Super-Substitute Commo Check #2!

I think whatever went wrong with Blogspot is okay now; if I am right, you should be getting this message, and should also have got a message inviting you to receive messages from this address.

Can everyone at his convenience reply, if you got this? John and Jagi, feel free to reply for the boys, whose computer access is limited.

NEW this month! It's the second volume!

PREVIOUSLY IN SUBSTITUTE JUSTICE:

A Green Lantern ring came to Earth to choose substitutes for the Justice League. The League is engaged in protracted battle far from Earth, and wishes the Earth to be defended while they are away.

The ring had icons of each of the Leaguers and bade the random persons it chose to select one.

Vina (Virginia) took the Hawkman icon, becoming Lady Hawk.

Greg (Mike Hichborn) took the Flash icon.

Roy (NPC) chose Green Lantern.

Chin-Su (Joe Hichborn) chose Plastic Man.

The new heroes fought Sinestro and Libra, a man who planned to split their new powers in half and keep half for himself. He got the leftover icons, but Vina escaped her captivity and seized the Superman icon, which partially imprinted her with Superman’s powers before fading away.

Elsewhere in the world, other people were approached by the ring:

Quinn (Andy O’Neill) picked Wonder Woman, and was partially imprinted, because he’s a man. Thus, his powers are similar to Wonder Woman’s but not quite as strong.

Zipperneck (NPC) chose Superman, and was partially imprinted, because he’s evil. Ditto to the above.

The Phantom Stranger rounded up the final substitutes:

Cap’n Bill (John) picked Aquaman.

Sam Skeptic (Orville) chose Zatanna.

Jimmy Olsen (Juss) picked Superman, and was partly imprinted, because he’s a kid. So partial Superman powers, which is still pretty darn super.

Kasumi (Jagi) chose Wonder Woman, and being a woman from a traditional culture, got most, if not all, of Wonder Woman’s powers.

Therefore, most of the icons have finished their work and have disappeared. The Batman and Cyborg icons have not been used; we don’t know exactly where they are. They can’t be still in the ring, because Sinestro destroyed the ring, hoping to get the leftover powers, but didn’t.

All the new Substitutes have Justice League signal devices, allowing them to communicate, and also to locate the teleportation booths in every major city which allow access to the League’s Watchtower on the Moon.

The new Leaguers went into action against various villains, ultimately ending up in a running fight with a villain group called the Hexagon who have military-themed costumes and powers remarkably similar to the Avengers. They also have a teleporter, which makes a purple gateway and makes it very hard to catch them.

The Hexagon was trying to capture Superboy and had already captured Zipperneck. They had exposed Zipperneck to Kryptonite and were stealing his blood, so he wasn’t all that hard to defeat, really. They stole Superboy from Gorilla Grodd in Hawaii, but Cap’n Bill and company thwarted them.

So at present:

1.       We do not know where the Hexagon headquarters is, or how their teleporter works. We do know the Brigadiers can summon the teleport portal, but it takes about thirty seconds.

2.       We do not know the Hexagon’s plans. But we know they wanted Superboy and Zipperneck, and harvested Zipperneck’s blood.

3.       Zipperneck was held at Cadmus, a secret government cloning facility, whose cruel surgeon Dr.Morrow was working, so he (and recovered papers) says, directly for U.S. President Lex Luthor.

4.       We do not know the Hexagon’s entire membership, but they consist at a minimum of:

THE COMMANDER, a red-white-and-blue hero in green-brown-and-black camouflage. He is a master hand to hand combatant, has a variety of guns and knives, and a bulletproof shield. The evident field leader of the Hexagon.

STORMCLOUD, a red-bearded Viking with an axe that commands storms and produces lighting. His storm-command powers are equal to those of Cap’n Bill.

TANK MAN, in a green suit of flying armor with missiles and cannons.

BEE GIRL, who can fly, shrink, and inject poison with “stinger missiles”

THE HURT, a huge mottled-camouflage muscleman with poor diction. The madder Hurt gets, the madder Hurt gets. He told us so.

RAZORHEAD, who is stealthy and fires razor-sharp arrows.

                As I myself have not been able to recover all the emails, this is the situation at the opening of Volume Two:

1.       All the current fights have been resolved. Gorilla Grodd and Zipperneck are your prisoners. All of the Hexagon members have escaped via their teleport window.

2.       All the Leaguers have made radio contact with each other, and therefore 3.

3.       Have been able to come together in the Watchtower. In the great meeting hall, chairs with each hero’s logo are waiting. The only problem is who gets the Wonder Woman chair: Peltast, aka Quinn, or Kasumi, aka Kasumi?

Ah, but whatever force it was which preserved the Leaguer’s powers, or perhaps copies of their powers, has inscribed a crossed spear-and-shield logo on one of the chairs, clearly marking it for Peltast.

4.       The scene opens with the Leaguers debating their next move.

Commo Check

Hey, is anyone getting these? I didn't get the last three posts.

