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

Raz, hi,

Your try out has everything we've come to hope for: action, humour, wacky kids thinking their ghastly abilities could somehow help, new members and old faces.

The try out potentials were fun and the line "shook her fist as menacingly as someone in a rainbow-streaked bodysuit could manage" made me laugh out loud.

Poor Ivy, every time she shows up she creates havoc. Hopefully the team'll realised that all they need is an iphone and a bottle of warm milk and not resort to Brainy's PRAM... though poor Otaki, getting her life force sucked out couldn't have been pleasant.

Endurance Girl, Weapons Lad, et al - the Silver Age has a lot to answer for doesn't it when it comes to silly names and power sets, though I totally loved them all.

Strut may be my new favourite of your characters Raz, almost every line was a beaut. King Canary is also a lot of fun and I love that he has a gruff voice, it just adds a delightful layer of absurd to him.

The four newest members of the team all acted professionally, more so than Tinya who forgot what her power is!

Looking forward to seeing hat Alek will do next.

More, more, more and much more!

C

Okay, she's not perfect but I'm very happy to see Tinya redeemed as leader! And for Gravity Kid to at last make into the Legion (or another Legion).

Love the try-outs, the hopeless and the promising ones.

The new Legionnaires are a good mix and I bet Strut and Comet Queen will get on. Strut's over the top speech-wise but has a very effective power. King Canary - funny addition to the crew. (Descendent of Tweety?) The newbies sure had a trial by fire and demonstrated all the courage and calm that a Legionnaire needs.

Nightstone is a great name, so I hope we see her again.

Harbi and FC, thanks for your comments! I'll try and respond to a few specific things y'all raised



Glad you liked it! The hokey parts of the old Legion comics are some of my favourite bits which is probably obvious by now...some of those kids will no doubt pop up again for better, worse or embarassing



This made me LOL....you're not wrong though, they need a good babysitter more than dimensional constraints I don't think I can milk Ivy's situation too much longer so that'll come to a head soonish, and Otaki is gonna pop up again soon as well. FC mentioned Nightstone as well, and she's in the wings for a little way down the track too!



haha poor Tinya...this is what happens when you got a team of millenials who fall apart as soon as the tech don't work no more

Strut is so fun to write...I got a feeling he is gonna be a scene-stealer, and I am looking forward to seeing how King Canary interacts with some of the others too.



Admittedly, Tinya's lapse in judgement was more plot-induced than character-induced, but I kinda like the idea of someone not being perfect right off the bat...she is gonna have a lot of chances to redeem herself in the next story anyway! I really like Gravity Kid, but I wanted to hold off on putting him on the team till I had a different angle, which I think I do now; hopefully that will come out in the next story as well.

It's funny that you mention Tweety, Klar made the same connection and I can't believe that I honestly never even considered it until you guys brought it up but it cracks me up now hahaha

Also trial by fire is a good way to put it, though once you see what they're gonna have to face next it might be a case of jumping out of the fire and into the powersphere

The absurdity of Strut and King Canary's manners of speaking is hilarious. And yay, Crystal Kid is finally a Legionnaire! Perhaps because of my love of underdogs, or my inherent contrariness, I've always thought he was a great unrecognized background character!

Cool to also see the Swamp Thing / Anton Arcane ties slowly coming together, too. And Nightstone, intriguing! An earth or stone-controller, like Terra (or Elysion) is another thing the Legion has never really had (although there's no reason for them to have one of *everything,* got to same some unique powersets for the villains, so it's not always the Legion vs. their equal and opposite counterparts!).

Agreed on Crystal Kid - but then again I thought Kole and Crystar were pretty cool too so I dunno, maybe I've just got a thing for crystal people haha

I feel like Strut and King Canary are gonna be fun to write - I just need to get them on a squad with Elastic Lad, Quislet and Comet Queen now for maximum nuisance value

MARS
Husband Hill, Legion of Superheroes Headquarters

ROLL CALL
Chlorophyll Kid aka Ral Benem: chlorokinesis
Color Kid aka Ulu Vakk: color manipulation
Colossal Boy aka Gim Allon: growth powers
Comet Queen aka Grava: flight, gas generation
Cosmic Boy aka Rokk Krinn: magnetism
Crystal Kid aka Bobb Cohan: crystal construct creation
Diamond Damsel aka Iris Jacobs: living diamond
Dream Girl aka Nura Nal: Naltorian precognition
Elastic Lad aka Jams-Ols 5: super-elongation
Firecrest aka Staq Mavlen: weredragon
Gravity Kid aka Tel Vole: gravity manipulation
Infectious Lass aka Drura Sehpt: disease transmission and immunity
Invisible Kid II aka Jacques Foccart: invisibility
Kid Computo aka Danielle Foccart: cyberempathy
King Canary aka K'rk T'wiiu III: sonic generation
Light Lad aka Darvan Locke: gravity negation
Lightning Lass aka Ayla Ranzz: electricity generation and manipulation
Matter-Eater Lad aka Tenzil Kem: can eat inorganic matter in all its forms
Mon-El aka Lar Gand: Daxamite physiology
Neon II aka Zoe Saugin: infused with Green Lantern energy
Night Girl aka Lydda Jath Krinn: photosensitive super-strength
Nightwind aka Berta Skye Haris: deputy leader, wind control
Phantom Girl aka Tinya Wazzo: leader, intangibility
Polar Boy aka Brek Bannin: cryokinesis
Shadow Lass aka Tasmia Mallor: darkness generation
Star Boy aka Thom Kallor: celestial mass-transference
Stone Boy aka Dag Wentim: ability to transmute to living stone
Strut: electrochemical perceptions, insectoid physiology
Supergirl II aka Laurel Kent: invulnerability
Tellus aka Ganglios: telepathy and telekinesis
Timber Wolf aka Brin Londo: super-strength and super-agility
Ultra Boy aka Jo Nah: ultra-energy which can be directed into any one of strength, speed, flight, invulnerability, flash vision, penetra-vision at a time

Through a viewing window in the Legion of Superheroes’ multilab, Tinya Wazzo watched the young woman named Otaki sleeping restlessly. Otaki looked years older than her actual age, a remnant of her confrontation with Ivy Arcane earlier that day. Phantom Girl looked up at the legendary Daxamite hero Mon-El standing by her side. “She still hasn’t woken up, Mon?”

The two had been friends for years, and Mon-El didn’t bother to sugarcoat his answer. “I’m afraid not, Tinya. There’s nothing physically wrong with her aside from the fact that she seems to have aged several decades impossibly quickly, but that in itself is obviously an ordeal. I’ve asked Tellus to assist with a telepathic scan once the meeting’s over this afternoon.”

“Speaking of which, we’d better get going.” Phantom Girl turned away from their patient, confident that the multilab’s automated systems would alert her to any change in Otaki’s condition. “It wouldn’t look very good for the Legion’s newest leader to be late for her first meeting, especially when we’re inducting four new recruits today.” As the two walked through the lab, Tinya consulted an omnicom in her palm. “I’m certainly not getting an easy transition...we’ve been deluged with enquiries from the Martian authorities, the SP and the media since Ivy’s power flared up earlier today, I still need to decide what we’re going to do with her as a long-term solution, Quislet hasn’t come back from Teall yet since his ship was destroyed, Element Lad’s team hasn’t had any luck helping that Dalman hero Dogstar with his mission, I haven’t had a chance to catch up on Cham’s report from Lallor yet...there’s so much to keep track of!”

“You’ll do fine,” Mon-El smiled warmly. “Besides, Jo and I are both here if you need help with anything - we’ve both been where you are. Personally though, I don’t think we could be in any more capable hands.”

“You’re sweet,” Tinya returned his smile. “Thanks, Mon.” The pair continued making light conversation, and soon they were outside the large meeting room set aside for the infrequent occasions that a majority of the team’s roster gathered in one place. “Okay,” Tinya took a deep breath. “Let’s do this!” The automatic door recognised the two of them and opened to grant them access, and Phantom Girl and Mon-El walked in to greet a room full of their fellow heroes.

While Mon-El made his way to the side of his lover Shadow Lass, Phantom Girl approached the front of the packed room. Crystal Kid, Gravity Kid, Strut and King Canary sat to one side in their own grouping and as Phantom Girl took centre stage she beckoned for the quartet to join her. “If I could have everyone’s attention?” Phantom Girl raised her voice and the busy chatter slowly ceased. “We have a few things to discuss today, but first of all I’d like to thank everyone for the vote of confidence in myself and Nightwind as your leaders.” Nightwind stood briefly, and everyone gave polite applause to the two women.

“More importantly,” Phantom Girl continued, “I want to give a warm welcome to our newest Legionnaires; these four boys were invaluable today, and they showed us what they’re all capable of more than they ever could in any tryout. So let’s give them a real Legion welcome!”

The room erupted into more raucous applause, but just as quickly as it began it was interrupted when a pink-skinned woman appeared in the centre of the room, wisps of perfume-scented smoke dissipating into the air around her. Her long hair was magenta, and she wore a highly revealing shiny black outfit with a headpiece to match. A transparent veil which covered the lower part of her face was attached to her headpiece, and a long piece of similarly transparent material dangled between her bare thighs. “Legion of Superheroes!” the stunning stranger gasped in heavily accented Interlac. “I am Veilmist and I plead your mercy!” She was closer to Phantom Girl and the new recruits than any of the other heroes, and she staggered weakly toward them now on five inch stiletto heels.

“Hey there, it’s okay!” Crystal Kid leaped forward to offer her a hand, and she leaned on him as he came closer.

“Well, this is certainly the excitement I was hoping for when I travelled to this dusty planet!” the insectoid Strut remarked.

“You said your name was Veilmist?” Phantom Girl asked, approaching the stranger while the new Legionnaires drew closer. “I’m Phantom Girl, I’m the leader of the Legion. Do you need medical attention?”

Before the pink-skinned woman could respond, the room shook with a violent boom. “No!” Veilmist cried out in fear. “How could they have found me so swiftly?”

“Calm down, kid.” King Canary fluttered around her head in a circle. “There’s like a hundred of the galaxy’s most famous heroes here,” the gruff little bird exaggerated. “Nothin’ to be scared of - right, boss lady?”

Some of the other Legionnaires had already moved to investigate the racket, so the team wasn’t entirely unprepared when one of the room’s walls exploded inward. While Tellus and Cosmic Boy used their respective powers to minimise the destruction, some of the more durable Legionnaires moved to shield their less fortunate comrades from debris. “Khunds?!” Kid Computo exclaimed, the base’s security systems already having identified the intruders. “What the sprock--?”

As the dust settled, the rest of the Legion saw for themselves the heavily armed platoon of pink and yellow-skinned warriors who’d broken into their home. Many of them bore cybernetic enhancements, and five in particular wore individual costumes which made them stand out among their brethren. Some of the Legionnaires recognised the hulking brute Bloodclaw from a previous encounter on the Khund homeworld some time back; perched on a protruding plasteel beam just above and behind Bloodclaw was a man covered entirely from head to toe in a black and blue bodysuit, bright red goggles hiding his eyes and a raised triangle adornment on his mask which gave him the impression of having a bat’s pushed up nose. A third man’s face was obscured by a simple metallic mask with concentric rings adorning the torso of his blue bodysuit, and by his side stood the only woman in the attacking group. Her skin was closer to red than pink and her long auburn hair was so dark it was almost black. Wearing an anachronistic chain mail outfit and a cloak with intricate embroidery along its hem, she seemed more out of place here than her comrades. In her right fist she clutched an ornate dagger with a large ruby embedded in its hilt. Taking the lead was an imposing Khundish man with pale pink skin and a neatly trimmed dark brown beard. One of his eyes had been replaced by a red optical sensor, and cybernetic armour covered a third of his head and his entire body from the neck down. He raised one arm now to point at Veilmist, and highly advanced firearms whirred and clicked into position obscuring his hand. “Legion of Superheroes!” he announced. “I am Firefist of the Khund Empire, and Veilmist is my property! You will return her at once; any dissension will be interpreted as a declaration of war!”

While Gravity Kid and Crystal Kid stepped in front of the terrified Khund woman, Phantom Girl moved to address Firefist. Before she could even get a word out however, she vanished along with the Legion’s four new recruits and Veilmist herself, only stray wisps of colored smoke floating where they had been.

“Tinya!” Ultra Boy peered desperately around the room with his penetra-vision. “She’s not anywhere in the building, where did she go?!”

“Feigned ignorance will not help you or your comrades, Legionnaire. I see you have made your choice.” Firefist swung his arm around to target Jo Nah and fired a volley of plasma bolts.

“Head in the game, Jo!” Mon-El dived in front of the lethal discharge of enemy, realising that his friend hadn’t shifted his ultra energy to be able to protect himself. “I promise you we’ll find Phantom Girl and the others, but we’ve got more immediate concerns right now!” With that, the room erupted into chaos as the Khunds followed Firefist into action.

Switching to invulnerability, Ultra Boy flew straight through a barrage of energy blasts and knocked Firefist off of his feet. “Pal, you’ve got exactly two seconds to tell me where those Legionnaires are or the rest of your face is gonna need to be replaced as well!” He raised a fist above the fallen fighter to illustrate his threat.

