LSH Issue 6: "Cataclysm"

One week ago…

Her daughter knew this would happen.

Ambassador Ardeen skulked in the shadows, moving quietly, steadily toward the ancient Comm-Sat station below the Temple of the Third Eye. She was near certain that the Circle wouldn’t know of its existence. She had taken Imra there as a girl, during her training for the Diplomatic Corps. No one else knew of it, except for the Prime Minister and his closest allies… And not even the Prime Minister--- Gods rest his soul--- trusted the Circle’s Leader that much. And for good reason…

It had been nearly three months since her daughter left to rejoin the Legion and a month since the Titanians had declared their independence from the United Planets. Though President McCauley vehemently denied the existence of a faction of controlling Dominators inside of Earthgov, pulling the strings of the UP, they knew he lied. The Titanians were telepaths, of course.

But now… all was revealed.

The Leader of the Dark Circle needed an army of telepaths to maintain control over his fast growing separatist government. He had nearly stretched himself too thin just keeping his grasp on the leaders of the many planets the organization already held. He was a powerful telepath, but nowhere near powerful enough for what he wanted to accomplish. As he negotiated with the Titanian government for admission into the Dark Circle, his agents secretly sought out the planets undesirables, luring them with copious amounts of credits and promises of power in the New Order.

When the Titanian government cast their decision, the takeover was nearly instantaneous. The Leader of the Dark Circle seized control of everything. Media, codes to planetary defenses, Science Police outposts… Everything. The moment the Prime Minister spoke up against the Leader, he was executed. He was just the first…

She shut her eyes tight trying to block out the images that flooded her mind. She had better control than that… if she didn’t she would become a veritable homing beacon to the traitors.

She quickly entered an abandoned corridor leading to the sewer beneath the temple. She walked steadily downward for what seemed like an eternity before reaching the secret panel. She quickly typed her access code into a panel hidden behind a drain pipe, and with a snap-hiss the entry way opened.

She stepped into the dimly lit room, gliding over the floor to the empty seat at the comm station. She typed another access code… the emergency code that was a direct link to the President. After a moment the black screen lit up, revealing the steely gaze of Vice President Wazzo.

“You!” Ambassador Ardeen gasped. “Where’s the President?”

“Unavailable… at the moment, Ambassador,” came the cold response.

“I demand that you get him…” Ambassador Ardeen stopped mid-sentence as the sound of several pairs of wet boots on metal clomped out from behind her.

“I believe you are not in a position to demand anything, Ambassador.” The raspy unmistakable voice of the Leader filled her ear with dread.

“How?” she gasped again.

“I heard your thoughts, madam Ambassador, I knew where you were going…” he replied, “I am a level 5 telepath… you can try to block me out as much as you’d like… it won’t work. Your little trip down memory lane was moving. I have enjoyed your counsel… but now, my dear,” there was the faint sound of a metal blade being unsheathed, “you will be an example.”

“No!” The Ambassador shouted as she launched herself at him. She ripped and tore at him, ripping holes in his cloak and hood, exposing bits of flesh and steel. He attempted to block her, but she was a fury of teeth and nail. She slashed at him with her fingernails, cutting him deeply across his cheek when he plunged the dagger between her ribs.

She shuddered and gasped, painfully, for air as the blade pierced her lung. She grabbed for his hood, wrapping her fingers around it and pulling as he twisted the knife, severing an artery. Her body convulsed as she coughed blood.

“Look into my eyes, Ardeen,” he demanded… she did as asked. His face was cold and calculating. His head was completely bald, with long pointed ears, and a closely trimmed goatee resting on his chin. His left eye was human and black with hatred, the cybernetic red glow of his right eye had more life to it. Ironic she thought as her eyes rolled up into the back of her head. “These eyes will be the last thing your daughter sees in this world, as well.”

She fell lifeless at his feet as he wiped her blood off onto his purple cloak.

“Lord Universo,” Vice President Wazzo bowed deeply, interrupting Universo’s victory.

“Ambassador Wazzo…” He acknowledged with a curt nod of his head, “I think it is time the Disc-lovers know exactly who it is they’re dealing with.”

One Day Ago…

Tinya Wazzo, Phantom Girl, sat quietly at the Mission Monitor Board. It was almost the end of her shift and it had been a relatively quiet day. No terrorist attacks from the Dark Circle since Titan’s cessation from the U.P., only a few local disturbances. Nothing catastrophic.

