Legion World Forums LEGION OUTPOST Bits o' Legionnaire Business Never the End (A Continuation of the 5 Years Later Era)

1,000 YEARS FROM TODAY

Lar Gand of Daxam, sometimes known as the United Planets' reluctant messiah Valor, paced back and forth through one of the many narrow corridors within Legion Headquarters. Behind the opaque sliding door facing Lar, his partner in love and adventure, Tasmia Mallor of Talok VIII, was taking longer than usual preparing herself for a long voyage they were both about to undertake.

He had learned a lot about patience during his near-millennial entrapment in the Bgtzl Buffer Zone, but he felt that whatever Tasmia was up to was beginning to test even said patience.

Suddenly, the door opened, and Lar understood at once the cause of the delays: Tasmia had obviously been using the Instant Hair Growth Helmet which had been circulating for years among the female Legionnaires. No longer sporting that bizarre mohawk/mullet, she now sported a long, elaborately feathered hairdo which would not have been out of place on the late 20th Century's default depiction of fictional female vampires. For a split second, Lar was tempted to address his lover as "Elvira," before quickly realizing that she would not be amused.

"I like it." he said softly.

"You had better," she replied sassily, "because it is here to stay!"

Lar smiled wanly as he opened his arms and she placed herself snugly in them. Their trip would be too lengthy for Tasmia to get there by Flight Ring alone.

Minutes later, as they flew together through the star-scape, she sighed, albeit only half-seriously, "Is this trip really necessary?"

"Jo needs our help urgently." was Lar's stoic reply.

Immediately, Tasmia's mind reeled silently with petty, contemptuous quips regarding Lar's friend Jo Nah, who had survived being tossed through the tempest of time-travel, only to return home without the woman whom he had done it all for: Tasmia's time-lost best friend, Tinya Wazzo. For the first time in her life, Tasmia realized with stark clarity that Jo had only ever been Lar's buddy and Tinya's lover. She, for her part, perceived Jo as an inveterate poseur, always second-guessing what others wanted him to be at any given moment -- and usually guessing right, which made him even more difficult for her to tolerate.

Ah, well, thought Tasmia, these are simply the things I do for the love of Lar.

At that instant, she also realized how much she truly missed her friend Tinya, and she averted her face from Lar's view, so that he could not see her shedding a tear.

TODAY

"Geez," mumbled the L.E.G.I.O.N.'s second-in-command known only as Phase, "I need a haircut."

In her groggy early-morning state, she continued to stare hazily through dazed red eyes at her reflection. The highly practical cropped hairstyle she had adopted soon after joining the galactic peacekeeping force a couple years earlier had begun growing out awkwardly, thick dark curls uncoiling every which way atop her scalp.

if it gets any longer, she thought, I'll have to start tying it back...or up...or to...the sides? The thought of herself in long pigtails elicited a mixed physical response, somewhere between nausea and elation. For a moment, she could swear she was even flashing back to the past which her amnesia had been blocking for a long time -- a past in which she looked like some weird cross between a 70s disco dolly and a 50s schoolgirl. Yeah, she thought, that'll have the hardened criminals quaking in their boots!

No sooner did Phase start to wonder if she was going mad, than duty called in the form of a blaring high-level alarm. She was grateful to be able to tear herself away from the mirror and run to the L.E.G.I.O.N. headquarters' monitor room, where she knew that the one and only sentient who outranked her in the force, Vril Dox II of Colu, would already be waiting impatiently.

**********

When Phase arrived at the monitor room, she found Dox smiling, and surprisingly serene in demeanor. Knowing Dox the way she did, Phase wasn't sure whether to be relieved or worried.

"You needn't have bothered." purred Dox in that supercilious light baritone which could put even a saint's nerves on edge. "I've taken care of it already."

As she gawked at the monitor's main screen, Phase almost felt like she was having an out-of-body experience. "Is that...Lar Gand -- divebombing us?" she gasped.

"The Prodigal Son himself." quipped Dox sarcastically before adding, with perfect dramatic timing, "I sicced Lobo on him."

"What?" shrieked Phase. "No negotiations, no fair warning?"

"Not my style." smirked Dox.

Phase slapped herself on the forehead, partly out of the obviousness of Dox's remark, partly out of the seeming hopelessness of the situation she now found herself in. Hopefully, she thought, at least they won't cause any damage to this planet's surface...

**********

Far above ground, Lobo licked his stubbly chops with his warty, hideously long tongue as he revved up his souped-up space-motorbike to intercept the invading Lar Gand. Even Lobo was smart enough to know that no one could actually hear him at this height, yet he still couldn't resist rasping out a nicotine-coated taunt in that voice which sounded like a television wrestler, only with even more testosterone fueling it.

"Hang on ta yer cape, lame-o! Things're about ta get FRAG-A-DELIC!"

1,000 YEARS FROM TODAY

On Rimbor, the armpit of the United Planets, yet another brawl was unfolding at one of its many seedy, scummy pubs.

With a heart-stopping crash, the window of this pub shattered as a young-ish man's body flew straight through the glass pane.