“Cease this foolish charade,” Firefist spat. “Do you think I’d have assaulted you in your home without taking the effort to research your team, Ultra Boy? I know you can only use one power at a time, and an indestructible but otherwise completely ordinary Rimborian is no threat to one of the greatest warriors the Khund Empire has ever produced! Now surrender my property before we kill every Legionnaire in this room.” He smashed his weapon-laden hand against Jo’s head, and while it did no damage it succeeded in knocking him off-balance. A moment later, Firefist had regained his footing and the two men circled one another warily.

“First of all, you’ve got way too high an opinion of yourself,” a new voice sounded. Firefist convulsed dramatically as electricity arced all over his body, and groggily he turned to see Lightning Lass standing beside him. “Secondly, I don’t know anything about that woman but I’m not wild about you referring to her as your property, jerkwit.” Ayla fired once more, and this time the Khund grunted in pain through his gritted teeth. He remained standing through sheer stubbornness, and raised his smoking weapon toward Ayla. Ultra Boy saw his opening, switched his ultra energy into strength and delivered an uppercut that knocked Firefist out before he’d even hit the floor.

“Thanks for the assist,” Ultra Boy addressed Lightning Lass once he was confident that Firefist was no longer a threat.

“Any time,” Ayla winked. “Let’s finish off the rest of these losers and go find your girlfriend, huh?”

**********

“This sucks!” Nightwind complained as she ducked down behind Supergirl, allowing the indestructible teen to shield her from stray weapons fire. “This is my first chance to show I can lead, and I can’t even use my stupid powers in this crowded room!”

“We’ve all got our own sstrengthss,” Firecrest hissed as he transformed into his weredragon form. “Don’t beat yoursself up, Nightw--aarghh!! Before Staq Mavlen had a chance to inflict his flame breath upon the Khund invaders, a plasma blast took him down.

“That’s enough of that,” Chlorophyll Kid declared sternly, growing a dense Zwennite stonebark tree to protect Firecrest from further damage while he reinforced his own wooden armour at the same time. “I probably should thank you creeps actually,” he continued toward the nearest grouping of Khund soldiers as he threw a handful of seeds in their direction, “I haven’t really had much of a chance to cut loose since my powers were upgraded.” Gnarled wooden trunks grew around four of the Khunds, becoming instantly entwined with their limbs and immobilising them.

“If you two are okay here, I think I see somewhere else I might be useful,” Supergirl said to Chlorophyll Kid and Nightwind before wading into more heavy weapons fire nearby. Laurel could see that Polar Boy, Light Lad and Matter-Eater Lad were huddled down behind an ice wall, but it was requiring Polar Boy’s constant attention against five Khund soldiers and she could see that it was bound to give sooner rather than later. “Hi there,” Laurel greeted one of the Khunds cheerily. “Gonna have to ask you to stop trying to kill my teammates, sorry.”

The bald man was twice her size, and stared at her in baffled shock as this slight girl stood directly in the path of the ion cannon that had replaced his left hand. “Demon Mother, why won’t you fall?!” he cursed, increasing the energy output.

Laurel simply rolled her eyes and placed her hand directly over the ion cannon. “Because I’m Supergirl, duh.” The Khund fired again but with Laurel’s palm blocking his weapon the energy fed back into his own systems and blew half of his artificial arm to shreds, knocking him out in the process.

A physical projectile glanced off of Supergirl’s temple, and her head jerked violently to one side. “Hey!” she bellowed at the Khund who’d fired. “Don’t touch the hair!”

“I thought the Khunds had a warrior culture,” Stone Boy entered the scene, crushing the yellow fighter’s gun in one petrified hand while he launched his other fist into the man’s solar plexus. “You people seem a little too happy to be attacking an unarmed teenage girl if you ask me.”

Timber Wolf appeared in a flurry of motion and targeted the remaining three Khunds still focused on tearing Polar Boy’s ice wall down. “That noble warrior crap is just what they sell themselves so they don’t have to feel bad about what they really are,” Brin responded to Stone Boy while he effortlessly dodged forearm-mounted blades and energy weapons, “A bunch of sprockin’ bullies.” As the last of Brin’s victims fell to the floor, the hyper-agile Legionnaire leaped up to land atop Polar Boy’s ice wall. “You all okay?”

“Thanks, Timber Wolf,” Light Lad replied. “We’re fine. But what’s this all about? Why on Winath would the Khunds mount such a brazen attack on us?”

“I don’t know,” Brin Londo answered. He looked around the room to see the remaining rank and file Khunds had already been stopped thanks to Kid Computo infiltrating their cybernetics, Infectious Lass infiltrating their bodies or Tellus infiltrating their minds. “I don’t think we’re gonna have to wait too much longer to find out though.”

**********

As soon as the battle had begun, the Khund warrior in the blue bodysuit with the concentric rings had turned his featureless mask toward the nearest Legionnaires and then he mimicked perfectly the sounds of battle around them, though enhanced a hundredfold. The resulting sonic barrage battered not only Color Kid and Dream Girl into unconsciousness, but also the unseen Invisible Kid who shimmered once more into view as he joined his teammates on the floor. The villain turned his attention toward Ultra Boy and Lightning Lass next, seeing that they’d almost defeated Firefist. When he moved to fire upon them though, he was surprised to find that nothing happened.

“That’s the problem with cybernetic enhancements,” Cosmic Boy remarked casually, “You leave yourself open to anyone with magnetic powers...I hardly even had to try.”

Though the man’s mask portrayed no emotion, his shaking fists betrayed his rage. He ran straight at Cosmic Boy, obviously having decided to deal with him in a more primitive fashion. Rokk didn’t make a move, trusting his wife to do her part. Indeed, Night Girl stepped up to meet the expressionless fighter and even without the benefit of her darkness-induced strength she dropped him with a roundhouse kick to the head. “Kind of short for a Khund, isn’t he?” Lydda asked Rokk.

“Not to downplay your talents,” Cosmic Boy replied, “But I wouldn’t expect a Khund to go down that quickly either given you don’t have any added power in this light. Hired mercenary maybe?”

“Maybe,” Lydda agreed. “I--” Before she could say more, both of the heroes were distracted by a roar of pain nearby. They saw that Colossal Boy had tripled his size to take on Bloodclaw, but all Gim Allon had achieved was to make himself an easier target for the Khund killer. As huge as Blooodclaw was, even an 18 foot tall opponent was barely more than twice his size. He’d almost eviscerated Gim with his first slash, and when the growling Khund went for a second strike Gim only survived by rapidly shrinking back to his normal size so Bloodclaw’s talons swiped harmlessly at the air over his head. Doubled over in agony, Gim knew he’d run out of tricks to survive a third assault.

“I don’t think Colossal Boy’s wife would be very happy if we let you cut him to ribbons,” Diamond Damsel interrupted the battle, charging straight at Bloodclaw. “Why don’t you try those nasty things on someone made of diamond?”

“Kill him or kill you, doesn’t matter to Bloodclaw,” the enormous Khund rumbled. He slashed at Diamond Damsel and she didn’t bother dodging, expecting her own natural invulnerability to protect her. She was surprised then when four long gashes were scraped into her torso, sparks flying as the cybernetic claws raked into her.

“How--?” the gleaming heroine gaped.

“The talons of Bloodclaw have cut a legendary Kryptonian,” the enormous Khund snarled, “Do you think you could offer more resistance, rock woman?”

“The talons of Bloodclaw aren’t much good if he can’t move his arms,” Neon interrupted from above. Surrounded by a glowing nimbus of emerald energy, she gestured at Bloodclaw and a green yoke came into existence around his neck and shoulders. He struggled fruitlessly against the impairment and Zoe turned her attention to her teammate. “That looks painful, Diamond Damsel. Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Don’t fret, it takes a lot for me to feel pain in this form,” the diamond heroine assured Zoe as she took a closer look at the gashes across her abdomen. “One more reason not to turn human again though, I guess.”

Twinkling fragments of stardust fell down around them, and the two women looked up to see Comet Queen zoom by overhead. With the room as crowded as it was, Grava couldn’t use her gaseous wake to sedate the Khunds without putting some of her own teammates at risk, but she was successfully drawing fire from the angry cyborgs. Even in such a confined space her speed and reflexes saw her dodge energy blasts and bullets without too much effort, so she was surprised when the lithe villain in the black and blue bodysuit launched himself at her and clung on tight. “Ugh!” Comet Queen poked her tongue out as she wrestled with him in mid-air. “Why are your fingers so long?? And are these wings part of you, you gross ultra-beast? Eww, are they veins?!” The man did indeed have membranous wings beneath his arms which at first seemed like part of his costume but were actually biological, and the bony fingers which now clamped shut over Grava’s eyes were several inches long and ended in sharp nails which poked at the side of her face.

“Many have named Flederweb repulsive,” the man spoke in a sepulchral tone, “But few have done so more than once, girl.” He leaped backwards and away from Comet Queen, having successfully steered the blinded girl in to a collision course with the wall ahead. Moving too quickly to dodge, Grava slammed into the wall with a panicked screech and collapsed in a heap behind an upended table. Flederweb executed a flawless backflip, spreading his wings and gliding down to choose his next target amid the chaos.

He zeroed in on an oblivious Star Boy below, but before he could strike the brooding hunter felt something wrap around both his legs. “That was terribly mean!” a young boy’s voice chided him earnestly. “Comet Queen could have really hurt herself! Gosh, you can’t just break into someone’s house and start attacking them for no reason, don’t you have any manners? Not that I’m implying that Khunds in general don’t have manners, I mean that’d be just awfully speciesist and I know we all have different cultural mores and--”

“You talk too much,” the winged man rasped, digging his claws into Elastic Lad’s face as the redheaded Legionnaire twirled around and around him like a chatty boa constrictor.

Jams-Ols 5’s face simply stretched painlessly around Flederweb’s claws, and he continued talking even with his mouth extended out of shape. “Gee, this is exactly what I’m talking about! See, on your world it’s considered rude to talk a lot but most of the United Planets would consider it much more offensive to just go and start fights with people for no reason! We all need to have respect for each other’s cultures, that’s what makes for a harmonious universe of sentients; that’s what Jams-Ols 1 used to always say, don’t you think it’s a nicer way to treat one another Mr Flederweb?”

By this time, Elastic Lad had successfully wrapped Flederweb in a coccoon of his own rubbery body, leaving only his opponent’s head exposed. “Kill me now..?” Flederweb groaned.

“...Please..?”

**********

It had surprised Mon-El that once the fighting had erupted, the Khund woman in the chain-mail armour had wasted no time in targetting him specifically. “I don’t know who you are,” he raised his hands passively as she drew closer, “But you must recognise me and I assure you that you’re going to need more than a well-made dagger to hurt me, Miss.”

“My name is Scorn,” she replied darkly, “And it is not the blood dagger that will bring an end to you, Daxamite; it is the power which it channels. Demon Mother willing, let your death earn my freedom from these short-sighted fools.” She cast her blade out in a wide swipe, slashing one of Mon-El’s hands wide open before he realised what she’d done and recoiled.

He stared down in disbelief at his bleeding palm. “How--?”

“Sorcery,” Scorn spat. “Khundish blood magic, outlawed by my Empire long ago. But the Demon Mother will have her adherents, and today she will have her sacrifice.” The red-skinned woman raised her blade overhead in both hands, seeking to bring it down in Mon-El’s chest. Her would-be victim was taken from her sight though, as was everything else around her when darkness consumed everything. “The Shadow Champion of Talok VIII,” Scorn realised, a grim smile coming to her lips. “I had hoped to test myself against you, Tasmia Mallor. There are not many alive who respect the ways of their ancestors these days.”

She slashed left suddenly, and Shadow Lass barely moved fast enough to block the knife with her bracelet. “You can see me?” Tasmia Mallor’s jaw dropped.

“Khunds thrive in darkness,” the sorceress answered smugly. “My eyes may not be equal to your power, but darkness lives in my blood. Darkness is my home. My magic empowers me far beyond mere sight, Shadow Champion.”

“Between you and Invisible Queen circumventing my shadows, you’re going to give me a complex.” Shadow Lass sidestepped another of the woman’s strikes, but she noticed now that whatever power allowed Scorn to function here, it didn’t replicate sight nearly well enough. The woman seemed to have a general idea where Shadow Lass stood, but she was still fighting blind. Shadow Lass struck a disarming blow to make her drop the knife, but even with the advantage on Tasmia’s side the Khund woman was far stronger than she. Scorn retained her dagger, then slammed its jewelled hilt into Tasmia’s cheek with brutal force.

Hearing his lover’s cry of pain from outside the darkness field she’d created, Mon-El couldn’t allow this to continue a moment longer. “Shady, make like a desert worm!” he bellowed before putting one of his more rarely used powers to use. When the darkness dissipated instants later, he saw that his super-breath had achieved the desired result; Scorn was encased in ice from the waist up while Shadow Lass had remained safely out of range kneeling down beneath her cape on the ground. Mon-El helped Shadow Lass to her feet and examined her quickly with his x-ray vision. “She fractured your cheekbone!” he frowned.

“I’ll be fine, lover.” She hugged him, careful to use her other cheek to approach him. “My head feels like Titania’s been using it for a punching bag but as soon as we’re finished here I’ll head to the multilab. I’m more worried about Tinya. She’s only got those four new recruits with her, if that Veilmist woman teleported her into a trap--”

“I’m not so sure that’s what’s going on here,” Mon-El deduced as he broke apart the ice that had formed around Scorn before the now unconscious mage ran out of air. “It sounded like she was trying to get away from these people, and from the way Firefist was talking about her it’s not difficult to see why that might be the case. Still--”

**********

“--we need answers!” Star Boy demanded of the muscular Khund cyborg on his knees before him. “Where did that woman take our friends? Why was she so scared of you people? Who is she that you’d risk all-out war between the Khunds and the United Planets attacking us like this??” There was another question Thom hadn’t asked out loud; he was certain he’d met this warrior somewhere before, the man was maddeningly familiar. So much of the man’s natural features had been replaced by metal and plasteel though that Star Boy had no chance of recognising precisely who he was.