The Legionnaires were all keeping busy, though: Blok, Colossal Boy and Lightning Lad were training new Science Police recruits at SP headquarters; Nemesis Kid and Cosmic Boy were debating something in the main conference room (Cos turned the room’s microphone off); Brainy was holed-up in his lab working on a computer that would eventually take over Monitor duty permanently since he hated it so much; Polar Boy and Sun Boy were eating lunch in the cafeteria, staring and drooling at the scantily clad Dawnstar.

She glanced upward at another monitor and saw the prisoner they’d held in the brig for nearly four months. Jo Nah lay on his cot, resting his head in his hands, reading a news report that scrolled on a screen above. She felt more than just a little twinge of guilt as she stared at his handsome features. Not just for keeping the teenager locked up, but also for having feelings for a boy she barely knew. She had a boyfriend… he was a great guy… but… She placed her hand to her cheek and felt it flush.

“Hey beautiful…” she nearly fell off her chair as the Emerald Dragon came up from behind her.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, her face even more flushed as she glared at the masked man. She didn’t trust people that wore masks… she knew that the history of the universe was littered with masked heroes, but that didn’t change the fact that some of the most horrible events in history had been caused by some as well.

“You’re off, I’m up. You know… monitor duty?”

She rose abruptly, slipping past his tall muscular frame. He plopped himself down in the chair and typed in his access code. He put his feet up on the console and leaned back with his hands behind his head. “Ooh, chairs nice and warm, thanks, honey.” He looked up at the monitor she was staring at before. “You’re watching that sorry sack again?”

“Sorry sack…” She felt the blood rush into her cheeks again, “Look Dragon, if I---.”

He raised his hands up in defense as the board lit up with new activity. “Not now, sweet cheeks, we’ve got an incoming from S.P.H.Q.” He hit a series of buttons igniting the central screen. Officer Shvaughn Erin stared down at them, her red hair pulled back into a tail. “Hey Red, what’s shakin’?”

“Emerald Dragon, Phantom Girl… We’ve received a transmission from the Dark Circle… I… Chief Zendak wants the Legion to review it. It… it’s bad. I’ll be there within the hour.”

“Affirmative Red, I’ll assemble the team in Conference Room One,” Emerald Dragon acknowledged before the screen went dark. “Come on, PG, let’s gather the troops!”

Emerald Dragon hit the ‘recall’ button on the board, sending a signal to all available Legionnaires, and took off down the hall. Tinya was about to follow when something on the massive board caught her eye. She looked at the screen locked onto Jo’s cell… it was fine now, but she could have sworn she had seen a strange flicker in the transmission… almost as if…

Now…

The space above Titan was filled with every type of spacecraft imaginable. As the combined forces of the Legion and the Science Police entered Titan-space, a transmission was sent to every Titanian household calling for revolt!

On the streets of Titan, Dark Circle agents brutally fought to maintain control as civilians poured out to meet them head-on. The psychic blasts thrown at the Circle agents from the Titanians were almost as effective as blaster-bolts.

Refugee cruisers blasted free of the moon’s gravity, hopeful for safe haven, as fighters closely followed in an attempt to destroy them.

“Legion, Plan: Triad… Execute!” Cosmic Boy ordered.

The UP forces split into three units: Team One, led by Cosmic Boy, dove planet-side. The team consisted of Saturn Girl, Triplicate Girl, Polar Boy, Blok and three battalions of heavily armed Science Police. Team Two, led by Nemesis Kid went extra-vehicular… the team whose powers were best suited for vacuum combat: Lightning Lad, Sun Boy, Emerald Dragon, Colossal Boy and Dawnstar. Team Three, was led by Shrinking Violet, and consisted of the best Legion pilots: Phantom Girl, Invisible Kid and Shvaughn Erin. Five squadrons of SP Raptors followed in their wake as they defended the fleeing refugees and provided cover for everyone else.

The final Legion cruiser sat at the far edge of Titan space… at its helm: Brainiac 5. From his vantage point and with complete access to every Legionnaire and SP commander, he directed the battle like a conductor leading a symphony of destruction.

“Violet, your left flank is exposed, nine o’clock. Sun Boy, break left, cover Vi,” Brainiac directed as his fingers danced over the keyboard before him. “Colossal Boy, quit playing with your captive. Nemesis, Infiltrator-class fighter approaching Refugee 3.”

{“Quit barking orders at me you green skin-”} Nemesis Kid responded.

“Less talky, more fighty, ape-boy.” Brainiac cut him off, turning off Nemesis Kid’s vocal transponder.