This was Jo Nah, once the coolest guy in the Rimborian underworld, the top cat of the planetary backstreets. But in leaving Rimbor a couple years ago to fight alongside the Legion for the greater good, he had created the proverbial vacuum which nature abhors. Younger, sleazier, and far more ruthless criminals had rushed to fill the gap, and now everyone Jo ever considered a blood brother had betrayed him out of self-preservation. He was officially Yesterday's Man.

As Jo's assailants within the pub felt their endorphins kick into overdrive, they turned on each other, even more viciously than they had beaten Jo.

This gave Jo's friend Lar Gand an opening to swoop down from the roof of a nearby building and rescue Jo from the vagrants who were emerging from the alleyways to finish what the pub-crawlers had started.

When Lar returned to the rooftop and the waiting Tasmia, he gently set Jo down, only for his best friend to let out a heartbreaking yowl.

"You shoulda let them kill me!" screamed the seemingly ungrateful Jo. "I've got no reason to live anymore. I have nothing, and I'm less than nothing!"

TODAY

There were countless old shanties being forever sung through the space-ways of the galaxy, and Lobo knew them all. Now the corridor of L.E.G.I.O.N. headquarters leading to Vril Dox's office echoed with the Main Man's hideously off-key caterwauling. Surprisingly, Lobo was getting high harmonies of sorts from his temporary companion Lar Gand, both of them looking the worse for wear after beating each other to matching pulps. Lobo uncorked a huge bottle of some of the universe's most dreadful rotgut, and gulped down half of it in less than five seconds. He then handed the bottle to Lar, clapped him hard on the shoulder, and growled, "Ya've earned The Main Man's respect. Have a slug on me."

Lar only hesitated for a split second before complying with Lobo's bonhomie and taking a big single gulp.

"Awlright," said Lobo, jerking his thumb at the open door of Dox's office, "now git in there, so's the boss-man won't be kept waitin'. But let's have a rematch sometime. Yer awlright, ya know...fer a lame-o bastich."

As Lar staggered into the office, Lobo resumed his loud, lusty singing while heading in the other direction. Lar looked straight ahead at Dox and Phase. He was smiling. She looked horrified.

"You see now, Phase?" Dox enquired of his first lieutenant, "All they both needed to do was blow off steam. Now we can negotiate in a civil manner. Right, Lar?"

"Ruh-ruh-right..." was all Lar could slur in response before he hung his head down and vomited all over the office floor.

Phase gasped. Dox smiled a little wider. Then he said to her, "Go get Garryn Bek to clean it up -- it'll serve him right, he really annoyed me this morning."

She practically ran away from the sight (and smell) of this disturbing (and pestilent) tableau, but not before hearing Dox say, "Okay, then, let's talk turkey. Or should I say, hawk. As in those damned Thanagarians who poisoned you with lead, and then framed me for the dirty deed?"

1,000 YEARS FROM TODAY

So, thought Tasmia as she watched her lover Lar Gand desperately trying to talk his sobbing friend Jo back from the suicidal brink, we now see the true colors of that sad, sniveling little soft-boy named Jo. All his deceits, half-truths, and misdirections have finally caught up with him. Which begs the question of why I am wasting my time watching them enact this vicious-circle drama (once an actor, always an actor, eh, Jo?)

Finally, she could stay quiet no longer.

"Is there anything we can possibly do for you, Jo Nah, or should we just leave you to suffocate yourself in self-pity?"

"Tasmia!" a shocked Lar barked back angrily, "How DARE you?"

"I merely speak the truth, my love. It is often, nay, always painful to hear. I have heard Earth natives refer to it colloquially as "tough love.""

"There is a fine line between..." Lar began to reply before Jo cut him off.

"No, Lar, she's right. I have to pull myself out of this. And there IS one way that you, my pal, and you alone can help me!"

"Anything for you, Jo. You're my brother in the purest sense. Anything."

"Tell me everything you've ever held back about where I can find Tinya!"

"WHAT in the name of the gods are you TALKING about?"

"Lar, you know better than anyone that I'm not as dumb as I look. I've done my homework -- gods only know there's nothing else left for me to do -- and I know that, for a brief time, near the end of the previous millennium, you were part of an outer-space police force...and one of your teammates was the very image of my Tinya!"

"Oh, my...Jo, I was a member of the L.E.G.I.O.N. for about 15 minutes! That's all a long-buried afterthought to me! Not to mention that even if I did want to remember, the traumas that I've lived through have blocked nearly everything from before my stay in the Bgtzl Buffer Zone!"

Jo glared silently at his friend for a moment before replying. "I can tell you're not lying. And that's a relief. It'd break my heart if you were. But if you can't help me, then there's really nothing..."

"Oh, you boys!" interrupted Tasmia curtly, "Isn't the solution obvious?"

"NO!" replied the boys in peevish unison.

"In a word: Imra."

"Of...of course!" gasped Jo. "She can unblock your memories, Lar." Tension-filled pause. "Well, what're we waiting for? Race you to Winath!" And with that, Jo blasted off into the sky at Ultra-Speed.

"Well?" asked Tasmia snippily, "Aren't we going to follow him?"

Another tension-filled pause.

"Yes." answered Lar softly. "To reiterate, I will do anything for my brother of the heart."

