Legion World Forums LEGION OUTPOST Bits o' Legionnaire Business Post-Magic Wars Legion (O.O.C.) New story begun on 10 May 2021

ISSUE #64, PAGE 15: Jeckie, Garth, and Rokk

"I'm glad he's gone!" groused Cosmic Boy from behind the door. "His telepathic vibes travel right through the wall and give me a headache. Besides, Tellus was too much like a little kid, got on my nerves. Blok does, too, but at least now we only have one oversized kid instead of two."

Lightning Lad chuckled, then replied, "Good thing Lydda can't hear you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" snarled Cosmic Boy through gritted teeth, a crazed look in his eyes.

"Whoa." replied a startled Garth. "Rokk, bud...I was only making a funny."

Lydda was Cosmic Boy's romantic partner, Night Girl, who had frequently expressed a desire to marry and have children.

"Okay." huffed Cosmic Boy in response to Lightning Lad's faux pas, diminishing the tension in the room somewhat.

"We are all of us very nervous about this conference," declared the third person in the room, team leader Sensor Girl, "but do try to control your emotions when you emerge to make your surprise appearance. You must not ruin my moment of glory."

After she had flounced out of the room with even greater imperiousness than her words, Garth and Rokk looked at each other, then spoke their identical thoughts in unison:

"HER moment of glory??"

ISSUE #64, PAGE 16: All Active Legionnaires

With the Mission Monitor Board's retractable table and expanding walls de-activated indefinitely as a result of cost-cutting, the Legionnaires were cramped into the room, having to rely on decidedly lo-tech folding chairs for their first team conference since the end of the Magic Wars. Team leader Sensor Girl felt it downright undignified that her commands to the monitor had to be punched in by her own hand. But in the end, the readout she desired was displayed for all to see, and the meeting could at last begin.

"I, Sensor Girl, current team leader, now call this conference to order. I only wish I were bearing glad tidings, but such is not the case. One look at the monitor will elucidate my grim words."





ROLL CALL:

ACTIVE MEMBERS:

Sensor Girl

Timber Wolf

Ultra Boy

Phantom Girl

Polar Boy

Lightning Lass

Sun Boy

Star Boy

Invisible Kid

Blok

Chameleon Boy

Colossal Boy

Dawnstar

Saturn Girl

Brainiac 5

ACTIVE MEMBER ON MEDICAL LEAVE:

Shrinking Violet

ACTIVE MEMBERS ON PERSONAL LEAVE:

Dream Girl

White Witch

Element Lad

ACTIVE MEMBER RESIGNATION:

Tellus

ACTIVE MEMBERS MISSING IN ACTION:

Shadow Lass

Mon-El

Quislet

Wildfire

MEMBER CONFIRMED DECEASED:

Magnetic Kid

INACTIVE MEMBERS:

Pulse (formerly Duo Damsel)

Bouncing Boy

Cosmic Boy

Lightning Lad





"But despair not, Legionnaires, for there is a silver lining to this cloud. Owing to my considerable powers of persuasion, I have made it possible for a change to be effected."

Sensor Girl punched a couple more keys, and the top column of the Roll Call now read:





ACTIVE MEMBERS:

Sensor Girl

Timber Wolf

COSMIC BOY

LIGHTNING LAD

Ultra Boy

Phantom Girl

Polar Boy

Lightning Lass

Sun Boy

Star Boy

Invisible Kid

Blok

Chameleon Boy

Colossal Boy

Dawnstar

Saturn Girl

Brainiac 5





"Thus, without further ado, let us officially welcome back two of our founding members with open arms and loud cheer. I give you the heart and soul of the Legion -- COSMIC BOY and LIGHTNING LAD, Rokk Krinn and Garth Ranzz!"








The applause was decidedly muted.

Sensor Girl was left decidedly nonplussed.

ISSUE #64, PAGES 17-20: All Active Legion Worlders

The unexpectedly tepid response to what Sensor Girl had anticipated as a surprise worthy of a standing ovation left her disoriented and overwhelmed.

