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MARS
Marsopolis, 0335am local time

Bina Nawoti had the sudden and disorienting realisation that it was her own nightmare-induced scream which had woken her up.

Three thumps came from the other side of the bedroom wall of her cheap rented apartment, followed by a muffled tirade of abuse.

"I'm sorry," the traumatised young woman muttered as she curled in on herself and hugged her knees. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it..." In her darkened bedroom she gradually gained control of herself, slowing her breathing and centering herself as she'd been taught on Titan.

She hadn't felt terror like this since her disastrous attempt to join the Legion of Superheroes not so long ago. The necromancer Alek Arcane had sunk his cold grip into Bina and left her utterly helpless and almost completely broken on that fateful day. She had adopted the name Otaki for her Legion tryout, but after experiencing Arcane's evil she didn't know whether Otaki would ever live again. In fact she'd been fully prepared to give up her dreams of Legion membership along with every other ambition she possessed and return to the comfort of her family back on Earth.

Then her benefactor had made himself known to her.

She still didn't know who he was, only that he was a being of immense power. At first she'd been equally frightened of him, but thanks to his mysterious voice guiding her when she was alone she had overcome her fear and gained more affinity with her power than she'd ever dreamed possible. This disembodied mentor had given Bina a way to bring the dream of Otaki back to life.

She'd come to understand before too long that her teacher expected something from her too and she was beginning to suspect that she'd been right to be scared of him when she first heard his summons in the Legion of Superheroes' headquarters, but it was too late for turning back now. After everything he'd done for her, she owed him her loyalty.

She just wished he would impart his wishes upon her in a less horrific way than invading her dreams night after night...

...and she wondered where exactly she was meant to find this Daughter of the Night Stone whom he'd made it clear Otaki must recruit.

**********

ELSEWHERE

ROLL CALL

Blok: magically enhanced strength, invulnerability, speed, flight, stamina, wisdom and courage
Chameleon Boy aka Reep Daggle: Durlan shapeshifter
Color Kid aka Ulu Vakk: color manipulation
Colossal Boy aka Gim Allon: growth powers
Comet Queen aka Grava: flight, gas generation
Cosmic Boy aka Rokk Krinn: magnetism
Crystal Kid aka Bobb Cohan: crystal construct creation
Dawnstar: translightspeed flight, interstellar tracking
Diamond Damsel aka Iris Jacobs: living diamond
Dragonmage aka Xao Jin: dragon magic
Dream Girl aka Nura Nal: Naltorian precognition
Elastic Lad aka Jams-Ols 5: super-elongation
Element Lad aka Jan Arrah: elemental transmutation
Evolvo Lad aka Sev Tcheru: hyperevolution/devolution
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
Kid Computo aka Danielle Foccart: cyberempathy
King Canary aka K'rk T'wiiu III: sonic generation
Life Lass aka Somi Gan: matter animation
Light Lad aka Darvan Locke: gravity negation
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
Night Girl aka Lydda Jath Krinn: photosensitive super-strength
Nightwind aka Berta Skye Haris: deputy leader, wind control
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
Star Boy aka Thom Kallor: celestial mass-transference
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
Tellus aka Ganglios: telepathy and telekinesis
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
Wildfire aka Drake Burroughs: anti-energy being

Phantom Girl couldn't quite process what had happened to her.

A split second ago she'd been on Weber's World attending talks between the United Planets and representatives of Teall. Her status as leader of the Legion of Superheroes along with her general history working alongside the notoriously difficult Teallian ambassador Quislet meant it made perfect sense for Tinya to be there, but it wasn't a task she'd been looking forward to.

Still, it had been better than...whatever this was. Literally everything around her - the substance of reality itself - seemed to be radically different. She could feel that her own form was somehow changed, though she didn't possess the mobility to be able to look at herself. All that she could view seemed to be nothing more than a flat plane filled with lines of different lengths and tones. "I swear," she mumbled under her breath (not that she seemed to draw breath wherever here was), "If this is Quislet's fault..."

"...Tinya?" It was Jo's voice, but somehow not Jo's voice at the same time. Tinya reoriented herself toward a nearby line. It bore the green and red colors of Ultra Boy's costume, but beyond that she just knew somehow that it was Jo Nah. "That is you, isn't it?" the Ultra Boy-colored line guessed.

"Jo!" Phantom Girl rushed to embrace him, but recoiled as their weirdly sharp-angled bodies stabbed into each other. "Ow, sprock! It's me, but...Jo, do you know what's going on here?"

"I'm as much in the dark as you, babe. A bunch of us were fighting the new Taurus Gang a second ago, and now we're all here...wherever or whatever here is."

"And we don't have our powers," a blue and white line that they recognised as Lightning Lass joined the conversation, making sure she stayed at a safe distance after seeing Phantom Girl and Ultra Boy's collision. "I don't anyway."

"It's not just you," Star Boy added. None of them knew how they all recognised one another based on the most basic visual cues, yet somehow they all did...if anything, it became easier the longer they acclimatised to this strange realm. "I can't use my power and I can't use my flight ring either."

<Legionnaires?> Evolvo Lad's voice was in all their minds. <I am sending a psionic tracking signal, if you could convene upon my location I believe I have answers to some of the questions that many of you no doubt are currently asking.>

Phantom Girl realised that Color Kid, Night Girl and Matter-Eater must have been fighting the Taurus Gang alongside Ultra Boy, Star Boy and Lightning Lass as they too came closer. "Whatever's affecting Star Boy and Lightning Lass...it's definitely not affecting all of us," Night Girl advised the others. "I mean Evolvo Lad obviously still has his telepathy, but I feel stronger than ever too! It's like I'm in absolute darkness!"

"That's weird," Matter-Eater Lad piped up. "I mean we can all see okay, right? There's light everywhere!"

"There is light," Phantom Girl thought it through, "But have you noticed there's no light source? No sun in the sky...I'm not even sure there's a sky to be honest. We might be in some kind of virtual simulation? There's definitely something very peculiar going on here anyway. Let's go find Evolvo Lad, hopefully he's found us a way out of this already!"

Tinya was keeping a positive attitude for the others' sake but she wasn't sure how confident she actually felt. Wherever they were, she could sense that it didn't border the Phantom Zone...and without being able to shift into that ethereal void, Tinya was as powerless as Ayla or Thom.

Of much greater concern to Tinya Wazzo, any place that didn't border the Phantom Zone was a long long way from anywhere recognisably home...

**********

<My fellow Legionnaires...we have been transported to a two-dimensional plane.>

Evolvo Lad gave the 42 other superheroes gathered before him a few moments to react to his telepathic statement before continuing. <You must all have noticed the drastic changes we have undergone. Our forms have been necessarily altered by the constraints of this reality, as have many of our abilities. We exist in a realm without gravity, a realm without thermodynamics or magnetism or any of the physical laws we are accustomed to, a realm entirely composed of non-baryonic matter. Many of you control energies or forces which simply do not exist here. Some of us are fortunate enough that our abilities remain unrestricted, and a very small number of us may find that our abilities have in fact been improved. One case in point - as communication in this realm already includes a telepathic component, my hyperevolved form's telepathic abilities are far more powerful here than in our own native plane. I would never be able to maintain contact with 42 distinct minds in our home reality.>

"Sev, how did we get here?" Gas Girl asked. Some of the Legionnaires didn't recognise her until she spoke; not only because she was a relatively new recruit to the team, but in a realm where matter did not exist in gaseous form the normal plumes of mist about Gas Girl's scalp had been replaced by a yellow streak which would have been blonde hair in their own world.

"And...and how do we get home..?" Life Lass added, her tone more uncertain.

<I have with me someone who can answer both your queries,> Evolvo Lad replied. A mostly purple being had been standing by Evolvo Lad's side this whole time, but until now most of the Legionnaires had simply assumed he was one of their own they hadn't been able to identify yet.

Now that everyone was becoming more accustomed to this weird place, some of them understood that the being moved closer to them when his coloration became more vivid. "Legion of Superheroes, I am known as Ab-Ott. I am the last remaining member of our beloved coven of mystics who sacrificed all to bring you here. We have been besieged by a monster from your own land, and his power dwarfs anything we have been able to send against him. In our desperation, we asked Flatland to bring unto us those who had brought him defeat before, that you might repeat your victory for us."

"I'm the leader of the Legion of Superheroes," Phantom Girl spoke up. She'd been mildly annoyed that Evolvo Lad had been running the show until now, and was glad to have an excuse to take charge. "I deeply regret your coven's sacrifice and of course we'll do everything we can to help you, but we need your assurance that you'll return us to our own space once that's done."

"Of course," Ab-Ott quickly agreed. "Once the task is done, the spell will be complete and you will be removed from Flatland immediately."

"Next question," Tinya kept on, "What can you tell us about this monster you mentioned? Anything will help."

"He invades Flatland periodically," the odd being answered. "We have no defence against him and he sees all. He enters our homes at will, appears among us without warning. He can eliminate many of our sharpest warriors with the merest gesture, and they can do naught to harm him in turn. Those who have seen the monster and lived to tell the tale say that he changes form as easily as considering the matter."

Tinya's concern was growing; this was beginning to sound like someone of Mordru or the Time Trapper's calibre and frankly she wasn't sure if her team were up to facing that kind of power with their own abilities as hampered as they were right now.

"The monster has a name," Ab-Ott continued, "But I do not want to risk summoning him by uttering it aloud. Perhaps your Evolvo Lad could share the villain's identity with his mindspeech?"

<Certainly,> Evolvo Lad complied. <Legionnaires, the man responsible for this reign of terror is...Ron-Karr.>

"Ab-Ott, your people died to bring us here." Phantom Girl stole everyone's attention before the more irreverent members of her team had an opportunity to respond to this bizarre revelation. "We are...familiar with this villain, and as I said earlier we will help stop him. Right now though, I think...I think I need to converse with my team privately."

**********

"Ron-Karr is their big bogeyman??" Wildfire asked, clearly amused. "Ron-Karr?!"

"Gee...I hope you don't mind me saying so but it makes a lot of sense to me actually, Wildfire!" Elastic Lad chimed in. "I mean I never met Ron-Karr myself before he joined the Oversight Watch but it sure seems like he's been showing more range with his power as a part of their team than our files would indicate he ever did beforehand, and if he perfected his power of becoming super flat to becoming truly two-dimensional I can see how he'd be able to access a two-dimensional plane like this one! He might even be able to shift to a one-dimensional plane potentially and wow, I wonder what that would be like?"

<I concur with Elastic Lad>, Evolvo Lad projected to them all. <More, what Ab-Ott describes sounds very much how a three-dimensional being might be able to interact with a two-dimensional environment.>

"Like looking at a flat screen," Dream Girl reasoned. "Everything would just look like an illustration; you'd be able to see behind walls, inside sealed containers, touch the screen anywhere you want....and they'd never see you coming because they're not physically capable of it."

Chameleon Boy picked up on the thread. "...And the shapeshifting comment makes sense because the inhabitants here would only ever see the part of him that exists in this world!"

"Yeah, well I'm glad you budget Brainiacs have got the hows of it all figured out," Timber Wolf piped up, "But what are we supposed do about it? We're stuck here just like Ab-Ott, remember? Even our sprocking flight rings don't work in this weird place!"

"First things first," Phantom Girl took charge. "Let's find out which of us are actually in a position to do something about it. Everyone who can still use their power, make a group over to the...I guess directions are another challenge here; make a group over by Evolvo Lad. Everyone who can't use their power, you're with me."

Through a process of trial and error, the Legionnaires began to segregate themselves into two distinct groups. In the meantime, more of this realm's inhabitants had joined Ab-Ott and when they saw Stone Boy shift through every color in the rainbow before landing back on his original primarily brown and tan tones their excitement was palpable. "Your power!" Ab-Ott approached Dag almost fearfully. "Surely you must be the greatest of this Legion of Superheroes!"

"...Me?" the Zwennite hero was taken aback. "No, no, I'm....quite far down on the list to be honest. In my own world I turn to...well, I'm not sure you really know what stone is, but I do have some variation of my power still. I can take on a form which is stronger and much more resistant to injury, but I'm hardly the most powerful person here."

"But...but we saw!" one of the other two-dimensional beings exclaimed in awe. "You changed so drastically, so many variations!"

"That was me actually," Color Kid joined their conversation. "I can change the color of anything I put my mind to, but really...that's much less impressive than what Stone Boy does!"

"You know, I think I get it." Everyone turned their attention to Sun Boy who'd been passing by them as he moved to join Phantom Girl's non-powered group. "Sorry to interrupt, but...we all exist as geometric shapes here, right? Only we can't see that because we only have two-dimensional senses. So everyone and everything here looks like a straight line because that's the only way we have to perceive ourselves. So I think color plays a much more important role here than we're used to, because the only way these guys can tell if a shape is receding from them is when its color dims. Color Kid, when you changed Stone Boy's color....from their perspective you were making wild changes to his whole body."

"Wow, okay..." Ulu dwelled on it a moment. "I...don't know if I can really wrap my head around that to be honest. But I think I kind of get what you're saying."

"I apologise for my ignorance," Ab-Ott admitted, "But I am baffled. Did we not witness this amazing power for ourselves?"

"You know what, pal?" Dirk replied with a casual charm. "You guys have enough to worry about, try not to think too much about it. Once we take care of your big bad guy, hopefully we can all just go back to our normal lives anyway."

Suddenly, everyone heard Invisible Kid's panicked voice. "Drura needs our help! S'il te plait!"

"What is it, Jacques?" Tinya made her way around the crowd of Legionnaires, wondering if they all generally found it this annoying to have to circumvent one another in their own limited space rather than just walking straight through anyone in their way.

"I'm fine," Infectious Lass's voice came weakly. "...Don't worry everybody, Jacques..."

"Then why is it you cannot move?" Invisible Kid prodded. "Why is it that you sound so infirm?"

<Legionnaires, if I may?> Tellus came forward. <Somahturians are a symbiotic species. I gained a greater understanding of the Somahturian symbiosis with small life after Infectious Lass and I shared our minds on one occasion...though the rest of us only see the side of that relationship in which Infectious Lass controls viruses and bacteria, she also benefits invisibly. Small life perform functions that her body is incapable of doing alone.>

"So what?" Kid Computo asked, moving alongside her brother and his girlfriend. "What does that mean in real terms?"

<Viruses and bacteria do not exist on this plane>, Evolvo Lad had already figured it out. <Infectious Lass's form has not been able to adapt to that lack, therefore we must find a way home before her organs begin to shut down.>

Invisible Kid looked at Phantom Girl, though there was no visual indicator of this. "Tinya..."

"I know," Phantom Girl cut in. "Okay...Shady, Dawny, Lydda--"

Her words were interrupted by laughter which sounded as though it were coming from all around them. "The Legion of Superheroes are here?" a disembodied voice asked. "I have no idea what's going on, but if this is my chance to shine I'll take it!"

"Is that...is that Ron-Karr?" Shrinking Violet asked.

"You know it is," the voice from beyond answered. The other Legionnaires saw the empty space to one side disappear to be replaced by a line longer than any of them. "And for once, you're the jokes!" The thick line closed in on them slowly, giving them time to flee. He was toying with them, letting them know that he could end them any time he wanted.

"That's enough," Shadow Lass uttered coldly. "I will not be cowed by Ron-Karr of all people." She put her power to use and all of them were enveloped in absolute darkness.

"You think that'll help you?" Ron-Karr's voice filled the space around them once more. "I know you're all in there, I just need to--" He pressed down on the large black surface, but he hadn't considered one thing...on this plane, Shadow Lass's darkness not only obscured them; once they couldn't be perceived they couldn't be touched. Her darkness functioned like a forcefield. Without being able to see any of the two-dimensional beings, he couldn't affect them. The pressure was still incredible though, and Shadow Lass began to falter.

"I don't think she can keep this up for long!" Night Girl yelled, hearing Tasmia Mallor's burdened moans. Whatever weird rules functioned in this realm, Lydda was still the only person other than Shadow Lass who could see in this darkness. "We need a plan!"

"...I don't have one," Phantom Girl admitted somewhere in the dark. It irritated her immensely to admit this next part, but she knew that it might be the only way they'd get out of this alive. "Evolvo Lad! You've obviously benefited from this situation more than any of us...what do you think we should do?"

<Dragonmage and Neon should have unrestricted access to their abilities,> Sev Tcheru's voice filled their minds. <Sorcery and Green Lantern energy-->

"We tried!" Zoe Saugin shouted. "I can feel my connection to my power but...this place is so weird, I can't get my head around how to actually make a construct!"

"I apologise," Xao Jin added more calmly. "I sense magical energies all about us...but I face the same issue, I cannot conceive of a dragonform when I do not know what a dragonform looks like under these conditions."

Before anyone could react, Elastic Lad suddenly gave a surprised yelp. Shadow Lass's darkness field had failed where Elastic Lad was standing, and Ron-Karr homed in on him immediately. Surprisingly, some variation of Jams-Ols 5's elasticity worked here and he had managed to avoid Ron-Karr's stabbing assault. It only took moments for Ron-Karr to adjust to Elastic Lad's winding evasions however, and soon he had the young redhead crying out in pain as an extra-dimensional finger jabbed into his elongated torso. Shadow Lass had been forced to drop her darkness from sheer exhaustion, and the Legionnaires saw Elastic Lad in mortal peril of being torn apart.

A number of them instinctively tried to help, but found themselves stymied by this realm's weird physics. Wildfire was not one of them. "Hey!" Drake Burroughs bellowed. "Leave the kid alone, jerkwit!" Evolvo Lad immediately tried to warn Wildfire against his next action, but the warning came too late. Energies never seen before in this realm exploded forth and severed Ron-Karr's presence here into several segmented portions. Ron-Karr was not the only victim though; Wildfire's anti-energy was so much more destructive here, and parts of Elastic Lad similarly broke apart along with the surrounding environment itself.

