And All Of Us Are Dying

Part 2

In awe he stared down at the lantern shaped ring on his middle finger.

At his side, his fellow Green Lantern, Alia of vanished Proxima Prime, smiled and embraced him lovingly, her wide eyes full of gladness and pride for his sake.

"Oh, Lar!" she cried, "I'm so happy! Just look at you! A Green Lantern!" Smiling in return, Lar Gand pressed her close, sweeping back her massive mane of light brown hair.

"Who would have thought," she breathed, "when we met in that awful place that this would happen? A cell on Starlag II wasn't a very good beginning was it?" With one slender finger she traced the outline of the lantern symbol of the Corps emblazoned on his new uniform. "Green is your color!" she chuckled.

"Alia," he murmured the name like a benediction. "Alia ... I've been looking for someplace like the Corps for a long time, now. A really long time. Too long. Ever since I - I was fired from L.E.G.I.O.N by that bastiche Vril Dox. And now I've finally found it. And you." She caressed his cheek.

"You know," she couldn't help but tease him, "for someone who thought I was a noisy old guy when you first met me, you sure changed your mind fast, 'boy'!"

Mirth bubbled up from his heart and flowed from his lips. "You're right," he asserted, "Starlag II was a really bad place to met. Did I mention how bad the lighting there was? And, you have to admit ... you were a few years older, back then." He pulled her close for a kiss. "And you still snore, 'old man' ... " he whispered in her ear with a grin.

She spatted his smooth cheek playfully. "Some swain you are!" she accused in light mocking tones. "Harrumph! Ladies do not snore, I'll have you know!" Then she reached for his hands and kissed his palm. "Seriously, Lar," the ancient but youthful woman murmured, "it's precisely because you were kind to me when you thought I was only a helpless, useless old man that I knew you belonged with the Corps. You had no reason to protect me, take me with you when you escaped with the help of the Blasters. But you did. Because your goodness and compassion are an integral part of who you are. And even then you didn't just abandon me. You took me with you when you pursued the Unimaginable. And when I was injured you brought me home here to Oa to be healed."

"And it's a good thing I did!" he declared stoutly, but still with a wistful smile at the memory. "You were the one who defeated the Unimaginable. Again. Not me, I got my butt kicked. But you! You were wonderful! It's taken me a long time to learn that physical strength isn't everything ... but I think the lesson is finally soaking through. Thanks to you." She flushed and made ready to deny it, but a single finger upon her full lips stayed her protest.

"And so brave .. " he marveled, "so very, very brave .... To defeat a creature as powerful as the Unimaginable, after it destroyed your world and your family .. and then to spend all those years in that hellish place because it was necessary to imprison you to also imprison the Unimaginable ... Moons of Daxam! The courage, the dedication that took ... "

"Ahem!" interrupted a strong but hesitant voice at their back. "Pardon me for butting in on a tender moment and all, but - umm - we do have a few things to discuss, I'm afraid. Lar?" Swallowing hard and clinging to Alia's hand for moral support, the Daxamite youth turned to face the source of that commanding voice.

"M-Mr. Jordan?" he stammered, blushing under the Terran Leader of the Green Lantern Honor Guard's piercing brown gaze. The Earthman smiled, waving his hand in dismissal.

"Hal," he insisted, smiling affably. "Call me Hal."

"Humor him. He likes to pretend he's 'just one of the guys'," explained Tomar-Re, chittering through his horny beak, "and not one of the most honored members of the Corps to ever don the uniform." It was impossible, the new Daxamite Green Lantern knew, for the Xudarian to smile, he was not physically capable of it, but Lar Gand strongly suspected that the elderly Green Lantern would have liked to do just that. With a small smile of his own Lar Gand looked away.

"That's our Hal," agreed Katma Tu, her crimson skin darkening with the force of the laughter that claimed her. "Modest to the Corps!"

"Indeed!" maintained K'ryssma of Etrea, her multifaceted insectoid eyes sparkling in the bright light of the Oan sun. The insectoid-humanoid woman was quite capable of smiling, although it was not in her usually dour nature to do so with any ease, and she proved it now.

Fellow Guardsmen! boomed the telepathic voice of Apros of Minus 7 Pi, his stout brown barrel like pumpkin shaped body writhing on the end of his many tentacles, a little decorum if you please!

