Legion of Superheroes

Devlin stood across the street from where the Daily Planet Building was. He was expecting for the worst. When he saw two figures entered the building through the wall, he gave a silent prayer for his friend Celeste inside the building, whom he knew for sure was their target. He did not have to wait long, but the wait was the most unbearable feeling of his life. He called the nearest Med station and told them to bring an emergency crew right away to the Daily Planet. He hoped that a Med station would be what they needed and not the crematorium.

As soon as the two figures left the building, he ran towards the Daily Planet offering a prayer of thanks that the building still stood. He sped past the street, unmindful if there were any hover-cars preparing for a landing. He cursed the delay caused by the safety identification checks for entry to the building. He felt the elevator too slow and wished that he could fly. A steady pulse of red and blue from the window assured him that the emergency crew he asked for was landing at the building door. As soon as the elevator doors slid open, his jaw dropped. Celeste was unmoving on the floor and Kent was a few feet from her. Devlin felt as if his legs were made of molasses and his feet of iron. He wanted to help Celeste but did not know how to begin.

The familiar ding of the elevator next to the one he used snapped him out of his trance. He had forgotten about the emergency crew when he saw his friend on the floor.

“You called for a med team, sir?” one of the crew members asked.

“Yes, my friend needs help,” he replied, pointing at Celeste. “Hurry, please,” he begged.

The med crew wanted to get to Celeste as fast as they could, but had to watch where they had to step. As soon as they reached her, they checked for a pulse.

“Amazing,” said one of the crew. “She still has a weak pulse.”

After hearing that, Devlin felt himself exhale.

“What about the other one?” asked the other.

“He’s okay, I’m sure,” Devlin assured them without even glancing at Kent’s direction. “He has a though hide.”

“We still want to make sure.”

“Hurry. Please. My friend really needs attention right now.”

“I’m giving her first aid now, sir. Don’t worry.”

“So…the Legion is…what, exactly?” RJ asked the three youngsters who just saved his life a few moments ago.

“We cannot say for now, sir. Just trust us to be on your side,” Rokk replied.

“Are you an anti-Daxam team or something? Or an anti-Valor perhaps?”

“Sir, we are in a middle of an urgent mission,” Garth said, but was sorry as he said it. He felt that it was a rude to say it the way he did and Imra’s stare confirmed it.

“Sir, we are here because we have heard about a team of yours, and we really need some help.” Rokk felt that they are wasting time and the best way to say what they have to say was the direct approach.

“I have no team. As you can see, the only one with me here foolish enough is dead.” RJ tried to stand up again as he felt a little strength return to him.

“What is he talking about?” Garth blurted out. “What is the talking about?” He repeated almost yelling. “He must be lying. Do a mind scan!” His voice got higher with each word he said.

“Would you submit yourself to a mind reading, sir?” Imra asked RJ.

“Why are you asking him that? Are you off your rocket?” Garth’s waived his arms wildly overhead.

“Garth, Mr. Brande is not our enemy,” Imra said calmly.

“I think it would be best to answer RJ’s question,” Rokk said. “Maybe you can tell it to him, Imra. Telepathically.”

Imra looked at RJ and her eyes seemed to glimmer. What could take hours to tell, she showed it to him in minutes. How the three of them met on an OmniCom Chat Channel. How their own planets were now being controlled by the Church of Valor, how they were able to find more youths who felt the same way towards the religion, and how they banded together with the promise of ending the Church’s tyranny.

RJ was stunned at what he saw. “By damn!” was all he was able to utter.

“I… I lost them,” RJ finally confessed.

“What do you mean?” Rokk prodded him on.

“Not much left from my team. I told those who survived to leave the planet. Only Kent stayed behind. They are gone now.”

The three youngsters were dumbfounded. Their plans relied heavily on RJ’s team. Garth felt a wave of panic cross him.

“We can still do this,” Rokk finally said after a period of silence. “We’re the Legion. If our intel is correct, then there will be only three Daxamites inside and, with luck, their attention will be on the event.”

