Post by lawrenceliberty on Jun 9, 2017 18:41:20 GMT
Solar Legion!: The Universe Against Us!
By lawrenceliberty
The Solar Legion is Reborn After Tragedy!
1
3014
A young man with a grim expression on his otherwise handsome face made his way over several force field barriers to reach a scene of true tragedy and loss. The rubble had been only partly removed by servo-droids since it was in fact still a crime scene. Could the loss of hundreds of lives be seen as something as mundane as a mere crime? Would such an act of senseless slaughter be more appropriately called warfare or terrorism?
Dash Gordon pushed a lock of reddish-blond hair out of his eyes and glared at the place where so many people had died. His gaze was piercing at the best of times but on this occasion anyone close to him would say that the pupil’s of his blue eyes were flickering with an electrical energy of some kind!
This was fitting since the heir of the throne of the Kingdom of Alana on the planet Mongo was a living dynamo. Ever since an accident years before had given the reckless youth and his two younger siblings the ability to generate lightning, Dash’s fiery temper had been matched by physical manifestations of his moods as embodied by flashing bolts of heat energy. Now, his metabolism had changed so that he no longer truly generate bolts of power but his was able to contain raw energy and direct it toward enhancement of any of his physical attributes like strength or speed or a form of invulnerability.
Dash had never had a particularly good relationship with the close-knit twins Drake and Della but he loved them and he felt protective toward them now that he had matured and some of his old anger had been replaced by a sense of freedom. As a teen he had bitterly resented the fact that as the eldest he would have little choice in what role he would play as an adult. He had been treated harshly by the regent his Uncle Dargo and indifferently by his mother Dorra. This sense of helplessness had fueled his sense of youthful rebellion and he had lashed out at the only targets he could safely strike: his two younger siblings! Now, he felt regret and his anger seethed inside at himself.
This scene of death and loss was personal to him because his brother Drake had died here. He was sorry for the others who perished in the explosion but his true feelings centered around the loss of his brother. Drake had left their home for Earth in search of Dash himself who had run away from their planet after a heated exchange with their Uncle Dargo. The two had never found one another since Dash had only been on earth for a brief time. Now, he had returned to mourn for his brother and to find answers about his death. He doubted very seriously if those answers would grant him any peace or lessen his own guilt.
“He wouldn’t have died if he hadn’t come here looking for me!” he said softly.
A gentle hand touched his arm and sparks crackled around his body for a moment before subsiding. He looked down at his sister Della. She was beautiful and delicate featured and yet she had more spunk and courage than either of her brothers. She was also confident because she had been her Uncle’s favorite and had never suffered his wrath like the boys had. She had powers of her own that had evolved in their own direction much as Dash was not the same man he had been after their accident.
Della said, “Don’t blame yourself. If you blame yourself that Drake disappeared then you have to give yourself credit for all the good he did as Live Wire and for the good he and his friends did as the Solar Legion! “
She referred to the fact that Drake Gordon and two other visitors to Earth had saved the wealthy J.J. Kord from killers and in doing so their teamwork had inspired the old genius to have them form a team of champions from across the universe. This Solar Legion was to embody the ideas of cooperation Kord hoped would result from the creation of an inter-planetary governing body called the Commonwealth of Federated Planets. Drake had called himself Live Wire and had become a true hero.
Dash gritted his teeth. He swallowed hard and kept cool even though he hated it that Della was still insisted that Drake had merely disappeared instead of dying. She was always perky but she was delusional if she felt their brother had not died with all the others in the explosion that turned the Solar Legion press conference into the worst tragedy to strike Earth in centuries.
At that moment three uniformed officers from the Space Police approached and warily warned the siblings to step away from the scene.
“I don’t know how you managed to cause all those force fields to drop at once but whether it was a malfunction or some kind of stunt on your part, you can’t stay here! This is no place for kids!” said the burly head officer.
Della touched Dash on the arm and smiled winningly at the Space Policeman.
“Sorry, sir. We were just curious! I dared my brother to come here. It was a game!” she said.
The officers directed them away from the scene as Dash fumed silently. Could she really flirt her way out of anything?
As they rounded the corner and the police fell out of view, Dash scowled and said, “The explosion that killed Drake happened there and I wanted to study the scene. I wanted to find out who caused it. We could have taken those goons out easily!”
“That would only attract more attention than you need! You’ll find your answers but not by acting like a bully. You have to use your brains now that you are in the position within which your background has placed you.”
“What do you know about me?” demanded Dash as he faced a shadowy figure who had seemingly stepped directly out of thin air.
“You are the oldest of the Gordon siblings. You are a direct descendent of the legendary Flash Gordon. You are expected to take the rule of Alana from your Uncle Dargo the Regent but you have to live long enough to do that and your temper might make that possibility distinctly unlikely!” said the man in the gray trench coat.
“Is that a threat? What’s with your costume? Is that mask and your skull ring supposed to impress me?” said Dash.
“It may not impress you but it could easily leave an impression upon you!” said the gray clad man.
“I am the Gray Ghost and I want to help you solve the Solar Legion murders! I believe your brother was innocent as were his friends. They didn’t set off that explosion nor were they to blame for it.”
Della admired the gray costumed figure’s rippling muscles and athletic grace. She also recognized the name he used.
“The Ghost Who Walks! You’re immortal or so the legend goes! You’ve fought injustice for centuries!” she said breathlessly.
The Gray Ghost smiled slightly and said, “Call it a family vocation. I will help you solve your brother’s murder if you’ll allow it!”
Dash said, “We don’t need you. What do you know anyway?”
“He knows that the blast of energy that nearly leveled this city and killed hundreds of innocent people was not caused by your brother or his friends although the origin of the blast came from one of them.
Kid Quantum was supposed to have been a direct descendent of Captain Atom himself and he did share the same kind of energy based metabolism. Something caused the Kid’s body to release all its energy at once. Something turned that young hero into a living bomb!”
The words came from an alluring woman with waist-length tawny brown hair and a shapely figure. She was ravishingly beautiful and spoke in an almost hypnotic manner. She wore a long green dress and heels. She had approached as silently as her companion.
“My name is Morgause. I have certain gifts that allow me to see beyond the mundane world. I assure you that we can assist you in your quest for justice. We were both guided here by dreams sent to us by Queen Adora of Valma. The so-called Dream Queen was a member of the Solar Legion and she survived the explosion that killed her friends. She sent us visions that led us here. She used her magical powers to guide us and she wants to see her friends avenged! ”
Dash said, “You’re talking nonsense! We have so-called Witch Queens on my world too but there is no way that Woman survived a blast that killed super powered beings like my brother or Astra the Wonder Girl!”
Morgause said, “The Dream Queen survived because she and her handmaiden Glamour were never really here. Both women were merely dream images created by Adora herself who never leaves her planet since it is her eternally sleeping body that empowers the magic of the planet!”
Della said, “Drake isn’t dead. I would know if he had died. He is alive but I don’t know where he is!”
Dash said, “She keeps saying that but he was no dream ghost. Our brother was a normal man except for the power he had over lightning!”
The Gray Ghost looked down into the girl’s big blue eyes and he smiled slightly.
“I believe you! The blast that came from Kid Quantum was caused by a tightly focused remotely directed beam of solid light energy. You do know about that particular source of power?” he said softly.
Della said, “The kind of beam supports and supplies the energy that enables the city of the Hawkmen to survive high above our world of Mongo.”
Morgause said, “And it is on Mongo that we will find the answer to who caused the tragedy to occur to begin with. Someone on your home world wanted to kill the Legion and blacken its name at the same time by making them seem to be responsible for the explosion!”
Dash said, “Okay, we’re with you but I still don’t trust either of you.”
Morgause said, “My ancestor Mandrake was often distrusted as well but he always made people believe in his power and his courage eventually!”
2
Meanwhile, within a heavily secured medical facility doctors, nurses, and diagnosto-robots went about their respective duties while Space Police waited outside a special chamber.
Within the room two unusual patients remained in very odd conditions.
A young black girl named Jenni Ognats, the super swift XS of the Solar Legion, was unconscious but her body vibrated every few minutes until her otherwise still form became a blur before returning to motionless insensibility.
“She must have tried to vibrate her molecules so that the quantum blast could not harm her but while she appears intact, she has not awakened or has her body stopped its random pattern of molecular vibrations since she was found at the blast site!” said an aging doctor.
“Did she merely assume she could survive the blast or was she unaware of what was going to happen? Were the Legionnaires victims or villains?” he said slowly.
Her grandfather Mike “Impulse”Karr was a true champion both in his own era of the twentieth century and during the brief time he lived in our own era. I hope for the legacy of that great hero, she was not a killer but merely a scapegoat or victim!” he continued.