Subject to Star Boy’s power, the Khund bore so much additional mass that he could barely carry his own weight enough to even kneel. His fists pressing against the floor ahead gave him additional support, but he was still unable to lift his head to meet Thom’s angry glare. “The woman is Firefist’s wife,” a voice modulator sounded from the metal tubes which had replaced his vocal cords. “By Kh’ulidd law, she is forbidden to leave him for any reason. That same law empowers Firefist to seek her return by any means necessary and when Scorn’s sorcery told us that Veilmist had fled to the Legion of Superheroes, Firefist knew that he would need support to take on your team.”

“I don’t buy it,” Thom pressed. “There are dozens of soldiers here, not even counting the metapowered operatives. All of this for one woman?”

The rest of the Legion had dealt with their own threats by now and while some of them worked to secure their captives and ensure that the injured received medical attention, others joined Star Boy and his captive. “That woman was terrified,” Lightning Lass added. “We’re going to find her and when we do, there’s no way you creeps are taking her back. I don’t care how far we have to take this.”

The kneeling Khund laughed, an odd broken sound coming through his voice modulator.

“What’s so funny?” Star Boy fumed.

“A little fear is healthy in a good wife,” the Khund answered. “But Legionnaires...Veilmist isn’t terrified of her husband. She’s terrified of the monsters we’ve kept at bay from your pathetic United Planets.”

With supreme effort he craned his neck enough that he could look Star Boy in the eye, and Thom suddenly realised who this man was; the Warlord Galarr, the man who had once used Xanthui quantum technology to invade Star Boy’s homeworld and who had come frightfully close to defeating the Legion of Superheroes, the Oversight Watch and the Uncanny Amazers. He’d already been a cyborg when Thom had first encountered him, but he’d had so much more modification done since then...and there was something else; a resigned emptiness in the one organic eye still in his skull. The man’s cunning was still present, but the passion that Thom Kallor had encountered that day on Xanthu was utterly gone.

Galarr’s strength failed him and he let his head hang limp once more. “...and if I’m not mistaken, that mindless woman has just delivered your friends right into the monsters’ maw.”

...TO BE CONTINUED!!!


**********

EDITOR’S NOTES:
Bloodclaw and Galarr both appeared in the 5 part story Golden Khundia, which re-introduced the Kid(s) Quantum to the side of the angels. If you want a refresher, it can be found here

Diamond Damsel of course hasn’t been able to take on her human form since Satan Girl burned a hole through her heart; an injury which is no big deal to a diamond woman but will kill her instantly if she ever turns back to flesh and blood

What a nice, beautiful battle.

Poor Nightwind, hope she gets a chance to show her leadership chops soon

Ooh, Veilmist! and your Legion doesn’t yet have a teleporter...

Scorn is a nice addition.

Hi IB! Thanks, it's fun writing a big chaotic free-for-all every now and then

Scorn is one of those characters I created as an NPC in a roleplaying game one time and she really clicked so I kept her coming back a lot - it never really occurred to me to use her in a Legion story but she works surprisingly well as a Khund with a few minor alterations

Hi Raz,

I loved the try out and that you not only used it to introduce so many new faces but also that you used it to help move Ivy's story along a little bit.
Trial by fire/baptism by fire...another way your xmen fics are seeping over. lol

Chroma Queen - could be a new villain that shows us just how terrifying Color Kid could be. But i do love Shadow lass's line

I wonder if Dream Girl has ever had a vision of an appilicant and what was to come? She seemed rather unimpressed and Elastic Lad really needs to learn sarcasm. lol.
Has there ever been a member who loves the try-outs? its a staple but idk sometimes i wouldn't mind them NOT complaining about it. ;d

Still loving Comet Queen and Chlorophyll Lad's building family. I hope they continue to grow and become a real mini family.
Yay Crystal Kid is here!

I like Comet Queen want to meet all some of them but then I'm like that could cause some confusion in a crowd that size thinking the team has a second try out station. But that could just be me.

Dream Girl is much snarkier than I ever realized. Or it could just be the tryouts bring out the worst in her. lol/

From Charm's description she could be a ringer for U247's Vi. Too bad she didn't fair better as I'm sure the Legion could use her luck in the days to come.

So I'm loving the new characters and that you've added some more non humanoids. Both Strut and King Canary are really interesting new characters.
Strut is just fun. "larval human". I liked when we get to see characters with different speech patters/ seeing from a non humanoid perspective/ language use.
Oh no Ivy and Oktia! that seems super scary especially the rapid aging.

Haha. Go be fabulous. I have a feeling we'll be hearing this phrase a lot.
So is Laurel Kent a fav or yours or do you just enjoy characters with limited powers? She's gotten a good spotlight moment and a few others. They are always rather inventive on how she can best use her powers and her knowledge which is a good change from always blasting away like some other supers. But i do wish she had at least one of Superman's defensive powers at times/

Kid Static was the cause! nice I thought it was going to be Ivy related again for the comms going down.
Mr. E = Gravity Kid is little to no shock (for us readers.) I'm glad Laurel listened to him and that he was able to admit that he was a"batjerk"...so does batman go down as being a jerk in history to inspire that name? Also glad he put the people first and that this isn't just about him showboating to the Legion.
I hope Nightstone comes back. Nothing is coincidence here. hahah. :-D

This made me giggle a bit.

I'm glad they were able to stop Ivy but dang Tinya...
O... so Alec Arkane used Oktia as a conduit? I wonder if that's why she's aging?

Yay! Crystal Kid finally made it! So much potential there. Strut and King Canary! Gravity Kid! i like all four but is it bad that I was hoping you'd have a bigger in coming class? lol.

Oktia is in a comma now? omg!

Veilmist has come and boy did she bring trouble...
Scorn is interesting. So Khunds are against magic totally? Harbinger has a similar set up for a magic user in the Khudian Empire as the only one who seems to practice magic.
Love that all the Khudian Legionnaires show up. Don't remember much about them other than their looks. But this could be fun.
And just like that Vielmist and the new recruits are gone with Tinya? Ok, now i need to know where they went!


Yes! maybe stating the obvious but its like how do you not know what your facing!
Loved Ayla's assists! even in battle she's fun.
Hahah another line that made me laugh.

Raz so many good moments in this that have made me laugh. loving the comedic tone your bringing even in battle.

Cosmic Night Combo! Go Lydda!
Why must Gim always take on these guys that can eviscerate him?! Just Stop Gim! stop!
Diamond Damsel was cut? wait what? Please don't have her get hurt any worse!
Fleder Weber is crazy good at taking them out..Ouch poor Grava glad she's not super hurt....at least until he meets Elastic Lad. haha!
This was my favorite by far for the exchanges.

Scorn and Shadow Lass was good and I liked that Tasmia was like "I'm getting a complex about my powers" was a good node to how much she's been having trouble. Shadow Lass may need to go back for some more training...M'Onel good use and so true he barely uses that power.

Wait there's monsters on that the Khudian Empire has been holding back? are these going to be something new or something we've seen in DC's past coming back to haunt the future?
Can't wait for more!

Hi Omni! I need a better editor to pick up on my tropes transferring over between universes hahaha

Back in the Baxter Legion days before they made Laurel a Manhunter robot there were one or two times that Dreamy and Laurel went full Mean Girls at one another so I think they just draw out the worst in each other. Might be a story there at some point...

I actually never even thought about Leviathan Vi when I came up with Charm, but now that you mention it - yeah! Subconscious influence

I do love characters with limited powers, that's kinda why I love the Subs so much tbh - and Laurel fits in that category as well

re the batjerk thing.....at this stage I honestly can't remember if it's something I made up or if I nicked it from one of the other posters here or if it was in a comic somewhere, but the idea that history remembers Batman as being such a jerk that we get a whole new insult out of it makes me laugh so much...Bruce would be so mad to know that's his most lasting impact hahahaha

More Khunds coming up! And maybe more Legion recruits? Who can say

MARS
Husband Hill, Legion of Superheroes Headquarters
The young woman named Bina Nawoti groaned and rolled to one side. Curiously she realised that she wasn’t home on Titan or in the Martian hotel room where she’d checked in three standard days ago; in fact, a sinking feeling made her question whether it was only three standard days which had passed...she seemed to be in some kind of medical facility, which meant anything could have happened to her.

She sat up in her bed and gingerly called out, but no answer came. Her head was spinning, and Bina wondered if she’d fallen unexpectedly ill. Calm returns after each storm, she recited silently, remembering the mantra her Titanian teachers had instilled in her to free her mind of the anxieties which obstructed her mindsense. After a few moments she felt sufficiently centred, and she scanned for the presence of other minds. She found nothing in her immediate vicinity.

Fear lurked beneath her conscious mind, but she maintained control. Bina Nawoti had been born and bred on Earth; she was no Titanian but she’d set her will to learning their techniques and using them as well as any Terran woman was able. More, she’d achieved her goal and she’d come to Mars to display her talents in service of the Legion of Superheroes. It was all coming back to her now...she’d gone to the Legion’s tryouts, had been fortunate enough to meet Comet Queen, and after some stumbling over her own awkwardness she’d excitedly introduced herself to the golden heroine. Bina had chosen the codename Otaki for herself, and she’d eagerly anticipated being able to explain the origins of that name but then...then what..? Her mindsense had touched that child, the young girl with the frizzy hair and the big brown eyes, and then...then she’d been lost in a maelstrom of pure darkness. Decay. Rot. It hadn’t been the girl though, it had been something acting through the girl; and whatever that something was, it filled Bina with terror. She had to let the Legion know.

...I feel you.

Bina gasped. She’d heard that voice as clearly as if its speaker had been standing right next to her, but it had been in her mind. Bina had been on Titan long enough to know telepathy, and this wasn’t like any telepathy she’d ever felt.

I feel you, the voice repeated. You reached out and you have found me. Come to me, child. Bina Nawoti moved almost as though she were in a trance. Her training kept her from crying out, but she felt as though she were spiralling, she felt as if the darkness which had flowed through that little girl Ivy had been a mere shadow compared to whatever this was. Looking straight ahead, she lowered her feet to the floor. The impact sent an uncomfortable jolt through her knees, but she didn’t even notice in her troubled state. The voice continued, less of a voice really than a force...it was booming, fearsome, but at the same time seductive. Sleepwalking awake, Bina Nawoti made her way through the Legion of Superheroes’ multilab to an innocuous seeming doorway. She noticed a flat screen monitor to the left of the door, distinct amongst the ubiquitous holographic interfaces all around her. On that monitor she saw a room, empty save for a misshapen rock mounted on a pedestal in the centre of the room. Her heart raced; it were as though she could sense the rock’s power even through this simple screen, but that made no sense. None of this made any sense.

“Hey!!”

The shrill voice jostled Otaki from her stupor, and just like that the malevolent guiding force she’d felt was gone. “I - what --- “

“Old lady not Legionnaire! Who let old lady in Brainiac 5’s multilab? Hoo boy, he gonna be mad!”

Otaki’s mindsense hadn’t alerted her to another presence, and she wasn’t used to being startled thusly. Acting on instinct, she grabbed the nearest implement with both hands and before she’d realised her target was the sleek blue microship of the Teallian Legionnaire Quislet she’d already smacked the ship into a spin.

“Fight time? Fun!” Quislet quickly corrected course, then leaped out of his ship into a console that was almost as tall as Otaki herself. Before the astonished girl’s eyes, Quislet’s sigil emblazoned itself across the front of the console and it grew four arm-like pseudopods to restrain her. The arms melded into one once they’d joined around her, trapping Otaki tight.

“This - this is a misunderstanding!” she struggled to explain herself. “I - my name is Otaki, I--” For the first time since she’d woken up, she happened to glance at her reflection in a plexiglass panel opposite. “What happened to me?” she almost screamed, all of her training forgotten. “What happened to me?!”

“Otaki! Starshine!” Comet Queen now came zooming into the room, her trademark trail of sparkling gas dissipating behind her. “I got an alert in the monitor room, you’re awake! That’s nova bright!” Grava suddenly realised that it was Quislet holding the girl and released an excited screech. “My shiny little shuttle! You’re back!” She flew circles around the console golem until it disintegrated into its component atoms, and when Quislet bounced back into his microship Comet Queen clutched it close to her flat chest and spun around in glee.

Both Legionnaires were so distracted with their reunion that they didn’t notice Otaki as she stared in horror at her wrinkled hands and felt the lines upon her face. Eventually, Comet Queen released the protesting Quislet and turned to Otaki. “Starshine, are you gleaming now? Don’t worry about the corona, some magic medicine will take care of that!”

Horrified and confused, Otaki’s eyes filled with tears. She began to stammer a response before it became all too much and she turned and ran from the multilab the same way Comet Queen had entered. “Quislet stop old burglar!” the Teallian hero piped up. “Quislet want to play!”

“No, starshine!” Grava reached out and grabbed his tail fin before he could take off. “She’s not a burglar, she’s just...oh, parse me to the C-span, I’m glad you finally got a new ship and came back to us but there’s so much you gotta scan!