She felt intense hostility coming from Saturn Girl, who had not been made privy to the plans for Garth and Rokk to return to active duty; from everyone else seated before her, there emanated a mixture of indifference, impatience, and abysmal morale.

It was all more than Jeckie's heightened senses could handle. Her head felt heavy, her stomach knotty, and she began to hallucinate horrific images, albeit the only coherent ones being visions of Emerald Empress returning from the dead and Mordru becoming evil again and conquering the multiverse.

Now she felt her knees buckle, and the rest of her body give way.

Suddenly, the Legionnaire seated nearest her -- Ayla -- jumped up and ran to Jeckie, breaking her fall and getting her back on her feet. Ayla firmly embraced Jeckie so ensure that there would be no fainting spell.

Then Ayla spoke up: "Let's hear it for our leader!"

There was confused muttering among the other seated Legionnaires, and little more, until Ayla's boosterism of Jeckie intensified to the point where they could not help but give in.

"Good times are coming back to the Legion. And it's all thanks to her! Give her the proper appreciation, Legionnaries!"

Gradually, the clapping and cheering escalated until everyone was on their feet and loudly expressing their approval.

************

PAGE 21: Ayla & Vi

"So you're off the hook?" Vi asked Ayla in a much softer voice than people were accustomed to hearing. Understandable, given that she was bedridden in a private room at Medicus One. Her left arm was in a cast, and her right eye was bandaged, all due to the attack of the feral girl.

"Looks that way. I had been resigned to a reprimand for using excessive force recklessly, but neither Jeckie nor anyone else broached the subject." replied Ayla perkily. "I could have been petty and let Jeckie humiliate herself, you know. But I did the right thing for a change, and my karma seems to be back on track."

"I'm proud of you, honey-locks." said Vi, managing to smile the best she could.

Ayla leaned over and kissed Vi on the cheek.

"Now, now." chided Dr. Gym'll. "She needs to fully recover. THEN you can make like small mammals and frolic."

Both ladies giggled as Ayla waved her goodbyes to her lover.

***********

PAGE 22: Ayla

The feral girl was in a lo-tech holding cell at Takron-Galtos. The cell was a transparent square built onto the wall upon which the girl was chained. The guard had informed Ayla that the girl was heavily sedated and unlikely to cause any major trouble, but warned Ayla not to provoke her.

So it was that Ayla stood before the feral girl who had injured Vi and nearly cost Ayla her career as a Legionnaire. The girl eyeballed Ayla with a combination of confusion and hostility, then forced herself to crawl as close to Ayla as her chains would allow.

"I forgive you." said Ayla plainly.

The feral girl spit at Ayla, the disgusting mixture of saliva and phlegm staining the transparent wall between the two.

Ayla merely smiled, then turned on her heel and walked out. Nothing could bring her down anymore. She knew that there were still plenty of trials and tribulations remaining in her lifetime, but for the first time, she knew she could take anything that came her way.

END OF ISSUE #64

THanks for posting, Ann - I missed a couple eps ago apparently.

I didn't realize Vi was in the hospital! At first I thought she was there from Ayla's zap versus crazy Kono! Regardless it's good to see Ayla stepping up and growing.

Grumpy Rokk is always fun.

And the idea of Legionnaires sitting in a VFW room with folding chairs has a certain charm to it.

Thank you for the thoughtful comments, GL.

In hindsight, I really should have had a paragraph or two establishing that Feral Girl (she'll get a name eventually ) hurt Vi badly enough for her to end up in Medicus One.

Glad you liked the VFW room with folding chairs, 'cause it's here to stay indefinitely. There's plenty more potential comedy gold for me to dig up there.

...and...

...if you enjoy Grumpy Rokk, you'll probably get some chuckles out of this:


http://legionworld.net/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=846711

Yikes!!!

Tee hee.

