Legion of Superheroes: The Fatal Five

• The shimmer of Rip Hunter’s time sphere fades into the chrome-lit landing bay of Legion headquarters. The vessel opens with a quiet clink, and before they even step out, they find themselves surrounded. Half a dozen costumed figures stare her down. Kara instinctively takes a defensive step forward until Rip steps forward and throws his arms up, “Easy, Legionnaires. She’s with me,” he says, voice casual, like he didn’t just deposit an alien demigod in their lap. Kara gives a small nervous wave while glancing between Rip and Brainiac 5 holding something suspiciously gun-like at her face, “Uh.. Hii.” Mon-El floats a few inches off the ground. Bouncing Boy’s eyes light up waiting for action. Saturn Girl raises a brow. Timber Wolf cracks his knuckles. The silence feels heavy until Rip say, “they gotta be having a psychic conversation in their heads.” Supergirl responds, “Rip, no matter how cool that is, please tell them we come in peace.” But just then, Brainiac 5 steps forward, pulling the trigger on his device as a stream of laser light travels up and down Kara’s body bracing for what she expected to feel a lot more like a weapon. “Scan complete. This is a Kryptonian girl?” he asks, cool and clinical. “She matches the recorded genetic markers of the famous El’s family line. Explain yourself and your intentions or feel face repercussions.” Saturn Girl butts in over a threatening growl from Timberwolf, “In other words, please tell us who you are and what you’re doing here or we’re gonna have to kick your butt.” Rip sighs, “We’ve been through a lot to make sure this girl here is safe. Her current world is slightly stable. This world, further up her timeline is still her same branch. She’s here to grow, learn, and, ideally, not be disintegrated by a cosmic force of nature.” Brainiac’s eyes narrow, “Tenuous logic.” “My favorite kind,” Rip mutters back. Brainiac 5 looks back at his device as if reanalyzing teh data. Saturn Girl looks at Kara but clarifies with Rip, “So, let me get this straight. This girl was in trouble in her world and wants to what? Join our Legion?” Rip responds, “Yup, that’s basically it.” Timberwolf snarls, “And how do we know she didn’t bring the trouble with her?” Rip says, “Cause she won’t be here long enough to cause you any trouble, Teen-Wolf.” Saturn Girl wears a suspicious look, So what does that make you then? A time traveling taxi service?” Rip says he can explain but Brainiac looks up and relents with a nod, essentially giving Kara the all-clear, “tachyion readings confirm this. They are not from this time.”

• The tensions lower among the present Legion, but Kara’s eyes lock onto Brainiac 5. “You do know that’s literally an evil Kryptonian computer program, right?” she asks Rip, thinking she was quiet enough for only him to hear. “No, no. This one’s better,” Rip promises. “I’m aware of my less-favorable lineage, yes,” Brainciac replies, demonstrating his impeccable hearing. Brainiac doesn’t flinch at the accusation, “I assure you, I have no interest in planetary conquest. Or your disapproval. What my great great grand-maker did to your homeworld was unforgivable and do apologize for their mistake.” Kara’s  blue irises grew a subtle red glow behind them, “You call that a mistake? Billions of people died, and that’s what? A malfunction to you!” Supergirl took a step forward as the rest of the Legion helf girl and Rip raised his hands in front fo her, “Woah, woah, Easy now. Why are all the Karas so aggressive?” This didn’t stop her. Brainiac herar Saturn girl inside his mind, “Uh, you think we should engage this raging bull?” “Negative, Brainiac telepathically replied, I want to hear more data from her perspective first.” She walked straight up to Brainiac 5, nose to nose, “You damn robot incapable of empathy. My cousin and I were the only survivors!” Kara’s words rang out like a bell among present company, realizing the significance of what she just said. The rest of the team circles around Kara with wide eyes and excitement. “You’re Superman’s cousin,” Saturn Girl says, “You’re a legend. A historical figure.” Kara’s aggravated glance contorts as she forces a polite smile, but says nothing. Even a thousand years in the future, she feels the shadow of Superman. Whatever past this branch is built on was not literally hers, but letting them believe that felt better than admitting she’s still trying to keep from melting tractors with her eyes. Bouncing Boy is especially giddy, plumping up bouncing in place, “Please can I get your autograph! Or at least touch your cape!” Kara’s expression grew embarrassingly uneasy as Rip clasped his hands together while backing up into the time sphere, “Alright then, sounds like everything is hunky dory here then, yeah. Any objections?” Saturn Girl, Kara, and Brainiac all shot Rip an affirming look while. Rip smiled, “Okay then. Have fun with your fan club, Supergirl. I’ll be back to pick you up, well… some time,” and with a wink, he was gone. Mon-El eventually steps in, mercifully cutting off Bouncing Boy, “Ignore him. Happens every time someone from the House of El shows up,” His voice was cocky, very tongue-in-cheek, “I’m Mon-El. A Daxamite colony descendant, distant Kryptonian roots.” Kara looks at him, something almost familiar in his expression. She softens a bit, “So you’re… kinda like family?” “Distant cousin,” he says with his hands up and a smile, “Through a telescope.” She laughs. For the first time since arriving, it feels a little like home.

• A short while later, Kara found herself atop a circular platform in the Legion’s central atrium. Saturn Girl stood at her side, telepathically nudging the attention of any distracted members before speaking. “Legionnaires,” she called aloud, “Meet our newest, and technically oldest, temporary recruit, Supergirl.” There was a collective ripple of excitement and curiosity across the room, and Kara did her best not to shrink under the weight of the stares. Cosmic Boy stepped forward with a warm smile and held out a small, silver ring with the Legion’s insignia carved into its center. “This,” he said, placing it in her palm, “marks you as one of us. It lets you fly, if you couldn’t already, and it’s how we communicate.” Kara looked at the ring with a soft, cheeky smile, “Thanks… I do.” Lightning Lad leaned on Cosmic Boy’s shoulder and added with a grin, “We know you didn’t need the flying part, and to be honest, we maily use Saturn’s telepathy to communicate on missions, but we promise it’s cooler than it seems.” “Oh yeah?” Kara asked, smirking, “How so?” Before Lightning Lad could answer, Brainiac 5 cut in with perfect timing, “The ring’s utility far exceeds flight or communication. It grants instant linguistic translation across all recorded alien species, biometric access clearance to all facility doors, adaptive decryption—” “Yeah, yeah,” Lightning Lad interrupted, waving a dismissive hand, “but more importantly… it just looks cool.” Kara chuckled, slipping the ring onto her finger as she floated down into the crowd, greeted by eager handshakes and questions from new faces she had yet to meet. 