TODAY

Ornery at even the best of times, the high-ranking L.E.G.I.O.N. member known as Stealth was feeling too cheerful at this moment to care about maintaining her reputation. Her baby boy (with Vril Dox II, of all sentients) still slept sweetly in his crib, where Stealth had placed him a short while ago while she went to take a shower. Stealth treasured the baby's angelic moments, because most of the time he was more of a shrieking little demon, spewing and spraying all over the place. But for right now, he was clean, comfortable, and peaceful. Of course, either way she still loved him with the ferocity befitting any good mother, but even so, she thought, these little moments really are special.

And when Phase walked into Stealth's quarters, she brightened up even more. They had quickly become best of friends since Phase had seemingly appeared out of nowhere a couple years before.

But Phase, for her part, was currently neither bright nor cheerful in her demeanor, which immediately caused concern in Stealth.

"Hey, what's the matter?" inquired Stealth gently.

"You don't want to know." grumbled Phase, following up quickly with a heavy sigh and an apologetic, "Nothing personal."

"Oh, come on," replied Stealth, "you're my one real friend in the whole galaxy! Anything that's troubling you IS my business."

"Okay. It's...Dox. He's really gone too far this time."

"I suspected as much. What's he done?"

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

A SHORT WHILE AGO

"DOX!" screamed Phase as she stormed into his office, "Why wasn't I part of the war-room session for this armada that you're suddenly getting ready for launch?"

"It's heading to Thanagar," replied Dox tersely, "and that's all you need to know."

"WHAT? I outrank everyone in this place but you! And how am I supposed to lead the field operations when...?"

"You're not leading the armada."

"Uh?"

"And, for that matter, you're not my first lieutenant anymore. I demoted you."

"WHEN DID YOU...? No, never mind that! Who the hell is supposed take my place?"

"Lydea."

"But...but...I mean, yeah, she made an incredible showing on Talok just recently, but...but...buh...she's so young...and I have tenure..."

"To be blunt, Phase, you've gone soft. If you can't even handle Lar Gand barfing in front of you, how am I supposed to have faith that you'll stay frosty in the field? And, no, this isn't a snap decision. For the past few months, you've been consistently inefficient in all of your very important duties. You come across like you're on opiates or some such."

"I do not do drugs!"

"Be that as it may, it was still my call to make. Now, I've also decided you won't be in the field at all for this mission. You are to watch over Lar Gand while he completes his convalescence."

"You've made me a NURSE?"

"Would you rather trade places with Garryn Bek, and be our designated janitor?"

**********

TODAY

"THAT BASTARD SON OF A BASTARD!" Stealth snarled through gritted teeth, "I'm gonna head over to him right now, and shave the peachfuzz off his scalp...WITH A CHEESE-GRATER!"

"Don't bother." huffed Phase, "He's gone off on a diplomatic mission."

"What? To where?"

"He wouldn't tell me, but I secretly triangulated the trajectory of his cruiser, and it's most likely Rann."

"We're on the verge of another Rann-Thanagar War? Whoopee-flippin'-do!"

"Yeah..." sighed Phase. "Hey, thanks for lending a friendly ear, but I gotta go check on Lar Gand."

"So you gotta babysit the guy that got you demoted in the first place. Frickin' Dox...look, lemme go with you."

"Wow, thanks! That'd be a huge help!"

"That's what friends are for."

1,000 YEARS FROM TODAY

Outsiders to the agrarian planet Winath tended to picture it in their minds as a bucolic utopia. But those born and raised on Winath learned the harsh truth at a very young age: No matter how industrious you were, Mother Nature could reverse your fortunes on a mere whim.

Garth Ranzz, a Winath native who owned and maintained one of the more notable plantations on his home planet, was now getting an unwanted refresher course of sorts in Mother Nature's whims. At this moment, he was confiding in Reep Daggle of Durla, his friend, fellow Legionnaire, and financial advisor.

"...this year's harvest gets any worse, it's gonna drain our finances more than ever, and..."

Suddenly, Garth's eyes widened, his body tensed, and he frantically began looking around his and Reep's surroundings.

Garth had insisted on talking to Reep in one of the more remote corners of the plantation, so as not to alarm the rest of the Ranzz clan. But now, he was regretting this decision. A successful farmer makes many enemies, and he realized he had accidentally turned himself into a moving target.

"Garth! Calm down!" said Reep assertively but calmly, "It's only a few of our fellow Legionnaires."

As Garth quickly internalized this fact and relaxed his stance, Reep could have sworn he saw Garth's very flesh ripple for a split second. Being both an experienced detective and a born shape-shifter, Reep could not bring himself to easily dismiss this sight, much as he wanted to. But Garth -- if this really was him -- was his friend, so he momentarily diverted his attention to these unexpected guests.

"Jo, Tasmia, Lar!" Reep called out, "Great to see you all. Been a long time."

"It has, hasn't it?" Lar pondered out loud.

"W-what brings you here?" asked Garth with grinning, forced hospitality.

"Imra." replied Tasmia. "We must see her privately."

"Hoo boy...she's...uh...not feeling especially demonstrative today." Garth admitted candidly, scratching the back of his head. "But...um...gimme a few minutes head start, and I'll see if I can arrange something."

"Thanks." Jo replied plainly.

Garth ran towards his house as if a hellhound were on his tail, leaving his visitors nonplussed and his guest even more suspicious than before.

"He doesn't seem himself." observed Lar, verbalizing Reep's thoughts to a "T."

