Post by redsycorax on Sept 9, 2018 23:04:13 GMT
LEGION OF SUPER HEROES: 30th-31st Century metasapient coalition, founded in 2961 by Garth Rannz (See: LIGHTNING LAD: WINATH), Rokk Krinn (See: COSMIC BOY: BRAAL: VENADO BAY) and Imra Ardeen (See: SATURN GIRL: TITAN). The organisation was funded by covert DURLAN (See: CHAMELEON BOY: See: ALLON, YERA: See: DURLA) R.J.BRANDE (2871-2999), an interstellar corporate CEO and entrepreneur. The Legion was inspired by the 20th Century legend of Daxam's LAR GAND (See: VALOR: MON-EL: DAXAM) and served as a major disaster relief, espionage and diplomatic organisation for most of the final third of the 30th Century.
In 2987, a disastrous KHUND EMPIRE incursion plunged much of the UNITED PLANETS into severe recession through cutting its trade routes and access to ANTIMATTER pellets for POWERSPHERE fuel. Due to its effects on Earth, TAYLA WELLINGTON and her ISOLATIONIST PARTY were elected that same year, and she quickly made it impossible for the Legion to operate through hamfisted regulation. Disgusted with Wellington's regime,BREK BANNIN (See: POLAR BOY: See: THARR). disbanded the organisation, leaving no-one to combat EARTHGOV'S increasingly brutal and authoritarian rule.
Five years later, in 2992, former Legionnaire BLOK was murdered by the perpetrator of the TROM GENOCIDE ROXXAS: (See: TROM GENOCIDE: ELEMENT LAD: ROXXAS). That event precipitated the reformation of the Legion under the aegis of Rokk Krinn. However, many things had changed in the interregnum.
Krinn had been robbed of his electromagnetic abilities, as had many fellow inhabitants of BRAAL after neighbouring IMSK (See: SHRINKING VIOLET: IMSK: SPACE DRAGON MIGRATION DISPUTE) invaded it over territorial claims. Imsk's expeditionary force landed in VENADO BAY, ironically enough under the command of former Legionnaire Commander SALU DIGBY (qv SHRINKING VIOLET). Upon hearing of BLOK's murder, Krinn was galvanised to reform the Legion and investigate what had happened. He was assisted by Co-Founders Garth and Imra Ardeen-Rannz, using the proceeds from their LIGHTNING RING agricultural corporation. After Salu Digby became an anti-occupation activist on Imsk and then a political prisoner, AYLA RANNZ (See: LIGHTNING LASS: See: WINATH) successfully ran a campaign to have her released, resulting in Digby's exile to Winath. There, the two women rekindled their relationship.
On Earth, however, Earthgov's behaviour had grown increasingly repressive, resulting in the routine use of torture, 'disappearances' and summary executions without trial. Two such fatalities were the children of the legendary FLASH I, the time-displaced 20th Century Speedster (See: BARRY ALLEN: See: FLASH I) and his wife IRIS WEST ALLEN (See: IRIS ALLEN: See: CENTRAL CITY MONAD: See: TERRAN CIVIL WAR (2940-45)., DON ALLEN and DAWN ALLEN IGNATS (See: TORNADO TWINS). Through investigation, it was found that the alien DOMINATORS had covertly invaded Earth and were using the Wellington regime to conceal their objectives. In the resultant LIBERATION OF EARTH, Wellington was assassinated by the Dominators and multiple sabotage Powersphere attacks caused mayhem, also resulting in the death of former Legionnaire DIRK MORGNA (See: SUN BOY). However, the Legion and United Planets prevailed and Earthgov ended its bloody isolationist period.
During the Interregnum, others had passed away- most poignantly, JAN ARRAH of TROM (See: ELEMENT LAD: See: TROMIAN GENOCIDE), the last survivor of his species. Others joined- most notably, FIRE LAD, CHLOROPHYLL KID, COLOR KID AND STONE BOY (See: LEGION OF SUBSTITUTE HEROES), NIGHTWIND (See: BERTA SKYE HARRIS: See: FATALITIES OF KHUND INCURSION), REFLECTO (See: STIG-AH: See: RIMBOR), IMPULSE (See: RICHARD KENT SHAKESPEARE: See: DESCENDANTS OF KAL-EL/SUPERMAN), KONO (See: BRITA AN'ANN: See: SKLAR), NEON (See: CELESTE McCAULEY: See: McCAULEY INDUSTRIES), and REFLEX (See: DEVLIN O'RYAN: See: XANTHU). Reformed LEGION OF SUPERVILLAINS Member SUSANNA PAKK (See: SPIDER GIRL) and CATSPAW (See: APRIL DUMAKA: See: ANIMAL SIMULANT) rounded out the new inductions over this period.
During the period in which the Legion had been framed, a group of renegade clones was found in SW 6. This INJUSTICE LEAGUE would return to plague the Legion many times.
The INJUSTICE LEAGUE were inferior quality CLONE replicas of the JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA (See: JUSTICE LEAGUE: See: 21st CENTURY), although they managed to cause problems for the Legionnaires. As did the TIME TRAPPER, their old nemesis, who wilfully destroyed all life on DAXAM (See: DAXAM GENOCIDE), prompting a joint attempt by Lar Gand, BRAINIAC 5, DUO DAMSEL and SATURN GIRL to avenge the atrocity. Gand was severely injured, but a collateral descendant of his family, LAUREL GAND replaced him during his period away. At about the same time, Lar Gand married long-time girlfriend TASMIA MALLOR (See: SHADOW LASS: See: TALOK VIII).
Misinterpretation of a four-member meta Khund incursion led to accusations that the Legion were covert operatives for the Khund Empire. However, due to investigative work, it was actually discovered that CORRUPTION IN THE SCIENCE POLICE was responsible for this incident. However, it led to the Legion's evacuation from Earth. As a consequence of his comatose father R.J.BRANDE's death, his son REEP DAGGLE inherited control of BRANDE INDUSTRIES and constructed SANCTUARY, a deep space asteroid sized new headquarters for the Legion. In June 3000, Salu Digby and Ayla Ranzz finally married.
As Laurel Gand slid in through the airlock, she blinked, shaking her head. Directly below her, spread in all its majesty, was the spiral of the Milky Way Galaxy, a sight that she never tired of. Why did she feel so disoriented? And why was Querl so remote and distant? Not for the first time, she wondered whether it had anything to do with her relationship with Rond and Lauren, who had contently slept the translight passage from the galaxy below them. She looked forward to seeing Lar and Tasmia again, and wondered if that particular rumour was true.
