The League of 67

by georgemiser

Inspired by the work of Draco Orwell, Here's a (hopefully well written) story about a teenage race car driver, a popular biker turned teacher, a patriotic superhero, a respected Aquanaut and a talking steam engine.

2. First Missions

For a week after their formation, the team found themselves temporarily located in the small village of Camberwick Green in the rural, south English county of Trumptonshire, in a boarding house awaiting further orders while their first missions were being arranged. The four human members were booked into one room together while Billington, who for obvious reasons couldn't fit inside the lodgings due to his size, was housed inside of an old engine shed in a yard usually reserved for an old steam engine from the neighbouring village of Chigley. While Trevor, Mifune, Tempest and Fonzerelli lived in the boarding house however, they made sure to hold team meetings at the shed, so that the locomotive would not be kept out of the loop, as at this point they regarded him as a friend and it gave them an excuse to get more adequate elbow room that they could not find in their own cramped quarters. Soon the peacefulness of the village started to wear on the team. Their vehicles had been placed in storage ready for shipping and deprived of both car and motorcycle, Mifune and Fonzerelli were soon overcome with unbearable boredom. Tempest too had become irritated and complained insensately to no one in particular over what may have befallen his submarine. Only the ever patient Diana remained cool despite the clear impatience of her team mates beginning to wear on her, as by day five, even Billington was starting to become spiritless over a lack of work. It wasn't just the team who were "suffering" either. While at first, the inhabitants of the village were excited about the prospect of the new league staying with them, (and indeed each individual member became quite popular in and friendly with the villagers) the team's presence brought tourists who were less respectful of the community and it's people, littering, loitering and invading the personal privacy of some of the residents. (Including, ironically, the town gossip) so when the League finally got their telegram of orders from Head of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover, MI6's "M" and Chief of the Japanese Secret Service Taku Tanaka, both parties were secretly glad to be rid of each other.

The team sailed off from Dover the following Monday, September 28th, with Hyde, O'Malley and Satō there to see them on their way. The team and a majority of their vehicles were placed in the same government ship that they were to travel on, with the exception of the submarine, which Tempest had insisted on following the ship in, due to the stagnation he had experienced over the last week, which simply wasn't desirable for a man who was used to nearly constant action. O'Malley agreed to this, as he felt that in this position would allow the captain to keep both the ship and the team safe from the now very real threat of assassination. After bidding the team farewell, the three leaders began formulating the League's future mission in their minds, before transferring those ideas to their respective intelligence agencies later on. Aware of the fact that, thanks in no small part to Lady Penelope's choices for league membership, the team were not entirely the perfect yes men they had hoped for, as the team were somewhat aware of their true reason for being. the newly constructed League meanwhile, went along with their orders, having many missions and exploits over the remainder of that year and into September of 1968. These adventures included the following.