Legion of Super-Heroes Volume 3, Issue #65 - "Viva Ventura" (22 pages)

PAGES 1-2:

Planet Ventura was the very definition of wretched excess, and proud of it. A glorified playground for immature, small-minded so-called adults, its tackily designed, neon-coated buildings were the setting for all sorts of bad behavior. The planet had long since sunk low enough to wear its shallow decadence as a badge of pride after someone coined the cliche phrase, "What happens in Ventura, stays in Ventura."

The Crimson Tower was Ventura's swankiest hotel, and the one with the most sordid reputation. And, at this moment, on the Crimson Tower's ground floor, an outdoor party was in progress that was every elitist's dream: a virtual escape from the gray wretchedness of nearly every other planet in the galaxy, the only reminder of grim reality being the presence of the hotel workers who quietly, but palpably, seethed with vengeful anger at their abusive patrons.

Standing by the Crimson Tower's legendarily ornate fountain were two tipsy sentients flirting with each other. One was Taryn Loy, better known to the public as Calorie Queen, the Planetary Champion of Bismoll; her highly publicized battle against Tyr's band of pirates had brought her the fame she had been craving for ever since she had been born into a large family of struggling factory laborers in a dreary little Bismollian town. By contrast, Taryn's would-be paramour, Lester Spiffany, was a rich young heir to a fortune made by his family in the gem trade, and who had never wanted for anything in his life.

"This is the life!" Lester loudly declared to Taryn and to the rest of the partygoers, "Walking all over the little people, just because we can, and enjoying every moment of it!"

Taryn merely smirked before replying, "That's life, really. If you wanna get to the top, you've got to step on them before they step on you."

"I wouldn't know," laughed Lester, "I was born at the top!"

"So you've been reminding me over and over again tonight." Taryn hissed softly through a forced grin.

Perceiving that she was losing interest in him (quite accurately, as it was,) he made a move to capture her heart. Lester reached into his coat pocket and produced a small velvet-covered box. He opened it to reveal a quartet utterly dazzling diamonds.

"Oooh, a box of CANDY!" squeaked Taryn with delight, snatching the box from Lester and eating all four diamonds. "Mmmm, they taste exquisite."

"Oh, my god, you're a Bismollian!" exclaimed Lester.

"Yes, I am. And what of it?" sneered Taryn.

"You people are stupid. Just...so...stupid! You don't understand the value of anything!"

"Value THIS, jerk!" screamed Taryn before hitting Lester with a one-fingered punch that sent him flying backwards, straight into the fountain where he landed with a tremendous splash.

As a humiliated Lester awkwardly lifted himself out of the water, the disdainful laughter of his fellow partygoers sounded positively stereophonic to his ears. He managed a glimpse of Taryn as she sashayed away from him and lost herself in the crowded hotel lobby.

Ann - I must have totally missed this.

This was awesome. As someone who is forced to go to LV at least once a year, I envisioned this happening at the MGM where I seem to be fated to stay every time I'm have to be there.

Taryn's not eating the rich per se, just their symbols. And ol' Les in the fountain is just icing. I'm guessing there is a Ru Paul reference there, as well?

My only quibble with the analogy is that the workers, while on the job anyway, seem pretty numb, which is sad in itself.

hi Ann sorry for not commenting earlier.

Loved the Taryn/Lester scene. The "you're stupid!" line made me laugh out loud. Taryn slowly getting annoyed at Lester, and mock-agreeing with him while he was bragging, then eating the tasty diamonds - hah! that scene was perfect, IMO.