"Yeah!" proclaimed Kilowog, late of Earth by way of his homeworld of Bolovax Vik. "Give the man a break, here! Cut him some slack, why don't ya? I mean, I'm the Corps Training Officer. So I'm the one who'll have to train our brand spanking new Green Lantern here." Kilowog noticed Alia blanch slightly at the thought of her young protégé-lover at the tender mercies of the demanding Kilowog. Kilowog, too, could smile they all discovered.

"Thanks guys!" Hal Jordan quipped, his voice dry and acerbic, hands on his hips. "I knew I could count on your support!"

It took several moments for the tittering and chuckling from far flung species around the galaxy to die down. Lar told himself he must not laugh. It would be presumptuous for such a new Corpsman as he to enjoy mirth at the expense of the vaunted Hal Jordan of Earth. But at his side he could hear Alia chuckling softly and it was hard not to join her. When the mirth faded at last, Hal took command again, pointing at the gently glowing green ring encircling Lar Gand's finger.

"That's a big responsibility," he said quietly. "But I guess you know that. Quite simply, that Power Ring is the single most powerful weapon in the Universe. And it's resting on your finger. That, combined with the vast array of superpowers you gain naturally under the influence of a yellow sun, are an almost frightening combination." Hal Jordan was gratified to see Lar Gand nod gravely and gulp at the daunting thought. Time to lighten up a bit, maybe?

"I'm not questioning The Guardians decision that a Green Lantern from Daxam would be a huge asset to the Corps. Far from it. We're all expecting great things from you, Lar. And I know you won't disappoint us. I remember how bravely you fought Eclipso. Now, I was 'eclipsed' so I don't recall the fight at all, actually. But anyone who earns Superman's respect is ok with me. And he was the one who first named you Valor."

"I'll do my best to live up to everyone's expectations ... Hal ... I promise."

Jordan nodded. "I know you will, son," Hal replied. "I never doubted it." The Honor Guardsman looked sheepish for a moment. When he spoke once more his voice was low, almost conspiratorial. "You may not know this," he said, "but The Guardians also decided that there could be only one Lantern from Daxam. It came down to a choice between you and a fellow Daxamite named Sodam Yat."

Lar's eyes widened in astonishment and no small amount of pleasure. "Sodam Yat??" he exclaimed. "Daxam's Moons! He - he's - why he's the most famous athlete on Daxam! The strongest man on the planet! He's built like an inertron building, for Space sake! And he's even stronger!"

Hal smiled. "And The Guardians chose you, Lar, because ... well you said it yourself ... strength isn't everything. For a Green Lantern, in fact, it hardly matters at all. With that Ring it's your force of will that will be more important. You're invulnerable. And the Ring will always automatically protect you from lead. So, with advantages like that, your powers, and the Ring itself as a weapon, it's also much more important that we know what sort of man you are before we give you that kind of power. And in the short time since you left Daxam, you've given us ample proof of that, son. You'll be a credit to the Corps, I know."

And so he was.

His career was long and illustrious, surpassing even that of Hal Jordan of Earth. His sector was the quietest in Corps history so he frequently had time to assist any of his fellow Green Lanterns who might need it and happily did so. He himself became the youngest member ever of the Honor Guard and eventually its Leader with the honorable retirement of Hal Jordan amidst much pomp, many tears and good wishes.

But, after untold millennia, The Guardians and their Corps of Green Lanterns fell. The Weaponers of Qward were the first to join the forces arrayed against the Protectors of the Universe. Ranx the Sentient City swelled the ranks of the enemy, then the vicious Children of the White Lobe. But when the ancient, timeless Empire of Tears itself rose, united with its new allies against the Green Lantern Corps, the future looked bleak. One by one the defenders fell before their combined might.

It was then that the Corps called upon the services of their strongest members. And Lar Gand answered the call. But when he perished destroying the lobe-spawn, the heart seemed to go out of the Corps. The few ragged, pitiful survivors deemed it almost a mercy that he, the most honored of their Corps, did not see the last of them, the planet-form Green Lantern Mogo, fall as Ranx the sentient city exploded a blink-bomb within Mogo's heart, his planetary core. True to their purpose, the Guardians of the Universe personally expended the last of themselves in defeating their enemies and were seen no more.