"Most definitely not." agreed Tasmia.

"Hey, I can sympathize. I don't know who I am anymore, that's for damn sure." said Jo with a strained chuckle. No one else laughed, but Reep quietly filed away his friend's remark for future reference.

"Follow me." said Reep serenely, "Ayla and Vi have a little surprise for you."

After a substantial walk to the house (during which Reep did not share anything about Garth's financial crisis,) the trio of unexpected guests spotted two barefoot female figures standing close together on the enormous house's front yard. The one facing them, strikingly attractive with her natural curves and severe hairdo, was obviously their friend and fellow Legionnaire Salu "Vi" Digby. But the other woman -- whom they could only see as a tall, angular figure in a loose-fitting flowered dress, topped by a healthy head of long strawberry blond hair -- was a mystery. She was also obviously holding something close to her.

"Well, hello, Vi." said Tasmia, raising an eyebrow before adding, "And who's your friend?"

The other woman turned around, revealing herself to be cradling a baby swaddled in pink. Tasmia's beautiful blue-skinned face turned lavender with embarrassment when she recognized the object of her curiosity as Ayla Ranzz, Vi's partner and Garth's twin sister!

"Oh! Ayla! You look so..."

"Girly?" asked Ayla in a playful tone. "Femmy? Womanly?"

"I was going to say "pretty.""

"Wow. Thank you." replied Ayla, "Coming from you, that's a real compliment."

"Is this your...daughter?"

"Yes." said Ayla as her smile widened and her face took on a stunning radiance.

"I never knew you were...I mean, it's been only a few months since I last saw you..."

"She's adopted." explained Vi crisply.

Ayla immediately elaborated: "Brainy confirmed years ago that I am incapable of bearing children." Her face continued to smile, but with a more enigmatic quality. Not missing a hint, Vi kissed her partner on the cheek.

"Well..." replied Tasmia softly but sincerely, "...congratulations!"

Before the conversation could continue, Garth ran out of the house. Clearly short on breath, he gasped, "Imra says she'll see you for a little while. She's upstairs with the girls. Graym's playing extracurricular sports at school."

"Thanks, Garth!" said Jo. "You're a good man."

"Awwww, shucks..." replied Garth, scratching his head again.

Now it was Reep's turn to raise an eyebrow. But, again, he kept quiet...for the moment.

1,000 YEARS FROM TODAY

Jo, Lar, and Tasmia all climbed the ornate stairway inside Garth and Imra's homestead with great trepidation. They were suddenly having second thoughts about seeing her. Garth had already told them that Imra was in one of her moods, and having known her for years, they all knew very well that Imra's smiling eyes could turn vicious in the time in took to blink. A point-blank glare from Imra could reduce even the toughest sentient to tears.

So it was that the trio was relieved that when Imra turned to face them (once her twin daughters, Dacey and Dorrit, were settled in their cribs), her eyes appeared more weary than angry. Of course, this was a concern as well, but rather than inquire and risk making Imra mad, they decided to stick to the matter which they had asked to see her about: If she would be okay with using her telepathy to try and unlock Lar's repressed memories of a millennium ago.

Before any of them could break the silence, Imra did it herself. "Obviously, you need my powers for help with something. Let's get it over with, then, shall we?"

"Right." replied Lar. "I...we...want you to unlock my memories from a thousand years ago, during the brief time I was a member of the L.E.G.I.O.N."

"Have a seat." said Imra softly. "Get yourself comfortable, relax, close your eyes, and let me take care of the rest."

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

TODAY

Phase, with Stealth and her baby son in tow, awkwardly entered the room in the medical wing of L.E.G.I.O.N. headquarters where Lar Gand lay recovering from his fight with Lobo...and possibly for some additional reason which Vril Dox had refused to make Phase privy to.

The first things Phase noticed were that Lar's eyes were closed and his breathing sounded even. That was a great relief to her. But as she turned to leave, Lar spoke up, his voice croaky and unmistakably vulnerable.

"Please, Phase..." he begged, "...don't leave. So...lonely..."

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

1,000 YEARS FROM TODAY

Lonely. Loneliness. Lar knew the feeling well. If anything, he knew it too well. Right now, as he cast his mind back to before his nearly 1,000 years of entrapment in the Bgztl Buffer Zone, he asked himself (as he had countless times before) how he had managed to avoid going mad. He then asked himself (as he had far less often) whether he might *have* gone mad without knowing it.

Unexpectedly, his mind was flooded with visions of amorphous pink blobs floating in every direction. As his body shuddered, he felt Imra's gentle touch on his shoulder. That helped him to relax somewhat, although irrational fears of Tasmia getting jealous did momentarily get in the way. Imra telepathically told him not to worry, that she and Tasmia were both grown women with mature outlooks. As he calmed down again, Lar began to remember...about another touch...another woman's touch...centuries ago...

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

TODAY

Stealth was usually one of the most clear-minded, straight-talking sentients in the galaxy...yet she didn't quite know what to make of what was unfolding before her eyes.

Part of the reason was that she couldn't hear what Phase and Lar had begun whispering to each other. But there was no mistaking the way which Phase had begun stroking Lar's face. With each stroke, it grew more intimate.

