A/N: All right, I couldn't wait till tomorrow to post this up. Sue me. But you can't honestly say you're disappointed? I defend myself by quoting, "Better late than never, better early that late." Many thanks to 1000GreenSun, ClUeLeSs (you know who you are!), xXKazaneXx, G. Login, Kitren, Movie-Brat, iwishtobelovely, The Violet Rose, and RiverLake for reviewing on my story, The Threat of the Ruby, which is the sequel to this. Feel free to check it out. Anyway, I leave you now to enjoy this story.
ONE YEAR BEFORE
Prologue
Kell-el stood by the swirling vortex, warp key in hand. Surrounding him was most of the entire Legion, including a happily reunited trio of Triplicate Girls, who were holding onto each other's hands so tightly it was as if they would never let go.
"I guess this is it", said Kell-el, breaking the silence.
"Yeah, guess so." Lightning Lad was uncharacteristically quiet.
"Remember, you're a Legionnaire now, so we have the right to drop in on you in the 41st century and ask for your help", Superman warned him.
A brief smile crossed Kell-el's face. "I think I can handle that." He stared into the vortex for a while before clearing his throat. "Well – goodbye, then", he said, a bit awkwardly.
"Take care", Saturn Girl said sincerely.
"Yeah, bye", Chameleon Boy added.
One by one, the other Legionnaires added their goodbyes, and when everyone had said what they wanted to say, Kell-el turned to look one last time at the group of people who had become his teammates before disappearing into the vortex.
There was silence for a bit before the newly-human Brainiac 5 said, "It's time for me to say goodbye as well."
There was an instant buzz of excited chatter.
"You're leaving?" Phantom Girl exclaimed.
"What on earth for?" Bouncing Boy demanded.
"Where are you going?" asked Shrinking Violet.
"This isn't because of that whole business with your mad ancestor, is it?" queried Chameleon Boy suspiciously.
"No", Brainy assured him. "It's simply…I need time to sort out my thoughts. Becoming human has…flooded many emotions into me that I'm not quite prepared to deal with just yet. I need some time off, by myself." He looked at them. "I don't know when I'll come back…but I will. That's a promise." It was then he took out a teleportation device. "Well, goodbye. I hope I'll see you again soon."
"Same here, Brainy", the Triplicates said, hugging him tightly.
"Take care", added Superman.
Cosmic Boy, after struggling with himself for a minute, surprised them all when he spoke.
"Don't take too long, okay?"
Brainy smiled and operated the teleporter, and in a flash, he was gone.
"I'll take that as my cue to leave", said Superman. He took out his time-warp, which he still had from his first visit to the future, and waved at them all. There were more goodbyes and hugs, and then, Superman too, returned to his own time.
The rest of the Legion remained there quietly for a while. Then, slowly, they began to disperse. Only Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, Bouncing Boy, Timber Wolf, Triplicate Girl, and Phantom Girl were left. Then they too, slowly walked away. It was time to pick up the pieces, and start over.
Chapter 1
Brainiac 1.0 wandered alone, in the deep, dark space. His robotic lip curled in a sinister smile as he saw the planet he was looking for loom up ahead of him. Takron Galtose. The prison planet. The beginning of his revenge – and his ultimate plan. His smile turned into a sneer as his thoughts turned to Earth – and its inhabitants. Humans were such a pathetic race - stupid, illogical, and extremely near-sighted. That was why they never understood why he did what he did. In the long-term, he knew, chaos and evil were order.
There was also something else on Earth. Legion HQ. The Headquarters of that lousy Legion. Superman was a part of that Legion, and he had stopped him more than once in the 21st century. His descendant (how had he spawned such a weak being?), Brainiac 5, was a Legionnaire, and he had foiled his plans once again. Stupid child. He had gone back to his weakling, do-gooder ways. But then, he was irked at the entire Legion. If it weren't for the other Legionnaires, and Superman in particular, Brainiac 5 would have remained as he should have been: locked away in a corner of his own mind, under his complete control.
But now, yes now, he would have his revenge. He had a plan. And it would succeed – he had calculated that the likelihood of his failure was zero percent.
