Roll Call

"...Well!" Chin-Su says, breaking the perceived awkward silence. "Are introductions in order? Or should they wait until we're all on solid ground?"

"Yeah!" says Roy gratefully. He uses the ring to bring everyone to the same place, which is the street corner in Metropolis where Cap'n Bill, Kasumi, Sam, and Jimmy are standing.

"I'm Roy Thomas, from Gotham. I edit a fanzine and take one class a year at community college. And I picked the Green Lantern ring, obviously! I'm really more a Marvel guy, so I don't know a whole lot about real-life super heroes, just what everyone knows. Like the Annals of Atlantis, the key to the Fortress of Solitude, what the Elongated Man drinks to become stretchy ... the basic stuff."

"Pfft." Chin-Su scoffs at the name of the 'Elongated Man'. "We all drink to loosen up a bit, but that's just sad. Someone should hold an intervention."

ChinBob-Su will slap his stomach and tie himself in a knot again. "I'm JimBob, the Soft Pretzel! And before that, I was just a guy. I know, that's a bit of a THIN backstory, but I'm not one to STRETCH the truth and tell TALL tales!" He unties himself. "I also go by Chin-Su, as I'm still in my cosplay, and quite frankly it's kind of part of me, now."

A slender young woman in he late teens/early 20s flies up. Literally, with wings. Hawk Police style wings, that apparently can take her through space.
In addition to a crime-fighting belt, she also has a lute. And, when she lifts her hawk mask, what appear to be elf ears. Fans of STOS might think she bears a close resemblance to ...

"Hi, I'm Vina."

She has pale blonde hair, green eyes, dimples, and an all-American girl smile.

"I was on the way back from the convention with these guys when the source of powers appeared."

Oddly, although she is wearing mostly the Hawks' gear, there's something woodsy going on with it. Including a camo S shape.

"Um..." Kasumi blinks. "Those people who turned into cavemen. Do they need help?"

"Maybe... how could we get there?" asks Vina.

"Since we are introducing ourselves, I am the world famous magic debunker Sam Skeptic. I am currently holding the powers of Zatanna, and on the run from inter gang, I think."

He shrugs, not knowing if he still owes any money to them, since he paid his debt off right befor he got the Zatanna powers, then bet on them again, losing him more money.

"Anyway, I'm here becuse I lost a bet with the Phantom Stranger, who should be here somewhere. As for Miss Toru's point... yeah, those guys probably need our help. Anyone got any ideas?"

IN THIS ISSUE! THE DEATH OF GREEN LANTERN! is discussed.

Kasumi waits with graceful patience for her tiara to return to her hand.

"Is there need to chase the Kaiju snake? Or should we not concern ourselves unless it returns?"

Cap'n Bill squints, and has concentric circles of aquatic telepathy come out of his head."Down, boy! Down! There's a good boy! Come back and go to sleep just as ye was, with no more moil nor broil wi' any a soul. Back down to the dark deeps with ye, there to sleep until Judgment Day! Worry no man no more, nor cause no splash nor wave when ye go down. Spit out anyone ye've et up. Spit em out now!"

And so on in like manner.

The Midgard Serpent, halfway to Saturn, describes a slithering arc and returns to the Earth, there to slumber until Judgment Day. It doesn't even snap at Vina on the way.

"Okay, so THAT's what you did!" Ultra Boy says. "We just wake up the sea-snake when the Wolf comes back. Gosh, do we have an undersea telepath of our own?"

"I am right here," says Tellus. "I have been in the Legion for two years."

"Oh, right! Good job, new guy," says Ultra Boy.

Tellus sighs. Bubbles fill the visor of his water-globe helmet.

"So I guess our work here is done," says Karate Kid. "See you in the future, Leaguers!"

And the Legionnaires step into their Time Bubble, which does not start.

"Heck," says Ultra Boy. "What's wrong with this crazy thing now?"

Then the Legionnaires, inside the half-transparent Time Bubble, turn into cavemen as the Bubble fades into a Mesozoic landscape.

Kasumi also expresses her condolences to the Green Lantern man for his upcoming heroic demise.

"To do our duty is the best we can do with our life. You are to be commended."