The other duty was not so pleasant. However, it would do her still-infant daughter good to see those who had sacrificed their lives for freedom and justice, even if she was probably far too young to adequately comprehend it. She alighted at the Hall of Fallen Heroes. Ferro Lad. Invisible Kid I. Chemical King. Magnetic Kid. Karate Kid. Nightwind. And sadly, the newer additions. Even if Dirk (Sun Boy) had been a clueless apologist for Earthgov, he hadn't deserved to die so horribly in the wave of powersphere detonations that had so ravaged the Earth as the Dominators fought the Liberation of Earth. And Jan (Element Lad)...that had been especially painful. He had been the last survivor of the Trom Genocide and with his death, the Tromian species had become extinct. She shook her head again, as if trying to dispell a peculiar image, of her own statue there. But why? Or that of Tasmia, her ancestor Lar's wife. Or of Imra, Garth and Rokk. And then, a majestic figure swept around the corner, still regal despite all the time that had elapsed:
"Projectra!"
"My dear Laurel. I take it you've seen the latest memorial?"
Projectra motioned to the adjacent statue and stepped aside. Laurel gasped:
"Oh no. Chuck?! How?"
"It was the evacuation of Xerocayne. The Khund incursion came sooner than anyone had imagined. Chuck led off the invaders using his piloting skills, leaving the medical evacuation fleet enough time to get clear. But he didn't make it."
"No. Oh, poor Luornu. It's not fair, after all that time trying for a baby and then finally giving birth to little Lyle."
Projectra smiled sadly: "At least she has a child for remembrance."
"I'm sorry, Jeckie, how insensitive of me. You and Val had so little time together before that bastard Druiter murdered him. And of course, Orando's traditionalism means you can't even have an ecto child from him."
"Orando itself is my child now and my sole concern, apart from my old friends here. And how wonderful to see Ayla and Salu finally solemnise their love for one another."
Ayla sighed as she prepared for her long-delayed wedding to the woman she loved, with Kono as her maid of honour:
"There was a blazing row with Garth before we finalised the details. He wanted Mekt to come with our party. I said no, absolutely not. Our older brother might well have reformed now, but I wanted Projectra to share this day with us as well. And after what the Legion of Super Villains did to her homeworld, especially their role in poor Val's death, I think she's suffered enough. But you know my older brother, Brita..."
"It's a shame Nura and Thom can't come. She's lost some weight since last time."
"Thom put her on a diet." Abruptly, there was a knock on the door:
"What? Lar! Tasmia!"
The old friends embraced as Lar presented her with a gift:
"Transducer Crystal Structure. Hit this with one of your bolts and see what happens."
As Tasmia pinned back her cloak, Ayla gasped:
"Taz?! That's a baby bump! You mean Lar and you..?! Oh, sweetheart, how wonderful. Congratulations, but how are you two going to manage the pregnancy?"
"I decided to install a red sun crystal diode before we tried. It cancels out any adverse effects from the little one's Daxamite genes until full term. We're also experimenting with an antilead blocker so the hereditary Daxamite vulnerability doesn't affect them."
"You heard about Luornu and Chuck?" Ayla asked.
"I can't believe he's gone. It's so brave of Luornu to come here under the circumstances."
Brainiac 5 shook his head, clearing it of visions. No, the Moon hadn't been destroyed by the Dominators in the fight to liberate Earth. No, the resultant instability hadn't caused a runaway geophysical reaction that had consequently shattered the Earth in turn. No, there was no cloned younger ersatz Legion in Metropolis SW6. No. Laurel hadn't been killed by the Khunds. He swallowed another painblocker and steadied himself before visiting an anxious Luornu in Sanctuary's medbay.
"Querl?"
"Luornu. I have some news. Don't worry, it's not bad."
She closed her eyes: "Oh thank goodness. I thought I'd gotten caught in a radiation burst before we jumped away from Xerocayne. So my blackouts and dizzy spells aren't early signs of viral or radiation poisoning?"
"No. Nothing like that. It's...not another pregnancy either, sadly. Sorry to disappoint you."
"Then what is it?"
Brainiac hesitated and then said: "Try to replicate."
She closed her eyes and summoned the Implicator Matrix that contained her potential bodies in interspace, as was the case with all other Cargggians. But this time, as her secondself materialised alongside her, it felt different, somehow. And then, as the matrix expanded, a third outline appeared within the configuration:
"But...my thirdself?! Computo destroyed her, I..." Her voice trailed off. A fourth figure was emerging. Then a fifth. A sixth. A seventh. An eighth...
"Q-Querl?! What is it?! What's happening to me?"
"Your Cargggian replication abilities have recovered and increased in magnitude. You can now form any number of duplicate incarnations. And no, it's not a Khund pathology or any Cargggian genetically based replication disorder. I have no idea what caused this."
As Projectra sat at the head of the boardroom table, Reep reflected on how much the world around them had changed in over a decade. Jeckie was now Queen of Orando, a task that she would have wanted to share with Val/Karate Kid as her consort. But Nemesis Kid had murdered Val and caused Projectra's metamorphosis into Sensor Woman. In the corner of the room stood a holographier, with the images of Nura Nal, now High Seer of Naltor, and Garth and Imra Ardeen-Ranzz from distant Winath reflected in another facet:
"I'm glad to see we could all make it. Firstly, Jacques has some good news from Earth. This whole ridiculous charade about the Science Police, the Khund metasapients and alleged treason against the United Planets has now been dropped. However, we have another situation. Reep?"
He cleared his throat: "Thanks. Listen, everyone, several Legionnaires have been experiencing radical power fluctuations and surges. And behavioural changes. From what the covert medsensors told us, Laurel Gand, Brainiac 5 and Luorno Taine are the worst affected."
"Nura?"
"Something else. I've gotten precognitive flashes of two red and blue clad metasapients of considerable power and experience. And I think they're headed this way."
"Could it be Superman? But so soon?" Projectra asked.
"No, it isn't. The image was a younger Kryptonian or Daxamite class metasapient. Jeckie, have you discerned anything with your sensory powers?"
Orando's Queen shook her head: "That isn't a mature metasapient. It's an adolescent. Both of them are adolescent. One is female. The point of embarkation is the twentieth century. Specifically, 1985."
Nura nodded: "The Year of the Great Crisis, in which the multiverse was almost destroyed. Is it another iteration of Lar, do you think? Or an alternate universe incarnation of him? But who is the woman?"
In his laboratory, Brainiac 5 had a sudden, blinding moment of agony and screamed as the universe around him erupted into white. There was a single image on the screen and he became aware that he should know it. It depicted a scene from the Great Crisis, in which Supergirl had taken on the Anti-Monitor. His head ached as he saw her and realised that he should know her, but why? Granted, she was a powerful historical figure, but...
and then an emerald-clad armoured form appeared from the upper lefthand side, blasted the Anti-Monitor and gave Supergirl time to get free. His heart leapt and his eyes streamed with tears, as the Anti-Monitor went down to defeat at a confrontation at the beginning of time:
"K...Kara?"
