, and Dawnstar turned her attention to the console for a moment. "Oh, I believe we're here." She programmed the shuttle to take a pre-determined path back to Mars where she'd arranged for Shrinking Violet to guide it back to base, then grabbed Wildfire's hand again and dragged him to the airlock. The two of them left the vessel, Dawnstar unfurled her giant white wings, and still hand in hand with Wildfire she flew toward a tiny blue-green marble which quickly became a lush blue-green world.

"This looks familiar," Wildfire looked around. "These constellations...Dawny, is this..?"

"Starhaven," she smiled. "My homeworld. I know you've been here before, that's why I wanted to keep our flightpath a secret until we arrived. But Drake...I do want to give you the chance to be there for me, and that means I want you to know me for who I am; warts and all. We both have more than sufficient personal leave, and Phantom Girl has assured me we won't be needed for a few days. Drake Burroughs, would you stay with me on my world for a few days and see me for who I am outside of the Legion of Superheroes?"

It was impossible for Wildfire to smile, but Dawnstar imagined him smiling now. "Sweetheart, I thought you'd never ask."

Together, the mismatched couple flew on with a sea of stars their backdrop.

**********

oh, what a naughty hint that we will see Leeta-87's and Dev-Em's crew again will Jed be along for the ride I wonder?

LOL, 12 different tangents. Squishing every other organ to make space for lungs... he he he . And yes, E-Lad, stick to YES or NO!

Cadmu's proprietary tech alarm... interesting! and logical, great way to explain why E-Lad can't regrow an arm, where Polar Boy was able to.

"What could go wrong" indeed??? But I agree re Tinya, she needs to be able to delegate! Being Legion leader is not easy.

Nice to see Vi / Tenzil continuing to have a friendship! Great convo re 20th/21st century "ancient" history... makes sense not everyone would know. Just like how in the present, many people don't study history... Poor shy Somi... heh.

Miss Martian as the second Martian Manhunter, I like it. Brilliant restaurant name too.

Nice to see that Sev has a little of his evolved form's personality even in his normal form. Reboot Evolvo had a very different personality in the one time his un-evolved form spoke...

Heh! brilliant bit too, seeing two Bismollians talking about food together. makes sense that they would have different tastes!

So! logical that Duplicate Boy saved Evolvo and the others. I WAS wondering how it all went down, how they all managed to get off the disintegrating ship safely. Curious to see what will happen with Brittle and Dupe Boy II...

Vi directly asking Somi, so she would directly answer... heh!

Otaki... the plot thickens!

Nobody is quicker than... Leadfoot? irony!

Loved our Bismollians feeling bloated. We all know Bismollians can overeat, but was great seeing it.

Also cool that the villains are Hykraians. We see so few of them after all.

Whee! The Legion might grow again. After all they've been through, would be nice to see Somi and Sev also find a home in the Legion. Glad Tenzil mentioned Taryn as a worthy member, too. And nice to see Amp and Key Kid finding a home with the Academy - and that it was more so they could be around peers, rather than because of inexperience as heroes. They did serve as Lallorian heroes for a bit. Smart that they were mind-scanned to make sure they wouldn't become sleeper agents.

Also, with your Zoe Saugin's power set being different, Somi won't seem like a... heh... duplicate

Great scene with Dawny and Wildfire. Drake's "oh, she is going to be mad!" moment was hilarious... respect to Dawny for making an effort, really making an effort. And admitting that she just avoids things. (reminds me of some people in my life!) (Also like how Vi is quickly becoming a sort of friend to Dawny... makes sense! they have some similarities, and they really bonded last installment!) I love it, looking forward to this! (also gives me hope that the Bounty incident can be avoided somehow!)

Raz, this has cheered up an otherwise rather dreary day,

First off, meant to say in my comments last time that Ulu spending time with Tellus to learn about his colourful language is a really great idea.

