Legionnaires: Shrinking Violet
Vi-Hard
by Libbylawrence
A purple-hued, multi-limbed, diminutive being gazed at a petite young woman and scowled. His name was Dr. Gym’ll. She was his patient Salu Digby, a.k.a. Shrinking Violet of the Legion of Super Heroes. However, neither the crusty physician nor the abrasive heroine were particularly patient as individuals. He saw her look of relief when he concluded her examination by saying, “You are disgustingly healthy, young woman!”
Salu smiled, “Coming from you that means a lot. I really didn’t think this visit was necessary, but Element Lad wanted to make sure everyone checked out in good health before he concluded his term. I guess he felt that it would relieve him of any feeling that he had neglected any possible duty during his tenure as Legion leader.”
Dr. Gym’ll said, “Jan Arrah is very thorough. My bills were always dealt with expediently during his time in command. I certainly hope his successor is not Wildfire. Getting that fiery individual to complete the most basic procedural process was more difficult than sedating a Rimborian Rangeox!”
Salu smiled again mischievously. “Could be worse, Doc. Maybe, Timber Wolf will win the election… or Quislet! How’d you like to have your equipment become animated before blowing up!”
Dr. Gym’ll sighed in resignation. “Very droll. Your examination is complete. I will transmit the necessary report to Legion HQ.”
Salu nodded and watched the irascible doctor as he walked off grumbling to himself. He was an excellent physician with an extensive knowledge of the metabolic and physiological needs of countless alien species. He concealed his concern for and dedication to his patients with a gruff facade.
Salu knew all about facades since the previously demure girl had developed one of her own. Her Legion friends had known her as “Shy Vi” for years until a life- changing ordeal altered the way she viewed the world around her. She had been abducted and imprisoned by radicals from her home planet of Imsk. During her time trapped in a senso-deprivation tank, she had been replaced by a Durlan actress who in turn had been duped into deceiving the other Legionnaires. When her friends realized what had occurred, they rescued her and the remorseful actress Yera had eventually made an uneasy peace with all. This was helped by the fact that Yera had married Colossal Boy and the two were a blissfully happy couple. Salu had made a vow to never allow herself to be victimized again and she had followed through on that vow by dedicating herself to combat training until she had become one of the team’s finest fighters. She had also adopted a tough, non-nonsense attitude that brought her out of her shell and discomfited some of her teammates. She was happy with her new demeanor and her friends had come to accept it. She had even reconciled with her boyfriend Duplicate Boy of Lallor. His super human powers enabled them to carry on a satisfying long distance romance since he could travel across space to be with her with relative ease.
Now, she smoothed down her short pageboy haircut and slipped on her customary green mini dress and black boots. Before she could depart from the orbiting medical hospital called Medicus One, which hovered in perpetual geosynchronous orbit near earth, she heard loud screams and a muffled explosion.
Violet whirled around to glance at one of the many monitors that allowed the staff to maintain a constant observation of the many levels of the huge satellite. She saw smoke and fire and a strange band of intruders crashing through a forced airlock. They wore uniforms of black and gold and they carried standard hand held blasters. Still, they were more than a match for the Medicus One security staff as the invading group fired ruthlessly at staff and patients alike and their advantages of surprise and aggression enabled them to make their way deeper within the satellite even as one of their number stopped to close the damaged portal behind them. “Organ-leggers! They probably want to steal the vital organs stored here and make a fortunate in credits by selling them on the black market. Ayla and Brin captured a similar gang here a while back. Well, I guess they are in for a shock when they learn that a Legionnaire was already here! I’ll contact the others for reinforcements and we’ll put a quick end to their little raid!
She touched her gold flight ring and frowned as she realized nothing was happening! By the dragons of Imsk, they’ve blocked all communications! Even the flight ring signal is not working. The others know I am here from our monitor board but I’ve no way of letting them know what’s going on or summoning help! I’d say the same thing has prevented the security staff here from reaching the Science Police either!
Shrinking Violet glanced at the monitor screen above and saw the robbers charging through the hospital with a casual disregard for life or property. “I can’t let them harm anyone if I can stop them. Looks like it’s entirely up to me to handle this gang!” she said softly but with a steely determination in her tone. She ran out of the room and flew down the corridors via her flight ring. She called down to the staff below. “Get the patients to safety. I’ll try to hold off the robbers!”