Let’s start with the Khunds!”

**********
MARSOPOLIS
City outskirts

ROLL CALL
Color Kid aka Ulu Vakk: color manipulation
Colossal Boy aka Gim Allon: growth powers
Dream Girl aka Nura Nal: Naltorian precognition
Firecrest aka Staq Mavlen: weredragon
Invisible Kid II aka Jacques Foccart: invisibility

“You know I’m usually the first one to volunteer for action,” Gim Allon spoke as his flight ring sent him streaking across the Martian sky with four other Legionnaires, “But I only just had my guts ripped open, Dreamy. I’m not sure how much good I’m gonna be to you guys in a fight, especially against the same Khunds we just faced a couple hours ago. I actually don’t know that any of us are ready for battle yet, Nightwind wasn’t wrong to leave us behind when she took the others to find that Veilmist woman.”

“Do you really think I’d risk Yera’s wrath bringing you into combat this soon, Colossal Boy?” Dream Girl gave her longtime teammate a cheeky smirk. “Don’t worry, we’re not going to be in time to stop the Khunds anyway; even so, I wouldn’t have dragged you out here if I hadn’t foreseen that your presence will be vital.”

“Wait a nano!” the dragon-like Firecrest sputtered. “You told uss you had a vission that we had to come sstop thosse Khundss from esscaping captivity! What are we even doing here if we’re going to fail?!”

“What I told you,” an annoyed Dream Girl reiterated, “Was that the Khunds who invaded our home and whom we handed over to the Science Police will escape custody. Nobody’s going to be able to stop them, Firecrest. I’ve already seen it happen. We can still do our best to limit casualties however.”

An explosion filled the early evening air, followed swiftly by panicked screams. “Over there!” Color Kid gestured to a cloud of smoke billowing from behind a nearby apartment complex. “Let’s go, Legion!”

As they circled the enormous ring of towers, the Legion saw a massive Science Police prisoner transport vehicle in a helpless downward spiral belching fire and smoke while the Khunds all took off through a gaping tear in the hull. As each of the Khunds cleared the vessel, they toggled together primitive anti-grav devices which sent them hurtling straight up into the atmosphere.

“They must have cobbled those together from individual components built into their cybernetics!” Dream Girl noted. “Unless Kid Computo were specifically looking for the distinct elements, she couldn’t have known their combined purpose when we disarmed the Khunds earlier!”

“They are not particularly reliable components it seems,” Invisible Kid gestured at one of the Khund soldiers who’d stopped ascending about 50 feet up and now fell swiftly back toward them. “Observe, ma’amselle!”

Dream Girl would normally ask Firecrest or Colossal Boy to intercept the falling man, but they were both busy incinerating or catching the debris of the transport vehicle before it killed any of the teeming innocents below. “I’ll stop him from becoming Khund flatcake”, Nura Nal volunteered. “You’re going to have your hands full in a moment, Jacques. Color Kid, would you be a dear and lend a hand? I’d rather not be beaten to death while I’m trying to save this man’s life if I can avoid it.”

Ulu had been looking for a way to be useful and was only too happy to assist. Fortunately the falling Khund wore a wraparound visor which was wired into his temples and it was a simple matter for Color Kid to dazzle the man into helplessness with a psychedelic burst of shifting colors across the visor’s lens. Dream Girl wrapped both arms around the soldier’s massive calf, and with the aid of her flight ring she carried him to an empty balcony while he was still struggling to come to grips with Color Kid’s power.

The last Khunds to exit the damaged vehicle which sat in Colossal Boy’s giant palms were Firefist and the sonic manipulator who’d taken down Invisible Kid, Color Kid and Dream Girl back at the Legion’s headquarters. Firefist took stock of the situation in an instant; Colossal Boy would have the ship resting in an evacuated area soon enough, and Firecrest was slagging the last shards of plummeting plasteel right now. Scorn’s forbidden magics and Galarr’s forward planning had seen them and the rest of their comrades in the Demon’s Claw this far, but it was all for naught if the Legion kept them from leaving this cursed planet. “I told Bloodclaw not to kill all the damn guards,” Firefist growled to himself. “You!” Weaponry came to life up and down the cyborg’s arm as he honed in on Invisible Kid; while the Legion had confiscated what armaments they could, many of the Khunds’ weapons were too much a part of their bodies to be easily removed. “We need a hostage to secure our escape and you’ll do just fine! This will not be lethal, but I promise that it will hurt!”

Jacques glanced from one of his comrades to the next in a flurry. All of them were occupied with their own tasks, and he was a sitting duck hovering alone above the city. Jacques chided himself for not using his one power prior to now, but better late than never. As he shimmered out of view, Firefist gave a hearty laugh. “As I told your Ultra Boy,” Firefist gloated, “I have studied your Legion extensively, Invisible Kid! I know your power has no effect on infrared sensors, fool!”

Invisible Kid’s heart stopped. He should have realised the red lens which had replaced the man’s right eye would give him an advantage; everything the Khunds did to themselves was to give them some advantage. Out of nowhere Jacques felt a twinge of pain pass across his skull, and was glad that nobody else could see him grip his head in both hands. The pain was gone as soon as it had begun though, and when it left him he found something more extraordinary. Firefist still couldn’t see him. Not with his natural vision nor his artificial.

The Khund panned suspiciously from left to right and up and down before he realised that somehow Invisible Kid had evaded him, then he turned to his final remaining comrade. “Echo,” he named the man. “Follow my lead.” Firefist turned both arms toward the block of apartments where Dream Girl and Color Kid had dumped their captive and opened fire with enough gunpower to destroy a small shuttle. The man named Echo turned his own vocal enhancements to the task, and soon the amplified din of electro-bolts, plasma blasts and high-intensity lasers drowned out any other sound for blocks around. The two men completed their work just as Colossal Boy finally deposited the burning remains of the SP vehicle in a safe space, and before Gim’s enormous fist could close around them they activated their own anti-grav devices and shot skyward.

“They’re getting away!” Firecrest’s mighty wings flapped as he prepared to give chase.

“Like Dream Girl said they would!” Colossal Boy replied as he increased his size once more by hundreds of feet. “Forget about them, we’ve all got more important things to worry about!”

Gim Allon was now more than 800 feet tall, truly a modern-day colossus. Staq had never seen him achieve such height, had never even dreamed it was possible. Soon enough though, the dragon-man realised just why Colossal Boy had become large enough to shade several city blocks; Firefist and Echo’s assault had damaged the tower so badly that it was about to collapse. If the Legion let that happen, thousands of sentients would definitely die.

Colossal Boy stabilised himself in mid-air with his flight ring, then crouched into a squat and wrapped his giant arms around the tower. Gim almost immediately began sweating, his arms shaking with the strain. “Guys, let’s not waste any time evacuating this place huh?” Gim was aware that his voice at this size would carry across the whole apartment complex and he didn’t want to cause undue alarm but he also knew that between his recent injuries and the sheer awkwardness of holding this thing together like a crumbling sandcastle, he wouldn’t be able to maintain this for long.

“You heard the man!” Dream Girl commanded, cutting through the awe that had left her other teammates frozen. “Move!”

Jacques Foccart turned visible once more and joined in the efforts of his teammates and Science Police reinforcements to clear the tower of its inhabitants. While he flew shaken sentients to safety he knew he’d have to speak to Dream Girl at some point about his power. Right now though, he couldn’t help but be more concerned for the Legionnaires whom Veilmist had abducted. None of the Khunds had given any more information on the nebulous threat that Galarr had insinuated back at Husband Hill, but if these bloodthirsty Khunds should find Veilmist and her kidnapped Legionnaires again along with the other monsters which so terrified her...

...Jacques uttered a prayer to his Creator that the rest of the Legion found Phantom Girl and the new recruits first.

**********
ELSEWHERE

ROLL CALL
Crystal Kid aka Bobb Cohan: crystal construct creation
Gravity Kid aka Tel Vole: gravity manipulation
King Canary aka K'rk T'wiiu III: sonic generation
Phantom Girl aka Tinya Wazzo: leader, intangibility
Strut: electrochemical perceptions, insectoid physiology

On a sleek spear-shaped vessel hurtling through psychedelic hyperspace, five Legionnaires conferred while the exotic teleporter Veilmist draped herself over her fellow Khund sitting in the pilot’s seat. “I still say we can take ‘em and turn this thing around,” King Canary grumbled, pitching his voice so that it wouldn’t travel beyond the small group of heroes.

“It’s too dangerous,” Phantom Girl shut him down. “If we damage this ship in a tussle, we could get spit out anywhere in the universe; worse, we could be trapped here forever.”

“Nightwind will recall Dawnstar or Mwindaji to find us though, right?” Crystal Kid asked less optimistically than he’d hoped to sound. “I mean once we re-enter normal space?”

“I hope it doesn’t come to that,” Phantom Girl replied. “Our safety can’t take precedence over their current missions.” While she hadn’t the first clue how to read Strut or King Canary’s body language, Tinya could tell that Crystal Kid and Gravity Kid at least were anxious about their predicament. She sighed and gave them all her most reassuring smile. “Guys, look...I appreciate that this isn’t the best introduction to the Legion of Superheroes any of you could ask for and I’m sorry that we’re in this position. Try not to let your worry overwhelm you though, okay? I promise you, I’ve been in plenty worse situations than this. Those Khunds don’t seem to have noticed that we’ve all activated the beacons in our flight rings so as soon as we’re out of hyperspace the Legion shouldn’t even need our trackers to find us. Even if that doesn’t work we’ve got Mon-El, Neon and a couple of bona fide geniuses looking for us. We’ll get out of this.”

As if on cue, the ship left hyperspace with a keen whining sound for the more familiar star-speckled black void beyond.

“Phantom Girl’s right,” Gravity Kid piped up, attempting to overcome his own nervousness. “The rest of the Legion will take care of those other Khunds in a nano and we’ll be back home before we know it!”

“You know, this whole melodrama would be so much less stressful if we knew where that fashion-forward young woman and her tedious friend were taking us,” Strut mused.

“That I think we can do something about,” Tinya agreed. She stood up and approached Veilmist and the pilot, hands out at her sides to show she wasn’t planning anything. “Veilmist?” she asked softly. “You came to us for help, and we do want to help you but you need to give us something. We need to know exactly what it is you’re asking us to do.”

The pilot flashed a quick scowl at Tinya, though thankfully Veilmist’s expression was far more accommodating. There was something about the woman that pulled on Tinya’s heartstrings; she really was stunningly beautiful, but there was something so hurt and broken about her gaze.

“Yes,” the Khund woman agreed. “Now, while we have time, I will tell you.” She looked past Phantom Girl to the boys. “Please, whom among you is truly your leader?”

Phantom Girl was taken aback. “That...that’s me. I told you that already.”

Veilmist reflected Phantom Girl’s expression back at her. “But you are a female..?”

“Oh, you poor darling,” Strut tutted.

“I am a female last time I looked,” Tinya tried to make light of the situation. “I think you’ll find our cultures have some notable differences, Veilmist. The United Planets practices equality for all genders, everyone has the same opportunities and the same rights.”

Veilmist gave the other Legionnaires a disbelieving look. “...You follow a female into battle? Willingly??”

“Look, I understand that this is a difficult concept for you given your background,” Tinya caught her attention again, this time with a little less patience. “But it is what it is, Veilmist. Now please...why did you come to the Legion of Superheroes for aid?”

The pink-skinned woman didn’t seem entirely convinced, but she accepted that it was the only answer she was going to get. “In doing this, I have surrendered my dignity, probably my marriage and perhaps even my life,” she hung her head in shame. “But I do what I do to save my people.” She raised her head again, though found herself unable to meet any of the Legionnaires’ gaze. “Powerful foes threaten the Khund Empire, Legionnaires. We have waged long and furious battle against them but we continue to lose ground. I overheard my husband and Warlord Galarr discussing matters of war, and they say that it will be a matter of only months more before everything we have made is undone. Warlord Galarr’s last campaign to use the Xanthui quantum children against our foes was turned to ash thanks to your Legion’s interference, and without your Legion’s help now, the same fate awaits us all.”

“The Xanthui…” It dawned on Phantom Girl what Veilmist was referring to. “Wait, are you talking about when the Khunds used Kid Quantum’s power to place Xanthu in stasis? That was such a long time ago! You’ve been at war with these foes of yours all this time?”

“And what of it?” Veilmist stood up defiantly to the Legion’s leader. “War is lifeblood to a Khund!”

“Okay, okay,” Phantom Girl backed down. “Let’s not get into that...why do you think the Legion of Superheroes has any more chance than the entire Khund Empire against whoever these people are?”

“Because the Legion of Superheroes are the only ones who have consistently defeated them. They are your enemies, Phantom Girl.” Veilmist gave her a look which was at once accusatory and pleading. “The Khunds are at war with the Fatal Five. The Fatal Five and--”

The Khund pilot spoke up to the group as a whole for the first time. “We have trouble. Multiple ships incoming.”

Veilmist ran to him, frantically looking over holodisplays she couldn’t hope to understand. “Then kill them!” she snarled. “Is this not what I paid you for?!”

“There are too many,” Phantom Girl had followed Veilmist and she pointed now at a veritable wall of red dots on a grid which represented the incoming vessels. “There are way too many, that’s a whole army. Veilmist, why would the Fatal Five be fighting the Khunds? What have you gotten us into??”