The sardonic devil in her quipped that, at this rate, her baby son might soon have a playmate. She then turned her head slightly to look at her son. It did not make her feel good that he was obviously beginning to wake up. Not wishing to disturb Phase and Lar (despite her ambivalence), she decided she would leave before her son began wailing like a fire alarm.

Suddenly, the room behind her began to grow brighter. She turned to see the bizarre sight of both Lar and Phase being bathed in a bright-orange energy which had seemingly manifested itself out of nowhere. Within seconds, Phase and Lar both looked just as surprised as Stealth. But before anyone could do anything, Phase and Lar's bodies both vanished, leaving Stealth facing an empty bed.

Instinctively, Stealth used her free hand to pull out a pocket-sized energy-scanner from her jacket. She ran it over the bed, and within a few seconds, the scanner confirmed that it was teleportational Zeta Beam energy, the kind used exclusively on the planet Rann...where Vril Dox had flow off to, allegedly for a diplomatic mission.

Frantically, Stealth started punching in the commands for the scanner to give her an exact fix on the coordinates of where Phase and Lar had been taken. But when she was distracted by the unmistakable sound of her baby waking up and crying loudly, she loosened her grip on the scanner, and it fell out of her hand.

Gasping, she bent over to try to catch it before it landed, but she was unable to keep it from hitting the ground. And it hit hard -- so hard that its screen cracked and went blank.

Now Stealth was unsure what to do -- because if teleporting Lar and Phase was actually part of one of Dox's insanely complicated master plans, then she shouldn't risk alerting the Rannians by contacting Dox. On the other hand, if the Rannians were behind the kidnapping, then alerting Dox would put HIM at risk of being taken prisoner.

Not to mention that her son's crying was beginning to wake up other patients, and she started hearing angry complaints to get him out of there.

Stealth shook her head as she left the wing. All the rest of the elite L.E.G.I.O.N. members were off to launch a pre-emptive strike on Rann's enemy planet Thanagar. So who, she thought, am I gonna ask for advice? Garryn Frickin' Bek?

Better, she decided, to focus on getting her son back to sleep, and let the cosmic chips fall where they may.

1,000 YEARS FROM TODAY

Lar abruptly snapped out of his trance, leaving him disoriented. Through his hazy senses, he perceived Imra screaming and holding her head, while Tasmia and Jo both dashed for Imra's night table. Tasmia came back to Imra with a tissue box, while Jo handed Imra a pen and a piece of paper.

Lar's head felt like it was full of concrete. He could only imagine what pain Imra must have been in. But like the trouper she had always been, Imra was back to her normal self with the speed of thought. As a wad of tissues in her right nostril turned blood-red, she focused on the paper in her hand, frantically scribbling away so that her other hand was almost a blur.

Finally, she huffed a sigh of relief and passed the paper to Jo, dropping the pen as she put her other hand to her face, presumably to keep the tissues from falling out.

After about a minute where everyone stood around awkwardly while Darcy and Dorrit quietly watched the grown-ups with intent curiosity, Imra finally broke the silence.

"I think it's best you leave now." After a pause she added, "Go give that paper to Brainy, he'll know what to make of it. And you're welcome."

TODAY

Lar and Phase found themselves lying on a barren piece of land. The sky was too dark for Phase to make heads of tails of where they could possibly be. When Lar starting groaning, she could tell right away that being wrenched from his bed in the med-bay on Cairn was causing him unbelievable pain.

Suddenly, blindingly bright searchlights were being flashed right in their faces. Sinister silhouettes dashed every which way around them. Out of the corner of her eye, Phase saw the glint of gun being pointed at Lar. Whoever they are, she thought, they're not too bright. Lar is borderline impervious to any kind of projectile.

But not this one.

After a split second, Phase realized he had been shot with a dart. From his agonized screams, she realized the tip must be made of lead.

Then, Phase was startled by a guttural, hostile shout from one of their attackers: "What the hell is this girl doing here?"

Another attacker replied, "She must have gotten close to him just before the beam struck." He paused, then barked, "Kill her!"

Never was Phase more grateful for her special powers, those with which she could make herself immaterial at will, hence her code name.

Laser beams zapped all over the place, all of them passing through her, and some of them hitting the attackers.

Seizing the opportunity, she turned solid again and ran roughshod over the nearest attacker. After a few seconds of running for her life, she looked around frantically, then spotted a cruiser hovering above the ground. Putting it all together quickly, she realized that was her attackers' transport. She rushed the cruiser, then jumped and turned immaterial, with perfect timing allowing her to phase through the hatch.

With the element of surprise on her side, Phase disabled the pilot, a humanoid sporting a strange symbol tattooed on his face, with a jab to the solar plexus. She undid his seat belt, hauled him over to the hatch, and opened it.

As she tossed him out, she heard the others' feet pounding on the ground, and their weapons getting charged to fire. Instinctively, she slammed the hatch. It took a minute for her to put on the pilot seat belt, and she heard the laser beams bouncing off the cruiser. Do or die time, she thought, and activated the engine, opening the throttle all the way.

Blasting into the night sky, she sped straight ahead until she was satisfied her pursuers had been left in the dust. Phase took a better look at the controls, and spotted the guidance system. She recognized the language as Rannian, and after punching in a few commands, she discovered she was right outside the city limits of the planetary capital Ranagar.