He walked out of the room without doing more than glancing at the other Legionnaire who had seemingly survived the blast. Zoe “Scarab” Saugin of Alpeh was not related to any famous hero of the past; however, the fiery redhead had become bonded with an ancient scarab found by her archaeologist mother on a dig. This scarab had apparently once belonged to one of the legendary dynasty of heroes known as the Blue Beetles! At that moment of impact, the girl’s customary blue chainmail stylized costume had transformed into a huge carapace that enveloped her entire body. No effort to pierce its shell had succeeded and she had been brought to the medi-center within the huge protective shell. No one knew if she was alive within its embrace or not.
The doctor who departed on his rounds had been dutiful and observant but he failed to notice a shadow where no humanoid shape should have been.
This shapely female shadow detached itself from the wall and walked to the bedside of the stricken XS with the regal grace of a warrior queen!
She was very lovely with flowing black hair and heavily painted dark eyes. She wore a black leotard with little decoration beyond two lacy sleeves that enveloped her slender arms and delicate hands and a brief black lace skirt that she wore over the opaque leotard.
“Paurve child!” she whispered before she gestured and was swallowed up by the shadows again.
She emerged into the night outside the facility where a courtly man in an armored costume of blue and black bowed low over her gracefully extended hand.
“Milady, is there any change in their condition? Have you noticed any threat to their recovery? Our foe is ruthlessness personified as well you know. He would stop at nothing to cloak his own dark deeds in a shroud of night!” he said.
She smiled sadly at the chivalrous man known only as Justiciar and said, “No. I neither saw signs of recovery or indications of malicious intent from those around the girls!”
“Then, even in this strange new world, we shall wait within the loving embrace of the shadows until they receive either sweet mercy or swift justice!” said the Dauphine of Darkness.
3
The Hubcore Port was one of the galaxy’s busiest shipping centers. Starcraft arrived and departed from the huge facility on a regular basis and the cargo unloaded or loaded on those ships was often highly valuable. Thus, when the Space Police patrols scheduled for the city was doubled for the Port it was completely normal and not a waste of resources in spite of Commander Rex Lansing’s famous love of budget control.
One day as the normal routine of the ‘Port was interrupted by the sudden arrival of thugs riding anti-grav platforms and armed with laser rifles, the thieves were more surprised than their would be victims a lovely woman with Asian features smiled warmly and walked straight toward the criminals.
She wore a brief green robe that stopped above her knees and matching slippers. The green garment glistened with an iridescent shine that indicated its quality and its unique nature. Nothing like that fabric had been seen on Earth in centuries!
She looked up at the anti-grav platforms and their riders above her head. She was petite and seemed to enjoy the attention she received for her striking good looks.
“I wish we had more time! I’d like to take that looker on a ride to the dark side of Luna!” said one of the goons.
Before his allies could respond, the girl suddenly surged upward and casually slapped two of the men to the ground with stunning force.
She had not flown or left the ground. She had simply grown into a giant! She brought one knee up and broke another flying disk into scrap metal.
As she ignored the laser fire that bounced off her bare legs as if they were merely the bites of some inconsequential insects, the last three thieves tried to flee.
She grinned playfully and gripped one platform with a finger before abruptly shrinking to normal size and kicking the occupant off the edge. She aimed her hastily commandeered platform and aimed it straight at the other two!
“She’s crazy!” cried the nearest thief.
He tried to dodge but the girl leaped off her disk and landed on him with both feet. He screamed and toppled off the disk while she spun around and abruptly vanished as the final rider sailed directly through her position without touching her! She had simply vanished!
He gasped and then gulped as something tugged at the leg of his garment and he glanced down to see the strange girl grinning up at him. She was perched on the control board with her legs crossed like some ancient pin-up girl from the distant past. Before he could touch her, she switched off the craft and allowed it to fall.
Before impact, she grew to giant size once more and casually caught the falling goons.
“That was wild! We have to do that again!” she said as she blew kisses to the startled thieves and watched as the Space Police arrested the gang.
“Who are you?” cried a Patrolman.
She winked at him and said, “Back home in Japan, they call me Naishinno Kaizen!”
She raced off with giant strides and left the officer to shrug and say, “Japan? What galaxy is that in?”
In a distant alley, the green robed girl resumed her normal size and giggled until she caught sight of several costumed men.
The tallest man wore his long blond hair and beard in a shaggy manner but he was handsome and his every look seemed to radiate nobility. He wore a silvery helmet with wings.
“Fair one, you have entirely too much of a love for attention!” he said with a booming laugh.
“Storm King, you loved every minute! In fact you always like to see me in action!” she said defiantly.
“Aye, lass, That I do!” he admitted.
A blond man with a much smaller build laughed loudly and said, “ You do know how to put on a show! I don’t think anyone in this era can match you!”
As he smiled a nimbus of light seemed to glow around his handsome but boyish features.
“You, Star Tsar are a man after my own heart!” said Naishinno Kaizen!
A scowling dark haired man with a very carefully groomed goatee stroked his mustache and said nothing. Count Thunder was never very cheerful or talkative.
A white haired man in red and green cleared his throat and the others fell silent in respect.
“You did what was necessary but if we are to achieve our goal and find peace in this time and place, we must keep focused on our goal. Our old enemy prowls the spaceways and his goals are as dark as ever. Regicide will rule the universe or destroy it. It matters not that we are lost in a time not our own. It can not change our mission. We are not at full strength. We have lost the Three but we that remain of the Twelve will fight onward as always we have. We may have lost our kingdoms and our very Earth and subjects are no more but we have the obligation to protect lesser beings no matter where we find ourselves!”
“Leave it to Karak to make a speech!” whispered the Star Tsar.
Two other women in colorful costumes watched quietly. The tall blonde wore a red, white, and blue costume with stars and stripes emblazoned on the short skirt and top. Next to Lady Americana, stood the lovely Celestial Empress in her luxurious robes of the finest gossamer silk.
These remnants of the fabled Twelve of the now lost Earth 6 were as valiant as ever though lost in a time not their own.
4
Dash Gordon remained silent and patently suspicious as the Gray Ghost’s sleek spacecraft the Hero docked at the Royal Spaceport on Mongo in the Kingdom of Alana. He didn’t like the way his sister was staring at the man in gray nor did he approve of the man’s easy self-confidence. As for Morgause, she seemed entirely too pleased with herself for her own good. Gordon shrugged and tried to calm down. After all, he was home. This was his domain or it would be once his Uncle Dargo gave up his role of Regent. That was a mere formality. Gordon had always known that the title was meant for him to claim. He had merely been annoyed by the way this royal destiny seemed to limit his personal freedom. He wanted to rule but he didn’t want to be told how to do so. Now, when he thought of poor Drake he realized how stupid he had been to waste so much time in blind anger at everyone around him.
Della smiled eagerly as their group was welcomed by a squad of royal guardsmen.
“It is good to be home. I’ve missed everything about the place! Still, everywhere I look I seem to see Drake!” she said as her smile faded.
Dash hesitated. He had never known how to comfort his sister except to order her to stop crying.
The Gray Ghost said, “It does you credit but it also will eventually be a comfort to you to have so many happy sights and sounds that you may association with Drake.
Morgause leaned closer to the Ghost and whispered, “For all of the pomp and splendor I fear this realm is dominated by rank evil of the basest kind. I know the difference between reality and illusion and this all seems far too good to be true!”
He nodded and said, “I’ve never been comfort in this type of setting. Give me the open spaces or space itself!”
Dargo Gordon was a tall, stately looking man with a slightly sardonic manner. He looked every inch the ruler and he carried himself with an air of regal superiority.
“The prodigal returns at last! It is good to have you back. We should be together at such a time of loss and shame. We must unite as a family and face what Drake has done!” he said as he approached them between two rows of silent guards.
Della, usually his favorite, frowned and her eyes flashed with energy as she said, “What do you mean? Drake didn’t do anything. The bomb blast was triggered by solid light that means it came from here!”
Dash said, “She’s right. Drake and his Legion friends were pawns or victims. I never did think the kid had it in him to kill anyone like that!”
Della added, “Our friends have come to help us prove Drake is innocent!”
She bit her tongue and stopped talking as she met her uncle’s stare. She loved him but something in his demeanor made her stop before she declared that she believed her brother was still alive!
Dargo scowled and then resumed his air of placid superiority.
“Your guests are welcome but this is a matter of state and outsiders need not meddle!” he said.
The Gray Ghost said, “I have a long history of what you dismiss as meddling. I don’t think you and I will see eye to eye about what role Morgause and I should take. I generally do exactly what I please if I think justice dictates it!”
Dargo said, “This is no place for a debate. You will be shown traditional Mongo hospitality. Rooms and refreshments await you all. We will ignore your uninformed ideas and ill-chosen words.”
As the group left the royal reception room behind them and descended several stories on gently descending hover-lifts, the mood changed.
“I’ve never known Uncle Dargo to act so coldly. I almost found him frightening!” said Della.
“He’s a bully. You just aren’t used to being his target!” said Dash.
At that moment the anti-gravity platforms lurched and lost all power!
The foursome plunged downward to what would have certainly been a fatal drop!