“What could three of you do against three of them?” RJ asked horrified. Marla’s death washed every positive thought he had before.

“There are five of us, sir, one of whom is already inside.” Rokk smiled a little, but RJ was still unconvinced. He felt that even with twenty of them or even a hundred would be helpless against the Daxamites. “And the other one is late, for some reason. Any word from Apparition yet?” he asked Imra.

“Nothing. The channel is quiet. Maybe they are all waiting for word from us,” she replied as she checked her OmniCom.

“It’s good that the channel is quiet and open then.”

“Is there anything I can say that will make you change your mind?” RJ asked. The three shook their heads simultaneously as if on cue. “Take this then,” he handed Rokk the map which Doyle had given him previously.

“What’s this?” Rokk asked more about what he was looking at.

“This is the reason why Marla and I are here. We were told that a couple of our people are inside. In pods, by damn!” RJ’s face flushed red. “Pods,” he repeated as if it was the worst thing that could happen to anyone. He had no idea how right he was thinking that way.

“That must be it then. Rokk, we have to get inside now,” Garth grabbed Rokk’s arms to emphasize the urgency.

“We stick to the plan. We wait when they open the doors. Triad will be waiting for us,” he tried to calm Garth. “You have to go somewhere safe, sir,” he said to RJ.

“Here’s my OmniCom, sir,” Imra offered. “We will contact you later. If you do not hear from us within 24 hours, please tell our friends. But for now, maintain a low profile and channel silence.”

RJ looked at them. He could not help feeling sorry for these three. He felt like he was abetting them in mass suicide.

“Masks on,” Rokk told the two as he grabbed a piece of white cloth from a pouch on his belt as they did. As soon as they had the masks on, their facial features changed to a more mature one, totally different from what they really looked like. Rokk’s round face became square-ish, Imra’s soft features became more haggard and Garth’s boyish charms disappeared behind a more contoured one. Their hair changed colors as well; Rokk’s black hair became blond, Imra’s blond hair became brown and Garth’s red hair became white. “And remember the channel code names,” he reminded them.

RJ watched in amazement then hung his head. He noticed one of Doyle’s henchmen started to stir and he figured it would be best to leave. He waved a silent good-bye to his saviors and started to walk hurriedly away. The three Legionnaires waked the other direction and joined the gathering crowd who were waiting for the Church’s doors to open to let them in.

“Hey Markus,” said one of the med crew to his companion. “Isn’t that the Rockfish woman?”

“Yeah, I was watching her on the OmniCom on the way to the Daily Planet,” Markus replied.

“Wasn’t she talking about some anti-Valorian crap a while ago?”

“Blasphemous bitch, right.”

“I was thinking: we don’t need rubble-rousers.”

“Just drive, Jeq. Ours is to save lives regardless of what their opinions are.”

The rest of the trip to the Med Station was silent.

Laurel could hear Luornu’s heartbeat racing oddly fast as she walked towards her friend. She wanted to ask what could be the matter, dismissing it as excitement…but Arns words of caution kept nagging in her mind. She gathered her composure and finally called her friend’s name.

Luornu just looked silently to her in response then looked at the gathering crowd once again. She was craning her neck and seemed to be scanning the crowd closely, like a hawk looking for prey.

“The others left already,” Laurel tried to get Luornu’s attention once more, “and the rest of the staff are already inside the worship room.”

“Yeah,” was all the reply she got.

“Your breathing is heavy, Luo.” Laurel could no longer keep her suspicions back. Maybe Arns was right to suspect Luo after all.

“I think I’m hyperventilating, Laurel” Luornu replied without taking her eyes of the crowd. “Look at how many people are out there and I’m supposed to give them a grand tour. How will we able to keep this organized?”

Laurel breathed a loud sigh of relief and all her suspicions left as she did. “Don’t worry about that. I’ll help you out.”

“Thanks,” she said flatly, her attention at the crowd was still unwavering.

Laurel shook her head in amusement. She took Luornu’s hand and gently pulled her from the window. “Let’s go face your fears then.”