"Oh, well ... there's a lot of Green Lanterns," says Roy. "The brown-haired one, the young black-haired one, the blond one from the Forties ... It's not necessarily me ..."

"Now, now!" says Chin-Su, clapping Roy on the shoulder. "Don't be modest; it's your death! You only get one, you may as well enjoy it!"

"Oh," Kasumi looks extremely embarrassed. "You die an ignominious death? I...had not meant to draw attention to your family's shame."

She bows low, twice, and quickly hurries away to stand over by someone else, looking busy.

Which Way to the Snake Fight?

Vina does some dizzying maneuvers and tries to lure the serpent aware from her nest...er, Earth. Way out in space. If it's cold enough, maybe it will slow down.

When that tiara comes back to her hand, Kasumi narrows her eyes, spits on her palm. rubs her hands together, and throws it again--if she can get one more throw off before it is out of sight.

She aims for its unprotected eye.

Kasumi does not throw her tiara at the eye of the Captain, or Ultra Boy or even Sam, at this time. ;-)

Chin-Su steels himself, ready to dive into the literal belly of the beast. Looking at the massive creature, he realizes the very real possibility that this foolhardy rescue attempt will kill him. Reflecting on that, he is almost surprised to find himself at peace with it.

He thinks back wistfully of the things he's loved in the world. Susie Jenkins, the girl that sat two seats behind him in second grade. Duke, the family hound growing up. His old semi truck, lying in a heap somewhere on Earth at the hands(tentacles?) of a giant octopus.

He feels all this in a split second, and the force of those emotions almost overwhelms him, but he steels himself again. Nodding to Roy, he starts to launch himself towards the giant serpent, and certain death.

Then the serpent coughs Ultra Boy up, rendering his assistance unnecessary.

"Ah, nevermind." he says, and deflates audibly.

The whirling tiara strikes the serpent in its unprotected eye. This causes it great pain, which it blames on Vina, now swooping and diving into the outer solar system. It pursues, knocking asteroids out of the way, and by then it's questionable whether anyone can even see what's happening ...

Except for Kasumi, and Jimmy, and Sam, and Cap'n Bill, for FOUR separate and unrelated reasons!

"There it goes!" exclaims Roy. "But the wolf is still ... no, that chain looks like it's holding. Good job, Zatanna Guy!"

"Guess we better get after it!" he adds. "Wait, is that ... are you the Legion of Super-Heroes, from the 30th century?"

"Indeed, Green Lantern!" says Tellus eagerly. "My condolences on your heroic demise! Although you seem to have recovered."

"Uh, gonna skip right over that ... hey there!" he says to the substitute Leaguers currently in Metropolis. "Need a lift to the snake fight?"

Space Monsters in Space

Sam, having no idea if the rebinding spell on the chain can wear off or not, cast the spell again, "Tup eht Niahc fo Rirnef dnuora Rirnef."

The wolf, still running, dodges. Then it turns to snap at the person messing with its chain, but fortunately Tellus sprays fans of silver and golden sparks, so the wolf turns to chase it again.

"I am playing the role of the squirrel, from Earth mythology!" says Tellus. "Although Doug turned out to be a girl."

"Good, Keep doing that." Shouts Sam. Then, after a moment, he shouts to the guy in the green bubble. "Hey can you get him to stand still? I might be able to bind him then."

He then turns to Captain Bill and asks, "And can you make the giant Snake, Seriously how is that thing real, can you get the snake to cough up the guy he swallowed?"

Roy, the Green Lantern, says, "Sure! This shrink ray is taking too long ..." and shapes his green force field into a green collar, attached to a green chain. He forms the collar right on the wolf.

The wolf then struggles wildly, bending the green chain to the point where it shatters into blue and yellow spectral prisms! But it has been in one place for a while.

This allows the magic chain from beyond to once again ensnare the wolf around the neck! The chain tightens, dragging Fenris back into deep space.

"Cool!" exclaims Roy. "Good job, uh, Zatanno? What name are you going by? We gotta make you a chair for the meeting table ... oh, have you even seen the Watchtower yet? As soon as we're done here, you gotta see it! There's a trophy room, a cosmic map of reality, some chairs ..."

MEANWHILE ...