Della gasped and then focused the energy within her petite body until a startling transformation occurred! The girl become a humanoid shaped bolt of lightning and she flew back upward with her own power.
The Ghost abruptly stopped his own fall with a series of incredible acrobatic flips that enabled him to brace himself against one wall and anchor himself by planting a device that covered one palm against the side. It held him in placed and glowed with a faint light of its own.
Morgause was also safe in the arms of Dash Gordon as the young man flew upward by channeling his internal lightning toward super human flight.
They emerged unscathed and Dash slammed his fist through a wall.
“That was no accident. Someone wanted to kill us before we could expose the true killer who bombed Earth!” he said.
Morgause smiled and said, “My thanks for your timely help. You two are a remarkable pair!”
Dash nodded and said, “These powers have always been more of a curse than a blessing but they may come in handy now!”
Before they could replay the entire group was abruptly surrounded by guards who acted as if they had hostile intentions toward the foursome.
“You won’t be so lucky next time! Dargo won’t allow you rebels to taint the reputation of Mongo or the legendary name of Gordon!” said a towering guardsman.
Drake said, “Dargo? You mean, your Regent? He rules in my name only and that will end soon enough! I’m the heir of Flash Gordon!”
The guards rushed at them and suddenly passed directly by their position.
“They slipped away but we will soon catch them!” declared the head guardsman.
Morgause smile bewitchingly and said, “I felt a bit of illusionary misdirection might serve our cause better than a brawl. I know these men are only following orders.”
Dash said, “I’ll teach them who their master is! I’m the rightful ruler not my arrogant uncle!”
At that moment a green cloud of eldritch energy swallowed them up at once and they collapsed to the ground.
An armored man in black and gold approached and looked down on the fallen heroes with approval.
“Your pretty tricks can not deceive a master of the mystical arts! This has been nothing more than a moment’s amusement. I am almost sorry that the heir of Flash Gordon will be so little a challenge to the power of Regicide!” he said.
Dash groaned and opened his eyes to see a darkened chamber. He could not move or use his powers. He was caught like a fly in amber within a stasis field. Blinking and breathing were apparently all he could manage while contained within the grip of the energy field. The others were trapped in energy prisons of their own and as his eyes adjusted to the darkness he gasped in recognition. There were other prisoners within the dungeon and he knew them all either from past contact or by reputation.
The first prisoner was a beautiful if rather exotic looking woman with long blonde hair. As striking as her personal allure was, she was more remarkable because of her majestic wings and ornate battle armor.
“Princess Valkyria of the Domain of the Hawk People!” thought Dash.
Next to the Winged heir of the legendary King Vultan was a burly leonine figure with a heavy mane and the feline features of the Lion Men! Dash knew this intimidating figure well since they had played together as boys. Juvor was the Prince of the Lion Men and a direct descendent of the celebrated Kings Jugrid and Thun who were Flash Gordon’s allies.
The next captive was a delicate looking woman with pale skin and long white hair. She wore a very elegant pale blue gown and heels. She was Fria the Ice Maiden who was in turn the rightful heir to the Kingdom of the Frigia.
The last prisoner was a weird looking humanoid with the features and teeth of a shark. He wore a green tunic and his eyes seemed to carry a palpable menace even through the amber-like energy field. He was Prince Salk of the Shark Men.
Dash realized that the rightful heirs to most of the Kingdoms of Mongo were prisoners of his Uncle Dargo. None of this made sense but he would break free or die trying and he would get the answers he needed one way or another! He owed this to Drake’s memory.
5
Lord Volt (Karak) was not overly contemplative by nature. He had been born to rule and he had the courage and power to do so. He and his allies in the Royal Assemblage known as the Twelve had ruled their world and they had done so with compassion and valor but they had failed to safeguard their planet during a cosmic Crisis and all of them carried a heavy burden of guilt …even the flirty Naishinno Kaizen.
He sighed heavily as he recalled the day he lost everything. On July 18, 1985 red skies, powerful storms, and a deadly wall of unyielding white swept across Earth 6, as some called it, and destroyed the planet. That was the simple story of how a world and most of its natives died but there was much more to it.
When the odd storms began, Karak and his allies met and quickly divided up to investigate. He and his wife Tashanna, Lady Quark, and their daughter Princess Fern a.k.a. Lianna set out to protect their frightened subjects and to strengthen their resolve to survive merely by allowing them to see the Royal Family was not going to allow them to perish. The others tracked down a powerful energy source to one of the hidden labs that belonged to the sinister scientist/magician known as Regicide. Regicide was a genius. He was a handsome almost beautiful man with an intellect others could only dream of possessing. He was wealthy beyond belief and he was a skilled athlete. However, he was a commoner and this fact embittered him to the point where nothing he had could assuage his rage at what a simple fact of birth had denied him. He could not be a Royal nor could he rightfully rule. He dedicated his resources to attacking all Royals and he vowed to eradicate all those who called themselves nobles. He would kill the Twelve and he would prove to their subjects that he was their superior in spite of being of humble birth. It was a mania. He was brilliant but he was also touched by madness. He had opposed them countless times and he had come very close to triumphing on more than one occasion. He had murdered Count Thunder’s beloved wife the Countess Fury and he had destroyed much of the Storm King’s mountainous domain. Now, as weird weather plagued their world, the 12 sought an answer and found a powerful energy source within their old foe’s latest lab.
“Your infernal machines shall never make us submit!” The stentorian shout had come from the always valiant Storm King as he led his friends into the lab.
He released a blinding bolt of energy as the boyishly handsome Star Tsar gleamed like a human sun!
The two shattered the protective shielding that covered the pulsating device that so-dominated the lab. It had led them there to begin with and surely the odd creation was the source of the red skies and white energy that threatened their world.
Regicide cursed them in his rage as he saw his invention erupt in a blazing cloud of raw energy!
“You blind fools! I was trying to save my world not destroy it! Now, you’ve shattered my quantum stabilizer! The ruin of this planet be upon your Houses!” he shouted as energy swept over them all!
The quantum energy had not killed the eleven heroes or their foe. All of them had been tossed through time and space and had emerged separately on a different earth and in the far future. Their world had died in the Crisis. They knew this by some shared instinct. They grieved for their loved ones and their lost subjects. They also found one another in time and united once more to face this strange new universe.
Karak had nearly died as well but he was saved by a mysterious woman named Lyla who wanted to use him for her own purposes. His wife and child had also survived but they had been rescued by different people as well. He had reunited with them both only to sacrifice himself by hurling himself and Lyla herself into the time stream in an effort to safeguard his family’s new world!
He had emerged here and had been found immediately by the surviving members of the 12. Three of their members had perished after their time displacement but now the remaining nine were once again together. Volt Lord, Lady Americana, Count Thunder, Storm King, the Star Tsar, the Celestial Empress, the Justiciar, Naishinno Kaizen, and the Dauphine of Darkness were united again. The odd dreams of the Dream Queen enabled them to realize that Regicide was at large once more and that he was somehow behind the plot to destroy the Solar Legion and blacken their name. Naturally, he would want to eliminate any possible opposition to his plans of conquest and murder.
“We shall stop him and we will find a way home again!” he vowed once more.
6
Dash was still trying to find a way to escape from the stasis field in the dungeon below the Royal Palace on Mongo when the field abruptly dropped and all of the captives reacted to their new freedom in different ways. They had all been awake and aware of their surroundings and most of them recognized Drake and Della on sight.
“So your Uncle Dargo finally revealed his true stripes!” growled Juvor, Prince of the Lion Men!
Dash nodded and said, “Apparently so. We always complained about his attitude when he would give us grief over the times we used to race those old hovercrafts in the desert! I didn’t really think he’d try to kill me though!”
Fria said, “We owe you our freedom! He captured us all with the help of a black armored madman called Regicide. This Regicide has strange powers beyond my own magic or the science your people use!”
Morgause said, “He is a powerful mage. I can sense as much now that we are in such close proximity to him! He is coming here as we speak!”
The Gray Ghost said, “We better get out of this confined space while we can!”
Fria flounced across the room in an oddly dainty manner and gestured broadly with one slender arm. The prison door crackled as ice covered it and then shattered it into so many shards.
Like most of the super powered natives of the various kingdoms of Mongo, Fria’s own power had evolved over the centuries down her family line. Her ancestor in the days of Flash Gordon had lacked innate power.
Della said, “What broke the stasis field? It was there one minute and gone the next!”
”That would be my doing, Fair Lady!” said a dashing man in dark green who stepped out of the shadows and made a courtly bow.
“Banner! You’re Prince Banner of Arboria!” cried Della as she recognized the swashbuckling warrior.
“At your service entirely, dear Lady!” he said with a grin.
“I was never captured but I was targeted by Dargo’s pet assassin this Regicide. I dodged his clumsy goons and arrived here determined to find out what he wanted with us all! Clearly, he planned more for us than simple ransom demands!” he said as he led them out of the dark passageways.
Valyria said, “Your arrival was well timed! I was out of ideas other than the simple desire to claw his eyes out the moment I broke free!”
