Chapter 2

"Let me get this straight. Esper overpowered Saturn Girl and disappeared with her after her watch started beeping?"

Phantom Girl was starting to get seriously annoyed with Bouncing Boy. "For the twenty-second time, yes", she replied irritably.

Bouncing Boy held up his hands. "I was just making sure. How'd Esper defeat Saturn Girl?"

"Again", Lightning Lad muttered under his breath.

"I told you, I have no idea", said Phantom Girl. "I was busy wrestling with Emerald Empress."

"More to the point, why did they all teleport after their watches started beeping?" asked Timber Wolf.

"Or how Validus, Tharok, Wave, and Persuader all managed to disappear before the Science Police had a chance to arrest them when they were all unconscious?" added Triplicate Girl's White Body.

"Or why Ron-Karr is even with the LSV again?" put in Purple Body.

"This is not helpful", said Lightning Lad. "We should be out there rescuing Saturn Girl instead of sitting here talking about how and why."

"The very fact that they were out in orderly, well-planned groups, and that they teleported after their watches beeped signifies that they're working for someone – someone who's coordinating the attack plans and who has a master scheme up his sleeve", reasoned Timber Wolf.

"So why Saturn Girl?" asked Bouncing Boy.

"Could be she might have caught a glimpse of who the master criminal is when she was battling Esper", answered Triplicate Girl's Orange Body.

"Or they took her to prevent that very thing from happening", added White Body. "Whoever this new guy is, he doesn't want to reveal himself. And if any of us would be able to find out who he is when he doesn't show himself, Saturn Girl would be the only one."

"It's also possible that she was simply in the way", said Timber Wolf. "I mean, after Esper defeated her, maybe their leader just wanted to seize the opportunity."

"Whatever it is, she's in danger, and we're no closer figuring out this mystery villain", said Lightning Lad.

"I knew the lack of criminal activity in the past two months was suspicious", mumbled Phantom Girl.

"Quiet! All of you!" They looked at Bouncing Boy in surprise. Obviously he was still just as much of a Legion leader as he had been, despite the post now being filled, once again, by Cosmic Boy.

"Now, we don't know who this mysterious villain is or why he wants Saturn Girl, or what he's planning", continued Bouncing Boy. "But I think it's pretty clear that whoever he is, he's a threat, and a big one. We have to find out who he is and what he's planning and stop him before it's too late. Triplicate Girl, send out warnings to all Legionnaires – tell them we have a new, unknown villain to deal with – possibly one of our old ones thirsting for revenge. Tell them that it's a top-priority, since he has one of our own. Timber Wolf, Lightning Lad, Phantom Girl, go over the Legion crime log and compile a list of possible villains. We'll go over them one by one."

They didn't even argue. They'd become accustomed to following Bouncing Boy's orders during his term as leader, and he was definitely making sense now.

Lightning Lad, Phantom Girl, and Timber Wolf immediately made their way over to the compartment under the computer keyboard where the data pads containing information on the villains they had faced were kept, while Triplicate Girl immediately contacted Cosmic Boy.

"Cosmic Boy. What's going on? We heard there'd been a break-out from Takron Galtose…"

"There was", interrupted Triplicate Girl. "The Fatal Five and the Legion of Supervillains."

"Again?" Cosmic Boy sounded annoyed and slightly apprehensive. "They were in the top-level security cells. How'd they get out of there?"

"They had help", explained Triplicate Girl. "Someone who's coordinating all their movements. They just attacked different parts of New Metropolis in separate groups. They've got Saturn Girl."

"What?" exclaimed Cosmic Boy. "Then what are you still doing there? Go get her back!"

"We don't know where they are, Cos", said Lightning Lad, looking up from the data pad he was studying. "They teleported. That's the whole reason we're making this call. We need you to keep a look-out for anywhere the Fatal Five and the Legion of Supervillains could be."

"We'll do that. You stay in Legion HQ meanwhile and see if you can get any clues on who helped them escape", ordered Cosmic Boy.

"Already on it", said Phantom Girl.

They whiled away the next hour doing the tasks Bouncing Boy had assigned them to, Triplicate Girl splitting into three and helping to speed up the process of looking through the list of villains when she had contacted the rest of the Legion. Then Bouncing Boy trudged in and plopped down on one of the chairs.

"Nothing", he said desolately. "I've looked at every inch of the security videos from the areas they were attacking, and I've got nothing except a distorted blur at the sites where Validus, Tharok, Wave, and Persuader were. I can barely even tell what color it is."

"Cheer up, Bouncy", said Triplicate Girl's Purple Body, coming over to him with their list of villains. "We might still get something from this."

Bouncing Boy accepted the list and looked in surprise at the first name.

"Dr. Londo?" he queried, looking at Timber Wolf. "You really think –"

"My father is intelligent enough to break two supervillain teams out of Takron Galtose", replied Timber Wolf. "He might want some revenge after we've thwarted his plans twice", he added with a dry, humorless smile.

Bouncing Boy continued scrolling down the list. "Senator Tolay … Mordru … Drax?" He looked up again.

