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

Thanks y'all! I was a bit worried maybe I bit off more than I could chew with everything going on so I'm glad it worked out!

There were maybe one or two things I wanted to include that I couldn't really find room for, but I will be touching on those in the next couple of chapters anyway

Glorith and Reboot Zoe's stories are two things I have been sitting on since I started writing this series, it is good to finally get to get the wheels rolling with them!

Mysa Marvel is definitely gonna be sticking around too - and sorry IB, I should have clarified it in the text but Blok still has his Captain Marvel powers too! Captain Marvel powers for everyone!

This is gonna lead into some changes for the Legion and the Academy kids, so the next one or two instalments will be mostly setting up the new status quo for everyone but then after THAT...time for the Oversight Watch to stick their noses in where they're not wanted one more time!

This is definitely gonna be a big shake up, super excited to see what comes next raz! And yay more Oversight Watch, they’ve had some changes too… interested to see where you take Brittle, and will be very curious to see if Duplicate Boy II shows up too

XEROX
The Sorcerors' World, the ruins of Mordru's castle

ROLL CALL
Blok: magically enhanced strength, invulnerability, speed, flight, stamina, wisdom and courage
Mysa Marvel aka Mysa Nal: magically enhanced strength, invulnerability, speed, flight, stamina, wisdom and courage

With her gold-trimmed white hood drawn over her red hair, Mysa Nal sat atop a grassy knoll and looked out over the pile of rubble that only hours ago had been the lair of one of the Legion of Superheroes' greatest enemies. In the light of day it was just a sad reminder of pain and constant tragedy.

"I hope I am not intruding, Mysa?"

Blok's gravelly voice was instantly recognisable, and Mysa turned her chin up to give the gold-flecked stone giant a wistful smile. "Never, my friend."

Blok came over the small rise of the hill and sat further down the gentle slope so that he and Mysa could see relatively eye to eye. "Have you given any more thought to rejoining the Legion, Mysa? The whole team has been abuzz with stories of your performance against Mordru...you saved all of us."

"Not all," Mysa drew her cloak close around herself. "Poor Harlack and Otaki weren't as lucky as us, nor I hear was one of the Academy girls...and I didn't even realise until daybreak that Mordru had brought the Legion to the Sorceror's World and then sent Black Osiris off murdering anyone he could find here. The remaining Elders tell me that barely half of Xerox's population survived the night. Even at his worst, Mordru was never this bloodthirsty before; I fear that being absorbed within me and then the Rock of Eternity for so long destroyed any remnant of humanity within him."

"That is not your fault," Blok gently assured her.

"Oh, I know that," Mysa answered thoughtfully. "I did the best I could with the tools I had at the time. But the tools I have now...I think I can do a lot better. I feel...I feel like the best version of myself to be honest. Does that make sense?"

"Absolutely," Blok agreed. His golden eyes spotted something beyond Mysa, and Blok stood to face Diamond Damsel, Mon-El and Phantom Girl as they approached. Behind the trio, Dragonmage and the two versions of Zoe Saugin were chattering away to one another. Blok embraced Diamond Damsel as she came closer. "I have been concerned for you, Diamond Damsel. Have you come across any answers regarding your new form as yet?"

Diamond Damsel craned her neck to look up at Blok. Until yesterday, she'd only been a couple of inches shorter than him...now he towered over her as much as he did almost everyone else on the team. "This is going to take some getting used to," she laughed uncharacteristically lightly. "It's so weird, for so long I thought of my diamond form as being monstrous and I eventually made peace with it but making peace with it is all I could do...but now...now I kind of like it! I look like the old Iris Jacobs again, but just a better version of her!"

"There seems to be a lot of that going around today," Mysa recalled her earlier words as she too stood to face the others.

"I think it might be my fault, Diamond Damsel." Kinetix raised her hand bashfully. "I guess when I had to put you back together again, you were in a lot of pieces and a lot of those pieces are still stuck under Mordru's castle somewhere...so I suppose that weird terrorform power of mine just did the best job it could given the material it could find to work with?"

"Physically you're fine," Mon-El added. "I've used my x-ray vision and my microscopic vision and not only are there no obvious flaws, but the damage you've been carrying around from that Khund warrior Bloodclaw and Supergirl's stint as Satan Girl is fully healed as well, Diamond Damsel. And you're certainly more or less in the same ballpark as far as your strength and durability are concerned."

"Mon-El let me punch him a couple of times," Diamond Damsel admitted a little self-consciously. "But I really do feel fine, and Dragonmage has confirmed that creepy wizard didn't leave any black magic timebombs inside me."

"Some of the Elders helped me with my analysis," Xao added modestly.

"DD, I'm glad you're fighting fit," Phantom Girl joined the conversation. "Because we're going to be understaffed for a while...some of the Legion are taking time off to grieve and although Kinetix healed everyone's wounds, Mordru really did a psychological number on our friends this time around. I'm gonna need everyone who can contribute to give 100%."

"Phantom Girl?" Mysa asked. "If the Legion has a place for me, you've got me on board too. There are too many bad memories for me here, and I can't think of any better way to use my new power for good than with all of you."

"Mysa, that's amazing!" Phantom Girl gave her an affectionate hug. "Everyone will be so happy to have you back!" Tinya turned away from the newly christened Mysa Marvel to face Zoe Saugin's extradimensional counterpart. "...and Kinetix, what about you? After what you did for us, I hope you know there's absolutely a place for you in our Legion if you want it!"

"Thank you, Phantom Girl...I really do appreciate it." Kinetix grinned. "Like I said to your Zoe though, I don't know if any Legion is big enough for the two of us! Besides, being around most of you just makes me miss my own friends all the more. One of the Elders here thinks he might be able to help me track my Legion down, but who knows? Maybe our paths will cross again one day!"

"Bet on it!" Neon's wide smile matched that of Kinetix as she embraced her counterpart. "And stay safe, okay?"

"If everyone's ready to leave then let's go home," Phantom Girl announced. "I'm exhausted and I didn't even get here till everything was well and truly over, I can't imagine how all of you must feel. Everyone's having a few days off, leader's orders. Take some vacation time, do whatever you need to...I need to find somewhere for us to all use as a temporary base, organise some memorials, and then hopefully I might actually have some good news for everyone for a change!"

**********

MARS
Marsopolis, Science Police Global Headquarters

ROLL CALL
Blok: magically enhanced strength, invulnerability, speed, flight, stamina, wisdom and courage
Color Kid aka Ulu Vakk: color manipulation
Cosmic Boy aka Rokk Krinn: magnetism
Diamond Damsel aka Iris Jacobs: living diamond
Dragonmage aka Xao Jin: dragon magic
Element Lad aka Jan Arrah: elemental transmutation
Evolvo Lad aka Sev Tcheru: hyperevolution/devolution
Gas Girl aka Tal Nahii: can transform into any gas
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
Light Lad aka Darvan Locke: gravity negation
Mon-El aka Lar Gand: Daxamite physiology
Mwindaji: tracker infused with White Lantern energy
Mysa Marvel aka Mysa Nal: magically enhanced strength, invulnerability, speed, flight, stamina, wisdom and courage
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
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
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

It was in fact four standard days later by the time Phantom Girl was looking out over those Legionnaires who'd been able to make it here to a conference room in the uppermost levels of the Science Police's iconic megascraper in downtown Marsopolis.

Tinya had to remind herself that even with this diminished roster, the team was larger than it had been for most of its existence. Still, the subdued atmosphere in the room was a far cry from the usual lively mob she was confronted with when this many of her teammates were gathered in one room.

"I want to thank everyone for making it today, and also thank everyone else who is taking part in this meeting remotely. Today's gathering will of course be recorded for those of our teammates who haven't been able to be here with us in any capacity. Finally, I'd like to thank the Martian Science Police for kindly allowing us use of their facilities while we wait for our new base to finish construction, and Polamar Hotels for their hospitality toward we Legionnaires who don't have much in the way of alternative sleeping arrangements at the moment."

Tinya passed her eyes over the room full of heroes before her. "The past few days have brought us a lot of loss; our home, two of our students, even poor little Ivy Arcane...and of course let's not forget the Legion's friend Harlack, some of the population of Xerox and a young troubled girl named Bina Nawoti whose only real crime was wanting to be one of us. We will mourn our losses, but right now I think it's important that we focus on the positive. I'm so happy to be able to welcome our old friend Mysa back into the team...I suppose I should get used to calling you Mysa Marvel now, huh?"

There was no applause, but many of the Legionnaires smiled in Mysa's direction and those who were close enough offered a hand or a pat on the shoulder in congratulations.

Tinya continued. "There's more good news...honestly, after Mordru and Black Osiris I was wondering if I should delay this for a little while, but a very wise former Adult Advisor to the Legion of Superheroes convinced me otherwise." She smiled wryly as her well-rehearsed speech activated a holographic comms channel beside her. A handful of sentients were projected before them, and Tinya moved to introduce them all. "The Legion of Superheroes has expanded way way beyond the vision that RJ Brande had for Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl all those years ago but as the team gets larger so do our needs. And that's why I'm proud to present to you all something I've been building with Marla Latham for a little while now; the Legion of Superheroes Support Crew."

Tinya moved to the closest of the support crew; an unassuming skinny brown-haired boy in clothing that seemed one size too large for him. "This is M'Rissey," she began. "The Legion's new Business Manager. Managing our day to day operations is frankly a chore that nobody this side of Duplicate Damsel ever had time for, and even Luornu might be stumped with that these days. Having a Business Manager will free me up to actually lead the team more than I feel like I've been doing."

"How old is this kid?" Timber Wolf mocked. "Eleven?"

"Thirteen actually," M'Rissey replied with the unbothered ease of someone accustomed to having to justify his competence to those around him. "I was eleven when I graduated Michael Holt University with honours."

"Marla was right, you'll do just fine." Phantom Girl smiled at the young boy and kept going. "Our new Manager of Diplomacy should be familiar to just about all of you...just like her job title says, Marte Allon will be managing the many many diplomatic requests which come through to the Legion."

"I know you've created this position to save yourself some work," the middle-aged woman rejoined, "But to be truthful, I've been looking for something to sink my teeth into ever since I stepped down from Earth's Presidency so you're doing me a favour as much as yourself, dear."

"M'Rissey and Mrs Allon - sorry, Marte - that's also going to take some getting used to," Tinya corrected herself, "They'll primarily be working remotely, but once our new base has finished construction we'll be welcoming the rest of our crew on board full-time. Let me introduce our new Communications Officer, Trava Coruu."

The curvy dark-skinned woman who was next on Phantom Girl's list wore a revealing one-piece suit with deep cut cleavage and strategic holes cut out at her hips. A short blue cape hung down to her waist, clasped together at her collarbone with a large red gemstone. She was adorned with gold in the form of a loose belt, bracelets, a multi-banded choker necklace and a delicate headpiece which framed her attractive face in front of a thick afro of brown hair so dark it was almost black. "Nice to meet you all," Trava greeted the team with a slightly husky voice. "I figure I'll get to know you all better once I get started!"

"Trava will be in charge of the mission monitor room and also our comms in a more general sense," Phantom Girl explained. "We'll still have mandatory shifts ourselves because I think it's an important thing for Legionnaires to be across and also because Trava's going to need to sleep some time, but moving forward this is going to be her baby. And finally..."

Phantom Girl moved toward the last two crew members; a placid Durlan man who was fit though not as obviously athletic as Chameleon Boy, and a small hovering ship colored steel blue with white trim that had a white cross imprinted on its tail. The ship was the same size as their old teammate Quislet's, though shaped more like some kind of wingless dragonfly.