Abruptly, silhouetted in the hallway, a tall blonde woman was there and stepped forward into the light. It had been over a millenium since her legendary exploits but she was unmistakeable as she moved into the lightbox vicinity:
"Yes, Querl. I'm here." But with an agonised scream, Brainiac 5 clutched his head and fell to his knees. Kara Zor-El ran to investigate, but suddenly, a second woman had appeared in the lab and interposed herself between Kara and the prone metascientist:
"I don't know who you are but get away from him if you know what's good for you. Now!!!" Laurel snapped.
Abruptly, the room rippled around them. Mon-El and Shadow Lass ran into the room, to confront: "Kara? Kara Zor-El?"
"What? Supergirl?! But she's older than the young woman who interned with the Earth-Prime Legion that you told me about."
"Who is this woman, Mon-El?" Kara asked
"Uh, Kara Zor-El, the original Supergirl, meet Laurel Gand/Andromeda, a collateral relative's descendant from 30th Century Daxam."
"That's not his child on your shoulder, though, is it?" Kara asked, as Laurel narrowed her eyes:
"No, Rond Vidar is Lauren's father. What happened to Querl?"
"He cried out and collapsed. I decided to come here after the Great Crisis and talk about our relationship. Only I overshot 2985 and ended up here, fifteen years later, in 3000."
Mon-El shook his head: "No, Kara, you didn't. There's been turbulence in the timestream and it may have affected your transit."
"Honestly, Lar, he looked as if he'd seen a ghost." Kara said, kneeling alongside the comatose Brainiac 5 and smoothing back his sweatstained blonde hair. White Witch strode forward:
"Which is exactly how he should have reacted. Kara, you didn't survive the original iteration of the Great Crisis. The Anti-Monitor killed you in the universe of antimatter. Witness this..." Mysa held a fragile ball of thwarted causality which showed the scene she described.
"I know. Barry Allen and I are still alive because the multiverse needed to survive. So, a relative future iteration of Hal Jordan, Parallax, went back to 1985 and realigned the timestream with us. Apparently, the multiverse was originally supposed to have been compressed into a single universe. His ancestor..."
"No! Querl!!!" Before their horrified eyes, Querl Dox/Brainiac 5 was dissolving into redundant atoms and molecules as he ceased to exist.
"But if the multiverse is still there..."
"Querl!" Kara sobbed, as a blanket shrouded figure appeared on the scene. Then Kara recognised him:
"Kal?! But...you've aged. You shouldn't be here. You should be back in the twentieth century, attending Metropolis University."
Mon-El shook his head: "Actually, no, Kara, because Superman was never "Superboy" in the first place. The Superboy we all knew was from a pocket universe created by the Time Trapper. It was permeable to our own universe, though. It's good to see you again, old friend."
Superboy backed away from Mon-El: "What do you mean, pocket...universe? No, wait. I remember. But...when I arrived back with the rest of you, I lost consciousness."
"It was a close thing, Kal. If I'd gotten you to the medlab a few seconds later, you might be ...d...dead."
White Witch cleared her throat:
"If you're feeling vertigo now, Lar, it's because Superboy did die in the original timeline. There's something going on. Not Kara's restoration to existence, because that occurred independently of any contemporary disturbances to our timestream. Which, apparently, itself has just been restored to existence following a timestorm called "Zero Hour" which has now no longer taken place. But with some modifications."
"So who's doing this, Mysa? The Time Trapper? Mordru? Whatever iteration of the Fatal Five exists at the moment?" Tasmia asked.
'Look..." Laurel said, as Brainiac 5's form recoalesced, but with disturbing divergences. He resembled the simuskeletal form of his 'ancestor', Colu's Brainiac 1.2 AI, as he had appeared in the twentieth century. His eyes shone green and a voicebox grated :[I am Brainiac Iteration 5.2. Identified: Kryptonians- two. Daxamites-two. Inhabitants of Talok VIII and Sorceror's World/Naltor. DESTROY].
"Querl, no!!!" Instants later, there was a deafening explosion...
In a distant medical ward, a muscular young man came out of his coma and sat up in bed. Kal-El pulled on his tattered clothing from his last encounter with the Time Trapper and sped toward the source of vibrations within the immensity of the Sanctuary homesphere....
Despite the drama elsewhere within Sanctuary, with new disclosures and secrets, the Legion of SuperHeroes celebrated the joining of two of their own. Salu Digby and Ayla Rannz joined their lives together, with most of their family and friends around them. If Garth were angry at the exclusion of Mekt from the ceremony, he and Imra had their hands full with their four children. Rokk clenched his hand involuntarily as his magnetic abilities spasmed within his containment gloves. Tasmia held Lar's hand and patted her burgeoning stomach contentedly. Projectra stood high above the others, with Shvaun Erin, Element Lad's widower. Suddenly, her brow furrowed. She motioned to Imra and Reep and they nodded, making time to slip away after the ceremony had finished. But for once, it wasn't an immediate threat.
The debris and shrapnel froze into place as Mysa Nal gestured and uttered the Incantation of Transmutation, replicating the abilities of dead Legionnaires Jan Arrah (Element Lad) and Condo Arlik (Chemical King). Projectra produced a sensory deprivation sphere articulated to combat Brainiac (5)'s sudden turn toward the murderous. For once, despite all their power, Superboy and Supergirl, Mon-El and Laurel Gand could only remain motionless:
"Querl!"
"Mysa, was that magickal in derivation?"
Projectra shook her head: "No, it was merely fortunate that transmutation spells are amongst the most elementary on Sorceror's World and she was here at the time. And I had a contingency isolation sequence amongst my sensory abilities so that I could contain Brainiac 5 if this dread day ever came."
"So what is it, Jeckie?"
"There is some chroniton and tachyon disturbance here, but it is not of magickal origin. It centres on Kara, Kal-El and Laurel. Their presence here is anomalous. Kara, you survived the confrontation with the Anti-Monitor in Qward's Antimatter Universe back in 1985 that originally killed you. Kal, you did not survive transporting the others away from the Pocket Universe after the confrontation with the Time Trapper there. Laurel, you died in a terrorist Khund attack on the United Planets."
"I knew that," Kara said,"but Kal? You too?"
"Apparently. But what does that have to do with Brainy's metamorphosis into...that?"
"It's the original Brainiac. He went through a phase where he was more obviously nonhumanoid, metallic and skeletal. Like...Querl...now. Jeckie, am I to blame for this?"