Also very realistic and well done, having the Legion generally be low on morale - so low that even Garth and Rokk coming back did little to them. Imra's hostility at being surprised, and Jeckie's hyper-senses being overwhelmed, were both nice touches. I especially liked that you had Jeckie faint because of her super-senses; it's a nice cheeky nod to her getting sick and fainting so often in earlier days (the post-Adventure / pre-Levitz days, she seemed to get sick every year or so... and I remember her being quite whiny/weepy then!) but at least her, it's also due to her expanded powers rather than her just being delicate

Ayla stepping up was a big highlight for me, and her rallying the Legion was great - a nice character arc that completes the circle on Ayla's growth, and something IMO she didn't quite get pre-Magic Wars. Ending with her forgiving Kono was the perfect end. And the Ayla/Vi dynamic is perfect.

The only parts that gave me pause were Rokk's reaction to Tellus leaving - it seemed to go past being grumpy, and felt a little bit too mean-spirited for me. (I could imagine Rokk criticizing Tellus for being too slow to learn/inexperienced/ asking too many silly questions, but not because of the telepathic vibes. Also, for not being an effective Legionnaire, but not so much for getting on his nerves). Don't get me wrong, Rokk could definitely be mean; but personally it just seems to me that he'd be more mean because people could not meet his very high standards. Also Rokk appearing a bit crazed when snapping at Garth seemed a bit severe. Is this set up for something else later? Or is this some fallout from Pol's death? And Rokk simply isn't dealing with it well?

Jeckie and her "moment of glory" bit also felt a bit off. If I remember right, Jeckie had just come from a point where she abdicated the throne of Orando and said something about "leadership is an illusion", so it felt a bit strange (to me) for her to be thinking of personal glory. Garth and Rokk rightly found that odd, though, so a good call out. I wonder, would that scene work just as well - or better - if Jeckie had told them to control themselves for the good of team morale?

Thanks, GL. Sooo glad you enjoyed it. Like I said in the Writers Discussion thread, I was worried from the lack of comments that I had blown it. After all, satire is tricky to write. It's also great to learn that I managed to be true-to-life about a place I've never visited. Without spoiling too much, the workers won't be numb much longer. As for Ru Paul, I'm honestly not familiar with any of his work -- don't know his songs (though I did hear snippets of "Supermodel" back in the day,) never watched Drag Race. And, unfortunately, he's done his reputation a lot of harm in recent years. I won't get into the gory details, but basically he has opinions which define the schisms within the LGBTQ community -- which have always been there, but he makes a bad situation worse. I'll get off my soapbox now.




Thank you, Ibby. As with GL, your positive response to the Taryn/Lester scene does my heart good.

Glad you spotted the Easter Egg reference to Jeckie's fainting spells.

Greatly appreciate your praise for everything with Ayla and Vi. It seems like whenever I've written those two characters in the last few years, something magical happens -- those kind of "damn, I'm good" moments that we writers live for.

Your criticisms of Rokk's excessive dickery and Jeckie's atypical glory-hounding are well taken. One of the biggest challenges of writing fan fiction is writing characters one is predisposed to dislike. In Rokk's case, I can definitely see in hindsight that my writing was colored by the ridiculously idealized portrayal of him in the "End of An Era" storyline which we're wrapping up in the Re-Reads. Bad enough that v.4 started with him being retroactively portrayed as a near-saint, and now we have v.4 ending with him literally becoming some kind of diety. Sheezus. Anyhow, I'll try to be more careful in future installments. Thanks again.

hi Annfie, thank YOU for being receptive to all comments!

I will now hold your portrayal of Ayla and Vi as THE portrayal, because I enjoy it so much. And still stoked to see Taryn.

Re Rokk and Jeckie, no worries, we all have blind spots. And for Rokk, I do agree that 5YL greatly elevated his status, to a degree that was not really present pre-Magic Wars. It's not like with the Reboot or Threeboot, where Cos from day 1 was earning his rep. So I understand

Hey there Raquel, how are you? Apologies for taking so long to post a review, but here goes:

To start with, I'm unfamiliar with this point in the teams history so will accept everything as coming from canon, so you can get as weird and awesome as you like and I'll believe it

Your love of Ayla and vi shines through, you have such a strong vision of them it's like soul food reading your take on them. The description of Metrpolis is heartbreaking, and I feel Ayla's pain.