"Meet our medical support crew," Phantom Girl concluded her introduction. "We relied entirely too much on Brainy for our medical needs when he was an active member of the Legion and now that he's gone we rely entirely too much on Mwindaji, Dream Girl, Mon-El and Elastic Lad. Medicus One's facilities are galaxy-class, but we don't always have the luxury of taking ourselves to Medicus One. Jrey Lefen here is going to be the Legion of Superheroes' first official Team Counsellor. With the kind of stress we face it's frankly well past time we took this step to look after ourselves, and he comes highly recommended. Dr Skorski bears the distinction of being the first Teallian to become a fully accredited medical physician in the United Planets thanks to Quislet's efforts to integrate Teall with the United Planets. I have a feeling that Jrey and Dr Skorski are both going to be incredibly useful resources for us moving forward."

"I think it's great that we're getting a Counsellor!" Light Lad interjected. "Welcome to the Legion, Jrey!"

"Thank you," the Durlan man nodded respectfully. "I look forward to meeting you all face to face, Light Lad."

"As does Dr Skorski," a pleasantly melodic voice came forth from the Teallian microship, surprising everyone present who'd had even the most minor interaction with Quislet in the past. "Dr Skorski thanks you for this opportunity, Phantom Girl."

"The pleasure is mine," Tinya replied warmly. "Thanks for joining us today, all of you...I'll follow up with you all individually when we're done here but for now I'll let you get back to your lives." The support crew said their goodbyes and then blinked out of existence, and then Tinya spent the next 25 minutes going through much less interesting matters with her team. When she finished, Phantom Girl asked if anybody had anything they wanted to bring up and Star Boy took the opportunity to raise his hand.

"What's up, Thom?" Tinya was curious; Star Boy was one of the most dependable Legionnaires she'd ever met, but he rarely went out of his way to initiate any action.

"I submitted a report not long ago," Thom explained. "I don't know if anyone's read it yet, but when I was last on my homeworld the Uncanny Amazers and I met some weird alien guy who killed a couple of Dominators - we didn't have any luck subduing him but I think we should try and track him down. I know Dominators aren't anyone's favourite people but they still deserve justice."

"I agree," Phantom Girl replied instantly. "Assemble a team, you can leave as soon as you're ready. Everyone else...if I don't run into any of you beforehand, I'll see you on Shanghalla for Fire Lass's memorial service. Keep in touch and stay safe, everyone."

**********

DEEP SPACE
On board a Legion cruiser

ROLL CALL
Diamond Damsel aka Iris Jacobs: living diamond
Element Lad aka Jan Arrah: elemental transmutation
Evolvo Lad aka Sev Tcheru: hyperevolution/devolution
Invisible Kid II aka Jacques Foccart: invisibility
Kid Computo aka Danielle Foccart: cyberempathy
Mwindaji: tracker infused with White Lantern energy
Neon aka Zoe Saugin: infused with Green Lantern energy
Star Boy aka Thom Kallor: celestial mass-transference

"We should be in your home system in another 20 standard minutes, Star Boy." Kid Computo updated Thom Kallor without looking up from the omnicom that was resting on a console between she and her brother. "Sunny day ahead as far as nav and sensors can tell me...what about this one, Jacques?" She immediately turned back to the more interesting task of finding a present for their parents' upcoming wedding anniversary.

"Thanks, Kid C." Star Boy looked over the group of Legionnaires he'd brought with him. Leading wasn't Thom's favourite thing to do, but he was the one who'd called on the Legion to deal with a threat that among them only he'd faced, so it made sense for him to lead this expedition.

Thom wished that Dawnstar were available for this mission as he could really use her tracking power, but from what he picked up she'd taken some time away to help Wildfire through whatever Mordru had done to him back on Xerox. He had no problem with Mwindaji and he'd seen for himself how Neon had extended the range of his tracking in the past, but he still couldn't help but see them as the new kids on the block even though they'd both proven themselves many times over. "Maybe you're just getting old, Kallor," he mumbled to himself.

"Sorry, Thom?" Element Lad drew Star Boy's attention.

"Hmm..? Oh, nothing." Thom snapped himself out of his navel gazing. "It's just...I remember when Jacques was the rookie Legionnaire, and he's pretty much a senior member of the team now. Makes you feel old, huh?"

"Change was a pillar of life when I was a boy on Trom," Element Lad replied thoughtfully. "In that sense, I'm glad the Legion of Superheroes hasn't stagnated, that we've grown and adapted to new challenges...but yes. It does make me feel old sometimes."

"Uh, Star Boy?" Kid Computo spoke up a second before the ship's comms channel flashed to life. "We've just picked up an automated distress signal...it's not that far off-course, should we--?"

"Definitely," Thom replied. "Our mystery revenant can wait, people in trouble always take precedence. Get us there as fast as you can, Kid C - and once we're close enough, I want you to tell me anything else you can about what we're looking at."

"Star Boy?" Neon excused herself from where she'd been in conversation with Mwindaji on the other side of the bridge and approached their squad's leader. "I can get there quicker than the cruiser, do you want me to go scout ahead?"

Star Boy thought about Zoe's proposal. He didn't want to send her off to face who knows what on her own, but space was an unforgiving environment and every second counted when someone out there was asking for help. "Go," he decided. "But don't go on your own...take Element Lad, Evolvo Lad and Diamond Damsel with you; the rest of us will catch up."

Neon's ring scanned the location from the ship's computer then she phased herself, Sev, Iris and Jan through the hull of the cruiser and disappeared into the void. Thom hoped he'd made the right decision.

***********

It only took the former Green Lantern a handful of minutes to reach the source of the distress signal, an enormous walnut-shapped vessel which seemed more organic than manufactured.

"That kind of looks familiar," Diamond Damsel frowned, "But I can't figure out why...it doesn't look anything like a normal spaceship though, right?"

"It looks like a Dominator ship to me," the very average looking Sev Tcheru remarked. "Something I've had some experience with in the Heroes of Lallor."

"It's definitely a Dominator ship," Element Lad confirmed curtly. "I've seen enough of them to know that. Neon, are you absolutely certain this is the source of the distress call?"

"100%," Zoe replied. "I'm picking up a bunch of lifeforms inside the ship; mostly Dominators, but there are some other aliens...oh. Guys, the Oversight Watch are in there! My ring recognises them from last time we met, and I think...I think they're killing the Dominators? Dominator signatures keep dropping off!"

"They won't be for much longer," Element Lad scowled. "Neon, update Star Boy and phase us in there. The Oversight Watch have crossed too many lines and it's time they faced the consequences...

...Let's go, Legion!"

NEXT: THE LEGION OF SUPERHEROES VS THE OVERSIGHT WATCH!

aw yeah, so stoked to see another entry so soon!

Blok and Mysa, yay! poor Mysa, I feel for her. Otaki, Harlak, Fire Lass, and almost half of Zerox dead... glad Mysa does not blame herself though. no, it is all Mordru and Black Osiris. ah, but she didn't mention Ral, so I guess Ral survived? (thank goodness)

Bashful Zoe? never! hah, just kidding. good explanation for why Diamond Damsel's form looks like Iris Jacobs now. but wait, DD was able to turn back to flesh and blood before - now that she's healed and her form is whole, can she do that again?

YEAH! MYSA MARVEL IS BACK FULL TIME! That's amazing - and also interesting, does she have any sorcery left or is it all Shazam empowerment? wow, a Legion with Shazam Blok, Mon-El, Night Girl, Ultra Boy, Diamond Damsel and Mysa Marvel... plus Dragonmage for sorcery...!

totally agree 100% with Reboot Zoe missing her friends (and universe), and wanting to get them back it's natural, these are doppelgangers, but different... it's not quite the same. I'm sure we will see Reboot Zoe again sooner or later eh

so quick scan, it looks like nobody is actually leaving the team... just taking time off eh.

the second student loss is of course, Glorith, right? and glad that Otaki is being remembered for the good person she ultimately was

nice touch, no applause but lots of support for Mysa. you right the atmosphere of the scene extremely well

aw nice, Support Crew! epic idea, the Legion needs it (go Tinya!) and M'Rissey is a great character in any Boot. and he's already showing off his chops, with calm confidence, very nice.

hey, Marte Allon, that is awesome!!! It's gonna be great seeing more of her!

is Trava an original character? wow, you describe her outfit well. my mind is tickled though, is she meant to be... IDK, one of the characters... Trio ... from Dave Cockrum's concept sketch that included Nightcrawler?

and I think our medical crew members are both definitely original characters, cool. I like that bit "fit but not as athletic as Cham", makes sense as Cham is a field agent! I always got annoyed with artists who drew every single non-superhero character as super fit too lol

Thom being dependable and not initiating things... sounds like him. though depending on the Boot, dependable is not always true lol. and indeed, dependable of him to follow up on this one!

good to see Thom acknowledge his biases re "the new kids". and good to see Dawny taking time off with Drake... between the taking time off, Tinya mentioning the psychological scars, and having a team counsellor, I applaud your focus on mental health!

whoa!

but is the Oversight Watch killing the Dominators, or do they just happen to be there? nice cliffhanger!!

can't wait for the next bit!!

also curious to see:

how is Ral doing (though I'm pretty sure he's alive, else he or Grava would have been mentioned!). and for that matter, how are they taking the loss of Ivy?

what will happen to Nightstone? (and will you write a scene with her and one or more of Berta/Bobb/Tel, considering their encounter before?)

and any special punishments for that awful Black Osiris...

and how are the rest of the Academy Kids dealing?

oh, and will Mysa give a full explanation re Glorith? I mean, I can figure it out (Glorith's memories were suppressed or something so she became the Academy Glorith), but I'm interested if you have any more twists planned!

heh sorry! I overthink sometimes

Thanks IB!

Mysa is purely Shazam-powered now, though she still has generally more familiarity with the occult than your average Legionnaire...so combine that with the wisdom of Solomon and we're likely to see some interesting results sooner or later!

Reboot Zoe has been shuffled off-stage for now, but rest assured I haven't forgotten about her!

Very prescient of you to ask about Chlorophyll Kid, Glorith and Nightstone as we'll be getting answers on all three of those in the next two instalments! (Glorith was the second student that Tinya referred to as being lost, and we'll touch base on the other students soon as well)

Some of the support crew will be earning their places right off the bat - Trava is an original character but I did totally base her off of Trio's design, I am glad you picked up on it!

The medical crew are also original creations....I wanted a way to show that progress is being made on integrating Durla and Teall into the UP without necessarily making a PSA out of it. I love Marte as a supporting character and conversely I always found M'Rissey to be kind of annoying, so I took him on as a project to find something to like about him

thanks for the tidbits, raz!

yay! looking forward to checking in on Ral, Grava, Nightstone, Glorith and the other students!

you described Trava's outfit very well, which led me to Trio so kudos

and thanks re showing developments with Durla and Teall, that's really cool that you're bringing your UP forward

So sorry I haven't had the time to properly review your story Raz, though have read it through and loving it!

Yay, Mysa Marvel on the team! Am sure you'll fill in the details of those that are taking time away to recuperate, though its still a really impressive line up you have to play with.

Kind of glad Zoe Kinetix left as the two of them would take over, which would be fun but overshadow the rest of your cast.

Ummm is that medic a descendent of a certain Starjammet?

Nice having Thom, minus Nura, lead a mission.

Looking forward to seeing the Oversight Watch again.

Great stuff, more, more, more!

Thanks Harbi!

Mysa's lucky - when I first drafted up the story I was thinking about giving Otaki the Shazam powers, but Mysa Marvel rolls off the tongue easier and I think it adds a nice layer to her friendship with Blok with them sharing the power. Also, Mysa probably deserves to lay a smackdown on Mordru more than anybody at this point!

Two Zoes would be a lot, but I am thinking of having her pop up again maybe a bit sooner than later...I might try and shuffle some stuff around

YES! Dr Skorski was my second little Dave Cockrum easter egg along with Trava! I am glad they both got recognised!