• While she mingled, the founding trio, Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl, and Lightning Lad, hung back with Brainiac 5, watching from a polite distance. “I still can’t believe that’s really the Superman’s cousin,” Cosmic Boy whispered, a little awe in his voice. Saturn Girl shot him a side-eye, “She’s Supergirl. A legend in her own right.” “I know, I know,” he backpedaled quickly, “It’s just… the archive history lessons always kinda framed Big Blue as the main event.” Lightning Lad tilted his head, eyes narrowing with a dangerous idea, “Wait—does that mean we can totally spoil her future? Like, just dig up old records and find out what happens to her?” Brainiac 5 replied flatly, “No. In my understanding od space time, that’s not how it works. Her world doesn’t align cleanly with ours. While our past is fixed and immutable, her timeline is much like ours, but is still unfolding. Parallel in progression. Not linear towards ours. Meaning her fate isn’t written down in any book.” The three stared at him blankly for a beat before Lightning Lad shrugged, “Makes perfect sense to me.”

• While chatter echoed through the higher levels of Legion HQ, something brewing in the detention level below. Tharok stood in the center of his cell, half-flesh, half-machine, all vengeance. His charred cannon-arm remnants of his last meeting with the Legion twitched as he muttered aloud, “These immature fools are about to learn their lesson.” He tapped his mechanical stump just above the warped muzzle, the burnt metal hissed and detached in jagged steaming pieces, revealing a hidden core, a compact multi-tool laced with tendrils of serrated digits. It unfolded with precision and latched onto the wall, sending a pulse across the force field keeping him in. With one more twist of his wrist, the lights flickered, and the barrier dropped. “Time to get out and play, boys,” Tharok grinned. He walked straight to the reinforced holding chamber of the beast who he controlled, Validus, and raised a hand to the scanner. A violent hiss preceded the blast-door opening. The monster growled, his massive frame hunching to squeeze out, a vacant hunger in his blank eyes, “Easy now,” Tharok cooed, “Smash soon.” Next came the Persuader, sitting in his cell, hands steepled as if meditating. Tharok asked, “You ready to hurt someone?” The Persuader’s eyes snapped open, “Been ready.” Tharok flicked the lock, releasing him, though his signature axe was still out of reach. Then came the delicate part, Mano. Sealed inside a quantum equilibrium uncertainty chamber, the antimatter assassin floated mid-air in a thick protective gel, a crack still hissing in his containment suit. He looked half-melted. Tharok’s fingers danced across the encrypted panel, weaving through Brainiac 5’s locks like a composer fine-tuning a symphony of destruction. The chamber unraveled. Mano spilled out, gasping, his suit dangerously sputtering destruction, “You trying to kill me?” he spat. Tharok didn’t blink, “Hold it together for a few more minutes and I’ll make sure you get where you belong and we kill everyone else instead.” Mano looked to the others, connecting the dots, “Oh,” he smirked, “I’m on board.” The Persuader’s eyes locked on a glowing vault across the room, the evidence vault, “How about we stop wasting time and get back my best tool?” he growled. Tharok gestured with his arm, “Validus, if you would.” The hulking brute stomped forward and plunged a fist straight into the vault door. Metal shrieked and lights across the facility immediately blared crimson. Mano cursed, “You idiotic brute! You just set off the whole system!” But Tharok just smiled wider, his exposed teeth glinting in the red glow, “No, mano, this is good. We want the Legion to show up.” Persuader turned to the others, now holding his axe, calm in the chaos. “This isn’t an escape. It’s an execution.”

• Back upstairs, the hum of conversation drops out in an instant as the alert sirens scream and red strobes flare. Brainiac 5’s voice cuts through the tension like a scalpel with no panic, “Detention level breach.” Cosmic Boy confidently remarks, “We will handle it.” The founding trio and Brainiac 5 head down without hesitation. Kara watches them go over Bouncing Boy’s shoulder mid-joke, instinct telling her to follow, but Mon-El puts a hand on her shoulder, holding her back. “They’ll handle it,” he says. She takes him at his word but doesn’t look convinced. Down below, the founders charge in with righteous force. Lightning arcs across the walls. Saturn Girl tries to get a mental lock on the enemy presence but they freeze mid-step. They almost can’t believe their eyes as Cosmic Boy magnetically pries the locked vault doors open. Systems in failure. And Tharok standing tall in the center, his mechanical arm now bristling with weapons, flanked by the towering silhouette of Validus, the poised menace of the Persuader with axe in hand, and the flickering instability of Mano’s antimatter glow. “Welcome, Legion,” Tharok sneers, “You’ve arrived just in time.” The founders engage. Cosmic Boy throwing metal debris like a whirlwind, Lightning Lad firing bolts that sear the walls, Saturn Girl darting between her teammates, trying to assist their movements telepathically and telekinetically through the noise. But it isn’t enough. One by one, they’re overwhelmed. Mano’s mere touch melts through the floor near Lightning Lad, forcing a misstep. Validus swats Cosmic Boy into a wall like he weighs nothing. The Persuader’s atomic axe nearly slices Brainiac’s forearm clean off, only missing due to Saturn Girl’s disruption. But then, Tharok plays his trump card. Behind him, in the shattered vault, something pulsed. The iris-shaped relic of thousand-year-old magic. The Eye of Ekron. It hovers, humming with unholy energy, sensing for the most suitable host. Before anyone could react, the Eye zips forward and slams into Saturn Girl’s psyche. Her scream is swallowed by a burst of green light. Her eyes snap wide, and when they open again, they are not her own, they are the Eye’s. She turns toward her fallen friends and Mano gives a devious grin, “Now that’s what I call a beautiful creature.”

• Back upstairs, the sirens were still buzzing into background noise. Kara stood stiff, arms at her side, staring in the direction the founders had gone. “You want to go down and check on them, don’t you?” came a voice at her side. She blinked and turned to see Starman. Kara wasn’t sure how she was expected to answer. He smirked, “Yeah. Me too.” Starman claps his hands and looks at the other, “Alright, gang, let’s go. I’ve got a bad feeling, and we’re not gonna just sit around and wait for a report.” Bouncing Boy gave a solid “Yes, sir!” and tried not to bounce too eagerly. Phantom Girl was already halfway through the wall, nodding. But Mon-El stayed planted, arms folded, a strange hesitation settling over his face, “You think Brainy and the founders can’t handle one of those chumps scratching the glass?” Starman paused mid-stride, “No,” he said plainly. “But I think a little backup never hurt anybody either. I mean, we’re a Legion. That’s the whole point.” His expression was thoughtful and wary. Kara stepped up beside Starman and looked between them. Starman added with just enough smugness in his voice to close the case, “Unless you’ve got a better reason for just standing around,”  Mon-El finally uncrossed his arms and sighed, “Fine. But if they’re in the middle of handling it and we storm in capes blazing, you’re buying lunch for the next month.” Starman cracked a grin, stepping toward the door, “Deal. But only if we find them calmly sipping tea when we get there.” He glanced over his shoulder into Kara’s eyes, “Let’s move.” And they were a unit in motion.