“Cosmic Boy, three snipers with atomizers are on a rooftop one street south of your current position.”

He quickly went back to work until a computer to his right bleeped. He raised a golden eyebrow at it and smirked…

The underground bunker where Universo murdered Ambassador Ardeen had become his central headquarters. The moment the Legionnaires appeared in Titan-space, he beat a hasty retreat there. The computer banks along the wall of the ancient Com-Sat station hummed with the battle that unfolded above. And all did not bode well.

Maintaining his position on Titan was paramount to the plan. This was the closest world to the central planet: Earth was just within his grasp! He would finally be able to place his hands around the throat of the Dominators and squeeze. But if he lost Titan, he would have to fall back to Imsk.

He wasn’t counting on the Legion of Super-Heroes to retaliate like this. He counted on the cowardice of the Dominators and McCauley… to hold them on Earth for their own protection. But he had his viper in place in their den for years. They’d be so concerned about attack from without, they’d not see the fatal blow coming from within.

He saw the flaw in his plan. He had become too greedy too quickly. It had taken him 12 years to build up his resources. 12 years to find his true purpose. It was all falling apart because he had put too much faith in others.

Wazzo… it was she that suggested, to the President, that he deputize the Legion. She explained to Universo that it would keep a tighter reign on them. She also insisted that increasing their number would keep them disorganized.

No one had counted on the Legion to act without authorization of the Government! And the government never did anything hasty. But there was still his ultimate weapon; if he couldn’t have Titan, no one else would, either.

He placed his head in his hands. It was all falling apart… if only Marissa were here… she’d… his mind went blank.

“She’d be disgusted by the filth you have become.” Saturn Girl spoke with murder in her heart.

He could not move; she was suppressing his motor brain functions.

“You killed my mother.”

“In… indeed I did… little girl,” he struggled. He was a level five telepath and he knew from her government profile that she was a level four…

“Level Six, Vidar.” she interrupted. “You think I was here on Titan for the last year on a holiday? I spent a year in the Temple above honing my abilities. I was trying to perfect my abilities so I could be something other than a super hero, or a politician, like my mother wanted. I was going to help change the universe.”

“Can’t you… see? That’s what I’m… trying… to do, girl.” A trickle of blood fell from his nostril to the floor, landing upon the permanently blood-stained floor. “The Dominators… rule this galaxy, you… know it. I saw their… plan all those years ago. I could have finished it then, but…”

“ENOUGH!” The psychic backlash slammed him against the wall, pinning him. “No excuses… You’ve murdered thousands… millions of beings trying to prove your point. There is a line between patriotism and terrorism. You’re trying to stop the ‘evil’ of a government that hasn’t truly harmed anyone.”

“Yet,” he added, “Mark my words, they will.”

“Then the Legion will be there to stop them too.” Polar Boy spoke up from behind Saturn Girl.

“Brek, get out of here. I’m going to finish this…”

“Can’t do that, toots. You can’t kill him, you’re Legion. You’re better than that. We don’t take lives,” Polar Boy leaned closer to Universo and addressed him directly, “Regardless of how badly they deserve it… and you, cyclops, you deserve it.”

“He killed my Mother…”

“He’s killed lots of mothers, Imra. Take him in and let all of them have some justice.”

Imra looked up and saw a maturity she didn’t know existed in Polar Boy’s face. She relaxed her hold on Universo… and he struck.

Before either of them had time to react, he threw his dagger from beneath his cloak toward Imra. Turning before he saw the death blow he had struck, he hit a button on the main computer console and disappeared through a hidden passageway.

Cosmic Boy and the Legion burst through the open door of the bunker and stopped dead in their tracks. The two bodies lying on top of each other in a heap of tangled limbs heaved with a labored breath.

“Imra?“ Garth spoke first.

She turned her head, her tear soaked eyes gushed rivers. She kept her blood drenched hands down on the open wound on Polar Boy’s chest. There was no rhythmic rise and fall coming from the still body beneath her.

Brek Bannin, Polar Boy of the planet Earth, was gone.

Cosmic Boy walked beside his fellow Legionnaires as they carried Polar Boy’s body up to the moon’s surface. The giant planet Saturn, with it’s rings clearly visible in the daylight, hung above them, filling the sky.

{“Cosmic Boy, this is Brainiac 5, Priority Alpha, acknowledge.”}

“What is it Querl?”

{“According to my calculations you have less than one hour to evacuate every living thing from Titan.”}

“What?”