Luo’s heart skipped faster as she let Laurel lead her to the door. With every step she took, she felt her heart beat louder in her ears. With every step she took she offered a prayer to Valor that what she was about to do was righteous and according to his will. With every step she took, she hoped that she was still in bed dreaming about what was happening.

Laurel pressed her palm against a glass panel on the wall near the door and the doors slid open. The people gathered waiting outside gave a loud cheer and Laurel’s smile broadened. She felt the sincerity of the crowd, but felt bad with what she had to say next.

“Loyal devotees of Valor, I welcome you all to this most sacred of places. For on this very spot where this blessed Church was built was the exact location where the great Lord Valor descended.” She paused as the crowd exclaimed their delight. “But it is with a sad heart that I have to tell you all that we will be allowing entry to a few, but worry not for the celebration will be week-long. This will simply be the first day of the tour and those who can come back on a later day please practice the lesson of generosity that our Lord Valor taught us and let the others go in first instead.”

The crowd was silent. They had no idea whether to take Laurel’s announcement at face value or as a test of their faith. No one dared be the first to leave, for fear of reprisal.

“Dear brothers and sisters in Valor, I admire your enthusiasm yet I do regret we will not be able to fit all of you in. So if none wish to leave for now, we will be forced to…” Before Laurel was able to finish her sentence, the crowd started to disperse. Some pushed others just to be able to be the first to leave the area. “…select from the crowd,” Laurel finished rather surprised at the reaction of the crowd. She looked at Luornu for any explanation she might had, but she just shrugged dumbfounded.

“That’s… that’s very generous of you to give way. Know that Lord Valor smiles upon your ummm…generosity, brothers and sisters.” Laurel tried to regain her composure from her surprise. She looked at the people at the center who did not move at all and decided that they were now more manageable. “Thank you all. I’ll let Sister Luornu take it from here,” she said as she started to go back inside the Church.

“Can you take them inside?” Luornu whispered to Laurel, trying to steal a glance at the crowd as if she was expecting for someone.

“Glad to, sister,” Laurel replied to Luo’s relief.

“If everyone will follow me inside!” Laurel hollered to the crowd as they started to gather themselves. Luornu craned her neck then noticed three people in the crowd touch their foreheads with the tip of their fingers. As she saw this, she relaxed a little.

“Let’s go in then,” she cheerfully added to Laurel’s invite.

The crowd started to march inside. Luo fished out a white cloth from her pocket, hoping that nobody noticed. She joined the crowd, hoping that nobody notice her triplicate. She slowly let a body duplicate slide one at a time as she took a step, leaving one body behind as she stepped. As soon as a copy of her split, it would don the mask to change her feature. All the while she had her head bowed to avoid attention. Fortunately for her, most of the crowd members were busily sightseeing to be able to notice her. As soon as both her duplicates left her, Luo pocketed her own mask. Her other two bodies started to make a line towards where the other three Legionnaires were in the crowd. Her primary body walked faster to get ahead of the crowd, trying to catch up to Laurel.

“I thought you got held up or caught,” Luo said as she reached the three. “Where are the others?”

“There are no others. Just us.” Rokk answered in whisper. Luo stopped dead on her tracks. A chill ran over her spine and she felt goose bumps on her arms. The person behind her bumped into her and murmured an apology.

It’s okay, really, Imra assured everyone telepathically. Everyone please remember that the Daxamites have heightened hearing. Do maintain telepathic communication, she warned them.

Garth fidgeted and looked around the hallway. From where he was he saw at least a dozen Daxamites on the balcony, which he quickly pointed out to the rest of the team.

Dummies all of them, Luo assured him. There are really only three. They put those there to get people in line. Just a show to keep the crowd in line, just in case.

Which corridor should we take then? he asked.

The one on the upper right, if the map is correct, Rokk replied to his query.

Where are we going? Luo asked.

Sub-basement 3.

That’s a very restricted area. Any idea how we can get in?