• Starman, Supergirl, Bouncing Boy, and Phantom Girl stick together making their way down the corridor, Phantom Girl phasing slightly ahead to scout. They skidded into the detention ward like a second wave of cavalry and immediately found themselves surrounded by devastation. The place was wrecked. Walls scorched. Vaults ripped apart. And in the center of it all, Brainiac 5 and the founders lay scattered and groaning, barely conscious. More alarming, however, were the silhouettes slipping into motion just ahead. Tharok’s twisted grin caught the light as he and his cohorts fled the scene. “Not so fast,” Starman growled, raising his fist and firing off a burst of compressed gravity toward the retreating figures. The blast struck near Persuader, knocking him sideways, but the villain snarled and faded into the darker halls of HQ. Kara’s fists clenched, her boots scraped the ground, ready to tear after them. “Kara!” Starman barked, gesturing to the fallen, “Over here!” She froze for a breath, practicing restraint, then snapped her head around and made the hard choice. She darted to Brainiac 5’s side and gently hoisted him upright, her brow furrowed in concern. Phantom Girl was already tending to Cosmic Boy, while Bouncing Boy hovered protectively between them, eyes wide. Kara looked to Brainiac 5 for answers, but the normally unreadable genius only looked pained, and worse, afraid, “They’re splitting up, dammit” Brainiac processed. Persuader had already slipped into the infrastructure of Legion HQ, shadows swallowing him, as if the very building would conspire to keep him hidden as Tharok and Validus blasted through the wall, carving a trail of destruction into New Metropolis. And Mano and Emerald Empress (Saturn Girl), gone in a flicker of teleportation, leaving nothing but a mystic resonation in their wake. “They’re scattering,” Starman said grimly. “They’re organized? Who are these people?” Kara stammered. Cosmic Boy got up, clenching his abdomen, “Like it or not, you’re about to find out.”

• Cosmic Boy, upright and bracing against the scorch-marked wall, raised the comm in his ring and barked out an all-call. His voice carried through every Legionnaire’s frequency, firm and no-nonsense, “All active members, report in. We’re splitting into strike teams. Five of pur most dangerous enemies have escaped and we need a full-field response. This is not a drill.” The red emergency strobes still painted the room upstairs, and the mood shifted from stunned to sharp. Lightning Lad spoke in his own ring beside him, hand still crackling from a residual charge, “And just so you all know,” he added, teeth clenched, “they’ve got one of ours. The Eye of Ekron’s got Saturn Girl. Imra is compromised.” Every single Legionnaire snapped to attention. Cosmic Boy continued, rattling off assignments like bullet fire, “Team One: Chameleon Boy, Mon-El, Wildfire, Bouncing Boy, Colossal Boy, Ultra Boy you’re damage control on Tharok and Validus. They’re wrecking the streets of New Metropolis, and we need minimal collateral and civilian damage if we can handle it.” No pause before pivoting, “Team Two: Lightning Lad, Lightning Lass, Triplicate Girl, Dawnstar, Karate Kid, Timber Wolf. You’re staying here. Pursuader’s in the walls, vents, somewhere, crawling around like a parasite. Hunt him down, flush him out.” Lightning Lad nodded, looking already with fury in his eyes, his sister striking a worrisome look. “Team Three,” Cosmic Boy’s tone shifted subtly, “Supergirl, Brainiac 5, Phantom Girl, Starman, and myself. You’re with me. Brainy says that Saturn Girl’s ring has been pinpointed to a dangerous location. The Empress and Mano are on his homeworld, a zone off limits due to unstable conditions that can spontaneously result in antimatter. We need to play it safe and smart.” Brainiac 5 nodded and they stepped into the vessel. Kara looked around her squad, the weight of it all hit her. Rescue and retrieval for one of their own, one of HER own. This is her fight now.

• In the heart of New Metropolis, chaos reigned. Tharok and Validus had turned the vibrant, layered cityscape into a warzone of crushed skybridges, overturned transit rails, and flaming debris spiraling from collapsed hovercrafts. Civilians screamed and scattered as the massive form of Validus roared and slammed through the base of a grav-tower, sending half of it shearing off like paper. Mon-El shouted, voice cutting through it all, “Keep him out of the lower levels!” He zoomed forward, smashing into Validus’s shoulder with a kinetic punch that sent shockwaves down the block, but the beast barely flinched, swatting back with a seismic pulse from a brainwave blast that sent Mon-El careening into a holographic billboard. Bouncing Boy ricocheted off a monorail column and collided with Validus’s leg, trying to knock the monster off-balance, “I’m the size of a wrecking ball and this guy’s still treating me like a ping pong ball!” he wheezed mid-bounce. All the while, Wildfire and Ultra Boy dodge blasts from Tharok, the cyborg surprisingly noble on foot. Colossal Boy grew past Validus’ scale and tackled the brute head-on, grappling him just long enough for Chameleon Boy to turn his arm into a sonic cannon and fly in and try to disorient the beast with crippling noise. Ultra Boy scoffed, “You called that a punch, Mon-El?” dropping out of a power dive and crashing into the ground beside him, “Looks like that Daxamite muscle’s just for show.” Mon-El whipped his head toward him, “Not the time, Ultra Boy. Help Wildfire take down Tharok. Now!” “I’m just saying,” Ultra Boy continued, flipping a downed hoovercar upright with one arm, “If I was in charge, we’d already be done here.” “You aren’t in charge,” Mon-El snapped, very seriously, “I am. By chain of command and by merit.” Ultra Boy smirked, arms folded even in mid-air. “Yeah? Then command someone else. I’ll do what’s gonna work.” Before Mon-El could fire back, Wildfire alerted the team on their comms that the situation has escalated. The team then hear Tharok’s digitized voice slithering through the crackle of smoke. They turned their heads to see Tharok standing above on a crumbling hover-bus with one arm around a young woman, plasma cannon humming at her temple. Her terrified eyes flicked between the heroes below. “Now, now,” Tharok said, savoring each syllable. “I couldn’t help but overhear your little power struggle. Seems like the Legion’s got a loyalty issue.” Ultra Boy clenched his fists, his jaw tightening. Tharok’s mechanical brow raised in proposition, weapon glowing brighter, “So here’s a test for your ego, Ultra Baby. Save her. All by yourself. No teamwork. You don’t need orders. Just you and that overinflated self-worth.” Bouncing Boy, Chameleon Boy, and Colossal Boy continued their struggle against Validus in the background, their fight now moving dangerously close to the city’s mag-lev core junction. But the true battle right now existed in the tension between Mon-El and Ultra Boy. The hostage screamed and Ultra Boy’s eyes burned. 