I love picking your brain, hope you don't mind raz. what made you decide to have Otaki die (redemption?) and give Mysa the Shazam powers and rejoin? Was Mysa rejoining always on the table?

ahh Sikorsky! yeah! I recognize the name! nice catch, Harbi

Sorry IB, I wrote a reply to this and then promptly forgot to post it

I was always gonna have Mysa survive (and Harlack as well actually but I felt a bit squicky when I realised it would be just female characters dying otherwise, so I picked a guy to balance it out a bit), but originally she would have remained powerless and Otaki would have had the Shazam powers as well as her mindsense - I changed my mind because I don't think my version of Otaki really earned that, and in the end I preferred the idea of her being more a tragic tale that sometimes the Legion can still fail the people they're meant to help (Nightstone as well to a lesser extent, though her story is not finished yet and I think you guys will like what comes next for her).

Also, I feel like narratively there's more to work with giving Mysa the Shazam powers; it strengthens her bond with Blok, and although she has been a powerful sorceress she's never been a physical powerhouse so I'm looking forward to seeing how she adapts to that...and Mysa has really been through the wringer so much in my series I feel like she deserves a happy ending

Plus - purely superficially, Mysa Marvel is such a good classic-sounding comic book name compared to anything I would have ended up calling Otaki

re Otaki, yeah, there's a bit of shades of Mentalla here.

yay, Nightstone! I'm eager to see where you'll take her, and glad she will continue to be around (fairly unique powerset too!)

and thanks re your thoughts on Mysa, that's a good point... and also, how she will use her magical knowledge when she doesn't actually cast spells anymore, yet is magically empowered

MARS
Marsopolis, Science Police Impound Tesseract Sublevel 3

Though tesseract units towered over her in the catacombs beneath the Martian Science Police's Global Headquarters, Dawnstar still couldn't help but feel a mildly claustrophobic lack of space. The lighting here was serviceable but dim, and only beeping droids broke the silence floating about inobtrusively in their various missions to catalogue, fetch or lock away the many different armaments and exotic technologies the SP came across in their day to day work.

Her tracking power was of far more use in the void of space, but Dawnstar could easily sense that she was the only living soul down here under the bustling surface of Marsopolis above. It left her vaguely unsettled that Wildfire had chosen this chilly mausoleum to make his temporary home rather than the hotel quarters that most of his teammates in the Legion of Superheroes had happily claimed.

She certainly understood Drake's reasons for hiding away down here far from his teammates; Irveang Polamar's hotels were first class, but their security nowhere near approached that which the Legion were accustomed to...and considering the damage that Wildfire's anti-energy could do when provoked, he had simply felt it not worth the risk to expose countless other innocents to his presence were anything to go wrong. Still, that didn't change how depressingly isolated he was down here from Dawnstar and everybody else they knew.

Dawnstar came across the tesseract container that Wildfire had claimed for his temporary accommodations and pressed the intercom. "Drake? Drake, it's me, Dawnstar...we're going to be late for Fire Lass's memorial." She stepped back and waited a moment, then her smooth brow furrowed and she released an annoyed huff of air. "I'm coming in, Drake!" she announced as one might to let somebody know they should make themselves presentable. She entered a manual code into a keypay with rounded buttons, the only manual code that Wildfire ever used; ERG1.

The tesseract door slid almost noiselessly into its frame, revealing a space inside which was much larger than its external boundaries. Dawnstar stepped inside, and her eyes grew wide. The lights flickered, furniture was shattered into pieces and uneven holes were scorched into everything around her. "Wildfire?" she called out more urgently. "Are you here, Drake?" Dawnstar wracked her mind trying to conceive of who could possibly have attacked Drake in here without leaving any sign of their passing outside. She was just about to call the Legion for backup when Wildfire emerged from around a corner in his distinctive containment suit.

"What is it, Dawny?" he asked bluntly.

"Drake, I..." the winged Legionnaire looked at the damage surrounding them. "...What in the stars happened here? Have you been in a fight?!"

"What? No!" He shook his head vehemently. "Look, I don't really feel like discussing it...can we do this later?"

"But...Fire Lass's memorial service...the rest of the Legion have already left for Shanghalla," Dawnstar countered, feeling strangely as though she were intruding.

"I said I don't feel like discussing it, okay?!" There was an edge to Wildfire's voice that took Dawnstar aback. He consciously calmed his tone and tried again. "Look...Dawny...I appreciate you coming here, but after what Mordru did...I just need some time to work it out, okay? On my own."

"I...I understand," Dawnstar's gaze fell to the ground between them. "Just know that I am here for you, Drake...if you want me to be." She thought about saying something more, but second-guessed herself. Turning away from Wildfire, the young woman from Starhaven felt uncomfortably watched as she left him alone in his tesseract.

**********

SHANGHALLA
The cemetery satellite
A newly blazing eternal blue flame joined the dozens of other memorials which covered the surface of this barren chunk of rock in the middle of nowhere. Above the flame and the sprawling cemetery grounds, a dignified beacon bathed Shanghalla in pale light as a high mounted beam rotated like that of a lighthouse on this lonely outcropping in the sea of space.

The beacon fell across a group of Legionnaires leaving behind the site where their former student was interred, the artificial woman briefly named Fire Lass but more commonly called Arqiia. Staq Mavlen's shoulders were slumped as he left Arqiia's memory behind him, Color Kid and Night Girl standing on either side of him with a hand on each shoulder. "Staq, why don't you come have dinner with Rokk and I tonight?" Lydda Jath Krinn soothed. "I don't like the idea of you being all on your own in that hotel room."

"Thanks Lydda," the young man who hid a dragon within him cast his gaze up to meet Night Girl's. "Honestly, I'm okay though...I think I just want to get really drunk and then sleep it off. I accepted -- well, Arqiia and I had both accepted a while ago that there wasn't really anything between us like we thought there might be, but still..."

"Still, you were friends." Color Kid squeezed Staq's shoulder. "That hurts too, buddy."

"Speaking of friends," Staq changed the subject, "Has anyone heard from Chlor yet? I've been meaning to check in on him since I found out what happened with Ivy."

"Dag tried to get him to come out here with us today, but he's...not ready yet," Night Girl admitted sadly. "He actually hasn't spoken to anyone except Comet Queen since we all got back. I'm starting to get a little concerned, to be honest."

"Don't you worry about that though, Staq!" Color Kid quickly interjected. "One thing at a time, huh?"

Before Staq could respond, the trio of old friends heard someone clear their throat and turned around to see an unusually meek Dragonwing standing behind them. The animated duster she normally wore had been replaced with a deep velvet coat which was pulled tightly together at her breast with one gloved hand.

"Firecrest?" Marya Pai spoke his name. "I'm sorry if I'm interrupting, I just--" She glanced across nervously at Tellus, who floated serenely at a discreet distance and seemed to give her his unspoken approval to continue. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry about Fire Lass," she blurted out. "Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad are giving the Academy a couple of standard weeks vacation time to deal with...well, everything I guess, and I'm heading straight to Earth after this. I didn't...I didn't want to leave here without seeing you first, I think you're really the only friend Arqiia even had and she...she was a real hero in the end. That's all. That's all I wanted to say." By the end, Marya was unable to meet any of the Legionnaires' eyes.

"Thank you," Firecrest replied warmly. "I appreciate it but don't sell yourself short, Dragonwing...you and the rest of your classmates did more to give Arqiia something resembling a normal existence than I could ever have done, and I have no doubt she was a hero in the end because she had some sprocking good influences in that department with you kids to learn from."

Dragonwing was glad that none of her classmates were around to see her blush. It was bad enough forcing herself to show her earnest side to anyone else, she didn't need her friends seeing that...

**********

Some distance behind everyone else, Mysa Marvel watched the unfolding dynamics before her. The Legion of Superheroes had evolved immensely since the White Witch had been an active member, and with the wisdom of Solomon guiding her Mysa found it fascinating to watch the evidence of that evolution. Moving away from the heartwarming interaction between Firecrest and Dragonwing, she noticed a more awkward friction between Sun Boy and Supergirl. The indestructible Laurel Kent had suffered greatly thanks to Dirk Morgna's co-opted power, and Mysa imagined that it would probably take some time for that particular relationship to heal. She'd missed all of this, both the good and the bad; there was so much life and energy in the Legion of Superheroes, so much constant change--

"You're not upset that Harlack didn't get his own memorial service?" Dream Girl's voice interrupted Mysa's musings.

"Not at all," Mysa instantly turned to her sister by her side. "Dear Harlack was unquestionably a hero, but Shanghalla was never in his destiny. He had very specific intentions for his remains after his death, but I think now that I've officially rejoined the Legion that's something that I may need to speak to Phantom Girl and our new Manager of Diplomacy about."

"Sounds mysterious," Nura Nal teased lightly.

"Perhaps not so mysterious as...politically sensitive," Mysa pondered thoughtfully. "I'm bound to secrecy for some of it, but I'll be happy to share what I can. I'm sure Harlack wouldn't mind--"

Mysa suddenly blinked and found herself momentarily confused. She was still on Shanghalla, her sister right beside her. The rest of the Legion were nowhere to be seen though, and the stars had shifted ever so subtly in the forever night sky. Mysa immediately realised that she'd lost time, and even as she was deducing the most likely explanation for that a young dark-skinned girl in a black and purple bodysuit emerged from behind one of the monuments. A golden star insignia blazed across the girl's flat chest, and Mysa understood at once that Kid Quantum had removed both herself and Dream Girl temporarily from the normal passage of time.

Dream Girl took a few moments longer to come to the same conclusion, but as smart as Nura Nal was the conclusion was foregone. "Jazmin Cullen!" Dream Girl snapped. "What is the meaning of this??"

"I'm sure you're aware," Jazmin snapped back, "Or maybe you're not aware because the Academy students don't seem to be anything but cannon fodder for you Legionnaires, but we're being given a couple of weeks leave after today and this time tomorrow I'll be back with my parents on Xanthu. I don't know if I'll be coming back to the Academy or not but to help me make my decision I wanted to talk to the former witch here alone, so I placed you both in quantum stasis until everyone else left Shanghalla. I'm sorry you got caught up in this but I couldn't get her alone without you, Dream Girl...and in the end maybe you need to know who your sister is too."

"Oh, you're in so much trouble, young lady." Furious, Dream Girl raised her flight ring to her lips.

"No, Nura...let her talk." Mysa raised a hand. "I fear that I know exactly what this is about and I can't say that Kid Quantum's anger is undeserved."

"Mysa, what are you talking about?" Dream Girl shot back. "She's practically abducted us--"

"I want to know what you did to Glorith," Jazmin interjected bluntly. "You replaced her with some completely separate woman, and everyone is so sprocking happy to have their precious Mysa back in the Legion that nobody even wants to bring it up. But Glorith was my friend, and I want to know...what did you do to her??"

Mysa met Jazmin's angry gaze with one of compassion. "You deserve to know," she replied. She gestured to a space which had been carved into the base of Shanghalla's iconic towering beacon, where visitors could sit and face one another in private communion.

"Come with me and let me tell you the story of Glorith of Baaldur."

**********

DEEP SPACE
On board a Dominion bio-ship

ROLL CALL
Diamond Damsel aka Iris Jacobs: living diamond
Element Lad aka Jan Arrah: elemental transmutation
Evolvo Lad aka Sev Tcheru: hyperevolution/devolution
Neon aka Zoe Saugin: infused with Green Lantern energy

The Kryptonian named Dev-Em was knee deep in debris and mutilated corpses when a steady emerald glow filled the bio-ship's research pod. He swung violently toward the source of this latest intrusion, eyes flaring red with power and his hands clenched into tight fists. "Neon?" Dev-Em asked, visibly shocked. "Element Lad? What would the Legion of Superheroes be doing here..?"