Reply to msolarman@hotmail.com if you see this, okay?

Nevada: So Of Course, There Are More

If the tiara can be picked up out of the melted rock, she will do so...otherwise, she will just have to figure that out later.

Kasumi will take a very quick moment to kneel and pat the cheek of Green Lantern while calling to him gently, because--as this is her very first day superheroing--she feels a bit out of her league and might need the help/guidance.

Then she speeds off toward the miscreant without looking back to see if Green Lantern is awake.

Green Lantern waggles his head and looks around. His ring crackles and produces solid green squiggles with little asterisks and exclamation points.

Zipperneck tries to stand, spins around his axis and falls down on his face.

Kasumi is close enough to see wounds on Zipperneck's neck, arms and legs, which glow faintly green and seep a green-brown-stained gore.

A flickering purple light strobes, brightens, and fades, leaving three people behind like the afterimage of a bright light:

A huge greenish-gray muscleman, with brown patterns layered across his skin like a leopard ... a camouflage leopard. And arms thicker than Kasumi's entire torso.

A superhero with an athletic body, five stars on his green shirt, a big gun and a big knife. He, unlike his musclebound comrade, wears a mask with a star on it.

And a guy in an Army helmet, green and black camouflage, a bow, and arrows with oversized gleaming razor-sharp heads.

The guy with the gun and knife says,

"Never mind the gorilla -- he's not a witness! Every other pair of eyes on this GPS dies! Hurt -- get control of Zipperneck. Razorhead -- the Green Lantern. And I'll get the Jap chick."

"Ayup," says Razorhead, preparing to launch a deadly arrow at the still-confused Green Lantern.

"Right, Commander!" says the Hurt. "I'll get control of him ... spine first!"

Hawaii: Superboy Returns! And Some Other Guys Arrive For the First Time

(any apparent delay in this post's arrival may be due to volcanic activity)

So it is Jimmy, and only Jimmy, who sees three individuals materialize from a purple cloud of energy, hovering in mid-air!

One is a red-headed muscleman with a long red ponytail bound in leather cords, wearing a helmet decorated with lightning bolts and swinging a huge hammer which also has an axe blade on the other end! His costume is green with pentagonal silver shields on it.

One is a thick-bodied green-gray metallic robot with little eye slits in its helmet and a long radio antenna sticking up from its left shoulder. In the palms of its clumsy-looking armor are big guns.

And finally, the third individual is a woman in a green leotard with buzzing bee wings on her back. They appear mechanical, attached to an elliptical metal backpack. She flicks out two long knives from her sleeves, extending well past her hands, and shrinks to an inch in size.

These three flying beings look around, locate Grodd, then head for Cap'n Bill. Well, the Axe Guy and the Armor Guy do. The Bee Girl buzzes around from here to there, flitting across the battle area as if searching for something.

MEANWHILE, Vina says to Superboy:

"Grodd's this way. He does mind tricks. Oh, and the other ones with me are Jimmy Olson--you know him? He's got some of the Super powers. Like I do. Just. Not as much. And we've got a .... venerable king of the sea. I think he really is a sea captain."

She blows her bangs out of her eyes with a puff of air.

"Can you fly? Now, I mean?"

"Oh! and is Tana someone Grodd would target, too, for powers?"

"Naw," says Superboy. "Tana Moon is a reporter for the Honolulu TV station. We were just chillaxin' on the beach, you know, waiting for the city to be in danger. She doesn't have any powers, and gorillas don't go for beach-betties."

He hovers in the air, his leather jacket waving faintly like a cape. He's got the "S" shield on the back of the jacket, too.

"So, I don't have super-vision, but with my handy x-ray sunglasses, I can see ... who the heck are those guys!"

Superboy describes them.

"Tank Man, Stormguy and Bee Girl," he says. "Are they Teen Titans? Seems like anybody can join the Titans these days... they let Beast Boy in."

"Hey, are your Sea King and Semi-Super-Jimmy hip to the green scene? Or should we clue them in?"

The Stone Age: Prisoners of the 21st Century!

(any apparent delay in posting may be due to time manipulation)

"Uh . . ." Quinn says. "I've seen a lot of movies about time travel; does that help? Like, if we say we're going to help you, and really mean it, that means if we succeed then you can go back now because we already helped. And if we didn't succeed then we never will, so our help doesn't matter. There! I think I solved your problem."

He eyes Van-Darr. "As for their memories, yeah, some erasing would probably be a good idea. Maybe his too," he says, nodding at Anthro.

"Hold up," speaks Chin-Su. All this timey-wimey wibbly-wobbly mumbo-jumbo has gone a bit over his head, but something in the preceding conversation caught his ear.

"Who is the Time Trapper? Does this... Iron Curtain specifically exist in 2050, and if so, can we go to that time to bypass it?"