• Deep within the steel arteries of Legion HQ, the halls felt wrong. Unsettling, and tight. Like the building itself knew there was a killer loose in its bones. Lightning Lad stood at the edge of the detention block. His usual cocky energy had all but vanished, “We are going to find him,” he ordered, “Now.” Dawnstar straightened to attention, “I’ll need a clear sense of his aura,” she said, already stepping into the Persuader’s ruined cell. Timberwolf followed, sniffing the scorched air and cracked wall panels. He crouched low, knuckles brushing the floor, “Smells like sweat and rust,” he muttered. “You recognize it?” Lightning Lad asked. Timberwolf’s golden eyes darted about, “I won’t forget it.” From behind, Lightning Lass placed a gentle hand on her brother’s shoulder. “Garth…” she started softly. But he pulled away, too fast, “I’m not letting him hurt anybody again.” Dawnstar emerged, “I see his trail… pulling upward. He’s hunting high.” Timberwolf stood and wiped his nose, “I smell his scent’s heavier on the lower decks. Down in the dark.” Lightning Lad swore under his breath, reasoning between the paths. Neither option sat right, “We split,” he said, firm. “Ayla, you’re with me and Dawnstar. We’ll check the upper levels. Timberwolf, you go with Karate Kid and—one of you,” he said, turning to Triplicate Girl. She raised a brow, “One of me?” “You know what I mean,” Garth snapped, “We’re stretched thin. Leave a copy here to hold the position. Another can scout somewhere else, too.” Triplicate Girl looked offended, “There is no ‘copy.’ We’re all me. If one of us gets in trouble, we don’t have the others. You know that.” Lightning Lad’s eyes darkened, voice raising, “I know you helped take down Mano by sacrificing your bodies—” “Because I was together!” she shot back, “I could keep replicating! That was necessary strategy.”Ayla grabbed him by the chest and spun him toward her. A sudden jolt of guilt snapped across Lightning Lad’s face. His sister spoke, “Garth! You’re losing it.” He blinked hard, the war in his head crashing into the now. His voice cracked, barely audible, “I’m— I’m sorry.” Triplicate Girl looked off, pursed lips split, “It’s fine,” she said flatly, “I’ll do what you said. For the mission.” She duplicated with a subtle bloop. One stayed behind, one left with Karate Kid and Timberwolf, and the third went solo. The teams split. Doors closed, and footsteps faded. The Triplicate Girl who stayed behind stood still in the silence, unsure what exactly she was guarding anymore. But some feeling crawled beneath her skin. She took a step. Then another. She turned the corner… nothing. But above, nestled between coiled wires and exposed ducts, the Persuader crouched. His hot breath hissed through his mask in excitement. His prey stood just below, unaware. His grip tightened on his atomic axe, then, with one monstrous arc of his weapon, he sliced down through pipes, wires, and metal grating all at once. Triplicate Girl’s body slumped, her head toppling to the floor. The killer grinned, invisible in the shadows, already retreating into the dark.

• Team Three rode in the ambient hum of the Legion starship, destination locked on Saturn Girl’s ring. Kara sat with her elbows on her knees, staring at the distant swirl of planetary haze ahead, “So I know they’re the bad guys and all… but what do you think they want?” she finally asked. Cosmic Boy glanced at her from over his shoulder as he turned, “They wanted our attention. Revenge,” he said flatly, “Whatever else this is.. distraction, strategy, spectacle… at its core? It’s personal.” Supergirl continued to ask the questions she’d been saving in her head, “Okay, sure, I get the ‘you stopped us, now we’re mad’ part. But why here? What’s so special about this place?” Brainiac 5 pivoted from his console, hands clasped into a temple, “Angtu is Mano’s homeworld. It is also one of the rarest natural anomalies in the known galaxy. A region where isolated antimatter pockets occur without artificial manipulation. The physics here are… unfriendly.” He gestured towards Kara and continued, “And I’m sure you recall your quantum physics coursework…” She blinked blankly at him. Phantom Girl piped up from the corner with a gentle smirk, “When matter and antimatter collide, they annihilate each other completely. Big boom.” “Correct, but with a flaw. There is no audible pressure wave. Instead of a boom, it’s just dust in the wind.” Brainiac said, unbothered, “And as you can imagine, growing up on a planet like that, one would expect a physiology adapted to antimatter exposure.” Cosmic Boy added, voice growing darker, “When the United Planets began building infrastructure nearby, they expanded into this system, and contact with Angtu went poorly. Accidents. Misunderstandings. Tragedies on both sides.” “So, let me guess,” Kara muttered, “Mano blames the U.P. for the devastation?” Starman nodded slowly, “You almost gotta feel for him. That kind of loss, it’s hard to come back from. Has to change you. Twist everything.” Cosmic Boy’s eyes snapped over, hard, “It’s not an excuse.” Starman lifted his hands in a slow surrender, eyes wide. Kara and Starman exchanged a look that said—wow, something touched a nerve—but the moment passed. Phantom Girl knew what Cosmic Boy was feeling, “We’ve got a bigger problem anyway. The longer Saturn Girl stays on Angtu, especially in the anti-matter zones she’s not immune to, the more danger she’s in.” Cosmic Boy soflty agreed, “ Yes but she can handle herself. It’s not her body I’m worried about. It’s the Eye. That thing has a powerful host now, and it won’t give her up easy.” Suddenly, the ship bucked beneath them like a wild beast. “Atmospheric entry,” Brainiac called, fingers racing across the console, “Hold onto something.” The ship jolted and rattled as it pierced the toxic soup of Angtu’s upper clouds. Ion storms crackled outside the hull. Kara grabbed the back of a chair as the ship jolted again, gravity catching them sideways. “We’re close,” Brainiac said, eyes narrowing at a glowing dot on the tracker, “I’m locking in on Saturn Girl’s Legion ring signature, but—” Before he could finish, the haze outside cleared just enough to see them. Mano, standing like a grim silhouette in the mist and beside him… Saturn Girl. Or rather, the Eye of Ekron, puppeteering her form like a twisted queen. Mano lifted his right arm, glowing with chaotic swirling energy.  Brainiac’s screen flashed red, “Incoming—!” Mano hucked a sphere of antimatter that screamed through the clouds, aimed directly at the cockpit.  Starman yelped, “Brainy, what are you waiting for? Move the ship!” “I can’t,” Brainiac snapped back, “We’re locked in place. Saturn Girl’s telekinetic grip enhanced by the Eye.” Cosmic Boy stood, eyes lit with a fierce cobalt glow, “Not if I can help it.” He thrust both arms forward, his magnetic fields clawing at the hull plating. With a guttural shout, he yanked the entire cockpit several meters sideways, just enough. The antimatter blast clipped the wing and it vanished in an instant. The whole team was being tossed violently inside the spiraling ship. Starman’s body slammed against a wall. Brainiac’s chair ripped free and sent him flying directly into Kara’s arms. Cosmic Boy pulled himself together and grabbed control of the craft with his magnetic abilities once again. He coaxed the ship into a sluggish landing across the scorched Angtu terrain. The ship groaned, cracked, and finally settled in a blackened crater of dust and ash. Brainiac looked up at Kara, dazed but intact. “Thank—” “Enough,” she grunted, pushing him off, already on her feet. Phantom Girl shouted, “Everyone good?” “Define good,” Starman quipped. Kara marched to the hull, cocked her arm back, and punched straight through it. The door flew clear. And standing there, waiting, was Mano and Saturn Girl, her eyes glowing green with the Eye of Ekron’s cruel possession. Waiting for them.