Okay, Phase asked herself, what's the sit rep? One: I'm on Rann. Two: Some bad guys have captured Lar Gand. Three: Vril Dox is also on Rann, allegedly on diplomatic business, and quite likely at the main citadel in Ranagar. All right now, Dox, get ready for the surprise of your life. And I hope it makes you choke, you peachfuzz-y jerk!

Dear Ann:

It gets quite dizzying taking thousand year jumps backward and forward.

I will withhold comments on plotting until more is revealed, but I like the way this seems to be headed.

Excellent characterizations, by the way. I say that because (or although) it is a personal weak spot in my own fanfiction. I feel like you are writing about people you know personally.

Speaking of my fanfiction, I have spent a lot of time on Lightning Ring Farms (in my head) and was, to my amusement, surprised to discover that in your world they live in a split-level. With a fancy staircase. In my mind, the residents of LRF reside in a few sprawling, single-level homes. Vive la différence.

Pray continue.

I was concerned about that. Your candor is greatly appreciated. Fortunately, there's only a couple more jumps to go, and then we'll be in the same time and place for the rest of the tale.



Again, much appreciated.



Wow! You've made my night with those kind words, Klar.

There is a great deal of my best friend in Phase. She, too, is giving her all at a job where she is so underappreciated it's almost criminal.

There is a great deal of me in Stealth. There always has been. Not for nothing was Stealth my original Legion World I.D.

As for the heroines and heroes of the future, there is a little bit of me in all of them. I seem to remember reading that my hero Charles Schulz saw his Peanuts ensemble that way.

Tasmia is my haughty-but-nice side, Ayla is my friendly-if-a-bit-needy side, Lar is the side of me that makes me a bit of a loner, Et Cetera. The biggest surprise, I have to say, has been Jo. I disliked his TMK version so much I had no idea initially how I was going to make it work. Then I realized that by taking him down a peg (or several) and make him face up to his questionable personality traits and past misdeeds, and find that one chapter of his life suddenly seems to be coming to a close, I could find a nugget of common ground.



Indeed! C'est bien.



With pleasure.

1,000 YEARS FROM TODAY

The Legion Headquarters on Planet Talus, Brainiac 5's laboratory.

Brainiac 5 (born Querl Dox on the planetary technocracy Colu, and nicknamed "Brainy" by his fellow Legionnaires) had never been one to mince words. This time was no exception.

"What you are planning to do...with my help, should I decide to offer it..." he declared, "...is so illogical, it is an insult to that very term!"

"Get over it, Brainy!" growled Jo. "Time is of the essence!"

"Yes," replied an unruffled Brainy," both literally AND figuratively! Ergo, if you want me to send you back in time, I shall only do it if Lar Gand DOES NOT accompany you! If he were to meet his past self, the repercussions would mean The End of All That Is! I do not exaggerate!"

"Okay, then." interjected Lar himself. "I'll stay -- on the condition that Shady goes in my place."

"WHAT?" screamed Brainy and Tasmia and Jo in bewildered harmony.

"I thought it would be obvious, especially to an intellect like yours, Brainy. Shady can protect my past self so that, no matter what happens, I don't vanish altogether from existence."

"Urgh. I hate it when emotion trumps logic," Brainy grumbled, "but in this case, I shall concede to your request."

"As shall I," added Tasmia warily but acceptingly, "as shall I."

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

Shortly, the time travel machinery had been primed and warmed up, and the coordinates from Imra Ardeen-Ranzz's telepathic vision were pre-programmed into it by Brainy.

"This is your last chance to change your minds." Brainy warned Jo and Tasmia. "If all goes according to my calculations and preparations, you will be transported to a moment in time in which Lar and Tinya were both within short distance of each other. More I was unable to decipher from Imra's note."

"Just do it already!" huffed Jo.

"Yes," agreed Tasmia, "and may The Ancestors preserve us -- no matter what should occur." On that last syllable, her eyes locked with Lar Gand's.

"I may not be as spiritual as Tasmia," said Brainy, "but this could change a sentients mind. So, Godspeed to you, my friends. Godspeed."

And with the push of a button, nothing would ever be the same for the Legion of Super-Heroes.

I'm enjoying that the characterisations are so consistent with a lot of your thoughts and posts I've read since I joined, Ann.

That's a really good look at Jo, through Tasmia's eyes. My lasting memories of them were as couples. If not that then Jo and Lar together and Tinya and Tasmia together. It matches a lot of things we've seen since his origin. Those clean cut, respectable Adventure days, and that grittier side that his self image likes to portray. The acting ability to present those different sides and his role as the team jock, acting instinctively fitting in nicely with Tasmia talking about his second guessing. His retreat into himself on Tinya's disappearance matches all these points well alongside some aspects of what we did see in the 5YG.

I'm very much looking forward to seeing where you go with Phase/Lar. Post Crisis Lar opened up scope for him to have had a life before the Phantom Zone. His 30th century personality has been through all that isolation, and seemingly tempering him to become even more heroic. While his 20th century self doesn't have to be miles away from that (there's Dev Em) it would be good to see a few differences between past and future Lar. Having him with pre-Tasmia relationships uses that post Crisis space, as well as adding all sorts of complications into the mix. Oh sure, Phase may not remember those Legion days and Lar hasn't lived them yet. But that's not going to stop some lingering feelings, not to mention how a mind restored Tinya might feel about future Lar.