Zoe Saugin had created a stage curtain of green light which she, Element Lad, Diamond Damsel and Evolvo Lad had entered through as her power phased the quartet through the hull of the Dominator vessel, and she allowed the curtain behind them to fade without damage to the hull while she switched her attention to Dev-Em himself. Hardlight manacles formed around his wrists and ankles, bound together with a segmented cord while a blindfold obscured his vision. "Hopefully we're stopping you while there's still someone alive on this ship to make it worth stopping you for," Zoe replied distastefully. "Grife, I can't believe I thought you were cute. This is...this is really disgusting, guys."

Before Dev-Em's arrival, this room had clearly been some kind of biological research facility. Countless smashed containment tubes lined the walls of the lab, their reeking fluids spilled amongst the wreckage which covered the lab from one side to the other. Malformed and broken bodies jutted out of the wreckage or lay in disturbing positions at the base of the tubes which had once housed them. Neon's power told her none of the mangled bodies were alive, though she suspected that the biological nature of the ship itself prevented her from getting an accurate reading on anyone else still alive on board.

"I'm cute as hell," Dev-Em retorted, exerting only a little effort to snap the manacles with which he'd been bound. "But I've seen the real Neon in action, no way I'd tear one of her constructs apart that easy...you messed up, nasshead." Zoe realised she'd underestimated her opponent and focused on reinforcing the blindfold around his head, but Dev-Em's heat vision had already shredded it into so much photonic discharge.

"We all need a little help from our friends sometimes," Element Lad said coolly. "Let's see if you're any more impressed by my power." With the merest thought, Jan Arrah replicated a much more primitive version of Zoe's manacles upon Dev-Em, though his green glowing restraints had far more substance.

Dev-Em collapsed with a pained cry. "Kryptonite..?" His forehead already clammy with sick sweat, he gave Jan an imploring look.

Seeing movement in her peripheral vision, Diamond Damsel did a double-take. "Did anybody else see that??"

"There is more here than meets the eye," Evolvo Lad intoned calmly. He'd taken on his hyperevolved form as the Legionnaires had passed through the hull of the vessel, and he approached Dev-Em now with slow deliberate movements. As though he saw something the others didn't, Evolvo Lad's gaze turned to one side of the lab. "Hmmm. Intriguing."

A moment later Element Lad, Diamond Damsel and Dev-Em silently zoned out and stared into nothingness blankly. Neon grimaced furiously as she struggled against the mental intrusion, and Evolvo Lad simply turned to a nearby corridor and waited. Mandalla and 89 stepped into the room, 89 drawing a firearm from a holster at her waist.

"A psionic construct designed to baffle the minds of all exposed to it," Evolvo Lad noted as he faced the women entering the lab. "Its intricacies are truly marvellous, though I suspect unappreciated and clearly overwhelming to minds which haven't the benefit of millions of years of forced evolution."

"Who--" Mandalla's jaw dropped to see the peculiar thin man with the enlarged head who was apparently immune to her thoughtsphere.

Evolvo Lad flicked one elongated finger to the left, and 89's weapon flung itself from her grasp to ricochet off of Mandalla's skull. "I am known as--"

"--Evolvo Lad," 89 cut him off while Mandalla staggered, her thoughtsphere shattered along with her concentration. "And we don't have time to do this nicely." With expert slight of hand, 89 threw a flashbang grenade into the middle of the room without Evolvo Lad even having noticed that she'd moved. 89's cowl was outfitted to protect her from the intense light and the explosion of sound, but nobody else in the room enjoyed the same defences.

While Evolvo Lad was still focusing on regenerating the damage that 89's grenade had done to his sensory organs, he felt her grip his wrists as she laid his bony hands upon her head. Instantly understanding her intent, Evolvo Lad reached out telepathically and saw in her short term memory why the Oversight Watch were really here. They'd come across this vessel while tracking down stray Dominators who'd escaped the destruction of Elia and who posed a possible threat to United Planets security, and when they came on board they found that someone else had beaten them here; a unique white winged man who'd killed every Dominator he could find on board and had proven more than a match for the Oversight Watch to boot.

<Legionnaires!> Evolvo Lad announced telepathically as everyone's senses recovered from the flashbang grenade. <The Oversight Watch are not our foes, they simply arrived here first -- our real enemy is--> Evolvo Lad's vision had finally cleared enough that he saw the man from 89's memory standing in real if somewhat blurred life right in front of them all.

The man was exactly as Star Boy had described him; stark white skin with enormous feathered wings, an enlarged cranium with two small antennae upon his forehead and two black beady eyes the only features on his otherwise smooth face. The same black bands which wrapped around his calves and forearms also formed trunks and created a stylized skull emblem across his torso.

<Revenant is the only name I bear now> the man's eerie voice settled deep inside their skulls, <but I have no reason to harm either the Legion of Superheroes or the Oversight Watch. It is only the Dominion who need fear my wrath, and my work here has been all but done. Allow me to finish my duty and I will leave you all unmolested>

Diamond Damsel blinked a few times to be sure her vision was clear. She'd finally recovered from Mandalla's thoughtsphere and while she'd been impacted by 89's grenade, the effect was nowhere near as bad for her as it had been for the others. "Here's the thing," Iris stomped toward the man named Revenant. "I've been around long enough to know that psychopaths whose duty involves wiping out whole ships full of people generally don't peacefully retire when that duty's done. So no offence, but I think I'll just hit you a lot instead." She launched herself at Revenant, slamming him into a console where he bizarrely melted away into three separate identical beings.

Evolvo Lad cast a quick sideways glance to see 89 spraying something from a tiny aerosol cannister that settled into a dull grey over Dev-Em's kryptonite restraints; no doubt atomized lead. Dev-Em would be in fighting form in no time, and by Sev's calculations Star Boy and the other Legionnaires would arrive any moment now. Nobody here needed him right now, and he'd seen somebody else in 89's memory dump who he very much needed some answers from. Throwing his teammates a quick telepathic update, Evolvo Lad realised it was time for his more primal side to emerge. With one thought dominating his consciousness, he devolved into a primitive hulking creature as much beast as man and he embarked on his single-minded mission:

He was going to find Brittle.

**********

In the ship's galley, the Coluan woman named Makkia Vei sat demurely with her hands folded on the table before her. Her long blonde hair cascaded over her shoulders, two well-made braids standing out in contrast to the rest of her free flowing mane. Bangles clinked together quietly at her wrists and modest jewellery caught the light upon her fingers.

One of Revenant's duplicates entered the small room and turned his beady black eyes toward her. <I wish you no harm> he announced telepathically.

"Oh, I know that." Makkia smiled disarmingly. "I'm very well aware, in fact. My teammates are fond of violence, but I for one find that violence is only rarely an answer in and of itself. Don't you agree? With all the powers at your disposal you could easily have slaughtered all of us but you don't want to do that, do you?"

<What do you know of my power?> Revenant asked, unsettled by the green-skinned woman's relaxed exterior.

"You were clever or skilled enough to find this bio-ship using your own resources when it took the Oversight Watch weeks of research. You can survive in space on your own, you entered this vessel without damaging the vessel itself, the sheer amount of damage you've caused on board points to power beyond sheer strength, and I've seen you in combat with Dev-Em - you rely on your shapeshifting, duplication and psionic abilities more than anything else so I'm inclined to think that perhaps super-strength isn't really your forte at all. You clearly have telepathy, and I know you wouldn't be here in this galley right now unless you were certain there's a reason for you to be here...so I'm guessing some form of tracking ability? How am I going, Revenant?"

<You...you know who I was, don't you?> Revenant asked, almost in awe of how easily this stranger read him. <How do you know all of this?>

"Well, I am Coluan after all." Makkia allowed herself a self-satisfied smile. "But more to the point, while I can't scramble the minds of an approaching army or beat them all into submission before they have a chance to recognise it's even happened, I am good at what I do. And what I do is know people. I would ask you to have a seat and talk things out, but I know better than that...you're quite focused once you have a mission, aren't you Mr Cohn?"

<We have never before met!> Revenant protested. <How could you possibly know so much about me?>

The sounds of battle carried through the ship as Star Boy, Mwindaji, Kid Computo and Invisible Kid finally caught up to their teammates but Makkia didn't react visibly at all. "It's true that you and I have never met," she agreed, "But when the powers that be found out a whole new group of mutants had emerged on the planet Lallor, the Oversight Watch were asked to investigate...we know a lot about you and your peers, even moreso since we were fortunate enough to recover your old teammate Brittle from where he'd been left for dead. Why don't you come out and say hello, Brittle? You've been waiting for this reunion for some time, haven't you?"

There was a skittering sound at the far end of the room and a new white-skinned humanoid figure built himself in front of them from countless tiny duplicates of himself. "Is it true?" Brittle challenged Revenant rudely. "Duplicate Boy, is that you?"

<Duplicate Boy is no more> Revenant's voice filled Brittle's mind. <After what that Dominator did to me...what he turned me into...Duplicate Boy is dead, Brittle. Now only his Revenant remains>

"Rot!" Brittle jabbed a finger into the taller man's chest. "You know, I wanted you dead for what you did to us, for the way you killed Rain Girl...but somehow you found a way to do worse. I didn't want to believe it was you, but we've been tracking your movements Stev...you've been hunting down Dominators and killing them where you find them, but these are refugees who escaped their homeworld long before it was destroyed or poor squajes who got used like we were used! Nearly everyone on board this sprocking ship was nothing more than a glorified science experiment for the diskhead in charge here and you killed them all anyway!"

<They were Dominators> Revenant decreed. <And I have not killed them all yet> Knowing that any physical force would simply shatter Brittle into a smaller group of duplicates, Revenant felled him with a blast of pure psionic energy. Enormous talons grew from each hand next, and he tore apart a sheet of thick filmy mucus which had been set into the cartilage of the ship. A Dominator child was huddled in the storage space that the mucus had concealed, no disk visible on their large yellow head. The child screamed in terror, but before Revenant could make another move a hirsute ball of muscle tackled the winged man and sent him flying into a nutrient dispenser. Greyish sludge poured forth from the jagged dent in the dispenser, coating both Revenant and the devolved Evolvo Lad.

<Perhaps it is not enough for me to remove the plague of the Dominion from our universe> Revenant mused as he used telekinesis to propel Evolvo Lad to the other side of the room. <Perhaps I must atone for my sins before those whom I had hurt in my past life>

The Dominator child was initially as frightened of Evolvo Lad as they were of Revenant, but when the primitive beast-man stood between them and Revenant in a protective stance the child soon realised that this hideous caveman was in fact on their side. Evolvo Lad growled menacingly, and Makkia Vei realised she would need to step in if this was going to end the way she wanted it to. Modulating her voice so as to be a calming influence on Evolvo Lad, she exposed her back to him and allowed her hands to fall open at her side to show her vulnerability. "Revenant, there is a gap in my knowledge. From what Brittle told us, we know that you hadn't entirely succumbed to the Dominators' BION programming. You saved those of your teammates you could on Lallor and then you disappeared, and now you're...this. You have to admit, that's quite a leap."

<When last we met, Evolvo Lad forced Amp to use her power upon me> Revenant explained. <I had already duplicated Evolvo Lad's own ability to evolve myself and when my hyperevolution was amplified even further...after the initial shock, I overcame the Dominion's brainwashing. In fact, I gained total control of myself in every sense. I knew that couldn't last though, and I was terrified that I'd kill the rest of my friends once Amp and Evolvo Lad's powers left me. So I brought those I could to safety, and then in so many seconds I fled halfway across the universe with what I'd evolved from Dawnstar's mimicked speed>

Evolvo Lad seemed to instinctively realise that it was more important for him to understand Revenant's explanation right now than it was for him to burst into action. Somewhere within the underdeveloped brain inside his thick skull, he activated his power and began the process of evolving himself once more.