“Something else else I can easily get us out of,” she shot back defensively. “Have you forgotten how we came to be here in the first?” She closed her eyes in concentration, but nothing happened. “My power!” she exclaimed. “Why can’t I teleport?!”

“That would be me,” a disembodied voice filled the cabin, and a hologram stood before them of a well-groomed man with slicked back black hair. He wore a pale blue outfit with white accessories, and though he looked utterly average there was something disconcerting about him nonetheless.

Nobody on board the ship had met him in person, but Phantom Girl and Gravity Kid both instantly recognised him from Legion files. “Karth Arn!” they exclaimed simultaneously.

“Who the sprock is Karth Arn?” King Canary fluttered closer to the villain, perching on the headrest of a nearby seat.

“I will assume that was a rhetorical query,” the holographic man flashed him a sarcastic smirk. “Interesting company you’re keeping these days, Phantom Girl - I had hoped to intercept this young lady before she made it to Mars, but I must admit that seeing the squad of nobodies she’s brought back with her certainly eases my mind about my failure; and Veilmist, I’m afraid I’ve had to suppress your teleportation abilities. It wouldn’t do to have you escape the fate that is about to befall your allies here.” The Khund pilot drew a large serrated knife and slashed straight through Karth Arn’s holographic form without the villain even noticing.

“Haven’t you got a jammer on this thing?” Tinya snapped at the pilot. “A cloaking device?? He’s not physically here, he’s being transmitted somehow!”

“I am a mercenary, not a lowly comms officer!” the Khund growled back. He looked over the console frantically while Karth Arn chuckled.

“If I may be so bold as to intervene,” Strut stepped forward, “First of all Mr Arn, I respect your confidence appearing among sentients dressed like that.” Strut tapped Tinya on the shoulder with one arm while simultaneously pointing at a lens hidden away in a recess above them all. “But more importantly, I believe that gadget is a holotransmitter of some description, darling.”

“Not anymore it isn’t.” Gravity Kid gestured and the apparatus crumpled into a tiny misshapen spheroid before falling to the floor with a clunk. Karth Arn’s outline flickered once and then he vanished altogether.

“We might have needed that, Tel.” Phantom Girl’s brow furrowed. “I’d have rather we stopped the transmission itself...still, what’s done is done. Strut, how did you know this ship had a holotransmitter right there?”

With a third arm, Strut waggled his antennae at her. “These little things give me a delightful amount of insight into the world, darling! They--”

“Karth Arn must be using technology to dampen Veilmist’s power,” Tinya cut him off. “He’s an android who’s given up his original form to exist as a cloud of nanobots, technology is his whole MO. Can you sense anything, Strut? Any electromagnetic emissions that shouldn’t be there, anything like that at all? There must be hundreds of ships coming at us, we need to get some space between us and them yesterday.”

The tall insectoid made a display of looking around the vessel, loving that he was the centre of attention. “Well!” he exclaimed after a tense 90 seconds. “Now that you mention it, there is a rather odd magnetic field encompassing all of us, and the poles seem to be located….there and there!” One of his feet arched in an absurdly dainty gesture toward a spot on the floor while a fuschia coloured hand tapped on the ceiling a few inches above his head.

“Okay, hold tight everyone - I’m going to check it out.” Diving as though she were entering a body of water, Tinya disappeared into the floor. She poked her head through the hull and saw a limbless droid magnetically attached to the ship. I don’t know much about Khund engineering but I bet you’re not meant to be there, she thought smugly. Remaining partially embedded in the ship so it didn’t leave her stranded as it sped through open space, Tinya peered inside the robot and grabbed two circuit boards before withdrawing. The robot remained affixed to the hull, but she noticed now that the dim lights running along its exterior had switched off completely.

She flew back through the ship, briefly startling some of the others en route. The same model droid was located on the other side of the vessel, and it proved just as easy to disable. Happy with her work, Tinya moved to re-enter the ship when she just happened to notice something in the corner of her eye. She looked up, and any sense of victory she’d felt drifted away like so much ash on the wind. She’d been so preoccupied with disabling the droids that she hadn’t noticed before now, but there was no more outrunning Karth Arn’s forces. They were surrounding the ship on all sides, and they weren’t ships. They were robots. Countless hordes of robots of different sizes and models, all of them working in perfect unison. This doesn’t make sense, Phantom Girl worried, If we’re facing Karth Arn’s Fatal Five, where did they get these resources?!

...and then the robots swarmed on her.

TO BE CONTINUED..!

Yikes, way to end with a cliffhanger!

Loved seeing the injured Legionnaires in action.

So Jacques' power got an upgrade? Ooooh. First Staq, then Ral, now Jacques!

Great use of Strut's senses. And I love his snarky campy comments about fashion!

Lol too at Veilmist's inability to accept Tinya as leader.

Man, poor Diamond Damsel! Is she just going to end up getting chips and bits taken out of her and never return to human form?

Bloodclaw is much more powerful than the version I remember from the comic, a very dangerous opponent.

Elastic Lad as ever is good for a laugh, even keeps talking with his mouth distorted. He reminded me a bit here of Radar O'Reilly from MASH. Sounds innocent but very competent.

Scorn is a great character, using forbidden Khundish mystical arts.

Does your Gim have any limit to his growth?

The "monsters" the Khunds had been fighting surprised me. Should be a big showdown!

Thanks for commenting y'all...I couldn't screw Jacques like that, if he's gonna become some crazy lady's torture pet he's gotta get something out of it

FC, I did make the Khunds more efficient than they were really shown to be in the 5YL days...I always kinda thought if you're gonna go to the effort of introducing a bunch of Khunds that aren't just nameless grunts you probably should try to make them memorable for more than dying easy...and thanks re: Scorn, she started life as a Deviant in a Marvel roleplaying game I was running ages ago so I'm glad she's translated across to the Legion's universe so easily

I know Gim's been given maximum height limitations in various character write-ups etc, but I don't really remember him ever showing any difficulties with growing beyond a certain height in comics outside of what's practical for the situation...I seem to remember him always doing things like punching spaceships head on and lifting up ocean liners and so on and so forth; and when Omega knocked him over way back when, Gim was big enough that he smashed whole blocks of buildings when he landed so I think I've always seen him as being able to just grow as big as the situation warrants (though he generally keeps it to a level where it's still workable in team combat).

It's kinda weird because as much as I love my underdog characters, I also really like how DC doesn't really let practicality get in the way of making their powers really fantastic the way Marvel tends to...I mean I love Hank Pym and Quicksilver from the Avengers, but their powers very rarely produce the kind of awesome moments that DC size-changers or speedsters come up with...

DEEP SPACE

ROLL CALL
Crystal Kid aka Bobb Cohan: crystal construct creation
Gravity Kid aka Tel Vole: gravity manipulation
King Canary aka K'rk T'wiiu III: sonic generation
Phantom Girl aka Tinya Wazzo: leader, intangibility
Strut: electrochemical perceptions, insectoid physiology

Wasting not a second, Phantom Girl ducked back into the vessel she’d just exited. The ship was surrounded by thousands of robots, far too many for Tinya or any of the other Legionnaires on board to deal with. “Veilmist!” she shouted once she was fully back inside the cabin. “We need to get out of here now!”

The pink-skinned Khund woman nodded mutely, accustomed to obeying assertive commands. Before she could actually follow through however, the hull was torn open by two robots with lasersaws and both the Khunds and the Legionnaires on board were sucked out into the void beyond. Veilmist slammed into one of the army of robots head on, knocking herself out. The Khund mercenary who’d been piloting their craft also hit one of the robots but had managed to reorient himself so that his knife plunged deep into its casing. Moments later, the unprotected Veilmist and the mercenary both had been frozen in crystal form and Crystal Kid had begun to form a thick protective sphere around them while Gravity Kid smashed to pieces any robots moving to attack Bobb or his helpless charges.

Phantom Girl immediately began yanking the innards out of as many robots as she could, but while she did so she observed her new teammates at work. Crystal Kid and Gravity Kid were the only other people here who had experience in a zero-G environment, and they were coping as admirably as could be expected. Tinya was impressed with the way the two boys worked together so well already, no doubt a result of their Legion Academy training.

Strut wasn’t so fortunate; the insectoid hero had panicked momentarily when he’d been torn from the ship, but he realised now that his flight ring’s transuit function had protected him from exposure to the vacuum. He was doing his best to fight off the robots crowding him, but he had no experience using a flight ring and no experience fighting in this kind of environment. It wasn’t long before he was being dragged kicking and screaming toward the imposing ship which Tinya now noticed was floating some distance away from the attacking robots. At least they’re taking us prisoner and not just killing us outright, Phantom Girl noted. That gives me an idea.

Tinya inserted her telepathic earplugs and called out to King Canary but there was no response. Of course there isn’t, she shook her head, He’s probably forgotten he even has a telepathic channel, he’s only been a member of the team for five minutes. Phantom Girl wondered how she was going to find him in this chaos; he was tiny, and the robots were seemingly never-ending. She noticed a many-limbed droid coming up to ambush Gravity Kid from below and flew straight through it, pulling a handful of wires out with her as she passed through it. <Tel!> she thought at him, confident that he’d be wearing his own earplugs; if anyone was going to have committed standard Legion space activity protocol to memory, it’d be Gravity Kid. <I need to find King Canary, can you use your power to locate him?>

Gravity Kid arched his eyebrows. <I...I’m not sure, Phantom Girl. There’s a lot of chaos here for me to sift through!> As he replied, he used one of the robots as a battering ram to smash half a dozen of its fellows into scrap metal.

<Can you try please?> An ionically charged blade passed harmlessly through her arm. <It might mean our lives!>

Gravity Kid frowned, but he knew she was right; Crystal Kid was already being overwhelmed, Tel knew that he’d follow suit sooner or later. He wasn’t going to let Phantom Girl down on his first day as a Legionnaire if he could avoid it. Concentrating fiercely, Gravity Kid felt the tiny fluctuations in micro-gravity that every one of them caused as they battled. It seemed too daunting a task, but against all odds he finally picked up some tiny mass zipping about to and fro. Tel tried to home in on his new teammate, but eventually it was his eyes that caught a flash of yellow feathers disappearing behind a group of much larger machines. <There!> Gravity Kid pointed, his whole body convulsing half a second later as one of the machines finally penetrated his defences with a taser.

Phantom Girl didn’t like leaving Gravity Kid to be unceremoniously dragged on board an enemy ship, but what she was doing now might save all of them later. She phased through every robot in her way as she pursued King Canary through the throng, and Tinya Wazzo hoped that she wasn’t making her first major mistake as Legion leader…

**********
ROLL CALL
Chlorophyll Kid aka Ral Benem: chlorokinesis
Cosmic Boy aka Rokk Krinn: magnetism
Diamond Damsel aka Iris Jacobs: living diamond
Elastic Lad aka Jams-Ols 5: super-elongation
Infectious Lass aka Drura Sehpt: disease transmission and immunity
Kid Computo aka Danielle Foccart: cyberempathy
Light Lad aka Darvan Locke: gravity negation
Lightning Lass aka Ayla Ranzz: electricity generation and manipulation
Matter-Eater Lad aka Tenzil Kem: can eat inorganic matter in all its forms
Mon-El aka Lar Gand: Daxamite physiology
Neon II 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
Polar Boy aka Brek Bannin: cryokinesis
Shadow Lass aka Tasmia Mallor: darkness generation
Star Boy aka Thom Kallor: celestial mass-transference
Stone Boy aka Dag Wentim: ability to transmute to living stone
Supergirl II aka Laurel Kent: invulnerability
Tellus aka Ganglios: telepathy and telekinesis
Timber Wolf aka Brin Londo: super-strength and super-agility
Ultra Boy aka Jo Nah: ultra-energy which can be directed into any one of strength, speed, flight, invulnerability, flash vision, penetra-vision at a time

Some time later, a rainbow-hued flash of light heralded the arrival of two more ships from hyperspace. Emblazoned with the famous golden logo of the Legion of Superheroes, the two cruisers found themselves in an eerie floating graveyard of twisted metal and plasteel. At the bridge of the first cruiser, Nightwind leaned on a console and looked out over the destruction. “Are you sure they’re still here, Kid Computo? We’re not picking up any life signs nearby.”

“...Four flight rings,” Danielle Foccart confirmed quietly. “I can’t find any trace of the harness Elastic Lad modified for King Canary, but maybe...maybe it’s just been damaged?” There was uncertainty in her tone; with her cyberempathy she could pick up on the ship’s bioscans as easily as Nightwind had read them on a holodisplay, and there was definitely nothing alive out there.

“What do you think happened here?” Supergirl asked almost reverently. “There were only our five and that Veilmist person, but all this wreckage...it’s like Wildfire went full power against a whole army!”

“I don’t know,” Nightwind admitted. “But let’s not -- hey!” She saw the airlock of the second cruiser open, and Ultra Boy and Mon-El both exited into the void beyond. Ultra Boy had been openly disrespectful of Nightwind assuming command in Phantom Girl’s place since before they’d left Mars. He’d complained when Nightwind had suggested that Mon-El remain on Mars to back up the other injured Legionnaires if necessary, and he’d almost taken a cruiser to fly after Phantom Girl on his own when Nightwind had suggested that he might be too close to this to come on the rescue mission himself. Berta hadn’t pushed the matter; she could empathise with how concerned Ultra Boy must be for his girlfriend’s safety and Berta herself was nervous about leading a team of veteran Legionnaires on a mission, but she wondered now if maybe she should have come down harder on him after all.