Garth's arm (and bank balance and kids mentioned hinting at some future issues); Tinya kicking rear end (something Levitz seemed loathe to show in later volumes) Ayla and Vi together and with kid! (super yay!); Detective Reep and Lobo vs Lar in a '90s slug fest were all stand outs.

I quite liked the time jumps. It's a small enough cast list at present for them all to get some room to breathe. It also provides us with the differences between the two Dox's that you do well. The pacing of the switches picks up nicely in keeping with the converging plot threads.

Obviously Tasmia getting a new hairdo was a big moment too!

Thank you kindly, Thoth.



I've read a lot of articles about and biographies of notorious movers and shakers, so I had a lot to draw on. And once I realized that TMK never really showed how his prolonged absence from Rimbor might have affected his standing in the underworld, the writing went very smoothly from there.



Good point. Upon reflection, I do still have a lot of blank space to fill in with Modern Day Lar, more than I realized. Thanks for the heads-up.



We are definitely on the same page. Really, at its core this story-arc is about four people who've known each other for a long time, but may have never known each other quite as well as they had been taking for granted until this moment.



Given some of your past comments on them in the Legion forum, I had been looking forward to seeing your response to that scene. Very happy to see your enthusiastic approval.



Glad you like them, and thanks for noting the size of the cast. Originally it was going to be a lot more crowded, especially during the present-day scenes. But then I remembered that it's better to start off small, so as to give the readers a chance to learn about the characters and decide which, if any, are their point-of-view choices as the fictional world gets more built up.



Tee hee

TODAY

Lar & Phase, and Jo & Tasmia, all found themselves lying on a barren piece of land. The sky was too dark to make heads of tails of where they could possibly be -- with the exception of Tasmia, whose command over the shadows gave her perfect night vision. When Lar started groaning, Phase could tell right away that being wrenched from his bed in the med-bay on Cairn was causing him unbelievable pain. Tasmia, too, heard Lar's cries, and ran over to him and Phase, without first thinking her actions through.

"My love..." Tasmia began, but then she suddenly realized she shouldn't have said anything. It was too late to stop what happened next.

Phase angrily rose up to her full height (which was still a couple inches shorter than Tasmia) and screamed, "Back off, hussy! I saw him first! And who the hell are you, anyway?"

Tasmia could not abide such hostility, even from a woman who had once been her best friend. She gasped loudly, and then hissed, "How DARE you?"

To her shock, Tasmia felt both of Phase's hands clasp themselves around her neck!

"Listen, bitch!" spat Phase, "You picked THE WRONG DAY to mess with ME and MY guy! If you don't change your attitude and tell me who you are in three seconds, I'll choke you to death!"

Then Jo, feeling just as confused and distressed as Tasmia, unwisely tried to intervene.

"Tinya!" Jo cried, "What's gotten into you? I mean, we all have bad days, but this..."

"SHUT UP, YOU TWERP!" shrieked Phase, who then blinked and asked more softly, "Wait. What did you just call me?"

"Tinya, that's your name. How can you not remember your..."

"It's...guk...bloody obvious...gak...she has amnesia, stupid!" said Tasmia through the pressure Phase continued to exert on her neck. To Tasmia's great relief, Phase released her upon hearing the word "amnesia."

After about ten seconds of quiet that seemed to last ten years, Phase finally spoke again. "Okay. Who are you two, where did you come from, and what do you know about who I am?"

Suddenly, the four heroes' efforts at communication were interrupted by blindingly bright searchlights being flashed right in their faces. Sinister silhouettes dashed every which way around them.

Tasmia, being particularly sensitive to light, yowled like a wounded animal. Jo instinctively used his ultra-speed to try and put some distance between himself and their attackers.
And out of the corner of her eye, Phase saw the glint of a gun being pointed at Lar. Whoever these people are, she thought, they're not too bright. Lar is borderline impervious to any kind of projectile.

But not this one. After a split second, Phase realized he had been shot with a dart. From his agonized screams, she realized the tip must be made of lead.

Then, all four heroes were startled by a guttural, hostile shout from one of their attackers: "What the hell are these other three doing here?"

Another attacker replied, "They must have gotten close to him just before the beam struck." He paused, then barked, "Kill them!"

Never was Phase more grateful for her special powers, those with which she could make herself immaterial at will, hence her code name.

Laser beams zapped all over the place, all of them passing through her, and some of them hitting the attackers.

By now, Tasmia had recovered her full night vision and was fighting back fiercely, using all of the combat prowess she had acquired over the years.

Seizing the opportunity, Phase turned solid again and ran roughshod over the nearest attacker. After a few seconds of running for her life, she looked around frantically, then spotted a cruiser hovering above the ground. Putting it all together quickly, she realized that was her attackers' transport. Further noting that the hatch was open, Phase rushed the cruiser, then jumped inside.

To her disgust, she saw that Jo had gotten there ahead of her, and knocked the heavily tattooed humanoid pilot unconscious. As he finished undoing the pilot's seat belt, he flashed a smile at Phase. Her mind reeled with synonyms for "dork," and she bit her lip hard -- that was all she could do to keep herself from slapping him in the face.