"Evil does not die", he said softly, chillingly. "It evolves. And evil will triumph."
Phantom Girl frowned as she looked over the Legion crime log. There had been a suspicious lack of criminals lately.
"What's up?" Timber Wolf asked, coming in and noticing her frown.
"What's down is more like it. Look at these." She brandished the reports in his face.
"So the crime rate's down", said Timber Wolf, looking puzzled. "Isn't that a good thing?"
"Maybe." Phantom Girl looked thoughtful. "But there should be more criminal activity. Two months and only one issue of a petty street thief and a break-in at the bank which was resolved easily." She frowned. "It doesn't seem right."
"You're being paranoid", Timber Wolf told her. "The crime rate's coming down, that's all. I mean, all the supervillains are locked away in Takron Galtose, and the Legion of Substitute Heroes was busy teaching all the minor villains a lesson while we were away. Maybe they finally got the message."
"Yes, but I can't shake the feeling something's not very right", she persisted.
Timber Wolf sighed. Obviously he was not going to dissuade her from this line of thought. "All right, maybe it isn't a good thing. We'll deal with the latest break-out from Takron Galtose or the most recent supervillain bank robbery when the issues arise. For now, though, I'm glad there hasn't been much going on. It's a welcome change." He turned to leave the room. "Care to join me for a coffee?"
Phantom Girl cast one last glance at the papers before shrugging her shoulders. "Why not?"
"You're mad", Emerald Empress said flatly.
Brainiac 1.0 looked at her very carefully. "I suggest you watch your words, Venegarian. I assure you I am not insane. It is a perfectly logical plan."
The Empress chuckled derisively. "Logical? Busting us out of jail and launching a full-scale attack on Earth is logical? Well, you'll excuse me if I say that's the most illogical thing I've ever heard."
"Do you think me a fool?" Brainiac 1.0 asked with the tiniest hint of menace in his mechanical voice. "I have laid out my plans with extreme care and I have calculated its possibility of failure."
"Which is?" Tharok enquired from the next cell.
"Zero percent."
Nine Legionnaires relaxed on the couches in the living room of Legion HQ, enjoying a well-deserved break. Bouncing Boy was watching the monitors, but more out of habit than anything – his eyes kept flicking to his holopad to read. The three Triplicate Girls were playing three-way chess. Timber Wolf and Phantom Girl were also browsing through the data on their holopads. Saturn Girl was situated at the monitors, the fingers of one hand on the keyboard, the other hand busily scrolling down a screen on her holopad. And Lightning Lad, though he had a holopad on his lap too, was busier watching Saturn Girl while trying to deal with a strange feeling.
"It's just like old times, isn't it?" Bouncing Boy commented as he returned his glance to the monitors.
"Not really", Saturn Girl said quietly. Lightning Lad suddenly remembered that Saturn Girl had been Brainy's main supporter when he had auditioned for the Legion. The rest of them had thought he was a bit too young, but she had vouched for him, and had been quite close to the Coluan native. And now he'd left.
She must be feeling pretty down, he realized.
Bouncing Boy picked up on her quiet answer and said no more. Changing the subject, he said, "It's a bit strange that we haven't had an alarm since Kell-el went home, isn't it?"
"Maybe it's just the city agreeing that we deserve a break", Lightning Lad joked.
Saturn Girl suddenly sat up, alert, just as the monitors flashed and the alarm rang out.
"I think you spoke too soon", Phantom Girl told Lightning Lad.
"What do we have?" asked Timber Wolf as he crossed the room in two quick strides to look at the monitors.
"It's the Fatal Five", Saturn Girl informed him. "They've broken out of Takron Galtose."
"Again?" Bouncing Boy asked disbelievingly. "Why can't they ever just stay put?"
"Hold on", said Saturn Girl, as her fingers tapped the keyboard. "They're not alone. The Legion of Supervillains is out too."
"What?" chorused the three Triplicates, having abandoned their chess game.
"Anybody else realize how very familiar this is?" asked Lightning Lad.
"No time to speculate about that now, Lightning Lad", Phantom Girl said as she and the others raced for the door.