• Back in New Metropolis, the city was a battlefield. Colossal Boy braced both hands against Validus’s massive chest, his boots skidding trenches in the pavement as he struggled to hold the brute back, “Would it kill you to skip leg day once in a while?!” he groaned. Behind him, Chameleon Boy shifted into a winged insectoid creature and latched onto Validus’s shoulders, trying to pull him off-balance. Wildfire shouted from above, “Keep him occupied!” A blazing comet of plasma arced through the sky before he unleashed a concussive blast at the beast’s head. Validus roared, disoriented, staggering just enough. But our perspective drifted back away from the frontline clash. Still at the catwalk above, where Ultra Boy stood still, tensed and coiled. Tharok remained across from them with one arm wrapped around a terrified girl’s neck, the other arm, his weaponized one, humming with menace. His mechanical eye flicked between the hostage and Ultra Boy, “Come on, Ultra Boy,” Tharok goaded, his voice like a static-filled whisper, “You gonna be the hero today?” Ultra Boy’s fists clenched. He had to move. Mon-El swiped closer beside him and threw out an arm, calmly, “Wait. Don’t. That’s exactly what he wants.” Ultra Boy didn’t back down, “This is my shot to save someone!” “She’s not safe,” Mon-El said, “And neither are you.” But Ultra Boy pushed past him with a bitter scoff, “Just cuz you can’t, Mon? None of you could. You’re all just scared and weak. I’m not like that.” Tharok chuckled in the background, drinking it all in. From below, Bouncing Boy boosted up behind Ultra Boy and said, “You don’t need to prove anything.” Ultra Boy blinked, face full of anger, “What?” Bouncing Boy looked up at him, still for once, “That’s what this is, right? You’re not trying to save her. You’re trying to prove you can.” “What are you talking about?” Ultra Boy snapped, sounding a little too defensive. Mon-El groaned, “Not helping, Bouncy—” But Bouncing Boy kept his eyes locked on Ultra Boy. “I know that feeling. When I joined? I was just a kid with a dumb power and a lot of nerves. I thought I didn’t belong. That maybe they made a mistake.” Ultra Boy looked at him, and something cracked a little but he sneered, “Oh yeah? What do you know about real power?” Before Bouncing Boy could answer, Mon-El stepped in. “His definition of power might be different. But big three picked us all for a reason.” Ultra Boy exhaled, as his posture shifted, “Right. We all bring something special to the team.” Bouncing Boy pumped a fist, “Yeah! Especially you, man!” And then… “Oh, gag me,” Tharok interrupted with a fake retching sound, “What a heartwarming afterschool special. Just for that, I’m blowing her brains out and you can blame yourself anyways.” He turned the cannon toward the hostage’s head. “NO!” Ultra Boy and Mon-El shouted together as they simultaneously rushed in together. But just before the trigger pulled, the shock from Validus being slammed back by Chameleon Boy and Colossal Boy’s tag-team sent debris flying. The platform beneath Tharok buckled, sending him and the hostage tumbling off the ledge. Ultra Boy already airborne between the two, consideing his next action with the little time be had. He then jetted to the side, catching the girl mid-fall. On the other side, Mon-El followed and met Tharok midair, slamming a punch so hard into his chest that the cyborg rocketed into the rubble below. Ultra Boy landed on a higher ledge, gently placing the girl down, “You alright?” he asked, with heavey breath. The shaken girl nodded, eyes wide and panting, “You saved me.” He allowed himself a crooked smile, “All in a day’s work.” Then with a wink, “Stay here. Us good guys have some cleaning up to do.” Below, Validus threw Chameleon Boy off with a guttural roar, but Colossal Boy caught his teammate mid-air, using the momentum to fling him like a boulder back toward the monster.  “Now!” Wildfire shouted from above. He soared above them, charging a final blast of incendiary searing energy that exploded against Validus’s chest and launched him backward, right into the crater with Tharok. Smoke rose and silence returned. Ultra Boy floated down next to Mon-El and asked him, “So… what’s the plan now, boss?” Mon-El softly grinned, looking down at the crater, then turned up at his squad, “We finish this.”