Projectra shook her head: "No, Kara. As Mysa has said too, I fear that this is connected with the re-emergence of this very timeline after the unravelling of a 'corrective' temporal event named "Zero Hour" which originally erased it from existence. It had to do with the deaths of Kara and Kal-El and the resultant temporal instability that ensued from that event. Although our causality now exists once more, there is continuing quantum flux. It has exponentially increased our respective abilities in some cases- Luornu can provide endless replications of herself, not just two or three. Kal-El and Kara, you are now immune to kryptonite and magic as well as the radiation of red and green suns. Mon-El and Laurel do not have to ingest their antilead serum."
Imra had come into the room:
"That's not all. The blocker sequence that I had Querl programme into my mind is gone. I'm capable of telekinesis and possibly teleportation as well. Perhaps other psionic abilities."
Kal grinned: "This is great. I can go home now. Ma and Pa must be terrified...what is it? Why did you turn away, Mon?"
"Kal, it isn't there anymore."
"You're lying. I'm going back there, now." And with that, Superboy accelerated away out of Sanctuary, into the time vortex and beyond the thirty-first century. Supergirl looked at the others:
"Is this true? Did all of you know about this, all the time?"
"We only found out after the first Great Crisis, Kara."
"There's something else. We're being watched. Manipulated. The restoration of this timeline is no accident."
"What are we waiting for? Let's get after him."
THE TIMESTREAM:
[Kal!]
[Get out of my mind, Imra. If the past is in danger, then I'm going to rectify this]
[Kal, you died originally in this timestream. Something, or someone, is responsible for the power increases that we've been experiencing throughout the last few weeks. Please. You...don't want to see what happens to the Pocket Universe after you left.]
"He's almost there, Imra. Kara?"
"What does all this mean, Mon-El? That Kal isn't from the main timestream, that he's from an alternate reality? But I've been to the past. Superboy grows up and becomes Superman. Doesn't he?"
He looked away:
"No. No, he doesn't. The Pocket Universe is a secondary universe attached to our own and had a limited, circumscribed existence. I crossed over into it originally, and the Phantom Zone is multiply permeable to all alternate universes. We only found out after our first journey back to the late twentieth century after what was originally the First Great Crisis, and found out Superman had never met the Legion."
"Lar! That's...you." Laurel said, as Kara blanched:
"Rao! That can't be Earth, it's a lifeless, anoxic wasteland."
"Yeah. I was so intent on taking down the Trapper, so angry at the events that led to Kal's original death here. And you can see why...now."
Kara gasped: "No. No, Zod, Faora, Quex-Ul. They did this?! We have to stop them!" With that, she dove down into the sequence of events that led to the fiery immolation of the Pocket Universe Earth and the genocide of its three billion inhabitants. Then her brow furrowed as she saw:
"Lex Luthor?! But...he has hair. Red hair. So...he never turned psychotic in this version of the Pocket Universe? But the Legion encountered his younger self and he'd already turned before then."
"We only found out later, Kara. But yes, Lex Luthor is a virtuous individual here. That's what made his fatal error even more painful- he released those three Phantom Zone Kryptonian renegades because they masqueraded as "Survival Zone" refugees from Krypton's destruction- like your parents, Zor-El and Alura."
"We've got to stop him, Mon. Destroy the projector." Before anyone could stop her, Kara broke into the abandoned Smallville base of Superboy beneath the homestead of deceased Pa and Ma Kent, grabbed the Phantom Zone Projector from Lex Luthor's hands and crushed and destroyed it. There was a cry of agony from the Phantom Zone as the turbulence from the aborted timestream surged forward and erased the three Kryptonian criminals from existence. Then, from the shadows, Kal-El stalked:
"Luthor! You did this! You would have freed those criminals. You would have destroyed this world. Well, I've had it with you. Get out of my way, Kara. I'm going to do what I should have done years ago."
"No, Kal. You don't understand. This isn't your Luthor, he never turned criminal in this new timestream. The retrieval of those three criminals would have been a tragic accident. This...would be a betrayal of the values that Ma and Pa Kent brought you up with. Would they have wanted this? Would they?"
"But...Ma and Pa are still dead. The rejuvenation treatment that I originally gave them wore off and they died from a viral infection- no, wait. Imra?"
"I'm sorry, Kal. That's the way that things turned out originally in the Pocket Universe timestream as well. It's indelible, you can't erase it." Abruptly, there was a moment of agonising pain and then all of them looked around: "Projectra?"
"Something has happened, my friends. This is no longer a 'pocket universe.' Somehow, it has been integrated or overlaid into the core timestream." With a cry of pain, Laurel began to disappear. Mon-El tried to hold onto her, but the dissolution of her existence was too strong to overcome. With the destruction of the Pocket Universe and its Earth now aborted, the timestream that had resulted when Mon-El had killed one of the timestream iterations of the Time Trapper which had led to a Mordru-dominated timestream and then the Glorithverse and emergence of Laurel Gand unravelled. To the Legionnaires, it was as if Glorith had always died after the Time Trapper had betrayed her during their relative youth. It all happened in the space of an instant- Laurel had now never existed and Mon-El could now never grieve for a kinswoman who had never existed.
Instants later, Luthor also faded from existence, unnoticed. He rematerialised in Metropolis Prison's Young Offenders annex, now bald, psychotic once more and wearing an orange prison regulation workshirt and trousers.
The final twist began when Kal-El blinked, abruptly forgetting that there had ever been a separate pocket universe and that he had died in this sequence of events. Alongside him, on a table, were the documents of his farm sale and acceptance at Metropolis University, as well as a suitcase. Imra telepathed to the others:
[This is how it must have turned out in the original sequence of events.]
"Hey, it's great to see all of you again, one last time. But no, I won't reconsider. This time, I'm afraid that my resignation is going to have to be permanent. I'm Superman now. This world needs full-time protection and that means no more Legion membership. It's been a blast." He shook hands with Mon-El, hugged Kara and Imra, and left the room.
Kara cleared her throat: "It's time that I was going too. I have a life to pick up. Good luck with fighting off that future iteration of Brainiac. You'll need it." Projectra realised what was happening and encased Imra and herself in a sensory resistance bubble, invisible to the oblivious Mon-El, who waved as Kara left for her near-future life. She retained the memory of Laurel Gand and realised, with a sinking heart, that if this was how things had always been then this new timeline was likely to now have become indelible. Imra telepathed:
[But if the Pocket Universe has been reintegrated into the core timeline...]
[Our original timeline is still there, Imra. It's still waiting for us. Val...is still dead. Querl Dox never became "our" Brainiac 5. The United Planets still suffered a cataclysmic interplanetary economic collapse, the covert Dominator occupation, the Liberation War and our relocation to Legionworld still occurred. But this Crisis is over. We have now lost Superboy permanently from our membership, but Supergirl will still be there. There...is something else. The Time Trapper no longer exists, nor does Mordru or Glorith. None of them can have done this. All of the reiterations that occurred within our timeline have been undone too. It's time to leave now. We will not be returning to this time.]