Assisting Eastern European countries in fighting off Soviet expansion efforts - Despite their annexation of a large portion of East Europe over the many years since it's formation, there were some countries in Eastern Europe that continued to resist being swallowed up by the ever growing Soviet Union. In particular the kingdoms of Ruritania and Arendelle (supposed homeland of the ''Ice Queen'' during a more mystical time in Europe) and the independent republics of Kravta Nova and Moldovakia. All counties had railway lines leading up to stations in all their major cities, which made access easy for Billington who could then leave the individual vehicles in a siding to be transferred to other locations to be used later, only this time the engine was carrying more than just the team's transportation. When the league arrived on the outskirts of Ruritania, they were told that they would be delivering supplies and weapons to the countries to combat the invading Soviet forces. these came in box cars pulled by the E2, that were then transferred to the other vehicles. Each member worked under the cover of night so as to not be caught in their work by the communist forces. who even now had sent out spies to expose any sort of outside aid. This was no issue for Trevor or Tempest, as the former was able to air drop the arms caches to villages and towns most affected by the invasion, while the latter delivered his loads to vital ports in Arendelle, Moldovakia and Krafta Nova. The same was not so true for Fonzerelli and Mifune. Due to treacherous and antiquated road systems in the less developed parts of the country, they found themselves working together more often than they would later on in the League's tenure. Billington would take the Mach 5 and Fonzerelli's cycle on two flatbeds with both drivers already at the wheel, until they three found a spot where the road met the rails near their drop off points, whereupon the engine would slow down considerably, allowing his team-mates to safely drive off the trucks onto the road and quickly leave the weaponry where it would be picked up safely without it being intercepted. To be prepared for any eventuality, Billington and his crew were left on guard to whistle an alarm in case any soviet troops discovered their location. Eventually their efforts were discovered and the team more often than not, found themselves in direct conflict with Red Army forces. While they fought valiantly, the league were eventually called back from the war zone to avoid possible casualties. In the end, their mission turned out to be only a partial success, with Ruritania and Moldovakia eventually falling under the fist of the USSR. Despite these losses, the league took pride in at least thwarting the invasions of Krafta Nova and Arendelle and keeping the countries free from Communist influences. (September to December of 1967) Indeed the two countries would remain free and democratic well into the early 21st century with both now being world leaders in the fields of human rights, marriage equality and the legalisation of recreational drug use. Ruritania and Moldovakia eventually regained independence after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. Land between the two nations soon became disputed territory however, due to disagreements between the military bureaucracies of both countries. The land would be claimed by neither however, as it would soon be bought by a handful of American billionaires to create the ethically questionable states of Svenborgia and Grenyarnia in 1999, before their creations were covered up by the Multi-Billionaires to to keep out the poor and destitute. To this day, the existences of the grotesque states are obscured by an everlasting, artificial fog and are known only to the UN, S.H.I.E.L.D, their own respective governments and the extremely wealthy. Despite many attempts by the United Nations to have the countries governments dissolved, they unfortunately remain in good standing.

Visiting and combating youthful offenders in Beanotown, Northumberland and similar duties - After their escapades in Europe, the League took time off from their duties to celebrate the holidays back home. At this point the government had sold their likenesses to several companies with the permission of the five agents and the team quickly found themselves as the subject of comic books, propaganda posters, toys, advertisements, etc. Not to mention many public appearances at American, British and Canadian schools, shopping malls and (naturally) railway stations. As a result, they became increasingly popular and influential and their victories against the USSR were being exploited to the most possible levels. As hoped, this influence was felt by young citizens ranging in the ages of 6 to 19. In past cases, the team would have been hated for their actions, but their strong ethics shown in Europe and desire for peace and freedom won even certain sects of the ''Beatnik'' movement over.

In early February, 1968, Hyde gave the League orders to return to Britain. Upon their arrival, they were immediately dispatched to the urban community of Beanotown in Northumberland. The town was located close to the English border with Scotland and held an infamous and downright horrific reputation in regards to it's children. Despite the parents of these children using the more "conventional" methods of discipline at the time (that in all likelihood only worsened the problem and would definitely be frowned upon in today's world of "Child Psychology") on an almost daily basis, the actions of the younger citizens had, despite constant attempts at putting them in their rightful place, become not only rebellious, but at times sociopathic. The most notable cases being the students of Bash Street Elementary School, (Mainly Class 2B although most of the notorious children attended the school) and two children in particular who seemed to be the ringleaders of the uncontrollable minors. The first being Dennis Ennis, a burly, young boy with thick black hair that grew in spikes, a seemingly perpetual scowl and a red and black striped jumper who, often accompanied by his faithful dog, seemed to derive a near psychotic pleasure out of tormenting the child of his next door neighbours as well as causing general mayhem throughout the town. The second one being Minerva MacMinks. A young girl around Ennis' age with similar mannerisms, similar clothes, red hair and a Tam O'Shanter to match. (There was a third child, a boy about the age of the previous two in a chequered shirt who seemed to make a trio with Ennis and the Girl, but his mannerisms were nowhere near the level of psychopathy displayed by his playmates.) The League chose to arrive under the power of their own transportation, not wanting to risk the safety of their locomotive should the reputation of the town's children turn out to be more than a mere exaggeration. Tempest was the only exception due to Beanotown being inland. Upon crossing the town limits and arriving in the town square, they soon found themselves ambushed by the children's "Welcoming Committee", before being attacked by a series of "prank weapons" and decomposing vegetables and fruit. Trevor's commanding voice, coupled with Fonzerelli's smooth talking managed to save the League the humiliation of becoming the children's captives. They were in fact left stunned and bewildered at being reigned in so effortlessly, after their guardian's and the local authority's inability to do so in the past. this gave the team the advantage they needed, much to the delight of the Prime Minister who feared that someday the under aged hooligans would grow up to be a new generation of political anarchists and even revolutionaries. Billington arrived secretly that night and was later reported to be "very glad" that his friends had made some minor progress. In time, the League began the work of sowing the seeds of change into their young charge's minds. Outwardly, the children were at first apprehensive and seemingly unwilling to cooperate with or even remotely listen to the league, continuing to play their usual brand of ''mischief'' on them whenever the chance was available. Mifune and Tempest in particular began to wonder if they were actually making any progress. Trevor, who had become the team's field leader due to the leadership skills she had acquired during her Royal Training as an infant, encouraged them to go on trying. Aside from the princess, Fonzerelli was also determined to continue working with the children given his own past and upbringing. These "kids", in his mind, had it much better off in terms of parental figures than he had done at their age and during a public presentation in the town square, related his own experiences to BSE's Class 2B and Class 1A. This was followed by a speech from Mifune and Tempest, who believed that any person could change for the better and told the children that they could do and be better than they were and the most likely consequences that would occur to them if they persisted in their current actions. Perhaps it was these ''Inspirational'' speeches that made waves with those pupils as for the next fortnight, Beanotown experienced two of the most peaceful weeks in the town's history. Mifune, upon visiting the Ennis and MacMinks households was pleased to hear from the parents that even the behaviour of their own offspring had changed. Seemingly for the better.