<Somi!> Evolvo Lad's evolved form commanded Life Lass's attention with a rare burst of emotion. <Trust me when I say that only you can fix this! Wildfire, you can not use your power here! This dimension is too fragile to withstand an expulsion of anti-energy! You stand the risk of unravelling all that exists!>

Life Lass wasn't certain how she could help, but if there was one thing she trusted more than anything else in the universe it was that Sev Tcheru always knew best. Despite her misgivings she reached out and found to her amazement that she could restore Elastic Lad's form as easily as she could restore the environment around him. It seemed that the difference between living and unliving in this peculiar place was so minute that her power didn't recognise it as being a difference at all. Where she could normally only affect inanimate matter, here she had full control of the physical make-up of reality itself. With more than a little shock, she realised that she probably had the power to deal with Ron-Karr on her own!

Ron-Karr's next attack came at the easiest target available; the giant-sized form of Colossal Boy. As quickly as Ron-Karr's half-perceived extremities ripped gashes through Gim, Life Lass put him back together. Colossal Boy grew even larger so that the attacks would do less damage, but it was not an overly successful tactic. It occurred to Somi Gan that she might need to pull apart whatever piece of Ron-Karr was on this plane to protect her teammate, but would that mean mutilating him in their own three-dimensional world? Her heart raced with hesitation. Before she had to commit to an action she was sure would haunt her, someone else took the opportunity to act.

Until now, Chameleon Boy had been holding back from action. Like some of his comrades, he still had some version of his powers in this place but with the constraints of two-dimensional reality he couldn't see how those powers could prove effective enough to be useful. Gim Allon was his best friend though, and Cham wasn't going to just sit here and watch him shredded by a man whom any one of the Legion could handle easily on their own under any normal circumstances. Cham had initially intended to mimic Colossal Boy's enlarged form so he could act as a decoy to give Gim time to try and find safety but as soon as he had made that decision and reflexively scanned his friend's shape, a peculiar realisation dawned on him. There was no way to be sure of it until he actually tried, but...he felt as though he'd be able to copy Ron-Karr's form instead if he wished! Cham couldn't see Ron-Karr's third dimensional aspects so he had no idea how his power would interpret that, but he had a gut feeling that whatever happened it would prove more useful than his original idea. His decision made, he increased in size and his colors changed to the powder blue of Ron-Karr's bodysuit for a fraction of a second before he abruptly blinked out of existence.

Before any of the remaining Legionnaires had a chance to react to their teammate's sudden disappearance, Ron-Karr vanished just as quickly.

"What...what just happened?? Where are they?" Nightwind exclaimed.

"I don't know," Phantom Girl responded.

"...But something tells me Cham might have just saved the day."

**********

After the briefest moment of disorientation, Reep Daggle saw that he was standing in the middle of a cluttered bedroom. Clothes were strewn everywhere, the bed was unmade, crusty food scraps festered away on more than a dozen plates piled next to the bed and a wall-mounted mirror showed Cham that he looked exactly like Ron-Karr who stood stunned before him. More importantly, both Ron-Karr and Chameleon Boy were paper-thin. As flat as paper might be, that still meant they were three-dimensional. In trying to mimic Ron-Karr's shape across dimensional boundaries, Chameleon Boy deduced that he must have somehow cancelled out the spell which had rendered him two-dimensional to begin with...and unable to countenance a three-dimensional form, Flatland had spit him back into three-dimensional space.

Cham shifted back to his own more comfortable body. "What's going on here, Ron-Karr?" he demanded. "What have you done??"

"What have I done?!" the flat man protested. "Wildfire blasted off two of my sprocking fingers! As soon as I switch back to normal I'm gonna bleed like a stuck siboar!" He held up his hand, and Cham saw that he was indeed missing most of his ring and pinky fingers; it honestly looked as though they'd been ripped clean off a paper doll.

"You're hardly the victim here," Chameleon Boy gave him a disapproving frown. "You could have killed Elastic Lad...from what we've been led to understand, you have killed sentients in that realm." Cham's eyebrows raised in subtle and surprised comprehension; they weren't just in a bedroom, this was Ron-Karr's bedroom. "Grife, how long have you been hidden away in here terrorising those poor people? Does 89 know anything about this??"

"Oh, don't be so dramatic!" Ron-Karr dismissed Cham's outrage. "Whatever those weird things are, they're hardly people. I just wanted to feel powerful for once...don't I deserve to feel powerful for once in my sprocking life?!"

"Not at the expense of an entire civilisation!" Cham shot back. Though he was maintaining his composure, the Durlan was clearly furious. "Do you want to know something, Ron-Karr? This is why the Legion of Superheroes rejected you in the first place! Your power isn't the problem, your power was never the problem...the problem is that you don't have an altruistic bone in your body; everything you do is to assauge your own pathetic insecurities and you don't care who you have to hurt in the process. 89 may have been amoral enough to train you into becoming one of her weapons, but I bet even she'll draw the line at how you've advanced that training just so you can decimate an innocent populace to feel like a big man!"

"You can't tell her--" Ron-Karr's eyes grew wide with fear.

"You had a chance at redemption with the Oversight Watch that frankly you've never deserved," Cham interrupted him. "And you've just thrown all that away. After what you've done you're going to spend the rest of your life rotting in a jail cell, Ron-Karr."

Chameleon Boy had to turn away slightly from the paper-thin man to move toward the bedroom door, but thankfully Cham's instincts told him not to turn his back on Ron-Karr altogether. When Ron-Karr sliced his good hand through the air like a paper sword, Cham was able to react quickly enough that he only sustained a deep cut across his thigh rather than anything more fatal.

"You can't tell her!" Ron-Karr ranted once more. He swiped again, this time trying to decapitate the orange Legionnaire. Cham was ready for him now though, and he flash-changed into a mosquito to zip safely beneath the arc of Ron-Karr's sweep. "Why are you doing this to me?!" Ron-Karr whined, looking about himself manically to try and locate Cham's tiny winged form.

"You've done this to yourself," Chameleon Boy's voice came from somewhere behind the raving man. "Just like every other terrible decision you've never learned from."
Before Ron-Karr could find him, Cham changed shape again. This time he mimicked an immature space amoeba; at full growth, the blob-like creatures were anywhere from 15 to 20 feet across but Cham only needed to become large enough to engulf his foe. Immersed completely in protoplasmic slime, Ron-Karr was trapped in a prison from which he couldn't cut his way free. He briefly considered flattening himself enough to escape Chameleon Boy by entering Flatland fully, but if he became entirely two-dimensional he'd be no more powerful than any of the Legionnaires waiting for him there (and substantially less powerful than some of them).

Defeated, Ron-Karr voiced his surrender.

**********

EPILOGUE

Sometime after Chameleon Boy had explained everything to 89 and gone home, the Legionnaires were all returned from Flatland as promised and a sedated Ron-Karr was sent to resume the prison sentence from which the Oversight Watch had once delivered him. With everything else taken care of, 89 finally took the opportunity to debrief the rest of her team in private. "As with Power Boy, Ron-Karr had to undergo psychic redaction when he was removed from our roster," the team's ever-pragmatic leader explained. "Aside from all the classified information he can no longer access, we've also removed any memories related to the training he underwent to increase his power. He'll have a vague memory that his abilities were improved while with the Oversight Watch, but he'll never be able to replicate that success on his own."

"I can't believe for weeks he was just secretly travelling to a whole other dimension and slaughtering aliens right under our noses!" Mandalla shook her head. "It's outright disturbing!"

"The existence of this Flatland was an unknown factor," Makkia Vei admitted, "But it was inevitable that Ron-Karr would sabotage his membership with the Oversight Watch. I always knew that the validation he received from his work with us would cease to be enough for him some day; the important thing is we got to make good use of him before that happened."

Dev-Em stayed silent, his arms folded across his chest. It didn't sit well with him the way Makkia spoke of their ex-teammate as though he were simply a tool to be discarded when no longer needed...but it bothered him much more that he couldn't tell whether this was just one more affectation on her part meant to subtly manipulate the team's dynamics for a purpose he wouldn't understand till it made itself clear. Still, he knew what he was getting himself in for when he agreed to join this team; and unlike Power Boy, Dev was a professional. The Kryptonian kept his concerns to himself.

"I assume you're gonna need to find someone to replace the paper guy," the team's newest recruit piped up. "Is this gonna change anything you promised me when I joined?"

"Absolutely not," 89 answered in a tone that told him this conversation was finished.

"Look at it this way," Makkia tried a softer approach. "Your rehabilitation won't be complete for at least another month. That gives us plenty of time to replace Ron-Karr, get you up to speed, and do all the legwork to fulfill the promise we made to you when we recruited you to take Power Boy's place on the Oversight Watch."

"Good." This seemed to satisfy the team's newest member, the man named Brittle. "Because after the way Duplicate Boy betrayed the Heroes of Lallor to the Dominators, after the way he helped engineer my homeworld turning on us, after he killed Rain Girl and nearly killed me...

...I'm not going to rest until he's dead in the ground, and I'm going to need all of you to help me do it."

**********

NOTE FROM RAZ: I was inspired to come up with this story after I read the excellent Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions...if y'all haven't read it I highly encourage it, it's quite short and if you google 'flatland' you will be presented with a free download!

Another nice entry Raz!

Daughter of the Night stone... weren't Nightwind and Inferno (Sandy) also Daughters of the Night, I seem to remember you writing that!

Love the set-up, with some having powers and some not... like, wow. I was puzzling things to myself. I did think this was some sort of two-dimensional plane, so good job with the opening description!

43 Legionnaires in all! cool! also nice to see everyone together for a bit.

Nice explanation from Evolvo Lad, for why some powers work and some don't. Also cool bit adding in that it doesn't border the Phantom Zone, so Tinya can't phase

Ab-Ott, haha! nice name for a mystic

Gotta give kudos to Tinya, she freely admitted she was out of her depth, but took charge where it was needed (i.e. dealing with the locals, heading off jokes about Ron-Karr) and deferred to Evolvo where science was needed. Also organizing the team by powers working vs. not.

Also liked the "budget Brainiacs" showing off their smarts (Cham, Dreamy, Dirk, Elastic Lad), and Wildfire's trademark irreverence. I wonder what Tinya was gonna ask Tasmia, Dawny and Lydda to do... also liked Tasmia's shadows becoming a forcefield! Life Lass' power up was cool too... and so was Cham basically saving the day AND giving Ron-Karr a talking-down to.

also interesting seeing Drura's body failing without microbes helping keep her alive. A very logical extension of her physiology.

Lastly, Zoe and Xao being able to access, but not do anything with, their powers because of perception! another good bit.

Good wrap up with Ron becoming unable to access his sharpened (heh) skills. And his whole motivation was very much in character too - this is just a guy who needs to feel powerful and useful, but he can't do it in a good way.

And Brittle! Nice segue into the next bit! And Duplicate Boy is out there somewhere too... gosh this ain't ending well. Dev-Em being canny enough to mistrust Makkia Vei... and his "I'm a professional" bit... whew.

Thanks! And you have a good memory!

It was difficult choosing who to spotlight with the power issue...I made a spreadsheet so I could figure out how every one of them would be impacted by being in Flatland, but going through 43 separate superheroes would have taken forever so I ended up just trying to give as many characters as I could random speaking parts even if they didn't really influence the story instead.

Is there a magician called Abbott? I named him that as a homage to Edwin A. Abbott, the guy who wrote the Flatland novella (actually I think that's a pen name, but anywho...). It'll be funny if it actually does relate to magic somehow though lol

It's funny, I intended on having Brittle join the Oversight Watch all along but for the life of me I couldn't figure out how I could insert that into a story, and it was only while I was finishing this instalment off that I realised it makes perfect sense to bring it up in a story where Ron-Karr is the bad guy; synchronicity!

my good memory is both a blessing and a curse eager to see a follow-up to the Daughters of the Night thing! and also if there will be new Daughters for Earth and Water, I think the last ones were killed or something yes?


Re Abott, oh I thought it was a reference to abbots like in the abbeys, and them being semi-mystical... oopsy!

these bits, I can very much relate to - in big crowd scenes I use random speaking parts or references to show the sense of scale; and I have a running list of things that need to happen in my story, and sometimes a great opportunity presents itself and things just happen on their own! cool!

We haven't seen the water daughter yet (though I have plans for her, just a matter of finding somewhere she'll fit lol)....but there have been a couple incidents involving the (previous) Daughter of the Night Stone:

The Judgement League killed her here


...and Nightwind and the Academy students encountered her ghost here

There was also a young lady named Nightstone at the Legion tryouts where Strut, King Canary, Gravity Kid and Crystal Kid joined the team but that's probably a coincidence

Raz, hi,

thanks for sending me the link, it feels good to respond within a week of a post going up

I'm loving the ongoing Otaki story bubbling away in he background, and feel both sad for her and worried about what she gotten herself into. Bless her, she's just been used as a tool by bad guys since you introduced her so hopefully she gets some redemption. Daughters of the Night Stone - didn't you have a character called Night Stone? Nice to see you picking up on previous characters and using them to carry a story forward.

The 2D reality was fun, though I'm glad I don't have to experience it. I bet it was a headache trying to figure out the physics of the place, though loved how colour brightness denoted proximity - very clever. Not being able to hug makes sense, a sad side effect of losing that 3rd dimension. Evolvo is becoming a strong team member, I do wonder how other long-timers feel about the johnny-come-lately pushing himself forward? Interesting how some of the team were empowered while others were at a loss. Ron Karr as the attacking villain was an unexpected twist, you do love yur d-listers! And you write them really well so it makes me reconsider my views too. Wildfire's incredulility was well expressed, I think I had the same reaction.

Stone Boy and Colour Kid been seen as the mightiest members by the locals was nice. Shadow Lass creating a solid barrier with her shadow took me by surprise but made more sense as I thought about it. Life Lass healing Elastic Lad was well done. Infectious Lass being weakened was a good point, and nicely handled. You showed the smart teammambers - budget brainiacs, ha, great line btw - off well, without them appearing condescending or the like. And, generally, well done for including so many of the team in this adventure, even if they weren't able to do much. Tinya admitting she didn't know what to do must have hurt her pride a little, especially after admitting she wasn't happy with Evolvo taking charge.

Reep dealt with Ron Karr really well, being so much more intelligent and calm than him. The telling off made me laugh, it was almost "I'm going to tell your mum" and was perfect way to show how pathetic Ron Karr really is for ating in such a horrific way to get some validation.

The epilogue was the best bit - I do love your Oversight Watch and the under the surface animosity between Dev Em and Makkia Vei was well written.

And Brittle! Yay, he was such a great character I'm really glad you brought him back. Be very interesting to see where that storyline takes you.

This was a wild read Raz, great stuff, and very difficult to do I imagine so take a bow you executed it very well.

Can't wait for more, more, more!

Thanks Harbi! There have been a couple instances where the daughter of the night stone has reared her head, there's a post just before yours with some links in it if you wanna refresh your memory

I stole lots from the Flatland book to be honest for the 2D world....I would have gone into it more if I had more time, but the author does a really good job of explaining how vibrancy of colour matters because it's how the indigenous people tell how close someone is standing - and as they're all geometric shapes with sharp edges, they have to be careful about how they interact with each other. I had this whole thing about how Evolvo Lad would be almost a perfect circle in his evolved form and like an acute triangle in his devolved form but it was one of those things I had to jettison to keep the story going.

hahaha I love that description...89 is definitely their strict mum

MARS
Husband Hill, Legion of Superheroes Headquarters

As Jan Arrah and Shvaughn Erin carried their food across one of the many cafeterias dotted throughout the Legion of Superheroes' Martian home, Shvaughn pointed out a table for two on the outer balcony. "Let's nab that spot, Jan! We'll get a good view of the sunset from there!"

"For you, my love...anything." The blond Trommite gave a sweeping bow and used his power to create a twinkling gold-flecked pathway leading them to their table.

Shvaughn giggled in appreciation. "You're so silly, Element Lad."

As the two walked on, they didn't notice that they had passed straight by Lightning Lass, Gas Girl, Matter-Eater Lad and Shrinking Violet at an indoor table. Gas Girl leaned in toward the others with an amused expression. "...Silly?" she asked in a voice barely above a whisper. "...Element Lad, silly??"

"Poor Jan, leave him be." Ayla gave the Lalloran heroine a pretend shove. "Shvaughn's probably the best thing that's happened to that boy since...ever, really. I used to worry about him never having anything in his life outside the Legion, you know."

"You're a big softie, Ayla Ranzz," Vi teased gently. "You're not wrong though. After...well, you know...Jan deserves someone to make him happy." Though neither of them had intended it to happen, Ayla and Vi couldn't help but be reminded of the destruction of Element Lad's homeworld and both of them seemed suddenly crestfallen.

Matter-Eater Lad had just finished devouring a small cube of tungsten and was about to say something to bring the mood back up when an unexpected yelp from Shvaughn outside did that for him. The four craned their necks to see what had happened, and were entertained to see Phantom Girl ascending right through the startled Science Police officer's dinner plate.

"Wow!" Tinya Wazzo was a little tickled. "I don't think I've ever seen you that spooked, Shvaughn...shows how long it is since you've come round here! I am sorry I gave you a fright though. Enjoy your dinner, guys!" The Bgltzr woman left Jan and Shvaughn chuckling about the incident so she could find the person she'd come here to see. Sitting at another balcony table on her own, Luornu Durgo Taine gave Tinya a slight wave.

"Hey!" Tinya took a seat opposite Luornu, grabbed one of the sweet potato wedges sitting in a large bowl between them and bit it in two. "Sorry I'm late; leader stuff. Have you spoken to Dreamy yet?"