"The Time Trapper? He's the most heinous time-travelling villain of them all," says Ultra Boy loudly. "When the Legion first invented the Time Bubble, we found out about the end of the universe ... and we tried to prevent it, because that's what heroes do!"

"So the next time we went back to visit Superboy in the 20th century, the Time Trapper set up the Iron Curtain of Time at 2050, preventing anyone from going forward or back through that date. Karate Kid was stuck in the 20th for years!"

Karate Kid smiles.

"It wasn't all bad," he says. "I learned to wax cars."

"Anyway," says Ultra Boy, "our buddies in the 30th century went forward to clobber the Trapper and free us. Which they did. Then we tried to go forward and get the Trapper in his fortress at the end of Time, but he set up another barrier in the 75th century! And try as we might, we haven't been able to breach it yet."

"So yeah, we can take you guys home to the 21st. We just can't get home ourselves."

The Stone Age: Prisoners of 2018 AD!

1. 
   

   "For all I know he's my great great great great great great great great grandfather to the tenth power," Quinn replies, "or any of ours, for that matter. OK, maybe not yours. But if you're thinking of killing him, maybe don't do that. Thanks for the help though."

   
   

   "But no, honored Peltast!" burbles Tellus cheerfully. "The Legion has a code against killing .. it's very strict! No, I wondered if perhaps it was necessary to interfere with his memories of this fight, perhaps to suppress them entirely?"

   
   

   Chin-Su glares at Van-Darr threateningly, before remembering he's not some supervillian or criminal - just a tribal leader from an era that Chin-Su doesn't belong in. He looks around at the futures. "Everyone OK? Nothing broken or missing?"

   
   

   Everyone gives a thumbs up, even Anthro, who binds Van-Darr with his own vines.

   
   

   Except the thin, pale White Witch, who exclaims,

   
   

   "Ultra Boy! What's become of him?"

   
   

   ssssBOOOM! Ultra Boy appears at the speed of thunder.

   
   

   "Hey! I found out why the Time Bubble malfunctioned," he exclaims. "Seems if you try to go forward in time past about 2050 AD, the Time Trapper's Iron Curtain of Time pushes you backwards. And the further you're trying to go, the harder you get pushed into the past!"

   
   

   "Grife, we were only going 1000 years forward!" he continues. "Good thing we weren't trying to get to the 75th century, or we might have ended up clear back at the Dawn of Time!"

   
   

   "So, we can return to the mid-21st century, but no farther?" Karate Kid asks.

   
   

   "I guess!" says Ultra Boy. "But maybe someone in the Justice League can help us with our time-technology."

   
   

   The Legionnaires look at Quinn, who has several weapons invented in the Bronze Age, and Chin-Su, who doesn't. Heck, they might as well look at Anthro.

Hawaii: Disequilibration

Vina realizes this black steel circle looks a lot like the equipment they've been using on prisoners themselves. To take it off, you have to remove both bolts at the same time. Hopefully, between that and her knowledge of Thanagarian tech, she can figure it out.
If she does manage to remove it and he is still out, she'll try CPR.

Pop-pop! Both cerebro-bolts come off at the same time.

Superboy jerks awake, looking around in all directions.

"Wha? Who? When? Where? Where's Tana? Dubbilex, is this a dream? What's goin' on?"

"I'm Vina. We're the subs, and we're fighting Gorilla Grodd. He had you knocked out in a bag, in his ship, and under a lot of lava. We are really new at this but trying our best. I'm sorry, I didn't see anyone else on his ship."

"It's chill, Vina," Superboy returns, testing a smile. "We were just chillaxin on the beach waiting for the next big baddie to pop up, then pow! I'm wrapped in plastic in the middle of the air. Did you say Grodd? Wow, Flash wasn't just making him up."

He turns his neck this way and that, then squares his shoulders and pops his leather collar.

"Ready player one," he says. "Where's the bad guy?"

***

Capn Bill sets his jaw stubbornly, so that his pipe sticks up at a jaunty but fierce angle. "A squall be not of the sea only, ye scurvy ape, but a thing of wind and welkin, too! Ar!"

Capn Bill waves the trident, calling on squall, tempest, whirlwind and waterspout to rise up from the waves and mug the flying gorilla with a few dozen metric tons of briny water.

Or at least rain heavily on him and blow in his face.

Meanwhile, he will call on giant squids, kraken, and great whales to come closer to this shore, and stand by in case the ape falls in the water again.

Grodd roars, pitting his mutant mind against the fury of the storm. Incredibly, he holds back the lashing rain, whipping winds and tempestuous tempests, even pushing them back toward Cap'n Bill! The storm doesn't want to strike its master, but Grodd may leave it no choice!

The squids are in position (kraken are taking a bit longer to arrive from the vasty deeps.) If Grodd dips a little lower, they can grab him.