They stopped abruptly as they were confronted by a group of guardsmen!
“Get them!” bellowed Salk the Shark Man!
He leaped directly into the squad and tore into them with a ruthless fury!
The sultry Valkyria swooped down on them from above and cried out in a shrill screeching battle cry that sent chills down Della’s spine.
Juvor tossed back his head and shook his tick mane before roaring with delight and then charging at some troops.
Fria looked at him with obvious disgust and then created a surging battering ram of solid ice that crashed into other soldiers.
The Ghost was more restrained than the others but he fought well with an elegant efficiency.
Morgause dazzled other soldiers with what she called her “glamour” spell.
One after another of the soldiers stared witlessly into space as she walked by them.
“This could really turn a girl’s head!” she quipped.
Prince Banner was using an energy-blade in a remarkable display of swordsmanship. He leaped and dodged like a dervish and brought down one soldier after another. He may not have possessed super powers but he was a force to be reckoned with!
Della sparkled with energy as her living lightning form blasted away at an approaching guardsman who was riding on a mobile cannon.
As for Dash Gordon he relished his internal energies as they surged within him and then he released them in a thunderous display of raw power that enabled him to smash through a siege platform with his bare fists!
The Ghost said, “We need to get back to my ship! We can escape and rally your individual realms to our cause! Clearly, we can’t hold off the army itself for long!”
Dash said, “Speak for yourself! I feel like I could bring down Dargo and his whole legion by myself!”
At that moment Regicide appeared above them and said, “Perhaps, you could do so whelp but you certainly can not withstand my might!”
7
Dash flew directly at the armored figure only to crash into the wall.
“A hologram! He’s not really here!” he said as he regained his feet.
Regicide laughed as he reappeared to the left of his previous position.
“Witless dolt! You will be as easy to destroy as your brother’s Solar Legion was. I detonated Kid Quantum without ever setting foot on Earth. Such is my power. I could not allow those youths to gain more members and pose a possible threat to my reign. Thus, I eliminated them all with the same kind of quantum energy I have long been a master of! Live Wire and his friends were innocent pawns but I not only killed them but I destroyed their image at one blow!” he said.
“You also just admitted as much to the entire Commonwealth of Federated Planets!” said a handsome but dour looking man.
“Count Thunder! Curse you to a thousand deaths! You used your infernal mastery of sound to send my words across the known galaxy!” cried Regicide.
“He knew your ego would prompt you to confess your guilt if we merely bided our time!” said a grinning Star Tsar as he melted another tank before it could reach the heroes.
Lord Volt led his allies in a charge. The remnants of the 12 had arrived just in time through means of a pathway through the Dreamverse. Queen Adora may have been slumbering in her eternal beauty on her home world but the magic of the Dream Queen still sought to serve her friends!
Dash said, “You are all welcome here! Help me crack open that boasting killer!”
Lord Volt flew forward and grappled with Regicide even as the Celestial Empress used her own power to control mass and density to phase through a wall and head off more soldiers.
She gestured and they collapsed beneath the weight of their own armor.
She smiled winningly but said nothing as was her customary manner. She was content with her own success and the blessings of her esteemed ancestors.
Naishinno Kaizen suddenly emerged from within a SkyVulture that had zoomed overhead seconds before. The drone shattered as she grew giant sized and jumped down to land gracefully in the courtyard.
Lady Americana was equally effective as she used her super strength to rip open the outer wall that separated the left section of the palace grounds from the spacecraft ports.
“We’ve liberated your craft the Hero! Now, we’ll do the same for you!” she said with a smile.
Storm King laughed with pleasure as he rode atop another drone craft in the air above the palace. He brought his arms down with a crash and broke the weapon part with ease! He was clearly in his element in more ways than one!
The Ghost signaled his approval as he kicked a hulking guard down a flight of stairs.
Regicide said, “I did not expect your ilk to show up here. I little hoped that you had perished in the blast that hurled me to this era but I certainly didn’t believe even your cursed luck would place you in a path to oppose me this soon!”
Lord Volt battered his old foe as a red force field gleamed around the black armor.
“I will always be here to stop you! It is my duty and my solemn vow!” he declared.
Regicide said, “You have forced me to reveal my plans prematurely. I always planned for Gordon and his Royal Brats to escape. I knew Dargo’s guards could not stop them. It was my wish that they would indeed return to their respective kingdoms in search of aide where I would then turn them all into my personal assassins and kill their royal relations! Each of you now serve me! I implanted a microscopic control device in your necks while you were stunned. I was not going to activate the control until you had returned to your homes but I shall do so now and use you to kill my hated foes from the Twelve!”
Della cried out as she felt something take control of her body. She could see an speak but her arms and legs and the power within them were no longer hers to control! She saw the others react in the same manner. Regal and fierce Valkyria and the other Royal heirs were under Regicide’s control now!
8
The Ghost and Morgause were equally helpless. He had implanted his devices within them as well. Only Banner and the members of the 12 were still free.
As the young Royals and their new allies fought to resist Regicide’s mind control devices, Dash shuddered with the strain of trying to burn the implant before it could dominate him.
“I won’t give in to you! I won’t surrender!” he yelled as energy flashed across his body in a nimbus of flame.
He was angry. He had always been angry. Now that fury served him well as it enabled him to do what no one else could do. He was able to burn the implant and regain his freedom!
He flew straight at Regicide and said, “I’ll shut you down before the others can hurt me. I’ll free my sister and I’ll avenge my brother!”
Regicide said, “I will bring this planet down around us before I yield to you! Resist my control. Deny me my rightful place but don’t dare presume that you are my better!”
The sky above turned red as energy crackled from two towers that reached skyward.
“My nitrite satellite will burn this world to ashes!” he said.
At that moment the energy from above flickered and then surged downward to strike Regicide alone and then to die.
The Royal heirs gasped in unison as they felt the control implants break apart harmlessly.
“With the fall of their maker, so did his devices become inert!” declared Lord Volt.
“What happened to him? Why did his own weapon turn on him?” asked Morgause.
“It took me longer than I would have imagined but I finally exerted my own control over his admittedly advanced technology!”
The metallic voice crackled from within every machine in range of the heroes.
“I am Koste 5 or so I was once designated when I possessed a physical form. Now as a purely mental essence I am able to reside within and control machines!”
Della said, “You were a Legionnaire! If you survived the explosion then surely my brother did too! I just feel it!”
Koste 5 said, “I theorize that Kid Quantum’s own sentience survived the dispersal of his internal quantum energies and may reform in time. I also suspect that some of the others may have been displaced in time or space via the release of quantum power much as Regicide himself was when his device was shattered in the Crisis!”
Dargo rushed into sight and cried, “You are free! I too was under that fiend’s domination! I was a puppet and could not resist his mental implant. Now, I am myself again! Can you forgive me?”
Della hugged the regal man and said, “Of course! I just knew there was some explanation for why you were acting so mean!”
Dash said, “I understand. I felt his pull on my own mind for a time!”
Dargo said, “Dash. I am proud of you. I will give up my Regency at once. You have earned your throne!”
Dash said, “No. You keep it for now. I think I’d rather join these brave men and women in a new Solar Legion. We could try to make Drake’s own dream a reality! I think we owe him that much!”
Lord Volt said, “We are castaways in this era. We would gladly cast our lot in with your own. We serve justice as we ever have. Our friends the Dauphine of Darkness and Justiciar have been guarding two fallen Legionnaires since we first received the dreams that informed us of your plight.
Epilogue
Later, as the reunited members of the Twelve and Dash, Della, the Ghost, Morgause and the Royal Heirs stood before the people of Alana. Dargo made an announcement.
“People of Mongo. Citizens of the Commonwealth. I am proud to present Dash and Della Gordon and their allies in the Solar Legionnaire. Your future rulers and their noble allies have united to bring hope to the universe. I say now that they will always be welcome here on Mongo! The killer Regicide is in our dungeon and will be tried for what he did to Drake Gordon and his brave friends like J.J. Kord!” he cried.
The heroes along with a now recovered XS and Scarab stood on an elevated platform above the palace grounds. Zoe Saugin, Scarab, now wore a blue ridged armor that covered her entire body but she was alive and well and was eager to resume her role as a heroine. Koste resided in a small robotic form but his mind was now free to wonder as it would and he felt only the joy of new avenues of scientific research not the loss of his mortal body.
After the ceremony, as the Solar Legion celebrated and made plans, Dargo stood alone before an oval mirror.
An evil grin spread across his features. His hair was somewhat darker and his facial hair was shaped differently. He wore more ornate jewelry and a fancy robe.
In the privacy of his chamber, he grinned wolfishly and spoke in a very different voice than was his normal speaking voice.
“Regicide’s magic briefly gave him control over this form but upon the destruction of the implant, it left a shell that my own travelling spirit was able to claim for my own! It is fitting that this preening spawn of Flash Gordon will enable Ming the Merciless to reclaim his rightful Empire!”
