A/N: Yay, there's more readers and reviewers! Thank you so much to leathman, Seychelles, andytanjiahou95 (I'm still surprised you made an account ;), and sgsupersoda for your reviews. Yes, Seychelles, there will be more LGBT characters, even some in the 21st-century stories of Diamond Earth.

For those of you who don't know, the two DC characters in the Magnetic Knights are Collazo, the manager, and Dyrk Magz (who was only mentioned by his last name), a vanguard on Rokk's team. Collazo was Rokk's army commander in the Five Years Later series, while Dyrk Magz was Magno, an actual member of the Legion in the Reboot.

This is my favorite chapter of the story. I thoroughly enjoyed writing this.

Chapter III: Melee in the Orchard

28 October 2998

No one had time to be startled when Captain Krinn suddenly collapsed on the Magnoball pitch, because at that same moment a bright red laser sliced across the playing field, immediately creating a panic among the audience. The Magnetic Knights all but threw themselves off the pitch as the spectators broke ranks in countless different directions. Those around the edges of the crowd scattered at once, while the unfortunate majority were trapped in the middle of a mass of solid, moving bodies – which, as the panic level escalated, devolved into a deadly human crush. The Magnetic Knights' security personnel rushed in to protect the team and escort them to safety, but in the pandemonium, no one noticed that their captain had been left behind.

In her anxiety, Imra had been too forceful with her telepathic directive and had inadvertently left Rokk unconscious. She felt it the moment his mind buckled under the force of hers, and she cursed the momentary loss of control that now left him utterly helpless. If Rokk Krinn died here, it would be on her hands. She couldn't allow that to happen. Imra spared only a brief thought for Lyle before she peeled away from the surging crowd and shoved her way towards the Magnoball pitch as quickly as she could.

Loretta Lane had switched seamlessly from sports commentary to breaking news report, speaking rapidly to the floating holocam as she described the situation. She was now forced to drop to the ground as more lasers seared through the air, hitting several civilians; one laser grazed Imra's arm just as she reached Rokk. The pain was sharp and burning, but Imra tried not to let it distract her as she bent to pull Rokk to safety. Unfortunately, she was unable to use her injured limb, and she wasn't strong enough to drag Rokk's solid frame of muscle and sinew with only one arm. Imra tried calling for help, but in the deafening noise no one heard her. Just as she was about to despair a pair of hands grabbed Rokk under his arms.

"I got him. Come on!"

Garth half-carried, half-dragged Rokk's inert form across the garden and into a thicket of bushes; Imra followed, nursing her arm.

"You're the boy from yesterday," she realized. "The one from the alley."

"The name's Garth," he replied.

"Imra," she responded.

"Nice to see you again, Imra. Now I think we should scram before any more lasers come after us." He glanced down at Rokk. "I don't see any injuries; what happened to him?"

"It was sort of my fault," Imra admitted apologetically.

"What?" Garth had to raise his voice to be heard over the increasing noise and panic around them.

"I'll explain later. Didn't you say we should scram?"

"We'd better take him with us too," said Garth, looking at Rokk. "Got a place in mind?"

"My house isn't far from here," Imra offered. "We should be safe there. Can you carry him to my hovercar?"

Garth frowned. "Not without help. He's heavier than he looks."

"I'll help."

Garth glanced at her burned arm. "You're hurt."

"I've still got one arm I can use. We should be able to manage it together."

"All right," Garth agreed. "I'll take his upper body, you support his legs."

They tried it that way, Garth lifting Rokk's torso over his shoulder and Imra trying to encircle both Rokk's legs with her uninjured arm, but after a few unwieldy steps it became clear it wasn't working.

"Now what?" Imra asked, looking apprehensively over her shoulder.

Garth was biting his lip. "I have an idea, but it's risky."

"How risky?"

"There's a good chance I might kill him."

Imra stared at him. "You can't be serious."

"I am very serious," Garth disagreed. "The question here is whether we should risk it, or see if we can weather it out here."

"I'm not letting you try something that could kill him."

"Okay, so we'll stay here, then."

Someone screamed just then, out of sight but still sounding very close. Garth and Imra met each other's eyes as they both reassessed the wisdom of that decision.

Garth quirked an eyebrow in a silent question. Imra sighed.