• They descended together. Mon-El hovered above the wreckage for a moment, just long enough for the dust to settle. Validus lay half-buried beneath a broken causeway, growling. Tharok was half-conscious in the debris, muscles twitching like live wires, trying to reboot some fried function of his arm. They weren’t down yet, but close. “Alright, team,” Mon-El said, “let’s end this. Colossal Boy! Lock Validus in place. He gets back up, we’re in trouble.” Colossal Boy cracked his neck, “Gladly.” With a seismic stomp, he grew to towering height and dropped down with a pile driver across Validus’s midsection, slamming the monster into the rubble and pinning his thrashing limbs like a living straitjacket. “He’s not going anywhere!” said the giant. Mon-El Barked, “Wildfire, blind the cyborg! Hit his optic nerves.” Wildfire was already glowing hot, “Say no more.” He soared up and released a precision beam of raw plasma light that struck Tharok square in the face. The creep sniveled and flailed in discomfort. “Chameleon Boy, the beast’s back is exposed. Find a weak spot.” “On it,” Chameleon Boy leapt into the air, shifted mid-jump into a small thin insectoid form, then darted through the cracks in Validus’s titanium plating. Inside the beast’s thick skin, he jabbed tendons and pressure points, causing the monster’s body to seize with short-circuited spasms that sent shock waves through the ground, all with Colossal Boy still on top. “Bouncing Boy,” Mon-El shouted next, “we need crowd control. Keep any collateral damage from hitting the civilians.” Bouncing Boy nodded and hurled himself into a tight, rapid spin, bouncing off rubble and downed walls like a rubber wrecking ball. “You got it!” he shouted mid-bounce, clearing the edges of a collapsing support beam before it could crush a family of bystanders cowering behind a transport pod. Ultra Boy floated beside Mon-El, with his newfound clarity burning under his bravado, “And what about me?” Mon-El stated, “Tharok’s yours. Go nuts.” “Oh hell yeah,” Ultra Boy grinned wide, then rocketed downward in a blur. Tharok was halfway through dragging himself from the rubble when Ultra Boy landed next to him with a thunderous crunch. The villain turned just in time to catch a knuckle sandwich that sent him skipping across the pavement like a stone. He landed hard, one cybernetic limb snapping with a crunch, “You… arrogant punk—” “You’re not wrong,” Ultra Boy said, cocking his fist back, “but I’m working on that.” And then the clean and final punch landed, shattering the last power conduit on Tharok’s robot half. Sparks exploded as his systems overloaded and the cyborg slumped down, twitching only from the side. Mon-El dropped down beside him just as the others regrouped. Chameleon Boy slithered free from Validus, who now lay completely unconscious under the combined force of power and planning. Colossal Boy leaned on a crushed pillar, wiping sweat from his brow. Bouncing Boy rolled to a stop and gave a little spin flourish, arms wide. Wildfire hovered above them all, still glowing like a dying star, helmet shining proud. Mon-El looked over the field. No casualties. Just victory, “We’re done here,” he said. Ultra Boy landed beside him, folding his arms and looking down at Tharok, “Told you I could handle him.” Mon-El smirked, “You did. With a little help.” Ultra Boy rolled his eyes, “Alright, boss.” 

• One of the remaining Triplicate Girl clones moved cautiously through the dimly lit corridor of Legion HQ. She walked alone, one of her selves scouting the tower’s spine, hoping the others were faring better. But then, metallic clang echoed from down the hall. She froze. Her breath hitched as her eyes flicked to the sign above the next corridor junction, Comms Center. Of course. That’s where you’d go if you thought that’s how to sever their coordination, to isolate the Legion, one by one. Not to mention he already hijacked their system a in their fist run in with them. She thought good thing he didn’t know Brainiac fixed that weak point since then. She moved toward the noise slowly, every step screaming against her instincts. Her fingers hovered near her comm device, debating whether to call the others. But what if it was nothing? What if she was being paranoid? There’s still two other Triplicates out there and they were already spread thin, she reasoned. She reached the hatch just outside the comms paneling. Another soft metallic clink, now closer. Heart pounding, she reached for the latch and flung it open—. Nothing. Empty room with just wires and static hum. Triplicate Girl let out a shaky breath and let her shoulder’s fall, exhaling relief with a soft chuckle. But the air hadn’t even fully left her lungs before something sharp punched straight through her back, exiting through her stomach in one clean, effortless pierce. Her eyes widened. Blood trickled from her lips. He held her there for a second before withdrawing his blade with a slick hiss of metal on flesh. She collapsed to the ground with a twitch, then still. The Persuader stood over her body, surveying his work. He clicked his tongue in annoyance, “I thought I got this one already,” he muttered bitterly. With a snarl of frustration, he turned and lifted his atomic axe then brought it down in a furious arc, cleaving through the console panel she had just opened. Sparks exploded, lighting his mask in orange flashes.

• The halls of Legion HQ’s lower levels buzzed softly as Triplicate Girl walked behind her two companions. The last of her now. But she didn’t know that. Blissfully unaware, for now at least. Karate Kid followed Timberwolf close, steady in his posture, always alert, always calm. Timberwolf stalked ahead like a bloodhound unleashed, shoulders twitching with tension as he sniffed the stale air. Triplicate Girl broke the quiet, “Wait. Haven’t we passed the meditation chambers already?” Timberwolf grunted, his nose pointing up, “Yeah. We’ve circled back.” She raised a brow, “So we’re lost?” “No. His scent’s just… overlapped. He’s been everywhere. Doubled back more than once.” He sniffed again, low and deep, his brow furrowing. “His sent is layering over itself. I can’t track direction anymore. Can’t even tell if we’re on the right level now.” Triplicate Girl smirked, “So what, you’re saying he sweated so hard you broke your nose?” Timberwolf shot her an animalistic snort and turned away with a scowl. Karate Kid chimed in, “Perhaps it’s fate we’re here again. I often return to meditation when I feel uncertain.” Timberwolf muttered, “I don’t meditate.” But Triplicate Girl looked to Karate Kid, her expression softening, “Honestly? That sounds like a good idea.” She stepped forward and raised her Legion ring to the scanner. The door to the meditation room hissed open, and there he was. The silhouette of the Persuader, a monolith of death, filled the doorframe. Axe raised high above his head. He was waiting. Triplicate’s eyes had only just made out the terrifying shape of her executioner before the axe was brought straight down her body, bisecting her in two. It was over in a blink. No time to scream and now, no copies left. Karate Kid and Timberwolf wasted no time jumping into action as the intent of their attack transitioned from defense to vengeance. They both let out a signature battle cry as they impact the Persuader. Karate Kid’s foot slammed into Persuader’s arm, knocking his stance off balance. Timberwolf crashed into his side with a snarl, claws tearing at the armor. Persuader fought like a cornered animal, desperate, wild, slashing the air with brutal arcs of his axe but a fair fight is not his forte. He ferociously swipes his axe at the two, but when one dodges, the other strikes. Karate Kid ducked and struck his ribs. Timberwolf clawed his back. Martial precision paired with raw primal force. Persuader knew he wasn’t going to win, so he went back to his best move. He tried to run. “COWARD!,” Karate Kid yelled as he flung himself off a wall, spinning in mid-air, boot slamming into Persuader’s chest. At the same time, Timberwolf ran on all fours, leaping through his shins. The two collided with him in unison, one high, one low, slamming him down. The axe flew through the air and Timberwolf caught it, turning the blade’s edge at Persuader’s own throat. “You are finished,” Karate Kid growled, voice shaking, “Surrender now, you dishonorable waste of life.” Persuader panted, bruised and bloodied. Then he laughed, low and wet, “Alright, ya got me,” he muttered, knocking his head back against the wall, “I know when I’ve got no skin left to save.” He looked up at them, hands raised, “Still. Shame I only managed to kill the same broad three times.” Karate Kid blinked, “What did you just say?” he asked. Persuader chuckled again, spitting blood inside his mask, “You heard me. What, she regenerate or something?” Karate Kid staggered back a step, face folding with grief. Timberwolf turned his face, his claws shaking. Then Persuader, smug in the quiet, opened his mouth to say more, “Wha—” But with a roar, Timberwolf brought the butt of the axe straight across Persuader’s skull with a CRACK. The villain slumped unconscious. Karate Kid stood trembling. He raised his Legion ring slowly, his voice brittle, “Assailant found… assailant captured.” He hesitated to report the rest, “Team member down,” he finally said. His voice cracked, “Legion casualty.” And with that, he crumbled. A sob tore from his throat, raw and guttural. He fell to his knees, hands clutching at his face as tears spilled freely. Timberwolf turned away, jaw clenched tight, silent trails running down his cheeks.