He laughed madly and began his plans!
The End
By lawrenceliberty
The Solar Legion is Reborn After Tragedy!
1
3014
A young man with a grim expression on his otherwise handsome face made his way over several force field barriers to reach a scene of true tragedy and loss. The rubble had been only partly removed by servo-droids since it was in fact still a crime scene. Could the loss of hundreds of lives be seen as something as mundane as a mere crime? Would such an act of senseless slaughter be more appropriately called warfare or terrorism?
Dash Gordon pushed a lock of reddish-blond hair out of his eyes and glared at the place where so many people had died. His gaze was piercing at the best of times but on this occasion anyone close to him would say that the pupil’s of his blue eyes were flickering with an electrical energy of some kind!
This was fitting since the heir of the throne of the Kingdom of Alana on the planet Mongo was a living dynamo. Ever since an accident years before had given the reckless youth and his two younger siblings the ability to generate lightning, Dash’s fiery temper had been matched by physical manifestations of his moods as embodied by flashing bolts of heat energy. Now, his metabolism had changed so that he no longer truly generate bolts of power but his was able to contain raw energy and direct it toward enhancement of any of his physical attributes like strength or speed or a form of invulnerability.
Dash had never had a particularly good relationship with the close-knit twins Drake and Della but he loved them and he felt protective toward them now that he had matured and some of his old anger had been replaced by a sense of freedom. As a teen he had bitterly resented the fact that as the eldest he would have little choice in what role he would play as an adult. He had been treated harshly by the regent his Uncle Dargo and indifferently by his mother Dorra. This sense of helplessness had fueled his sense of youthful rebellion and he had lashed out at the only targets he could safely strike: his two younger siblings! Now, he felt regret and his anger seethed inside at himself.
This scene of death and loss was personal to him because his brother Drake had died here. He was sorry for the others who perished in the explosion but his true feelings centered around the loss of his brother. Drake had left their home for Earth in search of Dash himself who had run away from their planet after a heated exchange with their Uncle Dargo. The two had never found one another since Dash had only been on earth for a brief time. Now, he had returned to mourn for his brother and to find answers about his death. He doubted very seriously if those answers would grant him any peace or lessen his own guilt.
“He wouldn’t have died if he hadn’t come here looking for me!” he said softly.
A gentle hand touched his arm and sparks crackled around his body for a moment before subsiding. He looked down at his sister Della. She was beautiful and delicate featured and yet she had more spunk and courage than either of her brothers. She was also confident because she had been her Uncle’s favorite and had never suffered his wrath like the boys had. She had powers of her own that had evolved in their own direction much as Dash was not the same man he had been after their accident.
Della said, “Don’t blame yourself. If you blame yourself that Drake disappeared then you have to give yourself credit for all the good he did as Live Wire and for the good he and his friends did as the Solar Legion! “
She referred to the fact that Drake Gordon and two other visitors to Earth had saved the wealthy J.J. Kord from killers and in doing so their teamwork had inspired the old genius to have them form a team of champions from across the universe. This Solar Legion was to embody the ideas of cooperation Kord hoped would result from the creation of an inter-planetary governing body called the Commonwealth of Federated Planets. Drake had called himself Live Wire and had become a true hero.
Dash gritted his teeth. He swallowed hard and kept cool even though he hated it that Della was still insisted that Drake had merely disappeared instead of dying. She was always perky but she was delusional if she felt their brother had not died with all the others in the explosion that turned the Solar Legion press conference into the worst tragedy to strike Earth in centuries.
At that moment three uniformed officers from the Space Police approached and warily warned the siblings to step away from the scene.
“I don’t know how you managed to cause all those force fields to drop at once but whether it was a malfunction or some kind of stunt on your part, you can’t stay here! This is no place for kids!” said the burly head officer.
Della touched Dash on the arm and smiled winningly at the Space Policeman.
“Sorry, sir. We were just curious! I dared my brother to come here. It was a game!” she said.
The officers directed them away from the scene as Dash fumed silently. Could she really flirt her way out of anything?
As they rounded the corner and the police fell out of view, Dash scowled and said, “The explosion that killed Drake happened there and I wanted to study the scene. I wanted to find out who caused it. We could have taken those goons out easily!”
“That would only attract more attention than you need! You’ll find your answers but not by acting like a bully. You have to use your brains now that you are in the position within which your background has placed you.”
“What do you know about me?” demanded Dash as he faced a shadowy figure who had seemingly stepped directly out of thin air.
“You are the oldest of the Gordon siblings. You are a direct descendent of the legendary Flash Gordon. You are expected to take the rule of Alana from your Uncle Dargo the Regent but you have to live long enough to do that and your temper might make that possibility distinctly unlikely!” said the man in the gray trench coat.
“Is that a threat? What’s with your costume? Is that mask and your skull ring supposed to impress me?” said Dash.
“It may not impress you but it could easily leave an impression upon you!” said the gray clad man.
“I am the Gray Ghost and I want to help you solve the Solar Legion murders! I believe your brother was innocent as were his friends. They didn’t set off that explosion nor were they to blame for it.”
Della admired the gray costumed figure’s rippling muscles and athletic grace. She also recognized the name he used.
“The Ghost Who Walks! You’re immortal or so the legend goes! You’ve fought injustice for centuries!” she said breathlessly.
The Gray Ghost smiled slightly and said, “Call it a family vocation. I will help you solve your brother’s murder if you’ll allow it!”
Dash said, “We don’t need you. What do you know anyway?”
“He knows that the blast of energy that nearly leveled this city and killed hundreds of innocent people was not caused by your brother or his friends although the origin of the blast came from one of them.
Kid Quantum was supposed to have been a direct descendent of Captain Atom himself and he did share the same kind of energy based metabolism. Something caused the Kid’s body to release all its energy at once. Something turned that young hero into a living bomb!”
The words came from an alluring woman with waist-length tawny brown hair and a shapely figure. She was ravishingly beautiful and spoke in an almost hypnotic manner. She wore a long green dress and heels. She had approached as silently as her companion.
“My name is Morgause. I have certain gifts that allow me to see beyond the mundane world. I assure you that we can assist you in your quest for justice. We were both guided here by dreams sent to us by Queen Adora of Valma. The so-called Dream Queen was a member of the Solar Legion and she survived the explosion that killed her friends. She sent us visions that led us here. She used her magical powers to guide us and she wants to see her friends avenged! ”
Dash said, “You’re talking nonsense! We have so-called Witch Queens on my world too but there is no way that Woman survived a blast that killed super powered beings like my brother or Astra the Wonder Girl!”
Morgause said, “The Dream Queen survived because she and her handmaiden Glamour were never really here. Both women were merely dream images created by Adora herself who never leaves her planet since it is her eternally sleeping body that empowers the magic of the planet!”
Della said, “Drake isn’t dead. I would know if he had died. He is alive but I don’t know where he is!”
Dash said, “She keeps saying that but he was no dream ghost. Our brother was a normal man except for the power he had over lightning!”
The Gray Ghost looked down into the girl’s big blue eyes and he smiled slightly.
“I believe you! The blast that came from Kid Quantum was caused by a tightly focused remotely directed beam of solid light energy. You do know about that particular source of power?” he said softly.
Della said, “The kind of beam supports and supplies the energy that enables the city of the Hawkmen to survive high above our world of Mongo.”
Morgause said, “And it is on Mongo that we will find the answer to who caused the tragedy to occur to begin with. Someone on your home world wanted to kill the Legion and blacken its name at the same time by making them seem to be responsible for the explosion!”
Dash said, “Okay, we’re with you but I still don’t trust either of you.”
Morgause said, “My ancestor Mandrake was often distrusted as well but he always made people believe in his power and his courage eventually!”
2
Meanwhile, within a heavily secured medical facility doctors, nurses, and diagnosto-robots went about their respective duties while Space Police waited outside a special chamber.
Within the room two unusual patients remained in very odd conditions.
A young black girl named Jenni Ognats, the super swift XS of the Solar Legion, was unconscious but her body vibrated every few minutes until her otherwise still form became a blur before returning to motionless insensibility.
“She must have tried to vibrate her molecules so that the quantum blast could not harm her but while she appears intact, she has not awakened or has her body stopped its random pattern of molecular vibrations since she was found at the blast site!” said an aging doctor.
“Did she merely assume she could survive the blast or was she unaware of what was going to happen? Were the Legionnaires victims or villains?” he said slowly.
Her grandfather Mike “Impulse”Karr was a true champion both in his own era of the twentieth century and during the brief time he lived in our own era. I hope for the legacy of that great hero, she was not a killer but merely a scapegoat or victim!” he continued.
He walked out of the room without doing more than glancing at the other Legionnaire who had seemingly survived the blast. Zoe “Scarab” Saugin of Alpeh was not related to any famous hero of the past; however, the fiery redhead had become bonded with an ancient scarab found by her archaeologist mother on a dig. This scarab had apparently once belonged to one of the legendary dynasty of heroes known as the Blue Beetles! At that moment of impact, the girl’s customary blue chainmail stylized costume had transformed into a huge carapace that enveloped her entire body. No effort to pierce its shell had succeeded and she had been brought to the medi-center within the huge protective shell. No one knew if she was alive within its embrace or not.