{“A doomsday device of some sort has been activated. An injection of pure anti-matter energy shot directly into Titan’s core. The core is emitting severe levels of radiation. The planet has begun to consume itself…”}

“Are you positive?”

{“110%, Cosmic Boy. 56.2 minutes…”}

Nemesis Kid retreated into the cockpit of the cruiser, wiping a small trickle of blood from his lip. He sat down in the co-pilot’s chair next to Shrinking Violet.

“What’s the evac status?” he asked.

Violet checked the cruiser’s communication center. “The two remaining Science Police cruisers are nearing capacity. Legion Cruisers Two and Three have already left the planet. Brainy’s countdown gives us 8 minutes left before we have to leave… 13 minutes until Zero Hour.”

“We’re short-handed at the ramp, go back and lend a hand,” Nemesis Kid ordered, “I’ll handle things up here.”

The ship shook violently tossing the refugees from bulkhead to bulkhead. Lightning Lad fell from the loading ramp, hitting the ground hard.

“GARTH!” Violet leapt after him, landing on her feet. She immediately lost her balance due to the tilting floor. She pushed off, hovering slightly off the ground, to counter the effect as she checked on Garth.

“I’m alright… about to lose my lunch from motion sickness,” he said opening one eye. “Where’s Cos?”

Violet looked up at the building that Cosmic Boy had gone into: it was gone. A smoldering heap of rubble and smoke.

{“We’re leaving… Now!”} Nemesis Kid shouted through Violet’s flight ring. {“We’re the last cruiser left on the planet…”}

“We have four minutes remaining, Kid,” Garth screamed back through his own ring. “We will not leave without…”

The wreckage of the collapsed building seemed to breathe, lifting up and down of its own accord. Suddenly, some of the wreckage burst outward revealing a kneeling Cosmic Boy. His chest heaved up and down laboriously. He collected the unconscious girl lying at his knees and attempted to rise. His shattered legs were pinned beneath half a ton of permacrete. He tried to use his magnetic power to lift it off, but it didn’t budge. He collapsed again, from the pain, nearly dropping the girl. He attempted to fly, but he couldn’t… the flight ring had been crushed.

He grabbed a piece of Plasti-steel lying nearby and placed it inside the blanket the girl was wrapped in.

The cruisers engine surged to life, and the ship began to rise.

“No, wait… what are you doing? We have two minutes left!” Lightning Lad screamed over his shoulder.

{“Time’s up, Garth… we’ve gotta go,”} Nemesis Kid replied.

“COS!!!” Lightning Lad shouted.

Cosmic Boy lifted the girl into the air with his magnetic power and sent her rocketing toward the still open loading door.

“Garth!” Violet shouted, causing Lightning Lad to focus on the approaching object. He reached out and grabbed the girl just before the door shut.

Garth collapsed onto the floor of the ship, holding the girl tightly. Tears poured out of his and Violet’s eyes.

“We still had two minutes…” he repeated over and over again.

He launched himself up, shoving the girl into Violet’s arms and raced toward the bridge.

“WE STILL HAD TWO FRAKKING MINUTES!!!”

He spun the pilot chair around and began pummeling Nemesis Kid.

“You Sprock, we still had two minutes…” Lightning Lad’s electrical power grew in his body as he prepared to unleash it onto Nemesis Kid.

Nemesis Kid placed his palm on Garth’s chest, absorbing the electrical power and re-directing it at Garth. The blast knocked Garth back out of the bridge, into the cargo hold.

“There was nothing we could do… he was pinned under a ton of debris and the only members we have with super-strength were off planet!” Nemesis Kid shouted back at Garth. “We all would have died.”

Garth held his bleeding face… his eye was cut. “You don’t know that, Kid.”

“Yes, I do,” and Nemesis Kid turned away from Garth and walked back into the bridge.

Moments before Zero Hour, gaping cracks began to appear on Titan’s surface, consuming the vast cities that once glittered like jewels. One of the last buildings to fall was the Temple of the Third Eye.

Lightning Lad and Shrinking Violet stood together on the bridge of their cruiser, watching as the globe glowed bright orange. Blood flooded into Garth’s eye, mixing with his tears, but the stinging pain in his eye was nothing compared to the hole in his heart.

Magma made its way to the surface, burning away the moon’s atmosphere and everything that was left. Then as the cold vacuum of space hit its surface, it cooled into a lifeless black rock.

At the helm of the cruiser, Nemesis Kid smiled…