The fallen, heroic Green Lanterns were all buried on their homeworlds after the rites of their people. There were simply too many of them to be interned otherwise. And Oa was no more. Thus, Arkkis Chummack made his way back to Toomey VI, after almost a lifetime's absence, where his body was carefully prepared and eaten, especially his brave heart, by those of his fellow Toomites deemed worthy of the honor of consuming such conspicuous courage. Stel, the AI Green Lantern of Grenda was returned home and his remaining robotic parts salvaged to fashion another of his unique kind. Medphyll of J586 came home and his seeds were used to grow another, who blossomed brightly among his plant-like folk. Hal Jordan was buried on Earth, in his beloved Coast City. But a memorial in his honor stands in the JLA Watchtower on the Moon.

So it was that almost 3,600 bodies made their solemn way across the galaxy to lay in honored rest under familiar skies. Almost the entire Corps.

All but one.

They buried the greatest of them, Lar Gand of Daxam, on the asteroid Shanghalla, newly set aside in his honor as the final resting place of the galaxy's greatest heroes. After Daxamite custom, they buried his heart on Daxam itself, in the Hall of Heroes. Alia of Proxima Prime's request that she be buried next to him was graciously honored.

And slowly, the legend of Valor of The Green Lantern Corps and of the Corps itself, spread throughout the galaxy into every spiral arm and nebula.

And a millennia after Valor's death, an adventurous, disguised Durlan who loved heroes and ancient history and called himself R. J. Brande took the legend to heart and used his great wealth and influence to create a Legion of Super-Heroes, inspired by the Corps and its greatest member.

Eltro Gand of Daxam, descended from the hero through his younger brother Del Gand, was among the first to join.

The first ... and the mightiest.

The legend lived on.

"All right," began Lyrissa Mallor, gazing around her at her uneasy companions. Subterfuge did not come naturally to these people. "I think we all know why we're here. Are we missing anybody?" A quick head count accounted for everyone. The Talokian champion and field leader for L.E.G.I.O.N. turned to the wormlike being at her right.

"Telepath? Are you sure we're unobserved?"

The yellow skinned mentalist nodded his outsized head. "Quite sure, Lyrissa," he assured the spiritual heart of L.E.G.I.O.N. "I'm scanning only those of us in this room. And the telepathic dampers we installed on the outside are working admirably. No one knows we're here. We are perfectly safe here and unsuspected. We may speak freely." Several gusty sighs of grateful relief echoed off the close walls of the small room. Frowning, Stealth made a wry face and crossed her hands over her ample chest. Motherhood had certainly agreed with the size of her breasts, she decided. Even if the child was sired by Vril Dox. As ever, that thought made her vaguely ill.

"Sure we all know why we're here," she agreed. "We've got a big problem. About six foot two, I'd guess. So what are we gonna do about it?" She didn't miss the wave of unease that crashed through her companions like a sea wave. Her sally was greeted with several matching frowns to rival her own. But silence reigned. No one wanted to be the first to speak.

Damn!

"Okay, fine!" she groused in a voice as sour as Winathian puckerfruit. "I'll be a bitch and just come right out and tell it bang. Our problem's got a name. Lar Gand. So what are we gonna do about Dox's newest pet lick spittle?"

"You're not being fair to the boy!" cried Strata, her deep, gravelly voice ample evidence of her unhappiness.

Garv patted the Dryadian woman's huge, rocky hand warmly with his own. The deep red of his wrinkled skin was reflected nicely in the clear, crystalline silicon structure of his lover, Strata's. Strata seemed to calm a bit at the heavy worlder's touch. "Easy, babe, easy," Garv advised softly. "Nobody wants to hurt the kid. But Stealth's got a point. It is a problem. And it is why we're here."

"I'll say it's a 'problem'!" snarled Garryn Bek. The Cairnian-born Administrative head of L.E.G.I.O.N.'s eyes glowed briefly green and then faded to their natural brown color. The power of the Emerald Eye of Ekron had not yet deserted him completely. Not quite. Not yet left him totally alone and completely bereft. His face twisted in wrath. "We just got rid of that grok-bokker Lobo and what happens? Dox finds himself another stooge to push us around and make sure he gets what he wants. That Daxamite juvie is a grok-bokking menace!"