"Dream Girl and Elastic Lad," Luornu answered. "Unfortunately they're both pretty much agreed; we could reverse the power transfer process that allowed Myriad to steal my duplication abilities, but there's a danger of Myriad and I entering a state of quantum entanglement if we do that. Dream Girl and Elastic Lad think that the reason I was able to tell which of Myriad's bodies was the prime one when we fought was because when he stole my powers it formed some kind of bond between he and I on a quantum level...to be perfectly frank, the whole thing is way over my head but I'm not doing anything that risks me becoming more entwined with that creep than I already am."

"Oh Luornu, I'm so sorry!" Phantom Girl reached over to touch her friend's arm. "You must be devastated!"

"Honestly?" Luornu shrugged. "I'm okay with it. I mean, I'm angry at Myriad and I'm still annoyed at myself for not seeing through his friendly researcher act, but those duplication powers...they were always just a tool to me. I don't know if any of this makes sense to a non-Carggite, but when my first two bodies were murdered I experienced that as though I had died because they were me as much as the person who's sitting here in front of you right now is. I never had that relationship with my other bodies, they were always just a means to an end. Anyway...enough about my tragedy of the week, how are things with you?"

"Good," Tinya answered. "Really good actually! If every Legion leader has to deal with some kind of ridiculous crisis during their term, I think I got mine out of the way right up front when we got involved with that thing with Robotica. It's been smooth sailing since then, though I have to say I don't think I ever realised just how much behind-the-scenes work is involved with leading this team. That wears me out nearly as much as fighting the Fatal Five!"

"I hope you're putting Nightwind to use," Luornu spoke in between mouthfuls of food. "I know exactly how much work is involved with leading the Legion from when Chuck did it, and I've never been more happy to have any army of extra staff on call than when I was taking on tasks to help him out. Berta may not have duplication abilities but she's deputy leader, she should be assisting you as much as she can."

"Let her live her life," Phantom Girl dismissed the suggestion. "She's practically just joined the team, I don't want to burn her out already...but Luornu..." From the look on Phantom Girl's face, she'd just had a welcome epiphany. "...I think you've just given me a brilliant idea!"

**********

MARS
South Pole, Argentea

ROLL CALL
Crystal Kid aka Bobb Cohan: crystal construct creation
Gravity Kid aka Tel Vole: gravity manipulation
Nightwind aka Berta Skye Haris: deputy leader, wind control
Strut: electrochemical perceptions, insectoid physiology
Supergirl II aka Laurel Kent: invulnerability

The temperature had begun to drop when the quintet of flying Legionnaires entered the Martian Southern Highlands, and by the time they'd reached the outskirts of the small industrial city of Argentea most of them had donned transuits. Nightwind's power at least protected them from the biting winds down here at the dark desolate bottom of Mars, but the dirty snow falling all around them and covering every surface as far as the eye could see reminded them that they were far from the comfort of their home back at Husband Hill.

"This is where we're headed?" The only one of the heroes not requiring protection from the elements, Laurel Kent screwed up her face at Argentea's brutalist architecture far below. "This place looks straight out of a Tolliver Dickens: War Orphan holo from 100 years ago, yuck!"

"The original stories were better," Gravity Kid rejoined. "But it's hardly surprising it looks like that, Supergirl. The South Pole of Mars has always been home to dramatic geyser activity; when Terrans first colonised this planet they thought it'd be a walk in the park using the geothermal energy powering the geysers for their own benefit, so they built Argentea. Things didn't really work out that way though, not least of all because it's not solely geothermal activity that causes the geysers in the first place. They spent way more time and effort protecting the city from environmental factors than it was worth, and it's a dying town now. There hasn't really been a lot of growth here since...well, before any of us were born, that's for sure."

"How do you know all this stuff, Tel?" Crystal Kid gave his boyfriend an admiring glance.

"Because he's a massive suck-up who probably ran straight to the Encyclopedia Galactica as soon as Berta told us we were coming here," Supergirl rolled her eyes. "He used to do the same thing at the Academy."

Nightwind suppressed the urge to have a laugh at Gravity Kid's expense. "Guys, behave. I may not even need you here if we're lucky, but the last time Dragonmage and I went looking for one of the Daughters of the Night it didn't end well...I figured it wouldn't hurt to have some more backup this time around."

"Who are these Daughters of the Night, Nightwind?" Strut asked. "In my mind I'm seeing a fabulous dance troupe with absolutely shiploads of bitter infighting and petty jealousies that you had to escape to find your stardom in the Legion of Superheroes, but I've learned reality is rarely as glamorous as anything I can imagine."

This time Nightwind did give a loud laugh. "Sorry to disappoint you, Strut...my powers are passed down through the women in my bloodline from generation to generation; I used to think it was a genetic mutation but then I found out it was actually because of some kind of spell someone cast in Earth's ancient history. There's one of us for air, earth, fire and water and tonight we're going to find the earth daughter."

"Wait a nano," Supergirl cut in. "Didn't we face Earthwind or Dirtnight or whatever back on Earth..? Her ghost anyway, right?"

"Yes!" Gravity Kid recalled. "In Neoabidjan!"

"We did," Nightwind confirmed as she led them in their descent, "But Xao thinks that maybe the magic just passes down to the next girl in line as necessary. He was on monitor duty when reports came in about someone calling herself Nightstone causing havoc here, so he thought I'd probably want to check it out myself. And here we are!"

She touched down on a snow-covered rooftop twenty stories above the ground. None of the Legionnaires here had seen much of Mars beyond its most gentrified areas and they were all struck with how different Argentea was from everything they'd been exposed to on this world till now. The only air transports in sight were big ugly boxes carrying workers or cargo, everyone hustled around below them in drab thick layers of clothing and the industrial thrum of the city underlying every other sound seemed somehow more maudlin than the lively bustling noise of Marsopolis.

"You know, Nightwind..." Gravity Kid stroked his immaculately styled stubble, "I don't think I ever got around to telling you this, but I met a Nightstone back at the tryout where Bobb and Strut and I joined the team along with King Canary. She had a flying rock, I remember wondering at the time if she was any relation to you but then the Fatal Five happened and with one thing and another since then I've never really had a chance to bring it up! Do you think she's the same person we're looking for?"

"Uh...yeah, genius. She's probably the girl we're looking for." Supergirl shot Tel a sarcastic glare.

Gravity Kid was about to fire back when Nightwind pointedly stood between the two of them. "Guys! Come on, none of us are in school anymore! Can you two please act like professionals? That's the local Science Police office across the street there, if you're gonna insist on behaving like children then stay up here while Strut and Bobb and I go in." Without waiting for a response, she took a step off the roof and allowed her power to carry her gently down to the street below.

"Berta, wait!" Laurel flew off straight after her friend to make amends, leaving the boys behind.

"For what it's worth, darling," Strut looked down at the much shorter Gravity Kid, "This may be the first time anybody has ever counted me among the more mature members of a group; I don't like it but I suppose it is an achievement in its own way." Though Strut would have preferred to scuttle down the side of the building, the sleet and snow made that impossible so instead he used his flight ring to make a somewhat wobbly descent after the girls.

Gravity Kid just stood there in mute annoyance for a second before he threw his arms out in frustration and turned to Crystal Kid. "I didn't even do anything!!"

"I know, sexy." Crystal Kid pecked him on the cheek and grabbed his hand. "You know...we don't have to follow them straight away..."

"What..?" Tel yanked his hand away and levitated a few inches into the night air. "Bobb, we're on a mission for sprock's sake." Shaking his head in disbelief, Gravity Kid caught up with Strut and a moment later a furiously blushing Crystal Kid brought up their rear.

**********

The Science Police office was much more humble than the Legionnaires were accustomed to. A droid welcomed them into a very small waiting area out the front, and after several minutes a short stocky male officer with olive-coloured skin came out to greet them. He was broad-shouldered and barrel-chested, but also had the beginnings of a pot belly. Introducing himself gruffly as Officer Harvide, the unshaven man led the five heroes back through a messy office containing two desks to a windowless room where the only light came from flat images projected onto a wall. There weren't enough chairs for all of them, so after a little awkwardness Crystal Kid and Supergirl sat down along with Officer Harvide and everyone else stood while he started his presentation.

"This is Nightstone," the slovenly officer announced. The same dark-skinned girl whom Tel had met was projected before them on her flying rock, using geysers of stone and sand to assault Science Police droids along with walls of solid rock to defend against the robots' attacks. While several distinct battles played out before them, Harvide narrated. "We tried to handle her ourselves, but we don't have the resources to deal with a metahuman this powerful. We're just trying to reclaim property owned by McCauleycorp but she won't let us. What do you say, can you help us?"

"That's what the Legion of Superheroes are for," Nightwind answered straight away. "Is there anywhere specifically that she's targetting?"

"That's the problem," Harvide answered. "Nightstone and her gang have taken over an old titanium processing plant on the other side of town, she won't let us get anywhere near it. I won't lie, Legion...Argentea isn't a big fancy city like Marsopolis; you take away one of our only industries and you might as well stab us in the heart. Every day she camps out there with her cronies is another day our city suffers. She's already put one Science Police officer in intensive care; like I said, we're just not equipped to deal with that kind of thing here."

"Not to worry, Officer Harvide," Nightwind tried to sound as authoritative as possible. "We'll have this sorted out in no time. Let me grab the coordinates and we'll go check it out right now."

The slightly dishevelled policeman gave Nightwind everything she needed, and watched as the Legionnaires left. Giving them a five minute head start, he dialled a particular number on a private line in his empty office. "You told me to let you know when they were on their way out there..? And this isn't going to come back and bite me on the nass, is it? Okay...okay then. I'll expect those creds in my account by the end of the day."

**********

"That unfortunate gentleman absolutely reeked of bad life decisions," Strut announced to the others as their flight rings carried them across Argentea's lonely streets. "You know, Nightwind...he was quite nervous talking to you. This transuit interferes with my electrochemical perceptions a little, but it was radiating off of him so strongly I'm surprised even you dears didn't notice."

"Something tells me there's a lot of unfortunate people here, Strut." Nightwind looked over the poorly maintained city. "I bet this wasn't the career Officer Harvide saw waiting for him when he joined the Science Police."

"Imagine taking over one of Leland McCauley's businesses when he died and keeping the name," Supergirl shook her head ruefully. "I'd want to distance myself from him so sprocking quick..."

"The general public doesn't know what a dirtbag he was like the Legion do," Gravity Kid countered. "And whether we like it or not, he does have one of the most recognised names in the UP."

"Speaking of," Nightwind pointed at a large darkened factory taking up a couple of city blocks at the edge of an industrial estate. "There's that name now...we're here, folks." As Nightwind had mentioned, a flickering sign half-coated in snow bore the name McCauleycorp Titanium atop the factory complex.

"What's the plan, Berta?" Crystal Kid asked as they landed before the front entrance.

"It's a big place," Nightwind puffed her cheeks out and released a long whistle of air. "Kinda wish we had brought Dawnstar or Mwindaji now...I guess we do some urban exploration? Just be on your guard everyone; Officer Harvide said Nightstone's already put one of his colleagues in hospital."

A large picture window at one point had dominated the front of the complex, leading to what had been a low budget but stylish foyer area. The glass had long since been shattered though, and graffiti lined the walls inside. The Legionnaires chose that way to enter the building, but with no power inside Berta was stumped as to where to go from here.

"If I might make a suggestion?" Strut spoke up. "There's been an absolute parade of mammals up and down this corridor to the left here recently."

"Good a place to start as any," Nightwind shrugged. She pulled a small round flashlight out of a hidden pouch on her costume and led the way, some of the others bringing out their own lights to increase visibility.

"Sure is creepy in here, huh?" Crystal Kid asked as they followed Strut further into the bowels of the huge empty building. The insectoid Legionnaire had lowered himself to crawl forward on all six limbs so his antennae would be closer to the floor and the emissions left there by his quarry, and the sight admittedly didn't help Crystal Kid's unease.

"Who are you people and what do you want?" a girl's voice rang out in the dark from somwhere above them. "Jodi, give us some real light." A huge floodlight illuminated the corridor, and when their vision began to adjust the Legionnaires saw a group of silhouettes gathered behind the blazing light. They were all perched on a balcony above, looking down from their vantage point.

"We're the Legion of Superheroes," Nightwind peered up from beneath her hood. "I'm Nightwind, this is Supergirl--"

There was laughter from above. "Do you think we're idiots? That's not Supergirl, she's not even blonde!"

"I'm obviously not that Supergirl," Laurel stepped forward.

Before Laurel could continue, the girl above interrupted. "Hey! Him I know! You were at the Legion tryouts, right Himbo Lad? You were wearing a different costume then though!"

"...Nightstone?" Gravity Kid tried to peer past the intense glow of the light to see her more clearly, but it was pointless. He gave a frustrated sigh and levitated straight up into the air until he was in a better position to see the girl they'd come here to confront. "Nightstone, right? Look, we need to talk...can you turn that thing off? Or maybe not aim it directly into our retinas?"

"Not till we know we can trust them!" another voice rang out from behind Nightstone. Now that his vision was acclimatising to the change in light, it struck Tel that nobody gathered up here looked older than 15 or 16 at most and they were all dressed fairly shabbily.

"I told you, we're the Legion of Superheroes!" Nightwind called out, joining Gravity Kid in the air. "Of course you can trust us!"

"Gia! Gia!" Another girl's voice echoed around the building, footsteps pounding as she joined Nightstone and the others on the floor above. "That woman in the black armour's back! They're with her, this is just like the SP all over again!" A moment later, an explosion sounded out in the cavernous building and startled everyone.

A steady rumble shook the building and columns of stone and dirt suddenly broke through the floor to drive the Legion back. "You batjerks just don't learn, do you?" the girl named Nightstone hollered. "When are you gonna leave us alone?!" At the same time as they were dodging tons of Martian rock, the Legion could hear some kind of confrontation happening elsewhere in the factory as well.

"Laurel! Take Bobb and Strut and go see whatever that's all about!" Nightwing ordered. "Tel and I will be okay here!"

Crystal Kid hesitated, casting a concerned look over Gravity Kid as Tel weaved around fast-growing columns. Gravity Kid didn't give him so much as a glance in return though, and Bobb Cohan reluctantly left to follow Supergirl and Strut.

It didn't take Supergirl, Strut and Crystal Kid long to find the person responsible for the disturbance. A huge hole exposing three stories to the open air had been made in an outer wall and a humanoid figure was just now descending into the building from outside. She looked frustratingly familiar to Laurel and Bobb at least, though neither of them could place exactly who she was; in a black mesh bodysuit which was form-fitting and flexible but obviously armoured, she presented an athletic build. Oversized shiny metallic boots and gauntlets covered her hands and feet, along with a chestpiece which connected to a helmet with an opaque black plexiglass facepiece. From head to toe she was all rounded edges, seeming almost more like a deep-sea diver than anyone who should be descending from the night skies.

"Darling, I adore the commitment to a theme," Strut addressed the woman, "But take it from someone almost as monochromatic as yourself, a little splash of color goes a long way."

"Who are you?" Laurel stepped forward, "And what do you want here?"

"You don't remember me, do you?" The woman's armour amplified her voice easily. "I suppose it's not surprising; to be honest I wouldn't have any idea who any of you losers are if I hadn't done a little research on the way over here...but you can call me Black Dancer, and I'm here on behalf of McCauleyCorp to clean out some vermin."

"Now I remember!" Crystal Kid snapped his fingers. "You were in Earth-Man's Judgement League!"

"I was; I found something a little more profitable," Black Dancer replied. "But that's not anything you need to concern yourselves with, Legionnaires. McCauleyCorp hired me to do what the Science Police couldn't and I don't need a cheer squad, so you can all go home now." She began to stride into the building when Laurel stood directly in her path.

"I don't think so," Supergirl faced her down defiantly. "I don't see any version of this story where you're the good guy, lady."

"Sounds like a you problem, not a me problem." The armoured woman rose a few feet into the air, pitch black smoke billowing forth from vents in her boots; an instant later, nobody could see a thing. Black Dancer started to fly forward when she was suddenly tackled in mid-air and thrown off balance, crashing into the floor where she bounced a few times and rolled to her feet. "Of course," she muttered more to herself than the others, "It had to be the gross bug-man." Enhanced sights in her helmet allowed her to see Strut standing before her even as the other two Legionnaires looked around helplessly within her smokescreen.

"And after I tried to be so complimentary!" the insectoid hero tutted. "How rude!" Guided by his electrochemical perceptions in this dense smoke, he ducked as Black Dancer raised one arm and fired a gauntlet-mounted laser. The laser seared a perfectly round hole in a support beam behind where Strut had been standing, followed quickly by a second assault which was equally ineffective. Black Dancer's armour increased her natural speed and reflexes greatly, but Strut was simply faster. Scurrying swiftly, he came up behind Black Dancer and wrapped himself around her. She was stronger than him, but he locked all six of his limbs around her in such a way that she lost all leverage.

"Get off me!" Black Dancer yelled, more annoyed than anything else.

"Darling, this isn't remotely pleasurable for me," Strut remarked, "But I sincerely feel that we can achieve much more through sustained conversation than these silly theatrics, don't you -- whoop!" Strut's grappling appendages had Black Dancer's arms locked straight up above her so she couldn't fire upon him again, but in response she simply released one of the mini-missiles which had granted her entry into the complex to begin with. The ceiling above them shattered with an explosive crash and while Strut leaped out of the way in time to avoid being crushed by debris, Black Dancer simply let the falling rubble rebound harmlessly off of her armour.

The sudden commotion together with the wind screaming in from outside had dispersed enough of Black Dancer's smokescreen that Laurel and Bobb could now see her through wisps of black vapor. When she once again took to the air to mask her exit as she fled the scene, she was surprised to find herself diving headfirst into the ground. Internal diagnostics told her she'd lost contact with her boot systems, and when she looked down she saw why; Bobb Kohan had turned her shiny metal boots into useless hunks of crystal.

"That wasn't clever." Black Dancer motioned toward Crystal Kid, but Supergirl's flight ring allowed her to move fast enough to block the ensuing laser beam.