Revenant continued, giving no sign that he'd even noticed Evolvo Lad's transformation. <In the short time that I knew my choices were truly mine, I removed all trace of the Dominion's programming from myself. I understood then and there that in me they had made a weapon too powerful to exist, and so I excised my power to duplicate those around me but I kept some of those which had already been imprinted upon my genetic structure; Evolvo Lad, Life Lass, Key Kid, Brittle, Chameleon Boy, Shrinking Violet and Dawnstar...and as my brief period of enlightenment faded, I realised that Duplicate Boy had hurt too many people to survive another day. I became this Revenant, and only after I have wiped out every last trace of evil which is the Dominion can this Revenant rest>

Evolvo Lad had once again taken on his hyperevolved form, and he stepped forward to address his ex-teammate. "Stev, you need help. You must see that this mission you have assigned yourself is completely unethical and devoid of logic or reason."

<I see nothing of the sort> Revenant replied. <But I don't expect either of you to understand...Sev, you may possess an evolved intellect at times; and Makkia, your psychological insight has impressed me today, but neither of you can possibly see what I see. The Dominion cannot be allowed to live, not one single member of their misbegotten race>

Using the telekinesis he'd copied from Evolvo Lad himself, Revenant shoved Evolvo Lad and Makkia Vei to one side of the room and advanced on the storage space where the young girl had been hiding. Seeing that the storage space was somehow empty, he flinched in surprise. <Where..?>

Outside the galley, Jacques Foccart emerged into view with the Dominator child hugged close to himself. "Evolved beyond imagination, yet fooled just as easily as any man," Invisible Kid tutted. "A poor showing for you, Monsieur."

Revenant started charging toward Jacques but before he'd taken more than a step, 89 leaped into his path and sprayed him with a slightly larger cannister than that which she'd used on Dev-Em earlier. "A poor showing indeed," she remarked as she shoved Revenant into a wall. "While you were narrating your life story in there, Evolvo Lad projected it all to the rest of us. Thanks for telling us your shapeshifting is based on Chameleon Boy's, it means Cancelite should work on you as well as him."

"And just to be on the safe side..." Element Lad approached and surrounded Revenant in a sheath of dull metal. "If he's got Dawnstar's power we don't need to worry about him suffocating in there, but I'd be very surprised if even Evolvo Lad and Life Lass working together could rupture seamless inertron."

Kid Computo and Mwindaji came along not far behind Element Lad. "Between Neon, Star Boy, Diamond Damsel, Mandalla and Dev-Em everything's way under control in there," Danielle reported. "Are we all good out here?"

"Very much so," Jacques gave his younger sister a smile before crouching down to face the Dominator child he'd been shielding. "You were very brave, mon petit. I am sorry that we could not help everybody else on board your vessel, but you will be safe now."

"They certainly will," 89 naturally took charge of the situation. "And the Oversight Watch will make sure that Revenant suffers the consequences for his actions as well."

Having just woken up, a groggy Brittle joined the others and touched the metal coccoon hiding Revenant gingerly. "It's weird, you know? I was intent on killing that guy for betraying us to the diskheads but...I'm startin' to think maybe he was just a victim in all of this as well."

"Brittle, I am happy to see you survived," Evolvo Lad greeted the white-skinned man. "Of course Amp, Key Kid and Life Lass will be overjoyed. Would you like to come back to the Legion with us? I cannot promise you membership, but I am certain we can find a place for you among your family."

"That's just it, ain't it?" Brittle muttered. "I don't really have family, do I? The guy I thought I was is a lie, and I...I dunno if I'm ready to be around all that again. I kind of like the way the Oversight Watch works actually, I fit in here way easier than I ever did with the Heroes of Lallor."

"And you're more than welcome to stay," Makkia touched his shoulder gently. "89 needs to make that decision of course, but I'm sure she agrees."

"Of course," 89 responded quickly. "Who knows, maybe we can even find a place for your broken friend here...it would be a shame to waste such potential leaving him to rot in jail."

Makkia Vei saw the disgruntled expression on some of the Legionnaires' faces and stepped in as smoothly as if it had been rehearsed. "Obviously we'd defer to the Legion of Superheroes normally," she said sweetly, "After all, you're the United Planets' bastion of hope, right? The Oversight Watch do our best work in the shadows...but we know you've got a lot on your plate right now so we'll be happy to get both Revenant and this strong little girl the help they need."

"Of course," Element Lad agreed flatly, unconsciously apeing 89's earlier words. It suddenly occurred to Jan that he should ask Kid Computo later if she was certain that the distress signal had really originated from this vessel...because when the Legion had got here, Revenant had already killed almost everyone on board and the Watch had clearly been fighting him for some time. Jan didn't want to think that 89 had specifically chosen this point to interfere with Revenant's self-appointed mission knowing that the Legion were close by to help if needed, but he couldn't put it past her either.

"You've obviously got things under wraps here," Jan addressed 89 directly. "Let's move out, Legion."

**********

Some time later and light years away, Makkia Vei sat in a cozily lit room on a large sofa dictating notes into her omnicom when 89 knocked at the open doorway. The Coluan woman saved her progress and placed the omnicom on a nearby hovering table as she sat up to make room for 89 to join her.

"Don't bother," the Watch's stoic leader shook her head slightly. "I won't stay long and I'll read your full report later but briefly...what's your take on today's mission?"

"A resounding success," Makkia beamed. "Brittle's loyalty to the Oversight Watch is assured; not only did we help him when his surrogate family left him for dead, but he has no idea we only humoured him in his quest to kill Duplicate Boy knowing full well that his sentimental side would take over once they were face to face and he'd find himself wanting to help his poor damaged friend. Duplicate Boy -- my apologies, Revenant -- has significantly reduced any threat the Dominion pose to the United Planets with his little murder spree. Give him a few weeks for his therapy to kick in and he'll be begging to join the Oversight Watch to make amends for what he's done. And some of the Legion suspect that there was more than just coincidence to our meeting today, but none of the specific Legionnaires who were there today possess the qualities necessary to truly make this a problem for us. If I were you though, I'd have that Dominator girl shipped off to the Legion's little school for superheroes if she tests meta-positive. It'll be a nice reminder that we're all on the same side after all."

"Good thinking," 89 nodded curtly. "Listen, Makkia...you know I'm not one for hearts and flowers, but I want to say that your contributions to this team do not go unnoticed. As much as we need Dev-Em's skill and power, and as much as Mandalla is shaping up to be a great agent, you give us something truly irreplaceable. Thank you."

"And you know that I only have emotions when it gets me something," Makkia took the opportunity to venture a self-deprecation borne of familiarity for the first time. "But thank you for saying so. It's always nice to be validated."

"I'll look forward to your full report," 89 responded in a clipped tone before turning and walking away.

Makkia Vei's face showed a barely perceptible smile. She doubted that this little exchange had been a test on 89's part, but the risk still existed...and if 89 did happen to view the footage of this room which Makkia had no doubt existed, a barely perceptible smile would be exactly the reaction she'd expect.

Inside though, Makkia Vei was ecstatic. It had taken a long long time and some of her most subtle manipulations, but Makkia had finally begun to get past 89's seemingly impenetrable defences. Immediately upon the two women meeting, Makkia Vei had known that 89 had a very good reason for those defences to be in place; that enigma was the main reason she'd agreed to join the Oversight Watch to begin with. Today marked the first real progress Makkia Vei had made in finding out why 89 was so constantly on guard...

...and how she could exploit that for her own benefit.

**********

NEXT: Whatever happened to Glorith of Baaldur?

EDITOR'S NOTES
Obviously this story draws heavily on Revenant's history in the Heroes of Lallor - for a refresher on the main points, you might want to try this two-parter: http://www.legionworld.net/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=998397#Post998397

Cancelite is a canon DC substance which temporarily freezes Durlans in their current shape - it was invented by Supergirl (Kara) and as far as I know last used to dramatic effect waaay back in the 80s when the Legion used it to reveal that Yera had taken Violet's place

yay, another installment! what a treat!

I laugh at Wildfire only ever using one code, and Dawny being one to know it. Poor Drake... what a realistic scene, with Drake and Dawny obviously still loving each other, but.. yeah.

Poor Staq. I was thinking he'd be devastated. and Ral, too. Marya coming full circle is nice as well, and a nice touch having Tellus encourage her. also good to see that Ral is at least physically ok!

re Sun Boy and Supergirl, I almost forgot they'd dated before! I bet that is part of the friction...

Interested to see what Harlack's plans were, and where you are going with them.

I like Jazmin's steel, and a bit of righteous fury I believe. She's standing up to Dream Girl, of all people! (Also, Nura's seemed to have completely forgotten about Glorith, helping highlight Jazmin's point about feeling like cannon fodder! After all, Jazmin doesn't know Mysa...)

So Dev somehow thinks Neon is a fake... were they fighting shapeshifters?

Ah, I like how Zoe (with her strong will) and Evolvo (with his intellect) are resistant to Mandalla's power! (Also like how Evolvo is complimenting the thoughtsphere!!)

Also like the subversion of the "heroes fight" trope by having 89 and Evolvo so quickly and cleverly get on the same page

89 and her fantastic super utility belt! but of course, she's mega-prepared

Brittle!

oh my gosh, I never expected, but it makes sense - Revenant is Duplicate Boy! brilliant! also brilliant to have Makkia Vei figure it out!! and it all clicks together now...

I'm liking how Brittle has his moral backbone still. Recognizing that not all Dominators are guilty...

ah, so he only kept a limited set of powers... still enough to cause a lot of destruction, of course. Thankfully, no Gas Girl eh. Having Life Lass and Key Kid powers explains how he got into all those ships...

I like Jacques' compassionate touch with the child

Ah, Makkia Vei is just so good at what she does. Interesting that she wanted to keep the Dominator child for now... as a "token of gratitude"? that is, if she does have meta powers, they won't keep her but send her to the Academy...? oomph, re them getting the exact outcome they wanted. also nice that Jan's suspicions were right re the distress signal...

also interesting to see 89 thanking Makkia like that (also nice shout out to Mandalla). (whew, Makkia really plays people eh, always thinking of everything... and of course, she's in this because she wants something, whew).

I am SO eager to read the full story of Glorith next!

i also wonder if there will be some fallout and/or discontent among the Legionnaires, for letting the Oversight Watch have Dupe and Brittle and the Dominator child...

very much looking forward to more, raz!

Another great installment. I love your original characters, Makkia Vei and Diamond Damsel, as well as old never-got-to-be-prime-time-players like Evolvo Lad and Leeta 89!

Thanks for reading, y'all!

re Wildfire & Dawny, Sun Boy & Laurel, Ral and Staq - some of the Legion/Legion adjacent folks are sure gonna be going through it for a little while, some will get a positive turn and some not so much but we'll see how that all pans out over the rest of this year probably!

Killing Harlack actually gave me the final piece I needed to put together a whole different subplot I have been stuck on how to introduce, so we'll see that develop soon as well!

Jazmin is difficult for me to write sometimes...my Cullens are so much younger than the comic book ones so I have to really consciously not just make her a badass all the time like we all know Kid Q should be, but I still like showing that the potential is there for her to be that when she gets a bit older

89 and Makkia would probably be unbearable if they were around all the time with how ridiculously competent they both are, but I have to admit it's fun getting to write them when I do pull them out of mothballs...and it's probably safe to say we haven't seen the last of that little Dominator kid!

I have been looking forward to telling Glorith's story for ages so hopefully it's worth the wait!

