(Previously:  The intangible Legionnaire code-named Apparition 
has gotten really lost and ended up in Nerima, where she met a girl named 
Ranma.  Meanwhile, a STAR Labs facility has been robbed and one of its 
scientists taken.)

				THEIR NAME IS LEGION
				by Scott K. Jamison
			     (Takahashi/DC disclaimer)
			Chapter Two:  The Gathering Storm :-)

	Tinya followed her new acquaintance through the streets of 
Nerima.  Her costume was drawing a few stares, but no one seemed 
particularly amazed by it.  Tough crowd, she thought.  Now that she was 
used to it, Ancient Japan didn't look all that different from Ancient 
USA.  Maybe you had to go back another thousand years to see the fun 
stuff in the tridee stories.
	Ranma swung into the gate of a nice-looking house.  It was fairly 
large for the neighborhood, and Apparition could tell it had been 
repaired often and recently.  She wondered what could have done so much 
damage.
	"Yo, I'm home, and I brought company!" shouted the pig-tailed 
girl.  
	A fairly cute girl of about the same age with short black hair 
looked up from the table where she'd been watching television.  Her face 
almost immediately turned to a frown.
	"Ranma, not another one!"
	"Nah, Akane, she's not here for marriage or revenge, she just 
needs to use the phone.  Though I gotta admit she is kind of cute."
	"Ranma, stop teasing your fiancee," came a motherly voice from 
the next room.
	"Yeah Mom, okay.  This is Tinya, by the way."
	A woman who bore a strong family resemblance to Ranma brought in 
a plate of cookies.
	"I'm very pleased to meet you, Tinya."
	"And I'm Tendou Akane.  Sorry about being rude.  We get a lot of 
weirdos here."
	Tinya bowed back.  Fiancee?  Back home in the Thirtieth Century, 
same-sex marriages were rare, but she had seen a politician on the TV 
ranting against it here and trying to keep them illegal.  Then she 
remembered that in this time period, each country had its own government 
and laws, so obviously it was legal in Japan.  
	"Please, help yourself to a cookie, Tinya," said the mother.
	"Thank you, ma'am, but I'm afraid I can't."  Apparition walked 
through the table.  Mrs. Saotome only blinked in surprise and Akane 
seemed not to be fazed at all.
	"Oh, so you're one of those ghosts that can't fully materialize, 
huh?" she asked.  "That's sad."
	"Sort of.  Um, I just realized I won't be able to pick up the 
phone.  I sometimes have a, uh, bad effect on machines."
	"Where do you need to call, dear?"
	"Happy Harbor in America.  We can reimburse you."  
	"Your friends know Japanese?" asked Ranma.  
	"Um, not yet."
	"You'd better do the call then, Akane.  My English ain't so 
good." 
	"Neither is your Japanese, baka."
	"Tomboy.  Well, I'm gonna go change while you're doing that."
	Tinya was pretty sure there were connotations to "change" that 
weren't quite right.
	"So, Tinya, who are we calling?"
	No one noticed the news item about a robbery at STAR Labs on the 
television. 
			*			*			*
	When the phone rang, Jo Nah pounced on it like a tiger.  The 
Legionnaire known as Ultra Boy had not slept for two days, and his 
stubble was worse than usual.  Fortunately his uniform was made out of 
future fabrics that didn't retain smells nearly as badly as Twentieth 
Century ones.  
	"Yeah?  Hello?"
	"Uh, ano ne...Hello, may I speak to Jyo Naa please?"  A girl's 
voice, non-American sounding.
	Jo straightened up and combed his shaggy brown hair back with his 
fingers.  "Yes!  I mean, I'm him!"  Could it be...
	"This is Akane Tendou.  I have a Chinya Waazo here?"
	"Tinya?  Oh thank God!  Where is she?  Does she want to come 
home?"  He covered the mouthpiece and yelled, "Hey!  Tinya's calling 
in!"  
	"I take it we can call off the worldwide manhunt then?" asked the 
green-skinned Brainiac Five with just a bit more sarcasm than was really 
necessary.
	"We're at Nerima, Japan.  It's a suburb of Tokyo.  Here is the 
address." 
	Jo scribbled down the information as the other members of the 
team drifted over.
	"Tell Tinya I'll be there as soon as I can.  What does your place 
look like from the air?" 
	Cosmic Boy leaned in.  "Is the cruiser ready?"
	Jo listened with half an ear to the Tendou girl, activating his 
ultra-memory (a great power he hardly ever mentioned to people).  "Yeah, 
it could use a shakedown voyage."
	Triad-Purple, the outgoing part of the triplicating heroine, said 
"Hawaii's on the way to Japan.  Could we stop in and see that hunky 
Superboy again?"
	Cosmic Boy considered.  "Good idea, Lu.  And Ferro, as our expert 
on the Twentieth Century, how about you going along?"
	The masked hero scratched his head.  "Well, I don't know that 
much about Japan, but okay."
	From the phone, Akane was talking again.  "And Chinya says to 
tell you...mou...to tell you shelovesyou!"
	"I love you too, honey."  Jo could almost hear the Tendou girl 
blushing. 
		*			*			*