They encountered Validus just outside Legion HQ. He was tramping all over, striking everything with his mental lightning. Saturn Girl flew up to him to put him to sleep, but something knocked her out of the air.
"Can't let you do that", said Tharok as he emerged from behind the giant, his cannon arm smoking.
Bouncing Boy inflated and bowled Tharok over before the cyborg knew what was happening while Lightning Lad fired an electrical charge at Validus. Validus crashed to the ground and Tharok was flattened.
"What do we do with them now?" Bouncing Boy asked as he deflated to his normal size again.
"The Science Police are right over there, and heading this way", said Lightning Lad, pointing. "We can let them take care of these two while we go after the rest."
"Do we split up?" asked Timber Wolf.
"Might not be a bad idea", Lightning Lad agreed.
"I'll take the north side", volunteered Saturn Girl, brushing herself off. "There was a disturbance there."
"I'll come with you", Phantom Girl offered.
They flew off in different directions. Lightning Lad and Timber Wolf soon encountered Tyr and Ron-Karr wreaking havoc downtown, terrifying the citizens and destroying property. Tyr saw the two Legionnaires coming and smiled maliciously up at them.
"Well, well, we meet again."
"So we do, although after last time, I really didn't want to see your ugly face again", mocked Lightning Lad.
Tyr's face contorted in a vicious scowl. "You'll be sorry for that."
"Don't think I will", Lightning Lad shot at him as his hands sizzled with electricity.
"We'll see." Tyr drew back his fist for a punch while Timber Wolf tackled Ron-Karr.
Triplicate Girl didn't have to fly very far to find Wave and Persuader. Wave saw her first and said maliciously, "Oh, look, Persuader, there's a little girl here."
Triplicate Girl immediately split into three. She only succeeded in evicting a second response from Wave: "Oh, my mistake, there are three little girls here."
The Trips knew enough not to get riled, and they simply ran at Wave and kicked her down. While the blue-haired villain recovered, the trio skipped and hopped around Persuader, confusing him before finally converging on his midriff as one and knocking the wind out of him.
By this time Wave had gotten up and her tentacles of hair were groping and grasping at the air threateningly. The Trips, spotting a demolished signboard above Wave's head, quickly concocted a strategy. Purple Body and White Body lifted Orange Body up, and the latter jumped even higher into the air and kicked the signboard (which was only hanging by some bits of scrap metal) down onto Wave's head, knocking her out cold.
Unfortunately, Persuader, having recovered, swiped his axe at Orange Body and brought her down while Purple Body and White Body ducked to avoid the weapon. Then the two of them picked up the signboard and hurled it with all their strength at Persuader's head.
Their volley struck true; Persuader looked dazed for a moment, then he toppled to the ground. Allowing the nearby Science Police to take care of the villains, the two Triplicates helped their orange sister up before flying off again.
Flying north, Saturn Girl and Phantom Girl spotted the disturbance the former had talked about: Esper, Emerald Empress, and Mano – probably the biggest and most destructive division. Esper was busy mind-blasting the citizens and Science Police; the Eye of Ekron was destroying the roads with explosions of green cosmic energy while its owner looted the jewelry stores; and Mano was destroying everything in sight with his deadly touch.
"Figures I'd sense you", Saturn Girl said to Esper, as she and Phantom Girl dropped out of the sky.
"Hello, Saturn Girl", said Esper calmly, mockingly. "Ready for another several months in a hospital bed?"
"No", replied Saturn Girl coolly as she alighted. "But I am ready to send you back to jail", she added as her eyes glowed pink.
"We'll see", said Esper, her eyes glowing too, as both emitted powerful telepathic waves.
Phantom Girl, meanwhile, after a debate about who was the greater danger, was preventing Mano from dissolving the rest of the area by jumping around him and phasing to intangibility whenever he tried to touch her.
"Hold still, you little ghost", said Mano as he swiped his lethal right hand through the air to encounter nothing.
