Chapter 3

Saturn Girl woke up in a strange room, feeling as though her head had been broken into repeatedly – which was probably true, if Esper had anything to do with it. She was lying strapped to a cold metal table, unable to move her arms or legs. Then, hearing voices in the corridor outside, she stiffened and strained to listen with her ears – if she used her telepathy, if Esper was anywhere near her, she would know.

"…still don't get why we teamed up with that bossy, arrogant know-it-all", a voice, which Saturn Girl recognized as Mano's, complained.

"Did you want to spend another six months on Takron Galtose while Tharok finalized his grand plan to get us out?" retorted Emerald Empress' voice. "That 'bossy, arrogant know-it-all' was our ticket to freedom; did you really think I was going to let an opportunity like that slip by, no matter how ridiculous his plan was? Besides, I think it's worked out rather well so far, don't you?"

Mano grunted. "Surprisingly, yes." He slid the door open. "Oh, our little visitor is awake. Hello, Saturn Girl."

"Well", said Emerald Empress with a wicked smile. "I really have to hand it to Esper, she's managed to subdue you twice so far."

Saturn Girl didn't reply.

"Oh, giving us the silent treatment now, are you?" said Emerald Empress. "That won't work, you know. We need information about the Legion, and you're going to give it to us. As a founder, you must know all the secrets."

Shocked, Saturn Girl exclaimed, "What? How did you know that?"

"We've been doing our research, Saturn Girl. Or rather", Empress added, "our master has."

"So you're working for someone now, are you?" asked Saturn Girl.

"As a matter of fact, yes", replied Emerald Empress. "Not that it's any of your business. And don't try using your telepathy to get the name", she added. "Our master's wise to your tricks."

The door opened again, and Tyr and Tharok slid in.

"Well, well, well", said Tyr maliciously. "All ready, then?"

"We're still waiting for the interrogater", Emerald Empress pointed out.

"Esper will be here soon", Tharok put in. "The boss is just having a little talk with her first about what to do."

Tyr snickered and leered at Saturn Girl. "Oh, I'm gonna enjoy this."

The door slid open for a third time to admit the slender, petite form of Esper. Examining her nails superficially, she said, "Let's get the party started, shall we?"

Lightning Lad paced around the bridge of the Legion cruiser. "Can't you make this thing go any faster?" he demanded of Bouncing Boy in frustration.

Bouncing Boy took a deep breath to calm himself before answering. "I'm already going at the top speed capabilities of the cruiser, Lightning Lad. If I accelerate anymore, it'll fry the engine and bust the circuits, and then we'll be stuck in space, and that won't help either us or Saturn Girl."

Lightning Lad tried to quell his aggravation. "You're right. Sorry. It's just…" he added as he began pacing again.

"I know", Bouncing Boy said sympathetically. There was silence except for the low rumble of the cruiser's engine.

After some time, Phantom Girl spotted the planet Rawl, and another Legion cruiser behind an asteroid, not too far away. "Look", she said, pointing. "There it is."

Timber Wolf contacted the other cruiser, bringing Cosmic Boy's image up on the screen.

"About time", grumbled Cosmic Boy. "I was about to start without you."

"What's the plan?" asked Lightning Lad.

"Don't actually have one", replied Cosmic Boy, much to the surprise of Lightning Lad and the others. "How about we all just storm in, take out the bad guys, get Saturn Girl, and leave?"

"Now you're talking", said Lightning Lad. He managed a small grin.

"Now that that's settled", said Cosmic Boy, "Let's begin the attack."

Saturn Girl screamed as Esper invaded her head again, mercilessly and viciously sifting through all her memories and thoughts. But the memories Saturn Girl was trying her hardest to keep at the surface to prevent Esper from discovering the Legion's crucial secrets were too trivial for the other telepath. She withdrew.

"What are you hiding?" cried Esper in frustration. "Why can't I get past those stupid, unimportant thoughts?"

"Because she's throwing them at you, idiot", said Emerald Empress as she leaned against the wall, looking bored. She came over to Saturn Girl with the Eye of Ekron. "Now play nice", she said, as the Eye tried to do what Esper had been unsuccessful at, shining its mesmerizing green beam into Saturn Girl's eyes.

At once, Saturn Girl put up a resistance. During the Legion's encounters with the Fatal Five, Saturn Girl had been one of the few who could resist the Eye's hypnotizing power. But repeated attempts by Esper to break into her mind had weakened her, and after a while she couldn't keep the Eye out of her head.

Slowly, the Emerald Eye of Ekron began sorting through all the memories she had ever had, starting with those concerning the Legion.

"Patrol ship, 2 o' clock!" Phantom Girl called out to Bouncing Boy, who swerved to avoid being seen by the small hovering aircraft.

"Did it see us?" asked Bouncing Boy.

"Don't think so", replied Phantom Girl. "That was close."

"How soon can we land?" asked Lightning Lad.

"Right now", answered Bouncing Boy as he parked the Legion cruiser behind a large, leafy bush in the jungle surrounding Dr. Londo's former laboratory.

The four Legionnaires got out and made sure their cruiser was well concealed before they met up with Cosmic Boy, Dream Girl, Chameleon Boy, Matter-Eater Lad, and Element Lad.

"Everyone accounted for?" asked Cosmic Boy as he counted everybody's heads. "All right, let's go."

Stop her! Saturn Girl's subconscious was screaming as the Eye of Ekron continued to glean information about the Legion from her thoughts. She knew she had to stop it before it learned too many important secrets.

"Very interesting…" Saturn Girl could hear Emerald Empress muttering.

Push her out! Attack it! Defend! Anything! But how?

No, no, go away! Saturn Girl thought to herself, as the Eye drew nearer to the memory of the building of Legion HQ – along with all the other secrets that came with it. Go away!

They could not see that. The Fatal Five and the Legion of Supervillains could not see that, and neither could whoever was giving them orders. It was far too important; if they knew the secrets of Legion Headquarters…

Stop! She didn't realize she'd said it out loud, pleading weakly with her enemies.

"Stop?" repeated Mano incredulously. "When we're just getting started?"

"When we're just getting to the best part?" added Emerald Empress, who was receiving visual images of everything the Eye was seeing.

They laughed.

But the Eye kept coming toward that memory, that gold mine of imperative facts…

Stop it, stop it, stop it! You won't see that; I'm not letting you. Go away, keep out – GO AWAY!

Some unknown form of energy burst inside Saturn Girl, awakened by the need to withhold that vital piece of information. She needed to shield it, protect it – and miraculously, her mind summoned up the strength and ability to push the Eye of Ekron's probing beam away, out of her head. The one thing on her mind was to shield the secrets of the Legion, and somehow she was doing it – with a glowing force field.

There were shouts and exclamations of shock and amazement; she heard Emerald Empress cry out in pain as she forced the Eye to back away, heard Tyr's vehement curse, Esper's surprised gasp, Mano's astonished articulation of "Hey!", Tharok's growl – and then, the startled voices of her teammates. She recognized Lightning Lad's, Cosmic Boy's, Phantom Girl's, Timber Wolf's, Bouncing Boy's…but then her memory clouded and faded into black nothingness.

A/N: Ahahahaha! I'm evil, aren't I? Never mind, Chapter 4 coming tomorrow, so don't you worry about being left in the dark. Thanks to ClUeLeSs, Lillywhitecherub, cartoongal11, and The Violet Rose for reviewing on my last two chapters!

Disclaimer: Disclaimer number 3. Still not too many yet...I don't own Legion of Superheroes. Least it's short.