	"Wish I could say it that easily," muttered Akane as she hung up 
the phone.
	"Thank you for helping me," said Tinya.
	"No problem.  It's kind of nice to have a visitor who isn't 
chasing after something for a change."
	"I've noticed none of you seem to have any problems with ghosts.  
That usually isn't the case most places."
	"Yes, well Nerima is a little different."
	"You can say that again," said a boy who looked enough like Ranma 
to be her brother, right down to the pigtail and same outfit.  "How'd the 
phone call go?"
	"Tinya's friends will be here to pick her up about dawn local 
time.  Hey, Ranma, don't take all the cookies!"
	"Why not?  Tinya's not eating any."
	Wait a moment.  "Ranma?"
	"D'oh!"  The boy looked embarrassed.  "I completely forgot.  Yep, 
I'm Ranma.  This is the way I really look.  Long story."
	"I'll trade you."
	The three teens settled in at the table.
	"Well, my Pop was training me in the martial arts, has since I 
was just a kid, and took me over to China.  Idjit can't read Chinese, so 
he took me to this `famous training ground' called Jyuusenkyo.  The part 
that he missed was that it was a forbidden *cursed* training ground.  
	"Y'see, there are these natural springs there, called the Pools 
of Sorrow.  Pretty much all of them have had something drown in them, and 
now whoever falls in takes the form of whatever drowned there.  Ducks, 
pandas, cats, that sorta thing.  But Pops was in such a hurry to get 
started training that he completely ignored what the guide we had was 
trying to say.
	"So we started sparring, and sure enough  I fell into 
Nyanniichuan, the Spring of Drowned Girl.  So I turn into a girl 
everytime I get wet with cold water, and hot water turns me back.  Pops 
turns into a panda."
	Akane looked as if she'd heard this story a thousand times 
before.  She probably had.  Tinya was sure it had to be explained 
every time someone new came along.
	"That's a little hard to believe..."
	"I guess I gotta show ya."  Ranma went into the next room (Tinya 
realized it was the kitchen) and emerged with a full glass of water and a 
teakettle.
	He poured the glass over himself.  Instantly he shrank and 
Ranma's body developed obviously female curves.  "See?"
	Tinya was amazed.  Even a massive dose of Profem took hours to 
work, and didn't actually change your gender, which Ranma was implying 
happened to him.
	Ranma then poured hot water, and returned to male form.  "So, 
your turn."
	"Well, I'm not from Earth, actually.  I'm from a place called 
Bgztl, where everyone has the ability to `phase' partially into another 
dimension, thus becoming intangible.  I'm better than most people at it, 
well I suppose I should say *was* better.
	"I joined this group called the Legion of Super-Heroes, and met a 
boy named Jo who worked for another team.  We started getting really 
close.  Then the Legion and the Work Force, Jo's team, had to get 
together to battle a Daxamite invasion."
	"I've heard of Daxamites," said Akane.  "They're humanoid aliens, 
kind of like Superman.  But I thought they were supposed to be peaceful." 
	"Most of them are.  But we were fighting a small splinter group, 
the White Triangle, that thought they were better than anyone else in the 
galaxy and should be in charge.  Jo and I fought one, and won, but as we 
were celebrating, he got back up--and vaporized my solid form with his 
heat vision."
	"Ouch."
	"Everyone assumed I was dead, but somehow my soul managed to bind 
itself to the ultra-energy in Jo's body.  Eventually I was able to 
communicate with him again, then manifest visibly.  I can do some weird 
effects sometimes, but this is as solid as I get."
	Akane tried to touch Apparition's hand to comfort her.  It didn't 
work too well.
	"So you can't touch your boyfriend?  That must really suck."
	"And he can't touch me either...it's so frustrating!  And Jo can 
be so insensitive about it sometimes."
	 "Boys."
	"Thanks a *lot*, Akane.  Like you're so understanding."
	*Hmpf!*
	Tinya smiled.  She and Ultra Boy weren't the only young lovers 
with troubles...
		*			*			*
	Dr. Mizugawa's head rolled back loosely, as the mad scientist 
gasped for breath.
	"Thanks, Four-Eyes.  You've been a big help.  You get to live.  
Unless of course you lied to me about anything."
	"No, no!  It was all true!  Everything!"  He cowered as best he 
could, considering how tightly he was tied to the chair.
	The other figure in the small shabby room chuckled.  The 
modifications he needed to make were minimal, and the device would be 
well-hidden.  It was a bit disappointing that Mizugawa had cracked so 
quickly.  He'd looked like he could withstand much more pain. 
	Still, there were worthier targets to attack.  Much worthier. 
	"Tomorrow, Nerima.  The day after, the world!"


Comments always welcome!
SKJAM!
(who will actually respond to a personals ad for the first time..."Sailor 
Moon seeks Tuxedo Mask")