"Neither was that," Laurel responded. "Now, are you gonna behave or do we see how many times an indestructible fist has to pummel your stupid visor before you get to put McCauleyCorp's credits to good use paying for reconstructive surgery?"

**********

Once Nightstone had fully committed to her fight against Nightwind and Gravity Kid, the rest of the youths accompanying the geokinetic girl had realised they were out of their depth and scampered away. Berta and Tel's respective abilities allowed them to evade Nightstone's clumsy assaults easily enough, but it took enough of their concentration to do so that neither of them could mount a counter-attack. "Why are you fighting us?" Nightwind shouted as she dodged yet another column of Martian soil tearing apart the floors beneath them. "Even if you were to beat us somehow, we're telling the truth...we're the Legion of Superheroes, Nightstone! You might be able to stop us, but do you think you can stop Wildfire or Mon-El?"

"I can't believe I ever wanted to join your stupid team!" the young girl railed. "I thought you'd be better than the Science Police, but you're just the same! All you care about is whoever's credits are lining your accounts!"

"At this rate, she's gonna bring the whole building down on us before she's done!" Gravity Kid hissed at Nightwind. "She's been driving tons of dirt at us, I don't know how she's this powerful! She could barely transport a handful of people on a rock at the Legion tryout!"

"My power was the same," Nightwind explained while she created a buffer of wind to divert a geyser of rock and mud from smashing into her. "I started off barely being able to create a breeze but within a couple years I was strong enough to join the Legion Academy. But you're not wrong, Tel...I don't know if she's even aware of how much damage she's doing but she really is gonna bring this complex down on us soon. Can you sneak around through one of the fifteen thousand holes she's put in this place to take her by surprise while I distract her?"

"Are you sure?" Gravity Kid asked. "Your power's not as effective indoors--"

"--I know my power," Berta interrupted with a tone of mild annoyance. "This place is huge, I'll be fine. Howling winds aren't really conducive to creeping around unnoticed like your power is though."

"Understood." Gravity Kid gave Nightwind a quick salute and darted off.

Nightwind rolled her eyes. Berta knew she should try harder with Tel; she was deputy leader of the Legion of Superheroes now, she had to be the bigger person...but he was so annoying sometimes with his transparent need to constantly be the best in the room that she couldn't help herself. Berta couldn't understand what Crystal Kid saw in Tel beyond his physical attributes; Gravity Kid was undeniably one of the most attractive men on the team, but after five minutes of conversation with him Nightwind was ready to stab either him or herself in the face just to make it stop. She thought back to her schoolgirl crush on Wildfire; for all of Drake Burroughs' unfortunate physical shortcomings, he was a noble man. Tel Vole was just an egotistical narcissist.

Forcing herself to get her head back in the game, Berta noticed that the air had become thick with particles of Martian dirt. She wasn't sure if Nightstone was doing this deliberately or not, but with Nightwind's power causing the air to circulate more wildly than usual she soon found herself in the middle of a contained sandstorm. Her first instinct was to dispel the dust devil before it grew thick enough to cause a threat in and of itself, but a better idea came to her almost immediately. Centering the winds on herself so that she was in their relatively calm eye, Berta increased their intensity. She couldn't maintain this for long in an enclosed space while simultaneously avoiding Nightstone's attacks, but two or three seconds was all she needed to have added twice as much mass to the improbable sandstorm. Content with her preparations, Berta flicked her arms out toward Nightstone's voice. A sideways rain of dirt and rocks dashed toward the younger girl and while much of it smashed harmlessly against the pillars Nightstone had erected, it had the desired impact. Taken by surprise, Nightstone squealed as she was forced back against the unexpected onslaught.

Nightwind finally had the opening she'd been looking for. While the floodlight had been pulverized during the fray, Nightstone had opened enough of the building to the outside world that Berta could see at least well enough to navigate confidently. Once she'd zigzagged through the forest of stone columns though, Nightstone was nowhere to be found. Damn it, Berta frowned. In a building this size, she could be anywhere. She was just about to call Gravity Kid when she heard Crystal Kid shout her name. Turning around, she saw Crystal Kid and Strut approaching via the same route she'd taken. Where Bobb used his flight ring to navigate between the immense pillars, Strut simply leaped from one to the next. "I'm glad you guys are here," Nightwind greeted them. "Strut, can you do that tracking thing you did earlier to find out which way Earthstone went? Hey, wait a nano - where's Laurel?"

"We left her with Black Dancer and the SP," Crystal Kid replied.

"Black Dancer, Black Dancer..." Nightwind repeated the name, dredging her memory to determine why it was vaguely familiar. "Hang on...wasn't she a Judgement Leaguer? What is she doing here?"

"Oh darling," Strut clicked. "You'd best steel yourself for this one, we've made quite the spectacle of ourselves and not in the fun way..."

**********

Tel Vole was lost.

Manouvering behind Nightstone should not have been this much of a challenge, but parts of this building were a maze and Gravity Kid had failed to take into consideration how dark it would be once he was further into its interior. At least, he consoled himself, it gave him the opportunity to practice using his power for sightless navigation. Tel's ability to sense gravitational fields was not precise enough for any really complex activity, but it stopped him from breaking his neck flying into a wall. He'd just entered a long since abandoned turbolift shaft when he heard shuffling noises from below. Glancing down, Tel saw the faintest ray of light shining through the crack of a door which probably hadn't opened in years. Curiosity soon got the better of him; he knew Nightstone couldn't possibly be two floors below him, but those other kids who were with her might be and maybe one of them would prove more amenable to reason. Gravity Kid descended and used his power to force the creaking turbolift door back into its recess. He heard a couple of voices reacting to the sound even before the door had fully opened, and by the time he exited the shaft he was just in time to see two kids with backpacks bolting out of a door on the other side of the room. It was the room itself which grabbed Gravity Kid's attention more than the teenagers who'd just left it though.

He levitated out into a huge open space, tables and chairs piled up against the left side of the room like an oversized child's fort. Small glowing heat lamps were spaced about the room, giving it a weak glow which was far more welcoming than the almost complete darkness of the rest of this complex. At one point this had obviously been a staff cafeteria; he could see a serving area on the other side of the room with what looked to be a kitchen behind it. Now though, this cafeteria was a makeshift living space. More than a dozen tents filled the space where he imagined the tables and chairs had once been evenly spaced out, and it seemed that every tent had been quite frantically cleaned out. Tel allowed himself to touch down upon the filthy tiled floor and walked through the room. He'd been in a space like this before. He'd lived in a space like this before.

"Hello?" he called out, his voice wavering with unexpected emotion. "Is anyone still here? I don't want to hurt anyone. Please, I just want to talk."

A door slammed behind him and Gravity Kid spun about. Nightstone was standing before the doorway to the fire stairs, shaking with anger. "What are you doing here?!" she yelled at the Legionnaire. "Why can't you people just leave us alone??"

Gravity Kid raised his palms in a gesture of platitude. "Nightstone...it's Gia, right? I heard someone call you Gia before?"

"Stick to Nightstone." She advanced on Gravity Kid and a low rumble filled the room.

"Nightstone then," Tel maintained a calm tone. "Listen, Nightstone....the Science Police officer we spoke to told us you were leading a gang down here but that's not what this is at all, is it?"

"You don't know anything about me!" the younger girl shouted defensively.

The ground cracked open between them, but Gravity Kid didn't move. He knew he might be making a mistake, but he had to try. "I'm not going to fight you, Nightstone. Just...just let me talk, would you?"

The rumbling subsided, along with Gravity Kid's heart rate. "Go on then," she challenged him.

"Where I came from," Tel chose his words carefully, "It's not like where I am now. I don't talk about it, but...I was let down, Nightstone. I was let down hard. My family let me rot at a time I needed them more than ever, and I had to find my own way when I didn't have the first clue how to do that. I found a community of like-minded people....I found a family to replace the one I'd lost, and we lived in spaces where the rest of the world couldn't judge us because they didn't see us. I lived somewhere a lot like this actually. And I wouldn't go back to that, but at the time it was all I had and I would have fought tooth and nail to defend it. None of you here...none of you want to hurt anybody, do you? You just want them to leave you alone."

"That's what I've been saying!" Nightstone spat bitterly. "But they'll never leave us alone! And not all of us get to join the Legion of Superheroes...I tried and I never even got to meet any of them. So sprock it, from now on I just look after mine."

"So will we." Gravity Kid approached her cautiously. "Obviously none of you would be living in a freezing abandoned factory if you had any other option so let me give you one. Let the Legion of Superheroes help you and your friends, Nightstone."

They were standing barely six feet apart now, and the tension was palpable. She hadn't lashed out though, and Gravity Kid didn't think she was going to. Nightstone's gaze met his and for the first time her mask of anger wavered and Tel saw the pained girl underneath it.

...and then she turned to unmoving crystal.

"Tel!" Crystal Kid flew forth from the same turbolift shaft Gravity Kid had used earlier, Nightwind and Strut close behind. "Did she hurt you?"

"What is wrong with you?" Gravity Kid exploded. "I was getting through to her, Bobb!"

"Crystal Kid did what we came to do," Nightwind defended her stunned friend. "There's more to this story than we were told, Gravity Kid. These kids are all runaways, half of them have been in trouble with the Science Police even before the incident that brought us here...McCauleyCorp hired their own muscle to take care of Nightstone when the SP couldn't, and we've just stopped this whole situation from escalating any further."

"Yeah, well...if this situation is so under control, you don't need me anymore." Gravity Kid stormed past his teammates. "I'll see you all back home." Too angry to even look at any of them, Tel fled the room.

"I should go talk to him--" Crystal Kid began to follow Gravity Kid.

"Forget him," Nightwind cut him off. "He's just throwing a tantrum because he didn't get to be the big hero, and we still haven't finished here."

Bobb was torn, but he stayed. He just hoped he'd made the right choice.

**********

In truth, there wasn't much left for the Legion to do after Gravity Kid left the scene. A quick call to McCauleyCorp had confirmed Black Dancer's claims, and though local media arrived suspiciously quickly to report on the Legion's embarassing fight against a corporation trying to keep its own property secure, Black Dancer cooperated fully with the Legionnaires and the Science Police officers who'd arrived on the scene.

The Legionnaires recovered two more of the runaways, but they didn't really have their hearts in it and with Nightstone taken out of action it was decided the Science Police could deal with the rest of the kids anyway. Power neutralising cuffs were at the ready so Nightstone could be taken into custody as soon as Crystal Kid reversed his power's effect, then feeling vaguely uneasy about the Legion's role here Nightwind took the rest of her team home.

Sitting in the back of a warm but sterile Science Police transport vehicle, Nightstone fumed. The Legion were full of it; elitist defenders of the status quo who didn't care about her and they certainly didn't care about any of her powerless friends who were going to be struggling to find a safe space to sleep tonight. She cursed herself for letting her guard down with Gravity Kid, she should have gone on the offence exactly as her instincts had directed her. If she ever ran into that manipulative squaj again she wouldn't make the same mistake.

The door to the vehicle opened, but the person standing there wasn't anybody Nightstone recognised; she certainly wasn't any Science Police officer in her thick dark blue parka, its fur-lined hood drawn over her short bob of black hair. "The Legion of Superheroes let us both down," the young woman spoke aloud as though responding to Nightstone's thoughts. "But you don't have to rot in an SP cell for it, and you certainly don't need to be living in some hollowed-out factory at the bottom of the world, Gia."

"Who are you?" Nightstone demanded. "How do you know my name, where are the Science Police?"

"My name is Otaki," the stranger replied, extending a gloved hand. "...and thanks to my benefactor, my mindsense has grown strong enough that the Science Police are no longer your problem. Come with me and we can help you too."

Nightstone considered the offer. She'd never heard of this woman and she certainly didn't trust her...still, it was a better alternative than anything else she had going right now.

She took the young woman's hand, and both of them disappeared into the Martian night.

Oh man. Lots of misunderstandings here. I think Nightwind will soon regret not listening to Gravity Kid.

Tel can be annoying, but he does mean well, and I think he was right here.

I hope poor Nightstone will get a second chance later. otaki too.

And maybe Nightwind will get some growth out of this.

Laurel also needs a bit of maturing

Strut is hilarious as ever!

Nice instalment raz

Have to note, Tel isn't completely blameless either (though he was for most of it). If he had responded calmly to Nightwind (who was being calm herself at the end)...

And Nightwind's gut is now telling her there's something wrong too.

very eager to see what comes next!

I think you hit the nail on the head with all points, IB!

Berta strikes me as someone who would generally be quite mature and responsible, but probably finds it a bit too easy to slip into high school clique mode when she's hanging out with her Academy pals...and it doesn't really come up a lot but Laurel in my series did actually miss a lot of time in suspended animation while everyone else in her class graduated, so in many ways she actually does literally have more growing up to do (which reminds me, I probably should get around to doing a Who's Who profile for her!)

...and you are right about Tel as well, he could stand to chill out and try to accommodate others a bit more than he does - the fun thing about writing the younger cast is it lets me get all my CW teen drama stuff out of my system hahaha

Nightstone and Otaki are gonna come up again sooner rather than later, all this stuff with Otaki should come to a head within the next 3 or 4 instalments and it's safe to say it is gonna get a lot nastier for everyone involved...

Another fun installment Raz,

Shvaugn calling Jan silly was fun, and I agree with almost everyone that 'silly' is not a word I's use to describe him - boarderline psychotic, maybe? Still, nice that he has someone to bring that side of him out.Nice moment with Vi and Ayla empathising with Jan and the destruction of Trom - if I remember right, weren't they both there when it happened in your canon but couldn't do anything about it? Lu's determination and explanationfor not rushing into getting her powers back rang very true. I wonder what Tinya's ida will be? Love your cliffhangers

Tolliver Dickens: War Orphan - haha, please sir, can I have some more... nice! Also, it's good to see a bit of Mars that isn't either a gleaming city or a pristine wilderness, and abandoned industrial estates just scream out for action! Laurel and Tel's bickering is fun, though would be very annoying to experience - Berta handled it well. I knew Officer Harvide wasa dodgy geezer! Corrupt SP won't be looked favourably upon so I hope he has a decent amount stashed away somewhere."That unfortunate gentleman absolutely reeked of bad life decisions," haha! We all know people like that, unfortunately. Actually, throughout every line Strut says is great! And as we're on the subject, "I'm obviously not that Supergirl," and Tel being referred to as "Himbo Lad" both made me laugh.

Love that you brought back a relatively obscure villain from Earth Man's Bigots United team, and given her a purpose. Black Dancer here was a lot more fierce than I remembered, The team dealt with her well, and Laurel's line at the end showed her fiesty side - she should be really, given her age, adventurous nature and probable chip on her shoulder about her heritage, I'd expect her to be a wild child given the chance. But maybe that's just my take.

Berta and Tel will never be bosom buddies will they? She doesn't get him at all, and he's socially awkward at times... oh well, just like people we all meet in real life then. Hopefully they can find some common ground and get past it as it's not a good look on either.

Tel showed a considerable more amount of Empathy towards Gia than you've shwn him show Bobb, which was surprising but sweet. And, unfortunately Berta and Bobb ruined the moment - sadly, there goes the chance they needed to reform Nightstone. good to see Otaki again, I'm really loving how you are building up that storyline.

Great characterisation all the way through this Raz, really good writing! I'm quite envious of your skill at writing these done-in-one segments that also fit into the bigger narative.

As always, waiting with baited breath for more, more, more!

Harbi, you make a great point that Tel showed Nightstone more empathy than he did Bobb in any of their interactions! A sign perhaps that Tel does not view Bobb as an equal or partner? (agree that it's also not a good look on Berta, to her credit she does recognize it, I'm looking forward to her using it as a good moment...)

Also, indeed nice to see Shvaughn bringing out this side of Jan!


a sign of great balancing and writing, raz. none of your characters were completely in the right. Even Bobb was a bit unprofessional with suggesting he and Tel stay out a bit (plus he acted on his lust rather than try to reassure Tel constructively). Heck, even Strut didn't come out 100% clean, as he DID egg Tel on in a way.

Happy that things will come to a head soon, you've built this storyline up well - I'm super eager to see where it leads!

Harbi: good memory! Due to timey wimey stuff, Vi and Ayla were on Trom, Roxxas decided to nuke the planet because he found out the Legion were there in fact!

"Earth-Man's Bigots United" made me lol I like having the dregs of that group pop up every now and then to remind everyone they exist

Y'all are right that everyone was a bit immature at points - and it is a good observation that Tel showed more empathy for Gia than the guy he's meant to be dating, we'll see where that goes pretty soon!

Next up: another obscure homemade character is gonna pop in to say hi!

MARS
Husband Hill, Legion of Superheroes Headquarters

The Legion of Superheroes' gymnasium was expansive and designed to give them almost any physical challenge they could conceive to help them in their fight against crime. Right now, Shadow Lass and Night Girl sparred in one corner of the room while Shrinking Violet pushed herself through a miniature obstacle course on a small enclosed pedestal to their left. Above the girls, Timber Wolf and Tellus swam laps in a 25 metre pool suspended in mid-air by magnetic fields. Though no longer an active member of the Legion, Chlorophyll Kid was struggling with a chest press on the other side of the room while Gravity Kid paced himself on a running track which enclosed the gym.

Ral Benem was not the only non-Legionnaire using the gym today however; in the centre of the room was a large and almost opaque cube-shaped forcefield, and within that forcefield Lightning Lad addressed the ten students of the Legion Academy. "Are any of you familiar with Zwennite Traveller?" Lightning Lad asked the class. "It's a child's game where the object is to be the first to cross a field from one end to the other...except there's one person at the other end of the field with their back turned to the group. They turn around periodically without any warning, and if they see anyone move then that player is eliminated."

"On Jaquaa, we call that game Hide In Plain Sight," Variable Lad volunteered cheerily. "And the person in charge of elimination is referred to as the Speartongued Serpent...because a speartongue's vision is based on movement, so you have to be very still when you come across one!"