During the latter half of those fourteen days, the League's influence over the children caused them to also demonstrate a good sense of nobility after assisting in the clean up of neighbouring rival, Dandytown, following an unexpected and ill prepared for attack by British super criminal and member of the "Sinister Seven", Sylvester Jenkins. The League had heard of the attack over the evening news and had rushed to the scene not only to fight, but to to help innocent civilians to safety. Jenkins, possessing no real powers or significant fighting skills, (due to relying mostly on his technical prowess in the field of gadgetry) had soon been overpowered by Mifune, Tempest and Fonzerelli but before the team could restrain the "Gadgeteer" further, Jenkins had pulled out a small remote control device, pressing a button which in turn sounded a distress signal summoning fellow Seven members, the Gas Man, The Shark, The Mad Mechanoid and Muto the Multiform. (The team's leader, Limbo the Unknown and fellow team mate The Living Totem were away on other business at the time) With the assistance of local heroes, mainly Beanotown's teenage "speedster" William Whizz, (who seemed to have near identical powers to American heroes Jay Garrick and Barry Allen) and visiting child vigilante William Grange aka "The Cat", the team did what they could to repel the attack. The Mechanoid was quickly incapacitated by Trevor, but even the veteran hero found herself overwhelmed by the seven's powerful assault and was thankful for the assistance of the two British heroes. (It is worth mentioning that shortly after the battle, Trevor suggested the two apply for membership into the "Teen Titans", but both politely declined). Mifune took out Muto, using the villain's ego to his advantage by daring him to turn into a tree. Muto did so and the young driver soon made use of the Mach 5's saws, cutting the villain to the point of serious injury. Captain Tempest too made a good impression, luring The Shark into a nearby lake where, in case of emergency, Stingray had been stored. Overwhelmed by the submarine's superior weapons, the aquatic criminal had no alternative but to surrender. The most "pathetic" display came from Fonzerelli. After his usual combat skills proved ineffective against the intangible foe, Fonzerelli resorted to threatening The Gas Man with a cigarette lighter, the former rebel was laughed off by the criminal, who was then defeated by Whizz with a common household vacuum cleaner. Noticing Fonzerelli's embarrassment, Whizz claimed later at a press conference that the vacuum had been the biker's idea rather than his own. As a gesture of good will towards their rivals, The people of Beanotown, including their children, the team and the cat, helped with clearing away the rubble which was piled into several goods wagons before being transported to the nearby scrap yard by Billington. After those weeks were over, the team departed from Beanotown station with their vehicles once again being transported by rail and with the children there to bid them an uncharacteristically tearful farewell. In time, the children became adults and most went on to live rich and fulfilling lives. After graduating high school Ennis Married MacMinks, who later went on to become a world famous hockey player. Her husband would have an accident during his college years, which would lead him to start a career as the superhero "The Shrike" before his tragic death in 2011 at the hands of the most recent incarnation of "The Joker." It should be noted that the following month, The League had a similar exploit in the American Mid Western town of Birtchwood, Minnesota where they were ordered to collect information on the area. This was due to the town's child residents who could take almost perfect care of themselves, converse and think like adults and seemed perfectly capable of going about their daily lives without much parental supervision. This secretly worried a handful of US politicians at the time, who feared that if such self reliance should spread to the rest of America's youth, it would most likely give way to a more anarchistic society in the future. After spending a week in the town and getting to know the children and their families however, all 5 members of the League concluded that were was no risk of this happening and promptly left the community, to the same departure they had experienced in Beanotown.