Jimmy Olsen, Super-Sub, finds himself dashed, crashed and splashed this way and that by the tempest, but his really quite nearly super-senses allow him to continue to perceive all that is happening.

So it is Jimmy, and only Jimmy, who sees three individuals materialize from a purple cloud of energy, hovering in mid-air!

One is a red-headed muscleman with a long red ponytail bound in leather cords, wearing a helmet decorated with lightning bolts and swinging a huge hammer which also has an axe blade on the other end!

One is a thick-bodied robot with little eye slits in its helmet and a long radio antenna sticking up from its left shoulder. In the palms of its clumsy-looking armor are big guns.

And finally, the third individual is a woman in a green leotard with buzzing bee wings on her back. They appear mechanical, attached to an elliptical metal backpack. She flicks out two long knives from her sleeves, extending well past her hands, and shrinks to an inch in size.

These three flying beings look around, locate Grodd, then head for Cap'n Bill. Well, the Axe Guy and the Armor Guy do. The Bee Girl buzzes around from here to there, flitting across the battle area as if searching for something.

Nevada: A Sudden Reinforcement

"Oh, the poor boy! Oh wait. He's the bad guy." 

Kasumi glances around. Can she see where she left Green Lantern? Hoping that he might wake up. Could use backup.

Sighing, she moves towards where he fell, lasso in hand. If she can go by where her tiara fell, she will glance to see if any of it is left, or it is entirely melted into a twisted mess.

Actually, the narrator's placement of adjectives is at fault here. The tiara is fine, unblemished. It's the rock that it fell onto which melted. 

Green Lantern is coming around, but groggy. A brisk shake or palm on the brow would probably bring him back to consciousness.

But she can't do that AND recover Zipperneck at the same time ...

Nevada: Wile E. Coyote, SUUUUPER GEEEENIUS

Kasumi locks eyes with him. She hunches her shoulders and narrows her eyes -- taking a stance that someone once took on an anime when fighting an enemy. She hopes this will make her more effective.

Bracing herself, she throws her tiara...while keeping her other arm ready to block with a bracer, should such a thing be needed.

"You shall not commit evil upon these poor subjects, you....miscreant!"

"Miscreant?" Zipperneck says. "Whaddya gonna do, put me in the stocks?"

Red rays of sizzling heat flash out from his eyes, but immediately track from Kasumi to her whirling tiara, now on course for his head. However, that eyeblink-long wash of heat over her body stings like the very dickens! A more prolonged focus would probably hurt really bad.

The heat vision deflects the tiara, apparently by the sheer momentum of its heat! Which is scienfically just this side of absurd.

Unfortunately, not being made of the mystic metal Uru, the tiara does not return to Kasumi's hand, but thunks into rock, which immediately begins to bubble and melt.

"Oh dear. That is not good," Kasumi starts to wring her hands, but remembers she's supposed to be saving the day. "Nabiki would have handled this so much better...and probably added a backflip, too."

Kasumi thinks about it but decided it is wiser not to try a backflip at this point, especially as she would, most likely, land on her head.

She looks around. Is there any object, like a building, she could run behind, so that she could come at the miscreant from a different direction, perhaps taking him by surprise? If so, she darts behind said building using her winged shoes.

If she can do it so that it looks as if she is afraid and fleeing, and then she sneaks around, all the better.

Indeed, there is an object she can duck behind; an armored semi-truck with a forest of dishes and antennae on top. It is some sort of command post, probably the entity coordinating the Zipperneck-containment operation.

She runs, and Zipperneck tears up the ground after her, throwing dirt left and right like a speedboat in the water. Although Kasumi's winged sandals are quite fast, Zipperneck is faster yet, and she can't quite get out of his line of sight.

He's closing fast, fist cocked for a punch, eyes sizzling. And then one eye goes from terrible red-orange to sickly green, and he misses a step and trips, at the speed of sound.

Zipperneck bumps, flips, rotates and skids half a mile before coming to a halt. There are STADIUMS of dust kicked up by his crash.

Therefore, Kasumi cannot see him, nor he her. But you know, Superman has all kinds of super-senses ...

... and Wonder Woman, as far as Kasumi can recall, does not.

Uh-oh.

The Stone Age: Plumber From the Future!

"Actually," Quinn says, breathing hard, "I wouldn't mind a break, if you want to relieve me."

But he has a plan -- if Karate Kid can turn Van-Darr's attention, Quinn is going to ram the baddy with his shield and try to take him down. Then Kid can pile on and Quinn can tie him up with the whip.

Of course he won't say any of this out loud, since Van-Darr appears to understand English. He'll just wait for Kid to join the fray, and then make his move.


"Crap!" Chin-Su looks at Van-Darr to ensure he's fully engaged, and makes his way to Tellus as quickly as possible. "We need to turn his aerator back on!" Chin-Su examines the machinery for anything obvious.

Well ... 30th-century tech runs largely to colored marbles with glowing liquid inside, but this assembly right here looks a lot like a clogged filter, doesn't it?