Across the table his estranged wife Marij'n flashed daggers at him with her gaze, gritting her teeth in anger. "Damn you, Garryn, if you were any more transparent you'd be invisible!" she spat. "You're just jealous! Dox may have pulled the wool over Lar Gand's eyes, deceived him about a lot of things, but Lar is a good man! He's kind and noble and he always considers others before himself! A better man by far than you'll ever be! He's what L.E.G.I.O.N. should be all about!" She shot to somewhat unsteady feet, her hot gaze strafing Garryn's slender form like laser fire. Running her hands seductively down the curves of her body, her voice dropped down, low and husky now. "Oh, I was good enough for you when I was fat and unattractive, wasn't I? Good enough when you were a cop for you to marry me and use me to get at my father, the druglord! But when the Eye helped me shed those pounds and take better care of myself, you couldn't handle the thought that I might want somebody else now, could you? COULD YOU?!" To everyone's astonishment and unease, she was practically shouting. Throats cleared themselves uneasily and eyes darted away.

Bek shot to his feet and pounded his fist upon the table they all sat around hard enough to make several unattended beverage glasses jump with the force of his blows. "Don't flatter yourself, Marij'n!" he sneered. "I don't give a grokking damn what you do! Or WHO you do it with! But this little lustfest of yours for the 'noble' Lar Gand is disgusting is what it is! He's only sixteen years old, Marij'n! And Stealth is certainly right that he's Dox's lick spittle!"

"And Marij'n is certainly right that you're jealous!" sniffed a disdainful Lydea Mallor. The Talokian teenager's anger and dislike were evident in the set of her jaw, the haughty arms crossed over her ample chest.

Bek rolled his eyes ceilingward, as if praying for strength to endure such foolishness. "Says the 'heroine' who tried to kill her own mother! And almost succeeded! The only good thing Lar Gand has ever done was stop you from carrying out the bidding of your masters, the Computer Tyrants of Colu, and killing Lyrissa!" The deep azure of the Talokian girl's skin darkened by several shades and black darkness gathered on the tips of her slim fingers, spiraling and writhing for release.

"Lydea!" Lyrissa exclaimed, clutching her child's hand in warning. "No! Calm yourself, daughter. Please." Reluctantly Lydea nodded, obeying her mother and the elder Mallor, proud ex-Shadow Champion of her world, gathered her daughter in her comforting arms and glared at Garryn Bek. Telepath thought his sensitive ears might have heard the sound of a soft, muffled sob. His ears might have been mistaken, but there was no doubt of the agony of mind that enveloped the youthful L.E.G.I.O.N.naire like a shroud.

"Watch your tongue, Bek!" Lyrissa hissed. "My daughter was a victim." Slender blue hands stroked the child's mass of space dark hair, worn long and full. Not like her own short, clipped locks. So like her mother ... so very like her in so many, many other ways, though ... "Abused and tortured by the Tyrants while they wore my image to make her hate me, she was stripped of her childhood and her heritage, artificially aged and used by the Tyrants to try and kill me, through no fault of her own! When I left her on Talok VIII, Garryn, she was a baby! An infant! Can you understand what it must have been like for the both of us? Can you?" Bek sat down heavily, as if his body were suddenly too great a weight for him to bear. But otherwise he gave no sign of remorse. "You'd do well to remember that in future," Lyrissa said. "And she and Marij'n are right. Lar Gand is a good boy ... he's just mislead ... misguided ... "

"That's right!" maintained Lydea, squeezing her mother's hand in gratitude. She was almost smiling, now. "He's always been nice to me, in spite of ... in spite of ... everything I almost did ... "

Bek's shrill voice fairly rang with contempt. "As if you wouldn't rip his clothes off, too, at the first opportunity! If only Mama would let you!"

"That's enough, Garryn!" Strata shouted in Lydea's defense. But it was the look of hurt and anger in Lyrissa Mallor's obsidian eyes that made the once powerful wielder of the Emerald Eye look away and regain his seat with a heavy heart. Almost losing Lyrissa brought home forcefully to them all just how important she was to them. And to L.E.G.I.O.N.

"More than enough!" Phase agreed. The slim amnesiac woman ran her hands uncertainly through her short, dark hair, peering around the room. "Look," she said, "I know I'm new here. Nass, I don't even know who I am! Or where I come from or anything at all. But I do know one thing. In the short time I've been here L.E.G.I.O.N.'s become my home. You're my family. So this is very important to me, okay?"