We’ll improvise.

Luo’s main body was giving the tour. Laurel went on ahead to prepare the worship room with the other two Daxamites. Luo led the crowd to the edge of the corridor where the Legion was supposed to go. As she led the crowd away and to their destination, the Legion slowly edged towards the mouth of the corridor. They ducked in the shadows and crept as quietly as they could. When they were sure that they were far from the crowd, Rokk used his magnetism to release several metal sheets that were wrapped around his arms and wrapped those to each of his team’s waist. He knew that even the most silent footstep could be heard by the Daxamites, he lifted all of them from the ground and floated towards their destination.

The Daxamites pride themselves as omnipotent under a yellow sun and never bothered with surveillance systems. This fact made the Legion’s task easier because the Daxamites designed their sub-basements to be inaccessible for people without flight. As the team descended, Rokk wondered how RJ had planned to reach it as the only way to reach it was to fly through what looked like an elevator shaft. When they reached sub-basement 3, they were faced with four corridors. The map did not show where they were supposed to go.

Where to now? Garth’s thought pattern nearly jostled Imra. She felt his panic and desperation.

Rokk thought for a while. If Luo was correct about the fact that the sub-basements are restricted areas and the fact that it was inaccessible, the whole map could be nothing for show.

Luo, where are the pods? Rokk asked on a whim.

What pods? she asked back, very much perplexed about what he was talking about.

Nevermind; Imra, I need you to push your telepathy as safely and discreetly as you can we need to find…

You are right. We are on the wrong track. I found her thought pattern. Can you glide us down some more? Imra replied before Rokk could finish his sentence.

Level by level Rokk glided all five of them. Imra focused on the single thought pattern she caught earlier. When finally their feet touched the ground on sub-level 8, she pointed to the corridor behind them. Rokk lifted them again so that their feet did not touch the floor and glided them towards the green pulsing lights ahead.

At the end of the corridor they saw plant-like pods that resembled gigantic leaves pressed against each other. Thick stems seemed to attach the pods to the ceiling and at the base of each pod were support stands, each having a numeric pad attached to it. The sight was too much for Garth to bear that he forgot about where they were and the caution that they were supposed to have. He wildly let out a stream of electricity to the stem of the nearest pod and it fell to the ground. His bolt hit the wall and made a loud crash ring through the corridor. The pod tumbled to the ground and vomited its content. A thick sticky mucus-like clear fluid oozed to the floor, along with it a gasping human male.

Oh my God, Garth, you killed him! Imra thought to Garth. Garth froze from where he stood as the figure that emerged from the pod seemed to gasp for air.

I didn’t know I didn’t know… was all Garth thought again and again.

Both Luos’ eyes were wide open in shock. There was nothing that could be Valor-like from what she saw here. One of the Luo gripped the other’s hand tightly with both hands while the other hugged her sister with her free arm.

Everybody get ready. The Daxamites heard that for sure and could be on their way here. Rokk tried to focus his team to the real situation that they were about to face.

Laurel found Ol-vir’s sermon bland and uninspired. She had already yawned several times and tried to stifle one that she felt coming. She looked at Luo who kept on shifting on her seat. She thought that Luo must find Ol-vir’s talk a little dragging as well and smiled to herself. At least I’m not the only one, she thought. She turned her head and did a quick floor perimeter check with her X-ray vision. All seemed to be well. She looked back to Luo and was about to whisper something when she heard a loud crash from below. She made a quick scan below but, as usual, a thick line of inertron blocked her vision. Being an initiate to the Church she never was able set foot on any of the sub-levels. She stood up and looked at the other two Daxamites and they nodded at her.

“We will let Sister Laurel finish the sermon,” Ol-vir announced as he and the other Daxamite left the room in a hurry.

“We have to go there,” Luo told Laurel.

“What for? We are never allowed to go to the sub-levels.”