Indeed, once it's cleared, bubbles form once more in Tellus' helmet.

"I am revived!" he says. "Is one of the contending bipeds your enemy?"

He points at Van-Darr, squaring off with Karate Kid and Quinn.

Karate Kid spins into an acrobatic attack, coming close with repeated strikes and holding Van-Darr's attention. When Quinn comes almost within lunging range, Van-Darr kicks forward, throwing up jungle dirt and sand, then bolts for the undergrowth.

Quinn blocks the sand, but the dust is still blinding.

Van-Darr gets away, then slows, his arms and legs dragging as though running in deep water. He hangs a few inches off the ground, unable to escape.

"I have him, my friends!" Tellus exclaims. "Does he have any notable offspring, or effect on history?"

Hawaii: Water vs. Fire vs. Gorilla! Paper Covers Rock. Spock Disproves Paper. Lizard Poisons Spock.

"Ha ha ha ha," The Shadow's voice rings out again from the ape's right, "I will not be destroyed  by mind or matter. You, Grodd, are very vulnerable. Give up! Or you and your evil will be buried at the bottom of the ocean!"

If Vina is no longer in the way, Capn Bill will wave his trident in the air, calling on the sea to rise and the winds to blow and flood the area where Grodd is. He hopes Jimmy is super enough to withstand the flood. He also worried about the Shadow, so he calls out:

"Shadow! Ahoy! I mean to scuttle yon scurvy great ape, so avoid with a right will! Haul yourself aloft and make gang way! Ahoy! Ahoy I say! I open the seacock of the sea!"

RRRRROOSSSSH goes the sea, rising in ever-deepening green waves that upset the lava capsule and send Grodd tumbling head over hands into the briny deep.

With a FWASHHH of rock-smelling steam, the tidal wave washes over the hot lava, creating a huge upwelling of steam and smoke that rumbles and roils with bolts of heat-spawned lightning.

Out of that tempest floats Grodd, levitating by telekinesis and heading straight for Jimmy Olsen, his hands stretched out to kill and his jaws slavering to rend!

Having retrieved the body bag, Vina flies in a way so as to avoid a certain gorilla's line of sight. When safely away, she opens the body bag.

Superboy, a fifteen-year old boy with a buzzcut, an earring, a black leather jacket and an "S" leotard, lies within, unconscious. A half-ring of black steel circles his brow from temple to temple.

Hawaii: Whoever Knows, It Sure Isn't Grodd

Capn Bill, trident in grip, will look over the scenery. Where is everyone standing (or floating, or flying, or whathaveyou)

Is there any place a good old flood, tempest, or a squall could irk or wet the Gorilla, without hurting my friends?

Jimmy Olsen is holding up the Lava Dome, so any wave would hit him too. With luck, a tempestuous storm could knock Grodd off the hull and into the lava.

Which would kill him, of course ...

Unless he caught himself with telekinesis, although that would probably break up his current effort of crushing Lady Hawk.

Super-Sub use uses his Super Ventriloquism to wiper to the Cap'n, "This is Jimmy! If you want me to set this down somewhere just say where and i will most likely hear you with my Sub-Super hearing.

Super-Sub works better as a name. Most of his powers, however, are Sub-Super, so I will call them as such.

The cold and sinister voice speaks again, but this time to the Gorilla's left, "Give up Grodd! You are already within my power. There is no escape for you!"

If Vina knows she is blacking out over a lava pit and can't overcome it, she will use the last of her consciensousness to get over the ocean instead of a fiery doom.

If she can push past the blackout, she'll try to break into the capsule with Great Strength and remove the body bag with Great Speed.

Indeed, focusing on the eternal allows Vina to rush forward, tear open the capsule and grab the body bag. It has a body in it.

"RRRRAAAH!" says Grodd, sincerely if inarticulately. He swipes the air, trying to punch the Shadow.

Then his massive gorilla brows lower menacingly.

"You are effective, Shadow. But Grodd's mind is stronger!"

And he makes a massive effort to telepathically distract, dispirit and destroy the mind of a person who isn't there.

It's actually rather comical.

The Stone Age: Where We're Going, We Don't NEED Stones

Chin-Su assumes a fighting stance. "Free them", he says to Sam. "I got your back.

"Well," Quinn says, kicking up the stick Van-Darr dropped without lowering is guard, "a spear's a spear".

He takes a step back and brandishes the pointy stick, trying to draw Van-Darr's attention. "Alright Barney Trubble, let's see what you got."

He's going to fight defensively, doing his best not to let that tonfa touch his body or his shield. If he absolutely must take a blow on the Spartan arm or leg protectors, he'll do that.

Sam thougt for a moment "Hey guys I have an idea!" he says at last "I think I have a way to save them without us changing history."

He then shouts, "Esuod erif dna ekarb seniv."