Tenzil is always a delight - I wish I could write him without it sucking. And love that you have Bismol's economy thriving due to their rather disgusting natural ability, that's clever! Calorie Queen really should have taken Tenzil's place in the team when he quit so I love that you're tackling her.

Calorie Queen taking on Tyr and a pirate team was superb! Really loved ths section, showing just how tremendous taryn coud be if written well. Tyr's arm is really annoying so happy to read it being chomped, haha, I really liked that! Was surprised you didn't mention something along the lines of 'even with Tyr only having one arm he still fought....' or such-like. Kind of adds to his legend that there's more to him than just the gun arm. And how funny that he gives Taryn more trouble than the thing he's famous for. As Raz said, it was a very cinematic read, well done!

Dawnstar, bless her, I do think she's borderline psychotic, but that's probably just my take. Her relationship with Drake is a weird one as they are obviously close but due to the lack of any physical intimacy it gets a bit creepy to me sometimes. That said, her loyalty to him isn't in question so I'm looking forward to finding out what you have plnned for them.

Ayla wanting to run away - we've all felt like that! Nice that they're the cavalry.

the Man-Haters attack, so she sends in the Testosterone Squad. - I laughed at that, so true!

The feral child sounds worrying, what sort of life is that? Ayla's actions were unexpected - hope Vi forgives her for zapping her. The Sklarians live to fight another day.

Nice moment between Tinya and Lu, I could do with that hair-restorer too They are very different people with strong characters so it's good to read they have a decent friendship in spite of that.

Brin, Blok and Tellus - finally you write about some of the guys You have a good take on Brin, I think you've nailed his personality really well. Tellus leaving was a surprise though.

Rokk was really fierce there! That was a surprise, especially his turning on Garth. I always see him as a straight arrow kind of guy, a bit inflexible and single-minded perhaps, but his take on Tellus was shocking. Is this leading to something bigger as it did seem to come out of left-field?

Your take on Jeckie is really officious, I kinda like it but am also cringing every time she speaks. And I assume you have plans for Mon El and Shady? Good to get Garth and Rokk on the team, the founders do add a certain gravitas to them.

Jeckie having that little episode was really strange - I get it that she's an in-bred royal (hey, I'm from the UK, we have loads of them spare if you want some) and prone to all sorts of nonsense but it seemed a total overreaction, especially the hallucinaton part. Is this another plot point that your planting the seeds for?

THEN you can make like small mammals and frolic - haha, good line! Trust Gym'll to ruin a beautiful moment

The fearl Sklarian child not being forgotten is good to see, I wonder if she'll come around to the Legion's point of view? Ayla's dignity in forgiving her was really nice. I think she's my favourite of your cast as your love for her really shines through.

Your description of Ventura is perhaps one of the best descriptions I've read here, a couple of really great lines there - the very definition of wretched excess, sunk low enough to wear its shallow decadence as a badge of pride - perfect!

I'm unsure of your take on Lester Spiffany tbh, he speaks really hyperbolic when you could show him acting that way. I get he's the ultimate entitles dickhead, but would he even notice the 'little people'? Taryn eating thosediamonds was great! I really like her, really really like her! I assume that Lester and Taryn will become arch enemies now - that would be fun!

Am really enjoying this Raquel, you've done yourself proud with the storytelling so far and I'm looking forward to more, more, more!

Oh no worries! I'm actually not a fan either. But it seems to be on nightly at my home and EVERYONE ELSE seems to watch it. LOL. So the whole "sashay away" quote jumped out there at me.

And I echo Ibby on the Ayla/Vi scenes. They really seem to jump out. Like I've said earlier, they are probably my favorite couple just due to their journey alone, and your dialog, to me anyway, rings very true. I'll take a whole story with nothing other than them and an antagonist and be happy.

Harbi, how lovely to hear from you. I always look forward to your comments.