Elastic Lads genetics being proprietary information is a really inspired, take a bow as thats the best thing I?ve read in quite some time. I do enjoy your visits to Cadmus so am really looking forward to the team going back there. Tiny as exasperation was well written, and the comment about ELs lungs taking up so much of his body so he wouldn?t need to stop for breath was hilarious. I love your Elastic Lad, he?s so much fun.

The restaurant was a really cute way to slip some history into the setting - miss Martian being a future - to us - Manhunter was great.

Bismollian eating habits and taste are a hoot!

That was a nice solution to the Heroes of Lallor. Rain Girl and Key Kid joining the Academy makes sense, and it?ll be interesting to see them interacting with the group you?ve got there already. Hopefully Evolvo and Life Lass take up the offer, I?d be really interested in seeing what you do with them.

Looking forward to Danny and Drake?s sightseeing trip, though kinda feel it won?t be entirely bucolic.

More, more, more!

Thanks for commenting, y'all! Glad I could give your day a bit of a kick, Harbi!

IB, since you mentioned Evolvo Lad....did he ever show his devolved form in the reboot? I don't think I ever saw him in any other form, I didn't even know he reverted to normal at some point! Duplicate Boy and Brittle are not done with yet, but it'll probably be a while before we see where they've ended up...we have got enough Lalloran heroes getting story time in the next few chapters already

The Color Kid/Tellus thing is something I have been meaning to bring up for ages, it just never worked its way into the story before...and my mission with Dawnstar and Wildfire is to give them some actual development in their relationship outside of the material they've been retreading since forever so I will be interested to see how that goes down with y'all.

Next up: Heroes (formerly) of Lallor! Teen romance/angst! And we are gonna meet the Lucy Lane to Elastic Lad's Jimmy Olsen!

heya Raz. Reboot Evolvo was in his "base" form in L* 21 (after getting knocked out) and in LSH 103 (in shock after evolved Evolvo thrashhed McCauley industries to build a machine to exploit the Anomaly)

Ape Evolvo appeared in L* 21 / L* 22 (it was the ape Evolvo getting KOed by Spider-Girl that revealed normal Evolvo) and L* 39 (power outage, was trying to build a fire lol). He may have appeared a couple times more...

Thanks for the info!

I thought I might post some pics I did of Evolvo Lad, Life Lass and Gas Girl - apparently I am a bit crap at flesh tones and Evolvo Cavelad is meant to look more "hunched over" than "angry troll" but I am happy with the costume updates anyway

Niiiice! And don't worry, Evolvo CaveLad DOES look hunched over to me

These are really good, Raz!!

I like the Lallor pics, Raz. Very nice.

Thanks y'all!

I love your artwork Raz, you've managed to convey their personalities with their poses, well done!

Thanks Harbi...there is lots of room for improvement but I do like the poses in terms of how it shows their personalities

EDIT: also I guess Life Lass is Bjork now?

Life Lass as Bjork? Yup, all she needs is an egg on a shoe

(sorry, can't paste the picture, just google it, her Swan outfit was magnificent)