She regarded Telepath kindly. "Some of you have tried to help me. And all of you have been kind to me." The look in Telepath's great round eyes was ineffably sad. Yes, he had tried to help Phase. Tried ... and failed. There were simply no memories left there to be retrieved. Her past was a complete blank and a great mystery. He, more than most, felt her daily struggle. Her need to know about her past. Did she have a family? Friends? Perhaps a lover? Telepath sighed. Sometimes ... sometimes it almost seemed as if he could catch a glimpse ... a face ... a strong, smiling face with deep earth brown eyes and ginger colored hair. Could almost feel strong arms embracing her. A resonant male voice overflowing with passion ... speaking words of desire ... "I'd be lost without you! Lost ... "

"Including Lar Gand!" said the young woman whose phantom like abilities and considerable courage were becoming a greater and greater asset to L.E.G.I.O.N. She stared pointedly at the uncomfortable Garryn Bek. "I like Lar Gand," she contended. "I just thought everyone should know that so there aren't any misunderstandings."

"Yeah, yeah ... " The slight moue of distaste Stealth had worn from the beginning grew even more intense. "Everybody loves good ol' Large Gland ... "

"I thought we got rid of Lobo," came Phase's acerbic remark in response.

"This isn't getting us anywhere," Lyrissa Mallor pointed out firmly, keeping a tight rein on her sometimes quick and harsh temper. "Sniping at one another and calling names isn't going to solve the problem. Until we can discuss this calmly and come to a rational decision about the situation, we're just playing right into Vril Dox's hands." The L.E.G.I.O.N. field commander turned to face the far end of the long table.

"Lady Quark? You've been very quiet. In fact, you haven't said anything at all. What do you think we should do with Lar Gand, Tashana?"

Garryn Bek threw up his hands in exasperation. "Grok-bokking asteroids, Lyrissa!" he cried. "What are you asking her for? We already know what she does with him. Every grok-bokking night!"

The ex-policeman quailed before the enraged look in the eye of one of the most powerful members of their Inner Corps. He could plainly see the nuclear radiation at her heart, the awesome energies that gave the woman who was once the Queen of an entire world her vast destructive powers, gathering within her, waiting to be unleashed at her tempestuous command.

"Have a care, little man!" Lady Quark growled. "My affairs are no concern of yours! When I bed Lar Gand it is because that is what I wish to do. And no puny excuse for a man like you will ever stop me. Your opinion means less than nothing to me." She turned her buzz cut silver head away from Garryn Bek with burning disdain.

"And what about the rest of us, Lady Quark?" inquired Lyrissa softly. "Are our opinions also less than nothing to you?" Around the table, the Talokian woman's gentle words were greeted by nods of agreement and support.

"We're your friends, Tashana," Telepath spoke up to everyone's surprise. He was usually quite reticent. "We care about you. It would please us to know that you cared enough about us to consider what we thought important."

"I - I do."

"Tashana ... " began Lyrissa, a certain reluctance echoing in her stern voice, "I suppose it isn't our place to say anything ... so we never have ... But, the truth is there are those of us who feel that - that you're taking advantage of Lar Gand. He's only a young boy, Tashana! Ancestral Shadows, you had a daughter older than he is!" Lyrissa was not ashamed of her outburst, but she did wonder at its effectiveness. Lady Quark could be stubborn and willful at the best of times. And she was always haughty and cold, shielding herself from the pain of the loss she lived with daily. Lyrissa bit her lip when she saw the former ruler draw her head up proudly.

"Yes, Lyrissa, my friend ... " The sincerity of her words struck the Talokian woman almost like a physical blow, but she did not allow herself to flinch. "I had a daughter. My Liana, my lovely Princess Fern. And a husband. My brave and powerful Lord Volt. And I had the gratitude and love of all my people. I was their Protector, their liege-Lady. Until the Anti-Monitor came and swept it all away. My world was destroyed ... my entire Universe was gone in the wink of an eye as if it had never been. And I alone was left to tell the tale."

"We understand that you're lonely, Tashana ... " Lyrissa was quick to sympathize. It was the wrong thing to do, she discovered. The once ruler's face stormed over with dark wrath like a cloudy day.

"No!" Lady Quark denied it, harsh voiced. "I don't want your pity! Keep it! You don't understand. Loneliness has nothing to do with it. I have a destiny. A destiny I must carve anew for myself here in your new Universe. Lar Gand is a part of that destiny. He is brave and strong, possessed of great and mighty powers. My equal in every way. I've been looking for someone like him to help me found a new dynasty here among the stars for a long time. Ever since I left Earth after the Anti-Monitor's defeat."