• The landscape of Angtu was thick with distant antimatter haze. Dust swirled in the wake of the crash as the five Legionnaires stepped forward from their broken starship. And still, just beyond the wreckage stood the New Emerald Empress and Mano, radiating volatile energy from his hand, “Are you ready to be the first to fall? This is where your kind started the war. I’m just the reckoning.” Phantom Girl took a bold step forward, voice slicing through the sulfur-stained air, “Are you really going to stand next to this creep for much longer, Imra?!” Starman reached out, hand firm on her shoulder. A gentle but solemn shake of his head said it all to her, You know better than thinking that will work. His caution was proven right when the Empress turned her head—and the voice that came from her mouth was not her own, “In a millennium of existence,” the Eye of Ekron echoed through her mouth, “I have never bonded with a host of such exceptionality. It is she who has given I more power.” Green light spilled from Saturn Girl’s eyes and suddenly, they all felt her from within. The touch of their friend, but twisted. Polluted by something far older and infinitely crueler. Their knees all felt weak. Cosmic Boy staggered back a step, “You desecrator!” he roared. Mano only laughed at this. But then the screaming began, only, it wasn’t out loud because each of them heard it inside and from their own voices, berating them over their greatest insecurities and self-doubts. Cosmic Boy hears his whispers, “You're a fraud. Every time you make a call, someone gets hurt. You don’t deserve to be a leader. You fail.” Brainiac 5 blinked hard, teeth clenched, and raised his hands to his head as his voice said, “Your programming will unravel, just like theirs did. Just another failed Brainiac model. Another monster in the making. Everyone’s just waiting for the mask to slip.” Starman twitched where he stood, trembling, “You’re broken. They don’t all know your past or what meds you take, what it’s like in your head. Your lucky the big 3 even let you in. You’re not a hero, you’re a time bomb. And when you go off, they’ll drop you. Like trash. Off the team for you, psycho.” Phantom Girl dropped to a knee, hands on the ground, trying to phase her way out of her own thoughts, which didn’t work. But Kara… Kara stood paralyzed in anger. Hands over her ears, knees locked in place. That same old voice she knew all too well that visited every day hissed in her skull, “Useless.” She flinched. “You’re not him. You never will be.” Her breathing picked up. “You’re a walking accident. Just waiting to happen. Every time they look at you, they see him. And every time you fail, they wonder why they even tried to believe in you.” The words scraped against her bones. “You don’t belong here.You don’t belong anywhere. Should have died on Krypton. Never write your own story. Never be more than a tragic little echo.” Her fingers dug into her scalp. And still, the Eye pulsed brighter through Saturn Girl’s hollow stare. Feeding. Amplifying. Thriving on the rot it planted in their minds. Mano watched with folded arms, grinning like a devil. “Look at you,” he said. “So easy to tear apart. You did this to my people. It’ll be over for you just as well.” 

• Mano’s arm ignited again, pulsing with a growing sphere of unstable antimatter energy, his grin wild, hungry. But then— “ENOUGH!!!” and Kara launched herself forward like a speeding bullet. She slammed into Emerald Empress with earth-quaking force, sending both of them crashing into the jagged terrain. The pressure lifted for her and her teammates, no more voices. Cosmic Boy staggered upright, blinking in disbelief. His mouth opened to bark an order, but nothing came out. The words died somewhere between fear and awe. Brainiac notices his pause and speaks for him in the most technical battle simulation he can run imagining what Cosmic Boy is meant to say, “Let’s get them.” Mano hurled the antimatter blast straight at them but Phantom Girl grabbed both Brainiac and Cosmic Boy by the arms and phased them through the ground and Starman careened over the blast. The explosion rocked the crater above. Starman burst into view, hands heavy with gravitational distortion. He slammed both fists into Mano’s helmet like twin meteors. The glass’s crack spiderwebbed further. Mano hissed in fury. Nearby, Kara and Brainiac fought together in tandem against Emerald Empress, who floated in the air like a goddess of war. Green beams of eldritch energy and force fields battered them from all sides, but Kara blasted through each strike like a hammer, and Brainiac 5 flanked her, calculating the angles, creating makeshift energy shields that redirected beams, calling in weak points to Kara. Despite their rocky first meeting, Supergirl and Brainiac were moving like two pieces of the same machine. Meanwhile, Cosmic Boy rallied. He raised both arms and magnetically lifted the twisted hull remains of their crashed ship. Chunks of alloy and shredded paneling spun like shurikens, battering Mano and shielding his team. Phantom Girl phased in and out of the skirmish, turning enemy strikes into missed shadows, while Starman dipped and weaved,getting in a lick with bursts of concentrated mass whenever he could. Eventually, the battlefield narrowed, their two split fights bleeding together. Emerald Empress and Mano stood back-to-back, lashing back at the Legion’s attacks. Then, without warning, a sharp streak of twisted metal, flung by Cosmic Boy’s magnetism, smashed into Mano from behind. A sickening crack split his helmet open entirely. The straw that broke the camel’s back. Mano grit its teeth, trying to focus, to compress, to hold together, but he just couldn’t anymore. His antimatter body lifted from the husk of his armor like smoke from a dying flame, and it rose… directly beneath the hovering Eye of Ekron. Cosmic Boy’s eyes followed the movement, “No… no, wait—” Too late. The antimatter energy touched the Eye. A shriek unlike anything living tore through the battlefield, “NOOOWAWAAAHOHOHHHH—!!” And then silence as the Eye of Ekron was annihilated and Mano’s form vaporized in an instant. Mutual destruction. Saturn Girl’s green Empress garb flickered away and her body dropped like a rag doll. Phantom Girl caught her mid-fall, cradling her tightly. She was breathing. Starman exhaled and turned to Cosmic Boy with a grin, “Hey. Not bad making that final blow.” Brainiac nodded, brushing debris off his sleeve. “Yes. A tactically brilliant strategically advanced move.” But Cosmic Boy quietly said, “I… I didn’t mean to.” But the battle was over, the villains were defeated, and his friend was saved.