Mon-El soared away, heading for the 31st Century and home, as the time bubble rose and followed him, Imra and Projectra lost in their thoughts. In CE 3000, Laurel Gand's data and peripheral historical content phased out of existence. Whatever challenges the Legion of Super Heroes had to face in their dark future world, five years later after the devastating economic collapse of the United Planets in 2988, it would be without a longtime friend and ally and a member who had now never existed.
THE END
In 2987, a disastrous KHUND EMPIRE incursion plunged much of the UNITED PLANETS into severe recession through cutting its trade routes and access to ANTIMATTER pellets for POWERSPHERE fuel. Due to its effects on Earth, TAYLA WELLINGTON and her ISOLATIONIST PARTY were elected that same year, and she quickly made it impossible for the Legion to operate through hamfisted regulation. Disgusted with Wellington's regime,BREK BANNIN (See: POLAR BOY: See: THARR). disbanded the organisation, leaving no-one to combat EARTHGOV'S increasingly brutal and authoritarian rule.
Five years later, in 2992, former Legionnaire BLOK was murdered by the perpetrator of the TROM GENOCIDE ROXXAS: (See: TROM GENOCIDE: ELEMENT LAD: ROXXAS). That event precipitated the reformation of the Legion under the aegis of Rokk Krinn. However, many things had changed in the interregnum.
Krinn had been robbed of his electromagnetic abilities, as had many fellow inhabitants of BRAAL after neighbouring IMSK (See: SHRINKING VIOLET: IMSK: SPACE DRAGON MIGRATION DISPUTE) invaded it over territorial claims. Imsk's expeditionary force landed in VENADO BAY, ironically enough under the command of former Legionnaire Commander SALU DIGBY (qv SHRINKING VIOLET). Upon hearing of BLOK's murder, Krinn was galvanised to reform the Legion and investigate what had happened. He was assisted by Co-Founders Garth and Imra Ardeen-Rannz, using the proceeds from their LIGHTNING RING agricultural corporation. After Salu Digby became an anti-occupation activist on Imsk and then a political prisoner, AYLA RANNZ (See: LIGHTNING LASS: See: WINATH) successfully ran a campaign to have her released, resulting in Digby's exile to Winath. There, the two women rekindled their relationship.
On Earth, however, Earthgov's behaviour had grown increasingly repressive, resulting in the routine use of torture, 'disappearances' and summary executions without trial. Two such fatalities were the children of the legendary FLASH I, the time-displaced 20th Century Speedster (See: BARRY ALLEN: See: FLASH I) and his wife IRIS WEST ALLEN (See: IRIS ALLEN: See: CENTRAL CITY MONAD: See: TERRAN CIVIL WAR (2940-45)., DON ALLEN and DAWN ALLEN IGNATS (See: TORNADO TWINS). Through investigation, it was found that the alien DOMINATORS had covertly invaded Earth and were using the Wellington regime to conceal their objectives. In the resultant LIBERATION OF EARTH, Wellington was assassinated by the Dominators and multiple sabotage Powersphere attacks caused mayhem, also resulting in the death of former Legionnaire DIRK MORGNA (See: SUN BOY). However, the Legion and United Planets prevailed and Earthgov ended its bloody isolationist period.
During the Interregnum, others had passed away- most poignantly, JAN ARRAH of TROM (See: ELEMENT LAD: See: TROMIAN GENOCIDE), the last survivor of his species. Others joined- most notably, FIRE LAD, CHLOROPHYLL KID, COLOR KID AND STONE BOY (See: LEGION OF SUBSTITUTE HEROES), NIGHTWIND (See: BERTA SKYE HARRIS: See: FATALITIES OF KHUND INCURSION), REFLECTO (See: STIG-AH: See: RIMBOR), IMPULSE (See: RICHARD KENT SHAKESPEARE: See: DESCENDANTS OF KAL-EL/SUPERMAN), KONO (See: BRITA AN'ANN: See: SKLAR), NEON (See: CELESTE McCAULEY: See: McCAULEY INDUSTRIES), and REFLEX (See: DEVLIN O'RYAN: See: XANTHU). Reformed LEGION OF SUPERVILLAINS Member SUSANNA PAKK (See: SPIDER GIRL) and CATSPAW (See: APRIL DUMAKA: See: ANIMAL SIMULANT) rounded out the new inductions over this period.
During the period in which the Legion had been framed, a group of renegade clones was found in SW 6. This INJUSTICE LEAGUE would return to plague the Legion many times.
The INJUSTICE LEAGUE were inferior quality CLONE replicas of the JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA (See: JUSTICE LEAGUE: See: 21st CENTURY), although they managed to cause problems for the Legionnaires. As did the TIME TRAPPER, their old nemesis, who wilfully destroyed all life on DAXAM (See: DAXAM GENOCIDE), prompting a joint attempt by Lar Gand, BRAINIAC 5, DUO DAMSEL and SATURN GIRL to avenge the atrocity. Gand was severely injured, but a collateral descendant of his family, LAUREL GAND replaced him during his period away. At about the same time, Lar Gand married long-time girlfriend TASMIA MALLOR (See: SHADOW LASS: See: TALOK VIII).
Misinterpretation of a four-member meta Khund incursion led to accusations that the Legion were covert operatives for the Khund Empire. However, due to investigative work, it was actually discovered that CORRUPTION IN THE SCIENCE POLICE was responsible for this incident. However, it led to the Legion's evacuation from Earth. As a consequence of his comatose father R.J.BRANDE's death, his son REEP DAGGLE inherited control of BRANDE INDUSTRIES and constructed SANCTUARY, a deep space asteroid sized new headquarters for the Legion. In June 3000, Salu Digby and Ayla Ranzz finally married.
As Laurel Gand slid in through the airlock, she blinked, shaking her head. Directly below her, spread in all its majesty, was the spiral of the Milky Way Galaxy, a sight that she never tired of. Why did she feel so disoriented? And why was Querl so remote and distant? Not for the first time, she wondered whether it had anything to do with her relationship with Rond and Lauren, who had contently slept the translight passage from the galaxy below them. She looked forward to seeing Lar and Tasmia again, and wondered if that particular rumour was true.
The other duty was not so pleasant. However, it would do her still-infant daughter good to see those who had sacrificed their lives for freedom and justice, even if she was probably far too young to adequately comprehend it. She alighted at the Hall of Fallen Heroes. Ferro Lad. Invisible Kid I. Chemical King. Magnetic Kid. Karate Kid. Nightwind. And sadly, the newer additions. Even if Dirk (Sun Boy) had been a clueless apologist for Earthgov, he hadn't deserved to die so horribly in the wave of powersphere detonations that had so ravaged the Earth as the Dominators fought the Liberation of Earth. And Jan (Element Lad)...that had been especially painful. He had been the last survivor of the Trom Genocide and with his death, the Tromian species had become extinct. She shook her head again, as if trying to dispell a peculiar image, of her own statue there. But why? Or that of Tasmia, her ancestor Lar's wife. Or of Imra, Garth and Rokk. And then, a majestic figure swept around the corner, still regal despite all the time that had elapsed:
"Projectra!"