“Neon, could you please make your way to the bridge?” Nightwind asked over the ship’s internal comms before she switched to Ultra Boy and Mon-El’s personal channels. “What are you two doing out there?” she asked bluntly. “I didn’t tell you--”

“Kid, I know you’re trying your best but Tinya and the others don’t have time for us to play games,” Ultra Boy cut her off.

“I’m sorry, Nightwind.” Mon-El’s apology sounded genuine at least. “He was going to do this regardless, this way at least I can make sure he doesn’t get himself killed.”

“Of all the--” Nightwind muted the comms and took a deep breath to calm herself, then turned as she heard Neon enter the bridge. “Zoe! Can you do your Green Lantern thing and take me and Kid Computo out there with you? I’m still the acting leader of this team whether Ultra Boy likes it or not!”

“Of course,” Zoe Saugin agreed quickly. She could see the frustration on Berta’s face and knew this wasn’t the time for anything cute so she simply surrounded herself, Danielle and Berta in a glowing green bubble and phased the three of them through the floor.

“We’ll be back in a nano,” Nightwind spoke to Supergirl as she passed through the vessel. “Let me know if any other catastrophes decide to spark up while I’m--” Then she was gone.

Laurel turned to the main viewscreen and watched as the girls followed Jo and Mon-El through the enormous cloud of debris. After a few seconds, a flashing light caught her attention and a curious expression came over her. That’s weird, Laurel thought. Could have sworn the bioscanner just picked up a couple of signals out there...Mon-El and Ultra Boy maybe..? A sharp intake of air behind her made the indestructible teenager flinch, and she spun on her heel just in time to catch a face full of energy discharge.

The assault didn’t hurt Laurel, but the glare of it did blind her momentarily. “Intruder alert!” she snapped. “Alert--uggh!” A powerful blow sent the off-balance girl flying across the bridge while stars were still dancing in her eyes, but she’d done what she’d set out to do. Alarms filled the bridge and the rest of the vessel, and Laurel’s vision returned fully just in time to see Timber Wolf bounding into the room with Elastic Lad’s elongated form stretching down the corridor right behind him. Supergirl wasn’t entirely certain that her vision had returned though, because it looked just like that Veilmist woman was hijacking the ship with a Khund warrior by her side.

“Fool!” Veilmist screeched at the raging Khund by her side. “She is the Kryptonian, look upon her crest! This ship belongs to the Legion of Superheroes!”

“I don’t care if it belongs to the Demon’s Claw themselves!” he bellowed back as he took the pilot’s seat. “You could pay me a prince’s ransom more than you have and it would not be enough for this insanity, woman! You--what trickery?!” A transparent bubble suddenly enclosed the pilot’s seat, effectively separating the Khund pilot from the rest of the bridge. He slashed at the bubble with his blade, but to no effect.

As the pilot drew his firearm, Elastic Lad’s head circled the outside of the bubble on a spiralling neck. “Oh gosh, I really wouldn’t do that if I were you, our anti-theft devices can really take a licking and at that close range--”

“Let him find out for himself, kid.” Timber Wolf helped Supergirl to her feet, keeping a close eye on Veilmist the whole time. “Khunds love any excuse to get new limbs, right?” Grudgingly, the man took the hint and holstered his gun once more.

By this time, everyone else on the ship had caught up; Chlorophyll Kid, Matter-Eater Lad, Polar Boy, Stone Boy and Diamond Damsel all spread out around the bridge. “Where’s Phantom Girl?” Timber Wolf growled at Veilmist.

“I do not know,” At Brin’s naked aggression, Veilmist bowed her head submissively. “We had been attacked by our foe, our ship ripped apart, and then...then I do not know what happened.” She looked across at the captive Khund. “Khano and I became conscious within some kind of crystalline structure, but I believe we were adrift in space. It was cold, bitterly so...we were weightless and there was no air, no noise...I had to act quickly. My only thought was to transport us to shelter, and so we are here.”

“If your Legionnaires are not here before us, then they are surely dead,” the mercenary named Khano spat. “If we do not leave here now, we will be next.”

“Legionnaires are tougher than you think,” Polar Boy retorted quickly. “Have a look for yourself, I’m betting you two didn’t do that.”

The two Khunds followed Polar Boy’s smug look to the viewscreen, and saw the graveyard of robotics surrounding them. “We have to retreat!” Khano roared. “Veilmist, forget these fools! Let Karth Arn and his beasts tear them to shreds!”

“What are you so scared of?” Diamond Damsel stepped closer to the viewscreen herself. “Whatever you all came across, they’re no threat--”

Shocking everybody, Timber Wolf leaped across the bridge and slammed both fists into the bubble holding the Khund mercenary. ”What the sprock does Karth Arn have to do with any of this?!” Brin demanded at the mention of his old foe’s name.

“I was wrong!” Veilmist’s cries interrupted Timber Wolf's outburst. “You can’t stop this, none of you can! You...oh. Oh, Demon Mother, no.” Her eyes welled with tears as she realised teleportation was once more beyond her.

“Uh, Legion..?” Diamond Damsel squinted at the viewscreen. “Is it just me or...is that debris moving..?”

Then the first solid thunks reverberated through the hull.

**********
Kid Computo had picked up the ship’s intruder alert as quickly as anybody actually on board at the time; the girls had briefly considered turning back toward the cruiser they’d just left, but once it became apparent that their teammates on board were dealing with their unexpected guests Nightwind asked Danielle to monitor the situation from afar so they could press on. In no time, the three girls had caught up with Mon-El and Ultra Boy. Floating chunks of misshapen crystal let them know that Crystal Kid had been here as well. As Neon’s green field came up behind the two boys, Nightwind decided to just bite the bullet. “Ultra Boy, I know you must be in a panic about Phantom Girl but you can’t just ignore the chain of command. If you do it, everyone will.”

“It doesn’t matter anyway,” Jo cut her off with a harsh monotone. He held his palm out and Zoe’s power illuminated four flight rings in an eerie green. “This is all that’s left of them, Mon would have seen if they were anywhere even remotely nearby.”

“Oh!” Nightwind was take aback. She tried not to wonder too hard what the dark stain was on one of those rings. “Ultra Boy, I--I’m sure Phantom Girl’s still alive. I’m sure they all are--”

“What?” Nightwind’s pitying tone was enough to shake Jo out of his funk. “Nightwind, of course they’re all still alive. I know they’re not dead, I just told you; Mon would have seen if there were any trace of them...alive or dead. Don’t you get it though? Without their flight rings and with no trackers, how the sprock are we meant to find them now? For all we know, Tinya took them all into the Phantom Zone to save them from whatever happened here! You want to lead the team so bad? Where do you lead us from here?”

Nightwind was uncommonly cowed. She had no trouble standing up to someone like Polar Boy when he decided to give her attitude, she hadn’t spent most of her teenage years pining for his approval. Ultra Boy was one of the old-school Legionnaires though; even she hadn’t expected herself to hesitate like this. Then it came to her. “King Canary!” She yelped his name like she was sitting a test.

“Good thinking, Nightwind.” Mon-El gave her an encouraging smile; if it had been a test, she felt like she’d passed.

“Ultra Boy, you said it yourself.” Berta was more sure of herself now. “They’re not dead, right? And if they’re not dead then that means King Canary’s still wearing his harness. We can track that! Zoe, Danielle?”

“I guess we could work together on something..?” Zoe Saugin volunteered. “I mean if I can enhance Mwindaji’s tracking power, I don’t see why I shouldn’t be able to come up with something that can enhance yours, right Kid C?”

“Hmm..?” Kid Computo heard the sound of her name, but had no idea what the others had been discussing as she’d been distracted almost from the moment they’d joined Ultra Boy and Mon-El out here. Danielle hadn’t immediately noticed as she’d been maintaining her focus on the Legion cruiser’s internal surveillance systems, but eventually it had dawned on her that the vast majority of this debris all around them contained electronics of some description or another...she’d considered it nothing more than a curiousity at first because most of the electronics were inert anyway, but when she’d started probing the live systems she’d realised they were all discrete robotic mainframes. And then she’d noticed that the live systems were all situated at exactly the same distance from one another, and all of them seemed to be emitting “...a cloaking field…” she mouthed aloud. “Nightwind...guys, I think we need to get back to our ships. Like now.”

The moment she’d spoken, the cloud of debris came to life with the five Legionnaires dead in its centre. In no time they were all buried beneath a claustrophobic crush of robots, each one trying its best to kill them. Though the girls were for now protected by Neon’s power, Ultra Boy and Mon-El were soon completely out of sight. “Danielle, can’t you do something?!” Nightwind yelled at the wide-eyed girl at her side.

“There’s something...something different about them.” In spite of the danger, Danielle Foccart placed her palm up against Neon’s emerald barrier and her voice was filled with wonder. “Nightwind, there are thousands of them out there, but all of them...each and every one is unique. How are they all so distinct from one another..?”

“Hey, be awestruck later please!” Berta rolled her eyes and turned to Zoe. “You can withstand this, right? I mean they’re just robots!”

“Sure,” Zoe answered easily. “They’re using a whole range of weapons, but nothing’s come close to penetrating so faaaaarhh!!” All three of the girls clutched their heads as a high-pitched whine felt like it was shaking their skulls into fragments. Still, Neon’s field faltered but it didn’t fail.

“That...that’s called a neural lance,” Kid Computo grimaced. “And it’s super nasty so we’ll just switch that off, thanks!” She glared at the trio of robots responsible for the assault and they instantly shut down.

“Welcome back,” Nightwind gripped Danielle’s shoulder to steady herself. “Can you hide us from them? We’re at a massive disadvantage until we know what we’re up against.”

“Yeah..” Kid Computo replied uncertainly before repeating herself with more confidence. “Yeah, I can. I didn’t expect so many of them but I should be able to give them a false sensor feed.”

“Good.” Berta raised her flight ring to her lips. “Nightwind to both ships, get the sprock out of here! Neon’s going to smash a way through these things and we’ll follow! Mon-El, Ultra Boy, if you can stop them following then do it but don’t waste any time...catch up with us as soon as you can. Oh, and Mon-El? Bring back one of these things with you, would you? I think it’s about time we learned exactly what this mess is we’ve been dragged into. Let’s go, Legion!”

Neon took a moment to consider her next move. They were well and truly smothered by these things right now, it’d take forever if she tried to push through all of them; this called for some creativity. With an out-of-place girlish giggle, Zoe shaped her field to look like Bouncing Boy and then expanded it swiftly outwards about 10 times its size. It sent robots of all shapes and sizes flying, and then before they could mount another attack she just as quickly drew the field back in tight around the three girls and reinforced it until it was an almost opaque missile that shot straight through the much less dense cloud of robots that now floated in confusion around them. While Kid Computo used her own power to hide them from the horde of machines, Nightwind watched the two Legion cruisers intently to make sure they were going to be able to get away. With the ships’ assailants repelled by some combination of Cosmic Boy, Tellus and Light Lad’s abilities they too were soon free and out of sight. Berta wasn’t worried about Mon-El or Ultra Boy; even those two powerhouses might find thousands of murder machines a challenge to battle, but Berta had complete faith in their ability to escape the horde.

As the Legionnaires sped off into the void, Nightwind took a moment to silently congratulate herself. She’d been thrown her first real crisis as deputy leader and she’d reacted decisively and without hesitation. Almost immediately, a pang of guilt replaced her pride. She’d only survived that encounter thanks to Neon and Kid Computo, and most of the Legionnaires she’d brought with her as experienced as they all were wouldn’t have fared any better. Berta had no doubt in Phantom Girl or Crystal Kid’s abilities, and even Gravity Kid had his Academy training to support him but none of them really knew anything about Strut or King Canary. It defied all reason that those five could have survived that onslaught.

Still, defying reason was one of the things the Legion of Superheroes did best. Nightwind tried to focus on that and tried to ignore the memory of the blood-stained flight ring she’d seen in Ultra Boy’s hand…

**********

ELSEWHERE
Phantom Girl shaded her eyes as the door to her cell slid into its recess and a group of silhouettes entered the dark room bathed in intense light from the corridor outside. Her body was aching all over from the beating she’d been given, but she forgot about all of that the moment Strut half-staggered, half-fell into the room with her. “Strut!” Tinya leaped to her feet to help him, but by the time she reached him he’d already lowered himself to the floor. “Are you badly hurt?”

“Your melodramatic bug friend is fine,” one of the other men replied, his hate-filled voice immediately recognisable to Tinya. “We’re not going to kill any of you before your big day tomorrow, Phantom Girl.” The cell lights switched on to reveal Mano, with the lumbering Mordecai and the villainous Karate Kid rounding out the group.

“At least our quarters are spic and span,” Strut looked around the spotless chrome cube. “Honestly, the idea of what these miscreants might think of as appropriate accommodations was far more terrifying than any physical violence their robot cronies put me through.”

“What’s this about, Mano?” Phantom Girl demanded. “And where are our friends?”

“You should thank us, Phantom Girl.” Though Tinya couldn’t see the sadistic smile on Mano’s obsidian face, she had no doubt he was loving every second of this. “Karth Arn and Catspaw are making sure that half-naked idiot and the one with the crystal powers are nice and settled in as we speak. Arn wanted to let you all die out there with those Khunds and your stupid little super-pet mascot, you know. He doesn’t think we’re ready for Legion attention, but the Fatal Five have been cutting a swathe across the Khund Empire for months now. The Legion are nothing to us anymore...especially not you, some effeminate insect and two other brats I’ve never heard of.”