haha yes I love that outfit

MARS
Husband Hill, Legion of Superheroes Headquarters

ROLL CALL
Blok: magically enhanced strength, invulnerability, speed, flight, stamina, wisdom and courage:
Chameleon Boy aka Reep Daggle: Durlan shapeshifter
Colossal Boy aka Gim Allon: growth powers
Cosmic Boy aka Rokk Krinn: magnetism
Crystal Kid aka Bobb Cohan: crystal construct creation
Diamond Damsel aka Iris Jacobs: living diamond
Dragonmage aka Xao Jin: dragon magic
Dream Girl aka Nura Nal: Naltorian precognition
Element Lad aka Jan Arrah: elemental transmutation
Firecrest aka Staq Mavlen: weredragon
Gas Girl aka Tal Nahii: can transform into any gas
Gravity Kid aka Tel Vole: gravity manipulation
Infectious Lass aka Drura Sehpt: disease transmission and immunity
Invisible Kid II aka Jacques Foccart: invisibility
King Canary aka K'rk T'wiiu III: sonic generation
Lightning Lass aka Ayla Ranzz: electricity generation and manipulation
Matter-Eater Lad aka Tenzil Kem: can eat inorganic matter in all its forms
Mon-El aka Lar Gand: Daxamite physiology
Mwindaji: tracker infused with White Lantern energy
Neon aka Zoe Saugin: infused with Green Lantern energy
Nightwind aka Berta Skye Haris: deputy leader, wind control
Night Girl aka Lydda Jath Krinn: photosensitive super-strength
Phantom Girl aka Tinya Wazzo: leader; intangibility
Polar Boy aka Brek Bannin: cryokinesis
Shadow Lass aka Tasmia Mallor: darkness generation
Shrinking Violet aka Salu Digby: shrinking
Stone Boy aka Dag Wentim: ability to transmute to living stone
Strut: electrochemical perceptions, insectoid physiology
Sun Boy aka Dirk Morgna: heat and light generation
Supergirl II aka Laurel Kent: invulnerability
Timber Wolf aka Brin Londo: super-strength and super-agility
Ultra Boy aka Jo Nah: ultra-energy which can be directed into any one of strength, speed, flight, invulnerability, flash vision, penetra-vision at a time

Evolvo Lad aka Sev Tcheru: Legion ally; hyperevolution/devolution
Life Lass aka Somi Gan: Legion ally; matter animation

Standing before dozens of her peers in the Legion of Superheroes' largest meeting room, Phantom Girl commanded their attention easily. Though her power might not be the mightiest in a room that contained Mon-El and Blok, she'd been a Legionnaire longer than almost every single other person here.

"Most of you will remember when Bouncing Boy was leader and he had each of us pair up with someone on the team that we don't normally work closely with. Given the changes that the Legion has been through recently, I think it's a good time to reintroduce that idea." There were some audible groans from the expected quarters, but nobody outright challenged Tinya so she took that as a sign to continue. "If you check your workstations you'll see that you've each been assigned a duty partner for the week; this isn't a school assignment, I don't expect you write a report for class or anything like that but the Legion of Superheroes is bigger than it ever has been and I think it can only be beneficial for us to be more comfortable working alongside one another." The mention of a school assignment drew some sniggers, and Tinya gave everyone a few moments to react to the reveal of their assigned partners before she carried on.

"...And speaking of the team growing bigger and better, the votes are in and now seems like the perfect time to introduce you all to your newest members! Give a warm Legion welcome to Evolvo Lad and Life Lass, everyone!" A privacy screen faded, and the two former Heroes of Lallor walked out to be formally presented with their flight rings and sworn in. Cheers and applause broke out as Evolvo Lad and Life Lass vowed to uphold the Legion of Superheroes' values, and unable to contain herself any longer Gas Girl squealed with delight and ran down to hug her oldest friends.

Sitting together in the conference room's raised seating, Lightning Lass leaned across to Shrinking Violet. "Is it just me," Ayla's voice was hushed, "Or does Life Lass not look wildly happy to be here?"

"Like a jackadeer caught in a hunter's light," Vi agreed.

"I wonder what that's all about?" Ayla queried. "I heard about how things ended on Lallor, but joining the Legion has to be better than whatever other options they've got at the moment, right?"

"We won't have to wonder for long," Violet replied. She turned her holoscreen around to face Lightning Lass and smirked knowingly as both women saw that Life Lass was Shrinking Violet's assigned partner for the following week.

**********

CADMU
Swanbi Precinct, Medical Faculty SPJO-36

ROLL CALL
Color Kid aka Ulu Vakk: color manipulation
Elastic Lad aka Jams-Ols 5: super-elongation
Light Lad aka Darvan Locke: gravity negation

"I'm not sure if Phantom Girl's being expedient or lazy," Light Lad noted as he and Color Kid sat before a live holocast of the meeting they couldn't attend in person, "But it looks like you're stuck with me for the week, pal!"

"It could be worse," Ulu remarked slyly as he glanced across at the sealed-off room where Elastic Lad's arm was currently being restored thanks to Cadmian technology.