"Yeah, you've been looking all right," Stealth snorted derisively. "You thought Dagon-Ra was just what the doctor ordered, too, remember? Until he turned on you, imprisoned you, made you into his little super powered pet. If L.E.G.I.O.N. hadn't rescued you you'd still be there; too scared to strike back and find out if you could fry Dagon-Ra before his elemental powers could turn you into an inert gas or some damn thing."

Several faces around the table paled at the memory of L.E.G.I.O.N.'s battle with the Trommite pirate leader and his horde. It was closer than they ever wanted to come again to death and defeat. At her side Lady Quark's hands knotted themselves involuntarily into spasmodic fists. The tall, formidable woman in the yellow costume made no reply, however. But Stealth still wasn't done.

"And you only joined L.E.G.I.O.N. when Dox invited you," she accused, "because you thought Vril Dox just might be what you were looking for, too. Can't say much for your taste in men, Lady Q!" Tashana's lips twisted themselves into a viscous smile.

"At least I don't rape and murder my mates when I find them," the older woman said. "If Marij'n hadn't cloned Vril Dox after you killed him in the throes of sexual passion, L.E.G.I.O.N. might well be defunct. Thanks to you. And when I bear another child, I won't find it necessary to hide him from his father, lest he be corrupted and used against me. Do you even know where your son is, Stealth?" The former Queen gave the mysterious L.E.G.I.O.N.naire (whom many suspected only appeared to be humanoid) no time to form a retort. Instead she turned her back on the fuming Stealth and fixed her gaze on Lyrissa Mallor.

"And if Lar Gand is young," she said quietly to the field Leader, "what of that? If he's old enough to be one of us, to risk his life as a valued member of our Corps, in the pursuit of justice and the rights of others, then surely he's old enough to decide with whom he wishes to share his body. Among my people, a youth of his age and high station would be long mated."

It was difficult to tell from his features if Garv were frowning or angry, but his voice, when he spoke, was definitely unhappy. "Some interestin' plans ya got there, Lady," the heavy worlder mused. "The kid got any say in the matter at all?" Stealth and Garryn Bek grinned with equal rapaciousness. But the others held their silence. With an imperious look, Lady Quark ignored them all.

"Didn't think so," Garv snorted.

Strata was also obviously not pleased at the thought. But before the L.E.G.I.O.N. training officer could speak her mind, Lyrissa once more focused their attention of other matters. Frowning in anticipatory dismay, she turned to Telepath. The alien mind reader was quite taken aback at the unexpected attention. Blinking rapidly, he would have blushed, Lyrissa was sure of it, if only he had been physiologically capable of it.

"Telepath?" Lyrissa addressed him gently. "What can you tell us about the situation?"

Telepath leaned forward on his heavily muscled walking arms, gathering his thoughts in deep concentration before he spoke at last in a mild voice. "I have not deeply probed Lar Gand's mind. Tha-that would not be ethical ... but I have - ah - occasionally scanned his thoughts on - on Vril Dox 's orders ... " He lapsed into silence, waiting to be rebuked. What a weakling they must think him! To so slavishly follow Vril Dox's commands ... out of fear and cowardice they must suppose. But, to his immense surprise, no rebuke was forthcoming. The shy, unprepossessing telepath wondered if he deserved such trust.

"By the Egg Pod!" he thought. "They don't even know my name! It's over four hundred seventy-one syllables long and their tongues couldn't pronounce it even if they could remember it all. They call me Telepath because that's what I do. And still they entrust me with their secrets ... their inner thoughts, at times. How did I ever earn such affection, I wonder?" Regardless, the truth of it could not be denied. And now, at their hour of greatest need, he dare not fail them. He would not.

He owed them the truth, at least.

With wide eyes an a shrill cry of distress that grated upon the nerves, Strata covered her stony lips with one crystalline hand. "Oh, now there's an unpleasant thought!" the Dryadian cried. "Most unpleasant!" The observation was greeted with many frowns and looks of puzzlement. She glanced at Telepath in nervous anticipation.