The doctor who departed on his rounds had been dutiful and observant but he failed to notice a shadow where no humanoid shape should have been.
This shapely female shadow detached itself from the wall and walked to the bedside of the stricken XS with the regal grace of a warrior queen!
She was very lovely with flowing black hair and heavily painted dark eyes. She wore a black leotard with little decoration beyond two lacy sleeves that enveloped her slender arms and delicate hands and a brief black lace skirt that she wore over the opaque leotard.
“Paurve child!” she whispered before she gestured and was swallowed up by the shadows again.
She emerged into the night outside the facility where a courtly man in an armored costume of blue and black bowed low over her gracefully extended hand.
“Milady, is there any change in their condition? Have you noticed any threat to their recovery? Our foe is ruthlessness personified as well you know. He would stop at nothing to cloak his own dark deeds in a shroud of night!” he said.
She smiled sadly at the chivalrous man known only as Justiciar and said, “No. I neither saw signs of recovery or indications of malicious intent from those around the girls!”
“Then, even in this strange new world, we shall wait within the loving embrace of the shadows until they receive either sweet mercy or swift justice!” said the Dauphine of Darkness.
3
The Hubcore Port was one of the galaxy’s busiest shipping centers. Starcraft arrived and departed from the huge facility on a regular basis and the cargo unloaded or loaded on those ships was often highly valuable. Thus, when the Space Police patrols scheduled for the city was doubled for the Port it was completely normal and not a waste of resources in spite of Commander Rex Lansing’s famous love of budget control.
One day as the normal routine of the ‘Port was interrupted by the sudden arrival of thugs riding anti-grav platforms and armed with laser rifles, the thieves were more surprised than their would be victims a lovely woman with Asian features smiled warmly and walked straight toward the criminals.
She wore a brief green robe that stopped above her knees and matching slippers. The green garment glistened with an iridescent shine that indicated its quality and its unique nature. Nothing like that fabric had been seen on Earth in centuries!
She looked up at the anti-grav platforms and their riders above her head. She was petite and seemed to enjoy the attention she received for her striking good looks.
“I wish we had more time! I’d like to take that looker on a ride to the dark side of Luna!” said one of the goons.
Before his allies could respond, the girl suddenly surged upward and casually slapped two of the men to the ground with stunning force.
She had not flown or left the ground. She had simply grown into a giant! She brought one knee up and broke another flying disk into scrap metal.
As she ignored the laser fire that bounced off her bare legs as if they were merely the bites of some inconsequential insects, the last three thieves tried to flee.
She grinned playfully and gripped one platform with a finger before abruptly shrinking to normal size and kicking the occupant off the edge. She aimed her hastily commandeered platform and aimed it straight at the other two!
“She’s crazy!” cried the nearest thief.
He tried to dodge but the girl leaped off her disk and landed on him with both feet. He screamed and toppled off the disk while she spun around and abruptly vanished as the final rider sailed directly through her position without touching her! She had simply vanished!
He gasped and then gulped as something tugged at the leg of his garment and he glanced down to see the strange girl grinning up at him. She was perched on the control board with her legs crossed like some ancient pin-up girl from the distant past. Before he could touch her, she switched off the craft and allowed it to fall.
Before impact, she grew to giant size once more and casually caught the falling goons.
“That was wild! We have to do that again!” she said as she blew kisses to the startled thieves and watched as the Space Police arrested the gang.
“Who are you?” cried a Patrolman.
She winked at him and said, “Back home in Japan, they call me Naishinno Kaizen!”
She raced off with giant strides and left the officer to shrug and say, “Japan? What galaxy is that in?”
In a distant alley, the green robed girl resumed her normal size and giggled until she caught sight of several costumed men.
The tallest man wore his long blond hair and beard in a shaggy manner but he was handsome and his every look seemed to radiate nobility. He wore a silvery helmet with wings.
“Fair one, you have entirely too much of a love for attention!” he said with a booming laugh.
“Storm King, you loved every minute! In fact you always like to see me in action!” she said defiantly.
“Aye, lass, That I do!” he admitted.
A blond man with a much smaller build laughed loudly and said, “ You do know how to put on a show! I don’t think anyone in this era can match you!”
As he smiled a nimbus of light seemed to glow around his handsome but boyish features.
“You, Star Tsar are a man after my own heart!” said Naishinno Kaizen!
A scowling dark haired man with a very carefully groomed goatee stroked his mustache and said nothing. Count Thunder was never very cheerful or talkative.
A white haired man in red and green cleared his throat and the others fell silent in respect.
“You did what was necessary but if we are to achieve our goal and find peace in this time and place, we must keep focused on our goal. Our old enemy prowls the spaceways and his goals are as dark as ever. Regicide will rule the universe or destroy it. It matters not that we are lost in a time not our own. It can not change our mission. We are not at full strength. We have lost the Three but we that remain of the Twelve will fight onward as always we have. We may have lost our kingdoms and our very Earth and subjects are no more but we have the obligation to protect lesser beings no matter where we find ourselves!”
“Leave it to Karak to make a speech!” whispered the Star Tsar.
Two other women in colorful costumes watched quietly. The tall blonde wore a red, white, and blue costume with stars and stripes emblazoned on the short skirt and top. Next to Lady Americana, stood the lovely Celestial Empress in her luxurious robes of the finest gossamer silk.
These remnants of the fabled Twelve of the now lost Earth 6 were as valiant as ever though lost in a time not their own.
4
Dash Gordon remained silent and patently suspicious as the Gray Ghost’s sleek spacecraft the Hero docked at the Royal Spaceport on Mongo in the Kingdom of Alana. He didn’t like the way his sister was staring at the man in gray nor did he approve of the man’s easy self-confidence. As for Morgause, she seemed entirely too pleased with herself for her own good. Gordon shrugged and tried to calm down. After all, he was home. This was his domain or it would be once his Uncle Dargo gave up his role of Regent. That was a mere formality. Gordon had always known that the title was meant for him to claim. He had merely been annoyed by the way this royal destiny seemed to limit his personal freedom. He wanted to rule but he didn’t want to be told how to do so. Now, when he thought of poor Drake he realized how stupid he had been to waste so much time in blind anger at everyone around him.
Della smiled eagerly as their group was welcomed by a squad of royal guardsmen.
“It is good to be home. I’ve missed everything about the place! Still, everywhere I look I seem to see Drake!” she said as her smile faded.
Dash hesitated. He had never known how to comfort his sister except to order her to stop crying.
The Gray Ghost said, “It does you credit but it also will eventually be a comfort to you to have so many happy sights and sounds that you may association with Drake.
Morgause leaned closer to the Ghost and whispered, “For all of the pomp and splendor I fear this realm is dominated by rank evil of the basest kind. I know the difference between reality and illusion and this all seems far too good to be true!”
He nodded and said, “I’ve never been comfort in this type of setting. Give me the open spaces or space itself!”
Dargo Gordon was a tall, stately looking man with a slightly sardonic manner. He looked every inch the ruler and he carried himself with an air of regal superiority.
“The prodigal returns at last! It is good to have you back. We should be together at such a time of loss and shame. We must unite as a family and face what Drake has done!” he said as he approached them between two rows of silent guards.
Della, usually his favorite, frowned and her eyes flashed with energy as she said, “What do you mean? Drake didn’t do anything. The bomb blast was triggered by solid light that means it came from here!”
Dash said, “She’s right. Drake and his Legion friends were pawns or victims. I never did think the kid had it in him to kill anyone like that!”
Della added, “Our friends have come to help us prove Drake is innocent!”
She bit her tongue and stopped talking as she met her uncle’s stare. She loved him but something in his demeanor made her stop before she declared that she believed her brother was still alive!
Dargo scowled and then resumed his air of placid superiority.
“Your guests are welcome but this is a matter of state and outsiders need not meddle!” he said.
The Gray Ghost said, “I have a long history of what you dismiss as meddling. I don’t think you and I will see eye to eye about what role Morgause and I should take. I generally do exactly what I please if I think justice dictates it!”
Dargo said, “This is no place for a debate. You will be shown traditional Mongo hospitality. Rooms and refreshments await you all. We will ignore your uninformed ideas and ill-chosen words.”
As the group left the royal reception room behind them and descended several stories on gently descending hover-lifts, the mood changed.
“I’ve never known Uncle Dargo to act so coldly. I almost found him frightening!” said Della.
“He’s a bully. You just aren’t used to being his target!” said Dash.
At that moment the anti-gravity platforms lurched and lost all power!
The foursome plunged downward to what would have certainly been a fatal drop!
Della gasped and then focused the energy within her petite body until a startling transformation occurred! The girl become a humanoid shaped bolt of lightning and she flew back upward with her own power.