"E-Lad's okay," Light Lad laughed, "He can be a lot though. One thing's for sure, I don't think I ever realised the breadth of personalities I'd meet when I joined the Legion of Superheroes!"

"I'm just joking," Ulu returned. "I know he's a good kid, but he really needs to cut down on his stims! Anyway, how does this pairing up thing work?"

"Hopefully better than it did last time," Darvan was met with a quizzical look from Ulu. "I could do without another impromptu mindmeld...long story."

Slightly bored, Darvan looked at the sterile walls of the underground medical facility surrounding them. "Hey, this is your first time on Cadmu, right? Do you want to go outside and play tourist? I didn't get to see much of the planet last time I was here, and I doubt we're going to be needed while Elastic Lad's getting fixed up. It can be our first official mission together," he finished with a wink.

Color Kid shrugged casually. "Sure, why not? It beats sitting around here fighting the temptation to brighten this place up while we're waiting."

The duo left instructions to contact them immediately if they were needed, and when they asked if they'd need an escort they were suitably impressed that the AI running the facility was able to quickly upload an interactive map of the local area along with notification of any restricted areas to their flight rings. Minutes later, they were soaring over a seemingly endless cityscape which seemed to reach as high as it spread. "This whole planet is so weird to me," Light Lad confided. "Winath's not entirely rolling farmland like people think, but there's so much more open space at home...and more nature! I thought Metropolis was a little overwhelming when I first joined the Legion, but Cadmu is like a planet-wide Metropolis! What's it like on your homeworld?"

"Lupra's got a few protected natural reserves left but it's not much different to Earth really," Color Kid considered the question. "Mainly densely populated cities; Metropolis kind of reminds me of our capital city actually! It's weird though, Cadmu is obviously a lot more built up but E-Lad was right, the population is noticeably so much lower on Cadmu! It's an odd feeling having this much space pretty much to ourselves, we'd be dodging air traffic on most other UP worlds!"

"Okay, what do you want to see first?" Light Lad asked, consulting the holomap they'd been given. "We've got a self-generating sentient city a couple of kliks over that way, something called Theoretical Reality Warehouses directly below us--"

An immense whooshing noise interrupted the Winathian Legionnaire, and both he and Color Kid followed the sound and the sudden rush of air to an enormous ring of some unidentified metal which had just appeared in mid-air half a mile away. The ring was large enough to encompass several of the towering structures here but it didn't seem to be causing any damage. "You weren't kidding," Color Kid mumbled. "This planet really is weird! What do you think that's all about?"

"I don't know," Light Lad cocked his head, "Do you think it's meant to be there? Maybe we should--"

Just as Darvan was about to suggest that they investigate, more than a dozen enormous creatures fell out of what the boys now realised was a portal. Each of the creatures were stone grey and as big as one of the Legion's cruisers, but even from this distance Light Lad and Color Kid could see that they looked nothing alike beyond that. Once the last of the creatures had dropped through the portal, the ring vanished just as quickly as it had appeared. As though they were in some schlocky holofilm, the creatures started wreaking destruction as soon as they got their bearings.

"Something tells me that wasn't meant to be there," Color Kid deadpanned. "Some of those things have wings and we're not far from the coast; I'm gonna call for backup and try to lure them out to sea where they can't hurt anybody, will you be okay on your own with the others for a while?"

"Huh?" Light Lad was momentarily taken aback. "Oh yeah, sure...good idea, Color Kid. Be careful!" The two men separated, and Light Lad watched with bemused respect as Ulu used his power to create a moving field of shifting colors which attracted four of the creatures as though they were household pets chasing a laser pointer. As much as Darvan had become accustomed to life as a Legionnaire, he didn't know if this kind of danger would ever be normal to him the way it was for a lot of his teammates; Color Kid's power wasn't remotely physically offensive, yet Ulu's first instinct was to leap into the fray. Even though Darvan had much more faith in his own capabilities than when he'd first joined the Legion, part of him was still rightfully anxious about the prospect of facing down creatures which could tear apart buildings.