The pleasure is all mine!


I think 89 and Makkia are made that much more tolerable since they have their own, at the moment, synchronous, but not always, goals and motivations. If they were in lockstep, it could indeed be dull, the always-right-twins, but since they aren't exactly 100% in sympatico, it's just delicious anticipation for when one or the other drops the other shoe.

^this

though I can imagine, it must indeed be tough to write two such ridiculously competent people when they're in opposition to each other. like narrating/showing a major "chess game"!

Raz, hi, once again I'm fashioably late to the party - sorry, please do message me when you put up new sections as I don't check in here every day so if it's not at the top of the pile I assume it's something I've already read.

I loved the description - and idea of - the tesseract storage units

Dawnstar's claustraphobia is something that isn't often touched upon though it's good to see you remembered it. Her looking for Drake was sweet, though the conversation was less so. I like how your version of him is pretty traditional - a big-hearted hothead - and it's nice that you are highlighting that there is some depth within that by him removing himself to come to terms with the trick Mordru played on him.

"Just know that I am here for you, Drake...if you want me to be." was rather poignant, I do hope they come to some understanding.

Focussing the ceremony at Shangalla on Staq's grieving was smart as he was the most connected to Arqiia. The gentle support was very real to life, with offers of meals and deflecting Staq from worrying about Ral. Dragonwing was well written - her pushy teenage angst-y character showed a nuance that take the edge nicely of her usually abrasive personality. And the connection she has to Tellus is unepected but good.

I's good to see your continuing Harlack's story, I liked him so am pleased you have something planned around him. Looking forward to finding out what. When Mysa and Nura were frozen I expected it to be something to do with Khunds - perhaps their magical community being annoyed with them for Harlacks death so it was a really good character moment for Jazmin. Makes total sense that she would be confused and angry about Glorith's rather odd fate.

"She's practically abducted us--" oh Nura, you're so dramatic!

Looking forward to hearing what Mysa is going to share about Glorith, and also seeing whatever's coming up with Mysa and Harlacks story.

The old trope with two groups meeting and one thinking the other is up to no good so they get into a fight is a classic! And the reason it is a classic is it's kinda what happens all the time with people not communicating and assuming the worst about each other.

89 dealing with it so pragmatically was great! That's how to stop a fight - chuck a grenade and get your opponent to read your mind - it s actually brilliant!

Revenant! Yay! I've been really looking forward to this. He has such a cool visual btw, very sci-fi alien baddy!

And Evolvo going to find Brittle - Fantastic. A lot of lose ends are being tied up here.... potentially anyway

Makkia Vai is awesome, I really dig how you have her stop Revenant with a conversation. Pure class! So he was Duplicate Boy - I was still holding out for him being a rogue BION unit but this is so much better. And the meeting betweeh Brittle and him is well written - and despite the passion of Brittles words there's a lot unsaid that hangs in between them.

The last scene between Makka Vai and 89 was great - their relationship is not based on friendship or shared ideals like two random Legionnaires might have, so it's interesting to see what's really going on. 89 is trying to be a good boss with Makka Vai is scheming. Actually, I reckon they are both scheming, but I'm sure you'll keep that plot bubbling along nicely for a while.

This was a great way to tie up ythe lose ends from the earlier Heroes of Lallor story, and it's always fun when you bring in the Oversight Watch.

As always, I get to the end and am left wanting more, more, more!

Harbinger, you took the words out of my mouth re maybe 89 is also scheming while pretending to open up to Makkia! Maybe it’s one of those double double crosses!

Thanks for commenting Harbi...sorry, I was posting stuff so frequently while I was doing all the Mordru stuff that I didn't wanna be pushy by telling you when posts were up but I will start letting you know again!

Marya and Tellus having any kind of a bond at all was completely unexpected for me until I wrote it, but not gonna lie I kind of like it! They are both such radically different characters, but I think they can bring different parts of each other out than we usually see so I think we will see a nice but weird friendship maybe happen here

re: Harlack's legacy - stay tuned, that will pop up soon in an unexpected way!

She is so enjoyable to write

I will try and get around to drawing Revenant soon...I was thinking along the lines of sci-fi alien with his new look so I am glad that comes across!

And you and IB are both right, there are layers upon layers to 89 and Makkia Vei...it is probably gonna be messy as hell when it comes undone but I have so much fun writing the two of them that won't be for a long time yet

Giavana Markova sat on her small bed, staring out the small window in her small room as a group of teenagers played games on this juvenile rehabilitation facility's grassy grounds.

She released a long whistling breath and pondered her surroundings. This was better than any of the other juvenile rehabilitation facilities she'd lived in during her tumultuous 15 years of existence, but it was also just another sign of how she just instinctively made the exact worst decision she could possibly make for herself at any given time.

Gia didn't even notice her flat expression reflected in the pane of her bedroom window as she thought about her recent downward spiral. She could have just stayed in Argentea, local nass-kicker Nightstone taking care of the dispossessed and traumatised kids she'd gathered around her in that stupid old titanium plant. The Sci-Cops were useless against her geokinetic power, she'd even driven Black Dancer off on her own once. But no, she had to want more. She tried to join the Legion of Superheroes, hoping she could use their resources and position in society to raise herself and her friends from the destitution in which they were all drowning. All that did was put her on the Legion's radar, and in no time at all they shut her down and scattered her friends to the winds. She made the same mistake again, buying into Otaki's nonsense about improving her life and getting what she deserved, and all that did was get that stupid idealistic nasshead Otaki killed and very nearly get the Legion of Superheroes and Gia herself killed.

She'd given up after that. What was the point in wanting more? She was never going to have it. They hadn't even bothered putting power dampeners on her when they dumped her in this place. Gia knew she was lucky not to be in the ground or on the way to Takron-Galtos after what she'd done; as much as being in this place crushed her spirit, she was just going to let it happen. She'd never need her powers again because she was never again going to be--

"--Nightstone, right?"

Snapped out of her introspection, Gia sat up bolt upright and faced the door to her room. Ultra Boy leaned against the doorway, his arms folded across his chest. Those muscular forearms obscured much of the iconic symbol emblazoned across his chest, but Jo Nah's boy next door face was almost as famous on its own. "You got a nano, Nightstone?" Without waiting for an answer, Jo took a chair from its place by the wall opposite Gia's bed and straddled it so that he was facing her more or less on her own level.

"What do you want?" she asked more aggressively than she intended, her wide nose scrunching up in a small scowl.

"Tinya--", Jo course-corrected immediately, "--Phantom Girl asked me to come check up on you. I had a word with the staff here, they say you're fitting in good."

"I don't know why you care," Gia shrugged. "But don't worry about it...I'm not about to bury the place in a sinkhole or anything."

"If it's anything like any of the places I remember from Rimbor, I bet you're tempted sometimes though." He cast her a naughty smirk and Gia's lips couldn't help but mimic the expression.

"I'm not an idiot." Gia grabbed a pillow and hugged it close to herself, relaxing her guard a little. "I know I screwed up big time, Ultra Boy. And I know I'm getting off lucky, you guys didn't have to send me somewhere this nice. Don't get me wrong, I don't love it...but maybe I just don't care anymore. Nothing I try ever actually does anything but make things worse." She allowed herself a bitter laugh. "I've got the right power I guess, all I ever do is dig myself deeper."

"Yeah well...maybe that's because you've never had the right people backing you up, kid." Jo's gaze was not intrusive, but he refused to look away until she returned it with her own.

"What do you mean?" she asked, her big brown eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"I mean I got an offer for you, Nightstone. Don't get too excited, you're not getting a flight ring--"

"--I'm not joining your stupid school either," Gia interrupted him. "I told Otaki I wasn't cut out to be a superhero and I was right. If she listened to me she might still be alive now." A biting edge of guilt soured Gia's words.

"There's no shame in not being cut out to be a superhero." Ultra Boy sat up just enough to comfortably extricate an omnicom from where he'd tucked it into his belt. "Hardly anyone's cut out to be a superhero, and just between you and me...I think maybe the Legion don't really think through what that means. We wanna change that."

Gia's head tilted, her expression one of confusion.

"I'm gonna be real with you, Nightstone." Ultra Boy stood, grabbed the chair in his left hand and swung it back to where he'd taken it from. With his right hand, he threw his omnicom onto Gia's bed. "Phantom Girl wanted to come here herself, but I asked her to let me do it instead. Partially because I wanna know if you're the kinda person I feel comfortable with my girlfriend taking a risk on, but also partially because I know you're gonna think this is charity and I'm probably one of the few Legionnaires who get why you feel that. I'm here to tell you that it isn't. If I didn't think Tinya was right about you, I would have taken that omnicom and walked right out of here as soon as I knew you weren't causing these people any trouble."

"Why are you still here?" Gia challenged him. "If you're not here to make me a baby superhero, then what's this all about?"

"It's all on the omnicom," Jo nodded toward it. "You don't need me lookin' over your shoulder while you read it...I'm gonna go find out if the food here beats Delinquent Block Delta back home, you have a good read and let me know what you think when I get back."

Tentatively curious, Gia Markova picked up the omnicom from where it lay on her comforter.

"Remember what I said." Jo stopped at the doorway and turned back toward her. "This isn't charity, Nightstone. This is an opportunity for you and for other kids like you, but you're gonna have to work for it."

Jo Nah left the room, and Giavana Markova allowed her curiosity to take over...

**********

In one of many private seated areas set into the base of the beacon towering over Shanghalla, two Legionnaires sat with one of their most gifted students.

Dream Girl and Mysa Marvel sat on one side of a small table, Kid Quantum on the other. Under any other circumstances, Jazmin Cullen might feel a little cowed staring down one of the Legion's more intimidating members alongside one of their most powerful, but she was driven by purpose and she would let nothing stand in its way. "You said you'd tell me about Glorith," Jazmin demanded of Mysa, ignoring Dream Girl's icy glare. "So tell me."

"I will," Mysa Marvel agreed, nodding slightly. "But first of all, you need to know...everything I'm about to tell you happened when I was the Black Witch. I don't say this to exonerate myself of what I've done, but to better explain it. I contained not only Mordru's power, but also his dark influence."

"I'm sure whatever happened you did your best, Mysa." Nura Nal said encouragingly.

"I did," Mysa gave an apologetic smile. "But...don't give me a pardon till you've heard my story."

**********

XEROX
Some time ago...

The Black Witch stood atop the castle she'd forged for herself here on the Sorceror's World and felt absently at the space on her finger which until recently had been adorned with a golden flight ring.

It hadn't been long since she'd left the Legion of Superheroes, maybe she just needed time to adjust to her new role...but somehow Mysa Nal didn't feel that she would ever adjust to this. Leaning out across the stone parapets of her new home and prison, her matte black hair and the loose black sleeves covering her stark white flesh danced upon the chill breeze. There always seemed to be a chill breeze traversing Xerox these days, and as Mysa's gaze was attracted by distant rumbles above she saw the black clouds approaching which would bring the rain that also seemed to have become a permanent fixture here lately.

Though the cold visage of her face betrayed no emotion as she turned to head back into her castle, internally she couldn't help but feel disappointed. For all the power she now wielded, it seemed she couldn't express that in any pure sense; maybe there was nothing pure left of her anymore. Mysa had taken on the entire essence of Mordru the Merciless to save her teammates in the Legion of Superheroes and she'd known that would come with a great cost, but the cost was perhaps more than even she had bargained for. She could live like this for now, she could probably hang on for quite some time, but eventually...eventually that power would corrupt her completely, and Mysa shuddered to think who she might become on that day.