The Ghost abruptly stopped his own fall with a series of incredible acrobatic flips that enabled him to brace himself against one wall and anchor himself by planting a device that covered one palm against the side. It held him in placed and glowed with a faint light of its own.
Morgause was also safe in the arms of Dash Gordon as the young man flew upward by channeling his internal lightning toward super human flight.
They emerged unscathed and Dash slammed his fist through a wall.
“That was no accident. Someone wanted to kill us before we could expose the true killer who bombed Earth!” he said.
Morgause smiled and said, “My thanks for your timely help. You two are a remarkable pair!”
Dash nodded and said, “These powers have always been more of a curse than a blessing but they may come in handy now!”
Before they could replay the entire group was abruptly surrounded by guards who acted as if they had hostile intentions toward the foursome.
“You won’t be so lucky next time! Dargo won’t allow you rebels to taint the reputation of Mongo or the legendary name of Gordon!” said a towering guardsman.
Drake said, “Dargo? You mean, your Regent? He rules in my name only and that will end soon enough! I’m the heir of Flash Gordon!”
The guards rushed at them and suddenly passed directly by their position.
“They slipped away but we will soon catch them!” declared the head guardsman.
Morgause smile bewitchingly and said, “I felt a bit of illusionary misdirection might serve our cause better than a brawl. I know these men are only following orders.”
Dash said, “I’ll teach them who their master is! I’m the rightful ruler not my arrogant uncle!”
At that moment a green cloud of eldritch energy swallowed them up at once and they collapsed to the ground.
An armored man in black and gold approached and looked down on the fallen heroes with approval.
“Your pretty tricks can not deceive a master of the mystical arts! This has been nothing more than a moment’s amusement. I am almost sorry that the heir of Flash Gordon will be so little a challenge to the power of Regicide!” he said.
Dash groaned and opened his eyes to see a darkened chamber. He could not move or use his powers. He was caught like a fly in amber within a stasis field. Blinking and breathing were apparently all he could manage while contained within the grip of the energy field. The others were trapped in energy prisons of their own and as his eyes adjusted to the darkness he gasped in recognition. There were other prisoners within the dungeon and he knew them all either from past contact or by reputation.
The first prisoner was a beautiful if rather exotic looking woman with long blonde hair. As striking as her personal allure was, she was more remarkable because of her majestic wings and ornate battle armor.
“Princess Valkyria of the Domain of the Hawk People!” thought Dash.
Next to the Winged heir of the legendary King Vultan was a burly leonine figure with a heavy mane and the feline features of the Lion Men! Dash knew this intimidating figure well since they had played together as boys. Juvor was the Prince of the Lion Men and a direct descendent of the celebrated Kings Jugrid and Thun who were Flash Gordon’s allies.
The next captive was a delicate looking woman with pale skin and long white hair. She wore a very elegant pale blue gown and heels. She was Fria the Ice Maiden who was in turn the rightful heir to the Kingdom of the Frigia.
The last prisoner was a weird looking humanoid with the features and teeth of a shark. He wore a green tunic and his eyes seemed to carry a palpable menace even through the amber-like energy field. He was Prince Salk of the Shark Men.
Dash realized that the rightful heirs to most of the Kingdoms of Mongo were prisoners of his Uncle Dargo. None of this made sense but he would break free or die trying and he would get the answers he needed one way or another! He owed this to Drake’s memory.
5
Lord Volt (Karak) was not overly contemplative by nature. He had been born to rule and he had the courage and power to do so. He and his allies in the Royal Assemblage known as the Twelve had ruled their world and they had done so with compassion and valor but they had failed to safeguard their planet during a cosmic Crisis and all of them carried a heavy burden of guilt …even the flirty Naishinno Kaizen.
He sighed heavily as he recalled the day he lost everything. On July 18, 1985 red skies, powerful storms, and a deadly wall of unyielding white swept across Earth 6, as some called it, and destroyed the planet. That was the simple story of how a world and most of its natives died but there was much more to it.
When the odd storms began, Karak and his allies met and quickly divided up to investigate. He and his wife Tashanna, Lady Quark, and their daughter Princess Fern a.k.a. Lianna set out to protect their frightened subjects and to strengthen their resolve to survive merely by allowing them to see the Royal Family was not going to allow them to perish. The others tracked down a powerful energy source to one of the hidden labs that belonged to the sinister scientist/magician known as Regicide. Regicide was a genius. He was a handsome almost beautiful man with an intellect others could only dream of possessing. He was wealthy beyond belief and he was a skilled athlete. However, he was a commoner and this fact embittered him to the point where nothing he had could assuage his rage at what a simple fact of birth had denied him. He could not be a Royal nor could he rightfully rule. He dedicated his resources to attacking all Royals and he vowed to eradicate all those who called themselves nobles. He would kill the Twelve and he would prove to their subjects that he was their superior in spite of being of humble birth. It was a mania. He was brilliant but he was also touched by madness. He had opposed them countless times and he had come very close to triumphing on more than one occasion. He had murdered Count Thunder’s beloved wife the Countess Fury and he had destroyed much of the Storm King’s mountainous domain. Now, as weird weather plagued their world, the 12 sought an answer and found a powerful energy source within their old foe’s latest lab.
“Your infernal machines shall never make us submit!” The stentorian shout had come from the always valiant Storm King as he led his friends into the lab.
He released a blinding bolt of energy as the boyishly handsome Star Tsar gleamed like a human sun!
The two shattered the protective shielding that covered the pulsating device that so-dominated the lab. It had led them there to begin with and surely the odd creation was the source of the red skies and white energy that threatened their world.
Regicide cursed them in his rage as he saw his invention erupt in a blazing cloud of raw energy!
“You blind fools! I was trying to save my world not destroy it! Now, you’ve shattered my quantum stabilizer! The ruin of this planet be upon your Houses!” he shouted as energy swept over them all!
The quantum energy had not killed the eleven heroes or their foe. All of them had been tossed through time and space and had emerged separately on a different earth and in the far future. Their world had died in the Crisis. They knew this by some shared instinct. They grieved for their loved ones and their lost subjects. They also found one another in time and united once more to face this strange new universe.
Karak had nearly died as well but he was saved by a mysterious woman named Lyla who wanted to use him for her own purposes. His wife and child had also survived but they had been rescued by different people as well. He had reunited with them both only to sacrifice himself by hurling himself and Lyla herself into the time stream in an effort to safeguard his family’s new world!
He had emerged here and had been found immediately by the surviving members of the 12. Three of their members had perished after their time displacement but now the remaining nine were once again together. Volt Lord, Lady Americana, Count Thunder, Storm King, the Star Tsar, the Celestial Empress, the Justiciar, Naishinno Kaizen, and the Dauphine of Darkness were united again. The odd dreams of the Dream Queen enabled them to realize that Regicide was at large once more and that he was somehow behind the plot to destroy the Solar Legion and blacken their name. Naturally, he would want to eliminate any possible opposition to his plans of conquest and murder.
“We shall stop him and we will find a way home again!” he vowed once more.
6
Dash was still trying to find a way to escape from the stasis field in the dungeon below the Royal Palace on Mongo when the field abruptly dropped and all of the captives reacted to their new freedom in different ways. They had all been awake and aware of their surroundings and most of them recognized Drake and Della on sight.
“So your Uncle Dargo finally revealed his true stripes!” growled Juvor, Prince of the Lion Men!
Dash nodded and said, “Apparently so. We always complained about his attitude when he would give us grief over the times we used to race those old hovercrafts in the desert! I didn’t really think he’d try to kill me though!”
Fria said, “We owe you our freedom! He captured us all with the help of a black armored madman called Regicide. This Regicide has strange powers beyond my own magic or the science your people use!”
Morgause said, “He is a powerful mage. I can sense as much now that we are in such close proximity to him! He is coming here as we speak!”
The Gray Ghost said, “We better get out of this confined space while we can!”
Fria flounced across the room in an oddly dainty manner and gestured broadly with one slender arm. The prison door crackled as ice covered it and then shattered it into so many shards.
Like most of the super powered natives of the various kingdoms of Mongo, Fria’s own power had evolved over the centuries down her family line. Her ancestor in the days of Flash Gordon had lacked innate power.
Della said, “What broke the stasis field? It was there one minute and gone the next!”
”That would be my doing, Fair Lady!” said a dashing man in dark green who stepped out of the shadows and made a courtly bow.
“Banner! You’re Prince Banner of Arboria!” cried Della as she recognized the swashbuckling warrior.
“At your service entirely, dear Lady!” he said with a grin.
“I was never captured but I was targeted by Dargo’s pet assassin this Regicide. I dodged his clumsy goons and arrived here determined to find out what he wanted with us all! Clearly, he planned more for us than simple ransom demands!” he said as he led them out of the dark passageways.
Valyria said, “Your arrival was well timed! I was out of ideas other than the simple desire to claw his eyes out the moment I broke free!”