As he came closer to the creatures left behind, Light Lad found himself glad that Cadmu was so sparsely populated. With the amount of destruction these things were causing, the death toll would already be in the thousands on practically any other planet. Here, they seemed to be destroying nothing more than laboratories and research facilities full of machines. He did pass over large masses of people evacuating the area a couple of times, but fortunately they'd escaped the attention of the much larger monsters who seemed more intent on wrecking Cadmu itself. He had to levitate some debris out of the path of one of the groups, but aside from that Light Lad trusted that they were beyond any immediate danger.

Darvan also saw now how unique the attacking creatures really were; he'd spotted a giant bipedal lizard, some kind of primate, an insectoid creature and others he couldn't identify but all of whom had their own unique appearance. Taking a chance, Darvan hovered within a few metres of the stone lizard's eye. Its forelimbs were so underdeveloped as to be useless, and Darvan was confident he could evade its snapping jaw if necessary. "Uhh, excuse me..?" he ventured. "I don't suppose you're sentient at all..?"

The creature's response was to try to eat Darvan, and though it was faster than Light Lad had expected it still didn't really have any chance of harming him once he levitated out of its reach. The lizard tried to chomp him twice more, then realising the futility of that action it opened its maw wide open and Darvan saw a glow building in intensity deep within its innards. The lanky Legionnaire darted aside just before a stream of radioactive fire emerged from the thing's guts like a burning beacon.

"Rude!" Darvan yelped warily. Remembering the tactic he'd used on this very world against a similarly gigantic army of Validus clones, he allowed the distinctive blue glow of his power to envelop the stone creature and hurled it into space. It hadn't occurred to him that these things might have powers aside from their obvious physical traits but at least now he felt certain that they must be mindless golems of some kind or another, and that made them much easier to deal with.

He'd dispatched another two of the creatures before he found one which gave him a challenge. The tentacles of a colossal stone cephalopod clung to buildings with such tenacity that Darvan was worried it'd take two or three buildings with it into the upper atmosphere if he pushed too hard.

While he was struggling to think of a new tactic, he heard a booming voice behind him shout out. "I've got your back, Light Lad!" Darvan turned to see a preposterously large stone arm with an equally large talon emerging from the wrist. The talon was metres long and had been coming straight at him before being yanked back by an even larger humanoid arm covered in green scales. The Cadmian hero named Giant Turtle Boy had arrived on the scene, and it looked like he'd just stopped some sloth-like monster from making Light Lad a human shishkabob.

"Thanks for the save!" Light Lad remarked as he took a safer altitude, "But no offence, weren't you a slightly less giant turtle boy last time I was here?" The green-scaled hero with the saucer-like eyes had indeed been approximately 50 feet tall when Light Lad had last been on Cadmu, but he was at least three times that size now as he grappled something that looked like an animated stone teddybear compared to himself.

"Practice!" Giant Turtle Boy bellowed in way of an answer. "Say, can you do your mission to space thing on this fella and then we can figure out how to handle Octopo over there?"

"One good turn deserves another!" Light Lad gestured, and being too slow and clumsy to save itself the sloth creature joined its fellows who'd already been cast out of the atmosphere. "Hey!" Darvan realised, "You called that one Octopo! Do you know what these things are?"

"Ask this one!" The two redheads saw Color Kid ascend to join them, and he was carrying with him a teenage girl with short wavy blonde hair in a style similar to that which Saturn Girl had once made famous galaxy-wide. The girl wore a lavender skirted costume with pink accents, along with a light pink scarf and matching sash belt. A small pink pillbox hat completed the ensemble, and on her chest she bore a circle enclosing some kind of simplistic animal paw symbol.

"Let me go, you oaf!" she protested. "I told you, I'm a superhero just like you!"

"Lu-Lan 2, what have you done now?" Giant Turtle Boy gave as disapproving a look as someone with unmoving saucer shaped eyes could manage.

"That's not really the kind of reaction I'd expect a superhero to get..." Light Lad pondered idly.