“I’ve never murdered a Bgltzr before,” the young Karate Kid’s eyes gleamed with the thought of it. “Nor a four-armed opponent.”

“You shouldn’t discount my lower limbs,” Strut replied. “Though perhaps you can only count to four, you poor dear; I shouldn’t make fun.”

“Karate Kid and I convinced Arn to keep you all alive a little longer,” Mano sneered, “But don’t get too used to it. You and your crew of misfits are going to be the guests of honour at a very public execution at daybreak tomorrow, and when the worlds we’ve subjugated see how easily we slay four members of the Legion of Superheroes they’ll support us 100% when we invade the United Planets and slaughter every other hero in our path.”

“You’re only fooling yourself, Mano.” Phantom Girl laughed despite the stab of her bruised ribs. “I’m the first to admit I’m not the most powerful Legionnaire in the galaxy but do you really think an army of robots is the revolutionary force that’s going to take down Mon-El or Blok or half a dozen other Legionnaires I could name?”

“An army.” Mano chuckled darkly, Mordecai accompanying him with a sympathetic rumble. Even the preternaturally serene Karate Kid’s lips curled into a half-smile. “You weren’t listening, Phantom Girl. We don’t have an army. You; show them.” Tinya noticed for the first time a small wheeled droid had come in just behind the massive Mordecai; it breeped obediently, and one whole wall of the cell became a viewscreen. What Phantom Girl saw there chilled her to the marrow, and struck even Strut speechless. They were in a towering structure in a megalopolis which stretched as far as they could see, and on every balcony and window of every other one of the countless hundreds of buildings around them were equally countless robots. Robots swarmed the streets far below, and robots crowded the skies above. The airborne robots almost hid the night sky completely but they left just enough visibility for Phantom Girl and Strut to see the two enormous moons which hung above them, each satellite completely covered in the telltale lights of an active civilisation...beyond those, two more smaller spheres passed through the sky and though they were far enough distant that any detail was obscured, Phantom Girl knew with utter certainty that they too were blanketed completely by robots.

“We don’t have an army,” Mano repeated. “We have worlds, Phantom Girl.

...Welcome to Robotica.”

TO BE CONTINUED!!!

I love seeing the Legionnaires having fun with their powers

looks like Tinya has a similar idea about King Canary. he has not been caught

As a Nightwind fan, i’m very pleased with how you show her adjusting to being leader. she has some doubts, but still very decisive - doesn’t let them cripple her.

also love how you showed the menace of Robótica. from pointing out that only the combination of Zoe and Danielle got them and Berta out of there, to showing that Tinya and co only survived because the Five wanted them to

and Strut continues to make me laugh

also the reminder that Brin has a personal stake and that Tel (and Bobb) have training to fall back on

great installment ad always

These are some cool installments Raz.


Poor Oktia. I can only imagine the amount of confusion she's in.
Oh no! Alec Arkane can take control of her now? Something else else tells me we're going to need some magic to block his influence.

Ya Quislet's back....;-X at least it didn't get too out of hand.

I liked that the team didn't go on that mission with the intent to capture the Khunds but set out to help keep the city safe from the damage their escape has caused.
lol, Dream Girl correcting Firecrest. I could just see her giving him a face.
Go, Colossal Boy! I never realized Gim had height maximums. Pretty cool to see him reach that height. Maximum heights might be a storyline idea...

Nice, I'm glad Jacques got a power upgrade. I wonder if its all tech now and is that headache going to happen every time he uses it?

Great use of Color Kid's powers on the falling Khundian.

And so now we catch up with the captured. I love Phantom Girl throughout all of this. She's strong and confident.
Strut is very entertaining. Those sensing powers are going to come in handy. I think he could be an auxiliary member of the Espionage Squad.
Veilmist's denial of Tinya was strong. But I'm glad that she gave in knowing that it wasn't getting them anywhere.

Lots of robots being commanded by Karth Arn and the Fate Five...for a moment I thought you were leading us to a Fatal Five Hundred scenario.
The battle with those bots was well done. Gravity Kid's practicality and adhering to his training was great and glad that Tinya knew that was great.
I liked how you used her and how she knew how to use her team.
Strut going out into the void was funny to read. It was another good moment of showcasing the new kids from the veterans but they are holding their own.
I'm glad Crystal Kid saved the Khunds but I wish we could have seen him cut loose against the bots.
Glad they are wanted alive and not dead.

Gravity Kid's trick was cool with finding King Canary. Too bad he couldn't find him faster. So, now King Canary is out there or did he get captured?

Take charge Nightwind! I liked how we got to see her wrestle with her self about how to do take charge with Ultra Boy.
Mon-el is so level headed.
Ulta Boy in every reality needs to calm down when it comes to Tinya it seems.

Neon is becoming very versatile in the team. Kid Computo is going to get a work out soon I bet.
Wow, Veilmist attacks again and so does Timber wolf.
The team barely got out of there before those robots really started in on them. Nice.
Good call on Nightwind to take a captive.

Loved this line.

So our fatal five now is Mano, Mordaci, Karate Kid (IV?), and Catspaw right?

The imagery for this last scene was just wow. from the shadowy tossing of Strut to All those robots and the pan up to the moon and beyond. I loved it and can't wait for more.

Thanks for the comments y'all...sorry I haven't been updating, real life has gotten in the way as it does

I did just write what I hope is a really good scene which develops two of the newbies a little more though; I think the next chapter's gonna be less action and more character moments and story background...I'm also glad the Nightwind fans are happy with my Berta, especially as she's been stuck in a situation where her powers aren't much help!

Omni: the Fatal Five here are all the ones you mentioned plus Karth Arn...I forgot to mention but I did write-ups for all of them bar Mano in my profiles thread if anybody wants a refresher!

That Berta's powers are not helpful at all, makes her leadership shine even more. And as a big Berta fan, I'm very happy with that!

Hi all! Sorry it's taken me so long to update....I have had a lot of real life distraction, but also for some reason have found this particular chapter extremely hard to write! I think it's because it's so heavy on exposition, it's taken me a lot of rewrites to get it to a point where I'm happy publishing (and I still don't really love it tbh) but anyway without further ado....

**********
ROBOTICA PRIME
Isolation Cube 272/6

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

It had been two hours since Crystal Kid and Gravity Kid had been worked over by Karth Arn’s robot enforcers and unceremoniously dumped in a cell together. The boys had been trying to come up with an escape plan, but finally they had to admit they were stymied. Between the measures taken to limit their powers and their ignorance as to the whereabouts of their other teammates, they didn’t really have any option other than to bide their time.

“I hate this,” Gravity Kid scowled as he paced the cell. “Either one of us could have taken Karth Arn and his creepy cat-girl sidekick along with their robot goons and he knew it.”

“He also knows that we know that the nano we make a move, he gives the order to kill the other Legionnaires,” Crystal Kid replied from where he sat against a wall with his head slumped in defeat. “I bet that’s the only reason Phantom Girl hasn’t come looking for us, she’s probably in the exact same situation we are.” A moment of silence passed between them, then Crystal Kid raised his head and gave Tel a half-smile. “...Thanks for the vote of confidence though.”

Gravity Kid smirked back. “I’ve seen you in action; a cloud of nanobots can get turned to crystal as easy as anything else can.”

“I guess.” Bobb chuckled, then winced at the pain it brought. “It’s just...I don’t get a lot of respect, you know? Sprock, what am I talking about...how could you know? You got snapped up out of the Legion Academy before you even graduated. I wasn’t even the third choice out of my class.”

Gravity Kid stopped pacing and crouched down before his fellow recruit. “Hey, everyone’s path is different - doesn’t make it any less valid. I mean Bouncing Boy--”

“--tried out four times before the Legion let him join,” the two boys finished the sentence together. “I heard that story at the Academy too,” Bobb grinned. This time they both laughed, ignoring the twinges of discomfort it brought.

Just as their laughter subsided, Gravity Kid clutched his abdomen and hissed in air dramatically. He hunched over and lost his balance then lowered himself to the floor, sitting by Crystal Kid’s side against the wall.

“You okay..?” Bobb asked with concern. “Maybe you should try and rest, huh? If they beat you even a little worse than they beat me, you might have internal injuries.”

“No.” Tel broke out into a cold sweat, his eyes closed in defiance of the pain he was clearly feeling. “No, I know what this is. I’ll be fine in a...okay, there.” He released a long exhalation and the tension drained from his face.

“Are you okay?” Bobb repeated, one eyebrow raised. “Is there anything I can do?”

“Not unless you’re carrying a secret stash of promasc,” Tel answered dryly, rolling his head to the left to see what he assumed would be Bobb’s shocked reaction.

If Crystal Kid was shocked, he was doing a good job of hiding it. “Promasc?” he asked casually. “That’s that gender expression med, right?”

Gravity Kid nodded. “My dose is a few days late,” he continued with a sigh. “I got so excited about my tryout and with making my Mr E costume and everything that I...I kind of forgot. I was gonna do it after the meeting but well...Veilmist happened, and here we are.”

“Grife…” Crystal Kid gave him a sympathetic look. “Are you....I mean...sorry, I don’t know how to ask this diplomatically but...is it going to get...worse?”

“Am I going to suddenly transform into a girl now that I don’t have my gendermeds, you mean?” Gravity Kid asked sharply. “I’ve got about a standard week before all the really fun stuff starts. Then I’m told it’s sprockin’ excruciating as my body defaults to factory settings. I guess it’s a good thing we’re being executed tomorrow morning, huh? At least I get to die as...as me.” Suddenly hit with emotion, Tel cleared his throat self-consciously and looked away from his cellmate.

“Actually, I was just worried about how much you’re gonna be hurting,” Crystal Kid replied. “I’ll tell you one thing though, pal. We’re not dying tomorrow. We might both be ex-Academy, but only one of us here has been a member of the Legion of Substitute Heroes and that team teaches you something else altogether; no matter what happens, you better believe we’re gonna find some crazy way to get through this.”

Tel turned back to face him again, his expression lighter. “Thanks for the pep talk, and...and for not being weird about it. I appreciate it, a lot of people are still very not okay with overt gene modification of that extent.”

“Hey, it’s the 31st century,” Crystal Kid shrugged. “A lot of people need to catch up.”

The boys sat in silence for a moment longer before Bobb spoke up again. “Seriously though, we should at least try and get some rest. Our opportunity will come and when it does we need to be ready to take it. You go first, I’ll wake you up before morning.”

“Are you sure?” Tel asked.

“Crystal clear,” Bobb replied with a hammy wink.

“Grife,” Tel rolled his eyes, “After that, I almost hope we die tomorrow morning.”

The unfamiliar sound of human laughter carried through the halls of the building once again into the night.

**********
ELSEWHERE

ROLL CALL
Chlorophyll Kid aka Ral Benem: chlorokinesis
Cosmic Boy aka Rokk Krinn: magnetism
Diamond Damsel aka Iris Jacobs: living diamond
Elastic Lad aka Jams-Ols 5: super-elongation
Infectious Lass aka Drura Sehpt: disease transmission and immunity
Kid Computo aka Danielle Foccart: cyberempathy
Light Lad aka Darvan Locke: gravity negation
Lightning Lass aka Ayla Ranzz: electricity generation and manipulation
Matter-Eater Lad aka Tenzil Kem: can eat inorganic matter in all its forms
Mon-El aka Lar Gand: Daxamite physiology
Neon II 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
Polar Boy aka Brek Bannin: cryokinesis
Shadow Lass aka Tasmia Mallor: darkness generation
Star Boy aka Thom Kallor: celestial mass-transference
Stone Boy aka Dag Wentim: ability to transmute to living stone
Supergirl II aka Laurel Kent: invulnerability
Tellus aka Ganglios: telepathy and telekinesis
Timber Wolf aka Brin Londo: super-strength and super-agility
Ultra Boy aka Jo Nah: ultra-energy which can be directed into any one of strength, speed, flight, invulnerability, flash vision, penetra-vision at a time

In the very small brig of a Legion cruiser, Nightwind, Supergirl and Mon-El watched as Kid Computo stood over the unmoving remains of the robot Mon-El had brought on board at Nightwind’s request.

“What do you think, Danielle?” Nightwind asked. “Can you excavate some answers from this guy?”

“Um, obviously.” Kid Computo snorted in mock arrogance. She earned a snigger from Laurel, but Nighwind and Mon-El’s expressions never faltered. “Sorry,” Danielle coughed, “Probably not the time or place. But yeah, sure. Just give me a nano and--” The young woman stopped mid-sentence, a faraway look in her eye. She slowly turned to gaze at the robot before them, her eyes narrowing in unexpected comprehension.

“This again..?” Nightwind sighed. “Hey, Legion to Kid Computo - you still with us?” She waved a hand before Danielle’s face.

“Yeah, yeah…of course...” Danielle turned away from the robot, but to her teammates it didn’t seem that she particularly wanted to. She blinked a couple of times and then seemed once again her normal self. “...I just had an idea actually. Mon-El, can you carry our friend here to the bridge? I can use the holotransmitters there to show everyone what’s in his head.”

Nightwind frowned. “I don’t know if I’m super comfortable bringing this thing to the bridge of our cruiser, Kid Computo...and no offence, but you’ve been super weird every time you make contact with one of these things.”