They stopped abruptly as they were confronted by a group of guardsmen!
“Get them!” bellowed Salk the Shark Man!
He leaped directly into the squad and tore into them with a ruthless fury!
The sultry Valkyria swooped down on them from above and cried out in a shrill screeching battle cry that sent chills down Della’s spine.
Juvor tossed back his head and shook his tick mane before roaring with delight and then charging at some troops.
Fria looked at him with obvious disgust and then created a surging battering ram of solid ice that crashed into other soldiers.
The Ghost was more restrained than the others but he fought well with an elegant efficiency.
Morgause dazzled other soldiers with what she called her “glamour” spell.
One after another of the soldiers stared witlessly into space as she walked by them.
“This could really turn a girl’s head!” she quipped.
Prince Banner was using an energy-blade in a remarkable display of swordsmanship. He leaped and dodged like a dervish and brought down one soldier after another. He may not have possessed super powers but he was a force to be reckoned with!
Della sparkled with energy as her living lightning form blasted away at an approaching guardsman who was riding on a mobile cannon.
As for Dash Gordon he relished his internal energies as they surged within him and then he released them in a thunderous display of raw power that enabled him to smash through a siege platform with his bare fists!
The Ghost said, “We need to get back to my ship! We can escape and rally your individual realms to our cause! Clearly, we can’t hold off the army itself for long!”
Dash said, “Speak for yourself! I feel like I could bring down Dargo and his whole legion by myself!”
At that moment Regicide appeared above them and said, “Perhaps, you could do so whelp but you certainly can not withstand my might!”
7
Dash flew directly at the armored figure only to crash into the wall.
“A hologram! He’s not really here!” he said as he regained his feet.
Regicide laughed as he reappeared to the left of his previous position.
“Witless dolt! You will be as easy to destroy as your brother’s Solar Legion was. I detonated Kid Quantum without ever setting foot on Earth. Such is my power. I could not allow those youths to gain more members and pose a possible threat to my reign. Thus, I eliminated them all with the same kind of quantum energy I have long been a master of! Live Wire and his friends were innocent pawns but I not only killed them but I destroyed their image at one blow!” he said.
“You also just admitted as much to the entire Commonwealth of Federated Planets!” said a handsome but dour looking man.
“Count Thunder! Curse you to a thousand deaths! You used your infernal mastery of sound to send my words across the known galaxy!” cried Regicide.
“He knew your ego would prompt you to confess your guilt if we merely bided our time!” said a grinning Star Tsar as he melted another tank before it could reach the heroes.
Lord Volt led his allies in a charge. The remnants of the 12 had arrived just in time through means of a pathway through the Dreamverse. Queen Adora may have been slumbering in her eternal beauty on her home world but the magic of the Dream Queen still sought to serve her friends!
Dash said, “You are all welcome here! Help me crack open that boasting killer!”
Lord Volt flew forward and grappled with Regicide even as the Celestial Empress used her own power to control mass and density to phase through a wall and head off more soldiers.
She gestured and they collapsed beneath the weight of their own armor.
She smiled winningly but said nothing as was her customary manner. She was content with her own success and the blessings of her esteemed ancestors.
Naishinno Kaizen suddenly emerged from within a SkyVulture that had zoomed overhead seconds before. The drone shattered as she grew giant sized and jumped down to land gracefully in the courtyard.
Lady Americana was equally effective as she used her super strength to rip open the outer wall that separated the left section of the palace grounds from the spacecraft ports.
“We’ve liberated your craft the Hero! Now, we’ll do the same for you!” she said with a smile.
Storm King laughed with pleasure as he rode atop another drone craft in the air above the palace. He brought his arms down with a crash and broke the weapon part with ease! He was clearly in his element in more ways than one!
The Ghost signaled his approval as he kicked a hulking guard down a flight of stairs.
Regicide said, “I did not expect your ilk to show up here. I little hoped that you had perished in the blast that hurled me to this era but I certainly didn’t believe even your cursed luck would place you in a path to oppose me this soon!”
Lord Volt battered his old foe as a red force field gleamed around the black armor.
“I will always be here to stop you! It is my duty and my solemn vow!” he declared.
Regicide said, “You have forced me to reveal my plans prematurely. I always planned for Gordon and his Royal Brats to escape. I knew Dargo’s guards could not stop them. It was my wish that they would indeed return to their respective kingdoms in search of aide where I would then turn them all into my personal assassins and kill their royal relations! Each of you now serve me! I implanted a microscopic control device in your necks while you were stunned. I was not going to activate the control until you had returned to your homes but I shall do so now and use you to kill my hated foes from the Twelve!”
Della cried out as she felt something take control of her body. She could see an speak but her arms and legs and the power within them were no longer hers to control! She saw the others react in the same manner. Regal and fierce Valkyria and the other Royal heirs were under Regicide’s control now!
8
The Ghost and Morgause were equally helpless. He had implanted his devices within them as well. Only Banner and the members of the 12 were still free.
As the young Royals and their new allies fought to resist Regicide’s mind control devices, Dash shuddered with the strain of trying to burn the implant before it could dominate him.
“I won’t give in to you! I won’t surrender!” he yelled as energy flashed across his body in a nimbus of flame.
He was angry. He had always been angry. Now that fury served him well as it enabled him to do what no one else could do. He was able to burn the implant and regain his freedom!
He flew straight at Regicide and said, “I’ll shut you down before the others can hurt me. I’ll free my sister and I’ll avenge my brother!”
Regicide said, “I will bring this planet down around us before I yield to you! Resist my control. Deny me my rightful place but don’t dare presume that you are my better!”
The sky above turned red as energy crackled from two towers that reached skyward.
“My nitrite satellite will burn this world to ashes!” he said.
At that moment the energy from above flickered and then surged downward to strike Regicide alone and then to die.
The Royal heirs gasped in unison as they felt the control implants break apart harmlessly.
“With the fall of their maker, so did his devices become inert!” declared Lord Volt.
“What happened to him? Why did his own weapon turn on him?” asked Morgause.
“It took me longer than I would have imagined but I finally exerted my own control over his admittedly advanced technology!”
The metallic voice crackled from within every machine in range of the heroes.
“I am Koste 5 or so I was once designated when I possessed a physical form. Now as a purely mental essence I am able to reside within and control machines!”
Della said, “You were a Legionnaire! If you survived the explosion then surely my brother did too! I just feel it!”
Koste 5 said, “I theorize that Kid Quantum’s own sentience survived the dispersal of his internal quantum energies and may reform in time. I also suspect that some of the others may have been displaced in time or space via the release of quantum power much as Regicide himself was when his device was shattered in the Crisis!”
Dargo rushed into sight and cried, “You are free! I too was under that fiend’s domination! I was a puppet and could not resist his mental implant. Now, I am myself again! Can you forgive me?”
Della hugged the regal man and said, “Of course! I just knew there was some explanation for why you were acting so mean!”
Dash said, “I understand. I felt his pull on my own mind for a time!”
Dargo said, “Dash. I am proud of you. I will give up my Regency at once. You have earned your throne!”
Dash said, “No. You keep it for now. I think I’d rather join these brave men and women in a new Solar Legion. We could try to make Drake’s own dream a reality! I think we owe him that much!”
Lord Volt said, “We are castaways in this era. We would gladly cast our lot in with your own. We serve justice as we ever have. Our friends the Dauphine of Darkness and Justiciar have been guarding two fallen Legionnaires since we first received the dreams that informed us of your plight.
Epilogue
Later, as the reunited members of the Twelve and Dash, Della, the Ghost, Morgause and the Royal Heirs stood before the people of Alana. Dargo made an announcement.
“People of Mongo. Citizens of the Commonwealth. I am proud to present Dash and Della Gordon and their allies in the Solar Legionnaire. Your future rulers and their noble allies have united to bring hope to the universe. I say now that they will always be welcome here on Mongo! The killer Regicide is in our dungeon and will be tried for what he did to Drake Gordon and his brave friends like J.J. Kord!” he cried.
The heroes along with a now recovered XS and Scarab stood on an elevated platform above the palace grounds. Zoe Saugin, Scarab, now wore a blue ridged armor that covered her entire body but she was alive and well and was eager to resume her role as a heroine. Koste resided in a small robotic form but his mind was now free to wonder as it would and he felt only the joy of new avenues of scientific research not the loss of his mortal body.
After the ceremony, as the Solar Legion celebrated and made plans, Dargo stood alone before an oval mirror.
An evil grin spread across his features. His hair was somewhat darker and his facial hair was shaped differently. He wore more ornate jewelry and a fancy robe.
In the privacy of his chamber, he grinned wolfishly and spoke in a very different voice than was his normal speaking voice.
“Regicide’s magic briefly gave him control over this form but upon the destruction of the implant, it left a shell that my own travelling spirit was able to claim for my own! It is fitting that this preening spawn of Flash Gordon will enable Ming the Merciless to reclaim his rightful Empire!”
He laughed madly and began his plans!
The End