"Ghost?" repeated Phantom Girl, affronted. Becoming solid once more, she kicked him in the shins. "I really hate being called that", she said, by way of explanation as Mano yelped in pain. Since he was distracted, and since his head was more of a helmet, she seized the opportunity to deliver a knock-out punch to his neck with her fist before going after Emerald Empress.
Lightning Lad looked down in satisfaction at the body beneath his foot.
"Ready to give up yet?" he asked Tyr, who was clawing at his leg.
Although weakened by their fight, Tyr was still as arrogant.
"Bah!" he spat. "Not to you."
Then something started beeping. Tyr cracked a wicked smile and, somehow reaching his right arm across Lightning Lad's foot, he operated a watch on his left wrist that Lightning Lad hadn't noticed before, and vanished. Lightning Lad, thrown off balance by the nonexistent body that had been under his foot, toppled and fell. Brushing himself off, he saw that Ron-Karr had disappeared too, and Timber Wolf was standing alone where the two of them had been dueling.
"How did they –"
"Vanish?" Timber Wolf finished Lightning Lad's question. "They've acquired a teleportation device – one for each of them, by the looks of it."
"That's impossible!" cried Lightning Lad. "How could they possibly get that much money for an individual teleportation device each?"
Timber Wolf looked grave. "I don't know. But it's bad. Especially since they disappeared right after their watches started beeping."
Lightning Lad looked at Timber Wolf and knew that they were both having the same thought. Something was very wrong, they could feel it.
Timber Wolf scanned the sky anxiously. "Something's happened."
Hunter grunted as he was forced to the ground by the giant blue ball that was Bouncing Boy.
"Oi!" he yelled. "Would you hold still, you plump little weasel? I've got better things to do than hang around and get knocked off my feet by a giant ball."
"Yes, you do", Bouncing Boy agreed as he inflated and crashed into Hunter again. "You can go back to Takron Galtose."
Hunter got to his feet and managed to pin Bouncing Boy to the ground with his axe. "Now, you bouncing little – eh?" he broke off, as a device on his wrist that resembled a watch suddenly started beeping. Hunter looked disappointed, but he grinned evilly, causing Bouncing Boy to feel very worried.
"Ach, guess I'll have to forgo crushing you this time, eh?" he said, lowering his axe. "But no worries, I'll have an opportunity soon enough." And with that, he pressed a button on the watch-like device and disappeared.
Feeling a growing sense of apprehension - for whatever made Hunter smile and teleport without completely defeating him would not be good - Bouncing Boy flew up into the air, trying to contact his teammates with his Legion ring.
"Bouncing Boy to Lightning Lad, do you copy?" he asked.
"Yeah, I copy", said Lightning Lad's hologram. "What's wrong, Bouncing Boy?"
"Hunter just disappeared for no reason", Bouncing Boy said.
Somewhere in the background, Timber Wolf's deep, husky voice asked, "Did his watch beep before he teleported?"
"How'd you know he had a beeping watch?" asked Bouncing Boy in surprise.
"Because Tyr and Ron-Karr just did the same thing", replied Lightning Lad.
"And it can't be good", added Timber Wolf's voice.
"Look, there's Phantom Girl", said Triplicate Girl's White Body, pointing to where their teammate was wrestling with Emerald Empress.
"Wasn't she supposed to be with Saturn Girl?" asked Orange Body, not seeing the telepath anywhere near.
"Maybe they got split up", said White Body.
"Hey!" exclaimed Purple Body. "Emerald Empress disappeared!"
"What?" said her sisters.
"Look!" said Purple Body. "There's nobody there, except Phantom Girl."
"This isn't good", said Orange Body.
They landed next to Phantom Girl. "What happened?" asked Purple Body.
Phantom Girl looked up. "They've got Saturn Girl."
A/N: Cliffy! Sorry to do this, guys, but it's a good story technique - keeps people interested, you know? Anyway, you'd better get used to it, because most of my chapters end in a cliff-hanger one way or the other. Still, I'll be updating daily - that's right, daily - so you won't have to wait very long. Chapter 2 coming tomorrow!
Disclaimer: And here we are again at the necessary disclaimer. Sigh. Still, it's only the first time on this story, so I'll be good. I don't own Legion of Superheroes.