Walking down the spiral staircase which would lead her to the ground floor of the immense gloomy building, torches blazed to life ahead of their mistress to light Mysa's way. She told herself she had to focus on the good things. That had become something of a daily mantra in fact. She had renewed her acquaintance with the Khund sorceror Harlack, and he'd asked her to take him on as an apprentice. Mysa had been reluctant but Harlack was equally persistent, and the Black Witch wondered if maybe he was trying to help her as much as himself. She also had the Blue Lantern ring, the artifact of hope which Mordru had used to spark life into this new gathering place of magic in the wake of the destruction of Zerox. If even Mordru himself had been able to utilise the great and ancient power of that ring, surely there must be hope too for Mysa Nal.

The corners of her dark lips rose ever so minimally, the closest the Black Witch came to smiling these days. There was hope, she had tangible proof of that. Perhaps she would take Harlack up on his offer after all...

Just as the Black Witch had resolved to contact her Khund friend, a violet glow emanated from the huge wooden doors fronting her castle. With a sickly fizzling noise, the doors became so many splinters and then small blackened piles of rotting wood. A woman stood in place of the doors in an aggressive pose of power with one hip jutted out and her hands threading incantations in the air above her head. She had platinum blonde hair, a metallic one-piece bodysuit and white thigh high boots and opera gloves with a billowing cape to match. She was framed dramatically against the growing storm clouds outside, and even from the bottom of the stairwell with thirty feet of open space between them Mysa could feel the intensity of her power.

"Who are you?" Mysa barked. "How dare you disturb the sanctum of the Black Witch??"

"I am Glorith of Baaldur," the brazen intruder strode in as though she owned the place. "Don't trouble yourself to try and place the name, dear. I'm sure it won't mean anything to you...yet."

"Explain yourself!" The Black Witch gestured, and a swirling translucent field of crimson and black energies grew between the two women. "You have invaded my home and you have yet to convince me that you should survive that experience, Glorith of Baaldur!"

Glorith threw her head back and cackled. "Really, all this melodrama! I have every intention of explaining myself, I have manners after all." The stranger twirled her fingers, and a royal blue chaise lounge by one of the walls flew across the room to her side. Glorith summoned a few satin cushions from the air itself and reclined in luxury. "You don't mind if I make myself comfortable, I take it?"

"As it happens, I do mind." Mysa dispelled the defensive field she'd erected and in the next moment she'd transformed the lounge into primitive wooden stocks which held Glorith in place.

"Kinky!" Glorith winked. "I can work with this...so I'll make this easy, dear. I'm here to take your power for myself. I won't bore you with the details, but I have quite a grudge against a certain purple-robed villain you may have become acquainted with during your time in the Legion of Superheroes. I have been biding my time and learning as much as I can about the dark arts for a very long time so that I could take my revenge upon him, and I had planned on stealing the power of Mordru the Merciless to help with that goal."

"Purple-robed..." The Black Witch's glowering eyes narrowed. "You refer to--"

"We both know exactly who I'm referring to," Glorith cut her off sharply before her tone became playful again, "But let's not tempt the devil to appear by naming him, hmmm? I doubt you want to face him any more than I do."

The Black Witch felt a dark rage building inside of her as she saw where this was going. "None of this explains why you're here right now, Glorith of Baaldur. Mordru is dead, he cannot help you now."

"That's not exactly true, is it?" Glorith taunted Mysa. "You see, on occasion I like to cast my modest little scrying spells to spy on Mordru, and when I most recently did this I didn't find him...but I did find you. So while it may be true that Mordru no longer exists in any tangible sense I think we can both agree that his power can still help me, Black Witch." Glorith glowed incandescent with occult power and burst out of the stocks as easily as Mordru himself might have done.

"If it is a fight that you desire--" Mysa began.

"Not a fight, dear." Glorith's hands circled one another and a beam of deep violet energy slammed Mysa back into her own castle, bouncing her off of a wall with a painful thud. "I just want you dead."

"Your clumsy assault has not ended me, so I suppose a fight it will be." The Black Witch's voice became more throaty, raw with threatening intent. She performed her own elaborate gesture, and the stones around them began to sweat. Soon the stones glowed red hot, and the ground beneath Glorith turned to steaming liquid magma.

"You'll have to do better than that," Glorith laughed lightly, levitating above the molten pool now surrounding her in every direction for nearly a dozen feet. She began to bring her own counter-measure to bear, but paused when she saw the determined glare on Mysa's face.

"I already have," the Black Witch replied in a gutteral tone.

Charred skeletal arms reached out of the viscous deathtrap and latched onto Glorith's feet and her cape. Having saved herself from the magma itself, Glorith never expected another attack from that same quarter and she had let her guard down. Now, being pulled down into the bubbling hot pool, she realised her mistake. She ignored the searing pain of the bony hands which branded her flesh through her boots and called on her mastery of magic. Through gritted teeth, Glorith muttered an incantation and the undead arms grew cold and froze in place along with the pool from which they'd emerged. Ice crystals covered everything in contact with Glorith, and she found herself having to stop to take a breath to centre herself.

The Black Witch never gave her that chance. Mysa's toes stretched downward as she levitated across the floor, and she was soon upon Glorith. "One way or another," the Black Witch croaked, "You will answer my questions, woman." With that, she drew her hand back and formed a fist. She plunged that fist toward Glorith's head, and a painfully bright dagger of light appeared like some fantastic claw from Mysa's hand. Intangible, the blade penetrated Glorith's forehead and both women screamed.

They were only connected for a moment, but in that moment Mysa Nal experienced far more than she had counted on. Mysa's mind dagger peeled away the layers of Glorith's memories, revealing to Mysa an ambitious young woman born countless centuries in the future who'd seduced, manipulated and forced her way to power over her home galaxy. That woman had come to the attention of the Time Trapper, and for reasons known only to himself he'd recruited Glorith of Baaldur to be his lackey. With her aid he had almost destroyed the Legion of Superheroes, and then for her failure to complete the task he had devolved Glorith of Baaldur into a blob of protoplasmic slime.

Glorith of Baaldur's story should have ended there, but it had not. Anticipating the Time Trapper's betrayal, Glorith had sacrificed a hundred children and kept their souls entrapped so that she could exchange their lifeforce for hers if she ever died at the Trapper's hands. Fortunately for her, devolution to a mindless sludge counted as much the same thing and though it took several months of mystical restoration Glorith was eventually her old self. Already an accomplished sorceress, she knew she had to be more than that. She had to be the Time Trapper's superior, because from now on the only thing that mattered to her was destroying the Time Trapper utterly and possessing every spark of power which was his to possess.

Glorith had spent the years since then methodically analysing every possible threat against her, plotting against those threats, and building the power to make those threats extinct. Against every instinct she had, she'd remained in hiding and she had bidden her time until she was prepared to act. She'd come to the conclusion that the Legion of Superheroes and Mordru the Merciless were her only real rivals. The Legion of Superheroes could be manipulated easily enough to fill any role she imagined for them...that only left Mordru.

Mordru was the one that Glorith knew beyond any shadow of a doubt she'd have to be ready for before she confronted him. It had taken her years to get to that point, but then she'd sent out her occult eye and found that Mordru was no longer a threat at all....Mordru was no longer a threat because some neophyte witch had stolen his power for herself, and Glorith of Baaldur wasn't afraid of some neophyte witch.

The deluge of memory ended with Glorith tearing down the door to Mysa's castle, and back in the physical world the Black Witch stumbled backwards with a shocked gasp.

As Glorith had prepared against the Time Trapper so long ago, she'd prepared against this intrusion as well. Knowing that any psionic or occult power capable of penetrating her defences was not one whose impact she could minimise, Glorith had decided to make any intruder pay in the most wicked way possible; she made damn sure that all the emotions accompanying those memories would be transmitted as cleanly and loudly as possible. Right now Mysa Nal was being drowned in a wave of pride, shame, fear, lust, wrath, sorrow, and any and all emotions which ran between those extremes. Even for someone so disciplined as the Black Witch, it was an onslaught which needed time to process.

Glorith of Baaldur resolved that the Black Witch would not have that time. Swiftly steadying herself, Glorith stood over the embattled Black Witch. She took a deep breath, then breathed the first component of the incantation which would give her Mysa Nal's power.

"Aufero...Magus...Infusco."

The Black Witch dropped to one knee. She had finally conquered the emotional tsunami which accompanied Glorith's memories, but she needed more time to prepare for this assault against her very power. "Glorith...stop! You don't understand the burden of this power--"

"Aufero Magus Infusco," Glorith repeated, already feeling more invigorated.

More power flowed between them, and Mysa Nal knew that she would need to kill this woman to stop her. But in doing so, she would doom herself just as surely.

"Aufero--" Glorith began.

Mysa struggled against the dark need growing inside of her, the desperate need to retain her power at all costs. She tried to tell herself that she was afraid of what Glorith would do with this power and in truth she was afraid, but there was outrage there as well.

"--Magus--"

Mysa Nal grew cold with the understanding that there was nothing good in Glorith of Baaldur....there was nothing worth saving at all. Before bold Glorith could unravel her completely, the Black Witch called on her last reserves to summon a bolt of obsidian eldritch energy and Glorith was slammed back into a full length mirror hanging upon one of the castle's walls.

The glass shattered and Glorith collapsed groaning, and as Mysa made her way over to fulfil her fearsome revenge she saw a multitude of Black Witches reflected back at her. Mysa raised her hand in a murderous gesture, but seeing her own reflection she couldn't help but pause. Was this who she'd become? Already??

Slowly clambering to her feet, Glorith laughed though she was streaked with bloody cuts and grazes. "You can't do it," she taunted Mysa. "You think you're this irredeemable evil, but there's no version of you that knows what irredeemable is."

Mysa now saw Glorith herself reflected in the countless shards of the mirror, and that birthed in her an idea. "Perhaps I do not know what it is to be innately irredeemable," the Black Witch agreed with her enemy. "But perhaps that is not the weakness that you think it is."

Mysa hurriedly cast another spell and Glorith was suddenly surrounded in a dazzling fountain of rainbow-hued light. Each individual shard of the broken mirror was radiant with its own color, each shard reflecting a Glorith from one of the many other universes sharing their existence alongside this one. Glorith's words had made Mysa realise that somewhere out there in a multiverse of possibility, there must be a version of Glorith who did know redemption. For the sake of her own soul, Mysa knew that there must be a version of Glorith who deserved to be spared...because if there wasn't? If the multiverse only knew Glorith of Baaldur as a paragon of evil, then the Black Witch had no reason not to kill her and then what would that do to Mysa..?

There was a brunette Glorith, a male Glorith, a Hykraian Glorith, a cat-woman Glorith and a serpent Glorith...there were so many wildly variant Gloriths out there but every single one of them was utterly corrupt to the core...and then, just as all hope was lost, Mysa Nal came across the visage of a young dark-skinned girl with silver face markings whose innocence and altruistic nature was as bright as the sun itself.

The Black Witch had intended to transpose the best parts of that Glorith with this blonde bombshell before her. Mysa's assailant had recovered enough to resume her own assault though, and as the power hungry Glorith of Baaldur resumed the spell which would transfer the power of the Black Witch to herself the meeting of occult energies caused a conflagration which tore the castle apart entirely.

The Black Witch was buried beneath tons of stone and dirt, and Glorith of Baaldur..?

**********

"Glorith...the evil Glorith...grossly upset my spell," Mysa Marvel finished narrating her story to Dream Girl and Kid Quantum sadly on Shanghalla.

"She was only meant to have been exposed to her counterpart's nobility, her potential for good...but instead the two physically traded places. The Glorith who tried to steal my power was sent to some other universe, somewhere out there in a cosmos beyond our own...and an unsuspecting teenager was brought to ours. The experience was too jarring for someone as inexperienced as that young Glorith, and it took her memory from her. I took her under my wing for as long as it was helpful to her, then I asked the Legion to help her fill her enormous potential in a way that I knew I was too broken to be able to do myself."