Protecting Tokyo, Japan from A.I.M. attacks - Shortly after the team's brief stay in Birtchwood, the team were taking a small vacation in the rustic town of Gravity Falls, Oregon when the quintet were summoned by Tanaka and Satō back to Japan via telegram. Mifune was naturally ecstatic, as this would allow him him to visit his family for the first time since the previous Christmas. Billington had been granted permission by the local rail company to shunt goods wagons in the town's rail yard. Upon reading the message for himself, the tank engine noticed another paragraph previously neglected by his colleagues, which turned out to be a rather informally written "P.S." pleading them to come soon and wishing them ''a comfortable journey." The add on, it turned out, had been penned by the atomic powered, perpetual child robot "Tetsuwan Atom." (The Mighty Atom) Known in most English speaking nations by the less flattering moniker of "Astro Boy." Designed and built by former Japanese League member and former Minister of Science, Doctor Umataro Tenma following the untimely death of his 9 year old son Tobio, the android had eventually been abandoned by his mentally unstable creator and sold off to a robotic circus, before being rescued and ''adopted'' by the kindly, large nosed Professor Ochanomizu, who later took Tenma's position at the Ministry of Science. Since that time, Professor Ochanomizu, a major proponent of "Robot Rights'', had been responsible for passing laws in Japan that enabled Atom's schooling and later the creation of robotic parents as well as his younger sister "Uran." Upon their voyage back to Japan and arrival at Shinagawa Station and after marvelling at the city which was and still is many centuries more advanced technologically than what they were used to in their own homelands, (Mifune not being stunned with awe in the slightest but finding amusement in that of his friends) The League were soon met by Tanaka, Satō, Ochanomizu and the whole robot family, including Atom himself. Mifune's family and friends were also present and reportedly swept the racer off his feet with their affection. The child robots and Mifune's brother swarmed the team in fascination, nearly overloading them with questions before Ochanomizu lead them away to the robot family's home. Once there, Ochanomizu explained that over the past few weeks Tokyo had been subjected to a series of indirect terrorist attacks by the organisation known as A.I.M. (Advanced Idea Mechanics) A group of science-terrorists, known also as the ''Beekeepers'' due to their unusual attire, founded by former enemy of american superhero Captain Steven Rogers, Baron Wolfgang Von Strucker during the second world war. Baron Von Strucker had founded A.I.M as a weapons branch for his main organisation "HYDRA", developing advanced weaponry for it's forces during the war. Even after HYDRA's defeat, A.I.M had lived on as it's own entity. It's new purpose was to overthrow all world governments by technological means and establish total dominion over the planet. The previous September, the same month as the League's formation, the previous leader's of A.I.M had transformed one of it's technicians, a man by the name of George Tarleton, into a grotesque mobile human super computer they dubbed the "Mobile Organism Designed Only for Computing", the acronym for which need not be mentioned. The being that had once been Tarleton had rebelled against it's creators, slaughtering them and declaring itself the de facto leader of A.I.M. Trevor and Tempest who, due to their experience in leadership had become the duel commander's of the league, naturally questioned why the team had been summoned when Japan had so many of it's own heroes to defend itself, citing robotic heroes such as Atom as examples. Before Tanaka, Satō or Ochanomizu could reply, Atom spoke up, revealing that he had asked his Prime Minister to summon the League to Japan after hearing of their exploits. He explained that A.I.M had created a device that was putting many machines under their control, causing them to attack humans seemingly at random. As a result, the anti Robot sentiments that were already growing in Japan at the time were beginning to rise. The league found themselves unable to turn down the hopeful robot children and chose to provide their assistance. Their efforts were mostly non violent to begin with. Usually involving the capture and deactivation of rouge machines, before sending them to the Ministry of Science HQ where Professor Ochanomizu and Atom attempted to find the reason behind their strange behaviour. As it happened, the programming of the robots had been completely rewritten due to some sort of computer virus reverse engineered by A.I.M, causing them to become aggressive towards humans, leading to the chaos and injuries that had sparked off so many rallies of prejudice against them. In time, the professor was able to create an anti-virus program that reverted the infected robots back to their original functions, but tension remained even after all of the robots had been cured,.