A doctor cried out, “We can’t! They’ve sealed all exits and cut off all communications. We’re trapped here with them! We’re absolutely helpless!”
Shrinking Violet landed and blocked his path. “Pull yourself together! You have to put the safety of the patients first. Try to keep them calm and I’ll handle the rest!”
He nodded abruptly and said, “Of course! I lost my head! I suppose I was scared!”
Violet nodded and flew off to face the closest of the group of robbers. Three of them had charged on ahead of their allies and they were coming closer. She swooped low and bowled them over with the momentum from her sudden dive! Before they could get back up, she shrank down to doll size in their midst and then slammed into each of their chins with stunning force by growing to normal size in close proximity to them in rapid succession. She turned to the staff and said, “Tie them up or sedate them! Take their blasters and use them if any of the others get past me!”
Violet hurried down the hallway and tried to recall anything she might have seen in the past that would enable her to identify their odd uniforms. “I can’t say I have ever seen their particular uniforms before but then new creeps pop up all the time! It really angers me to think how they want to get rich off of making a commodity out of organs vital to the survival of innocent people!”
Shrinking Violet was not unwilling to use a blaster against the robbers if necessary but her Legion code did not allow use of lethal force and she was far more comfortable relying on her own resources than employing guns even if only set to stun. She reduced her size again and gained a bit of speed as she made her way down to where the organ-leggers were creating panic.
“My Espionage Squad skills will certainly come into play here. If I can keep them separated from one another in small groups and prevent them from alerting one another to my presence here, I’ll gain a big advantage. The security monitors just died as well. I guess that means I’m going to have to be especially careful!” She heard noises and quickly vanished by shrinking behind a table. She saw three thugs enter and she observed them closely from her hiding place. She noticed with her keen detective’s eye that all of them spoke Interlac and appeared to be from earth. She also noted the rather curious names they used when they addressed one another as they began to access the computers.
“Pompey, can you break through the security codes? The medical records stored here could be a use to us later on. Some wealthy types might pay well to keep their medical conditions secret,” said one of the men.
A rugged blond man laughed harshly. “Yeah! Imagine what the Intergalactic Broadcast Company would pay for details about Dream Girl’s latest cosmetic enhancement!”
Violet stifled a laugh at how furious her vain teammate Nura Nal would be if she heard the thugs making assumptions that her stunning beauty was not natural! She listened for a moment and made sure none of the rest of the robbers were approaching.
“Don’t get so nervous, Sulla! Marius has this job planned to the last detail. While some of us get the frozen organs, others steal the valuable drugs stored here, a third team robs the patients of anything they might have of value, and we copy the databanks for later use!” said a black haired man.
“Those names are ancient. I think they all had some significance in Ancient Rome but I could be wrong. Terran history is not my specialty except when it comes to some of the old compu-books of detection I love so much!” Violet entered the computer itself via a quick reduction to microscopic size and she adjusted some wires with a furious speed. “This should prevent them from getting any data from the system. Now, while they are looking so intently at the computers, I’ll make my move!”
Violet erupted from the computers and carried two sparking wires in each gloved hand. She touched the wires to two of the three robbers and they collapsed from the sudden powerful shock. She spun around to knock the final thug flat with a hard right cross. “I figured those costumes would protect them from a truly severe shock just like my gloves shielded me. Still, the shock was enough to knock them out for a time.” She bent over them to make certain and then hurried to do battle with the rest.
“Simply transferring the organs will occupy them for a while as will locating the drugs. I better try to protect the patients from the gang members whose mission involves robbing them!” She made her way unseen down to the main level where the patients stayed. She moved quietly and swiftly and she saw all that occurred.
Eight of the uniformed thugs were in that wing. While four of them held blasters on those patients who were ambulatory, the other four loaded the contents of the individual room lockers into a bag. Violet saw an unoccupied bed and slipped under the sheets moments before two of the robbers entered the room. “Don’t get up on our account! We’ll just help ourselves to the contents of your locker,” said a bald man with a sneer.