"And then," Kid Quantum put two and two together, "When Mordru attacked us with his Shadow Demons and you realised this evil Glorith was more useful to you than the kid you dragged into our lives in the first place, you just swapped them right back again."

"I did that to keep us alive," Mysa tried to explain. "After poor Harlack--"

"You did that to keep you alive," Jazmin interrupted harshly. "And it worked, congratulations. Sprock only knows what world you've sent my friend back to after that witch has been there all this time but hey, you came out of it all unscathed...right?"

"Jazmin--" Dream Girl began.

"Thank you for everything you've done for me, Dream Girl." Jazmin was polite, but the anger in her voice was barely restrained. "You and the rest of the Legion of Superheroes. I really do appreciate it, but I'm not going back to any place that values her--" she looked with distaste toward Mysa "--over the safety of girls like Glorith. I called Monstress and Insect Queen while you two were in stasis earlier, they should be nearly here by now. I'm going to go wait for them somewhere the air's a little cleaner."

With that, Jazmin Cullen pushed herself away from the table and calmly walked away from her short but significant life with the Legion of Superheroes.

**********

In a luxurious hotel light years away, the golden heroine known as Comet Queen walked somberly upon plush carpet and ignored her reflection in the many mirrors that lined the hotel walls. Grava's normal way of getting from one point to another was to fly at great speed, leaving a sparkling trail of gases in her wake...she didn't feel very elevated lately though.

Nightwind had asked her to come out to lunch with herself and Supergirl, and Comet Queen was wracked with guilt for having declined. Berta Skye Haris and Laurel Kent were Grava's best friends and Grava knew that Laurel needed her friends after what that nasty Mordru had put her through, but Grava just didn't have it in her to be everyone's cheerleader right now.

A high-pitched squeal snapped her out of her introspection, and Grava looked across to see a young girl accompanied by her mother in a nearby turbolift. The girl's t-shirt was emblazoned with Comet Queen's distinctive emblem, and as soon as she'd caught sight of the Legionnaire the girl was buzzing with glee (to her mother's mild embarassment).

"Stay shiny, baby comet!" Comet Queen flashed her a dazzling smile, waving frantically to her little fan as the closing turbolift door hid her from view once more. Only once the child was safely out of sight did Grava take a trembling breath and wipe tears from her eyes with the back of her three-fingered hands. She caught sight of the polished wooden ring on one of those golden fingers and steadied herself. "Come on starshine, keep your orbit stable...you're not the only one all breaking up on re-entry."

She looked herself over in one of the hotel's ubiquitous mirrors for the first time and was startled at what she saw. Grava had always been a thin girl but her cheeks were more prominent now, her glowing eyes seemed more sunken in her metallic skull. Somehow, impossibly, she seemed less gleaming. Making a concerted effort to pull herself together, Grava stood up straight and placed her hand over the biosensor pad by the door of her hotel room. As the door slid into its recess, she called out with false gaiety. "Whoosh! Comet express comin' through, starshine! Hope you're ready for a meteor shower worth of smooches!"

She entered the dimly lit room and her heart sank. Her husband had obviously been in here all morning, the housekeeping droids hadn't done their job and the suite was a mess. Empty drink vessels sat upon tables and benchtops, and confectionery wrappers were littered throughout the room. Curled up in their spacious bed with several large pillows cushioning him, an unshaven Ral Benem sat eating ice cream straight out of the tub while he watched a magnoball tournament projected over the bed. He reacted almost as though he were out of sync with the rest of the world, turning to Grava well after the door had closed behind her. "...Oh. Hi, Grava."

"I thought you hated magnoball!" Grava hoped her laughter didn't sound forced. "The sound's not even on, Chlory!" She pounced onto the enormous bed and sidled up alongside him, kissing him only once on the cheek.

"Huh..?" He seemed to have only just realised the room had been silent before his wife's entry. "Oh, right...yeah, I had to mute the sound to call room service and I guess I just forgot to put it back on again." He heaped another spoonful of ice cream into his mouth and activated the holocast's sound again.

Comet Queen frowned for a moment, then scrambled to sit cross-legged on the bed opposite Ral. "Chlory...starshine, I'm worried about you. You know I'd be parsed to the C-span if you became a round little puffball planet for me, but I know you don't like it...all you've done is sit in here and eat since Phantom Girl got us this nice hotel room and I...I don't think it's good for you, are you receiving my signal?"

"It doesn't matter," Ral shrugged. "What does any of it matter now that Ivy's gone? You don't have to stay here with me if you don't want, Grava...what's wrong with me is more than you can fix so you might as well just leave me alone. Just go, alright?"

Grava flinched. She'd never heard this kind of bitterness in Ral's voice; she knew that he was sad, because she was sad too. Until now though, she didn't even think he had it in him to push her away like this. Cowed, she untangled her long legs and climbed back off the bed. Her head bowed in defeat, Grava slumped away toward the door...and then she stopped.

"Holocast off," she said simply.

The game switched off obediently and some life finally came into Ral's eyes as he looked up at his wife standing defiantly before him at the foot of the bed. "Grava, what are you..?"

"No." She folded her arms across her flat chest and met his gaze. "No, I won't just leave you alone."

"Grava--"

"Do you remember that time when I bounced off on my own little flight path through the big scary universe and you found me on the stairs crying over my shiny little shuttle?" Grava interrupted him. "I was sad because I thought I was alone and I thought nobody cared about rogue planets like me and Quislet and I thought...I thought we weren't important." Tears came to her eyes once more and her voice faltered, but she continued. "But then you found me and you made me believe that we can be important and...and people do care about us, and I loved you for that! And I still love you, Chlory! And...and you're important to me and Ivy's important to me and instead of just sitting here being...being sad, let's just go get her back!"

"Grava...Grava, she tried to k-kill me." Ral Benem's eyes welled with tears now as well. "My own d-daughter tried to k-kill me."

"So what??" Grava threw her arms out to her side in exasperation. "That's like the third or fourth time she's tried to kill you! Do you know how many people wanna spin me into the nearest black hole?! Chlory, she's our little sprout and we're both gonna be in terminal orbit until we get her back!" Her emotions finally overcame her and Grava began openly crying.

Ral put his tub of ice cream aside and shuffled his way up the length of the bed until he was by Grava's side. Without standing up, he hugged her close to himself and felt her nuzzle her crying face into his shoulder. "You're crazy, you know that right?" he smiled despite himself.

"And you're mean," she sniffled. "You made me talk like a normal person. Definitely not hypernova gleaming."

Ral looked up with a curious half-smirk. "Grava, is that what you think normal people sound like?"

Both of them giggled, shattering any remaining tension.

"So...how are we gonna do this?" Ral asked, still holding Grava close. "Have you got a plan?"

Grava shrugged, and gave her husband the first natural smile she'd had for a while now. "Plans aren't really one of my quantum particles, starshine. We'll figure that out after take-off.

...But let's go find our little sprout."

**********

EDITOR'S NOTES:
* It's probably clear from context, but Mysa's flashback takes place just after she'd absorbed Mordru in Legion of Three Worlds and left the Legion of Superheroes

* Comet Queen's first really significant interaction with Chlorophyll Kid happened when he stumbled across her crying on her own because nobody else in the team would take her seriously when she was worried about Quislet, and he stood up for the two of them. If anyone wants a refresher, that can be found here - http://www.legionworld.net/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=876542#Post876542

yay! another installment!

nice homage to Terra, with Nighstone's surname. I like that she's actually reflecting and taking responsibility for her bad choices.

heh re Jo having a boy-next-door face but muscly forearms... some guys just have it all! and him coming from Rimbor, he's the perfect choice to reach out to Nightstone. And he positioned it very well: this is an opportunity that you will have to earn, not a handout. that's the right way! I bet Nightstone will say yes and she deserves a shot! (she also has a great powerset, shame to waste it). also like the bit that not everyone is cut out to be a hero...

hah! at Nura being one of the most intimidating Legionnaires, that is very true...

good reminder re Mysa was not quite herself as the Black Witch...

lol at the banter between Mysa and Glorith

also interesting about that bit, where Glorith hates Mordru but goes "I doubt you want to face him any more than I do." a testament to Mordru's evil and power...

also like how Mysa used smarter tactics to take on Glorith. great way to link her to THE Glorith who deaged Legionnaires to protoplasm some time back... and also explaining why Mordru was a target. whew. so many years of lying in wait...

wow! smart of Glorith to build such a counter-stroke in with her memories!

oh! an exchange... so our good Glorith is still out there somewhere. smart having them be from different realities.

whew at Jazmin's righteous anger, and I cannot say she's wrong... brilliant to mirror the Reboot, with her going to Xanthu and the Amazers! Jazmin raises a very good point: evil Glorith was still evil wherever she ended up... goodness.

will we ever see our good Glorith again?

poor Grava. but yeah, she needs to take care of herself too before helping Laurel... aw, poor Grava, being all bubbly and cheerful for everyone.

oh gosh, ppoor Ral...

oh my gosh, that was brilliant. Grava like, just put her finger on the problem - we want Ivy back. Let's go get her back! and yeah, talking like a normal personl, this will go down in history!

another awesome set of scenes, Raz! nice movement forward for a lot of our key players, whoop whoop!

Wow, that was quick! Thanks IB!

Yay for picking up on the Terra homage...I was originally gonna just make Nightstone's surname Markov, but I thought it might be a bit on the nose - this way leaves it open that it could just be a coincidence

Right up until I actually typed out the Nightstone scene I had Phantom Girl being the one to approach her, and then it just struck me for the exact reason you pointed out that Jo would be so much better. Whether Tinya let him take over just to be a big macho man or whether she realised the same thing I will leave open to interpretation lol


OMG I feel bad about this - that whole bit was referring to the Time Trapper; the idea is that bad Glorith has been biding her time so she can eliminate Mordru (or steal his power) at the right opportunity to have a chance against the Time Trapper - I thought I was being really clever calling the Trapper the purple-robed one, but it didn't even occur to me Mordru wears purple as well...sorry!!

I am actually really happy with that Grava and Ral bit - for some reason they always surprise me in a good way

ooph yeah now I realize both Mordru and the Time Trapper are purple-y lol!

Grava and Ral are a new fave couple of mine

I am eager to see more of Nightstone as well, and to hopefully see her interact with more Legionnaires (esp. Berta and Tel lol)! no pressure though

Thanks for the reminder Raz, appreciated.


Giavana Markova - a descendant of Terra perhaps? Interesting that Jo is the Legionnaire that visits her, nice that he can relate to her situation and talk the talk with her, Tinya wouldn't have managed to get that connection no matter how nice she can be.

"I'm gonna go find out if the food here beats Delinquent Block Delta back home - great line o highlight Jo's chequered past. I'm intriqued to find out what the offer is...

I really dig your Mysa influencing the weather around her subconsciously and her general melancholy. Glorith's dry humour, even when in stocks showed how little she thought of Mysa, it comes across like a cat playing with it's prey. Glorith's past was as horrid as I imagined - sacrificing a hundred children, that's seriously not good. Mysa's solution wasn't the best but desperate measures were needed, and it explained why Good Glorith was like she was. Hopefully you'll bring her back in some form.

Jazmin's reaction, "You did that to keep you alive," is tue on some level but Mysa did also stop Evil G from being around to tackle the Trapper and then who knows what she would do? You know it wouldn't involve puppies and rainbows anyway

Grava and Ral's scene was great! Poor Ral is really in a slump there, it's good that he has someone as pathologically positive as Grava to help. I'm excited to see where you take them as you handle the 'lesser' characters so well I know it'll be great.

This was great fun again Raz, as always, I get to the end and want more, more, more!