“Oh, come on.” Kid Computo rolled her eyes. “It’s no more of a threat right now than the autochef...and I admit I’ve been a little overwhelmed, but there’s something really unique about these robots that I can’t put my finger on. I’ve been possessed by an evil machine, I know what it feels like. Trust me, this isn’t that. Or if you don’t trust me, I guess we could always get Tellus to have a peek through my head.” Her tone was more defensive by the time she finished, her arms folded across her chest.

“Okay, okay, I get it.” Berta leaned back from her. “Grife, excuse me for wanting to protect us all. Just for the record, it’s not you I don’t trust. It’s these things that have done sprock knows what with five of our teammates. They might be an amazing piece of technology, but they still want us dead. Don’t forget that.”

Appropriately cowed, Danielle began to apologise but Berta ignored her and turned pointedly to Mon-El. “Sorry to make a pack animal out of you again, but can you please carry that thing to our bridge? I’m gonna go ahead and set up a link with our other cruiser so we can all see whatever there is to see.” With that, she turned and strode out of the room.

As Nightwind left and Mon-El fetched the robot, Kid Computo let out a long whistle of air. “...Who knew she was that intense?” Danielle mumbled to herself.

“You try having Duplicate Damsel for a teacher,” Supergirl teased. “The hardass rubs off on you after a while.” The bemused girl of steel followed Mon-El, leaving Danielle to take up the rear.

**********
Minutes later the robot was lying on the floor of the ship’s bridge, Danielle Foccart on her knees by its side. Nightwind stood rigidly nearby, with ten other Legionnaires in various positions standing, sitting or leaning around them. Once the Legion had escaped the horde of Roboticans, Veilmist had been convinced to stay with them (despite the protests of her companion Khano). The Legion recognised the futility of trying to imprison a teleporter, so the two of them were seated under the very attentive eye of Timber Wolf. One section of the bulkhead was obscured by a hologram depicting the remaining nine Legionnaires who’d come along on this mission, standing on the bridge of their own vessel. “...I should have brought some styrofoam kernels for the show,” Matter-Eater Lad joked to Neon by his side.

“Okay, everyone ready?” Danielle asked. “Here goes! Okay, so...oh, wow. These robots...they’re a race, you guys.” As she probed the damaged robot’s memory, accompanying visuals appeared in hologram form. The Legion saw the enormous planet Robotica Prime, the homeworld of artificial beings whose origins were lost to antiquity. Five satellites circled the world, each given a designation from 1 to 5. Danielle told the Legion of the history of Robotica, a history of peace and contented isolation from every other race in the universe. The Roboticans had developed interstellar travel millenia ago, but when their first contact with extraterrestrial life had rewarded them with only fear and apprehension from their strange fleshy neighbours the Roboticans had decided the best path forward was to simply keep to themselves. For untold thousands of years they continued their exploration of the universe around them in secret, taking great measures to hide their existence from any organic creatures they encountered so as to spare them the shock of acknowledging artificial life.

Then the Khunds found them.

Epic holographic space battles illuminated the room. On one side, warships which were primitive compared to the technological standard of the 31st century but still recognisably of Khund design; on the other, vast clouds of spacefaring robots who’d never bothered to invent vehicles when they could just make themselves spaceworthy. “This is...this is actual footage,” Kid Computo gaped in wonder. “The Roboticans just pass the file down from generation to generation, upgrading to new technologies as they’ve evolved them. This is crazy! We’re watching an actual war between two civilisations from...well, I don’t quite get how they measure time yet, but this is from when the Khunds first developed space warfare!”

“That’s thousands of years ago!” Neon’s eyes grew wide as she realised what they were seeing. “It’s like...it’s like a flawless oral history!”

“Lies!” The Khund mercenary in their midst exploded in anger. He moved to leave his seat until Timber Wolf very firmly pushed him back down. “If my people faced this soulless militia, we would have conquered them and added their numbers to the Khund Empire!”

“Because you’re doing such a good job of that right now,” Polar Boy added sarcastically. “I’m sure ancient Khund starships held together with spot welds and optimism would have fared so much better.”

Khano fumed.

“They reached an impasse,” Kid Computo explained as the holographic history lesson continued. “Robotica had the advantage in numbers and tech, but they were nowhere near prepared for the Khunds’ savagery.”

“Kid Computo?” Elastic Lad asked, one arm extending four times its original length to point out a particular section of the holographic story. “Gee, I hate to interrupt - this is super fascinating! I was just wondering though, can you tell us what’s going on here?” The scene in question showed two burly pink-skinned Khund warriors standing over the remains of one of the Roboticans. The robot had been dismantled, all of its individual components spread out across a huge flat table. The two Khunds picked up and analysed various parts of the robot before them, and eventually matched complimentary parts of its anatomy to its counterpart on their own muscular frames. One quick fade later, both of the Khunds stood as primitive cyborgs.

“This isn’t literal footage,” Danielle’s eyes narrowed slightly. “It’s a virtual simulation, it’s...you know, I think it’s like a Robotican myth or a fable or something! But it’s drawing from real events...it’s...wow, if this is true…” She looked up from one teammate to another. “...I think this is where the Khunds developed their obsession with cybernetics. After they defeated the Roboticans, they cannibalised them, adapted them to their own anatomy!”

“Of course it’s not true!” Khano raged once more. “You think Khund genius owes any debt to these things?!”

“Well gosh, it makes sense!” Elastic Lad took to the topic with his normal enthusiasm, “After all, cybernetics tend to evolve among the worlds of the UP through medical prosthetics, but medical technologies even now are all but unknown in the Khundish Empire. Gee, imagine how much more that would be the case over a thousand years ago! But taking parts of your enemy to intimidate them and to strengthen your own position...that’s classic warfare, as yucky as it might be! I think Kid Computo’s on to something, you know!”

A growl of outrage built in the Khundish mercenary’s throat, but Nightwind interrupted before anybody could get any more carried away. “Okay, great history lesson guys, but this doesn’t help us! Danielle, do you think you could skip a millenium and give us some information that might actually be useful in the here and now?!”

“Yeah, yeah, sorry...of course.” Danielle Foccart looked down toward the cold robot lying before her and focused her concentration. The holograms around them faded, no longer fed by Danielle’s power. “After they met the Khunds the Roboticans retreated,” Kid Computo explained. “They weren’t ready for that level of violence. They kept to themselves up till recently, with only occasional skirmishes along the border space they shared with the Khunds. Then, for the first time in more than a thousand years, they met four new organic aliens...and for the first time in their racial history, they met an artificial lifeform who came from somewhere other than Robotica.” The holographic display began again; Veilmist, Khano, and 21 Legionnaires watched as a strange vessel was accompanied to the surface of one of the Robotican worlds and from that vessel stepped Karth Arn, Catspaw, Mano, Mordecai and Karate Kid.

“The Fatal Five!” Cosmic Boy exclaimed. Timber Wolf’s anger was almost palpable, and Veilmist glanced across at him in fearful submission.

“The Fatal Five proposed an alliance,” Kid Computo explained, “But after their experience with the Khunds, the Roboticans weren’t interested in any kind of relationship with organic life. So they...they...oh, nass.” Danielle’s words failed her, but they weren’t needed. From the point of view of one of the inhabitants of Robotica Prime, the Legionnaires watched as Mano’s familiar energy signature enveloped the furthest of Robotica’s five satellite worlds. Explosions rocked the planetoid’s surface and then just as he’d done to his own homeworld once, Mano’s power ended Robotica-5 and every artificial life upon it.

“They needed convincing,” Ultra Boy uttered darkly. “And so the Fatal Five convinced them.”

“And now they have an unstoppable army of death machines at their disposal,” Veilmist spoke up in the deathly quiet ship. “One which they have turned upon my people.”

“I’ve worked for conquerors,” Diamond Damsel added grimly. “Once they’re done with the Khunds, they won’t stop there.”

“No,” Mon-El agreed. “They won’t.” He looked at Ultra Boy and though neither of the men said a word, they both shared a dark understanding. This had become bigger than Phantom Girl and their missing recruits, bigger than any Legionnaire. If the Fatal Five weren’t stopped now, how many more innocents might die in their mad quest to expand their power?

“Kid C,” Jo Nah looked down at the teenager kneeling on the floor.

“...Where are the Fatal Five now..?”

**********

Some distance away from the two Legion vessels, a third ship hung in the black void of space. No visible lights dotted its surface, and jury-rigged technologies kept it cloaked from more exotic senses. No technology could hide it from Kid Computo’s power were that power turned against them, but a mixture of confidence, arrogance and desperation from the ship’s crew defied fear of that possibility.

“They’re on the move,” one of the ship’s crewmates reported. “We should move or we’ll lose them.”

“We won’t lose them,” the woman named Scorn retorted, fingering the bladed edge of her ornate dagger. “Until the Daxamite heals from the wound I inflicted upon him, I can track him anywhere else as easily as I tracked him here.”

“They are heading further into Robotican territory,” Firefist spoke up. “It would be madness for us to give pursuit, Galarr!”

“Would it?” the former warlord Galarr asked rhetorically. “You want your wife back, don’t you Firefist? We have every reason to believe that she is on one of those two ships. I think we should follow the Legionnaires and see how this pans out...unless of course, anybody here is frightened and wishes to run home to the safety of his mother’s bedclothes?” He addressed the crew as a whole, but looked pointedly at Firefist.

Firefist fumed. He did want Veilmist back; he’d been willing to take on the Demon Mother-accursed Legion of Superheroes to retrieve his wife. But the Fatal Five and their pet robot empire were a different story...they’d decimated every Khund fleet they’d encountered, and they’d encountered fleets far more powerful than this slapdash crew. His Khundish pride would not allow him to back down from a challenge though, even if he knew that challenge were to lead to his death.

“None of us are children,” Firefist snarled. “And all of us are willing to battle every step of our way to every Hell the Demon Mother sees fit to subject us to. Let us give pursuit then.”

The Khund vessel’s engines blazed to life, and Firefist was sure of one thing….die they might, but they would die in glory.

TO BE CONCLUDED!!!

Whew! Nice way of working in the sentient-Robot story from the Reboot.

Gravity Kid as a trans person! Quite a surprise, especially when I think of how hairy he is. But of course, technology.

Looking forward to the next installment as always!

Raz, hi, you've been busy since the last time I wrote a review for you and it's all great.

I'm loving your Khunds, they're always fun to mix things up with and Veilmist is the schemey minx we loved to hate in the comics. The fight with virtually the whole team against the Khund warriors was well written, and Elastic Lad ws the stand out star - I could never write a character like that so well and love it when you include him as he's such gosh darn fun! Laurels "don't touch the hair" line made me laugh as I've said the same thing on more than a few occassions too. Scorn is a great creation so I'm hoping you have more plans to use her soon.

Dream Girl's casual announement that the Khunds would escape was such a Nura moment, well written. Colossal Boy growing to 800 feet! That is HUGE! Jacques abilities seem to have been upgraded a bit after his experience with the Invisible Queen - looking forward to seeing how that goes, he never has had much luck with upgades in the past though at least this time e didn't kill a khund.

Phantom Girl and the four newbies have totally landed themselves in it - their fight against the bot army was well done - brief and intense but set the scene brilliantly.

Jo and Berta clashing was a good character moment in the midst of all the the bigger teams arrival - just like Ultra Boy to be so bullheaded when Tinya is in danger. Lots of nice character moments actually - Kid Computo's awe at the roboticans, Zoe creating a giant Bouncing Boy to escape the horde of attacking bots, Berta's confidence that the team would survive - all well done.

Mano commenting that their pet mascot was dead in space with the Khunds - King Canary I assume - made me realise we haven't seen him yet so I'm hoping that he's going to do a Wolverine at the Hellfire Club type save the day appearance soon. I'm certain you didn't create him just ti kill him off like that. Go King Canary!

Bbob and Tel's support for each other was well done. Tel uses Promasc - great name btw - that's an interteresting take and it'll be good to see where that story goes too.

Using Danielle to give us the Robotican's story was a good way of writing it out without it turning into dry exposition, and tying the Roboticans earlier battle with the Khunds to explain their love of cybernetics was inspired,

Go Scorn! looking forward to seeing how the Khunds get involved with this all.

Raz, I've spent the last 90 minutes rereading this and it was such a delight. I'm looking forward to more, more and much more!

Thanks peeps! The ride is nearly over, and I've had more fun writing the final chapter as so far it features big fights and Ayla being Ayla which is always a treat to write

Scorn might be successfully writing herself into some bigger developments down the track somewhere, stay tuned...

Harbi, I really want to draw a Wolvie homage with King Canary looking tough in the Robotica sewers now hahaha

Promasc seemed like a logical counter to profem (which is what Shvaughn used in the 5YL comics)...I've been wanting to do a less tone deaf transgender storyline than Shvaughn's story was for a while and I figured Tel is at a good level of character recognition for it to be accepted as a part of his background without feeling like a retcon, while also having enough going for him outside of that so it doesn't feel tokenistic. I'm hoping it comes off as an organic story element and not like I'm just ticking off a box

Last chapter should be up soonish!

BAD NEWS BEARS:

My laptop has died before I got a chance to upload my work booo...hopefully it can be fixed, but I'm moving house this month as well so it's highly unlikely I'll be updating any time soon. I guess we'll be back when we're back!

aw, sorry to hear, raz. I hate when that happens to me. I hate it so much that lately, I've taken to editing my work via PM. I have a PM thread with Blaze's account, and save my unfinished writing there... and just edit the PM when I want to. that might work for you!