• They walk over to where Phantom Girl holds Saturn Girl and on their way over, Supergirl pulls Brainiac 5 to the side and says, “Hey, you looked pretty good out there.” Brainiac 5 responds, “Of course, I was programmed with the single most adv---” but he is cut off as Supergirl nudges him quite hard with her elbow, knowing he can take the hit. She says, “I was trying to give you a complement, jackass. So just take it and return one to me.” Brainiac does the closest thing he has to blushing and says, “Oh, uh, yes. Your fighting style was most suitable for our assailant as well.” Supergirl smiles and says, “I’d say that was a good compliment for a robot, but after what I just saw happen, I know better than that.” Brainac looks confused but Kara continues, “A robot doesn’t have a reaction quite like that when someone is inside their mind. You must be just as flesh and bone as the rest of us, circuit boy.” Their moment ends and Staurn Girl begins to come to. She asks what happened and where are they but Phantom Girl tells her shh just rest, it’s all over now. Cosmic Boy is knelt besides her and very sincerely says welcome back, before giving her a big hug. The feelings are sweet in the air. From his knees, Starman glances to make eye contact with Kara, and he says just loud enough for her to hear, “You you. Good work out there, Supergirl.” She does her best to act humble, but on the inside, that’s all she wanted to hear. He then stands with his hands on his hips and looks around the alien landscape. He says, “Yeah, we’re all great and all, but how the heck are we supposed to get home?” The whole team’s heads turn to Brainiac 5 as he simply says, “good question.”

In this last bit, we meet back up with Timberwolf and Karate Kid taking Persuader back to the detention level but just as they approach the door, Dawnstar, Lightning Lass, and Lightning Lad come running down the hall. Lightning Lad yells, “You son of a bitch!” and his sister yells, “No, Garth, wait!” just before he punches Persuader in the jaw back down to the ground, fist fizzling with electricity. Timberwolf somewhat steps up to Lightning Lad and says, “Get it together. We’re all grieving here.” He looks at his sister, her eyes still trying to tame him and he says, “We shouldn’t have to be grieving right now.” “We did our best,” Timberwolf replies. Garth looks angry and frustrated now and questions, “Oh, did we? Did… you?” Timberwolf growls, “What the hell are you implying here?” Lightning Lass tries to hold her brother's arm but he shakes it free, saying, “Dawnstar over there is our best tracker, she’s always right. If your damn sniffer didn’t lead us a stray, we would’ve all been together and this never would have happened.” The tension is right between the two as Lightning Lad directs an accusatory finger against Timberwolf’s chest and says, “This is your fault!” Timberwolf’s eyes close and his head knods down. Already crying herself, Ayla yells, “stop it, Garth.” Dawnstar even chimes in and says, “he did his best, Lighting Lad.” But then lifts his shameful head and looks back over at Garth, still high with adrenaline and grief. Timberwold says, “You know. I was just following orders.” Garth says, “Excuse me?” Timberwold continues, “Splitting up. It was your idea.” Garth’s face rapidly changes from offended, to scare, to guilt as he relaizes Timberwolf is right. “Does that make it easier for you?” Lighting Lad says, “being able to say you were just following orders. Ha, doesn’t matter anyways. It is my fault.” Ayla says, “no, don’t say that. It doesn’t have to be anyone's fault,” as she goes to approach her brother. But when their hands touch, a voice comes from the floor in a wheeze, “no, from the sounds of it, it is definitely his that triplite girl is dead.” Garth does hug his sister and Karate Kid, who is standing over the murderer, guarding him says, “Silence, you.” But in the hug with his sister, he whispers in her ear, “you were right. It wasn’t my fault.” He gives one more tight grip around her before finishing, “It’s his,” Lightning Lad twists around in an instant and unloads a brutal zap of lightning that seizes and shakes up Persuader’s entire body. “Garth, no!” Ayla cries as Karate Kid goes to step in front of the lightning bolts in an attempt to stop his teammate, but Garth doesn’t let up, at least not at first, letting Karate Kid feel the wrath of vengeful lighting all the same. But then he does, not wanting to harm him. Timberwolf says, “What the hell!” as he extends his claws, ready to strike. Persuader groans in pain from the floor. Garth extends both hands up, gesturing to the others like it is obvious, “What, are you serious?” They all look at him on edge, waiting for more, “He KILLED Triplicate Girl, all of her. Why isn’t he already dead like he deserves?” Lightning Lass opens her mouth to speak but before anything comes out, he puts his hand up and looks at her with desperate eyes, “You of all people should know that.” Ayla holds her robotic arm, looking at it through the tears. Karate Kid struggles to stand but says, “He is defenseless.” Timberwolf says “we don’t do it that way.” Lightning Lad takes a step forward and says, “I do now.” Timberwolf stays squared and says, “I.. I.. Don’t think I can let you--” Lightning Lad continues to approach the Persuader, still lying thrashing in agony, “I am a founding member of this team and you will let me through. That is a direct order.” Timber wolf struggles, but ultimately accepts it. Lightning Lad slowly kneels down to Persuader’s level. He places two hands firmly on his metal helmet with full contact as the others helplessly watch. Then, ZAP. It was done, a full dose of electrical discharge through every love of his brain. Garth stands up, “There. And now you’ll never have to listen to another order from me again.     I’m done.” They all split, making way as Garth walks past them, each and every one feeling their own spiral of emotions. The somber tone is broken as the other group of Legionares come walking down the hall, bringing in the captive Tharok and Vallidus from their successful fight. Ultra Boy opens his mouth, “Hey, boss, looks like you’ve gotten your guy too, then, yeah? Where’s he at?” Garth just turns and points behind him, “He’s in there,” and continues to walk out of Legion HQ. For the last time.