Flwissh! The vines binding the Legionnaries break. This would have dropped them into the fire, but it goes out, too.

Van-Darr chops, kicks, spins around while kicking low and feints with an elbow smash; none of it gets through Quinn's shield and rapidly shifting stance, although if the elbow smash had been meant as a serious follow-through, Quinn would have a bruise between his eyes right now.

Then Van-Darr flicks the tonfa off to one side, causing its hide covering to slip loose and form a sort of rawhide whip.

This he swings in counter-rotating arcs, trying to whip the leather thong over, or under, or around, Quinn's shield!

He gets really close. But Quinn's full-defense efforts hold him off, though it's wearing him out fast.

Tellus, the big fish-frog, falls on his massive shoulders and lies there, inert. The White Witch tries to adjust his oxygen-water helmet to restore his airflow, but throws up her long-fingered hands in exasperation.

"Machinery is not my focus!" she exclaims. "To master the mystic arts requires a lifetime of concentrated study ... who knows how to fix the machine?"

Karate Kid stands up in a complicated way, the vines falling free (and unknotted) from his limbs.

After a glance at Tellus, he says, "I don't do machinery either," and places a foot forward in a karate stance.

Van-Darr, hearing his footfall, ducks low and rolls, so that Quinn and Karate Kid are at his 10 and 2 o'clock, respectively.

Karate Kid catches Quinn's eye.

"Want to change it up?" he says. "He's expecting you to defend, and me to attack."

"Tellus is turning blue!" the White Witch cries. "I think that's bad for his species!"

The Stone Age: Duel with the Neanderthal Boss!

"As much as it pains me to say", Chin-Su mutters in an aside to his comrades, "We really can't participate in this fight. Who knows what effect on the progression of the human race we might have by tipping the scales of even ONE tribal battle? We need to save the others, and get out of dodge."

"Yeah," Quinn mutters back, "but how do we know our interference isn't already part of what actually happened? In that case if we *don't* interfere, THEN we'll be changing history."

Louder, he says, "hey future people, solve a dilemma for us here. If we lay this Van-Darr guy out and save you, are we changing history or preserving history?" While speaking, he raises his shield in case Van-Darr strikes. He's going to back up, in a kind of a big circle pattern, hoping to get Van-Darr between himself and his (not bound) friends.

Sure, he's Van-Darr is probably just a cave man with two sticks. But you never can be sure these days.

"Well then, lets beat these guys up." Sam says cracking his fist. "Esuod Erif."

HISSSS! The fire goes out.

This does not divert Van-Darr's focus for even a moment, however. He advances toward Quinn, swinging a stick overhead. When Quinn blocks, Van-Darr stabs with the other stick. Quinn twists aside, so the stick just pokes him in the ribs. But Van-Darr's very quick, and seems to have well-developed fighting skills.

And, as it happens, he has snatched the tonfa from Quinn's belt, dropping his swinging stick to do so. A double feint? Wow!

"Your stick is clad in skin," says Van-Darr. "It must be better than a usual stick. Let me see what I can do with it ... to you."

"No!" says the White Witch. "Our decision to come to the past was the result of the same free will you historical people possess. All that happens is part of the past of the far future, so it has already happened. It is not POSSIBLE to change the past through time travel!"

"If untied," says Karate Kid, "I can make short work of these folk, who fight with hands, feet and sticks. Those, I can use very well."

Nevada: Super, Yes ... but Super BAD!

Just to make sure Kasumi is clear about the situation, can you clarify how many people are in the plane?

If Kasume both ran towards the Green Lantern personally with her winged sandals and tried to lasso the plane, is there a chance (based on rough judgment of distance from where she stands. Realize it might not be accurate) of doing both?

If not, has she thrown her tiara at the spiky guy yet? If not, any chance of throwing it at Green Lantern just hard enough to throw him higher in the air? (In hopes of doing both?)

There's one pilot in the plane.

It certainly is possible to catch Green Lantern and lasso the plane, both. The distances are within her ability.

It means ignoring the spiky-haired guy for a moment, though.

Kasumi attempts to lasso the plane...while running at Green Lantern in an attempt to catch him or at least grab him and slow him down as he goes by.

Indeed, Kasumi lassos the plane, catching Green Lantern on the way down. She lowers the plane to earth at the end of her lasso, then can land with Green Lantern, or remain airborne.

Crashing thunders jostle her serenity, however, as Army tanks and artillery continue to try to take down the flailing Zipperneck. His heat vision lances out, shattering a column of trucks and causing the ammo dump to explode.

That's not good!

Kasumi wants to help Green Lantern, but there may be folks in need. She will lay him down beside the plane...in the hopes that the pilot will see to him, and takes off to see if she can save anyone from the explosion (ie use her lasso to pull any living folks away from the burning and collapsing.

On second thought...she will only spend time saving bystanders if they are in a situation where they will be killed if she does not.

Otherwise, she had better go after that baddy, or he will do more damage.