“Just trust me on this,” she tried to convince Laurel. “Everyone, please stay here and reflect on what Brother Ol-vir just told us. Meditate quietly and do not leave the room. Feel Lord Valor’s presence within you.” Luo tried to calm herself as she told the devotees what to do for the meantime. She knew that their natural fear of the Daxamites will hold them in the room.

“What’s this all about?” Laurel demanded from Luo, whom she thought knew more that she let on.

“No time for that. Hurry!” Luo replied as she tried her best to push Laurel to the door, unsuccessfully. But curiosity must have gotten the best of Laurel as she grabbed Luo’s waist and sped towards where the other two Daxamites headed. The other non-Daxamites stood up, as if to stop the two from leaving the room, but said nothing.

“Well, well lookie here, Brother Yanth, we have visitors,” Ol-vir said to his companion when the finally reached the pod area and saw the Legionnaires. “Looks like we get to kill more people today.”

“Our lucky day indeed,” he said as both Daxamites gave a loud chuckle.

“Go ahead, take the first pick” Ol-vir offered.

“Why, that’s very generous of you brother,” Yanth took slow and steady steps towards the Legionnaires, savoring the moment.

“By the holy name of Valor, what are these?” Laurel exclaimed as she saw the pods and the dead body on the floor. She let go of Luornu as she landed.

Ol-vir closed his eyes and shook his head slowly with his lips pressed tightly with each other. “You were never to set foot here. Why do you disobey?”

Laurel could offer no explanation and instead looked at Luornu for help.

Ol-vir raised his head. “No matter. You may kill the Carggite as her punishment and yours.”

“What?! I will do no such thing.”

“Do your duties, sister, and your penance.”

Laurel looked at Luo. She knew that Ol-vir was right. They had to be punished for disobedience. She looked at Luo sadly. She wanted to think of a way to save her friend, but found nothing.

“Why is she still alive?” Ol-vir demanded.

Laurel raised her hand, about to strike at Luo when she suddenly disappeared. She reintegrated her bodies together to save herself. Laurel thanked Valor silently.

“Kill them all,” Ol-vir commanded the two.

“Get ready, everyone” Rokk advised his team. He could feel his blood rushing to his head.

“I’m truly sorry.” Garth felt that his screw up could lead to their deaths.

Worry about that later. We’re still breathing, Imra thought.

The two Daxamites rushed the Legion. Luo quickly separated. One of her body made a back flip, another took a leap on anticipation noting the speed of Laurel, while the other just stood her ground. As Laured reached her, the one who took a leap landed on Laurel’s head. Although the impact did not hurt her, it temporarily disoriented her. She reached for Luo, but she quickly reintegrated safely with the one that did not move. As soon as Laurel was about to reach her, she reintegrated with the one behind her. Trijitsu was a defensive and disorienting martial arts skill that is unique for Cargg.

Rokk used his magnetism to slow Yanth down. When the metal on the Daxamite’s clothing was not enough, Rokk pushed his ability to repel the iron in the Daxamite’s bloodstream. Garth poured out all his electrical energy in one burst of lighting at Ol-vir who got knocked back a little.

“On second thought, save the electrical one. We could use him in the pod for later,” Ol-vir said as he shrugged off Garth’s lightning. He started to give his throaty laugh when he stopped mid-laughter as if he was about to choke. His face contorted and grimaced then dropped to his knees.

“Sorry for being late,” said the girl behind Ol-vir. Her forearms were half buried behind Ol-vir’s torso. “Couldn’t shake Mother off…but I see I came just in time.”

Yanth broke free from Rokk’s magnetic field and rushed Apparition as Ol-vir gave another grunt of pain.

“Stay, Daxamite dog. I have this one’s heart in my grasp. Literally.”

Yanth never got to reach Apparition. He fell to the ground with a loud thud, breaking the floor where he landed. “And I have this one’s mind,” Imra said. “Backoff, lady if you want to see your friends healthy again,” she advised Laurel, who quickly obeyed.

“Now, open the pods.” Garth’s hands were crackling with lighting as he ordered Laurel.

“I don’t know how.”