Chin-Su inflates his chest like a balloon... (or a lung, I suppose)... and taps Roy on the shoulder. "Could you let me out of the bubble? I think I can help that guy that just got slurped by the serpent."

He then:

1. Travels the vacuum of space by pointedly-deflating his balloon chest for propulsion.

2. Makes his way to the mouth of the snake, where he wraps his legs around its jaw before diving head-first into its gullet, pushing forward far enough until he finds Ultra Boy.

3. Grabs Ultra-Boy and recoils back to the mouth of the beast, and

4. Hopes against hope that he's stretchy enough to resist explosive decompression.

All four of these efforts succeed! But the snake's mouth is closed.

Vina hopes that something in her unexplored and motley collection of powers will help her resist vacuum.

She exits the green force bubble and knocks the serpent in the head with the space mace. Hard. If that works, it will be easier for Chin-Su to get Ultra Boy out. If it doesn't, well, birds are sorta related to reptiles...aren't they?

Kasumi throws her tiara at the serpent.

KLOCK! The mace thumps hard on miles-thick bone.

WhishwhishwhishwhishPTINNG! The tiara rebounds ringingly from miles-thick bone.

The Midgard Serpent angrily hisses, flaring its massive hood to threaten whoever has dared to hit in the head. Apparently both blows really hurt.

This allows Chin-Su and Ultra Boy to escape!

"Thanks!" says Ultra Boy. "I can only use one power at a time, and I had to keep my invulnerability up, or I'd be snake food! Which meant I couldn't punch my way out, or give it a stomach-ache with my flash vision."

"I don't recognize you from our research cloud," he continues. "Are you Urania, the Element Girl? Or Shade, the Changing Woman?"

Enraged, the serpent slithers in space after Vina, the Lady Hawk. It's not coming after Kasumi, perhaps in the somewhat justified belief that the Earth isn't going anywhere.

MEANWHILE:

Jimmy says to Cap'n Bill standing next to him, "Mr. Captain sir, you called the Midgard Serpent here right? Could you tell him to spit out Ultra Boy and leave?"

Then the above happens. So Ultra Boy doesn't need rescuing. Still a big serpent, though.

(Cordelia: Harmony! Haven't seen you since ... uh ...
Harmony: Graduation. Big snake, huh?)

Eight Against Doomsday. Plus Four!

Chin-Su looks at the moon being used as a support beam for a ridiculously huge snake, and sighs. "That is NOT going to be good for the tides."

Jimmy, slightly startled when a voice comes out of his costume, quickly regain's his composure and responds to the vice coming out of his clothing, "This is Jimmy Olsen, Superman's Substitute trying his best to help. Over."

"Okay, Jimmy. I'm Vina, but they are calling me Ladyhawk. I picked up the Hawks' powers. Mostly that. Want a lift to space, or are you good?"

Kasumi raises her hand in a gesture of triumph and definance. "Clearly destiny became confused--maybe it drank too much saki--when it chose me rather than Nabiki. But as I am here now, I will rise to the occasion and SMITE EVIL!"

Then she looks around shyly, "Um...what do we do now?"

"That's the spirit!" says Vina, aka the female voice.

"Roy--that's the guy with the ring--is going to make a shrink ray. If we don't come up with any better ideas, they can go into the Ghost Zone. Doubt if they have the chops to get out. That's the plan, and we can distract them while Roy gets the beam on them. Unless you have a better idea?"

Jimmy sees who is speaking! A blond woman in an elf costume, complete with bow, and a pair of wings. She has upswept pointed ears and a somplex symbol of leaves and branches on her chest.

This woman is inside a green force-bubble, which also contains an anime girl in blue and yellow, a man in red and gold with a shining silver shield, and a fellow with long blond hair wearing a Green Lantern uniform. He is, as you might expect, the source of the force bubble.

Those in the bubble, however, cannot see Jimmy. So Roy uses the ring to project their image on the inside of the bubble. Jimmy Olsen is in a Superman-inspired costume, and with him are a Japanese girl with various items of Wonder Woman paraphernalia, a grizzled old sea captain with a peg leg, and a fellow in a suit and tie who is looking intently at everything, as if trying to see how the trick works. Naturally, they appear entirely in shades of green.