Thank you, Harbi. And my thanks also to Gaseous Lad and Ibby for their similarly encouraging words on my writing of Ayla & Vi. Through those characters, I have definitely found my own niche as a Legion fan fic writer. Basically, Ayla is an idealized projection of my own personality, and Vi is that ideal partner whom I'm still searching for.


Thanks so much. I can only hope that someone from DC is reading this thread and relaying it to Bendis (or whoever replaces Bendis.) I've been stumping in the Legion forum for Calorie Queen to be reintroduced in the canon continuity Legion since the first announcements of a Legion relaunch 3 or 4 years ago. And there's no need to be so hard on yourself about the way you write Tenzil. He is super difficult to write. Even during his moment of stardom in the TMK era, there were times when his comments were so completely inappropriate and unfunny that it didn't seem like the same guy.


Awww...I'm walking on air right now.


LOL I concur 100 percent. As much as I love the era when Tyr was introduced, that talking arm was...yeesh...let's just say that writing the arm's fate was wish-fulfillment.


I love that suggestion! Thank you. Will definitely incorporate it (with proper credit to you, of course,) whenever Tyr comes back. Which definitely will happen, as I love (almost) everything Dave Cockrum created for the Legion.


Poor Dawnstar, so misunderstood. And such a challenge to write! Hopefully I'll be able to make her more likable. That subplot is actually scheduled to be resolved very soon, which was why I introduced it so early.


The whole zapping thing was...awkward to write. I mean, I'll admit that if I had been in Ayla's shoes I still don't know for certain what I'd have done. Luckily, true love carries a couple through speed-bumps such as that.


Oh, for that hair restorer to exist in Real Life would be such a blessing! If it did, I'd crop my hair every weekend and then restore it first thing every Monday morning!


Ha ha ha ha. Yeah, the Legion dudes definitely took second place to the Legion ladies in this issue. But Brin has really, really grown on me over the years. The trick, in my opinion, is not to write him like Wolverine, but rather like a much more stoic Han Solo (and Blok as a much more gentle Chewbacca.) Regarding Tellus, I'll admit his exit from the team is partly an excuse so I can bring in Bina...oops, me and my big mouth!


My take on Rokk is...a work in progress. It's so tempting to simply fence him in as a deeply repressed jerk-face, but I'm confident I'll find some kind of middle ground. And it is definitely leading to something bigger.



LOL Her speech patterns did come out a bit, "HELLOOOOO, Darlings," didn't they? I'm working on overcoming that.


Yes! Absolutely! But the way the overall plot structure is shaping up, we probably won't see them until Annual 6. Ah, well, the wait will only make it sweeter to finally write my favorite Legionnaire again.


Imra might disagree.


That nearly made me slide off my chair laughing. Thank you. By the way, why don't you all do with the royals what the Italians did with Mussolini and his cronies at the end of World War II? Have them torn to pieces by an angry mob. Just kidding!


Yes, totally! And despite my distaste for the way Sarya went ballistic and got killed off, I don't plan to bring her back.

Or at least not in a such a way that readers will easily predict.


Thanks. Such a great supporting character he is.


Like I said to GL earlier, it's all the more amazing because I've never been to Las Vegas!


I went to school with a lot of truly horrible posh kids, and in my personal experience they definitely notice the little people. In the same way they notice small invertebrates to step on just for their own twisted version of getting jollies.

Glad you liked Taryn eating the diamonds. That was one of those magical moments to write.


You're the best critic any writer could ask for, Harbi.

BTW Ann, forgot to meniton in other channels, I just finished re-reading the ACTUAL Magic Wars storyline (It had been a while and it's been in storage, so I just went ahead and bought the issues digitally), so I'm rereading the story so far with refreshed eyes. Can't wait for more! :-)

Thanks, GL.

Soon as I catch up with my Swamp Thing re-read in the Gym'll's forum, I'll finally be able to get back to telling this story.

My goal is to do at least one "issue" a month.