“Don’t lie to me!” Garth screamed. “Open them now safely or we kill them. I swear to God we will!”

“She’s telling the truth, Live Wire,” Luo said. “We never were allowed to set foot here.”

“Any idea which of these chumps can?” Rokk asked Luo.

“That one,” Luo pointed at Ol-vir.

Apparition loosened her grip a little at Ol-vir’s heart. “Go to it, you heard them. Do move slowly. Any super speed and you end up with losing your heart.”

Ol-vir did as Apparition told him. He slowly walked away from the pods and went deeper into the corridor where a main console was. He typed in some commands at the keyboard and the room started to flood with the same mucus-like fluid. The pods slowly opened and only four of them had contents. Garth rushed to catch the one most familiar to him. “Ayla,” he whispered as he caught his unconscious twin sister. Rokk and two Luos rushed to the other three.

“Let’s go,” Rokk said as he again used the metal strips on his arms to wrap the waists of everyone. “Can you carry Ay…ummm…I mean Sparks, Live Wire? I’m running short of metal strips.”

“Yes.”

“Now, no one move a muscle. Anyone leaves the room or even bat an eyelash and this guy gets it,” Apparition warned the two Daxamites. “My friends will be leaving now and you will not follow them. Everyone stay put.”

The Legionnaires started to leave when the lights began to flicker.

Apparition squeezed Ol-vir’s heart. “I said no tricks.”

“This… is… no… trick…,” Ol-vir gasped. “The pods…supply the compound’s…electricity.”

“You sick monster,” Garth gritted his teeth.

“Let’s go. We got what we came for,” Rokk reminded him.

RJ Brande felt like he had been waiting forever. He paced the floor of his apartment, praying and worrying at the same time. He jumped an inch when he heard the doorbell ring.

“Who’s there?” he asked.

“It’s the Legion, sir.”

RJ rushed to the door with speed he never knew he still had. He felt that his joints were once again youthful. As soon as he opened the door the Legionnaires rushed in.

“By damn! The Allens!” his heart gave a skip.

“Hey, old man, we came back alive,” the guy said with a weak smile on his face.

“Don Allen, never call me an old man. Dawn, Jenny are you well?”

“We seem to be all right, just a bit tired, I think,” Dawn replied to which the other two agreed.

RJ hugged the three one by one. “I never thought I’d see you again. We’ve lost almost everyone. I never thought they’d catch the fast ones.”

“Garth,” Ayla called out to her twin. “I can’t summon the lightning anymore. I think they have drained me.”

“You just need to rest,” Garth comforted her.

“What happened there?” RJ asked and the Legionnaires told him about how the location was a fake, how they encountered and escaped the Daxamites and what the pods were for.

“All is well then,” RJ could not contain his elation that he went and opened a bottle of Silverale.

“None of that for my daughter,” Dawn looked crossly at RJ.

“My OmniCom!” Luo suddenly yelled as she recalled she left all of her belongings at her quarters in the Church compound. “In all of that confusion I forgot about my stuff.”

Rokk quickly contacted Apparition via his OmniCom, told her the situation. Luo gave Apparition the location of her quarters.

“I’ll just go back then. I already left the compound when Imra told me that everyone is safe. Don’t worry, I told them to look down so that they won’t be able to follow you guys with that weird x-ray vision they have.”

Laurel sat on Luo’s bed with only the light of the glow stick to light up the area. The electricity had failed in the compound. She did not know what she should feel. She looked at her friend’s table and saw something on top of it. She walked closer and saw an OmniCom. She thought it strange that a servant of Valor would have use for one of those. She took it and suddenly it came alive. In surprise, she nearly dropped it.

“Dreamer to everyone online right now,” came a voice over the OmniCom. There was no video input so Laurel never saw who was talking.

“Saturn Girl here,” came in another voice, one she had heard just a few moments ago.

“Thank grief it’s you! Tell Cosmic Boy I had a vision. Tell him to save the Daxamites on Trom. Save them or we all perish!”

To Be Continued...

Next Issue: Colu

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