Violet looked pained and clutched the sheets around her costumed form as he drew closer. “This one is a real looker!” said the bald thug’s companion.
“Take a closer look!” snapped Violet as she suddenly kicked him in the face and tossed the sheets over his friend’s head. She smashed a locker over his head and hurled it into the other startled thief with precise aim. As he fell backward, she connected with a final punch. She shrank down and jumped inside the fallen locker, as it lay ajar on the floor. Two more goons entered the room and glanced at each other in surprise.
“What happened to Darius and Claudius?” gasped a very tall man as he drew his own blaster.
Before his companion could answer, Violet allowed the door of the locker to swing open and reveal her mocking expression and defiant form. “There’s a kid’s doll in there!” began the amazed crook before Violet grew again and used her sudden momentum to knock his raised blaster into his chin. As he dropped the weapon, she caught it and fired directly above his friend’s head. The metal railing above him shattered and one end swung down to hit the robber directly on the head. He groaned and fell forward to land at Violet’s feet.
Shrinking Violet knew the blaster noise would attract more of the thugs so she shrank down again and conceal herself beneath the fallen Darius’s long hair. Soon enough, two more of the robbers entered with their own weapons drawn.
As one of them bent over the defeated gang members, Violet slipped inside his blaster and artfully braced her legs against the trigger’s interior part. She strained and thrust out her legs causing the weapon to fire suddenly into the air.
“What the? My blaster misfired! Better adjust the setting! I’d hate to blow my own leg off or something!” he said. As he turned the weapon around and peered down at its settings, Violet disconnected a tiny wire and damaged the weapon. She exited rapidly and entered the other man’s weapon. Neither of them could detect her minute form. She made a similar adjustment to his gun and then grew to normal size between. them
“Hi boys!” Violet said with a mocking tone. She shrank down again as they fired their altered weapons in haste. Both weapons misfired and the impact left them both stunned. She dusted both gloved hands together and surveyed the fallen criminals. Two of the ones assigned to the patients were not accounted for as yet. She heard a shrill scream and she flew out of the room. “That sounds like one of the patients is resisting! I only pray I can get to her in time!”
Violet came into the room and saw the other two robbers. One was gripping the hospital gown of an elderly woman while the other watched from the side. “Give us that ring! We don’t have time to play!” he demanded.
“Grife! A Legionnaire!” sputtered the nearer man.
Violet dove over the bed and rolled across the room even as she willed herself to shrink. Blaster fire ripped over her head and she flew directly at the gunmen in a desperate effort to distract their attention from the woman patient. Her stunt worked and just as she flew within inches of their faces, she returned to normal and planted both boots in their faces. They groaned and she followed up with a spinning kick that sent them reeling.
She hurled herself into the nearest robber and then hurled herself into a closet. She slammed the door behind her and shrank down until she was tiny enough to exit though the lock. As the thugs ripped open the door, she grew to normal size and kicked them both into the door. She slammed it shut and locked it.
While they pounded on the metal door, Violet turned to the elderly woman in the bed. “Are you hurt? I’ve secured this floor. Let me get some of the other patients to join you and you will all be safer than on your own.”
The woman thanked her and said, “Those terrible men! I feel safer now that the Legion of Super Heroes is here!”
Violet smiled and said, “Thanks!” No need to tell her that I’m it as far as Legionnaires on the scene goes! she thought as she led a few of the patients into a common room. She stopped at a holographic display of the different departments within the huge hospital. I have to out think those goons. I know some are in the organ banks and others are looking for drugs. If this plan of the facility is current then I may not be as bad off as the odds would make it seem!
She took a final look at the layout and then shrank down and entered the hospital ventilation system. She hoped her quick scan of the layout would be enough to enable her to get to where she wanted to go without becoming lost.
Violet ignored the darkness and the chill of the shafts and concentrated on keeping the overall design in her mind. Easy, Salu! Don’t take a wrong turn and get trapped inside some servo-cleaner! That would be a real anticlimax. I hold off a whole gang only to be beaten by a cleaning appliance.