"My dear Laurel. I take it you've seen the latest memorial?"
Projectra motioned to the adjacent statue and stepped aside. Laurel gasped:
"Oh no. Chuck?! How?"
"It was the evacuation of Xerocayne. The Khund incursion came sooner than anyone had imagined. Chuck led off the invaders using his piloting skills, leaving the medical evacuation fleet enough time to get clear. But he didn't make it."
"No. Oh, poor Luornu. It's not fair, after all that time trying for a baby and then finally giving birth to little Lyle."
Projectra smiled sadly: "At least she has a child for remembrance."
"I'm sorry, Jeckie, how insensitive of me. You and Val had so little time together before that bastard Druiter murdered him. And of course, Orando's traditionalism means you can't even have an ecto child from him."
"Orando itself is my child now and my sole concern, apart from my old friends here. And how wonderful to see Ayla and Salu finally solemnise their love for one another."
Ayla sighed as she prepared for her long-delayed wedding to the woman she loved, with Kono as her maid of honour:
"There was a blazing row with Garth before we finalised the details. He wanted Mekt to come with our party. I said no, absolutely not. Our older brother might well have reformed now, but I wanted Projectra to share this day with us as well. And after what the Legion of Super Villains did to her homeworld, especially their role in poor Val's death, I think she's suffered enough. But you know my older brother, Brita..."
"It's a shame Nura and Thom can't come. She's lost some weight since last time."
"Thom put her on a diet." Abruptly, there was a knock on the door:
"What? Lar! Tasmia!"
The old friends embraced as Lar presented her with a gift:
"Transducer Crystal Structure. Hit this with one of your bolts and see what happens."
As Tasmia pinned back her cloak, Ayla gasped:
"Taz?! That's a baby bump! You mean Lar and you..?! Oh, sweetheart, how wonderful. Congratulations, but how are you two going to manage the pregnancy?"
"I decided to install a red sun crystal diode before we tried. It cancels out any adverse effects from the little one's Daxamite genes until full term. We're also experimenting with an antilead blocker so the hereditary Daxamite vulnerability doesn't affect them."
"You heard about Luornu and Chuck?" Ayla asked.
"I can't believe he's gone. It's so brave of Luornu to come here under the circumstances."
Brainiac 5 shook his head, clearing it of visions. No, the Moon hadn't been destroyed by the Dominators in the fight to liberate Earth. No, the resultant instability hadn't caused a runaway geophysical reaction that had consequently shattered the Earth in turn. No, there was no cloned younger ersatz Legion in Metropolis SW6. No. Laurel hadn't been killed by the Khunds. He swallowed another painblocker and steadied himself before visiting an anxious Luornu in Sanctuary's medbay.
"Querl?"
"Luornu. I have some news. Don't worry, it's not bad."
She closed her eyes: "Oh thank goodness. I thought I'd gotten caught in a radiation burst before we jumped away from Xerocayne. So my blackouts and dizzy spells aren't early signs of viral or radiation poisoning?"
"No. Nothing like that. It's...not another pregnancy either, sadly. Sorry to disappoint you."
"Then what is it?"
Brainiac hesitated and then said: "Try to replicate."
She closed her eyes and summoned the Implicator Matrix that contained her potential bodies in interspace, as was the case with all other Cargggians. But this time, as her secondself materialised alongside her, it felt different, somehow. And then, as the matrix expanded, a third outline appeared within the configuration:
"But...my thirdself?! Computo destroyed her, I..." Her voice trailed off. A fourth figure was emerging. Then a fifth. A sixth. A seventh. An eighth...
"Q-Querl?! What is it?! What's happening to me?"
"Your Cargggian replication abilities have recovered and increased in magnitude. You can now form any number of duplicate incarnations. And no, it's not a Khund pathology or any Cargggian genetically based replication disorder. I have no idea what caused this."
As Projectra sat at the head of the boardroom table, Reep reflected on how much the world around them had changed in over a decade. Jeckie was now Queen of Orando, a task that she would have wanted to share with Val/Karate Kid as her consort. But Nemesis Kid had murdered Val and caused Projectra's metamorphosis into Sensor Woman. In the corner of the room stood a holographier, with the images of Nura Nal, now High Seer of Naltor, and Garth and Imra Ardeen-Ranzz from distant Winath reflected in another facet:
"I'm glad to see we could all make it. Firstly, Jacques has some good news from Earth. This whole ridiculous charade about the Science Police, the Khund metasapients and alleged treason against the United Planets has now been dropped. However, we have another situation. Reep?"
He cleared his throat: "Thanks. Listen, everyone, several Legionnaires have been experiencing radical power fluctuations and surges. And behavioural changes. From what the covert medsensors told us, Laurel Gand, Brainiac 5 and Luorno Taine are the worst affected."
"Nura?"
"Something else. I've gotten precognitive flashes of two red and blue clad metasapients of considerable power and experience. And I think they're headed this way."
"Could it be Superman? But so soon?" Projectra asked.
"No, it isn't. The image was a younger Kryptonian or Daxamite class metasapient. Jeckie, have you discerned anything with your sensory powers?"
Orando's Queen shook her head: "That isn't a mature metasapient. It's an adolescent. Both of them are adolescent. One is female. The point of embarkation is the twentieth century. Specifically, 1985."
Nura nodded: "The Year of the Great Crisis, in which the multiverse was almost destroyed. Is it another iteration of Lar, do you think? Or an alternate universe incarnation of him? But who is the woman?"
In his laboratory, Brainiac 5 had a sudden, blinding moment of agony and screamed as the universe around him erupted into white. There was a single image on the screen and he became aware that he should know it. It depicted a scene from the Great Crisis, in which Supergirl had taken on the Anti-Monitor. His head ached as he saw her and realised that he should know her, but why? Granted, she was a powerful historical figure, but...
and then an emerald-clad armoured form appeared from the upper lefthand side, blasted the Anti-Monitor and gave Supergirl time to get free. His heart leapt and his eyes streamed with tears, as the Anti-Monitor went down to defeat at a confrontation at the beginning of time:
"K...Kara?"
Abruptly, silhouetted in the hallway, a tall blonde woman was there and stepped forward into the light. It had been over a millenium since her legendary exploits but she was unmistakeable as she moved into the lightbox vicinity:
"Yes, Querl. I'm here." But with an agonised scream, Brainiac 5 clutched his head and fell to his knees. Kara Zor-El ran to investigate, but suddenly, a second woman had appeared in the lab and interposed herself between Kara and the prone metascientist:
"I don't know who you are but get away from him if you know what's good for you. Now!!!" Laurel snapped.