"Oaa, how the sprock does anyone on your planet ever survive infancy with the amount of horror monsters you've got there?" Dragonwing teased her younger classmate. Some of the others giggled appreciatively.

"We've got something like that on Zwen as well," Lullabye Lad joined the conversation. "I mean we don't call it Zwennite Traveller, that'd be weird....it's Light Sleeper; the sandman tells us when to sleep and when to wake up, and the person who makes it to the finish line first is the lightest sleeper."

"Well, we're going to be be playing something similar today," Garth Ranzz jumped back in before the students could derail the lesson too much. "Except I'm calling it Power On/Power Off. None of you are allowed to use your powers until I shout Power On and if I see any of you using your powers after I shout Power Off then you're eliminated. Does that make sense, everybody?" Garth took care to glance a little longer over Glorith, Fire Lass and Sojurn as he asked this question. Between Glorith's complete lack of memory about anything prior to her apprenticeship with the Black Witch, Fire Lass's literal lack of a childhood and Sojurn's extradimensional origins, the three of them were the students most likely to need a little more attention when it came to shared cultural experiences their classmates took for granted.

"I believe you have explained the contest sufficiently," the appropriately flame-headed Fire Lass replied. "Though I am confused about one thing...why would we need our powers for such a task? It seems like all we must do is run from one end of the field to the other with some measure of tactical forethought?"

"I'm glad you asked," Garth gave them a cheeky smirk. "Opponents, activate!" They all heard a mechanical whirring noise, and the students saw ten droids rise from hidden panels in the floor at various points around the room. "You didn't think I was gonna let you all off that easy, did you? Go line up over there and we'll get started."

"Ugh, robots again!" Lullabye Lad groaned as he made his way across the room. "What are my stupid sleep powers supposed to do against a sprocking robot?"

"Don't worry pal, we'll look out for you!" Chemical Kid slapped Waiane on the back. "Anyway, this might cheer you up...check it out, looks like you might be up for another chance with your ex!"

Lullabye Lad followed Chemical Kid's pointed finger and saw that Gravity Kid had come to a stop on the running track. Tel was talking to Crystal Kid and though the forcefield prevented Waiane or Hadru from seeing either of the Legionnaires very clearly, they could still read their body language well enough to see that it wasn't a pleasant conversation. Gravity Kid stood rigid, defensive, and within seconds Crystal Kid was walking away with his shoulders slumped in defeat.

"Another chance?" Lullabye Lad snorted in derision. "He can keep it...it looks like Crystal Kid's finding out what a huge jerk Tel Vole is, I don't need that mess back! Now...let's kick some robot nass!"

**********

In the residential section of the same building, Thom Kallor sat in a steaming hot bubble bath massaging one of Nura Nal's pedicured feet while she reclined opposite him. "Thom, that is heavenly," the platinum blonde moaned, her head hanging limply over the edge of the tub. "I don't know why I pay that salon for massages twice a week, you're very good and at least as handsome as Enriq."

"High praise," Star Boy chuckled. "I bet Enriq never does this though!" Without warning, he blew a raspberry on the sole of Dream Girl's foot and she screeched with laughter.

Dream Girl pulled her leg back before nimbly thrusting herself forward toward her hirsuite boyfriend. Sloshing water everywhere, she rose above him supporting her weight with one arm on each side of the tub while her hair lay on his beard and chest. "You know how I hate surprises, Thom Kallor...you're going to be punished severely for this."

"Don't threaten me with a good time, lady." He moved to kiss her before noticing she seemed distracted by something above them. "...Nura?"

"Ugh, can you believe that woman? What has she done this time?" Dream Girl sat back in the tub again, her mood soured. The holocaster suspended from the ceiling had been playing on mute the whole time, and though they'd been ignoring it till now Nura had seen something she couldn't ignore. "Standard volume please!" she commanded.

Marella Tao's slightly husky voice filled the bathroom and Thom wondered briefly why Nura would be annoyed at the famous newscaster till he saw the person Marella was talking about. "--Persephone Savage has found herself embroiled in scandal once again, this time on the watery world of Vavalla. Local Science Police Officer Tayla Skott claims that Ms Savage was responsible for the abduction of Senator Doopan Tarka recently, a claim which Ms Savage has pointedly denied. Citing a previous instance where her identity was assumed by a Protean criminal, Ms Savage has stated that as a public figure she is particularly vulnerable to these types of fraudulent impersonations and she has agreed to cooperate with the Science Police fully in order to clear her--"

"Mute volume," Star Boy ordered. "Don't watch that, Nura; it'll just -- Nura?" Turning away from the news channel to face his lover, he saw her shaking her head and blinking rapidly as if she'd been woken abruptly. "...You've had a vision?"

"Yes, but not about that sow thankfully!" Dream Girl replied. "I'm afraid I won't be able to come to Xanthu with you this evening after all, love. I'm going to have to find a few Legionnaires to take with me to Avalon of all places!"

"Oh." Thom was visibly disappointed as he began to stand. "Then I guess--"

"Excuse me, Mr Kallor! I didn't say I need to go right now!" Nura grabbed Thom's hand and forced him to sit back down. "Now...you get back in this tub, I believe there's a matter of punishment that hasn't been addressed yet!"

Star Boy grinned stupidly.

**********
LUNA
Tranquility Bay, Brande Industries

ROLL CALL
Chameleon Boy aka Reep Daggle: Durlan shapeshifter
Colossal Boy aka Gim Allon: growth powers
Light Lad aka Darvan Locke: gravity negation
Phantom Girl aka Tinya Wazzo: leader; intangibility

In a huge office decked out with stylish if not overly extravagant furnishings, Colossal Boy stood with his hands clasped behind his back as he peered out a window which took up one entire wall. Gim Allon's homeworld Earth floated beyond, the moon upon which they stood casting its shadow over the blue and green world.

"Do you miss it, Gim?" Phantom Girl joined him at the window. "It was easy enough for me to move from Earth to Mars; everywhere in this dimension is a new world for me and Bgtzl is only ever a phase away, but you were born on Earth and grew up there. You've got family there."

"I've got family on Mars too, PG." The broad-shouldered hero smiled down at her. "Yera, you guys...and Mom and Dad aren't that far away."

"Speaking of Yera..." Cham joined in from where he'd been chatting with Light Lad on a large sofa, "You know she and I talk to one another, right? She told me you tried to get her to set me up with Tranquility with some kind of romcom shapeshifting shenanigans!"

"Gim!" Tinya gasped in fake shock, barely able to suppress a grin.

Colossal Boy turned to face his best friend and bowed his head in defeat. "Betrayed my own wife, wow...last time I try to help a buddy out."

Chameleon Boy rolled his eyes and took a sip of the Braalian brandy he'd been swirling around absent-mindedly. "Yes, I can't imagine why the woman who met us all while she'd been duped into impersonating one of our teammates might take umbrage at being asked to do the exact same thing again. You're lucky she didn't have you sleeping on the couch for a week! Tranquility - whom we've met all of once, might I remind you - was a lovely girl, but I told you I don't do long-distance dating."

"I don't know," Light Lad offered his opinion, "It's worked out pretty well for me and Kent!"

A melodic chime sounded, and Cham quickly stood and brushed himself down after placing his drink on a glass table. Light Lad followed suit, and Colossal Boy and Phantom Girl made their way over to join them. A moment later the man they'd come here to see walked through a sliding door. Dressed in a conservative blue suit, Marla Latham crossed the room to greet the Legionnaires warmly. As he said hello to each of them he hugged Cham, shook Darvan and Gim's hands and leaned forward to kiss Tinya on the cheek. He wasn't alone, accompanied by an attractive young woman with long dark hair who wore a white outfit with tasteful rose gold jewellery shaped like various phases of the moon.

"Reep, Colossal Boy; I'm sure you two remember my guest from the Legion's last visit to Luna," Marla introduced the young woman, "But Phantom Girl and Light Lad I don't believe have had the pleasure. This is Tranquility, the moon's own local hero."

"Lovely to meet you, Tranquility." Feeling cheeky, Phantom Girl deliberately used the same word Chameleon Boy had said earlier when he'd described her; Tinya could almost sense Cham's mild embarassment. "Are you working for Brande Industries now?"

"Oh no, not at all," Tranquility responded easily. "I'd offered my assistance to Marla here to try and stop any more violence before we called the Legion in, but unfortunately this case is a little beyond my humble talents."

"Fundament again?" Colossal Boy asked, remembering the last time they'd come here.

"Actually, Michael sought out therapy after our last encounter and he was doing wonderfully the last time I spoke to him!" Tranquility spoke without any malice toward the man who'd once wanted to kill her. "This is something altogether sadder, I'm afraid."

"Sadder and altogether very strange," Marla agreed. "There's no way to make this sound rational so I'll just come out and say it...Legion, Brande Industries has a ghost!"

"...a ghost?" Light Lad repeated the words skeptically. "Like...as in a deceased spirit..?"

"Come on, Darvan." Phantom Girl nudged her taller teammate playfully. "You're telling me you can accept vampires, necromancers and a whole world of sorcerors at face value but ghosts are where you draw the line?"

"Well...that is, I..." the Winathian blushed, stumbling for words.

"I'm just teasing," Phantom Girl assured him. "Marla, what can you tell us? I'm assuming this is more than just graveyard shift workers spooking one another for you to have bothered calling the Legion of Superheroes in."

"Our Regional Manager Jozha Maxlee only escalated this matter to me a couple of days ago, but apparently the local workers have been talking for weeks about some cloaked man who appears and disappears at will." Marla took a drink from a well-timed serving droid. "He's never actually been spotted by any surveillance equipment but enough people have reported hearing crying during late shift hours that Jozha asked Security to investigate...and that's when it seems our resident ghoul upgraded from unnerving people to murdering them."

"I believe that's where I come in," Tranquility picked up the narrative. "I've encountered this so-called ghost twice now...the first was by accident; I heard sobbing and when I went to investigate, I came across him and the man he'd chosen to kill. The...well, I suppose we've just started calling him the Weeping Man...anyway, he carries a sword and I stopped him from going through with his murder but his poor victim was almost hysterical with fear. It took a concerted effort for me to calm him down enough to even move him to safety. I approached Jozha and through her met Marla, and they agreed to allow me to patrol Brande Industries' Luna holdings. The second time I met the Weeping Man he actually attacked me physically, and it was only thanks to the timely intervention of nearby Science Police that I got away unscathed. We decided then that maybe we should call on the Legion, and here we are."

"He's killed three people," Marla noted grimly. "But he never leaves any trace of himself...I don't want to get carried away with this whole ghost thing, but it's a compelling claim. From all appearances he simply frightened one man to death, the Science Police tell us the other two were under great amounts of distress at the time they died as well."

"Everyone leaves some trace," Cham countered. "We just have to find it." The Durlan hero turned directly to Tranquility. "Amoris, I don't want to expose you to any more danger so I'll totally understand if you'd prefer to stay out of this but we could use an escort who knows the area if you're up for it."

"I'm already involved," Tranquility answered. "My powers didn't affect the Weeping Man, but I'll help however I can. Thank you for considering my feelings though, Reep."

"Okay then!" Chameleon Boy looked across to Phantom Girl, suddenly aware that he'd been taking the lead and feeling a little guilty about it. "What's our next move, PG?"

"Honestly, you're way better at investigative stuff than me," Phantom Girl shrugged, unfazed after their years of friendship. "What do you think we should do, Cham?"

Chameleon Boy smiled slyly. "I may have an idea..."

**********

Hours later Tranquility, Colossal Boy and Light Lad patrolled Brande Industries' maze of corridors with a brown Great Dane actively sniffing everything around them. To save power, the building's lighting only switched on in the group's immediate vicinity and then switched back off once they'd passed by. With all non-essential staff sent home for the evening, the effect was a little unnerving. "So this...apparition or whatever...he cries while he's killing people?" Light Lad asked Tranquility. "Maybe it's just me but it sounds like that could be symptomatic of a psychiatric condition more than anything supernatural."

"It sounds creepy as sprock is what it sounds like," Gim piped up.

"It is quite unsettling," Tranquility agreed, "But Darvan, If you're correct I hope we can find him the help he needs."

"I just hope we stop this guy. Or ghost. Or whatever." Colossal Boy cocked his head to one side. "Hey, you all hear that?" A plaintive wailing sound echoed throughout the mostly empty office building, a cry of utter despair. It was impossible to pinpoint its source of origin however, each of the heroes peering around in an effort to detect where it was coming from.

"What about you, pal?" Hands on his thighs, Gim leaned down toward the canine in their midst. "You got anything?"

"No, and it's a little annoying," the dog bizarrely spoke. "I think he's moving through the building, I--" He suddenly stopped and sniffed at the air before running full pelt down the corridor. "This way!"

The other three followed, the odd quartet racing to the other side of the expansive floor. They turned a corner to see a security guard on his knees, wracked with sobs as his shaking hands struggled to grip his firearm. Standing over the man with his back to the others was a cloaked figure wielding a sword, his own frame shuddering as he cried alongside the security guard. "We were right!" Chameleon Boy's voice issued forth from the Great Dane as he pounced upon the Weeping Man and knocked him over. "Ghosts don't have a scent, this creep is as mortal as any of us!" Cham resumed his normal form and reached for the strange killer's weapon, but the Weeping Man became intangible and stood over the Durlan.

"Mortal? Yes. I am nothing like you however, Reep Daggle." Now that they could all see him clearly, the Legionnaires noticed that the Weeping Man's outfit resembled archaic formal wear. He was dressed in a black suit with a hooded opera cape, a holster at his waist for his collapsible weapon. His face however was hidden behind a mask which appeared to be made of porcelain and was almost featureless save for two thin eye slits and two equally thin blue lines which reached from the outer edge of each eye to the bottom of his face like stylised tears.

"Hey! Don't do that!" Darvan Locke's panicked voice suddenly rang out. While the others were focused on the Weeping Man, only Light Lad had noticed his first victim moving. Heaving with sobs, the security guard lifted his gun to the side of his head and was just about to pull the trigger when the blue glow of Darvan's power enveloped the firearm and sent it flying to the ceiling. The man collapsed, pounding his fists against the floor.

"What did you do to him?" Chameleon Boy demanded as Tranquility rushed to the man's side. While her powers couldn't impact the Weeping Man directly, she could still help his victim. She crouched down by the distraught man's side and hugged him close, stroking the back of his head gently as she spoke soft words of encouragement. Colossal Boy and Light Lad moved to shield her from the Weeping Man as best they could while she soothed the guard.

"I did nothing more than show him the futility of his life and the depths of despair that are his to plummet," the Weeping Man answered, choking back tears himself so he could speak. "It is no more than I have had to contend with each day of my life, Reep Daggle...and if he breaks under that well of emotion then I have freed one more from this cruel existence we are called to endure. Would you like me to free you, Reep Daggle?"

Something in the Weeping Man's tone chilled Cham to his core. Unbidden memories of his brother came to the front of his mind, the torturous struggle for survival he'd faced on Durla and the assassination of his father. "Stop it!" Chameleon Boy sniped, lashing out helplessly against the intangible villain. Cham knew this wasn't right and he struggled to hold on to the telepathic defence mechanisms Saturn Girl had taught him. It wasn't until he made eye contact with Tranquility and saw the deep concern she held for him that he felt calm enough to get through this though.

"You are not willing to surrender to your pain," the Weeping Man sniffed back tears. "Then perhaps I should aid you more directly." He drew his sword to strike and was taken completely unawares when a white-booted foot came through the wall and kicked it out of his hand.

Phantom Girl came through the wall to stand between the Weeping Man and the others, snatching his sword up and pointing it at him. "Looks like I came back from Bgtzl just in time," Tinya announced. "You've got good instincts, Cham...this guy may not be a ghost but he is a phantom. He escaped from custody on Bgtzl last month and obviously decided he'd have more luck in UP space than back home where he can't just walk through any opposition. I know all about you, Mrtr; the authorities back home told me everything...you're not well, let me take you back to Bgtzl so we can continue your amygdala treatments. You don't want to hurt anybody else, do you?"

The Weeping Man became so emotional that he buried his face in his hands for a moment, somehow pathetic and dangerous at the same time. "Life is pain," he finally said when he'd composed himself enough to talk once more. "All I bring is release...don't you want release, Tinya Wazzo?"

He gazed directly at Tinya, and she found herself completely unprepared for the devastating emotional onslaught. Half-remembered arguments between her parents, raised voices resonating through the house while Tinya and her brother hugged one another as children; the time she'd thought Jo was dead; Ferro Lad, Lyle, Condo...more dead friends than she could bear; and finally, the six long months she'd spent trapped in the past with Bouncing Boy, Blok and Diamond Damsel, each day destroying her hope a little bit more at a time until she'd just been a husk of a person. The Weeping Man was right, all of this pain was too much for any one person to carry. Only dimly aware of her comrades' voices in the background, Tinya Wazzo fell to her knees and looked up at the Weeping Man's blank mask. Tears were streaming down her own face now, and with unsteady movements Phantom Girl turned the sword around so that its blade was pointed inwards at herself. She and the Weeping Man both were still intangible, nobody could stop her now...soon, this would all be over--

"Tinya!!"

Somehow, impossibly, Ultra Boy was on one knee before her. "Babe, please, you're stronger than this. You have to come back to us, come back to me. Please." Jo's eyes were wet and as he reached one hand out to stroke her cheek, Tinya gave in and turned her face solid so that his touch could ground her. The two kneeled there for a moment that felt like hours, their foreheads touching as Tinya found peace in the feeling of Jo's fingers against her face.

"...I know it's you, Cham..." Phantom Girl spoke in a tiny fractured voice, "...But it's just what I needed. Thank you." Turning intangible once more, she stood up and released an almost primal cry of raw emotion as she slammed the hilt of the blade against the Weeping Man's skull. He hit the floor with a thud that told the others he was solid once more, and Tinya released the sword with a clatter. She too turned solid and turned to Chameleon Boy, now in his own form. The two friends hugged one another for a long time, both of them acutely aware of how close they'd come to giving up today.