Roy, the Green Lantern, says,

"Hey, I bet those are our Earth-2 counterparts! Am I the sea captain?"

JimBob, suddenly self-conscious of his Chin-Su costume, shakes his head at Roy. "Naw, it's the rest of the team! Look, we got..."

He gestures at Jimmy. "Superman, clearly. There's-" He points to Kasumi. "Wonder Woman, I assume, and..." He waves a hand at the sea captain. "That guy from Simpsons, and finally... Uhh..." (Looking at suit and tie guy) "I'm going to go with Batman, which is just a REALLY bad draw when it comes to inheriting super powers."

He will rudely stretch his head over to Vina's radio. "AHEM. WHICH OF YOU PUNCHES THE HARDEST?"

Sam shakes his head. "None of us! I'm Zatanna's substitute so nothing there, The Captain who no one can understand took fish control as is main power, Kasumi can hit pretty hard with her tiara, and Jimmy here is a master of super ventriloquism not strength or flight. Can any of you guys hit hard?"

Roy fires forth a beam of energy, which plays upon the great wolf Fenris and does indeed shrink him a little bit. The same beam, turned on the Midgard Serpent, reduces it a little.

"This is going to take a while to have any effect!" he warns. "Uh-oh."

Both mythological monsters have paused in their combat and are looking at the green bubble containing the Gotham Leaguers: Chin-Su, Peltast, Lady Hawk, and Green Lantern.

The Serpent uncoils really fast for something so large, and the wolf bounds off the surface of the moon, getting a good boost. Both will strike the sphere within seconds!

Then the snake piles up, its coils flopping this way and that, as a colorful costumed athlete leaps into its path!

"Whew!" says Ultra Boy. (No, the Gotham Leaguers haven't seen him before.) "Using my ultra-energy for invulnerability was enough to stop this snake! Now if I switch to ultra-strength ..."

The Midgard Serpent swallows Ultra Boy whole, tossing its head to throw him down its gullet.

"Grife, not again!" he shouts before being swallowed.

Meanwhile, Tellus, a large gorilla-armed fish-frog, swims past the wolf's face, trailing flashing sparks and exploding showers of colored light!

The wolf turns to pursue the sparkly thing.

"My spell of spectacle was a good choice to memorize before we came to this century," says the White Witch. "Now, Karate Kid, finish him!"

"Flawless victory," says the Kid, and flies after the wolf, apparently planning to karate-chop it.

So at least for the moment, the Gotham contingent isn't going to get swallowed.

A Call Goes Forth!

The Midgard Serpent and the Wolf of Doom are really going at it! Grr!

From the Justice League signal device in each substitute's costume (usually a belt buckle, but it varies) a feminine voice calls,

"Any superpowered, good-natured folk trying to help out the situation? Over?"

(Please reply at http://justicetemps.blogger.com. If unable to, please advise at msolarman@hotmail.com)

A Call To Arms

"Really?" Chin-Su looks in amazement at Roy. "THAT'S what you're concerned with?"

"If we stop at the Aerie in Midway City, we could get the spaceship..."

Roy is surprised.

"Well, I don't want to attack the wrong one, Chin-Su!"

"And Vina, we don't need the ship. My ring can take us into space!"

The sky darkens to black, as the stars come out, and the glowing blue curve of the Earth rolls away to one side.

"I'm pretty sure ..."

Vina looks at the Earth. Are the marks in the ground more snake-like or wolfy?

The tracks in the Arctic are sinuous, such as a snake might make.

Having heard they were more snake-like.... but that the wolf was heading to the Earth... Vina asks if anyone could make a shrink ray...

Roy exclaims, "I could sure give it a try!"

And when he does, the airtight bubble around everyone starts to fade into invisibility.

"Whoops!" says Roy. "Okay, can't do two things at once. Good to know! So now I'll make a shrink ray INSIDE the bubble ..."

Chin-Su looks from the planet-sized serpent to his hand, and wiggles his fingers helplessly. "My time might be better spent helping out in Gotham."

He adds under his breath "...if there's anyone left to help."

There aren't any other supers around here, are there? Vina calls out on the radio.

"Any superpowered, good-natured folk trying to help out the situation? Over?"