While lassoning someone to safety (if there is anyone), she looks over the situation. What is the opposition up to?

Zipperneck has driven back the soldiers, and is now swivelling his head wildly around, looking for more threats. Since he can fly, his whole body is being thrown around like a rag doll every time he turns his head.

"Come on! I'll take you both together!" he raves. "One, two, all a you! It don't matter! I got the power!"

The livid scar on his neck is an eerie brilliant yellow-green, and green bruises are visible through his torn shirt.

He catches sight of Kasumi. She sees his eyes turn black and lock on.

Hawaii: Meditative Chant of Doom!

Vina presumes Grodd is in telepathic contact with her to be causing this effect.
So she very "loudly" pushes "an OM chant that removes all negative blocks..." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sYK7lm3UKg

Indeed, she is calmed and centered by this chant.

Unfortunately, Grodd's telekinesis is not a telepathic illusion but an actual physical force, albeit generated psychically.

Therefore, she is compressed strongly enough that she feels the strain, even on her resistant body, and begins blacking out as the sound of her heartbeat roars ever louder in her ears ...

Sub-Super uses his Super Ventriloquism to cast his voice to the side on the gorilla and, doing his best Shadow impersonation say, "Ha ha ha ha ha! Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of apes? The Shadow knows! Surrender Grodd, there is no escape!"

Grodd twists around, holding on with one of his thumb-toes, and punches in the direction he imagines the Shadow to be.

"The Shadow, you say?" he snorts. "You may think you know what evil lurks in the heart of Grodd, but you have NO IDEA what DARKNESS I can unleash!"

And he sends a telepathic sending to an imaginary person, with an effect none can describe ... or even perceive.

(Would Super-Sub work better? To me, it sounds like "Super-Substitute", whereas "Sub-Super" sounds like "less than super.)

Capn Bill will call upon his lifetime of being captain, hence taking orders from no man, and his royal dignity as substitute sea king to resist the mental command.

"Arrrgh!" rages Grodd. "WHY WON'T YOU CRINGE?"

And he angrily breaks off from Cap'n Bill's mind, unable to overcome him. Indeed, Grodd is feeling a nagging compulsion to turn out of his bunk and look alive, there, swab that he be.

Then Cap'n Bill commands the fish in the ocean, any who may be in range, to come bring him his magical trident that commands the tempest.

A whale leaps out of the sea, bearing on its broad back a manta ray, which wriggles loose and glides back down to the sea, carrying Cap'n Bill's trident unerringly to his hand.

Cap'n Bill hefts the trident, and with every subtle inclination of his grip, the seas roil in conformity to his will ...

Hawaii: Behind the Lava Curtain Lurks ... GRODD!

Sub-Superman will attempt to use his Super Ventriloquism to through a whispered message to his to allies, "I have a lead. In a fly saucer beneath the lava is the famous evil ape, Gorilla Grodd. Master of Mysterious Powers." He will then use his X-ray Vision to look either Superboy himself, or a spot that Jimmy can't see through.

Cap'n Bill and Vina hear Jimmy's disembodied voice saying Gorilla Grodd is beneath the lava, and he's very mysterious.

Jimmy squints his x-ray vision and makes out a lead-lined bag hanging in a wall locker. It's roughly Superboy-sized, but Jimmy can't see inside it, as his x-ray vision cannot penetrate lead.

Grodd switches on a bank of amplifiers, lowers a seething hot silver dome over his head, and commands, "BEGONE" at a shockingly loud telepathic volume! Jimmy, Cap'n Bill, and Vina, all alike, are struck by a sudden urge to be gone! Which, in Grodd's mental shorthand, means go somewhere else.

Vina uses her (super?)will to resist the negative waves. That and the positivity flowers and becoming a winged lotus above the glassine lava -may-allow her to act. Or speak.

Ever since the camo S appeared on her shirt, Vina has been feeling like, yes, she might have some of those powers. Mighty quick speed. Strong. Tough.

With that combination, she will try...to pull the capsule out of the lava.
Vina dives into the lava head-first, feeling its intense heat like the blazing summer sun, but she doesn't burn. Still, it would be very unpleasant to remain here for any length of time!

Vina is able to grab hold of one leg of the lava-capsule and haul it aloft. Once she breaks the surface of the lava, her Hawk wings can unfold and wing it skyward!

At first, the capsule dips to one side, being too heavy for Vina to hold level. When Jimmy grabs the other side, it levels out, but Grodd probably got rocked from side to side in the interim.

Grodd, sporting spiky spots in his hair which is the furry equivalent of bruising, opens a hatch and climbs out onto the curved surface of his lava dome.

"Why won't you take a HINT?" he roars. "BEGONE!"

And he makes a fist, which is just hanging there in the air. Vina, however, feels a massive strength bind her and squeeze her chest, crumpling her wings against her back. Grodd, in addition to being telepathic, has telekinesis, which he is using to attack Vina from a range at which she cannot reply!