Three days later, A.I.M made their next move against Japan. On March 20th, every television and radio signal in Tokyo was hijacked, with Tarleton's hideous, mutated form on every screen and his twisted, gravelly voice on every station. The League's interference had angered him greatly and he intended to have vengeance against them. He informed the citizens that while they had been sleeping that night, his forces had set up an energy shield around the city. Outside interference by any organisation or superhero was now impossible and anyone who attempted to leave the city would be vaporized upon impact with the shield. Only identification carrying members of A.I.M would be able to enter and exit without trouble and the terrorist group intended to send an army to take over Tokyo the very next day. The city fell into panic almost at once, with some going as far as to suggest that all A.I. robots should be surrendered to the terrorists along with the League, blaming their incarceration on their interference. While this panic was confined to a small minority of the population, it was still enough for the cities superheroes to show involvement and while Atom, along with the likes of space hero "Iron Sharp " and teenage cyborg Joe Shimamura (joined by his "Cyborg 009" troupe) attempted to restore order to the city with assistance from Mifune, the rest of the league met with Governor of Tokyo: Ryokichi Minobe, Professor Ochanomizu, Police Inspector Yuudai Tawashi, Tanaka and Satō to discuss what should be done. It was quickly pointed out however, that Trevor's superhuman and some might say godlike durability would be enough for her to escape the energy shield and shut it off from the outside, something that Tarleton, despite his super computer like brain, had seemingly neglected. Trevor on the other hand pointed out that should this be done, A.I.M would more than likely send an army large enough to raise Tokyo to the ground. One that even the league and the local heroes would have a hard time dealing with and would in all probability overwhelm them as well as both her aircraft and Tempest's submersible eventually. Ochanomizu decided therefore to upgrade the team's less combat ready vehicles with non lethal weaponry to combat the A.I.M forces once they arrived. This included Mifune's car, Fonzerelli's bike and Billington. The Mach 5 had many components that would have been great in close combat, but none that would be useful for ranged attacks. For this reason, Professor Ochanomizu rightfully upgraded the auto mobile with special guns on the hood and trunk that fired special "Mercy Bullets." Powerful, bullet shaped tranquillisers developed by American Science hero, Clark Savage Jr, who had a strong stance against killing his foes. It seemed that Savage had imparted the method of the bullets' creation to a younger Ochanomizu, prior to the outbreak of the war. Fonzerelli saw his cycle given similar treatment, with a mercy bullet projecting gun turret mounted between the handlebars. When Billington was moved to the ministry for his temporary upgrades, it was assumed outright that he would be equipped with the same weaponry. Instead, the tank engine woke up in the ministry building to find two unusual cannons attached to his tanks and cables leading into his cab that were in turn, attached to two large batteries within. Ochanomizu explained to Billington that he had outfitted him with special electro canons. These would fire powerful EMP blasts that would disable any electrical equipment they came in contact with. Billington was reluctant at first, expressing concerns that the weaponry would sustain damage and malfunction due to the steam. The resulting moisture potentially causing it to short circuit. Ochanomizu put these worries to rest by pointing out that the engine would be moved, not under his own power, to a siding outside the main city buildings where he could get a good view of the approaching A.I.M air crafts, and inform his crew of where to fire next. The purpose of the canons was the take out as many airborne machines as possible, forcing the troops inside to parachute out and be picked off by Mifune and Fonzerelli. Any crafts that evaded the electromagnetic beams would be picked off by Trevor while Tempest patrolled the docks.