**********

Thankfully, once the Weeping Man's immediate influence was removed from the equation and with Tranquility's help, the security guard, Chameleon Boy and Phantom Girl all made a rapid recovery. The Weeping Man was taken into custody safely, and Tranquility and the quartet of Legionnaires gathered with Marla the following day to debrief.

"So," Phantom Girl explained to the older man with her more usual perkiness, "It didn't take us long to put together that your ghost might be from my homeworld. While Cham worked on picking up his scent, I followed up with Bgtzl authorities - turns out our Weeping Man is really named Mrtr Glom. He was undergoing some experimental psychiatric treatment last year that caused permanent damage to his emotional centres so that he lives in a constant state of depression now....it would be a tragic story anyway, but it also somehow gave him the ability to bring up negative emotions in other people too; and given his mental state, he thinks he's actually helping people by stalking them like he does."

"Like some kind of angel of mercy?" Marla shuddered. "That's positively morbid!"

"It is," Cham agreed, "But hopefully now he can at least continue to get help to become healthy again." He handed Marla a small homemade electronic device. "He used this to circumvent our surveillance equipment by the way; it's primitive but it uses Bgltzr tech, it might be worth getting someone to have a look at it and see about upgrading our systems."

"Thank you all for your help, it's very much appreciated." Marla walked them all to the door of his office.

"Any time for our adult advisor," Colossal Boy joked. "Let's get back home, guys - hopefully we'll make it in time for me to grab breakfast with Yera before I crash!"

"Actually, I've got something I need to discuss with Marla," Phantom Girl hung back from the others. "It's why I put myself on this mission in the first place, I'll see you boys back on Mars later."

"You know," Tranquility said as she accompanied the Legion boys through Brande's large foyer, "I am actually hungry now that you mention it, Gim. You're probably in a hurry to get back to your wife, but would either of you two like to stay and get a meal with me?"

Colossal Boy saw the enthusiasm on Light Lad's face and discreetly kicked him in the shin. "Ow -- actually, I mean I should probably head back and um...write up a mission log..." Darvan offered weakly.

"You know what?" Chameleon Boy grinned. "After that little experience, I could use a little downtime. Shall we, Amoris?"

Chameleon Boy offered his arm and he and Tranquility wandered off into the lunchtime crowd together.

**********

EDITOR'S NOTES:

* Yes, I did just finish watching Squid Game

* y'all have probably all already seen it but Persephone Savage recently encountered Lamprey and Turtle in their own little mini - you don't really need to know anything more than what Marella helpfully explained, but the story is here if anyone's interested anyway. Dreamy encountered her a looong time ago, I'm pretty sure it was from before I started this thread so it's not really relevant other than to show why Dream Girl and Star Boy recognise her

* Tranquility's intro to the Legion is here and I did a write-up for her in my profile thread as well which is here but all you really need to know is that she is a lovely lady with nice empath powers who lives on the moon

another great one, raz

I like the Squid Game reference... smart of Fire lass to ask why powers were needed.

Glad Waiane is over Tel!

I love the flirting between Nura and Thom, and the implication that Thom is confident and secure enough not to be threatened by Enriq and other hunks Nura comes across.

(also makes a ton of sense that a precog would hate surprises lol)

Love the creativity behind the Weeping Man.

Tranquility being all "hope we can help him", aw. Also the Great Dane, hah! Scooby-Dooby-Doo... Tinya deferring to Cham (and Cham conscious of taking the lead), solid A, love em both. Gim trying to set Cham up with Tranquility through Yera... and Yera talking to Cham, also great touches

Ah, a Bgztlian! nice use of the Bgztlian phasing that allows them to travel back to their home dimension, too often writers (including myself) only focus on the phasing part and not the dimension-shifting!

Cham turning into Jo (and Tinya knowing it) was well done! Also great acting from Cham.

Loved how Tranquility's powers were the perfect counter to Weeping Man's despair. I actually thought Fearstorm was involved at first, but then fear and depression/despair aren't the same. Poor Weeping Man, gosh, to always feel like that...

Hah Darvan! Darvan needs a cue... glad Cham decided to give Amoris some of his time. Luna/Mars... not THAT far apart, not with 30th century tech

now curious to see what Tinya discusses with Marla - related to her idea from before, when she was talking with Lu about Berta, I bet!

Thanks IB!

As flirty as Dream Girl is, I figure Thom's options are either learn to be okay with it or go quietly mental

I meant to add it in my notes but the Weeping Man was inspired by this guy when I was looking into some of the old Captain Marvel/Bulletman villains - such a weird and creepy idea for a bad guy!

And Tinya's plotting will come to fruition a bit down the track, but first I am gonna touch base with an ex-Legionnaire we haven't seen for ages!

Wow! The Weeper is so... odd! kudos for taking the idea and updating it!

Ooh! Ex-Legionnaire... maybe Tyroc??? Shadow Kid???

Hey Raz, I don't have much time this morning so can only give you a quick review.

Glad to see Lullaby Lad is moving n from Tel, wonder if he and Bobb wll end up together? Biy icky but would make a nice bit of drama.

Am I the only person tha didn't enjoy the Squid Games? Apart from the scene on the bridge I was pretty bored throughout. Oh well... nice to see the students again, you write them really well.

I really like your Light Lad, he's such a sweet charater.

Tinya was smart checking Bgtzl for information on the Weeping Man - another great original (ish) character by the way. Though Reep becoming Jo to snap Tinya out of her despondancy was very smart. Speaking of our fave Durlan, Cham and Tranquility would make a very interesting couple. He appears to be the eternal bachelor, doesn't he?

I've got to dash, though really enjoyed this mini-story, and as always I'm eager for more, more, more!

Hey Raz! I'm finally catching up on everyone's stuff, so I did a Stream o' Consciousness for the last couple stories that I missed:

Flatworld:

I *love* this 2D transplantation. This is a trope of sorts that I always read with fascination and I love what you're doing here. I've been thinking about something similar in mine, but that won't be until a bit down the road. Are they literally in a comic book?

Its interesting- they are literally in a 2D environment. You've put a lot of good thought here into how everyone's powers are affected in the new environment. This is really fresh, and having Ron Karr be the villain makes total sense.

Loved the character moments on Mars. And cool idea about Mars already having dying towns. Nightstone - "That's not Supergirl." Berta dealing with the struggles of leadership with Tel is a quiet moment that really stood out to me, especially after the tussle with Nightstone. Having her get turned to crystal just as Tel was breaking through was a great beat. I literally did an audible, "Awww!" when that happened, which totally primed her for Otaki.

Weeping Man:

Is this going to turn into some Legion version of Squid Game?

Did anyone else have Scooby Doo on their brain as they read the hunting for the Weeping Man scene? Add Zoe and Triad in the mix and you have the whole squad!

The whole Weeping Man sequence was creepy as hell. And of course he's a Bgtzlian! Having Cham be Jo to snap Tinya out of it was a great move.

LOL! Just hit the footnotes!

Hi folks, thanks for your feedback!

Harbi: I watched the first two episodes of Squid Game with dubs and was v unimpressed then switched to subtitles and never looked back! The tug of war game had my entire soul clenching lol

The Weeping Man originally wasn't gonna be a Bgltzr bad guy (I was saving that for someone else actually) but I figured it makes him more creepy if people think he's a ghost on top of the despondency thing so I am glad y'all liked it!

GL: I did briefly consider making Flatland more like a comic book actually, but it's probably pushing my luck describing a 2D world without visuals as it is without then trying to create the visualisation of a comic book page on top of it. That's one thing that would work 100% better if this was actually a comic though, you could have some fun with it! It'd be worth it just to see Tenzil eating panel borders and speech balloons

I am glad y'all picked up on the Scooby Doo thing...I wish I had thought of using Zoe in that group now, she'd be a perfect Daphne! They could even have had their own mystery machine with her Green Lantern powers lol #missedopportunity

We did the same - We actually had both the English overdubs going with the subtitles at first (to assist with hearing) but when the dubs with the subs were so off, we just went with the Korean soundtrack. So much better. That said, Squid Game wasn't as amazing as I was led to believe, especially once I figured out who the mastermind was extremely early.


I was going back and forth on it and in my head it solidified when Cham had his confrontation - I perceived that scene as the "page turning" in order to change perception. My thought is similar, but different - hard to explain, but more like if WE were the 2D creatures going to something bigger. Hard to explain. It'll probably be even harder to write.


Oh this jumped out at me - its probably for the best that you stopped the analogy where you did, as one of the two would have to be Shaggy and we all know where that goes! .

Thanks, Raz, I was mightily entertained with this!

MARS
Husband Hill, Legion of Superheroes Headquarters

"Hold on tight, little sprout! You're on the Comet Express now!"

The golden heroine named Comet Queen flew through Legion Headquarters' main lobby, leaving a sparkling trail of gases in her wake. Strapped to her chest in a snug harness, Ivy Arcane squealed with glee and waved at Sun Boy and Supergirl below. Dipping down low so the door sensors would pick her up, Comet Queen startled a middle-aged man with white hair as she zipped past him. "Sorry, starshine!" Grava cupped one hand and shouted back at him.

"Are you okay, Sir?" Dressed casually and half-jogging after his wife, Ral Benem approached the incoming stranger. "Grava can be a little reckless, I hope you're not hurt?"

"Thank you, I'm fine." The older man smiled at Ral. "Not my first time at the Space Rodeo with you kids."

"...Marla?" Sun Boy recognised their visitor immediately and came over, Supergirl tagging along with him. "Long time no see! Chlorophyll Kid, Laurel, this guy used to keep the Legion under control when we were all stupid teenagers if you can believe it...what are you doing here now?"

"Hello, Dirk. You're looking well!" Marla pumped his hand in greeting. "I've got some business with your leader actually! This is my first time in your Mars headquarters, would you mind telling me how to find her?"

"Marla Latham, I hope you don't think I'd be rude enough to invite you here and not escort you myself!" Phantom Girl greeted him as she passed down through the ceiling with a broad smile. While Ral excused himself to catch up with Grava and Ivy, the others briefly made small talk before Tinya and Marla headed off further into the building.

"What do you think that's all about?" Laurel asked, watching them walk off together.

Dirk Morgna stroked his chin thoughtfully. "I have no idea, but I am very curious..."

**********

Elsewhere in the same building, Tel Vole lay on his bed in his underwear reading the latest Franz Riti novel on his omnicom when his doorbell chimed. "Just a nano!" he called out while marking his place in the text and grabbing the first outfit he could find from his wardrobe. Quickly dressing, the young man otherwise known as Gravity Kid commanded his door to open and saw Crystal Kid standing on the other side of it. "Oh...hi, Bobb. Look, now that I've had some time to think about it I wanted to apologise--"

"Thanks," Bobb Cohan replied flatly. "I do appreciate it, but...Tel, look. I like you. I think you're smart and stupidly attractive and heroic and..." He sighed, steeling himself to continue. "...Anyway. I like you, but I think you've clearly got some stuff to work through and it's not fair for you to just keep running hot and cold on me while you're working through it."

Gravity Kid stiffened, his tone growing cold. "...Are you breaking up with me?"

"Grife, we're barely even dating!" Crystal Kid shot back a little too quickly. He took a breath and continued more calmly. "But yeah...yeah, I guess that's what this is. Look, I'm sorry but...I deserve to be respected, Tel. I hope you can understand that. You just...shut down whenever I do anything that doesn't fit your idea of how things are meant to work and it...it hurts, okay?"

"Yes, well...I suppose it's better you do this now than before I get attached to you," Tel responded bitterly. "Thanks for your honesty."

"Tel," Bobb began, but Gravity Kid had already turned his back on him and allowed the door to close between them. Crystal Kid shook his head and wandered down the corridor feeling utterly drained.

Inside his quarters, Tel's eyes grew teary but he refused to allow this to hurt him. He should have known he'd been right from the start, he shouldn't have allowed his focus to shift from being the best Legionnaire he could be. He lay back down on his bed and picked up his omnicom. He read the same sentence three times, then released a frustrated cry and flung the device across the room.

Curling up into himself, Tel Vole stared at the wall without blinking and pushed his emotions down as far down as he could.

**********

AVALON
Skull Peak, base camp

ROLL CALL
Blok: magically enhanced strength, invulnerability, speed, flight, stamina, wisdom and courage
Diamond Damsel aka Iris Jacobs: living diamond
Dragonmage aka Xao Jin: dragon magic
Dream Girl aka Nura Nal: Naltorian precognition
King Canary aka K'rk T'wiiu III: sonic generation
Lightning Lass aka Ayla Ranzz: electricity generation and manipulation
Shadow Lass aka Tasmia Mallor: darkness generation

Inside a regal carriage drawn by four large horses, Prince Gerold of Avalon travelled with Shadow Lass, Dream Girl and King Canary. The other Legionnaires who'd come to this medieval world travelled in a second coach directly behind them, or in the case of Blok and Diamond Damsel who proved too great a burden for the horses, flew alongside the vehicles as an aerial guard.

"Thank you again for accompanying us personally on this journey, Prince Gerold," King Canary addressed the handsome young royal. "The Legion of Superheroes are grateful for your generosity." It hadn't escaped the attention of either Dream Girl or Shadow Lass that their normally gruff avian teammate sounded far more eloquent than usual, and while they were both highly amused by his change in tone both of them were professional enough not to let that amusement show.

"You are very welcome, Prince K'rk," Gerold smiled magnanimously. "If it were not for the Legion of Superheroes, I would have lost my land and my father both to the dread sorceror Mordru long ago. I am forever in the debt of your brave band of warriors, and I know that my father welcomes the opportunity to birth friendship between our kingdom and others such as your own land Aeres."

"I hope that you don't mind me saying so," Shadow Lass spoke up, "But Your Highness, I can't help but notice a marked improvement in our travel conditions since the last time the Legion were here." Tasmia was the only Legionnaire present who'd spent any real amount of time on Avalon previously, and she distinctly remembered this world seeming like something out of those silly roleplaying games that Star Boy and Sun Boy were so fond of. The Legion had journeyed through a mystical swamp on their way to this very destination last time they were here, and while the dangers had been very real there had also been something vaguely quaint about being on a world so foreign to modern influence; in some ways, Avalon reminded her of her own homeworld. Now though, the roads were paved and that sinister swamp was in the process of being reclaimed as parkland. The changes were not drastic, but Avalon was clearly embracing progress in its own way.

"How lovely of you to notice, thank you milady!" The prince bowed his head in gratitude. "I shall be certain to let my father know that his efforts have been appreciated...King Leon has embarked on a plan to integrate our little world more fully with our starward neighbours. It is slow going work; many of our people are resistant to change, but my father is wise and he understands that if Avalon is to thrive we can no longer consider ourselves utterly separate from the worlds beyond."

"It can be a challenge maintaining your own world's unique cultures while also keeping up with the demands of a galactic society," Shadow Lass chose her words carefully. "It is a struggle we know well on Talok VIII, I wish you and your father all the best in facing that challenge."

"Challenge is puttin' it lightly..." King Canary grumbled under his breath, forgetting himself for a moment.

The carriage came to a gradual halt, and one of Prince Gerold's footmen opened the door for him with a courteous bow. The footman obviously knew better than to offer the fiercely independent prince a hand to exit the coach, but Dream Girl was only too happy to be waited on and Shadow Lass took the armoured man's hand out of respect for this world's customs.

King Canary took flight once the others had left the carriage, landing on a low-hanging tree branch nearby while Blok and Diamond Damsel descended to join Lightning Lass and Dragonmage. In truth, the small crowned bird was just relieved to have an excuse to escape the trappings of diplomacy which he found so tedious.

"This camp definitely wasn't here when we faced Mordru," Shadow Lass noticed, casting her gaze over a row of large canvas tents alive with activity. Above them loomed Skull Peak, a towering obelisk of obsidian stone which even in the full light of day was intimidating. It was atop this peak that the Legion of Superheroes had fought alongside Prince Gerold to vanquish Mordru, burying the sorceror beneath his own castle.

"You will recall that I mentioned earlier my father's wish to bring progress to Avalon," Prince Gerold explained. "One of the king's initiatives is reclaiming this land which for so long superstition and fear have rendered untouchable. We have been fortunate enough to engage the services of a pair of occult experts whom we have contracted to oversee the dismantling of Mordru's legacy upon my world. Each day they assign a team of hand-picked workers to comb through the wreckage of Mordru's castle, catalogue any mystical objects which survived the castle's destruction, and cleanse the land so that one day it can be used for the good people of Avalon once more."

"Your Highness, that sounds fascinating!" Dragonmage ventured. "Would you mind if we--" Xao's eyes grew wide and a rare moment of impropriety overcame the teen as he recognised a pink-skinned youth who'd just exited one of the tents a ways behind the prince. "--Harlack??"

The Khund sorceror started at the sound of his name, and grinned as he recognised Dragonmage and the other Legionnaires in turn. "Xao Jin! Shades, what are the Legion of Superheroes doing on Avalon?" He came over and pulled Dragonmage into a quick embrace with one arm, slapping his back with his free hand so hard that Xao grimaced.

"You already know one another then!" the prince clapped his hands together. "Marvellous!"

A small group of onlookers had gathered at this new spectacle, and Lightning Lass had just realised there was someone else here even more familiar to the Legion than the young Khund. "Wait a nano..." Ayla almost ran in her excitement to hug a slight red-haired woman wearing a simple peasant dress. "Mysa Nal, that is you! I know you gave up being the Black Witch, but nobody's seen you since then! Girl, you look amazing! Are you living on Avalon now? Wait, you two are the occult experts? Of course they are Ayla, don't be stupid! How are you?"