"To be fair, I heard that kind of thing more than once when I was a Sub," Color Kid bit his lip. "But I'm more concerned with what I heard her say when I found her on a rooftop on my way back here. Go on, tell them!"

The girl elbowed Color Kid in the solar plexus. "Let! Me! Go!" Winded, Ulu released her and the blonde girl revealed that she was quite capable of flying under her own power as she floated there adjusting her hat. "My name is Wish Girl!" she poked her tongue out at Giant Turtle Boy, "And I'm Neocaste, just like this big lunk!"

Color Kid and Light Lad looked expectantly at Giant Turtle Boy. "She is technically Neocaste," the colossal hero admitted, "Just like me and Elastic Lad she was created to serve as one of Cadmu's superheroes, but she's terrible at it. Her wishes come true, but always in the worst possible way. So out with it, Lu-Lan 2; what have you done now? The Ishikaiju are meant to be safely locked away in the Concrete Jungle 75 standard miles from here and something tells me you've got something to do with why they're not!" He felt pressure around his lower leg and looked down to see a massive stone serpent constricting around his leg. "Keep talking, I'm listening!" he hollered as he bent down to extricate himself from its grip.

Wish Girl rolled her eyes at Giant Turtle Boy's attitude. "I just wanted to impress Jams-Ols 5; as soon as I heard he was coming back here for medical treatment I knew this was my chance to show him I'm not just some flighty girl! I figured if one of the Ishikaiju just happened to escape, and if I was the one who corralled them then that'd get me on his radar for sure!"

"Wait a nano," Light Lad thought the situation through. "You released these monsters on your own homeworld just to get Elastic Lad's attention? Why?!"

"I didn't mean to release them all!" Wish Girl snapped defensively. "How was I supposed to know my wish would shut down the Concrete Jungle's whole security system? And when I wished for them to be somewhere else, I certainly didn't want them to go somewhere more inhabited! I can fix this though, you just watch!"

"I feel like I'm missing something," Light Lad continued. "I still don't get what any of this has to do with Elastic Lad..?" When he noticed that Giant Turtle Boy was holding the stone serpent above him in both arms, Darvan diverted his attention from the teenage girl just long enough to send the snake into space.

"Ugh, boys!" Wish Girl made a face. "None of you understand true love at all!" Leaving Color Kid and Light Lad in stunned silence, Wish Girl darted off toward the creature named Octopo. "Oh, I wish you'd just go back into the ocean!" she pouted.

A tremendous roaring sound built up behind the cephalopod, and an improbably large wave appeared literally out of nowhere blotting out the sun. Color Kid's face grew more pale than usual as he looked up at the wall of water. "Light Lad, can you--"

"Not all of it!" Darvan yelled over the noise of the oncoming water, already doing his best to minimise the damage.

The sound was suddenly everywhere, a low bass rumble that permeated Light Lad's body as he tumbled madly underwater half a mile above the ground. It was only sheer luck that he didn't collide with any of the alarmingly large chunks of building he saw being sucked along with him, and he began to panic as he realised he had no idea which way was up. "Breathe!" he reminded himself as he used his flight ring to at least stabilise himself in the water. "You've got a transuit, you can breathe!" He had no idea how far the freakish wave had propelled him or where the others were, and it was so dark that he still had no idea how he'd even find the surface again. Heart pounding in his chest, it took Darvan almost a full minute before he blushed furiously with embarassment. "You don't need to know which way's up! You just need to turn gravity off, you dumb squaj!"

A second later, he was in the air once more; the tidal wave didn't seem to have been as bad as it felt while he was inside it, it was already subsiding to a height of only five or ten metres above the surface. That far down, everything was either supportive construction or sealed doorways so Light Lad wasn't overly concerned about anybody else drowning, and he'd seen for himself that the area the Ishikaiju had infested was already evacuated anyway. There was no shortage of collateral damage, but he was confident that planetary authorities could deal with that. What concerned him most now was that he had no idea where he was and no idea where the others were.