The lava dome dips without Vina holding onto it, but Grodd can also hold it steady with his amazing powers of mind over matter.

Jimmy will use the his Sub-Super Strength to pull out the capsule as well.

The Stone Age:Against the Savages

"Hey Sam," Quinn says, "what exactly can you do with your magic? It would be nice to get a picture of exactly what we can and can't do as a team. And for that matter, I've acquired some gear here," he indicates the rope, tonfa, and other items, "and I honestly don't know what any of it does, other than the obvious. If you have any ideas what these things do, that might help."

Sam shrugs "Well, I can make or break something, control animate or inanimate objects, and, if i can say it, teleport between dimensions. my powers are only limited by how ease it is to say something. for example, it is easier to say rock break, then teleport me to the stone ages." he then looks at Anthro. after a moment of thinking he casts, "Eerf Orhtna." in hopes of freeing Anthro from his other spell.

And just like that, klim-bim, Anthro can move!

He takes off running sunwise.

Assuming the heroes follow him (please advise if you don't) Anthro fetches up in a forest clearing, with trees arching overhead. The White Witch, Karate Kid, and Tellus are suspended upside-down from vine ropes, while cavemen maneuver a wooden cage beneath them. Smoldering in the cage is a campfire.

"The smoke will dry the meat, allowing us to savor it for weeks to come!" says the young black-bearded caveman leader proudly. "None of it will go to waste!"

"But two of them are human," says another caveman. "Not meat."

"Human?" scoffs the leader. "With so little hair, and one as white as snow? Preposterous! Like the monkey, they are shaped like men without being men. Notice how they cannot speak, merely make bar-bar noises like dogs."

"I am sorry, my friends," the White Witch says, "but I prepared no spells useful for putting out fires, or untying knots!"

"It's okay, White Witch," says Karate Kid. "For some reason, our telepathic ear plugs aren't translating our words to these jokers. Ah, but here is the Justice League! Our ear plugs are based on their signal devices; perhaps they can talk to our captors."

Tellus, meanwhile, has his big green frog-eyes open, but appears to be unconscious. There are no bubbles in his water-filled helmet, as there were before.

Quinn knows they probably shouldn't mess with the past too much, so he's going to wait and see what Anthro does. That said, he'll be ready to lasso the three futurists and yank them to safety.

Chin-Su will, indeed, follow Anthro, staying just concealed outside of the clearing. "Anthro!" he hisses in a fierce whisper. "Friends NOT food! These your people?" he indicates the cavemen surrounding the futurists.

"No, Anthro friends not they," replies the dawn-man. "Savages, hurt Anthro friends."

He hefts a rock, taken from the undergrowth.

"Van-Darr!" Anthro exclaims. "The Dawn People land this -- you eat of our folk's fruit! Be away!"

Van-Darr, the black-bearded leader, sneers.

"Anthro," he says, "how easy you are to knowbefore. You come with three friends, and here had three more, whom I have taken. Came you once and together, you had six against my five, but coming in two times, you twice faced five with but three. Once again, I am the hunter, you but the game."

"Yes, Van-Darr, your warknowing outstrongs my people's warknowing. It has ever been so, in the time of my father and his father also. But you bring five men with spears and sticks, while I bring three with magic."

"Unkenning greatsounder!" Van-Darr crows. "Any man may wordsound magic, but only a magicman can seeshow magic! How does your magic do its magic, Anthro? Will you strike me down from where you stand, with no spear between us?"

"Yes," says Anthro, and throws the rock.

Van-Darr cries out and falls down. His men, seeing their leader struck down from beyond the reach of a tall man's arm, indeed, beyond the reach of the longest spear, run away in panic.

Van-Darr springs up, bruised but not broken.

"Magic indeed," he acknowledges. "But it is very hard work to kill Van-Darr."

He snatches up two sharpened sticks (none of the spears have stone points) and advances to one side of the Leaguers, so that he can come at the leftmost person (Quinn, as it happens) without the others coming to his aid.

The Stone Age: A New Ally

Quinn blinks.

"Ooookay. So *how* many people are we trying to return to the 30th century?"

"Four." answered Sam. "And from what Anthro here said, in English no less, it sounds like Ultra Boy is not with the others. Anyway..." Sam thinks back to try and think of a way to break his own spell. "YOu will help us, right Anthro?"

"Anthro find color people friends," he acknowledges. "Let Anthro move now?"

"Depends. Can I have my hand back?"

"Hand tap Anthro," he says, but he lets Chin-Su's hand go.

This causes Chin-Su's hand to snap back up into his shoulder like a pulled windowshade.

"Great. We're all friends now. I'm Chin-Su, by the way. Nice to meet you. Which way?"

"Sunwise," he says, pointing at the setting sun. He tries to walk that way, but his legs won't move.

"Anthro move now?"