Shrinking Violet flew up to the top of a grid and peered out to see the Medicus One drug depository. Every conceivable pharmaceutical product from across the universe could be found within the vast vault -like chamber. She saw seven goons loading carts with the valuable substances. “This is it. I might as well make my move.” She dropped down and made her way in the shadows until she reached the far side of the room. She spotted a label on a carton near the top of a shelf and she smiled. “Perfect! I owe whoever stocked the drugs in that particular order a big kiss!”
She made her way to the top and shoved the carton to the ground. It crashed down to break open and a pink powder filled the air. She held her breath even as the startled thugs began to gasp for air. She exited beneath the heavy door and grew to close it behind her. It locked with a satisfying click and she called out. “I wouldn’t try to blast your way out. Some of the drugs stored in that room are volatile if exposed to heat or if they get mixed together!” She heard shouts and coughs and then silence.
“Great! The narcotic I tipped over should have sedated the whole bunch of them. Even if some of them put on respiration gear like our transsuits before the drug knocked them out, they won’t be able to get by the heavy door.” She frowned as she realized that she was beginning to tire from her efforts. “I have to take down however many of them are raiding the organ banks but I have a good idea about how I can do that if I don’t fall over from sheer exhaustion!”
She rushed over to a computer and programmed a carefully determined timing device. “If I missed some step when I watched the staff use this system during my own stay here before, then I’ve accomplished nothing. If I set this timing device correctly then I better move fast!”
She hurried away via the ventilation system and soon found herself looking down at the hallway that led to the organ bank. “I hear around eight voices. I guess most of the goons concentrated on loading the organs. That means I have my work cut out for me.”
She heard one of them say, “Marius, we have not heard anything from the other squads. I think they are in trouble!”
A handsome blond man with wavy blond hair said, “I trained this group myself. Failure is not an option. Just as we have modeled our organization after the ancient Roman Empire’s ruthless means of conquest and aggrandizement so have we as little tolerance for failure as did those noble beings.”
Shrinking Violet nodded to herself as she hid outside. “Marius is their leader. I was right about their Roman history fixation. Well, that high and mighty Empire crumbled and I aim to see this gang of rogues do the same.” She knew that a sudden attack would possibly damage some of the organs stored within and she also was reluctant to tackle the gang in a direct physical assault since she was both outnumbered and tired. Thus, she scanned the area and decided to try to pick them off when they split up.
“Surely someone from the outside has tried to contact Medicus One and failed by now. The Science Police will have been contacted and perhaps, even the Legion. Help has to be on the way but for now I’m on my own.” She waited until four of the remaining robbers made their way out with their precious cargo. They pushed along cryo-containers on hovering service disks. She saw the temperature controlled containers and an idea began to form.
She crossed the hall and saw a locked room. She shrank down and entered through the lock and then shivered as she saw the huge interior of the cryogenics lab. “The same generators that create the frigid environmental conditions so necessary for the treatment and preservation of those seeking cryogenic cures can be used as a weapon in a crude way. All I have to do is lure them in here after making a few adjustments. She worked quickly and carefully and managed to remove the shields that prevented the entire chamber and not just the selected medical pods from freezing. The work was hard and she had to do the job from both outside and within the walls of the room. It was not easy to dismantle the protective safeguards the experts had installed upon its design. Still, she persevered and she completed the job in time to intercept the foursome and catch their eye.
“Grife! Shrinking Violet! That may explain why none of the others have checked in yet or returned!” cried a uniformed woman.
A man said, “Not likely. What good can a woman who can become small do? I’d say her super powered buddies like Mon-El took down our gang!”
They hesitated and three of the four followed Violet as she flew back and led them into the Cryogenic Medicine Chamber. They closed in on her and gasped as she activated the freezing system and waves of frigid cold swept across the room. She had reduced herself to microscopic size and she escaped the room and slammed the door shut just as she ran out of air.
“They’ll be OK in time. Still, I almost trapped myself in there. I didn’t realize the cold would be so all encompassing. Even my shrinking came almost too late to help!” Violet gasped as heavy hands grabbed her from behind. She struggled as hands gripped her arms and legs and she fell beneath a tangled mass of limbs.
The remaining five robbers had tackled her, and she fought for freedom without any luck. “I would not shrink if I was you. We have a good hold on your shapely legs and arms and we’d hate to see you ripped limb from limb by the process!” said Marius.