The plans were put into action that midnight and as Mifune and Fonzerelli drove their vehicles into parts of the city less crowded by tall buildings, Tempest got ready to patrol the harbour in Stingray and a nervous, black painted E2 was moved to a siding by a more robotic engine, Trevor began work locating and eventually disposing of the shield generator. After only just getting past the shield it'self, the Amazon princess found the camera like projector mostly buried from view in a mound of earth, before crushing it in her bare hands. After which, she signalled Tempest via speaker phone to begin his patrol. At 06:52 AM, Stingray's radar detected several oncoming vessels approaching the harbour. Getting in contact with his team mates, (2 of which were high on caffeine and one that had to be woken by his crew) Tempest called for the rest of the league to "watch the skies." A mere minute after this message was uttered, a dozen dark grey, monstrous air crafts were seen in the air above Tokyo. They were flying well above where the shield had been, wrongfully presuming it to still be there. It therefore caught the invaders off guard to suddenly find themselves beginning to get picked off by an unseen aircraft piloted by Prince while others were picked off by an EMP. This in turn caused the panicked fighters inside to parachute earlier than originally planned, into the range off two tranquilliser shooting guns that seemed to hit them wherever they were. Those who had come by sea, upon reaching the mouth of the harbour, quickly found themselves at the mercy of a submarine that always managed to stay out of their range and torpedoed them when they tried to escape. This good fortune did not last long, as two A.I.M submarines managed to "sandwich"Stingray between them and run it aground, and a squadron of "Bee Keepers" with machine guns managed to disable Billington's EMP canons and make it down to the streets where they began to take hostages. This forced Prince and Tempest to exist their vehicles and assist Mifune and Fonzerelli in the city, not that they minded this, although tempest was furious about what the "cowardly idiots" had done to his vessel. The squadron was large enough to be a threat and the team more than welcomed help from the more local heroes. Atom, of course, among them. The last of the concious A.I.M agents attempted to flee the battlefield, only to be ensnared by Trevor's lasso of truth. The team demanded to know the location of Tarleton but the footsoldier, knowing full well the abilities of the golden rope, instead bit into a cyanide capsule to prevent himself from confessing. The fight ended with the A.I.M force's capture the league physically exhausted with the exemptions of Trevor and Billington, the latter of which's tanks had been punctured by bullets. Mild damage had also been inflicted upon Stingray due it being run ashore and the Mach 5 was missing two wheels. Fonzerelli's bike and Trevor's jet remained mostly unscathed but with Billington rendered useless and two vital vehicles out of commission, it was clear that it would be some time before the team could leave for their next mission. Luckily, the Ministry of Science and the robots of the city were more than happy to lend a hand fixing the damage and seeing the team as heroes, the people of Tokyo held a celebration in their honour two days later. Certain guests also attended the event, including off duty members of the Justice League, The Hat and Mifune Families, Atom, his family and school friends, Agent (and future director) of SHIELD Nicholas Fury, Satō, O'Malley, Hyde and two members of The Avengers. Dr. Donald Blake, who in reality was the Norse god "Thor" reincarnated/disguised as a human and suffering, at the time, from amnesia and the recently returned Steve Rogers who had spent the years following the war in suspended animation in the Arctic before being discovered and revived by the Avengers in 1964. Bedecked in his star spangled scale mail and costume and carrying with him his signature Vibranium shield, he congratulated the League for a job well done and shared a touching reunion with Trevor, who had been unable to see the Captain after his revival for multiple reasons. Friendships were both forged and strengthened that day and all in attendance were said to have enjoyed themselves. Following the repairs of Billington, Stingray and the Mach 5 by March 24th, The League was able to return to active duty and left Tokyo to sounds of appreciation from the inhabitants. They by no means left empty handed though, as Professor Ochanomizu and Atom had left them one last farewell present. A "videophone" that allowed the League to contact the robot hero at any time should they ever need his assistance in any situation. this was done partially as a sign of appreciation for the League's actions, but also because Atom had been made an honorary member by Satō for his help in the matter. The Team appreciated the gift but were uncertain that in would ever be useful. to remain on the safe side, they stored it away in Billington's cab for when they might be in need of it, unaware of the role the phone would play during the League's darkest hour.