"I mean," she hastened to explain, "do you think Dox ... that is ... could he have ... " She shook her head as if to clear it. "Remember that Enhanced Charisma Program of his? The one he used on the people of his own planet, after we defeated the Computer Tyrants? The one that made all those Coluans so very grateful and willing to give him just about anything he wanted?"

Even Garryn Bek blanched at the thought that came to them all simultaneously. "You don't think - !" He left the thought unfinished. It wasn't necessary, after all. For the rest of them understood his meaning perfectly.

"What a filthy trick!" cursed Garryn under his breath.

"Just like Vril Dox!" spat Stealth in a voice sour as curdled milk.

As one they turned to Telepath, awaiting his pronouncement. His huge eyes blinked rapidly and he studied his smaller manipulative hands for a moment, lacing the plump fingers together in agitation. Finally his outsized head shook itself in denial.

"I - I don't think so," he stammered. "Surely, not even Dox would ... " The soft words trailed off at the many looks of incredulity suddenly focused upon him. He sighed, realizing at once his mistake. Of course Dox would! Biting his lower lip, Telepath began again in a firmer voice. "The boy is sincere in his admiration, his hero worship of Vril Dox. And his dedication to L.E.G.I.O.N. There can be no doubt of that. Mostly because he wants to believe. It's important to him. He came here to Cairn hoping to find an organization dedicated to eradicating evil and injustice, someplace he could make a difference with these wonderful new gifts of his. And that's just what Vril Dox allowed him to believe."

"I guess it didn't hurt when Dox gave the kid that serum to protect him from lead poisoning without having to be forced or asking anything in return," was Garryn Bek's grudging admission. The slender man lowered his voice several octaves in mocking imitation of Vril Dox at his most nauseatingly kind. "'Here, my boy, accept this gift from my hand. It's my welcome to you into L.E.G.I.O.N., your new home. With this you need have no fear ever again. Your father's ill fate will not be yours. You are safe. And needed'." Lydea giggled at the accuracy of the jesting imposture. The others were less sanguine.

"That's right, Garryn," Phase assured the former Emerald Emperor. "From the very first Dox has manipulated and deceived Lar Gand. And our animosity hasn't helped."

"Exactly!" rejoined Telepath. "He's played us all off against one another like a finely tuned musical instrument in the hands of a virtuoso. Why, he's got the poor boy half way convinced that we're all just jealous of Dox's position. That he's the savior of the galaxy and we're trying to take L.E.G.I.O.N. away from him! After the defeat of the Computer Tyrants on Colu, the holomedia certainly played right into Vril's hands on THAT one! That's precisely how they portrayed him: the noble savior of his home world, dedicated to bringing peace and justice to the rest of the galaxy."

Stealth made a wry face. "It was disgusting!" she opined at the distasteful memory. "All he was ever after were their credits."

Lyrissa Mallor leaned forward to face them all once more. "It doesn't matter how the unfortunate situation with Lar Gand came about. We're not here to assign blame, my friends. The real question is: What can we do about it?" Heads nodded in mutual agreement, but no one rushed to offer advice. Silence fell. Lyrissa sighed and grimly shouldered the burden of responsibility once more.

"Very well," she addressed the assemblage of heroes. "Telepath assures us that, at heart, Lar Gand is blameless. He's merely been deceived. I submit then that it's up to us to help him see the truth. Now there is one among us who is closest to the boy ... the one he would be most likely to listen if they spoke ... " All eyes turned to Lady Quark as the Talokian Champion's voice trailed off.

"Tashana, we need your help," explained Lyrissa to the volatile ex-ruler.

Taken aback, the older woman frowned. "My help? Of what help could I be?"

It was Telepath who came to Lyrissa aid in her moment of uncertainty about how to proceed. "Lyrissa's right, Lady Quark," the psi-sensitive being said. "Lar Gand trusts you. He shares himself with you freely. If he's likely to believe any of us and accept the truth about Vril Dox, it's from your lips. Won't you help us? And Lar Gand? Do you really relish seeing him used and abused by Vril Dox like this?" Slowly the powerful woman shook her short cropped head.

"N-no, of course not," she said. "I've grown quite fond of him ... He's an endearing youth ... "

"Then you'll help us?" came Lyrissa's pointed question.

Lady Quark's answer was merely a small, almost imperceptible nod of the head, but the L.E.G.I.O.N. field commander gratefully seized upon it nevertheless. Around the table smiles blossomed and Telepath could sense great relief, not least of all his own.