Darvan was suddenly aware that Color Kid had been calling his name over his flight ring for the past few seconds and blinked as though only now realising the golden band's purpose. "Sorry, Color Kid," he replied. "I guess I'm a bit more shaken up than I thought, I'm okay though. You?"

"Giant Turtle Boy shielded me from the worst of it," Ulu explained. "I'm gonna send up a beacon so you can find us, we need to stop this nut before she wrecks half of Cadmu!"

Light Lad propelled himself up above Cadmu's towering spires and saw a rainbow column some miles away stretching up into the atmosphere. He made his way over to Giant Turtle Boy and Color Kid quickly, both of whom were more or less unharmed. "If Wish Girl can just wish things into existence," he asked once they'd caught up, "Can't she just wish these things out of existence?"

"She can't directly affect living beings," Giant Turtle Boy explained as he scoured the city for any signs of chaos which would indicate Wish Girl's presence. "Thank the universe for small mercies...wait, over there!"

"Oh yeah, I'm guessing that giant cage that just appeared over a bunch of city blocks isn't natural." Color Kid rolled his eyes at the ridiculousness of it all, knowing the black patches of color on his face would hide the gesture.

"You two go ahead," Giant Turtle Boy instructed, "I just found a couple more castaways that need dealing with." He motioned toward a giant stone crayfish and scorpion currently facing off around the corners of a megaskyscraper which still had people inside watching in terror to see who was going to break in and eat them first.

Floating above a giant cage which had effectively locked in the stone primate with nearly a hundred Cadmians inside their places of work, Wish Girl pondered her next move. Inspiration came to her, but just before she could state her wish the world exploded into a kaleidoscope of colors. Overcome with the psychedelic display, she floated slackjawed until the fireworks were just as abruptly gone. Stars in her eyes still, she shook her head until the two hazy figures in front of her came into focus as Light Lad and Color Kid. "You two again!" she placed angry hands on her hips. "You know, if you hadn't interfered all of this would be dealt with by now!"

"Us?" Color Kid exploded. "Are you completely insane?!"

"I think what my friend is trying to say," Light Lad interruped diplomatically, "Is that maybe you could be a little less...impulsive? You've got a great power, but it's a dangerous power too...one that needs some real thought and--"

"Oh, now you're gonna tell me how to use my own power?" Wish Girl protested before blowing them a raspberry. "You know, I wish both of you--" Light Lad and Color Kid prepared for the worst, but super-elongated purple fingers wrapped themselves around Wish Girl's mouth and turned the rest of her wish into a muffled squeal.

"Hi fellas!" Elastic Lad's perenially cheery face appeared at the end of a stretched out neck, his torso soon catching up. "Hey look, I've got both arms back! I see you've met Lu-Lan 2! Boy, she's a real nuisance huh? Wow, look at all that water--"

"...Nuisance..?" Color Kid repeated the word in disbelief.

"Elastic Lad, she could have killed us!" Light Lad protested. "Multiple times! Not to mention all the other people she's endangered today and all the property damage!"

"Haha, yeah," Elastic Lad nodded, "She's a real troublemaker, our Wish Girl!" While Light Lad and Color Kid stared in blinking uncomprehension, Elastic Lad turned to Wish Girl. "Now if I let you speak, are you gonna keep causing mischief?" Frowning, she shook her head furiously.

Elastic Lad released his grip on her and Wish Girl immediately flung herself around his shoulders and began showering him with kisses. "Jams-Ols 5, I'm so glad you're okay!"

Elastic Lad stretched away from her in mock disgust, but not so far that she couldn't reach him. "Gals, huh?" he flashed a cheesy grin at Color Kid and Light Lad.

"I don't use this term lightly," Darvan muttered to Ulu by his side, "But this planet is sprocking crazy..."