"Don't kill him."

"I'll do my best." Garth looped his dominant right arm around Rokk's chest, securing his forearm under Rokk's armpits, so that Rokk's back was almost flush against his chest. "Okay, I need you to go on in front, and make sure I keep going in the right direction," he told Imra.

"What are you going to do?"

"You'll see."

"No, tell me," Imra insisted.

Garth gave her a look. "I really don't think we have time for me to explain, and we definitely don't have time for me to persuade you to let me do it."

Imra was beginning to have second thoughts about this plan. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Someone ran past the bushes they were hiding behind, close enough to rustle the leaves. Garth's tone became impatient.

"Look, we really don't have time. Just point me in the right direction and trust me."

Imra narrowed her eyes, but she pointed to their right. "There's a gate behind those trees – we can get out through there."

"Okay." Garth turned so that his back was facing the direction Imra had indicated. "Here goes." He extended his left arm in front of him, careful to keep it parallel to Rokk's body, closed his fingers, and concentrated. White-hot electricity erupted from his fist, and before Imra could react, he simultaneously pushed with his legs and fired the bolt of lightning.

He felt a hard, dizzying whoosh and heard the scream of the air around him as he landed roughly on the ground; but as he'd planned, the force of the lightning propelled him, with Rokk in tow, several feet in the right direction. Garth grinned, allowing himself a small celebration that his idea was working, before Imra ran up to him, her face incredulous and alarmed.

"What the hell was that?!" she demanded.

"My plan," he responded. "Let's keep going."

"This is crazy! How good is your control over that?"

"Good enough. Let's go." Garth repeated the process, firing another bolt of lightning that took him and Rokk into the cover of trees. The gate was a few meters away; another round of lightning-fueled propulsion got him there.

"How far is your car?" he asked once Imra had caught up with him.

Imra took a few seconds to orient herself. "It's just a few blocks this way," she said, gesturing. "About five minutes' walk."

"Lead the way."

Since lightning was an awkward way to travel with a passenger, it took them almost eight minutes to reach the sidewalk where Imra had parked her hovercar, by which time Garth was sweating and panting, with more than a few scrapes and bruises. Imra quickly unlocked her car and helped Garth load Rokk into the backseat, then she slid into the driver's seat and tapped on the built-in communicator on the dashboard.

"What are you doing?" Garth queried disbelievingly as he strapped himself in next to her. "Drive!"

"Hang on," snapped Imra, putting through a call. The dial tone beeped, but no one answered. "Come on, Lyle," she muttered, redialing while she started the car and pulling out of the parking space. The second call yielded the same result: no answer from Lyle. Imra didn't call again, but her fingers tightened around the steering wheel.

"Whoever your friend is, I hope he's okay," Garth offered.

Imra didn't take her eyes off the road. "I hope so too."

She drove with speed, avoiding the main roads and landmarks and taking the car down obscure turnings and narrow routes instead. Garth rather thought she might slow down as she took the hairpin curves, but she simply careened past them without a care for the brakes.

"Holy nass, slow down!" he exclaimed as the hovercar tilted at a terrifying angle.

"You use lightning to travel and you're worried about my speeding?" Imra's tone was incredulous.

"I don't do that on a regular basis!"

"Shut up and trust me," said Imra, echoing his own words back to him even as she stepped on the accelerator, causing the car to zoom forward down the small road.

"Where did you learn how to drive?!" Garth bellowed. Sparks were beginning to form in his hair.

"Sci-Pol Academy. Put those away!"

"Put what away? Hey, look out!" he yelled.

Imra swore as she swerved to avoid an illegally parked hovercar; Garth's lightning very nearly short-circuited their engines. Imra slammed on her brakes and turned to glare ferociously at him.

"Those," she hissed, referring to the sparks still lingering in the scorch mark on her dashboard. "Put those away."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Garth said hastily. "That was an accident – it won't happen again."

Imra's eyes turned shrewd. "You can't guarantee that, can you?" she realized.

Garth exhaled regretfully and ducked his head. "No," he confessed. "Not really. It's worse when I get anxious," he qualified, "so maybe you could slow down…?" His face was hopeful.