"We'll all have to do our part," Lyrissa was quick to remind them. "But together we can do it."

In the end, though, it was the situation on Daxam and not all of Lady Quark's blandishments or overtures of friendship from the others that turned the tide against the wily Coluan. He seriously misjudged Lar Gand's determination to help the people of his home world in the wake of the devastating plague that struck it soon after the return of the Daxamite fleet from their show of force to halt the Invasion of Earth. Lar Gand suspected from the first that the "plague" was no alien virus or bacteria, but that its roots lay in the Daxamites' vulnerability to lead. When Dox proved reluctant to throw the resources of L.E.G.I.O.N. into the fight for Daxam's survival, Lar Gand began to listen to his comrades and see the truth. Furious at having been such a willing pawn, the young superhero broke with Dox and returned to Daxam.

He was soon followed in turn by every member of the Inner Corps. Arriving on Daxam with a huge supply of anti-lead serum provided by the medical expertise of geneticist Marij'n Bek, the Corpsmen, aided by a goodly number of the rank and file of L.E.G.I.O.N. itself, set about restoring order and saving lives. Many thousands still died, but Daxam itself survived virtually unchanged. Although the populace in general still proved somewhat reluctant to leave the embrace of their motherworld, recovering Daxam began a brisk trade and cultural exchange with the rest of the galaxy. Daxam became renowned for the expertise of its scientists in the fields of biology, pharmacology, and medicine. Daxamite hospitals, expanded to accommodate victims of the "plague", opened their doors to all and quickly became famous throughout the galaxy for the skill and dedication of their physicians.

And Vril Dox lost control of L.E.G.I.O.N.

With the desertion of the Inner Corps and many of the rank and file, the bitter Coluan found it increasingly difficult to fulfill his obligations. Impossible in many cases. Despite threats and trickery, one by one, his client worlds failed to renew their contracts with L.E.G.I.O.N.

Agra-Prime was the end for him. Deceived and used by the racially bigoted Council of Elders into suppressing a revolt of the downtrodden "hue-eyed" Agrans, when Dox turned against his masters they, despairing of continuing their way of life, unleashed a deadly virus into the oceans of their world. With the next rain all life on Agra-Prime would come to an end. Helpless, Dox could only watch as Lyrissa Mallor and Lar Gand rallied help from hundreds of worlds to help evacuate the desperate Agrans before the next rainfall. The Agrans, never many in numbers by reason of their religious strictures, were resettled on Cairn to the thunderous applause and glowing accolades of the rest of the civilized galaxy.

Vril Dox resigned in disgrace.

And the word began to spread: L.E.G.I.O.N. was back!

Under the leadership of Lyrissa Mallor and Lar Gand, L.E.G.I.O.N.'s ranks began to swell once more. From across the galaxy they came: the super powered and more ordinary recruits both. From Earth came Gary Concord, the Ultra Man. From far off Thanagar came Katar and Shiera Hol, already members of the Hawk police of their home world. From Rann came the displaced Earthman Adam Strange and his zeta beam. The bright glow of Vega yielded Primus and his brave wife Kallista into the ranks of the Inner Corps. Many of the other Omega Men followed. No one was quite sure where Rac Shade with his reality distorting M-Vest hailed from ... but he proved a most efficient L.E.G.I.O.N.naire nonetheless. Prince Gavyn, the new Starman, was heir to the throne of an ancient empire, but proved himself not above serving the cause of justice. Even from Khundia itself they came. Amon Hauk carried a chip on his shoulder by reason of his despised race, but persevered in the face of adversity to become one of L.E.G.I.O.N.'s best. The gruff Chaser Bron joined them and Lar Gand smiled when the former Darkstar's sharp tongue was loosed on anyone foolish enough to mention his advancing age.

L.E.G.I.O.N. became a legend.

And in the fullness of time its mantle of heroism and sacrifice spawned another Legion ... the Legion of Super-Heroes.

This site is dedicated to the memory of Dannell Lites, who died unceremoniously on 16 September, 2002, in Kansas City, MO. Other than characters, place names, etc., which are ©DC Comics, Marvel Comics, Warner Bros., WGBS or any other television/movie owner, or Wizard Magazine, all content is ©2002 Dannell Lites. Background set ©2002 by SleepyHead. Please do not use without her permission. Site url= http://dannfan.50megs.com/