**********

MARS
Husband Hill, Legion of Superheroes Headquarters

ROLL CALL
Crystal Kid aka Bobb Cohan: crystal construct creation
Gravity Kid aka Tel Vole: gravity manipulation

Immediately after the Legion of Superheroes' meeting had ended, Gravity Kid and Crystal Kid had raced to get changed for their first date. Many hours later, Tel Vole and Bobb Cohan were now stumbling home slightly inebriated under the twin moons of Mars. Both were in their best outfits, though Tel was wearing significantly less than Bobb. "That was a fun night," Tel giggled as he tripped over his own feet. "Back to yours or mine?"

Bobb had been ardently shushing him while giggling even louder, but the question sobered him up somewhat. "Wait, really..?" he blinked. "I mean, I don't wanna...I don't want to move too fast, if you're not comfortable I mean that is, I--"

Tel tried to lean against the wall near the turbolift door which would lead them to their respective quarters, but he misjudged the distance and what was meant to be a flirtatious gesture became slapstick comedy as his back hit the wall with a loud slap and his head followed suit. The display of clumsiness sent both men careening into drunken laughter again, and Bobb came close and rubbed Tel's scalp. "You dope," he snorted.

"Sexy dope," Tel corrected him, and stole a lingering kiss.

The two were still attached at the mouth with hands beginning to wander places they probably shouldn't when a breep signalled the opening of the turbolift door and they saw Lullabye Lad standing there looking shell-shocked.

"You're sprocking kidding me," Waiane intoned flatly. "You can't be with me because of the Legion, but you can swap spit with someone who used to call himself a Substitute Hero?"

"Lullabye Lad..." Crystal Kid began by way of explanation.

"Was I talking to you?" Waiane sniped viciously.

"Oh, get over yourself!" Gravity Kid barked at his ex-boyfriend. "It was dumb of me to think I couldn't date anyone and be a Legionnaire at the same time but you and I would have broken up sooner or later anyway, Waiane! You're a kid, I need someone more on my level--"

"He's literally called Crystal Kid!" Waiane shouted.

"Hello boys!" Strut's voice sounded over their flight rings, "This is all wildly entertaining, but Nightwind's teaching me how to use our wonderful monitor room and she's asked if you could keep all of this scintillating drama down to a dull roar for the benefit of the unfortunate souls residing here who require a full eight hours' beauty sleep. Thanks ever so!"

"You know," Gravity Kid's tone was hushed but barbed as he fixed Lullabye Lad with narrow eyes, "If you want to be mad at someone be mad at your brother, Waiane. He's the one who told me I should go out with Bobb in the first place."

A look of disbelief crossed Lullabye Lad's face, quickly followed up by the expression of a hurt puppy. Eyes watering, he stormed off past Tel and Bobb and left the building.

Crystal Kid sucked air in between gritted teeth. "Something tells me that's gonna come back to bite us..."

"There's only one person you need to worry about biting you," Tel turned back toward his date, instantly turning on the charm again. "Now get in that turbolift, Mister!"

They entered the small capsule and as the door closed behind them their muffled laughter receded into the building.

Oooh, you have big plans for Violet, I think. She's getting a lot of screen time.

Yeah, what IS up with Life Lass? I wonder if it's something deep, or just her normal personality. Should be interesting...

Love Tinya setting up this pairing, and her jab at Chuck's report lol... should make for some interesting pairings...

LOL at Color Kid and Light Lad being paired up. Tinya thought of everything

Oh man, Wish Girl. It's hilarious - and a bit sad - that she's done so much trouble before. Can't she just undo her wish or something? Ah, but clearly she's not the brightest bulb. I wonder if there is something more between Elastic Lad's and Turtle Boy's lack of, um, worry. Like, they don't seem to be that worried about the people in danger. Or maybe it's just a Cadmu thing?

Nice bit re Light Lad being a bit less seasoned than Ulu! Ulu's greater experience is showing

LOL at Tel wearing significantly less than Bobb. I recognize myself a lot in Tel, actually. Maybe why I like him so much, even though he is definitely NOT the nicest or most thoughtful or most people-smart guy out there. But I recognize myself in the flirtiness, the "I look good so I'm gonna show it off", and the "I don't care if it's the first date, I'm bringing you home!" mentality.