Abruptly, the room rippled around them. Mon-El and Shadow Lass ran into the room, to confront: "Kara? Kara Zor-El?"
"What? Supergirl?! But she's older than the young woman who interned with the Earth-Prime Legion that you told me about."
"Who is this woman, Mon-El?" Kara asked
"Uh, Kara Zor-El, the original Supergirl, meet Laurel Gand/Andromeda, a collateral relative's descendant from 30th Century Daxam."
"That's not his child on your shoulder, though, is it?" Kara asked, as Laurel narrowed her eyes:
"No, Rond Vidar is Lauren's father. What happened to Querl?"
"He cried out and collapsed. I decided to come here after the Great Crisis and talk about our relationship. Only I overshot 2985 and ended up here, fifteen years later, in 3000."
Mon-El shook his head: "No, Kara, you didn't. There's been turbulence in the timestream and it may have affected your transit."
"Honestly, Lar, he looked as if he'd seen a ghost." Kara said, kneeling alongside the comatose Brainiac 5 and smoothing back his sweatstained blonde hair. White Witch strode forward:
"Which is exactly how he should have reacted. Kara, you didn't survive the original iteration of the Great Crisis. The Anti-Monitor killed you in the universe of antimatter. Witness this..." Mysa held a fragile ball of thwarted causality which showed the scene she described.
"I know. Barry Allen and I are still alive because the multiverse needed to survive. So, a relative future iteration of Hal Jordan, Parallax, went back to 1985 and realigned the timestream with us. Apparently, the multiverse was originally supposed to have been compressed into a single universe. His ancestor..."
"No! Querl!!!" Before their horrified eyes, Querl Dox/Brainiac 5 was dissolving into redundant atoms and molecules as he ceased to exist.
"But if the multiverse is still there..."
"Querl!" Kara sobbed, as a blanket shrouded figure appeared on the scene. Then Kara recognised him:
"Kal?! But...you've aged. You shouldn't be here. You should be back in the twentieth century, attending Metropolis University."
Mon-El shook his head: "Actually, no, Kara, because Superman was never "Superboy" in the first place. The Superboy we all knew was from a pocket universe created by the Time Trapper. It was permeable to our own universe, though. It's good to see you again, old friend."
Superboy backed away from Mon-El: "What do you mean, pocket...universe? No, wait. I remember. But...when I arrived back with the rest of you, I lost consciousness."
"It was a close thing, Kal. If I'd gotten you to the medlab a few seconds later, you might be ...d...dead."
White Witch cleared her throat:
"If you're feeling vertigo now, Lar, it's because Superboy did die in the original timeline. There's something going on. Not Kara's restoration to existence, because that occurred independently of any contemporary disturbances to our timestream. Which, apparently, itself has just been restored to existence following a timestorm called "Zero Hour" which has now no longer taken place. But with some modifications."
"So who's doing this, Mysa? The Time Trapper? Mordru? Whatever iteration of the Fatal Five exists at the moment?" Tasmia asked.
'Look..." Laurel said, as Brainiac 5's form recoalesced, but with disturbing divergences. He resembled the simuskeletal form of his 'ancestor', Colu's Brainiac 1.2 AI, as he had appeared in the twentieth century. His eyes shone green and a voicebox grated :[I am Brainiac Iteration 5.2. Identified: Kryptonians- two. Daxamites-two. Inhabitants of Talok VIII and Sorceror's World/Naltor. DESTROY].
"Querl, no!!!" Instants later, there was a deafening explosion...
In a distant medical ward, a muscular young man came out of his coma and sat up in bed. Kal-El pulled on his tattered clothing from his last encounter with the Time Trapper and sped toward the source of vibrations within the immensity of the Sanctuary homesphere....
Despite the drama elsewhere within Sanctuary, with new disclosures and secrets, the Legion of SuperHeroes celebrated the joining of two of their own. Salu Digby and Ayla Rannz joined their lives together, with most of their family and friends around them. If Garth were angry at the exclusion of Mekt from the ceremony, he and Imra had their hands full with their four children. Rokk clenched his hand involuntarily as his magnetic abilities spasmed within his containment gloves. Tasmia held Lar's hand and patted her burgeoning stomach contentedly. Projectra stood high above the others, with Shvaun Erin, Element Lad's widower. Suddenly, her brow furrowed. She motioned to Imra and Reep and they nodded, making time to slip away after the ceremony had finished. But for once, it wasn't an immediate threat.
The debris and shrapnel froze into place as Mysa Nal gestured and uttered the Incantation of Transmutation, replicating the abilities of dead Legionnaires Jan Arrah (Element Lad) and Condo Arlik (Chemical King). Projectra produced a sensory deprivation sphere articulated to combat Brainiac (5)'s sudden turn toward the murderous. For once, despite all their power, Superboy and Supergirl, Mon-El and Laurel Gand could only remain motionless:
"Querl!"
"Mysa, was that magickal in derivation?"
Projectra shook her head: "No, it was merely fortunate that transmutation spells are amongst the most elementary on Sorceror's World and she was here at the time. And I had a contingency isolation sequence amongst my sensory abilities so that I could contain Brainiac 5 if this dread day ever came."
"So what is it, Jeckie?"
"There is some chroniton and tachyon disturbance here, but it is not of magickal origin. It centres on Kara, Kal-El and Laurel. Their presence here is anomalous. Kara, you survived the confrontation with the Anti-Monitor in Qward's Antimatter Universe back in 1985 that originally killed you. Kal, you did not survive transporting the others away from the Pocket Universe after the confrontation with the Time Trapper there. Laurel, you died in a terrorist Khund attack on the United Planets."
"I knew that," Kara said,"but Kal? You too?"
"Apparently. But what does that have to do with Brainy's metamorphosis into...that?"
"It's the original Brainiac. He went through a phase where he was more obviously nonhumanoid, metallic and skeletal. Like...Querl...now. Jeckie, am I to blame for this?"
Projectra shook her head: "No, Kara. As Mysa has said too, I fear that this is connected with the re-emergence of this very timeline after the unravelling of a 'corrective' temporal event named "Zero Hour" which originally erased it from existence. It had to do with the deaths of Kara and Kal-El and the resultant temporal instability that ensued from that event. Although our causality now exists once more, there is continuing quantum flux. It has exponentially increased our respective abilities in some cases- Luornu can provide endless replications of herself, not just two or three. Kal-El and Kara, you are now immune to kryptonite and magic as well as the radiation of red and green suns. Mon-El and Laurel do not have to ingest their antilead serum."