"Let us allow poor Mysa a chance to answer," Blok laughed, his gravelly tones somehow equally gentle. "It is good to see you again, my friend."

"This is...spirits, this is a little overwhelming!" Mysa blushed. "It is wonderful to see you again, I..." She finally noticed Dream Girl standing back from the others conspicuously quietly and faltered; suddenly, there was an odd tension in the air and most of the people gathered here had no idea why but they could all tell it was centred on Mysa Nal and Dream Girl.

"Hello Mysa," Nura said simply.

"Dream Girl," Blok asked diplomatically, "Your vision warned you that we would be needed at Skull Peak...is there a particular urgency to our mission?"

"Hmm?" Nura flicked her hair to one side as she gave it some thought. "No...no, not that I'm aware of. Why--"

"Would you like to take this opportunity to share some time with your sister?" He offered. "You must have so much catching up to do, and I for one share Dragonmage's interest in this enterprise. I wonder if Prince Gerold and Harlack might be so kind as to give the rest of us a brief tour of the camp?"

"Mysa!" the prince admonished her lightly. "You never told me your sister was such a celebrated hero! Of course, nothing is more important than family...friend Harlack, I hope you have some of that devilish Khund mead on hand! Let us show our Legion friends some true hospitality while the lady Mysa reacquaints herself with her beloved sibling!"

As the rest of the heroes followed Prince Gerold and his bodyguards, Diamond Damsel wrapped one of her own arms around Blok's much larger one and tilted her head up toward him. "That wisdom of Solomon does come in handy..." she winked at him.

Blok cast a quick glance back at Mysa and Nura, then gave Diamond Damsel a modest smile.

**********

"So..." Dream Girl asked once she and Mysa were alone, "How have you been, sister of mine? Ayla's right, you know; whatever you're doing with your life now it's obviously working! You look great!"

"Nura, I'm sorry." Mysa grabbed both her sister's hands and gave her an imploring look. "The way we left things off the last time we spoke...I was awful to you, truly awful."

"Mysa." Nura gripped her hands firmly. "It's okay. I'm not going to lie, it hurt a lot. But I know that it was Mordru's influence and I'm glad you found a way to rid yourself of that."

"That's just it though." Mysa drew her hands back, fidgeting nervously. "Mordru influenced me to act on my darker impulses, but those impulses...those insecurities...they're a part of me. They always have been. I've done a lot of soul-searching since I gave up my magic, and I've realised that there's a lot of unresolved trauma in my relationship with you. I'm not mad at you, I don't blame you, but there's a distance between us that we just don't discuss and it's not good for me and I don't think it's good for you either."

"What do you mean by that, Mysa?" Nura was forcing herself to remain calm, but her posture unconsciously became more rigid and she placed her hands on her hips. "You're my sister and I love you. I've always loved you."

"I've just..." Unable to meet Nura's gaze, Mysa looked up into the almost cloudless blue sky. "...I feel like every advantage I've gained in life has been in spite of you, or at the very least accompanied by your complete disinterest. And I understand that's not entirely fair. You've always been more extroverted than me, had more people in your life than your futureblind sister to care about. You're a brilliant Legionnaire, and you're going to be the High Seer of Naltor one day. You've always done great things and you'll always do great things, Nura. I understand that you have your own accomplishments to celebrate, but I suppose...I suppose it would be nice if I didn't feel like I had to celebrate all of mine without you ever by my side."

"Oh, Mysa!" Nura impulsively hugged her sister, a gesture that took Mysa by surprise. "I need to tell you something and I want you to listen very closely, okay?" Placing her hands on Mysa's shoulders, Nura took a step back and looked her in the eye. "Before you left Naltor on your path to learn sorcery, I had a vision about you...it was a very clear vision, which in those days was a rarity for me. I saw the powerful mage and the strong woman you were destined to become and I wanted desperately to tell you because I knew how much it bothered you that you never developed precognition, and I wanted you to know that it would all work out for you in the end.

Mother held me back and I resented her for it at the time; you're my little sister, Mysa! Do you really think I was happy for you to leave our homeworld at 12 to study sorcery somewhere I wouldn't see you again for years? I knew that you'd feel like I didn't care and I...well, honestly I was so angry with Mother for a while for causing this wedge between you and I, and it took me years to understand this, but the truth is if I'd told you what I had seen in your future then somewhere inside yourself you'd always feel like those weren't your accomplishments...you would have felt like you were just fulfilling another one of my dreams. Mother didn't want that for you, and I don't want that for you. I am so so proud of everything you've done for yourself, and I suppose in giving you the space to become the amazing woman you are I did create a distance between us. And I should have recognised once that was no longer necessary and I should have been a better sister for you and maybe you could have avoided the harsher things you've had to endure if I'd been more openly supportive. I am truly deeply sorry for whatever hurt I've caused you, but please don't think for even a nanosecond that I'm not filled with pride and love for you. Okay?" By the time Nura was finished, her cheeks were wet with tears.

"I didn't...I had no idea." Mysa choked the words out, close to tears herself. She hugged Nura tight. "I love you, big sister!"

"And I love you," Nura sniffled. "And I'll be a much better big sister from here on out, I promise!"

The two young women held each other close for a minute or two, then Mysa took a step back and wiped at her wet eyes. "But wait...if you didn't expect to find me here...why are you on Avalon?"

"Give me a few minutes to freshen up and then we'll go find the others," Nura laughed at how emotional they'd become. "Then hopefully we can figure it out together."

**********

Gathered together in a well-guarded tent full of all kinds of magical curios from different worlds, Dream Girl finished describing the precognitive vision which had brought her here to her sister, Harlack, Prince Gerold and his men along with the other Legionnaires who'd already heard this on the way. "I'm afraid it's not an awful lot to go on," Nura admitted. "As much as I've developed my power over the years, I am still annoyingly subject to vaguer dreams occasionally as well. All I really know is that somebody is going to cause a great deal of destruction here today and he has a similar lightning bolt insignia on his chest as Blok, but he wears a mostly black costume. Mysa, Harlack, you two have been poking through the ruins of Mordru's old castle...have you seen anything like that?"

Mysa and Harlack exchanged glances. "I'm afraid not," the former White Witch shrugged. "I'm sorry, Nura; I really wish we could be of more help."

Diamond Damsel suddenly snapped her fingers together, a sharp cracking sound that made a few present jump. All eyes upon her, she crouched down and used her finger as a makeshift drawing implement to gouge into the ground a crude outline of a caped muscular man wearing a hooded cape with a massive lightning bolt taking up half his torso. "It's been driving me crazy all the way here," she muttered as she scratched through the dirt. "But I finally remembered his name! Dream Girl, artistic merits aside...does this look like the guy you dreamed about?"

"Yes!" Nura enthused. "Do you recognise him?"

"I mean, I doubt very much it's actually him," Diamond Damsel stood up once more, "But you've just described Black Adam. In the...21st..? Yes, the 21st century...he was a villain or I guess a kind of hero or anti-hero depending on who you asked. Or when. He joined the Justice Society and the Justice League pretty much as often as he fought them, he was kind of like Captain Marvel's counterpart."

"...Captain Marvel?" King Canary queried.

"The first mortal to be empowered by the wizard Shazam," Blok replied. "He originally possessed the power which courses through me now."

"What happened to this Black Adam?" Shadow Lass questioned. "Is it possible that he could have somehow survived to the present day?"

"Let's face it," Lightning Lass piped up, "Stranger things have happened."

"I'm sure he's dead," Diamond Damsel answered. "I mean it was a thousand years ago, I honestly don't remember...but he was in the news all the time back then, I can't imagine he'd be the kind of guy to just lay low for a millenium before he decided to start causing trouble again."

"Black Adam," Harlack's thick eyebrows knit. "He is...or was...as powerful as Blok is now? Blok is the most powerful among the Legion of Superheroes now, is he not?"

"Power is not measured solely in capacity to deal damage," Blok addressed his concern. "However, I do share your worry that he may possess comparable physical traits to myself. Diamond Damsel, do you know of any particular vulnerabilities Black Adam may possess? Even if Black Adam himself is dead, we may be forced to deal with someone who possesses his power just as I possess a portion of Shazam's."

"Not off the top of my head," Diamond Damsel admitted. "Like I said, it was a long time ago...if he wasn't so high profile amongst the hero community back then I probably wouldn't even have remembered him at all to be honest. Back in my...well, in my bad days...I remember the Lord of Time having to take him into consideration when he made plans because Black Adam had all of Kahndaq at his disposal."

"I'm sorry," Mysa interrupted, an edge of anxiety in her voice. "Did you say...Kahndaq?"

"Yeah, it was a country in the Middle East...a region on Earth," the diamond heroine clarified for those in the room not familiar with Earth's history. "Black Adam ruled it for decades, he--"

Mysa and Harlack exchanged a wide-eyed glare, then bolted out of the tent together. "Follow us!" Mysa shouted. "We might not be too late!"

"Where are we going?" Lightning Lass asked. Before either Mysa or Harlack could say anything, a tremendously loud crack of thunder startled all of them.

Shadow Lass shaded her eyes with her hand as she squinted at the sky, careful to avoid staring at any of Avalon's three suns. "Where did that thunder come from? There's barely a cloud in the sky!"

"Indeed," Blok agreed. "This does not bode well--"

A calamitous crashing interrupted Blok, followed immediately by panicked screams. Dream Girl turned to address Prince Gerold. "Your Highness, it's too dangerous for you to come any further. Mysa, Harlack, could you two please help Prince Gerold evacuate the camp while we deal with this?"

"With all due respect," Prince Gerold drew his sword from its scabbard, "If this Black Adam is menacing my people, I will not stand idly by and allow others to fight my battles for me, Legionnaires."

Nura began to counter his argument when King Canary flitted between them. "We'll just waste time debating him," the small bird said bluntly, "I'd feel the same if it wuz my world, Dream Girl."

Dream Girl frowned. She didn't like it, but she knew K'rk was right. "Very well," she submitted. "Just try not to get yourself killed then." Using her flight ring, Dream Girl took to the sky to join the other Legionnaires who were already en route to the sounds of chaos.

"I do not like this," Harlack spoke to Mysa as he watched the others leave. "Prince Gerold is a good man, but he is also an ordinary man. With my sorcery--"

"With your sorcery you're more suited for battle than the prince," Mysa placed a hand on Harlack's shoulder, "But there are other ways we can help...and our first priority must be ensuring that the innocent men and women here remain unharmed."

Harlack considered her words then gave her a tense nod. "You are correct, of course...let us work fast then, and may the Demon Mother turn her withering glare away from us this day."

**********

Blok and Diamond Damsel were first upon the scene and first to see the man Dream Girl had described tearing a long oak table in two. He wore golden boots and a sash of metallic golden ribbon tied around his waist, with bracers and a lightning bolt emblem across his chest to match. The rest of his bodysuit was a simple black, as was the tattered cloak which hung from his broad shoulders. A golden braided cord hung loose at his neck to hold the cloak in place, and the cloak itself was trimmed in gold as well. He had olive skin and short black hair slicked back tight against his skull, and at 6'3" he was an intimidating mass of muscle. At his feet, a young woman with delicate see-through wings and pointed ears quivered too frightened to move or even respond to her friends who were screaming at her from beyond an upturned table at the other side of what had once been a mess area.

"Black Adam!" Blok called out before the powerhouse could cause any more damage. All around him were splintered shards of wood that had minutes ago been tables and bench seats.

The dark-haired man flashed Blok an evil grin. "Not quite, Legionnaire...you can call me Black Osiris in your last remaining moments of life." He effortlessly hurled one half of the twenty foot table he'd been destroying at Blok directly and the makeshift missile exploded into so much kindling as it smashed into Blok's much more durable chest.

"You could be the Black Canary for all I care!" Diamond Damsel rocketed straight at Black Osiris, her hands clenched into fists. "You've bitten off more than you can chew with us two, and we have more friends on the way!"

Moving at lightning speed, Black Osiris casually slapped Diamond Damsel out of the sky using the other half of the table as a bat. The table was beyond ruined, but Iris took out two more tents as she was knocked back. "Woman, I finally have the power to destroy your entire Legion of Superheroes if I must...and once that is done, I-- eh?" Without warning, the villain was engulfed in pure darkness. He heard the winged woman at his feet yelp in surprise and Black Osiris instantly realised that Shadow Lass must be behind this. Without a word, he zoomed straight up into the sky until he'd cleared the dome of darkness and was once more beneath Avalon's three suns. Black Osiris could see Shadow Lass and Dream Girl retreating with the people he'd been menacing and was pondering which of the women he should murder first when his powerful frame was bathed in millions of volts of electricity. Almost completely unfazed, he pivoted slowly to see Lightning Lass hovering a few metres away. Dragonmage floated alongside her, and both heroes were visibly awed at the complete lack of effect Ayla's power had on the villain. Dragonmage had already begun weaving a defensive spell but Black Osiris was too fast; he was upon them almost before the two even realised it, and he drew his fist back to wallop Ayla while she was still summoning her own power to bear.

"Nope!" Diamond Damsel's voice was in the villain's ear, and she yanked him backwards by the cord around his neck before clenching her fists together and delivering a piledriver that sent Black Osiris into the kitchen area below. Covered in food scraps with the debris of the kitchen all around him, Black Osiris growled defiantly. He had just started to stir when he saw a massive grey fist streaked through with gold coming at his face. Black Osiris rolled to one side just in time to avoid Blok's punch, and the stone hero instead pounded an eight inch crater into the ground at their feet.

"You two okay?" Diamond Damsel spared a glance for Lightning Lass and Dragonmage as all three of them watched Blok and Black Osiris square up.

"Just a little shaken," Dragonmage admitted. "He's incredibly fast!"

"And tough too," Lightning Lass winced as Black Osiris landed a series of punches on Blok, causing the hero to take half a step back. "It's like fighting a sprocking Daxamite!"

"Then let's not let up," Diamond Damsel responded. Without another word, she cannonballed downwards to slam Black Osiris into the dirt. Lightning Lass pushed herself to her maximum power output, almost seeming to actually turn into a humanoid lightning bolt herself, and she blasted Black Osiris with both hands outstretched. This time she did actually get through his defences, though only barely.

Black Osiris tensed briefly under the electrical onslaught, but he clearly wasn't all that hurt. Teeth gnashed together, he turned on Diamond Damsel once more. "You, woman...you I am tired of already." He delivered an uppercut that was so powerful Diamond Damsel was sent flying out of sight altogether.

"That..." Blok intoned darkly, "...was a dire mistake." He punched Black Osiris in turn and knocked the villain back through what was left of the base camp, bringing it down on top of him.

Dragonmage followed the trail of destruction, and saw movement beneath tons of wood, steel and canvas. Xao knew that if Blok, Diamond Damsel and Lightning Lass together couldn't pummel this villain into submission there was certainly no way he'd be able to. Blok had been right earlier though, sheer destruction wasn't the only measure of power. Mystical energies coiled and grew brighter around Xao Jin's slim arms and a blue dragonform soared forth from the young sorceror's dancing fingers. The frost dragon's serpentine form circled around its master once, then opened its jaws wide and buried Black Osiris within a thirty foot lump of ice. "That won't hold him for long," Xao announced, "But it'll give us some time to plan our next--"

They'd only just heard the ice begin to crack before it exploded outwards in all directions. A flying chunk the size of a moopsball glanced across Dragonmage's skull and he uttered a shocked cry as he passed out. His dragonform dissipated and his flight ring prevented him from falling, but Black Osiris now was rushing straight at the unconscious mage and only Blok was fast enough to even try to intervene. As Blok pushed himself through the air however, he had the horrifying realisation that Black Osiris was going to get there first.

A series of almost inaudibly high-pitched chirps sounded, and Black Osiris suddenly veered off with an outcry of surprise. Instead of pulverising Dragonmage, he wobbled unsteadily through the air to smash into Skull Peak itself. "Woulda messed with his inner ear a lot sooner," King Canary exclaimed as he flew circles around Dragonmage, "But that wuz the first opening I got!"

Shadow Lass had returned at this stage, and she linked her flight ring with Dragonmage's so she could remove him to a safe distance. "You're sounding noticeably less regal, Your Highness," she teased King Canary gently as she examined Xao to see just how badly he'd been hurt.

"Hey, just cuz I can sound like a pompous peacock, don't mean I enjoy it!" King Canary shot back. "Somethin' tells me that ain't gonna keep him down for long but I think I can keep this nasshead off-balance -- oh no..." Turning sharply away from Shadow Lass, he stared in horror at Skull Peak towering over them all. "Blok!! He's gonna bring that whole sprockin' mountain down!!"

Blok knew that King Canary's hypersensitive hearing must have picked up the sound of Black Osiris destroying the mountain's integrity, and a second later they all heard the ominous rumbling as the mountain began to come loose from the crust of the planet. Blok had to think quickly; he was reasonably certain he could fly most of the others out of the path of destruction, but he wouldn't be able to save them all and he certainly wouldn't be able to protect the rest of the base camp when thousands of tons of crumbling rock fell down upon them. He had no doubt he could carry the entire peak elsewhere and dump it as long as it was in one piece, but that would mean leaving his friends to deal with Black Osiris themselves.

The shadow of Skull Peak fell upon them as the mountain tumbled, and Blok made his decision.

**********

"I'm glad you saw reason, Your Highness." Dream Girl and Prince Gerold led his men to where Mysa and Harlack had gathered the rest of the base camp's inhabitants several hundred metres away.

"I am a proud man but I hope not a foolish one," the prince replied. "When I saw the violence that monster is capable of, I knew that I could not contribute anything to that fight other than to become another victim for your Legion of Superheroes to save. My people need my leadership right now far more than you brave champions need my sword."

"Your Highness, I'm so pleased to see you safe!" Mysa ran up to the two, leaving Harlack to pore over an omnicom while the frightened citizens of Avalon talked amongst themselves and gazed uncertainly toward the conflict happening further up the trail than they could see. "Nura, I need to tell you something! That's not Black Adam, he calls himself--"

"--Black Osiris," Dream Girl finished the sentence. "We know, and he's not exactly threatened by us. But how did you know that?"