Violet knew they were right. While they held her so tightly she was trapped! She glanced at a clock and bit her lip as she wondered if her earlier computer use would pay off! “My friends are on the way. Your communication shut down came too late. The Medicus One staff alerted the Legion. I just happened to be closer than the rest. It won’t take Ultra Boy, Mon-El and the rest long to get here. I’d surrender now if I were you. We haven’t fed Timber Wolf lately.”
Marius laughed at the spunky Salu’s efforts to bluff them. “You have done extraordinarily well. The rest of my team has been dealt with, I assume? No matter. We will free them and take what we want after we finish you off!”
Violet spat in his face and said, “Don’t get so cocky! I’m not beaten yet!”
Marius slapped her across the face and she rolled her head back with the impact. At that moment a flashing light began to shine from a lowered screen and the gang looked away as the powerful hypno-sedating machine began to work. Vi closed her eyes and struggled until she had broken free from the gang. They were too busy trying to resist the potent hypnotic sedation system Vi had preset earlier to click on at this time. She shrank down and crossed the room to evade them and buy herself some time.
Marius cursed and blasted the hypno-system to shards as he led his gang in pursuit. “You witch! That little stunt is going to earn you some pain!” he cried.
Shrinking Violet had counted on the fact that the gang might be distracted or even sedated by the screens when she had set the timers earlier. She knew one set of screens was located in every major room of the satellite.
Now, she flew down the long halls and stopped abruptly as the gang ran passed her unseen tiny form. She dropped out of the air at full size and landed on two of them. She stomped down on them and punched them with her all strength before she rolled aside and disappeared within the nearest waste disposal unit. She choked as the refuse covered her but she knew she had little choice but to use what resources were close at hand. She heard Marius and the other two robbers as they searched for her.
“She can’t have gotten far. You two go free the others and I’ll contact you if our little pest pops up!” said Marius.
Violet waited and then grew until she was normal sized. She coughed delicately and when Marius turned around she struck him directly in the nose. She followed up with a flurry of blows that left him dazed on the floor.
She turned to see the remaining thugs including a few she had beaten in other parts of the hospital closing in on her. “I’m going down fighting, you space slugs!” she cried.
“Well, that’s a pretty image!” said a voice from above as Wildfire blazed into view and blasted the thugs backward with his carefully aimed energy blasts.
Sun Boy swooped in behind him and used his own heat bursts to round up the gang. “Don’t worry, Vi! The space cavalry is here! Jan sent us on ahead when he got word from the S.P.’s that no one could reach Medicus One. Jo and Mon-El are cleaning up the gang’s ship. I’d say they’ll have the whole group wrapped up in no time!” said Sun Boy. He sniffed and smiled slightly. “Vi, you really need a good hot bath! You reek.”
Shrinking Violet sighed and said, “Hiding in a refuse bin will do that to you.”
Wildfire landed and said, “You know you really took this group of losers down on your own! We just played clean up. Uh, no pun intended.”
Violet smiled and said, “Sure, it wasn’t.” They laughed and made their way to where their allies were waiting.
Mon-El said, “The ship was almost empty. We captured it easily. My x-ray vision enabled me to tip the others off as to exactly where they could find you within the satellite. Great work, Vi!!”
Violet said, “Thanks. Still, they shot several staff and patients upon entry. They may be losers but they need to pay for their crimes!”
Wildfire said, “They will but Mon says there were no fatalities. Even the people they shot were just stunned. Thanks to you medical care reached the rest in time to save them. So, in the big picture no harm was done!”
Shrinking Violet said, “If I was Dreamy, I’d make some remark about how they owe me a new costume!”
Elsewhere, a dark costumed figure examined data beamed to him from afar. He smiled a reptilian smile as certain details caught his eye. “Marius and his group failed for the most part but the data he managed to transmit to us from Medicus One before something damaged the transmission should prove very useful indeed!” he said.
Another shadowy figure nodded. “We could have used the funds his stolen goods would have brought in but I feel information is far more precious in the right hands!”
Thus, as one case ended in victory, the seeds were sown for a much larger threat in the future.