Imra rubbed her temples. "How did I get myself into this?" she mumbled. She resumed driving, at a more sedate pace this time, much to Garth's relief. Within two minutes she pulled up in front of a large, attractive town house with a small flower garden at the side. She killed the engine and unlocked the doors. "Come on."

Without the panicked urgency of escape, it was somewhat easier for the two of them to wrestle Rokk out of the car. Imra brought a sheet from the house, and together they rolled Rokk onto the cloth and dragged the sheet through the front door. Then they both sank to the floor with relief, breathing hard.

"Merriweather, lock the doors," Imra ordered.

"Doors have been locked."

Garth raised an eyebrow at the electronic voice. "What was that?"

"The house's AI," Imra replied.

"Interesting." He turned to look at Imra. "So," he began, "that was some second meeting."

"What?" Imra was confused for a moment before she realized what he was referring to. "Of all the – that's what you're thinking?"

"Hey, what are the odds that we'd meet again just when some psycho decides to let loose some lasers in the middle of a public Magnoball game?"

Imra shook her head. "I don't believe in coincidences."

"Good, neither do I." Garth gestured at Rokk. "So, what did you do to him?"

Imra grimaced. "I'm a telepath; I sensed the attack a second before it happened. He was the target, so I warned him mentally – but I think I overdid it."

"No kidding," said Garth, prodding Rokk's chest. "He's still out cold."

Imra gave him an exasperated look. "If you'd stop talking, I can wake him up."

"Hang on – before you do, we'd better have a good explanation ready for him."

"We saved his life and kept him from being stampeded over. What other explanation is there?"

"Yeah, but it was partially your fault we had to do that and we essentially kidnapped him and brought him to your house," Garth pointed out.

"So?"

"Imra, Rokk Krinn is a galactic sports star. If he decides to sue we are screwed."

Imra was nonplussed. "Why would he sue?"

Garth scoffed. "How should I know how these famous types think?"

"You're over-complicating things," said Imra. "We'll just tell him the truth. Now hush." She placed her fingers on her temple and laid her other hand on Rokk's head. She closed her eyes as she concentrated on de-traumatizing his mind from her significant mental influence, but Garth was still able to see the pink glow under her lids.

After several seconds, Rokk stirred. Imra removed her hand from his head and they both watched as he regained consciousness.

Rokk instantly noticed that he was in an unfamiliar place. "Where am I?"

"Safe," replied Imra. "I'm Imra, this is Garth. You're in my house."

"What happened?" Rokk groaned as he sat up, massaging his head.

"There was an attack in the Botanic Gardens. I told you to duck. I used too much force, I'm sorry," she apologized.

Rokk looked at her, his brow creased. "You're Titanian," he noted. She nodded in confirmation. "So you telepathically knocked me out?"

"Unintentionally," she clarified. "I was trying to warn you."

"Yes, I remember that. Why am I here?"

"Well, after that first laser, everyone went nuts," answered Garth. "Your teammates made it away safely, but they missed you in all the commotion. Imra and I saw that you were defenseless, and we brought you here."

Rokk seemed to accept that. "Thank you."

"Rokk, you were the target of the attack," Imra informed him. "Someone was trying to kill you. I wouldn't advise going out until we know exactly what's happening."

Rokk frowned. "I need to contact my team."

"All right, but don't tell them where you are," said Garth. "Don't want to lead the shooter straight to you."

Rokk waved dismissively, which instantly grated on Garth's nerves. "I think the Knights' security can handle a would-be assassin."

"Are any of them telepathic?" Garth challenged. "And can any of them do this?" He lit up his fist with electricity; Rokk's eyes went wide and he took a few steps back.

"Garth, stop playing with lightning," Imra ordered. "I don't need you electrocuting us. Rokk, you're free to do what you want – you can either get back together with your team, or you can stay here until we figure out what to do."

Rokk's first inclination was still to call Herdoni or Frol and tell them he was fine, but something – perhaps it was his gratitude or curiosity about his two teenage saviors – made him want to accept Imra's offer, or at least stick around long enough to find out what she planned to do.

"I'll stay for the time being," he decided, "but I still want to get in touch with my team."

"All right," Imra agreed. She stood up. "Make yourselves at home. I need to make some calls."

A/N: Nothing to announce today - just that you guys should continue reading and reviewing =) Your reviews make my day!