"Well, if he managed to get out of the Phantom Zone…" Phantom Girl shrugged.

"It's a possibility", Bouncing Boy conceded. He looked down at the list again. "Okay … scratch the Scavengers, this sort of operation doesn't give them what they want … the Dark Circle are all in prison … and the Controller prefers to work alone, so I think we can rule him out too."

"That leaves Senator Tolay, Mordru, Drax, and Dr. Londo", said Triplicate Girl's White Body.

"Scratch Senator Tolay", said Lightning Lad. "I know him. He wouldn't deal with two whole teams of supervillains at once. He knows when he's out of his league."

"And we haven't heard of any rift in the phantom zone since we tossed Drax back in there", said Timber Wolf.

"I don't think Dr. Londo's doing this", said Phantom Girl. He doesn't strike the sort of figure the Fatal Five or the Legion of Supervillains would take orders from."

"Which only leaves Mordru", Bouncing Boy concluded. "Anyone know what's going on with him?"

"I can contact Zyx and find out", offered Triplicate Girl's Orange Body.

"Okay", said Bouncing Boy.

They waited a few minutes while Orange Body dispatched the call. Then the High Elder of the Zarokian Council answered.

"Oh, hello", he said amiably when he saw who was calling. "How may I help you, er … the Legion of Superheroes, was it?"

"Yes", Phantom Girl replied. "We need to speak with Zyx."

"Zyx?" The High Elder looked surprised. "Why, Zyx is away, Tinya. The Council sent him on a mission to discover the magical properties of the Titanian sunflower on the far side of the moon. Perhaps I -"

"Where's Mordru?" asked Bouncing Boy.

The High Elder was looking very astonished now. "Mordru? Why, he's in prison, of course. Has been ever since that day, you know. It's a long sentence, after all."

"Are you sure he's in prison?" asked Lightning Lad. "He hasn't escaped or anything?"

"No", answered the High Elder. "He's still there, complaining and cursing no end. I suppose it must be rather dull down there…"

"And you're sure about that?" asked Bouncing Boy.

"Positive." The High Elder was positively bemused now. "I assure you Mordru is quite safe in prison, if you're worrying he might be loose in Zarok again…"

"It's all right, High Elder", said Phantom Girl. "We were just checking. Some strange things have been happening around here, that's all and we were just wondering…"

"Ah, I see." The High Elder interlocked his fingers. "I presume you are once again in the midst of some sort of battle? If I may be of assistance…"

"We'll let you know", replied Phantom Girl. "Thank you." She ended the call and looked around at her teammates. "Well, that's that theory dashed. We're obviously looking at a new villain."

"Which means we're no closer to finding out what's going on or where Saturn Girl is", concluded Lightning Lad in frustration.

Phantom Girl tilted her head to one side and observed him intently. Lightning Lad really went off the deep end whenever Saturn Girl was in danger. First the incident with Esper, and now this – the, er, second incident with Esper.

I wouldn't like to be Esper when Lightning Lad catches up to her, Phantom Girl thought to herself. She got the feeling Lightning Lad cared for Saturn Girl a whole lot more than he let on.

It was only several hours later that the computer screen crackled, and the slim figure of Dream Girl materialized. "We've found Saturn Girl", she informed them.

"What? Where?" Lightning Lad was next to the screen in an instant.

"The planet Rawl. Our search pods picked up an LSV cruiser parked not far away from Dr. Londo's former laboratory. They also spotted a glimpse of Saturn Girl."

"One more reason why my father might be the one behind this whole thing", Timber Wolf muttered under his breath.

"Or, it could just be that the place was abandoned, making it a good hideout", said Bouncing Boy.

"Cosmic Boy's already making plans for her rescue", added Dream Girl. "But he says he'll wait for you, if you want."

"That's generous of him", remarked Lightning Lad. "I'm definitely taking him up on his offer."

"We'll be there as soon as we can", Bouncing Boy told Dream Girl, who nodded and broke communication.

"We may have a slight problem", said Phantom Girl. "Who's gonna keep an eye on Legion HQ and New Metropolis?"

"Simple", said Bouncing Boy, dispatching another call. "We won't be gone long, so I'll just get Sun Boy, Shrinking Violet, Colossal Boy, and Star Boy to cover for us here." His call went through, and Sun Boy - who, along with the other four Legionnaires Bouncing Boy had mentioned, was off-duty at the moment - promised to alert the other four and watch over Legion HQ.

"Of course", added Bouncing Boy, turning from the screen as it blanked again, "Someone will have to stay behind."

There was silence, then Triplicate Girl put her hand up. "I'll stay", she volunteered.

"All right, then, that's settled", said Bouncing Boy, satisfied. "Triplicate Girl, Sun Boy and the others should be here soon. You stay here and wait for them, all right?"

"Will do, Bouncy", replied Triplicate Girl. "Keep me posted."

Bouncing Boy nodded and sped off to the hangar, the others following him, Lightning Lad already a few feet ahead of him.

A/N: Ha! Told you I'd update daily. Reviews, as always, are appreciated and very much welcome.

Disclaimer: Okay, this is only the second time so far...I don't own Legion of Superheroes.