As Jo tossed the pilot out the hatch, Phase and him heard Tasmia yelling for them to stop. They then saw her approaching the cruiser, carrying Lar Gand in her arms. Phase bit her lip again, harder.

"What are you idiots doing?" scorned Tasmia, "This is some kind of terrorist encampment! We've got work to do here, yet you try to escape like spineless cowards!"

"THAT'S IT! THAT'S ALL I CAN TAKE!" Phase barked back. "For your information, Miss Thing and Mister Dumbass, I am the second-in-comman...uh...no, yes, THE SECOND HIGHEST AUTHORITY within the galactic police force known as the L.E.G.I.O.N. I've seen things you'd never believe, and been in battles you could only picture in your worst nightmares! So both of you had better SHUT UP -- RIGHT NOW! Because I'M taking charge here! DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?"

"Y-y-y-yes, Ma'am." whispered Tasmia.

"I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"

"As you command."

"Fine. Let's start by tying up these terrorist bastiches."

I've refrained from commenting as this starts on an era I entirely missed, but the last post is so interesting. I wonder if this will result in an alternate timeline, much to the dismay of everybody!

An alternate timeline? Hmmm...COULD be! OR just as likely not. We shall see. Tee hee.

Thanks, Emily. Later on, I'll send you some reference links from the LW forums and from the Cosmic Teams resource to help you out.

Heads-Up, Legion Worlders:

It's gonna take another week or so before the next installment, because I need to do some extra research.

Thank you for your patience.

(bump)

To elaborate on what I recently mentioned in the MMB forum, I have decided to not write DCU fan fiction any longer. I'm not getting any younger, and what energy I can still find within myself is best directed towards the Marvel Universe, as that is my first superhero world-building love.

From the bottom of my heart, I give thanks to everyone who has ever enjoyed my DCU fics, and especially all those who commented. It is for you that I now provide a brief overview of where this story was going, and what might have followed:

- The arrival of Tasmia and Jo to the L.E.G.I.O.N. era would have turned out to create a divergent timeline in which Tinya/Phase was not killed, as she would have been along with Vril Dox, by Lobo, who had betrayed Dox to the Thanagarians because they paid better. Tasmia and Jo would have helped Tinya and Lar stop the Rann-Thanagar War before it escalated. But Tasmia would have died in battle (though not before inspiring the younger self of her illustrious ancestor Lydea, a member of L.E.G.I.O.N.) Tinya would have agonized over choosing between staying with Lar or going 1,000 years into the future with Jo. In the end, she chooses Jo. When they return to the future with the bad news about Tasmia, Valor is devastated, and Brainy is concerned about the resultant paradox created by Tinya's survival.

- There was going to be some big drama on Winath, with Reep uncovering Proty/Garth's secret. There seems to have been some ambiguity in the 5YL stories about whether or not Imra knew the whole truth about her husband. But here, Imra would not have know the truth until it was revealed to her. She would have had a nervous breakdown. In addition, I was planning a bit "Gone With the Wind" type story involving Garth's enemies destroying his plantation, with big shootouts and explosions and such.

- But what I was most looking forward to doing was to further explore the relationship between Ayla and Salu, as they raised their baby daughter (I decided they'd name her Vita), and building on both characters' backstories, which were both lacking in details (especially Salu's.)

In closing, I thank you again, and I must assert that I believe in the old saying, "Never Say Never," so perhaps one day years from now I will decide that those aforementioned Ayla & Salu stories must be told while I still live and breathe.

I hear your frustration.

My problem is I like my headcanon to have some relation to the written Universe I am playing in. That does not seem to be possible right now. True, the DCU has been in flux since 1985, but people come and go so quickly now...

Writers are not only killing off one another's characters, but retconning them out of existence, or re-writing whole histories over and over.

Look at Doomsday Clock. A main character and her entire arc is unexpectedly retconned out of existece before the series even ends. In Legion / Millenium, the retconning begins before the series even starts.

Another example: I was trying to estimate the relative ages of Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne, Barry Allen, Hal Jordan, and Oliver Queen. Impossible. Their 'histories' are so convoluted as to be non-existent. Let alone Hawkman, Martian Manhunter, or Wonder Woman.

DC Cinematic Universe, yes, pretty much. The Green Arrow / Flash / Supergirl TV Universe, yes, definitely. (At the moment.) The comic books? Forget it.

I might as well be writing regular fiction as fan fiction.

Or non-fiction. I have been considering writing my autobiography. But that does not seem appropriate to publish on this site.

While I'm sad you don't plan on witing any more of this Raquel I'm certain you'll continue to post and be creative in other ways. Your overviews of your plans for further stories are great, you would have written something really special.

I'll read your Marvel posts when I get time, thouh I can't really claim to be too knowledgable so probably won't chime in.

JRR I've given up on all recent comics exactly for the reasons you gave, which is a shame really, but fingers crossed someone will take over as an editor in chief or CEO and whip them into a decent ten year plan that'll stop all the inconsistencies and pointless crossovers and re-writes of same old same old storylines with ever decreasing returns of quality and skill.

We can hope anyway.

Raquel, whatever you choose to do I'm sure it'll be excellent. Thank you for your stories so far, you should feel proud of them.

C