Imra had come into the room:
"That's not all. The blocker sequence that I had Querl programme into my mind is gone. I'm capable of telekinesis and possibly teleportation as well. Perhaps other psionic abilities."
Kal grinned: "This is great. I can go home now. Ma and Pa must be terrified...what is it? Why did you turn away, Mon?"
"Kal, it isn't there anymore."
"You're lying. I'm going back there, now." And with that, Superboy accelerated away out of Sanctuary, into the time vortex and beyond the thirty-first century. Supergirl looked at the others:
"Is this true? Did all of you know about this, all the time?"
"We only found out after the first Great Crisis, Kara."
"There's something else. We're being watched. Manipulated. The restoration of this timeline is no accident."
"What are we waiting for? Let's get after him."
THE TIMESTREAM:
[Kal!]
[Get out of my mind, Imra. If the past is in danger, then I'm going to rectify this]
[Kal, you died originally in this timestream. Something, or someone, is responsible for the power increases that we've been experiencing throughout the last few weeks. Please. You...don't want to see what happens to the Pocket Universe after you left.]
"He's almost there, Imra. Kara?"
"What does all this mean, Mon-El? That Kal isn't from the main timestream, that he's from an alternate reality? But I've been to the past. Superboy grows up and becomes Superman. Doesn't he?"
He looked away:
"No. No, he doesn't. The Pocket Universe is a secondary universe attached to our own and had a limited, circumscribed existence. I crossed over into it originally, and the Phantom Zone is multiply permeable to all alternate universes. We only found out after our first journey back to the late twentieth century after what was originally the First Great Crisis, and found out Superman had never met the Legion."
"Lar! That's...you." Laurel said, as Kara blanched:
"Rao! That can't be Earth, it's a lifeless, anoxic wasteland."
"Yeah. I was so intent on taking down the Trapper, so angry at the events that led to Kal's original death here. And you can see why...now."
Kara gasped: "No. No, Zod, Faora, Quex-Ul. They did this?! We have to stop them!" With that, she dove down into the sequence of events that led to the fiery immolation of the Pocket Universe Earth and the genocide of its three billion inhabitants. Then her brow furrowed as she saw:
"Lex Luthor?! But...he has hair. Red hair. So...he never turned psychotic in this version of the Pocket Universe? But the Legion encountered his younger self and he'd already turned before then."
"We only found out later, Kara. But yes, Lex Luthor is a virtuous individual here. That's what made his fatal error even more painful- he released those three Phantom Zone Kryptonian renegades because they masqueraded as "Survival Zone" refugees from Krypton's destruction- like your parents, Zor-El and Alura."
"We've got to stop him, Mon. Destroy the projector." Before anyone could stop her, Kara broke into the abandoned Smallville base of Superboy beneath the homestead of deceased Pa and Ma Kent, grabbed the Phantom Zone Projector from Lex Luthor's hands and crushed and destroyed it. There was a cry of agony from the Phantom Zone as the turbulence from the aborted timestream surged forward and erased the three Kryptonian criminals from existence. Then, from the shadows, Kal-El stalked:
"Luthor! You did this! You would have freed those criminals. You would have destroyed this world. Well, I've had it with you. Get out of my way, Kara. I'm going to do what I should have done years ago."
"No, Kal. You don't understand. This isn't your Luthor, he never turned criminal in this new timestream. The retrieval of those three criminals would have been a tragic accident. This...would be a betrayal of the values that Ma and Pa Kent brought you up with. Would they have wanted this? Would they?"
"But...Ma and Pa are still dead. The rejuvenation treatment that I originally gave them wore off and they died from a viral infection- no, wait. Imra?"
"I'm sorry, Kal. That's the way that things turned out originally in the Pocket Universe timestream as well. It's indelible, you can't erase it." Abruptly, there was a moment of agonising pain and then all of them looked around: "Projectra?"
"Something has happened, my friends. This is no longer a 'pocket universe.' Somehow, it has been integrated or overlaid into the core timestream." With a cry of pain, Laurel began to disappear. Mon-El tried to hold onto her, but the dissolution of her existence was too strong to overcome. With the destruction of the Pocket Universe and its Earth now aborted, the timestream that had resulted when Mon-El had killed one of the timestream iterations of the Time Trapper which had led to a Mordru-dominated timestream and then the Glorithverse and emergence of Laurel Gand unravelled. To the Legionnaires, it was as if Glorith had always died after the Time Trapper had betrayed her during their relative youth. It all happened in the space of an instant- Laurel had now never existed and Mon-El could now never grieve for a kinswoman who had never existed.
Instants later, Luthor also faded from existence, unnoticed. He rematerialised in Metropolis Prison's Young Offenders annex, now bald, psychotic once more and wearing an orange prison regulation workshirt and trousers.
The final twist began when Kal-El blinked, abruptly forgetting that there had ever been a separate pocket universe and that he had died in this sequence of events. Alongside him, on a table, were the documents of his farm sale and acceptance at Metropolis University, as well as a suitcase. Imra telepathed to the others:
[This is how it must have turned out in the original sequence of events.]
"Hey, it's great to see all of you again, one last time. But no, I won't reconsider. This time, I'm afraid that my resignation is going to have to be permanent. I'm Superman now. This world needs full-time protection and that means no more Legion membership. It's been a blast." He shook hands with Mon-El, hugged Kara and Imra, and left the room.
Kara cleared her throat: "It's time that I was going too. I have a life to pick up. Good luck with fighting off that future iteration of Brainiac. You'll need it." Projectra realised what was happening and encased Imra and herself in a sensory resistance bubble, invisible to the oblivious Mon-El, who waved as Kara left for her near-future life. She retained the memory of Laurel Gand and realised, with a sinking heart, that if this was how things had always been then this new timeline was likely to now have become indelible. Imra telepathed:
[But if the Pocket Universe has been reintegrated into the core timeline...]
[Our original timeline is still there, Imra. It's still waiting for us. Val...is still dead. Querl Dox never became "our" Brainiac 5. The United Planets still suffered a cataclysmic interplanetary economic collapse, the covert Dominator occupation, the Liberation War and our relocation to Legionworld still occurred. But this Crisis is over. We have now lost Superboy permanently from our membership, but Supergirl will still be there. There...is something else. The Time Trapper no longer exists, nor does Mordru or Glorith. None of them can have done this. All of the reiterations that occurred within our timeline have been undone too. It's time to leave now. We will not be returning to this time.]
Mon-El soared away, heading for the 31st Century and home, as the time bubble rose and followed him, Imra and Projectra lost in their thoughts. In CE 3000, Laurel Gand's data and peripheral historical content phased out of existence. Whatever challenges the Legion of Super Heroes had to face in their dark future world, five years later after the devastating economic collapse of the United Planets in 2988, it would be without a longtime friend and ally and a member who had now never existed.
THE END