"One of the researchers we commissioned to catalogue Mordru's possessions is a Terran man named Khem Fawecki," Mysa explained breathlessly. "He's of Kahndaqi heritage, as soon as Diamond Damsel mentioned that country we knew he had to be behind this somehow!"

"Mysa!" Dream Girl was aghast. "Surely you don't suspect him just because he comes from the same country as this maniac! A country that doesn't even exist anymore??"

"No no, you don't understand!" Mysa stopped her sister. "Ever since he arrived on Avalon, he's been saying how whatever he finds in Mordru's castle will restore Kahndaq's rightful power...until today we all just thought he was maybe a little overly passionate about his cultural heritage but in retrospect it's obvious that he knew Mordru must have acquired something that would literally give him the power of one of Kahndaq's greatest heroes and hid that from the rest of us! We looked into it, and that costume you saw in your vision..? It's no surprise that was the thing that most stood out to you because it's the costume that once belonged to Black Adam's heir, a man named Osiris!"

"...and he has the same powers as Black Adam because he's Black Adam's son?" Nura ventured.

"He has the same powers as Black Adam because Black Adam gifted them to him," Mysa corrected her. "When they were both alive, they shared the power but after Adam died, it all went to Osiris. All he had to do was say the words Black Adam, and he would become a superhuman version of himself; Black Osiris."

Harlack joined them, presenting the omnicom to Dream Girl. "From what we have gathered from Fawecki's journals and historical documents, we think that donning the costume of Black Osiris and saying the magic words transformed Fawecki into Black Osiris himself...just as marking Blok with the insignia of Shazam and speaking that magic word empowered Blok. If we could get him to simply say Black Adam once more, it should transform him back into his unpowered self. But he has the wisdom of Zehuti as Blok possesses some of the wisdom of Solomon. It will not be a simple task to trick him into repeating those words against his will."

Dream Girl thought on it a second before a sly gleam came to her eye. "You know...maybe we won't need to trick him at all."

...And then they all saw Skull Peak topple.

**********

The first thing Dragonmage saw as he stirred into consciousness was Shadow Lass and Lightning Lass gaping wide-eyed at something. King Canary hovered by their side, and somehow even his avian features seemed to be wearing an expression of utter astonishment. Groggy, Xao Jin followed their blank stares and saw something which snapped him back to full alertness immediately. Above them all, a mountain peak hundreds of metres tall was blocking out two of Avalon's suns as it hovered in the blue sky unmoored from the ground entirely. Xao was certain that he must be suffering from a concussion until he saw Blok's figure holding it aloft, paradoxically tiny compared to the bulk of the mountain.

"He...he's holding up a whole sprocking mountain..!" Ayla murmured.

"That he is." Shadow Lass hadn't yet realised Dragonmage had awoken, and she set him down gently upon the ground. Tasmia had seen many feats of strength equal to this from her own lover though, and she recovered from the shock of the hovering mountain sooner than the others. "But he won't be for long if we don't make a move...look!" She pointed at a quickly approaching dot in the distance; having sheared Skull Peak loose, it seemed Black Osiris was not going to simply allow Blok to hold it safely aloft.

"Come on, Shadow Lass!" King Canary commanded gruffly. "We can't hurt this creep but you an' me can keep him distracted for a bit!"

As the two of them flew off, Lightning Lass called Blok through her flight ring. "Blok, you have to get rid of that thing...launch it into one of those suns or something, you're the only one of us here who can fight that guy!"

"Lightning Lass, this is much more difficult than it seems," Blok explained patiently. "The weight is not a problem, but the stability is...I am concerned that if I shift it even slightly incorrectly, the whole mass will fall apart. You must flee, take as many of the others to safety as you can!"

"Grife!" Ayla swore under her breath. "Bad day not to be Light Lass anymore, Ayla..."

"I'm not Light Lass or Light Lad for that matter," Dragonmage groaned, "But I think I can help..."

"Xao!" Lightning Lass turned to help the Asian sorceror to his feet. "I was worried about you, buddy! Are you in any position to be casting spells though?"

Xao tenderly poked at the gash on his head and looked with distaste at his blood-streaked glove. "Not at all...but I'm afraid I don't have much of a choice, do I? At any rate, I think I'll be of much more use helping Blok with an inanimate chunk of rock than facing Black Osiris again." He and Ayla both looked across to see the villain careening dizzily out of a darkness field and tearing up hundreds of feet of wilderness as he crash-landed. "I wonder..." Dragonmage continued, "Do you think you could...help me to Blok's side? I don't know that I trust myself to divide my will equally between my dragonforms and my flight ring just yet..."

"This is crazy," Ayla shook her head. "You know this is crazy, don't you? You're right though, I don't think we've got a lot of choice." She wrapped one arm around the slight teenager's waist and linked their flight rings together, then with more than a little anxiety flew up directly beneath countless tons of rock which threatened to crush them all at any moment.

Blok opened his mouth to warn them away, but saw Dragonmage's expression of intense concentration and understood that Xao was building up to a spell. He remained quiet and watched the sorceror weave. It occurred to Blok that Xao Jin did not value himself as highly as he should; he was clearly wounded, but the young mage's hand gestures remained mesmerising in their fluidity and purpose. Wisps of ethereal energy swirled around Dragonmage's arms again, this time in different shades of brown and grey. These formed into a legion of tiny palm-sized dragons with long slivering bodies which snaked out behind them. They swam through the air until they reached the monumental landmass suspended above Blok's head and then as if they were ghosts they disappeared into that mountain. Seconds later, they emerged; coiling around the rock and dirt, they formed an asymmetrical net of mystical energy. From his position Blok couldn't see any of it, but Ayla had been watching the whole aerial dance with mild awe. She tore away from the earth dragons to see sweat pouring down Dragonmage's face. "Xao..?" she asked hesitantly. His eyes firmly closed the whole time, Dragonmage nodded at the sound of his name and flicked a hand upwards.

Taking the hint, Lightning Lass called Blok again. "All yours, big guy! I'm not sure how long Xao's gonna be able to hold it together so -- oh." The mountain vanished in a blur, leaving a rain of dirt and loose plant matter behind it. "I don't know if I'm ever gonna get used to Blok being that fast, you know? Hey...hey, Dragonmage, stay with me buddy!" The young sorceror grew limp in her arms so Ayla channelled just enough electricity through him to jolt him back to consciousness again. He was going to need actual medical attention though, more than anything this planet would be able to provided.

Then again, Ayla pondered as she heard the sounds of battle over what had once been Skull Peak, maybe they'd all need medical attention by the time today was through...

**********

Diamond Damsel had since rejoined the fight, giving Shadow Lass and King Canary a chance to rest. They all knew Iris was outpowered, but until Blok came back she was the best they had. With King Canary hovering by her side, Shadow Lass raised her flight ring to her lips. "Surely there's something else we can do here, Dream Girl!" Tasmia Mallor shouted over the din of knuckles pounding against diamond. "I don't know how much more punishment Diamond Damsel can take!"

"We do have a plan actually!" Dream Girl answered immediately. "We need King Canary to bring us some of Black Osiris's blood for a spell!"

Shadow Lass stared at the small bird in disbelief. "Oh, is that all? You just need us to make the indestructible man bleed? Well, so long as you're not asking us to do anything difficult!"

"Feel free to come up with an alternative, Shadow Lass!" Nura snapped back. "Otherwise get us what I asked for, we only need a few drops for goodness' sake!"

"Does she know she ain't the leader?" King Canary asked sarcastically once Dream Girl cut the comms.

"I very much doubt it," Shadow Lass rolled her eyes. "But maddeningly, she is actually very good at it. I suppose we'd best try and find a way to let Diamond Damsel in on this without letting him find out. Maybe if we can get her to put her telepathic earplugs in..."

"Don't worry about it none," King Canary spread his wings and flitted off. "This one's on me!" Shadow Lass couldn't help but be impressed by the little bird's fearlessness as he darted right down into the thick of things.

Diamond Damsel saw King Canary approaching and realised he was coming in way too close for comfort. She began to warn him off when Black Osiris delivered a blow that almost took her head off. Reeling in the rubble, Iris shook her head violently. It was almost impossible for her to feel pain in this form, but that had hurt. Before she could get back up on her feet, she saw the tiny bird hovering inches from Black Osiris's ear - the villain spared him a quick side glance, but before he could react any further a shrill sharp cry rang out across the countryside. Black Osiris roared in pain as he clapped his hands over his ears, and King Canary quickly landed on Diamond Damsel's shoulder. "Good lord," Iris complained, "That was so loud!"

"That was the idea," the gruff little bird retorted. "I needed his ears ringin' long enough to tell ya we need some of his blood, DD!"

"What??" she recoiled. "Why on Earth -- actually, you know what? I don't even care." Black Osiris had already sprung forth, his hand open to crush King Canary. He was angry enough that he'd started to become sloppy, and Diamond Damsel knew that couldn't last so she had to take advantage while she could. Intertwining her own fingers with his, she slashed out with her free hand across his face. Even at full strength, Diamond Damsel barely broke the surface of his skin but when her tattered glove drew back it was smeared slightly with blood.

Black Osiris forgot about King Canary immediately; with a bellow of pure fury, he swung Diamond Damsel around by the arm and slammed her into the ground so hard that the shockwave itself sent the bird careening head over tail for several meters. He righted himself soon enough though, and saw that Diamond Damsel had removed the glove she'd used to scratch Black Osiris. While the villain delivered blow after powerful blow upon the resilient woman, King Canary gripped the glove with the talons of both feet and soared as fast as he could.

Soon enough, King Canary delivered the damaged glove to Dream Girl, Mysa and Harlack. "I hope this is all ya need cuz I don't like our chances of gettin' anymore outta that bastich."

Harlack took the glove and examined it closely. "It's not ideal..." he admitted with a hint of disappointment, "...but I suppose it's what we have to work with so we will just have to make it work."

"What is this big plan anyway?" King Canary asked. "Why'd ya need his blood?"

"We'll explain everything," Dream Girl replied, "But first of all...how good are you at impressions, Prince K'rk?"

**********

Diamond Damsel had fought back as well as she could, but against Black Osiris's overwhelming combination of strength, speed and stamina the outcome was never in doubt. They'd ruined the landscape for hundreds of feet around themselves in their titanic battle and Lightning Lass, Shadow Lass and Dragonmage could do nothing but watch in ever-mounting concern for their teammate. "If Blok doesn't come back soon," Ayla looked up fearfully for any sign of him, "We might need to intervene just to make sure he doesn't kill her, Shady."

Shadow Lass knew what Lightning Lass was really saying beneath her words; they might need to sacrifice themselves to buy Diamond Damsel some time. Dragonmage was useless in his current condition and neither she nor Ayla had any hope of being more than a momentary distraction to the villain. "Yes," she uttered a resigned sigh. "We may just need to do that, I think."

A sonic boom caught their attention, and like a gold-streaked missile Blok came screaming down from above. He slammed into Black Osiris with earth-shattering force, and the two men fought while Diamond Damsel dragged herself away to recover her strength.

"...Blok can beat him, right?" Ayla asked. "I mean he has to."

"I'm honestly not sure," Shadow Lass replied with an odd detachment. She was watching this combat now not as a teammate or friend, but as a warrior. "I do think Blok may be stronger than him, but Black Osiris is faster and they're too similar in every other aspect. I'm going to call Tinya, if we can get Mon and Jo here soon enough they can help him turn the tide." She'd begun to open a channel through her flight ring when Tasmia noticed a tiny golden figure approaching the battling powerhouses. "That little bird might just be too brave for his own good!" Tasmia shook her head. "He's going to get himself killed!"

While the two women prepared to move in, King Canary circled the men fighting and projected his voice at Blok from what he hoped was a safe distance. "Hey, big guy! I'm about to wrap this up, but I'm gonna need you ta shield me quick-like or you're gonna have a roast canary on yer hands!"

Black Osiris dodged a punch from Blok and addressed King Canary while he slammed his fist into Blok's face. "Little creature, you are unquestionably the most annoying of all of your teammates and once I'm finished with this oaf I am going to take great pleasure in jamming that crown of yours somewhere very unpleasant!"

Blok connected with the villain's jaw, and Black Osiris staggered back a few steps. Seeing his opportunity to act, King Canary swooped down and landed on his foe's shoulder. "Blow it out yer other end, ya big primate!" he taunted him. "Oh, and by the way...Black Adam." King Canary's voice changed timbre and tone as he spoke, until he sounded exactly like Black Osiris himself. A thunderbolt tore the sky in two as lightning flashed down from above, momentarily blinding the observers.

When the smoke cleared, Blok was standing with both hands cupped protectively around King Canary. He gently released the small bird, and they both saw a skinny middle aged man standing where Black Osiris had been a second ago. He still wore the same costume, but it dwarfed him now. "No...no!" he shouted. "How did you -- it doesn't matter, Black--"

"That's quite enough out of you." A diamond finger lightly flicked the back of Khem Fawecki's skull and the man crumpled. Diamond Damsel herself swooned momentarily, and Blok was immediately there to offer his support.

"That was an inspired idea," Blok congratulated King Canary. "Mimicking his voice to summon the transformation, wonderful work!"

"You can thank Dream Girl and that Khund kid," King Canary replied. "He said the voice alone wouldn't be enough so he did some Khund voodoo ta make us more similar or somethin' like that....I don't really get all that hokum pokum stuff, I just know I need ta wash this creep's blood off me ASAP!" The others saw now that his wings and torso had indeed been dabbed lightly with smudges of blood.

"If I was ever going to wish to be human again, it'd be now," Diamond Damsel joined wearily. "Because a scalding hot shower sounds like absolute heaven, to be honest."

"I cannot offer you a shower," Blok said, "Nonetheless...let us help Prince Gerold with cleaning up here and then go home, Legionnaires."

With Blok's right arm supporting Diamond Damsel, King Canary landed on Blok's left shoulder. "Good plan, big guy...good plan!"

**********

LATER
Khem Fawecki brooded as he waited in an Avalon dungeon for the Science Police to arrive. He couldn't believe he'd blown it like this...after the months of research it had taken to discover the costume of Black Osiris was here on this backwards planet, after the painstaking effort he'd gone to in order to locate the costume in the rubble of Mordru's castle and to smuggle it back to camp with nobody any the wiser...just to be defeated by a bird.

More than that, it rankled that they hadn't even needed to take special precautions to keep him imprisoned here. Without the costume itself, the magic words were useless. His dreams of restoring Kahndaq to its rightful glory were as dead as Kahndaq itself. He cursed in his native language and rattled the chains King Leon's jailers had locked him within.

A low rumble filled the clean cell, knocking over the mug of water he'd been given with his dinner earlier. "Great," Fawecki groaned, head in his hands. "Now I get to die in an earthquake. Perfect end to your grand mission, fool."

The rumble grew in intensity, and Khem saw the bluestone floor shift and crack...it was only in one particular place though, this wasn't like any earthquake he'd heard of. In fact, he realised with mounting suspicion, it almost looked as though something were coming out of the ground!

The floor broke away fully, revealing a hole some seven feet in diameter. By this time the ruckus had raised the attention of King Leon's guards, and one of them was rattling keys at the door. Before the guard could enter however, two young women emerged from the hole in the ground; one was of Asian appearance, dressed in a skintight outfit of various shades of blue. The other was a dark-skinned teenager, her black hair styled in dreadlocks and in a cloaked outfit of tan and brown.

"What is going on in here?" The guard had opened the door, his hand hovering over his sheathed sword. "Intruders in the dungeon!" he shouted down the hall.

"We're not here for you," the older of the two girls addressed the guard before turning to her ally. "Don't hurt him, Nightstone."

"There's no need to," the girl named Nightstone answered simply. "Not when I can just do this." She gestured and a wall of solid rock cut the guards off from the rest of the cell.

"Who...who are you two?" the prisoner asked uneasily. "You don't look like any Legionnaires I recognise!"

"We're not the Legion of Superheroes," the Asian woman explained as she opened a bag slung over her shoulder. "My name is Otaki and this is Nightstone...we are going to face the Legion of Superheroes soon enough though, so you're going to need this." She removed folded up black clothing from the bag and handed it over to Khem. The golden lightning bolt emblazoned across the fabric left him with no hesitation as to what this meant.

...He had no idea who these girls were, but they'd just handed him back his destiny.

TO BE CONTINUED!

Hi Raz! This was a lot of fun! What I thought was going to be a bunch of really nice character moments turned into a crazy roller coaster of a battle with a Black Adam tie in, to boot! And even though this is Osiris, I'm still seeing him as The Rock in my head.

The early moment with Tel was kind of a gut punch. Relationships are never easy, but I like seeing that the Legionnaires are emotionally human and complex and do stupid things that hurt themselves and each other emotionally.

On the flip side, it was nice to see Nura and Mysa have a nice talk given where both of them are in your story. That was a nice touch.

Then the real fun starts!

Great battle - everyone chipping in in their own way. It's neat to see Blok with the Shazam powers, and its really fortunate that he had them here! And clever resolution to transform Fawecki back to normal. I'm very curious as to where Nightstone is taking him.

REALLY nice job here.

Wow Raz, another amazing instalment!

Great character bits, where even the Legionnaires who couldn?t match Black Osiris contributed something. Great use of King Canary?s powers to overload Black Osiris

Uh oh, you?re really upping the ante with Otaki and crowd

I like how the Prince turned tail once her realised black Osiris was too powerful

And awesome work moving tbe relationship between Mysa and Nura forward - Jura?s heartfelt speech was great, as was het chastising Mysa re ?just because he?s from Kahndaq ?, though in the end Mysa had real evidence

Also good of Bobb standing up for himself, and hopefully Tel will learn not to stonewall but to talk? the tables have turned